A/N: Sorry this is so late. This chapter was really hard to write for some reason. I'm hoping the next one is easier. Hearing all your wonderful reviews should really help! Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Chapter 6

Jack stared blearily. It was only a few feet away was the crest of this hill. That was as far as he had to go. There wasn't anything further to go to as everything else was underwater or would be soon. Daniel was unconscious still, his body cold and slack. Jack was afraid he would never warm up again. His knees buckled beneath him and he slid to the ground, Daniel slipping off his back with a soft thump. He drifted in and out of sleep for a long while. The rain came and went in waves, the water level rising steadily.

The next time he truly awoke he felt strangely refreshed. Still completely exhausted, but he no longer felt as if he were going to drop on the spot. His head felt clear and he could think again. His muscles ached horribly, twanging at the slightest movement. His stomach felt like a bed of hot embers sat in its pit. Nausea crashed over him so fast he was barely able to stumble away from Daniel before the heaves began in full force. Hot razors sliced through his stomach with every heave. Jack's little world was left spinning after the last of the heaving gave out. He had to take several slow deep breaths before he could crawl back to where Daniel lay. To his surprise Daniel was awake, staring at him blankly.

"Daniel?" no answer, no reaction, just staring. Jack chewed his lip worried. He'd gone for a long time without oxygen and last he knew that did things to the brain. Did it this time? Or did they scrape by once again on luck? Jack gave him a gentle shake hoping that maybe Daniel was still climbing out of the depths of unconsciousness. He knew from first hand experience that it took a while sometimes.

"Daniel are you with me?" he asked again. Daniel's throat worked as if he were trying to speak for a while, climaxing with a rough swallow. He blinked a few times seeming to be more alert, though he still did not acknowledge Jack or even seem to be aware of him. He blinked and stared for awhile, breathing slowly, shallowly.

Something about the way he breathed sounded off to Jack. Daniel abruptly tried to sit up hardly getting his shoulders airborne when he grunted, the breath stolen from his lungs and sank back to the ground, a shudder racking his frame.

"Easy Daniel, take it easy. Just lay still." Jack ordered softly placing a hand on his friend's shoulder in case he tried to move again. Instead Daniel's eyes slipped closed again.

"No Daniel stay with me kid. I need you to stay awake." Jack urged. To his pleasant surprise Daniel's eyelids struggled sluggishly open again, wavering with the heaviness to stay open.

"Atta boy Danny-boy." Jack rewarded cupping his face with a hand, seeing his friend looking sluggishly force the voice.

"J…a…c….k…"it came out so faint and raspy, syllable by syllable. The effort for that single word forced Daniel into a coughing fit. A voice floated over him, a touch against his shoulders. Everything filtered into his mind disjointedly. He felt disconnected, defected, like he was two steps slower than the world.

"Take it Daniel, just focus on breathing." Daniel struggled to obey. It hurt to breathe. It was so hard. He couldn't make his body cooperate.

"H…..u…..r……t….s……..co….lll….d…." he mumbled, eyelids dropping a bit.

"I know Daniel. You have to hang in there, help is coming." Jack encouraged, unsure if the message was received.

"Ti…r….d" his eyes drooped again but Jack struck his cheek lightly to rouse him back to the living.

"C'mon Daniel, keep talkin to me. I know you're tired but you have to keep awake okay?" Jack urged. Keep Danny awake, keep him alive.

"Kay….." Jack waited for more, but Daniel made no move to actually comply.

"Daniel. How do you feel?" Jack asked hoping Daniel would respond.

"H-ho..ld….m-me…." Daniel ground out pain slicing across his chest again.

"Huh? Umm….Daniel I…." Jack stammered. Snuggling with Daniel was something he'd prefer to avoid, especially when he didn't see it benefiting either one of them.

"Y-your…..w-w….w'rm…." Jack feared the slur in Daniel's words now. It was getting worse.

"Daniel…I'm not any warmer than you. I'm too cold to give any warmth and it would hurt you to sit you up and lean against me." Jack tried hoping the truth of his words would sink past his friend's haze.

"Pl-please…" the plea was so weak and pitiful. It melted Jack's heart without a second thought. If Daniel thought so strongly that he could provide some form of warmth, then perhaps it was best to play into the archaeologists delusion. Even if it wasn't real perhaps it might provide him comfort.

Fire erupted in his stomach and shoulder, aches and pains all down his back, the world spinning as he shifted under Daniel, working hard to make the position change as easy on his friend as possible. Therefore it was the most painful experience Jack could think of for himself at this moment. It didn't matter. He could push it aside, ignore the agony he was in until Daniel was safe. The team came first, always. Jack was in last place and always would be so long as he and his team were on missions. It had always been that way and it always would be.

Daniel pressed against him, making as much contact as possible, trembling violently. Jack turned several shades of red, not particularly comfortable with this close contact. This would be one moment left out of the mission reports. He gulped back his discomfort, not at all pleased to have any man, especially Daniel, pressed against him like this. The only thing that stopped him from pushing the archaeologist away was the sheer and utter misery his friend was consumed by. Truth be told, if it had been any other man but Daniel Jack would have refused completely. The kid though had gotten past his usual defenses, he was almost like a son. Definitely someone he had to protect even if it meant severely pressing the limits of Jack's comfort zones.

