Kindred Spirits by Cleo the Muse
Older Kids
Gen, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kidfic (Little Teal'c)
Episodes: Forever in a Day, Absolute Power
Warnings: None
Summary: Daniel and Teal'c are separated from the rest of the team and subjected to an alien ritual which could alter their friendship forever.
Notes: Written for the "Little Stargate" zine. Thanks to my alpha/beta Nyx Ro; may her Sword of Critical Thinking never dull!
Status: Completed April 14, 2009
Kindred Spirits
The closely-packed audience roared, jumping and waving like a turbulent sea. The natives on the stage were eating up the accolades, brandishing their daggers and yelling in the not-quite-recognizable language which dominated this world. Daniel Jackson had struggled to understand them, but he hadn't been given much time to, between the sudden attack and the subsequent bout of unconsciousness.
Daniel and Teal'c were investigating a rock wall covered in inscriptions while Jack and Sam had been off on a wild UAV hunt. Not even the keen senses of the Jaffa warrior had alerted the pair to any danger, leaving them unprepared for the sudden assault from all sides. Daniel thought he had managed to get off a warning to the two Air Force officers, but he had been clubbed over the head before receiving any reply. With no other information available to him, he could only fervently hope his friends were already back at the 'Gate, gathering reinforcements for a rescue.
Upon awakening, Daniel had run through several languages in his repertoire before being silenced by the universally-understood smack to the back of his head. That had made his already sore head throb painfully, and he'd had to cease his efforts at communication in favor of keeping his lunch where it belonged.
His eyes had flown open a second later. Teal'c! What had happened to Teal'c?
Just as Daniel began to call out, he caught a glimpse of his friend out of the corner of his eye. The Jaffa had his arms bound behind him around a thick wooden pole and was looking at the archaeologist with a regretful expression. Realizing he was similarly secured, Daniel felt a brief surge of panic as the term "tied at the stake" bounced through his skull: whatever was happening, it couldn't be good.
"Teal'c? What's going on?" he asked, craning his neck to better see his teammate.
"I do not know," Teal'c answered. "I awakened only moments before you."
The brief exchange had brought the displeasure of the natives back upon the captives, and each received a painful reminder to shut up. Figuring he already had a pretty bad concussion from all of this—if his throbbing headache and recent bout of unconsciousness were any indication—Daniel glared at the stick-wielding bully.
Apparently satisfied that their prisoners were going to remain silent, the natives turned back to their audience, and soon had the crowd whipped into a frenzy. The daggers had come out not long after that, and Daniel swapped a knowing look with Teal'c: things were about to get worse.
The priests—Daniel was beginning to get the feeling this was some sort of religious ceremony—waved their arms sharply, and an abrupt silence fell over the crowd. Nervously, he glanced around, and his breath caught when he spotted a newcomer carrying a painted ewer aloft. Feathers, bright strips of cloth, and strings of beads and metal disks shivered as she walked, teasingly concealing and revealing a body which looked like a primitive fertility statue come to life.
After setting the pitcher down at the end of a raised dais—and Daniel really didn't want to think about what use these people might have for a stone altar—the woman stalked over to Teal'c and inspected him up and down, prowling around him like a predatory cat. Given her diminutive height, the scene might have been comical if not for the ambiguity of her intentions toward the bound team members.
The woman suddenly pressed her hand against Teal'c's chest, stood on the tips of her toes, and poked a finger at the golden tattoo in the middle of the big man's forehead. "Jaffa!" she hissed, looking suddenly dissatisfied.
Spinning on heel, she marched over to Daniel and began to circle him as she had Teal'c. Daniel felt like a piece of meat at a market... or a horse at an auction. Was she going to count his teeth, too?
No, instead she seemed to get very excited about the color of his eyes, dancing in a little circle in front of him. Sure, blue eyes were typically a recessive gene, but was it really so unusual to this people? Glancing around at the swarthy natives, Daniel suddenly realized that yes, his eye color was probably a little exotic to them. If Jack was here, he'd probably complain about how clichéd that was becoming, but since Jack wasn't here...
Well, he wished Jack was here, preferably mounting a rescue.
"You are a Blessed One," crooned the woman quite suddenly, speaking in heavily accented but understandable Goa'uld. "You will make a fitting gift to the Mother!"
"Look, there's been a mistake," Daniel replied in the same tongue. "Teal'c and I are peaceful explorers, we're not—"
"Silence! The Mother demands a sacrifice!"
"It is my sworn duty to protect him," interrupted Teal'c. "I offer my life to spare his."
"Teal'c, no!" Daniel exclaimed, staring at his friend in horror. Sworn duty? Teal'c couldn't still believe he owed Daniel anything for Sha're, could he?
Of course he does, he reflected inwardly. And Jack thinks I know how to make guilt trips extend for light-years.
Rather than replying, Teal'c just gave him a guilt-ridden "I have many things for which to atone, Daniel Jackson" look. Daniel hated that look. "No," he repeated, shaking his head.
