"Colonel!"
They'd only made it as far as the next corridor when they heard someone calling. Both men turned their heads at the same time – to the hidden amusement of the Marines following them – and looked to see Sam coming up behind them, with Daniel beside her. They were both smiling to see Shawn on his feet, even though he was leaning heavily on Jack for support, and he smiled just as broadly to see them.
"Look who finally woke up," Jack said to them.
It was an odd experience meeting someone who was twelve years older than he was the last time you spoke to him, but it was no less odd than meeting someone who was suddenly that much younger, and there was a moment of silence as Daniel and Sam studied Shawn, and vice versa as Shawn studied them.
"You look great, Shawn," Sam said, finally. He did, too. He was a handsome young man, with intelligent eyes and a well-formed body – even covered in all the bandages. "Very handsome."
Shawn blushed, despite himself, which made Sam smile broadly as she came up on the other side of the young man so she could support him as well.
"Fraiser let you out of bed?" Daniel asked, dubiously.
"Yup. Told me to go get something to eat." Shawn smiled. "I think she just wanted to get Jack out of her hair, and knew that he wasn't going to leave until I did."
"I wasn't bothering her," Jack protested as they resumed walking.
"Oh, I'm sure you weren't, Jack," Daniel said, smiling. "I'm sure you were just sitting there quietly, and not giving her any trouble at all."
"I wasn't-"
"He wasn't," Shawn admitted. "Jaffer was."
"Ah."
That one word was filled with understanding. Jaffer was a lot like Jack O'Neill, which made sense, since he'd spent his entire life watching him and learning from him. He was stubborn, and at times disobedient, and could turn a room upside down in only moments. And charming enough that he could get away with a lot more than he should have. And utterly loyal to those around him.
"He didn't get up on the beds, did he?"
"Oh yeah."
"Janet hates it when he does that."
"I know."
"He does, too, I'll bet." Sam said with another smile, looking own at the lab fondly.
They reached the commissary and Jack and Sam deposited Shawn into a chair, where he gave a sigh of relief at being able to rest.
"You okay?" Jack asked, hovering slightly.
"Yup."
"Didn't stub your toe?"
"Nope."
"Then you must be okay."
Sam and Daniel didn't bother to try and understand that logic, although it made Shawn smile. Jack went over to get something to eat for him and Shawn, followed by a hopeful Jaffer, who was always looking for something to eat.
The commissary was open all day long, in deference to the fact that there were always people keeping odd hours on the base who might want something to eat. The cooks were gone, however, and the people who kept the odd hours were pretty much stuck with cold foods. Sandwiches, for the most part, although there were salads and fruit cups for those who didn't want much more than a snack. And of course, there were desserts. Pudding and jello, and pie, cake and even ice cream.
Jack ignored the dessert and grabbed four sandwiches and piled them on his tray. Then he looked over at Sam and Daniel.
"You guys want anything?"
"Pie."
"Pudding."
He added these to his plate, looked down at Jaffer and added another sandwich, then showed the woman behind the register what he had so she could charge it to him, and walked back over to the table and sat down next to Shawn.
"Hungry?" Sam asked, reaching for her pie.
"A bit."
None of them were surprised when Jack handed Shawn two of the sandwiches and started tearing apart the third.
"So what happened?" Daniel asked Shawn as Jack handed down a piece of sandwich to Jaffer. "How did you end up here, or why?"
Shawn shrugged, thinking back over the morning, which was a lot clearer to him now than it had been.
"I was with SG-1 on YD4-PLQ this morning. We were doing a simple recon, nothing more. And we were suddenly surrounded by Ashrak."
"Surrounded?" Sam interrupted, surprised. "There were more than one?"
Shawn nodded. "Seven of them, all invisible. We didn't even know they were there until they had us, and then only because they showed themselves." He shook his head, as though blaming himself for not noticing them.
"I've never heard of Ashrak teaming up before," Daniel said. "Of course, I don't know a lot about them, but it doesn't seem like something they'd do."
"It isn't something they do," Shawn confirmed. "They work poorly as a team, because their egos get in the way."
"So what did you do?" Jack asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. It was obvious the boy got away or he wouldn't be sitting there.
"Set off a shock grenade and knocked 'em all back on their asses."
"A shock grenade?" Daniel asked, confused. "Wouldn't that have had the same affect on you?"
