Area 52: The Annule Series 4

"Well," General Hammond looked down at the stack of reports before him, briefings of which he'd just received. "Well," he repeated. He looked around the briefing room table at the three members of SG-1 who had returned from the planet Annule. "I really don't know what to say, I have to admit."

"There's nothing to say, General," Jack said in a monotone, hunched over on his elbows. "It's all been said."

"I guess so," the General agreed, feeling for his second-in-command. He was aware--unofficially--of Jack's growing feelings for the SGC's most important civilian, and the request for leave Jack had made before the meeting told him how hard he was taking what had happened. "You've all been through a lot recently with our new relations with the Furlings," he nodded, making a decision. "I'm placing SG-1 on stand-down for a minimum of three weeks. Colonel O'Neill has requested leave," he said in the direction of Major Carter and Teal'c, "so now would be a good time for the two of you to take leave as well. I'm sure some time off--"

"Actually sir," Sam interrupted him, fidgeting so hard she reminded him of a teacher's pet throwing her hand up in the air to be called on, "I'd really like to go back to Annule. Ahdji and I were--"

The veteran SGC members immediately ended their briefing and headed for the Control Room one floor below. "Who've we got out?" Sam demanded as she slid into a chair beside Walter Davis.

"No, sir," Davis said firmly. "Noth--oh, wait! We are receiving audio--and now video images." He typed rapidly into his keyboard. "On the monitor, sir," he directed.

The screen blinked, and Jack could be heard letting out a groan as Etienne came into view, standing before the Stargate on Annule. "--seem to be working," he was saying, looking at someone off to his left. "Are you sure it's operating properly?"

Ahdji's voice could be heard clearly as he spoke patiently to the Steward. "Major Carter demonstrated it; it's working exactly as it should. Sir, they are likely receiving you right now."

The old man straightened suddenly and looked back at the camera, just as General Hammond reached for the SGC microphone. "This is General George Hammond of the SGC," he announced. "We are receiving audio and visual images, Mr. Steward."

"Oh, good!" Etienne seemed relieved, but then just as quickly frowned, glancing back at where Ahdji must be standing. "But something is wrong. I am not receiving any visual images."

"It doesn't work that way," the security officer's voice sounded strained. "They don't have a camera set up on their end."

"They don't?" Etienne looked back at the camera on Annule, eyebrows pulling together. "General Hammond, we could give you a camera," he offered.

Hammond smiled at Sam, and caught Teal'c from the corner of his eye, whom he could have sworn was also smiling. "That's very kind of you," he said appreciatively. "But it's not a matter of not having a camera. We simply don't communicate through the Stargate enough to warrant setting a camera up just for that purpose, Mr. Steward."

"I see," Etienne nodded. "And please," he waved a hand dismissively in the air, "Steward is just my job. Call me Etienne. I insist."

The older man gave him a smile, satisfied, but it was gone quickly. "I am sure you're wondering why I've contacted you."

"The thought did cross my mind, actually, although it's always a pleasure to hear from you, of course." General Hammond ignored the snort that came from behind him.

Etienne nodded. "And you," he replied honestly. "But as for why I've contacted you--well, I don't suppose you have Colonel O'Neill there with you, do you?"

The General looked over his shoulder to see Jack shaking his head, mouthing the word 'NO,' and slashing his arms in a wide scissoring movement. "As a matter of fact, he's right here," Hammond said ruthlessly.

Giving him a pout, Jack slinked to the mic. "Eddy. How's it goin'?" he asked dully.

Etienne raised his eyebrows, looking uncomfortable. "Actually, Colonel, it--it's--going. How is it--going--for you?"

"Well," Jack slouched at the mic. "Oh, I was just about to go on leave, you know. Just walking out the door, in fact."

"Ah," the Steward nodded in comprehension. "That will work out well," he said decisively. "Colonel O'Neill can take his leave here."

Jack's hand came up to the mic, his fingers grasping the metal despite General Hammond's holding it. "No," he replied flatly. "Colonel O'Neill can not take his leave there, Eddy," Jack ground his teeth together. "Thanks just the same."

"Colonel," Hammond whispered a nearly inaudible warning, the tone of the one word telling him to be civil.

Etienne was shaking his head. "No, no, Colonel, you don't understand. You must return to Annule. Today. As soon as possible. Now, if you can arrange it. Is that possible, General Hammond?"

Jack jerked the microphone out of his superior's hands. "Listen to me, Eddy," he snarled. "I need some time away. I told Nalia I'd come back and I will. But I need a break, okay?"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Jack spoke into the mic his CO was starting to move away from him. "It's Annule I need the break from!"

"Colonel!" Hammond didn't want to be harsh with his second-in-command, whom he had observed earlier in the day was teetering on the edge, but he wasn't going to allow the man to jeopardize relations with the Furling Steward, either. He nodded to Teal'c, who laid a hand on Jack's shoulder to encourage him to step back, and then Hammond took a deep breath and addressed the mic. "I apologize for that, Mr. S--Etienne."

"It's quite all right, General," the older man said, his face grave. "Is Colonel O'Neill still there?"

Etienne looked intently into the camera, and from the TV monitor in the control room, it looked to Jack as if the old man was looking straight at him. "Colonel, as much as anyone can, I believe I understand your--" he paused, mindful of other ears on Earth listening, "need for a break," he finished the sentence. "And I know you spoke with Nalia and I believe you did intend to come back. But what you do not know is that a small situation has arisen. Your presence is required."

Jack shook his head and exhaled heavily, and walked more calmly back to where Hammond held the microphone, a warning clear on his face. "From what I've seen, Eddy, Annule is one 'situation' after another. You guys have been asking me to trust you for days, to have faith. Well, I do. I have faith that you and Nalia and your people are the best people to handle--the situation," Jack finished, his voice weary. He walked away from the mic and out of the control room completely.

"I'm afraid, Etienne, that Colonel O'Neill is no longer in the room," Hammond informed him unhappily.

"I'm sorry," the General truly was, and not a little angry that Jack had left without his final 'nod' -- so to speak, but he would publicly back his officer. "Colonel O'Neill is on leave, and unless this is something that can't wait a few weeks, I--"

"It cannot!" Etienne shouted, taking a step closer to the camera, his face filling the screen. "General Hammond, you must get Colonel O'Neill back immediately."

Silently, Hammond pointed Teal'c out after the Colonel, and the Jaffa went to find him. When he spoke aloud, however, he was determined to get to the bottom of whatever new crisis had struck Annule. "That could be difficult; Colonel O'Neill has three weeks' leave, and he's well overdue for that. Perhaps you can tell me why you need him?"

"I cannot," the Steward replied shortly, again aware that Earth had many ears besides the five authorized to know about Daniel. "If you wish to come visit Annule, I could explain the situation then."

"I'm afraid my government doesn't like me going through the Stargate except on rare occasions," General Hammond informed him with real regret.

"Such as treaties," Etienne quickly murmured, nodding to himself and beginning to pace back and forth in front of the camera. At Ahdji's dismayed noises, he returned to front and center before the camera, and drew himself up to his full height. "General Hammond," he addressed the camera regally.

The Furling's face seemed carved from a very unhappy stone. "Has Major Carter told you of the motor she and Ahdji were looking at?"

Surprised at the change of subject, Hammond's eyebrows rose, and he exchanged glances with Sam. "Uh, yes, she has. It looks quite promising."

Etienne nodded once. "Did she also tell you that Ahdji does not have the authority to share information with Earth?" he demanded.

Again Hammond and Sam exchanged troubled glances, Sam tearing hers away as she heard Ahdji gasp. "Etienne!" they heard him protest softly, out of sight of the camera.

Hammond jutted his jaw out for a moment, working it. "It was my understanding that Major Carter and Ahdji were collaborating on that device--"

"No," Etienne shook his head. "That motor was invented by a Furling, built by a Furling, and is currently owned by the Furling race--as are the design specifications. And I believe if you ask Major Carter, she will admit to you that without those design specifications, Earth really has no hope of reproducing that motor."

Hammond looked sharply at his Major, turning off the mic. "Is that true?" he asked. "I thought you built the new one." It was incomprehensible to him that Sam could work on a device, see the design specifications, and not be able to reproduce it from memory.

She looked at him uncomfortably. "Sir, that design--Ahdji and I--we were basically just Annule's hands. The design specifications were his incentive to us. We would build it, and then later, we could go through the specs at our leisure and try to understand it. But he was in such a rush, and--" She shook her head, wincing. "We were just mechanics, with hopes of one day being engineers, if you know what I mean. Without those design specs, at present? He's right. I could never reproduce that motor."

Hammond sighed and turned on the microphone. "I see," he said at last. "So you wish to trade information on the motor for--"

"We need another treaty," Etienne announced. "An additional treaty. You must come to negotiate, and bring the remaining members of SG-1. Colonel O'Neill must come, and it must be today, or there will be no treaty at all."

"I see," Hammond repeated. "I'm going to have to run this by my superiors," he told the Steward.

Etienne's face softened. "Don't take too long, General. Time is something that is very, very short, and more damage than you know may be done while you wait."

Hammond narrowed his eyes at the screen, troubled at the warning, as the Stargate shut off. "Get Colonel O'Neill in my office," he barked to Davis, stalking off in that direction.

Walter looked at Sam with eyebrows trying to climb his high forehead, and she looked at him with a painful grimace on her face. "I think the Colonel's file just got a little thicker," she murmured.

Hammond half-sat, half-fell into his chair, having exhausted himself with his angry lecture. He stared across his desk at the sullen man who might as well have been a statue for all the reaction he'd given. Jack had kept his eyes trained on one spot, face blank, posture relaxed almost to the point of defeat. Hammond sighed heavily and out of curiosity, followed Jack's gaze to what he was fixed on, and then sighed again, propping his head up on one hand, realizing that the man probably hadn't heard a word that had been said. He had been staring at one of the small pictures Hammond kept on his shelves, one of SG-1 posed together at a barbecue. He wasn't going to take any bets on which person in the photo Jack had been fixated on.

As if it had only gradually sunk in that the lecture was over, Jack slowly turned his head to his CO, his eyes dull. "Let me go on leave?" he suggested.

The General closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "We have to go to Annule, Colonel," he said wearily. "If we want to know what's got Etienne so upset, we have to negotiate this treaty. Anyway, the President insists." He glanced at his watch. "In fact, Major Davis should be here any minute."

"Davis?" Jack's voice was the most washed out Hammond had ever heard it. He really did need a break.

"Yes, Major Davis," Hammond nodded. "If you had listened to anything I just said, you would know that the Major was already en route here for budget analysis, and now the President wants us to try to convince the Furlings to let him come along."

This sparked a little interest in the dark eyes. "An uninvited guest?" he asked. "After what happened the last time? And didn't the President promise not to do that ever again?"

"They want us to ask first," Hammond nodded. "And if we really are going to negotiate a treaty--which I don't actually believe, but I can hardly tell the Pentagon that--it makes sense that without Dr. Jackson, they'd want someone along who's a little more skilled at negotiating."

One corner of Jack's mouth turned up wryly. "They don't trust my charm and endearing nature?" he asked.

Hammond lifted his eyebrows. "In a word, Colonel? No. Particularly since I'm sure they've heard one way or another that you don't want to go back there--if not your actual words."

"Eyes and ears everywhere," Jack mumbled, nodding slightly, grateful for the certainty that Hammond's office was checked twice a day by Siler personally. "Fine," he huffed, and gripped the arms of his chair. "Well, then," he sounded more himself, "why don't we just go contact old Eddy now and ask about Davis? Maybe he'll be here by the time we're done." He stood up, decisiveness coming back into his tall frame.

"All right," Hammond nodded, grateful to see his friend adjusting, and willing to go with the flow to keep him moving in the right direction. "Let's do it."

It was a matter of minutes to get Etienne back in front of the camera, as once the Stargate was open to Annule, they had to contact Ahdji through the equipment Carter had left behind, and he had to have Etienne transport back down to it. The old man hurried, though, that was evident, and relief was plain on his face. "You are coming?" he asked immediately.

"We're coming," Jack answered him. "Not right this second, but any time now. We're waiting on somebody, and that's why we're calling you now."

General Hammond took the microphone. "Etienne," he said as respectfully as he could, still wishing he had a more ornate title he could use for the man, "our government would like to request permission for us to bring along a man named Major Paul Davis, who frequently does negotiations for us such as the treaty you're proposing," he hesitated, his pause speaking to his doubt on that issue.

The old man crossed his arms and his eyes became mere slits. "After what happened last time?" he asked. "They want to send someone we did not request after what happened here the last time?"

