Vala was almost done, the boxes all sat neatly taped up and each one was labelled. She wasn't sure who'd labelled them, she didn't remember doing it herself, but sure enough each box was labelled clearly in Goa'uld. Nobody had helped her as far as she knew, she'd done all this by herself, unless Daniel had labelled them for her. She narrowed her eyes at the boxes, briefly wondering if Goa'uld was the best choice. What if Stargate Command rejected them thinking them to be dangerous? It was too late now though and Vala only had one cupboard left to empty. The wormhole was due to activate in fifteen minutes, in which time she had one chance to have everything ready. If she wasn't finished, she wasn't going, simple as that - all this 'stuff' had to be packed away.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed that one of the boxes was leaking from its edges and seams. What the hell was that? She hadn't packed anything that could leak? She tried to ignore it, that was clearly the best solution, ignore it and it would go away. Whatever had spilled, already had, and it was hardly going to get worse.

Vala turned her attention to the final cupboard again, it was stuffed with jewels and trinkets. She knew that when she opened the door, it would all come spilling out at her. Gold chalices, studded with rubies, crystal orbs, necklaces, the spoils of her less than honest life. There would be no time to pack them properly, the cupboard was too big. She'd just stuff the box haphazardly and hope for the best. When she opened the cupboard though, there was no dazzling sight. Nothing sparkled, nothing shone. She'd expected the lights to refract off every gem's cut edge and the entire contents to glitter and wink at her invitingly. But everything inside had become tainted and dulled. Green and grey mould collected on every piece and precious metals were rusted. Panic set in and frantically Vala started to search for anything that had survived, tossing coins and strings of jewels aside, scraping at the shelves with her fingernails and sweeping everything to one side for one thing, one thing that might have somehow avoided the ruin that had affected the rest of it. Hidden at the back was a small jewelry box, inlaid with an intricate marquetry design of rare woods and gold leaf. Vala smiled when she found it, wiping away the mossy film that covered it with her sleeve. The lock had long since rusted over but everything inside was safe, it had to be. She tried to prise it open but time was ticking on.

She started to shove all the treasure into the cardboard box, sweeping it in with her arm, mindless to any further damage she might cause, then the box behind her caught her eye again. The box that had leaked. She was wrong, it had leaked more, beneath the box a pool of thick red liquid spread across the floor. This was all getting too much for her, there was a mess of green decayed and rusty treasure scattered all over the room now and the box was literally seeping blood.

This wasn't going to happen, there just wasn't enough time. Panic was setting in as she hauled the box towards the door, her hands were stained with blood now and she left a smudged trail of it behind her. She had to somehow get rid of the box and clean up all of this mess in ten minutes now. It just couldn't be done. Vala slumped down against the box, defeated as she sat on the bloody floor. She went to bury her face in her hands, realising too late that whatever she touched, the mess just got worse. There was blood everywhere, she had to give up. What was the point? She couldn't clear all this, there was no way, and she was just making it worse.

Daniel had waited for what seemed like hours for Vala to wake up, not wanting to wake her prematurely. The past couple of weeks must have taken their toll on her and it was unusual for her to sleep so soundly, she was best left. He never mentioned that her sleep was fitful at best, that was something else best left, at least for now.

"Good morning!" Vala chirped, appearing in the kitchen with a beach bag slung over her shoulder, clad in bikini top, tiny denim shorts and flip-flops. Daniel had just replied to River via the tablet to tell her he probably wouldn't be able to make it today to plan the dig, he'd spend the day with Vala - she needed him more right now.

The vision before him was far different to what he'd expected though. Leaning past him to the fruit bowl, Vala snapped a banana from the bunch and kissed his nose with a grin. He'd expected her to be still wracked with guilt over Adria. This reaction took him a little by surprise.

"I haven't seen daylight for two weeks, it's about time I overdosed I think." She inhaled exaggeratedly, ready for the open air and the smell of the ocean. "So I'm off to the beach!" She announced firmly.

He was waiting for the 'and so are you!'. Lying and doing nothing in the sun wasn't exactly Daniel's idea of relaxing, but if he took a book it could be quite relaxing. Not that bad an idea as ideas go, Vala.

"So you're free to go and spend your time with your archeology woman," she smiled a little fakely, and not without a hint of disdain towards River. Before he had chance to say a word, Vala was flouncing off, banana in hand and seemingly without a care in the world.

"Vala... wait." He started after her, this reaction wasn't healthy for her.

She turned and gave him a more sincere thoughtful look, apparently ready to listen.

"Look, I think you need to... I think you should..." She cut him off without a second thought.

"Have a cocktail while I'm there? Good idea, what exactly goes in a Pina Larder again?"

Vala's memory has been slowly coming back for a few days now, to the point where it's almost completely returned. Not that you'd know though; Vala's quite happy living at Daniel's house because her mental state has left her so 'vulnerable' and she intends to make it last as long as possible. So, we have a Vala, pretending to have lost her memory still, but actually remembers everything, from who she is to who Daniel is, well the whole shebang really. It's a foolproof plan, he'll continue to want to keep her close by, until her staying there becomes so routine, he won't think twice about changing anything when her memory does return.

So, memory loss considered, everything at Taxon has to remain largely unbelievable. Because she hasn't ever travelled off Earth, or met anyone or any species with powers or anything else unearthly for that matter, and yes well... We'll see how well she keeps up the façade.

After rearranging Daniel's notes pinned to the fridge for the umpteenth time, because seriously - anyone'd think he'd used a protractor - and bored with going through the files on his computer (how easy was that password to crack?), she opens the tablet up and addresses Taxon at large.

"So, I've spoken to an angel of the Lord apparently, I'm not even from Earth and I'm accustomed to inter-planetary travel. Anyone else want to regale me with their X-Files worthy stories? We might as well be up-front about the absurdity of it all."