A considerably larger Elizabeth sat across the desk from Daniel in his office as they discussed the Jaffa situation, the former expedition leader having insisted on coming in as opposed to resting at home. She said, idly smoothing her bump,

"In time, it's quite possible for them to have embassies or localised governments… even here."

"Yep, I see that too… but we're talking many, many years in the future. Despite Illac Renin surrendering and declaring a ceasefire, they still have a lot of issues to work out amongst themselves as well as with the rest of the Jaffa. As for the rest… they have some major issues too."

He smiled slightly, and she was about to reply when she paused, a stunned expression on her face. As he was about to ask what was wrong, she began to breathe heavily, and he ran to her side, asking as he held her hand,

"Liz? What is it?"

He peeked under her chair to see fluid soaking into the carpet and he winced, grabbing his phone and called into it, "Carolyn, get to my office – Liz's water just broke!"

He threw the handset down, not caring that it hadn't landed anywhere near the rest of the phone, and he said as he knelt by her side, smoothing her forehead, "Come on Liz, breathe… in and out…"

She did as she was told, beginning to sweat when she shut her eyes tightly and whimpered in pain. He looked at the clock and said,

"Ok, Liz… squeeze my hand when you get a contraction."

She whispered, crying at the pain as she squeezed his hand, "It hurts…"

His voice broke with emotion as he said, "I know… you're going to be ok. Just hang in there."

As she squeezed his hand again, Carolyn and a medical team came running in with a gurney, Reynolds and SG-1 following with curious expressions. As Teal'c lifted a crying Elizabeth onto the gurney, Carolyn asked as she prepped a syringe,

"How far apart?"

Daniel replied, running his fingers through his hair, looking more than a touch strained, "Uh, five minutes."

The medics left and the Archaeologist followed, SG-1 wordlessly following suit. As they walked to the Infirmary, Daniel said to Reynolds,

"Get Walter to try and dial Atlantis again."

Reynolds nodded and called 'good luck' to Elizabeth before jogging in the direction of the control room. Cam put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, remarking,

"Oh, the memories."

Daniel swallowed, nodding and Vala added, "That will be me one day… again… hopefully."

Cam and Vala exchanged a little look, and Teal'c remarked, "With hope, your next baby will be normal."

Everyone shot the Jaffa little looks, and Elizabeth, gasping, called Daniel's name. He caught up with the gurney and held her hand, saying as he looked down at her, still walking,

"It's ok Liz, I'm here."

Elizabeth asked, closing her eyes as the pain increased, "Could you stay with me?"

Daniel nodded, replying with a determined expression, "Of course I will."

--------------------

Daniel sat at Elizabeth's side in an isolation room for hours on end, holding her hand as Carmichael and Carolyn prepared her. Elizabeth cried out and whimpered at the pain despite the painkillers that she had been given, and Daniel debated whether to use his powers on her. Her discomfort increasingly difficult to watch, he raised a hand above her abdomen, a glowing white light emanating from it as the Doctors, Elizabeth and the Nurses looked on in amazement and surprise.

Daniel glanced at Elizabeth, who smiled, saying, "The pain's gone… I can just feel the muscles contracting but it doesn't hurt. Wow, thank you."

Carolyn and Carmichael exchanged a bemused look, and Daniel remarked with a smile, smoothing her forehead, "I'm not sure how long it's going to last so get ready to curse me all the way to Ne'tu."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and replied, "I could cope with that."

Carolyn asked, "Are the contractions getting quicker?"

"Yes… they're about a half minute apart."

Carolyn, Carmichael and the Nurses couldn't help but smile at the calm way that she had delivered the information, and Daniel remarked, "You're a record breaker – the first woman to calmly tell her Doctors the timing of her contractions."

"I'm storing up those curses."

"You could always scream in Ancient."

Elizabeth chuckled, closing her eyes, and she said, "I wish John could be here."

Daniel's smile faded as he replied, "He'll only be able to come if they've got the 'gate back online."

"I know."

He squeezed her hand, when suddenly she hissed. She said, opening her eyes,

"That was a big one… and another one."

Carmichael checked out things at his end and said to Carolyn, "Dilation's at fifteen centimetres."

Daniel smiled down at Elizabeth as she squeezed his hand, and smiled back, getting ready to feel overwhelming pain. Daniel asked, attempting to pass the time,

"So… what are you going to do when the baby's here?"

