More Questions Than Answers

"I'm sorry, Malin, but yes, you are going to get more shots," Carolyn said firmly to Malin, who was sitting on a gurney frowning and swinging his legs.

This was the first time he'd seen Malin since returning yesterday through the gate. Carolyn had asked him to help her with the boy. Daniel repeated Dr. Lam's words in Ancient and signed them in ASL. They had done this four weeks before, with the first round of immunizations. Malin hadn't cried, but afterwards he'd quite vigorously made his displeasure about the procedure known. Daniel had only taught him a few words in ASL before he'd gotten the nine shots, but afterwards he'd signed the words for no, anger, and hurt.

Malin emphatically shook his head no several times, his hair fanning out. Suddenly, the hypodermic needle in Carolyn's hand was wrenched away and dropped in the trash. Daniel sighed. Malin had really been getting the hang of using telekinesis over the last several weeks.

Carolyn gave the boy a level look. "Time out, Malin."

That word didn't need to be translated. Malin knew what it meant very well by now.

Malin pouted but didn't make any further fuss as Carolyn lifted him down from the gurney and walked him over to a chair. She set her phone alarm and showed it to the boy, placing it on the desk. Then she walked away, leaving Malin to slouch in the chair, waiting.

"So," Daniel said, keeping an eye on the boy, "as Jack drilled into my head, what do we have and what do we need, for Malin." SG1 had been gone for almost a month on their last mission and Daniel wasn't sure what was going on with their little star traveler.

Carolyn put her hands in her lab coat pockets. "We know a little more about his abilities. I did match his EEG pattern when he was healing his hands and knees to another person's. Want to see for yourself?"

"Uh, sure."

Daniel followed her to a computer station and Carolyn called up two sets of EEG readings. She pointed to the one on the left. "That's Malin's. Care to make an educated guess about who the other one belonged to?"

"I'm not sure. One of the Tokra, maybe, or Sam, um, General Carter, when using the Goa'uld healing device?" Daniel asked, his brow furrowed, thinking about Malin's ability to intraconvert matter and energy when healing himself.

"No. Although I'll have to see if we do have any records like that. No, this was the EEG of the Ancient woman found frozen in the ice at Antarctica. You, I believe, were ascended during that time. She cured several people of what Dr. Frasier believed was the Ancient plague, before dying." Carolyn manipulated the computer and the projection disappeared.

"Yes. I remember reading the mission report. She died before she could help Jack and he was put in stasis until he joined with a Tokra symbiote. That went well, after that." Jack said that Daniel had visited him while he was in Ba'al's prison, but Daniel had no memories of his time as an ascended being. Neither time.

"The other EEG's of Ayiana don't show much in common with Malin's, though. He's still showing abnormal brain activity, but his behavior for the most part is typical of a six-year-old human child." She brought up a different file in slide show format and they watched Malin building something with Legos.

Her phone alarm went off. She went over to Malin and brought him back to the gurney while Daniel watched the slide show of Malin coloring and making blue figures out of play-do and twisting the Rubik's cube.

"He was learning sign language and to understand English when we left for our last mission. How's that coming along?" Daniel was betting that Malin was a fast learner.

She got out another hypodermic needle and Daniel saw Malin cross his arms. "Very, very well. I had wanted to wait before starting him on reading and writing, just immerse him in the oral language first, but he's been teaching himself to read from the picture books he looks at. Which, for the most part, don't really hold his interest. He seems to despise most of the fairy tales, especially the ones with animals that act like humans. It's pretty funny to watch him look at, oh, for example, the three little pigs. He thinks the first two pigs were stupid for using straw and sticks, and while he approves of the third pig's use of bricks and how he caught the wolf, Malin thinks it's silly to have pigs dressing in clothes and living in houses. He loves the dinosaur books, though."

"So he likes things that are grounded in reality. He'll like learning about science, I bet." Daniel studied Malin. Small for his age, not afraid to say what he thought, curious and not very willing to follow rules just because he was told to do so. Malin was pretty independent for a six-year-old. But he still had a six-year-old's needs for love and support; he needed to be able to trust in the adults who were caring for him. He needed parents, not nurses in shifts, not guards.

Maybe... But no. He wasn't in any position to offer a secure home for Malin. Not as long as he was on a gate team.

"He's healthy? Do you think he's adjusting to being here?" Daniel closed the computer file and joined her by Malin's gurney.

