Disclaimer: Not mine. Will never be mine. I'm just playing with them. I promise I'll put them back when I'm done. Jack and Sam are a bit OOC, but oh well. Jessie's mine. As are Landon, Connor, and Caleb.

My POV

Everything was going great. I had a part-time job at the sport's center and was making pretty good money. Mom took me to the bank and helped me open a saving's account. I also got paid for proof-reading mission reports and program codes for different people at the SGC. Everything I made went into my saving's account. I had about $2000.00 by this time and was slowly adding to it. Like I said…things were going great for once.

Then Uncle Daniel got sick and it all fell apart…again.

They were on some planet named Kelowna and there was an accident. He was hit full-blast with some sort of radiation and got really sick. I tried to heal him. I really did. But, he was so far gone, I couldn't. It made me really sick. I ended up in the infirmary for four days after he died. I guess the sicker the person was that I tried to heal, the worse off my recovery was. According to Aunt Janet I came very close to dying myself after I tried to heal him the last time. I couldn't remember anything after the last time I tried to heal Daniel, which was the day he died. Grandpa Jacob had come in and tried to heal him and then me, but my system was all screwed up and the Tok'ra device wouldn't work. A couple of days later, I heard Aunt Janet talking to someone about a bright light appearing when Daniel died. From the description I overheard, I told Aunt Janet that he'd ascended.

Then I asked where mom and dad were. Everyone kept giving me a different reason why they weren't there…they were offworld; they were in meetings. I finally figured out that they didn't want to see me. I was hurt and scared and my own parents wouldn't come see me. I couldn't take anymore. After the fourth day of being ignored, I couldn't handle the isolation anymore. I knew they were hurting, but I needed them.

I snuck out of the infirmary and went to mom's lab. She had her doors locked. Using my powers, I unlocked the door and walked in. Mom was sitting in the dark, staring at her computer screen.

"Mom?" I didn't get any response. "Mama," I said louder.

"I'm busy, Jessie," she said, not even lookin up.

"I need to talk to you," I said, my voice breaking. She didn't say anything else. "I'm sorry, mama." Still nothing. "I'm sorry I couldn't save Uncle Daniel."

"Jessie, I'm really busy. I'll talk to you at home," she said, shuffling papers around her desk. She never looked at me. She never acknowledged that I was standing there.

"I'm sorry," I whispered and orbed out of her lab. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't remember the last time that I'd felt so fucking empty. I had one last shot to hold on to my sanity…to hold on to my family.

I found dad in the briefing room. He was sitting there staring at the stargate. "Dad?" Nothing. "Daddy?"

"What?"

"I need to talk to you," I said.

"Jessie, I'm kinda busy," he said. "Can this wait?"

"Daddy, I'm sorry I couldn't save Uncle Danny."

"Damn it, Jessie. I said I was busy. Now, go home!" he yelled. He never turned around; never even looked at me…not even my reflection.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. With a sob, I orbed out of the base and out of my parents' lives.

Sam's POV

There was a split between me and Jack since Daniel ascended. We weren't talking and weren't making love. We still slept together, but that was it. He slept on his side of the bed and I slept on my side of the bed. After two weeks, I decided it was time for something to change.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, babe?" he asked.

"Are we ok?" I asked softly as we were getting ready for bed one night.

"What do you mean?"

"We haven't talked in two weeks. We…we haven't made love in two weeks." I turned towards the window and watch the rain fall. "I don't know…"

He walked up behind me, put his arms around my waist, and laid his head on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sam. You know how bad I am at talking about how I'm feeling."

I turned in his arms and laid my head on his chest and, after two weeks, let my tears fall. "Just hold me, Jack."

"I've got you," he whispered and buried his head in my neck. "I'm so sorry, Sam. I'm so sorry, baby."

We held each other, both of us crying, until we were cried out. "We're gonna be ok, Sam. I promise," he whispered.

I looked up at him and saw something I'd been missing in his eyes…love. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. He deepened the kiss and our passion exploded. We ended up making love throughout the night.

