DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of 'Stargate: Atlantis'. They're not my property.


Dr. Elizabeth Weir walked over to the bed where a young woman with a baby had been sitting, waiting to be examined. With a long black dress and braided hair, the woman belonged to a small group of human-like inhabits of a recently visited planet, rescued from yet another attack by the Wraith. From the twenty survivors, she was the only one with a child.

"How do you feel, Kia?" Elizabeth asked the young woman.

Kia looked back at her with a frightened stare. This was strange to her and she had trouble adjusting.

Elizabeth sensed this and smiled softly. "It's alright. You are safe here. No one will hurt you."

Kia placed her cheek on her baby's head and hugged it. "No one is safe from them."

Elizabeth understood her fear but she tried to soothe it. "We are, Kia."

"Alright, now let's have a look at you." One of the doctors sat down on a chair next to Kia and tried to take the baby. The moment the child was removed from her mother, she started crying hysterically.

"No," Kia said, reaching for her daughter.

"We need to examine you properly," the doctor responded.

"Please, return my daughter," Kia pleaded.

The doctor handed the baby to one of the nurses but her cries only continued.

"She will not stop crying if she is separated from me. Please!"

"But –"

"Return the baby, please," Elizabeth asked the nurse.

The nurse returned the baby to her mother and she immediately stopped crying. Kia started whispering something to her daughter in their language to calm her down. After a while, she looked up at Elizabeth. "Our children cannot be separated from their parents until they've grown. They die otherwise."

"Kia," the doctor called her. Kia looked at him carefully, holding the child closer. "We need to check how your health is. It's standard procedure."

Kia's eyes turned to Elizabeth who nodded in agreement with the doctor. "But, I –"

"Everyone else has been cleared," John's voice interrupted Kia when the colonel appeared next to Elizabeth. He was surprised to find Kia on the bed. "I thought she went in first," he said.

The doctor sighed. "She did. But she wouldn't let us examine her because of the baby."

"Why?"

"She doesn't want to be parted from her," Elizabeth told him quietly.

"But you told her that –"

"We explained everything."

Kia hugged her baby again. "Many here tried to hold her, it is the same." She kissed the baby's head and then glanced over at John. Her gaze suddenly turned curious.

"What?" John was perplexed by the woman's stare.

"You will return her to me?" Kia suddenly asked.

Elizabeth glanced at John. "Of course, Kia," she then assured the young mother.

"Very well," Kia agreed and handed her baby to John, who only stood there.

He looked at the others and saw the expectancy on their faces. "I'm not taking her."

"Oh, come on, Colonel, it's only a baby." Elizabeth smiled at him.

"Why don't you take her?" he asked.

"Kia isn't offering her to me."

He huffed. "I'm not a fan of screaming babies."

"You can bear a few minutes of it," she dared him.

He pouted and finally took the baby. The little girl didn't let out a single sound.

Kia smiled. "Oh the gods."

"Well, she…" The colonel was met with amazed looks by everyone. "What?"

"She's quiet," Dr. Samuels said.

"Oh, this is…" Kia shook her head. "Our children are only quiet like this with their parents.

"Aren't many kids?" John took a better hold of the child. The little girl's gray eyes watched his face curiously. He looked at her. "Hey, there… what's your name?" he asked her gently.

"Syla," Kia responded.

"Okay… hello, Syla," he smiled at her. The child's curious eyes continued to watch him. She let out a melodic sound, and then reached for his nose. He chuckled softly at her playful nature, but when her hand squeezed his nose tighter, he was forced to open his mouth to breathe. "Okay, ow, that's-that's a little tight."

Elizabeth smiled at this funny sight. Syla let out a laugh and then let go of John's nose.

"That's some grip you have there, BamBam," John said jokingly.

"Err, wasn't BamBam a boy?" the doctor asked as he started examining Kia.

"Whatever, I just meant she was strong," John replied.

