Okay...sorry I haven't updated this for so long, but Rose Stetson and I decided to turn this into more of a collaborative effort, so now that we've gotten things pretty much ironed out, updates should be more regular. Thanks for reading and please review!
Nick got onto his cell phone as he drove the rental car toward the O'Neill house.
"O'Neills." Cassie's voice greeted over the telephone.
"Cassie, it's me. Nick."
"Nick! How're you doing?"
"I'm fine. Hey, I just wanted to let you all know that we're bringing Kinsah and his sister, Rihana over."
"We?"
"Yeah, my friend…Liam Harris."
"Oh. Well, that's great. I'll tell Sam and Lena."
"We would appreciate it."
"Sure, we'll be waiting."
"Good-bye."
"Bye, Nick."
He hung up the phone and Liam looked over. "Who was that?"
"Oh, her name's Cassie. She's Janet's daughter."
"Janet?"
"Dr. Frasier."
"Oh. I knew she had a daughter, I just didn't know her name."
Nick studied the young man, trying to repress the gleam that he knew was shining in his eyes. "In fact, she's about your age…"
"Oh, don't…" He began, noticing the selfsame gleam in the older man's eye. "I'm not going to be set up on a blind date with this girl…"
"It won't be a BLIND date." Nick pointed out. "You'll be meeting her in a few minutes…she's at Jack and Sam's."
Kinsah chuckled. "You like Cassie. Good friend."
"Thanks, Kin." Nick said, grateful for the intercession on his behalf.
"No pressure…I'll ask her out IF and WHEN I choose to."
"Fair enough." Nick said, returning his attention to his driving.
Lena, Sam and Cassie heard the door open as they walked inside with Grace, Nicky, Danny, Tommy, and Michael in tow.
"Lena, I'm home!" Nick called, allowing his accent to float to the surface, sounding like an Australian version of Ricky Ricardo.
Lena rolled her eyes as Cassie and Sam laughed.
Almost instantly, the kids ran into the living room, swarming around Nick and clamoring for hugs. He chuckled. "Careful, give us a little bit of space."
As the kids allowed Nick and a young man help Kinsah get to the couch, Cassie leaned over to Sam, in awe. "Who's that?"
Sam smiled. "That's Liam Harris."
"THAT'S Liam Harris?" She asked, her jaw almost dropping, literally and figuratively.
"Yes."
"Wow."
Sam nudged the young woman. "Why don't you go say hi?"
"Me?"
"Before the kids swarm…" Lena encouraged.
Unfortunately, her caution came to late. Liam soon had Nicky on his knee and Grace sitting next to him, her eyes glued to his face in wide wonder.
"Grace swears she's going to marry him someday." Sam said, chuckling.
"I can see why." Cassie said, unconsciously voicing her thoughts.
"Cassie?" Sam asked, trying to probe the young woman's thoughts.
"Earth to Cassie." Lena said, moving over to the other side of her, and making rapid motions in front of her eyes to deduce her alertness.
"I'm sorry, Lena, did you need something?"
Lena and Sam exchanged knowing looks as Liam walked over. "Colonel Carter, Lena…"
Sam chuckled. "It's Sam, Liam…when we're not on the base, it's Sam."
The young lieutenant blushed. "Sorry…it's a little hard to get used to that."
"It's okay."
"And who's this lovely woman?" Liam asked, turning to Cassie.
"I'm Cassandra Fraiser." She said, trying to calm her racing heart.
"Cassandra? Nick's told me a lot about you."
Lena and Sam discreetly left the two, and Lena huddled close to Sam. "I'll bet Nick's told him a lot about Cassie…he thinks they'd be perfect for one another."
"Well, he's not often wrong, now is he?" Sam asked, referencing the matchmaking that both of the Kosoviches had done on their behalf.
"No, not really." She admitted.
"So, you're a lieutenant?" Cassie asked, motioning to his fatigues.
"Yes. First class."
"Good for you."
"Thanks. And you?"
"I don't have a rank." She said, a teasing smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.
He chuckled. "Okay…I guess I was asking for that. No, what do you do?"
"Currently, I'm still a student. I'm working on a Master's program."
"In?"
"Astrophysics."
"Wow."
She shrugged. "Not really."
"Not really? I mean…you have to be brilliant to be an astrophysicist!"
"Not exactly." She began. "Sam's brilliant, and so, everyone that knows her expects that we're all a group of geniuses. She's revolutionary in the realm of astrophysics, so she's not exactly the norm…we're good with numbers and thinking outside the box."
"Sometimes that's all it takes." He said, smiling at her modesty.
"So why did you go into the Air Force?"
"I couldn't pay for college."
"Are you going to college after your tour is done?" She asked, having known a few people who had gone to college by route of the armed forces.
"No."
"Really?" She asked, surprised.
"Yes. I'm twenty-seven, and I expect that the Stargate Program will ensure relative job security."
She nodded. "Are you sure?"
"Well, I don't anticipate galactic peace any time soon."
She chuckled. "I guess you have a point there."
Suddenly, their attention was diverted to where Kinsah and Rihana were telling the kids some stories from their home planet. The kids were enthralled by the imagery employed by the two aliens, particularly Rihana.
