Chapter 2: Surviving the Trip

Disclaimer: Only my stuff is mine. I own nothing Stargate or Universal and its affiliates.

A/N: I know, it's past Halloween…but, lets just pretend that it's still October 31, shall we? LOL.

ENJOY!!!

Jack was going to kill somebody. He really was. The two and a half hour plane trip was dragging into what felt like days. Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Janet had all insisted on chartering a military plane for the trip down to Orlando, but Cassie wouldn't hear any of it. She said that she wanted to travel how "normal people" traveled. Teal'c had agreed with her, saying that he would be, "most interested in experiencing a 'commercial flying aircraft.'"

So here they were. On a 'commercial flying aircraft' filled with four hundred other passengers. Four hundred loud, obnoxious, complaining, smelly, shifty passengers. Jack hated flying commercial; he hated being in a confined space with hundreds of people he didn't know or trust.

He knew that Sam hated it too. If the way she had kept shifting and surveying the other passengers was any indication. Her gaze had swept over everyone she could see, seizing them up, determining if anyone would be a serious threat.

He was doing the same thing.

The seats were arranged six in a row with a narrow aisle separating them into three and three. Luckily for them, their party had six. This meant that no one had to sit next to a creepy stranger. Cassie, Daniel, and Janet sat on the left side of the plane; row 26, with seats A, B, and C. Sam, Jack, and Teal'c sat on the right side of the craft; row 26, with seats D, E, and F.

Cassie sat in the window seat; it was her first time flying. Every once in awhile she would let out low squeals of delight when the clouds parted and she could see the ant-sized towns and miniature mountains as they flew over them. Janet sat next to her, alternating between reading her magazine and doing paperwork. Daniel was on the end, constantly moving his elbow so as not to get hit with the drink cart.

On the other side of the plane, Teal'c also sat in the aisle seat. He had chosen it in an attempt to have more leg room, but that hope was squashed when he became frustrated with having to shift his position every time someone walked by. Jack sat in the middle seat. Sam had offered him the window seat, thinking that if she (who was smaller than Teal'c and the colonel) sat in between them, they'd be more comfortable. But, he had declined and told her to enjoy the view.

She was currently sleeping.

With her head on Jack's shoulder.

And he was so not complaining.

Jack closed his eyes. Maybe Carter had the right idea. If he was sleeping, he didn't have to be aware of all the annoying people sharing the tiny space. He had to admit, however, this was nothing compared to the airport.

It had just been incident after incident at DIA (Denver International Airport). They had gotten there without too much trouble, only a little behind schedule. Getting through the mass of fellow flyers hadn't been too difficult either. With Teal'c taking point, people had practically jumped out of the group's way.

But, this also meant security had followed them through the entire airport. When the large group reached the security checkpoint, Teal'c had been forced to remove his hat and show his tattoo in all its glory. It had set off the metal detector and TSA had questioned him at length about it.

When they had finally been allowed to pass, they all breathed a sigh of relief. "You see why we should have chartered a plane?" Janet hissed to her daughter.

After getting their boarding passes and checking their luggage, they had to find their gate and wait for boarding to be called. Because of their military status, they were granted 'elite access,' which meant that they could board before everyone else. That was all fine and dandy…until Cassie wondered off without telling anyone. They had scoured the area until finding her in a very…flirtatious…conversation with the sandwich guy in the in-airport Subway.

Janet had dragged her away, speaking dangerously about canceling the trip. Cassie had rolled her eyes, muttered a half-assed apology, and went to go sulk in the terminal chairs. Janet and Sam looked at each other, allowing small smiles to play across their lips. They remembered what it was like to be fifteen.

Meanwhile, Daniel, Teal'c, and Jack were glaring at the 'sub-boy' dangerously. No one messed with Cass.

Even if said girl hadn't minded the attention.

After the plane had been delayed for over an hour, they had finally gotten on and seated. Nearly two hours later and Jack was really starting to get antsy. He hated sitting for long periods of time.

Sam shifted her head and Jack glanced down, only to be met with two very sleepy blue eyes. "Sir?" Sam mumbled, trying to remember where they were and why they were there.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Jack greeted, giving her a cocky half-smile.

Sam blinked a few times, clearing the cobwebs of sleep. Lifting a hand to ruffle her hair, she suddenly realized where her head was.

