THE EYE OF THE STORM
by:  Miss Beth
Feedback to:  missbeth@epix.net

*****

DISCLAIMER: All characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp.
and Double Secret Productions.  This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no
money was made from it.  Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended.  Any
similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.   No
infringement intended for "There But For the Grace of God" (written by Robert C. Cooper).

*****

Part 1: Jack

Jack O'Neill was very good at dealing with the unexpected, but that didn't mean he liked
surprizes.  Losing Daniel on P3R233 had definitely qualified as an unwelcome surprize, but
getting separated was not entirely unheard of--after all, it hadn't been the first time it had
happened. Nor would it have been the first time Daniel had wandered off in an academic
euphoria.  So he'd dealt with it:  they'd searched.  For six hours, roaming farther and farther
from the Gate, and getting more and more concerned as each hour had passed with no sign of
their friend.

But Daniel had appeared as mysteriously--as unexpectedly--as he'd disappeared:  hurt, semi-
conscious, lying on the floor in the exact room where they'd last seen him.  Jack couldn't
explain it.  And he liked that even less.

"Jack!  They're coming!"  Daniel gasped the warning a second time, clearly agitated, but Jack
needed more information than that to react.

"Easy, Daniel," he said, gently supporting him.  "Who's coming?"

Daniel closed his eyes, shaking with his struggle to speak, and Jack's concern grew--he'd seen
Daniel suffer through worse pain than that shoulder wound would be causing and still stay
coherent.

"Daniel?" Jack shot a puzzled glance at Carter and Teal'c, but both were as clueless as he was.

"The Goa'uld," Daniel finally ground the words out.  "They're coming!"

Stunned, his adrenaline surging and his stomach clenching, Jack grasped for more.  "What--
here?!?"

But Daniel groaned, soft and low, his desperate grip on Jack's jacket going slack, and Jack had
to lean close to hear him.

"Please, Jack, tell me you know who I am, tell me I'm home."  And Daniel sagged in his arms,
unconscious.

Heart pounding, Jack could only stare in dismay.  This was obviously more than a simple case of
Lost Scholar, but without knowing more, his options were limited.  "Okay, Danny," he finally
said, softly. "Whatever's going on, let's get you home."

Teal'c was already there, crouching down to gather Daniel carefully into his arms.  "I do not
understand," he said.  "The Goa'uld have already destroyed this world--they would not return
here.  And how could Daniel Jackson be wounded by a staff weapon, when we heard and saw
nothing?"

"I don't know, Teal'c, and it looks like explanations will have to wait," Jack replied.  "Let's
go.  Carter, you still have that piece of paper?"

"Yes, sir," she nodded.  They collected their weapons and followed Teal'c as he carried Daniel
back to the Stargate.

Jack radioed the rest of the search team to return, brusquely barking out the orders while Sam
dialed.  And as they left one by one, he took a last, long look around.  What had this dead
world done to Daniel, and what would it mean to Earth?

*****

Part 2: Teal'c

Daniel Jackson shuddered in his arms as Teal'c stepped through the Stargate.  Teal'c never
underestimated the Goa'uld, and he knew better than most how unforeseen an encounter with them
could be.  But Daniel had been wounded by a staff weapon, had apparently suffered at the hands
of the Goa'uld on P3R233, and he hadn't even been aware of it. He'd protected his friend as
poorly as he'd protected his family on Chulak.

A medical team was already swarming into the Gate room by the time Teal'c got to the bottom of
the ramp, but he still dismissed them as too slow and carried Daniel all the way to Medical
himself.  Protecting him now was the only thing he could do to make amends.

He walked into Medical with Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter right behind him, almost running
to keep up, and the medical team following in their wake.

"What happened?" Doctor Frazier demanded, pointing to one of the examination tables.

"That's an excellent question, Doctor," General Hammond appeared in the doorway as Teal'c
carefully deposited his charge on the table, holding Daniel upright long enough for the doctor
to remove his jacket and cut away his shirt.