"Yes, physically he's fine." Carolyn said, giving Malin a no-nonsense look as she prepared to give him his shots. "But he's still having nightmares. He has them every night. He wakes up from them, clearly distressed, but falls asleep again usually right away."

"He's still under guard, I noticed." Daniel glanced at the two Marines who had stationed themselves on the inside of the Infirmary door.

Carolyn nodded. "He really doesn't like the guards watching him, but General Landry insists on it. And with Malin's ability to manipulate locks, I can see his point. He says he wants Malin off his base, but until he's sure the boy isn't dangerous he's not going to allow him to leave, not even to go topside for some fresh air and to play. I'm giving him Vitamin D supplements for now."

She glanced at Daniel. "Will you interpret for me again?"

"Of course."

"Okay," she said. "I'm going to explain why he needs the shots and remind him that Sergeant Siler promised to let him help him fix the base, as long as he's been a good boy."

Daniel listened to her explain about diseases and vaccinations, then he translated in both Ancient and sign language. Malin listened, obviously thinking, and then asked a question, his hands flying.

"What did he say?" Carolyn asked. "If he stays here much longer, I'm going to have to learn ASL, too."

"He wants to see the germs for himself. How about we let him look through a microscope as a reward for getting his shots without trying to stop you?" Daniel shot her a hopeful look.

Carolyn smiled at Malin and ruffled his hair. The child needed a haircut but when he'd been asked about cutting that mop, he'd refused. He had so little autonomy over his life that she hadn't wanted to take the choice from him.

"Malin." He looked at her. "Yes." She showed him the hypodermic needle and then pointed to a microscope at a lab station. "Yes."

He let her give him the shots, four this time, two in each arm, biting down on his lip.

He didn't cry. Daniel smoothed the hair on Malin's head before glancing over at her.

"Dr. Lam, we didn't finish my assessment. What does Malin need?"

"A home, Dr. Jackson. And I don't know if we can give him one."

x x x

Sly tucked Malin into bed, and kissed him on his forehead. Malin grabbed his hand, not wanting Sly to leave.

"Go to sleep, Malin. I'll see you tomorrow. If you don't throw any fits, then you can help me measure conduit. I could use a good helper." Malin stared at him with those dark eyes of his and then signed that he'd behave. He let go of Sly's hand and pointed at the kid's toolbox on the toy shelf. Sly had bought it for him and had filled it with things that couldn't be easily used as a weapon. That meant no screwdrivers or hammers, but measuring tapes, and a plastic speed square, and a plastic level and lots of plastic clamps.

"Yes, you'll need your tool box. Now close your eyes, honey. Sweet dreams."

Malin closed his eyes. Sly doubted that his sleep would be restful, though. Malin's nightmares seemed to be getting worse and worse.

The boy had been on base for three months now, but General Landry had yet to authorize him leaving. Something was going to have to change, though. Malin shouldn't have to grow up a prisoner of the SGC.

He'd told Mary about the boy. Well, not that he was an alien child and not that he could move things with his mind and not that he could do some self-healing. And not that he'd arrived through the stargate after he'd opened the iris, or something else had opened it for him.

Mary knew he his assignment was at Cheyenne Mountain, but she didn't know about the stargate program. All Sly had told her was that a little boy visited the Mountain a lot and had taken a shine to him. He was a special needs child and couldn't talk, but he was a bright little thing.

He needed to get Mary security clearance to really discuss Malin, because Sly was thinking of offering to adopt him. And before things progressed to that point, Mary should meet him and know exactly what they'd be getting themselves into, as adoptive parents to a boy like him.

He remembered Dr. Frasier's little girl, Cassie. Dr. Frasier had adopted her, even though she was an alien kid. There was a precedent for this sort of thing to happen.

Maybe someone else was thinking of taking Malin. Dr. Lam, or maybe Daniel Jackson. Daniel Jackson had wanted the child of his wife, Sly knew he had. Sly knew a lot about what went on around the SGC, probably as much as Walter did, and everybody knew that there were no secrets from Walter.

Daniel was a good man, and he'd be a good father. He'd given Shifu, his wife's boy, up to save him. When Shifu had returned to visit Daniel, he'd wanted the boy to stay. The boy had done that thing where he'd told them he was teaching Daniel through a dream. Daniel had been unconscious during that time, and when he awoke, Shifu left.

