1. The beginning

Cassie Baker was, by most standards, an ordinary young woman; she lived in a typical town and had a regular job. Every day was so beautifully predictable while not being bland. In a word, Cassie's life was comfortable, she was happy, and that is something most people long for. That blessedly everyday existence came from security. A life without worry or strife, almost picture perfect, one might say.

She lived in a city she adored and helped people every day. From the outside looking in, red might believe Cassie had it all. Or at least on the surface.

Cassie was a nurse at Denver Hospital, an ER nurse, to be exact. She enjoyed her job and her friends. They were all unique and made her life more enjoyable.

This little collection of people all became like family to her. Not to say she didn't have a family, because she did; it was just a little complicated. Cassie wasn't without her quirks, and her past wasn't always sunshine and roses.

She was born and raised in Virginia, your average army brat, with an even brattier brother, Conrad. The two of them were nearly inseparable until puberty. Many things changed the older they got; their 'happy home' wasn't so happy.

No one cheated, gambled, or anything else; their parents didn't seem like other parents. Cassie couldn't tell when her father brought her mother flowers or called her beautiful. Everything with him was just black and white. His wife was adequate; his children were sufficient, and his job… well, that was one thing he loved, and maybe that was the issue. Cassie's mom could never compete with the US government for her husband's affection.

After her parents divorced, Cassie went to Colorado with her mother, while her brother Conrad stayed in Virginia with their father. It wasn't like she could blame him, after all. Conrad just got along better with the older man than she ever had. Or maybe her brother craved to 'be all he could be.' Cassie will tell you her brother read one too many Captain America comics and had it in his head that he was the star-spangled man with the plan.

Cassie just took after her mom; she wanted to be where the air was thin and transparent, to guide her life through the mountains. The two used to drive up through Ft. Collins and into the hills to see the elk and moose in the fall.

She appreciated the simplicity of it all. She was on the quietest night you've ever seen, looking up at a blanket of stars. But not everything can stay that way; maybe that's how life is. It can tell when you're happiest and then take it away.

She was a senior in high school when her mom got sick. Cancer doesn't care how young you are or if your daughter hasn't even gone to college. That was when Cassie decided to go into medicine; she knew she wouldn't be the one to cure the terrible disease, of course. She just wanted to be there for people like her mom. Young kids like her must stand helpless and watch the person they love disappear daily.

After her mother's death, her father and brother managed a transfer to be closer, which, with her Father, might be hard to believe. Nothing about him screaming, kind, and caring. She was sure her father loved her, but he also loved order. Somewhere in life, she and her mother fell outside that order. Yet there he was at the funeral in his dress uniform, looking for the life of him like he'd lost his only friend. It didn't seem fair.

After all, post-divorce, Cassie had gone so far as to change her last name back to her mother's maiden name. Despite her mother's urging, she reconsiders. Some wounds run too deep. It wasn't that he was terrible… he was just cold, and Cassie couldn't abide by her mother's quiet sadness and do nothing. So in her way, it was a triumph to remove her father's name from hers.

Cassie was very much like her mother, always quiet but socialized. Thoughtful and mindful of those around her, she made others feel comfortable in her presence. She made friends at work relatively quickly, and this helped to fill a space in her heart left by her late mom.

First, she met the twins Felicia and Victoria Vargas. Felicia worked in the maternity wing as a respiratory nurse at the NICU; she was incredibly cheerful and embraced the shy blonde-haired woman immediately. Victoria worked in admissions. She was grumpy most of the time, not that anyone could blame her, of course. Working admissions wasn't all smiles. The welcoming staff was often the first point of contact for people having a bad day… for some, the worst days.

But Cassie really could see the good in Victoria, especially around a specific doctor that brings us to another of Cassie's friends. ER, he was Attending Anthony Lopez, M.D., a brilliant and dedicated man even if he seemed a glutton for punishment for the feisty Victoria.

Cassie even found some nearly 'parental' figures in her life. That bit had been an accident if she was being honest, but a happy accident.

These fatherly figures came as Dr. Francis Boswell, Chief of plastic surgery and Reconstruction at the hospital—also, Dr. Oliver Kirk, the hospital's medical examiner.

It was nearly incredible to see a man who devoted his day to realigning broken noses getting on so splendidly with the man who spent his day in the morgue. Their jobs suited them, and somehow, they complimented each other. Also, the two men's arguments were legendary among the staff.

Both men took the younger woman under their wings, as a matter of speaking.

Everything was normal and happy in her life. Except she was alone, and seeing all the people she cared for so happily made going home each night to her empty apartment feel hollow. Climbing into bed with nothing more than a stuffed bear, a souvenir from her mother, made it even more difficult.

However, everything changed one day when Felicia invited the other young nurse out for a day at the beach.

"Oh, please, Cassie! Come on, you have no fun, and I was hoping you could meet my fiancé! He's great!." Felicia had been so excited, and Cassie was curious to meet this "Luke" her friend was about to be married to, so she agreed.

Cassie did not know that day at the beach could change her life forever.