Halloween Horror Nights
Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot is mine. I do not own anything having to do with Stargate or Universal Studios or Halloween Horror Nights…except for the fact that I love them both!!
A/N: Okay, so I've been going to Halloween Horror Nights in Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida for the past six years. I LOVE it!!! I just went and I'm already jonesing for next year! So…as I was waiting in line (I got fast passes; only way to go, baby!) this idea struck me. I have noticed a distinct lack of SG-1 Halloween stories, so I'm adding two. My other one should be up within a week, I think.
I'm not sure how long this one's gonna be.
Set in season five, but doesn't follow any particular episode.
Spoilers: Anything from the fifth season and before is fair game. LOL.
ENJOY!!!
"Please?" Cassie's voice rang through the halls of the SGC as she dogged her mother's heels. "Pretty please?"
Janet sighed exasperatedly. "Tell me again why I brought you with me to work today?"
"Cause you love me." Cassie shot back immediately. "Now back to the issue…please?"
Janet sighed again, pointedly. Cassie was definitely in the throes of teenager-dom. Stuck between fifteen and sixteen…it was a…virile…time. She could be charming and loving one minute (like this morning, when she had coaxed Janet into taking her to work) and moody the next.
Now she was being persistently whiny.
"No." Janet stated simply, continuing towards the briefing room.
"Please, mom? Please, please, please, with a cherry on top?" Cassie smiled brightly when Janet shot her a look over her shoulder.
"We can't, Cass." Janet inwardly groaned. She really liked Cassie's idea, the mere thought of it bringing a slight thrill to her…but…it was entirely impractical. It would call for the base CMO and its flagship team to be very unavailable for four days.
"Remind me why, again." Cassie bounded up the stairs after her mother.
Janet stopped halfway up the stairs and turned to face her daughter, gripping her shoulders lightly. "Cass, it's too dangerous to have us be away so long."
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Mom, so far as I know, no Goa'uld has threatened Earth in the last few…months." Cassie frowned as she tried to remember the last time there had been an attempt on the planet. "You guys can take four days off. You deserve it. Plus, you owe me."
"Oh, I do, do I?" Janet asked skeptically, continuing up the stairs.
"Yes." Cassie's tone was strained, as if talking to a particularly annoying child. "You haven't taken me anywhere in the last few years. Sam, Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c owe me too. When was the last time we all spent time together?"
Janet paused. "It has been awhile, hasn't it?"
Cassie, sensing her mom was close to giving in, pushed a little harder. "C'mon…you know you want to. Imagine…you, me, the famous SG-1…four days in Orlando, Florida, having the time of our lives at the awesomely spooky Halloween Horror Nights." Cassie waggled her eyebrows as she perched on a corner of the briefing room table. "Beautiful hotels, great food, the best company, thrills and chills, puke-worthy rides…"
"Yeah, you know how to sell it." Janet said sarcastically to Cassie's last comment. Briefly closing her eyes, she dropped her head back and gave an exaggerated groan. "Alright, fine! I'll ask."
Cassie squealed and threw her arms around Janet. "Whoa, hold on." Janet laughed and hugged her back. "I said I'd ask. They haven't said yes, yet."
"They will! They will! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cassie clapped her hands together and jumped up and down a few times.
"Yeah, well, no guarantees." Janet smiled back at her daughter, her excitement was contagious. Truth be told, Janet was just as (if not more) excited than Cassie. Ever since she had seen that Travel channel show on 'Best Halloween Adventures,' she had been dying to go to Halloween Horror Nights. It looked ridiculously fun. "I also have to ask General Hammond to clear it." Janet continued.
"I'll ask him!" Cassie volunteered immediately. George Hammond was the grandfather she never had. "He won't say no to me."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that, honey. This is SG-1 we're talking about. With their luck, the Goa'uld will decide this weekend is the perfect time to attack."
Cassie pouted. "Don't be so negative." She looked around. "Where is Grandpa George?"
"Right here." Hammond said, climbing the last few stairs. "Why does it look suspiciously like you want something?" He smiled to take the edge off his words, his eyes twinkling.
"Cause I do." Cassie said bluntly before hugging him. "Hey, Grandpa George!"
