"We have to follow him!" Sam yelled over the rain. It wasn't so loud here in the bowl as it had been up top, but it was loud enough.
Daniel and Teal'c both nodded their agreement.
"How far down does it go?" Teal'c asked Daniel.
"I don't know."
The Jaffa took the rope he'd had tied to his waist and tied the loose end to the end of Sam's rope, making it twice as long. Daniel was too exhausted to go down, and Teal'c's strength would be needed to help pull her back up, so Carter was the one to go in the hole. Besides, Teal'c was fairly certain she'd have refused to be left behind if he'd have suggested anyone else.
"We will hold you," The Jaffa told her, taking the rope in his hands and giving her about ten feet of slack to begin with. Then he took a coil of climbing rope off his shoulder, handed one end to Daniel and gave Carter the other end. "When you find O'Neill and Jaffer, wrap the other rope around O'Neill and we will pull you all up."
She nodded her understanding, and edged her way to the opening Jaffer had just vanished down minutes before. With one hand on the rope and the other holding one of the spotlights and hoping that it was waterproof enough to stay lit even with the current of water that was flowing over it, Sam started through the opening carefully.
....................
He heard his name! Jaffer gave a joyous bark and scrambled down the watery hillside even faster, anxious now to get to Jack.
O'Neill heard the bark but was certain he was hearing things. Even though he was certain Jaffer was close, the black lab rarely barked, and it had to have been his imagination. Or just wishful thinking.
Then Jaffer was there. The water suddenly stopped flowing over Jack's legs as a large form came scrabbling down the hill above him, and stopped right in front of him, blocking the water almost completely and barking furiously.
"Jaffer?"
Using the hand that was wrapped around his knees, Jack reached out and touched the black lab's chest, unable to believe what his tired mind was showing him. Sure enough, though. There was the silky – and very wet – black fur, and underneath that warm hide, Jack could feel the strong steady heartbeat that had lulled him to sleep more than once.
The black lab wormed his way between Jack's knees, whining softly and anxious to get closer to his Jack. He pressed his nose against O'Neill's face, and then started licking him. Jack pushed the head to the side, but pulled the rest of the lab closer. Not just for warmth, but because he was truly glad to see him.
"I'm already wet, little man," Jack chided him, pressing his cheek against his lab's shoulder. "And I probably won't need a bath for weeks."
Of course, a nice hot shower...
His cheek felt something that didn't belong. Jack knew Jaffer's body well, and knew when something wasn't right. With Jaffer's appearance, he'd already forgotten about how miserable he was, and now his mind was able to focus a little better. He felt a little better. But with that sudden lucidness came the realization that his baby was hurt. He'd pressed his cheek right against the cut on Jaffer's shoulder, and even in the dark had noticed the difference immediately. He couldn't see the cut, but he knew it was there.
"How did you do that?"
Jaffer licked his face in reply, not at all concerned about being cut, or having all the water rushing all over him as he blocked it from spraying his Jack. A little cut wasn't going to hurt him, and neither was a little water.
Jack ran his free hand along the rest of Jaffer's body, doing a check that he'd done a million times since the lab was a puppy. He found swelling in several places but nothing too serious, and no other unevenness that would tell him there was another cut. Satisfied, he rested his forehead against Jaffer's warm chest and closed his eyes, grateful for the dog's presence and wondering how he'd managed to find him.
Jaffer started barking, again, but Jack didn't question him as to why. The lab never barked without a reason. With one hand holding his branch, and the other pressed against Jaffer's cut shoulder, keeping the water off it, Jack felt himself warming up a little as Jaffer's body heat mingled with his own. It helped that the water was no longer sweeping it away. He shivered, and Jaffer leaned his head down and licked the back of Jack's neck a few moments, as though to reassure him before resuming his barking.
....................
"Jaffer?"
Sam called the black lab's name as soon as her head went below the level of the hole and she lost sight of Teal'c and Daniel. She rained the spotlight with one hand and held the rope with the other, trusting the two men on the other end to hold her steady as she worked her way down the slope, slipping occasionally, but using the taut rope to help maintain her position.
"Jaffer! Here boy!"
She called him again and again, sweeping the slope with her light, hoping for some sign of the black lab, or of Jack.
She heard a bark over the roar of the water that was rushing down around her, and looked above her. Had Teal'c sent Jack down? She heard the bark again, and realized that it wasn't Jack's bark and it wasn't coming from above her. It was Jaffer, and it was below her. Hardly daring to hope it would be that easy, Sam shined her light in the direction of the faint barking, but didn't see anything.
"Jaffer! I'm coming! Stay boy!"
She quickened her pace as much as she dared to, shining the light in the direction of the barks, which were getting louder, and coming from directly below her. Then they stopped.
"Jaffer!"
