A/N: Wow I'm terrible with updates! Sorry about that. I had lots of uni work leading up to the mid-year break, but now I should have some more time. This chapter was originally 3 lines long, but I ended up adding and changing things, so I'm hoping it doesn't drag on too much. Thanks again to my beta for making sure the whole thing actually makes sense.

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Chapter 2

Ronon was bored. In actual fact, he found himself bored a lot of the time since joining the team. The idea of doing anything other than running and killing wraith, was something he had learnt long ago not to think about. Now the time had finally come, he was forever thankful to his new people, however it was still taking time for him to adjust to this new life. He was in no way complaining, but he couldn't help feeling bored on occasions like this, and he soon found himself hanging upside down from the nearest tree branch. He could tell Teyla was annoyed with him for doing so, they were supposed to be guarding the entrance to the cave, but he couldn't see the point. The planet was uninhabited and they had not detected, or even seen any indication of any life signs since they'd arrived. From this new vantage point, he looked at all that surrounded him. Everything seemed so different from this angle. The trees were amazing, almost glowing in the light, as they gently moved with the breeze. Ronon felt himself relax, and take in every aspect of the environment around him. It was good to relax. He could hear the leaves rustle in the wind, and the low steady sounds of his own breathing. He could hear Teyla's small sigh as she looked up at him, and then the soft sounds of her shoes moving slowly across the earth below. He could hear her the buzz of insects somewhere in the distance, and he could hear…

"What was that?" He asked suddenly, flipping down from his perch and moving closer to Teyla. "Did you hear that?"

"No I didn't, what was it?"

"I don't know. It sounded like it was coming from the cave." He replied moving towards the entrance, weapon now drawn as he edged closer.

"Ronon wait" Teyla moved up beside him, placing a hand on his arm, turning him to face her. "The colonel checked for life signs before entering and could not find any. If they need our assistance they will radio us."

Ronon stopped and thought about this for a while. She was probably right, but he couldn't help the bad feeling that was creeping up inside of him. After a few seconds he had made a decision. If they hadn't heard from the pair in ten minutes, then he would investigate why.

---SGA---

Rodney found himself suddenly thrown into complete darkness, as the little light they had, had disappeared along with Sheppard. What was worse, was that he had no way of telling where the large gaping hole in the floor lay, and therefore could not risk moving any closer in order to help.

"SHEPPARD!"

Oh this cannot be happening! "Colonel!" He desperately called out again, but still no answer. This was when he started to panic. He really didn't like small dark places, and he especially didn't like the idea of being in there alone. In particular when his best friend could be lying not far away from him seriously injured. He needed help and he needed it now!

"Radio!" He whispered to himself, scrambling around in the darkness trying to free the handpiece attached to his tack vest. Clicking the switch to the right frequency, he called out to the remaining members of his team.

"Teyla! Ronon! Do you read me? We need help! The colonel has fallen down some kind of hole in the cave floor. He's not responding, I think he may be hurt. Repeat, get in here now!" Rodney waited for any confirmation that the others had received his message, but was only met with the familiar sound of static. Well that's just great! Moving several steps further, towards the direction of the entrance, he tried again, hoping to pick up some kind of signal.

"Teyla! Ronon! Do you copy?" He yelled once more. Still nothing. "DAMN!" He yelled to himself.They were in trouble and if he wasn't before, he was definitely panicking now. He needed light. But wait he had light!

"Idiot!" He muttered under his breath, as he removed his pack and began searching through his gear for his little flashlight.

"For someone who claims to be so superiorly intelligent, you really can be a total dumb ass, sometimes cant you?" He continued as he pulled out the little light, turning the switch and sighing in relief as it flickered on. "I mean seriously, your walking around in the pitch black darkness of an alien cave, that should have been the first thing you do!"

Though it was in no way helping in the physical sense, McKay could not help the constant berating comments he muttered to himself. It somehow seemed to calm him down, having someone to talk to, be it himself… but that's not the point.

Scanning the area just ahead, he was just able to make out the large whole that had been created, a few feet in front of him. Moving slowly closer, he kneeled down at the edge and with the help of his new light, peered down into the darkness below where he could just make out the shape of a man. A very still and unmoving man. Rodney could not help the lump that was rapidly developing in the back of his throat, or the knots now in his stomach as he peered down to his friend.

