Coming Into Being, by Raven (PG)
Rec Category: Teamy goodness
Pairing: none
Categories: team, gen, humor, character study, friendship, kidfic, Jacob Carter, Robert Rothman, Nyan, Janet Frasier, Cassie, General Hammond
Warnings: none
Author on LJ: loneraven
Author's Website: Sleeping With Ghosts
Link: Coming Into Being
Why This Must Be Read: It’s one of fandom’s favorite clichés: SG-1 gets turned into small children. Raven, herself, cheerfully acknowledges this. But this fic is also just plain fun. And it’s thanks to the secondary cast of characters - Hammond, Janet, Jacob, and even Robert Rothman and Nyan (two of my favorites, to be honest!) - that this story is such an entertaining read.
While the antics of the children are enjoyable - Jack’s Froot Loops, Daniel’s passive resistance against speaking (or wearing shoes), Sam’s flat refusal to wear anything pink and frilly - it’s really the reactions of the adults around them that make the reader smile. There’s Rothman’s frustration that his boss has turned into what he considers to be a horrible child; there’s Jacob’s secret delight at having some time back with his little girl again. And there’s Teal’c’s bemusement at the personalities of his younger teammates, and Nyan’s drive to help, and Janet’s struggle to communicate with Daniel…
This one is fluffy and fun, with a little character study sneaking around the edges. And it’s definitely a fic that you’re sure to enjoy.
By mid-morning, Sam was still asleep, Daniel was still mentally six years old and was holed up somewhere with his drawings again, and Jack had been to petition General Hammond. As he was once again Colonel Jack O’Neill, himself in mind if not in body, he ought to be accorded the same privileges as he had been before this little debacle. And he wasn’t asking for anything much, not a return to active duty, or anything like that (Hammond’s blood pressure appeared to be rising at the very idea), but only the freedom to move around the base without Teal’c shadowing him every step he took.
Surprisingly, Hammond was ready to grant him this, and the same for Carter once she could prove her memory had come back. It only later dawned on Jack that Teal’c was allowed the exact same privileges as he was, and if the Jaffa chose to take a path round the SGC that was exactly the same in every particular as his, Jack’s, chosen route, then that was his business.
So he wandered round the infirmary and got in the way of the nurses, then he wandered round the corridors and annoyed the airmen, and he wandered down to the control room for the purpose of irritating Carter, before realising she wouldn’t be there. Without turning round, he said, “Teal’c, what do you say we go and see if Carter remembers who we are yet?”
“I was not aware you knew of my presence, O’Neill.”
“Well, you are now. It’s like having your own personal bodyguard,” Jack groused.
“It is for your own safety, O’Neill. You are not yourself.”
“All right, all right.” Jack held up his hands. “Lead on, Macduff.”
Teal’c raised an eyebrow but did not comment. The mismatched pair proceeded to make their way up in the elevator and reached the infirmary in time to hear sounds of a commotion. Jack stuck his head in. “Hey, Doc.”
“Colonel, we’re a little busy right now…”
Jack listened carefully. “Is that Carter yelling?”
A second later, he was rewarded with the sight of a very angry small girl. It dawned on him that she must have learnt restraint over the years; in all the time he’d known her, he’d never heard her in such a fine old temper. “No, I do not want to sit down and be a good girl!” she was shouting. “I don’t want to play with dolls and eat Jell-O! I want someone to tell me what the hell is happening, damn it!”
“Now there’s the Carter we know and love,” Jack remarked to Teal’c.