Title: Storm Warning

Author: kirasmommy

Fandom: Stargate: SG1

Pairing: Jack/Daniel

Rating: R

Category: Slash, Established Relationship, angst, hurt/comfort

Date completed: April 29, 2003

Status: Complete

Series: No

Season/Spoilers: None really, takes place any season from Third on.

Archive: Anywhere posted

Synopsis: A visit to a planet turns bad when hell breaks loose.

Notes: I blame people in the chat room for this; it is sooooo there fault!

Beta Reader: Ximeria

Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/ Viacom, MGM/AU, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I do not own the characters and indeed am only playing with them for a little while. I am not making any money from this. No copyright infringement whatsoever is intended. The story is for entertainment purposes only. The original characters, situations, and story are mine. Please check with me first if you want to archive or link to this story.

Storm Warning

By kirasmommy

The first few splatters of rain were enough to bring a moan out of Jack. Picking up his radio, he thumbed the switch. "Carter! I thought you said it didn't look like rain?"

"Sir, we can't always predict these things!"

Jack looked into the sky and sighed. Minutes ago it had looked peaceful and idyllic. But now that he was paying attention, he noticed the sky darkening, the temperature was dropping quickly and

the wind was picking up.

The tall wild grass took on the appearance of waves in a vast green-yellow ocean. A few wildflowers peeked out occasionally before being thrust back down, overtaken by the lengthy blades. There were few trees on the vast prairie they found themselves on, and it had provided very little shade on the hot sullen day.

Jack would have found the drop in temperature a relief if it hadn't also made his stomach drop and an unnamed feeling of dread flow through him.

He swallowed and tried to shake the notion as he glanced behind him and shared an annoyed look with Daniel. "So much for your expedition!"

"I don't know, we could check out the temple. It isn't that far away. And it would be closer than trying to make it to camp." Daniel sighed looking up at the sky. "It is rather unique compared to many of the temples we've seen. It is partially underground, buried underneath the hill..."

Jack smirked, before glancing back up at the sky. "Maybe they were hobbits."

Daniel favored Jack with a narrow look.

"What? Have something against hobbits?" Jack spread his hand out.

Clouds were rolling in like black smoke and the air took on a surreal yellow green quality that made everything look like the inside of an old photograph.

"Come on, Jack. Before we get any wetter!"

Distant rumbles of thunder rolled through the afternoon air as the sky darkened quickly. "I hate rain!" Jack grumbled hurrying his step to follow Daniel at a slow jog.

"I know! You've made that quite clear on more than one occasion!" Daniel growled. "Trust me Jack, you won't melt!"

"Aw, but don't you know? Sugar always melts!"

"You aren't that sweet, Jack!" Daniel laughed.

"I'm hurt!" Jack smiled wanly, casting another furtive look toward the sky.

Daniel noticed that Jack had stopped walking and turned to the other man. "Jack? Coming? Or do you feel a particular need for a shower at this time?"

Jack swallowed as he watched the clouds begin to rotate, the rain virtually stopping as nature readied itself for a glorious show of strength.

Jack numbly pulled out the radio. "Carter? How similar is this planet's atmosphere to Earth's?"

"Almost exactly. Why, sir?"

"How close are you and Teal'c to the gate?" Jack gasped, running toward Daniel.

Daniel saw Jack running closer and looked around for an enemy attack, prepared to duck for cover and run. Jack quickly motioned his free hand forward and Daniel ran in the direction he indicated, toward the temple.

"We're still exploring around the DHD, but with the rain we-"

"Go now! Go back through the gate! Dial out! That's an order! Go! Go! Go!" Jack shouted as he grabbed Daniel's hand and nearly pulled him off of his feet.

"Jack!" Daniel tried to pull back only to find Jack wrapping his other hand around his waist pulling him up level with the running man. Daniel noticed the distinct lack of enemy fire. The distinct

lack of enemy...

"Jack, what is wrong..." Daniel said, worried that something had affected the Colonel, causing this uncharacteristic show of panic.

