Okidoki, here ya go finally, lol. Hope you enjoy the chapter; can't wait to hear from ya'll. have a great day!

Chapter 13

Sam tracked back to Cam's small office before going home. She hoped he wouldn't be there—that he had gone home—but it wasn't to be. There he was, forlornly shuffling through a stack of overdue paperwork.

"I'm never gonna get all this done, you know."

She chuckled and leaned against the side of the desk. "Sure you will. The stack's already smaller than it was last week."

Cameron sighed. "It was just so hard to focus on paperwork after…" After we found out Jackson really did go and get himself killed. She could hear the rest of the sentence without him needing to say it.

"She had to clear her throat then. "I uh…I've got a good stack to take home with me, too."

"Yeah. I think I'll stay here. It's easier to make myself do it if I'm in the office."

"Okay." Sam nodded. She leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning. Don't stay up too late, all right?"

She thought he was nodding, but his head dipped down too far. "Owww…"

"What is it?"

"Headache," he sighed. "All day."

"Then you shouldn't be doing this paperwork," she said firmly, hands on hips. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

Cam waved her off. "No thanks…I think I'll just hit the hay here."

"You sure?" she frowned.

He smirked. "Easy access to heavy meds if I don't feel better by morning."

Sam sighed and shook her head at him. "Fine."

He motioned her closer, and she took the hint to move in and let him kiss her before she left. Despite however much his head was pounding, that went a little longer than they intended. When she finally pulled back, reluctant to go, she let her forehead rest against his.

"Sam…"

"I know," she said quietly. But what else was she suppose to tell him? In no more than a month or two Vala would go on maternity leave at least from off-world missions, and if Cam was moved to another team SG-1 would be only Sam and Teal'c, until Vala was on her feet again. Three was all right but the two of them couldn't go out on their own….

She and Cam had to keep this under wraps, at least until Vala had the baby. He would understand once he knew about the pregnancy.

Sam just hoped Vala would tell the others soon, so he wouldn't think she was trying to put him off.

Daniel could see the tension in Edward's shoulders as he led the way back across the river and out into the forest through the falling darkness, farther than they'd ever gone to speak before. Edward wasn't taking any chances. Finally he stopped abruptly and whirled to face Daniel, who barely managed to stop short of him even with the improved reflexes.

"You were seeing a human woman." It wasn't a question.

He nodded. "It was months ago. I stopped it before it could go any farther."

"But it wasn't just any human woman; it was the woman who was with you when you were attacked. I recognize her. That mean she knew you before, and it means she had to have known when you were seeing her that something had changed you," Edward said tightly.

Daniel sighed, because he couldn't lie to Edward. He couldn't tell him that Vala was just used to strange, couldn't tell him that she hadn't demanded specifics, or that he hadn't given. But the truth was there in the front of his mind before he got around to saying anything, and Edward growled low in his throat. "So she knows everything?"

"I didn't have a choice, Edward. You don't know her. She saw me by accident, and I had to explain or she would have put herself in more danger looking for answers than she is by knowing."

"You don't know that."

"I wasn't going to take the chance!"

"Then why didn't you make sure she knew to keep quiet, and leave?"

His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he couldn't answer that—not without the fear of more wrath. Not that Edward would hurt him, but he hated even the thought of upsetting his new family, after everything they had done for him.

Edward stared at him for a moment, and Daniel tried to shut the truth into the back of his mind, but he was thinking about Vala now, and he couldn't stop—not after what had just happened with Tanya.

"You love her."

Part of him told him to deny, to save the Cullens the trouble, but he couldn't. "It's why I left," he admitted quietly. "I told her the truth to keep her safe, but then I couldn't leave at first, until I realized I was only putting her in more danger by being there."

There was silence for a while, too long. Daniel ran through the time he'd spent with Vala in his mind, letting Edward see what was relevant for himself. Edward paced, something vampires rarely do. They had no need for absent motion, yet he was apparently disturbed enough to consciously do it anyway. That didn't bode well. Daniel remained silent for as long as he could, waiting, wondering.

