First I want to say thanks for all the reviews! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's enjoying this. I just hope I can live up to or beyond your expectations.
And to Tirtreaton, I caught the one about Sam being turned into a cat, and I know I've at least seen a few with SG-1 being turned into kids (hopefully mine's not too similar to any of them, if it is I apologize in advance), but . . . WHO TURNED JACK AND DANIEL INTO GIRLS? And more importantly: WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS CANINE WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING? Although it does raise some interesting possibilities . . . Hmm . . . I might have to hunt that one down . . .
Anyway, onto the requisite legalese(a.k.a. disclaimer): Don't own SG-1 or any of the other people you recognize in here from the show. I do own the little Marine guys at the end and if you're struck by a fit of insanity and wish to borrow them, please ask.
In answer to all the questions people have asked about what exactly SG-1 knows and remembers and what they don't know and don't remember and how they got back, etc., I have only this to say: It will all make sense in due time. There is a definite plot developing here and I try to come up with something better than "Now we press the magic button and the laws of physics and the universe rearrange themselves to fix all discrepancies in logic and conflicts with reality! Yay!" That said this is sci-fi so give me a little leeway. Once I get into the nitty-gritty explanations I'm not going to bore you with several pages of theory and equations, but if you have more questions feel free to email me and I'll try to explain anything you don't understand.
Okay, enough of my gibbering, onto the story!
P.S. Sorry this took so long! Work has been a bitch in heat and now she's having puppies. I'll do my best to keep updating as often as possible, but I make no promises. I made it a bit longer to make up for it.
Acting One's Age
Keaira
Chapter 4 – A Little Idea
Jack didn't waste a second of the time bought for him. He raced out of the infirmary and down the hall at a dead run. His actual destination wasn't really decided at this point—but he didn't really care either. He just didn't want to be in there anymore.
Especially since he wasn't sure who these people were. Teal'c had been nice and he did seem to know what was going on . . . or at least more than Jack did. And even though he'd only known Teal'c for two days, Jack kind of trusted his word that these people were friends, but friends or not, they wanted to have a doctor look at him and that just wasn't going to happen.
Sure, they always said they just wanted to look but it always led to getting poked with a needle. Jack might have put up less of a fight—he knew doctors were there to help when you were sick and they usually knew better than him—but he wasn't feeling sick. He wasn't about to get poked with a needle if he didn't need it and he was pretty darn sure he didn't need it.
He turned the corner and then heard a scream behind him that stopped him in his tracks. Sam and Danny were still back there. He wasn't exactly sure who they were either, but he knew them better than any of the adults. He'd spent a whole two days with them and Teal'c in that other place and they seemed okay. Well, they were okay for a little kid and a girl anyway.
He stood there for a moment, torn as to what he should do. He didn't like the idea of going back and risking getting caught, but he wasn't very comfortable with leaving them their either. Danny had helped him after all and Sam . . . well, she was a girl, and even if they were icky a guy was supposed to help girls. Especially if they were screaming.
He started to turn back when he heard more footsteps approaching as a fast pace. He hesitated a few seconds longer and was relieved when it was only Danny who came racing around the corner.
The younger boy tried to stop and ended up tripping, but he got up quickly and looked at Jack, confused as to why he was just standing there.
"We gotta go! They're coming!" he said.
"But what about Sam?" Jack said. "We can't leave her."
"I kicked Teal'c," Danny said, obviously terrified of what that might bring. "I don't want him to catch me."
"But . . ." More footsteps filled the passageway—heavy, clomping ones made by boots which meant adults—and Jack made a quick decision. Getting caught wouldn't help Sam and standing here was only going to get them caught.
"Okay. Come on." He grabbed Danny's hand and they went a little further down the hallway to where a door stood ajar. There didn't seem to be any adults around and a quick peek revealed it to be a storage closet of some kind. Ducking inside, Jack pulled Danny along down an aisle and then turned between two tall shelves filled with assorted items.
There actually was an adult around, but he left moments after the two of them arrived, his attention focused wholly on the sheaf of papers in his hand, blissfully ignorant of the two fugitives just a few feet away.
Humming softly he started to step out the door then jumped back as several people thundered past in quite a rush.
Looking down the hallway after them and shaking his head, the young supply officer flipped off the lights and shut the door, checking to make sure it was locked behind him.
oOoo
Jack wasn't sure how long he stood frozen in the dark in the supply closet, but it felt like forever. Finally he realized that he wasn't alone when a soft sniffle caught his attention.
"Danny?"
"I'm not crying or nothin'," Danny said immediately. "I have allerbees. My nose gets stuffy."
"I didn't say you were crying," Jack said, even though he'd been thinking it. Right now, Jack was more worried about how to get the lights back on.
"Danny, we need to get to the door, okay? That's where the light switch is."
"Okay."
"Hold onto my hand and we're going to walk slowly forward until we can find the wall."
"Okay."
