"Margaritaville..." he began singing, somewhat loudly and off-key.
Lena clapped a hand over his mouth and he giggled. "Oh boy...this is going to be a LONG day..." She said.
"Is Dad on crack?" Tommy asked curiously, his head tilted to one side.
"I'm beginning to wonder that myself, Tommy..." His mother replied, looking down at her helplessly giggling husband.
The Aussie looked up at his wife and starting humming an all too familiar Tom Jones song.
"Nick, don't you DARE!" Lena warned.
He merely gave her a wide grin before launching into a stirring rendition of "Sex Bomb."
Tommy looked at his brother. "What's a Sex Bomb?" he asked.
"I'll tell you when you're older." Danny replied, shivering.
Lena looked at her eldest in surprise. "Danny, what do you mean you'll tell your brother when he's older?"
He looked at the floor, uncomfortably.
"You were scarred?"
Danny nodded. "For life."
Lena tried not to laugh. How well she remembered the first time someone in her family had scarred her.
--
Liam walked down the hallway and almost ran into General O'Neill who was grinning so widely that it almost frightened the young lieutenant. "I'm sorry, sir." He apologized quickly.
"It's alright, Harris. SG-1's mission has been scrubbed." He said, motioning to the young man's haste toward to the locker room.
"Really, sir?"
"Yes, son. Actually, Harris...take the day off...you've been on duty for what?"
"Well, I haven't had leave for about three months..."
"Take the day off, then."
Liam looked at the general in shock for a moment before grinning himself. "Yes sir!"
Shrugging off his BDUs, the lieutenant quickly pulled on his civilian clothes and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. Once he got to the surface, he would call Cassie and see if she was available to do something...
--
Lena was at her wits end with Nick. When he wasn't hitting on her, he was trying to stand up, or even dance.
"Nick, you have to lay down!"
"I don't wanna." Came his stubborn response.
Closing her eyes, Lena muttered a few choice phrases in Russian to herself.
"That wasn't very nice." Nick complained, peering up at her.
"Then stop being so bloody aggravating!" She snapped.
Nick crossed his arms across his chest and pouted, looking very much like Danny when he had to eat peas.
She had to smile a little at this and reached over to sweep a small piece of hair off his brow.
Nick reached up swiftly and caught hold of her wrist. The next thing she knew, she was being held rather tightly. "There...that's better." He purred.
As much as Lena wanted to protest, she was unable to do so. Nick grinned as he fell asleep with his arms around his wife. "Knew you couldn't resist." He said, sleepily.
She tried to be angry at him, but he had pulled out the accent as he had fallen asleep, an unconscious reaction, but it had the same effect nevertheless.
She smiled at the sight of her sleeping husband and shook her head. "You're just a big kid." She said as she placed a tender kiss on his cheek.
--
Cassie's cell phone rang, and she picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hi. Cassandra?"
Her heart skipped a beat. "Liam?"
"Yes...It's me."
"I thought you had a mission."
"General O'Neill said that it was scrubbed."
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah...I was wondering if you wanted to try the batting cages this afternoon."
"Batting cages?"
"Yeah..." He said, somewhat sheepish. "I...We can do something else..."
"No...I've never REALLY played baseball before, and I could use some brushing up on my batting skills."
"Cool. Want me to pick you up in half an hour or so?"
She saw the boys sitting quietly in the living room, playing with Grace and Nicky. "I'm sorry, Liam, I just realized...I'm watching the kids while Sam and Jack are gone."
"Where are Nick and Lena?"
"They're...otherwise occupied." Cassie said with a chuckle.
"Oy...kinda sounds like I don't really want to know..." Liam said dryly.
"Not like that! They're both asleep."
"Ahhh...well let me know when they're awake and maybe we could take the kids to the park or something...get them out of their hair."
"I'd like that...I'll call you later." She replied.
He said goodbye and Cassie hung up the phone with a wide smile.
"Was that your boyfriend?" Grace asked, nonchalantly as she laid down one of the UNO cards.
"Excuse me?" Cassie asked, surprised.
"Was that Liam? 'Cuz he's your boyfriend."
"Uh..." She began. "He's not my boyfriend..." She finished lamely.
Danny turned to Grace, rolling his eyes. "Uh huh..."
"Okay...what have your parents been saying about Liam and me?"
"Oh...just that you two are PERFECT for each other." Tommy said, exaggerating the 'perfect.'
"Really?"
"Oh yeah..."
Cassie chuckled as she heard the water on the stove boil. "Okay, kids, pick up the cards...it's time for Ramen Noodles!"
There was a little grumbling, but Danny took the cards and neatly arranged them by color and number before replacing them into the box.
"I think we made her uncomfortable." He told his brother and Grace.
Both of them nodded as they followed the older boy into the kitchen for lunch.
"We're sorry if we offended you." Danny told Cassie solemnly as he entered the kitchen. "That was not our intent."
"What do you mean, Danny?" Cassie asked as she served the noodles up to the children.
"We have made you uncomfortable when we mentioned Liam. We are sorry."
"Oh, you're fine...it's your parents who should be apologizing..." She said, chuckling.
"At any rate, we wish to apologize."
"Well, then, apology accepted."
The front door opened. "Hello!"
"Mommy!" Nicky said, getting up from the table and running toward the sound of Sam's voice.
