Cassandra Fraiser gathered up her belongings, her teddy bear, her very small Eeyore backpack, her CD walkman and the box to her Good Charlotte CD, putting her backpack on, and then moving out in to the aisle. She was wondering how the hell she was going to manage to get her bag, usually reserved for her gym kit, out of the overhead locker when the man next to her grabbed it and said, "this is yours?"
She nodded, surprised, and he put it on to her shoulder. "Thanks," she smiled, noticing how cute he was. He must have been around twenty-one, maybe twenty-two, resembling Teal'c's son, Rya'c. "Shouldn't have bought the bear," she added, looking down to her hands, completely full.
"Here, give that to me," he said, nodding towards her backpack. "I bet you can fit it in there." He took the bear from her hands and studied him for a second, before putting him in to Eeyore. "There, he's quite a little fellow."
"Thank you, again," Cassie said, finding herself practically drooling. Cute, helpful, and very, very British. "Oops, we're holding everyone up!" She exclaimed, shooting an apologetic look to the people behind her. He grabbed his messenger bag and closed the locker, and they walked toward the front of the plane. "I notice you're British," she said, mentally slapping herself for sounding so stupid.
"I am," he confirmed, as they made their way off of the plane. "I'm officially American now, I live in Denver, but I go home every couple of months for business, and to visit my family."
"Cool," she said. "I spent two weeks there just on holiday. My mother had always told me how lovely it was, Yorkshire, Cornwall, The Cotswalds. She was definitely right. I've only ever been to Canada and several parts of America before, so it was quite an adventure. I was born in Toronto."
"You went alone? Blimey!" He laughed. "It's a long way to go by yourself."
"I needed to be alone, and besides my family were all working really hard," She shrugged. "I'm Cassie, by the way."
"Hey, I'm Cal," He grinned, reaching to shake her hand but realising she had too much to carry. "Oh…uh…well…hi, Cassie. I've always liked the name Cassie, it's very pretty. Hang on, your last name isn't Fraiser, is it?"
Cassie's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"
"Because there is a large group of people over there with a sign that says welcome back Cassandra Fraiser," he said, pointing to her closest friends. They were like her family now, and she grinned. "I guess that's where I say goodbye. I noticed you during the flight on the plane, and I'm glad I got the chance to talk to you. I was just wondering if maybe you'd want to go for a drink, some time?"
"I'd like that," she said. "Uh, how about you give me your number and I'll call you? Or e-mail could be better."
"Hang on a second," he said, pausing and reaching in to his jacket pockets. He finally found a pen and a scrap of paper. He held the paper to her back and scribbled his number and e-mail down. He handed it to her, and then added, "It was nice meeting you. I can't wait to hear from you."
"You never know, you might have a message waiting for you by the time you get home," she winked. There was something about this guy that made her feel like she'd known him forever.
"In that case I had better hurry!" Cal said, and then he nodded, and strolled off towards the coffee shop. Cassandra stopped for a minute, watching him walk off, and then took a few seconds to calm herself. She then jogged over to her adopted family, straight in to Jack's arms.
"Cassykins!" The Air Force General exclaimed, kissing her forehead and then letting her go. Samantha Carter was next in the hug line, and wrapped her arms around her.
"Hey guys," she beamed, moving on to hug Daniel, and then finally, Teal'c AKA Murray Valentine, who was holding the sign. She had known without looking that he was the one waving it, as he always referred to people by their first and last names, or rank and last name, when Cal had said it.
"Who was that cute guy you were talking to?" Sam asked, taking her CD case from her. "And did I see him give you his phone number?"
"He's British, his name is Cal. We met on the plane," she admitted. "He gave me his e-mail and number and I said I'd drop him a line. There's something about him…I kept noticing him on the plane and apparently he kept noticing me."
"I love their accents," Sam noted, but Jack was frowning. "You never like any of her boyfriends, Jack." Jack. When they were around Cassandra, it was first names, not ranks. Not General, just Jack.
"True," he said. "Anyway, we missed you lots."
"You see me every two weeks so I doubt there was much difference," she rolled her eyes. "It's good to see you too. Janet was right, England is beautiful. You're all in one piece for once, it's nice to see."
"We've been on stand down," Sam sighed. Cassie smiled sympathetically at Teal'c, knowing he'd probably been bored stiff. It was OK for Samantha Carter, one of the planet's leading scientists, one of the most important soldiers. And for Daniel Jackson, archaeologist, but for Teal'c it was always dull. "Which usually, I wouldn't mind a whole lot, but we had a really good one coming up."
"About that, I'm trying to reschedule it so you still get to go," Jack whispered, winking. Her face lit up, and after that, so did his. "Cassie, tell us all about your holiday. What was the food like? Did it always rain?"
"You've been to England," Carter frowned. "I know you have. And you're always going to Ireland too."
"Yes, I know…but…Teal'c wants to know," he said. "Plus I want to hear all about her holiday."
