Chapter Two

Carter jabbed the down button repeatedly. She was already running late for a meeting because she'd been distracted by one of her experiments. When she'd realized she was late, she hurried a little too much, upsetting the test that was running which caused a very small explosion. Except for some singed papers and a suddenly desperate need for a new lab bench, Carter figured it hadn't been big enough for anyone to notice. She would wait a few months, then demand to know why her requisition for a new bench had been denied. The general would be very apologetic for having lost the paper she'd never given him and therefore, would put a rush on the bench without asking for another form, thus sparing her from ever having to admit to being so clumsy as to blow up her bench in the first place.

It was her own peculiar and not particularly efficient system, but it had saved her from having to admit to such blunders in the past. It would involve having to hide the evidence for a few months, but it had worked for years and was infinitely preferable to getting a lecture about blowing things up. She liked blowing things up, even unintentionally, but she didn't like when people voiced disappointment in her. She was willing to do anything to avoid the fatherly you-let-me-down stare from anyone in authority.

So after carefully spreading out the non-burned papers to hide the damaged bench, Carter was even more considerably late for the meeting. And the elevator, which was taking its own sweet time, was not helping. She poked the button ferociously and was rewarded with the door opening, revealing a guilty looking Jack O'Neill.

Carter tried not to look angry as she joined him. Her finger hurt from the last jab of the button and she decided it was all his fault because he'd probably been holding the elevator for some untold reason - hence the guilty look - and therefore, Carter felt it was his fault that her finger hurt. For a fleeting moment, she thought about asking him to kiss it and make it better, but she realized how completely inappropriate that thought was and immediately denied to herself that such a thought had ever crossed her mind. Jack was the only person who had ever been able to elicit those sorts of impure thoughts from her and part of her resented him for it. The rest of her, however, still went weak at the sight of him and was more than happy to conjure up as many inappropriate thoughts as possible about him.

Frustrated, late, and in pain, Carter used her other hand to smack the door close button repeatedly. She did not have time to deal with a tired elevator.

Jack turned to her, fairly alarmed by the tension radiating off the usually mild-mannered woman. "What's the matter? Did you accidentally blow something up, Carter?"

Her eyes went wide momentarily, wondering how word had reached him so quickly. But one glance at his dark eyes, brimming with laughter, told her he was only kidding. As usual, what he thought was a goofy, random thought was dead on. She had no intention of revealing her mistake to him. And his amusement eased the irritation she felt. "I don't want to be late for the meeting, sir."

Jack made an exaggerated motion to check his watch. "Unless this is a time machine, it might be a little late to change that, Carter."

Two minutes in his presence and she was in a much better mood. She'd completely stopped caring about being late, melting her bench, and the irritatingly slow elevator. In fact, the fairly large majority of her brain that preferred the unsuitable thoughts about her CO would have been quite happy to spend the rest of eternity trapped in an elevator with him. She simply smiled at him, silently promised herself that she would stop imagining him without a shirt when they were in small, closed spaces, and enjoyed his good mood. "Yes, sir, I'll just blame it on you."

"I had nothing to do with you being late!" He looked offended and scared as he led the way out of the elevator, probably because people usually believed any excuse Carter offered up.

Carter smiled smugly. "The general doesn't know that."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, but I was just on the phone with General Hammond and he sent me to get something, so he knows why I'm late and he knows it has nothing to do with you."

Carter rolled her eyes, hoping she could sneak in behind Jack and not be noticed. "So what did he ask you to get?"

Jack indicated the folded blanket in his hands. "Don't ask. I have no idea."

"Why would he ask you to bring a blanket to a meeting?"

"Carter, what did I just say?"

She closed her eyes, vividly recalling his words to not ask. "Sorry, sir. It just threw me."

She looked away, doing mental gymnastics trying to guess why the general would need a blanket. She was always cold in the conference room, but she couldn't imagine Hammond wrapping up in a blanket to stay warm. He was the one who had control over the temperature in the building. She ducked behind the colonel as they entered the room and tried to find her way into a chair before the general noticed her.

"You're late, Major."

Carter looked up, alarmed not only at his sharp voice, but also because she hadn't actually prepared an excuse. Revealing the explosion in the lab as an excuse for being late would not endear her to the man since she hadn't exactly followed protocol an gotten clearance for the experiment in the first place.

"It was my fault, sir. I held her up. It won't happen again." Jack barely had to glance at her to convey the unspoken message - she owed him one. Once they were settled, Jack addressed the general again, deciding it would be prudent to ignore the man's bad mood. "So, to what do we owe the pleasure, sir?" He placed the blanket on the table and shrugged at the curious stares of Teal'c and Daniel. "And why do we need a blanket? Are we having a picnic?"

General Hammond didn't look happy. "Thor indicated that one might be necessary." The Asgard calling a meeting was most likely the explanation for the general being upset.

Carter looked between the men nervously. "Did Thor mention what he wanted?" As much as she liked the little gray fellow, his presence tended to mean people's lives, usually her own or Jack's, were in danger.

The general didn't answer, except to look at his watch. Apparently, he had no idea what was going on, besides the fact that the entire universe seemed to be running late. Not knowing what was going on, having to be the only person with a tight schedule, and being left to assume that whatever was going on wasn't something good, made Hammond particularly irritable. He sighed and glanced at the four teammates around the table. "Thor only requested a meeting with SG-1 and, of course, mentioned the blanket."

Jack turned to Carter. "Do the Asgard use blankets?"

Carter shrugged. "I would have thought they had the technology to regulate the temperature of the environment rather than relying on a crude comfort measure."

Jack smiled at her. "Are you sure you're not the missing link between humans and the Asgard? Cause sometimes you sound more like one of them than one of us."

As he spoke, a bright white flash signaled the arrival of their friend. Thor nodded at them in his usual way.

Carter stared at the alien, unable to put her finger on what exactly was different about him. "Thor?" Her eyes darted to Jack, who was also staring strangely at Thor.

"Good afternoon, Major Carter."

She glanced at the general, who didn't seem to notice anything different. Daniel also didn't look perplexed, but Teal'c's brow was furrowed. "Is something different about you, Thor?"

"Thank you! I thought it was just me." Jack looked exceedingly pleased with her question.

"We have finally found a solution to the genetic breakdown in our cloning process. This body is somewhat closer to my original form. Several generations of bodies must be utilized to return completely to our natural states after so many years of degradation."

Jack leaned toward Carter. "He's bluer than he used to be, right?"

She nodded. "And taller too." She hadn't noticed until Jack mentioned it, but Thor was a hair bluer than he had been previously. For some reason, probably because blue was her favorite color, she found the new shade much easier on the eyes.

"So, congrats on solving your issues there. Glad you stopped by." Jack stood up, knowing that it was too easy for Thor to have stopped by only to show off his new body, but he was still hopeful. "Let me guess, your new skin isn't as thick and you're thinking of investing in some blankets."

Thor blinked in his passive way. "A soft fabric seems to provide both physical warmth and psychological comfort to humans. The Asgard have no such implements."

Carter didn't know where he was heading, but she had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"You wanted a binky?"

Carter couldn't help but giggle at the colonel's words.

Thor blinked again, probably searching for the Asgard translation of binky. "I have no desire for this device. I requested it for use by the human."

Carter knew it wasn't for any of the humans around the table and the sick feeling intensified. "What human?"

Thor looked at her before moving his hand slightly on the armrest of his chair. Another flash of white light appeared and dissipated in the center of the conference table, revealing a tiny, naked, screaming baby. "That human, Major Carter."