The next morning, I was standing in my lab trying to remember something. There was something I was forgetting, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I knew I stared at the same spot on the wall for about twenty minutes when Jack's arms came around my waist.

"Hey, baby," he whispered.

"Hey," I said distractedly. I turned in his arms and kissed him deeply. "Mmmm," I hummed against his lips.

He trailed kisses down my throat and buried his head in my throat. "Jack?"

"Yeah, babe?" His voice was muffled by my neck.

"I…"

He lifted his head and looked at me. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ears, he said, "What's wrong, Sam?"

"I don't know," I said. "Something." I saw the concern in his brown eyes and realized what it was. "Jack, when is the last time you saw Jessie?"

"At breakfast," he said.

"Are you sure?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, no. But, she's normally asleep when we get home and already gone to school when we get up." He started pacing. "The last time I can really remember seeing her is…" He trailed off and stopped pacing. "Shit."

"What?"

"The last time I can remember seeing her is when she found me in the briefing room…two weeks ago. She said something and I told her to go home."

"She said she was sorry she couldn't save Daniel. Jack! She thinks we blame her for Daniel's death!" I cried out.

"Shit…that's the same thing she said to me!" He grabbed my cell phone and dialed home. "No answer. Jessie, honey, if you're there, pick up." He looked at me.

"Try her cell phone," I said. He dialed her number.

"It's been disconnected," he said after several seconds. He hung up and grabbed my hand. "Let's go."

We met Janet halfway to the surface. "Janet, this may sound strange, but have you seen Jessie recently?"

"No," she said. "Not since she snuck out of the infirmary almost a week ago."

Ok. That was news. "Why was she in the infirmary?" asked Jack.

She gave us a strange look. "Jessie nearly died trying to save Daniel's life. She was unconscious for two days. The fourth day she was in there, she snuck out and I haven't seen her since." All of this was said slowly, as if she was trying to explain something to a stubborn child.

My heart plummeted to my feet. The only thing I kept hearing was nearly died. My daughter nearly died and where was I? I'm not really sure.

"She cried every night because you wouldn't come see her."

"Janet, we…we didn't know," I said, knowing that was no excuse.

"I don't see how you didn't know. She kept asking for you. Hell, even Jonas came to see her," said Janet angrily.

"Janet," came a familiar voice from behind us. Turning around, we all saw Daniel standing there dressed all in white.

She reached up to touch him, but he stopped her with one word. "Don't. Your hand will go right through me and it's not exactly comfortable."

He looked up at us. "You need to find Jessie and soon."

"Where is she?" asked Jack.

"I promised her I wouldn't tell you where she is. But, you need to find her."

"Is she in trouble?" I asked, getting more and more scared by the minute.

"Yes," he said. "She is in danger and if you don't get to her quickly, you're going to lose her. You need to do everything you can to make this right, Jack."

"We know."

"Do you? Do you really? You ignored her for a week and then didn't even realize she was gone until almost a week afterwards."

"We know that, Daniel. We just…"

"I miss you guys, too," he said softly. He looked at Janet. "Especially you."

"I wish you were really here," she whispered.

"I am. Just not…physically," he whispered back. "Hang on." He closed his eyes and we remained quiet for a few moments. He reached out and took Janet in his arms, kissing her deeply. "I will come back for you one day. This ascension thing is nothing without you."

"I miss you so much," she cried, holding on to him. "I love you."

"I love you too, Jan," he whispered. He looked up at us and then gasped. "They're stopping me from helping. Find her. NOW!" With that final word, he disappeared, leaving a sobbing Janet on the floor of the elevator.

Cassie met us at the surface. "What happened?" she demanded when she saw Janet's tear-stained face.

"Daniel came back," I said softly. "Have you seen Jessie?"

"No," she said. "And what do you mean by 'Daniel came back'?"

"He showed up in the elevator and told us we needed to find Jessie."

