A Simple Ritual
By Mickey
Status: Completed 11/18/2008
Season: Early (2 or 3)
Categories: Angst, Drama, Friendship, Kidfic, Series
Archive Permission: Ask first. I'll probably say yes.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.
Word Count: 2754
*words* Is someone's thoughts.
Dedication: For Cheryl because she planted the idea and my muse ran with it. And because she's persistent. Very persistent. lol.
Author's Notes: Although "Once Upon a Winter's Day" was written first, this story takes place before it. :::signs::: Blame Cheryl. I do. It's all her fault! :::waves::: Hi, Cheryl, thanks for the beta!
The bright light faded as quickly as it had occurred, leaving Sam and Daniel staring at their friend and commanding officer in slack jawed shock. Where a fully-grown and very cranky colonel had been just a few minutes before, a small dark-haired boy now sat. He looked dazed and confused; bright brown eyes open wide in surprise.
"Sir?"
"Jack?"
Sam and Daniel spoke at once. Hearing his name, Jack focused on Daniel.
"Who you?"
Daniel blinked, starred, and then blinked again.
Sam overcame her shock first and knelt in front of the boy. "You don't remember us, sir?"
Jack stared at her in silence. Daniel could see his confusion turning to fear. Jack tried to scoot himself away from Sam, but the now extremely baggy clothes prevented him from moving far.
"Don't know you. Want my mama."
Daniel looked across at Sam and saw his own confusion and concern mirrored in her eyes. Giving Daniel a half shrug she turned to Jack. "It's okay, kiddo. We're your friends."
"NO!" Jack screamed. "Don' know you. I want my mama! Where's my mama?" He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his small arms around his legs. Tears rolled freely down his cheeks.
It struck Daniel that this was first time he'd ever seen his friend cry. He wondered if this time really counted since Jack was no longer an Air Force colonel who'd just turned fifty a few weeks ago. He was now approximately three years old with no memory of who he used to be.
Daniel approached a frazzled looking Sam. "Let me try."
Kneeling down in front of his now very small friend, Daniel began to speak softly. "It's okay, Jack. We won't hurt you. We're your friends. Let's go home."
"You not my Daddy! Want my Daddy!" Jack too a deep breath then, "DADDY! DADDY, WHERE ARE YOU?" Jack began to cry harder as he screamed for his daddy. The harder he cried the more his chest hitched with each scream and sob.
Daniel tried frantically to calm the boy down to no avail. *He's going to make himself go into a seizure if he doesn't stop this.*
"Jack, please, calm down. Don't you remember us at all?"
Jack's crying didn't ease off in the slightest, if anything, he began to cry even harder.
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Afraid his downsized friend would hurt himself if he continued, Teal'c decided to step in. He put his hand on Daniel's shoulder and motioned for him to move aside. Daniel quickly took a few steps to his left giving Teal'c full access to Jack.
"O'Neill," Teal'c barked. "You must desist with this screaming at once."
O'Neill instantly stopped crying. Without turning to his teammates, Teal'c could already sense their surprise and allowed himself a small smile.
Teal'c softened his voice and crouched down by his friend. It was a shock to see O'Neill so small, helpless and frightened when he was used to seeing him as a strong, confident leader. "I know you are frightened and confused, young O'Neill, but you must believe that we are your friends. We will not harm you, we only wish to assist you."
O'Neill stared at him, his small chest hitching every few breaths. Teal'c was beginning to doubt that he'd made any headway with his small friend when O'Neill suddenly launched himself at him and wrapped his skinny arms around his neck.
"I scared." The boy muttered into Teal'c's chest. "Want my Mommy an Daddy."
Teal'c rubbed his back gently. "I know you are. You must calm down. Crying like that will only cause you harm. Do you understand?"
Much to his relief, O'Neill finally unwrapped his arms from Teal'c's neck. While he was much smaller now, his grip had remained almost vice-like.
"Where I'm at?"
"Do not concern yourself with that. It is not important. We will figure this out, but you must remain calm. Do you understand?"
O'Neill nodded. "Yes," he whispered, balling his tiny fingers into fists and rubbing his eyes. Then, much to Teal'c's dismay, O'Neill put his face against his shoulder, blew his nose and then wiped it. With raised brows Teal'c conceded that his induction into the care of the small colonel was now complete.
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Daniel was surprised at how quickly Jack settled down for Teal'c. Watching quietly, he grinned as Teal'c soothed their friend with little effort. For a moment, he wondered how Teal'c had done it. Then again, Teal'c had a son. It made sense that he'd had practice calming down a scared and confused child.
