Author's Note: I'm so sorry this update took so long! Between my serious health problems and Enelya Falcone's previous computer problems, this chapter is a Very long time coming. If I can stay healthy you can expect new chapters in a timely fashion - this story is NOT abandoned! Thank you so much for your continued interest, we appreciate very much!


The ride back to the base was relaxing and full of friendly conversation. After signing in, the two said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Reluctantly, Jack went back to the hated paperwork as he grumbled under his breath.

Daniel had left his duffle bag in the truck and just brought the book that he and Sam would need. He headed down the hall towards her lab, though as he got closer his footsteps became slower as he contemplated staying the way he was. He entered the lab. "Hi Sam I found the book," he said sounding not as excited as he had before.

Sam looked up at the unsure sound of Daniel's voice. "Didn't it have the information you needed?"

"Huh? Oh yeah it did. Here it's on page 321. Uhm you don't mind if I go back to my office do you?" Daniel asked.

Sam's eyes widened in shock, "Yea sure Danny, but...you don't want to help work on this?"

"Well, I've got something to work on in my office. I'll…I'll be back later," Daniel said leaving before Sam could say anything else. He headed back to his office and flounced down on the couch with a sigh.

Sam blinked in confusion at Daniel's rapidly disappearing form, but before she could say anything he was gone. Something was definitely off. She looked at the book a long moment before thinking better of it and turned on her heel to go find Jack.

After about fifteen minutes of checking all of the Colonel's usual haunts, she happened past his office on her way to the infirmary and noticed the light within his office shining under the closed door. Quirking a smile, she knocked and waited.

Jack sat at his desk with a rapidly growing headache. He sighed as he picked up another folder before sitting up straighter at the sound of the knock. "Come in," he yelled with the beginning of a smile playing on his lips.

Sam entered Jack's office and shut the door behind her. "Sir, are you...what are you smiling at? Is something wrong?" Sam asked as she began to look herself over.

Meanwhile in his own office, Daniel was having conflicting thoughts running through his head. He missed being an adult but this being a kid again thing wasn't so bad this time. Of course being with Jack made it better. The question was did he want to do it all again and did he want all those old squashed away memories to be drudged up again? He sighed once more.

"Just happy ta see ya, Carter," Jack said in a childlike innocent tone, giving his best put out face while quickly pushing the file work away from him. He looked up at her with a playful intent look, hands folded eagerly on the desk. "What can I do for ya?"

Sam raised her eyebrow again. "Uh huh. Well I was wondering what's going on with Daniel? He seemed fine when he came to see me earlier, but when he came back from getting the book he wanted me to see he...he didn't seem quite himself. He seemed almost hesitant to give it to me and then he didn't even stay. He retreated to his office. Did something happen?" she asked as she poured out her tale.

Taking a deep breath, Jack admitted, "Danny Boy's having a good old time being a kid again. He's not sure he wants to rush back to adulthood right away. Go ahead and work on it if you can, but give'em time. Let him come to you about it."

"Exactly how long should I wait sir? I mean I glanced at the book, but there's no way I can decipher the language. That's what I need Daniel for. He didn't exactly look like he was enjoying being a kid either sir. I'll go back to the lab though so I don't disturb you anymore," Sam said as she turned to go.

Jack's eyes took on a desperate look at that, "No! Wait!" Looking around to think of a good line of reasoning, he finished, "..giving up so soon? I thought you and Daniel were close - we gotta figure out what to do."

Sam wasn't as startled the second time Jack shouted. She was a little confused at his words though as she turned back to face him. "Now wait a minute sir, you just told me to give Daniel some time and let Daniel come to me when he's ready and now you're telling me not to?" she asked. When she looked at Jack she noticed the still slightly desperate look on his face. She looked at the pile of files on his desk and then looked at Jack again understanding dawning on her face. A smirk appeared on her face as she figured out why Jack didn't seem to want her to go. She didn't say anything just waited.

Seeing Sam's smirk, Jack settled down a bit as he knew the brilliant woman had figured out exactly what was going on. Grinning up at her, he motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat, Carter, tell me how all of this makes you feel," Jack joked before his face took on a serious look. "How ya holdin' up?"

"Uh huh and who are you today? Freud? Paperwork a little overwhelming today Sir?" she asked as she sat down. She sighed at his question and looked down at her lap a moment before looking up. "I miss Daniel. I mean the thirty year old Daniel. I don't have anything against this Daniel, but the other Daniel was my friend and we had fun together. This one is... I don't know. I'm just confused when he jumps emotions and his need to be alone all the time. I mean sure thirty old Daniel was happy as a lark if he got to be alone with his books, but he'd still wanna hang out especially if someone had something that needed translating. Is it wrong for me to wish he was an adult again sir?" she asked.

"No, it isn't wrong of you. I get it. Of course you miss him – you and Daniel have always been close," Jack consoled. "But with that childhood of his, I'm bettin' that he needs this, and if we hang in there with'em, all this running off to be alone will end. Give it time. He's still Daniel. Maybe you two need
to spend some off time together."

"What would we do sir? I'm not really sure Daniel would want to hang out with me anyway. I'm not exactly in his age bracket sir," Sam said as she looked at him. She was quiet a minute letting the rest of what Jack had said sink in. "How bad was his childhood before?" she asked looking up concerned.

Jack shot her an uncomfortable look, "Bad. I don't know all the details, but I've had gunshot wounds that seem more fun than what he's described." Jack fiddled with his pen for a moment, thinking things over. "I think it'd be good for Danny to 'hang out' with you, seeing how close you two are. You could play big sis or Auntie Sam if it gets awkward, Carter. Go see a movie and take'em for ice cream or something. I'm not pushing you, but I think it'd do some good."

Sam wanted to ask more but didn't want to pry. "Take him for ice cream sir? He's fifteen, not five," Sam said softly snickering. "I'll see what Daniel thinks is a good idea. I'll go see if he wants to do something now and leave you to your work. You need to be getting back to work," she said with a smirk as she stood up.

