| "Qu...e..." Danny shook his head, his mop of blonde hair bouncing about his face. "Qu…e…z? No, not enough letters for Quetzalcoatl. Qu…e" |
| "Daniel?" |
| Danny looked up from his place in front of the laptop as Sam made her way into the lab, wondering briefly if he should close the program down. |
| "Hi, Sam. Meeting finished?" |
| "Yeah, the Colonel said he'd…hey what are you doing?" Sam sat on a stool next to Daniel, slid the laptop in her direction and peered at the screen. "Facebook, Daniel? How did you get access to this?" |
| Danny chewed his bottom lip, acutely aware that he'd been caught out. "I used your access code. I'm only playing, I swear. I haven't accessed anything I shouldn't have." |
| Sam moved the curser across the screen, reading the text in the various frames. "Scrabulous? Looks like Scrabble." |
| Daniel took the mouse from Sam's hand and slid it over the letters on the screen. "It is," he said, dragging letters across the board. "I'm trying to make a cool word with these letters. Nat is winning so I need something good to catch up to her." |
| "Her?" Sam looked at the list of names to the right of the screen. "These players are all computer generated?" |
| "Uh, no," Daniel ran the curser over the first name. "This is Nat, she's from England, and this one is Amber, she's from Australia. I usually play with Eilidh," He frowned, dragging his bottom lip over the top one in a pout, "but she's busy at the moment. Writing or something. I wish she'd hurry up." |
| "Danny, honey," Sam drew her arm around his small shoulder, "do you know how dangerous it is to chat with people online when you don't know them. You're way too young for this type of thing." |
| Daniel looked up at her, blinking. "Oh no Sam, I do know them, especially Eilidh, and she wouldn't let me play with Nat and Amber if they weren't good people. Here, look." Daniel clicked on Nat's name with the mouse. "See! Nat is 18, lives in England and say's she funny and perky. Amber is also 18, and she lives in Australia. She say's she writes fan fiction. What's fan fiction, Sam?" |
| "I don't know, Daniel." Sam leant forward and tapped Nat's name on the screen. "She's 18." |
| "She's old like you, Sam" |
| Sam coughed, "Old?" |
| "Well 18 is only a few numbers less than 21, and you told me you were 21." Daniel smiled up at her innocently. |
| Sam pulled the laptop closer and clicked on the image of Nat. "So, this is her picture?" |
| "Yup, that's Nat. Cute huh?" |
| Sam looked at Nat's picture. A statuesque blonde with model like proportions stared back at her. "You're sure this is her?" |
| "Yes, the picture says Nat." Daniel said sweetly. "And this is Amber. I like Amber." Daniel brought up the picture of Amber for Sam to see. |
| "Daniel, that's a picture of a Tiger." |
| "Yes," Daniel frowned, "Amber say's she a Tiger." |
| "Oh, right." Sam shook her head and continued, "So you're playing scrabble-" |
| "Scrabulous." Daniel corrected. |
| "Scrabulous." Sam didn't look convinced. |
| "It's just a game, Sam." |
| "Yes, Daniel, but playing games on the base computers is against regulations. I've told you that before." |
| Daniel felt mildly chastised but continued, "How come Jack can play games then, and I can't?" |
| Sam looked surprised, and raised her eyebrows. "Daniel, the Colonel doesn't play games." |
| "Yes he does." Daniel whined. |
| "Which game?" |
| Daniel frowned, bringing up an image of the game in his mind. "Something to do with hockey scores and wagers." |
| "I thought you said it was a game, Daniel?" |
| "Jack said it was a game," Daniel huffed, defending his friend. "The team plays a game and he gets points if the team wins." |
| Sam looked shocked. "That's not a game! That's…never mind." |
| "Oh, oh." Daniel sat up higher in his chair, fussing with the mouse again. "I've got mail." He squealed. "I love mail." |
| Sam scanned the small screen but couldn't see what Daniel was seeing. "Mail? Where?" |
| "Here," Daniel clicked on a mail icon at the top of the screen, "See! Oh that's funny. Judy is pouting." |
| "Who's Judy?" |
| "She's another friend." Daniel pointed his tiny finger at the screen, "Judy say's Amber is picking on her again and Eilidh is a mongoose." He laughed lightly, "She thinks we should all poke Amber." |
| "Poke?" |
| "Like this, Sam." Daniel clicked the 'Poke' icon on the screen. "Now we wait for her to poke us back." |
