Chapter Two

For a long moment, Teyla did nothing but rest on her back, breathing slowly, mostly because it hurt too much to do anything else. With her eyes squeezed shut, she swallowed hard to force down rising bile. Her head throbbed, but the pain in her side was stronger. She held a hand to her side, knowing she'd re-injured the area for a third time in less than a month.

When she looked up through the opening of the sinkhole, she saw sunlight streaming in. Long beams of light pierced the darkness of the newly opened cavern, like the forefront of an attacking army. It gave the place a harsh feeling, the areas of dark and light fighting for dominance. After a moment, her eyes adapted and she found herself lying at the edge of a rushing stream, its powerful noise drowning out almost everything else.

Undoubtedly, the stream caused the sinkhole. An extensive cave system ran beneath this whole area. She remembered wandering through the huge caves as a child with her friends in an almost hushed reverence, but never when it was raining. It was far too dangerous, something their parents wouldn't permit.

If the caves had been flooded with the runoff from the heavy rains, it could have caused erosion of the natural limestone rock that lined the caves, weakening the layers of stone enough for them to give way, and it brought everything from the surface down with it. Such dramatic collapses only happened with very heavy storms; the last time many decades before.

This sinkhole was huge, running at least three hundred feet from end to end, and it was a good sixty feet deep. The steep angle of the walls made it impossible to climb out, its edges unstable and its incline steep. More alarming, the sinkhole was still growing, although at a much slower pace with rocks, dirt, plant and animal life continued to fall inside.

Something large and metallic glinted at her from a distance and she realized it was their puddle jumper. It was lying at a slight angle, beside the running river, and covered by rock, dirt and other debris. The jagged edge of the sinkhole loomed ominously just beyond the jumper. She could see the jumper's rear hatch and starboard side of the jumper and engine pod, but the rest was obscured by the rubble. A little like herself, seeing how she was half-buried in dirt, too.

For a moment, she worried about how they would escape the confines of the sinkhole without the jumper, but first she needed to free herself. She moved her arms and legs, and the soil gave way easily. She stopped when she heard a nearby groan. Concern for herself vanished as she thought of the others. She sat up with a gasp as her awkward weight of her backpack held her down. It was a hindrance, especially with the pain in her side, so she slipped off the shoulder straps and called for them. "John? Rodney? Ronon? Can anyone hear me?"

"Good Lord, do you have to shout?" came a grumbled reply from the shadows close by. The comment was followed by another long groan and then in a loud mutter, "Some of us have exceptionally good hearing."

"Rodney," she said in a rush, but she still couldn't see him. "Where are you?"

The maddening echo effect inside the sinkhole made it hard for her to pinpoint his voice.

"Here."

She got to her knees, then almost tipped over as the loose soil shifted. She scanned the area quickly. "Where? I cannot see you."

"Well, I can see you. I'm to your left, in the shadows, about four meters away."

She turned and started to get to her feet. "No, no, no! You've gone too far to your left! Pay attention! There's a large boulder in front of me. See, I'm waving my arm!"

This time, she caught some slight movement in that direction and waved back. She forced herself to stand, ignoring the pain and vertigo she felt. She hugged her hand close to her side as she walked. The slightest movement was like fire licking at her wound and she knew she had at least damaged the area around her healing surgical incision.

When she arrived, McKay's sarcasm greeted her. "Well, if you're here to help, I better plan on saving myself. You look like hell."

Teyla knelt beside him and said, "Do not be judgmental, Rodney. You do not look much better yourself. Are you injured?"

He grunted, then hissed in reply. "Of course, I am," he whined as he tried to shift his position, but the mound of dirt surrounding him made it difficult. "Why else would I be writhing on the ground in agony?"

McKay wiped a dirty hand across his forehead and stammered, "Why-why does there always seems to be this dark cloud of doom following us around on our missions? I ask you, why is that?"

"We are not on a mission, Rodney," she said simply as she helped him to sit up.

"Well, that's even worse. Why is there this dark cloud of doom following us around when all we want is a day or two of R&R? Is a little peace of mind too much to ask for?"

"Apparently so," she said, her heart asking the same question. "Now, where are you hurt?"

He shifted, only to grimace again, putting a hand to his right leg. "My foot's stuck under this boulder."

Teyla licked her lips, trying her best to be diplomatic. "It is not exactly what I would consider to be a boulder, but it is big."

McKay didn't seem to hear her comment. "I'll be lucky if my foot isn't crushed beyond repair."

Teyla's head dipped down to prevent Rodney from seeing her expression. At times, McKay's sense of drama wore very thin. She examined how the rock sat against his foot. "I am sure it is very painful, Rodney, but I think your foot is merely trapped."

