Title:  On Angels Wings

Author:  OXBastetXO  and Yum@ 

Category:  Smarm/Action

Spoilers:   Within the Sepents Grasp,

Sequel/Season Info:  Second Season

Rating: PG-13

Content Warning: Major whumping on about everyone

Summary: While exploring PX6170, Jackson and O'Neill get trapped in a cave-in and their only hope is as fragile as Angels Wings

Showtime and MGM/UA owns Stargate: SG-1 and all there in. We're just borrowing them for a bit, and we promise to give them right back when we're done.  Well, most of them, We might just keep Jack and Daniel for a bit longer.

On Angel's Wings

by

OXBastetXO and Yum@

Part one:(OXBastetXO)

"Jack, come take a look at this," Doctor Daniel Jackson motioned for Colonel Jack O'Neill to follow him.

O'Neill sighed in exasperation and walked over. "What did you find now, Daniel?"

Jackson was in archaeologist heaven. Ever since they had come through the Stargate to PX6170, he had been bouncing from one rock- 'No,' O'Neill thought, 'Artifacts.' Jackson had been bouncing from one artifact to the next for hours.

He came to stop beside Jackson. "What ya' got?"

"Look at this," Jackson said pointing enthusiastically.

O'Neill glanced down and then back to Jackson. "It's a hole." Jack stated in a flat and bored voice.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know it's a hole, but its what the hole was used for."

O'Neill waited for him to go on.

"It's a burial pit. It appears to be Mayan, or Aztec."

O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "There are dead bodies down there?"

"Yes," Jackson said excitedly. "Well, not exactly dead bodies, more like remains of bodies," he saw the look on O'Neill's face. "Or something." He turned back to the opening of the pit again. "From the look of these carvings and the state of disrepair it looks like it's been centuries since it was used. Just imagine what could be down there!"

"I'd rather not," O'Neill said shaking his head. "And we're not going to find out right now."

"I know." Jackson sighed. "Do the survey and get back." He tried to hide his disappointment. O'Neill could see the gears in his head turning. "I could mention this to General Hammond. There could be some sort of Goa'uld technology or anything down there." Jackson said innocently.

"Yeah, right, Daniel," O'Neill smiled. "You'll figure some way to get down there."

Suddenly, the ground started to shake under their feet.

"Earthquake!" Jackson said scrambling back from the hole.

"Move!" O'Neill ordered grabbing a handful of Jackson's jacket pulling him back.

Abruptly, the ground opened up under them and they started to fall.

Jackson felt himself flying head first down towards the pit. The ground had started to crumble and cave-in around them. He heard O'Neill shouting behind him. Dirt and gravel rained down on him and rocks tore at his clothes and face. He tried to turn himself, if he hit a rock headfirst at the rate he was descending, it would be a short trip. He managed to get himself turned part of the way around when he slammed into a rock out cropping in the middle of the tunnel.

Pain lanced through his chest and he couldn't breath. Suddenly, something rammed into him smashing him even harder against the rock. He felt something snap in his chest. 'That's not good,' some small detached part of his brain decided just as white hot pain stabbed though him stealing the last of his breath. Darkness started to close in around him as he felt the rock outcropping gave way, sending him tumbling down deeper into the tunnel.

Captain Samantha Carter and Teal'c were making one last circuit around the base camp before heading back. PX6170 seemed fairly deserted. Except for the ruins near the Stargate, there hadn't been much sign of civilization.

"The area appears to be secure. We may as well head back to camp," she announced checking her compass.

"I would be in agreement, Captain Carter," the Jaafa said with a nod.

Carter looked up and pointed. "Camp is back that way."

Teal'c turned to follow her when suddenly, the ground began to convulse under their feet.

"Earthquake!" Carter shouted over the roar of shattering stone and crashing trees.

A tree toppled to the ground beside them.

"We must find shelter!" Teal'c called to her. He seized her arm and dragged her toward the hillside off to their left. "There!" he pointed to a low overhang of rock.

