Author: Ginalynn71 Number of Parts:
Setting: season 7 before Heroes Category: Team fic, Drama, h/c, angst Age: 13+ Pairings: J/S hints of Dan/Jan Spoilers: mild for all seasons up to s7 Author Notes: This is my first long fiction. Feedback greatly appreciated and answered. Any medical mistakes are mine. A Warning for some imagery, medical issues. Please read the authors notes at end of the story. Thoughts are in / There is a video to go with this story "where your road leads" by Trisha Yearwood, video by Synopsis: A weapon affecting a member of SG-1 gives a hint to Jack's future.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 and the characters are property of their respective owners. I make no money from this.
Chapter 1
Jack flinched as they walked backed to the stargate. He had his right arm pressed against his side, trying to support himself. The pain was more of an annoyance than anything, but any time he did anything strenuous, it got a bit worse.
Daniel noticed Jack's small grimace and spoke up. "Jack? You okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Pulled a muscle or something. I'm fine." Jack replied. /God, I'm getting old if I can't even handle a simple, boring recon mission/
"Have you seen Janet about it, sir?" Sam questioned.
"No, mom. It's just a strained muscle. I'll put some heat on it when we get back. Heat and ibuprofen. I'll be good in no time." Jack hated having to see the doctor after any mission and tried to avoid it at all costs. Something as simple as this wasn't going to have him in the little power monger's clutches if it really wasn't necessary.
They arrived at the gate and Daniel proceeded to dial them home. Once on the other side, General Hammond was waiting, pleased to see them safe.
"SG-1, welcome home. How'd it go on P32-775?" Hammond asked.
"Fine, sir." Jack answered. "No natives, bad guys, technology, nada, nothing. Oh, wait, trees, trees, and more trees. Some rocks. Carter and Daniel took some samples, but it was rather uneventful, sir."
"Very well, get to the infirmary, and we'll debrief at 1300." Hammond said, smirking. He knew Jack hated these kinds of missions.
Jack, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c left their weapons with the sf's and proceeded to the infirmary for their post mission physical. "Hey Janet." Sam walked in and proceeded to find a bed, as did the rest of the team.
"Okay you know the drill. Sleeves up for blood work. How was the mission? Anything interesting?" Janet looked at Sam first, checking for any sign of injury or illness.
"Not really, place was pretty deserted. No one around, no buildings, nothing." Daniel spoke as Janet checked him next. She continued with Teal'c and found them to all be fine. She saved Jack for last, as usual, just so she could torture him a little more than the rest. "Sir, I need your arm." She said firmly.
"Why? You have two of your own." Jack replied. Daniel snorted and Sam smiled at Jack's comment. Teal'c just looked at him, not being able to understand how such a formidable warrior could be so afraid of a small woman.
"Colonel, please." Janet asked with a hint of annoyance. Jack finally rolled up his sleeve and Janet got his blood sample. "Okay, you all seem good. You can go."
"What about your side, Jack?" Daniel realized what he had done as soon as the words left his mouth. "Uh, oh, sorry, Jack." Daniel jumped off the stretcher and bolted from the infirmary, before Jack could lay into him for opening his mouth.
"Well, what about it, sir?" Janet asked. "What's going on?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Just pulled something." Jack said, hoping he would find a way to kill Daniel before the end of the day. /He's so dead. Wait, Dannyboy, just wait/
"Let's see." Janet helped Jack remove his shirt and helped him lay down on the bed. She pressed the area he pointed at on his right side, just below his rib cage. He jumped a bit, and let out a hiss. "Right there? No other problems?" Janet helped him back up.
"No. It's no big deal. Really." Jack was irritated now and he put his shirt back on.
"Well, here's some ibuprofen, and put some heat on it for a few days. If it doesn't get better by then come see me. And take it easy." Janet signed off on their charts and they were free to go.
"Hungry, sir?" Sam asked. Her stomach made it apparent to everyone, and she asked them to join her.
