Lyrics featured are Have You Seen the Rain by CCR. Apologies if this is of a lower standard than previous chapters... managed to get a summer cold and I'm all drippy with writer's block.

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A troubled Landry stood in amongst the plants that he had grown during his and the team's time aboard the ship. The General sighed as he allowed himself to speculate at how much longer they would be in their present predicament... and even whether they would ever leave it. His previously unerring trust in Colonel Carter's abilities had been shaken on learning that she was with child, but deep down, a small part of him held the faith that he had always had.

He thought of Carolyn, and his wife, wondering whether he would ever see either again. It was hard remaining the one figure, other than Teal'c of course, of reason and of stoicism. He felt it his duty to hold it together, to be the General, no matter what.

'A leader is a man who can adapt his principles to circumstances.'

'Pressure creates diamonds.'

'Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.'

As he thought of General Patton, and how he would be in the present situation, he smiled slightly. This was no different to the other situations either he or the team had ever been in. Sure, during all those other times, there hadn't been an unborn child in the mix... well, the Colonel's unborn child, but if there was anyone who could pull off the impossible... it was her and the rest of SG-1, with ingenuity that always surprised him and he smiled slightly as he thought, would continue to surprise him.

He took a deep breath as he picked up a watering can. They were going to leave this ship, all of them.

"Someone told me long ago
There's a calm before the storm,
I know
It's been comin' for some time..."

Cam, after trashing his quarters for more times than he could count, or wanted to even consider counting, jogged through the corridors of the ship, the itch of being stationary for too long getting to him as it usually did. He forced down his growing urge to throw something else and then completely forgot everything on seeing Vala coming towards him... on roller skates.

He stopped suddenly, surprised and then bemused as she, smiling cheekily, skated towards him. With a wink, she performed a little pirouette, and then she was gone as he stood there, scratching his head.

It was then that he truly realised with an astounding clarity how everyone else was making do with the situation. While he was getting aggravated and itchy at being stationary, everyone else was getting on with their lives, whether as a means to assist Sam or otherwise. The General had taken to gardening; Teal'c sparred but also acted as an emotional support to everyone else when things got too much; Sam, despite being with child, continued to work on a solution while Jackson did his best to help her and be her rock during a most difficult time... and Vala, after trying a whole slew of things to pass the time... like dancing and karaoke, had now taken to roller skating. Where she had got the roller skates to do that was another question.

He was ashamed, to a certain extent, by his own reaction, but none too surprised. He was a pilot. He loved flying... not sitting around waiting for something... anything. He loved going through the 'gate, the thrill of everything... crossing the event horizon and not knowing who or what they could meet... how every 'routine' mission was far from being so.

The thrill of the chase.

Would he ever experience that again?

"When it's over, so they say,
It'll rain a sunny day,
I know
Shinin' down like water..."

SG-1 and the General met for dinner in the Mess, just like they did for their other meals and breaks. Teal'c watched his friends as they did their best to be upbeat, and for the most, succeeding. ColonelCarter and DanielJackson sat together, the Jaffa not seeing but knowing that DanielJackson was holding his Sim'ka's hand. He smiled slightly as he watched ColonelCarter, laughing at an attempt by ColonelMitchell at humour, smooth her swollen abdomen wherein lie her unborn child. The pressure had been great upon her but she continued to work, as always... and she had support from not only her friends, but DanielJackson too.

Despite the smiles and the laughs, he saw the pain. He knew the pain. The day previously, ColonelCarter had been unfit for work as she worried for the state of her child's health on feeling odd sensations and pains. While he and ColonelMitchell had stayed with her, DanielJackson had continued her work, taking breaks every so often to visit and consult her while ValaMalDoran drove him insane by suggesting the especially impossible with regard to the work that needed to be done.

"... so she's covered in bacon and orange juice an'..."

DanielJackson whispered something into ColonelCarter's ear, the act resulting in both of them laughing, and ColonelMitchell remarked, resulting in everyone else laughing, "You already got her knocked up, Jackson. Stop making the rest of us look bad."

DanielJackson and ColonelCarter momentarily displayed expressions that could only be described as predatory, before joining in with the laughter, as did Teal'c. Life is indeed too short.

"I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?"

While Cam sat in the F-302 bay, in an open F-302, trying to feel the thrill of soaring once again, Sam continued to work in the engine room with Teal'c and Daniel watching over her. Looking hopeful as she caught Daniel's eye for a moment, she pressed a button and turned back to a platform to see a series of components appear on a crystalline stand, thanks to the Asgard technology. As she watched, Teal'c picked one up to examine it, and Daniel, standing next to her chair, squeezed her shoulder supportively.

As they did so, Landry, now wearing an Air Force cardigan over a tie-less shirt, peered out of a window of his makeshift office, looking at the Ori ship, frozen in time, the energy beam of destruction getting a tiny bit closer with each passing day, minute, second. One day, it would be much closer... hopefully the Colonel would have fixed the problem by then but his hope was beginning to wear thin as they all settled in for the long haul.


"Yesterday, and days before,
Sun is cold and rain is hard,
I know
Been that way for all my time..."

