Disclaimer: I do not own ChiPs or Stargate SG-1, I'm just borrowing them for a short while.

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Fragile Differences

Chapter Two: An Old Friend

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JON'S APARTMENT

"You mean to tell me he got his bike stuck in glue?" Cassie asked, laughing hysterically.

"Yes, he did, Sergeant Getraer wasn't too happy with him," Jon replied, taking a sip of his beer.

Jon smiled as he watched Cassie laugh. It felt like it had been forever since he'd seen her. He was surprised at how grown up she was, though he really shouldn't have been since it had been eleven years since he last saw her. She had grown up into a beautiful woman. And he hadn't realized just how much he missed her until he saw her in person again this morning.

Cassie had found out about him several months ago and was angry that no one had told her about Jack having been cloned. She'd reached out to Jon, feeling bad that he had no contact with anyone from his life before the cloning incident. Jon was happy to hear from her and the two had been talking back and forth. After several months she'd finally managed to get some time off and had decided to come visit him for the week.

"I have to meet this Ponch!" Cassie stated, smirking.

"He's definitely one interesting person," Jon mused, shaking his head.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Jon stood up from his spot on the couch and went to open the door. Standing on the other side of the door was none other than Ponch.

"Well, speak of the devil!" Jon joked, laughing.

Ponch frowned in confusion for a second then seemed to catch sight of Cassie standing behind his partner. A smile formed on his face and he smirked at Jon.

"Hey partner who's your friend?" He asked, eyeing Cassie.

"This is my cousin Cassie," Jon stated hesitantly.

He and Cassie had agreed to tell anyone who asked that she was his cousin, but he felt bad about lying to his partner. Not telling him about his past was one thing but lying to him about who Cassie was just felt wrong. The first was a lie by omission, whereas the second was just an outright lie. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Hi, Jon was just telling me all about you," Cassie exclaimed, holding her hand out to Ponch.

Ponch flashed Cassie one of his famous smiles and kissed her hand.

"All good things I hope," He replied.

"Mhm mostly," Cassie replied, blushing slightly.

Jon glanced between the two of them with wide eyes and shook his head. Lord have mercy on his soul if those two ever decided to get together!

"Jon never mentioned having a cousin as pretty as you," Ponch flirted.

Jon groaned at this, as Cassie giggled.

"Ponch, come on she's my little cousin," Jon uttered, shaking his head.

He smirked as Ponch shot him a sheepish look. The thought of little Cassie dating anyone was a scary thought to him. He still remembered the day when they found her all alone on that planet full of dead bodies. He remembered how tiny and scared she was, and how they'd almost lost her.

To him she'd always be that little girl, no matter how old she got. But in all honesty he didn't really mind Ponch flirting with Cassie. His partner may be a flirt, but under all that he really was a good guy. And if there was anyone that he would trust with Cassie it would be Ponch.

"Hey, we're the same age!" Cassie cried outraged, swatting him on the chest.

Jon glanced over at her and laughed. Mentally he was older than her, but physically they were the same age.

"I'm still older than you by a month which makes you my little cousin," He replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

He gave her a smirk, and Cassie scowled at this then jabbed him in the side. Ponch laughed at their banter and shook his head.

"You're just like uncle Jack. He chases away all the guys who show any interest in me," Cassie muttered petulantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jon grimaced at the mention of his older original self. He was still a bit sore about the whole thing. It honestly felt like his whole life had been ripped out from underneath of him and he was left to start over all on his own. Yeah sure, he'd told Jack that he was fine with not keeping in contact with him, but it had hurt that none of his team mates had reached out to him at all over the past eleven years. Plus it didn't sit right with him that he wasn't the real one.

He groaned at that line of thought. He'd spent years trying to get over it and build a new life for himself. To make himself into a new person and to not think of himself as the fake one. He'd thought he'd gotten over it, but apparently not.

"Oh sorry Jon. I didn't mean to bring it up," Cassie whispered, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"What? What's wrong?" Ponch asked, glancing between the two of them in confusion.

"It's nothing," Jon denied, shaking his head.

"He and uncle Jack don't really… get along? They haven't spoken in a while," Cassie explained awkwardly.

Jon sighed at this and glanced over at Ponch. His partner looked highly confused, and he knew Ponch was about to ask a whole slew of questions that he just didn't feel like answering.

