Top 'o the mornin' to ya! It is 12:01 in the am. I almost didn't get this posted tonight because the server was overloaded.

Anyway, grab some Cheerios and enjoy!


Twelve.
"Could it be another team?"

Bates shook his head, "Not unless they learned to train the local wildlife. That elephant thing is walking right beside him." The size and stride made Bates believe it to be male. Setting down the floodlight, he took aim with his P-90.

"Identify yourself," he called. The figure kept walking toward them. Bates pulled himself out of the hole totake better aim. Ford scrambled up after him, standing at his left in a similar stance.

The person wore long robes and a cowl covered the face. The flashlight wasn't one at all, but rather a staff with a glowing orb on the end. The large animal was tethered to him via a long leash.

Carson stood at the base of the ramp listening to Bates call to someone above. He glanced around at his companions. Rodney was sitting, listening intently, his face grimly set. Major Sheppard was still propped on Teyla. Carson didn't see any point in moving him when keeping him upright was the best thing for his breathing. It had gotten easier when the morphine shot kicked in, relaxing the debilitating muscle spasms that were causing the waves of pain. His eyes were closed and he seemed asleep. Carson had cleaned and bound his own gash with Teyla's help, which left them with no supplies for further wrap changes or wound checks. He sighed rubbing his eyes.

A gunshot from the surface made those in the underground room jump. Rodney pulled to his feet to stand beside Carson, looking up at the opening. Teyla's arms unconsciously tightened around the major who had jerked but didn't fully wake.

Ford and Bates stood gauging the cowled man's reaction to the shot Bates had fired into the air. He had stopped with his animal about twenty feet from the two soldiers. They heard chanting as the man raised the staff, the orb growing brighter until it shot out at them in a wave of energy. They didn't have time to react before the blast hit, crumpling them to the ground in unconscious heaps.

Carson and Rodney flinched back at the flash of light. Carson aimed the Beretta Ford had tossed to him earlier, Rodney raised his own weapon, at the opening. Carson's hand trembled as he came to bare on a cowled figure that peered down at them.

"S-stop right there," Carson's voice quavered. Neither man had time to react as a wave of light struck them down. It continued, engulfing Teyla and John as well before it dissipated, only stillness in its wake.

A A A A A A

Rodney woke slowly, his first awareness being the dryness of his mouth. He roiled his tongue around trying to work up moisture but ended up gagging instead.

"Dr McKay, are you alright?"

Rodney opened his eyes to see Lt Ford sitting beside him. 'What happened?' He shut his eyes when no sound came from his mouth. He tried to sit up but a pulling pain in his gut sapped his strength.

"Stay down, Dr McKay. Dr Beckett hasn't regained consciousness yet," Aidan pleaded with the pale, gasping scientist.

Rodney tried to relax in his reclined position but the throbbing in his belly...wait, he was sweating, heart racing, muscles trembling. His hand shot out to grip Ford's arm. Bracing the other arm around his middle, Rodney pulled himself to sit back against the wall. He laid his head back, catching his breath, then pulled out a power bar.

Lt Ford helped settle the dazed scientist in a seated position. Then watched him pull out one of those god-awful power bars and bite off a third of it. He couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the thought of eating one of those. He would almost rather eat his own boot.

As the sugar got into his system, Rodney's thoughts cleared enough for him to notice his surroundings. He and Lt Ford were sitting on a dirt floor against a stone wall. Sgt Bates was leaning against the wall to the left, alert, watching. Dr Beckett lay unconscious beside him. Major Sheppard was on his back near the center of the small room, also unconscious. Teyla stood at the front of the room, leaning against the vertical bars that made up the fourth wall. Rodney jerked his gaze to Lt Ford, eyes questioning.

Aiden watched Rodney take in the cell in which they were being held. When the scientist shot wide eyes at him, he knew the question was the same as his own when he had awakened. "We're in a prison. We've been here," glanced at his watch, "about four hours." He shook his head, motioning to the room, "Since Sgt Bates and I have been conscious, no one has been in here."

Rodney rested his face in his left hand, the other still bracing his wounds. He felt a chuckle rise in his chest remembering Major Sheppard's scholarly observation a few months back, 'You mean my day just got worse?'

A groan from Dr Beckett brought Teyla to the man's side. She gripped his hand, sliding the other beneath him to help him into a seated position.

"Oh, my head. What in bloody hell happened?" His voice was harsh, dry.

"We are still unsure. We have seen no one since waking," Teyla responded in a soft voice. She brought her canteen to Carson's lips, from which he gulped greedily.

Carson pulled back from the refreshing drink, resting his head against the wall. His gaze roamed the room finally falling on Major Sheppard. He crawled on hands and knees to the major's side, gripping his wrist to get a pulse then setting a hand on his chest to get a resp count.

"How long has he been unconscious?" he asked everyone in the room without taking his eyes off his work. He put his head to John's chest to listen to his lungs.

Lt Ford came to his side. "We've been here about four hours. Sgt Bates and I have been conscious about two. Major Sheppard hasn't moved at all. We couldn't wake you so we checked him as best we could. We didn't want to move him if he wasn't having trouble." He felt like he was stuck in a nightmare debriefing.

Carson nodded at him, "Ya did good, Lt Ford. Right now we need to get him upright to ease his breathing. Hopefully this is the morphine I gave him, not that weapon used on us."

Sgt Bates, Lt Ford and Dr Beckett worked together to move Major Sheppard next to Rodney. Teyla traded positions with Ford since he was the ranking military officer and this was a POW situation, he needed to be free. John was settled against her, not rousing in the least at being moved.

Carson checked his breathing again then turned to Rodney. The scientist was pale and sweating, head leaned against the wall. Dr Beckett laid his forearm against Rodney's cheek. A bit warm.

"I need some water for Rodney." He looked around the room at the others.

"We only have Teyla's. The rest are either still back in that room or have been confiscated by our captors," Sgt Bates said grimly as he passed the nearly empty canteen to Beckett. His attention was jerked to the front of the cell. "Ford, did you hear that?" he hissed.

Aiden glanced at Bates coming to stand beside him. "Yeah, somebody's coming."


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