The space was small, but they managed to wedge themselves into it. Trees continued to crash all around them. Dirt and small stones trickled down over the lip of the over hang. Then abruptly as the quake had started, it stopped.

They waited a few minutes and then cautiously began to emerge from the shelter. They were shocked by the devastation that lay around them. Mammoth trees lay uprooted like kindling wood. To Carter it looked like they were standing at ground zero in the wake of a massive explosion.

She ripped her walkie-talkie free from her jacket and keyed her mic. "Carter to Colonel O'Neill, come in, sir." The channel closed with a hiss of static. She waited for a few more seconds and then keyed it again. "Colonel O'Neill, come in. Jackson. Somebody answer me!" It was the same as before- silence.

Consciousness slowly crept back to Colonel Jack O'Neill in the form of a thunderous pain in his head. Reluctantly, he forced his eyes open. For a split second he panicked, thinking he had gone blind, but then he realized that it was just pitch-black wherever he was. It took him a few moments to remember where here was and what had happened. Then he remembered the earthquake and the nightmarish tumble down the sinkhole that had opened up under his and Jackson's feet.

He felt on his jacket for his flashlight and tried to shift into a sitting position. Pain flared through his back stealing his breath away. He tried to shift his legs to relieve it and with a sickly realization he found he couldn't. He couldn't even feel his legs. The panic he had held in check just moments before sprung full sized back into life. He forced it back down sternly. He could deal with this. He had to. He tried to access the situation.

'Jackson,' he thought. He had to find him. He vaguely remembered slamming into the younger man when they had been plunging into this god-forsaken hole.

"Jackson!" he called out hoarsely. "Daniel, where are you?" He flicked the flashlight on. It flickered briefly, but then thankfully remained on.

"Daniel, answer me!" He cursed and played the beam around him.

Rocks were piled up on all sides and constant trickles of dust and pebbles streamed down the face of them. He saw the briefest glint of green and turned the beam back. He could see a hunched figure not five feet from him. So close, but just out of reach.

"Daniel!"

There was a slight rustle of movement and whimpering groan followed by choked coughing.

O'Neill struggled to pull himself over him, but pain flared in his back. He knew he shouldn't even try to move. He could be doing more damage to his back, but at the moment he really didn't care.

"Jac...Jack?" Jackson wheezed. Suddenly, he was raked with a fit of coughing that stole his breath way. His breathing had turn ragged.

"I'm here, Danny. You just hold on there." O'Neill used his arms to pull him over towards Jackson. New pain flared with each movement. He slumped beside Jackson and tried to ease the younger man over.

The flashlight cast eerie shadows of the young archaeologist face. Blood trickled from his nose and the corner of his mouth. He had lost his glasses somewhere along the line in the fall from the surface. He opened his eyes and stared up at O'Neill with glassy pain filled eyes.

"Jack? You ok?" Jackson asked quietly. The archaeologist looked like he was having trouble focusing. O'Neill leaned a bit closer so Daniel could see him.

"Yeah, Danny. I'm ok. How you feeling?" O'Neill asked gently.

"Remember Klorel's ship?"

"Yeah?"

"Worse."

O'Neill sighed. He remembered Klorel's ship all too well. Jackson had been holding off his Jaafa and had gotten drilled in the chest with staff weapon for his trouble. He had saved their lives, but at the cost of his own. If he hadn't remember about the sarcophagus in time...O'Neill didn't have time to think about this now.

Jackson's breathing had started to take on a shallow wet sound. "Jack...can't...breathe," he whispered.

"Daniel, I need to you to try to sit up," O'Neill said as he pulled Jackson up.

Jackson cried out in pain as O'Neill moved him, but managed to sit up. He sagged against O'Neill, but his breathing evened out. "What?" Jackson managed.

"You busted up some of your ribs pretty bad," O'Neill said shifting Jackson a bit to take some strain off his own injured back. "You must have punctured one of your lungs. Even if you feel you have to, don't cough."

Jackson nodded.

