Author's Note: Nate's not just any worried dad that Jack can just ignore or pass off to Hammond. He's a friend of Jack's from way back and a retired general with a lot of pull. Even Jack can't just brush off someone like that – especially since he knows Nate has a wicked enough temper that he'd just bull his way into the SGC (security or not) those are the kind of people you can't ignore. And really, he knows Sam is safe, Janet's told him the baby is healthy, and he'll have plenty of time alone with little Jake and mom later. The focus has shifted more to Ian the last couple of chapters because I need the reader to understand just how out of it he is. It's not like I've ignored Sam and Jack. If you have a complaint about the story, please leave a signed review so I can contact you by email without needing to waste half a page explaining myself.

That said; on with the story!

OOOOOOOOO

It was Janet who broke up the impromptu birthday party. When she entered the commissary she went over to the small group gathered at the table, saw Jacob asleep in Sam's arms once more, and Ian almost ready to fall asleep in his half-eaten birthday cake.

"Time to call it a day, people," she said, causing various complaining groans and noises of disappointment. No one challenged her authority, though. Nate and Maggie had reassured themselves that Ian hadn't spent his birthday alone – as he'd really expected to – and everyone else had had ample opportunity to at least sneak a peek at the newest O'Neill.

Knowing full well that Ian couldn't care less what people thought, Maggie didn't feel at all guilty about embarrassing him yet again when she hugged him, pressing a kiss tenderly against the side of his head – right above the stitches.

"You should call us more often," she murmured to him, softly. "I worry about you."

He hugged her, burying his face between her shoulder and neck for a long moment – thinking that it might be nice to just fall asleep like that. He didn't, though, knowing that would have worried her even more. Instead, he kissed her and pulled away, forcing himself alert.

"Don't worry, I'm doing good."

Nate didn't hug Ian, but he looked like he wanted to, and really that was enough for Ian.

"Are you coming home for summer?"

Ian shrugged.

"I'm not sure… It depends on things here. I'll let you know."

"You do that." Nate turned to Jack, giving him his hand. "Take some vacation time this summer, Jack. We'll take the boys and Sam and go fishing."

Jack nodded, smiling.

"Sounds good, Nate. I'll see what I can do."

Reserved about hugging his own son, Nate had no problem give Sam a careful one, making sure not to jostle the baby, and then Jacob told him and Maggie he'd walk them to the gate. Daniel gathered Ian's presents, telling him he'd put them in Jack's office. The cadet nodded, and was more than ready to go back to bed, when Hammond arrived and announced that since Ian was up, he'd like to do a debriefing as soon as Jacob returned. There was still the small matter of what had happened, after all, and Sam had only been able to give them a sketchy account – which wasn't at all satisfactory to any of them.

Ian sighed, but before he could say anything, Jack and Teal'c were taking him to the briefing room, once more supporting him so he didn't have to put any weight on the injured knee.

OOOOOOOOO

"I know you're tired, Ian, but I really need you to try and concentrate."

Hammond's voice wasn't angry, but it was a little annoyed – although he knew it wasn't fair that he was mad at the boy for looking like he was ready to fall asleep when they'd dragged him out of his bed in the first place.

Ian picked his head up off the table, where it had been cradled in his arms, and looked at Hammond, visibly making an effort – again – to focus on his report.

In the room were Jack, Teal'c, Daniel and Jacob. As well as Hammond and Thor, who had been called – and was the main reason the briefing wasn't taking place in the commissary. All were watching Ian, who sighed.

"The Tok'ra wasn't a Tok'ra." Ian said, looking at Jacob. "He was a Goa'uld named Seterios. He said he took Cato out of his host, using Tok'ra technology, and took over the host so none of you would realize the change."

"Why would he do that?" Jack asked.

"More importantly," Daniel asked. "Why didn't he use that to kill off the Tok'ra from the inside? If Cato had been around that long, then the Tok'ra never would have suspected what was happening, would they?"

Jacob shook his head, looking extremely concerned at the thought of a wolf in sheep's clothing hiding among the Tok'ra for who knew how long.

"We-"

"He wasn't after the Tok'ra," Ian said, interrupting. "He was after Sam."

"Sam?"

"Well… someone to work that ship that he found," Ian amended. "Sam was his best bet, though, and he knew it. Which was why he tricked Jacob into bringing her to him before she became too pregnant to be able to go offworld."

Jacob and Jack both frowned at that – and both knew just how well it had worked, which just made it that much scarier.

"Major O'Neill told me she didn't have a clue how to make the ship function," Hammond said. "According to her, you were the one that-"

"Tell me how you got away," Jack said, at the same time.

"I told the Goa'uld he had to be careful with Sam or he wouldn't be able to get shit out of her." Ian said. "He didn't like it, but he believed me, and he-"

"How did you get the knife?" Daniel asked.

"How did you make the ship work?" Jacob asked.

"How did-"

"Stop."

Hammond knew Ian didn't have a chance of answering all the questions being tossed at him like that. He was recording this, but he wanted it to be in some semblance of order, and that meant they couldn't all be asking questions.

"Did you get the ship working?"

Ian hesitated, and then nodded.

"I think so."

"You think…?"

"It started working when I sat down – after I killed the Goa'uld. But I-"

"Sam said you slashed his throat," Jack said, making it a question.

Ian hesitated again, for a different reason completely, and then nodded.

"I took the knife out of her boot and distracted him."

Jack frowned. A slashed throat seemed like far too easy a death for someone who had done what Cato had done. And tried to do. Of course, there was always the fact that Ian hadn't given the snake inside the host time to escape and maybe even take over Sam or himself, so that had to be taken into consideration, he knew.

"But how did you make the ship work?" Daniel asked, again. Unwilling to be distracted from what he thought was the real question.

"If the ship was, indeed, an Ancient vessel…" all eyes in the room turned to Thor, who had spoken up. "Then it's very possible that the ship itself took over."

"What do you mean?" Hammond asked.

"The Ancients had technology that even we Asgard are unaware of, and many of their ships were designed to function even if the pilot was incapacitated – or in Cadet Brooks' case – unable to fly them. It is not a technology we use, but we know it does exist."

"So the ship flew itself?"

"It is very possible."

There was a long silence in the room, and then Hammond turned to Ian once more.

"So once you escaped the Goa'uld ship – in the ship that was flying itself – what happened?"

"I asked it what I should do next," Ian admitted.

"You asked it?" Jack repeated, in disbelief.

"I was pretty fucking desperate," Ian said, defensively. "I knew Sam was having trouble with the baby, and I didn't have a clue where I was. I'd just killed a guy and we'd just blown a hole in the side of a fu-"

"I get it." Jack interrupted. "And… did the ship answer?"

"It tossed up a heads-up display showing me how to deliver a baby…"

"Really?" Daniel asked.

Ian nodded.

Which explained to them how he knew what to do.

"Sam had the baby on the ship?" Jack asked. That wasn't the way she'd told the story.

Ian shook his head.

"We went through a gate – the ship took us through a gate – and landed in the middle of an abandoned city."

"A city?"

Ian nodded, too tired to stop the next word that came, even though he hadn't intended to say it.

"Atlantis…"