Debbie418uk2 - Yes, Rodney did give him a towel in your story, albeit a SMALL ONE! Lol! I know, poor John, right? I couldn't stop giggling at it as I read over it. I am mean to him, aren't I? LOL

Godsdaughter77 - Don't talk about 'bite's, I've done a chapter on John being bitten by the alien equivalent of a mosquito. LOL.

A slightly less humorous chapter, but I thought the ending was kind of cute. Enjoy and thank you for sticking with me! Lots of chapters to go yet and new ideas hitting all the time (due to combined muses, like my own little Sheppard fairy floating around, Debbie418uk2, the episodes and movies I've watched ;).

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(Earth, John's POV)

I remember thinking, this is nothing like the movie. Here I was, driving down the street when my phone rings. I'm not really sure who I expected it to be, but when I saw the N.O.R.A.D number, I immediately felt my heart drop.

They knew I was on my way to the SGC, I wasn't even due back for another two hours, so there didn't really seem to be any reason I could think of, to call me, unless something important came up.

Maybe it had something to do with the earthquakes in the area. Or maybe it had to do with the massive, dark cloud in the sky, that seemed to cover the city for miles.

That wasn't there yesterday, and didn't they forecast sunny weather for today? Either way, I quickly answered my phone. "Sheppard."

It was General Landry, informing me that the cloud I'd noticed, wasn't a cloud.

"Excuse me, sir, but… a volcano?!"

Evidently, a volcano had erupted about a mile north of my location, and though there wasn't much trouble yet from the lava, the smoke and heat were causing problems with evacuations in the area. Some of the SGC marines were being rerouted to the disaster, to help with evacuation of the civilians, and Rodney, Ronon and Teyla had already been dispatched to help, along with SG-1.

"Alright. I understand." Stopping at a red light, I ducked my head to check out all the traffic fleeing from the area, including several emergency vehicles. Once the light changed, I changed route to follow more army trucks to the eruption site. "I'm already on my way."

After hanging up, I checked to make sure I had all my electronics in the glove compartment of my truck, seeing as how the heat would probably melt the hell out of them, and turn them into useless scraps of metal. I also removed my black leather jacket, already noticing the raise in temperature.

Soon, I could see the source of what I had thought before was one massive cloud. There had been a small park, with a large water fountain in the center.

Notice I said 'had been'?

Now it was a massive hole in the ground, where lava was slowly raising up. A ridge had already formed, from the cooled lava, and more poured out of the opening, burning trees in fires, and slowly spreading destruction as it went. There was a massive column of smoke coming from the center of the hole, and it was spewing balls of how molten rock, which were landing everywhere.

"Damn!" I pulled over and jumped out of my truck, staring in shock at the volcano. It did seem to be a small one, but when it came to things like this, size didn't matter. It was still capable of causing massive destruction. I looked around and it only took me a moment to locate the others. I was about to run over, when a scream caught my attention. "What the hell?!"

I spun around, and found a young girl standing by a parked car. The lava hadn't gotten far, but it was nearing the road where she was. Unfortunately, that wasn't what she was screaming about.

"Oh, crap!" I don't even think I paused or hesitated. I only remember running towards her. I had to hop over the hood of the car, since lava had made it to the wheels on one side. Landing next to her, I grabbed her arm, seeing she was only about 15 and frowned at the smoking, fiery rock on the other side and turned back. "Come on, I'll get you out of here!"

"John! Hang on!"

Lifting the girl into my arms, I looked to the hood and paused. It wouldn't be so easy to jump, with her in my arms, but I could feel the heat by my feet, from the closing in lava.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back, and couldn't help but scream in agony, feeling my legs shake as I struggled not to collapse with the girl in my arms. Holy crap! What the hell?! That had been unexpected. Part of me wanted to turn and find out what hit me, but it hurt to much. Also, I had the girl in my arms, and if I turned, I risked exposing her to whatever had hurt me. I had to get her out of there!

But...how? I couldn't simply walk around the car, and the pain in my back made thinking clearly really difficult. I tried to lift my leg to the wheel, thinking to jump up on it and run over the hood, but moving my leg sent a fresh jolt of pain up my back, and I felt myself stagger, still trying my hardest not to lose the girl.

