In the early morning, Linka rolls away from Wheeler and bolts for the bathroom. He follows her quickly, instinctively understanding her problem, and gathers her hair in his hand, holding it away from her face while she empties her stomach. When she's finished retching, he kisses the nape of her neck and hands her a damp cloth, watching while she wipes her mouth and face.

'Not so attractive today, hmm?' she says weakly. 'I think the teenage Yankee would see this and run yelling in the other direction perhaps.'

He grins, sliding to the floor beside her. 'Yellin' for joy, maybe,' he replies, still rubbing her neck. 'I think if teenage me was here, he'd be delighted to know that he not only got to have sex with you but also knock you up. Seriously Lin, I think that would make his year,' he looks at her fondly. 'I know it's makin' mine.'

She turns slightly to smile at him, before standing and going to the sink. He watches as she rinses out her mouth and splashes water over her face, running a hand tiredly over her cheeks. 'I look terrible,' she says blankly, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

He stands and walks over to her, slinging one arm around her chest and the other around her waist, pulling her close to him.

'You look beautiful,' he replies, nuzzling his face into her hair and breathing in her scent. 'You've got that pregnant woman glow about you already.'

Linka smirks at him in the mirror. 'I think that is the morning sickness, Yankee.'

He shrugs. 'I say potato, you say...' he pauses, as a thought strikes him. 'Hey, how do you say potato in Russian?'

She stares at him, resting her head on his shoulder. 'Kartoshka,' she eventually replies.

'Kartoshka,' he repeats. 'Okay, there you go. I say potato, you say kartoshka.'

'Yankee -'

'I know, I know,' he plants a kiss on the top of her head. 'My pronunciation is probably terrible. But it's a love me, love my Brooklyn twang kind of thing. Give me a few years, I'll get it right.'

She turns in his arms, resting her head against his chest tiredly. 'You are going to learn Russian?' she asks, and he feels a jolt of hurt at the surprise in her voice.

'Yeah, I am,' he says slowly. He moves one hand to her stomach, stroking the soft flesh there and almost smiling when he feels her skin shiver beneath his touch. 'These boys are gonna be half-Russian, after all. When you sing 'em a nursery rhyme, I'm gonna want to know what it's about. When you tell 'em a story, I'm gonna want to know the ending, just like them.' Suddenly he sighs, stroking her stomach again. 'I don't wanna feel left out of any of this, Lin. I never... well, I guess I had a family, growin' up, but it was a shitty one.'

Wheeler thinks of his mother, the strong smell of booze emanating from her skin, occasionally disguised by cheap perfume. He thinks of his father, of fists at the ready and a sharp tongue dispensing insults. He remembers himself, a sadly resolute child, staring out of a window at a peeling advert of a smiling family in a far off, snowy state. Back then, he'd pictured himself as the boy in the advert, back straight, head tall, smile straight. But now, he saw himself as the man, the father of the family, with a pretty woman on his arm and their two children by their side.

He wants it so much right now that it physically hurts.

He exhales deeply. 'Babe, I got a chance for a good family with you, and I'm gonna make the most of it.'

'I know,' she replies. She rests a hand on his cheek and breathes deeply. 'I know you will, James.'

He watches as she closes her eyes, and feels a dart of worry work through him. 'You okay, babe?' he asks quietly, and she nods against him.

'Just tired. I still feel a little queasy too.'

'Let's go back to bed,' he suggests, 'you should rest.' He picks her up, carrying her back to their temporary bed. He sighs as he lies next to her under the covers. 'I can't wait to get you home and to a doctor. I'm not gonna feel easy until I know both you and these boys are okay.'

'I am fine,' Linka replies, 'Blight ran all those blood tests -'

But Wheeler shakes his head emphatically. 'No. I mean a real doctor, Lin,' he says firmly. 'An actual M.D, with a nice office, maybe a plant or two, who'll lecture us about vitamins and shit like that. Not Barbara Blight, here in her laboratory of horrors. She's more likely to give you a shot of arsenic than a food supplement.'

Linka nestles into him. 'I am fine, Yankee. And I am sure the boys are fine too. I do not feel as though there is anything wrong with them, or with me.'

Wheeler wants to believe her. He really does. He wants to believe that she's okay, that the babies are fine, and that the two of them can get away from this place, and away from these people, and start again. But he's wanted this - Linka and a family and their Colorado - for so long now that he still can't quite believe it won't all be taken away from him at any moment.

They could lose their babies.

He could lose Linka.

