A/N: This is another one of those fics that randomly appear when you are trying to write something else :)

Jack could count the number of times that he'd had a serious conversation with Cassie on one hand. Not that they didn't discuss serious issues (her awkward teenage years not withstanding) but he'd primarily seen it as his role to inject fun into her life.

There'd been the one about Pete. For it was about Pete and Jack and not really anything to with anything else.

"Do you think you and Sarah would still be together if it weren't for what happened with Charlie?"

The question had come out of the blue. But then so had she. Not that Jack hand minded one bit. They'd made spaghetti bolognaise together and ate it out on the deck while discussing Jack's theory of Mr Burns being a Goa'uld.

Jack had studied his back yard, all the while knowing he had to give the girl some sort of answer. "I'm not really a 'what if' kinda guy, Cass..."

"But you still talk to her sometimes, right?"

Jack had shrugged. "Sometimes... But even then it's normally related to Charlie."

"Because she understands what you've been through?" Cassie had asked with such sincerity in her voice that Jack found it hard to respond. He'd settled for nodding his head at her instead.

Cassie had stared into her glass of lemonade for a good few moments before lifting her head again to meet his eyes. "Sam doesn't look at him the same way she looks at you."

-0-

There'd been the time that she was having difficulties in college and Sam had thought that there was more to it than the change in lifestyle and a lot more pressure.

But then thinking back, she'd barely even uttered a word.

"How do you expect to make it to the top of your field if your heart's not in it?" Jack had asked her when Sam had disappeared one time. They were sitting in some rickety lawn chairs at Sam's place in Nevada. "That's not to say that you'd make it to the top of your field if you were passionate about something, but at least that way you'd be having too much fun to even notice..."

Cassie had simply glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"And what about your Mom or Sam?" He had continued, his beer sloshing in its bottle as he gestured with his hand. "Your Mom probably wouldn't have ended up as a fantastic field medic and doctor, and Sam..." He had sighed. "Well, without Sam there probably wouldn't be a Stargate program... and who knows where we'd be then..."

Cassie took a gulp of Guinness and winced. "I thought you weren't a 'what if' kind of guy?" She'd asked dryly.

"I thought we'd bought you lager?"

Cassie had simply shrugged. "I thought I'd try this."

Sam had announced that she'd changed her major a few weeks later from Economics to Languages and Linguistics.

"You're still taking a minor in art history though, right?" Jack had asked when he'd spoken to her a short time later.

Cassie had grinned when she'd confirmed it. "Yeah, why?"

"Good! 'Cause you love it!"

-0-

"Barney has died!" She'd cried over the phone to him one night.

Jack had sunk into his chair and ran a hand over his face. "Cass..." He'd uttered between her sobs, "He was a good dog... he'd had a good life..."

"I know." Nothing but sniffles had met him from the other end and Jack had closed his eyes as he racked his brains about what to do. Sam was in the Pegasus Galaxy and he was on his own on this one.

"Want me to head out there?" He'd asked, his voice almost a whisper.

Cassie had paused briefly before asking, "What about work?"

Jack had shrugged. "You're more important."

"You're not going to buy me another one like you did with that hamster that time, are you?"

"No..." Jack stifled a laugh. "Not unless you want me to?"

"No," Cassie had sighed. "Just you will be fine."

-0-

There'd been a few others over the years but none of them filled him with dread quite like today. Today he was going to have to talk to her about something he'd never imagined he'd have to talk to anyone about.

"You're not upset are you?" Cassie peered up at him innocently from under her long lashes. They were standing out on the back porch, both leaning against the railing.

"Of course not," Jack sighed, "C'mere..." He pulled her into a hug before taking a step back and forcing her to meet his eyes. "I'm just surprised that's all..."

"Really?"

Jack shrugged. "Yeah...I just..."

"What?"

"You've never mentioned it before..."

Cassie frowned. "I guess..."

"Seriously, I'm not disappointed or upset..." He smiled down at her. "I just didn't anticipate having this 'talk' with you that's all." He waved his hand around in the air for effect.

"Talk?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah..." Jack frowned at her air quotation marks. "Joining the Stargate program is a big deal, you know. There are all sorts of stuff you need to be prepared for-"

"I'm going to be a civilian, Jack."

"I know... doesn't hurt to be prepared though." He arched an eyebrow at her. "Make sure you get taught by Colonel Jefferson at weapons training-"

"Sam's already gone through this with me," Cassie butted in, her voice carrying a resigned sigh. "Jefferson is the best, as is Johnson when it comes to combat training. I'm even going to take one of those survival training courses before I start my SGC training course."

"Sam told you to take that too?" He asked, somewhat surprised.

"No," Cassie shook her head. "I decided to do that myself. All those times you got stranded off world I figured it might come in handy one day." A cheeky grin had emerged on her face.

"Hey, it wasn't that many times!"

"Tell that to Sam!"

Jack shrugged her comment away, not wanting to dwell on what he knew Sam must've gone through those times, despite the fact that neither of them had discussed it much. "What else did Sam tell you?"

"Don't worry," Cassie replied, her eyes softening. "She had that discussion with me too..."

"What discussion?" He asked innocently, both eyebrows rising this time.

Cassie paused and lowered her voice. "The one that you don't want to have..."

Jack swallowed, struggling to meet her eyes. She was right – he so didn't want to have this discussion with her.

"I wish I could say that I didn't know some of what to expect," Cassie whispered. "But what with Mom and my family back on Hanka..." She dwindled out and he felt her own gaze hit the floor.

Jack found himself suddenly feeling amazed by both of these women. Sam for foregoing her parental duties and having a frank discussion about what lay ahead, and Cassie for taking everything in her stride and building on what she'd already learnt.

He squeezed her arm and found his gaze lingering upon hers once more, clearing his throat as he smiled down at her. "I am proud of you, you know?" His fingers tightened their grip and he stared into her eyes, willing for her to understand.

"I know," she whispered back, before pulling him towards her and giving him another hug. Jack wondered how pathetic he must look for her to want to comfort him.

The swing door creaked as it opened and both of them turned as Sam emerged from the doorway, manoeuvring her way through as her hands were full.

"Sorry," she muttered as she saw them pull away from their embrace. "I thought a celebration was in order." She gestured with her head at the cake in her hands, a small smile pulling at her lips.

Jack felt a big smile land on his own face as the three of them moved towards the table to begin cutting up some slices.

"One thing I do want to make abundantly clear, though," Cassie stated, a chocolate-y finger waving at both Sam and Jack as she perched on a chair. "I don't want any special treatment from you two."

Sam and Jack shared a quick glance before both standing straight, innocent expressions on their faces.

"And no telling people who I am either!" Cassie added. "People find out I'm related to you two and I'll never hear the end of it!"

"Hey! That's not true." Jack cried as he and Sam both slipped into seats on the other side of the table.

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not..."