The plane landed almost twenty minutes early, but when Nathan Brooks walked out into the terminal, he wasn't at all surprised to find Ian Piper standing there waiting for him. The Colonel was dressed almost exactly like Nate himself; jeans and a polo shirt, with a light jacket that showed signs of the drizzle that was falling outside. It was mid spring in New York, of course it was raining.

"You're early."

Nate nodded.

"According to the pilot, we had a favorable tail wind all the way here. Of course, if we would have left on time, we would have been even earlier."

"In which case you'd have been standing on the corner waiting for a bus," Ian told him, reaching out and taking his travel bag automatically. Generals didn't carry their own luggage when there was a colonel around to carry it for him. Even if they were friends that went way back. "I didn't get your message until about an hour ago."

"I didn't fancy taking a cab home. So I appreciate you picking me up."

Piper nodded, and the two were quiet until they walked through the airport doors and into what was now rain and no longer drizzle.

"How's Ian?"

"He's fine. He says hi."

"Good. He doing okay? Does he need anything?"

Nate shook his head.

"He's set."

"What did you find out?"

"All sorts of weird shit. Unfortunately, I can't tell you about most of it."

Which told Piper immediately that it was beyond classified, since Brooks would never keep secrets from him unless it was absolutely forbidden to tell. And there was very little he was forbidden to tell.

"Tell me what you can…"

"Some guys were fucking with Ian."

"Yeah? Those guys that were associated with Leaf?"

"Yeah."

"You know he's dead?"

Brooks nodded, but didn't say anything else about that particular subject.

Which told Piper all he needed to know.

"There are others…"

Brooks shrugged.

"For now."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

It wasn't more than an hour later by the time Sam and Cassie showed up again. Both of them were carrying bags that looked filled with clothing, and both were smiling at some shared joke as they came around the corner of the mall corridor towards him. Their smiles grew when they saw Ian looking at them, and he couldn't help but smile back. Jacob was still in his arms, and Ian's neck was soaking wet with baby drool – at least he hoped it was just drool. Whatever it was, it was also running down the back of his shoulder and had soaked the back of his t-shirt, but there wasn't much he could do about that. The baby hadn't gone back to sleep, he'd simply enjoyed being held, his eyes wide as he watched people walking past him and his godfather – and continuing to gnaw on Ian's neck happily.

"You okay?" Sam asked as they came within speaking distance. She could see he looked tense – but he always looked tense when he was holding Jacob, she knew that.

He nodded.

"I see you found a few things to buy…"

This was said sarcastically, since there were obviously way more than just a few things in the many bags. Sam smiled.

"A couple things jumped out at me and forced me to buy them…"

"Uh huh…"

"Really."

"Yeah, I believe that."

"Want me to take him?"

"Are you done shopping?"

"I'm ready to sit for a while."

He handed Jake over to her, and she sat down beside him. Cassie moved the carrier out of the way and took the spot on the other side of him, reaching out and touching his slimy neck.

"You're soaked."

"He did it."

"He does it to Jack, too," Sam said, cradling Jake in one arm and reaching into the carrier for a bottle with the other hand – something Ian never would have attempted doing. "He doesn't do it to me, though, so I must not taste as good." She smiled warmly down at the baby, who was now drooling around the nipple of the bottle as he nursed. "Why don't you two go find Jack and the guys and see if they're about through shopping? I'm ready to call it a day and go relax for a while."

Ian nodded.

"You're okay here alone?"

She smiled at the automatic protectiveness.

"He's going to eat, then fall asleep. We'll be fine."

"We'll be right back," Cassie told her, getting up and pulling Ian to his feet as well, since she knew he'd dither about leaving Sam for at least a half hour if they didn't force the issue.

"Tell Jack to bring me some ice cream."

"Okay."

Still holding Ian's hand, Cassie led him down the hall, towards one of the men's clothing shops, where she and Sam had last seen Jack, River and Shawn.

"Do you want to go to a movie tonight?"

He nodded, holding her hand a little tighter.

"After we drop off the guys."

She smiled. Time alone was just what she'd had in mind. Even if they were going to be in the middle of a crowded theater.

"Good. We can-"

"Hey! Where's Sam?"

River had found them before they had found him, and was smiling cheerfully at the two, a large shopping bag in one hand, and a can of soda in the other. He'd obviously made one purchase at least, because instead of the plain white t-shirt he'd been wearing, he was now sporting a vivid Hawaiian shirt, bright red with huge splotches of every other color under the sun.

Ian covered his eyes in mock agony – well, only partially mock, really.

"She's off looking for a band of gypsies to sell you to."