Wayward Son

by JoaG

A *Teen Daniel* story that is not only AU, but takes place in a setting where Jack never becomes General, Daniel never ascended and Janet still remains part of the SGC.

3. Chapter 3

Wayward Son

By devra and JoaG

Authors' notes: This is an Alternate Universe story where Jack never becomes General, Daniel never ascended and Janet still remains part of the SGC. Characters may make cameo appearances in odd places where they didn't normally belong.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"SG-1, you have a go."

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Jack grinned at Teal'c. He motioned jauntily towards the active Stargate, allowing Teal'c to lead the way. He let Carter and Daniel precede him, turned to wave at General Hammond who was watching from the Control Room, and strode through the Stargate, heading for Chulak.

A welcoming party was waiting for them: Bra'tac, Rya'c and four other Jaffa whose names Jack couldn't remember. He stood back while Teal'c embraced first his son, then Bra'tac.

"Hey. Congratulations." Jack waved at Rya'c, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Thank you, Colonel O'Neill. And thank you for participating in my Moc'rat."

"Hey, my pleasure." Jack nodded at Rya'c, marveling at how much he'd grown. The young man stared back at Jack, his gaze not quite as intense as Teal'c's but promising to be one day when he grew older and wiser.

"Colonel O'Neill. Major Carter. Doctor Jackson." Bra'tac smiled warmly at them all, and extended his hand towards the path leading to the village. "Please."

With his hand resting comfortably on his P-90, Jack stepped in beside Carter. Daniel was talking to one of the Jaffa, and Teal'c with Rya'c. Suddenly the Stargate behind them began turning and the Jaffa fanned out, covering the 'gate from all angles.

"SG-1, this is Stargate Command."

Startled to hear Walter's voice, Jack quickly keyed in his radio. "Stargate Command, this is SG-1 niner."

"Colonel O'Neill, please return to the SGC immediately."

"Sir?" Jack said, bewildered at Hammond's command.

"Now, Colonel," General Hammond tersely repeated his order and before Jack could protest, the 'gate quickly blinked out.

Without a word, all four of them began hurrying towards the Stargate. Carter, closer to the DHD, veered in that direction and began punching in the 'gate address.

"What could have happened? We just left." Daniel, standing next to Jack, looked as worried and bewildered as Jack felt. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"We'll try to make it back for dessert," Jack yelled over his shoulder as he jogged up the stairs and into the wormhole.

"General, what's going on?" Jack hurriedly led the way down the ramp, pausing a moment as he got a whiff of puke then spotted the vomit-splattered metal and carefully stepped over the mess. "We barely got past the hugs and hellos, let alone start in on the mockrat party, when you called us back. I'm sure there's a couple of Jaffa we missed and they're going to be pouting for a good long ti—"

"Dad?"

A tentative voice called out and Jack stopped in mid-rant. There, next to the exit, surrounded by several SFs, was Teal'c and a young, blond, bespectacled kid, both of them wearing robes. Hammond was standing next to them. Jack turned to his team and looked at Teal'c. His Teal'c, who was dressed in fatigues. And then at the second Teal'c. "I'm not seeing double, am I?" he said to Carter.

"Only if I am, sir."

"Good, because for some strange reason, I thought we were in the middle of a commercial with the DoubleMint Twins."

Carter smiled at Teal'c and the kid as she absently handed her weapon over to a technician. "I, um, guess you called us back because of... our visitors?"

"That's one reason. And another is because they stepped through your outgoing wormhole, Major."

"General?" Carter frowned and looked at Jack, who simply shrugged. "You mean they came through after we left—"

"No, Major. There was one wormhole, you left through it to go to Chulak, and they arrived through the same wormhole. It did not disengage."

"Sir, that's impossible—"

"I know that, Major, which is why Walter is pulling the computer logs as we speak."

"I'm on my way, sir." With another curious glance at Teal'c and the boy on her way out, she quickly jogged up into the Control Room.

"Dad, what's going on?"

The kid took a step forward, only to be stopped by the other Teal'c's firm hold on his shoulder.

"Teal'c, mind enlightening us here?" Jack asked the visiting Jaffa.

"I am unsure, O'Neill, but I believe we may have traveled to an alternative universe."

"Ya think?" He moved closer to their guests, flanked by Daniel and his Teal'c. The boy was staring at them, staring at him, actually. "I know who you are, but who's the kid?"

"You're not my dad, are you?"

The boy looked exhausted, sick, and was obviously nervous as he continued to stare at Jack. "Sorry, son." Jack shook his head, more than a little confused. And although he knew the possibilities of alternate worlds were endless and that on at least one of them, his son Charlie might just be alive and healthy, the kid before him definitely didn't look like his son. As a matter of fact, he looked like—

"I'm not your son." The kid sounded crestfallen. "My name's Daniel Jackson O'Neill, and," he turned to Daniel and stared at him intently, "you're my dad. My real dad."

"Um... no, I don't think so." If anything, Daniel looked almost pole axed. He and Jack exchanged a look and Jack could tell that Daniel was going through, in his mind, the names of all the girls he might have dated a dozen or so years ago.

"DanielJackson was adopted by Colonel Jack O'Neill eight years ago," the visiting Teal'c said, speaking more quickly than any Teal'c usually would, "after a mission gone awry to planetary designation P3P 387—"

"Planetary designation?" The kid turned to squint at Teal'c. "That sounds so weird."

"Daniel Jackson? Adopted?" Hammond's outburst had the boy suddenly looking down nervously at his feet.

"His family was killed in an unfortunate accident on that planet. The boy was left without a guardian, and O'Neill took him in as his own son."

There was something in Teal'c's voice and body language, almost a desperation, which was so out of place in the Jaffa that Jack couldn't quite figure it out. If Jack didn't know any better, he'd swear he was being lied to.

"Where's my dad, Teal'c? Who's he? What's happening?" The young Daniel leaned into Teal'c, obviously searching for comfort, and Teal'c casually wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close.

"All will be fine, DanielJackson. I do not believe these people will hurt us and they will attempt to help us return to our own world."

"Own world?" the boy repeated.

Jack had to hand it to the kid; he should have been freaking out but he seemed to be holding together pretty well.

"P3P 387..." Daniel made a quick whirling, nervous motion with his hand. "Jack, that's the place where I..." The hand motion stopped and he lowered it to the side, palm flat towards the ground as if indicating the height of a child.

"Where you were shrunk." Understanding suddenly dawned on Jack. "This is Daniel? Your Daniel?"

"That's me?" Daniel asked simultaneously.

"Did the device not reverse the procedure when used a second time on DanielJackson?"

Jack felt like he was in a ping-pong game when the visiting Teal'c answered his Teal'c. "We did not attempt to reverse the procedure. Doctor Lam had proclaimed the process too dangerous and there was a strong possibility he would not survive—"

"Doctor Lam?" Jack asked nobody in particular. She'd only joined the program a few months ago.

"Our DanielJackson nearly did not survive the second transformation, but DoctorFraiser was very adamant that he do so. As were we."

Jack bit back a grin when Daniel blinked in surprise at Teal'c. They'd never really told Daniel how close it had been, the shock on his body going from adult to a child and back to adult nearly was his undoing.

"Teal'c? What's going on? What are they saying?" Okay, maybe he was wrong. The kid looked like he was on the verge of panicking.

"This is not our world, young Daniel."

"I know that. But why do they think I'm him?"

"You didn't tell him." Jack had stepped forward, curiosity pressing him to examine this younger version of his friend more closely, but he stopped at the wariness and fear in the boy's face. He turned to the other Teal'c accusingly. "You never told him what really happened."

"It was not my decision."

"Didn't tell him what?" Daniel turned to the visiting Teal'c, wariness lacing his words. He whirled quickly to face Jack, and the deepening glare was a promise that he was going to follow this up in private the moment the opportunity arose.

"Didn't tell me what?" There was fear and indignation in the kid's voice, but his mouth was pressed together in a very familiar, very stubborn manner, mirrored in the adult version standing only a few feet away.

"It is not my place to divulge your past, DanielJackson." There was regret in Teal'c's voice and he stared at SG-1 in a manner that begged that they spare the boy. Now Jack understood what this Teal'c had tried to get them to understand.

"My past? But..." The kid turned to Teal'c, his chin quivering as he tried to hold everything together. "But this is another dream, right? It's not happening. It can't be happening."

Guilt coursed through Jack, knowing how he'd contemplated this possibility eight years ago while they'd debated putting a five-year-old Daniel through a second exposure of an alien machine that had done a splendid job at reducing his friend into a child with no memories of his past, except for vague recognition of his teammates. Before he could explain to either of the Daniels, Hammond spoke up.

"Gentlemen, how about we resume this discussion once Doctor Fraiser has examined our guests."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Daniel couldn't stop shivering. This particular nightmare was different than all the others. Not only did it not feel like a nightmare, he couldn't wake up. His thoughts were clear, focused, and he couldn't escape.

Had he taken another drug? Oh God, his dad was gonna kill him. He couldn't remember, could only remember the anger he'd felt towards his dad, and the frustration and disappointment that he was finally going through the Stargate, but not in the expected positive manner he and Cassie had always fantasized about.

The infirmary was familiar; and at the same time, not. And Janet, what was up with her? Her hair was long, down to her shoulders. Just today, her hair had been short, shorter than his own.

And two Teal'cs. And his dad who wasn't his dad. He'd rather face his father's anger than have him look at him without recognition. Without acknowledgment. Without love.

Janet smiled at him and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, which he gratefully squirmed beneath so that his whole body was covered.

"I'll be right over here with Teal'c, okay?" Janet's voice sounded the same, and although her smile was the usual one she gave him, there was no recognition in her eyes.

He nodded dully as he clasped the edges of the blanket beneath his throat, watching the curtain which separated him and Teal'c and listening to the sounds behind it to get an indication of when his examination was also over.

Although he'd been expecting it, he jumped when Janet pulled the curtain between them open. Without a word, he thrust his legs off the bed and jumped onto Teal'c's, leaning against his body, needing to know that he wasn't disappearing in a nightmare of his own making, that this wasn't the final hurrah, that he had finally gone over the edge and would be stuck in a world where nobody knew him, especially neither of his... fathers.

When Teal'c pulled him close, he nearly lost it again and he swallowed several times against the hard lump in his throat.

"Are you ill?"

He shook his head against Teal'c's chest, afraid if he opened his mouth, it would set off the terror he was holding at bay and he'd bawl like a little kid. He clutched Teal'c tighter as the blanket was readjusted around him.

"How about I give you two a few minutes alone? I'll tell the General you'll be down to see him in fifteen minutes?"

"That will be acceptable."

When Janet snicked the curtain shut, and with the unexpected privacy, Daniel found himself unable to hold back. Ashamed at his loss of control, he dug his face against Teal'c's chest and sobbed.

"We shall return home, and you will be reunited with your father."

Daniel shook his head, the sobs so violent he couldn't speak.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Why didn't you tell me what really happened?"

Jack was never one to run with his tail between his legs, but he found himself taking an involuntary step back when Daniel rounded on him in the briefing room. He couldn't help casting a glance towards General Hammond's office and was relieved to see him through the glass window, his attention on some papers on his desk.

"You have to understand, the choice was taken out of my hands when you got turned back into an adult—"

"That kid thinks you're his father. Or rather, that smaller version of me thinks you're my – his – father."

"Technically, I'm not his father—"

"He's got no memories of me being an adult, just like I didn't for those days when I was a child. Do you have any idea how frightening that was?" Daniel slashed the air in emphasis.

"You said you didn't remember being downsized—"

"I said I didn't remember anything while I was downsized. I remember being scared out of my wits, and the only vaguely familiar things around were you, Sam and Teal'c. So you're telling me, if I never got turned back into an adult, you would never have told me the truth about who I really was?"

"That's a moot point, you know—"

"That's beside the point."

"Okay, yeah, the thought had crossed my mind," Jack hissed when Hammond turned to look at them through the window. He tried not to glance at the time, wondering where the hell the others were. Carter, he knew, was still trying to figure out the glitch in the wormhole that had brought their visitors here.

"You actually entertained the thought of not telling me who I was if I'd never gotten changed back?"

Jack wished Daniel had waited until they had time and privacy to discuss this. "Yes, Daniel, I did. Had you remained a kid, I might have done exactly what that other Jack O'Neill did. Given you a fresh start, without the stigma of knowing how different you were from other kids. I'd have made sure you were happy and healthy and grew up in a normal life."

"So you're saying you would have lied to me—"

"I'm saying I'd have taken you home, given you a solid foundation, a family, a—"

"A total lie!"

"A family, Daniel. Along with the lies, I contemplated adoption. The way Fraiser did with Cassie." This conversation needed to end now, because Hammond was coming out of his office. "The way that other Jack obviously did with your other self." He left Daniel standing there, mouth open, and went to stand next to a chair, waiting for the General.

"Our visitors are on their way up." Hammond sat, waving Jack down as Teal'c entered the briefing room.

Teal'c gave Daniel a curious stare when he noted the man just standing there, staring into space. Jack shrugged when Teal'c raised a questioning eyebrow.

Jack sat in uncomfortable silence, aware of Daniel's agitation, until the other Teal'c and Daniel were escorted into the briefing room.

The kid had obviously been crying, his eyes were swollen and his face was splotchy. He started to pull out the chair next to Jack, stopped, moved over to the next chair and then aborted that move when his Teal'c waved him to the original seat. Teal'c sat next to Daniel, sandwiching him between him and Jack.

"You okay?" Jack asked. Curiosity ate at him and he wondered what kind of a father his counterpoint had been, and what kind of a child Daniel had turned out to be.

Bloodshot eyes glanced up at him and he nodded. "Fine," he said softly.

"You don't look fine," Jack couldn't help saying. "You do know we'll do everything to try and get you home?"

The kid nodded and a thick curl of hair flopped in front of his glasses.

Jack reached for the carafe of water and poured the kid a glass. He got a quick, sidelong look as he pushed the water in front of him. Trembling hands encircled the glass and pulled it close as he murmured his thanks. After a moment, he took a sip, and after swallowing noisily, left the glass before him as he clasped his hands together on his lap.

