transition into the future (for not_a_conartist)

[theliar]

[[continued from this log]]

Vala bit back a pontiff smile, because if there was anything a con artist knew, it was not to give away all of her secrets right away. She tried to remember the Earth saying Mitchell had taught her; "Don't show all your cards." Vala would, most decidedly, be keeping her cards away from Neal for a while.

It was funny, in a quaint sort of way, how humans had all these hang ups about time travel and whatnot. Vala learned quickly that the SGC was far from the ordinary, and most humans didn't have half the idea how utterly insignificant they were in the scheme of the universe. It was absolutely endearing.

"Come along," she chirped, turning back to the door. "We should drop by my room and pick up some supplies. After all, we don't know what we're getting into, and the first step to adventure is to always be prepared."

Mostly, Vala wanted to make sure she had everything she needed in the case that there was something shiny, rare and/or valuable that she may need to, er, liberate. "Some water," she chatted idly, "a first aid kit. And, oh, some of those delicious granola bars from the kitchen. Have you tried those? They're really good."

Comments

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

When Vala's back was turned, Neal took that opportunity to get the bag he'd been keeping stashed above the bed. Once down it looked like no more than your ordinary leather shoulder bag, but inside it had several of Neal's tricks of the trade. Lock-picking set, cigarettes, and a few other odds and ends he'd brought with him in his perceived escape from New York City.

"Those are pretty much some of the only things I've eaten for the last week," he said, with the slightest hint of disdain.

In all honesty, Neal was admittedly spoiled with food and drink since living with June. He had access to some of the best wines in the world, all the ingredients he could ever hope for making gourmet meals, and a stipend from the FBI that he often used for the food of his choice since he didn't have to worry about paying for clothes or shelter. Peter tended to get pretty irritable with how good Neal had it for being on house arrest, and for just a minute he imagined the smug look Peter would have had to see him in his current condition.

Suppressing a sigh, because he was Neal Caffrey who needed no one and missed no one, the facade of pleasant bachelor was put solidly in place. Adjusting his crooked tie with a put on air of self importance, he followed Vala into the hall and off to her room. Neal took care to photographically remember every step along the way.

"So if this time room is real,like you claim, what are you going to do if we get transported to pre-dinosaur times and the earth is volcanic and the air too acidic to breathe?"

While Neal wasn't convinced in the slightest that they'd be taken anywhere, it was a question worth asking.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala scrunched up her face as Neal spoke. She'd definitely let her mind be sidetracked to what kind of food they should bring - after all, better safe than sorry when going anywhere. And safe usually meant preparing to be able to eat. Vala certainly didn't know much about fine cuisine; the commissary at the SGC didn't really have that much to offer when it came to fine wines, at least. But she did really like granola bars.

Crossing her arms, she turned back slightly to look at him while they walked, raising her eyebrows. "That's isn't exactly optimistic or adventurous. Besides, I don't see the point of anyone putting a time room in a castle just for the sheer joy of transporting it's occupants so back far in time that they die. It would probably be more economical just to poison the air in the castle and get it over with right away."

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

"Have we been at the same castle?" Neal laughed. "I wouldn't put anything past these lunatics. Who puts beautiful cars meant to be driven on a compound with ten miles of road? Now that's cruelty."

The bag he was carrying was adjusted multiple times along the way. It was starting to drive Neal bonkers being a cripple. Trapped was bad enough but the whole helpless angle was more than he could tolerate. Most of the fidgeting was done discreetly but by the time they at her room Neal was ready to murder the long strap that he just couldn't seem to get shorter with his one and a half hands.

"Hey, I'm very adventurous. I just like to consider every angle, that's all." Insert charming grin here.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala rolled her eyes and opened the door to her room. "They probably put them that far away to deter people from making a habit out of crashing them." She shot him a sly smile over her shoulder as she grabbed her green bag out from under her bed.

It was already filled with all of her tools and usual supplies. She nabbed some extra clothes from the closet, including the fatigue's she'd come to the castle with, and shoved them into the top of the bag. A girl could never be too prepared, after all.

"We'll just try to avoid going back in time. Besides, if it's an option, I would find the future much more interesting."

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

"But there's something to be said for the past. All those amazing artists, Van Goh, Goya, Matisse, Dali..."

Apparently Neal was some sort of art buff. Or, you know, a very talented forger. That part though, well he didn't see any reason to share. As she stuffed her bag full of clothes, Neal suddenly had regrets over his packing. If they were indeed heading to the future, it would probably be even harder to find the vintage suits he so loved! They were going to have to pit stop again on the way to the time room.

