Chapter 10

The small room designated for SG-1's use was eerily quiet. Even Vala had given up on lifting the mood for the moment.

"We are dropping out of hyperspace in five minutes."

"Finally!" Vala called out, expressing the others' thoughts as well, though for different reasons. "Any longer and I'd have died of boredom!"

Sam and Daniel rolled their eyes but smiled nevertheless. Cameron smirked openly. "Should have brought something to read. I did."

"Sorry, Cam. But I'm just not into your picture books."

Their gear secured, they made their way to the bridge to see if they needed to make last minute changes to their plan.

"Comics, Vala. Comics! Classic ones, too!"

Vala shrugged her shoulders and grinned. "They've got lots of pictures and that makes them picture books. Ask Daniel!"

"Oh no," Daniel shook his head as he picked up his speed. "You're not dragging me into this again."

After glimpsing the small smile on Sam's face, Vala and Cam high-fived each other. Some of the tension caused by worrying about Teal'c was gone from their team.

Mission accomplished.

Now they were ready to start the much more important one.

OXOXO

After dropping Zoe off at school the next morning, Cassie made her way to Henry's garage. The replacement parts for her Honda were supposed to arrive today and she was looking forward to tinkering around a bit. Luckily, Henry was working outside when she arrived.

"Morning, Henry." Cassie parked out of the way and walked over to him. "Any chance the replacement parts are here yet?"

"Cassie, hey." Henry pulled an old rag from his overalls and wiped the grease off his hands. "They have, but I didn't get a chance to replace them."

"I kinda hoped you'd let me do it," Cassie asked hopefully.

Henry frowned. "Where's Sam? I haven't seen her since yesterday. Or have heard Nathan complain about her, for that matter."

Cassie chuckled. "His ego is an easy target, isn't it?"

"That it is." Henry smiled and walked over to the Honda. "Sam?"

Sighing, Cassie shrugged her shoulders. "There was an emergency and she had to get back to work. She was picked up on our way back yesterday afternoon."

Henry tilted his head for a moment before motioning Cassie to follow him. He picked up a package from just inside his workshop and handed it over. "Here. Do you know what you're doing?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I hope so?"

Henry chuckled and led her to the Honda. "Just ask if you have any questions. And we'll go over it together once you're done, okay?"

"Thanks!"

OXOXO

"Ready to crash the party?" Cameron asked the room in general.

SG-3 and a group of Jaffa had already been transported to the planet's surface. Now it was their turn and SG-13 would follow shortly after them. Two of the Jaffa Free Nation's motherships were about half a day away and they would provide an important distraction once they arrived.

Vala grinned, stroking her P-90 fondly. "Let's party! Daniel, don't forget to save a dance for me."

Daniel sighed theatrically but strengthened the grip on his own P-90. Sam patted his arm, fighting to keep a straight face.

"Ten seconds till we reach your drop-off point."

They subconsciously went into battle formation and waited for the tell-tale sensation of being transported.

OXOXO

Two hours after she had started Cassie was deeply immersed into changing the necessary parts on her motorcycle. She'd thankfully accepted an old overall from Henry and added a few new smutches of grease already. Her hands and cheek weren't faring much better either.

"How's it going?" Henry asked, amusement clear on his face.

"It's fighting back but I'm winning!" Cassie looked up and grinned. "How about yourself?"

He sighed and removed the 'Mechanic' patch from his overall. He pulled out a new one from the depth of his overall, but didn't put it on just yet. "I've got an emergency around town."

"I'll be fine on my own," she said before adding casually. "Just tell me where not to go, what not to touch and I'll be fine."

"Uh... What do you mean?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "You worked with Sam at Area 51 and I happen to know what her job entails. So there's no way you're just a mechanic and with this being secret geek-central, I figure you do more than repairing cars in that workshop of yours."

