Author's Notes: This is the third story in the Singer series, which was begun so long ago that Carter was still a captain and Daniel still had long hair! Significant amounts of time passed between each story, both for myself and for the characters, and I hope that I managed to capture some of the changes that they went through as the series progressed.

ANOTHER SONG

Tightening his lips over a curse of frustration, Daniel snapped his book shut with a crack that resounded loudly in his office, then rested the spine of it against his forehead. Closing his eyes, he tried for the thousandth time that day to calm the restless edginess sawing away at his nerves, but the vision that rose behind his eyelids had him throwing the book down so that he could pace around and around his work bench. It didn’t help much, not that he had expected it to, but it was better than re-reading the same line over and over, never remembering a single word of it.

When Sam had requested that the Gate be taken off-line for a week so that she and the technicians could run tests to determine what kinds of safeties built into DHD’s could be safely over-ridden, he’d been glad. He had a backlog of professional journals he had wanted to catch up on for ages, personal research that had been simmering in the back of his mind for even longer, and was generally more than ready for a week or so of peaceful boredom. Lately it seemed every time he stepped through the Gate, there was trouble on the other side - even when the destination was Earth.

The first few days had been exactly as Daniel had anticipated they would be - calm, relaxing and intellectually very rewarding. Though he’d worked out with Jack and Teal’c, had lunch with them or Sam in the officer’s mess, he’d spent the vast majority of his day in here, blissfully immersed in the sorts of linguistic and cultural puzzles that he’d thrived on for as long as he could remember. Then, bit-by-bit, hour-by-hour, he’d had more and more trouble concentrating; more and more difficulty just sitting still, let alone accomplishing anything.

After a while it began to carry over to his free hours off-base, leaving him roaming his apartment at all hours of the day or night, unable to stay at rest even long enough to watch a sit-com on the tv, let alone actually sleep. He tried going to bed anyway, hoping that the exhaustion nibbling at the boundaries of his endless fidgeting would let him collapse into sleep. Instead every time he closed his eyes, the restlessness took an erotic edge, making him acutely aware how long it had been since he’d had shared that bed.

His body would all but beg for a lover’s touch, skin thrumming with sexual anticipation, and his mental theater would feature fleeting images that left him achingly ready, more erect than he’d thought possible for himself. Most disturbing was what the visions were of - not rounded, soft womanly curves, not memories of his sweet time with Sha’uri or even any of the women that he’d known in his life. Instead Daniel endlessly re-ran the brief memory he had of the evening when he had walked in on Jack and Teal’c as they made love, or the one night he had been on the receiving end of their attentions.

At first he had resisted giving himself relief, never particularly liking the way the solitary activity underlined how alone he was. But when he began elaborating - fantasizing if he was going to be honest with himself - on those memories, adding activities that he once would have believed had no appeal for him, he surrendered to necessity. It only helped for a short time though; just enough that he was able to keep from reaching for the real thing.

Just thinking about that gave him another hard-on, and Daniel was forced to stop pacing long enough to adjust himself in his pants. A part of him wanted to simply go to Teal’c, explain his problem, and ask for help. A larger part reminded him sharply that from all appearances, Teal’c and Jack were still together, though Daniel couldn’t understand their relationship at all. He’d been far more upset than Jack had been when the Jaffar had taken a lady lover and planned to leave SG1 for her – which could have been simple denial on Jack's part. Yet the two of them were so comfortable with each other, so obviously friends and teammates on levels that most people could only dream about.

That confused Daniel in ways he didn’t want to examine closely, and but even more confusing to him was his own reaction to the pair. When he thought of the simple pleasure of companionship and chastely sharing the warmth of two bodies pressed close on an icy night, he almost automatically placed Teal’c in that role. But when his thoughts turned to raw, carnal acts, it was Jack that he wanted - and wanted very, very badly.

Suddenly angry with himself, Daniel went back to his book, determined to read it if it took all night. There was absolutely no reason he shouldn’t be able to concentrate; it was something he’d been able to do no matter what almost from the first time he learned to study. Through death, disaster and abandonment, he’d been able to lose himself in words and civilizations long dead with no effort at all; the only exception being the time Singer had infected him with her alien energy.

The memory of the blue-in-blue energy being who used music for language and glass as toys brought a reluctant smile to Daniel’s lips. She’d been indirectly responsible for his night with Jack and Teal’c, too, because of that. Interestingly, sex had been the cure for the irritating nervousness prolonged exposure to her presence caused, though Daniel didn’t have a clue why.

Without any warning, understanding crystallized and Daniel ground to a complete stop, mentally and physically, unable to believe what the evidence was telling him. Painfully, carefully, he looked at the idea from every possible angle, but it all added up to the same conclusion. The last time he was this edgy and restless, with a cutting thread of desire zipping through it, had been when Singer was with him, and it had accumulated gradually. Singer was invisible to any electronic device made by man and the Gate did not have to be activated for her to use it - from either side. She also knew the layout of the base on the SGC's levels, and was especially fond of his office, if for no other reason than because he had created a cache of ‘toys’ for her.

Finally beginning to accept that he might be right, Daniel slowly surveyed his office, looking for a place some one could hide without being detected, if they were quiet and still enough. Then, just to make sure he wasn’t being a complete idiot, he checked the stash of glass objects he’d accumulated for Singer and had not gotten rid of despite the two plus years it had been since he’d last seen her. The drawer was empty and in the farthest corner of the room was a waist high table running across the wall, and the area immediately under it was blocked with a large crate intended to be used for shipping some off-planet artifacts he was studying.

Cautiously, not wanting to frighten her if she were there, he wandered back, leaning on the table and pointlessly re-arranging the items on it. In a carefully pleased, quiet voice, Daniel said, “I know you’re under there.” He didn’t get an answer, but he hadn’t expected one right away, so he slowly knelt down until he could peer into the dark cubby made by the corner, the table, and the crate.

