Title: Nano, Nano
Author: Danielle
Rating: PG (There's some swearing)
Disclaimer: All characters from the television series ‘Stargate SG-1’ belong to Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions.I’m only borrowing them for my personal entertainment, and I promise I’ll put them back all nice and proper. I didn’t profit from writing this piece, though if someone wants to pay me huge wads of cash for the copyright, I won’t argue. All original characters and situations belong to me, but you can use them if you really want to - just mail me first. Also mail me first if you want to archive this somewhere. Thank you kindly.
Summary: Introducing Dr Rheannon O'Shea...
Author's Notes: This one actually takes place before 'Little People'. I was going to change it so that it took place after, but I really couldn't have been bothered. //....// designates thought.

Prologue: 3rd July, 2000

My name is Rheannon O'Shea, B. Sc. (Microbiology) [Hon], and PhD. Its probably a bit daft to tell a journal, an inanimate object, my name and credentials - but I suppose if I ever lose it I've got a snowball's chance in hell of getting back. Anyways, I've decided to start a new journal to coincide with my starting a new job. Its at some place called Cheyenne Mountain, a military base in the middle of Colorado so I'm told. Wherever it is, it's a long way away from Mount Isa, Australia. But hopefully it'll be a change of pace from my last job at the CDC, where I've been alternating between driving a desk and travelling to third-world countries for five years. At the very least, it'll be a new office for me to clutter up with my junk and at least I'll be running the laboratory where I'm going. Now if that isn't an improvement, I don't know what is!

"Rhea?" the voice of Janet Fraiser asked not long after a tap on the door. Her face soon appeared, quickly followed by her lab-coated body.
"What's up?" she asked, gesturing her to a seat.
"I've just been talking to SG-2 and General Hammond. We may have some work for yourself and Matt... off world."
"Right... Not Nick?" Rhea blinked a few times - why didn't they want to take the senior bacteriologist for a little trip?
"We need someone here to hold the fort."
"Fair enough. Uh, I know this'll probably be a silly question, but why me? I'm sure just about anyone here has slightly more experience with extraterrestrial microbes than I do right now." //The sixty-four million dollar question// she thought.
"You have to learn some time. Besides, they've all been through the gate at one point-"
"And I haven't. Okay, when do we leave?" She leaned back in her chair and looked up at her friend.
"You'll have to ask the general at the briefing. Here's some preliminary notes though." The doctor handed over a thin manilla folder. Rhea opened it and flicked through its contents in something approaching record time.
"Strange organism... Protective effects... Why can't SG-2 take samples? Or one of your lot for that matter?"
"Like I said-" Janet started to say before she was cut off.
"I haven't been through the gate yet."
"Besides, you'll just complain that we haven't provided a pure sample if anyone else does it."
Rhea sighed. "Point taken. Geez Janet, you've got a wierd way of initiating a new person."
"Happens to the best of us," she replied with a shrug. "Besides, off-world travel is always interesting."
"Then you do it."
"I'm only a doctor. Its your job this time 'round I'm afraid."
"I knew you were going to say that."

10th June, 2000

Well, the briefing went okay. Well, as okay as can be expected with General Hammond wanting results from a couple of not-so-extensive observations made by some military types on a planet halfway across the galaxy. Knowing my luck, this'll be a problem for a botanist or a toxicologist rather than a bunch of microbiologists. And I'm still not quite swallowing the fact that the only reason I'm even participating in this mission is because I'm probably the sole scientist left on this base who hasn't gone for a ride through the Stargate - regardless of what Janet says. Not that I'm complaining... Well, actually, I am.
Argh, who cares?