Wheeler swallows hard. If he loses Linka, that's it for him. There are some things he knows he can recover from, but losing Lin isn't one of them. He needs her like he needs air to breathe and food to eat, and he decides that if anything happens to Linka, here in Blight's North Korean facility from hell, he'll kill every person inside the place before tearing it down, brick by brick. Then and only then will he allow himself to die on the crushed remains.

'Yankee?'

'Yeah, I'm here,' he says quickly, bringing himself back to the moment and noting the look of worry on Linka's face. He kisses her shoulder. 'I'm okay,' he says evenly, 'I'm okay, you're okay, the boys are okay. We're gonna get through this, babe.'

He decides to keep his dark thoughts to himself. He doesn't want to upset or worry her, not now.

'Yes, we will get through this,' she nods too. She stares at him, deep into his eyes. He knows she can sense his fear. 'We will, Yankee.'

He stares back at her. Her eyes are so unbelievably green, he thinks. So bright and intent and settled on him, and he has to inhale sharply, just from looking into them.

'It's just that I've wanted this for so long,' he admits quietly. 'Wanted you for so long.'

Linka nods. She moves closer to him, laying her hand on his cheek, and he closes his eyes at the contact. 'Me too,' she whispers back. 'I missed you so much, moya lyubov.'

She kisses him gently, and he kisses her back. It's unhurried and gentle, a kiss born of love and not passion, a kiss born of affection but not desire. When she pulls away, a little flushed, he grins at her.

'So, you've been here longer than me. Do they let us out during the day, or bring food, or...?'

Linka cuddles up into his arms. 'Gi normally comes in the morning. She has been making me eat. Protein rich food mostly,' she pauses, looking uncertain. 'She has been reading baby books, I think. She keeps talking to me about how we will care for the baby on Hope Island.'

'Jesus,' Wheeler whispers. 'I wonder what happened to her.'

Linka shrugs against him. 'Blight got to her before we could, I suppose,' she says sadly, and he feels her fingers tighten into his waist. 'I had Kwame all these years to keep me grounded, and you had... well, you had Trish -'

'Babe,' he whispers, but Linka shakes her head.

'You did,' she says simply. 'Trish kept you going, I know she did.'

'No,' he argues immediately. 'Thoughts of you kept me going. Trish was just there to keep me from wallowing in them.'

'It does not matter,' Linka replies, but he can hear from the hurt in her voice that it does, and he wonders how long it will take for them to recover from everything that went wrong between them. 'I had Kwame, you had Trish, and Gi... well, Blight found her, and -'

'Actually, I found Blight,' a voice interrupts, and both Linka and Wheeler sit up, staring at Gi, who is standing next to the now open door.

'What?' Linka whispers. Wheeler grips her hand, squeezing her fingers. I'm real and I'm here, he silently tells her.

'I found Blight,' Gi replies coolly. 'A year after Ma-Ti... well, after his accident -'

'Accident?!' Wheeler explodes. 'Fuckin' hell, Gi, that wasn't an accident -'

' - after his accident,' Gi carries on blithely, although Wheeler had never even spoken. 'I asked her for help, and she agreed, with... certain conditions attached.'

'What were those conditions?' Wheeler asks, his mouth dry. He squeezes Linka's hand again. 'What are you trading, Gi?'

Gi glances at Linka. 'Nothing either of you will miss, trust me,' she says.

Wheeler sees Linka's hand drift to her stomach. 'Gi,' she begins, but Gi holds up a hand, throwing a package at their feet.

'Get dressed,' she says, nodding. 'We're going for breakfast in ten minutes. And then we're going to see the doctor.'

'Great,' Wheeler offers blandly. 'I could do with seein' a Doctor. Got this real pain in my ass that needs looking at -'

But Gi only looks at him witheringly. 'Your ass might have been okay this morning if only you'd kept everything in your pants like I asked you to,' she says. 'I have to say, the doctor wasn't impressed by your midnight antics.'

A blush steals over Linka's face and Wheeler squeezes her hand again.

I'm real and I'm here.

'She's just jealous,' he says to Gi, utterly calm. 'She always did want to jump my bones... what can I say? The Blight women have a thing for me.'

Gi shakes her head. 'Shut the fuck up and get dressed, Wheeler.'

'Nah,' he says, waving one hand. 'I'm sure Blight would prefer me a little more... shall we say, a la carte?'

Gi grimaces. 'Grow up, Wheeler.'