"As for the crashing, it wasn't like I wanted to hurt the Jag. Never that Jag. I just sort of... passed out? I don't know it was... weird."

Neal knew he was being ineloquent but as no one had explained what had happened to him when he wasn't concussed it had been a major hang up. It was as if his body had betrayed him, something that had never happened to Neal.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

She pulled the ties on her bag until they were taught and then stood up, swinging the bag over her shoulder with a tiny grunt.

"There's some kind of field around the castle grounds. It's not a force-shield, but it disorients anyone who tries to cross it and eventually you lose consciousness. You probably went out to far." She offered him what was, really, a comforting smile. Even if she didn't know what she was thinking, Vala knew an awful lot about being betrayed by her own body. Quite literally, when it came to memories of Qetesh, anyway.

"If Samantha were here, she'd be able to figure it out and probably deactivate it. She's a friend of mine from back... Well. From back home." She grinned again and adjusted the bag on her back before adjusting her hair, and then she moved back out of the room and shut the door behind her.

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

"Oh of course, force fields. I can't believe I didn't consider that," Neal responded with a wry smile.

The comfort Vala tried to provide didn't go unnoticed and it certainly helped to keep him from just dismissing her as crazy. They headed back down the halls at a quick pace, both being tall and with long leg strides. Holding up a hand at his door, an unspoken request for a quick stop, he ducked into the room. A few shirts, suit pieces, and ties were tossed into his bag, which was now bulging on the sides, before he turned back.

On their way out he grabbed his hat from the nightstand, twirling it one handed onto his head. Neal had long ago taught himself to be ambidextrous, so the motion came with ease despite his main arm being broken.

"Okay Vala Mal Doran, let's go check out this 'time room' of yours." Again with those air quotes.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Watching his small display, Vala laughed, impressed, and dropped her head to the side. She thought he was funny, and she thought it was even funnier that he clearly didn't believe her. He probably wouldn't believe anything about the Stargates, either, or the fact that was alien, or much of anything about her life, really. It was hard for her to grasp the quaint realities of the Taur'i sometimes, but considering the things she had seen, sometimes she did envy them.

"It's not mine," she replied, leading him down the hallway and following the directions she'd been given. She wasn't sure she quite believed any of it either, of course, but that gave her even more reason to think it should be tested.

The approached the room, and Vala gestured to the doorway with her hand before winking at Neal. "Go on, you first."

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

"Well, I think it should be the Vala Time Travel Spectacular."

Again with the charming comments and sweet remarks. Boy could Neal lay it on thick. Though, in some ways, it wasn't totally an act. Vala was cute, smart, and amusing. Something about her was drawing Neal in, much as he tended to do with others. The writing was on the wall but his own con was blinding him.

"Oh sure, send the cripple in first," Neal complained.

Peter tended to do the same thing, though without the cripple part. Send Neal in ahead and see what happened was sort of his lot in life these days. Admittedly though, when it came to the work the FBI was doing, Neal liked being right in the fray. Since he didn't truly believe the claims people had made of the room, despite his complaint Neal strode right in.

The art on the walls caught his eyes first. The paintings were all foreign to him, which was unexpected. They were all clearly done by the same artist, a lefty by the looks of it, but the generic look and unusual scenes were baffling. Stepping up to a few, Neal was unconsciously began doing his appraisal, hoping for clues within the art.

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

There was no time to shout her name or warn Vala to stay away from the apparently dangerous button before he blipped out of existence in the castle. Neal's world was spinning and sky seemed to open up into a vortex of swirling stars. For the world's longest second, and also the shortest, Neal Caffrey was terrified. Well, simultaneously terrified and exhilarated. Vala's stories of time and space were true?!

Before he could consider this fact any further, Neal found himself shielding his eyes. His feet had never moved, his position had never changed, but suddenly the light was far brighter than the room full of painting or the moment of transitioning in time. When his eyes finally adjusted and Neal brought his arm down, the usually loquacious man was silent.

Space craft and hover cars were whizzing by overhead. Skyscrapers that reached where he'd known aircraft to fly in his time. Neal's handsome jaw hung agape as he tried to register everything he was seeing. The amount to take in was beyond overwhelming and when Vala appeared beside him, he was still in the same stunned statuesque pose.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala, used to Stargate travel, didn't find herself disoriented by the process. Once she pressed the button, she found herself appearing next to Neal. Her first thought was to be secretly happy they hadn't ended up somewhere with a hostile atmosphere - or worse, floating in the void of space - and she looked up at the sky, her mouth widening into a tremendous grin.

"Now, this is more like it," she declared. She took a few steps up to him, still looking to the sky, and shifted so her shoulder gently bumped his. "I bet this makes you wish that garage was full of more than just fancy cars, doesn't it?"

