Notes:Once again, this is unbeta'd; all mistakes are mine.

"SG-1...?"

"It's a long, long story, sir," Carter said by way of greeting as Jack stepped through the Stargate a few seconds behind her, holding Daniel by the hand to meet General Hammond's wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare with a grimace. "Very long."

"What in sam hill happened out there?" Hammond breathed, taking in the small boy who pressed himself closer to Jack's leg at the sight of the armed SFs milling about the gateroom. "I...assume that's..."

"It is indeed DanielJackson, GeneralHammond." Teal'c didn't even wait for the general to finish the question.

"How--"

"We'll explain, General," Carter promised wearily, "but I think we're all in agreement that Doctor Fraiser should get her hands on Daniel first."

"Yes...of course." Hammond's gaze never left Daniel, who tugged on Jack's hand with wide, nervous eyes.

"Jack?" the boy requested, voice small and worried. Jack stooped unthinkingly to pick Daniel up, stepping off the ramp as he did so with the child cuddled close. Daniel hid his face against Jack's shoulder, peeking out at General Hammond as the stout man placed a gentle hand on his back.

"Hello there, son," he said softly. "Do you remember me?" At Daniel's mute headshake, Hammond smiled paternally. "I'm General Hammond. I've known you for a long time, believe it or not."

"Like Jack?" the tentative voice ventured curiously, and Hammond chuckled, glancing at Jack, who sighed sharply and looked away.

"Almost that long, yes," the general said. "Certainly as long as you've known Maj--Sam, and Teal'c, too." He patiently waited out Daniel's scrupulous visual assessment, and the boy finally seemed to accept him, giving Hammond a small, shy smile.

"General?" Jack prompted, tone betraying his impatience. "We should get him down to Fraiser." He studiously ignored the questioning look Hammond sent his way, but was relieved when the general let it go and nodded.

"Certainly. Lead the way, Colonel; I'll accompany you."

=====

Daniel clung impossibly tighter to Jack as the three Air Force officers and Teal'c provided an escort to the infirmary. "Jack, why do I hafto see the doctor?" he pouted, gaze flickering swiftly from person to person who passed them, all gaping unprofessionally. "Not hurt or nothin'."

"You've been missing for a month," Jack said absently. "This is standard protocol--and it's not like you couldn't have expected us to drag you to the infirmary, since you went and got yourself shrunk."

"The doctor can't fix me," the boy protested into Jack's shoulder. "Didn' Rana tell you..."

"She'll do what she has to do, Daniel," Jack replied, "and...'Rannia' told us more than enough. Just sit and...be good." It wasn't like it wasn't something Jack had had the urge to scream at the archaeologist throughout the years, but the fact that he was actually saying it, and without second thought, gave Jack the willies.

-----

Doctor Janet Fraiser, CMO of Stargate Command, met the entourage just inside the doors of the infirmary and steered them over to a bed at the far end of the room. Glaring at her frozen, gaping staff, Fraiser pulled three of the four curtains around the bed, leaving one side open to Daniel's companions. "Set him down please, Colonel," she said, giving Daniel a doting smile as O'Neill complied without a word. "Hello there, Daniel--do you know who I am?"

"The doctor," was the immediate reply. "But I'm not sick; I'm just�shrunk." He cast a shy glance in O'Neill's direction, and the Colonel forced a tight smile before fading back behind Sam, Teal'c and Hammond. The others chuckled, and Fraiser ruffled the blond head affectionately.

"I know you're not sick, honey," she said with a smile, "but whenever someone comes back through the Stargate, we have to check them out just to make sure they're not carrying anything that could make other people sick."

Daniel seemed to think about this, and craned his neck to see around Fraiser and meet Jack's eyes. "Oooh," he said, drawing out the sound, his mouth a little round 'o', eyes wide. Across the room, the small cluster heard in the brief silence one of the nurses, holding a syringe, tug a curtain around a bed occupied by Sergeant Siler and order the hapless tech to drop his pants. "Jaa-aack, 'sthat mean you gotta sit here too? D'you gotta get a needle in..." His eyes grew impossibly rounder as everyone laughed. "I don' hafto, do I?" He turned his worried gaze on Fraiser. "I don' really like needles," he confided.

