A/N: Longer, pseudo-technical... not so funny, in my opinion, but I had to start the contrived explanation at some point...

Ch 43: Trunk Trials

After Sam had explained her theory about the way Daniel had first activated the trunk, General Hammond, along with everyone else, was very impressed.

"Selmak is kicking himself for not making that connection sooner," Jacob said. "We were so bogged down with translating the text…"

"Hey, I'm the one who should have noticed this right away…" Sam started.

"All right," Jack interrupted both of them. "Let's all stop blaming ourselves for doing good work for and get this show on the road."

"Yes, sir," Sam agreed. "I just need to compare the numbers on the bottom line of text to the top and see if I can make anything of the other unidentified symbols. I think we could probably shrink somebody else at this point, if we wanted to, but let's make sure we can reverse the process before going that far."

"All right, Major. Do you have a time frame or…"

"Actually," Sam interrupted, her eyes lighting up. "I had an idea, and what you just said about having a time frame made it click into place, General. Teal'c, can you access the MALP readings from the planet where the trunk was discovered?"

Teal'c nodded and swiveled around on his stool to the computer. He typed in the criteria she'd specified and said, "Here it is."

"Thanks…" She peered over his shoulder at the monitor and scanned several lines of text quickly. "Exactly what I thought I remembered!"

"What?" Jack asked, peering over her shoulder curiously, so that all the adult members of SG-1 were huddled over the same monitor. Danny was watching them, observing all the action of the adults around him with interest, wondering what could have them so intrigued.

"This planet has three suns sir," Sam said, pointing to the screen.

"Get out of town," Jack said sarcastically.

She smiled patiently and said, "Their year is based on thirty-six months, not twelve like ours... and there are thirty-six unidentified symbols left on that trunk."

"So you think the bottom is a calendar?"

"Partially, yes. Half of it's covered in warnings! It's reasonable to assume that the creators devised a way to reverse its effects completely, not just fix it as best as they could. Which, if a dial forwards or back to a ten year period is your only option, it would be pretty hard to do. I think… what if the device knows Danny now, because he's used it. It knows how old he is now and how old he's supposed to be. Then all we should have to do would be to tell the trunk which day it is today, and that's it. All I have to do is figure out how our solar calendar compares to theirs."

"Yeah, piece of cake," Jack said incredulously.

"These are all just assumptions, Sam," Jacob interrupted. "They're good, but you can't know this for certain. I think we should continue translating the trunk in its entirety and then make an assessment of the risks…"

"Dad, you're the one who's been working non-stop at this thing, now you want to relax and forget about it?"

"That was… different," Jacob muttered. Sam couldn't help but notice that he still had something of a whipped-puppy look about him, and was inwardly pleased that he hadn't just blown off their earlier conversation. "And of course I'm not saying that we should just forget about it, but we don't want to go rushing into anything either."

"Nobody's going to let Danny anywhere near the thing until we're sure it's safe," Jack said firmly, tightening his hand around the little boy's shoulder.

"Agreed, Colonel," General Hammond said. "Major, you do what you need to do and let me know when you have something to report."

"Yes, sir."

He nodded at them all and left. "Major Carter, would you like us to relocate our research to this lab instead of your own?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes, that would be extremely helpful, thank you Teal'c."

"I'll help you," Jacob said immediately, as they too left.

Jack looked around and said, "I guess we should make ourselves useful too, Danny boy. Uh… want some coffee, Carter?"

"That would be great, sir, thank you."

Jack went over to Daniel's coffee pot and set about brewing a pot. Sam crouched down next to the trunk and peered at the line of writing through a powerful lens, looking for the specific spot that she had theorized was the 'dial.'

"Whatcha doin', Sam?" Danny asked, leaning into her arm to try to see what she could find so interesting in an old box.

"Just… looking at something."

"What?"

"I'm… not sure. Ah, there it is." She touched the line lightly and jumped back as the left side of the trunk slid open.

"Wow!" Danny exclaimed.

Jack turned quickly, in time to see the trunk open and glowing from the inside, and Sam pulling Danny away from the thing, as he was trying to crawl inside to inspect it. "Carter! What the hell…" He set the coffee pot down and hurried over to them, frowning as she pulled Danny aside and crouched down as though to get inside for a closer look herself.

