"What If?"

Set is Season 3 sometime before Hollow Victory

References/Spoilers: Cave of Fear, Hollow Victory, Fire in the Sky, The Secret, Tapestry

Special thanks goes out to my great friends: Katy, Lee, and Freakie for helping me get this story written and being excellent betas! You guys are the best!

CHAPTER 1

"Hurry! It's right behind us and it's gaining!"

"What's the rush, Roxton? I wanted to stop and ask the bloody thing for tea! What the hell do you think I'm doing! I'm running as fast as I can!" Marguerite shouted with irritation. "This wouldn't have happened if George hadn't insisted that we try to examine those damn specimens right next to her nest!"

At the sound of Marguerite's comments, Challenger immediately halted and turned to face her. "Marguerite, that was a very rare species and I was most fortunate to find it on the plateau! You honestly could not have expected me to turn my back and pass up such an opportunity!" In between huffs he tried to defend himself as he and Marguerite faced off on the path causing everyone to stop and wait for them.

Malone watched as the two squared off and prepared to get into yet another argument. He looked behind them as he heard the roar of the gaining T-Rex. "Could you two save it for later?"

Veronica came running down the path ahead of everyone. "Hurry, I've found a place we can hide." The others followed her quickly through the jungle to their safe haven. "It's large and seems to go on for quite a while, but it should keep us safe until she gets tired of us and goes looking for a new meal."

Marguerite took one glance at their sanctuary and scoffed. "Oh great, another cave! We all know how much luck we have with those." She looked at her companions and led the way in, "Well don't just stand there, let's go see what's wrong with this one." She moved her way forward muttering as she went, clearly irritated. "Maybe this one will send us into the future or…"

Everyone glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. At the entrance they lit several torches and split up to thoroughly search their surroundings. It was a simple cave, similar to the numerous other caves found all over the plateau. There was nothing dangerous in the cave that they could see so everyone relaxed. Roxton and Veronica stood guard at the entrance while Challenger, Malone, and Marguerite wandered to take a look around.

"This is magnificent! Hurry, I need more light!" Challenger's excited voice echoed throughout the cave as Roxton and Malone both supplied him with light. "Take a look at these glyphs! They must be hundreds of years old! I do not recognize the culture. They must be indigenous to the plateau. Marguerite, can you make any sense of these depictions?"

Marguerite realized with the geological composition of the cave walls, there would be nothing of value for her to find. She wasn't very disappointed at the lost opportunity to collect more jewels, but she still sighed before she turned back to Challenger. "Let me see." She confiscated Malone's torch and moved closer to the wall. "They don't seem to be like anything I've ever seen before either, George. I can't make any sense of them." Marguerite kept staring at them hoping the meaning would spring forth.

Challenger frowned. "Well, they are truly fascinating. I wonder what they mean. It's a shame we can't figure out what they indicate."

Malone stood next to Marguerite and marveled at the beauty of the simple glyphs. "They are truly remarkable, it's a shame I didn't bring one of my journals with me. I would have loved to have made some notes on these."

Challenger nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, Malone, that would have been most helpful. But it can't be changed now. Besides, we can always come back another day."

"Preferably a day without an uninvited guest," Roxton stated as he stood guard at the entrance to the cave. He turned and faced the wall, "Do you think these markings could have any connection with a way off the plateau?"

Challenger thought for a moment before answering. "I am not sure. These markings could mean anything, but I highly doubt that the way off the plateau would be recorded in a simple cave. It does not seem very likely." He glanced around again at the inside of the cave. "I wonder what the significance of this cave is. Why put these particular markings here?" Challenger once again became quiet as he contemplated the possibilities.

Malone turned to Veronica. "Do you know of any tribes in this area that might have roots this old? Maybe we could find out from them what they mean."

Veronica shook her head. "I've been to this area often Malone, and I haven't heard of any tribes that have a history that has lasted long enough to be as old as these markings seem to be." Veronica glanced at the markings, "They don't look like anything I've ever seen before."

"You know George, I don't think that these symbols are part of a language." The sound of Marguerite's voice broke Challenger out of his determined train of thought. "I think these markings are actually portraying specific events, maybe some type of ceremony. I can't tell exactly, but it looks like an offering to some type of god or other entity, someone important to these people. I can't tell what the ceremony entails because I can't decipher some of these glyphs."

Challenger stared at the figures and fingered his beard. "Fascinating, fascinating. I wonder what type of ceremony this could be--"

"Everybody move towards the center of the cave, NOW!" Roxton shouted and drove everyone away from the entrance. The T-Rex had found the explorers' hiding place and was trying to use brute force to get them out. It's roar was deafening as it echoed and intensified off the cave walls. "Move, move, move!" Roxton shouted as he herded the others to move further into the cave.

The walls of the cave started to shake as the relentless roaring caused several rocks to come cascading down and narrowly missing the group. The explorers stopped running once the rumbling stopped. Roxton dusted himself off and looked at his friends. "Everyone all right?" They all nodded and confirmed they weren't hurt and started to make their way back to the cave entrance.

