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White Lace and Promises

Casey was filling the waffle iron with more batter. So far everyone had had at least one waffle. Janet and Sam were standing in the kitchen with her; Daniel, Jack and Teal'c were in the dining room, debating whether or not Cassie's involvement with a rock band, which consisted of students from the school she attended, would interfere with her studies; and whether or not the venues where the band was playing would expose her to 'the wrong kinds of people'. Having had enough 'advice' from the men, the young woman sought refuge in the kitchen.

She studied the slender blonde to whom Daniel had proposed, and was now engaged. She'd been totally blown away at how beautiful she was. And it was funny watching Daniel watch her. He was so in love with Casey it was amusing.

"I used to play the drums a bit," Casey said softly, starting a third pot of coffee, and answering the teen's question as to whether or not she played any musical instruments.

"Really?" Cassie's interest was piqued.

"Really," Casey replied with a smile. "One of the guys in the dorm needed help with English Lit. He was in a rock band. Twisted Minds. They weren't as weird as their name," she giggled. "Anyway, he was the drummer, and he offered to teach me in return for some tutoring."

"I'm surprised he didn't offer himself for the deal," Janet teased.

Casey blushed. "He did. I totally ignored him for a week. Then he came up with the drum thing. I was curious about it, so I agreed."

"How good are you?" Cassie asked.

"When Toby was sick, I sat in for him with the band," Casey said.

"Wow!" Sam exclaimed.

"So Mom says we're all going to Denver next Saturday to try on our dresses," Cassie said, having decided that she liked this woman. Besides, Daniel was absolutely beside himself in love with her. She could either accept Casey, or make everyone's life miserable. Which would mean having Mom and Sam on her back, and probably never getting to see Daniel again.

Janet tried not to stare. The discussion on the drive to the Jackson's apartment had nearly ended in an argument about the need to get to Denver to get the dress fitted, and Cassie's reluctance to do so. She smiled. Casey had yet another fan, it would seem.

"Yep. Just the four of us," Casey said.

"Could we go to the mall there, do some man watching?" Cassie asked. "Well, you can't man watch, Casey, you're engaged."

"Hey, I'm engaged, not dead. I can watch with the best of them!" Casey replied, winking at the young woman.

Cassie took a step closer. "Mom says I won't be wearing a strapless sheath for your wedding."

The young blonde shook her head. "I found this absolutely adorable dress with spaghetti straps, and an asymmetrical hemline…it's longer in the back than in the front, and I thought it would be a nice dress for school dances after the wedding. It's black, I'm afraid, but it is so cute!"

The teenager nodded. "Sounds okay," she admitted. She crossed her arms over her chest. "So is Daniel like a really incredible, blow-your-mind lover?"

"Cassandra Fraiser!" Janet snapped, shocked by the question.

Daniel, who'd been on his way into the kitchen for more coffee, nearly dropped his mug; his jaw dropping over the fact that Cassie even knew about sex. His male brain was still unable…or perhaps unwilling…to see the little girl who'd been rescued from Hanka as the teenager she really was.

"Curls my toes, makes me scream, too," Casey replied with a wink.

"I figured as much. He's a passionate man."

Daniel's cheeks were bright red, and he still hadn't been able to step into the kitchen. He wasn't sure whether he wanted more coffee, or a shot of Southern Comfort.

"Yes, he is. A very kind, sweet, generous man as well," Casey said softly. "Sometimes, I think he's too perfect. Then I have to pick up his dirty socks."

Cassie giggled. "Yeah, well, he doesn't have a lot of faults."

Casey studied the teenager. She had a deep, serious crush on the good Dr. Jackson, if she didn't miss her guess. "No, he doesn't. I'm the luckiest woman alive, Cassie. That he loves me is such a miracle, so wonderful…I can't even put it into words."

"Yeah, well I think I'm the lucky one," Daniel said softly, finally stepping into the kitchen. He pulled Casey into his arms. "Very lucky."

"So kiss her and get it over with, we were talking," Cassie said, grinning mischievously.

Daniel grinned, and kissed Casey…hard…deep…long.

"Geez, come up for air," Jack grumbled, walking past the couple to fill his mug with fresh coffee.

With a wink at the teenager who stood gaping, Daniel filled his own mug and followed Jack back into the dining room.

"That was incredible," Cassie managed to say.

"You're telling me?" Casey teased.

Janet was shaking her head. "Cassie, we have got to have a discussion about appropriate topics for teenage girls to bring up in conversation when they're a guest."

Sam was laughing. "It was pretty incredible. The only place I've seen kisses that hot are in the movies."

