*

The Stargate whooshed and settled into the blue shimmering pool as the four members stepped through the wormhole and onto the rugged stone platform. In the distance stood a small village, clearly visible through a scattering of trees and underbrush. The day was sunny and pleasantly warm.

"Well, what do you think kids? Looks harmless enough." Jack O’Neill said with a smirk.

"Don’t say that, Jack," Daniel Jackson replied softly. "That’s usually when all hell breaks loose..."

"Don’t be so pessimistic Danny," Jack said, clapping the archaeologist on the back and proceeded to head in the direction of the village.

"The MALP did show very peaceful surroundings and relatively primitive human inhabitants with no signs of Goa’uld occupation or recent activity," Sam Carter noted. "That looks like the inhabited village the MALP picked up, and that altar, or whatever it was, should be over there too," she added, pointing towards it as she followed Jack and Daniel down the steps of the platform, stepping onto a wide, rough path that led towards the village. On either side of the path, pale blue-green grass nearly as tall as they were, swayed gently in the light breeze. Teal’c took up the rear, gazing in the direction of the village.

Closer to the village, they spotted the tall, stone altar that had attracted them to the planet in the first place. From what they had seen from the MALP’s earlier transmission, Daniel and Sam thought that it slightly resembled the one on Cimmeria. On closer viewing, they could see that the altar was carved with a series of glyphs and what appeared to be ancient writings. At the top of the altar, instead of the usual cross, was a metal circle, similar to the Stargate itself, but instead of glyphs, gemstones were placed around its circumference. In a large, rough circle around the altar, the ground was cleared of all underbrush and grass, and covered with crushed shells and stones.

Moving in closer, Daniel peered at the raised glyphs, "it looks like this might be some place of worship or ceremony."

"Or a weapon," Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I don’t think so...this is not really like anything I’ve ever seen before, that circle on top is almost like the Stargate," Daniel commented, moving in closer. "Although it’s not really same, those gemstones can have certain meanings and that circle, or the outline of a circle like that, in itself, symbolizes wholeness, the unending life force – the beginning and end of all things. It can also represent duality, inside and outside, but in its completeness, that duality resolves itself in unity, in one being..."

Sam had come up beside him, placing a hand on the altar. "Well, that circle almost looks like it’s made of naquaada," she noted, looking up at it.

"Daniel! And, Carter -- what I’m getting at, is don’t get too close to that thing and start pushing any buttons!" Jack said irritated. Daniel was like a kid in a candy store whenever he discovered a new artifact or alien technology. Carter wasn’t much better, and when the two of them got going in their scientific babble, it was enough to give him a huge headache. "Anyway, you two can look at that thing later - first we have to go make nice with the natives, which also happens to be your specialty, Daniel."

"Oh right..." Daniel replied absently, following behind the team, glancing back over his shoulder at the altar.

As they entered the outskirts of the village, a small group of said natives were awaiting them, holding spears and shields. They were relaxed, but on guard. They looked very human, almost Celtic or Nordic with their fair coloring.

"Umm, hello, I’m Daniel Jackson, this is Jack O’Neill, Samantha Carter and Teal’c," Daniel said gesturing to each team member. "Can you understand me?"

The eldest of the group stepped forward and answered in English with an accent that sounded as similarly Celtic as his appearance. "I am Cian, you have come through the great circle?"

"Yes, we have - we are peaceful explorers and we would be honored to share knowledge with you," Daniel answered.

"We would be honored as well, Daniel Jackson." Cian replied with a slight bow to his head. "We have not had any guests in a great long time."

*

Later, Jack and Sam were examining some mineral deposits by the river near the village. Rather, Sam was examining the minerals and collecting samples, while Jack stood by looking around, clearly bored. The villagers were happy to share with their new friends in exchange for medicines and cloth.

Daniel and Teal’c were back at the altar where Daniel was busily attempting to decipher the glyphs. Teal’c stood guard keeping a watchful eye on his distracted teammate. Daniel became utterly lost to the world when he was with a new discovery -- a source of endless amusement and sometimes irritation, to his friends. Cian acted as tour guide, proudly telling Daniel and Teal’c all about his village and their history.

The villagers, who called themselves Saones, the name of which Daniel immediately translated to mean a Celtic river deity, confirming his first assumption of these people having some earthly Celtic origins. The Saones assured the team that the altar was no longer used as anything other than a place of prayer and meditation. They believed that the gods had placed it there thousands of years ago and there was legend that it had once possessed great magical powers and could bestow the fountain of youth upon the chosen few. But now, it lay dormant and the ancient text was no longer decipherable to any of their people. The only surviving elder, and leader, Searlas, was blind and had only learned a few words of the ancient language himself. Searlas was also gravely ill, Cian sadly informed them. He was representing his people until Searlas’s demise, to which the honor of leader would then fall on Cian’s shoulders.

The Saones were eager for new allies, as their people had been severely crushed by a decades long war with a neighboring tribe. That other tribe had started the war by attempting to take the Saones’ land which was closer to the fruitful river and claim possession of the altar, having heard of its magical powers. Cian told Daniel and Teal’c that his people had offered long ago to share the altar with the tribe, but to no avail. They wanted it for themselves. The Saones had recently defeated their enemy, but as a result, many of their people had been killed. With the continuing loss of lives had also come the immeasurable loss of knowledge and history.

It was now late afternoon and as the sun began to go down, a half-ring of shadow appeared on the ground directly behind Daniel as the rays peeked over the circle above him.

Cian stood by Teal’c, and breaking off from his monologue, stopped to watch Daniel as he starting writing into his notebook. "He can read the texts?" Cian asked excitedly.

"It would appear so," Teal’c replied raising a brow at the man.

"Yes, Cian, I can, or at least most of it," Daniel answered for himself. "This is similar to writings I’ve seen before. I wonder if maybe the Ancients, or whoever built the Stargates placed this here. Like Sam said, the top appears to be made of naquaada. I haven’t seen one like this anywhere else we’ve been - it’s incredible!" he enthused, glancing at Cian as he spoke, absently going into lecture mode. "Those gemstones are placed rather deliberately there too, almost in a pattern. The diamond, or at least I’m pretty sure it’s a diamond, from what I remember symbolizes the promise of faithfulness, steadfastness and honor, the purple amethyst is the symbol of forgiveness, the emerald, truth and honesty, all of this something to do with life maybe – like the circle itself? And the amber is placed at each quarter, now amber is symbolic of the power of the sun, sometimes it was referred to as the juice or essence of the rays of the setting sun. A lot of similar altars and stones on earth were aligned with the sun or the stars..." his voice faded as he stopped to hastily scribble something in his notebook again.

Jack and Sam came up the path to check on the rest of their team shortly after.

"Will the mineral deposits be useful to us on Earth, Major Carter?’ Teal’c asked.

"I’m not sure yet, we’ll have to get it analyzed, but it’s everywhere," Sam answered. "They also have an abundance of plant life that a few of the women said have good medicinal properties. We’ll have to get them analyzed too."

"Yeah, so everyone’s happy." Jack smiled, waving his arms dramatically. "Carter has rocks to study, Daniel has a new toy to play with..."

The sun had sunk lower onto the horizon. Daniel crouched down slightly and brushed his fingers lightly over a series of raised glyphs, careful not to "push any buttons." His fingers rested on a glyph that roughly translated, meant, ‘resurrect, or maybe ‘reborn’? He muttered the words in the ancient language under his breath. The shadow ring from the circle now fully enclosed Daniel and the clearing. He looked around suddenly uneasy, as he felt the sun’s rays begin to shine brightly through the circle, casting a spotlight over him.

Suddenly, a beam of blinding white light shot through the center of the circle and enveloped him, immediately trapping him in the incredible energy it gave off. The gemstones gleamed in a rainbow of color, the amber reflecting brightly, mimicking the rays themselves. Daniel fell to his knees, catching himself on the stones, his right hand inadvertently pressing down hard on the glyph he had just been looking at. His head flew back as his body tensed, forcing him to look up at the circle - a startled yell escaping his lips.

Jack, Sam and Teal’c, threw their arms up in front of their eyes, blinded by the incredible burst of light, the colors from the gemstones dancing around them. They were thrown back onto the grass, away from the cleared surface surrounding the altar. The light had completely enveloped and blocked off the entire area like a force field. They heard Daniel, who had all but disappeared in the light, yell out.

Jack and Teal’c alarmed by Daniel’s shout, rushed at the altar only to be pushed back again by the energy field. Teal’c raised his staff weapon contemplating whether or not to use it, but fear of inadvertently harming Daniel made him wait, his normally stoic features fixed in a frown of concern for his friend. The villagers seeing the amazing display from their homes had run over to witness the spectacle. They all stood around in open-mouthed wonder.

Daniel was now immersed in a white haze, the energy enveloping him, paralyzing him and making it impossible to move. His hands felt glued to the altar. He squinted up into the circle, which was burning with a white-hot light, yet it didn’t hurt his eyes to look at it. The light wasn’t painful, but he suddenly became aware of the terrifying sensation of his life rapidly flashing before him.

Oh god, it’s killing me, he thought wildly, trying not to panic as he saw Sha’re, her death, the ribbon device searing through his head, the mind probe he was put through on P3X-866, the Goa’uld taking Sha’re, the sarcophagus, being shot by a staff weapon, going through the Stargate for the first time, on and on till he was a child seeing the death of his parents again, the memories rushing through his mind so quickly, he became dizzy. He gasped, overwhelmed at this barrage, and then there was nothing but black as he passed out.

"Daniel!" Jack yelled. "Daniel, can you hear me?!" Getting no response, Jack moved towards the clearing again, only to have the energy or whatever it was, push him back again, causing him to stumble.

"What the hell is it doing to him!" Jack turned to Cian, yelling at him in helpless frustration. "You said it was safe, dammit!

"The altar has never done this that I have seen!" Cian exclaimed. "Not since Searlas....."

"Not since what?!" Sam yelled, but Cian just stared at the spectacle.

The team could only stand by watching helplessly, until the light suddenly winked out. The gemstones gleamed momentarily and faded again. The sun had now dropped behind the trees and the clearing was in a dark shadow. The sudden absence of light made it hard to see for a moment.

When their eyes had adjusted enough to see properly again, Daniel was gone.

"Oh, hell," Jack murmured under his breath, a sensation of dread sinking into the pit of his stomach. Jack rushed to the altar, fear for his teammate and friend evident in his face. He approached, weapon in hand, with Teal’c close behind him, as he saw a small form scurry behind the altar. Peering around cautiously, Jack saw huddled there, a little boy about 6 or 7 years old, shaking with terror.

"Hey buddy, come on out, it’s okay" Jack said softly, crouching down, wondering absently if the boy had been hiding there while Daniel was poking around, and had gotten caught in that beam or whatever it was, with him. The boy only inched further away, hiding his face in his arm.

"Colonel, your weapon," Sam said behind him. "It’s probably scaring him."

"What? Oh - right," Jack said, looking at the gun he held pointed at the ground. ‘That was stupid O’Neill’, he thought to himself. Waving a gun around a little kid. He put the gun down and tried again but the frightened boy still wouldn’t come out. "Carter, you try, and ask him if he saw what the hell happened to Daniel."

Jack stood again and stepped back.

"Perhaps it is some sort of teleportation device," Teal’c commented behind Jack, who only shrugged in exasperation and worry.

"I’ll give it a try sir," Sam said glancing at both of them. She moved over to the boy, crouching down close to him.

"Hi," she said with a smile. "You can come out now honey, no one is going to hurt you. It’s okay." She held her hand out to him.

The boy peeked up at her tentatively with wide, shocked blue eyes. Something about those eyes looked very familiar...

He raised his head up from his arm, warily searching Sam’s face and apparently deciding that she seemed safe enough, he carefully took her hand with his trembling one. They got up and Sam half-carried him over to the grass, away from the clearing. The boy appeared to be in shock, his expression dazed.

"Whose kid is this?" Jack asked the surrounding villagers, but they all just stared at Sam and the boy in awe.

For the first time, Sam noticed that the boy was dressed in much too large clothing - adult clothes that looked distinctly like the BDU’s they were all wearing. The boy also had something grasped in his hands. Kneeling down again, Sam gently unclasped his tightly clenched hands to see what he was holding. Clutched in the small fingers were Daniel’s glasses, their frames slightly bent from his tight grip on them.

"Holy Hannah," she said under her breath, shocked.

"Carter, can you find out if he’s seen what’s happened to Dan-" Jack said stepping forward.

"Um, sir, you better take a look at this," Sam interrupted, still crouched in front of the boy. She reached out and pulled at the shoulder on the right sleeve of his too-large jacket to reveal the SGC logo, just like they all wore on their own jackets.

Jack crouched down to look and as realization hit him, his mouth dropped open. "Oh for cryin’ out loud!" he exclaimed.

"He has been chosen," Cian said with a note of reverence in his voice.

*

"So what the hell do we do now?!" Jack exclaimed, looking incredulously down at what his friend and teammate may have just become. "Come on - are you sure this is Daniel? he asked, still not convinced. "This is probably some kind of sick joke!"

"He has been chosen," Cian repeated emphatically. "Not since Searlas was a boy has the altar chosen to do this -"

"Will you cut the "chosen" crap! I want to know what you people did with Daniel!" Jack sputtered.

Teal’c glowered menacingly at Cian. "He was very interested in the fact that Daniel Jackson could read the writings." Teal’c looked over at Jack, raising an eyebrow, suggesting with a mere glance that maybe they shouldn’t have been so willing to trust Cian and his people’s motives.

