The Incidences of The Blippy Dohickey 2: Days In The Life of Leisure.
Evan looked around the kitchen. "Eterna, do we have anything that could help us make ice cream?" he asked the AI.
She appeared, looking at him. "What's ice cream?"
"Ice cream.... Hell, if you could read my mind," he muttered. "It's sweet, cold, churned milk and stuff. It tastes really good and Xander's birthday is soon."
"I can read your memories," she reminded him with a smile.
"It's what the Doctor ran out to get the other day and hogged, until Xander made begging, pouty faces and got some," Dawn told her as she walked in. "I forgot his birthday is soon."
Eterna considered that incident. "I did see it but I do not know if I have the capabilities to make any."
"We have to check Xander's storage areas," Dawn told Evan with a grin. "He routinely stocks it with things that he'll probably need sometime. I'm sure it'll have an ice cream churn."
"We didn't run into those when we cleaned out the closets."
"No, they're full rooms," Dawn assured him. "With the tardis spell on them." She led him to where the two Tardis were, walking him into Xander's. "Dear, we're going for the storage areas. Evan needs an ice cream churn for Xander's birthday." The hallway changed to show five doors. "Here we go." She walked into the first one.
He looked over her shoulder, sighing. "He could seriously have stuff we need in here."
She found the manifest list and handed it to him. "Which room is it in?"
He read over the thick book, which was alphabetical at least. "Here we are, room 6?" A new doorway appeared and he went into it. "Ah! His candy stash room!" He found the ice cream churn, it had a light shining on it. He spotted a small box. "Nerds."
"Nerds?" she asked.
"Yes, nerds." He snatched a box of strawberry/grape ones and she found the salt and sugars they'd need to make ice cream. They went back to the kitchen. The nerds went into Evan's pocket.
Ianto walked in and smiled. "Ice cream?"
"Yup. Xander's birthday is in a few days."
"Am I making the cake?"
"I'll ask Radek if he wants to," Evan said with a grin.
"Xander usually has an ice cream cake for his birthday," Dawn said. "I can make a mean icing." They got to work on the hand-crank churn. It was an older style one. It took nearly forever and killed their shoulders, but it was worth it. They had ice cream for the first time in Ever.
***
Jack and Radek were making the cake for Xander's birthday. Jack smirked when he saw the Doctor show back up. He had taken the time to change out of his suit again before coming out. It was nice of him. Jack walked out to hug him. "I know your artificial birthday point is coming up."
"It is, isn't it. I never celebrate it without Donna there to nag me." He held his head. "No, there she is to remind me. She does love to nag."
He smirked. "We're celebrating it the day after Xander's. You get to pick what you want for dinner and all that." He took a kiss and went back to his cake making.
The Doctor smiled. "That's wonderful. What are we doing for Xander's?"
"We have made him an ice cream cake, if we can get the cake done," Radek said. He scowled at it. "I am not meant to be a baker."
The Doctor came in to help him. He had seen things baked but hadn't actually done any on his own. It was a bit lopsided but Xander would sniffle in joy that they had remembered. The frosting was ready to be spread over top of the ice cream and it was nice as well. Dawn was very good at decorating.
***
Evan was waiting when Xander came in after his birthday dinner. "I have a present for you," he said with a smirk.
"What sort of present?" He took off his t-shirt and Radek did the rest of the stripping for him. "You're dressed?"
"Just the one thing," he admitted. "That way I couldn't destroy all my hard work. It was kinda odd to do. I did have to break into the candy stash."
"You broke into my candy stash?"
"Yup." He spread out. "All for your birthday present."
Xander moved around the bed, carefully taking Evan's shorts off him. He saw the wrapping paper on his penis. "Is that my present?" he asked with a grin.
"Yup. Unwrap it and see what it is." He pulled Radek down to kiss him. "You can help him enjoy it if you want."
Radek watched as Xander unwrapped the penis slowly, then gasped. Evan had dipped the head of his cock into melted chocolate and then coated it with little strawberry nerd candies. "Oh my god," Xander breathed. "That is a great present, Evan." He leaned down to lick over the hole. Evan shivered. "Oh my fucking god, Evan." He kissed him desperately. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome. I figured you'd like to have some sweets." He winked. Xander nodded, already drooling. "Clean it up really good and then Radek can have the rest."