For a moment he was sure he had made a mistake, but the sheer impossibility of an intruder this deep in the mountain made him take a second look, this one allowing him to recognize Singer. Instead of the traditional Alice-in-Wonderland garb of light gray dress, pinafore, and brilliantly polished maryjanes she had dressed in before, she was wearing a denim bib-coverall with stars appliqued all over it and a white long-sleeve Henley under it. The buckle shoes had been replaced with white sneakers, complete with friendship pins in the laces and more hearts drawn in ink on the sides of the soles.

It was almost exactly what Cassandra was wearing in the picture that Sam kept of her in her office, though she had added another, more recent one, of Dr. Fraiser’s adopted daughter not too long ago. Singer had ‘seen’ the older one, of course, and she had obviously chosen to update her clothes so that she would look more human. Normally she couldn’t come close because of her blue-in-blue eyes and sapphire hair that drifted on invisible breezes, but the face that turned toward Daniel could have been that of any human child’s.

All that was missing from it was an expression, an emotion of some kind, but Singer’s features were as empty as a doll’s. That frightened Daniel more than finding her in his office; she had easily learned how to imitate human facial expressions and to match them to what she was feeling during her last visit. For her not to be able to do so now spoke alarmingly of just how distressed she had to be, and adding in how long she had to have been in her hiding place, Daniel’s surprise changed to concern.

Despite that, he said casually, “I’m glad to see you; I’ll call Jack and the others to let them know you’ve come by for a visit.”

“No, please, D'nelllll,” Singer hummed, the last notes deep enough to make the floor under them vibrate in harmony. “Don’t tellll, don’t tellllll.”

“Why? You know they like you. Are you worried about getting in trouble for coming without your parent again?” Daniel didn’t think for a moment that was the problem; Lalt had never struck him as being the kind of parent whose punishments for childish transgressions would inspire terror in his offspring. But he could sense in the music of Singer’s true voice that she was close to total despair and fear, and his concern deepened considerably.

“D'nelll, please, please, please. Don’t telllll, don’t tellllll.” Singer shrank back farther into her hiding place, curling up on herself as much as possible.

“Sweetheart, are you in trouble, bad trouble?” Daniel ventured, staying put and trying to put as much reassurance into his voice as he could.

“don’ttellllldonttellldontllldontlllll,” she murmured. For a moment her control fractured and her natural swirling color returned, writhing sickeningly over and through her before she was able to reassert the form she’d chosen for herself.

Sitting back on his heels, Daniel changed tactics and said firmly, “Look at me, Singer. Look at me!” Though she didn’t need to have her eyes on him to actually see him, she obeyed and the softly humming pleading faded away. “Do you remember Hammond?” he asked, glad his tactic to pull her back from her misery worked.

She sang a brief melody that seemed to describe the general perfectly, and almost as an after-thought, she created a partial smile to go with it. “Mmm’d,” she agreed.

“Well, he’s the same as a parent to me, and I can’t *not* tell him that you’re here. That would be wrong, and it would make him very unhappy with me. I wouldn’t like that. And Jack, Teal’c and Sam wouldn’t be happy with me, either. I have to tell them, Singer. I’m sorry, but I have to.”

She turned away from him and huddled into the wall, and the floor began to shake again as she cried to herself in notes so low that Daniel couldn’t hear them. Feeling miserable, but with no doubt in his mind that he was right to bring in the others, Daniel went to the phone and called the General. “Sir? Could you come to my office, right now? And bring the rest of SG1 with you? We have an un-authorized visitor; one you’ve met before.”

**Unauthorized. How in the….** The shoe dropped for Hammond, and he said, **Singer. I’m on my way, Dr. Jackson.**

Daniel hung up, listened for a moment as SG1 was summoned to the briefing room, and went back to where Singer was, sitting cross-legged under the table, back to the room and facing her. She was still turned away from him, but at least the horrible droning of her fear had stopped. “It’s okay,” he soothed. “Whatever is wrong, we can help fix it, I promise.” Instinctively he hitched closer to stroke her hair or back in hopes of consoling her, but she shrank into herself even more.

“No, Daniel,” she said clearly. “I promised not to hurt you again; to stay all *here.*”

“And you don’t trust yourself to do that right now?” he asked gently. “Would you tell me what has you so upset? Please? Funny thing is, even if you think I can’t do anything to make it better, just talking sometimes can make a difference in how you feel.”

Shaking her head awkwardly, as if just remembering that was a way to say no, too, she asked instead, “Can I please stay here? It’s a small, small space and you weren’t using it. I can give the toys back if I shouldn’t have taken them, but you weren’t playing with them so I thought you wouldn’t mind.”

Her tone was the coaxing, hopeful voice of a youngster who wanted desperately to appease the adult in power over her, and for the first time anger began to mix in with the apprehension Daniel had been hiding from her. With difficulty he shoved it all away so he could concentrate on Singer, and said, “I think we can do better than a corner under the table. You know you’re always welcome, and I keep those toys here just in case you do decide to visit.”

“Reallllllly?” she sang, the melody showing a hint of her usual merriment.

“Really,” he said positively. “And Sam still has seventeen billion gazillion questions she wants to ask you, and would be in heaven if you’d help her find the answers if you don’t know them.”

“And Teal'c and O’Neill? They wouldn’t mind if I played with you sometimes?”

“Absolutely not,” Jack said cheerfully, dropping into a squat next to Daniel, hand going to the small of Daniel’s back in a silent gesture of approval.

Or so Daniel assumed, very deliberately on his part, to combat the flood of sexual heat from that simple touch. Then Teal’c gently pushed aside the crate that formed part of Singer’s hiding spot and took its place, thick fingers finding a comforting place on Daniel’s shoulder as he knelt down. Somberly, but with a hint of a smile at the corners of his lips for the alien child, he said, “I, too, am pleased that you would choose to visit.”

Eagerly, touching her own face as if to remind herself yet again to contain her energies, she said, “I’ll be very, very careful, I promise.”

“I know you will,” Jack said firmly. “You’re a good girl and good girls always keep their promises.” Her answer wasn’t in words, but in a doleful note of worry/fear/sorrow that shook the entire room, and he shook his head in negation. “I’ll prove it to you.” Without any warning he wiggled into her corner and snagged her by the waist to pull her into his lap as he plopped onto his backside.

