Author Notes: I'm so sorry this took me so long, but I lost the internet for a week while I was moving home for the holidays. Please don't be mad! Anyway, here's the new chapter, but before you squeak at me when you read it, look at the note at the bottom. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Hope

"Will you stop complaining? It's only a little scratch."

Rodney glared, "A scratch? That guy nearly severed my arm off!"

Laura rolled her eyes as she finished tying the cloth that constituted as a bandage. "It's not like you didn't know to expect it. You've been on hundreds of raids before."

"Yeah, normal raids, not ones where Yarek decides it's a great idea to shoot anything that moves and ignore the rest of his team."

Laura's face darkened, "If he didn't contribute so much to our supplies, I would have thrown him out long ago."

Rodney stood, gingerly stretching his arm, wincing as the gash reopened slightly. "Thanks, I'm going down to the room."

"What? Like hell! You'll probably drop that control crystal of yours. You can stay up here."

Rodney pointedly ignored her, and began to make his way down the steps that led deeper into the honeycomb of Ancient tunnels He was extremely annoyed to find that she was following him. After over a year of knowing Laura, you would have thought she would have worked out by now that he worked alone. He entered the room, and sat down next to his scribbled chalk notes on the floor below a wall of writing he was slowly translating, "Look, will you just-"

"I'm pregnant."

Rodney snapped the chalk in his hand against the ground and stood up to face her cold face. He couldn't form any words, simply blinking stupidly at her from the shock of the random outburst. In the end, Laura kicked him in the shins to elicit a response, "Ow! How is that possible?"

Laura placed her hands on her hips, "Well Rodney, when two people get almost killed by death gliders and get very, very stressed, they have sex. Multiple times. Babies happen."

Rodney glared at the patronising tone. It was true. A couple of months ago, a raid had gone particularly bad, mainly due to the two legions of Jaffa that had decided to pop in. Sex had been the end result, about a mile from the catacombs when, to be honest, both of them had simply been happy to still be breathing. A stupid thing to do really, since they had only been on amicable terms to start with, and that night had only served to escalate the tension and awkwardness. And apparently parallel universes tended not to be up to date with contraception. "You can't be."

"I assure you, I am. And, contrary to what most people would think, I'm keeping it. I don't believe in killing humans unless it's self defence, so there's no argument."

Rodney ran a hand through his hair, "The birth will probably kill you."

Laura widened her eyes in mock shock, "Wow, Rodney, does this mean you might have a smidgen of selflessness?"

"Laura …"

"Look, McKay, you'll probably get out of here soon anyway according to your daily tirades. You won't need to bother." She turned and stormed out.

Xac ducked as a heavy metal object flew to crash into the wall just where his head had been, "McKay!"

Rodney turned, "It's pointless!"

Xac brushed off some of the dust that had flown in Rodney's small outburst, "What? No apology for almost caving my head in?"

Rodney sighed, sliding to sit against in still inactive pedestal, rubbing his tired face with his hands. Xac came to sit beside him. "It's no use."

Xac was shocked at the utterly defeated tone, "What is? Getting back to this universe of yours…" He paused, weighing up Rodney's anger level, "Or keeping your mind off Laura?"

"Both." The admission was quiet.

"Ah."

"How is she?"

"Doing okay, I guess, for a thirty hour labour. So does this mean you'll be giving up and sticking around? It has been almost two years."

Rodney laughed slightly, "Great, spending the rest of my life on a shithole planet with a woman I hate and a little annoying brat who shares both our genes. Do you realise how messed up this is? I hate kids, I hate Laura, hell, sometimes I even hate my own personality! How the hell is this going to work?"

"Look on the bright side, when it grows up, it'll have the combined smarts of both you and Laura."

Rodney smiled weakly, "Remind me how that is a good thing?"

"There's nothing that says you should give up on all of this, Rodney, just don't let it consume the rest of your life. Time here is too short for that."

McKay didn't answer, merely preferring to sit in silence with Xac until, many hours later, an eleven year old Den descended into the room, "Rodney? Kate said to tell you to get your ass up there before Laura physically gets out of bed just to shoot you for causing her that much pain." The boy grinned, "It's a girl, by the way."

