"Come on Jonas. Play with me."
Jonas blinked, looking up at the trees overhead. Light reached him in speckles through the leaves. He was in a forest. Birds chirped, and sang around him. The smell of autumn had replaced that of the antiseptic tainted sheets from his bed.
A head popped into his vision, smiling. The face was similar to his own, blond hair long around the seven year old's face. "Come on Jonas. Play with me."
Jonas levered himself to his feet, finding it easier this time. While he was still small, his limbs were not so chubby and he didn't feel as top heavy. On his feet he was eye to eye with his brother, as always. Despite his sickness keeping him smaller than the other children, malnutrition meant his twin brother was only a centimetre or two taller.
He was seven again, just like his brother. Of course, his twin would never reach eight. This was the last year they would both be alive. It made sense that his mind would choose this time for a dream.
Leaves crunched under his feet. "We aren't little anymore 'Net. We should be studying. I can help you. Bran can help too."
Gannet shook his head fiercely, causing his chin length hair to look even more untamed. "I don't want to study. I want to play." Suddenly his eyes were wide and pleading. "You used to play with me all the time when we were little."
"We're seven 'Net", Jonas said, trying to make him see sense. "Some people are mentored at our age. It's starting to get colder, and soon there will be more shortages. If you want to eat tomorrow, you need to improve."
"Jonas is right Gannet", there was Branwen. She was smaller than them both, but the determined way she held herself spoke of strength and wisdom beyond an average five year old. Blond hair reached half way down her back at this age. "We're trying to help you."
"Or you'll die", Jonas added desperately, and that was odd, because at that age he hadn't known that. Something disconcerting ran through him, causing everything around them to shift slightly as he was reminded that this wasn't real. He was dreaming.
"We could go through the portal", Gannet said, his voice hopeful. There was a portal, round and blue, right next to him. It looked exactly like a small version of the stargate. That didn't make sense because Gannet's portals had always been pretend things.
Bran looked at him, giving him a sad smile. "I guess I was wrong about the possibility of quantum effects making enough exotic matter to sustain a wormhole. I never thought that you would be right about that."
"It could be your only chance", Gannet said, standing by a DHD that had appeared out of nowhere. Symbols were lit up, but from here he couldn't see them clearly. "By that time worlds will have been destroyed. It's best to not need it."
Bran shook her head, at the boy before grabbing Jonas's hand. "If you manage it then you won't need it, and they won't be dead, not all of them."
"Some will that weren't before", Gannet grinned as though it were a joke.
"The odds are better and the numbers are smaller", Bran scowled back at him. She looked up at him with blue eyes so similar to Sam's. "Jonas. Don't trust Kelowna."
"What?" He shook his head. This dream was unlike any that he had before. He didn't understand. Why would his dream be telling him to not trust his country? What did they mean by lives lost?
"Don't worry about that", Bran said, squeezing his hand tight between her own. "Just don't trust Kelowna."
The autumn leaves fell rapidly all around them, until after only seconds the trees were bare and his breath fogged before him. Around their feet the brown leaves shriveled to black, then sank into the soil. Green shoots peeked up from the ground and the ends of the branches. Birds began singing as the warmth returned. Seasons passed in minutes.
"Things are changing Jonas", Bran said, eyes still fixed on his. "And yet they remain the same. It's going to be very bad Jonas. Very very bad, for you."
Then the smells of spring were gone, replaced by antiseptic. He sat up in the hospital bed, trying to get his breath back. Unconsciously his once again chubby hand had fixed in place over one of the teddy bear's furry limbs.
He couldn't remember ever having such a vivid dream before, and he was not a stranger to them. Sweat had drenched his body, causing his puppy covered pyjamas to stick to his skin. Looking over through the half darkness he was comforted to discover Daniel still fast asleep on his bed. At least his nightmare – dream – whatever it had been hadn't woken him up.
There was no way that he would be able to go back to sleep. His body was still wired with adrenaline from the strange dream. Every time he blinked in the darkness, he saw his siblings faces behind his eyelids. It had all seemed so vivid, like they were really there. The thought made his chest ache. He missed them so much, even after all these years.
