A/N: As I mentioned before, this chapter will include a birth. So, if you feel uncomfortable reading that sort of thing, you'd better skip the last 50% or so of the chapter, right after Evan talks to Landry.
Chapter 73
2008
"I can't believe you're spending your holiday at work," Daniel grinned at her as he went through the data she'd brought along. The original sheets of paper had stayed with Jonas of course, but she'd brought along the copies for him to study. As she'd expected, he was more than excited to see what they had uncovered. It wasn't just the data which had been stored on the crystals and the scans of papers, but also the pictures of the steles they'd found, the geographic layouts and Evan's sketches. Yes, they'd sent reports every now and then and he had been up to date with their research, but she had a feeling this new compilation would be exciting for him to see.
"I'm not on holiday," she argued.
"Yes, I know, I know. Sorry." He pushed up his glasses and took a sip from his coffee mug. "This is incredible."
She nodded. "Thank you."
"How long do you have? Isn't Evan coming to pick you up?"
"He went to give a report to the current status of security on Atlantis to General Landry, and after that, I believe, he wanted to check on Menard." His former team mate had re-joined the Air Force and was now working at the Air Force Academy, as a liaison for the SGC. Funny how things turned out sometimes
Daniel nodded. "Good man," he muttered absentmindedly.
"Do you go to the Academy often?"
"No," Daniel said quietly scrolling through the first report she'd sent him on the steles on Lantea. "We can't go back there can we?"
"Uhm, I'm not sure… the Replicators have been destroyed, so their satellite weapon should be out of commission, but who knows?"
Daniel nodded again. "Maybe we can ask Colonel Caldwell to swing by that planet next time."
"I don't think it's their highest priority to be honest."
Pulling a face, he turned around to look at her. She and Evan had arrived back here two days previously, and after the usual check-ups and clearance after quarantine, they'd been home briefly. But Daniel and his team had been off-world, so Alex had begged Evan to return to the SGC so she could give him the hard drive.
"Where's Vala?"
Daniel let out a huff. "She's in town taking piano lessons," he said with a grin.
"You're serious?"
He nodded. "And she's terrible, but enthusiastic. And," he added, raising his finger, "she's been talking about joining up with Sam, who started learning the cello."
Laughing made her flinch. A sudden burst of pain, making her clasp her bump.
"Are you okay?"
"Langdon said it's normal. My body is kind of practicing the whole labour thing apparently." Shaking her head, she stroked her belly and was relieved when the pain subsided somewhat. The fact was, she didn't think they'd have another few days to prepare, and the way Daniel frowned at her told her he didn't believe it either. But she wouldn't bring it up now. She wanted the distraction. She wanted to work.
"What did Doctor Lam say?"
"Daniel, I'm fine." When would people finally stop asking her what doctors said? First her mother, then Adam, now Daniel. Rolling her eyes, she got up from her chair and stretched. "What have you been working on? Please tell me something that has nothing to do with babies and giving birth!" She really didn't want to think about that right now. She had read all about it, Evan had read all about it, they'd done everything they could to prepare for this and now it was just time to wait and let things run its course. These Braxton Hicks contractions were already getting on her nerves.
"Well," he said after a brief moment of hesitation, "first of all, thanks for this." He pointed at his computer screen. "That'll be another couple of months' worth of work."
"We should just assign tasks, don't you think? First we're going to have to sort through it all, organize it… catalogue and decipher the alphabet…"
"Agreed. Let's do that first chance we get."
"So, what have you been doing before I barged in with this bit of news?"
Daniel grinned. "Ever heard of the Ancient called Janus?"
"I have no intention of criticising Colonel Caldwell's decision, Sir," Evan said. These chairs in Landry's office were a lot more comfortable than the one's Hammond and O'Neill had had in here, but he still felt on edge. What he was doing here was highly irregular and the frown on Landry's face reaffirmed is assessment of the situation.