"Nah, I'm going to go lie down and plan ways to hurt Daniel while the meds kick in." Jack turned and started towards his base quarters.
"I would be happy to join you." Teal'c nooded.
"Okay, sir. Hope you feel better." Sam called after him. /That's weird. He never refuses to eat after a mission./ "Come on, Teal'c, more for us"
A short time later Janet received the lab reports on SG-1's blood work. She opened each folder, scanned it for anything out of the ordinary, and went on to the next one. When she got to Jack's she paused and read it twice before closing it. /Oh, no. That's not good/
She put the folder down and picked up the phone. "Could you page Colonel O'Neill for me please? Thank you."
Chapter 2
Jack was paged to the infirmary. "For crying out loud!" he protested. All he wanted to do was relax in his quarters. He strolled into the infirmary and called for Janet. "Hey doc? What's up?"
"Sir, I received the reports on your blood work today, is there anything you left out?" Janet had the mother hen look going on, and Jack knew he would not be able to pull the wool over her eyes for too long.
"You mean something besides the muscle thing? Ah…" he said without looking at her.
"Colonel, I really need to know." /This man is impossible./
"Yeah well, I guess I've been a little tired. Appetite's not so hot." Jack spoke.
"How long?" she questioned.
"A few days, maybe a week." He returned.
"Sir, I know you like your beer. And with your job I can understand the need to wind down after hard missions, but have you been drinking in excess lately?" She was concerned, and Jack could see it.
"No more than usual. Mostly." he said.
"Are you sure? I did the tests, and your liver enzyme tests were a bit high. Is alcohol becoming a problem? Or something else?" She looked at him with a sense of disappointment. She had seen his service record, and she knew his history of drug abuse after his captivity in Iraq.
"Absolutely not Doctor Fraiser!" Jack almost yelled at her. "No way. I would never put my team in that kind of danger!"
"Sir, okay, relax, I just have to ask. I am going to run some more tests. I won't put you on stand down, but if it gets worse, please let me know." Janet told him. She put her hand on his arm, trying to calm him.
"If you need to. Stick away." He was so not happy having to get more blood drawn, but he knew he did not have a choice. "Oh, doc, can we keep this between us for now. I don't want to get everyone in an uproar if it's not necessary."
"Yes, for now. I won't say anything to the General till I get the results." She assured him.
Jack left the infirmary and went back to his quarters. The ibuprofen didn't seem to be helping, but at least he knew why. He flopped on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. /How the hell did this happen/
An hour later, the phone in his room rang. He groggily reached over and picked it up. "What?" he exclaimed.
"Colonel, it's me, Janet. We have a bigger problem than we thought." Her voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Oh crap." Jack said, as he hung up the phone.
Chapter 3
Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c walked into the briefing room to find General Hammond, Jack, and Janet sitting at the table, their expressions rather grim.
"Sir, you asked to see us?" Sam asked. Her, Daniel and Teal'c took their seats.
"Thank you for coming. Dr. Fraiser has some information concerning Colonel O'Neill I think we all need to hear. Doctor..." Hammond gestured for Janet to begin.
"As you know the Colonel was complaining of a muscle sprain. After receiving initial lab reports, I had him return to the infirmary for more tests. I found something in his blood work that is rather serious." Janet reported. "His liver enzymes were rather high, and after the second tests, it has become apparent that he is suffering from liver cirrhosis. It is in second stage, so I have to confine him to the base for further testing. I also would like to run more tests on all of you to see if you have been affected. Your initial labs were fine, but I want to be sure."
The group sat in silence for a while, not really knowing what to say. Daniel chose to speak first. "Uh, how did this happen? I mean, we always have labs done after each mission, so…"
"Well, it could have happened between the last two. I'm not really sure." Janet said. "I'd like all of you on stand down until we figure this out. I don't have any idea what's causing it, or if it's some kind of virus, such as hepatitis. General, I think we should test everyone just to be sure. We have seen what can happen in contamination situations before."
