Rating: M (I go places I have never gone before...for one brief moment anyway...so beware)

Summary: A small glimpse into a little of what Vala did during the fifty years. Although the beginning of this story fits as part 4 in my timeline...it goes through the entire fifty years stuck on the ship.

Beta: Nope. Don't have one at the moment. I do my best to edit, but I am not perfect so give me a little slack.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I just like to play with it.

Author's Note: I have to say thank you to those who make up the oven, who continually inspire me with this couple and find new ways for me to fall in love with them.

The Room of Forgotten Talents

Sept. 2007

It wasn't that they had all lost hope. Sam always saved them at the end of the day. It was just that after three months they had all fallen into their own routines. They had stopped waking up thinking this could be the day they figured it out. It would happen and, although they had all the time in the world, they had stopped wasting it waiting for something they couldn't control. Well, everyone except Mitchell.

It wasn't normal, but it had become normal. Either you found something that kept you sane or you didn't. Mitchell seemed to be a little less sane then his usual self, but the rest of them all seemed to have an outlet now.

Daniel's was currently driving him crazy. She was sitting in the Asguard knowledge base room on the floor with her back to the wall. She was reading a Cosmopolitan she had brought with her and by now had read a million times.

He was deep in advanced technologies and was only brought out every so often when she popped her bubble gum. He thought it was cute when she started to spend time with him as he tried to absorb an entire civilization, but when you were stuck on a ship with only five other people it was very easy to get tired of one of them. Just because Vala was his girlfriend didn't mean she was any different.

Their relationship was doing great. They were still in the honeymoon stage of the new relationship, enjoying the ins and outs of getting to know each other in new ways. He understood her in a lot of ways he hadn't before.

She had opened up about so many things she used to tuck away. He had to push a little about Adria. He knew there was more there than she let on. It wasn't until they had been together for a couple weeks that he finally got her to touch that subject. He knew it had helped her to admit she did care for her daughter no matter what her origins were. It was the first time he had ever seen her cry over Adria's death and that was the night they had ended up making love again.

Everything was right, as it should be between them.

She popped her gum again. Well, almost everything was right.

"Sweetheart?"

"Hmm?" She didn't look up from her magazine.

"I think you need a hobby."

"A what?"

"Something to do. Something to fill your time."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Just something. Sam can…" he waved his arm in the air, "get you anything you want. Haven't you ever wanted to learn something or do something?"

"Other than what I do now?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Vala."

"Well, not anything I can do here anyway. You have a very interesting animal called an elephant I would love to ride someday, but obviously that isn't possible in our state. Why? Got any ideas?"

"I don't know." One object came to mind, though why that object he didn't know. "Ask Sam for a hula-hoop."

"A what?"

"Just go ask her for one."

She sighed and closed the magazine. She had to admit her boredom was abnormally high lately and she could ask Sam to get her whatever she wanted. "Fine, but it better not be a book or anything boring like that."

"Not a book."

She kissed him on the cheek and skipped out calling behind her, "I know you're just trying to get rid of me."

"Wasn't really trying to hide it, have fun." He sighed and turned back to his work, enjoying the peace and quiet once again.

She returned fifteen minutes later, a bright purple hula-hoop spinning around her hips as she walked in. "All right, you have one minute before I get bored again."

He leaned against the console and smacked his head against the top.

"Next."

Nov. 2007

From then on she was always doing something. Some lasted longer than others. The trumpet was a short lived past time. Sam had suggested an instrument and Mitchell had suggested she had enough air for a trumpet. The poor trumpet lasted two days. She mastered 'Mary had a Little Lamb' and 'Hot Crossed Buns' and realized how much work would be involved before she could play expertly like she wanted to. And that was the end of that.

Feb. 2008

Daniel knocked on Vala's door and waited for her to answer. She rarely used her room anymore, choosing his more often for anything they did. The only time he found her here was when her newest hobby was a little messy.

He had thrown her out of his room after spilling paint all over his bed. That occupation didn't last long and she certainly hadn't painted any masterpieces, but he had kept what she had done. One piece was now on his wall and two others were stored in the room next to his. After that anything that could spill, stain or stick was something she did in her own quarters.

He knocked again.

"Go away. I'm not hungry."

"Vala, open up please."

The door immediately opened.

"Don't you dare laugh."

He tried, but he couldn't help it. He laughed. "What did you do?"

She pouted. "Teal'c suggested I might like candle making. I think he was kidding, but then I thought candles could be quite sexy. I thought it might be nice if we had a few. So I tried and…it won't come out of my hair." She stuck out her lower lip and pouted.

He tried to be serious and hide his amusement, but it was hard. She was covered in candle wax. It was all over her clothes and her left ponytail was a complete block of wax. It hung straight down, while the right one had her normal bit of curl and bounce. She looked ridiculously adorable.

