While they waited for the turkey to cook – and Ian to wake up – the seven of them pulled out a couple of decks of cards and played assorted card games. They started with Rummy, but quickly switched over to Spoons, which was a personal favorite of Jack's. He loved diving for the spoons – and even more, he loved pretending to dive for a spoon to make everyone else grab for one, and then he would sit back and watch the chaos he'd caused. They played at the dining room table – which would eventually need to be pulled out and a couple of leaves put in it so it was longer, and then set – but for now it was just them, and it was the perfect size for cards.

It was nice to have this quiet (so to speak) time together, with nothing more serious than who was going to win this round of the game and who was winning the football game that was on in the background. The house smelled wonderful and was warm and comfortable without being too hot, and even the dogs managed to calm down eventually and lounge around under the table, chewing on rawhide treats that Jack had pulled out of the drawer for them.

"So is Jacob coming to dinner?" Daniel asked Sam as they regrouped after another dive at the spoons.

"He wasn't sure," she said. "If he can get done with what he's doing – something hush hush, I'm sure – then he said he'd try to make it. Otherwise he's going to pass. We won't set him a plate unless he comes before dinner – but I'm sure there'll be plenty of leftovers so he won't starve if he does come late."

"Not to mention, he's also going to head to Hammond's," Jack added.

"What about Shawn?" Teal'c asked.

"He'll be here," Jack said. "He's probably not going to stay for dinner, though – might just drop by and say hi, depending on what Dotty has them all doing over there."

"And I'll get a chance to meet River," Cassie said, nonchalantly, as she looked at her cards that had been dealt.

Jack looked over at her, but she wasn't meeting anyone's eyes, and Sam hid her grin behind her cards.

"Yeah, River will probably come..."

Janet smiled as well, but Sally frowned in confusion.

"Who's River?"

"Shawn's other roommate," Cassie answered. "Apparently he's pretty hot."

"Hot?" Teal'c asked.

Cassie smiled, used to Teal'c not knowing every phrase she and the others used.

"That means he's supposed to be cute, Teal'c."

"Ah."

They were so caught up in this fascinating conversation that none of them – even Jack, who wasn't quite so caught up in the conversation as he was deciding whether he needed to have a talk with River about Cassie – noticed that Jaffer had abandoned the bone and his position under the table and had headed down the hallway.

OOOOOOOO

Holy Fucking Christ! Run!

They were taking the stairs at an ungodly pace, and Ian could feel the invisible people right behind him – he was certain he could hear their footfalls echoing through the stairwell. He chanced a look back, but knew that even if they were right beside him, he'd never be able to see them – they were invisible after all. The look back turned out to be his undoing, and the cadet missed the step he'd been aiming for and went down in a tumble, feeling pain lacing through his head.

"Ian!"

"Go, Shawn! Don't fucking wait for-"

"Easy..."

The nightmare shattered around him, literally exploding into fragments even as Ian was living it. He jolted upright in his bed, gasping for breath as he always did, looking around for the source of that deep voice and trying to see who was in the room with him. He'd felt something close by for just a moment – something so powerful that it had managed to get past his own-

He heard a soft scuffling at the door, and looked over, eyes wide as for the briefest moment he thought maybe the shadowy invisible figures had escaped his dream and had come into the real world once more, looking for him. Then he heard the softest of whines, and realized that it wasn't any danger at all.

Forcing himself to breathe deeply, filled with the same disgust in himself that he always felt – once he'd managed to shake the terror of the nightmare – Ian rolled off the bed, ignoring the throbbing in his head and the shaking of his knees. He opened the door, trying to act as if nothing were wrong – in case Jack or Sam was on the other side of the door.

It was just Jaffer, though. The black lab was looking up at him, his brown eyes troubled. Ian looked down the hall and saw it was empty. He could hear the voices of the others coming from the dining room – and the house smelled delicious – but he had no desire to join them just yet. Not until he managed to get himself under control. He leaned down and slid his hand for the briefest moments along Jaffer's silky ears, but he didn't allow himself to cuddle against the lab like he wanted to. Like he had the night before.

Jaffer wasn't going to be going back to the academy with him when the weekend was over, and it wouldn't do for Ian to get used to having him to lean on every time he had a bad dream. He was smart enough to know that. Jesus, maybe he should get himself a teddy bear? Yeah, that'd look great, wouldn't it? He scowled, but Jaffer didn't seem to mind, and the black lab nudged him, obviously wanting to be petted. Telling himself he was doing Jaffer the favor of giving him a good scratch, Ian sat down on the rollaway bed and cuddled the big dog close to him for a moment, rubbing his shoulder and sides.

"Ian?"

He looked up, suddenly, startled, and saw Sam in the doorway, watching him with concern in her blue eyes.

"Maj – I mean, Sam... hey..."

"Are you all right?"

She'd thought she'd heard his door open, and had come to check, only to find Jaffer's butt sticking out of the door to the guest room. A moment later it had vanished as the lab had gone over to Ian's bed, and Sam had come down the hallway silently, and saw Ian holding Jaffer, looking shaky and very much in need of the comfort the lab was giving him. When he'd looked up at her, Sam saw the same bleak look in his eyes that she'd seen that morning, and she'd wondered immediately what was wrong – but couldn't just come out and ask. She knew that if she did, he'd clam up tighter than a drum.

"I'm fine," he told her, already closing her out, she saw. She was used to it from Jack – he'd done it all the time in the beginnings of their relationship, although he very rarely did it now – so she recognized the signs immediately.

"Is your head bothering you?" She asked, coming over and sitting down next to him, not touching, but close to it. Close enough that he could have easily reached for her. But he didn't – and she'd pretty much known he wasn't going to.

Jumping on the excuse she offered him, Ian nodded, not making eye contact since he was a shitty liar and he knew she'd know he wasn't telling the complete truth if she had a chance to look at his expression. He'd never been a good liar – not even when he was little.

"A bit," he said. "It's no big deal though."

Sam reached out and ran her fingers lightly through his hair, making sure to avoid the area that had been injured. Ian froze at the touch, but he didn't pull away as she'd half expected him to. Deciding that she wasn't going to push him – which would probably do them no good – she nodded.

"Think you're up for coming out and joining us? The turkey should be done in another hour or so..."

He nodded, still not looking at her.

"Sounds good."

She stood up, hesitated for only a moment, and then brushed a light kiss against his temple before she headed for the door.

"We'll see you soon..."

He nodded, feeling like he was going to cry all of the sudden. Swallowing a lump the size of his house, he cleared his throat.

"I'll be right out..."

Sam nodded, and left him alone with Jaffer, who was watching the cadet intently. Ian sighed.

"What was I supposed to do? Tell her?" He asked, wishing that he'd had the guts to do just that and knowing he wouldn't have even if he'd been tortured. Jaffer snorted softly, but that was the only answer he had – and at that it was more than Ian had, himself.