"He has been given a great gift," Cian explained patiently, darting a nervous glance at Teal’c, and moving slightly away from him. He looked back to Jack. "Very few have ever been selected for this --"

"Gift!" Jack sputtered. "What the hell kind of gift is that?! - If and I strongly emphasize the IF, this really is Daniel -- god, look at what it’s done to him..." Jack glared at them man, waving a hand angrily over the boy’s head.

The boy had remained silent throughout this exchange, but flinched back against Sam at Jack’s outburst.

"Sir, I know this is all hard to take in, but whether or not this is Daniel, you’re scaring him," she said putting an arm protectively around the child.

"It’s okay, I’m not that scared," a small, shaky voice piped up. Looking up at Jack, the boy said to him, "I know you," as if he’d only just recognized him.

"What - ," Jack answered, startled. "So you can talk,’ he said looking down at the boy.

"Can you remember - um, tell us your name, honey?" Sam asked unsure of how to proceed.

"Of course -- I’m Danny Jackson," he answered, trying to look brave, but he was still trembling noticeably and hung on to Sam’s sleeve for support. "I know you too," he said to Sam. "I know you all. You’re Jack, Sam and Teal’c," he said firmly. The team looked at him stunned.

*

"Let’s get him back to the village and figure out how to fix this," Jack finally said with quiet determination, keeping his racing emotions now tightly in control. Sam scooped Daniel, or ‘Danny’ as he had introduced himself, into her arms without any protest from him. He was still shaky on his feet and besides, his clothes were all but falling off him. His boots had fallen off when she had picked him up by the altar, and Teal’c silently retrieved them and placed them in his pack.

Sam couldn’t help but notice what an beautiful child Danny was -- huge blue eyes with long, thick, light brown lashes, fine features and golden hair sticking up in short wild spikes, still cut in the same way the adult Daniel had been wearing it. Having looked more closely at his face, even Jack had to admit there was little doubt that this truly was their Daniel. The resemblance was too strong to deny. Danny laid his head on Sam’s shoulder, closing his eyes tiredly, his small body still shivering uncontrollably. The villagers followed behind wondrously, keeping a respectful distance reserved only for royalty or the miraculous.

Back at the village, in what served as the main hall, the Saones were all talking excitedly, a babble of voices, "the altar works, it is the dawn of better times. Maybe this boy is chosen to be our new leader..."

Sam sat on a bench in the hall with Danny enfolded in her arms, keeping him warm against the shock. He was resting his head against her, watching the villagers curiously. He was now dressed like the other village children in a rough tunic, leggings and sandals made of some type of leather -- the clothing graciously donated by one of the women who had a child close to Danny’s size. Sam had wrapped Daniel’s SGC jacket around his shoulders, holding it around him like a blanket. Jack and Teal’c stood close by, keeping a close eye of their teammates.

Danny hadn’t said much since their last exchange, but at least he had finally stopped shaking so badly. It was still too early to tell what exactly his mental state was, but so far, incredibly, his memory appeared to be intact.

"Cian, if this Searlas is the only one who has ever seen this happen before, we must speak with him," Sam implored the man urgently. "Please, we can’t just leave him like this!" Sam glanced worriedly down at the boy in her lap.

"Come with me," Cian said, waving for the others to follow him to a small hut. Jack went first with Sam behind him. Danny was walking on his own now, but still clasping her hand tightly. Teal’c stayed right behind them, guarding his team. There, laid out on a straw pallet was a very old, withered man. His eye sockets were deeply sunken to mere shadows. His hands lay peacefully on his chest, which rose only slightly with each labored breath.

"You cannot talk to him, I am sorry, but he sleeps the sleep of death," Cian answered. "He is not long for this place."

"It looks like he’s in a coma," Sam morosely commented to the others.

Cian went on excitedly, "...it does not matter now -- this boy was chosen for a reason, he is our savior. He can read the texts and teach them to us, he can grow up among us and learn our ways and we will prepare him to become our new leader! We will regain so much of what we have lost, don’t you see?"

"Hold on, hold on!" Jack said, holding up a hand to silence the man. "He is not your "savior" and he’s NOT staying here. He didn’t ask for this. If you can’t - or won’t change him back, then he’s coming home with us, first to make sure he’s okay and until we can find a way to change him back. Carter, Teal’c, let’s go."

"Please, think about what you are doing!" Cian pleaded, following the team outside. The others came out of the hall to watch as SG1 kept walking, heading for the Stargate. "You cannot take him. We will have to use force if you do not stop!"

The few surviving village men looked at Cian in disbelieve - they were not prepared for war and only a few had their weapons with them...

"I don’t think so," Jack said turning and raised his weapon, pulling a wide-eyed Danny behind him. Teal’c also raised his staff weapon and Sam her sidearm.

Cian dropped his head in defeat. There was no way that his people could conquer the strangers. Even though his men outnumber them, their weapons would cut them down before they could even get to their spears.

In the short time it took to walk unimpeded back to the gate, Danny had completely overcome his shock and earlier shyness and ran a ways ahead of his teammates. Teal’c was the only one he was cautious of now, the man’s sheer size seemed to alarm him.

"Stay close!" Jack yelled to Danny and smiled at the answering " ‘kay!"

Danny reached the DHD first. "I’ll dial us home!" he yelled.

The three looked at each other in alarm and then all yelled back at the same time, "NO!" Sam raced up to Danny who couldn’t even reach the upper glyphs anyway.

"What?" Danny said, looking at Sam, a frown creasing his brow as she flew up beside him. Sam had a moment where she simultaneously thought her heart would break for the Daniel they had lost, but still having to smile -- that look was so much like their Daniel, he was still in there somehow...

"I know the address, Sam," Danny said looking at her as if she’d lost her mind. "I think you’ll have to give me a boost though," he said with an embarrassed grin.

"Why not," she sighed, giving up. She could always stop him if it looked like he was punching in the wrong address. She grabbed him around the waist and lifted him up to the DHD.

"Are you certain that is wise, Major Carter?" Teal’c asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ahh, let him do it, Teal’c," Jack answered for her as they came up behind them. "Let the kid have a little fun." They watched as Danny confidently punched in Earth’s address and the gate opened.

"Let’s go!" Danny yelled, struggling to scramble out of Sam’s grasp.

"No way -- you’re going to hold on to mine and the Colonel’s hand when we go through," Sam said, grabbing Danny’s hand and setting him down while Jack took the other one.

"But I’ve done this lots of times!" Danny protested.

"Yeah, but not when you were this short," Jack answered as they walked up to the wormhole. "We don’t want to lose you in there, big guy."

*

"Welcome back SG-1, you’re ahead of schedule," General Hammond greeted them in the gate room. He then noticed that one of the four original members was missing and in his place was what appeared to be a boy from the village. "Where’s Doctor Jackson?" he asked, staring at the boy.

"I think we should talk about that during the debriefing," Jack answered. They had all agreed before coming through the Gate that as few people as possible should know about what had happened to Daniel until they could figure out how to proceed.

"Who is this boy? Why did you bring a native back from the planet?" Hammond asked.

"Hello, sir!" Danny said, playing along, and gave Hammond a clumsy salute.

"Sir, with all due respect, I really think we should discuss this later." Sam answered. "We do need to get this boy down to the infirmary and let Janet have a look at him to make sure he’s okay."

"Alright, I’ll accompany you," Hammond said firmly, looking at the team questioningly and following them.

SG1 headed out with Danny protesting that he didn’t want to go to the infirmary.

*

"Are you certain that’s Dr. Jackson?" Hammond asked Jack in disbelieve.

"It sure looks like him, doesn’t it?" Jack replied, gesturing at Danny who sat on a gurney in the infirmary with a distinct pout on his face, arms tightly crossed over his chest while Janet attempted to talk him into submitting to a blood test.

"He introduced himself to us as ‘Danny Jackson’, plus he dialed us home! I can’t think of any village kid who knows the Stargate address for earth, can you?" Jack continued.

"It’s just incredible..." Hammond muttered, shaking his head.

"It’s only a little pinch Danny, we just want to make sure you’re okay,’ Janet tried to reassure him. Danny just glared at her and kept his arms stubbornly crossed. Jack noted that Janet wasn’t going to get anywhere with him like that, and made his way over.

"She likes giving needles," Danny told Jack as he came up to them. "I remember."

"Yeah, she does," Jack grinned at Janet as he slid beside Danny onto the gurney. "Come on, let the doc do her job, buddy. I’ll even go first, okay?" He offered his arm out for the doctor to puncture.

Danny watched Jack’s blood test uncertainly. Not wanting Jack to think he was a total wimp, he sighed and submitted to the test.

Afterwards, Jack ruffled Danny’s already disheveled hair and told him to let Janet finish examining him. He explained that he would be back in an hour to get him but he had to go and talk to the General.

"Shouldn’t I be coming to the debriefing too?" Danny asked, surprising both Jack and Janet .

"Not this time," Jack said softly and headed out.

Danny watched solemnly as Jack left and patiently submitted to Janet’s further poking and prodding.

Do you need these?" Janet asked him, holding up his slightly bent glasses. They’d be a little big, but they could always get him child-sized ones later. Danny shook his head and muttered, "Didn’t need glasses till later."

Janet nodded and put them aside. As she examined him, Janet said, "Now, I’m going to ask you some questions okay?" At the answering nod, she continued, "Can you tell me your birthday?"

"July 8, 1965." Came the immediate reply.

"Good. And your full name?"

"Danie - D-Danny Jackson," he answered, stammering slightly.

"How about the names of your parents?"

Danny looked at her frowning. "What for? They’re dead," he answered.

"I know, sweetie," Janet said, looking at him sympathetically. "I’m sorry - that’s good enough. Daniel, what can you remember about the SGC and your experiences here?"

"Not ‘Daniel’ anymore," he said softly, looking down at his lap. "That’s who I used to be. Daniel opened the Stargate, he helped to kill Ra on Aboydos and free the people from slavery, he married and he lost Sha’re to the Goa’uld...." he trailed off, looking unhappily at his hands twisting nervously in his lap. "I’m just Danny now. Just Danny."

Janet patted his arm reassuringly. "Alright, that’s enough for now. The rest of the tests shouldn’t take too much longer, I promise," she told him.

*

"....and so they threatened to use force if we tried to leave with ‘their savior’ but they knew they couldn’t do much to stop us. I don’t think they would have tried anyway," Sam said. "They just seemed desperate to build their village up again."

"Do you have any theories on how that thing managed to change Dr. Jackson into a small child?" Hammond asked.

"None at this point, sir. It should be theoretically impossible," Sam answered, shaking her head.

"Well, a lot of things we’ve seen should be theoretically impossible," Jack grumbled.

"Major Carter and DanielJackson said that a portion of the altar appeared to be made of naquaada, possibly made by the Ancients," Teal’c offered.

"Well, I suppose if the Goa’uld’s can come up with technology to rapidly age a person, I suppose it should be easy enough for the Ancients, or whoever built that thing, to rapidly reverse aging, as well," Sam speculated.

They all looked up at the door as Dr. Janet Fraiser came in with her report.

As she sat down, Hammond asked, "so regarding Dr. Jackson, what is his condition?"

"Well, physically, he seems fine, he’s running a bit of a fever, but otherwise he appears to be a healthy, approximately six-year-old boy," Janet began, a note of disbelief still in her voice. "Until we get all of the test results back, I can’t say anything more for certain, but the DNA tests say he is most definitely our Daniel Jackson. Although he’s not the same as when he actually was six years old -- he still has the same scars from his appendectomy and the other injuries he’s received over the years. Somehow, his body has had the aging effects completely reversed some 29 years. His memory appears to be completely intact, but he’s thinking and behaving from a child’s viewpoint. Mentally, and physically, he is six years old - an amazingly precocious six-year-old, mind you.

"I do have some concerns about his emotional state, though. His memory is all there, but he is insisting on referring to his adult self in the third person. He’s making it very distinct that he’s no longer Daniel, he’s ‘Danny’. I asked him questions about his life and he can recall all of it, but the childhood memories seem more tangible to him. His adult memories, like the Stargate, Sha’re are all there, but he’s having trouble relating to them. It’s as if he’s trying to disassociate himself from them. Now, I’m guessing that this is probably the only way he can wrap his mind around everything that’s going on. And, considering all the things he’s seen since being with the SGC, and not to mention all the languages and knowledge he has in that head of his, it could start to overwhelm him. Even a very intelligent six-year olds’ mind is not equipped to deal with that much information."

"So how do we interact with him? Do we treat him like a child or like we normally do?" Sam asked.

"Well, for now, I think we should just follow his lead. Treat him in accordance with a very intelligent six-year-old, kind of like we did with Merrin maybe, and see how he reacts. I’ve never had to deal with this kind of scenario before either, so I’m just as baffled as you all are." Janet admitted. "But I do think we should all keep a very close eye on him, until we can reverse this. Do you know if there is any way to reverse this?" she asked, suddenly.

"We were hoping you did!" Jack said, looking at her. Janet just shook her head.

"Well, apparently the only person who does know the answer to that, isn’t capable of telling us." Sam said. She explained the state Searlas was in when they saw him.

"Maybe if I came with you back to the planet, I could see what’s wrong with him and make him well enough to be able to talk to us," Janet said, looking at Hammond questioningly.

"Since it seems like the only way we’re going to figure out how to change Daniel back is to go back there, permission to return to the planet as soon as possible, sir?" Jack asked.

