When Sam woke it was to an almost complete silence in the house. The overhead light in the living room was off, as was the TV – the only light was coming from the fireplace and the dining room. She lay still for a moment, trying to figure out why she was suddenly feeling a slight dread – and realized after a long moment that it was the silence that had her worried. She looked around, her head still on the pillow, and saw that the heavy warmth that was pressed against the back of her legs was in fact Jaffer, who was snoring lightly.

Then she heard a murmur from behind her and sat up, sleepily, looking towards the dining room, and saw that Jack and Ian were both seated at the dining room table, the chessboard between them. They weren't bleeding as far as she could tell. She looked at her watch, and saw that she'd been asleep for over four hours. Four hours of chess? Sliding her hand along Jaffer's silky shoulder to wake him up, she got to her feet, stretching sleepily and walked over to the two.

Ian saw her coming first since he was facing her, and he looked up from the board to give her a smile. He was playing black, and there were a small handful of chessmen on the right side of the table – apparently victims of Jack's white pieces. Sam did a quick double-check to make sure Ian wasn't bleeding, but all she could see was the same bruise on his chin that had been there when he'd arrived at the house. She smiled back, and leaned against Jack's back, resting her head on his shoulder and looking over at the chessboard as well.

Jack turned his head to give her a kiss, his hand coming up to her arm in greeting, and Sam saw Ian slip a few of his black pawns and one rook from the side of the board back into spaces on the board while Jack had his attention on Sam. Surprised that he'd cheat so blatantly, she gave him a shocked look, but he only grinned. Which made him look so cute she had to smile back.

"How'd you sleep?" Jack asked, turning back to the board.

"Great."

If Jack noticed the added pieces to the board, he didn't give any indication. Instead he took a long look, and then moved his Bishop along a series of white spaces until he was almost on the other side of the board. Once he settled the piece, he took the two black chessmen – both pawns – that had been in the line of sight and handed them to Ian.

"You took out two guys in one move?" Sam asked, confused.

Jack nodded.

"We got bored playing the old way so we've changed the rules a little."

"A little?"

As she watched, Ian moved his knight, landing the horse five spaces down and one space over, and taking out the two chessmen that the flight of the knight had covered.

"He can't go that far..." Sam pointed out.

"My horses are in much better shape than the horses of most players," Ian said.

"And everyone he goes over gets knocked off the board?"

"We figured he probably would shi- crap on them as he flew over them, and they'd need a time out after that. I know I would."

Jack nodded his agreement as Jaffer came over and greeted first him, and then Ian, making sure that they hadn't changed while he'd been asleep on the couch with Sam. Satisfied that they were the same people they had been, the lab went to the back door and looked back at them, clearly wanting out.

"Let him out, will you, Ian?"

"Sure."

The cadet went to the door and let opened it – turning on the porch light – and while he had his back turned Jack added five of his white pieces back to the board. None of them were pieces that Ian's knight had taken the move before. Apparently, even though he was cheating, he agreed that those pieces needed a time out.

"How many games have you played?" Sam asked as Ian came back and sat down.

"This is still the first one."

Well, if they were adding their pieces back into the game and had changed the rules – and God only knew what other changes to the rules they'd made – then Sam could understand how they'd probably be able to amuse themselves for so long. She watched as Jack moved his rook and took out a pawn, but instead of retiring him to the side, Ian put the pawn down on the side and replaced it with a bishop, putting it in the spot next to the one Jack had taken.

"And that's...?"

Ian looked up at her.

"He's a Buddhist pawn; he reincarnates into a higher life-form once he gets taken. Unless of course he's been doing bad things – which the pawns never do – then he'll come back next time as a pawn again instead of turning into a Queen."

Of course.

She ran her hand along Jack's shoulders, admiring the musculature there as she did so.

"How many Buddhist pawns do you have, Ian?"

"Three, but two of them are higher life-forms right now." He pointed to the bishop and to the knight that had been moved previously.

"And you, Jack?"

"Three," Jack told her, pointing to his rooks and one bishop. "Mine are all good right now, but I suppose they're going to be cut down for some prideful sin or something, then they'll go back to being pawns."

Which told her that the game – while being played under the craziest set of rules Sam had ever heard of – was also being played with some brains, because the two of them were forced to keep track of who had been killed by what and what they'd been before they were 'reincarnated' and how many times they'd been added to the board in a cheating matter and also she supposed a million of other little nuances that she hadn't yet seen. It was eclectic and incredibly complicated – and both of them seemed to be having no trouble keeping track of things. Her little geniuses.

She smiled, and nibbled slightly on Jack's ear for just a moment, which distracted him enough that Ian managed to sneak two more pawn onto the board while he had his head turned.

"Have you guys had dinner?"

Jack shook his head, and looked back at the board, but Ian had already added his men and was watching him and waiting for him to make his move.

"We were waiting for you."

"Are you about done here?"

"Nowhere near, but we can put it on hold. Right Ian?"

The cadet nodded, taking a quick look at the board – probably, Sam decided, memorizing where all the pieces were and what they were at that moment.

"Are you hungry?" Sam asked them.

"I could eat."

"Me, too."

"Soup and sandwiches?"

"We'll make it. You go relax."

She frowned, uncertain about that, but Ian was already picking up the chessmen and then the board, clearing the game until a later time.

"Go on, Sam," he told her. "Even we can't screw up a couple of sandwiches."

Uh huh. Then why did she think they could?