"Sheppard!"

---SGA---

It was dead silent and he could start to feel coldness on his face, as he slowly came too. It wasn't long after considering this, that he realised he wasn't the infirmary. There appeared to be a lack of soft pillows, but more than anything, there were definitely no painkillers, muffling the growing jackhammers in his skull. Deciding that it was best to remain still for the moment, he quickly went through a mental checklist, trying to determine if he was injured and how badly. His whole body ached, limbs sprawled out in an awkward fashion, but as far as he could tell there was nothing broken. He could hear his breathing hitch a few times in his chest, but other than that there didn't seem to be anything out of place, and after a short while, his breathing steadied and came easier. What the hell happened? Slowly prying his eyes open, he peered into the blackness surrounding him. After blinking a few times, in a futile attempt to have his eyes adjust to his new environment, he could not do anything other than lie in horror, as realisation started to dawn on him. He was blind! What the hell happened!

He was starting to panic, and could feel his chest slowly tightening, making it difficult to breath. Gathering his strength, he quickly sat up, and just as quickly regretted it, as his head swam and the room started to spin. (Which was pretty impressive when he couldn't see anything). Feeling nauseous, he let himself fall back onto the cold, uneven earth, panting out loud, as he tried to remember how he got there.

There were trees. They were walking through the bush… something about a field?…Someone complaining…McKay… energy readings… dark, cold… cave…

Suddenly it all came flushing back to him. The cave, the rumbling, the ground opening up. He couldn't help but sigh in relief. That explained why it was so dark, at least he wasn't blind. With that new piece of information he allowed himself to relax a little, before a second thought hit him. Where was McKay? Quickly sitting up again, he ignored the wave of dizziness, and aimlessly looked around the area for any sign of the scientist. He could remember looking over at his friend and seeing his shocked face as he plummeted downwards, he had to be there somewhere.

"McKay?" His voice croaked out. Listening for any response or movement, but hearing none, he started to climb to his hands and knees, and move towards the direction he had last seen McKay. God his knee hurt! Deciding against standing up at that moment, with his head still doing somersaults, he made his way across the ground, having travelled about three meters, before hitting what appeared to be a wall. Running his hands across it, he realised that McKay was more than three meters away from him, when he had fallen through, meaning that he must still be up in the main passageway. He allowed himself to relax a little, slowly crawling back to his original position among the rubble to rest his aching body. Rodney was ok, he just knew it and that was all that mattered. He would go get help, and they would all be out of there in no time. Closing his eyes once again, he one again listened for any movement, and was suddenly surprised when the heard the loud call of his name.

"Sheppard!"

Cracking his eyes open once again, he could now see a small light shining down towards him.

"Hey McKay, where have you been?" He replied with a small smile, glad to hear his voice for once.

"Oh thank god! Are you okay?" Came the relieved voice.

"Yeah I think so. I got a pretty bad headache, and I'm pretty sure that old football injury to my knee has finally come back to haunt me, but that's about it. Nothing serious anyway." He began to sit up once again to get a better look at his friend, ".How about you? Are you ok?"

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine… You sure you're ok?" Sheppard couldn't see McKay's face, but he could tell just from his tone, that he wasn't too convinced.

"Yeah, just knocked the wind out of me more than anything I think. Where are the others?"

That seemed to do the trick, as McKay turned the light away from him for a second, presumably to look over at something. "Ahh, they're still outside, I couldn't get the radio to work. There must be some kind of interference, blocking the signal…" His mind started to wonder momentarily, before returning to the colonel. "How big is it down there anyway?"

Sheppard sat for a moment looking around. With the help of McKays light, he could now see the depth of the whole. It looked to be around five or possibly even six meters deep, but other than that, he hadn't been able to determine much else.

"I don't know Rodney" He bit, back "it's a little dark down here if you hadn't noticed!"

"Well what happened to your P-90?" McKay asked, ignoring the fact that he had also been lightless for sometime.

