A/N: Thank you for the comments.
Antipodes - Thanks, he is definitely underestimating things.
"How was the geeksitting?" Laura asked when she saw Lorne grab a late night snack in the mess.
"Long. I swear Woolsey has it in for me. I mean there was a perfectly good mission looking at rocks, but instead he sends me on the slime one. What are you doing up so late?"
"Waiting for the call."
"What call?"
"The Jennifer rescue mission. My team are on duty."
"The doc is off world?" Lorne asked confused.
"Some kid she treated before was relapsing." Laura shrugged.
"Who is with her?"
"Fletcher." Laura explained.
"How did that happen?" Lorne asked.
"With both you and the Colonel off-world apparently Woolsey chose the path of least resistance." Seeing Lorne's confused expression she explained.
"Fletcher volunteered." Laura explained.
"You trust him?"
"He's okay. Career driven, but that may not be a bad thing when looking after Jennifer. I mean he won't want any blot on his record."
"Let's hope so." Lorne replied.
"Bright side is they made their first check in and all was okay." Laura said.
"At the very least that is unusual." Lorne agreed as he took a huge bite from his sandwich.
"Don't let Jennifer hear you say that." Laura warned.
"I won't." He said standing. "But I had better go. I want to make sure I am in peak condition if the call comes."
"See you tomorrow." Laura nodded as Lorne walked off.
-00-
"No news?" Lorne asked Cadman when they passed in the corridor the next morning.
"No Sir." She confirmed. "So I guess you are now the rescue team."
"Get some rest." Lorne ordered. "From the timetable I have just reviewed you have a busy few weeks coming up."
"With real missions or geek sitting?" Laura asked.
"You'd be happier not knowing." Lorne smiled walking off.
He just made it to the mess hall when his radio chimed.
"Lorne here." He confirmed.
"Major Lorne, I need you to get your team ready to go." Woolsey said over the radio.
"What's the mission?" Lorne asked.
"Search and Rescue."
"The doc?" Lorne guessed.
"Yes. Fletcher just radioed in to say they lost her."
"My team will be there in ten minutes."
-00-
"Fletcher, report." Lorne barked as he met up with the Captain. Shouting more than normal to have his voice heard over the wind and rain.
"Well Sir, we were walking back from the other village when she disappeared."
"How long was it between knowing she was with you and not knowing?" Lorne asked.
"Thirty minutes, Sir."
"Thirty minutes?" Lorne asked. "You should have had her in the middle."
"Bu-"
"This isn't the time for debate. When was the last time you saw her?"
"Sixteen hours." Fletcher report.
"Sixteen hours? Why didn't you report it?" Lorne growled.
"We thought we could find her." Fletcher replied.
"The rain has washed away all tracks." One of Lorne's men reported.
"Let's start with the path they walked on. We comb every inch." Lorne ordered seething.
-00-
As the group trudged through the rain, wind and mud they heard a crack in the air. Immediately stopping one of Lorne's team asked.
"Was that a gun shot?"
"It's possible it was part of the storm, but right now it is the only lead we have." Lorne said. "Jackson, you take two of the Captain's team and keep searching slowly incase that was just the crack of thunder. The rest of you with me." He ordered before picking up the speed wondering exactly what had happened to Jennifer.
After a few minutes jogging towards where they hoped the shot had come from Lorne noticed the path was in bad condition and had eroded over the edge.
"Fletcher, was the path like this earlier?" He asked.
"I don't know. May be." Fletcher asked.
Shaking his head Lorne took out a rope and tied it round a tree before edging closer to the edge and peering down.
"I can't see..." he started before saying. "Wait, there is light down there." He then shouted. "Doc. You down there?"
Not hearing a reply, but unsure if that was because it had been drowned out by the storm he stepped backwards where his team was waiting with some harnesses.
"I couldn't hear anything, but I'll go down and check." Lorne explained as he stepped into the harness. "Watch that rope for signs of fraying."
"Yes Sir." One of his team responded as Lorne stepped to the edge and started his descent.
With every foot he called to Jennifer while trying to follow the light that he hoped came from a flashlight.
Just as he was beginning to lose hope he heard a familiar voice call over the wind.
"Doc, hold still." He shouted back finally seeing an outline a few feet down.
"Doc?" Lorne called as he reached the narrow ledge that Jennifer was standing on.
"Ev-" Jennifer asked sounding tired.
"Right here. What's the damage?" He asked trying to figure out how badly she was hurt.
"Leg, wrist, head." Jennifer listed. "Nothing life threatening. But so tired."
"We'll get you home soon. First we have to get you to safety, I need your wrist so I can secure you."
"No." Jennifer said.
"What?"
"Not letting go." She said as Lorne looked at her two hands that had vice like grips on the roots that were protruding from the ground.
"You trust me right? I'm not going to let you fall." Evan assured her. "Just give me your wrist."
Reluctantly Jennifer released the branch she was holding and offered Lorne her arm which he tied a strap round.
"Okay, safer already." He smiled. "Now I need to harness you up so we can get you out of here."
"Can't move." Jennifer said.
"You don't need to." Lorne smiled. "I'll do the work, you just hold still."
"Hate heights." Jennifer muttered.
"You'll be on real ground soon." Lorne said as he tightened the harness. Once he was happy he asked. "Ready to go up?"
"Yes." Jennifer nodded.
"Okay, you are tied to me, but I want you to let go of the root and hold onto me. Then I will take us up." Seeing Jennifer shake her head he went on. "I promise you that you are safe. You can't fall. Just trust me."
Nodding Jennifer shut her eyes and released her grip.
"That a girl. Let's go."
-00-
"Incoming wormhole." Chuck announced. "We have received Major Lorne's IDC."
"Open it up." John ordered as he and the rest of his team stood alert and ready for action.
Moments later a soaked Major Lorne stepped through, carrying and unconscious Jennifer on his back, closely followed by the rest of his team and then after a moment SGA14.
As soon as he saw John, Lorne reported. "She's okay, but I need to get her to the infirmary."
"Go." John ordered. "The rest of you can come and tell us what happened."
"Although I agree for the need to debrief, they look they drowned rats." Woolsey said before saying louder. "All of you get showered and changed. Once you are cleared by the medical team come back here."
"You have one hour." John said sternly.
"Yes Sir." Was the response as the two teams walked off.
"I imagine you want to get to the infirmary too." Woolsey said.
"Hmm?" John asked lost in thought.
"To see Dr Keller." Woolsey said.
"Right. Yes." He said walking off.
-00-
"What happened?" John asked as he saw Lorne pacing in the infirmary.
"I don't know all the details. Jennifer pretty much passed out when we got her to safety."
"Safety?"
"She had fallen and was stuck on a ledge. No external forces in play, apart from the weather."
"I sense a but." John said.
"I don't know anything else."
"But?" John pressed.
"Something felt off."
"Off how?"
"I don't know. It could be that Fletcher and Tupper are terrified of what you are going to do to them, but it seemed more than that."
"We'll get to the bottom of it." John assured him. "But you need to get changed. The last thing the doc needs is to wake up and find out you have pneumonia. I'll stay with her."
-TBC...