A/N: Although I do own the series on dvd finally…I do not own the rights…sadly enough.

Just throwing this out there…I have officially set a new record for myself when it comes to writing. On this site, my second longest story is 15,656 words. This story (before this chapter) is at 41,100 words. Exactly. How amazing is that? I feel very accomplished! And it is all thanks to you guys and all of the reviews I have received. Thank you all so very much for supporting the story!

Now…on with the chapter…as Shakespeare might have said. Although, I doubt if he ever did.

(Sorry, that's a slightly altered line from a play I was recently involved in. Anyways.)

Chapter 13

Sheppard, Lorne, and SGA2 were on their way back to the gate after successfully negotiating for some crops. Everything had gone smoothly so far.

But that didn't stop John from getting a really bad feeling. He had mentioned it to Lorne and told him to keep his eyes open.

That had been just over two hours ago. They were about a mile and a half from the gate when bullets started to fly towards them.

Sheppard gave the order to book it back to the gate. His team was soon surrounded except for Lt. Wheelhouse who had managed to slip past the men who were attacking them. He hid behind a tree and tried to get a good shot.

Sheppard looked up and spotted him. He slightly shook his head and then motioned towards the gate ever so subtley. Wheelhouse nodded and took off towards the gate as quickly and quietly as possible.

He made it back to the gate without being seen. As soon as the gate activated, the men surrounding Sheppard and the others got distracted by the noise.

John knew they'd never make it back to the gate, so he made the order to attack and then they took off running away from the men to try to find refuge until reinforcements arrived.

Wheelhouse quickly entered his idc and then ran through the gate once the shield was lowered.

He ran in and immediately flew up to the control room to find Dr. Weir.

"Dr. Weir!" Elizabeth met him at the stairs. "Lt. What happened? Where's the rest of your team?"

Wheelhouse took a second to catch his breath, but then caught her up on everything that had happened. Elizabeth turned around and walked over to Chuck. "Get Sheppard's team up here, now. I also want another team of marines going with them." Chuck nodded and made the calls. He also made an extra call to Nikki, letting her know the situation.

Once they received the call, the team looked at each other sitting around the table at the mess hall. Ronon slammed his fist down onto the table. "I knew it! I knew he shouldn't have gone without us!"

They jumped up and made their way to get ready and then into the control room as quickly as possible.

Nikki, Kira, and Alex went straight for the control room, whereas the team went for the locker room. When they walked in, Nikki went straight for Elizabeth. "Dr. Weir, what's going on?"

She explained to Nikki that Sheppard and his team had been attacked and they were still on the planet. They didn't know much else. Kira stepped around Nikki. "I want to go with them, ma'am. I'm highly experienced in situations like this. Albeit, I'm not as familiar with an alien planet, but you need as many capable soldiers as you have out there getting your men back and I want to help."

Elizabeth turned and looked at Kira. "Are you sure?" Kira nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

Nikki and Alex stared at Kira. "Kira, it's really dangerous out there. You don't have to do this."

Kira smiled at her new-found sister and put her hands on her shoulders. "Nikki, I do have to do this. For one, the father of your child is out there on that planet being attacked and I'm not going to stand around here twiddling my thumbs waiting for something good to happen. That's not me. And for two, well let's just say there's a little bit of self-ish reasons I'm doing it as well. Nikki, I'll be fine. I have to do this, okay?"

Nikki nodded. "Come back safe. And bring him with you." Kira smiled and nodded. She was about to leave, but then stopped. "Um, I don't exactly know where the locker room is…"

Alex stepped up. "Come on, I'll show you."

They left the control room and Elizabeth turned to Nikki. "Did she say the father of your child?"

Nikki blushed and looked down at the ground. "Yeah. I haven't really told anyone yet besides Kira and Alex. And Jennifer knows because she did the test."

Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully. "But John doesn't know?" Nikki looked up at her with sad eyes. "I was going to tell him tonight."

She gave Nikki a small smile and put her hand on her shoulder and squeezed a little bit. "They'll bring him home. They always do."

Nikki smiled. "Yeah, I just wish for once he didn't get into any trouble." Elizabeth chuckled. "You and me both."