God, she didn't want him to stop barking! Then he started again, and she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She moved again, her light now trained on some kind of odd shape that was right below her. Some kind of tree, maybe. Or a bush. The barking was coming from there.
Sam got closer, and saw Jaffer turn his head, his brown eyes reflecting the light of the spotlight she was holding. He stopped barking, and with a glad cry, she realized that the rest of the odd shape was Jack. He was clinging to the bush with one hand, and to Jaffer with the other.
"Jack!"
He raised his head as she came to a stop beside him and the black lab, and Sam let go of the rope and reached out to touch his face. He looked as tired as she'd ever seen him, and that was saying something. But he was alive!
"Sam?"
She saw his mouth move, but didn't hear the words, but she smiled and nodded.
"We're going to get you out of here, Jack. Hold on, okay?"
"I've been holding on..." She didn't hear all of what he was saying, but she didn't need to.
She grabbed the rope that had been coiled over her shoulder, playing out as she'd been climbing down.
"I'm going to wrap this around you, Jack," She said, unsure if he could hear her in the loud roar of the water. Probably he couldn't. She slipped the end of the rope around his chest and tied it tightly. God, he was so cold. And shivering like he'd shake himself apart any minute. "Hold on, okay," She told him, pressing her lips against his cold cheek.
He moved his hand from Jaffer's shoulder and wrapped it around her. Not for support, but to hold her, and it was the hardest thing Sam had ever done when she pulled away.
"We're going to be pulled up," She yelled. "I'm going to bring Jaffer with me, you just hold onto the rope." She knew he wouldn't go anywhere if he was worried about Jaffer, so she made sure to include that.
Jack nodded, and Sam gave the signal, and felt tension on the rope as Teal'c and Daniel started to pull. Then she noticed something else.
"Jack! Let go of the branch!"
He couldn't obey her. His hand was no numb and his grip was so tight that it was almost as if he were a part of the branch, now. Realizing this immediately, Sam pulled her knife and slashed through the thick limb, trying to get it cut before Teal'c pulled her too far away to help Jack. The knife slipped on the wet bark and the razor sharp blade slashed across Jack's hand, opening a long gash.
"Ah!"
With a jerk of pain, O'Neill let go of the branch, and Sam dropped her knife as another jerk on the end of her rope threw her off balance and she slipped. She reached out and grabbed Jaffer's collar, and pulled the lab up into her arms as Jack and she were dragged against the flow of the water and steadily ascended the slope.
Daniel and Teal'c both nodded their agreement.
"How far down does it go?" Teal'c asked Daniel.
"I don't know."
The Jaffa took the rope he'd had tied to his waist and tied the loose end to the end of Sam's rope, making it twice as long. Daniel was too exhausted to go down, and Teal'c's strength would be needed to help pull her back up, so Carter was the one to go in the hole. Besides, Teal'c was fairly certain she'd have refused to be left behind if he'd have suggested anyone else.
"We will hold you," The Jaffa told her, taking the rope in his hands and giving her about ten feet of slack to begin with. Then he took a coil of climbing rope off his shoulder, handed one end to Daniel and gave Carter the other end. "When you find O'Neill and Jaffer, wrap the other rope around O'Neill and we will pull you all up."
She nodded her understanding, and edged her way to the opening Jaffer had just vanished down minutes before. With one hand on the rope and the other holding one of the spotlights and hoping that it was waterproof enough to stay lit even with the current of water that was flowing over it, Sam started through the opening carefully.
....................
He heard his name! Jaffer gave a joyous bark and scrambled down the watery hillside even faster, anxious now to get to Jack.
O'Neill heard the bark but was certain he was hearing things. Even though he was certain Jaffer was close, the black lab rarely barked, and it had to have been his imagination. Or just wishful thinking.
Then Jaffer was there. The water suddenly stopped flowing over Jack's legs as a large form came scrabbling down the hill above him, and stopped right in front of him, blocking the water almost completely and barking furiously.
"Jaffer?"
Using the hand that was wrapped around his knees, Jack reached out and touched the black lab's chest, unable to believe what his tired mind was showing him. Sure enough, though. There was the silky – and very wet – black fur, and underneath that warm hide, Jack could feel the strong steady heartbeat that had lulled him to sleep more than once.
The black lab wormed his way between Jack's knees, whining softly and anxious to get closer to his Jack. He pressed his nose against O'Neill's face, and then started licking him. Jack pushed the head to the side, but pulled the rest of the lab closer. Not just for warmth, but because he was truly glad to see him.
"I'm already wet, little man," Jack chided him, pressing his cheek against his lab's shoulder. "And I probably won't need a bath for weeks."
Of course, a nice hot shower...