"The Mother has never before taken a warrior of the Other," mused the priestess, circling Teal'c again. "You would deny this Blessed One the honor of being given to the Mother?"
"I would consider it an honor to take his place," Teal'c answered diplomatically.
"No, Teal'c... Don't do this."
Even though she didn't understand the words, the priestess clearly understood their intent. She planted her hands on her ample hips and crooned, "You see how prettily he begs for his chance? The Mother will truly enjoy this one."
Daniel balked. What could he say to that? He didn't want to be sacrificed to their "Mother" goddess, but neither did he want Teal'c to take his place.
"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c began softly, "O'Neill and Major Carter will no doubt be on their way to rescue us. We must stall for time as best as we are able."
"I don't think we're 'able' to do anything!" he hissed in return, tugging futilely on his bonds. "We're a little tied up at the moment, and there's no telling when Jack and Sam will get here!"
"Then it is my duty to protect you from harm," Teal'c replied solemnly.
"No!" Daniel protested. "Dammit, Teal'c, you don't owe me anything!" The Jaffa opened his mouth to answer, but Daniel cut him off. "I forgave you, okay? Maybe it took me a while to actually believe my own words, but I did forgive you. You don't owe me anything." Among the many other things Shifu's dream had taught him, Daniel had learned to let go of many of his lingering resentments over the death of Sha're. He couldn't forgive himself still, but he no longer bore any ill will toward Teal'c.
The big man's jaw twitched. "I believe you, Daniel Jackson."
"Good."
"But it is still my duty as a warrior to protect you and Major Carter."
Daniel exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. "Jack teach you that?"
"There was no need for him to do so. The knowledge and expertise you and Major Carter possess is irreplaceable." He bowed his head solemnly, then faced the amusedly-waiting priestess. "I will take his place."
"Teal'c..." Daniel whispered in despair.
The priestess clapped her hands, chattering to her acolytes, and an enthusiastic cheer went up from the audience. Half a dozen of the men on the stage surrounded Teal'c, freeing the Jaffa from his bonds and leading him over to the altar. Straps were produced from out of nowhere and used to tie him to rings embedded in the sides of the stone slab. Once he was securely fastened atop the altar, the priestess sauntered over, planting her hands on her hips once more.
"May the Mother accept you into your embrace," she crooned, "and after you have been given, Jaffa, we will offer her the Blessed One."
"No!" Teal'c roared, straining against his bonds.
Ignoring his outrage, the priestess accepted a proffered dagger, and raised it high in the air over Teal'c's supine form. Tears of betrayal and anguish stinging him painfully, Daniel turned his head away and closed his eyes.
"Now!" Jack yelled, uncaring who might have heard his shout. Already, he feared he might be too late to save his teammates. Leaning back from the scope on his rifle, he dug a grenade out of another pouch and yanked the pin. Hurling the incendiary into the crowd below, he ducked back behind the ridge and covered for the inevitable blast.
Six explosions sounded nearly simultaneously, each coming from a different angle along the top edge of the bowl-shaped valley. Grabbing his second grenade, Jack prepped it and threw it at the edge of the panicking crowd, sacrificing the weapon's destructive potential in favor of sending the natives fleeing. Carter and SG-3 employed a similar tactic, and the crowd went into a frenzy of a completely different sort than their earlier fanaticism.
"Spencer, Carter, start picking off the guys on the stage," he ordered, looking back through the scope on his sniper rifle. Unfortunately, the dagger-wielding woman was nowhere to be seen, and as he scanned the rifle across the stage, he found Daniel's stark-white face searching the crowd wildly.
Daniel panicking was never a good thing.
Snapping off a quick shot that took the knife-hand off of a guy approaching the helpless archaeologist, Jack scrambled to his feet, pitched his last grenade at the heels of the fleeing crowd, and raced down the hill into the fray. Firing his zat sporadically to clear his path, he pushed his way toward the stage, anxious to free his teammates and get the hell off the planet.
There was no immediately obvious way up onto the five-foot high platform, so Jack had to holster the zat and use his forward momentum—and a well-placed foot—to propel himself up the wall like a recruit on an obstacle course. Zatting the native who staggered across his path, the colonel raced over to Daniel's side.
"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed. "Get to Teal'c, he's over there!"
"Hold your horses!" Jack yelled back, drawing his survival knife and sawing through the ropes binding the linguist to the suspicious-looking stake.
As soon as Daniel's hands were free, he spread them wide, yelling over the din in one of his two-dozen-plus languages. Jack cursed under his breath as his teammate inadvertently positioned himself between Jack and the tangled ball of confusion surrounding the area in which he'd last seen Teal'c. Growling in exasperation, he grabbed the younger man by the shoulder and was prepared to push him out of the way.
An answering cry rose above the stage, and the natives fell away to reveal a curvaceous woman standing next to the altar. To Jack's horror, the BDU-clad figure on the stone slab was frighteningly still. Then Daniel added to his gray hair by running forward—ignoring the colonel's barked order to stop—and snatching the bloody dagger off of the platform. A few quick slashes of the blade severed the Jaffa's bonds, and Daniel dropped the knife to gather the limp bundle into his arms.