Shifu had been ascended because he was harsesis. A child of two Goa'uld hosts, and Oma Desala, the Ancient that had ascended Daniel, had protected Shifu, had taught him to not engage with the evil the boy had inherited from the Goa'uld. Shifu had been unearthly, and wise, and had never really acted like a human kid. He'd been more like a mini-Buddha.

Malin, on the other hand, got grumpy and sulked and sometimes threw fits, and hugged Sly hard around the neck and loved kicking balls and cried when he got too frustrated or too lonely. He was smart. He'd picked up on English pretty well and could write words and sentences in English, but not in Ancient or read any Ancient, and his little hands and fingers flew when he was signing. He had a disability in math, besides not being able to form sounds. He could copy numbers but the concepts of one to one correspondence and adding and subtracting seemed to elude him. He was curious about everything and disdainful about most of the whimsical children's picture books. He loved science based books and computer games, though.

Malin loved being his helper. His little face just shone when he was allowed to "help' Sly with fixing things.

Malin, for being part Ancient, was entirely human to Sly. He needed parents. He thought Mary would take to him, if she ever got to meet him.

The lights dimmed on his way out of the room, Malin's telekinesis at work again, although with two guards stationed in front of the door it was really a cell.

He'd talk with Dr. Lam tomorrow, see if she could persuade her father to consider looking into adoption for the boy. She was Malin's advocate, a position that the IOA had confirmed, but she was pregnant and would be out on leave soon.

Even if he and Mary – and he absolutely couldn't ask for Malin without her say so – offered to adopt Malin, if there were other interested parties, then they might not get him.

He didn't want that. He was as attached to the little guy as Malin was to him, starting from that first encounter when Malin, his mop of hair falling into his curious eyes, had looked into the open wall panel in the Infirmary and had quirked an interested grin at him before lying down on his back, imitating Sly.

He and Mary had raised five kids. Benny, their youngest, was fifteen now. They could take on one more.

Malin looked up from the computer screen where the illustration of a nine months baby in utero was displayed.

He made a cradle motion with both hands, and then made the sign for girl and then boy and then laid a gentle hand on her belly.

"The baby is a boy," Carolyn said.

She was taking maternity leave tomorrow. And one of the the last things she needed to take care of was to send an updated report on Malin to her father and the IOA.

The IOA had gotten involved when it became clear that the child who'd been sent through the gate with Ancient powers would have to stay on Earth. So, far, they'd been hands off, other than to insist that she, as the child's physician, be appointed his guardian ad litem. That was fine with her, she approved of being the court appointed advocate for her little troublemaker.

Malin moved his hands away from her belly and touched two fingers to the pulse point on his other hand, then made a sweeping horizontal movement with his arms, his fingers fluttering open.

She knew he'd signed doctor, his name for her, but wasn't sure what the other sign meant. Maybe leaving. She took the small notebook Malin carried with him out of his pocket and wrote, 'When am I leaving?'

He read it and nodded, looking sad.

"Today. The baby will be born in a few days, and I'll be away for three months."

He looked puzzled and she changed the screen on the computer to show a calender. She pointed to today's date, and then ran her finger across the next three months of numbers.

"That many days, Malin."

He looked at the calender and pointed to himself, and then tapped an imaginary watch on his wrist and finger spelled SGC.

Ah, how long had he been here at the SGC.

She pointed to a date on the computer calender, the whole year for 2014.

"That's the date you came through the Stargate. Astria Porta," she said. She moved her hand. "Here's today's date." She showed him the months he'd been here. "Almost six months, honey."

He imitated her movement, but his fingers moved very slowly, touching each date.

This was something he asked about a lot, but his comprehension of the time that had passed, as was the case in anything mathematical, was almost non-existent. Tomorrow, if she asked him how many months or days he'd been at the SGC, he wouldn't be able to tell her.

She wanted to do another EEG on him before she left. She'd done one once a week since he'd arrived, both while he would be sleeping and when he was awake. The unusual pattern of brain activity had continued. Neurology specialists were extremely intrigued, and the fact that Malin was mute and unable to comprehend mathematical concepts fascinated the medical community, herself included.

"Let's do the EEG now, Malin. Becca will set it up for you."

He sighed heavily, with a resigned air. It was the only sound he really was able to make. He'd learned to not fuss about the EEG, at least. She reached into her desk and handed him her Ipod, his standard distraction while he was being hooked up.