"Daniel, I know you wanted to look around down here, but we could have found an easier way down."

Jackson's shoulders shook in a silent laugh, but then he started into another fit of coughing. O'Neill grasped Jackson's shoulders firmly to brace the archaeologist, only letting go when the coughing was over. Blood stained the corners of Jackson's mouth by the time he had finished.

"Easy, there, Danny boy. Carter and Teal'c are sure to realized something happened and start looking for us. Knowing them, they probably have half the base mobilized by now." O'Neill was lying. One of the last things he had seen before the ground swallowed them up was the Stargate starting to topple over, but he wasn't about to tell Jackson that. Not now.

They sat there for a while. Jackson's breathing was growing steadily shallower. Finally, he shifted in O'Neill's arms. "Jack?"

"Yeah, Daniel."

"Tell Sha'uri I love her, and I never stopped looking for her."

O'Neill glared at him. "I will not. You're going to have to tell her yourself. I am not going to play messenger boy for you."

Jackson looked at him. His blue eyes were boring into him. "Jack, it's bad. I know it is. It's not like I haven't died before." He swallowed, tears starting to well in his eyes. "This time...this time, there isn't some sarcophagus to stick me in or the Nox to mysteriously appear." A tear trickled down his cheek. "This time...Jack, you have to promise me."

O'Neill tightened his hold around Jackson. "I promise, Danny."

Jackson nodded and slumped a bit in O'Neill's arms. "Thanks, Jack. Thanks for being my friend."

"You too, Daniel, you too."

O'Neill started awake. He realized he had started to doze off. He checked on Jackson. He was still alive, if just barely. O'Neill swallowed, anger and frustration taking over his pain as he realized that there was no chance that he would be able to pull Jackson out of here. Even if O'Neill were able to...there wouldn't be any place he could take Jackson to be healed.

Something had woken him. O'Neill slowly became aware of a soft light filling the chamber. He strained to see where it was coming from. A figure was coming toward them. The light seemed to be coming from the figure.

As it drew nearer, O'Neill thought he must have been dreaming. It was a woman. A tall, slender, very beautiful woman in long white flowing robes. White feather wings spread out behind her. 'An angel,' O'Neill thought as the most profound peace he had ever known filled him. 'It's an angel.' Then blissful darkness closed around him.

Part Two: (Yum@)

Carter stared in disbelief at the chaos before her. Teal'c was standing besides her, silently surveying the damage. The two, after several unsuccessful attempts to raise O'Neill through walkie-talkies, decided to head for the Stargate. The team was always told to head for that if all other communications fail. But instead of the missing two teammates, Carter found hell.

The Stargate was on the ground.

"The Stargate may be still operational." Teal'c finally said. "It is still in one piece."

"The DHD crystal is shattered." Carter numbly said. "We know the Stargate can work in any position, but without a power source..."

"The Stargate would remain inactive." Teal'c solemnly finished for her.

"We have to find the colonel." Carter said abruptly. "And Da- Jackson."

"They had gone off in that direction." Teal'c pointed to a cluster of caves carved out of the face of the mountain.

"Well, then." Carter tried to salvage a few supplies left scattered from the earthquake, "Let's go find the rest of our team, Teal'c."

O'Neill opened his eyes once more. When he saw it was darkness again, O'Neill shifted position uneasily. Then, he froze.

He had shifted, using his legs.

O'Neill nearly sat up in a lurch until a weight that was on his chest stopped him. The colonel looked down and saw that the weight was Jackson.

"Daniel." O'Neill whispered, nudging Jackson. The archaeologist made no sound. It made the colonel very worried. Any questions on how he could feel his legs again could wait.

The colonel shifted again, firmly holding onto Jackson so that the younger man was still leaning against O'Neill but not pinning O'Neill's legs. Panting with the exertion, O'Neill leaned back against the dirt and rubble so he could catch his breath. He paused, glancing down at Jackson, a bit worried on what he may find. After a moment, O'Neill placed two fingers underneath Jackson's jawbone for the pulse. What he found nearly made him jumped.