Jack jumped through the grass like a gazelle chased by a lion while Daniel could only stumble behind, unsure of the perceived danger. The tall grass whipped at Daniel's thighs slowing him down.

"Jesus-Jesus-Jesus-Jesus-" Jack chanted as he glanced behind them. "The temple, we've got to get to the temple!"

Confused, Daniel chanced a look behind them.

He could not see any enemy, no angry Jaffa, no villagers with pitchforks, not even a rabbit in a bad mood. Glancing at the sky he saw no Goa'uld ships, not even the quick, small Death gliders.

All he saw were dark clouds that swirled in a green-black cast sky as lightening lit the background. Thunder rumbled around them, seeming to shake the world.

"Jack!"

"Run, dammit! Run!" Jack jumped a fallen limb, continuing to pull the other man quickly.

Daniel stumbled and Jack pulled him back up before he could touch the ground. "Jack, what is wrong?"

"Come on!" Jack grunted.

All around them the world began to shriek and Daniel found his voice lost in the wind and the sound of thunder. The sound of a waterfall filled the air, it dawned on Daniel that the there were no waterfalls in their area...

Daniel forced himself to try and keep up with the other man.

Hail began to fall from the sky pegging them as they ran.

"Shit!" Daniel ducked as a large ball of ice slammed into the back of his head.

Leaves, branches, and debris flew past and around them. Daniel chanced another look behind them. He ran faster, no longer fighting against Jack at all.

The dark clouds swirled faster in the sky, forming a circle.

The wind battered against them, pushing and pulling, trying to knock them off of their feet. A large branch, big enough to almost be a tree itself, flew past them and landed hard in the distance.

Daniel gasped, tightening his grip on Jack's hand, afraid that the wind would take one or the other before they could reach safety. He felt rather than saw Jack's lurch forward as something struck his back. Any sound Jack may have made was lost to the rushing wind.

Daniel found himself, now pulling Jack along, changing positions to wrap his arm around Jack's waist. Trying to steady him as the wind pushed them down.

Temple in sight, Jack stumbled as another piece of debris flew through the air to strike him. Daniel pulled him back onto his feet, running faster and faster as it seemed the world itself had begun to

shake.

Jack found himself slammed against the dirt and stone entrance of the temple, a rotten wooden door between them and the foyer. Daniel pounded on the door, pulling on the leather handle.

Daniel looked down at Jack, and saw a look he had never thought to see on Jack's face. Wild-eyed panic.

Daniel raised a booted foot and kicked the door once, twice, and on the third time it snapped on it's hinges.

Daniel reached down and grasped the side of the door, throwing it open, in reverse of the way it was meant to open.

"Down there!" Daniel shouted, his words whipped from him, turning the words into a whisper.

Daniel found himself sliding down the steps as Jack jumped into the dark, pulling him down with him. Reaching up, Jack pulled the wooden door closed behind them. Leaving it loosely hanging by the leather tie that held it firmly even as the rusted metal brackets had given up. The small stairway was plunged momentarily into darkness as Daniel tried to adjust his eyes.

Jack quickly pulled out a flashlight.

"Jack..."

The beam of light swept across the crumbling steps and Daniel once more found himself propelled forward as Jack dragged him with single-minded purpose. "Jack, wait! It is okay! We're safe now!"

Daniel didn't have time to marvel over the decorative murals upon the foyer's walls. He didn't have time to wonder at the script that was artfully etched into the metal archways above the branching tunnels. All he had time to do was gasp as Jack picked one such tunnel and pulled him in. The tunnels had all long since collapsed, but there was still about ten feet or so between the main room and the rock fall.

"Jack!" Daniel wrenched his hand free and spun Jack around to face him. "What the hell is going on damn it? We're safe in here!"

The sound of banging caught Daniel's attention and he looked toward the splintered hatch, noting the slight light that came every time it bounced up as the wind caught it.

The wind's howl became impossibly loud, sounding like a train passing within feet of them. Daniel felt his heart jump into his throat as he found himself thrown onto the floor, a heavy weight upon him that he realized a second later was Jack.