"Then why did you bring it up? You didn't put that in your report, Major." Landry frowned at the paper on his desk, his eyebrows knitted together as he looked up at Evan. Those eyebrows really were intimidating. Evan forgot about that every single time and was only reminded of them the moment he was faced with them again.
"No," Evan said, his voice calm and even, "I wanted to talk about it with you, Sir."
"Alright then," Landry folded his hands and leaned a bit closer. "Talk."
"The Wraith overran the compound, yes, it's very likely the Worshippers gave them all the information they could on all the other worlds within Ba'al's network. They contacted the Wraith by sending a subspace signal like it's used for Runners. And it's very likely they transmitted the coordinates to other Hives."
"Yes, I'm aware." Landry was beginning to sound a bit impatient and for a second Evan hesitated, not sure how to interpret Landry's grin.
"So the base is definitely compromised, but I don't think we should rely on the database to be lost completely. We have to go back there, Sir."
Landry hesitated, looked at the folder, then up at Evan again. "Did you consult Mr Woolsey about this? And Colonel Sheppard?"
In other words: was he going behind his superiors' backs to gain Landry's support? "Yes, Sir," he answered. The one person he hadn't talked to about this yet was Alex. They'd been Ba'al's prisoners four months ago and the thought of that planet and what excavating the ruins would mean to her, had been stuck in his head ever since. "And they agree, but we also agreed that I should ask you for support before we present the idea to the IOA."
Landry was silent again as he leaned back. "Of course… but we don't have the resources to win back those planets right now. Not with the Hoffan Plague raging in the Pegasus Galaxy, the threat of Michael… you get the picture."
"Yes, Sir." Evan wasn't surprised to hear Landry say it. He'd been thinking along the same lines. "But we figured it might be worth a shot, ask the IOA to increase the military contingent on Atlantis and maybe invite the Russians to send their new battle cruiser along at some point?"
Landry nodded after a moment. "I'll take it under consideration, Major. And maybe General O'Neill has a couple of helpful ideas. Whatever happens, I believe we're going to have to recruit more linguists and archaeologists for the Atlantis expedition?"
"Probably," Evan said quietly. "Doctor Schneider isn't going off-world anymore."
"How about your wife?"
"She wants to resume active duty as quickly as possible." At least that was the plan and he hoped she wouldn't change her mind. Being off-world doing research, being part of a team had become such a huge part of her life… and Teyla was really a role model in that respect. She'd re-joined her old team and she was juggling being a parent and an active member of the expedition fairly easily, or so it seemed. And, with a bit of practice and help of those in charge, Evan and Alex would manage it too. Hopefully. "There's a lot to do."
Landry nodded, but didn't say anything for a while, surveying Evan with something that was almost a frown. Like what he'd said wasn't in the least bit what he'd wanted Evan to say, but in a rather personal way. Almost like Evan had offended him.
"General?"
"There is. But you two also have a family to take care of." An unidentifiable glint made Evan almost ask why the hell Landry would concern himself with that sort of thing. Until he remembered that Doctor Lam, the SGC's chief of medicine was his daughter. That Doctor Lam didn't share her father's last name.
A sudden lump in his throat, Evan resorted to a slow nod and he padded the armrest of his chair. "Sir, if there's anything else, I was meant to meet Lieutenant Menard for coffee." He hadn't seen the Lieutenant in forever and he'd better catch up with him. Maybe, if they had time and he didn't miss him again, he'd ask Mitchell for a re-match of their last baseball game, too.
"No, that'll be all. Just be sure to check in a couple of days before you leave for Pegasus again."
"Yes, Sir." He got up, feeling relieved that he was allowed to sneak away from this situation. It wasn't that he didn't trust Landry, he just never really knew where he stood with the man on a personal level. Things had been easier with Hammond or O'Neill, mainly because neither one of them had had quite the quality of a trickster that Landry had. "Thanks."
The red phone on Landry's desk rang the moment Evan got to his feet. Landry gestured to him that he was free to go and answered the phone but Evan had barely made it to the door, when Landry called out his name, stopping Evan's heart for a second with the tone of his voice alone. He heard the soft plastic click as Landry put down the phone again and, turning around, Evan found that the floor beneath his feet was more than just a bit wobbly.
