Cartoon LD meets Real World's SG-1
Authors: Laura and Rosenquist
Category: Cartoon world; het nothing graphic (cartoon Jack/ cartoon Sara), cartoon kidfic, real world; gen.
Warnings: none
Summary: Cartoon LD switches places with big Daniel from the real world. How will they get back to their own world?
A/N: This story is a fanfic for the surprise vid that was made for Laura's Birthday. Laura and I thought it would be cool to write a story for the vid. If you haven't seen the vid and want to see it, let us know and we'll try to send u a link..
Cartoon Reality
He couldn't believe it! He was almost shaking with enthusiasm! He was finally going to be going through the Stargate again, after all those months of being grounded from gate travel by Dr. Frasier just to be sure there were no side effects from his transformation. But now, finally, he was about to go back on active duty with SG-1.
Janet had had her reservations, mind you, and Jack too for that matter. Jack had looked at him sternly and said, "A kid has no business going through the gate, it's too dangerous." They had this strange notion that his current size would somehow be an impediment for him off-world, but that was plain stupid. He wasn't a real kid, he was just shorter and he still had all his memories and knowledge so there was no reason why he couldn't continue to be an active part of SG-1.
It had taken a lot of talking from him but he'd finally managed to convince the General that his presence was needed out there. He just couldn't give up gate travel, the need to find his wife was too great for that. He couldn't just abandon her out there in her current state - a prisoner inside her own body. He shivered. It was unthinkable!
And that brought him to another little issue that had been bugging him for a while now. How would Sha're react to his current situation if they couldn't change him back? And it didn't seem like they were making much progress in that regard. Janet hadn't said anything yet, but he could see it in her eyes - she'd given up. They'd contacted all their allies and still hadn't come up with an answer to his plight. Would he be stuck like this forever?
He was snapped out of his reverie by Jack adjusting his jacket one more time. "Something wrong, Danny?"
"No!" he blurted out quickly. The last thing he needed was to give Jack an excuse to keep him on base.
Jack looked suspiciously at him. "Danny?"
"Jack."
"What is it? Come on, sport. Spill. I know something's eating at ya. I can see all the little wheels turning inside that overactive mind of yours."
Daniel sighed audibly. He really would love the day when he could keep something from Jack's sharp eye, but as it was, Jack rarely missed anything and in the end Jack always managed to get the truth out of him. "It's nothing, Jack. Really. Just thinking about stuff."
Jack grinned down at him. "Now, why does that not surprise me?"
Daniel rolled his eyes and watched as the last chevron locked, giving way to the magnificent event horizon blooming outwards. Daniel gasped at the sight. It somehow looked even more impressive from his new perspective.
Jack smiled warmly down at him. "What? Was it bigger than you expected?"
Daniel nodded absentmindedly. Still transfixed by the majesty of the giant, glimmering pool. "Way, way bigger than I remembered."
"Well, I bet lots of things look different from your new angle." Jack added as he gently squeezed Daniel's ridiculously small shoulder.
"SG-1, you have a go." General Hammond called from the control room.
Jack turned around, gave the General a swift salute before addressing Daniel again. "Ready, Daniel?"
"Yes." He squeaked, not at all sure if he was ready or not but he couldn't very well say he was scared out of his mind now could he. He swallowed hard. Why was he feeling so scared all of a sudden? He'd gone through the gate plenty of times before, this wasn't any different from all those other times - was it?
Uncounsciously, he slipped his little, slightly shaky hand in Jack's bigger one. Jack saw the look on the little guy's face and instantly pulled him closer to his side. Danny clung to his hand as the two of them made their way up the ramp towards the active wormhole.
"It's a piece of cake." Jack encouraged brightly.
"What does a slice of sweet, baked dough have to do with the Stargate, O'Neill?" Teal'c enquired from nearby.
Jack rolled his eyes.
"It's an idiomatic expression, Teal'c." Daniel started to explain, immediately forgetting about his early apprehension to gate travel.
"Oy." Jack muttered under his breath as the lecture spewed from the little motor mouth. Without any second thoughts and before his ears started to go numb and fell off, Jack bent down and picked up the mini archeologist. Ignoring the now protesting linguist, and Teal'c's slightly raised eyebrow, he stepped through the gate swiftly.
As they rolled out of the event horizon Danny was, to Jack's surprise, deep in a fit of incessant giggles.
"That was fun, Jack!" he spluttered out between bouts of laughter.
Jack overcame his initial shock and broke into an amused smile. Reveling in the sound of the kid's joy he said, "See? I told ya."