He turned it on and showed it to her.

"Country?"

He shook his head no. He turned down rock and roll, folk, the blues, and celtic. She was running out of new genres for him to explore.

Well, she doubted he would like it, but she said, "I've got classical music. Want to listen to it? You haven't heard any yet on my Ipod."

He nodded and she looked for something lighthearted. Something for kids. The music for Peter and the Wolf might work.

She gave him earbuds, stuck the Ipod in his pocket, along with his ever present notebook, and walked him over to a gurney, motioning to Becca to join them.

"Be good for Becca, Malin," she said. He rolled his eyes, and she tousled his hair. "I know. I say that to you a lot. It doesn't change the fact that it's something you need to do, young man."

He made a back and forth movement with his hand, a whatever gesture that he'd picked up from someone, maybe Vala, but when she made him look into her eyes, he nodded.

Yes, he signed. Behave, me.

"Thank you," she said, solemnly, hiding the smile that wanted to escape. She was going to miss him, but she'd already cleared it with her father that she could videocall Malin to check up on him.

He hugged her and laid a hand on her belly again for a moment. Then he climbed up onto the gurney and sat cross-legged. He put the earbuds in and pressed play on the Ipod, and Becca started attaching leads to his scalp.

Carolyn returned to her desk and started composing her official recommendations for Malin. They would include continuing his current schedule of academic classes and ASL; regular medical checkups including the last of the catch-up doses of immunizations; ongoing medical testing related to his Ancient abilities. She was going to strongly recommend, once again, that Master Sergeant Siler's request to adopt Malin be granted and formalized through the court, Malin assigned an Earth background history and that he start interacting with other children at Peterson Airforce Base's school and daycare center.

She expected her father to block that last recommendation, although he had authorized Siler's wife, Mary, to be given enough security clearance so that she could visit Malin.

Malin liked Mary Siler, luckily, and she and Siler spent several evenings a week with him, taking him to the mess or to the gym to play or to the swimming pool on base. He was turning into a little fish.

Malin wasn't the most social child she'd ever seen. He liked the people he connected with, which were a fairly small number, and ignored the rest of the Airmen, Marines and civilians who had some sort of contact with him.

He didn't seek out adult attention, well, except for Siler's. She suspected he was going to be more of an introvert as he grew up, and not particularly motivated by outside forces, but rather by what he considered to be important. He probably would be one of those persons who marched to the beat of different drummer.

He didn't like her father at all, and pretended to not understand what her father said to him, on the rare occasions the general came by to observe Malin.

General Hank Landry was nobody's fool, though, and he knew Malin was trying to snow him. Malin acting that way wasn't helping his case. Her father thought it possible that Malin was some kind of Trojan horse sent to sabotage the SGC, despite every indication that he was only a child.

It also hadn't helped that on the first and only occasion Malin was allowed topside, he'd ignored his instructions and had taken off running. In her opinion, his behavior had been harmless, he'd just been gleeful about being outside finally, but he'd startled his guards into pointing their zats at him and yelling at him to stop.

They'd scared Malin and he'd reacted by protecting himself.

Malin had closed the zats down by using his telekinesis.

Her father had deemed Malin still a security risk after that little episode and restricted him back to only certain areas of the SGC.

Malin had got a talking to about what he had done from her and from Daniel Jackson and Sergeant Siler, plus he was grounded from his Legos and Rubick's cube for three days. The pouting had been epic.

Malin had to learn he couldn't use his telekinesis like that, that there were rules he had to follow. He was only allowed to do it in the labs, where she and Bill Lee would test his ability, looking for something that would inhibit that ability, at least until he was old enough to control himself about it.

It was pretty instinctive for Malin to use it if he was scared or determined enough to do something. Until he truly understood why he had to hide his ability, she doubted her father would clear him to leave the base.

She'd consulted with the Psych department about Malin. His continuing nightmares concerned her, but he never was able to articulate what his bad dreams were about, other than to sometimes say, monsters.

He drew pictures of them, when asked. They were always blue figures that were clothed in black. Their arms and legs were stick thin, their heads large. Sometimes, Malin would scribble over them heavily with a black crayon, other times he would tear up the pictures into tiny pieces. He couldn't or wouldn't tell anyone what the monsters did, or why he was so scared of them.

