Chapter Eight
"No," Teyla whispered as she stared at the landslide slipping down the edge of the sinkhole toward the jumper. She started forward and the whisper became a shout, even though she knew there was no way for McKay to hear her warning. "Rodney, look out!"
Ronon grabbed her arm as the lightest of the debris started bouncing down upon them just ahead of the main mass and he pushed her in the opposite direction, shouting, "Go!"
Pebbles and stones flew through the air like a hail storm. Teyla finally gave in and ran beside Ronon, ignoring the way the stuff buffeted her back as they fled the campsite. She hit her radio. "Rodney, brace yourself!"
"For what?" McKay said, the words barked at her in panicked alarm.
"There is a landslide descending upon you!"
"Ah, crap," he said. "You're kid–"
The rest of his words were obscured by the noise of a hundred thousand tons of earth moving. She started to turn around to check on the jumper's status, but Ronon grabbed her arm and pulled her along until they had run about fifty yards, then he stopped, pivoting to look back behind them.
Teyla spun around, too, almost afraid to see what had happened to the jumper. She put a hand to her mouth as the last of the shifting debris blanketed the small craft, spilling down to completely envelop the rear of it. Only the starboard side and half of the forward viewport remained visible. She took a few steps forward, shaking her head, then she glanced back at Ronon. His expression held the same level of horror and disbelief she was feeling.
He looked over at her and they rushed forward as one. Concern fueled their momentum, but dread was also slowing them down. She ran, not really aware of crossing the distance between them and the jumper.
They separated once they reached the ship; Ronon headed for the rear hatch while she ran to the forward window. "Rodney? How are you?" she asked as she climbed on top of a few rocks to get a better vantage point.
"Rodney?" she asked next, pausing to rub the sleeve of her jacket across the muddy viewport to clear it, then her breath caught when she saw Sheppard and McKay sprawled on the floor of the jumper. She pounded on the windshield and called to them, knowing deep down it was unlikely to generate a response. "John! Rodney!"
"The rear hatch is totally blocked, " Ronon said breathlessly as he jogged to the front of the jumper holding his arm, running apparently taking its toll on him. "How are they?"
Teyla shook her head, unable to speak for a moment, and fought back the urge to cry. Finally, she caught Ronon's gaze. "They appear to be unconscious," she said, her voice sounding just as shaky as she felt.
Ronon climbed up beside her. "What happened to McKay?"
"I do not know, but he is lying on the floor in the forward section – "
She gasped as she saw several whispery tendrils of smoke coming from the access panel Rodney had been working on. She pointed to it. "Ronon, there is smoke at that access panel!"
Ronon moved closer to the window to get a better look. "Something must have happened in the landslide," he said grimly.
She nodded, then she stared at the smoking panel, frantic with worry. Sheppard was lying in the rear compartment just as they'd left him while McKay was on his stomach inside the forward compartment. We have to find a way inside, somehow, some way...
Then she remembered the radio in her tac vest. She switched it on and said in a rush, "John, Rodney, can you hear me?"
She looked at the window, and then at Ronon, hoping against hope for a reaction. Swallowing hard, she called again, but didn't receive a response. Ronon slammed a fist against the windshield. "Come on, you guys!"
The two didn't move and Teyla didn't know what to do next. She looked at her trembling hand still pressed against the windshield and realized she was shaking all over. Her adrenaline rush was peaking out, leaving her much frailer than she wanted to admit.
"There has got to be something we can do to help them," she said, her voice breaking from the emotion overwhelming her. "I will not lose another friend so soon, let alone two of them. I will not!"
Unable to remain still, she climbed down from the windshield and ran to the rear of the jumper, having to detour around a tree that was trapped near the front. She stopped short when she saw the rear of the jumper was completely covered by fallen earth, just as Ronon had said. She paced a few more steps, taking in the new view, amazed at the sheer volume of earth that had been moved in the slide. A good quarter of the sinkhole had been affected to some extent, certain areas more deeply buried than others, especially south of their position, up to and including the rear of the jumper, but luckily it hadn't enveloped the small ship completely.
