Chapter 8

Janet was able to complete her exam on the current Daniel-at-hand without further incident. Even the blood draw went smoothly, with Jack to hold his other hand and the promise of a dinosaur band-aid. She then gave him some clothes that fit him, including shoes and socks. Mostly in assorted shades of blue, Jack noted, including a t-shirt that was a pretty close match to Daniel's eyes. They were a bit too big, because Janet had to guess at sizes with little information at the time, but Daniel seemed happy to be completely covered again. He was even happier with the sparkly sticker and lollipop she gave him, though she warned him not to eat it until they went back through the gate because "some people throw up then."

Daniel ran back outside to show Sammi and Teal'c his booty, which was a clever marketing ploy for Janet, now that he thought of it. Once they were alone, he turned to her, and said, "Well?"

She sighed, and rubbed the back of her neck wearily. "Well, I can test his DNA and see if it's a match for what we have on file. But the alternate Kawalsky that came through the quantum mirror had DNA that was a perfect match for our Kawalsky, so I'm not sure what that would tell us. But I just realized this; whenever I've asked Daniel for his date of birth, to check his state of consciousness, he always gives just the month and day. He only gives the year if I ask for it specifically. Given that he's always looked younger than his official age, maybe his correct date of birth IS December 16th, 1970."

"He was already thoroughly screened before being brought into this top secret program," pointed out Jack.

Janet shrugged, "Well, I've never done any background checks, so I don't know if something like this could be missed, but the background reports that I get to see on infirmary personnel are only statements that they lack past history of criminal behavior, belonging to seditious organizations, mental instability and the like. I don't know what the top echelons of command get to see. I can only give you my medical observations of Daniel, physical and behavioral."

At that point Sammi burst in excitedly, hoping for a sticker and a lollipop, and the conversation was tabled for the moment.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Since Sammi seemed to quickly become at ease with Janet, she didn't object to Jack's excusing himself. It looked like the primary problem Janet was going to run into with Sammi was her desire to play with the medical equipment. The ear thermometer was her current focus when Jack left.

Once outside, Jack briefed Hammond on what he was calling the Birthday Bombshell. Like Jack, Hammond was amazed that this could have slid through the background checking procedure.

"But I wasn't even assigned to this command at the time Dr. Jackson was first hired," Hammond said thoughtfully. "And at the time I finally met him, with everything else that was going on at the time, I had no reason to request a second background check on someone who'd already been cleared. I was kept busy enough reviewing background checks on all the new people we were hiring to get the SGC up and running! And by the time things had calmed down, he'd already proved his worth and probity."

"I don't know what to think either, sir," said Jack. "I remember reviewing his personnel file, concluding he was a geek, and dismissing him otherwise. I'm sure his background check was in there, because I would have noticed if it wasn't, though I can't remember if it was the long form or the short form. But... I was just barely a human being then." Jack snorted bitterly. "I noted he was an orphan with no wife, kids or other close relatives and thought, 'Good, no one to kick up a fuss if he doesn't come back'. Daniel was the one who made me human again."

Hammond laid a consoling hand on Jack's shoulder. "I know, son." was all he said. It was all that could be said, really. But it was comforting nonetheless.

Hammond removed his hand and returned to business. "So, do you think that's our Doctor Jackson down there?" he asked, nodding at the small boy who was currently talking to Teal'c and Bra'tac. "Or is it someone from another timeline?"

Jack hesitated. "My gut feeling is that this is our Daniel. It just... feels like him. I never knew him at this age, but ..." he finished with a shrug.

Hammond smiled. "Well, I did know Major Carter... I mean Sammi Carter at this age and my gut feeling is that it's her. She certainly seems to remember everything she should remember. Why don't we play it like it lays for now, Colonel? I'll get an investigation started into this... discrepancy once we get back to the SGC."

"Yes, sir. If I may, I'd like to check on Teal'c now. He's had a lot of shocks today."

"Certainly, Colonel O'Neill. In fact, consider it your primary duty, until I inform you otherwise, to tend to your teammates."

"Thank you, sir." said Jack with a smile and a brief salute. It was always good when your orders coincided with what you were going to do in any case. It saved everyone lots of aggravation.