Xac entered the common room to a funny sight. It was empty, as it usually was around the afternoon, save for Rodney, who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room tinkering with their water distiller, making undoubtedly incredible improvements. In his lap was curled a tiny little girl, no older than five, but with the stature of a stick-thin three year old thanks to their diet. She was fast asleep, oblivious to her father's work, as he was oblivious to her.

All was quiet for a few minutes more, but just as Xac was about to offer to put the little girl to bed, there was a spark, and Rodney cried out jerking back his slightly burnt finger. Giggles erupted from the now awakened small child, who seemed to find it hilarious that her Dad had messed up the wiring. Rodney snapped, "Well I'm glad you find this funny. I'll have you know that if it had been any bigger, you would've been shocked too!" Both knew it was a lie, especially considering the lengths Rodney went to when it came to keeping his daughter safe from the hell that was above them.

The giggles only abated slightly as the girl stuffed a fist into her mouth to try and dull the sound. She stopped giggling only to retort, "Maybe if you were as clever as Mum…"

Rodney gasped in mock outrage, "How dare you! Admit I'm better!" He then began tickling her, making her squeak, wriggling to try and get him back. Xac smiled. No one ever saw this side of Rodney – he was only like it with his daughter, and then, only when he thought they were alone, but she still adored him for it. He remained in the shadows, watching, until he felt a presence at his elbow; Laura. She grinned, watching as the little bundle successfully escaped, only swing her arms around Rodney's neck and refuse to let go.

Xac had to admit, for a pair of people who threw insults at each other daily, and whose child was the result of a one night stand, the little girl was definitely an amazing child. Unlike most children her age, she somehow managed to retain her innocence, something which Xac mainly put down to both parents going to great lengths to make sure she never met with Yarek for prolonged periods, and the fact she had a very...unusual father. Laura walked into the room, "Hannah, sweetie, however fun it would be to see how long your Dad can last without oxygen, I think you should let go."

Hannah giggled again, before letting go and plonking herself back into Rodney's lap. Xac followed Laura into the room, and for a moment the little girl was quiet before she realised who it was. When she recognised him, she smiled, and chirped, "Hi Xac! Dad can't fix the distiller; I think he broke it worse."

"I did not break it worse!" Rodney let out an exasperated sigh when he realised he had copied his daughter's speech pattern, "It was never fixed to start with. Name one time this thing has actually produced water you can see through."

Xac shrugged, "He has a point kid."

The friendly atmosphere was immediately interrupted by Yarek striding in, "She ready?"

Rodney's eyes narrowed. "Ready for what?" The two men had never gotten along, but then, Yarek didn't get along with many people. His whole appearance and demeanour was imposing. At six foot four, with muscles on muscles, tan weathered skin and long hair that was twisted into dreadlocks, he looked like a Jaffa with too much hair. Not exactly a fluffy bunny kind of guy.

"She is going to help in the next raid. She needs practice if she's going to contribute."

"Like hell! She's five!"

"Your point? She's small; I need small kids for this job. And we already know she has teeth," He waved his marked hand in their faces, the result of an incident a few days previous, "Now it's time to test her."

"No." Both parents snapped simultaneously.

Yarek rolled his eyes, "I want her in the surface tunnel on the hour." He strode out.

Laura sighed, "As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, she can't be exempt; we need to all contribute."

"But…"

Laura shrugged in defeat, scooping up their daughter, "Come on Hannah, let's get going." She turned to Rodney, "I have to stay here-"

Rodney nodded, "I'll go; keep an eye on Yarek."

Xac watched as the patchwork family left, leaving him alone to continue with what he had been doing before. He sighed. So much for innocence.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: I know I said this would not be a romance, and it's not; they still have a healthy dislike for eachother, it was just a one night stand, and neither wanted a kid. In the original version of this story, Hannah became a main character, and then I wanted to burn her. With lots of pain. In this new version, I left her in as a plot device; she will only have a very minor prt in the next chapter, and then not at all, so please keep with me and let me know what you thought!