| "Right." Sam didn't sound convinced. |
| "Oh! Eilidh is back, see, she just left me a message." Daniel quickly scanned the text message in his in box and frowned. "Uh- oh." |
| "What uh-oh, Daniel." Sam looked totally confused now. |
| "She said it was late for me and I'd better log off your computer before I get caught." He typed a brief reply, keeping his head low in a scowl. |
| "Sounds like Eilidh is a wise woman." Sam watched as Daniel entered the message and logged out of his Facebook account." |
| "What did you say, Danny?" |
| "I told her…too late!" |
| A few days later Danny is playing on Facebook again. What Sam doesn't know can't hurt her - eh? |
| Nat says: I don't know Danny, try clicking on the speaker icon at the bottom right of your screen. Next to the time. Can you see it? |
| Danny says: nofin but a big circl there nat with a flag in it. |
| Nat says: *slaps head* your other right. |
| Danny says: my writin hand. got it…dats better. if sam hears me im dead. |
| Nat says: hon, if Cheryl hears about this I'm dead. Keep the volume down permanently so no one can hear you okay? |
| Danny says: got it…dats better |
| Nat says: which game did you download? |
| Danny says: Def jam vendetta….unky tealc plays it a lot |
| Nat says: educational? |
| Danny says: unky tealc says it is |
| MSN Announcement: Eilidh17 has just signed on |
| Nat says: Uh oh |
| Danny says: Ummm |
| Eilidh17 says: Hi Nat *hugs* Hi Danny *hugs* what is everyone doing? It's late for you isn't it Danny? |
| Danny says: Uh sam is with unky gorge so im waitin for her |
| Nat says: Who's looking after you? |
| Danny says: sila…but hes not well |
| Eilidh17 says: What's wrong with him? |
| Danny says: I dropd a rench on his foot |
| Nat says: We so have to work on your spelling Danny, not tonight though |
| Danny says: spellin s fine its the keys dat don't work |
| Eilidh17 says: If Sam's with Uncle George, where are Jack and Teal'c? |
| Danny says: in da infirmry with aunti Janet |
| Eilidh17 says: the infirmary? Why are they in the infirmary hon? |
| Nat says: they ok? |
| Danny says: they got hert when they went of werld today. Uncky Jack got hit by a rollin jafa |
| Eilidh17 says: a what? Did you just say a rolling Jafa? *thinks* isn't that a candy? |
| Nat says: I thought it was a cake, but a candy works for me as well. |
| Eilidh17 says: okay, did he step on the Jafa? Is that how he got hurt? |
| Danny says: No he got hert when it rolled into him, unky tealc shot the jafa and it rolled inta jack |
| Eilidh17 says: Danny jafa aren't that big. You step on one it squashes. |
| Danny says: well jack said the jafa was honkin huge, bigger than unky tealc. |
| Nat says: Okay I think we're missing something here. Where did all this happen? |
| Danny says: off werld |
| Eilidh17 says: Off world? |
| Danny says: uh huh |
| Nat says: Danny where is off world? |
| Danny says: p4 somefink, Sam know's the rest, shes cleva like that |
| Eilidh17 says: we don't go to other worlds |
| Danny says: uh huh we do, Jack, sam an unky tealc go all the time fru da gate |
| Nat says: what gate? |
| Danny says: da stargate, you know, big ring wiv lotsa pictures |
| Eilidh17: I'm thinking wheel of fortune, Nat? |
| Nat says: I stopped thinking a while back. Danny this isn't making sense. Where is Teal'c? |
| Danny says: in the infirmry with Jack |
| Nat says: he got hurt too? |
| Danny says: uh huh, in the powch |
| Eilidh17 says: the what? |
| Danny says: powch, you now, where his worm usta live |
| Eilidh17 says: *groan* |
| Nat says: ???? |
| Eilidh17 says: Marsupial maybe? |
| Nat says: I thought Teal'c was a person |
| Eilidh17 says: with a pouch? |
| Nat says: oh pouch, yeah your right. Maybe we got it wrong and he's some animal they take with them. |
| Danny says: tealc is my friend, he just has a powch. |
| Nat says: Danny, people don't have pouches |
| Danny says: tealc does, he used to have a synbinot…worm once…it died |
| Eilidh17 says: *L* conbantrum? |
| Nat says: Cheryl!!!! Not funny |
| Danny says: *powts* you makin fun of me? |
| Eilidh17 says: no hon, just trying to understand |
| Danny says: look in my famly album on facebook, I have a pictur of us there |
| Eilidh17 says: Cool, hang on I'll take a peek |
| Nat says: BRB |
| Danny says: okay |
