Daughter of My Heart, Chapter Five

Living in a one-room apartment generally had its advantages. There was less space to collect junk, less space to clean. And considering how little time he actually spent there, anything more would really just be a waste.

Tonight, however, it meant giving up the only bed in the place to his guest, and taking the sagging, over-worn sofa instead.

This after thirty-six consecutive hours without sleep, what with the rescue mission, and a panicked call from Cassie to say Sam was a Goa'uld.

Setting his glasses aside, Daniel tried to make himself comfortable as he thought back on the last few hours of the day.

Cassie was afraid of her own mother. Terrified, in fact, and Daniel couldn't really blame her. To come home and find the same enemy who'd destroyed your entire planet... Daniel shuddered.

He'd tried to reassure her, to tell her everything would be all right, but he didn't even really believe it himself.

Look what had happened to Kawalsky.

Maybe Hammond had been right all along. Maybe she would have been better off with someone outside the SGC. Or at the very least, someone outside of SG-1.

"Daniel?," she whispered, her bare feet padding silently toward him. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," he said, sitting up and grabbing his glasses. "Is everything all right?"

"I can't sleep," she whispered, staring at her toes.

"Me neither," he confessed, moving aside to make room for her to join him. She quickly took a seat, snuggling in close to rest her head against his chest. Daniel awkwardly put an arm around her, realizing, not for the first time since she'd come, just how much he'd missed out on the non-verbal forms of comfort since his own parents had died.

"What's going to happen if they can't get the Goa'uld out of Sam?," she asked.

"I don't know," he sighed, just as worried as she was.

"What's going to happen to me?," she said softly.

"Janet and I will make sure you're taken care of," he replied, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "You won't be alone again. I promise."

Nodding, Cassie shut her eyes, tightening her own arms about his waist. She was asleep moments later, her breathing soft and rhythmic. Daniel was soon lulled to sleep as well, Cassandra snug and safe beside him.

Daniel went in to the SGC while Cassie went to school, hoping for some good news.

All he got instead were a lot more questions.

The Goa'uld was claiming to be a Tok'ra, a race of beings bent on the destruction of the Goa'uld.

And yet, its actions and attitude still rang very Goa'uld-like in the eyes of the SGC.

By the end of the day, Daniel was as unsure of what to believe as any of the rest, and left feeling even worse than when he'd gone in.

He decided to meet Cassie at the school, so they could swing 'round to Sam's place to get more stuff for the next few days. It didn't look like this would be sorted out anytime soon.

Only when Cassie met him, she added a whole new dimension to his list of concerns.

"What does 'divorced' mean?," she asked, a few minutes into an otherwise silent drive. Daniel glanced over at her, startled.

"What?," he asked, surprised.

"What does it mean to be 'divorced,'" she tried again.

"Wha- why – How did this come up?," he spluttered.

Cassie frowned. "The other girls saw you drop me off today, and asked if you were my dad," she explained. "I said yes, because all the other kids have two parents, not just one, and they asked why I've never mentioned you before. So I said that I only see you some of the time, but I live with mom."

Daniel's face was frozen in shock, his mind trying to work out all possible ramifications of where this story seemed headed.

"That's when the other girls said 'Oh, you're parents are divorced,'" she continued single-mindedly, "and they said it like it was a bad thing. But I don't know what it means, so I couldn't really answer..."

Gratefully turning into Sam's driveway, Daniel parked the car. "Ok-ay," he began slowly. "Well, sometimes, after two people decide to get married... things happen to make them see each other differently. And sometimes, when that happens, they find it difficult to be happy together anymore. So they get what we call a 'divorce', which really just means they stop living together, and are free to marry someone else, if that's what they want." He paused, noting her thoughtful gaze.

"So you and Sam aren't divorced," she said at last.

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "We couldn't be divorced, since we've never been married."

"And you're already married to somebody else," she added.

"Right," Daniel replied, nodding. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"So next time they say anything, I should just tell them that my parents aren't divorced, they were never married, and anyway, my dad is already married to someone else. Right?"

Oh god. So. Much. Worse.

"Uh, no," he said, shaking his head.

Her shoulders drooped. "Then what am I supposed to say?"

Daniel was confused. "I thought our cover story was that Sam adopted you, after you lost your family in Toronto?," Daniel asked gently. "That she's really your aunt, not your mother?"

Cassie shrugged. "I didn't like that story," she said.

"Why not?," Daniel frowned. It was about as close to the truth as they could come, what with the whole 'National Security' thing and all.

Cassie squirmed. Daniel waited patiently. "I want Sam to be my mom," she said quietly, not quite meeting his eyes.