"Well," Hammond said, considering the request. "Alright, as long as you feel there’s no risk to your own safety, you may return at 08.00 tomorrow morning. Permission to accompany them, Doctor," he added, nodding to Janet. "Considering the interest they have in keeping Dr. Jackson, I want him to remain here for his own personal safety, until you can find a way to reverse what’s happened to him. In the meantime, I want you all to get some rest," he added, noticing how tired and worried they all looked.

*

Much to Danny’s dismay, Janet insisted on keeping him in the infirmary overnight to monitor his fever and condition. He was now in too-large pyjamas that had probably belonged to Cassie and his hair was neatly combed to the side. Sam couldn’t believe how incredibly small and vulnerable he looked.

Teal’c had since retired to practice his kelnoreem, so Jack and Sam stayed in the infirmary with Danny, keeping him company until he was ready to go to sleep, which was taking longer than both of them had anticipated. Danny was reluctant to let either of them leave him there.

"But I’m not sick!" Danny kept insisting, hoping his friends would relent and rescue him. His slightly flushed face contradicted his protests and he was struggling just to keep his eyes open.

"Yeah right, you’re just --" Jack started.

"Peachy!" Danny finished for him, grinning mischievously.

"Funny guy," Jack commented to Sam, who was grinning too. "Look, the doc just wants to make sure you’re okay before she lets you out of here. You’ve had a pretty eventful day."

"Yeah, but I’m not sick," he insisted, quieter this time, knowing he was fighting a losing battle, but still not wanting to admit that maybe he was feeling decidedly lousy. He just didn’t want to be left all alone in the infirmary -- he had always found it scary at night, too dark and too quiet.

"Hey, it’s doctor’s orders. Even I can’t overrule the doc. Sorry kid." Jack told him. After reassuring him they’d come and get him first thing in the morning, Jack and Sam got Danny tucked in and left the infirmary.

They found themselves heading to Daniel’s office, looking at the books, artifacts and papers that he had left scattered all around, just that morning. They both couldn’t help but wonder what would become of all of his things if they couldn’t change him back...

"Do you think he’s going to be okay?" Sam asked worriedly. "He just seems so little and so...lost."

"Yeah, this is way strange all right," Jack answered, shaking his head slightly. "It’s hard to imagine what must be going on in his head right now." Jack picked up one of the artifacts on the desk, turning it over in his hand. "It’s been a long day, Carter, and we have a big one ahead of us tomorrow, why don’t you go get some rest yourself."

She nodded and headed out of the office, her thoughts troubled.

Jack couldn’t resist going back to the infirmary to check on Danny. Carter was right, he did seem utterly lost when they left him there.

He found him sitting up in the bed, leaning back against the headboard. Danny quickly swiped his arm over his face to wipe away the tears on his cheeks when he saw Jack.

"Hey, you okay?" Jack asked softly as he sat down beside Danny who had drawn his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms protectively around them.

"I’m fine," he answered looking down at his hands, ashamed of the tears still in his eyes.

"Hey Danny, look at me," Jack said gently taking the boy’s face in his hand, turning it towards him. His face was still slightly warm and flushed. "It’s okay to be scared, you know. You’ve been through a lot - I know I’d be pretty scared myself."

"You would?" Danny asked, looking up at him. Jack’s heart went out to him when he saw the uncertainty and fear in Danny’s tear-filled blue eyes. There was also a core of strength in those eyes behind that fear, far too wise in that small face. "Well, maybe I am a little scared. What are you going to do with me -- I mean, I can’t really stay here...can I...but I..I don’t want to go to a foster home."

"What? Of course you can stay here. Why would you think - of course you’d think that, wouldn’t you? That’s what happened to you before..." Jack muttered, shaking his head at his own thoughtlessness. After Daniel’s parents were killed he had grown up in a succession of foster homes. But that hadn’t happened until Daniel was eight, Jack thought. ‘But I guess if he remembers the Stargate and everything else, he’s going to remember all those foster homes too,’ he chastised himself for not having reassured Danny earlier that he wasn’t going anywhere. This whole situation was just too weird.

"Danny, you are staying right here with us, where you belong. Nothing bad is going to happen to you as long as I’m around, all right?" he said.

"Okay..." Danny said, still not too sure. "Jack, what is going to happen to me? This is all wrong - it’s not supposed to be like this - I’m not supposed to be like this. I don’t know what to do now," he whispered.

"First of all, we’re going to figure out how to fix what’s happened to you, don’t you worry about it and just let us take of care of things, okay? Uh -what exactly can you remember, Danny?" Jack asked him, unsure of how to proceed, all too aware of Janet’s concern for Danny’s mental state.

"Umm," Danny began hesitantly, biting his lower lip. "I was... bigger, a - a grown up. I guess it’s kind of like a dream. Something someone else did a long time ago, but I can see it all happening in my head." Danny added, struggling to articulate all the memories and strange words whirling in his head, tears threatening again.

Having had the same idea Jack had, Sam stood just outside the door, listening, her own eyes watering in sympathy for her friend.

Putting an arm around him, Jack rubbed Danny’s shoulder gently, tying to reassure him. Then impulsively, he grabbed Danny in a bear hug, and tickled his ribs until he shrieked with laughter.

"That’s better, things were getting waayy too deep for me," Jack smiled. "Come on, let’s get you back under the covers. Janet will have a fit if she sees you out of bed. You want a story or something to help you sleep?"

Danny grinned and thought for a moment, snuggling himself into the covers. "Okay, but I haven’t had anyone tell me story since I was a baby. My father always said fiction was a waste of time when there were so many fascinating true stories to learn about. Do you know about when Hatshepsut and--"

"Ah! I’m telling the story here, and, you know that I don’t know any of that Egyptian crap, - er, stuff. But I’ll tell you one Charlie used to like when he was about your age. And, by the way, fiction is not a waste of time. Jeez, what would we have done without ‘Star Wars?’"

"Star Wars is a movie, Jack."

"Yeah, but it started off as a story. Now be quiet and let me tell the story already."

*

Sam and Jack were sitting in the SGC commissary at 06:30, finishing their breakfast after breaking Danny out of the infirmary as promised. He was under strict orders to take it easy over the next few days.

Danny had since overcome his fear of Teal’c and was at the other end of the table playing a game of table hockey with the big Jaffa, using a rolled up napkin for a puck.

"Ha-ha!! I win!" Danny screamed at his end of the table, standing up on his chair and raising his fists in victory. He jumped off the chair, running over to Teal’c and bouncing around him. "What do you want to do now? Can I see Junior?"

"No you may not," Teal’c said raising an eyebrow in surprise. DanielJackson had seen the infant larva many times before, why would he want to see it now?

Giving up on that idea, he didn’t really want to see the larva anyway, Danny bounded over to Sam and Jack. "What are we going to do today, guys?"

"You know," Jack commented to Sam dryly, "I always would have figured Daniel to be a much quieter, studious boy."

Danny looked at Jack quizzically. "We, are going to work, and make a return visit to P3A627," Jack replied in answer to Danny’s earlier question. "And you, are going to hang out with Cassandra. She came on base today just to keep you company."

"Oh," Danny said softly, as if he’d just remembered more important things at hand. ""Shouldn’t I be coming with you to help with translating, or something too?"

Upon seeing them all at a loss for words, Danny answered his own question sadly, "I guess I’m not a member of the SGC anymore, am I."

*

SG1, Dr. Janet Fraiser, along with Daniel’s assistant, Robert Rothman accompanying them in his place, were making their final preparations to return to P3A627.

"I just don’t see why I can’t come with you," Danny questioned, as he watched them suit up.

"Because we need to assess the situation there first. Cian was pretty determined to keep your there," Sam explained. "We just can’t risk taking you back there right now."

"Well, it’s not like I don’t know how to defend myself." Danny replied sullenly.

"Yeah, right, like we can give you a weapon." Jack smirked, waving down at Danny.

"Why not?" Danny asked slowly, looking at Jack.

"Do you actually think I’m going to give a kid a gun?!" Jack yelled sharply.

Danny jumped at Jack’s harsh reaction, but he watched Jack sympathetically. He knew too well where that had come from, how Jack had lost Charlie. Jack looked down, embarrassed at his unexpected emotional response.

"I’m sorry I shouldn’t have..." Danny began softly.

"Sorry, I just - I mean you’d probably just shoot your foot off, those guns are bigger than you are now." Jack broke in, trying to lighten things up.

"Can I at least come into the embarkation room and watch you guys leave? If I never get to go through the gate again, or at least not for a long time, can I at least see you off?" Danny pleaded, giving them a sad, and what he hoped was a hard to resist look.

Noticing his newly expanded team all watching him questioningly, Jack said to Danny, shaking his head, "Ah, jeez, don’t give me that Bambi look, you know I hate that -- I can’t say no to that!" He sighed, "Okay, you can watch us leave."

"Thanks Jack," Danny said, grinning.

They all headed into the gate room, adjusting their packs and equipment.

"Chevron Seven engaged," Simmons voice came over the loudspeaker in the gate room, as the wormhole opened.

"See you soon!" Sam called over her shoulder to Danny standing at the bottom of the ramp. He waved despondently to her.

Just as Janet, the last to enter the wormhole, stepped through, Danny suddenly raced up the ramp and jumped through the blue pool. The wormhole disengaged before anyone in the room had a chance to react.

*

They emerged on the other side to see smoke and flames coming from the Saones’ village. The wormhole disengaged, breaking off any radio contact.

"It appears the Saones are under attack," Teal’c commented.

"Ya think?" Jack answered him.

"Is it safe for us to be here?" Rothman asked nervously.

"Well, considering we have M-16’s, staff weapons and grenades, and all they have are spears, I think we’ll manage." Jack replied, irritated. Rothman had always gotten on his nerves. If Daniel had been a dweeb when Jack first met him, then Rothman was the king of dweebdom. Hell, he made the Daniel of back then, look like a commando in comparison. They stepped down from the platform and started to head towards the village.

Danny had quickly ducked unseen behind the DHD upon arrival. He was glad the team was distracted by the flames, and Jack even more distracted by his irritation with Rothman. He knew if they spotted him, Jack would pitch him back through the gate in two seconds flat. He had to have a look at that altar again.

Suddenly a group of about 20 men jumped out of the tall, concealing grass, immediately surrounding them. They were dressed differently than Cian’s people had been. Jack guessed that they were the neighboring tribe who had been giving the Saones so much trouble.

The men pointed their knives and spears threateningly at them. One of them, appearing to be in charge of the group spoke up, "Who are you? Are you the strangers that came through the portal before and made the altar work again?"

"We came through the Stargate, yes," Sam replied.

"The altar is now ours! We have claimed victory over the Saones! Now tell us how it works!" the man demanded.

"Look either you’re really brave or incredibly stupid - I’m taking a bet on stupid -- but do you know what this is?" Jack asked, raising his weapon slightly. "Of course you don’t know what this is. Anyway, I could cut all of you to ribbons in about two seconds. So why don’t you all just back off?"

One of the men impulsively ducked behind Rothman, who was standing slightly away from the group, and grabbed him around the neck, pulling him away from his teammates. He dug the tip of his dagger painfully into Rothman’s throat.

"Drop you weapons, or he dies!" the man snarled.

The team moved in closer to each other. "Let him go, or you all die!" Jack yelled.

Rothman yelled out in pain as the knife dug in deeper. A thin trickle of blood ran down his neck.

"Colonel..." Sam started nervously.

Then, from behind the DHD, a rock flew out and struck Rothman’s captor hard on the back of the head. His hand jumped involuntarily to the injury. Sam grabbed Rothman’s arm, pulling him towards them, out of harm’s way. Everyone spun in the direction of the projectile, the injured man made his way over to investigate. A small body jumped out from his hiding place, and dodged around him. Danny let out a yelp of fear as the man’s fist almost closed on his shirt, but he managed to duck away and darted amidst the legs of SG1.

Jack fired his weapon in the air, making all the natives jump back in surprise. The man who had captured Rothman moved to throw his dagger at Jack and was promptly cut down by a bullet to the leg. The man howled, clutching at his leg and dropped to the grass in agony. Teal’c fired his staff at the ground directly in front of the men for further effect. Dirt and grass sprayed up around them making them retreat even more.

"Do any of you want some of this?" Jack shouted, as the men all raised their hands slowly. "Now, back - OFF!"

The men finally did as they were told, dragging their injured comrade with them and retreated to wherever they had come from.

Once their aggressors had cleared out, Jack looked down, "Dammit Danny, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving Rothman’s butt?" he tried, darting a nervous glance up at Jack.

Sam and Janet exchanged a look, in spite of the tenseness of the situation, both of them had to bite back the urge to laugh. It was true, Danny probably had saved Rothman, but how had he managed to get here?

"So all that ‘poor Danny’ crap about wanting to see us off, maybe never getting to go through the gate again -- you planned this didn’t you? You’re good," Jack said, glaring and pointing at him. "You even had me going there, feeling sorry for you, you little - anyway, you are going right back through that gate. God, you could have gotten yourself killed!"

"No!" Danny protested. "Please, Jack, I’m here now, so what difference does a little while make? I’ll be careful. Please just let me look at the altar one more time and then I’ll go back! Please?"

Jack looked around at the rest of his team, exasperated. Rothman just seemed embarrassed at having been rescued by a six-year-old, as Janet looked over the cut on his neck. Teal’c was impassive as ever and Sam just shrugged at Jack as if to say ‘why not.’

