Chapter 11

AN EVENTFUL SLEEPOVER

They had driven most of the way home in complete silence. Not that Cassie minded, it gave her time to think about the events of the last four days.

What happens now is anyone's guess.

Daniel had tried to start a conversation several times to no avail, and spent most of the journey trying to steal glances from her with out success. It was clear that her mind was elsewhere. Just as they pulled into his driveway he decided to find out what was bothering her.

"What's going on?" he asked her out right, just as she had brought the car to a stop.

"What do you mean?" she said looking forward at the garage in front of her.

"You know what I mean Cassie." He stated staring at her for reaction, but got nothing.

Huffing at the lack of response he continued "Right well you're not leaving here till I find out. Come on we are going inside."

"But…." She tried to protest, looking at him for the first time since leaving the food court.

"No, you have been hiding something for days now and I want to know what it is. Inside now!" He stated getting out of the car and making his way around to her side and opening the door. He took the keys out of the ignition and, taking her hands, pulled her out of the car.

Keeping one of her hands in his, he made his way to the front door and started searching for his keys in his pocket.

"Daniel there isn't anything wrong…." She tried to say as he located the key and let them in.

"I didn't say there was anything wrong, just that there is something going on." He replied pulling her into the house.

She had always loved his house. There were so many beautiful things within it. He released her and she moved away from him to look at the pictures and books on the bookshelves in his living room. There was one of her, Janet, Daniel and Sam at her primary school graduation. She would have only been twelve.

"I remember this photo, gosh that seems like such a long time ago now." She said smiling at the look of love on Janet's face.

Daniel had stayed back and was leaning against the door frame watching her move around the room looking at the different pictures, most of them being of the last seven years.

"Cassie…." He began but paused as if to contemplate what he said next.

"Daniel I'm fine honestly." She said

Ok. Just smile, look happy and breathe. You're doing great.

"I know you are but you're still hiding something and it…. involves Paul." He said as if testing the waters. Her head snapped up at the mention of Paul's name but she didn't make eye contact with him.

CRAP!

Recovering, she said "what makes you think that?" sitting down on the couch, but facing away from him. He came around the chair and sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of her.

"Because you have been acting strangely since Wednesday when you ran in to him for the first time on the base and every time you are in his presence since then you tense up. …. And I saw what took place in the food court today."

Double CRAP! Um

"Oh" was all she could say but she did look up at him.

"So are you going to tell me or do I have to call Sam and Jack?" he said.

"NO! Please you can't say anything to them. Promise me you won't. I'll tell you everything. Jack will FREAK!" She said panicking all of a sudden.

"Okay, okay. I won't tell them. Calm down. But you have to tell everything, now." He said taking her hands in his to calm her down.

Oh well here goes.

"Alright. Um… ok, so I ran into Paul in the hall on Wednesday and… I don't know there was just something there. I can't explain it. Then there was the barbeque where we got on really well and then there was a moment on Jack's roof…"

"A moment?" Daniel prodded.

"Hey don't interrupt, you want to here this or not? A moment which I can't explain either. Then I ran into him the next morning on my walk and that was just… I don't know, most of the stuff I haven't even worked out for myself yet, let alone tell someone else about it." She had started to ramble. She just kept talking saying everything that came to mind. It seemed like once she started she had to get it all out and that if she were to stop the emotions boiling up inside her would explode.

"Ok take a breath Cass. You're going to pass out." Daniel said trying to calm her down.

"Sorry. I guess this has been building up a bit." She apologized, and then continued.

"Ok where was I? Right, so then we had the movie, which was great. We got on so well. Then there was the run in with Dominic, Which I don't really want to go into, it's too complicated. We walked home to find Miss Mabel had got herself stuck in the neighbor's roof again. Paul rescued her for me but got injured in the process so of course, me being my mother's daughter, had to fix him up and one thing lead to another and he…"

Here goes…

"…Kissed me."

The look on Daniel's face was priceless.

Don't stop now Frasier, you're on a roll.

"And I kissed him back." She finished slowly waiting for the reaction she thought was coming. It never came.

"Oh"

That's it. Oh come on. DO something. ANYTHING!

"So today we talked about what had transpired and we kind of decided that we wanted to see where this could go. That would have been about the time that you rang about the artifact." She stopped and waited again for a reaction

Say something Daniel.

"I think we need some coffee. I need some coffee." He stated and got up and left. He returned a few minutes later with to cups in his hand.

"So what happens now?" He asked setting the cups down on the coffee table and sitting down next to her on the couch.

"I have no idea. Like I said I barely understand any of this myself and he said he had some issues of his own o deal with. I guess we just wait and see." She replied rubbing her face.

Daniel nodded as if knowing this already. Cassie gave him a suspicious look.

He knows more than he is letting on.

She decided to leave it for the time being.

"So for now we are just going to get to now each other better, just taking it slow."

