So if you'll remember, the Goa'uld that is inside of Kate is only a larvae but there is more to the reason why it hasn't been able to take over, even when she was sleeping. That will all be explained in this chapter. This is fairly dialogue heavy so bear with me.

Thanks everyone for reading.

This chapter is dedicated to Jess, my pee-pod twin; our mind link still works over 10,000 miles of land and ocean. Can't wait 'til December! "I can't be anything without you, don't you know?...Cos we go together just like jam and bread but maybe birds of a feather."

Chapter 8: Complications

Sam beamed back down to the SGC with Kate and Rick in tow. They made their way to the infirmary where Dr. Lam was waiting for them to arrive.

"What have we got Colonel?" Carolyn asked as the trio walked into the infirmary and ushered Kate over to a spare bed.

"Possible Goa'uld insertion. It's hard to sense so I'm guessing it's only in larvae form," Sam replied. She watched Rick move over to where Kate was and held her hand tightly.

"Is she going to be ok?" he asked.

Carolyn patted him reassuringly on the arm, "That's my job to find out. We just have to see what we're dealing with." She walked over to the opposite side of Rick and started to examine Kate. "How are you feeling?" She was just asking the routine questions to start with.

"Fine," replied Kate.

"Any headaches?"

Kate nodded, "A little one. It's not too bad."

"Have you passed out at all? Lost any memory?" Carolyn asked

She thought for a moment before answering, "I only passed out after they put that thing in me. I haven't since then, and I'm pretty sure I remember everything?"

Carolyn took note, "Have you had any sleep?"

"I had about five hours a night. It was only light though."

"Ok. Any nausea?"

"Not today. I threw up a couple days ago though," Kate answered. "They injected me with something and it made me sick."

"Ok." She jotted down a few more things before she continued, "I'm going to get a nurse to draw some blood and run a few tests before we do any sort of scan on you. I want to know what it was." Carolyn placed her hand warmly on Kate's knee. "Just sit tight for a bit ok?"

Kate nodded and leant back on the bed; it wasn't the most comfortable thing she had ever slept on, but after only having that little cot for the last few days, she was glad for the bed.

Carolyn spoke to the nurse on duty for a moment before she motioned for Rick and Sam to join her in her office.

"What's the diagnosis, doc?" Rick asked worriedly.

"So far I see no signs of a Goa'uld take-over of her body. It's like her body has rejected its presence."

"How is that possible?" Rick queried, "You said that when those things enter the body, the thing takes over completely."

Sam was quick to reply; "We've seen before that if a larvae Goa'uld enters a human, they can only take over when the host goes to sleep. They aren't strong enough to take over a conscious mind."

"But Kate said she remembers everything. That to me sounds like it hasn't been able to take over her unconscious mind either."

"He has a point," Carolyn said to Sam, "She's not sleep deprived; despite her ordeal she said she was able to sleep, albeit not a deep one."

Sam sat on the edge of the desk and tried to come up with an explanation for it all. The office was deathly silent for about twenty seconds before she took a deep breath and spoke up, "I think I know why it hasn't been able to take over."

Rick and Carolyn looked at her as if to urge her to continue, post haste. "I think Kate could be pregnant?"

"What?" Rick exclaimed. "Pregnant? How did you come to that conclusion?"

"It's happened before. Daniel's wife, Sha're, was taken by Apophis and implanted with the Goa'uld, Amaunet. She got pregnant and when that happened, her body started to fight the symbiote inside of her. It was her body's way of protecting the baby and Sha're was able to be in control. The Goa'uld had none at all."

"I remember reading that report. The child was the Harsesis, wasn't it?" Carolyn asked.

"Yes," Sam replied.

Rick shook his head, "That's all well and good, but how are we going to get that thing out of Kate, and how will it affect the baby?"

Carolyn sighed, "I'm not sure. We do have the means to extract the symbiote but I have no idea what affect that will have on a baby. I'll need to run tests to see how far along she is. Until we get those results, we just have to wait."

Sam stood up from the desk, "I'll get General Landry to contact the Tok'ra, see if they have any insight they can provide."

Carolyn nodded, "I'll get to work on those tests."

Rick let out a frustrated sigh, "Can someone bring her dad in? I think he'd like to see her."

Sam smiled, "Sure. I'll get Jack to beam down with him."

Rick shoved his hands in his pockets, "Thanks." He made his way over to where Kate was lying. He sat down in the chair next to her, picked up her left hand and kissed it softly. Kate smiled softly at him.

"Hey, handsome. How are you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Nah, doc's already asked those questions. I want to know what you've been up to in my absence."

He grinned, "Oh you know, got shown around a top secret base, got beamed up to a space ship. The usual."

Kate chuckled, "Sounds interesting. Looks like my Uncle Jack is more of a hero than he let on."

"You can say that. He's a force to be reckoned with. I'm just glad he's on our side."

A voice from behind the couple piped up, "You talking about me again, Katie-girl?"

Kate shook her head, "No, we were talking about another kick ass Air Force officer."

Jack moved into the room with Jim close behind him. "I know a few of them, anyone I may know?"

"Probably not. He's really old."

"Hey!" Jack brought his hand to his chest and feigned hurt.

Kate let out a small laugh and a smile lit up her face. Rick loved when she smiled; it was so bright that it could illuminate an entire room. Kate looked past Jack and saw her father and he smile grew larger, "Hey, dad." She stretched out her right arm and gestured for him to come around to her other side. He took a hold of her other hand and squeezed it gently.

