Once again, thanks for all the kind reviews. You guys really keep me going.

Chapter 3

Dr. Weir spotted Dr. Beckett and Dr. McKay immediately upon entering the infirmary and headed straight for them. The two men were engaged in conversation, their brows knitted in obvious concern. Noticing her approach, the two men stopped talking and turned to face her. She was busily trying to read their expressions, when movement directly behind them caught her attention. She slowly came to a stop, mouth slightly agape. About ten feet behind the men she was approaching, Major Sheppard, clothed in scrubs, sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed. She was pretty sure she had never seen him sit like that...ever. He held a small, kidney-shaped metal pan in his right hand and was waving it around in the air. She frowned. Was he making motor noises?

As Weir very slowly took the last couple of steps needed to close the distance between herself and the pair of men still staring at her, Sheppard saw her. He grinned from ear to ear and waved enthusiastically. "Hi, Dr. Weir! Look! I've got a band-aid." And he pointed to the band-aid on his right hand, covering the place where the IV had been. Weir absently brought her hand up and waved back. She was going to wake up in a few minutes and laugh at this very weird dream. She looked at the two men next to her, but they both seemed speechless.

"What is Major Sheppard doing?" she asked.

"If I'm not mistakin', I think he's playin' airplanes," replied Beckett.

Weir shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry, Carson. I thought you said playing airplanes."

"He did." piped in McKay.

"You're kidding, right?" She suddenly looked as though she just got the punchline of a joke. "Oh, I get it, it's 'let's get Weir day'. Ha! Ha! you guys. Joke's over."

The two men looked at each other and then looked back at her. Neither of them cracked so much as a flicker of a smile. You guys are good, she thought to herself.

"Elizabeth, this is no joke," said Beckett, an edge of worry in his voice. "Major Sheppard's not right. He's bloody well acting like a . . . six or seven year old."

Elizabeth leaned around the men in time to see Sheppard land his "airplane" on the bed. He seemed totally oblivious to the trio talking just a few feet away. Oh my gosh, he does remind me of my six year old nephew.

"How did this happen? Is it . . ."

"I don't know," replied Beckett. "And that goes for both questions. The only thin' I know to do is repeat all the tests we ran three days ago and compare the results. I know his vitals are okay now. I didn't get much of a look at the EEG before he started pullin' off electrodes. Maybe if we look at the results now as compared to normal and what we got three days ago, it can tell us somethin'."

"Zelenka and I are still sifting through the data we collected the day . . . you know. Anyway, we're coming closer to having everything together, we just still don't know if it will lead us anywhere. I keep thinking the answer has to be there somewhere."

"What is actually going on with him?" she asked, turning back to Dr. Beckett. "Has he lost him memory, is he in any pain, what do you know?"

"Well, he seems fit as a fiddle. He's relaxed and happy. As a matter of fact, that's the most relaxed I've ever seen the man. And you have to watch it. He doesn't much care what he says. Memories are still there. I don't know if all life memories are accessible right now, but he remembers who we are, where we are, and what we're doin' here. He even seems to remember a little of what happened in the Ancient lab. But everything is going through the mind of a six year old. Because of that, he may know something, but not understand it. He may not be the exact six year old he was a child, but make no mistake about it, he is operating with the mind of a child . . . a very young child. I think we're going to have to treat him as such right now."

Weir became momentarily distracted. "Uh, Rodney," she began as she nodded towards Sheppard. Rodney turned to see that Sheppard, having become bored with his airplanes, had taken up residence in McKay's chair with his laptop. The major was busily typing away with two fingers as he scrutinized the screen. Rodney whirled around and raced to the chair at a pace neither Weir nor Beckett realized he was capable of on such short notice.

"No,no,no! You can't play with that. So help me , you better not have messed up my formula!" Sheppard quit typing as McKay reached his side and proudly proclaimed, "I fixed it."

McKay's face drained of color as he scooped up the laptop. He was muttering under his breath. "Oh no! Oh no! Please not the formula." He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the screen. In a minute, he pecked out a few things and then looked amazed.

"So, did he destroy your file, Rodney?" asked Weir.

