I guess you guys know that you are seriously spoiling me with the reviews. So much so, that here I sit typing chapter four instead of working on grades - you know, the ones due at 9am in the morning. I will so pay for this tonight. But, what can I say. Hopelessly addicted. Is there a Fanfiction Anonymous? I think I might need it.

Thanks again to my wonderful beta (Rogue1503), who fixes my rough spots where I went blank.

Chapter Four

Sheppard was vaguely aware of movement near him and then a somewhat familiar voice.

"Colonel Sheppard?" Sheppard opened his eyes, but couldn't see anything at first. It was dark. "Colonel Sheppard, is that you?" the voice asked unsurely. Sheppard recognized the accent.

"Dr. Zelenka?" Sheppard tried to sit up, but quickly changed his mind at the rush of pain and dizziness that assaulted him. "Ohhhh," he moaned, putting his hand to his head. He could feel the bump rising on the back of his head.

"Colonel Sheppard, are you all right?" Sheppard realized that Zelenka was now sitting beside him.

"Yeah...just give me a second to get my bearings." He was finally beginning to pick out some vague shapes in the darkness. "Where the heck are we?"

"I am not sure. It appears to be a lower floor...sort of like a ...basement. I have not been able to see very well to check it out."

"Well, I can fix that." Sheppard attempted to sit up again, this time having more success. His head was throbbing, but the dizziness and sharp pain had subsided some. He felt around for his P90 and, finding it, turned the light at the end on. Nothing happened.

"Well, crap. What else can go wrong?" Sheppard whacked the end of the gun and the light flicked on. "There. That's more like it."

"Is that how you usually fix things?" asked Zelenka.

"Hey, whatever works," replied Sheppard.

"Remind me not to let you near our lab equipment," said Zelenka, shaking his head in obvious disapproval.

Sheppard pointed the light around the room. His head and upper back had been on the floor, but his legs were partially on a large pile of twisted metal debris. He put his free hand down on the floor and scooted himself backwards so that his legs werre flat on the floor. The movement woke a screaming pain in his right thigh, just above the knee. Shining the flashlight down, he saw a bloody six inch tear in his pants leg. That wasn't good news.

"Colonel, are you injured?" asked Zelenka, trying to see what Sheppard was looking at.

Sheppard quickly moved the light towards Zelenka, careful not to shine the light in his face. "I'm good. What about you? Are you injured? You've been down here quite a while. When you didn't check in, Sgt. Bates raised the alarm. He's got a search party out scouring the place for you."

"I'm not hurt bad. I have scratches and bruises and...I hurt my ankle. I found a panel that looked like a door and all of a sudden I am falling - down here."

"Let's see if we can get some help." He reached up to hit his radio, only to realize that he didn't have it any more. "Ohhhh, man...my radio is gone." He shined the flashlight around the pile of metal. "If it came off in there, we'll never find it. What about your radio?"

"Broken. I have tried to get it to work, but it is no good. It is dead."

"Great. What about a way out of here?" He pointed the light up the wall about 15 feet to see a closed door. "That must be where I fell in." He moved the light around the room and realized that the pile of twisted metal he had fallen into was the remains of a destroyed staircase. "O...kay. Guess we won't be going out the way we came in. I'm assuming you've tried yelling?"

"Oh, yes, Until my throat hurt. No one could hear me."

"Great. Well...looks like we're on our own for a while. Let's take a look at that ankle." He winced as he turned to face Zelenka, the action spiking the pain in his leg. Zelenka scooted his left ankle in front of Sheppard. The Colonel carefully untied Zelenka's boot, loosened the shoestrings, and pulled the boot off. Zelenka groaned a little as the shoe slid off his foot.

"Sorry, Dr. Zelenka. I'm trying to be careful."

"I know, Colonel. It is all right."

Sheppard peeled Zelenka's sock off to reveal a very swollen, black and blue ankle. "Woh, doc, I'd say your ankle is either broken or badly sprained. We'd better try to immobilize it as best we can." Sheppard began going through his vest and pulled out two field bandages. "I think these will do." He carefully wound the bandages, one at a time, around the scientist's ankle. "How's that, doc? Not too tight is it?"

Zelenka let out a long breath, as if he had been holding it as the Colonel worked on his ankle. "That is fine, Colonel. Yes, that will work."

