To the uninitiated, LA is a huge, sprawling city with an intimidating number of people and highways, and traffic. One of the largest cities in the United States – if not the world, it's huge and can certainly be scary. Ian Brooks, however, was from New York, and as far as he was concerned, LA was just another Little Apple.

He'd reached the outskirts of the city around noon, after a few hours of sleep in the lumpy hotel bed and a long hot shower. The first thing he did was pull into a filling station, buy a map of the city and ask around, playing a tourist – and with the Colorado plates on his car that wasn't so hard. This of course meant making small talk – something Ian detested – but he did it anyways. He mentioned to the woman behind the counter that he'd heard the actually Vice President of the United States of America was living in LA just then instead of Washington DC, and the woman smiled proudly and nodded.

"Recovering from a car accident," she told him. Like the rest of the world wasn't in on that secret, just the LA folks. "A nasty one. Broke his arms and legs really bad, the poor man."

Served him right, Ian thought to himself – although he kept that observation to himself.

"Where's he staying?"

She told him the name of some swanky hotel that cost more a night than most folks made in a paycheck, and Ian looked at his map, looking for the intersection. The woman helpfully pointed it out to him, earning a smile of thanks from Ian, which made her smile back. The young man looked tired and distracted, but he was certainly cute. It was too bad she didn't have a break coming up any time soon, or she'd introduce him to a few more sights in LA. Like the breakroom in the back to start with.

He left the gas station with a full tank and a phone number, which he politely held onto until she couldn't see him anymore before he crumble it up and tossed it into the garbage bag in the Explorer. Then he drove around, using the map until he found the hotel he was looking for. He found a parking spot across the street, and looked up at it, noticing immediately that there were several Secret Service agents in the area.

Ian wondered if they'd figured out what a bastard Kinsey was, yet, or if the Vice President had managed to hide that side of his nature while he was recovering. Since he hadn't heard of anyone smothering him in his sleep – or attempting to – he assumed Kinsey was hiding it. At least until he was mobile.

He didn't hang out long. He didn't want to make the Secret Service guys suspicious, and he didn't need to stay. He'd be able to find his way back now, no problem, and he already was pretty sure what he was going to do. He just couldn't do it until evening, when everyone was settled for the night, and Kinsey was done for the day. Besides, he was hungry.

He went through a drive thru, picking up a quick meal. He was getting tired of fast food, he thought glumly as he ate in the Explorer in the parking lot. When this was done, he wasn't going to look at another burger for at least a month.

Of course, he realized, he didn't know what he was going to do when this was over. Go back to the academy? He felt an ache that almost made him choke on his fries, and he swallowed hard, fighting back the familiar sting of tears. He couldn't. Not only could he not face Shawn knowing that he was responsible for what had happened – even if Kinsey had played a part in it, Ian had been the one who'd given Dotty and James the tickets and Shawn the idea, so it was his fault – but he was AWOL, now, and the Commandant was probably screaming for his hide.

He tossed the remainder of his meal in the garbage, and leaned back in his seat. It'd been a long time since he'd felt as lonely as he did just then – even when he'd been facing those nightmares every night, he'd at least had his roommates around to mock and the rest of the Academy to scorn. Now, it didn't feel like he had anyone.

OOOOOOOOO

"Do you think Ian knows something we don't?" Sam asked.

"Do you think Kinsey had something to do with… what happened?" Shawn asked, his eyes surprised – both by the thought, and by the fact that he hadn't even considered it.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Jack told him. "We don't know that's why Ian went to LA."

"It'd make sense, though," Sam said. "If Ian thought Kinsey had something to do with what happened, he very well could have gone looking for him, to confront him."

"Ian's not stupid, Sam," Jack said, sitting on the sofa and scratching Jaffer's shoulder. "He couldn't get past the Secret Service guys that are probably all over the place, and he knows it."

"You have to go get him, Jack," Shawn said, sitting down, too. "He could get himself in a lot of trouble."

Jack hesitated. He wanted to go – of course he wanted to go! But he had other commitments, here, first.

"I can't, Shawn."

"What?"

Jack shrugged.

"I have to stay here, right now. You need me. I can't let you face your grandparents alone with your decision, and I won't. As soon as things are cleared up here, if we haven't heard anything from Ian, I'll go looking for him."

"But-"

"Shawn." Jack interrupted him before he could say anything else. "If you're going to be part of the family – and we definitely want you to be – then your needs are going to have to come first. Ian would understand that."

It was obvious that Jack was torn between staying and going, and that he wanted to go check on Ian – but there was no way he could. He had to stay. This was his responsibility just then.

"You could send Daniel and Teal'c," Sam suggested.

"And tell them what? Watch Kinsey's place because Ian might show up?" Jack sighed. "For all we know he's already there."

He was doing quick math in his head, and realized that if Ian didn't stop for much along the way, chances were he was already there. And that was a scary thought. But it didn't matter, because even if he wanted to, Jack couldn't leave just then. Shawn had to come first, because Shawn was fourteen and Ian was nineteen. Old enough to hopefully know better.

Shawn looked almost rebellious, but he couldn't help admit to himself that he definitely wanted Jack to be with him. He needed Jack just then, because even though he wasn't afraid to stand up to his grandparents, he figured Jack and Sam could help make the conversation less of an argument than it was sure to be if Shawn tried to do it on his own.