"We don't know what happened yet, sir," Colonel O'Neill replied.  "We found him exactly where
we left him, only on the floor and with a hole in his arm."

"The wound was caused by a staff weapon," Teal'c admitted quietly.

"What?"  Teal'c met the general's stunned gaze squarely.  He had not harmed Daniel Jackson, but
he had not been able to prevent the injury, either.  But Colonel O'Neill cut in.

"We think it was caused by a staff weapon, sir.  None of us saw what happened."

Doctor Frazier had paused in her examination.  "He might have tangled with the Goa'uld?"

"Yes," Teal'c answered.

"Get everything set up for an MRI for Doctor Jackson," the doctor ordered.  An airman went
scurrying.  "He's shivering," she continued. "How long has--"

"I believe it was the trip through the Gate, Doctor," Teal'c replied.  "He began shivering as
soon as we came through."

"That would make sense," she agreed.  "You've all adjusted to the cold of molecular
reconstitution, but if he's already been weakened by something."

"By what, Janet?"  Captain Carter asked.  "Can you tell yet what's happened?"

Drawing blood from Daniel's arm, Doctor Frazier didn't even look at them. "Obviously he has the
shoulder injury, but I won't be able to tell you much more until I run some tests.  Something
has definitely traumatized his system--he's already gone into shock."

She turned with the freshly drawn sample and nearly collided with another of her airmen.  "All
right, folks, clear the room," she snapped. "You'll know something as soon as I do."

"Let's give the doctor some room," General Hammond agreed.  "SG1, take ten minutes and then
we'll debrief."

"Yes, sir," the colonel answered.  He turned to leave with the general, shepherding a reluctant
Captain Carter with him.  "Teal'c, you too."

"Doctor, may I stay?" Teal'c asked.

She took a long look at him then, and Teal'c wasn't surprized when she nodded.  "Haven't you
ever noticed, Colonel?  Teal'c always stands guard when one of you is hurt."  She said the
words softly, understanding, and Teal'c inclined his head, acknowledging her insight.

Colonel O'Neill paused in the doorway.  "Yeah, I've noticed," he smiled. "We'll cover the
debrief, Teal'c."

"Thank you."

The colonel nodded and left, and the doctor began cleaning the wound in Daniel Jackson's
shoulder.  Teal'c stood where he was most out of the way, watching over his friend, and
wondered what the Goa'uld were after now.

*****

Part 3: Samantha

Sam curled her hands around a mug of tea and listened as the colonel began the debrief.  Since
they didn't know Daniel's story yet, she didn't imagine it would take all that long.

"With just the Goa'uld warning I might have taken a few hours to look around, General, but as
soon as Teal'c said the planet's surface would be radioactive, I ordered us out.  We got back
to the Gate and waited for a minute--it just looked like Daniel had gotten his head wrapped
around an artifact again and was dragging his feet."

Jack shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, leaving it looking as ragged as he probably
felt.  As she felt.  It had been a long day of worry and uncertainty, and until Daniel woke up,
that apparently wasn't going to change.

"I went back to get him, sir," Sam continued, "but he wasn't there.  There was no sign of him
or his gear, and it looked like several of the artifacts were missing from the table.  We did a
cursory search, then I came back through to request additional personnel."

"You sent SG8 with her and we executed a standard search pattern, for six hours, with no sign
of him at all."  Jack pushed himself back from the table and stood to pace.  "We were in the
Gate room when I heard a cry. We went back to the artifact room, and there he was, like we'd
somehow just overlooked him, lying there on the floor."

"Teal'c said Doctor Jackson had been hurt by a staff weapon," the general prodded.

"That's what it looked like," Sam confirmed, "but Teal'c certainly didn't do it, and we didn't
even see signs of mice, yet alone the Goa'uld.  But then Daniel said they were coming, and--"

"He said what?"  The general's gaze swiveled sharply between her and the colonel.  "He said the
Goa'uld are coming?"