"I am so thirsty," Cassie said. "Can we sit down and get a drink before I go in to all the details?"
"Indeed," Teal'c…Murray…said, bowing his head. They made their way across the space to the small coffee shop, and Cassie dumped her stuff. Murray and Daniel sat down, letting Cassie, Sam and Jack order.
"What do you guys want?" O'Neill asked, scanning the counter. "It's my treat."
"In that case," Sam said, "I'll have a tea, with a piece of that chocolate cake, please. And I bet you Cassandra will have a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich, a soda and a bag of potato chips, right?"
"Minus the chips, yes," She nodded. "I'm going to go and sit down." She wandered off back to the table and sat down, immediately beginning a conversation with Daniel on English history. Sam frowned.
"What?" Jack asked, after ordering everything.
"Cassie refusing potato chips," she shrugged. "It's silly, it's just she's never done that before."
"Probably not that hungry," he said, readying the cash to pay.
A few minutes later they were all sat around the one large table, Sam, Cassie and Jack on one couch, Teal'c and Daniel on the one opposite. Cassie had already told them the highlights of her holiday, and promised to show them the pictures she'd taken once they were developed. "I left not knowing what the hell I wanted to do with my life. I had ideas, but I didn't know."
"Have you figured it out?" Sam asked, sipping her tea. She then picked up her cake fork and took a small bite. "Do you want some of this, honey?"
"I'll have some in a minute, thanks," The eighteen-year-old replied. "Uh, yes. I have decided what I'm going to do."
"That's great!" Sam exclaimed, and Cassie heard similar words from the others.
"I've decided that I want to follow in you guys' and Janet's footsteps. I don't want to be an accountant, or a lawyer, or a dancer. I want to be a soldier, and I want to be a doctor. Janet helped people, and I want to carry on her work," she announced, wondering what their reactions were going to be. "But I also want to be on a team, I want to be like Sam."
"If you're sure that's what you want then I'm really happy for you," Sam began. "But you've got to make sure you're doing what you want to do. Don't do it for me, or for Janet. Don't do it to be like me, or Janet. Make sure you're doing it for you."
"I am," she grinned. "This is what I want. Knowing what you guys do…I couldn't settle for a normal job. What you all do every day is incredible, and I want to be a part of it. I don't really know where to begin, I guess I join the Air Force Academy now? Or do I go to medical school and then the academy after that? What do I do?"
"We'll go through all this when we get home," Jack told her, patting her knee. "I'm very proud of you, kiddo. I can't wait to have you be a part of my staff. I always kind of hoped you'd be there."
"If I join, they won't give me orders to go to some other country will they?" She checked, worried for a second.
"Oh, no. We have first pick from the Academy every year," he winked. "It isn't a problem."
"Of course, Jack might be retired by the time you make it to the SGC," Daniel said, and there was silence for a minute, before everyone but Teal'c started laughing. "Sam could be in charge by then."
"Not going to happen…" Jack said, and at Sam's hurt expression, added, "not the Carter part. She'll end up inheriting it eventually. But I'll stick around long enough to get to boss Cassie around!"
"You do that already," she giggled. "I can't wait to tell Jennie."
"Jennie?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, Teal'c," Cassie teased. "Also known as the four foot nine fighting machine, or, apparently, shortcake."
"She knows about that?" he asked, a worried expression appearing on his face. "Uh-oh. It's just a joke. Knowing her she won't take it as one."
"She doesn't mind it," Cassie assured him. "She had it all the time at the Academy, and her team all call her squirt. Anyway, she'll be pleased." Cassandra had met the lieutenant a few years ago, and although Jen was a few years older, they had gotten along very well. Cassandra was very mature, she'd been through a lot in her short life. "So before long I'll be Captain Doctor Cass."
"Captain Doctor, huh?" Daniel nodded. "Sounds good to me. One day you will be."
"You Will make a fine addition to the SGC, Cassandra Fraiser," Teal'c told her, smiling. The ex-First Prime never smiled, so it was very special when he did. "I have often thought that you would."
"I think we all have," Sam agreed. "I know Janet would be very proud of you. She always was. And I'm prouder than you could imagine. We all are." Cassandra pulled the slice of chocolate cake away from Sam, picked up the fork, and dug in. Sam had only eaten around half of it, and was staring at her. "So that's why you didn't want the chips. You wanted to steal my cake." She glared at the General. "She learnt that from you."
Sitting there, a possible boyfriend in the cards, her life planned out…it had been several months since Janet's death and for the first time, Cassandra felt like she might yet make it…
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Ok, maybe slightly pointless, sorry about that. But I was bored and I just…wrote it. If you want to see more of Cal let me know in the reviews and I will write a story about their dates and possibly their relationship. If I knew anything about cadets and the air force academy and medical school I would write a series about her, but I don't. I'll have to find an advisor, won't I? By the way, picture Katie Stuart's original Cassie, not Colleen Rennison's. Katie rocks.