Author's Note: Only a little note: This chapter completely consists of flashbacks which aren't in a chronological order (with good reason). Every part by itself is completed. There will be more of this kind, trying to give an insight into the whole background story.

Chapter 2: All these Moments

Baird gave a self-ironic laugh. "My parents probably would have been proud of me for the first time in their life. At least if they were still alive." He perched on the floor, his back leaning on the bed on which Sam was sitting.

"Why's that?" she asked.

Her question didn't surprise him. How exactly was she supposed to know this tiresome story? Baird had hardly wasted any words on his childhood or his parents all the years. Cole was the only one who knew more about him and that was probably just because they had known each other for a long time.

"Well, their sonny finally joined the army after all. And on top of that an offspring. The old man and the old woman really would have a reason to be proud." It seemed that he was smirking slightly.

"I see."

"The fuck you do!"

"I know that originally you had other plans than joining the army, Cole once had hinted at something like that. So don't pan me, okay?" Sam hauntingly looked at him from behind.

"But hey! I mean, a little Baird – that's just nice!" The cynicism in his voice was unmistakable. "With Baird Senior being on front fighting the shit out of grubs and other scum and his wife and child staying at home. That's exactly what you expect from life."

"Don't behave like an asshole." Sam thought about it for a few seconds, then she decided to stretch out her hand and put it on Baird's shoulder. Moments later she came closer and finally put her hands around him, leaning her forehead against the back of his head. The blonde man didn't defend against her touch. "I am pretty sure they would have been proud of you even without joining the army," Sam whispered. Baird didn't answer. Maybe this was the most intimate moment they'd ever shared.

"Hoffman's favoring you somehow, isn't he?" He turned his head a bit, changing the subject abruptly. "Why?"

Sam lifted her eyebrow, remaining in her position. "He does?"

"Sergeant Samuel Byrne must have been a man of ability from what is said…" Yes, of course Baird was again well informed about everything. "Seems he's feeling guilty. Maybe he owes you something?"

Now that Baird had gotten his teeth into this Sam saw no other choice but to tell him about the whole affair. "Hoffman has helped me. That's all." When the blonde didn't answer she sighed heavily. Stubborn idiot! "All right, all right! When my mother died I normally would have been ready for one of these fucking breeding farms. Lucky me that my father was such a legend, so Hoffman was able to step in and stop some Gears who wanted to take me away, thus saving me from the common woman's destiny."

"So this means the diagnosis of infertility was actually quite correct…" Baird added.

"They made the diagnosis of infertility, yes."

"… which turned out to be a fake, as we all know by this time." Now he shoved her hands off of him.

"Dr. Hayman wouldn't tell me shit."

"Surely not," Baird now put his hands behind his neck. "Never trust a woman, even if she's 'infertile'."

"Shut the hell up and accept it! At least you could have done something about that, too." Sam seated herself beside Baird.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"


Something was wrong. Sam noticed the disturbance when she was on her way back from Dr. Hayman. All the Gears nearby were on the move.

"Hey, what happened?" She stopped one of them.

"Lambent attack!" he shortly answered and then went on immediately, his Lancer at the ready.

"Shit," Sam murmured, already jogging to her quarters. Without thinking she put on her full armor, strapped the boots on and took her Lancer. Then she left her room again, looking for her squad. Only when she stopped somewhere along the way she got thoughtful. Hoffman had ordered her to quit the service and even Marcus had put her out of his squad once the news had got about. She actually was supposed to take care of herself, but could she really put her feet up while her comrades were putting their asses on the line? No, she wasn't that sort of human.

So she ran on, meanwhile putting in her earpiece and pressing the button. "Marcus? This is Sam! You hear me?"

"Yes," the Sergeant replied without demanding why she was on duty again.

"Where are you?"

But this time it wasn't Marcus who answered her, it was Baird. "Damn you! You are not part of Delta anymore!"

The next she could hear was the blonde arguing heatedly with Marcus about pregnant women on the battlefield via radio. Okay, she decided to interfere again. "Gears don't let each other down! I'll watch out."

