I'll Be There

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or anything related to it. MGM has all the rights to that. Also, I am getting no monetary compensation for this or any other piece. The only compensation I get is the entertainment of writing the material. Therefore, please don't attempt to sue me.

Chapter 1: Troubled Mind

Colonel Jack O'Neill was sitting on an infirmary bed, waiting for the results of the blood work that Dr. Janet Fraiser had taken during his routine checkup. He wasn't really worried, because he didn't have any reason to think anything was wrong other than a few bouts of indigestion lately, rather he was just anxious to get out of the infirmary and get back to work. Five minutes later, Janet returned looking a little concerned.

"Doc? Something wrong?" Jack asked, a knot suddenly forming in his stomach when he saw the look on her face.

"Colonel, I have the results of your blood tests. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"What kind of bad news?"

"Your test results show that your liver function is seriously declining. I'm afraid things don't look good. Unless we do something your liver will completely fail within six months." Janet said with tears in her eyes.

"What can you do? What are our options?"

"The best chance we have to get you back to 100 is for you to have a liver transplant. I've already been looking into that and I'll do everything I can to make this happen."

"Do what you can, Doc. Is it okay if I leave and take a walk? I need to get away." Jack said, his mouth so dry he could hardly talk at all.

"Of course, Colonel. I know this is all very hard to digest. Let me know if there's anything you need."

"Sure."

After he left the infirmary, Jack wandered aimlessly through the halls for about fifteen minutes. Without really knowing how he got there, he found himself standing outside Daniel's office with a strong feeling that he needed to have a long talk with his best friend.

Dr. Daniel Jackson was sitting in his office going through some files and a backlog of e-mail on his computer when he heard a soft knock on the door. Startled by the sound, Daniel looked up from what he was doing.

"Come in." Daniel called out.

"Daniel. You got a minute. I really need to talk to you." Jack said quietly.

"Yeah, I have some time. Come on in, Jack."

"Thanks."

"So, uh, what was it that you wanted to talk about? I get the feeling that it's really important." Daniel asked as Jack entered the office, closing the door, and sat down across from him.

"How do I say this? I might as well start from the beginning. I had my routine checkup from Fraiser this morning. Well, I could never have suspected that anything would be out of the ordinary."

"I take it that it wasn't that way it happened."

"Come on, Daniel. You know things are never that simple when I'm involved. Fraiser found a pretty big problem when she reviewed my blood work. She told me that my liver function has drastically declined and she isn't sure why. I need to get a transplant from somewhere and if not, my liver will fail within six months and it'll kill me. Fraiser's working on the problem right now." Jack said matter of factly.

"Oh my God. Jack, I had no idea. I mean, none of us even realized that there could be a potential problem. Obviously, you didn't either or else you wouldn't be so torn up. Wait, have you told Sam this yet?" Daniel asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"No. Sam doesn't know yet. I left the infirmary, wandered around for a bit, realized I needed a little perspective and came to talk to you."

"Well, all I know is that we need to think of a logical way to deal with this. Too bad we don't have a sarcophagus, that would probably help buy us some time to solve this. This is a lot for me to take in so I can only imagine what you must be going through right now. One thing I do know is that you need to break this news to Sam and you might also want to let Hammond in on what's up. I'm going to go online and see if I can't find some solution to this that maybe Janet hasn't thought of."

"Okay. I'll see you later. Let me know if you find anything. Oh, and Daniel, thanks for taking time to talk to me about all this. Sorry to throw this all at you at once but at the time I didn't know anyone else I could talk to."

"It's no problem, Jack. What kind of guy would I be if I didn't make time for my best friend when he obviously needs me now more than ever? I'm glad that you felt you could come and discuss this with me. I will do everything in my power to find a solution to help you through this. That is a promise." Daniel said as Jack turned and headed down the corridor, the fluidity of his movements making him look frighteningly like a ghost in light of the present situation.

After Jack left his office, Daniel pulled up his web browser and queried a search engine for any sites that in any way were relevant to the current situation. It didn't take him long to find a site of particular interest. In all honesty, Daniel's heart was telling him that this was the solution that Jack was counting on someone to find. He immediately reached for the phone sitting beside him on the desk and dialed the extension for the infirmary, waiting impatiently for someone to pick up.