Xander moaned, moving down to lick at the crunchy candies. The chocolate had hardened into a shell that still stuck to the skin. He really had to lick and suck to get the chocolate and candy off him. Evan was groaning and holding onto Radek for dear life. Xander was phenomenal at blow jobs but this was more than that. Xander was inhaling his cock this time. It was so erotic. He could feel each lick, each slight scrape of the teeth, each time Xander freed a candy piece to crunch it up. He wanted to come so much but it would ruin his treat if he did. Even the cock ring he was wearing wouldn't stop him soon. "Xander," he moaned.
Xander smiled at him. "If I wasn't already yours, I'd marry you for this." He went back to it. He was so going to ride Evan into the bed and possibly the infirmary for this birthday present. It was the BEST EVER!
***
Outside the room, Miko was blushing, looking at the people who were heading back to their own rooms. "What do you think they're doing to Xander?"
"That is Evan," the Doctor said with a smile. "But I won't share that secret."
Rodney looked at him. "Is it why Evan was melting chocolate?"
"Oh, yes, and why he broke into the sacred stash of Nerds."
"OH MY FUCKING GOD, XANDER, PLEASE!" Evan shouted.
John coughed to clear his throat. "It sounds like it's a good birthday present." The others all nodded and headed for their bedrooms. Once he was in his he shook his head. "I thought they were loud during the spored times," he told himself.
"Xander, please don't kill him," Radek begged. "Please let him come!"
John looked at the wall. There was a room between each of them. Should he be the hero stud he was and go save Evan? Nah, Evan would kill him if he tried. He laid down, smiling at the noises coming his way. It wasn't like they couldn't sleep in tomorrow and it was exciting to hear it. Even if Evan did just let out a scream like a teenage girl finding a boyband in a mall's lingerie store. John stared at the wall but there wasn't any more noise.
Owen's voice floated back a minute later. "Do I need to intervene?" he called loudly from the doorway. He could hear John and others snickering.
"Don't you dare!" Evan shouted hoarsely.
"Okay. Come get me if you need me. I'm molesting Dawn." He went back to his room to speculate what they were doing with each other. He might like to try that. Dawn was always up for anything. As proven by the chocolate drizzle she had all along her chest and stomach. "Hmm. I've been missing sweets." He leaned down to kiss her then lick it off, as was intended.
She groaned, arching up into his mouth. "This is better without the nerds," she moaned.
He lifted his head. "Excuse me?"
She smirked. "Evan melted the chocolate, I got his extras. He painted the head of his dick and then patted on nerds candies."
Owen shifted with a moan of his own. "I might try that sometime." She gave him an evil smirk and held up the brush she had used to paint herself. He went back to licking her clean. He could paint himself later or tomorrow night. He didn't have anything to do tomorrow and all the milking and things she did were automated in the barns.
"AHHHH! XANDER, IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, NOT MINE!" Evan shouted.
Owen snickered. "Xander does love to spoil them so." Dawn pushed his head back down. It was nicely damp for him already.
***
Rodney watched how Evan was moving the next morning at breakfast, raising an eyebrow behind his coffee cup. "Evan, are you sore?" he asked dryly.
Evan glared at him. "Hell. Yes," he said in an obviously sore throated way.
Rodney smirked. "What *did* you do to him?"
Evan smirked. "Nerds."
"Well, all smart people are wonderful in the bedroom. We do have advanced focusing skills and all that," he said dryly. Xander bounced in with a manic smile and got something to go, kissing Evan on his way past him. "Oh, the candy version," he said. Xander only bounced like that on sugar. "Was it fun?"
Evan smirked and nodded, sitting down with a hiss. "Ow." Owen walked in and helped him up, taking him to the infirmary. "Food, Doc?"
"Definitely. I'll get it for you in a minute," Owen said dryly. He put Evan on a medical bed, staring at the display that came up. He stared. Then at Evan. "Was it fun?" Evan smirked and nodded. "I'll have to try that on Dawn." He went to get him the breakfast and brought it to him. Then he strolled out to pounce his woman. Evan needed sleep more than anything.
Jack stopped Owen on his way out. "What did he do?"
"Melted chocolate and nerds according to what I saw on the scan. He missed a few."
Jack repeated that silently, looking at Ianto. "I am not that wild," Ianto assured him. Jack smirked at him for that. "Is Evan living?"
"Needs a nap badly," Owen said. He finished his walk to look at Dawn. She was cooing at the calf that had been born last night. "Is she fine?"
