It didn't take long to tell them, but it felt like forever. Jack and Sam and Jaffer were the only ones in the little conference room with Maggie and Nathan, and while Nathan sat through the discussion fairly quietly – with only a couple of interruptions – it was Maggie who surprised both of them by standing up and pacing the room while they spoke. The warning look Nathan gave them both should have been preparation enough, but when Jack finished speaking he and Sam were both caught off guard by what happened next.

They'd expected an explosion. Of course they did. Nathan had a flashpoint temper and while Sam and Jack had both assured him and Maggie that Ian was going to be okay, it was still a matter of fact that the boy had been hurt – and Nathan was always very protective of his son and his activities. What they hadn't expected, however, was Maggie's reaction.

She whirled on them both, her dark eyes flashing in an uncharacteristic fury that neither of them had ever seen.

"He's been working with aliens?"

Jack nodded, surprised by the anger in her voice as well. He glanced over at Nate, and saw that he wasn't going to get any help from that section.

"Yes."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It was a security issue, Magg-"

"Don't talk to me about security issues, Jack O'Neill!" Maggie interrupted. "I've lived with security issues my entire adult life and I know all about them." Of course she did, she was married to a former special operations man. "You put my son's life in danger."

"That's not fair, Maggie," Sam said. "We haven't put him in any more danger than anyone else was. He-"

"This is why he was shot last Thanksgiving?" she interrupted.

Jack shook his head.

"No. That was exactly what you were told it was…"

She scowled and looked over at Nathan, who nodded. He'd been hand in hand with the Attorney General and knew it to be the truth. But still he didn't say anything.

"And the other times he's been hurt?"

Jack hesitated, but nodded.

"For the most part, those were offworld incidents, yes…"

"It's a dangerous job that we do," Sam told her. "Injuries aren't uncommon, but we-"

"I suppose it was some aliens that needed that favor from him? The one that you convinced me was so important that you needed my help to get him to do it?"

Sam flushed, but she wasn't going to lie.

"Yes."

"But they're good aliens," Jack added. "They're our allies."

"Oh?" Maggie didn't sound convinced, and as angry as she was, she sounded so much like Ian when he was angry that they'd both wondered if maybe it was her the young man got his temper from, after all. "And where are these allies, now? I didn't see any news footage of some other kind of alien ships flying over France protecting the cities that were being attacked."

It was, of course, only one city, but no one was about to correct her. Besides, she was right about that.

"They couldn't help us," Jack said. "Not without risking being compromised by-"

"Then they should have been compromised!" she snapped. "If that's the best we can expect from these allies, then they're not really all that helpful, are they?"

"Maggie…" Now it was Nathan who tried to calm her down.

Now she whirled on him.

"You knew about this."

He winced, but nodded.

"Some of it, yes."

"And you didn't tell me."

"I couldn't. It was-"

"National Security," she finished in a bitter tone, her eyes still furious, only now she was mad at all of them.

He nodded.

OOOOOOOOOO

"I need you."

Ian scowled. While he had to admit that he was very glad for the familiar feel of having Alexander's Presence close by, he couldn't help but be annoyed.

"Hi, Alexander. How are you?"

The Presence that filled his mind was momentarily chagrined, as Alexander realized that he tended to do that a lot to the New Yorker.

"It's good to know you're all right, Ian," he finally said. "And well done on defeating Anubis. Again you did it in a manner that I never would have considered."

"It seemed like the proper way to do it. Chelani was one of the ones that suffered most by what Anubis did, it was only fair that he have a hand in destroying him."

"You're right."

Ian could feel Alexander's approval.

"Now… I need you."

The New Yorker sighed.

"For what?"

"Your parents are here…"

"They are?" He couldn't help but be surprised at that. But then realized that if Jack had called them and blown the secret, he must be worse off than he thought.

"You're doing fine," Alexander said, following Ian's thoughts. "And the secret has been blown completely, but not by Jack or Sam. When you crashed into that cornfield, you pretty much gave it away yourself."

"I crashed into a cornfield?"

Now there was a hint of amusement.

"Oh yes. And now you're in the hospital. In Iowa."

"Iowa? I was aiming for Colorado."

"Better a cornfield than the Rocky Mountains," the Presence told him. "Now, like I was saying… I need your help."

Ian sighed, but as single-minded as Alexander was being, it had to be something fairly important.

"What do you need…?"

OOOOOOOOO

Janet was the only one in the recovery room when Ian opened his eyes. She wasn't even aware that he was awake until he actually groaned and sat up, holding his battered side gingerly.

She gave a startled noise and stepped forward, quickly.

"Easy. Lay back down before you hurt yourself."

He looked around, looking just a little dazed.

"Where are my folks?"

"They're here. Now lie down."

He shook his head.

"Where?"

"You're in the hospital," Janet told him, thinking that was what he was asking. "In Iowa. Don't worry, though, you're going to be fine."

Actually, he looked fine, too. Bruised and battered, and apparently in some pain, but not anywhere near as bad as he should have been. Really, McKay was hurt worse than he was – aside from the gunshot wounds.

"I know where I am," Ian said, absently. He looked down at himself, not surprised to find he didn't have anything on and that there were wires going from him to the beeping monitors. "I need some clothes… please… and I need to get up."

Janet frowned, putting her hand on his forehead to check for a fever – even as she looked over at the monitor to see what it was telling her. He wasn't hot enough to be hallucinating. Although he did have the nasty bump on his head.

"Why?" she asked, thinking that he'd better have a pretty good reason if he thought she was going to allow him out of bed so soon.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Maggie… be reasonable…"

"Don't you try to placate me, Nathan Michael Brooks!" Maggie snapped. "I don't understand why you allowed this to happen, but I'm not going to allow it to continue. He's my son. The only one I have. He's supposed to be doing safe stuff! Things that will help him prepare for whatever brilliant future the good Lord has in mind for him – not working with aliens and crashing into cornfields in alien ships that-"

"Mom…"

None of them had heard the door open. Not with Maggie yelling at them. None of them had seen Ian walked through that open door – well, stagger was a better term, since he was hardly standing easily, leaning on Janet's arm like he was. But they had all heard him call her, and everyone in the room turned toward the door, surprised.

Ian managed a smile at the shocked looks – and at the ass-chewing he'd heard her giving them. He hadn't known she had it in her, really, and he was as close to her as anyone.

"Ian…"