SG1 in Atlantis
Chapter 3 (Thor in Minnesota)
Sam took over the story once again. "Since it seemed very clear after that incident that Jack wouldn't get the rest he needed if we stayed in Colorado because chances were if I stayed I would be call back into the SGC and Jack couldn't be trusted to behave if left alone," here she turned and gave Jack a severe look, which Jack returned with his typical innocent smile, "we decided to head to Jack's cabin in Minnesota."
"Seems like a reasonable plan. A cabin in Minnesota seems like a good place for a vacation." said Elizabeth.
"Yes, Jack's cabin is really beautiful and peaceful. We got there without incident and Jack was starting to relax."
"Yeah, the fishing had been going pretty good." Jack added with a small smile as he remembered the lazy hours spent in front of the lake doing nothing.
"Uh huh, I bet you didn't catch anything, did you Jack?" Daniel asked, he knew Jack's attitude towards fishing.
"Nope, you know that it's the act of fishing and not how many fish you catch, Daniel."
"Yes, Jack I know. You have told us repeatedly." Daniel said in a tone of voice that said they've this discussion many, many times but he still found it somewhat amusing.
As entertaining as the bickering between Gen. O'Neill and Dr. Jackson was, John wanted to get back to the story. There had to be more to it than that, otherwise how did they get from Minnesota to Pegasus? "I'm guessing that something other than fishing happened?"
"Yes, the Asgards happened." Sam said, and her tone of voice left no doubt as to how she felt about the intrusion.
"The Asgards?" asked Tayla.
"My buddy Thor thought it was a good time to come and pay us a visit." Jack said as if having an alien, a Supreme Commander at that, come for a visit was the most normal thing to have happen.
"Thor?" Tayla asked again; she knew that the Asgards were allies of the people of Earth but she really knew nothing about them beyond that. Sure, she had met Hermoid a few times; but he wasn't what one what call communicative and if he was typical of his race Tayla really didn't see how one could be called 'buddy' or would just drop in for a visit.
Sam saw the puzzled look on Tayla's face and realized that the young woman probably didn't know much about the Asgards or how Jack was on such good terms with them. "Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. He's been our friend for years now, every since we help them withsome problems they had," Sam saw no reason to get into the whole replicator thing at the moment; there was not reason to do so. "But for some reason he seems to get along better with Jack."
"He probably finds him more amusing than the rest of us." Daniel couldn't help adding to tease his friend some more.
"Hey, he's my buddy. You're just jealous because he likes me better than you." Jack said, never able to stop himself from getting into a childish one-upmanship game with Daniel.
"However," Sam said in a voice a bit louder to stop Daniel and Jack from really getting into it, "he wasn't just stopping by. They had a problem that they were sure only Jack could fix. So one morning, just as we were finishing breakfast, Jack disappeared in a flash of light."
"Well, at least his timing has definitely improved in the last few years. You gotta be grateful for that." Jack said with a wicked grin that left no one in doubt as to the alien had interrupted before 'his timing' had better.
Though Sam was blushing slightly at Jack's comment and at the look on his face, she nevertheless sarcastically replied, "Oh, yes. I'm infinitely grateful that they now scan us to see what we're doing before they beam you up. That is so much better; they're really respecting our privacy now."
"It's not like they can phone us before they dropped by, after all. And it's better than nothing and certainly better than the alternative." Jack argued reasonably in his buddy's defense.
Sam just frowned at him before resuming the tale, "be that as it may, the fact of the matter was that they came and took Jack for a mission only he could accomplish. And they didn't even bother to let me know beforehand. They beamed him up and I didn't find out what was going on until almost an hour later." Now she was really glaring at Jack; she had been frantic calling the SGC to see if they knew anything or at least could get in touch with the Asgard all the while praying nothing bad was happening.
