SquidgeWorld Archive

Mirror, Mirror
By Lyn & Annie
townsend297@gmail.com  - annie.booker@gmail.com

Daniel had no memory of the accident that had downsized him into a four-year-old body, or of the first few days following it. He only remembered waking in the infirmary with a worried, haggard looking Jack seated beside his bed. He hadn't believed Doctor Warner at first when he tried to explain his condition but a quick glance in the mirror had certainly changed that.

He cried a lot at first. While his intelligence appeared to still be that of a thirty-five year old man, and his memories of his life before the accident were intact, his emotions seemed to have taken a nosedive to kindergarten level along with his body. In the past few weeks, he'd managed to keep his tears mostly under control. For Jack's sake. He didn't want to see the devastated look on Jack's face every time the hopelessness of the situation got to him, because he knew Jack blamed himself for the accident.

He still lost his temper when he couldn't reach a cupboard or turn on the faucet over the sink, got frustrated when nothing they tried worked, and frightened, thinking that perhaps he'd be this way forever, but he vowed not to cry anymore. At least, not in front of Jack.

Nothing the doctors or Sam had tried had worked. Daniel couldn't help wishing Janet was still there. She'd never failed to come up with solutions to the most bizarre problems.

An idea had come to Daniel when he'd woken that very morning and struggled with fingers that seemed too small to tie his laces and button his shirt. Foregoing brushing his teeth, he rushed out to the kitchen where Jack was buttering toast. "I've got it!" he announced triumphantly.

Jack looked at him warily. "Got what? Measles? Zits?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I know how to grow me back up. At least..." He tried to push down his excitement, knowing he was going to have to really explain this well for Jack to go for it. "...I think I know how we can find someone who can."

Jack pushed a glass of orange juice toward him and Daniel looked longingly at the coffee pot on the table. "Nah-huh," Jack said. "Doctor's orders. No caffeine."

"Just a sip," Daniel begged. "Half a cup, and you can even add milk." He shuddered at the thought.

Jack pointed at a chair. "Sit. Drink." He handed over a plate of toast. "Eat." He waited for Daniel to do so, then sat opposite him. "So, what's this great plan of yours?"

Abandoning the lure of the coffee, Daniel smiled. "The quantum mirror."

Jack frowned. "And that will help us how?"

Daniel sat forward, his hands waving about as he spoke. "It's still in the lab. We've been running some tests on it. We can check and see if any of the alternate realities have had a downsized Daniel, and if they did, how they fixed it."

Jack took a sip of his coffee then carefully placed the mug down on the table. He scratched his head. "Daniel, look, it sounds like a good idea in theory, but there's just too many what-ifs."

"Like?"

"Like... What if none of them have had a downsized Daniel, or if they have, what if they couldn't figure out how to fix it?"

Daniel felt his hopes deflating. "We've tried everything else," he said softly. "Can't we at least try?"

"What about that Endoscopic Cascade thingy? Now that's a big what-if."

"Entropic Cascade Effect," Daniel said with a small smile. "That doesn't happen right away, so we just need to get back here before it does."

Jack was already shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Daniel, I'll run it past Carter, but I don't think it's a good idea."

"Can't I run it past Sam?" Daniel asked around the tightness in his throat. He just knew he was going to cry. After all this time of holding it in, of crying in the dark when Jack was asleep, he was going to lose it. He blinked a couple of times when his eyes burned with unshed tears. "I can explain it better than you, even if I only look five."

Jack pushed his chair back from the table. "Come here," he said.

Daniel hesitated. He was barely holding it together as it was. "Why?"

"Just do it, huh?"

Climbing off his chair, Daniel walked around to Jack, who lifted him onto his lap. "I know," he said, rubbing a comforting hand down Daniel's thin back, "that you're a smart guy. The smartest I've ever known, but I don't want to risk anything happening to you."

Daniel heard the unspoken `again' loud and clear. "It wasn't your fault, Jack," he said quietly.

"Yes, it was."

Daniel heaved out a weary sigh and leaned back, resting against Jack's chest, grasping Jack's arms and wrapping them about him. "So, I can at least talk to Sam, right?"

"Yeah, you can talk to Sam."

Daniel nodded. He let the tears come then, not even trying to hold them back. "Okay."

