The Honeymoon, or “Why you should never let John Sheppard book your holidays.” was the story I originally started writing last summer for Kassandra’s birthday. It started off as a cute little story about Evan and Kass enjoying some downtime together, but somehow it evolved into something a lot less fluffy and with bigger teeth!

This story is a sequel to Of Rituals and Red Ribbons by Kassandra so beware of spoilers if you haven’t read that yet.

Thankyou to Jayne, Mirth and Kass for all the beta comments.  Any remaining errors are completely my own.

When Kassandra had left Atlantis to sign a trade agreement with the Goosians, she had never expected to get thrown into prison because the natives were offended that she wasn’t married. Fortunately Evan had rescued her by agreeing to marry her in accordance with Goosian customs. It wasn’t the traditional ceremony they had talked about, but it had certainly been impressive. The whole village had dressed in their best finery, and the village decorated, making the place look beautiful, almost magical, with bright colors everywhere. They’d even given Kass a finely decorated dress, which she had been presented with just before they left. Kassandra’s one regret was that Kenzie hadn’t been there. Compared to the excitement of the wedding, the trade negotiations had seemed to drag on. It didn’t help that she was still tied to Evan by the colorful gold and red wedding ribbons and he kept distracting her by rubbing his thumb against the tender skin of her wrist. By the end of the proceedings, Kass wasn’t entirely sure what quantities of grain and Tava beans she had agreed to trade for what medical supplies and she didn’t really care much. She just wanted to go back through the gate and have some quiet time alone with her new husband.

When Evan and Kassandra finally walked back through the gate with their respective teams, they were surprised to find a big crowd waiting for them in the Gate room. At the front of the crowd were all the department heads along with Ronon, who was carrying Kenzie on his shoulders and Teyla holding Torren. John bounded forward, an excited look on his face.

“Congratulations guys.” he said, grinning at them. “Wow, that’s a lot of presents!”

Mr Woolsey rolled his eyes at John for ignoring protocol.

“Actually this is pretty typical for a Goosian binding ceremony.” Kass replied. “I’m not sure they were so generous with the trade agreement though.”

Woolsey coughed gently, to get Kass and Evan’s attention.

“On behalf of all the people on Atlantis, I’d like to congratulate you on your wedding. I know it won’t be legally binding on Earth, but if you decide to make it official I would be happy to help with the arrangements. Now I believe Colonel Sheppard had something he wanted to say.”

“When I heard about the wedding, I thought we ought to get you some sort of present, but it’s a long way from the nearest Mall, so I thought we could organize you a honeymoon. I’ve reassigned the teams so you’ve both got the next week off.”

“Not to seem ungrateful, but that won’t give us time to get back to Earth.” Evan pointed out. “Unless you’re letting us use the gate?”

“Who needs Earth?” John replied with a smirk. “There are plenty of beautiful, uninhabited planets in Pegasus to visit. We just went through the database until we found one that should be safe from the Wraith.”

“P23- 169.” Rodney added, stepping forward. “It would have been our Alpha site but it only has a space gate. It would take too long to evacuate everyone in the jumpers. Oh and talking about jumpers, it’s lucky you didn’t need yours to get to the Goosian’s village. I’ve been stocking it up with supplies.”

John nudged him in the ribs and nodded pointedly at a disgruntled looking Radek.

“Oh all right, Radek and I stocked the jumper, with help from the marines Sheppard assigned to collect donations from everyone. But it was still my idea.”

Somehow, Evan managed not to laugh out loud.

“But what about Kenzie?” Kass asked, sounding worried.

“Don’t worry, we’re going to look after her.” Rodney told her.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun.” Ronon added

“Please, Mommy?” Kenzie added, squeezing Ronon tightly round the neck. “I’ll be good.”

Kass decided that she probably didn’t want to know what Rodney and Ronon had used to bribe her daughter.

“Don’t worry, I will keep an eye on them and make sure they look after her.” Teyla reassured them.

“Well I guess that’s settled then.” said Evan. “Do we have time for a shower first and a change of clothes?”

“Of course.” agreed Mr Woolsey. “Oh and I would like a short debrief on the trade agreement before you leave.”

“I’m sure Dr Rogers and the rest of Kassandra’s team could take care of that?” Teyla suggested diplomatically.

“Of course.” Woolsey reluctantly agreed. “That would be fine.”

***************************************************

Evan and Kass grabbed the nearest transporter back to their shared quarters and collapsed on the bed in a heap of tangled limbs.

“I’m so tired.” Kass moaned. “Maybe we could crash here and go tomorrow?”

“No way.” Evan insisted. “We need to get out of here now while we still can.”

“Then can I just close my eyes for a few moments?” Kass asked. “You can have the first shower.”

“It would save time if we shared.” Evan suggested, one eyebrow raised.

“Oh. Okay.” agreed Kass with a grin.

Kass and Evan wasted several minutes trying to undress before they realized that they were going to have to take off the ribbons still tied round their wrists. Sadly, Kass cut the red and gold ribbons with a pair of scissors and placed them carefully in her jewelery box.