He struggled to push himself back up, only to find Jack pushing his head closer to the floor, covering him with his own body.

From a distance he heard a low booming noise, a pattern underneath the whipping wind. He stilled as he tried to place the noise, tried to figure out what it sounded like. A frightening noise that instilled in Daniel exactly how serious the situation had become.

A hand carded through his hair, and Daniel realized that Jack was muttering in his ear. The rigid body above him quivered and shook and Daniel recognized that above all, Jack was rocking him gently.

The rhythmic whirling sound grew louder, closer, deeper, a shrieking sound accompanying it.

Daniel's arms fought to come up and around Jack, managing only to grip the sides of his waist. Fear lacing through him as Jack held onto him tightly.

The noise started to recede and Daniel waited for Jack to let him up, an action which did not come. Daniel pushed up and found himself pushed back down. "Jack? Jack, it's over, let me up!"

Daniel tried to throw the weight off of his back, but Jack tightened his grip with a sharp intake of air before he continued to mutter his litany in a low voice. Daniel waited, listening.

"Notagainwon'thappenagaincan'tletithappenagain.Loveyouwon'tletittakeyoutoo."

Daniel tightened his hands around Jack's waist as he finally made out the individual words. "Jack, it is okay. I'm fine. We got down here in time. Let me up! Please! It's over, we are all right!"

Pushing up steadily, Daniel lifted Jack up until he could raise his head and duck out from under the heavy man. Jack wrapped his arms more tightly around Daniel as Daniel in turn wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders.

Daniel stilled, as his fingers seemed to slide in something that couldn't possibly be rain, too slick, too warm. Daniel slipped from the arms that steadily weakened from their initial desperate embrace. Grabbing the discarded flashlight, he brought his fingers to the beam. Red. Shakily, he checked Jack's back.

He pulled off Jack's equipment and jacket and folded the cloth to press against the wound.

Jack's eyes were tightly closed, as he continued to mutter the same words over and over again.

Daniel pulled him down to his shoulder as he kept the jacket pressed against Jack's shoulders.

"Jack? Jack, can you hear me?" Daniel whispered. "Jack?"

Behind closed eyes, Jack heard his name screamed, frantically from a different voice, felt himself thrown to the ground as a slightly larger, but definitely heavier body covered his.

He heard the shrieking of metal under the howl of the wind.

"Get into the school, Jackie!" The words close to his ear were almost snatched away by the wind.

He felt himself pulled back up, but was tossed back to the ground by the wind. A hand was tangled in his, pulling him, an arm wrapped around his slight waist trying to help him stay on his feet.

He glanced behind them in time to see one of the large school buses tossed to the side like a small toy.

A scream and he was pushed to the ground once more, the weight upon his back holding him down. But the hand that held his no longer gripped it tightly and the arm that had been around his waist lay limply over him.

"Jack? Jack? Do you hear me?"

Jack cracked his eyes open, noting the darkness, noting the sting of scratches and the dull ache of bruises, a small ball of pain in the middle of his shoulders, but still none of the pain he had expected upon opening his eyes. "Robbie?"

"No." A hand upon his face was turning his head up. A beam of light lay propped beside them and he focused on the concerned blue eyes that peered at him unfettered by glasses that usually perched upon the other's face. The other hand holding the place where the most pain was centered.

The warm brown that he had expected were long gone Jack realized.

He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Daniel."

"Yes. Jack, what happened? Where were you just now?" His voice was still low and Jack could feel the slight shake to Daniel's hand as he gently stroked Jack's hair. "Are you okay?"

Jack pulled out of Daniel's grasp and nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just fine."

Daniel snorted. "Right. Forgive me if I don't believe it."

Wiping a dirty hand through his short hair Jack took a limping step back and looked toward the gaping hole that once held the door.

"It looks like it is over." Daniel stretched his legs and walked toward the steps only to find himself dragged back toward the tunnel. "Jack? What the hell is wrong with you? Let me go!"

Daniel struggled in the tight grip. "Jack!"

"It might be over for now! Don't trust it! There could be more!" Jack growled.

