A/N I've gone a bit nouveau with the writing of this, trying out new ideas and just seeing where it takes me really. This is set sometime in the happy seasons: when Janet wasn't dead, Jack wasn't promoted and all they had to worry about was the goa'uld… and the replicators… and caves… (Stuck in the past – moi?) It's Sam/Daniel, of course.

When Worlds Cave In

Day One.

Major Samantha Carter scribbled something into a notebook and sat back on her haunches for a few minutes. She had to admit that geology was not one of her favourite hobbies, and while mapping caves on another planet should be an exciting experience, it really wasn't. Doctor Daniel Jackson, however, seemed to have different ideas. Of course, he was doing what he was qualified to do – translate alien languages and learn about new cultures. The caves were covered in carvings and intricate drawings – "Cave paintings" as Jack had pointed out when they had found the place.

They had been on P3D 2967 for five hours now and Sam had a feeling they would find nothing of material value, which would disappoint both General Hammond and the scientists who would be studying the data they collected. She looked around the medium sized cavern she and Daniel were working in and jotted something down in her field book. She hoped that if the geologists did find something interesting in her work they would send someone else to take a second look because she would rather be studying something mathematical right now.

"Daniel, I'm going to look down this passageway."

Her call was met with a jumble of words she didn't understand followed by an "ok". She smiled at his response and grabbed a torch from the equipment they had unceremoniously dumped in the centre of the cavern, and piece of chalk for some age old navigating techniques, before heading down an unexplored tunnel.

The whole cave system seemed to be made of large 'rooms' and adjoining tunnels, not dissimilar to Tok'ra bases, though Daniel had quickly rejected any ideas of a connection between the two. She in turn had rejected any ideas that the caves were carved by water channels due to their almost organised shapes and sizes.

Thinking about this, she paused to write something down. There was a crackle in the radio attached to her vest. "Carter, it's O'Neill, do you copy?"

"Yes Sir, loud and clear."

She paused in her writing and shone the torch around her, before marking the wall with some chalk.

"How's the rocking going?"

"Ok Sir. And the scouting?"

"Nothing here but trees and… nope that's about it."

Sam smiled and finished what she was writing.

"When do you think you'll be finished Carter?"

"I make it 1400 hrs now Sir, so by 1700 hrs?"

She heard someone murmuring as the Colonel pressed on the radio. "T says it's going dark here and we're two hours from you and three hours from the gate, so we're going to start heading back. Be finished by 1600hrs unless you want to spend the night here."

"Yes sir, over and out."

15.10

Daniel flipped through the pages in his notebook and smiled to himself. He'd worked in two caverns and judging by his notes he must have recorded down everything. Actually he knew he had: he'd been as meticulous as everyone expected him to be. He went back down the narrow tunnel connecting the two caverns he had been studying, before sitting down next to the pile of gear in the middle of the floor.
"A bit of a chocolate break I think," he muttered to himself; unwrapping a bar and starting to chew while packing away the camera he'd been using and labelling the film rolls.

Something moved behind him and he started slightly before he saw Sam re–enter the cavern from a small tunnel he hadn't noticed earlier.

"Heya. Find anything interesting down there?"

Sam stretched and dusted herself down, before sitting down next to Daniel and helping herself to a chocolate bar. "No cave paintings if that's what you mean."

"Tired?"

"A bit. You?"

"Yeah." Daniel nodded. "I've written everything in these two caverns though so it just needs interpreting now."

"I logged and took photos of everything I came across… and I got these." Sam pulled some clear plastic bags out of her pockets, revealing a collection of fossils and small rocks.

"Fossils? Interesting. I haven't seen any animal life, have you?"

"Nope. Do you have any idea who did the drawings?"

"Not yet. None of the paintings look recent though. And the caves don't appear to have been lived in, which is strange. Why decorate a room you won't stay in?"

Sam started reorganising the pile of gear, packing away the fossils and rock samples into her pack. "Do you want these going in here too?" She asked, gesturing to the film canisters near Daniel's feet.

"I'll carry them, its fine. Did Jack say when he was coming back?" He caught Sam smiling at him. "What?"

"I knew you wouldn't be listening to the radio conversation I had with him earlier. He's aiming to be back here by –" She paused and Daniel followed her line of view to the film canisters at his feet that were beginning to move of their own free will.