"We're almost ready to start." Jack was aware of the uncomfortable silence and if it bothered him, he couldn't help wondering how the poor kid felt. He realized something suddenly; this boy, this child sitting next to him, could have been his son. He cleared his throat and couldn't help glancing at the adult Daniel sitting across from him. He cleared his throat again when he realized his friend was watching him. "We're just waiting for Fraiser and um, Carter, to join us. Fraiser, to tell us how the two of you are doing and Carter, to see if she figured out how you both got here and if we can find a way to send you back home."

Jack knew he was rambling but suddenly, making the kid feel at ease was important.

"It's okay," the kid replied softly, mumbling into his lap. "You don't have to bother. It'll all go away eventually."

The adult Daniel leaned forward, his arm coming across the table, as if extended in friendship. "What do you mean, it'll all go away?"

"This is all a dream, a – a – a nightmare. I've been having them for a few weeks. Months." He turned quickly to look at his Teal'c, his teeth worrying his lower lip. "I'm sorry, Teal'c. I didn't want to tell anyone that I was going... crazy." His voice broke and as he lowered his head again, Jack could see the kid was on the verge of crying. "I don't know if I pulled you into this or if you're just a figment of my imagination, and if I did, I'm sorry, but I didn't mean to—"

"Daniel." Jack couldn't help himself. He placed a hand on the kid's trembling shoulder, and all of a sudden, his arms were full of a sobbing, trembling teenager. He was amazed at both the strength in the kid's grip as well as the feel of skin and bones beneath his hands. He held the boy close even as Teal'c placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. He met Teal'c's gaze above the bowed head.

"DanielJackson has become withdrawn from both his father and his friends in recent months. We were aware of an underlying reason but he has chosen not to confide in us. When he experimented with drugs, O'Neill permitted me to take the boy to Chulak where I would have, hopefully, gained his trust once more and enticed him to confide in me."

"Daniel?" Jack lowered his lips close to the boy's ear, hoping the relationship with his other self would be enough to let him listen to him so they could get answers. "Why are you saying you're going crazy?"

"Because all of this is impossible," he hiccupped. "Because I keep seeing things, dreaming thing—"

"Like what? Can you tell us what you've seen?"

Tears and snot streaming down his face, Daniel looked up and caught his adult self's gaze. "Tell me who Sha're is."

"Sha're?" Daniel looked quickly over at Jack. "She's, she was, my wife. She's dead now."

"Why did her eyes glow? Why do people's eyes glow? Why do they want to hurt us?"

Teal'c grabbed Daniel by the shoulders, forcing him to turn towards him. "You have seen this, DanielJackson?"

Daniel nodded, his sobs abating as he tried to get himself under control. "Snakes. I saw snakes, too. They wanted to hurt Dad. They wanted to hurt everyone. And Jaffa, they chased me. For hours. And there was a fish, a giant fish, who looked like a man. And you, you wanted to hurt me. You had hair," he added with a loud sniff. "And the Stargate. I dreamed I went through it and it was exactly like..." He looked down at his hands again. "I threw up, just like I threw up here."

"And the drugs?"

"To try and meditate. To try and conquer my fears. You always said that I could do anything if I had the right mental attitude." He was getting worked up, his words coming faster and faster together until they were difficult to make out. "I couldn't do it by myself because I kept falling asleep and dreaming, so I took the peyote and then I couldn't get anymore so I got the mushrooms instead and they were a mistake because I couldn't stop the nightmares and then I tried the pills because I just wanted... to... sleep." Daniel was breathing heavily, and when Teal'c pulled him close, he went unresistingly, resting his head against Teal'c's shoulder with his eyes closed. "I just wanted to sleep," he whispered.

"Memories," Daniel said from across the table. "His memories are coming back." He leaned forward over the table. "Daniel, you're not going crazy. These are memories that were suppressed when you were turned into a child—"

"DanielJackson!" The other Teal'c, the one who had an arm around the kid, leaned forward and glared at Daniel. Their Teal'c, the one sitting beside Daniel, leaned forward just enough to answer the other Teal'c's challenge.

Daniel didn't back down. "He's got to be told, Teal'c. If he'd known from the very start, he might not have had such an adverse reaction to it happening." Daniel turned to Jack, eyes wide in supplication. "Let me talk to him, let me explain to him what's been going on."

"It is not your place."

"Sorry I'm late. I was waiting for the results of a few tests to..." Fraiser hurried into the room and her words faltered as she glanced at the animosity spread out around the table. "Um..." She cleared her throat awkwardly as she took a seat at the far end of the briefing table, opposite Hammond.

"I'm sorry, Teal'c, but I have to agree with Doctor Jackson," Hammond said as Fraiser watched them all curiously. "The boy's wellbeing is now in our hands and I think if these truly are his memories, then the best person to speak to him about them is Doctor Jackson."

"Sir," Jack said quickly, pushing away from the table. "Permission to accompany Daniel, and... Daniel."

"Denied. I think your presence complicates things enough as it is. The boy's confused, let's not put a father figure into the mix right now." Hammond turned to Daniel. "You can use my office for now."

"Thank you, General." Daniel stood slowly and put a hand out to the kid. Although he'd given the impression that he'd tuned them all out, the boy turned to look at Daniel warily. "We're just going to talk, over there, okay?"

The kid glanced up at Teal'c, who, for a moment, Jack was afraid would refuse, then he nodded curtly. The boy stood, swayed slightly until he used the table to balance himself, and eased himself past Jack and around the table. He walked slowly to Daniel and Jack watched the two of them make their way to the office, both of them, from the back, having the exact same stance and pace, one somewhat smaller and thinner than the other but Jack could so see the boy growing up to be the man.

Hammond turned to Fraiser. "Doctor?"

"Yes, sir." She tapped the folders she'd brought with her. "Barring the results of the DNA tests, both of them are identical to our own... Teal'c and Daniel, except that Daniel's thirteen. Teal'c, like ours, no longer has a symbiote and is dependent on Tretonin. Otherwise, he's in excellent health.

"Daniel, on the other hand, appears to be suffering from exhaustion and stress, along with the residual effects of an allergy attack. I was reluctant to let him out of the infirmary, sir. I would have preferred that he get ten hours of sleep and an extended vacation but figured separating him from Teal'c, at the moment, would just have added more stress that simply wasn't necessary." Her gaze slid to the window where Jack could see both the boy and his friend sitting in Hammond's guest chairs.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Tell me your earliest memories."

Daniel huddled in the chair, the air in the base was cold and the robes he was wearing were for hot weather, not air-conditioning. He glanced at his scuffed sneakers, rubbing the edges of the tiles with their tips. "I'm not sure. I had an accident when I was five and I had amnesia—"

"Then let me see if I can get this right. You remember waking up, your whole body hurt, and you were so sick, you could barely move. There were people around you, talking to you, but you were so scared you couldn't understand what they were saying."

The man who he'd believed had been his real father sat next to him, eyes closed, obviously concentrating on his words. And his words were so accurate, it was scary.

"And then you felt a little better, and some of the faces were familiar. You couldn't bear to be left alone, though, and would only calm down when one of three people held you. But you wanted to be with just one of those three, because he made you feel the safest." The man opened his eyes and caught Daniel's gaze. His eyes were blue, just like the reflection he saw when he looked in the mirror. "So, am I close?"

Daniel nodded reluctantly.

"Eight years ago, I was on a mission, with Jack, Sam and Teal'c. I stepped onto a small, marbled area which triggered an alien device, and I know this is going to sound totally fantastical, but I was turned into a five-year old boy."

It was maybe the seriousness of the man's tone, or the way his gaze never wavered from Daniel's, but he believed every word the man said. He gave a small grin. "Doesn't sound any worse than seeing snakes jump across a room and try to attack people."

"No, I guess not." The man's lips rose in a slight grin.

"And, I guess you're telling me all of this because the same thing happened to me?"

"Yes."

"And you were turned back into a grownup, while I stayed a little kid?"

"Yes. I don't know why our timelines changed at that point, because most of the time, there are similarities in alternate universes where a certain event changes the sequence and..." The man smiled again. "Okay, so I'm not an expert on this, I usually let Sam do the explaining." The man looked up and Daniel turned, seeing Sam come up the stairs and walk past them, heading for the people still sitting around the table.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"I can't explain it, sir." Carter looked primed and ready to tackle the mystery of the Stargate, like a racehorse chomping at the bit. "Somehow, something affected the wormhole, changing it from outgoing to incoming. I don't even think it's something I could ever recreate."

Jack didn't believe her words, she looked like she was ready to run to her lab and actually start attempting to duplicate whatever had happened to the Stargate.

"Our equipment was unable to trace the anomaly; it was totally off the scale. I could, however, reverse engineer a device that eventually could trace it, in the off chance it ever happened again. But for the moment..." She shook her head and Jack realized then that her excitement was aimed in a totally different direction.

"But I may be able to help you return to your own world," she said, turning to the visiting Teal'c. "I..." She stopped and looked around the table. "Where's Daniel?"

Jack caught her gaze and simply shifted his attention to Hammond's office. Carter turned, saw the two Daniels talking, and nodded. "Oh. Well." She folded her hands together and gave Hammond her full attention. "While I was unable to figure out exactly what did happen to bring you both here," she said, nodding at the visiting Teal'c, "the anomaly did leave a very definite... fingerprint, if you will." She tapped on the glossy table with her index finger, leaving an oily mark. "Given the early studies at Area 51 with the quantum mirror and the information we garnered when we fixed the ripple effect last year, I'm pretty confident I can reprogram the Ancient's time ship to bring you back to your world."

Even though he had very little clue as to what Carter was talking about, Jack did understand two things. However, he felt like he wanted to raise his hand and make 'ooh ooh' noises to get the teacher's attention. Instead he just leaned forward and tried to look intelligent. "It's a time ship, Carter," he spat out. "Emphasis being on time machine, and not mirror technology."

"Oh, I did a little fiddling in my spare time. I'm sure I can adapt the Ancient's technology to bring us through another universe rather than just backwards or forwards in time."

"Spare time?" Jack rolled his eyes, and Carter at least had the sense to look embarrassed.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"So my dad didn't really lie to me?" Daniel asked hesitantly. His whole world had been turned upside down and now he was more afraid that his dad truly didn't love him than the idea that he was going crazy.

"No, he just decided to try and... protect you. I don't know if I agree with his decision, at this point, I think I'd like to say I'd have wanted to know if I had been you, but... well, my childhood hadn't been the greatest – I lost my parents when I was eight and I guess your father wanted to give you a second chance."

Not quite convinced, Daniel nodded, pretending he understood.

"Now, tell me about these memories you've been having. You mentioned Sha're?"

"She's beautiful. Long, dark hair. She called you, me, Dan-yel?"

The adult Daniel's face softened, and when he smiled, his eyes had a faraway look for a moment. "Yeah. She was beautiful."

"What happened to her?"

The smile disappeared. "She died." The smile reappeared, but it was obviously forced. "But that was a few years ago. What else did you remember?"

Daniel felt he could trust this man. His gaze was so sincere. He thought back to all the memories he'd tried to ignore. He tried to suppress a shiver, and failed. "A woman, with long, red hair. And eyes that glowed. She called me—"

"My beloved," the man said simultaneously. "Hathor. She's not a very nice person."

Daniel nodded, agreeing emphatically.

"But she's dead, or at least she is in our world. Maybe yours, too."

"So these are all memories I had before? They're from when I was... you?"

The man nodded. "So far, all of these are experiences I had before I was... well, Jack likes to say I was shrunk. I'm not sure that's quite the right analogy." Again, the smile was gentle and understanding.

A sudden thought hit Daniel. If this man wasn't his father, then who were his parents? His real parents? "What about my mom and dad?" he asked in a nervous voice.

The man sighed, and Daniel knew the news wasn't going to be good.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Knock, knock." Jack added words to action as he opened the door to Hammond's office. Both Daniels were sitting side-by-side, leaning forward in the chairs, heads close together in a very chummy and intense manner. Both of them looked up at him in surprise. Identical blue eyes framed by wire glasses stared back at him. "How're you two doing? We've finished out here and General Hammond was wondering whether he could have his office back. You need to either move the party to a VIP suite or come join the rest of us for lunch."

"I think we're pretty much done here." Daniel smiled at the kid, who smiled back a little less tentatively than before. The strain the kid had projected had eased, and although he still looked exhausted and not quite healthy, he looked a damned sight better than when he'd gotten here.

"You hungry?"

The kid glanced at Jack and nodded. The boy got up off the chair and moving slowly, stopped next to Jack, as if expecting something. For a moment Jack wondered if he should put an arm around the kid's shoulder or something, but the moment passed when the kid inhaled deeply and walked over to his Teal'c. The Jaffa, however, didn't hesitate in pulling the boy close in a one-armed hug. He spoke softly to the boy, who nodded and smiled again, hesitantly, up at Teal'c.

"Okay, it's settled. We'll go get some chow while Carter gets to play with her toys."

"Are we going home?" The kid looked up at Teal'c again, who inclined his head as they began walking towards the elevator.

"The odds are very favorable that we shall. MajorCarter has assured us she will do everything in her knowledge to return us to our own world."

"Sam's pretty smart. If she can't do it, nobody can." He grinned at Carter, who smiled back at him.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Dinner was an awkward occasion, with the kid pushing most of his food from one side of his plate to the other while Daniel glared at Jack at every opportunity he had. Thankfully, most of Daniel's attention was on the kid and he and his Teal'c managed to pull the boy out of his shell.

Jack got the impression that young Daniel wasn't usually shy or reticent, but most likely he was still a little embarrassed by his breakdown and maybe just a little overwhelmed by recent happenings.

The party, so to speak, moved to the VIP suite once everyone finished eating. The kid and Teal'c, now showered and dressed in one-piece fatigues, sat on the large double bed while everyone else pulled up a chair.

"Daniel, how about we continue where we left off earlier?" The adult Daniel reached out and patted the kid's leg. "I think maybe Teal'c might like to hear about what you've been going through. Do you think you could talk about what happened when you took the drugs?"

"Do we, um..." The kid looked around, obviously uncomfortable. Jack wasn't sure if it was due to the fact that he had an audience or whether the boy was going to be confessing to his friend what he'd been hiding from him all these months.

"Okay." The kid glanced over nervously at Jack, who simply slid down low in his chair, making himself comfortable. "I took peyote because I thought it would help me meditate." The boy's voice was low, barely audible. "I was having nightmares at least twice a night, but the two times I took the drugs, I didn't dream for nearly ten days in a row."

"Did you attempt to meditate without the drugs?"