General Hammond gave a grin, as if he knew what Jack was thinking, and went off to consult with the technical teams. Jack walked over to join a stunned-looking Teal'c, Daniel, and Bra'tac. Daniel had his hands on hips saying angrily, "Well, that's just mean! You shouldn't lie to people and trick them like that! I want to hit him!" He gave an illustrative swing of his fist in the air. Then he looked abashed, and said, "Well, I know you're supposed to solve problems by talking, not fighting. But Apophis is very mean, and I still want to hit him!" he ended fiercely.

Well, this did kind of explain how the mild-mannered academic adapted so well to military life. Bra'tac smiled at Daniel and said, "Well, I see both the man of peace and the warrior were within you from an early age, Daniel Jackson." Turning to Teal'c he added, "When you first told me this one was a mighty warrior, I did not at that time believe you. And yet events proved that your judgement was correct as usual, old friend."

Teal'c managed a slight smile, but he still looked deeply shaken.

"Do you know what those mean Goa'uld did, Jack? They..."

"Aht!" said Jack, holding up his hand. "Daniel, has it occurred to you that at this point in time I, Bra'tac, and Teal'c all know more about what those 'mean Goa'uld did' than you do, so there's no need for you to brief us on that, okay?" He softened this by ruffling the boy's hair, then hurriedly smoothed the wayward strands back out of the poor kid's face. He'd forgotten Daniel's overgrown hair made ruffling problematic just now.

However the incident caused Daniel to giggle, and brought a more authentic-looking smile to Teal'c's face for a moment. Jack sat down on the other side of Teal'c and asked the older boy quietly, "You okay?"

Teal'c looked up at Jack's face, stricken. "I... nothing is as I believed it to be. Apophis denounced Cronus as unworthy of allegiance, and promised me the chance to train as a warrior to someday overthrow Cronus to gain vengeance for my father's wrongful slaying. I saw how those who live in Apophis's domain are more prosperous and happy than those in the domain of Cronus, and how Apophis is generous in his gifts to those who serve him well. I thought that he was truly the greatest among all the gods, and that to fight to bring all peoples into his rule would be a good thing for all, and a worthy endeavor to devote myself to. Now..." Teal'c could say no more; he broke down in tears.

Aww, Teal'c. Jack had indeed done some "damned distasteful things" in the service of his country, but this bone-chillingly cynical exploitation of a child's agony at the death of his father was still pretty damned awful. Apophis had emotionally manipulated Teal'c into vowing to overthrow Cronus and add Cronus's territory to Apophis's domain and called it "giving Teal'c an opportunity to avenge his father's death". No wonder even gentle Daniel felt violent; Sammi would probably want to blow Apophis up. Jack made a mental note to tell all three later that the adult Sam had in effect blown Apophis up--They'd probably all find it immensely gratifying.

This wasn't the right time for that now, though. Bra'tac wrapped the sobbing boy in his arms and pulled him close, sharing a look of parental anguish with Jack over Teal'c's head. Of course Bra'tac couldn't have brought a child into his little rebellion back then, for the boy's own safety as well as that of the other conspirators. But that didn't make the shattering of a child's innocent faith any easier, much less the knowledge that you had been at least implicitly part of the lie. How could you possibly apologize for that?

Daniel's mouth was puckered as if he wanted to start crying in sympathy, so with a jerk of his head Jack indicated his intent to Bra'tac, who nodded, then gave all his attention to Teal'c. Jack took Daniel's hand and led him away, to protect both Teal'c's dignity and Daniel's all-too-tender heart.

As they walked away, it occurred to Jack that he owed an apology to Daniel. He'd never asked Teal'c why he'd given his allegiance to a second System Lord after he'd seen Cronus kill his father. And then he'd cut Daniel off (once again!) when Daniel was trying to tell him something important. "Hey, I'm sorry. You did know something about the 'mean Goa'uld' that I didn't know, didn't you?"

Daniel looked up, his blue eyes somber. "It's okay. I didn't know all of it, anyway–not about thinking that Apophis would be better for the people living under him. Though really, you'd think anyone would be better than Cronus, just based on history. Did you know he ate his own kids? But still..." Daniel heaved a great sigh, and looked back over to where Bra'tac was holding Teal'c. "I wish I could make Teal'c feel better. He's so nice."

Jack gave Daniel's hand a gentle, comforting squeeze. "I'm sure you'll be able to, later. The two of you are very good friends, and you do a pretty good job of making him feel better. It'll probably take a while, but we'll all help."

