Lost Brother – Chapter 1
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I would like to thank my Betazeilfanaat for her hard work, and patient which made this story easier to read and enjoy.
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"Daniel don't…" Colonel Jack O'Neill's warning arrived too late, because the young archeologist just touched the symbol on the wall. Pale yellow light slowly surrounded Daniel, who was so mesmerized by the light, that he did not even attempt to move out of harm's way. Jack, without thinking did the only think he could do and pushed the younger man from out of the light. Just in time it seemed; the yellowish colour changed to pale blue before white light exploded, momentarily blinding everyone in the room. Daniel sat unmoving on the cold floor, his eyes transfixed on the pile of clothes which lay where moments ago his friend had been. He absentmindedly noticed the noise of running feet as his other friends arrived. Only Sam's urgent, almost panicked voice was able to pull him back to the reality.
"Daniel, what happened? Daniel, answer me. Daniel."
"I am alright, Sam," whispered Daniel, a shiver running through his frame, as his gaze landed on the clothes, beside which Teal'c kneeled while studying them. "Sam?!" Daniel hated to sound so desperate and frightened but could not help it; he needed his friends to tell him everything would be fine, that Jack is alright. But when his gaze met Sam's, his hopes died.
"Major Carter, Danile Jackson," called out Teal'c deep baritone. The two scientist got to their feet and hurried to their comrade's side. What they saw there, rendered them speechless. Inside the clothes lay a small unconscious, honey-brown haired boy.
"Holly Hanna. This the Colonel?" Sam sounded breathless from amazement and shock.
"Major Carter, It would be best to head back to the base."
"Yeah." Sam finally was able to tear her gaze away from the child, and compose herself enough to take over the command. "Daniel grab the Colonel's pack, Teal'c you take the child, and I've got his weapons."
Without another word, they set out to make there way back to the Gate. Unconsciously, their gaze wandered to the child every now and then; in all of their minds there were the same questions. Could this child be the Colonel? If not, where was he now? Who was the kid? If yes, how to make him back to normal? Would they able to help him? Would their allies help? So many question, without the answers.
----------- Infirmary ----------------
"Would someone tell me how is this happened?" snapped Hammond. The General wasn't a happy camper; Hammond book had seen many strange, even impossible things over the years he had worked with SGC, but this, this took the cake, so far.
"It was my fault General," mumbled Daniel, as he stood with his team, hugging himself. Hammond felt a headache coming. He sighed and tried to take on a calmer voice.
"What happened?"
"Uhm, I was just about to touch the symbol on the wall, when I heard Jack's warning to not touch it, but I couldn't stop. Some kind of yellow light got out of the wall, and I don't know, it was kind of surreal, like a dream. I knew where I was, and who I was, but couldn't move or look away." Daniel shuddered at the memory, his blue eyes cast down to the floor. "Jack pushed me out of the way, and then there was a white light. I didn't see what happened, …" he trailed off, and Sam took over.
"Colonel O'Neill sent Teal'c and me to explore the Temple's surrounding and get soil samples. We were just heading back when we saw a white light flash out of the Temple's door. When we arrived, Daniel was almost catatonic; he didn't respond at first. And we, Teal'c found the boy in Colonel O'Neill's clothes, sir."
"Thank you, Major Carter. Dr Jackson, it was not your fault. If Colonel O'Neill would be here, he would tell you the same."
"Thank you, sir."
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Doctor Fraiser pulled away the curtain as she stepped away from the boy's bed. She noticed the waiting group, and headed toward them.
"General. Sir, the DNA analysis is just finished; it confirmed he is Colonel O'Neill."
"Can it be reversed?"
"Sir, with all due respect, we did not even know what did it, we can't detect any anomaly." Doctor Fraiser sounded frustrated.
"I understand, Doctor." General Hammond nodded, as he studied the sleeping figure. A thought occurred to him. "Will he be the Colonel O'Neill we know when he wakes up, or will he have become a child?"
"We won't know until he wakes up."
"Inform me if there is any change in his condition. I will be in my office." With a last glance at his 2IC's sleeping childish face, he turned around and left the infirmary. The remaining members of SG-1 took up their position around the bed to wait for their friend to wake up.