"Ready to go Doc?" Matt Burke, the laboratory technician, asked as he pulled one of those silly helmets that the CO of SG-2 insisted that they wear.
"No," Rhea replied. "I'd rather be skewered and roasted over an open flame thank you kindly."
"Ah, its not that bad. Just like being on a roller coaster." He strode out the door.
"But I don't like roller coasters!" She just about had to run to keep up with him - she might be pretty tall as women go, but the guy was enormous!
"How many times have you been through?" she asked him as we enter the 'embarkation room.'
"Only once or twice. Generally the medics on the teams do all of the collecting for us. Or Doc Fraiser and her staff." He grinned. "We just get to do all of the hard work and let them take the credit."
"What's new... Whoah." Rhea finally looked at the... thing we were supposed to be going through.
"Pretty neat huh?"
"Matt, anyone with eyes would say that its impressive." What was she saying? The 'gate was more than impressive - it's bloody massive!
"Doctor, Matt," Major Coburn greeted the pair, looking every inch the military CO.
Without even thinking, Rhea blurted out, "Do I have to go through that thing?"
Even though he was quick, she still noticed him stifle a look of exasperation. It obviously wasn't the first time he'd encountered other people's pre-gating nerves.
"Unless you want to wait for the Tollans to come and pick us up - yes, you do."
//Tollans?// "Tollans?"
"Uh, alien race," Matt supplied.
"Alien... Right."
Without any warning, the inner circle of the stargate began to rotate. Rhea's hands suddenly got extremely clammy.
"Chevron one encoded."
The announcement nearly caused her to have a heart attack. As it was, she jumped about a mile.
"Relax doctor," one of the SG-2 members - a lieutenant? - said. "Its not nearly so bad as it looks."
"That's what you reckon," she muttered, her eyes fixed on the gate. In quick succession, the other 'chevrons' were encoded and the seventh one locked - causing a balloon of something resembling a liquid to burst from the previously empty gate.
"Shit!" she yelped, unable to stop herself from jumping backwards. To hell with acting like a calm and assured scientist - she was bloody terrified of having to go through that thing!
"Don't worry Doc," Matt tried to reassure her, "its one of the safest ways to travel."
"I'd rather not..." Rhea began to edge her way towards the door - any door!
"Doctor," the major said in an impatient tone. "We do not have time for you to be uncertain about this. You will come with us."
She swallowed - hard. "Okay."
"Come home safely," the general's voice boomed over the PA as they made their way up the metal ramp.
"I hope so," she murmured, her eyes fixed on the rippling surface of whatever it was that now filled the hole in the gate. With a deep breath, she stepped through...