Chuck yelled over to Elizabeth, "The teams are ready!" She nodded. "Dial the gate."

He started dialing and Elizabeth moved to the balcony. She looked down at the people going. Teyla and Ronon looked up at her. "Bring them home safely."

They nodded and then stepped through the gate.

SGA

Sheppard led his men through the forest about three and a half miles from where they'd been attacked. They found a river and, hidden beside it, a small cave big enough for all of them.

He ushered everyone inside, surveyed the area to make sure they weren't seen, and then stepped inside. He turned and looked at his men. "Is anyone injured?"

They all shook their heads and he nodded. "Good. Wheelhouse made it back to the gate to get reinforcements. All we have to do is wait it out until Atlantis gets here. If we're lucky, Ronon will be pissed and will shoot first, ask questions later."

Lorne chuckled and nodded. "Sir, I'm pretty sure all it takes is for you to be attacked and he'll shoot first, ask questions later."

Sheppard smirked and leaned out of the cave, surveying some more. He smiled to himself at the thought of how much the Satedan cared for him. What Lorne had said was true. Ronon was very protective.

They waited in the cave for about ten minutes and then Sheppard heard a noise.

The men didn't hear it because they were quietly talking amongst themselves. Sheppard stood up and moved to the mouth of the cave. Lorne watched and followed him.

"Sir?" Sheppard held up a hand, silencing him. He leaned out as far away from the mouth of the cave as he dared. He knew he had heard something.

And there it was again. The snapping of a twig. He whipped around and silenced the men. He picked up his p90 from the ground and slowly made his way out of the cave with Lorne a step behind him.

He didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there. He stopped and knelt down behind a bush. He motioned for Lorne to do the same. He just caught sight of one of the men who had attacked them moving towards the river. So far he hadn't seen them or the cave.

And then Sheppard's radio crackled. He moved as quickly as he could to shut it off and stop it from making noise. It was too late. The man had heard it and started moving towards where the noise had come from.

Then Sheppard got an idea. He turned his radio back on and held the button down so that the team that had just come through the gate could hear everything. He signaled for Lorne to shoot him before he got any closer. He wanted the team to hear the gun fire, that way they knew they were alive and still fighting.

Right as Lorne was pulling the trigger, Sheppard spotting about ten more men closing on their position. Under the cover of gunfire, he lifted the radio to his mouth. "3 and a half clicks east. By the river." He quickly turned his radio off, stuffed it into his pocket, and started firing at the quickly advancing men.

The team from the cave quickly made their way to Sheppard and Lorne's position and started firing as well. It was five against a quickly growing number. There were a lot more of them than they had thought.

SGA

When Sheppard's voice yelled over the radio, Ronon immediately started in the direction he had said to go. They could hear the gunfire without the radio. They had tried to reach him again, but Ronon figured he had shut it off to avoid being detected.

He quickly found their men's tracks and set off in the direction they had gone. They had made it the spot where they'd been attacked before Sheppard had used the radio, so it wasn't hard to find the tracks.

After a few minutes, the gunfire stopped. That could either mean that their friends had succeeded and fought off their attackers, or were injured, unconscious, or dead.

Ronon didn't want to think about the second option.

SGA

Sheppard signaled for the men to jump in the river. It wasn't too bad of a current and it just might keep their attackers from following them. He tucked his radio as far into his vest and close to his body as he could. He wanted to be able to use it again when he needed to.

The men jumped in first while Lorne and Sheppard held off the others. When he saw they were all in the river, he motioned for Lorne to follow. As soon as he heard Lorne hit the water, he jumped in himself, a bullet grazing his arm as he stopped firing.

They tried to stay underwater as much as they could. That way the attackers didn't know where to fire and there was less of a chance at one of them getting hit.

Luckily, the river had a faster current that the men couldn't keep up with. That was just about the only thing on their side at the moment. That, and the fact that their friends were on their way through the forest after them.

Sheppard didn't like the idea of just leaving his friends to deal with the men, but they had the element of surprise on their side. They were coming up behind the men who were following the river south. He was fairly confident that they could hold their own in this situation.

Once they lost the men, they started trying to find things to grab hold of to get themselves out of the water. As great of a tactic as it was, the water was cold. They wouldn't be able to stay in there much longer.