When he had lived here there had been nights like this where he couldn't sleep. Walking had helped. To start with he had just paced his room, then he had taken to going to the library and burying himself in books. Eventually when he had read all the books the library had to offer he had taken to walking to the control room above the stargate. It was there where his thoughts turned now.
First he had to get down. It was a long drop from the bed to the floor to someone as small as he was now. This time there would be no one around to help him.
His eyes fell on the bear next to him in the bed - or maybe there was someone that could help.
He carefully dropped the bear to the floor, before lowering himself over the side of the bed. When his toes brushed fur he felt regret at what was going to happen next. He hadn't thought this through. By now though his feet were dangling, there was no going back.
The bear worked to keep the landing soft, but he felt so bad crushing it that he quickly pushed himself off it. The result was an imbalance that caused him to fall backward heavily, impacting with the floor.
It didn't hurt. One advantage to this new body was that it was compact and hardy. A higher fat ratio meant that impacts like this were easy to shake off. He did just that, pushing himself up to wobbly feet, and pulling the bear into his arms to check for irreparable damage.
It seemed OK. The stuffing had bounced back, leaving little evidence that he had just used it as a landing pad. It still seemed to stare at him with reproachful eyes. He shook his head, a little alarmed at how easy it was to interpret emotions from an inanimate object. It just looked so much more lifelike than he was used to toys looking.
For a moment he considered taking it with him, but that would only raise questions. He wasn't sure whether children of earth carried around teddy bears as comfort objects. All he knew was that despite his size, he was an adult and he had not seen any adults carry around teddy bears in his time on earth.
He sat it down, leaning against the leg of the small table that sat between their beds. He felt bad leaving it there, but he really needed to clear his head. The nightmare was still twisting through his mind. He wanted Sam here. She always knew the right thing to do when he was upset. There had been times after a bad nights sleep where she had just let him sit in her lab and watch her work, talking through whatever experiment she was running.
There was a nurse on duty, writing notes to the side of the large infirmary. In the main area only one bed was occupied, a sergeant who had broken his leg. He was asleep.
Jonas walked past them, deciding not to tell the nurse he was leaving. Maybe he should have, but he didn't want to disturb her, and he didn't want her to stop him. Fiddling nervously with the edges of his pyjamas he made his way to the hallway. Just a quick walk, he told himself, then he would come straight back.
The corridor outside the infirmary was empty. Though being underground the lighting in the hallways was the same day and night, it still looked eery. It felt like ghosts could be waiting, just around a corner.
Not for the first time he felt too small and vulnerable in this form.
He made it part way down the first corridor before his senses hit him. Physically he was two years old, and people still didn't understand why that was. For all he knew, he could be a risk to the base. Something could be deeply wrong with him – more than his height change.
He crept back, past the nurse and the sleeping patient, feeling sheepish about what he had almost done. Since he could not reach his bed to climb back up, he spent the next few hours sitting on the cold floor next to the teddy bear.
Jack took a moment to stare at the curled up boy. The covers were pulled up to his waist, and his little arms were tightly clutched around the bear he had got them. At least someone got a kick out of that thing.
Daniel walked casually up to his side, brushing down his dungarees before pushing himself to his tiptoes to look at the smaller boy on the bed. He smiled. "The nurse said he had a bad night, somehow managed to get himself out of bed."
"See he liked my gift", Jack smirked at the death grip the toddler had on the teddy bear.
"Yeah, it was a nice gesture, but I think he gets more out of it." Daniel looked up at him, face serious, which looked odd on a five year old. "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I didn't mean it."
"Yes you did", Jack said, but he wasn't angry anymore, just sad, like he always was when Charlie was brought up. Years had changed the pain to something more akin to a bruise than a open wound. Some months he could go days without thinking of it, then something would poke it, reminding him that yes, it still hurts like hell.
"I did", Daniel admitted, not even attempting to deny it. "But I shouldn't have said it. I can see why you would feel like that. Its cruel that it was us two, both of us who were blond with light coloured eyes as kids."
"Its not just that", Jack looked around the room to check that aside from the sleeping Jonas they were alone. He knelt down so that he was closer to eye level with Daniel. "Its a little of that – but. Look, if you repeat this I'll deny it, but I do care about you two. And the way you are now means that it is very easy for you guys to get hurt, and I don't want that."