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

Blinking, Neal turned his head toward Vala. There were very few people in the known universe who'd successfully rendered him speechless. The strange brunette could now be proud to count herself among them. Rubbing the back of his head, Neal struggled to not look completely dumbfounded.

"Well, I wouldn't want them to take the fancy cars away but..." Staring as a hover bike whizzed by, a childish grin took his lips. "But I REALLY want to try one of those."

The big spaceships were amazing, surely, but not something that appealed much more than jetliners. They were a bit unattainable for him. Neal's eyes sparkled as he looked from ship to building to ship and then back to Vala. Internally, he was trying to catalog how much he could steal, make, and need to learn to be perfect his trade in this place.

If they never returned to the castle, it would be too soon!

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala's thoughts weren't too far from Neal. This was a treasure trove of technology, and Vala had certainly stolen much more complex ships. She watched then whip through the sky, debating the best way to go about such a heist, and trying to decide how to do so without bringing it to Neal's attention.

"Let's go and try one then," she said encouragingly. Maybe if they "borrowed" one, they could get it back to the right timeline and use it to get away from the castle. Granted, Vala wasn't sure her plan would work, but at this point, anything was worth trying. She really just wanted to go home, mostly. But doing so by flying in a rather extraordinary ship wouldn't hurt...

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

"Of those bikes? They are bikes, right? That's what people call them here?"

It was obvious to Neal that Vala had been truthful all along. This future was real. He could see it, feel it, and even taste it. Most people would have thought about how their friends were long dead and how they were alone and obselete. Neal meanwhile, well he already was alone in life and so all he saw in this reality was potential.

With a nice and honest girl like Vala to accompany him and show him the ropes, Neal was sure he'd integrate alright in time. Granted his crippled arm was going to leave him relying on Vala for quite a while, something he wasn't as happy about, but at least it could be an excuse to stick by her without seeming as clueless about the future as he actually was.

"Well, I'm not exactly going to be the best candidate for driving one of those," he admitted, giving his arm a disdainful look before turning back to Vala with a patented charming smile.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala shot her own patented smile right back, knowing from Neal's attitude that she had him wrapped right about her finger. Men were so easy sometimes, especially when they didn't have much of an idea of what was going on. Daniel had been impossible to tame, of course, because he knew what Vala really was; or, in the least, what she had once been. Neal, on the other hand, was a welcome challenge.

"Something like that," she informed him. "Personally I'm more familiar with more modest trading ships. Sometimes I really miss mine." The lies were coming easily, slipping off of her tongue with genuine innocence. But she was too wrapped up to even feel badly about it. "I think if we're going to give anything a try, it should be one of the bigger ships. And I'm sure I can fly anything here."

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

"Well back at the castle it seemed alright to help ourselves, so this is probably no different?"

Neal's voice was purposefully tinted with innocence and optimism. If he could convince Vala they take one, steal one really, then he'd have plenty of time to recuperate. Once he was better, Neal would focus on the where's and finding a good place to set up shop. There were probably aliens and a slew of other dangerous things he was going to want to be educated about from the safety of a ship rather than some place they would have to squat in or, gasp, work hard to keep.

A wink, the kind men give cute women to convince them of their sincerity, punctuated the end of his spoken sentence and his unshared thoughts.

"Lead the way. If we find one you think will work, maybe I could distract them or something?"

Yep, lay it on thick, as if all these ideas were just coming out of nowhere.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala let her mouth hang open just a tad, as if such an idea would never occur to her. "Oh, I don't know about that..."

The play of innocence was obviously working to her advantage, but Vala didn't want to push it too hard, lest Neal catch on that she was over-compensating. The suggestion, however, certainly impressed her. He was making this far too easy.

"I suppose if we just take it out for a ride and bring it back," she finally added. "Maybe they won't even notice it's gone! If nothing else I'm sure we both could charm someone into giving us a wonderful deal..."

For Vala, of course, "deal" meant "free." But she and Neal were in this together now, and she didn't need him running off when the fire got too hot. After all, she was sure there was something she'd be able to use him for.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

That made Vala laugh, because she thought he was being incredibly cute. It was only a small perk that he was also rolling with her tiny con. The drugs just kept working in her favor, and she was glad he was at least someone who had an appreciation for a little creativity when it came to bending the truth.

"Quite lucky, considering what a nice ship you got out of the deal," she chirped. And luckily for us it still seems to be in rather good working order. It's really a shame you didn't get to enjoy much of the trip."

