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Final chapter now – hope you like the way it ends.

SACRIFICES

by LetitiaRichards

Previously:

"Jack never wanted you to know how much he gave to rescue you Daniel, but now he's... now he's gone..." she sniffed, holding back a tear, biting her lip as the thought of Jack's last day was still too fresh; too painful to think about. She drew herself up with a great gulp and wiped an errant tear away before she continued. "Now he can't stop me, let me tell you what he gave for you that day Daniel, then perhaps you can appreciate the sacrifice we all made."

Chapter 5

--flashback to 2004— Sam's POV.

They were waiting for us. The enemy was hiding in the trees all around us, even though we had been expecting trouble as soon as we stepped from the gate, the attack came suddenly and swiftly. Somehow they must have known we were coming through. Jack ordered the teams to take cover and the battle commenced. We pushed the enemy forward, but every yard taken resulted in someone getting wounded. It was a blood bath. Our losses were mounting up and Jack had no choice than to order our retreat. He stood in full view of the enemy when he dialled the gate and then made sure every one of his men got home safely, until there was just him, Dixon, Coburn, Teal'c and myself. He stood there and fired at the enemy, covering our sixes as we ran for the gate. The enemy fire more concentrated now there were only a few of us. That was when he was wounded. Jack took several hits and went down. Teal'c hovered over him protectively until Dixon had him slung over his shoulders. Then Teal'c fell under a barrage of fire, protecting him, never to rise again. Coburn dragged his lifeless body through the wormhole just after Dixon had gone through with Jack, but Teal'c was already dead by the time we arrived back at the SGC and Jack was barely alive.

He clung precariously to life for weeks, sedated against the pain and the truth, until months later he woke lucid for the first time, but by then it was too late; his career was over.

--end of flashback—

"I don't understand Sam. Why was it over? What happened? Tell me, please!"

"Jack's wounds were bad Daniel. Very bad. He had almost bled out by the time we got him home again. He was covered in it, literally head to toe, one leg hanging uselessly beyond repair."

"Why didn't he say something at the time?" Daniel snapped, regret filling his mind. 'Because you didn't want to know,' the inner voice goaded him. He bit his lip and waited for Sam to continue.

"Even the children don't know the worst of it. They grew up with him like it, so they accepted him as he was. His career was over, and for a long while he thought his life was over too. I wouldn't leave him though. Despite the fact that he tried to push me and everyone else away. He kept telling me he wasn't worth it; to go love somebody else. Someone that was a whole man. I loved him though, even through his pain. I resigned from the Air Force so that I could look after him." Sam stopped again and her eyes took on a glassy hue as she recalled those painful memories. It had taken Jack a long time to realise that she had genuinely loved him enough to give up everything for him. The Eighteen years they had spent together were some of their happiest despite everything.

Daniel couldn't think of Jack as having to be dependant but Sam still hadn't explained why.

"Jack was very independent Sam. I'm sure he would have been mad that you gave everything up for him...but what aren't you telling me?

Sam sighed and placed her now cold coffee back onto the table beside her chair and reminded Daniel of what he had said back at that meeting.

"You berated him for not bothering to greet you. Do you recall that Daniel? Those words were like a knife in his soul. If he could have done, he would have thrown his arms around you, he was so happy to know you were free at last. He felt so guilty though, he never forgave himself you know. All those years and he still carried the burden around with him. Just like Charlie's death."

"Then why didn't he welcome me Sam? God I just wanted to know you all cared."

"After months of painful surgery they decided that there was nothing more they could do for him. In fact if they hadn't operated on him he could have died. It was a hopeless situation for him and they had to amputate the other leg to save him. They tried to save it but it was that or die. He'd lost one leg from the thigh down and then the other from just below the knee Daniel. He was practically confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He was also blinded in one eye. Even without losing his legs, his career would have been over. We didn't have a choice t save them either. There had been no contact with Thor nor with the Tok'ra for months. We couldn't delay it any longer." Sam gulped down the lump threatening to choke her and hurried from the room so that she could compose herself and that Daniel could have a few moments alone to digest the news.

OoOoOoOoO

Daniel wasn't sure how long he had sat there. Time no longer had any meaning in the light of Sam's revelations. Jack's sacrifice was greater than his could ever be and he'd repaid him with scorn and bitterness. Shame overwhelmed him and the tears flowed in an unstoppable torrent. The years of anger and resentment against his friends evaporated like a summer mist and eased the bitterness in his heart, though now it ached for the life of his friend. The friend he had sorely missed if the truth were known.