"You should tell him that", Daniel said, looking way too calm and wise for his young face.
"Tell Jonas?" Jack frowned at the bed. "Why?"
"Jack, I know you're not that dense", the little boy said, scuffing the floor with a shoe. "Even now the guy still desperately wants your approval". He looked up, fixing him with those bright blue eyes in a much too serious stare. "I think he deserves it. Don't you?"
It was a matter of principle, he told himself. Sure, he had forgiven Jonas for what happened to Daniel a long time ago. When the guy had gone, he had been sorry to see him leave. There was a kind of an innocence to Jonas that made him act younger than his years, even when he hadn't been two. It was difficult to hate someone who was that cheerily 'nice' all the time – that was what he found most annoying about the guy. It was like hating an excitable puppy, and everyone knew that Jack O'Neill was a dog person.
Still, he couldn't tell him that. That would be like telling Sam that he thought her the most attractive woman he had ever met, possibly including his ex wife in that. Or telling Daniel that some days he wanted to ground him forever and just keep him locked up someplace safe so he would never leave. He was alright with hinting it, calling him son, asking how he was, and now carrying him around, but to outright say that he cared about him – that was too much baring of his soul.
Come to think of it, it was a little odd that he was fine carrying around the guy, but baulked at telling him he liked him.
They spent most of the morning running tests in the infirmary. By the third hour Doctor Fraiser was forced to admit that, yes Daniel's energy levels had increased, and his impulse control had gone down. He got into everything. Anything that wasn't placed up too high was poked, prodded and examined by the curious doctor.
At least Jonas, while perhaps even more curious than the other boy, was less mobile and more aware that it was another person's property. It was amusing watching Jonas follow around the younger boy, alternating between 'I don't think you should do that', to 'how does it work?' It was almost worth the fallout moments later when Janet found out that he 'let them' take apart one of her latest expensive dohickies.
It wasn't worth it when he found out that a chided two year old Jonas was a lot less amusing and a lot more heart breaking that a chided adult Jonas. He stumbled over his apologies, face bright red and eyes a little watery, until Daniel valiantly stepped in, saying that it was all his idea and Jonas had done nothing but tell him not to do it.
Though he was a bit of a hyper nosy brat at times, it was the first time he appreciated the fact that Daniel could be a good older brother.
"Jesus Janet", Jack said heaving the still red faced toddler into his arms. It was instinct, and he was a father. He tried to remember that this was not his son he was holding, or a real toddler, but an adult, but that was hard. Considering Jonas as being an adult hadn't been a strong suit of his to begin with. "They're just kids." The words were only half sarcastic.
"I know", she said, looking like she wanted to take Jonas from him and give him a big hug of her own. He kept his arm firmly fixed around the small boy, who was holding his shirt but no longer looking like he was about to cry.
Daniel stood by his feet, having placed himself between him and Janet. He was a picture of tense muscles and calm determined gaze.
"If you're finished, I'm going to take them to lunch." Jack said, attempting to diffuse the tension left in the room. "We've only got a few hours till the Kelowans come, and a Daniel without a chocolate milk fix is just as bad as adult Daniel without coffee."
Janet grimaced down at the younger boy, a part of whatever that machine had been still in her hands. "I'd suggest decreasing the sweets."
"Meh", Jack waved at her with his free hand. "Knowing Sam, she's going to report back today with a cure, then they'll be big again. They might as well make the most of it while they can."
"OK", she said before addressing the bundle in his arms. "Jonas, I'm really sorry I blamed you. I should have known that it was Doctor Jackson's idea."
Daniel scowled, arms crossed over his chest. Jonas seemed to turn an even more scarlet shade of red. He shook his head, clearly trying to say that an apology wasn't necessary.
"OK kids", Jack said, trying to lighten up the moment with a smirk. "Say goodbye to auntie Janet."
"So", Daniel said, as they walked out of the infirmary, Jonas still in his arms. "If she's auntie Janet, does that make you the mom? You are the one stuck looking after us."
