A/N: Two in one day, because in proofreading this I realize I divided up the chapters at really strange lengths, and your reviews are giving me warm fuzzies. Thanks as always.

Ch 6

Sam was getting increasingly frustrated. She knew everyone working on the trunk meant well, but Daniel's lab was incredibly overcrowded, and everyone seemed to be buzzing about her for 'the answer,' and so far she had nothing.

"SAM! WOOK AT ME!" a little voice called loudly, sounding much higher up than it should be. She turned to the doorway and laughed. Her CO had Danny on his shoulders, holding onto his bare feet so he didn't fall. Daniel waved at her, clearly pleased with his new perch, which put him even higher than Teal'c.

The scientists began looking at Daniel like they wanted to get him under the microscope. Sam frowned at them before turning her attention back to the toddler and asked, "Did you have fun?"

"Oh yeah, he's a lot more fun like this," Jack agreed.

Danny patted him on the head and said, "Dack not scawy now. Mon, Sam."

"What?"

"I think that's his way of inviting you to lunch, Carter. Come on. I called the doc to meet us there too - if he sees her a few times and she doesn't hurt him, I think he'll start to like her. And I'm sure we'll need her to watch him at some point, so…"

"Good idea, sir," she agreed, going over to them.

Danny tried to dive right off Jack's shoulders to her, apparently unconcerned about falling. Luckily, Jack's head was in the way, and Jack had a hold of him anyway. He passed him to Sam, who seemed surprised at how happy the boy was to see her.

She settled him awkwardly, as she had become used to holding him, even in a short time, when he was tired or scared and wanted to be held, and he automatically sort of molded himself against her. Now he was happy and excited, and seemed much more solid and hard to hold onto. He kept twisting and shifting unexpectedly and started up a steady stream of conversation that nobody else could understand, apparently telling her what he'd been up to since he was gone.

"Er… right. So I see you've had a busy morning too," she finally said when he stopped talking and looked at her expectantly as though waiting for a response.

Daniel nodded very seriously and seemed relieved that she had understood his story, so she figured she did all right.

"Come on already," Jack said suddenly, ushering her out the door.

Sam looked to Teal'c for an explanation. "We have worked up an appetite entertaining young Daniel Jackson," he said as they headed to the elevator.

vvvvvvvvvv

Jack's plan ended up working brilliantly. By the end of lunch, once Danny saw how nice Janet really was, and how well everybody else liked her, he was comfortable with her too. This was especially convenient because not only did Danny need another new diaper, he also needed a good cleaning after getting half his lunch all over himself. They had tried to feed him things that wouldn't be messy, but he'd somehow managed to make them that way regardless.

Sam was abiding by Hammond's half-day work schedule, she argued, because technically she had spent most of the morning dealing with the chaos and all rather than working. She ruffled Daniel's hair as she went back to work, and he watched her go with a sort of sad resignation that made Jack want to hug the little guy.

"So, Doc… want to take a turn with him for a little while?" Jack offered. "Teal'c and I will make sure everything's set up in the VIP quarters."

Janet frowned at him. "Colonel O'Neill, if you think for one second I don't know you're trying to give me the most unpleasant shift, you're seriously mistaken."

"That obvious?" he asked, wincing.

"Yes. Lucky for you, I happen to like babies and I would just as soon inflict your company on this sweet little boy as little as possible."

Jack was willing to overlook the fact that he was being insulted, since she seemed willing to change a dirty diaper and get the boy cleaned up. "Thanks, Doc. See you later, Danny."

"Bye, Dack. Bye Tea."

Janet sighed and took the little boy's hand. "Come on, Danny, let's go get you cleaned up."

"Kay doc."

She looked down in surprise. "You don't want to go picking up too much from Colonel O'Neill, Danny," she warned jokingly. "Luckily, he seems to have forgotten that after little boys like you eat and get cleaned up, they take naps."

vvvvvvvvvv

Sam was back in her own lab, all the information she had taken from Daniel's trunk now transferred to her own computer so she could work privately. She looked up as Jack and Teal'c entered, then realized they didn't have Daniel with them. "Um, Colonel, did you… lose something?" she asked.

"He's still with the doc. She hasn't called yet. Must be having fun with him. We got the VIP suite all set up for him and everything. There aren't very many toys in there though… a couple of books and stuffed animals is all. And he still doesn't have very many clothes. Hammond said we can take him off the base tomorrow. Wanna hit the toy store with us?"

"Sure."

"Good. Let's go get him, you were supposed to be done for the day an hour and a half ago."

"Yes, sir."

They all entered the infirmary and stopped in surprise. Daniel was asleep on one of the beds, the rails pulled up to ensure he didn't go rolling off, curled into a tiny ball. He barely made a blip in the bed, but he was sucking his thumb loudly enough to be heard throughout the infirmary. Janet was working quietly at her computer. She smiled at them and said, "He asked for you before he went to sleep, Sam."

