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Chapter 5d: Caveman
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click hereSummary: Cassie comes home for a visit (June - 1 month post b-day)
Chapter 6: I'm home (PG13)
"All *night* lonnnng, all niiight." Cassie stopped humming as she got the back door unlocked. She'd seen the shadow move in the kitchen through the glass, and since she couldn't feel Sam, she knew it was Jack, unsurprisingly making breakfast. Still looking down as she fought her key out of the stiff lock, she spoke cheerfully, "Hello lovebirds, I'm home! Who's truck is that in the drive?"
When she heard metal hit the floor and a strange voice swear though, her head snapped up, eyes widening at the semi-familiar, half-*naked* man bending over to pick up the fallen pot. When he straightened, staring at her in embarrassment, Cassie ran her eyes up and down his *very* fit, if indoors-pale body again, beginning to grin. The pale brown -and far too neat for anyone in *this* house- wet hair spoke of a recent shower, the bare feet, lack of shirt when it wasn't that warm and lack of underwear showing above the very low-riding, unbuttoned jeans spoke of extreme comfort in the house.
Knowing her current parents and utterly confident in the relationship they'd finally managed to wriggled into, this man could be a Daniel-type rescued pup who got familiar fast -since she hadn't heard of him yet-, or.. That hickey on his neck... looked awfully like the **stubble-burn**(!) she'd had the other day... Cassie finally smiled, not sure she wanted to *picture* the mechanics of this relationship, but deciding her gut was right about its definition.
Well, this was.. a little surprising. Very amusing in its endless possibilities to tease, but a little surprising; of her father especially, somehow.
The man still seemed familiar, but it took the tags resting on his smooth chest to give her the necessary clue to click on a name.
"Siler! Right?"
The hint of a quiet smile he responded with gave her a good feeling about him; of kind, easy comfort and very calm capability, even before he answered, "Yes, Miss Cass."
She had to bite her lip to keep from giggling at hearing Jack's nickname so formalized; saved from embarrassing the poor man with her adolescent behaviour -*Miss Cass*?? Do *not* think of him as the gardener, do *not*- when she heard her adopted father speak in a very familiar, affectionate tone from down the hall, "Siler? Did you manage to electrocu-" This time Cassie could feel her eyes widening and almost tearing up with laughter as Jack froze in the other doorway. Also half-naked. And looking pretty damned relaxed and happy, she thought approvingly, having already recognized the loving tone that could still make *Sam* go soft.
He stared at her with his mouth hanging for a second, then pasted on a patently fake grin, tugging his slacks with twitching fingers, "Cass! You're early!"
She could hear the laughter in her own voice when she answered, "Yeah Jack, I thought I'd come home and spend some time with my 'ageing parents'." She glanced between the two men staring at her in embarrassment dosed with panic, "But maybe you'd rather I left you alone with your new friend?"
"Cassie."
She looked over Jack's shoulder at the quiet reproof, seeing her -no doubt very *lucky*- mother's laughing expression at the tableau in her kitchen, "Hi Sam!"
She suddenly sniffed, remembering with a salivating swallow that she'd missed breakfast because of her early flight. She turned to the man putting his unused pot on the stove, "Is that breakfast??"
Siler shrugged as he checked the chrono on his watch, "Ham frittata. Was hungry for some rea-"
He clenched his jaw, eyes jerking to her as a blush rose from his neck; and this time Cassie couldn't stop the giggle, turning to the other two, both studiously not looking at her suddenly.
"And he can cook too?"
With a last laugh, she walked up to the man who was practically as tall as her father, standing on tip-toe to kiss his not-yet-shaven cheek with a grin, "Unless you want me to call you sergeant, my name is just Cassie. Welcome to the family..." she frowned, searching her memory, "What *is* your first name anyway?"
He looked over her shoulder quickly, at a guess getting the OK not to deny the obvious, "Siler's fine, Cassie," his eyes crinkled in a slow, friendly -attractive, if too old for her- grin, "And thank you."
She frowned, unconsciously copying Jack's most intimidating expression for getting what he wants, only to be interrupted by the very man, grumbling as he slapped Siler's shoulder on his way to coffee, "Heeeyyyyy! Siler, how the hell come she gets called by her name at the first request and *I* still get sirred by both of you more than half the time??" He jerked his head back at Sam as he spoke.
Biting her lips to keep any comment at the mental scenario that *that* brought to mind from escaping, Cassie watched her new.. 'uncle', she decided, placing him in her, however screwed up, world, turn an understated wry look on her father, "The small matter of more than 10 years' habit maybe, *Jack*?"
She cleared her throat, stepping in to do her part to keep Jack in line, "Not to mention the fact that *you* still use *Carter*," she snickered quietly, "And *Siler*."
Jack handed out coffee cups all around -apparently Siler liked it black, she grinned to herself, wondering why it was so heart-warming to note those small casual signs of a family. She watched with a queer joy as Sam walked up to them, sliding a hand caressingly over Siler's shoulder, exchanging a gentle smile with him as she passed and then stepping besides Jack, who automatically bent his head for her to kiss his cheek as she took her cup.
Her family unit seemed to only get stranger with time, but they were all happy.. even when Jack gave her a wounded look, "I do *too* call her *Sam*."
Cassie looked at her mom and they both rolled their eyes. "What, once a week?" She grinned, holding up a hand when he opened his mouth to argue again, hearing the other two chuckling, "I'm grungy; I'm going to wash up. You three can discuss your respective pet names without me." With a last smirk, she escaped the kitchen for her bedroom as quickly as she could without splashing her coffee.
####
Once she'd cleaned up, had a granola bar and grabbed some rest, Cassie went back downstairs, hearing the Simpsons playing in the living room and going to investigate.
