He knew the way to Jack's from the Fraiser's – could have driven it with his eyes closed from the moment he'd gone there with Sam. That was one of the advantages to having a memory like his, after all. He didn't even really have to pay attention to remember something; he just had to be looking that direction. And it was a good thing, because his mind was not on where he was going. It was barely on the road – and that only enough to avoid getting into an accident.

By the time he'd pulled into the driveway, he'd pretty much convinced himself that although kissing Cassandra had been impetuous and completely out of line – he barely knew her, after all – it had also been very nice and something he definitely wouldn't mind doing again. If he had the opportunity. There was always the possibility that she was thinking the same thing – about it being something he shouldn't have done – and she could already be trying to think of a reason to avoid him if he called the next day.

Women weren't something Ian dealt with all that often, after all. Women were complicated, and a right pain in the ass most of the time, and he'd been serious when he'd told Cassie that he didn't date. He'd done plenty of dating early on – with his looks it was hardly difficult to get a female to go out with him – but he'd learned early that he wasn't good boyfriend material. He hated small talk, didn't bother trying to impress anyone, and couldn't stand being around the majority of the people he came into contact with. Which meant he didn't like to do social things, and didn't like to party. Which was something most girls enjoyed – at least sometimes.

And he was a snob. He wouldn't date skanky girls – once he'd lost his virginity and didn't have the mystery of sex to entice him into a relationship with an 'easy' girl, he hadn't been able to find a reason to lower himself to their level – and he knew that with his lack of patience with those around him, he truly wasn't much fun to be around. Which left out the nice girls. Nice girls hung out with and dated nice guys, and Ian knew he wasn't one.

But man… Cassie was different, wasn't she? She was pretty but not flashy, feminine but not afraid to play in football in the snow or jump in on a snow fight with him and Teal'c and the others, and she honestly didn't seem to mind his attitude. Of course, he'd toned it down a bit and had tried to make sure not to use foul language, but even the times he'd slipped, she hadn't seemed to mind. He definitely liked her. Probably. And maybe she even liked him. Maybe.

By the time he pulled up in the O'Neill's driveway, his mind had pretty much tied itself up with the whole did she like it? did she hate it and pretended to like it? will she avoid me if I call her and would I care? thing, and he walked into the house so distracted that his head was beginning to pound and he'd almost forgotten about the rest of the things he had on his plate.

"Hey."

Sam was the first to greet him. She and Jack were both sitting at the dining room table playing chess, and had looked up when Ian walked through the door.

"Hey." He knelt to rub Jaffer's ears. Distracted or not, the dog was far too big to ignore when he didn't want to be ignored – and Jaffer hated to be ignored.

"How was the movie?"

"Good."

"Don't take your coat off." Jack told him, standing up.

"No?"

Sam stood up as well, smiling.

"No. We've been waiting on you."

"Oh?"

"Feel like going on a field trip?" Jack asked, reaching for his jacket.

"Um…"

"To the SGC," Sam added, putting on her own coat as well. "General Hammond called earlier, and gave us the go ahead to let you in on a bit of what we do around there."

"I thought you already did?"

"Yeah, well… he doesn't know that we did," Jack said, frowning. "And we'd kind of like to keep it that way."

"I won't say a word."

"Good. Let's go."

"Now?"

"You got a hot date?"

He shook his head.

"No."

"Now is a good time to do it, Ian. We don't have anything going on there that might get interrupted, and there's not a lot of people there at the moment so not a lot of people will know what's going on. You'll have to sign a non-disclosure form –"

"I already did."

"Another one."

"A bigger one," Jack said, taking his keys from Ian. "I'll drive."

"You're serious?"

"It's my truck."

"I meant about going tonight. He's really going to let me see the Stargate?"

Ian had expected about a month of red tape before anything had happened. And that only if Hammond really wanted to let him see the things that Sam and Jack had told him about. Even longer if the General had wanted to drag his heels. Ian had grown up with the Air Force, and knew just how long things could take when no one really wanted them to happen in the first place.

"He's going to let you see more than that," Sam said.

"Like what?"

"Secret stuff," Jack told him, mysteriously.

"No shi- duh. What kind of secret –"

"You'll have to wait and see."

"Do you have your license and your Military ID?" Sam asked him.

He nodded.

"Let's go."

They all headed for the door, Jaffer bounding ahead of them, eager to leave after a quiet day at home. Jack locked the door behind them, and gestured to his truck as Sam headed for her car.

"You're with me, Ian," he said, opening the door for Jaffer to hop into the truck.

"Where's Sam going?"

"She's going to stop and pick up Teal'c at Daniel's. She'll be right behind us."

"Oh."

Wondering what they needed Teal'c for to give him a tour of the SGC, Ian shrugged and got into the truck.