"Hey, Cass." The General's keen eyes still shown with slight suspicion. "Now, what is it you wanted to ask?"
Despite her best efforts to keep a straight face, Cassie gave him a guilty smile. "Before I say anything, you have to promise to think about it."
The General raised his eyebrow and turned his attention to Janet. She was studiously ignoring the both of them, awarding a paper folder an unorthodox amount of attention. When she felt Hammond's eyes on her, she glanced up and smiled in that 'you can't blame me for any of this' sort of way.
"Alright. I'll think about it." Hammond agreed slowly, a nasty feeling that he was going to regret this creeping into his brain.
Cassie paused, trying to think of the most persuasive thing she could say. "Well…as you know, it's October." Hammond nodded in confirmation. "And Halloween is in October." Hammond nodded again. "And…I was just wondering…if maybe mom, Sam, Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c could have a few days off so we could go to a Halloween thing in Florida?" Cassie finished in a rush, looking nervously at Hammond.
Hammond's expression didn't change. Apparently, years of being in the military also came in handy when dealing with teenagers. "Hm." He said, turning away from Cassie, and moving to the head of the briefing table. Cassie watched him go, biting her lip and holding her breath. Janet gave her daughter an encouraging smile and wink and took her seat.
Cassie, too wired to stay still, moved to the head of the table and fidgeted. "Grandpa?"
Hammond didn't meet her eyes. He knew that if he did, his face would split into a huge grin…which would totally blow his calm and collected demeanor. "You're asking me…to lend you my best team…and my CMO?" he kept his voice toneless, not allowing even a hint of mirth into it.
"Um…yeah?" Cassie winced at the way he sounded. 'Please, please, please…say yes!'
"And all this…just for Halloween?" He questioned putting a fake scoff into his voice.
"Please, Grandpa George?" Cassie burst, throwing "patient" silence out the window. "Please? It's just four days, I promise they'll only be a phone call away. It's just…I haven't been on vacation in years and SG-1 and mom never have vacation…" Cassie paused and, noticing that Hammond was still regarding her in silence, continued. "C'mon, Grandpa George, they all deserve time off and this Halloween Horror Nights thing looks really fun…and I think they'd really like it…and besides, this mountain needs to be able to keep running even if mom, Sam, and the guys aren't here." Cassie finished, breathing hard.
She frowned. That hadn't sounded convincing at all. In fact…it kinda sounded like she was sort of accusing him for not giving them time off. And for running a base that was inadequate without its premiere team and head doctor.
Whoops.
Hammond sighed and turned to Cassie, bracing his hands on the table, but not sitting. "Cassandra Fraiser." He started, in a deep, threatening voice. Cassie grimaced, but held her ground. Then Hammond grinned. "Of course you can go. SG-1 is due for some downtime and so is your mother. You're all on a week's stand down as soon as today's shift ends." He nodded at Janet who smiled gratefully, if not a little wary, then turned back to Cassie. "You want the honors of telling SG-1?"
"Yes! Thank you so, so, so, so, so much!!! I love you! I love you! I love you!" Cassie squealed in a very uncharacteristic way and bolted from the room after quickly hugging her mother. As her brunette head disappeared down the stairwell, Hammond met Janet's eyes and laughed.
"I've never seen her so excited before." Hammond said, shaking his head in amusement.
Janet rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Every Halloween this is all I hear. Besides Christmas, this is the only other holiday she wants to celebrate. She loves that it gives people an opportunity to be somebody else. I think, when she was younger, she felt that she fit in more if everybody was being somebody else. It's kinda carried on over the years."
"And this Halloween Terror Nights?" Hammond asked.
Janet chuckled. "Halloween Horror Nights." She corrected. "And that's my fault. I was watching a program on the Travel Channel and she wandered into my room and watched it with me. They showed a segment on HHN and Cassie fell in love. She's been begging me to go ever since."
"Florida?" The General asked, remembering Cassie's rushed explanation.
"Yep. Orlando, Florida. Two thousand miles away."
"You'll have fun." Hammond smiled, knowing the doctor was hiding most of her excitement.
A small smile played across Janet's lips. "Yeah." A laugh rippled across the room at the mental image that just barraged her brain. "I can just imagine Teal'c walking through the 'Scare Zones.'" At Hammond's questioning look, she explained. "There are eight haunted houses throughout Universal Studios, which is a theme park in Orlando."
