Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel so don't sue me. Thanks. :-)

A/N: Thank you to TwilightEclps, Alexa, Sandra, x5 416, Deanna and Marcus Sylenus for reviewing the last chapter. Totally appreciate it, guys, and I'm glad you're enjoying the craziness. ^_^

Ex Multus Familia: Part 2

Chapter 9

Sibil walked back into the exam room where she had left Sidda while she went to run some tests in the medical lab for her first prenatal exam. Sidda had almost passed out again because of the needles, a repetitive reaction that worried Sibil, so she was lying in the exam room.

Sidda jerked her head up and propped herself up on her elbows when Sibil walked in.

"Sidda, try to relax, you've made it through the hard parts," Sibil said, wanting to calm down her patient. All this stress wasn't good for the baby or the mother.

Sidda gripped the edge of the paper-covered table, trying to breathe properly and stop her heart from beating so fast. She was actually hooked up to a heart rate monitor since Sibil wanted to get a baseline heart rate for her, but it was difficult since Sidda was in an almost constant state of subdued panic while she was in the exam room.

"I am trying," Sidda said through gritted teeth.

Sibil rubbed at her left temple, trying to get her headache to go away. She did not want to tell Sidda what she had found out from the exam and the tests, but she did not have a choice. She sat down in the chair and looked at the young transgenic.

"Sidda, from what I'm able to tell, this might not be the easiest pregnancy."

Wrong thing to say. Sidda's heart rate immediately went up, and her eyes widened. "What do you mean? Don't I just check in with you every now and then and just have him in eight months?"

Sibil shook her head. "I don't think it's going to be that simple with you."

"Why not?" Sidda demanded, sitting up.

Sibil sighed. "For one thing, your body isn't agreeing with this pregnancy like most X5s do. You're experiencing extreme headaches, fatigue, dizziness, and I suspect your blood pressure is fluctuating. You probably experience low blood pressure because of your rather accelerated metabolism. You dehydrate quickly, so it lowers your blood pressure."

"Can't those things get better with time?" Sidda asked, "Or if I do something?"

"Possibly, but I'd like to keep a close eye on them." Sibil flipped the paper over on her clipboard. "Also—"

"There's more?" Sidda let out a groan and dropped back on to the exam table. This exam had possibly been one of the most embarrassing and in-depth one in her life, and she was just ready to go. Her bike was outside, her small bag of stuff was strapped to it and she had a clear idea of where she was going. She had even left Alec a note that he would find a good time after she left, probably even after they had looked for her. He would find it as long as he did not turn the oven on without looking inside it. Not that he would ever turn the oven on the in first place…

"Sorry, Sidda," Sibil said, "But there's more."

"All right, then, what else…"

Sibil was hesitant to say the next part, knowing Sidda's aversion to simple needles, but it was better to get it out in the open than refuse to tell Sidda. She was going to find out anyway. "There is a strong possibility that you'll have to go through a C-section instead of a normal birth."

Sidda's eyes snapped toward her. "What? Why?"

"Judging on the size of your pelvis and the possible size of your child, there is a large chance that it would endanger the baby and yourself to try a regular birth," Sibil said, "There's also a chance that your labor could occur prematurely, depending on your body and the baby."

The heart monitor sped up again, and Sidda closed her eyes. Sibil was afraid that she was going to pass out, but instead Sidda just gave a long, soft sigh. "Is that all?"

"I think that's it," Sibil said. She started scribbling notes to herself on her clipboard again, things to remember about dealing with Sidda. "I think you should come in every two to three weeks for an exam. Nothing as extensive as this one, just a check-in. It's normally just one check-up a month, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, you know?"

She made the note to herself and smiled at Sidda. "So, I'll just expect you to come back in a few weeks, and we'll do some more tests and an ultrasound and listen to the baby's heart beat. Does that sound good? You really should bring Alec, he'd probably want to be here with you." She was hoping to get some kind of positive reaction from the blond transgenic by bringing up her mate, but Sidda only gave her a weak nod. Sibil got up and disconnected Sidda from the heart rate monitor, giving up on getting a good reading.

Sibil patted her on the shoulder. "Go home, get some sleep. It's going to be okay."