"Daniel Jackson if you are just going to laugh at me I have better things to do." She let the door close between them.

He returned fifteen minutes later and knocked again.

"Go away."

"Open up and I'll tell you how to get wax out of your hair."

"I don't have to cut it?" she yelled through the door.

"Not if you let me in."

The door opened. He smiled and handed her a tray of food. He had another one for himself in the other hand, which included a bottle of baby oil.

"Sam assured me baby oil would work."

"How did she just happen to know that?"

"She didn't ask me any questions and I didn't ask her any."

She stepped aside to let him in.

"I hope the candle was worth all this."

"Ha. It certainly doesn't give me any dirty ideas." She nodded to her desk where a can of wax was sitting on a hot plate. Beside it was a red candle that was bent in five different places. It looked more like something you would expect your child to bring home from school.

He had to smile at her attempt though. She had tried. "Eat first, then we'll clean out your hair."

"And you're sure that will work?" She looked at the baby oil.

"Your hair will look as good as new, I promise."

"You, Daniel Jackson, are my hero."

"I try."

Dec. 2009

"Muscles!" Vala jogged into the galley.

"Vala Mal Duran." He nodded to acknowledge her presence and turned from what he was doing.

"I need your help with something." She pulled a red deck of cards out of her jacket pocket and fanned them out in her hand. "Pick a card, any card."

Teal'c just stared at her a moment.

"Please? I've been working on this one all morning."

He raised one eyebrow, but picked a card out of the middle of the deck.

"Okay. Memorize it, but don't let me see it. Now I'm going to shuffle the cards and you tell me when to stop." She took the deck in one hand; pulled the bottom half out and started shuffling the top cards onto the bottom.

He watched her for a moment and then spoke, "Stop."

"Now put your card in the deck."

He placed his card on top of the bottom half.

She put both decks together and flicked the deck. "Your card will now reveal itself." She fanned them out again to reveal one card was blue. She picked that card out and showed it to him. "Is that your card?"

"No."

"It isn't?" she looked at it herself, the ace of clubs. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Huh."

"May I suggest you practice more before you attempt this on anyone else."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks Muscles."

"Anytime." He turned back to what he was doing, not exactly sure what just had happened.

Vala fanned the cards out in front of Mitchell. Everyone watched, as one card was blue. She picked it up and showed it to him. "Is that your card?"

Mitchell stared at it for a moment. Then he looked at the deck and he looked at her. "How…what did you just do?"

"A good magician never reveals her secrets."

She looked over at Teal'c and winked. He smiled back at her.

June 2011

Movie night came about because Vala had seen enough TV to know that Friday was the most exciting night of the week. Fridays were payday and the start of the weekend, naturally a good time to go out with friends. Well, they didn't get paid and they couldn't go out, but they needed a change. And so movie night was born. Every week someone different chose a movie. It was fun. It was different. It had popcorn. A couple hours of normal, something nobody really felt anymore. Even Mitchell admitted eventually when they got home they would have to keep this tradition going. They thought it was a great idea and Vala was rather proud of herself for thinking of it in the first place.

Jan. 2012

He didn't have time to react really. That was partly his fault. He knew better than to walk and read at the same time.

It was also partly her fault for not learning how to stop before she had put the skates on.

He rounded a corner and looked up just in time to slam himself against the wall, catch her arm and swing her around so that they didn't hit. Unfortunately he had dropped his book and that is what she hit instead. He tried to hold her up as she tripped, but she had been going too fast and he couldn't stop her. She fell arms out stretched and hit the floor. He landed next to her.

She immediately started laughing. "I LOVE these, Daniel."

He stood up and offered her both his hands. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine. That wasn't the first time and I doubt it will be the last."

He looked down at her newest hobby, roller skates. "What in the world made you think of these?"

"Sam, actually."

"Aha. Couldn't you practice somewhere safer…or padded?"

"Now where's the fun in that?"

"Hmm…right. I'll be right back."

He came back ten minutes later carrying a helmet, kneepads and elbow pads.

"I'm not five."

"Humor me, will you?" He handed her the knee and elbow pads and started to put the helmet on.

She looked down at what he had handed her and frowned. "These aren't very flattering, darling."

"Neither is being black and blue." He snapped the helmet strap under her chin. "Just till you get the hang of it, please. I'll make it worth your while."

"And by that you mean…?"

"What would you like it to mean?"

She smiled and leaned in so that her lips were just barely touching his ear lobe. "Pink…fluffy…handcuffs."

He sighed.

"Bondage can be fun as I'm sure you can remember."

"Only fun for you."

"What better reason then to try again?"

He pursed his lips together, but said nothing.

"Oh, come on. Even Cameron let me handcuff him to a bed."

"Cam was unconscious."

