Odyssey
Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and Thor raised their weapons when Sam activated the beam. Sam grabbed her two zats and joined the group. As human forms began materializing, each of the Odyssey crew discharged a single energy shot and quickly knocked out all except the Prior.
Iollan remained unaffected and turned his impassive face towards Daniel. As he raised his staff and began quoting from the Book of Origin, Jack began to taunt him, drawing his attention away from Daniel. Daniel quickly began running through different frequencies on the inhibitor. Iollan raised his hand and lifted Jack off the deck of the bridge. Teal'c and Sam aimed their zats at the Prior, but knew they were helpless to rescue Jack.
"Now would be good, Daniel!" Jack yelled.
"Almost there!" Daniel responded as Jack dropped to the ground, freed from the Prior's power.
Iollan looked at his hand, puzzled. Daniel lifted his zat and fired, three times. Sam, Teal'c and Jack all starred at Daniel, frozen with shock at what he had just done.
Daniel disregarded his teammates and ran to Ashling's side. Dropping down, he felt her neck for a pulse. "Sam, I need you in the infirmary." Daniel picked up his wife and ran for the medical bay, ignoring the shooting pain in his ribs.
Jack and Teal'c stayed behind and tied up the half dozen people who had been beamed aboard with Ashling and Iollan. Thor decided to follow Daniel and Sam to the infirmary. He hoped that he might be of more help there than tying up beings three times his size.
Daniel gently laid Ashling on the examination table where he had so recently been treated while Sam began gathering medical supplies.
"Sam, she's unconscious and her pulse is weak and irregular. Her breathing is shallow and she doesn't seem to be reacting to the contractions." He moved down and spread her legs. "Oh, god, Sam! She's bleeding a lot!"
Sam slipped an oxygen mask over the unconscious woman's face while Daniel began cleaning up the blood flowing from her body. Daniel pulled a glove over his hand and carefully inserted it into his wife.
"She's still not fully dilated, but she's in no shape to push anyway. Sam, I felt a foot. The baby's breech." Daniel peeled off the glove and tossed it into a nearby trash can. "I think we need to get the baby out now."
Sam nodded her agreement. "The placenta may have detached and that is causing the bleeding, but that also means that the baby isn't getting any oxygen."
Daniel turned to Thor, who had just entered the room looking as flustered as the little grey guy possibly could. "Is there any was to use the beaming technology to just beam the baby out?"
"Unfortunately, Daniel Jackson, the form of technology installed on the Odyssey is not of a precise enough nature for that. It could not distinguish between the unborn infant and its mother. We could be beaming out a portion of the mother's internal organs also."
Daniel grimaced at the mental picture and turned to Sam. "I guess we just have to do a C-section and hope we know what the hell we're doing."
By this time, Jack and Teal'c had finished securing the prisoners and entered the medical bay.
Jack turned to Daniel and Sam. "I've had to do some emergency field surgery, like remove bullets, but I've never had to remove a baby."
"I can't do it! She's my wife!" Daniel wrapped his arms around himself for a brief moment until a stab of pain reminded him of his injured ribs.
"Daniel, you shouldn't even be standing right now. You're injured." Sam put an arm around him and tried to move him over to a chair.
"Sam, I'm all right. I'll be better when the baby's born and Ashling is recovering."
Jack's natural leadership qualities took over. "Sam, you'll operate. Daniel, you can sit in this chair by your wife's head. Teal'c, you go back and watch over our guests. Make sure they stay out until this is over. We don't need any surprises in here right now. Thor...you…you just stand there and look intelligent or something."
Daniel slid a chair over next to Ashling and sank gratefully down. "What will you do, Jack?"
"Hey, I'm supervising."
Sam rolled her eyes and finished washing up. "You guys do know I've never done this before."
"Sam, they'll both die unless we do something." Daniel's eyes pleaded with Sam. She met her friend's gaze and realized how much the life of both the baby and the woman met to him. She wasn't about to let him lose another person he loved.
She nodded briefly and got to work.
XXXXXXXXXX
Three minutes later, Sam lifted out a squirming baby and placed it in Jack's waiting arms. He had found some clean towels and he worked to dry the slimy child. Daniel was still focused on Ashling and missed the birth. As Sam worked to sew Ashling back up, Jack moved toward Daniel with the precious bundle in his arms.
"Daniel, I think you might want to see this." Jack nudged Daniel's shoulder with his elbow.
Daniel raised his eyes up to meet Jack's and slowly realized what he held. He stood and reached out to caress his child's face with the tip of his finger. He looked back down at his unconscious wife. "You did it. She…he?" He turned back to Jack. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
Jack grinned sheepishly. "I don't know. I was too busy to look."
Jack loosened his grip on the baby just a bit so that Daniel could shift the towel. He peeked and looked back up to Jack with a big grin.
"Ashling, we have a daughter."
"I could have told you that," Sam looked up from where she was stitching Ashling back together into the smiling faces of her friends.
Thor walked over. "May I have a look? I have never seen a newborn human."
Daniel took the baby from Jack and sat back in the chair next to Ashling. Thor extended one long finger and tentatively touched the baby's cheek.
"Have you chosen a designation for the infant yet?"
"Her name is Kyra. It means 'ruler' and she is destined to be a future ruler on her world." Daniel hadn't taken his eyes off the baby since he'd first seen her.
