AUTHOR: DebiC

EMAIL: dcole6@satx.rr.com

DATE: October 30, 2000

STATUS: Finished

CATAGORY: Action/Adventure

SPOILERS: None

SEASON/SEQUEL INFO: Fourth season, no sequel

RATING: PG

SUMMARY: The team gates onto a planet that isn't quite as uninhabited as the MALP said it was. Inspired by Chris and Tanya's Word Of The Month

DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate(II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copywrite infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

JUMP!

by DebiC

The SG1 team was in full flight. Col Jack O'Neill was in the lead trying to continue in the apparent direction of the Stargate. His 9 millimeter weapon was drawn, but with safety on due to the treacherousness of the terrain. He glanced back over his shoulder at his team occasionally, to verify that all were still present and accounted for. Maj. Samantha Carter was right behind him, continuing to hang on doggedly, her short, blond hair flying loose, hatless. Dr. Daniel Jackson was also still there, running if not as smoothly, just as doggedly. He had left his backpack and lost his hat, but was showing no sign of quitting the race either. Teal'c, the Jaffa warrior, was covering ground mechanically and efficiently; still with all his equipment intact and carrying his ever-present staff weapon.

What had appeared to be an uninhabited planet when viewed by the SGC's MALP had, in fact, been a frontier outpost for the Goa'uld. The team had been on a general survey mission to this world for two days before they had located the fortress area. Jack O'Neill's initial military reaction had been to conduct some recon to add to their information on their enemies. But life through the Stargate looking glass is never predictable. And when the Gao'uld master had appeared and their presence was discovered, the team had started back towards the 'gate in all haste. Too much haste and not nearly enough caution, it turned out when they inadvertently ran into a party Jaffa warriors returning from 'somewhere over there' as Jack had put it.

A fast furious battle had ensued and the team finally succeeded in overpowering the small squad of 'Jackal heads' to resume their hasty departure. Unfortunately, it seemed that the injured Jaffas were discovered shortly after the SG1 team had left the scene. This had resulted in a full-fledged chase with the enemy group gaining ground on them, the Jaffa soldiers coming fast. O'Neill's' team had left the valley and turned up into the hilly, rocky area that stretched off to the north. Plan B dictated that four fleet footed lightly equipped runners could maneuver over the broken ground easier than the Jackal heads in their heavier armor. It had seemed a good idea at the time, but too late they had realized that an escarpment now cut through their descending route to the Stargate.

O'Neill signaled his team to halt for a much-needed breather. The four had been moving at a fast jog now for several hours. Even his athletic body was beginning to complain to him. He bent over at the waist grasping his aching thighs and breathing deeply. "Everybody OK?" He wiped irritably at the sweat trickling down to his forehead through his grizzled, sandy hair

Dr. Jackson and Major Carter both dropped to the ground, red faced and sweaty. "Jack, we can't go on like this!" Daniel panted up at him pulling open his fatigue top to reveal a soaked t-shirt underneath. "I don't think the Boston Marathon lasts this long."

Samantha Carter just looked at him and flopped back on the ground leaning on her backpack and pulling back her blond bangs to fan her face. "Ya think?" She took a long deep breath, then looked up backwards towards where her C.O. was standing. "The year I ran it, it did. But I was 6 years younger then and in better shape er. training."

The warrior Teal'c had dropped back to check on the enemy's progress. "They are coming, O'Neill." Even he was breathing deeply, but with more control than his tau'ri teammates. "We must continue on, but I would suggest heading further along this ridge to find an easier descent."

Jack shook his head. "No, our best chance to keep ahead of them is to keep climbing. Sooner or later this mountain has to go down hill." He looked at his serious friend. "We are still heading in the right direction aren't we?"

"Yes, O'Neill. But..." The large man was interrupted by a staff weapon' s blast beam going over and past them to impact on some neighboring trees.

O'Neill grabbed his closest teammate's hand (Sam's), pulled her to her feet and led his heroes straight up a rough forty five-degree incline. "C'mon kids, we got to go now."