'Make me,' he says, a grin inexplicably crossing his face. This is so like his old repartee with Gi back in their Planeteer days that it feels familiar, almost right. Perhaps this is the way to reach Gi, he thinks. Perhaps reminding her of the girl she used to be, rather than the servant of Blight she now seemed to inhabit, was the way forward.

But Gi didn't smile back. 'Save your filth, Wheeler,' she mutters. 'We can do this when we get home to Hope Island, it will be appreciated more there, trust me.'

Wheeler feels something inside him shrivel up and die. It's his hope for Gi, he suddenly realises.

'Oh, little mermaid,' he whispers. 'You know we ain't goin' back to Hope Island, don't you?'

But Gi only turns away, the door slamming shut behind her.

Wheeler turns to Linka instantly. 'Babe -'

But Linka is staring at the package on the floor. 'Look, Yankee,' she whispers, her face pale.

He looks.

It isn't one package, but two in fact, tied together. Two piles of clothes, one with a yellow shirt, one with a blue.

Their Planeteer uniforms.

'Jesus,' Wheeler whispers again.

Because attached to each shirt, looped securely in place, are their rings.

Their Planeteer rings.

When the door opens, and Wheeler and Linka are hauled from the relatively soft light of their room into the stark strip lighting of the hall, Wheeler winces. He feels disoriented and almost sick, the uniform against his skin both uncomfortably familiar and terrifyingly new. He holds Linka's hand in an iron grip, but she doesn't seem to mind, and strokes his fingers occasionally.

Gi stares at them intently as she leads them down the hall.

'You aren't wearing your rings,' she says flatly, and Wheeler shrugs.

'Didn't think they went with the outfits you had made up for us,' he replies breezily.

'Don't be a smart ass, Red,' Gi spits. 'Put your rings on, the both of you.'

'But they do not work, Gi,' Linka says desperately. 'There is no point -'

'Wheeler's worked yesterday,' Gi interjects, and Linka glances at him.

'It did?'

'Just for a moment,' he admits. 'It was strange though... it didn't feel like before... it felt different...'

'And Kwame's has been working too,' Gi says.

'But not by -' Linka begins, before she promptly closes her mouth.

Wheeler gets it: Linka doesn't want Gi to know that Kwame's daughter had been wielding the power of earth. God knows, Blight wasn't above hurting a little girl to get what she wanted in life.

'The heart ring started glowing recently,' Gi says, her voice soft, almost dreamy. 'A few weeks ago, it just lit up, bright and warm. It was beautiful. I knew then that the time had come. That he was nearly ready.'

'Ma-Ti?' Wheeler croaks, his blood like ice.

'Yes,' Gi says, a gentle smile on her lips. 'Yes, he'll be with us again soon. And then we can all go home, and pretend none of this ever happened.'

'Gi,' Linka says sadly. 'Gi, we could not do that, even if we wanted to... you cannot just erase the past. You cannot just... erase what has come from our past, either.'

Linka's hand drifts to her belly again and Wheeler understands. They have their children to think of now. Their boys.

Would he erase the last ten years, if it meant getting Ma-Ti back, but losing their babies? Would he want to go back in time and stop everything that happened from happening, if it meant his children - his boys - would never be conceived?

He knows he wouldn't. He feels, deep within his bones, that these kids were meant to be. They are as much a part of his life and timeline as any other event of note... becoming a Planeteer, meeting Linka, falling in love with her and pushing her away. Finding her again, when he never thought he would. These babies are meant to be, he just knows it. It's a basic feeling, a knowledge almost as simple and familiar to him as the smell of Linka's hair, the colour of her eyes or the feel of her skin against his. They are meant to be, and he will do anything at this point - anything - to ensure that they are born safely and raised to manhood in a secure and happy home.

'Linka,' Gi says levelly, her eyes blank. 'Blight can do anything, you know that. And if I want her to erase the past, she will.'

Wheeler feels vaguely sick.

'Gi -' he croaks, but Linka is already shaking her head.

'For a trade,' she says slowly. 'What is the trade, Gi? What do you have to give for Blight to do this for you?'

Gi's eyes flicker over Linka again, and Wheeler feels fear grip him heavily.

'I told you,' she replies easily. 'Nothing the two of you will ever miss.'

Kwame looks dazed, sitting at a Formica table on which sits a feast of breakfast foods. He looks up when Gi leads Wheeler and Linka over, before jumping from his chair and reaching them in three easy strides. He hauls Linka into his arms, and Wheeler forces himself to swallow down a large measure of jealousy as he watches them embrace.

