I guess this is turning into a three parter after all...

Part 2

By the time they had fought their way to the base of the waterfall, including two near misses as they had each lost their footing and slipped perilously close the edge on the steep path down, they were soaked to the skin and exhausted. The path behind the water was almost impossible to navigate in the dark, the torch succumbing to the wet after O'Neill had landed in a deep puddle. Staggering in to the cavern they fell in a heap on the stone floor leaning against one another for comfort and security.

"You alright, Carter?" O'Neill asked when he mustered sufficient breath.

"In one piece, sir," she replied painfully feeling the last of the adrenalin run out of her system. In reality her chest ached, her arms were painful and the skin on her hands hurt so badly she could barely move her fingers. Now that they were relatively safe she knew it was important to assess the damage and see how much trouble she was actually in.

"Do you have another flashlight?" she asked.

There were sounds of rummaging and suddenly the cavern was filled with a bright white glow. Both shielded their eyes until they could see properly again.

To their surprise the cavern was deep, going back far enough to get out of the waterfall's spray and to a place where they could hear each other without shouting. O'Neill picked up his pack in his spare hand and dragged it to the back of the cave, returning to help Carter make the same trip. In the glow of the flashlight he was able to see his major's soot covered face, missing eyebrows, and singed hair. As his eyes moved over her he realised her sleeves were scorched, through to the skin in some places. The backs of her hands were red, oozing and swollen. Between her fingers looked pink and sore but not burned to the same extent.

Carter followed his gaze and felt the blood run from her face. Despite the grime over her skin O'Neill, too, recognised her sudden pallor and lowered Carter to the ground gently. Sitting beside her, one arm wrapped around her back, he used his other hand to locate the first aid kit he carried in his backpack.

"Take it easy, Carter," he said quietly, "It's not so bad. You're going to be fine. I have a first aid kit in here somewhere. We'll get you patched up."

"Yes, sir, sorry, sir," she whispered, forcing a smile and swallowing the bile in her throat.

Exhausted, soaking, and injured Carter realised she had started to shiver involuntarily and she hugged he knees to her chest, looping her arms around her shins in a desperate attempt to preserve some heat. Looking across at O'Neill she could see he was equally sodden, tired and starting to shiver. She drew a deep breath, calming her anxieties, and let it out a little shakily with a few coughs. Forcing another long breath in she pulled herself together and began to assess the situation.

Whilst her kit bag was lost her utility vest contained energy bars, a small first aid kit, fire lighters, her radio, and a host of other useful survival equipment. Granted she had no dry clothes but the days had been bordering on hot on this planet and if they could make it until morning the sun would remedy that problem. They had O'Neill's kit bag which was guaranteed to have ration packs, clothes, his sleeping bag, space blankets, at least one bivvy bag, a stove, soup, and probably chocolate, all of which sounded wonderful at that moment. They had secured shelter, were, they thought, undetected by the enemy, and the rest of SG-1 knew where they were, so rescue was a strong possibility.

The immediate problem was warmth and getting something on her burns. O'Neill had produced his first aid kit and was lining up dressings and burn gel on his kit bag ready for use. On the floor were two rolls of material which Carter realised were two sets of mostly dry clothes.

"You certainly know how to pack a kit bag," Carter smiled up at him, the light of her smile reaching her eyes this time, "Don't suppose you have any candy in there do you?"

"There's shortcake. But only when we're dry and your hands are too covered in burn gel to be able to eat it," he teased with a grin.

Without another word he helped Carter remove her vest, her fingers unable to unfasten the clips. Professionalism took firm control as the colonel then unzipped her jacket and carefully helped her remove it. Getting the material over her hands was going to be impossible but as she was going to need the jacket for warmth when it was dry O'Neill took his knife and sliced each sleeve from wrist to elbow. Gently prying the away the burnt remnants of material from small burns on her arms he tried to ignore the look on Carter's face as she winced with pain.

Survival made it essential to shed all wet clothing so moving behind the major to allow for privacy he helped her strip bare and using a small micro-absorbent towel rubbed her back to stimulate the blood flow. Carter made a passing effort at drying her front but her grip was poor. O'Neill liberated one of his t-shirts from the pile on the floor and helped her struggle into it. He noticed, approvingly, that Carter was shivering a little less now. Removing trousers and pants was managed with similar decorum and Carter was soon sat on the floor of the cave dressed in the colonel's apparel. With his injured major now dry and warming up O'Neill quickly stripped himself, hurrying to cover up his cold skin which was covered in goose flesh. The colonel produced two foil blankets and draped one around Carter's shoulders, using the other for himself.

"Thank you, sir," Carter said appreciatively as he carefully tended to her burnt hands and arms. She watched, impressed by his proficiency as he spread the salve gently over every patch of red and swollen skin and wrapped her hands with strips of burn dressing.

O'Neill shrugged and looked up from what he was doing briefly, "How the hell did you end up like this anyway?"

She sighed a little, "Trying to rescue Shana. I didn't realise she was already dead."

"No pulling people from burning buildings in future, do you hear me, Major?"

"No, sir," she replied. The burn gel had ease the pain in her hands considerably and she was beginning to feel almost comfortable. "How many hours do you think we have before dawn?"

"I estimate three or four, enough for us to get a little rest. We need to be out of here in the next 12 hours or Doc Fraiser is going to skin me alive for my lousy dressings."

Carter laughed a little and yawned, "You'll get no arguments for me on that."

"Good," he said, and gestured to the sleeping bag laid out on the stone floor, "Now get some rest. I'll take first watch."