Title: Dark River

Author: stella_pegasi

Summary: A natural disaster puts the team at risk and they have to save themselves.

Rating: K+ Hurt/Comfort, a little action, and lots of whump to everyone, physical and emotional.

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Characters: The team.

Disclaimer: I do not own them; I would have treated them better.

Notes: Written for the sg-last fiction writer standing com bonus round. The prompt was that the story must take place at night and include the entire team.

Dark River

by stella_pegasi

"Rodney, hang on!"

"Help, Sheppard, I'm slipping"

John Sheppard was scrambling to hook his legs around the splintered wood post along the edge of the riverbank. It was the only solid piece of the bridge left that had any stability to it. Wrapping, then crossing his ankles around the post, he stretched as far over the broken edge of the bridge as he could; his fingers barely touching Rodney's arm.

"Rodney, are you holding on with both hands?" Sheppard was hoping that Rodney could hear him over the raging torrent of water flowing below them.

He strained to hear a reply, then he thought he heard Rodney shout yes. "Rodney, you need to reach up with one of your hands and grab my arm." He waited for the touch of Rodney's hand on his arm; after what seemed to be an eternity, he felt fingers curl tightly around his wrist.

"Now, the other hand." Sheppard's legs were beginning to burn and cramp and he was trying to breath through the pain. He felt another set of fingers grabbed his other wrist tightly and he was now supporting all of Rodney's weight.

"I'm going to pull you up but you need to brace against the bank and try to walk up as best you can. We're going on three….one…two…three." Sheppard wrapped his hands around Rodney's wrists and pulled as hard as he could to lift Rodney onto the riverbank.

Rodney had braced his feet against the riverbank but the rocks and vegetation was slick from the huge rush of water that had taken the bridge out a few minutes before. His feet kept slipping and he could feel the tension in Sheppard's arms, straining to keep a firm grip on his arms. Rodney knew he had to concentrate on getting up the bank.

Moving his feet slowly over the bank until he felt a solid tree root that had emerged from the ground, Rodney braced himself against the root and pushed his body upward. He felt Sheppard pull at the same time and the effort brought him almost at the top of the river bank.

"Rodney, find another foothold like that, push up again."

Light from the planet's large moon was patchy at best; the heavy storm clouds had not completely moved out of the area but at that moment, moonlight was shining on the bank. Rodney spotted another large root and repeated the upward push. With a grunt and another hard pull from Sheppard, he did a belly flop on the ground, landing next to Sheppard.

Neither man moved for a few minutes, staying in the exact same spot where they landed. Sheppard was breathing hard from the strain of pulling Rodney onto the bank, his entire body in spasms. Rodney's heart was pounding so loudly that he was certain that Sheppard could hear it over the o of the water.

Sheppard rolled over on his side and pushed himself into a seated position, groaning as he did. He prodded McKay with a boot, "You need to get up and we need to find Teyla and Ronon." Waiting for a reply, he struggled to his feet, leaning on the post that had helped him save Rodney. Rodney hadn't moved even a little finger or spoken so Sheppard kicked him again, this time a bit harder.

"Rodney, if you're dead, tell me so that I can go and find Teyla and Ronon and not wait on you."

Rodney muttered something that Sheppard doubted he wanted to hear, then he growled, "Don't kick me again. I am alive, and I'm getting up." He rolled over on his side as Sheppard had and pushed himself off the ground. Sticking out his hand, Sheppard helped Rodney to his feet.

Rodney took a quick look at the colonel, realizing if Sheppard hadn't been there, well, he wouldn't be either. "John thanks; I thought I was going to drown." Sheppard patted him on the shoulder but didn't say anything.

Somewhat disoriented, Rodney leaned against a tree for support as he tried to clear his head. "What the hell happened?"

"I think the dam upriver must have burst. One of the townspeople told me that they were concerned that the old earthen dam might weaken and had been monitoring it. These heavy rains have been falling steadily for the past two weeks. Look, let's see if we can contact Ronon and Teyla and find a way over to the other side of the river."

Rodney's heart started pounding wildly again; he just remembered what had happened and he realized that Sheppard didn't know, that he was further behind them and was just approaching the bridge when the wall of water hit them, "No, Sheppard, no…they aren't on the other side."

"What the hell do you mean; they aren't on the other side? Rodney, what happened to them?" Sheppard had grabbed Rodney by the shoulders and was gripping him tightly.

"When the water wall hit the bridge, Teyla was swept over the railing and Ronon jumped in after her. I just remembered, oh god…Sheppard…" Sheppard was already running down the edge of the river bank, Rodney headed after him.

The moonlight had disappeared yet again behind lingering storm clouds and they were having a difficult time making it down river. Sheppard was running as fast as he could over the uneven riverbank while shining the flashlight mounted on his P-90 across the river and the bank on the other side. He called Ronon and Teyla's name over and over but there was no response.

