Sorry it took so long. When you work 7 days a week, getting sick means it takes forever to get better. Enjoy the babies!

Two sets of eyes, one brown and one blue, stared at her in shock.

"You're kidding," Becker said his eyes darting between Jess' stomach and Katie, "That's not possible." Katie ignored him as she continued to feel for the second baby she thought to be in Jess' womb. There was a familiar feeling lump under her hand and she grabbed Becker's free hand. His eyes widened when she placed it directly in place of hers.

"That is definitely a head," she said to Jess, since Becker was glancing between the little girl already resting contently in his arms and the still unborn baby under his palm.

"Oh God! We really are having two." he said, going so frighteningly pale that Katie was worried he was going to pass out, finally looking back at his wife. Jess' eyes went wide and started to fill with tears. Thankfully the tears seemed to pull Becker out of his shock and he put a comforting arm around Jess.

"How could we not know? How could the doctors not know?" Becker moved back to sit next to her and wrapped his free arm back around her shoulder. Jess gasped as she seemed to think of something else. "We only have things for one baby! Where is this one going to sleep? What is it going to wear? What..."

"Jess stop," Katie said firmly trying to snap Jess out of her hysterics and succeeding, "Focus on getting the baby out. You can freak out about logistics later okay?" Jess nodded slowly, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. "How are the contractions?"

"Weaker," Jess said, and Katie noticed that her hand had returned to rubbing soothing circles on her belly, "But they're still there." Katie shrugged off her jacket and laid it across Jess' stomach like she had done with the shirt.

"We're gonna start pushing with the next contraction, alright?" Katie asked. Jess nodded, with a look of fierce determination on her face that she'd never seen before and neither had Becker judging by the look of awe and surprise on his face. Jess sat with her back against Becker's chest again, though both parents maneuvered around the tiny bundle that was their oldest child.

"You ready to meet you little brother or sister Paige?" Jess asked the little girl nestled safely in Becker's name. Katie remembered Jess saying they were going to name the baby, if it was a girl, after the late Dr. Sarah Page and couldn't help but smile at the use of her last name rather than the first.

"Any ideas for the next baby's name," she asked.

"Only that he'd be Michael if it's a boy," Jess glanced up at Becker who had a slightly tense smile on his face, "We only picked out one girl name."

"Just do me a favor and don't name her Katie," Katie said with a smile. The short burst of laughter from the exhausted mother was exactly what she was hoping, but her smile disappeared when she saw Jess wince from the next contraction.

"Alright start pushing," she said and got ready to catch the next baby. Jess pushed once and Katie was shocked when the baby was suddenly in her hands. She'd been expecting it to be a quick delivery, but not that quick.

"Girl," she croaked out as she looked at the tiny girl cradled in the palms of her hands. She was easily half the size of her sister, and was damningly quiet. Her vivid blue eyes were open, but her limbs moved sluggishly showing just how weak she was.

"Why isn't she crying?" Becker's tense question shook her from her daze and she quickly detached the tiny girl from the umbilical cord. Very gently she place the baby in her jacket, ignoring the sharp gasps from Becker and Jess.

"Jess, you need to take off your sweater to keep her closer to your body heat." Katie told her, ignoring Becker's question as best she could, and Jess wasted no time in stripping off the thin cardigan and holding her tiny daughter close. She sobbed openly, obviously terrified for her little girl, while Becker fought back tears of his own and held his family tightly.

"I'll call James and get the ETA on the medics," she told them as she picked up her phone, Katie let out a shuddering breath and hit Howell's speed dial.

Howell picked up his phone before the first ring had even finished, correctly assuming it was his trapped girlfriend.

"We're on our way." He said glancing at the civilian paramedics running along with him. He could feel his teeth grinding together as they were forced to take the long way to the elevator so they didn't risk exposure to the civilians.

"There're two," Katie said quietly, catching Howell completely off guard.

"Uh, two of what?" Howell said, feeling just a stupid for not instantly knowing what she was talking about.

"Babies."

"Two babies," his shout echoed through the halls drawing the attention of the medics around him. He flushed a little when he realized that everyone was suddenly looking at him.

"Everyone okay?" he asked, more than a little anxious to hear about his friends and the newest additions to their family. His face fell into a frown when he heard her sigh gently.

"The oldest, Paige, looks healthy, but the youngest is really tiny and needs help quick." Howell closed his eyes and really hoped that Katie had said that quietly enough that neither if the parents stuck in the elevator with her had heard it.

"We're on our way, just hold tight okay." he said.

"Just hurry please," she said and Howell could almost see her glancing over her shoulder nervously. "I can't..., I can't watch her die."

"We're almost there," he said closing his eyes against the image of a tiny lifeless body. He hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket as he turned to the paramedic in charge.

"Did you hear any of that?" he asked since the medic had a slightly confused look on his face.

"Yeah, but no one told us about twins."

"They didn't tell us either," Howell said flatly, "The parents didn't even know."

"Whatever, let's just get there," another medic said from behind them and they resumed their sprint down the halls.

"Do you know anything about their condition?" the lead medic, Howell didn't bother to get his name because he honestly didn't care at the moment, asked him.