"I'd like it if you took 'me' for ice cream," Jack groused under his breath, irritated that his escape from the files had been so short lived. "Great. Good. Off with you, then, Carter," Jack smiled, trying to offer the encouragement he knew she deserved.

Sam snickered softly at Jack's grumblings. "Maybe when you've been a good boy and finished your work," Sam said with a laugh as she ducked out the door and decided to go find Daniel.

Daniel paced his office wondering what to do. He had no desire to work on anything at the moment. He wasn't sure why either. He was still working on the fact that he rather liked being a child at the moment. Of course he had no desire to feel Jack's hand again but that was easily remedied. Never give Jack a reason to.

Jack glowered at Sam for the sarcastic comment, but there was some evident humor behind it. Once she was out of sight, he grabbed the file he'd been working on and began scribbling out his report once more. "...finish my work," he grumbled in irritation and made a sour face, "...yea, ok, *Mom*."

Arriving at Daniel's office, Sam cleared her throat and knocked on the door. "Hey Daniel, got a minute?"

Daniel looked over at the door and opened it. "Yeah come on in Sam," he said holding the door open. Once she was in, he shut it and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I-I guess you need my help huh? I-I can come help...if that's what you want," Daniel said as he waited to hear Sam's response looking like a kicked puppy.

Sam's eyes widened as she took in Daniel's glum demeanor. "Ah, actually I was wondering if you'd be up to hanging out. I'm sure I could get off early," she said in a shy tone.

Daniel looked up a little surprised. "Really? What would we go do?" Daniel asked. He didn't mind hanging out with Sam, she was a lot like him in some ways.

Sam smiled and giggled, "What would you like to do?" Their interests were so similar, she knew that she'd enjoy anything he'd come up with, and so she wanted him to choose.

Daniel's face lit up at her question. "I can choose really?" He asked. The other homes he'd been in had never cared about his choice. He had to go where they wanted. "Could we go to the museum?" he asked beginning to lightly bounce on the balls of his feet.

Leaning in, Sam whispered playfully, "We sure can! Let me just clear it with the general – you can come along, and we can leave right away."

Daniel's grin got so big he could've eaten a banana sideways. "Great!" he exclaimed as he hefted his bag up on to his shoulder and was ready to happily follow Sam.

Sam nodded and led the way to the General's office. The door was open, as usual, but she knocked anyway as she went in.

"Sir, you mind if I take Daniel out for some r&r? There's not much else I can do here right now," she said.

General Hammond had smiled when he saw the two of them enter, and kept his smile throughout. "I don't see why that would be a problem."

Daniel was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he heard they were given leave to go. "Thanks General," Daniel said smiling.

"You're welcome. Go and enjoy yourself," Hammond said with a warm smile before nodding a dismissal to them both.

Sam smiled at Daniel, raising her eyebrows to ask if he was ready to go.

Daniel nodded his head, still grinning. He couldn't wait to go and maybe if he could persuade her he could talk Sam into getting lunch as well. He had cash on him now as well as his credit cards.

Sam nodded back happily before leading the way to her car. As if reading his mind she said, "I'm getting hungry – wanna get lunch after the museum?"

"Yeah sounds good. I'm getting hungry too," Daniel said following Sam to her car.

"Maybe we can go to Herbie's Pizza? We haven't been there in months," Sam said, putting the key in the ignition.

Daniel's stomach growled at the mention of pizza. He nodded his head though completely thrilled with the thought. "Pizza sounds great Sam. It can be my treat," he said with a grin.

"Thanks Daniel," Sam gave him a wrinkle-nosed grin. Shocked at how right Jack had been, she was very happy that she decided to humor her team leader. "I wonder if they have any new exhibits?"

"I dunno, it's been a while since I've been there," Daniel said as they rode along. He couldn't help but compare this car ride with the one with Jack. He felt more at ease with Sam. He went quiet as he contemplated the differences between Sam and Jack and then suddenly realized they hadn't asked Jack if he wanted to go, or asked if they could go.

Noticing the smile vanishing from her friend, Sam asked "What's wrong?"

"Oh I was just thinking that we didn't invite Jack. He might've liked tagging along," Daniel said as he gave a small grin at Sam.

"Don't worry, he had too much work to do to come with us; but he did want to," she said honestly. "Maybe next time we can bring him and make up new stories to go along with all the exhibits so he doesn't get bored," she added devilishly with a smirk.

"Yeah he sure didn't want to do all that paperwork he had," Daniel mused. He chuckled softly at Sam's words. "Yeah and or touch anything."

"Anything to get out of the paperwork!" Sam started laughing outright, "He's terrible about that, isn't he?"

Daniel started laughing as well, the first time since he'd been turned sixteen again and nodded. "Yeah it's not so bad if you keep on top of it, but now it looks like it's on top of him," Daniel said as he started laughing again.

"You should have seen him trying to worm his way out of it," Sam said in between giggles.

"I did. He did it earlier with me. Can't say he doesn't try his darnedest though," Daniel said chuckling.

Sam rolled her eyes as she laughed happily, "He can be the biggest baby of us all – and he's always coming in and touching all of my scientific equipment."

"Yeah my stuff too," Daniel said. He chuckled at what happened with Janet earlier. "He tried touching things in the med bay earlier and Janet called him on it. He didn't think she was looking and you should've seen the look on his face," Daniel said grinning with amusement.

Sam laughed happily, fondly imagining her team leader performing such antics. "I bet Janet really laid into him!"

"Yeah, she told Jack he had to clean and sterilize all the instruments he touched and he left without touching them. I think Janet will probably snag him later and still make him do it. She's picky about her stuff," Daniel said his chuckles getting quieter as he had pretty much laughed himself out but kept smiling at Sam as she laughed.

"Oh, I dunno. It would be funny, though," Sam said in between laughs. "I kind of hope Janet does, maybe he'd finally learn! ...you really think she would?"

