Ch 23

The next few days passed tensely for Jack, although he tried his best to make sure he acted normally around the kids. He realized he had probably actually gone a bit overboard when Teal'c asked him what was wrong, and the kids fell asleep in plates of macaroni and cheese at dinner because he had kept them so busy all day jumping from one activity to the next. He resolved to try to sort himself out, and went to bed shortly after the kids did, wanting to figure out how to compartmentalize everything rolling around in his head right now, so he could focus on the kids for now, for as long as Hammond and the rest of the world let him.

Unfortunately, shortly after he turned off his lamp, a storm began raging outside. After doing a mental check to ensure the generator was ready to go should it be needed, he wasn't particularly surprised when his bedroom door burst open and both kids scrambled inside dragging their stuffed animals and launched themselves at the foot of his bed, shrieking at a clap of thunder that reverberated throughout the cabin.

"Hey, it's okay," he said, shifting pillows around until they were all comfortable under the covers on either side of him. "It's just a storm, guys, nothing to worry about."

"It's loud," Sam said, hiding her face in his side.

"And flashing," Daniel added, hugging Jack's arm tightly.

"It's just weather, guys. I know it's hard to sleep through, but this is a safe place. Teal'c and I won't let anything happen to either of you."

"We know," Daniel sniffled.

"Can we stay here?" Sam asked, tucking her unicorn up tightly under her chin, rubbing her face on its fur.

"Sure. Let's try to get some sleep. I bet in the morning there will be all sorts of interesting things to see after the rain is gone."

"Yeah, like what?" Daniel asked interestedly.

"Oh all sorts of stuff," Jack started, trying to think. "Uh… tree branches blown down, interesting bugs and stuff that comes out when it's wet, worms…"

"Tell us a story," Sam asked, yawning.

"What kind of story?"

"About aliens," Daniel requested.

"Yeah, aliens."

He chuckled. "Okay. Once upon a time, there were four people, named Jack, Teal'c, Daniel, and Sam. And they went through the Stargate to another planet millions of light years away…" he talked quietly, telling them a fairly simple story, based on the time they had met those naked painted aliens Daniel had been obsessed with, the ones that sang to their plants. The kids fell asleep halfway through, and eventually Jack drifted off as well, listening to the rain, feeling warm and content.

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The next morning, the first thing Jack noticed when he woke up was that he was extremely warm, and couldn't feel either of his arms. Why the hell was he sleeping on his back? He never… cracking a slightly crusty eye open, he tried to get his bearings. He looked down and was met with a mop of messy blonde hair. Sleepily, he smiled automatically recognizing the top of Carter's head. One arm clearly asleep because she was sound asleep on it, her head on his shoulder. Mystery solved…

Or not, his brain quickly realized, as he woke up fully.

"What the…" he muttered, sitting up hastily. "WHAT THE HELL!?" he exclaimed, as his movement dislodged Daniel from his other side.

A fully grown Daniel, and a fully grown Carter, who were both now waking up sleepily, were looking around groggily, clearly confused.

Teal'c, obviously having heard the commotion, came hurrying into the room, stopping in the doorway at the sight of his three fully grown teammates all tangled up together on the bed, trying to reclaim dead asleep limbs and extract themselves from blankets and sheets.

"Somebody get some scissors or something!" Daniel exclaimed. "I'm choking, I swear!"

"Calm down, you're not choking, just be still, dammit!"

Chaos ensued for the next several minutes, as Daniel and Sam both tried to extract themselves from the ridiculously small nightclothes they were wearing, and Jack and Teal'c tried to help them. After a lot of effort, embarrassment, and several muttered curses, they were finally both sat on Jack's bed, freed from their toddler sized clothing, Daniel wrapped in a sheet and Sam with the blanket firmly tucked around her.

"What the hell is going on?" Sam finally demanded, once the immediate problem of being trapped in clothes ten sizes too small had been solved.

Jack sat down on the foot of the bed and scrubbed his face with his hands. "What do you guys remember?"

They looked at each other in complete confusion.

"Uh… I stopped by Daniel's lab to see how he was coming with the egg-shaped device from…"

Jack waved his hand. "Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. All right kiddoes, sit tight. We have a long story to tell you."

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A couple of hours later, Jack and Teal'c had given Sam and Daniel a brief summary of the last few weeks' events. Sam and Daniel, for their parts, were stunned, having no memory of the last few weeks, but feeling much more well rested and relaxed overall than either could remember feeling in a very long time.

Jack gave them both clothes to put on – which fit Daniel okay but were comically large on his 2IC, and called the SGC.

Since Thor was still around, they were quickly beamed directly from his cabin into the SGC infirmary, where his two scientists were promptly whisked off by Janet for rounds and rounds of testing.

After briefing Hammond on what little he knew, Jack found himself dismissed and ordered off the base. He headed home alone for the first time in what felt like ages, determinedly NOT looking in the rearview mirror, lest he catch a glimpse of the two empty car seats behind him.

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"So, what are you thinking?" Daniel asked Sam. They were both in infirmary beds, waiting for Janet to come tell them they were themselves and free to leave.

She shrugged. "It's… weird. I don't remember anything from the past few weeks, but I do feel… different, than I felt when I went to your lab. Like I had a really long vacation, or a massive amount of vitamin boosters and the world's best massage, or something."

"Yeah, I know! I'm not tired or sore at all. I feel like I could do anything right now."

"Hold off on that for a bit, will you?" Janet said, coming in and smiling fondly at them both. She presented them each with a tray of their favorites from the commissary and waited until they had started eating to tell them all their test results had come back clean and as far as she could determine they were in perfect health – actually neither of them had ever been healthier in all the time she had been their doctor.

"Now, I'm sure the colonel and Teal'c told you the bare bones of what happened to you both, but I'm sure you're dying to hear the details."

"I guess," Sam said uncertainly. While she would never admit it aloud, she was more than a little confused and concerned by her CO's absence. Usually when any teammate was in the infirmary, he was buzzing around like a fly, annoying Janet and her staff for updates, trying to spring them out early, bringing food that hadn't been cleared by Janet… she supposed if he had just spent the last several weeks catering to their every need as small children, he probably just wanted some alone time, but still… it didn't seem right.

"Absolutely!" Daniel agreed eagerly, clearly not as bothered by Jack's absence as Sam was.

Janet laughed. "Well, it's going to take a while… oh, it was so sweet, you guys were absolutely adorable and the Colonel did such a wonderful job taking care of you… even though you caused nothing but trouble on this base!"

"What?" Daniel asked disbelievingly.

"Oh, you were usually the accomplice, I'm sure," Janet smiled at him and patted his arm. "Sam, honey, I'm afraid it might be a while before you live some of your exploits down around here, however. Where to start…"

For the next few hours, she filled them in on all the things that had happened. They both felt a little embarrassed at some of the things they had put everyone – especially Jack and Teal'c – through, but overall were very grateful for the way they had been cared for. It was a lot to absorb, so when Janet finished and left them alone with the stack of pictures she had collected, they perused them together quietly, both lost in thought.

It was such a weird feeling, seeing themselves as kids in their current adult environment, obviously enjoying themselves with the people closest to them but having no memory of it themselves. Shortly before they finished, Teal'c returned with massive amounts of food for everyone, placing a stuffed dinosaur in Daniel's hand and a unicorn in Sam's without a word.

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