Author's note: This was originally one chapter with Chapter Three. But it was very long. So I separated them into two. I think this works better.

Previously:

"Let's get to the car," Daniel replied. Once they were seated he gave instructions. "Drive past that van and turn right. About half a block down, there is an alley that connects to Ella's backyard. She's coming with us."

As they passed the van, Daniel stared hard into his rearview mirror. He saw movement in the front seat and a glint of light reflecting off of something inside that was not the dashboard.

"What is it?" For all his goofiness, Cam Mitchell was not stupid. He knew that Daniel had seen something out of place on this quiet little street.

"There were notes in Goa'uld in the safe. That van wasn't there before. And there is someone in the front seat. Whatever's going on, I am not going to let Ella get hurt because she is too stubborn to listen to me."

They pulled up behind the house. Blessing whatever compulsion made him always carry Ella's keys with his own, Daniel climbed out of the car and crossed the back yard. He let himself in the back door without making a sound, just in case anyone was listening in. He wanted to get Ella out silently and that meant she could not start yelling at him the moment that she saw him. And that meant…

He heard running water in the kitchen. Daniel crept in behind his friend and covered her mouth with his hand. Knowing what her next move would be because he had taught it to her, he sidestepped to avoid her hard elbow jab and foot stomp. "Ella! It's me. Stop!" he hissed into her ear.

Only her shock kept her silent. Holding up his hand to ward off questions, he went into the living room and turned on the television, loudly. When he saw Ella in the doorway, he held his finger up to his lips.

"Excuse me? Did you just shush me? I threw you out. What the hell are you doing here?" Despite her anger she was keeping her voice down.

Daniel walked over to her. "I need you to come with me. Please."

"I already said no."

"Ella, listen to me! There is a van parked outside here. I think someone is watching you. You are not safe here."

Without warning, Ella broke into a run. She was almost at the front door by the time Daniel caught her. He picked her up off her feet while she fought furiously.

"Let me go, goddammit. They know where Alex is! Let me go!" She landed a solid kick to his shin and reached back and grabbed a handful of his hair.

"Ow. Ella, stop it!" Daniel was trying to contain her, but it was a struggle. He had taught her all of the self-defense he knew. As she was almost as tall as him, and build solidly, it was a close match. He finally resorted to pinning her face-first into the wall and leaned his weight onto her. "Listen to me! You're husband is not in that van. I am not going to let you run out there. We don't know who they are, Ella. They could be waiting to grab you or kill you or I don't know what!"

"Let me go." Her voice was muffled.

"Not until you calm down."

"Daniel…"

"Ella…"

She resumed her struggle. "Let me go, you motherfu-" Suddenly, Ella went limp.

"Ella? Ella!" Daniel realized that she had fainted. Oh my god, what did I do? Panicked, he swung her into his arms and carried her out the back door.

Cameron saw Daniel coming and scrambled to help. "Jesus Christ, Jackson. What'd you do to her?"

"I don't know!" He lay Ella on the back seat and ran around to the other side to get in the car. He lifted her head so that it rested in his lap. He checked her pulse and breathing. Both were strong. "We have to get her to the base. She passed out."

Looking at Daniel through the rearview mirror, Cam took in the messed up hair, flushed skin and the general air of agitation around the archeologist. "Did you two get into a fight?" He asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Um, sort of. I told her there was someone outside and she tried to run out there. I think she thought she would find Alex with them or something."

"So to stop her, you knocked her out?"

"I did not knock her out!" Daniel protested. "We were struggling and she…well, I…I pinned her into the wall so she would stop kicking me. Then she went limp and…you know what, just drive, okay?"

So Cameron drove. Occasionally he glanced to the back seat and watched Daniel watch Ella. Daniel was lightly stroking her long red hair, looking scared. "You know, Jackson, I don't want you to knock me out or anything, but are you sure that Cheyenne is the best place to go? Maybe we should just take her to the hospital."

"Why?"

"Well, it's a military base, and a top secret one at that. I'm just not sure that Landry's gonna' cotton to having a civilian dropped in our midst. Especially one whose husband seems to be working for the bad guys."

"I can't believe that Alex would knowingly work for the 'bad guys,' whoever they are. Could you call ahead to the base and let the infirmary know we're bringing someone in?"

Cam flipped open his phone and made the call. Daniel continued to watch Ella. Despite what he had said, he was really scared that he had knocked her out somehow. Pinning her to the wall was the only thing he could think of to keep her from running out the door. The look in her eyes had told him she was past the point of reason. Daniel knew what that felt like. Nine years ago he had offered himself up to be implanted with a Goa'uld just to stay with his wife. That level of panic and fear could only be dealt with by an equally strong response. He just wished that Ella would open her eyes now.

Conscious thought slowly trickled back to Ella. Wherever she was, it was dark and uncomfortable. Confused she reached out. "Alex?" Her voice creaked.

"Ella? You're awake?"

That wasn't her husband's voice. Why was…"Daniel?"

"Yes. Yes, Ella, it's me." There was a strong current of relief in his voice. Ella struggled to open her eyes. She was in a car, lying in her friend's lap. Who was driving? Why was she here? Then her memories returned. Alex was missing. Daniel and her had fought. And Daniel…

"You kidnapped me?" She shot upright, instantly regretting the action. Pain speared through her head and the world spun around her.

"I did not kidnap you. I took you with me for your own safety. You just didn't agree to go."

"You kidnapped me." She repeated.

"It does kind of sound like kidnapping," Cam contributed from the front seat.

"Stay out of this!" Both former foster siblings yelled at him. Then they turned to face each other.