It isn't that he's worried about Kwame and Linka, not at all. Kwame's married, after all, and to a man at that. It's just that once again, Wheeler is reminded of what he lost, of all he's missed. In a way, it almost feels like Linka belongs to Kwame, and that he's the interloper, stealing her away. It feels as though Linka and Kwame are the unit, the family, and he's on the outside, peering through the windows once more.

They've been best friends for ten years now, Wheeler reminds himself harshly. He was frantic about her disappearance too.

And that thought makes him stop, recalling the events of the night before. Because how must Kwame have felt, Wheeler ponders, watching him go to Linka last night? When he'd been missing her and fretting about her too? Wheeler feels a sudden dart of shame. Because while he'd spent his evening in Linka's arms, Kwame had been here alone. Missing his family, missing his friends, missing companionship.

Wheeler steps forward and tugs on Linka's arm gently. She looks up at him from Kwame's shoulder, guilt briefly flickering over her face at having momentarily forgotten him, but he shakes his head, giving her a reassuring smile. She smiles back, disentangling from Kwame's arms, allowing Wheeler to step forward and take her place.

'You look well,' Kwame breathes, and Wheeler shrugs.

'Well, it's not exactly the Ritz, but I had good company.'

Kwame laughs, before he steps back, looking at Wheeler and Linka pensively. He seems to take in their uniforms for the first time, and his face falls.

'I was hoping it was all a bad dream,' Kwame says, fingering the collar of his own shirt tentatively. 'I never thought I would wear this again.'

Wheeler nods to his own shirt. 'Tell me about it. I'm too fuckin' old for khaki.'

Linka sighs next to them. 'The two of you can talk. I am wearing purple ankle socks.'

Despite the circumstances, Wheeler smiles at her. 'You still look sexy. Besides, I have very fond memories of you in those socks.'

Linka colours. 'Yankee-'

Kwame glances from Wheeler to Linka and back again. 'You two are... okay? I mean, you are together? In spite of...'

The baby, Wheeler realises. He was going to say the baby.

This time, Wheeler can't help the grin that crosses his face. 'Yep,' he replies, pulling Linka to him. 'We're okay.'

'The baby is his,' Gi supplies, and they all turn to stare at her. Wheeler had almost forgotten she was there. 'Or should I say, the babies are his. Linka's having twins.'

Kwame's mouth drops open.

'You were listening to us,' Linka breathes, and there is a certain amount of betrayal in her voice.

Wheeler feels just as indignant. Everything about this pregnancy so far has been taken away from them. Linka wasn't the one to tell him she was pregnant. The gender of their babies was revealed to them without their consent. And now, the one piece of information they were able to learn together has been similarly marred. He reaches for Linka's hand, wanting her to know that he's real, and there, and just as betrayed as she feels.

Silently, he vows that as soon as he gets them away from this place, he's going to take her to one of those sonography places so they can see their babies together, without Blight or Gi or even Kwame watching. One of those places where he can hold her hand as they see images blur to life, the shape of a foot perhaps, or maybe the outline of a head or two.

He'd been to one before, with Trish. But back then it had been part of the myriad of tests thrown at them to discover just why Trish couldn't conceive, and then as part of the gruelling IVF they'd undertaken. It had been visit after visit, with only Trish's womb visible, always empty, always the same. She'd cried and he'd internally despaired, and doctor after doctor had shut off the screen with the same words, 'We're sorry, we just don't know what's wrong,' or, 'We're sorry, it didn't work, but maybe next time -'

Next time. Even now, Wheeler can't begin to imagine what it would be like to take Linka to one of those places, knowing that there wouldn't be an empty screen but one filled by two little hearts and four little lungs. Two little boys, completely and utterly theirs, with no one else nearby to spoil the moment. No one else there to share their moment.

Just them.

Gi shrugs at Linka. 'I told you already, MAL is logged into every camera in this facility. Of course we heard you.'

Linka frowns, staring at Gi for a moment.

'Yes, you did,' she says slowly. 'MAL, of course.'

There's something in her voice though that makes Wheeler turn and look at her. But her face is clear, and she's looking at Gi with an almost puzzled expression.

'No uniform, Gi?' She asks, nodding to Gi's bubblegum pink ensemble.

Wheeler knows Linka. She's changing the subject, he thinks.

Gi shrugs. 'I'm going to get mine now, while you guys have breakfast. Do eat something,' she adds, and the concern in her voice is startling, almost like the Gi of old. 'You'll need your energy for today.'

'Why?' Kwame asks.