~o0o~

Sam came rushing up to them the minute they stepped out of the elevator. Daniel smiled at her. "Hey, Sam, there's something I need to talk to you about."

Sam scarcely glanced at him, her expression worried. "Hey, Daniel." She turned her attention to Jack. "Sir, there's something I need you to see."

Jack frowned and laid a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Why don't you go wait in your lab? I'll come get you in a minute."

Daniel shrugged Jack's hand away. "Why can't I come?"

Sam looked at him then. "It might be nothing, Daniel. I just want Colonel O'Neill to take a look."

"Then will you listen to my idea?"

"Idea?" Sam looked puzzled.

"For growing me up."

"Oh, right." She nodded and reached out to tousle his hair. Something she seemed unable to stop herself from doing and something he truly hated. "Sure."

"I'll come get you in a little while," Jack said.

Daniel shook his head. "I want to check out some stuff on the mirror."

Jack shook an admonishing finger at him. "No touching, okay?"

"Sheesh!" Daniel shook his head in frustration. "I'm not really a kid, you know."

Jack gave him a smirk. "And you weren't a kid the last time you touched the thing." His face grew stern again. "I mean it, Daniel."

Daniel held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, already! No touching."

~o0o~

Daniel was so lost in his examination of the mirror and the people beyond it, that it took several seconds for the loud blaring of the klaxons to register. It still seemed so weird to see his own face, staring back at him. The adult him, of course. He hadn't seen a single child version of himself yet. That didn't mean anything, he knew. Sometimes, it was Jack he saw, or Sam, and he was aware that in some of those realities, he was already dead, killed by the Jaffa who'd invaded that Earth. But maybe, just maybe, one of those adult Daniels had, at one point, been downsized.

"This is General Hammond. We have a foothold situation. The base is on immediate lockdown."

Standing, his heart hammering in his chest, Daniel ran for the gate room. They'd always wondered if it would come to this. To now, they'd managed to keep the Goa'uld away, engaging them offworld, but keenly aware that the enemy possessed ships far more advanced than the shuttles on Earth. In the past week, NASA radar had shown a scout ship on the far edge of the galaxy and they'd been on level three alert since then, waiting.

The corridor was a scene of organized chaos. A mass of personnel hurried past him, their concentration set grimly on their appointed task. With his heart thudding in his chest, Daniel weaved his way through them, picking up speed as the gateroom came into view.

"Hey!" An airman grabbed for him but Daniel managed to flinch out of reach and kept going, determined to find Jack. "You can't go in there-" The rest of the man's words were lost in an explosion of gunfire.

Panicked by the sounds of screaming coming from the other side of the door, Daniel fumbled in his pocket for his access card. Something slammed against the other side of the locked door and he stumbled backward, the card falling from his hand. He stared for a moment at the door, his throat tightening in fear. Turning, he ran for the steps that led to the observation deck.

His shorter legs made the climb hard going and at the top, he stopped, afraid to go farther. Bodies lay slumped on the floor, blood oozing from ghastly wounds.

"General?" he whispered. Hammond lay propped against the wall. Next to him, Walter Harriman lay unmoving, his eyes staring sightlessly at Daniel. Daniel took a hesitant step forward, stopping short when Hammond gasped and his eyes opened.

"Get out of here, son," Hammond wheezed. "Nothing you can do."

Daniel shook his head then flinched as more gunfire erupted in the gateroom below. He glanced over to see the uppermost glyph on the dialing computer light up. When he looked back at Hammond, the general's eyes were closed, his chest still. Tears welled in Daniel's eyes, coursing down his cheeks. "Jack?" he shouted. "Jack?"

He forced himself to go to the window and look down. Bodies lay strewn at the base of the ramp. From here, it was difficult to identify anyone. A lone Jaffa stood on the ramp and Daniel recognized him immediately as Apophis' First Prime, Teal'c, the one who had stolen Sha're from him on Abydos.

As though sensing he was there, the Jaffa's gaze flickered up to him and Daniel shrunk back at the cold look in the man's eyes. He jumped, startled, when the security door opened, and gunfire peppered the room. Huddled just outside, weapon up and firing was Jack.

"Jack!" Daniel pressed his hands to the glass, frantic to see him.

Jack glanced up at that moment, his eyes widening. "Get out of there, Daniel!" Jack ordered. "Run!"

Daniel shook his head.

"Go!"

