A/N - This has already been posted on LJ but I'm finally getting around to posting it here. The first three chapters are written and there's only one more to go.

Beta - the ever wonderful Alipeeps

Disclaimer - Don't own them but boy would I have fun if I did.

Under The Surface
By Pilgrim Soul

Rodney had known this was going to be a bad day from the moment he woke up. Of course, he woke up everyday expecting the worst but today he'd been proved right. MJ5-631 had proved to be yet another backwater planet with a population of hunter-gatherers that made the Athosians look positively advanced. All in all it had, in his less than humble opinion, been one colossal waste of time. He'd made his feelings on the matter known to the others at some length, only giving up on voicing his, as far as he was concerned totally justified, grievances when Sheppard had threatened to shoot him again. Not that he ever thought the Colonel would go through with his threat but he knew Sheppard well enough to know the difference between light-hearted banter threats of violence and 'you really don't want to piss me off' threats of violence. Besides, by this point it had started to rain.

The villagers had seen the storm coming; it was hard to miss, a mass of dark clouds swirling across the skyline, moving way too fast for comfort. Apparently they suffered terrible storms every year at this time but the locals were predicting this to be a particularly bad one and had offered them sanctuary until the storm passed over. To Rodney's relief, at the time Sheppard had declined, ensuring the villagers that they would be comfortably tucked up at home long before the worst of the storm hit - how wrong he had been.

The terrain around the village was both mountainous and heavily forested, the settlement nestled into a sheltered clearing that made parking the jumper nearby impossible and, not wanting to just land the jumper in the middle of the village, they had been forced to leave it cloaked almost two kilometres away; that in itself had been enough to qualify this as a bad day as far as Rodney was concerned. Looking back later, he would quite happily have settled for a walk three times as long if it had meant forgoing what was to come.

It started off as just heavy drops, the kind of rain that thudded quietly as it hit the ground and sent up little clouds of dust from dry earth. The wind had already begun to pick up before they had even left the village but soon it was whipping around them, snatching the breath from his mouth and driving the stinging rain against his skin. Overhead the clouds were scudding across the sky at a pace far quicker than Rodney would have thought possible and soon the summer shower had become a downpour and the downpour became a deluge and they were now wading through water and mud so deep even Ronon was finding the going difficult and the slightly-built Teyla was clearly struggling.

The Satedan was at the front; with the rain coming down so heavily they could barely see and the three of them wordlessly and instinctively followed Ronon, relying on his infallible sense of direction to guide them back to the jumper. Sheppard stayed back and Rodney knew he was keeping an eye on both himself and Teyla to make sure neither of them fell. Rodney's legs felt like lead, his muscles burned as he dragged his water-logged boots out of the sucking mud with each step. Water slewed off the slopes beside them, bringing debris down with it, only serving to make the going even tougher. When Rodney noticed Ronon picking up the pace and through the veil of rain spotted the dark outline of the jumper for himself, the sense of relief was overwhelming and his own legs found another burst of energy.

His sense of relief was short-lived when he got a clearer look at the jumper; it sat at an odd angle and he realised it had started to shift in the torrent coming down off the mountain. Mud and debris piled up along its side. Rodney almost stopped in his tracks, only to feel a hand shove him firmly between the shoulder blades; he would have lost his footing if the same hand had not grabbed his vest and kept him upright. Sheppard leant down and shouted in his ear, telling him to keep moving. Teyla grabbed his arm for support and they pushed onward, Sheppard now passing them, his usual easy, loping stride reduced to a slow but determined wade through the ever-deepening mud. The last few yards to the jumper seemed to be taking forever and Rodney nearly ended up on his knees more than once.

He watched Ronon and Sheppard reach the jumper before them, pulling debris away from the little ship before they could release the hatch, and that's when he heard it, when they all heard it. As one their eyes turned to look up at the mountain above them, a mountain that now looked as though it were collapsing. The landslide rumbled down toward them, ripping up everything in its path, creating a chaotic mass of mud, rock and trees. Rodney stood in awe watching death hurtling toward him.

