“Or?”

“I’ll handcuff Daniel to me and you’ll have to take us both.”  There’s no doubt in my mind she’s only being polite. 

“And you believe that would stop me if I chose to take him anyway?”

I shrug. 

“It is unlocked.”

“You still need to ask Daniel and I want to be there when you do.”

“Very well.”

The dog barks, Oma is gone, and Daniel comes running back up the beach, leaving Teal’c and Carter playing with the surfboard.

“Aren’t you going to come play, too, Jack?” 

He drops to his knees with a thud that makes me wince for my own knees.

“I’m far too old for that kind of playing, Daniel.  Looks like you’ve just about mastered it though.”

“It’s harder than Teal’c and Sam make it look,” he laughs, “but it’s fun.”  

Out of the blue he grabs the wolf by the neck and rolls over, dragging her with him, except she doesn’t resist and they tussle on the sand for a few minutes, engaged in a mock battle.   Just as suddenly, he rolls out from under her and sits up. 

“She wants to know if I’ll come with her to visit the trees.”

“Do you want to?”

“I don’t know.” 

The playfulness disappears as inexplicably as it appeared.

“You don’t know if you want to go?”

He shoves the heel of his foot into the sand, dredging a hole.  “I don’t want to go if you’re going to be mad at me again.”

“Would it be okay if I’m a little worried?”

“She says she’ll watch over me just as good as you.  She won’t let anything happen to me.”  He’s still dredging, not looking at me.

“I won’t be mad, Daniel, if you decide to go with her.”

“Will you come with us?”  He does look up now, avoiding looking at the dog and focusing on my face.

“Do you want me to?”

“You wouldn’t have to worry if you came along.”

“There is that.” 

I look at the wolf, who’s just a wolf again. 

“But maybe this is something you need to do with just . . . the dog.”

Daniel shrugs.  “I don’t want to . . .” he whispers, trailing off as he looks away again.

“Hey.”

“What?”  He slants a look at me, frowning.

“Do you know why she wants you to go?”

Daniel nods.  “There are more trees that need help.  But I don’t want you to be mad at me again,” he repeats.

I sigh.  “I’d be happier if I could go with you.”

“Okay!  She says okay!  Let’s go!”

The dog doesn’t look too happy, but I don’t give a damn. 

“Let’s go tell Teal’c and Carter we’re going for a walk.”

Daniel happily covers over his dredged hole and grabs my hand, skipping along beside me as we head down to the water. 

“We’re going to take She-Ra for a walk,” he sing-songs to the pair.  “We’ll be back in a little bit.”

My fellow grown-up teammates are engaged in a contest of skill, vying for longest upright on the board, and furthest distance.  They barely acknowledge our departure. 

I should probably tell them to check in with Hammond since the DHD is now unlocked and we’ve missed our first call-in.

A quick check of my watch and I calculate we have another four hours before Hammond sends SG-7 through on a rescue mission.  I make sure the radios on the blankets are turned on before we leave so I at least have some chance of reaching Carter and Teal’c in case of an emergency.

“Should we go put shoes on or something?”

“There’s nothing on this island that will hurt us.  We don’t need shoes,” Daniel says matter-of-factly.

“Okay.  Let’s go.”

The dog trots off purposefully and I’m told quite succinctly to keep up or get left behind, and not by Daniel, though he looks at me and grins mischievously.  Very briefly he touches my hand, smiles again, and the two of them are off up the beach, leaving me to follow at a more leisurely pace. 

I have no idea what he did when he touched me, but I have no trouble keeping up with them, though both of them seem to flit through the forest like dryads.

Only once during the afternoon does Oma appear again. 

“You understand he has more control over his gifts in this incarnation?”

“You expect me to acknowledge his ‘gifts’?”

She smiles as we follow Daniel, several yards ahead of us, arms again stretched wide, zigzagging to touch a tree here, another there. 

There’s a distinct hum in the air, almost like an electrical charge, though it’s pleasant rather than intense. 

“When he chose to descend he closed himself off from that ability.”