The pulse was slow but steady. It was a huge difference from what O'Neill had found before. Jackson was still breathing shallow, gasping as if he were drowning, but the pulse was better than that faint mention of life from before.

"I don't see a sarcophagus lying around, Daniel." O'Neill murmured. He shifted again and winced at the dull throb of pain in his back. "Okay. I'm not completely healed, but this is a much better improvement from before." O'Neill looked around suspiciously. There was something he was supposed to remember. O'Neill couldn't figure out what, though.

O'Neill looked at his friend again, a bit worried over the bluish tinge on Jackson's lips. The archaeologist was having trouble breathing. O'Neill bent his head over Jackson's chest and listened. He frowned as he heard the wet rattle of the punctured lung. Jackson must be bleeding internally.

The archaeologist moaned ever so slightly, alerting O'Neill. However, Jackson didn't awaken. At the sound of his name, Jackson instinctively clutched the first thing nearest him in an effort to stave off the pain- O'Neill's jacket.

"Hang in there, Danny." O'Neill murmured, making no move to move Jackson's hand away. "Carter and Teal'c will be here any minute." 'Right guys?'

Part Three: (OXBastetXO)

"We'll never find them," Carter threw down her jacket. "This is impossible. They could be anywhere."

"We must keep looking," Teal'c said sternly.

Carter slumped to the ground. "I know. I know. I'm sorry. We need to keep looking."

Teal'c stood and looked at her. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to try to reactivate the Stargate. If you were able to sent a message back to SGC, General Hammond might send other teams to assist in our search."

Carter stood, mentally kicking herself for not thinking of this sooner. "Your right, Teal'c. You keep looking, I'm going to see what I can rig up from the MALP to get the Gate working."

Teal'c nodded and went back to work sifting through the rubble of base camp.

Carter climbed over the masses of fallen trees and rock thrusting up out of the ground. She finally located what was left of the MALP. A tree had fallen across it crushing most of the gear, but thankfully the battery seemed unharmed.

She fished a machete out of one of the pack and began to hack at the limbs of the tree. She had to get the battery out of there and whatever else she could salvage from the gear. She glanced up at the sky the sun was starting dip down toward the horizon. It would set in a couple hours. They need to find Jackson and the Colonel before that happened. And to find them, they need help. And the only way they were going to get help was from through the Stargate.

She hacked at the limbs freeing them one by one. She was almost there. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble under her feet. "Aftershock!" She shouted to Teal'c and braced herself. The ground trembled under her feet and threw her to the ground. Something huge loomed over there and then, darkness.

"Ja..Jack?"

O'Neill jerked awake. "Daniel?"

"Are we dead?"

O'Neill frowned. "I don't think so." He shifted and pain shot though his back. "It wouldn't hurt so much if we were dead."

Jackson shifted and started to cough. O'Neill held him as the coughing racked him and left him breathless. Blood trickled down his chin and he whipped at it with his shirtsleeve smearing it across his face. "Hurts," he gasped.

O'Neill winced. "I know, Danny. You just got to hang in there."

Jackson leaned against him and closed his eyes. O'Neill thought he must have drifted off again, but then he stirred.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Daniel?" O'Neill looked down into Jackson's pale face.

"Was I dreaming?" Jackson looked up his blue eyes wide and confused.

O'Neill frowned. "When?"

Jackson closed his eyes and relaxed. "I saw an angel."

O'Neill remembered what he was trying to before. The beautiful woman who had seemed to had float instead of walk. "I think I did too."

Suddenly, the ground began to convulse under them. Jackson cried out in pain as the rocks and debris started to rain down on them. O'Neill shook until his teeth rattled. Jackson cries turned to screams as he tensed in O'Neill's arms and then went limp.

O'Neill tried to use his body to shield Jackson, but something exploded against the back of the head. Darkness crashed down on him.

Part Four: (Yum@)

Teal'c heard the birds chiming it's return before the Jaafa felt the first tremor of the aftershock. In a distance, he thought he had heard Carter's voice but then the chaos returned and Teal'c became distracted with something else.

