Intermission – The Wedding

Author's note: The story continues … this is an intermission between Seasons 8 and 9. It's almost a tag for the first half of Season 9 Episode 1, but as I'm doing a separate tag for the start of Season 9, I'm calling this an intermission. Tags for Seasons 9 and 10 to follow from this point onwards.

Jack climbed the steps of his rented brownstone townhouse in Washington DC, fumbled the key as he let himself in, hung his uniform jacket messily on the stair banister, and flopped bonelessly onto the couch.

God, I hate this job.

He hated the politics, he hated the responsibility, he hated the politics, he hated being so far away from Carter and all the people he cared about, and did he mention he hated the politics?

Some days he had to have a hard look in the mirror and remind himself sternly of the many valid reasons Carter had given for why he should take this post, not least of which was the freedom to be with the ineffable Sam Carter herself. Today was one such day.

It was a Wednesday, and the weekend and Carter's pre-booked flight from Nevada seemed like an age away. He looked at his watch – she wouldn't be out of work yet, when you factored in the time difference, and her inability to ever leave on time. No point calling yet.

He could call Daniel, but he suspected after his call to the archaeologist yesterday that his regular after-work calls were starting to get annoying. He'd been accused – rather unfairly, he thought – of using Daniel as a stand-in for Sam while he waited for her to get out of work at Groom Lake. Couldn't a guy call his best friend without ulterior motives? Honestly.

Instead, he pulled out his cell and started composing a ridiculously lengthy text message, for Sam to read when she got out of work. He started with a joke about the pencil-pushing blow-hard politician du jour, and then a comment about how much better she would have been than him at dealing with today's nonsensical political crisis, and then a – hopefully not sappy – comment about how much he was looking forward to Friday …

… and then he erased the whole thing, and replaced it with three words, and hit send.

He settled back on the couch and turned on the TV grinning. He kept his cell close – it would ring in a couple of hours.

Sam climbed the steps of her apartment building in Nevada, fumbled the key as she let herself in, hung her uniform jacket neatly on the hanger by the door, and flopped bonelessly onto the couch.

God, I hate this job.

She was pretty sure she didn't hate her job half as much as Jack hated his, but still. She missed her team. She missed the familiar corridors and personnel of the SGC. It was also taking some getting used to, spending so much time dealing with the bureaucracy of a command post rather than diving into the science and getting her hands dirty. And most of all, she missed Jack.

Some days she had to have a hard look in the mirror and remind herself sternly that while she may miss him terribly, living on opposite sides of the country but being together was preferable to living ten minutes away and being forced to stay apart. Today was one such day.

She pulled out her cell, and checked her messages. There was usually one from Jack, but today she had several, and worked through them in turn, saving Jack's till last.

First was a message from Cassie …

10:41 Cassandra:

Dinner 2moro at ur place? Need algebra help. Love u

18:42 Sam:

Absolutely. 19.30? Chinese or pizza? Love you too

Then, annoyingly, yet another entreaty from the inordinately persistent Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell …

11:59 Cam Mitchell:

Come back. Please. The guy I just interviewed for an SG-1 position had no personality at all. Literally, none. I'm losing my mind with this bullshit.

18:43 Sam:

Have a little patience, you'll find good people. You got that list of recommendations I sent you, right?

Then Daniel …

14:15 Daniel:

Three weeks today!

18:43 Sam:

God, don't. I'm going to miss you sooo much. BTW, please would you tell Mitchell to stop bugging me to rejoin SG1?

She got an immediate response to that one.

18:44 Daniel:

No point. He won't stop bugging me either, and he knows how excited I am to go. 3 weeks!

She chuckled and finally moved down to Jack's text.

16:32 Jack:

Let's get married.

Her jaw dropped.

Sam looked at the ring glittering on her left hand, the blue stone almost matching her uniform. They'd been engaged since the beginning of their officially sanctioned relationship, but the subject of when they'd marry hadn't yet come up. They'd been together only a short while, especially if you only counted the number of days they'd spent in the same geographical location, and they were still getting the hang of the transition from CO and 2IC to fiancé and fiancée. She still occasionally called him sir at wildly inappropriate moments, much to Jack's amusement. He used 'Sam' and 'Carter' pretty much interchangeably, but she couldn't bring herself to mind about that.

She pressed the call button, and waited tensely for the couple of seconds it took to connect. It didn't even get through one ring before he answered.

"Two hours and thirteen minutes. That's a hell of a long time to keep a guy hanging after he proposes, you know, Carter." He said chidingly by way of greeting.