“He had a choice?”

“O’Neill, when will you learn?  Daniel Jackson’s choices are limitless.  Though he has again chosen mortal life, he is not like other mortals.”

“Are you telling me when he chooses to be big again, he will be?”

“I tell you nothing you don’t already know.”

“I didn’t know for sure he’d be resized to normal again,” I point out, perhaps unwisely.

Oma only smiles and turns back into a wolf. 

We’re slowing down.  The frenetic need for haste no longer drives Daniel or the wolf.  Don’t ask me how I know that either.  I only know I’ve been part of something this afternoon that I would have sworn, even two hours ago, was impossible. 

I’m just an old, slow Colonel with little appreciation for the impossible.  I should have sent Carter, maybe she’d have learned something.

There’s a faint echo of laughter in my mind and I turn to look at the wolf. 

Major Carter would not have been allowed to make this journey.  Some things do not require analysis, merely appreciation, even so little appreciation as yours.

“Jack?” 

Daniel’s sagging wearily at the end of my hand.  He lifts his arms when I offer to pick him up.

“What, Sport?”

“Can She-Ra go home with us when we go home?”

Oh, yeah, knew this was coming. 

“Well, first of all, you have to remember, Daniel, she’s a wild animal.  She wouldn’t like living in a house, cooped up all the time.”

“But I’d walk her every day and we could play in the yard.” 

He has his head down on my shoulder and every now and then he drags in air as though he can’t get enough. 

“Tired, Sport?”

“A little.  Can we, Jack?”

“Second, I think that’s something you better discuss with her.  I can’t decide for her whether she wants to come with us.”

“Yeah, but if you won’t let her live with us, then I can’t even ask her.”

“Good point.  You’re welcome to ask if she’d like to come and live with us.” 

Exercise a little discretion here, O’Neill.  There’s no need to be the bad guy as I’m certain Oma’s going to tell him, very kindly no doubt, there’s no way in hell she’s coming to live with us. 

I hope.

I shoot the dog a meaningful look and hear again that echo of feminine laughter in my mind.

Daniel raises his head to rest his chin on my shoulder so he can have a conversation with the dog. 

“Oh,” he says, disappointment evident in the single exclamation.

“What?”  I glance over my shoulder.

Daniel tchs and huffs. 

“She says she’s not a real dog and you already knew that.”

I swing us around to face the dog, who sits back on her haunches and grins up at us, tongue lolling.

“If you’re not a real dog, then show Daniel who you are.”

The grin slowly turns sour. 

For a moment we do the Mexican standoff thing, then the air shimmers around the dog and Oma is standing in front of us, arms crossed over her chest, a distinctly un-ancient frown marring the thirty-something features. 

“Ahhh, you started it.  I gave you a perfect out and you decided to needle me instead.  You know what they say; age and treachery will outwit youth and beauty every time.”

“A neat evasion, Colonel,” she chuckles despite herself.  “Especially as neither apply.”

“Fishing for compliments, ma’am?  I must say, you certainly don’t look your age.”

“You should quit while you’re ahead.”

“Why would you be a dog if you’re really a lady?” Daniel asks, ring finger sliding into his mouth for a little chew.

Oma offers a sigh and motions for us to resume walking.  “I don’t know, I think sometimes dogs have more fun than ladies.  What do you think, Daniel?”

“Oh,” he says, laying his back down on my shoulder.  “Probably.”

“Just for instance, would you have played in the water with me if I’d been a lady?”

“I played in the water with Sam.  She’s a lady.”

“Yes, but she’s a lady you know.”

“I know you.”

“Do you?”

“I’ve met you before.  Haven’t I, Jack?”

“Opened quite a can of worms here, haven’t you, Colonel?” she murmurs, just barely loud enough for me to hear.

“I think I must have met you before this happened to me.”  He sits up abruptly, nearly overbalancing on my arm.  “Hey, if you can be a dog when you want to, can you make me big again?”

Daniel and I exchange a glance and both turn to her. 

I didn’t as her that.

Instead of answering, she asks, “Do you want to be big again?”