His cheek felt something that didn't belong. Jack knew Jaffer's body well, and knew when something wasn't right. With Jaffer's appearance, he'd already forgotten about how miserable he was, and now his mind was able to focus a little better. He felt a little better. But with that sudden lucidness came the realization that his baby was hurt. He'd pressed his cheek right against the cut on Jaffer's shoulder, and even in the dark had noticed the difference immediately. He couldn't see the cut, but he knew it was there.
"How did you do that?"
Jaffer licked his face in reply, not at all concerned about being cut, or having all the water rushing all over him as he blocked it from spraying his Jack. A little cut wasn't going to hurt him, and neither was a little water.
Jack ran his free hand along the rest of Jaffer's body, doing a check that he'd done a million times since the lab was a puppy. He found swelling in several places but nothing too serious, and no other unevenness that would tell him there was another cut. Satisfied, he rested his forehead against Jaffer's warm chest and closed his eyes, grateful for the dog's presence and wondering how he'd managed to find him.
Jaffer started barking, again, but Jack didn't question him as to why. The lab never barked without a reason. With one hand holding his branch, and the other pressed against Jaffer's cut shoulder, keeping the water off it, Jack felt himself warming up a little as Jaffer's body heat mingled with his own. It helped that the water was no longer sweeping it away. He shivered, and Jaffer leaned his head down and licked the back of Jack's neck a few moments, as though to reassure him before resuming his barking.
....................
"Jaffer?"
Sam called the black lab's name as soon as her head went below the level of the hole and she lost sight of Teal'c and Daniel. She rained the spotlight with one hand and held the rope with the other, trusting the two men on the other end to hold her steady as she worked her way down the slope, slipping occasionally, but using the taut rope to help maintain her position.
"Jaffer! Here boy!"
She called him again and again, sweeping the slope with her light, hoping for some sign of the black lab, or of Jack.
She heard a bark over the roar of the water that was rushing down around her, and looked above her. Had Teal'c sent Jack down? She heard the bark again, and realized that it wasn't Jack's bark and it wasn't coming from above her. It was Jaffer, and it was below her. Hardly daring to hope it would be that easy, Sam shined her light in the direction of the faint barking, but didn't see anything.
"Jaffer! I'm coming! Stay boy!"
She quickened her pace as much as she dared to, shining the light in the direction of the barks, which were getting louder, and coming from directly below her. Then they stopped.
"Jaffer!"
God, she didn't want him to stop barking! Then he started again, and she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She moved again, her light now trained on some kind of odd shape that was right below her. Some kind of tree, maybe. Or a bush. The barking was coming from there.
Sam got closer, and saw Jaffer turn his head, his brown eyes reflecting the light of the spotlight she was holding. He stopped barking, and with a glad cry, she realized that the rest of the odd shape was Jack. He was clinging to the bush with one hand, and to Jaffer with the other.
"Jack!"
He raised his head as she came to a stop beside him and the black lab, and Sam let go of the rope and reached out to touch his face. He looked as tired as she'd ever seen him, and that was saying something. But he was alive!
"Sam?"
She saw his mouth move, but didn't hear the words, but she smiled and nodded.
"We're going to get you out of here, Jack. Hold on, okay?"
"I've been holding on..." She didn't hear all of what he was saying, but she didn't need to.
She grabbed the rope that had been coiled over her shoulder, playing out as she'd been climbing down.
"I'm going to wrap this around you, Jack," She said, unsure if he could hear her in the loud roar of the water. Probably he couldn't. She slipped the end of the rope around his chest and tied it tightly. God, he was so cold. And shivering like he'd shake himself apart any minute. "Hold on, okay," She told him, pressing her lips against his cold cheek.
He moved his hand from Jaffer's shoulder and wrapped it around her. Not for support, but to hold her, and it was the hardest thing Sam had ever done when she pulled away.
"We're going to be pulled up," She yelled. "I'm going to bring Jaffer with me, you just hold onto the rope." She knew he wouldn't go anywhere if he was worried about Jaffer, so she made sure to include that.
Jack nodded, and Sam gave the signal, and felt tension on the rope as Teal'c and Daniel started to pull. Then she noticed something else.
"Jack! Let go of the branch!"
He couldn't obey her. His hand was no numb and his grip was so tight that it was almost as if he were a part of the branch, now. Realizing this immediately, Sam pulled her knife and slashed through the thick limb, trying to get it cut before Teal'c pulled her too far away to help Jack. The knife slipped on the wet bark and the razor sharp blade slashed across Jack's hand, opening a long gash.
"Ah!"
With a jerk of pain, O'Neill let go of the branch, and Sam dropped her knife as another jerk on the end of her rope threw her off balance and she slipped. She reached out and grabbed Jaffer's collar, and pulled the lab up into her arms as Jack and she were dragged against the flow of the water and steadily ascended the slope.