She didn’t struggle, though it was impossible to tell if that was because she didn’t know how to in her current form, or if she was afraid of losing control if she did. Either way Jack didn’t seem to believe he was in any danger. Smacking a silly, noisy kiss on her cheek, he said, “See? Not even a tingle. It’s *okay* to be here, Singer, as far as we’re concerned.”

Looking dubious, Singer shook her head again, but she didn’t try to pull away. Resting her head on Jack’s shoulder, she hummed softly to herself, then asked, “This is a ‘hug,’ Oneillll?”

“Yep, a little-girl hug. Best kind there is.” Sam joined them, punching their commanding officer lightly in the upper arm to get his attention. Jack grinned and tilted his head in her direction, saying, “I think Major Carter is jealous because she needs a little girl hug, too. Think you could oblige her?”

With a laugh that sounded like a garden full of perfectly tuned metal wind chimes, Singer let herself be transferred into Sam’s arms, hugging her tightly once before chirping, “A billion gazillion questions, Sam?”

“At least that many,” she confirmed. She and Jack exchanged a look, then she tucked herself under the table with Singer. “I like the new look; was it hard to change just part of yourself like that?"

Leaving their visitor to Sam’s care for the moment, Jack clambered out and stood, hand under Daniel’s elbow to take him along. Daniel started to protest, but a side-ways glance from Teal’c brought General Hammond to his attention, and he braced himself to give the explanations every one would want. They stepped out into the corridor, Hammond leading the way and clearly not happy with current events.

To Daniel’s surprise, it was Jack who came under fire first. “Colonel O’Neill,” Hammond said sharply, “What did you think you were doing? Even if her parent hadn’t told us specifically that the kind of control needed wasn’t possible, Singer *herself* had doubts that she wouldn’t accidentally burn one of us.

“She didn’t and if she did, she could fix it,” Jack answered lightly, hands in his pockets and rocking back slightly on his heels. At his commander’s exasperated glare he added much more seriously, “I never saw a kid who needed a hug more. The way I saw it, getting her calmed down and happy was more important than what I considered a nominal risk.”

Clearly setting aside the discussion - but just as clearly not forgetting it - Hammond turned to Daniel. “Dr. Jackson?”

As concisely as he could, Daniel filled them in on what happened, beginning with his growing inability to concentrate and ending with Singer’s pleas to be allowed to stay. He didn’t miss the significant look Teal’c and Jack exchanged at the mention of the restlessness, but he willfully let it slide without any acknowledgment that he had seen it. Despite the leap of his heart and the deep-seated throb of desire, he didn’t *want* to admit to them - or himself - the state his libido was in from Singer’s presence.

When he was finished, Hammond asked thoughtfully, “And you have no clue exactly how long she’s been in your office or why she felt compelled not only to hide there, even from us?”

“We know that things aren’t exactly perfect at home, or she wouldn’t have been slipping away from her Nanny to start with,” Jack volunteered.

“That’s an assumption on our part, Colonel. For all we know, her visits are simply symptomatic of another stage of development for her,” Hammond said. “Her version of the terrible twos.”

Shaking his head, Daniel argued, “Maybe in the beginning, though I don’t think so. What I can tell you for sure is that right now her fear is too genuine, too powerful to just be a developmental side-effect. This isn’t a case of being afraid of the monster in the closet; if it were, I’m positive she would have gone to Lalt. Remember when she accidentally burned me? When she understood what she had done, she didn’t hesitate to go to her parent for help, even though she knew she could get into trouble for running away.”

“Notice that she *didn’t* go to her Nanny,” Jack said softly.

“In any case her return may have serious consequences for the SGC,” Teal’c said, pulling his teammate and friend back to the problem at hand. “If she has indeed slipped away from her parent again, Lalt will arrive presently seeking her.”

Gleefully Jack said, “This time he’s not getting away without giving us an I.O.U. of some sort, even if it’s only a way to call him so that we can let him know we could use a helping hand. Only fair for all the babysitting.”

“And if she bolted here because she’s on the run from something that terrifies her?” Daniel asked, genuinely worried about their young friend.

“Then we better hope that Lalt deals with it first,” Hammond said flatly. “Even if it’s harmless to us, I don’t think we’re equipped to handle a hysterical Singer.” He paused, thinking for a moment, then said, “I believe that our first course of action should be to reassure her as much as possible, and that means doing what we always do when she’s here.”

“Endless questions on both sides," Jack said. Then he added hastily, "That’s Daniel’s department."

“See if you can get her into Dr. Fraiser’s care this time around, gentlemen. Maybe we can walk away from one of her people’s visits with a few answers for a change. All your missions are canceled for the time being, and all off-world teams not involved in essential projects will be recalled, simply as precaution. Dr. Jackson, the sooner we have a clearer idea of the perceived threat, the sooner we can prepare ourselves if necessary. I’ll leave you to get on with it.” Already deep in thought about what needed done, Hammond turned on his heel and left for his own office.

“I’ll go warn Doc Fraiser,” Jack said innocently, all too obviously not looking at either Teal’c or Daniel.

He beat a hasty departure before Daniel could respond, and unperturbed, Teal’c went back into the office, expression inscrutable even to Daniel’s practiced eye. Sam had coaxed Singer completely out of hiding, and was smoothing all of the alien child’s hair back into a ponytail. Expecting a comment on how pretty it was, Daniel was vaguely surprised and amused when Sam said, “So if I tried to cut this off, the blade would just go right through it?”

“No, I would go around it, Sam. It’s small enough that I can do that.”

“Well, what if you wanted to give me a strand of it, so I could look at it with something besides normal vision?”

Singer turned, her hair flowing from the fingers holding it as if it were liquid, and touched the end of Sam’s nose. Sounding absolutely serious, she asked, “What else would you look at it with? This?”

Half-laughing, Sam answered, “With machines that can do more than my eyes can.”

“Machines?” Singer said dubiously. “I think even the smallest piece of me would make a machine very unhappy.”

“But you *could* give me a bit? Without hurting yourself?” Sam cajoled.

“And contain it how, Sam?” Daniel asked, honestly curious himself.