"Now there's a girl for you."
Cassie looked over at the young man who watched Rihana with a small smile of amusement on his face. "What do you mean?"
"She's quiet but she sure is feisty."
Cassie was still trying to determine what he was trying to say about her. "Feisty, huh?"
"Yeah. She…well, I guess she's the only who can keep Kinsah in line."
"And she's very beautiful."
"Yeah. But not really my type."
"Your type?"
"Nah…I like her, but, I don't know…I like girls with spunk, but I guess I'm kind of afraid that she would run over the top of me like an eighteen wheeler."
"Oh really? So…have anybody in mind?"
He looked at her, and for a moment, she wasn't sure if she caught a gleam in his eye. They were beautiful eyes, she pondered for a moment.
"Grace is still underage."
By the time she had registered his words, he was sending an amused smile in her direction. "Something on your mind?" He asked, eyes twinkling.
She bit her lip. "Well, you caught me, I'm a little on the slow side." She said, covering for her sudden and unexpected attraction to him.
"As far as astrophysicists go…"
She gave him a sheepish grin. "Okay…so, I'm not exactly slow, just…"
"Preoccupied?" He asked, still gently teasing her.
She blushed, and he chuckled. As he did so, he studied her. She was lovely with her brown hair, streaked with natural auburn highlights, her blue eyes, and her enchanting smile.
She noticed his sudden change in mood. "Something on your mind?"
"In all honesty, if I had to choose someone who fit my 'type,' it would probably be someone very much like you."
She blushed as she looked away. Had he really just admitted that he shared her attraction? Was he alluding to the possibility of a first date?
"I'm sorry, I've made you uncomfortable…" He stammered, feeling more than a little nervous.
"No…it's not that…I just…"
"Then will you have dinner with me on Thursday night?"
"That's tomorrow …"
"I know. I have a mission that requires me to be on the base on Friday morning for a briefing…I leave an hour or two after the briefing."
"Oh…"
"Look, if it's too soon…"
"No, it's fine."
They both smiled nervously before Liam cleared his throat. "So…I'll pick you up at six-thirty?"
"Sounds great."
Suddenly, Liam turned back to her. "Where should I pick you up?"
She smiled. "Here is fine. I'm sticking around to help watch the kids while Sam and Jack are at the base."
"That's nice of you."
"Well, it's the least I can do."
"For what?"
"Excuse me?"
"It's the least you could do…that's usually a term that people use in reference to something that someone did for them that they could never repay." He prodded.
"Right. Well, Sam saved my life when I was ten years old."
"Wow."
"I guess we bonded, but she saved me by putting herself in extreme danger."
"Well, I guess it's only natural."
"What do you mean?" She asked, surprised by the turn that the conversation had taken.
"Think about it…she's in the Air Force, and- not to toot my own horn or anything- we do risk our lives everyday to bring back technology that may save Earth one day."
She nodded, a distinctly melancholy note in her voice that was almost reminiscent of the sorrow she still harbored for the destruction of her people.
"Something wrong?"
"No…everything's fine."
"Are you sure, 'cuz you seem a little sad?"
"Really."
He sat back, stretching out on the couch as he studied her more closely. She looked around her, nervously. "Something wrong?"
"I don't know…" He said, gazing at her. "I guess there's just something…ethereal…about you. I can't put my finger on it."
"Ethereal?"
"Hey, just because I'm in the Air Force, doesn't mean I don't know anything."
"I wasn't suggesting that it did." She said, smiling. "What would you have done if you hadn't gone into the Air Force?"
"Probably music education. I play the violin."
"Really? I would like to hear it."
"Unfortunately, I don't have a violin anymore."
"Why not?"
"We had some tough times when I was about sixteen, and I sold my violin so that we could put food on the table. We were never able to buy it back."
"Oh my gosh…"
He shrugged, brushing off his real feelings of guilt and longing. "C'est la vie, ya know?"
"You miss it."
He looked down at the ground, somewhat surprised that she could read him so easily. "Yeah. But my buddy, Alan, plays and sometimes, he lets me borrow his instrument."
"Well, that's nice of him."
"Yeah…" Suddenly, a tiny smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "I think he likes Rihana."
Cassie looked over at the young woman. "When did he meet her?"
"When she came through the Gate."
Cassie raised an eyebrow. "Cool."
"Yeah…those off-world girls…" He began, his mind wandering.
"What about us?" She asked, somewhat incensed at his response.
"Us?" He asked, the dreamy look disappearing from his eyes. "YOU are from off-world?"
Cassie swallowed. Never once in her entire life had she spilled the secret of her heritage, and now she had slipped. She closed her eyes in humiliation. Jack was going to kill her.
"No, I meant…girls in general…"
"I don't think so." He cornered.
"Look…you know that would be classified even if it was true…"
"And you're afraid that the General's going to get upset if he finds out you blabbed. It's okay…I won't tell him."
She smiled a grateful smile. "Thanks."
"But I had a feeling…I wasn't sure until now."
"Really?"
"Yeah…you're…well, I don't want to seem cliché, there's just something otherworldly about you."