Teyla put her hand to her forehead as she tried to get her thoughts organized into a rescue plan. The sweat generated from running to the jumper now made her feel even more chilled and fevered. But it didn't matter. Not until they found a way to get to John and Rodney.
She turned and saw Ronon approaching behind her. "Take it easy, Teyla. You're hurt and – "
She flashed him an angry glare that stopped him in mid-sentence. Her jaw was tight as she said, "We will deal with my condition once we know for sure if John and Rodney are still alive!"
Ronon put up his hand and walked down the length of the jumper, shaking his head. "I know what you're feeling – I feel the same way – but you shouldn't be wasting energy you don't have to spare. We have to face facts. The only access point into the jumper is blocked. There's no way to get inside, except through the rear hatch."
Teyla found herself breathing fast and shallow as she whispered, "But John will need another treatment and his fever – "
Ronon nodded and practically growled as he headed for the rear of the jumper. "Then we'll have to dig them out."
Without tools, he began moving the rubble with his hand, tossing it behind him as fast as he could move. Teyla spied the shovel Sheppard had been using earlier and grabbed it. She rushed to Ronon's side and began working, but just as quickly as they pushed the debris away, more took its place.
In his fervor, Ronon slipped on some of the rubble and fell. He gasped, then muttered a Satedan curse and rolled on the ground for a moment. Teyla knelt beside him, putting a hand to his shoulder. She took a deep breath and said, "This is getting us nowhere. You were right before. We must stop and think before we act."
Ronon bit his lip and nodded as he held his arm close to him, disappointment and pain twisting his handsome features. She patted him on the arm, then stood and offered a hand to help him up. She had no way of knowing how or what, she only knew they had to do something to save their friends.
oOoOoOoOo
Hours later, Teyla watched the falling rain as it hit the ground outside of their sheltered area, and sighed. Rodney's earlier recitation of the ways one could die from too much rain echoed through her thoughts. He should have added being trapped in a buried jumper under a hillside of debris to the list. Luckily, the smoke coming from the access panel had stopped, so it appeared death by smoke inhalation was no longer a concern.
She zipped her jacket all the way up, but she still shivered. Her fever had remained, stubborn and rising, and her side ached more than ever. Ronon had a fire going, utilizing the shelter of a huge tree that had been trapped toward the front of the jumper to their advantage. The tree draped over them with enough clearance from the ground to walk around without bending over or worry about the tree catching on fire, but it also had enough foliage to protect them from most of the rain, except when the wind gusted, which was happening with greater frequency. It felt like another big storm was moving in.
She'd found the backpack she'd abandoned the day before beside the stream and was doing an inventory of their supplies. Looking to the river, she told herself water wasn't going to be a problem, but all they had to eat was a handful of power bars and whatever edible vegetation they could find. It was enough to survive on until Atlantis sent help, but she worried about the status of her friends inside the jumper.
Ronon had grown very quiet over the last half hour after busying himself with the fire, then he stood suddenly, tossing aside a stick he had in his hand. "I'm going to do another recon around the area. There's got to be something we can do to – "
She reached up from where she was kneeling with the backpack and put a hand to his wrist. "We have already circled the area twice. What makes you believe a third trip will uncover something new?"
He growled and pulled away, lifting up a tree branch so he could leave the sheltered area. "Then I'm going to work on digging them out again."
She stood, though her movements weren't nearly as graceful as his. "And I have lost count of the number of times we have tried that. The rubble just keeps shifting downward. Please, sit and eat."
For a moment, she thought he was going to bolt away to either scout the area or dig at the rubble again, but he stopped and turned to her. "We have to do something," he said, not willing to give up.