She replied with a shaky smile, "Probably sleep for a month straight…"

He chuckled before saying, "You're more than welcome to stay at ours."

Closing her eyes as she felt herself stretch, she replied, wincing, "Ah, no, I'm thinking of getting a place nearby."

"I won't hear of it."

Smiling, she replied, "Thank you so much but I'm going to need my own place. I don't want to keep you up all night…"

"You know I don't care about that. You need help with the baby and I'm willing to give it."

Gasping at the discomfort, she replied in a whisper, "Thank you."

She closed her eyes and whimpered as the pain returned full force and Carmichael called, "Doctor, push!"

She forced herself to breath as she squeezed Daniel's hand tighter and tighter, screaming in pain as the Archaeologist grimaced at the pain in his own hand. Despite this, he called, smoothing her brow with his other hand,

"Come on Liz, you can do this!"

Breathing heavily, she snapped, "Oh, you would say that! Agh."

He raised his hand to take her pain away, when Carolyn said, "Daniel, we can't be sure that that isn't causing complications…"

Daniel said, impatient, "There must be something."

The end of his statement was drowned out by a loud scream from the woman clutching his hand with an almost superhuman strength, and he briefly wished that Teal'c was sat in his place. He patted her hand with his currently uninjured one, calling in encouragement,

"Liz, you can do this, I know you can. You're a strong woman and I'm proud of you – come on."

Carmichael finally called as Carolyn looked on, concerned and wincing for the woman in pain, "Doctor, just one more push."

Squeezing Daniel's hand harder, Elizabeth whimpered before screaming as she gave out one hell of a push. Carmichael then called with a relieved smile,

"You can stop now."

Elizabeth flopped back onto the bed, her eyes closed as she fought to catch her breath, as well as fighting the urge to carry on pushing. Daniel smiled despite his own pain, smoothing her forehead as he said,

"Oh, I am so proud of you."

She nodded wearily in thanks and opened her eyes in time to see Carolyn lift a bloodied baby into view, Carmichael snipping the umbilical cord. Elizabeth gasped in amazement and Daniel, smiling, whispered,

"Congratulations."

He smoothed her brow before getting up, rubbing his hand, feeling as though something was broken… if it wasn't, it was pretty darn close, he thought. He approached the Doctors just as the baby took its first breath, and Carolyn performed the necessary tests on it as they cleaned it up.

Wrapping the squirming baby up in a blanket, Carmichael turned to Daniel with a tired smile of his own, and handed the bundle over, saying, "It's a girl."

Carmichael then smiled over at an absolutely knackered Elizabeth, whose head flopped back onto the pillow again, and he said, "Congratulations, Doctor."

Carolyn added her own congratulatory remark as Daniel gazed down at the baby in his arms, walking back to Elizabeth's side. He smiled slightly at the dark hair and as he reached his destination, he whispered, caressing the baby's cheek,

"Hello there. I suppose I'm your Uncle Daniel, and this incredibly tired lady is your Mom."

Still smiling, he handed the baby to Elizabeth, who had sat up despite the desire to hibernate for a year emerging, and she, tears in her eyes, held the baby whose hair greatly resembled Sheppard's, whispering,

"Hello, little one."

She looked up at him, unable to stop the tears from running down her cheeks, and said, "She's so beautiful."

Smiling at her, he replied, "She sure is. What are you going to call her?"

Gazing down at the now crying infant in her arms, she replied, looking overcome, "Charlotte Danielle Weir-Sheppard."

--------------------

After coming out to reveal the good news to his waiting friends including Jack, who had been notified hours previously, he returned after a few minutes to find Elizabeth fast asleep, the Doctors having cleaned up their end of proceedings. He smoothed her brow, whispering,

"Things are going to turn out for you, Liz."

Smiling wistfully for a moment, he leant over Charlotte's cot, watching the baby squirm as he touched her cheek, and he asked, "How about we go see Mommy's friends? Mommy's sleeping now so it would be best not to wake her… especially after everything she's had to go through. Come on."

He gently and carefully lifted the baby up in his arms, gently kissing her on the cheek before leaving the room to show a growing crowd including SG-1, Jack and Reynolds.

Outside, Jack remarked as he looked down at the baby, "Ah, well, she doesn't look like you."