Jack sputtered for a minute before composing himself. Daniel looked up at him with a grin, a truly evil grin. This kid was going to be the death of him, unless he got electrocuted by whatever he dissected next. "I think Teal'cs more suited to be mom. He has that motherly vibe to him. Plus he'd watch cartoons with you for hours if you let him."
"So what are you in this weird situation?" Daniel asked, walking backwards so he could continue facing them. "Uncle, dad, neighbour who you let babysit sometimes?"
Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The kid really did not do cooped up well. The past few hours in the infirmary had left him practically buzzing with energy. It was a far cry from the calm kid he had talked to that morning. "Lets stick with Jack for now."
Parenting was like riding a bike, you never forgot the old tricks. So when he suggested that Daniel go ahead – all the way to the cafeteria (supervision be damned) to pick out some seats for them he thought he had this sorted. What he didn't anticipate was arriving in the cafeteria minutes later to see Daniel practically surrounded by beautiful women.
The kid was drinking it in, giving them his most dazzling smile, while chomping down on a double chocolate chip cookie. Who the hell thought it was OK to give a random kid a cookie? Jack had meant what he had said to Janet about letting them live a little, but he'd been thinking more along the lines of letting them binge on sugar before he had to hand them back to her, not having them buzzed up on his watch.
"Lieutenants", he said as he approached closer.
They straightened up immediately, several taking backward steps when they saw his rank. A couple of the less intimidated ones softened a bit upon seeing Jonas. He couldn't really fault them for that, the kid was cute. Daniel however, as cute as he looked was a hellion under it all.
"General", stated second lieutenant Grey, one of the spunkier members of SG-8. Her eyes were wide."I didn't know that you had kids."
"I don't", he stated flatly. "I stole them. Now either get the kid some chocolate milk or beat it."
The group had deflated to only three, Grey, another lieutenant and a scientist Kali Yeoman. It was funny how the bravest members of the air force also tended to be the most annoying.
Kali shot him a salute, her long brown plait twitching behind her with the sharp movement. "Chocolate milk on the double sir!" Scientists, oy. In his opinion most of them were a few screws short of a toolbox, Yeoman more than most. Thankfully he hadn't crossed paths with her too many times before.
"Get a banana milkshake too while you're at it", he yelled after her, setting Jonas down on the seat next to Daniel.
"Anything I can do sir?" Grey asked. She was a good lieutenant, even if she occasionally overstepped rank.
If Daniel was going to have a fan club, he may as well make use of it.
"Jonas", he addressed the toddler. "Are we going for oatmeal and banana today or something more adventurous?"
The toddler started, having been staring at Daniel. "Um... maybe some berries as well. If that's OK?"
"Sure", he turned back to Grey, still watching the two out of the corner of his eye. Daniel had noticed Jonas staring and had broken off a bit of his cookie to give to him. Jonas looked like he'd been handed a treasure worth a fortune. "Can you do that, and I'll get the rest. Get another one of those cookies as well."
Yeoman followed them after lunch, when they went to see Teal'c in the gym. Jack initially thought about telling her to go the hell away, because she was a scientist – couldn't even follow orders, until he found out that she made a brilliant babysitter for Daniel.
Both kids listened enthralled as she animatedly described her latest experiment, and how it kept on going cabooly even when she didn't want it to go cabooly. Dragons, knights and fair maidens were replaced by chemical reactions and external variables, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Daniel just looked pleased that he was getting some of that intellectual stimulation he wanted, even if it wasn't his archaeology stuff.
Overall he was feeling rather pleased with events – until he turned around and Jonas and Yeoman were nowhere in sight.
He walked toward Daniel who was turned toward the bleachers with his hands covering his eyes. To start with he was worried, thinking something horrible had happened, until he realised that Daniel was counting.
"21, 22, 23".
"Daniel what are you doing?" He asked, crouching by the boys side whilst looking around for Jonas or danger.
"Counting. 24, 25, 26."
Jack ran a hand down his face, glancing over at Teal'c who was watching them carefully whilst teaching the recruits some kind of sparring. "Where's Jonas?"
"Hiding. Now quiet I have to count. 27, 28."
Jack fought the urge to shake him. "Why is he hiding?" He asked through gritted teeth.