Daniel hesitates, rolls his shoulders, and drops his head down again. 

“I don’t know,” he sighs, shoving the finger back in up to the first knuckle.

“It is not in my power to return to you that which you have given away.  However, you will recognize when the time is right and you will all know what to do.”

“All?’  I repeat. 

“My job here is finished.  It’s time for me to go, but you should stay and play; make memories, Colonel.” 

She leans forward and kisses Daniel on the forehead very gently. 

“Sleep, little one, the healing sleep of the dreamer.  You have used up much energy this afternoon.  Sleep . . .” 

Her hand passes right through me, but rests lightly on Daniel’s head.  His eyes drift shut and every muscle in his body sags with the laxness of deep sleep.  His finger slips out of his mouth and he’s nothing but jello in my arms. 

I shift him so he’s cradled against me.

We both stand for a long moment looking down at the sleeping child and I remember standing outside a temple, watching adult Daniel stare hungrily at another child in the arms of Oma Desala.  I have a much better understanding of what I saw in his eyes that day.

“It is not my privilege to guard and guide this one,” she says softly, caressing his cheek.  “This one belongs to you; your destiny is linked.  Do you understand you are building a bridge for him?”

“A bridge?” I echo.

“Build it solidly; he may need to cross over it many times before his journey is over.”

“What?  Are you saying he’s going to . . .”

“You really must get him a dog.”

I open my mouth to respond, but she’s gone.  No dog, no Oma, no glowy octopus thing floating away in the direction of the Stargate - just gone.

Well . . . crap. 

 I stop, shift Daniel a little, and look around to get my bearings, only to find I’m at the head of the path.  According to my watch we’ve been gone less than an hour, though it feels like days. 

Carter and Teal’c are headed this way.  I step back under the shade on the path and wait.

“Is Daniel okay?”

“He’s fine, just sleeping.”

“Your mission is accomplished?”

“Yeah, and the tape’s going to self-destruct any minute now.”

“We were just going back to get some lunch,” Carter says, laying a hand on Daniel’s forehead. 

“I told you, he’s fine, Major.”

“Yes, sir.  I even heard you.  Just needed to see for myself.”

Since I can’t argue that, I turn and lead the way up the path.  “We need to check in when we’re done.  We don’t want Hammond sending in the marines.”

*     *     *

Teal’c’s wood-smoked chicken linguini, with that bottle of Cristal Carter brought along, is perfection. 

Julia Child would be extraordinarily pleased with her newest pupil.  We certainly are. 

Even Daniel, who slept through lunch and barely woke up in time to eat tonight, asked for seconds.  At this age, he rarely appreciates fine cuisine.

We’ve all found seats on the ground around the fire tonight and I can feel the energy building in the earth.  That fragile balance I mentioned on arrival?  The scales have tipped.  While it’s not unpleasant, it is a little unnerving, and I doubt we’ll stay much longer. 

Our Littlest Ancient is wandering around the clearing conversing with the trees. 

At least that’s what it looks like.  It’s a silent communication, but from the look of wonder on his face I’m certain there must be some kind of exchange going on.  He comes back over to the fire and instead of crawling into my lap as he usually does, sits down beside me. 

I wonder briefly if we’ve turned some corner; if he’s discovered a new maturity and has suddenly decided he’s too old for cuddling.  And then he scoots around in front of me and looks over his shoulder.   

“Jack?”

“Hmmm?” 

I rest my chin lightly on his head as I settle him between my knees and he leans back against me.

“Can we get a dog when we get home?”

What the hell are we going to do with a dog when we go off-world?

“Let’s talk about that when we get home.”

“Can we go home now?”

“Now?  As in tonight?  We’ve got a couple more days here, Daniel.”

“I don’t think we should stay.”

“Why?”

“The trees are . . .” He trails off, rotates his right shoulder into my chin and leans forward at my oomph.  “Sorry.  You okay?”

“Not to worry, only a broken jaw.  I’ll live.”

“Jack!” he groans, almost matching my theatrics. 