She braced herself for impact, using the three-year-old's velocity to swing him up and onto her hip. "Hey, Nicky!"
The three-year-old nearly burst into tears. "I missed you Mommy!"
She smiled. "I missed you too, sweetheart, but I'm back now."
She grinned at Cassie. "And I brought someone who wanted to see you..."
Cassie drew her eyebrows together in confusion. "Who?"
Liam walked through the door. "Hello, Cassandra."
"Liam?" She asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise. "I thought I'd call you later!"
"And then I saw him and needed a ride." Sam finished. "Jack's going to be working kinda late today, and anyone who was scheduled to be on the expedition today was given the day off." She said, a twinkle in her eye.
"Yeah, General O'Neill was in a REALLY good mood today."
Sam snorted. "I'll bet."
"You're not mad I'm here, are you?" Liam asked, somewhat nervous.
"No, of course not." Cassie responded quickly. "Just surprised."
"Sorry…I was walking out to go home and there was Colonel…Sam…"
"Colonel Sam? Is that like Uncle Sam?" Sam asked, chuckling.
"Uh…" Liam said, unsure of how to get himself out of the awkwardness of that.
Cassie chuckled as she watched his face turn slightly red from the surprise of the question and the established rebuke.
Sam chuckled as well and, with little Nicky on her hip, she ushered the couple out the door. "Now, have fun…but not too much." She said with a wink. "Or you'll end up like me." She said, adding a mischievous glance to Cassie.
Liam sputtered as the door closed, and Cassie chuckled. "What did she mean by that?"
"Isn't it obvious? She's pregnant." Cassie said, walking out to the car.
"And she was suggesting that you and I would…" Liam sputtered, unable to finish his sentence. "I mean, it's our second date, for cryin' out loud!"
"She was teasing…"
Liam's ears were red at this point and Cassie tried to disguise her laugh, but it came out as a snort. He gave her a mock evil eye that only served to make her laugh even harder.
"Oh come on...you've never been scarred before?"
"Not like that!" Liam protested.
She shook her head. "You haven't been around Nick and Lena, my parents, or Jack and Sam...have you?"
"Not if I can help it!" He quipped.
She laughed. "So...what're we doing?"
"I thought maybe we could go over to the batting cages and hit a few baseballs." He said. "Unless you don't want to..."
"Sounds good." She said, glad that he was the one suggesting an activity that she could easily fake needing assistance with. She wanted to have his arms around her the way they had been at the bowling alley, and this was a definite opportunity to have such a feeling.
He gave her a wide grin. "Let's see if you have better luck hanging onto a bat than you do holding a bowling ball." He said quickly before racing around the car so she couldn't hit him for this remark.
She raced after him and pinned him up against his car. They were inches away from each other, each breathing a little more heavily from their jog. Cassie looked deeply into Liam's eyes, and she was surprised at what she found there. There was a lightheartedness that she had expected, but also a deep sense of sorrow.
The windows in her heart expanded, as if her soul was drinking the essence of this man.
"So...baseball." He said, as she backed away.
"Right."
Liam opened the car door for Cassie, trying not to think about what had just transpired.
"Thank you." She said, with a slight nod.
"Not a problem." He responded, his sounding a little more husky than he would have liked.
She took a deep breath as he hurried around to the other side of the car.
Liam quickly started the engine and headed out to Foster's Batting Cages. Pulling into the space, he bounced out of the car and raced around to open Cassie's door again.
"After you, Madam." He said in a cheesy French accent.
"I believe it's mademoiselle..." She said, cheekily. "I'm not married."
He raised an eyebrow. "Zat could be taken care of..."
A slight flutter began in her stomach as she blushed. "Well...let's go." She said, brushing the feeling away.
He gave her a grin and led the way inside to the batting cages. After testing a couple of bats, he held one out for her to take.
She accepted it, letting it fall somewhat slackly against her leg as though she didn't know what to do with the bat.
"Sorry." She mumbled, pretending to be embarrassed.
"Sorry about what?"
"Baseball never really was my thing..."
"That's okay." He said with a chuckle. "I'll show you what you do."
She smiled a knowing smile. "You just want to get your arms around me again, don't you?"
"Oh you know it." He replied with a slightly evil grin.
"Well, maybe you're not the only one who'd like you to teach me..."
Liam swung the bat up onto his left shoulder, his right hand in his jeans pocket. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah...I hear Nick has money riding on this..." She replied, mimicking him and walking a little further ahead of him, a slightly exaggerated sway to her hips.
Liam raised an eyebrow and walked into the batting cage. Setting down the bat, he pulled off his shirt to reveal a plain white tank top. Picking up the bat and placing a protective helmet on his head, he successfully hit 4 balls.
Cassie's jaw dropped at the physique she saw...and she thought she was used to good-looking men...after all, she had grown up around several...THAT much had been proven when in college, her roommate had started a "Cassie's Father Figure Fan Club," or as it had been affectionately nicknamed, "The CFFFC".
Swinging the bat back up onto his shoulder, he turned to her. "Want to have a go?"
She blinked in incomprehension for a moment before recovering. "Sure..."
Smiling somewhat seductively, Liam extended his hand to her to lead her into the proper stance.
Within a few moments, she was back in his embrace, and a familiar warmth spread through her body.