OoOoO

Ronon bellowed at McKay and Teyla to get moving but he couldn't tell if they could hear him over the roar of the landslide heading toward them. After what seemed like an eternity, the scientist turned back toward him, his eyes wide, sheer terror etched on his face. Teyla's mouth moved but he couldn't hear her over tumult. Ronon felt Sheppard dive past him, the Colonel's mud-laden boots slipping on the jumper floor, and moments later the jumper's engines sprang to life. Reaching out his hand with a final animalistic howl, he grabbed hold of Rodney's arm, twisting his fingers into the fabric of the scientist's jacket, and dragged McKay into the jumper, bringing Teyla with him. He slammed his hand onto the button and the hatch began to close. McKay and Teyla had collapsed into a sodden heap on the floor, both of them panting heavily. Ronon turned to look at Sheppard who was already lifting the jumper off the ground. And then came the impact.

If he had thought the sound deafening before, it didn't come close to the thunderous slam of the impact. He was thrown back hard against the side of the jumper, his head smashed into the wall and he crumpled onto the floor just as the jumper flipped over on to its side. He could hear screaming but wasn't sure who it was; the light disappeared as the landslide swamped the jumper, Ronon could hear screaming but wasn't sure who it was. Everything was a blur and he could see Teyla and Rodney being thrown around like rag dolls. Still the jumper kept moving and the roar of the landslide continued outside, filling his senses. It seemed to go on forever, a chaos of noise and movement, until another crack to the head filled his vision with white light and the sound began to die away.

OoOoO

Consciousness came back to her slowly; at first it felt dream-like, no vision and sound seemed abstract and distant. It was a strange kind of calmness, broken by the sudden onslaught of pain. Her left arm felt as though it was on fire and she arched her back, crying out as the world came rushing back to her. The jumper was pitch black; she could see nothing, they had been buried beneath the landslide and she felt a knot of panic in her stomach, a wave of claustrophobia that she struggled to hold back. She groped around for her P-90 but couldn't find it.

In her panic, she tried to move again causing another bolt of pain to shoot up her arm. Laying back, breathing heavily, she tried to clear her mind and control the pain. She slowly became aware of other sounds; she could hear breathing close to her ear and reaching out her good hand, she felt out in the direction it was coming from. She touched skin and with gentle fingers traced features up to short cropped hair - McKay. His breathing seemed strong and he made a low whimpering noise as she gentle stroked his hair.

"Doctor McKay? Rodney?" she whispered, eliciting another groan.

"Teyla?" His voice was weak and vague. "I can't see. Teyla, why can't I see?" She could feel him moving, trying to sit up, panic making his voice stronger and clearer.

"Stay calm. You cannot see because it is dark. The landslide has covered us and it appears to have knocked out power to the jumper."

"Landslide? We're buried alive! Oh God."

"Rodney!" she said sharply. "You must stay calm. Are you hurt?" Her hand still rested on his head, the contact in the dark was comforting and she suspected he felt the same way. She felt him pause.

"Yes, I'm hurt," he said indignantly. "How could I not be hurt?"

"Where?" she asked calmly.

"Everywhere." She sighed impatiently.

"Is anything broken? Can you move?"

"Uh…I think so." Her arm fell away from him as he sat up, a pained 'Oh God' escaping his lips. "Okay, there's nothing obviously broken. You?"

"I…I believe my arm is broken but other than that I am still in one piece."

"What about the others?"

OoOoO

Rodney's felt like, well he felt like he'd just been tossed around in a jumper caught in a landslide. Every part of his body felt bruised and his joints fought against every movement, panic churned his stomach and tightened his chest and he was cold, his wet clothes clinging to him and the chill permeating every part of his body. As he sat up, he felt Teyla's hand that had been resting on his head slip away and he felt a little pang at the loss of contact and with it the need to keep talking. He could hear the pain in her voice; if she felt anything like he did, he could understand why and he felt guilty for not having asked earlier if she was alright.

"I…I believe my arm is broken but other than that I am still in one piece."

"What about the others?" he asked, suddenly aware that he had heard nothing from Ronon or Sheppard. "Sheppard! Ronon! Where's your P-90? We need some light in here."

