Title: Forever Young Part 3
Author: DannyNSamGirl
Spoilers: None
Rating: T
Category: Humour/Angst
Summary: The girls prediciment finally hits home!
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them, but I don't. Except for one
character.
Warnings: Contains an original female character. Nothing that I can
think of at the moment.
Authors Notes: As i said before, i'm not that good at humour. But i
have tried my best.
Thanks: Thanks to Emma for the beta :)
Daniel still found it hard to believe what had happened. Overnight his wife had gone from being the hottie of the plant world to being able to shop in the 12 to 15 section. He hadn't told Shelley that he found it amusing - she'd never speak to him again if he did.
He wrapped his knuckles on the wall of Sam's lab, making the colonel look up from her microscope.
"Hey," she said, "How are the girls?"
Daniel shook his head, remembering how he'd left them, squabbling over leg space on the infirmary bed.
"Acting more like their adult selves than you could ever imagine."
"Not getting on?"
"That's an understatement!" Daniel said. "Seriously, I don't know what I'm gonna do for the next two weeks. I can't take her home. How would I explain it to the neighbors."
Sam pursed her lips together in thought, she could see how difficult this was for Daniel and she really wanted to make things easier for him.
"Well…why doesn't Shelley come and stay with me until we can get this sorted out."
"Are you sure?" Daniel asked.
He told Sam that he'd have to think it over. In his mind he knew it was the best solution but was wondering who it was really best for - himself or his wife. He knew he had to make a decision, and soon.
#
Shelley dropped her bag on the floor of Sam's living room, slightly annoyed at being forced to stay with the colonel. She glanced around the house that was going to be her home for the next two weeks. She'd been there many times in the past - as a visitor - but never as a resident.
"The bedroom's down the hall on the left." Sam told the younger version of Vala.
The dark haired teenager shot her an accusing glare.
"Bedroom?" she asked. "…as in one?"
Sam nodded. Despite having a spacious home, she'd converted one of the bedrooms into a makeshift study/games room/sometime garage. The room was ideal for when she was working on her motorbike - a pastime, she thought sadly, that she'd not had time for recently.
"Sorry girls but you're going to have to share."
Shelley didn't want to share, especially not with Vala. She could barely tolerate the woman as an adult, let alone as a teenager.
The redhead picked up her bag and headed down the hall towards the bedroom. Vala stood there, a little excited about being able to stay off base for the next two weeks. The base VIP room was okay but it wasn't as nice as being in a proper house with windows you could look out of. It was going to be an adventure
"Why don't you go and settle in, whilst I go and make some lunch?"
They both nodded, not having made it to the mess earlier. Sam watched as the two teens wandered off and headed into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door, in desperate need of a drink. Inside were a couple of beers. Sam reached inside and took one out. It was cold and she let the chill seep into her hand for a moment, musing on just how good the beverage would taste when she finally got the chance to drink it.
Hearing the girls arguing again, she rolled her eyes. Was this how it was going to be? Were the pair of them going to argue the entire time? Oh, how much did she need that beer now?
Suddenly the thought hit her that she was in charge of two minors. In her head she knew they weren't minors in the true sense of the word but still - she felt she needed to set a good example.
With a deep sigh she put the beer back in the fridge, hearing it tinkle against its partner.
The argument in the other room got louder as she shut the fridge. Sam rested her head against the recently closed door of the fridge. How had she talked herself into looking after two teenage girls? Her own teen years had been bad enough and nothing in the world would make her want to relive those times again. Daniel and Shelley were her friends, and so was Vala - in a way.
Sam pulled herself away from the kitchen, entering what looked like a mini war zone in the spare room of her house. Shelley was sitting on the right side of the bed, with her holdhall in her lap and was doing a very good impression of an immovable object. Vala stood next to her, trying in vein to pull the redhead onto the floor.
"What are you two fighting about now?" Sam asked.
"She won't move," Vala said, attempting to look totally innocent, and failing.
"I always sleep on this side,"
"And…So?"
Shelley frowned deeply. "Because Daniel always sleeps on the other side."
"But I'm not Daniel," Vala said, a twinge of laughter in her voice.
Vala grabbed hold of Shelley's bag, dragging it away from her and succeeded in pulling the redhead off the bed in the process. Everything fell out of the bag, clothes mostly, including several pairs of underwear. Vala picked them up and realized that Daniel must have packed the bag.
She rummaged through the contents of Shelley's bag and realized that her now teenage friend wouldn't be able to fit in most of her clothes, they'd all be at least a few sizes too big.
The redhead snatched the clothes back and rifled through the pile to pull out one of her favorite shirts. 'Vala was right', she thought to herself, 'far too big'. Shelley frowned as she held the shirt up to her chest and finally accepted that - for the time being - she was a youngster again.
