(Holy smacaroons! Thank you guys! Wow! You've no idea how much it means to me. Oh, and Greywolf, if your jungle story is as brilliant as your usual, I'm betting it's amazing. I love your stuff! And Jesape, thanks for the info. I did actually know that, just as I know that, plunging into a raging river from thirty feet up probably should have killed at least one of them, but I'm taking a bit of a poetic license here...LOL! Anyway, anyway...)

MORE THAN JUST PRETTY FACES
By TIPPER

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CHAPTER FOUR: OPTIONS

The sound galvanized them like very little else could, and getting their hands under Rodney's arms and legs, quickly dragged him off the beach and into the dense foliage, making sure it covered all of them at the same time. It wasn't hard—the vegetation was as thick as, well, a jungle. The only problem was that they didn't have the time to wipe the evidence of their presence off the wet, sandy beach—they barely had time to cover themselves as the whine became a physical presence, and the dart exploded into sight overhead.

Ronon stared up at it through the leaves—had this been a comic book story, that sort of glare should have penetrated the hull and burned up the Wraith flying it. God knows, Sheppard wished it could.

The dart almost seemed to screech to a halt when it saw the small beach, resulting in an uncomfortable, droning hover, so low and so close it seemed impossible that it couldn't see them. Collectively (and uselessly), the three conscious Atlantians held their breath, waiting as it seemed to get lower and lower to the small shore.

Sheppard, of course, knew that the shell of the dart was opaque, so whatever the dart was scanning for, it wasn't visual confirmation of their presence. They still did not know how the darts differentiated life signs—though it had to be more sensitive than the Atlantian hand held scanners, or else one would assume the darts would scoop up animals along with humans ("…and wouldn't that be a fun surprise on the hive ship," Sheppard recalled McKay quipping, "Whoops, sorry about the tiger in there, dude. But, hey, what's a little mauling between friends?"). It meant the darts were undoubtedly sensitive enough to pick them out of this foliage. Their only hope, really, was the idea that the Wraith's life sign scanners were limited in range to the width of the culling beam.

It seemed too long that the dart hovered over the small beach, swinging back and forth from one side of the river to the other. Did it really know they had been there? Could it tell?

Finally, it lifted up and moved on, flying away swiftly further down river, disappearing like a faded echo.

Three heavy exhales accompanied its passing, and Sheppard dropped his aching, still spinning head into his hands. It was wet with sweat now.

"We need to get out of here," Ronon said coarsely, breaking the silence. It was an obvious statement, but one that needed to be said. They did need to move, and soon.

"At least we are on the right side of the river," Teyla noted softly, peering up the mountain behind them—the one they had literally plunged off of. "But we have far to go to get back to the jumper."

"How far is it?" Sheppard asked, lifting his head and wiping at blurry eyes. She frowned at him, clearly not missing his deep weariness.

"I am not sure. I could not see the bridge when I was up above this waterfall, but I could make out some of the landmarks. From here? A couple of miles, probably less. Not far."

"Not far," Ronon agreed, "But all uphill. Steeply uphill." He was looking at both Teyla and Sheppard, as if measuring their strength…and his own. "If we are to stay hidden from the Wraith and the villagers, it will be a long, slow, painful climb. And we will have to carry McKay."

The colonel frowned, looking at his unconscious friend, then at the others. Blood no longer trickled from Ronon's nose, but one eye and part of his nose and cheek were rapidly swelling shut and turning a nasty shade of purple. Plus, if his body had been battered as much as Sheppard's, it had to be hurting badly right now. Teyla had a greenish pallor to her face that suggested she had been recently sick, and probably still was. Cuts and bruises were prominent on her arms, and there were undoubtedly more hidden underneath her clothes. He hadn't seen her move too much, but her stumbling over to them on the beach had been telling.

"We need to find shelter first," he decided. "A place to rest. I don't think any of use could climb ten feet much less two miles."

Ronon shook his head, "Where? Those villagers and the Wraith will be on this side of the ravine by now, as well as the other. They'll be searching. And I doubt there is only one dart. There is no place to hide and rest, Sheppard. We have to move. Getting back to the jumper or the Stargate is our only chance."