| Eilidh17 says: hon, why aren't you in the picture? |
| Danny says: I am |
| Nat says: where? |
| Danny says: sitting at da front, wiff glasses |
| Eilidh17 says: how old are you Danny? |
| Danny says: 5 |
| Eilidh17 says: the man sitting down is older than 5 |
| Danny says: thats my otha me |
| Nat says: what? |
| Danny says: when I was biga |
| Eilidh17 says: people grow up Danny, they don't grow um down |
| Danny says: I did |
| Nat says: okaaayyy… if that is you *cough* then who is the man next to you? |
| Danny says: dats jack. |
| Nat says: ooohh he's cute! |
| Eilidh17 says: Nat! |
| Nat says: What? So I like older men |
| Eilidh17 says: older, not ancient *L* |
| Nat says: so we've got Jack, who is the big guy with the tattoo? |
| Danny says: dats unky tealc |
| Nat says: right, what's the tattoo? |
| Eilidh17 says: some sort of tribal mark? |
| Danny says: unky tealc says it's the mark of a god, ded false god |
| Eilidh17 says: ah so it's religious. So the lady must be Sam? |
| Danny says: yup dats Sam…perity huh? |
| Nat says: she sure is |
| Danny says: she's like you nat, tall, sta stra statchuesq grrrrr wif model like propor….oh you know |
| Eilidh17 says: tall, statuesque with model like proportions? |
| Danny says: dats it |
| Nat says: snort |
| Danny says: I fink sam is here |
| Eilidh17 says: you think? |
| Danny says: yup sam is here so I have to go. Goin to see jack and unky tealc |
| Nat says: okay sweetie *hugs* say hi for us |
| Eilidh17 says: *hugs* night Danny |
| Danny says: nite nite *kiss* |
| MSN Announcement: Danny appears to be offline. Messages you send will be delivered when they sign in. |
| Eilidh17 says: Off world? |
| Nat says: I have no idea |
| Eilidh17 says: Teal'c with a pouch? |
| Nat says: I have no idea |
| Eilidh17 says: you don't know much |
| Nat says: do you know what he's talking about? |
| Eilidh17 says: nope, no idea |
| One Hour Later |
| MSN Announcement: Danny has just signed in. |
| Danny says: Hello? |
| Eilidh17 says: Hi honey *hugs* back again? |
| Nat says: Sam let you back on for a bit huh? |
| Danny says: This is Sam |
| Eilidh17 says: Oh, hi Sam *waves* |
| Nat says: hello Sam |
| Danny says: Which one of you is Cheryl? |
| Eilidh17 says: Um, that would be me |
| Danny says: I don't suppose you could tell me why you helped Danny to download the Def Jam Vendetta game for his DS? |
| Eilidh17 says: what game? |
| Danny says: Def Jam Vendetta, hardly suitable for a child his age. He used bit torrent, which I know he doesn't know how to do. |
| Eilidh17 says: Sorry Sam it wasn't me *looks at Nat* Nat? |
| Eilidh17 says: NAT???? |
| Nat says: He told me Teal'c said it was educational! |
| "T, do you think this is such a good idea?" |
| "DanielJackson believes that it will enable us to understand Science Fiction Fandoms better." |
| "Oh, great! Nobody said it was Danny's idea." |
| Jack handed over his money to the lady in the kiosk and gave her a sideways grin. She handed him his change and indicated that he should move towards the entrance. Seeing Teal'c ahead, he moved through the crowd to catch up. |
| Suddenly and without warning, his hand was grasped and a stamp unceremoniously imprinted on the back of it, while a programme was thrust into his other hand. |
| "Hey!" Jack frowned, only to be met with a grinning, teenager? Yep, had to be, they all looked pretty young these days. |
| "Hey T," Jack shouted and waved his hand trying to get the attention of Jaffa. |
| "I see DanielJackson and MajorCarter, I will head in their direction, O'Neill." |
| Jack shook his head while being buffeted by over exuberant fans bearing various t-shirts emblazoned with familiar sci-fi show logos. |
| Jack heard the enthusiastic cry from small lungs; he smiled. Okay, he was gonna make an effort to enjoy this. |
| Making his way through the crowd, Jack spotted the bobbing blonde head just a few feet in front of him. Teal'c knelt down before the excited child and pulled him into a hug, he could hear Teal'c's low rumbling tone greeting the child as he smiled widely. Daniels face was alight as he spoke a mile a minute to the Jaffa, who by this point, had scooped him into his arms and continued to look attentive. |
| Jack continued to grin as he approached and patted Daniel on the back, he wished for a the world he had a camera at this moment. |
