AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is simultaneously an episode tag to Season 3's "The Crystal Skull" and a prologue/epilogue to the Young Daniel Series. This is intended to bring the Young Daniel series into canon (if only my own personal canon) within the SG-1 world and Daniel's reflections to his upbringing in the light of everything that's occurred. Consider this a promise to begin again down the journey and get more of the Young Daniel series out of my head and on to virtual paper of some sort.

Title: "Not-so-terrible"
Author: samantilles
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1754
Spoilers: 2x04 The Game Keeper, 3x21 The Crystal Skull
Beta: Eilidh17 is really brave for taking on the whole of the Young Daniel Series to re-edit and beta. Really brave.

She spied him off to the far end of the main infirmary bay. Daniel sat cross legged and slightly haunched over, quietly writing into his journal. His writing wasn't his normal style. Instead of a furious scribble as the hand quickly moved from side to side, this time his hand took pauses every couple of words and his grip on his pen was much more delicate than usual. She could tell he wasn't pondering the latest in archaeologicial discovery off-world or the fate of some long-dead civilization. His slight rocking and contemplative expression indicated that was thinking of something far closer to home.

"Hey." Sam pulled Daniel's attention away from his journal and she was greeted with a sanguine smile.

"Hi, Sam." He carefully laid his pen in the center of the journal and closed it up, and shuffling it in his hands, he waved Sam to sit down. "Waiting on another checkup?"

"Something like that. Janet's having a field day with the radiation sickness. I think the next time we say the word radiation she'll commit mutiny and take over the SGC. Heck, I'm happy just to have been released yesterday!" Sam moved towards the center of the bed, pulling her legs up and folding them in front of her to match Daniel.

"So, what? No cookies? Come on Sam, you know better!" Daniel gave a mock look of surprise and disappointment when Sam revealed no secret treats to keep him happy.

"Nope, no cookies this time. The Colonel threatened to court martial me if I fattened you up anymore. I think he's just jealous he doesn't get cake any time he's in the infirmary. But I thought you might like some company?" She pouted and looked at Daniel pleadingly for a chance to talk.

"If Jack got cake every time he was in the infirmary, we'd never get him out of here. He might start coming up with new ways to injure himself just for a bit of cake. You know that, right?? Don't give him any ideas, Sam. I'd like to go back through the gate sometime this century!" Daniel couldn't help but chuckle at his own argument, causing Sam to reciprocate.

"Speaking of which, when are you getting out of here?" Sam dug her elbows into her knees, allowing her to prop up her head on her hands.

"I'm convinced Janet's got a formula of two days in the infirmary for every one day I was out of phase. It didn't help that four days without food or water caught up to me as I was shaking General Hammond's hand on the ramp and I went face first to greet the concrete. It gave her enough ammunition to shoot down all my protesting two days ago. Haven't tried since." Daniel shrugged his shoulders in acquiesence, his hands still holding tightly to his journal.

"So, you've decided to take advantage of the quiet, the room service, and even the free pajamas, eh?" She leaned forward and tugged at his scrub top sleeve with a devilish grin.

"Bring me chocolate and coffee, and I may never leave." Daniel joked with an absolute seriousness in his face before forcing Sam to burst out loud laughing. As their laughing died down, they regarded each other into a subtle silence, Sam's thoughts going back to Daniel's face as she entered the infirmary, his eyes betraying the melancholy in his heart.

"So, what did you mean when you called Nick the "not-so-great grandfather?" Sam knew better than to wait for Daniel to come around and talk about how he was feeling. On the other hand, she also knew that direct questioning usually led to an honest discussion. Daniel might not come out and seek out comfort in his friends, but he sometimes accepted the invitation under the right circumstances. Cutting to the chase was brutal but effective.

Daniel gazed at her for a moment, seemingly to determine whether to initiate the conversation. "He wasn't so bad, you know. I've just been angry at him for years. 'Not-so-terrible' might be more appropriate." Daniel forced a smile.

"So why were you angry with him?" Sam began nudging herself closer and tried to be elusive about it.

"I always felt I was never good enough to live with him, to be with him. He fought and told the courts he wanted me, and then never came. I was never eligible for adoption because he insisted that he'd come back. I realized early on that he would never keep his promise, and I thought I had gotten over it until one day that decision moved me out of a home in which I was happy. Then I got angry." Daniel had started to unconsciously pull his closed journal to his chest and embraced it against itself.