Jack thought for a moment, ‘God, Hammond’s gonna chew my ass on this one.’ Then he sighed, "alright, you can stay, until we see what state Cian’s village is in. But, if you move an inch away from Carter’s side, I’m taking you back." If she was going to be sticking up for him, she may as well be charged with looking out for him too, Jack figured.

"Okay!" Danny agreed readily, and moved so close to Sam he was nearly standing on her feet.

Jack shook his head again, muttering to himself, "No matter what, the guy just does not change." Then to Carter, he said, "Contact the SGC and let them know Danny’s with us." After that, he led the way to the village. Teal’c took up the rear, staff weapon ready in case of another surprise attack.

They encountered a few men from the other tribe guarding the altar, but another display of firepower from Jack and Teal’c’s weapons sent the men scattering. They continued on to the Saones’ village.

Immediately spotting Cian near the hall, Jack called out, "Are you alright?"

Cian rushed over to them, "Oh thank the gods, you have returned! Have you come to help us? I am so sorry for threatening you earlier - but as you can see, we are desperate!" the man babbled. "Our enemy has left our village, but I fear they will be returning shortly."

"It’s okay, no offense taken," Jack reassured him. "We’ll help you, but you have to help us in return. We came to see Searlas. We’ve brought a doctor - a healer, to see if she can cure him."

Janet stepped forward. "It looks as if you need some medical assistance yourself," she commented to Cian. He was bleeding from numerous scratches and gashes.

"Yes, but first see to Searlas and my people. There are many injured."

*

Janet armed sweat off her brow. She and Sam had tended to the injured as best as they could. Most of the injuries were fairly minor. One young man had suffered a serious stab wound, but he would mend nicely now.

She had looked Searlas over and determined that he was suffering from a diabetic coma. The diabetes was also likely the cause of his blindness. She asked for the insulin along with other medical supplies to be sent through the gate and had administered it to Searlas. All they could do at this point was wait.

Jack, Teal’c, Rothman and Danny were at the altar with Cian and a small group of men who had not been badly injured in the latest attack from their enemy. SG3 and SG5 had since been called in for further reinforcements. So far, there was no further sign of the Saones’ enemies. Hopefully, Jack and Teal’c’s earlier displays had frightened them off for a long time.

Danny was busily scribbling symbols onto a notepad he had shoved in his pocket. They all couldn’t help but be surprised that he could still read the texts. Even though they knew Danny’s memory was intact, Jack still found it strange to see a little kid happily trying to decipher all that mumbo jumbo.

Rothman had taken videos and digital images of the entire altar and was now charged with making transfers of the higher up glyphs, amidst grumbles about having to take orders from a kindergartner. Jack overheard Rothman’s grumbling and couldn’t resist calling out, "Hey, Robert, don’t forget, that kindergartner saved your ass about an hour ago!"

Rothman shot Jack a withering glance. Danny noticed the look and grinning up at Rothman, said sweetly, "You missed a spot over there." Rothman sighed dramatically and decided to keep quiet for the moment, not wanted to add further to his embarrassment. Finally after what seemed hours, Danny announced that they had gotten everything they could from the stones.

They returned to the village to find Janet and Sam with Searlas, who amazingly was awake and alert. Sam smiled at their return and said, "Sir, I’d like you to meet Searlas, and Searlas, this Colonel Jack O’Neill, Teal’c and Danny."

Jack crouched down to Searlas’s level and shook his wrinkled hand. "Pleased to finally meet’cha," he replied.

"Now, the lovely miss Samantha says you would like to learn more about the altar?"

"I - yes! I would!" Danny piped up behind Jack. He knelt down beside Searlas, taking the old hand in his small one, and shook it in greeting. "I’m Danny. The altar, um, changed me."

"Ah yes, you are the chosen one." Searlas nodded, closing his hand weakly around Danny’s.

Danny frowned, looking at Searlas’s sightless face carefully. "Why does everyone here call me that? ‘Chosen’ for what?" he asked.

"Help me sit up a bit, dear," Searlas said, tuning his head in Janet’s general direction. Janet propped a few blankets under Searlas’s thin shoulders. "That’s better. Son, you are chosen, because that altar is very particular about who it changes. I have seen it work only once. My teacher and our leader then, Bevan, said it worked once when his grandfather was a boy. Bevan himself, was chosen when he was a man. He became a boy again just like you, although he became an older boy. Perhaps that had to do with the fact that Bevan was older than you were when he was changed. He was perhaps the same age as your Colonel? He paused, then raised his hand to trace over Danny’s features lightly. You were still a young man then?"

"He was only thirty-five," Sam answered for him. "Do you know why the altar does this? Why would anyone make something like that?"

"No one knows, it is for the gods to decide," Searlas answered enigmatically.

"Maybe that wasn’t its original purpose," Danny commented.

"Yes, it’s possible that the Ancients used it for something else, or maybe that’s how they became Ancients." Sam said, her mind racing with speculations. "If they can make themselves young again anytime they want, they never have to grow old and never die,..." Sam mused.

"Maybe because we’re humans, it only works on us sometimes." Danny contributed, looking at Sam speculatively. "Or maybe, you have to be able to read the Ancients’ text," Danny said, wondering. He recalled himself speaking in the Ancients language just before...

"I know of no such ‘Ancients’" Searlas commented. "But I did see the altar work and I saw Bevan be changed to a boy and then return himself to a man of fifty-one years, less than a fortnight later."

"So it can be reversed." Sam said. "But if the Ancients constructed the altar as a sort of fountain of youth, why make it so that it can be reversible? That doesn’t really make sense."

"Who knows?" Danny said impatiently. "Maybe the effects are only temporary, or maybe it works differently on them, or...maybe they left it as a gift for us. Kind of like what the Asgard did for the people of Cimmeria with Thor’s Hammer. They’re giving us the opportunity to gain more knowledge than we normally could in a human lifetime. And possibly they gave us a way out too, if we decide that we don’t want that, that --opportunity, there’s the chance of returning to our true selves again," Danny rambled, his racing thoughts tumbling unchecked out of his mouth. "Searlas, do you know how Bevan did it?" he asked the old man hopefully. "Could he read the Ancients’ language?

"He could read some, yes. Bevan did not intend to be changed into a boy again. He frequently went to the altar to pray and seek guidance from the gods, and one day it transformed him. I do not know how he returned to himself, I only know that he was successful. He did not allow me to see how it was done. He told me that if I were ever to be chosen, then I would have to solve the mystery of how to change myself back, on my own, if I so chose. He told me he that he only reversed it after great consideration and it was with great difficulty that he even discovered how to even do it. It took a number of attempts until it worked. Bevan said that he would have loved to remain a boy, as his life was closer to the end than the beginning - but then we found ourselves at war and Bevan was a great man, a great leader. His people needed him. Bevan died in that war, so I never had a chance to speak with him further on it."

Seeing Danny’s face sink in disappointment, Sam said, "But it can be done, right? You saw it happen?"

"Yes, I saw it happen, I hid and I watched every time he attempted it. All that I could see was Bevan sitting in front of the altar all day, then one day, when it grew late, I remember I was tired from waiting so long, he pushed two of the pictures carved on the stone. The light returned finally, and when it was gone, Bevan was a man again." Searlas sighed. When my health began to decline a few years ago, I tried to become one of the chosen. I went to that altar and I prayed to the gods, I pushed at the pictures, but I did not know which ones were right and I was not chosen." Searlas turned his head in Jack’s direction. "I am tired, I will rest, but first, may I have a word with the boy alone?"

Jack paused, considering. He looked at Danny, who nodded to him that he would be fine.

"Okay, but we’ll be right outside," Jack said. He motioned to the others to follow him outside. Jack positioned himself right outside the door.

"Do you wish to reverse this?" Searlas asked Danny quietly.

Danny nodded, then remembering that Searlas couldn’t see, said, "Yes. I do, this isn’t right. This isn’t me."

"But it is you. You are still the same in here." Searlas briefly touched the side of the boy’s head and then his chest, fingers resting lightly over his heart. "You must give this thought before you try to reverse it. You have a chance to live your life over, do things differently. You could even stay here a while. I feel we have much to learn from each other."

"We can learn much from each other," Danny smiled. "But I have too much to do and I can’t do those things, like this," he said, absently touching his small chest briefly, like Searlas had just done a moment ago.

"Very well then, I wish you much luck and that the gods are with you. They will be the rulers of your fate. But I will tell you one thing. The day before Bevan became a man again -- he was as a boy of perhaps ten years -- he told me, "Today Searlas, I believe that I will see the world through the eyes of a child one last time. Today, I will run like the wind, swim like a fish and just be. As a man, you forget these things, and what it is to just be." Searlas patted Danny’s hand again and settled deeper into his blanket, turned his head and drifted into sleep. Danny sat watching the old man for a moment, considering his words.

Promising Cian and his people that they would send in more medicine and food, Jack and his team headed back for the gate. Danny had been quiet and reflective since his conversation with Searlas. SG-3, 5 and Rothman stayed behind to act as mediators between the Saones and their enemy.

After their usual checkup, Jack, Sam & Teal’c left Danny in the infirmary with Janet and went for their debriefing. After the meeting, Hammond came back with them to the infirmary to give Danny a stern lecture on his unauthorized gate travel. He then ordered the team on stand-down for a day. After getting chewed out by Hammond as well, Jack had managed to talk him into letting him take Danny back to his house. It would be good to give the kid a break and a little bit of normalcy in all the craziness of the past few days. Since returning from P3A627, Danny had remained pensive and somewhat withdrawn. The lecture he had received from Hammond hadn’t helped his mood either, but Danny took it in without protest and had even apologized to the General. Jack was impressed with Danny’s composure, hell, Jack himself, hated being on the receiving end of Hammond’s ire.

As they were preparing to leave for Jack’s house, Danny said, "Jack, I want to go look in Daniel’s office for a minute."

Jack agreed, still finding it disconcerting to hear Danny referring to himself as someone else entirely.

Inside the office, Danny greeted all his scattered books and artifacts like old friends. Selecting a book on ancient glyphs and symbols, Danny slowly paged through it.

"Hey, shouldn’t you be reading "Green Eggs and Ham" or something like that?" Jack asked, joking.

"Thank you, thank you, Sam I am!" Danny quoted with a little smile. "I think I read that when I was two. This is the book I need to work on the translation," Danny pointed out patiently to Jack. Wandering around the cluttered office, absently picking up things, Danny abruptly stopped at a framed photo propped up on the desk. It was taken about a year ago, on Jack’s deck. Jack was standing, beer in hand, talking to Daniel who was grinning at whatever Jack was telling him while Sam and Teal’c looked on.

Danny ran a finger slowly over Daniel’s image. "This is me-uh, him - who I used to be, isn’t it Jack?" he whispered, staring intently at the picture.

"Yeah," Jack answered, uncomfortable, and reached over to take the photo and put it back on the desk. "Let’s get going, huh buddy?"

Danny hesitated and looked back at the photo again, his brow creasing thoughtfully, and then nodding, he followed Jack out of the office, the large book clutched in his arms.

*

Later, Danny was gleefully chasing Jack around his yard with a SuperSoaker 2000 watergun that Teal’c had given him. Teal’c remembered how much his young friend Ally liked them and he had presented the water gun to Danny with great decorum before they left for Jack’s house. Jack had no idea when Teal’c would have had the time to go out and buy one, but Danny was delighted with it. Jack only had a little old-fashioned squirt gun to defend himself. The break was definitely turning out to be what they both needed.

After getting Jack right in the face, Danny ran off giggling happily. Thoroughly soaked, Jack protested, raising his hands, "Okay, Danny, that’s it! I surrender! You win-" SPLASH! This one was in the chest, from about six feet away. "Hey! I’m ordering you to stop, now! Jack yelled, dropping to the ground, rolling in mock agony.

"You can’t order me, I’m a civilian," Danny answered, but lowered the water gun, grinning, in a perfect reflection of the man he used to be. Daniel never missed an opportunity to remind Jack that he wasn’t military. As much as he was coming to love this kid, Jack suddenly missed his friend very much.

Later, Jack was preparing dinner for Danny and himself. Since they had to go back to base first thing in the morning, Jack decided to make their evening a relaxing one. Danny was intently alternating between studying the glyph textbook and his notebook. Jack managed to convince him to give it a rest and kick back and watch a movie with dinner.

"Hey Danny, hand me that glass over there," Jack asked gesturing towards the counter, busily stirring up spaghetti sauce. Danny, who was standing close to the counter watching Jack in between studying his notebook, immediately went over to get the glass, which was a little beyond his reach. Standing on tiptoes and straining to reach it, he accidentally knocked a plate off the counter. The plate crashed to the tile floor, shattering into a million pieces. Danny jumped about a foot, muttering frantically, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll clean it up, I’m sorry!" and picking up pieces of broken plate with his fingers.

"Hey, stop that!" Jack said louder than intended, dropping the spoon he was stirring with. The spoon clattered noisily onto the ceramic of the oven. Danny ducked his head as if preparing for a blow. "I mean, you’ll cut yourself," Jack pulled him away, shocked when Danny flinched again, as if he was afraid of him. Jack cursed under his breath, recognizing where that reaction came from...

"Hey, listen, it’s okay," Jack said, turning Danny to face him and inspected his hands for cuts. "It was an accident, besides I should have known you couldn’t reach that. I sometimes forget you’re not as tall as you used to be," he said jokingly, ruffling Danny’s hair playfully, relieved that he didn’t seem afraid of him anymore. "Danny, you know I’d never hit you, don’t you?" he asked, looking into Danny’s eyes.