"Certainly Doctor, SG-1, you're on stand down until further notice. Do whatever you can to find out what's going on." Hammond told her, as he got up and left the briefing room.
"Okay everyone, back to the infirmary." Janet ordered. SG-1 rose from the table and followed Janet. Once again, they took their spots on stretchers and had blood drawn. "I'll let you know as soon as I get the results. Sam, you Daniel and Teal'c can go, but Colonel I'd like to talk to you."
"Come on, doc. Is this necessary?" Jack whined.
"Jack, be nice. She's just trying to help." Daniel said as he was leaving. /He's trying to hide the fact he's worried/
"Yeah, yeah. I'll catch up to you later." Jack wiped his hand through his hair. "Okay, doc. Fire away."
"I want to start you on some medication; I want to try to stop this before it gets any worse. The liver can't heal itself, so once the damage is done, it's done. I am going to give you Interferon. It will have some side effects. Fatigue, aches, diarrhea. If it gets bad, let me know. Make sure you stay hydrated, and try to eat healthy. Absolutely under no circumstances are you to have any alcohol. I will get in touch with you later." Janet gave him the meds and wrote some notes down in his chart. She noticed that Jack wasn't leaving as fast as he normally would.
"Look, uh, how sick am I gonna get?" he asked. "This internation…"
"Interferon. I don't know, really. But we will figure it out. Try to get some rest." Janet tried to comfort him.
/Easy for you to say. Your body isn't going wacko/ He departed the infirmary with a sloppy salute. "Yes, ma'am."
Jack walked around the base for a while, looking for something to do. He found himself outside Sam's lab. He raised his hand to knock, but decided against it.
"Sir, you can come in." Sam called out. Jack slowly came around into view and stepped into the lab.
"Whatcha doing?" he inquired, fiddling with something metallic on the desk.
"Just some tests on the samples we took on the planet." Sam looked at him, knowing there was more he either needed or wanted to share. "We haven't found anything yet." /Spill it, I can tell you want to talk/
Jack put down what he was playing with and walked around the desk. "Oh."
"Sir? Are you alright?" Concerned for her commanding officer, and her... friend, she gave him a look that told him she needed to know how he was handling this.
"Carter, I've been sick before. I've been dead before. It has all worked out one way or another, but this is, I don't know, different." His voice was quiet, and he glanced at her quickly and looked back down.
/Okay, he's actually showing fear. Oh, Jack/ "How do you mean, sir?" Sam put down her papers and got up from her seat to go stand next to him.
"I've seen what happens to people with this disease. Had an uncle who died from it. Not pretty." Jack's tone was flat.
"Sir, you're not going to die. We will do whatever needs to be done." Sam tried to reassure Jack. He gave her a small smile, and she knew it wasn't sincere. "Do you want to eat something?"
Jack nodded, "Yeah. Doc says to make sure I eat even though I really don't feel like it."
"There's a first. All the pie on base should be safe." Sam tried to make the mood a bit lighter. "Come on." They left her lab and went to down to the commissary.
Chapter 4
The next morning Daniel and Teal'c were in the commissary eating breakfast.
"Nothing like powdered eggs made in a square pan." Daniel gruffed and made a face.
Sam walked in right at that moment, and saw Daniel's brow furrowed and his mouth slightly opened. /Jeez, Daniel you keep doing that with your forehead and you'll need botox/
Daniel spit the eggs into a napkin. "Hey Sam."
"Hi Daniel, Teal'c. Not too tasty, huh?" Sam grabbed a coffee and sat down with the men. "Have you seen the colonel?"
"Uh, no not yet." Daniel replied.
"I am finding O'Neill disturbed concerning his recent health assessment. It is rather unlike him." Teal'c stated as he placed a piece of grapefruit in his mouth.
"I know. I spoke to him yesterday and he told me that he lost an uncle to liver cirrhosis. From what I gathered, it's a terrible way to die. I told him we were doing everything we could." She looked at them, sipping her coffee.
