Ian wasn't out of bed when Jack and Sam walked into the infirmary, but he was sitting up and fully aware of what was going on around him as he made his way through a huge meal. On the bed beside him was a stack of clean clothes – a uniform that he'd probably requested as soon as he'd woken up – and that meant that he wasn't planning on being in bed any longer than absolutely necessary. Even better; the fact that they were actually there meant that Janet didn't intend to hold him any longer than necessary, either.
He looked up when they walked over to his bed, and Jaffer wagged his tail cheerfully in greeting when Jack rubbed his ear, but didn't turn his attention from the sandwich Ian was wolfing down. Neither did Jack (the dog). They both knew Ian was an easy mark for a free snack, after all – even when he was hungry.
"It's about time you woke up," Jack told him, motioning for Jaffer to move a little and make room so Sam could take a seat on the edge of Ian's bed.
Ian smiled.
"Getting worried?"
"Nah. I just need someone to take out the garbage in my office and I happen to know you're an expert garbage taker-outer."
Sam chuckled, and looked over as Janet walked up.
"How's he doing?"
She pretty much knew that if she asked Ian, he was going to tell her he was fine.
"He's fine," Janet said. "Just hungry."
"Nothing new there," Sam said.
"Exactly."
"They haven't messed with the clone, have they?" Ian asked.
Sam shook her head.
"No. The Asgard all left – except Thor – and we've had guards on the room to keep anyone from accidentally going in and doing something they shouldn't be. Should we call Thor and tell him to call in the others?"
Ian nodded.
"I'll need a chance to take a shower, but other than that, the sooner the better."
Mainly because he didn't want to deal with the Asgard any longer than he had to, and the sooner he sent them on their way, the happier he'd be. Besides, he was curious if his idea had worked – especially after talking to Alexander – and didn't think that Hammond would let him check it out until the Asgard had arrived.
"We'll let you finish eating, then," Sam said, getting up. "Give us a call when you're ready, okay?"
"Okay. It won't be long."
Sam turned to Jack as they left the infirmary to report to Hammond.
"We should probably call the boys back, huh?"
Jack nodded.
"They'd be pretty disappointed if they missed it – especially after hovering the last three days."
"And all the work they've done on the project," she added.
"That, too."
OOOOOOOOOO
The Asgard were back in the SGC in half an hour – which led Sam to believe that although they had left orbit around the planet, they hadn't gone too far away. True they could travel incredible distances at amazing speeds, but they were all at the SGC so quickly she was certain they'd been more or less looking over the SGC's shoulder without actually being seen hovering.
Ian arrived in the lab only a few minutes after Shawn and Andrew made their appearance. The New Yorker was dressed in a clean set of BDU, and had obviously showered, because he was now clean shaven once more, and didn't look at all like he'd been sleeping for three days.
He nodded to Hammond and the others, and then turned to the Asgard.
"Ready?"
Thor nodded, and opened the stasis chamber, and Ian walked over.
"It doesn't look any different," Jack said, looking over his shoulder.
"It won't," Ian replied. "Not on the outside, anyways."
He rested his hand lightly on the clone's bare chest and closed his eyes, while everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath.
He knew it had worked immediately. Had he screwed up and not properly worked the samples of alien DNA into its system, the clone's bodily defenses would be going insane trying to clear all the foreign matter from its system, and it would be fevered or at least in some discomfort. As it was, there was no sign of rejection, and no indication that there might be in the future.
He checked the DNA strands, anyways, just to make sure, but they were exactly as he'd left them – and looked as if they had been that way the entire time, which mean the transition had been seamless.
Ian pulled his awareness out of the clone, and opened his eyes, looking at the others.
"It worked."
He couldn't help the satisfaction in his voice. He'd worked his ass off, after all, trying to figure out how to fix the bastard, and was a little flushed with the success, now. Enough so that he actually grinned.
"Yes!" Shawn grinned, too, looking far more excited than Ian, and he and Andrew exchanged a high-five.
Not surprising, really, that they were thrilled. They both really liked the Asgard, after all, and knew them best.
"Good job, Ian," Sam murmured from her spot beside him.
He shrugged.
"Thanks, Sam."
The Asgard were now examining their prototype, checking the readings from the sensors that monitored it.
"So they're going to be able to use it to make their clones, now?" Jack asked.
Ian nodded.
"They will, but the clones aren't going to turn out looking exactly like this. Not for a long time."
Thor nodded his agreement.
"But eventually the clones will return to something far more like our original forms than what we have now."
"Well… that'll be good…" Jack said.
"It's going to be hundreds of generations before you can see a difference," Ian said. "It took them a long time to screw themselves up, and this isn't a quick fix."
"But it will work," one of the other Asgard said, coming over to join the conversation. "We owe you a great deal, Ian Brooks."
Ian shrugged.
"Shawn and Andrew helped. You owe them. Not me."
He hadn't wanted to help, so as far as he was concerned, they had no business thanking him. Shawn and Andrew, on the other hand, were really the ones who had gone out of their way for this thing. Not Ian. He'd gone out of his way to try and avoid it. For what good that had done him.
Shawn and Andrew both flushed.
"One piece of advice, though," Ian said.
"What?" The Asgard asked, more than willing to listen to anything Ian said just then.
"When you get to the point where the reproduction organs start returning… use them this time. It'll make things a lot easier on you people."
