Sticks and Stones - Chapter 24 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
A great deal of alcohol was consumed by the human contingent at the barbeque. Teal'c insisted on taking over the cooking as he told Jack, "O'Neill, you are clearly too inebriated to be safely operating the cooking device at this time."
Jack took one look at the sombre man and chuckled drunkenly. He handed to tongs to Teal'c and staggered over to drop down in the chair next to Sam's.
"You know, T? He's no fun," he told her seriously.
Looking at him fondly, she replied, "He's just looking out for you."
"More time for me to look out for you," the tipsy Colonel answered, grabbing her hand and kissing from her palm, all the way up to her elbow.
Sam dissolved in a fit of giggles at this and playfully slapped him away. Teal'c chose this moment to appear with the, now cooked, steaks.
He gently pushed Jack to a sitting position at the back of his chair and placed a plate on the other man's knee. When he turned to do the same to Sam he found that she'd already sat up neatly and was waiting for him to pass her plate of steak and salad.
He handed it to her and, with a small bow, walked back to the grill to retrieve his own meal.
#
By the time everyone had eaten their fill, Jack and Sam had sobered up considerably. Jack announced a last toast to Daniel, which was held with large mugs of strong coffee.
The three friends held their mugs to the sky in a salute to their fallen comrade.
Jack sent up a silent message to the stars, "Daniel, wherever you are, I hope you approve of the arrangements that we made this morning. I'd like to think you'd have been happy for us." Then silently repeated his personal prayer to Daniel. "Goodbye Daniel, my friend…my best friend. You will never be forgotten."
#
The three tidied away the remains of their meal and went inside where they took turns using the bathroom.
Jack caught Sam at her bedroom door and the pair shared a long, lingering goodnight kiss before they separated for the night.
Jack waited until Sam had closed her bedroom door before he did a last check of all the external doors and windows. He nodded to Teal'c who was preparing for Kel'no'reem near the fireplace in the sitting room.
The Jaffa bid him a quiet 'Goodnight O'Neill' and the silver haired man walked slowly to his room where he stripped down to his T-shirt and boxers. He climbed into bed and settled down to a peaceful nights sleep filled with many pleasant dreams.