Nightmares, the psychologists said, were not uncommon for children his age. He'd outgrow them, probably, as he settled into a routine and felt safe and secure.

He'd had a few counseling sessions. Malin hadn't taken to any of his therapists, had scorned playing with the doll figures or puppets that his counselors had attempted to use with him to gain insight into his problems. He would draw pictures, but for the most part they consisted of him and Sergeant Siler working together, or Mary Siler teaching him to swim or him holding hands between them.

Once he'd drawn the general with a frowny face yelling "No.' He'd exaggerated her father's bushy eyebrows, and she was hard pressed not to laugh at the sight.

He drew her with her short, dark hair, in her white lab coat and scrubs. Sometimes he drew her holding a huge hypodermic needle with a big smile on her face; other times he drew her and him holding hands. They both would be smiling in those pictures, and Malin would be using her Ipod. He drew SG1 with smiles on their faces, and himself holding a basketball or soccer ball. Cam Mitchell had decided it was up to his team to teach Malin about sports. They tended to swoop into his classroom and effectively waltz out the door with him to the gym, when they'd returned from a mission. After the Silers and herself, she thought that Teal'c, Daniel, Vala, and Cam were probably Malin's favorite people.

The therapists decided that counseling wasn't effective for him, and worked instead with the Siler's, preparing them for adopting a non-terrestrial child. There were no medication issues; Malin wasn't depressed and he wasn't hyperactive.

She recommended that on-going consultations with the Psych department continue, but not direct services to Malin. At least, not at this time. She was concerned that as he grew older, so would his understanding that his situation was far from normal, and that he might become depressed.

Hopefully, the objections to his being formally adopted would be dropped before that happened and he would begin his life as an American boy.

The baby started moving, and she arched her back, trying to make herself more comfortable. Her son hadn't dropped yet, but he was pointed in the right direction. She felt her belly bulging out and caressed where her own little boy was kicking his foot against her.

She'd considered adopting Malin. John, though, hadn't been that enthusiastic about the idea, since they were about to have their own baby, but he'd come by after his team had returned from a aate mission and observed Malin. She had introduced him as her husband and then left Malin's room. She wanted to find out how Malin would do with just John there with him. Well, John, and the guards.

Malin had shown him what he was building with Legos. He hadn't let John help him with his ongoing project, though, which was taking shape to be some sort of boat or aircraft. Instead, he put it on his toy shelf and he and John had built a house. He'd written down the answers to the questions John had asked in his little notebook, simple things like what did Malin like to eat – cornbread, mashed potatoes, peas, cake – and what he didn't like – jello, hot dogs, ice cream, any sort of meat – and what were his favorite books. He gotten the books he liked out for John and dropped them in his lap. John had read a few to him, kid's books on dinosaurs, volcanoes, and other science topics.

"I don't know, Carolyn," John had told her afterwards. "Maybe we could adopt him, since you're so fond of him. But you know, Sergeant Siler came into his room while I was there and I really think Malin would like to be part of Siler's family. The look on his face when Siler picked him up – he loves that man. If he wants Malin, maybe we could be more like his aunt and uncle. I did like him, he's an interesting kid. I think I could be a good dad to him, but Siler's already got experience under his belt. Did you know he's got four boys and a girl? And I get the impression that your Malin wouldn't be an easy kid to raise, even if he'd been born here on Earth."

Shortly after that, Sergeant Siler had talked to her about adopting Malin, and she agreed that would be the best option for Malin. She worked on her father until he agreed to let Siler's wife have clearance to meet with Malin.

She finished her report, and sent it to her father and the IOA, cc'ed copies to SG1 and Sergeant Siler.

She was working on finishing up a report on SG3's condition after their last mission, when Becca came to the doorway.

"Dr. Lam? I think you'd better see this." Becca looked concerned, her dark blue eyes worried.

Carolyn pushed up from her chair with an effort and walked slowly over to her nurse. Becca was a kind soul, smart, and Malin tended to do better with her than with most of the other medical staff.

"He's crying, Dr. Lam. He was listening to the music and all of a sudden the tears just started pouring. I asked him what was wrong, but he's not responding to me. And his EEG is all over the place."

Malin was still sitting cross-legged on the gurney but he'd dropped his head down and his hands were covering his face. His shoulders were shaking with the force of his sobbing, and his breath was hitching.