"I hate to say this, but we probably need to try and work that boot back on your foot. I don't think you want to move around here barefoot." Sheppard loosened the boot as much as possible before gently working it back on Zelenka's foot. Zelenka tried not to make any noise, but finally moaned during the final push of the shoe. He sat breathing heavily and gritting his teeth for several moments.

"You okay, Dr. Zelenka? I'm sorry ...I tried not to hurt you." Sheppard looked worriedly at Zelenka.

"No...I am fine. I know you only did what you had to, Colonel. I just needed a moment to catch my breath."

"Okay. Look, why don't you stay put a minute while I look around." Sheppard started to get up, but quickly sat back down as the movement sent stabbing pain through his thigh. His hip hurt too, but nothing like his thigh. He pointed the flashlight down at the injury and pulled the torn fabric back a little. He quickly realized that the long gash was a lot deeper than he had originally thought and still seemed to be bleeding.

"That looks deep," said Zelenka, echoing his thoughts. "Do you have any more field dressings left?"

Sheppard went through a couple more pockets, pulling out one more bandage. "Got one. Just let me get this on my leg and I'm good to go." Zelenka held the light while Sheppard wrapped the bandage around his lower thigh. He grunted slightly as he pulled it tight and tied it off. He sat for a second, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat from his face. He was starting to wish he'd passed on the powerbar he had eaten earlier as it threatened to make a return appearance.

"Colonel?"

"I'm good," Sheppard said. "Just...give me a second." As the pain began to ease into a dull throb and his stomach settled, Sheppard turned to Zelenka and retrieved the P90. The scientist was more than happy to return the weapon. Sheppard once again pointed the weapon around the room. "Look at that," he said, shining the light against the far wall. "Is that water damage?" They both looked at the stains that went almost ten feet up the wall.

"Yes, Colonel. I believe that is water damage. It looks like this area may have flooded during the storm. That is the most recent damage...but some of this looks older. I believe this section has flooded on more than one occasion."

"Yeah...I see what you mean. I just hope it doesn't flood any time soon. There's bound to be another way out of here," he said, trying to sound confident and not just hopeful. He continued moving the light along the wall until it came to a door at the far end of the room. "And there we go. I guess we head that way." With that, Sheppard struggled to his feet, the movement once again sending spikes of pain through his leg. This really wasn't turning out to be his day. He reached out and helped Zelenka to his feet.

"Hang on a sec, doc." He looked around a minute, then limped a few feet away. Bending over, he picked up a large metal pole and tested it's strength. Satisfied, he limped back over to Zelenka. "See if you can use this kind of like a walking stick. It's not as good as crutches, but it's the best we can do right now."

Zelenka leaned on the pole to take some of the weight off his ankle and limped a few steps. "Yes...this will work fine Colonel. I may not be able to move very fast, however."

Sheppard smiled. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly going to be running a marathon any time soon. As long as we can move forward to look for a way out, I don't think speed will be a problem."

"That I can do."

"Okay, then, Let's get out of here." The two men limped slowly forward, with Sheppard shining the light on their path as they left the room and headed into a darkened hallway.

The hall was littered with debris, causing the two hobbling men to crawl along at a snail's pace. Since they had no idea where an exit might be and Sheppard did not want to take any chance of having to retrace their steps, they checked out every room they passed. Two things that were consistent throughout the whole area seemed to be major water damage and a total lack of power. The fact that the whole level looked as though it had been flooded repeatedly to the extent that almost everything was ruined made both men a little nervous.

Almost an hour after they had begun their trek, the hall widened into an enormous room. Sheppard shined the light around and as it moved against the opposite wall, it flickered and then went out.

"Not again," Sheppard muttered. He smacked the end of the gun a couple of times and the light came back on. He continued moving it across the room until he got to the far end. Both men gasped.

"What are they?" asked Zelenka.

Sheppard began moving towrds the other side of the room. "They look like...some kind of...mutated puddle jumper."

Several ships that looked very similar to the puddle jumpers lay piled at strange angles. Apparently the flooding had picked them up and deposited them into an ungainly heap. Sheppard hobbled closer to get a better look, Zelenka a few steps behind him.

At first glance, the crafts could have been mistaken for puddle jumpers. But these were different. They were sleeker, their angles more rounded. Instead of the single large front window they were used to, there were only smaller, rounder portals, more like...Then it hit him.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Sheppard excitedly. "I think they are some kind of...watercraft...you know, like mini-subs or something." He looked around for a way in, but the ships were so jammed together that it was impossible. Frustrated, he looked around with the light for a way to get them out. After several minutes, he found what looked like massive sliding panels in the floor. "Maybe these open and they somehow get down into the water from here."

