Sweet Sixteen
Sweet Sixteen
by Lady S
Title:Sweet Sixteen
Author:Lady S
Email:selizaw@juno.com
Status: Complete
Category:Sam/Daniel
Spoilers:none
Season/Sequel info:none
Rating:pg-13
Content Warnings:language, m/f
Summary:Sam returns to the SGC as a sixteen year old girl
Disclaimer:Standard- wish I did but I don't.
Author's Notes:SWEET sixteen my foot! She's a pain in the neck- but for a good reason!
Sweet Sixteen
By: Lady S
General George Hammond watched as the gate opened with a flash of brilliant blue. There were days that all went well at the SGC. And then there were days like today... days that SG-1 returns early. It was never a good sign. Usually, if all of them returned, one or more was being carried by the others, bloody and or unconscious. George Hammond hated days like that. And today was no different. SG-1 was returning early.
'What went wrong this time?'
Everyone watched as Daniel and Jack came through the event horizon. Colonel Jack O'Neill, known for his sarcastic sense of humor, had a twinkle in his otherwise stony face. Daniel Jackson, the team linguist, was smiling.
'THIS is NOT the way these days go!' Hammond thought to himself. Mind you he wasn't complaining... not yet anyway.
Teal'c came through next... carrying a girl.
'...!?'
All watched as she stirred and, noticing she was being held above the ground, began to squirm. Teal'c held her fast...a fact she wasn't too happy about.
"Put me down you creep!"
Teal'c set her on the ramp and stood, stoic and unfazed, albeit a little confused, by the name she called him.
The girl looked around, observing her surroundings.
"Okay. So I'm on a base. Yay," she deadpanned. "Which one?" she asked, directing her question out to the crowd gathering at the base of the ramp.
General Hammond cleared his throat. "Miss...? My name is General Hammond and this is an army base. Can you tell me..."
"Yeah yeah yeah. Civilian live-on, report to the infirmary. I know the drill."
"General..." Jack spoke up confirming Hammond's fear. "I'd like you to meet sixteen year old Samantha Carter."
Yep... it's one of those days.
****
The four men were seated in the debriefing room. Daniel, lounging in the corner, was loosing his battle with his smile. Teal'c sat, straight as a board, his face expressionless but even he saw the humor in the situation as his eyes were twinkling. Jack was found in the chair to the left of Hammond, a child-like grin slapped to his face. He was enjoying this a little too much! George Hammond sat at the head of the table. Had he hair, his hands would have been running through it.
"Okay... let's have it." Hammond said, his voice as weary as his face.
Daniel began. "We got through okay and were exploring a temple next to the gate. Sam was helping me with some of the artifacts..."
"Rocks."
Daniel shot Jack a glare. "...Artifacts when one of them started shooting out these...light...beam...things."
"Is this the technical version?"
"Colonel...!"
"Sorry sir."
"Anyway one of them hit Sam and she collapsed to the ground. Right in front of us she began to change! Her physical features shifted until she was a sixteen-year-old. It's like she...de-aged...or something."
Hammond's eyebrow rose. "De-aged?"
"I conquer with Daniel Jackson's assessment. I have seen this performed before."
"Explain Teal'c."
"It is used as a reward for a slave. A Goa'uld would take several years off of the slaves life...the slave became younger. This served to lengthen the use of the slave. Sadly it was not continued."
"Why?"
"They all died."
"Oh shit." Jack said, speaking for all of them.
****
"Look can I get outta here or what?"
"Sam..."
"Samantha."
"Samantha, I have a few more tests I need to run. Then you can go talk with the General."
Janet tried to keep her patience with this girl. It was hard to believe that this sixteen-year-old was the Sam Carter she knew. She was rude, belligerent, and... to be frank she didn't really like her. But nonetheless this was Sam Carter and it was up to Janet to figure out how.
"Why do I need to speak with the General?" Samantha asked. "That's not standard procedure."
"This isn't a standard base." Janet replied.
Samantha slumped, defeated, resigned to allowing the tests to take place, knowing she couldn't stop them if she wanted to. Suffering through some further poking and prodding Samantha jumped from the bed when Janet said she was finished.
"Umm...Doc?"