Casey was smiling, a slight blush on her cheeks. "That wasn't even one of his good ones," she said softly.

"You're kidding!" Janet said, eyes wide. She agreed with Sam and Cassie, that kiss had been hot!

"Those kisses…well, let's just say that if he'd given me one of those kisses, you'd all be sitting here talking to each other right now," she admitted, her cheeks going a darker shade of pink.

Janet laughed. "Maybe I'm glad my teenage daughter was spared seeing that!"

Cassie was shaking her head. "Is it possible for a kiss to be any hotter than that?"

"Oh, yeah," the three women in the room agreed in unison.

The teenager shook her head again, found her Ipod and headphones, and went into the living room.

"She likes you," Janet said quietly.

"I like her. She has a major crush on Daniel," Casey replied.

Janet sighed. "Yes, she does. I was afraid that she'd react…badly…to hearing that he was engaged. I overheard her talking to her friends once, she was convinced that the reason Daniel didn't have a woman in his life was because he was waiting for her. Something about feeling the 'heat' when they were in the same room together."

Sam nodded. "She asked me once if I thought Daniel preferred younger women. I told her that I had no idea. I knew what she was asking, and there was no way I was going to encourage her. I didn't want to hurt her either, by telling her that Daniel would never see her as anything other than Janet's daughter; that we, including him, all care for her like parents."

"That would have crushed her," Casey said. "So, I guess she's okay with Daniel getting married?"

Janet smiled. "I think seeing the two of you together has helped. I was watching her face when you told her how you felt about him. You're still her competition, in her mind anyway, but you won major brownie points."

"Well, I’m glad she's agreed to be in the wedding," Casey said. "Okay guys, I have three waffles here," she called to the men in the dining room.

"And we have three empty plates here," Jack called back.

With a giggle, she put the plate of warm waffles on the counter. "Help yourselves." Which the men did, with enthusiasm. "So, what should we do this afternoon? I was hoping we could go sledding. I didn't expect the weather to be so yucky."

"Well, Cassie has band practice this afternoon, her best friend's mother will pick her up here," Janet said.

Casey's eyes twinkled. "Pictionary. We'll wipe the floor with 'em."

"Oh, I like that!" Sam agreed, a wide smile on her face.

"Until then, shall we watch a movie?"

The women agreed, and moved into the living room. Casey sat back on the couch between Janet and Sam. The three women shared the afghan, and ignored the teasing from the men as they watched 'The Wedding Planner'. She sighed with contentment. She had Daniel…her Destiny…the man she loved so much it hurt. And she had friends, good friends. Moving to Colorado had been the best thing that had ever happened to her…second only to having Daniel's love.

A   A   A   A   A   A

By nine-thirty, they were alone again, pizza boxes scattered through out the room, beer bottles evidence of Jack's presence, and the score sheets from three games of Pictionary, in which the women did indeed defeat the men.

Daniel was gathering the empty beer bottles while Casey gathered the pizza boxes and paper plates. "Nice day," he said.

"Yes, it was." The boxes and used plates went into a trash bag. "I had so much fun today," she admitted shyly. "I never knew that life could be this way."

Once again he felt that tightening in his chest. Thinking about her childhood, the life she had before he knocked on her door filled him with such pain that it took his breath away. No one should have to live the way Casey had lived for so long! "Well, now you know," he replied, winking at her.

"It's only because of you," she said, sliding her arms around his shoulders, clinging to him.

"Yeah? Well you've brought sunshine and laughter back into my life, Angel," he said softly.

"I love you."

"Love you, too. We should probably get to bed," Daniel said, a look of innocence on his face.

"So early?"

"We have a mission tomorrow, babe," he reminded her gently.

"I suppose we should get some sleep," she allowed, teasing him.

"Anything you'd like to do before we go to sleep?" His blue eyes were dancing.

"Hmm…nope, can't think of anything," she replied, her grin as wide as his.

"Nothing comes to mind?"

"Oh, well…let's see…maybe something does come to mind, if you're not too tired."

"I'll show you tired!" he growled. He scooped her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Love. Laughter. Sunshine. All he needed to make his world complete was her.

A   A   A   A   A   A

The final chevron locked into place. The five members of SG-1 stood at the bottom of the ramp, waiting for the final 'send-off' from General Hammond. When it was given, they walked up the ramp and through the event horizon.

The sounds of staff weapon fire split the air around them, sending them diving to the ground, eyes searching for two things… sight of the enemy who was shooting at them…and cover. The first was blatantly apparent when a dozen Jaffa slowly approached their position. The second became moot when more Jaffa appeared from the wooded area to their left.

