Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1, nor any of the show's characters or settings. All I own is the plot, and that's currently riddled with so many clichés that even that claim of ownership is somewhat dubious.

A/N- Hello, and welcome to my newest story! This is my first foray into the Stargate fandom, though I have been reading and watching for years, and I'm incredibly nervous about it. I'm not going to say too much about the story now because it would probably ruin it for you all, but I will say this…I hope you like it!

~ Chapter 1 ~

Young and Old

Minnesota, 1967.

Fifteen year old Jack O'Neill limped down the dark, cold road, moving one foot in front of the other, his efforts mechanical and his mind miles away from the empty Minnesota street he was trying to escape from.

He was exhausted, scared and hurt - God, he hurt - but he'd done it. He'd finally done it.

Using his one uninjured arm, Jack raised a hand and rubbed it across his tired face almost disbelievingly, as if even his own brain couldn't quite process what had just happened. He felt giddy, scared and in shock, all at the same time, as if his feelings were just one giant ball of unencumbered emotion.

God, he'd finally escaped. He'd never have to live in that damn house again.

Home had always been a tricky issue for Jack. He knew, for most people at least, that 'home' was a comfort. A place of relief, relaxation, freedom. Not for him though – not since his father had died anyway. No, for Jack, home had turned into a prison, though really it was the situation, rather than the walls themselves, that acted like the prison bars. He'd long been trapped in a circumstance beyond his control, forced to take beatings, insults, punishments at a moment's whim, forced to survive each day with nothing in his stomach but what he could sneak from the fridge in the dead of night.

Jack winced slightly at the strain his movements were putting on his ribs, but he persevered despite it. Ever since his father had died, ever since his bastard 'step-father' – though there was no way that Jack would ever call him anything but Bob – had moved in, Jack's life had been hell.

The life with two loving parents; his mother happy, his father brave and strong – that was all gone now, and had been for a while. He had known love, but not anymore. Not for years.

His mother was a shell of her former shelf, her spirit taken from her by the man she called her husband now. She breathed still, but there was no life in her anymore. And, Jack finally acknowledged, there was nothing for him to protect. He had stayed this long for her. He had endured everything, every little bit of pain, hoping that one day he would be big enough, strong enough, to save her from that bastard Bob Taggart.

But he'd been kidding himself. She didn't need saving. He did. All it had caused him was pain, and all his mother had ever done was ignore it all. She was deeply depressed, he knew that much, but a part of him craved the moment when she would just notice. When she would ask her husband to stop. But she hadn't asked, and he hadn't stopped, and Jack had finally had enough. He couldn't stay anymore. He had to take care of himself.

It had taken him a long time to realise it, but even despite all the pain, it had still taken one last beating to finally shock it into his thick skull.

He had to leave, before the bastard killed him.

Jack glanced around the abandoned, dark streets of his home town, the night-time air cool on his skinny, T-Shirt clad frame. Jack knew this was it. He'd never come back here willingly. No, he was going to go it alone now, and screw the consequences. Screw his step-father, screw his mother, screw everyone else for not noticing anything was wrong. For the first time in his life, Jack was going to think of himself.

Screw them all, he thought angrily, pulling his injured arm tightly against his battered ribs.

Then, despite his injuries, he ran.

And he never looked back.

Present day.

Years later, and light-years away for that dark empty road, a much grumpier, much older Colonel Jack O'Neill walked slowly behind his team-mates, his eyes sharp and trained on the woodland terrain around them, making note of every noise, and every possible threat.

So far, so good, he decided. The weather was moderate – not too hot, not too cold. The wildlife on this planet, for whatever reason, was avoiding the trail they were on, and so far there had been no sign of any natives. In fact, the only thing that threatened to dampen his mood was their current path. Jack glanced around his surroundings, taking in the forest of trees around them that could be hiding all sorts of dangers in the rows and rows of trunks and branches. Trees…

Why was there always trees?