Watching them together made Daniel just a little jealous. Why did Jack react so fearfully towards Sam and himself, yet take to Teal'c so quickly? He could only guess that the deep baritone of Teal'c's voice reminded him of his father. Feeling a little ashamed, Daniel decided to let Jack get used to them at his own pace. It wouldn't be right to try and force Jack to go to him, and would likely only push him further away.
Stifling a laugh, Daniel watched in amusement as Jack rubbed his nose all over the shoulder of Teal'c's shirt, covering it with mucus. Stealing a glance at Sam he could tell she was trying to bite back a smile as well. The scene was too cute for words. He turned his attention back to his other friends just as Teal'c stood, Jack in his arms. Jack's face was once again buried in Teal'c's shoulder. Fortunately it was the clean one this time.
"We must locate Mika and ascertain the answers as to why this has happened." Teal'c said.
"You're right, Teal'c. Why don't you and Sam see if one of the villagers has something that will fit Jack." Jack, he realized now, looked comical is his uniform. The black t-shirt hung from him like a dress. He was sure that the child's pants would have fallen off by now if Teal'c didn't have such a firm hold on him.
"Good idea, Daniel." Sam said, "We'll meet you at the town square in thirty."
Nodding in agreement, the three friends separated.
Daniel watched them leave for a minute then headed off in the opposite direction. He knew were Mika's home was and was almost certain the elderly man would be there. As he walked, Daniel thought about the events leading up to Jack's being down sized.
SG-1 had first come to P13-096 several weeks ago. They'd hit it off well with the natives almost instantly. The mission had only been scheduled to last for twenty-four hours. Mika, oldest of the elders, had been away on a hunt at that time and Serriana, who was speaking in his place, had requested they return when he was present. Jack had agreed to discuss it with General Hammond. Although the natives were fairly primitive and had no weapons or technology that could aid in the fight against the Goa'uld, they did have medicines that would be very useful on earth. They also had farming techniques Daniel hadn't seen in any culture he'd ever met or studied.
They'd all been surprised to learn that, although the native people spoke English, they'd never heard of the Goa'uld. As far as Daniel could tell, they'd never been to this planet. Encouraged by that fact and the prospect of gaining access to some very powerful medicines, Hammond had agreed to the second meeting. Upon returning, Daniel and Teal'c had taken the opportunity to speak to several of the native peoples and holy men about their culture and beliefs. They'd learned that they believed in one God, or rather, a Goddess. From what they'd told him about their Goddess and their religion, it seemed very similar to Christianity. There were few major differences. One being the ritual that had got them into their current mess.
While Daniel and Teal'c had been speaking to the villagers, Jack and Sam had spoken with Mika and the other elders. When they'd met up again several hours later, Jack hadn't looked happy and after hearing his concern, Daniel could well understand. Mika and the elders had insisted Jack participate a local ritual before they would even consider negotiating a trade agreement with the Tau'ri. The ritual seemed benign enough, but experience told them nothing was ever straightforward, so Daniel and Sam offered to join in the ritual as well. This seemed to placate Jack, bringing his roaring complaints down to a unimpressed grumble.
They had been allotted three days for their second visit. The ritual was only performed once every few months. Luckily, it was to be performed on the morning of their last day. Jack, Sam and Daniel had entered the shrine while Teal'c waited outside. Teal'c had offered to participate as well, but no weapons of any kind were permitted. They'd even had to leave their shoes outside. Jack, still not comfortable enough with their new friends to leave his team completely unarmed and unprotected, had asked Teal'c to remain outside, with his weapons, "just in case."
After a few minutes, Daniel arrived at his destination. He knocked on the door and waited for a response. Mika opened the door and waived Daniel in.
"Where are your friends? How was your visit to the shrine?" He paused, appearing suddenly aware of Daniel's frowning face. "It did not go well?"
"No," Daniel answered darkly, "it didn't." Determined not to blow up before he made any unfounded accusations, Daniel kept his emotions in check as he explained what had happened. "...Next thing we knew, there was a loud clapping noise and a flash of light. When the lighting returned to normal, Jack was a toddler."
Believing Mika had known this would happen; Daniel was surprised by the concern on the elder's face as he finished speaking.
"What do you mean? The ritual is supposed to help one re-experience the innocence of childhood, to calm the spirit. It is not meant to have any physical effects."
"Yeah, well, tell that to Jack." Daniel replied, skeptical of the elder's answer.
"I am not trying to deceive you, Daniel. The ritual is meant as a spiritual journey."
Still not sure he trusted the old man's response, Daniel asked, "And nothing like this has ever happened before?"
"Occasionally, a few people experience a child-like mentality for several hours afterwards, but none have ever aged physically."
Frustration growing, Daniel sighed heavily and resisted to urge to lash out physically. Just as he was about to speak again, Mika interjected.