His frustration was so palpable she thought she could reach out and touch it as it hung in the air between them, then she softened her voice as she said, "We have done all we can for the moment. Perhaps after we eat and rest a moment, we will think of something more useful."
He sighed heavily and she wasn't sure what he was going to do, but finally he let go of the tree branch and turned back toward her to sit beside the fire. Ronon's facial features were tight with pain, and though he hadn't said a word of complaint, she knew his arm was bothering him and the cold rain didn't help.
Teyla followed him there, though if the truth be told, food and rest were the last things on her mind. She sat down carefully, guarding her side and caught Ronon eyeing her in the same way she'd just done him. Not acknowledging his concern, she handed him a power bar and the canteen, saying, "We will have to share the canteen, but we have plenty of power bars. And here are some sonit roots. They are on the bitter side, but they have nutritional value."
Ronon nodded and took the food she'd offered. He ripped open the power bar with his teeth due to his broken arm and took a bite before glaring at her. "How can you stay so calm? Just waiting around doing nothing is killing me."
"I was not very calm earlier," she said with some embarrassment.
"You were scared for Sheppard and McKay. It passed quickly. Couldn't tell it to look at you now."
She smiled and opened her own power bar, but didn't eat. "I learned long ago that two very important principles can help one survive almost anything."
Talking around the food in his mouth, he asked, "And what's that?"
"Patience and vigilance." She looked into the fire that was sending up a plume of smoke as she continued, "The ability to wait until there is something useful to do, instead of wasting valuable energy, as you so wisely pointed out earlier. The second is to keep one's mind open for any possible resolution to the problem at hand."
"Patience and vigilance, huh?" Ronon thought about it for a moment as he took another bite of his power bar, finishing it off.
He relaxed a bit, but remained silent as he picked up a sonit root. He sniffed at the dark green twisted root. "Makes sense. One of my comrades in the Satedan military said everything came from wait and hope."
She smiled sadly. "I can endure waiting most of the time, but hope has become a very precious commodity."
He looked at her more closely. "You mean because of what happened with Carson?"
She nodded, then looked up and saw him watching her with more concern. She rubbed her aching forehead and waved a hand. "Do not listen to me. This melancholy will pass with time."
"Is that why you wanted to come here?"
She stretched the tight muscles in her neck and thought for a moment, then nodded. "I feel a little like that tarksmer I knew as a child...hurt, tired, and in need of more than I can provide for myself. I thought maybe coming here might help give me a better perspective on what was troubling me."
"You'll get past this," he said softly.
She stared into the fire, nodding. "It all seems so unimportant when I think of Rodney and John trapped like they are. This entire trip was a mistake, one that all of you have had to pay for with your blood."
Ronon chuckled as he tossed away the remnants of his sonit root. "Don't you remember? We invited ourselves along for the ride. Whatever happens rests solely on our shoulders."
Teyla felt her expression tighten, and she blinked several times, but couldn't stop a tear that rolled down her cheek unbidden. She almost rejected Ronon's compassion and kindness because she was so at odds with herself, yet part of her wanted to embrace his friendship and comfort. Angry at her roller-coaster emotions, she started to stand, but Ronon stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Teyla..."
She moved past him and stood, but had nowhere to go. Brushing the tear from her cheek, she blinked and stammered, "I – I came here to meditate, to think things through, but right now, all I can think of is – "
He stood, turning to face her, his hand going to her shoulder to gently hold her in place. "Look, I know I'm not as smart as McKay and Sheppard, or as patient and insightful as you are, but I do know this – sometimes all we have left is hope. And hope is telling me we will make it out of here alive. Sheppard would tell you that himself if he was standing here. You have to believe we can make it, even if everything else says it's impossible."
He squeezed her shoulder. She put her head against his chest and sighed. Some of the turmoil inside of her eased as he wrapped his arm around her back and held her tight. After a moment, she pulled away a little and put a hand to his chest as she whispered, "Thank you for your insightful wisdom, Ronon Dex. You discount your own abilities too easily."
