Jack was sitting in his chair, attempting to complete some rather urgent paperwork, when someone knocked on the door of his office.

"Come in."

Carter's blonde head poked around the door. She smiled at him and entered, closing the door behind her. Her hands were behind her back.

"Jack," she said, eyes shining.

"What can I do you for?" he asked, scoring out a sentence he wasn't happy with and replacing it with a better one.

She bought her arms around in front of her to display the two cups of jello. He regarded them curiously for a moment and she felt moved to speak. "You never call round my lab anymore," she explained, her tone slightly reproachful, "So I thought I'd bring you something."

"Thanks," he said after an momentary awkward silence. He took the cup from her, being careful not to brush her fingers with his own. "Sorry. I've just been busy lately and-" It was a complete lie, of course. He'd been avoiding her lab with an almost religious fervor since her engagement.

"It's okay Jack. I know you've had a lot to deal with lately," she interrupted him gently, handing him a spoon.

Again, her statement was double-edged. His workload at the SGC had certainly increased, but he had the distinct feeling that wasn't what she was referring to. He nodded. "How are things going?" he asked, amazed to find discussing her wedding could be this unpainful.

"It's... frenetic," she confessed, her face lighting up again, "There's so much to organise."

He frowned slightly. "Should I be fulfilling a bridesmaidal duty and helping with this?" he asked, digging into the jello with the spoon and putting the overloaded spoonful into his mouth,

She blushed slightly. "I thought you'd forgotten that."

He found he was grinning lopsidedly. "How could I forget? I've never been a bridesmaid before. If you want any help, you can give me a ring. I think Sarah's still got half the numbers for things from when we got married, I could give her a call if you want...?"

"That's very kind of you, Jack," she managed, turning to her own jello.

His smile went slightly sad for a moment. "That's what friends are for."

She met his eyes quickly. "Friends." It was a statement, rather than a question, and there was something in her voice he couldn't identify.

"We are friends now, aren't we?" he asked, softly. She found looking away difficult, his hazel gaze softening and an almost boyish look of vulnerability claiming his face.

"Course we are."

He smiled again, the ghostly, saddened smile. "Good."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, no," he pleaded desperately. "Please, no. I will look outrageously homosexual."

Carter and Cassie were too overcome with laughter to speak. Daniel, already dressed in the offending outfit, spoke instead.

"Come on Jack. If Teal'c will agree to wear one, you have to as well. This is what being a bridesmaid is all about."

"Carter said no dresses!"

"It's not a dress!" Cassie, still snorting with laughter, replied indignantly.

"No, it's worse!"

Carter regained enough composure to speak. "Jack, if you really don't want to, you don't have to."

He met her laughing eyes and swore very loudly in the confines of his own head. Because he was going to leave the house wearing this ridiculous costume, and he was going to do it because even now he couldn't bear to back out when Carter told him he didn't have to do something.

"Why are you having this hen party now, three weeks before your wedding, anyway?" he grumbled, but it was the moan of the defeated.

"Because Pete's having his stag night tonight and something will happen to him and I think three weeks gives us plenty of time to sort out anything stupid that occurs tonight," Carter answered levelly.

Jack sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll go and change."

He emerged from the bathroom three minutes later, now dressed as the rest of them were in the 'official' hen night party gear ordered by Cassie (who, being too young to legally drink, was going to act as their designated driver and ferry them from place to place on their night out).

The tee shirt, designed to be worn by a woman, was ridiculously tight across his chest and exposing rather more of his lower stomach than he would have liked. It was white and had 'Bride's Best Friend' emblazoned across the back; identical to Daniel's, and presumably Teal'c's when he finally arrived. On the front there was an image of a notepad across which was written a check list. He gave Daniel's list a cursory scan.

Dares for the big night!! Tick box when completed!!

Snog a bald man!! Get your underwear signed by a footballer!! Drink the most expensive cocktail available!! Get a fit bloke to sign your bra in lipstick!!

It continued in the same vein right down to number twenty seven (lick kebab sauce from a stranger's navel!!). He shook his head, still wondering why the hell he was doing this, and the plastic, flashing deely-boppers (in the shape of a particular part of the male anatomy) he was wearing swayed slightly from side to side on their springs.

The doorbell rang and Cassie ran to open it. Teal'c stood, resplendent in his hen night finery, on Carter's doorstep. O'Neill had to concede that he didn't look the most ridiculous out of the three men. Teal'c bowed his head and the deely-boppers waved obscenely.

"Samantha. Only my deepest respect for you has allowed me to leave my home dressed like this."

Carter hugged him, still deeply amused. "Thanks Teal'c."

"Smile for the camera!" Cassie announced suddenly, producing one from her handbag.

"No!"

"No."

"No pictures."

She smiled sweetly. "Oh come on guys. Just one picture?"

The flash preceded their answers and O'Neill realised the chance of this particular photograph making its way to the SGC was probably fairly high, and resolved to steal the camera at first opportunity, develop the pictures himself and remove any offending ones. Although, of course, the people at the processing shop would still get to see them and know it was him when he came to pick them up... perhaps he could convince Daniel to do it...