"Of course I did." The boy's voice rose with exasperation as he turned his head towards his Teal'c. "Every. Single. Night. Nothing worked. Teal'c, I really, really thought I was... Normal people just don't see and hear things like what I was seeing."

"Wait a sec." Jack sat up and leaned forward. "You said you were dreaming."

"I was. At first. When I was sleeping but then a few weeks ago, I started seeing and hearing things, once in a while, when I was awake."

"Okay, I can understand why you were a little worried and scared." The kid snorted and rolled his eyes at Jack. "But why didn't you tell your father?"

Immediately the boy's demeanor changed and Jack wondered how strict his other self was with this kid. "Because I was afraid he wouldn't believe me if I told him," the kid finally admitted, turning his head away from Jack.

"Hey." Jack patted the bed to get the boy's attention when he didn't look up at him. He waved a finger in front of his face. "He'd have believed you. With all the weird things that go on in this place, you seeing and hearing things that aren't there, well..." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "He'd have believed you." He avoided looking at his Daniel. Even though it had been years ago, both of them had always danced around Daniel's enforced stay in the asylum.

The kid laid his head back and stared at the ceiling, looking as though he was trying to rein in his emotions. Jack ignored the quivering chin, giving the kid some time to compose himself, and turned his attention to Teal'c. "What were the repercussions to the drugs?"

"O'Neill was concerned. And infuriated. As I mentioned before, it is the reason why we were traveling to Chulak."

"I messed up."

"Desperate times lead to desperate measures," Daniel said softly.

"Indeed," both Teal'cs said together.

"You didn't mess up. Now that you know what's happening, things will work out."

The kid yawned and turned to Jack. "But what do I do about all the nightma... memories?"

"I don't know." Jack shrugged. "Let them happen? Now that you know what they—"

The kid's eyes, earlier starting to get heavy with drowsiness, suddenly went blank. A look of horror crossed his face and he jerked back, landing against Teal'c's side. He raised his hand to ward off an invisible blow, still backpedaling away from his imagined assailant. And that was when the screaming started. "No, no, don't hit me. Sam's my friend, too! She's hurt. I want to - Daddy, no, you're hurting me!"

Everyone stood, unsure what was happening. Teal'c had the presence of mind to grab the kid before he rolled off the bed, but still the screams continued and it was obvious that he truly wasn't in the here and now.

"Oh my god." Daniel stood there, mouth open, staring at the boy, aghast.

"DanielJackson. It is a dream. You are aware of these episodes. Return to us. You are amongst friends."

"Daddy!" Daniel howled. After a moment, his eyes focused on Jack and he thrust his arms out towards him.

Without hesitation, Jack put a knee on the bed and reached for the kid. For a moment Jack thought Teal'c wouldn't allow him to take the boy, but then he relented, released Daniel and the kid scurried into his arms.

"Don't hurt me, don't hurt me," the kid mumbled as he wrapped his skinny arms around Jack.

"Shhh, nobody's gonna hurt you." Jack hugged the boy close as he sobbed, his words half-incoherent as he continued to beg. He looked at Daniel and saw the pain reflected in his face as he continued to stare at the boy. "Daniel, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He wasn't sure which Daniel he was apologizing to, but the adult one seemed startled at Jack's words. The incident with the parasitic virus had happened nearly ten years ago and it was something neither of them had even really, truly, discussed.

It came to Jack as he rocked the boy from side to side, shushing him, that there was plenty he and Daniel had never discussed. Thankfully their friendship had survived what the Stargate had thrown at them.

He continued rocking the kid, waiting for the shivers and the sobs to ease. The kid had been through so much today, it was no wonder he was so emotional. So Jack wasn't surprised when the death grip slowly eased and the body in his arms relaxed. Pretty soon Daniel's was snuggled against his shoulder, the edge of the boy's glasses digging into his neck.

It was a little awkward, moving the boy's lax body to the bed without waking him, but Jack managed it. He was just handing the kid's glasses to Teal'c when the boy smacked his lips and his hand reached out until it touched Jack's leg. Then he hauled himself forward, away from the pillow Jack had arranged beneath his head so that he was lying plastered against Jack's leg and side. While Teal'c repositioned the pillow, Jack brushed the long hair away from his face.

"This must end." Teal'c pulled the comforter over the boy.

"No, the dreams have to continue." Daniel had paced while Jack comforted the boy, and now he hurried back to the bed. "He's got to get them out of his system. I'm sure he'll be fine once he's come to grips with what happened."

"Then tell me something," Jack said softly. "Why are all the nightmares centered right after the time you... he, went through the Stargate?"

"Oh." Daniel seemed to think about this long and hard. "I don't know," he finally admitted. "Maybe it has to do with the time he became a child, most recent memories first, and then he'll work his way down though..." Daniel's eyes widened at the ordeal he realized the poor kid might be facing.

"Perhaps it is a short-lived affair."

Jack wasn't sure which of the Teal'cs said this but he heartily agreed. "Anyways, right now he's sleeping soundly so maybe we should vamoose so he stays sleeping." He slid off the bed slowly and thankfully, the kid didn't move a muscle. "I'll stay the night on the base, just in case you should need... something." Teal'c tilted his head and they both knew that Jack was really staying for the kid's welfare.

"I'll, um, stay here, too," Daniel said quickly. He shrugged. "I thought maybe I could see how Sam's doing and... maybe Teal'c and I can talk a little more about Daniel's memories?"

Jack walked to the door, and his Teal'c stood and followed him. "Don't keep him up too late; you both need your beauty sleep."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Whistling, Jack sauntered down the corridor, ignoring his grumbling stomach and paused before the door. One of the assigned SFs knocked before swiping his passkey to unlock it. Jack entered and was surprised to find that the kid was still sound asleep. Teal'c, however, opened his eyes to look at Jack.

"I thought you'd be up by now."

"I am. DanielJackson, however, still sleeps."

"I can see that." All that was visible was a lump in the middle of the bed, with only a bit of cheek and chin visible in the dim light. "Did he have a good night?"

"His slumber was undisturbed by nightmares."

"Good. I thought I'd entice the two of you to some breakfast but I guess he needs sleep more than food right now. Poor kid looks like he could use it, too."

"Indeed."

"Did you and Daniel... uh, my Daniel, have a nice chat last night?"

"We did."

"Learn anything?"

"That DanielJackson is DanielJackson, no matter what his age."

"Okay." Jack rubbed his palms together, starting to feel uncomfortable. "Do you want me to have some breakfast sent up?"

"That would be acceptable."

Jack scratched his head. He felt awkward around this Jaffa, and he wasn't quite sure why. "Great. I'll go get some breakfast and... check with Carter and Fraiser and... come back later." He sidestepped towards the door. "If you need something, just—"

"Make my request known to the guards."

"Yeah. Right. Okay." He headed for the door, only to stop when Teal'c spoke again.

"There is one thing I would wish."

"Yeah?"

"Permission to utilize your gym. I feel the need to—"

"Get rid of some tension?"

"That would be a close approximation."

"Let me get someone to come sit with the kid while you..." He held his finger up in a 'it'll be just a minute' sign and he left the room thinking his own Teal'c was so much mellower than this one.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Daniel came awake in increments. He was comfortable, he was warm, he didn't hurt anywhere and the huge weight on his shoulders had, for some reason he couldn't quite remember, dwindled to something almost bearable. The worst thing he felt was a need to pee. He turned onto his back and stretched, then blinked in the dim light.

Teal'c was sitting at the small, round table, reading some papers. Daniel sat up and groped for his glasses. "Morning," he mumbled as he pushed back the covers and headed for the bathroom.

"Good morning, DanielJackson."

"What time is it?" He hadn't felt this good in a long time. "Did you guys stay up long? I don't remember going to sleep," he called past the half-closed door. "Did you eat breakfast? I'm kinda hungry. I wonder if they have anything good to eat here. Do you think the waffles are just as good here as at home? Is there any news? Did Sam, not our Sam, but their Sam, I mean, the Sam from this place, did she find a way to get us home yet?" Daniel finished peeing and washed his hands. He didn't need to get dressed since he'd obviously gone to bed fully dressed.

"I have not yet consulted with MajorCarter this morning. And it is well past ten am."

"Wow." Daniel stepped out of the bathroom and climbed back onto the bed, looking around the room, which looked similar to a normal hotel room except for the fact that the walls were made of cement. His stomach gurgled. "Can we go get something to eat?" He slid off the bed and grabbed his sneakers, leaning against the table where Teal'c had been working in order to tie them.

"I have already eaten but I will accompany you to the commissary."

"You ate already?" Daniel felt strangely disappointed that Teal'c hadn't woken him up so they could have eaten together. He finished one shoe and started on the other. "What about my dad... I mean, the man who..."

"ColonelO'Neill stopped in earlier while you slept. He will meet us in the infirmary when you have eaten so that we may continue to discuss options while DoctorFraiser continues her examinations. She has spoken with DanielJackson and they have come up with a theory."

Daniel froze in the process of tying his shoelaces. Slowly, he put his foot down. "You're not Teal'c, are you?"

"I am not your Teal'c."

Panic filled Daniel and thoughts of people experimenting on his friend, like they did in the books he'd read and movies he'd seen, had him rushing to put his back against the door.

"If you wish, I will take you to him. He is not harmed; he merely wished an hour or two in the gymnasium."

"He's working out?" Despite Teal'c's nod, Daniel wasn't convinced. This whole scenario was just too creepy; still, his dad, no, Colonel O'Neill, and everyone else, had been nothing less than kind and understanding. "Can we stop at the gym before we go eat?"

When Teal'c inclined his head again, Daniel tied his shoe in record time and was ready before Teal'c got to his feet.

He walked next to Teal'c as they headed for the elevators. "My dad must be worried sick. I wonder—" A sudden horrible thought hit Daniel. "The moc'rat! We missed it. Shit, Teal'c, you missed Rya'c's ceremony." He stopped in the middle of the corridor, barely aware of personnel brushing past them.

"My son will understand. He will relay to me the words he spoke and Bra'tac will tell me how distinguished he appeared and both will tease me mercilessly about deliberately staying away from a ceremony which at times is so tedious that some Jaffa have been known to fall asleep."

Daniel giggled at the thought of Jaffa listening to speeches and nodding off. "You're not mad?"

"I am not. As I am sure your Teal'c is not angry, either. I must admit that if anyone were to be at your side in such a situation, I would not wish it to be anybody but myself."

"I think my dad might disagree with you on that. But I'm glad it's you."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The kid seemed nervous now and Jack realized maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to let Teal'c sit with him while the other Teal'c had taken a break. Still, he let Fraiser examine him and answered her questions, although the moment she released him, it wasn't lost on anyone that he went to stand next to his Teal'c, pressing into him for support.

"Well," Fraiser said, leaning a hip against a table in the small room and smiling at the kid, "I'd bet my bottom dollar that the nightmares began when you started puberty."

The kid blushed suddenly and looked down at his feet and Teal'c wrapped an arm around his ribs, pulling him close in a quick hug. It was odd, seeing the two of them react together. He glanced at his own Teal'c and wondered how much he missed Rya'c.

Stupid question; about as much as Jack missed Charlie. And seeing this kid interact with Teal'c, and knowing who had been his surrogate father for the past eight years, brought back the longing he thought he'd put behind him.

"So short of fiddling with the hormone levels in your body, Daniel, I'm afraid there's not much else I can do to help you with the surge of memories."

"What about the device itself?" Daniel asked absently as he fiddled with a file he had open on his knees. "We still don't know its true purpose and since General Hammond locked out the planet's designation after you guys got me back, we never had a chance to study—"

"No." The word was out of Jack's mouth even before he realized he'd said it. They'd nearly lost Daniel getting him back, there was no way he was going to put this kid through that kind of torture.

"It probably wouldn't work, sir." Carter, who looked exhausted, testament that she'd worked the night through, rubbed a hand around the back of her neck. "It would need to be the one that did this to Daniel, in his own universe. Even if we got permission to go back to P3P 387, we don't know what it would do to him."

"We don't know why it made him into a kid to start with," Jack blurted, "who the hell knows what it would do if we stuck him into it now. He could end up being older or younger with the memories of a teenager."

"Well, it's obvious his memories are linked to his hormones," Daniel continued, eyes bouncing from Jack to Carter as they argued. "There's no information here." He raised the folder in the air to emphasize his point. "If we went to P3P 387, maybe we could find some information which could help us understand—"

"The device didn't come with a handbook, Daniel." There was no way in hell he was letting Daniel, forty-three or thirteen years old, anywhere within several hundred light years of that planet and its alien technology from hell.

"But maybe there's something there that you missed. If I could go—"

"No." This time Teal'c beat Jack by a millisecond. "I agree with O'Neill. The radiation the device emits is too dangerous. We do not know what damage exposure to it may incur a second time around."

"But it didn't affect you. That was how you got me near the device in the first place."

"I no longer carry a symbiote. I may no longer be immune to its effects."

"Teal'c's right, sir." Fraiser moved forward so she was in the center of the room. "The radiation made you and Daniel sick the first time. We don't know what might happen if any of you are exposed again. And Sam's right, while the two universes may be very similar, we don't know what the technology here might do to Daniel," she smiled at the kid to indicate which Daniel she meant, "if we exposed him to it here. We still don't know what would happen if we exposed him to the device in his own universe."

"Regardless, we would need the permission of his father. His life is not endangered and so I see no reason to continue this discussion."

The kid seemed nervous and Jack couldn't blame him, the way they were talking about him as if he weren't here. He smiled. "You're right, T. But it may be a subject we'll have to bring up to his father."

"Are you going to take me... us home?"

All eyes turned to Carter, who was in the middle of yawning behind her hand. "Sorry. Um, yeah. I was just about to run a few simulations and if those work, I'll be able to load it into the ship's computer hopefully by tonight and—"

"And when were you planning on sleeping?"

"Sir?"

"Sleep, Carter."

"I was going to—"

"Get Bill Lee to run those simulations and hie yourself off to bed for a few hours."

"But—" Her words of protest were stopped by another yawn.

"Is Lee capable of running those tests?"

"Yes, if I leave him the parameters, but—"

"Then hand them over and get some sleep. We'll need you fresh and alert for the actual test."

"Yes, sir."

