Pure and simple nonsense with little or no point!

It was his imagination, he was sure of it. He blinked and looked again, thinking that maybe it was because he'd just gotten out of bed and he wasn't seeing too clearly. Somehow though, he was pretty sure there had been more wrinkles around his eyes before. Maybe it was just the morning light. It was flattering, that had to be it.

"Jack", Sam's voice called to him from the bedroom. "Can you go get Alex? I hear him waking up and I'm feeding the baby."

"Sure", he answered, giving one last look in the mirror. Yup, must be the morning light. He turned and exited the bathroom and headed down the short hallway to his son's room. He could hear Alex singing to himself and had to grin. Daniel had purchased a children's CD for his godson and Alex knew every song on it. He still couldn't say most of the words but he could carry the tunes.

"Good morning Alex", he walked in the room, a big smile on his face.

"Da!" Alex grinned and started bouncing up and down in his crib. "Up!" He stood and reached his arms out for his father.

"Did you have a good sleep my boy?" Jack picked him up and gave him a gentle whisker rub on his neck, which caused the little boy to laugh and squirm.

"No Da!" he laughed, trying to get away from his father. Jack laughed as well and then placed him on the change table.

"Let's change that wet diaper and then we can go see Mama and Kat" he said.

"KAT!" Alex tried to wiggle off the table. He still hated having his diaper changed and tried everything to get out of it. By this time, however, Jack was a master at it and could change him in no time flat. It also helped that he'd been able to get rid of the cast and brace.

It had only been a week since Thor had 'cured' him after his accident and he couldn't believe how good he was feeling. The wounds were all healed and he felt full of energy. There were no pains anywhere, even in his back and knees which had pretty much hurt constantly, even before the accident.

"Thanks Thor", he said quietly.

"Tor!" Alex cried, wiggling again.

"I'm afraid Thor's not here Alex and stay STILL! I'm almost finished.

"KAT, MAMA!" he wailed suddenly, sounding as if his father were torturing him cruelly. Jack finally finished and lifted the little boy up.

"There, all done." That immediately stopped the crying and Alex was all smiles. "You're a total phony, do you know that Alex?" his father said. "You can't fool me!"

"Da!" Alex gave him a big sloppy kiss and grinned some more. "Mama!"

"Yes, we'll go see Mama. She's feeding Kat."

"Kat nummies?"

"Yes, Kat's having nummies."

"Kat no cwy!"

This time it was Jack who got the big grin. "That's right my boy. Kat's not crying! She's a happy baby!" Boy, did it ever feel good to say that! Even the short time they'd had to deal with the baby's colic had been hard on both of them – no, on all of them. Alexander had been much happier too since Thor had cured the baby.

They entered the bedroom and Sam looked up from the chair where she was feeding Katie. "Good morning Alex. How are you this morning?"

"Mama! Kat nummies?"

"Yes, I'm feeding Katie. I'm almost done and then you can come and give us both a kiss."

Alex struggled out of his father's arms and ran over to his mother. He stood quietly and watched while Kate continued to eat. After a moment Sam put her up to her shoulder and burped her. It was loud – which made Alex giggle.

"Oooh!" he said. He always thought it funny when Katie made noises. "Hi Kat!" He leaned forward and gave the little girl a kiss. She looked at him and stretched her little fist in the air. She had a look of contentment on her that was matched by her mother's. Jack looked on and smiled.

"She okay?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, she's great. I still can't believe how much better she is. If Thor were here I'd give him a huge kiss!"

"Me too!" Jack said.

"You'd kiss Thor?" she laughed. "That's something I'd like to see. It would totally destroy your image as a tough soldier you know."

"Nah, my image was destroyed a long time ago", he said. "About the time I met a geeky archaeologist, a big bad alien and a sexy Air Force officer."

She grinned. "True. We knew you were really a teddy bear at heart."

"A Teddy Bear!" he said in disgust. "I was not."

She just grinned in response and stood up to change the baby. He reached over and took Katie. "Here, I'll do that. I think Alex wants to see you."

They spent the morning together, just enjoying watching Alex play and holding the baby. She was quiet and content, chewing on her fist and sometimes her foot.

"God, to be that flexible", Jack said at one point. "I can barely touch my toes anymore!" In fact, the last couple of years his back and knees had almost made it impossible.

"I wouldn't worry about that Jack. It's not a big deal to touch your toes and you're in good shape for -" she stopped and grinned, knowing enough not to continue.

"- for a man my age? That's what you were going to say, weren't you?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Fine, I'll just show you!"

