Chapter 32

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"Do you think it was one of the Athosians?" Lucas asked quietly and out of the corner of his eye Caleb could see Josh shake his head.

Caleb was leaning against the wall in the corridor, hands folded over his chest so as to stop them from twitching and fumbling with his shirt. It's been twenty minutes since Grace and Torren had been brought into the infirmary and ever since he, Lucas and Josh had been standing here, waiting for news while Caleb's parents were in there. Carter had already sent for Ronon.

"What makes you say that?" Josh asked, sounding surprised. As though Lucas of all people should know that aliens weren't necessarily hostile.

"They were found near that village, weren't they?" Lucas said, his voice calm as he was skilfully ignoring the sting Josh had inadvertently placed in his tone. He brushed his hand over his short hair and shook his head. "These people here are angry, not violent."

"You sure you can say the same thing about the Wraith?" Caleb said quietly, his eyes trained on the sliding door separating him from his family. He himself wasn't sure at all about those life sucking aliens, but if the people of the Pegasus galaxy had learned to arrange themselves with them, who was he to judge? And all he cared about right now was whether or not Grace was okay. He could worry about all those other things later.

He saw Lucas flinch and nod, his eyes trained on the floor as he stared into nothingness and nodded. He touched his earpiece and looked apologetically at him. "Be right there," he said, touched the button in his ear again and smiled sadly at Caleb. "I got to go. Miller says we're joining the team sweeping the area."

Caleb cleared his throat. "Sure," he said, wondering why he hadn't been called to join his team.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" Lucas was frowning as he took a step toward Caleb and pulled him into a tight embrace before Caleb knew what was happening. He felt Lucas' hands on his back, the hot breath on his neck and for the fraction of a second he thought he could feel those lips on his skin. But Lucas let go of him before he could be sure.

"Don't you want to go see a doctor about this?" Ellen asked, sitting down on the sofa. "I can't believe you didn't get them vaccinated."

Alex had gone up again to check on Grace. She was still running a bit of a fever and was tired most of the time. On their return journey from Pegasus, Grace and Caleb had both caught chicken pox and since Grace had only just recovered from a bad case of Kiersan Fever, it'd hit her harder than usual. And they hadn't skipped the vaccination. It was just that nobody had even bothered to wonder whether or not Kiersan Fever could annihilate those anti bodies.

Evan shook his head. "It's okay, Ellen," he said. "We're seeing a doctor." Beckett was still on the case and he even came by their house once a day to make sure that Grace was alright. Caleb, as usual, had recovered far more quickly and luckily nobody else seemed to be in danger here. And things were okay. They really were. Grace was feeling better and the red, itchy spots were as good as gone.

For the first time since the Furlings' attack on the city, a calm that made him feel both relaxed and anxious at the same time had entered their lives. They were back home. In their house. And while he had to go off-world for a recon mission with Sheppard's new team the day after next, he had, for once, decided not to worry. Beckett and Keller were both aware of what was going on and chicken pox were nothing they couldn't handle.

There was normalcy where before there had been worry and war, but that thin veil of calm could rip easily enough and he was determined not to let anything disturb it. He'd go off-world, give the fight against their enemy his all, and would come back here to find his family safe. He couldn't allow any other thought. He couldn't dwell on Nabi and Woeste's fate when there was nothing he could do for them right now. He and Sheppard would sit down together and figure out a way to demand a re-evaluation of the Atlantis expedition when they got back. One step at a time.

Everything else would only result in chaos.

"If you say so," Ellen said, throwing her hair back and crossing her legs. "You're weird."

Evan nodded, smiling slightly. "I won't argue with that."

"Good."

"I'm still glad things worked out, you know?" She smiled softly, looking up at the ceiling. "I mean, the two of you deciding to raise your kids in the middle of nowhere while on a secret mission is insane. But you've always been crazy. Remember when you dumped her only to get back together with her? I mean.. I was always rooting for you two."

Evan scoffed. No use telling his sister that it'd been Alex who had dumped him… well, more or less. That was in the past. "I remember," he said. "You threw us together after all."

"I played my part." Shrugging, Ellen turned to look at the staircase where Alex's steps could be heard. "How is she?"

Alex put her hair back in a pony tail. She'd abandoned cutting her hair on the Daedalus. She looked a bit dishevelled, but relatively calm. "Grace is fast asleep and Caleb demanded another story. How are Paul and Simon? Heard from them yet?" she asked. She sat on the armrest of Evan's chair and he casually put a hand on her knee. As usual stress and worry had claimed their price on her. She was far too thin.

Roger, Ellen's husband, had taken their sons camping and Ellen had jumped at the chance to visit Evan and Alex in Colorado Springs the moment they returned home. "Roger is having the time of his life, and the boys are miserable. He snores and they hate fish."