"Just that the second baby is really small and isn't doing too well," he said as they rounded a corner. The silence that followed his statement caught him by surprise and he glanced at the medic who had an incredulous look on his face.

"That's it?" he nearly shrieked. Howell would have laughed at the girly sound if it hadn't been such a tense situation. "You didn't ask about APGAR or respirations or anything?" Howell turned on the smaller man, who instantly backpedalled to avoid running into him.

"I'm a soldier," he stated, "not a medic, and sure as hell not a doctor, so I don't know what half those things are. Now stop complaining and get to work saving those kids."

By the time Katie turned back around Becker had schooled his features a bit, but there was nothing the hardened soldier could do to disguise the worry in his eyes no matter how hard he tried.

"How far out are they?" he asked his voice coarse with emotion. Katie was about to answer when she realized his arms were empty, she did a double take and saw that Jess had both girls resting close to each other on her chest and was gazing down at them with a mix of adoration and sadness. Katie knew where the sadness came from and wished she could reassure her friend that both her daughters would be fine, but she refused to give false hope.

"They both got restless until we put them together," Becker said gently, correctly interpreting her confusion. Katie snapped her eyes away from the heart wrenching sight and stared at Becker, who had already moved his gaze back to his suddenly larger family.

"There're only a couple minutes out," Katie told him, hoping it would help them both.

"Does she have that long?" Becker and Katie both looked at Jess in surprise when she voiced the soft question. Becker immediately buried his face into the side of his wife's neck, and Katie could tell he was fighting off tears. Jess tilted her head to rest against his and brought her hand up to cup the back of his head, her fingers burrowing deeply into his hair. Katie too the time to look over the two girls and was surprised to find them both looking relatively good.

"I think she will," Katie said honestly and was rewarded with a glimmer of hope reflecting in Jess' tear filled eyes. Jess was about to answer when they heard knocking at the elevator door. Within a few seconds Becker managed to detangle himself and stride over to the door in full soldier mode. It was around that time that Katie's phone beeped with a new text.

We're outside, can you open the door?~ James

She sent a quick reply and shoved the phone back into her pocket.

"Becker we need to get the door open," she said making her way over to help him. They each grabbed a side of the door and pulled with all their strength. After a tense minute the doors slid open revealing a relieved looking Howell. His head was the only thing they could see through the small space left by the open doors. It looked like they had gotten stuck between floors.

"You guys ready to get out of here?" he asked with a smirk, and it was all Katie could do to keep from kissing him right there. One of the medics piped up from behind Howell before she could say anything, something that annoyed the couple.

"Why wouldn't they be?" He stuck his head around Howells and looked Katie up and down oblivious to the fact that the large man next to him was basically vibrating with contained rage. "Hey hot stuff wanna let me rescue you." The eyebrow waggled that accompanied the pick-up line was comical, but Katie just found herself even more pissed off.

"You the medic in charge?" she asked him coolly. His smug smile faltered for a second and his eyes flicked to behind him.

"No."

"Thank God," she said, "You mind finding me someone who can actually do their job. He disappeared grumbling something about women not knowing their place, quickly followed by a yelp of pain which Katie assumed was cause by Howell smacking him, and was quickly replaced by a man with a more serious expression.

"We'll get the babies out first," he said simply to which Katie simply nodded. She grabbed the sleeve of Becker's shirt and dragged him over to a suddenly very happy Jess.

"I take it we're getting out of here?" Jess asked, once again smiling her brilliant smile.

"Well," Katie said hesitantly, knowing that Jess and Becker weren't going to like what was going to happen next, "They'll get the girls out first and Becker will go with them while you and I wait here." Becker was the first one to react.

"I won't leave her here," he said firmly, though his gaze holding steady on his daughters showed how torn he was. Katie put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We can't move her yet, especially not trying to haul her through that tiny thing," she said pointing at the small space that was providing an escape hatch for Becker and his girls, "And the girls need to get to a hospital, with a parent." Katie could tell he was still unsure of what to do, but it was decided for him when Jess spoke.

"It's okay Becker, you need to go protect them," she said, "We'll be out soon. It's not like the lift is going to send us plummeting to our deaths."

"Let's not jinx this Jess," Katie said as her eyes went wide, she was not a fan of enclosed spaces or falling and the idea of them happening together was not something she was willing to entertain. Jess laughed a little and pulled Becker to her for a quick kiss.

"Go," she said before giving the smallest girl a kiss and handing her to Becker, who immediately rushed her to where the medics were waiting. Katie sat on the cold metal floor with Jess and watched as the tiny bundle was placed into Howell's steady hands. Becker was next to them a second later and Paige got the same goodbye from her mother before being handed to her father.

"They'll be fine," he said softly as he walked over to the doors and Katie wasn't sure if he was trying to convince them or himself. Howell's hands came down once again and lifted Paige up and handed her to the medics, before reaching down to give Becker a hand. Becker hesitated looking over at Jess until she made a shooing gesture and he nodded. As soon as he disappeared Jess let out a sigh of relief.

"They're safe," she said.

"So are we," Katie replied, "We're just stuck." Instead of answering Jess simply slumped over and her head hit Katie shoulder.

"Jess?"