Questions Raised

ABOUT A YEAR LATER

It had been a hard day at the SGC. Which unfortunately for Daniel Jackson, recently descended from a higher plane with amnesia to boot, had brought back a flood of memories about every other bad day he'd ever had. Now all the man wanted was to sit and relax in his favorite coffee shop and let everything wash away with a steaming cup.

Unfortunately he couldn't remember where on God's green Earth his favorite coffee shop was.

Now Daniel was standing lost on a street corner, the evening chill of autumn beginning to bite through his sweater, turning the archeologist's day from bad to worse. He finally gave up, and turned around for the long walk home, promptly bumping into a familiar teenage girl.

"Oh! Daniel!" she cried, "I didn't see you there!"

Daniel grinned in recognition, "Cassandra, right?" he asked, "You're Dr. Fraiser's daughter."

The tallish brunette grinned, "Yep, that's right. Mum told me about the whole amnesia thing."

"Yeah," laughed Daniel, "the whole amnesia thing..."

"So," said Cassandra cheerily, "what brings you to this part of town?"

"Um, do you know where Morris' is?" Cassandra frowned.

"Morris? You mean the coffee shop? It's late, they're closed."

"Oh," Daniel was disappointed, "by the way, what're you doing out at this time?" Cassandra looked away.

"I'm out a lot lately," she said simply. She glanced back to note his reaction, and saw Daniel's forlorn expression, "Look, you need cheering up. I'm heading home for dinner, why don't you join me and Mum?"

Dinner at Janet's! Daniel blushed.

"Um, I wouldn't want to be nuisance-"

"Oh, come on," Cassie insisted, grabbing the man by the arm and dragging him down the street. Man, that girl was stronger than she looked.

When they reached the Fraiser household, Cassie burst into the kitchen and shouted, "Mom! I brought home a friend!" Janet Fraiser bustled in from the dining room.

"Cassandra, I told you to tell me if you were going to invite people over - oh, Daniel, it's you." Dr Jackson blushed furiously at Janet's reaction to his presence, "Um, okay," the doctor continued, "Cassie, set a place for Daniel too, please." Cassie grinned widely at Daniel and made her way to the cupboards.

"Sorry about that," apologized Dr. Fraiser. Her sleeves were rolled up, and her arms covered in flour, "Cassie friends are great, really, but they're still teenagers," she shrugged, "so, you know..."

"Hm, kind of. Do you need help?" Daniel asked, indicating Janet's arms.

"Oh, that," Janet blushed, "um, okay, yeah, you can help."

Dinner was nice enough. Over the course of the evening Daniel got to know the Fraisers all over again, and even learned a few things he hadn't known before. They were all sitting around in the living room, laughing over Cassie's birthday photos when the doorbell rang. Janet got up to answer it, and came back to the room followed by a very pale looking youth.

"Do you know this boy Cassie?" she asked, "Says you're doing a project together. Very polite, asking if he was invited in..." Cassandra's eyes widened.

"And you just let him?" she squeeked.

"Sure, why no-" Janet had turned to face the boy. A second ago he'd looked normal, but now his face had changed, contorted, his brow furrowed, eyes an angry yellow, mouth open in an angry sneer to reveal sharp, pointed fangs. Daniel's eyes widened and something clicked in his mind.

Vampire.

"Slayer," the vampire growled. He grabbed Janet's arm and threw her out of the way. At the same time Cassie launched herself at the boy, but was caught off guard and thrown onto the wooden coffee table, which splintered under the impact. The teenage girl growled, grabbing a piece of the table and jumping back to the fight. Daniel didn't notice a thing that was going on. He was remembering something, a similar fight in a London graveyard, a small redhead fighting for her life, gaining the upper hand...

Right hook to the jaw, back comes the elbow, "Now you've got him Annie!" As the vampire was stunned the girl moved in with her weapon. Cassandra drove her splinter of table through the heart of the vampire, and it exploded in a cloud of dust.

There was a stunned silence.

"What -" squeeked Janet, "what the hell was that!" She was crouched against the wall with her hair out of place and covered in dust from the coffee table. Cassie crouched down to face her mother.

"Shh, Mum, calm down, it was just a vampire."