"You know perfectly well I don't check my messages until I get home. And you proposed six weeks ago, if you recall."

"Mmm, I definitely recall." He said with a fond tone of reminiscence. "That was a fun night."

Sam smiled. Personally, she considered it to be the best night of her adult life, but she wouldn't say it aloud – that might put pressure on Jack to reciprocate, and as he had in the past both been married and a father … she figured their first night together probably only made his top five, at best. She wasn't jealous, it was just the way it was.

"So what exactly did you mean by 'Let's get married'?" She asked.

"You know … white gown, exchange of rings, vows, justice of the peace …"

"You mean set a date?"

"Well, yeah. How about Saturday?"

Sam blanched. "This Saturday?" She squeaked.

"What do you think?"

"I think you've lost your mind."

"What's wrong with Saturday?" Jack griped.

"Where do I start?" She said, exasperated. "We can't get married in DC with three days notice, and our guests would need more notice than that, and I don't have time to go shopping for wedding stuff between now and my flight on Friday even if it was possible …"

"Alright, fine. So not this Saturday. But can we try and do it before Daniel leaves with the Daedalus?"

Sam sighed a little at the reminder of her friend's imminent departure. They'd already lost Teal'c to the Free Jaffa. To have Daniel leaving as well for an entirely different galaxy was almost too much to bear.

"Yeah, let's do it." She said softly.

"Really?" Jack sounded a little surprised.

"You're right, Daniel should be there. In Colorado Springs?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes most sense. No waiting period for the marriage license, and it's local for Daniel and Teal'c … if you discount the several thousand light-years between Dakara and Earth."

"Right." She chuckled.

"So … weekend after next?"

Sam thought for a long moment. She could probably finagle a day off between then and now to go dress shopping with Cassie. And if they weren't too picky about the venue …

"Alright, you're on."

"How romantic, Carter." Jack said sarcastically.

She laughed.

Sam wrapped her coat around her body tightly as she got off the plane at Dulles. It was cooler here than it had been at Groom Lake. She swung her carry-on over her shoulder and made her way to the terminal, keeping an eye out for Jack. He didn't always manage to meet her at the airport, but given that they'd started planning their imminent wedding since last they saw each other …

There he was. He was out of uniform – as was she – and jogging towards her with the biggest grin on his face. God, he looked like a dream.

As he reached her she dropped her bag and flung her arms round his neck, kissing him enthusiastically. Someone nearby catcalled. She couldn't bring herself to care.

"Hey you." He said when they eventually parted.

"Hey yourself." She said, grinning.

She picked up her bag again, resisting his attempts to take it for her, and they headed out to his sensible sedan side by side. She wondered idly if he missed his truck as much as she missed her Indian, tucked away in storage in Colorado.

"I gather you told Cassie?" Jack said as they got into the car.

"Last night over dinner. We're going shopping for wedding things on Monday."

"She called me today. I didn't know it was possible for a human girl to reach that pitch with her voice." He said as he pulled the car out of the parking lot.

"She's pretty excited." Sam chuckled.

"How's she doing, generally?" Jack asked seriously.

Sam frowned. "Better. She's made a few new friends on her course, I think that's helping. And she's no longer failing algebra."

"Thanks to your excellent tutoring skills, no doubt."

"She has been working really hard." Sam said with a smile. "I'm very proud of her."

"I can't wait to see her next weekend." Jack said honestly. "And the guys."

"Me too. Have we heard back from Teal'c yet?"

"Yup, he and Bra'tac are coming. Rya'c can't make it."

"That's a shame. And General –"

"Hammond says he wouldn't miss it for the world." Jack said with an indulgent smile.

Sam grinned. "Jonas?"

"Also coming. What about your brother and his family?" Jack asked after a moment.

Sam sighed. "Mark griped a lot about it being so last minute and not having even met you yet, but he's agreed to come. He'll be alone though, Carol and the kids can't make it. Something about a dance recital."

Jack glanced at her, before returning his eyes to the road. "Have you decided whether you're going to ask him to give you away? If not, you know Hammond would be honoured to do it."

Sam sighed. Her conversation with Mark hadn't ended with them on the best of terms, but she knew her brother would be hurt if she asked anyone else to perform that role, even if she did consider General George Hammond to be an honorary uncle.

"You know what? I'm not going to ask anyone. This is the 21st century, no one owns me, no one is giving me to you … I'm walking up the aisle with Cassie, and that's it."

Jack gave her a lopsided smile. "Fair enough."

Sam bit her lip for a moment. "Are we crazy to do this so fast?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't think so." Jack said honestly. "We've been waiting for this for a long time, Sam."

