Graduation Day
by SaraC
E-MAIL: silk1023@aol.com
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: Future Fic
SUMMARY: Graduation day for Cassie means lots of emotional reflection
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. All characters belong to MGM, SciFi, Gekko and Double Secret!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Fluff. Pure, funny, unadulterated fluff. I don't know where it came from, it just
did. Enjoy!
“You know, I think I prefer being surrounded by hostile Gou'ald than having to wear a suit and tie, especially at the beginning of June.”
Samantha Carter-O'Neill simply smiled and patted her husband's shoulder in a 'calm-the-Colonel-down' gesture that was easily understood by those around them. “Look on the bright side, if you were surrounded by hostile Gou'ald,” she lowered her voice, remembering the civilians sitting around them, “I doubt they'd provide an open bar and buffet.”
Jack O'Neill laughed, earning a frown from the young girl sitting to his left.
“Daddy, be quiet, I'm trying to hear if Cassie's name is being called.”
“Sorry, sweetie, I'll be quiet now.” He smiled as his daughter perched on the edge of her seat, trying to identify a familiar figure in the swath of blue and white on the stage in front of them.
“You know her name hasn't been called, Dani, otherwise my mom and dad would be out of their seats taking pictures and cheering.”
Danielle O'Neill pouted at the condescending words from the boy sitting next to her. Nick Jackson might be a year older than she was, but she was just as smart, all her teachers had said so. Not to mention her parents.
“Know it all.” Dani grumbled the words as her mother tried to hide a laugh.
“I wonder whom she gets that attitude from,” she whispered as Jack simply grinned and slid an arm around his wife's waist.
“Her Uncle, of course.”
“Hey, I heard that, Jack.”
The gray-haired man turned with a sheepish smile to his best friend of more than 10 years. “Notice I didn't say it was a bad thing, Daniel.”
Daniel Jackson simply smiled and turned his attention back to the stage. The slight squeeze on his hand made him look at the woman sitting next to him, looking paler than he'd seen her in years.
“She's going to do fine.”
Janet Fraiser-Jackson sighed as she leaned a little closer to her husband. “I know, but, Daniel, she's my baby. And now she's graduating from college, she's Salutatorian and she's giving the biggest speech of her life and I don't know a thing about what she'll be saying!”
Daniel sighed and slipped an arm around her waist, drawing her fully against his side. The easy motion was one he'd used over the years to calm her down without drawing undue attention to them at inappropriate times.
“That's what's really bothering you, isn't it? That Cassie didn't want to tell you, or any of us, what her speech was about.”
Janet sighed and looked around again, trying to catch sight of a familiar brunette head. “In a way, I mean, we've always told each other everything and she's always asked for my help, or yours, before-”
“Jan, she's graduating college, I think she's old enough not to need her parents advice on every decision she makes.”
She knew he spoke the truth, but admitting it felt too much like giving up the girl she'd raised from childhood.
“I can't help it, I'm her mother.”
“And I'm her father, and all her aunts and uncles and grandparents sitting here feel the same. You're not alone here, sweetheart.” Daniel smiled, leaning down to kiss her quickly, ignoring the gagging sound his son made at the display. When they finally parted for air, Janet smiled into her husband's eyes.
“How did you get to be the rational one in this relationship?”
“Daniel? Rational? Isnt that an oxymoron, Doc? When havent you known our Space Monkey to be the rational one of this group?”
Janet laughed and Daniel frowned at Jack's comment, opening his mouth to deliver a comeback, when all were suddenly quieted by Nick's eager voice.
“Hey, there's Cassie!”
“I do believe CassandraFraiser has taken the stage.”
“Well stated, T, well stated,” Jack said in a sotto voice that was soon silenced by Sam's swat on his arm.
“She looks beautiful. Janet, Daniel, you've done a fine job with her.”
Janet blushed at General Hammond's praise, feeling Daniel squeeze her waist a little tighter as they turned their attention to the young woman now approaching the microphone on stage. She smiled to herself, her husband's small move indicating that he was not as relaxed as he'd sounded earlier.
On stage, Cassandra Fraiser immediately picked out her family. Not that Teal'c's Fedora was hard to miss. She felt a swift surge of pride as her gaze wandered over the two rows her family and extended family took up. Teal'c, Ry'ac and Bra'tac were sitting tall and proud, next to a positively beaming General Hammond and his two granddaughters. Jack, Sam and Dani were next to them, looking like the proverbial proud parents. It did her heart good to see how relaxed Jack was, and the adoring looks he kept giving his wife and daughter were a far cry from the angsty, stressful looks that had plagued the man she thought of as a second father since the tragic death of his son.