"There's no danger to any of you. She knows you didn't know about her. None of you are at fault."

"Perhaps not, but now I know. That isn't what worries me though; it's her safety. You should never have gone back to Colorado in the first place, even to look. What were you thinking! If you hadn't, none of this would have happened."

Daniel's hands balled into fists. "I know that. I'm sorry, but you can't understand…" You were never human as long as I was. None of you had the kind of ties to your human life that I have…had. You don't know what it's like trying to move on.

Edward sighed. "You're right. I can't know that. I can only know what I see in your thoughts, and from that it seems hard enough. I'm sorry it's like that for you, but you know we can't do anything about it. I wish we could. But we can't. The laws are laws for a reason."

"I know," Daniel swallowed. "But…she'll be all right, won't she? That's why I left. She'll be safer that way. She knows not to say anything. No one else will ever know…"

Edward shook his head. "Unfortunately, with the Volturi there is never that assurance. There is any number of ways they could become aware of her in the future. I suppose there is a better chance of her remaining safe for a little longer if you stay away from her, but at this point there really isn't much difference one way or the other."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know, Daniel. Maybe I'm saying that I don't know everything. But I do know this: Human women cannot be underestimated. Some of them, at least. I made that mistake once."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I tried to leave Bella once, when she was still human. I wanted to protect her, let her live her human life. I thought she would be better off without me. I thought she would let go of me once I was gone, but I was wrong. She was so much more stubborn than I ever imagined."

Daniel stared at him. "You—I didn't know that."

Edward tensed again. "Of course not. We don't like to talk about it. We don't like to think about it. We're together now, and we have forever. That's all that matters."

Neither of them said anything at first. The silence was deafening, even though both of them could hear the sounds of the forest much better than humans. Those noises seemed to die away.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Daniel asked finally.

"I can't make that choice for you. This is a different situation. You two are different people. Me…I wouldn't have been able to keep it up. I would have gone back to her eventually even if circumstances hadn't brought us together again before that. I couldn't live without her." Edward gave him a piercing stare. "I'd say that's a good way to determine what you should do. How do you feel?"

The air he needed to speak stuck in his throat. "I…I don't know."

"Yes you do."

Daniel snorted. "Are you suddenly developing the ability to read the subconscious mind as well?"

Edward shrugged. "No, not at all—but I know you. You want us to think you're happy. You think you're happy. But you're not."

"Maybe that's true…" he hedged, because he knew Edward was probably right. "I don't even know anymore. But…what does any of that matter if I'm trying to protect her?"

"Did you not hear what I said a moment ago? At this point it won't make much difference in her safety if you stay away from her or not. She knows, and that's not going to change."

Daniel paused. "Shouldn't you be more angry with me?"

"According to certain principles, yes, but then again I got myself into a very similar situation not that long ago. I can't exactly judge, now can I?"

He huffed. "No…I guess not. But you should. I don't want to do anything stupid, Edward, not after everything I messed up going back there in the first place. I hope Vala's moved on, but I can't know…and I know I hurt her when I left. What am I supposed to do?"

"I can't tell you that," Edward reiterated. "Again, it would have been better for both of you if you hadn't gone back there…if you hadn't fell in love with her. Neither of you would have been hurt. There's no denying that it would have saved everyone on both sides a lot of trouble." His voice fell to a whisper. "But there's no going back now, and that's something you have to accept."

Daniel stood stock-still, eyes wide even though he wasn't sure. The rest of the information was already processed—thanks to the improvements to his mind. But that didn't mean he could accept all of it so quickly. Was Edward trying to say he should go back? After everything he'd gone through to keep Vala safe? After leaving?

"It is a bit awkward, returning, even if no-one admits it. You have to accept that you made a mistake. But if you can be with her, is that so much to do?"

"But can I be with her?" he asked, strained. He hardly dared believe it, after everything seemed to point to the fact that he would have to leave, that it was the only option that made sense.

Edward's eyebrows went up. "I can't answer that, either."