"I need to find my husband," Ella stated clearly.

"We will. I need you to trust me." Daniel answered back.

Trusting Daniel was so much a part of Ella that it might have been encoded into her DNA. After a long moment of consideration, she simply said, "Okay."

He held out his arm to her. "Lie down, Ella, we are taking you to a doctor." She put her head back into his lap. The world's spinning slowed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I'm going to throw up."

"Let me know if you are going to. I really like these shoes." Her small laugh was barely heard. She reached for him and wrapped his arm around her, pressing his hand to her heart. As he held her, Daniel felt the small tremors that shook her body as she pondered her husband's fate.

Daniel's heart ached for what she was going through. He no longer allowed himself to dwell on those first terrible days after Sha're had been taken. He had forgiven himself for that after many years. But he never forgot what it had been like.

The car turned into the Cheyenne Complex. Ella raised her head to look out the window. "Where are we?"

Fumbling for his ID badge, Daniel replied, "We are about the enter the Cheyenne Mountain Base." He passed his badge up front and heard the Lieutenant Colonel explain who Ella was. They were allowed to pass.

"No. I don't want to be here." Ella tried to mount an actual protest, but she felt so sick and weak that she couldn't. That just made her angry. She made her self sit up, telling Daniel exactly what she thought of his high-handed attitude and what she would do to him as soon as she had the chance. When the car stopped, she yanked the door open. Maybe she couldn't stop Daniel from bringing her here, but she would be dammed if he was going to carry her.

Her bravado lasted approximately one step. Her legs would just not hold her. Luckily, Mitchell was there to prevent her from swan-diving into the pavement.

"Whoa, there. I got you." Cam carried her to the awaiting wheelchair. Then they all took the elevator down to the infirmary level.

Daniel was surprised and pleased to see Carolyn Lam come out from her office this late. "Good evening Dr. Jackson. What do we have here?"

"This is Ella McPherson. She is a friend of mine. She passed out about half an hour ago and has been feeling sick and weak ever since."

"I can speak for myself, dammit." Ella had spent the elevator ride cringing in embarrassment, but she hated having people speak about her as if she wasn't in the room. She just had to focus and she could follow the conversation.

"Okay, Ms. McPherson. My name is Dr. Carolyn Lam. I am the Chief Medical Officer, here. I just want to look at you and see what's wrong, okay?" She flicked her penlight into Ella's eye's, pleased to see that the pupilary response was good. "When was the last time you ate?"

Ella tried to remember. When was the salad? Alex had said that she needed Foley Acid or something. No, she needed Folic Acid. "Ella?" Dr. Lam prodded.

"I'm sorry. I don't know. What time is it? I had a salad, but not today." She was so tired. Why was everyone looking at her like that? "Daniel, please, can I have some privacy? There's just too many people in here."

Dr. Lam nodded to a nurse who wheeled Ella over to a bed and pulled the curtain. While Ella was placed into a gown, Daniel briefed the doctor on what the night had been like.

"Okay," Dr. Lam said. "It could be that she just fainted from lack of food. Combined with the shock it would make sense. As for you, General Landry left explicit instructions that you were to report to him as soon as your friend was here."

Daniel did not want to leave. "But-"

"Come on, Jackson. By the time the general's done chewing us out, the good doc will have Ella back to rights." Cam steered Daniel out of the room.

Ella, now clad in a cheap cotton hospital gown, leaned back in the bed. She watched as the petite dark haired doctor entered the space.

"Ms. McPherson, how are you feeling?" The doctor inquired.

Struggling to dig through the soup of her brain, Ella responded bluntly. "I am tired, nauseous, and oddly hungry. Dr. Lam, I'm pregnant."

The doctor registered that with a slight elevation in her eyebrows. "Really? How far along?"

"About six weeks. Daniel doesn't know so please don't tell him. I just didn't want to tell him when we were surrounded by all of those people."

"All right, well I just want to run some tests and I am going to give you a pelvic exam to make sure everything is fine, okay?"

All of Ella's emotions had faded to numbness. She lay still during the tests, moving only when asked to. She couldn't comprehend that a little more than 24 hours ago she had been eating a salad, waiting for her husband. She had been planning the dinner that Alex and her were going to host when they asked Daniel and Alex's sister to be godparents. Was that all just yesterday?

Some time later, the exams and tests were all over. Dr. Lam snapped off her gloves and helped Ella out of the stirrups. She elevated the top of the bed. "Good news, everything seems fine. I think you passed out from stress and lack of food. I am going to give you an IV of saline and have some soup sent up from the kitchen." She pulled back the sheet and revealed Daniel just coming back in the door. "And I think someone is here to see you." Dr. Lam walked away, patting Daniel on his arm, comfortingly.

Ella reached for Daniel's hand. She looked into his eyes, but said nothing.

"Ella, we are going to find him." Daniel said.

"Daniel, Alex and I are going to have a baby." She watched the emotions ripple across his face. Surprise, happiness, grief and concern. Finally Daniel reached and gave Ella a huge hug.

"We will take care of you," was all he could say.

When he released her, Ella spoke again. "Just so you know, I fainted because I hadn't eaten. No other reason. The baby's fine."

Relief washed over his face. He gave her a heartbreaking smile. "Good."

Her soup arrived. She ate as much as she could before her fatigue got the best of her. Daniel helped her recline the bed. "Stay with me until I'm asleep?" she asked.

"Of course." He leaned over and kissed Ella's forehead as she closed her eyes. Ignoring all of the work he had to do, he watched her sleep.

TBC