Daniel just…Daniel just reminded him so much of Charlie. There was almost no telling Daniel no.

"J-Jack…" it was barely a whisper. So weak. Jack's heart stung at the sound.

"Daniel? You okay Daniel? What is it?" Jack blurted hurriedly, letting his worry get the best of him. They'd been silent for so long just laying there, waiting for rescue.

"P-promise….we….w-won't….g-go….to….anymore…..w-wet….p-p-plan….ets…" Daniel asked, his voice shaking, panting from the effort.

"Sure thing Danny, hot, dry deserts from now on." Jack reassured.

"Pr…oommm….is?" Daniel mumbled. Jack was worried, feeling Daniel's body growing steadily heavier against him.

"I promise Daniel." Jack reassured, hoping he didn't sound as doubtful as he was.

"s'good." Daniel slipped into oblivion again, though the pain was still etched into his face. Jack chewed his lip as he stared up at the stormy clouds. For once it would be nice to have a real easy mission. Ya know the go meet the locals, make friends, have a party, come home past curfew and listen to a nice pleasant lecture from mother Hammond about staying out late. It would practically be like a vacation after this.

Somewhere in the midst of his musings Jack drifted off again. He was too tired to be annoyed that he was drifting asleep against his will. He'd have to have a chat with himself later about this.

0000

Jack woke to rumbling. Low and deep. Right beneath him. He bolted upright forgetting that Daniel had been slouched on top of him. He whimpered weakly when he hit the ground next to Jack but did not stir. Jack was too busy looking for the danger to notice or sympathize. At first glance he saw nothing.

Then he looked over the crest of the hill. His heart stopped.

Jack barely had time to grab Daniel, rolling him on top of himself again, holding tight before thee entire hill crumbled beneath them in a mudslide, throwing them harshly into the flood waters. Jack gasped in shock of the ice cold water burned his lungs. His head broke the surface. He coughed and hacked harshly for a moment, Daniel doing the same though severely weaker in effort. The colonel kicked his legs hard to keep afloat, biting back the eruption of pain it caused. He could ignore it, push it back. Until Daniel was safe at least. Jack struggled to make his legs kick at a steady rhythm, slow but constant. He was afraid that he would be able to tread long enough, the burn in his legs already agonizing.

00000

Janet chewed her lip as she raked the spotlight across the dark flood waters. She shivered under the oppressive beat of rain but refused to give in to it. She had to find Daniel and the colonel. Teal'c stood on the other side of the small boat with a second spotlight search for his team members, stoic as was his nature, but the fervent passion was beneath the mask nonetheless. Thompson drove the boat in circles hoping that they would cross paths with the missing team members. They had been searching for nearly six hours now without a trace. All Janet knew was that she would search, no matter how long it took, until they found Daniel and Jack.

00000

Jack kicked out at the water furiously choking on water well below the surface. His chest burned for oxygen whilst threatening to implode within him. A blurry figure drifted listlessly down towards him. Daniel. Jack latched onto him with his good arm gasping as he broke the surface again. Daniel coughed a few times, his breathing extremely labored.

"Hang on Danny, just hang on. Help's coming." Jack mumbled beyond exhaustion. He let his chin rest on one of Daniel's shoulders, taking a smidge of stress off his shoulders. It was a struggle not to drift off to sleep. He was so tired. He just needed a few minutes. A low, deadly growl jolted O'Neill back to awareness. His eyes darted about looking for the danger, locking onto a long log, maybe twenty or thirty foot at least, with a big cat riding atop it. Jack groaned with despair. Couldn't they ever catch a break?

Rapidly Jack patted down his legs, hoping, praying for anything that might be of some defense. He found a rectangle box. The fire beads. I still have them? He hurriedly set the box on Daniel's chest, painfully ignoring his cry of distress. The cat was charging them, the growl fierce, fur standing on end. Jack chucked a bead as hard as he could in the cat's direction. A column of flame shot upwards a foot or two behind it, drawing it's attention for a second. Then it glared at him, eyes flashing with rage, knowing where the threat had come. Jack threw another bead this one landing directly in front of the cat.

The desired affect of it fleeing backwards brought him a small hope as he countered it's advances with every fire bead.

0000

Janet scanned the murky waters. It was another four hours she'd searched, another four hours of failure. Thomson had made her go into the cabin of the boat once to drink hot coffee, sit, and warm up a little while he took over spotting for her. It only lasted ten minutes, the maximum he could force her to sit idle. Determination was all she had, and it was all she needed to keep her moving, keep her searching. Janet didn't know what had drawn her attention to the horizon, beyond the waters she'd been scanning before. She pulled the binoculars upward, glancing through them.

There. There it was again.

"Teal'c!" he materialized next to her. She directed his gaze through the binoculars. "Do you see it too?"

"Indeed." he replied, the hope he felt not truly conveyed in his tone. Janet shouted at Thomson until the boat was turned. She's seen the flashes of light, far off, barely pinpricks in the binoculars. She prayed that it was Daniel and Jack.

"Hang on guys. We're coming. Just hang on." she whispered aloud.