She stared at the puddle on the floor in Daniel's office for about ten seconds. He didn't even notice it, just kept talking as he traced the lines of Ancient text with his index. And then he paused, looking at Alex inquisitively.
"Am I wrong?"
"What?" she rasped, her hand on her belly as a wave of nausea and pain rolled over her like an earthquake, making her close her eyes and take a deep breath.
"You-"
She let out her breath again and shook her head. "Sorry, can't help you right now." Getting up was harder than she would've thought possible. Like just looking at the wetness on the concrete floor had intensified the pain. Her knees were so weak she had to hold on to his desk. "Should probably go to the infirmary," she huffed, feeling ridiculous the moment Daniel's eyes widened. His lips were parted, forming a small O, but before she could even make a step towards the door, he'd gotten to his feet.
"How long has this been going on?"
She shook her head, trying to clear it as panicked voices seemed to shout at her inside it, telling her this would all go terribly wrong and as she felt her heart beginning to race, she had a sinking feeling, which almost masked the next wave of pain rushing through her body, her abdomen seemingly contracting painfully, making her clench her teeth. And she could feel it. Could almost feel the baby starting to move down. "I don't know," she huffed in reply. This was happening too suddenly, the pain was worse than she'd ever have imagined, but it would pass… eventually. She still had time. She must have. Blinking, she looked up at Daniel's notebook, at the Ancient writing and the translations he'd written beneath individual words in pencil.
"This is Doctor Jackson, please inform Doctor Lam we're on our way to the infirmary. Doctor Lorne has gone into labour."
"This is wrong," she muttered, clearing her throat as the pain slowly started to ebb away and she tried ignoring the slick wet feeling on her thighs. Focus on work. It helped before, didn't it?
"What?" Daniel's footsteps approached her and his hands were on her back as though he was afraid she was going to collapse at any moment.
"This here… wrong inflection," she said. "This guy hadn't just seen Janus that day, but was planning on watching the corridor the same time on the next." Janus' laboratory. A secret lab hidden on Atlantis. Daniel was itching to find it and McKay probably didn't even know it existed. That would get McKay over the loss of the database. At least for a while.
"Okay," Daniel said, his voice calm as he picked up his pencil and crossed out the verb she'd pointed out, marking it again by underlining it so forcefully that the tip of the pencil broke. "Okay, can we go now?"
The truth was, she wasn't sure. She was terrified of the next contraction. Of feeling the small body move again. She'd read all about labour, had asked Doctor Langdon about a zillion questions, had talked hours upon hours to Anna, and even Teyla, but this… this was worse than she'd thought. I'm going to die, she thought as she grasped Daniel's hand. He was her friend, yes, but she did not want him to see her like this. "Sure," she whispered, clasping his hand when she felt it starting up again, this time in her lower back, almost paralyzing her.
"Should I call the medics?"
It probably wasn't the worst of ideas… but what were the chances this would go wrong, really? She was in the best equipped facility on Earth, wasn't she? Yes, they'd planned on going to a regular hospital, but this here, this was almost poetic, wasn't it? She'd met Evan again on this base. Why not give birth here? But her smile froze halfway to her lips and she gritted her teeth too keep herself from groaning and doubling over.
"It's not far," she muttered, hating how much she had to lean on him, as she stared at the Ancient letters sprawled on the paper in front of her. Wasn't it incredible that you could read a language that wasn't entirely your own and understand what it said without having to translate everything first?
"Right… you're right. Just down the corridor, three levels down and we're there." She'd never realized how strong Daniel was until that point. He half led, half carried her out of his lab the moment she regained control of her feet and carefully guided her to the elevator, ignoring Balinsky, who stared at them wide-eyed from his own office.
"Everything okay?" he shouted, but they were past his office already and Alex pressed the down, button. "You're sure?" She heard footsteps behind her and Daniel looked over his shoulder at him.