Jack winced slightly. He did marry another alien princess!
"God, Jack. I didn't know I could love someone so much I'd never seen before. I love her so much already, it almost hurts." Daniel raised his face to Jack and one tear trickled down his cheek.
Jack clasped Daniel's shoulder. "I know. It grows. You'll love her more tomorrow."
Sam straightened up. "Finished here. Daniel, I gave her a Vitamin K shot to slow the bleeding, but she's still bleeding too much. I hooked her up to a monitor to keep an eye on her vital signs, too. I don't know what else to do." She stripped off her gloves and tossed them into the trash.
She came around to the head of the table and looked down at the baby. "May I?" she asked as she held out her arms.
Daniel hesitated just a moment, unwilling to relinquish the new life in his hands, and then handed the baby to Sam. "You know, someone needs to go get Teal'c. He and Jack are the only ones around here who know what to do with a newborn baby."
"I will go." Thor left the room.
Daniel turned back to Ashling and saw her eyes flutter. "Ashling? Wake up and meet our daughter."
She managed to keep her eyes open. Sam handed the baby back to Daniel and he leaned over so Ashling could see.
"I need to touch her." Her voice was so weak, Daniel barely heard it.
Daniel took Ashling's hand and brought it up to Kyra's face. "She has your black hair and my ears. We won't know if her eyes are going to be blue or grey for a while, but if she looks like you, I'll have to beat the boys away." Daniel smiled at Ashling.
Sam tapped Jack on the shoulder. "Sir, I think we should give them some privacy for a few minutes."
Jack nodded and they left the room.
"Daniel, I must speak with you while there is still time." Ashling tugged softly on his hand to pull him down closer to her.
"Murnín, we have a lifetime to talk." Daniel placed his hand over Ashling's as she caressed their daughter, unconsciously rubbing her hand with his thumb.
"No. The last vision I had…I…I'm dying. You must raise her. Take her away from the evil. My father is well again. One of my sisters can rule. Keep Kyra safe."
Daniel didn't want to believe her. He was in no way ready to face the possibility that another person he loved was going to die. His voice shook as he spoke. "Ashling, you're going to be fine. We'll take you back to Earth and have a doctor look after you and-"
Ashling gave him a small smile. "Daniel, I should have known from the moment I hit you with that arrow you were stubborn. You need to listen. You must raise her. Keep her away from the evil that has plagued my world."
Daniel pushed a lock of her hair off her face. "It's ok, sweetheart, Iollan's gone. We can protect you and your people from the Ori."
Ashling continued to talk as if she hadn't heard him. "My father is well again. One of my sisters can rule after him. Keep Kyra safe."
Daniel shifted in his chair, not wanting to see where this train of though was going. "Ashling, we can talk about this later. You'll be fine."
"Promise me, Daniel. Kyra matters more than anything else. Please, keep her safe."
The look of pleading in Ashling's eyes broke through Daniel's need to stay strong, as much for her as for his own sake. "All right, I promise." He leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss on her forehead. " But promise you'll be there with me."
Ashling gave him a weak smile. "I've never said the words, Daniel, but I love you. You have helped to give me a way to protect both my family and my people, and for that, I am grateful. Know that I would do it all again."
Daniel felt her hand slacken under his. "Ashling?"
The absence of sound when the monitor flat lined caused Sam and Jack to run back in.
"Jack, get the defibrillator! Daniel, get out of the way."
Daniel moved back, eyes wide with terror and his hands tight on the towel wrapped around his daughter, and let Jack and Sam work on Ashling. Teal'c and Thor entered the room just as Sam lifted her eyes to Jack's over the dead woman.
"Jack . . ." Sam's sentence trailed off, not wanting to give voice to what she knew was the truth. How do you tell your best friend he's lost another woman he loves.
"It's ok, Sam." Daniel's hoarse voice broke the silence in the room. He handed his daughter to Teal'c and moved to stand beside the table where his wife lay. "Can we be alone for a few minutes?"
Jack nodded. "Whatever you need, Daniel." He laid a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder briefly and then ushered everyone into the hall to give Daniel some privacy.
Teal'c was the first to speak. "O'Neill, I do not understand. Is this the offspring of DanielJackson?"
"She is, Teal'c." Jack nodded towards the now closed door of the medical bay. "And the woman lying on that table is…was, his wife."
Sam swiped a tear that had somehow defied her wishes and sneaked down her cheek. "It isn't fair, sir. Daniel has had to endure so much. He doesn't deserve this."
"No, he doesn't, Carter," Jack agreed. "But he will be okay. Maybe not right away, but he will be."
Teal'c gave a solemn nod. "Then it shall be our duty to assist DanielJackson with the growth and development of his child." The Jaffa warrior looked down at the squirming bundle in his arms. "I shall personally see to the nutritional requirements."
"Probably a good idea, Teal'c. Knowing Daniel, his kid will probably have an unhealthy addiction to coffee." Jack joked.
His comment finally let Sam crack a smile. "Either that or Jello."
"Really, Carter? So you think the baby would like commissary food?"
A/N: Many, many thanks to my beta, Verb, who seriously worked overtime on this chapter. Also, for choosing the sex and name of Daniel's baby. (She gets to name all babies and even a dog in the story I'm working on now.)