“The trees are . . . what?’

“Waiting.”

“Waiting for what?” Carter questions curiously.

“I don’t know.  They just seem . . .  I don’t know.  I don’t know how to explain.”

Daniel shifts agitatedly between my knees.

Teal’c shifts as well; never a good sign from the Jaffa.  He doesn’t do nerves.

“What?”  I raise an eyebrow.

A breeze drifts across our clearing, raising goose bumps on Daniel, despite the fact the breeze is warm and he’s tucked up against me.

He bolts to his feet, clipping my chin again with the full force of his rising shoulder and I taste blood. 

“We have to go, right now!”

“What the hell?  Daniel?” 

I wipe blood off my chin with the back of my hand, reaching for him with the other, but he whips out of my reach as I stagger to my feet.

“Right now, Jack!  Teal’c!  Sam!” 

He grabs my hand and with a strength born of desperation actually manages to drag me a step or two. 

“Come now!”

“Daniel, we need to pack things up if we’re going home,” Carter says, looking as bewildered as I’m feeling. 

“There’s no time!  We have to go now, tell them, Teal’c.  We have to go right now!  Come on!  Come on!”

Teal’c, who’s risen to his feet as well, tilts his head.  In the fire-lit dark I see his eyes go wide. 

“Danieljackson is correct, we must leave immediately.”

“What the hell is going on?” 

I snatch up Daniel and jog after Teal’c as he grabs Carter and shoves her toward the path.

“Teal’c, we’ve got to get . . .”

“There is nothing in this camp worth our lives, Majorcarter.”

He urges us all to a run as we hit the path.

And suddenly, I feel it, too, the urgency of the earth.  The hum of the newly awakened trees has increased to a buzz, and as we reach the head of the path the moon slides out from behind a cloud and we have a glorious view of a solid wall of water, still far enough out to sea that it looks relatively small.

“It will reach here before we can get to the Stargate, sir.”

“Then run like hell, Major.”

The ocean is already surging.  There’s water swirling around our feet and we’re running flat out, as close to the tree line as possible without being hampered by reaching branches. 

And they’re definitely stretching toward us. 

I throw an arm over Daniel’s head as a particularly tenacious branch slaps us both and tries to twine around his arm.  When a second one nearly sends us sprawling I angle further out onto the beach, but that slows us even more because I’m slogging through water up past my ankles.

The beautiful turquoise-green water Daniel was so happily playing in - was it just yesterday – is deadly serious now and rising steadily as we splash as fast as we can toward the Gate and safety. 

“We’re not going to make it,” Carter pants, as the water creeps up to our knees. 

“Yes we are, Major.” 

“Put me down.”  Daniel shoves against my arms.  “I think I can stop the water.  It’s why the trees were trying to stop us.”

He probably can, but I’m not taking any chances.

“Jack!”

“Stop it!” I snap, clamping him too me.  “If we can’t get to the Gate, we’ll consider it, but only as a last option.” 

“I can stop it.  I can keep it from sinking the island, too.  Put me down, I can save the trees!”

“I don’t give a damn about the trees, Daniel!”

“Jack!” he wails.  “They’re alive now because of me.  I have to try.”

Teal’c and Carter look back.

“Go!  And don’t wait for us.  Go through if you can!”

Both of them stop, turn, and slog back toward us.

“Dammit!  Go!  That’s an order!”

“You can court martial me if we make it out alive, Colonel.  But I’m not going.”

“What do we do, Danieljackson?”

‘Put me down, Jack, let me ask the trees.  They were trying to stop us before, maybe they know!”

The water is past my knees and the undertow is beginning to make itself felt.  If I put him down, it will be nearly to his waist.  We’re at the causeway, though our sandbar is covered, and the water is above the Gate dais, lapping at the base of the circle.

I’m transported back to that moment with Oma this afternoon and in my minds eye I see Daniel again, standing barefoot on the steps of the temple. 

“If you’re ever going to trust me, Jack, now is the time.”