"I know, but we've only been 'together' for a short time, and we don't even live with each other …"

"Hey, if we had jobs in the same state, we would." Jack countered. He frowned at her. "Are you actually worried about this, or are you just over-thinking?"

"Probably just over-thinking." Sam admitted. "I want to marry you. I do. I just want to make sure we get it right, and that we don't sabotage ourselves by rushing anything."

Jack tapped the steering wheel in a tense pattern as he waited at a red light. "Carter … if you want to wait longer, it's ok."

Sam shook her head vigorously. "No, I don't think … I'm not saying I don't want to do it next weekend. I just wanted to talk about it, that's all."

"Well, for what it's worth, I don't think we're rushing the important stuff. We're rushing the ceremony arrangements, yes, but on a personal level I've been ready to marry you for a really long time."

Sam smiled. "Me too."

"And …" He hesitated, wincing.

"And …?" She prompted.

"You know that stupid thing I did with the puddle jumper?"

"You mean that stupid thing you did where you unilaterally decided to time travel again with my second-most important R&D project?" She narrowed her eyes.

Jack looked sheepish. "Yeah, that."

"What about it?"

"I saw our wedding photo again, at Beth's house."

Sam gasped. "Jack …"

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have looked. But … we looked exactly like we do right now. Even your hair was the same length. I think it's supposed to happen now."

Sam nodded. "Just don't tell me what my dress looks like. It would really take the fun out of my shopping trip with Cassie."

Jack smirked. "Women."

Sam swatted him, and because she was Sam Carter, she did it with some force.

"Ow! Geez, Carter!"

"What were you saying about women, Jack?"

"Nothing, dearest." He said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Damn straight." She smirked.

Sam smoothed the white fabric over her slim waist as she twisted to see her reflection in the mirror. Cassie's enthusiasm for this outing was infectious, but the truth was Sam had never been very good at the girly clothes shopping routine.

"It's too … frumpy." Cassie commented over her shoulder.

Sam squinted at her reflection. "You think?"

"You need something sexier. Try this one instead." Cassie thrust an armful of poofy white softness at her as Sam gaped at her god-daughter's casual use of the word 'sexier'. Yikes.

"Go on." Cassie chivvied her.

"Yes ma'am." Sam saluted cheekily, and Cassie stuck out her tongue. She was still wearing the simple purple gown she'd picked out for her bridesmaid dress. Sam was very happy with the selection – it was young, but not too revealing, and classy. It made Cassie look beautiful. Janet would be so proud.

Her eyes misted up at that thought, and she looked heavenwards in the changing room, blinking rapidly. Cassie must not see her cry over thoughts of Janet today.

She stripped out of the 'frumpy' dress, and slipped into the 'sexier' selection.

Oh boy.

Nope.

She took it off again without even bothering to model it for Cassie. "I'm not wearing this one Cass. What's next?"

"Can't I at least see …?"

"No."

She heard Cassie sigh, and then she was passed another through the curtain. "Try this."

Sam slipped into it, fanning herself as she did. It was so damn hot in the changing room, and it felt like they'd been at this for hours.

The satin fell smoothly over her, and she cocked her head at her reflection. It was hard to tell for sure before it was done up in the back, something she couldn't do herself unfortunately, but this one actually looked very pretty …

"Can you do me up at the back?" Sam asked, exiting the changing cubicle.

Cassie went to work on the ribbon corset ties at the back, pulling tight with expert fingers. Sam watched her reflection in the full length mirror contemplatively as the dress took shape around her torso.

"Oh wow, Sam, I love it." Cassie breathed, moving around in front of her and brushing the material into place at her waist and hips.

"You think we have a winner?" Sam asked.

"You look beautiful. Jack's not going to know what hit him." Cassie said earnestly, and Sam smiled fondly, tucking a strand of Cassie's hair behind her ear.

"Thanks honey."

"Do you like it?"

Sam took another long look in the mirror. The skirt wasn't too poofy, it wasn't smothered in embroidery and beads, the neckline wasn't too low, but wasn't too high to hide her natural curves. It was elegant – simple, but beautiful. She loved it.

"I'm sold."

"Yes!" Cassie squealed. "Ok, get changed and we'll go pay. Oh, and we still need to buy you a veil."

"I'm not wearing a veil."

"Sam …" Cassie whined.

"Flowers next."

"Fine." The teenager sulked, and Sam kissed her forehead affectionately. They might not have Janet, and Sam felt a familiar, dull ache for the absence of her own mother, but she was grateful beyond words to be able to share this with Cassie.