"That's what I said," Jack put in. "But, listen, Eddy," he said, bobbing his head reluctantly from side to side, "I can vouch for the guy. He's okay."

"Thanks, Colonel," someone murmured behind him, and Jack twisted around to see that Major Davis had come in while they were talking. The man looked highly amused. Jack growled.

Etienne uncrossed his arms and relaxed slightly. "He may come through," he granted. "But whether or not he may stay," he smiled and raised a smug eyebrow, "we will have to See."

Hammond took over. "We'll be ready to come through in approximately half an hour, sir. Will that do?"

Far from looking smug, now that they were actually on the planet, with the wormhole disengaging behind them, Etienne looked quite nervous to see them. "General," he greeted the man in charge warmly, extending his hands. "And Colonel," he nodded. "Sam, Teal'c," he didn't let anyone get a word in edge-wise. "And you must be Major Paul Davis." He spared the man a quick look and then turned back to the others. "Please, you must go with Ahdji, he will take you to the Palace," he gestured at the familiar young man waiting up by the ruins, where the transporter was hidden in plain sight.

"Please, please," the old man spoke quickly, holding up his hands, "I apologize for the tactics I had to use to get you here. But all will become clear if you go with Ahdji. I will stay with Major Davis and we will have a talk."

"It's okay," Jack clapped him on the shoulder, as the others, resigned, began to make their way to the ruins. "He's insufferable sometimes, but mostly harmless," he gestured at the Steward, who was looking more closely at Davis. "So, Eddy, old boy," Jack made his tone as annoying as possible, "will he do?"

The old man looked over at him. "Insufferable sometimes, but mostly harmless," he repeated curiously. "Yes," he nodded at Davis, "that is a good description of Colonel O'Neill." He pointed Jack at the ruins. "He will do," he intoned carefully. "Now go! You are needed."

As Jack hurried to catch up with the others, Davis smiled his best I'm-no-threat-and-let's-be-friends smile. Etienne beamed paternally back and took the Major by the arm, walking with him at a more sedate pace toward the ruins, so that they would transport separately from the others. "I am Etienne, dear boy. You and I must have a long chat about what you do for a living. But first, I am going to tell you several fascinating stories about this planet and its people. And you, Paul--may I call you Paul? You, Paul, will not tell a soul back on Earth of the things I am going to tell you. Of this I am certain."

"Sir?" Davis didn't mind the man treating him like a son; that was actually kind of nice. But it would be nice if he could find the rug under his feet.

"Don't worry, it will all come clear," Etienne chuckled, patting his arm. "And I am very happy to tell you, because the alternative--going where the others were going--hasn't been all that pleasant over the last few hours."

Etienne chuckled again. "Oh, never fear, my boy. I refer only to the fact that screaming toddlers have never been my cup of tea."

Ahdji led them toward Nalia's own quarters, and as they approached, he slowed, stopping several feet away. He cocked his head, listening.

"Shhh," Ahdji held up a hand to Sam, and the men kept quiet as well. Hearing nothing, he looked up. "Be very quiet," he cautioned, continuing to the entrance to Nalia's quarters.

"I hope so," Ahdji whispered back, his eyes speaking of some horrific earlier experience. He listened again at the doorway, and then palmed the door open without requesting permission first, having been told to do so. He beckoned them into the sitting room, and gestured them to seats, except for Jack, whom he pulled further along into the suite. Down a short hall, there was a room with an open doorway, and Ahdji practically tiptoed to it. Jack remembered being quiet when Charlie was sleeping, but he thought this was really overdoing it. How bad could a day-old infant be? Maybe because they had so few children, the Furlings weren't used to them. He followed Ahdji to the doorway, and saw him motion to someone inside.

Nalia appeared quickly, slipped around the security officer, and came to Jack, giving him a hug, which startled him. He brought his own hands up to awkwardly pat her back. She pulled away and smiled wistfully at him. "He cried himself to sleep, Jack," she whispered. "But I know he would want you to wake him." She extended her palm toward the room beyond.

Nalia gave him the same slightly pained smile, and took his hand. She led him into the room, and over to a baby crib. Taking a deep breath, Jack braced himself for his first real, knowing look at the infant Daniel, only to exhale explosively. The child in the crib was no infant. The child in the crib was at least a year old. Laying on his stomach, little fists clenched in his blanket, mouth open, blonde hair hanging down his forehead, a one-year-old Daniel slept with tear tracks still on his flushed cheeks.

"He asked for you," she said apologetically in a hushed voice. "Once he knew you were gone, he was inconsolable. We couldn't seem to get through to him that you would be back."

Jack looked down again. Daniel had been a doll at one, he saw, and he was now getting to see it. Not a year from now, but today. He looked back at Nalia.

"Wake him," she nodded. "He wants to see you. Then we can all go out and talk." She left the room.

Jack looked for the means by which the side of the bed would lower, but couldn't find it, and then remembering how much the Furlings favored palming things on and off, he ran his hands over everything, and found an indentation. With enough strength--strength a toddler wouldn't have--he was able to depress it, and the side of the bed came down.

The sleeping baby startled at the shake of the bed, and lifted his head. "Zack?" He pushed himself up on his elbows and turned so he could see who was there. "Zack?"

Jack went to his knees beside the bed, and the two stared at each other. Daniel's lower lip pouted out. "Zack left me," Daniel accused in his baby voice, sitting up.

Jack swallowed hard. "I didn't know," he whispered. "Daniel, I--I--Daniel, is that you? Are you in there?"

The child looked around himself in confusion. Then he pouted again. "Zack left me," he repeated.

"No," Daniel huffed, his pout more prominent. He crossed his little arms. "Zack bad. Go 'way, Zack. Bad Zack."

Jack lifted his chin, enlightenment hitting him, and then dropped his gaze before the disappointment showed in his eyes. When he looked back up, his distress that Daniel's mind was not entirely intact, after all, was well-hidden. He gave the child an apologetic smile. "I know," he commiserated. "I am a bad Jack. I should have to--kiss your foot," he declared, and hurriedly did so, then faked retching. "Yuck, ewww, yuck!"

Daniel giggled, but still said sternly, "Bad Zack!" He fought to hold onto his frown.

"That's right," Jack agreed heartily. "And I should have to kiss your other foot!" He did that, too, and started rolling on the floor in agony. "Ohhhhh, grosssssss, yucky!"

Daniel lay on his stomach at the edge of the bed, peering down at him and giggling. "Bad Zack," he laughed.

Jack came up on his knees. "Yes, I am," he nodded. "You should have me beaten with a wet noodle!" When Daniel looked concerned, Jack clarified. "Spaghetti!"

Daniel rolled over, giggling, his hands covering his mouth, and Jack pounced, taking the opportunity to snatch the child up. He did a little tickling, but when it died down, he held Daniel in his arms, and rubbed his head repentantly against Daniel's. "Forgiven?" he asked.

"No," Jack shook his head immediately, knowing it was the absolute truth. "I'm staying right here with you, Daniel."

Daniel grabbed his head in both little hands and gave him a nice, wet baby kiss. "O--kay," he chirped.

"Good!" Jack felt a load lifted, which he found amusing, and that helped his mood even further. He ignored the part of his mind that was hurting over Daniel still not being himself. Holding the loving little body in his arms, feeling him clinging in return, and remembering his own son and how short time really is, he doubly promised himself that he wasn't leaving the love of his life again, no matter what form he was in, and no matter what pressure was brought to bear. "I won't leave you again, Daniel," he said aloud, abruptly.

Daniel looked at him with a sober eye that seemed far beyond a one-year-old. "Pomis?" he asked hopefully.

Daniel gave him another big wet one, and Jack wiped his face. "Yuck," he teased, and wiped the moisture on his hand onto Daniel, who giggled. "Hey, buddy," he told Daniel, "you've got some friends who've come to visit."

Daniel's eyes went round. "Ohhh," he breathed. "Who?" He sounded like a tiny owl.

"Well, let's go see," Jack lurched to his feet with Daniel in his arms, and took off down the hall.

"Teak!" Daniel wiggled in the universal language of children who want to be put down, and Jack obliged. The one-year-old toddled precariously over to a shell-shocked Jaffa, and grabbed onto his knees for support. He held up his arms to the Jaffa. "Teak! Teak!"

Giving himself a little shake, Teal'c lifted Daniel under the armpits, his own arms straight, but Daniel wiggled and gestured until he relented and bent his arms enough for the child to give him a hug. Both of his arms went around Teal'c's neck, and made the toddler look even smaller than he was. Daniel managed to get his feet under him on Teal'c's thighs, and pushed away enough so that he could walk across Teal'c to Sam, who sat open-mouthed next to the Jaffa.

"Sam!" His walking surface uneven to say the least, Daniel practically threw himself into Sam's arms, who deftly caught him, her military reflexes still as good as ever.

"Daniel?" she asked incredulously, pushing at Teal'c's hands where the Jaffa had still not let go of the boy. "I've got him, Teal'c. Daniel, is that you?"

"Semi," Jack said in warning as he took a chair across the room. He watched Daniel give Sam a big kiss, and immediately squirm down off her lap. "He's not quite himself, Carter."

She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind, and looked back at Daniel wondering if she'd lost hers. Daniel ran over to General Hammond, who sat in a large armchair, and looked completely nonplussed. Nonetheless, he was more accustomed to children than any of them, and easily picked Daniel up and sat him on his lap. Daniel hugged his round stomach, as much as his tiny arms would go around.

He smiled brightly. "Zennel Hammon," he replied, his tone clearly saying it was obvious, as it was.

"Daniel," Nalia went on, wanting to make a point, "what does General Hammond do?"

Daniel looked up at her and thought about it, and then replied, "wun essysee," he shrugged, and wiggled down to the ground again.

Nalia took the seat next to the General. "He said you run the SGC," she interpreted.

Hammond held up a palm, forestalling anything further. "I got that," he told her wryly. "I have grandchildren."

"Ah," she grinned. She looked at Daniel as he tried to pull a resisting Jack out of his chair by two of the Colonel's fingers. "And so do I now, it seems," she murmurs. "A little one, anyway," she amended.

"But for how long?" Sam asked, eyes still huge. "I mean, Holy Hannah! Sir," she looked earnestly at Hammond, "I swear, yesterday, he was this big!" She held up her hands about 20 inches apart.

Hammond looked up at the physician he'd met on his last trip to Annule, Phael, who so far had remained silent, standing back and observing the reactions of those in the room. "How is this possible?" he asked the doctor, completely at a loss.

"Annule," Teal'c rumbled in an involuntary response, before Phael could open his mouth.

The healer smiled broadly. "You are certainly right, Teal'c," he replied, taking a chair. Jack had finally allowed himself to be pulled out of his chair, and was now on the floor, pretending he was too tired to get to his feet, and letting Daniel literally walk all over him, which the toddler found quite amusing. The healer noticed that Jack was still sparing some of his attention on their conversation.

"As you can see," Phael nodded at Daniel, "Daniel has aged approximately a year during the night. There is no sign, as there was with Annule, that Daniel himself is expending any energy to age at this rate. In fact, the kind of energy required to age a child this much overnight would likely," he lowered his voice, "kill the child." He threw a glance to see that Daniel hadn't heard.

"But Colonel O'Neill aged very quickly when he had some experimental Goa'uld nanocytes introduced into his system," Hammond objected.

"Goa'uld technology is not natural," Phael nodded at the General. "Their experimentation alters the natural responses of the body."

"Plus," Sam remembered something, "we found out that the nanocytes were only mimicking the effects of age in Colonel O'Neill. While that still would have killed him, it wasn't true aging."

"And this is?" Hammond asked, unable to keep a slight smile off his face as he watched Daniel tumble on Jack's stomach repeatedly, Jack's exaggerated response each time, and the giggling it induced as a result.

"Actually, yes," Phael told him. "It doesn't seem so to us, of course, but this is, in fact, true aging. Daniel is not one day old. The Daniel you see before you is physically and emotionally over a year old. He is completely healthy, although granted, I do need to examine him further." He smiled ruefully. "Daniel was most difficult this morning."

The toddler's head popped up. "Nuh-uh!" He smacked a chubby fist on Jack's chest. "Zack bad. Zack bad!"

"That's right!" Jack tilted his head back to look at them upside down from the floor, and pointed a finger for emphasis. He looked back at Daniel. "Where's that wet noodle?" The toddler broke into laughter again, and the adults felt safe to continue their conversation.

"From what I could see," Phael phrased his words more carefully, "Daniel is completely healthy, and seems to be emotionally and physically at the level of a one-year-old child. I see no signs of anything unnatural or unstable in his aging, and so the next question becomes--is it continuing?"

