Rigel (n) : awesomesaucery

*continues down multishipper highway with the second of four prompts*

Title: Spring Loaded Camming Device
Author: Rigel
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Disclaimer: Not mine, don’t sue.
Category: Sam/Cam Friendship, Action/Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1166
A/N: For pepper_field who requested a Sam/Cam friendship ficlet with the prompt: “The first sunny day of spring” All mistakes are my own.

“I’d just like to point out again, the absolute futility in building a stargate in close proximity to a glacier.” Sam adjusted her goggles again, fitting them more snugly against the bridge of her nose. “Ice moves, you know. The gate was probably two valleys over that way a thousand years ago.” She waved a heavily gloved hand toward the highest peak behind them.

Cameron jabbed the spike on the bottom end of his ice axe firmly against the surface of the snow, making sure it was solid ground beneath him, before stepping forward. “Look on the bright side: at least we get a view.”

“Of the ice.”

“And there’s some snow too,” he protested, “maybe a hint of something in an off-white tone if you squint hard enough.”

Sam pursed her lips slightly, biting back a smile, and moved forward another step; taking care to place her feet in the same places that Cameron had. “Believe me, I’m counting down the moments ‘til we get back to the gate, dial home, and I can stand under a hot shower for about half a year.”

“Absolutely.” He probed at the snow again. “And have something to eat that hasn’t been preserved for twice that amount of time.”

He rested his weight on one leg, and paused for a moment to let Sam take a few more steps. The rope stretched between them slackened slightly as she painstakingly made her way forward.

“Need a rest?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m fine. Let’s keep going. Daniel and Teal’c already have a pretty good lead on us.”

“Teal’c is a machine. I swear nothing slows that man down.” He looked to the two figures breaking a path up ahead. “Mind you, they are doing half the work for us.”

“I’ve got no objection to following,” she replied. “All this fresh snow is making it hard to find the safe path, though.”

“I still can’t believe it snowed last night.”

“The headman of the village assured me it was unusual for this time of the year.”

“The man was clearly cracked, Sam; he told me it was the sunniest spring day he could remember.”

“Well, from memory, all the data we collected indicated that the temperature was significantly above the median for this latitude.”

“Spring, my ass. It’s colder out here than a-- ” he broke off. “Well it’s just cold.”

“Colonel Mitchell, we have decided to take a brief respite.” Tealc’s voice crackled over the radio.

‘Sounds good.” he radioed back, and then turned his head around to shoot a cheeky grin at Sam. “How’s about we take over and lead for a bit when we get up to you?”

There was a slight pause before Teal’c replied: “That would not be advisable at this time.”

Sam snickered.

‘Well, alright then. Mitchell out.” He flashed another smile at Sam. “You heard him, I did volunteer.”

“So noble of you.” She laughed, and then jabbed the end of her ice axe into the snow to gain a better purchase on the slightly sloping terrain.

Cam took another step forward. “You know me and --” he broke off suddenly as his leg sank alarmingly into the snow. “Oh shit.”

“What?” Sam’s head snapped up.

“Don’t move,” he ordered. “I don’t think we’re standing on stable ice here.” He wiggled his leg experimentally, trying to judge whether or not he could pull free in one swift movement. He was running through the options in his mind when the compacted snow gave way.

Sam flung herself to the ground, driving the pick of her ice axe as hard as she could into the snow, trying to stop them sliding even further into the crevasse that Cameron must have accidentally stepped into.

She lay panting heavily, powdery flakes of snow clinging to her skin. It took a while to register that she was no longer being pulled backwards. In fact she couldn’t register any sense of having the weight of another body dragging on the rope.

“Cam!” A note of panic crept into her voice. She could see the rope that tied them together snaking through the snow and disappearing off an edge that hadn’t been there before.

“I’m fine. Just secure yourself first.” His voice was muffled slightly, but calm.

Sam tugged the outer layer of her gloves off with her teeth, and unclipped several long ice-screws from a carabiner on her pack. She then cleared the loose snow away from the surface of the ice, and began work on creating a secure point to anchor her belay into.

“Anything broken?” she called out.

“Nope, I’m just wedged in pretty good. I’m not even that far down.”

“Gimme two more minutes.”

Cam was trying to twist his shoulders into a more comfortable position, when Sam’s head poked over the edge of the crevasse. “Don’t even,” he warned.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” she protested. “Although you do look rather ridiculous.”

Cam was wedged upright, but he had twisted to one side as he had fallen, and his pack was now jammed firmly against the ice walls on either side of him.

“Teal’c and Daniel?”

“I sent them on to the gate to bring the cavalry back with them. What--?” she gave him an innocent look through her goggles. “I don’t think we can get you out of there on our own in a less amount of time.”

He glared at her.

“Daniel said half an hour at the most. All we have to do is sit tight.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

“No,” she agreed, “that’s true.” She un-strapped her pack and lowered it to the ground. “The good news is that this seems like a pretty stable section of ice; it was just that last night’s snowfall probably covered it over with a thin crust, making it hard to tell from solid ground, at least visually.”

‘I was following exactly where Daniel and Teal’c had been.”

“Well they probably weakened it then,” she smiled, “but trust you to find the world’s smallest crevasse and fall in it.”

“What can I say; I’m multi talented.”

“Clearly.” She unzipped one of the outer pockets on her pack and rummaged around until she found a power bar.

“Are you eating?” His tone was incredulous.

“Yup.”

“Now that’s just cruel.”

“Hasn’t anyone told you about my ruthless side yet?”

“I heard rumours. Obviously they weren’t exaggerated.”

“Nope,” she rejoined cheerfully.

“One bite.”

“You can get your own.”

“I can’t reach my pack.” He flailed about weakly to prove his point.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, can you do it again?” at his unimpressed look she continued: “What can I say; I’m a visual person.”

“Who’s also given to tormenting her commanding officer through cruel and unusual means.”

She flashed her teeth in a grin, and then half a power bar sailed through the air towards him.

“Lucky for you, I’ve got reflexes.” He bit into the bar.

“That you do flyboy.”

“Shaddup!”

Further Notes:

So those of you confused over the title: a Spring Loaded Camming Device aka SLCD aka “friendly” is a tool used in climbing. It gets wedged into cracks, and then you clip your carabiner into it, so that if you fall something is there to make sure it’s not too far.

And seeing as Cam was “wedged” into the crevasse and the whole “spring” prompt… god I kill myself with the puns sometimes :P