"Okay...first thing you want to do is make sure your feet are apart and firmly planted." He whispered, his voice low in her ear.
"Uh huh..." She said, the feel of his breath on her ear starting to tickle her whole spirit.
"You want your hands to be somewhat apart and a little further up on the bat." He instructed, sliding her hands up with his.
"Okay."
"Your eyes need to be looking straight at the launcher where the ball will be coming from. Bring your elbow up, but keep the bat firmly gripped so you don't knock your helmet off..."
She nodded, steeling herself for the coming baseball.
"And...swing!" Liam said, bring the bat sharply around. The bat "cracked!" as it connected with the ball and sent it flying.
"Wow..." She breathed, more about the exhilaration of having his arms around her than about the actual hitting of the baseball.
"Do you want to hit one by yourself, or do you still need help?" He asked with mock solemnity.
"I don't think I would mind another...practice..." She said, her mind swimming.
"Okay." Liam replied.
He went through the routine once more, and Cassie could suddenly see herself falling for him…never to recover.
As he pulled away after yet another 'crack' sent a baseball flying, Cassie turned to him. "So…had your fill of having your arms around me, huh?" She asked, teasingly, her way of coping with the immense pleasure of having his arms around her.
There was an equally teasing gleam in Liam's eye as he pulled his polo back on. He grinned. "Well, there's always mini-golf…"
Cassie's knees went weak for a moment, but she recovered quickly. She walked up to him and raised her eyebrow somewhat seductively in jest. "So…it WAS as good for you as it was for me?"
She smirked as she walked out of the batting cage as Liam sputtered for a response.
He hurried after her a few seconds later. "Cassandra!" He sputtered again.
She flashed him a grin. "Oh…I got you!"
"But…" He couldn't even string together a coherent sentence before he finally gave into laughter. "All right…you did get me…"
She chuckled. "You're so cute when you get flustered…"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah."
"Well, thank you, mademoiselle…" He said, bowing low as he let her out into the parking lot first.
Cassie had to laugh at this and Liam gave her a mock pout. "Oh, don't even start, Liam." she told him.
"Darn...that works about as well on you as it does my mother..." he replied ruefully.
"Then, your mother is a smart woman." Cassie teased.
Liam shook his head and chuckled.
"So...tell me about your family." Cassie continued as they walked back to the car.
"Well, it's just me, my mom and my sister, Andrea." Liam said, sobering up considerably.
"Really?"
Liam nodded. "Yeah...my dad and brother were in an accident..." He said, his gaze fixated on the car as he opened the door for her.
She looked up at him as she got into the car, and she opened her mouth to speak, but quickly got the door shut in her face. Obviously, this was a touchy subject.
Liam climbed into the driver's seat, his hands clenching the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
"Liam...are you okay?" Cassie asked, concerned. "I didn't mean to upset you..."
Closing his eyes, he heaved a heavy sigh. "Sorry...you didn't deserve that." He said softly.
"Liam...I know what it's like to have touchy subjects mentioned...don't apologize...I just...I wouldn't have asked if I'd known it was..."
"I didn't tell you about it...it's my fault." He told her, giving her a tight-lipped smile.
Suddenly, she could see the panic on Liam's face as the brakes squealed against the ice. Her head was swimming with dizziness as she could feel the car that she was in right then start spinning out of control. And she could see the blood from where Liam's father and brother flew out of the car and into the forest a few feet away.
He began starting the car, and she gently touched his arm before he could do so. "Liam...I highly doubt it was your fault."
Liam gazed at her, his eyes haunted and full of pain. "Yes it was."
"Liam..." Cassie said, taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what she was going to reveal about herself. "It was an accident. You may have been a new driver, but it was the weather more than it was your driving..."
His head whipped around to look at her. "What the hell..." He whispered.
She looked incredibly uncomfortable as she tried to give him a weak smile. "I'm...I'm psychic. And that probably really creeps you out..." She said, reaching for the door handle. "I'll just call..."
Liam's hand shot out and grasped her gently yet firmly by the arm. "If you're psychic, you'll know that I'm not lying when I tell you that you DON'T creep me out."
"It's selective..." She said, looking insecurely at his hand touching her arm. "Kind of an...opening of the mind thing..."
Liam reached out his other hand and tipped her chin up to meet his hazel eyes. "I would never lie to you." He said honestly.
"I'm sorry...whenever I get a glimpse into someone's thoughts, I...I feel like I'm stepping on sacred ground...like I'm intruding." She whispered.
Liam gave her a sad half smile. "Nah...my thoughts usually aren't sacred..."
"Yes, Liam...they are...they're what makes you who you are."
He averted his gaze from hers for a moment. "My thoughts aren't sacred." He said, a note of finality in his voice.
"Try looking at it from my perspective." She said, pulling his eyes back to hers. "I get to know people better than most husbands and wives know each other...that's a sacred intimacy that...that I'm afraid that I might violate. But that's neither here nor there. I'm sorry that my intrusion into your thoughts has caused you such pain."
"It's not your fault."
"Maybe not..." She said, wistfully. "But the accident wasn't your fault either."
"Yes it was." He said, tears stinging the back of his eyes. He could still feel the cold metal compressed around him, trapping him.
She pulled him into an embrace and held him. She didn't say anything, just let him feel her strength beside him.
