Sam rested in the Infirmary, the cool darkness a welcome relief from the heat and light of the day and its events. In spite of the relief she felt, she felt heavy and bloated. More relief stemmed from her urge to vomit subsiding some time previously. Still, it was a small relief overall. They had told her she was pregnant; something which she saw as impossible with her years of using contraceptive injections, and, fairly recently, a contraceptive implant. The news hadn't sank in – she saw herself as either compromised by an alien entity or influence, in the midst of a dream, or both. Why they hadn't adopted full quarantine protocols still escaped her. When all this was over, she planned on putting in a formal complaint, or at least shouting at someone.

Anger soon gave way to anguish. Her career was ruined. Tears streamed down her face. What would happen? She wasn't quite sure that what she carried was even human. Her relationship with Daniel was certainly ruined. They were just about doing okay until now. She wouldn't blame him if he did cut and run, although it wouldn't stop her from exacting some sort of unplanned revenge, eventually.

She froze on hearing something. She automatically but stealthily grabbed whatever came closest to hand – in this case, something cold and metallic from the observations trolley. She peered into the darkness, the only light coming from the Infirmary's night lights. She breathed a sigh of relief when she could make out Daniel's face, and she put the item down. She released a shuddering breath and said hoarsely, turning her face away,

"What are you doing here?"

Daniel quietly asked, "How are you feeling?"

Great, she thought, he wasn't answering her – that was usually a bad sign. She replied, still turned away from him, "I've been better, I have to say." She looked back at him falteringly as though expecting the worst, or the second worst to what was happening to her. She whispered, "What about you, Daniel?"

"I'm not important right now."

Typical. She closed her eyes and sniffed as she felt herself give way to more tears. She opened her eyes again upon feeling his hand on her brow. She had missed him – missed his long, cool fingers – missed everything about him. She whispered,

"Daniel, what the hell is happening to me?!"

Daniel looked down at his girlfriend. The scene was so surreal. Within a day, she looked as though she was at least six months pregnant. His eyes fell to the shape of her abdomen in the gloom. What the hell was she carrying? What the hell was happening? He put his questions and angst to one side for the moment; he had to be there for her, whatever was happening. The last time the woman he loved was...

He closed his eyes to steady his nerves. The last time: Sha're had haunted him for years. This time, at least; this time he would be there for Sam, even though he hated with a passion whatever had made her pregnant. Having someone you love impregnated by some crazy insane alien was absolutely terrible, but twice? Granted, there was a chance it wasn't the Goa'uld this time, but still...

His fingers moved across her brow. He said to her, "Sam, whatever happens, I'm here for you."

She looked up at him through her tears. She said, "You shouldn't have to, Daniel."

"I want to. You're my everything Sam and I'm not going to screw up like I did last time."

Her expression turned to concern as she looked up at him. She said, "Daniel, that wasn't your fault."

"But I could have done a better job of being there for her. She must have been terrified and I let her down. I'm not letting you down, Sam. I'm here for you."

She smiled a little despite her tears. There would be no arguing with him... but she was glad too; she wasn't in this alone. She reached for the hand that had been on her brow and she kissed it. She whispered, "Thank you."

When he said her name, she opened her eyes once again to see him reaching for her bedside light. As she squinted in the light, he pulled her sheets down and stared at her bump. Her eyes widened in shock. It definitely looked much larger than it had a few hours earlier. Before she could process that new observation, she became aware of what felt like very strong menstrual cramps. She looked up at Daniel in anguish and before she could speak, he was holding down the call button and yelling for a doctor.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Chaos. His base was in complete and utter chaos, and it hadn't been his for long. What would General Hammond say? He cleared his throat. George. What would George say? The Stargate was inoperable; they were down to emergency lighting and, thankfully at least, the ventilation system. The base was in lockdown. Whatever it was that was screwing up his base was still around and because they didn't know what the hell it was, alien or electrical, standard procedure for Stargate Command was indefinite lockdown until they could discover the source and prevent it from spreading – if indeed it was contagious. Eight years had taught him caution at the very least.

His best people were tied up with another debacle; well most of his best people. At least he still had Teal'c. Carter and Daniel were useless to him right now. As frustrating as it was, there was no way he could expect either of them to be able to focus considering what was going on. Carter, pregnant. He would never have thought it. She was far too much a career woman – she could even make General some day, or leave the military all together and be some sciency person; she'd probably get a stint over in the Pegasus galaxy.

To have one little lady be knocked up by some alien douchebag was one thing, but two? So far there had been no inclination that it was the Goa'uld's doing, but who knew? They had seen a lot of the Milky Way but he was well aware there was a lot more to the galaxy and the wider universe than they would ever explore in their collective lifetimes... and Teal'c's age certainly bumped their collective ages up. Truth be told, Daniel Jackson needed a break from the frequent ass kicking the universe seemed to enjoy giving him.