"You know Jack is going to freak. The age difference alone is…"

Cassie smile slightly "that was the first thing that Paul said and he almost didn't survive. Besides, Jack's one to talk when it comes to Sam. Look Daniel we are very aware of the odds against us and there seem to be a lot, a few that I think we don't even know about yet. But when I'm around him I just feel… right. Safe. Please don't tell the others. I have to move on with my life, start making decisions for my self. If you don't let me do that then there was no point to you bringing me back through the gate." She pleaded with him.

Daniel ponded what she had said. "You know sometimes I forget how old you really are. There is a lot of wisdom in that brain of yours. And you're right, you do need to start making choices in your life. I won't tell the others, but you have to promise me that if it ever gets too much for you that you will talk to me. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. Ok?"

There it is again. You know something. And it's big.

"Daniel what do you know that I don't?" she asked.

"Sorry but I can't tell you. Like Paul said, there is stuff that he needs to move on from, it may take him sometime. But I am here for you. Ok"

"Thanks." she said trying to smile but instead tears started spilling down her face.

"Hey, why are you crying? It will be ok." Daniel said softly, pulling her to him in a hug.

"I'm Sorry" she sniffed, snuggling into Daniel's shoulder. "This week has just been a lot to take in. What with Dominic being such a Pratt and the emotional rollercoaster ride with Paul it's just been a lot. Hell I even met the president. That in it self should have sent most of us to the loony bin on Wednesday. I guess I'm just exhausted, I haven't been sleeping great either."

"You wanna stay?" He said still holding her to him.

"Yeah" she said, all of a sudden having trouble keeping her eyes open. She closed them a drifted off to sleep.

……………..

Cassie hadn't slept so well in a long time. In fact she couldn't actually remember the last time see had slept so well. So she wasn't pleased when she was pulled from her sleepy state by the smell of the coffee that had been placed under her nose.

"Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead." Daniel was quietly calling to her whilst rubbing her arm gently and holding the coffee to her nose.

"Bugger off Daniel!" She said trying to pull the quilt of the bed over her head.

"No, no, come on, its time to get up." He said pulling the covers away from her.

"Why?" she whined "I was so comfortable."

"Well for a start I would like my bed back and there's someone downstairs waiting for you."

She had missed the second part of what he said and was now looking around at where she was.

"How did I get in your room?" She asked

"I carried you. You were dead to the world." He stated

"Where did you sleep?"

"I didn't. Now get up and downstairs. You might want to do something with your hair first though." He said pointing at his own head before turning to walk away, placing the coffee on the bed sided table.

"Why? What's wrong with my hair?"

He pointed to the mirror on the wall with out even turning around, and headed out the room.

He has been spending way too much time with Jack!

Cassie watched until he had left before moving from the bed. She padded over to the mirror to find out what he had been referring to.

DAMN!

Her normally beautiful golden mane was pointing in directions she didn't even know were possible, and her clothes were wrinkled beyond belief.

Ugh

She combed her hair down as best she could with her fingers and smoothed her clothes. Taking another look in the mirror she decided she would pass to be in Daniel's presence.

Since when does he care what I look like anyway?

She grabbed the coffee from the side and headed downstairs. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she headed for the kitchen, taking a mouthful of the coffee. She grimaced as she swallowed.

"Ugh! Good Lord Daniel! Where did you get this Coffee? This stuff is worse than what we get on the base. No wonder you spend so much time…" She stopped dead when she walked into the kitchen and found Daniel sitting at the table with Paul.

Didn't see that one coming!

"Cassie, what are you doing here?" Paul said seemingly completely taken by surprise.

"I could say the same to you." She said to him, recovering from the shock of seeing him here. "Aren't you supposed to be back in Washington?" she said looking at Daniel, who just shrugged.

Oh pull the other one Daniel. This is SO you're doing.

"I couldn't get a flight back till lunchtime today but I had to check out by 10am. Daniel rang and offered to pick me up and take me to the airport." He said looking between Daniel and Cassie.

"Oh, he did, did he?" she said still not taking her eyes off of Daniel, who was edging towards the door.

"You know what, I haven't had any sleep. Cassie do you think you could drop Paul off at the airport for me? I'm just going to see if I can get a few hours sleep." He said backing this way out of the room.

Cassie followed him with her eyes, Paul behind her. "Thank you" she mouthed to Daniel before he moved out of sight, smiling at her as he went.

Cassie turned back to Paul still smiling.

"Um what was that about and why are you here?" Paul asked completely confused about what had just happened.

"Uh, he knows."

"He what, how?" he said a little accusingly.

"Hey!" she defended "it wasn't my fault. If I remember correctly, it was you that grabbed my hand under the table in front of everybody last night." She said pointing at him. "He picked up on it. He's very perceptive like that."

"Oh. Sorry." He apologized with rather a sheepish look on his face. She just smiled at him again.

