The Gift of
Love That Holds the Soul Intact
By: spacegypsy1
CATEGORY: Drama, Missing Scene
SEASON/SPOILERS: Season 10 “Unending”
WARNINGS: None
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:
http://www.fanfiction.net/~spacegypsy1
Daniel stood against the wall in the corridor of the Odyssey and watched as Mitchell ran past. Mitchell was a basket case. And poor Vala was a basket case. Hell, they all were basket cases. Ready for the loony bin and none in site. The same scene out the windows for months on end. He figured he was the only one who still looked out, except maybe for General Landry…Hank. Daniel still wasn’t used to calling him that. Walking down the hall, hands in his pockets Daniel headed for “The Room” as they had all begun to call it, the room where he studied the Ancient Asgard text. It kept him busy, besides he actually enjoyed it. He had a lot to learn. Unfortunately he probably had lots of time to learn.
Once he was inside the room a sudden thought stopped him in his tracks. Ernest Littlefield. Trying to dispel the thought Daniel moved the crystal to activate the last section he had studied. His mind wandered and a vision of the room where Ernest had showed him the universal language of the four races seemed to wash over the Ancient text before him. My god, the man had been trapped there alone for fifty years. Daniel’s stomach did a little flip and his hand trembled as he moved the crystal. Fifty years. What if they were trapped on the Odyssey for fifty years? But Ernest had been alone. He had conjured up Catherine in his mind as he slowly went mad. Turning off the device Daniel headed for Sam’s lab where he’d last seen Vala. Thankfully he had Vala…and the others. But Vala was his anchor.
Sam was alone in the lab when he entered. She looked up and smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey. How’s it going?”
“Good and bad.”
“Well, I guess I know what the bad is, what’s the good?”
“I finished a program that if I ever figure out how to reverse the time dilation bubble, it will get us out of here.”
“That is good, show me what you’ve got.” Daniel settled into the chair beside her as Sam brought up the program.
He had spent hours with Sam before he realized he should check in on Vala. He found her in their room, staring out the window, dressed in dark satin pajamas he’d never seen before. Odd, she never slept in anything that wasn’t cute or sexy or his T shirt which was cute and sexy on her, and, she never stared out the window. Her arms were wrapped around her shoulders as if she were hugging herself. “Counting the stars?” He asked softly, concerned.
Without turning she spoke in a quiet voice, much to quiet. “Landry has his jungle - Teal’c his meditation, his workouts with Cam and I wouldn’t even begin to understand what else he might be doing – And Cam runs and runs and runs and then he plays chess and then he runs – And Sam is so far out there in her work, I have no idea what she is talking about half the time. She just taps and taps and taps away at that computer.” She didn’t turn from the window as he approached and stood close behind her. “And you have all those pages and pages and pages that you seem to love so much. And I have you to toy with but … it’s not enough. Do you know that there are a hundred and eight-eight bolts in one wall in the storage unit? Did you notice that I have rearranged your sock drawer? There are fourteen pairs, no that’s not right, there are thirteen pairs plus one sock, I was trying to make one of those monkey toy things I saw once in a store, but I couldn’t.”
Daniel put his arms around her, crossing his arms on top of hers, gently pulling her back into his body, nuzzling the hair at her temple. She didn’t respond, only stared out the window.
Voice still deadly calm she continued as though he remained far across the room, “I can’t take it anymore. I hate confinement. I hate having nothing to do for hours on end. I hate it. I hate being on this ship, Daniel. I don’t think I’m going to be alright. I think I just want to bust out this window and leap out into space.”
He turned her to him and tried to kiss her, but she turned her head away, “Don’t.”
“Vala.” He tried to take her hand but she pulled free.
“Don’t pity me. I hate that. I hate everything. I hate this ship. Most of all I hate you. You and your calm and your kindness. How all of sudden you decided you were just enough bored to lower yourself to my level. To sleep with me.” She continued unemotionally, “what were you thinking? That if you…” suddenly there was a hitch in her voice. A little breakdown.
“That’s not true and you know it.” He came to her again and again she side stepped his attempt to soothe her.
“I’m going back to my quarters.” She made for the door, but Daniel beat her to it, eyes confused and a bit scared.
“These are your quarters, Vala, here with me. Stay. Please. Let’s talk. You’re upset, you’re not making any sense.”
She tried to push past him and he grabbed her pulling her until her back was against his chest. He had one arm across her stomach and one across her breasts, and he felt a hot tear splash upon his wrist.
“Let me go.” Vala’s voice seemed to beg.
“Not until you promise you’ll stay.”
She nodded only once and he released her and she stood head down and hair falling like a curtain over her face.
Not knowing what to say Daniel waited behind her. He heard a wrenching sob that tore through him like a staff blast and still he could not speak. She moved away to stand at the foot of the bed. Their bed. In that instant he knew how much he loved her. More than he thought himself capable of, more than he could express, he loved her so deeply and he was powerless to help her through her darkest hour.
“Vala?”
Her hands covered her face and her shoulders quaked with weeping. This time when he touched her back she didn’t pull away.
“Vala.”
She turned into him and they sank to the floor. He held her while she cried her tears of rage, trying desperately to speak - to tell him she didn’t mean her hateful words but only hoarse clipped sobs came out.
“I know, sweetheart, I know.” And he held her and let her cry. When she pulled away he pulled her in, his anchor, pulled her to him and held on to her as much for his sake as hers.
“Vala, we’re not together because we’re trapped; I never asked you to live here with me because I was bored,” he lifted her chin, “how could I be bored with you? And I have a room full of words to translate. If we’re trapped here for a hundred years, I wouldn’t get bored. If we’re here a hundred years, I’d have a hundred years to share with you. A hundred years to hold you in my arms, a hundred years to prove that I care about you – how very much I love you. When we get back, Vala, things will not change between us. Not for me.” His eyes, those blue windows to his core, touched her so deep she felt their searing brand on her soul.
She placed a trembling hand on his cheek, “And not for me Daniel, not in a million years. Nothing could happen that could change the way I feel about you, how much I have come to love you.” Vala snuggled in closer to him; feeling secure and loved in the sanctuary of his arms she fell asleep.
Daniel rested his cheek against her hair, slowly rocking her, gently caressing her shoulder.
They stayed like that for a long while, her sleeping, him rocking, until he felt stiff from sitting so long on the floor. Somehow he got his arms around her knees and back and lifted her. She mumble, laying her head on his shoulder. He smiled and managed to get her into the bed without completely waking her. He was tired, emotionally drained, but not sleepy. He dressed for bed anyway and crawled in beside her. Pushing the hair from her face he frowned at the red splotches left from crying. He’d made her cry like that once before. It broke his heart to look at her now.
“Mmm, Daniel?” Her sleepy voice was barely audible.
“Hmmm?”
“I’ve never been in love before,” she whispered, hiding her face against his chest.
With a gentle finger he lifted her chin so he could see her face.
Her eyes fluttered open, “I’ll admit I was in lust with you the moment I laid eyes on you. I never expected this, to feel this way and I’m really not quite sure how one goes about it.”
“Generally, one goes about it like this,” Daniel kissed her softly, exploring her lips.
“I thought that was the lust part.” Vala sighed between his tasting, teasing kisses.
He pulled her harder against him, deepening the kiss, “Yeah, there’s that too.”
** The End **
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