We got in the truck and headed for home, thinking there might be something there that would tell us where she went. Jack drove quickly, trying to keep under the radar. I knew he was hurting at the thought of completely forgetting about Jessie.

We got home and looked for clues as to where Jessie had gone. We nearly tore the house apart looking for any clue. We didn't find anything. I was at my wits end with worry and fear.

"What about Landon? He would know where she is," I said.

Jack picked up the phone and dialed Landon's number. I picked up the other phone so I could listen to the conversation.

"Hello?"

"Landon?"

"No. This is Connor."

"Connor, this is Colonel O'Neill. Is Landon there?"

"Just a sec," said Connor. We both heard him yell, "Landon! Phone!"

"Who is it?" said a muffled Landon.

"Jessie's dad," said Connor.

"Fuck," he mumbled. "Hello?" he said into the phone.

"Landon, it's Jack O'Neill. Do you know where Jessie is?" asked Jack.

"Nope. Haven't seen her," said Landon.

"Hey, butthead. We're going to work," said Connor. "Don't destroy the place while we're gone."

"Yeah, right. Later," said Landon to Connor.

"You're lying," I said. "Please, Landon. Please let us talk to her," I begged.

"She's not here," he insisted.

"Landon?" I heard Jessie's voice come from the other side. "Who is it?"

I heard him try to cover the receiver. Although muffled, we heard his words clearly. "It's your parents."

"What do they want?"

"To talk to you," he said.

"I don't…I don't know," she said.

"Please, Landon. Give her the phone," said Jack.

"Hello?" said Jessie's soft voice.

"Jessie! Please come home," I begged. "Please, baby. Please come home."

"You didn't even know I was gone," she whispered.

"We're sorry, Sunshine. Please…please come home," said Jack.

"Two weeks," she said softly.

"What?"

"It took you almost two weeks to even realize I was gone," she said. "Just leave me alone."

She hung up the phone. I tried to hold in the tears. I refused to let them fall. I hung up the phone and walked over to where Jack was standing. He was staring at the phone in his hands. I took the phone from his trembling hands and placed it back on the wall.

"What have I done?" he whispered. "What have we done, Sam?"

"We're going to get her back, Jack. You have to believe that," I said, cupping his face and kissing his lips gently. "Let's go bring our daughter home."

He took my hand and led me to the truck. It didn't take long to get to Landon's house. We knew Jessie and Landon were still there. They knew we were coming.

Jack rang the doorbell. Landon opened the door and all I saw was fury on his face.

"What do you want?" he demanded to know.

"We want to…" Jack trailed off and stared behind Landon. I followed his eyes and saw Jessie.

"We want to talk to you," I whispered, knowing Jessie could hear me.

"No," said Landon. "You've done enough damage."

"Please, Jessie. Let us talk to you," begged Jack. We were both at our breaking points. If she wouldn't let us talk to her, then it was over. Our family…our lives.

"Let them in, Landon," she said softly, putting her hand on his back.

He turned from us and pulled her into his arms. He held her for a few moments and then backed off, letting us in. She sat down on the sofa and he sat beside her. We sat down on the other sofa. I knew we had to do some serious groveling in order to save our family.

"Why are you here?" she asked. "Why couldn't you just stay away?"

"We couldn't," I said.

"Why?" she whispered. I'd noticed she wouldn't even look up at us.

"Because we love you, Sunshine. You're our daughter," said Jack. I could hear the fear in his voice. The fear that she wouldn't forgive us.

"Don't call me that," she said. "You lost that right."

I knew then that we'd lost her. She would never come home. I could actually feel my heart breaking…an actual, physical pain.

"We…we're sorry, honey," I mumbled through the tears falling down my face. "I don't know what else to say."

"Why did it take you almost two weeks to realize I was gone?" she said, finally looking up at us. I could see the anger, pain, and hopelessness in her blue eyes.

"We don't have an excuse, honey," said Jack. "There is no excuse for the way that we've treated you. All I can say is we'll do whatever it takes to make this up to you. We'll do whatever you want."

I quickly nodded my head in agreement.