"Yeah?"
"Where can I get a change of clothes?"
Janet looked at Samantha, her pant's barely hanging on, and Janet couldn't help but smile.
"Come on I'll take you to get some clothes."
They walked through the corridors silently, each one wary of the other, until they came to a door marked 'Captain C. Carter'. Thankfully Samantha didn't notice, too preoccupied with rummaging through the closet for some decent clothes. Picking what she liked Samantha changed and stood before Janet. Janet had to laugh!
"Now that's the Sam Carter I know!"
Samantha smiled. Her shirt read 'We sent a man to the moon...' on the front and 'Why can't we send 'em all?' on the back. Starting to feel better about where she was Sam relaxed a little.
"What happened?"
"I don't know... but what say we go find out."
Sam nodded and walked out into the hallway.
Janet led her to the briefing room where SG-1 was waiting with the General. They sat down across from Jack and Daniel, Teal'c and the General occupying the head and foot of the table.
"Doc?"
"She's fine. I suggest we wait until Jacob is here before going any farther."
Hammond nodded. "He's been called already. Well Sam..."
"Samantha."
"Sorry. Samantha we're gonna have to ask that you stay with one of us at all times."
"A guard! What the hell kind of base is this?!"
"A special one..." Jack told her.
"No shit Colonel! I've only been told that every time I ask the question." She chastised him.
Teal'c raised an eyebrow. No one had ever seen her act this way toward O'Neill before. Not even when they'd first met.
"Samantha..." the General said, his tone a warning.
"What?!" she replied. "I'm not one of your airmen Gen. I'm a civilian!"
Hammond chose his words carefully. "Miss... you are under my command so long as you are on my base. So I suggest you do as I ask or I'll put you in the brig until your father gets here."
Sam glared at him. "Then you find me someone who is not military. I don't want any guns or weapons around me while I'm stuck here!"
"I'll do it." Daniel spoke up.
Sam turned to look at him. "You're in fatigues."
"I'm a civilian." He told her. "I work with them but I'm not military."
"Fine!" Sam threw up her hands and left moved towards the door.
"I didn't dismiss you Miss Carter."
Sam turned to face Hammond. "I didn't ask to be." She informed him spitefully before leaving the room, Daniel close behind her. Everyone stared at each other, unable to find the right words to discuss their teenage friend, each one wondering why she was being so mean.
Daniel followed Samantha down the hall thirty feet before he was able to catch up to her.
"Samantha! Wait up!"
Samantha slowed so he could walk with her. They walked in silence for several minutes. Daniel finally found the words he thought would be okay to say.
"Why do you hate the military so much?" he asked.
Sam ignored him and kept walking until she found what she wanted. There was one of these on every base.
Daniel looked at the room they had entered. It was an empty room except for a radio and a few chairs.
"I never knew this was even here!" he said aloud.
"Every base has one." Samantha told him. "Most people just don't realize it."
Turning on the radio she scanned the stations until she found one she liked. Ignoring him Samantha moved to the middle of the room and began to dance.
Daniel straddled one of the chairs and watched her. She moved around with grace and skill that he had always seen in her walk and even, sometimes, her fighting. Daniel watched Samantha glide around the room, sometimes fast sometimes slow. She was a good dancer. VERY good, reminding him of the professionals he had seen on TV. After some time she stopped and changed the station to something fast and upbeat. Daniel recognized the song. He'd heard it before. 'How Bizarre' was the title but he couldn't remember who sang it. Samantha danced wildly and yet it looked natural. He couldn't help but tap his feet to the beat. She saw him. Laughing she drew him from his chair and into the middle with her. They danced all through that song and another three after it, laughing the whole way. After the fifth dance Daniel retreated to his chair. Samantha smiled at him and changed the station once more.
"Latin?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah... I know it's not real popular but I like it."
"Never done Latin. I'm more of a Swinger."
"Oh I love to watch swing dancers! There's so much energy! I just wish I knew how."
"Make you a deal..." Daniel proposed.
"What?"
"Teach me Latin and I'll teach you Swing."
Sam stopped in front of him and held out her hand. "Deal."