"Don't even think about it," he said firmly, wrapping an arm around her waist and hauling her up off the floor. With her out of the way, Danny made another dive for the trunk. Jack grabbed him with the other arm. "Either of you," he added. The trunk slid closed again, so he relaxed slightly.

"You know, for geniuses, you two do some of the dumbest things I've ever seen," he commented, releasing his 2IC and plunking Danny down on top of the workbench.

"Well, we can't let Danny try it out untested, sir, and I wasn't going to get all the way in it, just get a closer look…"

"And exactly how many times has that bit us on the ass?" Jack asked.

"Ummmm," Danny said, pointing at Jack.

"Well, we know now that I was right about opening it…"

"Yes. But you're not going to be very helpful with the whole calendar thing if you're back in diapers."

"Fine."

He raised both eyebrows. She blushed slightly and said, "I mean, yes sir."

"Good. Now, once again,NO touching the alien device without permission.Anybody. Andjust to be sure, I'm going to keep an eye on this trunk at all times. And the two of you." He set Danny back on the ground, squeezed between both of them, and sat down on top of the trunk, crossing his arms to further emphasize his point.

Sam was about to point out that that really wasn't necessary when her dad and Teal'c entered again, carrying arm-fulls of files and texts.

"We've been working on a section that talks about the growing seasons and rotation of the planets, so that should be useful," Jacob said.

"And last night we found a passage warning that the person who opens the trunk must be the person who enters it, or the consequences… will not be pretty," Teal'c informed them, after noticing how closely young Danny was listening and determining it would not be wise to inform such a small boy of the grisly effects such a mistake could incur.

As Teal'c spoke, Danny had decided to start playing catch with Jack again - without informing Jack. The ball bounced off the floor, then off Jacob's leg, before skittering off into a corner. As Danny crawled under a table after it, Jacob said, "I don't think he needs to be in here during this part."

"This shouldn't take long, he can stay," Sam said quickly, not wanting to miss any more time with the toddler than she had to.

"Besides, it is his lab," Jack pointed out, drumming his heels against the base of the trunk absently. As Teal'c had to dodge the bouncy ball next, then avoid tripping over Danny, then gave Jack a pointed look, Jack added, "Maybe you ought to put the ball away though, little buddy. Go find something else in that bag of yours."

Danny went over to the bag and pulled out his crayons, got some paper from Teal'c, and sat down on the floor near Jack to draw. Jack watched, amused, as he tried to remember all the things he'd learned to write the day before. It wasn't as easy without something to look at… he got S-A-M easily enough, but the longer they were, the harder. Teal'c's apostrophe seemed to float around, sometimes landing in other people's names as well, and he often forgot how many N's were in his own name, so that it was frequently either Dany, Dannny, or Dnany.

Frowning, because he could tell when they didn't look right, he finally begged, "Dack help me, pease!"

"All right calm down. Hand me a Crayon."

vvvvvvvvvvvv

"I've got it!" Sam exclaimed in disbelief, setting her pencil down. There it was, in a nice neat row of calculations.

She looked up, smiling at everyone. "I've got it. This is today's date according to their system. We can enter it on the bottom line of the trunk and… everything should be back to normal." She rested a hand on Danny's head lightly, unable to keep the sadness completely out of her eyes, despite the fact that she was thrilled to have finally figured it out.

"I'll call General Hammond and the doc," Jack said quietly, reaching for the phone. Danny looked back and forth between them, wondering why they looked so sad all of a sudden. Then he glanced at Teal'c and Jacob, who looked serious, but not as sad. He inched closer to Sam and leaned into her leg as they both watched Jack on the phone.

Ten minutes later, Janet and General Hammond were back. Sam was holding Danny, who was being uncharacteristically quiet and cuddly for this time of the morning, although she was glad that he was letting her hold him.

"I want to try it on me first," Sam and Jack both said simultaneously as General Hammond turned to Sam for a report.

They looked at each other, having a silent battle of wills. Before Hammond could make a decision, Teal'c said, "I will test the device."