Daniel shot him a cold look but said nothing as everyone else got a look at the baby, Vala cooing over her as she held her for a spell. Teal'c asked as he smiled down at the baby during his turn,

"What will happen?"

Daniel replied with a grimace, suddenly remembering how much his hand was hurting, "I don't know… I said that she could stay at ours but she wants her own place… I don't think she'll be able to manage by herself as a new mother though."

Jack, now holding the baby, remarked, "What's with the painful face? She squeeze the hell out of your hand?"

Daniel holding up his hand, replied, "More than that…"

Cam checked it out, saying with a worried look, "Man, that's broken."

Daniel frowned down at his hand before getting an idea. His uninjured hand hovering over the injury, he closed his eyes as a white light appeared, bathing his hand as he focussed, half the Infirmary appearing to gather around him, shocked and surprised; stunned into silence.

The light disappearing, he opened his eyes and smiled slightly, saying, "It doesn't hurt any more."

Carolyn checked his hand out, and Cam said, "It was definitely broken."

The CMO nodded and said to Daniel, "You're having an X-Ray…"

When Daniel looked set to object, she added, "It's not optional."

His head dropping to his chest in a gesture of resignation, he remarked, meeting her gaze, "Well, can I take Charlotte back first? I promise I won't leap out of any windows."

As Jack handed the baby back to him, raising an eyebrow, Teal'c said, smirking nonetheless, "There are no windows on this level."

The statement earned more than a few odd looks, and Carolyn nodded, remarking with faux-sternness, "Good… and I've checked it out for mini-Stargates too. There's no escape."

Jonas added, beating Jack much to the older man's dismay, "And no ascending either. We're all trained to kick your ass for Sam."

Gazing down at the now sleeping baby, Daniel replied softly, "I got it."

With an inaudible sigh, he turned and went back to the isolation room, wondering how long it would take for Sam to come home again.

--------------------

As Daniel was about to sign out to spend the night watching over Elizabeth and Charlotte in their isolation room, he heard someone running behind him in the corridor, and as he stopped, some indefinable instinct told him who it was. Not turning around, he asked with a weary sigh,

"What now, Walter?"

Walter, spooked, stopped next to the Archaeologist, said, "How did you know… oh, wait… your Whitelighter powers."

Daniel closed his eyes briefly and asked, "What do you want?"

Walter, remembering why he had run after his boss, nodded and said, "Deep Space just called. They intercepted a series of highly compressed radio pulses from the Pegasus galaxy before Arecibo could get it. Source co-ordinates estimated to be somewhere near Atlantis, if not the city itself."

Daniel, suddenly alert, held the Sergeant by his shoulders and asked, his eyes intense, "What else?"

Not surprised at the gesture, Walter replied, "They can't make heads or tails of it but they're sending it to us."

Daniel suddenly sprinted back down the corridor in the opposite direction that he had been going, and Walter joined him, smiling slightly to himself. Reaching the control room and finding Bill Lee there, the Archaeologist quickly nodded in greeting at the scientist before returning his attention to Walter as the Sergeant typed into the computer.

A few minutes later, Walter said, "Receiving transmission…"

Data flitted across the screen and Daniel gaped at the Ancient characters. He asked Walter, "Can you… can you print that out?"

Walter nodded, printing out the transmission and dividing up the printouts according to the pulse they belonged to before handing them to the Archaeologist. Daniel called as he nearly ran from the control room,

"Thanks Walter… Bill? You might want to join me on this."

Bill nodded and scurried off after him, calling back, "It's in Ancient."

Daniel replied, turning a corner to his office, "If it's from Atlantis, Sam's probably put a mathematical cipher into it."

--------------------

Spreading the sheets of paper across the briefing room table with Teal'c standing guard at the door, looking on as curiously as he could manage, Daniel quickly read through the sheets, saying distractedly as he idly rubbed the eraser end of his pencil against his neck,

"Each set or pulse appears to be the same message, so we only have to look at one pulse."

He moved the other sheets out of the way, just leaving the ones that they needed while Bill scanned some of the sheets onto his laptop. As Jonas appeared, Daniel, glancing at the Kelownan briefly, asked,

"Could you sit with Liz? I was going over there before I got waylaid."

Teal'c straightened up and said, "I will sit with DoctorWeir… you may need JonasQuinn."

Daniel thanked him as he left, and Jonas joined Daniel and Bill, getting down to work.