There were gunshots and finally Marcus' voice: "All right, Sam. We're at the depot now. Watch your step. Marcus out."

Sam hurried up and saw the attack's sheer magnitude when she finally reached the depot. Apart from Delta there were several more Gears firing at a good dozen polyps. Next to Baird she came to a halt, taking cover immediately.

"Well, you got your way?" He looked at her just for the blink of an eye and then concentrated on aiming again.

"Too right!" Sam shot some of the creatures. "I want to keep my hands in, you know?"

Baird grinned slightly, clearing his throat and firing once more.

Meanwhile Marcus and Dom had been able to advance a bit, trying to put the polyps to rout. "Go, go, go! They are retreating!" Marcus yelled, pushing the soldiers onwards.

Cole joined the group, looking back at Sam and Baird for a second. "Let's go!" Then he followed the other Gears.

Baird was about to do the same, when he suddenly had to stop because he noticedSam wasn't behind him. "What's the matter?"

"Shit, I feel nauseated," she gasped.

"God, that's why I told the dickhead… Well, what am I actually telling? It's pointless. Everybody on this fucking squad's listening with half an ear anyway!" Baird frowned, shaking his head in disbelief. This was just great!

"Damn, that's because of the pregnancy!"

"Oooh, smart cookie. No kidding. Would you mind scramming now?"

"I'm no coward! Got it?" Sam felt better bit by bit.

Baird only rolled his eyes. "Okay, just for the record: That was an order!"

Before Sam could answer the blonde man pointed his Lancer at her. "Get down!" he shouted, waiting for her to crouch. He pulled the trigger.

Only now when she turned around she realize the reason: there'd been a polyp behind her. Actually it was a dead polyp now.

"Look at this! Are you willing to leave now?" Baird's voice was filled with emphasis, so that she recognized that this wasn't the right situation for a pregnant woman.

"Okay…" Sam conceded, letting the other Gear do his duty. But she managed only a few steps until there was a tough jerk on her back. Another polyp landed besides her on the ground. "Bastard! Eat shit!" She killed the creature but was dragged to the ground by the burden on her back at the same moment. Then the weight was gone.

Sam turned over onto her back, immediately catching sight of an additional polyp sitting in front of her. "Shithead…" She aimed with her Lancer and fired… but she didn't hit her target. The creature had evaded by jumping on her upper body.

Baird who had heard the shots approached her at a smart pace. "Shit, I told you so!" Simply shooting was impossible. That bastard would have exploded still being on Sam's body. In this case there would have been nothing the armor could do for her. "Get up!" he yelled over to her, aiming his Lancer at the polyp. There was no better plan.

But it was already too late. Sam uttered a terrible scream when the enemy pierced through her armor with his legs. The next thing he saw was blood everywhere. Baird ran amok, kicking the polyp off of her body which was still clinging to the armor, just to knock its lights out the next second.

Shit, that was it. It was over… He knew for sure when he saw her lying there in her blood. Sam also knew when she pressed her hand on her wound.

"Control, this is Baird!" he shouted via the radio. "I need a doctor here!" It was clear in his mind this would probably take a while– time he and Sam didn't have – so he lifted her. "Fuck that doctor!" Taking her to Dr. Hayman by himself would take less time. Of course it wouldn't, but hope was the last thing to die.


He remembered the first time he met Sam. Colonel Hoffman allocated her to Delta after the COG had moved into the Naval Base. She immediately attracted his attention with her big mouth. One of the wandering Gears hadn't been at eye level with her while talking to her. Hearing the words "You like hospital food? If not you better take to your heels…" made Baird grin inward. That'd nearly reached his sort. Not that he would have admitted it…

"Sergeant Fenix." Hoffman finally stopped in front of Marcus. "That's Private Samantha Byrne. Probably you've heard of Samuel Byrne from Anvil Gate; she's his daughter."

"Yes, sir."Marcus replied. Byrne was something like a war hero from the siege of Anvil Gate.

Hoffman gave him a nod. "Good. So Private Byrne will be your team mate from now on."