"How are you feeling, Katie?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Just waiting on tests and stuff before we can go any further."

"That's good. I was worried."

Kate dropped her head to her chest, "I'm sorry."

Jim shook his head, "It's not your fault. You're safe now."

"Yeah. It's just-if I didn't keep digging, none of this would have happened."

He sighed, "Katie, if you didn't keep digging then we wouldn't finally have our answers. You did good, kid."

"Thanks, dad."

The four sat and talked for a while until Dr. Lam came back, holding a folder in her arms. She flicked it open to her spot and looked up at the 'family'.

"So I have the results from your blood tests back," she looked at Rick, "Have you told her anything?" He shook his head. She now addressed the whole group, "Ok, so the drug that was injected into Kate was ketamine, but it wasn't a large dose, just enough to be an anaesthetic. That would most likely explain your nausea, but on top of that we tested the hCG levels in your blood. The levels indicated that you are about eight weeks pregnant."

Kate sat up in shock, "Pregnant? Are you sure?"

Carolyn nodded, "Positive. It was the only reason that we could think of as to why the Goa'uld inside of you hasn't been able to take control, even when you've been asleep. The baby is protecting itself and you."

Rick refused to meet the eyes of Jim or Jack for fear that the two men may gang up on him and kill him for getting Kate pregnant. "So what's the next step?" he asked.

"Colonel Carter is trying to get into contact with the Tok'ra to see what they can do. Their extraction process is simple enough, but until they get here, we're not sure what can be done while Kate is pregnant."

"Doc, is there a chance that Kate will have to go full term before we can extract the thing?" Jack asked from the corner.

Carolyn nodded, "It's definitely a possibility. If that's the case, we will have keep her closely monitored, but we'll cross that bridge when and if we get to it. Until then, there's nothing more we can do."

"Thank you, doctor," Jim said as he smiled warmly at Carolyn, knowing that she was doing the best that she could.

When Carolyn left, Jim turned to Kate and pulled her into a tight hug, "Congratulations, Katie. You're going to be a great mom."

Kate hid her face in the side of her father's neck, "Thank you, daddy. Just don't kill Rick."

Jim laughed and pulled back from her, "I promise." He looked at Rick who was sitting in his chair sheepishly and he held out his hand. Rick took ahold and shook it, "Congratulations, son. You look after them, ok?"

Rick nodded his head profusely, "Yes, sir."

Next it was Jack's turn to scare Rick. He looked the younger man in the eyes, "Do you know how many ways I can kill a man?"

Rick gulped, "No, sir."

"Well here's hoping you never have to find out."

"Yes, sir." He wasn't having fun at all and his face had gone as white as a ghost. Kate took pity on him and laughed.

"Leave him alone, guys. Remember that he wasn't alone in creating this baby."

Both Jim and Jack paled, "Don't ever talk about that Katie-girl. You're still that cute little six year old girl with pig-tails." Jack was in denial and Rick and Kate laughed at the two older men.

Jim stood and kissed Kate on the forehead, "On that note, we should go and let you get some sleep."

Kate smiled, "Ok. Night dad, Jack." Jack nodded his head and left the infirmary, not before giving Rick a death glare on his way out. Jim walked past Rick and gave him a clap on the shoulder and a warm smile.

When they left Rick let out the breath that he was holding and looked at Kate and grinned, "So, a baby. How do you feel about that?"

"Scared out of my mind but ecstatic. What about you?" she asked.

"The same. I just can't believe there's a little person growing inside of you. I never thought I'd get the chance to be a father again."

"Happy to help. Now come here." Kate grabbed ahold of Rick's arm in an attempt to get him to sit on the bed with her. When he climbed in beside her, she curled up into his chest and placed a soft kiss where his hear was. "You know I had hoped that we'd be at least engaged before you knocked me up."

Rick looked down at the woman in his arms intently, "Was that a proposal?"

She shrugged, "Take it as you will."

"Well if it was, it definitely left something the be desired," he joked, "Where's all the pomp and circumstance? Where's the romance!"

Kate started to laugh, "You're such a girl."

"I'm hurt!" he cried before holding her tighter.

"If you're so hurt, why don't you show me how it's done?"

He humphed, "I think I'll do just that." He freed his left arm from his grip and dug around in his pocket for a little bit before he pulled it out and produced a simple princess cut diamond on a thin, platinum band. Kate gasped in surprise when he held it in front of her. "I've had this in my pocket since we left New York. I was just waiting for the right time to give it to you. I know this isn't the most romantic spot in the world, but when you were kidnapped, it was the scariest moment of my life. I didn't know if I was ever going to see you again and the only regret I had was that I never got to see you walk down the aisle. So, Katherine Beckett, will make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife and the mother of my children. I want to be your one and done; always."

By the time Rick had finished his proposal, Kate had tears rolling down her face, "Yes. Nothing would make me happier." Rick slipped the ring onto her finger and shifted his head closer to hers and kissed her passionately. He held her face in his hands as she caressed his sides under his shirt. Before it got too heated, they reluctantly pulled apart and rested their foreheads together. "I love you, Rick."

"I love you, too."

So there you have that chapter folks. I hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will see the Tok'ra. I'll hopefully have this story wrapped up in the next couple chapters. If there's anything you want to see in it, feel free to drop me a line and I'll see if I can work it into the story.

Sam