Author's Note: Things could and probably will get a little graphic, medically speaking, so if you're not screening this story for your younger kids, then you really need to start doing it!

OOOOOOO

"Your water…?"

Ian glanced down at the canteen that Cato's First Prime – now his dead First Prime – had handed him to give to Sam, and she followed the glance, shaking her head and wishing it were that simple.

"Not that water, Ian…" she said, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm in labor…" There was no hiding that, now, even though it scared her even worse to say it aloud. She didn't see any doctors rushing in to help them, after all, and had no idea where they were.

Ian had already known she was in labor – he'd just hoped that she'd be able to stop it before things went from bad to worse and really progressed. Or more, he'd been hoping to get her to help, and he hadn't. All he'd done was managed to get them someplace that wasn't out in the middle of space.

Instead they were in an abandoned underwater city further from the SGC and Jack than Sam had ever been before – even though she didn't know it just then. Fuck. What was he going to do?

The heads-up display came on again, drawing Ian's attention from Sam back to it, and he recognized the display as a map of some sort. Probably a map of the city, since he was pretty sure that the place in the center was the Gateship bay that he and Sam were in and there were assorted corridors heading in all directions, leading to all sorts of rooms and other – larger – spaces that who knew what they were. One of them was blinking in a gentle green, though, as if the ship was pointing out something to him.

Unfortunately, Ian's downloaded memories didn't include a guided tour of Atlantis.

"Atlantis?"

The name had come to him as he'd looked at the city, popping into his head as if he'd known where he was all along and simply hadn't realized it. Which maybe he had.

"What?"

He looked at Sam, who was struggling through another contraction, and then back up to the heads-up display at the blinking room once more, and made a decision that he never would have thought he'd have to make when he woke up that morning.

"We need to get off the ship, Sam," he said, standing up and reaching for her to help her to her feet. "I can't get us back to the SGC before the baby comes, and you can't have him here – it's too dangerous…"

"What?"

"Too many sharp edges," he said, his hand coming under her arm and pulling her carefully to her feet. "And there's no room…"

"I can't have it here, Ian," Sam said, realizing for the first time that he was talking about delivering the baby. Alone and without Janet or Jack.

"I know. According to the map, there are some rooms that look more-"

"I can't have it here!" Sam said, her voice going up several octaves and ending with a groan, even though the standing position eased the ache of her contraction considerably. "I want Jack!" He had to be here for the delivery… he had to…

"I want him, too, Sam," Ian assured her, supporting her and trying to ease her out of the piloting area of the ship without her realizing it. "But he's not here, and I can't get-"

"I..."

She stopped, a sob torn from her throat, as deep as if it'd come from the center of her very soul as she realized that he was right and Jack wasn't there and there was no way he was going to be there, and it was all her fault, because she had no business going offworld when she'd been pregnant, and she knew it. Despair welled up inside her, the ache even drowning out the pain of the contraction.

Ian's arm came around her, hugging her close to him, and trying to comfort her.

"It's okay, Sam," he told her. "It's going to be okay, I promise…"

"It's not," she said, breaking down into tears and clinging to him. She hurt. And Jack wasn't there. And she wanted Jaffer… How could things be so wrong? She was going to lose this baby, too, because it was too early for it to be born. "It's too soon…"

"It's not too soon," he said, pressing a kiss against her tear-stained cheek, desperate to get her calmed down because he was pretty fucking close to panicking himself, and they both couldn't be bawling. "Everything's there… he's just…"

"I want to go home…"

She didn't have the energy to cry, and she couldn't focus on crying and the contraction – which was getting worse – and the pain won. She groaned, clutching her belly with one hand and tightening the grip on his hand with the other until Ian actually yelped – although he didn't try to pull away. Instead, he wrapped his other arm around her to support her weight when her legs buckled.

"It'll be okay, Sam… I swear it…"

He looked at the heads-up display again, memorizing the directions he needed to go to reach the blinking room.

"Show me that other diagram again," he said, knowing the ship would know what he meant. Sure enough, an instant later the detailed baby-delivering screen came up again, and while he didn't have the time to try and mentally translate the writing, he studied the pictures, making sure to get a good look at each step so he'd be able to memorize them in order.

A moment later, he was easing Sam down the ramp and out of the Gateship bay.

OOOOOOOOOO

Jack hesitated.

"What do you mean, Nate?"

Nathan scowled, looking a lot like Ian just then, and folded his arms over his chest. Even in civilian clothes – he was wearing a pair of slacks and a button down shirt that was the same color as his eyes – he was imposing.

"I mean, I asked the Sergeant of the guard if Ian was on base while I was waiting for you and he told me that Ian hadn't checked off base. Which means that unless Captain Kirk beamed my boy off base, either the Sergeant is lying to me, or you are." And there was no mistaking from Nate's tone of voice who he thought was lying.

"Ian's not on base," Jack said, realizing that the Sergeant wouldn't have had any reason not to answer Nate's question. "This isn't the only way off base, you know."

"Where is he?"

"With Sam."

He hoped.

"Doing what?"

"I can't tell you that, Nate. You know that."

Nathan's scowl deepened.

"Classified, huh?"

Jack nodded, keeping his expression as cool as he could. Nathan was an expert interrogator as well, and would probably be one of the few people who would be able to tell if he was lying. Of course, at the moment, he wasn't lying, so for now he was okay.

"Maggie's not going to accept that."

Jack could tell that Nathan wasn't willing to accept it, either, but he did understand military protocol – even if he didn't like it.

"We're hoping they'll be back before too long."

God, wasn't he just…?

"Fine." Although his tone said it was anything but fine. Probably the only thing keeping him from storming onto the base and finding out for himself just where Ian was was the fact that he trusted Jack. "Maggie's shopping, and I'll go meet her and tell her things are delayed. But she's not leaving without seeing him – and neither am I."

Jack nodded.

"I'll keep in touch, Nate. Hopefully they'll be home soon."

Ian's father nodded, hesitated, and then offered Jack his hand before turning and heading back for his rental car.

Jack took a deep breath, feeling like he'd just dodged a bullet. A great big bullet that wasn't going to be dodged for long. He turned back to the mountain. They had to find them.