"I'm just a bit early, is all," Alex muttered, relief flooding through her the moment the elevator doors opened and Daniel guided her inside. She caught a glimpse of Balinsky, saw how he bit his lip and nodded. "Anything I can do?"
Evan. He was probably in the mess, talking to Menard… but he'd be informed. It wasn't at all unlikely he was already in the infirmary. She managed a smile and shook her head. "Keep your fingers crossed," she said, leaning against the metal wall behind her as Balinsky nodded and Daniel slid his card into the slit on the panel.
"Sure thing," Balinsky muttered, still pale, but looking relieved to see her still standing. She blinked and saw the traces of damp footsteps on the floor behind him.
The door closed on them and the elevator started moving. At once Alex felt like the air was getting thicker, like she was suffocating and images flashed before her eyes. Memories of knowing there must be pain when there wasn't. Bright light and the sensation of someone ripping her apart, of hands digging into her, of taking something vital. She closed her eyes, forced herself to breathe as she felt the small metal cabin move around her, doing her best to push away the memory of that face… Ba'al was dead. Ba'al was gone. He couldn't hurt her or her baby.
And then the car stopped.
Blinking up at the ceiling Alex started praying. Praying that this wasn't true. That Daniel's curses weren't real. That the pain forcing her to slide down the metal panel of the elevator was a dream. That she didn't have to fear seeing Ba'al's face again the moment she closed her eyes.
Daniel threw her a look, pressed his lips together and fumbled with the panel, taking out his card and putting it in again. Nothing. He tried it again, but the card wouldn't come out. "What the…" he muttered and then she heard an almost soft snapping sound.
Next second, Daniel was kneeling in front of her. The floor was uncomfortably cool beneath her, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were stuck in an elevator, that Evan wasn't there and that she was in labour and already she felt like she was bursting.
"Alex, it'll be okay." His voice was calm, but his blue eyes darting from her face to her belly told her all she needed to know. He wasn't as confident as he sounded. But she nodded anyway, unwilling to show just how terrified she was. He must know. "My ID card snapped. It's stuck. I can't get it out."
Taking another deep breath, she leaned her head against the wall again. "Use the phone."
"That was the next step. Just wanted to make sure you're okay. We're just one level up from the infirmary." He patted her knee reassuringly. His outward calm wasn't helping. Not at all. She heard Daniel mutter something that sounded a lot like "Now there's a cliché Jack could talk about for days on end," and then it hit her again and this time she couldn't suppress the scream entirely.
"The elevator's stuck, Sir." The young sergeant looked at Evan with something akin to incomprehension when Evan stared at him for a moment.
Stuck…
He took a step back, his gaze drifting up the metal door. "Do you know where?"
"No, Sir," the sergeant said. "I just got here myself."
Evan swallowed hard. This was the elevator Alex would be using to get from Jackson's office to the infirmary. It was the one closest to his lab. Wiping his hand over his face, he took another step back. He could only hope she wasn't in there. "I'll take another one," he said curtly, clapping the sergeant on the shoulder and hurrying off to the other one on the South side of this level. There were three elevators at the SGC, one was mostly used for transport of goods, the other two for personnel, one of which was used more often than the other one.
He forced himself to remain calm. To tell himself that Alex and Jackson must have been in the infirmary when Landry told him she'd gone into labour. There was no way she was in this particular one. Their luck simply couldn't be that bad.
Hurrying along the corridor, he spotted Mitchell leaving the control room and as Evan pushed the button, he felt the other man approaching him. "Heard you were back," Mitchell said, but the words didn't reach Evan straight away.
It was happening…. and he knew he should be on the phone to call her mother and his parents, but he couldn't he had to be sure Alex was okay. Wiping his hands on his pants, he nodded once. "Yeah," he muttered as the doors of the elevator slipped open and he pressed the button with the number twenty-one.
"Same way, then. Everything okay?" Mitchell asked and Evan forced himself to look at him. Eight months ago they'd been stuck on that planet. For two weeks they'd been there, fighting off the cold, living as though they were on a field trip. Alex had told him she was pregnant then.