"He's just like my dad, isn't he?" the kid said, staring at Jack in awe.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The five of them descended one floor to the commissary while Carter staggered to bed. The kid seemed more relaxed now, talking softly with Teal'c as they made their selection. Soon all were sitting at two tables, both Teal'cs with identical trays laden with food before them.

"How's the burger?"

Jack waited until the kid had taken a huge bite and bit back a grin, watching him hurry to chew and swallow before answering.

"S'good." He popped in a few fries while eyeing Jack's slices of roast beef and vegetables.

"So, you got a girlfriend?" Jack asked when the kid took another huge bite of burger. He was sorry after a moment when the boy nearly choked. He shook his head quickly, though his face was red as he swallowed the half-chewed meat.

"No, although Cassie's been trying to hook me up with the cousin of her best friend's boyfriend's sister." He cleared his throat, coughed, and picked his burger up again.

"Cassie? As in Fraiser's Cassie."

Daniel nodded, holding his burger to his lips warily. He hesitated a moment, his eyes on Jack, and took a small bite while Jack turned to his own meal. The roast beef was dry, the gravy cold and lumpy and the vegetables overcooked and tasteless. He envied the kid his fries and hamburger.

"CassandraFraiser and DanielJackson attend the same school, and even share two of their classes together."

"Do you like school?"

"Mmm hmmm," he answered, nodding, but not rushing to volunteer more as he chewed slowly.

Jack tried the mashed potatoes and decided they weren't much more appetizing than the roast beef. He snuck a couple of French fries, and when the kid was stuffing the last of his hamburger into his mouth, he asked, "Do you like sports?"

The boy's eyes lit up and he nearly choked again, trying to swallow. "Hockey, baseball, soccer. I play soccer at school."

"Really? You any good?" Jack watched as the second burger was picked up, then held loosely in one hand as Daniel expounded on the game.

When the kid came up for air five minutes later, Jack pointed at his burger. "You gonna eat that, or what?"

"Oh." He grinned a little shamefacedly and bit into his burger. Jack took pity on the kid and concentrated on his own meal for a few bites. He was about to tease him some more when he realized the kid was staring into space, his fingers clutching the burger so hard, the bun had squeezed between his fingers.

"Daniel?"

All eyes turned to the kid, whose face was caught in a rictus of horror. "He's dead. It killed him." He moved so quickly, his chair went flying in one direction, the burger in another and the tray spilled onto the floor with a loud clatter. "He's dead!" he screamed as he started running.

They all reached for him but he was too fast. He ran towards the exit, screaming words that Jack couldn't make out, bouncing off a Major who happened to get in his way, rebounding off the wall and continuing through the swinging doors. The two Teal'cs were right behind him, but Jack and Daniel both had to circumvent the tables, losing precious seconds.

By the time they slammed through the doors, the kid's legs had given out and he slid against the far wall, hitting it hard with his shoulder.

Immediately his Teal'c was there, holding him down as he struggled against him. "It killed him, it killed Kawalski," he sobbed.

"Hold him," Jack yelled as Teal'c tried to hold down the struggling body. "Someone get Doctor Fraiser."

Daniel's cries stopped as he vomited his burger and fries, nearly choking as he struggled for breath. Then as suddenly as it came, the vision was over and he hung limply in Teal'c's arms.

"This isn't a memory, it's a goddamned flashback." Jack tried to keep his voice down but his anger at Daniel's words earlier about letting the memories come got the better of him.

"Daddy?" A pain-ravaged visage that looked older than it should turned to look at him. Even without Teal'c's silent begging, nothing would have kept Jack away from the kid. He stepped over the vomit-splattered floor and knelt next to him, accepting his weight as the kid moved away from Teal'c and into Jack's arms.

"I'm here," Jack said.

"I don't want this anymore." The voice was low and nearly breathless. "You said it would stop, that it wouldn't happen anymore. I want it to stop. I don't want my memories, I want to go home."

"I know, I know," Jack whispered as he cupped the back of the kid's head and held him close.

"Actually, we never said the memories wouldn't stop. We thought it would be best if we—"

He never knew whether it was his glare or the hand he put up, but Daniel quickly got the message and shut up.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Daniel didn't want to come out of the shower. Even though his dad... no, Colonel O'Neill - for some reason he kept forgetting that he wasn't his father - was waiting for him on the other side of the half-open door, he would have preferred the continued privacy so that he could simply die of embarrassment.

But all good things had to come to an end and, with a reluctant sigh, Daniel turned the water off, grabbed the towel and quickly toweled himself dry before stepping out of the tiny shower cubicle.

To his surprise, there were clean clothes waiting for him, neatly folded on the toilet seat. He dressed in them and hesitantly opened the door.

He'd expected everyone to be there, watching him, but to his intense relief, it was just the Colonel, and Teal'c.

"Get into bed."

Daniel glanced at the bed, which had been made at some point and the blankets turned down invitingly. "Why? I'm fine."

"Because the doc said you're stressed, gave you something to help you relax and ordered that you should rest. Resting means lying in bed."

"I'm not tired." He flopped down into a chair and glared at the colonel, trying not to remember how he'd cried in his arms after throwing up all over himself earlier.

"You don't have to be tired to lie down."

Daniel made a face because it sounded like he was being talked to as if he were a kid. "But I—"

"Enough. You will rest now."

With an exasperated sigh because he knew Teal'c had reached his limit, he got up out of the chair and climbed into the bed. "But we're going home soon, aren't we?"

"Carter's still sleeping and she has to check out the results of her diagnostics, so I'm guessing at the earliest, not before morning."

Lying down felt good although he wasn't about to admit it to the colonel, or even to Teal'c. He stretched his legs, thinking that maybe he could shut his eyes and take a short nap. He heard a voice next to his ear. "My beloved."

"What?" he whispered. Feelings of hopelessness coursed through him – he couldn't get the Stargate to work and Sam and his dad were stuck out there, somewhere – his dad was old, so old, and he was going to die in maybe a matter of hours, and there was nothing he could do except say goodbye – all the information, right there, in front of him, and he had no choice but to leave it behind because the whole castle was on the verge of collapsing and this was their only chance to leave through the Stargate – everyone thought he was dead and there was water, water, everywhere – the enemy was flying straight to Earth and they'd run out of time—

"They're coming," he whispered. There was a vision of himself reflected in a piece of blue crystal – stepping through the Stargate into total darkness – the momentary flash of pain as he ran before Sha're, trying to stop Ra from shooting her – the desperation he felt as the conference room before him emptied, his last chance, ruined, his career, ruined. Daniel closed his eyes, suddenly too tired to fight the visions as they came, faster and faster, overwhelming his senses.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"He should sleep for a couple hours. I'll go and check on Lee, see if he's had any luck."

"I shall await your news."

Jack paused, looking down at the kid, noting the moving eyelids. Poor thing was so tired, he'd already gone straight to REM sleep. "What about your world? Is there any information gathered from P3P 387?"

"Very little, I am afraid. Once we ascertained the danger of the device, we did not return and the Stargate address was removed from our computers."

"Yeah, ditto." Jack shrugged. "I guess it was worth a shot," he added as he left.

He wasn't surprised to find Carter already in her lab, busy working. He didn't chastise her for only getting a couple hours' worth of shut-eye; he'd feel a lot better reuniting the kid with his father. He had the impression his other self and his son had some issues that needed to be addressed.

"It looks like we're on the right track, sir." She grinned up at him, the light from her laptop accentuating the dark circles that had faded slightly from beneath her eyes. "Several of the simulations have proven that my theory will work, so barring any unforeseen problems, we should be up and running in about twelve hours."

"I thought you said this was easy?"

"This part? Not so hard." She made a face. "Getting my laptop to speak to the Ancients' computer? The ship doesn't seem to like its accent."

"Great. A comedian."

She tapped a few commands on the keyboard. "But you know, it's only in scifi shows that you see the computer geek interface their computers with alien technology with an enemy breathing down their necks with only seconds to go and wonders of wonders, it works the first time they switch it on."

"You mean it's not supposed to?"

"Only with hours of hard work and planning, sir." She finished typing and looked up at Jack. "How's Daniel doing—young Daniel?" she quickly amended.

"Sleeping. Had one helluva flashback earlier, and it took a lot outta him. I can pretty well understand why he felt the need for drugs to help him deal with what he's going through, I just wish he could have confided in someone first, might have made things a little easier on him."

"Well, Teal'c knows now and they both understand what's going on, so I'm sure he'll have a great support group when he gets home."

Carter looked at him patiently and Jack realized he was holding her up. Normally her attitude wouldn't bother him but he knew time was of the essence. They hadn't talked about the entropic cascade failure thingie that would happen in a couple more days. But they still had plenty of time, if Carter couldn't get the ship working by morning.

He waved goodbye and wandered down to Daniel's office. He wasn't surprised to see him poring over the files of the '387 mission and questioning Teal'c about what he'd seen. Both men looked up when Jack walked in.

Daniel stopped talking and his eyes widened in anticipation. He took a breath, obviously getting ready to speak when Jack threw up a hand, stopping him.

"You are not going back there," Jack growled before Daniel could ask the question.

"But Teal'c just told me he thought he might be able to make it to this rock formation here, without any adverse effects. It's well away from the device and just a dozen feet from the safe zone." He turned, pointing to a grainy image on his computer screen. "From there, he could tape—"

"Daniel, no."

"But—"

"O'Neill, I believe the attempt is worth the risk."

"You don't have to do this, T. There's no need to put yourself in danger for—"

"I understand. But I shall be doing it for DanielJackson."

"He's not our Daniel."

"He may indeed not be our DanielJackson, but the boy is whom he would have been had we made different choices. I do this for both DanielJacksons, and for both O'Neills."

"Teal'c..." Daniel seemed touched, or at least he was at a loss for words.

"You're sure about this?" Jack watched Teal'c long and hard and recognized the man had made up his mind. If Jack didn't go to Hammond, he was sure Teal'c would do so himself. "I'll go talk to the General."

"Jack..."

"Yeah?"

"Um... thanks."

At a loss of words himself, Jack simply gave Daniel a quick head wag before heading up to Hammond's office.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Chevron six, encoded." The words echoed in the Gateroom.

"You don't have to do this, Teal'c," Jack said again as they both turned towards the spinning Stargate while Daniel stood aside and examined the pictures he'd brought with him. "You can change your mind now, and I'm sure Daniel will understand."

"I am confident there will be no danger. My physiology still differs from yours."

"Chevron seven, locked." The wormhole exploded into the room, bathing them with light.

"In and out, right?"

"I will proceed as quickly as I can."

"The moment we see there's a problem—"

"You will not come for me."

"Like hell we won't," Daniel exclaimed as he met them at the bottom of the ramp. He glared first at Teal'c, then at Jack, daring either one to contradict him.

"Gentlemen, Godspeed."

As if Hammond's words were their cue, the three men climbed onto the ramp and went through the 'gate.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"No."

"But he might miss some—"

"You are not stepping beyond this point. You move one inch and I'm hogtying you and dragging you back through the 'gate."

Before Daniel could retaliate, Teal'c arrived at a quick jog, video camera in hand. He handed the camera over to Daniel.

"I regret I did not find any additional information that we may have previously overlooked."

Daniel stared at the camera in his hands, nodding. "Okay." He turned and started heading for the Stargate, Jack and Teal'c following behind. "I'll look at the footage anyways. Maybe there's something that we missed the first time. At least now I can see it for myself." He dialed Earth and they were home a mere fifteen minutes after they'd left the mountain.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"You're sure?" Jack looked at himself in a hand-mirror and rubbed his face. "I could swear the crow's feet are not as pronounced as they were this morning." He made a couple of faces, turning his head from one side to another as he examined himself critically.

"You haven't gotten any younger, sir," Fraiser said with a smile. "At least not physically. You weren't close enough to the device to get affected."

"So we can go?" Daniel sat on the bed, grabbing the video camera.

"There's no sign of radiation poisoning, so yes, you can go."

Like sheep, Jack and Teal'c followed Daniel back to his office. They stood quietly, watching as Daniel connected the camera up to his PC and then played back the footage Teal'c had gotten. Jack managed to endure three viewings at different speeds before his patience ran out. "There's nothing there."

"I haven't played it back with any of the filters yet."

"Oy, by the time you're done looking at this, I'll need that machine to make me young again." He turned on his heels just as the phone rang. He was out the door when Daniel answered, and was two steps down the hallway when Daniel called his name.

He turned and nearly bumped into Daniel in the doorway.

"Something's wrong with Daniel."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

You could run all you want in Cheyenne Mountain, but all the seconds you saved ended up being lost waiting for an elevator. By the time they rushed to the VIP room, the kid had been placed on a gurney and was being wheeled out of the room.

All three of them fell back against the wall, making room for the gurney then followed it back to the elevator. Fraiser started speaking the moment she spotted Jack.

"Teal'c couldn't wake him up," she said as she half-trotted next to her patient. "He thought Daniel had fallen asleep but when he tried to wake him up to go to supper, he wouldn't wake up."

"Is he sick?"

"There's no sign of fever or infection. I think he might be caught up in a dream—"

"Flashback. They were more like flashbacks." Jack leaned over and swiped his passkey in the reader. Sometimes, though, luck was with you and elevators chose to arrive without any litany of prayers or curses. This was one of those times.

They all squeezed into the elevator, forcing a few of them to hold their breath as the car traveled between floors. Then Teal'c and Daniel all but exploded out of the elevator, making room for the gurney and the medical personnel while Jack and the other Teal'c exited a bit more gracefully.

Teal'c looked really scared. The kid's Teal'c, that was. That in itself told Jack how much he cared for the kid, and not for the first time, Jack wondered what life would have been like if Daniel had never been returned to adulthood. Somehow he figured it would have been different, but no less rewarding, judging by the care exhibited by the Jaffa.

It took Fraiser exactly an hour and two minutes to run all her tests. Jack knew, because he spent more time staring at the clock than at the horde of medical personnel that came and went around the kid's bed. When they were finally permitted to approach, the scene before them wasn't pretty.

Jack had seen Daniel rigged up this way once, a long time ago. And the result had eventually been Daniel's coming so close to dying that Jack still had nightmares.

An EEG had been set up, the leads still connected to the kid's face and scalp. Although this time the activity on the monitor was all over the place, unlike the few zips and blips Daniel had shown when his brain had started shutting down oh so long ago. His eyes were moving behind his lids and his breathing wasn't even.

