Part three- Werewolf

"The virus has almost totally transformed Daniel's DNA," Janet concluded, flipping through her report. "It appears to have been bonded to a canine strand of genetic material that I've never seen before."

Few things were able to surprise General Hammond anymore, but this was one of them. "What exactly does that mean?"

Sam hesitantly spoke up. "Daniel thinks the wolves on P4X-523 are the origin of the werewolf myths, sir."

The general pondered that for a moment. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by that, given what Doctor Jackson has been experiencing. Is he dangerous?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Janet admitted reluctantly, feeling sick at the thought that the kind, thoughtful archaeologist could ever be dangerous enough to be locked up. "He hasn't shown any inclination to infect anyone else, and to be honest, I don't see any evidence he can transmit his condition. It may have only been a fluke, or perhaps since he isn't originally a wolf like them, he can't pass on the virus."

The trio looked down through the observation room window. The isolation room below was almost totally dark, but a single candle threw light on the calm face of Daniel Jackson, sitting cross-legged in the center of the bare floor. Teal'c mirrored his position on the other side of the candle, murmuring too quietly for the microphones to pick up. Jack had posted himself in front of the blast door, zat in hand in case anything went wrong, but looking rather confident that it would not be needed.

"Teal'c suggested using meditation techniques to keep him calm," Janet explained. "So far it appears to be working; he hasn't lapsed into wolf form since they started. We're theorizing that his emotions, specifically anger and fear, are what trigger the transformations."

"We can't have that happen offworld," Hammond said reluctantly. "It could be disastrous if Doctor Jackson became incapacitated in a firefight like this."

Sam hesitated, clearly not liking what she was about to suggest. "He probably shouldn't go offbase at all until he has this under control, sir," she suggested. "I don't want to keep him cooped up in here, but if he can't control his form, interactions with the civilian population could be just as bad. What if he was startled by something and transformed in public?"

Hammond didn't like it either, but he nodded. "I agree. Inform Doctor Jackson that he is not to leave the base until he demonstrates the ability to resist transformation reliably. Do you believe it's still necessary to keep him in the infirmary?"

Janet shook her head. "I can't be a hundred percent positive that he can't transmit his condition, but I can't see any way he would be able to. If he feels he's ready, I'm recommending he be put on light duty, but I want someone to be with him at all times just in case complications come up." She quickly backtracked at their looks of concern. "I don't mean medical complications," she clarified. "For instance, if he were to somehow get stuck as a wolf, he could be trapped in his office if the door was closed, and he wouldn't be able to call for help."

"That sounds reasonable," Hammond allowed. "Keep me posted on his condition."

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"Okay, that's enough for today."

Daniel almost protested, but Sam gave him a look that he was quickly becoming accustomed to. "Okay," he agreed, and as he put the barbells back he realized he'd been casually hefting at least a hundred and twenty pounds. Huh. Could've sworn it was lighter...

Sam tossed him a towel as he sat up, and he had to resist the urge to shake his head to dry his hair. A faint, high-pitched whine had started up, but he was getting used to that. All the electronics on the base seemed to give off a hum that only he could hear, though none were quite as bad as those plants from PJ2-445. "I could've gone on longer," Daniel said, draping the towel over his neck.

Sam eyed him. "I don't doubt you could've, but you shouldn't strain yourself until we're sure this won't give out on you suddenly."

Daniel admitted that she had a point. "Yeah, I suppose it would be bad form if I accidentally crushed myself with a barbell." He rubbed his temples a little; the whining noise was getting louder.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam asked, touching his shoulder.

Daniel frowned. "Yeah, just picking up those stupid electronic noises again. It's worse than feedback."

Sam winced. "Ouch. That must be really tough on the ears."

"Fortunately aspirin is safe for canine-kind," Daniel agreed sheepishly. "I-" He stopped, tilting his head to the side. "That's not electrical noise," he realized out loud, concentrating. "It's going up in pitch...shit!" Dropping the towel and ignoring Sam's calls, he bolted for the door of the gym.

He avoided the elevator in favor of the stairs, following the increasingly loud whine to the science labs. More specifically, Sam's lab. "SAM!" he yelled, not noticing that it wasn't what he'd said at all. A strange scent hung in the air, but it was almost masked by the stench of heating naquada. One of Sam's generators had somehow been set to overload, and the noise he'd heard was the machine preparing to explode.

Sam had managed to keep Daniel in sight, barely, throughout his mad dash across the base, and immediately grasped the situation. Moving quickly, she lunged at the generator and rapidly adjusted the settings to stop the overload. The whining, which was audible even to the human ear at this range, fizzled out and died. Only then did Sam turn to Daniel, and whatever she was going to say left her brain entirely.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he tried to ask, startled when it came out as a yipping noise. He checked himself over. Fur, tail, paws. Dammit, not again. He closed his eyes and focused on the meditation techniques that Teal'c had taught him, and felt his body go through the eerie feeling of shapeshifting almost immediately. Another thought hit him as soon as he became fully human, and he thanked any listening deity that his clothes had managed to stay draped around his wolf body this time. There was a rather large hole where his tail had been, but if he pulled the edge of his shirt down enough he could keep himself covered long enough to change.

"You must have really good ears to hear that from all the way down in the gym," Sam commented, dropping the subject of his absent-minded transformation for the moment. "Don't suppose you could hear who did this?"

Daniel shook his head, tugging his shirt down. "Sorry, I'm not quite that good." He looked around the lab, not seeing anything else out of place except the generator.

"I'm going to call security and notify the general," Sam said, moving towards the phone on her desk. "There's a spare pair of pants in the third filing cabinet," she told him, taking pity on his predicament.

Daniel didn't bother to ask why she had spare pants in her lab, but thanked her and ducked into the nearby bathroom to change, grateful that he and Sam wore similar enough sizes that he could borrow her pants in an emergency. They were a bit tight, but it was better than mooning the base on the way to the locker room. Also better than listening to Jack make 'full moon' jokes, Daniel decided, muttering under his breath about werewolves and colonels.

End part three.