Sheppard spotted a low-hanging bridge a little ways up ahead. He yelled to his men to grab ahold of it when they got close enough. They nodded and focused their efforts and attention on that bridge.

About a minute later, John realized the bridge was the last thing between them and the giant waterfall they were approaching.

SGA

Teyla knew that John would be very upset with her when they found him that she had gone on the mission. He had told her he was taking her off of active duty because of her pregnancy, but there was no way that she was going to sit around while her friend and teammate was being attacked on another planet.

They made good time and made it to the river quickly, but then the tracks stopped. "They're not here? But Sheppard said at the river!" Teyla glanced over at Rodney, but then continued surveying the area.

They found the cave they had been in and the bush Lorne and Sheppard had been behind. Ronon moved to the bush and then looked up at Teyla. "Teyla! Over here!"

She moved towards him and saw what he had been looking at. John had positioned sticks in an arrow towards the river before he had given the order for them to jump in. He knew Ronon couldn't track them once they jumped in and he didn't want to take the chance of his radio not working.

"Good ole Shep." Ronon started down the length of the river. "They jumped in! Look for signs of them! Anything. Their vests, clothes, anything."

The teams followed Ronon, letting him lead the way. He had been a runner for seven years, afterall.

SGA

They were quickly approaching the bridge/waterfall. "Okay! This is our last chance before we go over. Whatever you do, get on that bridge!"

They all yelled their acknowledgements and focused on the best way to catch the bridge before going over the waterfall.

Sheppard would be the last to hit it since he had been the last one in. Their first guy was minutes from reaching it and Sheppard watched him intently. He reached the bridge, reached up, and barely had time to grab onto the rope. He pulled himself up and secured himself so that he could help the others.

The second man made it onto the bridge just fine with the help of the first. And then the next man came. He was getting there quickly. Everything was fine until he boot snagged on a branch in the water and pulled him under. By the time he resurfaced, he had already passed the bridge.

Before anyone could do anything, he went over the waterfall. There was nothing they could do for him. There was no way he could survive that fall. He made a mental note to have Elizabeth send a team to see if they could recover a body.

Lorne was having the same problem. He boots kept getting snagging and he kept being dragged under. He made a snap decision.

He saw a rock coming up between him and Sheppard. He looked at Sheppard and he nodded. Evan lunged for the rock, slammed into it, and held on. Sheppard tried making his way over in that direction.

He made it over far enough to reach out his hand towards Lorne as he was passing. Lorne grabbed him around the wrist and Sheppard flung him in his direction.

There had been no branches to get caught on in the path John was going. They both reached the bridge at the same time. Thankfully, there were two marines up there and they both caught the men by their wrists and helped them climb up.

John didn't pause to relax his aching muscles. He jumped up, hauling Lorne with him. He started making his way to the end of the bridge when one of the ropes snapped.

The bridge pitched to the left, sending the men sideways. Luckily, they had all been already hanging onto the rope that hadn't snapped and were able to hang onto the bridge as it dipped into the river.

They started to slowly work their way along the rope towards land, but it was a wide river and there was a lot of rope.

John was about twenty feet from the shore when he heard gunfire. It was too far off to be the men shooting at him. His first thought was of worry for their friends. He had been distracted by the gunfire and hadn't noticed log that was coming downstream straight towards him.

Lorne saw it too late. He shouted to Sheppard, "Colonel! Look out!"

John snapped his head around and saw the log right as it hit his legs. The force of the blow knocked the rope out of his hands and sent him under the water.

Lorne lost sight of him for a couple of minutes. Sheppard had opened his eyes when he went under, saw the broken rope and reached for it. Thankfully the log hadn't carried him with it.

He caught the rope and slowly made his way to the surface, but it wasn't enough to be able to reach the top rope. He was barely able to keep himself surfaced.

Lorne picked up his speed and made it to the Colonel. He reached his hand down as far as it could go. "Colonel! Grab my hand!" John looked up and saw Lorne's arm reaching towards him.

He caught his arm and Lorne pulled him up out of the water enough that he could reach the top rope again. He turned and looked at Lorne. "Thanks, Major. I'd be over that waterfall if it weren't for you."