"She's just a sweet thing." She smiled at him. "There you go, sweetheart." She let the calf go. The medical scanner was showing she was perfectly healthy. He helped her up, taking a deep kiss. "Did they wake up?"
"Xander's giving off a demented cackle as he bounces off to do things. Evan's asleep in the medical bay." He took another kiss. She purred, leaning into him. One of the calves that was a bit older butted them to make Dawn pet his ears. Then he wandered off. "They're demanding," he teased.
"Very demanding." She took another kiss. "It's getting chilly."
"It is. Xander will have to quit having naked days soon."
"Not if he's inside."
"True." He walked her back to the next building, which was hydroponics for the cow feed. They could cut some hay for them. The cows got fed and wandered out to graze for a bit as well. They liked that they had their own park area to graze in.
***
Rodney looked at Eterna. "Do we have anything on the ships they traveled in?"
"I have their original ship in storage but it is not in good shape, Rodney. Would you like to look at it?"
He smiled. "Please." He walked down to storage areas, following her directions. He gasped when he saw it, walking over. It was larger and in better condition than the one Xander had found in Pegasus. He walked over to the opening, running a hand along the pitted metal walls. He walked in and looked around. They hadn't stripped it. It had furniture, paintings, all that. He called over the intercom. "Radek! I found a ship!" He and Miko came running to look. So did the Doctor, who was grinning madly. They walked all over the ship, looking into every crevice and closet, staring at the star drives, until the muses bit them. Rodney could integrate some of this with what he already knew.
This would revolutionize the SGC's ships. He and Radek sat down to draft a new one. Miko added in her helpful comments and it was good. They started small, with a personal fighter craft. Miko looked up. "Eterna, do you still have working fabrication areas?"
She appeared. "Of course. That's how Xander got the new beams to fix my pretty lattice designs." She smiled. "Why?" Rodney showed her the sketch of the ship. "Ooh, a new one?"
Rodney smiled and nodded. "Definitely. I've built ships with Asgard, Ancient, and Gou'ald technology mixed together. I can add what I'm learning now into these new ones and make it much better." She smiled and showed him the design areas.
Radek looked at her. "Tell Xander I will be late tonight."
"Of course. He knows that you found the ship." She went to tell Xander that. "Xander, Radek said he will be late tonight. Rodney is designing a new ship."
"Of course he will be," he said with a smile. "That's what Radek loves to do. Do we have anything like the puddle jumpers on Atlantis?"
"We have exploratory crafts that are on the moon. They're only designed for orbital exploration really. Basically to go from the moon to here and back." She looked up. "They are operational. Should I bring one down?"
"Please. John and Evan *love* to fly." She smiled and called one of them.
John watched the ship land up the road from where he was picking the vegetables for dinner. "Oh my god," he whispered. He ran over to look it over. "Eterna, can I fly this?"
"Yes, John. Your ATA gene is strong enough." Evan came limping out to look at the ship too.
"Back to bed," Owen called.
"I'll sleep later, Doc, thanks." He looked over the ship. John was already inside. "Wait on me." He climbed up with a wince. "Sub orbital she said."
"Cool!" He checked and integrated with the glider, taking it off. It had wide wings, so it was meant to glide instead of racing like the X-302's the SGC used or the blunt nosed box that was the Jumpers on Atlantis. It handled well. Evan got to handle it some too. They could use this easily. When they landed, the three engineers were waiting impatiently. They grinned. "It's easy to handle, Rodney. Even at your gene's strength." Evan got helped out by Radek, who took a kiss then took his place. He and Rodney got to look over everything. Miko had to push to get her own way in. This was definitely going to help them with their new ship designs.
***
Ianto looked at Jack that afternoon, giving him a smile. "Are you going to help the Doctor celebrate his birthday?" he asked quietly.
"I was thinking about asking," he admitted.
"I know you two have a past and future relationship," Ianto said with a grin. "I'm not jealous of that. I know very well I can't compete with his place in your life."
Jack kissed him. "You're just as important to me, Ianto." He stared into his eyes, getting a smile back. "You are."
"I know. Go do something mind bending for him. He deserves to celebrate now and then."
Jack smirked. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He winked. "Make it so good he'll remember with a goofy smile on his face like Evan has." Jack walked off snickering. He had some ideas that could be tried out.
***
Six weeks later, Eterna appeared. "Xander, we will not be attacking the ships coming this way, correct?"
