Notes: All of your lovely reviews are responsible for the fact that I am currently in my brother's study in the middle of the night uploading another chapter. I am SUCH a pushover! This whole fanfic scene is completely addictive. Special thanks to all those reviewers who had warm wishes for my sister and her new husband. I really appreciate both your patience and impatience with this story, but I appreciate the patience more;). Quick note about this chapter… I know Thor's explanation is vague and inadequate. It's meant to be.
Last time...
When he woke up the next morning, Jack froze, momentarily disoriented. He knew where he was, he just didn't know how he got there. Which was never a good thing. As he stared up at the ceiling of the bedroom at his cabin, he thought carefully over last night's events. Nope. Flying to Minnesota definitely had not been on that list.
He jumped, terrified, as a loud, feminine, definitely pissed off and definitely familiar voice screamed, "THOR!"
Ch 5: Thor's Plan of Questionable Logic
Jack jumped out of bed and glanced down at himself. Hey, sweatpants. Cool. He hurried to his guest room, where his 2IC was pulling on a pair of jeans and looking ready to kill the first thing that moved.
"Easy, Carter," he said carefully, creeping into the room. He'd seen this on Animal Planet. Approach slowly. Maintain eye contact. No sudden movements. Remain downwind... okay that one probably didn't really apply here, but still.
"Sir? What the hell is going on?" Sam demanded.
"I don't know. I was as surprised as you are when I woke up a few seconds ago. Okay, maybe not as surprised. This is my cabin, after all. Only I don't know how I got here... or how you did... or why we're here..."
"Yeah, well, I think we can both take a stab at answering all of those questions, sir. Apparently, Thor wasn't happy with the President's decision and decided to take matters into his own clammy little hands!" Sam yelled the last half of that statement around the room, as though Thor was monitoring the situation. Which, Jack had to admit, he probably was.
"Okay, let's... go see if there's any... explanations lying around conveniently," Jack tried.
A quick inspection of Jack's cabin yielded several surprises, but no answers. The first surprise was that they had both had the majority of their wardrobes beamed in with them, as well as several personal items like Sam's laptop and Jack's Simpsons DVDs. The kitchen was fully stocked with a wide variety of food, and Jack distinctly remembered leaving it completely bare last time he had left.
"So, if things are different, are you sure this is even really your cabin?" Sam asked suddenly after he had told her about all the small differences he had noticed.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, maybe Thor somehow created this... fabrication or illusion of your cabin or something. He got it really close but not right," Sam suggested.
"I don't know, it seems pretty real to me..." Without explaining himself, he walked over to a picture of a speckled trout and slid it aside, revealing a hidden wall safe. He opened it, scanned its contents, and said, "It would have to be a very thorough fabrication, but I guess it's possible."
"I mean, he went to the trouble to beam us here, with a lot of supplies, which would indicate he intends to make us stay here for a while, so it makes sense that it's not really your cabin, right? I mean, if it were, we could just leave."
"Ah..." Jack glanced out the window. "He appears not to have beamed my truck up here. And the nearest town is a good twenty mile hike. So it's possible to walk out of here, it just wouldn't be a whole lot of fun."
"Well, this is just ridiculous," Sam said, walking out the front door to see for herself that they were without transportation. "I mean, what did he think, he'd drop us off in the middle of nowhere and we'd just decide that despite the President's decision we're going to give the Asgard what they want and jump each other?"
Jack coughed nervously and said, "Uh, no, I don't think he really thinks we'd do that. And, yes, the past two days have been nothing but ridiculous. We're obviously missing something here... and you were right before, when you were... yelling... he's got to be monitoring this..."
They both started yelling for him to show himself. As Jack's voice got hoarse he realized it was a good thing he didn't have any neighbors anyway, as a call down to the police station that "The middle-aged Colonel and some woman are on his front lawn yelling for somebody called 'Thor' at the top of their lungs" probably wouldn't be very well-received, even if he was poker buddies with the local sheriff.
