"Cassie, I'm home!" Sam called out as she opened the front door to her house and stepped inside. "Come on in, Daniel. Would you like some coffee, I could sure use some?" She headed for the kitchen.
Daniel closed the door behind him. "No, thanks." He declined then asked to her retreating back. "You want some help?"
"I got it." Sam said as she stuck her head out the kitchen door for a second. She put on a pot of coffee then headed down the hall and towards Cassie's bedroom. "Cass, you awake?" She pushed open the door and stopped when she saw the bed made and Cassie nowhere to be seen. "Cassie?!" This time her call was laced with panic.
"Is there something wrong?" Daniel asked as he joined her in the hall. He followed her eyes and surveyed the room.
"She's not here." Sam told him. "And her bed hasn't been slept in." She knew this because Cassie never, ever, made her bed. "She must have never came home." Turning, she headed back to the kitchen where she showed him the note she left two nights ago.
Daniel took the note, read it, then laid it on the counter. "Maybe she's staying at a friends house?" He suggested, logically, not wanting to jump to any conclusions before they had all the facts.
Sam grabbed the cordless phone off the counter and disappeared into the living room without a word. Ten minutes later she reappeared looking extremely worried. "Mary Alice said they went clubbing two nights ago but she lost track of Cassie about two hours after arriving. She just figured she bailed and went home. But she did mention that she had seen Cass talking to a boy."
"Did she say who the boy was?" Daniel wasn't worried since Cassie was old enough to know right from wrong.
"No, she just said some boy." Sam clutched the phone. "I should have stopped her from leaving or come home sooner!" She slammed the phone down onto the counter top and slumped onto a nearby counter stool.
Daniel frowned. "You had just found out you could have another brother, you were in shock. And you couldn't come home any earlier." He sat down beside her on another stool. "I know you don't want to admit this but Cassie is an adult, by any planets standards. Janet did a good job raising her." He, soothingly, pointed out.
Sam blew out a breath. "You sound just like her." She admitted. "I just don't know what to do with her, Daniel. "She's been so reserved and secretive since Janet died. She rarely talks to me about anything anymore. And when we do talk it always ends in an argument and her storming out of the house. So I can't help but worry." She confessed. "I'm afraid she's going to do something stupid like runaway to punish me for being such a horrible parent and equally horrible friend."
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Daniel asked. "I would have been more than happy to spend some time with her. I think we all would have. She's apart of this family, regardless of her recent attitude change."
"I didn't want to burden you guys. Cassie is my responsibility, I promised Janet." Sam sighed and ran a hand through her short, blonde, hair. "She could be hurt or worse." She whispered.
Daniel slid off the stool. "Then lets go hunt for her." He was already heading for the front door. He'd do whatever he could to make Sam feel better even if that meant searching the entire Colorado Springs area until they located her wayward charge.
Sam slid off her stool, grabbed her car keys off the counter, and followed after him. "I'll drive."
Cassie stood in awe as the black BMW sedan, with black tinted windows, came to a halt in front of her. "Wow, this is a 760Li isn't it?" She admired the sleekness of the car. "Is it yours?" She asked her companions.
"It belongs to Summerlande." Xander said as he pulled open the backdoor. "Your carriage awaits milady." He did a little bow.
Buffy rolled her eyes and turned when the front window lowered. "You find the place alright, Morris?" She asked the driver.
"I did, Mizz Summers." Morris replied with a smile. "But I gots a question for you. How'd you get here in the first place? I don't recall being called for a ride." He waited, patiently, for an explanation from his young employers.
"You have a driver too?" Cassie asked with wide eyes. She'd never ridden in a car with a driver before. "Hi, I'm Cassie!" She enthusiastically greeted the driver as she slid inside the car.
Xander ran a hand through his short, brown, hair. "Well, you see." He started to promptly explain. "We took the bus. Cassie here offered to be our tour guide for the day and how could we refuse?" He added, trying to sound believable.
Morris hummed and focused on the new girl. "Pleased to meet you, Mizz Cassie. My name is Morris." He greeted her back then turned his attention to the two still standing outside the car. "You took the bus when I was just a phone call away?" His question had a hint of chiding in it. "Well, get in then." The front window closed.
"You're the best, Morris." Buffy said after she shared a look with Xander. They really had taken the bus so they could avoid using the car and driver. They loved Morris but sometimes they wanted to fell like average people and they couldn't do that with a chauffeur. She slid into the car beside Cassie.