She took a deep breath and rested her cheek against his chest again. "You would not have been able to stay alive as a Wraithrunner for as long as you did without them."
"What are you talking about? I'm a hothead," Ronon said with a smirk as he let go of her. "A very determined hothead at times and I get lucky a lot, so I guess it works for me."
She settled against the side of the jumper, the warmth of the nearby fire again seductive. "If that is what you chose to call yourself. I think in other terms. What you might call a hothead can be a great asset if probably channeled. You are an aggressive foe and I will be forever grateful that you are on my side and not that of my enemy. As for luck, I would say you are always prepared, which makes it difficult for someone to take you by surprise."
Ronon pulled away. "Aggressiveness and being prepared aren't exactly what we need right now. We need McKay up and about. He'd find a way in if you and I were trapped inside the jumper and they were out here."
She shook her head. "No, not when there is no other way available. Even Rodney cannot provide miracles when there is nothing to work from."
She put her hand to her side as she tried to find a comfortable position. When he didn't say anything more, she glanced over at Ronon to find him watching her closely.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her after a moment.
She sighed. "I am surviving like you. I only pray Rodney and John are all right. John is long overdue for another application of the healing salve and Rodney's condition is unknown. I worry for both of them."
Ronon looked away toward the front of the jumper. "Sheppard's tough. So is McKay. Not that McKay would ever admit it." He reached over and added some more wood to the fire. "Hey, how do you know so much about treating a skree bite?"
She took a deep breath. "We have history, the skree and I. Though, I have never heard of them attacking so recklessly before. They must be completely unnerved by the situation involving the sinkhole."
Ronon was silent for a moment before he asked, "What kind of history?"
She felt her gaze grow distant as she let out a long breath. "The kind that comes from personal experience. I have known others who were bitten by the skree, myself included."
He sat up a little. "You were? When?"
"When I was fourteen. I was with Charin on a trip to gather medicinal supplies. A skree attacked. I managed to kill it before it could harm Charin, but in the process, it bit me. Somehow, Charin got us to safety. I would have died if it hadn't been for her and the healing salve she made for me."
"You killed one of those skree at fourteen?" He grunted, eyeing her with appreciation, then he smiled. "That doesn't surprise me much, having been on the receiving end of your wrath before."
She put her uneaten power bar back into her pocket and sighed. "My wrath won't do much for us at the moment."
"Maybe not. At least you know firsthand that the cure works."
Teyla felt her expression tighten as she looked into the fire. She had to be honest with him. "Yes, but I didn't have John's other injuries to contend with, and I wasn't trapped in a jumper in an ever growing sinkhole, at least a day away from added assistance."
Ronon let his head dip down to catch her gaze. "Don't dwell on the negative. McKay does enough of that for all of us. And don't forget what we were talking about. Remember hope."
She studied him for a moment. Hope almost seemed like a cruel taunt at the moment, but she decided not to say anything. Ronon saw her hesitation. His voice was low and soothing as he said, "What? You think there's no chance to rescue them, so why hope for a rescue? I'll tell you why, because after seven years on the run, hope was all I had to keep me going. I appreciate its worth. We'll find a way to get to Sheppard and McKay."
Though she avoided his gaze, she felt his eyes taking in her every move. Glancing away, she nodded. "Yes, of course, you are right."
When she looked up at him again, he had picked up a small stick and was pointing it in her direction. "You're not eating."
Not much escaped Ronon's attention, she thought, then she said, "I am not hungry."
When he started to speak, she quickly added, "But I will take some water."
He handed her the canteen. Once she had drank her fill, he stood. "Well, so much for patience and vigilance, I can't sit around anymore. I'm going to go check on them."
She followed him to her feet. "I will go with you."
They left the sheltered area and went to the forward viewport as they had done countless times since the landslide and looked inside. Even though hours had passed, neither Rodney or John had moved. Teyla tried her radio again, but knew it was pointless.