Absently, as he continued to follow the path of his teammates, Jack considered asking Carter precisely that question, though it didn't take much further thought for him to quickly shake that idea from his mind. Jack sighed. Knowing Carter, she'd just delve into an hour long lecture on why the planets they travelled to all had the same basic structure, how they were all made up of the same elemental components, yadda, yadda, yadda…

The Colonel grinned to himself, but kept his hand secure around his P90 as he watched their six. Maybe he would ask anyway, just to annoy Daniel. No doubt the excited archaeologist would be frustrated at having his day ruined by a lecture on trees, especially since the man was so excited to see those damn ruins. He'd been talking about it for weeks, and now that the moment was here, Daniel could barely contain himself.

Damn ruins, Jack groused to himself. Why was there always ruins?

He hid his grin this time, though he couldn't help glancing towards the errant archaeologist. He knew better than to ask Daniel that question, since the only person that particular lecture would annoy was himself. And, with a quiet – and no doubt extremely boring – few days ahead of them, the last thing he wanted to do was spend any more time learning about ancient civilisations than absolutely he had to.

God, he hated ruins.

Before he could think on this more however, Jack was dragged from his thoughts when Teal'c stopped suddenly, an action copied by Carter and Daniel. When he rounded the Jaffa to see what was holding them up, Jack saw that their path had been blocked by a fallen tree, at least two metres wide and countless feet tall.

And trees, he decided as he observed the scene. Yep, he definitely hated trees.

The fallen tree added an extra couple of hours to their already long trek, and by the time the team arrived at the ruins they'd been aiming for, they were all exhausted and grouchy, Jack in particular, and night was well on its way.

Daniel glanced at the Colonel, watching as he dumped his backpack on the floor of the ruins, his eyes focused on his stuff and showing absolutely no interest in the amazing building that was sheltering them. It annoyed Daniel, and for a moment he considered calling Jack out on it, but honestly, he just didn't have the energy to start an argument now. Maybe he'd save it for the morning…

Anyway, Daniel decided, he wanted to have a look around himself. The room was huge, with stone walls that had broken in some places but were otherwise largely intact. When they'd first arrived, they'd wandered through the open doorway to what Daniel suspected had once been some sort of temple or place of worship, and they'd passed an incredible pool, only four metres wide at the most, but covered with flowers and decorative patterns that told Daniel as much of its importance to the people who had lived here as anything else he had seen.

Maybe they'd used a communal Roman-esque bath system, he considered, his eyes focusing on a large statue in the corner of the room, but his mind already whirring with possibilities…

"Right, kids," the Colonel began, jerking Daniel from his observations. "Let's set up camp and get some rest."

Daniel immediately jumped to protest. "Jack…"

"No Daniel," came the immediate reply, almost as if Jack had been anticipating his exact response. "We need to rest. You'll have plenty of time to ogle at your rocks tomorrow."

Sam must've sensed a protest brewing him in, because she quickly stepped in. Daniel wasn't sure if he was grateful or not.

"Come on, Daniel," she said reasonably. "It's getting dark already. By the time we've set up camp, there won't be enough light to see anything properly."

"Fine," Daniel grumbled finally, following Sam's logic much more easily than Jack's orders, though glancing around at the darkening room he could see their point. Damn military…

"Daniel, why don't you help Teal'c with the sleeping bags?" the Colonel suggested, though Daniel knew immediately that it was an order. For once, Daniel decided not to argue, since he was tired. Anyway, even though he wouldn't be able to explore until morning, it was still pretty cool to sleep in the ruins.

"Carter," Jack continued, obviously thankful for his compliance. Daniel decided not to push his luck and point this out to the man. "You want to start on the food? I'll go to that little pool we saw in the entrance and see what state our water supply is in."

Sam followed Jack's order immediately, as she always did – something Daniel knew he couldn't say about himself – and Jack nodded once in thanks before leaving them, his flashlight held in one hand and his gun in the other. Once he had left, Daniel turned his attention back to the packs. Maybe Jack had the right idea about the flashlight. It was getting dark…

Colonel O'Neill slowly made his way back through to the entrance of the temple ruins, hoping beyond all hope that his knees would last the next few minutes. He bit back a groan, and even considered whether he could afford to pop a few painkillers when he got back to the other room. Honestly, his knees felt as if they were on fire, his back ached like hell, and it didn't help that he was beyond exhausted.