"Don't mention it, sir. If I don't make sure you make it home alive, Nikki will shoot me for sure."

John laughed and looked at his XO. They had gotten a lot closer in the past couple of months. "Nah, she wouldn't shoot you. She'd probably have Ronon shoot you."

Lorne laughed and nodded. "True. Either way, I'd prefer that not to happen?" John nodded and looked back at the shore. "Yeah, so would I, Major."

By the time John had reached the top rope, the firing had stopped. John stopped moving towards shore and dug in his tact vest. He pulled out his radio and turned it on. Somehow it still worked.

"Ronon, Teyla, this is Sheppard. Come in." There was a pause before Teyla's voice came over the radio. "Colonel Sheppard, it is good to hear your voice. Where are you and the rest of the men?"

He turned and looked at Lorne. "We're saved, Major." Lorne smiled and nodded. "Thank God!"

John pressed the talk button. "Well…technically we're in the river…and technically…we're not."

He released it so that he could get a better grip on the rope. "Colonel?" John chuckled and hit the botton, "Well, you see we're in a bit of a pickle. We happened to come across a waterfall. A pretty big one too. We managed to catch the bridge before we went over. All of us except Schimdt, that is. We were crossing the bridge when one of the damn ropes broke. We were making our way back to shore by using the top rope, but we recently had some difficulties and it slowed us down. We're about twenty feet from shore and the only thing stopping us from going over that damned waterfall is a bridge that's falling apart. So, if you could make it down here soon, I'll buy everyone that came with you a beer when we get home."

"Copy that, John. Hang on, we'll be there shortly." "We'll do our best, Teyla. Sheppard out."

He tucked his radio back into his vest and secured it before starting towards shore again. He made it about five feet before that rope gave a little. He didn't completely snap, but it was close. "Stop! The rope's about to go!" He quickly dug out his radio again.

"I change my mind. If you get here in the next two minutes, I'll buy everyone a damn keg! The rope is about to give."

Teyla looked up at Ronon and they burst into a run. John quickly tucked the radio away again and grabbed onto the rope with both hands. It gave a little more and they dipped farther into the river.

"Colonel, I don't like this." He shook his head. "Neither do I, Major, but our only chance is to move as less as possible until Ronon can secure the rope."

John looked over in the direction they would be coming and saw Ronon running as fast as he could.

He reached the rope and immediately grabbed onto it and started pulling on it. He brought it up far enough that some men behind him were able to hold on to the end of the rope as well for extra security.

Once they got it as secure as they could manage, John yelled the men. "Okay, move!" They moved as fast as they could to shore. Teyla and Kira helped pull all four of them up onto the land.

John laid back and let his muscles relax for a minute. "Got here not a moment too soon." He sat up and looked at his friends. "Glad you could join the party." Ronon snorted and moved towards Sheppard. He held out his hand and John took it.

Ronon pulled him to his feet and then turned and did the same for Lorne while the other marines helped the other two up.

"Good to see you too, Shep." John smiled and rested his hand on Ronon's shoulder. "I owe you a keg, my friend."

Ronon smiled and nodded. "That you do."

"Okay, let's go home, and I'll put in an order for the Daedalus to ship it out the next time they're on their way to Atlantis." "Sounds like a plan, Shep."

Rodney walked over to Sheppard. "All they did was hold a rope!" Sheppard rolled his eyes. "Yeah? And what did you do?"

Rodney shut his mouth. "Point taken." Sheppard grunted and looked up at Ronon who was giving Rodney a death glare. "Come on, kids, let's get back home."

"Kids? Sheppard, you do realize I'm just as old as you are, right? I mean…I don't know about Conan here, but I am not a kid…" He trailed off at Sheppard's look. "Rodney, it's a figure of speech. Now get walking. I want to get home before it gets dark and cold."

They started on their way through the forest and then a thought struck Sheppard. He turned and looked at Kira. "What are you doing here?"

She turned and looked up at him. "The team needed all the help they could get, sir, so I volunteered to come with. And I promised Nikki I'd bring you home in one piece."

