Author's Note: Short chapter, guys, sorry! More coming, I promise

"So when you calculate line six using 5 as a replacement for A and multiplying it by X what do you get as a result? Adams?"

Shawn looked up t the sound of his name, flushing slightly at having been caught not paying attention. He looked at the equation on the dry erase board.

"12, Sir."

"Correct."

The class went on, and Shawn tried to pay attention, but his mind wasn't on Calculus just then. He was distracted by the memories of something... he just couldn't quite figure out what it was he couldn't remember. Which was frustrating.

"What's your problem, Adams?"

He looked over, realizing that everyone was standing, and River and Ian were both standing beside him. The class had ended and he hadn't even noticed.

"What?"

River rolled his eyes.

"Exactly what he means, Shawn," the blonde cadet said, gesturing to Ian. "You're spaced out, dude. Why?"

"I'm not-"

"Let me guess," Ian said, a twinkle in his dark eyes. "You're thinking about a girl?"

Shawn blushed, and gathered his books.

"No, not a girl..." He told them. Or was it?

"You stayed up too late playing with that doohickey, didn't you?" River asked. Of course, Shawn hadn't been yawning, but that didn't matter.

"Nah... I had a weird dream, I think..."

"Nightmare?" Ian asked, frowning, his eyes losing the amusement that had been there only a moment before. After that crazy attack by the whatever they had been only a couple of months before, Ian could believe that. He'd had a few bad dreams himself – although he'd never admit it to anyone.

"No," Shawn said, truthfully. Whatever it was, it hadn't been terribly frightening. He was sure he'd have remembered that.

"Probably shouldn't have eaten all that junk food last night," Eric Wells said, coming up behind the three of them.

Shawn grinned at the cadet – who was in his platoon – and shook his head again.

"I didn't eat all that many of those cookies."

"No, you couldn't have," River said, "Ian ate about a dozen. I'm surprised he even fits into his uniform."

"What can I say?" Brooks said, shrugging. "Your mom can bake cookies."

"Yeah, well, next time I'll have her send you your own package, that way the rest of us get some, too."

"Works for me, Hayden."

The rest of their platoon joined up with the four cadets, and they headed for their next class, the others completely forgetting about trying to figure out what was bothering Shawn as the conversation turned to River's mother. Shawn hadn't forgotten, but he still wasn't sure what it was, and he put it out of his mind for the time being. His next class was Advanced Physics, and he needed to pay attention to that one.

"Hey!"

Shawn's attention was drawn back to the people he was walking with, and he saw that River was pointing to an announcement on the bulletin board that dominated the wall outside the Physic's lecture room.

"Adams, check it out."

The rest of the platoon moved out of the way so Shawn could see, and he grinned.

"Sam's coming to do a lecture!"

""Major O'Neill...?" Hilary Fesk asked, reading the announcement. "Astrophysics lecture..." She shrugged. "Sounds boring."

"I'm going," River said.

"Me, too," agreed one of the other guys in the class. "She's hot. Who cares what she's lecturing about?"

"She's married," Shawn said.

"Who cares?" The cadet said, grinning. "I just – hey!"

He scowled when Brooks slapped the back of his head, not hard enough to really hurt, but hard enough that the cadet knew the New Yorker wasn't amused with his attitude.

"Knock that shit off, Banks," Ian growled. "That's Adams' stepmother."

"Oh. Sorry, Shawn."

Shawn shrugged, telling him that it wasn't important. He was too excited that Sam was coming to be too annoyed. He supposed it would be too much to hope that Jack was going to come, too, but it'd still be great to see her.

"She didn't tell me she was coming," Shawn said.

"So that's where you get your brains, huh, Adams?"

"Dumb ass," Ian turned on the speaker – this one wasn't in their platoon, it was a Cadet who'd been listening in on the conversation as he read the other announcements. "She's his stepmother. How the fuck did he get his brains from her?"

The Cadet scowled, and wandered off, and River grinned.

"You're so good with others, Brooks. Have you ever thought of going into public relations when you graduate?"

"Yeah, but not even my skills could make you look good, Hayden."

The platoon snorted in good humor, and as a group they headed into their next class.