"Hey Jack…"
O'Neill turned in the corridor at the sound of his name and sawLieutenant Colonel David James, commanding officer of SG-4 coming down the hall after him.
"Hey, Dave. What's up?"
"Got a minute?"
Jack nodded.
"Sure."
"I wanted to talk to you about Brooks."
"Ian?"
"Yeah."
"What about him?"
"We were wondering what you're going to do with him when Sam's ready to return to SG-1…"
Jack frowned.
"Who's we?"
"My team and I."
"I'm not sure… why do you ask?"
"Because if you're not going to use him, we'd like him."
"What?"
"We'd like him," he repeated. "On my team."
"Why?"
"Because he deserves better than getting shipped back to the academy to wait another three years to be useful."
Jack's frown deepened. It was something he and Sam had discussed, but only briefly, and not something he'd brought up with Hammond – although he was sure the general, too, was wondering what to do with Ian when and if Sam decided she wanted to return to offworld activities full time.
"Did you talk to him about this?"
"Of course not, Jack. You know I wouldn't talk to him until I discussed it with you – and I'm sure you're not ready to let him go just yet. But my men like him, and we know he's a bit rough around the edges, but he's got a lot of potential. Too much to just be let go…"
"He won't get let go, Dave," Jack said. "You know better than that."
"But he might get put into a lab somewhere – or stuck doing something else. Maybe something he doesn't want to do. Something that will annoy him enough to make him decide to transfer out of the SGC – or stick to the academy full time. We – I – would like him on my team."
"Sam's not ready to go back to offworld activities…"
"Not now…" David agreed. "But she will, eventually, right?"
"Maybe. I don't know."
"Look, Jack. I'm not trying to steal him from you. I know he's making a genuine difference on SG-1. I'm just letting you know that if and when you're ready to let him go, he has a place he'll be welcomed."
O'Neill nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind, Dave."
"Good."
Jack continued down the corridor, his mind on the conversation he'd just had. Dave wasn't the first SG team leader to approach him about Ian's future. Kelly Thorpe, commanding officer of SG-3 had already asked Jack what he intended to do with Ian when Sam was ready to rejoin SG-1 full time. Like Dave, Thorpe had been sure to let Jack know that there was a spot on his team for Ian – rough edges and everything.
The only problem was, the kid still had to finish the academy – and Jack wasn't ready to let him go. No where near ready, really.
"You okay?"
He was brought up short by the sudden appearance of Daniel, who was looking at him oddly.
"What?"
"I asked, are you okay?" Daniel repeated.
"I'm fine. Why?"
"Because you look about a million miles away just then. Like something's bothering you."
Jack shook his head.
"I'm fine. Just thinking."
"About…?"
Jack shrugged.
"Nothing."
He wasn't ready to discuss this, yet. Not right now, especially, since they had enough to deal with just then. Maybe when the whole Asgard thing cleared up, though, he should have a talk with Sam and General Hammond about Ian's future.
"Nothing, huh?"
Daniel's voice was gently sarcastic.
"Nothing earth shattering," Jack amended. "Just some logistics."
"Ah." Daniel gave a mental shrug, figuring that if something was bothering Jack he'd go tell Sam about it. They had other things to discuss. "We heard from the Tok'ra this morning."
"Yeah? What'd they have to say? Let me guess… it's bad news."
The Tok'ra never sent along good news.
Daniel nodded.
"Apparently Anubis has taken out one of the Major system lords. Wiped him out so quickly that the other system lords are actually worried."
"My heart bleeds."
"We need to worry about this guy, Jack," Daniel chided. "He's getting pretty powerful."
"The other system lords are taking notice, though, right?"
"Yes."
"Then let them deal with the problem. They're much better suited for handling it than we are, after all."
Besides, the Goa'uld were afraid of the Asgard, and there were a lot of Asgard checking in with the SGC the last couple of days. Jack wasn't going to go looking for trouble when he already had plenty to deal with.
"The Tok'ra said the system lords are meeting to discuss the situation and that they would let us know what they learned."
"Good."
Daniel looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn't. He knew Jack well enough to know that while Jack took the threat of the Goa'uld seriously, he wasn't going to worry about something that he couldn't do anything about. So he changed the subject.
"Has Janet said when Ian's going to wake up?"
Jack shook his head, glad for the change of subject.
"She's getting pretty snippy whenever anyone asks, so I stopped asking."
Ian had been asleep almost two full days, now, and the Asgard were getting impatient. And Sam was getting worried, even though Fraiser had said everything looked fine and he was just asleep. Jack didn't care how impatient the Asgard were, but he didn't like Sam worrying.
"Maybe I'll go check in on him…"
"Good luck. I'm going to talk to Sam."
He'd already been kicked out of the infirmary twice that day – which was why he was roaming the corridors of the SGC without Jaffer, who hadn't been kicked out and was snoozing with Ian and Jack (the dog). Sam was in her lab last he'd seen, and she was far more patient with him than Fraiser.
OOOOOOOOOO
"Hey…"
Sam looked up from her computer terminal and smiled when she saw Jack leaning against the doorway.
"Hi."
"Whatcha doing?"
"Just checking on some diagnostic results. You?"
"Slumming. Want to fool around?"
She chuckled and pushed herself away from the computer desk.
"Where are the boys?"
"I sent them both to Andrew's. They needed fresh air."
"I bet they loved that."
"They'll love it more when Andrew's mom puts them to work mowing the yard."
"A little yard work won't kill them."
"Which is exactly what I told them. Besides, they need to be doing something besides hanging out here – and Miyra will make sure they get a hot meal."
It was one thing to allow Shawn and Andrew to stay at the SGC for a while as they waited on Ian, but it was ridiculous to keep them there for two full days surviving on commissary meals. They were on summer break, after all, and there were plenty of interesting things to do at Andrew's when they finished the yard work.
"Any word on Ian?"
"Still asleep."
She frowned.
"I wonder if he-"
She was interrupted by the phone on her desk ringing, and picked it up.
"Major O'Neill."
There was a short pause, and she looked over at Jack as whoever was on the other line spoke.
"We'll be right there."
Jack looked at her, expectantly, as she set the phone down.
"Where are we going?"
"That was Janet. Ian's awake."
"Let's go."
Now things should get interesting.
