Trust Once Broken | SGA John Sheppard

0.42.0

Hello everyone,  I hope you are enjoying their adventure!

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There was smoke everywhere. John coughed as he forced his battered body to move. It had been a rough crash. Not his worst, but close. He was hurt, but with the adrenaline still coursing through his system it was impossible to tell how badly. The jumper was toast. None of the systems were responding to his thoughts and it was tilted at a forty-five degree angle, wedged in between a rock face and trees. Smoke was coming in from under one of the control panels.

His thoughts immediately went to Kai. He fought to get himself free from the wreckage so he could check on her. He craned his neck so he could see her, his gut twisting. Kai had been thrown from her chair. She was on all fours, coughing as smoke started to fill the cabin. He had to get them out of there.

John climbed around the chair, half crawling through the fun house tilt of the shuttle. "Are you hurt?" John wheezed.

"No," Kai coughed.

John frowned, there was a small trail of blood dripping down her temple. He reached out and turned her head with gentle fingers so he could inspect the damage.

"I'm okay," Kai promised trying not to be effected by the warmth of his fingers against her skin.

John nodded, knowing Kai would never fess up to it even if she wasn't. He gripped her arm and pulled her to her feet. She staggered and nearly fell into him. He held onto her as they fought their way towards the back of the jumper.

John hit the button to open the hatch, but nothing happened. "Shit," he muttered. He was exhausted and his thoughts felt sluggish. It took him a second to realize that it probably was either fumes from the smoke or he hit his head. Neither prospect was good.

Kai climbed through the wreck to the rear control panel. It was wedged shut and she had to use her knife to pry it open. It finally dropped open, nearly landing in her lap. There were sparks everywhere and she could smell burning wires.

"We gotta get out of here," John said unnecessarily.

Kai grunted in agreement. "Nice landing," she quipped without looking up from the panel.

John turned to stare at her incredulously. "Seriously? Now? You didn't want to wait until after we escape from the burning jumper?" he asked sarcastically, but truthfully it was reassuring to see she was calm enough to joke. He hadn't expected Kai to panic, but getting out of the jumper would only be the beginning and he was going to need her focused. Unless he missed his mark, the gate was done for, which meant they were stranded on a Wraith world with nothing but each other.

Kai smirked at the Colonel's humor. Sheppard was a great pilot and he was probably the only reason they were still alive, but she wasn't about to tell him that. The man's ego didn't need the help.

She gripped the crystals with her fingers, jerking out the broken ones and throwing them aside so she could re-route any remaining power to the door. "I don't want to miss my chance in case it blows before I can get the door open."

John groaned dramatically. There was nothing he could do to help her, so he turned his attention to digging through the bags and containers of supplies that had scattered all over the tipped jumper. He tossed the most useful ones against the ramp. They would need everything they could save.

"Got it," Kai called triumphantly as the ramp hissed. It only opened a foot and a half before it lodged into the ground.

John motioned Kai out ahead of him, and she crawled through the small space. Instead of following John started shoving bags and containers after her.