He was still thinking about it when he was interrupted by his phone ringing. He stepped away to answer it and when he came back, he'd made up his mind. "Alright, I really have to leave. Bathroom is to the side but I'm afraid everything else is off-limits for now. If you need more tools, you'll have to call me."

"I will." Cassie gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks for your trust."

Henry gave a quick nod before jumping into his truck and driving off.

Cassie sighed and turned back to her disassembled Honda. "Looks like it's just the two of us now."

OXOXO

Vala leaned into Daniel and said, "I'm bored of walking."

He pinched to bridge of his nose. He might be too, but that didn't mean he was going to tell her that. "It was either that or risking being detected while transporting down."

"But did it have to be that far away?"

Sam turned around for a moment and looked innocently at Vala. "I can give you the detailed scientific explanation behind this?"

"You're evil!"

Sam was already looking forward again so Vala couldn't see her smirk. Then again, it wasn't necessary as it was clear enough in her voice too. "I know."

OXOXO

Cassie looked at the mess in front of her. She had taken the faulty parts out just as Jo arrived with a packed lunch from Café Diem.

"What a mess."

"I know." Cassie grinned at Jo. "It's great."

Jo snorted and held up the food for Cassie to see. "Sheriff Carter was busy and asked me to bring you this."

"Thanks. I'm starving!" Cassie wiped her hands on her overall and reached out for the box in Jo's hand.

Smirking, Jo shook her head. "Bathroom's that way."

Cassie rolled her eyes but followed Jo's orders. Once she was out of sight, Jo pulled out her cell phone and punched in a number. "The area around the Honda is a mess but I don't think Cassie even thought of snooping around."

"Thanks. That's what I thought. It's just that I have some sensitive experiments in my workshop. I don't want Cassie to accidentally hurt herself."

By the time Cassie came back, Jo had already made herself comfortable on a bench to the side, soaking up the sun. "Hope you don't mind me joining you."

"Another order from Jack?" Cassie asked, eyebrows raised in amusement.

Jo just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I also happen to like you. Besides, Zoe mentioned skinny dipping and I want to know all about that. Maybe I can convince Zane to a nice trip out of town, you know?"

Giggling, Cassie agreed. And decided that with the way people cared about her, Eureka really started to feel like a second home to her.

OXOXO

"We just had to find the only swamp on this god-forsaken planet," Cameron crumbled as he made his way through the mud.

"I'm still grateful we haven't come across anything mosquito-like," Sam whispered back.

"Think positive, huh?" Daniel asked from behind her. They'd been walking for several hours now, coming ever closer to their destination. Thankfully, they hadn't come across anyone yet, but the closer they got, the less frequent their short conversations became.

"Muscles better be alive when we get there," Vala grumbled. "I'm not ruining my new shoes for nothing."

"I'd be happy enough if our place for the night is dry," Cameron replied.

Sam and Vala cringed. Leaning closer to Sam, Vala whispered, "Shopping with his credit card if he just jinxed it."

"Deal."

OXOXO

Over the course of the afternoon, Henry had come and gone. However, he'd taken a quick look at what Cassie had done so far and had nodded in approval. He might have been finished with the job already, but apart from being slow, Cassie was doing a fine job herself - and he had told her so. She had grinned at that and then had gone back to work with renewed vigour.

Currently she was deep in thought, not even noticing the car stopping close to her. She did, however, hear the doors open and being thrown shut, though she didn't bother to check who it was. Instead, with her eyes narrowed and the tip of her tongue poking out between her teeth, she concentrated on a particularly fiddly bit of her work.

"What are you doing here?"

Cassie swore loudly as she dropped the screw she'd been trying to fasten. She turned around, forgetting about her hand still being buried within the inner workings of her bike. She swore again, even more colourful this time, as she cut her hand on a sharp edge.

"I'm making cookies!" she growled at Stark, who was standing a few feet away with his arms crossed in front of his chest. She gave him a final glare before concentrating on the dull pain in her left hand. She'd instinctively put her other hand on top of it, putting pressure on it, but now she was ready to take a closer look. And, she thought, it was just her luck that the hand came back bloody.