Shaking hands Samantha once more drew him out to the floor for a lesson in Latin dancing. Samba, Rumba, Tango... she knew them all. Daniel said as much to her.
"I love to dance," she replied. "it relaxes me. Hopefully one-day son I'll be professional. Changing bases all the time makes it difficult. None of the scout ever have a chance to hear about me!" she said angrily.
Shaking her head Samantha again lost herself in the music.
"Okay!! Enough!! I'm dead!" Daniel cried after some time, throwing himself to the floor.
Samantha laughed and joined him. They lay side by side staring at the ceiling for a while in silence. Daniel glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"Can I ask you something? It's kinda personal..."
"Why do I hate the military?" she said, repeating his earlier question. She felt, rather than saw, him nod. "All my life all I've known is military. Base after base, silo after silo, boot camp after boot camp... it gets old real fast. Salutes and nods instead of hello's, orders instead of requests, inspections, chow... I'm just so sick of it. If I were old enough in the sixties I'd have burned my draft card! If I were a guy I mean." She paused. "I just want a normal life. Stay put in one high school long enough to actually make a friend. Maybe even have a boyfriend. Sixteen years old and I haven't even been decently kissed!!" she complained to Daniel.
He couldn't help but smile. No one would ever believe this side of Captain Sam Carter. "I know a little about the moving around part. I was never in a school long enough to make friends either. Kept changing foster homes and schools, never in one place too long."
Sam turned her head to look at him. "And now?"
"Now I have a family here. I know you don't like the military but some of them have become my family. Jack, Teal'c, Janet... and you."
"We just got here. I just met you."
"Not really."
"What do you mean?"
Daniel hesitated, unsure of how much to say. "Let's just say that I've seen the future. You're a captain in the Air Force."
Samantha sat up straight staring down at him. "No! Never! I HATE the military!" she yelled at him. Bursting from the room she ran smack into Janet.
"Hey! Sam!" she said as Samantha broke from her and kept running.
Turning Janet saw Daniel running his hand through his hair, staring after Sam.
"What happened?"
Daniel sighed. "I said a little too much."
Janet looked at him, wondering what he had said that would get her so riled up.
****
Entering the infirmary Janet saw Samantha sitting on a gurney, her head in her hands.
"Sam?"
"Can I have some aspirin, please?" she asked.
Janet could hear the tears in her voice, though if they were from Daniel's words or the headache she couldn't tell. Grabbing the bottle from a cabinet Janet gave her two aspirin. Before anything else could be said the klaxon's activated. Samantha followed Janet to the gate room astounded at what she saw before her.
There on the ramp was her father... 'Out of UNIFORM!!'
"Dad?"
Jacob looked toward his daughters' voice. There, before him, stood his daughter of thirty plus years, looking not a day over sixteen.
"Sam?"
Samantha bristled. "Samantha!" she corrected him. "Why are you out of uniform? And which base is this and how'd you...?"
Samantha stopped, her attention caught by what was behind her father. As though in a trance she stepped up the ramp to the event horizon. Reaching out to touch it she felt the cool blue liquid beckoning to her. Without thinking Samantha stepped through, heedless of the planet she was going to, not knowing what would happen. Jacob darted after his daughter.
Samantha stood on the platform staring out at the planet around her. Her face, green with nauseous, was over powered by her awe. Jacob emerged and grabbed Samantha's arm, pulling her back through the gate. When they returned Jacob wore a concerned frown while Samantha a look of profound awe and curiosity.
"What a RUSH!!" she jabbered. "What is this? How's it work? Where'd I go? Where's it getting the energy? Why'd it mmph glppf?"
Jacob's hand prevented any more questions. "Would someone care to explain?"
****
"So she's sixteen? In both body and mind?"
"Yes. As far as she's concerned she's simply been transferred to another base with her family."
"Hello! Sitting right here people!" Samantha broke in. "So you're saying that I'm actually thirty some years old?!"
Hammond nodded.
"God... I'm ancient!!"
Jack smiled wryly. 'Then what's that make me?' he thought to himself.
"Okay... so how do we reverse it?" Samantha asked.
"Well I didn't get to finish the translations. There might be something there that can help us." Daniel said to the group.
