To pass the time after leaving Nick, Daniel went to his lab to continue translating the text he worked on the day before. Hours passed until the phone finally rang.

"Dr. Jackson." He answered.

It was Janet. "I need you to come down here."

He heard something in her voice that didn't sound quite right. Something was wrong, he could tell. "I'll be right there."

Daniel jogged a steady pace all the way there. Jack was waiting with Dr. Frasier Just outside the infirmary. Despite their efforts of concealing what happened, their eyes betrayed them.

"No, please no." Daniel prayed. He slowed his jog down to a walk as he continued towards them.

"I'm sorry." Dr. Frasier whispered when Daniel reached them.

"Was it painless?" Daniel knew the answer, having been through it himself. But, right then, it was all he could think to ask.

"Because of you it was. Have you not had helped him, the pain would have been unbearable. But because we could help him, he died peacefully in his sleep." Janet explained. She opened the door to let them know it was okay for them to go inside, and she left.

Nick's body was still lying on the bed emptied of all life. Jack and Daniel sat down on either side of the bed in silence for a few minutes.

Finally, Jack spoke up. "Danny, why exactly did you take him in?"

"After Sha're died, I've been thinking a lot about the death of my parents. At their deaths, I was helpless to do anything but watch. I needed to forgive myself for that. I needed to help someone." He tried to keep the sadness he felt locked away inside himself, but it found escape through his downcast blue eyes.

"So when you found Nick, you thought this was your chance?" Jack clarified.

"Yeah, I guess I was wrong, wasn't I?"

"What do you mean 'you were wrong'?" Jack asked. "You saw his face light up in the Gate room. Don't say you didn't because I saw the smile on your face. Danny, you made that boy's dream come true. You did everything you could to make sure his last days were the best. His death was inevitable, but you made it better for him than if he died on the street, alone with no one who cared if he died or not."

There were a few more minutes of silence.

"When you were working in your lab earlier, SG-6 radioed in and said they'd be in today. They should be coming in any minute now, let's wait for them at the Stargate."

"I'd rather stay here for a little while longer." Daniel explained.

"Okay, you know where to find me if you need me."

"Thanks." Daniel said

"For what?" Jack asked

"For being my friend and for putting up with me."

"Any time." Jack walked out of the room.

"I'm receiving SG-6's IDC." Walter announced.

"Open the iris." General Hammond responded.

Jack was right there, waiting for Teal'c and Carter to come back. Teal'c came through first followed closely by Sam and SG-6.

"O'Neill, how is Nick?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah, how is he, we haven't heard about him since we left." Sam stated.

"He died about an hour ago." Daniel answered after he walked into the Gate

Room.

"Daniel, it's good to see you're okay. How are you feeling?" Sam asked.

Daniel answered truthfully, "Been better."

Jack walked into Daniel's lab, "Daniel, how'd you like the funeral?"

"I liked that he got a proper funeral and that his parents were remembered in all of it too. What I think was the best part was that we could find some relatives. At least we know that the body's going to be taken care of."

"He really was a cool kid. I wouldn't have minded if he stayed around a while longer. I didn't really see much of you there, where'd you spend most of your time?" Jack asked.

"I spent it realizing that I have finally eased the pain of death for someone. Maybe that's why he had to die, so that I could finally forgive myself."

Jack looked at the book in front of Daniel that looked like gibberish to him. It was closed and the smile on Daniel's face told him he was done translating it. "So, you want to catch a game of ice hockey with the rest of the gang?"

"Let's go."


Sorry for such a long time between posts... my internet has been acting up and I haven't been able to do anything on it for a long time. Well… I hope you liked the ending.

Please review!