He stood up then, and started to bend over, knowing this was probably stupid. He could seriously hurt his back if he wasn't careful. Still – he did have his pride!

He was actually shocked, therefore, when he bent over easily. Not only could he touch his toes, he was able to lay his palms flat on the ground – without any pain whatsoever.

"There" he smirked as he stood up. "You didn't think I could do that, did you?"

"I think you were the one who thought you couldn't do it. It's not really that hard Jack."

"Fine! Alex appreciates it though, don't you Alex?"

Since his son was bending and flipping all over the family room he was pretty sure he wasn't that terribly impressed with his father's show of agility. Jack just grinned and got down on the floor and proceeded to wrestle gently with the little boy. He lay flat on his back and held him up over his head, which caused the toddler to giggle and squirm.

"Be careful Jack, you just got the cast off!"

"It's okay, Thor cured me completely." It had been a little awkward going to the doctor to get the cast removed after only two weeks. He'd had to go to one of the Air Force doctors who was told his treatment of the retired General was 'classified'. Jack wondered what the man had made of the whole thing. Probably thought it had all been fake.

"Alright – just don't hurt yourself again!"

Later that day Jack marveled again at how good he felt. Not only were the wounds healed, he felt better than he'd remembered feeling in a long, long time. Oh well, he thought, might as well not look a gift horse in the mouth.

As he was brushing his teeth that night, getting ready for bed, he glanced in the mirror. He suddenly stopped, the brush still in his mouth and toothpaste dripping from the corner. He frowned and bent closer – what the hell!

"SAM!" he called, pulling out the toothbrush and spitting into the sink. "SAM!"

"What? What's wrong?" She came running into the bathroom. "What happened?" she asked worriedly, looking around the room.

"Look at this!" He bent towards her and separated his hair.

She looked at him, startled and concerned. Since he stood there not moving she looked closely at his head and scalp, not sure what she was supposed to be seeing. She had a moment of dismay, wondering if he'd discovered he had head lice or something.

"What is it?" she finally asked.

"Do you see it?" he wanted to know.

"Uh – see what Jack?"

"Look at my roots. What do you see?"

"Your roots?" She was really wondering what the heck was going on. She had never, ever heard Jack make mention of 'roots' before. She looked more closely and then did notice something a bit odd. "Uh – Jack – did you put something in your hair?"

He stood up and looked at her. "You see it, don't you?"

"I – I'm still not quite sure -"

"Brown! You see the brown, don't you?"

"Well – yeah – I guess I see a bit. What is it?"

"What is it? It's hair. What did you think it was?"

"I know it's hair Jack. I meant what did you put in your hair to make it do that."

"I didn't put anything in my hair Sam. I just saw it now. It looks - " He faced her with a perturbed look on his face. "It looks like it's coming in brown."

"Coming in? You mean growing in."

"Yeah. Here", he bent over. "Look again, carefully."

This time she reached up and separated the hair and looked at the roots. He was right. For some strange reason it looked like the hair that was growing in was brown, rather than gray. She'd never seen anything like it before. Now that she'd noticed it, it did look rather – odd.

"Yes, I can see it", she said. "It is growing in brown."

"Okay – that's just weird", he said, standing up straight. "What in the world would cause that?" he wondered, staring into the mirror.

"I bet it was Thor!" she said. "It must have been him healing you, although why your hair would start growing in brown I don't know. Maybe we should ask him."

"Yeah – okay. I just hope it's not some weird Asgaard disease!"

She giggled slightly. "Somehow I don't think growing brown hair – heck, growing any hair would be an Asgaard problem."

"No?" he grinned at her. "I guess not. Although can you imagine what they'd look like with hair?"

"Yech! I don't even want to think about it", she grimaced. "I'm sure this is okay Jack – it's probably just the healing process."

"I hope so", he answered, taking one last look at himself. He then turned back to his wife and suddenly realized how good she looked. He sighed to himself. He wished it was a few weeks from now. It was still too early after the baby's birth to be thinking those thoughts, but his body didn't seem to want to understand that.

"I'm pretty sure Thor healed me too Jack", she said softly, looking at him and correctly reading his expression.

"He – really?" he grinned. "You mean -"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Sweet!"

Over the next couple of days Jack watched as his hair slowly grew in – totally brown. He was a little freaked out by it and kept checking it in the mirror until his loving wife told him to stop it.

"Just get in touch with Thor", she said, "and ask him. I'm sure it's nothing."