"Wait. I do recall this happening once before. There was a man many ages ago. His name was Dak. He was a good boy, a very helpful child. After the death of his father when he was not yet even a young man, he became angry and violent. He began to lash out at everyone around him. Deeply disturbed by actions he had taken throughout his life, he wished to experience the ritual hoping it would bring him peace and allow him to regain control of his emotions. He and two other men entered the shrine. The other men left as they entered, though lighter in spirit, their age was not affected. Dak, however, came out much younger than he'd been when he had gone in. He appeared to be only seven or eight ages old. We do not know for certain why this occurred. I recall the other elders and I discussed it in great length. All we could surmise was that the great Goddess had determined that he needed to experience his childhood again in order to regain what he had lost spiritually."
"So, Jack has to relive his entire childhood? Is there anything we can do to reverse this?" Mika opened his mouth to interrupt him, but Daniel didn't give the man a chance. "Jack is a great leader among our people, Mika. Our planet needs him. We, his friends, need him."
Mika held up a hand and Daniel stopped. "Please, Daniel, I know you are concerned for your friend. Let me answer your questions as best I can."
Grudgingly, Daniel nodded and Mika continued.
"We know of no way to reverse the process."
Daniel's frown deepened. Mika continued on. "However, Dak did return to his rightful age after a short period of time. When he did, his mind was intact. He retained all the memories of his experience as well as regaining those of his life before the ritual. I believe the same thing has happened to your colonel. The others and I sensed much sadness and darkness in him upon your first visit to our world. It is why we insisted he participate in the ritual when you returned. I am hoping Jack will be returned to his former self as well."
"You're sure about this?"
"While I am confident that he will, I cannot give you a definite answer, Daniel. As I said, this has only happened once before. Please, do not hold this against my people. We truly did not wish any harm upon him."
He believed that Mika was sincere, but he still had more questions. "But why didn't it happen to Sam or myself? We both took part in the ritual as well."
"Your souls were not as dark, your hearts not so burdened. That may be why. Perhaps the Goddess did not believe you needed to regress to learn from the experience."
Daniel sat in quiet contemplation then asked, "Do you know how long Jack will stay a child?"
"There is no way to know. Perhaps for only a few hours, perhaps longer. Dak remained a child for many days. If I understand your measurement of time correctly, I believe it was the equivalent of two of your weeks."
*Two weeks. That's not to bad.* Daniel was sure the general wouldn't be thrilled about this development, but being able to tell him it should only last about two weeks would make it easier.
"Thank you, Mika. I assure you, this will not affect our talks. I believe you meant Jack no harm and I'm sure our leaders will as well."
Mika looked like he had something to add when a knock on the door interrupted them. Mika rose to open it, letting in Sam who was followed by Teal'c carrying a now sleeping Jack. He noticed that Jack was wearing native cloths that were his size and that Teal'c's shirt was mysteriously snot free.
Unable to suppress a smile, he pointed to his Teal'c's shoulder. "How did you get the boogers off your shirt?"
"O'Neill once told me it is wise to bring a spare uniform on missions. I took his advice. Although, I do not believe this is what he meant when he spoke of 'unforeseen complications'."
If Daniel didn't know better, he'd have sworn his usually stoic Jaffa friend had actually smiled.
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Teal'c carefully shifted his still sleeping friend to his other arm. Small as he was, O'Neill became heavy after a while. They'd had left the village approximately an hour previously and were, thankfully, only a few more minutes from the Stargate. Major Carter had offered to carry him for a while, but Teal'c had declined fearing O'Neill would awaken during the hand off and become agitated again. At least, that was the reason he'd given her. In truth, holding O'Neill had brought back pleasant memories of carrying his son, Rya'c. Caring for his son had brought him much joy. It had amazed him at first, how quickly he'd adapted to being a father. He missed holding his son and regretted, even knowing now that he'd left his family, that he and Drey'auc had not borne more children.
As they walked, he contemplated what had happened. In a way he envied his warrior brother. The chance to release at least some of his burden was a gift he would have greatly appreciated. He understood O'Neill's skepticism and held no ill feelings towards him for denying him the opportunity to participate in the ritual. He wondered how his pint-sized friend would react when he returned to his former self. Would he accept the gift he had been given for what it was? Or would he become angry with Mika and his people. Teal'c was certain his friend would understand and be thankful. Perhaps a little embarrassed, but grateful.
Finally, the Stargate came into sight. O'Neill gave no indication of waking as Daniel Jackson dialed the coordinates for Earth and the Stargate swooshed open. "Come, my friend, it is time to go home," he whispered as they walked through the 'gate.
THE END