“I’ll have to get you a proper ring when we go back to Earth.” Evan said, wrapping his arms round her shoulders in a hug.

*******************************************************

They finally arrived in the jumper bay, changed into casual clothes with hair still damp from the shower. John was leaning casually against the side of Kassandra’s jumper, pretending not to watch Ronon playing with a giggling Kenzie. Rodney, was standing by the entrance hatch, bouncing up and down impatiently.

“Finally, what took you so long?” he demanded, earning an eye roll from John.

“You don’t really expect me to answer that do you?” Evan asked with a smirk. Rodney blushed as his mind caught up with his mouth.

Kenzie chose that moment to notice that her Mommy had arrived and threw herself at Kass, wrapping her arms tight around her legs. Evan figured they might need some time together to say goodbye, so he let Rodney drag him round the jumper, showing him where all the extra provisions were stowed. Evan suspected that they probably had enough supplies to last a month. Rodney was showing him the last of the provisions when Kass joined them.

“Kenzie wants to say goodbye to you.” she told Evan. He looked out into the jumper bay to see the small girl standing at the bottom of the ramp, one tiny hand enveloped in Ronon’s huge paw. Smiling, Evan walked back down into the jumper bay and crouched down next to Kenzie so their heads were almost level.

“Bye Kenzie, see you in a couple of days.” he said gently. Much to his surprise she let go of Ronon and wrapped her arms tightly round him in a hug.

“Bye Daddy. Love you.” she said. Evan hugged the small girl he had come to think of as a daughter and hoped nobody would notice the slightly dopey smile on his face.

“Ready?” Kass asked, smiling.

By unspoken agreement, Kass slipped into the pilot’s seat and Evan took shot gun. As a trained pilot, Evan loved flying the jumpers, but he knew he would never share the deep connection with them that Kassandra had.

***************************************************************

Kass took the jumper down to the gate room and waited while Evan dialled the address to planet honeymoon. The wormhole established itself and Kassandra flew through the sky blue event horizon, right into a large block of debris. Red lights flashed in random patterns on the control panel, the ancient equivalent of a proximity alarm. Kass received a silent warning though the mental link she had with the jumper, but not in time to avoid hitting a large hunk of twisted metal.

The jumper shook with the impact and was knocked off course. Through the front window they could see what appeared to be the shattered remains of some sort of space craft.

“Atlantis, we have a problem. Some sort of debris field right in front of the gate. Raising shields now.” she reported. Kass reached out with her mind to engage the shield, but nothing happened.

“Evan, I can’t raise the shields.” she said, trying not to panic.

“I’ll see if I can clear us a path through.” Evan offered, pulling up the weapons control display on the HUD. Reaching out with his mind, he fired a drone at one of the larger blocks, which shattered into fine pieces.

“Thanks flyboy.” Kass said, steering the jumper towards the open space.

“Kassandra, report your status,” the gate tech requested politely.

“Shields have failed. Evan’s trying to clear us a path. Well report back once we’re through.”

“Understood. Atlantis out.” the gate tech responded, just before the wormhole shut down.

Evan continued to clear a path for them, until the jumper was shaken by an impact against the port engine pod. Kass winced at the sound of debris scrapping along the hull.

“Darn, I think I’ve lost port engines.” Kass swore. The jumper listed to port while Kass struggled to get it back under control. Fortunately they were near the edge of the debris field, so Evan was able to clear a new path through to empty space.

Once they were finally through the debris field Kass cut the power, to stop the damaged engine from sending them back into the debris field.

“Thought this place was supposed to be uninhabited,” Kass muttered, leaning her head on the dashboard.

“Hey, you okay, sweetheart?” Evan asked. He leaned over and placed a comforting hand on her back, rubbing in small soothing circles.

“Yeah, I’m fine. So much for this being a holiday.” Kass sighed. Now that the initial adrenaline rush was over she could feel her exhaustion from the earlier mission catching up with her.

“Let me take over for a while.” Evan offered.

“Okay.” Kass agreed. “Just let me dial Atlantis first, to let them know we’re alright.” She punched the gate coordinates into the DHD, but nothing happened.

“Great, we’ve lost the DHD now. Either we’ve got problems with the dialling mechanism, or

all this debris is blocking the signal.”

“Well I guess that leaves us with two choices, we can either stay here and wait for help or we can find somewhere to land.” Evan suggested.

“Yeah, that’s going to be tough without a port engine pod.” Kass pointed out.

“Guess I’ll just have to make do.” Evan said.

Kass stood up so that Evan could take her seat. He pulled up the HUD and took control of the jumper. The small spaceship immediately lurched to port. Fortunately the inertial dampeners were still working or Kass would have been thrown to the floor.

“Hey you weren’t kidding, this is almost impossible.” he complained.

“I did try to warn you.” Kass said. “Look, turn the engines back off for a minute, I’ve just thought of something. I was watching Nikki work on the jumpers once and she showed me how to reroute power to different systems. I might be able redirect some of the power from our good engine to the damaged pod. We’ll be slower, but at least you’ll be able to steer in a straight line.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Evan asked. “We don’t know how damaged the pod is. If it overloads it could cause an explosion.”