He looked at Nalia, clearly already knowing the answer, and she picked up. "He looks the same to me now as he did when I first saw him early this morning," she told the members of the SGC.

"If it is indeed Annule who has aged DanielJackson," Teal'c pondered, "why bring him to the age of one and then stop?"

"Not top, not top," Daniel began to fret, staring at them, and he pulled again at Jack's hand. "Up, Zack, up!" He seemed so distressed all of a sudden that Jack got up, watching Daniel as closely as the others were now.

Daniel grabbed two of his fingers and began tottering off down the hall toward the room his crib was in, and with a glance over his shoulder, Jack allowed himself to be led. The others got up as well, wanting to know what was going through the toddler's mind. The situation was odd enough that no clue could be discounted. They stood just inside the room and in the doorway as Daniel pulled Jack down before a window. He pointed unhappily at it. "Aman close!" he accused, as if it were a crime. The lower lip made another appearance. "Zack, open!"

The toddler stamped his foot, finger still pointing at the window, obstinate look on his face, and more than one SGC member had to fight not to laugh at the sheer Daniel-ness of it. "Open, Zack, open!"

Shrugging at Nalia, Jack palmed open the window, and Daniel leaned against the windowsill immediately, looking out, Jack's hands just as immediately around his waist, since there was no screen. "Daniel?" Jack asked.

"Shhhh," the toddler nearly hummed, oblivious to the roomful of adults waiting behind him. "Not top," he murmured unhappily, lip still out. "Not top, 'Nule, not top, o-kay?"

Jack narrowed his eyes at Daniel, glanced back at the others, and then looked back at the toddler. Daniel opened his eyes at that moment and smiled beatifically. "Not top," he said triumphantly. "Not top. Big boy. Me big boy."

Nalia distracted the child, catching his chin. "Daniel, do you know how big you were yesterday?"

Daniel looked at her as if it were as plain as the nose on her face. "'Nule," he shrugged.

He seemed distracted, and Nalia caught his chin again. "Is Annule making you grow right now?"

"No," he answered. "Not goin'. 'Nule talkin'." He turned back to the window, staring hard off into the distance.

Jack got it at the same moment as Nalia. "Whoa," he exchanged glances with her. "You don't think--Nah," he shook his head.

Nalia moved closer to Daniel, so that his back pressed against her. She looked out the window with him, her cheek to his. "Annule is talking to you?" she asked.

"No," the healer said definitively, shaking his head. "No one has ever heard Annule speak when in non-Furling form."

Daniel peered around Nalia at them and scrunched up his face. "Shhhhh," he told them sternly.

Daniel glared at him. "Shh!" he hissed, and leaned closer to the window, Nalia now holding him.

"I goed," Daniel told her. "'Nule say I go again evvy night." He looked at her. "'Nule say leave winnow open, Aman."

Daniel nodded soberly, and then turned his face outward again, cocking his head.

"Shh," he whispered softly, still listening. He nodded, then nodded again, and then startled them all. "O-kay!" he shouted, sounding peeved. Another moment's time had him hanging his head. "Yes," he said meekly. "I sor-ry. O-kay." He looked up. "'Nule say and I say, o-kay?"

Daniel didn't seem to notice, his gaze out the window again. "I," he said suddenly. "Need. Agg--Aggses--" He shook his head and listened again. "Ack. Sess. To. Daniel." Daniel smiled at his name. "Tru. Open. Winnow. Door. Or. Out. Side." Daniel looked over at his grandmother. "O-kay, Aman?"

Jack noticed she seemed stunned. "Okay, hold the phones here," he interrupted in the voice of reason. "We don't know that this isn't just an active imagination speaking here."

"Zack," Daniel looked up, and then outside. "'Nule say--Tank. You. For. Let-ting. Me. Pre. Ten. Tank. You. For. My. Memmy." Daniel looked up at Jack expectantly.

The Colonel looked around at the other adult faces awaiting explanation. "Memory," he exhaled heavily. "Okay," he surrendered. "It's Annule."

It was a severely stunned Major that Etienne had ushered into the dining area for the evening meal the night before, but one who had been thoroughly brought up to speed on all things Furling--and Daniel. Even though Davis had seen Daniel last night, he still looked rather unsettled, Jack thought, as he looked down and across the breakfast table at Daniel, who was waving frenetically. "Hey," he nudged the toddler. "How come you can say his name right, but you can't say mine right?"

The child looked at him with eyes that seemed much older than Jack's--and just a touch patronizing. "Zack?"

"Colonel," Hammond chuckled warningly, enjoying a Furling dish covered in something very similar to a cheese sauce.

"Riiiight," Jack surrendered. "Zack. Got it." He put some more finger foods in front of the toddler.

Jack dropped his mouth open, rolled his eyes back in his head, and shook his face, letting his cheeks flap. Daniel rolled all over his high chair tray with laughter.

Paul Davis took a seat at the table. "It's all true," he stated softly, repeating himself from the night before. He looked over at General Hammond, the incredulity plain in his eyes. The two men spoke at the same time.

"Hey!" Jack protested. Major Carter threw Davis a quick glare and Hammond an even quicker one--when he wasn't looking--and Teal'c inclined his head in agreement. Daniel just yanked Jack's sleeve to show him an imitation of Jack's head shake.

Etienne took his seat at that point, his plate already prepared for him by Nalia. "Ah, that's charming," he commented, seeing Daniel mimic Jack's cheek-flapping maneuvers. "My compliments, Colonel. I can't even begin to imagine what a wonderful education lies in store for Daniel." Nalia laughed.

All eyes turned to him immediately, except for Daniel, who was still trying to figure out how to roll his eyes back in his head. "Oh?" Jack asked, wondering if he should hope or not.

"Well," the healer gestured around the food-laden table at its occupants, "you've seen that he remembers you all," he pointed out. "And I did a little testing--a precious little," he qualified. Daniel had refused to be separated from Jack, and the only way to do the testing without him physically in the room was to set up an imaging screen that showed Daniel Jack, standing just outside the door. Even so, Phael had to keep interrupting the testing every five minutes or so to open the door and prove to Daniel that Jack really was still there, waiting for him.

"And," Phael continued, "something Nalia and I had discussed appears to be true." He nodded at the elderly ayarro. "Daniel's memories, his mental abilities--basically, who Daniel is, is all still there. The only thing is, at present, he's accessing the information at the physical and emotional level of the age he is--at present, since he grew again last night, two years of age. The information in his brain, however, is intact. With direct questioning, you will see what I mean." With a nod to Major Carter, Phael turned his attention to Daniel, who sensed it and looked over.

The toddler looked a few seats over to where Sam had pulled out her GDO, as Phael had pre-arranged with her. Daniel nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh."

Daniel's little baby blue eyes seemed to think it over. "Zeedeeoh," he declared, grinning at the smiles that told him he got it right.

Daniel's chubby face turned to the ceiling again, briefly. "Uh-huh," he decided. "Yep."

Sam got up and brought the GDO around to Daniel's chair, and squatted down beside him. "Sweetie, do you remember what you did when you used it?" She quickly wiped the food off his hands with a napkin.

He looked at her with a suddenly pouting lip and big, fearful eyes. "Did it bad?" he asked in a small voice.

"No, no," Sam smiled, and couldn't resist; she kissed his forehead. "No, you did it perfectly. We just want you to show us how you did it."

The toddler brightened. "O-kay," he bobbed his head once, threatened tears forgotten.

"I'll hold it," Sam instructed, laying the GDO in her palms securely and giving him access, "and you show me what buttons you pressed."

Scrunching his face into a frightening parody of adult Daniel's concentration, the child Daniel's tiny little fingers hesitantly pointed out each button, waiting each time for a smile from Sam that told him he'd done it right, before moving on to the next one. Seven buttons were indicated, and Sam kissed the top of his head, straightening up. "Good job, Daniel," she praised, smiling as he clapped his hands for himself. She turned to Hammond. "General," she tilted her head to the side, lifting the GDO up, "if we were at the Stargate, the iris would now be disabled."

Etienne chuckled, leaning forward and resting his chin on steepled fingers, elbows on the table. "I think your government would call that a national security risk, General," he smirked. "Worthy of a bodyguard, perhaps?" His eyes flicked meaningfully at O'Neill.

Hammond was still shocked that even as a two-year-old, Daniel could pull up all the secrets of the SGC--even if he couldn't understand them. He nodded slowly. "Oh, I think so," he agreed.

"But you can't tell them," Davis interjected. "You can't be meaning to tell them about Daniel's current state, General," he protested.

"I don't think we have to," Sam put in, retaking her seat. "Daniel's been reported--" she lowered her voice, with a glance at the child, who Jack obligingly distracted, "dead, but we've done that before and then found him alive again, so they're not going to be too overwhelmed if we go back and say that the Furlings managed to revive Daniel--"

"Or that he was not dead in the first place," Teal'c put in, "since we did say his demise was due to an alien weapon. We can simply say we were mistaken as to its properties."

"Hey, Zack," Daniel tugged on the Colonel's sleeve. He pointed slyly at Hammond. "That's Zorge."

Jack nodded, smiling. General Hammond raised an eyebrow and couldn't resist a small grin, either.

"Right," Sam nodded to Teal'c. "We have a lot of possibilities. So we tell them Daniel's still alive, but has to stay here for a while for treatment, just like he did when he went through the Change. And he's vulnerable to questioning at the moment, and since the Furlings sometimes have visitors ..."

"It's in our best interests to have SGC representation with him at all times," Davis picked up, taking to the idea. "For our protection and his. Frankly, sir," he looked at Hammond, "as long as the Pentagon gets what they want and relations with the Furlings are such that future trade is likely, I don't think they'll question anything too closely."

"Particularly not if it relates to SG-1," Hammond agreed wryly. He looked across the table at Etienne. "And as for what the Pentagon wants--"

"Already taken care of," Nalia smiled, nodding to an assistant, who came forward with folders for Davis and Hammond. "This is the additional treaty, already signed and approved. All you have to do is sign it. Access by Major Carter to information on the motor, in exchange for an expanded range of Earth cultural gifts--copies of course, the nature of which gifts are outlined in the brief. However," she looked at Major Davis, "I would like to recommend that you don't let your Pentagon know that an agreement has been reached so quickly."

"There is an old Jaffa saying," Teal'c announced, before she could answer. All heads turned his way.

"Well, let us have it, T," Jack invited, despite being busy pretending to be trying to bite off Daniel's fingers, who was having a ball putting them in harm's way and then yanking them back before he could get them.

The Jaffa looked amused at his antics. "As close as I can translate it, O'Neill: Refusing to barter can get one killed'."

Jack gave him a sarcastic look. "Now see, a grown-up Daniel could have told us what you mean by that."

"I think I understand," Nalia was smiling. "Accepting the first offer in a bartering arrangement indicates desperation; desperation indicates weakness."

Teal'c inclined his head to her, pleased. "You may make the trade, but with your weakness now exposed, you may be ambushed on the journey home by the very person with whom you bartered."

"Zack," Daniel tugged on his sleeve again, and pointed at Davis, giggling. "That's Paul." He looked up at Jack, expecting him to get the joke. Jack nodded, humoring the toddler with a smile. Major Davis looked across the table with interest.

"Well, then," Hammond got back on topic, sliding his folder over to Davis, "I think you'd better keep this, Major. I'll go back today and tell them you're continuing negotiations, along with the rest of SG-1. In four or five days, you can come through and announce your 'success.' You can give me the treaty then. I don't want to have it on me just in case."

Nalia got up quickly and slipped a sheet of paper out of the folder, creasing it in half and coming around the table to Hammond. "There is one part of the treaty you should take with you, General," she told him. "It won't look like anything by itself, and if its significance is somehow understood later, you can always say that these are items I asked you about." She handed him the folded paper. "But you might need the extra time."

He folded it again, and then once more, and then slipped it into his shirt pocket and buttoned it. "Cultural gifts?" he guessed.

"Yes," she grinned. "And I will explain to you before you go." She returned to her seat.

"Zack," Daniel yanked on Jack's sleeve insistently. "Your name Zonason. Zon," he giggled.

Jack bobbed his head at the two-year-old, his eyes saying he thought the kid was daft. "Ye-ah," he agreed.

Daniel put a chubby hand in front of his mouth to hold back the giggles. "Look, Zack. You Zon, there Paul, there Zorge." He pointed at each man.

Jack shook his head in an exaggerated motion. "And? So? Therefore?" he asked, smiling to soften his words.

