I wanted to get more up for ya'll, so I typed this up and uploaded. It's not really long, but there were some important things that needed to happen I wanted to get out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter; can't wait to hear from you! Oh, and I just updated Left Behind: SG-1 yesterday, for those of you who read it. I haven't gotten any reviews on that chapter yet, so I thought I'd let ya'll know. :) Thanks!

Chapter 15

"So? Was I right? Vala is pregnant, isn't she?"

Out in the woods by the mountain again now, Daniel sighed as he held his cell phone to his ear. "Yes, Alice. She's pregnant."

"Oh…I'm sorry; I wouldn't have thought she would find someone else so soon."

Daniel smiled to himself. "But that's not it at all. It's mine."

Hesitation. "Daniel, I'm sorry, but that's not possible. If it was yours…let's just say things wouldn't have been pretty, and it would already be over."

He knew that must have something to do with the difference between human pregnancy and human/vampire hybrids like Renesmee, but no-one had ever given him the whole story behind her birth beyond the fact that it was much shorter than normal gestation, and had somehow necessitated Bella's transformation into a vampire. He didn't think he wanted to know the rest.

"No, Alice, you're not understanding me. The baby is human."

"What?" She growled in frustration. "I hate that I don't know her as well as you. I can't see her well at all. I should already know this. All right, what do you mean? How can it be your child if it's human?"

Daniel winced. "Well…that's the uncomfortable part. She uh…she was upset. I'm pretty sure she took a few more samples from the base than I asked for. That seemed to be what she was trying to tell me, but again, she was still drugged."

"Oh, I see. She used your sperm."

"Yes, thank you, if you really want to put it that way," he answered, rolling his eyes. "Just…she's Vala. I don't think she thought it through. She's getting better at thinking about things first, but she's not perfect. I'm not really sure if she planned to end up pregnant or not."

"Wouldn't simply planting sperm like that carry a considerably smaller chance of resulting in pregnancy than actual intercourse?"

He felt his jaw clench a little, wanting to get off of the topic. He didn't want to focus on the aspects of this that bothered him, because in the end that really didn't matter now. The reality was that no matter how it had happened, there was a child on the way and he was the father.

"Probably, but obviously it was enough," he said tightly. "And your point is?"

"Nothing," she chirped. "Just curiosity. Since I don't remember my human life at all I don't know much about human reproduction, after all."

"Have you satisfied enough curiosity for now?"

"Yes." There was a pause. "Oh good, you're planning on sticking around. I knew Edward would talk some sense into you if he found out." He wondered if that meant she'd figured, or she'd known.

He smirked. "Can you tell me the sex of the baby too?"

"No, it doesn't work like that. That isn't based on a decision."

"Ah."

"We didn't know what Nessie was either, until she was born."

Daniel frowned. "Doesn't Carlisle have an ultra-sound machine at the house?"

"Carlisle has just about everything here at the house, but an ultra-sound won't penetrate our skin, and there was an extra lining in the uterus just like our skin that was protecting Renesmee."

He realized she'd just answered many of the questions he hadn't dared ask before. Only vampire teeth and werewolf claws and teeth were sharp enough to penetrate vampire skin. If something like that had been inside Bella, around Renesmee before she was born…

He shuddered, and swayed back against a tree, suddenly gladder than ever that he and Vala hadn't tried anything that could have resulted in a hybrid pregnancy.

"O-Oh…"

Alice spoke up quickly to change the subject again. "Anyway, I'm glad you're staying."

Daniel swallowed and shrugged. "Yeah, well, even if Edward hadn't anything to me, I don't think I could leave now. I love her, Alice, and now I have another responsibility. I'm going to be here for her as much as I can."

Silence.

"Alice?"

There was nothing for several long moments, and he realized she must have been seeing something more involved than usual. Considering what they were talking about…he didn't think that could bode well.

Daniel waited another few moments, but still she said nothing, and he couldn't take it anymore. "Alice, please say something," he pleaded anxiously. "What's wrong?"

Finally she spoke. "Daniel, I…it's hard to explain. I don't know if Vala's going to make it or not. She still doesn't know what she wants."

He sucked in a breath.

"But somehow, no matter how much the visions change, I always see the baby."

Before Sam left again for the night, Vala caught at her jacket to make her stop. Finally they were the only two in the room, the only two awake anyway, and she needed to talk to her…

"Sam…"

Carter stopped and took the hand that had tugged at her clothes. "What is it, Vala? Do you need something?"

