A/N: Okay, so I'm pretty sure this one is long enough to be two chapters, but it doesn't divide well, so, here it is, in all its ungainly glory.

Daughter of My Heart, Chapter Twenty-Three

Daniel lay on his cot, dreaming. If he closed his eyes long enough and really focused, he could almost believe he was somewhere else... the sun warm on his face as he stepped from his car, the feel of his daughter's arms around his waist hugging him... Sam's absent-minded humming as she moved about the kitchen, masterminding something he was certain would be delicious.

Sometimes the dreams were memories, days spent curled up with a young Cassandra, reading her every fairy tale and fable he could get his hands on, her attention rapt as she devoured the unfamiliar stories he told. Awkward visits with Sam as they got used to their new roles as parents...and then not-so-awkward visits, where he'd be dragged straight into the fray of the Carter household, assigned tasks, bossed around, duped into countless hours of movies he never would have watched on his own, activities he never would have tried without them. Afternoons at the park, or the museum, or the planetarium, trying to teach Cassie a lifetime of information, all the while learning more about each other.

He lost track of the days. Time was meaningless, here. He'd never minded the uniform grey of the base before, but in this room, with its closed door and its single cot and really nothing to do to pass the time...it was a torture, all of its own. Food came and went, but no one ever spoke to him. Occasionally one of the SFs would shoot him a sympathetic smile, but that was it. It wasn't meant to be fun, after all.

Even when he slept, his dreams were vividly real. Running from enemies in the field. Standing at the wrong end of a Goa'uld hand device, Sha're's beautiful face staring back at him. Sam, furiously angry at him for messing things up, all because he'd never been able to find the words to say just how much he cared...

He often woke with his heart hammering in his chest, longing for the freedom to run, to fight, to say all the things he needed to say.

But there was nowhere to go and no one to talk to, so he'd go back to his dreaming, replaying scenes from his life, imagining what could still be...

Cassie put the finishing touches on her mom's macaroni casserole, grabbing the next recipe card from her pile. Double chocolate brownies.

Since Dad and Janet had been away, her mom had been more distant. Normally, she spoke all the time, sometimes about something she was working on, other times asking question after question about what was going on in Cassie's life. But for the past week or so, she'd been quiet. Oddly, freakishly, disconcertingly quiet.

So Cassie planned to surprise her.

"Pass me the sugar, flour, cocoa and soda," she instructed her co-conspirator. Dominic quickly obliged. She began measuring everything out into a bowl, passing things back to be put away as she finished with them.

"Will I ever be allowed to actually help with something?," Dominic asked, grinning as she mixed the ingredients together.

"You are helping!," Cassie reassured him. "Besides, this is how you learn to cook. Seriously. This is how we trained my dad."

"You taught your dad to cook?," Dominic asked doubtfully.

"Yeah," Cassie said with a shrug. "He's even actually pretty good now."

Dominic shook his head, chuckling. "All right, Teacher. What will you need next?"

"Eggs, Vanilla, and butter," Cassie rhymed off, grinning as he passed the requested items.

"Hey, have you asked your parents yet...?," he began, but Cassie cut him off with a shake of her head.

"Not yet. My dad won't be back for another couple of days. Then I'll be able to talk to them," she replied, hoping he didn't mind. He'd already been waiting a week for an answer, and the concert was coming up fast.

"Couldn't you just ask your mom?," he asked softly, looking disappointed.

"I could, but she doesn't really do well with change," Cassie replied slowly. "And we've never really talked about the whole dating thing. I actually think she's hoping I won't notice that it's the normal thing to do as a teenager."

"And having your dad around will help?," he asked doubtfully.

"No," Cassie said, grinning. "But they'll both confide in Janet, and she'll be on my side," she replied confidently. "That's how I ended up with the party," she added, for good measure. "Pass the chocolate chips," she said, pointing to the bag. He did as asked.

"You know," he said suddenly, "I've been told I make a mean Caesar salad. If you have the ingredients, I could whip something up..."

Cassie laughed. "Trying to earn brownie points with Mom?"

"Could it hurt?"

"The lettuce is in the crisper in the fridge," Cassie replied, grinning.

