Painful Separations

Disclaimer: I don't own SG-1 or any characters recognizable from the show. Just those I created!

OOOOOOOOOO

The ringing telephone was a much-welcomed distraction from the paperwork in front of him, and Jack was practically smiling when he answered it.

"O'Neill."

"Jack?"

"Shawn?" Jack looked up at the wall clock in his office. Almost noon. Shawn never called him at the base. The smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You sure?" Jack pressed. He didn't sound as if there were a catastrophe in the makings going on around him, but he also didn't sound completely positive that everything was okay. "No one's beating up on you?"

He heard the smile in Shawn's voice.

"No."

"Homesick?"

"No."

"Girl problems?"

"No."

"Are your mom and dad okay?" As far as he knew, they were still out of town.

"They're still out of town," Shawn confirmed a moment later. "They should be back tomorrow."

"Ian and River arguing?"

"No."

There was a slight hesitation this time, though, and Jack was skilled enough an interrogator to catch it.

"Are they okay?"

"River's fine…"

And they were beginning to narrow it down, now.

"And Ian?"

This time the hesitation was longer. And Jack pressed on with more questions.

"He failed a test?"

There was a snort on the other line.

"We just got our finals back. Ian aced everything."

"How did you do?"

He had to ask.

"I'm fifth in the class."

"That's great, Shawn."

There was noticeable pride in both of their voices, now.

"River's right behind me."

"So academically, everything's fine?"

"Yeah."

"But…?"

There was a pause.

"I'm a little worried about Ian, Jack."

"Yeah? Is he in trouble?"

Like that would be out of the ordinary.

"No… he's just… acting a little… odd."

"How so?"

"I'm not sure," Shawn admitted, and Jack could hear the young man's frustration in his voice. "He's different than he was."

"He was shot, Shawn," Jack reminded him. "Maybe it affected him more than he wants to admit."

"He's distracted," Shawn said. "And he's been short tempered lately."

"Ian?"

Jack couldn't hide the amusement in his voice, and Shawn realized how dumb that sounded, even as he'd said it. Ian was always short tempered.

"More than usual," Shawn corrected.

"Towards you and River?"

"No. Just everyone else." There was a hesitation, and then, "When did Ian learn to speak Goa'uld?"

Jack frowned.

"He speaks Goa'uld?"

"Yeah. I heard him mumbling to himself the other day, and it sounded like Goa'uld."

Shawn would know, since he was one of the few people on Earth who spoke the language fluently.

"He spent time with Bra'tac, Shawn, maybe he picked some up. You know how he remembers things."

Shawn hadn't considered that, and it was obvious from the pause on the other end of the line that he was, then.

"That's true, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Jack smiled. "I'll tell you what… why don't I come up with a reason to come out and see you guys sometime soon? Then maybe I'll have a chance to see for myself what's going on. Maybe I can even pull Ian aside and see if there's something bothering him."

"He won't tell you. I already asked."

"Then I'll bring Sam."

Ian would tell Sam. He liked Jack – and Jack liked him – but he and Sam got along especially well.

"That'd be great," Shawn said. Not only could he pass the concern about Ian onto someone that the New Yorker might actually talk to, but he'd get a chance to see Sam and Jack – and most likely Jaffer.

"I'll talk to Sam and we'll figure out something," Jack promised. "Something soon."

"Okay, Jack."

"Anything else you need, Shawn? Care package? Writing materials? New underwear?"

Shawn chuckled – a sound that made Jack smile as well.

"No, I'm good, Jack. Thanks. Sorry if I interrupted anything."

"You didn't."

Just paperwork, and for that, Jack should be thanking him.

"I'll talk to you later."

"Be good."

"Always."

The line went dead, and Jack hung up the phone a moment later, feeling good. Shawn never seemed to mind coming to him when he had a problem, and Jack loved that. Even if the problem wasn't his own. He looked over at Jaffer, who had been napping, but had woken when the phone rang, and then he looked down at his unfinished paperwork.

"Why don't we go see Sam?"

Jaffer sat up and jumped off the sofa cheerfully.

Yup, he'd go visit Sam!