Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

June, 2000

"Do you think she needs anything? Do you think she's okay back there?"

Janet nudged Sam in the side and shared a look with her. "Should we be concerned that the guys are more worried about Cassie than we are right now?"

Sam laughed quietly and shook her head. "They're not even worried about normal things. They just think she'll be too hot back there, or something."

Cassie's middle school graduation ceremony was a fairly informal event. The last day of school had fallen in the last week of May, with the graduation ceremony scheduled for that Friday. Unfortunately, a pretty intense storm had rolled in and following several downed trees and powerlines that had knocked power out in various parts of Colorado Springs, they had to postpone the ceremony.

Thankfully, it had had been moved to the first week of June. SG-1 hadn't been scheduled for any off-world missions—Sam wondered if Jack had told General Hammond in no uncertain terms that they couldn't go off-world until after Cassie's graduation. Somehow, General Hammond had made it happen. Sam, for one, was very grateful for the allowance. She remembered all too well what it was like to have a loved one missing from important life events, and it only got worse after her mother passed.

Of course, things were different with her father now. Their relationship was the best it ever had been, and they had smoothed over a lot of the things that had happened in her childhood. Jacob was now making more of an effort to spend time with Sam and her brother, which was all the more impressive since he now lived on an entirely different planet. In fact, Jacob had promised to try and make it to Cassie's graduation party, which was taking place at the end of June.

Teal'c stood next to the row of chairs they had claimed, hands clapped in front of him. He was wearing a flat-billed cap to cover the gold mark of Apophis on his head, and had paired it with a powder blue button down shirt. No one had commented on the combination, but Sam had thought about asking who, exactly, took Teal'c shopping, and where. The thought of Daniel and Jack taking Teal'c to the mall was endlessly amusing.

"What is the purpose of this ceremony?" Teal'c asked.

"Cassie has finished middle school," Daniel eagerly began to explain. "And whenever a student reaches a benchmark in their academic career, there is a ceremony to celebrate the achievement of this milestone." As Daniel went on to explain each section of school and that there was a ceremony at the end of every one, Sam, Jack, and Janet tuned him out.

"How long is this thing going to be?" Jack asked. He tried to look grumpy, sprawling out in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. He was seated between Sam and Daniel; Daniel had already nudged him in the ribs with his elbow, indicating that he wanted some space back. Jack had ignored him.

Even in the middle of Daniel's explanation on the USA's school system and the history of commencement ceremonies, he managed to nudge Jack again without a break in his speech. Jack grunted but didn't give up any of the space he had appropriated. Sam gave him a pointed look, and Jack stared at her for a long moment before he huffed and sat up straight.

"It shouldn't take more than an hour, Colonel," Janet said. She flipped through the program that had been handed out to each audience member as they walked in. It listed the speakers, the songs the chorus was going to perform, and each name of the eighth grade graduating class.

"An hour?" Jack blinked in surprise. "They're thirteen!"

"There's a hundred students in Cassie's graduating class, Sir," Sam explained patiently. They knew all of this already—Jack was just being difficult because he was bored. It would pass as soon as the ceremony started, she was sure.

Jack grumbled under his breath again, and Daniel elbowed Jack again, just to push his buttons. Jack elbowed Daniel in return, but a serious look from Teal'c and the start of the middle school band playing the typical commencement music made them both stop. They all sat up straight, watching as the eighth grade students filed into the gymnasium and sat in the empty rows of chairs at the front of the room.

They all spotted Cassie at the same time. Janet watched in full-on amusement as all four members of SG-1 (including Teal'c—he had clearly taken Daniel's explanation on commencement ceremonies to heart) waved exuberantly at Cassie at the same time. Cassie, too excited to feel any of that early-teenage angst and embarrassment, eagerly waved in return. Janet managed to snap a picture where they were waving to each other at the same time; this one was definitely going to get framed.

They sat through another song by the chorus, then a poem that was read by one of Cassie's classmates. The school principal began her remarks, thanking all of the friends and family members for coming, and telling them that they should be proud of all of the students.

Jack chose that moment to tuck his pinky fingers into his mouth and whistle loudly. Thankfully, the principal, who had led many graduation ceremonies during her time, was more amused by overly-enthusiastic family members than anything else. The surrounding parents just laughed, and Cassie grinned broadly as Jack winked at her.

Sam and Janet rolled their eyes, while Daniel smiled broadly. He loved that he got to be here with his family for Cassie, as it was something that he hadn't gotten to experience a lot of during his childhood. He liked being a part of the loudest and most exciting group. Teal'c had one eyebrow curved up in amusement—Tau'ri traditions never failed to fascinate him.

Cassie's friend Haley had been nominated as the speaker for the eighth grade class. She made her way to the front of the stage and began her short speech, congratulating the class for completing middle school, and encouraging them as they moved up to high school. Once she was done speaking, they began to call the students up to walk across the stage, alphabetically by last name.

Cassie was on the earlier side of the group of eighth graders. They were about twenty minutes into the ceremony when the principal announced, "Cassandra Frasier!" Cassie walked across the stage in her blue cap and gown. Her smile was wide and bright as she accepted her certificate from the principal, pausing to have her picture taken like they had been instructed during their practice runs.

All four members of SG-1, plus Janet, jumped to their feet and applauded and whooped loudly as Cassie walked across the stage. They waved again, and Cassie waved exuberantly back at them, thrilled that they were able to be there for her while she achieved this milestone. She shook hands with the principal and then exited the stage, taking her seat back amongst her classmates while the rest of them were called up.

Once all of the names were called, the principal announced them as class of 2000. The students jumped up and cheered, and the audience members—their friends and family—joined in with them. The students filed out, but the audience members were still cheering. Finally, when the last student went backstage, Jack and Daniel whipped towards Janet and spoke at the same time.

"When do we get to see her?" they demanded in unison.

Janet shared a look with Sam and Teal'c before she patiently explained, "In a few minutes, I'm sure. And you do realize that she's going to want to take pictures with her friends, right?"

"Sure," Jack said casually—to casually, really. "We should go find her, though. What if she needs someone to help take pictures?"

Janet gave him a suspicious look but didn't say anything. It was Sam, though, who heard Jack mumbling under his breath about middle school boys getting handsy. She rolled her eyes and nudged Janet with her elbow.

"Sir, we absolutely will not go back there if you're going to embarrass Cassie," Sam chided, momentarily forgetting that she was speaking to her commanding officer. True, they weren't at the mountain, and they weren't in a professional environment, so those rules didn't necessarily apply there. Sam and Jack found that the lines between professional and personal often got blurred when they were doing family-oriented things for Cassie. Neither of them minded.

Jack blinked at her, surprised as always when Sam stepped over that line outside of the mountain. And, like every other time, a slow grin spread across his lips. "I thought I was supposed to be in charge here, Carter."

"Not at Colorado Springs Middle School, you're not, Sir," Sam said primly. Behind Sam, Daniel rolled his eyes at the obvious flirting while Teal'c's eyebrow arched. Janet just shook her head, really, these two were just too much, sometimes.

Jack, suddenly seeming to realize that he was very openly flirting with his second-in-command in a public place, gave himself a little shake and demanded, "And when have I ever purposefully embarrassed anyone?"

Just as Jack knew he would, Daniel immediately jumped in. "Oh, please, Jack," he said with a snort. "Shall I give you some examples?" Without waiting for an affirmative, Daniel began listing each incident that Jack had gone out of his way to embarrass him. They were still bickering as they made their way towards Cassie, who had heard them. She was grinning the entire time.

Her family might have been beyond embarrassing sometimes, but she loved them.

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