The small boy looked up with a shy, pleased smile. "Teal'c and I are friends in the future?"

"Oh, yeah. And you can still be friends now, too! Ya sure, Ya betcha!"

That won Jack another giggle. And by then they'd reached the building's entrance, where a timely diversion was caused by Janet and Sammi emerging. Sammi was now wearing pink warm-up pants, though she'd apparently elected to keep her knee-length black tee, now decorated with a sparkly butterfly sticker on one shoulder. She also had a tortoiseshell barrette securing her freshly-brushed hair. Janet, by contrast, looked much the same, except for a look of slightly-harassed amusement on her face.

"Sammi, why don't you tell Daniel about the medical equipment in the future while I speak to Colonel O'Neill," requested Janet, giving Jack a meaningful look.

Nothing loath, Sammi launched into a spate of breathless, but slightly vocabulary-impaired, technobabble to the fascinated Daniel. Janet led Jack a few feet away, so they could confer out of the two children's earshot while keeping them both in view.

"Sammi told me her birthday is May 12th, 1968, exactly the same as we have on file for Sam... Major Carter. She told me she went to bed yesterday on April 27th, 1975, after reading and recording the 100th book she needed to become a Blue Ribbon reader. The next thing she remembers is waking up "in the future". She did express surprise that her skinned knees from a roller-skating accident yesterday were completely healed with no trace left. She said her hair was shorter than it was "last night" because she used to be able to wear it in braids."

Jack sifted through all this to come to the salient point. "Wait–you mean she's only six? I thought she was eight!"

Janet smiled, "Well, she's only two weeks from her seventh birthday by her account, so I think we can regard her as effectively seven. The more significant part to me is that her skinned knees are gone, which would indicate a physical transformation of the 2002 Sam rather than a 'switching places' with the 1975 Sam."

"But she's a lot bigger then Daniel, and they're both the same age!"

"Actually, sir, she's about a half year older–Daniel couldn't give us a time more exact than late May in 1977. Six months is a significant length of time at this age."

O'Neill was still trying to get his mind wrapped around this second surprise. "Daniel's taller than Carter! I mean the grown-up Daniel is, so how come child-Carter is taller than child-Daniel?"

"Sir, men tend to be taller than women because they go through puberty later, and keep growing longer. Before puberty boys and girls are– on average– roughly the same size. Major Carter, with an adult height of 5'9", is over the 95th percentile for height for women. Doctor Jackson, by contrast, with an adult height of 6 feet even, is around the 75th height percentile for men. So her being taller as a child is what would be expected, even without the 6 months age difference.

"Now, Colonel, while I'd love to stand here discussing your... size concerns, I really need to check Teal'c for possibly communicable viruses or nanites, as well as general health, so we can get the kids back to the SGC before dark," Janet finished with a hint of exasperation in her otherwise-professional tone.

Jack's mood sobered instantly, and he glanced over to Teal'c and Bra'tac. Teal'c was now sitting upright again, looking up at the older Jaffa, who had one hand pressed to the boy's face. His tears appeared to have subsided, but no child should have such a look of such soul-deep pain on his face.

He turned back to Janet, who was now gazing at this same scene in concern, having apparently followed his look. "Doc," he said quietly, "go easy with him. In fact, it might be better to have Bra'tac present while you examine him. He's going through a lot of things right now, and unlike Sammi and Daniel, he's not even in a culture he recognizes."

"Yes, I can see that," murmured Fraiser pensively. She looked back to Jack and said, "Actually, sir, I had intended to do so anyway, since Bra'tac would be able to spot any physical or memory discrepancies better than I could. Will you watch over ...?" she nodded over to Sammi and Daniel.

"Sure," he told her, "you go take care of our other little... time traveler."

Her face crinkled up in a smile, though her brown eyes were still full of concern. "Will do, Colonel," she said firmly. She then turned, and walked toward Teal'c and Bra'tac.

O'Neill turned to his charges. It seemed the joys of science were more quickly exhausted at this age, because they were now comparing lollipops. Daniel had selected French Vanilla Cream, while Sammi had opted for Strawberry-Banana Swirl. Jack made a mental note to find out where Janet bought her suckers as he walked over to join his two younger kids.