Ian sighed, tiredly and looked at his watch.
3:30.
Yeah, he might as well get up; because there was no way in hell he was going to close his eyes again that night. He'd been sitting at Sam's table for over two hours, running his mind through the odd dream he'd had. Not a nightmare – although it had been frightening to be held so tightly, he hadn't actually been threatened or anything, and hadn't felt any fear but that which he'd generated on his own.
What had that voice been? He wondered as he opened the door to 'his' room and headed silently down the hall in bare feet and stopped in the bathroom. As near as he could tell, he'd made it up – how many disembodied voices were there running around going through peoples heads, after all? It could have been a manifestation of his own choosing. A way for his subconscious mind to pop up and say 'hey, I'm here and you really need to get your shit together!'. Or it could simply have been his imagination – although he was pretty sure he'd never imagined anything like that before. Whatever it was, it'd been damned strange, that was for sure.
He rubbed his face, tiredly, and went to the dryer to get his clothes out. As he started folding shirts at the dining room table, he thought about the female voice he'd heard. That had been odd. The voice had a maturity to it that he hadn't really understood – if he was going to dream about women it was usually a given he was going to dream about young women. Naked young women. He snorted, derailing that particular train of thought fairly quickly. Not that there weren't a lot of good looking and very fit young women at the academy to dream about, but he hadn't been – and it definitely needed to stay that way.
"What are you doing up so early?"
He looked over from his pile of shirts and saw Jack standing at the entrance to the dining room – almost in the same position that Sam had been in the night before.
"Folding clothes."
"At 3:00 in the morning?"
"It's 3:30."
"Same thing."
Ian shrugged.
"I couldn't sleep, and I thought I'd better get it done – in case Sam needed the washer and dryer."
Jack yawned and came over and sat down, pulling one of the shirts towards him and looking at it.
"Sam's going shopping with the girls. She's not going to need to do laundry any time soon."
Ian shrugged, and took his shirt from Jack so he could fold it.
"You can sort my socks if you're bored."
"Have you had breakfast?" Jack asked, ignoring the suggestion adroitly.
Ian shook his head.
"It's pretty early to eat, isn't it?"
"Janet and them should be here by four."
"Really? That early?"
"Apparently all the good sales are for early birds, so you have to be there when the doors open – or else you miss out."
"I'll take your word for it."
"Not a shopper?"
"Not if I can avoid it."
"Good. You can come find a Christmas tree with me and Daniel."
"You're going Christmas tree hunting?"
"We're going Christmas tree hunting," Jack said, standing up and heading into the kitchen. "I have a friend who owns a large amount of land up in the mountains – they're the ones who gave me Jaffer, by the way, so they're very good friends – and they've given me permission to find the perfect tree for Sam and to chop it down and bring it home."
"Oh."
"So, Daniel wants one, too – for Sally's house – and he's going to come along. We can always use help choosing the right tree. Unless you'd rather go shopping."
"I'll go tree hunting."
Jack smiled.
"I thought you'd see things my way."
He started digging through the cupboards.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"You're cooking?"
"You're going to help."
"I'll have water."
"Smart ass."
OOOOOO
The coffee was done, the laundry was folded and set off to the side of the table, and house was filled with the smell of frying bacon and eggs by the time Sam made her appearance, with Jaffer walking cheerfully with her. She looked sleepy and rumpled, and she paused only long enough to give Jack a good morning kiss and to run a hand along Ian's shoulder in greeting before she sat down at the table, and yawned.
Jack came over with a cup of coffee, and kissed her neck gently as he set it in front of her.
"Good morning."
Mumble.
Ian smiled.
"Are you hungry, Sam?"
Mumble and nod.
Ian looked over at Jack, who was letting Jaffer out for a morning run around the back yard.
"That means yes."
"We're just finishing the toast now."
Mumble.
He looked at Jack, again, but O'Neill shrugged. He wasn't sure about that one.
They brought breakfast over a few minutes later, and Sam had taken enough sips of her coffee to be able to focus a little better. She looked over at Ian, noticing that he didn't look as if he'd slept at all. Before she could mention it, though – and maybe ask him how he was doing, Jaffer came running into the dining room, sniffing her with his cold nose and reminding her that he loved bacon and eggs.
"You get dog food this morning, bucko," Jack admonished the lab, bringing over his dish filled with kibble.
Yeah, yeah... dog food – but bacon and eggs, too, if he looked really cute and cuddly. Jaffer wasn't dumb.
"How long are you going to be shopping, Sam?" Jack asked, as he sat down, handing her over a plate.
She shrugged.
"You'll have to ask Sally and Janet – they're the ones that are mapping out our strategies. I think Cassie and I are just coming along for the ride, more or less." She looked at Ian. "Are you going up to the mountains with Jack and Daniel?"
"Yeah. They need my expertise."
"Oh?"
"Well... no, probably not... but it's that or shop, from what I've been told – and that was hardly a tough choice."
She smiled and took another sip of her coffee.
"You mean you'd rather go out into the cold, hard mountains and search endlessly for a-"
The doorbell rang just then, interrupting her, and Jack went to get it, Jaffer rushing over as well, tail wagging happily.
Suddenly the room was filled with a blast of cold air, and three far too cheerful for this time of day women as Cassie, Janet and Sally all came into the dining room.
"Ready to shop until you drop?" Janet asked, looking at Sam, who frowned.
Ian smiled, and nodded.
"I'll take Christmas tree hunting, any day..."