He clung to her as though he was afraid that he going to be completely left alone in the world.
"Liam..." She whispered as she let her fingers feather through his hair. "Thank you."
She got choked up before she could explain why she was thanking him, and he looked up at her. "Why?"
"Because you've accepted me for who I am...and let me see who you are." She said, tears stinging her eyes.
"How could anyone not accept you?"
She bit her lip as she shrugged. "You'd be surprised..."
He nodded. "I know how that feels."
She looked him in the eyes. "I know."
Gazing straight ahead of him, Liam's eyes had a faraway look in them. "He would have been 32 today."
She took his hand. "Do you want to do something for him today? I can stick around..."
"I don't know what to do..." He said, shrugging. "Nothing I've ever come up with has seemed...right."
Images flooded her mind of his brother, Robert. He was running track in high school, playing football with his brothers in the backyard, accidentally snorting soda out of his nose. Each memory brought a poignancy that seemed to cry out in pain. "He was very special."
"Yeah, he was..." Liam said, softly. "He was my best friend..."
"Tell me about him." Cassie prompted gently.
"What? You don't already know everything about him?" He teased, gently.
"Nope." She returned. "I may be psychic, but I'm not omniscient!"
He chuckled at this, before reflecting for a long moment. "Robby...was one of the BIGGEST teases I've ever met, except for Nick."
"Really?"
He nodded. "Do...do you mind if we...if we go to my place? I have some...pictures that I'd...I'd like to..."
"Sure." Cassie said, smiling. "I'd love to."
Liam gave her a small smile in return before pulling back out into traffic and heading to his apartment that he referred to as "The Doll House" because of its small size. Guiding her up to the 5th floor, he left her sitting on the couch as he dug through the cabinets on the bottom of the entertainment center before coming back with three photo albums.
Opening the first one, he smiled. "This is me, and Robby when we were kids. I'm the one with mud all over me." He chuckled. "We were in SUCH trouble for that one!"
"I'll bet...do you know how hard it is to get mud out of clothing?" She asked, a gentle smile on her face as she watched the healing that was occurring.
Liam shrugged. "We wanted a mud pie and by heck, we were going to make it!"
She chuckled. "Sounds like you two loved life..."
"Oh we did." Flipping the page, there was a picture of both Liam and Robert in their T-Ball uniforms. "Robby loved having me on the team because whenever the Coach would yell "Harris!", we'd both answer him."
"But because you two looked so alike in your uniforms, the coach would get confused while trying to tell between the two of you..." She said, fondly. "So...if either of you were supposed to get into trouble, you'd get out of it without hearing the lecture..."
Liam gave her a surprised look before grinning. "Yep. Sometimes people swore we were twins, even though Robby was 5 years older."
She grinned. "Caught you by surprise this time, didn't I?"
"Just a little." He laughed.
Turning the page again, he found the pictures of Robby in high school as a freshman in the school band.
As he reminisced, it was surprising to Cassie to realize just how easily his thoughts filled her head. It was as if there was no barrier between herself and him. There were only three people that she'd had even part of that connection with before: Sam, Jack, and her mother. It was kind of frightening to her actually. Because she could feel the connection strengthen each time she was with him. And if she kept seeing inside him, she could get really attached, and really hurt if something occurred and he decided that she wasn't the one…
She shook the thoughts from her head and returned her gaze to the photographs. "Something on your mind?" Liam asked, watching her.
"No…nothing." She returned.
"Nothing? I have a hard time thinking that someone so intelligent would have nothing on your mind…"
She shrugged. "Just…some thoughts that felt the need to creep up…"
"You don't want to talk about it, do you?"
"Not really." She admitted.
"Okay…"
Pulling out the second album, Liam showed her more photographs, mostly from Robby's various musical recitals.
"Hey, you play an instrument, don't you?" Cassie asked, as she looked at various pictures of Robby's performances.
Liam nodded. "I play three, actually."
She groaned as she heard a tiny chuckle erupt from deep within him. "And don't give me that look like I just read your mind...I didn't...you told me that you're musically inclined when we first met..."
He laughed softly. "I play cello, guitar and drums."
"And you fiddle around on the violin, isn't that right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I don't play an instrument, and I'm not able to carry a tune to save my life..." She laughed. "But I count myself as a music appreciator."
"Hey, if everyone played, there'd be no one left to come to concerts!"
She chuckled. "Do you have a concert anytime soon?"
"My rock band is playing this Saturday, if you want to come..." He said, looking down at his hands.
"I'd love to." She said smiling. "It sounds like fun."
Liam grinned. "Sometime, classical is just...too rigid for me."
"But it has its merits." She said, chuckling. "Don't tell anyone that I told you, but Sam used to study opera...she changed her major halfway through school."
"Wow!" He said, looking impressed. "That's not exactly easy..."
"Nope...but according to Sam, it's rewarding..."
Liam nodded, his fingers absent-mindedly tapping drum patterns on his knee.
"You wanna play something for me?" She asked, noticing the subtle gesture.
He looked down at his hands and blushed. "Sometimes they run away with me." He confessed.
"It's okay...at least I know you love what you do..."
He smiled. Standing up, he took a small brown hand drum off the top of the entertainment center and placed it carefully on his lap. Closing his eyes, he began by striking the drum in the center before adding rim slaps and more complex rhythms on top of it.