A brilliant flash of light streaked across the gateroom. Someone screamed in agony. Terrified, Daniel turned and ran for the stairs. He stampeded down the stairs, tripping and almost falling at one point in his haste to get to Jack. Throwing himself off the bottom-most one, he glanced at the doorway to the gateroom. The room was silent, save for the dialing of the Stargate. Steeling himself, he stared at the man lying in the doorway, blood oozing from his mouth and nose, his chest a bloody, smoking mess. Daniel took a small step forward. "Jack?"

Footsteps pounded from within the room, approaching the corridor, and Daniel stood stock-still, panic and shock assaulting him in equal measure. The First Prime stepped out of the room, stepping unceremoniously over Jack's motionless body. Daniel stared at the Jaffa, unable to move. The Jaffa raised his staff weapon and Daniel turned and fled.

He could hear the Jaffa gaining on him, knew what lay in store if he were captured. He hurtled around the corner and dived toward his salvation, grabbing the transport device and slamming his hand against the mirror's surface before throwing himself into the vortex.

~oOo~

The sudden effect of simply finding himself on the other side of the mirror shocked him as much this time as it had the last time he'd used it. For some reason, he still expected the screaming, whirring tunnel of the Stargate rather than this gentle passage through to another dimension.

He stood and looked into the mirror, seeing the Jaffa who'd killed Jack and the others rounding the corner of the room beyond the mirror. Thinking quickly, he flicked the control in his hand and breathed a gasp of relief as the mirror faded to blank implacability.

Sirens wailed around him, hurting his ears, and he dropped to the floor, hands covering his head, his heart pounding in his chest. He heard the thundering of footsteps, too reminiscent of the Jaffa, and he cowered down into his self-made sanctuary of a tightly curled body, till he heard voices speaking to him and recognized the words as English.

Lifting his head, he looked into the face of a man dressed in an army outfit a little dissimilar to the one worn by the men of his SGC. Daniel stood, holding his arms out to his side, hands trembling uncontrollably in the face of the weapons pointed at him.

"What the hell are you doing here, kid? How did you get in here?" the man in front of him asked, not unkindly.

He tipped his head back and looked up into the man's face. "My name is Doctor Daniel Jackson. I came through the quantum mirror from an alternate reality and I need to see Colonel Jack O'Neill."

"You're a little young to be a doctor, son," the man, a sergeant, Daniel could see now, said, smiling.

Another soldier walked up and whispered something in the other man's ear. The sergeant shrugged, then nodded. "You need to come with us, son."

"Will you take me to see Jack... Colonel O'Neill?" Daniel asked, stepping
forward.

"Let's just get you to the infirmary first and get you checked out, then we'll talk about that, okay?"

Daniel nodded. "Okay," he agreed.

The sergeant put his gun away and held out his hand, which Daniel took.

Daniel looked back at the mirror as he was led away, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "Bye, Jack," he whispered. "I love you."

~oOo~

General Hammond looked around the table at the three members of SG:1. "How's Dr Jackson coming along with that translation he's helping SG:5 with?"

Jack O'Neill looked up from the sheet of paper he was doodling on. "Good, apparently. They should be back here in about three days. He said the locals are being helpful, and there's some high priestess or other who's very keen to give Daniel any aid he needs."

Sam Carter smiled as she said, "Just another typical Daniel away mission, by the sound of it."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, his dark eyes showing affectionate amusement. "At least this time, he has remained unscathed."

"Yeah, well, he's still got three days to fall down a hole or get himself zatted," Jack replied. "So, General, what's up? I thought we were all on standby till Daniel gets back." He lifted his coffee mug and sipped. "Seems to be all quiet on the Western Front for now."

Teal'c raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"It's an old war movie reference," Jack explained. He set his cup down and raised an enquiring eyebrow at Hammond. "Sir?"

"Well, we've got an interesting situation downstairs," Hammond began. "This morning, around 6 AM, the quantum mirror was activated from another dimension-"

"Someone came through from another reality?" Sam's voice was tight with excitement, and Hammond smiled at her, even as he raised a hand to stop the expected rush of questions "Let me finish, Major."

"Sorry, sir." Sam settled back in her seat, but it was obvious she was just barely holding her enthusiasm in check.

