Dry Ground, Chapter Three
Rating: PG-13 (shouldn't go higher, maybe lower at times)
Word Count: 1,376
Disclaimer: One half of SSK Productions is owned by pygmies & debt collectors. The other half is owned by her dogs. Logically, then, they own nothing.
Summary: Following the events of Tidal Years, SG-1 finds themselves washed up on dry ground.
Pairings: Eventually, Sam/Daniel & Mitchell/Vala. Maybe more later.
Author's Note: This started as an idea for a missing scene fic for Atlantis and really spiraled out of control. We are insane, it's a given.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

There should have been a sign.

Still, after two weeks of underwater hell, that's what Cam always came back to. There should have been a sign, maybe even more than one sign…something that said: This valley floods suddenly and for months, enter at your own risk. Or maybe the Piscisine who had rescued them could have moved the stargate to somewhere on the planet that didn't flood. It didn't seem like it would have been too much to ask.

Because the fact that there were only two others at the table with him instead of four should not have been too much to ask. And the Piscisine had been able to rescue the three of them, but not Sam and Daniel. And it ate at him a little more every time he didn't see them when he should have.

He rubbed his forehead, looking dismally at the food in front of him. It wasn't that it was bad, that he wasn't grateful. He just wasn't that hungry all of a sudden.

"Eventually, you're going to have to stop blaming yourself for it," Vala's voice broke in over his thoughts.

He sighed. "Maybe eventually I will," he answered softly, "but not yet. Not today." He pushed the plate away from him and stood up. He didn't mean to be short with her. He didn't want to be short with her. She and Teal'c were all that was left of his team. That was the problem. As much as he knew it wasn't their intention, they always reminded him of the two he hadn't been able to save.

He was relieved somehow that neither Vala nor Teal'c followed him. Nothing followed him but the sound of water and the guilt. Trickling, running constantly, always bringing him back to that day. The water that came crashing around them. He could still see it, could still feel the rain pounding against his skin, feel the panic rise in his stomach. But the knowledge was worse. The knowledge that two of his people didn't have a chance, and there was nothing he could do about it made him feel like he was drowning in all of it.

Like it was always raining, reminding him that maybe it should have been him that hadn't made it.

"I am concerned about Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c's voice startled Vala in the uneasy silence.

Vala chewed on her lower lip, knowing that the Jaffa didn't say things of that nature lightly. He was genuinely concerned. To be perfectly honest, so was she. Colonel Mitchell had been blaming himself for what had happened. It didn't matter if they all knew that there was nothing any of them could have done. It never mattered.

"What do you think?" she asked softly.

"I do not know if this is a situation which we can remedy," Teal'c continued after a moment. "My concern is that Colonel Mitchell will not see that."

Vala shrugged, not knowing what else to do. "Then we should make him see."

"How do you suggest doing that?"

She had expected his question, but she was still floundering for an answer. After a moment, she smiled. "You leave that to me," she replied, a small smile on her face.

"That is precisely what I am afraid of," Teal'c said softly, a bemused look on his face.

She twirled a lock of her black hair in between her fingers. "You know, you are just jealous that you don't have womanly wiles to use in situations like this," she answered.

That caused an eyebrow raise. "I can assure you, Vala Mal Doran, that thought had not even crossed my mind."

"Uh huh, sure it hadn't," she teased, picking up her food tray. "Well, if you want, because I know deep down you do, I can possibly tutor you. I mean, I can't guarantee your results will be as positive as mine, but we can definitely give it a shot."

"No, thank you," Teal'c replied instantly, almost before Vala finished her sentence.

She smiled. "Don't think you're up to it, Muscles?"

"On the contrary, Vala Mal Doran."

Her smile widened. "We'll have to test that theory at another time, then," she said, setting her food tray near the recycling receptacle. "Right now, I have—"

"A very important task," Teal'c finished for her, bowing his head.

She nodded, walking out of the eating area. Now the only thing she had to do was figure out what she was going to do before she got to Colonel Mitchell's quarters.

The Geek Squad was still in full invasion mode at Stargate Command, even after nearly a month after the Odyssey had returned with the Asgard core. Personally, Jack would have thought that the flocks of white lab coated geeks wandering the halls with cups of coffee would have thinned out at least a little. But if anything, there were more of them now then there had been even a week ago.

That was why it seemed so wrong that the two biggest geeks that Jack knew were still missing. And he still felt absolutely helpless, which was a feeling that didn't sit well with the general. He knew he should have gone back to Washington weeks ago and resumed his duties there, but he just couldn't go back knowing that SG-1 was still...out there. He felt like if he went back, it would be just like saying he'd given up on them, and there was no way he was giving up on his old team.

A gaggle of some sub breed of geeks scurried out of his way as he walked into the messhall, their voices low and their hands filled with papers and tablet computers.

Jack shook his head slightly. Yep, the Asgard core was every geek's dream apparently, and Stargate Command was somehow their new mecca. Which was precisely why he hadn't been able to send the Odyssey out to check on SG-1. The geeks were too busy crowning it their newest god-like...thingy, and he couldn't just "idly take it for a joy ride" as Woolsey had put it.

He skipped the actual line, not feeling very hungry and went straight for the carafes of coffee. He didn't even know why they bothered making decaf anymore—no one ever drank it. He picked up one of the four carafes labeled "regular" ad started to pour himself a cup. Or he would have, but it was empty. Slightly annoyed, he picked up the next one labeled the same.

It was empty as well.

So was the next one.

And the one after that.

This was insanity.

Out of curiosity, he tried the one carafe labeled "decaf," hoping for a different result.

It was empty, too.

This was pure anarchy.

Empty carafe in hand, he walked up to one of the uniformed personnel. "This is empty," he said simply.

The man looked at him. "Again, sir?"

Jack frowned. "What do you mean...again?" He didn't like the sound of that.

"We keep running out of coffee, sir," the man continued.

"Uh huh." He held up his mug. "Well, I need coffee, so do you think you could refill them?"

The man swallowed hard. "I'm afraid we're currently out of coffee until another shipment arrives."

Jack stared at him. This was a little unreal. Was it the Twilight Zone? No, it was worse than an episode of the Twilight Zone. Maybe it was like a weird new year's marathon.

At any rate, it wasn't good. He blinked. "No...coffee?" he asked for clarification, feeling a little deflated...and a little desperate. God only knew what all the geeks would do when they found out that their very sustaining lifeblood had run out.

There would be riots.

There would be insanity.

There would be mass casualties.

"How soon will the shipment get here?" he asked, not really hopeful of the answer.

"This afternoon, sir," was the reply.

Jack handed the mug and the empty carafe to the man. "Casualties shouldn't be that high then, " he muttered.

"Sir?" the man gulped.

Jack tried not to smirk. "You heard me," he said, walking away.

Behind him, he heard the man sigh. "That's what I was afraid of, sir."

Jack smiled. Oh, the fun never ended at Stargate Command.