At the end of the piece, she turned, stunned. "You're really very good."
His ears turned red. "I just made it up as I went."
"Are you serious? That's amazing." She gushed.
Liam's face was now bright red. "Yeah...thanks." He mumbled as he set the drum back in its proper place.
"What's so embarrassing about that?" Cassie asked, an intrigued smile on her face.
"I've never really been someone who's considered themselves wonderful or anything...I just do it." He shrugged, the color in his face fading.
"Liam...I've seen into your thoughts...you're an amazing person." She said, a look of sincere admiration on her face.
Closing his eyes quickly, he couldn't stop a tear from sliding out under his right eyelid.
She placed one hand on his back. "Trust me...I know you can't see it yet, but...you're amazing."
"No I'm not." He choked out, pulling away from her and standing in front of the window facing the street.
"I am honored to call you my friend." She said, sincerely.
He turned to her, his face wet with tears. "So was Robby, and I killed him."
"Liam...what's really at stake here? I've already tried to help you see that it was an accident...it wasn't your fault...but...you seem to be holding something back, and even my quote-unquote psychic powers aren't able to reveal it to me..."
"Cassandra, I won't lie to you…" He admitted, softly. "I like you…a lot…"
Her heart fluttered at the thought, and then, it plummeted at the sound of the tone of his voice. "But?"
"I've managed to hurt everyone that I've loved. And…I think you should have a chance to get out before I can hurt you too."
Strangely, that hurt her worse than anything he could have done to offend her. It was as if he had read her thoughts and given her the out that she'd wanted. "I'm not the only psychic, am I?"
He looked up with incomprehension.
"I was just thinking a little while ago about whether or not I would be able to bounce back from you…"
"And?" He prompted gently.
"I don't think anything you could throw at me would be anything in comparison with what I've had to deal with before." She said simply.
"That's right…I forgot you have an understanding with the Universe…" Liam said with a sigh.
Cassie looked at him, unsure of whether or not she had heard what she'd just heard. With tears stinging her eyes, she looked him in the eye. "I know you're hurting, but…" She didn't finish her sentence, and she turned to leave.
Liam was instantly contrite and took her arm. "Cassandra…"
She pulled away from him.
"Cassandra, I'm so sorry…I was trying to lighten the mood, but it…"
She had stopped at the door, her back still turned to him.
"Cassandra, please…I didn't mean to hurt you."
She turned. "Do you know what it's like to have the burden of an entire civilization on your shoulders? A whole world? A whole planet? You're not the only one with survivor's guilt, Liam…"
Liam looked at her for a long moment before sinking back onto the sofa, allowing his head to rest in his hands.
"My pride is what killed my father and brother, Cassandra...I was too proud to listen and it cost me everything."
She walked over and knelt in front of him and placed her hand under his chin. "Liam, it didn't cost you everything...there's still your mother and sister. You're still here...and you must be pretty special for some higher power to have protected you like that."
Liam gazed at her, tears still streaming down his face. "My mother had a mental breakdown...she's in the inpatient unit in the hospital where she has been for 3 years and Andrea is doing all she can to stay in school...we hardly talk."
Tears stung her eyes. "Liam..." She choked out as she put her arms around him.
He allowed his head to fall onto her shoulder as he wept.
"All I had to do was slow down!" He sobbed.
She didn't say anything, just kept holding him, and allowed him to release all of the emotions that had been kept pent up in his soul for so long.
Catching his breath, Liam's tears slowly subsided. He still remained in Cassie's embrace, feeling more comfort than he had in a long time.
"Feel better?" Cassie asked, gently as he began to pull away a few moments later.
He nodded, wiping at his face roughly.
She aided him, gently touching the wet lines that his tears had formed on his face, and wiping the tears from his face. "So...what next?" She asked, looking at him inquisitively.
"Ummm...I've got my guitar nearby." He said, clearing his throat and averting his gaze from her eyes.
"I'd like to hear you..."
Standing up, Liam retrieved his acoustic from its stand in the corner of the room. Reaching down into the seat cushions, he triumphantly produced a guitar pick.
She chuckled. "That's an odd place to keep those..."
He grinned. "I'm a guitarist, therefore I have picks all over the place..."
"I can see that."
Setting the guitar comfortably on his lap, he began to play a Yellowcard song called "Only One".
Cassie was speechless when it was finished. "Wow..."
Liam's ears were red again. "Thanks."
"So..." Cassie said, trying to get rid of the nervous fluttering in her stomach. "Got someone you were singing to?" She asked, trying to tease him. Somehow, it wasn't coming out as well as she wanted it to come out.
Liam turned his eyes to her, and gave her a half smile. "Maybe..." He teased back.
The light atmosphere had partially returned, and Cassie chuckled as she looked around the room. "Well, where is she?"
In answer to this question, Liam launched into the song "Run" by Rex Goudie and looked pointedly at Cassie as he sang the line, "And I'm just a guy who's in love with a girl right in front of me..."
Again, that nervous feeling started creeping over her, but there was a note of truth that rang in her soul. She smiled. "Our second date and you're in love with me? Wow...I AM lucky...maybe I should go to Vegas..."
Liam cracked up before singing "Viva Las Vegas".
"You've got a song for everything, don't you?"
He grinned cheekily. "Of course!"