Wait... wasn't Teal'c something like twice Daniel's size, not the other way around?
"What did you do to him?" Daniel demanded, looking up from the surprisingly small Jaffa and glaring at the priestess.
"He has been accepted by the Mother," she replied coldly. "You should have taken her gift willingly, not killed her children. The Mother will not take you, now."
"I don't care whether the Mother will take me or not," Daniel spat, "I just want to know what you did to him!"
Instead of replying, the priestess turned, grabbed her pitcher, and stalked off the stage.
"Daniel, what the hell is going on?" Jack shouted. "What happened to Teal'c?"
Looking down at the figure slumped in his arms, the archaeologist traced a finger over the raised emblem on Teal'c's now-small forehead. "I think," he began, then had to swallow hard and try again. "I think he's been turned into a child."
"Well—as near as I can tell—Teal'c appears to be a perfectly normal Jaffa child," Janet concluded, folding her hands on the briefing table.
"How is this possible?" asked General Hammond, voicing the question on everyone's minds.
"I have no idea," the doctor answered, just as Sam knew she would.
Sam took a breath. "Sir, the only people who might be able to tell us what happened to him are the natives on P7N-265."
"Fat chance getting them to tell us anything," Colonel O'Neill chimed in, unhelpfully.
"Teal'c still hasn't awakened," Janet added, "and Daniel's refusing to leave his side. Without further information, sir, I'm afraid my hands are tied."
The colonel scrubbed his hands through his hair. "Great... just great. Wait... what about Junior?"
"I was just getting to that. Teal'c's symbiote was showing signs of 'restlessness'—for lack of a better term—and we weren't certain if it was an after-effect of Teal'c's... transformation... or if something else was going on. Then Doctor Jackson said something about Teal'c being smaller right now than Rya'c was when you first met him, and that got me to thinking."
"He's too young for a symbiote," Sam guessed.
"Was that the case, Doctor?" the general asked, forestalling another comment from Colonel O'Neill.
Janet nodded. "Yes, sir. We put the symbiote into a holding tank and it settled down almost immediately. So far, Teal'c isn't showing any adverse affects, either."
"Teal'c without Junior," Colonel O'Neill mused aloud. "That's a concept."
Hammond tilted his head. "I never thought I'd say this, colonel, but let's hope it's only temporary."
Even Sam grimaced at that thought. Finding a way to free the Jaffa of their dependency on Goa'uld symbiotes was one of the goals of the Jaffa Rebellion, and therefore of great interest to Earth, too. While Sam was certain Teal'c would have given up almost anything to be free of his symbiote, she was equally certain he wouldn't consider his current situation a "fair trade".
"We really don't have anything to go on, sir," Sam answered, a little embarrassed. "With your permission, sir, I'd like to try to contact the Tok'ra and the Asgard."
"Do it," Hammond agreed. "Colonel O'Neill, I want you to get in touch with Master Bra'tac. He'll want to know what's happened to Teal'c."
Teal'c woke slowly, but carefully held still until he was certain of his surroundings. The tell-tale sounds of medical monitoring equipment quickly gave him his answer: the infirmary. Even with his eyes still closed, he could track the rubber-soled shoes of the nurses as they walked past his bed, and sensed there was someone seated in the chair beside his bed. That, he was confident, was one of his teammates, and since years of standing watch with his team had acclimated him to the breath sounds they made as they slept, he knew which one.
"Daniel Jackson." Something was wrong with his voice, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Daniel Jackson?"
Despite the fact that Teal'c's voice had still come out sounding far too high and soft, the young Tau'ri bolted upright, staring down at him with glasses hanging askew. "You're awake!"
"Indeed," he smiled, "but I must kelnorim soon, as I still feel fatigued and... unsettled."
Daniel Jackson straightened his frames, then blinked at him through the lenses. "Um... unsettled?"
"Not quite myself," Teal'c clarified, closing his eyes.
"Funny you should say that," his friend muttered.
Teal'c turned his head to look at him more fully. "How so?"
"Well, you are kinda..." Daniel Jackson took a deep breath and rubbed at his eyes, jostling his eyewear yet again. "Teal'c, do you remember P7N-265? We were captured by the natives—"
"—And subjected to a ceremony intended to be a ritual sacrifice. I have no recollection of our escape, however, but I presume O'Neill and Major Carter came to our rescue." He closed his eyes again, struggling with the overwhelming exhaustion which doggedly clung to him.
Daniel Jackson leaned forward. "Teal'c... they were a little too late. It wasn't a sacrifice, or at least the first part of it wasn't. Their Mother—the goddess they worship..." The anthropologist trailed off, obviously struggling to come up with the right terms to describe the alien ritual. "I think that when the priestess said 'given to the Mother', Teal'c, she meant making you—making us the Mother's children. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but..." He licked his lower lip nervously. "You've been turned into a child."
