Title: The Letter

Author: Sara

Author Email: scarab@cableinet.co.uk

Pairing: Jack/Daniel

Category: Angst

Rating: PG

Series: No

Status: Complete

ArchiveWhere: Area52

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and all titles and names related to it are the sole property of Showtime, Gekko and Double Secret. NO infringement is intended and no money is made in the writing of this story.

Notes: Again this has not been betaed so I apologise for the spelling or grammar mistakes.

Summary: A letter shakes Jack's world...

Warnings: Death story.

Jack O'Neill carefully poured the remaining contents of the whiskey bottle into his glass and downed the drink in one. Putting the glass back on the coffee table he looked at the letter he had received and read it again through bleary eyes. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out. Slowly he got to his feet and staggered out to the kitchen to get another drink. He felt betrayed as he opened the refrigerator door and grabbed a beer. How could Daniel do this to him. How did he let Daniel do this him. Why didn't he say or do something. Now it was too late. Daniel would never know. It was too late and Jack had realised that everything that he thought he had was gone forever.

The letter had arrived a few days before from Daniel, who since the Goa'uld threat had been taken care of and the Stargate project partially closed down had been busy working in a university in New York. Sam had gone back to working at the Pentagon and Teal'c had returned to the Land of Light to be with his family. That had left Jack who had happily retired with plans of going to his cabin in Minnesota to spend his days fishing. With the exception of Teal'c they had all stayed in touch and visited each other to begin with. Then Sam had met Major Ben Hamilton and got married and the letters and telephone calls from her had become fewer and fewer. Jack and Daniel still saw a lot of each other although when Jack visited him in New York he felt out of place and uncomfortable with Daniel's friends who were all professors or doctors. He always felt that when they did talk to him it was just to please Daniel and that they simplified everything for his benefit. At first Jack had let this go as he was just pleased to see his friend but over the last year he had been invited out to see Daniel less often. When he did see him Daniel treated him like the unwelcome relative that you have to put with a couple of times a year. So Jack had declined the last invitation and tried to get on with his life. He had to admit though that he missed him and although he had tried to make new friends Jack knew he wasn't exactly the easiest of people to get along with. Most of his adult life had been in the military and he was used to having friends who were military. That was until he met Doctor Daniel Jackson, archaeologist, linguist and all round pain in the ass, but the man who became the best friend he ever had. He had even thought of contacting his ex-wife Sara, but she had remarried and he didn't think her new husband would approve of him getting in touch. He had to admit to himself that he was lonely. All the personnel at the base that he had known had been reassigned, even Doctor Janet Fraiser had moved away to be nearer the college that Cassie now attended. He told himself that his friendship with Daniel was just going through a rough patch and that Daniel was just busy with his work. He'd hear from him soon and it would be like old times. The bottom line was that he didn't want to get closer to anyone else. He had been in love with Daniel since the second mission to Abydos and was just waiting for the right time to tell his friend how he felt. He knew that it would be a complete shock to Daniel that he was gay and he wasn't even sure that Daniel thought of him in that way. He thought he had all the time in the world but that all changed with the letter.

It was clearly in Daniel's neat handwriting and had completely devastated Jack. Daniel had asked Jack if he was well and that he hoped Jack could come out to New York as he had got a new job, which meant that he would be spending a few years in Egypt. He would be leaving in a couple of months after his wedding to his research assistant Abby Kennedy. The content of the letter and the fact that it had arrived on the anniversary of Charlie's death had completely shattered Jack and he had immersed himself in a drunken stupor. He convinced himself that he had been stupid to believe that anyone as beautiful and intelligent as Daniel would want to stay around him, everyone he knew had moved on with their lives except for him. Only Daniel had stayed loyal and now he felt that he was turning his back on him. Jack had never felt so alone in his entire life and could only see a bleak dark future. He walked back to his chair, glancing out of the window at the summer sunshine and hearing the birds singing and the neighbour's children playing in their garden. He thought of Charlie and the tears began to fall, he missed him so much. He put his bottle of beer on the coffee table and slumped into his chair. Leaning forward he picked up the other object on the table. Holding the handgun to his head he gently squeezed the trigger.

Daniel Jackson had just helped Abby move out the last of her stuff from his apartment. They had both realised that their whirlwind romance and engagement had been a mistake and called the whole thing off. They were still friends and Abby had admitted that she had got involved with Daniel on the rebound from her previous relationship. Daniel too had admitted that he encouraged their relationship in the hope that he could put out of his mind the person he was in love with. As he settled in his chair, the doorbell sounded and opening the door Daniel was surprised to be handed a telegram. Tearing it open, he quickly read the contents and felt his heart go cold. Jack was dead and he never had the chance to tell him he loved him.