They stepped out of the gate and onto the ramp, the gate shutting down a moment later. "Cool," whispered Sam, and Jack smiled, then felt her arms tighten as she noticed the room full of soldiers with guns pointing at them. Daniel and Teal'c pressed a little tighter on either side and he saw Teal'c was moving to arm the Zat he'd given him, and subtly shook his head at the boy, relieved when Teal'c stopped. Jack squeezed the boy's hand.
"Stand down," came the General's voice from the control room, and a moment later, the man himself appeared, turning the corner into the room. Sam wiggled, clearly wanting down, and Jack let her, mind on how to explain what had happened to his team, and not on the little girl with her arms wrapped around his waist. "Colonel O'Neill, SG-1 is back early… Colonel, where is the rest of SG-1?" The General stopped at the bottom of the ramp, staring up at him.
Suddenly, words failed him. He took several steps down the ramp, tugging the kids along with him. "Uh, you see General Hammond sir, this is…"
"Uncle George?" No longer hiding behind him, Sam had slipped out and covered the distance to the General, and was now tugging on his shirtsleeve, trying to get his attention.
George Hammond stared down into the young face before him, and recognition hit him like a brick wall. "Sammy?" he said, his voice tinged with awe.
"Uncle George," she said again, her chest rising and falling rapidly, and tears again threatening to fall, "Where's my mommy and daddy?"
The full impact of the situation sunk in, and even as he gathered the little girl in his arms, scooping her up off the floor and letting her lay her head on his shoulder, he turned to face Jack O'Neill. Without asking, Hammond knew without a doubt that the hands of the two young boys the other man held were Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c.
"Infirmary?" Jack said, for the moment, no jokes forthcoming.
Hammond nodded. "I'll come with you."
Despite the uncertainty and seriousness of the situation however, as Jack led his two suddenly very young teammates out of the room, he couldn't help but smile, when he heard Sam whisper softly to the General as she hesitantly patted his head, "Uncle George, where did all your hair go?"
AsLongAsWeGotEachOther,WeCanTakeAnythingThatComesOurWayDr. Janet Fraiser looked up from the chart she was reading as General Hammond entered the infirmary carrying a small blond girl. That was unusual enough by itself, but Colonel O'Neill followed just behind him with two young boys, which he settled on a nearby bed. The boys looked apprehensive, and she noticed that one of them was wearing glasses much too large for his small face, while the other looked like he had a smaller, duller, version of a Jaffa's tattoo on his forehead. Both boys wore clothing way too large for their small frames. The General moved to place the small girl on the bed opposite to the boys, but she whimpered and clung to him and the two men exchanged a look, and the General ended up sitting on the bed, with the girl curling into his side instead. Janet's eyebrows rose even further, wondering what would make the child so clingy to the General of all people. She set her clipboard down, and went to greet the group, only slightly surprised when the Colonel left the others and took her aside.
"Colonel?" Janet greeted him, her greeting conveying her question.
"Uh, yeah, Doc. SG-1 ran into some problems." Jack shifted, and sighed. "This is SG-1." He motioned to group of children, and Janet's eyes widened. Suddenly, she saw things she hadn't seen before. The girl was blond, the same familiar blue eyes. Daniel's hair had a bit more blonde to it, but he was clearly recognizable, especially with the glasses. And the last boy didn't just look like a Jaffa. He was a Jaffa!
"Oh my god!" she murmured.
Jack shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea what happened. I was only gone a couple minutes. Carter was supposed to be running some kinda scan or something on that… that alien whatsit over there, and next thing I know they were all screaming," He suppressed a shudder before continuing, "And by the time I got there, they were like this. Doc, they don't remember anything." He stared at her pointedly while his words sunk in.
"Anything?" she repeated, slightly confused.
"Zero, zip, zilch, nadda. They don't know who I am, they don't know about the Stargate, Carter wants to know where her parents are for cryin' out loud." Jack ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and sighed. "She seems to know General Hammond, go figure. It was all I could do to get them to come back through the gate with me. Somehow they seemed to trust me at least a little though, so I didn't have to use any force to get them to come… " He trailed off, looking at the three young children seated on the bed, looking around at the infirmary, the curiosity on their faces warring with the nervousness.
Janet shook her head. Whatever the cause, it would have to wait. First came making sure they were all healthy. "Ok, let me get them checked out, and we need to confirm they are really SG-1. Then we can work on figuring out what happened." Jack nodded. He too would like incontrovertible proof that this was his team, although deep in his heart he could feel it. But he still didn't want any chance that his team was still sitting back on that planet and these were just clever imitations of some sort.
