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Bryce was braced over the toilet bowl for the fourteenth time in seven days. He was grateful not to be out on a mission; he wasn't sure he would have been able to complete one. He can barely get through the cover job at the CIA firm where he played an accountant. Several have commented that he looked like death had been visiting. He smiled wanly while heading to his office, or the bathroom.
Chuck was still at the BuyMore, and Sarah should have been at her job still. So the door opening startled him out of the bathroom as he made his way out to the front door. He expected Casey to be showing up with casework. Ellie with Devon wasn't what he was expecting. Devon should have been on shift and Ellie never came by anymore. If she did, there was plenty of warning so he could keep out of sight from her. They never did tell her about Stanford, or the fact he was still alive, or that the three were in a relationship.
It never really came up.
They stared at each other for a minute. Bryce was the first to walk away, moving back to the bathroom to finish what he was doing. He walked back out to see them still standing at the front door. "Chucks shift ends at seven and Sarahs is seven-fifteen," he informed them, walking to the kitchen.
"We thought Chuck had the day off," Devon mentioned.
"Someone called in sick at the BuyMore," he mentioned, grabbing the half finished sports drink from this morning out of the fridge. He sipped it first to test his stomach. When it didn't rebel as much, he took a larger drink while grabbing the crackers that he had been snacking on at breakfast. He walked past them and settled on the couch. He turned on the TV and settled on SyFy's crazy movie of the moment.
He watched the protagonist fight against his former friend and now antagonist when Ellie sat next to him. Devon sat the other side of her. They sat in silence until Chuck walked through with Sarah. One look at the situation and Chuck voiced it. "Ellie, there's something we need to talk about," he needlessly said.
"Bit of an understatement," Devon agreed, seeing Ellie glare at Chuck.
"Why don't I start making something for all of us?" Sarah distracted, motioning for Devon and Bryce. Devon was allowed; Bryce wasn't. Ellie pulled him back down when he tried leaving. She moved to Devons deserted spot and pointed Chuck down between her and Bryce.
"Explain, now."
"All right. Bryce was recruited into the CIA. In order to protect me from being recruited, he made it look like I had been cheating to get me kicked out."
"He couldn't find another way?" Bryce mentally winced at the tone that her voice took when she asked.
"Well, he would have, but Dad also didn't want me become part of the government and that was the best way."
"Fine."
"Okay, so the night of my birthday, the one were you planned that party for me to meet people, Bryce had to steal the Intersect, the first one. There was a group that wanted it for evil purposes and he couldn't allow anyone to have it. He also couldn't trust anyone except for me, so he sent it to me. And I downloaded it."
"He's the one that started all of this. He put you in danger, got you tangled in the same government agency that he was trying to protect you from."
"I was the only one at the time he could trust. He couldn't have sent to Dad; anyone else he knew could have been working with these people." She made a disbelieving face. "Look, stop focusing on the bad. I would have never met Sarah, or Casey. I would have never found Dad and Mom. I've done so much good with this, Ellie. And I'm actually doing something, not just working at the BuyMore." He was getting a little stressed by the argument that he was pulling. Bryce slipped his fingers between his and squeezed. Chuck looked back at him and smiled, squeezing back.
She watched the little exchange. "How is he still alive?" she inquired.
"The bad guys saved him. They thought he had the first Intersect in his head. They healed him to take it out." The second time, he actually had the Intersect and they tried to turn him.
They were interrupted by Devon, who announced that a simple dinner was done. Sarah was placing plates when they all walked over. A warm salad with chicken and a simple spaghetti were on the table. Servings were passed out before they sat down and started eating.
! ! ! !
Ellie checked up on him during the next two days. Bryce had thrown up three more times, and he was sleeping more and more. The firm had sent him home when he began to look worse. Food wouldn't stay down well and he had taken to more sports drinks and liquids to keep himself hydrated. He could barely move when she opened the door to let herself in. He was completely laid out, sport drink and half-eaten toast on the table with a large bucket nearby.
Her doctor training and womans intuition were telling her that Bryce wasn't sick, exactly. Chuck had mentioned he had started puking the week before without a fever or any other symptoms. He had begun to get sleepier, but that could be because was fighting something. She pondered the things that Chuck had told her. A strange conversation floated up from her memories. There was a doctor that had been in the Burbank area for a convention. There had been a few drinks. Ellie had talked about some of the strangest things she had seen in the emergency room. She started talking about a man that claimed that his genetics allowed him to get pregnant. She had laughed it off with her when Devon walked over with the womans boyfriend and they had walked off.
