Disclaimer: Not my characters. Wish they were.

A/N: I changed the title because it made me smile.

A/N: It seems the holiday spirit has swept me away after spending many hours at Shipmas over on GW. :)

This is not been beta'd, so all mistakes are strictly my own. Reviews appreciated.

The commissary was slowly emptying and the excited chatter full of holiday plans followed the airmen out. The Christmas holidays were starting tomorrow and after this shift, the SGC would be all but abandoned, except for those lucky few who got to sit and watch the 'gate. Major Samantha Carter had volunteered to work, but General Hammond had told her that, barring a full-blown Goa'uld attack, she not to set even one foot inside Cheyenne Mountain after today. He'd even told her he'd have her ID temporarily shut down if he had to, so she had no choice but to do something other than work. She sighed heavily, staring morosely down at her blue Jell-O. Christmas was just four days away and she had no idea what she was going to do with herself.

"Hey, Sam. What's up?" Dr. Daniel Jackson's voice brought her out of her reverie. He smiled and sat down opposite her with a cup of coffee. Unless they were off world, Daniel was never without coffee. She thought he might own stock in Folgers.

She smiled blandly back. "Not much. You?"

"Just thinking," he said taking a sip of the still steaming liquid. He liked his coffee really hot and Sam thought it was a miracle he hadn't burned all his taste buds off by now. "What should we do for the holidays?"

"We? I thought you were going to Egypt to check out some artifacts that had been recently found." Sam hated to admit it, but she was jealous that Daniel had something to do.

Daniel shook his head. "No, not this year. I thought about it but makes me…sad. Egypt reminds me too much of Abydos and it's just too much for me right now. You know, the first year I spent on Abydos, I told them all about Christmas and we made an odd Christmas tree from sticks and cloth and I did sort of an imitation of Santa." He smiled at the memory. "The kids all thought it was great. Of course that could have been because I looked so ridiculous. And Sha're, she," he stopped and smiled sadly. They had had only one Christmas together before she'd been taken by Apophis and now the chance of any future holidays had been snatched away.

Sam reached across the table and placed a hand on top of Daniel's. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

Flapping his other hand in front of his face, as if to brush it off he smiled at her. "Thanks."

"Hellll..oooo, kids," Colonel Jack O'Neill said walking up to the table. He looked down at their hands with a dark expression. "Am I interrupting something?"

Sam quickly pulled her hand back and looked down at her Jell-O.

"No, not at all," Daniel said glancing between the two of them. "We were just…talking about Christmas and Sam was being…a good friend."

Jack looked at them skeptically. Daniel thought if looks could kill he'd have been drawn and quartered with his entrails burning about 5 seconds ago. "Uh huh." Jack paused looking at them both, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Mind if I join you, or should I give you two some privacy?" He tried to keep his voice light, but he was failing miserably.

Sam scooted her chair a little putting distance between them. "No, Sir. Join us." Her voice sounded slightly guilty and Daniel raised an eyebrow at that. Actually, no matter how hard he tried to raise only one, both still came up. He'd asked Teal'c to show him how he did that whole one eyebrow thing, but Teal'c had just lifted a single eyebrow and walked away looking amused. Or as amused as a Jaffa could look anyway.

Jack dropped down next to her and Sam tried not to take in too deep of a breath or she might moan and that would probably draw several suspicious glances. The mere scent of Jack O'Neill could dry her mouth out quicker than any of the desert planets they'd visited.

There was a tense silence. "Um, so, Jack," Daniel started, breaking uncomfortable feeling around them. "What are you doing for the holidays?"

Jack had been given the same command as Sam when it came to being at the Mountain over the holidays. He pushed the cake he'd brought with him around on the plate. He loved cake, but had suddenly lost his appetite. For cake! "I thought about heading up to my cabin. You know, just me, snow, beer, snow and snow. And did I mention snow?" He smiled lamely and forced a bite of cake into his mouth.

"Ahhh, sounds exciting," Daniel said. Jack was notorious for inviting them up to his cabin to fish, which no one except Jack seemed to enjoy.

"Well, you know me," Jack leaned back in his chair. "I like to live on the edge. What are you two doing?" The way he said 'you two' gave Daniel a chill.

"Nothing really," Sam said, trying not to sound too pathetic. "I guess I'll just hang out at home and…"

"Work?" Jack smirked. If there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that Samantha Carter couldn't NOT work. "Not smuggling any of your little doohickies out are you? You know after that last virus we brought back we're not allowed to take things home."

She shrugged. "No, Sir, but I guess I've got some things I could do. Um, actually, if you'll excuse me, there are some things I should take care of before I leave this afternoon." She grabbed her empty Jell-O cup and stood. "Oh, and if I don't see you before you leave, Sir, um, Merry Christmas." Her eyes never met his.