"Oh," Sam said, nodding. She didn't understand why he had taken such a liking to her. She had no idea what to do with a child that small. She wasn't naturally good with all children like Colonel O'Neill was. But Daniel didn't seem to mind, or maybe he simply disagreed.

"Well, I guess maybe we should just go until he wakes up…" Jack said uncertainly.

Sam looked at him thoughtfully. He'd actually missed the little guy. Not that he'd ever admit it, because it was Daniel, after all.

They didn't have to actually leave, because Daniel woke up, whether on his own or because they were all there didn't really matter. Janet looked at her watch. "He slept for about three hours," she reported.

All three members of SG-1 were nodding and looking at Danny, but none made a move to pick him up or help him off the bed. Sam started to when he spotted her and smiled around the thumb still in his mouth, but Jack touched her elbow lightly and muttered, "Wet diaper."

She nodded and stood still next to him. Janet looked at all three of them and rolled her eyes. "Come here, Danny, let me get you a fresh diaper and you can go play."

"Kay doc," Danny repeated, causing Jack's eyes to widen in surprise and Sam to laugh and glance at him with amusement.

As she went about changing him into a fresh diaper, Janet said, "Yes, he's picking things up from you, sir, so I'd watch what I say if I were you. Although, I have to say that in his current condition I prefer him calling me 'doc.' I got him to say 'Janet' earlier but it sounded…"

Daniel interrupted her by saying, "Dannitdammitdannit."

"Yeah… like that," Janet finished.

Sam tried not to laugh. It sounded like the toddler was swearing. Jack grinned and said, "I don't know, doc, it's got a nice ring to it."

She shot him a look as she passed him the freshly diapered Daniel. Jack held him up at his eye level and said, "Sleeping on the job, huh. You'll have to tell me how you get away with that."

Danny laughed and said, "Down Dack."

"He's a lot more bossy like this," Jack commented as he set him down.

Apparently the three hour nap had rejuvenated him, because Danny quickly took off down the hall, padding loudly in his bare feet and moving as fast as his little legs would take him. SG-1 thanked Janet quickly and took off after him. He wasn't hard to catch up to, of course, but Jack wanted to see where he would go.

He headed to his office, and stopped in the doorway when he saw how crowded it was, as if he had expected it to be empty.

"Do you think this means he remembers…" Sam asked quietly, amazed.

"I don't know… but either way, he'll be pissed when he gets big again if he finds out we let him wreck his own stuff."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "Come, Daniel Jackson."

"Dan-NEE," the toddler insisted, looking up at Teal'c with a scowl and poking himself in the chest for emphasis.

Teal'c sighed and said, "Very well. Danny."

Jack nudged Sam and said quietly, "Guess we should have just done that years ago, huh."

"Somehow I don't think it would work if we tried it, sir," she answered, watching as Teal'c scooped up the little boy, who looked even littler in Teal'c's massive arms. Teal'c set him on one shoulder, keeping a hand on him to ensure that he didn't fall, and left down the hall with him.

Jack and Sam shrugged and followed them, amused at the way Daniel seemed fascinated with Teal'c's bald head. He also was rather enjoying his view from so high. He waved at all the people they passed in the hallways on their way to the VIP suite, and called out cheery greetings that left half the on-duty staff amused and surprised.

"Great, he's going to be the golden boy of the SGC when he gets turned back to normal," Jack muttered as they got off the elevator.

"Wasn't he already, sir?" Sam asked innocently.

"Funny," he retorted as he let them all into the VIP room. Teal'c set Danny down and the boy spent a long time thoroughly exploring and examining his new surroundings, even opening all the drawers he could reach and trying to use the lower ones as steps to see higher. Jack quickly pulled him off the wardrobe and pointed him in a new direction. He spotted the bed and scrambled up it and began jumping in the middle.

"Should you not request that he desist such behavior?" Teal'c suggested.

Jack shrugged. "He's not hurting anything. Let him burn off some energy, there's not a lot to do in here. As long as we make sure he stays in the middle."

It took the combined ingenuity of the three adults to keep one two year old boy entertained for the rest of the evening in the relatively uninteresting room. After he tired of jumping on the bed, Sam played peek-a-boo with him with the pillows, which was almost as entertaining for Jack and Teal'c as it was for Danny (although Danny was the only one expressing this amusement by shrieking with laughter and giggling loudly until he gave himself the hiccups.)

Just the idea that he was watching the two smartest people he knew play peek-a-boo was enough to keep Jack entertained for quite some time. And when Teal'c pulled a camera out of his pocket and took a few pictures of them without them even noticing, it was even better. "Where'd you get that?" Jack asked him.

"Dr. Fraiser suggested we document this experience."

"Great idea - I was meaning to try to find one… we're gonna be able to blackmail him to death with this stuff."

"I do not believe that was her intention," Teal'c said calmly, putting the camera back in his pocket.