He nodded again, his throat dry. "Sure," he said. "Alex is on her way to the infirmary."
Mitchell's eyebrows rose and his eyes widened for a moment. "Wow, that was quick."
Evan scoffed. "Tell me about it."
"No, I meant, it feels Jackson just told me you were having a kid, is all."
With a sigh, Evan watched as the doors closed in front of him. "A lot's happened since then," he said.
"Good luck, then."
"Sounds about right," Evan found himself saying with a grin.
"What's it gonna be?" Mitchell sounded positively curious, almost like he was interested. Was he?
Well, he'd become a bit of a friend to Alex while Evan had still been stuck in Pegasus, hadn't he? And two weeks stuck in an almost medieval village forged bonds like nothing else. "Boy," Evan said. He hadn't told anybody yet, not even his parents knew. But what did it matter now? Alex was having the baby…they were so close. "But it's a bit early, we don't even have everything ready yet." They'd meant to repaint the nursery, but that wouldn't happen. They also didn't have diapers yet or half of the other stuff you needed.
"Ah… well, if you need help, I'm sure Vala will be more than happy to do the shopping for you."
Evan laughed again. "I'm sure she will." The elevator stopped, the doors opening on another uniform grey corridor, but as soon as they stepped out, his heart seemed to stop beating. The atmosphere wasn't the way it should have been. There were too many voices, too many people. And then the other elevator to his right opened and Siler with a team of engineers burst into the corridor, storming past them and turning right in front of the infirmary. Heading straight towards the other elevator shaft.
"Not gonna make it," she breathed, flinching away as she felt two hands on her shoulders. Forcing her eyes open, she could reassure herself that it was Daniel. Daniel. A colleague. A friend.
"Yes, you are. Maybe not to the infirmary for everything to be perfect, but you're gonna make it." He nodded at her and he looked calmer somehow. She could her something below them. The creaking if metal. "Listen, we're too far up for them to reach us easily, but we can do this, okay?"
She shook her head involuntarily. She couldn't. Not again. Gasping, she dug her hands into Daniel's jacket.
A friend.
She had to remember that. Daniel was a friend. She was safe with him.
"I've done this before. I can help you. Let me?"
She huffed in pain, staring into his eyes. Blue, a bit like Evan's, but brighter. Not the shape of Evan's either. But Evan was closer than he had been when Nora was born. He was safe. And so was she. In a way. Keep that in mind, she told herself as the next contraction almost made her yell in surprise. Blinking away the tears, she nodded. "Sure… why not… McKay helped Teyla, did you know that?"
Daniel grinned at her and he reached up to put a hand on her cheek. "Hey, if McKay can do it, I can do it, right?"
She nodded, stifling a laugh and trying to ignore the urge to start pushing. "It's all happening too fast."
"No argument there," Daniel whispered, pushing the glasses up his nose. "Okay, can you trust me?"
She'd have to, didn't she? No use being ashamed. She needed him, badly. He smiled softly as she nodded and squeezed his arm. "Okay."
Siler was at the end of the corridor, a crowbar stuck between the elevator doors. And there was Doctor Lam and her team, standing by. She spotted Evan running towards him and her right eye twitched. She was nervous
"Doc!" He could barely recognize his own voice.
"They're in there, Major." She raised her hand as though asking him to stand back.
Mitchell came up behind them and Evan wished he was far away, as one of the engineers put his hands into the narrow gap which Siler had managed to create as a third man started working on the panel on the right.
"How far up?"
"Only half a floor, Sir," Siler said over his shoulder and then the metal doors gave way, allowing the light from the corridor to stream into the dark abyss of the elevator shaft. And there it was, the bottom of the cabin, its doors still closed.
"Doctor Jackson?!" Siler shouted up the shaft. "Doctor Lorne!"
There was silence for a moment, then the muffled voice of a man, distorted through the door reached them. "Yes! Bit busy here!"
"Doctor Jackson!"
"We're almost there."