Jack hesitated to return to his office as he roamed the deserted corridors. He just knew that there would be at least one scientist whining about when they could go home, or some paperwork someone wanted him to sign. Where before he could ignore emails and phone calls, he found himself barraged by visitors requesting the relative insignificant now that comms were down. He wanted nothing more than to go home and have a decent bath for once, to have a tall frosty beer, and to fall asleep in his amazingly comfortable bed. But duty calls, and damn it, it called so loud that it could not be ignored.

He turned a corner and found himself in view of his office door. Good, no queue this time, he thought. Instead, Walter Harriman waited outside. Good ol' Walter. Jack patted the Sergeant's shoulder as he passed him to get into his office. He remarked tiredly,

"What did you do this time, Walter, turn the hose on them?"

Walter entered the office and closed the door behind him. He said, "Sir, I tried to locate you but it was difficult seeing as you refuse to carry a radio."

Jack plumped down in his chair, and he placed his hands on his desk. He said, "That's what they're expecting me to do, and I swear, I get one more request from Balinsky or whatever his name is, to look at some photos from P3X whatever, I'm going climb out of this base myself, lockdown or no lockdown."

Walter smiled briefly to humour the General. He then said gravely, "General, Colonel Carter went into labour over an hour ago."

Jack immediately pricked up on hearing the Sergeant's words. He said, "Is she okay?"

"The last I heard, Sir, Doctor Jackson and Teal'c were by her side."

"And then that's where I should be. Let's roll, Walter."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack O'Neill had seen a fair few sights in his time, even without the Stargate programme. Nothing, however, had prepared him for the sight that met his eyes on entering Carter's room in the Infirmary. He looked towards Teal'c or Daniel for an explanation, the two flanking the Colonel's bed, but they were slightly less confused than he was.

He looked at Carter as what appeared to be a toddler was seated on her bed sucking a biscuit. He checked his watch and remarked drily, "How long was I gone?"

A pale and shell-shocked Carter seemed mesmerised by the youngster on her bed. She replied hollowly, "That's my child, Sir."

Jack noticed that Daniel seemed to get even more subdued at her words. Teal'c spoke, the Jaffa rarely being found speechless. He said, "It would appear that the child has a condition which accelerates his age."

Doctor Brightman entered the room, clipboard in hand. The General turned to her, hoping, in vain, that she could explain what the hell was going on. He felt as though he was losing his grip on reality, and it already had been a fairly loose grip to begin with.

The doctor said, shocked, "General. Impossible doesn't even cut it. Colonel Carter's child is only an hour old and already has the appearance and cognition of an eighteen month or two year old child. However, he has yet to speak." She glanced at SG-1, their faces ranging from carefully schooled emotions to downright shock. She continued, "It would seem that Colonel Carter has asexually reproduced. The child's DNA only features genetic material from the Colonel; the naquadah in his blood is proportional to the levels in the Colonel's own due to their shared blood supply during pregnancy. We siphoned off power from the emergency lighting system to conduct our tests... all of them have come back within acceptable parameters for a child of his age."

Jack asked, a headache brewing yet again, "So... the kid's normal?"

Brightman replied, just as perplexed, "Yes, Sir, and, of course, no."

"Well, ain't that a kick in the head..."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When the decision had been made to isolate Sam and the child, he had decided, nay, insisted, on being by her side. He wasn't going to let her down. It had taken several arguments with the doctor, with Jack, and even being restrained by Teal'c at one point, but they had all taken pity on him eventually. After all, SG-1 had always had each other's backs, or they had at least tried. Daniel was seated on the edge of Sam's bed as the Colonel slept. Recent events had left her absolutely exhausted and, though she had tried to fight it, human physiology had taken its course.

He watched as the child sat on the floor playing with some bricks. At least it wasn't a Goa'uld, but that brought little comfort. His girlfriend had been mysteriously impregnated with a rapidly ageing child. Just hours after the birth, the child looked as though he could be four or five. There was no other explanation than the whole situation being of extraterrestrial origin. Humans just didn't reproduce asexually.

The entire situation was impossible; not only impossible but the type of impossible where one could almost hear the universe mocking him. He mentally chastised himself for being selfish. What about Sam? She must have been traumatised beyond measure. Before she could emotionally adjust to her situation, she had been thrust into motherhood. Nothing he had experienced could possibly compare to that.

He continued watching the child. What did it want? Was it an alien entity in disguise? If so, did it have a malicious intent? Was it infiltrating humanity by becoming a human so it could destroy the Earth? So far, the child seemed to delight in building structures with the bricks. That didn't seem malicious behaviour but they had only explored a fraction of the known universe. Perhaps in some parts of the Milky Way, playing with bricks announced one's intention to decimate one's neighbours.

As though he could hear Daniel's racing thoughts, the child looked up curiously. The child then spoke, "Hello, Daniel Jackson."