"You too, Carter, you too," Jack said softly. He watched her rapidly retreating form and tried not look as wretched as he felt. Watching Carter hold Daniel's hand had made him want to start throwing things. Mostly Daniel.

"Jaaack," Daniel called, snapping him out of his thoughts. "What was that all about?"

"What was what all about?"

"Well, I'm no anthropologist, or psychologist or anything, but that was, um, what was that?" Daniel was tired of watching this little game play out. Jack and Sam were his dear friends. Closer than friends. They were his family and they deserved some measure of happiness. Together they'd find it, if only the damn Air Force would let them. You couldn't govern how people felt. All the frat rules did was make for two very miserable officers, and Daniel, for one was damn tired of it.

Jack put another bite of cake in his mouth. It tasted like sawdust. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Daniel opened his mouth to speak when Teal'c sat down next to him with a tray that looked like it had enough food on it to feed half the base. "O'Neill. Daniel Jackson," he dipped his head by way of greeting.

"T. Good to see you," Jack said, happy for the distraction. "Just a light snack today?"

Teal'c gave him what passed for a grin. "Indeed, O'Neill. I am not feeling as hungry today as usual." He picked up his fork and took a bite mashed potatoes and gravy.

"Good thing," Jack said.

"So, Teal'c, what are your plans this Christmas?" Daniel asked. He had turned toward Teal'c, but his eyes stayed on Jack.

Teal'c swallowed. "I have been told of the tradition of watching holiday movies and eating something called fruit cake. I believe I will try that."

"Don't get too excited about that fruit cake, there T, it's not what you think. In fact, it's just about the only kind of cake I won't eat." Jack stood. He'd not eaten more than the two bites of the cake on his plate and looked down morosely at it. It seemed like such a waste. He never threw away cake. "I've got paperwork to catch up on. I'd better get to it. I'll catch you two later."

Teal'c turned to Daniel once Jack was out of hearing range. "I believe O'Neill is lying."

Daniel shrugged. "No, I'm sure he has lots of paperwork to catch up on."

Raising his eyebrow Teal'c threw Daniel a skeptical look. "Of that I have no doubt. However, when was the last time you saw O'Neill voluntarily do paperwork?"

He had a point. They sat quietly for a few minutes, Teal'c eating and Daniel sipping coffee. "Teal'c, what do you think about Jack and Sam?"

"I am very fond of both O'Neill and Major Carter, Daniel Jackson, as I am of you. Why do you ask?"

"Thanks. I appreciate that. I don't mean what do you think of Jack and Sam separately though, but together. You know, as in together together."

"I believe they are quite foolish in their endeavor to try to keep their feelings from one another," Teal'c said taking another huge bite of mashed potatoes.

Nodding in agreement, Daniel became quiet once again. "What can we do about it Teal'c?"

Teal'c regarded him for a moment, his head cocked to the side in the way that apparently indicated some deep thought. While Teal'c's loyalty to the SCG, and in particular Jack and General Hammond could not be questioned (well, there was that one time, but that was hardly his fault), the thoughts that ran through his head were still a mystery to most of them. Of course it didn't help that he barely spoke more than a few words at any given time. "I'm not certain there is anything we can do Daniel Jackson. The Tau'ri are a strange species when it comes to affection. You love your friends and family quite fiercely in my experience, yet you are often reluctant to show those feeling."

After spending a year on Abydos, where affection, love, and sex, were just part of life and there was no embarrassment involved, he understood what Teal'c meant. If he were an anthropologist, he might have to study up on that peculiarity. Maybe he'd ask Dr. Wilmer, he was an anthropologist and might be able to clue Daniel in on why that was. Or maybe it was just western cultures or maybe, maybe he should get back to the issue at hand. "No, there has to be something."

"You are an optimist, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel tossed out several thoughts as too ridiculous. Jack and Sam had already been stranded on a planet, hell several planets, alone and nothing came of that. Of course the circumstances were hardly ideal for romance. Maybe if they were on a tropical planet with friendly natives. That would involve getting them through the 'gate though and that would be a problem. Locking them together in a storage closet probably wouldn't do much for his own health once Jack got out. He was getting depressed and fast running out of situations that could resolve this whole mess, when, listening to the soft Christmas music playing over the commissary intercom system, it hit him. Who doesn't like Christmas? Well, probably Jack, but even he can't help but feel something under the right circumstances. Christmas was about love and in some ways even romance. All they had to do was create the right circumstances. Right? He smiled and looked over at the now empty plate in front of his friend. "Teal'c, I've got an idea."

"I can hardly wait to hear it, Daniel Jackson."