"Yeah I do, she'll get Jack eventually," Daniel said with a mischievous grin.

Sam laughed happily as she made the turn into the museum. "I hope I can see it when she does," she said playfully. Pulling into a parking space, she shut off the engine and looked over at Daniel with another smile.

"You and me both Sam," Daniel said. When he got out of the car he stared at the museum with wide eyed delight. He knew they would be here quite a while and he knew where he was heading first. The Egyptian area.

Sam stood back and watched Daniel gazing at the museum for a moment before stepping to his side. "Lead the way," she said, grinning playfully. She had a good idea where they'd go first, but wanted him to choose their destination, seeing how obviously excited he was.

A huge grin split Daniel's face and all thoughts of Janet, Jack and his monstrous pile of paperwork disappeared as he tugged Sam forward excitedly by her arm towards the museum.

Once inside he ducked and dodged people whenever he had to pulling Sam along for the ride. Once at the Egyptian section of the museum, Sam was all but forgotten as well as Daniel began to drink in his surroundings.

Sam's eyes momentarily widened in surprise as Daniel had tugged her towards the Egyptian section, soon giggling at his antics as other museum goers had jumped out of their way. She'd allowed herself to be led, and then abandoned, enjoying the glee that had Daniel nearly dancing around the exhibit. Letting him bounce around until he was ready to turn to her again, Sam let her eyes explore the soaring statues and carved stone, grinning all the while.

Daniel let his hand hover over certain things wanting to touch but knowing he couldn't. He walked over and looked at the canopic jars that held the organs of the mummy. They always fascinated him. His thoughts still on what was before him.

Seeing his temptation, Sam stepped to his side to help him curb his instinct to touch the items on display. Leaning in close, she looked at the intricate design on the myopic jars before standing up straight again. "This is amazing," she said conversationally.

Daniel, having been totally absorbed in the jars, startled at Sam's voice and whirled around on her quickly. His eyes wide as he backed away bumping into a few of the other visitors.

When he realized it was Sam that had spoken to him, his breathing slowed and he ducked his head as he went sheepishly back over to Sam. "Sorry," he mumbled his cheeks flaming red with embarrassment.

"No need to be," Sam blinked slowly, quickly trying to figure out how best to make Daniel feel better. She decided looking at the exhibit rather than at him was best. "Gee, I haven't been here in so long. Most of these look like new acquisitions! It's always amazing just how good condition all of this stuff is in."

An elderly couple who he'd bumped into walked up and smiled at him warmly.

"It's easy to get that absorbed in this stuff, isn't it?" the man said. "It's happened to me plenty of times," he laughed.

The woman leaned in and said in a playful whisper, "Nearly every time we're here!"

Daniel still red with embarrassment nodded and smiled a little to both Sam and the older couple. He moved away from all three for a few minutes. He wasn't sure how to react. His first instinct was to get angry but neither the younger nor the older Daniel could get angry with Sam.

Older Daniel couldn't be angry with the older couple either. It wasn't their fault, but younger Daniel wanted to. They had embarrassed him. He warred with his older self in his head until he turned to the couple and ducked his head. He grinned at the older couple when he looked up and said, "I've been interested in Egyptian artifacts ever since I was little. It is easy to get absorbed." He gave a small look at Sam and then looked at the couple and whispered loudly to the man, "Happens to me nearly all the time, too."

The old man's smile widened and he nodded while looking at the exhibit, "Yea, yea – this stuff'll do it to ya! Can you imagine an entire city looking like this?"

Sam had been watching Daniel war with himself, but couldn't help the giggle that escaped at what the man had said.

"OH I know, the pyramids and the sphinx. All that sand and heat. It would be a great place to live," Daniel said enthusiastically.

"You sound just like my husband," the older woman laughed playfully. "He'd be perfectly happy to live out in a desert – but me? Well I think Florida is the most extreme climate I could manage!"

"Ahhh, she just wants to watch young hunks play volleyball on the beach!" The old man joked, giving Sam and Daniel a conspiratory wink.

"Oh Jacob!" The woman laughed, lightly smacking her husband on the arm and blushing as she grinned at Sam and Daniel. "Notice some men playing volleyball Once on One vacation…" she playfully rolled her eyes.

Jacob laughed and then looked back at the exhibit, "Yup, it sure is a wonder this stuff. We're saving up to go visit Egypt next year. Couldn't be more excited!"

"Wow a trip next year to Egypt. I envy you. I sure would like to take a trip to Egypt, that would be great," Daniel said wistfully.

Sam piped in quickly brightly, "You never know, another trip might be in your future soon!"

Jacob turned with raised eyebrows, "ANOTHER? You mean you've already been? …and at your age? Well let me say, I envy you, mister!" Jacob laughed, clearly impressed.

Daniel's smile faltered a bit, but he nodded and answered the man. "Yeah when I was younger with my parents," he said his voice becoming softer with each word. He ducked his head and then mumbled to Sam that he was going to use the bathroom and took off before she could say anything.

Sam ducked her head, inwardly cursing that she hadn't seen that coming.

Jacob looked at Sam in confusion, "I didn't mean to upset the young man, Miss."

Sam gave an awkward half smile and said, "His parents were archeologists and died putting up an Egyptian exhibit in another museum. They used to take him to Egypt all the time."

The three of them looked around awkwardly for a moment as the elder two took in the shocking information and Sam tried to figure out a way to get to Daniel after he'd run off to the security of a men's only restroom.

"Want me to go in and have a word with him?" Jacob offered.

Sam didn't like the idea, but was afraid it may be her only option. Calling Jack so soon was something she'd like to avoid if possible. Thinking about it another moment she smiled at the elderly couple, "Let me see if I can't get him to come out first. If not, it might be a big help."

The couple both nodded. "You know where to find us," Jacob said.

With a friendly nod Sam went to the restroom and knocked on the door. Pulling it open less than an inch she called out 'Daniel?' without looking in.