"Like Disney?"
"But for older people." Janet confirmed. "Anyway, there are a few passages in between the entrances to these haunted houses that have a bunch of people dressed up in these elaborate costumes that hide in the shadows and jump out at you."
Hammond shook his head in amusement. "You better make sure you explain to Teal'c that none of it is real. I don't want any…incidents."
Janet worried her lip. "Yeah. I'll show him that Travel Channel segment. Lord knows you should never try to surprise a Jaffa."
"Not unless you have a death wish." Hammond finished.
"Right." Janet agreed.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Hey, Cassie!" A few airmen leaving the commissary greeted her as she made to enter.
"Hey." Cassie nodded to each before pushing through the doors and scanning the room. Sam hadn't been in the control room, her lab, or Daniel's lab. That left the commissary or her private quarters.
Spotting a familiar blonde head at the far corner of the room, Cassie gingerly made her way through the maze of tables, opening her mouth to call out. It wasn't until she was halfway there that she saw Sam wasn't alone.
Jack was sitting across from her, grinning smugly at whatever he had said to make her laugh. Sam's empty fork was hanging forgotten in midair, as her head tilted back with the force of her laugh. Jack, taking advantage of her momentary distraction, stole the fork, dug it into the large piece of cake that sat between them on the table. He shoveled the forkful of spongy goodness into his mouth as Sam complained quietly in protest.
"That was supposed to be my forkful!"
"Nuh-uh." Jack replied, licking his lips, and giving her a 'cat ate the canary' grin. Sam blushed lightly and snatched the fork from his fingers.
"Now I get two." She grinned happily, the fork sliding through the cake.
"Carter." Jack sighed. "I am your commanding officer. I order you to give me that fork." He smiled to let her know he was only joking.
Sam looked aghast. "No way, sir. You invited me for cake. You decided we should share."
"Exactly. Me. Now, give." He reached for the fork, but she held it out of his reach, laughing.
"No, sir."
"No, sir?" he questioned. Her only response was another laugh as she yanked the fork out of his reach again. "That's insubordination, Major." Jack teased, giving her his best 'I'm a badass CO and you will give me what I want' stare.
Sam rolled her eyes. "Never."
"Major…" he warned.
"Colonel…" she teased back, drawing out his rank.
He smiled at her and cocked his head. "You leave me no choice."
Sam raised her eyebrows suspiciously. Jack, still holding her gaze, grinned cockily, and plunged his fingers into the cake.
"Sir!" Sam cried in protest as he brought his cake-covered fingers to his mouth. "That was mature."
Jack swallowed the cake and shrugged in exaggerated nonchalance. "When did I ever claim to be mature?"
Sam frowned and gave him a small pout before digging the fork back into the cake. At his amused stare, she shrugged. "I've eaten worse."
"Carter." Jack laughed again.
Cassie still stood in the middle of the commissary watching the exchange. She wished they would just listen to her and get together already. It was exhausting having to watch them be so careful all of the time, walking on eggshells around each other…it was nice to see those rare moments when they were completely relaxed with each other.
Like now.
Cassie was jostled as a Lieutenant stumbled over a chair leg. "Oh, sorry miss!" he said. "Hey, Cass!" he said (rather loudly) when he saw who she was.
Sam and Jack turned towards the slight disturbance and Cassie gritted her teeth. Why were they always interrupted? Those rare, picture perfect moments between her two friends were forever being interrupted. "Lieutenant." Cassie replied testily.
"Cassie!" Sam said as the teen came towards their table. "Janet didn't mention that you were coming today." She hugged the girl tightly before releasing her.
"Yeah." Cassie replied, her voice slightly muffled as Jack hugged her too. "It was a last minute thing."
"You mean you begged her to take you this morning?" Jack said, a teasing smirk lifting the corners of his mouth.
"Maybe." Cassie said evasively as she took the seat next to Sam. "So…cake, huh?" Sam stiffened and gently kicked Cassie's leg under the table. She recognized that tone of voice. Teasing her about Jack when it was just her, Cassie, and Janet at home was fine…the SGC was no place for that.