Jack came into the commissary and gave a nod to his team as he took some Fruit loops and milk off the counter. He joined them at their table and poured his milk over his cereal.
"Morning, sir." Sam greeted.
"Hey Jack. Is that considered healthy?" Daniel quizzed.
"Probably not. But it's edible." Jack said. He pushed his cereal around with his spoon.
"Is there something wrong with your breakfast choice, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked him.
"No, it's fine T." Jack's replied with a bit of attitude. Sam noticed he was looking a bit off color.
"Sir, did you see Janet yet today?" she asked.
"No Carter. I haven't." Jack replied coldly.
"Jack you look a bit pale. Maybe you should go..." Daniel began.
Jack slammed his spoon into the bowl and milk sloshed out. "Look, I don't need you hovering over me." Jack was being rather loud and the entire commissary was looking at him. He pushed back his chair and stood up.
"O'Neill, we are your friends and we are concerned about..." Teal'c said, frowning.
"T, I'm fine, just fine..." Jack's voice trailed off as he turned to leave.
Before anyone could reach him, he was laid out on the floor.
"Colonel!" Sam shouted. She took two long strides and was bent over him. "Sir, wake up! Can you hear me? Sir?"
"Oh damn. Call Dr. Fraiser, now!" Daniel yelled. Teal'c stood over Sam and Jack and tried to prevent others from getting too close.
Sam reached for Jack's wrist and took his pulse. "His pulse is rapid. Sir, please, wake up!"
A minute later Janet and two orderlies came running down the hall. "Sam, what happened?" Janet checked his breathing and his pulse again. "Let's get him out of here and to the infirmary." The orderlies picked him up and placed him on a stretcher. "Let's go people." Janet ordered.
"Janet, what is it?" Daniel asked her, grabbing her arm.
"I'm not sure. I haven't gotten his labs from yesterday, I have to check them. Look, I really need to go." She said as she quickly walked out.
The members of SG-1 followed Janet and her patient. She held up her hand to stop them from going further into the infirmary. They acknowledged her without a word. Sam slumped against the wall. Daniel went to her side and grabbed her hand. He looked at her, and she returned his sentiment with a nod.
"He is strong, he will survive." There was an assurance in Teal'c's voice, but Sam and Daniel couldn't be so sure. Something inside of them sensed this time would be different, a sense that neither of them would admit.
An hour later, Janet came out of the room. She saw Sam standing against the wall, Daniel sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, and Teal'c was stoic, standing in his usual posture.
Sam jumped up when she saw Janet. By the look on her face, Sam knew the news wasn't going to be anything she wanted to hear.
"His tests reveal his liver is quickly deteriorating. It is having trouble filtering the toxins in his blood, and those toxins are affecting the rest of his body. We have started him on lactulose, which will help break down the ammonia. Right now that's all we can do. I am going to do a cat scan later to see how much damage has been done. He's resting, but if you want to see him it can only be for a few minutes." Janet seemed at a loss for anything else to say.
"Um, what about ours? Are we...?" Daniel asked her.
"You are all fine. Whatever it is, it's only affecting the Colonel. We have to figure out why." She led them back to Jack.
The three friends stood around Jack's bed not speaking.
"Sir, we are here. I promise we will find out what's happening. Janet's working her butt off to help you. You'll be okay." Sam whispered.
General Hammond came in and joined the group beside Jack's bed. "I have been informed of the Colonel's condition. We should discuss our options in finding a way to help him."
They left and proceeded to the briefing room.
"Any suggestions?" Hammond asked as they all sat down.
"Janet said it had to have occurred on one of the last two planets we visited. What if we go back? Maybe we missed something." Daniel suggested.
"Yes, sir, I agree with Daniel. We have to try." Sam pleaded.
"I agree. I want as much information as you can get on these planets. Be ready in two hours people." Hammond said.
Chapter 5
The gate on P27-886 opened and three quarters of SG-1 stepped through. The group walked down the stairs leading from the gate.
