Fading Memories
By Terri D. Thomas
Part 18
Jack turned his back to the cliff. He had been a fool for thinking that he could be lucky enough to stumble across his missing teammates so easily. He rubbed a hand over tired eyes and shook his head. 'Things like this are supposed to happen on a mission, not here. . .not in our own backyard,' he grumbled to himself.
Sam's voice interrupted him. "Sir, maybe we could keep look. . . ."
He cut her off. "No. Let's get back to the road. We're not doing any good up here." Then he paused for a moment. "Have they found anything?"
Sam glanced at the walkie-talkie that was strapped to her side. "Not that I've heard."
"Then let's get going." He moved past the woman and back down the faint trail from which they'd come. Suddenly a pain-filled yell and the sound of falling rocks met his ear.
He spun back to the cliff. "Carter?" he asked, assuming it came from her.
"Over there, Sir." The blond woman pointed to an area a few yards away.
Without waiting for more, Jack took off to the spot she had indicated. The two officers moved to the edge of the cliff and looked over. Neither could help the sudden inhalation of breath at the sight which met them.
"Daniel?" they shouted simultaneously.
Hanging from the cliff, just a few feet to the right of their position, was the oddest sight that either of them had seen in a long time. There, sprawled out against the cliff face, dangling, with nothing more to secure him than his left arm grasped around a small outcropping of rock, was the battered and bruised archeologist.
"Holy Hannah," Sam gasped. Then she finally found her feet and moved to the edge, the Colonel following close behind.
"How in the hell. . .," Jack growled.
Daniel, who had scrunched his eyes closed, afraid he would see the ground come rushing at him if he lost his grip, slowly opened on eye. "Jack. . .Sam?" he whispered as he found himself looking up at the two heads peeking over the edge. "You're here." The quiet words were filled with relief. However, with the relief came a relaxation of his muscles. Instantly, his arm began to lose its grip on the rock. "Whoa!" The relief turned to anxiety as he scrambled to regain his hold.
Recovering from his shock, Jack instantly threw his body on the ground and reached out to grab Daniel's jacket covered right arm. The younger man was within reach. It would be quite easy to pull him to safety.
Jack's fingers intertwined with the material. "Sam, hold my legs," he ordered. Sam sat securely on the ground and grasped the Colonel's ankles.
"I've gotcha, Danny," O'Neill mumbled.
Daniel looked up at his would-be rescuer. "Hurry. . .tired."
Jack yanked firmly on Daniel's arm, knowing that it would not take much to bring the smaller man up top. "Okay, you can let go. Just climb up with your feet. I'll pull you the rest of the way."
Daniel nodded, but said nothing more. Before Jack could make any progress, however, Daniel's cry of pain brought him to a screeching halt.
"Argh. . .," the man moaned. "Can't. . .."
"What's wrong?" the Colonel asked, confused.
"Shoulder. . .hurt," Daniel gasped.
Jack readjusted his position and moved closer to Daniel's left side. "Okay. This is going to be a little more difficult. Don't let go until I tell you to."
Jack firmly took hold of Daniel's left arm, but didn't pull on it until he was ready for Daniel to let go. He inhaled deeply and then turned to look at the Captain. "You ready?"
Sam nodded and tightened her hold on his ankles and making sure her own her feet were firmly anchored.
"Okay. . .let go." He couldn't help the grunt as his arms suddenly felt like they were being pulled from their respective sockets with the added weight of the doctor now dangling from his fingers.
Using every ounce of will he had, Jack slowly pulled Daniel from his precarious position. He could feel his load being eased periodically by Sam, who was pulling on his legs, and by Daniel, who was attempting to use his feet to boost his body higher.
Finally, the top half of Daniel's body cleared the edge. The doctor was lying face down on the ground, eyes tightly closed, panting.
Jack pushed himself up and moved to his friend's side. Sam followed suit, kneeling on the other side of the doctor. "Danny?" Jack whispered, a hesitant hand resting on his friend's face. "You okay?"
Daniel opened his eyes and turned his head so that he could easily see the Colonel. "Yeah. . . uh . . .thanks."
Jack lost the strength in his legs and collapsed to a sitting position next to the exhausted man. Sam brought her hand to his right shoulder, seeing the arm bent slightly under his body. "How bad's the arm?"
"It hurts. . .," Daniel whispered. Then suddenly the blue eyes widened. "Teal'c!" he gasped. "Teal'c needs help!"
Jack instinctively looked over the edge of the cliff expecting to see the Jaffa dangling below. He saw nothing. A cement block landed in the pit of his stomach. Hesitantly he asked, "Where is he?"
"Down below. . .hurt. . .," Daniel answered. The injured man began the slow process of pushing himself to a sitting position. Sam and Jack stood quickly and helped the man upright. "I'll show you."
"No, Daniel, you stay here. You're in no shape to be climbing around these rocks anymore."
"Have to. Teal'c needs help. I know where he is."
Jack pushed the man backwards so that he was lying flat on his back. "No, Dr. Jackson," he responded firmly. "Tell me where he is. I'll find him."