Fraiser bit back a chuckle. "Well, I'll have to draw a little blood, but that will just come out of your arm--right here," she said, showing Daniel the crook of his elbow. "It won't hurt a single bit, I promise."

"Okay�" Daniel still sounded uncertain, but his gaze held more sympathy for Jack than he held for himself, his eyes finding the curtained-off cubicle in which Siler and the nurse had disappeared. "'Slong as I don' gotta get that kinda needle."

=====

Doctor Fraiser pulled the earpieces of her ever-present stethoscope out of her ears and turned to face SG-1 and General Hammond, who for the past three hours had remained clustered just outside the curtained-off bed. "His vitals are steady; pulse is a little slow, but he's exhausted, and this alien said some weakness and fatigue was to be expected?" she inquired of Jack, who was staring blankly in Daniel's direction.

"Yeah," he expelled on a derisive scoff, his eyes sliding to meet Fraiser's. Behind her, Daniel was straightening the over-large scrub top that was serving him as a nightgown and wistfully eyeing the containment-bagged, comfortable tunic he'd been forced to strip out of. "But he's okay?" he asked, concern seeping into his tone.

Fraiser smiled reassuringly. "Oh, yes. He's perfectly fine. A healthy�five-year-old." Her smile faded and sighed in tandem with Daniel's cavernous yawn, which drew the attention of all present. The little group watched as Daniel began to list to the side, eyes drooping. Jack made a face as he pushed past Fraiser, and he automatically got Daniel situated on the bed and covered him with the sheets. Daniel gave him a sleepy smile and a mumbled, "Thanks, Jack" before his eyes slid shut and stayed that way.

Hammond visibly melted as he watched Daniel burrow himself deeper into the bed, recalling that age of pure, unadulterated innocent trust that his own granddaughters had passed not so long ago. "This is unbelievable," he murmured to no one in particular.

"Yes, sir," Carter agreed resignedly in unison with Teal'c's inclined chin.

"And there's no way to change him back?"

"No, sir," Jack replied irritably.

"The alien--Rannia--said he'll just have to grow up--again--sir," Carter elaborated with a sidelong, confused glance at SG-1's CO.

"But what about everything he knows?" Hammond went on incredulously. "All of that knowledge, those languages...hell, his life! All of that is lost?"

"That's the whole point," Jack blurted, more sharply than he'd intended. "Daniel agreed to this--to lose everything because some bad shit's happened to him over the years."

"Sir!" Sam reprimanded. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but in all honesty, can we really begrudge him wanting a second chance?" She remembered all too well the nights Daniel had startled awake during her watch off world, shouting out in fear as some nightmare relinquished its hold. She recalled passing his office on countless late nights to check up on him, only to find him slumped over his desk, sound asleep--or worse, draining yet another mug of coffee to keep sleep at bay. No, despite the fact that she wanted her Daniel back--the teammate, the best friend, the little brother--Sam was having a difficult time placing blame on Daniel for giving the opportunity to make things better a second thought.

O'Neill, on the other hand, didn't seem to agree with her. Eyes narrowed, muttered something about having reports to finish, snapped a crisp salute at General Hammond, and abruptly took his leave.

"O'Neill believes he has lost his friend," Teal'c observed.