Sam had walked the length of his long driveway and was suddenly knocked back roughly, landing hard on her bum on the gravel.
"Are you okay, Carter?" he called as she got to her feet and dusted herself off.
"Fine, sir... I think I was right about this not really being your cabin... there's some sort of force shield here, keeping us in..."
As he approached her, he watched as she carefully felt along the shield's invisible edge.
"Well, now we know for sure he's monitoring this... THOR! GET YOUR SKINNY GRAY ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Surprisingly, it worked. Thor materialized in front of him. Even though Jack knew it was a hologram, he still lunged for him, choking the little guy Homer-style. Sam laughed, despite herself, and realized it was the first time she'd done so since she'd woken up on Thor's ship the day before.
"O'Neill, you cannot damage me," Thor explained calmly.
"Yet," Jack stipulated.
"Thor, why did you bring us here? Where are we, for that matter?" Sam asked.
"You are at O'Neill's cabin, Major Carter. He has spoken of it often, and of his desire for you to accompany him here."
"All right, we know this isn't really my cabin. For one thing, it's way too clean, for another, I don't remember installing a force field around it last time I was here."
"Nevertheless, it is your cabin, O'Neill. I have merely assisted in ensuring your isolation by adding the force shield."
"But why would you do this, Thor?" Sam asked, exasperated. "The President said 'no' to your plan. I'm really, truly sorry about the Asgard cloning problems, but honestly, I don't even think Colonel O'Neill and I are the answer to it anyway..."
"Perhaps," Thor conceded. "Nevertheless, that is not the issue. You have been brought here for several reasons. First, because the Asgard High Council is willing to offer Earth more for your cooperation and it was decided that the odds of achieving a favorable outcome are more likely if neither of you are available for consultation in the matter."
"Oh that's real fair!" Jack roared.
"This was not my decision, O'Neill. It was I who chose the location for your isolation, remembering how fond you are of your cabin, in the hope that the familiar surroundings would make you more comfortable with the situation. The rest of the High Council had suggested... another location."
"I'm almost afraid to ask..." Sam said cautiously.
"In an effort to understand your culture better, we have familiarized ourselves with many important parts of your history. Due to the nature of what we are asking you to do, the High Council had selected a planet whose description matches closely with what you call 'The Garden of Eden.' Their plan was to leave you there, alone, with nothing to amuse yourselves with but each other. I however, convinced them this was a much better location."
"Well, thanks for that," Jack grumbled.
Sam wondered if 'Garden of Eden' meant 'naked,' as well. Probably. The Asgard weren't too bothered with clothes, after all.
"Yeah, thanks a lot," she said gratefully to Thor. "Of course, you could just beam us back home, or to the SGC…" she added hopefully.
He tilted his head at her and said, "You will remain here until we are satisfied."
"Satisfied! With what?" she demanded.
"Until the Council and your President have reached an agreement, you have decided to accept our proposal on your own terms without their approval, or I am satisfied that we have not done any permanent or lasting damage to your relationship," he added.
"Woa, woa, run that last one by me again, Thor..." Jack said.
"Yeah, that sounds really subjective," Sam agreed.
"You are both my 'friends.' I do not wish for there to be conflict between you, or unresolved issues of any sort. Much less because of something we have done. Think of this as an indefinite vacation. Do not worry about work. If you are needed at the SGC, I will of course take you back immediately."
"And nobody there is supposed to care that we're gone?" Sam demanded angrily.
"That has been covered," Thor said cryptically, disappearing in his beam of light.
"Aw, crap, no!" Jack yelled up at the sky. "Thor, come back down here, we're not done buddy!"
"I think he's gone, sir," Sam said with a heavy sigh.
"Great," Jack grumbled.
They walked back up to his cabin, not talking.
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Sam finally asked.
"Wanna go fishing?" Jack asked hopefully.
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Notes: NO MORE until I get back home!