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Sidda walked out of the exam room and headed for the front door, not really paying attention to anything. She had made sure that there were pregnancy clinics where she was going, but she was not entirely sure if any of them were up to this anymore. She was startled when someone appeared in front of her, catching her by the shoulders before she barreled into him.

"Hey, Sidda, might want to watch where you're going," Seth said, laughter in his voice. "You almost ran me over."

"Seth!" Sidda stared at him, momentarily speechless. She had not expected any of her friends to be lurking around here, but then again, Seth did put in time at the infirmary… "What are you doing here?"

Seth gestured to the building, a half-smile on his face. "I work here, remember?" He looked at her, his eyebrows coming together in confusion. "Why are you here?"

Luckily, Sidda's mouth moved faster than her thoughts. "I was looking for Band-aids. We ran out back at our apartment, and I cut myself shaving." Slightly lame excuse. She forced a laugh. "It was a bad cut."

"Want me to look at it?" Seth asked, his eyes staying on her, probably trying to see through her lie.

She shook her head. "No, that's okay." She plastered a smile onto her face. "I already got one. Thanks though." Edging toward the door, she wished she could melt into the floor. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, about that, Robin wanted me to tell you she's cooking tonight," Seth said, crossing his arms over his chest, "If you guys want to come over."

Sidda nodded. "Sounds great. Later, Seth." Abruptly, she rushed out the door, knowing her behavior would seem odd to Seth. Hopefully by the time dinner rolled around, she would be long gone, beyond any net they could throw after her.

It was enough for her to be scared out of her mind; she didn't want to worry anyone else with this mess, especially Alec. There would be notes and messages for them, telling them that she was fine; only Robin would actually know what was going on and then the abridged version. Digging her sector pass out of her pocket, Sidda got on her Ducati, heading for the gate and an escape she did not really want.

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Alec put his head in his hands for a moment, then looked up at Robin. "You're sure?"

Robin nodded, her normally cheerful expression gone and replaced with a more tired one. "The news came in a few hours ago."

Alec glanced out the window. "It's bad enough that Lexington, Denali, and Nero got killed, but then to find out that it was Familiars…"

The Canada team had called a few hours ago needing for help. They had managed to extract themselves from immediate danger and get almost the whole way to Terminal City, but they were down three men and had Familiars on their tail. The whole Canada mission had been a ruse set up by White's former group to lure a good number of transgenics away from the guarded Terminal City.

"They were supposed to leave us alone," Robin said bitterly. "I know they hate us, but they're involved in the government, and they agreed on the deal that was made too, as far as I know. It was easier for them."

"Yeah, well, this is White's bunch," Alec said. "Not exactly the quitting type. Or the listening one. They have an extra special hatred just for us. Joy."

Robin folded her arms and bit her lip, an action that made Alec realize why Seth was not there.

"They sent Seth out on the rescue mission, didn't they?" he asked, picking up on her well-masked nervous worry.

"He volunteered," Robin said, sounding slightly exasperated. "And I couldn't tell him not to… that would be cruel. But I just wish sometimes that he didn't always need to be so noble."

"Says the girl who gets high off of taking bullets for other people." Alec and Robin both laughed; Alec had not been there for that time in South Africa, but he still got a good kick out of the story. "Hey, have you seen Sidda around?" Alec asked. He had seen her earlier in the morning, but she had disappeared at some point and he had not been able to find her since. And it was almost dinner time now.

Robin shook her head. "I was looking for her too, but now that I think about it, she may have gone with the team and not had time to tell you. She's good at getting people out of tough situations, they probably wanted her with them."

"Oh yeah, I didn't think about that," Alec said, "I guess we'll just have to both hope that everything goes well for them."

"Seriously," Robin said. "Well, I know I was going to cook dinner tonight, but since Seth and probably Sidda aren't here, do you want to just eat at the cafeteria with everyone?"

"Sure." Alec moved away from the window. "Gem will probably enjoy having someone else besides Dalton to talk to."

"Mhmmm." Robin smiled to herself; Gem probably already had someone else. Robin had noticed that Gem and Matrix, the guy she had introduced Gem to at her wedding, had hit it off pretty well. She had seen them together in various places around Terminal City the last couple of days.