McKay was trying to keep up with him but he couldn't move as quickly as Sheppard could over the rough terrain. He tried to get Sheppard's attention but he realized that the colonel couldn't hear him over the roar of still rapidly flowing water.

Sheppard was frantic but he was trying to remain calm. He knew that the moving wall of water most likely swept Ronon and Teyla far downriver. He was hoping that Ronon had been able to grab Teyla soon after he hit the water. She needed the protection from Ronon's large body to keep the swift water from crushing her against a rock or log. He told himself he was going to hold on to that thought.

The flow of water was calming down and the level of the river was beginning to drop back to normal. He was so intent on looking at the river and the far riverbank, that he didn't see the small narrow inlet that was directly in front of him. His left foot came down on air and he tumbled down the bank into the receding water. He heard Rodney screaming his name just as he slammed into the broken brush that lined the inlet. Pain consumed him for a moment as one of the thick, sharply pointed, wooden stalks punctured his left side.

McKay reached the inlet and dropped to his knees on the edge of embankment. In the darkness he could barely see Sheppard lying on his side in the middle of heavy brush on the edge of the water, not moving. Looking for a handhold, he grabbed a small tree trunk and eased his way down to his still friend.

"John, are you OK? Hey, talk to me." Rodney stretched, reaching out with his free arm, but he could barely touch Sheppard's leg. He swung his P-90 flashlight around and spotted another small tree growing sideways and a bit lower on the riverbank, he risked grabbing onto it, hoping he could get closer to Sheppard. As he let go of the tree to grab the lower one, he slipped but managed to get his hand around the trunk of the little tree and stop his slide.

Moaning, Sheppard raised his head to look at Rodney. He could feel where one of the broken thick stems of a bush had pushed through the laces of his TAC vest on his left side above his waist. He needed to remove the wooden stem out of his side but not knowing how deep the wound was it was simply too risky to just lift off of it. If the stem sliced through a major blood vessel, he could bleed to death in minutes. As he tried to adjust the awkward position his body was in, a sharp pain in his shoulder told him he must have done some damage there as well.

His voice raspy, he managed to speak, "Rodney, I fell onto a thick woody branch from one of these plants. I need for you to take my knife and cut the wood off a couple of inches from the wound."

McKay started to protest but didn't when he realized that he was the only one who could help; he told himself that he could do this, John was depending on him. Ronon and Teyla were depending on both of them. He reached down and pulled John's knife from its sheath and stepped over John to reach beneath him to cut the branch.

"John, I'll try not to hurt you; just try to remain still for me." McKay knelt down on one knee, keeping his other leg balanced against a small stump on the edge of the water. Taking a small flashlight from his vest and holding it between his teeth, he reached under Sheppard to locate the woody stalk. Sheppard's body had rolled back on the incline and Rodney could see about five inches of the hard stalk was exposed and lying nearly flat against the ground. Rodney took a deep breath before he grasped the branch with his left hand, slipping his fingers under the stem to stabilize it and then started cutting.

Sheppard's body tensed as the knife sliced through the wood; he was trying not to scream but he couldn't stop himself from emitting a low moan. Rodney was trying to cut as quickly as he could, attempting to hold the stalk above the cut steady but there was still movement which was causing Sheppard pain. After he cut through the stem completely, Sheppard rolled onto his back.

McKay pulled a pressure bandage from a pocket on his vest but hesitated as he surveyed the stub of wood protruding from Sheppard's side; he was at a loss as to how to bandage the wound. Sheppard seemed to sense his confusion.

"There's tape in my vest; you need to immobilize the stick." Rodney reached into the pocket Sheppard indicated and pulled out a small roll of duct tape. "Take the packing out of one of the pressure bandages and wrap it around the wound at the base of the stick. Then wrap the tape around it and then around my back to secure it"

It took Rodney a few minutes but he managed to get Sheppard bandaged and felt that he had the stick as immobilized as best he could. Sheppard motioned that he wanted to stand; helping him up was difficult for Rodney because he knew that Sheppard was in considerable pain. He started to take Sheppard's left arm to help him up but the second he tugged on his arm, Sheppard winced.

"Don't do that Rodney, hurt my shoulder in the fall," there was no disguising the pain in his voice. He was pulling himself up the embankment by his right arm and Rodney help give him leverage by lightly pushing on his back. When they were both on the top of the bank again, Rodney wanted Sheppard to rest for a few moments but Sheppard would not hear of it.

"Rodney, we don't have time to rest, we have to keep looking for them. They are depending on us and we can't give up." Sheppard started walking gingerly and after skirting the inlet, they were soon back on the river's edge making their way carefully in the dark.