| "Hey, Kiddo!" he grinned. "This is cool, you gonna show me and Uncle Teal'c around here?" |
| For Jack's enthusiastic greeting, he was blessed with a smile a mile wide. |
| "Hey, Jack!" Danny thrust his arms towards Jack, indicating he wanted to be held. |
| "Hey, Sir. Glad you could make it. Daniel wanted this to be a surprise." Sam Carter stood to one side as the greetings continued. She'd obviously helped Daniel instigate this little outing. |
| Jack nodded and returned the smile, indicating his approval. Danny was jabbering away in his ear. 'Some things never change' mused Jack as he turned to meet his kid's exuberant red face. |
| "Slow down, kiddo," Jack propped Daniel on his hip and ruffled his hair. "Where do you wanna go first, Grasshopper?" |
| Daniel cupped his hand around Jacks ear and whispered conspiratorially into it. |
| "Well, there's loads of stuff to do with a show from the TV and it's just like our job…urm, your job." Jack frowned and shook his head, "No listen, Jack," the boy pleaded. Once again he whispered. "They're just like our old team…urm, 'Wormhole Extreme'. Do you remember it, Jack?" |
| Jack turned to look the little boy in the face, his nose was scrunched up waiting for a reply. |
| "Yes, Danny. I remember. They still making that show?" Jack now looked at his colleagues for confirmation. |
| He caught Danny's grin and the over emphasized nod of the child on his hip. Carter and Teal'c continued to smile at the scene playing out before them. |
| "Yes, Sir," Carter grinned, "apparently they are, but Danny has some friends to meet here too, from the internet and before you go ballistic sir, I've checked them out and they're a lovely bunch of ladies." |
| Carter looked hesitant as Jack frowned at her. He quickly tucked Danny's head into his shoulder, partially covering the ear nearest to him. |
| "You let him on the internet, Carter?" he mouthed. |
| She shrugged, nodded, rolling her head slightly, as Jack released Danny. |
| Well, he'd let that one go, for now. |
| He popped Danny down on the floor, feeling him wriggling for release. It never failed to amaze Jack, that for someone with his memories more or less intact, how childish this Danny was. But, Jack thought with a small smile, it makes him even easier to love. |
| Daniel grasped Jack's hand and cast a quick smile at Teal'c and Sam. |
| "Okay, kiddo. Lead the way," Jack encouraged. |
| As he was physically dragged through the crowds by his kid, Jack couldn't help but wonder what on earth had been going on while he'd entrusted this little monkey to his second in command's care. |
| An hour later after being dragged around various stalls, Jack sat at a coffee stall nursing his aching knees. Slowly walking anywhere was hard at the best of times. |
| Daniel sat opposite on Teal'c's knee, both comparing there fan purchases. Teal'c had bought a large amount of Star Wars memorabilia, which Jack found very amusing. |
| Daniel had bought Wormhole Extreme action figures. He'd happily informed Jack that Julius was for torture purposes. He'd been cheaper, apparently because he took the main man's part after being killed off in one of the episodes. Therefore, Daniel had gushed, that he wasn't very popular at all. |
| The pair compared purchases, while Jack spotted Carter peering into a plastic bag, which he knew contained a box set of a show called Battlestar Gallactica. Jack personally preferred the original, but hey, who was he to stand in judgement. He'd bought an Andromeda box set out of interest more than anything. |
| Sam placed her bag on the floor and sipped her skinny Latte` from the cardboard cup. |
| "Daniel?" She smiled over the steaming liquid. |
| The blond head bobbed up. Jack still couldn't get used to the fact that this little version didn't need glasses, but that was a good thing for Danny. |
| "We need to head over to the entrance to meet your friends in ten minutes, do you need the toilet or anything, honey?" |
| There was a swift bump of doc martins on the floor as Daniel slid from Teal'c's lap. |
| "Are you and Teal'c coming with me , Jack?" Danny busily dropped figures, books and DVD's into his bag. |
| "I will accompany you DanielJackson." Teal'c rumbled as he stood. |
| Jack nodded and smiled as he met the boys gaze. |
| "Come on then, Spacemonkey," Jack held his hand out as he stiffly stood, ready to follow Teal'c. |