"Yeah, the best." Xander followed Buffy in and pulled the door closed. He had to admit he hadn't had this much fun since...ever really. "You ready to go home, Cass?"
Cassie nodded and reached up to scratch at the band-aid on her neck. The larger, cloth, bandage had been replaced this morning before they set off on their sightseeing adventure. She gave Morris her address and sat back to enjoy the ride in comfort.
"So what all did you three see today?" Morris asked after several minutes of silence.
Buffy's face lit up and she took it upon herself to regal the driver with the days exploits. "Well, first we went to the Garden of the Gods, man it was wicked cool. Then we went to Old Colorado City Historic District for lunch, which was heavenly. And we finished up at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which you already figured out since that's where you picked us up from." She babbled, happily.
Xander grinned at her willow-esqe babble. "The Zoo was the best, I think. Don't you just love animals? Which was your favorite, huh? Huh? I liked the monkeys."
"That's because you were in like company." Buffy joked and patted his leg. "What was it like being with your own kind?" She asked, seriously.
"I liked the Giraffes. They are very beautiful creatures." Cassie said with a small smile as she clutched the stuffed giraffe they had bought her. This was the first time she had ever been to the zoo. Jack had promised to take her once she got settled but he was always busy or maybe he just forgot? Then Sam promised her but something always seemed to come up so she stopped promising. Then her mom promised to take her but she always seemed to be at the base treating wounded SG team members and then she died. She could have went with her class at school but she was out sick when they went. So in the end she just stopped asking. But when her new friends had asked for a tour guide, she had jumped on the chance. "I had fun today." Then something dawned on her. "Why didn't you guys want to see the hyena's?" She questioned.
"Hyena's are not good animals. Nope, nothing good about them. They eat things like pigs and principles." Xander mumbled.
Buffy took pity on her friend. "Sophomore year our school mascot and principle were eaten." She explained. "A pack of hyena's got out of their exhibit at the Zoo and no more Principle Flutie or Herbert the pig aka our mascot. The newspapers and police blamed wild dogs but whoever heard of wild dogs in California? A couple of us wanted to know the truth and we found out that the zoo keeper left them out. He was a real nut job."
Morris rolled up the custom installed privacy window to let them talk in private. He happily concentrated on the driving, using the on-star to guide him through the unfamiliar area.
"We searched everywhere, Daniel." Sam was beginning to feel sick. "Somethings happened to her, I just know it." She was already heading up her walk towards her house. "I'll call in and have General Landry assemble a team for search and rescue."
"Aren't you jumping the gun a little here, Sam? Maybe she just needed a break?" Daniel was also beginning to worry. Cassie usually checked in if she was going to be gone for more than a few hours.
Sam stopped and turned towards her friend who had been following behind her. "And maybe she's hurt or maybe she was kidnaped? Ever think about that? We have loads of enemies right here, Daniel." She pointed to the ground to show that she was referring to Earth. "There's still rogue NID out there not to mention who knows how many Ba'al clones. Anyone number of people could have taken her to me, to us." She pointed out. "Kidnaping is not beneath them."
Daniel opened his mouth to argue but closed it when he saw a black car with tinted windows pull up. He tilted his head to the side. "You expecting company, Sam?" He asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"No." Sam stepped up beside Daniel. "Dad can't be back from New York yet." Her father had left on the first flight out of Colorado Springs that very morning. He was going in search of the woman that had contacted Xander. She watched as a black man in uniform climbed out of the drivers side and moved around to the back passenger side door which he opened.
Xander climbed out of the car and stretched. It wasn't a long drive from the Zoo to Cassie's house but it felt good to stretch his legs all the same. He turned and reached in helping Buffy then Cassie out. "Looks like we have an audience." He whispered to Buffy.
"You behave now." Morris chided as he moved around the car and climbed back in. He had been instructed to leave them and return to his hotel. They'd call if they needed a ride back to their hotel. He pulled away from the curb and headed down the road.
Cassie watched the car drive away then turned towards the audience. "Hey Sam, Uncle Daniel." She greeted and waved her stuffed animal at them as she started up the walkway. "You just get home?"
Sam rushed down the walk and pulled Cassie into a tight hug. "I was worried sick about you." She looked over Cassie's head at the two standing on the sidewalk. They hadn't moved. "What happened? Why didn't you come home?" She demanded to know as she pulled away from the younger girl.
