Chapter Two

No sooner had Rodney fallen unconscious than a large thump echoed in the room. Sheppard swung around, facing the entrance door. It had swung shut on its own volition. Ronon was there in an instant, trying to wrench it open, but it would not budge. Without access to the computers outside, they were truly trapped.

John leapt forward to assist, as did Lorne and Teyla, but it was no use.

Turning his attention back to Rodney, John knelt beside his friend. Carson held out a water bag toward John and then proceeded to insert an IV into Rodney's wrist. John winced as he saw some blood spurt away from the needle.

"Well, that'll be leaving a bruise," Carson remarked as he began searching for another vein. John's veins had popped once, but never under Carson's care. Turning his attention toward Carson he noted the weariness in the slack shoulders and slow movements.

"You okay, doc?"

"Aye, it isn't me that's the problem. Veins don't act too well when dehydrated, that's all."

Carson taped down the needle while John draped the bag over a chair.

"How is he?"

"I can't be certain, but I think it's just exhaustion coupled with the shock those wires gave him. His vitals are steadying out so he may just need to sleep for a while. We should keep a close eye on him, though. Lord only knows what I might be missing." Beckett rubbed his weary eyes. They were all so exhausted.

Stifling a yawn, John turned toward Lorne and Teyla, allowing adrenaline to keep him awake. "We need to find another way out of here. Try one of the other doors and see what you can discover. Check in every five minutes."

"Yes, Sir," Lorne answered quickly. Teyla nodded.

Sheppard reached up to his radio. "Radek, this is Sheppard. Do you read?"

Static.

"Zelenka, do you copy?"

More static.

"Try yours," Sheppard ordered, motioning in Carson's direction.

Carson tapped his own earpiece. "This is Dr. Beckett, can anyone hear me?"

More static, but John had heard the doctor's call echoed over his own set. So they could communicate with each other in here at least, but not with the outside world.

Sheppard tapped his earpiece once more. "To anyone that can read me, this is Colonel Sheppard. Drs. Beckett and McKay, Major Lorne, Teyla, Ronon and myself are trapped in an underground bunker. We require assistance. Repeat. We require assistance."

It was no use. If they could hear him, he couldn't hear them. He relayed the necessary information anyway, just in case someone was on the other side. That done, Sheppard fell back into a chair.

Meanwhile, Ronon continued to struggle with the door, searching the seam for a latch or other locking device. He pulled out a large knife, trying to force the seam open. There was a tendril of smoke as he retrieved what was left of the now melted blade. Angry, Ronon thrust himself onto the door and started pushing. He even tried shooting it with his gun. The blaster made a small dent in the door, but Sheppard was amazed to see a flicker of static over the dent. In its wake, Sheppard saw that the dent had repaired itself.

Knowing Ronon wouldn't give up for a while, Sheppard turned his gaze back to the remaining party.

"You two should search for a way out. I'll stay with Rodney," Carson suggested, replacing the blood pressure cuff in his bag.

Sheppard leaned closer to the flames, breathing in the warmth. It had been a long time since he'd had the joy of sitting next to a fireplace. It reminded him of home, before his dad had kicked him out or his mother had died. Back when they had been a family.

"Colonel, did you hear what I said?" Beckett asked, and only then did Sheppard realize that he had forgotten to answer the question.

"Yes, I did, and no, we're not leaving you two here. There's a lot that's not right about this place."

"Definitely," Ronon called from across the room. His face had grown red from pushing against the door. "The sooner we leave the better."

John agreed. It wasn't any one specific thing, but this place gave him the heebie jeebies. It felt cold and warm at the same time, and he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. The occasional creak from within the walls wasn't helping.

His radio crackled and Teyla's voice came over the static, "John."

"Go ahead."

"We've discovered a dining room and a long corridor. We're just about to see where it will take us."

"Understood."

"There is something else. I believe I might have heard a scream."

"A scream? From where?" John looked down at the life signs detector. It still showed the same number of people in the complex as they had entered with. Not that the scanner hadn't been wrong before, but given how long the people on the surface had been dead, he would be surprised if the bunker was inhabited.

"I am uncertain. We have decided to continue forward, but I thought you should know." He noted her use of the word I. Lorne must not have heard anything.