She nodded, barely. "A promise," she whispered, through the blur her vision had become. "Need you…to promise me something."

Sam came down to her level, maybe bending or crouching or sitting in the chair she couldn't tell. "What?" she asked nervously.

"The baby. Don't…don't let anything happen to the baby." Even if she couldn't keep herself alive, even if she didn't want to, Vala couldn't deny the child the life it deserved because of her weakness or her selfishness. It had foolish to think about it before.

Though maybe the dream Daniel she barely remembered had a little to do with the decision to protect the baby.

"Vala, we're doing all we can. You're gonna be fine."

She shook her head again.

"Don't do that. You will be."

"What if I'm not? Sam…if the baby is…in danger, get it out. Don't…don't wait," she breathed as forcefully as she could. "Don't. Let it. Die."

She heard Sam swallow. "B-but what are we supposed to do? It's not developed enough yet. It couldn't survive. Not for another couple of months at the very least."

"I know," Vala hissed. "Find someone else. If I can't…"

"To carry it?" Carter asked quietly.
She closed her eyes and nodded again. "Yes. Anyone, just…so he lives."

Sam tried to smile, but it didn't come out very well. "He?"

"Just a feeling…"

"Oh—" Carter's voice broke off, and there was silence for a long moment. Vala could hear the tears in her friend's voice. "If it would make you feel better…"

Vala managed to squeeze her friend's hand, and opened her eyes to look into the center of the barely discernible blur that was her face. "Yes. Please…please promise. Make sure the baby will live. Please," she whispered. "You can do that…right? Even at this stage?"

A slow nod. "I'm not sure just how far Earth's technology goes with that, but I know with a little easily-accessed off-world help, we could do that easily enough."

"Good."

Sam's head ducked for a moment, and when she picked it up and spoke next her voice wasn't so shaky anymore. "I'll do it. More than anything I want both of you to be all right, but if it comes that, I'll do it. I'll take the baby. I wouldn't be able to trust it to anyone else."

Vala blinked sluggishly. "You…?"

Carter nodded firmly. "I promise."

Vala's eyes shut again, and she felt the few warm tears that slipped down her cheeks, but she couldn't help but help but smile a little. "That's why you're my best friend."

Sam stood and hugged her gently, before leaving. By the time Vala opened her eyes again the lights were down. She stared at the dark ceiling at sleep closed in, wondering, as usual over the last few days, if it was the last time her eyes would close.

Something cold touched her shoulder, and she jerked. Whatever it was closed over her shoulder and tugged a bit, a distant voice asked her to look.

She didn't, and the shock of the startlingly white profile brought her back from near unconsciousness enough to recognize the voice that called to her.

"Vala, please, can you hear me? It's me, it's Daniel. I'm here…"

She still couldn't see clearly, but she stared in wonder at the amber circles that she knew were his eyes. Everything was in place in the image she saw beside her now: The eyes, the voice, the brown hair, the white skin, the cold touch, the concern…

But it couldn't really be him, could? Last night had been a dream.

"Daniel…"

"Yes!" the image cried with joy. Then both of her hand were off of the bed and being held again and a cold, hard chest, and an icy forehead was pressed against hers. So close, the golden eyes were suddenly very clear.

"I'm here, Vala. I'm real. I came back…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I left. I'm so, so sorry…" the image said with a dry sob. "Please…please live. Please hold on."

She blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of it. "Real?" she asked weakly.

"Yes. I'm real. I'm not leaving this time." The white granite hand that caressed her cheek now felt soft with the relief it brought. "Please fight this. I know you can."

The sickness? Or unconsciousness? She couldn't fight unconsciousness…it was night. The drugs were dripping into her system again, erasing the pain in her head but clouding everything else, dragging her under. He meant the illness. That was what he meant. But could she? Did she even want to fight it?

"Please, Vala. You can get through this; I'll be waiting right here. I'll be right here for you…"

Maybe. Maybe she could. Maybe she should fight. But how?

But she had to. If this was real…

"Daniel," she sobbed. "Daniel, I love you." It didn't matter that he'd left. She knew he thought he'd been doing the right thing. Maybe she would be angry at him later. Now she was too weak to be angry. Vala just wanted him back.

She wanted more than anything for this to be real.

"I love you too," Daniel answered.

And there was no mistaking the tone with which he said it—the way that told her he meant it, the way she had heard more than once before.

The tears were back, and she smiled again, but Vala had no time to say anything else before the drugs pulled her under.