"I do not know, I think perhaps I am lying on it."

He fumbled around on his hands and knees, trying to feel out exactly where in the jumper he was; nothing felt familiar, his hands bumped against random objects all of which felt strange to his cold, numb hands. " Hey, Sheppard! Answer me, damn you! Ronon…where the hell are you?"

"Here." Ronon's usually gruff voice was reduced to little more than a whisper.

"Where's here?"

"How should I know? It's dark."

"Ronon." The relief in Teyla's voice was clear. "Are you okay?" There was silence and Rodney felt the knot in his stomach grow tighter.

"Ronon?" she asked again.

"I'm hurt, I don't know how bad." The runner sucked in air, panting slightly. If Ronon was openly admitting to being hurt then it had to be bad, Rodney knew; the Satedan was as bad as Sheppard for playing the stoic hero.

"Stay still." Rodney called out. "Just stay still and I'll see if I can find a flashlight in this mess. Oh…oh, hang on!" Rodney realised he was still wearing his backpack; he reached around, wincing at the pain in his shoulders, and felt for his laptop. He managed to untangle it from the straps and brought it around to lay on the floor in front of him. He pulled the computer from its carry case and ran his hands across the cool, damp surface and prayed the shock-resistant casing had protected the technology inside. Opening it, he flipped it on and the screen came to life with a reassuring glow. The smile soon fell from his face as he saw the chaos surrounding him. Even in the faint light given out by the computer screen he could see that they were almost upside down, the jumper lying on its side at a forty-five degree angle. Teyla had managed to prop herself up against a wall that had once been the ceiling. Opposite her, lying in an awkward position, was Ronon, the runner's head tilted over to one side, resting against the rear hatch.

Rodney held up the screen, lighting as much of the jumper as he could; he turned toward the front compartment and could see why they had heard nothing from Sheppard.

"The bulkhead doors have sealed off the front of the ship. We have to get those open."

"I think you should concentrate on getting us some air first," Ronon pointed out.

"What? Oh my, no power! No power, no air." Rodney mentally kicked himself. He was cold and scared and he wasn't thinking straight.

"That's what I just said," Ronon stated plainly. Out-thought by the caveman, how bad could it get? Rodney berated himself. This was his territory; he was at his best under threat of death, that's what Sheppard always said. Getting the life-support back online was exactly the kind of goal he needed to focus himself.

"Oh! Um…I'm going to need more light."

He turned back to Teyla. Holding the screen up, he could see her P-90 hooked behind her back on the side where she cradled her damaged arm. Her hand sat at an angle that Rodney was fairly sure was anatomically impossible and he took steadying breaths trying not to look at it. He slid his backpack off and threw it into a corner then moved the laptop so it shone its pale light at Teyla. He carefully manoeuvred around her; when she looked up at him her face was almost ghostly in the dim light, her hair stuck down to her face from the rain, and he realised she was shivering and that the others must be every bit as freezing as he was. He crouched down carefully beside her; the strap of the gun was hooked around her arm.

"Okay, okay. I'm going to need to cut the strap." He turned, taking the laptop with him, and picked his way through the debris to Ronon. "I'm going to need to borrow one of your…" he shone the laptop at the Satedan, getting his first real look at the big man, and his mouth hung open, "knives…" he finished, his voice little more than a whimper. The dark stain spread down the big man's leg and a pool of blood was forming on the floor. "Oh my God! Oh God!" Rodney's panic began to close in around him again. "I knew this would happen." He pointed accusingly at the other man. "I knew it! You go around with all those knifes everywhere, one of these days this was bound to happen."

"What? Rodney what has happened?" Teyla cried out impatiently from behind him. Rodney swallowed back bile as he looked at the hilt sticking out of Ronon's thigh.

"He's impaled himself on one of his knives."