Alex smiled tiredly. "Poor them," she said, just as they heard a soft call from upstairs.

"Daddy?!"

Evan patted Alex's knee. "I'll be back in a few," he said, getting to his feet. "Fast asleep, huh?"

"She was!" Alex whispered and Evan nodded. Grace had always been a light sleeper.

Grace was standing on the landing on top of the stairs, her blotched hand rubbing her eye even though they'd told her a million times not to do it.

"What is it, baby?" he asked softly as he climbed the stairs and swooped her up in his arms. She was warm, but not feverishly hot as she had been that morning.

"I'm scared," she said as she started rubbing her hands on her pyjama. "Nightmare."

"What nightmare, Grace?" Holding her tight against his chest, he slowly made his way into her bedroom. She hadn't slept in this room in a year before their return here two days ago. Slowly he put her into bed, in which the blanket still held some of her warmth, and lay down next to her.

Grace took a while to answer and her tiny hand was buried in his shirt. "I don't know," she said, "it's dark. There are tall stones," she breathed, her light eyes wide.

Shaking his head, he put his arms around her. He'd left the door slightly ajar and he could hear the murmuring below. "Do you want to tell me more?"

She shrugged and pressed her face in the crook of his neck. "Torren's there. He's asleep."

"Okay," Evan whispered into her hair, stroking her back. "It's okay." He didn't know what to make of this. Was it normal for children her age to have vivid nightmares like this? He'd have to ask Beckett next morning. "Do you want me to stay here tonight?"

Grace nodded and he could practically feel the tension leave her tiny body.

Alex wasn't talking.

Pale and still as a statue she was sitting next to Grace, her hand on the thin blanket covering their daughter's body. They hadn't been in here long, but to Evan it felt like hours since Montgomery, the ship's doctor had completed the preliminary tests and declared that both Grace and Torren were merely unconscious. That there was no physical damage.

The results of the blood tests should be back any minute now.

After about five more minutes of pacing, Evan sat down next to Alex, an arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him without a word.

Grace didn't look ill. And that was exactly what should be freaking him out. She was breathing normally and deeply, but she hadn't woken up yet. And who could tell how long she and Torren had been lying there.

"She checked out her weapon at around five," he said quietly, repeating the report the Sergeant had given them on their way. "They can't have been gone for more than half an hour before they were found."

Alex nodded, still unable to speak.

Swallowing hard, Evan looked over his shoulder at Torren, who was just as unmoving as Grace.

"Well, it doesn't look too bad," Doctor Montgomery was saying as she left her little booth and returned to them, carrying one of the slim tablets everybody on this ship had on them at all times.

Evan forced himself to assume a neutral expression when he turned around to look at the Doctor. "Really?" he said, unable to repress a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

Montgomery blanched. She'd been aboard this ship for years now, but was apparently still not too comfortable around senior officers. For once Carter may have failed picking a good candidate for this job, he thought testily.

"Well," Montgomery said, adjusting her glasses. "The two of them are physically fine, as I said before."

"Apart from the fact that they're both unconscious," Alex said wearily without taking her eyes off Grace. Her hand shook as she placed it on her daughert's.

The doctor cleared her throat and nodded. "I'm sorry. You're right. All I can tell you is that we found traces of a sedative in their blood works. It should wear down in the next hour or so."

His stomach seemed to take a plunge. His mouth was dry as he looked down at Grace and swallowed but felt nothing but air make its way down his throat. Her eyelids were twitching, her chest was rising and falling, but apart from that… he spotted a tiny twig in her blond her and he carefully reached up to take it out.

"Which kind of sedative?" he heard Alex say as he looked at Torren. Teyla would kill him if something happened to the boy. That was if his own conscience didn't kill him off before that could happen. Torren looked just as beat as Grace did. Screw the whole "just a sedative"-thing. Somebody had attacked them, and he'd be damned if he didn't find out who'd done it.

"I'm not entirely sure yet, I'll have to check the databanks again, but it appears to be plant based."

Evan nodded curtly. "I have to go," he said, balling his hands into fists. He had to keep going. He had to do something. To take action. "Talk to Carter and Ronon before this thing gets out of hand."

Alex grabbed his wrist and looked up at him, her eyes wide. She didn't speak, but she didn't need to.

He freed his hand and touched her cheek. "See you in a bit," he said. "Thanks, Doc," he told Montgomery, even if he wasn't entirely sure what to make of her. Then he leaned over Grace's bed and kissed her forehead. He hadn't done that in ages, but he was determined to show her he was there for her. That he was thinking of her. Even if she didn't know he was there.

A/N: And here we are again. At the end of yet another chapter. The second one for this week and I started writing the Epilogue for this story. Don't worry, there'll be more action and a lot more explaining and drama and everything you could wish for…

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! I'll be back as soon as I can!