From the Ruins
AN: Thanks again for the many wonderful reviews. I don't think Daniel would be mad at them for going off without him. Jack promised they wouldn't go into the armory without him and never intended to break that promise. In fact, they could be entering the armory now, but instead they're clearing the passage {as you'll see} so they can get out and go get Daniel. For those who have asked if you get to meet Hailey, not this time. Big apology. The only reason I mentioned her is because Hailey is my pen name, and she's the closest I'll ever get to kissing Daniel. slight blush. It didn't occur to me that someone might want Daniel to meet her again. But now that I know, perhaps I can think up another story in which they run into each other. The daydreams alone will be worth it. :}
Part Six
Three and a half hours after Sam and Teal'c left, Daniel woke to find himself alone in the tent. Assuming Jack was still close by making sure he stayed there, Daniel crept over to the flap and peeked out. Two men and a woman from Amon's crew were working on something at a table nearby. Two people walked past the tent carrying a crate between them. Jack wasn't anywhere to be seen, so Daniel slipped outside. He walked to the edge of the front of the tent and cautiously peered around the side. There was no Jack, or anybody for that matter, between Amon's tent and the temple. Daniel checked over his shoulder one last time then walked quickly {running might look suspicious if Jack had left spies} to the temple.
He knew things would look worse inside than they did yesterday, but he was shocked at how much worse. Half of the ceiling was on the floor. The fact that part of the fallen ceiling was on the very spot where the team had been sleeping wasn't lost to Daniel. He mentally chastised himself for letting his emotions get in the way of realizing Jack was right about it being too dangerous to sleep in here.
"Watch out!" Jack shouted.
Sam screamed.
Daniel ran toward the passage the voices were coming from, leaping over a pile of debris at its entrance.
"Major Carter?" "Carter?" "Sam?"
"I'm ok." She swallowed. "A piece of the ceiling hit my shoulder. The rest of it landed on my pile. I'm trapped between the pile and the wall. What about you guys?"
Daniel moved toward Sam's voice.
"We're ok," Jack said. "Same setup as you. How bad's the shoulder? You think you can get yourself out?"
"I don't know, sir. It may be dislocated. I can use my other arm though."
"Negative. Stay there. We'll get ourselves out and come for you."
"I'll get her," Daniel said.
"Daniel?"
"I just got here," Daniel answered trying to decide how to start.
"Uh, Daniel," Sam called nervously. "You might want to hurry."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Look up."
Daniel looked up "Oh boy."
"What's goin' on?"
"Uh, there's a large chunk of wall teetering directly above Sam."
"Dammit!"
"I think I've got an idea," Daniel said as he started to climb the pile.
"Daniel?"
"I know what I'm doing, Jack."
"What is that exactly?"
"I'll explain later." When Daniel got to the top of the pile, he reached for the chunk of wall. He wasn't quite high enough though. He looked down at Sam, up to the wall and back at Sam. "Sam, I'm gonna jump. When I do, you're gonna have to get out of the way. Ok?"
"What?!" Jack asked. "Let's get this stuff out of the way," he growled.
Sam looked from Daniel to the chunk of wall. It had stopped teetering. A stream of dust fell on her face making her duck her head and palm an eye.
"Sam, you have to trust me."
She nodded.
"Ready?" Daniel asked as the chunk started slipping.
"Yes."
Daniel took a deep breath and jumped. He slammed into the chunk as it fell, forcing it back into the wall hard enough to knock out another chunk. Both chunks went crashing outside, and Daniel slid down the rest of the wall.
Sam quickly tried to move a large chunk out of the way. She was almost out of the way again when Daniel landed almost completely on her. They both cried out, and Daniel quickly scrambled off of her. Their movement caused the debris pile beside them to shift. Several chunks fell. Sam moved back to get out of the path of one chunk and banged her head hard on the wall. Daniel dodged one chunk only to move into the path of a larger one.
"Carter? Daniel?" Jack called. He was about to call again when Sam finally answered.
"I think we're ok, sir."
"You think?"
"We're both awake," she clarified. "As far as I can tell nothing's broken except maybe Daniel's wrist."
"Good. We're coming to you so don't move. Daniel?"
"I'm fine, Jack. Sam broke my fall."
"I thought you told her to get out of the way."
"I did," Daniel said pretending to glare at Sam.
"Yeah, well. If I didn't move this chunk, you probably would have hit your head on it."
