The past few days, waiting for Doctor Nicholas Rush to crack the Ancient's number based control code had been rife with stress and nerves. Until they managed to do so, until they were able to gain control of Destiny's systems, the crew could do nothing but wait as they traveled further and further from the planet where the ships automated jump clock had forced them to leave Lieutenant Matthew Scott, Sergeant Ron Greer, Eli Wallace and Chloe Armstrong.

Dr. Rush, along with Lisa Park and Adam Brody, had been working obsessively, trying to break the encryption using the clues Rush had gathered during his fool hardy and somewhat suicidal experience with Destiny's interface. Unfortunately, they weren't having much luck, which prompted Colonel Everett Young to as the others aboard to give the strings of sigils and numbers a look, hoping someone might have an epiphany.

Though no one seemed particularly keen on the idea, knowing that as Rush grew more frustrated he got grumpier, everyone conceded that it was worth a shot. Predictably, Rush, Brody and Park had been disgruntled by the new faces popping up in their workspace, but they had yet to turn overtly hostile, something Dale Volker was quite thankful for.

He stood, staring at the seemingly endless strings of figures, head cocked to the side and wondering why none of this seemed to look like Ancient text, which he had gotten pretty darn good at deciphering. Beside him, one of the other civilians was also entranced, not even breathing deeply as her eyes ticked across the screens.

Without a word, she was in motion, Sharpie pen in hand and scribbling on the wall. Glancing around, Volker caught sight of Rush, whose face was turning a dangerous shade of red and quickly looked back at Dr. Garrity. She was a linguist who had been with the Stargate program for years, brisk and quiet, one of the few civilians that had not taken part in the attempted mutiny, probably because no one knew quite where her loyalties stood.

After a few minutes of scribbling, she stepped back and nodded as though satisfied. Catching Rush's eye, she inclined her head to the wall and said, "That's your key."

Then she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

Rush blinked, squinted at the wall, then back down at the scrolling screens of numbers. "I'll be damned," he muttered, then looked at Park and Brody. "Start entering this as a cipher."

The two of them began tapping at their consoles ad Rush spun to Volker. "That was…Garrison, yes?"

"Garrity. Mary. One of Dr. Jackson's people." Those recruited by Daniel Jackson into the program always tended to be a bit on the odd side. Brilliant to be sure, but kinda weird.

With a nod, Rush moved over to his radio, effectively dismissing Volker as he said, "Colonel, good news…."

Destiny dropped back into normal space, orbiting the planet where they had left four of their people behind nearly a week earlier. Many of the crew gathered in the Gate room, a little scared, a little hopeful. Camile Wray sincerely wished their hopes would not be dashed. Losing Lt. Scott, Eli, Chloe and even Greer so soon after so many had chosen to abandon the ship would be a terrible blow to morale.

Maybe Scott and the others had managed to save themselves, dig their way out of the collapsed, underground ruins and, if not, perhaps they'd found a water supply and were just waiting to be rescued. No one really wanted to voice the more negative possible outcomes aloud.

Lieutenant TJ Johansen stood with Lieutenant Vanessa James and a team, ready to step through the gate the moment they got the order.

"Dial it," Colonel Young ordered, giving a nod to Rush who was standing at the dialing computer. The Scot complied and moments later, when the wormhole burst into life, Young continued, "Lt. Scott, do you read?"

There were a tense few seconds before the radio crackled and Scott's voice filled the room, echoing from the radio. "Yes, sir! It's good to hear your voice!"

Young smiled and let out a breath of relief as several of the civilians let out small, pleased cheers. "Same here, Matthew. Status?"

"We're out of the tunnels, made camp by the Gate. We're all fine, just hot and damp."

"It's been raining for days!" They heard Eli elaborate in the background.

Several people in the room chuckled, including Young, who said, "All right, Lt., bring your team home."

"Aye, sir," Scott answered before the Gate shut down, only to flare back to life a short time later as they established a connection from the planet.

Eli and Chloe, muddy, wet and bedraggled, were first through, followed closely by Scott and Greer. Wray couldn't deny the relief that surged through her when she saw them all looking healthy, if not entirely comfortable.