"If that's what I think it is we're in big-," Daniel started as the ground began to shake.

"Cover yourself," Sam shouted and threw her arms over her head as rubble began to fall from the ceiling. Daniel copied her as a large piece of rock hit the lamp that had been lighting the cavern and plunged them into darkness.

The earthquake only lasted one minute but it felt much longer as the cave system they were in writhed and crumbled under the pressure. The ground stopped moving long before the noises of falling rock stopped but a few minutes later all was quiet.
"Daniel, you ok?" Sam asked anxiously, switching on the torch she had in her pocket from her exploring.

"Yeah. As I was saying, big trouble." He responded lightly, straightening his glasses and squinting at the light she was shining at him. He gestured for her to lower it and she did so, swinging it around the cave.

"Big, big trouble," Sam reiterated.

Daniel looked at where the torch was pointing. "Wow."

The passageway they had come into the cave from was blocked off by a pile of rubble.

Sam reached for her radio as she swung the torch around the rest of the cavern. Daniel pulled the spare torch out of his pack, noticing as he did so that a large rock had landed where his flak–vest had been. He pushed the rock to one side and shone the torch on the vest.

"Well my radio's out," he said looking at the now flattened comms link on the gear. "Can you hear… water?" he asked, turning towards where he could hear the dripping of a liquid. The torch shone blankly at the wall of the cave, revealing nothing.

"Yeah." Sam replied uncertainly.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."
Sam looked at the cave wall for a few moments. "You've been watching too much star wars with the Colonel," She retorted confidently, turning back to her radio. "Colonel O'Neill, do you copy?"

There was silence on the line. "Daniel, check what else has been damaged."

Daniel nodded and began rooting through the two packs on the floor.

"Colonel O'Neill, it's Major Carter, do you copy?"

There was silence again. "There isn't even static." Sam said to herself. She went over to her pack and started rummaging inside it, before pulling out a screwdriver. Daniel raised his eyebrows at her before realising the gesture was useless in the light of two torches.

"What are you doing?"

"The radio's broken."

"These packs don't appear to be damaged."

"Good. Do an inventory of what we've got. Erm…" Sam thought for a few minutes. "Check what tools we've got with us, what water we've got and what clothing we've got."

Daniel nodded.

15.30

"Ok I think it's working now." Sam smiled to herself.

Daniel looked up from his re-packing of their gear. "Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"The batteries got squashed."

"The torch batteries?"

"Yeah. These two torches are all we've got."

"Colonel O'Neill, do you copy? Over." She asked into the radio.

There was static over the speaker. "CARTER, where the hell have you been?!"

"Nice to talk to you too Sir."
"Update me Carter."

"There was an earthquake. The cave entrance is destroyed and the radio was broken."

"Roger, we felt it too. So you're trapped in the cave?"

Daniel, who'd been looking at the other tunnels, voiced his assent.

"Yes Sir. I don't know how bad it is though. Its pitch black in here except for the two torches."

"Are you and Daniel injured?"

"Negative Sir. One radio and the spare batteries are destroyed. We're just doing an inventory."

"Right. Turn the torches off and wait for our arrival. Teal'c and I'll be there in 30 minutes. Over and Out."

Sam watched Daniel turn off the torch. "Roger that Sir."

She did the same. They were plunged into black.

"Wow. It's like being blind. I can't even see my hand in front of my face." Daniel said, waving his hand in front of his face.

"Did you do an inventory?" Sam asked, slowly settling into a comfortable position and pocketing the torch.

"2 space blankets, 2 spare sets of clothing, med kits, 2 full water bottles, 8 ration packs, matches, 2 gas stoves and some ammo. And science equipment."

"No weapons?"
"They got squashed."

"Can't shoot our way out then. Shame, it's worked so well in the past."

Daniel smiled.

16.03

"Carter, come in."

"We're here Sir."

"As are we. You were right about the cave collapse. You sure you and Daniel are ok?"

"Yes Sir, what's the damage?"

"I can only get 10 metres down the passage. There's a big wall of rubble in front of me."

"Moveable?"

"With more man power."

Sam did a few calculations in her head. "So there's still 20m of possibly blocked passage between us and the exit?"