"So…" she said not sure what to say next.

"So" he replied.

"How did the fishing go? Did you catch anything?" she inquired taking the seat next to him.

"Surprisingly well and no. Thanks for the tips though. The general's a really nice guy wants you understand how he works."

"You say that now. Just wait until he finds out about us." She said pointing between the two of them.

"Speaking of which, what about Daniel. Is he fine with this?"

"I wouldn't say fine exactly, he's worried, but he isn't pointing a Zat at you and he did organize this little get together so… I think that it may have something to do with his ascension. He sees the big picture. He just wants me to be happy. He promised not to say anything to the others until we're ready."

Paul looked away from her at this last statement and didn't reply. He seemed to be thinking about something.

Okaaay…I'm defiantly missing something here. But I have no clue what. I mean what now?

Deciding to ask him just that, she broke the silence.

"What happens now?" she said.

"Uh, well, I have to go back to Washington. I'm not due to visit the SGC for another four weeks unless something comes up in between." He said still looking anywhere but her. His domineer had also changed back to what she had seen from him on the base.

This will never do. This is just depressing.

"You know, one would think that you being SGC/pentagon liaison, you would spend more time on the base with us. I mean how can you report back to them what goes on around here on a day to day basis when you only spend two days out of the month down here." She said off handedly. To which he chuckled softly.

That broke the tension. YES!

"Government spending." He exclaimed, making eye contact with her again.

That's better.

"What! That can't be their excuse. A flight from Washington to Colorado can't be more than what, a few hundred bucks. The whole Stargate program costs them six billion dollars a year. A few extra flights to here and back would be kind of insignificant in the grand scheme of things don't you think?" She said

He laughed quietly as she rambled on about the injustice of it all.

"I'll be sure to inform the president of you concerns." He said, not able to wipe the smile off face.

"Oh don't you worry, I'll be sure to tell him myself the next time he comes to visit. She said jokingly.' We're great friends now."

"I bet you are." He said wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. With his other hand he handed her a business card. "Here."

"See. They paid for these. Fancy!" She said trying to further her point. He couldn't help but laugh at her.

Recovering he said "that has got my office phone number and my email on it. I'm in and out of meetings most of the day but my secretary can take a message…"

"You have a secretary? Jack doesn't even have one of those." She interrupted.

"The General doesn't have to deal with other world leaders on a daily basis." He said

"Point taken." She agreed thinking it over.

"Your best bet is to email me. I check the damn thing a least ten times a day. I'll try to ring you if I don't get back to my place to late, but I'm hardly ever there." He said

"Where is home?" she asked.

'Just a small two bed roomed apartment in the middle of Washington. I wouldn't call it a home though." The sadness had returned to his eyes again.

Ok time for a change of subject again.

"Well time is getting on and unfortunately you have a plane to catch in just over an hour. Why don't you put your stuff in my car and I'll just go and get changed."

"You have clothes here?" he asked a little puzzled.

"Yeah, Daniel and I often work here when we can't concentrate at the base. Usually ends up being an all nighter. For him anyway, I usually crash. I'll be back in a minute." She said. He nodded and she handed him her keys.

She made her way back upstairs. She walked to Daniel's bedroom door and looked in, expecting to find him crashed out. He wasn't. He was just sitting on the bed staring into space.

"Hey" she said trying not to startle him. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

"Thanks" she said coming over and sitting down next to him.

"You're welcome. I just want you to be happy. We all do."

"I know. But I also know what Jack, Sam and Tealc will do if they find out about this. And the fact that Paul is not only older than they would probably like, he's also an air force major, doesn't. I remember what happened the last time one of the captains looked at me the 'wrong way' he was scared for his life by the time Tealc was through with him. I've never seen someone transferred out of the base so fast in my life."

"Well in their defense even I thought he deserved that" Daniel interrupted.

"That's not the point. I just want a chance to see how things go with out any interference for the time being." She stated and he looked gingerly at her in apology.

"Besides, the longer I think about it the more I think that I'm going to have to be the strong one in this relationship. Something happened to him that broke his heart, and I don't think he really knows how to move on from that. He's scared. You guys have nothing to worry about things moving to fast for me." She finished.

Daniel just looked at her in wonder. How the hell did she work that out so quickly? Paul certainly wouldn't have told her, he didn't want anyone knowing. It's still too painful for him. He just couldn't get over how much the girl. No. Woman next to him had grown up. She had gone and done it so fast that none of them had noticed.

"It's ok. I get it. I won't say anything until you're ready. Promise. Now you better go or you're going to make Paul miss his flight." He said looking over at the clock on the bedside table.

"Crap!" she said glancing at it as well, then running into his wardrobe and reappearing with a pile of clothes. She ran back across the room and out the door to the bathroom shouting a "thank you" and "bye" over her shoulder on her return before heading down the stairs and out to the car.