"Yeah," Danny said shyly, and looked down quickly, "I won’t break anything again, Jack. Let’s finish making dinner now." Clearly wanting to change the topic of conversation, he squirmed uncomfortably under Jack’s scrutiny.

Jack sighed and satisfied that Danny’s hands were fine, proceeded to clean up the broken plate himself.

Later, Jack dozed on the couch in front on the television. He jumped up, heart racing at the sound of screams coming from the spare room where Danny was sleeping. He ran over not fully awake, to Danny, rushing to the boy’s side. He was thrashing around, tangled in the sheets, crying out, caught in the grip of a nightmare.

Sitting down on the bed, he pulled the still sleeping Danny until he was sitting up. He shook him gently, telling him to wake up. Danny’s eyes flew open, still seeing whatever terrors haunted him and then relaxed somewhat as he focused on Jack.

"Wow, some bad dream, huh?" Jack said.

"Mr. Meyers was hitting me, hurting me and - and - then this guy who had a snake for a head, a G-Goa’uld -- he was shooting at me an-and then he did shoot me! Then there was this bright yellow light in my head! Then I was in a big gold box -- and then Mr. M-m..- he - he wouldn’t let me out!" Danny babbled, sobbing uncontrollably.

Jack hugged him and rubbed his back, gently shushing him. "It’s okay, it was just a dream. You’re safe."

"No I’m not Jack! Those are things that haven’t happened to me yet - but they will, if we can’t make things right again, they will happen to me!" he sobbed, hanging on to Jack for dear life.

Jack continued to soothe him, feeling shocked as he realized that Danny hadn’t just been dreaming, he had been reliving all the bad things that had happened to him in one big jumble of tangled-up memories. Or in Danny’s mind, things that were just around the corner, waiting for him. Damn, is this what Janet had been worried about? He had seemed fine earlier -- back on the planet, he had almost been like, well, Daniel. Jack wasn’t sure if he could handle this properly, "Listen Danny, I don’t know if this is going to make any sense, but I’ll give it a shot okay?" He felt Danny nod his head against his chest, his sobs slowing down to sniffles.

"What you’re seeing are things that happened to - to - ‘Daniel’. Those things happened a long time ago but they’re not going to happen to you again, all right? You have a different life now, you’re with us. This Mr. Meyers, was he one of Daniel’s foster parents?"

Danny nodded again. He liked this idea of him, Daniel, experiencing that bad stuff. Not him, he didn’t want to have to go through all of that again. "Y-yes, he hit him a lot when he was bad, sometimes even when he wasn’t bad, sometimes just because he felt like it..."

"Well he’s not going to hurt you." Jack told him firmly, feeling an instant flare of anger towards the man who had inflicted this long ago, but still traumatic pain on a helpless, orphaned Daniel. Pushing that anger aside, he continued trying to reassure Danny, "and those snake guys? We all blew up the ship they were on, remember? So they won’t be chasing or shooting anyone," Jack told him.

"You killed them?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, we did."

"Good." The answer came so softly, Jack thought he might have imagined it.

"Jack?" Danny whispered, and pushed himself back so he could look at him now. "Are you mad at me for following you to the planet?"

"Nah, not anymore." Jack answered. "Although, I would have kicked Daniel’s butt if he’d pulled a stunt like that."

Danny smiled a little, "I had to go back there. I had to do something..." he trailed off. Wiping his eyes, he said, "I’m sorry for being such a baby. Those dreams just seemed so - so real."

"It’s okay, don’t worry about it, buddy. You want to go watch some TV?" he asked, knowing that sleep would be a ways off for both of them now.

*

They’d had a rough night, both of them ending up sprawled out on the couch, asleep in front of a snowy TV screen, but they were out in the car heading back to Cheyenne Mountain promptly at 07:00. Danny seemed happy now and was even singing some weird folk song in god knew what language, softly under his breath. The big textbook was balanced on his lap as he gazed out the window. Jack glanced at him grinning, god, he really was coming to love this kid.

Back on base, they had all gathered in Daniel’s office. Sam had a pile of papers spread out over the desk, that she, Jack & Teal’c were looking at. Danny was sitting in his computer chair, slowly spinning himself intermittently around between pausing to peer at his computer screen that was filled with downloaded simulations and translations.

"Do you think Rothman’s going to survive hanging out there with SG3 & 5? Man, that guy couldn’t find his ass with a flashlight." Jack grinned.

"Well he was - is, Daniel’s assistant, so he can’t be that bad." Sam grinned, defending him. "Besides, they’ll do a good job helping the Saones to rebuild themselves again and hopefully negotiate some peace there finally."

"What do you make of these, Danny?" she asked, as she boosted him on to the chair when he came up beside her, abandoning the computer. "I don’t know, these carvings seem rather cryptic -- maybe we should call Rothman back in to help..." she said hesitantly.

"Glyphs," Danny corrected her distractedly, kneeling to reach the desk. "I don’t need Rothman, he likes fossils not languages anyway. And, I can read the glyphs -- I’m not just any stupid little kid, remember," he creased his brow in concentration as he read, small index finger tracing the ancient writing.

"Yeah, Carter, he’s not just any stupid little kid," Jack told her.

"Okay, okay, sorry Danny," she said holding a hand up in truce. "Do you really think you can translate this?"

Nodding absently, Danny continued to read, muttering the words softly under his breath, "When the... light is right? Um, the - the moon to be or become whole, the young is back into... the aged? No, the ‘old’..."

*

"So how is the translating progressing?" Hammond asked. It had been nearly a week with not much progress and a great deal of frustration.

"Well, pretty slowly actually." Sam admitted. "The writings seem to be more poems and symbols than anything else. So far, Danny’s only been able to piece together a small portion of it."

Jack and Teal’c sat on the other side of the table in the briefing room. Jack was absently doodling on a notepad. Danny was not included in this debriefing either.

"I have to take the worst case scenario into consideration here. First of all, I’m not sure how much confidence I have in a child’s ability to handle these translations. Even if that child is Dr. Jackson."

"We do have other base linguists working on the translations as well. But so far, Danny seems to be the one who is making the most progress," Sam said.

But, you’re not making much progress, Major. If Dr. Jackson cannot be returned to himself, then we’re going to have to make some decisions concerning his welfare."

Jack looked up at this. "So what are you suggesting?"

Hammond sighed. "He knows far too much about the Stargate program. Even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge the things he did as an adult, he still knows everything about the SGC, the Goa’uld, their language, and he knows the addresses to countless worlds. At this point, I don’t know if we can let him leave the base on a permanent basis. I’m not letting word of what has happened to him leave this base, but unfortunately, he has become a security risk. If word does get out what has become of Dr. Jackson, it could become very dangerous for him and for the SGC if he were to fall into the wrong hands..."

"Over my dead body," Jack broke in quickly, not wanting to even consider that possibility. "He won’t fall into the wrong hands as long as Teal’c, Carter and I are around. You don’t need to worry about him telling anyone about the Stargate program. He’s not going to say anything. Besides, don’t you think you’re being a little bit paranoid? Come on! Even if he did say anything, who’s going to believe a little kid anyway? Most six-year-olds think Pokemon is real."

"I’m sure that you and your team will do everything you can to protect Dr. Jackson, but I’m afraid for now, if he does remain a child, he’ll have to stay here on base. Perhaps in time, with all his knowledge, he can be put to work as a translator and consultant on an informal basis."

"You’re going to hire a six-year-old as a consultant?" Jack asked incredulously as Hammond shot him an irritated look.

"But sir," Carter broke in, exasperated. "You can’t be suggested keeping Danny confined to this base indefinitely."

"That’s exactly what I’m suggesting for now, Major," Hammond stated. "We may be able to make arrangements for him to return to Abydos for a few years. I don’t like this situation any better than you do, but at present, I don’t see that we have very many options. Keep me posted on the translations, and you’re all dismissed."

The remainder of SG1 left the debriefing room, the three of them troubled by Hammond’s decision.

Later that evening, Jack couldn’t find Danny anywhere. He finally located him in one of the labs, watching the video Rothman had made of the altar, his nose nearly on the screen, so intent was he on studying the images.

Jack came up beside him and noticing what was in Danny’s hand yelled, "Daniel! - I mean Danny! Are you drinking coffee?!"

Danny jumped, startled, spilling said coffee on his hand. "Jeez, Jack, don’t do that! You scared the hell out of me!" Danny replied indignantly.

"Don’t ‘jeez Jack’ me," he said in his ‘father knows best voice’, but having to suppress a grin. "What are you doing drinking coffee? Do you want to be 3 feet tall the rest of your life?" he grabbed the cup out of Danny’s hand. "How many of these did you have anyway?" he asked, knowing Daniel’s caffeine addiction.

"Just a couple," Danny answered, wondering what the big deal was. "It helps me think clearer."

"Yeah, well, how long have you been in here? You were supposed to be with Carter."

"She has her own stuff to do, and I had to work on this. I think I might be getting somewhere if you just give me a few minutes," he answered, attention back on the screen, pausing the image every now and then to scribble something on his notepad. His eyelids were drooping with fatigue.

"Well, it’s late and you should be getting some sleep Danny," Jack told him, noticing how tired he looked in spite of god knew how much caffeine he had consumed.

"Hmmm, just a few minutes, okay," Danny murmured, not looking up from his notebook.

Jack exaggeratedly looked at his watch, timed out two minutes and then placing himself directly in front of the screen said, "Okay, time’s up, let’s go."

"Wai-wai-wait, just let me--"

He was interrupted by Jack grabbing him, slinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and then proceeded to walk out the door.

"Put me DOWN!" Danny yelled outraged, squirming and kicking as Jack nonchalantly carried him back to his unofficial quarters. He shifted his grip on Danny as some of the kicks were threatening to leave bruises. "Jack put me down, I’m NOT finished!" This was followed with a furious string of something decidedly foreign, which Jack recognized as all of the Abydonian curses that Daniel knew.

*

The next day, Sam was trying to write up a report on their findings, which still, so far, weren’t amounting to much. Most of it was speculation at this point anyway. The mineral samples were one of the few things that were looking good. They could prove to be very beneficial. As for figuring out Danny’s situation, everyone continued to be at a loss to understand how Bevan had managed to change himself back to an adult.

Danny appeared in her lab, looking just as frustrated as she was feeling. "Hey Danny," she said looking up from her report, and quickly pushing it under some other papers.

"What are you doing? Is that from P3A627? Can I read it?" he asked.

"Yeah sort of, but I’m not even close to finished with it yet. It’s all speculation at this point anyway, nothing you need to worry about." Just then, an assistant came in and asked Sam if she could borrow one of her books. As Sam got up to get the book, Danny grabbed the report from under the stack of papers and tried to speed-read it. He had noticed how quickly Sam tried to hide whatever she was writing from him. The assistant took the book and after promising to return it later in the day, left again.

"Hey!" Sam said, noticing that Danny had swiped her report. She reached out to grab it back. Danny was still hurriedly trying to read the report and upon spotting something of interest, impulsively decided to make a run for it and see if he could manage to get away from her long enough to read it all the way through.

"Danny!" Sam called exasperated, as he suddenly tore out of the lab. She chased after him, trying to catch him as he darted through and around people’s legs.

Sam spotted Jack ahead of them in the corridor. "Colonel, stop him!" she yelled.

Jack looked over surprised. Seeing Danny bulleting towards him, he stepped directly in his path. Danny bumped into Jack’s legs, bouncing back from the impact.

"Ow!" he yelled, holding his nose, trying to get around him, but Jack had taken a firm grip on his collar, as Sam caught up with them.

"I think you broke my nose!" Danny yelled.

Jack let go of him quickly to get a look at Danny’s apparent injury. Danny took the opportunity to make a break for it again.

"Hey!" Jack said, and caught him again by the arm. Danny pulled on his arm, trying escape. Jack grabbed tighter hold of him. "Danny! Stop it already. What’s going on here?" Jack asked, looking back and forth at him and Sam, impatiently.

"He, uh, stole my report," Sam answered, feeling ridiculously like a kid tattling on her sibling.

"He did?" Jack replied, raising his eyebrows. "Don’t you know that stealing reports is a court-martial-able offense? he said sternly, looking at Danny.

"I can’t be court-martialed, I’m a civ-" Danny started

"Yeah, yeah, you’re a civilian, I know," Jack finished. "Okay, it’s not nice to steal people’s reports. Especially your teammate’s reports. Give it back to her, now."

"I just wanted to borrow it for a minute so I could read it. Sorry Sam." Danny said handing it back to her, blushing.

"It’s okay. I would have let you read it anyway -- when I was finished with it." she answered, feeling a little embarrassed herself. The truth was, she would have let him read a portion of it. A good deal of the report discussed alternatives to confining Danny to base indefinitely. They all didn’t want him to know what the military had in mind for him just yet.

"Okay kids, let’s all try and get along now," Jack told them grinning, and continued on his way, sauntering down the hall.

Watching Jack leave Danny asked, "Why didn’t you want me to see your report?"

"Like I said, I wasn’t finished with it," she answered quickly, knowing she sounded very unconvincing. "I guess I kind of overreacted -- the past few days have been getting to me. You know, you’re pretty fast for a little guy," she commented, grinning at him.

