They drove in silence for a while. Cassie had started to give him directions back, but Ian had a good memory for directions once he'd driven it, and he didn't really need it. He didn't tell her that, but she noticed he'd already turned on the blinker before a turn she was going to tell him to make, so she just let him drive, figuring that if he made a mistake she could always help him find the way back. Besides, if they got lost it was that much more time she'd get to be alone with him, right?

Jaffer was leaning over Cassie's shoulder, watching the bags of food and ice cream to make sure they didn't escape, but even his drool wasn't enough to soak through her waterproof coat, so she wasn't worried about that – although she did reach over her shoulder and caress his soft ears for a moment to break the monotony of the silence.

Finally, though, she did speak up, since she knew he wasn't going to and she was tired of the quiet.

"You were very impressive back there..."

He looked over at her, as if to see if she was being sarcastic, realized she was being sincere, and shook his head.

"Nah, I handled it badly."

"You mean because you hit that guy?"

"No, he swung at me first – he deserved that." She saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel, until his knuckles were white – almost as if he wished he'd had another crack at the guy. "I should have gotten you to the car, first, then gone back once you were out of the way. You could have been hurt."

She felt a thrill go through her – he'd been worried about her!

"I wasn't in any danger... between you and Jaffer-"

"I still shouldn't have put you in the position you were in – it was irresponsible." When he looked over at her this time, his eyes were troubled, but he looked back at the road before she had a chance to wallow in that concerned look.

Cassie shook her head – and greatly daring – she patted his leg in what she hoped was a reassuring fashion.

"Don't worry about it. I can take care of myself, you know? They'd have been in for a big surprise if they'd tried anything – Jack's shown me a few things, after all."

Ian looked over at her again – another one of those quick looks before looking back at the road – but he didn't say anything, and they drove the rest of the way in a silence that was only broken up by the dripping of drool on Cassie's coat, and the occasional sigh as Jaffer realized that they weren't even paying attention to his sad puppy eyes and he wasn't going to get any of Jack's burger until Jack, himself, gave it to him.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Mom's here," Cassie said as Ian pulled into the driveway behind Jack's truck.

"Good thing we got her some ice cream."

Cassie smiled.

"Otherwise we'd have to go back..."

He looked over at her as he turned off the car, and gave a soft snort of amusement that made her smile broaden. As far as Cassie was concerned, he was too hot to be serious all the time.

Ian took the bags from her and got out of the car, holding the door for Jaffer, who shouldered his way into the front seat to jump out, eager now to get in the house and eat. He really wasn't looking forward to seeing Doctor Fraiser any time soon – not because he didn't like her, because she seemed to be a fairly nice woman – but because the last time he'd seen her, it had been right after he'd contributed to her being shot with a tranquilizer gun, and he wasn't sure if she was going to hold a grudge or not. By the time she'd been fully recovered from the drugs River (not Ian) had shot her with, he and his roommates had already been back to the academy, and he hadn't seen her since.

"So... do we keep it a secret?" Cassie asked as she got out of the car as well.

"The fight?"

"Duh."

Ian shook his head. He was pretty much the world's worst liar, and he knew it.

"If they ask, I'll tell them. Otherwise, it's not like we were arrested or anything – and obviously we're not going to see those guys again." If he did, they were definitely going to get an ass-whipping next time. All of them. Dumb punk bastards.

They walked in the door, led by Jaffer who trotted cheerfully over to Jack, wagging his tail happily. Jack, Sam and Janet Fraiser were all sitting at the dining room table, drinking coffee and talking while Janet and Sam were cutting up slices of bread into chunks for stuffing for later, and they all looked up when the door opened.

"We're back!" Cassie said, just as cheerful as Jaffer. Since she didn't have anything in her hands, she pulled off her coat and hung it up, then went over to sit by her mom. Janet smiled at her, and then turned to Ian, who'd come over and set the bags down in front of Sam and Jack.

"Cadet Brooks, it's nice to see you again."

Ian flushed, much to Jack's amusement. He was certain the cadet was thinking of the tranquilizer gun incident.

"It's good to see you, too, Doctor Fraiser..."

"He's not really going to have to call you that all weekend is he?" Cassie asked her mom, pointedly.

Janet smiled, and Ian blushed even further, but hid it by pulling off his sweatshirt. It was too warm in the house to wear it, anyways. Besides, it was grass-stained from the sword fighting with Colonel O'Neill.

"He can call me whatever he – what happened to your arm?" Janet asked, reaching out and taking hold of Ian's hand so she could get a look at the bandages on his wrist. Two different sets from the look of it, and Janet knew he didn't have either the last time she'd seen him.

Jack grinned; glad to see he wasn't the only one she did that with.

"He cut himself butchering a Pomeranian."

Janet frowned, looking over at Jack and then back at Ian, but it was Sam who spoke up, although she was hard-pressed to fight back her laughter at the odd look Janet was giving the cadet.

"Pomegranates," Sam corrected, reaching into the bags and starting to hand out the food Ian and Cassie had brought back. Fries wait for no one, after all.

"And I cut him when we were peeling apples..." Cassie said, pointing to the other set of bandages – on the same wrist.

"I'm fine," Ian said, trying to pull his hand away as politely as he could, still flushed. He wasn't used to so much fuss being made over him.

Janet smiled, as if she understood, and let him go.

"We got you a Peanut Buster Parfait," Cassie told her mom, helping get the attention off Ian, who was visibly flustered. It was cute, but she didn't want him uncomfortable.

"Did you get me a cheeseburger?" Jack asked.

"Yup."

"Fries?"

"Yup."

"A pop?"

"No."

"You want one?" Cassie asked. "We could go back..."