"Yes, sir," the colonel sighed, rubbing his neck and dropping heavily back into his chair.
"But he was only conscious for a minute.  He mumbled something to me about being home, and
passed out.  We have no idea what he meant, or how he got hurt, or where the hell he'd been for
six hours."

"Or where he got this Stargate address," Sam added, and pulled the much-crumpled piece of paper
out of her pocket.

"Stargate address?"  General Hammond reached for the yellow paper and stared at the
coordinates.  "Do we know where this is?"

"No, sir," Sam replied.  "I checked a few minutes ago, and it's not in the database."

"Well," the general said heavily, "travel to P3R233 is definitely off limits, and I'm setting a
guard back on the Gate room.  I guess we'll have to finish your debrief later, when Doctor
Jackson's conscious."

They stood to leave then, but a soft knock on the door had them turning as Janet entered.

"Doctor Frazier?"

"It'll be a while before I have the results of the blood tests, General," she cautioned, "but
the MRI was clear.  Unless the blood tests show something, I think the worst he'll suffer in
the morning is a sore shoulder."

Sam took a deep breath, felt a few of the knots in her stomach unwinding. And then realized
that Janet was still far too preoccupied for it to be that simple.

"We need to talk to him, Doctor," General Hammond said softly.  "Will he be conscious soon?"

"I wish I knew that, sir," Janet shrugged.  "We've dressed the burns on his shoulder and we're
treating him for shock.  But I don't know yet what caused him to go into shock.  My guess is he
won't be out for more than a few hours, but I won't be able to tell you more until I get the
blood work back."

"Is there anything I can do?" Sam really didn't like the frown Janet still wore.

Janet nodded.  "Come back to the lab when you're done here, and we'll run a few more tests."

"We're done now, " the general dismissed them.

Sam carefully re-folded the Gate coordinates and tucked the paper into her pocket as they left.
But it wasn't as easy, as Janet started discussing the tests, to dismiss the questions that
still nagged her--or the certainty that this was somehow far from over.

*****

Part 4: Jack

Slouched in the chair, feet propped up on Daniel's bed, Jack was almost asleep when Janet
Frazier walked in.

"Any change, Colonel?" she asked softly, reaching for Daniel's wrist to take his pulse.

"He's been a little restless," Jack reported, sitting up, "but he hasn't woken up yet."

Janet waved at the darkened, otherwise empty room.  "Where are Teal'c and Sam?"

"Well, it seemed silly for all of us to be sleeping in chairs," Jack muttered, rubbing a tired
hand over his eyes, "so we're taking it in shifts.

"I'm surprized you got Teal'c to agree to that," Janet admitted.

Jack glanced at Daniel.  "Teal'c knows how to take orders."

Janet raised an eyebrow, but let the comment slide.  "The good news is that his blood chemistry
is slowly returning to normal.  The bad news is that I still can't tell you what caused all the
imbalances in the first place. I'm leaning towards some kind of electrical charge, but."

"But?" Jack prompted.

Janet shrugged.  "An electrical charge doesn't account for everything."

"Such as?"  Janet sighed, but whether it was at his persistence or her frustration, Jack
couldn't tell.

"Over the last year we've done a lot of tests to see what the long-term effects of Gate travel
might be," Janet said, pulling a chair up to the other side of Daniel's bed and sitting.  "So
we've collected a fair amount of documentation on the small changes at the molecular level that
make it easier and easier for your systems to handle the stresses involved. We've discovered
that those changes run within certain parameters, but the percent of change across the various
chemical levels is variable."

"And this chemistry lesson is important because. ?"  Jack hated this part.  Whatever had
happened to plain old broken bones and the occasional concussion?

"In the first blood sample I took from Daniel today, the differential was constant across the
entire chemical spectrum, Jack," Janet explained patiently, "as if something absorbed an even,
minute percentage of every chemical in Daniel's body.  Now, a simple electrical shock would
have predictable results--they're within a certain range, depending on the voltage.  But the
imbalances would not be so consistent."

"Jack," Daniel moaned the word, hesitant and confused, and Jack pushed all thoughts of
molecules and chemical imbalances aside.