Jack had the grace to look sheepish. The reason it had taken so long to inform Sam what was going on was that he had gotten so caught up in hearing the problem and finding a solution that he'd forgotten to ask Thor to let Sam know everything was fine. And then he thought it best to wait until they were some distance away from Earth before contacting her, that way she couldn't havestop him from going. Because the truth of the matter was that as nice as fishing was, Jack couldn't resist the allure of an adventure; especially when they told him that he had to take it easy. But he didn't think Sam would understand or approve so he'd let her believe that the delay in communication was Thor's fault; something his buddy had not appreciated, the little guy knew how Sam could get and did not want to be on her bad side.
Sam saw the face on Jack's face and smiled inwardly in satisfaction. He should feel guilty after all. "And when I was finally contacted they were already on their way. There was nothing I could do. I mean I couldn't very well ask for a ship to go after a wayward General. So I could only sit around that cabin and wait and pray that he wouldn't get himself killed."
"Oh, come on Sam. You know Thor would never let anything happen to me," complained Jack.
"Why? Because he likes you so much?" Daniel needled Jack.
"Well, yeah and because he knows what Sam'll do to him if he does."
"Yeah, there is that." Daniel nodded his head agreeing with Jack, and not only to tease Sam. They all knew that Sam was extremely protective of Jack, as protective as Jack was of Sam. A fair and balanced state of affairs as far as Daniel was concerned.
As was her custom, Sam ignored the by-play between Jack and Daniel and continued, "Fortunately, the problem wasn't a serious one and Jack was back in a couple of days."
"Just like I told you I would be."
Barely sparing him a glance, Sam said, "by the time he came back, I had decided that there was no place on Earth we could go to and really get away from the realities of our jobs. And if Jack was really ever to have the time off he needed, drastic action was called for."
"You decided to go off-world for your vacation?" asked Elizabeth as the story finally started making some sense.
"Yes, I figured if we went off-world the chances of being call back into work because of an emergency would be drastically reduced."
"That makes sense," agreed John, but there was still something off, "but why didn't you just gate to another planet within the Milky Way?"
"I thought about that," confirmed Sam, "but the truth of the matter is that if we had stayed within our network of Stargates, we could have still been called back at any time. We would have had to tell the SGC where we were going and they would have sent us off with all sort of communication equipment. It's not prudent to go off-world without communications but I wanted us to be as isolated as possible. It was the only way I could think of to get Jack to really relax."
Elizabeth nodded as she saw the logic in Sam's thinking, "What made you think of Atlantis, though?"
"I'm not really sure. I was just thinking of all our adventures over the years and somewhere in there I remember Atlantis. Once I thought of it I knew it would be perfect. While we can go home using the Stargate from here, we still don't have a ZPM on Earth. That means that the only way they have to communicate with us is when the Daedalus gets back. Until then we are basically incommunicado from Earth."
"But Atlantis is not exactly the best place for a relaxing vacation, Sam. We still have the wraith to deal with." Elizabeth said gently, not wanting to appear as if she was questing the woman's thinking even if that was what she was doing.
"We know. But you haven't had an attack on the city in years, right?" Sam didn't get offended at Elizabeth's implied criticism. After all the middle of a war wasn't a relaxing place to be.
"No, we haven't really had an attack on the city for about three years now." Elizabeth conceded.
"And about two months ago, Rodney figured out how the city had been submerged by the Ancients and you're now capable of submerging it again if it looks like the wraiths will be attacking, correct?"
"Yes, we actually submerged it for a few days last month." Rodney answered and then went on to explain in more detail what had occurred. "Everything went according to plan. It was fascinating, really, how well the system still works after ten thousand years. Though that shouldn't be surprising really, given how well the city has fared. You should take a look at it; it's totally ingenious; I don't know how they thought about . . ."
"Rodney," Elizabeth interrupted before he started explaining in detail how the city worked, "maybe you could fill Sam on that later, uhm?"
Rodney stopped in mid-sentence and turned to looked at Elizabeth. He seemed to be about to say something else, but nodded instead, "of course."
"I guess I can see why you though Atlantis was the best place for the General to relax." Elizabeth had to admit that Sam had seemed to have thought it all through.