"Hey, who’re you calling little?" Danny grinned back, deciding to let the matter go for now. "Bet’cha can’t catch me without Jack’s help - you’re IT!" he yelled, slapping at her lightly and taking off down the hall.

"Wanna bet?" she yelled back, chasing after him.

They were in the commissary, taking a dinner break. The rest of the day had proven to be just as fruitless and everyone was frustrated now by the lack of progress. Danny’s bleak future as a permanent fixture on the base continued to loom in the three’s thoughts and the strain was showing in all of them. Jack and Teal’c had their dinners already and Sam had offered to get Danny’s along with her own, but he was being indecisive about what he wanted.

"Well, what do you feel like eating?" she asked him, trying not to get impatient.

But Danny was feeling sulky and tired and making it apparent to everyone around him. He said petulantly, "Non mi preoccupo, tutto ho un sapore come il pollo comunque."

Sam frowned, and just looked at him. "Do you want to try that again?" Jack called out.

"Eu não me importo, tudo provo como a galinha de qualquer maneira." Danny replied, looking at Jack from under raised eyebrows.

"In English, Dr. Jackson," Jack told him, in mock patience.

Danny sighed dramatically. "I don’t care! I’m not really hungry, anyway."

"Well, you’re just going to have to eat whatever I bring you then," Sam walked off.

She had returned with macaroni and cheese, which she knew Danny liked, but he just picked at it while the rest of them ate. Sam made idle chatter in an attempt to distract them, but Jack just grunted moodily where he thought a response was in order and Teal’c was silent as usual.

"So Janet was telling me that Cassie’s doing great at school, she wrote this paper --" Sam was saying.

Clang! Danny’s fork hit the table. "Sorry," he said, as the rest of them looked over at him. Not even a minute later, the fork crashed to the table again. "Oops!" Danny said, picking it up again and resumed poking at his macaroni.

"Anyway, as I was saying," Sam continued and jumped at yet another clatter of cutlery at Danny’s end.

"Okay Danny, knock it off!" Jack said, raising his voice slightly.

"What? It was an accident!" he replied, eyes wide, trying to look as innocent as possible, which was something he was pretty good at even when he was an adult.

"It was not! I saw you," Jack shot back.

"Was too!" Danny protested.

"Was not!" Jack again.

"Was too!"

"Okay, boys, come on," Sam interrupted. Danny took the opportunity to stick his tongue out at Jack.

"Alright, Danny, that’s it! Let’s go," Jack said, jumping up from the table to stand beside him.

"Go where?" Danny asked innocently again, not moving from his chair.

"You and I are going to have us chat, in private, right now." Jack said. "Whether you like it or not, I’m still your CO."

"No," Danny said simply.

"No?" Jack repeated in disbelief.

"We can have a chat right here. I’ve got nothing to hide," Danny replied pointedly, giving Jack his patented Daniel Jackson stubborn expression.

Sam and Teal’c looked back and forth between the two of them. Danny hadn’t picked a good time to stand his ground with Jack.

Suddenly, before he even realized what was happening, Danny was hauled to his feet, Jack’s hands firmly placed on his shoulders. Realizing he couldn’t put up much of a protest without causing a scene, Danny allowed Jack to lead him out of the commissary.

Danny shot a worried glance back at Sam and Teal’c in a silent plea for help. Maybe he had taken it a little too far for Jack’s current mood.

"Sir, what are you going to -" Sam asked, a little alarmed herself. Even Teal’c had an eyebrow raised.

Jack looked back at them scowling irritated, and mouthed, ‘it’s okay.’ God, what did they think he was going to do to the kid anyway?

"You would never do this to Daniel," Danny grumbled, trying to shrug Jack’s hand off his shoulder as he led him out.

"I would, and I have, actually," Jack answered, keeping his grip on him. "You haven’t changed all that much, you know." They reached Daniel’s office. Jack led him in and closed the door. Danny started for the computer chair.

"Nope, right here," Jack stopped him and lifted him to sit on the desk. Jack stood directly in front of him, his hands placed on the desk on either side of Danny, who carefully avoided looking at him. "AH! Eye to eye." Jack said. "This is just you and me here, I want to know what’s going on with you. Aside from the obvious, of course. You’ve been a pain in the ass all day."

Danny reluctantly met Jack’s eyes, biting his lower lip. "Nothing’s going on."

"Yeah, right. I know this is frustrating for you, but it’s no picnic for us either. We’re all on stand-down and since nobody is coming up with any solutions, and until we figure out what -"

"What to do with me?" Danny broke in, sullenly.

"What the solution to all this is," Jack finished.

So why don’t you just replace me then and then you can all get on with your jobs," Danny said, shrugging. "Rothman’s all ready to fill my place."

"Is that what this is? You’re pissed off that Rothman’s doing your job instead of you?"

"No. Everything’s fine." Danny answered, stubbornly meeting Jack full in the eye now. Jack had to admit to himself that he was impressed by Danny’s spunk. He’d met a lot of lieutenants who had a hard time looking him in the face during a confrontation. But then again, Danny knew him too well.

"Sorry and it won’t happen again." Danny added impatiently, making it clear the discussion was closed as far as he was concerned.

"Look, Danny," Jack sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I’m not doing this to come down on you. I just want you to be able to talk to me when something’s bothering you. And you never act like this much of a pain in the ass unless something’s really bugging you. So when you’re ready to talk, you can come to me anytime. Okay?" Jack lifted him off the desk. "Let’s go and finish our dinner."

They headed back in silence. Sam and Teal’c looked at them questioningly. Jack just shook his head and sat down again. Danny took a seat as far away from Jack as he could and rested his chin on his folded arms on the table, his dinner ignored. Danny had decided to shut them all out for the moment.

After their interrupted meal, Teal’c was in his quarters seated cross-legged on the floor surrounded by candles - ready to begin his nightly meditation. A soft knock came at the door, followed by a small blonde head peeking in cautiously.

"You may enter, DanielJackson." Teal’c said quietly, opening his eyes.

Danny came in and sat down across from Teal’c. "Can I do the kelnoreem with you?" he asked.

"You may. I would be honored for you to join me. You seem troubled, perhaps this will help."

"Teal’c what would you do in my place?" Danny asked him.

"I would do everything in my power to return to my true self." Teal’c answered.

Danny nodded, imitating Teal’c’s posture and closed his eyes. They both sat in companionable silence. After about ten minutes, Teal’c noticed Danny starting to fidget but ignored it.

Danny tried to sit still, but how long was he supposed to do this? His legs were all cramped up already. He wiggled around trying to find a more comfortable position and then stretched his leg out, trying to get the cramp out. He very nearly knocked one of Teal’c numerous candles over, but quickly caught it just in time, the metal holder rattling.

Teal’c opened his eyes, looking at Danny patiently. "Sorry, um - thanks Teal’c that was great! I feel much better, I’m going to go now, don’t let me disturb you anymore. Bye!" Danny said, jumping up, talking a hundred miles an hour, and ducked out of Teal’c’s quarters. Teal’c smiled slightly and closed his eyes again.

Halfway down the hall, Danny stopped and angrily blinked back the tears that were threatening. No wonder everyone was treating him like a baby! Look at him, crying just like one. He rubbed at his eyes, roughly. Over the past few days of no progress, he’d noticed everyone was treating him differently now, like they’d already given up on him but just didn’t want to admit it. He’d only swiped Sam’s report to see what was going on, what they weren’t telling him. They had been shutting him out of their meetings, giving him odd looks, like they didn’t know how they were supposed to deal with him anymore. Hell, he didn’t even know how to deal with himself. Knowing the military like he thought he did, they were probably scrambling to figure out what the hell to do with him now.

Sometimes, he just didn’t want to know so much. It was too hard, having the knowledge but not being able to apply it. That was his greatest problem when he was a kid the first time around. His intelligence had only earned him bullying from the older, bigger kids he was placed with in school and even worse, from one of his more brutish foster fathers. For some reason that had always been unfathomable to him, a kid who just wanted to read his books and be left alone seemed to bring out the worst in a lot of people.

How could Searlas expect him to even consider opting to stay a kid? Not if it was going to be like this, although it was starting to look as if he wasn’t going to have much choice in the matter. Sighing unhappily, Danny made his way back to Daniel’s office to continue pouring over the glyphs and texts again.

Jack and Sam found him fast asleep, with his head and arms resting on the desk. He was perched precariously on a stack of textbooks he’d placed on the chair. Sam insisted on picking him up and carrying him to the bunk across the hall. Tucking Danny into the bed without waking him, she sat down beside him and brushed the hair back from his forehead and gently kissed his cheek. He muttered softly in his sleep, turned onto his side and snuggled close, his head nearly on her lap, arm throw across her leg. Tucking the covers around him again and stroking his soft hair lightly, Sam tried to imagine what these past days must have been like for him. Seeing him one minute acting like a mischievous little boy, to suddenly reverting back to the brilliant linguist he once was, was pretty hard to take in. Was he a man trapped in a child’s body, or a child burdened with a man’s incredible knowledge and experiences? Maybe it was a little of both, but looking at him now, curled up against her, the man he used to be seemed pretty far away.

Sam thought back to Daniel’s first comment about the circle, the duality and the inside and outside. In this case, it was the child inside the man, the man inside the child, in conflict with each other, but still one person, one soul. It was hard to comprehend and it must have been beyond difficult for Danny. He was having such a hard time dealing with his ‘transformation,’ but in spite of the strangeness of his situation, Sam was finding herself getting very attached to this amazing child that he had become. She suspected that Jack and Teal’c were going through the same thing. If they couldn’t change Danny back, she was going to make sure that he had a good life, no matter what the military said.

"Sam? Are you okay?" Danny murmured, still curled up, sounding half-asleep.

"What? Yeah, I’m fine, I thought you were sleeping," she answered, surprised, her thoughts interrupted.

"I was, but I could practically hear you thinking," he said.

"Sorry," she said quietly and absently put her arm over his chest, cuddling him closer against her. Danny tensed for a moment, not having experienced that kind of maternal contact in a long time and then he relaxed, knowing that she needed the comfort as much as he suddenly realized he did. He curled his hand around hers, clasping it loosely to his chest.

"It’s okay," he answered, whispering. "What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, I don’t know, everything that’s going on, life itself I guess, and being a little worried about you."

"I’m tougher than I look, don’t worry," he answered, making her smile. Then tentatively, he continued, "Sam...do you believe things happen for a reason?" he asked. "Or is it all just random? I always used to think about all the ways I could have changed things, all the things I did wrong. Maybe this happened to me because I’m supposed to do things differently, maybe I did things so wrong that I have to make them right somehow."

"You mean like fate? I don’t think so and you didn’t do anything wrong, Danny. You’re an amazing, incredible and good person and you had no control over losing the people you loved and the other things that happened to you. The past can’t be changed. Some things just happen, we get obstacles thrown at us and the only choices we have are how we deal with them."

"Some things are pretty hard to deal with, though," Danny said softly.

"Yeah, they sure are," she agreed and as her thoughts drifted again, she felt his hand loosen around hers, relaxing as he fell back asleep. She sat with him for a while, just watching him sleep.

She came back into Daniel’s office, her expression troubled. Jack, who was sitting at Daniel’s desk waiting for her, looked up and asked, "Is he okay?"

"He’s fine, he’s a wonderful kid, but this whole thing just isn’t right -- god, the poor kid thinks this whole thing that’s happened to him is some kind of punishment, like bad karma or something. I can understand the military’s concern about Daniel’s situation, but how can they justify keeping him here for the rest of his childhood on this base, because of a supposed security risk? It’s not fair for them to ruin his life, he had it tough enough the first time around. If we can’t change him back what is it going to do to him, being isolated like that?"

"He won’t be isolated because he’ll have us," Jack answered.

"But it’s not the same as being around other kids and doing the things kids do," Sam argued. "Having a normal life. He’d be better of on Abydos, like Hammond suggested, but then I’d feel like we’d abandoned him, somehow."

"We’re not dumping him off on Abydos. But you gotta remember Carter, he’s not like other kids and this sure isn’t an ordinary situation. I actually caught him guzzling coffee yesterday and how many kids do you know who can speak 23 languages? I mean, he’s not going to fit in with other kids anyway -- he probably never did. Man, he’s smarter than all of us already," Jack answered. "With the exception of you, maybe," he gestured to Sam, correcting himself. "I’m not defending the military here, but no matter what we do, Danny’s never going to have a ‘normal’ life."

"That’s true," Sam agreed, dismally. "I mean -- that he’s not like other kids. Look at how frustrated he’s been the past few days. Danny has such a sweet nature, it’s not like him to act out like that. How is he going to cope with being stuck here? It’s going to drive him crazy!"

"We’ll figure something out Carter," Jack replied. "If we can’t change him back, I’m not going to let that happen to him. If I have to, I’ll retire and adopt him or something. Build a nice camel farm or something on Abydos," he tried to joke.

On that note, they agreed to call it a night. It had been a too long, unproductive and stressful day. Jack decided to check on Danny before turning in himself. He opened the door a crack just in time to see Danny hurling himself under the covers.

"Hey, you are supposed to be asleep," Jack said, trying unsuccessfully to sound stern.

"I am - I mean I was, I had to go to the bathroom, I woke up again when Sam left," Danny said. "Goodnight, Jack," he said, looking at him somberly for a moment and then turned away, pretending to go to sleep.

"You okay?" Jack asked, not convinced by the ruse.

"Yeah, I’m just tired and want to go back to sleep now," came the muffled reply. Then, suddenly changing his mind, Danny turned to face Jack again. "Jack...?" he began hesitantly.