"Teal'c, I don't think it would even work for you. These people were enemies of the Goa'uld, who knows what it could do to you," Sam said quickly. "Remember Thor's Hammer?"

"And I'm not even sure you could get all the way in there either, big guy," Jack said.

"Nevertheless, I would like to see if I can at least activate the device."

General Hammond nodded his assent. Sam had made chalk marks above the places where the relevant writing began, just so it was easier to locate with the magnifying glass. Teal'c quickly located the 'dial' and ran his fingertip along it. Nothing happened. He tried once more, with the same results.

"It does not appear to work on someone who possesses a symbiote."

"That rules me out," Jacob said. "And Sam, you've got naquadah in your blood, so just to be safe…"

"It already opened for me," Sam interrupted dismissively.

"What?" Jacob and General Hammond both asked sharply.

She smiled sheepishly. "I just opened it, I didn't go anywhere near it…"

Jack rolled his eyes and turned to General Hammond. "General, we're all in agreement here that someone's got to try it out, both ways, before we put… you know who… in there. Bottom line, it's going to be me."

"Sir, there's no reason why I can't…" Sam started.

"There are lots of reasons why you can't," he said. "One important reason, you're holding." He nodded at Danny. "If something goes wrong, you need to be around to keep working on it and to stay with him. Two, just because it opened for you doesn't mean it might not detect the naquadah once you're in there and do something… bad. Three…"

"Sir, I'm the one who figured it out. If I'm wrong, I don't want someone else to be responsible for my mistake," she said firmly.

"I trust you, Carter, I'm sure you did it right. I'm sure everybody else is too."

"Then if you don't believe anything bad's going to happen, what's the problem with me doing it?"

"I… well… General?" Jack turned to the base leader for help.

Hammond looked at them both and finally said, "I'm sorry, Major Carter. I have to agree with Colonel O'Neill on this one."

Sam clearly looked like she wanted to object further, but she scarcely argued flat-out with General Hammond's decisions. "Yes, sir," she finally said reluctantly. "But… I have a suggestion. We should only dial it back to three or four, so the Colonel will still be an adult. Just in case… he wouldn't have to grow up all over again."

"I wasn't aware that Colonel O'Neill had fully grown up yet once, Major," Hammond joked. Jacob laughed, and Jack gave a sarcastic smile while discreetly putting his bouncy ball away, but Sam clearly wasn't in the mood to find anything funny about this situation.

"Carter… will I remember who I am though?" Jack asked, confused.

"I don't know. Since Danny's so small it's been hard to tell if he has his normal memories up to two and a half, or what… but it only goes in decades, so the minimum we could rewind is ten years, which was before you knew any of us, so…"

"Yeah. See, wouldn't it be a lot easier on everybody if you just shrink me to Danny's age. Otherwise I'll be asking what the hell's going on and you'll have to explain it all to me before you reverse it."

"I guess that's true," Sam said. "But… what if we can't… I don't really think it's worth the risk just to make it a little more convenient." She gave up trying to convince him and turned to General Hammond instead. "Sir, if the reason you're not letting me be the one trying the trunk is because you consider me an asset to this program, then doesn't it also make sense to ensure that even if something goes wrong you might still be able to incorporate Colonel O'Neill into this command?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry, Jack, but I have to agree with Major Carter now. If you don't want to try the device under these circumstances, we'll ask someone else to volunteer."

"Sir, I'll…" Janet and Sam both started.

Jack cut them both off. "I'll still do it. Teal'c, why don't you take Danny to play in the VIP suite so he doesn't… have to be bored by the goings-on in here."

Teal'c looked reluctant to leave, understandably. "I'll make sure you know if anything goes wrong, Teal'c," Janet said quietly.

"Thank you, Dr. Fraiser," Teal'c said quietly, picking up the diaper bag and holding out his hands to Danny. "Come, young Danny. We will seek entertainment elsewhere."

Danny could sense that something was up. Sam was holding him very close and seemed sad and a little scared. He shook his head and hid his face in Sam's shirt, refusing to go to Teal'c. "I think he sort of knows what's going on and he's not happy about it," she said, rubbing his back. "It's okay, Danny. Don't you want to go play? You've still got lots of fun toys here, and I bet Teal'c will take you to the gym to play if you want…"

"Nooooo," Danny whined, holding onto her tightly.