God, he was getting old...

Unfortunately, he was also the team-leader, which meant that it was his job to look after his team, regardless of how old he felt. And that meant that he needed to check to see if they had an additional water supply in the form of that pool. And that meant no rest for the wicked…

Jack grimaced at the internal cliché, but brushed his annoyance away as he focused on the task of checking the water supplies.

Bending down on shaky, achy knees, Jack leaned forward and sniffed tentatively at the water he'd scooped up from the pool. Stationary water was always dangerous, but in this case, so long as they used the water purification tablets, it would probably be alright. After adding some of the water to his spare water pouch, Jack added a tablet as well and shook it slightly until he was sure it was all dissolved properly. Then, after another sniff – you could never be too sure, he told himself – Jack pulled the pouch to his dry lips and took a long swig.

"Eurgh," Jack spluttered, spitting out as much of the water as he could, though some of the liquid did manage to escape down his throat. For something that had smelt alright, in the end it had tasted worse than disgusting, and he immediately decided then and there that they would have to find another water source in the morning. That pool water had tasted…well, wrong…

Like it hadn't even been water at all.

Shrugging to himself as he poured out the strange water from his spare pouch, Jack pulled himself up and stretched tiredly as he began to make his way back to the main room.

Job done, now time for bed, he told himself. The kids were safe for now, all tucked up in their sleeping bags and ready for sleep, and they still had enough water between them to last the night. They'd be fine for now.

Yep, Jack decided. That was a problem that could definitely wait until tomorrow…

Daniel woke slowly, the morning light breaking through his eyelids in a way that almost stung his eyes with its brightness. For a moment, nothing made sense. The last thing he could remember was saying goodnight to Jack, Sam and Teal'c. Then his head had hit his makeshift pillow and that had been it. Lights out.

Daniel cracked his eyes open, taking a moment to let them adjust to the bright, morning light.

Was it morning already? He'd been due for watch at 0200 hours. It definitely should have still been dark, and yet, looking around, it clearly wasn't. He took a quick look at his watch, then a second look just to confirm what he was seeing.

It was 0700 hours. What the hell...?

Pulling himself up with growing apprehension, Daniel glanced around himself, eyes locking on each of his teammates in turn. Sam…check. Teal'c…check. Jack…

Daniel could make out a lump in Jack's sleeping bag, the exact shape of a human body, but even that didn't make sense. Jack had taken the first watch. It just wasn't like him to fall asleep without waking the next person due on watch. In fact, it was downright unheard of.

His apprehension growing by the second, Daniel got up and walked over to check on Sam, who was the closest to him.

"Sam," he muttered, reaching down to nudge her shoulder. She stirred slightly.

"Daniel?" she mumbled sleepily, rubbing at her eyes.

"You need to get up," Daniel told her. "It's morning already. Something's wrong."

"Morning?" she asked, pulling herself up in the sleeping bag as she picked up on Daniel's tension. He watched as her eyes swept the room, fixing on their team-mates, just as his own had done. She turned back to Daniel. "Teal'c? The Colonel?"

"Don't know," Daniel muttered agitatedly, wringing his hat nervously.

Sam sprang into action at once. "Right, you check on the Colonel. I'll see to Teal'c."

"Okay," Daniel said forcefully, trying to pull himself together. He couldn't help it though. The temple still seemed safe enough, but Daniel couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He just couldn't put his finger on it…

Trying to push past his apprehension, Daniel moved over to where Jack had set up his bed last night. The bundle under the sleeping bag was moving slightly, and Daniel released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Thank god; Jack was alive. He was breathing...

"Jack," Daniel muttered loudly, shaking the bundle. "Wake up."

No reply, which was strange in itself because Jack had always been a light-sleeper. Nervously, Daniel glanced down at the bundle again, then looked as Sam and Teal'c arrived beside him.

"Something's wrong," Daniel told them. "He's not waking up."