"Yeah Carter. Listen, I'm going to head back to the gate. T's going to set up a camp outside the entrance of the cave with the gear from the MALP. You'd better prepare to stay there the night. Do you have gear?"

"Yes Sir."

"Roger that. Maintain hourly checks. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Yes Sir."

The cave went silent.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Just trying to work out where you are. If we're going to sit in darkness perhaps we ought to move ourselves and the gear together."

Sam heard movement and the sounds of Daniel picking the two packs off the floor. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the torch.

"Here." She switched on the light and Daniel walked over and sat next to her, placing the rucksacks beside them.

"Thanks." He thought about the situation they were in. It was a novel one for them at least. There wasn't really any risk of imminent danger. 'Actually,' started a voice in his head, 'hypothermia, aftershocks from the earthquake, further cave collapse…'

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

He paused, trying to detect from the tone of her voice what she was thinking. He couldn't, and it struck him how much he used visual features to understand all of his team mates behaviour. "You ok?"

"Yeah."

"Honestly."

"Just a bit surprised."

"At what?"

"Being trapped in a cave. I mean, here was I thinking this was a nice simple - dare I say slightly monotonous recon mission, and now I'm settling down for a night in a black cave."

"You should know by now this job is never predictable."

"You're right; I should've expected this."

Daniel smiled. "Or something like this."

"I was more prepared for an attack from hostiles. That'll probably happen now the weapons are destroyed."

"Well there's no way they can get in here so we're safe. Relatively speaking. No need to keep watch at least."

"There's nothing to watch anyway."

Daniel handed Sam the space blanket he unpacked from the gear beside him, before pulling the second out for himself. He heard Sam move next to him as they wrapped themselves in the blankets. Already he was starting to feel the cold, and he was reminded of how swiftly hypothermia could set in.

"We'll have to be careful with the cold this evening," stated Sam, voicing his thoughts. He saw her watch light flicker on and briefly some of her features were illuminated.

"It's only 16:20. It's going to be a long night."

"On the upside we haven't had an evening in together for quite a while now." Daniel replied cheerfully, settling into a more comfortable position. "Do you want something to eat? I could start a gas stove?"

"I'm fine. And we may need the stoves later. How are you anyway Daniel?" She asked, changing her tone to a less serious one.

"I'm good."

"You're right; we haven't hung out for ages."

"We've both had quite a lot of projects on."

"Yup. Oh, which reminds me, I don't think I told you but…" Sam started to explain the findings of some research she had been doing earlier in the week.

17.02

"Major Carter, Daniel Jackson, do you copy?"

"Roger Teal'c," replied Sam, pausing Daniel in his discussion of a project he'd been thinking about.

"Are you both well?"

"We're fine. You?"

"I am well. I shall radio in one hour if there is nothing you need."

"Thanks Teal'c, over and out."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sam looked around for a gap of light somewhere in the cave, only to be disappointed again.

"It's very annoying not being able to see anything. This must be what blind people feel like all the time."

"I know what you mean – my eyes are open but they might as well not be - actually I'm still wearing my glasses."

Sam chuckled at the idea. "Do you have anywhere safe to put them?"

"In my gear somewhere." She heard a zip undoing to her right and presumed Daniel was rummaging in his rucksack. She listened to the noises for a few moments, trying to guess what he was doing.

"Do you want a torch?" She asked finally, when she thought he had given up trying to find his glasses case.

"It's ok, I've got it."

"I'm impressed!"

There was a click of the case shutting and then the sound of a zipper shutting.

"I'll probably find my glasses in a water bottle tomorrow."

17.27

"It's strange how drowsy sitting in the dark can make you feel." Sam murmured.

"I guess it's an automatic response from our childhoods," Daniel replied, his own voice sounding loud in comparison. He'd been in the middle of trying to remember whether he'd paid his credit card bill yesterday, but now he was reminded of the person next to him. He wondered what she was thinking about.

"I never paid my gas bill before I left for work this morning. I always do that. I hope we don't stay here too long." She said idly, counting how many days she had left to pay it.

Sam had once again voiced thoughts similar to his own and he chuckled. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"I was just thinking about my credit card bill."

Sam laughed quietly. "It's probably the first sign of cave madness."