A fleeting thought made her breath catch. What if John and Rodney were both dead and that was the real reason why they weren't moving? She ached inside at the thought, then forced herself to consider only the things she knew with certainty and avoid giving into runaway fears. Ronon's reminder of hope echoed in her head. Did she dare hope they might still live?
Cupping her fingers around her eyes to block the outside light, she pressed her face against the windshield, watching Sheppard intently. She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she saw the slight rise and fall of John's chest. At least she thought he was breathing. The movement was so small, she might have been imagining it. Maybe the ability to hope, the possibility of believing in a positive outcome when there was nothing else to go by hadn't abandoned her completely.
Then McKay coughed and moved a little. She nearly yelped with joy as she reached for her radio. "Rodney! Rodney, can you hear me?"
He moved again, but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated.
Thank the Ancestors! They are both alive!
In a breathless tone, she said, "Rodney, you have to listen. If you look up, you can see us at the front of the jumper."
McKay rolled over, then groaned and held his head.
Ronon leaned close to Teyla's radio and shouted, "MCKAY, MOVE YOUR ASS!"
Teyla jumped, but not as much as Rodney did. He was up on his knees, looking around in the next instant, then he dropped and rolled onto his back, holding his foot up in the air as he cursed.
"Rodney, look at the forward view port," she said, relief evident in her tone.
After a moment, he looked at them from an upside down view and shook his head. He rolled over and stared at them in confusion, then he sagged back against the bulkhead wall and put a hand to his head. He gagged a few times, as if he was about to vomit, then just closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the wall.
Teyla called to him again. "Rodney, how are you doing?"
He reached down and gripped his radio. "You mean, how am I doing aside from the heart attack Chewie just gave me? Oh, I'm just fine. Thanks a lot, big guy."
"You're welcome," Ronon said back to him.
McKay looked up at them, his expression still confused. "What the hell happened? I was working on that access panel when you radioed, then all hell broke loose."
"It was a landslide. It must have done something to the ship's systems."
"Wonderful," McKay said with a whimper. His movements were shaky, his coloring poor, and Teyla could see a large ugly bruise forming on his forehead. "How long was I out?"
"It has been several hours," she said, pausing for a moment. "Rodney, I know you are hurt, but I need for you to check on John."
With the mention of Sheppard's name, McKay's whole focus shifted and he scrambled to the rear compartment. "Oh God, I forgot all about him," he whispered as he moved, limping badly.
He stopped beside the prone man and glanced up at Ronon and Teyla in fear, as if afraid to touch John and find out he was dead. Teyla nodded with encouragement and he reached forward to feel for a pulse. He squeezed his eyes shut and said, "I've got a pulse. It's faint and rapid, but it's there."
He straightened, looking at them through the windshield. "He's still feverish."
Teyla licked her lips as she assessed Rodney's information. "How does his shoulder wound look?"
McKay pulled back the gauze and frowned. "Ah, crap, it looks a lot worse. There's dark areas around the bite, and it's swollen, seeping and hot to the touch." He swallowed hard, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and backed away a little. "Actually, it looks pretty gross."
He turned back to her, looking scared and frustrated at the same time. "What the hell am I supposed to do? He needs a doctor, not someone who's fighting the urge to puke all over him."
"One thing at a time, Rodney. Do you see any changes to his other injuries?"
Rodney looked at Sheppard more closely and sighed. "No, nothing I can see, other than the bruises are darker, especially around his ribs on the left side."
She nodded, remembering the possible cracked ribs she'd found earlier. Rodney continued, "Who knows what he's got as far as internal injuries? Damn it to hell!"
"Rodney," Teyla said in a quiet tone, but firmly.
When he looked at her, she smiled at him, trying to send him courage across the distance separating them. "We cannot do anything about internal injuries at the moment, but John is long past due for another application of the healing salve. That is something we can remedy. I stored the salve in the medical kit. Can you find it?"