"Alright. Any sign of an exit?"

It was Lorne who answered. "Not yet. This place is huge though, Sir. It could take some time to search thoroughly."

"Understood. Keep me updated, Major."

John rubbed his temples, though his headache was beginning to lessen. Soon they would get out of here and he could rest in a comfortable bed.

There was a murmur from beside him where Rodney stirred. At first Sheppard had thought he was waking, but then he saw the clenched eyes and sweat. Rodney was having a nightmare.

"I don't want to," he was saying. "I don't want to die. Please, stop. Stop!"

Sheppard had camped out with Rodney many times before, and while there had been the occasional nightmare, he had never seen Rodney thrash back and forth as though fighting some invisible force. Not unless he had a fever, but Carson would have mentioned if that were the case now.

"Rodney. Come on, wake up, buddy."

Rodney's mumbles were hurried now, indistinct, and if he felt Sheppard trying to shake him awake, he didn't show it. Ronon stepped forward, holding the man down while commanding, "Wake up."

A moment later, Rodney's eyes shot open. He glanced around himself, confused and breathless. Slowly he came to his senses, his body relaxing.

"One hell of a nightmare," Sheppard commented. Despite the fire, he couldn't help but feel chill.

The first room they entered was as large as the main one. An elongated table stood in the center surrounded by a dozen chairs. Placed in the center of the table, every two chair lengths apart, were long, white candles.

"Some place," Lorne commented, staring up at the chandelier that was identical to the one in the previous room. "Makes you wonder what kind of people lived here."

"There is a certain elegance to it," Teyla agreed.

"Especially for a bunker." Lorne leaned slightly against the table and the candles all lit at the movement.

Teyla stepped closer, waving her hand above the flame and feeling the heat. "I wonder why the fire is purple?"

"Beats me."

The flame continued to burn against her skin. She swept her hand away, shaking it as if it would help cool the flesh. If she didn't see the static flicker through the flame, she would have believed it was real.

Lorne took a last glance around the dining hall. "Something tells me we're not going to find much in here. Next room?"

Teyla nodded. There were four doors, one on each side. Ruling out the one behind her, there were still three choices remaining. "Do you have a preference?"

"The more out we go the more likely we are to find the exit."

"I agree."

They side skirted the table, tracing around until they came to the left exit, which Teyla noted was shorter than the others. Lorne raised his P-90 and aimed while Teyla opened the door, stepping aside quickly in case of any trouble. When nothing presented itself, Teyla and Lorne nodded at each other and ducked to cross the threshold.

They entered what looked like a dark corridor, tall enough for them to stand at full height. While the P-90's light revealed no movement, it was too dark to be sure that all was well. She took a step left and a torch roared to life beside her, illuminating a four-meter radius. Looking up she saw there were more torches, equally spaced down each end of the corridor. Smoke bellowed from each one, filling the hallway and making her cough.

Teyla noted, amazed, that the corridor extended for 150 meters in each direction. This bunker was large, grander than any dwelling back on Athos or on many of the worlds she had visited.

"Why do I get the feeling I should have stayed back at the village?" Lorne muttered. "I feel like a mouse trapped in a maze."

The floor below them creaked despite the fact neither had taken a step. They took opposing directions, looking for anyone that might have caused the sound.

"Must have just been foundation," Lorne said, his voice shaky.

"Possibly."

Teyla closed her eyes for a moment, committing to memory the directions they had turned, determined to find her way back. It was going to get more confusing, she knew, the further in they went. Beside her, Lorne pulled out a Sharpie from his vest, making a checkmark on the wall.

"We should move quickly. I do not wish to be trapped here long."

"Place unsettling you, too? Feels like the setting of a horror movie to me, creepiness and all."

Teyla took the lead, moving carefully but quickly. The granite walls were rougher than the ones in the other rooms, as though someone had deeply cared how the rest of the bunker looked, but not the corridor. About every thirty meters they passed another door, each the short height of the first. They tried the first one, which led to a room with only one other door. A giant plank of wood was raised in the middle of the rectangular space. It was given wide birth by the rest of the place, which was composed of more wood planks attached to the wall. There were cabinets overhead, a large basin with a spout, and sets of drawers circling all around, reaching from the planks to the floor.