She changed position. "Hold on, I will try to move the rock – "

He put up a finger to correct her, but she saved him the effort. "I am sorry, I will try to move the boulder. Be ready to pull your foot away the moment the pressure is released."

McKay braced himself as best he could, holding his knee, ready to pull it away. Teyla bent, placing all her weight against the heavy rock as she pushed. What she got for her effort was a louder groan from McKay and a skyrocketing ache in her head, side and white sparks behind her eyes. Perhaps, Rodney was correct – perhaps, boulder was a more apt description after all.

She took a deep breath, preparing to try again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Ronon looming above her. He was a welcome sight, even though he looked the worse for wear. His left arm hung limply at his side and his gaze seemed slightly unfocused.

"You, too, are injured," she said as a statement instead of a question.

"Busted arm, but it's not bad. I'll move the rock for you. I just need to get into position where you are – "

"Boulder," McKay chimed in. "It's a boulder, not a rock, if you please. A rock is something easily tossed around. A boulder is something that is squeezing the hell out of my foot, so hurry, damn it!"

Teyla stood and took note of Ronon's battered appearance. Like the rest of them, he was covered in dirt, cut and bleeding, but if he said he could move the rock, she believed him. Without his usual grace, he moved to his knees beside McKay's leg and pushed. Rodney yelped as if someone had just driven an armored tank over his foot, but there was relief in his expression afterwards.

Ronon rocked back on his heels, then awkwardly plopped down on his butt in the dirt. Teyla moved beside him and put out a hand to steady him. Dex had grown a few shades paler after his exertion and the sight disturbed her.

"I'm fine, just lost my balance," Ronon murmured. "Check on McKay's foot."

McKay didn't miss a beat. "Yes, check my foot. I probably have multiple fractures," he said with more than a little pain echoing in his voice as he worked to remove his boot. Obviously, he hadn't seen the change come over Ronon. "Oh, God, they amputate crushed limbs, don't they?"

Teyla put a hand on his arm. "Do not try to remove your boot. If there is swelling, you will not be able to get it on again. Besides, it can form a natural cast around the injury until we can get you to the infirmary – "

Ronon suddenly glanced around, interrupting her, "Where's Sheppard?"

Teyla straightened with Ronon's question. She stepped away from the two men, calling, "John? John, respond if you can."

When there was no answer, she stood perfectly still for a moment, using all of her senses to find him, but came up with nothing.

"John!" she practically shouted this time.

"He shouldn't be too far away," Ronon said, wiping the dirt from his hand on his pants leg, preparing to stand. "We were all bunched pretty close together."

McKay rubbed at his leg as his gaze swept around the area. "Oh, God, what if he's buried somewhere under a ton of debris while we were just standing around doing nothing to help him? Well, you were standing, I was trapped, so it's not my fault – "

Ronon stood, though he still looked winded from moving the rock off McKay's foot. "We'll find him," he said simply.

Before he could take a step, John appeared out of the shadowed areas, covered from head to toe in mud and leaves. He waved a hand and said, "Stand down. I'm right here. It took me a couple of minutes to get out from under a damned tree branch that had me pinned."

Teyla let out a long breath of relief. "And you are well?"

"A hell of a lot better than the three of you look," he said with a cocky smile. "Now, if I can only find a hot shower and a frosty beer, life would be good."

Teyla took a deep breath, relieved to see he was safe. "Yes, it would, but as we are trapped at the bottom of this sinkhole, perhaps we can postpone those good thoughts until we are free."

Sheppard nodded, then his gaze went to where the jumper was sitting. His expression darkened. The jumper wasn't a huge ship, but it wasn't small, either. Seeing it half buried in a pile of dirt, rock and vegetation that dwarfed its size considerably.

"If you're all okay, I'm going to check the jumper out," he said as he headed in that direction, "and see about getting us home ASAP."

"I will go with you," Teyla said. She turned to Ronon and Rodney. "Maybe you two should rest here a minute."

McKay nodded and shifted to lean against a tree trunk as he elevated his foot to rest atop the hotly debated rock/boulder. "Take your time, I'm not going anywhere...at least not until the jumper is ready."

Ronon glanced at him and back to Teyla. "I'll stay with him and make sure he's okay."

"Gee, thanks, Dad," Rodney grumbled. "Do I get ice cream if I'm good?"

"Shut up, McKay," Ronon said, holding his arm as he sat on a nearby boulder. He grinned and looked at Rodney as he patted the rounded stone underneath him. "Now, this is a boulder."

"Oh, give me a break," McKay shot back.

