"You should have seen him, Sam. He's really cute."

Sam grinned as Cassandra related the days events. She was currently on the subject of a new boy she'd met, Jack, and how much she liked him.

"He's in my advanced math class."

"Was he nice?"

"Yeah. Way nicer than Dominic ever was."

Ah, hell hath no fury as a woman scorned, Sam thought, amused. No way she would share those thoughts with her teen charge, though. Since the girls falling-out with her first love, she'd been wary of relationships, so there must have been something pretty special about this new kid.

"Maybe I could meet him sometime."

"I was thinking of inviting him over for dinner, or something."

"We could do that." Sam desperately wanted to make life normal again for Cassie. She knew what it was like to lose a mother at such a young age, and was doing her best to be there for her.

"Today's Monday. How about if you wait until the end of the week, and if you still like this guy, then invite him for dinner on Saturday. Does that work?"

"That's great! You're the best, Sam. Thanks." The honesty in the girls eyes spoke to more than just the surface gratitude. For everything that the older woman had done to try and take care of her. Cassie wandered to her room and started on her homework, but couldn't get her mind to concentrate on the equations.

It was her senior year, and her mom wouldn't be there. She was going to have to somehow make it through alone. She had Sam, of course, and she was thankful for that, but it wasn't the same as having the petite doctor around whom she had called 'mom' for the past eight years of her life.

Cassie had a hard time remembering what her birth mother was like. She had vague memories of lullabies, and watching her mother sew, but that was about it. Time and daydreams had changed the memory, to the point that she was no longer sure what was memories, and what was make-believe. But no matter who her birth mother might have been, Janet Fraiser was her mom.

Tears clouded her eyes, as she tried half-heartedly to wipe them away. Moving her paper away from her, lest her tears fall on it, she laid her head on her desk and cried. Sam was great, always had been, but she was more of an Aunt, or a sister.

She was an orphan again.

SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1

The week had moved quickly, Jack skillfully avoiding situations that would reveal his true persona to Cassandra, and Cassie to caught up in her own problems to notice. What hadn't escaped her attention, however, was how Hodgekins seemed bound and determined to get her new friend. He was so nitpicky over papers, once marking Jack down for writing too lightly, resulting in him unable to discern between a '4' and a '9'. Jack's crack about needing new glasses hadn't helped, and he'd been marked down further for his attitude.

By Thursday, the teacher had realized that Cassandra was quickly becoming friends with his least favorite student, and decided that she was also an enemy, a fact that had incensed Jack.

Which was why Cassie was hanging around after school on Friday, waiting for Jack to finish the detention that he had gotten as punishment for defending her when Hodgekins had transferred his vendetta to her.

With a gleam in his eye, matched only by Nirrti, Zach Hodgekins had gleefully sentenced Jack to a month of after school detention. Cassie has explained the situation to Sam, and she, agreeing, albeit hesitantly, to not do anything about it yet, had given the okay for Cassie to stay late.

"Cassie!" Jack surprise at seeing her was evident in his voice. "You stayed?"

"It's the least I can do." She told him, as he walked toward her, out of the now empty building.

Jack shrugged. "I was gonna get it soon anyway, it's not your fault."

She awarded him with a smile, the same one that had always made his heart melt, and harkened back to when she was a little girl, shyly putting her small hand in Carters larger one.

"Besides, I had a question for you."

He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head questioningly.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? My aunts ordering out, and I thought you might want to join us."

The mysterious smile that she had often seen on his face when she referred to Sam or her past reappeared.

"I'd love to, Cass, but I can't tonight. Maybe another night, huh?"

She hid her disappointment well. "Sure, that'd be great."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, until Jack abruptly spoke up.

"Well, I better go. Do you need a ride?"

"No," she shook her head. "Sam's coming to pick me up. She should be here any minute. Maybe you can meet her?"

The smile gone, a slightly panicked look took over on his face.

"Uh, I'd love to, but I can't now. Maybe another time. Bye"

And with that he was gone, walking past her briskly toward his car. As he sank in the seat, he could see in the rear view mirror Carters car pull up. His chest constricted as he saw Cassie get in the car and lean over to give the older woman a hug. Sam. His Sam; he was so close to her right now.

So close and yet so far. Never had he hated a cliché so much, as he did right at that moment. He shouldn't have become friends with Cass. It was stupid, and if he kept putting off doing anything with her, she'd be hurt. But if he did something, then he'd invariably see Sam, and that just wasn't an option for him. He wanted to try and move on, though, arguably, it was difficult when Cassie inadvertently kept him updated on the lives of his former friends. She often spoke of her uncles, and her aunt Sam, and he always swelled with pride every time she spoke highly of her 'uncle' Jack.

He had often wished that he could keep a closer eye on her; he'd just never pictured these circumstances.

And now she wanted to have him over for dinner, and meet her aunt, who, unbeknownst to her, he already knew well. The teenager gave a sigh and started up the cars engine, looking behind him before pulling out.

It was to be another lonely evening.