She wanted to comfort him, pull his hands away and tuck his face into her neck, and rub his back. But she didn't. And maybe this was why it was better that Siler and his wife adopt Malin, because her first instinct, which she was following, was to look at his EEG.

What she was seeing was incredible. The Alpha and Theta readings – which were wildly vacillating - indicated that something radically different was happening within the temporal lobes. She watched the EEG as Malin continued to sob as if his heart had been broken.

Music. Malin was listening to music and the brain utilized both the right and left hemisphere, for rhythm and pitch and understanding the difference between a single note and a melody. Broca's area analyzed harmonic sequences, Wernicke's area handled temporal analysis. His entire brain was being stimulated through music.

Overall, his left hemisphere was dominant right now, while Malin was listening to whatever had provoked such an emotional reaction. That indicated past experience in musical training.

Which Malin hadn't had. He had no formal musical skills.

"Dr. Lam?" Becca asked.

"Call Sergeant Siler to the Infirmary, Becca." Malin needed comfort, but she needed to keep gathering as much data as possible.

If she was right, then this might indicate a breakthrough with Malin's memory.

She stopped reading the EEG long enough to pick up the Ipod on the gurney.

The song Malin was listening to was Vissi d'arte from the opera Tosca. Performed by Albert Stern. A wonderful violin piece.

The song ended. Malin dropped his hands and took the Ipod from her.

His eyes were desolate.

He pressed play again, and let the Ipod fall to his lap. He curled up on the gurney, away from her, and covered his face, still sobbing.

He'd remembered something, or the emotion associated with that song at the very least.

She put a hand on his back but kept her own eyes on the EEG.

Malin was heartbroken because of an Earth song. One she was certain he'd never heard since arriving through the stargate.

They needed to re-evaluate everything they'd learned about him.

Becca also paged Dr. Jackson for her, as Malin wept and listened to the music.

Before Sergeant Siler and Dr. Jackson arrived, Malin had re-listened to the song three more times.

Sergeant Siler strode through the door, Daniel behind him, and reached Malin's gurney.

"What's going on, Dr. Lam?" Siler asked, his voice firm.

She quickly explained Malin's reaction to the music while Malin stayed curled up, crying still.

"This is stopping right now," Siler said.

"We're learning so much about his brain, though," Carolyn said. "I know he's in discomfort right now, but ultimately this knowledge could help us understand what's going on with him. I think that's worth letting him continue to listen to the song." She indicated the EEG readings. "This is groundbreaking research about the brain."

Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets, his eyes on Malin, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm his father, and I say he's had enough." Siler took the Ipod away from Malin and handed it to Becca, then picked up the boy. Malin wound his arms around Siler's neck and kept sobbing.

"So he's like a son to you, Sergeant Siler?" Daniel asked, his eyes sharp on the two of them, man and child.

Siler was a quiet man, loyal, trusted by her father and before him, General Jack O'Neill. He was well thought of by the command staff and by the airmen he worked with and supervised. To her knowledge, he had never refused an order or argued against one.

"No, Doctor Jackson. He's not 'like' a son to me. He is my son. I don't care that the paperwork hasn't gone through yet. He belongs to Mary and me now."

Daniel smiled warmly. "I'm so glad to hear you say that, Sergeant. And I'll do anything I can to help make that paperwork happen."

She could pull rank as Chief Medical Officer and insist that Malin listen to the song play again.

She wouldn't. There was a time for science and there was a time for being human. If it had been her son in such distress, would she have insisted on continuing the experiment?

She hoped not.

"All right." Carolyn said. "You're the parent, and you called it. Let's get the leads off him. Sergeant, if you could sit on the gurney and hold him, we'll get to work. Daniel, I think we need to discuss the implications of Malin's reaction to an Earth song that he's never listened to before."

She gave Daniel an intent look. "At least, not that he's heard since he came through the gate."

Daniel looked anything but surprised by her remarks. "You're thinking that instead of being an Ancient-human hybrid child, he's an Earth human that ascended and then took human form again."

"Why else would he know that song?" She turned off the EEG machine.

"I've thought of ascension. I thought of it right away, when I met Malin, but it just doesn't fit." Daniel started to pace a little.

Becca was taking the leads off Malin's scalp and she began helping her. Malin was still crying, but was slowing down now. Siler was talking to him, telling him he was okay now, Malin's face turned into his chest.