Davis cleared his throat, fighting a smile. "Actually, Colonel," he said quietly. "I think I get it." He looked at Daniel. "All we're missing is Ringo," he shrugged.

"Yeah!" Daniel was delighted to have his joke understood, and thrilled with the chuckles from the humans around the table.

Jack groaned, throwing back his head. "That was baaaad, Daniel," he shook a finger. "Now we have to explain the Beatles to these nice folks, and I don't think that's possible."

Phael cleared his throat. "I would like to make a suggestion, however, regarding Daniel's education."

Jack looked at him suspiciously. "I thought you said Daniel didn't need one - that everything's still there."

"I believe it is," Phael nodded. "However, Daniel was raised as a human. There are certain things that Furling children are taught that Daniel never got the chance to learn. I would like to suggest that Daniel receive education in those matters."

"What matters?" Jack narrowed his eyes at them, unconsciously scooting a little in front of Daniel, who began to take advantage of the situation.

"For one thing, Colonel," Nalia told him earnestly, "it would help Daniel deal with undesirable life forces."

Jack shook his head. "Your Furling education didn't help Ahdji deal with Kinsey," he pointed out.

"That was hardly fair," Etienne retorted. "That--man--was--" he made a sound of disgust, unable to think of a proper word.

"What?" Sam asked, having heard about the incident, and the Furlings' reaction to the Senator.

Nalia sighed heavily. "Diseased," she said uncomfortably, the mere memory of Kinsey's life force enough to unsettle her stomach. "He was--" She shook her head helplessly at Sam. "Rotted."

"Even the Goa'uld have something good about them," Etienne said by way of explanation, ignoring Jack's snort, and idly wondering what Daniel was up to behind him and how Jack was managing to ignore it. "Sometimes it's the love of a mate, or a child--and they do love, once in a while, in their own fashion. Sometimes, what's good about them comes from the host. The host can have more influence than the Goa'uld know--though the Goa'uld remains firmly in control of the body. But every now and then, there occurs an individual--Goa'uld or not, as was the case with your Senator--where every good thing inside the being has been perverted to evil, decayed through and through--" he shook his head as if to clear it. "We Furlings educate our children to be able to handle the usual in those who to come to visit us, or those who might try to destroy us. Preparing them for one such as Kinsey, however, if it could even be done, would be cruel, and because of how unlikely they are to encounter one here on Annule, unnecessary. So yes, Ahdji was not prepared for Kinsey. Nor was I or Nalia, but we are a good deal older than Ahdji. We can at least prepare Daniel to the point where he doesn't need to live on your base."

"That's good," Sam said hesitantly, when it became clear that Jack was going to keep quiet. He was finally getting suspicious of what Daniel had been doing behind his back. "What else will you teach him?"

"We can bring him up to date as a Furling, so to speak," Nalia smiled at her. "We won't be taking away from Daniel, merely adding a little of his heritage."

A squeal of laughter greeted Jack's cry of outrage as he sat back in his chair at last, only to smash the remains of Daniel's dinner into the back of his clothes. With moisture seeping through the cloth, he turned a glare on the two-year-old. "You're an evil little kid," he declared.

Jack burst in the door and snatched up the three-year-old screaming on the floor. "All right, that's enough!" he exploded. "He's too young still, obviously!"

Daniel was clinging to him for dear life, arms and legs, and sobbing into Jack's chest. Phael's assistant looked at him worriedly. "But we have to teach him--"

"Tomorrow," Phael interjected, from the doorway, huffing as if he'd just run to get there. He stepped into the room. "Nothing more until tomorrow, and Jack," he looked at the human, "I think you'd better be present."

"You're damn right!" Jack turned on his heel and strode out, clutching the small boy in his arms and rubbing his back. He nearly burst out of the Palace and out onto a private lawn. There was one person already out there, and one quick look at Jack told that Furling to get lost immediately.

Jack sat down on the lawn Indian-style, cradling the little boy in his arms. Daniel was winding down now, just crying instead of sobbing, and Jack used his shirt to wipe at his face. "It's okay," he leaned over the child in his lap. "I promise, it's all over."

Daniel turned sideways, fists clenching in Jack's shirt. "Don't go, Zack, don't go," he pleaded.

Jack pulled Daniel up against his chest again, hugging him fiercely. "Baby, I'm not leaving," he murmured into the blonde hair. He rocked Daniel against him until there were only hiccoughs, and then a little longer until Daniel started moving restlessly of his own accord. He lay the boy back down in his lap and arms.

Daniel looked up at him through bleary blue eyes. Jack used one hand to caress the little face. "Daniel," he murmured.

"Zack?" he got in a small voice. Jack smiled; they were still doing the same routine.

"Let's talk," Jack brushed wispy strands of blonde hair off of the toddler's face. "Now, you knew I was just outside the door, right?" he asked carefully.

The lower lip stuck out a bit as the child nodded, and Jack pushed it back in with his finger.

"Well, how come you got so upset, then?" he asked gently. "I was right there, Daniel."

More tears filled up the blue eyes. "Don't lea' me, Zack," the same small voice said with an insecure quiver.

Jack smiled, and leaned over to rub noses with the child. "Silly boy," he whispered. "Didn't I promise I wouldn't leave you ever again?"

Jack hugged him up again. "Okay," he nodded. "Okay." Abandonment issues, his mind tried to comprehend. Grown-up Daniel had abandonment issues, but he also had the wisdom of age to handle it. Daniel as a three-year-old did not, and it had only been two days since he'd woke up only to be told that Jack had gone back to Earth without him. "Okay," Jack murmured. He pulled back again. "You don't have to go in there alone any more if you don't want to, Daniel."

"Okay, then," Jack nodded once. "I'll just go in there with you and they can teach me too. Who knows?" he opened his eyes too widely and raised his eyebrows. "Maybe I'll learn something. What do you think?" he looked at the toddler suspiciously.

"Uh-uh?" Jack gave him a small shake in outrage. "Uh-uh? Does that mean you don't think I can learn something?"

"Oh!" Jack faked outrage. "Well, you know what that means, don't you?" He loosened his hold lightly, giving the toddler the opening to get away if he'd take it.

"That means I'm just going to have to call the Tickle Monster to show you you're so, so wrong," Jack said regretfully.

"Here I am, Jack," Jack boomed in a deep, gravelly voice, prompting Daniel to squeal and toddle faster. He took off after the child. "Shall I take care of that unruly child for you?" he boomed.

"Yes, please!" Jack called out in his normal voice. "Okay!" he boomed in the monster voice, and overtaking Daniel, snatched the child up, went into a dive, cushioning Daniel with his own body by twisting around, and then rolled over to pin the toddler's hands above his head in one hand. He then set about tickling at his leisure.

"Ho, hum," the monster yawned as he tickled here and there at random, Daniel screaming with laughter and squirming every which way. He wasn't holding Daniel's hands very securely, and it didn't take long for the child to free himself.

"I'm the monster!" he declared, getting unsteadily to his feet, and then throwing himself onto Jack.

Jack let himself be bowled over onto his back, and fought very lamely against the toddler's tickling attempts. "No, stop! Please," he begged, exaggerating his responses for Daniel's delight. "Please stop, Mr. Monster! Please, please!"

Abruptly, Daniel threw himself flat on Jack's chest, and Jack's arms came up to catch him. The little boy wrapped one arm around Jack's shoulder and neck, the other around his chest under his arm. "Love you, Zack," he said quietly.

Jack's arms tightened on Daniel. "And I love you, Daniel. I love you more than anything."

"Quick, now, he'll be back any minute," Nalia whispered conspiratorially. She and Daniel had their heads together, watching for Jack's return from a visit to the men's room. "Jjjjjjjjjjjjack. Jjjjjjjjjjjack."

Nalia gave him a hug. "Much better, Daniel! You're doing very well. Say it quick now. Jack."

He beamed with pleasure at her approval and picked up the large drawing on the chair beside him. Holding it up with straight arms, he looked at her nervously. "It's okay, Aman?"

The old woman surveyed the hand-drawn picture of the four members of SG-1, standing in front of the Stargate, which had been colored in bright blue. It wasn't a work of art, but for a four-year-old, it wasn't bad at all. Off to the side, there was a small figure running toward the team, or at least she assumed the character was running, as its legs were all akimbo, and the size was just about right for the depiction to be Daniel, not to mention the baby-light blonde hair. She wondered what Jack would say about the fact that Daniel had drawn himself in the picture twice, both as an adult and as he presently was. Off to the far side were more characters, and from the amount of gray coloring used, she imagined she was one of them. She smiled wryly to herself. "It's wonderful, Daniel." She gave him a one-armed hug so as not to wrinkle it.

"A present! A present!" Daniel hopped down off the sofa and jumped all the way over to Jack, waving the picture. "Look, look, it's for you." He held onto the picture when Jack bent down, and smiled shyly, meeting Jack's eyes. "Chack."

Jack broke out in a grin. "Wow," he exclaimed, taking the picture in one hand and grabbing Daniel up in the other, and joining Nalia at the couch. "You said my name right!"

Daniel clapped his hands together. "Chack, Chack, look at your present! Look, look!"

Seating Daniel more securely, Jack freed his hands up to examine the picture carefully. "Well, look at that," he drawled. "There's the Stargate, and there's four people, and they're dressed in green, so that means they must be Martians."

"No?" Jack looked honestly confused, and took another look at the picture. "Okay, let me see now, dressed in green, dressed in green, and look, there's a little guy, sooooo--maybe these are big elves here, and that's a little elf there, and--"

Jack sighed heavily. "Well, if they're not Martians, and they're not elves, I guess, then," he turned his head one way, looking at the picture, then the other, "they probably would have to be ..." he turned the picture slowly upside down and back again, then looked up hopefully at Daniel. "SG-1?"

"Yes!" Daniel clapped his hands and bounced on his lap. "Look," he pointed, "that's Sam, that's Teal'c, and that's you, Chack, and there's me running over to you and you're gonna pick me up and swing me high up in the air!"

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, I am, huh? And who are these guys?" he pointed to the group off to the side.

"That's Aman," Daniel pointed, smiling up at his grandmother, "and that's Etienne, and that's Ahdji."

"Aha," Jack nodded. "I see. This is really good, Daniel," he praised. "You did a really great job!"

Daniel hid his face in Jack's chest at the compliment, and Jack hugged him, smiling over his head at Nalia. "But, uh, Daniel?" he asked, wondering if he ought to keep quiet, but unable to, "who's this other fella?" He pointed at the adult Daniel with the rest of SG-1.

Daniel regarded his depiction of his mature self, but didn't speak. Jack crooked his neck around to see that Daniel was not smiling, just staring at the picture. "Daniel?" he asked softly.

Daniel turned suddenly in his arms and became a clinging vine, and Jack handed Nalia the picture to wrap his arms around the child. "Hey, talk to me," he prompted. Nalia leaned in close too, her hand on Daniel's back.

The four-year-old didn't seem to be upset, only a little sad. "'Nule says it's gone," he whispered.

Jack and Nalia exchanged glances, Jack finding it difficult to breathe. "What is, Daniel?" he asked, afraid that the four-year-old really knew.

Nalia scooted in a little closer and rubbed his back. "You're still here, Daniel," she assured him.

Jack tightened his arms around the little body. "Everything's going to be okay, Danny," he promised.

"I know," the high little voice said again. "'Nule says I'll be big again. Almost the same."

Jack gritted his teeth and fought to keep anger out of his voice. "Almost the same, Danny?"

The boy nodded against his chest. "Almost." He pulled back and looked at Jack, and bit on his lower lip. Reaching up, he took Jack's face in his hands. "Chack?"

The little boy looked at him with the utmost seriousness. "Do you like my picture?"

Jack's brows came together and his mouth dropped open in outrage. "Did you draw me this picture just to get ice cream?" he thundered in exaggerated fury.

"Oh, sure, you say that now," Jack grumbled. "Madame Nalia," he said imperiously standing up and swinging Daniel up onto his shoulders. "Would you be so kind as to watch after Sir Daniel's masterpiece for me? We must go on a quest to the Stargate for ice cream, since that is one thing you Furlings don't seem to have."

Nalia shook her head sorrowfully. "We are so behind the times," she commiserated. She inclined her head to them both as she stood. "I will watch out for the masterpiece, indeed," she promised. Daniel leaned down, holding onto Jack's head, to give her a kiss, and she stood on her tiptoes to receive it. "But only if you bring some back for me."

"Deal," Jack replied. "We'll just have to hope the Great Wizard of Hammond is in a good mood today, Danny-boy." He enjoyed the giggles he got in reply.