She shook her head, still sitting on the floor in front of him.
Taking his guitar pick in his hands, an evil grin spread across his face before he hid his face behind his hand for a moment before presenting a solemn face to her. He then proceeded to begin singing, "This is the song that doesn't end..."
"Oh stop!" She begged. "Michael sings that to NO end! And it's driven me to live with Sam and Jack!"
Liam laughed. "Any requests, madam?"
"Nope. I'm just here to appreciate." Cassie said, leaning back on her palms with her arms extended behind her.
"Hmmm..." he said, thinking of what she might like.
"I like acoustic stuff..." She added with a facetiously helpful look on her face.
Liam gave her a look before shaking his head. "Oh THAT helps!"
She broke into a grin. "Oh come on, at least I didn't tell you to break out the drums and start scatting!"
"True..." He said, chuckling.
Cassie's cell phone rang and she looked at Liam apologetically. He nodded, and she answered it. "Hello?"
"Cassie?"
"Mom! What's going on?" Cassie asked, somewhat confused.
"Nothing, sweetheart. Am I interrupting something?"
"I'm at Liam's, but if it's important..."
"Oh...no...Daniel and I were just going to throw a little party and were wondering if you could bring a date..."
"Mom?"
"Please...we're one man short! The party's tomorrow night at eight o' clock."
"Let me check." She said, sighing. She let the hand holding the cell phone fall to her side. "Liam, my mother is throwing a party and would like to know if I can bring a date. Wanna come?"
"Sure." He said, shrugging.
"Great." She said, smiling a VERY grateful smile in his direction.
"He's in, Mom."
"Fabulous." Janet said, obviously delighted. "Now...I would have gotten formal invitations out earlier, but..."
"What is it now, Mom?"
"It's a costume party...let me get your characters' names..."
Cassie closed her eyes in humiliation. "Is it really one of those "How to Host A Murder" parties?"
"Yes, it is."
Liam chuckled at the exchange, knowing exactly what he was getting himself in for now, having gone to one of those "How To Host A Murder" parties when Alan had thrown one with his girlfriend. Cassie motioned for a piece of paper and a pen. He quickly got them for her. "Okay. Our names?"
"Mona F'Amour and Daimon R. Foreva."
Cassie sighed. "Okay...but just so I can be prepared, did you give me the skank?"
Liam snorted and clapped a hand over his mouth quickly.
"Nope...that's me..." Janet said, chuckling. "Okay...we'll see you tomorrow night."
"Sure." Cassie said, taking another deep breath. She threw him a look as she closed the phone. "What?"
"Nothing..." He replied, trying not to smile.
"You're lying to me...What's so funny?"
"The idea of you being a skank..." He admitted, chuckling.
"I have been asked to play the skank before..." Cassie said, sighing. "And I've had enough of the role..."
"I honestly can't picture that..."
"Well, we're going to a costume shop, so...I could show you..." She said, a cheeky grin on her face. "You're going to be Daimon R. Foreva."
Liam raised an eyebrow. "Daimon R. Foreva? Oy..." he said.
"Oh, don't even start...you don't have MY name..."
"Lay it on me..."
She raised an eyebrow. "Okay...Mona F'Amour."
Liam cracked up.
"Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you..."
"I'm sorry, but that's funny!"
"Yes it is..."
"So...do you have some time to go costume shopping?"
"Sure! Let's go." Liam responded agreeably.
"Okay..." She said, with a smile. "This oughta be a lot of fun..."
"Sounds like it'll be...interesting at least." Liam laughed.
"Yes...and I have a feeling that my mother was lying to me about not giving me the skank..."
Liam snorted. "Let's hope not!"
"No, I have a feeling..." Cassie said, nodding. "Trust me...you can usually tell by the names...and there's ALWAYS one skank...if not two or three..."
"Wow..." Liam whistled.
"Oh yeah...usually it's kind of a "classy skank," but...I'll tell you, my mom and Daniel did a Shakespeare themed party...and oy...everyone was sleeping with one of the other characters...one of them was even pregnant by one."
"HA!"
"I was Mary, Queen of Schnapps. The pregnant drunk." She said, her eyebrows raised in humiliation. "Despite the fact that Sam was about six months pregnant at the time..."
Liam started laughing.
"What? Everyone thought it was funny, except my boyfriend at the time whose character was sleeping with my mom's character..."
This only served to make Liam laugh even harder.
"And Daniel, who gets more drunk after a glass of wine than after drinking a whole bottle of beer, started a brawl with said boyfriend..." She started chuckling, inadvertently. "It was a night to remember..."
"Oy..."
"Yeah...this oughta be interesting at the very least...however, I don't think you should be worried. A drunk Daniel can't hit anything except the wall..."
Liam giggled. "I'll keep that under advisement."
"It's kind of a...Halloween tradition...except it seems like SG-1 is going to be off on a mission on Halloween...not to mention the kids...but with Nick and Lena...this oughta be GREAT!"
"Oh boy...those two ought to have some FUN with this!" Liam commented dryly.
"No kidding...if my character ends up sleeping with his, neither of them are going to let me forget it..."
"Ewww! That is SO wrong!" Liam laughed.
"No kidding! He may be good looking, but...he's old enough to be my father!" She thought about it for a moment. "Well...maybe not...but he's a little older than my stepfather, which is still wrong!"