Danny clambered to his feet and followed the two ahead of him at an impressive rate of speed. Teal'c stayed in the rear to return fire at the approaching enemy and to insure they all reached the top of the rocky hill. Jackson thought he could see the pinnacle's crown over Sam's shoulder and it gave him the added impetus to push a little harder.

But as he approached the top he could see that Jack and Sam had paused. The two were speaking quickly to each other, pointing to a downward sloping area to the left. Then he saw Sam take a few steps backwards, run forward and..... Jump.

As Jackson reached the Colonel's side he could see the edge of the cliff where it dropped off several hundred feet into a wide deep river below the precipice. The Colonel pointed at Sam as she bobbed in the river's current, swimming towards the opposite bank. He looked directly into Daniel's eyes. "Jump, Danny."

Dr. Jackson backed away from the edge in staring down in acrophobic horror. "Jack, I can't!" He gasped. "It's too high!!"

"Danny, we don't have time for this. " Jack tried to keep his voice at a calming level. " I know it's high. I also know you can swim and I know it's deep enough. Now, JUMP!!"

The younger man was stopped now, several feet back from the edge; a look of cold-blooded panic on his face. "I CAN'T! It's too high!"

O'Neill pulled his friend around and stared directly into his face. He spoke with all of his military command voice. "Danny, If you don't jump, I'll throw you off. We've got to go now. Jump!!"

The younger man looked back down at the river far below. Jack grasped Danny's face and turned him to look into the younger man's blue eyes. "Danny, do you trust me?" The archeologist could only nod, mutely. The Colonel took Jackson's glasses off his face; put them in his fatigue shirt pocket then buttoned it securely. He spoke to his friend once again in a calm voice. "Danny, we're out of time. Jump."

Daniel Jackson turned back to the cliff's face. Jack's calm voice continued, encouraging his team member. "Jump out as far as you can, try to go to the left. It looks deeper there. Sam's waiting for you. Now go on."

Jackson looked back at Teal'c, who had come up behind the two men. He then looked at O'Neill, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and ... ran towards the edge, jumping out as far as he could. He pulled his knees to his chest in a fetal position and fell through the air, forever, hitting deep, cold, hard water and sinking below its murky surface.

Jack watched his friend until he hit the water with a splash. The he turned to Teal'c. "Your turn!"

"O'Neill, they are right behind us." The big man stated. looking at his chosen leader.

"I know, I can hear 'em." He slapped the big man on his shoulder. "Now, go. I'll be right along." A staff-blast caused a tree next to them to explode into flame."

The warrior turned without another word and dove off the precipice. As the Colonel turned riverwards to follow, he was struck full on the backpack by a burst of energy. O'Neill's body, pushed by the blast, fell or rather was thrown uncontrolled by the force, down the cliff face, bonelessly hitting the water's surface, head first..

Major Carter, from the far sandy bank she had just emerged onto, watched in horror as her commander's limp form struck the water in an uncontrolled entry. "Jack! Oh my god! Jack!"

Daniel, who was almost to shallows, turned back at her scream in time to see the overly large splash. "Jack!" He turned and dove back into the deeper water, pausing to look for O'Neill to surface. "Jack, where are you? Jack!"

Teal'c had arrived on the beach and ran on to where Carter was standing frozen, watching Jackson make shallow dives looking for their friend. "Where did he land, MajorCarter?" She could only point mutely in the general direction of the expanding circles of wavelets.

Daniel surfaced to look desperately at the pair. Then, looking in the direction Sam was pointing to he saw O'Neill's unconscious form rise to the surface, face down. He turned and quickly used powerful strokes to reach the older man's side. He turned Jack's face up to the surface and hooked his left arm under the unconscious man's throat and shoulder in a Red Cross rescue hold. Jackson then turned them towards the beach. But the river's current caught the larger mass of the two men's bodies and pushed them to drift downwards away from the beach the rest of the team was on. Teal'c and Carter followed them along the bank as the men were being pushed farther downstream. Daniel slowly managed to pull them towards the land as the river curved away from the cliffs. Finally, his feet hit solid ground and he managed to drag his burden to rest onto a hard clay bank. He lost no time in pulling Jack's damaged knapsack off of him, rolling his friend onto his back and opening the collar of the fatigue shirt, ripping a few of the buttons off in the process. Jack lay motionless on the red clay, his graying hair turning a bright red color from a welling cut in his scalp covering his forehead and trickling down into the closed brown eyes.

