"Gina works the diner all day. Working for her man, she brings home her pay for love. For love. She says, 'We gotta hold onto what we've got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We got each other and that's a lot for love. We'll give it a shot.' Whoa, we're halfway there. Whoa-oh! Livin' on a prayer. Take my hand, we'll make it, I swear. Whoa-oh! Livin' on a prayer." - Stellar Kart, "Livin' On a Prayer"

"There you are!" Michael said, spotting Evie in the mess hall. "You're still eating?" he asked in surprise, noting the large bowl of cereal in front of her. "We're supposed to gate out in five minutes."

"Are you kidding me!" Evie cried, grabbing Michael's wrist and looking at his watch. "Shoot!" She pushed her tray to the middle of the table, leaving it for the kitchen staff, then hopped up from the table and began walking quickly with Michael to the Gate Room. Suddenly she slowed her pace, putting a hand to her head.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked.

"Nothing," Evie said, despite the fact that blackness was edging in on her vision. "I just got up too fast. You know, head rush." She attempted to continue their journey to the Gate Room, but her knees buckled underneath her. Michael barely managed to keep her from hitting the floor.

"We need a medical team!" His voice, as he gently lowered her to the ground, was the last thing she heard before her world went dark.

XXXXXX

When Evie woke up, she found herself, yet again, in an infirmary bed. Michael, from somewhere next to her bed, called, "Carson, she's awake!"

The kind doctor quickly walked over and placed his fingers on Evie's wrist, looking at his watch and taking her pulse. Evie was hooked up to a heart monitor, but Carson liked to do things himself. "How are you feeling, Evie?" he asked.

"I feel fine," she answered truthfully. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Michael answered. "Five minutes ago."

"Lieutenant, what were you doing right before you lost consciousness?" Carson asked, checking her eyes with his penlight.

"I was eating and Michael came and got me. I jumped up and we started heading for the Control Room. I started feeling dizzy, but I thought it was just because I got up too fast."

"Is this the first time this has happened?" Carson questioned, dropping the penlight back into his pocket.

"Well," Evie said, thinking. "I've been feeling a little bit dizzy lately, but only occasionally. And I've never blacked out."

"I see," Carson frowned. Then he turned to Michael. "Michael, I want you to go inform Dr. Weir of what happened. Tell her I'm going to run some tests and that you and the rest of your team should continue with your scheduled mission."

Evie started to protest, not thrilled about spending who-knew-how-long in the infirmary. A look from Carson, and the realization that she really didn't feel too well, stopped her feeble complaint.

Michael nodded, patting his comrade's knee before leaving. "Good luck, Evie."

"You, too," she called.

XXXXXX

"I've got the results from your tests, Lieutenant," Carson said, walking over to where Evie sat fidgeting in a chair.

"Nothing bad, I hope," she said, standing up.

"Oh, on the contrary," Carson said with a cheery smile. "But considering your condition you might want to sit down for this." Giving him a questioning look, Evie reseated herself in the chair. "The reason you've been having these spells of dizziness is quite simple, my dear. You're anemic."

Evie stared at him blankly. "Yeah, I knew that. But I've never passed out before…"

"Yes, but now there's another factor," Carson said, grinning. "You're pregnant."

Evie's jaw dropped slightly and her eyebrows raised. "Are you kidding me?" she squealed.

"No, lass," Carson answered with a grin. "You're about six weeks along. Surely you noticed that yo--"

"Of course, but I thought that it was because of all the stress from my last mission. And I've always been irregular, anyway. Pregnant…wow…" She was glad that he had advised her to take a seat. A joyful smile slowly spread across her face. A frown suddenly replaced it, however, when a thought crossed her mind; she and Sheppard had managed to stay under the radar as a married couple for seven months now, but how would she explain this? "And who am I going to say fathered this child?" she asked, looking up at the kind doctor.

Carson shrugged. "I have no idea. Just don't say it was me. I mean, you're a lovely girl, but…"

Evie laughed. "Oh, don't worry, Carson, I wouldn't."

"Alright then," he nodded with a smile. "I suppose you should inform Dr. Weir, don't you think?"

Evie bit her lip. "Will you come with me? To make sure I don't say something that could get me in trouble?"

"Of course," he said, setting his file down and gesturing for her to exit before him. "Ladies first."

"Thank you." She smiled perkily and departed from the infirmary with an ecstatic bounce. Carson grinned and shook his head as he followed her to find Elizabeth.

XXXXXX

"Good afternoon, Carson," Elizabeth greeted the doctor as he entered the Control Room with Evie at his side. "Have you found the problem with the Lieutenant?"

"Well, it's not exactly a problem, per se," Carson replied. "I'd call it a blessing. But we're going to have to be more careful about the missions that we send Lieutenant Brooks on for the next nine months." Carson was almost beaming more than Evie.

Elizabeth's eyebrows raised in realization. "Congratulations, Lieutenant," she said with a smile.