OoOoO

The pain in Ronon's leg burned; he breathed deeply, trying to stay still as every movement brought more pain. But it was difficult to stay still when he was shivering with cold. McKay had cut Teyla's P-90 free and, using the flashlight, had managed to get the weapons locker open, handing the spare P-90 to Ronon. He held it with the flashlight shining at the floor near where Rodney had the overhead control panel, which was now at their feet, open. Rodney had taken off his belt and fastened it around Ronon's thigh, trying to stem the flow of blood, but already Ronon was fighting off the effects of losing so much blood; his body was going into shock and if McKay didn't hurry they'd be running out of air soon too.

Despite his pain, he held the flashlight steady and watched as the scientist frantically checked the controls, hooking up his laptop, pulling components out and pushing them back in, all the while mumbling to himself. Neither he nor Teyla spoke as they watched; they both knew McKay was in his element and that their lives were in his hands now, and, although he would never say it out loud, there was no one Ronon would rather put his life in the hands of right now than Rodney McKay. The strange little man had confused Ronon at first, as had his bizarre relationship with Sheppard. The colonel had utter faith in the scientist and, to begin with, Ronon hadn't understood why but, over the last year, he had seen the inner strength McKay had and that, despite his constant whining and negativity, he would never give up.

The jumper creaked and they all looked up nervously. They had no way of knowing how much debris was on top of them; they could be completely buried and the storm still sending more of the mountain down on top of them. And then there was Sheppard. With the power down and only Rodney mobile, they had been unable to get the doors open and had no idea whether Sheppard was alive or dead in the front compartment. Teyla had tried using her radios to contact him, only to get no reply and eventually McKay had snapped at her to stop; his excuse was that he need quiet to concentrate but Ronon knew that really he was scared of what Sheppard's silence really meant.

Rodney once again didn't let them down; despite his own injuries and fumbling trembling fingers, they soon heard the gentle hiss that signalled the air was back online and a few seconds later the back-up lighting flickered on. Half the lights were smashed but it was enough to see clearly and the three of them took in the extent of the damage, not just to the jumper but to each other.

Ronon could only imagine how bad he looked. The sight of Teyla looking so small and fragile made him grit his teeth; she was a warrior and he hated to see her like this. Her broken arm lay at an unnatural angle and her lip was cut open. Whenever she moved, she breathed in short sharp pants, trying to contain the pain much as he was trying to fight the pain of the blade lodged in the flesh of his leg. McKay, who in the darkness had seemed relatively uninjured, was pale even by his standards and his face was streaked with blood from an abrasion across his forehead. A bruise on his cheek showed the imprint of Teyla's boot. They stared silently at one another and he could see Teyla's mind working, trying to work out what to say, how to proceed. McKay was close to going into shock, his face was beginning to go blank and without him they would be lost.

And Ronon was fighting his own battle with his body; his teeth chattered together with cold and his vision blurred in and out. He dropped his head and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to clear his sight, and when he opened his eyes again he was looking at a small object lying on the ground a few feet out of his reach.

"McKay." The scientist seemed to wince at the sound of his name. "Look." He nodded his head at the object, something he regretted when the world started spinning at the sudden movement. He sucked in air and leaned back.

"What? What are you…" McKay's irritability gave way to understanding when his eyes landed on the life signs detector lying among the disorder of the jumper. McKay reached down and gingerly picked it up, looking at it like it was about to explode in his hands. He looked imploringly at Ronon and then Teyla.

"Rodney, we need to know," she stated.

"But what if…what if he's…" McKay couldn't bring himself to say the word. Ronon was more practical.

"Then we won't waste valuable resources trying to get those doors open if we know there's only a corpse on the other side."

"Ronon! That was not necessary." He watched as Teyla swallowed back.

The stricken look on McKay's face raised a knot of guilt in his stomach, as did Teyla's abrupt reprimand, even though he could see in her face that she knew he was right. It was his choice of words that had offended her but he had never seen the need to sugar coat things. That's one of the things he liked about Sheppard; they were always straight with one another.

"Sheppard wouldn't want us wasting time on him if he's already dead. You know I'm right." McKay held the scanner up with shaking hands and, with a deep breath, switched it on. He stared at the screen for an agonising moment before his features sagged in relief and Ronon felt the tightness in his chest relax just a little as the scientist managed a small smile.

"He's still alive."

TBC...