Evan stood rooted to the spot, staring at the stainless steel, the bottom of the cabin door. "Alex!"
A muffled scream was the answer, making his heart contract painfully. Not high pitched. Not terrified. Exhausted. Full of pain. This wasn't happening! Not again! Why was it that fate would prevent him from being with his wife? Twice. He was on the verge of pushing Siler aside, but Mitchell's hand was on his shoulder before he could even start moving.
"Let them," he whispered and Evan knew he was right, but it didn't help.
"Okay, got it!" One of the engineers looked tentatively over his shoulder, but Lam hesitated. "We can lower the cabin."
Lam nodded, but she held up a hand, telling them to wait. "Doctor Jackson, how are things?" she shouted, but Jackson didn't reply. Not straight away, and the seconds seemed to stretch into minutes as they waited for his reply.
Ignoring Mitchell's hand, Evan pushed past the men, slowly making his way towards the elevator shaft. And then he could hear the rapid breathing and Jackson's reassuring voice. This couldn't be happening! Was he imagining it?
"We're okay, but things are happening a bit fast!" Jackson shouted. "I can see the head!"
Lam's hand shot out and he pulled Evan back. "Can you lower the cabin gently?"
The head…
Evan swallowed hard and he was breathing heavily, tears shooting into his eyes as he stood there and waited, because there was nothing else he could do but stare and feel his heart thump in his chest.
Siler nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Do it," Lam said, then raised her voice again. "Alright, Doctor Jackson, we're going to get you down here. You're doing great!"
"He's done this before, you know?" Mitchell said reassuringly, but one quick glance told Evan that Mitchell too was nervous. "Delivered two babies on duty for the SGC."
It was supposed to be reassuring, but it did little to make Evan feel better. And then it happened so quickly, Evan barely registered it. There was a soft bumping movement of the cabin and then it gently slid down towards them and the doors opened. At once, the engineers stood to the side and Lam rushed forward with at least two nurses, but it was already too late.
Evan saw Alex's face, screwed up in agony, the hair sticking to her head, her teeth bared and gritted and he was moving without even realizing it. The loud wailing sound erupting now almost made his knees give way and the nurse stepped to the side to let him through. The heat within the small compartment was intense. After only a few minutes the temperature had risen incredibly, but he barely registered it or the smells as he saw Jackson kneeling between Alex's legs, a small, bloody creature lying in his dark green uniform jacket, as the baby screamed before it had even opened his eyes.
His eyes shot up to Alex, who was still breathing hard, tears and sweat staining her face as she blinked up at Evan through the smeared glasses. "I'm okay," she muttered and Evan found himself nodding as the two nurses stood close behind them, shielding Alex from view.
This wasn't him. Not him staring down at Alex as she took another deep breath and looked not at him, but at something else.
What?
The baby. Of course.
Evan barely registered the sounds around them, the words spoken to them, or the bright grin on Jackson's face as he handed the bundle to Evan, who took it automatically.
It wasn't heavy. It wasn't particularly warm. But it was there.
Alive.
Screaming.
Protesting against the injustice of being ripped from the warmth of his mother.
Lam was checking Alex over. Had she even looked at their son? Probably.
A son… they had a son.
His mouth was so dry he could barely breathe as he stared down at the little,face, smeared with blood.
"Let me see," Alex whispered, ripping Evan out of his reverie. He nearly collapsed next to her on the floor and forced himself to look up at Jackson, who was still grinning widely.
"Congratulations," he said, but the meaning of the word didn't quite get through to him.
Lam nodded. "Yes," she breathed and looked up as well, her dark eyes gleaming in surprise and relief, as she put a hand on Alex's knee. "I'll check you up properly once we're in the infirmary, but for now," she laughed, a sound which seemed a little out of place here, "for now… Happy Birthday, Baby Lorne."
A/N: Cliché, I know… but… you know, I was really looking forward to this, and I'm always a fan of people having to deliver babies when they're not fully qualified, at least as long as things go okay. And they did, didn't they? And this chapter was fairly long, so I hope you can forgive the long wait?
