Crushed

He'd been trapped for hours.

Mitchell and Teal'c had been patrolling the area around the caves, and he hadn't been able to raise them on the radio. Sam was back at the village, trying to pinpoint the source of anomalous energy readings. She wasn't responding to the radio either.

Daniel coughed, a cloud of dust swirling invisibly from his mouth. There had been no warning, no sign of instability before the whole cave came crashing down on him. He couldn't budge an inch. Wasn't even sure if his legs were still attached. Everything was numb.

He fumbled at his radio again with his good arm. "Sam? Teal'c? Mitchell, dammit, somebody come in," he wheezed. The stone above his head creaked slightly, sending sand drifting down onto the back of his head. "Come on! Answer!"

There was a muffled burst of static, and his heart thudded strangely in his ears. "Sam? Can you hear me now?"

The sound wasn't repeated, and he let his hand drop. "Idiot," he muttered to himself. "You sound like a phone commercial. They can't hear you." It was starting to get hard to breathe, and cold was seeping into his bones. He shivered, wishing he was able to curl up on himself for warmth.

He'd been ignoring it, but that was impossible now. This was probably the end. Taken down by something he never saw coming, even from a million miles away. His journey was nowhere near over, and yet, he couldn't stop it. Even Oma wasn't watching out for him anymore. There would be no miraculous Ascension.

He desperately grasped at his radio again, but frozen fingers refused to thumb the button. He closed his eyes, which made no difference in the dark, and bowed his head. This was really it, then.

He wished it didn't have to be this way.