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The cafeteria was full of anxious people, waiting to hear that the remaining transgenics had returned safely.

"I hope Sidda didn't go off with that team because she felt guilty about Lexington," Gem said, forgetting that Alec had been involved in that incident as well. She, Alec and Robin were sitting at one end of a table, sipping on coffee since dinner had been over for a while now. It was almost midnight.

Alec grimaced. "Thanks, Gem."

Gem looked at him, startled, and then blushed. "No, I…I was saying that no one should feel guilty about the fact that Lex went. He probably would have been chosen even if he hadn't volunteered; he's a good leader."

"But apparently not as alpha as somebody," Robin said, grinning slightly.

Alec sighed and brushed his hand through his hair. "I'm never gonna live that down, am I?"

"No, but it's ok. It embarrasses Sidda even more than it does you. Take comfort in that," Robin said.

Alec was about to reply but stopped when the doors opened and an excited Dalton ran in. The whole room immediately hushed. "They're back… the teams are back at the gate!"

"Wow, that was fast," Alec said, standing up. And so was he though, as he moved for the nearest door. He would not admit it to anyone, but he was a bit worried about the fact that Sidda had joined the rescue team. He was glad Seth was there and could look out for her since she had just been acting funny lately. She claimed to be tired a lot, which was unusual for her. He did not want her in high-pressure situations if she was not feeling her best.

The small crowd from the cafeteria met up with the returning trucks about halfway between the gate and the clinic that it was heading to. Max got out of one of the trucks to let everyone know how the team was doing, but Alec caught a glimpse of Seth sitting in the passenger side of the first truck and decided to stop Max's "everything will be ok" speech.

He waved and yelled to catch Seth's attention. "Hey, Seth! Everyone ok? Sidda all right?"

Seth frowned at Alec. "We got everyone back safely that went with the teams…what do you mean about Sidda?"

"Well, she went with you guys, right?"

Seth shook his head. "No, definitely not. Last I saw her was today at the clinic." He motioned Alec closer, and Alec ran over and jumped onto the footrest outside of the truck door. He grabbed the window to hold steady as the truck moved down Terminal City's uneven streets.

"She said she'd cut herself shaving and needed a Band-Aid, but I know Sidda wouldn't go to the clinic for something small like that," Seth said. He looked at Alec worriedly. "Is something wrong with her?"

Alec looked away from the truck, wondering if anything else about this day could go more wrong. "I don't know," he said. And then he hopped off the truck. He had to go find her.

"What's wrong with him?" Dalton said as he saw Alec run off.

Gem shrugged. "I have no idea."

Alec flipped open his cell phone and called Sidda. Maybe she was just in the apartment or something. But why the hell had she gone to the infirmary earlier? And why didn't she tell him she was going there, she hated that place, she should have let him go with her… He headed toward where he had parked his motorcycle while the phone rang. "Come on, pick up…"

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there? You creeper…"

Damn it. Sidda's prank answering message. When it finished playing, he was already at his motorcycle, revving it. "Hey, Sid, it's me. Where are you? Look, call me back when you get this message. Some shit's going down, and, yeah, just call me."

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Sidda wasn't in the apartment. She wasn't in Robin's apartment or Syl's or Mona's or Gem's or Max's or the garage or anywhere in their apartment building. The Cultural Center was devoid of Sidda, just like headquarters, the cafeteria, Joshua's old studio, the sewers and the infirmary. The guards had lost track of who they had let in and out of the gates with the rescue team going out and all the momentary chaos, so there wasn't even a way to tell if she had left Terminal City.

Robin sat at her kitchen table, feeding Taylor her bottle and watching the cell phone that was lying innocently in the middle of the table. It was five in the morning, and there was still no sign of Sidda. A lot of people were still looking for her, but Robin had to go back and take care of Taylor.

Robin played with Taylor's fine, silky hair. Why hadn't Sidda at least called to say she was all right? She had probably gone off to steal something and had her cell phone turned off. Or at least that was the excuse Robin was telling herself and anyone else who dared come up with something worse.