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Jack O'Neill slowly woke up. He knew he was in the infirmary again; he could smell its unique smell as soon as he woke up, but he couldn't tell how he had managed to do it again. Oh man, he was getting too old for this job. He cracked open his eyes, and felt panic rising up in his chest. Shit. Everything looked so much larger, what the hell could have happened? Jack mused to himself. He saw Daniel sleeping in the chair next to his bed, while Teal'c was practicing kel-no'rim, and Sam was sleeping on one of the infirmary beds in her BDU. That was good; it mean nobody got hurt, well expect from him.
He slowly pulled himself in sitting position to be able to study himself. His whole body looked not just smaller, but somehow younger. He felt his throat closing up as he became aware that his body had somehow become younger, like in Argos, except there he became older. But, no problem, Doc would find a solution, with Carter's and Danny-boy's help, to make it disappear, right?? He had the sinking feeling it wouldn't be that easy, but he shook down the thought. After all, he was the 'glass-half-full' type of guy. He spotted a metal tray on the nearby table. He held it up to see himself better. He looked even younger than he thought. He couldn't help but grimace.
"I see you're awake O'Neill." Teal'c's deep voice made him jump. For a big guy, T really knew how to move without making a noise.
"T, don't do that again, you gave me a heart attack." Even his voice sounded young and childish. Teal'c arched an eyebrow at his statement, clearly not believing in the possibility of Jack's words.
Teal'c's voice alerted their other team-mates as well as Doc Fraiser, to Jack's awakening. They soon circled around him, asking a ton of questions. He was saved from answering them all, when General Hammond stalked into the room.
"Colonel O'Neill, how are you feeling?"
"Thank you, sir, I am fine."
"Doctor Fraiser reported you are aware of who you are and what's going on."
"Yes sir, I remember everything, to the best of my knowledge. Only the part of how I landed here is a bit fuzzy, sir." Jack noticed that Daniel started to study his hands with interest, so he had a good bet about what could have gone wrong. In the meanwhile, the others explained to him what had happened, and why they didn't think he would regain his old body in the near future.
"So what now?" he asked.
"Son," started the General. That was not good. George only called him that if he was in trouble, or the situation was very dire. "We asked for both the Asgard's and the Tok'ra's help; we're waiting for their reply. Until then you will stay here on the base."
"Yes sir."
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The moment one of the nurses got some jeans and a T-shirt for Jack, Doc kicked him out, saying he was even worse of a patient now than when he was older. That was fine with Jack; the less time he spent in the Infirmary the better. But with his team on a mission back on PX-95124 where he was kiddyficated, he couldn't use his usually distractions – alias bugging Daniel, playing with Carter's cool toys, or practicing with T. He was bored, and a bored Jack O'Neill was a dangerous thing.
But luckily Lou Ferretti ran into him, and he managed to get Lou to help him find some entertainment; not that he needed to bug Ferretti too hard. Their first mission was to sneak into the kitchen, steal some ice-cream, and retreat back to Lou's office. General Hammond caught them red handed, when they attempt to get back in Ferretti's office. Hammond face was a mix of emotions, like he could not decide to be angry at them or start laughing. In the end he decided to do the second.
Jack and Lou decided they had caused enough trouble for the day, and went back to Jack's room to watch TV. Of course they borrowed one first from one of the VIP suites.
SG-1 got back the next day. Daniel had taped the writings in the Temple, and Carter had made some scientific object with energy readings or something, Jack wasn't sure. He had fallen asleep during the briefing at one point. To sum up, they weren't wiser than before they had gone back, and General Hammond ordered the planet to be flagged out for now, until they knew more about what had happened and how to reverse it.
There wasn't much to do. Sam started to analyze the sample she had brought back, and Daniel and his team started to translate the writing without much success. Teal'c helped Jack to practice some moves, but it became clear that his 6-year-old body wasn't capable of the same things as his older body was. But it was a good distraction for Jack.
Everything looked fine, until a week later when the Colonel Simons and the NID arrived.