Rodney's gaze darted around, then he nodded as he bent to pick it up. He opened the case and grabbed one of the specimen jars Teyla had prepared.
"Yes, Rodney, that's it. All you need to do is apply the salve. Be sure to make the layer of salve thicker over the darkened areas."
He started to do as instructed, then backed away. "Will it hurt him like before?"
Teyla shook her head. "I doubt it. He seems to be deeply unconscious."
McKay nodded and he bent forward to apply the salve. As predicted, Sheppard didn't react at all, but that fact brought Teyla little solace. She spared a glance in Ronon's direction just as he slammed the palm of his hand against the jumper. "We need to be in there, not out here – "
She put a hand to his arm and squeezed gently. "It is what it is, Ronon. Nothing more, nothing less. At least Rodney is conscious now."
McKay's voice drew her attention back to him. "Okay, it's on. But – but he barely moved. I guess that isn't a good sign. Or is it? Damn it! Who knows? He was barely holding his own before – "
Rodney was working himself into quite a state. Teyla nipped it in the bud. "Very good, Rodney. What you just did will give him a much better chance to recover. Now, how are you?"
Her question took him by surprise. He glanced up at her, then looked away. "I'm–I'm fine, just beat up a little more...hit my head on something, and then there's my damned foot."
He looked back at Sheppard. "But compared to him, I'm the picture of perfect health."
Sheppard shivered slightly and Rodney tucked the blanket that had been over him a little more tightly, especially over his bare chest and shoulders. Teyla noticed for the first time how the floor of the jumper was strewn with items that came free when the jumper first fell into the sinkhole.
McKay rubbed one hand across the bruise on his forehead as he rested on his knees. His troubled gaze went to John again, then he touched John's forehead again. He glanced over to Teyla. "Sheppard's still got a fever. It seems better, but it's still there."
"Do you see your backpack? It's got the senta plant in it. Cut open the stalks and rub the juice across John's skin. It will help to bring down his fever."
"Yeah, okay," he said, his voice sounding a little weaker. "Wait. Ah, man, that's the stuff that stinks to high heaven, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is, Rodney, but its medicinal value is important."
"Not to my nose..." he muttered.
Rodney's movements were stilted and he kept reaching out to the bench seats beside him or the floor to steady himself. When he was done applying the juice, he sat down on his butt and rubbed his leg again until a thought struck him. He spun around and stared at them with eyes wide fear.
"Why – why haven't you guys tried coming In the rear hatch?"
His gaze narrowed as his mouth opened and closed several times, then he looked all around the interior of the jumper. "Oh, God, we're trapped in here, aren't we?"
He stood, beginning to panic as he looked around, then he stared out the forward window at them. "That's it, isn't it? Crap, that's it. No, not again. Geez, not again. I swore I wouldn't let myself to be trapped inside one of these things ever again."
Rodney's thoughts seemed as scattered as the paraphernalia on the floor as he backed himself into one corner of the rear compartment of the jumper, then slid down to the ground. There was a wild, glazed look in his eyes.
"Rodney?" she said, raising her voice.
He continued to mutter, "Not again..."
She called his name, practically shouting. "Rodney!"
He glanced up at her. The glazed look was not gone completely, but at least he was listening. She had to keep him busy or he'd panic again. "We will find a way to get to you and John, but you must remain calm. Can you check the jumper's systems? See if there was any additional damage done in the landslide?"
He said, looking a little confused. "Huh?"
"Rodney, do a systems check."
He rubbed a hand over his face and gave her a haunted look. "Systems check?"
She nodded. He glanced around, rubbing at his forehead, then it seemed his confusion eased and he looked more like his old self.
"Sure, why not? I've got nothing better to do," he muttered as he staggered to his feet, moving slowly, and limped to the cockpit.
Teyla felt guilty for making him move around when he was obviously injured. Ronon growled and slammed a fist against the jumper again, and she guessed he was feeling the same type of frustration she was fighting with.