It wasn't just the hair, however. Jack was feeling stronger and more energetic every day. He found playing with Alex on the floor much easier, didn't have any stiffness in his knees – or any joints for that matter and – joy of joys – found his libido increasing (although he hadn't ever had a problem there, he smirked to himself). Fortunately, Sam wasn't complaining!

By the time a couple of weeks had passed Jack's hair was half grown in and he refused to leave the house. "I look ridiculous Sam", he'd complained. "How in hell do I explain this to people? It looks like a bad die job."

"Well, soon you can get a haircut and get rid of the gray."

"In the meantime I'm staying in!"

It wasn't just the hair though. Sam couldn't help but stare at her husband as they sat and watched TV that night. He was looking younger – much younger. In fact, if she'd just met him she would have thought him to be in his late thirties rather than late fifties. They really had to figure this thing out!

So far they hadn't been able to get in touch with Thor – or with Daniel or Teal'c for that matter. SG1 was on an extended mission and their little alien friend wasn't responding. Sam was pretty sure that Walter was avoiding their calls now. Jack had been bugging him every day to try to get him to contact their Asgaard friend.

"Jack?" she said softly.

"Huh?" he looked away from the TV. "What is it?"

"It's not just your hair", she said carefully.

He stared at her for a moment and then reached down and picked up the remote and turned off the TV. "I know. I see it too and not just in me", he answered. "You look younger too."

"Really? I wondered but I thought it was maybe just because I was just getting over the pregnancy."

"No – you could easily pass for twenty-five or thirty."

"What do you think this is?" she asked, suddenly worried.

"I think you were right at this is a little gray alien by the name of Thor. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling great. I think he must have done something when he healed me."

"But what about me?"

"You said he'd healed you too."

"Yes – but I thought that was just for the birth – you know, like last time."

"Well, if we ever get the little guy here we can ask him."

"Do you think Daniel and Teal'c might know?"

He hadn't thought of that but – of course! They must know something – they were both there. He'd been sleeping and so had Sam when Thor had done his magic. In fact, neither of them had actually talked to him. "The devils! I bet they do. When are they back?"

"Tomorrow, according to Walter."

"How do you feel about a little trip to Colorado Springs?" he asked.

"Uh – what about the children?"

"We take them of course! What, did you think I was planning to leave them here?" he asked, grinning.

"No", she swatted him. "I just meant we haven't travelled with the two of them before. It might be tough."

"Hell Sam, we travelled all over the galaxy with Daniel! If we could do that, what's a little thing like travelling with two babies?"

They were soon to find out. Jack had called and managed to get them all seats on an Air Force flight to Petersen since he still had privileges, even though he was officially retired.

The hardest part of the whole thing wasn't the actual travelling – it was the getting ready. They had to make sure they had everything they would need for the children.

"We didn't need this much stuff when travelling thousands of light years away", complained Jack. "How can two small children need so much stuff?"

Sam simply grinned and sent him to get the car seat for Kate and then they were finally ready to head out.

Jack looked in disgust at the pile of things and shook his head. Babies!

The trip was actually rather uneventful. Alex was excited and loved the airplane. Both Sam and Jack grinned, figuring their son was taking after his Air Force parents. "He's going to be a pilot one day", Jack said, "just you watch!"

"Oh, I believe it. I think she will too", Sam looked down at the baby in her arms. Kate had nursed as they took off but then had been totally content the entire way. The vibration of the plane had made her fall asleep and she was quiet for the whole trip.

There were two airmen travelling on the plane with them and Alex was fascinated by them. Once they were in the air he'd begun to chatter away, mostly in incomprehensible baby talk.

The airmen had both grinned and had entertained the little boy. One of them knew a couple of simple magic tricks which left Alex wide-eyed.

"Cute kids", one of the airmen said. "What're their names?"

"Alexander", Jack answered. "And that's Kate", he pointed to the baby in Sam's arms.

"Hi Alexander", he said, "And hi Kate", he grinned. "I'm Jason Stuckey."

"Nice to meet you", Jack answered, holding out his hand. "I'm Jack and this is Sam." He looked to the other young man who introduced himself as Robert Ing.

"Are you men stationed in Colorado", he asked.

"We are now", Jason answered. "We just got our new posting a couple of days ago. We're going to be at Cheyenne Mountain."

"Really?" Sam asked, speaking for the first time. "What will you be doing there?"

"Uh – deep space radar telemetry", Robert replied, looking rather uncomfortable.

"They really will have to change that", Jack muttered in an aside to Sam. "It so doesn't work."

"Sir?" Jason asked, looking confused.

"Nothing Airman – private joke between me and my wife."

"Oh – sorry Sir", he answered, still looking puzzled.