"When the guards entered the room, they found a small boy there. He's aged around five or six years old, according to the SF who found him, but that's not the most interesting part. When he was asked what he was doing there, the boy said that his name was Doctor Daniel Jackson and that he'd come from an alternate reality-"

"What?" Jack was leaning forward, his eyebrows almost meeting his hairline. He looked at Carter. "Is that possible?"

Sam shrugged. "I guess it's possible that a child version of Daniel could come through. It's possible that not all realities are on the same timeline but-"

"I think you've missed something," Hammond interrupted. "The child didn't say he was Daniel Jackson. He said he was *Doctor* Daniel Jackson. Now, I realize that many alternate realities will have some differences with ours, but I don't know many that would have a 6 year old capable of obtaining a PhD, do you?"

"Well, no." Carter shook her head. "I mean, our Daniel was considered a genius, but even he didn't get his PhD that young. What else did the boy say?"

"Nothing," Hammond replied. He stood and walked to the window, looking down on the Stargate below, then turned back to face SG:1. "He refused to talk any more until he'd seen Colonel O'Neill. He was very adamant, had quite a fine tantrum, apparently. He's been taken to the infirmary and I want you three to go down and talk to him, find out what the Sam Hill is going on here."

Jack stood, Carter and Teal'c rising to join him. "On our way."

"Jack." Hammond walked over to stand before them. "Go easy on the boy. He may say he's a doctor, but from all I've heard, he's also a scared, confused little boy. It might be better if you talk to him one on one. We don't want to overwhelm the boy."

"Of course, sir."

~oOo~

Daniel couldn't help darting curious glances all around him as he was shepherded through the long corridors of the place he'd been brought to. It looked a lot like home, though the uniforms worn by the men escorting him were a little different. Every now and then, he'd catch sight of a familiar face and once he called out, "Hey, Siler!" before remembering that the man wasn't *his* Sergeant Siler and this was not his home, no matter how closely it resembled it. The man glanced at him curiously, but didn't respond. His heart felt heavy with grief for all the friends he'd lost - Jack, especially.

"In here, son," came the friendly voice of the Major who'd brought him here, and Daniel went through the door in front of him and stopped, looking around.

This infirmary was pretty much identical to the one back on his home world... except... He gasped as a small woman approached him, a gentle smile on her face. "Janet?" he whispered.

The woman stopped in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hi, do you think you recognize me?"

"Dr Janet Fraiser," Daniel said, swallowing hard against the tide of relief at seeing such a familiar, well-loved face. He took a breath and held out his hand. "I'm Daniel Jackson."

Janet nodded and shook his hand as if she was used to meeting downsized archeologists every day. "It's good to meet you, Daniel. Do you mind if I take some blood, run a few tests?"

Daniel shook his head stoically. He'd been punctured so many times since being downsized that he was inured to it. "That's okay," he replied. "I know you need to run your tests, make sure I'm telling the truth. Um," he looked around the room, "is Jack here?"

"You mean Colonel O'Neill? He'll be here soon," Janet said, walking him over to one of the beds and hoisting him up to sit on it, his legs dangling over the side.

"Oh, okay. That's good. It's just I really need to see him soon, to explain-" Daniel stopped, a thought suddenly looming large in his mind. "Am I dead?" he asked breathlessly.

Janet frowned at him, smoothing back his fringe with one hand. "Of course you're not dead, honey-"

"Not me - me." He stopped again, struggling for the words to explain. "The me in this reality... am I dead? Because if I'm not then you need to watch out for signs of Entropic Cascade Failure."

Janet blinked at him, surprise in her eyes. "You know about that?" she asked.

"Well, I wouldn't have mentioned it to you if I didn't know about it, would I?" Daniel smiled at her unsurely. "Do *you* know about it?"

"Why don't we get these tests out of the way and then I'm sure Colonel O'Neill will be able to answer any questions you might have," Janet said, turning to pick up a syringe and tourniquet from the side table.

"Okay," Daniel said. He reached out a small hand and grasped her wrist gently, smiling tremulously at her when she looked down at him. "It's really good to see you, Janet," he murmured, pushing back the tears again. "I've missed you."

"You have?" she asked.

Daniel looked down at his feet. "In my reality, you were killed three months ago."

Janet looked startled, then seemed to recover her equilibrium. "Just a little pinch," she said softly, inserting the needle.

