Work Text:
Uncle Thor
by Orrymain
"Shhh!" Jonny whispered to his fellow Munchkins as they quietly made their way down the stairs.
"It dark," Aislinn pointed out unnecessarily.
"Careful, Ash. Almost pushed me," Little Danny said as he was the middle of the Munchkin sandwich.
"Not mean to," the five-year-old girl responded softly.
The Munchkins stepped into the living room and went over to the monitor that was hooked up to a live camera feed. They wanted to see their new brother or sister. Actually, it was Toto, the alien womis that essentially housed the biological child of Jack and Daniel, that they wanted to see. The womis was safe in Daniel's den, and the children knew they weren't to go inside without one of their parents with them, but their Aunt Sam had set up the monitor, allowing the brood to both see the womis whenever they wanted to and talk to it.
"Hi, Toto," Jonny greeted.
"Toto, we love you," Aislinn stated.
"You protect our baby," Little Danny requested earnestly.
"Yeah, Bean Sprout needs you," Aislinn added, using the nickname that had been given to the unborn child.
All of a sudden, the picture became snowy, and the children panicked. None of them realized that Jonny had accidentally touched a switch on the remote that changed the frequency of the signal, essentially turning off the picture.
"What did we do?" Little Danny asked.
"We're in big trouble," Aislinn gasped.
Thoughtfully, Jonny called out in a low but expectant voice, "Thor, we need you!"
Within seconds, Thor, sitting in his command chair, appeared in the living room of the Jackson-O'Neill residence and inquired calmly, "What is the problem?"
"Uncle Thor!" Aislinn called out, running over and hugging the alien, who was just about her size.
"Thor is sufficient," the Asgard responded with a blink of his eyes, slightly unnerved by the show of affection.
"We broke the monitor. Dad and Daddy will be mad at us," Little Danny advised.
"We just wanted to see Bean Sprout," Jonny sighed.
"This is why you called me?" Thor asked in disbelief. "I am the Supreme Commander of the entire Asgard fleet and ..." He paused, giving the youngsters a tiny smile. "What is that?" he asked of the black, rectangular object.
"It's the remote," Jonny said, hurrying over and handing it to the Asgard.
Thor studied the object carefully and then placed it on the end of his chair for analysis.
"I see," the alien stated. He touched a button on the remote and instructed, "Observe."
The Munchkins looked over at the monitor, all giving an audible sigh when they saw Toto reappear on the screen.
"Thank you, Unc...Thor," Aislinn giggled.
"You are welcome. I will tell your fathers about ..."
"No, Thor. You can't tell Dad and Daddy," Jonny insisted.
"Why not?"
"That would be tattling. Tattling is bad," Jonny said, nodding his head in emphasis.
"Very bad," Aislinn agreed, nodding her head, too.
Jonny walked up close the Asgard commander and spoke firmly, "Never tattle on the Munchkins. It's a big, big, *big* rule."
Thor blinked and then nodded his agreement.
"Thor, how come you like us so much?" Little Danny asked pointedly.
"O'Neill has the genetic marker, and Doctor Jackson ..." Thor stopped, seeing the wide-eyed look of 'huh?' on the trio's faces. "They are heroes to my people. The Tau'ri are on a path towards being the next great race -- the fifth race that will guide the galaxy for those who follow."
"Huh?" Aislinn questioned.
"One day, all of you will be great leaders. It is your destiny." Thor saw that the children still did not understand the depth of his words. He thought carefully about his words, realizing the Munchkins probably didn't know about the Goa'uld or the battle waged beyond their world. Simplifying his ordeal, he stated, "One day, many years ago, I was taken hostage. It was SG-1, your fathers, who saved me. I will forever be in their debt."
"Dad and Daddy do good," Jonny praised.
"Very. Now, it is time for Munchkins to be in bed. Go, before I am forced to ... tattle."
"Night, Uncle Thor," Aislinn giggled, leaning over to give him a kiss and ignoring what she could swear was a frown on the gray being.
"We love you, Thor," Little Danny said, hugging the alien as well.
"'Member -- never tattle on Munchkins," Jonny stated, his facial expression stern before he smiled and followed his siblings upstairs.
Thor was amused by the youngsters, never having been around children much until the Jackson-O'Neill brood entered his life. Looking down at his chair, he did a scan of the house and deactivated the lock on the den. Then he stood and walked over to the monitor, staring at the image of the womis for a few seconds before turning off the screen. Quietly, the little gray alien walked up the stairs to the den, where he knew the womis was.
Going inside, Thor walked up to Toto and placed his hand gently on top of it.
"The fifth race is your race. Listen, Bean Sprout, and I will tell you the debt I owe to your parents. Many years ago, I was on my ship, protecting a planet that was of vital importance to my people. We did battle with a Goa'uld, one named Osiris. We lost. It was a great surprise to me, and I felt I had doomed my race.
"We do not often discuss this, but you must understand. My body, and those of all the Asgard, are cloned. We reproduce only through a process of enhanced cellular mitosis. It has been this way for over a thousand years. As each of our bodies fail, our consciousness is transferred into newer, younger versions of ourselves. While this has given us some degree of immortality, the problem of genetic breakdown has become a severe issue for us. Deterioration of our bodies is rising among my people. Sadly, my race is dying.