On his shoulder.

She had been sleeping on his shoulder.

Sam froze. "Uh, sir?"

"Yeah, Carter?" his voice was amused. Evidently, she had just noticed where she had been sleeping.

"Did I…?"

"Yes, you did, Carter." Jack smiled to himself. She was adorable.

"I'm sorry, sir." Sam said, lifting her head hurriedly from its comfortable resting position.

Jack glanced down at her. "Not a problem, Carter. I make a good pillow."

She blushed and met his eyes embarrassedly before ducking her head. "Um, thank you, sir." She said awkwardly as he continued to watch her.

Jack grinned and nudged her shoulder playfully with his. "Anytime, Sam."

'Sam.' She repeated in her head. 'He really needs to say my name more often.' She hid the shiver of pleasure that ran through her at the contact and sound of her name on his lips.

Clearing her throat and glancing out the window, she said, "How much longer till we land?"

Jack glanced at his watch. "Damn."

"What?" Sam looked up a slight alarm.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I just forgot to set my watch for the time change." Jack frowned, trying to remember the time zone change between Colorado and Florida.

"Orlando's two hours ahead." Sam supplied after watching the colonel think for a minute.

"In that case…about forty-five minutes."

Sam nodded and leaned forward to get Janet's attention. "Janet?"

The doctor jumped and looked around. She had been dozing over her paperwork. "Yeah?" she yawned.

"What hotel are we staying at?"

"Um…wait, give me a minute." She bent down, looking for her bag. "Oof, Daniel, my bag's under your foot."

"Point being?" Daniel grinned cheekily, but didn't move off of the bag.

Janet rolled her eyes and swatted at his legs until he moved away. Pulling the bag onto her lap, she dug around for a few seconds, frowning and muttering to herself.

Jack glanced down at Carter, she was still leaning over, her chin practically on his knee. She met his eyes and shrugged, indicating Janet with her chin. Jack gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged back.

"The Royal Pacific!" Janet called out triumphantly. When several passengers turned to look at the outburst, Janet flushed and muttered, "Sorry." Daniel laughed and Janet smacked his arm lightly. "Yeah, ha ha. So amusing."

"Thanks." Sam said, fighting to hide her amused grin. "How's Cassie doing?" The girl had been extremely nervous during takeoff, grabbing her mother's hand in a death grip.

Janet glanced next to her at her daughter. Cassie's forehead looked like it was permanently glued to the window, her fingers curled around the small ledge. "She's loving it." Janet said, turning back to Sam. Sam smiled back at her friend and returned to an upright position.

Jack, noticing the faraway look in her eyes, turned to her. "Carter? You okay?"

She blinked and looked at him. "What? Oh, yeah." She smiled faintly. "I was just remembering what Mark said to me my first time flying." Jack waited for her to continue. Carter was a military brat. Jack was sure she had flown a lot when she was younger; much like he had with his parents.

"Oh?" Jack said, when she didn't elaborate.

Sam jumped slightly, his voice pulling her out of her thoughts. "Yeah. He was sitting next to me and I was looking out the window. He leaned over, grabbed my shoulders, and mock-tugged, saying that on a little girl's first time in a plane, their big brother had to throw them out the window." Sam smiled slightly. "I remember I told him that I was too big to fit out the window and that he shouldn't try to scare me."

Jack grinned, picturing a mini-Carter telling off her older brother for trying to frighten her.

"Major Carter, should an elder brother not try and protect his younger sibling from danger, rather than cause it?" Teal'c asked, inclining his head and raising an eyebrow.

Sam laughed. "You're absolutely right, Teal'c." She shook her head. "But, sometimes older brothers like to mess with their little sisters. They think it's funny."

"Indeed, they do." Jack agreed, laughing along with Carter.

Teal'c looked at his two friends. Sometimes the ways of the Tau'ri really baffled him.

……………………………………………………………….

"Finally!" Cassie exclaimed, tumbling from the rented van. They had gotten the biggest size, but, with all six of them in there…it was a really tight fit.

"You can say that again." Jack grumbled. He had been forced to sit in the back with Teal'c and, while he loved the big guy, he took up a lot of space.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

They grabbed their bags and made their way into the lobby. A rush of cool air ruffled their hair (except Teal'c's, of course) and they breathed in the clean smelling lobby air.