"Yes, but I'm sure he thinks back on it with fond memories. Please?" She jutted out her lower lip and pouted.

"Okay, okay. If it keeps you from breaking a leg…then I guess."

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"I mean it. Not one broken bone."

"Cross my heart." She gave him that trademark smile of hers.

He had to admit it. He was wrapped as tightly as possible around her little finger. But with a smile like that, how could he not be?

"I should warn you I'm a fast learner."

She was. He found himself in handcuffs two days later.

April 2014

She heard the door open, but she didn't look up. She was captivated in every sense of the word and not even Daniel could steal her attention away at that moment. Well, unless he was naked. Which since he had just come in from the hallway she knew he was not.

She felt the bed sink a bit as he sat next to her. Still she didn't look up. She couldn't. Not now. Not when Prince Adrian was about to--

"What are you reading? Why are you reading?"

She sighed and closed the book, keeping a finger in the pages to mark her place.

"I can read, Daniel. I just avoid doing it for the most part."

"I never said you couldn't. You just never struck me as the reading type."

"I know. Sam suggested I might like a romance. So she gave me some book she said was a classic by Jane…something or other.

"Jane Austen?"

"Yeah, her."

Daniel turned the book in her hand to look at the cover. "The Prince of Scoundrels…not by Jane Austen."

"Oh, I know. I got to page eight of that one and was bored to tears. And it just so happens as we were talking about it Cameron comes in and mentions his mother used to read these deliciously dirty novels. Did you know there are novels all about sex?"

"Yes, though I hesitate to call them novels. Novels have plot."

"Oh there's a plot…somewhere."

"Yes, but I have a general rule when it comes to pleasure reading that you should have to look through the plot for any sex…not look through the sex for any plot."

"Well, you read about your boring stuffy civilizations and I'll stick to Prince Adrian's pocket rocket."

"What? Oh, please don't say that ever again."

"Jealous?"

"No."

"You are very good Daniel, but I don't ever see you ripping my panties off."

"I could try…if you wanted wedgies. Besides, I have nothing to be jealous of. He's fictional. At the end of the night you will close the book on him and sleep in my bed." He started to undress; fully aware her eyes were on him and not some silly book.

"True. I guess you will have to do."

"I guess I will." He hadn't taken the bait.

"Oh, come on Daniel! Don't you have fantasies? Don't you ever think about getting so lost in passion you don't know where you end and I begin? Making the ground shake? Turning into blinding white heat?"

"O-kay. Mitchell needs to let off his own steam and stop messing with mine."

"Daniel it's been seven years. Don't you ever feel…bored?"

"No. No…do you?" He turned toward her as he slipped his nightshirt over his head.

"No. I love that part of our life. But sometimes a girl just needs a guy to look at her from a across a room and take her for no other reason then he absolutely has to. That he's so in love with her and needs her so much that he can't stand to be apart from her for one more moment."

"In other words you think we've become predictable?"

"When was the last time we had sex anywhere but our room?"

He thought a moment, but had no answer.

"See? What happened to that? What happened to spontaneously just needing the other or we might just explode?"

"One, I think we decided floors and tables were not as comfortable as our bed and two…I need you. I always need you."

"I know. It's just after so long it's hard to feel…as wanted I guess. Do you still think of me that way? I mean when we first started and everything was all fast and furious? Sometimes it feels like I'm old news or…."

He cut her off as he crossed the room in two strides and stopped her little tirade with his mouth. She was stunned at first, but then moaned and melted into his arms.

"I…didn't…mean…you…had to…right now," she managed to get out between his frantic kisses.

He stopped for a moment and took her face in his hands. "You want to know if I still find you attractive? Sometimes I look at you and everything else disappears and I think…if I had a choice of never coming here…never getting stuck on this stupid ship and just being friends with you…and this…what we have…what I can't live without…which is you by the way…I choose you every time."

"O-okay. I think that answers my question, but - - "

"Vala."

"Y-yes."

"Shut up."

He slid her back against the wall.

They were undressed in less than a minute and her legs intertwined around his waist as he pressed her harder against the wall. Then he showed her what turning into blinding white heat really meant.

She never stopped reading them. They were the only kind of book she could stand to read and as the years went by they could occasionally keep her entertained. But if you gave her a choice of sexy pirates, scandalous royals and reality…she chose her Daniel every time.

Aug. 2047

Somewhere over the years the room had turned into a literal forest. What had started out as a couple of plants had turned into a green room. It was General Landry's outlet. He had enjoyed it and had added to them year after year. He had kept them alive and thriving. Now without him, they had seemed to lose the will to live. She didn't know if there was some special way or trick he had used to take care of them. What did she know about plants? Nothing. But she didn't think anyone else had thought to check on them after Landry's death. So for the last couple of weeks she had been watching them. Making sure they got some light, even if it was artificial and watered them. But sadly most of them had started to wilt and she didn't know what to do to help them. Poor things. The only person on this ship that cared for them was gone. Apparently they noticed.

