~o~

Over the next several weeks, Daniel and Cassie spent most of their time together, when they weren't at work or out on missions. Their day trip to the Garden of the Gods was just the beginning. Most nights, when they were on world, they would have dinner together, either at one of their homes, or out if they felt up to it. They watched Daniel's favorite classic, and even Cassie had to admit it was wonderful. And Daniel was pleased to find out that when Cassie said she liked Classic Rock, she really was talking about classics like The Who and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

They grew closer with each day, and Daniel was the happiest he could ever remember. And surprisingly, no one on base, besides those very few who knew, noticed that they seemed closer to each other at the end of the summer than they had at the beginning.

It was early in September when Daniel suggested they really should go back to Lucca's for dinner. So, one Saturday night after a day spent cleaning out Daniel's home office, they headed down to the restaurant.

Immediately on entering, they heard a loud, enthusiastic voice from the back. "My Daniel," Antonia called as she hurried up from the rear. The restaurant was packed, so all heads turned when they heard the exclamation, looking to see who had provoked such a response from Antonia. She arrived in front of them, breathless, and proclaimed, "And he has brought his Cassandra with him."

She reached up and pecked Daniel on both cheeks before turning to Cassie and doing the same. "Is a busy night," she told them with a wag of her finger, "but I have just the place for you."

Turning to the back, she made her way to the last booth, expecting them to follow. Extending her hand, she indicated that they should take a seat. "It is the family table, but you are family, no?" she said with a wink.

"Molto grazie, Antonia," Daniel said, pecking her on the cheek once more before settling himself in across from Cassie.

"Now, how about spaghetti with meatball tonight, eh?" she asked. "It is my mother's recipe."

Daniel looked to Cassie for confirmation. At her nod, he turned to Antonia and gave his approval. "Sounds good to us."

Antonia nodded and bustled off to the kitchen to place the order.

"Spaghetti with meatball?" Cassie asked, perplexed. "Only one?"

Daniel nodded. "Only one," he confirmed. "But it's huge. I think her mother must have been a giant."

Cassie and Daniel shared a laugh. Antonia reappeared then and poured them both a glass of red wine, giving the couple a warm smile before she left.

"So, tomorrow afternoon Colonel Trask is having the team over for a bar-b-que," Cassie said.

Since they'd been seeing each other, they had each gone alone to their team functions, since they were still keen to keep their relationship off the base grapevine. And by some miracle that neither could explain, SG-1 hadn't had a 'family' night that would include Cassie since returning from the Odyssey. But if Cassie wanted him to go with her to Colonel Trask's house, Daniel would say yes in a heartbeat. "You going to go?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "It's a teambuilding thing, I think. We haven't had much time for that this summer."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

Cassie smiled and reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "Thanks for offering, but no spouses or significant others allowed this time. His wife is visiting her family with the kids, so he thought this would be a good time to do it."

"We used to do a lot of those when Jack was around," Daniel confirmed. "Of course none of us had a life outside work, so it was easy."

"And now that you have a life?" she asked.

Daniel squeezed her hand right back and gave her an appraising look. He wouldn't trade this for anything, and she knew it, but he could still have some fun. "Tough choice. Dinner with you or poker and beer with the guys."

"Two of those guys are women, Daniel," she admonished him, knowing what he was up to. "Besides," she gave him an impish smile, "I'm better looking."

"You got me there," he agreed, chuckling at being caught out.

Just then, Antonia returned with two plates heaped with spaghetti and a huge meatball in the center of each. "Mangia," she told them with a smile before hurrying back to the kitchen.

Cassie looked at her heaping plate of food and then at Daniel. "Where does she think I'm going to put all this?"

"I don't know, but you'd better get started. You don't want to insult her mother's meatball."

Cassie laughed as they both dove in, exclaiming at the wonderful flavor of the dish. A short time later Antonia returned to join them, squeezing into the booth next to Daniel. Shaking her head, she patted at her hair and huffed like she was out of breath.

"I do not know about that man," she said, frustration in her voice. "He always put too much Oregano in the Marinara."

Daniel looked at his half-gone spaghetti and shrugged. "Tastes good to me," he said.

"I am glad you think so," she replied, patting his free hand. "At least he has not ruin the sauce yet tonight."

Cassie nearly choked on her bite trying to stifle her laughter. Daniel looked amused, while Antonia looked on with concern.

"Sorry," Cassie apologized. "Almost swallowed down the wrong pipe."

Antonia took her explanation at face value and smiled at her. "I think there is some romance in the air," she observed, casting a sly glance at each of them.

Cassie beamed at Daniel, but kept silent, letting him field that one. "Yeah, we've been seeing each other for a while now," Daniel said, keeping the details to a minimum.

