Andrew didn't go home that day. As a matter of fact, he didn't go home that night, either. He and Shawn spent most of their time in that little lab, taking turns explaining Asgard technology to Ian – and occasionally Sam, who just couldn't stay away when there was research going on. Jack called and let his parents know, but of course, neither of them were concered he'd opted to stay the night with Jack - especially since they were told Ian was involved as well. Andrew would almost always choose hanging out with Ian over hanging out with them, lately.

Shawn and Andrew both took several breaks, but Ian grew more and more snippy every time someone suggested he needed a break, as well. Even when Sam came in and tried to convince him that he wasn't going to do anyone any good if he keeled over from exhaustion, Ian just shook his head and told her he was fine and didn't need anything but some more Mountain Dew.

The thing was, he didn't look like he was all that tired, really. They'd all seen him exhausted before – mainly as an aftershock from healing someone – and he didn't look at all like that this time. He took infrequent breaks from the research to go to the bathroom and stretch – and once he went for a run with Jaffer around the outside perimeter of the base to clear his head he said – but aside from that, he simply focused on what he was doing and ignored everyone who wasn't helping him.

"Isn't this a little dangerous?" Jack asked, as he and Sam were sharing a late night snack. "What if he makes a mistake?"

She shook her head.

"He's not tired, Jack. I was watching over his shoulder earlier, and he's not making any mistakes. All he's doing is studying research, and it's not so uncommon for someone to get caught up in what they're doing and not need so much rest. I've done it."

And she'd be doing it again, if they'd needed her help. Unfortunately, this time it wasn't something she could really help with. Even though she understood the Asgard technology well enough - although not as well as Shawn or Andrew - she didn't know enough about genetics. Especially Asgard genetics. And she knew she wouldn't be of much use.

"I don't like it," Jack muttered.

"Then you tell him, because he's not listening to me."

"I did."

"And what did he say?"

"He reminded me that he didn't want to do this in the first place and that I was the one who came out and basically sicced his mother on him, and if I didn't want the Asgard to end up related to antelope, then I needed to leave him alone so he could figure out what he needed to do to get things done."

Sam smiled. He'd been a lot nicer to her – but she wasn't surprised.

"We'll let things go as they're going," she said. "When he gets tired, he'll take a break."

"Probably."

OOOOOOOOO

Jack and Sam weren't the only ones who noticed that Ian wasn't getting any rest, of course. And they weren't the only ones who were curious about it.

Shawn looked over at Ian.

"Are you cheating?" he asked, curiously, once the older cadet had pulled away from the computer screen to check a different resource on a handy laptop.

Ian frowned, and looked over at Shawn.

"What?"

"Are you cheating?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Adams?"

"Are you keeping yourself from getting tired by tampering with your system?"

Ian rolled his eyes.

"Jesus. If I could tamper with myself I'd be taller and have a twelve inch-"

"I get it," Shawn interrupted.

"- Bicep," Ian finished.

Andrew snickered, garnering himself a dirty look from Shawn.

"How come you're not tired?" Andrew asked, ignoring Shawn's look.

"I am tired," Ian told them. "I just have other things to do before I get some sleep."

"It's not going anywhere…" Shawn said. "You could go get a few hours of-"

"I want to get this shit done, Shawn," Ian said, interrupting. "The sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned."

Since they both knew Ian was less than enthused about helping the Asgard (Shawn had told Andrew what Loki had done, and Andrew had been shocked that any Asgard would do such a thing – and indignant that Ian had been put in danger by a rogue Asgard) neither asked why he was in such a hurry.

"You think you're going to be able to fix their problem?" Shawn asked, changing the subject.

Ian shrugged.

"I think they're really close to figuring it out for themselves," he said, gesturing to all the Asgard research that they'd been poring through the last day and a half. "They just should have started it a little sooner."

"Because now they can't use this guy here…" Andrew said, glancing at the odd-looking Asgard/human that was in a stasis chamber waiting for the Asgard to return with their samples.

"They can't use him to make their clones," Ian corrected. "But he's the key to this whole mess. Him and Shawn, that is," he added.

"How is it going to work, though?" Shawn asked, looking over at the figure as well. It was kind of creepy having the thing there, knowing it wasn't really a person – no matter how much it looked like one. "They can't use my DNA with it."

"They can't, but I might be able to," Ian said. "Maybe."

"What are you thinking of doing?" Shawn asked, just a little nervously.

"It depends on what I learn when the Asgard get back," Ian answered, evasively. "But I won't hurt you, so don't worry."

Shawn nodded.

"I know that."

"Good. Now leave me alone for a minute, okay?" Ian said, turning back to the laptop. "I need to read this."

Andrew grinned; very much used to Ian's sudden changes of mood, and Shawn just rolled his eyes, causing both of them to start snickering. Which gained them both equally annoyed looks from Ian that just set them off all that much harder, until both of them were laughing so hard they were snorting.

"Why don't you guys go find something to do?" Ian asked, although they both knew he wasn't quite as exasperated as he was trying to look. "Like play in traffic?"

"If I do that you won't be able to use me to finish this project," Shawn told him, wiping his eyes, still amused.

"I'll get a sample from the smear on the road," Ian drawled, waving them away. "Go find something to do – or even better, go get me a burger and a shake."

"Yes, sir."

Shawn snapped a perfect salute – that was wasted, since Ian wasn't looking – and he and Andrew left the little lab. They could use something to eat, too.