"It's a kitchen," Lorne remarked, opening the occasional cabinet and finding different stone tools within each.

Teyla shined her bright light on one of the counters, running it along the sides until at last she found something: a liquid bubble over the wood. Small, and red, she could tell right away that it was fresh blood.

A scream ripped through the house. Jumping, she pointed her P-90 in every direction, trying to decipher where it had come from.

"What? What is it?" Lorne asked, raising his own weapon.

"Did you not just hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"There was a scream. A terrible scream." It was echoing in her mind like a distant memory but even as she'd heard it, it felt unreal. As though it had never existed.

"I didn't hear anything. Where did it come from?"

"I…I am uncertain." She steadied her shaking, forcing herself to stop looking. She hadn't heard it. It wasn't real.

"You're not just trying to scare me are you?"

"I assure you, Major, I would do no such thing. I could have sworn I heard it, but perhaps I was mistaken." Her light fell back on the counter, but the blood was gone.

Despite feeling unsettled, she forced herself to press on, convinced now that it had all been in her imagination. She stayed closer to Lorne than she normally would have as they walked. As they continued forward, she relayed the information to Sheppard, explaining what they had found so far.

They passed two more doors, each opening into a storage closet filled with large buckets. A few meters ahead, the corridor twisted around toward the left, but as they approached, they noticed a nook just before the turn. On closer examination, she saw narrow stairs wending downward.

"Another floor to the bunker?" Lorne asked.

"It would appear so."

"We should follow the corridor and not the stairs. Down there is only likely to get us more trapped."

"I agree."

Teyla took a few more steps before another bubble of red caught her glance, but when she turned to examine it more closely, it had disappeared.

"You okay?" Lorne asked, looking to the same place where she could not help but stare.

"I am fine," she lied. She felt as though she were losing her mind. The scream she had heard before still resounded in her ears; she could smell the blood though there had only been a few drops of it and it had never really been there. She dared not mention it to Lorne, but she would tell John when they returned. This place reeked of death.

Rodney's dreams were terrifying, tormented by that horrible hologram. "Alert. You must now all die," she said over and over again while a pink forcefield closed in on him. The room was shaking and he feared a terrible earthquake would tear the place apart any moment now. Death by forcefield or earthquake? Neither sounded particularly good.

But wait, this was a dream. He had already figured that much out, but he wasn't sure how and wasn't sure he believed himself anyway. Strong hands grabbed hold of him and Rodney tried desperately to pull away. The chandelier above him swayed back and forth, the purple flames dancing across the room.

"Alert. You must now all die."

The grip that held him in place grew stronger. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was truly trapped.

A young girl, no more than six or seven, stared up at him with a maniacal glint in her hazel eyes. Tilting her head slightly, she held out a doll that had seen better days. Its legs were dismembered from the torso, each hanging loosely by a single thread. The doll's arms were not much better off and its face was covered in streaks of crimson paint. The girl smiled, speaking in a breathy, singsong voice. "Have you come to play with me?" she asked. "I like games."

Rodney's eyes bolted open, his chest heaving and his head pounding. He saw large dreadlocks sweep before his eyes. Then Ronon's face came into view looking worried. Both of his hands had been employed to keep Rodney still.

"You're okay," the Satedan told him in a surprisingly comforting voice.

"One hell of a nightmare." Sheppard was at his left side, gazing down, concerned. His arms were linked across his chest as they always were when he was worried but didn't want to show it too much.

"Yeah," Rodney answered trying to blink away the image of the girl. And he had thought the skeletons were creepy?

"What happened?" he asked, trying to remember how he had come to fall asleep in the first place. He remembered Sheppard being injured and a forcefield keeping them inside. There had been a large pop and then a countdown…

"You fainted," Sheppard responded, smirking despite his worry.

"Aye." Carson's face came into view, shining his 'light of pain' straight at Rodney. "Your body's downright exhausted and getting shocked didn't help it much. Not sure what else might be going on other than dehydration."

The flashlight left his eyes and Rodney blinked away the bubbles. One of these days he was going to break into the infirmary and steal all of them so Carson couldn't shine them in their eyes anymore.

