By the time the breakfast bell rang, the boys had pretty much recovered from having Ian back. They weren't quite so high strung, and aside from Sammy, they weren't being clingy – which was good, because Ian could only handle so much of that. Especially when he was feeling like he was.

When the bell rang, the boys bolted for the door, and then scrambled down the hill at a run, leaving Ian, River and Sammy to walk at amore sedate pace, with Jaffer right beside Ian, his nose every now and then touching the New Yorker's hand. Ian didn't mind; he liked having Jaffer so close – even though the lab couldn't take care of his aches like he could Jack's. Dogs were just comforting, that was all. Big dogs, anyways – not yappy dogs – and labs were the best of all of them as far as Ian was concerned.

As they headed for the cafeteria, it turned out to be Justas well that Jaffer's steadying support was there, because Ian found himself surrounded once more – this time by the rest of the campers and some of the counselors.

"Ian! You're back!"

"Ian!"

"Wow! Your head looks bad!"

"How come you're limping?"

"Can I pet Jaffer?"

"Ian!"

The kids were nonstop yelling questions and comments and they were crowding up against him until he, River and Sammy couldn't move without worrying about tripping over someone and taking a fall. Jaffer rumbled, pressed against Ian's leg. It wasn't a warning rumble; these were children, after all, and Jaffer loved kids – way more than Ian did. He was just making noises.

Ian, on the other hand, was losing patience with the whole deal rather quickly, and might have actually snapped at someone if they hadn't been rescued at that moment.

"Hey guys, back up and give them some room!"

The voice came from behind them, and Ian turned and saw Hank walking down the hill with a couple of his boys.

The kids crowding Ian and the others did as they were told –and the few counselors in the small group flushed slightly, chagrined at the fact that they'd been acting the same way their kids had been. But since no one had known Ian's status, they'd been just as surprised to have him back so suddenly as their campers were.

Since Sammy and Jaffer were flanking Ian, Hank stopped beside River as the others headed into the cafeteria.

"Good to have you back, Ian."

"Thanks."

He couldn't imagine why.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Ian had had enough of twenty questions, and he could see that Hank was gearing up to ask more, so he took the initiative. "Come on, Sammy. We need to get inside."

"Bye, Hank," Sammy said, smiling as Ian put a hand on his back and ushered him into the building, Jaffer still at heel beside Ian. Hank's boys followed as well. Like all boys, they were starving and more than ready for breakfast.

Hank turned to River.

"Is he mad at me?"

The Californian grinned.

"Why would he be?"

"I don't know… he was pretty short…"

River shrugged.

"Don't take it personally; you got more of a conversation out of him than I usually do. Come on, let's go eat."

OOOOOOO

Ian had just enough time to see that the cafeteria was almost filled when he suddenly found himself buffeted one more time.

"Ian!"

Libby's sore legs didn't allow her to rush up to him, but she did limp over quickly, and she threw herself against him, her arms coming around his hips as she hugged him tightly.

Embarrassed by the display – and well aware that everyone in the room was watching – Ian patted her back awkwardly. She looked up at him, her adorable little face smeared with happy tears.

"I knew you'd come back."

He ran his fingers through her silky hair, easily remembering when it had been caked with mud and blood, and tried to act nonchalant – even though he was feeling warm and gooey inside once more.

"Of course I'm back," he told her, turning her and guiding her to the table that held Ann and Danin, with Sammy still walking beside him and everyone still watching. "Eat your breakfast."

Ann rolled her eyes, unimpressed with Ian's greeting of the little girl, but she smiled when Libby sat down next to her once more, resting her hand lightly on her cheek and giving her the comfort that as far as she was concerned, Ian should have given her.

Libby didn't mind. She knew Ian liked her – he'd cuddled with her, after all, when she'd needed him the most, and who had found her when she'd been lost? Ian. She wasn't upset that he didn't have time right then to be with her. It was breakfast time, after all, and he was probably hungry. She was hungry, too!

Gary interrupted whatever else might have been said or done. The camp director came up to his usual spot, smiling broadly to see that all his campers and counselors were back where they belonged – at camp.

"Good morning, campers!" He called, cheerfully.

"Good morning!"

"Well, as you can see, we're all here again. The sun's shining bright, and it's going to be a great day, so when we're done with breakfast I'll have some announcements to hand out."

There were cheers at that, because there was no way they weren't going to go back to outside activities with such a nice day on the horizon, and the kids were ready to swim, ride and play!

"Let's eat!" Gary said, turning as Jared's cooking staff started loading up the serving table with plates of bacon and French toast.

Again there were cheers, and then the room was filled with conversations as each table chose its runners and started discussing what activities they might be doing that day.

OOOOOOOOOOO

At the almost empty staff stable, Sam couldn't help but smile. Unlike Ann, Sam – and Janet, who was seated right beside her – both knew that Ian had pretty much done his best with Libby. He hadn't pushed her away, and he hadn't even said a single bad word. Even when he knew he was the center of attention. Not even an annoyed scowl. For him, that was a huge concession.

"That wasn't so bad," Janet said softly to Sam.

"Nope. Next thing you know, he'll be sitting around the campfire singing Kumbaya," Sam said, scratching Jaffer, who came over to whuffle Jake since Jack was too busy with the kids he was sitting with to give the lab the attention Jaffer was certain he deserved.

Janet snorted.