He led Dr. Fraiser over to the group. "Ok gang, this is Doctor Janet Fraiser, and she's going to check all of you out, and make sure your all ok."
"Will we have to get a shot?" Sam's worry was single minded. She knew one painful thing happened at the Doctor's office, and she didn't like it at all.
Janet exchanged a glance with the other adults. Sam was way to quick already. "There might be a shot, yes." Janet answered carefully, not wanting to lie.
"I don't like shots." Sam answered, her lower lip protruding in a perfect pout.
Before they could think of an appropriate answer, Daniel spoke up. "But I feel fine," he protested.
Janet sighed, and Jack took a stab at answering. "I know you do, but it's just a precaution. All of us have to do it when we go through the gate."
"Even you Colonel Jack sir?" asked Sam, and Jack saw the General's and the Doctor's lips quirking at the address. He had to hide his own grin as he replied.
"Yep, Sam, even me," he assured her, and saw Teal'c raising his eyebrow, a gesture not missed by the other adults in the room.
"In fact, why don't we start with Colonel Jack right now?" said Janet, a little too cheerfully adopting the kids' nickname, with a bit of a gleam in her eye as she gathered the tools of her trade together.
"D'oh," replied Jack, waggling his eyebrows playfully at the kids as he let himself get pushed down onto the bed next to Hammond and Sam. Sam and Daniel giggled at the sight of the little Doctor pushing the big Colonel around, and Jack was sure to ham it up for his small audience putting on the theatrics to the best of his abilities. Janet just shook her head in amusement, but played along, knowing he was getting the children relaxed.
And so the routine was established. First she took a full set of vitals on the Colonel. And then Daniel, Teal'c, then Sam, who wanted to play with her stethoscope. While Sam was busy listening to her own heart, and General Hammond's heart and lungs and stomach, Janet started to draw blood samples, starting with the Colonel's and working her way around the group again. Sam was more hesitant, but when she saw how the others had been, she tried to be brave, but still needed a little help holding still. It was over before she knew it though, and Janet was moving them on to a series of scans. This time it was Teal'c that needed the convincing, but when he saw even Sam, who had actually had x-rays at her young age and wasn't frightened by any sort of technology, go fearlessly into or near the devices, he went too.
Finally, it came time for the dreaded shots. Janet looked to Colonel O'Neill, checking the printout from the preliminary test results. "The early results so far are a match. Blood work matches, and get this, Sam's blood is showing presence of a protein marker and traces of a heavy metal."
Jack's eyebrow shot up. "Naquadah? From Jolinar?" he asked.
"Most likely. The definitive DNA testing will take several days, but this looks like our group," she said, "And so that means routine post missions for everyone, Colonels first."
Jack groaned, but in the spirit of keeping the kids cooperative he kept the stage show going, acting like he was marching off to his death, Dr. Fraiser the firing line. Janet just rolled her eyes and followed him to the next cubicle with the prepared syringe. The kids couldn't help but giggle even though they knew they were next. Sam and Daniel had had shots before, and it wasn't that bad, well maybe it was, but he was a grown up! Janet pulled the curtain, and the kids listened carefully for the sounds of a dying man, but they only heard the soft rustle of clothing, and a moment later the curtain opened and Jack walked out, albeit a little stiffly, rubbing his bum much to the children's delight. "Ah, Doc, your touch is always gentle!" he said cheerfully with a wink.
"For you Colonel, doubly so," she replied, and crossed back to the tray, her hand hovering over it and surveyed her small patients. "Who's next?"
The three kids exchanged looks, none of them wanting to go. "I will go," said Teal'c, lifting his chin. Janet just smiled and nodded, motioning for the boy to go to the cubicle that Jack had just left. As Janet pulled the curtain, Jack saw Sam was pulling her knees up close to her chest and looking uncomfortable. General Hammond had been called away while the kids had been getting their scans. Sensing her fear, Jack sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder, amazed at just how small she was. She leaned into him trustingly.
The curtain opened again, and Teal'c walked out. Daniel stood up, determined to put on a brave face after the show Teal'c had just displayed. Sam pressed tighter against Jack, she had no interest in being brave, she just didn't want a shot!
"I don't want to get a shot," she whispered as the curtain opened again and Daniel walked out blinking rapidly, but determined not to wipe at his eyes where anyone could see it.
"I know," Jack told her, pulling her to her feet. "C'mon, I'll go with you."