Sam watched sorrowfully as Colonel O'Neill vanished from the infirmary. "In a way, I guess he has," she admitted. "Daniel and the Colonel are each other's rock," she elaborated when her three companions turned questioning eyes on her. "With Daniel...like this, the Colonel doesn't have his outlet, that friend he can just call up at any time to grab a bite to eat, or come over and just throw back a few drinks." Sam--and she knew Teal'c was, too--aware of what went on without them at times. SG-1 was a tight-knit family, the four of them with the ability to read one another almost effortlessly. Therefore, it wasn't a secret that the Colonel and Daniel, every now and again, would need a little one-on-one with a verbal sparring partner. The pair of them had a connection that went beyond the existence of SG-1, the SGC...they'd seen and been through things, together and on their own, that made them closer than brothers, that had brought them together those years ago on Abydos. They were the best of friends, no matter how mismatched they seemed, and since team nights were always in abundance, neither Sam nor Teal'c questioned it when a night might arise when they weren't invited along, the existence of the nights only revealed in the more relaxed demeanour of their teammates on Monday, or even the day after a mission. Whatever Daniel and the Colonel talked about, fought about, or drowned their sorrows over, they always managed to work it out.

Now, those who remained behind watched Daniel sleep in silence before Janet sighed. "Well, there's something we need to figure out," she piped up, looking uncertain. "Where's he going to stay?"

"DanielJackson is far too small to live on his own," Teal'c announced the obvious. "However, as MajorCarter has alluded to..." The four co-conspirators exchanged knowing looks.

"I'm as hopeful as the rest of you," General Hammond said, "and I hate to have to say this...but given how Colonel O'Neill has reacted so far, can we count on him?"

"The Colonel may not like what Daniel's chosen," Sam said brightly, "but he would never leave him hanging, especially if Daniel wants to stay with him and needs a home. I think it's safe to assume he will--want to stay with the Colonel, that is," she added with a smile, remembering how Daniel had reacted when he'd initially spotted O'Neill on Rannia's planet.

Hammond nodded. "Doctor, when will you be releasing him?" he asked with a meaningful glance at the mound of blankets curled up on the bed.

"I'd like to let him sleep as long as he can; plenty of rest is the best thing to help combat this fatigue. If everything checks out again when he wakes up, there's no reason for me to keep him. He's whole--appendix and all." Janet gave into a wry half-grin as each of them relived their memory of Daniel's bout with appendicitis three years earlier.

"He has an appendix again?" Carter echoed worriedly. "This transformation went all-out, didn't it?"

Janet shrugged her eyebrows. "As far as I can tell, he is physically identical to how he must have been when he was five years old...the first time. We'll have to wait and see how his allergies react to this, but..." she shrugged.

"Well, either way," Hammond said, "Daniel won't be here long, and someone has to speak with Colonel O'Neill."

"I believe that task should be appointed to you, GeneralHammond," Teal'c offered graciously, and Hammond cocked a questioning eyebrow at him.

Sam shrugged, nodding. "Even if he doesn't want to listen to you, sir...he'll have to. That's probably our best chance."

"Thank you," Hammond said dryly. "I'll try to convince myself self-preservation has nothing to do with it Major. Doctor Fraiser, Teal'c."

Janet visibly smothered a darkly amused smile. "Good luck sir." When the General followed Colonel O'Neill's path out of the infirmary, she gave a low whistle and turned to Sam and Teal'c. "He may be our commanding officer, but I have no qualms about saying 'better him than us'."

Sam nodded worriedly, her eyes inexorably drawn back to the curled body beneath the scratchy covers on the infirmary bed. She couldn't agree more.

=====

Jack made his way to his office and shut himself inside, leaning briefly against the door as if he could hold it up and eyeing the pile of paperwork on his desk distastefully. A month's worth--a month spent trying to get through to bring Daniel home. A month that, for all their efforts, seemed to have been half for nothing.

Flopping down in his chair, Jack washed a hand over his face with a heavy sigh. "Damn it," he muttered. He vainly tried to wrap his head around everything that had transpired in the past few hours. Though there hadn't been anything physically demanding, Jack felt like he'd been through a firefight with a few thousand Jaffa, his head whirling, a strange detachment leaving him wondering if this could possibly be a dream. Maybe he'd imagined the entire thing. Daniel was still on the alien planet, waiting for rescue, and SG-1 was still on base, desperately trying to re-establish contact. No matter what sort of spin Jack put on it, though, it all came down to one glaring question.