"Let's review what we know about ascension. We know that at least the Ancients can take form as a child when they descend. Orlin did," Carolyn said.

More of leads were freed now.

"But why would an Ancient descend unless he wanted to help us in some way? And Malin hasn't attempted to do that. He can't even talk," Daniel said.

"But Ancient was the only language he recognized. And I know you checked on a lot of Earth languages. Maybe he's an Ancient who's being punished? One who likes human music?" Carolyn asked.

"That doesn't really fit in with what I know of the Ancients. A human activity like music? I don't think it would be something they'd pay any attention to. I could be wrong about that, but I don't really think so. Maybe it's some sort of intuition leftover from when I was ascended. And when Oma was being punished it was in a much more clever way, and it was as an ascended being on a higher plane. Also, if Malin's being punished, why let him keep the telekinesis and the healing ability?" Daniel asked, stopping his pacing and turning to look at her.

"Could he be an Earth human who ascended?" Carolyn asked.

"And who then got kicked out of the ascension club? I don't think so, Carolyn. Ancients wouldn't let him keep any abilities he gained from being ascended. We know that from how the Ancients dealt with Anubis. If you remember, he was only allowed to use the skills he would have had as a Goa'uld," Daniel resumed pacing again.

"Could Malin have had telekinesis and healing abilities as a human?" she asked. She and Becca had only a few leads left now to disengage.

"I suppose it's possible." Daniel said, looking at Siler and Malin. Malin's sobbing had almost stopped, every so often his breath would hitch. But the tears were still leaking from his closed eyes. "But was he a child or an adult before ascension? And did he come back on his own, or was he sent back?"

"I can see if there's any records we have of humans who have his abilities. Daniel, you at least returned to your own physical form; if Malin was ascended, maybe he did, too. Also, if we're thinking he once was an Earth human, maybe we should check missing persons files, both adults and children, and get his fingerprints. But not tonight. It can wait until tomorrow," Carolyn said. "At least we can roughly identify his time as a human, if he really was a human who then ascended. It had to be after that song was written and performed."

"What was that song?"Daniel asked.

Carolyn told him.

Daniel dropped his head in a gesture of futility. "Well, classical music doesn't seem like the sort that a kid would get so emotional about."

Daniel lifted his head and pushed his glasses back up on his face. He said, "Orlin lost his memories when he became a child. But he did have them for a time, helping us to fight against the Ori. At the risk of repeating myself, there's been no indication that Malin has tried to communicate anything to us."

"Maybe if he was human and ascended, he didn't have anything to tell?" Carolyn asked.

"But why, why, did he choose to come here! To the SGC, through the stargate!" Daniel said, the passion that he was so famous for breaking through. "Or why did some powerful being – because let's not forget that the iris opened, despite all our attempts to keep it shut – send Malin here?"

"I don't know. At this point, Malin is more of a mystery than when he arrived." All the leads were out now, and Malin's hair was a mess, the glue used for the leads making his hair stiff in places.

Sergeant Siler stood up with Malin, who wrapped his legs around Siler's waist. His eyes were shut, but the tears were still leaking from his eyes.

Siler said, "It doesn't matter to me who he was or is, he's my boy now, and he's exhausted. I'm going to take him to his room, give him a bath and put him to bed. I know both of you probably have questions for him, but it can wait until tomorrow."

"Stop," Carolyn said.

Daniel looked at her in surprise. "Carolyn, he's right."

"I know," she answered, her voice calm. "Here." She grabbed a tissue from a cabinet top and put it to Malin's nose.

"Blow, Malin. You'll feel better."

He did, and she handed Siler the box.

"I won't be here tomorrow, but Daniel, Sergeant, I'll write up the implications of this last EEG and send it to you. I"m going to have to amend my report to the general and the IOA, too. I'm also appointing Sergeant Siler as Malin's substitute guardian ad litem while I'm out on leave." With this new development, she wanted an official advocate here on the base.

"I'll talk with Malin tomorrow," Daniel said. "Sergeant, you should be there, too."

"You bet, Doctor Jackson. And thank you, Doctor Lam. I'm sorry if I sounded out of line," Siler said.

"You weren't," Carolyn said. She smoothed down Malin's messy hair. "Goodbye, Malin. Please don't cry anymore. Everything's going to be okay."

But of course, she had no idea if that would be true.