The hotel was designed to look like something off of a Caribbean island. The buildings were a muted yellow, with brown trimmings. The lobby was decorated in dark wood and light tile. In the middle of the big room was a glass enclosure, surrounding a fountain with 'elephants' spraying water from their trunks. A gift shop lay immediately to their right and, a little further into the room, looked to be a peaceful sitting area with large bay windows overlooking the pool.

"Check-in's over there." Janet pointed to their left to a dark wood and marble counter, where a line was growing.

"Man…this place is really crowded." Sam said to Jack as they joined the line of people waiting to check into their rooms.

"Definitely." Jack surveyed the lobby, noting the exits. 'Just in case.' He told himself.

"Hi! Welcome to the Royal Pacific! Is this your first time staying with us?" a cheerful voice said from behind them. Janet stepped up to the counter.

"Hi." She greeted back. "Um, yes, this is our first time staying here."

"Well, then let me just tell you a little bit about our hotel." The woman behind the desk said, smiling. As she explained to Janet about the layout of the hotel, the restaurants and shops located on the ground floor next to the pool, and the room amenities, Cassie looked around.

The hotel really was gorgeous. And crowded! 'Halloween Horror Nights must be really popular!' She wandered to the glass enclosure and watched the water shoot from the elephants' trunks and land with a splash in the large stone fountain. Turning back to look at her friends, she took a moment to just watch them, as though removed from the group.

Daniel was standing next to her mother at the counter, standing closer to her than he normally would. Teal'c was on Daniel's other side, carefully observing the woman behind the counter and listening to her speak intently. Cassie realized that this was his first time away from Colorado on vacation.

Sam and Jack were standing a little ways away, looking around the lobby. Jack was standing almost protectively close to Sam and she had her body turned towards him. If Cassie didn't know them, she'd say they were a couple.

They looked absolutely perfect together. And the way their eyes sparkled when their gazes met…Cassie wished someone would look at her like that.

Looking between the two "couples" Cassie couldn't help but notice how much more relaxed they were with each other. "Mountain must be pretty oppressive." Cassie muttered to herself, knowing it was no coincidence that her mom and Daniel's comfort with each other; much like Sam and Jack's, was severely greater because they were several states away from their work.

Cassie smiled sadly, wishing they could all just see how perfect each was for the other. Walking back to her mother's side, she caught the tail end of what the employee was saying.

"…that about covers it." The woman said brightly. "Now, how many rooms do you have?"

"Two." Janet said. "Both under the name Fraiser."

The woman nodded and tapped a few keys. "Janet?"

"That's me." Janet nodded and handed over her credit card.

"You're not paying for both rooms?" Daniel asked, a frown descending over his features.

"Nope." Janet said happily. "The Air Force is."

Daniel's eyes widened. "How'd you manage that?"

"I have my ways." She winked.

Cassie rolled her eyes. As cute as they were together, she really could do without the flirting. It creeped her out a little.

"I see you're platinum members!" a male voice boomed from Cassie's right. She looked around and saw two other people checking in next to her.

"Yes." The man checking in replied pleasantly. He was tall, 6'2 or 6'3 with dark hair sprinkled with silver. He wore a white button down business shirt tucked into blue jeans and cowboy boots. Normally, Cassie would laugh at the boots…but they seemed to work for him. He in no way looked hill-billy-ish or farm-y. He looked like a business man.

The girl standing next to him (who Cassie assumed was his daughter) was tall as well. She looked to be about Cassie's age, standing at about 5'6. She had long light brown hair that fell in soft waves to the middle of her back and dark brown eyes. She was wearing dark jeans and a burgundy jacket. She smiled at the male employee and nodded her head.

As if feeling Cassie's eyes on her, the girl turned. When she caught Cassie's eye she gave a small grin before turning back to the counter and accepting the room keys the man held out.

"Thank you." She said, smiling politely. The employee nodded and smiled back, the grin looking more like a leer. Cassie knew the girl noticed the man's appraising eyes, but ignored him, turning to her father. "Check it out! Club level!"

Her father nodded and smiled. "Indeed." Cassie almost giggled at the man's use (though unknowingly) of Teal'c's favorite phrase.

"Guess being platinum counts for something, huh?" She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Tower three." The girl began walking purposefully across the lobby. Cassie got the feeling that she had been here before. Her father kept an easy pace with her.