He understood now why Jack had kept this to himself. Jack O'Neill was a proud and stubborn man and hated to be thought of as weak and would not tolerate any pity shown towards him. It couldn't have been easy for Sam to deal with him. Her love for him must have been great indeed.

And then there was Sam herself. Giving up her career in the Air Force to look after him. Knowing Jack as he did, the woman was a saint, an angel, which made him feel like a total bastard up against her generous nature. Daniel continued to dwell on all thing that had happened and spent the time berating his temper and ignorance and wishing he could turn back the clock. It wasn't to be; all he could do now was hope to repair the damage he'd wrought.

It was getting dark when Sam re-entered the room, flicking on a light switch which made Daniel blink in the sudden brightness. She silently handed Daniel a damp cloth and a towel to wash away the evidence of his distress. He nodded mutely and she disappeared again.

Standing once more to walk across the room, he gazed at Jack's medals again and now understood why he'd received the Purple Heart, the one he'd earned because of him; the one medal he didn't ever want to see among his friend's awards. The General's Stars had surprised him a little, Jack was never one for obeying orders, only when it suited him, although that was a contradiction in itself. Jack was fiercely loyal to the Air Force and to General Hammond in particular, so he guessed he must have earned them for some reason.

He heard Sam come up behind him and he turned to face her. Her own face was blotchy from crying too.

"I'm really sorry Sam. I...was sooo... I needed to blame someone and I guess I wasn't thinking straight. It took me months before I came to terms with being free. To realise the torture had finally stopped. My life since that day has been one long bitter trail of broken friendships. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Jack forgave you a long time ago Daniel. He knew you were better than that. He just hoped he'd be able to tell you in person, but it wasn't meant to be. If he wasn't crying about your pain, he was laughing in remembrance of something you'd said or done. I don't think there was a day go by that he didn't think of you. He loved you like a little brother Daniel; a son maybe, who knows. On the days he had to go for his medicals, he always came back demanding to know if you'd rung him at all. He couldn't always hide the disappointment when we said no, but he did his best to cover it. He'd never let the kids know his disappointment or pain. You knew what he was like."

Daniel snorted. Oh yeah he knew Jack alright. Jack would keep it all hidden away and cover the hurt with jokes and sarcasm.

She pushed a mug of coffee into his hands and sat down, patting the seat beside her. Daniel went willingly. She pulled out a photo album and they spent the next hour pouring over the pictures taken when they were part of SG-1. They laughed and cried, and cried and laughed. Then Sam brought out the family snaps.

Because Jack hated to be photographed in his state of disability, as he put it, he didn't like people taking photos of him, there were very few photos taken over the years, and Daniel was shocked by his friend's appearance. The last picture taken was just a few months before his death and he looked old and frail.

Daniel did the math and was shocked by it's disclosure. If he felt old, then Jack must have indeed felt much older. Jack had always been a well built man, not too muscular, but he'd held a sinewy strength in his body. He was tall and upright, though always he looked loose limbed and relaxed, even when facing the Goa'uld; the man in the picture was hunched over and thin, his snowy white hair framing a pale face that looked haggard and a lot older than his years.

"He was seventy-one Daniel. He lived a lot longer than we thought he would, but he'd been sick with Prostate Cancer for a while. We knew the end was near and so did he."

Daniel took another look at the picture. Where was that cocky, irreverent, intrepid explorer that oozed confidence from every pore? In fact he was sure this wasn't Jack. It wasn't the Jack he remembered, or the one he was hoping to have seen today. He realised that the Jack he'd known had disappeared a long time ago on the battlefield trying to rescue his butt.

Daniel bowed his head low and sniffed back fresh tears. His was the greater sacrifice in the end, and Daniel was humbled before it.

Sam sniffed back a few of her own tears and leaned across to embrace him. He wrapped his arms around her and sobbed out his remorse, more than sorry for his previous unforgivable behaviour.

They sat there for a long time, crying, consoling, begging for absolution and atonement and being offered comfort and forgiveness in return.

Sam welcomed him with open arms, just as Jack would have done had he been there. Jack would have welcomed him back without a second's thought.

His past bitterness all forgotten. His future brighter. Jack's family was his now. He was no longer alone. He had friends again.

"Welcome home Daniel!" she sighed, and he sank into the warmth she offered. Home at last.

Sacrifices accepted and honoured.

The End.