How could Daniel--Mr. Independent himself--choose to let a bunch of aliens turn him into a child again? A teenager would be one thing--at least then Daniel would have some semblance of self-control, some power over what would happen to him, what he could and couldn't do...but this was no teenager. This wasn't even a tween. This was a five year old--an adorable little five year old, Jack had to admit, with all the curiosity and radiating innocence Daniel had been permanently tethered to since Jack had met him...but for all intents and purposes, a baby.

If he forced himself to be honest, Jack could see Carter's point--and yes, maybe he'd been a little too callous in his 'Daniel's means of escape' train of thought in the infirmary. God knew he'd been around Daniel enough to think that no one deserved a second chance at a happy-go-lucky childhood than the archaeologist. Jack had been the one to cajole Daniel out of innumerable nightmares over the years, the one to bring him back from the brink time and again. Christ, Daniel had been dead--more than once! If that didn't warrant some sort of Get OUt Of Jail Free card, he didn't know what did. Half the people Daniel knew had been killed, enslaved by the Goa'uld, left permanently scarred, whether inside or out, it didn't matter--lovely Sha're, Skaara, Robert Rothman, Sarah Gardner...hell, Carter, Teal'c and Jack himself had almost met their own unpleasant ends at the hands of the snakes, subjected to torture and capture by Apophis and his band of merry men more times than Jack cared to count--and if it wasn't the Goa'uld, it was Replicators, human-form or otherwise, doomed planets and peoples who Daniel struggled to save, more often than not having the situation blow up in his face. No, Jack couldn't deny that some nasty stuff lived in Daniel's head, stuff that Daniel, understandably and expectedly, would be all too glad to be rid of.

No, despite the obvious reasons for considering going through with this 'rebirth', even for an instant, two glaring downsides kept shoving the logical out of the way in Jack's head, pressing in on him and bringing with it the guilt that, when analyzed, they presented a much more selfish picture than he cared to admit:

First of all, why would Daniel give up now? Nearly a decade had passed since the initial Abydos mission, since the first encounter with the prelude to what would become an almost-constant battle for the next six years of their lives. Ra. Jack shuddered just thinking about the gender-challenged 'god', his legions of blank-stared child-servants who leaped without thought in front of staff weapons to save their beloved overlord. Daniel--and Jack himself--had come so far since then, faced and faced down so much, overcome so much hardship with the rest of SG-1 at his side, fighting the enmy and fighting one another, their bonds deepening through every ordeal. Those experiences, good and bad, made Daniel who he was. How could he just let it all go?

Second of all--and perhaps the most embarrassingly schmaltzy problem Jack had with the entire situation--happened to have to do with a promise. Only a few short months ago--and really, it still didn't even seem that long--when Daniel was only recently descended, and SG-1 had been fresh off the rescue of Ry'ac and Bra'tac from the Jaffa prison camp on Erebus, Daniel had told Teal'c--and later Jack and Carter--that he was glad to be home, that he finally felt like he was part of a team again. Jack had pestered him incessantly, finally receiving an amused--but serious--promise from Daniel not to leave them again. And now, as petulant as it sounded in Jack's own head, Daniel had done just that. Daniel had broken his promise.

Jack remembered vividly the night Daniel had made that promise--he'd been half-asleep on Jack's couch, shortly after Carter and Teal'c had left after a boisterous night of celebration and inebriation. Daniel had come around a bit as Jack began hauling him to the spare room, and he had, like the rest of them, been a little more than three sheets to the wind, and with a sleepy smile and alcohol-induced openness, had thanked Jack profusely for being his friend again.

Now that was lost--that friendship had been destroyed by one choice on some goddamned paradise planet.

"He feels greatly loved and protected by you--all of you."