"Holy Mary, mother of Jesus!" she gasped as she emerged on the other side and collapsed onto her hands and knees.
"Fun, huh?" Matt said as he stepped up beside her.
She tilted her head to look up at him and glared. "No, no its not. In fact, I can safely say that I've never felt more nauseous in my entire life." Slowly, ever so slowly, she stood up and waited for her equilibrium to return.
"This way doctor. We managed to persuade one of the natives to guide us to the, uh, healing place."
"Gee, sounds high tech," the technician said.
"Can it Matt." Rhea looked around, just in case there were any offended natives.
"If you insist Doc."
"And quit calling me that," she growled.
"Righty-o."
Ten minutes later they'd met up with their young tourguide and were standing in front of the so-called 'healing place.'
"This is the place," the native told the group in a respectful tone.
"Exactly what do you do when you come here?" Rhea asked, looking around the grotto through the cramped doorway.
"First we perform a chant for the Mother, and then we remove our affectations and partake of the ritual," the boy replied, not following them into the 'healing place' itself when they stepped inside.
"They get naked and go swimming," Matt murmured.
"Sounds more like something that'd go on in a nudist colony rather than a religious ceremony." Rhea elbowed him and withdrew a sterile vial from the bag of equipment she'd bought with her. Kneeling down beside the pool, she unscrewed the cap and prepared to take a sample.
"No!" the boy all but screamed. "You must to touch the waters!"
"Huh?" In the process of turning to face the kid, Rhea lost her balance and promptly fell into the bright blue waters.
"Doc!" Matt yelled, kneeling down and reaching out a hand to grab the back of her jacket as she thrashed in the water, trying to overcome the weight of her waterlogged clothing and equipment.
"You mustn't touch her!" the boy said, charging into the grotto and grabbing Matt's hand.
"Screw that! Give me a hand before I drown!" Rhea coughed as she accidentally inhaled some water. Doing what she said, Matt managed to grab one of her flailing arms and drag her onto the bank of the pool.
"Doctor? Are you okay?" the lieutenant from the embarkation room asked.
"Fine. I needed that bath," Rhea replied, dragging her braid over her shoulder so she could wring it out. As she looked up, the kid was bolting out away from them.
"Hey!" Coburn yelled. "Come back here!"
"I'll go after him," one of the other team members said.
"Keep in radio contact!" Coburn said, watching as two of his men went after the boy, who'd apparently disappeared into the dense foliage. "That was a stupid move doctor," he addressed Rhea, who was standing up.
"Look GI Joe. I came here to collect a sample of whatever microbe it is that's healing these people so we can find out how it works and if it'll be of any help to the rest of the human race." She stalked up to him and jabbed a finger in his chest. "Strangely enough, that didn't include me falling into a lake and generally making an idiot of myself!"
The major nearly imploded from the effort of trying to control his ire at this civilian giving him a tongue-lashing. "I will remind you doctor, that I am in charge while we're off-world and you will do as I say," he said in a dangerous voice.
"Yeah, well you can bite me!" With a final glare at him, Rhea stormed out of the grotto and into the forest.
"Doc!" Matt called after her, and swore under his breath when she didn't reply. "We should go after her before she gets lost."
"As much as I would enjoy her learning her lesson by getting lost, I agree," Coburn said grudgingly. "Let's go." He lead the way out of the grotto, picking up his radio. "Sands, Bell, the nutbag doctor has taken off and we're going after her. Stay in contact."
"Yes sir. The boy's leading us back to the village, so we'll be there if you need us. Out," a voice crackled over the radio.
"Understood. Out." Coburn stopped for a moment, gesturing for the other pair to hold still. In the sudden silence they could hear a keening noise, like what a puppy makes the first night its separated from its mother and siblings. "Doctor?"
The noise only got louder in response to the major's question. He gestured for Matt and Marvel to follow him as he slowly advanced of the source of the noise. As quietly as possible, he pushed a branch to one side, revealing a very... naked Rhea curled in a foetal position in the centre of a small clearing. Her clothes and equipment lay in a messy pile at her side.
"Doc?" Matt said in an incredulous tone, stepping forward.
"Doctor O'Shea?" Coburn added.
She merely made the keening noise again and curled up into a tighter ball.
"Oh boy," the major breathed.

Rhea moaned as another wave a pain shot through her nerves and tried to curl up even more. Nothing helped to ease the agony.
"Doc?" a voice asked, sounding garbled to her. "Doc? Say something."
She screamed as she felt something touch her upper right arm. God, what was going on? Was this why they weren't allow to touch the water in that blasted pond? She bit her lip and shuddered, wishing fervently that whatever deity it was that was in charge of the joint would strike her down.

"We have to get her back to Earth," Major Coburn said gruffly, watching the young technician trying to get an intelligible answer from Doctor O'Shea.
"Agreed sir. You want me to get Sands and Bell on the blower?" Lance Marvel asked.
"Yeah. Tell 'em not to worry about the kid, we can always ask the natives our questions later. We'll meet them at the 'gate." His lips thinned as the doctor cried out for the second time in as many minutes. "Without any klutzy scientists."
Marvel nodded and moved a little way into the surrounding forest to recall his team-mates. Coburn just settled for watching Matt trying to give his boss what little comfort he could.
"When are we going back?" the technician asked, finally looking up.
"We're going to meet the rest of the team at the Stargate, if you think you can carry her."
Matt glanced at Rhea, then at Coburn. "I can only try." As gently as he could, he scooped the quaking, sweaty woman up into his arms. She only whimpered softly before, thankfully, passing out.
"Marvel, get her stuff," Coburn ordered the man, who'd just returned from radioing his team-mates. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"Get her on a guerney!" Janet Fraiser ordered, following Matt down the ramp in the embarkation room. As the tech placed Rhea on the not-so-soft surface, the woman woke and sat bolt upright. She gave Janet a wild look, reaching out to grasp to collar of her coat.
"Help me," she rasped, before passing out again.
"Quick, let's get her to the infirmary!" She jogged after the orderlies, leaving Matt and SG-2 standing in her wake.

