Even with the coat, sleeping bag, and John next to him, Rodney couldn't seem to stop shivering even as he pulled his hood lower and curled farther under the sleeping bag. He didn't think it was his imagination that the cockpit felt colder than it had before. He knew there hadn't been much power left in the batteries to run the life support for very long and since he could now see his breath when he exhaled, he assumed the system had finally stopped working.

Which meant they didn't have much time left, he realised.

He glanced over at John and frowned when he saw Sheppard's eyes were closed. There was something wrong with that, he knew, and it took a few seconds for him to realise John was asleep.

"Hey," he mumbled, and poked John's arm. "You're the one who said no sleeping." When John didn't respond right away, Rodney pulled back slightly and shook his arm harder. "John!"

"Wha?" John slurred. "Lee'me'lone." He batted at Rodney's hand where it was still shaking his arm.

Rodney sat up further when he heard John wheezing slightly. "Come on, Sheppard, you have to stay awake."

"R'd'ny?"

"Yeah. Open your eyes, Major," Rodney replied and tried to sound stern, but it sounded more like pleading even to his own ears.

John opened his eyes slowly and Rodney waited for John to focus on him before he stopped shaking his arm.

"That's more like it," he said when John kept his eyes open and he settled against John's arm again.

"How long?" John asked hoarsely. He coughed and groaned as the movement jarred his side.

"How long what?" Rodney countered. "How long have we been here? No idea. Long enough for the life support to stop working." He sat up enough to unzip his backpack and pull out a couple of power bars. "Here," he said and handed one over to John. "Probably should eat something." He tucked the sleeping bag back up to his chin and nibbled at the energy bar as he cast about for something that would keep them both awake.

"Christmas was the one time a year when my parents at least tried to be civil toward each other," he said a few minutes later. He refused to look over at John, but he felt Sheppard shift against him.

"I was about ten when I realised it was more about the importance of playing happy families for my father's business associates and my mother's committees than it was about me or Jeannie, but for a few weeks at least, living in my parent's house was tolerable."

He blew out a breath and shifted closer to John. "One year, Jeannie and I even got to ride on one of the floats in the Santa Parade." He smiled slightly and lost himself in the memory.

Jeannie had been so excited to be in the parade. She'd bounced around the house for days before Sunday arrived, pestering him about what dress she was going to wear and how she wanted her hair braided. She'd pouted when he told her it wouldn't matter what she wore since she'd be wearing a coat, but it didn't stop her for long.

It had been a fun day, he thought with a smile. They'd even been on television!

"Santa Parade?" John asked, pulling him back to the present.

Rodney nodded. "World's oldest holiday parade," he said with another smile. "Older than the Macy's Parade in the States. Bet old Macy stole the idea from Eaton's anyway. One of Dad's clients owned the float and they needed a bunch of kids to wave at people along the route so we got to be in the parade."

He looked up and noticed John's eyes drifting closed. He shook John's arm again. "Hey, baring my soul here," he chided. "The least you could do is be awake for it."

John's eyes opened slightly and Rodney knew he was losing the battle to stay conscious. "Wha' hap'n'd?" John asked.

Rodney gave him a questioning look.

"Don' lik Chrs'mus now," he explained.

"Oh." Rodney looked down at the brace on his arm. "By the time I was twelve, my parents stopped pretending. If anything, the fighting got worse. Once we left home, Jeannie and I would send cards, sometimes a gift. Even that stopped a few years ago."

He didn't want to think about that last fight with Jeannie. She'd told him he was going to be an uncle. He'd responded by saying she was throwing her life away. She'd slapped him across the face and told him to leave and not come back. It was the only time she had ever hit him. Four years and counting, he thought with a sigh. Four years of basically being alone in the world. Until he'd been recruited for the Atlantis project and had met John and the others, he didn't even realise he was missing something.

"I don't hate Christmas," he said softly. "But it's a time to spend with family and I haven't really had one for a long time."

He looked over and saw Sheppard's head resting on the cushion beside him. "Hey!" he shook John's arm again.

"'M aw'k," he muttered but didn't open his eyes.

Rodney scooted a bit closer and sat in silence watching the light in the cockpit flicker. It took several long seconds for him to realise it was the flashlight dying. He turned his head slightly and watched as the light flickered again, then went out.