Daniel watched as the vials of blood were given to a nurse to be taken to the lab, then he was taken to have an MRI scan. He'd had them before of course, and it was over relatively quickly so he didn't mind too much, except that lying on the table, with nothing else to do except think, he found his mind filling with images of Jack dying on the floor of the gateroom. Before he could stop them, tears were streaming down his cheeks, making his nose clog up, as his sobs became louder and more uncontrollable.

"It's okay, we're almost done," Janet's voice said through the microphone built into the machine, but her calming voice didn't help and by the time he was pulled out of the scanner, he was sobbing heartbrokenly.

Janet scooped him up and rocked him, shushing him gently, patting his back.

Eventually, he managed to gain a tenuous control and he lifted his face from her damp shoulder. "I... I'm okay, now," he stammered. "Sorry."

"That's okay." She put him down on the floor and took his hand then led him back to the infirmary where she settled him on the bed again.

"Colonel O'Neill's ready to see you. Is that all right?" she asked.

He nodded, heart in his throat. Finally.

"Do you want me to get you a drink or something to eat first?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I'm fine. I'd really like to see Jack- Colonel O'Neill now." He forced himself to remember that this wasn't *his* Jack, clenching his hands into tight fists as he fought to maintain control.

"All right. I'm going to leave you here with Michael while I go talk to the Colonel." Janet motioned over a male nurse and asked him to sit with Daniel. "Then I'll bring the Colonel in, all right?"

Daniel nodded and watched nervously as she walked out of the room. He looked at the nurse, smiling a little at the familiar face. "I've met you before," he said conversationally. "How's Jenny?"

"Um, she's - she's fine, thank you," the nurse stuttered.

"Good, that's great, Michael," Daniel replied, his eyes now fixed firmly on the infirmary door, his heart still thumping madly in his chest.

"You all right?" Michael asked.

Daniel nodded, then shook his head. "I'm a little scared," he admitted.

Michael's big hand covered his own small one and squeezed gently. "Everything'll be okay."

Daniel huffed out a breath and forced himself to relax. "I know."

~oOo~

Janet stepped into the small anteroom off the corridor that served as a waiting room and nodded at Jack. "He's ready to talk to you, but go easy, he's a very frightened little boy."

"Did you find out anything about him?" Jack asked, moving towards the door.

"Bits and pieces, nothing much. He did say that in *his* reality, I was dead. He also asked if our Daniel was, because he was worried about Entropic Cascade failure," Janet replied.

"You sure he's really a kid and not just a midget?" O'Neill asked, half-jokingly.

Janet shrugged. "He's definitely a kid, about 6 years old, I'd say. The MRI came back clean and I've sent blood off for DNA and the usual checks. He's still insisting he's Daniel Jackson, and I have to say, Colonel, he's got me pretty much convinced, as difficult as it may be to believe that."

"Is there anything we can do?" Teal'c asked.

"Actually, there is. While the Colonel's talking to the child, I'd like you to go to Daniel's office and get a couple of his things, artifacts or books, personal belongings, something he should recognize if it really is him."

Teal'c inclined his head. "I shall go immediately."

Sam stood up. "SG:5 has a scheduled radio check in about 5 minutes. I'm going to talk to our Daniel. Just to make sure he's where he's supposed to be."

"All right." O'Neill ushered the doctor ahead of him. "Let's do this."

The child sitting on the bed looked up as he entered, blinking nervously as Jack approached him.

"Jack?" he asked. His bottom lip quivered and two small white teeth bit down hard on it.

Jack winced, then sat on the bed next to the boy. "Easy, kiddo, you're gonna end up with a fat lip if you keep doing that."

Daniel nodded, then lifted a hand and touched Jack's chest tentatively. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Jack replied, "how about you? You doing all right? Everyone taking good care of you?"

"Yeah." The blond head nodded again. "Do you believe me... about where I came from and who I am?"

"Well, why don't we wait till Janet has the results back from the tests and then we'll have a better idea of what's going on here, okay?"

"Still the cynic, huh?" Daniel quirked a dimpled grin up at him and Jack's heart leapt. That was a grin he knew only too well.

"Yep, cynical Jack, that's me. So, you want to tell me how you got here and why?"

