A Strange New World

by

Jingles

Author's Note: This story was originally published as part of a free mini-zine at a European Stargate convention in 2002 - 2003.

A cool gentle breeze coming down from the mountains brought some comfort to the hot, arid heat of the afternoon sun. The pre-teenager could feel the soft blades of grass tickling her toes as the wind's passage caused their movement. It was a lazy, sunny Colorado summer day and the twelve-year-old's bare feet dangled a bit, barely touching the ground from her place on the lawn chair. Dressed in the outfit of summer, shorts and a tank top, the girl watched the action on the road in front of her, one of her legs swinging idly back and forth in a slow rhythm, dispelling some extra energy she didn't even know she had.

Cassy reached down, picking up the Pepsi bottle sitting next to her chair, and took a large gulp without really looking at what she was drinking. Her eyes were focused entirely on the figures moving back and forth in front of her.

This was the event she had waited for all week, the big street-hockey face-off between SG-3 and SG-1. It was no secret who she was rooting for. She heard a whistle blow and then a…

"Sam, I'm warning you, anymore high sticking and I'll give SG-3 a free shot at the goal," came the voice of her adopted… well… she couldn't quite bring herself to call Janet her mom, not yet. It was too soon; it would feel like she was betraying her own mother if she did. Instantly a sense of sadness swept over the child, the wound was still fresh, the loss of her family, her people, still new.

But that didn't stop Cassy from caring deeply for the people in front of her, who had taken her in and loved her even though she had been a complete stranger to them. Every time things got too difficult for her, one of them would be there, usually Janet. The redheaded chief doctor of the SGC had not only taken her into her home but would listen to her for hours as she talked about her family, her life, her mother… and then would hold her afterwards as she cried.

There was a Whack and a Thud on the street as the puck ricocheted off Daniel's legs.

"Oops… sorry," came a not-very-sincere sounding apology from one of the SG-3 marines. The victimized archeologist glared back at the man with a 'yeah, well-thanks-a-lot' look with its own obvious sarcastic undertones.

There was a growl at the other end of the psuedo-rink that made a young SG-3 lieutenant skate back a few paces. He had gotten too close to the SG-1's goalie, Teal'c. The large Jaffa was giving the man a look that said if he even attempted to get close to their goal again, Teal'c would disembowel him.

Cassy smiled to herself. She found it a minor miracle that Teal'c was managing to protect the SG-1 goal at all, which in reality was two orange cones about three feet apart, strategically placed at one end of the street. Granted, the man was doing it by using all his six-foot four-inch, 265 pounds mass to block it; that and by intimidating the hell out of the members of SG-3. It was working on most of them except for Makepeace, who was making a great effort not to notice.

Cassy had been there last week when SG-1 had tried to teach Teal'c to skate. Her grin deepened as she remembered it…

Teal'c was holding on to the side of the garage like it was the only thing between him and a bottomless pit. His eyes showed his distress even if he didn't voice it.

"O'Neill, I do not believe this is a wise course of action."

"Come on,Teal'c, let go. You'll be fine." When it became apparent Teal'c had no intention of letting go, he added. "…Come on. If Daniel can do it, anyone can."

"Hey!" came the hurt voice of Jack's victim, who had not appreciated the comment.

Sam,in the meantime, skatedup and down Jack's driveway. Sometimes forward, sometimes backward, practicing turning in a circle, very gracefully. She tried talking to Teal'c whileat the same time not stopping her movements. "Think of it as training for combat," Sam called over her shoulder to the distraught Jaffa.

"CaptainCarter, I doubt I will encounter an enemy while on skates."

"Teal'c, you just need to learn balance." After a moment she added, "After all,it's a matter of honor. SG-1 has been challenged to a street-hockey match by SG-3. You wouldn't want us to be a player short, would you?" she finished sweetly, waiting for the fact he'd be letting his team down to sink in.

The colonel gave Sam a look of 'that's-right-Carter, use-the-guilt-approach', silently encouraged her.

That did it. Teal'c squared his shoulders and pushed off from the garage. Although his attitude had improved, his balance had not. He promptly lost his footing and fell into the rest of SG-1, knocking them all off their feet.

Bodies fleweverywhere. When the dust settled, Sam was on top, laughing so hard she was almost crying. Directly underneath came Daniel,with a slightly dazed expression that changed to a smile as he began to laugh along with Sam.

Jack, unfortunately, was on the bottom looking extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm glad you think this is so funny… Now GET OFF!… I can't breathe."

"I am sorry, O'Neill. This exercise does not seem to be a success."

"Teal'c… MOVE, you're killing me here."

The preteen was glad she had been there, if for no other reason than to see them all piled on Jack. Cassy took another sip of her drink, the corners of her mouth still uplifted at the remembered amusement. It also made her feel a little better knowing that someone else was having trouble adjusting to life here on Earth. She knew beneath Teal'c's fierce exterior, there was the soul of a gentle giant, her gentle giant. Just like all of SG-1 were hers, at least that's the way she liked to think of it. She had adopted them, and they her. It had only been a couple of weeks ago that she had awoken to a slight swaying, only to find that Teal'c was carrying her to Janet's car. She had fallen asleep while they were at Jack's for the evening.