The ground cracked open underneath him and the Jaafa neatly jumped away from the potential danger. But leaping away also made him lose his footing so when he landed on safe ground, Teal'c was unprepared for the second wave of vibrations. It threw him off and Teal'c landed harshly on his right leg. The sickly crack told the Jaafa all he needed to know.

When the ground finally stopped its shaking, Teal'c got up cautiously and tested his injury. The red-hot stabbing pain informed the Jaafa how bad the break was. However, Teal'c was not concerned with that. He looked back at the direction where hence he came, remembering Carter's shout. He then looked ahead to where a massive series of caves were carved out of the mountain range a mile away.

"Captain Carter!" Teal'c called out. His brow furrowed when he didn't receive a reply. She wasn't too far away from him. Carter should hear him.

Teal'c hobbled over to the base camp area closer to the Stargate, trying to remember where Carter was before the aftershocks. As he drew closer to the half buried MALP probe, Teal'c was dismayed to find a bloody spot on the ground, under shattered tree trunks.

But no Captain Carter.

O'Neill blinked, momentarily blinded by the unsettling dust. He coughed, tasting the dirt and the dust that was still raining down like smoke.

"Daniel?" O'Neill asked as he continued to cough. His view was hindered by the dust, making his eyes water. O'Neill tried to move and then realized why everything felt so heavy.

O'Neill was half buried in dirt and rubble.

Alarmed, O'Neill looked down to where Jackson should have been, in O'Neill's arms when O'Neill tried to bodily shield him from the new onslaught. He could feel the weight of something against his right arm, but O'Neill couldn't see or sense whether it was due to Jackson's weight or the dirt that buried him mid-chest. He tried to move his left arm instead, pulling it out of the dirt with some difficulty. Once freed, O'Neill waved at the dust furiously, his hand frantically trying to find his friend.

A soft moan told O'Neill where he was; still cradled over O'Neill's right arm. The colonel bent down as close as he could to see through the dust. His left hand brushed away the thin layer of dirt to reveal Jackson's features.

"Daniel!" O'Neill tried to push Jackson up a bit more above the dirt. He was able to move only a fraction when Jackson stiffened and screamed in pain. "Hang on, buddy. I got to get you above this so you can breathe."

"No-" Jackson whimpered with his eyes still shut. "H-hurts. Stop-" The dirt covering him, moved slightly as his arms tried to lift up and attempt to push the person away. When the arms couldn't pull out of the dirt, his eyes flew open. "Wha- Ja'k?"

"Right here, Danny." O'Neill said softly, hating what he had to do next. "This is going to hurt like hell, but it has to be done." O'Neill could see the dirt slowly sliding down, reburying Jackson. He had to get him high enough above to avoid being suffocated. "It has to be done, Danny." O'Neill repeated at Jackson's fervent shake of his head.

"N-no-" Jackson whispered. He tensed up, expecting the pain to come when O'Neill used the arm underneath his neck to push him out while his left hand pulled Jackson upward. Despite preparing for it, Jackson was unprepared for the actual thing when it came. He couldn't hear O'Neill's murmured apologies as the pain took over. The air seemed to shriek and filled his ears. Then Jackson realized that the sound was his own voice screaming.

A hand was on top of his head, that brought Jackson out of his haze momentarily.

"Christ, Danny. That bellow took out my eardrums." O'Neill's voice sounded shaken and Jackson thought fuzzily that the experience had shook his friend despite the tough exterior his friend had up right now.

"S-sorry." Jackson whispered. The hand on his head ruffled his hair.

"Never thought you to be a screamer, Danny." O'Neill chuckled softly as his eyes stayed glued to the slowing stream of dirt from above.

"T-that's s-sick, J'ak." Jackson pretended to frown at the colonel.

O'Neill chuckled again, but his eyes were dark with worry when he realized that Jackson wasn't really hearing him clearly. He saw how the younger man tilted his head up slightly, trying to catch what he was saying. Jackson's words were louder than it should, perhaps because he couldn't really hear his own voice.