When they returned with enough ice cream for 30 people, Daniel and Jack were extremely popular. After it had all been dished out, Jack and Teal'c and Daniel ended up on one of the Palace balconies, watching the sun just beginning to set. The two men made sure to sit well away from Daniel, whose little hands could not keep up with the demands of the melting ice cream, which was getting all over him. But he seemed happy with it, nonetheless. His little pink tongue licked endlessly at chocolate ice cream cone, and he held it very seriously in both hands.

"You gonna hang around, Teal'c?" Jack asked, speaking quietly in the hush of day's end. "You could go spend some time with Ryac. I'm sure Hammond would okay it."

The Jaffa smiled down at the little blonde that looked up at him, curious as well about his answer. "Ryac is undergoing Mer-sholmak with several other Jaffa boys his age. Master Bratac himself is supervising."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Ahhh," he nodded. "Mer-sha ..." he trailed off, looking at Daniel. "--Mer-sha-mellow?"

"Now, if you can get that, why was my name so hard?" Jack muttered. "So you gonna join them, T?" he asked the Jaffa.

Teal'c shook his head, a tiny smile playing on his lips. "For the rite of Mer-sholmak, the boys are taken to an uninhabited world. No one but their masters are aware of the location until the conclusion of the rite."

"Ahhh," Jack nodded. "Of course. Okay, good, the more, the merrier, I always say."

Daniel looked at him skeptically, and Jack scowled back. "Hey, wipe that look off your face, young man! You're too young for looks like that!"

"Soooo," Jack finished off his ice cream, and eyed Daniel's--which was all over him--with disgust, "what are we going to do tomorrow? For that matter, we've got several weeks' vacation now. What are we going to do? We need a plan."

"Well, because," Jack shrugged. "You don't just go on vacation with nothing in mind to do. You've got to have some plans."

"True!" Jack held up his index finger gratefully. "And I'm sure they've got stuff to do--well, Old Eddy told me they do--but we'd better ask somebody else, because I don't think Ed'd know fun if it bit him on the--"

"Oh, right!" Jack clamped his hands over Daniel's ears, grinning. "Virgin ears," he whispered to Teal'c. He got his hands out of the way just in time to avoid being swiped by Daniel's chocolate ice cream-covered ones.

"O'Neill," Teal'c was frowning, examining Daniel, "I fail to see how one's ears can be termed--"

Jack threw up his hands. "Yet another name he has no problem with!" He saw Daniel stand up out of his peripheral vision, and turning back to tell him he was only kidding, he was too late to avoid the trap. The remains of Daniel's ice cream cone, mushy and melted, was smeared across his face by a giggling, small-handed fiend.

Jack remained utterly motionless after Daniel finished, and kept his eyes closed. "I just know," he said slowly, "that there is not a kid standing in front of me. I know that kid took off running, because if there is a kid standing in front of me, that kid is going to get pulverized!" And on that, he threw out his arms to catch the four-year-old, who turned to run too late, and snatched him into a tight hug, growling and gnashing his teeth and twisting from side to side. Daniel screamed with laughter.

"Sa' me, sa' me!" was all the child could manage over his own laughter and Jack's animal noises and thrashing. In no time, Teal'c had Jack standing, held by the back of the neck with one hand, and Daniel held by the back of his overalls with the other hand, hanging in the air at arms' length.

"You are both a mess," the Jaffa declared, eyeing his chocolate ice-cream-decorated friends.

"I'll be good," Jack promised, neck scrunched. Teal'c let go, and Jack sighed in relief. "Thanks, T," he said happily. He slapped a hand on Teal'c's arm, smearing ice cream down from the edge of the t-shirt to the wrist, and quickly stepped back out of reach.

Daniel giggled, and Teal'c swung on him. "This is amusing to you?" he inquired forebodingly of the small person suspended in his grip.

"Uh-huh!" Daniel chirped, nodding vigorously. "Teal'c, I gotta tell you something."

Daniel didn't seem fazed in the slightest. "It's a secret," he looked at Jack suspiciously, and made a gesture for Teal'c to pull him in closer so that Jack couldn't hear. Exchanging a look with the Colonel, who smirked, Teal'c grudgingly obliged, and as soon as he was in arms' reach, Daniel wrapped his arms around Teal'c's head, ice cream and all. "I love you, Teal'c," he purred.

Jack burst out laughing; the tone was so perfectly that of a child who hoped they were saying it sweetly enough to get away with something. Not that he bought for a moment that Teal'c hadn't known what Daniel was going to do, and allowed it. Of course, he did not believe Teal'c had allowed him to smear the Jaffa's arm--that had surely been due to Jack's exceptional cunning. Jack laughed again.

"You too, find this amusing?" Teal'c asked sternly, setting Daniel down on the ground.

Teal'c looked at them both. "I believe you both need to--go jump in the lake," he stated, no trace of a smile on his face.

Jack looked down at Daniel, and Daniel looked up at Jack. They both grinned, and looked back at Teal'c. "You chump in the lake!" Daniel shot back, looking pleased with himself.

Another of Teal'c's eyebrows went up. He knew this routine from television. He looked as menacing as possible as he brought both eyebrows down, scowling. "You and what army?" he asked in his deepest voice.

Daniel hopped again. "Me and that army!" he pointed at Jack. Jack scowled back at Teal'c and hunched over, flexing his muscles. Daniel exploded in laughter.

"In order to make me jump in the lake," Teal'c told them haughtily, "I believe you must first catch me." His eyes issued a clear dare.

Jack gave him a crooked grin and held out his hands to Daniel. "Come on, Danny," he urged as Teal'c turned on his heel. "Let's get him!" He took off at a run after the Jaffa.

Jack watched as Sam and Ahdji took a rare break from the motor work and spent the afternoon swimming with Daniel and Teal'c, who'd had so much fun the day before that they'd decided to do it again. The Jaffa seemed especially enamored with a miniature Daniel Jackson, at five years of age as much as he had been at four, three, two, and one. Jack shook his head in amazement, watching the huge hulk of a man holding the small child carefully in the water, constantly making sure he was in no danger. Daniel was using Teal'c as a bodyguard; he would direct the Jaffa close enough so that he could splash Sam or Ahdji, and then he would plaster himself against Teal'c so that the Jaffa would wrap him up in his arms and shield him from retribution. Jack suspected Teal'c was enjoying the unfair game as much as Daniel.

"As I understand it," someone plopped down on the blanket at his side, "he missed most of his own son's childhood."

Jack looked over to Paul Davis, fighting the flash of irritation that came over him. "So do a lot of fathers," he shrugged.

"True," Davis agreed, looking back out at the games and smiling. "It looks like they're having a lot of fun. Why aren't you with them, Colonel?"

Jack wanted to snap back, none of your business! but he bit down on the reply. Davis was harmless, he told himself. So why did he bug him so much? Come to think of it, Davis had been bugging him for quite some time now. He shrugged. "Carter and Teal'c wanted a turn."

"Ah," the Major nodded, brushing his slacks. He was dressed more casually than usual, having been assured his uniform was not necessary unless he was coming or going from the planet. The Furlings simply didn't care that much about attire. They cared about what was inside a person more than what was on a person. He'd been loaned casual attire, but he still tended to go for the dressier side of casual. It would take time to work his way down to jeans and a t-shirt, as Jack was wearing. "They say the more the merrier," he remarked, gesturing at the group in the water.

"Have at it," Jack replied, going for casual, but fully intending to be right there too if Davis did join the group.

They sat silently for a few moments, and then Davis sighed, his arms wrapped about his knees. "Colonel, I wonder if I could get your opinion on something?"

Jack kept his gaze averted so that his quick eye roll wouldn't be noticed. "Oh?" he asked noncommittally.

"Well, uh, yes," Davis nodded. "I uh--I've been made a sort of an offer, and I don't really know what to think. I thought maybe you'd have some ideas about it."

Jack looked over slowly. "An offer? You didn't seem to be suffering any kind of quandary when we left Earth."

Jack turned more fully to him. "So you've had an offer since you've come here?" he asked, suspicion showing on his face.

Davis looked at him with a small bit of confusion, but figured he was misreading things. "The Steward, Etienne, and the ayarro, Nalia, have been talking to me a lot these last few days."

"No, no," Davis shook his head, "that's all done, just as they said, and it's perfect as they did it. That was just to get the General here to explain things, and we're definitely coming out on top with it. No, they've been talking to me about--" he blushed, "well, about personal matters."

"And I wasn't going to tell you, sir," Davis shot back quickly, putting in just enough wide-eyed innocence and respect to get away with it. "But because of these talks, they've--they've made me an offer, sir. A professional offer."

Davis rubbed his chin and then held up his palm. "I take the treaty back to Earth tomorrow, so I need to be making a decision. They want me to be Earth's Ambassador to Annule, Colonel. They want me to live here."

"Yeah," Davis sighed, and looked down at the water. "I mean, it's definitely got its advantages, and they've been doing some very serious talking to me about it. And they're right, they're very, very right about--well, about what my present job is doing to me."

"Huh?" Jack was trying hard not to let his alarm at the thought of Davis living on Annule show.

Davis looked over at Jack. "Sir, off the record--I work for some real low-lifes. Even the ones that don't mean to be, can't--sir," he looked at the Colonel earnestly, "do you know how hard it is to find a good man amongst politicians and the upper brass? And no matter how many times you've heard that line--it's not a joke."

Jack nodded reluctantly, forced to admit that he wouldn't wish Davis's job on anyone. It was a miracle that the man hadn't gone crooked like the rest of the morons and power-mongers he had to cater to. He looked at the Major with grudging respect. Maybe it was a testament to Davis's moral strengths.

The Major was looking back at him with troubled eyes. "I always wanted to go as far as I could, be as much as I could possibly could be," he confided quietly. "But I can't. Not without compromising my principles, and even without compromising them, I still have to work day in and day out with those kinds of people. I have to keep them happy. I have to find ways to satisfy them. All without compromising my principles. Do you know how hard that is, Colonel?"

Jack looked away, imagining the wear and tear on a soul that sort of day in and day out pressure would cause. He realized too, that he'd never heard Davis complain about it before. If Jack had that job, he'd be bitching non-stop.

"I'm not asking for sympathy," Davis went on. "I'm just explaining so you'll see my problem with this offer. On those grounds, an Ambassadorship looks pretty darn good. Especially to a place like this, where the people are so wonderful, and I don't have to worry constantly about the terrorists from the next country over--or the next galaxy over--blowing me up at any time."

"Sounds perfect," Jack muttered. He couldn't begrudge Davis the job, but on the other hand, for purely selfish reasons he couldn't define, he didn't want Davis on Annule.

"On the other hand," the Major went on, "what about the SGC? Who'll replace me? And what will they be like? I'm not saying I'm indispensable or anything, but what happens if you guys need me, and I'm no longer in that position?"

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, forcing his own emotions away. He would do what was right. He looked up at Davis. "Okay," he nodded. "Sounds to me like you want to take it. Sounds to me like it'd be great, as long as you don't mind leaving Earth, and it doesn't sound like you do. Yeah, we'll--miss your help in your old position, I'm sure, but Davis, you know, things are changing on Earth now that we've met the Furlings. You've seen already in the short period of time we've known them, we've gotten critical defense and warning systems against the Goa'uld and other hostiles, we've gotten new technology, new medicine, new transportation methods, those PPD things will be out to everybody soon--and that's going to cut down crime like nobody's business--in short, pretty soon, the face of the Earth is going to be changing, and all those society models the Pentagon ran on their super computers--you saw them--they all say things are going to get pretty damn sweet.

"If anybody tries anything on the Stargate Program again, all we need to do is make one last trip through the gate--authorized or not. If we can get to the Furlings, the Furlings will keep the Stargate open. They've got the money, they've got the energy, they've got the connections, and they've got way more than enough material to bribe, blackmail, or barter Earth into submission until you and I are long gone. So if anything, the Ambassadorship will make things even easier--establish a strong relationship between Earth and Annule, and who knows? Maybe over time Annule can even erase some of Earth's more idiotic ideas." Jack shrugged.

"I think you should do what you want to do," Jack told him. "It's your life. I'm sure you can do the job, Major, and believe me, the Furlings wouldn't have asked you if you weren't the right man for the job," he said grudgingly. "You're good at that kind of thing, and for some unknown reason, they seem to like you. I can understand Etienne and Nalia's point of view; having a human they can really trust as Ambassador, somebody who really knows how the political machine works, well, that'd help them out a ton."