"And if I want you to leave and never contact me again?" she whispered.

Yep. We'd lost her.

Jack and I both choked on a sob. "If…if…if that's what you want," I said tearfully.

"Mr. O'Neill, Mrs. O'Neill, please help yourself to anything in the kitchen while I talk to Jessie," said Landon, pulling Jessie from the couch and walking towards the back of the house.

"But…" I said.

Jack took my hand and led me to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and opened it. "What're we going to do, Jack? We've lost her," I said, finally letting my tears fall.

He sat down the bottle and pulled me into his arms. "I think Landon's gonna talk to her. I think he's gonna try to talk her into coming home," he whispered softly.

"Are you sure?" I asked, my voice quivering from the effort of keeping the sobs in check.

"Yes," he said, determined that Jessie was coming home.

Landon came back inside after fifteen minutes of talking to Jessie. "Where's my daughter?" asked Jack.

"Is she coming home?" I asked, fearful of the answer.

"Yes, she is," said Jessie, walking around Landon. I reached for her and she shied away. "Don't touch me."

Jack and I took her guitar, laptop, and suitcase to the truck, giving her a chance to say goodbye to Landon. We watched as Jessie held onto the man in front of her as if he were going to disappear.

After a few minutes, he kissed her gently and let her go. She got into the truck and shut the door. I reached for her hand again.

She jerked away and said, "I said, don't touch me." She pulled out her iPod and turned it on, effectively tuning us out.

When we got home, Jessie immediately went to her room and locked the door. For the next five or six days, she would come downstairs and eat with us, sit in the living room and watch tv with us (on a separate sofa), but she wasn't really there. She wouldn't talk to us. She wouldn't answer us when we tried to speak to her telepathically. She wouldn't even look at us. Now, I knew how she felt.

One night, we were getting ready for bed and she walked past our door. "Jessie?" I said.

She stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "Goodnight, Sunshine. I love you," said Jack.

"I love you too, honey," I said.

She nodded and kept walking until she reached her bedroom. She turned to shut the door and I saw the loneliness in her eyes. I couldn't take it anymore. I was in agony over what we'd done to her. We both were.

I turned to Jack and broke down.

My POV

I didn't want to hurt anymore. I didn't want to be hurt anymore. Landon was still on Thor's ship. Apparently, he was going to be there for a few months. I ate with my parents; I watched tv with them. I wouldn't let them touch me. I wouldn't talk to them. I ignored their thoughts. I wouldn't look at them. I treated them the same way they treated me. I was getting my revenge. But, for some reason, it didn't make me feel any better. If anything, it made the pain worse.

I walked past their room and saw mom standing in the doorway. She was looking towards my room when she saw me. I could see the pain in her eyes. It was the same pain I'd had in my eyes for the past two weeks.

I kept walking. I just wanted to get to my room and cry myself to sleep.

"Jessie?"

I stopped, but didn't turn around. I could hear the desperation in that one word.

"Goodnight, Sunshine. I love you," said dad.

"I love you too, honey," said mom softly.

I nodded my head and started walking towards my room again. I shut my door and fell, crying, to my bed. I hurt so much. I couldn't breathe. I actually just wanted to die. I'd never felt more alone than I did at that moment. I ended up crying myself to sleep.

Some kind of sound woke me up. Looking at the clock, I saw it was only 2:00 in the morning. I started to go back to sleep, but I heard the sound again. It was coming from mom and dad's room.

I got out of bed and walked towards their room. Seeing the door cracked, I stopped to listen. I could hear mom crying.

"She hates us, Jack. She won't even look at me anymore. She's doing to us what we did to her. I don't know how much more I can take," she said, sobbing into dad's shoulder. "I just wanna hold her and tell her everything's gonna be ok. But, she won't even let me touch her."

"I know, baby. Every time I look at her, I wanna cry. I don't know what to say to her. Every time I try to talk to her, she walks away," said dad.

I quietly pushed the door open. "I don't hate you, mama. I don't. But, you…" I trailed off when I saw their pained expressions. I backed out of the room. "I…I'm sorry."