"Sure. I came here because I had to, there was nowhere else to go. I had planned to wait till I could find the right reality to jump to, but the Goa'uld attacked too quickly and Jack told me to go, so I did. I just- "

Daniel stopped, looking up curiously as the door to the infirmary opened again and Teal'c stepped through. Mouth dropping open, eyes wide with fear, he screamed and launched himself off the bed at the Jaffa. "No! You can't be here! You killed Jack! You killed everybody!"

Jack stared in shock, too surprised to react immediately when the kid threw himself off the bed and launched himself at Teal'c. Screaming unintelligibly, hands and feet flying, the boy pummelled Teal'c's legs and stomach, pretty much any part of Teal'c's body he could reach.

Teal'c's own efforts to defend himself were hampered by his obvious wish not to harm the child. Dropping the articles he held in his hands, he reached down and picked the screaming boy up, holding him at arms' length, his own eyes wide with shock.

Jack shook himself and hurried over, taking the fighting bundle from Teal'c and, wrapping his arms around Daniel, murmuring soft words of comfort, just as he had done with Charlie when he'd woken with nightmares so many years ago. "Easy, easy. It's okay. I've got you."

It didn't take long for the boy's rage to be exhausted and he curled in on himself, huddling up against Jack's chest, his arms wrapped tightly around Jack's neck. His face was turned toward Teal'c and his gaze was firmly fixed on the Jaffa. He was still sobbing softly, his breath hiccuping. Jack's shoulder was damp with tears. Jack patted the kid's back. "Teal'c's our friend," he said.

"He killed Jack... and General Hammond... and Walter..." Daniel stuttered. "And Sha're. He took her away from me."

That one stopped Jack in his tracks and Teal'c too, if the startled look on the normally stoic face was anything to go by. Janet appeared in the doorway, a questioning, worried look on her face. Jack waved her away.

"In your reality, maybe," Jack said, still patting Daniel's heaving, thin back. "Here, he's a friend. He saved our lives."

Daniel scowled at Teal'c. "Hate you," he whispered. He swiped at his nose with one hand; the childish action incongruous with the hateful words he'd spoken.

"Daniel..." Jack began warningly. He trailed off when he realized that he was as convinced as Janet that this was - somehow - Daniel. Smaller, but still... Daniel.

Teal'c took a step forward and Daniel cowered back into Jack's sheltering embrace. "As you have every right to, DanielJackson. In this reality - and perhaps in yours, though I was Apophis' First Prime, I was also a member of the resistance, led by my good friend and mentor, Bra'tac."

Daniel glanced up at Jack and Jack hurried to explain. "The resistance is like -"

"The underground, the French Resistance, Covert Ops," Daniel interjected. "I know. I'm not really a kid." He scrubbed at his face with his hands, smearing moisture and mucus across his cheeks.

"Right. Of course you're not. Silly of me to forget." Jack rolled his eyes and just barely restrained himself from ruffling Daniel's hair, but he was relieved to see the boy had uncurled himself from his protective embrace. He was still eyeing Teal'c warily but there was a glint of familiar, enthusiastic curiosity in his eyes. "Here." He pulled a tissue from the box on the bedside table and cleaned up Daniel's face. He was so caught up in
his ministrations that he didn't notice Teal'c gradually coming closer.

He stood in front of them, towering over Daniel, then he reached out slowly and cupped Daniel's cheek, stroking gently. After a moment, he brushed a lock of hair from Daniel's eyes and spoke. "I too have a son. His name is Ry'ac. I would protect him with my life, just as your O'Neill did for you. If it were not for the Tau'ri coming to Chulak when they
did, it is likely I would still be First Prime of Apophis. The Jaffa Resistance was courageous but small, too small to have any hope of defeating the Goa'uld. It is possible that if the Tau'ri in your reality had found Chulak before now, such bloodshed may have been averted."

Daniel glanced away and a tear overflowed and dribbled down his cheek. "We - we sent a bomb to Chulak. Jack thinks that's why they came to Earth. They were able to track us. I didn't want them to send the bomb. I told them it wasn't the people of Chulak we had to fear but the Goa'uld who enslaved them." He reached for Jack's hand and squeezed it. "Jack didn't want to do it either but the order came from the President and the Joint Chiefs. Jack said his hands were tied."

Jack swallowed against the nausea that surged. "Now that's a familiar story."

Daniel looked up at Teal'c. "So, you're a member of SG:1?"

Teal'c inclined his head and bowed slightly. "As are you."