"It's a special one, Daniel. Made by yours truly." Shawn grinned. "I got a hold of some Goa'uld weaponry a few years back and started tinkering with it to see what I could do to make it useful to us, and not to them. One of the things I did was change the dynamics of the shock grenades that I found to accommodate exactly the kind of situation that we were facing. It does the same kind of damage that it normally does, only people – or whatever – that are within two and a half feet of the device aren't affected, only the people outside that failsafe range are."
"Impressive." Sam looked a little surprised.
"It was your idea, Sam," Shawn told her, taking a bite of the sandwich. "I just did the work."
"So then what?" Jack asked.
"We ran like hell back to the Gate, and dialed home. I was laying down cover fire, because the grenade didn't knock the Ashrak out like it should have – probably some kind of armor or shielding – but it did give us the running room we needed. We dialed home and I sent the others through. One of the Ashrak yelled for me to stop, and threw something at me that exploded." He shrugged, "I remember the blast, but I don't remember coming through the Gate."
"The concussion from the blast probably threw you through the Stargate," Sam said. "Which explains the injuries Doctor Fraiser found on you."
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you weren't dialing twelve years in the past," Jack said. "How did you end up here?"
"When we first headed off-world, we knew the wormhole was going to pass close enough to a red giant that the gravity might pull us a little off course," Shawn said. "We decided to risk it, since it was an important planet to visit – at least we were told it was. The explosion probably sent extra energy through the wormhole, and added to the gravitational pull of the wormhole, sending me back in time, but to the same place I was dialed in at."
Jack was having trouble following the techno babble; although it was obvious Sam was by the way she kept nodding her agreement. Shawn might look like Jack, but he sure didn't think like him. Apparently the lessons with the Asgard had been successful to some degree. His son was an egghead, too.
"The rest of your team probably made it home to their time safely," Sam said. "If they were through before the explosion."
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking," Shawn agreed. "They must be worried sick, or assuming the worst."
"I'm more curious about these Ashrak," Jack said. "Why would a group of them be out on some planet? Did you go looking for them?"
"Hell, no. We were told there was a cache of Seridinian on the planet." He saw the blank looks. "It's a metal that- well it doesn't matter. Anyways, we got some bad intel, and ran into the ambush."
"Or you were tricked into going to this ambush." Jack said. Ambushes and setups were things he understood.
Shawn nodded. "You're probably right." He shrugged and finished his first sandwich. "Whoever did it, though, didn't get what they wanted. Whatever that was. We got away."
They'd only made it as far as the next corridor when they heard someone calling. Both men turned their heads at the same time – to the hidden amusement of the Marines following them – and looked to see Sam coming up behind them, with Daniel beside her. They were both smiling to see Shawn on his feet, even though he was leaning heavily on Jack for support, and he smiled just as broadly to see them.
"Look who finally woke up," Jack said to them.
It was an odd experience meeting someone who was twelve years older than he was the last time you spoke to him, but it was no less odd than meeting someone who was suddenly that much younger, and there was a moment of silence as Daniel and Sam studied Shawn, and vice versa as Shawn studied them.
"You look great, Shawn," Sam said, finally. He did, too. He was a handsome young man, with intelligent eyes and a well-formed body – even covered in all the bandages. "Very handsome."
Shawn blushed, despite himself, which made Sam smile broadly as she came up on the other side of the young man so she could support him as well.
"Fraiser let you out of bed?" Daniel asked, dubiously.
"Yup. Told me to go get something to eat." Shawn smiled. "I think she just wanted to get Jack out of her hair, and knew that he wasn't going to leave until I did."
"I wasn't bothering her," Jack protested as they resumed walking.
"Oh, I'm sure you weren't, Jack," Daniel said, smiling. "I'm sure you were just sitting there quietly, and not giving her any trouble at all."
"I wasn't-"
"He wasn't," Shawn admitted. "Jaffer was."
"Ah."
That one word was filled with understanding. Jaffer was a lot like Jack O'Neill, which made sense, since he'd spent his entire life watching him and learning from him. He was stubborn, and at times disobedient, and could turn a room upside down in only moments. And charming enough that he could get away with a lot more than he should have. And utterly loyal to those around him.
"He didn't get up on the beds, did he?"
"Oh yeah."
"Janet hates it when he does that."
"I know."
"He does, too, I'll bet." Sam said with another smile, looking own at the lab fondly.
They reached the commissary and Jack and Sam deposited Shawn into a chair, where he gave a sigh of relief at being able to rest.
"You okay?" Jack asked, hovering slightly.
"Yup."
"Didn't stub your toe?"
"Nope."
"Then you must be okay."
Sam and Daniel didn't bother to try and understand that logic, although it made Shawn smile. Jack went over to get something to eat for him and Shawn, followed by a hopeful Jaffer, who was always looking for something to eat.