"Good," Antonia said. "You need a little romance, I think." It was Daniel's turn to choke. Antonia went on as if nothing had happened. "You know, my Giuseppe is nearly fifteen years older than me. It was common, in Napoli, to marry young," she told them, a wistful look crossing her face. "We have forty years of happiness now."

"Forty years?" Cassie said in awe.

Antonia nodded. "And I think he tries to drive me crazy for each one." She chuckled and smiled. "But the years have been good. I think you will have many good years too," she informed them, again giving them that sly look.

"We're not engaged, Antonia," Cassie said, rushing to make sure she didn't misunderstand. She didn't want Daniel feeling uncomfortable, though from the smile on is face, she thought he looked quite content.

"You will be," she said, patting Daniel's hand once more before levering herself out of the booth. "If I know my Daniel, he won't let you go." She winked at Cassie and smiled at Daniel before marching back to the kitchen, yelling something at her husband in Italian as she went.

"She's right, you know," Daniel said, drawing Cassie's attention back to him.

"Right about what?"

"I don't plan on letting you go," he said matter-of-factly. "Now that I've gone from being Uncle Danny to 'your Daniel', I find I like it."

Cassie blushed to the roots of her hair, pleased beyond words. "I'm glad," was all she could say.

Daniel reached across the table and took her hand, squeezing it for reassurance before letting go. He'd fallen head-over-heels in love with this girl, and he couldn't be happier.

~o~

Daniel Jackson sat on the gurney in the infirmary Monday morning waiting for the doctor to give him his pre-mission exam. They were meeting with some Tok'ra operatives to share intelligence on the Ori. Daniel was looking forward to hearing what the Tok'ra had learned. He was also hoping to question them further on Ba'al's movements, since he'd dropped out of sight after they'd stopped him from taking Adria as a host.

"Okay, Daniel, you're up," Carolyn Lam announced as she approached his bed and pulled the curtain closed. Reaching to pull her stethoscope from around her neck, she set his chart on the bed and set about beginning her exam. "So, how are things with you and Cassie?" she asked as she listened to his heartbeat.

Daniel's head shot up from where he'd been watching her work, bewilderment all over his face. "What…?"

Carolyn smiled. "I saw you two at Stonewall's a while back."

"Things are fine," Daniel said carefully. He didn't know who of his team might still be hanging around, and since he hadn't told any of them about him and Cassie, he was more than a little concerned.

"Don't worry," she said reassuringly, reading his expression, "you're the last one. Everyone else has finished up and left."

"Ah. Things are fine," he repeated, relaxing some. A smile bloomed on his face at the thought of Cassie, and he was helpless to stop it.

"Looks like better than fine to me," Carolyn supplied, moving to check his pulse.

Daniel relaxed some more. "I'm happy," he said. "For the first time in a long time, I can truly say I'm happy."

"I can see that for myself," Carolyn said as she finished up her exam.

Daniel blushed slightly. "Would you believe that was only our third date?"

Carolyn gave him a sly glance as she made notes on his chart. "As cozy as you two were, I'd have thought you were newlyweds."

Daniel's smile grew. "Not yet, Carolyn."

Setting his chart aside, she put her pen into the pocket of her coat and reached to touch his arm. "I'm happy for you, Daniel."

"Me too," came his reply. He hopped off the gurney, pushed aside the curtain and practically skipped out of the infirmary to report for his MRI.

Carolyn smiled and shook her head as she watched him leave, amused at the sight. Daniel was as giddy as a schoolboy. She wondered briefly if that's what Cam had looked like when they'd first started dating. She shook her head again as she reached for Daniel's chart.

"It is gratifying to see Daniel Jackson so content," Teal'c spoke from behind her.

Carolyn turned around, surprised at both his comment, and his presence. "You know about the two of them?"

Teal'c bowed his head slightly. He'd been the last one to finish his exam, and was still dressing when Carolyn had approached Daniel. He hadn't meant to listen in, but since they were mere feet from him, he couldn't avoid it.

"Daniel Jackson came to me for advice when he became aware of Cassandra Frasier's feelings towards him," he explained. "I encouraged him to pursue this relationship."

"Then you've done a good thing, Teal'c," Carolyn said, approval in her tone. "I haven't known him long, but this is the happiest I've ever seen him." Carolyn paused, contemplating Daniels' words. "It sounds pretty serious with those two," she observed.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "It is as you humans say: Love can achieve any goal."

Carolyn frowned as she tried to place that particular phrase. Her face cleared as she realized what he meant. "Love conquers all," she nodded in agreement. "In this case, I think you're right."

Teal'c executed a slight bow and then strode out of the room, leaving Carolyn standing there, contemplating the nature of love, and how such a complicated emotion could really be so simple. It had been that way with her and Cam, and she suspected the same was true for Daniel and Cassie. She turned towards her office, humming as she went off to enter SG-1's exam data into the system.

...continued...