Her gaze moved onto her younger brother, feeling a surge of pride at the eager way he was looking up at her, the proud expression on his face making her heart warm. She'd never known what it was like to have a sibling, but Nick had shown her the joys and pains of it. While there had been times she'd wanted to kill him, in the end, she loved him more than life itself. In a way, she felt she could finally do something to protect someone she loved, instead of it being the other way around.
Finally, her gaze turned to the anxious, yet proud looking couple that sat beaming up at her with smiles that could have rivaled even the brilliance of the sun that afternoon. A lump appeared in her throat as she caught her father's gaze, the pride and love that shone in the blue depths making her stand just a little bit taller. Her smile turned a little wider then as she allowed her gaze to lock with her mother.
In that silent look, she could read all the hopes and fears that her mother had put into years of raising her, an alien child from another planet. They'd certainly had their arguments and differences, but she'd always been there, and always given her the strength and freedom to make the right decisions. Not to mention enough love to fill the void any child might feel at entering a strange new world. A love that was reflected in all the people staring back at her, so remarkable each in their own right.
She would be nothing if it was not for the people now watching her with so much love and pride, and it made her more determined than ever to do this right as she finally stepped up to the microphone and began to speak.
“I'm sure many of you expect some long speech about dreams and how to achieve them in the world after college, and you'll get it, just not from me.” She smiled at the cheers and a few good natured boos her statement earned from the crowd. “That speech will come later when Mandy gives her Valedictorian's speech. Me, I'm the Salutatorian and as such, I took the liberty of coming up with my own message of hope and encouragement for you, through some of the values and ideas I've seen portrayed to me by some remarkable 'heroes' in my own life.”
Janet immediately looked at Daniel, a puzzled expression on her face that mirrored the one on his. Quick looks at Jack and Sam showed the same curious confusion as all turned back to the young woman before them.
“Most of you don't know my Grandpa George. Oh, some of you with 'military clearance' know of General Hammond, but it's the man behind the General that I'm speaking of today.” She smiled at the surprised look on the older man's face, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Those of you who don't know, I was adopted when I was very young, and I'm sure you can imagine how intimidating it might be to meet the 'General' as a scared young girl.” She could have sworn she saw Jack mouth the words “still scary to meet him as an old man” at Sam and she had to fight her inner urge to laugh.
“From the first moment he smiled, I felt safe. There was just something in the way he introduced himself that put me at ease, and for a six year old girl, that's saying something.” Laughter greeted this revelation, and she was pleased to note the fond smile on the General's face. “Over the years, I watched him make some very difficult decisions, decisions no one should ever have to make.” She stopped, exchanging a long look with the man in question, seeing clearly that he too was thinking about the time he'd ordered her shipped to that missile silo, not knowing if the device inside her heart would end up destroying the Earth. She smiled at him reassuringly as she continued.
“But every decision was made with the soul purpose of knowing that it was for the good of those around him. He didn't give a second thought to his own well being, it was never as important as those around him. General Hammond, the man I'm proud to call my grandfather, is a selfless man whose compassion has no doubt saved countless lives. I can only hope that all of you, my fellow classmates, will find in yourselves that same compassion and love of life.”
She smiled as a round of applause greeted her words, and noted the General wiping away a tear. The smile softened as she turned her gaze to the next focus of her speech.
“Most of you will not know my Uncle Murray either.” She paused as the Jaffa looked at her enquiringly, smiling to reassure him. “When my parents were killed in a terrible accident,” she paused here, still feeling the twinge of pain that came with the remembered horror of what Nirtti had done to her planet. Taking a deep breath, she looked up into the Jaffa's eyes. “He was the first friendly face I saw, and as a scared, frightened six year old, let me tell you, that's also saying something.” She grinned at the incredulous looks Jack and Daniel were sending between her and Teal'c. The Jaffa, she noted, was sitting serenely as he always did, but she could detect a hint of a smile on the edge of his lips.
“He offered his hand and told me not to be afraid, that everything would be all right.” She felt the lump forming again in her throat and struggled valiantly to continue. “My Uncle has seen more hardship in his life than I would wish on anyone. He lost a wife, friends and countless others to wars and situations that most of us cannot even begin to comprehend.” She knew very well that the Jaffa was thinking of Dray'ac, Velor, and even Ry'ac's brush with Gou'aldhood. “Still, he never let the loss deter him from his purpose in life, to make sure it was a safe, free one, for everyone in it. In my Uncle Murray, I hope you, my fellow students, find a model for determination, a desire to set and fight for your dreams. Never give up on them, no matter what the cost. My Uncle Murray never has and the things he's done in his life speak of more bravery and compassion than you'll find in most humans.”