Going lax in Jack's arms he allowed himself to be lowered to the ground. "All right, we'll wait." Daniel raised his hands in surrender. "Let me have another look at your back..."

Jack nodded briskly and turned to watch the rain hit the crumbling stone steps.

The bleeding had stopped and Daniel was satisfied that as long as Jack didn't move around too much it would be all right for the time being.

"May I at least look around?" Daniel asked, trying to keep from sounding irritated.

Jack nodded.

Daniel picked up the flashlight and crept around the ruin of the temple. "This is really fascinating. The script seems to be a deviation of..."

Jack blocked out the voice choosing to listen to the sound of thunder that rumbled ominously in the distance.

Crying.

That was what he remembered next, the sound of crying. It had taken a while to realize that he was crying as well. He hurt all over. He couldn't move his arm and his leg felt as though it were on fire.

People rushed by hurrying somewhere and he could hear voices all around him. It was dark and he was lying on a mat. Glass and debris lay all around the gym. And suddenly they were moving again, something about the roof...

He barely remembered being moved to the cafeteria. But he could remember asking about Robbie. Over and over again, wanting someone to tell him where his brother was only to be met with silence as they moved to the others. He focused on the sound of hysterical students all around him, the sound of people trying to soothe them.

And above all... he heard crying.

"Jack?"

A hand upon his shoulder and Jack jumped. "What?"

"Okay, now you are really starting to scare me!" Daniel kneeled beside him holding the flashlight between them.

"I'm fine!" Jack coughed, wiping at his face.

"You are not fine!" Daniel reached up and swiped underneath of one eye, pulling it away wet. "You do not cry when you are fine!"

"I'm not crying!" Jack snarled.

Daniel looked at him in disbelief.

"I'm not!" Jack dared him to argue.

Cupping a hand around his chin, Daniel nodded, his eyes softening. "I'm sorry, my mistake. You weren't crying."

Jack coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, still sore from something hitting him, he didn't remember...

"Jack? Who is Robbie?" Daniel laid a hand upon Jack's thigh rubbing it gently.

Jack felt himself blinking stupidly and shook his head. "Not important."

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed. Reopening them he smiled wryly. "Okay. I won't push."

Jack groaned, feeling the guilt snake through him. He leaned his shoulder into the tiled wall, keeping his back open to the air as he wrapped an arm around Daniel's waist pulling him closer. "That's not fair. You're supposed to push and pry and irritate the hell out of me in an effort to make me talk. Then I'll feel all self righteous and clam up without feeling any remorse about it!"

"Sorry. If you don't want me to know, I can't do anything about it!" Daniel said pitifully. "So I'll just leave you alone."

"Asshole!" Jack said, no heat behind the words.

Daniel shrugged.

Tipping his head back, Jack sighed again. "Robbie was my brother. Robert. He was a little older than me."

The hand upon Jack's thigh tightened briefly, then continued to rub soothing circles. Daniel nodded, remaining silent.

"I was only eleven when it happened. The bus was picking up the high schoolers and we were getting ready to go home. It had been warm all day. It was April though, and that was better than cold as far as I was concerned. The sun had been shining brightly most of the day, but around noon it started to rain. The teachers had hoped it would, you know, cool things off a little. But it just made things sticky and humid. And there wasn't even any breeze. It was hard to breathe... It

was downright oppressive! "

The hand hesitated again, Daniel turned in Jack's arms to face him, as he figured out quickly where Jack was going with his tale. "Oh, boy."

"Yeah, oh boy." Jack grimaced.

"One of the teachers had mentioned that there was a possibility of tornados according to the radio in the teacher's lounge, but nobody really thought much of it. After all, the town had never had a

tornado."

"Oh, shit." Daniel groaned.

"Well, it certainly proved the old, no tornados ever strike large cities myth wrong." Jack tried for a lighthearted tone but it fell flat.

"Oh, God, Jack..." Daniel wrapped his arms around the older man, burrowing his head in Jack's neck.

"I'm okay. I'm fine." Jack's voice was rough and he coughed to clear it.

