The Wedding by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Daniel is the Best Man in Jack and Sam's wedding, but not everything is as it seems.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 10.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.
The Wedding
Chapter 3
Jack flew the next morning, ready to face some kind of emergency. He had left his bride-to-be on her own since the day he had proposed and it was logical that he would be needed sometime. The last he had heard from Sam was that everything was on schedule, so he was wondering why Teal'c had left him such an urgent message. He had tried to phone him and Sam, too, but neither had answered.
Sam was not ready to tell him what she had discovered, but she had no alternative. She carefully explained how during the past weeks she had become aware of the significance of Daniel in her life. Nevertheless, she reassured Jack that she did love him and that she was going to keep her promise and marry him. She thought Teal'c was blowing up her personal crisis out of proportion and she pointed out that it was normal for brides to have some wedding jitters.
Jack did not see it as normal and simply heard that Sam loved Daniel more than she loved him. He stormed out of her house and spent the rest of the day in his hotel room, drinking beer and trying to deal with the anger that filled him. He disconnected the phone and took the battery out of his cell to avoid any contact with Sam or Daniel.
Around four in the afternoon, Teal'c knocked at his door. Jack yelled for him to leave, but there was something in his friend's tone as he refused to go that made him change his mind.
After several cups of coffee −for Jack− Teal'c was ready to talk. He explained why he had called him there against Sam's wishes. He revealed that he was privy to another secret that gave a different connotation to her feelings and that, in order to make things right, he felt forced to break a promise he had made to Daniel. He said that he had been aware of Daniel's feelings for Sam for probably longer that Daniel himself and than once he had confronted him about it, Daniel had made him promise not to ever reveal them so as to ensure Jack and Sam's happiness. He stressed the fact that Daniel had not hesitated sacrificing his feelings for Jack and that, to prove it, he had dedicated most of his free time in the previous weeks to help them get ready for the wedding.
Jack pointed out that, in the process of helping Sam, Daniel had managed to aid her become aware of her feelings for him.
Teal'c countered by reassuring that at no time he had ever witnessed Daniel making any advances toward Sam or showing his love in any other way than his usual caring personality. He was also surprised that Jack could think Daniel capable of betraying him in that way.
"Why does everybody see Daniel as some kind of saint, always self-sacrificing and noble?" Jack asked, fed up with the whole thing.
"Perhaps you should answer that yourself," was Teal'c's only answer, but, before leaving, he added, "I understand that all these revelations must be painful for you, O'Neill, but I also know you well and I believe you will do the right thing."
Jack felt tired. His anger was dissipating, but he still felt very tired. He tried to sleep but he could not stop thinking. He wanted to be mad at Daniel, but he had no reasons; he wanted to be mad at Sam, but he cared too much for her; and, at the bottom of his heart he was starting to feel relieved. He had been feeling a knot in the pit of his stomach every time he thought about going back to the married life. His first try had failed painfully and he was not sure anymore that he wanted to try again. Besides, having children, something Sam surely wanted, scared him above everything else.
Now, he was being offered an escape route and he was tempted to take it while making Sam and Daniel happy at the same time. After all, Sam had not betrayed him. She was willing to give up Daniel to keep her promise to him and he believed that, without Teal'c's intervention, he may not have ever known. It was not her fault that she loved one more than the other and, when he really thought about it, he could see how his two friends complemented each other much better than he would with Sam.
Daniel had not betrayed him either. He was not only suppressing his own feelings, but also taking care of all the tasks he should have been doing with Sam. If he had not been so unwilling to be part of his own wedding preparations, maybe Sam would have never realized what she felt for Daniel… or she would have realized later on, after they were married, and that would have been probably worse.
By the next morning, Jack was ready to give up Sam. The problem was that Daniel would never admit what he felt for her if that meant in any way harm Jack for his own benefit. Though he personally did not consider Daniel as perfect as many did, Jack knew him too well to have any doubts about it. In his value's hierarchy, friendship was pretty high. Consequently, what Jack needed before going to see Sam and taking her out of her misery, was a plan. A plan to trick Daniel into acknowledging his feelings for her.
Around noon, he had come up with a pretty good sketch of what to do. He was going to outsmart Daniel. He liked that word. The mere idea of outsmarting Daniel made him grin.
He drove to Sam's house to tell her what he had decided and to ask for some technical support. He found that Teal'c had brought her lunch and they were sharing it in her kitchen. Better; it was easier to talk with both at the same time.
Teal'c tried to leave them alone to talk, but Jack insisted that he stayed. He wanted him to tell Sam what he knew, so that she could see what had helped him make his decision. It was not that he did not want to marry her anymore; he just thought that she would be happier with Daniel.
Sam was stunned. She had never noticed any hints of Daniel's feelings. Jack surprised her even more when he laid out his plan. He emphasized that the important matter at that point was to get everything in place before the wedding. There was not much time left.
In the next days, they all cooperated to make it work. Luckily, Colorado does not require any tests before a marriage and that helped them. There is not a waiting period either, so Jack and Sam had not gotten a marriage license yet. Now, they needed to get one with Daniel's name, but telling him to get one would not help Jack's plan. He called Hank Landry, arranged for Daniel to be put on a short mission with another team and, then, during the week, he called Cameron Mitchell, explained the whole situation to him and asked him to apply for the license as Daniel. With a pair of glasses, he would not look that different.
Cam wondered if his friends had gone insane, but after almost two years in SG-1 he had realized that the team did not longer function with the rules that applied to the rest of the world. Who knew what had really happened in any of those missions they had shared off-world. He was pretty certain that not all the details were in the reports.
He promised to keep the secret and, with a death certificate of Sha're in hand, he went for the license with Sam.
Meanwhile, Sam talked to her brother, cited reasons of national security to keep the secret −it was her usual excuse and there was no time to change it− and arranged for new invitations to be printed overnight. She was very grateful that the she had left mailing the invitations as that week's task or she would not have been able to explain the changes to the guests.
The rest was much easier. Jack got a tuxedo for the groom and Daniel himself helped Sam get all the other details in place without knowing it was all for him.
The day of the wedding, Mark Carter got to the improvised chapel just in time to sit in the back with his family and smile at Sam as she walked by him with Jack. He did not know any of the people around him and he felt somehow relieved that the older gentleman had taken his place.
Jack guided Sam to her spot in front of the altar and then turned toward Daniel and stretched out his hand.
"Daniel," he said in an inviting tone and with a smile.
Daniel hesitated for a second before giving him the wedding rings he was keeping. At that time, Jack carefully grabbed Daniel's hand and pulled him towards Sam. Daniel complied with a confused expression that Jack hoped the priest did not understand. It had been hard enough to convince him that they could not have a priest in the rehearsal −more national security reasons− and now the groom looked as if he did not know what was going on.
As soon as Daniel was standing by Sam's side, Jack whispered, "She's all yours. You'd better make her happy, Spacemonkey."
Daniel turned to Sam, who was now holding his hand. She saw the question in his eyes and she leaned softly toward him as she said very quietly, "You told me once that in leap years, women could propose marriage to the men they loved. I know it's not leap year, but you're the man I love, so, would you marry me?"
She saw the light in his eyes and felt the soft squeeze in her hand. She did not need any more answers. Soon he was going to give the definite one. She turned around and faced the priest. They would probably have a long conversation later, but now she just had to enjoy the moment.
