Disclaimer: I do not own StarGate or it's characters I'm just borrowing them.

Clair's Flashback...

Clair watched out the window as Daniel got into the car and it sped away. She sunk to the floor pulling her knees to her chest as she began to cry. She was once again completely alone stuck in this cage she called home. It didn't matter how nice the cage looked a cage was still a cage.

She understood that he needed to leave. Clair was happy when Daniel got excepted into Chicago University. He was following his dream and was going to become an archaeologist. Clair wanted to go with him and study to become a botanist. She loved plants just about as much as she loved to paint.

Becoming a botanist though was out of the question. Mommy dearest insisted that Clair apply to SAIC, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Of course being the good daughter that she was she abides by her mother's wishes.

Clair looked up as her father entered the room. She wished he would just go away and leave her alone because right now she didn't want to deal with anyone. She also didn't want him to see her crying because according to Richard de Lune crying was weakness.

"He never loved you Clair, you know that right?" Richard asked. His daughter was completely pathetic crying over someone who was in his opinion beneath her. He walked further into the room until he was standing in front of her. "He got exactly what he wanted from you and I can guarantee you that's all he was interested in." he added.

"What?" Clair inquired. She was slightly taken aback by what her father was saying. There was no way he could have know about her and Daniel and had sat on that information for three years. Unless he was planning on doing what he was doing right now and was using it to hurt her at the most opportune time.

"Oh, so you didn't think I would know about the two of you sneaking around. I'm your father Clair I know everything." Richard gloated. He had no idea how many times he had wanted to thrash the pair of them, but this was much more satisfying. "How shameful to think that my daughter was behaving like some common whore." he sneered.

"You're wrong father. Daniel and I love each other." Clair told him. Even if Daniel never verbally expressed it Clair knew that he felt the same. Daniel would have never used her like her father was trying to claim.

"Is that so? Tell me why did he leave you behind?" Richard wondered. Richard watched as his daughter tried to come up with an explanation. The fact was there wasn't any. It was high time Clair stopped being so naive.

"Like there was ever really a choice in the matter? It's not like you'll ever let me leave here." Clair stated. She knew her parents had her whole future mapped out for her. She didn't want what they wanted for her though.

"Smart girl. Once your done with college you'll marry the Johnson boy. I'm sure that Blake will let you paint or plant flowers or do whatever it is you do." Richard said. He knew Clair wasn't fond of Blake, but if she married him he would be in position to have a business merger with Johnson Inc. it was just what de Lune Enterprises needed.

"I don't love Blake and I wont marry him." Clair argued. Blake Johnson was a social climbing weasel and Clair couldn't stand him. All through high school she had to fight off his advances. Just because he had been quarterback and captain of the football team and she was head cheerleader that didn't mean they needed to fall into clichés.

"Clair love doesn't exist and the sooner you learn that the better off you'll be. You need to give up on such silly notions. The truth is the world is a cruel and wicked place." Richard told his daughter. Clair looked at him the same way she did when he explained to her there was no Santa, Easter Bunny, or Tooth Fairy. She needed to know the truth.

"You need to get out, now." Clair ordered. She refused to tolerate her father any longer. Clair wasn't going to become cold and cynical like him. She knew that her father was wrong he had to be. She knew that what she felt for Daniel was real.

Richard shrugged in a sort of suit yourself kind of way and walked towards the door. He looked back at his daughter. "By the way I hope you realize that you're never going to see him again. He's going to move on and forget all about you. As for some fatherly advice I suggest that you do the same." Richard offered. He turned back around and left the room. The sound of Clair's continued sobbing could be heard as he walked down the hall.

End of Flashback...

Clair stood in front of a finished painting of Sha're. Since Daniel had liked the sketch she had done so much she promised that she would make a canvas of it. Sha're was beautiful it was no wonder that Daniel loved her. Clair knew that if she could have met her that she would have liked Sha're. Clair knew that Daniel must miss her a lot. That was okay because she would expect nothing less.

Clair wasn't jealous nor did she feel threatened by Sha're's memory. She knew that Daniel loved her just as much and that was good enough for her. It would be silly to be petty. She only hoped that Daniel wouldn't dwell on the past too much and be able to move on.

Daniel was most likely upstairs fast asleep. She had promised him that she wouldn't stay up all night and it was already very late or very early all depending on how you wanted to look at it. Clair yawned and made her way over to the chaise lounge. She decided she would just sleep in her studio. She stretched out and made herself comfortable. She really wish she could have told her father just how wrong he was. Still clutching her paintbrush she closed her eyes and let sleep claim her. She really hoped that Daniel would like the painting.