Teal'c stilled. For a moment, he thought he was experiencing some sort of hallucination, or perhaps this was April First and someone was attempting to make an "April Fool" of him. An instant later, he reminded himself that Daniel Jackson was not the sort to play such tricks upon others, so that left either an altered state of awareness or the bare truth.
Raising a single tiny hand before his disbelieving eyes, Teal'c replied in a small voice which apparently matched the rest of him, "Indeed." He suddenly became aware of a strange sensation in his abdomen, and placed that same tiny hand over his pouch. "Mai'tac! I am unable to sense my symbiote!"
Daniel Jackson put his own hand over Teal'c's. "I know. Janet had to take it out because it was having trouble... we think it's because your body is now too young for it. She put it in a tank for safe-keeping until we can find out how to fix this." He waved a finger idly in one direction, likely indicating the immature Goa'uld's temporary abode.
At least Teal'c hoped it would be only temporary. Although he had long desired to be rid of his dependence on the Goa'uld, more than a hundred years had passed since he'd last been this small, this frail. While he hated that much of his strength came from the symbiote he had been forced to carry all his adult life, being without it made him feel... weak.
"Teal'c..." Daniel Jackson began, licking his lower lip nervously. "If you hadn't... if you hadn't made them pick you, I would be in that bed right now, probably feeling pretty small and afraid." He took a deep breath, continuing, "If there's anything I can do—anything—let me know."
The child-sized Jaffa opened his mouth to decline his friend's offer, but at the last moment, he changed his mind. Although Master Bra'tac had often tried to teach him that the measure of one's strength was not solely dependent on physical power, it was through the Tau'ri—and particularly Daniel Jackson—that Teal'c had truly come to see the wisdom of his teacher's words, though he still had difficulty allowing himself any infirmity.
Had it been Daniel Jackson who had been changed into a child, would Teal'c have begrudged him any aid? The answer was 'no', and Teal'c found he could—for the moment—accept that he might have some physical limitations in his current form. There was no shame in accepting assistance freely offered, though he would never ask for it on his own.
"If I need anything, you will be the first I inform," Teal'c assured him, dipping his head in acknowledgment. The relieved smile crossing his friend's face immediately told him he had given the right answer. Unsuccessfully attempting to fend off a yawn, he added, "For the moment, I believe I am in need of nothing more than... sleep."
"Well, that was a bust," Jack griped, stomping into the infirmary. Immediately, he ground to a halt, surprised to see that Daniel was no longer glued to the chair next to Teal'c's bed. Scratching at the side of his head, Jack headed for Janet's office and rapped on the doorframe to announce his presence to the petite doctor. Leaning into the small room, he began, "So you finally kicked Daniel out, did ya?"
Before the doc could reply, a familiar voice from behind Jack asked, "Kicked who out?"
"Kicked out whom, Daniel," Jack corrected immediately, whirling about. It seemed a certain archaeologist was getting far too good at sneaking. "Wrong pronoun, ya know, and you'd think a linguist would know that a preposition is something you shouldn't end a sentence with."
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "Right," he drew out, taking a sip from the coffee mug he held. Squeezing between Jack and the doorframe, the scientist slipped into Janet's office and claimed one of the chairs across from the CMO's desk. "And for your information, Jack, I wasn't kicked out... I left of my own free will—" Janet gave an unlady-like snort at that apparently questionable statement "—and grabbed a shower and a meal while I was gone."
"But obviously not the eight hours of sleep in a real bed I also 'requested' you take," Janet reminded him.
"I heard Jack had gotten back."
Jack spread his hands. "And so I did, and so I am. And since Daniel's no longer looking quite so much like someone kicked his puppy, may I presume T's doing better?"
"Puppy?" Daniel question, eyebrows and voice rising.
"He woke up about two hours ago," Janet answered, interrupting what was rapidly turning into another of Jack and Daniel's infamous exchanges of wit. "He managed to stay awake about fifteen minutes before going to sleep again."
"Ah... so a tuckered-out tiny T?" Jack grinned, glancing at Daniel just in time to see him roll his eyes in exasperation.
Janet clasped her hands together atop her desk. "Simple exhaustion, Colonel. He's been through a very traumatic experience, and it stands to reason his body is struggling to adjust."
"Yeah, but there's a whole lot less of him to adjust," Jack replied, then grimaced at his strange choice of words. "So how'd he take the whole... you know... 'sorry T, but you've just been shrunk'?"
Daniel rolled his shoulders. "A lot better than I would have in his place." His face paled as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and his knuckles whitened against the dark wooden arm of his chair.
"Daniel?"
The younger man sighed and set his cup on the edge of the doc's desk. "Teal'c... Teal'c insisted the priestess in charge of the ceremony make him the first sacrifice. She wanted me. Teal'c changed her mind."
"You're saying he asked to be shrunk?" Janet asked, incredulous.
"What? No, worse than that!" Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose for a long moment, then looked up at Jack. "At the time, I... we thought it was a human sacrifice ritual. He was going to let them kill him first to try to give you and Sam time to rescue me."