There was a certain look of glee of the older teens face. Vala opened up her own bag and picked out a revealing blouse that she'd brought on her last shopping trip with Sam. It fitted perfectly.
"Well, what do you know?" Vala said, insanely proud of herself. "You can always borrow some of mine."
Shelley stood up, looking across at Sam then back at Vala. "Okay, as long as I don't mind looking like a 14 year old hooker."
Sam looked away for a moment, not wanting to get drawn into the argument.
"Hey!" Vala said, realizing the remark was a put down. "Some men like the hooker look."
Shelley looked at her with a slight frown marring her youthful features. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"At least I don't dress like a 50 year old grandmother!"
Sam shook her head, placed herself between the two of them, and hoped that she could restore peace to her unusually noisy home.
"Why don't I take the two of you shopping? I'm sure we can all do with some retail therapy."
Shelley nodded and Vala's eyes lit up. One thing she loved about Earth was its huge range of shopping malls and shops. The only thing was, she didn't have much cash. It wasn't easy to trade a priceless artefact that she happened to have in her possession - just by accident - for that cute pair of leather pants she had her eyes on. So she would have to ask Daniel for a loan, which given this present situation, probably wouldn't be forthcoming.
"Then we could have lunch or dinner somewhere?"
Both teens nodded.
"What about money?" Vala finally asked. "I don't have any?"
"Don't worry about the money. Before we left the base, I was given some for you."
Sam found the line of conversation a little uncomfortable.
"Cool," Vala's face had a look of excitement. A shopping trip was exactly what she needed.
Then Shelley worked it out. "An allowance. Daniel gave you an allowance."
Vala began to laugh. Her deep adult laugh had given way to a teenage high-pitched giggle. Shelley didn't know which was more irritating - any version of Vala seemed to get on her nerves. She stood up, pushed Vala out of the way and headed off into the main house.
"Don't move," Sam said to Vala, making her sit down.
The colonel found the redhead sitting on the sofa with her knees tucked under her chin. She was valiantly fighting off the urge to cry. Teen or adult, she'd never want to cry in front of Vala. As she sat down next to her, Sam noticed that she was holding her cell phone in her hand. Looking at the cell, she could see that Shelley was staring at Daniel's number.
"Do you want to call him?" Sam asked.
Shelley looked up at her friend. "I do, I miss the girls and I miss Daniel. But he finds this funny, Sam. Look at me, I'm a child bride."
As soon as she said it a smile appeared on Shelley's face. It sounded ridiculous. She was being ridiculous and a tad over the top. It had taken her just those few words to realize that she was being silly.
"I'm sorry Sam," Shelley said. "I know I haven't been easy to get on with since this happened."
Sam held her young friend's hand. It wasn't easy for her either, seeing her best friend turn twenty years younger overnight. It had only been just over a day since the transformation but she missed her adult friend greatly.
"It's okay Shell. It's understandable."
"I know. I just hate feeling so helpless. I can't do anything to help. General Landry said it'd be best if I just let the experts do their jobs."
Shelley stood up and began to pace the living room. "I'm the expert Sam. If there's anything unusual in that cream then I should be the one to find it."
Sam knew that Shelley would probably manage to find the answer, but she had to go by her orders.
"I don't want to just sit around."
"Shell," Sam said. "They'll find a cure and if they don't, what's there to lose? So you'll spend the next two weeks as a teenager. It could be fun."
Just as the last word left Sam's lips, Vala strode into the living room, her nose out of joint at being left behind. "So," she said. "When do we go shopping?"
#
Vala's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store as they walked around the shopping mall. All three of them had been there before, but two of them were now looking at their surroundings through the eyes of teenagers. Every clothes store was now a playground, filled with a riot of colors and, more to the point, smaller sizes. Not that Vala was any smaller now to how she normally was. Since her teens, she'd only really grown in height.
Sam followed as Vala dragged her into every shop they passed. She noticed that Shelley was lagging behind, clearly still struggling to come to terms with her new teenage self.
It was very clear that Vala was more outgoing. Probably because she was the eldest, Sam thought - or because she hadn't really got anything to lose by letting go a little.
Sam knew it was harder for Shelley to let go of the reins, she was always the one in control. She had to be to keep track of everything in her life - her work, her marriage and her own children.
Maybe, Sam thought, Vala would make Shelley loosen up a little. In return, Sam hoped that Shelley would prove to be a stabilizing influence on the gregarious young woman.