Now that Sheppard was moving at a slower pace, Rodney was able to keep up with him. They both had their P-90 lights trained on the river banks; Rodney taking the far bank and portion of the river, which kept Sheppard from having to raise his gun very high. For the next fifteen minutes they walked in silence, hoping to for a glimpse of Teyla and Ronon.

Sheppard was determined not to let Rodney know how much pain he was suffering. The wooden stick embedded in his side was deeper than he thought at first and moved slightly with every step he took. Warm blood was trickling down his side and seeping under the waistband of his BDU pants. He simply had to ignore the pain and continue to search for their friends. He was concentrating on trying to breathe and walk at the same time when he heard Rodney's excited voice shout at him to stop.

"Sheppard, look across the river, there's some cloth snagged on a branch. Doesn't that look like a piece of the shirt Ronon was wearing?" Rodney pointed to an overhanging tree on the other side of the river where they could see a tan colored piece of leather snagged on a low hanging branch. Sheppard reached for his binoculars and took a closer look. As soon as he focused on the swatch, a measure of relief washed over him.

"It's not snagged, that cloth was tied onto the branch. That means Ronon is alive and he's letting us know and if he's alive, then Teyla may be alive as well. Come on, we need to keep going." Sheppard felt his energy renewed and was more hopeful; he glanced back at Rodney and smiled slightly, maybe they would all survive.

They walked for another ten minutes before they saw another scrap of leather from Ronon's shirt, tied to another branch as the first one. The scrap was still on the other side of the river and Sheppard knew that they were going to have to get across the river, unless Ronon had somehow managed to make it across to this side.

Another few minutes passed as they continued on, stepping carefully along the river bank which was covered with rocks and surface roots. Overcome by a wave of pain, Sheppard struggled to maneuver over the rocks but he stumbled and fell hard to the ground. Rodney rushed to him, dropping to his knees next to him.

"Sheppard, damn it, did you want to hurt something else or are we still just dealing the original injuries." Rodney help him roll over onto his right side and then onto his back, feeling the colonel tense up as pain swept through his body. Grabbing his small flashlight, Rodney started to check out the wound on his side but Sheppard knocked his hand out of the way.

In the dim light from the small flashlight, Rodney could see Sheppard glaring at him, pain etched in the stubborn colonel's face. He tried to get up on his own and Rodney was about to grab him so that he could help when Sheppard, uttering a moan, stopped trying.

"You need to help me; if I move to quickly or put too much strain on my side, the stick moves."

"Sheppard, I really think you should stay here and rest; you really shouldn't be moving around with that stick in your side. I'll keep on looking for Teyla and Ronon and when I find them, I'll come back for you.

"No, help me up."

McKay knew that tone of voice, Colonel John Sheppard, military commander, had just issued an order. He went around behind Sheppard so that he could lift him to his feet by wrapping his arms around Sheppard's chest. He didn't want to do any more damage to his already injured arm or jar the wound in his side any more than necessary. He sat down on his heels and had his right arm around Sheppard to stabilize him and then reached down to grab his belt. Rodney thought that he could keep pressure off Sheppard's left side if he used his belt to help him stand. He wasn't prepared to find the area around Sheppard's belt soaked in blood.

"Oh, no, fly-boy, you're not going anywhere; you're bleeding pretty badly." Sheppard struggled against Rodney's attempt to push him back down but Rodney won. He unzipped Sheppard's vest pulling it away from his side. Although Rodney couldn't see the blood that had soaked into his friend's shirt and slacks in the light from the small flashlight, he could feel the sticky consistency on the fabric. Pulling out a couple of pressure bandages, he wrapped them around the protruding stick as best he could without causing Sheppard too much pain.

"You done?"

"Yes, I'm done but you need to rest here and let me go on ahead." McKay was wiping his hand on some wet leaves, trying to get Sheppard's blood off of them. He waited for Sheppard's, 'no gotta go' reply and he didn't have to wait long.

"Then get me up and let's get out of here." Reluctantly, McKay helped him get to his feet but he refused to let go of him until they reached an area where walking was not quite as treacherous.

Sheppard was about ten paces ahead of McKay when he spotted the third strip of leather from Ronon's shirt on the same side of the river that they were on. He yelled for McKay and started to reach out for the leather when Rodney caught up to him.

"No, don't do that, you could slip and fall into the river." McKay held on to Sheppard's right arm to prevent him from falling into the river.

"They got to this side, Rodney, let's keep going." He turned away from Rodney and began walking again but now he was also calling out Ronon and Teyla's names.

It wasn't long before Sheppard threw up his fist to stop and then put his finger to his lips to let Rodney know to be quiet. As they stood there in silence with only the lessening sound of flowing water in the background, they could hear a faint voice. Sheppard took off toward the direction of the voice, attempting to run. He thought better of it when the pain in his reminded him that wasn't a very good idea and slowed down to a walk.