He stared at her. "No, only if they notice us and try to attack, Eterna. Guys, Ori sighted," he called over the intercom. "Eterna, raise the shields at the highest level. John, the chair is yours. Evan, the other area is yours and Rodney's." He went to his appointed spot. If the Ori weren't scanning, they wouldn't stop. If they did, they'd handle things. He stepped onto his weapons platform, scanning over it. It had good power supply, it had a working display. Eterna's shield was good but not perfect. They could tell they had power supplies running down here. The last two ships of the Ori fleet slowed down overtop of them.
In the chair, John saw that and added more power to the shield. They stopped. "It's time," he called. They tried to beam down but Rodney had calibrated the shields to block them. They had to land outside the city. Which was within range of Xander's weapons. If they made one wrong move.... and they did so Xander blasted them. It looked like an automatic blast but it wasn't. They had planned this out.
Eterna appeared. "Was that necessary? They could be friendly."
"Read Rodney's mind on the Ori, Eterna. They've killed whole planets that wouldn't agree to worship them. They're the ones that drove the Lanteans from their home world."
She gasped. "That's them?" He nodded. "No, they're not allowed here." She went to help where she could. Her makers had said they were the only enemy worth fighting. The two ships up there blew up. She smiled. "Good. They will not hurt us like they did my creators." She disappeared again.
John nodded, watching to make sure the rest of the ships didn't come back to investigate. They were too far away and clearly the destroyed ones hadn't sent out an SOS. They relaxed that night, calming down from the short-lived battle. Rodney had shared his memories about the Ori. Eterna was not pleased with what they had become. She was almost going militant about making them go away. Rodney assured her that they knew Earth was protected. If they had to, they could head back a bit early. So she got to talk to the Doctor about temporal traveling as well. It was a long day for everyone.
***
John looked at Xander, who was helping him pick things. "Xander, when did you get the matching tattoos?"
"They're joining marks," he said with a slight smile. "It's like a mystical marriage. We did it the week before you guys got here."
"Oh. Okay." He looked at it. "Can't be changed, right?"
"Well, if we all agreed, we could add another ring to link in another person but I'd never see it happen."
"That's good. I'm glad with how good you've treated Evan and Radek." Xander looked at him. "They're friends," he said quietly.
Xander smiled. "Thanks for the shovel talk, John."
"Welcome." He got back to picking. "Are we canning these?"
"Stasis preservation. That way they're basically flash frozen."
"Wonderful." They brought in their baskets and went back for more. They weren't going to run out of food. Xander had already made another trip to the off-world markets he liked to browse in. They had things for the winter and spring until new things came up. They could eat like kings every day and it was nice. Even Rodney had calmed down and quit yelling for a while. Even when Dawn had tripped and spilled the precious coffee on him, Rodney hadn't yelled. He had actually laughed it off.
So yeah, being on Ever was good for them. Even the Doctor had relaxed and started to smile at everything again. Xander said he had been like that as a younger Doctor. It was nice to see. Plus Miko and Dawn were still running around in shorty shorts and tighter t-shirts. They looked up from the picking when someone yelled. "Miko?" he yelled. He headed for her.
"The calf just tried to nurse!" she yelled.
John snickered. "I'm sorry, Miko." He gave her a hug. "It obviously thinks you're sweet." She hit him on the arm with a scowl. He walked her off. "Why are you taking care of the beasts?"
"We're picking one to slaughter for beef."
He nodded. "Steaks for dinner?" he teased.
"Many steaks for many dinners." Xander walked in with a knife. "We could take out the young one that tried to nurse on me."
Xander gave her a hug. "They think you're mommy material," he teased with a grin. "But yeah, young beef is called veal." She pointed at one older cow. "I can do that. Then Doc will butcher it for us. He knows how." He led it out to the slaughter shed. The city had one already set up to drain the blood and all that.
Eterna appeared. "Why do you have a knife, Xander?"
"To humanely and quickly kill this cow for food."
She rolled her eyes. "We have functions for that." She got him out of the room and sealed it. A beam came out to kill the cow. When the flash was gone, the cow was butchered into various cuts of meat.
"Wow," John said.
"Very wow," Xander agreed. They carried them to the freezer and came back for the rest. Then they went back to picking things. It was a good harvest. "We should celebrate."
"Make a cake," John said dryly. He bounced off to do that. He and Miko shared a smile. "At least Evan hasn't repeated the birthday present treat."
"No," she said with a blush. "They have not been that loud in a while."