Of course he was--and of course that alien, Rannia, would have seen it. There was little doubt she had some form of telepathic or telekinetic powers. She knew SG-1 protected and loved Daniel...but Daniel had saved them just as often as they'd saved him, and Jack had never met anyone with a heart as open and loving--as willing to look past faults and vices to the person beneath the cold or hard exterior--as Daniel's. Jack supposed he felt like Daniel was giving up, knowing it was stupid but unable to banish the thoughts from his mind. Daniel wasn't the type to back down from anything, no matter what the odds--but anger and betrayal chased the tails of love, relief and affection that crested over him when he looked up on the child his best friend had become. It was a dangerous combination, Jack knew--and he didn't trust himself not to let that anger and betrayal get the upper hand when faced with the unsuspecting innocence Child-Daniel simply oozed.

A sudden knock at his door startled Jack out of his reverie and he sat up straight. "Come in," he barked, expecting Carter or Teal'c to enter and give him a tongue-lashing. However, he quickly sublimated his annoyance--with his surprise, he wasn't so lucky, and it showed--when General Hammond entered instead. "General?"

"At ease, Jack." Hammond sidled into the office and sat himself comfortably in one of the chairs opposite the desk. He smiled slightly, hands spread to the sides as if encompassing the entire problem between them. "How are you handling all of this, son?"

Jack barked a short, rueful laugh. "It's hard to sort through it," he said honestly. "Part of me wants to go with the flow, and the other ninety-nine percent..."

"What?"

"The other ninety-nine percent wants to pulverize Daniel, sir," Jack admitted bluntly.

Hammond sighed, briefly studying his clasped hands, collecting his thoughts. "Jack, I'll get right to it. I know you're angry about this--"

"Understatement of the year�sir," Jack hastily added with a wince at Hammond's sharp look.

"I know you're very angry about this," the general amended, "but there is the matter of custody of Doctor Jackson."

Jack didn't even notice the formal title Hammond used out of habit, having only heard the word 'custody'. "General, you're not--"

"He trusts you above anyone else, Jack," Hammond cajoled. "The boy absolutely adores you; everyone in the infirmary saw that when you brought him in."

"Sir, I can't--"

"Jack. Think about this. That boy is your best friend--and don't give me any bunk about that not being Daniel Jackson," he said sharply, curbing Jack's unvoiced protest. "That boy is who he is, and you know it. Nothing changes that heart, not even something like this. All of us see it; you certainly must."

Jack the general's earnest argument with pointed silence, unable to meet his commander's eyes. "Sir�I just--I don't think it's a good idea to send him home with me. Carter would be more than happy to take him, I'm sure."

"I'm sure she would, but she's never had children, and--" 'We all had hoped you would relish the opportunity to be a father again.'

Jack winced at the unspoken, and perhaps unintended, message. "Sir." 'Please.'

Hammond squared his jaw and nodded tightly. Jack felt obscurely shamed at the disappointment radiating from the older man. "All right; if that's what you want."

"Thank you sir." And Christ, did he ever loathe the feeling of relief that washed over him when Hammond stood and took his leave, abandoning Jack to his own muddled thoughts.

'What the hell is wrong with me?'

---

Teal'c approached MajorCarter in the commissary, where the woman had been relegated to while DanielJackson slept. His teammate had her face cradled in her hands, elbows resting on the table in front of her. "DanielJackson is..." Teal'c was taken aback when MajorCarter's head shot up and her face, paled with worry, rose to meet his.

"What's wrong? He's what?" She began to rise, and Teal'c calmly pressed her back into her seat with one hand to her shoulder. "He is well, MajorCarter. He still sleeps. I only wished to say that DanielJackson is...extraordinarily small." Hecouldn't think of a better way to express his confustication at the younger man's appearance--or demeanour. In the years he had known DanielJackson, the archaeologist had evolved by leaps and bounds in Teal'c's eyes. Initially viewed as a weakling--albeit a passionate one--who foolishly offered himself up to Apophis as a Child of the Gods, DanielJackson had quickly proved his mettle and his worth to the Tau'ri. Then, even more than that, he proved himself a worthy friend, with a nobility of spirit proven to Teal'c when DanielJackson found it in himself to forgive and even open up to Teal'c after he discovered it was Teal'c who had been the catalyst for Sha're's abduction and subsequent enslavement by Amaunet.

