"You wanted to talk to me, General Brooks?"

Nathan had seated himself in the chair across from Janet's small desk while he waited for her to get River ready for his briefing, and the older Brooks looked up at her when she walked in.

"You seem concerned about my son," he said without preamble. "I'd like to know why."

"I am concerned about your son," Janet confirmed as she sat down across from him. "Well… more like puzzled," she amended. "He has me baffled."

Nathan smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"He does that to me all the time."

"You're his father," Janet said. "It's his job to confuse you…"

Nathan's smile grew a little, but then he turned serious.

"Is there something wrong with him?"

Janet shrugged.

"I can't find anything, general, but this afternoon he collapsed – and I'm not sure why."

"Collapsed?"

"Shawn said he fainted, but I don't think so. It looks more like some kind of low blood pressure episode or something – only every test I've done on him has come back completely normal. And you saw how he is, now. He's walking around and acting perfectly normal. Is there any history of anemia in your family?"

Nathan shook his head.

"No, nothing like that."

"Any idea what it might be?"

"Did you ask him?"

She shook her head.

"I'm going to, but I have a feeling he's not going to tell me anything."

Nate was silent for a minute, and then he shrugged.

"When he was younger – right after he got his license – he wrecked my brother's car and almost killed himself. Could it be something left over from that? He was unconscious for several days."

Janet nodded.

"I know about that, general. It's in his medical history. I reran a lot of tests that the neurologists ran on him before they released him from the hospital, and my tests came out just as clean as theirs. What really mystifies me is that he didn't do this after he was shot – or during the time he was recovering from an infection he'd received… elsewhere… It's just…" she shrugged, frowning. "It's when people around him are hurt – like River and Shawn today, and he's done it once before right after he delivered Jake…"

Nathan scowled.

"He's never had any trouble with blood before. He's hunted with my brother several times and I've never heard of him blacking out on them…"

Janet shrugged again.

"Like I said; he's got me baffled. I honestly don't know what to do with him."

"Is he in danger?"

She shook her head.

"He's fine. He's very healthy, and he keeps himself that way."

"Then he'll be allowed to continue what he's doing?"

"I can't see any reason to stop him. He's never faltered on a mission, and as far as I can tell, there's nothing wrong with him. I just-"

"Maybe he's just tired, Doctor Fraiser…" Nate said, interrupting. "He looks pretty tired – and he looks tired every time I come to see him."

Janet hesitated, and then shrugged.

"It's possible…" she admitted. "He does have a lot on his plate, and I can't even begin to imagine how he's managing to get it all done."

"He's a perfectionist," Nate said, shrugging. "He gets that from Maggie, because he definitely didn't get it from me. Is there anything I can do to help?"

She shook her head.

"There's not even anything I can do – especially since I don't know what's wrong with him. I've asked General Hammond to tell all three of them that they're staying overnight here this evening, and that will give my staff time to observe him and make sure he's acting normal…"

"He's going to love that."

Janet smiled, "Which is why I asked Hammond to tell them instead of telling them myself."

"Smart."

She nodded, and stood up.

"I'd better get things ready around here, or I'll never get to go home tonight. Thank you for your time, sir."

Nate stood up as well, and shook his head.

"If it's about Ian, I always have time, Doctor Fraiser." He hesitated, looking like he was going to say more, but then shrugged. "I wasn't always there for him when he was growing up… but I'm going to make sure if he ever needs anything now that he knows he can ask."

Janet smiled.

"If he doesn't by now, he's learning it, I'm sure."

Nathan, had, after all, come to Colorado several times since Ian had joined the academy, Janet knew. Ian was bright enough to figure out some things on his own, after all.

"Thank you, Doctor."

Nate left the office and saw Sam sitting on one of the beds, holding Jake and feeding him – with a bottle, luckily. Since he wanted to talk to Ian once more before leaving – and wanted to talk to George as well – he went over and sat down beside her, smiling down at the baby, who looked over at him, but immediately turned his attention back to the bottle.

"How is he?"

Sam smiled, looking down at her son.

"Starving. The way he's gobbling his dinner, you'd think he hasn't eaten in a week."

"He's a growing baby, that's all. Ian was the worst… he'd drive Maggie nuts. One day he'd do nothing but eat, the next day it was all she could do to get him to eat anything. He was erratic and fussy and-"

"And you wouldn't have had him any other way."

Nate grinned.

"Not on your life. He was perfect."

He sat with Sam and Jake while she fed the baby, and then offered to burp him – as long as she gave him a towel to protect his shirt. While he was performing this service, Jacob fell asleep, his chin tucked on Nathan's shoulder, and Sam smiled and took the baby back, telling him she'd put him down to sleep and would be right back.

Almost as soon as she left, however, Ian, Jack, River and Shawn all returned. Shawn and River looked slightly annoyed, Jack looked a little tired, and Ian looked like his head was going to blow off his neck right then and there. It'd been a long time since he'd seen his son look so angry, and while everyone else seemed to be trying to avoid him, Nate did the opposite, and headed over to the bed he'd flopped himself down in.