Spoilers: Gamekeeper
Notes: I've become interested with the idea of SG-1 as children, so there might be more on this idea coming later. (run away, run away) :) This is the first story I've really chaptered, so tell me how it works out.
years lost, Years Gained
SG-1 stepped through the Stargate and immediatly put themsleves on guard. They were surrounded by a group of natives.
"At least we have a welcoming commity." Jack quipped. "Daniel..." THe archeologist stepped forward.
"Hello, We're peacefull explorers from Earth." He waited and when he got no response, he started in on another language, but was interrupted.
"You came through the circle." One of the natives asked. He appeared to be the leader.
"Yes." said Daniel, "But we mean you no harm. Like I said...We're peacefull explorers." The leader looked closely at him.
"I'm Danok." he said at last and gestured for them to follow. Daniel looked back at Jack and started forward, under a smaller ring. The rest of the team followed. As he went under the ring, peering at the inscriptions, it flared. If they had been farther from it, down where Danok was standing, it would have seemed like when the moon eclipsed the sun. Startled, Daniel stumbled out to the other side of the ring. Immediatly there was a rustle of surprise through the crowd, like wind. Jack stepped forward.
"And what was that?" He asked. Danok advanced quickly.
"You are all welcome." he said to them. "Do not worry, it is not harmfull." he said to Daniel, who nodded back.
They arrived at the village some time later and were immediatly beseiged by the rest of the village. The children ran around Daniel and Sam, using them as a "base" for tag or hiding places for hide and seek. Sam grinned at Daniel as a little girl hid behind her and a boy grabbed hold of Daniel declaring that he was safe. Jack smiled slightly and watched while listening to Danok. Danok left and Jack made his way to them, being careful not to step on any little hands or feet.
"I can see whose popular here." he remarked. "We're invited to a feast tonight, so you guys better get ready. We'll set up camp right outside town." The rest nodded and left to set up and Jack grinned down at a little boy who had latched on to him, freed himself, and followed.
***
Jack frowned. The feast was great. The food was good, the drink was good, the natives were... friendly and Daniel was in heaven listening to their myths and folk tales. And still Jack frowned.
The natives were what they seemed, friendly and they still treated the team with a healthy amount of caution, especially Teal'c. They seemed trusting enough to let their children mingle with them. This trust seemed to be helped along by the light display earlier from the smaller ring that Daniel had set off.
Their reaction to Daniel was what really irked Jack. They listened to him and answered his questions, but they seemed to treat him like he was a child, listening like an adult would listen to a 6 year old describing a favorite toy. Daniel didn't seem to notice, or, if he did, didn't say anything and didn't appear to care. This was why Jack frowned. Where they blind? Couldn't they see that Daniel was as old as, or older than many of the adults here?
Jack sighed and stood up. It was getting late and they were heading out tomorrow so they had a long trek back to the 'gate ahead of them.
"Let's go guys." Sam and Teal'c also stod up and Daniel followed them reluctantly.
"Just a little longer?" he asked. Jack rolled his eyes and wondered how Daniel managed to sound like a 10 year old asking to stay up just a little longer to watch some more TV.
"Now Daniel." They said goodnight and made their way back to the camp.
"I'll take first watch." Jack said. "Teal'c, second, Carter, third, Daniel, fourth, okay?" They all nodded and dissapeared into tents as Jack settled down for his watch.
***
Jack sighed and glanced down at his watch. His watch was about to end. It had been uneventfull, as he suspected. He didn't think that the natives would come charging in armed. He was just there to make sure that no lions, tigers and/or bears (oh my!) came running in uninvited.
There was a rustle behind him an he whirled around. Quickly he grabbed his flashlight and shone it where he had heard the noise. It illuminated a small child who looked at him, scared. One look at Jack's gun and the boy backed up a few steps before turning and running.
"Hey!" Jack called, knowing that he would probably wake up Teal'c and Carter. "Get back here." He hadn't recognized the child from the village and he didn't know where he was from or where he was going. The boy ran into Carter, who had just exited her tent in alarm. She held the wriggling form so he couldn't get away. Jack walked towards her and the child then tryed to hide behind her. She looked at him in amusment.