Sheppard and Rodney were calling out their teammate's names over and over and stopped again to listen. Both felt a rush of joy as they heard Ronon's voice and even more so after what they heard him say.

"Sheppard, McKay, we're over here." Aiming their lights toward the voice, they could see the light tan color of Ronon's shirt peeking above the bank.

Ronon was sitting at the water's edge with Teyla lying across his lap. Sheppard started down the embankment but McKay stopped him and went down instead. He squeezed Ronon's shoulder to let the big guy know how very happy they were to see both him and Teyla.

Sheppard, his voice husky, asked, "Ronon, you guys OK; are you injured? Teyla?"

Ronon looked up at Sheppard, "Teyla's been unconscious since I found her just after I jumped in the water. As for her injuries, she's got a big cut on her head, right leg's broken. Her breathing isn't too bad though. My arm is broken and we are both cut up. Sheppard, come down here and help me get her up."

Rodney turned to Sheppard, "Don't you even think about coming down here. I'll bring her up."

He told Ronon, "He's badly hurt, fell on a wooden stick and it's still in his side and he banged up his shoulder. Stay still; let me get a good hold on her." Rodney, with help from Ronon, got Teyla in a fireman's hold, her possible broken leg resting on his right wrist. With Ronon steadying him from behind and as he got close to the top of the embankment, Sheppard putting his right forearm out for support, Rodney got her to level ground.

Rodney looked at Sheppard, "You sit over there," and pointed his light over to a fairly good sized tree, "with your back to the tree. Sheppard frowned at him but did what Rodney asked with Rodney supporting his arm as he sat down. Then he told Ronon to sit next to Sheppard and once he had them seated close together, he gently laid Teyla down between them, her head resting on Ronon's thigh. Sheppard walked him through splinting her leg with a couple of sticks and a pressure bandage to tie them around her leg. Then he put a splint on Ronon's arm.

"Now, since I am the only one, miraculously, who isn't hurt, I am going for help." He was pulling emergency blankets from his vest and Sheppard's vest and spread them across his three teammates.

Sheppard watched Rodney as he was fussing over them and asked, "Who put you in charge, McKay?"

"You did, 'Mr. Smartass', when you decided to take a nosedive into that inlet. I am going to leave the three of you here and go for help. Please do not move or, more importantly, injure anything else. I'll be back with help as soon as I can." With a last look at his teammates, he started tracing his steps back to the broken bridge and the main road which led to town.

"Well, well, well, looks like I am still in charge." Rodney was looking pretty pleased with himself as he walked into the infirmary twenty-four hours after they returned to Atlantis. He had left his post next to his teammates' beds to get coffee with Dr. Keller, and then to sit out on the infirmary balcony to look at the dark night sky. It wasn't until after he was back in Atlantis and the adrenaline faded that he realized how close he had come to losing all three of his teammates, his friends. Maybe it was a good thing that the dam burst happened at night, that way he hadn't been able to see how bad it really was.

"Rodney, you have been just a bit full of yourself since you 'rescued us'. Enough." Sheppard grimaced as he attempted to shift his position on the bed. The brace that Keller insisted he wear to support his badly bruised shoulder with its torn ligament, made it difficult for him move around very well. The puncture wound in his side had been pretty deep and the wooden stem had little sharp nubs on it and had sliced up the wound, which was the cause of the excessive bleeding. Keller had him on mega antibiotics via his IV along with some decent painkillers. She had informed him that he wasn't leaving the infirmary for a few days.

Keller confined Ronon to the infirmary on total bed rest for several days as well. His broken left arm was in a cast, his body badly bruised, and he had suffered numerous cuts. Most of those cuts occurred as a result of protecting Teyla from the debris.

Teyla suffered a serious concussion, numerous cuts and bruises and a broken leg. Kanaan and Torren were sitting next to her bed as she slept. She had regained consciousness earlier much to their relief as well as Dr. Keller's. Teyla told Rodney that she was very surprised to wake up in the infirmary. She had expected to die when she was swept off the bridge by rushing water that came upon them so quickly.

Rodney sat down in a chair between Ronon and Sheppard's beds and directly across from Teyla's. Sheppard wondered if he should tell him how proud he was at how Rodney had taken charge and gotten help for them. When he reached the town, Rodney helped the townspeople organize a rescue team and then had the rescuers head for the river with stretchers and medical help. Others took Rodney to the gate via a bridge about five miles down stream and by the time the jumpers from Atlantis carrying Keller and a med team arrived in the town, the three injured Atlantians had been brought to town and were ready to go home. Yeah, maybe he should tell him.

"Rodney, you did really good last night. You took charge, you took care of us, and you got us home after a really scary night. Thanks."

Rodney looked around at Ronon and Teyla, then back at Sheppard and smiled. His friends were safe and that was all that mattered.

Fin…