Daniel tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn and slumped back against Jack's chest. "Here, maybe. At home... I'm still on the team but I don't get to go offworld. I mean, I was on the team."

"Sir?" Sam stood in the doorway, her intent gaze fixed on the boy on Jack's lap.

Daniel's eyes had closed but they fluttered open at the sound of Carter's voice. "Hey, Sam," he muttered and then he drifted back to sleep.

"Kid's exhausted," Jack said. He stood, carefully juggling the sleeping boy and then deposited him on the bed.

Teal'c gently tugged the blanket from beneath Daniel and covered him with it. Daniel stirred briefly then settled down with a soft sigh. Jack crossed to Sam and held a finger to his lips. "Let's talk in Hammond's office."

Carter was still staring at Daniel. "So, you really think it's him?"

Jack shrugged but Teal'c spoke up. "I am convinced," he said firmly, "as is O'Neill."

Jack raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "What T said."

~o0o~

"I spoke to Daniel... our Daniel," Carter said. "He's fine. Everything seems to be going smoothly. Of course when I told him about our visitor, he insisted on coming straight back, but I told him it's probably better he stays put for now, till we figure things out."

"That Endoscopic Cascade thingy," Jack added and Carter grinned like she always did when she knew Jack had mangled his words. "You know what I mean," he said, suddenly feeling as irritable as hell. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes with his hands.

"Yes, sir," Carter replied, as Jack knew she would. "It's a valid point."

It should have mollified him but it just riled him further. "So what do we do with a 6 year old kid who says he's Daniel, when our own Daniel is out there, cooling his heels?"

"Doctor Fraiser just got the DNA results back," Hammond said. "There's no doubt that the boy is who he claims to be."

"So... what?" Jack said. "Do we leave Daniel out there or toss the kid back into the mirror and hope like hell he finds a reality where Daniel is already dead?"

"Actually, that's not a bad plan," Carter said. She sat down next to Jack and clasped her hands on the table. "The finding another reality part of it," she added quickly at Jack's frown, "not the leaving Daniel out there bit." She shrugged and looked apologetic. "We know that Daniel had no effects from Entropic Cascade Failure when he went through the mirror because the Daniel in that reality was already dead. If we can find another such reality -"

"What? We just dump the kid?" Jack stood and paced to the door then back to the desk. He glanced over at Teal'c, who stood silently, and, anyone who didn't know him, would think, unconcerned by the conversation, but Jack didn't miss the tiny frown between his eyes, the tense stance, the troubled gaze in the dark eyes. "Can we fix him first?" At Carter's blank look, he went on, his hands waving as he tried to explain himself. "You know, grow him up again? I mean, it's got to be tough for an adult to adjust to an entirely new world, but a kid? Even if there is an adult brain in there. Besides, Daniel's gone through that already, way too many times."

"I'm not sure," Carter said slowly. "I've got a couple of ideas and Janet's looking at the DNA angle, but it could takes weeks, months, even if we can come up with something."

"So, for now, we wait," Hammond said decisively. "There's no rush for Doctor Jackson to return from the planet, although once they're scheduled to return, if we haven't found a solution by then, we're going to have to come up with one fast." He closed the folder in front of him with a decisive snap. "In the meantime, Major Carter, I want you to work with Doctor Fraiser on finding that solution."

"We could contact the Asgard and the Tok'ra, sir. They might be able to help," Sam suggested.

Hammond nodded. "Do that." He turned to Jack. "It seems that your alternate reality self and the boy were close. I want you to stay with him, reassure him we're doing everything we can to fix things."

"Yes, sir." Jack turned to leave.

"How can I be of assistance, General Hammond?" Teal'c asked, speaking up for the first time.

"You're with me, big guy," Jack said before Hammond even opened his mouth. "I have a feeling I'm gonna have my hands full. A thirty year old Daniel was hard enough to control, a 6 year old version..." He gave a theatrical shudder. "I need all the help I can get." He patted Teal'c's shoulder when he frowned. "I thinking he's taken a shine to you. You can introduce him to Star Wars. I think Daniel might have missed it in his first childhood."

~o0o~

Teal'c watched as the small boy shifted uneasily in his sleep, muttering under his breath.

O'Neill leaned forward and smoothed his hand across the child's brow, smiling triumphantly as Daniel settled beneath his hand and seemed to rest more comfortably.