"He's not in a coma; if anything, he's in REM sleep. But the dreams, or nightmares, he's experiencing have already taken a toll on his body. His blood pressure's very high and his pulse is much too rapid for normal sleep. His body's not responding well to sedation, and if this goes on long enough, he could suffer a stroke."

"Carter said she might have the ship up and running by the middle of the night," Jack said cautiously.

"Right now, I'd say getting it up and running in the next hour or two isn't soon enough. And I was talking about his physical health. We don't know what's going on inside his head and what it's doing to his mental status."

"I should go see if Carter can speed things up a bit."

"Before you go, sir, could you try seeing if you can get him to wake up? Maybe hearing his father's voice—"

"I'm not his father—" Jack realized it didn't matter. He sat on the bed next to the kid and leaned over. "Hey."

He put a hand on the kid's upper abdomen and rubbed below the EKG leads. He could feel his heartbeat vibrating through his chest. "You going to lie in bed all day and sleep? Teal'c was looking forward to trying that new Chinese place in town." He gave the still body a little shake. "C'mon, up and at 'em." Hoping that his Teal'c was similar to Jack's, he continued. "You know how upset Teal'c gets when he has to use chopsticks and we all have a laugh watching him struggle. You don't want to miss out on the fun, do you?"

There was no response. He leaned a little closer and moved his hand up to the kid's shoulder. "Wake up, Danny—"

"Icky," Teal'c said.

"What?"

"It is the endearment his father uses based on the Greek god Icarus."

Jack grimaced at the weird name, but said it anyway. "C'mon, Icky, you can wake up. Just open your eyes. It's not hard, you do it all the time. Or hey, I'd be happy with just one eye." Careful of the leads, he placed a finger on the boy's cheek. "How about this one? Wanna give it a try, Icky?"

Jack watched, holding his breath, but nothing. Not a twitch, not a sigh, not a blink.

"Don't do this, Da... Icky. I need you to wake up for me, okay?"

There was a soft mewl from the kid as he scrunched his eyes tightly. For a moment Jack thought his cajoling had worked, but when there was no further reaction, he supposed it was just a part of the nightmare he was experiencing.

"Sorry," he told Teal'c as he straightened and got up off the bed.

"I appreciate that you made the attempt."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Try it now, sir."

Biting back a stinging comment that he'd tried it now for the past two hours, Jack concentrated on the console beneath his hands. This time, to his surprise, the ship powered up, its thrum of engine noise a welcome sensation at the power he had under his control.

"That's it!" Carter exclaimed, brushing past Jack to enter several commands into her laptop. A light on the console blinked twice, and shut off. "We're good to go, sir." She brushed past him again, moving towards the back of the ship and disconnecting all the leads and wires that littered the ship.

"How do you know that whatever you did to the ship is going to make it work the way you want it to?"

"I don't. But we don't have time to start testing it, not if we want to get Daniel back as soon as possible."

"True." Jack reached for the radio. "This is Colonel O'Neill. Please inform General Hammond that we are now operational and require all passengers to embark as soon as possible." He clicked the radio off and stood, then reached to activate it again. "And anyone who detours to the commissary and brings me a coffee and donut will have the privilege of riding shotgun."

He sidled past Carter, and when she turned to stare at him with a questioning rise to her brows, he shrugged. "Gotta go before we take off. One never knows how long before one gets to have another pit stop."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Just think of flying—"

"I know," Jack growled. "I've done this before." He ignored the injured look Daniel gave him and concentrated on thinking about flying. As before, nothing happened, and he realized his thoughts were on his passengers and not on the controls.

Trying to ignore the fact that the two Teal'cs were sitting behind him with the kid sitting like a rag doll in a wheelchair between them, Jack closed his eyes, thought up, and smiled when the ship rose.

Carter called out from the back where she was still fiddling with her laptop, which had one lone wire connected to the ship itself. "Okay, Colonel. I need you to think about Daniel and getting him home. Once you've activated the computer, it should access the program I wrote and that'll take us through to their universe."

Jack latched onto the one word that shouldn't have been in that explanation. "Should?"

"In theory, it works. My simulations showed it had an eighty-nine percent chance of working and since we didn't have a chance to test it—"

"What if it brings me to the wrong universe?"

"You can't think of that, sir. You have to concentrate on this Daniel, this Teal'c, and getting them home."

"Right." Jack shut his eyes again.

"Maybe you should activate the cloak first," Daniel said.

Daniel was right, if this worked, they sure as heck were going to cause a stir upon arrival. A flick of a thought and the ship was out of sight.

He thought of the kid, of Teal'c, of their situation, how the other Jack O'Neill must be worried sick, and the engines on the ship suddenly changed pitch. Thrumming loudly, energy built and Jack could feel the little ship actually want to go, and then, they were there. He hoped.

Jack opened his eyes. "Did it work?" He looked out the view port and saw the exact same scene he'd seen before he'd closed his eyes.

"How about contacting Cheyenne Mountain?" Daniel said, reaching for the radio.

"DanielJackson. Perhaps I should be the one to speak to General Hammond. If this attempt at transportation was successful, it might be less confusing were it to be I who contacted the SGC."

"Not for nothing, but aren't you supposed to be on Chulak?"

"There is that," Teal'c conceded. "But O'Neill must by now be aware there was an incident with the Stargate."

Daniel swiveled his chair to look back at Teal'c. "True. When you two never showed up..." He got up and exchanged seats with Teal'c, leaning over to check on his younger counterpart while Teal'c tapped the control for the radio.

"Stargate Command, please respond."

There was a pause, then General Hammond's voice came through the speakers. "Teal'c? It's good to hear your voice, son. But where in tarnations are you calling from? And what about Daniel?"

"We are presently in a ship several meters from the main entrance. We are requesting permission to land and enter Cheyenne Mountain."

"We? I assume there's more than just you and Daniel?"

"Indeed. It is a long story, General. But time is of the essence. DanielJackson requires medical assistance..."

Immediately Jack heard whispering in the background and he could envisage the sudden flurry of activity within the base.

"... And we must immediately transport him to P3P 387."

There were a few more whispered comments before Hammond answered. "You are aware that that planetary designation has been removed from our computers."

"I am. I would not request it if it were not necessary."

"You have permission to land, son. There'll be a medical team waiting for you at the entrance, and I've alerted Colonel O'Neill, who's on his way up."

"Understood, GeneralHammond. Thank you."

As Jack uncloaked the ship and brought it down towards the main parking area, edging it as close to the entrance as he could, he wasn't surprised by the slew of SFs who came out at a run, weapons pointed at them. By the time he got the ship positioned and powered down, medical personnel were waiting in the background, their white lab coats standing out amongst the sea of BDUs. And standing in the center of everything were three very familiar faces. Hammond. Carter. And himself.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

He'd never seen ships like this before; smaller than a tel'tak, it was snub-nosed and compact. Parked sideways, he could only make out that there was someone inside, the angle of the ship, however, prevented him from seeing clearly through the main view screen. He assumed that Teal'c and Danny were getting ready to step out and he waited anxiously to greet them.

All anger at Daniel had fled when Bra'tac had contacted them, wondering why Teal'c had never shown up on Chulak. He hadn't slept in what felt like forever, having led an S&R to Chulak while Carter checked the 'gate diagnostics on this side of the wormhole. All they'd found was some sort of power surge that nobody was able to identify.

So when the back of the ship slid apart, revealing the interior, he took several relieved steps towards it. He came to an abrupt stop, while everyone around him tensed, when the man who stepped out of the ship was the spitting image of himself.

"Don't shoot." The man stepped to the side of the ship so he wouldn't block the exit, hands extended to the side. "We're returning something that belongs to you." Exiting right after him was a second Carter. Jack glanced at the woman who stood next to him, quickly comparing the two women, noticing that for the slightly different lengths and styles of hair, they were identical.

"They must be from a different dimension or universe," Carter said excitedly. "I wonder how they—"

She bit off her words as the third person exited the ship and gasped in shock. It was someone Jack had never expected to see for at least another twenty years.

"Danny?" His feet were moving of their own volition as he went towards his grown son.

"Colonel." Hammond's hand caught his arm, holding him in place. He stared at Daniel, wondering why he was hanging around with the other version of himself when it dawned on him. This wasn't Daniel Jackson O'Neill, former shrunken friend and adopted son - this was Daniel Jackson, adult-sized, and friend to the other O'Neill and who didn't belong in this world.

His heart both soared at seeing the friend he'd lost, while at the same time, it ached in worry for the son who was missing.

"Where's Daniel? Where's my son?" he called when the fourth member of the team exited the ship. There they stood – his former team, SG-1 in all its former glory. He met the other O'Neill's gaze and the eyes were both hard and understanding, and there was something in them that frightened him. Some depth of despair he'd seen reflected in the mirror nearly twelve years ago when he'd lost Charlie.

Then he had eyes for nothing except the man who stepped out of the ship, burdened with something large and loose in his arms. It took a moment for Jack to make out arms and legs hanging limply, and then he was running.

"Daniel! Teal'c, what happened? Is he okay?"

Teal'c stopped, allowing Jack to ease Daniel's face back from where it lay lax against his neck. Daniel was unconscious, his face pale, his skin warm to the touch. "Icky? It's Daddy. Danny, wake up. Daddy's here." He dragged his gaze from his son and looked at Teal'c. "What's wrong with him?" The look of despair on Teal'c's face nearly sent him to his knees.

"Colonel, please, let me." Doctor Lam pushed past Jack, the gurney rattling noisily on the pavement behind her. Teal'c reached down and gently placed Daniel onto the thin mattress while Jack supported his head, easing it down onto the pillow.

"We've got his medical chart." Surprised to hear his own voice, Jack looked up at the man who looked just like him. O'Neill pointed towards the ship. "It's inside. I think it'll make the doc's job a little easier if she can read it."

"O'Neill. Listen to me. We must return to P3P 387."

"Stand down, people." Jack startled, having forgotten for a moment all the security staff that had come out in force. The SFs put their weapons down at Hammond's order but many of them looked uncomfortable and stared warily at their visitors.

When Hammond motioned permission, Daniel, the adult Daniel, stepped back into the ship and returned a moment later with a manila folder. He walked over to the gurney and handed the folder to a nurse while Lam gave his son a quick look over.

"You said that before, Teal'c. But you know I can't just allow you to go back to a planet that's potentially dangerous. We already lost Doctor Jackson to..." Hammond swallowed and rubbed a hand over his mouth, obviously uncomfortable with what he'd just said. Jack understood; it had taken him a long time to stop missing his friend Daniel, but he'd gotten so much joy from the little tyke who'd needed him that it had almost made up for that loss.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but could someone tell me what happened to Daniel?" Doctor Lam asked, giving them a quick, exasperated look over Daniel's body.

"He's having flashbacks," Daniel said, his voice much deeper than Jack remembered. "Teal'c said that he had no memories prior to having been turned into a child. But he's remembering everything now, and has been for the past couple of months. Janet... our Doctor Fraiser says she thinks it's the hormonal fluctuations that have triggered the memories—"

Jack swiveled to Teal'c, the pieces falling in place. "A few months? I didn't... So that's what he was hiding—"

"Indeed. He failed to confide in us because he—"

"He thought he was losing his mind." Jack's conversation with his mother hit him like a ton of bricks. Daniel had probably been too scared to talk to him and had tried everything to get his attention so Jack would notice. Wasn't that what parents were for? Weren't they supposed to know when their little boys were hurting and be able to fix the problem?

He looked up, his heart heavy and nearly breaking, and for a moment he thought he was staring at himself in a mirror. He watched as his lips moved and his voice came out of the stranger's mouth.

"He was too scared to tell anyone because he thought he was going crazy. Some of his flashbacks... well, they were pretty hard on him."

Guilt coursed through Jack when he thought of all the awful things he'd accused his son of doing, even if only in his mind.

"Excuse me, I need to get him to the infirmary." Lam grabbed the folder and began perusing it as the gurney was pushed towards the doors. Jack watched them leave, very much aware that Hammond hadn't dismissed him.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

It was more than being uncomfortable. Daniel had been through this once before but in that first universe, nobody had known him. Now Daniel was assaulted with all sorts of looks, from curiosity to sudden recognition to shock to indifference. Jack, Sam and Teal'c were getting some odd looks, too, but everyone seemed to be honing in on him.

So it was with relief that they entered the infirmary and only had to contend with the nurses. Jack and Teal'c's doubles went with the boy, while this world's Sam accompanied Daniel and his team, along with a small contingent of guards. He could hear Teal'c telling Jack about the drama that had been going on in his household before their fateful trip through the Stargate.

Daniel sighed, sitting through the lengthy examination, made longer by the fact that one doctor was taking care of young Daniel while Janet had to handle all five of them. The sooner they got this SOP out of the way, the sooner he could try convincing General Hammond to get Daniel back to P3P 387. He knew no amount of talking would convince them until they saw how serious the situation was for themselves.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"I'm not convinced the answer is returning Daniel to that planet." General Hammond steepled his fingers together and looked around his crowded briefing room table. His gaze finally stopped on Daniel, who didn't feel it was his place, yet, to speak. "We have no idea what that machine will do to him, or whether it'll cure him, or make him an adult again. Hell, son, from your descriptions, it killed you."

"I do not believe we have a choice." This world's Teal'c only turned his head, moving his gaze from Hammond to Jack and O'Neill, both of whom were involved in a staring contest across the table. "DanielJackson's condition continues to deteriorate despite the efforts of Doctors Lam and Fraiser."

"We don't know yet what exactly's wrong with him. He may still recover from this." Doctor Lam stared hard at Teal'c.

"He's remembering forty years of a lifetime that's no longer his," Jack, sitting next to Daniel, finally growled out. "Even if he wakes up, do you really think that the kid's gonna be the same person he was before all of this happened?" The other Jack's face grew stone cold and expressionless, and Daniel knew they were treading over deep water here. "We don't know what that alien doodad will do to him but it's better than taking a chance that the kid will come out of this a vegetable—"

"You don't know that—" The fury on the other Jack's face was chilling as he thrust himself forward, halfway over the briefing table. For a moment Daniel thought he was going to go for Jack, but he seemed to pull himself together and sat down, though it was obvious every single movement was hard fought for control.

