Jack O'Neill brushed a hand through his slightly receding hairline and picked up his phone to call Sam. It was late, but … some things couldn't wait. He tossed his eyeglasses onto the bedside table with more force than necessary, not caring when they skittered and fell to the floor. This was going to be hard.

''llo?" came her voice. Jack couldn't help but grin a little at how she was still polite despite having obviously been woken up out of a sound sleep.

"Sorry to wake you, General."

"Wha …, General?'

"Yeah it's me, and it's 'Jack' now, remember?"

"Sorry sir … ahh Jack." There was some rustling of bed sheets as she sat herself up. "And you can drop the General thing for me. I'm retired as well these days, remember?"

Jack's grin slipped a little. His mind wasn't as sharp as it had been in his fifties or sixties even, but he wasn't that far gone. "Yeah, I remember, it just sounds a little cool to say it from time to time, that's all.' He paused for a second trying to think if there was an easy way to pass on the news – there wasn't, but still he really hated to hurt her. "Listen, it's about Daniel." He could hear her breath catch on the other end of the phone, and he knew that she instantly understood, just by the tone of his voice, that it was bad.

"Jack?"

"It's terminal cancer. Aggressive. He's only got a couple of months at most." There, he had the words out, and they had burned like acid all the way. Damn it, he hated hurting her – wished in fact that he could be there with her right now and hold her through this.

She was quiet for the longest moment, before breathing out a long shaky sigh. "How's he doing?"

Jack settled himself on the edge of his bed before answering. "He's – and I quote - 'fine'.

She snorted.

"Yup."

"Damn it," she murmured softly.

"His Doc has got him on some pretty strong pain meds but he's still moving around like nothing's wrong. He's still translating stuff for the SGC too."

"Hell … I thought he retired a couple of months ago."

"Oh, you know General Fairall. She'd never really let him go. He's still the best at what he does and the SGC still needs him despite that intense training program they've got going for the newbies."

"I'll have a word with her."

"No, no, it's okay. I already did. She's gonna leave him in peace now, although she nearly broke down over the phone just talking about him."

"She's very fond of him."

"Yeah," said Jack, "so are we all. She offered him a chance at that sarcophagus they learned of on that nice little world of Yu's, but Daniel refused. It'd be risking lives to get to it and – you know Daniel." His voice tightened. "The Tokra have 'offered' to snake him. They've sent no less than six representatives over to discuss it with Fairall and Daniel. They're arguing that Daniel's knowledge is too important a resource to lose. They're saying that their pretty sure than can access all of Daniel's acended memories if he's snaked as well. They're making it sound like it would be a crime for Daniel to turn them down."

"What? What did Daniel say? What did the General say?"

"Daniel refused point blank. And Fairall backed him all the way. The Tokra want a representative from the oversight committee to speak to him on their behalf – and maybe twist his arm a little too."

Sam let out a slow sigh. "Damn them, they're gonna hound Daniel all the way to the … to the grave. Oh, God – he's too young to die – he hasn't …. " She caught her breath on a choked sob and was silent.

Jack grimaced. He should have waited until the morning to tell her. He should have taken a cab to her house and talked to her person to person. It was hard to keep his voice steady over the phone. Hard to put on that impersonal voice when all he really wanted to do was put her head on his shoulder and hold her through the pain. "That's why I've called actually. Teal'c is back here visiting and Daniel wants us all to get away from it all for a couple of days. He … I think Daniel wants to say his goodbyes. You know … while he still can with some dignity. He wants the gang back together for one last camping trip far away from everyone and everything else."

"Camping? Yeah, of course, anything he wants." She sniffed. "It sounds like fun actually and I'm so bored out of my mind these days that I'd camp in the snow if he wanted us to."

"Tell me about it," said Jack ruefully glaring at his swollen and heavily braced right knee. "So I was wondering. I haven't kept much after moving into the home here you know, so have you got a spare sleeping bag?"

SGSGSGSGSGSGSG

So this is the beginning of a long complicated story. Be warned though, I have heavy family commitments these days that mean that updating can be delayed, sometimes for weeks at a time. I HATE delays myself so i will do my best to keep a regular schedule. Hope you enjoyed the opening. Let me know okay?