Instead of four they now were six Gears. Baird rolled his eyes. Oh no, actually seven, not forgetting Anya. Slow but steady all the female soldiers gained the upper hand. Not good…

"Wow!" Cole whispered, eyeing up the brunette woman with the green headband. "Really hot, isn't she, Damon Baby?"

Baird put his buddy off. "Yeah, yeah, you better pick her up then. But keep in mind that she has all the answers. I tell you, she doesn't like men, probably she's even lesbian or something like that."

"Baby, with me it's different. All the chicks soften up on the Cole Train." Cole checked the woman again. "Man!"

Baird followed his suit and took a closer look at Private Byrne. To be honest he already had seen something much worse, but their addition definitely didn't behave like a woman. Rather like a man being in a woman's body.

"What is it, blondie?" Suddenly Private Byrne was standing in front of him, being several centimeters smaller than him. It was a funny perspective, just like a mouthy dwarf.

"Nothing. I just asked myself how all the women manage to join the army. That for the most part you aren't even able to take aim isn't a secret, is it?" Somehow he had to test her out, whether she suited as target or not.

"Oh, no worries. We can have a practice lesson if you want to. I bet I'm going to hit your balls the first round, you smartass." Sam sneered.

"Just call me 'Corporal Baird', that will do. And with that I am something like your boss." Baird seemed satisfied, at least for this moment. His plan worked perfectly, the female soldier joined the game. This was the perfect pastime when there wasn't anything to do.

"I honestly don't give a shit about that."

"Oh, you should do." He looked down to her, taunting her a bit. "I can be a nice guy. Really. At least until someone is pissing me off. So just shut it and carry out your tasks." With these words Baird finally left her standing.

"Who do you think you are?" Sam yelled after him.

"Corporal Baird!" he yelled back, disappearing somewhere in the base.

"He's just kidding, baby." Cole now interfered, not wanting to forfeit his chance.

"I'll have fun with this motherfucker…" she soliloquized silently, not paying attention to him. She would show the blonde asshole who was boss.

Dom put his hand on her shoulder. "With Baird? That's gonna be a tough nut to crack. He's just an asshole, you can't winkle this out of him anymore." He was laughing. "Plus Marcus is the boss of Delta."


She felt nauseous. Sam stood up from her chair and was leaving the gambling table. "I'm going to the toilet. Be right back." With these words she was leaving. Something wasn't okay with her. She had this sickness for days. And even now she was kissing the toilet bowl.

She wasn't the only one to whom this seemed strange. After ten minutes passed by and Sam hadn't returned Dom asked: "Are you sure that she only went for a pee?"

Baird shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe any female problems. Who cares?" Now it was his turn to place a card on the table.

Bernie nodded. "Okay, so I'm going to look after her." She then followed Sam.

Baird took the opportunity and had a look at her cards. "Fuck, Granny has a brazen luck!"

"Baby, that's cheating." Cole slammed his elbow into the blonde's side.

In the meanwhile Bernie could already hear the barf sounds when she entered the toilet room. She trailed them, finally stopping behind Sam who was kneeling in front of a toilet bowl.

"Are you unwell?"

Sam didn't turn around. "Must be. Even if I don't know why…"

"You've had this for a while?"

"Yeah, da-" Sam interrupted the sentence for another urge to gag. "Urgh!" Clear the ring for the next round!

"Listen, have you ever thought of…"

"Don't state it!" The brunette woman wiped her mouth. "Can't be."

"Don't take it the wrong way, but it doesn't look like this 'can't be'." Bernie put her hand on Sam's shoulder when she vomited again. "Maybe you're gonna pay Hayman a visit."

Now the other woman turned around, looking at her skeptically. "Fuck…"

"You can say that again. Blondie probably won't be too pleased." Bernie blinked one eye, even if this was a serious issue.

"Shit." Sam shook her head in disbelief. "I'm long overdue... For weeks."

"It's all good. Better you tell him right away. Then you are over it."

"What are you talking about?" Finally Sam was able to part with the toilet, getting up now. How did Bernie know all of that at all?