"How is she Doctor?" General Hammond asked as Janet left the curtained off cubicle she'd been examining Rhea in.
"At this point, I can't tell. All of her signs are normal, even for someone who looks for all the world like she's suffered a major trauma. I've sent some samples to the lab for analysis," she lead the way into her office, "but I suspect that nothing out of the ordinary will turn up."
"What are you going to do?" Hammond sat down in the proffered seat.
Janet let out a breath noisily. "I honestly don't know, beyond keeping her in isolation for the time being. One of the nurses managed to question Matt and he said all that happened was that she fell in this 'healing pond' on the planet, nothing more."
Hammond looked surprised. "Was he sure about that?"
"Yes, apparently he was most ada... Yes Jeffries?" Janet looked over the general's shoulder and to the door of her office.
"Doctor, Matt's complaining of having an odd feeling in his hands," the nurse said, stepping just into the room.
"Okay, I'll see him now." Janet got up and strode into the infirmary, with General Hammond trailing her. She approached where Matt was sitting, his hands resting on a pillow. "What seems to be the problem?" she asked, snapping on a pair of gloves.
"I don't know Doc. It's like I've got the mother of all cases of pins and needles," he replied, wincing as she prodded his palm.
"Did you come into contact with that healing pond?"
"Only to get Doctor O'Shea out of it when she fell in." He sounded confused. "But if it's the water that's causing the problem, why didn't my hands start feeling wierd straight away."
"You've had a lower 'dose' than the Doctor. I'm not surprised it's taken a while." She gently turned his hands over so that she could inspect the backs of them. "Did anyone else touch the water?"
"No... Well, not with bare skin anyway."
"What do you mean son?" General Hammond asked.
"Well, the Doc gave Major Coburn a bit of a reem out and she, like, jabbed him in the chest with her finger," Matt explained.
"Get Major Coburn in here so I can examine him too," Janet ordered the nearest nurse. "I can't see anything wrong. We'll have to do some tests."
"So I'll be okay?" Matt asked, flexing his fingers as if to relieve a cramp.
"No, I said we'll do some tests. For now I want you to stay in here until we get Doctor O'Shea's results back. It'll be the same causal agent causing both of your problems." She pulled off her gloves and sighed. "I just wish-"
"Doctor!" Julia Marks cried, dashing into the infirmary. "You have to see this!"
"What is it Julia?" Janet asked, a little put off by the urgency in her colleague's voice.
"Look at this." The bacteriologist put what appeared to be a blood sample into a machine and turned on a computer monitor. Within moments she had a display up of the vial's contents.
"It's blood," Matt said.
"Yeah, but look at this." Julia zoomed the display in onto what looked like a tiny, black spot in the original picture.
Janet felt the floor go out from underneath her as she realised what that spot was. "It's a nanocyte," she murmured, shaking her head in despair. "Shit."