He snickered. "Definitely." Rodney came over to help, a little floating robot with him. "What's that?"
"That does all this," Rodney said. They got out of the way. It beamed off all the ripe things and flew it to the kitchen to be put into stasis and frozen. Then it came back to pick the other things in the other areas.
"We're so spoiled with those," Radek decided as he walked up to them. "Xander said room did the butchering for them."
"We are very spoiled," John agreed happily. "How are we on things like flour and basic staples?"
"We must clean out storage areas on Xander's tardis. We have nine rooms full of things, some food and some not, that must be looked over."
"It'll be too cold to come outside in a few months, we can do that then," John said.
Radek nodded. "That would work for me as well." He looked around. "Did you program the robot to keep little green lemons away from you?"
"Yes, I programmed it to keep it away from everything." Rodney watched it work. "We could have used those back in Pegasus."
"Definitely," John agreed. They walked toward the main building. "Radek, how is Xander going to get his naked sunning time in the winter?"
"He will be naked inside and put on clothes for outside. He can sun in atrium of the fourth floor."
Rodney looked at him. "What's there?"
"Database of people that have visited," Dawn said.
"Hmm." They went to check on the others. Things were settled in. The Doctor and Xander had come back from their shopping trip to a marketplace. They had clothes, basic supplies, and some things in paper packets. "What's that?"
The Doctor smiled. "Tea and other supplies." He handed him a shirt. "Xander said you hate cold."
"I spent over a year in Antarctica, I do hate cold," he agreed, looking it over. "This is like desert gear."
"The people who make those are actually in an arctic climate," Xander said, looking inside his bag. He tied it up and put it aside after marking on it. "There's another six boxes that I have to float out." Dawn bounced off to do that. He smirked when she squealed.
"Ianto, you can feed our habits!" she called. "They found *coffee*!"
"Thank you," Rodney said, hugging the Doctor.
"You're welcome." He patted him on the back. "Make sure that fits." Rodney nodded, going to make sure the new clothes fit. It was warmer than it looked. Xander smirked at the Doctor. "You did very good haggling."
Xander winked. "The ex that ran the market was most pleased to see I was marked."
He took a quick kiss. "You are happier than you were before." He went to help Dawn. Xander came to plant his winter plants. It was good for them. They weren't exactly bored but things were easier. Especially without the Mountain causing problems or playing politics.
***
Back in their correct time, it was barely ten o'clock. Jack O'Neill was being chewed on by the president. "Sir, it doesn't really matter," he said finally to interrupt the chewing. The man glared at him. "Their contracts are out. Including McKay's. The only ones who had a current contract today are Miko and John. They're entitled to days off as well."
"We need them here in case something happens!" he said firmly.
"I'm pretty sure that we can get Xander if something does happen, and there's stuff I can do too." The man was still glaring. "Beyond that, I don't think they'll be bringing this one back, sir. Nila said that it's not a flying city."
"Where is it?"
"No stargate there."
"Why not!"
"Because the pacifists among the Ancients split off to hide and not fight anything," Jack said bluntly. "I'm doubting she has weapons."
"When will they be back?" he demanded.
"Probably tomorrow as scheduled, sir. They're not in this time zone."
The president slumped, glaring out the window now. "How did they do that?"
"Well, the Doctor came to get John and that group. Xander got himself there and then Radek and Evan went to calm him down because they apparently had a fight. Something about him having problems or hiding how he could play politics but doesn't." The president gave him an odd look. "He did sleep with an Emperor of Rome, sir."
"Oh." He blinked a few times. "Huh. Yeah, I'm betting he can do that."
"But he hates it and all other things that would get him notice," Jack reminded him.
"I still don't like the kid."
"I'm fairly certain that they can all settle wherever that city is, sir. Major Lorne is out of the service unless he signs paperwork. I have him listed as being on leave and the paperwork is in my desk but I haven't signed it yet. Also, half of Atlantis needs rank raises."
"Whatever. That's not my job."
"I know, but some will complain."
"Of course. Someone always complains, O'Neill."
"Sir, like Xander, politics sucks dog dick to me," he said bluntly.
"With a few of the politicians in town... Quite possibly," he admitted, cracking a smile. "So we don't have a contract with them at this time?"
"No, sir, you blocked Xander's contract for over two weeks. Major Lorne's ran out three days ago, Radek Zelenka's ran out the day before Xander's. Rodney's ran out Monday. John's commission is running out in three weeks I think if he doesn't reup."
