Disclaimer: I'm sad to announce that I do not own Stargate Atlantis or its characters.
"I don't see why we can't go to a nice tropical beach planet." McKay groused.
"You're Canadian, Rodney," I pointed out. "You're saying you can't handle a little snow?"
"Just because I'm Canadian doesn't mean I can't get frostbite and pneumonia and God knows what else, Sheppard," he complained. "Besides, this isn't 'a little snow' this is like a freaking Ice Age!"
"Aw, it's not that bad." Actually, it was that bad, but if I admitted that then I'd have to find something else to tease McKay about. "And don't forget, you were the one who wanted to check out the Ancient outpost the Atlantis database said was here."
"Yes, check it out; as in from the nice warm interior of the jumper, not hiking around in sub-Arctic temperatures!"
"Well the outpost is on a mountainside, Rodney, it's not like there's a convenient parking lot for the jumper." I reminded him again.
"The Colonel is right, Rodney." Teyla said, probably trying to quiet Rodney before Ronon decided it would be a good idea to knock him unconscious just to get a little silence. Glancing at Ronon, I figured we had another half hour before we got to that point.
Rodney continued to complain under his breath as he checked the Ancient scanner he held in his gloved hand. "Okay, it looks like the outpost is just over this next ridge."
The terrain wasn't too steep where we were hiking, but beyond the Ancient structure the snow-covered mountainside rose up steeply. Luckily, the gate itself was positioned partway up the mountain, so we'd only had a short walk up to the outpost.
As we approached the top of the ridge, I saw the gleaming metal walls of the Ancient building wrapping around the corner of the mountain. Only the front walls were showing; the rest was encased in a massive snowdrift. I walked cautiously towards what appeared to be the main entrance, my team close behind me. I reached forward and palmed the control panel beside the door. When nothing happened, I tried again.
"Damn," I swore. "It must be broken."
"Or frozen." McKay grumbled, pushing past me to pry off the control panel. He began moving crystals around and looking for the problem.
I turned to Ronon and Teyla. "You two take a walk around the perimeter of the building; see if you can find a door that works. I'll stay here with McKay and try to get this door to open. Radio if you find anything."
They nodded their consent and turned to leave. While McKay continued to examine the control panel, I walked over to the edge of the rocky shelf we were standing on. The ground dropped off steeply, offering a great view of the snowy expanse of the valley stretched out far beneath us. It was beautiful, and reminded me of Antarctica. Well, except for the stargate I could see off to the side, that is.
I suddenly heard McKay swear loudly. Turning to look, I saw him rapidly pulling crystals from the open panel.
"What is it?" I called as I started towards him.
"I don't know." He snapped, "Something's wrong. There's an energy buildup coming from inside!"
Even as he spoke, I heard an explosion inside the complex. The reverberations shook the platform we stood on.
"McKay?!" I shouted.
"The energy source overloaded, but I cut the power in time." He explained "There was minimal damage."
That would have been welcome news if I didn't hear the loud thunder-like roar descending upon us. "Oh shit." I muttered, as I looked at the cliffs above us. In a split second one word crossed my mind: avalanche.
"McKay, get against the building!" I started running towards the shelter, but I knew I couldn't make it in time. I heard McKay's panicked voice over the radio warning Teyla and Ronon, but his words were drowned out by the sound of the snow racing towards me. This is gonna hurt, I thought, and wasn't disappointed. The sudden impact knocked me from my feet and I could barely breathe. I surged through the deadly white cloud, pushed off the ledge and propelled downward by the force of the snow. A second later, I felt my leg strike one of the many boulders that littered the mountainside. The avalanche was too loud for me to hear the snap, but I could feel the pain tear up my leg as the bone was broken by the impact. I continued to tumble downwards for what seemed like forever. I pulled my arms over my face, creating a pocket of air for when the avalanche stopped. My vision was beginning to grey out, so I didn't notice at first that I'd stopped moving.
I opened my eyes and saw only blurred shapes of white and red. The white was obviously snow, but it took me a moment to figure out the red. Blood. And the red patch was slowly growing bigger as blood dripped from my head to the snow beneath my face. Well, at least now I knew which way was down. I punched out my hands, enlarging the air space I had before the snow settled and hardened. Reaching up for my earpiece, I let out a frustrated moan when I found it missing. I swept my hand across my face, my glove coming away covered in blood. Damn. Gently probing my forehead where the blood was concentrated, I felt a ragged gash stretched across my right temple. It was bleeding a bit, but it didn't seem to be too serious. Dropping my hand, I took stock of my condition. My upper body was hunched forward slightly, but for the most part I was lying laterally and facing downwards, my legs stretched out behind me. I tried to move my legs but instantly regretted it as a searing bolt of pain shot up my left leg. A muffled scream slipped past my lips and I began to lose consciousness. My last thought before passing out was, damn, how could I forget I broke my leg!
xxxxx
"Damn it!" I worked quickly to locate the circuit that controlled the power flow throughout the complex.
"What is it?!" Sheppard demanded from behind me.
I found the correct circuit just as the overload caused an explosion from inside the facility. Disconnecting the crystals, I stopped the power buildup before the explosion could continue and take out the whole building. Sheppard shouted my name worriedly and I called back, explaining that everything was safe now. But when I turned toward him, he didn't look relieved or upset or any other expression I'd expect from him in this situation. Instead, he was staring up past me to the cliffs above us. That's when I became aware of the roaring thunder approaching. Sheppard shouted at me to get against the building and he ran towards me. I stood confused for a moment, then it all clicked into place for me – the explosion had triggered an avalanche!