Daniel had been sitting against a wall just out of sight of the door, but when he heard Sam's voice he jerked his head up, eyes red and swollen from crying. "W-what?" he asked hoping Sam couldn't hear the tremor in his voice.

Hearing the tears in his voice, Sam melted, even as her heart rate quickened, and she slid down the wall to sit on the floor just outside the bathroom, her foot propping the door open. On the one hand, she wanted to run in and give him a hug, on the other she felt a bit awkward because she was scared about handling this right. "I wanted to check on you…I was worried. Gosh, if it were me I'd be pretty torn up right now – I know you're going through a lot! Is there anything I can do for you, Daniel?" Sam asked, her eyes moving back and forth as she waited for an answer.

Daniel took a ragged breath. He heard the concern and worry in Sam's voice but for some reason he couldn't get mad at her like he would've Jack. Sam, Sam was different. Sam was like a big sister, he could tell things to Sam that he couldn't tell Jack. "I don't know who I want to be anymore Sam. I miss being the grown up me, but the kid me, he likes it now. Well some of it. He's hiding right now, he doesn't want to come out because he..." Daniel stopped and went quiet for several minutes.

"I like you Sam," Daniel answered, his voice softer. "I'm afraid though that if I come out of here right now I'll get upset with you or the couple for making me so upset that I ran in here. Don't tell Jack about this okay?" he asked letting her know that the fifteen year old had slipped back out and was doing his darnedest to hold on to his temper.

The corners of Sam's mouth pulled up slightly as she listened to her friend, "You didn't do anything wrong. I won't tell Jack. We can work on figuring out how to get you back to your normal age while you figure out what you want to do. Just because we figure it out doesn't mean that you have to switch back right away. …you know you're one of my closest friends, right?"

"It feels like I have though. Jack's nice, not like most foster parents I've been with. I feel like he gets frustrated with me though when I get upset. I know you're my friend Sam, though really, you're my like a big sister. The kind that you can tell anything to and you know they won't go blabbin' to anyone about what you said," Daniel said all the while moving closer to the door and finally sitting against the wall where the door was so he could peer out at Sam, his face still showing signs of the crying he'd been doing before Sam had gotten there.

"You haven't. It might be hard to believe, and it might not be how you feel, but you haven't done anything wrong. Actually I really can't see him getting frustrated about that. It must be something else - maybe he feels like he isn't helping you the way you need or like he's no good when people get upset?" Sam shrugged. "My closest friends are my family, and I'm glad to hear that you feel the same way – I always wanted a little brother," Sam smiled. "I think we all need someone we can confide in. I'm happy I'm still that person for you." Hearing Daniel move closer, Sam tilted her face towards the door in case he wanted to see her, but kept her eyes out towards the museum.

The corner of Daniel's mouth turned up slightly at Sam's words about Jack. He turned his head to look at her and saw she was staring out into the museum. "You can look at me you know I'm just sitting here on the floor," Daniel said softly.

"Maybe we could look in a different part of the museum for a while, just till I feel like coming back here," Daniel offered.

Sam's mouth quirked and she looked at Daniel with a small grin. She nodded at his offer. "That sounds good, which area do you want to go to?"

Daniel shrugged and said, "I dunno, why don't you pick."

Sam's eyes brightened with interest as she thought about which exhibit she'd like to visit. "Let's go to the Red Rock Canyon exhibit and look at all the fossils! I still can't believe some of the fish and dinosaurs that lived around here. It'll be cool!"

Daniel perked up a bit. "That sounds cool. Let's do it," he said as he stood up and finally left the men's room.

Sam hopped up and dusted herself off, eager to check out the exhibit that she had actually never seen before. The fact that she had successfully cheered Daniel – or, at least seemed to of cheered up Daniel – brightened her mood so much that she was nearly bouncing as she walked, "Isn't strange, in all our travels, we haven't seen any evidence of dinosaur fossils?"

Daniel stopped and cocked his head much like a curious pup at Sam's words. "Yeah that is strange. Huh that might be something to look into the next time we go off planet," Daniel said not realizing at the moment that he probably wouldn't be going off planet any time soon.

"Oh definitely," Sam said, grinning to herself for a moment at the little head thing Daniel had done. It was comforting that, even if he was younger and some things were different, he still had the same recognizable expressions. "But I think that's more your area – so it'll have to wait until you're going off world with us again," Sam said, smiling at him warmly.

"I hope we go off world again soon. I can't wait to explore that possibility," Daniel said as he actually began walking a little faster towards the exhibit. The fifteen year old had been pushed away for the moment as Daniel's eager explorer side came to the front.

Sam recognized the lapse by what he'd said and decided not to draw attention to it. They had just gotten to the exhibit and to the left of them stood a giant rock with both the fleshy outline and skeleton of a very large, odd looking fish. "Look at this guy!" Sam said excitedly with a grin.

"Oh wow. Can you just imagine that guy swimming around now?" Daniel said pulling out a notebook from his backpack he had to sketch what he saw.

Sam's mouth twitched, "What do you think the Colonel would do if he found this on the end of his line?" She chuckled a bit at the image, imagining Jack jumping and then curiously studying the strange creature living in his 'empty' lake.

Daniel grinned at the mental image. "Too bad we couldn't find something that size to mess with Jack a bit. That would be fun," Daniel said already plotting in his head on how to do something like that.

Snickering, Sam said, "It would! Well, they make these cool robotic tarantulas and rats that look pretty real – Cassandra's friend had them last time I was at Janet's. I don't know about fish. That'd be hard to control and we'd have to go to the cabin with him. He'd get too suspicious if we wanted to go."

"I don't think Jack's afraid of spiders or rats though...is he?" Daniel asked a little frustrated that he couldn't remember. "As for the cabin he was talking the other day about bringing me there. I bet we could come up with something. If he mentions it again, I could ask if you could come, we could bring stuff with us and come up with something waterproof that we could run in the water that would give Jack something to think about," Daniel said with a large grin forming on his face.