"For this reason, the Asgard High Council requested SG-1 rescue Heimdall, one of our best scientists, who was working on this problem. It was his research facility that my ship was protecting when we confronted Osiris. You see, thirty thousand years ago, a ship was launched from the Asgard home world, its crew placed in suspended animation, but a failure in the ship's navigational system caused it to be lost. This ship was discovered on the planet six months before I was taken captive.
"One of our ancestors was perfectly preserved. He came from a time before our program of genetic manipulation became irreversible. He was our hope, potentially our only way to stave off our genetic degradation. This was the vital work that Heimdall was doing.
"Fortunately, your fathers and their team found Heimdall before the Goa'uld did. It was he who told SG-1 that I was not dead, as the High Council believed.
"I had attempted to survive the destruction of my ship by leaving in an escape pod, but the Goa'uld managed to overtake it and took me captive. I warned him that he had committed an act of war against the Asgard and that the response would be swift and decisive. Osiris was unshaken.
"Though defenseless and strapped to a table, I told Osiris that I would not surrender any knowledge to the Goa'uld. That is when she told me that Anubis was coming. I was about to give up hope when O'Neill appeared as a hologram to me. I ordered him to get Heimdall and his research materials and leave immediately.
"Your fathers do not follow orders easily, Bean Sprout. Perhaps that is why they are great men. I advised O'Neill that I would resist the Goa'uld's attempts to probe my mind, even if I had to die in order to ensure they did not get my knowledge.
"O'Neill and Doctor Jackson ringed aboard the mother ship at great peril to themselves. Their goal was to deactivate the shield generators that had allowed the Goa'uld an advantage over my ship and then to find me. Anubis arrived at the same time. He showed me a device that he implanted into my brain, linking my mind to the ship's computer.
"Once the download was complete, I became aware that your fathers had been captured and were being held in a cell. I was able to unlock their cell door and rewrite some of the security protocols protecting the ship. That was all I remember.
"What happened next was later related to me by SG-1. Major Carter and Teal'c protected Heimdall and aided your fathers as much as possible. Once Heimdall had his research gathered, they ringed aboard the cargo ship. They had difficulties taking the shield generators offline, until O'Neill decided to shoot them. O'Neill is ... simple, but it worked.
"I awoke to see O'Neill and Daniel Jackson standing over me. The link between my mind and the ship had not been severed, however. I told them that they must leave me behind. Did I tell you earlier that your fathers do not take orders well?
"SG-1 took my body. Anubis attacked, but Freyr arrived with other ships, and Anubis fled in his mother ship. Freyr took my body back to our home world, where they removed the device. I remained in what the Tau'ri called a coma, until later, when your fathers found Anubis' ship, abandoned, but that story is for another time."
Thor placed both hands on the womis and spoke, "The Asgard owe our hope to your fathers, and I owe them my life. The Tau'ri have come far in their journey. You are the universe's hope for the future. Grow well, Bean Sprout."
The Asgard lowered his hands and then returned to the living room. He sat down in his chair, but paused before leaving. He glanced over at the mantel that was full of family photographs.
"I suspect the children of O'Neill and Doctor Jackson do not follow orders well, either, but I will not tattle." After a beat, with what passed as a smile for the Asgard, he added, "Unless they call me Uncle Thor again."
--
"Danny, I swear I hear some...thing," Jack said having reached the foot of the stairs just in time to see a bright flash.
"Jack, it's 3 a.m.," Daniel yawned. "Let's go back to bed."
"Danny, I think Thor was here."
"Thor? Why? You probably just dreamed him," the younger man said, yawning again.
"Danny, that's just wrong in *so* many ways."
"More wrong than Sergeant Siler putting you in his will?" the archaeologist challenged with raised eyebrows.
"Ouch! Did you have to remind me?" Jack asked, his face scrunched and wrinkled from the thought.
"Babe, let's go back to bed," Daniel insisted, reaching out and grabbing his Love's hand. "We can check on Toto for a minute, too."
"Danny, I swear it was Thor."
"Right."
"But ..."
Stopping halfway up the stairs, Daniel faced his husband and asked, "Jack, if Thor were here, wouldn't he be asking us to go save the world or something?"
"Or something," Jack agreed.
"I mean, he wouldn't just ... drop in."
"You're right."
"So, can we check on Bean Sprout and go back to sleep ... pleeease?" Daniel requested in a sleepy and slightly whining voice. "I need my Jack pillow."
"Sure, Angel."
"Good."
Jack gave a glance back towards the living room, still certain he'd missed something. He quickly let it drop, though, because dreaming about the Asgard was just something he didn't even want to contemplate.
Clueless to Thor's visit and his late night conversations with the Munchkins and Bean Sprout, Jack and Daniel spent a few minutes with their unborn child and then returned to their bed, reveling in their growing nation, one that was not only two, but now included their brood. Soon, another would be added to the mix. For the happy couple, the universe was a wonderful place to be.
~~Finis - Finished - Done - The End - But is it ever Really?~~
Author Email: marciastudley1@comcast.net (Feedback welcome)
Author Website: http://orrymain.com