"All right. SG-1 get back to the planet and see what you can dig up. In the mean time.. Dr. Frasier I want you to keep working on it from this end."
"George, Martouf needs to be going back but I'll be sticking around for a little while. I want to make sure Sam's gonna be okay."
Daniel noticed Sam staring at her father. He could read the disbelief in her eyes as easily as he could the signs on the wall.
"Sam...?" Jacob asked. He saw the questions in her eyes.
"You don't have any meetings today?" she asked.
"Martouf can handle them."
Sam stared at her father. This is not the father she knew. He actually... cared. He was sticking around to make sure that she was okay!
Jacob saw the confusion in her eyes. "Samantha... a lot has changed."
Samantha nodded and looked down at the table, drawing patterns on it's top with her nails. She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't know how to react with this man. This man who was, and yet wasn't, her father. She looked up at him, questions still in her eyes.
"We should begin. If I remember correctly we don't have much time." Selmak said to the group.
Samantha stood so fast her chair flipped over. "What the hell...!!?" she yelled, staring at her father. She heard that voice coming from him. It wasn't his! "What the hell is going on here? Who the hell are you?" Samantha yelled, pointing angrily at this man she had almost believed to be her father.
"Sam... I'm your father!" Jacob told her.
"No! No you're not! You look like him but you don't act like him and just now you didn't even sound like him! Who the hell are you!!?"
Jacob reached out to touch her arm. Samantha recoiled and fled from the room.
"Sam!" Daniel called.
The men entered the hallway in time to see Sam disappear around the corner. "Samantha!" Jacob called after his daughter.
Hammond turned to face them. "SG-1 go to work. Translate and get back here ASAP! Martouf you can go on as well. Jacob...we'll find her."
With a nod the men went their separate ways. Martouf and SG-1 to the gate room and Jacob and Hammond roamed the halls looking for Samantha.
****
"Jack! I think I've got it! Look!" Daniel called to Jack.
Coming up behind him Jack looked at what Daniel was pointing to.
"What is it?"
"It's the 'Story of Life'. A myth that the people of this world held belief in. It seems that these crystals hold the power to give or take a certain amount of life to and from the person who holds it. One will give and the other will take. But it doesn't say which is which!"
"So if she hold the wrong one..."
"She'll get even younger." Daniel answered.
The two men looked at each other.
"Oh shit."
****
"Incoming traveler's!"
"Who is it?"
"SG-1 Sir!"
"Open the iris."
Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c walked down the ramp to Jacob, his face upset.
"What's wrong?"
"We can't find her. I should have known better! When she doesn't want to be found... no one can!"
"Let us look for her."
Jacob shrugged. "I'll keep looking but until she's ready we won't find her."
Daniel headed towards his office/lab. As he neared the door he heard his own voice coming from within. Opening the door he saw Samantha sitting at his desk, watching something on his computer.
****
Sam had run. Run as far and as long and hard as she could. She didn't know where she was going or what she was looking for. Only what she was running from. That man couldn't be her father. He was too... too... caring, open, honest. Her father was military. Born and bred. And that voice! That was not her father's voice! Where was she? What place is this?
Before long she had come to an office. It was farther away from all the other offices. Curious Samantha opened the door to see one of the messiest offices she'd ever seen. There were books all over, statues that looked like Egyptian, and artifacts all over. Heading over to the desk she saw a stack of tapes, VCR tapes labeled with numbers and letters. Some of them had words. One of them caught her eye. 'Sam's promotion'. Pulling it from the stack she put it into the VCR and hit play. Samantha sat down and watched the promotion ceremony. She'd been to enough of them to know the routine. But this one was different. SHE was the one receiving the promotion! The Colonel... 'What was his name?'... Jack was pinning her bars on. The ceremony ended and the screen went snowy. Before she could hit the stop button it changed to a party. She watched herself joke and laugh with the men she'd met. The woman Dr. was there too and a young girl she didn't know. One man in particular caught her attention. It was her father. He was laughing with her, relaxed and happy. Easy going. She'd never seen him like that before. She listened to their conversation about the latest mission she'd been on. Something called the To'kra.
So intent on the screen she didn't hear him until he spoke.
"That was six months ago."