//Where am I? This doesn't look like that planet... whatever the hell it was called. Curtains, blanket... Ah, infirmary... What am I doing here? Even more, how'd I *get* here? And why aren't I hurting any more? Oh man...// Rhea moved the fingers of her right hand experimentally. Apart from a little stiffness, they worked without a problem.
"Okay, let's try legs," she murmured to herself, swinging the offending appendages over the side of the bed she was in. She knew Janet would probably have her guts for garters if she saw her trying to get out of bed after [what must have been] at least several minutes to an hour of being unconscious. Carefully as possible, she put some weight onto her feet and stood up.
"Not too shabby," she said, letting go of the bed and standing freely. "Definitely a good performance by O'Shea." She grinned at her own silly joke and went for a walk around the bed - well, at least her legs were working correctly. For no other reason than she hadn't done it yet, Rhea raised her arms over her head and had a good stretch... and paused in the middle of it because of the distinct lack of cracking noises that usually accompanied such an action.
"Maybe they got a chiropractor in to look at me while I was out with the fairies," she wondered aloud, dropping her arms to her sides. Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. She spun on the ball of her left foot and unconsciously brought up her hands, as if to fight whoever it was.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Janet asked mildly.
Rhea bit her lip and looked sheepishly at her feet. "Taking a walk," she replied quickly, all but leaping back onto the bed.
Janet huffed a sigh and perched on the corner. "I've got some bad news and some really bad news."
"O-kay," Rhea said slowly, unsure of what was coming.
"You've been infested with nanocytes. It looks like they're everywhere in your system," the doctor said with a touch of sadness.
"Nanocytes?" Rhea repeated. "You mean, like itty-bitty robots? As in wierd sci-fi show nanocytes? Everywhere?" She pulled a face. "Charming. What's the really bad news?"
"We have to keep you in quarantine on the base until we figure out when and if we can get them out of you." She glanced away for a moment before looking Rhea in the eye. "I'm afraid it looks like a pretty big 'if' too."
Rhea felt like a clydesdale had just kicked her in the chest. "Oh... dear," she whispered, resisting the urge to add a few choice swear words to the short phrase. "Could I go back to the planet? Maybe they know something..."
"I honestly don't know." Janet looked like she wanted to reach out and give her arm a pat, but her hands stayed firmly in her lap. "I just wanted to tell you the news and ask how you're feeling."
For the first time since she'd woken up, Rhea took stock of all the physical sensations. "I feel... great," she replied in confusion. "Actually, I feel bloody fantastic, best in years." She paused and thought for a second. "This can't be right."
"I know some people who wouldn't be complaining," Janet said wryly.
"Oh, I'm not," Rhea replied. "But... I just noticed it when I had a stretch before, there wasn't any noise."
The doctor looked a little confused, so she continued. "I've always had a few problems with back stiffness and the like, so when I stretch it always makes those Godawful cracking noises."
"And it didn't this time. Doesn't sound too serious to me." Janet shrugged.
"I..." Rhea stopped and suddenly yanked up the hem of her gown to reveal an unscarred abdomen. "Christ."
"What is it?"
"My appendectomy scar. It's gone..." She stood up and turned around. "Look at my lower back, there should be a scar from when I landed on a barb wire fence."
Janet opened the back of the gown and carefully examined the unblemished skin there. "Nothing." She sat back and gnawed on her lip as she thought. "Maybe that's what the nanocytes do... They might return a person to their proper genetic state."
Rhea raised an eyebrow as she turned around. "How on Earth can you tell that from a few missing scars and an un-noisy spine?"
"I don't see you coming up with a better explanation," she retorted, but only in mock-defensiveness.
"But why would it hurt so much?" Rhea asked, sitting down again.
"When you think about it, if those nanocytes are repairing every bit of damage ever incurred on a normal human body, they're going to be regenerating nerves as well," Janet explained.
"Yeah, but still." She pulled a face. "But, I guess I should be happy, its probably replaced a few of my missing neurons," Rhea commented dryly. "Wonder if I've got my appendix back."
"There's one way to find out... Wait here." Without another word, Janet got up and left the cubicle.
"It's not like I'm going anywhere!" Rhea called after her as she settled back onto the pillows to wait.

