"Where are you going from here?" Nate asked SG-1. "You know that the press is going to be hounding you for the next century – they're going to be right on your trail when you leave for home."

Jack smiled.

"We're not going home. We're going to go find Ian and then head off to a private resort that none of the press knows about. Hopefully."

Maggie cleared her throat, looking just a little guilty.

"You probably shouldn't count on finding Ian…" she said.

The President turned, concerned.

"What?"

Nathan scowled, automatically moving just a little in front of his wife to put himself between her and Hayes – even though Maggie was quite capable of handling bigwigs. She did it all the time, after all. It was just a natural move for him to make.

"We already snuck him off base," he said.

"You did what?" Ken Shawl asked, annoyed. "Under whose authority?"

Maggie's dark eyes flashed, reminding Sam just how much her son resembled her, since the look was identical to Ian at his most annoyed.

"I wasn't aware he needed a permission slip, but I'll be happy to write him a note," she told him.

Shawl backed down immediately, both because he hadn't thought about what he was saying (or who he was saying it to) and because the President was giving him a disapproving look.

"Doctor Fraiser released him from the infirmary," Hammond said, looking over at Janet as she walked up to the group. "So as far as I'm concerned, he's free to go where he wants – as long as I can get in touch with him when I need to. The same applies to you four," he added, looking at all of SG-1 – including Teal'c.

Jack nodded.

"We'll be at Andrew's grandparents'."

Which was obscure enough that Shawl wouldn't know what he was talking about – although Hammond knew immediately. It was really a perfect place to hide for a couple of days while the press calmed down just a bit and Hayes had a chance to run some new proposals through congress.

"Good enough," he said. He looked over at Janet. "Are you going with them, doctor?"

Fraiser shook her head.

"I'm going to keep an eye on Ben Crane for the next few days…"

And Emmett wanted to stick around. Both to keep an eye on the progress of his cameraman, and because he had a lot of editing to do to get his documentary ready by the deadline Hayes had given him. Which was where he was just then; working on it.

"How's he doing?" Jack asked.

"He had a rough time of it," Janet replied. "But he's a tough guy. He'll be okay."

"What about McKay?" Hammond asked, looking at Jack.

"What about me?" Rodney asked, surprised that someone had mentioned him – and slightly annoyed. "I'm not going with them – wherever they're going. I have a date," he added, smugly.

Sam's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"A date?"

"Yes. Is that really so hard to believe? I'm a good looking guy, after all and-"

"With who?" Daniel asked.

"Elizabeth Weir."

"You have a date with Elizabeth Weir?" Daniel asked, incredulously. He barely knew the woman, but couldn't believe anyone who seemed to be as intelligent as she did would have such poor taste.

McKay shrugged.

"Well, it isn't so much a date, per se… but it is a scheduled rendezvous. Which makes it a date. Technically."

They were all looking at him in varying degrees of disbelief, and McKay made an annoyed noise.

"What? I'm a hero, damn it. Of course people are going to-"

"She wants to discuss that Atlantis thing with you, doesn't she?" Jack asked.

"It might come up, maybe."

"Then you stay in the SGC, doctor," Hammond said. "And do not discuss anything like that with the press."

"I'm not stupid."

"Or with anyone besides Elizabeth Weir," Hayes added. "I haven't made a decision on that, yet, and I don't want anyone else pestering me about it until I do."

"How are you planning on getting off base without the press following you?" Maggie asked, changing the subject.

Sam smiled.

"We have our ways."

"You and Nate are welcomed to join us," Jack added. "It's a big place – and I'm sure there's plenty of room."

Maggie hesitated, looking up at her husband. It was obvious that she was interested, but she wasn't sure what he wanted to do.

Nathan nodded.

"If you don't think we'd be in the way, we'd be glad to come."

"How are you going to get off base, though?" Maggie asked, curiously.

Jack smiled.

"I'll tell you when we get to my office."

He certainly wasn't going to share that information with Shawl or any of the President's other lackeys. Hammond nodded, understanding completely. And agreeing, as well. While he hadn't discussed it with them, he was pretty sure that SG-1 was going to take advantage of the fact that Thor and the Asgard that had answered his distress call where still in orbit and get beamed over to the Stephens' lodge. Which would be impossible for the press to follow, of course.

"You're dismissed, Colonel. Make sure you take your cell phones."

"Yes, sir."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"You're really okay with this?" River asked Cassie about twenty minutes later.

The two of them had decided that Ian looked like he was about to fall asleep – or pass out – and had told him he should try to take a nap. It was a measure of just how awful he felt that he didn't even argue with them. Instead, he'd sprawled on the couch and fallen asleep almost immediately.

Then the two of them had started digging through Ian's cupboards, trying to find something they could turn into a meal. Which wasn't looking too promising, as River had already pointed out.

Cassie shrugged.

"It's not like I'm going to be around here, anyways…"

"But still…"

She smiled.

"It'll give him something to do. And it can't be much more dangerous than what he's already been doing. At least he'll have a whole bunch of back up this time."

River looked dubious, and Cassie's smile grew.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?"

"No."

"Yes, you are."

He scowled, but it was more defensive than annoyed.

"No. I'm just… he doesn't like to travel…"

"He doesn't like to fly," she corrected. "Admit it, you're worried."

"It's a long ways away."

"He doesn't seem too worried."

"He's running from the press. That's not the best reason to commit yourself to a dangerous mission someplace on the other side of the universe…"

She smiled again.

"He wants to go. The media is just a handy excuse."

He frowned, looking over toward the couch for a moment and then back to her.

"Really? You think so?"

Cassie nodded.

"Definitely."

"So there's no talking him out of it?"

"Probably not. And I'm not going to try."

As long as Jack and Sam approved of whoever he was going with, she wasn't going to worry about him. Too much.

"Huh…"

He didn't say anything else for a long moment, and when he finally did speak, it was to ask which of them was going to go to the grocery store.