Sheppard chuckled and looked at Lorne. "Looks like you're not the only one who's looking after me for her." Lorne chuckled and nodded. "Yes, sir. We all know how she would skin us if we didn't bring you home."

John laughed and shook his head. He thought it was priceless that he was the Commanding Military Officer, the man who was supposed to make sure his team got home safe at all costs, even if it meant his own life, and here were his friends doing the same thing for him to save their asses when it comes to his girlfriend. Nothing could beat that.

They were on their way home. They were almost back to safety. Almost. And that's when Kira accidently stepped through a trap that had been covered up quite effectively. Someone had covered a hole that led down into deep chasm.

Her foot went through the branches that were covering it. She fell through the branches and would have fallen to her death, but John had been walking right next to her when she went through.

When he saw her go down, he grabbed a hold of her wrist, locking theirs together, and went down with her. They fell about seventeen feet before he found a root to catch hold of and stop their fall. It jarred his shoulder to stop their fall like that, but he held on as tightly as he could.

He looked down at Kira. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry. I didn't even see the hole!" "It's okay, Major. Neither did I. It happens to the best of us."

He looked up towards the top of the hole. Lorne, Teyla, Rodney and Ronon were peering down. Lorne called down to him. "Colonel, are you both okay?" "Besides the aching in my shoulder from a grinding halt like that, we're fine. Get some rope and haul us out of here!"

Lorne and Ronon looked at each other. "We should send the marines back to the gate and get rope from Atlantis. I don't trust the rope from that bridge."

Ronon nodded and looked back down at Sheppard. "Might wanna hurry. He can't hold on forever."

He nodded and looked down at Sheppard. "I'm going to send the marines back to Atlantis to get rope. Just hang on, sir!" "Just tell them to hurry, Major!"

Lorne turned to the maries. "You heard the Colonel. Get back to the gate as quickly as possible and bring back that rope. Tell Dr. Weir the situation, but get your asses back here."

They nodded. "Yes, sir!" They took off running in the direction of the gate. Rodney watched them go. "Sure hope they don't get lost." Ronon grunted and rolled his eyes.

SGA

The marines ran through the gate. Elizabeth, Nikki, and Alex were already waiting in the gate room when they came through. "Where are the others?"

One of the marines moved towards Dr. Weir. "We subdued the men who attacked Colonel Sheppard and the rest of them, but when we found them, they were in the river hanging onto a bridge that was giving out. We got them out of the water safely and were on our way back the gate. And then the new girl…I'm sorry, I don't know her name. Blonde, she was walking with the Colonel and his team ahead of us. She stepped through a trap that led to a chasm. Colonel Sheppard was walking next to her and was able to grab ahold of her arm before she went through, but they both went down. He managed to grab ahold of a root about…fifteen feet down or so, it was hard to judge from the top. Major Lorne sent us back for rope to haul the two up."

Dr. Weir nodded and motioned for the other two to quickly get what they needed. When they were ready to go back, she turned to the marine that had relayed the story. "Hurry and get back to them. And bring them back. In one piece." "Yes, ma'am, I'll do my best."

They quickly went through the gate and ran in the direction they had come from.

SGA

Nikki looked at Elizabeth as the gate shutdown. "They were attacked, stuck in a river hanging onto a bridge that was giving out, and now, as if they hadn't laughed in the face of death enough times today, John and Kira are hanging from a root in a chasm? It's as if something's conspiring against them and wants them to die. Why the hell can't they just make it back safely for once without the extra life-threatening experiences?"

Elizabeth nodded and stared up at the gate. "I hate to say it, but that's the Pegasus Galaxy for you. It doesn't seem fair, does it?"

Nikki shook her head and moved back towards the step. All this stress and worrying was tiring her out. She sat down and set her crutches to the side and put her head in her hands. "No, it's not. I just want them home safely already."

Elizabeth and Alex sat down on either side of her. Alex started rubbing circles on her back the way John did to try to calm her down. "So do I. And I'm not letting them leave for a week. I think they've used up their punch card for escaping death for a while."

Nikki nodded and sighed. She just wanted John back. He couldn't die. She was having his child and he didn't even know.