They chatted for awhile and the men continued to play with Alex, who loved the attention. Sam couldn't help but grin to herself. She was pretty sure neither young man would be quite so relaxed if they knew who they were flying with.

They arrived in Colorado Springs and made their way to their hotel. They'd decided to stay there rather than inconvenience Daniel with all the baby stuff. They'd ordered a crib from the hotel and had brought a travel bed for Alex.

When they arrived at the hotel Sam immediately put Alex down for a nap. She then fed Katie, who also fell asleep.

"I might as well do the same", said Jack with a yawn. "Wake me for supper."

"Great", muttered Sam. She was not in the least bit tired. "I'm going out for a walk Jack. I'll take my phone if you need me."

"Hmmm" he grunted, already mostly asleep.

The next day they headed over early to the SGC. According to their spy (Walter), SG1 had arrived back the previous afternoon. They were all on base but did not have a mission planned so they should be able to corner Teal'c and Daniel.

"I'm sorry Sir", the guard at the entrance stopped the O'Neill family. "Children aren't allowed in to Cheyenne Mountain."

"Since when?" Jack asked calmly. No sense getting up tight – yet! He was holding a sleeping Alex – the little boy had his head on his shoulder, and Sam was carrying Katie in a sling.

"Since always Sir", the young man replied. He was new here and had never seen General O'Neill or Colonel Carter – although he'd heard a lot about both of them. Of course, even if he had seen them, he might not recognize the two people in front of him.

"No, now you see, that's just not true Sergeant", he said. "There have, in fact, been a number of children in the base. Isn't that true Sam?"

"Yes Jack, that's true. There was Cassie and Mirin and Charlie -"

"See Sergeant. Children are allowed."

"I'm sorry Sir, Ma'am, but I can't let you go in."

Jack sighed and reached for his ID. If the man had waited to see his ID in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. "Sam, show him your ID."

Carter pulled out her wallet and handed the man her picture ID. He glanced at it for a moment, and then his eyes grew big. He suddenly stood straight and saluted, even though she was in civilian dress.

"Uh, thank you Sergeant" she replied, feeling funny about saluting back while not in uniform. The poor man looked quite stunned, seeing the real Colonel Carter.

"Colonel Ma'am, welcome back!"

"Thank you", she looked at his name tag, "Sergeant Willis. I am sorry – I know it's unusual to bring children, but there really is a reason."

"Yes Ma'am", he said, obviously still slightly stunned. This woman was a legend. He'd heard she'd moved to DC but he still heard lots of stories about her and the original SG1."

"Uh" Jack coughed, trying to get the soldier's attention. "Did you want to see my ID too?" he asked diffidently.

"Oh, yes Sir, thank you."

This time it took even longer for him to realize whose ID he was holding. At first he was thrown by the picture – it looked like an older man – but then he saw the name. He almost disgraced himself by gasping, but managed to stop himself in time. Instead he saluted again, still holding Jack's ID in his hand.

"Welcome back Sir" he said formally. "I didn't realize Sir."

"Of course you didn't Willis. Don't worry – you did the right thing. Uh – do you think we can go in now?"

"Yes Sir, Ma'am, of course Sir, Ma'am!" he said, his eyes huge. Now he had two legends to deal with.

"Thank you Sergeant" Jack held back the smile. "If we could pass then?" he looked expectantly at the man who was standing in their way.

"Of course Sir" Willis answered, although it took him a few seconds to realize where he was standing and to move.

Sam couldn't help but grin as they made their way down the elevator. "Poor man, I think we terrified him."

"Yeah", Jack grinned back. "One of the perks of the position!"

"General, that's mean!"

"Yup – and I plan to enjoy every moment of it!"

They arrived a few minutes later at Hank's office. The General was busy for the moment so Jack went to see Walter.

"Walter! Good to see you", he said. His former assistant looked up – and his mouth promptly fell open.

"General!" he said, stunned. "Uh – welcome back Sir", he looked over at Sam. "And you too Colonel. Uh, General Landry will be ready in just a couple of – " his voice faded out as he looked again at General O'Neill. "Sir?"

"I know Walter. That's why we're here", he explained. "It's kind of – weird – we know. We figured Dr. Jackson and Teal'c might know something and help us figure it out."

"Yes Sir", Walter answered, this time more calmly. He'd seen his share of bizarre things while at the SGC and this was just one more of them. For the next few minutes he admired the children. Alex had woken up and was grinning at Walter, enjoying the attention. Katie slept through the whole thing.

Jack and Sam had to go through the same thing with Landry. They explained that they were here to see Daniel and Teal'c and get to the bottom of their changed appearance.

