rachel500 | Fanfiction: Clearing the Air (Reply)

Fandom: Stargate SG1
Series: Five Things
Prompt: Five Thunderstorms Jack Remembers
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Mentions of Sara/Jack. Originally written for sg1-five-things.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Written for entertainment purposes only.

Clearing the Air

Thunder splits the air and lightning rockets across the Minnesota sky.

Jack stares up at the sky with an awestruck expression. The air is heavy; thick with the weight of the oncoming storm.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" His Gramps whispers in his ear from their safe place on the porch of the fishing cabin.

The whiffs of tobacco and sour whiskey that Gramps always smells of make Jack's five year old nose wrinkle but his eyes are pinned on the sky above as the heavens open and the rain falls down in a rush that drowns out the sound of everything.

"Never be afraid of storms, Jack, my lad," Grandpa ruffles his hair, "they always clear the air."

It's not fear of the storm so much that Jack is battling with when his jet gets caught in a doozy over Germany so much as the fear of crashing.

If he had a moment to spare, he was certain that he'd admire the rolling dark clouds, the sharp jagged edges of white lightning and the roar of thunder.

But he doesn't have a moment to spare because his attention is on the spinning instruments, the feel of the stick vibrating in his hand and the plane groaning all around him as his co-pilot shouts course co-ordinates down his ear.

For a second, everything gets away from him and his eyes shoot, not to the storm outside, but to the picture of Sara holding their new born son, Charlie, stuck to the dash with a piece of duct tape. He yanks hard and gets the plane back under him.

He won't let the storm take him down.

Jack spends eight days by the grave.

He turns up in the morning at the time Charlie came screaming into the world, a bawling red faced baby.

He leaves every evening around the time the doctors in the emergency room had declared Charlie dead.

On the eighth day though there's a thunderstorm. It's been threatening for a while; grey skies, the air heavy with the metallic taste of lightning about to spark. It's seems a fitting tribute to Jack's mood; to his all-consuming grief.

For an hour the heavens are lit up with enough fire to express Jack's rage; enough sound to drown-out the awful echo of that fatal gunshot.

Then the rain comes and for the first time since they'd told him Charlie is gone, Jack cries.

The sky is already rumbling as Jack pulls up in front of the house. When he'd left, he hadn't expected to see it again.

Suicide mission.

He swallows hard against the lump in his throat at how selfish he's been. The insane mission through the Stargate has squared away his priorities though. He's retired and Sara deserves better but he's hoping, hoping they still have a chance.

Her car isn't in the driveway but it's early and he wasn't expected home any time soon. He grabs his duffle and heads inside. There's a roar of thunder as he enters the house and a bolt of lightning splits the sky open.

Huddled in what's left of some temple ruins that Daniel was very keen to look at, Jack's first thunderstorm off world is terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure. The sky is filled with purple lightning. The colour spectrum shouldn't surprise him; the sky had been more yellow than blue; the grass not quite brown but not quite orange. Thunder rumbles ominously overhead.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" The young Captain beside Jack enthuses.

"Uh, wonderful isn't the word I'd use but it's certainly eye-catching?" Daniel says, pushing up his glasses nervously.

"Colourful." Teal'c says with his usual succinctness.

Jack hides his smirk as he watches the storm reflected in Carter's wide-eyed glee, Daniel's hesitant awe, and Teal'c's calm zen.

The past few months of building their team haven't been easy. But they're getting there.

Carter drops her gaze from the sky to grin at him. "How about you, sir? What do you think?"

"Gramps told me never to be afraid of thunderstorms," Jack said firmly, "'since they clear the air."

Another charge of purple lightning arrows through the sky; it hits the ground and leaves behind an impressive crater.

They all stare at it.

"'Course, Gramps never said anything about thunderstorms on another planet." Jack says crisply. "Pack it up, campers. Time to go home."