'Congratulations indeed,' thought Rodney to himself as he eavesdropped on the conversation while working on his laptop. 'How are they going to get out of this one?'

"Thank you, Doctor Weir." Evie returned the smile. Just so long as Elizabeth didn't inquire about the father, Evie could do this.

"I'm assuming this wasn't planned?" Elizabeth asked. Evie shook her head. "And how do you feel about it?"

"Mixed emotions, ma'am," Evie said with a nervous laugh.

"Of course," Elizabeth nodded. "I'll see to it that you are assigned to light duty."

"Thank you, Doctor," Evie said with a grateful smile.

Elizabeth nodded and turned to leave, but then stopped. "Oh, yes," she said, turning back around. "And who might the lucky father be?"

'Crap.' The same curse echoed in the minds of Evie, Carson, and Rodney. Evie looked down. She could say that she didn't know, but then she would appear to have been sleeping around; the last thing she wanted was for her already tarnished reputation to be reduced to "tramp." "Umm…I don't think…I can't…"

Elizabeth picked up on Evie's subtle gripping of Carson's hand. "Evie, what's wrong?"

'What's wrong? Well, if I tell you what's wrong, I'll be court-martialed!' Evie's mind shouted. She suddenly began feeling sick. 'That'd be great. The pregnant lady pukes all over the Control Room. Get it together, Evie!' If her nails digging into his palm were paining Carson, he was doing a lovely job of standing there looking relaxed. "He, uhh…"

Elizabeth could tell that Evie's reluctance to disclose the name of her baby's father was more than just embarrassment. "Lieutenant…surely not one of the airmen?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Now Evie was feeling lightheaded. 'Well, fainting might be better than pu--'

"It's mine." Elizabeth, Carson, and Evie looked in the direction of the voice.

'God bless you, Rodney. You're an idiot, but God bless you,' Evie thought with a weary smile as she watched Rodney slowly approach Dr. Weir.

The surprise was more than evident on Elizabeth's face, but she quickly masked it, turning back to Evie and raising an eyebrow. Evie nodded, not trusting her voice. She hoped the others couldn't tell that she was shaking as she smiled gratefully at Rodney. "Well, uhh…" Elizabeth tried her best to think of something to say, but all she came up with was, "Congratulations to you both." There was an awkward pause, then she said, "If you three will excuse me, I need to… speak with Dr. Zelenka about something."

As Elizabeth left the Control Room, Evie allowed the circulation in Carson's hand to resume. She exhaled shakily. "Well, that could have gone much better. Rodney, could I see you in your lab, please?"

Glancing nervously at Carson, Rodney obediently followed the Lieutenant. When they reached Rodney's lab, Evie quickly dismissed the occupants of the room. She closed the lab door and then ran a hand over her face. "Rodney…"

"Oh, man, Evie…I'm so sorry," Rodney managed. "I-I don't know what I was thinking."

"No, Rodney. Thank you," she said with a half-hearted smile. "I would have either fainted or--or thrown up or, even worse, told the truth if you hadn't stepped up."

"Yes, well, you're in the clear for the moment, but you can't honestly expect me to continue with the ruse." Evie looked at him expectantly. Rodney's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me?"

"Well, could you at least try?" she asked, willing her frazzled nerves not to break down.

"Me? Pretend to…baby…father…I… You're insane!" he cried, starting to hyperventilate.

"Probably so! But what am I supposed to do!" Evie lamented, leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "So, what do we do? Just tell Dr. Weir that you lied?"

Rodney was silent for a moment, thinking. "No," he answered after a pause. Evie opened her eyes and looked over at him, collapsed in a swivel chair. "We'll go through with this. If anyone found out about you and Sheppard…"

Evie's emotions couldn't handle the jump from elation to terror and then from hope to despair and back again. Several tears slid down her cheeks, but she wiped them away. "Thank you, Rodney," she whispered.

Both paused for a few moments to regain their composure, then stood to leave the lab. Fully realizing what Rodney was sacrificing, Evie hugged him, catching the "always prepared" Dr. McKay off-guard. After a moment, he returned the embrace. "See?" Evie said, stepping back. "I knew you couldn't possibly be as callous as John always said you were."

Rodney's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, crap."

"What?" Evie looked at him worriedly.

"Just what exactly are we going to tell John?"

"Oh. Crap."

Waiting an appropriate ten minutes after getting Evie's whispered message, Sheppard began walking to her quarters. He did his best to hide the grin that he was sure was plastered on his face. She must have wanted him badly to risk a tryst in the middle of the day. He knocked on the door of her room, announcing, "It's Colonel Sheppard."

"Come in, Colonel," Evie called. Sheppard stepped inside and barely had time to close the door behind him before she pulled him into a passionate embrace.

After a moment, he had to push her back, gasping in oxygen. "And you say I need to learn to control myself," he smirked, then began kissing the side of her neck, his hands sliding down her sides.

