Thor left – with Loki firmly in tow – only a few minutes after Hammond dismissed the group for the night. Jack and Teal'c both gave the rogue Asgard looks that plainly warned him they wouldn't tolerate any more foolishness from him, and coupled with the obvious antagonism from the dogs, Loki was looking just a little pale – even for an Asgard – when he beamed out with Thor.
"Think he'll be back?" Sam asked, amused despite the seriousness of the Asgard's actions. It was always fun to watch Jack intimidate someone – at least when he was in the right, it was. Add Teal'c and the dogs to that mix and it was that much more interesting, because Teal'c was very good at intimidation and it was clear that Loki was afraid of the labs.
"Not if the Asgard know what's good for them," Hammond said with uncharacteristic annoyance. He didn't like what Loki had done any more than the others, and with Thor gone, he could now voice that displeasure openly.
"Thor won't bring him back," Jack said.
Hammond nodded, and looked at the clock.
"You better get home and get some rest," he said. "Tomorrow will most likely be a long day."
Jack nodded.
"Don't bother coming in until noon," Hammond added. "Unless we hear something from the Tok'ra about Anubis, I won't need you."
And they could use the chance to sleep in.
"Sounds good." Jack was always willing to come in late when he could. He looked at Sam. "Ready?"
"As soon as I check on Ian."
"I'll check on him, Major," Hammond told her. "You go home."
She smiled, and nodded. It wasn't as if Janet wouldn't call her if something were really wrong with Ian, and she knew his injuries weren't too severe.
"Yes, sir."
She headed into Hammond's office to get Jake, and the general turned to Shawn.
"You stay close to your dad, Shawn," he said. "While I do trust Thor, we don't know how many other Asgard think the same way that Loki does, and I don't want to risk losing you like we almost lost Ian."
And would have lost him if he hadn't taken over the Asgard ship instead of doing what Loki wanted. Whatever that had been.
Shawn nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"Don't worry, sir," Jack told him. "We'll keep him close until this Asgard thing is done."
Sam returned, carrying Jake's carrier, now, and Jack hustled his family out of the briefing room.
Hammond turned to Teal'c.
"I'm going to check on Ian. I don't suppose you'd mind leaving Jack with him tonight?"
Teal'c shook his head.
"It is a sound suggestion, General Hammond. As would be a guard – just in case."
Hammond nodded.
"Arrange for it, please, before you retire for the night. I'm going to check in with Doctor Fraiser."
"Of course."
Teal'c left the room, too, with Jack (the dog) at his side, and Hammond shook his head. It was bad enough that they had enemies to deal with, but now he was guarding his base – and his people – against their allies as well.
OOOOOOOOO
"How's he doing?"
Fraiser looked over her shoulder at the bed that Ian was sleeping in, and shrugged.
"Physically? He's fine. Just a bit battered – but no more than he was when he returned from camp. He's a tough kid; he'll heal fine."
Hammond hadn't missed the qualifier, though.
"And everything else?"
"He's angry."
"He's not the only one."
Besides, Ian was always angry.
Janet hesitated.
"You should have seen him with Thor, sir…"
"Did he hit him, too?"
"No. He just wouldn't let him any where near him."
Hammond frowned. That wasn't all that unusual, either, really. Ian wasn't the most social person he'd ever had under his command.
Janet realized that she wasn't making herself clear, but really, she didn't know how to explain it any other way. She shrugged again.
"We'll keep an eye on him, sir. When he wakes up I'll know more."
"When will that be?"
"Tomorrow sometime, most likely."
"Good. Go ahead and go home. We'll see what tomorrow brings."
"Yes, sir."
OOOOOOOOO
The ride was silent. Shawn sat in the truck beside Jack, looking out the window as they drove home. Ahead of them, in the car, was Sam, Jaffer and Jake, but while Shawn would normally enjoy watching the way Jaffer stuck his head out the window and flirted with the people in the other cars, there weren't many cars out this time of morning, and Shawn really had his mind on other things.
"You're mad…"
Jack looked over when Shawn spoke, and shook his head.
"No."
The boy looked forward once more, watching as Sam pulled to a stop at a stoplight. When Jack didn't say anything else, though, Shawn looked over at him again.
"Disappointed?"
Jack shook his head again.
"No."
There was another long silence, but before Shawn could ask another question, Jack spoke.
"I'm worried."
"About Ian?"
"About you. For you."
"It had to come out, eventually."
"I know."
"But you don't trust Thor."
Jack sighed.
"I trust Thor. Mostly. He's been pretty honest with us, and I know you like him."
"Yeah. But…?"
"But if it were my people who were in jeopardy, I would use anything and anyone I could to help them. Including allies."
"It'll be okay, Jack. It's not like they're going to dissect me or anything. They'll just need DNA samples – and maybe a fresh look at what they're trying to do."
"And you can give them that?"
Shawn smiled.
"It's what they've been teaching me for the past several years, isn't it?"
Jack grunted what might have been agreement, but it also could have been anything else, too.
"I'm not a little kid anymore," Shawn told him, reassuringly. "It's been a long time since I've done anything really stupid."
"Which doesn't mean it's okay to do something now," Jack replied.
"I know. I won't. Besides, you're going to be right there to make sure of it, right?"
How well he knew him.
"Right."
