A/N: Moving on..
Daughter of My Heart, Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sam stood on the front step, keys poised to unlock the door, taking in the crisp, clear night sky. On nights like this, she could almost believe in shimmering, incandescent beings glimmering out there among the stars. She took a deep breath, savouring the frosty winter air, irrationally hoping to see one such being in particular.
"Took you long enough," Janet chided, yanking the door open and pulling Sam inside. "When you said you'd be a few more minutes, I wasn't expecting to have to wait over two hours!"
"Sorry," Sam apologized, managing to look at least somewhat contrite. "I really needed to finish that report."
"Well, you're just in time," Colonel O'Neill announced, sauntering into the hall.
"I am?," Sam asked carefully, hanging her jacket.
"Yep. Cassie was just about to regale us with some fascinating information about the Babylonians."
Sam chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't want to miss that, would I?"
"You absolutely would not," he said, ushering her into her own living room. "As a matter of fact, why don't you take my place, here, and I'll go see about helping with dinner?," he suggested, guiding her over to the seat next to Cassandra on the couch. Dominic was on the other side, sporting a passable imitation of interest in the subject. Cassie frowned.
"Uncle Jack really doesn't like this stuff, does he?," she asked, gesturing to the book on the table as said 'uncle' beat a hasty retreat. Sam grinned.
"He just doesn't like to be reminded that everyone else is smarter than him," she said, just loud enough for the Colonel to hear.
Cassie gave her a look. "You know that's just an act, right?"
"I know," Sam laughed. "But if that's what he wants people to believe, who are we to argue?"
Friday night dinners had traditionally been quiet affairs, a way for Sam, Daniel and Janet to all keep up to date with each other and the events in Cassandra's life. Now, however, with Daniel gone and time marching on, they'd become more of a weekly celebration of friendship, instead. Dominic joined them more often than not, and it hadn't taken long for Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c to begin making occasional appearances as well. In some ways, Sam supposed, it was their way of keeping the team alive. With Daniel gone, and Hammond finally approving Sam's transfer to the labs, Fridays were really the only time she had to spend with the guys.
SG-1, now consisting of Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, Jonas, and Lieutenant Hailey, was still off-world more often than not. And with Sam now working almost normal hours, their paths seldom crossed.
She still had a soft spot for her former teammates, however, and in recent months, watching Cassie and Janet interact with her former CO, she had the inkling of a suspicion that she wasn't the only one.
"Mom, you don't think dad's books are boring, do you?," Cassie asked, frowning at the tome.
"I think the more important thing is that you don't think they're boring," Sam answered. For whatever reason, Cassandra had made it her personal mission to read every book Daniel had owned. Sam wasn't entirely convinced that even Daniel himself had read them all cover to cover, but their daughter was determined. More importantly, she seemed to genuinely enjoy what she was reading.
Cassie shrugged. "I've found a lot of the stories he used to tell, when I was younger."
"I liked the one with the Minotaur," Dominic offered encouragingly.
"See? Not boring," Sam proclaimed happily. "Just ignore the Colonel. He thinks my work is boring too."
"No, Major, I think your work is incomprehensible," Jack retorted, coming back into the room. "There's a difference."
Janet swatted his arm. "Dinner's ready when you are," she said, dragging Jack away. The rest stood up to follow, chatting amicably as they did.
Cassie had never fully appreciated how under-appreciated her dad's work had been. His books were fascinating. She'd always loved his stories, but she'd never realized how much more there was, all lined neatly along his shelves. It was as if she could watch the civilizations rise and fall, see how the oldest myth morphed with each re-telling, with each adoption into a new civilization. The stories never died. Names changed, locations too, but the stories could all be traced, down through the conquerors to the conquered, over and over, all the way back to the pre-literate societies who immortalized the tales around their cooking fires, the older generations retelling their history for the newer generations to learn. It was remarkable, yet no one else seemed to see it.
Sometimes she wished she could still talk to her dad, ask him all the questions which flooded her mind, discuss everything she'd learned, and how it fit into context with what he'd learned through the Stargate. What she wouldn't give some days to get her hands on his notes, on all the journals marked 'Classified', now under the dubious protection of the US Air Force. Her Mom promised they were being put to good use, but Cassie wouldn't quite believe it until she could see for herself.