"We'll leave shortly until you've finished," Elizabeth said, gesturing the colonel to follow her.

Kia kept an eye on them. "It is a miracle," she admitted quietly.

"Tell me about it, Colonel Sheppard with a baby," Dr. Samuels replied and snorted.

"No, she… she only laughed like that when her father held her," she continued.


A few hours later, Elizabeth entered her office to get some work finished when Dr. Samuels called her. "Dr. Weir, we need you back."

"Is something wrong?" she asked, not liking the sound of it.

"Yes."

"I'll be right there," Elizabeth responded and hurried out.

She followed the sound of a baby screaming back at the Infirmary, which gave her an idea of what the problem could be. Elizabeth found the young woman lying on the bed, looking incredibly weak.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"She's been ill for some time," Samuels replied.

"She seemed fine a few hours ago." Elizabeth watched the paler face of the woman while a nurse standing next to the bed was trying desperately to calm the child. "How did this happen?"

"It's some kind of illness that affects her kind. But… she appears to be the only one affected by it."

Elizabeth looked at the nurse and her useless attempts to calm Syla. The screams were getting louder and it was difficult to hear what Dr. Samuels was telling her. Wishing Sheppard had been here, she stretched her arms towards Syla. "Give the baby to me," she told the nurse. The poor woman seemed relieved by this request and immediately handed the little girl to Elizabeth.

Again, silence in the room.

"Well," Samuels crossed his arms, "You and Colonel Sheppard must have a gift when it comes to kids," he remarked.

Elizabeth ignored that comment and looked at Syla. She saw those tired gray eyes looking at her. "She looks tired."

"She should be; she wouldn't stop crying for an hour."

Returning her gaze to Kia, Elizabeth approached the bed. "Kia…"

Kia struggled to find strength to speak as she watched her daughter in this woman's arms. "She is silent. Oh, the gods… my Syla is not crying any more," she forced herself to smile at the thought. She then looked at Elizabeth. "I… was certain the tree illness would not reach me… I-I… hoped it would not."

Elizabeth watched her sadly. "We will find a cure for you."

Kia gripped the sheet. Sweat was beginning to appear heavily on her face. "There is…" she swallowed hard. "I know my life is ending, Elizabeth Weir. I can feel it."

"Kia, save –"

"My time is short. I must… tell… you…" Kia swallowed hard again, struggling to continue speaking. The illness was rapidly removing the young woman's strength. "I do not wish to… place… such burden on you… or John … Sheppard. Please forgive me."

"What burden?" Elizabeth asked her softly.

"I do not want for my daughter to suffer the same fate. She… she does… not…" Kia shut her eyes tightly, struggling for breath.

"Kia, try to save your strength," Elizabeth advised her.

Kia opened her eyes again. "If she is left… with… anyone else, she will… not stop crying. She… will not eat… not sleep… she will…" Kia swallowed again. "She will die!"

Elizabeth looked at Syla worryingly, realizing what Kia was asking of her.

"She must not cry… she must… not… die. Please, Elizabeth Weir… I am begging you… I-" The last bit of strength was suddenly drained from her body. Her eyes and lips closed, her grip loosened. Her life disappeared.

Elizabeth stood by the bed with Syla in her arms; the little girl silent, perhaps too young to understand what had just happened. A sad feeling fell on the woman holding her combined with the heavier weight of sudden responsibility.

With a smile on her small face, Syla clapped, looking at the two people standing by the bed.


"You know, I don't remember my résumé including babysitting services," John said with his arms crossed.

Elizabeth sighed. "Well, I had no choice, John, I'm sorry."

"She asked you to take care of her?" John asked while looking at the baby.

"Yes, she did. However, since me… or you caring for a child now is out of the question…"

John exhaled in relief. "Oh, thank God!"

"I am leaving her in your care while I have a word with the other Atonians about this."

"You gotta be kidding."

"Hey, if she was like this with anyone else here, I would've gladly asked them but since that isn't a possibility, you're the only choice."