"That's okay, Danny," Jack said, patting him on the head. "Sam will take you to go play."

"No," Sam and Danny both said - Sam's firm and Danny's whiny.

"He will be fine, I assure you," Teal'c said. "Come, Daniel Jackson."

Expecting that to make him start a full-out fit, they were all surprised when he sniffled and wiped his eyes but nodded. "Kay, Tea. I go wiff you."

Sam kissed him on the forehead and said quietly, "You're such a good boy. You've got nothing to worry about. You go have fun with Teal'c and I'll see you in a little while, okay?"

He nodded, although he didn't look like he fully believed her. He kissed her, right on the mouth, rather messy because he'd been crying, and said, "Bye-bye."

"Bye, Danny. I'll see you in a little while."

He leaned out of Sam's arms to hug Jack round the neck and gave him an equally messy kiss on the cheek as well. Jack tried not to look like he was worried that, if something went wrong, he might not see Danny again… or recognize him when he did. Sam at least knew what he was really thinking as he pet Danny's head for a few moments before moving aside so Sam could hand him to Teal'c.

He watched them go and sighed, then clapped his hands together to try to muster some enthusiasm. "All right. Let's get this show on the road."

"We aren't entirely sure what to expect since we don't know when exactly Daniel activated the trunk, but we do know that he was some distance from it and sleeping when we found him, so…"

"So that's why I'm here," Janet said firmly.

Jack nodded dismissively and said, "All right, see you guys later. Carter, what do I push."

She steered him over to the trunk and muttered, "This sucks," as they crouched down on one side of the trunk. Peering through the lens until she found the exact markings, she said, "Just dial it back to there."

"Where?"

"There, the one with the… here, just to be sure." She leaned over so she could see through the lens with him and said, "Just so you don't go making yourself a toddler on purpose so you can go play with Danny's toys…" She took his hand herself and directed his finger along the dial, jumping slightly when the side of the trunk opened once again.

She had to admit, she had sort of been hoping it wouldn't work for him. "Well… see you folks on the other side then," Jack quipped, waving at all of them. He gave Sam an encouraging smile and slid inside the trunk, his legs sticking out the side.

Everyone held their breath for a few moments, until Jack called, "Nothing's happening!"

"Pull your legs all the way inside, sir," Sam suggested.

"Carter, do I look like a pretzel to you?"

"No sir, but I'm guessing you don't want to accidentally have your legs cut off," Sam said, although of course she had no idea if the device were capable of doing something like that. Still, with them it was usually worst-case scenario, so it was better to be overly-cautious whenever you could.

"All right, fine, but this better take me back to before my knee hurt," he called before his legs disappeared as well.

Sam couldn't help but think of the movie they'd watched the night before - the Wicked Witch of the East's legs curling up under the house… she jumped as the trunk slid closed quickly.

After a few seconds that seemed incredibly long, she started to get worried. "He can't have much air in there," Sam said, moving to open the trunk.

Jacob grabbed her wrist quickly. "You can't activate it while someone else is in there, Sam. It'll be okay, it should just be a couple more…"

The other side of the trunk opened, and everyone hurried to that side. "Colonel?" Sam called.

They could see the top of his head - which was no longer grey, but light brown as it was when she'd first met him. He didn't respond.

Janet reached inside and felt his neck for a pulse. "He's okay. Let's get him out of there though."

Jacob and Sam each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him out of the trunk, sliding him along the floor. He was unconscious, and looked very similar to how he had looked when they'd all met him, although a few years younger even than that. Janet checked his vitals while Hammond called for a full medical team to bring a gurney. "He's okay he just…"

Jack groaned and tried to sit up. Janet and Sam both put a hand on each of his shoulders to keep him laying down. "Don't try to get up, sir," Janet said firmly.

He opened his eyes in confusion, blinking up at them. He focused on Janet first, as she was closer, then on Sam. He gave a small smile, so she sighed in relief, assuming he remembered who they were and where he was. Then he glanced around at everyone else, turned back to Sam, and managed to croak, "Who are you people?" before passing out again, his head thunking loudly against the concrete floor.