The Balloon Disaster by Cleo the Muse
Rating: All Ages
Genre: Gen, AU, Kidfic (Semi-Aware Danny), Smarm
Warnings: None
Episodes: None
Synopsis: A terrible tragedy has befallen the recently-downsized Daniel Jackson. Based on a true story!
Status: Completed as of October 19, 2008
The Balloon Disaster
I saw the disaster coming, but I couldn't get my brain in gear quick enough to stop it.
"Do you want a balloon, Daniel?" Carter asked, gesturing toward the bundle of brightly-colored toys gently bumping around on the ceiling of the restaurant.
"No!" Daniel cried out immediately, latching his tiny fingers onto my pants leg and burying his face against me.
"Sir?"
I sighed and crouched down, wincing as my knees protested the movement. "It's okay, Danny, you don't have to have a balloon," I soothed, gentling a knuckle under my kid's chin.
"I don't want one," Daniel insisted, eyes bright and lower lip quivering. "Balloons are bad!"
"They're not bad, kiddo," I correct, "they just--"
"They won't stay where you tell them to. They're bad, Daddy."
I can't help but chuckle at that, thinking of all the times Daniel would run off offworld, despite me specifically telling him to stay where I could see him. Come to think of it, wandering off's how my thirty-three year-old linguist ended up as my three year-old son.
"Daniel Jackson, I would like to rid this establishment of ground rodents; will you assist me?" Troubles temporarily forgotten, Daniel eagerly accepted Teal'c's offer and scampered off to the pizza parlor's game room with his very own Jaffa in tow.
Carter watched them go, then turned back toward me, face still crinkled in confusion. "What was that about, sir? I thought he loved balloons."
"'Loved' being the key phrase," I muttered, scrubbing my face over my hands and sinking into one of the cheap plastic chairs. "Saturday, Janet took Daniel and Cassie to the zoo, and both kids got balloons. I was grilling our supper when he got home, and he just couldn't wait to show me his new balloon. He tried to tie it to a deck chair, but..." I spread my hands and trailed off.
"The balloon blew away?" Carter guessed.
"Yeah. The poor kid watched it until it disappeared out of sight, crying the whole time. When he couldn't see it anymore, he turned to me, told me the balloon was 'bad', and said that he didn't want another balloon ever again."
Carter's expression changed to comprehension. "My nieces went through that phase after their kitten was hit by a car." She grinned. "Last I knew, Mark had gotten two new kittens: one for each."
"Charlie did the same thing after his pet frog escaped. But those are pets, Carter, not a balloon. Part of me can't help but wonder if Daniel remembers his original childhood, what with the way he freaks out if he can't see one of us. Serious abandonment issues."
"It's possible," she agreed. "But if a runaway balloon's the most tragic experience of his second time as a child..."
"Yeah," I nod, watching my peaceful explorer. At the moment, he's shrieking with delight while Teal'c uses a foam mallet to pound the crap out of the Whack-a-Mole machine. "And I intend to keep it that way."
Author's Notes:
I was about three years old when one of my uncles gave me a balloon at the grand opening of the parts store at which he worked. I couldn't wait to show my mom, ran out onto the deck with it, and tried to tie it to my high chair. To this day, I still remember bawling my eyes out as that little white speck vanished into the blue, and it was years before I could hold a balloon again!