If there was one thing worse than freezing to death, it was freezing to death in the dark, he finally decided. He pushed at the sleeping bag enough to get his right hand clear, reached out, and clumsily hit the side of the flashlight a few times until it flickered back to a dim glow.

He was mildly surprised how much hitting the light with the brace made his hand hurt and stared at it for a few moments. His fingers looked pale, almost white in the dim glow from the flashlight. The thought tickled the back of his mind he should probably be more worried as he pulled the sleeping bag back up to his chin and rested his head on John's shoulder.

"That can't be good. Need my hand," he mumbled as he curled on his left side.

He felt John moving next to him and a moment later felt pressure against his fingers.

"Where's … glove?" John asked as he pressed Rodney's fingers between his gloved palms.

Rodney winced at the pins-and-needles feeling in his hand. "Couldn't get it on over the brace," he replied.

John frowned at him. "Keep hand … under blanket," he said as he let go.

Rodney awkwardly wedged his hand between his chest and John's side as he cast about in his mind for something else to talk about.

He was about to ask John about Christmas in California when he looked up and saw Sheppard's eyes were closed.

He sat up slightly and shook John's arm. "John? John? You said Ford knew what to do and would find us soon. You have to stay awake."

This time no matter how much Rodney shook him, John didn't wake up. He pulled the sleeping bag up to his chin and rested his head against John's arm.

"I don't want to go to Niagara Falls alone," he mumbled and gave John another shake. "You said Teyla and Ford would find us. You can't go and die on me now, Sheppard."

He lay against John, fighting the same pull of sleep. He tried forcing himself to think about a different solution to their power problem, but his mind refused to focus and instead he found himself drifting.

When the flashlight flickered out again twenty minutes later, neither of them were awake to notice.

~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~

Carson looked up from the scanner, unable to hide the sorrow he felt as he tapped at the screen. He knew Teyla and Ford didn't want to hear Sheppard and Rodney may already be dead, he didn't want to consider the possibility, either. But the scanner wasn't giving them any reason to think otherwise.

"There has to be an explanation," Ford said. "Other than …" He snapped his fingers and turned to Teyla. "Do you remember the cave-in?" Ford asked her. "How the radios didn't work inside the mine?"

Teyla nodded. "Doctor McKay said it was because of the copper blocking the signal."

"Right!" Ford replied and pointed at the scanner. "What if something like that is going on? The radios and the scanner both don't work? What are the odds of that?"

"I don't know, lad," Beckett said. "I want to think they're still alive as much as you do, but we have to consider -"

"No!" Ford shook his head. "They're still alive. Something's wrong with the scanner, that's all."

"Son, we have to be ready -"

Ford glared at him and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to risk my animals on a maybe, and a thin one at that," one of the Lurrans said. "I was willing to help if there was a chance your friends were still alive but your own technology is saying they're most likely dead."

"We don't know -" Ford started to say.

Teyla put a hand on his arm. "We understand," she told the Lurran.

The man nodded and turned back to one of the sleighs waiting nearby.

"Wait!" Beckett called and waved at one of the medical technicians standing nearby. "You're going back to the village, aren't you?" he asked the Lurran.

"Yes," the man said, his tone clearly wary.

"Would you be kind enough to take David and some of our medical supplies back with you? Maybe help him find a suitable place we could use as a field hospital of sorts."

"Garen as offered his house and expertise," Teyla said and looked at Carson. "He is their healer. He told me he has dealt with cases of exposure in the past and would prepare a room for us to use."

"I can take you to Garen," the Lurran replied with a nod.

"Thank you," Carson said to him then turned to the tech standing next to him. "David, go with him. Make sure the room is warm, find a way to have warmed blankets and saline waiting in case they are badly off."

"Yes, Doctor Beckett," David said and followed the Lurran back to one of the sleighs. He loaded the equipment he carried onto the backseat of the sleigh and sat down in the front just as the Lurran called out to his hreindyr and the sleigh headed back to the village in a cloud of snow and the jingling of harness bells.

Teyla turned to the other Lurrans. "Lieutenant Ford may be correct," she told them, "the Ancestors' device is not perfect. There may be a technical reason for the lack of life readings. I still believe they are alive and need our help."

"Good enough for me," Klaus said and glared at the other Lurrans. "Prin? You and Mica coming? What about you, Oleg?"