"Let me have a look," Allison said, holding out her hand to Cassie but waiting for her to cross the final distance between them.

Cassie glared at Stark again, stubbornly keeping her hand out of Allison's reach. She knew it was childish, but her hand did hurt now and it was Stark's fault and Dr Blake was with him.

Allison sighed. "Cassie, you're dripping blood onto the ground."

She looked down and scowled. "It's just a few drops. I'm hardly going to bleed to death anytime soon."

"No, but your hands are greasy, wherever you cut your hand was dirty and the longer you wait to get it treated, the more dirt will get into the wound," Allison explained patiently.

Cassie huffed, the scowl on her face deepening, and held out her hand to Allison. "You just had to be reasonable."

Allison smiled as she took Cassie's hand to have a closer look. "So, making cookies?"

Cassie grinned. "Dumb question and all that."

Allison smirked and pulled Cassie over to a bench all the while she turned and asked Nathan to bring her the first aid kit from the car. He grumbled, but complied.

"Where's Sam? I haven't seen her for a while," Allison asked while she carefully cleaned the cut.

"Something came up at work and she had to go back," Cassie replied as she watched Allison work quickly and efficiently. "You've done that before. Often, I mean."

"I spent endless hours in the ER during my medical training." Having finished cleaning the area around the cut, Allison probed it again. It started bleeding again and she pressed a clean gauze pad on it.

"Nu huh." Cassie shook her head and glared at Allison.

Allison looked up in surprise. "What?"

"You've got that 'I'm thinking stitches' look about you."

Stark snorted in the background.

Cassie turned to him immediately and gave him a death-glare. "You better be quiet, Mister. This is all your fault anyway! And," Cassie continued less hostile, "Butterfly bandages will do just fine."

Allison smiled in amusement, the shock on Nathan's face too funny to ignore. Then she nodded, "Okay. Let's try that first. You seem to know a lot about first aid."

Cassie shrugged her shoulders. "Mom was a doctor, often patching up friends and family too. And she made sure I was very proficient in first aid before she even allowed me to start driving lessons."

Allison looked up at the underlying sadness in Cassie's voice. "Was?"

"She died a few years ago." Cassie answered before developing a strong interest in a small bird that was busily preening itself a few feet away.

Allison squeezed Cassie's leg for a second before putting the last butterfly bandage on. Not sooner than she had finished another car pulled over into the lot of the garage.

"What's going on?" Jack Carter asked as he took a quick look around. Seeing the first aid kit next to Allison, he rushed over to her and Cassie. "Cassie?"

She looked up and pointed accusingly at Stark. "It's his fault."

Stark rolled his eyes. "It's just a cut."

Cassie stood up and walked over to him. Mimicking his position, arms crossed in front of her, she said, "Just a cut? Ha! I barely sweet-talked myself out of getting stitches, Mister! And I don't mix well with sharp pointy things like needles!"

Allison rolled her eyes and closed her first aid kit. Seeing Carter's concern, she briefly touched his arm. "She's fine as long as she keeps the cut dry and clean for the next few days."

Cassie turned briefly, giving Allison a brilliant smile. "Thanks, Dr Blake." Then she focused on Stark again. "Guess you'll have to clean up the tools."

"What?"

"You've heard Dr Blake. I've got to keep the cut dirt-free." She waved her freshly bandaged hand in front of his face. Smiling innocently, she added, "And I can't expect Henry to clean up after me. Since this was entirely your fault..."

OXOXO

A/N: There you go. I'm trying to keep the little SG-1 titbits to a minimum, but figured they are a nice way to keep us up to date on what Sam is up to. Fear not, though, this will only last for another chapter and then we're back to Eureka fulltime. I'm still hoping for more writing time, though I can't promise updates will become more frequent again (I really, really, hope this will happen though - I wanna know what's going to happen!). Anyway, thanks for your patience and all your reviews!