I ducked back into the covered alcove where the door was and activated my radio, screaming a panicked warning to Teyla and Ronon. Before I could finish speaking, a massive white wave overtook the ledge and Sheppard disappeared into it.
"Sheppard!" I screamed, flattening myself against the wall. The white cloud continued to rush past before me, blocking any view of what was happening. When the movement of the snow stopped, the area where I was standing was left clear. I cautiously stepped out onto the ledge. Sheppard was gone. Below the ledge the avalanche had covered everything in a smooth expanse of snow. There were some uprooted trees strewn about the snowfield, but I saw no sign of Sheppard. I screamed his name frantically into my earpiece. He didn't answer. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. There's no way he could survive that! My panicked thoughts were interrupted by Teyla calling my name on the radio. I could barely hear her voice, but then I realized that it was because I was still screaming for Sheppard. I snapped my mouth shut, my mind still working in overdrive, calculating the chances of surviving an avalanche and trying to work out the trajectory of where Sheppard would have fallen.
"Rodney," Teyla's calm voice grabbed my attention. "You must not panic. Tell me what has happened."
"The explosion – the explosion caused an avalanche." I stammered.
"Yes Rodney, we are aware of that. Is Colonel Sheppard with you?"
"No! He's gone. He's just… gone." I babbled, "He was out on the ledge – the avalanche hit him. Oh God, Teyla, I think he's dead. He must be, he –"
"Rodney!" She cut me off, "You need to remain calm. Are you still by the door?"
I nodded numbly before remembering she couldn't see me. "Yes."
"Stay where you are." She instructed, "We will be right there."
By the time Teyla and Ronon made their way to me I'd managed to calm myself down. Once I'd stopped panicking, I was able to figure out a way to find Sheppard. I pulled my life signs detector out of my vest pocket. Holding the scanner out in front of me, I walked over to the ledge. I wasn't picking up any readings here, but it was possible that Sheppard had been farther than the scanner's range. Or he could be dead, my mind supplied, but I hastily quieted those thoughts.
We made our way carefully but quickly down the mountainside, watching the life signs detector constantly. I was beginning to fear the worst – again – when a life sign finally started blinking on the scanner's screen.
"There!" I blurted, "One life sign, right down there."
Ronon took off half-running and half-sliding in the direction I pointed. Teyla and I followed close behind. When we were standing over the signal, Ronon dropped to his knees and began scraping away snow with his hands. Teyla emptied the clip from her P90 and used the weapon as a shovel. We continued digging for many minutes, with Teyla and I taking turns working and Ronon never stopping. Teyla was just climbing out of the pit so I could take my turn digging when Ronon called out, "I've got him!"
I jumped down to join him and saw the shoulders of Sheppard's tac vest emerged from the snow. I pushed the snow off of his neck, pulling my gloves off and feeling for a pulse. His heartbeat was weak, but it was possibly the best thing I'd felt in a long time.
"I've got a pulse!" I informed Teyla and Ronon. I started removing snow from Sheppard's head and face while Ronon cleared off his back.
"Help me." Ronon grunted as he grabbed one of Sheppard's shoulders to pull him out. I slipped my hands under his armpit and together we lifted his upper body free from the snow. When we had him upright, his head lolled back and I gagged at the sight of his face smeared with blood. I swallowed convulsively before nodding to a concerned Ronon that I would be okay. We both stood up, pulling Sheppard with us and sliding his legs out of the heavy snow. Sheppard suddenly stirred and let out a gritted scream. We stopped moving and when Sheppard became silent I noticed his lips moving.
"Hold him." I ordered Ronon, who immediately took on Sheppard's weight. I leaned down so my ear was by Sheppard's lips. Even then, his pained whispers were barely audible. "Leg…my leg…broken…" My face paled and I straightened up, looking at Ronon.
"He said his leg is broken." I grasped Sheppard's arm again, shouldering some of his weight. "We've got to get him out of the snow so we can set it."
"We should be able to pull him out together." Ronon decided, "Come on."
I gulped and nodded mutely. Together we pulled Sheppard forward and his legs slid free of the heavy snow. He let out another strangled cry when his broken leg was jostled, but we continued to work quickly. Lifting his body up, we laid him on his back in the snow above the pit. Teyla held him still while Ronon and I scrambled out of the hole. That's when I got my first good look at Sheppard; his face covered in blood, dark hair matted in ice and one leg wrenched back at a sickening angle. I tore my eyes away and searched around me for a stick.
"We need something to splint his leg with." I told Teyla and Ronon.
"This work?" Ronon asked. I looked up to see him holding out a sturdy knife that was over a foot long.
"Oh." Where the hell did he have that?! "Yeah, that'll do."
I pulled a bandage from my vest pocket, then stared at Sheppard's twisted leg.
"Um, you – you're going to have to…" I motioned at Sheppard's leg. There's no way in hell I'm straightening that! Ronon nodded and knelt beside Sheppard. I looked away while he realigned the broken bones.
"Okay." Ronon grunted, and I took that as my cue that it was safe to look again. We worked quickly, Ronon holding the knife against his leg while I bound it in place with the bandage. Once the leg was set, I pulled out my Ancient scanner to find our way back to the stargate. The avalanche hadn't hit the slope where the gate was located, so we just had to hike back to it and then we could dial home. I gathered the rest of our supplies as Ronon lifted Sheppard into his arms. Teyla had cleaned the blood off his face while we were setting his leg, and I could see his unfocused eyes dart around before settling on me.
"It's all right, Sheppard." I reassured him, "We're going home."