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The members of SG-1 settled into four of the padded leather chairs that flanked the long table in the briefing room. General Hammond sat down at the head of the table. "I have a proposal. Colonel O'Neill, the final decision on this matter I will leave up to you. I expect you to take into consideration the thoughts and advice of those on your team, however," the general said.

Jack frowned slightly. "Okay. Can you be a bit more vague, sir? I might actually have an idea what you're talking about. Sir."

General Hammond smiled. "I'd like to put Ms. Webster on SG-1. Major Carter tells me that her counterpart in the reality you visited was able to help that team immensely, correct, Major?"

"Yes, sir," Sam replied. "While that…Carter…and I were working on the solar flare predictions, she told me about Casey. Their Casey, I mean. It seems that she was given training. She learned how to use a weapon, learned hand-to-hand combat. Her psychic skills weren't all she had to offer that SG-1."

Daniel grinned. "She…that Casey...also helped that Daniel with his work. My Casey was an anthropology major," he said, looking at the general.

The older man smiled. "I had every intention of letting her work with you, Doctor Jackson. You've been requesting an assistant for some time now, just to help you with filing and paperwork, according to the request forms."

"She's been working in an office for the past four years. She has more than enough experience for the job," Daniel said.

Jack frowned. "Teal'c, would you be willing to teach her some self-defense?"

"Indeed, O'Neill. I would be most pleased to teach Casey Webster."

The colonel looked at Sam. "I think between the two of us we can teach her to shoot a weapon, give her some basic military training. I'd also like to take her through a few simulations. Give her an idea what to expect, and give us an idea what she's capable of."

"Good idea, sir," Sam said, nodding.

"Time frame, sir?" Jack asked the general.

"I'd like her to be mission ready as soon as possible. Let's see what she's able to accomplish in two weeks. SG-1 will be off the duty roster until then." General Hammond watched the faces around him carefully. Jack never uttered a word of complaint. He smiled. "Good. We'll meet again in two weeks and you can give me a status report on Ms. Webster's progress at that time. Dismissed."

Jack and Sam rose and stayed at attention until the general had left the room. "I'd say things just swung a little closer to the good side for the SGC," Jack grinned.

"Our own secret weapon," Daniel said, his grin matching the one on Jack's face.

"This is just a suggestion, sir, but Casey just moved here. She hasn't even seen where she's going to be living yet. Why don't we wait until Monday to start? That will give you, Teal'c, and I time come up with a training schedule for her," Sam suggested.

Jack nodded. "Go home, Space Monkey. Get her settled in. Explain what we're going to be doing."

Daniel nodded. "I hope it's quit snowing!"

"It's snowing?" Sam asked. She'd come to the lab in the middle of the night, an idea that had occurred to her concerning the naquadah generator she was working on refusing to let her sleep.

"Whiteout conditions by the time we hit the edge of town," Daniel replied.

"Oy," Jack muttered. "Okay, see if you can make it home. Be damned sure to call us when you get there!"

Daniel grinned. Jack could 'mother-hen' with the best of them! "Sure Jack. Wouldn't want you to worry."

"When you're involved, I always worry. Trouble follows you around, Danny-boy!"

His grin widened, and he stood up. "Thanks, all of you."

"For what, Daniel?" Sam asked softly.

"For accepting her. Making her one of…us."

Three faces smiled at him. "Be damned hard not to like her," Jack said, a bit gruffly. "But she has to be able to defend herself, or she stays on base while we go on missions."

Daniel nodded. "Agreed."

"See you, Monday, Danny," Jack said, a grin on his face.

The three friends watched the young archaeologist practically bounce out of the room. "He's got it bad," Sam giggled.

"Oh, yeah," Jack grinned.

"What is it that Daniel Jackson has 'bad'?" Teal'c asked.

"Bad case of love," Jack replied.

"I do not believe love to be 'bad'," the Jaffa insisted.

Jack grinned. "It's not, T. When somebody has a 'bad case of love', it just means that they're head over heels, crazy, absolutely besotted in love."

Teal'c was fairly sure he understood what O'Neill meant. It was good to see Daniel Jackson happy once again. He'd do everything in his power to see to it that this woman was never taken from his young Tau'ri friend.

A   A   A   A   A   A

Casey had been relieved to learn that there was an examining room with four solid walls and a door. One of the nurses stood by her head, monitoring her heartbeat and blood pressure. She was dressed in the silly little paper gown, but somehow, it didn't feel as bad this time. Janet had given her a breast exam, talking to her about this and that, nothing particular, just enough to keep Casey's mind off of what was happening.