Davis gave him a crooked smile, acknowledging his reluctant praise. Jack shrugged, forcing his own personal feelings aside; they weren't as important as somebody else's life decisions. "Just ask yourself--'ten years from now, where do I want to be?'"

The younger man sat back, arms straight on the blanket behind him. He exhaled heavily, closing his eyes. "I do not want to be working for the same short-sighted, narrow-minded, power-hungry vampires," he said quietly. "You know, as soon as one goes down, another one just like him pops up to take his place."

"I disagree," Jack shook his head. "Look at Maybourne and Simmons. I think it really is a case of 'each one is worse than the last'."

Jack leaned forward, rubbing his palms together. "Look, you're going through all these years, and you're getting the chance to have a happy childhood, right? Well, an important part of childhood is the holidays. And the Furlings, they want to know about Earth culture, right? So maybe just here, you know, for Nalia and the inner circle, we do the holidays. What'd'ya think?"

"Okay," Jack rubbed his chin. "Let's take--okay! Let's take Halloween. A perfect kids' holiday. Now, when you lived in Egypt, did they do Halloween?"

"Okay, so ages one to eight, gone right there," Jack pointed out. "What about when you were in foster homes? Did you go trick or treating?"

Daniel bit his lip, thinking, and accessing the memories he hadn't thought about for years.

Jack looked at him with concern. "Danny," he asked gently, "do you remember going door to door and getting candy from people?"

A frown creased the small face, and Daniel turned back to his drawings. "Didn't wanna," he muttered, resuming coloring.

The small boy sighed, looking up at him with an incongruous resignation to the inevitable. "Sometimes I couldn't, and sometimes nobody would go with me," he admitted.

Jack shook his head at the idiocy of people, wondering what occurred the years Daniel simply 'couldn't' go. He decided not to press. "Well, I'll go with you," he shot back with enthusiasm. "So we'll celebrate Halloween, and you'll get to see what it's like to dress up and go trick or treating, and have people listen to you tell them your joke, and give you candy, and have fun."

Jack lifted his chin. "It is if I say it is," he promised. "What's in a date? A rose by any other date would still--"

Daniel smacked him, giggling. "Baaad," he critiqued. "Will you trick or treat too, Jack?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha!" Jack beamed. "Like you could keep me away from free candy?"

His friend peered at him with an evil grin. "Exactly what you are, Danny boy, exactly what you are. Come on. Somebody around here must know how to sew."

Ahdji opened the door to his lab, Sam Carter at his shoulder with a videocamera, giggling. The Security officer looked down at his visitor.

The little demon at his door hopped up and down in delight. "Trick or treat! Trick or treat!"

Ahdji, like everyone else on Daniel's visiting list this evening, had been carefully coached by Jack, and he grinned at the six-year-old as he squatted down. Daniel was dressed entirely in a shiny red body suit. A long forked tail had been sewn into the behind, and curled back and forth in the air of its own accord thanks to a tiny anti-gravity device contributed by Nalia. His hands had been painted red and had long black nails applied, and the body suit extended upward in a hood that covered up his blonde hair entirely and sported two black horns on top his head. His face had been painted red, and then accented at the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth with black, and the entire effect was very demonic.

The little demon immediately stilled, and clawed the air, glaring and growling at his would-be benefactor. "Trrrickkkkk orrrrr Trrrrreeeeeaattttt," he hissed.

Sam broke into an all-out laugh. "I'm going to be rich," she whispered to the mummy, tapping the side of the camera.

Ahdji was doing his best to look frightened. "Oh, my!" he exclaimed. "Well, I hear I must give all demons candy if I don't want them to scare me," he said, "but I'm told there's some kind of price?"

The demon turned his face up to his mummy friend. "Tell 'em your joke," Jack whispered.

The little devil jumped up and down. "Oh, oh!" he giggled. "Why--why did--why was Six afraid of Seven?"

Ahdji looked perplexed; new to Trick or Treating, he had not heard all the children's jokes a thousand times each. "Well, I don't know," he answered. "Why was Six afraid of Seven?"

Daniel couldn't keep still, he was so happy. "Becau--because Seven Ate Nine!" He burst into laughter, and Jack contributed the obligatory chuckle, as did Sam, used to the routine.

Ahdji thought it over. "Seven, eight ..." he narrowed his eyes. "Oh," he smiled broadly. "Seven ate nine!" He laughed, rewarding Daniel for telling his joke well. "That's funny, Mr. Demon."

Ahdji let his mouth fall open and his eyes go wide. "No!" he exclaimed. "Daniel! Why, I can't believe it! You had me totally fooled!"

Daniel laughed and hopped up and down again in delight, and then held up his plastic pumpkin basket from Earth in a not-so-subtle hint. "Trick or treat," he grinned.

Ahdji reached inside the door to the bowl of candy he was told he had to have, despite the fact he was only going to have one Trick or Treater, and it wasn't really even Halloween, and put a handful of candy in Daniel's pumpkin.

Raising an eyebrow, and thankful it wasn't a large bowl, Ahdji dumped the bowl of candy into Daniel's pumpkin, who was so delighted that he favored the man with a hug.

Jack chuckled. "Come on, kid, the night's young," he tugged at a little shoulder. "We got a haul to make. Next victim!"

Sam and Ahdji watched Jack and Daniel hurry off down the hall to their next stop. "I don't quite understand this holiday," Ahdji chuckled, closing them back in the lab.

Sam played back the tape as she spoke. "Well, it goes back to Irish superstition, but mainly it's for the kids these days. They get to dress up and run around like wild animals and rob people of all their candy. They have a ball."

"Daniel certainly seemed to like it," Ahdji agreed, going back to the point on the design specifications they had been at before the interruption. "Was the Colonel terribly upset at not having a party? I know he wanted one."

Sam laughed as she set the videocamera aside and joined him. "Yeah, since he's decided to show you guys an Earth holiday every few days, he wanted full-blown parties too. I'm sorry, but that's expecting a bit much. Thank Heavens everybody else thought so too."

"Well, and especially with what's being planned," Ahdji nodded. "If everything really goes the way it looks like it will."

Sam smiled brightly. "I still can't believe it," she shook her head. "I mean, no way is that coincidence--the odds are astronomical! It's just--it's unbelievable--it's just--"

Ahdji looked up at her. "It's what, Samantha?" he asked gently. "You can say it."

She shrugged. "Well, it's so unscientific, and I hate that I can't prove any of it, but--" she grinned sheepishly and surrendered, "it's so cool!" She laughed and shook her head.

Ahdji chuckled and patted her hand in encouragement. "That it is," he agreed. He let his hand linger, and she pretended not to notice, allowing it to stay.

Later that night Daniel and Jack lay on their stomachs in the lounge of the SG-1 guest suite, a huge pile of booty between them.

"Sheesh are rearry good," Daniel pointed out, his mouth working on a banana-flavored taffy, as he held up a twin to it. "Where'd Teark get 'em, Jack?"

Jack looked up from his own inspection of the lot. "Don't talk with your mouth full," he scolded. "And Janet sent most of the candy. Nalia decided it would be okay for her to tell Cassie about you, so the kid went to the mall and bought all these different kinds of candy just for us."

"Me," Daniel matched his low rumble, and launched himself at the older man. He hit the Colonel mid-section, and was caught up in a bear hug that turned into a roll, with Jack ending up on the floor, Daniel on his chest. The six-year-old wasted no time using the advantage Jack had given him, and straddled his stomach, holding his arms to the ground. Jack fought like a weak kitten to get free.

Jack burst out laughing. "Who told you to say that? And look who's talking, buddy!"

Daniel couldn't hold back his own laugh, but he pushed on Jack's arms. "Say it's my candy," he instructed.

Jack looked up at the six-year-old face. Daniel had lost most of his baby fat, and was a skinny little thing now, with the same big blue eyes, and blonde hair, though it wasn't quite as light as it had been. He grimaced at the boy. "You're milking that for all it's worth," he accused.

Quick as that, Daniel dropped down and Jack felt a very wet tongue drag across his face. "Eww, yuck, gross!" Jack cried. "Okay, okay, it's your candy!"

Triumphant, Daniel sprang off him and back to his original spot, as if nothing had happened. He looked up at Jack, who was wiping off his face and giving him a look of disgust. "Want some candy, Jack?" he asked innocently, eyes wide and ingenuous. "You can have as much as you want." He gave Jack an angelic smile.

Jack slowly retook his own position, looking at Daniel across the pile with wary distrust. "You're weird," he stated.

Daniel jutted out his jaw and tried to look Neanderthal. "I'm gonna beat you ..."

Jack pointed a finger. "Okay, I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!" he shouted quickly.

"Okay, I'm-rubber-and-you're-glue-whatever-you-say-bounces-off-me-and-sticks-to-you!" Daniel looked quite pleased with himself.

Jack was fighting a losing battle to keep from laughing and/or choking the kid. "I know you are but what am I?" he retorted.

Jack jumped to his feet and ran to the door, and palming it open, stuck his head into the hallway. "Somebody save me!" he shouted.

Jack stared over Daniel's head at the computerized three-dimensional image of a historical Furling dam being built. "You see here," Etienne was pointing out, "this is where Marin placed the first pylon. It was because of this bridge that Furling expansion into the South of Annule became possible. If it hadn't been for that, we might never have discovered Synerium, and then where would we be today, Daniel?"

"Wow," the seven-year-old responded, enraptured by the depiction of the ancient construction. Of course he was.

Jack banged his elbow on the arm of his chair when he jerked abruptly awake--again.

Jack woke to the weight of a slender eight-year-old throwing himself over his abdomen, knocking the air out of him. "Whoa!" he gasped, coming alert quickly, and steadying Daniel, who turned and draped himself over Jack.

"It's Thanksgiving," the boy purred, grinning mischievously. He knew it wasn't really, but Jack had assigned Thanksgiving to that day, so they were all going to embrace it.

"Yeah, so?" Jack rubbed his face. "Whatever happened to Not-A-Morning-Person-Daniel?"

Daniel bounced on his elbows where they rested on Jack's chest. "He woke up by accident at 4:00 a.m. and has been up ever since."

Daniel laughed. "How? Amka. Lots and lots of Amka. Why? Because Sam is insistent that she will tell Aman how to start baking the turkey."

"Oh, no!" Jack shot bolt upright, dislodging Daniel. "I was supposed to do that." He jumped out of bed and started grabbing clothes.

Daniel broke out in peals of laughter. "It's okay, Jack! Teal'c came out to help."

Jack looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Sam and Teal'c are teaching Nalia, an alien, how to cook an Earth turkey? Do you want to die of food poisoning?"

Daniel giggled at Jack's expression. "I warned Aman last night," he confided, smirking. "Janet smuggled instructions in one of my books, and I snuck them to Aman. We went over them, and I watched this morning. Sam and Teal'c are having their say, and then Aman just does what she read in the instructions," he laughed, "and neither one of them notices a thing!"

Jack put his hands on his hips, and a slow smirk of his own spread across his face. "Aren't you clever?" he asked.

Daniel winced and shook his head. "No, I just remember Thanksgiving food poisoning is not all that much fun," he stated.

Jack chuckled and threw himself back on his bed, causing Daniel to bounce beside him. "Yeah," he laughed again. "I never knew--"

"--there was a bag of stuff inside!" they both chorused in falsettos, identical grimaces on their faces, mimicking Sam's disgust when she'd learned of the internal organs placed back inside the body cavity of the bird.

"Yeah, well, and then to leave it thawing on the counter for two whole days," Jack shook his head, rolling his eyes. "And she wonders why we won't let her heat the MREs."

Daniel giggled, flopping onto his back beside Jack. "I remembered something while I was watching Sam this morning. Did I tell you about the time she came over after I had my appendix out?"

The boy looked at him slyly. "Well, I probably didn't tell ya because that was back in the days when I was mature," he wiggled his eyebrows.

"And since you aren't now," Jack smirked, "you've got an excuse to spill the beans!"

Daniel looked pensive for a moment. "Think she'll buy that as an excuse if she finds out I told you?"

Jack thought it over. He patted Daniel's arm. "I'll tell her you told me when you were much younger. Now spill."

Daniel grinned. "Well, she came over one morning, and wanted to get me breakfast, and asked what I was wanting, and I didn't know what to say. I really wanted pancakes, and I had been just about to make myself some, so finally, I told her that, but she insisted I lay down on the couch, and she would make them."

Daniel bit down on his grin. "Well, I just couldn't stay in the living room! I could hear her in there, talking to herself, and I came up behind her, and she was reading the pancake mix box as she was adding in the ingredients, Jack, and I heard her say, '2/3 cup oil.' And sure enough, she was pouring in oil!"