"What?" Jack echoed. "Where the hell would he get such a lame-brained idea? Wait, don't answer that... I know somebody else who's into the whole self-sacrifice thing." He glared pointedly at Daniel; unsurprisingly, the younger man stared back unflinchingly.
"Pot, meet kettle," Daniel shot back.
"Gentlemen!" Janet warned. "Colonel, what word from Master Bra'tac?"
"Nary a peep," Jack answered. "Bra'tac and a few of his recruits have gone off somewhere to incite rebellion among the Jaffa of Tough Nut."
Daniel hesitated. "You mean Tefnut?"
"Whatever. Anyway, they're not expected back for weeks."
"What happens to Teal'c, then?" Daniel asked.
"He stays on-base until Bra'tac returns," Janet answered immediately. "He usually lives here anyway, so I can't see why not. After that... we'll see."
Jack really should have seen it coming, but there were still days when Daniel's astonishing level of stubborn still managed to catch him by surprise... this was one of them. "He can stay with me."
"Daniel, he'll be just fine on base," Jack sighed.
"No, Jack, he won't. Have you seen him? He can't be more than three or four years old! Are we going to assign an SF to follow him around everywhere and make sure he doesn't get stepped on? Get someone he doesn't know to help him cut up his food and turn on the shower?"
Sighing again, the colonel scrubbed at the back of his neck and briefly wondered which one could over-do the guilt trip thing worse: Teal'c or Daniel. Since Teal'c was more than three times Daniel's age—chronologically speaking only, given the current situation—he might have had a lot more practice, but Daniel seemed to have it down to a fine art. At this point, Jack was certain Daniel had been born apologizing to his own mother for inconveniencing her for nine months.
"Daniel, have you ever looked after a kid?"
"Well, he's not a kid exactly, Jack," the obstinate linguist replied. "He'll have a lot of physical challenges to overcome until we can get this reversed, but he remembers everything. And you know as well as I do that Teal'c has enough trouble asking his friends for help with anything, so do you think he'd like having to rely on anyone else? Or like having an audience?"
Jack was defeated and he knew it, but short of insisting he—as the only human member of the team who'd ever taken care of a small child—let Teal'c live with him, there'd be no stopping Daniel. Actually, he wasn't so sure Daniel would stop even there. "Pot, meet kettle," he mimicked.
"Jack..."
He held up his hands. "It's not up to me, Daniel... you'll have to clear it with Hammond, first, then see if T will even agree to it."
"Daniel Jackson... what is this?"
Teal'c had balked, just as Daniel was afraid he would. "It's called a booster seat, Teal'c, and it's required by law. If I get pulled over on the way home and you're not fastened into it, I could be ticketed and fined."
Arching an eyebrow, the miniature Jaffa frowned at the object occupying the backseat of Daniel's car, rubbing briefly at the bandage covering the small slice on his arm. It, other than his diminished size, was the only vestige of their captivity by the Mother's worshippers, and Teal'c's continual worrying of the wound was indicative of his troubled state of mind.
When he woke again, Teal'c was more alert and was able to tell his version of events. The cut had been made on his arm and the blood which welled from it was collected into a small but deep bowl, then the priestess poured in a measure of liquid from the pitcher she had brought to the ceremony. At that point, the SGC's attack had commenced, but with a single-minded determination, the priestess had sprinkled powder into the bowl and chanted some sort of prayer. She then instructed her followers to force Teal'c's mouth open, and he was made to drink the bitter concoction.
After that, his memory grew hazy, and the next thing he recalled was waking up in the infirmary. Without his symbiote, Teal'c now needed to sleep—something he wasn't used to doing—and didn't heal nearly as quickly as he was accustomed. Though he'd never admit it aloud, he was having a difficult time adjusting, and the booster seat in the back of Daniel's car was yet another reminder of how different things were for him now.
Just as Daniel opened his mouth to suggest they forego the offending contraption, Teal'c sighed and crawled into the booster seat, fumbling with the seatbelt attached to the device. "I am ready, Daniel Jackson," he announced once he'd buckled himself in, and Daniel couldn't help but smile at the image before him. A small child though Teal'c might be, his stern expression and regal bearing gave him the appearance of a Star Trek captain in his command chair, not a little boy in a booster seat.
"Warp speed, Mr. Jackson," Daniel muttered under his breath as he walked around to the driver's side. "Engage!"
The drive to his apartment was made in silence, though Daniel couldn't help but make continual glances into the rearview mirror to see how Teal'c was taking things. Unsurprisingly, the miniature Jaffa was looking around curiously, much as he always had on the previous occasions when he was permitted to leave base.
Teal'c was a people-watcher. At times, Daniel felt Teal'c was just as much an anthropologist as he was, though his focus was on Tau'ri culture, with an emphasis on the United States in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Granted, his education was a bit skewed by the dual influences of the testosterone-infused military subculture and Jack O'Neill's quirky brand of Minnesota-bred screwball-ness, but he nevertheless seemed interested in all aspects of American life, particularly with how humans entertained themselves. Apparently, small children were the only Jaffa permitted to play, and even then, their activities were a mixture of battle training and religious indoctrination.