The president grimaced but nodded. "Can we claim this city?"
"Sir, Nila said she won't let any fighting happen. She might not let soldiers on her city."
"Ask the boy and his gay trio when they come back then."
"I will be, sir, but we like Xander being happy. He spent seventy centuries traveling and being miserable with boyfriends and girlfriends that used him."
"Poor sod, but he's still an ass."
"With the last president's problems? Yeah, he did that so you didn't get any idea to do the same thing to him."
The president snorted. "It'd never happen. I'm not that desperate, General." He stared at him. "What's known about this new city?"
"All Nila knows is that they moved to the boundaries of this galaxy. There's no stargate. They decided before they left that a stargate would mean traveling and possibly running into a new enemy that they wouldn't want to fight."
"So, hippies built it," he decided.
"Basically, yes, sir."
"So probably not an asset for more than the geeks?"
"Probably not."
"Hmm. Will the other cities want to join it?"
"No, sir. Atlantis said that the ones who left to go there might've meant she wasn't abandoned. They programmed her firmly not to accept anything from there on her city. Nila feels better about it but a bit sad." Nila appeared from the image projector he had carried over in his pocket. It was weird seeing her form out of his pocket. He put it on the desk with a smile. "Hi, Nila."
"General." She looked at the president. "Do not task Xander and he will not react. He told Radek he did that so you would know he was strong and not useable."
He waved a hand. "Not a concern of mine."
"Good." She smiled. "He did have some very strange things in storage though. It gave his boys much time to ask about it." She looked at Jack again. "Xander's phone was ringing and I answered it. It was Jon looking for him. He did not tell me why when I told him they had a fight and were off talking."
"That's fine, I'll talk to him in a few," Jack assured her. He smiled. "Did they mention anything about contracts?"
"Not that I am aware of. If I see the Doctor, I will have him ask them."
"Thanks. How far back are they?"
"He told Rodney five years. That the city did not need much fixing and Ever was a beautiful thing." She put up a picture. "He showed my child pictures."
Jack stared at it. "It's huge and pretty. The black steel sticks out well." He stared at the people in the picture. "I see he borrowed the other time traveler."
"Yes, he did get some from Torchwood."
"Why?" the president asked.
"The Doctor traveled with Jack Harkness for a while," Jack told him.
"Oh. Interesting. I know he's gay too."
"Yes, in a committed relationship." He pointed. "That's Xander's little sister, Dawn Summers. He basically adopted her when Joyce got sick."
"As in Buffy Summers?"
"Little sister of," Jack said. "That's her boyfriend Owen, who is a doctor."
The president nodded. "Interesting news. Are they fine, Nila?"
"The last I heard they are. They have not reappeared in a few hours." She smiled. "I'm sure they are fine. Xander is powerful in a battle if he must be."
"Was that the reason for the fight?" Jack guessed.
"Some. They wanted time to think and Xander got upset. The Doctor snuggled with him for the night to talk since he had done something to help him out. They came back the next morning and Xander walked off after a short fight. They went with the Doctor to find and talk to him."
"Thank you," Jack said. "If you see any of them, have them call me about their contracts as soon as they get back. Tell them I've unscrewed what Landry did."
"Yes, sir." She saluted with a smile and disappeared back into the image projector. Jack put it back into his pocket.
"She's a very nice personality. I wish my wife was that nice," the president said dryly. "If you're keeping them, the new city is ours."
"Sir, it's not a flying city and by the scale of the buildings, it's miles wider than Atlantis."
"Oh." He nodded at that. "Well, then make sure we can at least go study it."
"With five years there, Rodney McKay and his team will come back with detailed schematics of everything and anything they find. Especially if it doesn't need that much fixing. Then we'd decide about that."
"Good. Make it an outpost maybe?"
"Probably. Anything else you wanted to manfully bitch about, sir?"
"No, O'Neill. Go arrange things and see if you can save them. Needless to say, Major Lorne, or however high you promote him, will have a waiver for Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
"Sir, the whole program should. We're only a third American soldiers. The scientists aren't corralled by it. The foreign soldiers aren't either."
He considered it then nodded. "I can see that argument. I'll think about it."
"Thank you, sir." He saluted and walked out to talk to the other thinktank's general. That way he could deliver the video messages about any needs they had.
The president shook his head. "We're being protected from bad aliens by gay time travelers. My life is too strange. I should retire because The Book frowns on that. It might corrupt me from my path."
