"What's he doing here?" River asked when Jaffer and Shawn entered their room.
"You stole Colonel O'Neill's dog?" Ian asked, amazed.
The two of them were just getting ready to go to their next class – a class that Shawn didn't have to go to, now. There was only one class left on the day – after lunch there were only two, and Shawn had missed the first one while he and Sam had been struggling with Jaffer.
"Of course not," Shawn said, sitting down on River's bed. Jaffer hopped right up next to him, and wallowed in the fact that both of the other cadets came over to pet him. "He wouldn't get in the car with Sam – and wouldn't do it for Jack when he came, either, so he's staying with us tonight."
"Does the Commandant know that?" Ian asked.
Shawn nodded.
"Sweet!" Brooks ran his hand along Jaffer's silky ear. "He's going to cause quite the distraction in Current Affairs, won't he? I bet Captain Haugh forgets to even give us the test he said he had planned for us."
"He might," Shawn said, nodding. "Except that I'm excused from classes for the rest of the day so we don't cause a distraction."
"Awww, shit..."
Shawn smiled. Like Ian had anything to fear from a simple test!
"Too bad, loser," River said, straightening his tie. "Looks like you have to take that test, after all."
"Yeah, well... just don't copy my answers this time, okay dipshit?"
"I want to pass the test, shit for brains," River told him heading for the door. "We'll see you in a bit, Shawn."
The younger cadet nodded, watching them go and listening as they argued the entire way down the hall and out of hearing. Then he turned to Jaffer.
"What's going on with you?" he asked, stroking the black lab's side. Not that he didn't like the company, but he didn't like things out of order, and this was definitely odd. Jaffer whuffled his cheek for a moment, then flopped down on the bed and went to sleep with a sigh.
Shawn frowned; he'd sort of been expecting something weird to happen – but when Jaffer closed his eyes the dog made it pretty apparent that he wasn't there to do tricks or conjure up any unseen enemy. The young man shrugged, and went to his desk. He had things he could do, he supposed. Maybe work on some of those Asgard lessons.
OOOOOOOO
The rest of the day was a pretty lazy one. Once classes were done, they had free time until dinner. This was normally time they spent out on the field – either goofing off with the rest of the members of their platoon, playing football, or catch, or just messing around and listening to Ian pick fights with other cadets – but since Shawn was under orders to stay close to the dorms, he was more or less removed from that activity that evening. Which was too bad, because he would have enjoyed showing off Jaffer to the others. Shawn wasn't above being proud of Jack's black lab, after all – especially since he was the smartest dog alive (as far as Shawn was concerned).
Dinner was more of the same – Shawn was given permission to take a tray to his room, since the cooks didn't want the lab in the dining room again without him being under direct supervision of an officer – although the rest of the night was more enjoyable since the room filled with cadets who came by to watch Jaffer do tricks which they bribed him into doing with various treats from care packages from home.
Jaffer was more than willing to show off his tricks in exchange for a cookie here, or a piece of smoked salmon – or even a piece of a donut. He wasn't picky – even though he'd had a fine dinner. Eventually, though, the crowd was shooed away by the floor guards, who told everyone that lights were going to be going out in an hour so they'd better get their shit together and get their teeth brushed and say their prayers.
"He's not sleeping on my bed tonight, is he?" River asked as they were all getting ready for bed. The bed wasn't all that big, and Jaffer took up a lot of it. The lab rolled over onto his back, wagging his tail.
Shawn shrugged.
"I don't know. Probably he's just in your bed because you don't have the bunk above it." That was why everyone else sat on River's bed, after all. They never had to worry about bashing their heads on the bottom of the top bunk.
"He can sleep with me," Ian offered from above Shawn.
"Once he learns how to fly..." River drawled.
Since Shawn had already worked on his Asgard lessons, he crawled into bed with the intentions of actually getting a little more sleep than usual that night. Almost immediately after he made himself comfortable, Jaffer rolled off River's bed, and jumped up beside Shawn, his head coming down to rest on Shawn's thigh. With a noise of relief, River sprawled on his bed.
"He probably figured your pajamas would keep him awake if he slept with you," Brooks said, reaching over and turning off the light.
"Screw you."
Shawn snickered.
"You, too, Adams."
There was a snort of amusement from above Shawn, and then the rustling sounds of the three of them getting comfortable. Eventually, though, the room quieted as they each drifted off to sleep, until the only sound in the room was the gentle snoring of the black lab.
OOOOOOOOO
She'd struck out with two of them, but she was certain the third wouldn't be so stubborn. Where the boy was blocked to her by whatever it was in his mind that kept her from being able to force him to answer her, and the second one had been so angry and stubborn that he, too, was blocked to her intrusions, she'd had a chance to link with the third one the night before, and had seen that he was far more mild-mannered. He would be the weak link, she was certain, and she knew that that night she would finally have some answers.
She was so eager for those answers that she grew careless, and didn't look to make sure the three were the only ones in the room before her wandering consciousness centered on the sleeper on the single bed, and a moment later she was in his mind, and in his dreams.
River opened his eyes, aware he wasn't alone, and he started to sit up to look around him. There was a presence here... a female one.
A dream? He wondered. Which girl was he dreaming about tonight? He frowned when he didn't see anyone – what the heck kind of dream was this when you couldn't see who you were dreaming about – and the frown deepened a moment later, when he heard the voice. It was an older voice than any of the voices that he normally associated with the girls he dreamed about.
"Yes... you will do nicely..."
"What?"
"You're far more relaxed than your friends..."
"My friends? What about them?" He struggled to wake up, wondering if something was going on with Shawn and Ian that he had missed, and felt the woman's presence trying to soothe him.
"Relax, young man." She wasn't going to make the mistake she'd made with the other and call him a boy. "I'm not going to hurt you. I-"
Then they weren't alone. River knew it immediately, and so did Xara. A Presence so powerful that it fairly glowed struck then, a snarl filling the air as she suddenly found herself frozen, pinned by a Power that was so much greater than her own that she was unable to even struggle against it.
The voice that spoke then was deep, and masculine, and nothing River had ever heard before.
"You were warned..."