Somehow, that was the best compliment that she had ever gotten in her entire life, and she felt like she was on top of the world.
"He knows." Sam said as she walked into the kitchen to find Jack grabbing a glass of orange juice.
"Who knows what?"
"Liam knows that Cassie is from…Toronto."
"He does?" He asked, surprised as he tried to steal a glance at the young couple. "Cassie wouldn't have blabbed, would she?"
"She didn't have to, Jack. He knows."
"What? That doesn't even make any sense!"
Sam shook her head as she took her husband's glass of juice. "Thanks, hon."
He looked at his hand, still cupped as though around a glass and then at his wife who sauntered off, taking a sip of the nectar. "You're welcome…I guess." He said, shaking his head as he poured another glass of orange juice. "She tells me no beer around the kids, and what does she do? She takes the juice right out of my hands." He muttered to himself.
"Cassie? No hug?" Kinsah asked, pulling her away from Liam.
"Kinsah, I'm sorry…" she stammered as she pulled the off-worlder into an embrace. "I…I saw that you were busy."
"Not busy for long time now." Kinsah said, motioning to the empty living room. "Nick and Jack play outside with children."
"I see."
"They good kids."
"Yes, they are." Cassie agreed as Lena and Sam joined them.
"Well, now that the party animals are outside, we can talk like civilized adults." Sam said, settling into the couch next to Rihana and Kinsah.
Cassie chuckled as she returned to her seat next to Liam. "So, Kinsah, how's your little Nicholas?"
He took a deep breath, and a look of emotional pain crossed his face. "He fine last I see him."
"How long has it been since you've seen him?" Sam asked, sympathy in her eyes.
"Too long."
"His wife and son with people." Rihana said, a similar sorrow in her voice.
"You couldn't get them out?" Cassie asked, surprised.
Liam and Sam shot her a look.
"Wife leave me. Son captured by goa'uld when I try to bring him here."
Sam paled, looking sick. "No…" She placed one hand over her stomach and another over her mouth.
"Sam, are you okay?" Lena asked, concerned.
Sam nodded quickly, but soon arose and hastened toward the bathroom. Cassie and Lena both stood and hurried to the bathroom from which the gagging sounds emanated. They stood there awkwardly as they heard her flush the toilet and then brush her teeth. Meanwhile, Liam stood and walked outside, getting Jack.
"Are you okay?" Cassie asked, as she and Lena helped the weak Sam back to her seat.
"I'm fine." She protested as Jack hurried into the house.
"Sam, are you feeling okay?"
She shook her head. "You throw up once and everyone is wondering how you're feeling. How do you think I'm feeling? Like I just threw up."
Jack took Lena's place and stroked Sam's hair. "Everyone understands if you need to go lie down for a few minutes. It's a lot to have who knows how many people in your house. And you didn't sleep very well last night."
She weakly nodded. "You're right, I'm…I'm not feeling very well."
Her words left everyone on edge; Sam just didn't admit that she wasn't feeling very well. If anything, she would protest until someone ordered her to get some rest…something Jack tried not to do anymore.
Liam had stayed outside with the kids and Nick came in, shortly after Sam had gone. "What happened?"
"Sam's not feeling well."
"She admitted that she's not feeling well?"
"I know…" Jack said, looking back down the hallway to where his wife lay sleeping.
"In all fairness, Jack, it was after Kinsah told us that the goa'uld took his son."
Jack's eyes widened as he regarded the younger man who still sat, feeling somewhat guilty that he had sent Sam away, ill.
"You lost your son?" Jack asked, feeling a certain empathy with the young man.
He nodded, soberly.
Nick's heart went out to Kinsah. He'd already lost his younger brother, and he couldn't even imagine losing one of his sons…and certainly not to the goa'uld who would do unspeakable things to the child in vengeance for what his father had done.
Suddenly, he felt his own stomach churn in nausea. As the father of two, he could only imagine how Sam, a mother of another two, had felt upon hearing that information. His six-foot and two-inch frame began to sway next to his wife and she looked up at him. "Are you all right?"
He nodded, tightening his embrace. "Yeah…that just…I'm fine."
She searched his face for any sign of deceit, but found none. She turned back to the group.
"What can we do?"
"Unfortunately, not much." Jack said, giving Kinsah a look of understanding and pain. He nodded in response, as if he'd expected that reaction. "Unless of course we can get the locals to renounce their 'god.'"
"Which, I take it, won't be easy." Nick translated.
"It isn't usually very easy. But we've managed to do it once or twice."
"How?" Rihana asked, simply.
"That's something that you'll have to talk to Daniel about when you get back to the base. I hate to make this visit have official connotations to it, but debriefing is at 0800 hours on Friday morning."
Suddenly, Cassie realized that Liam was going with SG-1. Wow, she thought to herself, he must have really proved himself. Jack was allowing a first lieutenant to accompany SG-1. But more than that, she felt her heart constrict as though she was scared about something. I hardly know the man, she thought, trying to stop the emotional reaction that showed no desire to end. But his gentle teasing and kind ways made her heart open to him in a way that she hadn't exactly been expecting…or that she necessarily wanted.