Distractedly, Sam answered, “I don’t know, a magnetic field maybe. A thin metal tube. A coffee cup. Something.”

Unexpectedly Teal’c asked, “Singer, could you simply place a small portion of yourself where Major Carter wishes it to be, then recall it once she had completed her observations?”

Face losing its expressiveness in a way that meant she was thinking very hard, Singer said, “Give me away on purpose?”

Almost simultaneously, Sam said, “Teal’c that’s brilliant!” Excited, she took Singer by the hand and began towing her out of the room. “Remember me telling you about my friend, Janet? She’ll want to watch while you try this, believe me.” With a soft melody that was both agreeable and deeply thoughtful, Singer allowed herself to be taken away, Sam firing off questions as they left.

A few minutes later her voice drifted back up the hallway, clear and distinct despite the distance. “Dnllll? What’s more than a gazillion?”

Honestly smiling for the first time that day, Daniel started to follow her and Sam, but Teal’c stepped in front of him, one large hand planting itself gingerly in the middle of his chest and pushing him into a corner where the security camera couldn't spy. “I would speak with you for a moment.” Instantly wary, already sure what the topic of conversation was going to be, he started mentally creating excuses not to, but before he could voice any of them, Teal’c said softly, “May I come to your quarters this evening?”

Of all the things that Daniel could think of to say, what actually came out of his mouth was, “What about Jack?”

Apparently not surprised by the question, Teal’c said, “There is not a word in English for the deep connection one warrior may feel for another. ‘Partner’ is the nearest to the Chulak concept, but it does not do it justice.”

“I know the word you’re referring to,” Daniel mumbled, red-faced, understanding where Teal’c was leading them.

Stroking two fingers hesitantly over Daniel’s cheek, Teal’c said, “Then you know that if O’Neill were to meet the perfect mate and marry her, I would only celebrate that he had found a wife and mother for his children that was worthy of him. I would miss our intimacy, but she would be no barrier to the commitment already existent between O’Neill and myself, nor would I be a detriment to the growing one between them. This is not generosity of spirit on my part, nor an insult to how dear a companion he is to me, simply a statement of what we are to one another.

“Nor do I believe that he would begrudge me the comfort of hearth and home if I were to be the fortunate one.” Teal’c closed the small distance between them, fingers slipping down to the back of Daniel’s neck as if to anchor him. “He does not expect me to be sexually faithful to him, Daniel.”

Unable to resist leaning into the heat so close to him, Daniel closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “I’m…I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem right. I mean, just because Singer has overloaded my nerves or whatever, doesn’t mean you have to…. Not, not that I wouldn’t otherwise, of course. You know that I find you… but, but.” He forced himself to take a deep breath, then said carefully, “I feel like I’d be taking advantage of you.”

Teal’c dropped a soft, fragile kiss on Daniel’s lips, barely leaving a hint of warmth and taste before ending it. Those faint traces left him desperately craving more, and he murmured something that didn’t make sense even to him as he took off his glasses and reached up to claim what he needed. Teal'c's mouth was every bit as lush and satisfying as he remembered it being, and Daniel pulled himself away from it long before he wanted to.

Unwillingly remembering the lack of privacy, he managed though and murmured, "Are you sure Jack won't mind?" A subtle tension that he would have missed if he hadn't been so close to Teal'c flitted through the massive body pressed into his, and he looked up into the dark, dark eyes. "You use English very precisely," Daniel said slowly, thoughtfully. "Jack doesn't expect sexual fidelity from you, but maybe he expects something else?"

Clearly hesitant to answer, Teal'c said after a long pause, "I believe that O'Neill will be...disappointed you did not turn to him for assistance in this matter."

"Oh." The word sounded as small as Daniel felt, and he backed away, replacing his glasses and rubbing sweaty hands down the outside of his thighs. His incipient erection flared to painful readiness, then sullenly subsided as his conscience and desires warred with each other. "Oh," he repeated inanely. "Well, then, I suppose that I should, ah...." Trailing off, not at all sure *what* he should do, Daniel finally blurted, "Check on Singer," and made good his escape.

He found her in the infirmary, sitting on the edge of a bed, watching in utter fascination as Janet and Sam exchanged lab coat and outer shirt, apparently trying to explain to her that their clothes were not part of them. Apparently thinking it would help her cross the cultural gap, Janet handed the lab coat to Singer, then had to hold in laughter as the young alien struggled to imitate what she had seen them do. “This is *not* you,” Singer said dubiously, pulling a sleeve over her arm. “And you and Sam are not mates, not sharing selves.”

Thinking now was as good a time as any to jump in, Daniel said, “No, someplace far away a man picked the fibers of the coat from a plant, sent them to a place where they were made into a fabric. Then the fabric was sent to yet another place where it was cut and sewn into the coat, and the coat itself was sent to where Janet could get it to use.”

Clearly impressed, Singer untangled the other arm, took off the coat and tried again, this time getting it on properly. “Dr. Janet must be very important to have so many tending to her.”

“No,” Sam corrected. “That’s the norm for us; we trade labor or our own products to each other to have what we need.”

“How do you get what you need, Singer?” Daniel asked thoughtfully. “Is there a place where you go to get your toys or sustenance?”

Distracted by the feel and look of the lab coat, she answered, “My parent or Nanny make what I need. Sharing is a very personal thing.”

“That explains why she thought you two might be partnered,” Daniel murmured just for Sam’s ears. To Singer he said, “So if you want a toy, they take a part of themselves and make it for you?”

“No, because it wouldn’t sing with me if they did that; it would only be for them or their mate. They…” She lost English and began to sing a complex melody, stopped, and said carefully, “They would bind other forces from the many places to the shape of what they wanted to me to have.”

“Singer,” Sam said, her eyes brightening almost maniacally, “Do you mean they would change energy into matter, like taking light and turning it into a glass?”

Bubbling water over glass chimes sounded, then Singer said delightedly, “Yes! Like that. Not exactly, but like that.”

“That’s fantastic,” Sam breathed, and she started talking to Janet in techno-speak so fast that Daniel didn’t think the doctor understood more than every other word.