It’s a hundred yards back to the trees and two hundred yards to the Gate.  We can make it to the Gate, despite this stop.  I know with absolute certainty we can make it to the Gate.

Daniel says nothing, though I can feel him holding his breath. 

I turn with him and head to the tree line, Carter and Teal’c hot on our heels.  There were trees growing between the rocks, we can head toward higher ground and still find trees. 

As soon as we reach the rocks, Daniel’s pushing against me again. 

“Put me down, I can climb, and I have to find the right tree.  They’re not all awake.”

I let him slide down to the rock and he immediately scrambles up several more boulders. 

Teal’c goes up along side him, Carter moves to his other side and I stay behind him.

In minutes at most, it’s not going to matter.  We can hear the roar of the water now.  In the sixty seconds we’ve been climbing, the water’s risen 3 feet and we have a really good view of the wall, surging toward us in the moonlight like a slow-motion horror movie.

Daniel’s reaching toward every tree we pass, mumbling to himself or the tree, I don’t know which, and clambering quickly on with each successive tree.  And then he throws himself at one.

Teal’c shoves Carter between us, wraps a massive arm around the tree and locks his fingers around my wrist.  I get the message immediately and reach to grab a protruding branch of the tree as well so Carter and Daniel are pressed against the tree between us.

There’s definitely something happening.  The ground is shaking again.  Several boulders are shaken loose and roll ponderously toward us, one of them grazing my heel and showering us with small stones, but otherwise missing us by a wide margin. 

The low hum of energy we were hearing back in our clearing has risen to a wild, offbeat melody that reverberates in my head like I’m inside a bass drum.  The trees are singing and the ground is keeping time, rolling heavily, uprooting saplings all around us, but I can feel our tree, Daniel’s tree, sinking its roots deep into the earth.  There are branches all around us now, too, like safety nets, enmeshed leaves trying to shield us from poking.

 Teal’c’s fingers tighten briefly around my wrist. 

I look across at him and see only courage and strength in those dark eyes.  I hope he sees the same in mine.

The island jolts under us, nearly knocking all of us off our feet as the wall of water hits the shore.  We have time only to stagger upright again, still locked together, when we’re soaked by a deluge.  The water pours down on us, beating us nearly senseless, but it’s like a hard, heavy rain and it’s not rising around our feet and we can still breathe, and although it seems to come in endless wave after wave . . . suddenly it’s over.

The sky above us is still cloudy, but the moon sails on a stiff breeze.  The stars twinkle like diamonds strewn across a wrinkled and creased piece of deep blue velvet.  

“Step carefully, the ground is unstable,” Teal’c admonishes, steadying Carter as she drops to her knees behind Daniel, arms still encircling him.

Like a puppet released from its dance, he sinks bonelessly through her outstretched arms to crumple across her knees.  The only thing marring the grayness of his face is the bloody twin scratches down his right cheek.

“Too fast,” Carter murmurs, pressing her fingers to the pulse at his throat.  “Daniel?”  She taps his face lightly, then a little harder.  “Daniel!” she says again, a little louder.  “Come on, buddy, open your eyes.”

The lashes rise briefly to half mast. 

“G’way.  Don’ wanna ge’up,” he mumbles, pulling away from her hand against his cheek.  “G’way.” 

The movement dislodges him from her knees and he rolls to the ground.

We’re all soaked, but the ground is even soggier and wetter than we are. 

“Jack?”  He sits up abruptly, surprised by his wet bed, conks himself with his cast when he raises a hand to his probably aching head, and slumps back to the ground before either of us can catch him.  “I don’t feel good.”

“Carter?” 

I snatch him up and hang him over my arm when he starts to vomit.

“Shock probably.  We need to get him home to Janet.”

“I will reconnoiter, O’Neill.”

Read ‘see if the Gate’s on the new ocean floor and we’re stuck here for the short remainder of our natural lives’.

“Don’t forget your own advice, watch the ground.” 

I rub Daniel’s back as he throws up again. 

“Feel better now?” 

The tail of my wet shirt gets used to wipe the sweat off his face.  Other than the scratches, there are no visible signs of injury. 