Daniel turned a little away from him, clearly trying to ignore him. "29, 30. Ready or not here I come."
Realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. "You're playing hide and seek?"
"Yes Jack", the five year old said, nearly rolling his eyes. "I'm playing hide and seek."
Mr 'I am an adult' Daniel was playing hide and seek. He wasn't sure what to say about that. "Huh."
"Kid wanted to play", Daniel shrugged, scanning the large area around him. "He said he hadn't played it before. You did say we might as well enjoy it while we could."
It was sad that Daniel hadn't had as much time as the rest of them to get to know Jonas. Jack was starting to see that the two would have really got along.
"Kali", Daniel said, ducking his head around the side of the bleachers. "I found you."
The woman walked into view, long braid following behind her. "Wow", she said, face alight in admiration. "You're really good at this."
"I have an unfair advantage", Daniel waved off the praise. "Now I just need to find Jonas."
"Yes", Jack said. "Preferibly before the meeting, because I don't want to have to explain that to the Kelowans."
As the minutes stretched Jack grew more and more worried. The gym was a big place for a two year old with a mind of a genius to hide.
"Are you sure he's even still in here?"
"Yes", Daniel said, Kali trailing behind him, obstinately not helping because that would be cheating. "We said to stay in the gym and areas attached, but not the changing rooms. It's only been a few minutes just have patien-".
A faint giggle came from the kitchen area. Daniel smirked, ambling slowly into the room. "Oh no", he grinned. "I'm not sure we'll be able to find Jonas. He chose a really good hiding place."
Jack had to admit it. Daniel could patronise with the best of them. Surely Jonas wouldn't fall for that? Another giggle, this time clearly from the cupboard next to the door. Maybe genius wasn't everything.
Daniel opened up the cupboard, revealing a smiling Jonas surrounded by power bars. Daniel smiled in that indulgent big brother fashion he had picked up over the past day. "Jonas. It doesn't work so well if you laugh and give away your position."
"I know", the toddler said, crawling out from his hiding place. "But it was just funny. I couldn't help it."
"Sorry kiddies", Jack said looking at his watch. "But its time to go have fun with our Kelowan friends."
The smiles dropped from both their faces.
Both of them seemed more unsettled in this meeting than the last. Daniel revolved round and round in his chair, whilst Jonas sat in the one next to it fiddling furiously with his fingers, glancing around the table. The Kelowan representatives looked on in open disapproval, and even Teal'cs eyebrow twitched staring at the still moving Daniel.
It was time for his super parenting skills. He dropped a handful of coloured pencils between them, placing a pile of paper in front of each child. Daniel stopped revolving to watch warily.
"There ya go", he said with a cheery smile. "Now you kids color quietly while the adults talk."
"Jack", Daniel said frowning up at him. "If you think we can be patronised -"
He broke off to stare at Jonas who had edged forward in his chair, kneeling in order to reach the pencils. His tongue stuck out slightly as he concentrated on making the first marks on the piece of paper. Kid liked drawing. Jack guessed he shouldn't be surprised. Adult Jonas had liked drawing too, he'd just been less colorful in doing it.
Daniel settled for glaring at Jack, looking a little deflated doing so now that Jonas wasn't on his side. He made no move to pick up a pencil, but at least he had stopped spinning.
"Now that we are all settled, lets begin", General Hammond addressed the table.
They were seated similar to before. Jack was sitting next to the general, with Jonas and Daniel between him and Teal'c. This time Ferreti provided an extra buffer between SG1 and the Kelowans, with the rest of his team on the opposite side of the table next to the General.
First minister Dreylock was seated at the other end of the table from the General, with an advisor to her left by Ferreti, and Captain Red and his assistant to her right. Teal'c hadn't stopped staring at Red since they had sat down, and Jack found it difficult not to do the same.
They all recounted the events of the past few days leading up to the incident, this time with Captain Red and Soldier Liven adding in their side of the story. It was all much more vague and politically phrased than before, but no amount of euphemisms could get away from the fact that Captain Red had pushed Jonas.
"Is this true Jonas?" First Minister Dreylock asked, lifting herself off her chair in order to get a better look at the toddler.