Now it was time for the pelvic exam. Her heartbeat increased, her blood pressure went up significantly.

"Casey, we can wait and do this later," Janet said kindly.

"We're all here, might as well get it over with," Casey replied.

Janet smiled, patted her knee with a gloved hand. "I promise this won't take long." She sat down on the stool, focused the light between Casey's knees. Noticed that the skin around the vaginal opening was slightly inflamed, the color more red than the healthy pink it should be. She smiled. "Casey, I have a couple of questions for you. Were you a virgin before you and Daniel…got together?"

She blushed. "Yes."

"Okay. And since you flew in yesterday, I can assume that the two of you made love last night?"

The giggle would not be held back. "Well, yes. Most of yesterday afternoon, too."

The nurse and Janet exchanged glances. "Excuse me?" Janet said, standing up and moving to the head of the bed. "All afternoon and last night as well?"

Casey blushed brighter pink, and nodded.

Janet giggled. "Okay, I'm just going to do a visual examination. To get a good reading on a Pap smear, you can't be on your period, and can't have intercourse for at least twenty-four hours before the exam."

"Twenty-four hours?" Casey asked. "He'll never make it," she muttered.

Which sent Janet into gales of full-blown laughter. "He's been alone for so long, lonely for so long, you'll just have to give him time," she said. "He'll…slow down."

"I hope not," Casey replied, grinning at the ceiling. The nurse, the one named Jill who'd made the phone call for Janet earlier, giggled.

"I know I shouldn't ask this, but I'm absolutely dying to know," Jill said, casting a glance at the doctor she worked for. Saw the grin. Knew that the same question was bouncing around in Janet's head. "We've all…um…seen Daniel…I mean, he's been in surgery here, for his appendix…"

Casey smiled. She'd put gentle kisses on, had tenderly licked, that particular scar.

"What we want to know," Janet said, standing up and taking the latex gloves off, finished with the exam, "is just how big does that thing get?"

For a second she could only stare at the woman. The look of sheer mischief in the brown eyes had her giggling again. "Let's just say the man is hung like a stallion. I call it his anaconda."

"Just a hint?" Janet said, almost begging.

With a mischievous grin of her own, Casey used her hands to demonstrate.

"Wow!" Janet whistled softly.

"Holy cow!" Jill exclaimed.

Janet put a hand on Casey's shoulder. "Honey, I need to know if…were you uncomfortable at any time during intercourse? I'm asking as your doctor now, not just your wicked girlfriend."

Casey smiled. "No, it never hurts. It's incredible."

"Do you know how far in he's able to go? The reason I ask is that I don't want you to be injured in any way," Janet said.

She pulled her lip between her teeth. "All the way, I guess. I mean, his hips are against mine when he's…when he…"

"I understand. I'm also amazed!" Janet said. "But there has been no pain?"

Casey dropped her eyes. Only one time had she felt any pain.

"Casey?" Janet said gently.

"When…um…we…well we…um…we went Around the World. It um…sort of hurt at first on the…um…last stop. But just for a few seconds, honest," she insisted.

"That's to be expected, especially for the first time. Were you able to…" Janet let the question fade.

A grin spread over Casey's face. "All the way."

"Damn!" Jill exclaimed. She looked contritely at the doctor. "Sorry."

"I don't know how you do it," Janet sighed. "You're so slender! In fact I'd like to see you put on about five pounds."

Casey frowned. "That's what the other doctor said."

Janet smiled. "Okay, you can get dressed. We'll talk about setting you up for a Pap smear in say, three weeks. I can't see anything wrong, and I want you totally comfortable with the procedure. As soon as you're dressed, I'd like to do an MRI and see what's going on with that tummy of yours."

"Okay."

Janet and the nurse left the room, allowing her privacy to get dressed in. She'd been allowed that for undressing as well, the nurse tapping lightly on the door and asking if she had the gown on. The exam had been so different than what she'd gone through as a child. She could feel that Janet truly, sincerely cared. Which must make her a good doctor, and make it very hard on her when she was unable to help someone.

When she returned to the main infirmary room, Daniel was waiting there. He gave her a hug. "Is everything okay?"

She glanced at Janet and Jill. Began to giggle. Which infected those two women. "Everything is fine," she replied.

Daniel frowned. Figured there'd been some 'girl talk' going on. And that he'd been the subject of the conversation.

Janet led her to the room where the MRI machine waited. "You know the procedure. Lay as still as you can when I tell you to hold your breath."

