Daniel ran his hand over the carvings on the wall, brushing away dust and cobwebs that had collected over a century. According to Ka'eo that is at least as long as this research station had been abandoned.

In an attempt to satisfy Daniel's request to see ruins and Sam's request to see technology and the Whyte's need to get closer to Mt. Honua, Ka'eo had brought them one hundred klicks off the coast of Haena to a smaller island. In days far out of memory, according to Ka'eo, it had been the center of worship of the god Mauai. The old temple had eventually been converted to an unmanned volcano watch station and then abandoned when it was obvious that Mt. Honua seemed destined to remain quiet. The occasional rumble and slow ooze of lava from the fissures on its ancient sides had not been enough to continue funding the project, Ka'eo explained.

Scotty and Annie had tagged along just for fun. Jack had arrived through the Star Gate just in time to join the group.

From the outside the building looked like any of dozens of temples they had discovered over the years. It was dirt-streaked white marble overgrown with vines as the surrounding jungle sought to reclaim it. The roof may once have been reeds or palm fronds but had been replaced with the silver metal common on many of the buildings in the city. The inside was just as dust and vine covered but any resemblance to a temple ended abruptly inside the first door. The inside strongly looked like an air traffic control room, with consoles and instruments everywhere. The only hint that this had once been a temple was in the fading painting and carvings on the wall.

Sam was at the far side of the large room trying to pry a panel off a control panel. Jillian was brushing dirt off a section of painting, trying to get a better look. Jack was prowling the room looking unhappy that there was only one exit and no doubt wishing he hadn't left his sidearm back in tower room on Haena.

Scotty, Annie, the Whytes and Ka'eo had opted to take a walk up a short trail to the top of the island to see what Ka'eo claimed was a truly spectacular view of the volcano.

"What does it say?" Sam asked Daniel.

Lost in a translation, it took Daniel a moment to respond. Even after eight years he still seemed slightly startled when someone took an interest in what he was doing.

"This?" He asked, pointing to it. "Well, it's not instructions for whatever you're looking at over there. It's ummm, a prayer or a blessing. It may even be a song. There is a lot of repetition."

Sam straightened up and gave him a look of affectionate exasperation.

"What does it say?" She repeated.

"Oh!" Daniel looked back at it, so he missed the look that passed between Sam and Jillian. "It, ummm, it says:

"Safeguard us

That we may flourish in the heavens

That we may flourish this place

That we may flourish in these islands

Grant us knowledge

Grant us strength

Grant us intelligence

Grant us understanding

Grant us insight

Grant us power

The prayer is lifted, it is free."

He paused and looked at Sam. "There's more," he said.

"Go on," Sam encouraged.

Daniel looked skeptical for a moment but kept reading.

"Ancestors from the rising to the setting sun

From the zenith to the horizon

Ancestors who stand at our back and front

You who stand at our right hand

Hear us cry from across the heavens

A breathing in the heavens

An utterance in the heavens

A clear, ringing voice in the heavens

A voice reverberating in the heavens

Calling to you

Beseeching you

We are here

Here are your descendants

Find us. Come to us."

The women were quiet for a moment when he was done and then Jillian said,

"It sounds as if they were reaching out to the people of Earth. They knew this was not their original home."

"So it seems," Daniel agreed.

"So we have what then? Proof of what we already knew?" Jack asked. He had stopped pacing at a midway point between Sam and the door.

Daniel stared at Jack for a moment and then said, in a low, deadly, toneless voice. "Yes, Jack. That's exactly what it means."

He moved to another series of writings on the wall and Jillian moved with him. They all worked in silence for a few minutes. Jack resumed his circuit of the room, pausing by the door for a bit; and then a soft rumbling caught all their attention.

SGC trained and experience honed they all froze. For a moment it seemed like thunder but it had been a clear day with clear skies in all directions when they had entered the temple. Then it got louder and sounded like heavy machinery. Then they saw the dust begin a frantic, helpless dance as it responded to vibrations that were still too tenuous to feel.

All at once they realized what it was.

"Down!" Jack shouted, "Earthquake! Sam!"

He started to run across the room but the floor pitched wildly at that moment and turned it into a graceless stagger. Sam turned towards him and took a step, looking around for a table close enough, a door frame, anything; but then it was too late. The snarl of tearing earth exploded into a roar, shaking them so hard that teeth rattled and the vibrations could be felt in their bones.

Daniel launched himself at Jillian, grabbed her around the waist and hauled her without ceremony under a metal table. The tile floor beneath them was swaying, gently at first and then with increasing force. Daniel wrapped both arms around her, held her head against his shoulder with one hand and curled the rest of his body around her in a tight ball. He pulled his glasses off just as everything began to shake in earnest.

"Jack!" He shouted, unable to see where his team mates were.

"Stay where you are!" Jack ordered, hollering over the sound of nature rearranging the land.