Sam's eyes widened, "…I don't know if he is either. What does scare him?" For a moment her eyes scanned back and forth as though she were reading her memories and coming up blank. Finally shrugging she said, "That just might work. If you make it seem like it's his idea and then invite me after…I could whip something up that would work in the water." Sam smiled at their idea.

Daniel nodded eagerly and continued to sketch the fossil. When he was done he looked at Sam and said, "That sounds like a plan. Jack won't know what hit him."

Laughing in delight at Daniel's seriousness about the prank, Sam nodded behind him to a reconstructed velociraptor skeleton. "Think he'll scream as our monster comes out of the water at him?"

"I seriously hope so that would be the best ever," Daniel said and then a niggling of doubt crept into his mind and the teen emerge with a serious question. "You don't think he'll be mad when he sees it's just a prank.. do you?" He stared at Sam watching to see what her face and eyes would reveal before she spoke.

Sam sniggered again, "Maybe for just a second, and then he'll pretend to be angry for the attention, but he'll get a kick out of it. It'll be funny. Of course, he'll whine forever about it." Looking at Daniel she saw his worry, "If he was going to get angry, I wouldn't have agreed to do it, Danny."

Daniel bit his bottom lip for a moment then slowly released it and nodded. A small smile formed on his face. "Ok Sam," he said and then crinkled his nose. "Don't call me Danny, Sam. You make me sound like I'm eight." He smiled at her then.

Sam laughed out loud at that, "Daniel it is!" Looking back to the exhibit, her eyes widened. "I can't believe Jurassic Park got it so wrong – look at these! Velociraptors are about the size of a Beagle!"

"Movies tend to get things wrong when they don't research things fully," Daniel stated. As he looked around at more of the dinosaurs, his thoughts begin to drift towards Jack and the mound of paperwork the man had had on his desk when he saw him last. "You think Jack got all that paperwork done yet?" he asked.

Sam beamed mischievously, "I doubt it. I bet it'll take him hours because he's put it off for at least a month."

Daniel quietly thought about that for a minute. "You don't think it'll take him all day though, do you?" he asked hoping he and Jack could go home after he and Sam got back and watch movies. This of course might not be the case now.

"Oh no – if I know the Colonel then I know for a fact that he isn't going to even try to get it all done in one go. He's probably searching for an excuse not to keep working on it, and General Hammond doesn't really mind it anyway," Sam said offhandedly as she looked around at all the fossils and skeletons.

Daniel nodded and then grinned. "Yeah you're probably right, Jack hates paperwork," he said as he walked over to another skeleton.

Sam's nose crinkled as she grinned, thinking about the Colonel's comical display that had led her to bring Daniel to the museum in the first place. "That he does," she mused as she continued looking around. "Gosh, look at some of these creatures. You know, we're lucky these guys don't live on any of the words we've visited, but I guess then there probably wouldn't be any gates on those planets."

"I know but there are places we haven't gone yet. There could be something like one of these guys there. Ya never know," Daniel said as he looked at the logical side of things. "Wow would you look at the teeth on this thing. This could literally sever a man's leg or worse," Daniel said as he got extremely close to one of the skeleton's mouths.

"Watch the alarms, that guard over there is giving us 'the eye,'" Sam whispered with a smirk, nodding to a crotchety old man in a suit and a name tag who was glaring at them from across the room, his walrus-like beard wiggling as he grimaced.

Daniel took one look at the guard, stepped away from the exhibit and started laughing. He began laughing so hard from the image he got in his head about the way the guard looked he doubled over and ended up finally falling on his butt still laughing. He couldn't help himself the image he had gotten in his head was too funny.

Sam couldn't help an awkward chuckle, crouching over Daniel as she looked back and forth from him to the guard. The guard's glare intensified and a look of overall disgust came over him until finally he shook his head turned away from the two miscreants. Wide eyed, Sam started giggling, enjoying finally seeing a carefree Daniel for probably the first time since she'd met him. "That was pretty funny, huh?!"

Daniel had to gasp for breath several times before he could properly answer Sam. "Sorry I got this image in my head of him looking like a turkey and that beard of his as the the little hanging thing...the shoot what's that thing called? Oh the wattle and the way it kept jiggling just struck me as funny. Guess he thinks we're nuts now huh?" Daniel asked the smile on his face huge.

Sam couldn't help but to give into real laughter as Daniel tried to explain, her nose and forehead crinkling as she shook her head a bit. She put a hand on his shoulder to steady himself as she laughed and nodded, taking a conspiratorial glance at the guard. Turning back to Daniel she whispered, "I'd say so, he's actually sputtering indignantly to himself now. Ah, that's funny – but we should be nice." Standing up, she stretched and offered him her hand as she smiled, "Come on, we should probably move along."

Hearing Sam laugh made Daniel laugh again. He accepted her help up and then looked at the guard again. He nodded at Sam and said "Yeah I guess we should. I think I'm ready to go back to the Egyptian exhibit again...if that's okay?" he asked. As they got nearer the guard, Daniel couldn't help the soft, "gobble gobble" that passed his lips. He couldn't seem to help himself.

Sam flinched and turned to give Daniel a surprised look, but before she could say anything the guard turned towards them.

"What's that, now?" He said in a voice that was a mixture of confusion, hurt feelings and the beginnings of annoyance.

Daniel looked a little confused at Sam wondering why she was looking at him that way. She had just laughed a moment ago.

When he saw the look and heard the tone of the guard's voice Daniel swallowed hard and said quickly, "I said sorry if we were any trouble." His face was red with embarrassment and hoped the guard hadn't really heard what he said.

The guard wriggled his mustache again as he narrowed his eyes, clearly not sure he should believe this excuse. Finally he nodded his head, "Apology accepted…but next time speak more clearly, son."

"Of course, we'll be sure to," Sam said, grabbing Daniel by the shoulders and steering him quickly out of the room.