Dominic scoffed. "I'll need more than lettuce for a salad supreme," he retorted.

"You name it, and I'll find it," Cassie replied teasingly, pouring the brownie batter into the pan, and sliding it into the oven beside the casserole.

"Watch the student become the master," Dominic replied, producing the bag of lettuce. Cassie laughed.

If they could pull this off before her mom got home, it was sure to put a smile on her face.

A warm burst of air greeted Sam as she opened the front door, the smells of cooking tantalizingly heady as she walked through the house.

"Mom!," Cassie said, bounding down the hall from the kitchen.

"Hey, kiddo," she said, giving Cassie a quick hug. "It sure smells great in here!"

"Thanks! I had some help," Cassie added tentatively.

"Help?," Sam asked, confused. The two people who would normally help were still...unavailable.

"Hi Mrs. Carter," Dominic replied shyly from the kitchen doorway.

"Major," Sam corrected distractedly. "You had help from a boy?," she asked Cassie as calmly as she could manage. She could feel the panic rising.

"Please don't freak out," Cassie begged quietly. "All we did was cook."

Sam clenched down on the panic as best she could. "Will Dominic be staying?," she asked in a slightly strangled voice.

"Uh, I don't think..." Dominic began, just as Cassie asked, "Is he allowed?"

Sam sighed. "If it's all right with his parents and he wants to stay...I think it's time I got to know your new friend."

Cassie grinned, signaling for Dominic to go and make the call. The boy retreated into the kitchen. "Thank you," she said as soon as he was out of earshot.

"For what?," Sam asked warily.

"Giving him a chance. I really like him, Mom."

"I know," Sam replied with a weak smile.

By the time the oven timer went off a few minutes later, Sam felt reasonably confident that as uncomfortable as she currently felt with this teenaged boy in her house, Daniel would have felt much, much worse. The knowledge did wonders for bolstering her sense of adventure.

As Cassie placed the casserole dish in the centre of the table, and Dominic added a salad amid the three place settings, Sam had to admit that the two kids worked well together. And the boy seemed polite, at least.

"This looks amazing," she said, meaning it. Cassie beamed. Dominic flushed, embarrassed.

They each helped themselves, quietly spooning casserole and salad onto their plates. Cassie was the first to break the silence.

"So, Mom. How was work today?"

"Uh, it was fine," Sam replied, caught off guard. "I spent most of the day running computer simulations." She took a bite of casserole. "How was school?," she ventured a moment later.

"Fine," Cassie replied.

"Nothing out of the ordinary?," Sam asked with a small smirk.

"Not even remotely," Cassie sighed, rolling her eyes.

Dominic looked askance from daughter to mother and back again. "What would qualify as 'out of the ordinary?," he asked carefully.

Cassie giggled. "Oh, you know. An asteroid spotted on a collision course with Earth. An alien invasion. That sort of thing," she said teasingly.

"Ri-ight," he replied. "So a math teacher with a hole in the back of his pants..."

"Not even close," Cassie replied, shaking her head.

"How about a B minus in physics?"

"Hmmm, maybe," Cassie said, smiling. His brows knit together.

"What'd you get?," he asked.

"An A plus," she answered with a shrug. "But it's pretty hard to fail the sciences when you have a doctor, an astrophysicist, and an archaeologist hovering over you all the time."

"We're not that bad," Sam defended.

"Uh-huh," Cassie replied.

"We're not!"

Dominic smiled. "Maybe I should come over more often and get some help with my homework, too," he said.

"Ooh, make sure to bring your Spanish work. Dad'll have a field day with that," Cassie said, grinning.

"Hey, and if my grades pick up, maybe we could start a whole study group here!," he replied enthusiastically.

"Or just replace school altogether with the tutorials of Doctors Carter, Jackson and Fraiser," Cassie added, laughing.

"Oh, come on! I'm sure you've learned things at school that we haven't already taught you," Sam said.

"Art?," Cassie replied doubtfully with a shrug.

"I've seen your drawings. I don't think you've really learned anything there," Dominic teased.

"Hey!," Cassie said, reaching across the table to swat at him. "My stick people are way better than yours!"