Daniel turned his head and located the clearing where Teal'c had fallen. "Should be just below that point," he finally determined.
"Okay. Sit tight."
"No, Sir," Sam suddenly said, rising to her feet. "You're in no shape to do this either. Let me." She handed him the small walkie-talkie. "You call for help. I don't think Daniel's going to be able to make it out of here without assistance."
"Teal'c's worse," the doctor whispered, voice filled with concern.
The Captain contradicting his order initially offended Jack. Then he realized that the woman was right. "Find Teal'c," he confirmed.
"It's easier to get down over there," Daniel offered, pointing in the direction of the trees.
Instantly, Sam had disappeared.
Teal'c felt a gentle hand resting on his shoulder. The contact caused his eyes to jerk open. Disoriented by the view which met him, he frowned.
Instinctively, he shifted away from the hand, realizing that he had allowed his defenses to fall. He was vulnerable.
"Teal'c, it's okay, it's me," a soft, feminine voice whispered.
The large Jaffa turned his head, his brown eyes finally finding the source of the voice. "Captain Carter?"
"Yeah, it's me. We've called for help."
"Daniel Jackson brought you here?" the large man guessed.
"Uh. . .no. . .we kinda. . .well, we stumbled across him by accident."
Teal'c's eyes widened. "He is hurt?"
"He's going to be okay. Seems he hurt his shoulder." She ran her eyes over his body. "You look a lot worse. How do you feel?"
"I feel. . .," he started to respond and then stopped, as if reassessing his situation. "I feel like I have fallen off a cliff," he finally answered.
Sam couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "Well, I think that would be an accurate description."
The recovery operation from the mountain side took time. A helicopter was dispatched to airlift Teal'c from his position on the canyon floor. Sam accompanied him back to the SGC.
Meanwhile, Daniel refused to be placed on a gurney and carried down the mountain. Instead, after a sling had been tightly fastened around his right arm, holding the limb firmly in place, he used the support of an Airman to walk down the trail and back to the main road. Jack hobbled close behind, grumbling when he finally had to surrender and lean upon another Airman to ease the pain in his abused ankle.
"I just don't get it," the Colonel groused.
"What, Sir?" the Airman who was supporting him dutifully responded.
"How those two can do it? How can they take an innocent trip into town and turn it into a national emergency?"
The Airman frowned. "Mr. Teal'c and Dr. Jackson?"
"Of course Teal'c and Jackson. Who else but Teal'c and Jackson? I mean look at that." The Colonel pointed to a spot between the trees where the road could now be seen. It was lined, bumper-to-bumper with military vehicles which had become involved with the search. "Hell, we didn't have this many units activated during Desert Storm."
The Airman chuckled at the Colonel's ill-temper. "Yes, Sir."
"I heard that," Daniel Jackson shouted from his position a few feet in front of O'Neill.
"Good. So answer the question. How did you do it? How in the hell did you two end up disappearing for an entire night? And furthermore, how did you end up back here?"
"Well, it's a long. . .," Daniel started to explain, but O'Neill cut him off.
"Don't tell me it's a long story, Daniel. I don’t care how long the story is. I wanna hear it all."
"It started. . .," Daniel tried again. The attempt was unsuccessful.
"And I wanna know why you were dangling from a cliff and how Teal'c ended up at the bottom. Because if you and Teal'c have decided to take up cliff diving as a hobby I'm bootin' both your butts off the team," Jack raged with mock anger.
Daniel chuckled and glanced back at the older man. "Yeah, that was it. Teal'c and I had this overwhelming urge to see what would happen if we jumped off a cliff. And guess what? It hurts."
The Airman supporting Daniel couldn't help the small croak of a laugh. The enlisted man glanced back and saw the furrowed brow and a look of disapproval on the Colonel's face. It caused him to immediately become serious.
Before Daniel could explain what had really happened over the past day, the slow moving group made it to the road where General Hammond and several other SGC personnel were gathered.
Hammond raised an eyebrow at the sight of the two SG-1 members being assisted off the mountain by the two Airmen.
"So you found our boys." Hammond smiled at the Colonel, relief evident in his face.
"Yes, Sir," the Colonel answered. "Unfortunately I'm returning them to you in worse condition than what they were in before they left yesterday."
Hammond shook his head and examined Daniel's bruised features. "I've come to expect that, Colonel."
Daniel shook his head. "It's really not our fault," he grumbled.
Hammond held up a hand preventing any further explanation. "I expect a full debriefing after you've been checked out." He took a step closer to the doctor and spoke softly to the man. "You're looking a little peaked, Son." The balding man clapped a hand on Daniel's uninjured shoulder. "You two had us worried. We're glad you're back with us."
Daniel gave the older man an affectionate and somewhat embarrassed smile. "Thank you, General. Is Teal'c going to be okay?"
The General nodded. "The medics radioed me as soon as he arrived in the infirmary. Said things were looking good. They didn't give me details, however. Let's get you back and then we can all find out."
End Part 18
To Conclusion