Awake once, Ian's sleep wasn't as deep and desperate as it had been, and as if that was what he'd been waiting for, the very solid presence that was Alexander was suddenly with Ian as he slept, filling him with the same warm friendship and love that Ian felt every time he was visited by the Ancient. This time, however, Ian didn't feel overwhelmed by the sensation like he normally was – probably because he was so tired, although Alexander knew immediately that there was more to it than just that.

"You did good…"

Ian nodded, but didn't say anything.

"You're worried…"

He shook his head.

"I'm fucked, Alexander."

"How so?" The Ancient didn't even flinched at Ian's turn of phrase – he was used to it.

"They know everything – or they will, anyways."

"It was going to happen eventually. Don't worry about it."

"Easy for you to say…" Ian sighed, and it was a depressing sound. "I suppose it doesn't matter… I'm not really Air Force material anyways."

There was a soft snort of disbelief.

"How can someone as bright as you have such low self esteem?"

Ian shrugged; he didn't really want to discuss it.

"Just lucky, I guess."

"Well… stop. You're depressing me. Everything's going to be fine."

"You're not listening, Alexander. They know. Your secret is out. Or it will be, anyways."

"I know. Just tell them what they want to know…"

Ian hesitated.

"Really?"

Alexander nodded.

"We'll figure it out, Ian. It was more important that Jack survive, and there wasn't any way to do it without giving away your abilities…"

Alexander was a lot more confident than Ian was, but the cadet had other things on his mind than his future in the military – or possible lack there of.

"I have a question…"

There was a hesitation and then disquiet, followed by a sigh of acceptance.

"I figured you would have… ask away."

"When I was healing Jack – both here and… before… I felt… Jaffer."

"Yes."

"He's you, isn't he?"

"No."

Ian frowned. He'd been pretty certain of himself – or he never would have asked. The presence that had been Jaffer in the three-way healing link had been liberally laced with the same presence that was with him right now. Alexander. He knew, though that the Ancient couldn't lie to him – not with the two of them so closely linked just then.

"He isn't?"

Alexander sighed again, and obviously made a decision.

"It's a long story…"

"I have time."

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that. It's simple, really… There was a time when Jack was drifting, and needed something – someone – to ground him."

"Sam?"

"No… at the time Sam and Jack were at the beginning of their relationship, and we weren't sure exactly what was going to come of it. You have to understand; in most realities Jack and Sam are not an item like they are here – and we didn't know how far things would go between them. And even if things did happen between them, Jack still needed someone who would love him unconditionally – and without reservation or worry about what others might think."

"So you created Jaffer…"

"Of course not. No more than we created Jack (the dog). We just saw the perfect opportunity when it presented itself, and took it."

"I don't understand…"

"I know… and it now it kind of gets complicated, so pay attention, okay?"

Ian didn't even think to be offended. He just nodded.

"Okay."

"Jaffer's a dog. He was born the same way every other dog is. The only difference is that from the minute he was born, he was drawn to Jack. I don't know what it was about them that drew them together – none of us do – but there's a special bond between the two of them."

"I know."

"Well… you know what I am, right?"

"An ascended Ancient."

"You're partially right. I was ascended. When Jack was given Jaffer, and we saw the bond between the two of them, we decided that it was the best chance we'd ever have to be able to keep an even closer eye on Jack than we already had."

"So you possessed Jaffer."

"Not exactly. Possession implies that I can control the dog and make him do what I want him to. Which isn't quite accurate. What I did was create a bond. Jaffer's soul and my own are linked. I feel what he feels, and he feels what I do."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because we figured that Jaffer is closer to Jack than anyone, and if something were to go wrong, Jaffer would be the first to know. By bonding with Jaffer, I know when something goes wrong, too. And I can act on it."

"You can heal him?"

"No. When I ascended, I gave up the majority of the powers that I had – I gained others, but that's another story. What I can do is sustain him. The idea was that I would keep him alive until Dotty could get to Jack to heal him."

"Oh."

"We didn't expect to ever need you in that capacity, Ian," Alexander said, softly, and Ian felt the sorrow Alexander was still feeling at the loss of his daughter. "But I have to admit, I'm glad you were there."

Ian nodded.

"Me, too."

There was a moment of silence, but Alexander spoke up again, and the sorrow faded.

"Jaffer kept Jack focused when he didn't have anyone else to care about. He gave Jack a balance that in other realities doesn't exist – and because of that, he's changed your reality drastically from the others. He was – and is – Jack's protector and guardian, and I suppose you could call him a soul mate. Now Jack has Sam, Shawn and Jacob, so it helps balance him as well, but Jaffer is still important, because no matter how much the others love Jack, they all have other concerns that distract them. Jaffer never will. To him, Jack is everything. Not to mention Jaffer has saved the lives of people that have died in other realities. People that have their own places in the scheme of things."

"Who?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

Ian scowled, but he didn't argue. He was feeling just a little overwhelmed by what he was hearing – well aware that he was once more being given a secret to guard. One that he was going to have to keep better than the other one he'd been charged to keep.

"This one won't be so hard to keep, Ian. No one else has even come close to putting two and two together, and as far as we can tell, it doesn't seem to be changing any time soon."

He wasn't so sure, and Alexander obviously felt that. Ian felt a surge of good humor.

"Don't worry about it, Ian. You have more than enough on your plate already."

Which brought him back to the other problem once more.

"So what do I do to fix things…?"

"You leave that to us. We got you into this, and we'll get you out of it."

Before Ian could ask what he meant, though, Alexander was gone.

Troubled, but too tired to force himself awake so he could think things through, Ian slept once more, his arm still around the warm body of the black lab that was asleep next to him. The big dog opened his eyes for a moment, but didn't see anything.He rumbled softly in response to something that only he could hear, and then he went back to sleep as well.