Now, that little nagging intuition was using her medical training to tell her that it wasn't the flu. It wasn't a virus. The symptoms that she was handed told her that he was pregnant. Ellie thought she was going insane; for her sake, she was going to test. There was homemade chicken stock and the same brand of pregnancy test she used in the plastic bag. The stock was transferred to a mug and served to a grateful Bryce, who sipped while she hid the test in the bathroom.
He knew something was up. "Ellie, what's wrong?" he asked, peering from the couch.
"Nothing," she quickly answered.
Bryce looked over at her, raised eyebrow. "You brought a plastic bag just to house the stock."
"Wanted to make sure it didn't drop."
He finished off the stock and took the mug to the kitchen, rinsing it out. He then went to the bathroom to see what Ellie hid. He found the disturbed towels in the closet and pulled out the box. He read it carefully while Ellie stood in the doorway. "This isn't funny."
"I know it's not."
"I think I would have remembered the part in reproductive biology that told us that males have the possibility to get pregnant."
She breathed deeply. "I talked to someone that said she knew a man that could get pregnant. Not a female to male transitional person, an actual male. You don't have a virus; there would have been more and different symptoms. You've been throwing up for the past nine days; you're more tired that you should be."
"So the conclusion is pregnancy."
"All you have to do is try it." He looked at her. "I can get rid of the test. No one would have to know if it's negative."
"What happens if it's positive?" he asked, the slightest of fear showing.
"Then everyone figures out what's next." She closed the door behind her and walked back down the hall to the living room.
Thirty minutes went by before she saw him again. He was standing at the edge of the hall, holding the test with shaking hands. He nodded, then sank to the floor. The test was still in his hands when she brought over the blanket to wrap around him. She saw the positive on the screen. The biggest conflicting thoughts were How is he pregnant? and How are Chuck and Sarah going to take this?
! ! ! !
Bryce called Jack. He needed to know about his genetics. Men could not get pregnant, normally. Yet, here he was with Chuck and his child growing inside him. (They didn't even understand the proper mechanics on how his body was going to be able to withstand this.) Jack showed up a week later. Bryce managed to avoid another session of emotions by hugging him then hitting him. And he explained it to him.
After settling down, Jack explained about his (their) ancestors. First off, he was from the fifty first century. In the thirty-ninth century, his ancestors were on a planet with only vegetation and no animal or civilizations. It was perfect to start a colony on. Within the first year, anyone with two X chromosomes died from something unidentified. Exploring the planet, they found that all the animals had died since none could reproduce. In order to bring fresh blood onto the planet, there was a ship hovering above the airspace. Even then it was a challenge. A lot of hassle to make sure the men coming aboard weren't contaminated. It didn't seem to come up from the planet. After three centuries, a few of the colonists started trying to find ways of bringing down women. Sealed off areas, containment, even quarantine, nothing worked.
Three biologists started looking at how certain species had the males carrying the children. One worked out an artificial womb that could be worked into a male body. Several shot it down, but after another wipe-out of double X deaths, they tested it, slowly. Three males were picked out, watched carefully as they underwent the surgery, and then the controlled pregnancy. When those men were able to carry to term with no major complications, they started working on making it a larger part of the population. After a few generations, some noticed that children of those from the artificial womb started having small changes to their DNA. An in-depth look at the children, and it appeared possible that they were gaining the ability to grow a womb and become able to carry. A few more centuries later, and there was no need for artificial wombs, most of the population now had their own. Several started spreading out on their own, and Jacks grandfather (Bryce and Neals great-grandfather) ended up moving to a different planet to start new.
Bryce had stayed quiet for the explanation. "Is there any reason that you didn't tell me this earlier on?" he asked.
Jack shrugged, "I had figured that you three would have been using protection."
"We were more worried about Sarah becoming pregnant, not me," he countered, trying to keep the mood light.
The nice ending was ruined by Casey walking through the door and shooting Jack three times.
Wow, it's my first cliffhanger for the story. That's unusual.
Yes, I insinuated that Ellie met Martha and somehow Mickey and Devon met. I also placed in a vague reference to an actual Syfy movie.
I may also write an Ellie and Bryce deeper conversation piece, thingy. Yeah, that came out well said.
Review please.