| Danny grinned back and handed his bag to Sam. He quickly grasped Jack's hand as they made their way to the rest room. |
| On their return, Sam was ready and now held her hand out to the skipping boy. |
| "Come on then, Danny. You ready," she smiled. |
| "Yeah, I'm really excited Sam." He enthused as they made there way back to the entrance. |
| Jack frowned slightly; he wasn't sure about this stuff, although he trusted Sam. The internet? They sure did need to have words about this. |
| As they approached, Jack could see a large group of women, mostly middle aged he'd guess. Chatter and excitement were audible as they approached. Jack stood back slightly with Teal'c as Sam and Danny approached. He could see Sam cautiously greeting a taller lady and then shake her hand. That was just before she turned to Danny saying 'hi' very enthusiastically and Danny returned the greeting. It then appeared the little boy disappeared into the crowd of ladies, screeches of joy and greeting meeting his ears. |
| "Whow," Jack frowned. He turned to Teal'c and beckoned him over. It was time to make sure his kid was okay. |
| Approaching the crowd, he spotted the small blonde head bobbing about smiling and laughing. 'These women were like a bunch of doting Aunts,' Jack couldn't help but muse. |
| "Hey, Ladies," Jack greeted jovially. Faces turned to look at him, and there was definitely audible sucking in of air, some even looked a little faint. |
| "Hi, I'm Jack…Danny's guardian," he smiled grasping a hand thrust towards him. |
| "Hi, we're from Little Danny, a yahoo internet group." |
| 'Yep', thought Jack, 'she definitely looked flushed…Was that a German accent?' |
| "Whow, lady. Are you okay?" Jack had managed to catch the rapidly fainting woman. |
| As he managed to get her to a chair and she came a round a little, another lady came forward. "Her name's Anne," she smiled. "She'll be fine." She confidently thrust her hand towards him and grasped his hand, shaking it firmly. "My names Mandy, Mandy Ackley." |
| "Hi," Jack smiled. He could see everyone else making their way over. Danny had wriggled to the front of the crowd and stood giving Anne a concerned look. Teal'c was at his back, with Sam not far from Jack's back. |
| Sam leaned over and touched her forehead. |
| "It's just a faint, sir. She'll be fine." |
| "I will go and fetch water," Teal'c rumbled as he strode away. |
| Jack looked up again and noticed he was now surrounded. He continued to lend a supporting hand to Anne's shoulder, while she recovered. |
| Jack looked at Daniel now, maybe it would be easier if Danny did the introductions. |
| "Well, Danny, do you wanna introduce us to these nice folks?" |
| Danny nervously scuffed his toe and then cast a smile at Jack and the expectant crowd, who Jack could swear were positively awing without saying it. |
| Danny took Jack's hand as Teal'c returned with Anne's water. Jack smiled at her and then regretted it, thinking she looked distinctly peaky again. |
| As Jack turned around, he saw Mandy again. "I believe we've met," he nodded and smiled. |
| "This is, Auntie Char," he waved, "Cheryl, Judy and Lisa, from Australia" He gasped. "That's sure a long way to come and see me, hur, Jack?" The two women nodded and smiled. |
| Jack considered the title Auntie Char, something else he needed to have words about. |
| Pointing again as Jack shook more hands, Daniel continued to indicate different people. |
| "Ronda, Lois, Leeniesmom, Eivor, Nat, Emma and Sue from England. Debbie and Patti." Daniel know turned and grinned at Jack. |
| "These are my interent friends Jack." He announced proudly. |
| Jack once again smiled at the ladies looking at them both, while Carter helped Anne up. |
| Internally he shook his head. 'My god, what had this kid been up to and how the hell did he manage to make friends with a bunch of middle aged women?' |
| He'd save that interrogation for some of these lovely ladies, he had a feeling they'd be fairly forth coming once they got better acquainted. |
| "Well, Ladies. What say I buy you all a drink for looking after my kid while he surfs the net?" |
| With happy mumblings of thanks and Daniel wriggling away to talk to his new found friends, Jack hooked the other arm of the lady called Anne and helped Carter get everyone to a coffee stall. |
| 'The fun begins' mused Jack. |