"What about Radek? Is he on the other side trying to figure out-"

"We've lost contact," Sheppard interrupted. "We can only communicate within the bunker it seems. With any luck they've found us by now and are working on it, but we have no way of knowing." He motioned toward the door that was now closed, blocking all view of the entrance and the computer there. "It's sealed shut."

"Oh that's just great! Any other surprises you'd like to share with me, Colonel?" Rodney felt the need to hyperventilate at the thought of being closed in. It took all of his effort not to do so, but part of him started shaking as evidenced by Carson trying to steady him. Not a tomb. This is not a tomb. His breathing calmed and after a minute of silence in which Carson had been saying something comforting, even if Rodney couldn't make out the words, Rodney was back in control. He reopened his eyes that must have clenched shut at some point.

"Where's Teyla?" He surveyed his surroundings, noticing for the first time that someone was missing. Two someones, actually, now that he thought about it.

"Lorne and Teyla are checking out the complex. We're hoping to find a secondary exit or another set of computers you can use to get us out of here."

"Any luck?" It was hard to think with his rumbling head, and he couldn't shake away that image of the doll. Of all the places to be trapped.

"They only left a few minutes ago," Carson cut in. "You can just rest for now and we'll let you know when something comes up."

After that nightmare, the last thing Rodney wanted was to sleep some more. Instead he waved Ronon away from him, whose grip, while lightened, had not actually let go. Ronon, realizing this was the case, immediately pulled back. "Sorry."

"What do you think you're doing?" Carson demanded, pushing his patient back against the pillow.

"Look, the more of us that look for an exit, the sooner we'll get out of here."

"You're in no shape to…"

Rodney increased his push, but only ended up pulling on his IV line, noticing its presence for the first time. Pushing away from Carson, but toward the IV bag, he managed to wiggle himself free from the doctor's hold. Neither Sheppard nor Ronon tried to stop him.

"Rodney's right," Sheppard said, "The sooner we're out of here the better. Rodney, you're with me. We'll head through that door. Carson, Ronon, radio Teyla and Lorne and see if there's any area they didn't manage to cover yet."

Rodney nodded, pulling out his IV despite the admonishing glare Carson was giving him. Rodney looked up at the chandelier. Though it was steady, he kept imagining it moving, its purple flames dropping to the floor. Shrugging the image away, he took a step forward, but someone was there. He looked down to see the young girl holding out her doll.

He screamed, jumping back.

"What, what is it?" Sheppard raised his weapon, aiming it where Rodney was staring.

The girl was gone. Rodney realized she never was there. "Nothing. Uh, sorry, just, uh, shall we go?"

Sheppard examined his friend carefully, as if trying to read his mind. At last he nodded, "Yeah. Let's move it people."

They had made it to the right door, and Carson had just tapped his earpiece to talk, when Teyla called.

"Major Lorne has been seriously injured." Sheppard took one glance at his lifesigns detector and found them.

"We're on our way."

Sheppard pointed toward the left door and Ronon ran ahead with the others following closely behind.

The corridor was easy enough to find. The torches gave it a strange medieval look, but there was no time to dwell on the surroundings. Using his weapon for a flashlight, he raced down the hallway, turned left at the juncture, and then continued forward until he had reached the end.

"Teyla?"

The dots were directly below them now. Sheppard looked around, finding a nook with a descending set of stairs. Ronon was already on his way down, as if he could sense them there.

Rodney complained the moment he touched the rail. "Burnt hands, remember?" But he continued without hesitation.

They reached the bottom at last. Teyla was pressing a piece of cloth firmly to Lorne's shoulder. Blood was smeared on her face where she must have wiped her sweat away.

"He…He fell down the stairs," she explained. "I was not quick enough to grab him."

Beckett moved her aside, noting the injuries himself and getting to work with super hero speed.

Amazingly, Lorne was still awake, though his gaze was fuzzy and the crinkles of pain in his expression told Sheppard he'd be better off unconscious. He was covered in blood, having gashed himself on each stair as he fell. Whoever had created sharp, metal, narrow stairs, hadn't been taking safety into account.

"Sir," Lorne called, coughing as he did so. One of the wounds ran from his upper chest to lower torso, bleeding terribly.

"Gotta be more careful of those steps."