"Told you so," Casey hissed as her weapon and pack were taken from her, and her hands roughly bound behind her.

Jack, Teal'c, and General Hammond had listened to her concerns about this mission. But the UAV had shown a city at least as advanced as Earth, and hope was high that these people might have a weapon to use against the Goa'uld. That hope was sparked by evidence of missile silos in a grid around the city. Sam had argued that it was possible that the missiles were the same as what was already available on Earth. Daniel insisted that that several of the images indicated that the silos weren't even functional, and that it was possible that what they perceived as missile silos could have been something totally different. The decision had been made. And now SG-1 were prisoners of a Goa'uld. Teal'c recognized the Jaffa as belonging to Ba'al, but chances were they'd be taken to one of the minor System Lords who served that particular Goa'uld.

"Ai'emain! Ai'emain!" [Stand up! Stand up!]

"Shor'wai'e! Yas! Yas!" [Hurry up! Now! Now!]

"Is it just me," Jack mumbled, "or do they seem to be in a bit of a rush to get us away from the 'gate?"

"Maybe they were expecting someone else," Daniel suggested. Both men were hit roughly on the back with staff weapons, eliciting grunts from them.

Yanked and shoved, the prisoners followed the Jaffa in front of them, a dozen more surrounding them, just in case the troublesome Tau'ri should take it into their heads to try to escape.

The Stargate had been in the center of what turned out to be a city park. They were marched out of the area, down the street to a wide, squat building that appeared to be constructed of concrete. The only opening in the entire face of the building was one door. Through which they were unceremoniously shoved.

A tall man with thick brown hair and arresting gray eyes stood to his feet when the five humans were forced to their knees in front of him. "Tal shal mak!"

"He wants to know who we are," Daniel translated quietly.

"Tell him that we're the ones who are going to take him out," Jack replied.

"Really?" Daniel asked.

"Why not?" Jack shrugged.

The man's eyes began to glow as he waited impatiently for a response. Casey gasped. Anuket hadn't lived long enough when Casey had charged into the 'gate room for her to see the Goa'uld's eyes glow, or actually hear the voice. She shivered.

"We are Avengers," Daniel said. "We destroy Goa'uld and those who serve the false gods."

"Then you are fools," the man spat. "Where have you come from? For what reason are you here?"

Again Daniel translated, his voice soft and low. "We come from Earth. To kill you."

The man laughed. "Tau'ri. Yes, we have heard rumors of you."

"Then you know that we have killed many Goa'uld," Daniel replied.

"Only the weak and the foolish," the Goa'uld replied. "I am Tuoni. I am neither weak, nor foolish." He stepped away from the throne where he'd been sitting upon their arrival, walking around the prisoners. He waved his hand, then pointed, and Sam and Casey were jerked to their feet. He stopped in front of them, caressed each of them on the cheek. "I am your god. Whatever you did before is over now. You live to serve me, to please me."

Daniel felt his heart stop beating. He'd lost Sha're to Apophis. She'd been infested with a Goa'uld. He would not lose Casey to this snake! He struggled against the ropes that held his hands firmly, received a blow to the back of his head for his effort. There was enough force to stun him, and he fell forward, his vision blurry for several long seconds, pain the only thing he was aware of in that moment.

"Daniel!" Casey cried out, fighting against the Jaffa who held her.

Tuoni glanced at the man who was lying face down on the floor. A cruel smile twisted his lips. "Take them to the harem. See that they are prepared to entertain me. Take this one to my chambers," he said, pointing at Daniel. "Put the other two in a cell for now."

Sam and Casey were taken from the room, neither of them going willingly. Daniel was picked up by his arms and dragged away, Jack and Teal'c pulled to their feet and taken in yet another direction.

Daniel's hands were untied, only to be placed in manacles that hung from chains suspended in the ceiling. His feet barely touched the floor, and the headache he had was now joined by the pain in his arms and shoulders. He continued to pull at his hands, hoping that he'd be able to work them free of the metal cuffs.

It was well over an hour later when Tuoni walked into the room. He'd changed his clothes, from the pants and shirt he'd been wearing to a simple robe. Daniel had no doubt that the snake was naked beneath it, in preparation of raping Sam and Casey. The Goa'uld turned to face his prisoner. "The one with the eyes the color of spring, she means something to you, yes?"

If he admitted what Casey meant to him, then the Goa'uld would take perverse pleasure in hurting her, just to get at him. If he denied it, then the Goa'uld would torture her in an attempt to make him admit what he already suspected. Daniel refused to answer.

The Goa'uld smiled. "You will tell me everything I wish to know."

"I won't tell you a damned thing!" Daniel replied. Wasn't surprised to be slapped.