"Okay Daniel, last time we were here we didn't find anything. Look for anything and everything that may seem out of the ordinary. We aren't leaving until we have a definitive answer." Sam declared.
They walked for half a day, going much farther than the first visit. Coming up over a small hill, Teal'c noticed to his right an area about a mile away that looked like ruin of a small city. "There, to the right!" Teal'c pointed out.
"I see it. Let's go check it out." Daniel seemed to get a little hopeful in that moment. /I hope we find something. I didn't come back from glowy land so I could lose my best friend/
A short time later they arrived at the ruins. "Be careful, Daniel." Sam called as he walked quickly through the old buildings.
"Who ever lived here left a long time ago. It seems they left in a hurry, too." Daniel told them. "Sam! Sam, come here, look at this!"
Sam walked over to Daniel who was looking at some inscriptions on a partially fallen wall. "Isn't that...latin?" she asked.
"Yes, sort of." Daniel was getting excited as he scanned the writings.
"ColonelCarter, DanielJackson, I believe I have found something." Teal'c called over to them. Sam and Daniel got to where he was standing as he lifted up some very old pieces of paper. "What do you believe these say?"
"This is also latin derivative. There is also some Ancient, too. Hang on, let me see..." Daniel scanned the pages. "Oh crap...this is bad."
"What Daniel?" Sam asked him.
"It says 'the terrible...uh...egrotatio'...oh no." Daniel's face fell as he continued to read. "Egrotatio means disease, or sickness. The people that lived here, they all died. I think it was a plague. Jack's got the same thing that killed these people. It's all right here. The same basic symptoms, all of it."
"That's why these last few planets have been uninhabited. They are all in the same area of the galaxy." Sam said.
"But how could this affect Colonel O'Neill? This plague occurred many thousands of years ago." Teal'c inquired.
"I don't know, but we need to get back to the SGC now!" Sam said. They left the ruins and headed for the gate.
"Incoming wormhole!" Sergeant Harriman announced. "It's SG-1, sir."
"Open the iris." Hammond ordered. He went to the gate room to meet the team, hoping they had some information.
Sam, Daniel and Teal'c came through the event horizon. The expressions on their faces were a look of panic.
"SG-1 what did you find?" Hammond asked.
"Sir, we found ruins on the planet we didn't see on the first trip. We checked them out and found this." Sam held up the papers for Hammond to see.
"They tell of a civilization, sir. And a plague. That's why the last few planets have been empty. They all were killed." Daniel told him.
"This means?" Hammond was getting impatient.
"It's a virus. A virus used to kill people. Entire planets, sir. That's what the Colonel has." Sam finished.
"Let's get this information to Doctor Fraiser. I don't know if it will help, but it's something." Hammond led them away to see the doctor.
Hammond and the others arrived at the infirmary. Janet had been notified they were coming and was waiting for them.
"What do you have?" Janet asked them.
"It's caused by a virus Janet. The planet was annihilated by it. Everyone was killed." Sam was looking tired now. It wasn't what anyone wanted to hear.
"All right, it's something. This kind of disease isn't generally caused by a virus but I can look for something in the Colonel that may be the reason he is the only one affected." Janet told them.
"Janet, can we see him?" Sam asked.
"Yes, but only for a while." A somber look crossed Janet's face as she continued, "I have to tell you, he doesn't look good."
"Okay. Thanks Janet." They replied together and went to see Jack.
Pulling back the curtain, Sam let out a small gasp as she looked down at Jack's sleeping body. His face was ashen, and he suddenly looked very old. Daniel wrapped his arm around her and squeezed. Sam remembered that General Hammond was in the room and quickly regained her composure. Daniel was at a loss for words, and Teal'c actually looked angry.
"Whoever has created this virus has succeeded in causing distress for a significant time. We must find a way to defeat this virus, and those who may have created it." Teal'c stated.