"Can we just… drop this line of conversation please?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

"Gonna have to talk about it sooner or later," Cassie stated, giving him a contemplative look.

Jon groaned once more. Cassie had gone college to become a therapist and was currently working at the SGC counseling the various teams that went on missions through the gate. She was inspired to do it because of the trauma she'd experienced as a child, and from having seen how gate travel can effect the people at the SGC. The girl had lost her whole family and village because of a Goa'uld, and then several years later had lost her adoptive mom because of the Goa'uld. Which meant she was psychoanalyzing him right now.

"Not now though," He stated pointedly glancing over at Ponch.

Cassie rolled her eyes at this but didn't say anymore. Jon glanced back at Ponch to see he was even more confused now.

"She's a therapist so she thinks it's her job to analyze everyone she meets," Jon stated.

Cassie smacked him on the shoulder for that one and shook her head at him. Ponch was glancing between the two of them in utter confusion. He was just realizing that he didn't really know all that much about his partner and his past. Jon knew just about everything about him and his family, but he knew very little about Jon's life before he joined the CHP. Hell he didn't even know that Jon had a little cousin. But he knew now wasn't really the time to be asking Jon a bunch of questions so he to decided to let it go… for now.

"So… you're a therapist?" Ponch asked, glancing over at Cassie.

"Yup. I work at an Air Force base in Colorado Springs. I'm just in town for the week to visit Jon," Cassie explained.

The three spent the rest of the day talking and just hanging out in Jon's apartment. Jon couldn't help but notice how smitten Ponch seemed to be with Cassie. The man hung on her every word, and he noticed that Cassie seemed to be just as interested in Ponch. He felt conflicted on that front. He like Ponch, and he knew that if Cassie and Ponch got together that Ponch would treat her like a princess. But he also knew that if the two started dating then his old team would eventually show up and want to meet Ponch, which would mean he'd have to face them. And he honestly wasn't sure if he was ready to see them again…

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SEVERAL DAYS LATER

The rest of the week seemed to fly by for the three of them. Jon and Ponch both had to work the next day, so they didn't get to spend much time with Cassie. Though she did stop by the station to bring them lunch, and Getraer was nice enough to give her a tour. But the day after that the three went out to eat together, and even caught a movie. The day after that Jon and Ponch took Cassie to the beach and spent the whole day wind surfing.

All three where sad when the end of the week came, and Cassie had to head back to Colorado Springs. But she promised to keep in touch with them and to visit whenever she could. She had even briefly stolen Ponch's cell phone so she could put her contact info into it.

As Ponch watched Cassie drive off his mind raced with all the things he'd learned about Jon this week. Cassie had mentioned several uncles and aunts over the past week, but every time she mentioned them Jon got this look on his face. Pain would flash through his eyes for a moment, but it was there long enough for Ponch to catch it. And it left him confused.

Jon was usually a happy, friendly, calm and level-headed person. Ponch rarely ever saw Jon loose his cool. So the thought that Jon had had a falling out with his family puzzled him. What could have been so bad that Jon stopped speaking to this 'uncle Jack'? And why did he look so hurt at the mention of his aunts and uncles? He just had so many questions, and very little to no answers.

Jon never spoke about his family, or his past, and he wanted to know why. What had happened to cause him to keep his life so secret? Ponch had even asked Getraer if he knew anything about Jon's passed, and all Getraer had known was that Jon had been in the Army before he moved to California.

And to be honest, it kind of hurt to think that his partner was keeping secrets from him. Ponch had told Jon just about everything about himself, and he thought that the two where close friends. But now he wasn't so sure about that anymore. Did Jon not trust him? Well, that was all going to change soon. He'd talk with Jon tomorrow after their shift and get some answers…

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AN1: Wow, it's been so long since I worked on this story! But I'm back! Though I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter. I like the beginning of it, but I'm not so sure about the end. Oh well, let me know what ya'll think!

AN2: Yes, they have cell phones. I moved the CHiPs timeline up to fit with Stargate's timeline. And the episode Fragile Balances aired in 2003, so in my mind that means the episode took place in 2003. And this story takes place 11 years after that episode. Which means in this story it's currently 2014, so they have cell phones.