2 months later

Cassandra gave the cooking scrambled eggs another stir and put two slices of bread into the toaster. The least she could do is fix Sam some breakfast before she headed off to work. Besides, it was a way to get her friend to actually sit down to eat instead of grabbing a piece of toast on her way out the door. As much as she itched to strike out on her own after graduating from college, Cassie did have to admit she had a pretty good deal living with Sam while she figured out whether or not to go to grad school. And truth to tell, it was comforting to have her so close.

She remembered the dark place she'd fallen into—and recently climbed out of—after Janet's death. She had thought she was doing fine, and so had everyone else. Until her best friend Emily died. Emily was the first friend she's made all those years ago when she was fresh from "Toronto" and struggling to deal with so much. But she was ripped away from Cassandra by a drunk driver and the bottom fell out. Sam had been there for her, though.

She was doing ok now, but she still felt a bit insecure about losing her family. Really who could blame her, given the work Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and Jack did? Cassandra had long ago given up defining what Sam was to her—not mother or sister—maybe some combination of those. Whatever it was, Sam had been there when it counted.

That was one reason she had encouraged Sam to take the Atlantis post even though she knew she'd miss her. "I'm fine, Sam. This is a great opportunity for you."

But when Sam came home from Atlantis, Cassie couldn't contain her excitement.

"You get to stay on Ear— um, home? That's great!" she had said when Sam called from the Mountain that first day back. Silence. "Isn't it?"

"We'll see. I'm at the base tonight and report tomorrow. I'll let you know more then. I just wanted to let you know I'm ok."

Sam told her about the new command when she got back to her house. They sat on the couch with their feet up.

"So it will mostly be on base with some routine planetary surveys," Sam finished.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Sam," said Cassie. "Off world is off world. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will, kiddo," Sam said and gave her a quick hug.

Cassie jolted out of her daydream at the smell of burning eggs. "Dang it!" she cried and whipped the pan off the hot burner.

"I thought I was the only one who burned scrambled eggs," Sam said. She took a mug from the cabinet next to the sink and poured herself a cup of coffee. She was dressed in jeans and a casual patterned blouse for the trip to the base. Her long blonde hair was already braided neatly.

"Sorry, I lost track. Well, the toast is ok," said Cassie apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, I'll just scrape off the burned part," said Sam. She pulled the toast slices from the toaster and spread some blackberry jam onto them from the jar on the counter. She held out her plate to Cassie for some eggs and gave her the other one.

Cassie distributed the eggs on the plates and took hers to the table. "Come on--sit down and eat," she told Sam. Coffee cup in one hand and plate in the other, Sam walked to the table and sat down.

"I'm on a survey today, but I shouldn't be late," Sam told her. She casually pushed some burned eggs to the side of the plate.

"Anything interesting?" Cassie asked.

Sam swallowed a bite of toast. "You know that I can't tell you much, but we're following up on Team 3's report and it looks promising. What are you up to today?"

"Not much. I'm going shopping with Jenny."

Sam took a last sip of coffee, wiped her mouth with the napkin and stood. "Thanks for breakfast. I've got to get rolling." She disappeared into her room. Despite Sam's casual manner, Cassie recognized the barely contained energy as the anticipation of a mission. Cassie went back to her eggs and toast, but she was nervous.

She couldn't help but think of the close calls Sam had had over the years. It didn't seem that long ago that Cassie was visiting Sam in the infirmary after an Ori soldier almost killed her. She still got a sick feeling when she thought of Sam pale and barely responsive on the infirmary bed with tubes sticking out of her.

Sam emerged with her briefcase and headed to the front door. "See you later, Cassie. Have fun today," she called.

Cassie dashed out of the kitchen. She caught Sam with her hand on the front door knob. She gave Sam a hug. "See you later, Sam. Be careful."

"Yes, ma'am," she replied and smiled.

Cassie stood at the door and watched her get into her Volvo and drive away and told herself not to worry.