She hid her smile, as did the others, at her veiled reference. She knew the Jaffa understood as evidenced by a small nod of his head. Winking at him, she turned her gaze to the next person on her list.
“As I've said, my life has been filled with heroes of numerous kinds. My Uncle Jack, like my Uncle Murray, is another one.” She smiled as she saw Jack sit up a bit straighter in his seat. “Many of you don't realize what this man has done, throughout his military career, to save, as he would say, 'each of your butts' over and over again.” She was glad to hear laughter, most heartily from the man himself, although her parents were wincing.
Jack was finding it hard to stop from puffing up like a blowfish as Cassandra used one of his classic lines. The slight grimaces on Daniel and Janet's faces only brightened his grin even more.
“He, like the others I've mentioned, has endured more than most humans will ever have to go through. But despite the tragedies and trials in his life, he has always faced it with a sense of humor, wry though it may be at times.” Again, she paused for the laughter, noting this time Jack wore a wounded look and her father wore a huge grin.
“That sense of humor, the ability to find something to smile about, even in the most dire of situations, is a trait that few have and even fewer aspire to. I know it's never been easy, I know he's struggled with the idea that someone needs to find something to smile about, even in the face of 'almost' certain death.”
She stopped here, her own throat closing up as she remembered the devastated look in his eyes as he and her mom had told her about Daniel's ascension. She'd known in that moment, that Daniel had been the brother, perhaps, in some strange way, the son he'd lost in Charlie. That moment was forever locked in her memory, and from the way Jack was looking at her, he was remembering it too.
Jack had to force his hands to unclench, glad for Sam's soothing squeeze as his mind tumbled back to the pain and shock of thinking Daniel had been killed on that god-forsaken water planet. Or the realization that he'd left him behind, to die, on Apophis's ship. Or the way he'd told Jacob to stop using the healing device on Daniel's burned, battered body.
“Despite it all, more than anything, he carried on, and throughout the past years, has made it his personal mission to 'kick butt' in ways I'm sure would surprise and astound you if he ever told you about them. But guiding his every move, like that of the others I've described, is the desire to do what's right for those around him. Even if it is in a rather unusual, annoying and sometimes gruff manner.” There, she thought as chuckles were heard throughout the audience and from her family, that got them laughing again, the serious moment having passed.
“It's a trait that can be admired and striven for in every graduating senior here today. Doing what's right for yourself and the world around you is one of the most important decisions you can make. After all,” here she paused, waiting for their attention before delivering her next line. “It's not like little gray aliens are going to swoop down and beam you up, to tell you every decision you'll have to make in your life.”
The response drew loud laughter and cheers, and a row of stunned looks from her family. Jack was the first to recover, a genuine smile gracing his features as he realized Cassie had just successfully and obtusely referenced Thor and his contributions to the theme she was stressing. He wondered if the little guy was anywhere around. Something told him he just might be.
“Colonel Jack O'Neill is a man I'm proud to know, and even prouder to call uncle. I can only hope that all of you seniors take into life a little of the humor and the ways of leadership my uncle has shown in countless ways over the years. Even with a fraction of that, you'd be the luckiest people in the world.”
Applause again greeted her words and she could have sworn she saw Jack's eyes glisten. She smiled as Sam leaned close and planted a light kiss on his neck. Turning her gaze to her second mother, she geared up for another emotional roller coaster.
“In a way, my Aunt Sam,” she paused and winked at the woman in question, “or should I say Major Samantha Carter-O'Neill, that's with two “l's” people,” she stopped as Jack's grin nearly split his face while Sam herself looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh. “She's been a second mother to me. Many of you know her as the brilliant scientist behind some of the most remarkable and influential developments of 'deep space radar telemetry.'” She couldn't help it, a huge grin broke over her face as she stressed the words, those around her laughed, and those with the SGC hid their amusement at the inside joke. “Still, she was also one of the first people to reassure that scared little girl that she wasn't alone and that she had a family. That no matter how dire things looked, then and later, that nothing was more important than clinging to that family through the best and worst of times. Despite my intense desire to test that theory numerous times.”
Sam was trying not to cry as she remembered clinging so tightly to Cassie in that missile silo. Remembering the surety that nothing would happen. That this bright, beautiful, little girl would not lose her life to the spiteful revenge of a Gou'ald. Seeing again the huge smile on her face as Jack presented her with her first dog. The smile in her eyes as she reassured her that they'd have to play a normal game of chess after her brush with Marti's deadly experiments.