Jumping up from her seat Sam whirled to see Daniel standing behind her. He held his hands up apologetically.
"Sorry... didn't mean to scare you."
Sam stared at him, trying to decide if she could trust him. From what she had seen so far he was kind enough. Samantha decided to take a chance on him.
"Please... what's going on?"
Daniel motioned for her to sit down. He sat down across from her.
"Three years ago you joined the Stargate program. It's an interplanetary exploration program using the Stargate you went through earlier. We were on a mission and you touched a gem that we found out had some power. It de-aged you. You became sixteen again."
Sam took in the knowledge, storing it to review later. "What about that man? The one who looks like my father?"
"Sam... sorry... Samantha. He is your father! A little while ago you found out that he had cancer. He was gonna die. There was a chance to save his life but it meant he had to leave earth. He decided to join the To'kra..."
"What are they?"
"They're a race of symbiont rebels. A human host and a To'kra symbiont. Selmak, the voice you heard earlier, she's the To'kra that shares your fathers body. She saved his life and he saved hers."
"That's like something out of Star Trek! You really expect me to believe that?"
Daniel smiled. "It's the truth Sam."
"Samantha." She said distractedly biting her nails.
Samantha paced the room going over and over what he had just told her. It seemed so impossible and yet... it answered so many questions.
"Samantha... why don't you go talk to Selmak. She can answer a lot of your questions for you."
****
Sam waited in the briefing room. The door opened and she saw her father enter. He sat down across from her and waited, not wanting to press her. Samantha looked at him.
"I want to talk to Selmak." She said quietly.
"Okay." Jacob nodded, bowing his head.
// Tell her whatever she wants to know.// Jacob said to Selmak.
Lifting her head she opened her eyes and Selmak spoke to Samantha.
"Hello Samantha Carter. My name is Selmak."
Samantha stared, wide eyed, at her father. The voice was his and yet it was so very different. "Are you the symbiont?"
"Yes. I am the To'kra that shares your fathers body."
"Why?"
"The host I had before was dying. You father was also dying. We joined together and saved each other's life. That was almost two years ago."
"Are you hurting him?"
"No. We share this body together, peacefully."
"Daniel said that you...he had cancer."
"Yes he did. One of the advantages of joining is that as a To'kra I am able to heal a good portion of the sickness and wounds that we receives."
Sam stared at him/her. Her head was hurting but she pushed it to the side, deciding that she was thinking too much. This man was her father... this woman, worm, symbiont, whatever, was also her father.
"This is confusing." She said.
Selmak smiled. "Those were your fathers words as well when we first joined. It took him a while to get used to it." Selmak paused and decided to go ahead. "Samantha... your father loves you very much. He was never able to show it before. He wishes he could make that up to you. But the past is in the past. It is time to look to the future. We must get you healed."
"Okay. Selmak... thank you. Dad?"
Selmak bowed her head and Jacob took over again. "I'm right here honey."
Sam looked at her father, the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry... about before."
Jacob smiled and held out his hands. "It's okay Samantha. It's okay. I'm just glad you're gonna be okay."
Samantha took his hands and together they walked out of the briefing room.
****
"So then we have a fifty-fifty chance?" Hammond asked.
"That's right. One will make her older the other will make her younger." Jack replied.
"Then lets hope we get the right one."
Standing in the gate room they were discussing what Daniel had discovered when Samantha and Jacob walked in, she in his arms. Daniel smiled.
"We're all set." Jacob said.
"Okay then. Let's go. Dial out Lieutenant." Hammond called up to the control room.
Samantha stood there in her fathers' arms while they were speaking. When the gate began to dial she stepped forward to get a better look.
"Not too close." Daniel warned, grabbing her arm. "You'll get vaporized when it opens."
Sam smiled at him but kept her attention on the gate. As it swooshed open with a rush of blue Sam gasped in pure delight and awe. The men smiled at her, remembering what it had been like to see the gate open for the first time. Jack took point, Teal'c following behind him. With a smile to his daughter Jacob stepped through after them. Standing before the event horizon Sam was oblivious to those around her. She reached out to touch the coolness of the blue ripple before her. Moving her hand around Samantha pushed it a little farther through, feeling the pull of the gate. Snatching it back she stared at her hand, searching for any changes. Her eyes returned to the gate, staring, transfixed by it.
