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Part 25/26

-Chapter 24-

Family

Charin had always been afraid of the briefing room. She wasn't sure why, exactly. Perhaps it was because she understood how difficult the decisions made in this room could be; or maybe merely because of the place's intimidating air. Either way, Charin felt terrified when she went to the debriefing of the mission to rescue her mother. She silently took her seat next to Teyla, who reached out to squeeze her hand in quiet support. Looking around at all the other faces – her father, Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle John, Uncle Rodney, Uncle Carson – she saw the same support showing on their faces. She could do this. Though it certainly didn't help that she'd come straight here from the infirmary, her other least favorite place in Atlantis. . .

She felt like a small child all over again.

"What happened out there?" Elizabeth asked, directing the question to the room in general. Other than still looking a little pale, she seemed to harbor no ill effects either from her nanites being removed, or from being shot.

Everyone kept shooting little glances in her direction. Charin's throat closed up in panic. Surely they're not waiting on me to go first! I can't, I can't!

Sheppard cleared his throat and spoke. "When we arrived at the Asurans' base of operations, Charin gave us a layout of the general area, with some help from McKay. After that, she identified the location of each Asuran in the base, giving us real-time updates to their movements. In this way, we were able to avoid all the replicators as we proceeded to where Teyla was being held."

Well, most of them, Charin thought. A shiver – of nerves, or remembered fear – shook her.

Ronon glanced past Teyla at her, then picked up the narration. "In places where it looked like we might run into trouble, Charin shifted her form to look like an Asuran we'd seen, so it looked like we belonged there. By the time they figured out there were intruders in their midst, we had Teyla and were on the way out." Beneath the table, Charin saw her father take Teyla's other hand and shift it to rest on his knee. She smothered a smile.

"Then?" Elizabeth questioned.

Sheppard resumed the story. "We started to fight our way out. The ARGs stopped working as well, though, and it looked like – maybe. . ." He trailed off.

All eyes were on Charin again. She resisted the urge to sink back in her chair. Teyla squeezed her hand again. You can do this, the motion said. Charin felt a sudden sharp pang of loss when there was no accompanying thought. I'll never hear her think again, she mourned.

But there was no time to deal with that now. Charin drew in a deep breath, straightening her shoulders. Hesitantly at first, then gradually gaining confidence, she told of her final act of the mission. "Oberoth trapped us in the hall with a few of his Asuran soldiers. I knew – this was my time, the only chance we might ever have. So I stepped forward and grabbed hold of him." Her voice wavered. "I'd preprogrammed my nanites to trigger an update the moment I injected them in Oberoth's system. I reprogrammed them to respond positively to the ARGs, so they would start working again. With each new batch I injected, I triggered another update. One was to completely destroy all the Asurans in the base – except for Oberoth himself, I needed him as a catalyst through which to trigger these updates. Another began the self destruct: I figured there should be nothing left with which the Asurans could rebuild themselves. The last of my nanites were programmed to destroy Oberoth himself." She hesitated, remembering the thoughts in the Asuran leader's mind when they were temporarily linked through their nanites. She shuddered. "Oberoth had grand plans. He thought if he could control the two most unique children in this galaxy, he could rule the universe. His plans extended far past the Pegasus galaxy, to the Milky Way and beyond. It was – quite terrifying." She half shrugged, half shuddered, and finished in a rush. "After that, we came home. You know the rest."

Elizabeth, Sheppard, and McKay exchanged glances. "Do you believe you have destroyed all the replicators, everywhere in the Pegasus galaxy?"

Charin tucked her hair behind her ear with her free hand. "I cannot be positive. But eventually the updates have to reach all the Asurans – unless I destroyed Oberoth too soon. . ." She trailed off, suddenly frightened again.

"You got them all," Elizabeth said firmly. "There is no doubt in my mind."

Swallowing hard, she nodded in agreement. She hadn't felt any more Asurans in existence in the last few seconds before she extinguished Oberoth's. . . So she chose to believe, herself.

"So are we all in agreement?" Elizabeth asked, looking from face to face until she'd completed the circuit of those assembled.

"On what?" Charin whispered.

"To put this incident behind us." She smiled kindly at Charin. "We promise never to mention it to you again. Unless, of course, you bring it up yourself."

Ordinarily she would hate people not talking about things around her, walking on eggshells, but in this case. . . She appreciated their act of kindness. "Thank you." Over the past few days she'd met the worst of her fears head-on and defeated them. Now, she knew she could defeat this one, too.