"Daniel?"

Daniel turned his head to find him and blinked slowly a few times, as if he couldn't quite
focus.  "Teal'c didn't believe you, did he?" he muttered sadly.

Jack's eyebrows shot up.  "About what?"

"About being our friend," Daniel's words were muzzy, his voice thick. "Maybe if you hadn't
bombed Chulak."

Jack's jaw dropped and he shot an incredulous glance at Janet.  "Did you give him something?"

"No--and there weren't any signs of a concussion."  Janet gently turned Daniel's head and
leaned over him to check his pupils.  "Can you tell me your name?"

"No," Daniel whispered, a world of agony in that one, soft syllable.  "Not again.  I'm Daniel
Jackson," he gasped, trying to sit.  "I'm on SG1. Where's Jack?!"

"Easy, Danny, I'm here," Jack pressed a suddenly distraught Daniel back down to the bed, but
Daniel gripped his arms with surprizing strength.

"Did it work?!" he demanded.  "Do you know me?"

"Of course I know you!  Why wouldn't I?  Daniel, what the hell happened on 233?"

But whatever was dogging Daniel, he wasn't satisfied yet.  "You're a colonel?  Is Teal'c here?
Did we go to 233 today?"

"Yes to all three."  Jack was relieved to see Daniel relax a little, but frowned when he began
rubbing his temple with a hand that shook. Janet was already reaching for a blood pressure
cuff.

"Daniel," Jack prompted softly, "can you tell me where you disappeared to for six hours?"

"I followed you back to Earth," Daniel muttered, eyes closed and grimacing as he rubbed at his
temples with both hands now.  "Only everything was different and you didn't know me and
everybody died when Apophis came."

Jack's eyes narrowed as he considered this latest bit of confusion. Daniel had been desperate
to warn them, but this wasn't exactly a lucid explanation. On the other hand, simple
hallucinations didn't burn shoulders--and Daniel didn't lie. Something dark and savage sizzled
down Jack's spine.  This was going to be nasty--whatever "this" was.

Janet tossed the blood pressure cuff aside and pressed a stethoscope to Daniel's chest.
"Breathe deeply for me, Daniel," she ordered gently. "Again."

Daniel complied, but he was slowly rolling to his side and curling up into a ball.  Janet
shifted the stethoscope to his back.  "How do you feel, Daniel?  Headache?"

"Monumental," Daniel groaned.

"Janet," Jack finally managed, "those chemical imbalances--wouldn't they have affected his
brain?"

Janet was frowning.  "You guys rarely fit in my medical textbooks, Jack.  I think the changes
to his body chemistry are causing the headache, but I wasn't expecting this kind of delusion."

"I'm not crazy," Daniel insisted.  "I wasn't before, and I'm not now. They're coming.  We have
the same major historical events and--omigod."  He forced himself up on an elbow and
desperately grabbed Jack's arm.

"Jack, where are the coordinates?"

"The ones on the yellow piece of paper?  Sam has them.  Is that where you were?"

"I told you--I was on Earth," Daniel sagged back to the bed, his sudden energy fading, and
started when Janet pressed a needle into his arm. "Not you, too, Janet."

"It's just something to help with your headache," she soothed.  Jack watched as the pain lines
in Daniel's face slowly eased, as his breathing calmed and his hands stopped trembling.

Silently Janet shifted Daniel to his back and pulled the covers up.  "He'll sleep until morning
now," she said softly.  "We'll do another round of blood tests, and I'll check on him again in
a few hours."  Jack nodded, but he didn't take his eyes off Daniel, and Janet left.

"They're coming," Daniel murmured, blinking, fighting the drug.

Jack pressed a gentle hand to Daniel's good shoulder.  "I know," he said.

Satisfied, Daniel let sleep take him then.  And standing there in the darkened room, Jack knew
something had shifted, that the repercussions of the day's events were looming, huge and
potentially devastating.  God alone knew how they'd weather it when the storm finally struck.