An idea struck him then, and before he could talk himself out of it, he turned off the main road and made for a nearby park. "We are not going to your dwelling?" Teal'c asked, noticing the change immediately.
"I thought of something you might like to do instead," Daniel began, biting his lower lip nervously. "This might be a stupid idea, really."
Teal'c cocked his head, eyebrows raising beneath the knit beanie Janet had picked out when she went shopping for the down-sized warrior the day before. Ironically, it had a skateboard brand logo which rested in the center of Teal'c's forehead, right over his tattoo. "I rarely find your ideas 'stupid', Daniel Jackson. Please elaborate further."
Finding a parking spot beneath a shady tree, Daniel stopped the car and shut it off. Twisting around in his seat, he met Teal'c's sincere gaze and blurted, "Would you like to play?"
"Play?"
"Play... swings, slides, that sort of thing. Like what Cassie used to do when she first got here."
Teal'c's face took on a distant expression. "I once sat on the swings at the park near Janet Frasier's house. My legs were far too long to adequately utilize the equipment."
"But you're a lot shorter right now," Daniel reasoned. "It's a dumb idea, I know, but... well, we don't know how long you're going to be like this, so I thought you wouldn't mind taking advantage of your... of the situation, and explore a different aspect of Tau'ri culture."
"Childhood."
"Exactly."
After a moment, Teal'c's lips curled slightly, and he nodded. "It is an excellent plan. Other than the few outings I have had with Cassandra Frasier and Ally Jenner, I have little experience with how human children 'play'."
Daniel grinned. "Swings first, then the slide?"
"Indeed."
Teal'c estimated they had been at the park for less than half an hour when their peace was disturbed by a small pack of boisterous human children. His first thought had been to ask Daniel Jackson if they could leave, but he soon determined that in order to make a thorough study of Tau'ri childhood activities, he had to actually observe Tau'ri children at play. Noticing how the children all knew one another's names—even those we were of differing age groups—he concluded that they were all "locals", and that he would be unlikely to find much opportunity to interact with such a close-knit group.
Therefore, it came as a considerable surprise when one of the boys—seemingly close in age to Teal'c's current size—approached him and asked if he wanted to join them in a game of Freeze Tag.
"I am unfamiliar with this game. Does it involve ice?"
As the little boy howled with laughter, Daniel Jackson intervened. "Teal'c is... not from America. He's staying with me while... um, while his father is on a special mission for the Air Force."
"Cool!" the boy exclaimed. "Where ya from? My mommy's from Bleeze, and my daddy's from Nicker-oggy."
"That's 'Belize' and 'Nicaragua', dummy!" exclaimed an older boy, who looked as though he might be this child's brother. "They're legal immigrants, and some day, they'll be citizens, too!"
"A very admirable goal," Teal'c answered. He made mental note to use Daniel Jackson's home computer to research what qualified someone as being migratory, legal or otherwise. "Where I come from, there is little opportunity for a child to play. Will you do me the honor of teaching me the rules for Freeze Tag?"
By this time, the whole group—ten children in all—had gathered around Teal'c and Daniel Jackson at the swings. "First, we hafta pick somebody to be It, and then everybody runs and the person who's It has to chase them," explained the first boy. "If you get tagged, you have to stop running and stay there until somebody un-sticks ya. The only way to get un-stuck is if somebody who hasn't been tagged crawls between your legs. Then you can run again."
"I see," Teal'c replied, wondering only briefly if the person so tagged was actually adhered in place, or if the child simply meant they were required to behave as though they were. Presuming it was the latter, he found himself impressed by the complexity of the game's rules, though they seemed easy enough to follow. "How long must the person who is 'It' continue to chase the other participants?"
"Until he's frozen everyone," explained the older brother, "or until he calls a time-out to rest. Then we pick another It and the game keeps going until we're all too tired to run anymore!"
"This does sound 'fun'. Very well, I will gladly join in your game."
A chorus of "yays" followed his pronouncement. "Didja say your name was 'Teak'?" asked the younger brother.
"Teal'c," he corrected. "On my... in my native land, it means 'strength'."
"My name's Ricardo... dunno what it means, though. That's my older brother Miguel."
"We all just call 'em Ricky and Mikey," chimed in a girl whose blond hair had been bound into a pair of braids. "I'm Carrie Krueger, and my twin brother is Cory." Cory, a redhead who otherwise strongly resembled his sister, waved his own hello.
The other children introduced themselves as well, then Mikey fisted his hands on his hips and eyed Daniel Jackson, who then felt compelled to identify himself. "Would you like to play too, Mister Jackson?"
"I'd love to, but I'm afraid I'm not really dressed for running around," the anthropologist lamented, gesturing broadly at his khaki slacks and loafers.
"We could play Hospital Tag!" exclaimed Cory. "Mister Jackson could be the doctor, and we could make the big oak the hospital."