Daniel's eyes were round and frightened. "I went, 'Oil!!!' And she whirled around so fast, Jack!" He laughed. "She said, 'Yeah, Daniel, go lay down, I've got it.' And I told her, 'Sam, you do not put oil in pancake mix.' And you know how she is, Jack."

Jack couldn't restrain the laughter. "Oh, yeah!" He affected an insulted look. "'I don't think that's right, Daniel.' 'That's not possible, I can't be wrong.' God, I love her, but the girl does have a hang-up about always having to be right."

Daniel's grin toned down to a wistful smile. "Well, I showed her on the box. It said 'water.' She admitted it said 'water.' We laughed about it. She couldn't understand how she had thought it said 'oil,' but that's what she had read at the time. I think she gets nervous because it isn't her strong suit, and her brain just freezes. Kind of like yours does when you sit down at the computer, Jack," he teased.

"Yeah!" Daniel jumped up from the couch where he'd been resting with a sleeping Sam after a lunch of turkey leftovers. She was bounced awake by his enthusiasm, and smiled sleepily at Ahdji above her.

"For crying out loud," Jack complained from the chair he lay nearly prostrate in, "it's the day after Thanksgiving. We're all still stuffed. How can you even think about going off and learning something?"

Daniel turned on Jack. "I want to learn imaging, Jack! It's important. And besides," he glowered at Sam, "if Sam can do it, I can do it."

"Let's go, Daniel," Ahdji swept the boy quickly out of the room, cutting Sam off before she could name the Furling who'd helped her play her imaging prank on Daniel after he'd gotten the Sight--and used it too much on her.

Etienne sighed. "Ten going on nearly 35, Colonel," he shook his head. "And we allow children younger than that to go out into the safe ruins," he pointed out. "He has his tag, and we're monitoring him, are we not? And Annule will also keep him safe. Daniel is fine."

Jack watched the viewscreen as Daniel happily picked his way through the ruins of an ancient building that had long lost its roof and most of its walls. "I could have gone with him," he muttered.

Etienne crossed his arms. "Just watch," he ordered. "Daniel needs some time apart from you, you know. Being alone--or if he should happen to meet someone--it will do him good."

"Watch the screen," he was told. "You never know when others might come along. It might do Daniel some good to meet some other people, you know, Colonel."

"Daniel knows everybody he needs to know," Jack grumbled, leaning forward on the desk that held the viewscreen.

Etienne laughed softly. "I've read that on Earth, jealousy is associated with the color green. But jealousy is not green, Colonel. It's orange. And I assure you, you do not look good in orange."

Daniel made his way along a broken wall, examining the markings he could find, running his fingers over them. He found fixtures occasionally, and had made some initial deductions about the original purpose of the building. He crossed to a section of the room that was an especially messy jumble of rock-like material and overgrowth.

Daniel startled, stumbling, but caught himself. A head popped up over a broken wall, grinning at him. "Hello!" A young man of about 18 pulled himself up on the wall and sat on it, swinging his legs down into the 'room' Daniel was investigating.

"Uh, hello," Daniel said quietly. He smiled up at the young man, whose life force was open and friendly, if a little mischievous. "Did you say I was getting warmer?"

"Yes," the Furling youth nodded. "That's the right phrase, yes? We requested a book of phrases and slang. If I've used it right, it should mean," he gestured at the heaped up section before Daniel, "you're closer to finding something to dig up." He tapped his own chest. "I'm Sonn. You're Daniel, right?" he grinned.

The ten-year-old looked a bit non-plussed, and covered it by moving forward and gently using his digging tools on likely spots before him. "Uh, yeah," he answered. "What am I going to find?"

Sonn jumped down off the wall. "Now what's the fun in that?" he inquired. "You've never gone through any of our ruins, right? So it's all new to you. I don't want to spoil them. Me, I've gone through everything a hundred times. I wish I had something new to look at." He regarded Daniel curiously.

Jack was gripping the edges of the desk tightly. "I think I should get down there," he stated.

The old man took his arm. "Colonel, Sonn is nearly twice Daniel's current age."

Daniel's small spade clinked gently against something, and grinning, Sonn was beside him in an instant, watching. With perfect archeological form, Daniel set about excavating the item. After making notes and drawing pictures, he removed a cylinder from the ground and painstakingly cleaned it off. "I think this used to be a library," he stated, not looking up from the work. He read the Furling writing on the cylinder as he cleared it. "This looks to be some kind of news source. There's a date--but I don't know the Furling calendar that well. I can't translate it into years."

Sonn smiled. "Very good," he praised, taking a quick look at the cylinder. "If my understanding of your mathematics is correct--I've only just learned them, well, then, this newstube is 867 years old."

Demonstrating with a few deft fingerstrokes, Sonn activated the early imaging system, and a newscast began, a three-dimensional hologram projected from the top of the tube, approximately three inches high. "It was mostly for travel," Sonn said quietly, so they could still hear the talking of the newscaster as he went through the stories of the day. "That's why the image is so small. And it's not too good, is it?"

The two boys sat and watched the centuries-old newscast. It was something Sonn had seen many times, but watching it with Daniel was like watching it for the first time again. Daniel asked several questions of him before the images finally shut off, and by that time he was comfortable with the older boy, who was generous with his information, something Daniel appreciated. Sonn helped him rebury the cylinder.

"Why do they leave such an old artifact out here in the ground?" Daniel asked. "Why don't they protect it?"

"Well," Sonn looked around furtively, "it's really just an imitation. But don't tell the little kids that; it spoils the fun for them."

"Oh," Daniel nodded, glad to be excluded from that classification. "Well, I'm glad it's not the original."

"Nope," Sonn helped him to his feet and brushed him off solicitously. "They keep the originals of everything in the museum."

Sonn grinned. "Yes, sure! Didn't you know we have a museum?" He grabbed up Daniel's hand when the younger boy shook his head. "Well, guess where we're going, then?"

Daniel peeled delicately at the paper, attempting to lift the tape without disturbing the brightly colored design beneath it. He studied it carefully, oblivious to the pregnant silence of the room. Slowly, he picked at the transparent adhesive, working it free.

"For crying out loud, Daniel!" Jack erupted, sliding down off his chair to sit on the floor beside the 11-year-old. "That's not how you open presents!" He slid his finger roughly under the tape and pulled it free, and then gestured that Daniel should rip the wrapping paper off with wild abandon.

Jack looked at him with exaggerated sympathy, shaking his head. "Ya don't re-use wrapping paper, Daniel. You just don't. Especially not if you're 11. Now come on, rip that baby open!" He gestured again, swinging his arm in a wide arc.

Daniel looked around the room at Sam, Teal'c, Nalia, and Etienne, who were all smiling and nodding their own encouragement. "Let's go," Jack encouraged. "You can do it. Just grab it and tear it open." He demonstrated again with a ripping pantomime.

Giving Jack a doubtful look, Daniel gripped a corner of the paper and started to gingerly pull it.

"Yeah, just rrrrrrrip that baby," Jack cheered, jerking his arm out in example again. He watched, dismayed, as Daniel ever so slowly ripped it. It was faster and more destructive than he had been doing, but certainly not wild. Sam snickered at the look on his face.

"You're a wild man, Danny," he commented flatly, then tousled Daniel's hair with affection. The boy suddenly smiled, and relaxed, yanking the rest of the paper off. "Yeah, Danny!" Jack rooted.

Daniel seemed to find the action of opening the packages with abandon freeing, and soon, he was ripping through all of the presents beneath the fake Christmas tree Jack had requested of General Hammond. The General was growing more and more bemused by his second-in-command every day, but since Earth-Furling relations were, technically, contingent upon Daniel's happiness and well-being, and since he himself was fond of Daniel, he accommodated Jack's 'holiday' requests with good humor.

"There are far more presents here than from just us in this room," Teal'c observed. The area under the tree was indeed, jammed.

"Yes," Etienne hemmed, clearing his throat with some discomfiture. "It appears that someone let it be known that we would be celebrating a 'Christmas' today," he arched his eyebrows at Jack, "and before I knew it, quite a few gifts had been left for Daniel. I quickly got out word that no more should be brought, but as you can see," he indicated the pile under the tree, "the damage had been done."

Jack looked horrified. "Of course there is! What do you mean, no such thing as Santa? I know there is!"

Daniel smiled a sweetly sarcastic smile, incongruous on a young boy's face. "Jack, in real life, I'm almost 35. I'm know there's no Santa."

"And I'm 55," Jack stuck out his tongue. "And I know there is. How do you think these presents got here, huh, huh? Answer me that."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Etienne just said it, Jack. Some of the people brought them."

"And why did they bring them, Daniel?" Jack asked him, in the tone he reserved for the archaeologist when he was telling him something he thought Daniel ought to already know.

"Because they like me, Jack," Daniel said quietly, but in the tone that he reserved for Jack when telling him something he thought was obvious.

"Because they were being Santa," Jack stated, ignoring Daniel's answer, a patronizing smile on his face.

"Well, only half of these were from Furling Santas," Nalia broke in, trying to interrupt the exasperated discussion. She came forward and picked out a few special gifts. "This one is from Teal'c, and this one is from Sam, and this one is from Etienne and me," she handed them to Daniel, caressing his face as he took them. "The rest of the pile came from Santa Jack."

Sam giggled and Etienne snorted, and Daniel turned to glare at Jack. "What did you do this for, Jack?" he asked.

The Colonel shrugged. "Hey, we've got 24 days yet. We're gonna need some toys." He shrugged again.

Daniel grinned and smacked his arm lightly. "I got something for you guys, too," he said, shy suddenly. He reached under the chair behind him and pulled out a bag, and passed out flat packages. Each person received one except for Jack, but Daniel put a finger to his lips for Jack, indicating there was a reason. "Um--I gotta go get dressed," he stated, plucking at his pajamas. "Why don't you guys open them?" he hurried off.

"He's feeling nervous about something," Etienne observed. "I was picking up definite insecurity."

Teal'c was unwrapping his gift, and they all watched. It appeared to be a flat red disc, with a slight depression in one edge of the circumference. Teal'c ran his fingers over it, and a three-dimensional image emerged from the disc, standing about nine inches high. Teal'c himself stood on the disc, dripping wet, with a four-year-old Daniel, also dripping wet, perched on his shoulders, holding on to Teal'c's head, and clearly delighted with his amazing new height.

Daniel's voice at nine years of age, the day he'd begun to learn imaging, said softly: "I made this for you, Teal'c, 'cause you always watch over me and you're my good friend and even when I was big, you made me feel this tall!"

The Jaffa smiled as the image shut down and briefly closed his eyes, bowing his head. He looked up at Sam.

"Well," she smiled. She unwrapped hers and found a blue disc, and found the depression to push. Her image was only a few inches tall, but several inches long, and consisted of herself and Daniel after 'Thanksgiving' dinner. They were stuffed and sleepy and had fallen asleep curled up together on a couch. Daniel's ten-year-old voice had added the voice-over apparently the next day: "I made this for you, Sam, because you're the best sister I could ever have had."

Sam smiled, and looked next down the line to Etienne. He unwrapped his present, a green disc, and activated it. Nine-year-old Daniel sat on the lawn outside the Palace, knees up, arms around them, chin on his knees, and spoke to the camera. "Etienne, thank you so much for saving my life on the very first day we met!" He lifted one arm and shook a finger at the camera. "And take care of my grandma!" Then he smiled sweetly, and the image shut off. Etienne chuckled and exchanged knowing glances with Nalia.

Daniel's grandmother opened her package with care, wondering what Daniel had made for her in his early attempts at image-making. She'd known he was doing something along these lines, because he'd been borrowing images from everyone, and Security, for his imaging education.

Nalia activated the purple disc she found. A nine-inch image of herself sprang up, and in her arms, she was holding Daniel, as a baby. Daniel's ten-year-old voice whispered: "Since you didn't get to the first time, Aman, and you only got to for a day this time, I wanted you to always have this. I love you, Aman, always. Daniel."

Nalia smiled and teared up, and Etienne put his arm around her. Her image lasted longer than the others', and faded slowly, giving her time to prepare herself. Of course, she could activate it again any time she wanted--and she knew she doubtless would.

Jack waved him in. "Only if you don't mind getting hugged to death," he answered, but by the time Daniel heard that, Sam and Nalia had already grabbed him and there was no escape.

"Okay," Jack flopped on the bed in his room, where Daniel had insisted they go after all the presents were finally opened and gone through, "gimme, gimme." He wiggled his fingers in the air at Daniel.