"Ahhhh.., good question. I haven't been able to find it." It was a lie, he had totally forgotten about the light on the gun, but there was no way in hell, he would let McKay know that. "You know, with the whole darker than oil thing, going on!" He snapped, starting to get a little irritated. Why was he asking stupid questions about the hole? "Maybe you could shine your torch around a little bit, and help me find it?"

McKay did just that, and it only took a few seconds before John caught glimpse of something half buried in the dirt, moving over to it, he was relieved to find it still working.

"Ahh good, now hows about you going to get some help. I don't particularly like the idea of living down here, it's a little too dusty for my liking."

Rodney simply scoffed at the man, watching him slowly rise to his feet. Satisfied that he wasn't going to fall over he muttered back a "fine" before moving off to collect the others. "Be back soon" he called back over his shoulders with a slight smile. "Don't go anywhere!"

Rolling his eye's Sheppard moved back a bit, taking in the dirt walls around him. Now that he had a light, he could see exactly how large the room was. Room? When did it suddenly become a room? Moving over to one of the walls, he noticed that it was in fact rough stone rather than compacted dirt. 'Things are starting to get a little more interesting', he thought to himself as he moved along to further investigate the other walls.

---SGA---

"Ok that's it, ten minutes are up."

Teyla looked over at the Sadetan in confusion. He had been acting strange since jumping from the tree several minutes ago, however she had to admit, that she too couldn't help that nagging feeling she had been experiencing ever since then. Something wasn't right and they could both feel it. Pulling out his radio, she watched as Ronon moved closer to the cave, trying to contact the others.

"Sheppard? McKay? Come in." Both waited silently for a reply that never came. Following Ronon's lead, the two of them pulled out their guns and flashlights, and moved off to enter the cave. The two had travelled only a short distance, when they heard a noise moving towards them. Ronon raised his gun in anticipation, while Teyla called out into the darkness.

"Colonel Sheppard?"

"Teyla?" Came the surprised voice in return.

"McKay" Ronon grumbled in recognition, quickly lowering his weapon, so not to startle the man.

"What are you two doing in here?" He asked, finally reaching the light

"Came looking for you." Came the short blunt answer

Looking around the scientist, and noticing he was alone, Teyla finally voiced the question both her and Ronon wanted to hear. "Where is Colonel Sheppard?"

A slight flash of confusion entered Rodney's face, as he turned around to look behind him, before looking back to his team. "Oh he's back there, that's why I came to get you. He's gotten himself stuck in a hole."

"And by that you mean…?"

"What? Oh no. Literally, he's stuck in a hole. There was some kind of cave in or something, and down he went." He quickly explained, waving his arms around dramatically retelling the story. "We should get back there", he said turning and heading back the way he'd just come from.

Teyla and Ronon shared a quick look, before moving off after him. Common sense told her that the colonel was not badly hurt, McKay didn't seem overly panicked, or rushed at all. So she just resigned herself to simply following the man in silence. It took them a few minutes to reach the spot where all the commotion had taken place, Rodney stopping abruptly as he realised he was about to walk right into gap himself. Dumping their gear, the group carefully gathered around the outside of the hole, shining their lights down into the darkness.

"Sheppard?"

Appearing from somewhere to the right, Sheppard looked up at the trio with a grin. "Hey guys"

"Are you uninjured?" Teyla asked leaning in closer for a better look.

"Yeah, just a sore knee, no biggie."

"Ok" McKay said sighing, as he regarded their packs lying a few meters away."Well now that we've established that, we're gonna have to find a way to get you out of there." He looked back to the hole, to see that the colonel had once again disappeared. Frowning a little bit, he tried to angle his torch in, for a better look.

"Actually, you may wanna hold up on that for a bit. I'm thinking you may want to come down here and check something out first" came Sheppard's voice from bellow.

"Why? What is it? What did you find?" McKay asked as the Colonel came back into view.

"I don't know, but it looks really cool." Looking up with a huge grin.

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A/N: Wow this chapter was long! I think that the chapters may be reducing in size after this. Good news though – I officially know the general direction of where I'm going now. So what did people think, am I getting any better? Was there too much useless rambling? Do I use the word 'he' too much? Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of it. Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, even if it's of the harsh kind.