Daniel curled up even tighter, protecting her with his arms and legs, his back and shoulders, as a cascade of broken roof tiles began thundering on the table above their heads. A cracking noise preceded the sound of something heavy splintering and crashing somewhere near the door.

"Daniel," Jillian whimpered.

A screech of ripping metal prevented him from answering. There was another crash and more tiles rained from the ceiling.

It lasted no more than seconds but at last the rippling floor lay still and the last of the ceiling trickled down with a slither of plaster. Metal groaned and then fell silent.

"Jack!" Daniel yelled, at the same moment that Jack yelled, "Daniel!"

"Yeah," Daniel said. He loosened his hold on Jillian enough to lean back, take her face between his hands and look down into her wide eyes. She nodded in answer to his unspoken question. "We're fine but, uh….." He put his glasses back on and looked around. There was nothing but slabs of stone and metal surrounding the table, "I think we're trapped under here."

"All right, stay there. Sam!"

They all waited for Sam to respond. Long seconds passed. Jillian gripped Daniel's forearms and looked up at him, fighting panic.

"Sam!" Daniel shouted.

There was still no answer.

"Jack, can you see her?"

"Not from where I am. There's nothing where she was but a cabinet that fell off the wall."

"Sam!" Daniel yelled louder.

The room shivered suddenly and metal moaned again.

"Jack, what's the room look like?"

"It's bad. A couple of roof supports are down, a couple more are hanging by a thread. Stay there!"

Daniel could hear the sound of debris being tossed aside. Something trickled onto the metal table. A twist of metal next to them was hauled backwards and dust-flecked daylight poured into the opening. Jack bent down and peered in at them. His face was chalked with white dust and there was a cut on his temple.

"Doing okay?"

"Oh yeah, this is great, couldn't be better," Daniel quipped.

"All right, you can get out as soon as there is somewhere to go. Right now you're safer under there."

"What about Sam?"

"I'll get her," Jack said, with grim determination.

Daniel peered out through the narrow opening. It was just wide enough for him to see Jack wading through knee-deep debris. Beneath the noise he was making they could hear the ominous tick-by-tick sound of stone and plaster continuing to splinter from the stress.

"Daniel," Jillian whispered again.

He looked back at her again in alarm. "What? Are you hurt?"

"No, I don't think so. But what if there are aftershocks? The roof…."

Daniel took her face between his hands. "Shhhh. Shhhhh. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You know that."

Her hand gripped his wrist. "What about you?" she asked.

Daniel didn't have an answer for that. He was willing to risk his own death or serious injury to protect her and they both knew that. He had looked death in the face and never blinked too many times in his career and sometimes death even won – for a time.

But he wasn't going to lose Jillian and if it was at all possible, he wasn't going to make her live without him ever again.

Then his attention was caught by Jack hurling a broken cabinet out of the way to reveal Sam. She was lying on her side with blood trickling from a cut on her forehead. Her eyes were closed and she was pale.

Jack kicked more rubble out of the way and knelt, leaning over to listen for her breathing. When he sat back up his fingers were resting on her throat, on her carotid artery. His silence was unbearable.

"Is she all right?" Daniel demanded.

"No, Daniel she is not all right. In case you missed it, she's unconscious and bleeding in a room that just got trashed by an earthquake."

"Jack!" Daniel growled, impatiently.

O'Neill relented.

"She's breathing and her pulse is strong." He shook her gently, "Sam! Sam, wake up."

But she remained unresponsive and Jack shot Daniel a grim look.

"That's three," Daniel commented.

Jack stared, blank. "Three what?" he asked.

"Three times you've called her Sam. I haven't heard you call her anything but Carter in seven years. Well, six considering the year I wasn't with you…."

"Daniel!"

"What"

"We're gonna do this now? Seriously?"

Daniel blinked.

"Okay, yeah. What's the situation then?"

Jack looked up. "The ceiling is cracking."

The splintering sound was getting more insistent, accompanied now by the unmistakable sound of bending metal.

From outside there was a sudden sound of voices, one much louder than the rest.

"Jillian!"

She looked up, startled. "That's Scotty."

Of course, Daniel thought. Like all members of an SGC team, Scotty would be more worried about Jillian than anyone else.

"Lawrence!" Jack yelled.

"Yes sir!" The response came back with military precision. "How are you all doing in there, sir?"

"Is everyone out there all right?"

"Yes sir! We all got knocked off our feet but no one is hurt. Ka'eo is taking the Whytes back to the main island. She called for help. What is your situation, sir?"

There was a loud crack as a beam in the ceiling began surrendering to the stress.

"I don't think help from Haena is going to get here fast enough," Jack said.

Jillian moved closer to Daniel, clinging. He wrapped his arms around her tighter.

"Our situation is not good," Jack hollered, "Captain, do not attempt to get through the front of this building. I repeat, do not touch the front of this building. The roof is about to come down."

"Understood, sir. Suggestions?"

Jack looked around and then looked at Daniel.