Sam nodded, "as long as he doesn't go in any missions," and her look said he'd be lucky if he even left the city for a quiet excursion, "there shouldn't be any problems. And since there is still quite of the city left to be explored, he can amuse himself doing that." Sam knew that the best way to keep Jack out of trouble was to keep him busy and amused. The problem had been to find something that could accomplish that and be stress-free, or as stress-free as possible. This little stay in Atlantis seemed to fit the ticket. Ancient gadgets seemed to be one of the few that Jack like; probably because he can work them while most of everyone else can't.
"She never wants me to have any fun," said Jack in a mournful tone shaking his head.
"Ok, I can understand why you and the General are here," say Rodney in his typicaly blunt way, "but why are they?" pointing to the rest of SG1
"Well," answered Sam, "we couldn't very well come to Atlantis and not bring Daniel."
"He would never have forgiven us," agreed Jack.
"No, I wouldn't," asserted Daniel. "Bad enough that I miss two, that's two chances to come to Atlantis. I wouldn't have let you leave without me; it wouldn't have happened." Daniel insisted, shaking his head for emphasis.
"We know, spacemonkey, we know," Jack said soothingly, "and we would have never dreamed of coming without you. It wouldn't have been the same."
Daniel nodded his head mollified and reassured that his friends wouldn't have let him behind and denied him his chance to see his dream.
"And since SG1 was on downtime, we thought it'd be only fair that Teal'c and Cameron came along as well," Jack went on to explain the reason for the bringing them along. "Danny boy was coming along anyway, so we figured we'd make it a family vacation."
"Well, let me reiterate: we're glad to see you all here. Once again welcome to Atlantis" Elizabeth said once again.
"Thank you and don't worry," Sam added, "we won't be on your way. Nor will we be idle. We'll be available to help you in any way you we can. I'm sure Daniel here, is dying to get a look at things," she nodded to Daniel, who indeed looked he was about to leap out of his chair and go explore the city, "I'll be more than happy to help you with the technology, I know you are still having some problems with it,"
Jack snorted, "Huh, like you aren't chopping at the bit to get your hands on those doohickeys just like Danny boy here."
Sam went on as if he hadn't spoken, not that Jack expected anything different. "And Cameron and Teal'c will be happy to assist you in anything else you need. Even if it is just the use of their brute strength," she finished with a smile.
Teal'c inclined his head and agreed, "Indeed, I would most happy to help you in any way I can. Perhaps I could give some self-defense classes while we remain in the city?" he suggested.
"Thank you for the offer, Teal'c. I'm sure there wouldn't be any lack of volunteers if you were to offer such a class." Elizabeth responded to Teal'c's offer.
"No, there wouldn't," John agreed, "I know I would definitely signed up for it. A self-defense class is always a good thing; and I bet you know some moves that most of us don't."
"That is correct, Coloner Sheppard."
"Well, I would love to learn them. I'm sure that the Wraiths haven't seen them before and they can only help if we were to engage in a hand to hand with them."
Teal'c just inclined his head in agreement.
"We'll appreciate any help you want to give us," said Elizabeth and catching Sam's eye, she added "but please don't feel obligated to help. This is your vacation after all, don't hesitate to just relax and have fun."
Sam nodded her agreement but Jack once again snorted and said, "trust me, Elizabeth, this bunch doesn't know how to relax; they think working is fun," in a conspiratorial tone of voice while shaking his head as if saddened by that fact.
"I guess you'll just have to show us, then, won't you?" Sam asked. She was going to get Jack to relax even if she had to sit next to him while he 'fished' the entire time they where there. Or maybe she'd just keep him in bed the majority of the time, the wicked thought popped into her head suddenly.
"I've been trying for the past dozen or so years, Carter," Jack objected, completely oblivious to the naughty turn his wife's mind had taken – for such a brilliant mind, Sam's could turn quite naughty. "But I guess I can try one more time." He added in a suffering tone.
