Disclaimer: Don't own them, never will, as much as that harsh reality stings.

Rating: PG

Setting: A week after Chapter Two…sorry there are such time gaps from chapter to chapter! I don't want to bore you guys with going into excruciating detail over every single thing…

Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews! I hope this chapter does not disappoint. If anyone has any advice about which direction to go in with this story, I'd be happy to hear it. I have a general idea, but thus far details are sketchy. Just put your idea in your review, or you can email me, the address is in my bio.

Running Away: Chapter 3

Cassie collapsed on the bed. Another exhausting day.

She was fading into sleep when she heard loud music coming from Lindsey's room. Figures. That girl never could be quiet.

"Cassie!" Now she was shouting. Cassie winced and sat up.

"What?" Exasperated was not a strong enough word. Cassie had been working for almost ten hours, and the night before Lindsey had some friends over, who were chatterboxes just she was.

"Are you ready to go?" Lindsey walked in her room, dressed like she was going somewhere.

Cassie was confused. Go where? Then, it occurred to her. Lindsey's brother's band was performing at a local club, and Lindsey wanted to take Cassie with her. With a groan, she responded, "That's tonight?"

"Yes it's tonight. Come on, we're gonna be late." Lindsey's foot was tapping, and while Cassie had only lived with her for a week, she knew that was a sign that her already short temper was growing shorter by the second.

"Why don't you just go without me? I'm so tired, I don't want to move…"

"Cassie, you've been in New York for what, a week? Two? Well, all you've done is eat, sleep and work. My job, as your roommate and perhaps friend, is to get you out of this apartment and into the world."

Cassie couldn't help but smile. "Friend?"

Lindsey's face turned bright red. "Well…yeah. I really like you Cassie, but you need to lighten up. And the best way for you to do that is to come with me."

"OK." Cassie sat up and went to her closet to pick out some clothes. "Wait, you know I'm only 20, right?"

Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Yes, you are underage; I will not try to get you to drink."

"Thank you." With that straight, Cassie picked out a skirt. "Is this ok?"

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Dr. Daniel Jackson pressed the button for level 23 in the elevator at the SGC. He had convinced Sam to go back to work, but she was still a little out of it. Jack had suspended SG-1's offworld travel until Sam was back to normal. This was bound to be soon. Yesterday, Sam had actually confused Jack with her techno-babble, smiled about it, and then had an extra bowl of blue jell-o. Daniel was cheerful after seeing that.

But right now, he was thinking about Cassie. She must have been furious to have left, let alone stay away for two weeks. Without calling. That worried him the most. The least Cass could do was maybe to leave Sam a message, letting her know that she was ok…

But all they could do was wait.

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"Wow."

"I know."

"Wow."

"I know."

This exchange had been going on for the past five minutes.

"It was just so…wow."

"Yeah, I get it." Lindsey smiled a little. "You are new at this, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Cassie unlocked the door, and the pair walked into their apartment. She pried off her shoes and threw them into a corner.

"I mean, at this whole 'living on your own' thing, 'doing what you want'."

Cassie got a little defensive. "Hey, I owned my own place back in Colorado Springs."

Lindsey went into the kitchen and filled a glass with water. "But you always had someone checking on you all the time, didn't you?" Cassie was silent. "I'm not implying anything. It's good to have someone there for you. I mean, look at my mom. She practically drops by everyday. We have coffee together all the time. But living completely alone is alien at first. In fact, a year ago, I was in LA. I had no one over there. It was so scary, I moved back east." She took a sip of water. "It was probably one of the best decisions I ever made."

Cassie thought about this for a minute. "I think that coming here was one of the best decisions I made in my life."

Lindsey shrugged. "To each her own." She took another gulp. "Are you telling me that you don't miss anyone?"

"Yes." Cassie sounded sure of herself.

"Uh huh," Lindsey looked at Cassie with her eyebrows arched. "Do you think that there is anyone who misses you?"

Cassie thought about the four adults she knew had to be missing her. She still hadn't called them. She was starting to wonder if maybe she should.

"There are four people who must be missing me now. And worrying."

"Worrying? Why would they be worrying?"

Cassie cringed. Here it is. The moment I've been avoiding. "Well, it's just that, they don't know where I am." Her voice grew weak towards the end of her sentence.

Lindsey's jaw dropped. "You haven't told people who care about you where you are?" Her eyes gave away the fact that she was judging Cassie. "That's terrible."

Cassie saw the judgment and grew angry. "What's so terrible about it? They don't care where my life is going! They let me drop out of college after my mom died. They didn't care about any ambitions that I used to have. People who love someone never let them lose sight of what their hopes are. And that is exactly what they did." Cassie took a breath. "If they truly care, they would never have let me go this far."

Lindsey had a revelation. "You ran away."

Cassie paused for a second, brainstorming how she was going to get out of this. "It's late. I'm going to bed." Avoiding the conversation that was almost sure to follow, Cassie turned into her bedroom and shut the door. Lindsey watched her go, the gears in her head turning furiously.

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A/N: Yeah, it's kinda short, but there will be more tomorrow or the Thursday. It'll have more about Sam, Jack, Teal'c and Daniel. Please review! (As always)

Oh, below I responded to the reviews posted before I posted this chapter. I think I might start doing this with every new chapter…it seems like a nice 'personal' touch to me.

stargate girl 13: Did it come out like I was making fun of freaks? I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way! I have nothing against freaks as a rule; you should meet some of my friends! I was just trying to figure out a good reason for both Lindsey and Cassie to have rejected all the other possible roommates. Anyway, glad you like my story!

spacemonkeylover: Don't worry, Sam will find out that Cassie is doing ok. It would be cruel of me to have poor Sam suffering for too long…she's been through enough!

Rockin Chick: Thanks for the advice! As you can see, I took it. :-)

Livina, SG-Fan: Thanks for reviewing. Glad you like it!