McKay just sat on the bed, his mouth open. Beckett couldn't resist a cut. "Rodney, you're goin' to catch flies with yer mouth open like that."

"I fixed it," Sheppard repeated. "That was fun. Do you have more games like that? Or maybe we could go out and play." Sheppard quickly became distracted rattling instruments on the table next to his bed.

"Rodney, are you okay?" Weir finally asked.

He looked up at them, his eyes wide in disbelief. "He really did fix it. And from what I can tell . . . it's right. I've been working on that formula for almost two weeks. I was trying to find a way to make the correct energy conversions when connecting our technology with the ancient technology so that we don't get all the energy spikes. I kept getting stuck on this one part, but he . . . How is this possible? He shouldn't have understood that formula as an adult, much less as a child. It doesn't make any sense."

Beckett sighed heavily. "Rodney, since when do you expect anythin' in this place to make sense?"

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McKay returned to the lab and worked there with Zelenka the rest of the day. Around noon, Zelenka suggested they take a break and get some lunch.

"You go ahead, Radek. I need to stay at it. I'm just not getting anywhere with this."

Zelenka knew Rodney was troubled about everthing happening to Major Sheppard. He had worked quietly all morning. He had completely ignored all attempts to bait him into their characteristic war of sarcasm. Now he didn't want to eat. Rodney was very definitely upset. Suddenly, McKay picked up a pen and hurled it across the room, missing Zelenka's head by inches.

"Rodney! Are you crazy? Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm sorry, Radek. I didn't mean to . . . This is just so frustrating!" He got up and started pacing nervously. "I told him it was safe. I told him he'd be okay. And then, what did I do? I backed up so I wouldn't get hurt. Here Sheppard, turn it on, but don't stand too close to me when you do it. He trusted me and I let him down. He's never let me down. He's never told me it was safe when it wasn't."

"Rodney! You've got to get a hold of yourself. It's not your fault! The major knew what he was doing. It's not like he hasn't been zapped by ancient devices while turning them on before. He knows the risk. He would have said no if he thought it was too dangerous."

"You don't understand, Radek. The man has saved my sorry butt more times that I can remember. We're supposed to have each other's back . . . but I didn't have his. He's my friend. I don't have very many of those and I'd kind of like to keep the one's I've accumulated. I just wish . . . " His voice trailed off as he heard himself saying I'm sure it's perfectly safe.

Zelenka placed his hand gently on McKay's shoulder. "I'm your friend too. And I've actually gotten to know Major Sheppard pretty well. I kind of like him, now that I am no longer afraid of him." McKay actually smiled very briefly. "This was not your fault and I think if the adult major was here with us, he would agree. I think he would be very upset with you that you are taking the blame for it. We are dealing with the unknown, Rodney. No one knows that better than you. Things will happen and they will not always be good. We must deal with them as best we can and go on. You can't help Major Sheppard if you pass out. Let's go get something to eat."

McKay sadly nodded his head. "Thank you Radek," he said softly as they walked out the door.

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While McKay and Zelenka were working in the lab, Beckett and his medical staff got the pleasure of running tests on Major Sheppard. Nothing could have prepared him and his staff for running tests on a terrified six year old child in the body of a six-foot-two, battle-trained soldier in tip top shape. Sheppard had seemed nervous and scared when Beckett began trying to explain all the tests they would be doing, so Beckett called in Teyla. He thought her calmness and soothing voice might keep the childlike Sheppard from being too afraid. And Teyla's presence did help . . . at least at first. She reassured him and held his hand as they began making preparations. He seemed to trust her and was willing to follow her instructions. The trouble began when they came to draw blood. Apparently, as a six year old, Sheppard was terrified of needles. They still might have been okay except for one thing . . . Sharon Moss.

Beckett admitted afterward that it was a serious error in judgement to send her to collect blood. She was young and inexperienced. To make matters worse, she had a serious crush on the major. He wasn't sure what had rattled her - the inexperience, the crush on Sheppard, or the sight of her crush behaving like a six year old. Whatever it was, it took her no less that five probing needle sticks to finally find a vein. Sheppard was brave through the first couple of stabs, he just kept holding Teyla's hand as she told him to hold still and it would all be over shortly. By the third stick, he was crying and pleading with the nurse to stop. It took two extra nurses to hold his arm still for four and five. When the blood finally began to spurt into the collecting tubes, Sheppard was near hysterics.