"No, I don't know that. But I did see a very courageous kid go through hell and back, and it wasn't pretty. You chose not to take him back to P3P 387 and then kept his background a secret. That was your decision and it's not my place to question it, but when I exposed a very confused and sick little boy to that machine eight years ago, it made him whole again in both mind and body. Your only chance is to hope the machine fixes whatever it did to him in the first place—"

"I decided not to put him back in that machine because the chances of him dying from the transformation were pretty astronomical."

"And they were right," Daniel said quickly before these two came to blows. "And as awful as that experience was," he added, despite not remembering much of the first few days after he'd been brought back and recovering for weeks afterwards, "I have to agree that there's not much of a choice right now. We either sit and wait and hope for the best, or we go back to that planet and give the alien device a try."

"So you'd be willing to put him through the hell you went through—"

"If it saves his life and brings him back sane and whole, yes, in a heartbeat." Daniel held the boy's father's gaze, his pulse pounding heavily in his temples. When Jack lowered his gaze to his clenched fists, Daniel knew they'd won. He'd seen that look of resigned capitulation before. He felt dizzy with relief, and realized after a moment that he was exhausted. He closed his eyes as Jack asked Hammond to allow them to return to the planet.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The planet looked just the same as the one he'd 'gated to just a few hours ago in his own universe. The only difference this time was that there were nine of them instead of just three.

The other Daniel, wrapped in a blanket, was in Teal'c's arms, and Daniel could see how much it hurt his father to not be the one to bring the kid to what would hopefully be his salvation. All of them came to a stop at the safe point and watched in silence as Jack caressed the slack face and then bent to kiss the boy's forehead.

Sam approached next and with a shaking hand, moved a lock of hair before kissing Daniel's cheek. She gave Teal'c a slight smile and stepped back. Teal'c had taken a step away from them when Jack, his Jack, approached. He looked down at Daniel, ran a finger down his cheek and then looked up at Teal'c.

"Get out of there as fast as you can."

"Do not fear for me." Teal'c's voice was soft and understanding and he adjusted the body in his arms, holding Daniel closer before jogging towards the odd rock formation that had caught both Daniels' interests eight years ago.

It took Teal'c only a moment to put Daniel down on the marble floor, rise and run back towards them. The screams began just as Teal'c made it into what they'd deemed the safe zone.

A foggy layer hid the suffering child from them. They all winced, their helplessness reflected in everyone's eyes. Daniel moved closer to his team, knowing how hard it must be for them, reliving the moments when this had been him over there, screaming in pain as his body changed.

The other team closed around their Jack, who was staring past them toward his son with a haunted expression. Janet and Doctor Lam stood on the outskirts, looking anxious, surrounded by the medical supplies they'd brought with them.

"How long?" Daniel asked in a strained voice.

"Not long. A few minutes." Jack touched his arm and held on tightly. "Feels longer than it really is." His fingers squeezed painfully, and after a while, Daniel began to think Jack wasn't aware of what he was doing.

Then the screaming stopped, and Jack released his arm, turning swiftly to the other group. "Teal'c—"

The word wasn't out of his mouth when Teal'c raced back to the marble slab.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Hands were holding him back from his son and he fought savagely.

"Colonel."

Carter's voice broke through his frenzy. His vision cleared and the hands loosened but still held on. Carter was standing in front of him, and her eyes shifted over his face. Then she blinked and moved aside, and he was able to see Teal'c, who was racing back with a blanket-covered form in his arms. He shook off the hands holding on to him, realizing that O'Neill and Teal'c from the other world had prevented him from running off to get to his son.

He ran the two steps out of the safe zone, trying to take Daniel away from Teal'c and was forced to run back in as Teal'c easily sidestepped him and made for the medical personnel. Swearing, Jack pivoted and ran after him, dropping to his knees faster than Fraiser and Lam as Teal'c put Daniel down on the stretcher.

Daniel was still a boy. Jack uttered a quick prayer of relief, not realizing until this point how much he'd come to love the child he'd raised for the past eight years, that he really and truly didn't want the adult version back. He felt a rush of guilt, which he thrust aside when Lam spoke up.

"He's not breathing."

"I can't find a heartbeat." Fraiser was bent over Daniel, her body hiding his face from Jack.

And then Jack couldn't pull in any air. He watched, as if in a dream, as Fraiser began performing CPR and Lam got the portable defibrillator out. He winced as Daniel's body jerked from the electrical shock, then held his breath as Fraiser checked for a pulse.

"Nothing."

Lam shocked Daniel again and the vice around Jack's chest loosened when Fraiser cried out, "I've got a pulse."

Daniel gasped noisily, and immediately an oxygen mask was slapped on his face. As Jack became aware of his body, he realized someone had a death grip on his shoulder in a death grip. He looked up and realized O'Neill had come to stand next to him at some point, and was staring at the scene before them. Jack, still on his knees, patted the hand and immediately the other man let go.

"We need to get him back."

Carter ran for the DHD, and by the time Jack and Teal'c grabbed the ends of the stretcher, Carter had finished the dialing sequence. They hurried up the stairs leading to the dais and through the wormhole, Fraiser and Lam walking next to the stretcher. Jack trusted Carter to make sure their visitors were escorted safely back; at this point he didn't give a shit.

There was a waiting gurney and they placed the stretcher right on top of it. He followed behind as the nurses pushed the gurney out of the Gateroom, hearing Hammond asking what had happened and again, relying on his team to fill him in.

In the elevator, Daniel suddenly opened his eyes. Jack was pressed back behind the medical personnel, but Daniel's panicked struggle had him forcibly pushing the male nurse to the side so he could lean over the gurney.

"Hey," he said softly. To his intense relief, Daniel looked at him. He was surprised, though, when without a word, he reached his arms up and grabbed Jack by the neck. Without thought, Jack reciprocated the movement, grabbing Daniel and holding him close. "It's okay, Danny, Daddy's here. Everything's going to be okay."

Then the elevator doors opened and Jack found himself with a thirteen year-old with a death grip, and the conundrum of trying to figure out how to move the gurney with a kid who didn't want to be separated from him. He did the only thing he could. He reached down, pulled his son's legs off the gurney and held him awkwardly in his arms.

Someone adjusted the oxygen mask and someone else wrapped a blanket over Daniel's shoulders. And then they were off, hurrying down the corridor to the infirmary.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Daniel had never been this clingy since the first months when Jack had taken him in. And he'd made his confusion and displeasure known very clearly and loudly, thank you, whenever Jack had been separated from him. This time, however, Daniel was eerily silent, and only his physical hold on Jack let them all know that there was some sort of intelligence that hadn't been wiped out by the alien device.

Fraiser worked around them both, where Jack sat on the infirmary bed with Daniel lying on his lap, his arms still twined around Jack's shoulders, his face pressed close against Jack's neck. He was trembling, and his body temperature was slowly climbing from the cold clamminess of just a few minutes ago. Jack held him close, rocking him gently and talking nonsense while Fraiser and Lam continued to exam him.

"Hey, Daniel." Fraiser moved to Daniel's side and eased her hands between Jack and Daniel's face and gently pulled his head away. She smiled at him, although Jack wasn't sure whether he was really seeing anyone. His eyes were vacant and he stared a little past her shoulder. "I'm going to attach these to your face and your scalp, okay? It won't hurt, but it may feel a little weird." She began attaching leads to the EEG, moving Daniel's head back and forth so she could reach. When she was done, she flicked a switch and his brain waves became a bunch of squiggles on a monitor. Daniel hid his face again against Jack. Jack sneaked a hand between himself and Daniel, making sure he hadn't dislodged the nasal canula.

"Well?" Jack asked when both Fraiser and Lam watched the squiggles go up and down across the monitor.

"It's good," Lam said with a relieved sigh.

"Then why does he not speak?" Teal'c asked from where he stood at the foot of the bed.

"While the EEG shows Daniel's not caught in that dream-state he was in before, he's in shock. We don't know what that alien device did to him and we don't know how cognizant he is outside of his own awareness—"

"Doc, he knows who I am."

"Yes, there appears to be basic recognition, but if you'll remember, that also happened the first time around. He may not know you're his father but just that you represent security to him."

"You think he's lost his memories of the last eight years of his life?" Jack cupped the back of Daniel's nape, his thumb rubbing gently in the hollow there.

"I don't know, sir," Fraiser said softly. "I'm just hoping this is only a side effect of his exposure to the device. We should hopefully know a little more when he calms down. He's stable now, what he needs is rest and quiet." She showed him a syringe. "Just a mild sedative."

She injected the contents into Daniel's IV and then pulled a blanket up over the two of them, grabbed two pillows from empty beds and brought them to him. Jack leaned forward, allowing her to place the pillows behind his back. "Try to get him to relax," she said quietly as Daniel clutched at Jack when he moved.

"It's okay, I'm not going anywhere." He rested his cheek against the top of Daniel's head. Fraiser pulled the curtains partway around the bed, closing them off from everyone except Carter and Teal'c, who were both sitting on the bed on his right.

"Where're the others?" Jack asked when he realized that the infirmary was no longer the crowded, noisy place it had been when they'd first gotten here.

"VIP rooms. I told them I'd let them know if there was any change."

"You two go get some rest as well."

"We don't mind staying—"

"I know. But Daniel and I are going to take a nap, and unless you want to watch the two of us snoring and drooling..."

"Yes, sir." Carter smiled sadly at him as she stood.

"Carter?"

"Yes?"

"Call my mom and tell her we found Daniel."

"Do you want me to tell her that—"

"No, just tell her he's not doing well, and that I'll talk to her when I have more news."

"Okay. We'll be back in a few hours."

Jack sighed as he listened to their footsteps fade. He inhaled deeply and Daniel shifted restlessly again. "You okay, Icky? D'ya need anything? Water? Bathroom? You still cold? I can get another blanket if you need it?"

At first Jack thought the motion was from Daniel's restiveness, but when it stopped, he wasn't so sure that maybe Daniel hadn't shaken his head in answer to his questions. Jack squirmed a little, trying to turn onto his side because Daniel's weight was beginning to send his butt to sleep. His son tensed again and made a soft sound of protest.

"It's okay, I'm just trying to get comfortable. How about you try moving with me?" Jack placed one hand onto Daniel's back and slowly shifted both of them so they were on their sides. He pulled Daniel up against him and Daniel wriggled and fidgeted a bit until he was plastered against him. Jack slowly eased his back and neck onto the pillows and Daniel followed so he was using Jack's shoulder as a pillow.

"Comfy?" He rubbed his hand up and down Daniel's spine, feeling the taut muscles slowly begin to loosen. "So, you had yourself quite an experience, I hear? Ended up in another universe, huh? That must have been pretty wild. I'm glad you had Teal'c with you, though. I can't think of anyone better... unless it was me."

Jack watched Daniel's face, noting the slowly drooping eyelids as Fraiser's drug began to take effect. Almost like when he read him bedtime stories. Damn, where had the years gone? "You're gonna have to tell me all about it. It must have been weird to see everyone, huh? I got a chance to meet them but didn't really get a chance to talk to them. I wonder if the other Jack O'Neill is as charming as me."

Jack continued on in the same vein, talking softly until Daniel's eyes closed. His hold around Jack loosened but there was still tension in his arms. Jack had a feeling that if he moved, Daniel would wake up and grab at him. He didn't try to test his theory; he lay there next to him and prayed that when he woke up, his son would come back to him.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The fever had climbed so slowly that it took Jack a while to realize that Daniel was like a small furnace. His restlessness had pulled him from a light doze, where he'd escaped hours wrought with self-recriminations and twenty-twenty hindsight. He slipped a hand beneath the too large scrubs to confirm the fever, then reached for the call button. Daniel slept on, oblivious, as Lam came up to the bed.

"He's got a fever," he said before she could ask what the problem was.

It took her a few seconds to confirm it for herself, and then she stepped away, only to return a moment later. She repositioned Daniel and reached for his pants while Jack's tired mind couldn't quite grasp her intentions.

"Doc?"

"It's a suppository." She held up the oblong form. "We can't risk him swallowing anything at the moment, there's too much of a danger that he'd choke."

Jack half-expected Daniel to buck when she administered the medication, but he simply pulled his legs back up when she adjusted his scrub bottoms and settled back against Jack.

"Why the fever? I thought you said he was in shock and that—"

"We said we don't know what that device did to him. If it affected him physically as well as mentally, his body might still be trying to adapt to those changes." She made a notation in his chart. "Do you want to get up, sir? I could lift him off you and—"

"No, it's okay. We're good for now." He'd get up in just a minute. He needed to visit the bathroom, have a shower, coffee and something to eat, and not necessarily in that order. But he didn't want to leave Daniel alone and nobody had come by since he'd sent Carter and Teal'c away.

"I'll be back to check on him in thirty minutes."

Left alone again, Jack kissed the too warm forehead, putting to memory the amount of heat his lips registered. He couldn't get past the guilt he felt, and wished he had taken the time before to really, truly talk to Daniel instead of jumping to all sorts of conclusions.

"I'm so sorry, Icky. I should have known better." He pulled back a little from Daniel's body heat, sticking his butt off the edge of the mattress. "How the hell are you ever going to trust me again?" He sighed, wishing there was something he could have done differently. "I thought we had a good enough father-son relationship that you could talk to me about anything. I guess I was too sure of myself, eh? 'Cause I gotta tell you, kiddo, I screwed up and I screwed up royally."

Jack was silent for a while, reliving all those arguments, all those days of heartache.

"I tried, Danny, I really tried to be a good father to you. I don't know what I did wrong, or how I could have made things easier so you could come and talk to me when you started remembering stuff. I really am sorry, and I love you so very much." He lowered his head, not caring that his tears were dripping onto Daniel's hair.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Two things happened simultaneously. One was the wet warmth which suddenly flooded his legs and the other was his double walking into the cubicle.

"Shit." Jack slid off the bed and managed not to disturb Daniel, moving instinctively even though the damage was already done. He stared down at his urine-soaked pants.

"I'll call the nurse." O'Neill left the cubicle while Jack sighed, shaking out one leg then the other where the pants' material clung uncomfortably to his skin. He stretched out his lower back and shoulders until the nurse arrived with fresh linens and scrubs.

"Why don't you go shower and change while we take care of Daniel?" The nurse began stripping the bed and her patient, while a second nurse arrived with a basin of water.

"I don't... um—"

"I'll stay with him. Anyways, you look like shit."

Jack stared at his double, noting the bloodshot eyes and bags beneath them. "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"I don't have to," O'Neill said with a wry grin. "Go on, I'll stay with him. Take a break; you've been here for hours. He'll never know you were gone."