"Damn, I must live a cursed life," Rodney grumbled. "I should live in a padded cell with the kind of luck I have. Whatever made me want to leave the safe secure life I had back in the Milky Way galaxy? Well, aside from the fact I was totally bored out of my skull..." Rodney said as he sat in the pilot's seat and the HUD popped up immediately.
From their vantage point, she could see he'd brought up the jumper's main diagnostic menu. Rodney stared at it for a minute, then cursed.
"What is it?" she asked.
He made a face and turned to the access panel he'd been working on before the landslide. "It looks like the repairs I made have just been undone...and we've got other problems. The port drive pod looks damaged. I'm not sure if it's the engine itself, or if it's the whole nacelle that's affected."
Teyla took a deep breath. "Try dialing Atlantis again. Maybe with the landslide, the rubble was redistributed in such a way that a communications signal would be able to escape the sinkhole."
"Yes, that's a very good idea," McKay said as he nodded with sudden excitement.
He quickly punched in the address, but there was no response. He repeated himself a few times, then switched off the DHD. The momentary exhilaration in Rodney's eyes dwindled as he caught Teyla's gaze and held it for a moment, then sighed and leaned forward, propping his elbows on the console and held his head.
There was a cough, then a groan from the rear of the compartment. When Teyla looked over, she saw Sheppard move, groaning again, loudly this time, but he was awake. McKay limped back to him, practically bubbling with joy. He sat down beside John.
"Finally decided to come back to life, Lazarus?" he asked, sarcasm replacing his relief.
Sheppard rolled a little on his side, put a hand to his shoulder and glared at McKay, his voice low and graveled. "This is what I get to wake up to? You're not exactly what I was hoping for, and quite frankly I deserve better."
"Well, it seems I'm all you've got, so deal with it." McKay leaned closer as John acted as if he wanted to sit up. Rodney didn't move to help him. Instead, he asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Do you want an honest answer?" Sheppard growled as he pushed himself up on one elbow. "Are you going to help me or what?"
"Do you think that's a good idea? I mean, you don't know – "
Sheppard slid himself closer to the bench seat to pull himself up. McKay sighed and put out his hands to help. "Here, let me help you before you fall flat on your face."
"Thanks," John said once he was situated, then he blinked and wiped the back of one hand across his forehead. He looked up at McKay and squinted. "Geez, McKay, you're filthy."
"And you aren't?" Rodney glanced forward. "Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the jumper. Hey, be nice, Teyla and Ronon are watching," he said, pointing to them.
Sheppard shifted to see them and waved a few fingers in their direction. "Why are you guys out there?" he asked, glancing to McKay leerily.
Rodney sighed. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
"That good, huh? Great."
"Remember when I swore I'd never be trapped in one of these things again?"
Sheppard looked over at him, locking onto his gaze. "That was underwater, Rodney. We aren't at the bottom of the ocean and you aren't at risk of drowning. We've got lots of air to breathe."
McKay rolled his eyes. "You like to point out the obvious, don't you, Einstein? Well, trapped is still trapped." He offered Sheppard one of the bottles of water Teyla had left out. "Thirsty?"
Sheppard took it and downed half of it before McKay stopped him. "Whoa, whoa, maybe you should take it a little easier."
John scowled, but nodded.
The two of them continued to talk as Teyla let out a slow breath and put her hand to her forehead. Minutes ago, she'd feared for her friends' lives. Now, they were both up and around, though no one would say either one of them looked well, especially Sheppard. In fact, he looked pretty bad.
The man's stamina and endurance was always something that amazed her, but John was only human and he'd been through much. It seemed ungrateful to expect much more than the miracle of knowing her friends were still alive, but as she watched the interactions between the two, she also felt a very strong surge of gratitude...and, yes, hope. Maybe it was about time for things to change for the better.
oOoOoOoOo