Sam had fled for the confines of her lab to do some work, to avoid dealing with whatever the hell was happening, both on the base and in her head. That hadn't worked out well though – she ended up seated at a table, staring at an empty Word document, her head unable to focus on anything but what was happening. She couldn't focus on anything worthwhile. On the one hand, her career – a career she had worked very hard to maintain – hung in the balance if her superiors – or anyone – discovered the precise nature of her relationship with her team-mate. On the other, Daniel could possibly be in danger and their fairly recent change of circumstance had emotionally compromised her so that she would be beyond useless.

Until then, she hadn't realised just how she had taken for granted her ability to think clearly during most crises or tough situations. Tears formed in her eyes as she recalled the time they had lost Daniel and he had gone away for a year. She had never felt so alone; it felt as though she had lost a large part of herself.

There was a tapping – probably at her door – but she didn't care. They – whoever they were – would go away eventually.

She was startled out of her self pity by the voice of her commanding officer. Great, being a wreck was bad enough but being one in front of a man she had spent her early years on SG-1 trying to impress... well, that was just so much worse. What was worse was that he was calling her by her first name. He only ever did that when he was trying to get through to her when she was being an emotional fruitcake.

"Sam."

Sam tore her eyes away from the not quite as compelling blank Word document. She felt disappointed momentarily – she could have at least pretended to type something. The Colonel was standing at the end of her lab table, looking at her with quite an uncharacteristic or at least rare display of concern. She couldn't even muster the wherewithal to pretend she hadn't been crying. How much more incriminating could she get?

Jack glanced at her laptop screen. He said, deadpan, "Yes, I can see how a blank Word document could be upsetting."

She sighed quietly as she closed her laptop. She glanced down at the tabletop for a moment as Jack fiddled with one of her pens. He looked up at her and said, "Okay, spill. It can't just be your computer."

Sam released a shuddering breath. She said softly, not meeting his gaze, "It's just too soon, Sir."

Jack was careful not to show any outward signs of emotion. She didn't need to elaborate; she knew that he knew that she didn't need to elaborate. He knew that she knew that he knew that... He closed his eyes briefly and mentally shook himself – he was getting quite close to needing a beer. He eventually tuned back to the real world when he realised that Carter was still talking.

"... I'm not sure I can deal with it, Sir."

Now that wasn't the Carter he knew; there was just defeat instead of that can-do attitude and that grin. If she was being 'wobbly' then they were all lost, or at least lost when it came to sciency things and the weird... which was a huge part of their jobs, and which was a huge part of that day in particular. The last time he had seen her anything like the state she was in was right after Daniel had decided to go all glowy instead of carrying on.

Even then, Carter had tried to control herself in front of him; a far cry from her present behaviour. Something was up: something squirrelly. He looked at her in guarded surprise as a lightbulb switched on in his head. The chances of her being under the influence of a contagion, and the chances of her and Daniel doing the dance with no pants, were about equal at that moment.

He sort of would be the latter; the former would just be too much to take during their present drama. But then the latter was a minefield of shit he didn't want to deal with either.

He hazarded a guess. He looked at her in concern, and said, "Sam."

That got her attention again; never underestimate the power of using a first name in the military, he thought, or using the first name of someone as defensive as Carter. At least now she made an attempt to dry her eyes. He said,

"We can talk later... but right now we need that national treasure of yours to get us out of our latest quagmire."

When he spotted fear for the briefest of moments, it gave him pause for thought. His instinct scared him sometimes. As she sorted herself out – or tried to – he said, "Right now, we have a kid saying he's Daniel and knowing a crazy amount of stuff he shouldn't. He's even got Teal'c stumped."

Sam appeared fearful as she regarded her commanding officer. She said, "What are you saying, Sir?"

Jack cocked his head. "I'm saying that if that little tyke isn't Daniel, he's doing a very good impersonation. Frasier's doing some tests; briefing's going to be whenever the good doc's got some news." Noticing that she still looked scared, he said softly, "Carter, I know how hard this is for you – or I can guess judging by the constipated look on your face right now – but we all need you to get to the bottom of this."

She nodded, trying to control her emotions. She said, sounding weak, "Yes, Sir."

"Attagirl." He made to leave the room but stopped when he reached the door. He turned to face a now confused Sam. He said, "I don't know what is going on but your secret's safe with me; regs aside, I don't like the idea of punishing you the first time you start having a life outside of work."

With a smirk at a now terrified Sam, he left the lab.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

General Hammond and Doctor Janet Fraiser were seated at the briefing room table. With them, was SG-1 with the exception, of course, of Daniel. Janet had in front of her an open brown cardboard file which appeared to contain a number of documents. In seven or so years she had seen a great deal when it came to the medical emergencies and quibbles of the SGC. She had dealt with various alien physiologies, viruses, plagues, a friend 'dying' and coming back a year later... but she had never seen anything like this before; it was more like science fiction or as though she was somehow stuck in an impromptu production of 'Honey, I Shrunk the Archaeologist'.