Cassie winced but didn't say anything, knowing that Sam wouldn't want Jack to know why she was kicking her.
"Yep." Jack dug into the cake with his fingers again.
"Nice." Cassie said sarcastically.
"Tell me about it." Sam said in a theater whisper, making sure Jack heard her.
"Hey, now! No ganging up on me." Jack shook his head in mock frustration.
Cassie and Sam rolled their eyes. "Anyhoo…" Cassie said, bouncing a little in her chair. "I've got really good news."
Sam and Jack glanced at each other. "Uh-oh." They said at the same time.
"No, I'm serious. I think you guys'll like what I have to say." Cassie raised her eyebrows and fidgeted some more.
"Alright." Sam said.
"Shoot." Jack agreed.
"Okay, so, first…Grandpa George's given you guys and mom a week off." Cassie waited for their looks of shock to move into confusion before continuing. "Beeecause…" she drew out the word. "We're going on a trip."
"We are?" Jack asked.
"Where?" Sam said at the same time.
"Was I aware of this?" Jack asked before Cassie could answer the first two questions.
Cassie looked back and forth between the identical looks of confusion on the officer's faces. "Yes to Jack's first question, no to his second. And, to answer your question Sam, we're going to Orlando, Florida!"
"For what?" Sam and Jack asked simultaneously.
"For a little Halloween fun!" Cassie smiled brightly. She sighed when the two failed to share her excitement. "Have you ever heard of Halloween Horror Nights?"
To her surprise, they both nodded. "Mark and his wife went down there a few years ago. Said it was impressive." Sam said, nodding to herself.
"Few of my buddies went there a couple years ago, too. They said the same." Jack motioned to Sam, indicating her previous words.
"Well…good." Cassie continued. "Anyway, mom and Grandpa George said it'd be okay if we all went!" she waited for a reaction.
Any reaction at all.
Instead, they just continued to look at her like she was crazy.
"I'm not kidding, guys. Grandpa George gave it the okay. You're on downtime as soon as your shift today ends." Cassie fidgeted again when she still got no response. A flicker of amusement and mischief in both their eyes gave them away. "Guys!" Cassie pouted when she realized they'd been messing with her.
"Sorry, Cass." Sam smiled. "I'd love to go."
"Me too." Jack smiled at the teen. "I'm assuming Danny and T are invited, too?"
"Definitely." Cassie confirmed, nodding her head vigorously.
"Bet Janet's happy about that." Sam rolled her eyes slightly, but smiled when Cassie giggled.
"You know she is. She'll never admit it, though." 'Neither will you.' Cassie added to herself as she grinned conspiratorially at Sam.
"It's too bad. They're cute together." Sam agreed.
Jack listened to the exchange, very confused. "Who? Daniel and Teal'c?" Jack asked, a note of horror in his voice.
"No." Cassie said in a voice usually reserved for three year olds. "Mom and Daniel."
Jack's jaw dropped and his eyes moved to lock with Sam's. "W-what?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "Men."
"Hey! I represent that." Jack grinned cheekily, quickly hiding his shock at what was coming out of their mouths.
Both women groaned, but smiled none the less. "Come on, Jack, it's kinda obvious." Cassie swiped some frosting with her finger.
"It is?" Jack looked at his 2IC for confirmation.
Sam's eyes twinkled with humor. "Yes, sir." The humor faltered as Jack continued to stare at her. It was replaced with…something else. Something neither of them were allowed to name.
Cassie, sensing the potential trouble they'd be in for the whole 'gazing into each other's eyes' thing, cleared her throat loudly, hating herself for interrupting them…again.
They snapped out of it. Sam blushed and Jack coughed embarrassedly. Cassie smiled and stood up. "I'm gonna go tell Daniel and Teal'c. You wanna come or stay here and finish your cake?"
Sam and Jack looked at the mangled remains of what had been a piece of chocolate cake. Sam wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I think the cake has had enough."
"We should put it out of its misery." Jack agreed.
"I'm not eating that." Sam raised her hands and shook her head.
"I was suggesting that we throw it away." Jack said, as though the answer was obvious. Sam rolled her eyes again.
Jack picked up the cake and dumped it in the trashcan as they left the commissary.
This was gonna be fun.
A/N: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!