Prologue.

2009 – The End.

The SGC always hummed quietly at night. Once the day shift clocked out and the nine to fivers' headed home for the evening – when the mess hall dropped to skeleton staff and the only technicians on base were those on duty – then it was as if the complex itself came alive.

Vala had never asked Teal'c if he felt the same, but she often lay awake at night, listening to the purrs and mumbles of the Mountain and imagining that it was a living thing. The fluorescent lights hummed, the pipes creaked and seemed to chuckle to themselves. The electrics fizzed and the elevators squeaked quietly as they moved up and down.

Sometimes Vala would go down to the mess hall and just sit and listen to the SGC living and breathing around her – she never mentioned any of this to the other members of SG-1, not even Daniel. Vala was pretty sure that they'd have Carolyn checking her over before she'd even finished what she was saying. Quite aside from the fact that none of them would have believed that Vala could ever be that contemplative.

Sometimes, she thought that Daniel caught a glimpse of the real Vala inside. Just occasionally, he would look at her in a certain way, and sometimes squeeze her hand, or stroke her face softly.

Vala's skin always tingled afterwards where he had touched her. She stored up those memories in the secret little room that she'd built in her heart for the archaeologist. Because, she would never tell him herself how she felt.

One night, about a year after Ba'al was finally defeated, Vala came out of her quarters close to 0200 hours. She felt strange, and awkward – on the verge of something monumental. Heading for the gym, the alien twisted her hands together, over and over, getting no peace from the peaceful nocturnal workings of the SGC on this occasion. Vala's mind on this particular night, was full of sadness over the loss of two of her greatest friends.

Samantha Carter had been promoted to head up the George Hammond some months previously, and now spent most of her time away across the galaxy. Vala missed her friend immeasurably. People outside of SG-1 had always looked at the two women oddly – they were so different in every way. One a blonde, Air Force officer – bright, brainy and a scientist down to the core of her soul. The other a whacky, irrational ex-space pirate and Gou'ald host – raven haired, irreverent and loyal. Perhaps that was why the two of them had always got along so well, the fact that they were almost the exact opposite of each other. Sam fulfilled the need for a sister and confidante which Vala had never had before. And Vala was the emotional younger sibling who gave Sam something more than just Air Force mentality. If the two women managed to hang out together more than once a month now, it was unusual.

Coming back to the present, Vala found herself outside the gym. The door was locked but that didn't stand in her way – whipping out her key card she was inside within the space of about three seconds. Flicking the light on she leaned back against the closed door, shut her eyes and sighed. Her thoughts moved on to her other best friend and ally, who had dropped his own bombshell earlier that day.

Teal'c had come through from Dakara earlier and spoken to General Landry for a long time. Then SG-1 had been called unexpectedly up to the briefing room. Vala, Mitchell and Daniel had barely sat down at the table before the Jaffa warrior told them that, with his deepest regret, he would be leaving the SGC in the next couple of weeks. The Free Jaffa Council was becoming a successful governing body in it's own right, and Teal'c was needed there more and more. He felt that he could no longer split his time between Dakara and the Tau'ri. Although his team mates had known that this day would eventually come, it didn't make things any easier, now that they were faced with the departure of their dear friend and team mate.

While Daniel looked very sober – after all, he'd known Teal'c the longest out of all of them - the two men had shaken hands firmly before grasping arm-to-arm, Jaffa style. Teal'c bowed smoothly when Daniel told him that they would keep in touch.

Teal'c reminded his friends that the Tau'ri and Jaffa were close allies, and he would undoubtedly visit fairly regularly.

It wouldn't be the same at all though, and everyone knew it.

Mitchell shook his head, muttering about all the hassle and heart ache that he'd had trying to keep Teal'c on SG-1 when he himself first took over as it's CO. He grinned, and shook hands, clapping the 'Big Guy' on his shoulder.

Teal'c squeezed Mitchell's shoulder firmly and bowed his head –Vala knew that he had come to greatly respect and admire Jack O'Neill's successor.

When it was her turn she smeared the wide, artificial grin across her face and wished Teal'c good luck and all the best, firmly telling him that she'd see him soon. Wrapping her arms around his waist was of course a mistake – as soon as he returned her embrace she felt the tears spill over and was powerless to stop them. Vala had turned her head away from her other team mates - pushing her face against Teal'c's chest she had allowed the emotion to just flow out of her. The two aliens' had lived on the base for so long together that she could not imagine being at the SGC without the tall Jaffa warrior.

Eventually, Daniel had very gently pulled her away – she'd wiped her nose on his handkerchief and tried to pretend that she was alright, but she wasn't. She knew that none of them were really.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Vala opened her eyes and scrubbed at her suspiciously damp cheeks. The gym's punch bag was hanging innocently in front of her, with a growl she leaped at it and began battering the poor thing as if it was responsible for creating all the woes of the world. After a minute or two Vala began kicking it as well, she spun and slammed against it, over and over until eventually she dropped down onto the floor, and lay there spread eagled across the mat. It was the beginning of the end, she thought sadly. In fact, it had already begun, when Sam had left on the Hammond.Daniel had been asked to go to Atlantis – he was itching to leave, she knew, and this latest development with Teal'c would probably give him the push that he needed.

After all, there's nothing really keeping him here, she thought glumly, and we're none of us getting any younger.

Vala sat up quickly. Yes, they were all growing older, and sometimes she really felt it. Jumping suddenly to her feet, she moved to the long mirror on the wall, beginning to run her fingers through her long black tresses. Craning her neck, she searched for something that she'd spotted for the first time only that morning. Where was it? Frowning, she began to separate the strands then stiffened as she caught sight of the offending article. She loosened it from the other wavy, raven locks, gazing intently at it for a long time. Vala's thoughts were tumultuous, sad, happy, regretful, fulfilled. So many adventures over the years, so many years that she'd called this place home. But now – well, maybe it really was time to move on.

Wiping her nose on the back of her hand she stood up, sad but decided. They were all splitting up, SG-1, and she was NOT going to be the last one left.

I won't just run, though, she thought. I'll say goodbye properly. Maybe Landry has a job for me somewhere else. It's a big old galaxy, after all!

Looking again at the long, blatantly obvious, silvery strand which streaked through her beautiful, black hair Vala sighed deeply. She gazed around the gym, for maybe the last time.

Then she gave herself a mental shake, tugged the offending single hair out of her scalp and dropped it onto the floor of the gym.

"Vala," she spoke out loud, to her reflection in the mirror on the wall. "Get a grip, girl. It's time to grow up."

TBC...

Shameless nod to 'Red Dwarf' in the title of this prologue! :-)