"I'll go with you," Prin said after a slight hesitation. "Mica, you should go back -"

"I'm the only one that knows the shortcut, Father," Mica countered as he jutted his chin out at a stubborn angle Beckett thought very reminiscent of one Rodney McKay. "I want to help."

Prin studied him for a moment then nodded. "All right. Your mother is not going to be happy, but all right."

"Oleg?" Klaus asked.

"I said I'd help and I meant it," Oleg growled peevishly from the back of the group.

"All right," Ford said. "Mica, since you know the way, you take the lead. Daley, you and Tate go with him." He waited for the two Marines to acknowledge the order.

"I'll follow Mica," Prin said. "If he gets into trouble, I want to be close by to help."

Ford nodded. "Thompson, go with him. Teyla, Beckett, and I will ride with Klaus. Oleg, can you carry Beckett's assistant along with the extra supplies?"

Oleg grunted something Ford took to mean 'yes' and the Lurran stumped back to his sleigh.

Beckett helped Teyla into the back of Klaus' sleigh, tucked his medical bag under the seat, and sat beside her as Ford took the front seat with Klaus. Teyla pulled up the fur-lined blanket as Klaus shook his reins and the sleigh moved with a jerk as the hreindyr set out at a steady trot following the other two sleighs.

They made good time while still near the 'gate and the village but once they were in the low hills, the sleighs slowed down. The snow was much deeper in the hills and the animals slowed from a ground-eating trot to a slow plod. Carson watched Ford's shoulders tighten as the sleigh slowed to a crawl.

Klaus must have noticed as well. "I think I know where Mica is leading us," he hollered over the sound of the crunching snow and jangling bells. "It may seem slow, but we are making good time. Should reach the high valley well before dark."

Ford gave him a stiff nod but didn't relax.

From what Carson had been told, he knew the assumption was something had happened to cause the jumper to crash. He looked up at the darkening clouds and felt the wind blow against the side of the sleigh, pushing it slightly off course. The hreindyr tossed their heads as the snow swirled around them and the sleigh shuddered again.

He remembered the perilous flight back to Atlantis during the hurricane and how the jumper had bounced and shuddered as they flew through the edge of the storm. He told himself Sheppard was an experienced pilot and if they were forced down, John would bring the ship down in such a way they would survive the impact.

That just left surviving until they were found and if there was one thing Carson knew about Rodney McKay, he was a survivor. He had lost count of the miracles McKay had pulled out of his proverbial hat since their arrival in the Pegasus galaxy and he was counting on his friend having at least one more up his sleeve.

They were in the mountains when it started to snow. Carson watched as the flakes gently fell and settled on the backs of the plodding hreindyr.

Ford leant over to Klaus and shouted, "How much farther?"

Klaus looked to his left then pointed to his right. "That's the pass," he yelled back. "The valley is just beyond it."

Ford turned around to Teyla and Beckett. "We're almost there," he told them over the howl of the wind. "Try the scanner now."

Beckett nodded and pulled the device out of his vest pocket. He powered it on and flipped through the various screens of data until he found the one for life signs and was rewarded with two blips on the screen only a few kilometers away. He looked up, about the share the good news when the two dots vanished.

"What?" Ford asked, seeing Carson's hopeful expression. "Did you get something?"

Beckett shook his head and tapped at the screen again. "I thought there was something, just for a moment," he said. "It's gone now, though." He could tell Ford wanted him to say Sheppard and Rodney were still alive. "I don't know, Lieutenant."

He heard Ford growl low in his throat and twist back around in his seat. He glanced at Teyla and felt her squeeze his arm.

It was another forty minutes before the sleighs cleared the pass, the hreindyr slowed almost to a stop in the deep snow, and they entered the valley. Klaus drew the hreindyr to a halt. Ford jumped out of the sleigh and Carson noted the snow came almost to his waist.

"The cave is over there," Mica said as he plowed through the snow and stood at Ford's side. Carson turned to his left and could barely make out a dark depression in the side of the mountain. He didn't see any sign of the jumper near the cave.

"Maybe something happened either on the way here or when they tried to leave," Teyla suggested. She stood on the seat of the sleigh and looked around the valley. "Wait," she said, "I think I see something." She stopped in her slow turn and pointed toward the far side of the valley. "Do you have a set of field glasses?" she asked and looked down at Ford.

"I do," Thompson said. He pulled open one of his vest pockets, pulled out a pair of small binoculars, and handed them to her.

Teyla took them with a smile of thanks and focused on the valley wall again.

