Once she had Cassie more calm, Janet spent the rest of the evening with her, the two of them sitting on the sofa just spending some quality time together. It was something Cassie needed to reassure herself that Janet wasn't angry with her, and something Janet needed simply because she needed quiet time with her daughter.

Eventually, she sent Cassie off to bed, though. The teenager hadn't had a lot of sleep the evening before – next to none, actually – and had had a rough evening, and it was taking its toll on her, physically. Emotionally, she was doing a lot better than she had been, and Janet was glad to see the true smile on her face when she gave her a final hug goodnight – something she hadn't done in quite a while.

"I'm sorry…"

Janet nodded, and hugged her tight for a long moment. Just stocking up against the day that Cassie would decide she was too old for hugs from her mom.

"I know, honey. It's okay, though. Things will work out. They always do." She kissed her cheek, and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll see you in the morning."

Cassie nodded, and headed off to bed, and Janet poured herself a cup of coffee and settled back on the sofa, debating what her next move was going to be.

First, she'd have to figure out how to apologize to Ian for being such a cold-hearted and suspicious bitch. Then she'd have to thank Sam for pointing that out to her. And then, she'd have to figure out how to thank Ian for what he'd done – or hadn't done, as the case was. And then, she'd have to make sure that he hadn't lost his interest in Cassie… although now that she thought about it, and recalled some of the things he'd said in the past – and things that Sam had mentioned – she wondered if Ian was actually interested in Cassie in the first place, or if he really was playing hard to get.

She sighed, and debated giving the cadet a call that evening, now that she had Cassie settled for the night. Maybe a heart to heart talk… over the phone? Yeah, that wasn't going to work, was it…? She could always go over there – on the pretense of finishing the exam he never had that afternoon. But that would definitely put him on the defensive, and she knew it. She'd never be able to get the conversation started if he was defensive.

She finished her coffee and decided to go to bed as well. Maybe she and Sam could come up with an excuse to go over there the next day – if Sam was willing to help.

OOOOOOOOO

Much to Jaffer's disgust, dinner that evening was a simple chef salad, big enough for both of them to share, and incredibly easy to make. Sam had prepared the lettuce and tomatoes while Jack had taken care of all the rest of the ingredients, neither one of them saying much – and the tension between them was still palpable.

After they ate, Sam cleaned up the few dishes while Jack took Jaffer out for a run in the back yard, and then she went into her 'lab' to work on some computations while Jack pulled out the brush and took Jaffer out onto the front porch to brush him. Even though Sam had just done a good job on him, the lab was really starting to shed his winter coat, and it was far better to brush him twice a day than find black hairs all over their bed, and the sofa, and in their meals and on the seats of the truck.

Jaffer didn't mind at all. He loved nothing more than sitting still, his head on Jack's thigh while Jack ran the brush all over him, taking care of all those itchy spots he had. He closed his eyes in pleasure at the touch, and Jack allowed himself to be lost in the familiar pattern, letting his mind wander to the biggest problem of the day. Ian.

He wouldn't brood over it so much if not for the fact that Sam seemed so damned certain that Ian hadn't done anything. Jack had talked to the boy. He knew that something had happened, imply by the way Ian had reacted to his questioning, but Sam was determined it wasn't as bad as Jack thought it was, and was mad at him because he refused to believe otherwise. Which meant that maybe he should give it a little more thought – even though he was very prone to instant decisions and judgments, and very rarely changed his mind once it was made up – because Sam wasn't wrong very often, and even less often when it came to these kinds of things.

He started brushing Jaffer's chest, considering what he knew. Well… he really knew damned little. He knew something happened to upset Cassie, and knew that the dress hadn't stayed on. He knew that Ian wasn't talking, and neither was Cassie, but he supposed that there could be a different reason for that silence. Maybe nothing had happened that Jack wouldn't have approved of, but something had happened that was embarrassing for one of them? Cassie? She had been wearing a dress that defied gravity, after all. Maybe it had fallen down during the dance? That would have upset her, he was sure.

But Ian could have told Jack that. It was embarrassing, but hardly life and death important. Certainly not important enough to put up with having Jack mad at him.

He moved to Jaffer's sides, his strokes a little annoyed, although his hands were gentle on the lab.

Maybe it was something else… maybe someone else made a comment about Cassie and Ian had gotten into a fight or something? That wouldn't be something that Ian would want found out – especially since he knew Hammond wouldn't approve of him getting into a brawl in the middle of a high school dance. But if Ian had stood up for Cassie, then you'd think she'd have told her mother, especially since Cassie knew how much Janet didn't trust Ian. That justdidn't sound right, either.

Add to that the fact that Sam was right; Ian just wasn't the kind of guy that would do something like that – no matter how much Jack wanted to think he was. Jack had had a fair chance to get to know Ian, and he liked the kid. Liked the fact that he didn't back down from anything or anyone, and God, the boy was exactly like his father in so many ways. Ways that were the main reasons Jack and Nate had become friends so many years ago. Ways that made it even less plausible that he had done what Jack had accused him of doing.

"Damn it."

What could it be?

He stayed out for another forty-five minutes, until his hands were cold, and even Jaffer was getting tired of being brushed. Then he pulled the mass amounts of dog hair out of the brush and went inside with Jaffer, hanging the brush up and locking the door behind him.

Sam was right. He was making a judgment he couldn't make. Not without all the facts – or at least a whole lot more than he had. He didn't like the thought of being wrong – and he wasn't completely positive that he was – but he owed it to Ian (and Sam) to at least try to get the real story out before he actually incriminated Ian the way he had been.

He went looking for her, figuring that she could probably give him some hints for talking to the cadet – since she was a lot better at getting things out of him than Jack ever would be – and found that she'd left her 'lab' and had gone to bed. He looked at his watch; it was still early, but he knew she was getting tired easily, lately, and maybe she just didn't want to face him again that evening. That thought stung, and Jack felt guilty for allowing his feelings to wear her down and come between the two of them like they had.

He undressed and slid into their bed beside her, facing her, even though she was turned away from him, resting on her side, which was pretty much the only way she could rest now days.

"Sam?"

He whispered, because he wasn't sure if she was asleep, yet, and if she was, he didn't want to wake her. She replied almost instantly, though.

"Hmm?"

He slid his hand along her bare side, running his palm over the bulge that was their child.

"You're right…"

She turned her head –although not the rest of her.

"What?"

"About Ian. You're right. I need to talk to him and see if I can find out what happened. He's a good kid, and it's possible… that something else happened – something a bit more innocent than what I think happened…"

She smiled, and Jack felt his heart skip a beat. God, how did she do that to him?

"You mean that?"

He nodded.

"I'll go talk to him tomorrow."