Carter’s probably right, he’s in shock, psychological as opposed to physiological.  Barring any other traumatic events tonight, even if we’re stuck here for awhile longer, if we keep him warm and let him rest he should be fine.

Teal’c’s shadow has already disappeared into the trees.

“It shouldn’t take long,” Carter says quietly, sliding down to sit with her back to the tree. 

I sink down next to Carter and cradle Daniel against me.

We’re all in shorts and tee-shirts, not exactly dressed for survival, and the breeze, despite our tropical climate, is cool on the back of our own little tsunami. 

Daniel is shivering and I’m not a lot warmer right now.  I wrap him up in as a contained a space as possible to try and generate some body heat between the two of us.

“You think he did something with the trees to shield the island?”

“Or is there some kind of a barrier reef we didn’t see that caused the surge to slow and/or maybe even go around us like that whatchamacallit thingamajig.” 

Daniel wraps a hand in my tee-shirt and buries his nose in the crook of my arm.

“You mean the wrap-around effect, sir?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Or Daniel and the trees did something that shielded the island,” she repeats and I hear the note of shaken confidence in her voice. 

Carter is first and foremost a scientist.  When the laws of science are bent – maybe even broken - by the supernatural, she’s . . . let’s call it uncomfortable. 

“It requires a series of islands to create that wrap-around effect, sir.”

“We have no idea what’s underneath this island, we never explored beyond the close-in shallows.  Maybe there’s a lot more land mass then we thought.”

“We would have noticed that on the UAV footage.”

“Carter, I’m trying to make you feel better and you’re discarding options as fast as I throw them out.”

“I think Daniel did something with the trees,” she whispers, sliding closer so Daniel’s bare feet are in her lap.  “I think he was the wick that drew, and then dispersed all the power of the trees.”  She starts rubbing them lightly.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to do that to shock patients.”

“You’re not, the reason he’s so cold is because his blood is going to his heart and brain to keep things functioning properly there.”

“But he’s going to be okay because there’s no bleeding wound, right?”  When she hesitates I repeat, “Right?”

“We should get him home as quickly as possible.”

Where the hell is Oma when we need her?  And why didn’t she stop this natural catastrophe that nearly destroyed all her newly awakened allies?

I’m guilty of withholding information again.  I haven’t told Carter and Teal’c about any of her appearances and I’m still not sure why.  I suppose if she pops in now, to part the waters for us to get to the Gate, I might have to tell them, but I’m feeling less and less confident that I heard correctly. 

Maybe I heard what I wanted to hear.  For that matter, maybe she was figment of my imagination.  Though Daniel spoke with her, too – I think. 

I haven’t been able to think straight since we stepped out of the Stargate onto this island of the damned . . . I mean . . .  damn island. 

Teal’c materializes silently in front of us. 

“The Stargate is in tact; however, the water level is still high.  It will be several hours yet before we can reach the Gate and perhaps several hours more before we can open it safely.”

“Good news, bad news scenario, huh?  Get some rest, you two, I’ll take first watch.” 

“Sir?” Carter says tentatively, as Teal’c slides down the tree to sit on the other side of her.  “Is there any reason to post a watch?  I mean, what else can happen?”

“You think we’ve reached our quota of unfortunate events, Major?” 

I feel her shrug.  I also sense her fatalism. 

“One of us needs to stay awake in case Daniel gets worse.”

“Is he asleep?”

“No.”

“I’m awake, Sam,” Daniel replies, his voice muffled.

“Feel any better, Sport?”

“I don’t feel sick anymore.  Just cold.”

Carter rubs the small feet again.  “That’s not so surprising.”

We’re all cold, even huddled together like this.  Likely we’re all suffering from various degrees of shock. 

I mean really, we just came through a tsunami with only a tree and a kid for shelter. 

I saw the size of that wave with my very own eyes.  There’s no way it went over or around the island, and we only saw the first one.  We have no way of knowing what size, or how many, followed.

I don’t know what he did with the trees, but two things are clear. 