Malin was very quiet, eyes half lidded, while Sly got him into his pj's. The boy was so tired from his crying spell in the Infirmary. And to think it was music that had triggered it. Maybe Doctor Jackson could get to the bottom of that. But not tonight. Malin needed to rest.

Telling Doctor Lam to stop the EEG was the first time he'd really stepped up as a parent for Malin.

He thought maybe it was time to ask for a favor from an old friend. General O'Neill despised people who thought they could get him to dance to their tune, but he had a soft spot for kids. If Sly explained about how Malin needed him and Mary to adopt him, maybe Jack would nudge General Landry into finally letting it happen.

Malin sighed and Sly bent down and kissed him on the forehead, and pulled the covers down.

His boy had only signed "Sad, me," when Sly had asked him if he was okay when he'd gotten him out of the bathtub. Usually Malin preferred showers and didn't want anybody helping him. Letting Sly undress him and put him in the tub wasn't typical; he was never this passive. He didn't want a story read to him, but he pointed to his Rubick's cube and held it in his hand when he slid into bed.

Mary had made him a quilt with pictures of the things he liked. Legos, the Rubick's cube, a dinosaur, a hammer and a tape measure, and some of the wild animals he liked to read about. In the middle was a space ship, with his name embroidered across it.

One of the blocks had the numbers from 1 to 9 in fabric paint. Sly wasn't sure why Malin was so fascinated with numbers, since he had such a hard time understanding them. By the end of a lesson, he would be able to put three counters on the number three, or add two plus two, again with counters, and tell his teacher that the sum was four.

By the next day, he would have forgotten all of that. It was like anything he learned about math would be erased while he slept.

"Go to sleep, honey. Mary will come and stay with you tomorrow," Sly said. Tomorrow was Saturday and Mary's office was closed. After he told her about Malin being so upset, he knew she'd want to keep a close eye on him for the day. Benny wasn't going to be home; he was on a three-day fishing trip with his best friend's family, who had a cabin up in the mountains.

Malin grabbed his hand, and Sly sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I'll stay till you're asleep. Close your eyes now. I'll be back in the morning and we'll go get pancakes at the mess." Malin loved pancakes.

Malin dimmed the lights and closed his eyes. At least he no longer had to have guards on the inside of his room. There were still two stationed on the outside of the room, and the medical staff monitored Malin during the night with the ever-present security camera. He'd let the night shift know that if Malin became upset again in the night to call him.

Malin opened his eyes and signed, using both hands, "song." This was a night-time ritual they had, on those evenings that Sly was free to stop by Malin's room at bedtime.

"Will it make you feel sad again?" The last thing he wanted was for him to get so upset again.

Malin shook his head, and signed 'song' again.

"Okay. But if you get upset, we'll do it another day." Sly hummed the tune for a stanza and then sang softly, "Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me. I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to..."

He sang, Malin's breathing slowing, the tight hold he had on Sly's hand loosening.

"Take me on a trip upon your magic, swirlin' ship..." He trailed off, and Malin stayed asleep.

He laid a gentle hand on the boy's head, smoothing down the flyaway hair, and quietly left the room.

x x x

Sly reached blindly for the ringing phone and knocked it off the bedside table. The clatter woke up Mary and she pushed herself up on an elbow.

"What?" Turning to look at the lit numbers on the alarm clock, she said, worry in her voice, "It's almost five thirty." They hadn't gone to bed till midnight, discussing Malin's breakdown earlier in the infirmary.

Sly hung half off the bed and grabbed the phone up from where it had skidded under the bed. "Yes," he said, sitting up. "This is Siler."

Mary turned the lamp on while he listened to the caller. "We're coming in," he said into the receiver, looking at her.

"Oh, God," she whispered. "Is it one of the kids?"

He nodded, and she reached for his hand.

Seeing the fear on her face, he felt again how, despite all of his close calls during his time in the service, and especially with the SGC, it was being a parent that had really taught him what terror truly was.

She stayed silent until he hung up the phone. Her eyes were huge, but she was the wife of a soldier and a mother; she'd learned long ago to hold tight to the edge of fear and wait, wait for the words that would tell just how bad things were this time.

"Sly? Which one?" She was so brave, his Mary. Her voice was steady, and her hand felt like a lifeline to him.

"It's Malin. They found him unconscious on the floor in his room. He's still unresponsive. They think he's had some kind of brain injury."

x x x