Cass eyes moved to the floor as if of their own accord. Where the girl's bag had been was a thin notebook bursting with papers. Cassie bent and picked it up, turning her head to find the girl. She was halfway across the lobby. Without turning to tell her mother where she was going, Cassie hurried towards the pair.

"Wait! Hey, wait a minute!" the girl stiffened and turned, eyes sweeping the lobby for whoever was calling. Cassie was surprised to see the distrust muddling her gaze before it landed on Cassie. The girl frowned when Cassie skidded to a halt in front of her. "You dropped this." Cassie said, giving them both a small smile.

"Oh! Thank you!" The girl smiled genuinely at Cassie.

Cass smiled back and glanced at the name on the notebook as she handed it over. "No problem, Sam. Oh, hey! That's my friend's name." Cassie said, automatically turning and gesturing to the blonde head belonging to Sam.

"Cool." Sam said politely. "Guess my uniqueness just went out the window." She laughed, letting Cassie know she was just kidding. "Thank you again." She nodded to Cassie and moved to turn away.

"Um, wait." Cassie kicked herself. She really liked this girl; she seemed like she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with. That was the only reason she could think of that she would continue to talk to a stranger. "Sorry, it's just…you seem like you've been here before…and I was wondering if you know any good places to eat?"

Sam looked Cassie up and down, as though gauging how genuine she was. A minute later, she laughed and met Cassie's eyes. "Oh, yeah. We've been here tons of times." She gestured to her father, who smiled at Cassie. "There are a lot of places to eat on the ground floor, but I recommend Jake's."

"Jake's?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, it's right down those stairs over there." Sam pointed to a staircase to their right. "They have steak, salad, sandwiches, and some pretty mean desserts."

"Sweet." Cassie said, copying Jack's phrase.

"Yeah. My dad and I were actually going to head down there once we dropped our bags off." Sam smiled again. "Maybe we'll see you there?"

"Ah…yeah, probably." Cassie turned to glance at her friends. They seemed to have finished checking in.

"Alright." Sam smiled brightly. "Later!"

"Yeah, see ya!" Cassie smiled back and began walking back to her group. She saw Sam and her dad disappear into the elevators.

"Hey, Cass, who was that you were talking to?" Janet asked as they met her daughter halfway.

Cassie half shrugged. "Her name's Sam. She dropped her notebook by the desk and I ran to give it back to her. She's been here a lot, so I asked her about food places."

"Oh? What did she recommend?" Janet asked as they made their way into the Tower 2 elevators.

"Jake's. It's right down those stairs in the lobby." Cassie replied, pressing the button for the fourth floor. "That okay for you guys?"

They all shrugged at each other. "Sure. It's not like we know any place better." Jack answered for the group. "So, her name was Sam, huh?" Cassie nodded. "Looks like you've got competition, Carter."

Sam rolled her eyes. "No competition, colonel. Sam is a very common name."

Jack winced. "No 'colonels,' Carter! No 'sirs,' either!"

"Sorry, sir." Sam smiled cheekily as they stepped off the elevator.

"Yeah, yeah." Jack grumbled.

Daniel, Teal'c, Janet, and Cassie all shared a knowing, slightly exasperated look. These two people were absolutely perfect for each other. Why couldn't they see that?

Janet, Cassie, and Sam entered their hotel room with a promise to meet the boys by the elevators in half an hour for dinner. Daniel and Jack rolled their eyes, muttering something about a girl's half an hour being more like an hour. Teal'c merely nodded and led the way into the room, which was right next to the girls'.

Cassie took a running leap and landed on the bed closest to the door. "Mine!" she called.

"Ours." Janet corrected, also collapsing on the plush comforter.

Sam dumped her stuff by the second bed and looked out the large panoramic window. They had a view of the pool and, over the tops of the trees, you could see a few of the rides in Islands of Adventure.

"WooHoo!" Cassie exclaimed suddenly, looking at her watch. It was almost 7:00 PM.

"What?" Sam and Janet raised their eyebrows.

"This time tomorrow we'll be going to Halloween Horror Nights!"

TBC

A/N: I know, a lot of boring details…but I love this hotel and wanted to do it some justice. Sam is kinda important; she'll be Cassie's sort of unofficial guide.

Please R&R!!!