"Hospital takes two doctors and two teams," Carrie reminded him.
"But we could make our own version... Mister Jackson's the only one who can unfreeze somebody, but they both have to walk all the way back to the monkey bars, instead!"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Mikey, taking the lead again. "Want to be our doctor, Mister Jackson?"
Daniel Jackson's arms had been crossed over his chest, but when faced with so many eager faces, he apparently found it difficult to resist their appeal. "'Doctor' Jackson... has a nice ring to it, right Teal'c?" "Indeed," Teal'c replied, lips curving into a smile.
"'Lo."
Sam smiled at the sleepy voice at the other end of the line. "Rough week?"
Daniel coughed and cleared his throat. "Something like that. What did you need, Sam?"
"I just wanted to check on you and Teal'c, that's all," she explained. "I stopped by yesterday, but your car wasn't there, and you didn't answer your cell phone."
"Oh... sorry, I meant to call you back."
She shrugged, even though she Daniel couldn't see the gesture through the phone. "It's okay... your doorman said you and Teal'c had just left, so I wasn't too worried... figured you might've gone to see a movie or something."
"Or something," came the mumbled agreement.
Knowing her frequent co-conspirator as she did, Sam could tell by the sound of his voice that he was being deliberately evasive. "Daniel? What are you up to?"
"What makes you think I'm up to anything?"
"Your lips are moving?"
"You can't see them right now! Besides, I've been practicing my ventriloquism, so no, they're not."
"Liar," she laughed.
"Brat," he retorted. "All right, but you have to keep it a secret from Jack. If he finds out what we're doing, he'll take over and spoil all our fun."
"Fun? Doctor Jackson is having fun that doesn't involve onion paper and rubbing charcoal?"
"Pot, meet kettle..." Daniel sing-songed. "In your case, though, it'd be a naquada reactor and an alien computer. But... in my defense, it is an anthropological experiment, and Teal'c's been more than happy to help me with it. We've been—" his voice dropped to a whisper "—rediscovering our childhood. Well, more like discovering our childhood, since neither of us had much of one the first time, but you get the idea."
Sam grinned. "So you've been... what? Playing tag? Hopscotch?"
"All the above and more. There's a great group of kids at a park I found, and they've been teaching us Freeze and Hospital Tag, Hide-and-Sardines, and Dodge Ball. Yesterday, we all brought Super Soakers and played Cops and Robbers."
"Wow!" she exclaimed. "I would love to see the two of you in action!"
"Oh no!" Daniel protested. "If we invited you along, then we'd have to invite Jack, too, just to be fair. A lot of the fun is learning how to play, but Jack's already an expert at acting like a kid."
She bit her lip. "You wouldn't have to... besides, he had a pretty normal childhood, whereas I was a military brat and moved around—"
The rest of her appeal was interrupted by her phone beeping to tell her she had another call, and a glance at the display told her it was the Control Room. "Hang on a second, Daniel, I've got to take this call."
A minute later, she switched back to the outside line. "Great news: Bra'tac got our message, and will be here within the hour."
There was a long pause on the other end, then a quiet, "I'll go wake Teal'c."
Jack thought Daniel and especially Teal'c would be thrilled with the news. "So this isn't permanent?" he asked, trying to cajole a reaction out of the pair seated across the table.
"Indeed it is not," Bra'tac confirmed. "Although I have never witnessed the ceremonies of the Cha'kati, I understand that their Mother goddess is not Goa'uld, and that their people drove Kali away when she attempted to subvert them."
"Kali?" Daniel asked, finally intrigued by something, at least. "Cha'kati sounds like it might be a variant of Shakti, the Hindu Divine Mother. I didn't notice any parallels between their culture and Hindu, but then again, that's not really my area of expertise."
"And I'm sure you had other things on your mind," Jack added.
"That, too."
Bra'tac nodded sagely. "From the stories I was told, a Child of Cha'kati would 'return' within a cycle. I wish I knew more, but their world was considered to be too dangerous for any Jaffa, and I had not thought of it again until I received your message."
"We appreciate you coming as quickly as you did," General Hammond acknowledged.
"Any idea how long a 'cycle' is?" Carter asked. "Are we looking at a month or a year?"
Daniel's head dropped, his cheeks coloring. "Well..."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Daniel?"
The blushing anthropologist stammered, "It's a female... goddess-worshipping... fertility..."
A wicked gleam came to Janet Fraiser's eye. "Menstrual cycle, Colonel."
Jack coughed. "Of course. So... only three more weeks 'til Teal'c's back to normal?"
Janet rolled her shoulders. "That's assuming their physiology is still similar to ours and their menses haven't adapted to environmental changes."
"P7N-265 has two moons," Carter chimed in, "so there's no telling what sort of effect that might have on menstruation."
"Ack!" the colonel exclaimed, trying to stop the women from continually uttering the 'm' word. He'd been married, of course, but there were still some bodily functions men found difficult to discuss. "It's not permanent, and that's all we need to know... right?"