She relayed her findings to the rest of SG-1 and to the General. The General just seemed more and more taken aback while remaining as professional as ever. Colonel O'Neill appeared to be carefully listening to an explanation of more than two sentences for once. He seemed concerned but somehow sure that at the end of the day, all would be back to normal, or what they had come to see as normal. Teal'c had that same casual hope but without as much masked anguish as O'Neill was doing a good job of mostly locking away.

But Sam. Ah. Sam was usually a gauge for the doctor to discover the temperature of the team. The boys tended to lock their emotions away in various ways when they felt like it. But Sam was never any good at it despite her attempts otherwise. Janet could always see through the Major. Sam appeared troubled, as though something else was pressing on her mind. Losing Daniel had always been a sore spot for Sam, and admittedly it was a little soon after that whole thing she was never really sure about anyway – how he had come back from being on another plane of existence.

Janet's attention was drawn back to the General as he questioned her findings, disbelieving not her but the entire situation. She could barely believe it herself. She sighed silently and looked at the report in front of her. She said,

"Initial tests show that within an acceptable margin of error, the boy's DNA is virtually identical to Daniel Jackson's."

Sam seemed to jump at the chance that it wasn't him. She said, "What size margin of error are we talking about?"

Janet glanced at the Major and realised that she had been crying recently. The doctor replied, "Very small. In a court of law, the DNA sample we took from the boy would be considered a high-probability match to the DNA we have on file from Daniel Jackson. There is a…" Janet paused, unsure of what part of her findings meant. "... tiny abnormality, but for all intents and purposes, it's him."

Sam had been resting her chin against her hands, her elbows on the table. She closed her eyes to hold back her tears as Janet's words felt as though they had brought her whole world crashing down. Teal'c's eyebrow rose slightly but he said nothing, the movement of his eyebrow saying all that was needed to be said. Jack on the other hand, usually had something to say, even if it wasn't relevant or appropriate.

He remarked, "Tiny abnormality? Like the fact that he's suddenly regressed twenty years?"

Janet sighed silently. The Colonel sure did know how to compound her feelings of inadequacy when they were faced with something they had never dealt with before. She said, "To be honest, Sir, this is way out of my league. We've got some specialists flying in. We're gonna run more tests, see what we can learn." She appeared momentarily helpless. "I don't know what else to do."

Hammond said, "I suggest we make him as comfortable as possible in the meantime."

Jack said with all seriousness, "I'll get the tyke some books. He'll like that."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Daniel or, as Jack had taken to calling him, Danny was seated at a table in the Commissary with Jack and Teal'c. He was wearing a green flight suit which fitted him somewhat better than the clothes he had tried to enter the base in. Jack and Teal'c looked fairly amused as they regarded the considerably disgruntled archaeologist. Danny pushed bacon around his plate with a fork, the boy not feeling like eating as he underwent teasing from his colleagues.

Jack chewed a forkful of cake, and remarked, "Growing boy like you needs to eat."

Teal'c added, an eyebrow slightly raised, "Indeed. A young warrior must gain his strength from adequate sustenance."

Danny shot them both a glare and he pushed his glasses up. He said, "You guys are having a little too much fun at my expense." He glanced around his colleagues and then looked back at them. "Where's Sam?"

Jack and Teal'c exchanged a knowing look and resumed smirking at their younger colleague. Jack said casually, "You really wanna know?"

Danny eyed them cautiously, noting Teal'c's smirk in particular. He said, "Jack." He put his fork down and glared at the Colonel. "What the hell is going on?"

Jack feigned innocence as he regarded Danny. He then glanced at Teal'c. Teal'c, barely containing his amusement, remarked, "Does possessing a younger body not have certain advantages, DanielJackson?"

Danny focussed on the Jaffa and narrowed his eyes, sensing that there was something behind his colleagues' amusement beyond his overnight transformation. He said, "Theoretically, yes, if I were willing to stay like this, but I don't want to."

Jack had trouble keeping a straight face. He said, "Too bad. I'm sure Carter wouldn't mind you being like this."

Danny blinked, and said, confused, "Jack?"

"Oh, don't play all cute and innocent, Dannyboy." Jack glanced at Teal'c. "We kinda figured you and Carter were doing the dance with no pants." Jack sobered momentarily. "I'm just disappointed you never thought to confide in your best friends here. We're a team."

Teal'c cleared his throat and said calmly, "Correction, O'Neill: I surmised that our teammates were having a romantic affair but you dismissed this. It is inadvisable to claim credit for such considering that I am seated in your vicinity."

Jack appeared speechless as Teal'c regarded Danny's offer of a high-five with mild amusement before complying. Jack then looked at Danny who suddenly became embarrassed at the scrutiny. The Colonel remarked, "So, it's true then?"