Rhea heard someone groan as she dragged herself out of a deep sleep... Then realised it was her making the din. She opened one eye to have a look at who had disturbed her slumber, noting that it was just a nurse. She rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. //How's someone supposed to get any sleep when they're always taking your vitals or doing something equally annoying?// she thought.
"Rhea?" she heard a voice say.
She sighed. //No rest for the tired.// "Yeah Janet." she rolled over again and look up at the doctor, who looked a little surprised about something. "What? Have I got something growing out of the middle of my forehead or something?"
"Uh, no," she replied slowly. "But you might want to have a look at yourself in the mirror."
//Huh?// "How come?" she asked as she sat up.
"You won't believe me," she replied matter-of-factly.
Rhea shrugged. //As long as those nanocyte-whatsies haven't given me back that awful hairdo I had in the eighties I couldn't care less.// "Whatever you say Doc. Where do you find a mirror 'round here?"
"There's one in the bathroom." She followed her into the tiny bathroom they have for ambulatory patients. She blinked a bit more sleep out of her eyes and looked in the mirror.
"What the f- What's happened to me?!" She yelped, backing away until she bumped into the door of a cubicle. "I look like I'm about fifteen!"
"I don't know," Janet said, seemingly at a loss to explain what was going on. "I've only ever seen the reverse in Colonel O'Neill."
"He got old?" Rhea asked incredulously. "I think I've gotten the better end of the stick if you ask me."
"I think he'd agree with you too." She lead the way out of the bathroom.
"Am I still under quarantine?" she asked, sinking onto her bed.
"You're confined to the base for now," she replied. "If those things were contagious in any way, we'd all be looking over ten years younger by now." Rhea opened her mouth to say something, but the doctor jumped in. "Matt's fine. We let him get out of here this morning. His changes weren't nearly so drastic as yours."
"How much younger can you make a person's hands?" she asked nobody in particular. "Can I get out of here?"
"I don't see why not, if you think you can handle the looks." She scribbled something on her chart.
"I'm tough. And dying for some coffee and a jam doughnut." She swung jer legs over the edge of the bed. "Hey, if those little suckers helped return me to peak physical condition, and if they can keep doing it..."
A slow smile spread across Janet's face. "Now even I want to be in your shoes," she says.
Rhea sighed happily and flopped onto the mattress. "All that chocolate... So little time."
She laughed. "Go on, get out. We're bound to have a returning team and, as thrilled as they would be to find a woman in it, I might need the bed."
"Can do ma'am!" she saluted her friend from a lying position and grinned.

Rhea hitched her pants up over her hips for the umpteenth time as she made her way into the commisary and went straight for the sugary desserts.
"Oh momma," she breathed as she stuck a couple of items that were just about dripping with kilojoules onto a plate. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you."
She heard someone clear their throat behind her and, putting down her plate, she turned to face them.
"Who are you?" an airman asked, crossing his arms and trying to look imposing - which he succeeded at.
"I'm Dr Rheannon O'Shea, one of the base microbiologists," she replied in an annoyed tone. "And I'm trying to stuff my face with sugar, so if you don't mind..." She deliberately let her voice trail off as she picked up her plate and tried to walk around him.
"May I see your identification?" he asked, grabbing her upper arm none-too-gently.
Rhea sighed and fished for it in her pockets. It wasn't there! Her forehead creased as she tried to think of where she could have dropped it. Oh crap, it was probably where she'd left her clothes when she'd gone off-world - in the locker room. It was all she could do to stop herself from slapping her forehead with her free hand.
"I'm afraid I left them in my other pants," she hedged, trying to pull away and failing miserably. //Stupid nanocytes, why couldn't they make me the equivalent of Wonder Woman?//
The airman's left eyebrow lifted slightly. "I think I should take you to security. Doctor."
Rhea sighed again and looked longingly at her desserts. "Can't I at least...?" she asked, trying to smile innocently. The airman's lips tightened in annoyance and she gave up the ghost. "Fine, take me to your dealer!" She let her arms flop to her sides. The airman paused mid-stride and glared at her, before nearly dragging her out of the room.

Any comments or suggestions...?