Author's note: Hey guys, reviews and author alerts aren't coming in very well because something's wrong with the site – or maybe they're trying to catch up from a backload or something – but don't panic. Just keep looking for the updates (which will be more frequent the next couple days than they have been since I'm finally catching up on things after my vacation) and keep reviewing! I'll get them eventually, lol.

OOOOOOOOO

"I thought Ian was coming to dinner?"

Sam shook her head, smiling at Cassie, who had instantly looked for the cadet when she'd come through the door. Even before greeting Jack – which was almost unheard of.

"He's helping Daniel, tonight." She told her. "They're looking up some ancient language in Daniel's books."

She tried to hide her disappointment, but Sam and Jack both noticed it – and they both noticed that Janet didn't seem to mind at all that the Cadet wasn't there.

"You'll see him tomorrow," Sam reminded her, which made Cassie smile, excitedly.

"I know. You should see my dress, Sam! It's gorgeous."

"It's a bit revealing," Janet said, frowning.

Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Mom, it's not that bad."

"It's strapless."

It was Jack's turn to frown.

"Strapless?"

"It's great, Jack," Cassie told him. "You'll love it."

He doubted that.

"You're wearing a strapless dress?"

It was obvious that Janet had found someone who agreed with her about just how bad of an idea it was for Cassie to wear something so revealing, and she was glad it was Jack – it made her certain that she wasn't being the over protective mother that Cassie was accusing her of being.

"It's strapless, and the hem goes to here," she said, gesturing to mid-thigh.

Jack scowled, looking at Cassie, who rolled her eyes again.

"It's not that bad, Jack. It's beautiful."

"It's-"

"Hey," Sam interrupted, fairly certain that Cassie would never be able to convince Jack that any strapless dress wasn't that bad. "Why don't you help me set the table, Cassie? Jack can finish cooking dinner."

He looked over at her, realizing immediately what she was doing. She was changing the subject. Had it been anyone else, he would have scowled, because he hated having people manipulate a conversation he was having, but it wasn't anyone, it was Sam, and Jack would let her get away with anything.

He gave her a look that plainly told her he knew what she was doing, and she replied with an innocent look that was a match for his very best one – where had she learned that from? – and then nodded.

"I'd love to finish making dinner."

Sam smiled.

"Thanks."

"Cassie can come help me, though," he said, reaching out and taking the teenager by the arm in a gentle but firm grip and pulling her into the kitchen with him. "I'd like to hear more about this dress."

OOOOOOOOOO

When Daniel walked into his former apartment, he couldn't help but be impressed. He'd expected it to be a sty, really. After all, a teenaged guy lived here, now, and Daniel knew that most teenaged guys were slobs. He'd been one when he was a teen, after all – although because of circumstances, he hadn't had a lot of things to leave lying around.

It wasn't, though. The place was spotless. Even better than when he'd lived there. The floor was clean; there wasn't even any dust on his books, as far as he could tell. The dining room table was the only thing that was dirty – there was a towel spread across it to protect the wood, and Ian had dismantled his Glock and had apparently been in the process of cleaning and oiling it when Daniel had knocked on the door.

"Wow…"

Ian looked around.

"What?"

"It's so… clean."

The Cadet smiled.

"When you're used to an inspection once a week, it's pretty easy to keep things kept up."

"Every week, huh?" Daniel asked, still looking around. Even the kitchen was spotless – there weren't even any dishes in the sink that needed to be washed. "Do you even use the kitchen?"

"Of course."

"For more than making cereal?"

"Sometimes."

Ah hah.

Hanging on a hook on the back of the closet door was a plastic covered garment bag.

"Your school uniforms?" Daniel asked.

Ian shook his head.

"That's the tux I'm wearing to the dance tomorrow. I didn't want it to get wrinkled."

Daniel nodded, and Ian pointed at the bookshelf as he went back to the gun on the table. Now that he had it apart, he wanted to get it cleaned and together again before he managed to lose some important piece.

"I took a quick look through a couple of those books," he told Daniel, who walked over to the bookcase, "The two on the bottom on the left are probably the ones you want to check."

Ian was fairly good at researching, but languages were Daniel's forte, after all.

"Did you eat, Daniel?"

"What?" Daniel looked up from the book he was already holding and thumbing through. "Oh… no. I told Sally I'd grab something on the way home – or that you and I would go get something."

"Sounds like a plan."

Of course, they had other things to take care of, first.

He started cleaning swamp goop out of the action of his handgun, while Daniel took the two books in question and went over and sat down on the sofa. The room became quiet as the two of them became engrossed in their various projects.