"Teyla," the colonel looked at the Athosian, who was staring despondently towards the river, barely listening to the argument. When she looked at him, he gave her his most intense gaze, willing her to focus. "You know this planet some. Do you know of any place where we might be safe?"

She stared at him, brow furrowed, the closed her eyes, lowering her head in despair. "Until today, I would have said yes. Now…." She trailed off, shaking her head, then pressing a palm to her forehead when the movement obviously caused her pain. She sucked in a breath, "There is no place I know of that the villagers do not." Her tone was tinged with self-recrimination, but Sheppard didn't have time to break her out of that mood right now. With a sigh, he looked up the rockface next to the waterfall, and thought about the distance.

"If I go alone," he said quietly, "I might be able to get to the jumper and bring it down here."

"You can't go alone," Ronon growled. Teyla gave a nod.

"He is right, colonel. You are in no shape to evade—"

"Are any of us?" Sheppard shot back. "One of us probably has a better chance than all four, not with Rodney out cold."

They didn't answer him, and Teyla avoided even looking at him by turning her head back to the river.

"I can make it to the stargate," Ronon said suddenly. "I'll make it through, and bring back help."

Sheppard gave him the fish-eye, "Without a jumper, you're not even going to make it close to the DHD, much less the gate. There will be Wraith and villagers crawling over it by now, just waiting for you to try."

"Well, it's better than your idea!" Ronon yelled furiously, straightening abruptly up from his slump, "You can't even stand!" The jerky movement nearly sent Rodney tumbling where he had been resting against the man's broad chest, and Ronon quickly drew him back. Once they settled him again, Ronon leaned back, head down, no longer meeting Sheppard's eye, using his dreadlocks almost as a shield. His frustration washed off him in waves.

Sheppard sighed tiredly. "I know...believe me, I know. My idea is not a good one, Ronon, but right now...it's the only one," he stated firmly. "Someone needs to get the jumper and bring it down here. And, unless you or Teyla has suddenly developed the gene, I don't think either of you can go in my place. So—"

"I may have another option," Teyla said suddenly. She was still staring at the river, but her gaze was no longer unfocused. She seemed to be staring intently at something in the waterfall.

The other two men looked at her, then at the waterfall, trying to understand her attention.

"When I was up on top of the waterfall," she began, standing up shakily from her crouch, shoving a large, flat leaf off her arm, "I noticed that one of the rocks on the edge was not natural. It was shaped," she turned to look at Sheppard, "deliberately carved into a triangular shape. Looking now, I can see that there are actually two of them. The other was just more hidden by the water—and is a partially broken." She pointed to the top of the waterfall, not too far from where they were.

The falls themselves were not tall—maybe five, six feet above the level of the water. Looking at them now, Sheppard noticed that, indeed, they seemed oddly smooth. The edge was a straight line, looking almost manufactured. And Teyla was right, sticking out of the top of the falls were two nearly perfect triangles—only one partially broken.

"They were covered in the symbols of the Ancestors," she said then, looking even more intently at Sheppard now. "I think...I think they make up part of an elaborate archway."

Sheppard's eyebrows lifted, "archway?"

"As in a door?" Ronon said, still trying to see what Sheppard and Teyla saw.

"Yes." She tilted her head, turning back to the waterfall. "I think there is an entrance hidden behind the waterfall—perhaps leading into the Ancient outpost we came here to find. Did Doctor McKay not say it was beneath our feet when we were on top of the mountain? And it may explain why the river here is so calm and flat, while the rest of it rages across rocks." She indicated the river before them, "This area might have been a courtyard, or even part of a road."

Sheppard struggled to his feet now, now examining the river more closely. The calmness here was the only reason he...and probably Ronon and McKay, were able to surface and get to shore. It was shallower here and...yes, he remembered now, the ground beneath his feet when he had waded to where McKay had gotten snagged (the man's bulky packpack had saved his life, snagging him between two rocks sticking out of the water), had been level. Looking at those rocks now, including the one he himself had caught himself on (and professed his undying love for), were all evenly placed before the waterfall...and regularly shaped—almost perfect cylinders. Were they...could they really have been placed there? For decoration? But...