"The worry of unpaid bills left to collect at home."

"Do you think the gas company will accept 'trapped in a cave on another planet' as an excuse for my late cheque?"

"You could always try – though they might charge you more for being a bit crazy and wasting their time."

Sam smiled and rolled onto her side so she was facing Daniel.

"I always think at times like this it's a good thing I don't have a family to go home to. It would be awful for them to be waiting for me, and for me to be trapped underground in another galaxy."

Daniel felt Sam's breath on his arm and shifted slightly to face her. "Lots of people have families in the SGC."

Sam didn't respond for a few minutes and he wondered if he had upset her. Then she sighed. "Whenever Dad went away, which was a lot, there was always a worry that he wouldn't come back. I'm not sure whether I would want to put someone through that."

"Hmm." Daniel started thinking about his own childhood. He didn't want to raise a family where there was a possibility the children would be orphaned. But he didn't want to quit his job either. And he did want to have a family. A proper family with the house and the mortgage and the 2.4 kids. Sam had been talking about leaving a partner behind though, not children. He wondered if there was anyone in the SG teams who was a mother.

"Sam?"

Sam was just wondering whether she would give up her job for her family or not. It was a hard decision to make and not for the first time she realised how intrusive her job was. But like they said, the military isn't a job: it's a way of life.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought about having children?"

She was surprised by Daniel's question and didn't respond straight away.

"Sorry, I'm being nosy. Ignore that question,"

She smiled at his consideration of her feelings. "It's probably one of those things I'll do in the future, you know? I mean, I'm happy with my life the way it is at the moment." Aside from the lack of men she added silently.

"It's another person to leave every time you go through the gate."

Sam nodded, though Daniel couldn't tell.

Teal'c called in on the radio and Sam replied, before suggesting they switch to four hour check-ins.

"I'll check in at 2200 hours then."

"Understood."

"Do you want something to eat?" Sam asked, shifting into a sitting position and pulling out her torch.

"Good idea."

She switched on the torch so they could light the stove and start cooking. They followed the routine as usual and were soon sitting in silence eating, making occasional comments.

"We ought to switch the stove off."

The cave went silent again without the hiss of the gas.

"How long do you think it will take for General Hammond to organise a team?"

"Couple of hours," Sam replied, finishing her meal. "It'll take longer to move the rubble."

Daniel finished his own meal and started packing the container into a plastic bag kept for that very purpose. "You finished? Sam?"

"Sorry, I keep nodding. This is like an exercise in communication. Here."

She switched on her torch and put the rubbish in the bag, before settling back down and switching off the light.

"Daniel?"

"Yes?"

"Where are we going to go to the toilet?"

Daniel laughed and then thought about it. "Well there's no danger of a lack of privacy."

"True."

"Hang on." A torch flickered on and Daniel looked at Sam wrapped up in her space blanket and smiled. He wandered about the cave looking for a suitable spot and Sam watched his zigzagging light with amusement.

Daniel glanced at Sam as he explored the cave. She was smiling in the brief glimpses he saw of her in his torch light, and he was struck by how much he looked forward to seeing her smiles – to seeing her really. His eyes flickered around the cave nervously at this new thought.

"The collapse in this tunnel is about a metre in, will that do as a bathroom?" He asked, shining the torch into the tunnel and pushing all unnecessary thoughts to the back of his mind. Sam laughed and walked cautiously over to where he was standing.

"That's fine. Now if you don't mind…"

"Of course." Daniel hurriedly went back over to his blanket and sat down. "Am I ok to switch off the torch?"

"Yep."

'Business' done, Sam found her way back to Daniel and her gear with her torch and settled down again.

Daniel lay awake for a while thinking about his life, and the women in his life. It is usually such a depressing thing to do – thinking about acquaintances that had come and gone; friendships that had been lost, relationships that had faded to nothing, but today, in the cave with Sam, it didn't feel that significant. He wondered what it meant. It didn't take being trapped in a cave for Daniel to realise that Sam was the only constant woman in his life these days. Obviously it was important for him to see her smiling – she meant a lot to him. Why was he feeling slightly nervous about that idea then?

