Title: The Wisdom of Youth
a/n: I haven't really decided what time frame to put this in, but I'm leaning towards sometime during season five or seven, mostly because I need Cassie to be old enough to be in high school, but I need Daniel to be there and I want Janet to be alive . Why, you ask? Read and find out! J
Chapter 2: Undomesticated Equines
After deciding that the first order of business was to get back to the SGC, the team hiked back through the desert to the Stargate and dialed home. Their reception wasn't pleasant, but General Hammond decided that the best way to handle the situation was to have the group escorted immediately to the infirmary. He knew for a fact that the girl who stood on the left of the young man in a baseball cap as they came through the 'Gate was Samantha Carter, but only because he remembered what she looked like when she was about sixteen years old.
"What can you tell me, Doctor?" Hammond questioned Doctor Frasier as he stood by the entrance to the infirmary. He looked about the room at the younger versions of his officers, noticing that the young man claiming to be O'Neill was fidgeting about and playing with the hoses on the IV next to his bed, something he had seen Jack do before, if only with more gray in his hair.
"The blood work checks out, sir," Janet glanced down at her clipboard and marked something in with her pen. "They are who they say they are, and they seem to have retained their adult memories, even if they're bodies are younger."
"What's caused this to happen?" George looked back to Janet.
"I'm not quite sure, sir, but something has affected their cells in their bodies to regenerate, essentially making their ages half of what they were before."
"So, basically you're telling me that SG-1 are now teenagers, with the exception of Teal'c."
"Well, Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill, sir," Janet explained slowly. "Teal'c is around fifty years of age, while the Colonel is about twenty-four to twenty-five years old. Major Carter is somewhere around seventeen and Daniel is about nineteen or twenty." She added.
"Is it safe to let them out of quarantine?"
"I'd say so, there's no evidence of any viruses, nanites, bacteria, or anything that could potentially be spread to the rest of us."
"Good." General Hammond walked over to the 'kids'. "Colonel O'Neill."
"Yes, General?" Jack sat up straighter.
"I'd like to know what happened to you four, we'll debrief as soon as you're discharged." He turned to look at Janet once more. "Doctor, I'd like you to join us as well." Janet nodded solemnly.
"Yes sir." General Hammond walked out of the infirmary briskly. Jack glanced over at Sam for the hundredth time since they'd been sitting in the infirmary and saw she was looking at him as well. He felt his insides do a happy dance when she smiled briefly and blushed. Well, I can remember being an adult, but I definitely feel like a kid again. He gave her a lopsided grin, just to see if he could get her to blush even more. His grin turned into a wide smile when he saw her go crimson and suddenly become very interested in her shoes. His smile suddenly stopped when he realized that she was still his 2IC, no matter how old they all were. Coughing into his fist, he stood up.
"Well, let's go debrief, shall we?" He looked directly at Sam and couldn't help but wink at her when she turned almost purple. Dammit, stop that, O'Neill! He silently ordered himself.
"You guys are good to go." Janet told him with a half-concealed amused expression on her face.
"Yes, ma'am!" Jack did a mock salute and lead the rest of his team to the briefing room, but not before Janet briefly caught Sam's attention and pointed to Colonel O'Neill, fanning herself with her other hand and pretending to faint. Sam glowered at her and stomped out of the room. Janet giggled to herself, only to realize that her nurses were staring at her, not at all trying to hide their amusement.
"Oh, go back to work!" She ordered, not in the least bit disconcerted. She then followed SG-1's suit and went to the briefing room as well, her medical files tucked securely under her arm.
"So, basically, we're the same, just our ages were cut in half?" Daniel queried Janet after she had explained the situation to the room.
"Yes, exactly Daniel. I don't quite yet understand how, but I'm working on it. Hopefully we'll be able to get you guys back to normal soon."
"How soon?" Jack put in.
"I'm not sure yet. Until we know what caused it, we won't know how to reverse it."
"Has my symbiote been affected, Doctor Frasier?"
"Yes, although it probably won't really know the difference since it was only a few years old to begin with." Teal'c leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers together, bringing them up to his chin and regarding Janet thoughtfully.
"We're sending another SG team through the 'Gate to check out the ruins you were investigating to see if there's any evidence that it had something to do with your…transformations." General Hammond said. "Until then, I would like you all to remain on base," and when he saw Jack about to object, he added, "at least for now."
"Yes sir." Jack sank back into his chair, pouting. He really wanted to get off base and go home or go do something. He had so much energy, and felt like he hadn't in, well, about twenty-five years.
"I'm taking you all off the active duty roster for now, and it will remain that way until we figure something out." General Hammond gazed around the room, seeing nods of affirmation coming from each individual. "Very well, dismissed." The all got up and filed out of the briefing room.
As soon as they had left the room, Jack spun around to face his teammates, a big goofy grin plastered on his face.
"So, who's up for a game of basketball?"
"Ohforcryinoutloud…" Sam said under her breath.
A week flew by, and SG-1's 'condition' remained the same. They kept themselves very busy, as they all had energy abound (especially the Colonel) and spent a lot of time playing sports or having some sort of physical tournament. Finally, however, after having to deal with the whining of his 2IC and getting confirmation from Janet that they weren't really needed on base, General Hammond decided to let them off base, but only if they stayed together and tried to stay out of trouble. After all, if O'Neill was rowdy and uncouth before when he was an older man, he could only imagine the sort of trouble he could get himself into now.
The bright point of all this for Sam was that she would get to see Cassandra, who she hadn't spent very much time with as of late and felt that a visit with her was far overdue. She was very much looking forward to seeing her goddaughter, even if she was basically the same age as her now.
It was decided that Jack's house was where they would stay while off-base since Sam's house was surrounded by neighbors who would find four young people living in her house odd, Daniel's apartment was too small, and Teal'c lived on base anyway. Plus his house was the biggest.
As it was the beginning of December, it was snowing and cold, and the ground was covered in a fresh layer of powdery white. Cassie was there waiting for them when they arrived at Jack's home, having let herself in with her spare key that Jack had given her.
"Holy Hannah!" She cried out when she saw them all. "I mean, my mom told me you'd be different, but I was expecting some kinda deformity or something…" She smiled when she looked at Jack, who gave her a O'Neill half-smile in return, but she squealed when she saw Sam and Daniel. "Wow! You guys could go to my high school!" Sam and Daniel looked back and forth between each other for a second, then back to Cassie somewhat apprehensively. "This is totally cool! We're so having a slumber party tonight!" She hugged them all excitedly, her face lit up like a Christmas tree. Jack was instantly reminded about how Carter used to get when she saw something new on their adventures, the same sort of jubilated exuberance, bright eyed with a big smile.
"What is involved in this celebration of sleeping?" Teal'c inquired.
"That's slumber party, Teal'c," Jack suppressed a grin. "You sit around and eat food, talk, and have a good time while doing it. Think of it as a sort of bonding ceremony, T. And that sounds great, Cass. Let's order some pizza."
"Sweet!" Cassie squealed again. "I'll get right on that sir!" She mock-saluted Jack and ran into the kitchen to grab the phone. "This'll be the awesome-est slumber party ever!" She called before she started ordering pizza.
"Oh yeah," Daniel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Awesome-est ever!"
"If this is indeed the sort of ceremony that O'Neill describes it as," Teal'c looked directly at Jack. "The undomesticated equines could not keep me from participating."
a/n: Thanks for the support guys, keep it coming! The next chapter will be sugar-high, raging teenage hormone goodness. I will post more soon. Till next time, campers:P