Carson Beckett wasn't a military man. Never had been a military man and really, never planned on being a military man. His only experience when it came to off-world missions were mostly the scenarios that Melony and Major Sheppard had set up a few months before to start teaching him and the other non military personnel how to defend themselves in the off chance that Atlantis was taken over by hostiles. To say he hadn't excelled at those scenarios would be kind – even though he knew that he knew more than he had started with. But it wasn't a big shock to himself – or to Major Sheppard – that he wasn't exactly following normal protocol for a scouting trip. Which in this case, simply meant he wasn't keeping quiet on their exploring foray.

"What do you think we'll find?" He asked Sheppard for the fourth time in as many minutes, his light shining along the ceiling and walls around them as they walked through the tunnel.

"Don't know." Sheppard answered – again. He wasn't really expecting any trouble – they were in a lava tube, after all, and he'd never heard of the great giant lava lizards or anything – so he didn't bother telling Beckett to keep quiet. Although he did wish he'd come up with a different question. "I just hope nothing finds us."

Yeah, that hadn't been nice, but he couldn't help himself.

Beckett's light shined in his face a second later, and although John was blinded by it he couldn't miss the slight worry in the doctor's voice.

"Do you think there's something in here?"

The light went from Sheppard's face to the walls, and then to the ceiling, and John couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Nah, it looks pretty safe to me," He said. "And Colonel Mitchell and Kale were both here before and didn't see anything. I'm pretty sure it's safe."

Carson frowned at that reminder that Kale was here with Melony, but he didn't feel the jealousy he would have felt before. That wasn't something he'd ever feel again. Melony was her own person, and whatever she wanted to do she could. It wasn't any of his business. He just hoped that what she wanted to do included him some day, because he really-

"Hey, Doc, watch out."

Sheppard's voice pulled him from his thoughts, and Carson looked over his shoulder. While he'd been thinking about Melony, he'd increased his pace a little, and had started around a bend in the tube. It wasn't a sharp corner – there wasn't such a thing here, it seemed – it was just a slight turn that blocked Sheppard's view of where Carson was going, and Sheppard didn't like that. He was fully aware that Mitchell had given him the responsibility of watching the doctor – even though she hadn't actually said anything – and he didn't want him to get out of sight. Especially since you never knew what might be around the corner.

The warning came too late. Even as Carson looked back over his shoulder, he felt himself step off solid ground and start falling. Completely oblivious to where he'd been walking – his light had been checking out the walls and ceiling, not the floor – Carson stepped right into a large crack in the floor of the lava tube.

Luckily, it wasn't deep – no more than ten feet – unluckily, he landed wrong and felt pain lancing along his leg from his foot – or ankle, he wasn't sure. He landed in a heap with a not so muffled curse, and instantly had Sheppard's flashlight shining down in his eyes.

"You alright?"

He looked up, and then looked around for his flashlight. The crack he'd fallen into was nearly eight feet wide, and the light was close by, so he stretched his hand out and grabbed it, and shined it down at his foot, which was throbbing something terrible.

"Doc?" Sheppard could see he was moving around, and he didn't see any blood, but he didn't like not being answered. "Are you all-"

"I hurt my ankle," Carson told him, shining the light up at Sheppard for a moment before putting it back on his foot. It was already swelling he could tell. "I'm not sure I can put any weight on it."

"Hold still," John ordered. He keyed his radio.

"Colonel Mitchell, this is Sheppard. Come in."

There was a lot of static and not a whole lot else. Certainly not the answer he'd hoped for.

Shit.

He assessed the situation and knew that without a rope there wasn't much chance of him getting Beckett out of the crack by himself. Especially since you never knew if there was more wrong than a simple hurt foot.

"The walls must be blocking the radios," he called down to the doctor. "If I leave you alone will you be all right until I bring back help?"

There wasn't much choice, Carson knew. He wasn't going to be able to climb out on his own, and he didn't want Sheppard jumping down in here to help him when they weren't sure he'd be able to get out. That would just leave them both stuck there. As much as he didn't like the idea of being left in the dark by himself, he knew it was necessary.

"Aye, just don't be gone long, okay?"

Sheppard nodded.

"I'll be right back."

At least there wasn't ay chance of him getting lost or anything. He took another quick look at Beckett to make sure he didn't see any blood, and then headed back down the lava tube the way they'd come.

OOOOOOOO

"Don't go that way," Ford said, pointing at another tunnel as he, Mitchell, Teyla and McKay came up to it. "We haven't explored that one yet, and didn't want to get turned around. We figured we could check it out later."

"This place is filled with tunnels," Teyla said as Ford led them all further down the main tube they'd been exploring. This tunnel was starting to get brighter, though, and before Melony or Rodney could comment on her statement – Rodney with some kind of long-winded explanation, Melony with a shrug of her shoulder – they found themselves suddenly ducking around a large mossy rock and then outside being rained on.

"Wow."

She and McKay looked around them while Ford and Teyla looked on with smug expressions on their faces. Their tube – at least this portion of it – had opened out to exactly what Mitchell and McKay had been discussing. A grassy, tree-filled slope that looked nothing like the lava flow, even though they knew it was still under the dirt they were now standing on. There were bushes of all sorts and a lot of undergrowth – and Mitchell noticed that several of the bushes included the coffee ones, heavy with berries.

"Wow…" She said again, looking back the way they'd come. The entrance on this end was a lot smaller than the one in the ravine, and could be easily hidden if she wanted to.

"It'd be a great bolt hole," Ford said.

"Yeah, it would," she agreed.

"Bolt hole?" Teyla asked. McKay was glad she did, because he didn't know what that meant, either, and he didn't want to admit it.

"A way out if someone comes knocking that she can't handle," Ford explained. Which wasn't much of an explanation, but Teyla nodded her understanding, anyways.

"It's also close to water," Mitchell said, noticing that there was a stream of some sort at the bottom of the incline – which wasn't really much of an incline. That would save them the trouble of bringing in water from a different source. "Good find, Lieutenant. Teyla."

Ford grinned.

"Well, you know, it's all part of my superb tracking skills, and I owe it all to-"

He was interrupted by a crashing noise behind them, and Mitchell and Ford both wheeled, Ford's P-90 and Melony's Beretta both coming up in a flash.

"It's me!" Sheppard's hands came up, and he scowled at them for pointing their guns at him – even though he understood completely. He was just a bit out of sorts, since Mitchell hadn't been in the tunnel she'd started in and he'd been forced to run a lot further than he'd expected to find help.

Melony slid her Beretta back into her holster, and frowned, noticing immediately that Carson wasn't with him. Before she could ask, though, John spoke up.

"I need a hand," he said, wiping the sweat and rain from his face. "Beckett took a fall."