Once out of sight of the guard, Daniel pulled away. Anger flashed in his eyes a moment, but then was gone when he asked, "What's wrong with you? You thought it was funny. You didn't have to shove me either."

He began stalking down the hall back towards the Egyptian room.

Sam was shocked for a moment before she regained her composure and went after him.

"Daniel," she called out, "come here."

Daniel heard her call to him, but refused to stop. The anger still bubbled inside and he wanted to get away. He stalked past the Egyptian area and kept going heading for the main doors that led outside.

Sam could not believe what she was seeing and was having none of it. Taking off at a full run, she quickly covered the space between them and got a firm grip on him.

"Daniel stop, that's enough," she said in her best 'disappointed Mother' tone as she pulled him back. "You can't just up and leave like that, it's rude. We also agreed to be nice to that guard, and for the record, I didn't shove you. I got us out of what could have been an unpleasant situation. Now what's going on with you?"

Daniel pulled away and glared. Teenage Daniel was out full force and he was pissed. "I was going outside to keep from being rude, but you don't seem to care. How was I supposed to know he had ears like a bat anyway? I only did it cause I didn't think he could hear me. And you did shove me. You just grabbed me and started pushing," Daniel ground out as he rounded on Sam.

Sam's eyes widened in surprise, "Don't seem to care? Daniel, think about what you're saying. Let's take a moment to calm down." She motioned towards a bench sitting near the entrance and waited to see if he'd go to sit before she moved.

Daniel gave a growl of frustration. "That's what I was going outside to do!" Daniel shouted. He ignored the offered seat and stormed outside anyway. He leaned his head against the wall and kicked at it with his shoe.

Sam took a deep breath, grinding her teeth a bit. Putting her hands on her hips she looked at the floor trying to decide what to do. Clearly Daniel was having a hormonal teenage tantrum, and clearly she was getting nowhere with him. After a bit of reflection she remembered needing time to cool off when she was that age, and so Sam decided to sit on the bench for a few minutes and wait to see what Daniel would do next.

Daniel paced around after he was done kicking the wall and then finally sat on the ground against the wall with his knees pulled up. He put his head down and sat there breathing heavily trying to cool off.

As Sam waited she gained even more respect for the Colonel, wondering how many times Daniel had thrown tantrums and stormed off under his watch already. She had really expected this to go better, and was lightly kicking herself for letting it get out of control. It dawned on her that the friend she knew really was locked away, and that she really did need to treat him like a child but that firmness wasn't the way. Getting up, she walked outside to check on him. Seeing him curled up and breathing heavily, she sat down next to him and asked softly, "What's going on with you? Why are you hurting?"

Daniel kept his head buried in his arms. He looked up slightly and said, "Go away Sam. I'm not ready to play nice yet." When he put his head back down he sighed heavily trying to keep his emotions reeled in.

Sam closed her eyes, trying to keep from getting annoyed, calmed herself and then looked at him. "Maybe going out was too much for you too soon. Maybe we should go back."

"Fine," Daniel said though when he raised his head, his eyes were red rimmed and he was sniffling slightly. He stood and pushed away from the wall and headed in the direction of the car.

Sam huffed quietly to herself and followed him, unlocking the car with the key remote and climbing in. Dealing with a friend and an equal who was suddenly a child was no easy task, she thought to herself as she fastened her seat belt.

Daniel got in, put his seatbelt on and laid his head against the glass. This sucked. He didn't mind being a teenager for the most part. A lot of it was fun and he knew where he stood with most people. Days like this though when the teenager took too much control and pissed someone off those days sucked a lot. He knew Sam was angry but he just couldn't bring himself to talk to her just yet. He was still angry and it never bode well if he was angry or upset and someone kept demanding answers.

He was sure Jack would hear of this and he groaned softly. Jack was going to kill him.

Seeing Daniel turn away from her and towards the window solidified Sam's decision to just leave him be. Instead she decided to just drive back to the base. Settled for an uncomfortably silent ride, she pulled into traffic.

As Daniel calmed down, he felt bad, but wasn't sure what to say. He knew he should apologize, but when he gave a small glance towards Sam, he wasn't sure she'd accept it at the moment. A silent tear made its way down Daniel's cheek. He was thankful it was the cheek up near the window. He couldn't bear for Sam to see him cry.

As Sam managed what little traffic there was, her mind began to work at the difficulties Daniel was experiencing. She tried imagining herself in his place and how it may make her feel at the age he currently..kind of..was. Eyes going large as they normally did when problem solving, Sam segmented her brain power into three parts: the largest part worked on understanding Daniel's trouble from his perspective, the next largest handled the traffic and the smallest part tried to keep aware of Daniel's current mood – which seemed better, though she wasn't certain she should glance over at the moment to make sure. She was getting curious, though, since his huffing had stopped even though his body looked tense from the corner of her eye.

Daniel was feeling worse with each passing moment. He hated having Sam angry with him. He turned his head more towards the window as the tears began to fall faster. He knew Jack was gonna be mad at him for making such a mess of what was supposed to be a fun outing. Everyone was mad or going to be and right now being a kid sucked. He began to sob as silently as he could. He just didn't want Sam to know he was crying.

Sam was startled out of her pondering when she heard a very quiet sniffle and, turning her head a fraction of an inch to the right, saw through the corner of her eye that Daniel was crying. Wanting very much to comfort her friend, she gently took his hand in hers and gave a slight squeeze.

Daniel froze at the contact from Sam. Did she know? He hoped not, but she could probably hear the sniffling he was doing. He squeezed her hand back though. He began to choke down the sobs as quietly a he could and once he felt he could speak, he said softly, "I'm sorry Sam."

Sam's face softened at the miserable tone of Daniel's apology. "We're going to be ok, Daniel," she said. "You're going through a lot right now."

Daniel nodded at Sam's words. He felt slightly comforted by the fact that Sam was no longer mad at him. "I'll find Jack and tell him what happened when we get back," Daniel said his voice still soft. He knew Jack would kill him, but was hopeful he'd wait till they got back to the house this time.