Sam watched with delight as Vala ran around each store trying on dress after dress, T-shirt after T-shirt and those leather pants she had been eyeing up - albeit in a size 14 to 16 years. Everything seemed to either be sparkly, or else it had some in teen slogan plastered all over it.
Vala thought she looked good in everything she tried on, and who was she to lie to herself? Shelley only bought a few clothes for herself, just a couple of tops and some underwear. The redhead couldn't understand how Vala could spend so much money on clothes when she knew she'd just grow out of them in a fortnight.
Wandering round the store, Shelley found herself drawn to the little kids section. She picked up a few T-shirts for the girls and a teddy bear for Kennedy.
Vala grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the baby clothes, back into the teen section.
"Look," she said. "You're going to enjoy the next two weeks even if I have to force you to."
Thrusting several short skirts and tight tops into the redhead's arms, Vala pushed Shelley into the changing room.
"Come on, live a little, show me something to prove you're worth the reputation Daniel's always telling me about."
Shelley looked at the clothes and realized that they were much more Vala's type that hers. She didn't want to use the word tarty, but that's just what she was thinking. One bright pink top had the word temptress written over it.
Several teenage boys had begun to hang around Vala and watched as she picked out more clothes. The dark haired teenager flicked her hair and smiled. Suddenly she remembered why she'd enjoyed being a teenager - cute teenage boys. Whatever the planet you came from, all teenage boys were cute - especially seen through the eyes of a teenage girl.
Her attention was diverted when she heard crying come from one of the cubicles - the cubicle that Shelley had gone into. She looked around, searching for Sam. Their temporary foster mother was across the other side of the store, paying for some essentials for the girls. Vala took a deep breath and stepped forward to open the curtain.
Shelley was sitting on the stool with tears rolling down her face. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes with her hand, unwilling to let Vala see her upset.
"What's wrong?" the older girl asked as she entered.
She closed the curtain behind her, hiding Shelley from the boys outside. The redhead had taken off the black T-shirt she'd been wearing for the last few days and Vala noticed the bra she normally wore wasn't the right size. Shelley had gone down a fair few cup sizes.
"Now you know why I was sure I was 14." Shelley said.
The older teen finally realized what she meant.
"I didn't develop till I was about 16. That's when the boys started noticing me."
Vala gave her friend a little smile and sat down next to her.
"You're lucky. I've always been this size. I'd kill to have your boobs."
Shelley looked at herself, and then at Vala, it was a weird moment - comparing breasts. For over a year she'd compared herself to the older woman. She'd often wondered who was the prettier of the two and if Daniel had ever really fancied Vala. Which he didn't - of course. Even if Vala had a thing for him, it had never been reciprocated, but the thought was always there - in the back of Shelley's mind. In her adult state she wasn't as thin as the ravenhaired woman. She'd had two children in three years and had retained a bit of baby weight that was proving impossible to lose.
"Really?" Shelley asked.
"Yeah...They're great."
Now this was weird - Vala was telling her how great her breasts were. Shelley couldn't wait to have the cynical, snarky Vala back so things could get back to normal.
Both girls looked up when they heard Sam's voice outside the cubicle. Shelley smiled when she heard Daniel's name being spoken and she pulled open the curtain, leaving Vala behind.
"Daniel? Were you talking to Daniel?" she asked.
Sam closed her phone, seeing the glint in her teen friend's eyes. God, she hated to disappoint her. Sam nodded.
"Yeah. Look we're going to have to go. I'll drop you girls off at home and then I have to go back to the base."
"You're leaving us home alone?" Vala asked.
She made a fake shocked expression. Vala had laughed the whole way through the Macaulay Culkin movie, even though she hadn't understood why the kid's parents hadn't gone back for him. She loved that film!
Shelley laughed, for the first time all day.
"I can trust you, can't I?" Sam asked.
Vala nodded innocently.
"Of course." Shelley looked at her, side on. She was definitely planning something.
"Let's go," Vala clutched her bag and smiled to herself, determined to get Shelley out of herself and enjoy the next two weeks.
#
Sam found Daniel in his lab, going over some of the archives from the planet of the teens. There were extensive notes from their history of medicine and these told how the village had found an ancient medicine capable of making their population younger.
What Daniel had found out so far was easy. The effects were temporary and a lot of the women used it on their wedding night, wanting to look young and radiant for their new husbands.
'Or they used it on unsuspecting visitors', Sam thought.
She watched as Daniel gazed silently at the collection of documents. His wife, the woman he loved, the woman he had two amazing children with, was now a girl herself - a fourteen year old girl. It was more than a little icky, her mind was still adult, but her body wasn't.
She tapped him gently on the shoulder. "Hey, how's it going?"