That decided Jack, and with a last glance at his son, he hurried to his on-base quarters for a change of clothes.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Jack stood back, watching in the wings as the nurses cleaned Daniel and inserted a Foley catheter, replaced the soiled scrubs with a clean hospital gown and changed his sheets. At first he thought the kid was asleep, but then realized he was probably drugged because his eyes were partly open but didn't seem to be really seeing much, not even reacting to what was going on around him.

The nurses smiled at him when they left. He stood there, not quite sure what to say or do now that Daniel was sort of awake. He pulled up a chair and sat.

Now if this were Daniel or Carter, he'd simply reach out and take their hand and try to let them know they weren't alone. Teal'c, well, he wasn't quite the touchy-feely type of guy but he'd at least talk to him. But this wasn't somebody he really knew well, despite the fact that the kid had looked to him for comfort.

"Hey." He shifted awkwardly in the chair. "Is this as awkward for you as it is for me?"

Daniel didn't react to his voice. His eyes closed, stayed shut for a few seconds, and then opened sluggishly.

"Okay, I guess you're comfortable with the situation." Jack shifted again, wondering if it was the chair that was bothering him, or the whole scenario about this kid not knowing who he was. He'd had way too much time to think what he'd have done and he hated second-guessing himself. "Me, not so much." He watched as the kid's eyes closed again, and this time stayed closed.

"I mean, you seem like a good kid. Although I hate to admit I'm almost jealous of your father, but don't tell Daniel... my Daniel, that is." Jack laughed softly. "Because he's a great friend. The best friend anyone could ask for."

He sat and simply stared at the kid for a moment. He was pale, so pale that the few pimples on his forehead stood out prominently. A splotch of color high on his cheeks looked like it had been painted on. He looked so lost, so vulnerable, that Jack couldn't help himself. Pretending for just a moment that things had been different for him eight years ago, Jack reached out and caressed Daniel's cheek with a finger. "You doing okay? You must be glad you're back home." Jack frowned at the fever-heat beneath his finger.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Back home? Daniel wanted to ask, but couldn't seem to pull up the energy. Home. That meant safety. That meant love. That meant anger and recriminations and gentleness and laughter and yelling and tears and... his dad.

He hurt, he hurt so much. Everywhere. His head, his back, his legs, his arms. He just wanted his dad.

Where was he? Daddy? Where are you?

Scared. He was so scared. He could make out the sounds, but the words were cold and distant. His dad, his dad had said words, words of love, words of pain, words of anger, words of comfort. Daniel knew, if he could just talk to his dad, just for a minute, the words of pain wouldn't matter anymore. And all that'd be left would be love, and understanding.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Daddy. Forgive me.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The shower was a rushed affair and he strode down the corridor, focusing on getting to the infirmary in record time, skirting around personnel blocking his way.

"Jack."

He didn't need this. Didn't want this. And so far he'd been successful in avoiding the inevitable.

"Jack, wait up."

He would've been a sitting target waiting for the elevator, so Jack made a quick right through the doorway to the stairway and he was halfway up a flight of stairs, when the door banged open behind him.

"Colonel O'Neill, you can run, but you can't hide."

Jack stopped short and drew a deep breath before turning. "Doctor Jackson."

"Can you spare a few minutes?" Daniel took the steps two at a time until he was level with Jack.

"No, I can't spare a few minutes," Jack whispered under his breath. This was beyond weird. This was even beyond weird in terms of SGC weirdness. Standing here, talking to an older version of his friend who'd been downsized eight years ago was... bizarre.

Daniel's hand rocked between himself and Jack. "This is bizarre," he said with an embarrassed smile.

Jack had forgotten how in step he and Daniel had been and he suddenly missed his friend very much. "Yeah, this is very... bizarre." He studied the man before him. This was his friend Daniel, and on so many other levels, it wasn't. The hair. The air of confidence. How he now seemed to blend into the SGC without any awkwardness. His grief over years lost with his friend lessened if this Daniel was the end result.

"I really need to get back to Daniel... well, not you, Daniel. My Daniel. The kid, Daniel, well, not that he's a kid. He'll kill me if he hears me refer to him as a kid. Teenager. He's a—"

"You're rambling."

Jack grimaced. "I am, aren't I?"

"Yeah, you are."

"I never ramble, do I?"

"Not in my universe."

"Not in my universe either," Jack admitted with a sigh.

"So that means..." Daniel started.

"We're going to walk and talk 'cause I have to get to the infirmary." Jack didn't give him time to answer; he just started to climb the stairs.

Daniel matched him step for step. "You know, you did the wrong thing for all the right reasons."

"Excuse me?" Jack stopped and stared at Daniel who continued walking up the stairs.

"Oh." Daniel turned and leaned against the railing.

"Could you clarify what you just said?" Jack put his finger in his ear and rubbed. "I must have misheard you. 'Cause it seems as if you were passing judgment on me. Eight years' worth of judgment."

"And now? Don't you think he's going to feel like you lied to him?"

"Daniel. My Daniel has had eight years worth of happiness. Can you say the same thing?"

There was a flash of shock on Daniel's face, followed by hurt.

Jack scrubbed his face. "Damn it. I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

"No, I deserved that." Daniel cleared his throat. "I didn't walk in your shoes. In your universe. I wasn't there, per se... well, I was, but not really—"

Jack leaned forward and dropped his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Now who's rambling?"

Daniel had the good grace to duck his head before Jack saw the blush of embarrassment. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"For what?"

"For loving your Daniel."

"You're welcome." Jack squeezed Daniel's shoulder. "I just hope I didn't make that much of a mess—"

"He loves you, Jack, just give him time for his mind to catch up to his heart."

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

The voice wouldn't stop. Lies, they were lies. He wanted to go home. His home. Real home. His dad's home.

The hands were back, touching him, but they weren't his dad's. He wanted his dad, and he pushed the hands away. Why did he hurt so much?

Daniel wanted to sleep, but he had to talk to his dad. Wanted him. Needed him.

"I'm here, Danny, it's your dad."

"You're not my dad. You're not my dad. You're not my dad. You're not my dad! You're not my dad! You're not my Daddy! Daddy!"

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"Daddy!"

"Daddy's here, Daniel." Jack pushed past the medical personnel and swept his son into his arms. Immediately, the screams stopped and Daniel pulled back so that there was just one inch separating his flushed face from Jack's.

"Daddy?" The voice was low, anxious and on the edge of self-control.

"It's me. I'm right here." Jack shifted awkwardly on the edge of the bed, trying to ease his butt cheeks properly onto it.

"You went away... You were..." Danny frowned and blinked, watching him with sleep-encrusted eyes. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, Icky?"

"Where are we... um..." Daniel squinted as he looked around their small private space. "Oh, hospital or infirmary?"

"Infirmary. How are you feeling?"

"Tired." Daniel dropped his head on Jack's chest. "What happened?" His head popped back up, and he stared at Jack in alarm. "Are you okay?"

Jack couldn't help smiling and he pulled Daniel close. "I'm fine. I'm great, as a matter of fact."

"Oh. Good." Daniel snuggled back down again, only to push back up. "Are you... um, are you Colonel O'Neill or—"

"Relax, Danny. It's me. It's Daddy." He couldn't help smiling as he pushed gently against Daniel, urging him back down. Daniel had not only recognized him, but he'd remembered the other O'Neill, which meant his memories were intact. "You're home."

"It wasn't a dream? I've been dreaming... weird things."

"Some of it was a dream; some of it might seem like a dream." Fraiser waved the medical personnel away, leaving him alone with Daniel while she hung around in the background, keeping an eye on them.

Daniel laughed softly. "Ow."

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just have a headache." The smile faded quickly. "Are you... are you still mad at me?"

Jack pulled Daniel into a bone-crushing hug. "No. And about what happened... I need to apologize to you big-time."

"Apologize?"

"I didn't understand what was going on with you—"

"How could you? I never told you—"

"I'm your dad. I should know when something's troubling you—"

"I didn't want you to think I was..." Daniel swallowed hard and he turned his head away.

"Think that you were what?" Jack urged.

"Never mind."

"No, Danny, tell me. This is where it all started."

"Will you still love me if you think I'm crazy?" Daniel's voice broke and he started crying.

"You're not crazy, Icky. You're not. Do you hear me?" Jack gave his son a gentle shake, swallowing the lump growing in his throat. "And yes, even if you were, I'd still love you. I mean, you're kooky and crazy, but in the good sense. How can I not love you?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I'm sorry."

"I know. I am, too." They sat there for a minute, Jack holding Daniel tightly until the tears began to subside.

"I feel weird," Daniel said, rubbing his face against Jack's tee shirt and leaving more than just the dampness of tears.

Immediately Jack looked up at Fraiser, who took that as her cue to step closer to the bed. "He says he's feeling a little strange."

"Not strange. Weird." Daniel pulled away from Jack, sniffling again as he rubbed one eye with the back of his hand. "My head's full of stuff, like all those dreams I was having."

"You're still hallucinating?" Fraiser exchanged a worried look with Jack.

"No. I remember some... I remember a lot of things, but they're not me."

"I'm not sure I quite understand."

Daniel rubbed his other eye. "It's like a dream."

"You said what you were experiencing were like dreams—"

"No, Janet. This is like when I remember a dream after I've woken up. Like, I remember going through the Stargate with Teal'c." Daniel's voice took on a touch of excitement. "That was wild," he said, grinning at Jack. "But I also remember going through the Stargate lots of times." His voice slowed and the last words came out as a whisper.

"What else do you remember?" Fraiser leaned back against the foot of the bed, arms crossed, giving Daniel her full attention. Daniel glanced at Jack, as if asking for permission, and he nodded. That seemed to be what Daniel wanted, although he ducked his head and began fiddling at a broken nail with his thumb.

"All sorts of things. People, weird animals, school, working, lectures, fights." He glanced quickly at Jack then went back to worrying his nail. "I fired a gun. I fired Teal'c's weapon. I was on a ship in outer space. I... died," he said, his voice ending in a surprised squeak. "I remember being hurt. And being scared so bad, it took everything not to pee my pants. But you were there. And Sam and Teal'c and... other people. Kasuf, Skaara, Sha're—"

"You said you remember school?" Jack quickly moved the conversation away from Daniel's dead wife. Thoughts of a thirteen year old talking of marriage and sex just suddenly seemed out of his league. When Daniel blushed and squirmed uncomfortably, Jack realized he was too late.

"Languages. Archaeology. So many years." He looked up at Jack, affronted. "I'll never finish school!"

Jack couldn't help but chuckle. "Do you remember any of the languages? I mean, can you speak any?"

Daniel frowned, then shook his head. "I know I knew them but I can't speak any now."

Jack quickly rattled off a phrase in Arabic and Daniel squinted up at him, frowning. "I have no idea what you just said."

"Good, because you're too young to hear it anyways." Jack couldn't help but grin at the forced pout Daniel gave him.

Daniel's stomach gurgled suddenly and he rubbed his abdomen. "I'm hungry."

"Let me see what I can do about that," Janet said. "But first, I'd like to examine you and maybe take some of those tubes out."

Daniel glanced around the bed, seeming to notice the IV for the first time. He followed the trail of tubing to his arm and then the one sneaking up under the sheet. He blushed again a second time, and when he went to lift the sheet, Jack grabbed his hand and held it back. "Trust me, you don't want to see."

"Can you take it out? Now?" There was an edge of hysteria to Daniel's voice and Jack wrapped a hand around his neck.

"Easy." Trying to distract Daniel as Fraiser bade him to lie back while she took care of the catheter, Jack asked, "When do you think Daniel can go home?"

"Well, if his stats look good and he can keep food down, I'd be willing to release him to a VIP room for a day or two just so we can keep an eye on him. I want Daniel to speak to Doctor Kayton, however, just to be sure that he's integrated everything properly. It sounds like he's integrated his memories but I'd be doing both of us a disservice if I didn't insist we probe more into—"

"No. I'm sorry, Doc, but you're not going to use him as a guinea pig."

"That's not what I meant, Colonel. I just want to make sure that Daniel is okay with his memories, and that they don't start to overwhelm him again."

"They won't, because Daniel will tell us if anything odd begins to happen, right?"

Daniel had been lying there with his eyes squeezed shut while Fraiser removed the catheter and IV. His eyes popped open, found Jack, and he nodded vigorously. "I promise. If I get any dreams or hallucinations, I'll tell you."

Jack held his son's gaze a moment and nodded, satisfied at the sincerity he saw. "Good." He pulled out the drawer of the bedside table and removed Daniel's glasses. "I'm holding you to that."

Daniel nodded as he took the glasses and put them on.

"Let's see about getting you out of here," Fraiser said as she squeezed Daniel's ankle.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

"No, Ma, he's fine. Really."

"That's not what Sam said—"

"I know." Jack rubbed his forehead with a finger. Right now, all he wanted was a week of uninterrupted sleep and some quality time with his family. That, unfortunately, wouldn't happen for a few more days. "She told you about how he got his memories back, right? And how it made him sick?"

"Yes." His mother's voice was short and clipped. She'd been kept on a need-to-know basis in respect of Daniel's background. She didn't like it much, especially when it meant the well-being of either Jack or her grandchild.

"Well, his body's adapting well to the change. He slept nearly eighteen hours straight, but Fraiser wants to keep him here for a few more days."

"How is he, Jonathan? Really?"

"He's Daniel, Mom. The old Daniel. He's back." The relief in his voice was palpable even to his own ears. His mom gave a short sob, and he sighed. "Mom..."

"I'm fine." Her voice was thick and muffled. "Just give me a minute."

"Daniel's fine, Mom."

"You said that already." Her voice was still raw with emotion but she'd obviously gotten control of herself. "Will you let me know when you're bringing him home?"

"You know I will."

"Okay. Tell him to call his old grandma if he's got the time, okay?"

"I will."

Obligatory phone call over and done with, Jack hung up the phone and inhaled deeply. He had a feeling his mom would be doting on Daniel for a few weeks when they went home. He couldn't help smiling. All in all, it meant home cooking, so he wouldn't have to eat his own meals.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

So engrossed was he in his game, that when someone shook his leg, Daniel jumped. His dad was standing by the bed, staring down at him with a look of amusement on his face. Quickly Daniel peeled the ear buds out of his ears and paused his computer game. Tinny music blared from his iPod and he quickly thumbed the volume down. "Hi, Dad. I didn't hear you come in."