Sam pointed back to the bundle. "Yes he is, Daniel. Look."

Daniel swung his focus back to Jack's sleeping bag, and saw that she was right. The bundle was shifting much more now, and Daniel stepped back slightly, almost subconsciously knowing that Jack would be unnerved if he woke up to find his teammates staring down at him.

Slowly, with the three of them watching on, the top of the sleeping bag was pulled down by its occupant, but instead of revealing the hardened old soldier that each of them had been expecting, the movement revealed…someone else.

It was a teenage boy.

Sam gasped, and out of the corner of his eye, Daniel saw Teal'c raise his Zat. Quickly and without much thought, Daniel raised his hands, both to stop Teal'c from firing, and also in an attempt to look as unthreatening to the teen as possible.

Daniel held his breath, and slowly, the teenager opened his eyes, blinking up at them with a confused furrow on his brow. Comprehension seemed to come slowly to him, but when it did, the boy jumped backwards, almost flying from the confines of the sleeping bag.

"What…?"

The boy stood a few steps back from them, and now that they could see him properly, realisation hit Daniel as quickly as a train. The boy - with his brown hair, and his familiar face, and wearing Jack's BDU's – was recognised by each of them, a fact that Daniel knew even without looking at his team-mates faces, their expressions no doubt mirroring his own. Daniel took a deep breath.

Teenage Jack was back.

It had been a year or so since they had met Jack's inadvertent teenage clone, but Daniel doubted that any of them had forgotten that face. Especially since that face was staring at them now, identical, though this time with wide, terror filled eyes.

"Jack?" Daniel asked with a frown. Had Jack been cloned again? Or had his body been…de-aged perhaps...?

The teenager's eyes flitted to Daniel, fists clenched. "How'd you know my name?"

Daniel's heart clenched at the very words he had hoped not to hear, but he persevered, despite the curse he could hear from Sam. They had to be sure, even though he knew, he knew, something wasn't right...

"Jack," Daniel tried again, trying to keep his voice soft. Unthreatening. "Do you know who I am?"

The boy looked almost angry now, though Daniel could see his body tense up as if he was preparing to flee.

"I've never met you before in my life," came the growled reply, tinged with only a hint of fear now.

When Daniel looked into the young teenager's brown eyes – identical to the Colonel's – he saw the anger building within them, but his long years of first contacts had made him an expert of body language. And though there was definitely defiance, and anger, and even a tinge of rashness, there was also confusion and panic and…fear there too.

This teenage Jack was terrified of them.

"Jack," Sam began slowly, and Daniel observed the teenager's eyes steadily, watching for any sign that he was planning to run. "What year do you think it is?"

"What year?" scoffed the teenager, though Daniel saw him eye up all the possible exit routes. "Are you insane?"

"What year is it, Jack?" repeated Daniel, his thoughts running in the same direction as Sam's. God, he hoped they were wrong…

"You're serious?" Jack asked incredulously.

All the teenager received was three, slow nods, and his mouth dropped into a frown.

"Fine," he muttered, and Daniel saw his glance to the exit again. "I don't know the exact date, but I know the year. It's 1967."

Daniel bit back a gasp as his suspicions were confirmed. Clone or not, de-aged body or not, this Jack O'Neill wasn't just physically fifteen. He didn't remember them, because for all intents and purposes this Jack really had never met them. The boy didn't just look fifteen.

He was fifteen.

A/N- So what did you think? I know it's a huge fanfiction cliché, and that there are no doubt hundreds of de-aged Jack stories already out there, but I do hope to make this a bit different. It's set in Season 7, not long after 'Fragile Balance' (the clone episode). Jack is still a Colonel, Sam is still a Major, and Daniel and Janet are still alive. Other than that, I don't plan on sticking to the storylines much, though I don't plan on going against them either. I do want to make sure that this cliché is at least in line with canon, and that the characters stay in-character as much as possible, though I will definitely be taking some liberties with Jack's past.

Anyway, I really do hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think so far, and if it's worth continuing. Until next time then, thanks for reading!