Daniel bounced on the balls of his feet as he stood at the bottom of the ramp, watching as the wormhole opened. The iris slid open a moment later, and through the stargate walked Teal'c and Bra'tac, right on time.

"Welcome back." He said, exchanging a forearm grip and pat on the back with Teal'c.

"It is good to see you, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c responded warmly.

"Bra'tac." Daniel greeted the old jaffa, who bowed his head in greeting.

"It is a joyous occasion indeed." Bra'tac said with a smile. Daniel's eyes widened and he put a hand up in warning.

"Let's go get the medical checks over with." He said, leading the pair out of the gate room, and away from prying eyes and ears.

Bra'tac looked confused, but followed Daniel silently with Teal'c.

In the elevator, Daniel embarked on explaining as quickly as he could about the need for discretion.

"Bra'tac, as far as anyone at the SGC knows, you're here just for a social call with the former members of SG-1. No one here knows about the wedding."

"I do not understand, why would such a thing be secret?"

"The Tau'ri military has strict rules about personal relationships between officers, and many in the upper echelons of power hold antiquated attitudes towards female officers in particular. If news of O'Neill and Colonel Carter's marriage were to become public knowledge, it may do harm to Colonel Carter's career and reputation." Teal'c explained.

"It's not that they're breaking any rules," Daniel was quick to add, "they have permission from the leader of our country who is the commander-in-chief of the military … but, if people knew …"

"I do not understand your people's ways, Dr Jackson. Colonel Carter is a great and formidable warrior and her skills would certainly not be lessened by marriage, especially to as worthy a match as O'Neill." Bra'tac said. "But, I will help you keep the secret, if that is what is best for Colonel Carter."

"Thank you." Daniel let out a breath of relief. "I appreciate it."

They exited the elevator, and headed for the infirmary.

"Teal'c!" Jonas Quinn hopped off a gurney, to the annoyance of the nurse who was about to draw blood, and clapped Teal'c's upper arm enthusiastically. "It's good to see you again."

"It is good to see you too, my friend. It has been some time."

"Mr Quinn?" The nurse called, and Jonas looked ruefully at the three of them.

"We'll catch up later?"

"Indeed."

An hour later, Daniel and Teal'c had coaxed Bra'tac into exchanging his jaffa robes for a simple suit, and the four of them headed out of the mountain.

Teal'c drove, Bra'tac sitting up front next to him as his former student offered commentary on the sights and sounds of planet Earth outside of Cheyenne Mountain. Jonas sat next to Daniel in the back, grinning as he looked out the window.

"Did you miss it?" Daniel asked.

"Oh yeah." Jonas said, nodding. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Kelowna and it's great being home, but the year I spent on Earth was great."

"What do you miss most?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Bananas." Jonas said immediately, without even thinking about it.

Daniel blinked and tried not to laugh. "Ba … bananas? Really?"

"There's nothing like them on Langara, at all." Jonas explained.

"Ok." To each his own, I suppose.

After a short drive they pulled up outside a secluded hotel, and Jack met them at the door, greeting them all with enthusiasm, and accepting the congratulations deferentially.

"Nice job getting Bra'tac to wear the suit." Jack whispered to Daniel as he led them through the building.

"Teal'c should get most of the credit for that. And it wasn't easy, I can tell you."

"I bet."

Jack led them outside to a small lake, beside which was a cosy setup of a couple of rows of chairs, a podium, and a wedding arch. The officiator was sat behind the podium, going through his notes, and General Hammond rose from his seat to greet them. Mark Carter, who Daniel recognised from Jacob's funeral, was introduced to them more formally.

Daniel – as best man – positioned himself at Jack's side, as they all gravitated towards the seats.

"Is she ready?" He asked.

Jack cocked his head at him. "How would I know? I'm out here with you."

"I thought maybe Cassie might have passed a message or something … I mean, we did arrive five minutes late, technically. So she should be ready, right?"

"It's women and weddings, Daniel. Who the hell knows?"

He sounded tense, and Daniel grinned, patting Jack's shoulder affectionately. "Relax, Jack. You're marrying Sam, not storming a Goa'uld mothership."

"Easy for you to say." Jack muttered. Daniel thought it was rather adorable, that after all this time and all their collective history, Sam still had this affect on his best friend.

A lone violinist abruptly began to play, and Daniel – along with the small group of guests – all turned to see Cassie walk out of the building behind them, beaming, beautiful in her purple bridesmaid's dress, walking slowly down the aisle and then turning to watch as Sam followed.