DanielJackson had a strength of spirit and heart that had never failed to amaze Teal'c. Now, however...it was difficult to see how the qualities that so endeared the man to Teal'c could still exist in such a small, dependent body and mind. Slowly, Teal'c took a seat opposite MajorCarter. "I must confess, MajorCarter, I am confused as to how DoctorFraiser can deem DanielJackson unharmed when, so obviously, he has been."

MajorCarter offered him a small smile, one he had learned to associate with either great fatigue or extreme anxiety. Given the tireless efforts she and O'Neill had infused into the search for DanielJackson, Teal'c was not at all surprised to find it once again gracing her features. "Physically, Teal'c, he hasn't been harmed--aside from our own misgivings about it, Daniel is happy the way he is. Mentally, his condition is also 'normal'--above average, actually--for a child of his age."

"And if DanielJackson simply does not remember fighting the decision by these beings to return him to such a state?" Any attack, no matter how small or seemingly innocent, against his team members and family, gave Teal'c cause for unyielding skepticism. MajorCarter frowned and shrugged, absently swirling her spoon in the blue-coloured gelatin she so often referred to as 'comfort food'.

"Then I guess that's something we'll never find out. As far as we know, this is what Daniel wanted...he certainly didn't seem afraid of the Rannia or her people."

"MajorCarter, conditioning may take all shapes and forms." SG-1 had seen that often enough.

"I can't argue with you there, Teal'c, but until we see some strong evidence to contradict it, we're going to have to run with this one."

Teal'c's frown deepened. He was compelled to ask MajorCarter why a hurried pace would be fruitful to solving DanielJackson's difficulties, but from the look on her face, he decided against it. "Perhaps you should rest, MajorCarter," he suggested gently. "I have observed DanielJackson's behaviour in this form, and he is most...vivacious."

Teal'c was gratified when MajorCarter laughed softly. "Yeah, he's gonna be a handful, isn't he? Let's hope Colonel O'Neill can--"

"He's said 'no'."

Teal'c bowed his head in greeting as General Hammond approached their table, brow furrowed, mouth set in a grim line. "At ease, Major," he dismissed as MajorCarter began to rise. She sank back into her seat, mouth open in what O'Neill would no doubt refer to as a 'guppy expression'. Teal'c was glad he now knew what a 'guppy' was.

"He what, General?" she demanded. Teal'c was all too happy to allow her to speak for the both of them; in situations like this, when words failed him, the spontaneity and often unrestraint of human emotion came in 'handy'.

GeneralHammond exhaled loudly. "He refused, Major. I brought our case to him and he begged off; claimed it wasn't the 'right thing' for Doctor Jackson to be in his care."

"That is ri-fucking-diculous." It was an expression Teal'c had heard used a few times by the young Airmen in the gymnasium, often used as an expression of disbelief or scorn. He believed it to fit perfectly to the situation, but once again found himself at the receiving end of more of the aforementioned 'guppy expressions', from both MajorCarter, GeneralHammond, as well as two passing SFs who briefly stopped in their tracks to glance at him. "Leave us," Teal'c ordered them, and the pair immediately scuttled away, chattering quietly to one another.

"As...unorthodox as Teal'c's expression may be, sir, he's absolutely right," MajorCarter said angrily, turning her attention back to GeneralHammond. "Did he say anything else?"

"No, Major--just that he was certain you would be more than willing to be Doctor Jackson's guardian--at least temporarily."

MajorCarter blinked, and Teal'c studied her expression carefully. MajorCarter often spoke of the affinity she had for her two young nieces, though Teal'c had never envisioned her with offspring of her own. It would be a curious situation. She appeared to believe so as well, as her mouth worked soundlessly, surprised, for many moments. "I--I--well, of course I--"

"There is no obligation for you to do it, Major," GeneralHammond assured her gently. "Doctor Fraiser may be better suited, or we could allow Doctor Jackson temporary living arrangements in a VIP room..."

"No sir." MajorCarter seemed to find her voice again, firmly refuting GeneralHammond's suggestions. "I'll do it. I'll take Daniel home with me." A smile slowly spread across her face, warming her previously drained features. "I'd be more than happy to take him with me."