"Just a vampire! Vampires aren't real! That's crazy! And you! Cassie, what the hell happened to you?" Janet was almost hysterical now, "That guy threw me across the room and you beat him up like he was half your size or something! And -"

"Mum, please!" cried Cassie. Her tone startled Janet into silence. "I'm sorry you had to see that, all right? I don't know what's happened to me. I had a few funny dreams, Daniel saved my ass from a demon -"

"You did?" asked Janet, turning to Daniel. He didn't acknowledge.

"He was ascended," explained Cassandra, "he doesn't remember. Anyway, now I'm just ... different. Stronger, faster, it's nothing bad really. I just get chased by those freaks three nights a week." Cassie jerked her thumb at the place where the vampire had been standing that was now inhabited by a small pile of dust. Janet, who had now calmed down considerably, reached up and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"You should have told me," she mumbled, "Niirti's experiments could have come back, we could have had this sorted out sooner," she stood up, "Come on, we should get to the base, find out what's happening and get you fixed up."

"Um..."

"You can't," said Daniel, still in his position on the couch. "Cassandra has the power now. She's stuck with it until she dies."

"'The Power'," asked Janet cautiously, "what power?"

"The power of the Slayer."

"Slayer?"

"Vampire Slayer. You know, she who is born to hunt the vampire, stop the spread of evil, that kind of thing."

"No, I don't know. Cassie do you know? Daniel, what the heck is that all supposed to mean?" The archeologist shrugged.

"I have no idea."

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Cassandra, Daniel and Dr. Fraiser were all in Daniel's car on the way to his apartment, hoping to find something there that would clarify Daniel's unexpected explanation.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you any more," Daniel was sitting at the wheel and saying, "but watching Cassandra fight helped me remember that one little thing about Slayers. There's more - tons more, I know it - but it's all just beyond reach, y'know?"

"Never had amnesia," said Cassie, "couldn't tell you."

They pulled into the parking lot of Daniel's apartment block and made their way upstairs. Once inside Daniel's place Janet asked what exactly they were looking for. Daniel scrunched up his face remembering the flashback he'd had during the fight.

"Red hair," he mumbled, "short of stature. Late teens. Eighteen, nineteen, maybe even twenty. College age." His eyes snapped open. "Not college, university. Look for stuff from university."

He and Janet both grabbed a journal, whilst Cassandra slid a photo album from the top shelf. They skimmed them hastily for a few minutes until Cassie gave a triumphant cry.

"Is this her?" she asked, turning the photo album so Daniel could see it properly. The picture she was indicating was of three people, all around nineteen years old. An unfamiliar boy with wire rimmed glasses and big smile, and a short, red haired girl wrapped in the arms of an unmistakable, long haired Daniel.

"Yeah, that's her," he said, "but I can't quite place the other guy."

"Does it say anything on the back?" asked Janet, pulling the photo from its plastic sleeve. "Danny, Annie and Wes," she read aloud. "So her name's Annie. Do you still keep in touch?"

"Ug," said Daniel, "I don't think - where's my address book?"

"Good idea," said Cassie, scanning the shelves. She ran her finger along the spines pulling out a slim notebook from the far right hand side and handing it to Daniel.

"There's no Ann or Annie in here," he told them, flipping through it, "but there is a Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. That other guy, I would assume."

"Well where is he now?" Daniel glanced at the address.

"Los Angeles."

"Got a phone number?"

"Uh huh," said Daniel, moving to the kitchen, picking up the receiver off the wall and dialing the number from the book. He was on there for a long time, with a lot of sighing and waiting and, "I'm an old friend, can't you just put me through? Please? Fine, fine." He pulled the phone away from his mouth," Janet, when do you next have time off?" Janet shrugged.

"This upcoming weekend, why?"

"How do you feel about going to Los Angeles?" Cassie's face lit up.

"Yeah Mum, can we go to L.A.?"

"Will it help?" asked Janet. Now it was Daniel's turn to shrug.

"I sure hope so." He turned back to the receiver, "Okay, next Saturday. Thank you." Daniel hung up, exasperated.

"When I asked for him at the first number I was given a forwarding address to the L.A. Wolfram and Hart bureaucracy and had to book an appointment for next Saturday."

"Guess we're going to L.A.," sighed Janet.

"Yeeessss!"