Thanks to those of you who did review. At least I know some of you out there are reading this. Please R & R guys! I'm getting lonely here!

As for the film – well, to be honest I had seen it yonks ago in my youth and had forgotten all about it, but it seems I must have taken it to heart; hence this fic. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

YESTERDAY.

by Lingren.

Italics...indicate the internal conversation between the host and his Tok'ra symbiote.

Previously:

Both Sam and Daniel took all this in with fascination. It was the most that they had gleaned from Jack about his family in all the years they had known him.

Chapter 8

"But how did you...I mean...you're a Billionaire. How...?"

Jack grinned; he knew Daniel would want to know the answer to that puzzle.

"I used my brain Daniel. It wasn't difficult, despite how dumb you may think me. I knew how to invest what little I earned. I placed a few bets here and there, especially on things like big games, boxing matches; stuff like that. I won of course, and then played the winnings on the stock market. I have shares in many of the things in this world, mainly because I already knew they would be successful. That's how I made the money. That's how I kept you guys going out there each week or whenever. I swear that every penny I made was ploughed right back into the SGC. I didn't want it for my own personal gains. I'm John Ryan the philanthropist don't ya know?" he grinned.

"A sort of self-fulfilling prophesy? Like Cassandra when we returned too far into the future that time?"

"I knew you'd work it out Sam."

"So you spent 40 years..."

"Missing you guys? Missing the excitement of action? Of going through the Stargate? Yes I did; a hell of a lot. God...I was just a kid back then! There were times I wanted to end it, when I was so damn lonely... Sometimes the only person I spoke to on a personal level was Kanan. He kept me sane. If it wasn't for Kanan, well, I don't need to go into that, I'm sure you can guess what could have been."

Everyone sobered while they pondered Jack's words. They knew him well enough to know how he must have felt.

"Kanan kept me focused on my 'mission', and gradually things started to work out. I couldn't help but take a look at you kids growing up. I wanted to help each one of you, but I knew I couldn't interfere, not like that."

Jack paused for a moment, then with a soft voice continued.

"I saw your misery Daniel, but I couldn't reach out to comfort you and that hurt me too. I wanted so much to take you in but I knew I should leave you to live your life as you did. It would have been so easy to adopt that little boy lost. Instead I had to stand back and watch your pain..." Jack's voice had dropped to a whisper; raw with emotion.

Daniel didn't know what to say to that. What could he say to his friend? It hit him then that Jack would probably have been a good father to him, and how he would have enjoyed life as his son. Daniel wiped a tear away and stared down into his lap, avoiding looking at anyone, especially Jack. He'd never really known that Jack 'loved' him that much, and it was a startling revelation.

"Carter, Sam, you were such a pretty kid, a real tomboy!" he laughed. "You haven't changed a bit," he grinned, making Sam blush to her roots.

This was a side of Jack they hadn't seen before; a much mellower, softer Jack, and she supposed it was because he'd lived a long time on his own and missed their company so much. Had he changed that much? She wondered.

"Hell, I even got to see Charlie again. I could have stopped it ya know!" he choked back a sigh. "I could have warned myself of what would happen. But, then I could hear Carter's voice saying about the whole space-time continuum stuff, so I didn't, though it hurt like hell to stand by and watch it happen again... I've made my peace with that over the years. I got to see him for a little bit again and for that, I guess I was thankful. I could say goodbye this time."

You could have heard a pin drop as all the other sounds of activity normally heard wafting into the briefing room from the control room below, melted away as they listened to Jack express his loneliness spanning 40 years so eloquently which sounded so strange yet was so sad.

"So, what now?" Daniel asked, breaking into the silence, and dragging Jack from his morose thoughts.

Jack snapped out of his melancholy like flipping a switch.

"I'm back!" he snapped cheerfully. "I want to come back. I didn't spend the last 40 odd years planning on nurturing the SGC, not to be able to rejoin it again from this point onwards. General? I need this. I have to carry on with my real life now I'm back to where I should be. A hell of a lot older maybe, and maybe a little wiser too, granted, but I still want my real life back! I belong on SG-1."

"But what about Ryan? He can't just disappear?" Daniel gasped.

