"Shawn…"
Jack's voice was tense, but Shawn only smiled.
"It's okay, Jack. We knew this was coming."
"We didn't know it was coming today," Jack said.
"What are you talking about, Shawn?" Thor asked, confused.
"Wait…" Jack looked over at Loki, scowling. "He leaves."
Hammond nodded.
"Agreed."
Loki's eyes widened, and he started to say something, but Jack spoke before he did.
"Teal'c, take him to a VIP holding cell and put a guard on it."
"Colonel O'Neill," Thor said. "That is-"
"I'm not going to have him in this room, Thor," Jack snapped. "I know what he's capable of, and until he leaves – under guard – Shawn's not saying another word."
Thor looked from Shawn to Loki and then to Teal'c, who was obviously waiting.
"Very well. Loki, you will go with Teal'c and not give him any trouble."
"But-"
"He will not provide me with any trouble," Teal'c said, confidently. Of course, since he was going to have Jack (the dog) with him guarding the little alien as well, there was little doubt that Loki would be well behaved while he waited.
Loki had obviously figured this out as well, because with another look over at Thor, he nodded his agreement – as if he had any other choice. A moment later, he was gone with Teal'c and Jack (the dog) and the door was firmly closed behind them.
"Now what do you mean, you are the solution to our problem?" Thor asked Shawn. "You were only made aware of the nature of our problem an hour ago."
"I didn't know the nature of it," Shawn said, nodding, "but I've always known I was the solution. It's what I was born for."
Jack scowled at the way Shawn had phrased that. He had had this discussion with Shawn a long time ago, when he'd told the boy who his real father was, and Dotty's true nature, and even then he'd tried to make sure Shawn understood that even though the Ancients had pretty much bioengineered him through the centuries and millennium of generations that had passed since the first time an Ancient had bred with an Asgard, he wasn't a science project. He was his own person, and very much in control of his own destiny – unless it was dangerous, of course, because then Jack would step in.
"I do not understand," Thor said.
"It's a long story," Shawn said, taking the lead in this explanation. It was his story to tell, and he knew Thor better than any of them, so it was his right. "We should sit down."
Shawn sat down, and Jack and Sam immediately took the chairs on either side of him. Hammond sat in his customary seat at the head of the table and Thor seated himself beside the general. When Teal'c returned only a few moments later – without Loki – he seated himself beside Jack.
"Well," Shawn said, a little self-consciously, "it all started a long time ago… when the Ancients realized that the Asgard screwed up in their quest for immortality."
Thor's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't aware that anyone on Earth knew any of the ancient history of the Asgard, but Shawn certainly sounded like he was intimately familiar with it.
As Shawn related the story of his heritage – with a glance at Jack to ask if it was all right to mention who his real father was – Thor's eyes grew wider and wider, until it was almost comical for the humans around the table. Or it would have been if Jack wasn't so uneasy allowing Shawn to tell the Asgard about himself. Look what happened when Ian's secret came out – and it wasn't the doozy that Shawn's was.
When Shawn finally finished speaking, There was silence in the room for a long time, while Thor stared at him, and then looked at the others, as if uncertain that they weren't trying to play some obscure human joke on him. When he realized they were all serious, he finally spoke.
"There are legends – nothing more than that – about such unions between the Ancients and Asgard, but none have ever seen the progeny of such."
"There's far more Ancient than Asgard in my line," Shawn said. "And more human, as well."
"But the Asgard cannot be bred completely out," Thor said, speculatively.
"No. Not as far as I understand from the lessons you've been giving me."
"This is an amazing revelation, Shawn," Thor said, still clearly in a daze at the story he'd just heard, and the history he'd learned. "I do not understand why you kept it a secret."
"We weren't sure what you wanted from him," Jack said, reminding Thor that he'd been keeping secrets of his own. "And I wouldn't risk him to any experiments you might have had for him, had you known. And I still won't," he added, firmly.
Thor nodded. Now he could understand why Jack was so absolute when it came to standing between Shawn and anything that might have threatened the boy – including him and his people. It certainly made sense.
"This is incredible, and if you are truly Asgard, then you might be correct when you say that you are the solution to our genetic problem."
"Howso?" Teal'c asked.
"He carries the original genes of my people," Thor said. "While diluted by the Ancient – and human genes – the DNA is there, and it is untainted by cloning, which means it could very well be a means to solving our situation."
"Well you can't just open him up and take it," Jack said, firmly. "I'm not going to let-"
"We won't need to open him up, Colonel O'Neill," Thor said. "Blood and tissue samples will be necessary, but none of it will harm him."
Thor liked Shawn too much to ever hurt him – which was one of the reasons he allowed Jack O'Neill to bully him into helping whenever Shawn was in danger.
"Well, we're not going to start doing anything tonight," Hammond said. "It's been a long day."
"We will need time to decide how best to approach this," Thor agreed.
"And how to keep Loki – or anyone with the same notions that he has – from doing anything stupid," Jack said. "Because if Shawn has to face what Ian just did, I'll pull him out so fast you won't know what's happening until you read it in the Star."
It was obvious that Thor didn't have a clue what the Star was, but he did understand Jack's concerns, and he nodded.
"I will personally guarantee his safety," he said. "The council will agree, of course. As of this moment, Shawn is our greatest asset, and one we would not see harmed."
"You'd better not." Jack didn't seem at all comforted.
"I will take Loki back to the council," Thor said, standing. "And then will discuss what we must do. I will return in twelve hours."
Hammond nodded, looking at the clock on the wall. It was the middle of the night – actually close to 4 AM, so that would work well. The work day usually ended by 4 PM anyways, so they'd have time to closet themselves with Thor and see what he and the rest of the Asgard came up with.
"We'll be here."