"Yeah, I've heard all about those PBS tapes..." Liam smirked.
What?" She asked, genuinely surprised.
"Your mom and Lena were talking about them one day."
She leaned back into the seat of the car, mocking humiliation. "There goes my reputation!"
Liam chuckled. "Hey, don't tell anybody, but I had a crush on Alan's mom once!"
She laughed outright. "Oh boy..."
"Yeah...Al STILL teases me about that..." he sighed.
She chuckled. "I have a feeling that if you stick around long enough, you'll hear PLENTY of jokes about me and the 'dancer boys.'"
"Dancer boys?" he queried curiously.
"Tony Dovolani, Jesse Desoto, Louis Van Amstel, Jonathan Roberts, Nick..."
Liam's brow furrowed. "Tony Dovolani...didn't he dance with Stacey Keibler-Elf on Dancing With The Stars last year?"
"Yes…" She said, trying not to crack up at the 'Keibler elf' designation. "And apparently, one of Nick's closest friends."
"Hmmm..."
"Yeah...of course, I have yet to meet this gem of a man..." She said, with a theatrical sigh. "I mean, what's the use having famous friends if they don't help you network?"
Liam chuckled. "As long as Nick introduces me to Cheryl Burke..."
She raised an eyebrow. "You DO go for the exotic, don't you?"
Liam shrugged. "Her or Kym Johnson..."
Cassie gave him a mock sniff of disdain as she got out of the car and walked ahead of him.
Liam hurried to catch up with her. "Of course, I could always grow a goatee..." he teased.
"I'm sorry...but it's the Chest that gets me..." She chuckled.
Liam sighed. "Guess I'd better hit the gym then..."
She chuckled. "Although the goatee isn't bad...nor is that sexy curl in the middle of his forehead..."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Seesh! Maybe they should divorce...I'll take Lena and you get Nick."
"So...you like Lena?" She asked, an amused smile on her face.
"She's gorgeous, but more importantly, she's got a great soul...what's not to like?" He asked simply.
"Okay...but I think Nick and Lena are too attached to one another...what's our plan B?"
"Hmmm...cloning?" Liam offered.
She laughed. "Sorry...bad experiences with that one..."
"Okay...hmmm..." He pondered.
"I say we split the difference and just keep things the way they are..." Cassie said with a smile.
"Might as well."
"It's the only logical thing to do, of course." She said with a twinkle in her eye.
Liam nodded gravely. "Of course."
"All right...you're a Frenchman...in the 1920s I believe.."
"Coolness!" he said.
She shook her head. "Guys and their hats…"
"Oh that's right...you only go for guys with Manly Chests and low v's..." Liam shot back.
"Would you stop?" She asked, giggling.
He merely smirked and walked away humming "Miserlou."
She paused in absolute surprise before running up behind him. "That's not fair!" She hissed.
"What's not?" he replied, his eyes wide in mock innocence.
"Oh come on...you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about..."
Liam chuckled and this time started humming "Betece".
"Careful..." She warned. "Nick and Lena have taught me some...interesting dances...actually, I should probably say that they've been the cause for my...competence...I got three years of lessons from a friend of his..."
Liam smiled slightly. "I dance, but not ballroom!"
"Well...I guess I'll have to dance the Mambo with Jesse Desoto, the Mambo King..."
Liam shook his head. Just then, he saw a group of people gathering around a car that had the hip hop song "Promiscuous" blasting from it. Drawn to the beat, he walked over there and found that they were all people about his age just having a good old fashioned street dance. Closing his eyes, he let his body go.
Cassie watched in fascination. The man could move...
Liam looked up at her and moonwalked in a circle around her, causing the rapidly growing crowd to cheer him on.
"If you ever wanna learn ballroom, I'll be your partner." She offered quickly when he was finished.
Liam smiled. "Ballroom's not really my style..." he said bashfully.
"Oh...it could be." She said, nodding. "Particularly Latin..."
"Hmmm...maybe." He said, sounding thoughtful.
"Or American Rhythm,"
"I don't know...I'd have to compete with Tony and Jesse..."
"I think you'd do just fine..." She admitted.
"I'll think about it." He promised.
She shrugged off the sudden impulses running through her. A man who could dance was a BIG plus...
"Okay...we still don't have your costume." She said, switching gears.
"Yeah...let's go."
She nodded.
"There's a nice little vintage place right around the corner." She said, pointing to a little hole-in-the-wall place.
"That would be a good place to start."
"Yeah...we might actually find some things from the 1920s..."
"Maybe..." Liam commented, opening the door for her,
"Thank you." She said with a smile as they walked inside.
"No problem."
She walked inside, and maneuvered her way straight to the section entitled "1920." Within a few minutes, she'd found a couple of flapper dresses.
Liam's outfit wasn't at all much harder. He had some things at home that would work, but in the meantime, they shopped for the perfect accessories. In the hat bin, they found a French beret, and in the odds and ends bin, they managed to find a jeweler's loupe. They also found many pieces of male costume jewelry. "Lena's going to be quite jealous…" She remarked.
"Really?"
"Yes…I think you may just have more jewels than she has…" She chuckled.
"Really?" He laughed.
She nodded before motioning to the dresses in her hands. "Wanna help me choose which one to get?"