Casey nodded, and laid down on the table. Felt it move her into the ring that held the imaging equipment.

"All right, Casey, get comfortable, honey," Janet's voice said over a speaker.

She obeyed.

"Here we go. Deep breath. Hold it. Good. Relax. Deep breath. Hold it…"

Fifteen minutes later Casey and Daniel were once again sitting in Janet's office. "I need you to sign this, Casey, so that I can get Doctor Lambert's files on you, as well as the images taken last year. He was right. You have at least a dozen scars. Several of them look fairly new. Most of them are older, and there are two that make me question why you're even still walking around. You probably came close to bleeding to death!" Janet shook her head. "You still have a small ulcer. I think the medication will help you. I'm going to put you on a special diet. Just for the next three weeks. Then I'll do another MRI and see how it looks. I should make you give up coffee, but being an addict myself, I won't. I will, however, tell you to limit it to no more than three cups a day."

"Three cups?" Casey sounded dismayed.

"I'm also prescribing a protein drink. Results from your blood work show that you're a bit anemic, and you're a good ten pounds under weight. I won't ask you to put on more than five. Just as Doctor Lambert told you, your stomach isn't the size it should be." She stood up and walked toward the bookshelves that covered one side of the room. She searched, found the volume she wanted, opened it to several drawings and diagrams of the stomach. She put it on the desk in front of the couple. "The normal adult stomach is about the size of a small melon…like a cantaloupe. It can expand to hold up to a gallon of food and liquid. Of course, it's smaller in women than in men, simply because women are normally smaller. Casey's stomach is about the size of a small grapefruit. All of the scar tissue lining the stomach walls is preventing them from stretching like they normally do to accommodate a meal."

"Doctor Lambert said that it would never get any bigger," Casey said.

Janet nodded. "I'm afraid he's right. The growth should have occurred while you were a child. Since it didn't, I don't believe it's going to change. Which means small meals more often."

"What if I’m not hungry?" Casey asked.

"I don't want you to force yourself to eat. That will only result in making you ill. That’s why I want you taking this protein drink every day. I also want you on the Ranitidine until that ulcer is completely healed. If you start vomiting blood, I want you in here immediately, do you understand?"

Casey nodded.

Janet was writing something on a slip of paper. "This is what I want you to have, one shake every day for the next three weeks. Then we'll see whether or not you need to continue."

Casey nodded again. An image of the woman she hated flashed through her mind. "Um, this won't…I won't get…I won't be fat if I drink this will I?"

Janet and Daniel exchanged glances. "No, Casey, you won't get fat. Is that why you're underweight? Have you been dieting?"

She shook her head. "No. I've never dieted."

"You just never ate half the time," Daniel said. She looked over at him. "It's true, Angel. Her…mother," he spat the word, "would lock her in her room two or three times a week. Without meals."

Janet's eyes went wide. "How many meals did you miss in an average week, Casey?"

The young woman shrugged. "I guess…well, I didn't usually get lunch if I wasn't in school, unless I could sneak in and get some crackers or something. Her favorite soap opera was on during lunchtime. If Dad came home for lunch he'd make a sandwich for me. If I was in trouble I missed dinner. Sometimes breakfast if I'd been really bad. I guess…maybe eight or nine."

Janet sat back in her chair. "In an average week you should have twenty one meals. And you were missing eight or nine? Every week?"

The slender shoulders moved up and down again. "I guess so."

The doctor looked at Daniel and smiled. "Well, I know for a fact you won't be missing any more meals!"

"Damned straight!" Daniel declared. "I’m taking care of you now, Angel," he said softly.

The love in those incredible blue eyes made her heart skip a beat, and her pulse race.

"There's a health food store on Baker Street," Janet said. "I also want you taking a multivitamin every day. One with calcium. Centrum is one of the best."

Daniel nodded. "I have time off until Monday, so that I can get Casey settled in. We'll stop on the way home."

Janet nodded. She came around the desk and hugged the slender blonde. "We're gonna get you fixed right up, I promise."

Never before in her life had she had so many people concerned about her, for her. It would take some getting used to. "Thanks," she murmured.

Daniel hugged Janet as well, then led Casey to the elevator. "Ready to see where you're going to be living?"

She gave him a shy, excited smile, and nodded.

He grinned, hugged her with one arm, swiped his ID badge. They were going home. Together. For the first time since his return from Abydos…and even a time before his involvement with the Stargate program…Daniel wasn't going home alone. It was an incredible feeling.

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