Chapter 3 Filling In

Authors note: okay so chapter three is filling in the rest of the angst, and setting the stage for what I hope will be a decent ending. Thanks for all of the reviews I'm drooling! Let me know what you think, what ever you think is okay, I need all the help I can get!

Everything was dark. Jack didn't know if he was awake or... dead. He tried to move his legs. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes, or thought he did, then felt a rather rude nudge at the top of his right bicep.

//There's no place like home... especially when I'm in carter's lab...there's..//

".. no place like...Oww!" Fire ripped up the Colonel's back as he tried without success to roll over onto his side. That was enough to completely bring him around though, and this time he did open his eyes. Jonas was shining a light right in his face. HIS light. Jack was not too pleased with himself for dropping his weapon, but at least the flashlight made up for it.

"Colonel, I'm glad you're awake. I heard you scream and got out of the way as best as I could. It's a long way down, isn't it? Where are you injured? Can I do anything to help?"

Jonas ever-dutiful even in crisis mode was trying his best to ignore his own numb legs and concentrate on his team leader. He figured it was the least he could do, since he was the one responsible for their situation.

Fuming at the idea of having to spend yet another weekend after a ROUTINE mission in the infirmary, Jack was reluctant to answer.

"A long way down?" Glaring at Jonas, Jack could feel his insides rile and he hoped Jonas was prepared for an ass whooping, injury be damned.

"At least you could have broken my fall, I can't even move my damned legs! And what was that business with ignoring my orders not to go in that cave?! Do you know that you set off some sort of a Goa'uld booby trap? And I'll just bet you didn't get around to translating the Goa'uld writing all over that cave either before you took your little... tumble!"

"Colonel look...I am truly sorry, but I thought this might be important. According to the text that was OUTSIDE the cave, this was supposed to be an ancient depository for Naquadria. At first, I thought I had mis-translated, but I checked again, and it's definitely Naquadria, not Naquida. Do you know what this could mean?"

Jack felt himself starting to relax, and realized that with relaxing, also came the pain he'd been ignoring while being pissed off at Jonas. He tried to sit up, and bit his tongue to hold back the yelp from the effort.

"Yeah, I know what this means Jonas. It means I am missing my damned hockey game tonight, I didn't set the VCR, I have to spend my weekend and probably more in the infirmary with God knows what kind of new gizmo the doc has hooked up to me. And although you thought you were on to some amazing discovery, this depository or whatever it was, is probably abandoned now for a REASON."

Ranting had a way of making Jack feel better about any situation in which he had no control over, but the throbbing in his back and head were outranking the tantrum he was trying to have, so he cut his complaining short. The military side of O'Neill took over, and he started to assess he and Jonas's situation.

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Silently, Sam crept behind Teal'c into the entrance of the cave. The big Jaffa suddenly stopped in his tracks and raised his arm to signal to Carter. The pair pointed their flashlights straight ahead, and together they looked out into a black abyss.

At first, Sam just thought that her eyes were slow to adjust. She then realized that what they were looking at was a massive cavernous room. She followed the glow of her flashlight down to her feet and was surprised to find what appeared to be both Colonel O'Neill's tracks and probably Jonas's as well. But the other thing that caught the astute eye of the Major was the sudden disappearance of both sets of tracks... straight down.

//I hope Janet isn't planning on going home tonight, I have a feeling these guys have other plans for occupying the infirmary when we get home. //

Sam nudged Teal'c in the side to get his attention, and they both took a step further back. If they hadn't done that, they might have seen the faintest light coming from somewhere below them in the artificial night.

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" One, Two, Three...! Ha Ha a rock is bigger than paper! I beat you!"

"Colonel, I thought that paper covered rock?" Jonas said baffled.

After determining that neither man could go anywhere, especially in the condition that they were in, and also with the lack of rope or an Asguard transporter, Jack decided on paper, rock, scissors to pass the time.

The small piece of rock that they had landed on was about fifteen feet on all sides, jutting out from the face of the wall that the two men had fallen down. Jonas had determined that he had broken his legs, but Jack didn't feel so lucky. In fact, Jack wasn't feeling much of anything below the waist. He was, however, feeling a searing hot pain that seemed to radiate from the small of his back through to the fillings in his teeth. And also a heavy dreadful worry. This was one injury, he had been happy to say he had never sustained until now. In fact, as often as he joked about his back being out, Jack hadn't ever had any trouble with that part of his body.

//Guess I'll have to add that to list. God that hurts. I'll be damned if I let genius boy know it though. Just have to keep as still as possible. //

"It does cover rock Jonas, but I am bigger than you are, and I am also your commanding officer, so I say I win!" Jack said in complete seriousness.

"Colonel O'Neill, do you think Major Carter and Teal'c will be able to find us? I wasn't exactly helpful with directions before I.."

"Wandered off?" Jack finished Jonas's sentence for him.

"Right, well our radios won't reach outside the cave, but if they come in the entrance, we should be able to scream for help, and get rescued right?"

Jack could feel a fatherly moment coming on here. "Have faith, Jonas. Carter and Teal'c can't live without me, and .." Jack pushed the nightglow button on his watch. "..and as of right now, we are an hour and a half over due back at the SGC. Since this was supposed to be a ROUTINE mission, Hammond will be especially itchy because we haven't reported back yet. He'll probably send another SG team through to look for us too. I know Carter is on the way, but I told Teal'c to stay at the gate with the survey equipment. I know that we both feel like we've been hit by a massive fly swatter.." Jack chuckled at the twisted grimace on Jonas's face. "..but all we can do is lie here and wait. They'll be here. I know Carter won't let us down."

"Actually sir, I was rather hoping Major carter could find a way to get us back up, seeing as we're already down."

//I wonder if there are any regs saying that a commanding officer may not assault his alien sub-ordinates. Huh. I guess I am rubbing off on him. //

"Smart-ass. Wanna play I spy?"