She'd even taken the opportunity to look for her dad's old publications on the internet, where she'd also found articles written by both his parents, and Nicolas Ballard too. As far as she could tell, Daniel's parents had been perfectly ordinary, respectable archaeologists. But Daniel and his grandfather, Nicolas Ballard, were not. They liked to colour outside the lines, made connections no one else was willing to make. They'd both been shunned for it, but Cassie could see where they'd gone wrong. Not in telling the truth, as they'd both believed, but in the way they told it. Cassie wished she could explain it to him, watch him rise to the top of his field. Her dad's work was inspired. All he'd needed was someone to help curtail the fervor of his passion, and direct his theses along more moderate lines. His parents could have shown him, had they lived. They'd had detached moderation in spades. But Cassie was pretty sure she could do it as well. Had in fact begun reworking her dad's hypothesis about the Egyptian pyramids into something that might actually pass as fact under the hyper-critical eye of academia. It was her secret project, her memorial to her father, and no one, not even her Mom, had figured it out.
"Earth to Cassandra," Sam called, jolting the teen from her thoughts.
"Sorry, what?"
"What are you thinking?," Sam asked gently, curious about her serene expression.
"Nothing," Cassie lied.
"You looked about a million miles away, kid," Jack noted, taking interest.
"Just daydreaming," Cassie replied with a shrug, taking a bite of carrot. It still wasn't the truth, Sam could tell.
"Babylonians?," Dominic guessed, nudging her shoulder.
"Egyptians, actually," Cassie replied, grinning.
"You were close," Jack applauded. Janet snorted.
"Not even a little," the doctor replied. The Colonel rolled his eyes. Sam quirked an eyebrow.
"Okay, seriously guys. How long have you two been together?," she asked, pinning them both with the question.
"We're just friends," Janet replied, just a little too quickly.
"Uh-huh," Sam intoned.
"With benefits, right?," Dominic asked. Cassie slapped his arm.
"What do you know about benefits?," Jack growled, glaring at the kid.
"N-nothing, Sir," he stammered, looking away.
"That's right," Jack emphasized. "There are no benefits with my best friend's daughter. Capisce?" Cassie blushed.
"Yes, Sir," Dominic replied, sitting up a little straighter.
Sam smirked. "You're evading the question, Sir," she replied, laughter in her voice.
"If the doc says we're just friends, then we're just friends," the Colonel retorted.
Janet groaned. Cassie burst out laughing. Sam flashed him a knowing grin.
"Whatever you say, Sir," she replied evenly.
"What'd I say wrong?," he asked, turning to Janet. Cassie laughed even harder. Even Sam had to bite her lip to keep from joining in.
"Give it up, Jack," Janet sighed. "They already know."
"What'd I say wrong?," he repeated, looking to Sam.
"Nothing, Sir. Absolutely nothing," she replied, smirking.
"Help me out, kid," he said, looking to Dominic. Dominic shrugged. "Cassie told me ages ago. I have no idea how Major Carter just figured it out."
"You've known for ages and haven't told me?," Sam asked incredulously.
This time it was Cassie who shrugged. "Janet wanted to keep it quiet. I thought she'd tell you herself, eventually."
"Okay, let's establish some ground rules here, please," Janet said, silencing her companions. "First of all, no one outside of this room is to know about this," she said, gazing around the table. Sam could appreciate that, given their working relationship.
"Secondly, what we do behind closed doors is nobody's business. We are friends, we are colleagues, and that is all."
Jack's face remained studiously impassive, but Sam knew him well enough to catch the tell-tale twitch.
"You're in love," Sam gasped, realization dawning.
"Sam," Janet warned.
"It's romantic, isn't it?," Cassie gushed.
"Cassandra!," Janet snapped.
"It's against the medical code of ethics," Jack supplied humourlessly. "And frat regs."
"Jack!," Janet cried, exasperated.
"Wow," Sam said. "I really had no idea."
"That was sort of the point!," Janet retorted, glaring across the table at the Colonel.
"Just so you know, Sir, your mistake was deferring to Janet," Sam supplied absently, considering her friends. "Have you tried assigning him to one of your junior staff?," Sam asked, turning to Janet.
"Of course. The only trouble is, every time he comes into the infirmary full of holes, I'm still the one expected to patch him up."
"Where are you getting shot at in Colorado?," Dominic asked, confused.
"Ever tried sparing with Murray?," Jack retorted, covering nicely.
"I'm sorry. This really is your own business," Sam said.
"Thank you," Janet replied, relief evident in her own voice.
"Still...I'm happy for you," Sam added, meaning it.
"Thank you," Janet said again, this time, with a smile. "Now, eat up! There's cobbler in the oven."