It took a second for Jack to gather his courage, but he finally stepped forward, keeping one hand on the shelf next to him to guide his way. The other was being tightly gripped by Danny's smaller hand, but that was all right. At this moment in time, Jack didn't mind having a little kid around. It meant he wasn't alone.
They walked to the end of the shelf and Jack paused to gather his courage once more. A few steps ahead should be the wall and that could be followed all the way back to the door.
Taking a deep breath Jack let go of the shelf and stepped out into a darkness so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Or a wall for that matter. He lifted his free hand to feel ahead and make sure he didn't smack face-first into the wall, then continued forward, one step at a time.
oOoo
"Okay Sam, this is the last test and then you're done for now," Janet said as she verified the settings on the equipment. She'd run every other test she could think of and was down to an MRI. It would, of course, take some time for all of the results to come back but she didn't want to have to keep bringing the kids back every time a test showed nothing.
Her patience and sanity would only stretch so far, after all. It meant the first session was a long one, but after this they'd only have to run a test if it seemed to indicate anything.
Then again, they still hadn't found Jack and Daniel so she'd have to go through this whole process three more times—Teal'c was still helping look for the missing children—but THEN it would be done with and she could get down to the real work of trying to figure out what had caused it and if it could be reversed. She had to admit Sam was cute and from what she'd seen of Jack and Daniel had been pretty adorable too, but she knew the three of them as adults and had seen just a glimpse how much they resembled the adult versions and, frankly, she was grateful she wouldn't have to be the one babysitting them. No, some other poor soul would get the opportunity to tear their hair out over the three of them and the trouble they caused. She'd be safely and blissfully settled in her lab working on the important work only she could do.
At least, that was the excuse she was preparing for General Hammond just in case he got any ideas about her watching the three of them. She was just grateful Teal'c had only been reduced to a teenager, and an older one at that. He wouldn't need any babysitting. Hmm. . . maybe he'd be assigned to watch over his teammates? She certainly didn't envy him if he did.
"And then I get ice cream, right?"
The question brought Janet back to the present and she couldn't help smiling. It had been asked before, during, and after every test or procedure that had been performed and Janet was very relieved to be able to give a different answer this time.
"Yes. After this test you can have ice cream. But only if you do exactly as I say and don't fidget."
"Okay!"
Janet felt satisfied with the setup and went to stand by the retractable shelf Sam was laying on. Smiling in an effort to reassure the obviously nervous child, she put a hand on Sam's arm.
"Okay, Sam, now here's what's going to happen. We're going to slide this bed you're on into this machine and it's going to take some pictures of what's inside of you so I can make sure everything is working right."
"How?"
"What?" The question surprised Janet, although she quickly realized it shouldn't. Sam was one of the most inquisitive people she knew—right up there with Daniel at the top of the list—and the fact that she was a child would probably only increase that curiosity.
"How does it take pictures of my insides?"
"Well, it uses a magnet and invisible radio frequency waves to . . . uh . . . see through your skin and . . . um . . ." Sam was watching her curiously, seemingly very interested in the answer, but frankly Janet didn't know enough about the mechanics of it to explain it to an adult Sam let alone a child Sam. If she'd ever expected a discussion on the subject, Janet would have guessed she'd be the one asking Sam, not the other way around.
"I'll explain it later," she finally said. "But it doesn't hurt and it won't harm you at all. I need you to remain very still though, okay?"
"Okay."
"All right. This is going to take a little while, but when it's done, you'll be finished for now."
"And then I get ice cream."
Janet nodded, smoothing a hand over Sam's head. "And then you get ice cream," she confirmed. "Ready?"
Sam nodded and Janet smiled and squeezed her hand, then stepped back to the wall to pres the play button on the sound system to start the music Sam had chosen. The speakers were strategically placed to focus sound into the bore of the machine where Sam lay. It was going to be a long session and the music would help pass the time—not to mention it was set loud enough to cover the somewhat disconcerting noise of the MRI chamber doing its work. Once she was satisfied with the volume she retreated to the control station and signaled for the scans to begin.
oOoo
"Are we stuck in here, Jack?"
"No."
A few seconds of blissful silence passed before . . .
"It looks like we're stuck in here."
"We're not."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" Jack whirled and glared down at the younger boy sitting on the floor. As time went by it was becoming less okay to have a little kid around.
"Okay."
The lights hadn't taken very long to get to and turn on once they started, but after that their time had been far less productive. Jack hadn't been worried at first because he figured that even if the door was locked it probably only locked from the outside.
He was wrong. All the twisting and turning in the world wasn't going to unlock the door without the accompanying key.
There was a phone inside the room, but Jack didn't have any numbers to call and even if he did he sure didn't want to call them. It would only bring the adults running and he wasn't anywhere near ready to admit defeat by calling for help.
That left finding a way out on their own which Jack had been endeavoring to do for the last two hours. He'd checked every item on the shelves that he could see, but there was no help there. It was mostly medical supplies, boxes of bandages, bottles of antiseptic, a few pieces of spare equipment, but nothing at all that he could see that might be useful in assisting their escape.