"I can see that." His dad motioned towards the door with his head. "Feel like coming for a walk?"

"I can leave?" The words were barely out of his mouth before Daniel slid off the bed and was searching for his sneakers.

"Not exactly. But Fraiser's given permission to let you come topside for a short while so you can say goodbye to your friends—"

"They're leaving?" Daniel stood there in shock, one foot awkwardly stuck inside his sneaker, the tongue of which had folded inwards in his haste to put it on. He hopped on one foot, trying to tug his foot out of the sneaker and managed to pull his sock half off in the process. "I haven't had a chance to see them. I've been stuck in here all day," he huffed as he sat on the bed and fixed his sock. "I thought they'd be staying longer." He jammed his shoe on and tied the laces angrily. He felt abandoned and ignored; he'd wondered why nobody had come to see him since Janet had let him out of the infirmary the night before.

"Hey." The bed dipped as his dad sat down next to him. "They did what they had to do, and that was to bring you home and save your life. Now they need to go back before their lives are in danger."

"In danger?" He slowly lowered his foot to the ground. "Why would they be in danger?"

"Something to do with the same two people occupying the same reality. You'll have to ask Carter for the explanation but let's just say it's not pleasant."

"And it'll hurt them if they stay?"

"It'll eventually kill them."

Guilt flooded Daniel, chasing away the earlier disappointment. Silently, he picked up his other sneaker and put it on. He followed his dad out of the base into the parking lot, suddenly ashamed. He'd taken it for granted that someone had taken charge of him and Teal'c when they'd found themselves over there. But he'd never truly realized the risk they'd taken to bring him back home.

Hands in pockets, he fingered a bit of lint pooled at the bottom, waiting in the background while General Hammond thanked the others for bringing their lost sheep home. The Colonel, who at this moment looked exactly like his dad because they were wearing the same clothes, glanced over at him and winked. Daniel smiled back and leaned appreciatively into his dad's embrace when he pulled him into a one-armed hug.

Then everyone was milling around, and Daniel was suddenly tongue-tied. He stared at his sneakers, comparing the sizes of the bows, listening to the conversation around him but choosing not to join in.

As the group slowly began walking towards the ship that had brought him home, Daniel held back, watching his dad interact with the grown up version of himself. He felt a surge of jealousy, wondering why his dad was laughing and teasing the other man. Even though his memories of that other time were in his head, he didn't remember that kind of camaraderie with his dad.

Watching them as they came to a stop several yards from the barrier erected around the ship, it suddenly hit Daniel, in a way he hadn't understood yet, that that Daniel would have been him if his dad had chosen to expose him to the alien device a second time when he was five. That man, that adult, was him. Even with the vague memories he now had of his adult self, Daniel had no way of competing with someone who could share things with his dad that he never could, or would, for a good many years yet to come.

"Hey."

Daniel jumped, startled by Sam's approach. The other Sam, not his Sam. She was smiling at him and he forced himself to smile back. "Hi."

"I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to get to talk. I'm glad to see you're doing better."

"Thanks." He fingered his iPod, which he'd shoved into his pocket earlier, running his fingers over the edge as he twirled it around.

"You know, I sort of envy your Sam."

"Why?"

"Because she keeps saying what a great kid you are, and I'll never have a chance to get to know you better."

"You..." Daniel coughed and cleared his throat nervously. "What about your Daniel?"

"What about him?"

"Don't you like him?"

Sam laughed and looked over at his adult self. "Yeah, I do. I just meant that it would have been pretty neat to have the kind of relationship she has with you. I have two nephews but—"

"You never get to see them. I know."

She stared at him for a long moment before pulling him into a hug. "Take care of yourself and your dad," she whispered.

"I will." Daniel hugged her back, thinking she felt just like Sam did; hard and soft at the same time while she held him for those few extra seconds that always felt like she was reluctant to let him go. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before moving away to join the group. Embarrassed, Daniel turned around and came face to face with Daniel.

"Hey there."

"Um, hi."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." His adult self stuck his hand out and Daniel took it cautiously, half-expecting sparks or a physical shock or something. To his surprise, he just felt warm flesh. Daniel's hand was callused, evidence of manual labor.

He glanced back towards his dad and the Colonel. "You'll make sure my dad, I mean, Colonel O'Neill, stays safe?"

"I'll do my best." He smiled at Daniel, his eyes shining behind his glasses. "Of course, he doesn't always listen to my suggestions..."

"But you don't let him go off alone into danger, right?" He remembered arguments with his dad, when he wasn't his dad but his commanding officer and how the two of them had often been at odds. "You make him listen, right?"

"Of course. We've come a long way in the past ten years. We're a team; we've gone through a lot together during that time. Things are better now since... Well, we understand one another. We're a family. So don't worry about us, okay?"

Daniel nodded as the man pierced him with an intense stare.

"You going to be okay with what you have stuck up in here now?" His older self tapped his forehead lightly before resting a hand on his shoulder.

Daniel nodded again.

"You sure?" The hand squeezed his shoulder lightly.

"Yeah. Thank you," Daniel finally remembered to say as the man lowered his hand.

"You bet."

He started to move away, maybe head for the cordoned off area where the ship was parked so he could get a look at it, but his dad called his name.

"Dad?"

"Um, not exactly."

"Oh. I thought—"

"Yeah, I understand." The Colonel grinned. "People say we look identical but I disagree. I'm more handsome."

Daniel snorted. This was something he was comfortable with; Jack O'Neill sounding just like his dad.

"What? You don't think so?"

"I think your magic mirror has been lying to you. You better trade it in for a newer model."

"What? Everyone's a critic. I've earned every single one of these laugh lines and grey hairs."

"That's what my dad says. But he blames them all on me." Daniel was grinning, but his laughter faded as he blurted out the question that had been bothering him. "Do you, um, ever regret changing me, I mean, Daniel, your Daniel, back into an adult?"

"Oh wow." Jack stepped next to Daniel and stared at the ground. "That's a hard one to answer. Because there's no right answer to that. At the time, I did what I thought was right, but I was willing to accept whatever consequences my actions caused." He paused a moment, thinking. "If Daniel had stayed as a five-year old, I think I'd have been more than willing to take him in. Actually, I think any of us would have. But circumstances gave me back the adult Daniel, whereas you... well... you know, I don't think your dad regrets his decision."

Daniel wasn't so sure. The other Daniel had regrouped with his dad and they were laughing again.

"Talk to him, Daniel. It's not me you should be asking this question to. My circumstances were different, and I can only speculate. Although I do know I would have been proud to have had you as my son." The Colonel opened his arms and Daniel stepped into the embrace as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Thank you," Daniel finally managed to say when they separated. He might have imagined the look of longing in the Colonel's eyes just before he turned away and he told himself that maybe he missed Charlie. Maybe he didn't get a chance to hang around kids all that much anymore.

This time he finally made it to the barrier. There were guards around the ship, though, not letting anyone get too close. He smiled at one of the SFs that he knew, and the man nodded back, all business-like. Daniel knew none of them would let him get closer without his dad being present, so he just stared at the odd-looking ship from a distance so he wouldn't have to look at his dad enjoying himself with the other Daniel.

"Do you wish to visit the ship?"

"Hey, Teal'c." Unsure of which Teal'c this was, Daniel simply nodded. Teal'c placed a hand on his shoulder and together they walked past the SFs. "O'Neill is one of very few who is capable of controlling the ship."

"You mean my dad, I mean, the Colonel, is better than everyone else?" Daniel walked around the ship to the back where the doors were open and looked inside curiously, feeling a bit excited as he wondered if he could ever get as good as his dad and fly a jet, or, a time ship like this one.

"It is not a question of skills, but of genetics. He has a certain gene which the ship responds to."

Daniel's enthusiasm waned before he got a foot in the door. "So I guess there's no chance of me ever..."

"Unfortunately not. DanielJackson does not have the Ancient gene; therefore, it is logical to presume you also do not."

"Yeah," Daniel sighed as he stepped past the seats and a wheelchair, of all things, to the pilot's seat. Then he realized what he was standing in. A spaceship. And one not built by anyone on Earth, if the bits that he'd overheard were true. And his dad could fly this ship! He walked around the ship once more, paying more attention to the layout. "Do we have a ship like this?"

Teal'c's expression didn't change, but Daniel heard the slight censure in his tone. "It is not my place to discuss the security aspects of your world. If your father has not discussed this subject with you, it certainly is not my place to do so."

"Of course. National security and all that. I know." Considering his life story was probably listed in the Top Secret files of the government, Daniel knew better than to question his dad about anything dealing with his work. But hell, he'd flown in the ship, even though he didn't remember any of it. It just wasn't fair. Suddenly he wanted to be outside. He didn't belong here. He wasn't part of this and Daniel knew his dad probably had to pull some strings to have gotten him here.

"Thanks for letting me visit." He turned away and began heading for the exit.

"It was O'Neill's suggestion."

"Dad?" Then Daniel knew, and turned back. "The Colonel."

Teal'c inclined his head.

"Why?" Daniel stared out the view port and watched as the whole group began approaching the ship.

"O'Neill believed you would enjoy it."

"I remember some ships. A..." Daniel closed his eyes, searching for the elusive word. "A hatak," he said, unsure if it was the right word. "It was huge." He turned to look at Teal'c. "I think I had lots of nightmares about getting lost inside that."

Teal'c's eyebrow rose. "I was unaware DanielJackson had difficulties."

Daniel could hear the others talking as they got nearer. "And you?" Teal'c asked. "Will the memories of the hatak cause you nightmares?"

Slowly, Daniel shook his head. "They're like dreams already. Like when you go to the funhouse when you're a little kid, and today you remember that it was scary and spooky but you can only remember some of the feelings and not the details, but then when you go back when you're older, it's just not so scary anymore."

"What's not so scary anymore?" The adult Daniel, the first one to enter the ship, smiled at him as he sat in one of the seats, swiveling around to look at him.

"The funhouse," Daniel added succinctly, not wanting to go into details with him about his memories.

"Ah, I remember that. It scared the hell out of me as a kid. I had nightmares about getting lost in there."

Daniel snorted, and his adult self looked confused. "What?"

"It's nothing," he answered with a polite smile. He brushed past him to get a look at the computer Sam had just turned on. It had a wire coming out of it, connected to the ship. She smiled at him while Colonel O'Neill moved past him to sit down in the pilot's seat Daniel had coveted earlier.

Daniel moved closer to the exit to stand next to his own people. Sam put an arm around him and gave him a quick hug, pulling him off balance and he pushed against her once in friendly retaliation, then leaned against her, enjoying the closeness. They were all waiting for something, and he guessed it was the computer.

"We're good to go, sir," the other Sam said after a few seconds.

"Thanks again," his dad said, addressing the departing SG-1.

"C'mon," Sam whispered in Daniel's ear. Together, he, Sam, Teal'c and his dad left the ship and stood back with the SFs and General Hammond as it powered up. It rose silently, then it waggled quickly from side to side, and Daniel could see the Colonel inside grinning broadly. Then it sped up into the sky and disappeared into thin air.

Daniel stood there, staring at the spot where the ship had last been visible. "That was so cool." He didn't want to sound too interested because he knew that was one sure way his dad would never mention it again, but he wanted him to know that he was interested, in case his dad ever took their ship, if they did have one, on a test flight and so would maybe think of letting Daniel tag along if and when he did.

"You think so?" Jack ruffled Daniel's hair as they headed back for the Mountain's entrance.

"Maybe by the time I grow up and join the Air Force, all pilots will fly something like that." Well, a kid could dream, couldn't he? He envisaged himself flying through time, until they got into the elevator and his dad pressed the button for the floor with the VIP rooms.

"Bed, for an hour," his dad ordered as they stepped out the elevator together. "No computer, no laptop, no books."

"But—"

"Fraiser said you could go outside for a short while as long as you rested after. Let's not ruin her good intentions by making things worse." He slid his passkey into the slot and opened the door, letting Daniel enter first.

Because he knew better than to argue with his dad when he was in this mood, Daniel toed off his sneakers, put the laptop on the floor and the iPod on the bureau, and lay down on the bed. His dad snagged the edge of the comforter and whipped it over Daniel. Then he sat on the bed and smiled down at him.

"Just for an hour. I'll come and get you myself so we can go have some lunch."

"Okay." Daniel yawned suddenly, surprising himself. "Do you think they're home yet?"

"Oh, most definitely. Didn't take long to travel here. It took longer getting permission to land."

"Do we have one of those ships?"

His father simply quirked an eyebrow in reply.

"Right. Sorry." Daniel turned onto his side. He felt like a kid, forced to take a nap. He swallowed a yawn, and a quick tidbit entered his mind. "Is Teal'c really over a hundred years old?"

"You tell me."

Daniel removed his glasses and handed them to his dad, burrowing his face into the pillow. "Yeah, he is." He felt the bed move as his dad leaned forward to kiss his cheek. He was asleep before his dad left the room.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Jack shifted in the chair then tossed the dog-eared magazine onto the coffee table. He crossed and uncrossed his legs. Two weeks and five sessions - no, make that six sessions - under their belt and still, Jack felt uncomfortable in the waiting room. Was progress being made? He sighed, it wasn't as if Doctor "please call me Liz" Kayton had any case studies to compare Daniel to, but Fraiser had again recommended therapy, and at this point, Jack would pretty much do whatever needed to be done.

He wore his guilt as a shield, protecting him from Daniel's glut of emotions or lack thereof. Everything had been fine, in the beginning. Daniel had appeared, quite successfully, Jack might add, to compartmentalize his memories. "My boy," he'd proudly thought, as he fell back into their routine. Key words would have been he and their. Jack had moved on quite nicely, while Daniel, well, Daniel seemed to be having issues.

Okay, maybe Jack had needed a bit of prodding from Carter and Teal'c to really see. Or maybe it was Fraiser asking him if he'd ever made an appointment with the psychologist she'd recommended. Well, whatever it was, here they were, six sessions into therapy and Jack was still waiting in more ways than one.

The door opened and Jack jumped to attention.

"Liz wants to see you for a minute," Daniel said sullenly as he fell into the nearest chair and shoved his earbuds into his ears.

"I'll be right out," Jack said, rolling his eyes when he realized his statement was drowned out by whatever music Daniel was plugged into.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

(tbc)