He glanced at Syla. "Well lucky me," he said, sounding less than pleased.

"I am sure we can find someone from Kia's people to take her in."

"Aren't women better at these things though? Kids and stuff?"

Elizabeth smiled at Syla and brushed the little girl's hazel hair gently. "Maybe, but I doubt you're that bad."

Due to the closeness between her and the grownups, Syla grabbed John's thumb and looked up at him. When he looked back at her, she gave the happiest giggle.

"See how much she likes you?" Elizabeth told him.

"Yeah, that's great." He ignored the compliment. "Listen, Elizabeth, I have tons of other stuff to do here. I can't look after a baby!"

"I can't see her as being much of a burden. You just need to stay with her."

"And what if the Wraith decide to pay us a visit? Am I supposed to take her to the Puddle Jumper with me?"

"Make sure you put a Baby On Board sticker on the back," she said with a smile.

"Very funny," he was taking this less lightly.

"Relax, John! You're not needed anywhere right now. I'll be back as soon as I can," she told him and then walked out of the room.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he scratched the back of his head. When Syla squeezed his thumb again, he looked down at the child's smiling face. "Just don't mess up the bed and we'll be fine," he told her. Syla responded only with a giggle.


"Thank you for letting us perform the ceremony here, Dr. Elizabeth Weir," Jodian told her. A tall, frail-looking man, he had become an unwilling leader of those who had managed to arrive here.

Elizabeth nodded. "Any way we could help."

"You've saved many of us. We will forever be grateful for that."

Elizabeth received the man's gratitude for her team's actions with a soft smile. "Jodian, what happened to Syla's father?"

"He was killed by the Wraith," he replied. "But I am certain he values what you have done for his daughter."

"Who cares for the children except their parents?"

"Only them. Our kind is somewhat capable of adapting but… we still question how she accepted you and John Sheppard when she is so young."

This felt unsettling. "But what happens if the parents die? Doesn't anyone take care of the child?"

Jodian watched her for a while and then shook his head. "No, every Atonian only looks after his or her own offspring. It is not our way to accept the child of someone else."

"You leave them to die?" She kept calm but inside she was not taking this information easily.

"It is our way, Elizabeth Weir," he replied simply.

She sighed and then glanced at her hands. This wasn't easy for her. "We are honored that Kia would entrust us with her child, but unfortunately we have too many responsibilities to look after her properly."

"But if you do not, she will die," he warned her.

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Seeing his expecting gaze, she continued. "Isn't there a possibility that someone else can take our place? Someone that could give her the time and love she deserves?"

"I am certain you and John Sheppard have love to give her."

Elizabeth smiled politely to this. "Haven't there been exceptions?"

"I do not understand."

"Maybe someone wishes to give her a home, even if she isn't their own flesh and blood."

"No. As I've already said, no one from our people accepts an orphaned child from another Atonian," he replied. "You do not wish to care for Syla?"

"My responsibilities here prevent me from raising her properly, Jodian. I would be happy, and I am sure Kia would be as well, if one of your people could raise her instead. I am afraid… we could not give her what she really needs."

"All she needs is love, Elizabeth Weir. If you are worried that she could not be raised in a society different from ours, you are wrong. Since she has begun to accept you, there is hope for her."

"Could you not adapt to this change as well? Give her a life more worthy than the one we could give?"

"Will you not be proper parents for her?" he became defensive.

"If the circumstances were different, I have no doubt we could be. However, as I explained earlier, it is not possible now. Could you not change that rule? Maybe there is someone willing to do this?"

Jodian observed her face long, which made Elizabeth a little uncomfortable as if trying to gain a reason from the expression on her face alone. "I cannot promise you a positive conclusion will be reached, but I will speak with my people about this."

Elizabeth smiled. Bringing her hands clasped together to her chest, she nodded. "Thank you, Jodian."

The man nodded back. "Now, I must return to oversee the preparations."

"Of course," she understood.