Author's note: This chapter might seem to jump all over, but there's nothing I can do about it – unless I made each little section into a chapter, and I definitely didn't want to do that. So bear with it, please!

OOOOOOOO

"You realize this is probably a waste of time?"

Sam looked over at Jack, who was driving them to Ian's apartment. It was only the two of them since Shawn said he'd watch Jake, and Jack left Jaffer to keep an eye on things. Mainly because Shawn trusted the Asgard – which only made sense, Jack knew – and Jaffer had already made it perfectly clear that he didn't. Between the black lab and Teal'c, Jack was sure his family was safe from anything stupid, and he and Sam could focus on their task at hand. Which wasn't an easy one.

"He might surprise us…"

Now it was Jack's turn to look over at Sam, although it was only a quick glance before turning back to the road.

"You don't believe that, though…"

"Not at all."

He snorted, amused despite the seriousness of what they were doing.

"That's why you're coming, too. In case he won't listen to me."

Sam shrugged.

"I honestly don't think I'm going to be able to talk him into anything this time. General Hammond doesn't seem to understand how-"

"He understands," Jack interrupted. "That's why he sent you. It was you or Cassie – and Cassie isn't cleared for this."

She smiled.

"So why did he send you?"

"Someone has to drive."

She chuckled, and rested her hand on his leg, enjoying just a little quiet time before the expected storm that they were facing once they told Ian what they wanted from him.

OOOOOOOOO

"This is a problem…"

Sam nodded, knocking on the door to Ian's apartment once more, even though she knew that there wasn't going to be an answer. They'd already knocked a half dozen times, after all. They'd also tried his cell phone, but they could hear it ringing inside the apartment – proving that Ian had left it home. Again.

"His car is here," Jack said, frowning.

"He might be with Cassie."

"He would have driven."

Ian loved to drive; they both knew that.

Sam reached for her cell phone.

"I'll call Cassie. He's probably with her."

OOOOOOOOOO

"Hello?"

"Hey, Cass, it's Sam."

"Hi, Sam. How's it going?"

"Good. Thanks. Hey, we're looking for Ian. Is he with you?"

"He went home."

"We're at his place," Sam said, looking at Jack, who was able to hear the conversation fairly well by putting his head close to hers. "He isn't here."

There was a confused hesitation.

"Not home to his apartment," Cassie said. "He went home. Home."

"What?"

"To his parents'," she explained. "He called me yesterday and asked me to take him to the airport."

"He flew home?" Jack asked.

Cassie obviously heard the question, because she answered.

"He said General Hammond gave him some time off…" she said. "He's not in trouble is he?"

"No," Sam said. "He has the rest of the week… but we really need to talk to him."

"He's home. He told me he'd be back Sunday night."

Sam looked over at Jack, who was frowning.

"Okay, Cass. Thanks."

"He's not in trouble?" she asked again before Sam could hang up.

Sam smiled.

"No, Cass. He's not in trouble. We'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

As Sam closed her phone, she looked at Jack.

"So what do we do now?"

"We go back to the base and get some help locating Ian."

OOOOOOOO

"He what?"

"He went home."

"You're kidding…"

Jack shook his head.

"I wish I was, sir. But he's gone. Cassie took him to the airport."

"We need him here, Colonel."

"I know, sir. That's why we're back." Jack looked at Thor, who was the only Asgard in the room just then. "We need you to find Ian for us."

"And bring him back here?"

"No," Sam said, shaking her head. That would still be a mistake. Even more now that they knew he was with his parents. The last thing they needed was for him to just vanish in a flash of light right in front of Nate and Maggie – and the Asgard weren't always known for subtlety.

"You beam us there," Jack said. "Someplace that no one will see it. And then we try to convince him that he wants to help."

Thor nodded.

"I will need to return to my ship to locate Ian Brooks."

"We'll come, too," Sam said.

Jack nodded his agreement, and looked at Hammond.

"We'll keep in touch, sir."

"You do that. And let me know if you need anything."

"Yes, sir."

There were three flashes of light, a soft growl from Jaffer and Jack (the dog), and the three were gone. Shawn reached down and scratched Jaffer's neck, distracting the lab and calming him down at the same time. Jaffer didn't like to be left behind.

OOOOOOOOO

Only a few moments later, Thor looked over at the two humans standing on the bridge of his ship.

"My sensors cannot find Ian Brooks, O'Neill."

Jack frowned.

"What?"

"I cannot get a lock on Ian Brooks in order to position you and Major O'Neill close to his location."

"Why not?"

"He's not in Colorado Springs," Sam reminded Thor, thinking he might not be looking in the right spot – even though she knew that couldn't be the case. While Earth was a large planet, the Asgard sensors were delicate and powerful at the same time and would be able to find someone they were calibrated to no matter where they were on the planet.

"I am aware of that, Major," Thor said. "I have searched everywhere for him. He is not on your planet."

"He has to be," Jack told him. "None of your people would have missed another ship coming in, right? No one else could have tried to pull a Loki on him…?"

"Pull a Loki?" Thor repeated, confused.

"Tried what Loki did," Sam clarified.

Thor shook his head.

"No ship – Asgard, or Goa'uld – could have approached your planet without us noticing."

"Then he has to be down there," Jack said, frustrated.

"I cannot find him."

"Check the eastern seaboard," Sam requested.

Thor looked at her.

"I have, Major. I cannot locate him."

Sam glanced at Jack, and then looked at the headsup display that showed the planet spinning lazily beneath them.

"That's nuts…"

"Indeed."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Far beneath them, in a large house nestled in a quiet neighborhood, in a small bag that was stashed in the closet of a bedroom on the second floor of that house, a small device – no larger than a bar of soap – clicked softly to itself as it came to life. It chirruped softly once, and then returned to passive monitoring a moment later.

On the other side of the closet door, a black lab heard the noise and cocked his head toward the closet door. He rumbled a soft, curious growl deep in his chest, and looked over at the young man who was sitting at the desk, rifling through one of the drawers, looking for a piece of paper his mother had asked him to find.

Ian looked over, and smiled at the expression on his dog's face.

"What are you doing?"

Bubba sneezed, and trotted over to get a little loving, the soft noise on the other side of the door forgotten.