The Jaffa brought Casey into the room. She was wearing a robe similar to what Tuoni had on. The two armor clad men stood at attention near the door. It was apparent that they'd be witnesses to all that transpired in the room. Daniel shuddered. Janet had told him that Casey was tougher than she looked. He certainly hoped so, for her sake.

The Goa'uld walked to stand directly in front of the beautiful young Tau'ri. He put a finger beneath her chin, raised her face, forcing her to look at him. The anger and hatred that filled her eyes amused him. "Tell me, do you have a name?"

Her eyes flickered toward Daniel.

"You may translate for her," Tuoni said, without looking at the man who was hanging against the wall.

"He wants to know your name," Daniel said.

"Tell him its Vengeance, and I'm gonna kick his ass. Tell him that if he hurts you, I'll make his death last for weeks!" she said, her voice low and full of anger.

Daniel grinned. Translated what she said word for word.

The Goa'uld laughed. "Full of fire and spirit. Good. It will make this all the more pleasurable." He ripped the robe from her body, let it puddle to the floor.

Casey began to tremble, standing naked in front of the enemy, two other men near the door watching as well.

Daniel's heart lurched. Things were about to get very, very bad. "It's okay, Angel, nothing that happens here is your fault. I love you, Casey, don't you ever forget that," he said softly.

"I hate Mondays, have I ever mentioned that?" she asked, that sense of humor that had protected her for so many years kicking in.

He chuckled. Anuket had attacked the previous Monday. "Yeah, I'm starting to see a pattern here," he admitted.

Tuoni listened, could tell by the tone of voice that the man was trying to comfort the woman, and she was trying to remain calm. He ran his hand over her body, tried to slip his fingers between her thighs. She grabbed his wrist with both hands, stepped away from him. The Goa'uld responded by backhanding the young woman, sending her against the wall, and into Daniel.

He grunted when she hit him, the impact putting more pressure on his already stressed wrists and shoulders. "My pocket, Casey. Pocket knife," he whispered.

She turned to face him, caressing his face with one hand the other moving over him as if she were checking him for wounds. She felt the knife. Just about had it in her hand when Tuoni jerked her roughly.

"Now, you will tell me what I wish to know," the Goa'uld said, staring coldly at his prisoner. Daniel returned the stare, the fury in his blue eyes enough to give the Goa'uld pause. He'd seen men hanging against that very wall become angry. More often they were terrified. Never had he seen such rage.

Casey took advantage of the Goa'uld's temporary distraction to move toward Daniel again. She placed herself between the enemy and the man she loved. "Tell him I'll do whatever he wants as long as he doesn't hurt you," she said softly.

"No way! No…" he started to argue.

"Tell him," she whispered, her hands moving over him again.

Tuoni listened as the prisoner translated what the woman had said. Clearly he was upset by her words. She must love him deeply to be willing to make such an agreement. He allowed her to touch the man, one last time. She'd never do so again, he thought confidently. Deciding that he'd been generous enough, he took the woman's arm and led her toward the bed.

Daniel felt his stomach turn when Tuoni forced Casey onto the bed. He wanted to close his eyes. Wanted to pull free and save her.

Casey had the pocketknife in her hand. She held it beside her leg, her fingers working furiously to open it. She glanced at the Jaffa, pulled her lip between her teeth. Those Jaffa would not take kindly to having their 'god' killed in front of them, she thought worriedly.

Tuoni saw her eyes. He turned to the Jaffa, dismissed them curtly. He had no fear of the slender young woman who lay naked on his bed. He dropped his robe to the floor, settled his body over hers.

A guttural growl escaped from Daniel's throat. His heart was pounding, breaking into pieces at the thought of Casey being raped.

Finally! She had the blade of the Swiss Army knife out, and was ready to use it. She could feel the erection against her thigh. Shivered when she realized that if she didn't do something right now, the freaky-eyed bastard was going to rape her…and Daniel would be forced to witness the entire thing. She closed her eyes for a second to gather her courage. When they opened again, she brought her hand up, and sliced as hard and as quickly as she could, severing every tendon in his throat, and damaging his vocal chords so severely that he was unable to utter a sound.

Tuoni's eyes went wide, then began to glow as he grasped at the gaping wound in his throat. He'd instinctively rolled away from her when he felt the blade against his neck, but her hand had remained firmly against his throat, and she slashed with vengeance.

She slid to the floor, grabbed the robe the Goa'uld had been wearing and wiped the blood from her hand, arm and shoulder, then pulled on the robe she'd entered the room wearing. "How do I get you down?" she asked, hurrying to where Daniel was hanging.  She put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him.