I turned and ran back to my room. I shouldn't have gone in there. They may have said they were hurting, but their faces were blank. I laid down on my bed and started crying again.

I heard them come in and sit down. "Sunshine, why did you leave? Why didn't you make us talk to you?" asked dad, rubbing my back gently.

I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs. "I tried! I tried to make you talk to me, but you wouldn't!" I started rocking back and forth. "I left because I got tired of being the invisible kid around here. The last time I looked, that wasn't one of my powers."

"We're so sorry for hurting you, baby. We're so sorry for ignoring you. We didn't know how to react to losing Daniel," said mom.

"And that makes it all better? You didn't know how to react?" I pushed dad away and, shakily, stood up. "I needed you! I'm your daughter! I needed you and you weren't there!"

"We know, Sunshine," said dad. "We don't know how to make it up to you. Tell us how. Tell us how to make this up to you."

I sat down heavily on my bed and put my head in my hands. "I don't know how. I don't think you can," I whispered. I felt them sit down, one on each side of me and mom put her arms around me.

"I know, honey. I know it will take time," she said. "But, will you let us try?"

"I'm scared," I said softly.

"Of what?" asked dad.

"Every time I think things are getting to be normal, you hurt me. I don't wanna be hurt anymore. I don't want you to hurt me anymore. Please," I begged softly, looking at mom first, and then dad. "Please, don't hurt me anymore."

I broke down in mom's arms as she held me. She pulled me up on her lap and held me close. I wrapped my arms around her neck and sobbed violently. I felt dad wrap his arms around both of us, holding us tightly. He kissed the top of my head and whispered words of love and semi-comfort to me. I fell into a grief-induced sleep in mom's arms, hoping beyond hope that when I woke up the next morning, we'd be ok. All I knew was I couldn't take the pain and loneliness anymore.

Jack's POV

I held Jessie and Sam as close to me as I could. After all that she'd been through, after all that we'd put her through, she was willing to forgive us. I know I didn't deserve it. I mean, how in the hell did we ignore her for almost two weeks? How did we completely forget about her pain, instead focusing on our own? She was as close to Daniel as we were. As I watched Jessie sleep, my heart was breaking. We'd completely ignored her for almost two weeks and yet, she had come home.

I took her from Sam and laid her back on the bed. She opened her sleepy blue eyes and smiled. "Daddy?"

"It's ok, Sunshine. Go back to sleep," I whispered before kissing her forehead.

"Ok," she said with a yawn. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted of to sleep.

"I know you're awake, Sam," I whispered.

"What have we done, Jack? This is our fault," she whispered tearfully.

"I know," I whispered. "I was just wondering how in the hell we did this."

"And?"

"I got nothin'," I said.

"Me neither," she said softly. I could hear the tears in her voice. I knew this was our fault. She ran away because we ignored her. She was tortured because she ran away. She didn't orb out because she thought dying was the only option she had.

"What're we gonna do?" I asked softly as Jessie snuggled up to me. I held my daughter in my arms as if I were afraid of her disappearing again. In a way, I guess I was.

"Whatever it takes," she whispered back. "I can't lose her, Jack. I can't lose my daughter." With that simple sentence, Sam started to cry.

"You're not gonna lose me, mama," whispered a now awake Jessie. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere again."

I let her go and she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Sam. There was the flinching thing again. Sam held her close, both crying. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry," said Sam over and over again.

"I know, mama. I know," said Jessie.

I wrapped my arms around them both and held them as tight as I could without hurting Jessie. "We're both sorry, Sunshine. We'll make it up to you…somehow," I whispered tearfully.

"I know, dad," replied Jessie.

"I promise, baby. I promise we'll never hurt you again. We'll never leave you behind again," I said.

A/N: I know...I know. It's been a while. Too much reading fan fiction and not enough of writing it. :) Feed the beast because there are a few more chapters of this year already finished. Just need to upload them. Thanks for being patient.