The tears lasted a bit longer than the shot did, which wasn't long at all, and by the time they were nearly done, Janet had a suggestion that chased the last of them away. "You know what I think these guys need Colonel?"
"I don't know," Jack answered. He could think of a few things, but he played along.
"Cookies. I could smell they were making a fresh batch on my way in this morning." Jack grinned at the Doctors words, his grin widening even more at the one that appeared on Sam's face.
"Cookies?" she asked hopefully. Even Daniel looked hopeful.
"That does sound good, do you have anything else she could wear though?" He gave a meaningful glance down at the t-shirt attired little girl. The shirt fell down to her knees, and her feet were bare, and he didn't really relish the idea of her running around base like that.
Janet frowned. "Let me look, we'll probably have to send someone out for something better." She disappeared into the closet, and came back a few moments later with some socks and a pair of sweatpants, which were still way too big, but were better than nothing. Janet took a piece of paper and made drawings of each child's feet, so that someone could go and get shoes from the BX on base and used a measuring tape to make guesses on sizes for clothing. "There, I'll have one of the nurses or an Airman pick up some sweat clothes and shoes and things. But I think they should be ok for a little trip to the commissary, I think they've earned it, I still want to keep them in overnight though for observation."
Jack nodded, and led his three new charges out of the room, noting the two airmen that trailed them as soon as they left the infirmary. He'd been expecting as much. The kids stuck close to him, as they studied their surroundings in open curiosity. Fortunately the commissary wasn't far, and as promised, there were freshly baked cookies. People looked at the group oddly, but Jack just gave them a look that told them not to ask questions as he led the kids up to the counter and had them pick out the cookies they wanted. Teal'c hesitated over the treat, until Sam and Daniel helped him decide before Jack could, somehow picking up on his hesitation. As an afterthought, Jack picked up some cookies for Doctor Fraiser and several cartons of milk, and decided to take the kids back to the infirmary to avoid all the curious stares. The kids didn't seem to mind one way or another now that they had their cookie packets.
Sam giggled as they settled on the beds, looking at the double packet of cookies Jack carried. "You have a lot of cookies Colonel Jack," she said impishly.
Jack just grinned. "These are for the Doctor, here, why don't you go give them to her." He pointed to where the Doctor was checking some equipment, and Sam nodded eagerly, leaving her own cookies and sliding off the bed, taking the packet of cookies and milk carton Jack handed her and heading over to where the doctor stood.
Sam tugged on Janet's lab coat. "Doctor Janet?" she asked, and Jack grinned at the Doctor's new nickname.
"Yes Sam?" Janet looked down at the little girl in the oversized clothing.
"Here," Sam thrust the packet of cookies and milk at the startled doctor.
Janet peeked inside the packet and smiled. "My favorite, thank you Sam."
Sam smiled back. "You're welcome Doctor Janet." Sam scampered back to the bed, climbing back up on it and opening her own cookies and milk. She liked Doctor Janet. Doctor Janet had let her play with her stethoscope, and was nice, even if she'd had to give her a shot.
Jack let the kids settle for a few minutes with their cookies, before he stood up and crossed to Janet. "I, uh, should probably go report in."
Janet just nodded; she'd been expecting it. "Go, I'll keep and eye on them."
He walked back to where the kids were waiting; they'd stopped eating when he'd stood up. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Look, guys, I need to go and talk to General Hammond for a little while, but I'm coming back ok? You'll be all right here, with Doctor Janet. Just stay here until I come back."
"But I don't want you to go," said Sam softly.
"When will you be back?" Daniel asked. Teal'c watched him silently.
He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. "I know, I'd rather stay here too, but this is important, and General Hammond needs to know what is going on too. I won't be long, promise, okay?"
Finally, they nodded reluctantly, and Jack left to go report to Hammond what he knew about how his team had suddenly mentally and physically regressed into children.
A/N1: I was reminded after the last chapter that some time ago, Nine Lives was also nominated for the Sam and Jack Fanfiction Awards, in the Alternate Universe category (I'm not sure why AU, I think of AU as being like the butterfly effect, and they wouldn't let me change it…) Anyway, I didn't win, but I don't remember what if anything I was working on at the time of that nomination, so I don't remember if I ever thanked whoever was responsible for the SJFA nomination for Nine Lives. So thank you now, in case I missed it before!
A/N2: Line break created with lyrics from, "As Long As We Got Each Other," the theme from the mid 80's TV series, "Growing Pains." Lyrics by John Bettis, Music by Steve Dorff and the song was sung by B.J. Thomas and Jennifer Warnes.