Zelenka nodded. "Maybe. When we get out, we must try to get power to here and then we can see. Think of the ...exploring we could do with a water ship."

"Could be fun," said Sheppard. He patted one of the ships. "We'll be back. Don't you worry." He turned to find Zelenka looking at him as if he'd lost his mind. He just grinned. "It's a pilot thing."

"Uh, huh."

"You about ready for a rest?" He had noticed Zelenka's movements getting slower and more labored. Truth be told, he was hurting pretty badly himself. He'd started this little adventure running on fumes and the tank was pretty much empty at this point. It was sit down or fall down.

"Yes, Colonel...I could use a rest." Zelenka was not ready to admit it, but his ankle was throbbing relentlessly and he was exhausted from the hobbling gait he was using to take the weight off the injury.

Sheppard pointed to an area at the side of the room next to the wall that was relatively free of the debris that seemed to litter most of the floor. "Let's have a seat."

The two men put their back to the wall and carefully slid to the floor, each favoring his injured leg. They sat in the dark, hurting, thirsty, and exhausted. Sheppard turned the light off to conserve the batteries. "Is it hot in here, or is that just me?" he asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"No, not just you.. It is hot...and very humid. Feels like a ...sauna."

"Yeah, it is humid. Throw in a few trees and animal noises and I'd think we were in the jungle. I don't guess you have any water, do you?" Sheppard's mouth was so dry he felt like he'd been sucking on his shirt.

"No, no water. Do you?" Zelenka asked hopefully, obviously thirsty himself.

"I'm afraid not. I should have thought of that. Guess I'm so tired I'm not thinking straight."

"We will rest and then we will find a way out. Then we can get water."

Sheppard smiled. "I like the way you think, Dr. Zelenka." He was so tired. His leg hurt and his head hurt and his eyelids felt like they had lead in them. 'Out' seemed like such a far away place right now.

After a few minutes, Zelenka turned to Sheppard. "Do you think we will find our way out?" When Sheppard didn't answer, Zelenka leaned a little closer in the darkness. The Colonel's eyes were closed and his breathing even. He was asleep. Zelenka settled back against the wall, grateful for the chance to rest.

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Elizabeth Weir sat looking blankly at the computer screen. Zelenka had been missing for over three hours now and she was becoming more concerned by the minute. She hadn't heard anything for a while and was thinking of calling for an update.

"Dr. Weir, this is Sgt. Bates."

"This is Weir. Have you found anything yet?"

"Not exactly. Uh, ma'm...we have a problem. Colonel Sheppard is now missing as well. He's not answering his radio and we can't find him anywhere."

Weir sat there, stunned beyond words. That was not at all what she expected to hear.

"How did that happen?"

"He was searching the original section we started in. I checked with him a little over an hour ago to let him know we were moving on to the next sector. I tried to check with him about 30 minutes ago, but I couldn't raise him on the radio. I sent a couple of men to look for him and...they can't find anything. It's like he and Dr. Zelenka just dropped of the face of the earth...er, planet."

"Could he have gone back to his quarters? He's pretty exhausted."

"It's possible, ma'm...but I think he would have let me know."

"I agree, but I'll send someone to check anyway and let you know what they find. In the mean time,...I guess just keep looking. They've got to be somewhere."

"Yes, ma'm. Bates out."

Elizabeth put her head in her hands. Next time she would just have Carson sedate him. It would be a lot easier on all of them.

TBC

Sidebar for anyone who is interested. The motivation for this came from a three day run of no sleep when I was in grad school. A friend and I had a huge insect collection due Saturday at 6am. We began putting the finishing touches on it at 5am Wednesday and worked continuously (between going to classes and teaching labs) until we finished at 4am Saturday. We went home once a day to take a shower and change clothes. I distinctly remember that on Friday, every time I sat down more than 10 or 15 minutes, I would doze off. It was so miserable because I still had so much to do. I also vaguely remember us chasing that one last insect down the main hall with a cup from the garbage can and dragging a chair to stand in, giggling like a couple of drunks. We were quite nuts by Friday. I can't even imagine going longer without sleep. Well, I guess that's not true - since here I am doing just that. Poor Sheppard.