Daniel opened and closed his mouth a few times, surprised. Never, in all his years in foster care, had he ever found someone he would have willingly called 'mom'.

"What about your real mom?," he asked softly.

Cassie shrugged, still not meeting his gaze. "I can't talk about my real family to anyone but you and Sam and Janet," she said softly, finally glancing over to him. "I didn't grow up in Toronto. I don't know what to say about a family there. And I can't tell anyone else the truth, so..."

"So it's just easier to tell everyone that Sam is your mom, and I'm...," he couldn't finish, the word felt so foreign on his tongue.

"My dad," she agreed, nodding.

"Look, maybe you should just tell them the truth, that I'm a good friend of the family, that's all. There's nothing wrong with having only one parent; lots of kids live with only one parent," he babbled, noting belatedly the crestfallen look on her face.

Not good.

"You don't want to be my dad?," she asked, lower lip trembling.

"That's not what I said," he defended.

"Yes it is! You said you're just a good friend of the family, that's all. That's the same as saying you don't want to be my dad!"

"Cassie..."

"I want to stay with Janet!," she yelled, tears coursing down her face. Then, before he could say another word, she threw open the car door and stormed into the house, leaving a very bewildered Daniel in her wake.

Throwing open his own door to go after her, he grabbed the phone from his coat pocket, quickly dialing the first number he could think of.

"Jack?," he said desperately. "I need your help!"

Jack arrived to find the broken door still open, and Daniel sitting morosely at the kitchen table. Cassie was nowhere in sight.

"So, what's the emergency?," Jack asked, glancing around.

"I'm horrible with children," Daniel groaned, burying his head in his hands.

"Ok-ay," Jack replied, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "And you need me for what, exactly?"

"If I knew that, don't you think I'd be doing it myself?!," he exploded despairingly.

"Daniel, just what is going on here?," Jack demanded, glaring at the younger man.

"I don't know how to be a dad!," he panicked. "I mean, sure, I'm part of her life and I care about her, but that doesn't mean I'm the least bit qualified..."

"Daniel," he interrupted. "Start from the beginning."

"Her friends think we're divorced, and made her feel bad about it, so I told her to tell them the truth, that I'm just a friend of the family. And that's when she stopped speaking to me."

"Daniel, for a man who can talk a room to death about god-knows what, you're sure as hell leaving a lot of blanks for me to fill in here!"

"She wants me to be her dad. And Sam to be her mom. And...and...and...," he gesticulated.

"You panicked?," Jack finished.

"Yes," Daniel sighed, slumping in defeat.

"So apologize," Jack said.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But..."

"No buts. It's not like she's asking you to forget Sha're and marry Sam. She's asking you to be her dad. It's an honour, Daniel. Trust me."

"Look, I get that," he sighed. "It's just...I really don't know if I can do this."

"Daniel. If you can learn to fire a gun, you can learn to be a dad. It's not that difficult."

"You'd compare shooting a gun to raising a child?"

"They're not mutually exclusive when you have a daughter," Jack observed. "Besides, the emphasis was on you. If you, a chatty-Cathy diplomat, can learn to fire a gun, then you, an emotionally damaged archaeologist, can learn to be a dad."

"I think I've just been insulted," Daniel replied.

"Go apologize. There's nothing wrong with letting her tell her friends that you and Carter were married thirteen years ago, and stayed friends when things fell apart. It doesn't affect your life with Sha're."

"And how do you think Sam's going to feel about this?," Daniel demanded.

"What difference does it make, Daniel? Cassie chose you. And given that we may never get that snake out of Carter's head, I'd say that's a pretty significant decision, wouldn't you?"

Daniel sighed. "Okay," he said at last.

"Colonel O'Neill?," Cassie sniffled, coming into the kitchen. "Are you here to bring me to Janet's house?"

Jack walked over to where she stood, kneeling down in front of her despite the protest from his knees. "I think Daniel has something he wants to say to you first," he said.

"I don't care," Cassie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Cassie," Daniel began, moving closer, "I am so sorry I made you think I wouldn't want to be your dad. It just came as a bit of a surprise, that's all. I never knew you thought of me that way..."

"Then why are you at our Friday dinners?," she demanded, rounding on him. "Why did you visit when Sam went missing, and tell me all those stories to help me feel better? Why are you always here when Sam works late, helping me with my homework and telling me about your own work? Why did you promise I'd never be alone, if that's not what you meant?"

Jack surreptitiously stood, moving out of the way.

"I'm so, so sorry," Daniel said again, coming closer. "If you want to tell people I'm your dad...I'd be lucky to have you as a daughter."

Jack smiled, quietly backing out of the room as Cassie launched herself at the still bewildered archaeologist, wrapping him in a side-splitting hug.