"Jack! Are you with me!" Daniel's shaking hands checked for breathing and pulse. "Jack! You're not breathing! Jack!" The young man bent over his friend's face and shoulders to adjust his position. "Jack, come on now. Don't quit on me now." He tilted Jack's forehead back and forcibly opened the older man's mouth. Pinching O'Neill's nose shut, then placing his own mouth over Jack's, he gave him two quick breaths. He paused only long enough to check the large artery on the neck. There was no pulse. "Jack, don't do this to me! Breath, damnit!!" Jackson crossed his hands and pressed hard on O'Neill's still chest and started counting to six giving compressions at each count. That done, he went back to Jack's face and gave him two more breaths, then back to his chest to continue the compressions. The young man quickly lost track of everything but his CPR timing and motions. Finally, after an indeterminable eon, Daniel heard footsteps and felt Sam's hand on his arm. She moved in to take over the chest compressions, leaving him to do the breathing for their fallen commander. It took only a few more counts when Jack suddenly took an active part in the operation. He gasped for air and coughed; gagging on the water that he was expelling. His two teammates helped him roll over face down and Daniel pounded on his back to help him clear his airway.

Teal'c had stood watching, protecting the two scientists from any further attacks as they concentrated on Jack O'Neill. These Tau'ri were unlike anything he had ever known before. If something like this had happened to a Jaffa, he was dead, Simply Dead. But these people didn't accept death so easily and the fought against all odds to save one another and beat the enemy back.

Suddenly realizing, Sam grabbed Danny's hand stopping his striking pressure on Jack's back. Wordlessly, she pulled his Jack's fatigue and tee shirts out of the back of his pants, raising them up to look for damage. There was a scorched red mark directly below the Colonel's right shoulder running over to his spine. Her eyes met Daniel's confused ones. "I saw a flash just as he fell. He must have been shot on the cliff and been unconscious when he hit the water."

"God, I hope I didn't hurt him inside." Danny whispered. He gently ran his hand up the unburned portion of Jack's spine to his neck and skull, looking for deeper injuries.

"DanielJackson, if you had not taken exactly the actions you did. Colonel O'Neill would be dead." Teal'c towered over them. He held Jack's destroyed backpack for them to see. "But we must take cover in the trees or we will be targets again."

O'Neill retched and vomited more water, then groaned. "Where..?" Sam bent over the groggy O'Neill, touching the cut on his scalp, trying to see how much damage had been done there.

"We're still on planet, Colonel." Carter spoke quietly in his ear. "We've got to move now. We've got to pick you up, sir."

"Uh huh." The voice was very low, but definite. Jack managed to move his top arm indicating a wish to be rolled over. Daniel gently grasped his shoulders and turned his friend's face up to see the bewildered pained expression. The younger man slipped careful arms around O'Neill and raised him to a sitting position.

"C'mon, sir." Carter moved to the other side and added her strength to her teammates's for the lifting. " Just a little ways sir, then we can rest safely"

Jack managed a nod. "Jes don let me throw up on you." He said groggily as he tried to help with the project of getting himself up.

Daniel spoke into his friend's ear as he lifted the older man to his feet. "It's Ok, Jack. You can throw up on me. I owe you one or two." Jackson was so happy to hear that voice again he could...well he didn't care if he was the target of regurgitated river water.

Several hours later, the Stargate rumbled promisingly and the wormhole appeared as the defensive iris opened. "Incoming team." The Computer Operator sang out. "It's SG1; all four life signs accounted for."

Stepping out of the circle of energy, Major Samantha Carter led the way through into the embarkation room. She was hatless, dirty and carrying Teal'c's staff weapon. "We need a Medical Team. We have injured." Directly behind her followed Tealc and Daniel with Col Jack O'Neill braced between them. He had insisted on entering the wormhole on his own two feet, even if he had to have help from his friends.