The commissary was open all day long, in deference to the fact that there were always people keeping odd hours on the base who might want something to eat. The cooks were gone, however, and the people who kept the odd hours were pretty much stuck with cold foods. Sandwiches, for the most part, although there were salads and fruit cups for those who didn't want much more than a snack. And of course, there were desserts. Pudding and jello, and pie, cake and even ice cream.
Jack ignored the dessert and grabbed four sandwiches and piled them on his tray. Then he looked over at Sam and Daniel.
"You guys want anything?"
"Pie."
"Pudding."
He added these to his plate, looked down at Jaffer and added another sandwich, then showed the woman behind the register what he had so she could charge it to him, and walked back over to the table and sat down next to Shawn.
"Hungry?" Sam asked, reaching for her pie.
"A bit."
None of them were surprised when Jack handed Shawn two of the sandwiches and started tearing apart the third.
"So what happened?" Daniel asked Shawn as Jack handed down a piece of sandwich to Jaffer. "How did you end up here, or why?"
Shawn shrugged, thinking back over the morning, which was a lot clearer to him now than it had been.
"I was with SG-1 on YD4-PLQ this morning. We were doing a simple recon, nothing more. And we were suddenly surrounded by Ashrak."
"Surrounded?" Sam interrupted, surprised. "There were more than one?"
Shawn nodded. "Seven of them, all invisible. We didn't even know they were there until they had us, and then only because they showed themselves." He shook his head, as though blaming himself for not noticing them.
"I've never heard of Ashrak teaming up before," Daniel said. "Of course, I don't know a lot about them, but it doesn't seem like something they'd do."
"It isn't something they do," Shawn confirmed. "They work poorly as a team, because their egos get in the way."
"So what did you do?" Jack asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. It was obvious the boy got away or he wouldn't be sitting there.
"Set off a shock grenade and knocked 'em all back on their asses."
"A shock grenade?" Daniel asked, confused. "Wouldn't that have had the same affect on you?"
"It's a special one, Daniel. Made by yours truly." Shawn grinned. "I got a hold of some Goa'uld weaponry a few years back and started tinkering with it to see what I could do to make it useful to us, and not to them. One of the things I did was change the dynamics of the shock grenades that I found to accommodate exactly the kind of situation that we were facing. It does the same kind of damage that it normally does, only people – or whatever – that are within two and a half feet of the device aren't affected, only the people outside that failsafe range are."
"Impressive." Sam looked a little surprised.
"It was your idea, Sam," Shawn told her, taking a bite of the sandwich. "I just did the work."
"So then what?" Jack asked.
"We ran like hell back to the Gate, and dialed home. I was laying down cover fire, because the grenade didn't knock the Ashrak out like it should have – probably some kind of armor or shielding – but it did give us the running room we needed. We dialed home and I sent the others through. One of the Ashrak yelled for me to stop, and threw something at me that exploded." He shrugged, "I remember the blast, but I don't remember coming through the Gate."
"The concussion from the blast probably threw you through the Stargate," Sam said. "Which explains the injuries Doctor Fraiser found on you."
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you weren't dialing twelve years in the past," Jack said. "How did you end up here?"
"When we first headed off-world, we knew the wormhole was going to pass close enough to a red giant that the gravity might pull us a little off course," Shawn said. "We decided to risk it, since it was an important planet to visit – at least we were told it was. The explosion probably sent extra energy through the wormhole, and added to the gravitational pull of the wormhole, sending me back in time, but to the same place I was dialed in at."
Jack was having trouble following the techno babble; although it was obvious Sam was by the way she kept nodding her agreement. Shawn might look like Jack, but he sure didn't think like him. Apparently the lessons with the Asgard had been successful to some degree. His son was an egghead, too.
"The rest of your team probably made it home to their time safely," Sam said. "If they were through before the explosion."
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking," Shawn agreed. "They must be worried sick, or assuming the worst."
"I'm more curious about these Ashrak," Jack said. "Why would a group of them be out on some planet? Did you go looking for them?"
"Hell, no. We were told there was a cache of Seridinian on the planet." He saw the blank looks. "It's a metal that- well it doesn't matter. Anyways, we got some bad intel, and ran into the ambush."
"Or you were tricked into going to this ambush." Jack said. Ambushes and setups were things he understood.
Shawn nodded. "You're probably right." He shrugged and finished his first sandwich. "Whoever did it, though, didn't get what they wanted. Whatever that was. We got away."