When Evie felt him fumbling for the hem of her shirt, she stilled his questing fingers with her hands. "We don't have time for that," she whispered.

"I thought you said you needed me," he growled into her neck.

"No, I said I needed to talk to you," she replied, gently pushing him back. "There's a difference."

"Really?" he asked sarcastically, a little disappointed that she merely wanted a conversation.

"Yes, really. Talking can be done with clothes on." Sheppard smirked again, deciding against making the comment that had popped into his head. "Okay, I have good news and what you will probably take as bad news," she said, taking his hand and leading him over to her bed, where they sat.

"Bad news first," Sheppard said, leaning back to rest his weight on his hand.

"Well you have to hear the good news first for the bad news to make sense," Evie said, biting her lip.

"Then why'd you give me a choice?" he asked with an amused smile.

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "Okay, good news…" She inhaled deeply. "I'm pregnant." She held her breath, waiting for his reaction.

His eyes immediately lit up and a broad grin spread across his face. "Evie, that's great!" He kissed her gently. "What's the bad news? It can't possibly detract from that." Evie looked down. 'That can't be good,' Sheppard mused. "What?" Silence. "Evie?" He gently took her hands in his.

"Well…" She still refused to meet his eyes. "When Carson took me to tell Dr. Weir, she wanted to know who the father was…"

"You didn't tell her, did you?" he asked, squeezing her hands nervously.

"No…but I…I started freaking out a-and Rodney saved me by saying the baby was his." The last part rushed out quicker than she had intended, and she slowly raised her hazel eyes to meet his emerald ones. The shock on his face was more than apparent.

Sheppard snapped out of it after a moment. "Rodney? And she believed him!" he asked, attempting to cover the surprise and pain with humor, as was his habit.

"She seemed to," Evie answered, the butterflies in her stomach refusing to dissipate. "But, John…th-this isn't entirely bad…I-I mean, now we…we don't have to worry about anyone suspecting you."

"I'll kill him," Sheppard muttered.

"What?"

"I said I'll kill him!" Sheppard growled, jumping off the bed and stalking toward the door.

"John, don't!" Evie called, worriedly rushing after her husband. "John!" She grabbed his arm, but he jerked away.

"Don't," he snarled, storming out the door and leaving Evie in tears.

Rodney was working in his lab when he heard a loud voice from down the hall. "Where is Dr. McKay?" Rodney recognized the voice. And it didn't sound happy.

"In his lab," another voice answered, and Rodney looked up from his laptop in time to see a furious Colonel Sheppard storm into the room. Rodney swallowed hard.

Sheppard noted the other scientists in the room. "Rodney, I need to speak to you in private," he said, barely managing to control his rage.

Glancing at his computer, Rodney asked timidly, "Can I just fi--"

"Now!" Sheppard roared.

Rodney jumped. He was a dead man. He nodded to the other scientists and reluctantly followed Sheppard out of the lab. By the time they reached one of the empty meeting rooms, Rodney was already hyperventilating. When he heard the door hiss to a very decisive close behind him and turned to see Sheppard standing there with tightly clenched fists, Rodney thought he was going to pass out. "Sheppard, I--"

Sheppard grabbed the front of Rodney's shirt and lifted the poor scientist off the floor, slamming him up against the wall. "What the hell did you think you were doing!" he yelled.

Rodney's eyes were wide with fear; he had never seen Sheppard this angry before. "I didn't think! I didn't think!" he cried weakly. "Evie was freaking out and I-I didn't know what else to do!"

Sheppard shook him, pressing Rodney up higher against the wall. "And now the whole damn place is going to think you slept with her!"

"I'm sorry!" Rodney squeaked, now in danger of hyperventilating himself into unconsciousness.

Sheppard drew back his fist and Rodney ducked as best he could. Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Sheppard released Rodney. The relieved scientist collapsed to the floor as the angry pilot directed his wrath to one of the chairs, kicking it clear across the room with a cry of rage. He gripped the edge of the table until his knuckles were white, breathing deeply and trying to calm his fury. The only sounds for several minutes were Rodney's ragged gasps.

Rodney jumped when Sheppard finally spoke. "Are you going to do this?"

"Am I going to do what?" Rodney asked, slowly pulling himself up with the aid of the table.

"Are you going to continue to pretend it's your child?" Sheppard asked, remaining motionless, his eyes staring blankly at the middle of the table.

"Yes. I, uhh, that is…if you, uh, want me to," Rodney managed.

"Looks like you're gonna have to, no matter how much I hate it," Sheppard said, still angry, but no longer irrational. "But--" here he looked over at Rodney "--I don't want anyone getting the idea that you two had a long-term relationship. Is that clear?"

Rodney quickly nodded his head. "Absolutely, yessir. Clear."

"Good." With the unspoken warning of "or else" made perfectly understandable, Sheppard exited the room, leaving behind a very skittish, very worried Rodney.