Last Chance
Chapter 1
Jack thought that this might be his last chance, one last mission off world before he threw in the towel. His knees and back had been killing him lately and the meds he had been on were being taken off the market. He wasn't sure whether he should keep the stash he had at home or flush them. Some fool thought that all his trips through the sarcophagus had fix the wear and tear on his body but that just wasn't true. The sarcophagus healed the new injuries but the old scar tissue was unaffected. He probably should have had Ba'al have a go at his knees. In fact the damned thing did more harm than good. He wasn't quite sure his mind hadn't been affected or maybe it was just old age creeping up on him. Dark and depressing thought kept seeping into his mind. He also wasn't as patient as he used to be. Of course he never did suffer fools or long winded scientists gladly. And all these hours sitting on his ass at the desk pushing paper and on the phone with politicians and bureaucrats, who liked to hear themselves talk, surely wasn't doing him any good. There was no time to exercise and a steady diet of coffee and bile did wonders to his digestion. It was probably time to throw in the towel but what poor sap would have this shit storm land in his lap. After Bauer, Jack insisted that he and Hammond would have some input into the selection of the next CO at the SGC. Jack couldn't think of anyone he trusted that he hated that much. And so here he sat thinking, that at one time, he had all the time in the world, the error of the young and foolish. You turn around twice and you're looking at the downward slope into oblivion and no one to hold your hand. Hell he felt as though someone had greased the shoot and given him a good shove.
Jack stood up from his desk and stretched, knees popping, back cracking and a nice satisfying crunch from his neck. It was time to wander home for a few hours of sleep. When he lay down at night every ache and pain that he was too busy to acknowledge during the day, made sure they got noticed. Maybe he should just take his chances, so these pills killed a few people, big deal. It kept him from whining about the pain, especially since there was no one to whine to.