"Your gun." she pointed out and Jack gave his gun to Teal'c in exasperation.
"Where's Daniel?" he asked. The boy peeked out from behind Sam.
"I'm Daniel." he said in a small voice. "But people call me Danny." They all looked at him in surprise and disbelief. A word filtered into Jack's brain, but it wasn't a word suitable to be uttered around small children.
Now that he was still, Jack could get a good look at him. He was small and looked about 6 years old with the same long hair as before. He was also barefoot and swimming in obviously overlarge clothes that had been Daniel's. With one hand he held Daniel's large glasses to his face while with the other he tried to keep his pants up. Not that it mattered, his shirt came down below his knees. Despite his hight in later years, Daniel had been small as a child.
"You're Daniel?" Jack asked. "Daniel Jackson?" The boy nodded.
"Danny." he corrected. Jack shot Sam a look and went to try to restart the fire that he had kept as glowing embers. Sam sat down on the ground and held Danny in her lap.
"Alright Danny," Jack said sitting down beside them, "I'm Jack. How old are you?"
"six."
"Okay, good. What's the last thing you remember?" Danny frowned.
"I was in the forest. And I climbed up a tree. I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up I was here. Wherever here is..." Something in the back of Sam's head stirred, something Daniel had told her briefly, about how old he was when...
"Who are your parents?" she asked on impulse.
"My _parents_," he said, stressing the word, "Are dead. I live with Mr. Meyers." Jack ans Sam both twitched in surprise (in Jack's case) and dread (in Sam's case.) Sam could remember that mission where they were stuck in the VR world where Daniel had been forced to witness his parents deaths over and over again... And now he was six, which was only about a year after the event happened.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Teal'c prowling around the fringes of the camp while they dealt with Danny. THe little boy in her lap yawned.
"Why don't you go back to sleep," Jack suggested, "And we'll go home in the morning."
"Okay" Danny yawned. "Are we camping?"
"Yeah," Sam said, "Something like that."
Jack watched them go, worried.
***
"What did you do to him?" JAck demanded the next morning as he strode across the clearing. A mother appeared from one of the houses and came towards them, carrying a bundle of clothes Danny's size. That's when Jack realized that they had known that this was going to happen. And that explained their attitude towards Daniel the night before. DAnny followed the Woman into a her house and Jack indicated that Sam should go with them.
"We did nothing to him." Danok said. "He was chosen by the Great Ring." Jack looked at him in incomprehension for a minute.
"Oh that thing, the one that flared. The large ring of metal that can't think. How did it _choose_ him if it can't think!" Danok just shrugged.
"He was chosen." he insisted.
"fine, just dandy. How do you _un_choose him."
"The process is irreversible. You cannot cange him back, it is impossible."
"_Nothing_ is impossible." Jack said flatly. SG-1 should know too, they'd done what was considered impossible many times, way to many for Jack's liking, but they'd done it.
"There is only one way for him to change back." Danok continued.
"And?" Jack prompted.
"If he chooses to change back." Jack started.
"You mean Daniel's in there?" Danok nodded.
"He is, just in the subconsciousness. The boy isn't aware the choice is being made, but it is happening. You should know by the next full moon on your planet."
"That's..." Jack groaned as he went through the moon cycles in his mind. "That's one month away, we just had one." Silence, then, "How often do they change back?" Danok regarded him for a minute and turned to look back at Danny, who was running back to them, followed closely by Sam.
"Almost never."
***
"Alright Campers, we're moving out." Jack said, in a determinedly cheerfull voice. They headed out for the long walk back to the Stargate. Jack deliberatly set an almost painfully slow pace so that Danny would feel like he had walked some and then Teal'c Swung the boy up to his shoulders for the rest of the trek. They arrived and Sam started dialing the DHD. Teal'c set Danny down and he jumped back behind Jack when the Stargate activated with its usual fireworks. Jack motioned Sam and Teal'c to go through and then turned to kneel and look Danny in the eye.
"Don't worry. This is our way home. You'll be fine, just hold onto my hand, okay?" his eyes wide, Danny nodded and JAck stood up. He grabbed the small hand and lead the way up the ramp. Jack looked down at the small boy with a determined look on his face.
"Ready?" A nod. "Let's go then."
