Samantha Carter breathlessly threw clothes into a duffel bag. I'm going to see Cassie. Pushing a strand of hair out of her face, she happily grabbed her toiletries and found a heavy, black jacket hidden in her closet.
"Is that everything," she asked herself looking around the room for the forgotten items that were bound to be somewhere. Sam was absolutely ecstatic. It hadn't even occurred to her that Cassie might not be as happy as she was.
Her doorbell rang, so she stuck her head through the blinds of her bedroom window to see who it was. Teal'c. The rest of SG-1 and General O'Neill were waiting in the car to go to the airport. They were bound for JFK.
Sam zipped up her bag, did a quick run through the house to see if she left any lights on, and went to the door. Face to face with her friend, she said, "I'm ready to see Cassie."
Teal'c bowed his head. "Colonel Carter, you must remember that Cassandra Frasier has run away from the Folds family as well. We must track her down before we can see her."
Sam shook her head. "I know we'll see Cassie soon. I can feel it. She'll go back to them."
Teal'c watched her bound down the way to the car waiting in the street. She squeezed into the back with Daniel and started chatting with him cheerfully. Teal'c followed, only he went into the passenger seat next to Jack, who was driving.
As they made their way to the airport, Teal'c was silent, and deep in thought. I wish I could share in Colonel Carter's optimism. If Cassandra Frasier did not return to us, why would she return to these strangers?
In the back seat, Sam was talking Daniel's ear off about what she would do once she say Cassie. Apparently, after they were happily reunited, Sam had a big day planned for them. "Of course, Lindsey and Claire can come too."
Daniel wasn't really listening anymore. He, like Teal'c, had much to think about. Daniel had yet to tell his friends about Claire being Janet's sister. It never really fit into conversations.
Well, maybe that was an excuse. But it was going to be hard. SG-1 had tried to fill in the space in Cassie's life that Janet once filled. But clearly, they had failed. And maybe finding more Frasier's would fill it for her. Daniel didn't want to think about what would happen if Cassie was content in New York. It would mean that Sam, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c lost her for good.
But of course, that was all assuming Cassie returned to the Folds. It was altogether too possible that she would leave New York for good. Maybe go somewhere else. And the country was a big place.
"What if Cassie left New York?" Sam had taken a break in her tirade, and Jack took advantage of this and asked the question that bothered everyone except Sam.
"You guys are all so negative. I have this feeling that I'll see her soon." Sam didn't let this dampen her mood. "Cassie's already run far away once. She won't do it again."
"Well I didn't say it had to be far away," Jack simpered. "She could be in New Jersey."
Daniel snorted. "Why on earth would she go to New Jersey?"
Jack looked offended. "It's close. And it's the Garden State."
Teal'c gave his signature slow, deep nod. "Indeed. I have read much literature about the beauty of New Jersey."
"Thank you, Teal'c."
"You are quite welcome, O'Neill."
Sam shook her head. "The fact that New Jersey is a nice place is irrelevant. I'll see Cassie soon."
No one had the energy to argue anymore. The rest of the ride was taken in silence.
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Lindsey was over at her Mother's house, pacing.
"Lindsey, stop! It's so distracting…"
"How are we going to get Cassie to come back before her family comes?"
Claire walked over to her and set her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "That wasn't the goal. The goal was to get her back. It doesn't matter when."
Lindsey had stopped pacing at her mother's touch. "I know they'll want to see her, though."
Claire sighed. "Yes. But this has to be on her time."
"Fine," Lindsey grumbled and sat down, chewing the ends of her hair.
Claire sat next to her and asked, "Have we called Ben yet? And don't do that, it's disgusting."
Lindsey stopped immediately and strode over to the phone. "We haven't called him yet," she said softly and picked up the phone. She dialed slowly, even though she knew the number by heart. Pressing the phone to her ear, she listened to it ring five times before her brother's deep voice came to the phone.
"Well it took you long enough." Lindsey was impatient, especially when worried.
"I was practicing piano. I make my living with it, so it's kind of important," he sneered.
"More important than Cassie running away?" Her brother had no answer for that. "We made contact with the people in Colorado and when we told Cassie, she didn't take it too well." Lindsey took a breath. "If you have any idea…"
"She was here three hours ago. I talked to her about this." Ben cut her off lazily.
"What do you mean?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You just let her go..?" Lindsey started getting hysterical. "I can't believe you!"
"Calm down! I didn't 'just let her go.' I gave her options." Ben tried to calm her.
"Linds? What's wrong?" Claire noticed that Lindsey was slowly losing control.
"Ben is what's wrong! Cassie came to his apartment and he just let her go."
Over the phone, Ben protested. "I did not just let her go!"
"Then what the hell did you do? She's not back at our apartment!" Lindsey shouted to her twin, blood boiling. Claire was stroking her arm, trying to calm the beast, unsuccessfully.
"I told her everything."
Lindsey couldn't find the right words to say. Claire, however, needed to know, "What did he say?"
Lindsey lowered the receiver to below her chin. "He told her everything."
"Oh." Claire was surprised, but she at least was capable of speech. She took the phone from Lindsey. "Why? I thought we were going to wait."
Ben sighed, relieved that he was still being spoken to. "She was about to walk out. I had to say something to make her stay."
Claire curled the cord around her fingers. "Well, it didn't work."
"It did. She stayed for a while, and we talked. She's really angry at you guys," he said in a serious voice. "I let her leave, and she said she would do some thinking. About what to do."