Carson noticed Ford had his own binoculars pointed at the same area.

"Well?" Carson asked a few moments later when neither Ford nor Teyla offered an explanation.

"There is an unusual mound near the base of the mountain in that direction," Teyla murmured and looked down at him. She peered through the binoculars again. "It is difficult … Yes!" she said and looked over at Ford for confirmation. "The mound is rounded just like the shape of the jumper."

"I think I can see part of the rear section," Ford added. "It looks to be intact." He put his binoculars away and jumped back in the sleigh. "At least, I don't see any large pieces lying nearby."

They drew up next to the ship a few minutes later and Carson felt his stomach twist as he climbed out of the sleigh and had his first look at the jumper. The front of the ship was buried up to the roof in a snowbank with the port side jammed up against the side of the mountain. It looked to him as if Sheppard had tried to avoid hitting the rocks head-on and was only partially successful.

Carson followed as Ford made a slow circuit around the rear of the jumper and saw the long tear in the side of the ship.

"That's not good," Ford said.

"No," Beckett replied grimly.

A hull breach in this weather dropped the chances Sheppard and Rodney were still alive almost to zero. Carson touched the edge of the gaping hole with one hand and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he had his professional mask in place.

"We need to get inside," Beckett said with forced calm. "How do we get the rear hatch open from out here?"

Ford patted at his vest and found the remote. He pressed the button and Carson glanced at the rear hatch.

Nothing happened.

"It should work," Ford muttered and pushed the button again. "It's possible the hatch or the remote mechanism sustained damage in the crash." He glared at the sealed hatch.

"There's a manual control, isn't there?" Carson asked. "Some sort of backup?"

"The manual release is inside," Ford pushed the remote button again. "There's no way to get inside without the remote."

Carson threw his hands in the air. "There's already a hole in the hull, is there not?" he said impatiently and realised he sounded just like Rodney.

Ford nodded and gave Beckett a baffled look.

"Well, make it bigger, man. Big enough for someone to squeeze through and release the hatch for the rest of us."

"There are tools with the other supplies in Oleg's sled," Klaus said and headed back to the parked sleighs.

He came back a few minutes later with a pair of axes. Ford took one, nodded at Thompson to take the other, and they soon had a rhythm as they slowly tore the hole in the side of the jumper wider.

Carson used the time to organise their medical supplies.

"Jason, once I get inside, try to keep the others out of the jumper," Carson said in a low voice. "If they're still alive, we'll need to move quickly to keep them that way. If they're already gone …" He let the sentence hang.

Jason nodded. "There is that old saying when dealing with hypothermic patients."

Carson nodded. "They're not dead until they are warm and dead. Yes, well, let's just hope it doesn't come to that, shall we?"

"I think they've almost got the hole big enough," Jason said, and Carson watched as Teyla said something to Ford and took a large flashlight from Corporal Daley. Aiden nodded and he and Thompson stood back as she carefully climbed through the hole. Carson saw the glow from the flashlight dancing around the interior of the jumper and a few seconds later he heard a grinding noise as the hatch opened.

"They are not in the rear section," Teyla reported as she came down the ramp. "However, the door to the cockpit is sealed."

Carson felt part of the weight in his gut lift. If the cockpit wasn't breached, he told himself, they may still be alive.

"Lieutenant!" Carson called and stepped in front of Ford as he charged toward the ramp.

"They need help, Doc," Ford growled and tried to move around Carson.

Beckett blocked him again and held up his hands. "That's what I intend to do, son," he said kindly. "But I can't do that with all of you standing in the way. Stay here. I'll let you know when I need you."

"Aiden," Teyla added and touched his arm. "We need to wait."

Ford glared at Beckett for a moment longer then stepped back.

Teyla handed the flashlight to Carson. "Let us know what we can do to assist you."

The afternoon sun was at the right angle to offer some light as Carson moved through the rear section of the jumper. He glanced at the snow-covered benches and the open control box, its light stylus hanging down beside it, as he hurried to the front of the ship and knocked on the door.

"Major Sheppard?" he called. "Rodney? If you can hear me, it's safe to open the door." He didn't wait more than a few seconds, and when the door didn't open - not that he really expected it would - he turned toward the open hatch. "Aiden? Where is the manual release for the door?"

"On the left side as you're facing forward. There's a manual release at about chest height."