They stepped through.
Notes: I've become interested with the idea of SG-1 as children, so there might be more on this idea coming later. (run away, run away) :) This is the first story I've really chaptered, so tell me how it works out.
years lost, Years Gained
SG-1 stepped through the Stargate and immediatly put themsleves on guard. They were surrounded by a group of natives.
"At least we have a welcoming commity." Jack quipped. "Daniel..." THe archeologist stepped forward.
"Hello, We're peacefull explorers from Earth." He waited and when he got no response, he started in on another language, but was interrupted.
"You came through the circle." One of the natives asked. He appeared to be the leader.
"Yes." said Daniel, "But we mean you no harm. Like I said...We're peacefull explorers." The leader looked closely at him.
"I'm Danok." he said at last and gestured for them to follow. Daniel looked back at Jack and started forward, under a smaller ring. The rest of the team followed. As he went under the ring, peering at the inscriptions, it flared. If they had been farther from it, down where Danok was standing, it would have seemed like when the moon eclipsed the sun. Startled, Daniel stumbled out to the other side of the ring. Immediatly there was a rustle of surprise through the crowd, like wind. Jack stepped forward.
"And what was that?" He asked. Danok advanced quickly.
"You are all welcome." he said to them. "Do not worry, it is not harmfull." he said to Daniel, who nodded back.
They arrived at the village some time later and were immediatly beseiged by the rest of the village. The children ran around Daniel and Sam, using them as a "base" for tag or hiding places for hide and seek. Sam grinned at Daniel as a little girl hid behind her and a boy grabbed hold of Daniel declaring that he was safe. Jack smiled slightly and watched while listening to Danok. Danok left and Jack made his way to them, being careful not to step on any little hands or feet.
"I can see whose popular here." he remarked. "We're invited to a feast tonight, so you guys better get ready. We'll set up camp right outside town." The rest nodded and left to set up and Jack grinned down at a little boy who had latched on to him, freed himself, and followed.
***
Jack frowned. The feast was great. The food was good, the drink was good, the natives were... friendly and Daniel was in heaven listening to their myths and folk tales. And still Jack frowned.
The natives were what they seemed, friendly and they still treated the team with a healthy amount of caution, especially Teal'c. They seemed trusting enough to let their children mingle with them. This trust seemed to be helped along by the light display earlier from the smaller ring that Daniel had set off.
Their reaction to Daniel was what really irked Jack. They listened to him and answered his questions, but they seemed to treat him like he was a child, listening like an adult would listen to a 6 year old describing a favorite toy. Daniel didn't seem to notice, or, if he did, didn't say anything and didn't appear to care. This was why Jack frowned. Where they blind? Couldn't they see that Daniel was as old as, or older than many of the adults here?
Jack sighed and stood up. It was getting late and they were heading out tomorrow so they had a long trek back to the 'gate ahead of them.
"Let's go guys." Sam and Teal'c also stod up and Daniel followed them reluctantly.
"Just a little longer?" he asked. Jack rolled his eyes and wondered how Daniel managed to sound like a 10 year old asking to stay up just a little longer to watch some more TV.
"Now Daniel." They said goodnight and made their way back to the camp.
"I'll take first watch." Jack said. "Teal'c, second, Carter, third, Daniel, fourth, okay?" They all nodded and dissapeared into tents as Jack settled down for his watch.
***
Jack sighed and glanced down at his watch. His watch was about to end. It had been uneventfull, as he suspected. He didn't think that the natives would come charging in armed. He was just there to make sure that no lions, tigers and/or bears (oh my!) came running in uninvited.
There was a rustle behind him an he whirled around. Quickly he grabbed his flashlight and shone it where he had heard the noise. It illuminated a small child who looked at him, scared. One look at Jack's gun and the boy backed up a few steps before turning and running.
"Hey!" Jack called, knowing that he would probably wake up Teal'c and Carter. "Get back here." He hadn't recognized the child from the village and he didn't know where he was from or where he was going. The boy ran into Carter, who had just exited her tent in alarm. She held the wriggling form so he couldn't get away. Jack walked towards her and the child then tryed to hide behind her. She looked at him in amusment.
"Your gun." she pointed out and Jack gave his gun to Teal'c in exasperation.