He didn’t get that much, so he turned his attention back to Singer. “Can you do it? Maybe show us how it’s done?” he asked, anticipating Sam’s next question, once she calmed down.

Taking off the lab coat and smoothing the fabric under curious fingers, she answered, “No, I haven’t learned how to reach into the many places, or how to hold the patterns to what I wish them to be. Lalt hasn’t been able to find a teacher for me.”

Daniel thought her last words were sad, simply because she didn’t use any inflection for them at all. “Well, you’re still a little young,” he said sympathetically. He thought maybe the skills she mentioned were the equivalent of reading and writing, and she was disappointed like any youngster that she couldn’t go to school yet like the big kids.

“Age is not how these things are decided,” Singer said matter-of-factly. “My parent can’t get a teacher for me because I’m retarded and deformed.”

Anger flashed through Daniel, but he kept his voice level when he asked, “Who said something like that about you? It’s not true, and it’s not nice!”

“Oh, Nanny, of course, but my parent has never tried to hide my differences from me, or our clan,” Singer said the same way another child might announce she was adopted. Then, as if realizing that he was upset, she said sweetly, “It’s okay, Daniel. Different is not bad, is not wrong. It just is.”

“I don’t understand,” Daniel said in confusion. “You seem like a very bright girl to me, and I don’t see anything different between you and your parent at all. Except the obvious, of course.”

Laying aside the lab coat and giving Daniel her undivided attention, Singer said, “When your people create a new life, you take a piece of the protector, give it to the nurturer, and she grows the infant within her. And you can do this many times. My people only create new life once, at the end of their own. When mates know that their harmony is complete, their sharing is powerful, they chose a Parent and a Nanny to raise their offspring, then combine completely, two becoming one that has all of both. The source divides, two, three, sometimes even *four* times, if the pairing is especially right and good.

“But something went very, very wrong when my bearers merged. There was no division, there was only me, and I almost was not there enough to survive. The knowing that they should have left within me is not there, and there is very little of them for others to sense and know who gave me life.” She looked sad, hair and hands going still. “I think this makes Lalt very, very unhappy. Nanny says that he could have had his choice of younglings to raise, but he deliberately waited for my bearers so that he could honor them by rearing theirs. That must mean he cared for them greatly.”

Not liking where his own thoughts were taking him and reluctantly remembering Jack’s suspicions about problems at home for Singer, Daniel asked, “Does Nanny say anything else about you or your birth?”

“Oh, all sorts of things,” she answered blithely. “She thinks my parent should not have let me survive at all, probably because she didn’t want to be held to her promise to be Nanny for me. But also because she thinks that it dishonors the memory of my bearers to have something like me as their legacy, as if they must have been damaged themselves to produce me. She didn’t want to raise a damaged child, either, to put all that care into one only to have it be refused adulthood.”

“Refused adulthood?” Daniel asked blandly despite his anger getting a serious hold on him this time.

Plainly growing bored with the conversation, Singer began to poke at the sheets on the bed where she was sitting, then compare them to the lab coat. “If a child is too damaged to be a good adult, they are not allowed assistance for their last Growing.”

Afraid he knew exactly what that euphemism meant, Daniel said tightly, “You mean, like when you collapsed in on yourself last time. You have to have help to expand back out after you, uh, ‘reorder your being’ with the new information.”

Shivering melodramatically, as if she were a human child talking about the boogey man, she said, “That was scary; seeing that your kind are even more different from me on the inside than you are on the outside.” She hopped forward a little on the bed. “Did I do the shaking thing right? For the right reason?”

“Exactly right,” Daniel praised automatically. “And I’m sorry you had to be shown that in such a bad way. I guess it must have been a good thing that Lalt came when he did or you could have stayed under that ramp for a long, long time.”

“It’s all right, Daniel. You didn’t know that I hadn’t learned that, yet.” She shivered again and said happily, “I like how ‘shivering’ feels!” Then, as an after-thought she added, “Not so long; I would have gotten too cold to hold me here and bled away into the many places.”

Seeing Sam and Janet bearing down with several pieces of equipment and a few of Singer’s toys, Daniel stepped back and let them reclaim her attention, waiting until all of them were absorbed in an impromptu experiment before slipping away. Anger, he was discovering, was not a good mix with the nervous agitation that came from being with Singer. Both twitched and stabbed through his muscles, stomping over rational thought with ease and leaving him wanting to scream and shout, wanting to destroy something, anything, even himself, and he mindlessly sought a quiet, private place to do just that.

Something - instinct, luck or maybe habit - brought him to SG1’s ready rooms, and he sat on the bench in front of his lockers, battling with an insanity of violence that he refused to give free rein to. Rocking back and forth, hugging himself tightly, he did his best to hang onto rational thought, but eventually Daniel exploded into movement, slamming his fists and head into the unforgiving metal. The pain was a relief powerful enough to make him want to cry, but he couldn’t. Couldn’t shout, couldn’t scream, couldn’t stop the lunge forward to hit the locker again, even harder this time, and the last sane bit of his mind prayed that he’d knock himself out.

Instead of cold steel, he crashed into human flesh, his forehead cracking against a bony shoulder as powerful fingers caught and held his wrists. With an enraged shout he tried to attack the person stupid enough to get between him and the release into unconsciousness he had to have, but rage took away any skill he had at self-defense. Within moments his back was pinned to the cold tiled wall by an unrelenting human chest putting enough pressure on him to make breathing difficult, his head forced to one side by the cheek planted against his ear. A knee strategically planted just under his crotch made the idea of kicking a very, very bad one, even to the animal presently doing the thinking for him.

Deprived of freedom of movement, his rage had no choice but to back down a few notches, enough for Daniel to recognize the man holding him and hear the quiet muttering. Though he couldn’t connect meaning to the words, he recognized Jack’s voice and responded to the calming in it, gradually relaxing into the strong, wiry body against his. He recognized that, too; knew the lines and contours hidden by the shapeless uniform, knew how responsive and sensual it could be. Letting his head sag onto Jack’s shoulder, he took a shaky breath, relishing the familiar spice of his companion’s scent.