Daniel started squirming in his arms all serious again. "Now put me down, Jack."
"Your wish is my command. But don't wander off, okay?"
"Yeah, whatever, Jack." Daniel scampered off as soon as his feet touched the ground.
Jack shook his head. "Hey! What did I just say?" Daniel pouted sulkily, but didn't stray any further away from the others. Jack gave the young man one last warning look and turned to examine the room. "Well, good morning campers!"
"Daniel, you recognize any of these symbols?" Daniel walked over to Sam and inspected the inscriptions as she pointed them out to him.
"No. This place is definitely alien."
Everyone walked cautiously around the room, looking around in awe.
"I wonder what's behind curtain number two." Daniel asked suddenly.
Sam turned to him and pointed her flashlight to where Danny was looking.
"Take Carter and check it out." Jack called, giving a warning look promising dire consequences if he so much as attempted to get in there alone.
Daniel rolled his eyes dramatically. 'What does he take me for?' he thought. 'I'm not four - well, not really. I know better than to dash into the unknown in an alien planet." He huffed and turned briskly around moving fast towards his new discovery with Sam trying hard to keep up.
As soon as they were out of the room Jack once again turned to inspect their surroundings, taking in a load of peculiar looking machinery. "Whoa… Teal'c, you ever seen anything like this before?" he called as he pointed his flashlight onto a strange spiky object.
Teal'c's facial expression quickly contorted into an uneasy frown and he murmured something under his breath that Jack found he couldn't quite catch.
"We must return to Earth as quickly as possible, O'Neill," the Jaffa said urgently.
"Why? What is it?"
"It is the symbol of Korosh-ni, it is for any Goa'uld or Jaffa who may pass through the gate. Loosely translated it means, 'turn back.'"
"Does it elaborate?" Jack waved his hand in slow circles.
Teal'c raised an eyebrow at him. "It is placed on worlds that Goa'uld destroyers have wiped out and contaminated. This planets entire surface will be, in your terms, radioactive."
"Aw…" Jack moaned.
"No one will be left alive. This place is not safe." Teal'c added gravely.
"Oh… for crying out loud."
Daniel and Sam were in a brightly lit room with a long island table in the centre. The table was covered with pots, bottles and lots other stuff that Daniel was already drooling over.
"I think this is a lab." Daniel said, deep in awe.
"How do you know?" Sam asked.
"These are things that have been brought back through the Stargate to study. They're all tagged. This mask is Turkish and this clay cone is from Lagash. Look, it's got cuneiform symbols all over it."
"Carter, Daniel." Jack's voice interrupted their debate before walking in.
"We found a souvenir shop, sir." Sam told him.
"We're out of here, Carter."
Daniel was more than a little appalled by the news. "What? Why? This place is a treasure chest of artifacts of diverse human culture."
"I don't want to hear about it. Let's go." Jack gave him 'the look' before turning around and leaving with Teal'c and Carter following.
Danny muttered angrily under his breath as the others left the room. "You don't want to hear it." He took off his backpack, and with brisk angry movements started to quickly fill it with items off the island table.
As he rummaged through the various pots and masks his attention was caught by a little piece of red and blue machinery. It looked rather odd and out of place among all the other artifacts. As he picked up the little gadget, a mirror materialized in a large rock nearby. He placed the machinery in his bag and looked dumbfounded at the strange looking mirror. Cautiously he walked over to it.
Standing in front of it, he waved his hand before its surface in consternation. He'd realized that he could only see the room reflected back at himself - his reflection didn't appear in the sleek surface of the object at all. The young man thought was very odd, and more than a little disturbing.
Suddenly the image on the alien artifact shimmered slightly and out of the blue a strange looking man materialized. Jumping back in shock, Daniel's eyes widened to about three times their natural size as the strange looking creature looked back at him with as equally a perplexed look marring his somewhat familiar features.
Where had he seen this man before? He was definitely the most weird looking alien Daniel had ever seen, and yet - somehow - he looked vaguely familiar, with his bespectacled blue eyes and long, light brown hair.
The weird looking man reached a tentative hand out towards Daniel, but stopped himself at the last moment. Danny cocked his head at him and, almost like reaching some unspoken agreement, they each stretched their hands out towards the other. Curiosity and fascination overrode any fears they may have had.
A bright light burst from the mirror and, in a flash, Daniel found himself standing in the middle of a very strange world. Everything looked - well…different. Although he could see the very same mirror and the artifacts that had surrounded him before, they looked different, and wrong. Even the room itself looked as if it had been taken out of a bizarre realm, the likes of which he had never encountered before.