"Now that that's settled," Elizabeth said, bringing her hands to the table and pushing back from it to stand up, before they could get started in one of the bickering arguments they all seemed to enjoy so much, "You've had a long journey and I'm sure you're more than ready to settle down and relax for a bit. I'm afraid, however, that since we didn't know you were coming, we have nothing ready. It may take a while to find and prepare suitable quarters. But, you could rest on any of our quarters if you wish."
"No thank you," answered Daniel, "that's kind of you. But the trip here was very smooth and we are not at all tire; we would much rather start exploring," Daniel answered for everyone, though it was a safe guess as the trip had been so smooth it had been boring. "And don't worry about our quarters, something private and with a bed would suffice; believe me, we've stayed in some pretty nasty places. How bad can a room in Atlantis be?"
Elizabeth smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sure we can do better than that, it'd just take a bit that's all," and then she turned and looked at Teyla, who over the last three years, had become Elizabeth's right hand person when it came to dealing with the day to day running of Atlantis.
While Elizabeth had been more than qualified to lead the exploration of Atlantis, she hadn't really been prepared to lead a growing a city. Teyla, on the other hand, had had years of experience leading her people and her help had been invaluable. Gradually, Elizabeth had come to rely on Teyla more and more, until Teyla was the de facto leader of the city. A fact that was fine with Elizabeth since it gave her more time to devote to the scientific exploration of the city, the off-world missions and even gave her time to have a personal life – something that had been almost impossible before Teyla started helping her. But the best part as far as Elizabeth was concerned was that she had someone to talk to, someone who knew what she was going through and with whom she could share her insecurities and doubts – that was a gift beyond measure to Elizabeth.
Teyla saw Elizabeth's look and correctly interpreted, "It won't much of a wait, Elizabeth. The rooms the Ilechans representatives used are still set up. Remember, we'd thought it'd be a good idea to have some rooms ready for visiting VIPs," she said the last word with a look at John to see if she got the word right, John nodded and smiled. "It'd be just a matter of a quick clean up, it shouldn't take long at all. I'll go and set it up." And with a smile and nod she left.
Teyla had been doing such a good job that everyone had accepted her authority, even Bates. (Everyone but Kavanagh, but no one listened to him). It was evident to all that she really enjoyed her duties. The fact was that while she was still the leader of her people and their Ambassador, they were flourishing on the mainland and since she no longer lived with them she wasn't as involved as involved in the running of their settlement as before. She had been saddened when she first realizedthat factbut had then decided to put her energies into helping her new home. Being a member of AG1 was wonderful but it had left her with too much time on her hands when not on missions. So helping Elizabeth run the city had been as much for her as for Elizabeth.
If any of the visitors thought it strange that the only non-member of the expedition was the one getting their rooms ready,no onesaid anything about it. The Atlantis crew had been on Atlantis for over four years and in that time they had gone through some incredible experiences, both good and bad; SG1 knew better than anyone the tight bond that develops from having lived together through such times. They knew that there were many things that never made into their reports for Earth; that they had become such a tight community that what happened on Atlantis stayed on Atlantis if it didn't directly affect Earth.And they knew that thatwas only natural.
"Well, would you like to begin the tour or wait and go to your quarters first?" Elizabeth asked as Teyla left.
After looking at Daniel, Jack answered, "Oh, we better begin with the tour if we don't want Danny boy here to throw a tantrum."
"Jaaack! I don't throw tantrums," Daniel protested in a voice remarkably like that of a five year old.
"Yeah, whatever Space monkey," Jack said with a smirk. "So, shall we?" He asked Elizabeth as he pushed his chair back and stood up.
"Sure,"
"Elizabeth, do you think we could begin with the control room?" Daniel asked as he rushed to Elizabeth's side. "I saw somethings that looked very interesting and would like a better look at them."
"I don't see why not." Elizabeth told him with a smile. "If you'd follow me this way?" She told them and turned to leave the room.
And with that everyone stood up to begin the tour of Atlantis.