The last of his anger drained away, leaving only the hunger that had been haunting him for far too long, and Daniel twisted ever so slightly to drag the erection he hadn’t even felt until that moment over Jack’s belly. “Please,” he whispered, hardly hearing himself and not at all sure what he was begging for. “Please.”

“It’s okay, Danny, it’s okay,” Jack crooned, hand and body gentling their hold. “I’m here, I’m here, but I gotta know what’s wrong first.”

The faint drift of air from the words slipped deliciously over the vulnerable skin of Daniel’s neck and ear, and he turned toward it, toward Jack’s lips and found them with his own, almost by accident. Whimpering deep in his chest, Daniel invaded his lover's mouth, tasting and exploring it with erotic intent and succeeding to judge by how eagerly Jack returned the kiss. A different kind of release from the one he had sought in his fury began to simmer through his middle and he began to chase after it with the same unthinking haste he had used to seek unconsciousness.

Then Jack pulled away, staying just beyond reach when Daniel tried to find his mouth again. “Danny! The answer is yes, and even right now if you honestly can’t wait, but I have to know what set you off. You’re bleeding here!”

Unwillingly, but drawn back to reason by the command in Jack’s voice and the worry in the velvet gaze, Daniel closed his eyes and tilted his head back to distance himself from temptation. “Singer. She’s going to die; her own people are going to kill her by doing nothing when she needs them most.”

“What!?” Jack said, taking a step back in shock and anger.

Feeling the withdrawal all the way to the pit of himself, not sure if he was miserable or relieved that the intimate contact had been broken, Daniel recapped his conversation with Singer. He finished by saying bitterly, “The worst part of it was how accepting she was of her fate. I don’t know if it’s because she’s too immature to understand what death means or if she’s been beaten over the head so long and so hard about how ‘deformed’ she is that she can’t imagine fighting for her own survival.”

“Told you there was something wrong at home,” Jack muttered uneasily, kneading at the back of his neck. “Do you think that’s why she was so panicked earlier? Because it’s getting close to time for her to do that rock up thing of hers again and she’s afraid they’ll leave her like that until she dies?”

Sinking down onto the bench, Daniel studied his shaking hands without really seeing them. “No, it doesn’t fit with how calmly she talked about the whole thing.” A drop of red splatted onto his knuckles and he touched a finger to the wetness on his forehead, realizing for the first time he’d hurt himself. Dismissing it, he added, “It might have a lot to do with why we met her, though.”

“Gotcha - Nanny’s not bothering to take good care of a kid that is pretty much a waste of space in her opinion. And they’re supposed to be soooo much more advanced than us.” Jack sounded disgusted, not that Daniel could blame him, but then his tone changed completely to wary concern. “You got a grip on things now? Enough for me to get you back to the infirmary for Doc Fraiser to look at that knot on your forehead?”

“It’s not that bad,” he said tiredly. “I’ll go to my quarters and lay down with an ice pack on it for a while.”

“I don’t think so,” Jack said sharply. “Fraiser will look at that and you being alone is *not* an option at the moment. If you’ll remember, I’ve been on the receiving end of the Singer-jitters myself and have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing to you. If you don’t want company of the more personal kind, fine, I can’t very well order you to get laid, but I can order for you to be put under observation so you won’t have any more up close and personal encounters with the base fixtures.”

Daniel glared at him, or tried to, but Jack was right, whether he liked it or not. Sensing the hurt hiding under the command persona, he admitted quietly, “I just don’t like having the choice of whether or not I have sex taken away from me; it’s happened too damned many times. I like it even less that you and Teal’c think that you have to help me take care of my little problem when you’re not responsible for it in the first place.”

“Did it feel like I was just offering a buddy a pity fuck?” Jack asked gently. “You know you’re more to both of us than that, so don’t insult everybody concerned by belittling what we could share, okay Daniel?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” he protested immediately. “I just meant, oh, hell, I don’t know what I meant.”

Putting a hand under his elbow and urging him to rise while handing him the glasses that Daniel didn't remember losing, Jack said, “For a man who knows as many languages as you do, you sometimes really have a problem talking, know that?”

“Story of my life,” Daniel mumbled, but let himself be led away, gratefully leaning on the ready support when his head finally caught onto the fact that it wasn’t in such good shape.

They walked into the infirmary in time to see Singer’s hands stop glowing as a broken glass reformed itself into one piece. “It wants to be like that,” she was saying seriously to Sam, ignoring the instruments both she and Janet were holding near the floating glass. “All I do is give it a way to be what it wants to be.”

Either not seeing or caring about their preoccupation, Jack snapped, “Could we have some help here?”

Startled, Dr. Fraiser looked up, then hurried toward them, but somehow Singer got there first, fingers already reaching for the wound on Daniel’s head, chiming her concern and sympathy. Her fingers felt cool and misty on the tight pain, then with a flurry of the warm tickles he remembered from when she healed his burn, all the discomfort was gone. Not just the knot on his forehead, but the nasty gnawing edge to his restlessness and the underlying fatigue that had been blurring his every thought and move vanished under her careful touch. The relief was incredible and he sagged, weak-kneed from the unexpected sense of well-being, and would have fallen if not for Jack.

Then powerful arms curled around him, and he was lifted and carried toward a bed. “Teal’c, I’m all right, she just caught me off-guard, that’s all.”

“Dr. Fraiser will be the judge of that,” Teal’c rumbled uncompromisingly.

“Don’t argue with the man,” Jack seconded.

“Singer?” Dr. Fraiser asked sharply.

She said confidently, “It’s even easier than making the glass whole again. Daniel can repair himself; I just.” Stopping for a second she sang to herself, as if she needed to phrase it in her own language before trying to express it in English. “Hurried him along?”

Dr. Fraiser used an alcohol wipe to clean away the blood, fingers gingerly probing at where the swelling had been on Daniel’s head. “What happened anyway?” she asked.

“Stumbled into a locker,” he mumbled, not looking at Jack and hoping that he wouldn’t feel compelled to be a good team commander and tell the doctor the truth. Teal’c raised a single eyebrow of disbelief at him, but held his peace and slanted a glance at their friend.