SGA

Rodney looked up and saw the marines approaching. "Well it's about time!" Ronon grunted. "McKay. Shut it." He grabbed the rope from the men and tied one end of it around a tree not too far from the hole, but far enough where they could grab onto it and pull their friends to safety.

He tossed the rest of the rope to Lorne. He caught it and moved carefully to the edge of the chasm. He looked up at Ronon who nodded, signaling he was ready.

"Okay, Colonel, Ronon tied one end around a tree and I'm going to toss the other end down to you. We'll pull you up."

Sheppard looked down at Kira. "When he tosses the rope down, grab it and they'll pull you up."

"What about you, sir?" "I don't have any free hands at the moment, Major, unless you want me to let go of the root."

She snorted and shook her head. "Yeah, go right ahead." He chuckled and smiled at her. "You know, you're a lot like Nikki. Same attitude and everything."

She looked up at him. "Really?" He nodded with a sincere look on his face. "Yeah. You remind me of her. Which definitely helps in a situation like this where you could plunge to your death at any minute."

She snorted again. John looked up at Lorne as he tossed down the rope. "Okay, pull the Major up when she gets a hold of it." "Yes, sir. We'll get her up here and then toss it back down to you."

Kira grabbed hold of the rope and wrapped it around her wrist, securing her to it so she didn't slip off.

He watched as they slowly pulled her up and got her to safety. John's hand slipped a little and slid further down the root.

"Lorne! I can't hold on much longer!" Lorne's face reappeared over the side of the chasm and saw that he had slid a little further down the root.

"Here comes the rope, sir!" The rope came down towards his. It was just barely long enough to each that far down. He fastened it around his wrist just as Kira had done. As soon as his weight shifted to the rope, the root gave out and tumbled down into the darkness.

John and Lorne watched it fall. Sheppard looked up at Evan. "It's a good thing you got the rope down here when you did." "Aye, sir. Otherwise we would have lost you. Just hang on, sir."

They slowly pulled him up and over the edge of the chasm. Lorne grabbed his arm and helped him get farther away from the hole, just in case. "Well, I'd really like to sit down, but I'm afraid if I do, something else will happen. So! Let's go home, shall we?"

He turned and looked at Kira. "And you stay next to me. I don't want you falling into more chasms." She rolled her eyes, but moved to walk alongside him.

They made their way back to the gate and Rodney dialed. He entered in his idc and they were finally on their way home.

SGA

Nikki hadn't left John's side since he got back from Hell planet, as John, and the rest of his and Lorne's team were calling it.

Carson released John a few hours after they had gotten back. He had a small graze from a bullet on his right arm, bruises on his wrists, and a sore shoulder, but other than that he was fine.

Kira walked up to John, right as they were about to leave. "Colonel? I want to thank you for saving my life back there." He looked down at her and smiled. "That's what family does. And you're family now, Major. Whether you like it not. And besides that, it's my job. And Nikki would have murdered me if I would have come back without her new-found sister. I'd be a dead man." "Yes, sir. Probably."

He smiled again. He was about to turn and walk away, but looked back at her. "Oh, and when we're off-duty, call me John. I am dating your sister afterall." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Col-...John. Wait. When we're off-duty?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I figured you'd want to stay close to your siblings now that you found them. I sent in a request to have you transferred here. As soon as we got back, I had Elizabeth send it to the SGC along with a detailed report about how you volunteered to go and ended up helping to save my life along with Major Lorne's and his team. Sufficed to say, I'm your boss now. I mean...unless you want to go back to Earth."

Her face lit up and she looked at Nikki. Nikki looked up at John. He just kept amazing her. He did that for her and her new family. He was truly an amazing guy. "No, sir. I don't want to leave." He looked at her sternly, half-joking around. "Um...sorry. John." He smiled and nodded his head. "You'll get used to it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really could use a hot shower."

They said good night Kira and left.

As they left the infirmary, Nikki looked up at John. "So, I was thinking about staying in your quarters tonight, if you didn't mind."

He smiled down at her. "When do I ever mind when you stay in my quarters?"

She smiled and nodded. "When I hog the bed." John snorted and rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe just a little…" They laughed and made their way to his quarters.