"Where's Daniel?" he asked. The boy peeked out from behind Sam.
"I'm Daniel." he said in a small voice. "But people call me Danny." They all looked at him in surprise and disbelief. A word filtered into Jack's brain, but it wasn't a word suitable to be uttered around small children.
Now that he was still, Jack could get a good look at him. He was small and looked about 6 years old with the same long hair as before. He was also barefoot and swimming in obviously overlarge clothes that had been Daniel's. With one hand he held Daniel's large glasses to his face while with the other he tried to keep his pants up. Not that it mattered, his shirt came down below his knees. Despite his hight in later years, Daniel had been small as a child.
"You're Daniel?" Jack asked. "Daniel Jackson?" The boy nodded.
"Danny." he corrected. Jack shot Sam a look and went to try to restart the fire that he had kept as glowing embers. Sam sat down on the ground and held Danny in her lap.
"Alright Danny," Jack said sitting down beside them, "I'm Jack. How old are you?"
"six."
"Okay, good. What's the last thing you remember?" Danny frowned.
"I was in the forest. And I climbed up a tree. I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up I was here. Wherever here is..." Something in the back of Sam's head stirred, something Daniel had told her briefly, about how old he was when...
"Who are your parents?" she asked on impulse.
"My _parents_," he said, stressing the word, "Are dead. I live with Mr. Meyers." Jack ans Sam both twitched in surprise (in Jack's case) and dread (in Sam's case.) Sam could remember that mission where they were stuck in the VR world where Daniel had been forced to witness his parents deaths over and over again... And now he was six, which was only about a year after the event happened.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Teal'c prowling around the fringes of the camp while they dealt with Danny. THe little boy in her lap yawned.
"Why don't you go back to sleep," Jack suggested, "And we'll go home in the morning."
"Okay" Danny yawned. "Are we camping?"
"Yeah," Sam said, "Something like that."
Jack watched them go, worried.
***
"What did you do to him?" JAck demanded the next morning as he strode across the clearing. A mother appeared from one of the houses and came towards them, carrying a bundle of clothes Danny's size. That's when Jack realized that they had known that this was going to happen. And that explained their attitude towards Daniel the night before. DAnny followed the Woman into a her house and Jack indicated that Sam should go with them.
"We did nothing to him." Danok said. "He was chosen by the Great Ring." Jack looked at him in incomprehension for a minute.
"Oh that thing, the one that flared. The large ring of metal that can't think. How did it _choose_ him if it can't think!" Danok just shrugged.
"He was chosen." he insisted.
"fine, just dandy. How do you _un_choose him."
"The process is irreversible. You cannot cange him back, it is impossible."
"_Nothing_ is impossible." Jack said flatly. SG-1 should know too, they'd done what was considered impossible many times, way to many for Jack's liking, but they'd done it.
"There is only one way for him to change back." Danok continued.
"And?" Jack prompted.
"If he chooses to change back." Jack started.
"You mean Daniel's in there?" Danok nodded.
"He is, just in the subconsciousness. The boy isn't aware the choice is being made, but it is happening. You should know by the next full moon on your planet."
"That's..." Jack groaned as he went through the moon cycles in his mind. "That's one month away, we just had one." Silence, then, "How often do they change back?" Danok regarded him for a minute and turned to look back at Danny, who was running back to them, followed closely by Sam.
"Almost never."
***
"Alright Campers, we're moving out." Jack said, in a determinedly cheerfull voice. They headed out for the long walk back to the Stargate. Jack deliberatly set an almost painfully slow pace so that Danny would feel like he had walked some and then Teal'c Swung the boy up to his shoulders for the rest of the trek. They arrived and Sam started dialing the DHD. Teal'c set Danny down and he jumped back behind Jack when the Stargate activated with its usual fireworks. Jack motioned Sam and Teal'c to go through and then turned to kneel and look Danny in the eye.
"Don't worry. This is our way home. You'll be fine, just hold onto my hand, okay?" his eyes wide, Danny nodded and JAck stood up. He grabbed the small hand and lead the way up the ramp. Jack looked down at the small boy with a determined look on his face.
"Ready?" A nod. "Let's go then."
They stepped through.