“I’ve already sent a repair crew to fix it,” Jack quipped lightly, meeting the Jaffa’s look with a telling one of his own. “Left quite a dent in it.”

The skeptical glare she gave him told Daniel that she didn’t buy it completely, but she didn't make an issue of it. She checked his pulse and other vitals, then planted both fists on the edge of the bed. “No downplaying - any headache, dizziness, nausea? Can you tell if you’ve had any kind of reaction at all to Singer’s touch?”

“Same sensation as the last time, but much more briefly,” he said honestly, “I feel fine now. Better than I did when I got up this morning.” He couldn’t quite keep an edge of surprise out of his voice when he reported the last, which must have been exactly what Janet needed to be convinced.

She looked over at Singer and asked, “Is he going to need to rest and eat the way he did last time?”

Singer tucked her legs under herself to float in midair and said, “No, it was a very small wrongness.” Leaning up on his elbows, Daniel looked over at her, worried because she had lost all the inflection in her voice again, then frowned because she looked different, somehow.

Before he could put his finger on the change, Jack said, “In that case, we need to go have a word with General Hammond. You, too, Doc. Looks like Singer could use a break from the poking and prodding, anyway; one of your orderlies can keep an eye on her and holler if we’re needed.” Not giving any of them a chance to protest, he nodded toward the door, looking stern, then led the way out.

Daniel got up hurriedly and trailed after the others, glancing back at their visitor as he did. Jack was right; she seem tired somehow, though there was no expression on her face to point to that. Which, for her, actually could be a sign of being tired, now that he thought about it. That wasn’t what was nagging at him about her, though, but he had to shelf the matter when Jack said as soon as they got out of earshot of the lab, “Daniel learned something from Singer we all have to know.”

“When?” Sam asked curiously.

“When you were caught up in the discovery that her people can convert energy to matter,” Daniel said evenly.

“The two of you were talking about how her people reproduce,” Janet said in confusion. “We *were* listening.”

Daniel nodded, but said, “I don’t think you heard all of it, or maybe didn’t understand the implications behind what she told me.” When Sam started to ask another question, he added, “I’ll fill you in on everything as soon as we get to the briefing room.”

An hour later that had felt more like an eternity as it slowly dragged by, Daniel sat back in his chair, fingers endlessly twirling his pen, unable to look at the others seated around the table. As neutrally as he could he finished his explanation with, “If anybody thinks that I’m misreading the information, I’d love to be proven wrong.”

“Is there any chance that she didn’t understand completely or didn’t interpret correctly what she’s been told, Dr. Jackson?” General Hammond asked, anger faintly underlining his words.

“Of course, she’s a child,” Daniel said without hesitation. “Or her Nanny could have fed her mis-information for whatever reason. If that’s the case, we’ll be doing her parent a great service by letting him know what’s going on in her head and why. But given her repeated escapes from her guardians and Lalt’s own reaction at what is apparently a unique ability to contain her energy completely within herself *before* she had to for ‘growing,’ I’d have to say there’s at least some accuracy in her beliefs.”

“He was *not* pleased,” Teal’c agreed. “He is also by his own admission in our debt. Perhaps we can use this to our advantage to protect Singer.”

“If he won’t,” Daniel said firmly, tossing the pen down. “I’ll ask if I can have custody of her.”

“Dr. Jackson, I’m not sure that I can allow that or even advise you that it would be a wise idea,” Hammond said in surprise. “While I’m sure you would make a good parent, I don’t think you can provide for a child as unique as she is. We don’t even know what she uses for nourishment!”

“Actually, I was thinking of asking for help in that,” Daniel said, his mind unexpectedly prodded into providing an answer for the problem because of the General’s mention of his parenting abilities. “Oma is an energy being, and she’s already raising a unique child.”

“Good idea,” Jack approved. “Shifu could use a baby sister; teach him a few of the more basic things about the human condition.” He swiveled his chair back and forth several times, clearly deep in thought, then said, “Here’s a idea for you. She was trying awfully hard not to be found and got pretty upset when she was; add that to the fact that she needs to be ready to rock up to visit with us safely. Much as I hate to suggest it, could she be trying to commit suicide? And don’t say she’s a little young to understand that concept; for all we know that’s something her *Nanny* explained to her very carefully.” His disdainful emphasis on the title underlined his opinion on that being.

“Much as I hate to admit it,” Dr. Fraiser said slowly, “That could be one explanation.”

“I don’t think so,” Sam argued immediately. “Once she was sure of her welcome, she was as enthusiastic and cheerful as always; just as eager to learn and willing to work with us. Why bother if she’s going to die in a few hours or days?”

“I believe that we’ll leave that mystery to Dr. Jackson,” Hammond said firmly. “If anybody will be able to get a straight answer in time to be able to help, he can.”

Not sure the general’s confidence wasn’t misplaced, Daniel stood, glad he had an excuse to be up and moving. “In that case… Sam, do either you or Janet have something to share that I need to know right now? Because if it can wait, I want to get back down to the infirmary and get to work before it’s too late. I’ve got a feeling we might be working against the clock.”

“Agreed, Dr. Jackson,” Hammond said.

“I’ll brief you later,” Sam promised.

With a wave of acknowledgement in her direction, Daniel left, stopping at the top step of the stairs to eye the large, bulky shadow that he had acquired. “Teal’c,” he started.

“I am obeying orders,” the Jaffa said calmly. Then he said much more softly, “And the dictates of my own heart, DanielJackson.”

Smiling uncertainly, but smiling for all that at the small admission, Daniel said, “Hammond wants us working in pairs because of the effect Singer has on humans?”

“A wise precaution, “ Teal’c agreed easily.

Daniel stared at him a moment longer, desire threading through his regard, lacking the frustrated bite from earlier in the day, replaced by a much sweeter anticipation that was easier to cope with. It didn’t cloud his judgment as badly either, and he finally nodded, agreeing to more than Teal’c accompanying him to the infirmary. All during the short trip there, he wondered why he’d made the decision he had, then admitted that it was because with Teal’c, it was ‘what you see is what you get.’ The Jaffa was straightforward and direct in all things, making him a known quantity to deal with and a source of strength that Daniel knew he could count on. Jack was the complete opposite - a major example of deep waters, and he simply didn’t know if he had what it took to navigate the treacherous currents a relationship with him.

