"Hey…"
Ian nudged Loki with one bare foot, and then waited for a response.
Nothing.
He scowled and did it again.
"Hey… wake up."
This time there was a slight moan from the little alien and his eyes opened. He tried to bring his hand up to his aching head, but found he wasn't able to. This woke him up completely, and he looked down at himself and then up at Ian.
"What have you done?"
"I tied you up."
"Why?"
"To keep you out of my way."
"What?"
"Just sit still, and shut up for a minute."
"My head hurts."
"Yeah? Well, too fucking bad. Next time you won't kidnap someone who can kick your ass, now will you?"
Ian turned and headed back for the main console of the bridge of the ship, not bothering to look back at Loki, since he knew he wasn't going anywhere.
He'd taken a good look around the Asgard ship before he'd managed to find what he was looking for. This ship wasn't the same as Thor's, Ian knew from looking around. Thor's was a military ship – Shawn and Andrew had both given him a pretty good description of it – but Loki's ship was more of a science vessel, really. There were only a few rooms; the one Ian had woken up in, the bridge, a room that as probably only a storeroom, and another room that looked like a laboratory of some sort with a raised table – that could have been a bed, but he hoped it wasn't because that was just too fucking freaky to think of – and all sorts of instruments and equipment that did God (and Loki) only knew what.
He'd shuddered – which had nothing to do with the fact that all he was wearing was a pair of pants and his dogs tags – and had left that room alone, going instead to the storage room and opening compartments and hitting buttons that made drawers come out of the wall. Very neatly stocked and well labeled – which was convenient, because it made it that much easier for him to find the rope he was looking for – the room also held packages that claimed they were food. Ian had grabbed several of these, but hadn't bothered to try it, yet, thinking that he might get even more tired than he was already if he actually had a full stomach.
"What are you doing?" Loki asked, struggling against the ropes that bound him.
Ian looked back over his shoulder, not worried at all that the Asgard would slip his bonds. He hadn't been a Boy Scout more than a couple of weeks, but Ian knew how to tie knots. The more the little bastard struggled, the tighter the knots would get. If he was too stupid to figure it out, then he deserved tingling hands and feet.
"I'm going to try and figure out how to fly this thing back to Earth."
"If you push the wrong button you could destroy the ship."
"Or crash it into a planet, probably," Ian agreed.
"Why would you take such a risk? I told you I would return you to your home as soon as you helped me with-"
"Yeah, well let's just say I've had it up to my eyeballs with people forcing me to do things I don't want to do," Ian interrupted, his mind going back to the week from hell he'd just had courtesy of General Hammond. "I'm going home, and you can shove your need for help up you ass."
"But-"
"What happens if I hit this button?" Ian asked, pushing the same button he'd pushed earlier. The alarms started blaring immediately, and Loki's eyes widened.
"Push the one beside it, quickly!"
"Why?"
"You've activated the hyperdrive engines," Loki said. "Since they're already at full capacity, they'll overload and destroy the ship in only a few minutes."
Huh. Well at least it wasn't the self-destruct.
Ian pressed the button beside the one he'd already pushed, and as before, the alarms turned off. He turned to Loki.
"How do I turn us around?"
"I won't tell you." The little alien said, stubbornly.
"Fine." Ian turned back to the console. "I'll figure it out, eventually. And if I don't, maybe I can just find some way to call for help. I'll bet your buddies would love to know what you're up to right now."
"You will only serve to attract the attention of the Goa'uld. Have you heard of the Goa'uld, boy? They are-"
"I know who they are," Ian interrupted. "And I'm not worried about them. But I bet they'd love to get their hands on an Asgard. And his ship. Or maybe, you could convince them to help you with whatever it is you need help with. I bet they'd be more than willing to help you… they seemed very obliging when I last hooked up with them."
Of course, the Goa'uld were probably just as interested in Ian – at least they would be if they knew who he was when they caught him – but that was beside the point.
"They would not help," Loki said, not recognizing the sarcasm. "The Goa'uld are dangerous, boy."
"Then you'd better tell me how to turn this heap around and get myself home."
"You would not risk yourself in such a manner," Loki said.
"Yeah? Try me."
He turned and pressed another button, just picking one at random.
OOOOOOOOO
"Our evidence points to you, Thor," Hammond said, speaking up before Jack could.
For one thing, he didn't want the situation to get too far out of control. For another, Jake was sleeping in the car seat on the table, and the last thing Hammond wanted to add to an already trying night was a screaming baby. Especially one with lungs like Jake.
The little alien gave what was a frown for his people, and shook his head.
"I would not take Ian Brooks – or anyone else – without informing you. You must realize that."
"Well, maybe one of your little friends did and didn't bother to tell you what they were up to…" Jack said, leaning forward. "Because he was taken by an Asgard, and I want him back."
"Perhaps if we show you the tape…" Sam said, recognizing that Jack was close to an explosion. "You might be able to tell us what you think…"
There was really no doubt that it was Asgard technology, and Sam was beginning to wonder if maybe Jack had hit on something without really thinking about it. Of course, she couldn't imagine what an Asgard would want with Ian. Shawn, maybe – which would definitely have been a mistake none of them dared to make – but Ian (as far as the Asgard knew) wasn't anything special, really.
Thor turned to look at the TV Hammond gestured to.