"Why build an entrance inside a waterfall?" Ronon asked, voicing the question Sheppard himself had been about to ask.

"Rivers move," Teyla said. "10,000 years is a long time. This river may not have been here back when this entrance was built."

"Are we sure it's an entrance?" Sheppard asked, peering into the curtain of water. He really couldn't make out anything behind it.

Teyla gave a wry look, glancing down at McKay still in Ronon's arms, as if hoping he would answer, as he usually always did. Sighing, she shook her head.

"No. It is only a guess. Perhaps...more a hope. If it is an entrance—"

"We might be able to rest inside," Sheppard nodded. "Maybe even find another way to get back to the jumper."

"Yes," she said.

"Hmm," Sheppard frowned, then looked at McKay. Kneeling down next to the scientist, he dug into the man's vest and pulled out the hand-held scanner. When he wrestled it out of the still wet pocket, he stopped for a moment to stare at his friend's features. They were still, completely still. It was unnatural. Only the man's wheezing breaths told Sheppard he was still alive.

"I already tried waking him," Ronon offered quietly, seeing Sheppard's concern. The former Runner pulled McKay a bit closer to him, adjusting him so that he would get more warmth—the scientist was shivering slightly. "Even pinched him. Nothing. He's out."

For a moment, the colonel said nothing, then his entire face hardened.

"We could use him," he said gruffly, looking down at the scanner, as if that's all he cared about.

Ronon just nodded, not the least bit fooled.

Frowning, Sheppard forced himself to stay focused and stood up again, still holding the scanner. Shaking it to get rid of some excess water droplets, he aimed it towards the waterfall and studied the blinking screen.

It was currently reading life signs. Not too helpful. Okay...he could do this. McKay had shown him how to work the scanner to do other things...like find energy signatures. He just had to remember how.

Wiping his free arm across his forehead and fighting back a short wave of dizziness, he pressed a couple of buttons on the scanner...and found himself looking at a datascreen filled with Ancient.

Shit.

Maybe it was a menu?

Hitting a few more buttons, the screen changed...and showed life-signs again. Crap. Crap, crap, crap. McKay made this look easy.

"Telling you anything?" Ronon asked, honestly curious. Sheppard scowled, hitting more buttons.

"Not really. I can't seem to...ha!" He found himself looking at another screen.

There were things blipping all over it—not life signs, so...what the hell was he looking at now?

Local restaurants? Area attractions? Why did he feel like Pac Man was about to show up and eat all these stupid little dots up?

His face fell. This was useless.

"You don't know what you're doing, do you?" Ronon said, straightforward as ever.

Sheppard closed his eyes, sighed, and knelt down, putting the hand-held back into McKay's vest from where he got it.

"Right," the colonel said, glancing once more at McKay's slack features, then turned back to the river, "I guess there's no other way to find out what's there than take a look." He stood up again, rubbing a hand through his hair. At least his headache was more manageable now.

"Wait," Ronon said, standing up, bringing McKay up with him as if the man weighed no more than a rag doll. It was damned impressive. "Let me do it. That current's too strong for you."

Sheppard was about to respond smartly that he'd do his best not to get swept away, but then closed his mouth.

Besides being a joke only Rodney would get, it actually wasn't that funny...being as it was something that could very likely happen.

"It has to be me," he said finally. "After all, it probably requires that special touch..." he lifted a hand, waving fingers at them. Sighing, he looked down at his clothes, then at Rodney's pack. "See if he has something useful in there, like a rope."

Teyla was already digging into the black depths, while Sheppard considered the jungle. He saw what looked an awful lot like a Tarzan vine and, stepping past Ronon and Rodney, went over to it and tugged. Then he tugged harder.

Next thing he knew, Ronon was by his side, climbing up the vine, knife in his teeth. Sheppard could only raise his eyebrows and back up. He stopped when he hit something soft, and looked down to see that Teyla was now propping up McKay and, like him, was watching impressed as Ronon climbed the vine like a frikkin' monkey.

About fifteen feet up, Ronon stopped...and started sawing at a point below his top handed grip. He growled a little when it didn't give easily, but brute force eventually won out, and the vine snapped, pooling to the ground in a coil. Sheppard gathered it up and drew it out of the way, over to the small beach. Teyla had already moved Rodney a little, trying to get out of what was about to become a landing site.