"Yeah buddy?"

"Would you really adopt me?" he asked, giving away that he’d been listening in on his and Sam’s conversation.

"Yes, I would. In a second," Jack answered.

"Even after the way I’ve been lately? I-I’m sorry for acting like that," he said, looking away embarrassed.

"That? Oh come on, that was nothing." Jack reassured him. "You should have seen some of the stuff Charlie pulled. I told you before, I’m here for you and I’ll always look out for you, no matter what."

"Thank you," Daniel said simply, and smiled slightly. "They probably wouldn’t let you adopt me, but thanks for saying it. No one ever wanted to adopt me before. G’night," he said again and closed his eyes.

"’Night Danny," Jack answered.

*

Back in the lab, Danny was going over the notes he’d translated again. He’d been over and over them, but there wasn’t anything that seemed close to related to reversing what had happened to him.

"It never was, is always to be,

No one ever saw it, nor ever will

And yet it is the confidence of all

To live and breathe on this celestial ball."

He read, muttering the words under his breath quickly. Underneath that, he continued, "when the light is right, the moon is whole, the young is back into the old."

"This just doesn’t make any sense! It’s just some stupid poem! Poem after stupid cryptic poem!" he pushed the papers away, irritated. "I don’t even know if that’s the exact translation either."

"Why don’t we go outside and take a break?" Sam suggested, looking up from her desk.

"Okay," Danny replied looking at her intently. "Let’s go back to P3A627."

"Danny," Sam started.

"Well why not? I’m not doing anything good here."

"Because we don’t have authorization to go back there until we come up with something a little more concrete, you know that. Besides, we’ve gotten everything we can from the altar."

Danny looked at her a moment then jumped up and started pacing the room. "But we’re not getting anywhere like this!" he said impatiently. "What about using those nanite things on me?" he asked, suddenly, referring to the Goa’uld technology that rapidly ages humans.

"I thought about that for a second too, but they’re way too hard to control. We’re still experimenting with the few we have. We could end up making you 75, by accident." Sam answered.

"I guess..." he sighed in frustration. He stopped to look at her. "I know what the ‘military powers that be’ are saying about me, Sam. I’m a ‘security risk’ -- I heard you guys talking last night," he started pacing again. "Do they really expect me to quietly sit around this base for the next 10 years? Or would they rather just get rid of me altogether and ship me off to Abydos? Either way, I’m just a prisoner of what’s happened to me. I have to do something to FIX this!" he yelled, striking his chest with his fist angrily.

"I understand this is frustrating for you Danny..."

"No you don’t -- understand! How can you understand? I’m trying really hard to deal with this better, but i-it’s like I’ve got two people in my head. One’s this scared little kid who just wants this whole thing to go away, and the other is him, Daniel, who wants to figure out how to fix this!" Danny shouted, completely venting now.

"You’re all treating me like I don’t know what’s going on. You’re leaving me out of everything -- the meetings, your reports, you’re talking about me behind my back and it’s my life at stake here. It’s my life and I should have some say in it! Janet keeps looking at me like she’s expecting me to go nuts any minute. I’m not losing it, and I’m NOT going to! Not like when you all locked Daniel up, -- no not Daniel, me, that was me! That other person is me -- Sam, I’m still the same person in here and I don’t know how to fix this!" the last word came out halfway as a sob.

Sam stood and reached out to him, but Danny yanked away angrily, not yet finished. "I am Daniel Jackson, professor of archeology and linguist, I have two Phd’s, I am a member of the SGC, I opened the Stargate. Eu não sou uma criança, No soy un niño, Je ne suis pas un enfant, Ich bin nicht ein Kind -" he repeated.

That last one she got - ‘I am not a child’ he was saying. Sam dropped to her knees in front of him, and took hold of his shoulders, stopping his mantra and trying to force him to look at her, "Danny, Daniel!" she said sharply. "You’re right, I can’t understand what you’re going through. But, you don’t have to do this alone. Let me help you."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut, dropped his head down, breathing hard as he fought off tears while she held on to him. "Please honey, don’t shut us out. No matter what happens, I’m here for you, we all are."

Keeping his eyes on the floor, an utterly bereft expression clouded his features. "But you’re all shutting me out. I’m still me, Sam, I haven’t forgotten anything, I’m still in here and you’re all treating me like what I have to say doesn’t matter anymore."

"Danny, that’s not true! We all just want to do what’s best for you, we probably care about you too much, and we’ve been trying really hard to protect you. I’m sorry if you’ve felt left out, but we are only trying to help."

Danny took a shuddery breath, trying to compose himself. After a moment, he nodded slightly. "I know, I-I’m sorry -- I just - just wasn’t very good at being a kid the first time around. I couldn’t wait to grow up then, and now look what’s happened to me. I have to do it all over again," he said quietly, his voice breaking. When he finally looked at her, a single tear escaped, and rolled slowly down his cheek.

"Honey, it’s going to be okay. You have us this time." She wiped the tear away and looking deeply into his pale blue eyes said, "We are going to figure this out. No negatives, remember?" she reminded him what he, Daniel, always said to her when she was getting frustrated with a problem.

"No negatives," he repeated after a sigh, trying bravely to smile through his tears.

*

Later that day, Danny came tearing back into the lab, excited "Sam! Sam? Where are you, dammit?" he swore, all but jumping up and down in his excitement and impatience to share his discovery with her.

"What? I’m right here," she answered, coming around from a behind a bookshelf.

"I’ve got it! I’ve got the answer Sam!" he said with a grin. "It’s not a stupid poem! It’s a riddle! I was thinking about what little I did see in your report where you wrote about the altar having more questions than answers - and I realized that’s it! It is a question."

"Okay," she said, "What’s the question, then?"

"It’s so obvious I can’t believe I didn’t see it before! I was looking for some sort of direct instructions on how to reverse the effects. But you have to solve the riddle, ‘it never was is always to be, no one ever saw it, nor ever will..., it’s ‘tomorrow,’ Sam. ‘Tomorrow.’ See this, here," he thrust a piece of paper at her that was covered with sketches he had drawn of the symbols on the altar. "This symbol here, it means ‘to rise’, and this one here’s the sun. They’re both right side by side on the altar. The rising sun brings tomorrow. Just to backtrack for a second, I remember the first time I was there, I said the word for and touched this symbol here - which is loosely translated as rebirth. And I suppose changing you back into a child is a rebirth of sorts -- going back to yesterday. Now, tomorrow in one case, can be construed in relation to changing into a child again, thus giving you many more tomorrows. But it can also be seen as in how yesterday was the past when you were young and tomorrow is the future, when you are old. Now Searlas said he saw Bevan press on two of the glyphs in succession, but he didn’t see which ones. There’s so many of them. But these two are it, they’re the only ones that make any sense. I’m sure of it!"

"Okay, great! But slow down a second. Searlas also said that Bevan had to try a couple of times until he got it right. You also read on the altar, ‘when the light is right, the moon is whole, the young is back into the old’, Sam recalled. "It must have to be done at a certain time, or day."

"That’s the only part that makes any real reference as to when to reverse the effects, and it’s written right above the riddle. Um, I remember, before this happened to me, I think I saw a - a - shadow around me like a ring or something..." Danny’s voice trailed off, his mind racing, trying to recall the exact moment.

"Yes!" Sam yelled out, looking at him wide-eyed. "I saw it too! Just before the sun shone through the circle and the light enveloped you, it cast a ring of shadow all around you. The sun was just going down because it was late afternoon."

"Of course, ‘the light is right’! And when the moon’s whole, is obviously a full moon. So it must be the late afternoon on the day of a coming full moon. So if I go back there on that day, press those two glyphs at just the right moment..." he looked at Sam, his eyes shining with excitement.

"It makes sense. There’s no way Bevan could have known when a full moon was coming in advance, so he had to keep trying until he got the right day. But we can calculate the next one on the computer. It just might work," Sam finished, grinning back at him.

*

"Yeah, but are you sure?" Jack said after being filled in on Danny and Sam’s discovery. Danny had practically dragged him and Teal’c into Sam’s lab.

"I don’t want to rain on your guys’ parade, but I also don’t want to take any chances here. What if it doesn’t work and it makes him even younger and he disappears altogether?" Jack asked, instantly regretting his words when Danny looked at him, his brow creasing fearfully.

"No, I don’t think so, sir," Sam replied, patting Danny’s arm reassuringly. "Bevan tried it many times safely, and remember Searlas said that it returned him to exactly the same age he was before."

"Yeah, yeah, and it gave him a new lease of life, yadda, yadda", Jack interrupted. "And then look at what happened to him, he went off and got himself killed in some stupid war!" Noticing Danny frowning at him, he said, "Danny, you must be starving. Teal’c, do you mind taking our superkid down to the commissary and getting him whatever he wants?"

"Alright, hot fudge sundae!" Danny yelled as he scrambled off his chair and ran out into the hall. He was starving. Teal’c followed behind, smiling slightly. Danny turned abruptly, nearly banging into Teal’c and yelled back through the door, "I know what you’re going to say, Jack, but I’m doing this, I’m going back. I won’t be gone long, so do all your talking about me quick."

"That’s just too weird for me how one minute he’s translating ancient babble that would stump any professor, and the next he’s thrilled to be having ice cream for dinner." Jack muttered shaking his head.

"Anyway, Carter, are you sure we should try this? We have no idea what it will do to him. Even if it does change him back to a 35-year-old man, how do we know he’ll come out like he used to be? What if it screws him up completely?" Jack asked. "I mean, aside from some nightmares and being a little frustrated, he’s a pretty cool kid. He’s okay, he’s healthy. I’m just not sure if risking - his life, is the right thing to do..." Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair distractedly.

"Sir," Sam began, collecting her thoughts. She knew what Jack meant, but was afraid to say. "I know this is hard," Sam continued, hesitantly. "I’m totally in love with him too, but it’s not fair to Daniel for us to not even try to get him back. He wants this - he wants to be himself again. You didn’t see him earlier. He was so upset and feeling so trapped, he’s starting to come to terms with who he was -- is. He’s not making out that he and Daniel are two separate people anymore. I think he’s accepting that he’s one and the same now and he’s not going to be able to deal with being like this for much longer."

"You realize that if we don’t get him back, the Daniel we all knew and cared about just as much, will be gone forever. Of course we can still see him in Danny now, but Danny will grow up, and he won’t be like our Daniel was. He’ll have had totally different experiences, a different outlook..."

"Yeah, yeah, you’re right." Jack sighed in resignation. "This is for the best and it’s what he wants." Jack said as if trying to convince himself.

*

With the use of the computers, Sam calculated that the next full moon on P3A627 would be in a week. Luckily, that particular solar system only had one moon. They also discovered that there had been a full moon on the day of Daniel’s initial transformation. It was looking as if this might actually work.

They had all met with General Hammond already and received the go-ahead for a return trip to the planet. Hammond was concerned for Danny’s safety, as they all were, but he was willing to take the risk. A fully-grown adult Daniel Jackson was far more valuable to the SGC than he was now, confined to a child’s body.

Jack haggled for permission to take Danny to his cabin to pass the time before they had to return to the planet. He practically had to swear on everything he held sacred and sign his soul away, promising that he would only go to the cabin and then come directly back to the base with Danny. No pit stops along the way. Sam and Teal’c declined the offer to come along, realizing that in a way, Jack had become more attached to Danny than all of them. He had spent the most time with him and Jack was also finding it more difficult to deal with the impending possible loss of that little boy. The time they had left was suddenly becoming short and precious.

*

"Isn’t this great? The fish aren’t biting, the beer’s too warm, god I love this place!" Jack was happily exclaiming, perched on a lawn chair, fish pole in one hand, beer in the other.

"Sure, Jack," Danny answered, grinning up at him from his place at the edge of the dock. He was never much for fishing, but this was nice. He would have been going nuts from anticipation back at the base.

"Did anyone ever take you fishing when you were a kid before?" Jack suddenly asked him.

Danny thought for a moment. "No, I spent most of my time trying to avoid the people I was placed with. Most of them weren’t all that bad, it’s just that I knew they weren’t really interested in getting to know me. I was never at one place long enough, anyway. Thanks for bringing me here, Jack," he said, looking out over the water.

"You know, I think in life, sometimes we’re given a second chance to do the things we missed out on. You’ve got almost a week to fish, to act as immature and stupid as you want. I’ve got a cupboard full of all your favorite junk food..." Jack drifted off suddenly lost in memories.

"Did you bring Charlie here a lot?" Danny asked softly, still looking out at the water.

"Yeah, all the time," he answered, his voice a little raspy.

"He must have been really happy when he was here," Danny said gazing out at the endless stretch of blue, hoping that one day Jack would be able to forgive himself for what had happened to his son.

Jack cleared his throat, uncomfortable and then said, "Danny, I know all you want to do is go back to that altar thing and change yourself back to normal, but you do realize there’s some risk in it don’t you?"

Danny nodded, and turned to look at Jack.

"While we’re here this week, have fun, play, be a kid, but I want you to think about this. There’s a lot worse things than being a kid again."

"You know, Searlas told me the same thing when we were talking alone." Danny smiled slightly. "I have too much to do to that I can’t do as a kid, Jack."

"Just think about it okay, and we’ll talk about it again at the end of the week." Jack said. "Hey, it looks like you’ve got a bite!"

