Reversal of Fortune

Reversal of Fortune Part 5
by
Gemsong

The intercom buzzed quietly in the room, rousing Daniel from the nap that he had taken while apparently reading one of his books. Stretching, he rose from the chair to the wall, touching the activation pad before it buzzed again.

"Jackson here," he answered, speaking toward the pickup.

"Dr. Jackson, this is Dr. McKenzie. It's time for the interview with Colonel O'Neill.Yet you and he are not here yet." He could hear the disapproval in McKenzie's voice.

"Have you ever tried to get a five year old to take a nap?" Daniel countered with. "Jack only fell asleep an hour ago. Once he awakens I'll buzz you, then bring him to your office." Tapping the pad again, he cut the connection.

It was several hours later when Daniel, with a young Jack in tow, headed down the corridors to the doctor's office. Daniel wasn't sure if Jack would know where he was being taken at first, but it soon became clear that he did. Once Jack realized where they were going he become very reluctant, slowing down and trying to pull Daniel down several different corridors.. Daniel resolved the problem by picking Jack up and slinging him under his arm.

If McKenzie was uncomfortable with the situation, he gave no sign of it as Jack and Daniel entered his office. He gestured to a grouping of comfortable leather chairs with a coffee table between them. On the table was a pitcher of water and some glasses. Moving over to one of the chairs Daniel tried to put Jack down, but he would have none of that, clinging to Daniel like a child-sized leech.

McKenzie watched the interaction as Daniel finally gave up trying to get Jack to sit down by himself and settled the two of them down in one of the chairs. Jack leaned against Daniel's chest and stared at the psychiatrist with a slight scowl. McKenzie leaned back in his own chair after reaching out to the tape recorder and flipping it on. He wanted to record the session. If Jack was in fact speaking ancient Latin, he wanted a secondary translation to ensure the accuracy of Daniel's translations.

"If we can get started?" McKenzie asked, receiving a cautious nod from Daniel. McKenzie's gaze turned to the boy. "Please state your full name, Colonel."

Daniel translated the question as accurately as possible. <Jonathan Charles O'Neill,> came the reply.

"And who is that?" McKenzie asked, gesturing toward Daniel.

<Doctor Daniel Jackson,> Jack replied.

From that point on, the questions became more difficult for Jack. Daniel kept his voice low but clear as he translated for both Jack and the doctor.

"Do you know how you got here?" McKenzie asked.

<Daniel brought me through the great ring of water,> Jack replied.

"Before that, do you know how you arrived on the planet?"

<There was light. Then I was there.>

"How did you get there?"

<The light brought me.>

"Where were you before the light brought you there?"

Jack was abruptly silent. Daniel repeated the question but the child stubbornly remained silent two fingers in his mouth. Daniel reached out to gently pull the fingers from his mouth. <Do you remember where you were, Jack?> he asked again.

Slowly the child shook his head. Jack replied slowly. 

"What do you mean?" McKenzie asked. "Why shouldn't you remember?"

 Jack replied. He was slowly pulling himself into a ball on Daniel's lap. 

McKenzie nodded, giving what he hoped was an encouraging smile to the child. "Do you remember being bigger than you are now?" he asked.

Jack shook his head. <No,> he said shortly. <Daniel says I was once an adult. I do not remember this.>

"Do you believe him?" the doctor asked.

Jack surprisingly nodded. Jack said quite firmly.

McKenzie's eyebrows shot up as Daniel translated what Jack said. Daniel struggled to hold back a smile as McKenzie nodded slightly, making a few notes on the pad in his lap. In a moment he looked over at Jack again, changing the direction of his questions. "Colonel, I know this is hard, but I need you tell me about the place SG-1 found you.."

Jack twisted in Daniel's lap until he was half turned against his chest. One hand was clutching Daniel's shirt tightly as he began to shiver. <They were not right in the mind,> Jack said, his voice muffled. Daniel felt the small body begin to tremble as he translated.

"Can you explain that? Do you know what they were doing there?" McKenzie asked.

<They... they wanted what they could not have,> Jack muttered. Daniel's hand began to move in soothing circles on his back.

"What did they want?" McKenzie asked. He kept his voice low and steady as he saw the child was becoming stressed by what he was asking.