He wicked the power, as Carter said, and dispersed it, which is why he’s burnt out now, and likely in shock.  

Second, whether he wicked the power from the wave itself, we’ll probably never know, but somehow, in concert with the trees, he was able to diminish the devastation of the wave enough that it rained down harmlessly instead of drowning us and burying the island under millions of gallons of water. 

Around 03:30 Teal’c moves soundlessly over to our side of the tree. 

Carter stirs, probably from losing the warmth on that side, though the breeze has warmed somewhat with the waning of the water. 

His whisper, when he speaks, is nearly as soundless as his movement, though I hear him clearly. 

“I will watch the remainder of the night.” 

Without asking, probably because he knows I would say no, Teal’c plucks a boneless Daniel from my arms and returns to his spot on the other side of Carter. 

Daniel whimpers in his sleep and I very nearly get up to snatch him back, but I hear the rustle of fabric and know Teal’c is soothing him. 

Of their own volition, my aching eyes slide closed and when they open again, it’s morning and I’m alone thinking I’ve dreamed this horrible nightmare I can’t wake up from.

“Morning, sir,” Carter appears over my right shoulder, but I hear her coming so I’m not surprised.

“Status report, Major?”  A jaw-cracking yawn escapes my control.

“Teal’c took Daniel and went to scout the Gate again, sir.”

“Daniel was awake?”

“Awake, and seemed fine.”

I scrub my hands over my face wearily and shove off the tree, sucking air as I finally get my feet under me and my knee doesn’t want to hold me up. 

“So I didn’t just dream this whole disaster thing?” I ask, as cheerfully as I can through clenched teeth.

“Uhm, that would be a no, sir.  You okay?”

“Just need to walk it out, Major, I’ll be fine.” 

I hobble from tree to tree with every intention of meeting Teal’c and Daniel on the way back from the Stargate.  When Carter tags along, I have to get permission to take a side trip to answer the call of nature.

“Sorry,” she grins, unabashed.  “I’ll wait for you on the beach, sir.”

“You do that, Carter.”

What I wouldn’t give for a couple of aspirin - better yet, a couple of Frasier’s magic pills - this morning.  Oh, yeah, and breakfast would be nice.  Room service would be better, but even toast and coffee would be acceptable right now. 

Carter’s sitting on the huge boulders at the base of our hill, for want of a better term, the boulders that eventually form the causeway bisecting the sandbar. 

Teal’c, with Daniel on his shoulders, is wading back across the sandbar from the Gate. 

The water is lapping gently at the base of the boulder Carter occupies and it’s up past Teal’c’s knees.

“Hi, Jack!” Daniel hollers, waving one hand wildly.  The other is wrapped around Teal’c’s forehead.  “We can probably go home in an hour or two!”

Despite the water, Teal’c makes good progress, and they come up with us in a couple of minutes.  He swings Daniel down and plants him on our boulder. 

“Hey, bud, feel better this morning?” 

Daniel pulls away when I reach a hand to his forehead, and scowls at me.  “I feel fine, but I’m hungry.”

“Me, too.  So what do you want for breakfast when we get home?”

Our teammate hoists himself up to join us, choosing to sit on the edge with his bare feet dangling over into the water. 

“Teal’c says we could have sushi for breakfast if we could catch some of the fish we saw.  They were big!” Daniel spreads his hands as wide as he can spread his arms.  “I was worried they were going to eat us for breakfast, but Teal’c says they’re not man-eating fishes.”

“What about Jaffa eating?”

“Apparently not,” Daniel responds, clambering up to the boulder above us and spread-eagling himself on the rock.  “The rock’s warm,” he offers, tilting his head to look down on us.

“Are you cold?”  Carter asks.

“Only a little.” 

He spreads his small hands - the left one anyway, and the visible fingers on the right one - flat against the rock and closes his eyes, soaking up the already hot sunshine. 

I’d better keep an eye on him.  I don’t want to take him back broiled on top of everything else.  I’m already going to be in deep shit with Janet; she made me swear I’d bring him back in perfect health before she agreed to let him go off-world.