Dr. Janet Fraiser and her team moved in, gently relieving the duo of their burden and laying him on the medical gurney for transport. She immediately started removing the dirtied bandage from O'Neill's forehead that Sam had applied still on planet, checking the wound. General Hammond entered the room at a run to halt beside his injured subordinate on the stretcher. A look of relief passed across his face as he saw the patient was conscious. O'Neill looked up at him and tried for one of his infamous grins, but a coughing spasm interrupted it. Dr Frasier responded by applying an oxygen mask on O'Neill's face. Hammond gingerly patted his Colonel on a 'hopefully' uninjured part of his body. "Jack, are you trying to make an old man of me?"

Major Carter stepped up to her C.O.'s aid. "He was hit with a staff weapon blast before diving off a 300 foot cliff, sir. Then he swallowed about that many gallons of water." She smiled down at him and then up at Daniel, who had managed to appear magically on the other side of the gurney. "Dr. Jackson pulled him out of the river and did CPR on him until we could secure the area and get him home."

"Well, this should be an interesting debrief, Major. I'll expect your team in my office in about two hours." Jack's eyes opened blearily to look up at that comment. "Since your Commanding Officer is incapacitated, you get to have all the fun." He nodded to her with a smile, she grinned happily, snapped a salute and he returned one with a flourish.

Dr. Frasier shook her head in impatience. "If we're all through gentlemen. My patient is now going to the infirmary." She glanced at the disreputable condition of the other three. "I'll expect the rest of the team in about one hour, after hot showers." The medics left with their patient Dr. Frazier following. The petite brunette doctor turned at the door with an encouraging smile for the team. "Good work, Dr. Jackson. I'm glad someone took my first aid lessons seriously."

The team watched their friend and leader go off to a safer form of treatment. "DanielJackson," Tealc spoke, then paused with one of his thoughtful looks. "I thought you were afraid of diving?"

"Tealc, you don't have to dive to be a good swimmer." Daniel answered merrily. " The YMCA I taught swimming classes at when I was a teenager didn't even have a high board." He looked over his glasses watching the progress of the gurney and med team, then turned to look at his two teammates. "But personally, I'm very happy to be home...again. Now, all I'm interested in is hot water...before Major Carter's team debrief. Then we can go and check on Jack."

True to Dr. Fraser's expectation, in exactly two hours and thirty nine minutes, the SG1 team started filing into her infirmary. She nodded at a curtained alcove. "He's in there, guys and lucky to be there I might add. He'll be staying over for a few days while I get all of that dirty river water out of his lungs and stomach." She paused, "Fifteen minutes...that's all. And Danny," She smiled at him. "Jack owes you one."

He paused for a second, smiling at her before going in. "It isn't even close, Janet. Not even close."

And as she suspected, only two members of the team left on time. And the Doctor also knew that the SG1 mother hens already had the bed watch schedule worked out between themselves.

After several hours, when her duty shift had ended, Janet Fraiser pulled the curtain back to see Daniel Jackson firmly ensconced in the hard backed chair. He had placed a pillow in a strategic location and had apparently dozed off. But his blue eyes opened at the sound of the curtains rings on the metal rods.

"Danny, he'll be all right." You don't have to stay."

"Probably so." He replied in a sleepy voice. "But you can never be too sure. I never am."

She came into the alcove and shut the curtains behind her. She automatically checked her patient's pulse and laid a hand on Jack's forehead to check his body temperature. At her touch, Jack moaned and his eyes opened. "Wha hit me?" He looked dazedly from one to the other.

Daniel grasped stood up from his chair and took his friend's hand in a firm grip. "It's OK. Jack you're back at the base, in the infirmary."

"Back alredy..don't rember."

"I'm not surprised, Colonel." Janet spoke softly. "You're suffering from lacerations, staff blasts, drowning and a concussion. You're lucky to be here...again."

"Don sound luky. Sounz like Spacemonkey luck."

"Go to sleep Jack." Daniel leaned down to his friend. "Space monkeys have all the luck in the world. They've got terrific friends."