Sam smiled, it was just like the Daniel she knew to hold himself accountable for his actions. "Want me to be there when you do?"

Daniel worried his bottom lip at that question. He wasn't sure. Part of him did, but the other part didn't just in case Jack decided to handle matters in a certain way. Daniel turned to look at Sam, his hair hanging slightly over one eye, the other still red and wet with leftover tears. Finally he nodded. "Yeah, he'll want your side anyway," Daniel said his voice sounding a bit more dejected than usual.

Sam's eyes widened slightly and after a moment she gave him a questioning look as she said, "Maybe, but what I meant was would it make you feel better if I was there?"

Daniel looked at her like she had said something out of the ordinary. "Really?" He asked. He nodded and said, "Yeah I'd like that." He continued to look at Sam like that was the most interesting thing she had ever said.

Sam's eyes widened yet again at the question, and she couldn't help the good natured giggle that followed when she saw the surprise on his face after glancing at him before looking back at traffic. "Well good, I'll be there then."

Daniel nodded and squeezed Sam's hand as he turned back towards the window.

After driving for a few minutes in silence they were back at the base. Sam parked and looked at Daniel, "You ready?"

Daniel sighed heavily and shook his head. "No, but I guess I have to be. Might as well go and face the music," Daniel said as he released Sam's hand unbuckled and got out of the car.

Smiling reassuringly Sam said, "I doubt it'll be as bad as you think." before getting out of the car herself.

Daniel shrugged. It was easier to expect the worst and not have it happen than to expect something better and have the worst happen. He entered the base and headed towards Jack's office much like a condemned man.

Sam watched Daniel and fell in step next to him, glancing over every once in a while. His demeanor really had her worried, but she wasn't sure what to do other than just be there for him.

Jack had spent the short time they were gone doing paperwork… Well, the first ten minutes, anyway. It was then that he decided that a newer, steamier cup of coffee would help him knock out the files. He'd downed a third of the cup he had, but perhaps stretching his legs to get a fresher one would get his mind in the right place. Taking the long way, he passed Teal'c's quarters and decided to drop in on his friend. It was only polite, after all. Unfortunately, Teal'c was doing his meditation thing and that meant Jack needed to be on his way. Retracing half his route Jack made sure to avoid the General, who had made it clear that Jack needed to be making an impressive dent on the paperwork that had piled up.

Checking to make sure the coast was clear, Jack entered the cafeteria, poured himself another coffee and was on his way back to his office.

Daniel paused at his own door as he made his way to Jack's office and was tempted to just retreat inside and hide. He knew he couldn't do that though and he didn't want a repeat of what had happened the last time he ran. His head down as he headed to Jack's office almost caused him to run into the Colonel himself. Half startled to see Jack already he bit at his bottom lip and then said, "Oh uhm Hi Jack."

Sam pursed her lips when Daniel paused at his own door, but thankfully he began moving again before she said anything. It wasn't long before she saw the Colonel sauntering down the hall while still managing somewhat nervous looks over his shoulder.

Jack hadn't been paying too much attention to what was in front of him, and so he started a bit when he saw the sulking archeologist. "Dan-iel," Jack said suspiciously, more in the tone of a question as he looked from Daniel to Sam. "Back so soon?" came in an equally, but playful, suspicious tone and with a playful twinkle in his eye as he quite poorly feigned seriousness. He knew something had obviously gone wrong, but Daniel looked so pitiful that he couldn't be stern.

Daniel looked up at Jack and saw the twinkle in the man's eye. "Uhm yeah, we had a good time for the most part," Daniel said not wanting to get into what had happened just yet.

Jack's eyes narrowed and a suspicious smirk played on his lips, "Uh huh, yea, most people look just like that when they get back from a good time, too – you know, like they're on their way to the gallows?" Jack straightened to his full height and gave Daniel his 'you better tell me what's going on' look.

Daniel shrank a little at the sight of Jack standing straight up and now staring at him. "Uhm well, maybe I got a little upset over something and I went outside with Sam chasing me," Daniel said his voice getting softer with each word. He had his shoulders scrunched up around his head now and he was looking at the floor.

"Daniel," Jack said, his voice irritated, "are you telling me that you ran off again?"

"Well, ah – sir," Sam cut in nervously, "he did tell me where he was going."

Jack sighed and ran a hand over his hair. "Maybe we should take this into my office, kids, I'm thinkin' I need to hear the whole story on this one," he said, giving Daniel a glance as he held the door open and waved them both in.

At Jack asking if he ran off again, Daniel's head shot up as he stared wide eyed at the man. He was glad he had asked Sam to come along when she spoke up but he felt like he said the wrong thing and then when waved in the office, he walked in his head bowed once more.

Jack watched as Daniel walked into his office like a kicked puppy, slightly ashamed he'd let his irritation show. The look Sam was giving him when she passed made him feel worse, and he looked to the ceiling for some saving grace, but saw none. Walking around his desk, he pushed the hated files aside, set down his coffee and pinched the bridge of his nose before saying, in the calmest and gentlest tone possible, "Would one of you like to tell me exactly what's goin' on?"

Sam looked to Daniel to see how he wanted to play this out, trying to convey with a glance that she didn't mind explaining.

Daniel stood there and shuffled his feet. He didn't know where to start or what to say. He looked over at Sam and when he saw the look she gave him, he bit at his bottom lip. He finally nodded after a minute knowing he'd either get upset or pissed again.

Jack hid the amusement and happiness he felt at seeing the two work together like this. It made him proud. Instead, he took a long sip of coffee and waited.

Sam took the cue, nodding and looked at Jack, "It started great, sir, but …" Sam remembered her promise to Daniel, and wasn't certain whether it covered his getting sad in the Egyptian section or if he had only meant his confusion about returning to his normal age. Not willing to risk it, she said, "we got a little silly in…"

Jack sat upright, "…got a little silly?" he said with a grin, enjoying the idea of the normally serious Captain being silly.