And Ronon dropped, hitting the ground in an ungainly and painful sounding heap. Not surprisingly, he didn't make a sound when he hit, but, for a moment, he didn't move, just stayed prone on his side, getting his breath back. That simple act was enough to show in just how much he really was hurting.

No one said anything.

Still on the beach, Sheppard tied the vine as best he could around his waist, then looked up.

Ronon, sensing this, pushed himself back up to his feet and, turning, dragged himself over to where the colonel stood. He gathered up the other end of the vine, wrapped it around his hand and wrist, then nodded to the colonel. Ready.

Sheppard gave him a smile, turned, and waded into the water, trying to stay as close to the falls as possible. He staggered several times, but, amazingly, never lost his footing. It got deep quickly, from washing around his ankles to suddenly wrapping around his thighs, and then his waist...

Were there steps under here?

The water felt familiar, heavy and terrifying, all at the same time.

He was willing himself forward, hating every moment of this, shivering even though it wasn't cold.

Using the rocks downriver from his position as markers (because trying to look up at the top of the falls was impossible now, with all the water coming down), he stopped when he thought he was in the middle of Teyla's "archway."

Planting his feet as best he could on the slick (but, yes, flat) surface beneath his feet, water up to his neck, he turned to face what he hoped was an entrance. Blinking furiously, trying to see through the wash of white water, he reached a hand forward into the cascade.

It touched nothing. He wasn't close enough.

Grimacing, he closed his eyes and forced himself to actually step under the waterfall.

It was like someone was driving nails into his skin, the weight of the water on his head and shoulders was so harsh. Christ, he couldn't do this for long.

His arm was aching fiercely, but he pushed it forward again, his fingers reaching...reaching...

And then touched...metal.

He nearly opened his eyes again, especially when he felt the metal warm to the touch and slide away.

Nearly crying out with relief, he plunged the rest of the way forward, his whole body disappearing into the falls, to where the metal wall...door?...had been.

And fell through the now open doorway into a cold, musty room, water already seeping past him to fill the floor in here.

"Oh, shit," he whispered, realizing that he was going to flood this room if he kept the door open. With surprising quickness, he pushed back out of the waterfall and mentally closed the door...and slipped. The waterfall shoved him down, and he immediately went under.

Gagging, he burst to the surface, already several feet away from the base of the falls, the fast current dragging him swiftly downriver. Struggling against it, he tried to regain his footing, only to be felled once more, but this time by a sharp tug at his waist. Flopping around, he realized Ronon was pulling him back to the shore, and though he tried to help, he couldn't. All his strength seemed sapped. Suddenly, he was under again, water shoving down at him, trying to keep him down, but Ronon didn't stop his sharp, strong pulls.

In seconds, he was back on the shore, gasping, while Ronon got under his arms and pulled him closer to Teyla and Rodney.

The Athosian's eyes were wide and concerned...and wretched. That was when Sheppard realized that all she had probably seen was him nearly drown again. He opened his mouth to speak, and suddenly found himself hacking, body trying to get the water out of his lungs.

"I was wrong," she whispered, as he coughed, her arms tightening around Rodney. "I am so sorry. I had really thought—"

"No, no," he said, waving a hand at her, and then offering her the brightest smile he could. "Teyla...Teyla, you were right! It's there! I found a room! But we have to all go in together. If I open that door again, the river will flood the room inside unless I close it fast enough." He was grinning at both her and Ronon now, rather enjoying the tentative expressions of hope on both their faces.

"Really?" Teyla said finally, her eyes bright. "I was? It is actually there?"

He nodded, laughing weakly. "Congratulations, Teyla. You just had your first McKay moment! Discovered an Ancient Outpost entrance, all by yourself."

Her eyes widened at that, then, amazingly, she started to laugh. Even Ronon cracked a smile at that.

Sheppard sniffed, wiping a hand across his running nose, then raised his eyebrows. The other's mirth didn't last long, and soon they were working together to find a way to get them all into that room as quickly as possible.

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TBC...

Ah, finally, a less cliff-hangery ending...not that I'm setting them up for anything, not at all...