Sam snorted into her dinner as the kids both cracked up. It was good to have laughter around the table again. There really hadn't been enough of it, lately, she realized with a pang. Not since before P3R-118, when family life had gone from pleasantly quirky to awful, seemingly overnight. Things had been strained for so long, that even once they'd begun rebuilding what they'd had, it hadn't been the same.

Somewhere along the way, they'd lost the joy of being a family.

The SF opened the door wide, stepping inside. Daniel stayed where he was, images of an early spring shower cascading through his mind.

"Doctor Jackson?," the guard said, taking another step forward. "General Hammond says you're free to go."

Daniel blinked sleepily, not really wanting to leave the cool stream of rain for the uniform grey of reality. Then the SFs words hit.

"I am?," he croaked groggily, turning his head to face the man.

"Yes, Sir," the soldier replied.

Daniel slowly sat up, his muscles stiff from lack of use. He drew his hands across his face, trying to wipe away the numbing boredom of two weeks alone, and all the dreams that had kept him company. He reached for his glasses, pulling them on to see better.

The SF was watching him expectantly. He was sure to be disappointed. Daniel in no way felt like jumping for joy or dancing his way out of there. He felt absolutely bone-weary after his confinement, as if every step he took was through a thick bog. He wanted nothing more than his bed.

Slowly making his way to the door, he could hear voices in the hall.

"Daniel," Sam said, her voice filled with relief as he stepped out of his cell. She walked towards him, wrapping him in a tight hug. "I never got to thank you for what you did," she murmured, holding him close.

Surprised, Daniel returned the embrace, squeezing her tight. If he'd trusted his voice in that instant, he may have told her how much he'd missed her, missed their family. But as it was, he stayed silent, savoring the sudden, unexpected contact they now shared.

"I've missed you so much," she breathed in his ear, and all he could do was hold her tighter.

"I've missed you too," Daniel managed, only half-aware of the SF, of Janet and Jack and Teal'c, all watching.

Janet cleared her throat. "Well, gentlemen, it looks like it might be just you and me this evening," she said, eyes twinkling in amusement as her friends seemingly melted in to one another. Jack eyed his teammates somewhat dubiously, evidently agreeing with the doctor as the others began to walk away, oblivious to the rest of them.

"I take it you could go for some non-military food right about now?," Jack asked, offering his arm.

"You read my mind," Janet smiled, taking it.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I believe I will assist SG-3 with their training," he offered, moving swiftly away from the remaining two as they walked down the hall, casting appraising looks at one another as they went.

Cassie couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this much a part of a family.

It was as if all the craziness of the last few months had faded with Daniel's return, the tension and anger and discomfort now nothing more than a ghost in the past.

With cartons of Chinese food spread out around them, Sam, Daniel and Cassie curled up on the couch together, a stack of their favourite movies ready to go. Her mom and dad were smiling for the first time in a long time, an easy banter rising between them as they got everything set up and everyone served.

It was nice to see them both looking happier again. Whether they would ever admit it or not, Cassie knew her parents really did care for one another, as a lot more than just friends.

She grinned as Sam snuggled in closer to her dad, reaching for another spring roll, as he wound his arm around her mom, holding her tight.

Nobody really moved all night. Sometime after the fourth movie, Cassie was vaguely aware of someone helping her into bed, and then...nothing.

"I should probably go," Daniel whispered, coming back into the living room. It was sometime around two in the morning, and they were all wiped.

"Stay," Sam whispered back, pausing in her collection of empty food containers. "I can make up a bed on the couch, or we could...," she trailed off, floundering for words. Daniel quirked an eyebrow.

"Given everything that's happened this year, that's probably not the best idea," he answered regretfully.

She shook her head. "Daniel. Most of what happened wasn't real. And what was real was how much it hurt having everything go so wrong." She met his eyes, holding his gaze. "Nothing is ever the same when you aren't around. And I don't just mean for Cassandra."

"I was an ass. You and Jack could have been happy," he said in a rush.

"Daniel, what are you talking about? He's my commanding officer! Nothing could ever happen between us!"

