Cassie was grateful her dream hadn't returned after she fell asleep in Jack's guest room. She'd been having the same dream or variations of it for a while now and was beginning to take a toll. It seemed just talking to Jack, not even about the dream, put her at ease. It reminded her no matter what Jack would always be there and if she had learned one thing about him over the years was that he always kept his promises.

The next morning she awoke to the smell of Jack's world famous beer omelet. After breakfast they dropped Robin off at Cassie's old neighbor's house and was then on their way to Denver. Before heading to mall, they dropped their luggage off at the swanky hotel near the opera house that they stayed at every year.

Jack dutifully followed her around from store to store in search of the perfect evening gown. Cassie was rather shocked that he offered no complaint. Though he did offer the occasional objection to some of the dresses she tried on.

"No," he crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at her as she stepped out of the dressing room.

"Why not?" She examined herself in the three-way mirror turning around slowly.

"It's too old for you."

"Too old for me?" she questioned innocently even though she knew exactly what he was talking about. The dress was bright red with a deep V-neck in the front and back and side slits nearly to her hips.

"You're just a l-"

You're just a little girl.

He didn't finish his protest, but she heard it clearly anyway. She felt a strange mix of comfort and irritation. "What do you think I should wear? Peter Pan collars with ruffles down to my toes?"

"Yes."

"Jack, I'm nineteen."

"You're still too young for a dress like that. You couldn't even wear a…" her gestured vaguely to her chest and flushed ever so slightly.

"A bra?"

"Err, yeah." Jack looked all manner of uncomfortable and began to fiddle with a nearby display of purses.

It wasn't often one saw Jack O'Neill flustered and Cassie couldn't resist antagonizing him further. "You're right, but they have these things now that stick on and hold you in place."

"I don't want to know, Cassie," he grated out concentrating on examining a beaded purse.
She twisted around and examined the back of the dress and said thoughtfully, "I'd have to where a thong though."

The purse fell from his numb fingers as Jack looked up at her sharply. "That's it. Take it off. I'm sending you to a convent. Right now."

"Geez, Jack, a little repressed are you?"

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Cass, no man wants to believe that his daughter wears…" he gestured vaguely in the air again.

"Thongs?"

"Yes."

"I still think you're repressed. When was the last time you saw a woman naked?" Then she added, "Not in print."

"I'm hungry. Let's go eat."

"You should really hide your Playboys better."

"Go. Change." He pointed to the dressing room. "That's an order."

"Yes, sir."

Jack draped the garment bag containing the new tux Cassie had convinced him to buy over the arm of the overstuffed chair. He settled down with a stack of magazines and a grande vanilla latte. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a chance to lounge around Barnes and Noble. He opened Scientific America to an article about black holes. Carter would probably laugh her ass off if she saw him. Though possibly not. She would probably give him that smug little twitchy smile that she got whenever he slipped up in his dumb flyboy act.

Cassie was still out shopping looking for the perfect accessories to go with her new evening gown. Jack had made it through finding the perfect dress and the perfect shoes, but he wasn't sure he could make it through the search for the perfect jewelry, the perfect purse, and the perfect doodads to go in her hair.

Though he was forced to admit (though not out loud) that shopping with Cassie wasn't so bad. She was a very strategic shopper unlike his ex-wife. Sara would buy a pair of shoes that were so bizarre of color that he knew there was no way that something would be out there to match them. Never the less, he would be dragged all over the mall and then she would find a shirt that might possibly match them. Then she would try it on and even though it matched and it fit she wouldn't buy it. She'd drag him all over the mall again making sure she didn't see anything she liked better. Of course, she never found anything she liked better. When she'd go back, someone else would have bought it and the whole damn cycle would begin again. Jack would try to be patient, especially if he'd just come back from a long mission. He half suspected that she had done it to punish him. If Charlie happened to be with them, which was rare because he hated shopping with his mother, Jack would take him to the arcade and they'd while away the afternoon playing video games and ski ball.

Cassie wasn't like Sara. She shopped logically which in his experience was rare for a woman. She saw something she liked and it fit she bought it. There was no dithering. He liked that. So, shopping with Cassie wasn't that painful, but eventually Jack got bored and handed over his credit card before retiring to the bookstore.

Jack tossed Scientific America onto the table. The article had been pretty off base from what the SGC had learned about black holes over the years. Carter would have a field day picking it apart. Next in his stack was Entertainment Weekly and from the looks of the cover it contained an interview with Matt Groening. He was chuckling over the article when something was waived in front of his face.

"Lookie what I got," Cassie said behind him.

"If you'd hold still I'd be able to tell." He grabbed her wrist and held it still long enough to examine the two pieces of paper she held in her hand.

"Watch it, grouchy, or I'll find some hot young guy to escort me."

Finally he plucked the tickets out of her hand. "Hockey tickets? Sweet."

Cassie pushed his discarded magazines out the way and gave him a Teal'c worthy raised eyebrow at the Scientific America. He gave her an innocent look in turn. She plunked down on the table, setting her bags on the floor. "Do you really think you fool anyone?"

As Jack drove back to the hotel, he glanced over at Cassie. It seemed the day's activities had worn her out. She was asleep in the seat next to him with her faced pressed up against the truck window. It had been nice to spend the day with her. Hell, it had been nice to spend a day without requisition forms, briefings about alien plants and obscure alien archeological sites, and unfathomable scientific chatter.

He missed having a life.

He missed the people in his life.

He missed Cassie. He missed their rainy day chess games. Not for the first time he wished she would have chosen a college a little closer, not way on the east coast. He hoped she would be home for Christmas, but she might be planning something with her friends. Perhaps he'd fly down to Savannah in the spring and spend a couple of days with her. Maybe rent a place on the beach. Cassie had always liked the beach. He remembered how excited she was the first time she saw the ocean. He suspected that even though the world class art school had offered her a scholarship, that the nearby beach had really been the real deciding factor for choosing the college.

He hated to think of the day when she no longer sought out his company and spend her vacations with him. He didn't want to think of the day when she got too involved in her own life to continue their annual opera weekends. He was terrified of the day when she found someone and would no longer be his little girl.

Cassie moaned softly in her sleep, her head twitching against the glass. Jack had dealt with nightmares long enough to know what they looked like. "Hey, Cass," he reached over with one hand and gave her knee a shake. "C'mon, wake up."

Her head jerked suddenly, "Jack?" She blinked her bleary eyes a couple of times trying to focus on his profile in the passing streetlights.

"Yeah. You okay?"

She sighed heavily and leaned her head back against the headrest. "Yeah."

"Nightmare?"

"I guess." She said it in such a tone that Jack knew that it was more than a guess; it was true.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No." She said succinctly turning to stare out the window at the passing sights.

TBC