"Bloody Hell!"

"Great damnation!"

"Bugger!"

"Damn it!"

"Oh no!"

The entire entrance was caved in and there was no way out. "Well, at least we aren't in danger of being eaten by our friend outside."

"Oh shut up, Malone. In case you hadn't noticed we are trapped in this bloody cave! I knew we shouldn't have come in here!" Marguerite snapped. She kicked a small rock on the cave floor in frustration.

"Well, it was either the cave or becoming breakfast for an angry T-Rex. At least with this option, we're alive" added Veronica while crossing her arms.

"Just barely," Marguerite scoffed. She turned and faced the others. "Now how do you expect to get out of here? We couldn't possibly dig our way out." Marguerite pointed to the tons of rock blocking their exit and threw her arms up in frustration. Roxton walked over to Marguerite and put an arm around her shoulders and tried to calm her down. She was obviously worried as they all were, but it seemed to be a habit of hers to turn her frustration into anger. She gave him a tense smile and took a deep breath to keep herself composed. They needed all the open minds they could get to come up with an idea to get themselves out of the cave.

Challenger found his hat in a pile of rubble nearby the entrance. He reached down and dusted it off and placed it back on his head. "Quite right, we would never be able to dig our way out. We will just have to think of another solution." He looked around and saw the numerous openings of the cave. "The only hope we have at this moment is to split up and search these passages. Hopefully, one of these will work its way through the hillside and give us a way out."

Everyone picked up their belongings and started to make their way to the tunnels. Roxton turned around and noticed that Marguerite was still standing rooted in her place with her mouth agape. "What's wrong, Marguerite?"

"What's wrong! Are you all out of your bloody minds! Do you really think we're going to find a way out by wandering aimlessly through the countless tunnels of this mountain? There are already several passages, and we're only at the beginning! Who's to say that they don't diverge in several places along the way? What good is it going to do wandering in a maze and getting ourselves lost? How can we help each other if we're wandering blindly with no way to reach each other? You surely don't expect us to go and search every single way, we could die of old age before we ever found each other!" She stared at the incredulous faces of her friends and continued to voice her concerns. "Let's even say that one of us did find a passage out of here- that is if these bloody passageways don't go on for miles- this place is probably a labyrinth of twists and turns. Before we head in there, we need to think of a way to arm ourselves so we can find each other later on and lead us all out. "

Roxton, Veronica, and Malone looked from Marguerite to Challenger. "She brings up a good point, Challenger," stated Roxton.

Marguerite rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at the rest of the group. "Oh, didn't think of that, did you? Well, apparently it looks like I'm the only one whose brain is still functioning."

Roxton gave her a stern look and turned his attention back to Challenger. "Do you have any ideas? I don't want us all splitting up and getting lost. Maybe it would be better if we all stick together."

Challenger shook his head. "As Marguerite said, there are multiple passages and to increase the probability of finding the one that gets us out, we need to split up. It is our only plausible option at this point in time."

Veronica sighed. "So how do we keep from getting lost?"

"Maybe we could find something to mark our way so we don't get lost." Malone suggested.

Marguerite stared at the blank faces of her friends and sighed. "Looks like I have to do all the thinking today." She walked over to a pile of rocks and sifted her way through. She stood back up and held a rock up in triumph. "This is how we will keep track of our paths through the passages."

Veronica raised an eyebrow and looked at Marguerite as if she had lost her mind. "And exactly what are we going to do with a rock?"

Marguerite rolled her eyes. "Watch and learn." She held her prize as she approached the cave wall. She looked back at her friends and then scraped the stone across the wall. The explorers looked and saw that the rock left a white line on the stone wall.

Challenger's eyes lit up. "Of course! Good thinking, Marguerite!"

The rest of the explorers looked from Marguerite to Challenger in confusion. Malone cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but would someone mind filling the rest of us in?"

"Gladly," Marguerite answered. "This is the geological equivalent to chalk. Calcium Carbonate, but you all probably know it as limestone. We can use this to mark which passage each of us take and that way we can follow the markings to find each other later on and to prevent ourselves from traveling in circles as well. To save on confusion, we should each mark our initials on the passages we take so we know which person traveled down which way. That'll save on us having to keep going down the same tunnels repeatedly."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Roxton went over and picked up a rock and showed it to Marguerite for approval. When she nodded the affirmative, the others followed suit.

Once everyone had a rock and their torches ready, they gathered in the center of the cave before preparing to split up. "It looks as if there are more than enough passages for us to search, so pick a tunnel and Godspeed." Challenger marked a big "C" on the side of a tunnel and started to make his way forward. Soon the light from his torch was no longer visible.

Everyone else marked their initials and got ready to set out. "Be careful, everyone." Roxton looked at his friends. They all nodded and forged ahead into their respective tunnels.

At that moment, all five of the unlucky inhabitants of the cave happened to be thinking the exact same thought. Why doesn't anything ever go the way I want it to?

A voice was heard, "Maybe I can help."

TBC

This story is already complete and beta'ed so the updates will be coming every couple of days, so stay tuned:)