Siler, lounging in Jack's favourite armchair, stood up hurriedly when she walked in, "Sorry-"
She cut him off with a wave, giving him a friendly grin as she stole his bowl of popcorn and sat down, "Why are you apologizing?"
He quirked an obviously rarely-used smile, sitting back down stiffly, "..Not sure. This is a little uncomfortable."
She snorted at the understatement, though it occurred to her that at least he seemed fine admitting to feelings. Which neither of her parents could be relied upon for, most of the time. "Because they've made me a daughter in your mind or because you're not used to anyone else being here?" She was used to practical strangers taking her under their wing, was aware that even before this relationship, this man, along with dozens of others, had probably known her name and thought of her as another fellow soldier, or soldier's daughter, to watch over at any need. But since this was the first *she* heard about this relationship.. it was entirely likely that they'd all still been keeping this very quiet and private and personal. And away from any eyes that might judge.
Something in her words seeming to relax him and he suddenly seemed 5 years younger and much more at ease, "A little of both," he shrugged, "I rarely stay the-"
She rolled her eyes, tired of the pussy-footing as he cut himself off, *again*. "'Stay the night'? Siler, please, I'm not a child. We'll all get along a lot better if you just accept that."
He raised a curious brow at her, ".. And this," he waved at himself and then in the vague direction of her parents' room, "Doesn't bother you?"
She tilted her head, "That Sam and Jack finally have a sex life? No. Look Siler-" she rolled her eyes, "What *is* your name?"
He sounded resigned when he answered, "Some people call me Sly."
"As in Stallone?? Oh dear." She grinned at his wry sigh, "Okay, *Siler*, I've had about as unconventional an upbringing as anyone can have, and between my physician first adoptive mother and Sam's occasional scary openness, trust me, I'm not shocked. The three of you are obviously happy with each other; that's enough for me."
She calmly held the look he gave her until he nodded silent acceptance. Not that she expected him to completely relax around her anytime soon, but at least he'd allowed that there was the possibility. Thinking about the unpractised twitchiness all three of them had displayed, she tilted her head curiously, "What about uncle Daniel and Teal'c? Haven't they managed to get wind of this?" Those two usually watched their old comrades with eagle eyes...
He shrugged, looking at the TV, "The general doesn't spend much time on base, and I don't spend that much time here," he glanced at her, "And me and Sam don't flirt."
She split her attention between him and Lisa Simpson for a minute, deciphering that one. "So.. you weren't going to stay today either, I guess?" So, *very* early relationship..
"No."
Cassie nodded slowly, knowing her parents, "They didn't want me to think I'd chased you away."
She recognized the beginnings of a fatherly expression in the look he gave her, choking her grin at the thought, "I didn't either."
She nodded, smiling slightly, "Like I said, welcome to the family."
After that, they watched the cartoon for a while in companionable silence. And then the lack of commentary made Cassie particularly aware that Jack wasn't around and she frowned curiously, "Where are they anyway?"
Siler answered laconically, "Apparently Jack is responsible for fixing all things not electric; and the master bedroom shower is misbehaving."
She grinned, starting to remember old stories that had featured 'Sergeant Siler', "So who gets the electrics *now*?"
She felt the wry look he threw her, "Sam; thank you. Though since the toaster ended up in *my* lap last night while she argued with his laptop..."
Cassie giggled at the image, easily picturing Jack amusing himself by finding more things broken for his personal slave-geeks to fix and then standing around and annoying them to see how long they'd let him get away with it. Daniel had pretty much stopped humouring him these days.. she was kinda glad he wasn't going to be alone when Sam left anymore. And if Siler liked the Simpsons too, no wonder they got along!
Her mom came down a few minutes later and gave Siler a pitiful look, "Would you go and make sure he doesn't destroy anything? I'm about to strangle him."
Cassie watched as he wordlessly got up, smiling slightly and dropping a kiss on her forehead on his way up the stairs. Then watched as Sam stared after him, seeing the fondness the older woman didn't try to hide. "Do you love him?"
Sam turned to her in surprise, coming to sit on the couch as she thought her answer through, staring blindly at the television. She finally looked at Cassie and answered very quietly, "I.. would be heartbroken if anything happened to him," she shrugged, smiling, "The only real difference between him and, say, Daniel, is that I never wanted to have sex with Daniel."
Cassie grinned, remembering Janet laughing about betting pools for those two, "But you do with Siler."
Sam bit her lip, looking a little shy -as odd as the thought was, all things considered- but also a lot wicked, "Yeah," she winked, "He's good too."
Cassie nodded, refusing to be unsettled by the comment, "What about Jack?"
Sam raised a brow, smirking silently in silent answer to her interpretation of the question.
Cassie rolled her eyes, "How does Jack *feel about Siler*?"
That sobered Sam and she turned to sit sideways on the couch, taking a handful of popcorn for herself as she stared at the younger woman with silent assessment. "Does it matter?"
Cassi rolled her eyes again, "Sam, I just want to know that they're happy."
Another few seconds of contemplation and Sam relaxed, almost smiling, "He has a soft-spot for accident-prone people. And I think he admired Siler over the years. He's completely cool in any crisis, which is a heavenly characteristic in the SGC. Snarky, when he lets it show; which Jack can't help but love. Self-confident and smart as a whip but manages to hide it; and you *know* how much Jack admires *that*."
Cassie grinned in agreement. Jack's favourite game was *still* to play dumb.
None of that had said a word about sex, but Cassie wasn't going to pry that far. Some things even a *pseudo*-daughter didn't want to know.
Next in the verse is
kirsty841's
Summer wine, Part 1 Then
Chapter 6a: Summer intermezzo (PG13)