***
Back on Ever a few years back, Xander was dancing around looking at the snow.
"Someone ate way too much sugar again," John complained as he walked up behind him. "Wow, it's really coming down."
"And I'm not invisible!" Xander said happily, smiling at him.
"Sunnydale story?" John guessed. He nodded. "No, you're not invisible." He gave him a hug. "Calm down."
Radek walked up and looked. "I missed snow."
"After working on the outpost?" Rodney asked.
"Yes!" He smirked. "I am not like you, I like cold sometimes." He took his mate to cuddle, watching out there. "We will be buried soon. Will need to shovel if little robots do not."
"The harvesting ones can melt the snow on the walkways and streets," Eterna said without appearing.
"Thank you," they all said. There were underground pathways so they could check on the cows and other beasts or hydroponics.
"Rodney, can I help with the construction stuff this winter?" Xander asked.
"Perhaps." He smirked. "We'll see. We're about to get into the wiring and interior building." He walked them to look at their first ship. It was large, beautiful, and black as well. The local steel was harder than earth steel by about two hundred percent. Rodney had mixed it with the usual metal they used for building ships and it was harder than anything they had ever used. The manufacturing systems were wonderful. It mixed the raw materials, formed the plates for them, all that. Xander was hand forging a new axe and sword for himself out of it. Eterna was very interested in that and sparring practice. She watched it all like it was odd but fascinating.
John patted the side of his ship with a grin. "Xander, how goes your forming?"
"It's going great. I've got it folded over about a hundred times. I've got it formed. I'm working on the edges." He took them to his little corner of the forming lab to show them. "Sharpening might be a pain but I think I can get it razor sharp and it'll keep the edge that sharp for a good, long time."
Radek ran a hand over the axe, smiling at it. "Is beautiful, Xander." Xander gave him a happy smile. "Nearly as pretty as you are when you beat John into a pulp."
John laughed. "It is beautiful." He walked them back to the building, letting Eterna finish working on the ship for the day. They could spar. They used the main room for it usually. The Doctor got popcorn he shared with Dawn. Owen sat behind them to watch the prettiness in action. Jack and Ianto watched with Miko, who sighed at the prettiness. She even took a few pictures. Radek just grinned at Evan, Xander, and John. Two were his, he could be proud. Rodney laughed each time John got knocked down so it was fun.
***
Dawn came back from the barn shaking. "Damn spore plant," she said when Rodney stared at her. He backed off carefully. "I need my shot and my man."
"Owen," he called over the intercom. "The spore plant went off into the barn, all over your girlfriend, who also needs her birth control shot." Owen came jogging with the needle to stick her and led her off to their room. Rodney went to the kitchen. "Dawn's off for the next few days," he said dryly.
"Thank god she took the shot," Ianto said.
"I'm not ready for grandchildren yet either," Jack agreed, kissing him. He saw someone else walk past and smiled. " Doc, did you get hit?"
"I need a shower."
Ianto and Jack shared a look and went to help him with that. Not like he could handle being spored on his own. It was a beautiful present for Ianto's birthday.
Rodney took over the kitchen. He noticed the green lemons and shrugged. It turned out that he wasn't allergic to them; they weren't citrus enough to set off his citrus allergy. He could have lemon custard and lemon cheesecake and even lemon torte. John loved to tease him about that oncoming addiction. And that they were going to steal Ianto to feed Rodney's coffee habit when they got back.
***
John walked into dinner that night, newly showered. He saw the empty seats. "What happened?"
"The spore plant I put near the barn went off on Dawn and Doc while they were working on the new calves," Xander said with a grin. "The cows are having a grand old time and the other beasts are just as happy so we'll have baby animals soon."
"Ah!" He nodded, sitting down in his spot, taking the bowl Rodney handed him. "Thanks, Rodney."
"Welcome, John. Hand it to Miko and Radek since they didn't get lunch." He handed it to them with a grin. They took seconds as ordered. Rodney ate a bit. "I didn't do too badly."
"No, not in the least," Xander agreed. "It's really good, Rodney." Rodney grinned at him. "No, I'm not sucking up for dessert."
"There's some ice cream left." They all went to get some of that. The homemade ice cream was wonderful. Xander would make some more the next day for them all to be spoiled rotten with. They settled in to do the nightly talking in the library area. Miko got down her book and they settled in for another night of peace and quiet. It was a bit boring sometimes but they wouldn't trade it for anything.
The End.