He'd grown old very quickly.
At least it seemed that way.
Cassandra Fraiser found it hard to reconcile the frail figure with the vigorous man she'd once known. Recent weeks had seen the flesh melt from his bones as the cancer ran its terrible, inevitable course.
Of course he'd never been quite the same in recent years. Retirement had been hard without anyone to share it. He was nothing more than a lonely old man.
'Are you sure about this?'
Daniel Jackson's bald head shone in the reflected glare of the open Stargate. Cassie barely remembered what he'd looked like with hair.
Jack O'Neill ignored the other man's words and levered himself up out of the wheel chair. Ever faithful, Walter Harriman moved to help but Jack slapped his hands away.
'The Hammond disappeared. We have no evidence that…'
Ignoring his friend, shuffling one foot in front of the other, Jack started up the ramp. Painful to watch, but they owed him that much. The whole damn planet did. Cassie felt the tears streaming down her cheeks. It shouldn't have ended this way. He deserved a happily ever after.
They all knew why he was doing this. His hope, his belief was giving him the strength to make this final journey. The woman he wanted to see again, just once, still bright in his memory though she had faded from public consciousness a decade ago.
Cassie felt Daniel's hand in hers and she held it tight. She forced herself to watch as Jack O'Neill stepped through the Stargate for the last time.
/\
The found him three klicks from the 'gate, resting by a lake. How he had got that far on his own no one could ever decide. The planet was deserted, as far as anyone could tell, just trees and flowers. An orange sun shone warmly down from the bluest of skies. Paradise.
They carried the body back to the SGC. But Cassandra didn't have the heart to remove the dog tags from his fist or the narcissi from his hair.