Even in the darkness, Ian was fairly certain that the noise he heard was the sound of everyone's head snapping around to look at him. He scowled, looking at Joshua, and then back at Jack.

"That's not what I said, Jack," he said, holding up a hand. "I just told him I'd try to help."

He realized that that didn't sound any better, and knew it was true by the look on Daniel's face.

"Look. I didn't mean it like that. And they don't want me to-"

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Jack said. "Then we'll see if we can get this sorted out…"

"It's quite a ways back to the cave," Daniel said. "He can-"

"We must go back to my wife," Joshua interrupted. "She is waiting."

"How far away?" Jack asked Ian.

"About half an hour. Maybe less with flashlights. There's a lean-to of some sort – and a fire."

"The cave is at least an hour, so we'd be better off going back to the lean-to and camping out there for the night." Even with the flashlights the ground was a pain in the ass to walk on because of all the holes.

Joshua looked relieved, and nodded.

"It's not far." He turned and started back the way they'd come, walking slowly to be able to avoid the holes. This became easier when Teal'c moved up to walk beside him, more than willing to take point and use his high-powered flashlight to illuminate the ground they were walking along. Braxton and the other villagers ended up walking close to Teal'c and Joshua as well, while Ian, Jack and Daniel lagged behind just a little.

"Do you have anything to eat?" Ian asked. "I'm starving."

"You don't feel nauseous?" Jack asked, looking at the bruise that had formed around the cut on Ian's forehead. "Light-headed? Any of that?"

"No. Just hungry."

Satisfied that Ian wasn't suffering from a concussion, Jack reached into his pack and pulled out a couple of energy bars, which he handed over to Ian.

"Now… tell me what happened."

Ian shrugged.

"I was looking at the back of the cave when the ceiling came down on me – although I'm pretty sure now that it must have missed me, mostly. I must have been knocked out, because the next thing I remember, I'm stretched out under the lean-to, and being called Lord, and the two of them are asking me for help."

"What kind of help?" Daniel asked.

"Why did they carry you off?" Jack asked. "And why was Joshua separate from the other guys?"

"He's not from their village," Ian said. "They told me they're from Alan's village, not Richard's."

"What?"

Ian shrugged. "That's what they said. Joshua said they hoped to find me and ask me for help…" he looked at Daniel. "Apparently last night they had a runner come to their village telling them all about me."

"All about you?"

"How I'm supposedly the son of God…" Ian shook his head; he wasn't at all amused by any of this. "Something about me being able to heal with a touch…" he trailed off, tripping over a hole because he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking. "Fucking damned holes…"

"We got the same thing," Jack said, shining his light on the ground by Ian so the cadet could see better and watching as Ian started walking again to make sure he hadn't hurt himself. "Something about the son of God coming from east and having strange creatures…"

"Well, the Stargate is east of here, Jack," Daniel said. "And the dogs could be considered strange if you've never seen one – and-"

"And somebody practically forced me to heal that little kid's leg, which started this whole mess," Ian said, interrupting.

Daniel scowled.

"It was the right thing to do."

"You're not the one they're staring at."

"It's-"

"That's enough, guys," Jack said. He could understand where Ian was coming from – although he understood Daniel's stance as well. Right now, though, he just wanted to hear about the woman who they were going to meet. "What happened once you woke up?"

"I found out I wasn't near the cave – and Joshua's wife Sabrina asked me to help them have a baby."

"Yeah…" Daniel interrupted, forgetting he was annoyed at Ian for being a punk about healing Taylor. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Ian flushed, because he knew what they were both thinking – he'd thought the same thing, after all.

"She can't get pregnant, I guess…" he said, shrugging. "I didn't really stop to find out why…"

"But you promised to do something about it?" Jack asked, surprised.

"I didn't have a choice," Ian told him, defensively. "For all I knew you guys were going to get buried under another cave-in trying to find me, and I didn't have a clue how to get back to it without Joshua – who refused to show me until I promised I'd help him. I was pretty fucking desperate…" he said, somewhat apologetically. Jack probably would have figured out a better way to handle things, but Ian hadn't had a clue.

"So what are you thinking of doing?" Daniel asked, curiously. This was a chance to see Ian's ability in action without there being a desperate need for it and Daniel's own desire to see new things – especially amazing things like Ian's healing ability – was in full swing.

Ian shrugged.

"Beats the shit out of me… I can take a look – without actually looking…" he added, quickly.

Jack shook his head and looked at his watch. Ian's dilemma wasn't the biggest worry that they had.

"We're going to have to go back at first light," he said. "Otherwise they're going to start worrying about us."

He didn't mean the villagers, either, although they were probably wondering what had happened and might even be sending runners or someone out looking for the group that was supposed to have returned before dark.

"Fine with me," the cadet said, stepping around yet another hole. "The sooner we're out of here the happier I'll be."

Hecouldn't even pick out a present. How the hell was he supposed to solve everyone else's problems, too?