Jack was silent for a moment, his face buried against Daniel's chest. Gently Daniel tipped his face up and repeated the question in a soft voice. He saw Jack's brown eyes filling with tears.

<They wanted to be young,> Jack said, his voice trembling with emotion. <They wanted to be young forever. They used the machine over and over. They got younger and younger. But they forgot things. How to do things. How to fix things. But they couldn't stop. They kept trying to be younger. Then... then the cold time came. They forgot too much. They didn't remember how to call the others. Or take care of themselves.. They became sick. They used the machine more. They were too young. They couldn't survive. They died. They all died!>

By the end of that disjointed speech, Jack was in full hysterics, sobbing against Daniel's chest. Daniel and McKenzie exchanged glances as the psychiatrist nodded. That would be enough for today. What the child knew was obviously distressing and painful. The deep grief was apparent.

McKenzie quietly shut off the tape, then rose, leaving Daniel and Jack alone in his office. Daniel held the child, rocking him slightly, crooning soft comforting sounds as Jack cried. The front of his shirt was soaked by the time Jack's tears slowed to a stop. Daniel reached for the box of tissues and gently wiped his face and helped him blow his nose.

"Feeling any better?" he asked in English with thinking.

Jack nodded in response. Daniel frowned, then turned Jack to face him. "Jack?" he asked. The child looked up. Then, realizing, he dropped his head quickly, avoiding Daniel's eyes.

Daniel's mouth tightened a little. "How good is your English now?" he asked. He voice was a little stern. He expected a truthful answer.

Jack squirmed, looking anywhere but at Daniel. "I learn," he said. "Sam teach. Sam talk. I listen. You talk. I listen. Teal'c talk. I listen."

"I see," was all that Daniel said. Setting Jack on his feet he got up, then took Jack's hand as they walked out of the room. As they walked he thought about what Jack had said. It wasn't as simple as he made it sound. English was one of the more complex languages to learn if you weren't a native speaker of it. Jack was either playing some game with them, or there was something else involved with his ability to learn so quickly. He looked down at the subdued child beside him that clung to his hand.

There were still too many questions and not enough answers. Jack knew things he shouldn't yet there were things he should know but didn't. Jack had turned into a complex puzzle. A puzzle he needed to solve if he was to help his friend return to what he was. If that was even possible.

Two days later found them at another meeting. Jack was there, sitting on Daniel's lap, since he could barely see over the edge of the table. Sam and Teal'c sat on either side of them. Across the table sat Janet, McKenzie and Major Paul Davis from the Pentagon. General Hammond sat at the head, his eyes taking in everything, down to the chairs the others decided to sit in. After a moment he gestured to Janet to begin.

The petite doctor opened the folder in front of her as she tucked a dark hair behind her ear. "The test results have come back," she said. "The DNA is a perfect match to Colonel O'Neill. There are no anomalies to indicate that this is a clone. His blood work continues to show to be clear of any unusual technology or chemicals. According to every test I ran, including a couple I made up, that is Colonel O'Neill. He is a perfectly healthy five-year-old child. I also did a comparison to his medical records and found that any evidence of injury he received after age five cannot be found. It's as if they never happened to him."

McKenzie spoke next. "Mentally, Colonel seems to be a normal five year old child in most ways, but not all," he said. "There is obvious signs of trauma from his experience of being made younger. He remembers things that even he knows he shouldn't remember. His memory of the Stargate and the personnel involved is sketchy at best."

While most were listening intently to the reports, Jack was leaning forward on the table with a pen in hand, sketching a picture on the pad of paper in front of him. He seemed to have no interest in what was being said about him, with nothing from is posture indicating that he was even listening.

"Intellectually, Colonel tested very high," McKenzie continued. "He currently has an IQ of about 145 to 150. After checking his previous psychological evaluations and tests, I was surprised to learn that his IQ has always been that high." He paused a moment to let that sink in as they all stared at him in surprise. Then all eyes turned to Jack. The 'dumb colonel' routine had definitely been an act.

Jack felt the stares and looked up, his brown eyes wide with childish innocence, as if he had no idea what they were talking about. After a moment he turned back to the drawing he was working on.

"Doctor Jackson, do you have anything to add?" Hammond asked.