"But—"

The other vampire held up a hand. "Don't try to come to a conclusion tonight, Daniel. This is something you should think through. With both decisions I spent so much time agonizing…maybe too much time, but you should think, long hard. Despite anything I've said, none of this is to be taken lightly."

Daniel let out a puff of air. "I know."

"I'll leave you alone," Edward said quietly.

He shrugged. "I don't have to worry about you overhearing my thoughts now. There's no point to staying out here. But…thank you." I think.

Edward nodded once and was gone in an instant, back toward the house, leaving Daniel to get there at his own pace.

Renesmee was waiting for him just inside the glass back door when he arrived at the house, and as he shut the door behind his she touched his arm. He saw an image from her, a partial view from the top of the stairs of Tanya kissing him, the fact that she'd seen what of the reaction he'd let slip. Daniel felt the question, knew the girl was asking if he was all right.

"I'll be fine," he winced, and she hugged him wordlessly. "You don't have to worry about me, Nessie…thanks."

Bella and Edward came down the stairs then, and waited until their daughter let go of him.

"Come on…it's time to head home for the night," Bella said then.

Daniel watched them go and headed up to his room. He dropped into the chair at his desk and let his head rest on his arms.

Sam got back to the SGC a little early the next morning, and Cam's car was still there. She hurried down to the base to look for him—to make sure he'd gotten that sleep he needed. Carolyn Lam was the only familiar face in the commissary, and Sam put off breakfast to track back to Mitchell's office. She would probably drop by Vala's room after that, too. Vala hadn't called her last night like she'd promised.

The saw the figure slumped over in the chair before she got to the door. She flung it open, preparing to scold him for falling asleep at his desk.

"I thought you were going to sleep in you room—"

She stopped when she realized that something didn't seem right.

"Cameron?"

There was no answer, and she realized that he was too pale. She could hear his breathing from the door, ragged and uneven.

"Cam!"

Sam all but launched herself to the desk and clamped a hand over his forehead. The skin there was damp and clammy, hot. Holding his head, she detected the nearly unnoticeable tremors that were rattling through him, and she realized that his neck looked red.

She didn't bother looking closer. She couldn't get to the intercom fast enough. "Cam, what's going on!" she breathed anxiously.

The medical team was there in less than five minutes, lead by Doctor Lam—who had no more answer to the question than Sam did.

Teal'c arrived as the medical team was carrying Mitchell out on a stretcher. "What has happened?" he questioned in concern.

"We don't know," Sam groaned. "But I'm going to the infirmary with him. Can you check on Vala for me?"

The jaffa nodded and went to do just that. Sam was pacing in the infirmary ten minutes later when Teal'c carried Vala in, and she was in the same condition.

"Carolyn!"

The doctor was at Sam's side in seconds, and saw Teal'c bringing in the new patient. "Oh no…"

"That didn't sound good. How bad is Cameron?"

"Not good," she grimaced. "We don't know much beyond that yet, but his vitals aren't good. She called for another gurney and instructed her team to put Vala next to Mitchell. It seemed they were dealing with two cases of the same thing…whatever it was.

Teal'c clutched Vala close before allowing the attendants to get her on the bed. "It appeared that this happened while she was sleeping…"

Sam swallowed. "Carolyn…Carolyn, she's pregnant." They didn't have the luxury of keeping it a secret now, not when it seemed that something was so horribly.

One of Teal'c eyebrows arched much farther up than usual.

"What?"

"Three months or so. She was going to tell everyone soon, but she just hadn't gotten around to it yet."

Carolyn opened her mouth as if to say something, thought better of it, and sighed. "We would have found out once we started examining her, but that's good to know beforehand. Thank you."

Sam nodded wordlessly, and the doctor was gone, back to her patients. Sam had crossed her arms tightly in front of her and tensed up before she realized she'd moved at all. Teal'c pulled her into a gentle embrace, and she took it gratefully.