"There are probably keys somewhere in here," he replied, as soon as her lips had left his.

Casey began to search the room, moving as quickly and quietly as she could. Finally she located them, in a drawer in the chest near the bed. She carried an upholstered stool to the wall, stepped up on it and released his hands. His wrists were chaffed and bloody from his attempts to free himself.

His arms dropped, felt like lead, and began to scream at him as the blood rushed toward muscles that had been denied circulation for so long.

"Okay, now what?"

He picked up the knife her shaking hand had dropped, cleaned it on the bedcovers, folded it and put it pack in his pocket. "We need to find the rest of the team," he replied.

"Can I put my clothes back on?"

He grinned. "Do you know where they are?"

"I know where they were," she replied.

"First things first." He carefully opened the door and peeked outside. The two Jaffa who had brought her in were standing just outside. He eased the door closed again, looked around the room for a weapon. Nearly a dozen candles lit the room, and the holders in which they were placed were intricately carved brass. He snuffed out two of the candles, tossed the warm wax sticks to the floor, and grasped the holders firmly, one in each hand. "Open the door when I tell you," he whispered.

She nodded.

He took a deep breath, lifted the heavy candlesticks once or twice to make sure that his arms wouldn't fail him. "Now."

The door flew open, and the surprised Jaffa were unable to react quickly enough to avoid the attack. Daniel hit the men with as much force as he could muster, dropping both of them to the ground immediately. He picked up one of the staff weapons, indicated to Casey that she should grab the other.

Casey had questioned why Jack had made her practice with the zat'nik'tel and the staff weapon that he'd taken to the shooting range. Now she was extremely glad that he'd done so. At least she had an idea how the damned thing was supposed to work.

"Okay, where did they have you?" Daniel whispered.

She led him down the hallway, into a narrow room. Sam was sitting on a couch, several other women huddled at the back of the room.

"Daniel! Casey!" Sam jumped to her feet, hugged them both.

"Clothes?" Casey asked.

"Still in there, I suppose," Sam said.

"Let's go," the young blonde said, already heading for the door.

The women watched, eyes wide.

"Don't be afraid," Daniel said softly. "Do you know how to get out of here?"

One of the young women nodded slowly.

"Then go, very quietly, very quickly," he told them. He watched as they slipped into the narrow hallway, and toward the back of the building. Hoping that the slaves wouldn't betray them, he jogged after the two blonde women. They disappeared behind a door, only to emerge not more than five minutes later in their BDUs.

"Any idea where they might have our gear?" Sam asked.

"Has to be a storage room around here somewhere," Daniel replied. The sound of approaching Jaffa had them ducking back into the room where the two women had changed. He peered out, saw that the way was clear, led them back into the hallway.

Each door was carefully opened. When they found the storage room they slipped inside, began to search for their packs and weapons. They were about to give up when Sam flipped up a tarp. Beneath it lay an assortment of weapons, including their own. Sam slipped several of the odd looking instruments into her pack before following Daniel out of the room.

"He sent Jack and Teal'c to cells," Sam said. She could speak enough Goa'uld to have understood part of what Tuoni had said.

The sound of shouting filled the air. "Shit!" Daniel swore. "Okay, we have to do this fast!"

"This way," Sam said, pushing open a door that revealed steps that went down.

"How did you do that?" Casey asked, wide-eyed.

Sam grinned. "Luck. Stay here, keep this hallway clear. I'll be right back!"

Pressing their backs against the wall, facing opposite directions, Casey and Daniel began to fire their recovered P90's at anything that moved. They could hear gunfire from the stairwell, could only hope that the thudding feet on the steps were those of their teammates.

"Let's go, kids," Jack said, bursting though the door, Sam directly behind him. Teal'c took up the position behind Casey and Daniel as they fell into step behind Sam. There was no choice but to simply open the front door and run. Jack and Sam were on point, laying down a line of fire that had Jaffa falling, or diving for cover. Daniel and Casey were giving cover fire, keeping the Jaffa down as they ran past. Teal'c offered cover fire as well, the staff weapon that he had taken from Casey sending Jaffa to whatever afterlife they believed in.

It seemed to take forever to reach the park where the Stargate stood, a beacon of hope for safety, and home. "Daniel, go!" Jack yelled, as he continued to fire at the Jaffa who were guarding the Ancient device.

Daniel continued to fire as well, running to the DHD, pulling the GDO from his pocket. As soon as the wormhole was established he was sending the message that SG-1 was coming through. Still firing, the team raced up the steps and threw themselves into the event horizon. Once again that fabled SG-1 luck had come through for them.

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