It was with no small amount of trepidation that Elizabeth turned her steps to the mess hall the next morning, knowing that she'd drag her feet even more when it came time to leave and head for the medical bay. But she had to eat. Keller would shoot her otherwise. Part of her wondered why she was bothering, at least until after she knew for sure either way.

There was another irony. Jon would have shot her for that attitude.

The mess hall was quiet this early in the morning, and there wasn't much of a line to join. She stared at the options, decided she wasn't hungry and went for a glass of juice instead. Behind her a familiar voice spoke. 'If that's all you're having, Keller'll kill me, then report both me and Teyla to Nishta. Not sure I want to face her in a temper.' Jon paused, eyeing her before reaching out and taking the tray out of her hands. 'You're not hungry and Keller started her shift about five minutes ago. C'mon.'

To her surprise, Jon grabbed her hand, leading her from the mess hall. 'What? Where are we going?'

'Infirmary,' he looked closely at her, it was obvious she hadn't slept well last night, if at all. 'Keller can move your appointment forward. I'll even ask nicely.' He felt her hand pull against his, her feet slowing and turned to face her. 'You have to find out Elizabeth, and the sooner the better. This isn't doing you any good.'

Her eyes flashed briefly and turned chill. 'I can walk there by myself, Jon.' She was angry, scared, and he couldn't blame her for taking it out on him, but she held back, keeping the distance between them. Letting go of her hand, he nodded, and they walked side by side to the infirmary. Behind her desk, Keller sat just inside her little office and Elizabeth paused in the doorway. 'I'll be fine, Jon.' It was a dismissal, and it was one he wasn't taking.

'Good,' was all he said, and he followed her inside. Jennifer was surprised to see them, both of them, but willing to bring forward the scan. 'Okay, I'll take some blood, start the tests running and then we'll have a look.'

Elizabeth nodded and took the indicated seat on a gurney. Keller drew the curtain around and spoke in a low voice, 'I can see you alone if you prefer,' it wasn't exactly an invitation to have Jon kicked out, but it was close; she'd seen the look on Elizabeth's face when she walked in. Elizabeth considered it for a microsecond and then shook her head.

'No. He has a vested interest here too. Kind of.'

Keller nodded, and went ahead, drawing back the curtain a few minutes later to Sheppard standing there, arms crossed. Waiting.

Without a word he followed them to the back of the infirmary and the 'Lantean scanners. Elizabeth laid herself down in one, lying perfectly still and closing her eyes, waiting for Keller to begin. Nearby Sheppard stood, watching in silence. Jennifer initiated a full body scan, the image of Elizabeth's figure appearing on the screen. She tapped in several parameters, zooming in on the baby and turning the image through several dimensions, looking for signs of abnormalities. The machine detected the child's vital signs, and everything, she was relieved to see, appeared normal.

'Okay, Elizabeth, you can get up now.'

Weir went to rise, finding Sheppard's hand already held out to help her up. Perplexed she took it, and pulled herself to her feet. 'What's the verdict?' she asked, turning to Keller. Under his fingers, hers clenched, the only outward sign she gave that something was wrong, to all outward appearances, she was calm.

'I have to analyse the results, and the blood tests won't be back until tomorrow, even with Ancient tech, there's limits. But, from what I've seen, everything looks good. Size, heart-rate, morphology are all fine. But I want those bloods back clean again before I give you the all clear.'

Elizabeth nodded, a visible weight lifted off her shoulders. 'Thank you, Jennifer.'

'Don't mention it. Would you like to know if it's a boy or a girl?'

'You can tell?'

'With scanners this good, yeah, I can tell. You wanna know?' the doctor returned cheerfully.

She found herself turning to Jon, an instant before reality kicked in and she started to look away again. Nonetheless, he shrugged, his voice cutting across her silence, 'I'm good with healthy.' Stunned, Elizabeth simply shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.

'Oh, and here I am, with no one to tell,' Keller replied, with a grin, her voice playful.

Sheppard nearly smiled, the first reaction the doctor had seen from him since he walked in. 'Dr Keller? Could you give us a minute?'

She glanced at Elizabeth, who gave a nod, before she smiled. 'Yeah, sure. Back in five,' and she disappeared into the main infirmary.

Elizabeth wasted no one time beating around the bush. She sank onto the scanning bed and turned to him. 'Okay, Jon, what do you want?'

'I want you back on Earth.'

'And I thought I made it quite clear-'

'You aren't listening, 'Liz'beth. I want you out of Atlantis, back home where it's safe.'

'Yeah, sure, and how about I take Jonathan, Torren and Teyla with me whilst I'm at it?' she replied, her irritation bleeding through.

'This isn't about them, it's about you,' his voice came back with a harsher note than he intended.

'The danger's never bothered you this much before, has it?'

'I never had a kid to worry about before.'

'It's not-.'

'Don't! Don't go there. Jon Sheppard, your reality or mine, makes no difference. It's still-,' he broke off.

Elizabeth turned to him then, placing a hand on his arm. 'I'm sorry, Jon, but this isn't your decision.'

'Like hell it isn't!' He nearly yelled at her. It drew a frown, but Elizabeth didn't flinch. 'This involved me the second you stepped through that mirror, 'Lizabeth!'

'For someone who feels so involved, Jon, you've put a lot of effort into keeping out of the way,' she couldn't help the bitter note that crept in.

'It's not that simple, Elizabeth, and you know it,' his voice low.

'Yes, Jon, I do know that. I lost my entire world, I know how not-simple this is. But you can't ignore us one minute and play happy families the next,' she sighed, running one hand through her hair. 'I can't afford this, Jon,' she met his eyes, her gaze as steady as her voice. 'Whatever I may have thought... I can't squander my energy, right now I have another priority.'

'The baby's my priority too, 'Liz'beth. Why do you think I'm here?'

'I know. And I appreciate that, but-'

'We have all the time-'

'No.' She didn't have to add the next words; he could hear her decision in her voice. 'I'm sorry, Jon, you aren't him and I'm not her. We were kidding ourselves whilst the world moved on. Now it's our turn. The same man who sacrificed himself to save us still lives on in you. I hope I can do Lizzie that same justice.'

He didn't have anything to say. nor time to find it. Elizabeth turned away and he watched as she left, her words echoing in his ears.