"It never fails, does it?" Sam said with a smile as she spun lightly in Jack's arms, leaving his embrace to go answer the door.

"Nope."

He didn't mind, though. It wasn't as if he'd intended to toss her down on the table and have his way with her, after all. Not with company expected, and who knew if the kids might have forgotten something and came back after only a couple of blocks? But it definitely was a pleasant thought, and when he went to join Sam in the living room, there was a slight smile on his face.

Sam opened the door, smiling when she saw it was Janet.

"Hi. You're early." She looked at her watch.

"Hi. You're not here." Janet replied, walking past Sam with a smile as she came into the house.

"What?"

"I didn't see your car, so I figured you weren't here," Janet explained, taking off the coat she'd been wearing and looking at Jack. "What happened to your head?"

"Ian has my car," Sam said, taking Janet's coat from her and hanging it on the coat rack by the door.

"And your daughter," Jack added, mainly to keep from answering the head question.

"Cassie?"

"Do you have another I don't know about?"

"They went to get some fries," Sam explained, smiling, because Fraiser looked about ready to add to the bruises on Jack's forehead. "They shouldn't be gone too long."

"You gave him your car?"

"Jack gave him Jaffer."

Janet looked over at him.

"Really?"

"Not to keep."

She smiled.

"Want something to drink, Janet?" Sam asked, heading for the kitchen.

"Please." She didn't follow Sam, though. Instead she caught Jack's arm to keep him from moving, and used her other hand on his chin to turn his head slightly so she could look at the bandaged cut – and bruise – on his forehead. He scowled, but she ignored it. She was good at that, after all. "What did you do?"

"Raked some leaves."

"Uh huh." She didn't look convinced, but since a quick look in his eyes showed her that he was focusing fine and his pupils were a normal size, she let it slide, and dropped her hand.

"Coffee, Janet?"

She headed into the kitchen, her examination finished.

"Please."

She leaned against the counter, breathing in deeply of the cinnamon and apples that were permeating the kitchen while the pies baked.

"Cassie's with Ian, huh?" She asked, taking a cup from Sam.

"Yup."

"They're fine, Janet," Sam told her, smiling. "How much trouble can you get into between here and Dairy Queen?"

OOOOOOO

"What seems to be the trouble?"

Ian looked over at the police officer who'd spoken – the one driving the cruiser, and started to say something, but the guy that Ian had hit spoke up before he could.

"There's no trouble here, officer... we're just having a friendly discussion about traffic courtesy."

Ian scowled, and the police officer turned to his partner, who was opening the passenger door to come get a better look at things. What he saw were five guys – all old enough to know better and young enough to be too stupid to realize it – surrounding another young man and an even younger young woman in what was obviously supposed to be an intimidating circle. Although the dark-haired kid didn't seem all that concerned, and the police officer had seen the first punches thrown and figured that one on one the boy would probably have been fine. Of course, they couldn't allow brawling in the streets – or parking lots.

Jaffer wagged his tail when the officer came around the car, although he didn't move from his position. He was watching the five carefully, waiting to see which one would be foolish enough to do something that would cause him to join the fray. The police officer looked at him admiringly, but since Jaffer wasn't looking too intimidating, he wasn't worried about the lab attacking. He knew labs were pretty easy-going dogs, after all, although he did wonder why he thought that one looked familiar.

The driver of the cruiser got out as well, and as the two police officers walked over, Ian could see their name tags, now – Reyes and Hall. It was Hall who spoke next.

"It looks like you're having more than a simple discussion..." he said. "Let me see some IDs."

They all reached into their pockets for wallets, and Cassie reached for her purse, juggling all the bags of food and ice cream and wondering what her mother was going to say if they got arrested.

"You go to the Air Force academy?" Reyes asked Ian as the cadet handed him his license. Since Ian was wearing an Academy sweatshirt, it was an easy enough assumption. The boy definitely had a military bearing about him. He looked at the license. New Jersey. He certainly wasn't from around here.

"Yes, Sir."

Reyes looked at Cassie, who handed him her ID as well.

"What happened?"

"We were-"

"They weren't doing anything."

All of them looked over as the manager from the store approached, scowling at the five men, and looking smug about having called the police on them.

"No?"

"These five followed them into the restaurant and started giving them a hard time."

"The mother fucker flipped me off." The leader of the five said, rubbing his stomach tenderly where Ian had hit him. Hall looked at Ian.

"That true?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Why?"

"He cut me off back there at the corner. I almost ran into him. Stupid bastard."

"Fuck you, you little-"

Hall raised his hand, holding the Bronco's driver back as the man started forward. Ian didn't even move. He'd take round two wherever the guy wanted it.

"Knock it off, before I let him have another crack at you," Hall said. He reached down and took the ID from the guy's hand, as Reyes took the others from the other guys, as well. "Do you have any weapons on you, Sir?" he added with exaggerated politeness.

"No."

Hall looked at Ian, who shook his head, assuming the same question was meant for him as well.

"No, Sir."

Reyes looked at the convertible once he was finished calling in all their names to the dispatcher, who would tell him and his partner if any of these people had warrants or any records that they needed to be aware of. Then he looked back at Jaffer, who had moved to stand next to Ian when the Bronco's driver had started towards him again.

"Who's car is that?"

"A friend of mine. Samantha O'Neill."

"Blonde? Short hair? Pretty smile?"

Ian nodded and Reyes looked at Jaffer again.

"This wouldn't be Colonel O'Neill's dog, then, would it?" It made sense, he supposed – the kid went to the Air Force academy, and the O'Neill's were both in the Air Force. Must be visiting them.

"Yes, Sir. Jaffer."

"Thought he looked familiar," Reyes said, reaching down and stroking the black lab's side. "Never actually do more than see him riding around in the back of that truck – but he's a good looking dog, that's for sure."

Ian nodded.

Since it was obvious that the two of them weren't responsible for whatever was going on – and the manager of the restaurant attested to that already – Hall shrugged.

"You two go ahead and get on out of here," he said. "No sense in your food getting cold."

Ian nodded, feeling a bit of relief – he didn't want to have to explain to Sam and Jack what had happened, and if the police weren't going to make a big deal out of it, then he didn't have to explain anything. Even better. He reached over and took the bags from Cassie – he didn't need his hands free now – and forced a smile.

"Thanks."

The police officers nodded.

"Happy Thanksgiving."

"You, too," Cassie said as Ian ushered her towards the car.

"Come on, Jaffer."

The black lab hopped into the back of the car when Ian opened the door for him, and watched the police and the five guys as Ian closed the door behind Cassie and got behind the wheel. Deciding that it would keep the food warmer if he had the top up, Ian pressed the button and activated the roof mechanism. Then he pulled out of the parking lot – making sure to signal his turn. No sense pressing his luck, after all.