"Got it," Beckett replied. He dropped the flashlight on one of the benches and pulled the handle to open the door.

The doors cracked open slightly then stopped. Carson cursed under his breath then jammed his fingers in the narrow gap and pulled the doors open. He stood for a moment, stunned at what he found in the cockpit. All he could see at first were two hooded heads, one lying against what looked like one of the cushions from the rear benches and the other resting against the first, both of them covered with a shared sleeping bag.

"Màiri, Màthair Dhè," Beckett muttered and knelt in the doorway. He carefully pulled back the sleeping bag and found Rodney curled on his side lying against Sheppard.

Beckett dug through the bag at his side and found a stethoscope. Neither of them so much as twitched as he unzipped first Sheppard's and then Rodney's coat and listened for any breath sounds or heartbeats. He took his time to make sure he wasn't wrong, then zipped the coats back up and rubbed at his face with one hand.

"Doc?" Ford asked in a whisper from the rear of the jumper.

Beckett sat back on his heels, turned, and smiled. "They're alive, lad. However, getting them out of here is not going to be easy." He looked around the narrow space between the rear seats and the bulkhead. "Jason, we need the spare blankets."

Jason nodded and ran from the jumper.

"Aiden, I could use some of that help you were offering," Carson said as he stood and stretched his back as Ford and Thompson came through the shuttle. Teyla followed behind them.

"What can we do?" Ford asked.

"We need to get them back to the village as quickly as possible. I don't have the equipment to help them here but moving them is also dangerous."

Ford glanced at the bodies huddled on the floor. "What's wrong with McKay's hand?" he asked and pointed to the brace.

"His arm is probably broken," Carson replied absently. "That's not what has me concerned." Carson bent down and gently picked up Rodney's hand. "He couldn't get a glove over the brace and there are signs of frostbite," he replied to Ford's puzzled look.

"Here are the blankets," Jason said, and Ford passed them over to Beckett.

Carson bundled Sheppard and Rodney in the large blankets then stood.

"All right, we need to be fast, but careful," Beckett said to Ford. "We need to get them out to the sleds as gently as possible. No sudden movements or jostling. Possible broken bones aside, and I suspect the Major may have broken ribs from the way he's wheezing, they are suffering from moderate hypothermia, a wrong move could send them into cardiac arrest."

Ford swallowed then nodded.

"Once we have them in the sleds, someone needs to act as a support, holding them steady and providing additional warmth," Carson continued.

The process of getting Sheppard and McKay out of the jumper took more time than Carson may have liked, but they finally had Sheppard loaded on Prin's sled with Ford holding him against his chest and both of them wrapped in another of the fur-lined blankets.

"Thompson," Ford said as he shifted his hold on John, "salvage whatever you can from the jumper, especially the food and survival gear. Don't forget their packs, either."

"Yes, sir," Thompson said with a nod.

"Jason, go with them, lad," Carson said as Ford pulled the blanket tighter against the falling snow. Jason dropped his medical gear in the back of Prin's sleigh and climbed in the front.

"Go," Beckett ordered. "We'll get Rodney and be right behind you."

Ford nodded and Prin shook his reins. Beckett was pleased to see the sleigh set out at a slow but steady pace with none of the jerking or other sudden stops or starts they'd had on the way up to the valley.

Thompson and Oleg carried Rodney out of the jumper and settled him against Carson in the back of Klaus' sled. Teyla wrapped a blanket around both of them before she sat in the front next to Klaus.

The trip back through the pass and down the mountain was just as slow as the trip out. Teyla informed Beckett she had explained the necessity for careful movement to Prin and Klaus as Sheppard and McKay were bundled into the sleighs. The Lurrans took her seriously and were doing everything possible to make the trip as smooth as possible.

They were almost out of the hills, not too far from the village, when Carson felt Rodney move slightly against his chest.

He looked down and was surprised to see Rodney's eyes open.

"Rodney?" Carson called softly and waited for a reaction.

Teyla must have heard him and turned around. When she saw Rodney was awake, she smiled and leant back to touch his leg, the only thing she could reach.

Rodney didn't respond to either his name or Teyla's tap on his leg. His gaze wandered slightly before Carson felt him sigh and saw him close his eyes again.

Carson felt Rodney breathing against him and relaxed.

"Doctor Beckett?" Teyla said.

"He's still with us, lass. Let's get him back to the village, then I'll be able to tell you more."