At the threshold to the infirmary, he asked himself, **Is that what I really want? A relationship? Not just relief?** Daniel didn’t know the answer to that, and he eagerly put the question aside to concentrate on Singer.

She was floating where they had left her, her collection of glass objects arrayed in the air around her, singing softly to herself. Idly wondering if any one had given her other kinds of crystals, such as pyrite or amethyst, to see if she was as fascinated with them, Daniel studied her for a minute. The sense that there was something different about her nagged at him, and he said aloud, “I’ve never seen her more human looking; even the shade of her hair could just be one of the more extreme dye-jobs you see in any suburban mall. I am so used to her in her natural form that it seems wrong to see her any other way?”

“Perhaps it is because she truly looks like a child,” Teal’c offered. “Instead of an adult dressed as one.”

Mentally comparing her size to the first time she had taken a roughly humanoid form, Daniel said, “That’s right. She’s usually at least Jack’s height; but now she’s about Janet's. Trying harder to look right? Or compressing herself even more in preparation for the 'growing' that might be coming up?”

“I do not know,” Teal’c answered.

“Let’s ask and find out.”

Some time later, Daniel had to admit that her endless variations on ‘I’m supposed to be this way, Daniel,” were getting him nowhere and he had no idea where to redirect the conversation to find more useful information. Singer talked about her Nanny, her parent, her people without hesitation, showing no fear or distress, and painting a fairly clear picture of what he had always thought a true, workable socialism must be like. The only time she balked was when he tried as gently and obliquely as possible to bring up why she was with them instead of her parent, and if Lalt had any idea where she was.

Then she would turn her head down, her hair slowly drifting to hide her face, and she would murmur to herself in her own musical language, stubborn and unhappy echoing in the notes in equal portions. No amount of coaxing could get her to respond then, though if Daniel changed the subject, she would go along with him happily, doing her best to explain what was at times clearly inexplicable in English.

In the background he could hear Janet, Sam and the others coming and going. Sometimes they stopped and listened, or offered a comment, but for the most part they concerned themselves with the scientific part of the mystery that was Singer. Eventually the hour grew late, and the medical staff left for the night except the standby team that usually spent their hours in the officer’s mess playing cards unless they were needed. Janet retired to get some rest, but Sam went back to her own lab, still excited enough by the sparse information her observations had given her to be unable to sleep. That left him and Singer, with Teal’c patiently watching over them both as if he were a bodyguard entrusted with precious wards.

Tired of talking in circles around what he had to know, Daniel decided to do something, anything different, just to give them both a rest. Catching sight of a bloodstain on hands that he hadn’t had time to wash, he asked, “Singer, can you repair anything besides injuries for a human?”

“I don’t know,” she answered seriously. “What else would one need fixed?”

“Uh, we get diseases - uh, small lives that invade ours and damage us in the small places,” Daniel said.

She looked him over thoughtfully, then said, “You already have small lives in you, and on you. They sing that they are needed for you to be well.”

Vaguely remembering that there were helpful bacteria in a human’s digestive tract, Daniel tried another tact. “And if they didn’t sing in harmony with me?”

“Your body would try to battle wrong ones.” She stroked a finger lightly over the back of his hand, considering what she read from the touch. “I think that I could make you strong enough to be sure to defeat them.”

“And if something in the body went wrong on its own?” he asked thoughtfully, his bout with appendicitis at the back of the mind.

“That’s easy; it really wants to be right. I’d just show it how to be the way it’s supposed to be.”

An idea hit Daniel suddenly and gestured to his teammate to bring him closer. “Can you put Teal’c back the way he was?” For once he’d surprised the Jaffar to the point he couldn’t keep it from his expression, and before his friend could regain his composure, Daniel lifted the shirts to show the opening to the symbiote’s pouch.

Singer sang a questioning note and studied the seared flesh for a moment before tentatively reaching for Teal’c’s stomach. “This was done to him?” she asked uncertainly.

Holding his companion’s eyes, praying that the tiny flare of hope he saw there could be answered, Daniel said, “Yes. A bad person took away a part of Teal’c that he needs to live and put an awful thing inside him to replace it.”

“Why?” She sounded completely confused, her fingers hovering over the center of the ‘x’ sliced into what would have otherwise been a perfect six-pack of abdominal muscle.

“To control me, as he and his kind have controlled so many others,” Teal’c said harshly.

Losing all of the color she had imposed on herself, her face emptying of emotion, she sang, “Hooollllldd stillllll!” Her hands became nothing more than brilliant beams of light that illuminated the infant Gao'uld within Teal’c, somehow highlighting its loathsome nature and showing it for the monster that it truly was. Noise spilled from her in ugly clashes of metal on metal that hurt the ear and mind, then she said in an eerily echoing voice, “I can’t fix what’s been done to you; the damage was too long ago and too burned into your being.” The light coming from her intensified, forcing Daniel to turn his head and close his eyes against the cutting glare. “It’s a wrongness for you to be like this; a bad, bad wrongness that has to be stopped.”

“What are you doing!” Daniel shouted, suddenly terrified for his teammate. “You can’t kill it, you’ll kill Teal’c!”

The light began to fade and Singer murmured, “No killing; that’s a wrongness, too. It tastes its own poison, now.”

Squinting against the dying glare, Daniel found a phone, dialing for Sam almost by instinct, as he tried to find Teal’c in the midst of the radiance. When he did, he saw that the Jaffar was standing with his spine snapped almost inhumanly straight, his head thrown back and mouth open as if to silently scream, hands slightly away from his sides, fingers spread wide. Amazingly, his face did not show the agony Daniel expected from his posture, but ecstasy that seemed almost too intense to be endured. That pleasure echoed in his own body, bringing him to full readiness in a few breaths and taking most of his brainpower off-line.

Hearing Sam’s voice in his ear