This is Prompt No. 36-Calm

"YEEE!!!" the cry split the air, startling the people outside the halls. They stopped and stared at the door that blocked them from the source of the scream. The source, however, appeared in a short moment, tearing down the hall and flying down to the door marked "Scientist," not even bothering to knock.

Her voice was heard even through the barrier of the lab door, high, frightened, and rather child-like. The people in the halls shook their heads, whispering amongst themselves as they did so. Everyone down the hall heard the frightened, "Brown! I need your help, now!"

Inside, Brown started, surprised by the noise. He dropped the wrench he had been using on the C.A.R. and bit back a curse. Wiping his hands quickly on his coat, he tore out into the main room of the lab. His eyes took in Mitchie, her whole body trembling so violently that it appeared to be rocking, her eyes wide with fright.

Almost instantly, he was at her side. "Mitchie, darling, are you hurt?" he asked, checking all the while for obvious bloodstains.

"No," she whimpered, shaking her head harder than necessary. "But-"

"No broken bones?" Brown interrupted.

"No, but-"

Brown grimaced as she began to tremble harder. "Calm yourself, love," he crooned to her. "Here, come sit down and have some tea."

He plunked her down in an available lab chair and whisked away to get some tea. Mitchie tried to control her shaking while he was gone, but the harder she tried, the more she shook. She tried to take deep breaths. "This isn't helping either of you," she muttered to herself, trying to dredge up an incentive to stop vibrating.

Brown seemed to take an unnecessarily long time getting the tea ready, and Mitchie began to wonder if she should have gone to Caitlyn about this. No, she decided, she needed Brown. Over the weeks that Shane had been away, Brown had become like the father she was missing. He would help her, she knew, if he would slow down enough to find out what the problem was.

"Here you go, love," he said, coming back into the room. "Fresh pot." He winked at her and teased, "And I didn't even poison it." He set down a plate of sandwiches as well.

Mitchie smiled in spite of herself, remembering their little joke. "So kind of you," she said dryly as she picked up the cup he set down for her, her trembling hands making the teacup wobble and clatter.

Brown noticed and said, "Is there something wrong?"

"Well-"

"Well of course there is," he said, cutting her off again. "You never come to see me practically tearing the hinges off the doors."

Mitchie blushed, embarrassed by her panic-ridden haste. "Sorry about that," she apologized, actually surprised that she had gotten one full sentence in between his chattering. "You see-"

"I'm sure it has to do with Shane, doesn't it?" Brown asked, leaning forward as he took a quick sip of his steaming hot tea.

"Actually," Mitchie said, "it does have something to do with Shane. You see-"

"You must miss him terribly," Brown said, oblivious, despite his high credentials, that Mitchie had something important to say.

"Well, yes," Mitchie said.

"And it's right that you should miss him!" Brown assured her, though she needed no assurance.

"But-"

"Never fear," he said, hand raised to ward off whatever Mitchie was going to say. "I'm sure he misses you just as much."

"I would hope so," Mitchie told him, feeling slightly frustrated. Perhaps she should have gone to Caitlyn after all.

"But it's not like you'll never see him again," Shane assured her. "You'll see each other before you know it."

He paused, and Mitchie knew that now would be a good time to say what she needed to say, but she couldn't help saying instead, "Yes, but I have to wait all winter."

Brown chuckled and started again. "Of course you do! Missions don't solve themselves within a few days, well, not the important ones. Why, I remember…."

Mitchie tried to tune Brown out as he spoke, berating herself for not having taken the opportunity given to her to say something. She instead focused on trying to keep her hands from noticeably shaking. At least the one good thing about Brown was that when you were in his presence, his demeanor soothed you no matter what.

"And then there was this time," Brown went on, and Mitchie tried to pull herself into the conversation. The other good thing about Brown was that you could be off in your own little world and then come back, and not much would've gone on since you'd "left."

"Brown!" Mitchie exclaimed, unable to hold her problems in any longer. Her whole body was shaking again, straining against breaking down, which was looking like a better and better option.

Brown looked startled. "What?" he asked curiously.

"I hate to be rude," Mitchie began, but Brown picked up the trail once more, not letting her finish. He was in a rare mood today, and Mitchie guessed that it was the fumes from the C.A.R. that had done it to him.

"Oh, don't be silly!" he exclaimed, pushing the plate of sandwiches towards her. "Of course you can have one!"

Mitchie huffed. This was not how she had thought things were going to be when she had rushed over here. Well, technically that wasn't true. She hadn't given the idea much thought when she had rushed over to him. "Brown!" she cried, and her voice stopped him quickly, dissolving his rambunctious mood.

It was as though he was looking at her for the first time since he became sidetracked. He took in her eyes, still wide, though less scared than they had been, her face which was just as pale, and her lips, which were pressing in a hard line. For the first time in minutes, he heard the teacup rattling in her hands, and he realized that he had made a mistake. "Oh dear," he muttered. "Please tell me, Mitchie," he begged. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't listening to you, and it must be something terrible because you're shaking so hard! Forgive me, please."

Mitchie smiled weakly. "Of course I forgive you, and no, it's not terrible," she told him. "Actually, it's wonderful, just frightening."

"But you said it was about Shane, right?" Brown asked, making sure, and Mitchie was surprised that he had remembered that.

She nodded. "Yes," she said with a smile. "He had a big part in it."

"Well please tell me," Brown begged. "I'm listening."

"I came to you because I need your scientific expertise," Mitchie explained. She took a deep breath, fighting to stay calm, and said, "Brown, I'm pregnant."

The reaction took a moment, but then Brown launched himself at her, holding her gently in his arms as he waited for her to relax and let the trembling go away. "You poor thing," he crooned, stroking her hair. "You must be scared to death, and there I was, just chattering away without stopping." He began to rock slightly back and forth. "Are you sure?" he asked curiously.

Mitchie nodded. "Yes," she said aloud, "and I'm so excited. If Shane should, for some reason, not come back, I'll have a little piece of him with me. I'm just scared. I need advice."

Brown frowned. "I'm flattered that you came to me, but why not Caitlyn?"

"I'm telling Caitlyn as soon as I leave here," Mitchie assured him. "I'd like her as my midwife, but I wanted a little bit of reassurance from a doctor himself."

Brown snorted. "You give me far too much credit," he said, but went through each step with Mitchie slowly so that she could prepare herself.

"So what do we do now?" Mitchie asked him when they had finished their talk.

Brown shrugged. "We wait for winter."

A/N: Well? I'm sure that some of you thought that it was about time, so here you go! Hope you liked it, and thanks so much for all your wonderful comments! Love you guys!