Anything with /'s inside quotes is being spoken in Czech.

Chapter 13

Traps. They'd found out about the first one by accident. A marine tripped one, and had managed to dodge the electrical bolt in time. Radek dimly remembered figuring them out. He reverse engineered the detonated one, and used that as a model for diffusing the others. It was slow work, and he suspected when they began that they wouldn't get to the source in time. But it was a necessary risk. A ZPM was worth it. They had one, but the attack had depleted it considerably.

He could feel Marina squirming inside him, as if she didn't want to be on this planet any more than he did. The second trap done. The third, the fourth, the fifth, all taken with no problems. They took time but once he solved the first one they weren't really that difficult, just complex and tricky. They had two hours left before they needed to be on the jumper back home, and by Radek's calculations, there were three more traps, and that left them about ten minutes to look at the energy source. Ten minutes was enough time to see if it was a ZPM.

Was it that she kicked just then? Was Radek's concern for the child moving in his belly making him lose concentration? Did a passing thought of Elizabeth ruin his focus? Was it the rain that was pouring down intermittently and chilling his fingers? Was it fate punishing him for persisting in something unnatural? Radek didn't know just what it was that went wrong. He was moving a tiny sliver of metal just so, to make the contact just there, and disable the trap. The primary trap disabled, and tripped the secondary trap. The five seconds between realization and explosion were just enough time for Radek to alert the rest, and Cadman to reach to grab him, trying to pull his slow moving body away from the detonation.

He was floating. It felt like it had a week ago, when he'd taken Elizabeth up in a jumper, to fly around the moon. He could feel Marina, that bundle of life that was so precious to him now.

He was cold, trapped, voiceless, helpless.

Pain filled his body.

A shock, blue light-fire running through his veins, like what had killed him. He could hear sounds around him, he made some of them out to be voices. He could still feel Marina, quiet, soft, soothing to Radek's aching soul. She seemed to glow. At least it felt to him like she did. A soft green glow, like Elizabeth's eyes in the dark.

He found himself wishing Marina would have Elizabeth's eyes. But she would have blue eyes, he and Rodney both did. He felt Elizabeth close by, but he couldn't reach her. He couldn't talk, couldn't touch, almost couldn't feel at all. Marina knew she was there too, and the not-quite-child was happy. Marina was safe, and happy, and warm, and that was enough for Radek. He let himself sleep, content that Marina was alright.

Radek slept, and slept, waking only to assure himself that Marina was still safe and happy and warm, then he drifted again, secure in that knowledge. Around him, he could hear the shadows of voices, but the words didn't penetrate, only the whispers of sounds, and it wasn't enough to rouse him, not with Marina safe.

He didn't know how long he slept, on and off, but eventually he woke and Marina wasn't there. That presence where she'd been was gone, leaving him hollow and empty and cold.

"No!" Radek's eyes flew open and he thrashed, arms reaching for his now empty stomach, sobbing at the thought that his child was gone.

"Dr. Beckett he's awake!" There was a small stampede to Zelenka's bed as they worked to calm him, not wanting to sedate him after he'd finally woken up.

"Radek, Radek, calm down, lad, it's alright, you're alright."

"No," He shook his head, looking panicked, his two week old beard and normally flyaway hair making him look wild. "Marina!" he cried, then unleashed a stream of anguished Czech.

"She's right here, Radek," Beckett tried to soothe him. "Marina's right here." Blue eyes shifted from wild with grief to disbelieving, then they moved, looking over Beckett's shoulder.

Elizabeth approached, holding an impossibly tiny baby in her arms. "Here's your daddy, little one," she cooed, and the others moved out of her way. Her eyes glowed with love for Marina and Radek as she handed the tiny bundle into his trembling arms.

"/I thought I'd lost you, my little love/" he murmured, remembering that cold emptiness that had awakened him. "/When/" he asked Elizabeth, shifting Marina to one arm, wrapping the other around her tightly, not caring the audience they had right now. He smiled when Elizabeth leaned closer.

"/Marina was born two days ago. Your accident was over two weeks ago, love. Dr. Beckett worried that carrying Marina was keeping your body from properly healing. We agreed to operate, she was old enough to survive./ Oh god, Radek I'm so glad you're back!" Elizabeth slipped back into her own language for the last, her emotion overcoming her for a moment, holding him tight.

"Let's give them some family time, come on, everybody out. Even you, ye don't scare me, laddie," Carson shooed Ronon out as well, who was looking very protective of the three of them.