She was staring off into space, thinking, when the cell phone suddenly rang with Sidda's ringtone. Snatching the cell phone off the table, Robin answered it. "Where are you?!"

"Hey, Ro—"

Robin cut her off. "You have to come home right now, it isn't safe, do you understand? White got to the Canada team, Denali's dead, and so are Nero and Lexington. Do you need someone to get you?"

"No, Robin, I'm fine." There was a pause, and it was oddly quiet on Sidda's end of the line. Seattle was never quiet. Maybe she was inside somewhere. "What do you mean, White got the Canada team?"

Robin told Sidda what she knew about what had happened to the team that had gone to Canada. They had been ambushed by White and his Familiars before they reached their destination; the ones who had survived had barely gotten out with their lives. "Everyone's falling back to Terminal City, even the people at the farm, so if you're off on some burgling high, get back here."

"I'm not burgling."

"So, whatever, you're coming back, right?" Robin clung to the phone, wondering why Sidda was being so weird. "Where are you?"

A pause. "Robin, I'm going away for a while."

There was a long moment of quiet where Robin just stared, her mouth hanging open. "What?"

Sidda gave a long sigh. "Something's come up, and I really need to handle it before coming back to T.C. It won't be forever."

"When are you coming back then? Tomorrow?" Robin demanded. She stood up, holding Taylor in one arm while pressing the phone to her ear with the other. "Why are you even leaving?"

"It's sort of hard to explain—"

"I don't understand," Robin said. She put Taylor down on the couch amidst pillows so she could focus on the conversation. She took a breath to try to calm herself down. "Look, whatever it is, it can't be that bad. Everyone's out looking for you, Alec's freaking out."

"Well, tell him not to, I'm fine," Sidda said tersely, "Seriously, tell him to stop looking."

"Tell him yourself, you have his number," Robin snapped back at her. She put her free hand on her hips and glared. "Or better yet, come home and tell him what's wrong. Tell me what's wrong!"

"I just need some time to think," Sidda replied.

"Can't you do that here?" Robin asked, "I don't get why you have to leave. Are you all right?"

"Yes, I told you, I'm fine."

Robin had been around Sidda enough to know that her friend was lying and doing a very poor job of it. She walked over to the window and pulled open the blinds so she could get a good look at the city as if she would somehow spot Sidda. "You are not, what's wrong?"

"Robin, I…"

"What?" Robin prompted, wanting her to finally say what was going on so she could refute it with logic since Sidda was obviously being irrational.

"You have to swear not to tell anyone, no matter what I tell you." Sidda was serious. "You can't even tell Seth."

"I won't," Robin replied.

"No, you have to swear," Sidda demanded, her tone stubborn and insistent.

Robin sighed and put a hand to her head. "Sure, Sidda, I swear not to tell anyone, no matter what you tell me."

"Okay." Sidda was quiet for a long time, and then she took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Robin stopped short, blinking. "Say that again."

"No, you heard me the first time," Sidda said.

"Are you serious?"Robin exclaimed, suddenly smiling, "That's great! Have you told Alec yet?"

"No, and you can't tell him either," Sidda said, "You swore not to."

"Wait, this is why you ran away?" Robin sat down on the couch next to Taylor and leaned back, trying to figure Sidda's mind out. "Why don't you want Alec to know you're pregnant?"

"Because…I just… he doesn't need the burden of a kid, ok? This is something I'm going to do on my own." Wonderful, Sidda was being noble.

"Sidda, you can do it on your own without leaving Terminal City."

"No, I can't. Alec would probably insist on helping out, and I won't have him there out of a sense of duty."

"Sidda, when have you ever seen a transgenic male who isn't totally thrilled at the idea of being a father? Alec would want to be part of the baby's life." Even though Robin was still trying to persuade Sidda to see reason, Robin also knew that Sidda was on one of her stubborn streaks. She wasn't going to change her mind about this, and Robin wasn't going to change her mind about the fact that she thought it important that Alec know what Sidda was up to.

Robin got up and went into her bedroom to search for that tape recorder she'd found and stuffed away in there last month. She'd swore she wouldn't tell Alec anything, but if she happened to leave a tape recording sitting around… well, she wasn't technically saying anything to him at all.