"It would appear that this DanielJackson gains as much comfort from your presence when he is in the infirmary as our own does," Teal'c observed.

"What does that mean?" O'Neill straightened and looked over at him inquiringly.

"Nothing more nor less than that when DanielJackson is injured, it is your presence that most calms and reassures him," Teal'c replied. "I believe it is because of the depth of your friendship. You have known each other for some time now. It is only natural that when one of you is injured, the presence of the other is comforting."

"A brothers in arms kind of thing?"

"Indeed."

O'Neill grinned at him. "You mean it doesn't make you feel better when you wake up here and find me sitting next to you?"

"Indeed it does. However, it is DanielJackson who has required confinement in the infirmary more often than I, or Major Carter, for that matter."

"Yeah, tell me about it." O'Neill sighed. "Looks like their Daniel's as much a trouble magnet as ours. I mean, even our Daniel never got himself turned into a kid."

"I believe that is a case of the cooking utensil calling the urn dark, O'Neill. After all, it was you who was aged many years in advance of your actual age some time ago."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black, T, and that was a whole different thing," O'Neill replied.

"How so?" Teal'c asked.

"Well, I mean... It's not like I touched something I shouldn't have or something-"

"That is true," Teal'c agreed. "You ate something you shouldn't have."

'It's not the same... Never mind."

"Colonel O'Neill?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?" O'Neill looked up at the petite nurse who'd approached them.

"Major Carter is requesting your presence in the control room. She says it's urgent, sir."

O'Neill shot to his feet.

Teal'c stood as well.

"Stay here, Teal'c. Keep an eye on the kid for me."

"I believe it would be best if I accompanied you, O'Neill. I do not believe DanielJackson will be comforted if he awakes to see me here instead of you."

O'Neill shook his head. "He's sleeping, Teal'c. Look, I'll be back as soon as I can. It'll be fine. If he wakes up, put Star Wars on for him or something."

Teal'c sat back down and watched as O'Neill left the room at a run. Looking down, he saw the boy stir again and reached down a hand hesitantly, mirroring O'Neill's action from earlier, rubbing gently along the child's creased forehead. He smiled a little as the boy turned into the caress, let out a deep sigh and settled to sleep once more.

He watched the child for a few minutes more, then convinced he was in a deep sleep, closed his own eyes and turned his mind to Kel'No'Reem.

"No! Jack! Wake up! Jack! Jack! Wake up!"

The high-pitched screams jolted Teal'c from his meditative state and he stood quickly, moving to the boy's bedside and untangling him from the covers. DanielJackson was sobbing now, his words no longer audible, his face red and covered in sweat that dripped from his forehead and mingled with the tears coursing down his cheek.

Teal'c pulled the child free of the covers, then sat down on the bed and pulled Daniel onto his lap. The boy fought him for a few brief moments while Teal'c soothed him with calming words and gentle rubs along his back. "It is all right, Daniel. All is well," the big man murmured, his body unconsciously rocking back and forth.

The child's hands wrapped around his neck and Daniel used them to literally pull his way up the broad expanse of Teal'c's chest until he reached his shoulder, where he twined his arms more tightly and settled his face into the crook of Teal'c's neck.

Teal'c kept rocking, rubbing, and murmuring till he felt the boy relax and the sobs settle into hitching breaths. "It was simply a nightmare, DanielJackson. You are safe here," he said softly.

The small head shook back and forth against his shoulder. "Jack's dead," Daniel whispered, his voice husky with the remnants of his tears. "What's going to happen to me now?"

"We will take care of you, young Daniel." Teal'c unwound the small arms from his neck and moved the child to sit back on his lap. He placed a finger under the downcast chin and lifted it gently, looking into the oddly familiar blue eyes. "Do you trust us?"

Daniel nodded, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand.

"Then believe me. We will ensure you are safe and cared for, no matter what it takes to do so."

Daniel slumped forward and rested his head against Teal'c's chest. "Thanks, Teal'c," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I was mad at you before. I know you're not him-"

"It is of no consequence, young Daniel," Teal'c said.

He rubbed Daniel's back for long minutes until he was sure he slept again, then looked at the rumpled bedcovers, and thought about placing the child back under them now he was asleep. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the skinny back again and began to rock once more.

They were still sitting there when Jack came back an hour later.

end