Liam looked at the dresses in panic. "I'm a man...I'm not good with this stuff!"
"No...I'm gonna put them all on, and just tell me which one you like best..." She said, chuckling. "Don't panic...yet..." She teased. "Panic when I ask you if it makes me look fat."
"Ahhh!" Liam cried in mock horror.
"Don't worry...I save that for my serious boyfriends..." She said, ducking into the dressing room.
"Whew..." Liam sighed in relief.
"Although, if you keep being so charming...you may hit the top of the list REALLY soon..."
"Eeek!"
She laughed despite the barrier between them. "I'll try not to ask you that question...darling."
Liam's eyes bugged out as he heard her call him 'darling.'
She was finished dressing by now, and opened the door to reveal the sleeveless, knee-length red sequined dress. "What's wrong, Liam?"
"Darling?"
"I was teasing…" She said, chuckling.
"Right…" He laughed, nervously.
"What? You thought I was serious? This is our second date, for cryin' out loud!"
He shrugged. "It's been a day of ups and downs…"
She chuckled. "I know…so…the dress? Should I get it?"
He smacked his palm to his forehead. "I told you…I'm a man…I don't know about these things…"
She shook her head and twirled the pearls she'd placed around her neck to complete the look as she walked over to him. "As a man, do I look attractive in this dress?"
"That's a trick question, isn't it?" He asked, almost sweating.
She chuckled. "It doesn't have to be."
She walked down the hall, the dress emphasizing the slenderness of her figure and the shapeliness of her legs. "I don't know…" She said, looking in the mirror. "I'm just not sure it's my color…"
"Oh…it's your color." Liam said, his voice low.
She turned and chuckled. "In that case, Mr. Harris…I'll take that as your answer. This one it is…"
She went back to change back into her street clothes when a thought occurred to Liam. "Cassandra?"
"Yes?" She called from behind the door.
"Why is it that they need guys for this thing? I mean, if anything I would expect that they needed more gals…I mean, there's T, the General, and Dr. Jackson…add Nick, and you have four guys…"
She walked out of the room, dress in hand. "Number one…T doesn't do How to Host a Murder…"
"What?"
"Trust me…you don't want him to think that a real murder has been committed…he goes all…PI on you…"
"Are you serious?"
She nodded. "He's a BIG fan of Sherlock Holmes, but his FAVORITE is Sam Spade."
"Sam Spade?"
"Oh…yeah. He just can't put down any of those books down…"
"Who'd have thunk?"
"Well, we're still trying to figure out what exactly happened the ONE time that Mom and Daniel had him over for a "How To Host A Murder" party."
"Okay…something tells me that I need to hear this story…"
"You probably do…" She said, as she paid for the dress. "It's a classic."
They walked back out to the car and Liam opened the door for her. She was yet again touched by his gentlemanly behavior. "Thank you."
He smiled before closing the door. "You're very welcome."
As he got into the driver's side of the car, she chuckled. "Oh my gosh…I was about twelve years old when my mom and Daniel decided that it was time for SG-1 to have a Halloween tradition of some kind. I mean, Christmas was always spent at Jack's house…still is, I think…anyway, that's neither here nor there. Well, Halloween is one of my mom's favorite holidays because she gets to dress up, so she roped Daniel into helping her host this. They invited Jack, Sam, Teal'c, General Hammond, and a couple of the nurses from the infirmary.
"Well, they did "The Chicago Caper" and Teal'c was Eddie "Socks" R. Gyle."
Liam chuckled. "Argyle socks? That was his name?"
She nodded. "He didn't get the reference…"
"Oh boy…"
"Anyway, as the game progressed, he became more and more concerned that a murder had actually been committed…Sam and Jack's characters had an affair…"
"Well, that's irony for you…" Liam chuckled again.
"Oh yes, well…Teal'c spent the rest of the evening trying to cover up any times that they might have actually…been together…to the General."
"How do you know all of this?"
"My mom let out the alcohol, and they were so loud that I couldn't sleep…so I watched them instead."
"Ah…"
"But just wait…it gets better!" She laughed.
"Oh boy…"
"It turned out that my mom was the murderer. Teal'c stood up right then, and stared her down with an intimidating look."
"Oh, I thought he did that naturally…"
"Yes, well, this one was on purpose…" She finished. "My mom just about freaked. Then, Teal'c turned to General Hammond."
"Oh boy…"
"He said that he didn't sense the presence of a goa'uld, but that that didn't mean that she wasn't possessed by some parasite."
"Oh, he didn't!"
"He did!" She laughed. "And Jack tried to convince him that it was all just a game, but Teal'c just turned and said that he had noticed some questionable behavior between him and Sam which indicated that not everything was as false as it seemed to be…General Hammond politely forgot that any of them were in the Air Force that evening…"
"Oy, I would have conveniently forgotten that too…"
"Yeah…well, they finally convinced Teal'c that it was just a game, and then, Teal'c just looked at them all like they were crazy. He wasn't exactly amused by the game."
Liam shook his head. "So…what does he do while everyone else plays the game?"
"Well, for the last six years or so, he's taken to baby-sitting."
"Sometimes, that's MUCH safer..." Liam chuckled.
"As far as anyone who enjoys the game is concerned, having Teal'c teaching the kids Jaffa games IS much safer!" Cassie agreed.