He decided to take another look at the shelves and see if there was something he might have missed. He might also try to investigate the upper levels for useful items.
"Stay here, Danny. I'm gonna look around again."
"Okay."
Danny was currently flipping through a book he'd found, pretending like he was reading it. Jack thought he looked kind of stupid because he was only five and he obviously couldn't read the words—Jack wasn't even sure you could put that many letters together in one word—but if he wanted to pretend he could then Jack wasn't going to complain. It kept him busy anyway.
Jack was just about ready to give up when he saw it. The solution to all their problems.
Now he just had to get to it.
'It' was an air vent. Not much bigger than Jack himself, it was, however, a way out of this room.
Unfortunately it was also on the other side of the room and would require climbing up to where it was located. Plus, unless Jack was mistaken, it had screws in it to keep it in place.
Okay. First, he had to find something he could use as a screwdriver.
Second, he needed to get both him and Danny up there.
Actually, he was pretty confident of his climbing abilities now that he'd made it up and down the sturdy shelving units several times now. It was just like using a ladder. He wasn't sure if Danny would have so easy a time, though. He supposed if he had to he could leave Danny here and come back and open the door from the other side. Except he didn't have the key. And he wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave Danny alone that long.
Third, he needed to get the cover off so they could get in.
He didn't know how they were going to get out on the other end, but he'd worry about that later. At least it would be out of this room.
His course of action laid out, Jack started his careful climb back down to the ground.
oOoo
Janet glanced up at the sound of someone entering the room and saw Hammond followed shortly thereafter by Teal'c and the corpsmen who'd gone with him in search of the missing children. Speaking of which, there was a conspicuous absence of any said children.
"You couldn't find them?" she asked.
Hammond glanced at Sam who was sitting on a bed working on making a bowl of ice cream rapidly disappear, then looked to his chief physician.
"No," he admitted. "All the main areas they might have gotten into have been searched, but nothing has been found yet. I've assigned SG-6 through 14 to search some of the more remote supply rooms and the like. What about you, Doctor?"
She shook her head. "Well, I've finished Sam's tests. There's nothing that I can see yet that would explain this but we're still waiting on a few of the more comprehensive tests to come back."
Hammond nodded. "I want you to begin on Teal'c. As soon as they're found I'll have Jack and Dr-" He shook his head. A five-year old couldn't be a doctor could he? "-Daniel brought back here."
"He prefers to be referred to as 'Danny,'" Teal'c informed them.
"Yup," Sam said between bites. "He said only his mom calls him Daniel when she's mad. Everyone else calls him Danny."
"Regardless of his name, he'll be brought back as soon as he's found. Keep me informed."
Fraiser nodded and Hammond turned to go.
"Uh, sir?" she said suddenly.
He stopped and turned back.
"Yes, Doctor?"
She was looking at Sam, but spoke to Hammond.
"I think I might have a way to catch our two escapees."
Hammond looked back to Sam and after a moment he thought he understood.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
oOoo
"So explain to me again why we're guarding the shitter?" Corporal Robbins asked his fellow Marine, Lance Corporal Thompson.
The two of them were flanking either side of the door leading into the men's room on level 28. Add to that the fact that they weren't armed with anything more than the standard 9mm service pistol in a hip holster that they wore all the time.
"Because we're Marines, Corporal, and we are entrusted with our country's most vital assets related to national security. That includes the assets that use the head in a top-secret facility like the SGC," Thompson said in a total deadpan.
A wry grin quirked Robbins' lips. "Riiight. This gives new meaning to my childhood fear of a snake coming out of the toilet to bite me on the ass."
Thompson grinned at that and glanced over at his squadmate. "Hell, Robbins," he said, his voice more relaxed. "How should I know why we're guarding the bathroom? I don't know why we do half the things we do around here, and frankly I don't care. The General said so and that's good enough for me. I still draw my paycheck whether I'm guarding the biggest secret on the planet or the crapper. And it could be worse. We don't get chow reliefs until the end of this watch and Stills' squad is guarding the mess hall. And I hear they're serving surf and turf for lunch with fresh-baked pie for dessert."
Robbins winced. "Ouch."
"Yeah. Like I said, it could be worse."
There was a moment of silence before Robbins spoke once more.
"I did hear the general right, didn't I? We're watching for a couple of kids?"
"That's what I heard," Thompson confirmed.
Robbins brow furrowed as he contemplated this and Thompson shook his head. "Trust me, Robbins. I know you're new, but you'll learn quickly. Guarding the bathrooms from little kids isn't as strange as half the things you'll see around here. But on the upside this job never gets boring."
"I suppose," Robbins said, though he still sounded unsure.
Thompson chuckled. "Welcome to Stargate Command, Corporal."
Thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading! Until next time . . .
"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." – Anonymous
Keaira