Christmas had rolled by and the team had decided to celebrate it, knowing that it was a good way to break up the monotony. They gathered in the now decorated Mess, around their usual table... although it didn't matter which table as they and the General were the only people aboard. Cam wore a Santa hat and even winked at the General as he held a sprig of mistletoe aloft.

"I'd sooner kiss a Prior. No offence."

"None taken, General. The feeling's mutual."

The cold challenging glint in each other's eyes faded after a moment of guarded fury as the others looked on, worried. Cam then grinned and leaned over the table to kiss Sam, and then sat back down to kiss Vala. Daniel gazed at Sam, holding her hand as he usually did at culinary gatherings, and he reached up with his other hand to gently move fair hair from her face. She smiled at him and leaned her head on his shoulder as he kissed her forehead and then smoothed her bump.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too. I kinda hoped that this Christmas, we wouldn't be on a mission, but here we are again."

He continued to smooth her bump. "Hmm, we could get lucky one day. How are you feeling?"

She sighed. "Strangely not on edge. This is the least stress I've felt in... I can't even remember." She kissed his neck. "We're so close... so close. I can feel it. I don't want to have our baby on this ship with no medical personnel."

"I can't promise you anything but..." he kissed her hair. "... I'm hoping we'll be home safe before that happens."

"'til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and slow,
I know
It can't stop, I wonder..."

"That function is not possible."

Sam, having sneaked out of Daniel's quarters while he and the others slept, crept down to the engine room to continue work. So as not to alert a casual passer-by, she kept the lights off as she worked on her laptop and with Thor's hologram. As the minutes grew into hours, she became more and more frustrated, more and more disappointed.

It wasn't going to work.

It had to.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She was going to do it. It was just tricky.

"There's a calm before the storm,
I know
It's been comin' for some time.

While Cam and Landry played Chess in the General's quarters, the southern Colonel vocalising the differences between being stationary aboard an interstellar ship and flying, Daniel held Sam in his arms on the floor at the foot of their bed as she sobbed her heart out at not getting anywhere lately with her work. Not only that, she hadn't felt her unborn child kick or move in a long while.

Sad too, at everything, he put an arm around her shoulders as she clung onto him. Resting his head against hers, he whispered, "Ssshh, it's ok... it's ok."

Her voice heavy with tears, she asked, frustrated, "How is it ok!? Everything's going to hell... and..." she sobbed, feeling so much emotional pain. "... and... my baby..." She shut her eyes tight as she began to cry again and he hushed her again as her hand moved to rest on his chest.

"It's going to be ok if it isn't already ok. Maybe baby's sleeping."

"For two days?!"

He kissed her gently as he continued to hold her, smoothing her bump as he whispered, "You haven't felt any pain."

He suddenly paused as he felt something beneath his hand and before he could ask, she looked up at him, hopeful, tear tracks on her face. He, overcome with tears as well as relief, gently took her hand and placed it over her abdomen and they both laughed as they felt their baby kicking. Overjoyed, he kissed her and remarked with a grin,

"What did I tell you? Baby takes after Uncle Jack... he or she loves to scare the hell out of us."

As he tenderly dried her eyes, she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder, "I wish we knew if baby was a 'he' or a 'she', instead of just 'baby' or 'he or she'. It makes..." she grimaced. "... it sound like a hermaphrodite" She smiled as he kissed her.

"We'll know soon enough." She whacked him across the chest, looking indignant. "Hey!"

"When it's over, so they say,
It'll rain a sunny day,
I know
Shinin' down like water..."

The team met for dinner yet again, the time aboard the ship taking its toll on them even more. Each became more and more aware of time passing and they wondered how much longer they would be there... whether they would ever see Earth again... whether Sam and Daniel's child would be born on its parents' home planet... or on an interstellar craft... whether it would even be born at all.

Sam, trying to hold it all together, sat at the head of the table, Daniel holding her hand as always despite the strain on his and everyone else's faces. Even Vala was looking far from effervescent as she soberly ate her meal, next to a depressed Cam.

They had to get out of this. They needed to.

"I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

Yeah!"

Sam, wearing her favourite cream sweater, worked in the engine room, like she did most days, Thor's hologram near her.

"That function is not possible."

Feeling mischievous, she switched the hologram off with one press of a button, and she smiled slightly in relief and amusement.

As she did so, Landry looked out of his window yet again, at the Ori ship, and he wondered yet again how he could swear the beam was getting closer. The end line looked further and further away with each passing day, but there was still hope.

"There's a calm before the storm,
I know
It's been comin' for some time..."

Cam, sitting glumly on the end of his bed, got up to open his door on hearing it beep, and saw Vala stood there, no smiles or mischief. They gazed at each other for a long moment, the pain and loneliness clear on their faces, and he kissed her. The kiss grew out of hand and he pulled her into his quarters, and she let him.

"When it's over, so they say,
It'll rain a sunny day,
I know
Shinin' down like water..."

Teal'c sat in the Mess by himself, looking out of the window at the ship and then at the stars that he had never taken the opportunity to simply observe, the stars his mother had pointed out in the night sky. As he wrapped his fingers thoughtfully around a hot mug of some synthetic beverage, he thought of his son and his daughter-in-law, of his Sim'ka... of the Jaffa's ongoing struggle of which he couldn't be a part of so long as he remained in their present situation.

"I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?"