GeneralHammond nodded once. "I'll be giving you a few days to get things in order; I'll personally set up a place for him in the daycare facility in the upper levels. You won't be alone in these efforts, Major." He stood then and briefly gave her a paternal pat on the shoulder. "He'll appreciate this very much, Major."

"Yes sir. Thank you."

Teal'c watched GeneralHammond leave the commissary, then lifted one eyebrow in MajorCarter's direction. "Is congratulations in order, MajorCarter?"

She blinked at him. "Teal'c?"

"I believe the expression is...'It's a boy'?"

=====

Several hours later, as Sam and Teal'c hovered close to his bed in the infirmary, Daniel stirred. The small body under the covers twitched and turned, rolling from his side to his back with a huge yawn, pushing the blankets back from his chest, scrubbing at his eyes with both fists. Smiling, Sam brushed the soft hair--lighter in this form than it was when he was an adult--out of his eyes as the big blues sleepily opened and sluggishly moved about, taking in his surroundings.

"Jack?"

Sublimating the outlet-seeking anger toward her CO, Sam tweaked Daniel's nose gently. "Nope; it's me, sweetie--Sam."

"Oh! Hi, Sam!" Daniel said on another yawn, grinning as his eyes cleared. "Hi Teal'c!"

The Jaffa smiled. "DanielJackson. Did you sleep well?"

Daniel giggled--a sound Sam never associated with, and never expected to hear from the archaeologist--and sat up with an enthusiastic nod, glancing around the otherwise empty infirmary. "Where's Jack?" he asked hesitantly.

"The Colonel had a lot of work to catch up on; he'll be late tonight," Sam explained without missing a beat. She tried to divert the little guy's attention by palming both his knees and jiggling them gently. "Hey. We need to find you a place to stay, and I was wondering...what would you think about coming to live with me for a while?"

The briefest flash of uncertainty crossed Daniel's face before that big grin replaced it. "Really? Yes! At your house?"

Sam nodded. "Yup."

Daniel threw his arms around her neck and squeezed. "Thank you Sam! When can we go?" he abruptly asked, obviously eager to get out of the infirmary.

Sam laughed. "Pretty soon, I promise. Janet just wants to check you out a bit before we leave."

"Okay," he replied happily. "Umm...Sam?"

"Mm-hmm?" Sam watched Daniel as he delicately fingered the baggy scrub top.

"When am I gonna get some real clothes?"

"I can help with that," Janet called from the doorway, entering the infirmary with a plastic bag bulging with what appeared to be cloth. She grinned at Sam and Teal'c, the smile widening when she saw Daniel. "I asked around my staff, and Nurse Chisholm made a mad dash for her house, and came back with..." Janet pulled open the bag with a flourish and pulled out its contents--beige shorts, a green t-shirt, a little pair of sandals, and a navy hooded windbreaker. "It's a little nippy out there," she explained to Sam. Even if it was nearly August, the air could still get cool. "Now, they may not fit the greatest, but they'll do until we can get you some things for yourself."

Daniel was fingering the soft, worn sandals, a thoughtful frown on his face. "What's wrong, Daniel?" Sam asked, running a hand over his back.

"D'we hafto pay for these?" he asked. He looked up at Teal'c, Sam and Janet worriedly. "I don' have any money."

"No, of course not," Janet assured him. "Nurse Chisholm has a little boy about your age, and he has a whole load of clothes that he's outgrown. You can either keep those after you buy some new things at the mall, or you can give them back. It's up to you, okay?"

Daniel nodded and dragged his foot up onto the bed, painstakingly slipping his foot into the shoe and attempting to buckle it, tongue poking out between his lips. "I can do it," he announced when Teal'c tried to reach in to help him. Sam glanced at Janet with a tight smile. Her friend gave her a pat on the back.

"Welcome to parenthood, Sam," she said quietly, "where 'quickly, now' no longer has any meaning."

=====

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