"What did he say," Lindsey inquired. Claire shushed her, and closed her eyes.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing yet. But she said she would come and tell me when she decided," Ben reassured his mother. "It's hard for her. She's homesick, and now she's discovered that we're home too." He paused here, trying to get these difficult works out. "There's no clear choice. We can't rush her through this."
"I'll bet." Claire bit her lips, pensive. "Thanks, Ben. You did the right thing."
Ben smiled. "I'll call you when she comes around, ok?"
"Alright. I love you."
"What did he say?" Lindsey stamped her foot.
"Mom…you might want to fill Linds in."
"Yeah," Claire said with a laugh. "Hope to talk to you soon." She placed the phone in the receiver.
"What happened?" Lindsey demanded. Claire rolled her eyes and filled her daughter in.
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Daniel had started feeling uneasy about the trip. He called Claire and she was ready to welcome them. She was going to pick them up at the airport and back to her apartment for dinner. Everything was in place. The only thing uncertain was Cassie.
Oh yeah. He still needed them to know Claire was Janet's sister.
Daniel didn't even know why he was hesitating. They wouldn't freak out, would they? The only negative effect would be that Cassie could want to stay with them instead.
It's also easy to feel uneasy when you're cruising at 36000 feet. But that might have been a personal problem for Daniel.
"Hey guys?" Daniel called for Jack and Teal'c's attention. Once he got a grunt of recognition from Jack and a 'Yes, Daniel Jackson?' from Teal'c, he continued. "Claire is especially fond of Cassie for more than just a friendly perspective. She's not just her daughter's roommate."
"…Yeah. That's clear in that she goes through all this trouble to accommodate us." Jack said with raised eyebrows. "You woke me up for that little reminder?"
"That's not what I mean," he said, slightly annoyed at Jack's attitude. "Claire is Janet's sister."
"Oh." Jack thought about this for a moment. "That's interesting." He turned in the other direction and tried to fall asleep again.
"Jack."
"Daniel." He turned around again.
"Don't you have anything else to say?" Daniel had been expecting a little more of a reaction…not quite a negative one, or not even a positive one. Just a reaction that showed that Jack gave a damn.
"…Not really. It's sort of cool. Is that enough of a comment?"
"So you don't care?"
Jack twisted his face as if he was considering this very carefully. "I don't care." He tried to go to sleep, but Daniel interrupted again.
"Do you think Sam will care?"
"Ohh yeah." Jack chuckled a little. "She'll care."
Daniel turned his attention to Teal'c. "What do you think?"
The Jaffa raised his eyebrow and answered slowly. "I am pleased that Cassandra Frasier has found a family member in her travels. However, I worry that she will now be unwilling to return with us. She has found a new home."
Daniel grimaced and stole a glance at Sam, who was sitting two rows up on the other side of the plane. "Just what I was worried about."
Teal'c looked over at her too, and both found themselves troubled for the rest of the flight.
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Whenever Cassie exhaled, a cloud came from her mouth. She found it calming to see the easy, steady pattern of her breath. She'd been wandering around the city for three hours, and she had ended up in Central Park. Claire had told her once that she found the park soothing, a good place to clear your mind.
Cassie now realized why she loved Claire immediately. She was as sweet as her mother, even though her mother had been rougher about it. Janet was about tough love, but Claire was soft.
It was blisteringly cold, but Cassie simply hugged her jacket closer to her body and continued breathing. It helped her think. She'd come to her conclusion, but now she was working up the courage to go through with it.
Cassie had discovered that she missed Sam, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c so much, that the only reason she didn't call them was that she was afraid they would be angry. But now that Claire had contacted them, Cassie was relieved. She could speak with them again; they had just been happy to hear she was ok.
Cassie was going to go home to her apartment, stay until her birthday, then pack up proper to head back to Colorado. New York was nice, but Cassie knew she belonged in Colorado.
Cassie finally stood up and walked to the street to hail a cab. She owed a lot to the Folds. They helped her discover home.
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Ben had only returned to his piano for 5 minutes when the phone rang again. He sighed and shuffled over. If this is Lindsey, I'm going to get a restraining order.
"What?" Not the most polite way to answer the phone, but Ben had received inspiration, and he had to write this song before it teetered out.
"It's me." Cassie's sweet voice came over the phone.
"Cassie. How're you doing?" Ben shut his eyes forcefully, regretting being sharp with her.
"I've made my decision. I know what to think now."
"That's great news." Ben smiled calmly. "What do you think?"
"Well," Cassie started. "I owe a lot to you guys. And I love you. But…I need to go back."
Ben winced. This wasn't what he wanted to hear. The pause must have been longer than he intended, because Cassie asked frantically, "Are you still there?"
"Yeah." He ran his hands over his face. "Are you going to at least stay here a little while longer? Lindsey was looking forward to going to that play with you…"
"Oh, I'll defiantly be here for Avenue Q. I wouldn't miss it." She took a deep breath. "I was thinking of leaving after that."
"Good. Because I don't want you to leave right away. I hardly got to know you." His voice shook a little.
"You don't have to worry about that," she responded softly, not wanting to hurt him. "Go over to your mother's house…I'm in a cab on my way there right now. You can help me break it to Lindsey and Claire."
Ben scoffed. "They're going to be hysterical, you know."
"Yeah. But at least I'll talk to them again. They'll be grateful for that."
He laughed, then they said their goodbyes. "See you in a few minutes." Ben returned the phone to the cradle then grabbed his coat from the coat rack. The piano in the corner caught his eye, and his fingers twitched involuntarily. He managed to tear himself away and leave his flat. My muse will return. Hopefully.
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