It was so hard. My legs felt like jelly, and my back hurt like hell. It felt like I'd been hit by something hard, but now like acid had been poured into the wound.

"Oh my god! Over here! I need help!" That sounded like Samantha Carter. "John! Just hang on a little longer! Hurry! Hurry!"

The heat was getting worse, and my feet were beginning to burn. The pain in my back had faded to a dull burning ache, but I knew the moment I moved, it would renew. Something landed on the door of the car, and I turned my head, wincing at the pain even that caused me, and saw a smoking ball of rock and molten lava stuck to the metal.

Oh, damn! Tell me that's not what hit me!

I felt a sudden movement in my arms, and managed to focus, seeing the girl turn and jump on to the hood of the car. Once she had her balance, she turned and held out her hand. Her eyes were blue and wide with terror, but at the same time, she looked like she couldn't imagine leaving me behind.

Everything was blurry. All I could think about, was the sharp pain in my back. It ran up my spine to my neck, and down to my feet. I couldn't move, as right at that moment, I felt like I was going to collapse if I tried.

Still, I managed to lift my hand to my back, feeling the sweat running down my face and the heat growing overwhelming at my feet.

"Oh, no. Colonel! Can you hear me?!" There was Teyla, I think.

The moment my hand touched the spot on my back, it burned too, and I cried out again, feeling tears leak out to join the sweat rolling down my face. I pulled back sharply, trying to tune out the agony, and saw the bits of rock on my hand.

Then another hand joined it.

Blinking, I swallowed heavily as I heard the car moving in front of me, and a feminine gasp.

"It's alright. You must jump. There."

That was Teal'c. I recognized his voice.

"Do not worry, I will get him to safety. Go, now."

Looking up as the small hand holding mine let go, I watched as she hesitantly turned and jumped off the other side, being caught by Cam Mitchell. Once he let her go, he pointed out to an ambulance and turned back, nodding at me.

I couldn't help but groan as a fresh wave of pain ran up my back.

"Colonel Sheppard. You must take my hand."

The heat became a burning, and I could hear my shoes sizzling as they began to melt. Frowning a little, I tried to take a step forward, and everything slid dangerously. I felt my legs give out, as a fresh wave of pain came over me, and saw two strong arms reach down to catch me.

(Hospital, Normal POV)

General Landry entered the small hospital room and looked at the sleeping John Sheppard. "How is he?"

"Burned up. The pain must have been excruciating. There was lava on the rock that hit him, and it burned into his back. When he touched it, it also burned his fingers. Luckily, we had something to help with that." Grinning a little, Sam raised an eyebrow and shrugged a little, hiding the small Tok'ra healing device she was holding.

Landry smirked back a little before handing over a briefcase. He knew Sam wouldn't have done much, so hopefully no one would have any questions, and the doctor looking over John was a confidant of the SGC. "How did things go with the evacuation?" Part of him wished they could do more, but there was only so much they could do without causing suspicion. Too many nurses and doctors saw him being wheeled in, on a stretcher. Those paramedics refused to be talked out of bringing him to a public hospital, and currently, General O'Neill was working on the paperwork to get John transferred to the secure SGC infirmary.

Not that, that's what anyone else would know. They'd see it as him being transported to a secure location, and that's all.

Quietly and quickly, Sam packed the device into the briefcase before sealing it up and handing it back.

"We managed to get everyone out safely. There were a few deaths, as to be expected..." There were several grim looks. "The girl didn't want to leave Colonel Sheppard, once she realized he got hurt, protecting her." Daniel looked to the door as the young girl walked into view and slowly entered, looking a little nervous. "Hello there."

Waving a little, she held a small stuffed bunny and wore white pants and a grey t-shirt. Her long blonde hair and blue eyes stood out almost vividly. "Will he be ok?"

General Landry nodded. "He'll be fine."

Nodding back, she walked in and stood by the side of his bed. She looked at him for a long moment before carefully leaning over, giving him a big hug, and putting the little stuffed bunny next to his head.

"Thank you." She smiled a little before waving to the others and leaving.

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Hope you like it.

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Thank you

Tenshi