The Waiver 9
I had never felt so weak in my life.

No, not weak. Vulnerable?

I felt her heavy weight on my bare chest.

I bent my head down and gently brushed my lips against her scalp.

Would it always be this . . . incredible?

As I felt Cassie breathe, deep in the clutches of peaceful dreams, I prayed it so.

Her arms stretched above her head as she pulled away from me.

"Ugh. What time's it?" Cassie asked, yawning.

I tried not to notice that her stretching had slid the blanket down a little lower.

"Five thirty-seven, Bravo shift." I said, peering at my watch on the nightstand.

"Mmm. Too early. Sleep now." She placed her head in the crook of my shoulder and I hugged her close.

"So. Am I supposed to go running to my room before the others wake up?"

Cassie groaned and rolled away. "Ugh, Marco's gonna have a field day with this."

She placed her feet on the ground and pulled the blanket up, modestly.

I grinned. "Hmm. NOW she gets shy."

She turned her head to give me a dirty look.

Sucking in a deep breath and pulling up every ounce of courage I posessed, I rolled off the bed and walked over to my boxers. I grabbed them and pulled them on while Cassie watched me, amused.

"And you expect me to do that?"

I shrugged. "Why not?"

"Go to your room, Jake."

When I stepped into the brightly lit room labeled "Mess", everyone of the Bravo shift was already there. This week, Bravo shift was Marco, Santorelli and Tobias.

Tobias looked up at me confused. "Wait a minute, I thought you were pulling Alpha this week. You telling me I could have slept in early?"

I had always felt a little nervous sharing a shift with Tobias, so we were convienently never awake at the same time.

I sat down. "Nah, I just couldn't sleep. Got hungry, you know?"

Marco peered at me suspiciously. "Yeah, sure." He tossed me one of the four bagels piled on a napkin in front of him. I caught it in mid-air and took a bite.

Just as I sat down, Cassie entered and slid into the chair across from me.

I winked at her and she smiled.

Marco looked peered at Cassie. "Okay, so now BOTH of you couldn't sleep. Mm-hm. Wonder why."

"That's none of your buisiness." I snapped a little too quickly. Cassie gave me a wide-eyed 'watch-what-you-say-buster' look.

Marco gave me another suspicious look, then went back to his breakfast.

Cassie casually reached across the table and started in on one of Marco's bagels.

Marco huddled his last two bagels to his chest, protectively. "Hey, you guys know how long it takes to defrost these things? Get your own!" He scoffed. "Free-loaders . . ."

He jabbed his thumb behind his shoulder towards the freezer behind him. "There's a whole sack of 'em right in there. Be my guest."

I watched Tobias hide a smile with his hand as Cassie took a bite of her stolen bagel.

"Jake, you're gonna let her get away with this? And after Igave you one, buddy you should be ashamed of yourself."

I sighed. "Well, you know it's not like I can choose my friend over my fiannce', Marco."

He slammed a bagel on the table, dramatically. "Well, why the hell not? You've known me longer- and did you just say fiannce'?" He pointed a finger at me.

I flashed him a big grin. Leaning over the table, I took one of Cassie's hands. "Cassie and I are getting married, Guys."

He looked shocked for about three seconds, before he composed himself. "Yeah, if we ever make it back to Earth, right?" he scoffed.

Santorelli chose now to enter the Mess and find himself some artificial coffee substitute.

Not to be disuaded, I fought back. "Actually, I was thinking of doing this on-board."

Marco sat down, hard. "But Jake, how am I supposed to throw a bachelor party on the Rachel?"

Santorelli took sip, winced, then looked up. "A bachelor party? I'm in! Who's getting married?"

Cassie put up her hand. "There isnot going to be any bachelor party."

I blinked. Well, we never discussed that.

"Whoah, now. Let's not be hasty here. Of course there'll be a bachelor party! It's tradition-" Marco argued.

"Besides," Cassie continued. "Just because I want a small wedding doesn't mean I don't want my parents to be there."

"Well, it won't matter much if we never go home!"

She gave Marco a dangerous look. "Weare going home . . ."

"Guys, guys!" Tobias put up his hands, placatingly. "How about we have two weddings, huh? A small one up here, just us guys. Then something a little more public on Earth. That sounds fair, right?" Tobias practically begged.

"I suppose," Marco allowed.

"Yeah, that sounds do-able" Cassie nodded.

"Sorry about that," Marco amended. "I was grumpy about my bagel . . . you pastry-thief."

"You know, technically, a bagel is NOT pastry."

"Yeah, well 'technically' you're a tree-huggin', berkenstock-wearing', bagel-stealing, little lettuce eater-"

"Do you two need to be separated?" I said.

"No, Dad." Marco sing-songed.

I took a deep breath and smiled patiently. "I think Tobias has a very good idea. Now, I suggest we all just sit down for a moment and-"

I was interrupted by a ship-wide message. "Captain, we are now entering Sector 471-8R. All crew, please report to the bridge. Repeat . . ."

I clapped my hands together. "Well, looks like this is gonna have to wait. Marco- no, wait, Tobias. Go wake up Jeanne. Meet the rest of us on the bridge."

Marco snapped his fingers. "Damn, I was that close."

I grinned. "Yeah, I almost slipped up there."

End ofPart 5

A/N: Sorry that chappie was so short, but I wanted what comes up next to have it's own chapter.

No, it's not The One. According to my time-line, only three weeks have passed in this fic. The One show up in six months. In #54, KA says: " . . . wandering around the system, seeing some cool things on strange worlds . . ." that line in the book, was the whole reason I wrote the waiver. I really wanted too show you what happened on those worlds and then show you what
happened to the one. The last nine chapters have been build-up for that (I wanted Cassie on-board)

So, now that all the set-up is prepared, it's time to kick it up a notch.

(mutters) now I have to come up with cool things on strange worlds . . .

Reviewer's Response:

Dysphoria: Awwwwwww! Thanx! I'll write a one chapter NC-17 fic later to make up for it LOL!

Rachel: Is sticky from all the sap.

Raspberry: Hey, I want you to be VERY honest about this chappie when you review, because I may
have pulled a K.A. and rushed it. I dunno, because it's 3:31 in the morning and I'm blitzed,
so . . .

Cheetor: Okay, I'll rely on Beta's instead of posting drafts.

Amber: It's VERY hard to get new reviewers, because it's a challenge to get the newbies to stick
through all those chappies. Thank you very much for taking he extra time. and here's your next
chappie...

A/N:

(Insanity Equals Happiness)
Plug Rachel's book: Well written, starts off slow (doesn't every fic?) A little pedantic, but
that's okay, 'cause it's author is only 13. Picks up in the middle. I give it a thumb and a half
up.

Ps. Cassie is NOT ooc, you'll see why when you get to chap 6. Can't get better unless you
review.