"What of the change itself?" asked Teal'c, piping up from his perch atop two of Daniel's larger texts. He and the archaeologist had been practically inseparable since the down-sizing, so it wasn't surprising to see him sitting in the chair next to Daniel.
"If the stories are true—and I now have little reason to doubt that they are—then the change will come as the Child sleeps, as it did when it was first granted."
Daniel fidgeted with his pen. "Do you want Teal'c to stay with you until then?"
Bra'tac studied the odd pair across from him, but Jack wasn't able to read the older Jaffa's expression. "I have many things which I must do, and would have little time to spare should he require assistance."
"I will gladly stay here," Teal'c replied quickly. "General Hammond, with your permission, I would like to continue my stay with Daniel Jackson."
Janet shook her head. "That's too far away from base, Teal'c. What happens if you change overnight and it's several hours before you can return and get your symbiote back?"
Teal'c's lower lip protruded slightly. The closest to a pout Jack had ever seen from him, it looked like Daniel was being a bad influence on an impressionable young Jaffa... not that Teal'c was really all that impressionable or young, now that Jack thought about it. "I can survive for many hours without a symbiote. General Hammond, I request but a few more days at Daniel Jackson's residence. I have been aiding him with an anthropological experiment, and would not like to see it terminated before satisfying results have been attained."
"An experiment?" Jack spluttered, accidentally cutting the general off before he could reply. "Daniel, you two are supposed to be on leave, as in 'relaxing at home', not working!"
"Studying other cultures is relaxing," Daniel answered. "But Janet's got a point, Teal'c, and we have had some... fascinating results already."
Even small, Teal'c could still manage to look very somber. "Indeed, but I am as yet unsatisfied. I believe there to be other variables to consider."
"I'll give you two weeks," Hammond offered, "provided Doctor Fraiser has no objections."
Janet rested her forearms on the briefing room table and interlaced her fingers. "I'll allow it on one condition: buy a baby monitor to use at night. There's no guarantee you'll hear anything if he begins to change overnight, but it's better than nothing."
"Deal," Daniel agreed. "We'll pick one up at the mall on our way to... to my apartment."
Hammond thanked Bra'tac again, and dismissed the briefing. Daniel and Teal'c then invited Carter over to their side of the table and began discussing the particulars of their experiment. Since Jack had left the new Diablo game paused on his computer, he was happy to beat a quick retreat from the room, but he did a double take when he heard Daniel whisper, "...And wear sneakers."
What kind of geek experiment required sneakers?
Flipping the light on in his office, Daniel dragged himself in the room, but stopped short when he noticed a wrapped parcel sitting on his desk. It was square, about five inches across and two inches high, and fairly heavy when he picked it up and gently shook it. With no rattles forthcoming to help him identify the contents, Daniel decided to throw caution to the wind and unwrap it. Sliding a finger beneath one carefully-folded edge, he dislodged the tape holding the brightly-colored paper in place and soon had the entire item exposed.
It was a wooden frame which had been filled with plaster, into which a tiny handprint had been imprinted. Beneath that, the hand's owner had carefully inscribed his name.
"Ricardo and Miguel Mairena informed me that their parents 'went nuts over' similar keepsakes," Teal'c explained from the door, his massive shoulders filling the frame. "Major Carter helped me to acquire the necessary materials while you were assisting SG-8 last week." Daniel nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
Teal'c hesitated in the doorway a moment longer, then stepped into the room and sat down in the chair on the opposite of the desk from the speechless linguist. "Daniel Jackson, it is not my place to ask you of the events of the dream Shifu gave you, but I do know this: had Shifu stayed, you would have been an excellent parent to him."
Again, Daniel found himself fish-mouthed. "Thank you, Teal'c," he finally managed to squeak out. "It wasn't anything like that, but I'm... well, I can't deny I wished he had been my son." He waved at the plaster mold. "Thank you for this. All of it—not just the handprint—but going along with me when I stopped at the park. I still don't know what possessed me to do that, but I'm glad I did."
"As am I," Teal'c agreed, inclining his head. "I will miss the Mairenas, the Kruegers, and the other children. It is a shame we can no longer return to that park to play with them."
"Yeah," Daniel smiled. "They were good kids." He shook his head. "I was born on this planet, but I never knew what it was like to just play like that. Knowing what I do now, well... it gives me a whole new reason to fight to protect the planet. Those kids deserve to grow up happy and as relatively care-free as possible."
"Indeed. I can only hope that Rya'c has been taught how to play by the children of the Land of Light. I intend to visit him again soon, and if I find he does not engage in such frivolous activities, I will be forced to instruct him properly." Daniel laughed at that, and Teal'c stood, bowing his head respectfully. As he headed to the door, however, he stopped and turned around again. "Daniel Jackson, this morning, I overheard Colonel Ferretti telling Lieutenant Lawson about an activity he called 'laser tag'. Should we investigate it with another anthropological experiment?"
Daniel reached for his phone. "I'll call Sam."