True to her serious nature, Sam blinked in confusion and said, "Yes, we got a little silly in the Prehistoric section, and because of that there was a slight misunderstanding that resulted in hurt feelings. Daniel walked ahead to try and collect himself, but he was emotional – and so was I, and so we took a few moments apart to calm ourselves before deciding it'd be best to come back and try again on a different day."

Jack had listened, grimacing in areas that he absolutely knew were watered down, and ultimately just raised his eyebrows at her when she finished talking, causing Sam to look away. A moment later he looked at Daniel. "That how it went down, Danny? …anything else to add?"

Daniel nodded at Jack a little too eagerly. "Yeah what Sam said. I don't have nothin' to add." Daniel said giving a look to Sam that expressed his gratitude.

Jack couldn't stop himself from chuckling at that answer and it took him a moment before he could say, "Well, I guess this meeting is adjourned." Then he looked at them quite seriously, "…Did you get ice cream?"

Sam tried to keep from laughing, her nose wrinkling slightly as she looked at Daniel in amusement.

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief when Jack started chuckling. At the mention of ice cream he looked at Sam and cracked a grin. "Sorry Jack, it kinda slipped our mind." He sent a sly wink at Sam as if to say "watch this". "You probably wouldn't want to go get some anyway would you?" he asked as he looked at Jack.

Sam tried to keep her mouth from twitching in an attempt to keep from smiling at the way Jack straightened up at the question, stopped, looked at the pile of files, deflated a bit, looked to the right with wheels spinning and then jumped up excitedly.

"As a matter of fact, Danny Boy, I would like to go get some ice cream. Great idea," Jack said eagerly. "You in, Carter?"

"What about the paperwork, sir?" Sam said with a pretty good straight face.

Jack stopped and looked at it again, "You guys are the paper-reading type, maybe you could, uh, help me with it?"

Sam shot Daniel a look showing she didn't think it was a good idea. At all.

"I dunno about that Jack I mean maybe we should just wait on the ice cream. Sam was just saying how she wanted to get back to figuring out a way to re-age me and I'm kinda of tired. I thought maybe I'd take a nap," Daniel said hoping it worked. He didn't want to deal with the papers either.

Jack's eyebrows furrowed in disappointment and his mouth worked silently before he said, "Well, uh, yea, there's that." Looking between the two of them, Jack realized he was resigned to his fate. "Yeah, ok then," he said, turning slightly to glare at the tower of files. "You two kids go have fun."

Daniel felt a little bad when he saw the look on Jack's face but not bad enough that he wanted to help with the paper work. He looked over at Sam to see what she thought.

Sam was smirking and, when she caught Daniel's gaze, lightly rolled her eyes before nodding at Jack. "You know, sir, if you did your paperwork as it came in…"

"Yea, Carter, I know," Jack bit back in his 'I'm not really angry but please shut up' sort of way. Then he rethought speaking like that and looked at her imploringly, "It's just so boring and tedious. …But I'll do it. Don't wanna set a bad example for Danny," he joked, shooting Daniel a playful wink.

"Well, we'll leave you to it, then," Sam said, nodding towards the door while looking at Daniel.

Daniel rolled his eyes at Jack's remark about setting a bad example. He already knew how Jack was. He began to move towards the door with Sam, but couldn't help to look back at Jack. Something in him wanted to stay so finally he said, "Hey Sam if you don't mind, I'm gonna stay in here with Jack. I'm not helping you, but I'll keep you company if you want."

"Ok. You guys have fun," Sam joked before leaving.

Jack's face brightened instantly at Daniel's words, and he gave a pleasant "Why thank you, Danny. Make yourself comfortable." He looked around for a place Daniel could make himself comfortable and then looked at him and shrugged.

Danny looked around at all the paperwork everywhere and then gave Jack a look. Finally he just decided to settle himself on the floor. He was practically a kid again and would have no problem getting up unlike a certain Colonel he knew. He smirked a little at that thought.

Jack watched Daniel and looked abashedly at the files covering every surface as Daniel eyed them, then chuckled when Daniel curled up on the floor. "I could have'em bring in a chair or somethin' for ya if you wanted," he offered, a little ashamed at the state of his office.

"It's okay Jack. I can get up easily off the floor. You know if you kept up with this stuff your office wouldn't look like this."

Jack hung his head slightly, "I know! …it's just…" Jack stopped, not wanting to whine in front of the kid. "I'm busy," he decided was a good answer and then finished with a grin, "all of the time!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "No you're not. You do everything you can to avoid doing this and then normally con me or Sam into doing it for you. If the General catches you doing it now, well...I'll probably have to be assigned a new guardian. Who knows how much he'll leave of you. I don't want to find out so don't ask," Daniel said and grinned.

Jack grimaced at the light scolding and huffed quietly, "Let's say I can always find something that needs doing to do instead of doing this stuff then." Grinning sheepishly at Daniel, "It's a tactic that's worked pretty well til now. And the good ole General isn't going to hurt me too bad, he needs me too much!" Jack joked.

Daniel grinned at that. It sounded pretty much like an excuse to get out of homework that a kid his age would use, but he wasn't going to tell Jack that. "Well let's hope the General never hears you say that."

Jack flashed a mock terrified look on his face, "You're tellin' me!" Thinking of the General had his nose back in the file he'd been working on.

Daniel chuckled at Jack as the man went back to his files. He lounged on the floor and began to think about the day he had had. Unbeknownst to him his eyes began to flutter shut and finally he fell asleep on the floor of Jack's office softly snoring.

Lost in his file work, Jack went through three folders before noticing how quiet Daniel had gotten. Glancing over, he grinned at the site of Daniel curled up and asleep on his floor. Getting up, he grabbed his jacket, folded it and slid it under Daniel's head as a sort of pillow before watching him for a moment, sighing and then getting back to work.