After Danny's hiccups went away, they played hide and seek with him. They tried to get him to watch TV. They airplane flew him around the room. They read him the few books that people had already brought. They tried to get him interested in the stuffed animals, but nobody was really certain what you did with a stuffed animal other than cuddle it while you slept. Jack thought maybe you made it talk in a funny voice, but he wasn't about to do that in front of Sam and Teal'c.

They watched him scribble on paper, which seemed to be one of his favorite things to do. They were glad when the commissary opened for dinner - not only were they all hungry but they were completely out of things to do with him.

"We need more toys and stuff," Jack repeated as they headed to dinner. Sam was holding Daniel's hand, and when they got off the elevator he let go and took off, heading for his lab again.

She chased him down and brought him back to the group, this time carrying him. He didn't look too upset that he had been captured again. "He's a squirmy little guy, isn't he?"

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

"I think he needs a haircut," Jack commented thoughtfully.

"His hair is beautiful!" Sam objected, running her hand through it as she spoke.

"It's too long. It's girly," Jack insisted.

"He's not going to be like this forever, and what does that matter anyway? It's just a little bit longer than it was when we met him. And it's not that long."

"Well… I guess it's okay," Jack grumbled, remembering his ex-wife complaining about how hard it was taking Charlie for a haircut. Apparently it could be a very traumatic experience. For the kid and the grown-up.

General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser were just entering the commissary as SG-1 did. They all greeted each other and decided to eat together. "I want to make sure you're feeding him okay," Janet said sternly, directing her comment especially at Jack.

"What? You ate with him at lunch, you saw he's okay."

It was meat loaf day. Jack suppressed a groan. While the grown-up Daniel would eat just about anything, he doubted the little version would be very happy with it. Not that he blamed him. He hated meat loaf day too. But the mashed potatoes that always accompanied it were actually pretty good.

He carried Daniel's tray and Teal'c carried Sam's, because she was still carrying Daniel. They all sat down, Sam with Danny on her lap again. Jack sat next to them in case she needed help feeding him, as they had figured out during breakfast that morning that while the boy would try enthusiastically to feed himself, he hadn't quite mastered the art yet. Things went much faster and cleaner if he had assistance.

Daniel would only eat the meatloaf if it was drowned in ketchup. By the time he was finished with it, he had so much smeared on his face that Jack thought he looked sort of like a tiny, messy vampire.

"He certainly seems comfortable with all of you," General Hammond commented as dinner progressed. He mentally added how comfortable the adult members of SG-1 looked with the baby as well.

"I think he sort of remembers us," Sam agreed, nodding and trying to get her little charge to eat a spoonful of peas. He clamped his mouth shut and leaned back into her to get as far away from the spoon as possible. "Come on, Daniel, eat your peas. You love peas."

"No!" he said stubbornly, barely opening his lips to get the word out. He wasn't going to take any chances.

Sam continued trying to feed him while she talked to General Hammond. "He keeps trying to go to his lab also. I don't know if it's just a familiar place to him, or what."

"Or it could be because we picked you up there for lunch, and that's where he woke up," Jack pointed out. "And he could just like us. It doesn't mean he remembers us."

"True… but he seemed to take Teal'c's presence as perfectly normal, and you have to admit that he would be intimidating to most toddlers."

"Yeah, I guess that's…" Jack was interrupted when Danny successfully knocked the spoon away from his mouth and sent peas flying everywhere. "True," Jack finished, as Daniel giggled at his own brilliance and Hammond and Janet looked amused.

Teal'c picked a few stray peas out of his pudding and said, "I do not believe he likes peas, Major Carter."

"You're not doing it right," Jack insisted, taking the spoon from her and digging into the peas left on the plate. He scooted his chair closer and said, "Okay, kid, open up."

Performing the obligatory flying-spoon manoeuvre and making the appropriate accompanying noises, Jack was too busy mentally patting himself on the back when it actually started working to realize that the entire commissary had gone silent and was watching in quiet amusement as SG-1's intrepid leader, the celebrated Colonel Jack O'Neill, fed a tiny Daniel Jackson peas and made ridiculous but perfectly accurate fighter jet noises.

The snort that finally escaped from Janet (who was about to explode from the effort of not laughing out loud) finally alerted Jack to the fact that his captive audience was significantly larger than the two-year old boy who'd had all of his attention for the last several minutes.

He cleared his throat, looking round the room self-consciously. "Nothing to see here, people." He handed the spoon back to Sam and said, "Carry on, Carter."

"Yes, sir," she said, unable to hide the grin on her face and the amusement in her voice.

He went back to his own meal, glancing sideways at the rest of the people at the table as he ate. Sam was now helping Danny with his mashed potatoes, which, unlike the peas, she could barely get into his mouth fast enough.

Teal'c was wearing the expression that was the Jaffa equivalent of rolling on the ground laughing hysterically. When he caught Jack glaring at him, he said merely, "You are a man of many hidden talents, O'Neill."