"Daniel?" O'Neill said very softly. His fears were confirmed when Jackson didn't hear him. "Damn."

Part Five: (OXBastetXO)

Teal'c sat the edge of the destroyed camp and readied himself. He knew this would not be pleasant, but he knew it had to be done. He had managed to wedge his foot between a tree and one of the boulders that had been loosened by the earthquake and subsequent aftershock. He steeled himself and then pulled. The bone in his broken leg snapped back into place with a sickening crack. Pain radiated from it, but his mind channeled it away. It was not easy, but years of training under Bra'tak had prepared him for times such as these. He knew the brake would mend quickly, thanks to the regenerative powers of the infant Goa'uld within him, but still it would take time.

He took a deep cleansing breath and tied the make-shift splint to his leg. He had to find the rest of SG-1. He slowly stood and limped back to the MALP. He bent down to examine the bloody spot on the ground. There was not nearly as much blood there as it first appeared. He looked at the hacked off limbs of the tree that was crushing the MALP. It appeared Captain Carter was attempting to remove some of the larger limbs to access the battery compartment of the robotic device.

Then he saw it. The faint traces in the dirt around the stain on the ground. Something caught his eye and leaned forward. It was a feather. A snow white feather.

* * * * *

"Daniel," he said a bit louder. O'Neill knew of one of two thing that could be the cause of this, and neither one was very good. Shock could cause it. Shock, he could do something about, even if it wasn't much, but something, but the other. He knew Jackson was bleeding internally, badly. The more blood he lost, the less his body had to run it. And if he lost enough, thing would start to shut down. Thing like his ears...his heart.

O'Neill shifted Jackson in his arms and tried to get a better look at him. Jackson gasped but didn't fight him.

O'Neill frowned as he gently probed Jackson's chest. Jackson cried out and tried to pull away, but O'Neill held him fast. "For crying out loud, Daniel! Lay still!"

"Hurts," Jackson wheezed his face screwing up in a mask of agony, he color draining even farther in his pale face.

O'Neill face twisted in frustration and worry. "I know, I'm sorry, but I have to see how bad you're hurt. It's not like I was some kind of warped sycophant and got a kick out of this or something."

"Sorry," Jackson whispered, sagging in O'Neill's arms. His eyes fluttered shut and his shallow breathing evened a bit.

O'Neill realized he must have fainted from the pain or shock. Probably the best thing at this point. He gently began to check him again.

The ribs were definitely broken. He had a nasty gash on his temple that must have been from the aftershock. O'Neill rested his hand on Jackson's abdomen and he moaned softly. There was internal damage and from the looks of it, it was bad. Very bad.

"Daniel." O'Neill sat back and pain shot through his back. He winced and closed his eyes. "How do we all ways end up in these kind of messes?"

Jackson started to stir and he looked down into the young archaeologists ashen face.

"H..how bad?" Jackson asked, his voice barely a whisper.

O'Neill knew he couldn't lie to him. Oh, he wished he could, but he trust he saw in Jackson's eyes, trust he would give it to him straight, wouldn't let him.

"Not good," he said, finally. "But you have to hold on. Teal'c and Sam should be here before long. We'll get out off here, but you have to hold on, ok?"

Jackson didn't say anything.

"Daniel, you hang on, that's an order," O'Neill said, tightening his grip on his shoulder.

"Yes, sir," Jackson said trying to smile. Suddenly, his breath caught and he started to cough again. O'Neill held him till it passed. Jackson's breathing was coming in short gasps now.

"J'ak?" Jackson tried to look up at him, but his eyes wouldn't quite focus on him. "What happ'n?" He looked around at the dirt and small rocks that trickled down around them.

"Best guess would be an aftershock," O'Neill started. Jackson gasped and suddenly went limp in his arms.

"Daniel?" O'Neill's hand went to Jackson's throat searching for a pulse. Nothing.

Part Two