Chapter 62

2008

Her head was pounding.

Waking up was painful. It didn't happen gradually, but almost instantaneously.

She opened her eyes and saw nothing.

She felt his breath on her neck.

His arms around her body.

She knew it was him, just from the remnants of his voice behind his heavy breathing.

"Thank God," Evan breathed as he pulled her even closer against his chest, kissing her neck. His legs were on either side of her, holding her in place, securing her.

The engine sound was familiar enough. A Jumper.

She knew where she was immediately. She knew what had happened.

Her hands flew to her stomach, where one of Evan's hands was already resting on the top of her bump. Helplessly protective. "It's alright," he whispered into her ear, but his words did nothing to slow her racing pulse. "I'm here." That was what he meant. He was with her. Not like the last time. Not like on Larsa, when she'd awoken with someone else for company.

Alex closed her eyes in the darkness and leaned her head against his shoulder the moment she felt the kick against the inner side of her belly. A soft thump.

The life sign she needed.

His hand shifted over her belly.

"He's okay," Alex breathed and Evan nodded behind her. Their son was okay. For now. And for now that was all that mattered. Things would look different soon enough.

"Where's she taking us?" Alex clasped his hand. Johnson had lured him here. And her. Why, Alex couldn't fathom, but one thing was for certain, the Lieutenant surely wasn't working for the US Air Force.

Evan shook his head. "She wouldn't say." His lips touched her temple. "She didn't say a word after she stunned you." Evan's breath hitched slightly after the last two words. "I thought she'd kill you."

"No, she could've done that more easily." Alex cleared her throat. She felt the ground beneath them shudder slightly. "Did you find anything useful back here?"

Evan shook his head. "In case you hadn't noticed, it's pitch dark… and it's the one my team took to the villages. We only had medical supplies onboard. She took my weapons. I- I couldn't-"

"No." Of course he couldn't fight Johnson. He couldn't shoot her the way he'd shot Ba'al. Not with Alex unable to cooperate. "We'll get through this." She had no idea how they'd do that yet, but she was confident that this wouldn't be the end. It couldn't be. Not after everything they'd been through together. "I love you," she breathed.

The engines shut down.

Johnson had the gene. Of course she did.

Was she working for Michael?

For the Worshippers?

The Trust?

"I love you." The words weren't comforting. Just a reminder of things she already knew. Evan was with her, and whatever the future had in store for them, this moment right here, his arms around her, his hands on her shoulder and her belly, his breath against her skin mattered. And nothing would take that away from her.

But they weren't alone. It wasn't just the two of them anymore and no matter how much she willed herself to be at peace, she couldn't calm down. "She's working for Ba'al, isn't she?"

It made sense. She'd been there when Javier was captured. She'd been there minutes before he died. The guards may have been in on it. She, along with the other technicians, was in charge of the security footage. She had access to all the mission files. She knew where each and everyone of them were at any given time.

His hand found hers and closed around it. "I think so," he said, agreeing with her. "I-" he was cut off by the lights flaring up again.

Alex blinked against the sudden brightness, which made her head pound even more. If they managed to somehow get into the cockpit and retrieve Evan's weapons they might stand a chance. The cargo nets above them were empty. They were sitting on the floor, Evan's back against one of the two benches. Crammed together in what was usually a fairly spacious ship. A ship which wasn't a prisoner transport usually, but Johnson had managed to turn it into one within a few moments. Surely by now the people of Atlantis would have started inquiring after them. Johnson surely hadn't had permission to take off, or take Alex with her. That was why she hadn't used the communication channel to contact her.

"How did she get you here?" Alex asked, wondering when she'd finally start feeling betrayed and why it hadn't set in yet. Why she wasn't even surprised, when this attack had come out of nowhere. Had she become numb to these things happening to her already? Were a few abductions all it took? She doubted it. Something was just plain wrong. Daniel felt more than that, she was sure of that, and Daniel had been taken prisoner at least a hundred times. Why was she terrified, but not surprised?

"A text message… I- I should have sensed that something was off. I did! But I didn't do anything about it."

Alex nodded and turned around to look at him just as the engines shut down. They didn't have much time. But what was there to say?

They know it was Johnson.

They'll find the other Jumper.

They're going to find us.

The truth was, they couldn't know any of that.

The truth was, they only had each other to rely on right now, and although that had been true more than once since they'd started out on this journey together, she'd never been more terrified.

He nodded once and kissed the tip of her nose. With a pat on her shoulder he gestured for her to get up. If either door opened now, they wouldn't want to be sitting down.

It wasn't easy, and not just because her head was still pounding and her legs were tingly, but her bump was on the verge of growing too big for her to move around comfortably. He helped her up and pushed her hair back. His hands remained on her cheeks. Warm and comforting. The concern in his eyes made the prospect of what might come next even harder to bear. There were steps outside. Wherever they were, whatever lay in store for them next, she knew she could trust him. To protect her and the child. He must know she'd do all she could to get him out of here too. And that was probably the worst part right there. They were helpless, because they were both here. Because their entire family was gathered in this small space.

"Alex," he breathed, "I think Johnson-" He stopped as the door to the cockpit opened and the young Lieutenant stepped into the main compartment. She looked at them once and Evan dropped his hands and frowned at her, his eyes so cold that Alex barely recognized him. This one look, the way his jaw was clenched and his eyebrows almost forming a frown changed his entire face. "Taking us to see your new boss? Did you bring Corbin Simon here, too? Or is he still on Earth, pulling strings?"