"What do you mean?" Sam softly laid a hand on his knee and rubbed her thumb against the scrub pants.

"I had been with a wonderful family for over eighteen months before regulations required that they either adopt me or I needed to be moved to another family. Nick could have said something, done something to keep me with the Urquharts. But he was off in the jungle looking for his damned aliens." Daniel chuckled as he finished the statement. "Who'd have thought I'd find them?" He shook his head in light disbelief. "They couldn't reach him in time, and I was removed from the home." He shrugged his shoulders and frowned. "But," he exaggerated a nod, "Nick gave me the one thing, though, that negates a lot of the bad. He gave me a real education."

Sam sat there shocked at his revelation. "Wait, he took away your chance at happiness with a good family, but its okay because he gave you an education?" Her tone was slightly angry. "Education is important, but I'd never give up my family for one."

"No, it's not really like that. His priorities were a bit skewed, granted, but everything turned for the better after he pulled a very important string and got me into the best private school in New York. If I hadn't gotten into St. Antholian's, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"In the infirmary, recovering?" Sam gave an evil grin.

Daniel chuckled. "or with several PhD's, a dream job at the SGC, and somewhat sane."

"Somewhat? Last I checked, the internet says you thought aliens built the great pyramids at Giza."

"I never said that! I just said the evidence didn't validate the current theories!" Daniel slapped his knee while forcefully arguing his defense. Both he and Sam broke out in laughter. They were interrupted when a large burly nurse approached them and harshly hushed them. They stifled their laughter as best they could, a few wayward chuckles escaping their pursed lips.

The two were calmed down after a moment, and Sam budged closer to Daniel. "Question for you." She paused until she received an affirmative nod from Daniel. "When you said St. Antholian's, did you mean the one in New York City?"

"Yeah, you've heard of it?" Daniel wasn't particularly surprised. St. A's has had the reputation of superiority for almost a hundred years. He swelled a bit in scholastic pride.

"We were in New York for two years while my father was stationed there. I remember he tried getting us, my brother and me, into St. A's. But apparently it's nearly impossible to transfer into the school."

"Yeah, I think I was the first transfer in almost a decade, and I was the only one there in the four years I attended. Until then, I moved from school to school at least once a school year and had gotten used to transferring, but St. A's was like no other school I had attended. It was strange settling in, knowing that once I was in the school I wasn't leaving without a diploma. I even scared myself into near catatonia once when I thought I was going to transfer out." Daniel stared into space momentarily, flashes of his childhood in his head.

Sam's voice brought him back. "And Nick managed to get you into the school? How'd he do that?"

If her father couldn't get her into the school, it must have been quite a feat.

"He was roommates with the headmaster, Allister Thomas, when they were at Harvard together. They'd been close since then. Headmaster Thomas took a lot of responsibility for me and became the closest thing to a guardian to me the entire time I was in foster care, and even after. If Nick hadn't cared enough to get me into the school, I could never have achieved the successes I've enjoyed because of St. A's."

Sam pulled his hand from his chest and held it in both of hers. "So, not so terrible?"

Daniel blushed and diverted his eyes. "Not so terrible."

The silent comfort Sam was giving Daniel hid the confident click-click of Janet's heels as she approached the bed. "I don't suppose I'm getting out of here anytime soon, Janet?" Daniel shot her his signature puppy eyes and Sam turned her head away from Janet to cover her chuckle.

Janet smirked and gave him that look, the one that said 'you're joking, right? You think that innocent look will win me over? "We'll see about that, but I need to look you over and it's just about dinner time, so, Sam, if you don't mind?"

Sam nodded and rubbed the top of Daniel's hand before releasing it. She turned to wave as she exited the door. Daniel settled into the bed and submitted himself to Janet's ministrations. "Between you and me, Daniel, I think I might let you go tomorrow." Janet whispered during the exam. "But don't you ever tell anyone that sweet innocent look of yours works, otherwise next time I'll keep you here until I'm satisfied!"

Daniel beamed a smile at her. "Cross my heart!" He knew better to say the second half of the promise to Janet.

"Good. I can't have everyone knowing the secret. Now, dinner is on its way, and finishing it off will help solidify my decision about tomorrow." Janet glanced at her watch. "I'm due for a briefing, so I'll see you tomorrow! Get some rest!"

"I'll do that!" Daniel vocalized to Dr. Frasier as she walked away from his bed. 'Like there's anything else I can do here!' He centered the journal back on his lap as he sat up and returned to his entry.