The week went by quickly. Danny followed Searlas and Jack’s advice. He allowed himself to enjoy being a kid again, and Jack was more than happy to indulge him and join in. Danny ran like the wind and swam like a fish, savoring each moment. Now that he knew an end to this strange situation was in sight, he could take a few moments to really see the world through his young again eyes. Bevan was right, the world did look different through these eyes. It all felt new again, whole. The adult part of him that had suffered rends in that wholeness could observe this as if from afar. There had been too many tears, too many losses that were big enough to leave a hole in his being that had healed a little, but would never really go away. The brand new child he was could just be. Just live and just be. It was like getting away from himself for a while, but like a vacation, he knew he had to come home again, be himself again, holes and all.

The time was a time of reflection for Jack too. While it brought back bittersweet memories of Charlie, he took a great deal of comfort in his time with Danny, seeing him finally allowing himself to have fun and for Jack to have been able to give him that gift. Jack also finally had to admit that in his own heart, his reluctance to let Danny try to change himself back came from his own wish for a second chance. Somehow, he had hoped that if circumstances left Daniel a child, it would be his second chance at having a son again. There were no second chances with Charlie, and no one could ever fill that hole in Jack’s own soul, but maybe having Danny would have made it hurt a little less. The two of them had always been a couple of lost souls anyway, Jack’s emptiness nearly eating him up and Daniel’s was such a big part of him that he wasn’t even aware of it anymore. Yet he had been able to recognize that common emptiness in Jack and somehow made him want to fill it again, find a new purpose, a new life.

On their last night at the cabin, Jack asked Danny again what he wanted to do. Danny looked at Jack carefully, "I have to try it. You understand why, don’t you?"

"Yeah, I guess I do," Jack said sighing softly. He now knew that Danny - Daniel couldn’t fulfill his own sense of purpose in life the way he was now. "Still, this was fun, wasn’t it?"

"The best," Danny agreed, smiling. As hard as this whole experience was, he realized that in their week together, it felt good to be looked after so completely, to feel safe for the first time in a very long time. "Um, Jack? If it doesn’t work, the altar? - would you...will you guys still look out for me?" Danny asked shyly, looking away.

"Always," Jack answered.

*

Heading back through the wormhole, the members of SG1 were uncharacteristically quiet. Danny’s face was pinched in apprehension. The team made their way to the stone altar. SG3 and SG5 were busily tending to the village. The warring tribe had not since returned to reclaim the altar.

Danny stood just on the edge of the grass looking up at the gem-laden circle. He had insisted on dressing in one of Daniel’s shrunken T-shirts and drawstring sweatpants with the legs rolled up. In case this actually worked, he didn’t want to return back to the land of adulthood half-dressed. Teal’c carried a pair of Daniel’s boots in his pack.

"When do you think it will happen, Sam?" he asked, glancing at her as she came up beside him.

"I think when the sun goes down more. See," she said pointing up at the sky, "it’s still pretty high, maybe in a couple of hours."

Danny nodded and wandered back to Jack and Teal’c, scuffing the grass absently with his foot. The team sat down to wait.

Cian had noticed the gate coming back to life and watched as the four came through. He collected Searlas from his hut and the two settled themselves just beyond the clearing to watch and to wait as well.

A few hours later, upon seeing the team taking note of the sky again, Cian and Searlas walked up to them.

Jack got to his feet, "I hope you’re not planning on trying to stop this," he began.

Searlas turned his blind face towards Jack and smiled gently. "No, we have only come to observe, if we may. May I speak with the boy?"

Jack nodded and waved to Danny to come over to him. Jack stayed protectively close as Searlas took Danny’s small hands in his gnarled ones.

"You’re looking much better, Searlas," Danny said, smiling up at him.

"I am feeling much better, thank you, son. Do you now know what you must do?" Searlas asked. Danny said that he did. "Good," Searlas continued, "Do not be afraid, my son. It will just take a few moments and it will be all over and you will still be you, only better."

Danny smiled again, "Thank you," he said and started to turn away. Then, deciding impulsively and shoving his hand in his pocket and pulling out a scrap of paper, he added, "Um, Searlas, ten days from now, come to the altar at about this time and sit in front of it. Keep your hand on this stone, and say the word written underneath it," he thrust the paper in Searlas’ hand. "Cian will show you. Maybe it will choose you, then, if you...still want."

Searlas turned his face in the direction of Danny’s voice, surprised. "Thank you, son," he said, bowing his head slightly.

"It’s almost time, sir," Sam said as the sun started to lower. Danny looked back at Searlas, wondering if it he had done the right thing, or if all he had done was give the old man false hope. He really had no idea if the altar would do anything on the day of the next full moon, but he figured that false hope was better than no hope at all. He ran over to Sam.

"Alright, Danny, are you ready for this?" she asked crouching down to Danny’s eye level.

"I think so," Danny said, looking at her apprehensively, then he threw his arms around her neck hugging her tightly. "I’ll see you soon?"

"You bet!’ she answered, rubbing his back reassuringly. She sounded far more confident than she felt as her eyes filled with tears. Danny looked so lost in his too big clothes, so small.

Teal’c came up to Danny and told him he would see him soon as well.

"Hey, what’s with all this goodbye stuff?" Jack said, walking over to take Danny by the hand and went with him in front of the altar. Crouching awkwardly in front of him, and wincing at the pain in his bad knee, Jack placed both hands on Danny’s shoulders. "You sure you still want to do this?" At Danny’s answering nod, he continued, "Whatever happens, it’s going to be okay."

Danny nodded again, "Thank you, Jack, for taking care of me -- for showing me how to be a kid," he said with a hint of a smile on his lips, but his eyes were somber.

"See you in a bit, buddy," Jack pulled him to his chest, holding him close one last time. Jack felt Danny’s back hitch in a suppressed sob. Jack cupped the back of Danny’s head gently, rubbing the short, soft hair. He released him reluctantly and turned away quickly so Danny wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes as he walked back to the others.

Danny turned around as well, wiped his own eyes and then held his hands up in front of the glyphs, waiting.

"Not yet, Danny," Sam cautioned from the grass, looking up at the sun. Almost there....now - the sunlight shone through the circle, casting Danny in its beam. "Now, Danny!" she yelled, but he was already prepared, he could feel it his bones, his heart racing in anticipation and fear.

Danny pressed the two glyphs in sequence, whispering them out "Rising. Sun," in the ancient tongue. He left his fingers touching the cool, stone glyphs like he had before. He was unaware that he was repeating the word ‘tomorrow’ over and over again under his breath, like a prayer. The light came unexpectedly, the energy it emitted pitching his small body forward against the stone, but he managed to catch himself, keeping his hands on the two glyphs. He looked up to see the circle glowing blindingly white just like before, his hands were glued to the stone, his muscles paralyzed. As the energy took over and the light completely enveloped him, blocking out the world, his thoughts began to race forward. He saw everything that had ever happened to him - he felt every joy, every pain, every loss, rushing through his head in a huge flood of emotions. Danny cried out in sudden terror. ‘Jack you were wrong,’ he thought frantically, ‘I do have to live through all of this again...’

Jack, upon hearing Danny’s desperate cry, tried to lunge for the circle, but Teal’c grabbed his arms and held him back. "No O’Neill! You cannot!" Jack struggled half-heartedly, knowing he was right, it was too late to do anything anyway, but that cry had nearly ripped his heart out. ‘Please be okay Danny,’ he prayed silently. All they could do was watch helplessly again, as the rainbow of color from the gemstones danced over them.

As suddenly as it had appeared, the light blinked out. Everyone looked anxiously at the altar as their eyes readjusted to the lack of light and they desperately tried to focus on the shady clearing.

Lying on his back, arms flung out to the sides, was six-foot tall, 35-year-old Daniel, his face white with shock.

"Daniel!" Sam yelled, rushing up to him, the first to arrive at his side with Jack right on her heels. Kneeling beside him she laid a hand on his cheek. "Daniel, are you okay? Please be okay!" she said, unconsciously echoing Jack’s earlier prayer.

"Whaaa - " Daniel breathed out suddenly, moving his head from side to side, eyelids fluttering. He groaned through clenched teeth, raising a hand to his head, as if in pain.

He opened his eyes experimentally to see Sam and Jack crouching worriedly beside him, with Teal’c peering anxiously over Jack’s head. "Hi," he said softly looking up at them, still trying to clear his jumbled thoughts.

"Hi yourself," Jack said a little shakily. "Are you okay?" He reached out to help Daniel sit up.

"I think so," Daniel answered, now sitting up unsteadily. Jack and Sam kept a hand on each of his shoulders, supporting him. Daniel looked down at his hands by his sides and slowly raised them, examining them as if he’d never seem them before. "It worked," he said amazed, still gazing at his now fully-grown, slender hands.

"You remember what happened to you?" Sam asked, searching his face for reaction.

"Oh yeah," Daniel nodded, looking at her, overwhelmed, a multitude of emotions passing over his expressive features. He looked dangerously close to tears.

Sam looked into his bewildered eyes sympathetically and gently embraced him. Daniel hesitated for a moment, then put his arms around her, holding on to her tightly. He closed his eyes, shivering, trying for just a moment, not to think.

Sam held on to Daniel just as tight, rocking him slightly, feeling his body trembling. He tucked his head down, burying his face in her neck, and just held on. He felt Jack awkwardly pat his shoulder and mutter something soothing to him. Daniel wanted to say something to his teammates, to let them know he wasn’t losing it -- but right now it was all just too much. Right now he just wanted to stay here, not moving, not thinking...

*

"Hey Daniel, how’s it going?" Sam asked as she came into his office.

"Um, good! I’ve got so many translations to catch up on here, I don’t know which ones to do first. The Saones managed to hold onto a lot of old writings and notes their ancestors left behind," he answered, shuffling papers on his desk.

Daniel was pretty much back to normal, although he had seemed distracted and a little self-conscious around his teammates over the past few days. Sam had voiced concern for him to Jack and Teal’c earlier. It must have been a incredible experience to go from adulthood, to childhood and back to adulthood in the space of a couple of weeks. It was hard for any of them to even imagine, but Daniel didn’t seem to want to talk about it much.

"So you’re feeling okay? No side effects or anything?" she asked.

"Not since that slight fever when we got back. It was deja vu in the infirmary with Janet. It feels good to be...myself again."

"You know, you’ve been through something that most people can only imagine," Sam said hesitantly, perching on the edge of his desk.

"Yeah, well, the ‘fountain of youth’ isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be," he said, finally attempting to explain to Sam what he had been through. He found it hard to talk about because he wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to feel. He frowned, trying to find the words to explain just what it had been like, "I guess, it sort of felt like dying and then being reborn as someone else -- starting all over again. It was me, but at the same time, it wasn’t...and then, umm, changing back was, I don’t know, like...I - he - kind of... had to live through 29 years in the space of two minutes, but he’s still here, deep inside somewhere. He smiled shyly, looking at his monitor. I guess that doesn’t make much sense does it?"

"Actually, it does," she said, thinking sadly of Danny, who had to go through all of that. She kept reminding herself that the two were one and the same, as Danny himself had pointed out to her, and that he was still a part of Daniel, as he had just told her, but still, it was hard. As happy as she was to have her friend back, she couldn’t help but miss that little boy she had come to love and also grieve for the loss of him.

"I guess... this was kind of weird for you guys, wasn’t it?" he asked, reading her thoughts too well, looking at her sympathetically.

"What was kind of weird?" Jack asked coming in, Teal’c following behind him. They both shared Sam’s concern for Daniel and had hardly left him alone since coming back from the planet. They were probably all driving him nuts with their fussing, but still they found themselves unable to stop.

"These past few weeks," Daniel said in answer to Jack’s question, getting up to walk around his office. Both he and Jack felt a little awkward around each other after all the strong emotions they had shared, although the bond between the two was stronger than ever.

"Oh yeah. Beyond weird," Jack agreed. "You know, Carter, he was such a cute kid -- what happened to him?"

"I don’t think he’s changed all that much, sir," she grinned.

"True, he still sulks and those tantrums -- which by the way, were a lot easier to deal with when I could just pick him up and - You wouldn’t--" Jack said, narrowing his eyes, noticing that Daniel now had his SuperSoaker trained on him. "What the hell’s that thing doing here anyway?"

Daniel just smirked and raised his eyebrows.

"You wouldn’t shoot am unarmed man, and besides, I’d seriously kick your butt if you did," Jack said confidently, grinning at Sam and Teal’c.

Daniel just looked at him, and giving them a sudden, unexpected reminder of Danny as his face lit with a child-like mischief, he pulled the trigger, immediately soaking Jack’s T-shirt.

Jack looked down at his shirt, shocked momentarily. "You are SO in for it, Jackson!" he yelled, lunging for him.

"You’ll have to catch me first!" Daniel answered, bursting out laughing. He jumped onto his chair and dove over his desk, papers flying everywhere. Jack tried to grab him but Daniel got him with the watergun again, full in the face. He took off down the corridor, still laughing.

"SO DEAD!" Jack sputtered, arming water off his face and taking off after him, skidding on fallen papers as he went.

"Try and catch me! You’re not that young anymore, remember!" Daniel’s voice floated back from down the hall.

"Yeah? Well either are you!" came Jack’s reply.

"You know Teal’c, I think he’s going to be okay," Sam said, smiling happily.

The corners of Teal’c’s mouth turned up slightly in amusement, "Indeed," he replied.

Finis

© March 17, 2001 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

This is my first attempt at fiction of any kind, so constructive feedback is most welcome. Thanks to Sothis for beta-reading.