Teyla sat on the exam table with Sheppard, her arms around his chest and his head on her shoulder for a good thirty minutes after the blood was collected. He was shaking and crying and wouldn't let anyone else near him at first. Slowly, with her reassuring touch and soothing voice, she calmed him down. When Sheppard was relaxed again, Beckett decided the do the EEG. Since he was already familiar with having the leads attached to his head, Beckett thought it would be less traumatic. The major actually thought that one was kind of cool. By the time they were ready for the CAT Scan and MRI, Beckett had called in reinforcements from off-duty personnel. He wanted to use contrast dye to get more detailed results and that would require needles.

The whimpering began as soon as they brought out the needle. Teyla managed to keep him calm during the intitial injection, but as soon as the tingling warmth hit his veins, he was terrified again. He pleaded with them to please stop hurting him. Beckett actually saw one of the nurses wipe away a tear. He just tried not to think about it. There was a reason he never went into pediatrics and this was pretty much it. Amazingly enough, they did finally get Sheppard to lie still enough to complete the testing. Just when Beckett thought everything was finally over, the lab sent word they needed one more vial of blood. At this point, Beckett almost cried. He decided to draw the blood himself.

Sheppard was curled up in a fetal position on the bed, his head in Teyla's lap. His hands were balled up into fists just in front of his face and he was chewing on one finger. His eyes were red and swollen and his face tear-streaked. He was shaking ever so slightly, letting out a strained whimper periodically. Teyla stroked his hair, telling him that everything was going to be all right. Beckett watched, mesmerized, for a minute. Teyla would make a fine mother some day. Mother. Warrior. What a contrast. He kept telling himself that he had to do this for Major Sheppard. Slowly, he walked up to the table.

Sheppard began to breathe hard and whimper louder almost immediately. He had not missed the blood collecting materials in Beckett's hand. Beckett nodded at Teyla and then knelt in front of Sheppard. It broke his heart when the major pulled back from him, as if afraid. "Major, I'm afraid the lab needs just a wee bit more blood. I know you've been through a lot today. If you let me do this, I'll be as gentle as I can and, I promise, no one will stick you with any more needles today. What do ya think? Can you do it one more time?"

Sheppard continued to stare ahead and chew on his finger, so that Beckett wasn't even sure he had heard him. And then Sheppard took his hand out of his mouth and focused his eyes on Beckett. There was a brief flash of something less child-like in his eyes. There and gone. Or did he imagine it? "No more after this?"

"No more, lad. You have my word."

Sheppard seemed to accept this. He held out his arms to Beckett, who cringed when he saw how battered and bruised they looked. He selected the left arm -- less puncture marks. Carefully, he tied on the tubing, found a vein, hit it easily the first time (for that, he would be eternally grateful), and drew out one tube of blood. Sheppard watched it all without flinching. It was as if he was exhausted, all the fight drained out of him. Beckett finished applying the band-aid. "No more needles today. I promise."

Sheppard smiled his thanks. As Beckett turned to leave a few minutes later, he noticed Sheppard's eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly. Beckett had been on a roller coaster of pity, anger, and sheer exhaustion today. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Sheppard was feeling. How did they end up in these messes? How were they ever going to get out of this one? As if reading his mind, Teyla said, "We will find a way to restore Major Sheppard. There are many good people working on the situation. I trust that all will be well."

"I hope yer right, lass, I sure do hope yer right. And thank you for yer help today. I do not think any of us could have gotten through this without ya. Most especially him," he said as he nodded towards Sheppard.

"Major Sheppard is my friend. I will always do anything in my power to help him." She looked down at his sleeping form. "When he wakes, may I take him to get something to eat?"

"Aye, that may not be a bad idea after what he's been through today. Do him good to get out of here for a few minutes, although you'll have to keep your eyes on him. Let me know when he wakes up so I can make sure he's okay."

Teyla nodded and went back to stroking the sleeping form before her. "Rest major. We will take care of you. Just rest."

TBC