Daniel stumbled backwards in shock as he realised that the child had spoken. He had not just spoken but had named him. Daniel looked around to Sam, who was sleeping on her bed, weary from her unexpected ordeal and her existing sleep deprivation. He had hoped that she had seen it, that he was not losing whatever was left of his marbles. He looked back at the child who calmly stared up at him, waiting patiently for his shock to subside, as though their roles were reversed: that he was the child and the child was the adult.

Daniel debated whether to grab the nearest phone, to have the entire SGC swamping the place with the contents of the armoury ready to obliterate whatever had made an incursion here. But it was a child who had simply said his name. He had been running through the Stargate and away from danger for so long that it sometimes it was almost a natural instinct to flee, to raise the alarm when faced with something he could not understand. He mentally shook himself – he had been spending far too much time with Jack "shoot first, send flowers later" O'Neill.

He took a deep breath and took a step closer to the child. The child, he thought, the child hadn't been named in all the confusion of his conception and arrival. Daniel cautiously stooped so that he was level with the child who appeared to be changing before his eyes – he now appeared to be around five years old physically. His clothes appeared to grow with him which added to the bizarreness of the situation.

Daniel faced the fair haired youngster, and the latest of the things to startle him was that the boy appeared to be a much younger, smaller male version of Sam: their eyes were pretty much identical. He said with a soft smile as he fought to be brave,

"Hello."

The child spoke back, startling Daniel further. "Hello, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel said, stammering slightly, "D-do you have a name?"

The child cocked his head inquisitively and asked, "Is that a common practice amongst your people? Am I right in thinking that it is an individual designation?"

Daniel nodded slowly, stunned into silence by the precocious nature of the child's speech. For not the first time, he had no idea of what he was dealing with. But, he thought, if the child was going to kill him, he would have done it already unless he was playing on his youthful experience to further his agenda – that wouldn't be the first time that something like that had happened.

Daniel cleared his throat gently and said, "Yes. We name our young. I am Daniel Jackson." He gestured to the child. "What are you called?"

The child once again appeared to ruminate over something. He then said, meeting Daniel's gaze again, "I shall like to be called Jacob." He glanced towards Sam's sleeping form. "When Mother carried me, my mind joined with hers." He smiled softly to himself. "She thinks very fondly of someone with that designation."

Daniel couldn't help but smile at this. He said, "Jacob is her father."

The child replied, "May I have this designation? It may help Mother to like me."

Daniel looked across at Sam who was now perched on the edge of her bed looking perplexed at the scene before her. Daniel smiled at her, still perplexed himself, and waved her over to them. Sam gingerly approached and sat herself crossed legged on the floor next to Daniel. She looked up at Daniel inquisitively.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked at her eventually, mesmerised by his exchange with the child. He said, "He would like a name."

Sam nodded slowly, processing the request. She looked at the child, still in shock at the entire situation. He looked like a five year old and she had heard him speaking to Daniel. She was pretty sure that she hadn't missed five years. He had been born in the morning and by evening, he had aged so much. His conception was a puzzle in itself. She was almost certain that this must have been the weirdest situation they had found themselves in, in spite of all the weird they had experienced since stepping through the Stargate eight years ago, and there had been some pretty big weird and otherwise, like wormhole travel, blowing up a sun, time travelling, Teal'c – essentially an alien mercenary – becoming one of her best friends, Daniel returning from the dead, finding Cassie, losing Janet, going to Hell...

Unwittingly conceiving a speedily ageing child seemed the weirdest; even weirder than the Colonel temporarily ageing a few decades seven years ago; even weirder than all of them returning from the dead.

She said, inwardly awed by her realisation of the weirdness of the situation, "Hello."

The child smiled at her fondly. She slowly smiled back at him, resisting the urge to tousle the child's fair hair. In her mind's eye, she remembered Mark, her brother, at a similar age, and she noted the many similarities between them, and baby pictures of herself. She slowly reached out to hold the child's hand. She said with a smile,

"Jacob is a good name."

Jacob beamed at her brightly, appearing happy at the contact with Sam and being designated a name. He said, "Jacob."

Daniel spoke, a slight frown on his face, drawing Jacob's attention back to him.

"Where are you from?"

Jacob glanced at Sam and replied, "I come from Mother."

Sam looked at Daniel, and then asked Jacob, "Where did you come from before me? You're not human – you can't be."

Jacob looked at Sam in confusion. He asked bashfully, "Did I make an error, Mother? I replicated your DNA." He pressed his lips together. "I think I may not have chosen the same gender as yourself." He looked up at Daniel. "How many genders do your people have?"

Daniel glanced at Sam and replied, "We have two biological genders." He would have continued, explaining genetic mutations, individual differences, and personal preferences, but he was unsure as to how much detail he should go into.

Sam was about to ask Jacob more: the questions that should be asked. However, Jacob said, standing up, "I require nourishment, Mother. I believe I am now mature enough to consume solid nourishment."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack did not like the situation one bit. He rarely liked any of the situations they had encountered or stumbled across since they had opened the Stargate... but this was something else, he felt. He stood in the control room amidst a flurry of scientists trying to figure out how screwed they were. Behind him, there was a briefing table of sorts of various scientists bickering, while Walter was seated in his usual place trying out various diagnostics, dialling combinations, algorithms, and other doohickeys which they suggested.

Beside Jack stood the towering form of Teal'c. Teal'c had left to pump iron in the gym but had returned, seeming restless as he was to get to the bottom of why the Stargate had lost power and why they had limited usage of the dialling computer; not forgetting a possible alien incursion on the base. Years of disrespecting Hammond hadn't trained him for this. What should he do? He hated being a leader – the leader didn't even get to press buttons: there were times when the leader acted as the figurehead, to provide leadership by being there and looking elbow-deep without actually being elbow-deep.

Ah, but he was. They were his friends; his family, as he begrudgingly referred to them when he was alone and very drunk. They had fought side by side for so long that he couldn't help but feel something for situations they found themselves in.

He glanced up at the flashing red light above the stairs. At least they had managed to switch that damn siren off. He nodded at Siler who walked past with another gate technician. Jack briefly closed his eyes as he fought down an urge to punch something. They needed Carter. She needed to be here to do her damn job. Not that he was demeaning her struggle, but he always felt more comfortable when there was a technical mishap if Carter was around – she always found a way.

Teal'c said softly, "We will be victorious, O'Neill."

Jack didn't feel confident enough to answer him. He was about to suggest calling it a day and retiring for some stress eating in the commissary when someone started shouting. He and Teal'c looked around to see Bill Lee jump up from his chair as he debated with the other scientists. Jack fought back another urge to hide and approached the scientist. The General said,

"This had better be good."

Lee began to ramble until Jack cut him short with a raised hand. Jack said impatiently, "In a nutshell; remember, in a nutshell."

Lee, excited and scared all at the same time, said, "Whatever is in the dialling computer system is fluctuating – which explains why we've been able to get some function but not enough to power the 'gate." He continued, oblivious to Jack's exasperation, "It took us a while to get our sensor from 392 to work." He looked at Jack gravely. "The energy mass encompasses the dialling computer and extends the vicinity of the Infirmary."

Teal'c had already bolted out of the door before Lee could finish speaking. Jack soon followed. He could do action far better than standing around waiting. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to face but it was something. He just hoped Carter and Daniel were safe.