He turned and looked at her. "I'm going to take a quick shower. I'm still freezing from being in that damn river." She nodded and moved to sit on his bed. She set her crutches down alongside the wall and then made herself comfortable. She picked up John's copy of War and Peace.

He was on page one hundred and thirty. She opened it up to that page and started reading, careful to keep his page. She made it through several pages before John finally walked out of the bathroom wearing a towel and dripping wet. He was drying his hair and walking over to his dresser.

She set the book down on the nightstand and watched him move. She watched as he dropped the towel, put clean boxers on, and then crawled onto the bed next to her. She smiled and kissed him on the lips. "John, you remember earlier today when you asked me what was wrong and I told you to be patient with me?"

He looked up at her and nodded, his face instantly going serious.

She took a deep breath and sat up. She swung her legs around so they were hanging off the side of the bed. She turned around and tugged on his hand so he would move and do the same.

When he was sitting on the edge of the bed facing her, she took another deep breath and looked up at him.

"Okay, do you also remember when I was in the infirmary after my surgery and Jennifer kicked everyone out saying she needed to talk to me?"

He nodded, his eyebrows scrunching together. "Yeah, I do. Nikki, what's going on?"

She looked down at her hands. "I didn't want to tell you when I was in the infirmary, and then this morning, everything just…happened. I didn't really get a chance. And then you were gone on another planet and then you were attacked and then you were in a chasm…I thought I would never see you again, never be able to tell you."

John grabbed her hands with one hand and gently lifted her chin with the other, making her look him in the eyes. "Nikki, you're scaring me. What is going on?"

She smiled and stared into his eyes. "Jennifer ran a blood test. She wanted to tell me something she had found when she got the results back." She took another deep breath to calm her shaky nerves. It was now or never.

"John, I'm pregnant." His eyes widened and he just sat there for a moment, letting everything sink in. She was pregnant? He looked away still trying to wrap his mind around it.

She didn't even realize she was holding her breath until he looked back up and she saw the pure happiness that was shining in his eyes. "I'm going to be a father?"

She smiled and nodded. "You're not upset, are you?" His face practically lit up. "Are you kidding? Nikki, we're going to be parents! I should be freaking out about the idea of raising a mini me, but…I'm going to be a dad!"

Her face lit up and she nodded. He stood up, unable to keep his excitement down any longer. "I can't believe this! I'm going to be a dad!" He turned back to her. "Who else knows?"

"Jennifer, of course. And I told Kira and Alex before lunch. Oh…and Elizabeth knows. Kira accidentally said something about it in front of her before she and your team left to go save your ass."

He smiled and nodded. It still hadn't sunk it all the way. It probably wouldn't for a while. He was going to be a father. And he couldn't have been more happy!

He sat back down on the bed. He put his hands on either side of Nikki's face and kissed her passionately. They stayed like that for a while until she leaned back. "I'm so glad you're happy about this."

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm becoming a father with the woman I love. What's not to be happy about?"

"Well, we've only technically been dating for about two months. That's not a very long time…"

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know, but we had been going on dates for two months before that. So really, we've been together for four months. And besides, I really don't care. I love you, and that's all that matters to me."

Her face lit up. He was taking this way better than she thought he would. And that made her ecstatic.

He leaned in to kiss her again, but stopped. "Can we tell people? I don't want to keep this a secret from my team. Or from anyone for that matter. I don't know how long I'd be able to keep a handle on my excitement anyway."

She laughed and nodded. "Yes, we can tell people. I'm already about two months pregnant."

He stopped. "Wait, wouldn't that mean you got pregnant the first time we had sex?"

She stopped and did the math in her head. "Huh. Well, first time's the charm!"

He rolled his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and slowly lowered her down onto the bed.

"How about we get in a little practice before the little one comes along?" She gave him a sassy smile. "Well well, Colonel. Aren't you naughty!"

He laughed and started kissing her neck. "That's what you love about me."

SO? What did you think?! There was a lot I wanted to get into this chapter. It's the longest chapter I've written so far! Tell me what you think! Also...I just ran out of ideas...soo...brainstorm? I need more!

Review! Tell me what you thought! How will John react to having a pregnant girlfriend with cravings, raving hormones, and morning sickness? Dun dun dun...