"Oh." Daniel's eyes widened when he saw the chunk she pointed to. "Thanks. That's much bigger than the one that landed on my head."
"What was that?"
"We'll be fine, Jack. Really."
Jack snorted. "You two could be bleeding to death and you'd still say you were fine."
"We're not bleeding to death, sir. I promise."
"You're one to talk," Daniel added.
"Yeah well. I want you both to stay still. That's an order." Jack helped Teal'c move a large chunk. "I said that's an order."
"Yes, sir."
"Ok, Jack."
"That's better. Teal'c, I think we can climb over now." He started climbing and slipped in the dust. Teal'c caught him as his right elbow collided with the pile. He cradled his arm as Teal'c removed a few more chunks, climbed over the pile and reached out to help Jack over.
"Ok, we're out. Where exactly are you?"
"Close to the entrance," Sam answered.
"Over here, O'Neill."
A few minutes later, Teal'c peered over the pile. "There is not much room," he informed Jack. "I will go on. You remain here."
"We can probably get out on our own now that the pile's shorter," Daniel said trying to stand. A sharp pain shot through his ribs, right wrist and left ankle, and he fell back down. "Or maybe not."
"Do not move, Daniel Jackson."
Sam moved closer to Daniel to make room for Teal'c.
Teal'c knelt on one knee in front of them. "I believe they will be fine, O'Neill."
"We said that, didn't we?" Daniel asked Sam.
She nodded and grimaced as pain shot through her shoulder.
"Ladies first," Daniel said watching her with concern.
Teal'c nodded and helped Sam to her feet. "Are you ready, O'Neill?"
"Yeah."
Teal'c gently scooped Sam up and placed her carefully on top of the pile.
"Stay there a minute," Jack said. He quickly gathered several large loose chunks and arranged them into steps against the pile.
"Ok, give me your hand," Jack said reaching up with his left hand. Sam reached down with her right hand. 'Easy," Jack coached as he felt her tremble on the way down.
As Jack offered a hand to Sam, Teal'c offered a hand to Daniel.
Jack guided Sam out of the passage and lowered her to the floor. "Will you be ok by yourself for a couple of minutes?" She nodded. He patted her uninjured shoulder gently and went back into the passage. "Alright, Carter's safe."
"It may prove more difficult to get Daniel Jackson to safety."
"Oh?"
"I must have twisted my ankle too," Daniel explained.
"Yeah, that may be a problem. Teal'c, if you can get him up, I can get him down."
"You are injured, O'Neill. I believe I can get him up and down."
"Jack?"
"My elbow introduced itself to a rock. I made steps Teal'c."
Teal'c and Daniel exchanged a curious/apprehensive glance.
"Are you ready, Daniel Jackson?"
"I guess," Daniel said tentatively.
Teal'c lifted Daniel the same way he had lifted Sam and set him on top of the pile. "Stay there," he ordered and climbed up, glancing at the steps.
"Hey, they're safe," Jack said.
"Sure, Jack," Daniel said eyeing the steps uncertainly.
"Carter trusted them," Jack whined.
"I trusted you, sir," Sam called.
"Gee, that's encouraging," Daniel said.
"Maybe we should just leave him up there," Jack said to Teal'c.
"Perhaps."
"Teal'c?"
"Do not worry, Daniel Jackson. We would not really leave you here." As if to prove it, he put his arm around Daniel and helped him get down to the first step.
"We wouldn't?" Jack waited a good ten seconds before offering Daniel his left hand.
Daniel took Jack's hand and with Teal'c's help made it to the next step. His ankle buckled immediately. Teal'c had to hold on tighter to keep him from falling.
"I think you may have done more than twisted that ankle," Jack said. "Try not to put any weight on it."
"I didn't," Daniel said gritting his teeth.
When Daniel made it to the ground, Teal'c and Jack put his arms over their shoulders, and the three of them made their way to Sam. Even with the little daylight reaching this part of the room, she looked pale as she sat hugging herself.
"Sam?" Jack asked worriedly. "Shoulder?"
She nodded.
Jack studied her for a minute. "Ok. Let's get 'em out of here."
Teal'c held out his left hand to Sam. She took it gratefully.
***
"Daniel, is being psychic another one of your hidden talents?" Jack asked an hour later. He was lying on his back on top of Teal'c's blanket. His right arm was draped across his chest in a sling. His left arm was behind his head.