As if she was able to read the younger woman's mind she answered: "You two are so easy to see through, even though Blondie enjoys playing Agent 007. You know, I'm the last who would blame you for having fun but when it comes to the consequences the fun stops." Bernie made a short pause. "Okay, I'm leaving you alone," she said before she went back to the others.

"What?" Baird snapped at her when Bernie watched him carefully while sitting down. "I didn't look at your cards!"

He was an idiot after all. Well, maybe that was generally true for most of the men in relation to these things. Bernie decided to give it a slight try. "Sam gave the toilet bowl a hug…"

"She already had yesterday?" Dom interfered. "When we were out on a mission."

Bernie looked at him. At least Dom should be an exception. At least he had experienced this two times with Maria. He definitely would notice.

"Let me think about it. Two days ago it was the same. Man, she had vomited on her boots." He paused for a moment, when he finally realized, darting a glance at Bernie in return. They both exchanged a gesture, and then everything was clear.

Baird still hadn't understood. "Jeez, Granny. Will you take a card, please? I've planned to finish this even today."

The old woman did him this favor.

Moments later Sam also returned to the group. "Sorry." She was about to sit down on her chair again when she suddenly felt sick again. Goddamn, today was a bad day!

"Hey, hey, just don't barf right here!" Baird bitched, moving away with his chair.

Sam managed to fight against the nausea and finally decided that it was time to go. Hoping that Bernie hadn't blabbed she left the gambling round. "See you tomorrow."

As if this was infective Cole suddenly yawned. "I'm also gonna catch some Z's. Will ya manage?"

"Sure." Baird spoke for them all, watching his buddy leave too.

Bernie took a look at the blonde again and again. Actually she shouldn't interfere in this any further, but she enjoyed imagining this bigmouth spending his time changing diapers full of baby poop soon. She then decided that it was better to keep quiet and brought this round to an end.

Dom won it and Baird put his cards on the table. "What an awful day."

"Did Sam already pay a visit to Dr. Hayman?" Dom asked, directing towards Baird.

"Err?" The blonde only raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, because the whole vomiting and stuff like that." the other Corporal quickly continued.

"How would I know? She doesn't report to me." Baird took a look at his watch. "Yeah, time to go." He wouldn't have been Baird if he hadn't an ace up his sleeve. "Santiago. Granny." He overstated, nodding in their directions.

When he finally was out of the room Dom couldn't keep it in any longer. "No! Holy shit! She's pregnant by this asshole?"

"At least it looks like she is. But I'm no doctor."

"I always thought she couldn't have children?"

Bernie shrugged her shoulders. "Apparently she can. But even if she can't, that doesn't mean that it's a free ticket for fucking around the whole of Sera without any protection."

"There you're right." The nightly activities between Sam and Baird weren't really a secret anymore. They spent the day cutting their throats so that nobody could notice what was going on.

"Idiots." Bernie spoke out loud what Dom was thinking.

"Getting his child? Gosh! This must be really hard. And telling Baird must be another turn of the screw."

"Oh, Blondie will get over it. After all he can raise another little asshole." Bernie couldn't help but grin.


"I'm sorry, Corporal. There was nothing I could do." Dr. Hayman was as professional as ever when she informed Baird about what he already had known when he carried Sam back. Despite of all he didn't answer her, but just left.

He had known it. He had warned Marcus. And he had warned Sam. … And he had been overlooked by them. That fucking bitch hadn't only risked her own life… She had pushed her luck– pushed it too far – and had finally lost. Normally he would have said something like it was her own fault, but this time he couldn't. It had been his goddamn child she had carried inside her, playing Superwoman by all means.

He shook his head. As soon as she was released he would have a serious conversation with her. But for now he couldn't bear her anymore. That brainless bitch… The same held true for Marcus. Such a wretched failure! If Delta had been his own squad, women wouldn't even have had a chance to get in. That was for sure.

His hands running through his hair he pulled off his goggles, looking at them. "Fuck you, Sam!" The next moment he slung them away somewhere heedlessly and set out for whatever.