Author Notes: Thank you all so much, you are amazing! I love every review. I hope you like the way this fic's going.

Chapter 6: Crate A45KG

Sam scrabbled along the duct as fast as she could in a small space. She remembered Mark had talked about going potholing once, she decided that she would never do the same; crawling around confined tunnels was not her favourite pastime. The thudding got louder, and she increased pace.

Sam's foot caught on a piece of jutting out metal. Gasping, she twisted around to see if it was bleeding, when a flash of silver caught her eye. Twisting further, so that she was on her back, propped up by her elbows, Sam tried to get a better look at her pursuer.

She screamed.

Janet was in her office when she heard it. A horrible, blood curdling scream that reverberated all around. She was not the only one who heard it either. The shafts and ducts echoed Sam's screams three levels up and down from the infirmary level.

Jack and Teal'c were just returning to Daniel and Jonas when they heard it. Thinking it came from the two children in their beds, they ran the remainder of the distance. Seeing them unmoving, both glanced wildly around to find the source of the noise. They saw Janet rushing out of her office, "It's coming from the ventilation," She gasped out, "It's Sam!"

Yelling over the screaming, Jack covered his ears, "But why is she making so much noise?"

The screaming stopped, shortly followed by a crash outside. Rushing back into the corridor, the three were met with a very distraught twelve year old on the floor with a ventilation grill; she had apparently fallen out. Dropping the grill Sam began scrambling away, eyes wide with terror. In her fear, she attached herself to the nearest adult, Jack, and wouldn't let go, all thoughts of NID gone from her mind.

Jack looked down at Sam, who was shaking violently, then back up to the duct. As he watched, he saw with horror that something silver and auburn had dropped onto the floor. It was obviously mechanical, but it also had some parts that looked organic. The auburn parts of it were covered in strange symbols and runes. It crackled. "Oh boy."

Jack grabbed Sam, and pushed Teal'c and Janet back into the infirmary. "Doc, bolt the door."

Janet quickly complied, locking it securely. Jack felt Sam's arm leave him as she went over to her friends to try and wake them. Jack leapt into action, declaring a foothold situation and an immediate lockdown. A thud sounded at the door, "It would appear it is trying to come in O'Neill!" Teal'c thundered from his position by the door.

"Doc? Got any weapons?"

"Colonel, this is an infirmary, not an armoury!"

Sam shuffled warily over to Jack by the door, "Would this help?" She held out the zat.

"Nice to know you trust us now, but where on earth did you get a zat?"

Sam scowled at him, "I don't trust you, you're idiots, but I would prefer not to be killed by that thing and I can't shoot. Oh, and Daniel stole it."

Jack raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment further, "T, you take the zat, doc, ya got anything for us to hit it with?"

Janet hurried away and returned with two metal bed poles. Taking strategic positions, they waited. The creature/thing did not disappoint. The door flew off its hinges in one clean blast. Teal'c let off a volley of shots from his zat, it slowed, Jack noticed the organic parts of it beginning to wither away. Before he could tell Teal'c this fact, something white, blackened with soot, shot past him and the thing, and was out of the door. It immediately scuttled after the small girl faster than Teal'c could shoot.

"What does the creature want with Samantha Carter?" Teal'c lowered his weapon.

"I don't know, but we've got to go after her." Leaving Doctor Fraiser to clean up the mess, they both ran after the predator and prey.

Sam bombed down the hallway, past security teams, all the while screeching, "The thing's right behind me! Move!"

The situation confused many people into lowering their guns. This was a bad move, as the creature was easily upon them, zapping them with what looked suspiciously like a zat charge, but ten times more powerful; people were disintegrating on the spot. Bullets didn't even slow it down.

While the creature was occupied, Sam frantically looked for a place to hide. Skidding round a corner, she saw an access shaft was open from people looking for her earlier. Leaping inside and slamming it shut, she decided to climb down – at least that way she'd be able to see if it was following her.

It wasn't long before there was a creaking sound from above. Sam took the initiative and turned the wheel to open another access hatch. Scrambling out just in time, she was just missed by a shower of sparks, shortly followed by a crashing piece of metal; the remainder of the hatch above. Hurriedly locking the hatch in front of her, she ran full pelt down the corridor.

Jack stared at the dust that had once been people and the burnt out hatch. He was wondering what to do next, when a voice sounded, "Attention all personnel. Intruder in the Gateroom."

Jack and Teal'c made it down to the control room in time to see a petrified Sam backing against a wall, being advanced upon by a decidedly bigger creature than before.

Jack frowned, "Who let them in? I thought the blast doors are down in a foothold."

"I did, Colonel," General Hammond looked worried, "That creature seems to have a taste for Samantha's blood, and she was backing against the door."

"Now what?" Jack frowned, and then, as strange as it was, he actually had a brainwave, "Begin dialling to a planet, I don't care which, just as long as there isn't a black hole on the other side. Hold on the last chevron."

"Colonel?" The technician looked confused as to whether he should comply or not.

"Do it already! And keep the iris open." He leaned towards the microphone, "Sam, listen to me. You see that big ring? I want you to run up the ramp, so that the ring is between us and you." Sam obeyed.

"Chevron seven is locked."

"Wait for it," The creature was advancing on Sam, up the ramp, "Sam don't move."

The creature crouched and- "Now!"

The Stargate engaged, and the puddle whooshed outwards, engulfing and destroying the creature in mid-leap. Sam fainted from exhaustion, and the sight of the strange blue liquid materialising in front of her.

"Teal'c! Will you stop looking at me like that! I am entitled to an idea once in a while."