Daniel stood behind Samantha, knowing what she was going through. He too had done that his first time through the gate. Exploring, searching, questioning, in awe of everything. He reached out to touch her shoulder, reminding Samantha that they needed to go through.
Samantha smiled at him, knowing that she needed to go through. Before she could take any further steps her head exploded with pain. Samantha sank to the ground, her face contorted with pain.
Daniel caught her as she fell. He sank to his knees, Sam in his arms, as Janet and Hammond rushed up the ramp.
"We can't wait any longer. She has to do this now! Sir I'm going through with them, I need to be with her." Janet said, her tone not to be argued with.
Hammond nodded. "Go!" he ordered.
Daniel stood, bringing Sam with him, and stepped through the gate. Coming out on the other side he saw the concerned faces of her father, Jack and Teal'c.
"Carter!"
"Sammy!"
Both of the started forward but stopped when Janet held up her hand. "We need to get moving now! Teal'c can you carry Sam?"
Without a word Teal'c handed his staff to Jacob and took her from Daniel's arms. The group made their way quickly to the ruins and Daniel began to set everything up.
"Lay her on that table!"
Teal'c Laid Sam down on the table and stepped back. Everyone held their breath as Daniel chose a stone and put into her hands. Standing back he watched as the gem lit up casting it's light all over Sam, blinding those who were watching.
The light passed and they saw Sam lying there, her body back to normal. Jacob took his daughters hands in his own as she stirred.
"Ooh! What happened?" she whispered. Opening her eyes Sam saw her fathers worried face above her. "Dad? What are you doing here?"
"Sam... how do you feel?"
"Tired...so tired."
Jacob nodded. "Get some sleep. Everything's gonna be okay." Smiling her kissed her forehead. "It's all gonna be fine."
Sam smiled softly and drifted off to sleep.
****
Sam awoke to the steady beep of a heart monitor. Opening her eyes she saw that she was in the infirmary. To her left was the Colonel and Teal'c, one sleeping and the other in Kelnoren. Daniel slept to her right and Janet stood at the bottom of the bed.
"'Bout time you woke up!" she whispered, smiling.
"How long was I out?"
"Fifteen hours."
"Have they been here the whole time?"
Janet nodded. "General Hammond even ordered them out so they left and then came back five minutes later. I didn't have the heart to kick them out again." Janet paused. "What do you remember?"
Sam ran her hands over her face, still very tired. "Everything. It's like a dream. I know what happened but it almost doesn't seem real."
Janet smiled. "You're gonna be fine. Your father said to say goodbye and he'll come and see you soon. There was an emergency he had to handle."
Sam smiled. "Thanks."
"Get some sleep." Janet said to her squeezing her foot. Walking out the door she passed by Teal'c who rose from his meditation.
"I am glad you are well Captain Carter." He said, his voice raising the other two from their sleep.
"Carter! You're awake!" Jack said, smiling.
"Yes sir. I'm fine." Sam said to them.
"Good. You had us worried there for a while. You were quite a teenager Carter."
Sam smiled. She had been a pain in the neck and she knew it. "That was very polite... thank you."
Jack smiled. She'd caught him. His eyes laughing Jack ruffled her hair and ordered her to rest. Together he and Teal'c left the infirmary. Sam turned her attention to Daniel who had been very quiet. He smiled at her.
"How you feeling?" he asked.
"Tired." She said a small smile playing in her eyes. "Thank you Daniel, for everything. For telling me the truth even when I didn't want to hear it."
Daniel smiled at her. "Get some rest. You're gonna need it for when you keep your promise!"
Sam laughed. "You gonna hold me to that, eh?"
"You'd better believe it!" he smiled back.
Sam smiled as her eye's drooped. Daniel took her hand in his and squeezed it.
"Sleep Sam. Welcome back."
Sam smiled as she drifted off into sleep. Daniel brushed a stray lock of her hair from her face. Smiling he kissed her hand before laying it on her stomach and leaving the infirmary.
The End
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Lady S
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Sweet Sixteen
by Lady SSite Navigation
Support Heliopolis