The 11-year-old stood over the bed with his hands on his hips, a sarcastic look on his face. "Oh?" he asked. "Give you what?"

Daniel grinned and pulled two presents out from under the bed. The flat one, obviously another imaging plate, he set aside. "You have to open this one when you're alone," he instructed sternly. He thrust the other present at Jack, dimples creasing his face. "But you can open this one now."

Jack sat up with the present in his lap. "All right, now we're getting somewhere!" He ripped open the package's wrapping paper with gusto, and quickly attacked the box beneath it. Opening it, he cocked his head at the gaily wrapped present inside.

"You're just soooo cute," Jack stated in a mock annoyed voice. He quickly ripped that paper aside and opened the box--only to find another wrapped present. Daniel giggled again.

Jack bit down on a smile and raised his eyes only, to Daniel's face. "Had a little fun wrapping this, did ya?"

Jack ripped open the new present's paper and yanked the new box open and found tissue paper, which he pulled aside with a sigh of relief. Then his eyebrows came together and he lifted a metal square out of the box. Looking at the dark bronze, strangely striated block from all sides, Jack gave up and looked over at Daniel. "It's uh, great, Daniel," he stated.

The young version of his best friend laughed. "It's a puzzle, Jack. There's something inside it."

"Ah," Jack's chin and eyebrows lifted. "Of course it is." He looked at the block again, then looked at Daniel. "And what does one do with it, Daniel?"

The boy snickered and took the block, and started pushing and pulling pieces of it. While they never disconnected, they moved out from the block in all directions. "You gotta make all the wavy lines go this way," he indicated the direction, "and all the straight lines go this way," he gestured again. "When they do that on all six sides, then you'll get what's inside." He handed the cube back to Jack.

The Colonel looked at it dubiously, then flicked his eyes back at Daniel again. "Why don't you do it for me?" he offered.

Daniel patted his arm with an exaggerated motion of support. "You can do it, Jack," he intoned, unable to keep the teasing tone out of his voice. "You can do it."

"Oh, sure," Jack agreed, "sure I can. But uh, you know what, Daniel, I think it's time for me to check in with General Hammond, so I better get Carter's and Teal'c's reports. Then right after that, I'll get cracking on this."

"Sir?" Sam straightened from where she was poring over the design specifications for Annule's self-maintaining motor.

Jack tossed her the block. "All the wavy lines have to go horizontally on each side, all the straight lines gotta go vertically. That's top priority." He took a seat, crossing his arms. "I'll wait."

Eyebrows raised, Sam regarded the small metal cube, and then her superior officer. She couldn't imagine what this was about, but the device she held seemed similar in purpose to a Rubic's cube, and she suspected this was similarly a toy of some kind. "Yes, sir," she murmured, not altogether without resentment.

It took a few minutes, but she got it worked out, and when the last piece slid into its proper position, the center section opened, revealing a tiny scroll. Sam shook it out and brought it over to her commanding officer. "I'm assuming you were wanting this, sir?" she asked, holding the little scroll out on her palm.

Jack grabbed it and the cube. "Thanks!" He didn't bother to open it in front of her, but got to his feet to head out. "I was never here, Carter," he added over his shoulder as he left.

The scroll read:

Wow! Great job, Jack

Now don't turn back

For your next clue

He's one and two

Jack allowed himself half a second to feel guilty over praise for figuring out the cube--when he didn't--and then half a minute to feel excited--and absurdly proud--of Daniel's obvious greater effort with his gift--gifts, he corrected, remembering that he, too, had one of those imaging things waiting for him back in his room.

He's one and two. Jack puzzled it out. Daniel had been one and two very recently, but he wasn't any more, and anyway, he hadn't been one and two at the same time, nor was he presently one and two, as the riddle implied. "Okay," Jack thought out loud. "Somebody else. Somebody's who's one and two," he mumbled, walking down one of the corridors of the palace, oblivious to all glances in his direction.

One and two. Three? Twelve? Jack shook his head. "Let's see," he muttered. "Annule--no. Daniel will be twelve, but that's not until tomorrow. Eddy--no. Ahdji--no. Tea--" Jack gave a harsh bark of laughter, startling those around him. "Teal'c!" he nodded to himself, and noticed the two people nearest him staring. "It's Teal'c," he told them with exaggerated patience, as if they should have known all along. Laughing, Jack headed off in the other direction, toward their suite, where he'd last seen Teal'c.

"Teal'c!" Jack fought the urge to stamp his foot, knowing how Daniel-ish it would make him look. "I'm your Commanding Officer!"

The Jaffa raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "I am not in your military, O'Neill, nor is this a combat situation."

"Fine, fine," Jack agreed, trying to placate his immovable friend. "Look, just give me the clue, will you?"

Jack paced in front of the man standing with ramrod stiffness before him. "T, you're supposed to give me the clue, aren't you?"

Teal'c crossed his arms disapprovingly. "DanielJackson informed me that if you came to me this soon, it would mean you cheated."

Jack flapped his arms. "I may have had a little help," he hedged, "but I wouldn't call it cheating."

Teal'c looked pointedly at the block Jack still carried, and then back up to his eyes. "Then Major Carter did not get the scroll out for you?"

Jack opened his mouth, but Teal'c's dark eyes pinned him. "It wasn't cheating," he protested.

Jack shrugged. "I was using the resources available to me," he said lamely. "That's what I'm trained to do."

"Okay, fine, I cheated," Jack snarled, throwing himself into a chair. "I couldn't do it, okay?"

"That is untrue, O'Neill," Teal'c stated, completely unsympathetic. "A lack of patience does not imply a lack of ability."

Jack looked at him pleadingly. "Aw, come on, T, you're supposed to give it to me."

Teal'c looked at the cube and then back to Jack's eyes again. "Open it, and I will give you the next clue."

Gazing at the original Immovable Object, Jack cursed under his breath. "Okay, fine," he grumbled. His hands started working the cube. "But expect a lump of coal come real Christmas, Teal'c."

The Jaffa looked at him with thinly disguised humor. "How do you know that is not what awaits you at the end of your quest, O'Neill?"

Jack scowled and didn't deign to answer, pretty sure that Daniel wouldn't put him through all this for a lump of coal. Pretty sure.

"What's in a name," Jack murmured, reading the clue, which had taken him until the next day to obtain, since Teal'c wouldn't let him work on the cube out of his sight, and Jack had to sleep sometime. Now safely away from Teal'c, he pondered the riddle. "A name that's a twister--apparently a twister. Daniel wouldn't put in the word 'apparently' for no reason. Doesn't follow mister." Jack looked up, frowned, looked back down at the paper, and then groaned. "Aw, Daniel, did it have to be him?"

The old man smiled sweetly--and smugly--at him, setting Jack's teeth on edge. "And how may I be of assistance, Colonel?"

Jack knew the Steward was well aware of why he had come to his office. "Did Daniel give you something to give to me?" he asked.

Etienne seemed to think it over. "Give me something?" he mused. "No, he gave me nothing." He smiled at Jack, his expression stating that there was more to the story.

Jack gritted his teeth. "Has he been here to see you?" he asked patiently. "In regard to me coming here now?"

"Well, he didn't know precisely when you'd be here," the older man answered, folding his hands together on his desk. "But he thought it would be about now, yes."

"Right," Jack nodded. "Come on, just tell me what I need to do to get the next clue, okay?"

"Clue?" Etienne shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about a clue." He gave Jack another smug smile.

"Where did you get that idea?" Etienne asked him, amused. "We can--though we can't fool many of our own kind. But you're surely not implying that I'm lying to you, are you, Colonel? I assure you, Daniel told me nothing of any clues."

Jack counted to ten before opening his eyes. "Okay. What did Daniel tell you?"

"That you would be coming to see me," the Steward replied. "That you wished to demonstrate to me that you have learned my true name. And that once you had done so, he requested that I take you to a certain location of which he recently learned."

"Your true name," Jack muttered. "Of course, it's apparently a twister. All right, all right," he scrubbed at his face. "Oh, Etienne?" he asked with saccharine sweetness in his voice. "Would you be a dear and show me to wherever it was Daniel wanted you to take me? Pullease?"

The Steward chuckled in surprise. "I am amazed you surrendered so quickly, Colonel. I had not expected it." He rose, and gestured Jack to follow him. "You know, it was not my idea to force you to say my name," he grinned.

"Ah, ah, ah," Etienne held up a finger as they made their way to the end of a corridor Jack had not seen before. "You're speaking of Annule's last ayarro, Colonel. Be careful what you say." His eyes shined with humor.

Jack followed the older man into a room with what looked like the large transport platform outside, only on a much larger scale. The ceiling of the room extended two stories, and the circumference of the circular chamber was easily that of four rooms. Etienne gestured Jack onto the platform.

"We're going to Glenkerry," he informed the human. "That's the other city here on Annule, mainly a resort town, if you recall, Colonel."

The platform room dissolved and then fell, unsettling Jack. He'd gotten used to the smaller platform, but this huge one would take getting used to as well. A young woman was waiting for them at the edge of the new platform room.

"Etienne," she smiled, bowing her head. "It is good to see you. It has been too long."

"Colonel," Etienne turned to the human. "This is Mezza. She administers to Glenkerry. Mezza, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Daniel's--"

"Ah, no introductions are necessary," the young woman smiled. "We are quite familiar with the faces of your entire team; you're on the news all the time," she admitted. "You are Daniel's closest friend, yes? You simply must convince him to come visit us, Colonel."

Jack blinked, still not quite used to the fact that Daniel had become something like a prince, or even more, a sort of Crown Prince equivalent, to an entire planet. "I'll try," he promised.

"And now," she nodded briskly, "I understand you've come to pick up a gift?" She exchanged wry smiles with Etienne at the word 'gift.'

"Very well," Mezza seemed pleased, and took Jack's arm hesitantly, hoping he would not protest. He didn't. "Let's go see your gift, Colonel, shall we?"

"Colonel," the young man came forward, hand outthrust. "This is correct, yes?" he beamed, nodding at his hand. "A gesture of greeting?"

Warily, Jack shook hands with the enthusiastic stranger, giving him a guarded smile. A glance at Etienne told him they'd reached their destination. "A guy?" he asked the Steward quietly. "Daniel got me a guy?"

Etienne rolled his eyes and the man shaking his hand vigorously chuckled. "No, no, Colonel, I am not your gift." He and Mezza exchanged looks of amused delight. "But you knew that. No, I am your instructor, Thony."

Jack managed to extricate his hand, and opened and closed it a few times as if to get feeling back into the fingers. "Instructor?" He threw a suspicious sideways glance at Etienne.

"It was Daniel's idea," the Steward shrugged. "I tried to tell him it would be dangerous for the people at large, but ..." he shrugged again.

Mezza chuckled, nudging Etienne in as dismissive a manner as she could muster. "Do not listen to Etienne, Colonel, he is only--pulling your leg, I believe the slang is. Daniel has told us of your qualifications, and we have no fear whatsoever."

Thony laughed, and then saw that Jack was still confused. "Ah, it's still a surprise, then?" He smiled as if he thought that was incredibly sweet. "Well, come take a look, Colonel." He indicated the large window behind him.

Jack obligingly went to the window, Thony at his side. They were overlooking a flat field with close-cropped grass. At regular intervals there were flying craft of all sorts, including some of the emergency vehicles Jack had already seen. The Furling people tended to use transporters more than anything else, or they walked, but on occasion, they did use flying vehicles, and Jack's heart beat a little faster at the sight of some of them.

"You see that one?" Thony pointed out one craft in particular, not far from the window. Jack nodded, enchanted. It was one of the larger craft, approximately the size of a ten-seater airplane, but there all similarities ended. It was shaped like a smooth-edged teardrop, with the bottom half a bright blue metal, and the top half a transparent shield. Jack could see controls lit up in a semi circle around the first seat, the pilot's seat. Behind that was a co-pilot's chair, only for emergencies, and behind that, a circular bench that Jack estimated really could hold eight to ten people.

There were no appendages of any kind on the ship; it was completely streamlined, and it did not sit on the ground, but hovered without moving, a foot above it. Jack felt his heart speed up a little further. Daniel couldn't have gotten him one of those beauties, could he have?

"That's mine," Thony said proudly. "I give lessons from time to time, so when Daniel needed someone to give you lessons, Grandfather recommended me."

"Lessons," Jack murmured, only slightly disappointed. It was a start. Learning to fly one was a precursor to buying one. He looked at the younger Furling. "Grandfather?"

The Annule Series 4

It's Never Too Late For A Happy Childhood

by D. Kelley

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12