"Oh…great. No cure but it's not permanent. Vagas was right, it should wear off in about two weeks." Daniel said. "Which doesn't really help."
He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"You know, I'm sure Shelley'd love to hear from you. You should have seen the excited look on her face when she realized I was talking to you earlier."
Daniel looked at Sam. Of course he wanted to see his wife, it was just too weird. She wasn't his wife anymore and that hurt. She looked a bit like his wife, it was in her eyes but when he looked at her all he felt was an ache in his heart left by the loss of his beloved Shelley.
"Why don't you come back with me?" Sam asked, waiting for Daniel to jump at the chance.
"I don't know."
"Look, I know it's a little weird for the two of you but she'd really like to see you."
Sam wasn't trying to be pushy, she just wanted a little normality in her friends lives, not that this was in any way a normal situation.
"Okay, okay, I'll come."
For the last half an hour Vala had been snooping around Sam's house. She was taking the opportunity to find out a bit more about Colonel Samantha Carter.
Vala looked around on her desk, seeing photos of Teal'c, Shelley and Daniel and even one of the Jackson girls. But there was one of a man Vala didn't recognize.
"Who's this?" She held the photo up to Shelley who was sitting on the couch.
The redhead looked up at the picture in Vala's hand.
"That's Sam's dad, Jacob." she said.
Vala looked at it again, seeing the family resemblance.
"He was host to a Tok'ra, right?"
"Yeah, Selmak. They both died a few years ago."
"That's too bad." Vala said, put back the photograph on the desk.
Looking for something else to occupy her, one of her bags from their shopping trip caught her eye. She bounded into the living room, literally bouncing onto the couch next to Shelley and interupted her from watching the television.
If Shelley was totally honest then she'd have to admit that it was nice to have some time to herself for a change. Normally she'd get up in the morning, feed the girls, get them ready and drive them to school, then go to work and do a nine hour shift. She'd then pick the girls up from the child minders, take them home and get them ready for bed. Having half an hour in front of the television was a rarity and most nights she was too exhausted to do anything other than reading the girls a bed time story and fall into bed herself.
"So," Vala said. "When are you going to do something different with your hair?" Vala leaned over, flicking at Shelley's cherry colored mane.
"Will you stop that? I like my hair fine the way it is."
"I know, but does Daniel?"
Shelley gave her that cold stare. That stare she seemed to only use on Vala.
"Daniel likes redheads…and this redhead in particular." Shelley answered quickly.
The, now semi-fuming redhead, stood up and headed towards the kitchen. They hadn't even had time for lunch on the way home and Shelley had taken it upon herself to cook something.
Vala followed her into the kitchen. "Look, don't you ever feel like a change? I mean, come on. Were teenagers, why don't we start acting like teenagers?"
The younger girl was a little more than confused.
"Whilst Sam wasn't looking I brought something to make us stand out a little."
Vala ran across the living room, scooping up the last remaining bag. She held it in front of Shelley, teasing her to look inside, which she did.
"Dye? You brought hair dye?"
"Yeah. I always wanted a different color. Maybe I'll dye it red?"
There it was, another cold look. Shelley knew what she was thinking and she wasn't having any of it.
"Give it here." she said, snatching it from Vala's grasp.
"You know something? I always liked the white streak you had. Whatever happened to that?"
Suddenly Vala became quiet. Her attention turned to the hair dye.
"So what do you say, you fancy pink streaks?"
Shelley nodded, giving in. "Only a few."
#
Sam and Daniel heard the shouting and screaming from outside in the driveway as the parked the car. Even from a few feet away the voices were unmistakably that of Shelley and Vala.
"Look what you've done!" they heard Shelley screech.
Sam opened the door and noticed several of her white towels strewn on the hallway floor. They all had patches of pink on them. "What the...?"
She looked at Daniel as they entered the house. In the living room was a furious Shelley, no longer a redhead, but instead sporting a full head of bright pink hair. Vala had several pink streaks in hers and they were glaring at each other in the middle of the living room.
"You did this on purpose." Shelley yelled, grabbing at Vala.
Sam intervened, hoping to stop the fighting before it went too far.
"Oh, stop being such a princess!" Vala remarked with a smile on her face. "How does Daniel feel about pinkheads?"
The older teen looked at the bemused Daniel. He frowned at her, this was way out of line, even for Vala.
"You skank," Shelley screamed suddenly.
Finally managing to grab Vala, she pulled at her hair. It seemed that Shelley was determined that if she had to have pink hair then Vala would be bald.
"I hate you," Shelley screamed again. "I hate you."
Sam tried to grab hold of a squirming Shelley, trying to pull her away from Vala but not having much luck. The younger teen was determined to make the older one pay.