Teyla left them arguing back and forth, and went to join Sheppard. Once she got closer, she pulled a flashlight from her tac vest and turned it on. Inside the sinkhole, there were areas where the edges of the abyss had deposited more rubble than others. The jumper was at the base of one of those piles. As she walked the length of the jumper, heading to the rear of the shuttle, she noted in greater detail how the debris was piled over the top, front and port side of the jumper.

She worried about being able to access the rear hatch, but was relieved to see it was relatively clear. The sight of the hatch opening when John touched the controls made her sigh with relief. They could still get into the jumper and hopefully out of this pit once John checked out the jumper's systems.

She brushed her bangs from her forehead with the back of her hand. This wasn't how she'd envisioned her return trip to Athos, scrambling to stay alive, instead of doing the soul searching she'd planned. Yet, somehow, she didn't seem to mind it much. Their predicament forced her to concentrate on living and not dying. Deep down, she knew she'd spent far too much time lately dwelling on the dead.

oOoOoOoOo

John was in the pilot's seat running systems checks as Teyla entered the jumper. She sat down beside him in the copilot's seat. He punched in the gate address for Atlantis and said, "Atlantis, this is Jumper Three. Can you read me?"

John waited for a moment. "Atlantis, this is Sheppard, do you copy?"

There was still no reply. He sighed, glancing at Teyla. "On the off chance you can hear this message but we can't receive you, this is our situation."

After giving a brief description of their location, he added, "Just look for the hole in the ground the size of Manhattan. This is Sheppard signing off."

He looked over at Teyla. "They are probably gearing up to come to our rescue as we speak," he said with a wink.

She frowned. "Do you think Atlantis is not answering because of the maintenance work Dr. Zelenka and his teams were going to perform?"

Sheppard pursed his lips together as he thought. "Damn, I forgot about that. Well, we should still try them every half hour, just in case."

Standing, he peeked out the front window, but there was little to see beyond the rocks that sat a few feet in front of the forward window. "Until we get through to them, we should see what we can do to get ourselves out of here."

"Perhaps we can dig enough to clear the jumper without – " Teyla said as she started to stand. She sank back into her seat though, closing her eyes for a moment as the pain in her side flared again. When she opened them, Sheppard was in front of her with the jumper's medical kit in hand.

"Hey, now, don't go passing out on me," he said softly. "Just how badly were you hurt?"

She smiled for his benefit. "I will be fine in a moment."

Sheppard eyed her carefully, causing her to touch his arm. "Really, it is just sore."

"Well, give yourself a chance to recover. That was one hell of a trip we had coming down – definitely an E ticket ride."

As he opened the medical kit, he frowned, glancing at the forward window again, squinting to look out of the half of the window that wasn't covered with dirt, rock or mud. She could see him deep in thought about the best way to resolve their problems when he realized his attention had wandered. "Sorry, let's see what you've done to your side."

She leaned back in her seat and unzipped her tac vest, then her jacket. Sheppard carefully lifted the lower edge of her shirt enough to see the bandage. Cursing, he pulled the adhesive of the bloody bandage away. When she glanced down, she saw some of her stitches had indeed pulled free and the wound was bleeding.

Shaking his head, he opened a field dressing and wrapped it around her, muttering, "Beckett is never going to let you go anywhere with me ever again – "

Then he paused, realizing what he'd just said. He closed his eyes for a moment and stammered, "I mean – Keller won't – ah, damn it to hell."

He had started to pull away when Teyla touched on his shoulder. "We all miss him, John. Even though our minds know that he is gone, our hearts still refuse to accept it. It is a tribute to the man that he permeates our subconscious so completely that we struggle to keep him alive in our thoughts."

Sheppard's head hung down for a moment. "Atlantis just isn't the same without him," he said softly.

"I know," she answered as she squeezed his shoulder, sharing a quiet moment of openness, something so subtle the average person wouldn't take note, but with John Sheppard, the moment spoke volumes. Then it passed and he backed away a little, opening some gauze pads to put a couple against her bleeding temple.

"Here, keep pressure on that. I'm going outside while the diagnostics run to see if we have any other visible damage...as in the drive pods, otherwise we might be walking home."

Suddenly, she felt responsible for their current plight. She sighed, causing him to eye her more closely again, though she avoided his gaze. After a moment, she said, "Perhaps you should have just dropped me off when you had the chance..."

He gave her a big smile along with two tablets of Tylenol and a bottle of water. "And miss this big adventure? Do I have wimp tattooed on my forehead?" He winked at her as he stood.

"Take the Tylenol. I'll be right back. I'm going to check out the communications array up top. Rest while I'm gone."

With that, he disappeared out the back of the jumper.

oOoOoOoOo

Chapter 2