Johnson raised his eyebrows at him. "What do you even want to hear right now?"

"Why are you doing this?" Alex asked. She could almost understand why someone would get caught up in the Trust's activities, especially if they were after money, like Simon must have been. But Johnson? She was a commissioned officer with what must be a glowing record. Otherwise she would never have been chosen for the Stargate Program or the Atlantis expedition. She'd been in this galaxy for almost two years, she, along with everybody else, had fought for the people of this galaxy, she'd been there for the good and the bad. Alex had trusted her like she had any other member of the expedition. Clearly, she'd been wrong.

Johnson looked at her, her blue eyes piercing and distant. "Sit down."

"Listen, you don't have to do this."

Why did he even try to argue? Johnson had made her decision, and a decision like this was one you only made once. Either you betrayed your people or you didn't. It was that simple.

Johnson didn't answer, just kept staring at him, a flicker in her eyes which Alex couldn't even begin to interpret. "Sit down, Doctor, or I'll shoot him in the leg. It just healed. Would be a pity, right?"

Alex swallowed hard and looked to her left at Evan. Their arms were touching ever so lightly, but she could almost feel the warmth of his body through their jackets when they sat down again.

Johnson took a step back, pulled the lever next to the door to the front compartment and with a soft hiss, the ramp was lowered to reveal five more people standing in front of them, all of them wearing functional, clean clothes. Linen and leather, Alex guessed, her mind jumping immediately to trying to set the style to a certain people or time period. She blinked, forcing herself not to focus on that right now. It wouldn't do her or Evan, or their boy any good.

They were carrying Zats. Wearing clothes that clearly weren't Genii military. No uniform. She felt Evan stiffen by her side as the only woman in the group stepped forward. High forehead, light grey eyes and almost silvery, short hair. She couldn't be any older than they were. "We'll take it from here," she said.

"I-" Johnson began, but she was silenced by one single look from the woman.

"Can't we get going already?" Evan got up and took a step forward, shielding Alex from the five new arrivals.

"Yes, Major," the woman said coolly. "Step aside, please."

Evan hesitated for a second, then Johnson stepped forward grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled her to her feet. The touch was gentler than Alex had expected, but Johnson let go of her almost at once.

The baby kicked again, reminding Alex painfully of the last time she'd been at Ba'al's mercy like this. Only now she couldn't put her arms protectively around her belly. It would mean showing weakness and she wouldn't have that. Not that it would do any good anyway. There was nothing she could do to protect their unborn child but to cooperate. With a last look at Evan, she followed the woman out of the Jumper into an area which reminded her all too well of the F-302 bay on the Daedalus. She swallowed hard as she recognized the other ships standing by along the sides of the hangar. Gliders. Clearly Ba'al had modified those with technology he'd found on Earth. Technology which would make it easier for him to fight the Tau'ri when it came to it. "So, where are we going?" she asked walking beside Evan towards the large doors leading into the main corridor.

Neither the woman, nor any of the men or Johnson answered her. Not that she'd expected them to. Evan bumped his elbow against her arm, asking her to be quiet with the slightest touch.

This place looked far too much like the F-303s she'd grown used to for her liking. Sure, the occasional Goa'uld inscription made it very clear that this ship had not been built on Earth, but the echo of what the plans of this ship were meant to be remained, no matter how much gold Ba'al had his servants slap on the walls.

They were led along a corridor which was a lot wider than the corridors on the Daedalus or the Apollo were and into a circle of ring transports.

"How long have you been here?" she asked, still cautious of what to say, of how to move. Would it ever get easier? Would she ever get used to having him around again?

"About two years," he said curtly as he accompanied her to the elevator. It'd been her third lesson at the shooting range. Three days since she'd come here. "But I was only very recently assigned to SG-11."

She nodded and forced herself to look at him. "Evan."

"Meet me tomorrow at my office. Time you learn military procedure. I heard you'll be assigned a team within the next few weeks."

"Listen-"

But he didn't listen. He met her eye only briefly, nodded once, then turned away from her and walked down the corridor again. Back to the shooting range. She only wished she had the courage to shout after him.

"We haven't jumped to hyperspace yet," Evan said as the door to the holding cell closed behind them.

A grey, bleak room. A stainless-steel toilet. A narrow bed. A security camera in one of the corners, its red light blinking.

That was it.

At least they hadn't been separated again.

"What does that matter?"

"The Apollo isn't far out," he said. "If Atlantis alerted them the moment they realized what Johnson did, they might get here in time."

"The transmitters won't work if the cells are properly shielded," Alex argued, sitting down on the cot and closing her eyes. She was feeling dizzy. She could only hope it had everything to do with the stun blast and not with her baby. Not with her son.

Evan sat down next to her. "We can't give up, do you hear me?" The intensity of his stare made her shiver. She could hear his voice in her head as it had been six years ago. The voice in which he'd told her what to do, when to duck, when to fire. Her throat was bone dry and she nodded.

"No," she agreed without pointing out the obvious: it was highly unlikely the Apollo would indeed get here in time. In fact, it was far more likely that they'd end up in Ba'al's new domain before they knew what had happened.

Nodding, Evan wrapped her in his arms.

Okay... Johnson, huh? I'll get to writing the last three to five chapters straight away! Tell me what you think!