Sam lay awake for a while wondering what Daniel was thinking about. She could tell from his breathing that he wasn't sleeping, and longed to know what was bothering him. Then she realised she was behaving like he was her lover, not her friend – friends did not lay in darkness listening to each other's breathing and wondering what they were thinking about. She stopped abruptly and started thinking through her research from the day, but her mind rapidly switched back to its original theme. She bet she was the only woman in Daniel's life that lay next to him wondering what he was thinking about. She smiled as if the thought pleased her.

21:19

"Carter, Daniel, you copy?"

Sam was woken a few hours later to the sound of Colonel O'Neill's voice on the radio. Her brain switched on automatically and she became aware that she had an arm around her.

"Err, Daniel?"

"Hmmm?" Said a sleepy voice behind her.

The arm went tense and moved quickly, followed by an apology.

"Carter here Sir." She replied, reaching for her radio and sitting up.

"You ok? You sound… Strange."

"We're trapped in a cave Colonel." She replied, shaking off the surprise of waking up with Daniel's arm over her.

"I've got SG2 and 10 here. We've just come through the gate. We'll be at the cave in one hour. Do you copy that Teal'c?"
"I heard you O'Neill."

"Over and Out."

Daniel rubbed his eyes and listened to Jack on the radio. He could feel the chill in the air and shuffled slightly in the blanket. It was nice waking up with someone in his arms - even if it was underground millions of light years from the Milky Way. Life was funny like that sometimes. Jack finished the conversation and the cave went quiet. Daniel wondered what to say.

"It's getting quite cool in here." Sam spoke first.

Daniel nodded.

Sam took his silence to mean he wasn't in the mood to talk and fell quiet herself. She was aware of a change in her perception of Daniel and it was bringing back ideas that she'd rather were not rekindled.

Daniel lay quietly wondering how much rock one person could move before getting exhausted.

21.43

"Can you hear water dripping again?"

Sam was jolted from her thoughts by Daniel's enquiry. She listened and became aware of a slow drip near their vicinity.

"Yeah. It wasn't there earlier."

"No."

"These caves couldn't have been carved by water systems, they aren't very… well, they aren't like any caves I've seen on Earth. Also I haven't seen any stalagmites and stalactites."

"This might not be a limestone cave."

"What?"

"Stalagmites and stalactites form from mineralized solutions… Usually in limestone caves."

Sam grinned at Daniel, though he couldn't see in the dark. She could think she knew most things about Daniel – about all her team mates, but then one of them would say something that surprised her.

She pulled her blanket higher around her head and subconsciously moved closer to Daniel. "I wonder how cold it is outside. I didn't pick up that much of a difference on the thermometer on the way in. A few degrees maybe."

"Did we check how cold it gets at night?"

"I don't think so. We weren't supposed to be here for the night."

21.52

"Do you think we ought to be moving some of the rubble from the cave entrance?"

The cold was starting to get on Daniel's nerves – it was more an irritant than a serious problem so far, but he was thinking that moving rocks would warm them both, as well as making it easier for the SG teams to free them.

"We don't have lights to move by. We can't really use the torches - we may need them later."

"Hmm."

Sam thought about something she'd been considering for a few minutes. "We should've set up the seismometer."

"We wouldn't have been forewarned."

"Perhaps not, but at least we'd have the data to study afterwards."

Daniel laughed. "A true scientist. We're trapped in a cave and all you think of is the data we've missed out on collecting."

Sam laughed at herself. "I bet the geologists complain."

"We weren't doing a seismic survey; we were just looking at this network of caves."

22.07

"Carter, this is O'Neill, come in."

Sam answered.

"We're outside the cave. SG10 are sorting out the camp. SG2 are starting to move the rubble. T had already started."

"I thought he might Sir."

"Get some sleep and we'll radio at…" There was a pause as Jack checked his watch. "0800 hours to check progress."

"Yes Sir."

"Night Carter."

"Night Sir."

"Night Danny."

"Night Jack."

Jack turned back to the two SG teams he'd brought through the gate. "Coburn, get the flood lights up first. I want us working through the night to get them out."

"Yes sir."

Jack went and stood by Teal'c, who was moving some of the shifted rubble. "How do they seem to you T?"

Teal'c stopped working and looked at Jack. "It shall be a long night for them."

"Yup." Jack entered the cave tunnel and began to help moving rubble.