And then, out in all the strangeness and confusion, he heard the distinctly recognizable voice of someone he knew very well. "Daniel! We're leaving, let's go!"
Jack!
The moment he heard the familiar sound, he sprinted out of the room in a deep frenzy. Scared beyond belief and needing the comfort and safety he knew Jack's presence would bring.
"Jaaack!" He ran outside and towards the voice of his friend, in the hopes of leaving this disconcerting land behind. But the sight that met his eyes nearly knocked him down off his feet. That wasn't Jack!
"Oh… My… God!" Not-Jack gasped as he laid his eyes on Daniel, and stared at him as if he was the strange creature. "Is that what I think it is?"
"If you're implying that being over there looks very much like the humorous satirical drawings shown on that electronic apparatus that displays electromagnetic waves reconverted into images on a screen, then yes. You are correct O'Neill."
"That's a TV, Teal'c." The Jack look-a-like pointed out in a way very reminiscent to Daniel's own Jack. If he closed his eyes he could pretend that he was actually hearing his friends voices instead of this bizarre representation of them.
"And yeah… that's what I'm talking about but… how is it possible?" Not-Jack continued.
"I'm not sure, sir." It was Sam's voice, inside an equally odd-looking creature as the Jack and Teal'c look-alikes were.
Daniel's eyes darted back and forth, from one unfamiliar face on to the other. He looked up and down and from side to side. What was this place? What was going on? That wasn't Jack. He looked sort of like him, but it wasn't him, he was just…wrong! That wasn't Teal'c either, nor Sam. They were all wrong. Everything looked odd and out of place… he could feel himself starting to sway on his feet. The world, the weird, bizarre world that he'd suddenly landed in, started to blur and darken around the edges until he was finally engulfed by total darkness.
Captain Carter was about to check on the strange creature that had suddenly collapsed, but she was interrupted by the Colonel, "Carter don't touch the cartoonish creature, it could be dangerous. It might even have a cartoonish snake in it and we don't know what a cartoonish snake could do to us."
"Sir, this creature looks like a little cartoon boy. Don't you think it's strange that this boy has got Stargate command BDUs on? He looks so sweet and innocent… and he's cute, sir, I don't think that he's got an evil bone in his body. He reminds me of someone but I can't figure out who yet. If he's hurt then we need to help him, we can't just leave him lying on the floor."
"We've met 'cute' aliens before that we assumed would be harmless, but they've often turned out to be the opposite. Let Teal'c check on the cartoonish alien first. I agree it's strange that he's got BDUs on that look a lot like ours except that obviously they're cartoonish - just like him. Maybe it's some sort of alien that's trying to trick us into revealing something of ourselves to them. Teal'c, can you sense if the boy's got a snake in his head or in his belly? For that matter we don't even know if he's got guts or a brain - do we?"
"O'Neill, I cannot sense the presence of a symbiote. However I do not know if I would be able to sense an animated snake. I will check the boy and see if he has anything that could be a danger to us."
Teal'c checked the boy out from head to toe but only found a notebook and some cartoonish candy bars in the boy's pockets.
"So, Teal'c, does he have anything Goa'uldish either on him or inside him?" the Colonel asked.
"The only thing's he has got on him are candy bars and a notebook. The fabric of his clothing feels very peculiar, I have never felt anything like it before," Teal'c answered.
"Candy bars and a notebook? I think Daniel would love to meet this child. It sounds like they've got a lot in common. Come to think of it, where the heck is Daniel anyway?"
The three team-mates looked around the room and called out for their missing team-member. When Daniel wasn't immediately located Jack turned his attention to Teal'c and the boy. "Teal'c you stay here with the boy. Carter and I are going out to look for our wayward SpaceMonkey. He better not have touched anything or his scrawny ass is mine," with that Sam and Jack left the room and went in search of Daniel.
oOo
Teal'c gently stroked the hair on the cartoon child's head. The boy momentarily stirred at the touch but soon settled again. After few minutes he was beginning to open his eyes and at that moment Jack and Sam came back into the room.
"How's the boy, Teal'c?" Jack asked. "There's no sign of Daniel. If he don't show up soon we're leaving and I hope that'll be a lesson to him not to go wandering off on his own."
"The boy opened his eyes just as you stepped back into the room, O'Neill."
Jack and Sam went over to Teal'c and the boy and looked curious down at him.
