A/N: This is for The Confused One, who remains the only person to review each and every chapter of this story. Thank you for your advice!
Now, a lot is going to be explained in the next few chapters for all of you CI viewers who have no idea who any of the people from the SG1 realm are (and why Scott and Cassie should NEVER EVER date). Bear with me, please.
Sam held Cassie close as the younger woman cried, her tears soaking Sam's sweatshirt. "Shh, Cassie. I know. I know how pigheaded he can be. I know."
Cassie's tears hit harder. "Why does he have to be to mean about it?" she asked between the sobs that wracked her body.
"It's just who he is, Cassie," Sam said, her own eyes filled with tears she refused to let fall. "It's who he's been for a long time. You have to teach him how and help him get past this, Cass. You're the only one who knows what it's like."
There was a soft knock on the open stall door and the two women looked up to find Alex standing there, her eyes bright with unshed tears as she watched the scene. "Got room for one more down there?"
Sam nodded, removing one of her arms from around Cassie and beckoning her old friend to join them. Together the three of them huddled on the floor, none of them saying another word – just crying for the men in their lives that didn't seem to have a clue about their feelings at all. It felt good for all of them to just sit there and cry, knowing no one would judge them because of it or think less of them for it.
The guys sent Vala in to find out what had happened to the girls, only to find them crying and holding onto each other as if their lives depended on it. Silently she backed out of the restroom, trying to fight back the tears that filled her eyes.
"Well?" Bobby asked impatiently as Vala came back out, alone.
She shook her head, "It's going to be a while." Vala turned her attention and looked at all five of the men before her: Scott was standing a little off, unsure where he was supposed to fit into the mix and still concerned for Cassie; Jack and Daniel were glaring at each other as they waited; Teal'c was standing stoically between Daniel and Scott; and Bobby was pacing, finding no other way to release his pent up energy. Part of Vala wanted to go back into the restroom and join the women in a good cry, knowing that they'd let her in, for no other reason, then because she's female. The other part of Vala, the part that was in control, wanted to yell at these five men before her and figure out how three of them had managed to so thoroughly reduce their loved ones to tears.
Vala glared at all four men before turning to Teal'c (the only one she wasn't completely pissed off at, yet), "Do all Earth men have a problem keeping their women happy?"
Teal'c raised an eyebrow, the only show of his emotions, "Indeed. It is a common difficulty faced by the men of this planet."
She turned her attention to the three men who had so thoroughly reduced the women to tears, "I don't know what any of you three did, but you better fix it!"
Bobby looked at Vala with wide, innocent eyes, "What? What's wrong with Eames?"
Vala rolled her eyes, "One thing is probably that her name is Alex. She told me to call her that half an hour after meeting her – you've been her partner for four years!"
Bobby looked down, words escaping him as he battled the truth of her statement. Luckily, he was saved having to answer by the restroom door opening again and the three women in question emerging.
The tearstains on their faces were blatantly obvious to all five men, and all had the good thinking to know not to say anything about them. Soon the large group is seated in two cars and on their way to the hotel rooms Jack had rented for the week.
---
Sam, who had ridden in the car with Bobby behind the wheel, rushed out of the SUV as soon as it was parked and ran into the hotel, headed for the restroom she knew was in the restaurant next to the lobby.
When she got back out to the lobby, where the rest of the group was waiting, she shot a glare at Alex and Jack, "You could have warned me he drives like a maniac!"
Alex smirked at her old friend, "And miss that look on your face? Never."
Sam closed her eyes as she felt the blush rise on her cheeks, "Junior prom or sophomore winter formal?"
"Senior year homecoming," Alex responded, just to see the heat redden Sam's cheeks to a crimson color that the female detective found rather amusing.
Sam groaned before abruptly turning to Teal'c and seeking safety by his side. "You won't make fun of me, will you, Teal'c?" she asked tentatively.
Teal'c's eyes gleamed with a hint of humor Sam almost missed, "I do not believe it possible to transform your being into amusement, Colonel Carter."
Sam cocked her head, trying to suppress the growing smile on her face before she said, "You've been spending way too much time with Jack and Daniel."
Teal'c bowed his head slightly, "Indeed."
The group started walking toward the elevators and soon was in the biggest suit Sam had ever been in. As the rest of them got comfortable, Scott hung back, unsure where he was supposed to go, and where he belonged in this group that was once his family.
Cassie noticed his hesitance and added it to the other things she'd noticed he'd been doing since getting off Ba'al's ship. He'd been avoiding Jack at all costs. It was understandable that he'd be a little uncomfortable around his old friends, but this was bordering on ridiculous. What made her mad, though, was that she was supposed to be his friend ... and she didn't know what was going on with him anymore. With a sigh she caught his eye and motioned for him to join her on one of the sofas in the overly expensive/large room.
He wanted to decline, but one look at her eyes told Scott that Cassie would make a scene to get him to sit down if she felt it was necessary.
So he sat down next to her, silently brooding about how wrong all this was and how all he wanted to be doing was finishing his English paper on the art of fishing like a 'normal' college student.
Alex started off the conversation by turning to the seven of the visitors and asking, "Care to explain in detail, now, what all this is about?"
It seemed that paper would have to wait until tomorrow.
A/N: So sorry, I had to add the fishing quip in there! Now, a LOT more is explained in the next chapter, and after that if you're still confused about something just let me know IN A REVIEW. Please? Is my subtlety becoming too much for you?