Danny shook his head and said, "I'm not contributing to gossip."

"Ah, so there is something to contribute?"

"Shut up."

Jack couldn't help but look amused as he resumed eating his cake. He said, "Relax, Danny, if I were in your place I'd be having a blast."

Danny remarked gloomily, "Believe me when I say the quicker Janet can change me back, the better. No-one takes me seriously as a fifteen year old."

"I wouldn't worry about that – we didn't take your seriously as a forty year old."

Danny glared at him. "I'm thirty-eight."

"Same difference."

Danny's glare gave way to concern as he realised something. He said, "Jack, we have to find out why I'm like this. There might be some clues at my house. It's the last place I remember being, well, older."

Jack continued to look amused, taking the opportunity to mock his colleague. Teal'c on the other hand looked decidedly less amused. Teal'c said, "We must go at once to your house if the transformation happened there."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

SG-1, including Danny, were gathered in the living room of Daniel's house once Danny had let them in. The team spread out across the single floor of his house searching for clues of some kind although no-one was sure exactly of what they were looking for. Jack stalked into the kitchen, muttering things about beer and commenting loudly how unusually clean and tidy the place was. Teal'c remained in the living room, examining pictures on the mantelpiece and occasionally shooting Danny and Sam furtive glances.

In spite of all the training she had ever had, Sam was apprehensive to be left alone with the boy who claimed to be Daniel. Still, there was something to solve and as usual, the two of them got to work. Making sure they were out of earshot of the others, they found themselves in Daniel's bedroom. Sam looked at him meaningfully and then shook her head as though to say 'never mind' upon seeing the mess that Daniel had left his bed in.

She said, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Danny sighed, feeling hurt at her reservedness around him. He still felt like him in spite of his physical transformation; why couldn't she see that? He said wearily, "Well..." He paused awkwardly. "... that, and then I'm not sure. I think I fell asleep before you went home, which is normal."

She smiled briefly, embarrassed, and he continued, "The next thing I remember is waking up like..." He gestured to himself. "... this. Whatever happened, it must have happened last night between you going and me waking."

Sam listened, intrigued yet disturbed at what he was saying. She said, "We could ask around the local area, see if there are any similar cases or if anyone else experienced anything odd last night."

He nodded. "Yes. I don't see how it would just be me affected or if it is, who or what would benefit from making me like this." He sighed and said, "I have to say that despite some people wanting to retain their youth, I don't want to be like this. I have nothing but bad memories of my adolescence." He sighed, frustrated. "... and you being aloof isn't helping."

Sam was taken aback at his direct dig at her. She was about to say something when he raised a hand. He said, "No, I understand. This is weird." He appeared hurt. "After everything we've been through, you can't accept me like this."

Sam said, surprised, "Daniel, you can't be more than fifteen. It's wrong."

He gazed at her sadly. "I know." He sighed and looked away from her, pain evident in his eyes. He said, "Let's keep looking."

Sam appeared to be on the verge of tears as she watched him doing anything but look at her. She released a shuddering breath and assisted him in his search as they were joined by the rest of their team. Teal'c made a bee-line for the bookshelf, specifically what appeared to be a series of Danny's journals. Jack, on the other hand, began to rummage in drawers. The latter in particular irked Danny somewhat especially when the Colonel found himself going through the archaeologist's underwear. Sam promptly reddened and looked away out of absolute embarrassment when Jack held up a particular piece and turned to face his team-mates, feigned incredulity on his face.

"Daniel. Really?"

Danny, mortified, snatched it out of his hand and put it back in the drawer, shutting it. He looked at Jack threateningly, or at least as threateningly as a fifteen year old male could look at a battle-hardened Air Force Colonel. Jack smirked as he gently pushed Danny's glasses back up his nose and silently challenged him.

Before Sam could intervene in the stand-off, Danny's attention was drawn back to Teal'c who appeared to be reading some of his journals with a keen interest. He was about to stop him when Teal'c reached up to switch a tall lamp on so he could read easier. Danny frowned as everything around him disappeared. He seemed to be surrounded by a white mist, in amongst which were floating bright green orbs. There was silence for a time before he heard some kind of muttering or whirring, he wasn't sure, and he became aware that he was in a supine position. Suddenly, the face of an Asgard moved into his field of vision, staring right down at him.

With just as much suddenness, he was back at home, getting his breath back. He felt somewhat disorientated and found himself being held up by Teal'c. Jack moved closer to him, concerned, as a worried Sam hung back. Jack said seriously,

"Danny?"

As Teal'c helped Danny to sit on the edge of his bed, Danny appeared confused. Realisation gradually dawned but he still remained confused. He said, looking up at his colleagues, "We need to go back to the Mountain; I think the Asgard visited me last night."