Toony Danny looked up, bewildered at the strange, imposter Teal'c and then at pretend Sam and phony Jack.
"Who and what are you and what have you done with my Jack, Sam and Teal'c? You look a lot like them but your color and shape is strange and not normal at all. You'd better not have Goa'ulds inside you." Toony Danny said, wriggling himself out of Teal'c's grasp as he spoke.
"Hey now, calm down boy. 'Your' Jack, Sam and Teal'c? What do you mean by that? What your name kiddo?" Jack asked.
"My name is Daniel Jackson. My Jack, Sam and Teal'c - they sound like you and look a bit like you but then not at all like you either. This is confusing. Who are you? And where am I? This place doesn't look like the SGC."
"Daniel Jackson? Daniel? That can't be you. Daniel is a grownup for one thing…and he sure doesn't look like a cartoon. You're not at the SGC, you are on P3-something-or-the-other." Jack answered.
"Oh yeah, I forgot I'm finally off-world, but it still doesn't look like it should. Wait a minute… you know a Daniel Jackson too and he's still a grownup? Your Daniel Jackson wasn't downsized by the Touched ones? Aw, man…I wish I was that lucky."
"The Touched virus? That didn't downsize people. It made us into Neanderthals for a while before Fraiser worked out what was going on and turned everyone back to normal. That's not how it happened for you?" Jack asked.
"No that's not the same at all. Our Touched virus downsized their chosen people and unfortunately I was the one of those. They won't make me big again because it's their belief that the chosen ones have to grow up normally. You really are Jack, Sam and Teal'c of SG-1? Like from another reality or something? Whatever's going on - you're definitely not my Jack, Sam and Teal'c."
"I don't know kid; for all we know this could be caused by some alien life form that's decided to play an almighty great trick on us all." Jack said.
"Sir, there's a theory that states there could be millions of different realities. There's every reason to theorize that this Daniel Jackson has somehow travelled from his usual reality, and joined us in ours." Sam said. Turning her attention to the boy she asked, "Daniel, what did you do before you came here? Did you touch anything?"
"I was in the artifact storage room and was looking at a strange mirror. I had no reflection in it but I could see the rest of the room very clearly in it. I reached out and touched it and then I heard Jack shouting for me. I thought it was my Jack, but when I went and found him I was shocked to see that he quite obviously wasn't who I was expecting."
"So my theory could be right," said Sam. "That your reality is truly an alternative one to ours. Your world is cartoonlike and ours is not. That is just, so amazing. The mirror you're talking about, does it look kind of like the one in the other room?"
"I don't know I didn't really look, I was too busy hurrying to get to Jack."
"Okay then. let's get to the other room." Jack said, and with that they all went to the room.
Toony Danny looked amazed at the mirror. "Yes, it looks almost the same as the mirror in my reality!" he yelled in excitement.
"Then it looks like the mirror is some kind of quantum reality mirror. Maybe our Daniel and this Daniel switched places somehow since we can't find our Daniel."
"I'm afraid that you may be right, Carter. Let's contact the SGC and get the mirror home. We need to see if we can switch the two Dannys back to where they belong. If anyone can work it out, it'll be you, Carter."
After they had contacted the SGC, they were ready to go back home, cartoonish Daniel would be going along with them. Sam was about to dial the DHD when the boy suddenly asked, "Sam can I dial please? It's been a long time since I was last allowed through the gate." Daniel paused for a second, "and I kinda wonder what it'll feel like to dial out here in this reality." Toony Danny smiled sweetly up at her and batted his extra-long eyelashes at her for full effect.
"Sure, Daniel." She bent down and gently picked him up. As she lifted him she marveled at the feeling in total astonishment. She was actually interacting with a cartoon character! This went far beyond all she ever thought possible, and way beyond everything she knew about parallel realities as well. Could someone actually step through a mirror that divided all those alternate realities and suddenly come face to face with Bugs Bunny? She snickered softly to herself at the thought.
Daniel stretched out to press each of the symbols with palpable delight and then, bending further forwards, he rested both hands on the big red button in the center of the DHD. Once he'd pressed the button he watched in fascination as the gigantic event horizon opened up before them.
With eyes as big as two full moons, little toon Danny turned around to regard the others with a beaming grin on his face. "It looks just as amazing as back home… only different, of course."
"I bet." Jack agreed with a smile. "Come on, kid. Let's go."
Danny's smile got even wider as he thrust himself away from Sam's arms and made a mad dash for the now active wormhole. He would've made it through if Jack hadn't grabbed hold of him on the way past.