"Right now, Teal'c we have to help Colonel O'Neill. That's our first objective." Hammond spoke up. "I want all of you to get some rest. That's an order. You can leave the base if you like, since you are all clean, but be back in 48 hrs. If there is any change we will call you."
"Thank you sir." Sam stood at attention as Hammond left.
Chapter 6
The group stayed for a while before hitting the showers. Daniel met Sam in the hall outside the locker room.
"Hey Daniel." Sam greeted. "Are going home?"
"I don't know. I don't know what to do." Daniel sadly replied. "I can't believe this, Sam. I feel like I'm starting to get back to normal, and remember things, and the rug is being pulled out from under me."
"I feel lost, too. All we can do is sit and watch him get sicker." Sam and Daniel walked down the hall towards the elevator.
"Sam, what about your Dad? Or the Asgard?" Daniel inquired. "Could they help?"
"I can ask the General if he would let me try to contact them. I don't think it would hurt. I'll do that now, and I'll let you know, okay?" Sam turned in the other direction and down the hall.
"Okay Sam. I'll see ya later." He called after her. Daniel went to his quarters and lay down to try and sleep, but the sleep wouldn't come. /Damn. This is ridiculous. What universal rule did I break to deserve this/
A knock came to his door and he rose to answer it. Opening the door he saw Sam standing in front of him. "Hey. Come in."
"I brought coffee. I figure you'd like some." Sam offered it to Daniel. He took the coffee and another knock came to the door. This time it was Teal'c.
"I am finding it difficult to sleep. As are you, I see." Teal'c entered the room at Daniel's gesture.
"Sam was going to try to contact the Asgard and Jacob. Maybe they can help." Daniel told him.
"I left a message for my dad, but he's on a mission. I don't know when he'll actually get it. I tried the Asgard, but no luck." Sam said.
"Well, you tried, Sam." Daniel told her. He wrapped his arms around his middle and sat down on the couch in the office.
"Yeah, well. We'll see." She replied, sighing.
The phone in Daniel's office rang and he sprang off the couch to answer it.
"Dr. Jackson...okay, thanks." He hung up the phone and looked at Sam and Teal'c. "He's awake."
They practically ran to see Jack, almost plowing over people in their path. Arriving at the infirmary, they saw the curtain pulled around Jack's bed. After a moment, Janet pulled back he curtain and motioned for them to come over.
Jack was awake, and looked at his team standing around his bed. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were jumbled. "Ss...si..."
"Yes, sir. You are very sick. It's your liver, and it's getting worse. We went back to one of the planets, and found some information that may help us." Sam told him. "We are doing all we can sir."
"Dan...wha..." Jack was having trouble speaking, and he was getting upset.
Janet spoke up, "The ammonia levels in his blood are increasing, and it's affecting his brain. His ability to speak and think correctly is fading."
"Not rrrit, Da...away..." Jack looked confused, and kept looking back and forth between Janet and Daniel.
"No, sir, he came back, remember? A few months ago. It's okay, Daniel's really here." The doctor tried to reassure Jack.
"Janet what's that about?" Daniel was the one looking confused now.
"His memory is also being affected. We did a cat scan of his brain, too, and it seems he has suffered a TIA, which is a small stroke. He may remember things from years ago, but not yesterday. It's all related to this virus, and what's happening. I've been trying to figure it out, but all the tests and research I'm doing on the information you gave me hasn't given me anything to work with." Janet was looking exhausted and frustrated.
"I am sure you are doing your best Dr. Fraiser." Teal'c said.
"I'm going to get back to work. One of you can stay with him, but please try to take care of yourselves, too." Janet walked away to continue her fight against whatever was making Jack sick.
"Daniel, Teal'c, I'll stay first. You guys go eat." Sam said.
"Okay, Sam. If you need us, just call. I don't think I'll be leaving the base." Daniel replied.
Teal'c and Daniel left them alone. Daniel went to see Janet, and Teal'c went to his quarters to try and meditate. Neither spoke a word. Before they parted company, they gave each other a look of grave concern for their friend and comrade.