The Toast by Mandarax

Rated K

Summary – It's always the best man's place to give the toast, isn't it?

Author's note – The first line that Daniel actually says popped into my head while I was walking my dog and from there it just wrote itself. Extra fluff for all around.

Spoilers – pretty much all major JackSam ship episodes….

***

Daniel stood up and tapped a teaspoon on his champagne flute gently.

The attention of nearly everyone in the room turned to him. He cleared his throat.

"Sam and Jack had been in a relationship for years before they were actually in a relationship."

That ought to get everyone's attention he knew.

It did.

He went on. "It started out as hero worship on Sam's side. He was a colonel, she was a captain. He was black ops, she was a scientist. He didn't like scientists, and she had to prove herself. Pretty soon she did just that and some very classified details later, he wasn't the only hero anymore."

There was laughter in the room.

"'It' grew from hero worship to friendly affection. He was still her CO, but now they were friends. Sam kept telling herself 'it' was just how you felt towards a person you worked so closely with. It never occurred to her that she didn't feel 'it' towards anyone else on the team."

"Indeed," Teal'c acknowledged.

Sam was shaking her head and laughing, and blushing quite deeply.

"And so you don't think I'm just out to get Sam here, let's turn our attention to Jack."

The crowd cheered.

"Jack is not a blind man. He may not like scientists, but she was no regular egghead. That day she walked into the briefing room, I'm told, she turned heads. His head in particular. But she was young and he was old, she was smart and he played dumb. She was looking good in blues, and he… Well, if you ask her, she'll say he did too, but he wasn't so sure."

There were cat-calls in the room.

"Pretty soon Jack learned that she's an Air Force officer and not just a Doctor, and even though her reproductive organs aren't on the outside, she's just as good as him. We went on a mission, insert very classified details here, we came back and she was Carter and he was Sir and all was well in the world."

Laugher filled the room again.

"Sam should have realized 'it' might be a little more than just friendly affection when Jack went MIA for three months. She worked harder than we'd ever seen her work on some extra classified doohickeys, to get him back. She didn't sleep, she didn't eat, she didn't drink. By then, the rest of us, that is, Teal'c, Janet and I knew that 'it' was much more complicated."

"You weren't the only ones!" Someone called from the back.

Daniel smiled. "I'm getting to that."

"Betting pools were created to see where 'it' would lead, happen, take place, or evolve to. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. By then Sam wasn't the only one hiding an 'it', and what Jack thought was just attraction to a very beautiful woman grew into caring for her a lot more than he was supposed to."

"You weren't even there!" Jack yelled from his table, laughing.

"I have sources." Daniel grinned.

Jack went on, "And for the record it still is attraction to a very beautiful woman!"

Everyone chuckled.

"And after that little moment of truth at the lie detector, and in a fit of yet again very classified material, Jack managed to kiss Sam quite thoroughly in a very public place on base, despite the decision to keep it in the room."

There were awws all across the room.

"And before anyone jumps up and decides to take our groom to the jail cell he very much belongs in, I will add that he did resign his commission before actually dipping her and kissing her."

"Teal'c, you traitor!"

Laughter rumbled in the room again.

Daniel smiled warmly at his friends. "For the next couple of years, Jack and Sam kept 'it' an 'it'. They felt feelings. They kept them bottled up. They didn't talk about 'it' or them. They did their jobs. She sprouted science at him, and he made bad jokes. And we watched all the unresolved sexual tension from the sidelines. The betting pools almost completely stopped by then."

"Awww poor SGC!"

"And then Sam met Pete…" Daniel exhaled, nodding slowly, and enjoying every bit of his little act. "There was humming in elevators then. And we knew things were about to get interesting again. 'It' had returned with a bang, but without much of a change. Now Jack was a general, and Sam was a Colonel, but they were still Carter and Sir, and there wasn't anything that was going to change 'it', though, if you'll allow me, I'll let you in on a little secret - there had been a few stray 'Jacks' on the way. And those kept the rest of us on the edge of our seats."

Everyone laughed again.

"What Sam doesn't know is that after she told Jack Pete had proposed, he spent the night drinking himself into a stupor with yours truly and the big one over there," Daniel pointed to Teal'c.

"Sam knows!" Sam called out.

"My mistake, then." Daniel chuckled. "We tried to convince him to do the right thing, but Jack, though never a stickler to the rules, decided not to get her in trouble and let her have her happily ever after. And he started dating Kerry."

"Revenge is a dish best served hot. Real hot." Someone who sounded a lot like Walter called and everyone laughed.

"But Kerry got the picture really fast and split before she could get all tangled up with 'it'. Now, I can't get into all the details of what happened next, because you know, it's all classified stuff, but Carter Senior showed up and shook up Sam real good. And when the other shoe dropped, everyone at the SGC heard it. The bets were on again."

Woohoos were heard.

"Sam sent Pete on his merry way back to Denver, and we all took a nice little break from our existence at Jack's cabin up in Minnesota. For the first time in eight years things started looking their way. Jack was Jack, Sam was Sam, and 'it' had been let out of that damned room. I could go into details, these are not classified, but I think I've embarrassed Sam enough for one night."

"Thank you, really," Sam rolled her eyes.

"You're welcome." Daniel chuckled. "Now, the following two years were spent either in Colorado Springs or Washington DC, stolen weekends, shorter weeks, surprise visits, many of which I can't go into once again, because they're classified, and not just because of their personal nature."

A chuckle crossed the room.

"But eventually our dear groomsmen found his footing and took our dear grooms bride up that cabin and proposed to her, right after he told her he was retiring, which leads us up to this moment."

A gasp from the audience made Daniel grin. "Was I not supposed to tell?"

Jack feigned annoyance with his best man.

Daniel lifted his champagne flute and held it up towards Jack and Sam, a few tables away. Everyone followed suit.

"So, Jack and Sam." Daniel's expression turned serious. "We watched you struggle for eight years. We held our fingers and our breath for you two to pull through. We watched you mourn together, be happy together. We watched you argue and we watched you make up, though not quite the way we wanted you to. We watched you go through good and bad together, and we always knew that together you would be an even stronger force of nature. It took eight years for you reach that place because of circumstances. Now I wish you an eternity together, to make up for all those years. I am one of few privileged ones who really know how much you deserve it."

"TO SAM AND JACK!"

The room filled with 'here here's, and the sound of clanging glasses. Daniel lifted the champagne again, tipping it at his friends' direction before lowering it to his lips and sipping away.