It was just after one AM when Hammond entered the little lab to check on the progress being made. The room was filled with little aliens – there were six Asgard working side by side with Shawn and Sam – and all sorts of equipment that looked as alien to Hammond as it actually was. Leaning against a corner, out of the way but able to see everything that was going on, was Jack O'Neill, and at his feet Jaffer was stretched out, watching as well, but not willing to stand up when he didn't have to. Hammond walked over, still looking at the Asgard.
"How's it going, Colonel?"
O'Neill shrugged.
"I don't have a clue. They're all talking gobbledygook."
"Asgard?"
"No, it's English. I just don't know what they're talking about."
"Ah." The two men were quiet as Thor walked over to show Sam and Shawn something, and Sam nodded, saying something too softly for them to hear. "Are they about ready to call it a night?" Hammond asked.
"If they're not, I am," Jack said. He was getting tired of standing around, and was worried that Sam and Shawn were both working themselves too hard to keep up with the Asgard. They hadn't had any dinner, yet, and hadn't stopped for many breaks. Jack hadn't, either, of course. The few times he'd had to leave the room for anything, he'd made sure Teal'c was there with Jack (the dog), and whenever Teal'c had to leave, Jack made sure that he and Jaffer were there. "I'm not sure the Asgard will agree, but…"
"But they don't have to agree," Hammond finished.
"Exactly."
"You want to make the last call announcement or shall I?"
"You do it, sir," Jack said. "That way Sam doesn't argue."
Which she might do with Jack, Hammond knew. Especially if they were doing something interesting.
Hammond nodded, and walked over to Thor.
"It's about time to call it a night, Thor."
The little Asgard looked up at him.
"We are not finished, General Hammond."
"You're not going to get it done in one day are you?"
"No, but we-"
"Then we need to stop for a while," Jack said, coming over and standing beside Hammond. "You guys can keep going if you want, but Shawn and Sam need to get something to eat and get some rest."
Thor looked over at the two in question, and must have realized he wasn't going to be able to change Jack's mind, because he nodded.
"You are correct. We have reached a point where it will not damage our research to pause for a few hours."
The rest of the Asgard looked as if they were going to complain – and so did Shawn – but a glance at Jack told the boy not to waste his time, and the Asgard would follow Thor's lead, since he knew the Earthlings better than any of them.
"We can give you rooms…" Hammond offered, but Thor shook his head.
"We will return to our ships, General Hammond, Thank you." He looked at Sam and Shawn. "How much time will you require to rest?"
Sam looked over at Jack, debated how tired she was compared to how interesting the work was – and decided that she'd like to spend a little time with Jake sometime this evening.
"Six hours?"
That would make it 7 AM, which should be okay.
Thor nodded, and so did Jack. That would be enough time for her and Shawn to rest. He wasn't about to let them wear themselves to nothing if it wasn't necessary.
"We have another item on the way in," Thor said. "It should be here within the hour, and it will take us a few hours to get it prepped for use."
"What is it?" Shawn asked, curiously.
Thor started to reply, and then looked at Jack, who scowled.
"I will tell you in the morning," the Asgard said. "You should get some rest."
Shawn frowned – which made him look a lot like Jack just then – but he nodded. It wasn't like they were going to go home or anything. Hammond had already had quarters set up for them so they wouldn't have to leave the base (and Jack didn't want to leave the base when there were Asgard crawling all over it, anyways, so it worked out well all the way around). He could wait a few hours to find out.
Thor looked at his colleagues, obviously asking them a question, and they nodded. Then the Asgard turned back to O'Neill and Hammond.
"Please do not allow anyone else into this lab, General Hammond. We do not want our research contaminated."
Which was a reasonable request.
"I'll post a couple of guards," the general promised.
"Then we will see you in six hours' time."
There was a soft growl from Jaffer, who laid his ears flat, and then several flashes of light, and the Asgard were gone.
Jack looked over at Sam.
"Are they making any progress?"
"It's all preliminary," she said, nodding, "but they took the samples they needed from Shawn, and have been studying it."
"I don't know if it's going to be enough," Shawn said.
"Well don't let them suck you dry," Jack told him.
Shawn shook his head.
"That's not what I meant, Jack. I don't know if they waited too long to try for their solution or not."
Jack looked over at Sam, who nodded.
"It might be too late to include new DNA and get a viable graft."
"So it might be for nothing?"
She shrugged.
"We'll know more when they bring this thing in tomorrow – whatever it is."
"Why didn't they bring it with them the first time?" Hammond asked.
"From what they told us, it's been carefully hidden away," she answered. "They had to go get it."
"Must be important," Jack said, opening the door for them, and gesturing that they should all precede him out of the room.
"It's the most important thing they have," Shawn answered. "Whatever it is."
OOOOOOOOO
"This the place, kid?"
Ian looked out the window of the taxi and nodded.
"Yeah."
The driver stopped the car, and Ian handed him a twenty.
"Thanks."
"You sure someone's home?" the driver asked, more than willing to wait if the kid needed him to. It was a slow night, after all.
"Yeah, thanks."
He got out of the car, taking his bag with him, and looked around the darkened street as the cabby drove off. The house was huge, the yard even bigger, and there was only a single light shining in one of the upstairs windows. He didn't need a light, though. Ian knew this place better than anywhere, and he vaulted the low stone fence that surrounded the perimeter of the yard easily, heading toward the front walk.
There was no sound from inside the house or out, and he climbed the steps to the front porch, crossed it, and tried the door. It was locked. No big surprise there, really. Before he could reach into his pocket, the porch light came on, blinding him with its brightness, and the door opened, revealing a large man with a stern face, and a black lab who jumped on Ian before he could see what was happening.
The man had had his hand on the neck of the baseball bat he had in his hand, but when he saw who was at the door, he dropped it back into the umbrella stand by the door, and reached down to pull the lab back – although Ian was more than glad to see him.
"Ian!"
He couldn't have been more surprised than if Santa Clause had suddenly appeared on his doorstep dragging the Easter Bunny in a knapsack – and it showed.
Ian smiled, more because of the greeting from the dog than because of anything else.
"Hi dad."