"Wow." Daniel said. He was pretty sure Jack had stopped breathing. Sam looked incredible, and he felt a brief and shameful pang of jealousy towards Jack, before squashing it sternly.

Sam smiled shyly at the group of them, and then locked eyes with Jack, and it was if the rest of them ceased to exist. Daniel had to admit, he had been concerned when the pair had announced their intention to get married less than two months after the start of their relationship, for all that he selfishly wanted them to do it before his departure next week for Atlantis and the Pegasus galaxy, so he could be present. But, Jack and Sam had convinced him that this was right for them, and watching the way they were looking at each other now, he believed it.

The wedding ceremony was short and sweet, and the group clapped and cheered as the officiator declared them husband and wife, prompting Jack to take Sam in his arms and dip her for a scorching kiss.

"Alright flyboy, let me up." Sam chuckled when Jack had finished, and he righted her with a cocky grin.

The nine of them shared a meal together around one large round table in the hotel afterwards, a gloriously happy few hours that Daniel knew he would remember fondly for the rest of his life.

Sam laid her garment bag containing her wedding dress in the back of her car, and headed back to the hotel to finish off the reception and say goodbye to everyone in the much less cumbersome cocktail dress Cassie had helped her pick out.

She'd left the room with everyone still seated at the table, relaxed and chatting happily. As she re-entered the room however, the atmosphere had changed. Jack was sitting with his back to the table, and Hammond, Daniel, Teal'c, and Jonas were standing directly in front of him. Cassie, Mark, and Bra'tac stood off to one side, watching with bemused expressions. Jack raised an eyebrow at her and patted the seat beside him.

"Apparently there's a surprise." He said.

She frowned and perched nervously on the seat next to him, looking at the four standing in front of them. Hammond and Teal'c had excellent poker faces, but Daniel looked fit to burst and Jonas was grinning openly.

"We arranged a little wedding gift for you." Daniel said.

"It was General Hammond's idea, Daniel and Teal'c worked out the details, and I did the legwork contacting … well, I did some organising." Jonas explained.

"George? Care to share?" Jack prompted, as the younger men didn't seem inclined to elaborate.

"I knew getting concurrent blocks of leave was going to be difficult for you, especially given the short notice and the need for discretion, so I figured you probably weren't planning on going on a honeymoon immediately." Hammond started.

"No, it wasn't really going to work …" Jack agreed.

"So, Dr Jackson, Teal'c, Mr Quinn and myself made some arrangements for you."

"I don't understand sir, you arranged us some leave?" Sam asked.

"Not exactly." Hammond said, and nodded to Daniel to continue the explanation.

"Early tomorrow morning, Thor is going to request that the two of you go with him to provide some urgent assistance in an advisory capacity to the Asgard high council. He'll beam you up onto his ship, and then drop you off on P5R 881. He'll leave you there for a couple of weeks, and then bring you home." Daniel said, grinning widely.

Sam gasped.

"P5R 881 …" Jack repeated blankly. He looked to Sam. "Help me out here, Carter."

"SG-8 visited it a year ago. It's a peaceful, relatively advanced human settlement … SG-8 described it as –"

"The Swiss spa planet … lakes, mountains, excellent hospitality … is that the one?"

"Yup." Daniel asked.

"Wow. Guys, I don't know what to say." Jack said honestly. "Thank you."

"God knows the two of you deserve a break." Hammond said warmly. "And this gives you some cover."

Sam stood and hugged him. "Thank you sir."

"You're very welcome Sam."

She hugged her ex-teammates too, kissing each of them on the cheek.

They looked at Jack. "I'm not kissing you, so don't get any ideas." He quipped. "But thanks." He clapped Teal'c and Jonas on the shoulder, one with each hand, and then gave Daniel a brief, rough hug.

The evening was over. Daniel drove the alien contingent back to the SGC, Mark, Cassie and General Hammond headed for the airport, and Sam and Jack were left alone at the hotel.

The next morning, at barely 0500, Sam and Jack found themselves beamed unceremoniously into the SGC briefing room (Sam thanked God she'd had the foresight to wear some respectably conservative pyjamas just in case Thor did something like this). Thor informed General Landry in his best commanding tone that he required General O'Neill and Colonel Carter's assistance for the next 15 days. A surprisingly detailed and convincing lie about the nature of the assistance required came out of the little Asgard's mouth, leaving the Generals Landry and O'Neill no choice but to agree. Not that Jack had had any intention of arguing, of course.

Thor returned them briefly to their homes to change clothes and pack bags, and then they held hands on the bridge of the Teal'c – Thor's latest ship – on their way to P5R 881, for two weeks of paradise.