Two and a half hours later, Daniel began to write furiously into his notebook, and Jonas asked, concerned, "Daniel?"

Bill looked up, and Daniel said, amazed, "It's the same message, over and over, separated by a series of Ancient numbers. The message itself doesn't make any sense but… each iteration is a different language: Navajo, Inuit, Cornish, Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic, Welsh, French, German, Austrian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Arabic, Afrikaans, Russian, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Malaysian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Asgard, Abydonian, Furling, and Goa'uld. It says – 'We are ok – fought off attacks – got some help from three Marty McFlys – not sure of other attacks – no attacks since December – congratulations to Liz – know about your tablets – babies to be born on Atlantis in March or April – hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year.'"

The two other men stared at him in surprise, as he, surprised too, raked his fingers through his hair, breathing a sigh of relief at Sam and everyone else being safe. Bill cleared his throat and said, showing them the screen of his laptop,

"Well, it explains the format of each pulse… each one is set out like a data packet, each one ending with what appears to be a checksum and a parity bit to ensure lossless data transmission. It's amazing that it's made it this far. Wow."

Daniel raised his eyebrows briefly, and Jonas remarked, looking spooked, "Wow's an understatement."

Daniel frowned as he re-read the message and said, "It mentions the tablets Mitchell found…"

As it dawned on him, he sat down rather heavily, putting his face in his hands, as the two other men looked on concerned. Jonas read Daniel's notes before looking at a confused Bill and saying, "It looks like the two babies mentioned in the tablet are still to be born."

"Oh, from those tablets…"

Daniel moved his hands from his face and said, everyone noticing how tired he looked, "It means that Sam's pregnant… but she can't be."

Bill remarked, hitching his glasses up and getting gradually jealous of Daniel no longer needing his glasses, "Well, I think we need to work out what they meant by Marty McFlys…"

Jonas, glancing at Daniel, replied with a smile, "I got it. They've got some visitors from the future."

Bill asked, "But who?"

Daniel swallowed, nodding slowly as he pondered what they had learnt, and replied, "I've got a fair idea… it's me… or rather a future version of myself. As for the other two… they're probably Mitchell, Jack, Jonas, Vala or Teal'c… Um, they know about Liz's baby's arrival despite it only happening today, as well as the tablets… and Doctor Keller only knows seventeen languages. She definitely doesn't know Furling, Abydonian, Asgard or a few of the others."

Bill gulped, asking, "What about entropic cascade failure?"

Daniel rested his head on his folded arms, and Jonas replied with a shrug, "That's probably only with other realities as opposed to timelines."

He exhaled and continued, "And besides, any one of us would have felt it by now, especially Daniel."

Daniel groaned, muttering, "Probably."

He straightened up and said after pinching the bridge of his nose, "We're going to have to find some way to send them a message back…"

Bill replied, gesturing towards his laptop as he tapped his chin, "Sergeant Harriman relayed the information to my laptop from Deep Space – the pulses travelled here faster the speed of light using Doctor McKay's highly compressed data streaming as well as particle acceleration of some kind… it's certainly intriguing."

Perching on the table near Bill, Jonas said, "Even with Doctor McKay's data streaming, it was designed to be sent via an active event horizon rather than across space."

"Well, we'll need Doctor Miller – she might be able to help us seeing as Sam's unavailable."

Daniel remarked, allowing himself to smile slightly, "At least that poor woman gets paid for being dragged down here."

"It took a great deal of persuasion for her to accept the payments."

Jonas added, a touch bemused, "Colonel Reynolds mentioned that she was a hippy type."

Suddenly, the Kelownan paused and as the other two men looked at him quizzically, he asked, "Wouldn't it be funny if they were being literal about Marty McFly?"

As they looked confused, Daniel remarked slowly, his head beginning to hurt, "Jonas, Marty McFly's a fictional character played by Michael J. Fox."

Shaking his head, Jonas continued, "What if they mean someone's kids from the future? It could be Cammie and James; it could be, ah, Charlotte… it could even be future offspring of me and Carolyn, Teal'c, you guys, Cam and Vala, or anyone else…"

Bill and Daniel exchanged a look before the latter said with a shrug, almost too tired to care, "Sure, why not? We've seen weirder things although we've never met someone from the future yet."

Bill said, "We'll need to get them to get their 'gate back online…"

Daniel added, glancing at Jonas, "Or risk it with the Odyssey."