"Alec's different," Sidda said stubbornly. "You've heard about what he was like before…"

"Before you came along," Robin interrupted. "He isn't interested in being with anyone else now, Sidda. He just wants to be with you, and probably wants to have kids with you." Aha, found it. Robin pushed the record button, and breathed a sigh of relief as it worked. She wasn't sure she had any extra batteries floating around.

"Why would Alec want a kid? That would only tie him down; he probably never planned on staying with me permanently."

"That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever said," Robin shook her head and turned the tape recorder off. She couldn't do it. She couldn't play all of Sidda's insecurities out for Alec, that would just be cruel. "And no matter what the deal is, do you know how crazy it is to run off when you're supposed to have a baby? We're not like Ordinaries, Sidda, we can't just transfer hospitals. What are you going to do when they discover what you are?"

"I'll figure it out when it happens," Sidda replied stubbornly. "Look, Robin, I have to go."

"You have to give me something I can tell them," Robin said forcefully. "Otherwise they won't stop looking for you. So unless you want them to keep searching…"

"No, no, no." Robin could hear a deep sigh on the other side. "Look, tell them I'm ok, I won't go anywhere near Familiar territory, that I just needed some time to myself. Tell Alec I love him and that… that… he needs to start cooking for himself, ok? But clean the oven first."

"Oh, that's sweet," Robin said, rolling her eyes. She put her hand to her forehead, wishing desperately that she could think of some way to get Sidda to see reason. She just couldn't believe that Sidda planned to leave Terminal City for nine months, maybe even longer.

"You better keep in touch," Robin said.

"I will, but don't bother calling, just wait for me to call you. I'm throwing my cell phone away after this call."

"Sidda, really?"

"Bye, Robin."

"Bye." Robin listened to the cell phone click, then looked at Taylor who was watching her with wide eyes. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

The first thing she did was call Max to get her to pull everyone off of the search. It was actually pretty difficult to do; Max obviously wanted more of an explanation then "she's fine, nowhere near Familiars, she just needed to get away for a while."

But once that had been accomplished, Robin had to steal herself for the confrontation with Alec. Because she knew that once Alec had found out that it was Robin who called the search off, he would come to her demanding to know what Sidda was doing. And it was going to be the most difficult thing she'd ever done to not tell him.

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"The search has been called off? What? Why? Have they found her?"

Seth closed his eyes and tried not to pity his friend. He opened them again and Alec was giving him a strange, closed look.

"What aren't you telling me, Seth?"

Seth glanced down at his phone. He'd just hung up with Max. "Apparently Sidda called Robin. She told Robin everything was fine."

"Oh." Alec laughed and clapped Seth on the shoulder. "Don't act all weird like that, Seth. I thought they'd found her body or something, and you didn't want to tell me."

"No, no, nothing like that."

Alec frowned at Seth; Seth was still looking way too serious and tense. "What else did Sidda say when she called Robin?"

"I don't know exactly," Seth admitted, "All that Robin would tell Max was that Sidda was safe, staying away from Familiars and… needed some time to be away for a while."

Alec frowned and looked away. "I don't get it," he said finally. "Why didn't she tell me that something was wrong, that she needed to go away?" He pulled at the edges of his leather jacket. "Did she tell you guys that anything was bothering her?"

"No, she didn't. And I'm sure Robin would have said something to me if Sidda had told her anything."

"Call Robin," Alec urged. "I bet they talked longer; Robin probably just didn't want everyone knowing all the details."

"Or else Sidda didn't," Seth said quietly. Alec didn't say anything.

Seth flipped open the phone again and dialed Robin's number. After talking to her for a short minute, he hung up and looked at Alec. "She says she'd rather if you came over in person. She said it was kind of complicated."

"Well, that sounds like it definitely involves Sidda then," Alec said grimly. He really didn't know what was going on at this point. He'd known something was up with Sidda the last few days, but he hadn't been able to figure out what. He'd assumed that if it was a big deal, Sidda would tell him. Apparently he'd thought wrong, but whatever it was, he was going to put a lot more effort into finding it out.