Author's Notes: Sequel to "The Price of Compassion" and part 3/8 of a Daniel/Janet friendship series, tracing their relationship through the first few seasons. The order of the stories is as follows: "A Singular Friendship," "The Price of Compassion," "Legacy of Trust," "Crossing the Line," "Gaining in Inches," "Smaller Victories," "Not Too Late," and "After All."

Dedication: To the fantastic folks on the danandjan list, whose feedback and encouragement keeps me writing!

Daniel cringed slightly as the simultaneous shriek of six teenage girls caught him off-guard. When Janet invited SG-1 to Cassie's birthday party, she neglected to mention that there would be half a dozen fourteen-year-olds there and that the adults were around mainly to help Janet keep things under control. The girls were teasing Jack and giggling madly, and Sam, too, was struggling to withhold her laughter. Even Teal'c seemed amused, and Jack was flushing bright red. Daniel chuckled at his friends as he gathered up some empty pizza boxes to bring into the kitchen.

He expected Janet to be in the kitchen and was somewhat surprised when she wasn't. He was stuffing the cardboard boxes into the recycling bin when a movement on the back porch caught his eye. Janet stood leaning over the porch railing, looking out into the darkness of the backyard.

Daniel was immediately torn. His first impulse was to join her, but he had gotten the distinct impression that she had been avoiding him for the past week or so, ever since the debacle with Machello's Goa'uld-killing worm thingies. Even before that situation, though, he and Janet had not spent as much time together as usual; some unspoken tension seemed to have cropped up between them. Part of Daniel warned that some distance was probably good; after all, he really had no business growing so close to a woman as attractive as Janet. On the other hand, Janet was one of his dearest friends, and in many ways he valued her judgment above anyone else's. No matter what, he did not want to lose her friendship. Snapping the lid back on the recycling bin, he slid open the porch door and walked out into the night air.

Daniel saw the muscles in Janet's back stiffen momentarily as she heard the door. She took a deep breath before turning and giving him a slightly forced smile.

"How's it going in there?" she asked.

"Pretty well, I think. Cassie and her friends had Jack pretty much backed into a corner about something. Sam and Teal'c were enjoying it." Janet chuckled fondly. "It's nice and quiet out here, though," Daniel continued.

"Yeah, it is," Janet agreed. "I just needed to escape for a few minutes to get some air and clear my head a little."

"Uh-huh." They stood in silence for a few minutes, staring at the fireflies in the backyard. "So," Daniel began nervously, "I haven't seen much of you this past week. Everything going okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered, too quickly. "I've been really busy."

"Ah, yeah. You should take a break sometime. You know, don't work too hard."

Janet snorted. "Look who's talking!"

Daniel had the grace to look chastened, but he protested nevertheless. "I haven't been overdoing it too much lately. And I got lots of extra rest last week in the, uh, institution."

Janet exhaled evenly through her nose and gripped the porch rail tightly, staring down at her hands. "Daniel, I..."

"Janet, it wasn't your fault," he interrupted. He had wanted to tell her that all week, but she was always mysteriously missing when he came to find her. He watched her controlled, even, and overly conscious breathing. This was it, he realized. This was why she had been avoiding him. "I really mean it Janet. I haven't blamed you for a minute."

Suddenly she turned to face him, her eyes full of emotion. "I blame myself, Daniel. You would think that by now I would consider alien influence to be a likely cause of mysterious illness in SGC personnel. And it is *my* infirmary; I am in charge. I shouldn't have allowed myself to be so bullied by McKenzie. I had you locked up in a padded room, Daniel! How can you forgive me for that?"

"I forgive you because you were doing your job in the best way you could, Janet." He looked at her intently as he spoke. "I was acting crazy and we had no idea what caused it; what other option did you have? No one could have done differently. And I think I know you well enough to know that it wasn't a decision you made easily or without careful consideration."

"No, it wasn't easy at all," she acceded softly. She sighed as she turned back to watch the fireflies. "God, Daniel, what are we doing? We're playing with fire every single day. You pick up the wrong tablet and suddenly you've a schizophrenic; it's only due to dumb luck that Teal'c is alive and that you and Jack and I aren't all locked up permanently."

"Oh, I wouldn't call it dumb luck," Daniel protested. "You really kept your head in there about the blood. You saved yourself and Jack and Teal'c by your quick thinking. It wasn't dumb luck at all."

Janet didn't answer but shuddered. "What is it?" asked Daniel.

"Just, uh, remembering that day," she said after a pause. When she continued, her voice was oddly flat. "Once in high school I dropped some acid. It was completely horrible...hallucinations, chills, a general feeling of terror and utter loss of control. I was never again tempted to take drugs. Last week was worse. There was a tiny part of my brain being rational, and I felt like it was hanging on to a precipice for dear life. As soon as Dr. Warner figured out what I was talking about, I let go and just fell and fell and fell."

Her voice quavered slightly as she finished, and Daniel reached over to rub an encouraging hand across her back. The sensations she was describing were all too familiar to him after his own experience, but he couldn't imagine his own delusions magnified by three.

"I felt so helpless watching you and not being able to do anything," he said as he continued the soothing movement of his hand on her back.

"I hate not being in control. I hate not being able to help my patients. With you and then Teal'c I had no idea what to do; nothing was working, and try as I might, I couldn't do anything about it. I was already feeling helpless before getting infected with those devices. Even though it's over now and everyone is okay, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells and if I make one wrong move, I'll lose control again. Even tonight with this party...all the noise and the chaos. If you all hadn't come over, I don't know what I would have done." She leaned over and rested her forehead in her hands.

Daniel watched his friend with a small amount of astonishment. Janet *was* always strong and in control, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do with the vulnerability he saw here. "Janet," he said after a moment, tugging on her shoulder to bring her upright, "look at me a minute." She did, and he was startled by how fragile she seemed. "Janet, you are one of the strongest people I know. You are single-handedly responsible for saving dozens and dozens of lives. You have saved all of SG-1 more than once, but more importantly, you are an irreplaceable friend. You saved Cassandra's life and have become a fabulous mother to her. None of us could do what we do without you. Hey, even when you were completely losing it, you still managed to save the day. No matter what, Janet, I trust you."

She met his eyes and smiled briefly. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Come here." He pulled her into a tight hug. She tensed but then relaxed against him, her arms reaching gingerly around him. "We okay?" he asked.

Janet nodded against his chest. "Yeah."

"Good." Even as he said it, though, he caught a whiff of her sweet-smelling hair and felt his heart rate accelerate. We may be 'okay,' but *this* tension still exists, he realized, momentarily cursing his hormones. He released Janet...he hoped not too abruptly...as he conjured the image of Sha're in his mind and felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Janet looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Well," she began. At that moment, they heard a noise in the kitchen behind them.

"Mom? Hey Mom, where are you?"

"I think that's my cue," said Janet with a small smile. "Coming back inside?"

"In a minute," he answered. She nodded once, and Daniel watched as she entered the house and joined Cassie before he turned around again to watch the fireflies flit around the still backyard.