Gi smiles. 'We're waking Ma-Ti up this morning,' she says simply.

'Ma-Ti,' Kwame whispers. 'What do you mean, waking him up?'

Wheeler remembers instantly that Kwame doesn't know yet, about Ma-Ti, or anything Linka told him the night before.

'Linka and I will tell you later,' he says quietly. 'We'll deal with this, I promise.'

Gi hears him, her eyes snapping to Wheeler's sharply. 'There's nothing to 'deal with', Wheeler.'

'You say potato, I say kartoshka,' he replies, giving Linka a wink. Linka's eyes meet his, warm and affectionate, and he feels a frisson of hope run through him. With everything else, with all the shit they've been through, may yet go through, at least they have this. This moment, and each other.

'What?' Gi stares at him.

'Nothin',' he says with a shrug. 'So, breakfast then,' he looks at the table, at the food laid out for them. 'Looks good. Have to say though, I didn't know bacon and eggs was a big thing here in North Korea?'

'The doctor is a special guest of the country,' Gi replies, and there is a degree of pride in her voice that makes Wheeler feel ill. 'She ships in the food she requires. Anything the doctor desires can be hers... anything she wants, she will stop at nothing to achieve.'

Wheeler leans closer to her. 'Like what she's gettin' from you?' he asks slowly. Gi's face stiffens. 'What's the trade, Gi?' he presses her. 'What are you swappin' with Blight in exchange for her services rendered?'

'Nothing you'll -'

'-miss, yeah, we got that,' Wheeler interrupts. 'But I don't like the thought of you speakin' for me, or Linka, or Kwame here. You know fuck all about what we'll miss or not. We ain't seen you in years.'

'You have to trust me,' Gi says, and there is a hint of a plea to her words. 'I know what I'm doing.'

'I don't think you do, Gi, I think you've gone batshit crazy workin' with Barbara Blight here and -'

'Yankee,' Linka's voice, cool and clear, interjects. 'Let Gi change into her uniform.'

Wheeler turns to stare at her, but Linka looks back at him, meeting his eyes and sending him a silent message. Get rid of her.

His mouth runs dry and he nods.

Gi looks pleased by Linka's actions, and she runs a hand down Linka's arm gently. 'Still the sensible one,' she muses. 'And still the only one who can talk Red here down. I can't wait to get back to Hope Island and start all over again,' her face softens, shiny pink lips falling, pink lacquered eyes creasing with a smile. 'It will be so nice to be home again.'

Wheeler wants to weep for her, but Kwame steps forward.

'Gaia will be happy to see us again,' he says plainly.

But Gi blanches. 'Gaia? We won't need her. It's just going to be us this time. Just the five of us. The way it always should have been.'

Linka's hand once more drifts to her stomach.

'The babies -' she begins, just as Kwame says, 'Captain Planet... Gaia...'

'No,' Gi says firmly. 'Just the five of us. No Gaia. No Captain Planet. No babies.'

Wheeler's fists clench. 'Thought you and Lin had been talkin' about what you would do with the baby when you got to Hope Island,' he says, restraining his fury tightly.

'Oh, that was before,' Gi replies.

'Before what?' Linka asks, her voice small.

'Before Blight came up with...well, with a different plan for them,' Gi smiles. She gives a small sigh, before nodding to the table. 'Well, go ahead and enjoy the food. I'm going to change and pack my bag. I'll be back in an hour or so. Oh, and Red,' she nods to Wheeler. 'Don't try anything stupid. I told you, MAL is hooked up to everything here, and all of the guards are carrying guns. So don't be a hot-headed idiot,' for a moment, Gi looks entirely at peace. 'We're so close, guys. So close to fixing everything. So close to going home.'

It takes all of Wheeler's restraint not to follow her as she turns to leave. All of his restraint to sit at the table, following instruction, to pick up a plate and hand one to Kwame and Linka without shattering them all on the floor. All of his restraint not to charge at Gi, telling her to leave them the fuck alone.

Linka takes a plate from him calmly, and he catches her eyes steadily.

'We're gonna get out of this,' he says levelly. 'She ain't gettin' her hands on our kids, okay.'

'No, she's not,' Linka replies easily.

'Lin -'

Linka shrugs, loading her plate with toast. 'Gi is under a misapprehension, about that, and about one other thing.'

'What's that?' Wheeler asks, exchanging a look with Kwame.

Linka smiles. 'MAL.'

'MAL?'

'Yes,' Linka replies. 'You see, MAL isn't here.'