"I got nothing. Any move we make is likely to bring this whole place down on us."

Daniel's eyes tracked back and forth rapidly behind his glasses, as if he was scrolling through possibilities in his mind and just as quickly discarding them.

"Ummm, ummm, Prometheus!"

"It can't get here any faster than help from the main island," Jack said.

"But it as the new Asgard beam," Daniel said, "They can beam us out of here."

"They need to know where we are," Jack countered, "We need locator beacons. Happen to have one?"

"Not on me," Daniel admitted.

"What about Keeper?" Jillian said, suddenly.

"Keeper? Rand?" Jack repeated. "The robot guy?"

"No, no, she's right," Daniel said, his brain already running ahead to Jillian's point. "He can use one of the mapbots to get in here with the locators."

Jack held Daniel's eyes for a moment. "Could work," he admitted. "Lawrence!"

"Sir!" Scotty shouted.

"Get on the radio. Contact Prometheus. Tell them we need Dr. Rand, one of his robots and four locator beacons and we need that five minutes ago."

"Yes, sir!" Scotty sounded unbelievably relieved to have something to do.

"Daniel," Jack said.

"What?"

"I need your help."

"Doing?"

"We have to find an opening big enough for a mapbot to get in here."

Daniel frowned and shook his head. He didn't want to leave Jillian, but Jack was right. He held her tight for a moment.

"I'll be right back."

Jillian didn't argue.

Daniel crawled slowly out into the wreckage. He risked a glance at the ceiling and found it sagging dangerously, hairline cracks inching wider. The remaining support beams looked like kindling. He muttered a particularly foul curse in Chinese under his breath.

"We should get Sam under the table."

Jack shook his head emphatically but didn't look happy. "No, she could have a back injury, or worse. Not moving her. We get out of here, Daniel."

Overhead there was another loud crack by the door. Jack and Daniel threw themselves against the back wall, covering Sam, as a huge section of roof cascaded down. One of the support beams simply buckled and cracked in two. Dust and debris rained on them. When it cleared there was a huge chunk of roof teetering precariously on a few broken beams, air and the sincere will power of Jack and Daniel.

"Daniel!" Jillian cried.

"It's okay! We're fine"

Jack and Daniel stood up, cautiously.

"Well the bad news is that the door is even more blocked," Jack said.

"There's good news?" Daniel wondered, ruffling dirt and broken tiles out of his hair.

Jack gestured to the top of the front wall. "We don't have to look for an opening anymore."

Daniel followed Jack's hand with his eyes. Sure enough there was daylight streaming through a sizable hole in the wall where the ceiling had once been.

"General O'Neill!" Scotty's voice called. "Dr. Rand is here!"

"General?" Keeper's voice sounded shaky. "I've got one of the mapbots, sir. Clover. But she can only carry two of the locators at a time. They weren't designed to carry weight at all really. I could probably make a few modifications in the future but this isn't what they were originally meant to do…."

"Rand! Send them in!" Jack ordered. Under his breath he muttered, "Scientists."

"Sam and Jillian first," Daniel said, unnecessarily.

"Ya betcha," Jack replied.

A soft whirring noise announced the arrival of Clover. The small 'bot was moving like a drunken bumblebee. There were two black shapes duct taped to the top of it. Jack surged forward through the mess to grab it.

"Bring it down, Keeper!" Daniel shouted.

Clover dropped and Jack grabbed it.

"Shut it off!" He yelled and Clover stopped struggling in Jack's grip.

Jack ripped the tape off and tossed a beacon to Daniel, who was still standing by Sam. He knelt and put it in Sam's hand. He pushed it and Sam vanished in a familiar blue-lit whine.

Jack pushed forward once again to the table and tossed the other beacon under it for Jillian.

"Daniel!" she said.

"Go! For gods' sake, Jillian!"

Another blue-lit whine sounded and Daniel was helplessly, achingly grateful for it. Looking at Jack he saw the same emotion reflected back at him.

"Rand!" Jack yelled. "Recall this little beast!"

Clover stirred back to life, lifted and shot back towards the opening in the ceiling. The loosely balanced section of roof groaned and shifted. Jack moved towards Daniel, herding him bodily up against the rear wall. It wasn't going to do much good and they both knew it. If that slab came down it was going to bring the rest of the roof with it.

"General, Clover is coming back!" Keeper hollered.

"Okay," Jack said. He started to move into the center of the room again and Daniel grabbed his arm. The roof slab was starting to shift downward, like the slow motion start of an avalanche.

Clover showed up again, moving fast.

"Straight!" Jack yelled. "Just stay that course! …. Okay, shut it off!"

Clover dropped out of the air millimeters before it would have either hit the wall or veered in another direction. Jack was still catching it as Daniel ripped the tape back. They hit the signal on the beacons just as roof teetered, rocked and gravity won. The slab came slamming down above them.

The last thing they saw before it would have crushed them was the shimmer of blue that heralded the Asgard transporter beam.

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