Teal'c and Jack had barely gotten halfway to Amon's tent with Sam and Daniel when Amon saw them and came running. "What happened?" he asked removing Teal'c's arm from Sam's shoulder and replacing it gently with his own. "I thought you were sleeping," he said to Daniel.
"That's what I thought too," Jack said pretending to be angry. "I really thought I could count on you, Amon."
"He was last time I checked. I don't know how he got away."
"He's good."
Amon had left them in his tent and returned with water and a bundle of cloths. Sam reluctantly let him wash dust from her face and arms.
When everyone had considerably less dust on them, Amon had taken the dirty water and cloths and returned with three slings, a length of cloth to wrap around Daniel's ankle, and several ice packs.
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked. He was leaning against a table with two pillows under his ankle, the ice pack on top of it and his right arm resting on a pillow on the table with another ice pack on his wrist.
"Well, you couldn't have had better timing," Jack answered. "We were trying to get out to get you, and you show up in time to save Sam."
"Yeah," Sam said. She was lying on Amon's pallet. He had added her blanket, Jack's blanket and another blanket to make it softer for her. He had also placed a thick pillow under her shoulder and an ice pack on top. Even though the pillow made her shoulder hurt worse, she didn't say anything and hoped the pain pill would kick in soon. "Thanks."
"Welcome."
"So, how'd you do it? And Murray, how did you manage not to get hurt at all."
"Yeah," Daniel said. "That's not fair."
"What do you mean?" Teal'c asked. He was sitting between Jack and Daniel.
"Well," Jack replied. "We've got one seriously dislocated shoulder, one badly sprained ankle, one broken wrist, bruised ribs, one sprained arm, many, many bruises, headaches, other sore muscles, a few cuts and bruises on Daniel's hands and two possible concussions. That we know of so far. Did I get everything?"
"Sounds like it," Daniel said. "Well, you miscounted the possible concussions. My head feels fine."
"Yet you don't seem to have a single scratch," Jack said ignoring Daniel's insistence.
"That is not true," Teal'c replied rolling up a pant leg and pointing to his knee.
"Where?" Daniel and Jack asked, Daniel leaning forward; Jack turning his head.
Teal'c pointed to a scratch.
"Wow, that must really hurt," Daniel said sarcastically as he sat back.
"It does not."
"So how'd you get it?" Jack asked resting his head on his arm again.
"I do not remember 'getting it' at all."
"Then, how'd you find out you even had it?" Daniel asked.
"I discovered it when I changed clothing."
"Oh. Ok, so now what?" Daniel asked.
Jack looked at him incredulously. "We rest."
"But what about the armory. You said you guys found the hidden room?"
"Daniel, I dare you to try to leave this tent now. Amon will be on you faster than lightening. You may have given him the slip once, but I guarantee you he won't let it happen again. He's probably out there standing guard." He lowered his voice in case he could be heard from outside. "Besides, Carter's practically asleep. We'll need her to disable the power before we go in. And right now, she's in too much pain."
"I wasn't suggesting we go now. I just wanted to know how you plan on getting in."
"The trap door is at the end of the passage," Teal'c said. "If we can remove the wall-"
"You mean blow it up?"
"The place is already falling apart, Daniel," Jack said. "Hell, it's supposed to be ruins anyway, right?"
"I guess so," Daniel reluctantly admitted. "But, how are we going to explain the explosion to Amon and his crew? Trust me, you don't want an angry mob of archeologists after you. And that's what we'll get if they see us blowing something up."
"Daniel-"
"Now, I know not all the people on Amon's crew are archeologists, but I'm sure the others are like minded."
"I don't even like one angry archeologist. And I don't think that's what Teal'c had in mind." Jack closed his eyes hoping Daniel would take the hint and rest.
"You are correct, O'Neill. In fact I do not have any specific plan. It was merely a suggestion."
Jack yawned. "We'll figure everything out later. But for now, rest."
"What's wrong with going back through the temple and the passage?" Daniel asked.
"That may or may not still be an option, but we'll check it out. Now, rest."
"I already rested, remember?"
"Daniel."
"I can't help it if the pain pill made you and Sam drowsy. But-"
"Daniel!"
"Is everything alright?" Amon asked poking his head into the tent.
"Hey, Amon when you get a minute there's something I'd like you to teach me."
"Sure," Amon replied. He looked curiously from Daniel's glare to Jack's smirk and left.
Daniel sighed and removed the ice from his wrist. He lay back onto his blanket, curled up on his side and fell asleep almost right away.