“My Aunt Sam has gone to hell and back,” she just barely refrained from adding 'literally' figuring that might be revealing a bit too much, “for me, and for many of you sitting here, never the wiser. For that, I can only say thank you. I can also only hope that you, my friends, will find that sense of family and the importance of never giving up on it.”
She was fighting back her own tears now as she saw one escape Sam's tight control. She smiled as Jack gently brushed it away, placing a light kiss on her cheek as he drew her deeper into his arms. The tightness in her throat eased a bit as noted he slid his other arm around Dani and pulled his small family into a tight embrace.
“I also have to tell you about my cousin, Danielle O'Neill.” She winked at the young girl, who perked up at hearing her name. “Dani was a true blessing for our family. The fact that she is here today is a testament to the love my aunt and uncle share and the obstacles they had to overcome to be together. Dani is also one of the happiest, most loving, and most intelligent people I know, and for not even being 10 yet, that's remarkable.” She smiled at her cousin, who was now puffed up with pride.
“Her sense of joy for life and her sense of humor, unfortunately influenced by her father,” she paused, smiling at the wounded look on Jack's face, “is something everyone here should take comfort in, and the knowledge that it is young men and women like Dani that will grow up and shape our future, hopefully into a peaceful one.” The message was clear to the SGC affiliated, and many glances were exchanged at the hope that the future for Earth would indeed be peaceful, kept that way by their top-secret jobs.
“Then there's my brother, Nick.” She grinned as her brother winked at her, sitting a little straighter in his seat, looking to her, like a miniature version of their father, albeit without the glasses. “I learned how to be a sister thanks to Nick, and it has been the best, if at times, most trying, experience of my life.” She smiled as her brother grinned from ear to ear.
“Nick is one of those kids who can make you smile or laugh simply by looking at you. His tendency to think of others before himself has gotten him into quite a few scrapes,” she stopped as her mother and father exchanged wry glances with each other then her. “However, his never ending optimism has gotten him out of most of those situations and served as a role model to me when things looked very down in my life. I would hope he would serve as a role model to all of you, to keep going and keep your faith, even when the world is falling apart around you.”
She stopped for a moment, exchanging a look with Nick, communicating in the language of siblings they'd discovered almost from his birth. Both knew, like their family, that there might not be a future for any of them if the Gou'ald were not stopped. Still, she knew they would all do whatever it took to keep each other, and Earth, safe. When the message had been conveyed, she smiled again, taking a deep breath before turning back to her audience.
Her gaze slowly moved onto the final two people she had left, and it took several deep breaths before she could speak again, knowing these two would be the most emotional.
“I've told you about my extended family, the people I love and trust and whose actions I base my life around, and believe you should too. But now, I need to tell you about my parents. Two of the most remarkable, selfless, brilliant and brave people I've ever known. A man and woman who in their own quiet ways have provided the stability and foundation of everything my life has been and will become.”
Taking a deep breath, she looked into her father's proud eyes.
“Many of you have probably never heard of Doctor Daniel Jackson. But if you haven't, you're going to now.” She paused, noting the almost apprehensive look Daniel was giving her, and smiled reassuringly at him. “Doctor Jackson, or as I prefer to call him, Dad, is one of the most brilliant, talented and amazing anthropologists and linguists you'll ever have the privilege to meet. Considering you never call him either of those terms in one breath as I just did.” The laughter was a welcome break for her to gather her thoughts again.
“What many of you don't realize is how passionately my Dad would and will fight for the rights of everyone and anyone he thinks is being treated unfairly. He's never been afraid to stand up to everyone if he thinks he's right and in most cases, he is. I believe my Uncle Jack has called him the 'moral center' of our family and I can't think of a better term to describe him. I only hope I can make him proud by living up to the values and standards he's set for me.”
Her voice wavered as she saw a tear slip down his cheek, glad to note her mother was there quickly with a Kleenex, her own eyes watering. Steadying herself, she smiled into his eyes. “He opened his heart to me, perhaps sensing my fears at the loss of my birth parents, having also lost his parents, and first wife to tragic circumstances.”
Daniel was biting his lip, images of the tentative way Cassie would smile at him as he carefully worked his way into her life, and by rights, Janet's. Her words conjured up that horrific image of the cover stone crashing down on his parents, but Janet's firm grip on his hand had him quickly back on solid ground. He held his head up proudly as Cassie smiled at him, her eyes conveying how much she loved and respected the man he was, the father he'd become. It was the best reward, he thought, a parent could ever hope to receive from their child.