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

Neal smiled and nodded. Well, they'd managed to come to some kind of conclusion that seemed to hang in the air between two innocent people. Too bad Neal was hardly innocent. His body was relaxed and whatever that planet had tried to do on their exit seemed cured. A small panel on the wall lit up near them, indicating that he would be eligible for medical release in two hours.

"Well... that's certainly impressive. Space hospitals are pretty nice..."

Drugs or not, that sentence sounded like it had been said by a madman, at least in Neal's ears. He'd missed out on his ascent into space and spent the entirety of the trip unconscious. It didn't seem like a fair break and he was admittedly a little disappointed. When he voiced this, it wasn't an act.

"Seems pretty unfair I didn't even see a moment of my first... space flight. Guess we'll have to try again when I'm not dying all over the floor."

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala looked happily at the message. Granted, it hadn't given her quite as much time as she'd hoped; she had wanted a chance to get a closer look at the space station while Neal healed up. Mostly in hopes of finding some loot.

But she would settle for what she had, and if it meant heading out in 2 hours, she would deal with it. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to make up for it. I don't think we have to go back to the castle if we don't want to."

There was certainly nothing keeping her there. With Daniel gone and the only other friend she had made right there with her, she didn't feel any obligation to go back.

"When you are feeling up to it, we could go look out a window if you want."

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

"After what I went through for us to get away from that... place... Just... pass." Neal shook his head. Like Hell he'd be going back. "Wonder if I get to meet an alien..."

Though he'd glimpsed a few alien life forms before they'd taken off, his attentions had mostly been on Vala when they arrived. Once the con started, Neal had to force himself to turn off the curiosity until the job was done. Now, it was seeming like the job was done, though they didn't have much of a direction of where to go moving forward.

"Oh, so there are windows. Good... wasn't sure."

After the light flashed again, there was another message in English.

Proceed to 738-42 for accommodations while patient Caffrey, Neal recovers.

"Wow... People in the future sure are generous..." he observed. Later, after the drugs, it would bother him.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

She was about to inform him happily that he had already met an alien when his train of thought continued and then they were both distracted by the new message. Confused, Vala stared at the screen.

"A little too generous," she muttered. She didn't like this - the longer they had to stick around, the more likely it was that someone would start asking questions she and Neal hadn't scripted answers to. Maybe she should go over, explain patiently that this was all a mistake and it was better for them to move along.

And if that didn't work, a little walk would help her plan a quick escape route, too.

"No one mentioned accommodations to me," she told him, honestly. She started to stand up. "I'll go speak with them and see what's going on."

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

There wasn't another messaged, besides the continually illuminated time until his release and where they could go to after that happened. It was a good thing Vala's sharp mind was on the details while Neal was under the weather. If they'd walked into a set-up and he'd missed it, he would have been furious with himself. When she moved to go outside, there was an expectant nurse walking by. It was was if she was used to the questions Vala had yet to ask.

"It's just part of our system. You don't have to worry, no one will bother you except in case Mr. Caffrey requires medical assistance," came her almost drone like response. She clearly had better things to do than bother to explain more details to yet another person who had arrived without the introductory speech.

Meanwhile, Neal was starting to doze unintentionally. There wasn't much he could do to help her, and he was relatively sure any attempts he'd make would be botched until he was under his own volition once more.

[queenofthieves.livejournal.com]

Vala didn't get much more out of her conversation with the nurse than that. But, for the most part, she started to suspect it really was just standard protocol. She wouldn't let her guard down, that was for sure; but it seemed silly to turn down such good hospitality when given the opportunity.

Rounding back into the med bay, Vala paused for a moment and watched Neal nod off. She leaned against a doorway and crossed her arms. In all honesty, she really did feel bad about him being in this situation, and she couldn't deny that it was her fault. A lifetime ago, she wouldn't have hesitated to leave with or without him, if it meant she could get off the space station and away. Working for the SGC had given her a rather strange idea of loyalty, and she just couldn't imagine abandoning Neal to whatever the space station fated him to.

So it was in that moment that she, apparently, decided she wasn't going anywhere without him. Sometimes, she really hated being a good person.

"We're staying here tonight," she told him.

[bondsjamesbonds.livejournal.com]

Neal had just started to slip into drug induced dreams. It was one of those 'waking reality' type of dreams that had him back on Earth, in the 2000s, trying to recapture something long gone. When Vala's voice pierced through his dream state, he was awake again, trying to recall whatever it was he'd been dreaming about to no avail.

His eyes fixed on Vala across the room and Neal was embarrassed to admit to himself that he had no idea how long she'd been standing there.

"Are the 'accomodations'" he added some air quotes as he'd done at the castle, just for Vala, with a grin, "to your liking or are we about to be... dinner. If aliens celebrate dinner..."