"I was staying with Buffy and Xander." Cassie said in way of an explanation. "They were taking care of me, actually."
"Taking care of you?" Daniel stepped up behind the pair. "What happened?"
Cassie hurried to explain already seeing her family grow suspicious of the younger pair. "I went to Omni with Mary Alice and I met this boy. He asked me to keep him company outside while he smoked. Once we were outside he went nuts. Buffy and Xander were just coming out of the club when they heard a commotion. They pulled him off of me but not before he bit me." She reached up and touched the band-aid. "He came close to an artery and I lost some blood. So they took me back to their hotel room and nursed me back to health." She turned to her rescuers and motioned for them to join her.
"I was a perfect gentleman, I swear." Xander defended himself from the looks they were sending his and Buffy's way.
"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" Sam asked, suspicious. What were the chances of the man claiming to be her brother just happening to save Cassie?
"Our hotel was closer and we do know a thing or two about caring for an injured girl." Buffy defended their actions as best she could. "We didn't even know it was Cassie until after we scared the guy off."
"You come across injured girls often, do you?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't buying it
Xander frowned but before he could answer, Cassie beat him to it.
"He isn't a pervert, if that's what you're implying." Cassie defended her new friends. "They work for Summerlande Academy. It's an all girls school." She explained.
Daniel already knew this from interviewing them about what happened in the café. "They don't just work there, Cassie. They own it. At least partially."
Cassie rolled her eyes. "I know that, Daniel. They told me. But that isn't the best part. They offered me a job, isn't that great?"
Sam blinked. "A job? Cassie, you don't even know them!"
"Sure I do." Cassie dismissed Sam's concern. "I got to know them better last night over pizza and soda. I'm not a kid, Sam. I do know how to socialize with those outside my peer group." She rolled her eyes again. When was Sam going to realize she wasn't a kid anymore? "Besides, Xander's your brother so he's technically family and since he and Buffy are dating, so is she." She had learned a lot during their little pizza party.
"Did he tell you that?" Sam asked in a low voice. She didn't like this, not one bit.
Cassie didn't bother answering her because she did not have to explain herself. "So did you do background checks on them yet?" She countered with a question of her own.
"Cassie." Daniel gently chided his niece. "Sam was really worried about you."
"Yeah, right. And I'm the Pope." Cassie shot back and wrapped her arms around her stuffed giraffe.
Buffy smirked. "You so have to meet Dawn. It's spooky how much alike you two are."
Cassie took the compliment in stride. "So you still wanna use the computer?" She then turned to Sam. "They need to use your computer. Theirs is back in England."
Sam frowned. "Where'd you get the stuffed animal?"
"We bought it for her at the Zoo. She offered to play tour guide today." Xander replied. "I still can't believe she had never been there before. We take Dawn to the London Zoo every year during spring break. We have to rework our schedules but family is more important than work, right?" It sounded like a jibe and it was meant to be one. How could they just ignore the poor girl when they claimed to be her family? If this was how Samantha treated family, then maybe he really didn't want to be her brother.
"You said something about a computer?" Buffy had discovered the disk Oz slipped her and she wanted to know what was on it. She was kicking herself for not bringing at least one laptop with them. Then again, she hadn't been expecting to work on this trip.
"Yeah, this way." Cassie stepped around Sam and Daniel and lead the other two up and into the house. "Just ignore them, their prudes sometimes." Her voice carried out of the house just before the door slammed.
"Cassie didn't seem reserved." Daniel pointed out as he stared at the house. "Maybe having Xander and Buffy around would be good for Cassie. They are closer to her age than we are. Plus she seems quite fond of them but maybe that's because they saved her life?"
"They took her to the Zoo." Sam whispered, not hearing a word Daniel said. "Complete strangers took her to the Zoo when I couldn't even find time to." She then headed up the walk and into the house, leaving Daniel outside.
Daniel watched his friend walk into the house. "For their sake, I hope Xander is Sam's brother." He told himself. "Because they obviously need help when it comes to family." He then followed Sam's path and entered the house, closing the door behind him. They may have not known much about either Xander Harris or Buffy Summers, the files they had been given had been mostly blacked out except for a few scattered paragraphs, but Cassie usually had good sense when it came to picking her friends so they couldn't be bad guys, could they?