"But why do you think they would know anything about it", he asked, puzzled.

"Because I think they're sneaky bastards", Jack explained. "I'm sure they know something."

After a few moments Landry had Daniel and Teal'c paged. "Why don't we go into the other room where there's more space." He led the way to the briefing room where they talked while waiting for Daniel and Teal'c.

"You wanted us Sir?" Daniel said as he walked in, followed closely by Teal'c. It was only at that moment that he noticed that the General had a civilian in with him. He didn't recognize him, as the man's back was turned to him and he didn't see the woman at all. "Oh, I'm sorry Sir, we can come back." At the sound of his voice the man turned and looked at him, a grin on his face. It was only then that he realized it was –

"JACK! What the hell!" Daniel stood there, mouth agape. He was looking at a brown-haired, much younger looking Jack. He then realized that Sam was in the room too, holding Katie in her arms. Alex was jumping up and looking out of the window into the Gate room.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c was staring as well, and was clearly surprised.

"What happened?" Daniel finally asked.

"I don't know Daniel. That's why we're here. We wanted to find out if either of you knew anything about this." Jack pointed to his face and hair.

"Daniel, Jack's hair started growing in brown and then we noticed he started looking younger every day."

"Yeah, and Sam is too", Jack explained. "Do you guys know anything about this?"

It was obvious suddenly, from the sheepish look on Daniel's face, that they'd struck gold. When Jack looked at Teal'c he could see that his Jaffa friend was also in the know. "Okay, give!" he said.

"Well uh – it was just a joke, really", Daniel said with a shrug.

"A joke? You call me looking twenty years younger a joke?"

"Well, yeah. You remember that day that we came to see you guys? You know, when Katie was suffering from colic."

"It is only two weeks ago Daniel. Of course we remember."

"Yes, well then you'll remember complaining about wishing you were younger? You said it would be easier to deal with two young kids?"

Jack glanced at Sam, hoping Daniel's words hadn't upset her. He certainly hadn't been complaining about having the kids, just about being able to keep up with them. "Yes Daniel, I remember. I was hurt and sore at the time though so I didn't mean I – "

"I know Jack! All I meant was that you said you wished you were younger so when Thor was talking about healing you I just jokingly asked if he could take a few years off of you. I didn't think he could. It really was a joke."

"That is correct O'Neill", Teal'c explained. "He then informed us that he had the ability to reduce your age. We believed you would not mind so Daniel Jackson told Thor to go ahead and make you younger."

Jack looked at them both, a bit stunned to have confirmed what he had suspected. "Uh – is this permanent?" he asked. He would really hate to start to age quickly. He was really enjoying how good he felt.

"Yeah – I'm pretty sure it is", Daniel answered. "Oh, and he did Sam too", he said, as if he was talking about her having some kind of cosmetic surgery. "Teal'c didn't think she would be happy to look older than you Jack."

"Thank you Teal'c" Sam said, turning to her friend. "I appreciate the thought."

"You are welcome Colonel Carter", Teal'c bowed his head.

Suddenly Jack let out a crack of laughter. "Oh my God. We lead the most bizarre lives! Daniel, Teal'c, I should shoot you both!"

"What, you don't want to be younger?" Daniel asked, worried that he'd made a huge mistake.

"Of course I do! I just wish you'd given me a bit of warning. Do you have any idea how bizarre it is to have your hair suddenly turn from gray to brown? I thought I had some kind of weird alien disease or something."

"Oh", Daniel responded. "Yeah, that must have been something. I really didn't even think about that."

"No, but you did think it would be funny not to tell me – us – didn't you?"

The archaeologist just grinned but it was Teal'c who replied. "Indeed O'Neill – we thought it would be a nice surprise for you."

"Surprise? Oh yeah, it was definitely a surprise."

"But aren't you happy?" Daniel wanted to know, still somewhat worried.

"Of course he's happy Daniel", Sam answered for her husband. "In fact, he's so darned happy it's exhausting me. You have no idea how much energy a young Jack O'Neill has! I can't keep him down!"

It was only as the words left her mouth that she realized what she'd said. Daniel looked amused, but slightly embarrassed. Teal'c simply raised an eyebrow and Landry let out a strangled laugh. It was Jack himself who looked at her with wonder. He then turned to his friend.

"Thank you Daniel" he said, a big grin breaking out on his face, "And yes, I'm happy. Very, very happy." He turned back to his wife and waggled his eyebrow. "Yup", he said then as he walked over to the window to pick up his son. "You can't keep me down!"