"Yes!… Score!" the triumphant sound of Colonel O'Neill's voice broke her out of her reverie as he drove the puck in between the feet of the SG-3's goalie and into the goal for a point.

The fact these people went out of their way to include her in things warmed the girl to the very core of her being. Only last week, she and Janet had gone with SG-1 to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The colonel had said it was for her and Teal'c's education about Earth society. Secretly, Cassy believed that Jack just liked to see the animals. It seemed strange to the young girl that they would place a zoo so near to where they hid the Stargate, but then again, the zoo had been there first. As she wandered around the zoo grounds, she kept thinking how ironic it was that none of the people here had any idea they were so close to this world's greatest secret.

Cassy had to admit she had not known that such beasts could exist in the universe. It had concerned her greatly until Janet assured her that most of the animals' wild cousins lived half a world away. On her homeworld, they'd had only some domesticated farm animals, nothing even remotely as dangerous as the wild creatures found here.

There had been a strange conversation when they'd first arrived and she'd asked what kind of animals they would see there. Sam had replied with a, "Well, there are some very large animals… elephants, rhinos…"

When Cassy showed no signs of recognition, Sam kept going, determined to find some earth creature the girl had heard of.

"…giraffe…lions…"

Then Jack had added, "And tigers, don't forget tigers… big huge cats with stripes and claws that…" O'Neill had bought his hands up to form imitation claws.

It was at this point that Daniel interrupted with a… "And bears… oh, my."

A mischievous glint had lit the archeologist's eye as he had spoken. Both Janet and Sam had thought his words were funny but Jack had immediately growled a warning of "DANIEL!"

Cassy didn't understand Jack's fuss; after all, they did have bears there.

Janet told her later that the colonel was just jealous that Daniel had stolen his line, which of course led to a discussion of where the line had come from. Cassy wanted to see the movie immediately, but Janet had been against it, saying it would be better if Cassy waited a few more months, adjusting to her new world first. The twelve-year-old, however, would have none of it and had won the argument by insisting that she wasn't a little kid anymore. She was almost a teenager for crying out loud, much smaller children watched The Wizard of Oz. (Janet then pointed out that Cassy was picking up Jack's speech patterns and said she was going to have to have a talk with him about that.)

The doctor had been right however, Cassy had started crying before the movie's end. There was just too much about going home in it… and she couldn't, not ever. This time it was Jack who had gathered her up on his lap and she threw her small arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. Hours later, she had awoken still in the same position having cried herself to sleep. The colonel had not moved, the whole time… man, she loved him for that, and for everything else that made him special. It had taken her about two weeks before she realized that Jack's 'Earth Rules' were just his way of being able to make a fuss over her without her knowing. She loved him for that, too.

"Yes!… Yes!…" another excited cry came from the playing field as Sam successfully guided the puck into the SG-3 goal.

Cassy studied Sam dreamily; Sam had been her first real friend here. She was such a wonderful person. She had been Cassy's safe harbor in the midst of a very big storm. The captain came and spent a lot of time with her, taking her shopping, or to the movies. In some ways, Cassy wished she could live with Sam, but understood the reasons she couldn't. Besides, there was a part of her that was not ready to give up Janet, truth be told, she wanted them both.

There was always someone from the SGC that stayed with her during the day. Janet didn't think it wise that she be left alone just yet. The small redheaded woman did her best to make it home each night to be with her, and when an emergency would hit, her guardian would always send someone to keep her company. This didn't bother Cassy, at least not right now, for even though she was old enough, she didn't want to be alone, not yet.

When they were on-planet, one or more of SG-1 would come to stay with her when Janet was called to an emergency, like last Saturday. Daniel had come to be with her then.

They had gone up to Seven Falls and after climbing all the stairs, they had hiked along the top rim and then found a place where they could see the entire valley from their spot on the mountain. It was an awe-inspiring sight. You could see for miles, not only all of Colorado Springs and its sister town Manitou Springs, but also for miles and miles of plains after that. Everything looked so tiny from their place in the sky. It was there Daniel had told her of his childhood, and how he had lost his parents, and she had talked of her family and how much she missed them.

The pre-teenager reached down, grabbing the Pepsi bottle, taking another long sip.

"EXCUSE me!" Daniel said as he shoved the SG-3 marine that had hit him with the puck earlier out of his way with his shoulder as he went after the disk, not sounding like he meant it anymore than the marine had in his apology.

Cassy's amusement grew as she watched the interaction on the street. A feeling of belonging and warmth swept over her. She was glad to have such people to care for her.

Tomorrow at sunrise, she and Janet were going with Teal'c to a place just outside of town. It was a place that the colonel had introduced Teal'c to when he had first arrived, and Teal'c felt Cassy should see it. It was called The Garden of the Gods. Teal'c said at sunrise the light reflecting off the red sandstone formations would bring 'music to your heart' and 'medicine to your soul'. See, she knew she was right, her gentle giant did have a poetic soul. The twelve-year-old snuggled back into the lawn chair, eager to see what the sunrise might bring here in her strange new world.

**** Finished ****