"I've already thought about that. Kanan and I have discussed it and he can cause Ryan to have a sudden heart attack and 'die'. Ryan's Last Will and Testament, will state that he wants to be buried off-world. Somewhere safe. The President has already promised to give the go ahead when the time should arise. Then Kanan will 'revive' me and I can gate to another planet. Somewhere where I can be 'located' by another team perhaps when they just happen to be visiting after a few days. I can say that I ended up there, slightly injured. I can act hurt, though they would be aware that Kanan would heal me. That way, no-one will be any the wiser, except us."

"You make it all sound so easy Jack. What if Kanan can't revive you, not after so long?"

"It's a risk I'm gonna have to take Daniel. There has to be a viable excuse for Ryan's disappearance from the world."

"Will there not be an autopsy on Ryan's body O'Neill?" Teal'c enquired. His question brought fresh alarm to the others' faces.

"No. My personal Physician has promised that there won't be one. He knows what is going to happen. It will have to be done in a very public place unfortunately, where everyone can see what's happening, so that no-one should suspect anything other than a natural turn of events. Dr. Edward Miller has a whole load of notes to state that John Ryan had a weak heart. One of the perks of having plenty of money in this world is that I could surround myself with good men." he sighed. Money might have been plentiful but friends were few and far between. He closed his eyes and pushed away the memory of 40 years without their company; without seeing them as he remembered them; of the miserable solitude that had haunted his every waking hour. If it hadn't been for Adam and Teddy Miller and not forgetting Kanan, well... let's not go there.

"You had this whole thing planned out, didn't you? Daniel grumbled, making Jack snap out of his unhappy thoughts once more with his sharp tone of voice. Daniel didn't know whether to laugh because Jack was back from the dead, or shout with rage that Jack could so callously and coolly treat the whole thing as if he was making a TV programme. As if it meant nothing at all to him at all.

"Daniel, please! I'm sorry if all this offends your sensibilities, but it is necessary. Believe me. You want me to carry on being John Ryan? Okay fine! I'll remain a total stranger. Or do you want your friend back? I've had 40 years of being alone Daniel. I want my life back. I want to be with my friends, and this is the only way I can do it that won't stir up a whole hornet's nest of trouble. If John Ryan was to just disappear there would be an outcry like this country has never seen, and the Military or the Government would most likely be blamed. Either that or perhaps a foreign country would have a finger pointed at them; or terrorists even. So what do you want me to do Daniel? Start another war in retaliation for something that never happened?"

Daniel looked down at his fingers in embarrassment. He hadn't really given it much thought, but he knew Jack was right.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't think..."

Jack reached across to touch Daniel's arm reassuringly.

"It's okay Daniel. I know this whole thing has been a big shock to you guys. I just wish I could have done things differently. I couldn't reveal myself to you any earlier, not with 'myself' walking around."

"You had no effects while the two of you both existed in the same time frame?" Sam Carter asked incredulously, her mind ticking over the possibilities.

"I didn't. That's where Teddy Miller comes in. On the occasions where I came face to face with my younger self, I had a few other 'problems', which he helped me out with. He understood what all that mumbo jumbo stuff did Carter. His hobby was Quantum physics and that sort of... He has a PhD in it too, though medicine was his main concern. That's one of the reasons I had him work for me. He's already sworn to secrecy. It's Adam that's the problem. He doesn't know the truth but he also knows a hell of a lot of details. Could you find him some sort of work to do out there General? I hate to think of him out on the streets again sir."

"I'll take care of that Jack," Hammond reassured him.

"What happens to Dr. Miller after you...em...die?" Sam asked tentatively.

"I've thought about that. General, do you think we have room for one more scientist or medic at the SGC? It's not as if money will be short from now on. I'm sure we can guarantee his secret remains a secret if he's part of the family sir."

"I should imagine that he would fit in here. I can sort that out too Jack. Leave it with me."

"Thank you sir."

"Who's going to back the SGC up in the future, when you...uh...Ryan, dies?" Sam asked, worried that with their beneficiary dead, the funds would dry up, and then people like Kinsey would step in and take away everything they had worked for.

"I thought about that too. Mr. Ryan is leaving most of his wealth to the SGC, as stipulated in his Will. To keep Kinsey and his cohorts quiet, I added a clause that if they shut the SGC programme down, then any funds that 'he' may have acquired for his presidential campaign would also dry up."

Hammond grinned and Sam snorted with laughter.

"Good thinking sir!" Sam grinned.

"It happens," he said shrugging. It was good to be able to see her smile again.

TBC