"What?" The two year old looked up from his drawing. It was messier, and more colorful than his usual pieces, but Jack could make out the stargate and someone by it, a figure with short blond hair. Sam he was guessing. "Oh. Yes. I'm afraid that's true Mam. Captain Red hit me. I banged my head against the wall, and that's what seemed to activate it."
"Very well", Dreylock's expression suddenly became very cold. "You can rest assured that this will go on record."
Jonas nodded absently, moving the paper to start another drawing. His little feet were kicking in the chair, causing it to vibrate and his arm to work harder to keep straight lines. Daniel hadn't started up his spinning, instead moving the chair softly from side to side as he watched the conversations taking place on the table. For now it was Daniel that was the calm one, that was odd.
The conversation went on to the boy's condition, General Hammond reading out and summarising Janet's notes. There were further notes that hadn't been mentioned in the last briefing that confirmed at least Daniel had a change in mental state, and it was suspected Jonas had as well. It was really difficult to tell with the guy, half the things he did seemed so alien anyway.
In the middle of the general's discussion of Janet's hypothesizes (which really amounted to her not having a clue of the cause of this) Jonas dropped his pencil, pushing his chair away from the table and clambering down so quickly he almost collided with Jack's knee. A huge grin was plastered on his face, and he almost fell down on his path to the door of the conference room.
"Mr Quinn?" The General was the first one to voice his confusion.
The toddler stopped, looking back at the table, as if only just registering that he had stood up in the middle of a meeting. The smile faded from his face, leaving only a slight upward twitch to his lips. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to say hello. I guess I got carried away."
The general frowned, leaning down with his arms on his knees to better look at the toddler. "Who did you want to say hello to Mr Quinn?"
The smile further faded from the child's face, his cheeks tingeing red as the entire table's attention focused on him. "Sam. I just wanted to say hello to Sam."
Jack shifted in his chair, worry starting to flood through him. "Jonas. Sam's not due in for another five hours."
"But she's", Jonas pointed at the door, his forehead furrowed in confusion. "She's".
The claxons sounded, warning the base of an incoming wormhole. Jonas's face lit up again, he was practically bouncing, edging closer to the door.
General Hammond pushed himself to his feet, turning to address the Kelowans. "Please excuse me a moment, I need to attend to this."
Jonas took the General leaving the room as permission to leave himself. Jack, Ferretti and their teams were already on their feet, following. Captain Red and Dreylock trailed behind them, probuly wondering what the heck was going on.
"Its SG-6", Simmons said when the General entered the control room.
"Open the iris."
Jack edged closer to Teal'c, careful to keep his voice low. The Kelowans wouldn't be allowed inside the control room for security reasons, but that didn't stop them watching from the doorway. "That's the team that Sam went with."
Jonas was practically humming with excitement, having clambered onto a chair to get a better look at the wormhole. "Do you think she found something?" He asked, looking down at Daniel who was holding the chair in place. "Will she be able to play with us, or can we work with her? Can I show her the teddy bear? Do you think she likes hide and seek?"
"Jonas", Jack said, getting down to his level as the team started to appear through the wormhole. "Remember to breathe. You'll get to see her in a minute."
"Sorry Sir", Jonas said, giving him a sheepish smile.
"How did you know she was going to get back early?" Daniel was the one to ask the question they were all burning to.
Jonas watched as Sam walked through the wormhole below, looking tired but otherwise fine. "What do you mean?"
"Jonas", Daniel said, pulling on the child's arm until he had his complete attention. "You knew she was coming even before the alarm sounded."
"Oh", Jonas said, eyes widening as he looked at the scene below. His shoulders slumped, and he sat down heavily on the chair that he had climbed onto. "Oh."
"Indeed", Teal'c said, raising an eyebrow at him. Good guy Teal'c. He always knew what to say whenever everyone else was too shocked by events. Feretti and his team hung back near the door, providing a layer between them and the curious Kelowans.
Jonas rested his head in his hands, looking up at them mournfully. "Does this mean that my head is going to be cut open again?"
Events have been set in motion, and Sam's back! I missed her. Anyone catch what I'm doing with Jonas's siblings names? Bonus points if you did. As always, reviews are appreciated.