"I'm sorry." Daniel said, feeling inadequate.

"It was bad, Daniel. Real bad. People died. My brother died. He died trying to protect me." Jack ran a hand over his eyes. "There was just so much damage! So much, it was so big and there was just no time to get away!"

Daniel shook his head, murmuring useless words, a hand in Jack's hair.

"It wasn't over though, I mean for us, yeah, but not for others. There wasn't just one that day. Three, three of the fuckers. F4s. They rolled the buses and tossed people like paper." Jack's eyes

glazed over remembering his parents coming for him. Holding onto him, afraid to let go, afraid to lose their last son. Crying at the loss of their oldest.

"Our house was completely destroyed." Jack continued. "Mom and dad weren't home when it happened, thank God."

Daniel nodded, pulling Jack closer, changing their positions so that Jack was lying against his chest as Daniel stroked and held him.

"I can't even imagine what that was like." Daniel told him.

"Dad and mom sent me to my grandfather's while they made arrangements. There was just so much going on!" Jack shook his head. "We had moved there from Chicago itself to relax, we moved back to Chicago after that. But immediately after-- I was sent to Minnesota..."

"I can understand that." Daniel ran his hand over Jack's lower back, avoiding the small wound toward the top. "Better to have you someplace that they knew was safe while they contended with the unknown."

Jack pulled back and stared into Daniel's eyes. The dim light reflecting off of Jack's eyes making them appear maniacal. "You'd think, wouldn't you?"

Daniel furrowed his brow. "I'm sure they did what they thought was best."

Jack began laughing. It started out low, rough, a rasping sound that bubbled up almost like the hiccups, but it slowly got louder, echoing and bouncing off of the tiles, and he just couldn't seem to stop.

Daniel reared back and grabbed Jack's upper arms giving him a hard shake. "Jack, stop it!"

Jack wound down and sniffed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I'm sorry."

"Jack?"

"Safe, so stupid..." Jack shook his head.

Daniel tilted his head and waited while Jack rubbed his face furiously. "Nine days!"

"What?"

"That is how long it was between. Between the day that my brother died and our house was destroyed to the day that my grandfather's house was destroyed! Nine fucking days, Daniel! Nine goddamned days!"

Daniel stared at Jack, an expression of disbelief upon his face. "No..."

"Yes!" Jack ground out. "I thought I was cursed! I thought that they were following me around! I thought..."

"It was your fault?" Daniel asked. He swallowed hard, pulling Jack back into his arms. "No! No! It wasn't your fault! Never!"

"I know that...now. I know it! But at the time..." Jack's voice was muffled by Daniel's shoulder.

"You were a little boy whose world had been turned upside down, not once, but twice in less than two weeks." Daniel pressed a kiss against Jack's head.

"The second time, we were in the basement. He had turned it into a sorta-den. Grandpa had to carry me down the steps because of the casts on my arm and leg. It-it was like a bomb had gone off up there. Daniel, there was absolutely no warning! We didn't even know..."

Daniel nodded, rocking Jack gently.

"People died in that one too." Jack's voice was soft and Daniel had to strain to hear it. "There was this cow... a board speared it. A two by six, I think. It lived for a few hours before it finally died.

Weirdest thing..."

"Jack, there wasn't anything you could have done."

"I know that." Jack sighed, pulling back. "I know. And I don't even know why this is even coming up now. I put it behind me. This isn't the first time since then that I've been in a storm. Hell, I've seen other tornados. I don't understand-"

Daniel shook his head. "It could have been anything, a smell, a sound, the way the sky looked... something-just-- triggered it."

"I dealt with it, Daniel! It shouldn't come up! It isn't like I panic when a storm breaks out! Why this time?" Jack growled glaring at the stairs leading up.

"I don't know why." Daniel sighed. "But it saved us. I'm sure it saved Sam and Teal'c. I tried to radio them and didn't get anything. I'm sure they went through the gate. But if you hadn't noticed what was happening... you saved us."

Jack grimaced. "I panicked."

"You had a flashback. It's not the same."