Daniel hesitated for only a second. They had a need to know. "Jack is an anomaly," he said, glancing at McKenzie. "The IQ testing may not be that accurate. I think it's much higher. For example, his understanding of English, which was non-existent when he arrived, is now well past the rudimentary phase."

Jack lowered his head over his drawing until his nose seemed to merge with the paper itself.

"It is very likely he understands a lot more of what we are saying than he's willing to admit," Daniel continued.

Hammond's eyes narrowed. "Is that true, Colonel?" he asked, directing the question to the child.

Jack peeked up at him, chewing on his bottom lip. As an adult would say, he was busted. "Not Colonel," he said. "Jack."

"All right, is it true, Jack?" Hammond continued. "Can you understand us now?"

Jack squirmed in Daniel's lap, hunching back against the older man. "Understand some," he said slowly. "Not all."

Sam, watching Jack, glanced down at the picture he had been drawing. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was looking at. She pulled the picture toward her, picking it up to study it.

"Is there something wrong, Major?" Hammond asked, concern in his voice.

Sam slowly turned the drawing around so that the others at the table could see it. "This is a variation of the power source that Jack built when he had downloaded the Ancients' library," she said. "This has some unusual enhancements."

"I was unaware that O'Neill understood the basics of the design," Teal'c said.

"As far as I could tell, he didn't," Sam said, glancing at the child in Daniel's lap. Jack was doing his best to make himself as small as possible on Daniel's lap, his two fingers jammed in his mouth, being sucked on for all his was worth.

"Then perhaps this is a side effect of the full activation of his ancient gene," Teal'c said. "I would also like to remind everyone that O'Neill had the library of the ancients downloaded into his mind. Perhaps this change has allowed him to regain access its contents."

"But the Asgard removed that knowledge," Janet said.

"Did they?" Daniel asked, his hand rubbing Jack's arm as he held him close to his chest. "Or did they just suppress it so his conscious mind couldn't access it?"

"If his transformation activated the ancient gene to its full capacities, then that could be what allowed him to access the library," Janet said with a slight frown. She was talking more to herself than to the others. "It could also explain why his memory of us is sketchy. Not enough room in his head, so things get pushed aside. I'd like to do some more tests. See where his brain activity is rating as well as another series of CAT scans."

Hammond nodded. "Agreed, doctor," he said. "However, we can't keep him on base indefinitely. "Whatever else he is, he is still Jack, and he is still a child. This is not the best environment for him. I'm sure we can all agree on that."

"I could take him home with me," Janet offered. "Cassie would understand the situation and could watch him when I'm not there."

If there was any doubt that Jack understood what was being said around him, his next actions proved beyond a doubt that he could. "No!" He cried, lifting his head. He whirled around, locking his arms around Daniel in a chokehold. "No! Want Daniel! Stay Daniel! No Janet!"

Daniel tired to loosen the grip so he could get a breath. "Jack, it might be a better idea if you..."

"NO! NO! NO!" Jack howled. "Want you! Stay with you!"

Hammond rubbed his temple at the volume that Jack was producing. "I think, Doctor Jackson, that the decision has been made by young Master Jack there," he said.

"All right... all right... Jack," Daniel said trying to sooth the sobbing child. "You'll stay with me. Okay? Calm down. It's okay."

"Now we just need a cover story," Sam said as Jack started to calm now that, in his eyes, the crisis was over.

Jack, still trembling in Daniel's arms, his spoke up, his voice quavering. "Daniel daddy," he said.

Daniel looked down at the brown-haired brown-eyed child. "How am I supposed to make anyone believe that?" he asked, gesturing with one hand toward his lighter hair and eyes.

"Shar're," Teal'c said abruptly. "You had been forced to leave her behind. Recently you found out she had your child and were able to locate and retrieve him."

"That will work for the time being," Hammond said. "In the meantime, we will send a message to the Asgard and the Tok'ra to see if they have any ideas on how Colonel O'Neill... Jack, can be returned to himself. For now, you are all dismissed."

Daniel continued to sooth Jack as the others left the room, leaving them alone. "Jack, I have the feeling you are up to something," he said.

Jack said nothing, his fingers in his mouth, his head bent down so that Daniel could not see his face. The answer to that question was going to have to wait.