Revelations

"What in the blazes of hell did you do to that man?!"

Vala was impressed that Cameron had managed to keep silent long enough for them to be alone. She'd been half sure he would have started interrogating her before they hit the medical bay.

Then again, having a tracker implanted had possibly sent him into a rage beyond words, and he'd only just calmed down enough to speak coherently. Possibly.

"There's no need to yell, Cameron," said Vala, making an effort to sound affronted.

"I think what he's trying to say, is what happened between the two of you that led to tagging us!?" demanded Daniel, hand still on his bandaged arm.

"You're just upset they found your little transmitter so fast."

"Vala, what's the story." Sam sounded angry but resigned, most likely thinking this was another of Vala's games. None of them understood just how hard this was for her, admitting to one of her biggest mistakes.

"Well, I was running this sweet little deal on Palmeron, six - no seven - years ago when in walks this man - young, naive and rich. He was the perfect-"

"Vala!" barked Cameron, glowering at her. "Skip the back story."

"Fine!" she pouted, crossing her arms. They never wanted to hear the lead up, only the ending. "Our cover was blown and I had to leave or risk being captured."

"Wait, 'cover'? Just what were you doing?" asked Cameron.

"You didn't want the back story, remember?" she asked pointedly.

"Ok, Vala. Why don't you start from the beginning."

"Well, as I was saying, this man was the perfect mark; inexperienced, swimming in money and completely trusting," she said, reminiscing about the high she had upon first meeting him.

"We get it - you took him for a fortune, blah blah blah. Get to the part with your 'husband'," said Cam, waving impatiently with his hand.

"That's just it - it was him." she told them, still impressed to this day.

"He's a con artist," said Daniel in realization, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"One of the best I ever met," she said, knowing there was a little smile on her face. Despite everything between them, that first con between them was a good memory. Even though it had cost her. "I lost a small fortune to him."

"And you decided to marry him?" Cameron asked incredulously. They were all staring at her now, and it was one of the few times she didn't want to be the center of attention.

"It was part of the con," she defended. "We were both playing a role, only he played it better."

"You got played?" Cameron - again with the incredulousness.

She was offended, defending herself, "It happens!"

"Not often," supplied Sam with a wince.

"Anyway," continued Vala, deliberately ignoring the somewhat-compliment. "I had something in the works that required another person, so I offered to cut him in on the deal. By the time it was over, we...decided....to become partners." And wasn't that the understatement of the decade.

"Until you left him behind," accused Cameron, pointing a finger far too close to her face for her liking. She was starting to think Cameron was taking Ezra's side in this, which was totally not fair. He was her team mate. Cameron should be defending her honour, not besmirching it.

Wow. She really should stop reading those romance novels of Sam's.

"Have you ever been in one of Ba'al's prisons? They're not very nice!"

"So you just left him there? Your so-called 'husband'?" Cameron was really getting very worked up about this whole thing. He hadn't even been there, so he shouldn't be telling her what she should have done. She did enough of that herself.

"What do you mean 'so-called husband'? I'll have you know that marriage was valid in seven different systems," she said, crossing her arms in front of her. "And anyway, by the time I recovered enough to potentially go and find him, it was too late. He'd been moved to any number of planets or ships."

"'Recovered'?" asked Daniel, finally taking part in the conversation.

"I got hit with a staff blast. I nearly died," she said quietly before turning to face the ceiling where she was fairly confident the surveillance was placed.

"You hear that, Ezra?!" she shouted up at it, glaring for all she was worth. "I was on the verge of death for three weeks!"

~!~

On the far side of the ship, Ezra watched his 'wife' explain their complicated history to her team. He had to give her credit, though, she still knew how to tell people stories close enough to the truth to be believable, while still keeping the real events hidden. He'd always admired her for that.

"You hear that, Ezra? I was on the verge of death for three weeks!"

He tried to tell himself he didn't care, but a tightness in his chest belied it for the lie it was.

A strong hand settled on his shoulder and squeezed.

Vin Tanner's quiet presence had always given Ezra strength, and this time was no different. "We got you, Ez."

Ezra was so very glad of that, too.

END

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