The ceiling was much farther away when Vala woke up than she thought it should have been. She wasn't really sure; her head hurt too much for a lot of though. Groggily she looked around, felt a tug on one arm. She glanced down and would have jumped off the bed in surprise at the sight of the IV in her arm, but realized that she didn't feel strong enough to do much moving at all.

It took a moment for her to recognize her surrounding—one of the medical isolation rooms. Now she understood the high ceiling, saw the observation windows.

Something happened…you're sick, common sense told her. She took that calmly, until she remembered the other life depending on. The baby!

Vala looked around more pointedly now, and realized that she wasn't alone in the room, either. Teal'c was sitting in a chair in the closest corner, looking like he was meditating or some such thing, and Sam was pacing between her bed and another…

Cameron.

He looked just as bad as she felt, and he was still unconscious.

She cleared her throat, tried to say something, but that alone was enough to get Sam's attention.

"Vala!" Her friend was at her side, immediately, sinking onto a stool that was already there. "Hey…how are you feeling?" It was asked tightly. Carter looked like she'd been crying.

"Not good…what happened?"

"Teal'c found you in your bed this morning in this condition. I found Cam in his office…" She shuddered.

"What's wrong? With us…"

Sam swallowed and turned Vala's hand over so she could see it. There was on angry red welt there, on the back of her left hand. Strange, she didn't even feel it, but it looked horrible.

"It's some kind of insect bite, probably from the last time we were off-world a few days ago, that recon. It's a delayed reaction…or maybe it always takes this much time. We don't know. Cam has two of these, on the back and side of his neck. He's worse; it doesn't look good right now…" She trailed off.

Vala opened her mouth, but Sam grabbed her hand tightly and went on. "But you're both going to be fine, okay?"

She sighed and stared at the ceiling. "They know, don't they?"

"It was a medical emergency; I had to tell Carolyn about the baby. Teal'c was there at the time, because he brought you in, and Carolyn has to report to General Landry…yes. They know. I'm sorry."

"-oesn't matter," Vala said, and shook her head once on the pillow. "Oww."

"Does your head hurt?"

She clenched her eyes shut. "Yes."

"I'll get someone in here to give you something."

Vala nodded, and while she wasn't looking, she was able to ask the next question. "Is the baby all right?"

Hesitation. "Right now, yes."

Vala waited a moment. "This is…worse than you're making it out…to be, isn't it?" The blinding pounding in her head was getting worse by the minute, and speaking was becoming more difficult, much less concentrating.

Silence.

Of course.

The pain clouding her head faded her out until she heard movement on her other side, opened her eyes enough to see a nurse putting something else in her IV. As unconsciousness crept up on her, Vala remembered Sam's silence to her last question. She could think of only one answer, after that.

Well…maybe it didn't matter. If something happened to her, she was sure that the baby would come with her wherever she went—or go somewhere better, even. What was so wrong with that? What was the point of staying here anyway, without Daniel? There were her friends…but this was easier. Maybe this was a good thing.

It was so much easier…

Alice hadn't bothered him since he talked to Edward, but Daniel was that she knew Edward knew the truth now, about Vala. Doubtlessly she just understood that he needed this time to himself, to think.

But the next afternoon the door to his room flew open, and there she was, wide-eyed and alert. "Daniel, come with me," she ordered. Something about her tone told him not to hesitate.

She dragged him quickly out to the end of the long winding driveway, where his car was already sitting, idling.

"But my keys are in my room…"

"And you think we don't keep extra's for all of the vehicles? But that's not the point here."

"Then what is?" He looked closer, and realized that now that they were out of the house, her expression was much more troubled, even worried. With her ability to know things about the future, she was very rarely worried. "What is it?" he asked anxiously.

"Vala," she said immediately. "I saw her for the first time since before you left her. What something like that happens, it's important, I—" She stopped, bit her lip.

Daniel almost choked. "What? What's wrong with Vala?" It had to be something wrong, or Alice wouldn't look like that. Alice never looked like that.

"Daniel, something happened. She's sick…she could die. You have to go to her now, and you don't have much time."