Jack stood with a frustrated noise. "You don't get it! I dealt with this, I put it away!"

"I do get it, Jack!" Daniel found his feet and stepped closer. "I get it! I've dealt with things too, and you know what? They never truly go away! You just learn how to set them aside when they rear their ugly head!"

"Well, I didn't do too hot of a job setting this aside, now did I?" Jack asked angrily.

"Cut yourself some slack!" Daniel threw his head back.

"I can't!" Jack yelled. "I'm responsible! If I lose it..."

"You didn't lose it! You were in some kind of control the entire time! You ordered Sam and Teal'c to safety, you got me here, you did your job!"

"I didn-"

"Jack, you are allowed to feel." Daniel told him, placing his hands upon Jack's shoulders. "You are allowed to react to bad memories."

"Daniel..."

"I doubt that I could have handled it any better." Daniel said quietly. "I can go into museums, I can be around cover stones, I can be around any and every artifact that was in that room that day. But, put you under that stone, even if it was secure... I know it doesn't compare..."

Jack wrapped his arms firmly around Daniel. "No traumatic experience is less or more than any other traumatic experience. Trauma is trauma. It isn't a contest."

"And if the tables were reversed? If I had just pushed you out of the way of a large stone and then was upset for a few minutes... would you tell me to just get over it and stop whining about it?"

"Of course not!" Jack gasped.

"Then, why not give yourself the same break?"

"Because-"

"Jack!" Daniel placed a finger over Jack's lips. "You are allowed."

"Bastard." Jack smiled behind the finger still upon his lips. Pursing them, he placed a light kiss upon the pad.

"So, Jack? How long do you think this storm will last?" Daniel placed his hands lightly upon Jack's back, rubbing gently.

"Oh, I don't know. A few more minutes, half an hour, all day..." Jack shrugged. "Why?"

"Found a stable room. Storage room, actually."

"Oh?"

"It was air tight, until I managed to unlock it."

"And?" Jack gestured for him to continue.

"Has mattresses, blankets, pillows. I just thought we could get a bit more comfortable, you know, just until the storm is over." Daniel sighed. "You should rest, your back isn't bleeding anymore, but..."

"And just why would that kind of thing be in a temple?" Jack asked as Daniel dragged one out.

"Because it isn't a temple." Daniel coughed into one hand, a bit embarrassed.

"What is this place?"

"Exactly what you thought it was Jack."

"What is that?" Jack wrinkled his brow.

"A storm shelter."

=End Storm Warning

End of Fic

Author's Notes: On April 21, 1967, three F4 tornados with wind speeds between 207 and 260 miles per hour struck Northeast Illinois on a Friday afternoon. The first of these struck Belvidere at about 3:50pm. This tornado killed 24 people and injured over 400. Eleven of the victims were

children boarding buses at the Belvidere High School. There were sixteen buses in total, of those sixteen, twelve of them were overturned or thrown. One bus driver lost his life, but most of the

dead were students who were "Tossed like leaves". 300 students were injured. They were moved on makeshift stretchers made from school doors and plywood from nearby houses by students and teachers attending them in the aftermath. Initially they were moved to the Gym but fears that the ceiling was going to come down forced them to move the children to the cafeteria. South of Harvard, one school bus was ripped in half before it was thrown into power lines. The driver and

the 20 students had hidden in a ditch. One hundred twenty-seven homes were destroyed and 379 more were damaged. Belvidere is 75 miles from downtown Chicago.

During the course of that day tornadoes took 58 lives and injured more than 1,000. Property damage estimates were in excess of $50 million.

Of course, there was no Robbie (Robert) and Jackie (John) O'Neill on those buses. But in real life, many did lose their lives or were terribly injured.

Late in the afternoon of April 30th the U. S. Weather Bureau issued a tornado watch for south central Minnesota. Just before the storm hit at approximately 6:50 pm., residents of Waseca experienced a dramatic drop in temperature. There was very little warning before the tornado hit the area because there was no funnel sighted and therefore the tornado sirens were never sounded. 13 people died. The cow was real account as well.

end