"I am very aware of it O'Neill, I was just under the impression that Major Carter was the technology 'geek', as you call her."

Janet stifled a snigger, while Jack sulked. They were all in the infirmary. Daniel and Jonas were being prepared to be moved into the isolation room again, with slightly more security than before. Sam was being treated for severe shock and exhaustion.

Jack sighed, serious again, "When is this nightmare gonna end?"

"I don't know Colonel. We still have no leads."

"So they could be stuck like this forever?"

Janet didn't answer.

Daniel awoke to soft crying. He opened his eyes to find that, once again, he was in the blinding white room. Jonas was nearby, huddled in a white blanket on the floor in a corner. "Jonas?" It was then that he realised Jonas wasn't actually awake.

Sliding off the bed, Daniel shook Jonas awake. He was terrified at first, but soon calmed down, "Sorry I got us caught."

Daniel frowned, "Don't worry about it, Sam can get us out. Why did you react like that to the fire?"

Jonas shifted uncomfortably, wiping his eyes even as new tears formed. The revelation hit Daniel like a tonne of bricks. Sitting down beside him, allowing Jonas to lean against him, he whispered, "Your family died in a fire didn't they? I'm sorry Jonas. Where I come from, it's really hot and fires start all the time. I know how hard it is to lose someone." Jonas muttered something inaudible. "What?"

Slightly louder, but not so loud that Daniel didn't have to strain to hear it, Jonas whispered, "But mine wasn't an accident."

Daniel frowned. Jonas didn't seem like the sort of person who would start a fire. He also seemed more upset than guilty. Daniel would have enquired further, but Jonas had already fallen back to sleep.

It had taken them hours to calm Sam down, but they had finally been successful. She seemed a lot happier now that she was back in with Daniel and Jonas too. Jack allowed himself a small smile. They were safe. Jonas was sleeping on the far pallet, while Sam and Daniel were talking about the day's events.

No one had any idea why the creature had gone after Sam and Sam alone. They did, however, find out where it had come from; the storage level that had been on fire. Subsequently, the whole level had been shut off for a clean up crew to repack and secure everything. Jack had his suspicions that it was the creature that had started the fire in the first place, although, why it had chosen that time to activate was beyond anyone's guess. Jack was secretly pleased that it had been SG-2 for once, and not SG-1 that had brought it back from some alien ruins.

He was startled out of his thoughts by Sam kneeling on the pallet in front of the mirror, "I'm hungry," she whined, "But don't think of adding anything to it."

Jack realised that the children hadn't eaten since the morning of their last mission; he was surprised they hadn't complained sooner, but they probably had been more worried about other things. Jack smirked, and went off to organise some food.

"Finally!" Sam jumped down as the orderlies retreated; she had found it funny how more of them had been accompanied by tranquillisers this time, "Should we wake Jonas?"

Daniel shook his head, "Give him a bit more time."

The two children had quickly polished off their food, and gently woke Jonas. Five minutes later and he still hadn't touched his food, "But what is it?"

Sam sighed, "Remind me never to go to Kelowney-whatsit. They're chips and they're nice, trust me."

Jonas gave his food one last poke, before returning to bed, "You guys can have it."

Sam sighed and put the food on the floor. Both she and Daniel curled up into bed.

The three of them had not been asleep an hour before Sam awoke again. "Urgh. I should've know they'd put something in the food." She curled up around her aching stomach.

The pain did not go away, in fact it increased to such intensity that she began to writhe and scream.

Their twelve hours were up.

Jack was jerked from his doze by that horrible scream; he had hoped he wouldn't hear it again. He watched in morbid fascination as Sam screeched and twisted on her bed, "Shit." He ran out of the room to get Janet.

By the time medical teams returned, Sam was unconscious and it was Daniel that was screaming, Jonas was huddled terrified in a corner. "Oh my god." Janet was focused on Sam, who was now an adult again. Daniel was growing older, he was now about twenty.

Rushing into the room, Janet went into full on Doctor Mode. "Get Sam to the infirmary, and Jonas. We need to make Daniel as comfortable as we can. Colonel! Get out now!" Jack was pushed out by three orderlies and left to pace outside.

The screams stopped a few minutes later, but started up again almost immediately, this time from the direction of the infirmary. Jack curled up in a chair, feeling sick, despite his special ops training. Who would cause anyone that much pain, and be sane?

"Alright General, Colonel, Teal'c, you can come in now."

"How are they?"

"Still unconscious. I was looking over your mission report Colonel; it seems as if someone programmed them to turn back into adults after twelve hours."

"Who would do that?" Hammond wondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine; there are no trace chemicals, metals, or anything for that matter left in their systems."

A groan from Sam's bed drew their attention, "I'm gonna kill that bald git."

"Carter?"

Sam tried to sit up, "Ow." She clutched her head and lay back down.

"I hope you weren't talking about me major."

"What? General! Err, no sir, I-"

"Relax Major Carter; I'm glad to see you well. I'll want a full mission report when you, Doctor Jackson and Mr Quinn are feeling better." Smiling, General Hammond left the room.

Sam closed her eyes recounting the past twelve hours, which now all seemed like a really bizarre dream, or rather a nightmare. She had a horrible feeling that this was just the beginning of Aquiell's 'gift'.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Well, that's the end of the first section of this story. What do you think? I'd appreciate all reviews you can give me.

There is also something else. I won't be updating for a few days now to give you all a chance to choose. I'm leaving it up to you to decide whose past you want me to deal with first; Sam's, Daniel's or Jonas' – I can't decide myself, because I know what they are and am way too biased! Thanks for the support guys. Bye!