"Welcome back," Young greeted them, still smiling. Camile couldn't recall a time since they'd stumbled through the Gate onto this ship when he'd smiled so often. It was a little unsettling, but perhaps he thought it would help put the civilians at ease. "Say hello then I want TJ to check you over."

That sounded reasonable enough and the returnees seemed to agree, moving off to greet their respective friends.

The fact that Rush stepped out from behind the dialing computer and accepted a hug from Chloe surprised Wray, but she shrugged it off and gave a startled but pleased Eli a quick hug of his own. Greer was trading fist bumps and light spirited teasing about spiders with some of his fellow marines while TJ embraced Lt. Scott tightly, then stepped back as though embarrassed. The younger man spoke to her, too quiet to be overheard and the medic shook her head briefly.

Interesting.

TJ had given Greer, Chloe and Eli each a brief exam and sent them off to the showers…or at least Destiny's version of showers. Other than some bumps and bruises, they had all been perfectly fine, despite Eli's worries about having become permanently pruney.

Matt too seemed to be fine, as he sat on one of the exam beds, allowing her to poke at his bruises and take his temperature.

"I'm fine, TJ," he said good naturedly, pulling his shirt back into place after she'd palpated a particularly nasty bruise on his back and was satisfied there were no broken ribs.

Wagging a finger at him, she said, "It's my job to decide that."

He rolled his eyes, then grew serious. "How are you doing?"

With a sigh, TJ shrugged. "Not too bad. I've moved beyond morning sickness at least." Matt was one of the few people who knew she was carrying a baby and the only one who knew he father was Colonel Young. It was a bad situation and Matt had even offered to say he was the father to spare her the discomfort of having everyone know she'd had an affair with her married, superior officer.

She'd been considering his offer since he'd made it and had come to the conclusion that raising a baby with Matt, her friend, wouldn't be too bad. A friendly, one nighter with a buddy after a few too many wouldn't irrevocably damage either of their reputations and Matt was one of the good guys. She knew about the child he'd fathered when he was a teenager, knew the mother had never told him about his son and knew he wished things had been different. TJ knew he'd be a good dad.

But first, she had to ask. "Matt, before you go, I have to ask…What you said the other day…Did you mean it?"

Matt looked at her, big eyes confused for a moment before his brain caught up with her sudden shift of topics. The poor guy was pretty exhausted but his smile was genuine and he reached out, placing a hand on her arm. "Every word, TJ."

Taking a breath, TJ tried to figure out how to reply. Her hand drifted to her swollen abdomen. Soon she wasn't going to be able to button her pants. And that was going to suck. It wasn't like they could stop by the mall and pick up some maternity wear.

Another touch startled her. Matt had laid one of his larger, broader hands atop hers and his fingers touched her belly. "It's up to you of course, but, if you want, I'll be his or her father…the baby will be ours and it's not like anyone could prove otherwise, right? At least not out here."

TJ pursed her lips, feeling unshed tears flood her eyes and silently cursing her hormones. She'd never been a crier, but then again, she'd never been in a situation like this before.

"Matt," she said, voice tight with choked back emotion. Clearing her throat, she began again. "Matt, I'd love to raise…our baby together."

"Yeah?" he replied, smiling again, that bright, happy smile that she'd hoped to see. A small part of her thought maybe he'd made an offer and never thought she'd accept. That same part of her was expecting to see his face fall when she said yes.

But he seemed honestly pleased and hopped off the exam bed to wrap her in a friendly hug and plan a kiss on her cheek.

That made her let out a laugh and hug him back despite his damp, grimy clothes and rather unpleasant odor. She wasn't sure how much of the smell was coming from his muck encrusted clothing and how much was coming from him, but she really didn't care at the moment.

Things weren't perfect. She was probably still going to give birth aboard this ship, but, by accepting Matt's offer, some of the pressure was lessened. Young was the only one who might even suspect the truth, so, as far as most people were concerned, she wouldn't be seen as the pregnant ex-mistress. She had been dreading that.

Plus, she was sure Matt would be a good father. Young…not so much. She'd made the choice she felt would be best for her baby and herself.

And as Matt let her go, then crouched down and addressed her baby bump, introducing himself to the tiny life inside her as its Daddy, she knew it.

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