"Sam. Something did happen. And I made a difficult situation worse for you."

"You weren't yourself. None of us were."

"We were and we weren't," he amended. "Things still could have been handled differently."

"Look," she said, taking his hand. "I missed you. I missed you when everything was falling apart, and I missed you the whole time you were in the brig. I am beyond ready to put 118 behind us, once and for all."

Daniel grinned slowly. "Yeah, me too," he breathed.

"So stop apologizing," Sam said, taking a step closer, "and just come to bed."

Nobody else was up yet when Cassie woke up. Which was really very strange, when she thought of it. It wasn't particularly early in the morning, 10am, and life in the military had trained both her parents to be up and moving long before then.

Curious, she padded sleepily from her room, checking the kitchen and living room for signs that they'd been up and left already. Dad's coat and shoes still hung by the door, along with the usual assortment, but there was no other sign of life on the main floor.

Creeping silently back up the stairs, she paused just outside her mom's bedroom door, holding her breath as she listened. Yes, there was the sound of her mom, muttering equations softly in her sleep. But better still was the soft sound of her dad's snore, intermingling with the equations.

Cassie beamed excitedly, tiptoeing back to her room. Grabbing the phone, she dialed the first number she could think of to share the news.

"Hello?," Janet answered sleepily after the third ring.

"Guess what?," Cassie whispered excitedly into the phone.

"Cass? What is it, sweetie?," Janet asked, coming slightly more awake.

"Mom and dad!," she chuckled gleefully. "I think they're finally together!"

"Who is it?," came a groggy male voice from somewhere in the background. Cassie's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Shh, it's Cassie," she could hear Janet hiss, her hand obviously trying to cover the mouthpiece as she responded to her guest.

Cassie's grin widened even further, and a low laugh escaped. "Janet?," she asked through her delighted mirth, calling attention back to herself. "Is that Colonel O'Neill I hear?"

There was a pause. "Not a word to anyone, Cass," Janet warned.

"My lips are sealed," Cassie giggled, hanging up.

Oh, man! The adults in her life were all so Busted!

Janet groaned as the teenager hung up, laughing. Beside her, Jack frowned.

"Everything all right?," he asked.

She smiled in spite of herself. The one thing she'd dreaded most in confinement was leaving only to come home to an equally empty house. Having an impromptu dinner out with the Colonel, and then inviting him back for drinks...

Well, it'd certainly been a better homecoming than she was expecting.

"Cassie recognized your voice," she said, answering his question.

"Busted," he winced.

"Yep."

"Does that mean no chance of an encore?," he asked, his voice still gravelly from sleep.

"Was an encore ever really an option?," Janet smirked in return.

He ran the pad of his thumb down the length of her bare arm, sending shivers down her spine. "Well, seeing as I'd planned last night as a group event," he quipped, the rough timbre of his voice doing nearly as much to distract her as his wandering fingers . "I'd say anything is possible at this point."

"You're second-in-command of the entire base," she reminded softly.

"I know."

"And even if you weren't, my position as Chief Medical Officer makes this..."

"Don't say wrong."

"It's against the regs," she reminded softly, wishing it wasn't. Wishing for all the world that she could have this, just this, and never have to feel alone again.

"I could retire."

Janet snorted. "Hammond would never go for it. You're too valuable to the program. Besides," she said, meeting his gaze, "why would you retire for me, when you wouldn't for Sam?"

"Sam was never really mine to have in the first place," he confessed, smiling wanly. "She has more important priorities," he continued, and Janet knew he was thinking of Cassandra, acknowledging that a child should always come first.

"We've only had one date."

"That could change."

Janet chuckled.

"I enjoyed a lot more than just the way last night ended," Jack answered truthfully. "I'd like to find away to give this a chance."

"I can't ask you to retire."

"You're not asking," he pointed out.

"Jack."

"I'm serious."

"I know. But it's insane!"

He smirked. "I've never been much for convention."

Janet bit her lip. "We could just keep things quiet, for a while."

"Sneaking around, Doc? That doesn't seem your style."

Janet snorted. "Shows what you know."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "So we're giving this a try?"

"Yes."

"Sweet."

Janet smiled.