“I suppose we should check the campsite.”

“There is nothing left of the camp.”

”Right.” 

Nothing to do but wait then. 

“Anybody think to stick a deck of cards in their back pocket?”

Daniel sits up excitedly, as though one of us actually might pull a deck of cards out of thin air. 

“Sorry, Sport, I was kind of being facetious.”

“Oh,” he bangs his head as he drops back down on the stone.

“Ouch.”

“Oh, it didn’t hurt.  What’s fah – cee –shush?”

“Funny; sarcastic; not really expecting anyone to think I meant it.”

“Oh,” he sighs.  “I thought maybe we could pass the time by playing Ginny Rum.”

“How about gin rummy?”

“Okay,” Daniel sits up again, expectantly.

“We don’t have any cards, Daniel.  The Colonel is still being facetious.”

“I’m bored and hungry.  I want to go home.”

“What happened to the dog?” Carter asks out of the blue.

“Oh, she went home after she went around with us waking up the trees,” Daniel replies dismissively. 

After a minute he flops over and scooches to the edge of his rock so he can look down at me. 

‘Is there a reason you didn’t tell them about the dog really being a lady?’ he asks silently, shooting me a pleased grin.  ‘You’re surprised I can do it again, huh?’

‘Yes.  And yes to your first question too.  We’ll talk about it after we’re home alone, okay?’

‘Okay.’ 

Surprisingly, neither Carter nor Teal’c question the small non-verbal exchange. 

I don’t like the idea of keeping secrets, or of teaching Daniel it’s okay to keep secrets, especially if any of this time translates over into adult memories if he is resized again. 

I much prefer this Daniel, who, as he freely admitted yesterday, tells me everything.  I don’t want to go back to the Daniel we had to pull any kind of admission out of, practically with a block and tackle.

For now at least I’m listening to my instinct to keep this quiet until I’ve had time to analyze the conversations I’ve had with Oma over the last two days.  My experience has been she doesn’t always say what she means, or mean what she says.  I need a couple of sleepless nights to mull this over before I consider sharing.

I can’t say it’s the most pleasant two hours I’ve ever spent; however, neither is it the most unpleasant. 

We’re all tired and hungry and thirsty, the more thirsty for being surrounded on every side by water we can’t drink, as we troop to the Stargate.  The water comes to Daniel’s knees, but he insists on walking.

He’s kicking his feet, as we head for the Gate while Teal’c dials, but the joie de vivre is missing. 

He looks weighted down in a way I had hoped he never would be again.

The water froths around his feet, bubbling like he’s created a miniature waterspout, swirling around his legs, and he giggles suddenly and reaches for my hand.

“It tickles,” he laughs, holding on to me so he can jump in place. 

He doesn’t even look up at the whoosh of the Stargate, though I sigh with relief.

“Come on, Sport.  Let’s go home.”

“Can we come back here some day, Jack?  Just to check on the trees and everything?”

“I don’t know, we’ll see,” I reply, and think to myself, ‘not on your life’. 

As soon as that iris closes behind us we’re locking this address out of the dialing computer and erasing it from every cartouche we have on line. 

I may even have to sneak a peek at his journals and make sure it’s not listed in any of the cartouches he’s copied. 

I’m already planning my arrival speech as I wave my team into the Stargate and follow them home.

I hope this is the last in our series of unfortunate events.

“Colonel.  Major Carter.  Teal’c.  Dr. Jackson?” 

The General is waiting as usual at the bottom of the ramp, curiosity growing in eyes the color of a cloudless Texas sky.

“You’re back early? And where’s all of your equipment?”

“Yes, sir, we are.  Back early that is.  Equipment?  Well, we encountered Noah’s flood last night, without the ark, sir, and everything but us floated away.  I believe the term ‘lucky to be alive’ fits our scenario very well, sir.” 

I glance around the Gate room, tip a salute to Frasier, who’s also waiting anxiously, and announce to all and sundry, “Next time - we’re going to Disney World.”

~*~

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