“My Dad might not be remembered for his great archaeological theories and finds, and some may say he has not lived a productive life, but they would be wrong. My father has done more than anyone on this Earth could possibly imagine to protect and preserve the life on it. He also found time to make a little girl believe in magic and in the wonders of being a daughter. His strength and dignity for everyone, especially for me, are traits that I know we all possess, and if we nurture them, will emerge and help us make the world a better place. I know my father, Doctor Daniel Jackson, has done that for me, and more importantly, for the final 'hero' in my life-my mother.”
Janet had figured this was coming, sensing where this speech was going, although she realized she wasn't prepared when her daughter's gaze landed on her. Holding onto Daniel a little tighter, she felt his reassuring presence as she gazed into her daughter's eyes.
This was going to be the hardest part of this speech. Cassie took a deep breath, knowing she needed to be calm and clear to get this said and said correctly.
“My mother, Doctor Janet Fraiser-Jackson, is for all intents and purposes, a true 'hero'. Her remarkable strength and grace are unparalleled in anyone I know, and her compassion goes far beyond the barriers of this Earth.” She paused, feeling the lump rise again in her throat. “Being a doctor in the military isn't easy. Being a female doctor is even harder. Dealing with the types of things she must in her job is the hardest of all. Things so classified and secret that not even I am allowed to know. But I do know one thing, everything she does, she does with the sole intention of saving someone else.”
Janet couldn't help the tears that started to fall, reaching blindly for the Kleenex Daniel was holding out, squeezing his hand even tighter. Images of Cassie over the years swirled through her mind. The fights, the picnics, the all night talks, the heartfelt cries at breakups and small triumphs and tragedies of everyday life.
Cassie, for her part, was remembering the same things, most of all, remembering how normal it had felt. Despite being an alien from another planet, her mother had made life normal and wonderful, something she hadn't realized until now that she'd needed so desperately. Taking a deep breath, she went on.
“The things my mother deals with, like those I've mentioned before, are things many people never will have to see. But she does, and no matter how horrible, how amazing, how disturbing things might be, she finds a way to fix them and make them better, even when she thinks she can't. She believes in the good in people and in bringing it out, saving it, helping it flourish and grow. She did that for me, and I couldn't be happier or prouder of who and what I've become.”
Janet was crying in earnest now, Daniel holding her against him, his own eyes wet, while Nick looked a little embarrassed but nonetheless happy for his sister. Cassie smiled, sending Nick a wink before turning back to deliver the final point of her speech.
“Many of you might be wondering why I've given you my personal family history in this speech, and I sincerely hope, now that you've heard about the remarkable people that make up my family, you'll understand what I'm trying to say.” Looking carefully from one member of her family to the next, she finished her final thoughts.
“You've heard the term 'heroes' and the people to whom it applies. In most cases, I agree. There aren't enough heroes in this world and we sure as hell could use more.” She smiled again, seeing Jack looked proud of her choice of words. She only hoped her professors weren't holding it against her, it had just slipped out. Too much time around Jack she supposed.
“But my family, they are what I like to call 'everyday heroes.' Without sounding too condescending, or too much like an old TV series, my family has saved the world, a lot. The thing is, because you're all here and alive, we'll never know how. If we're really lucky, we never will find out. But what I do know is that if we all strive to do what these people do everyday, what they impart to countless others who will hopefully pass these thoughts, ideas and ways of living on, then and only then, can we make this world a better place. And we'd damn sure as hell better do it before someone else decides to do it for us.”
Again, the words sort of slipped out but she realized no one here would have any idea what she truly meant by her final sentence. Still, even as the applause swelled around her, people rising from their seats to clap even harder, the looks on the faces of her family told her they heard her point loud and clear.
She smiled. “And on that rather Colonel Jack O'Neill style phrase, I now turn the podium over to Mandy Rosenbaum, your class Valedictorian!” The cheers and applause continued as she stepped back, accepting a hug from her friend before Mandy took the podium. Settling back into her seat, she cast another look at her family, her eyes lingering over every familiar face, filled the love, pride and happiness that had become such a focal point of her life.
Looking up into the sky, she caught her breath as she saw a huge rainbow arcing over the assembled crowd. What was more curious, the sky was completely clear and blue, not a cloud or drop of rain in sight. Looking back to her family, she noted their attention had been drawn to the rainbow as well. The small smile on Jack's face told her all she needed to know.
/Thanks, Thor. I'm glad you're here as well, watching over all of us./
She could have sworn she heard familiar laughter in the air around her, although most likely, it was oblivious to everyone but those who knew of the Asgard. Feeling more content than she had in years, secure in the love of her family and filled with hope for the future, Cassandra Fraiser-Jackson turned her attention back to her friend at the podium and decided then and there that it was time to focus on the future, although never forgetting the lessons of her past.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The End
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