"Oi… hold it there, grasshopper."
"Why, Jack? What is it?"
"IDC codes?" Jack drawled meaningfully.
Toony Danny furrowed his brow as realization finally hit. "Oh, right."
"Yeah. Right." Jack nodded and couldn't help the tiny smile that crept up on his lips as the similarities between the two Daniels became increasingly apparent. He stood up slowly and took the small cartoonish hand into his own before turning to Teal'c and signalling for him to send the codes through.
"Besides," Jack continued, regarding the small cartoon Danny he held in his hand, "you don't want to give everyone a heart attack bursting into the control room like that now, do you? They're going to be pretty shocked when they see you as it is."
"I guess."
Jack smiled down at the animated full-color version of their resident archeologist one more time before turning to Teal'c and Carter. "Everyone ready?"
Teal'c bowed regally and Carter nodded her head, her gaze still fixed on tiny toony Danny right by her side. Still pretty much in shock herself at the unexpected turn their mission had suddenly taken.
And with that, all four of them stepped through the gate.
oOo
At the Gate at the SGC airmen were ready with their weapons so that they would be prepared if someone tried create a foothold situation or maybe something even worse. Dr. Fraiser and a male nurse waited at the bottom of the ramp, ready to receive any broken or bruised gate travelers.
Silence fell in the gate room when the gate opened and three figures came out. Everyone looked stunned at the small figure and it fell to General Hammond to break the ice.
"Colonel, do you care to explain who and what your little companion is?"
"Sir, meet cartoon world's Dr. Daniel Jackson. Daniel Jackson meet our world's General George Hammond," Jack said this with a smile before he wondered if Toony Danny knew about the Simpsons. If not then Jack was certain Daniel was gonna love it once Jack introduced the show to him.
"Hello, General Hammond I'm glad to meet you. You look a lot like my General Hammond but still way different as well."
Hammond looked at Toony Danny with a bewildered expression on his face. Then he looked at Jack, not quite believing what he was seeing and hearing.
"Colonel, are you playing some kind of practical joke on me? You better not be." General Hammond said firmly.
"No, Sir. I wouldn't dream on doing that," Jack looked from General Hammond down to Toony Danny and placed his right hand on the boys shoulder and said, "This boy here is Dr. Daniel Jackson downsized to a child and he is from an alternative reality, one where cartoon's rule the world."
General Hammond still looked at the Colonel like he didn't believe him; he then went to Toony Danny and bend down to be face to face with him.
"Well apart from the obvious differences, you do have a great deal of resemblance to our Dr. Jackson. Would you mind me asking how you got to be this small, Dr. Jackson?"
"The Touched downsized me. They said I was chosen to be one of them and that I have to grow up the normal - long - way again."
"The Touched? Well if you mean the Touched that we met. They didn't downsize people here in this reality how come they did it in yours? Shouldn't there be more correlation between your reality to ours?"
"Not necessarily General Hammond." Carter said, and told him the theory about parallel realities.
"Welcome to our world Dr. Jackson. Let us try and find out how we can get you back home and how we can get our Dr. Jackson back. First things first though, Dr. Fraiser needs give you a thorough check-up - if that's even possible."
"Thank you, General. Well I guess she has to check me over. Does she use huge needles here too? I don't like needles," Toony Danny said this while making a funny face at the thought of needles.
General Hammond couldn't help smiling at the look. His grandfatherly instincts kicked in and he leaned down and gave the boy a hug. "I'm sorry son, but yes she has to use her needled here too. I'm sure we'll find out sooner rather than later if she'll be able to use one on you at all."
"That's what I was afraid of." Daniel admitted. "I'm sorry General, but I really hope that she won't be able to."
Hammond laughed, "That's okay son, I understand."
Janet joined them and bent down to Toony Danny. Hammond stood up and moved away to give Dr. Fraiser some space to work in.
"I'll be gentle, I promise Danny. Can I call you Danny? Or would you prefer me to call you Dr. Jackson?"
"Danny is fine Janet," Danny thought for a second, "what do I call you? Is it okay that I call you Janet like I call our Dr. Fraiser?" Danny said.
"Yes of course it is, our Daniel calls me that all the time too. Well, Danny I promise I'll be very gentle. So let's get to the infirmary."
"Okay," Danny said, but suddenly his face turned white and he passed out. As he fell to the floor Jack caught him and ended up with the boy cradled protectively in his arms. Janet looked up and thought the stance was very similar to the way a father would hold his sick child.