"No, Sir…didn't…fall." His breathing was heavy. Clearly just talking was causing him a great deal of effort.

Before Sheppard could ask him what he meant, Lorne's body went limp.

Beckett continued working, motioning to places Teyla and Ronon could help him by applying pressure or bandaging wounds.

"He took a nasty fall," Beckett explained, "but he should be alright once we get him to the infirmary. Main thing is to stop the bleeding and keep him as still as possible."

Short of having Ronon do a fireman's carry, there was no way of getting the injured man up the stairs. He also knew Beckett would want to keep Lorne as flat as possible after such a fall, and that meant keeping him down here.

John left Ronon and Rodney to assist Carson, and motioned for Teyla to come with him. "We need to see what's down here."

Teyla hesitated before standing up, looking down at Lorne while shaking slightly. "Of course," she finally replied.

As above, they were in a dark corridor lit by torches. Moving toward their left, they passed two doors. The first led to a storage room filled with ratted clothes and what might have been board games. There was also a pile of wood planks. The second led to another corridor, this one more decorated than the previous. It fit the rest of the bunker's décor. From this corridor they found another storage closet and a linen closet toward the right, and a bathhouse toward the left. At the end of the corridor remained two more doors. Opening the right one, he found two tiny, wooden beds surrounded on all sides by raised wood. Cribs, he realized.

Opening the left door, he found a much larger bed, a bureau, and another chandelier hanging from the ceiling, but this time with a blue flame. At least they had somewhere comfortable to settle the Major, though the room wouldn't easily fit all of them.

"What did he mean when he said he didn't fall?"

Teyla examined the tall mirror beside the bureau, moving her hands down the reflection. "I am unsure."

"How did it happen?"

"We were upstairs when we noticed the second set of steps. I moved to open the next door when I heard Lorne's scream from behind me. By the time I turned around, he had already fallen out of view. That is when I called for assistance."

There was something monotone, and strangely calm in her explanation, but he shook it off as his imagination.

They left the room, swinging by the storage closet before they rendezvoused with the rest of the team. Sheppard carried one of the planks, which he lowered beside Lorne. "There's a bedroom up ahead we can keep him in for now. We'll have to make sure someone is with him at all times, and if anyone has any idea on how to get him up the stairs safely, I'd like to hear it now."

No one spoke. They all knew the possibility of back injury was great, and no one wanted to do more damage. If it came to it, they would, but not yet.

They settled Lorne into the new room, watching as Carson set up the necessary IVs.

John leaned against the doorway, taking in the scene and weighing how much more his team could handle. They all needed rest, but it wouldn't be coming for a while. "Alright. Teyla, Ronon, and I will keep searching for an exit or a computer. Rodney, Carson, stay here with Lorne. Make sure you keep your guard up."

"Sir." The voice came from the bed, airy and weak sounding.

"Major?" Sheppard moved to his side, placing his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Pushed."

"What?"

"I…was…pushed…Sir."

Sheppard felt the tension tighten. New chills riveted down his spine. "Are you saying there's someone else here? Someone not showing up on the life signs detector?"

Lorne licked his dry lips. His eyelids kept closing, but he continued to force them back open. "Yes, Sir. Unless Teyla pushed me," he smiled at the last bit, clearly joking. Though Sheppard remembered the planet where all of the team attacked each other while hallucinating, or the time his mind had been taken over by an alien presence, or when he had almost developed into a Wraith-bug. He trusted his team, but he also knew that in Pegasus, one had to be careful. Glancing at Teyla, she looked calm and collected, worried, but definitely herself. No, the more likely scenario was that someone else was here, maybe had been for a long while.

"All right, you just rest for now. We'll take care of it."

"Wait, there's someone here?" Rodney asked, panicking. "As in someone stuck with us who tried to kill Lorne? We've got to get out of here! I mean, now!"

"Calm down. Let's just think this through."

"If there's someone here," Ronon interjected, "I'll find 'em."

"We are all going to die here," Rodney muttered to himself, not noticing the growl his response elicited from Ronon.

John pushed away from the wall, willing himself to keep moving. "Okay, change of plans. Ronon and I are going to check out every possible corner of this place. The rest of you stay here and stay alert."

TBC