-Atlantis-

"Tuck it in!" Teyla sharply rapped her daughter across the rear with her Bantos rod. "You present the target, I will hit it," she said, laughing at the irritated expression on her daughter's face.

Charin grumbled, spinning the rod in her right hand backwards a few times, then forward a few more. "You know, I was hoping since you couldn't go full-out sparring, being pregnant and all, I'd be able to beat you this time."

Teyla paced around her daughter, who paced around her. "You are learning. It takes time to improve your skill."

"Yeah. Try ten years." Charin scooted out of the way of a playful swat Teyla took at her. "Missed me."

Another rap to Charin's rear end. Teyla smiled angelically. "If you—"

"—Present the target, you will hit it," Charin finished. "I know, I know. I'm working on it." She shot a look at her father. "He just made me tired."

Ronon, sitting in the corner with legs crossed and water bottle in hand, chuckled. "Go get 'em, little warrior," he said.

Teyla glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "On whose side are you?" she questioned.

Ronon smiled innocently.

"Come on, let's go." Charin bounced energetically, ready to start again. This time, she held the proper posture – for a while.

Though Teyla and Charin did not spar anywhere near full level, due to Teyla's condition, they were still impressive to watch. Swirling around the gym, mother and daughter fought like the two warriors they were. Teyla did not give in to Charin, though her decreased sparring level was noticeable. Gentle taps exchanged back and forth kept things lively. At last Teyla pinned her daughter to the floor, one foot gently pressed to her abdomen, the tip of her left Bantos rod to Charin's throat.

"Good fight, my dear," she said.

Charin took her mother's offered hand, allowing Teyla to help her stand. "Good fight, Mom," she said grudgingly. "Next time, though, I get to kick your butt."

Teyla laughed, wrapping her daughter in a warm, tight hug. "That sounds fair to me." She reached out when Ronon came over, including him in the hug. "I love you both," she whispered. "So much."

"We love you," Ronon responded. "Both of you," he added, directing this to Teyla's still flat stomach.

Teyla leaned into the warmth of her family's hug. No matter what they faced now, they'd be fine. Simply because they were family.

-To Be Concluded-

Wow! It's hard to believe, after all the ups-and-downs in this story, it's almost over. There is only one chapter left after this; only a couple more things left to do. I want to apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out. I was going to update Saturday, but before I had a chance to write this chapter I blacked out, hitting the right side of my head pretty hard when I went down. I'm okay (except for a couple of bruises and a lot of sore spots), but needless to say I haven't felt like writing these past few days. Again, I'm sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy this chapter! The last one should be up within the next couple of days, and thank you so much for your patience!

Hannah 554: Thank you! In some ways, I wanted Charin to be able to keep her nanites, since there was so much she could do with them. . . But I knew it was best, all around, if she got rid of them. And what a way to get rid of them! LOL Here's the next chapter, and I'm sorry it's a little late. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Dia: Thank you! Yes, me too. There was so much action before, it was time to step back and breathe. "McKay" is something she picked up from her Uncle John – she thinks of him as "McKay" and not "Uncle Rodney" when he's being annoying. LOL No, I'm not offended – I haven't explained everything yet. That's what this chapter is for. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! -hugs-

Bunnylass: Thank you! The evolution of this story has taken it many different places, but you're right – in none of them did anyone die. I just couldn't do that! And I've been looking forward to writing Charin's happily-ever-after, this chapter and next, so I hope you enjoy! I'm so sorry it's taken me a while to update! (I promise to do better with the last chapter!) Thank you so much for the review, I hope you like this chapter!

Bugginkrd: Thank you! I have enjoyed writing this story so much, so it makes me feel happy to know you enjoy it, and look forward to each chapter. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this one out, but I hope it was worth the wait! Thank you so much for the review!

TubaPrincess: Thank you! I've been itching to write that scene for so long, with Charin taking out the Asurans. Though it was very hard for her, it's something she'll have to live with for the rest of her life, but she's got an awesome extended family to help her out. Truthfully, there's not much left to do – this is the next to the last chapter. (Sad!) I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I hope it was worth the wait! Thank you so much for the review!

TeylaFan: Here you go, sweetie, the long-awaited Charin vs. Teyla sparring match I promised! -wink- I hope you enjoy – it was a blast to write! And I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update! -hugs-