She sat down in the one chair in the room and pouted. "Come on guys. I'm trying here." There wasn't an answer, not that she had expected one.

"Vala, come back to bed."

She didn't need to turn to know who it was. After forty years she knew the voice of the love of her life anywhere, but she turned anyway.

He leaned against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest. His long gray hair looked a mess around his shoulders.

"I couldn't sleep and I thought maybe I haven't been giving them enough water."

"And you couldn't have done that tomorrow?"

She turned back to the plants. "Forty years, Daniel. Forty years and all that is left of him…all that is on this ship that says he was here…that he existed…are these stupid plants. I wanted to take care of them for him. To keep a little piece of him here with us."

He came up behind her and kneeled down, resting his chin on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I think it's wonderful you are taking care of this room for him, but you don't have to do it to keep him with us."

"I do…just for now I do."

He kissed her cheek. "Come to bed. We'll ask Sam for a book on plant care tomorrow."

She grimaced slightly.

"I'll read it for you and give you the highlights."

"Hmm…that's my Daniel. Still my hero after all these years."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Dec. 2056

Over the years the room had gotten the name the room of forgotten talents. Though he had forgotten who had named it that. It was more for him than for her. Except for the hobbies that had lasted the years she never really chose to keep anything that came from them. He had been the one to steal the evidence away and hide it in this little room now littered with the past. It was their attic, full of keepsakes and junk you don't throw away because it all had meant something.

His eyes roamed the piles that littered the floor. At first glance you would think she had tried just about every hobby out there.

There was a cross-stitch sitting on the table next to him with half of a Japanese character filled in.

There was a sketchbook next to it filled with a million memories they would never have. A picture of a house with a white picket fence and a little girl chasing after a dog in the front yard had been ripped out and was sitting on to top of it. She had drawn that one not long after the miscarriage. She had filled every page with things they would never have and then she had been done. That had been the end of drawing.

There was a couple pair of roller skates and one pair of roller blades, sitting against the wall long forgotten. There was a kiln and pottery wheel in the corner with several vases and bowls that sat on a shelf above them. That particular hobby had been sparked after Sam had insisted on Ghost for movie night years ago.

Next to that was a karaoke machine that had only been used once.

There were board games and romance books scattered everywhere. They filled up every space available between the boxes of pictures from her photography and the scrapbooks that had held the years firmly between their pages.

She laughed at him when he had taken something to join its fallen comrades before it, but they had been more than stuff to him. The room was a reminder of her. She had changed over the years, partly from growing old and partly from being taken out of any world she had been comfortable in and sticking her here. Every piece in the room had been apart of her.

Some of it reminded him of how she was. When he had first met her, that carefree craziness that had unfortunately dulled a bit over the years. Though he knew he was different as well. They all had changed in time. He missed the younger them. The ones that had hope above all else. He missed that the most, especially about her.

He would have liked to take her back to earth and spoil her. To keep her away from this never changing place and keep her just as she was. That fiery passion he had loved so much had been suffocated eventually. Though he knew age changed anyone he wondered how different she would have been if they had been able to get back. What would their attic have looked like in that little yellow house she had drawn over and over? It would probably still be filled with a million different objects that had caught her fancy and eventually lost it. That was his Vala.

A soft whimsical laugh came from behind him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"When did you become so sentimental, old man? Look at all this junk."

"One man's trash…"

"Is still trash?" She picked up a horribly disfigured candle and then dropped it back down. "Oh dear God." She dug around behind some boxes and pulled out a purple hula-hoop. "Now what possessed you to keep this?"

"I didn't want it to feel left out."

"Hmm…I wonder." She dropped the hoop on the floor, stepped into it and pulled the hoop up to her waist.

"Don't hurt yourself, please. You were a lot younger then."

"Oh knowing you I'm sure those knee and elbow pads are around here somewhere." She rocked her hips back and forth and the hula-hoop spun around her waist.

"Still got it after all these years."

She stopped moving and the hoop fell to the ground. "Still boring."

He laughed quietly, "I love you."

"Only for my hula-hoop skills."

He stood up from where he sat and wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her close to him. "I love you for a million different reasons…none of which have to do with hula-hoops."

She touched a finger to the tip of his nose. "Hmm…you were always my favorite hobby, you know. The only thing in all these years that really kept me sane."

"Now who's being sentimental?"

She ignored him. "You are everything to me, you know." She looked around the room. "Even if you are crazy."

"Someone once said 'There is always some madness in love.' Maybe I was the one who went crazy and I took you with me."

She stared at him a minute and remembered what she had said to him all those years ago.

"I'm going to go crazy and I'm taking you with me."

"Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking me with you."

TBC