“I know.” Kass said in a quiet voice. “But if we don’t we’re going to crash anyway.”

“Okay then. Do what you can.” Evan agreed.

Kass walked to the back of the jumper and pulled out the crystal drawer. She found two crystals with cracks and one which was completely burned out. Kass guessed that the burned out crystal was probably the one controlling the port engine, since the damage inflicted could cause a large power surge. She swapped the damaged crystal out for another, hoping it wasn’t the one for life support.

“Turn the engines back on, Evan.” she shouted out to him.

Evan powered up the jumper. According to the data on the HUD, the port engine was back on line at twenty percent power.

Kass sent a mental command to reroute some of the power and suddenly Evan could feel a shift in the balance of the engines.

“Hey, that’s working.” Evan shouted out to her from the front. “I’ve got control again.”

Kass returned to the front of the jumper and sat down next to Evan.

“Hey good work Kass. You think you can fix any of the other systems?” Evan asked. “With shields back up we could try and return to Atlantis.”

“I’d rather not risk it.” Kass replied. “We’ve got at least two more cracked crystals, which could account for the shields and DHD. I’m not sure I can fix them without taking power from something important like life support. I don’t suppose you know somewhere we could land, before we blow out any more crystals?”

“Actually, I’ve already got somewhere in mind.” Evan told her. “Rodney gave me the coordinates for the site the original team landed on. It’s on the coast of the main continent, near the equator. There should be fresh water and shelter, while we wait for the Daedalus to come and pick us up.”

“Okay, let’s do it.” Kass agreed. “So, any idea what caused that debris field around the gate?”

“Not really. It must have been from something pretty big, though. Maybe a Hive ship?”

“Well let’s hope there weren’t any survivors. I wouldn’t want to run into the Wraith down on the planet. ”

“Any darts that got away could have gone back through the gate, or caught a ride on another ship. I’ll keep an eye out for crash sites though, just in case.”

********************************************************

Evan flew the jumper down through the cloud layer, to bring them out over the main continent of the planet. They passed over snow covered mountains and tree covered foothills, following a winding river that lead to a wide grass covered plain. In front of them some sort of deer or antelope were grazing in vast herds. In the distance Kass could see the strip of pure white sand that marked the coastline. Evan slowed down and hovered over the plain, looking for something.

“What are we looking for?” Kass asked.

“Some sort of abandoned settlement that the original survey team discovered.” Evan replied.

Kass spotted the ruins first, at the edge of the foothills where a minor tributary joined the river. The remains of several buildings were clustered round an open square.

“This is where the original team landed.” Evan explained. “I figured that it would be easier to hide a jumper on a hard surface, than over long grass.”

“We could always place it in hover mode.” Kass suggested.

“No, it’s better to save the power for the cloak.” Evan pointed out. “If we can’t fix the jumper, we might be stuck here until the Daedalus is back in Pegasus. Besides, if we land in the ruins we could make use some of those buildings. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to sleep on the floor of the jumper if we don’t have to.”

“Oh I don’t know.” Kass replied, a thoughtful look on her face. “Just you and me, together in the jumper, with no interruptions. It could be fun?”

“Hold that thought. I’d like to land this jumper before we get distracted. Unless you want to land it?” he offered.

“No, go right ahead.”

Evan brought the jumper down in the centre of the ruins, on a man-made surface of broad square stones. A few plants had established themselves in the gaps between the stones, as nature tried to reclaim the land. The buildings surrounding the square were built out of a reddish brick that Evan had seen before on some of the more developed Pegasus worlds and were clearly not of Ancient construction. He wondered how long ago the people had lived here and whether they had been culled by the Wraith.

“Need some help with the jumper?” Evan asked, once he had landed the jumper.

Kassandra stifled a yawn.

“How about we catch some sleep first. With all the changes in time zones, I feel like I’ve been awake for 24 hours already.”

“I guess you’ve got a point.” Evan agreed, as he started to yawn himself. “We didn’t pick up any life signs in the ruins and the jumper should protect us from wild animals.”

“Why don’t you go and find us some sleeping bags and pillows while I set up a proximity alarm.” Kass suggested.

“Actually I think I can do better than that.” Evan said with a grin. He searched through the storage holds in the jumper until he found what he was looking for and got to work.

After Kass finished setting up the alarms and ran a final sensor sweep for life signs, she turned round to see what Evan was up to and was surprised to see a large, comfy looking inflatable mattress, strewn with blankets and pillows.

“A present from Rodney and the science team.” Evan explained, with one raised eyebrow.

“Well it is our honeymoon.” Kass said with a grin. She quickly discarded her casual shirt, jeans and tennis shoes and crawled under the pile of blankets.

“Well come on, what are you waiting for?” she asked Evan impatiently. He didn’t need to be asked twice.

***********************************************************

In the gate room on Atlantis, John was worried.

“It’s been over an hour, they should have got through that debris field and checked in by now.” he said to Rodney, who was sitting at one of the consoles pretending to be busy working.

“Why don’t you just ask Chuck to dial the gate and check in with them?” Rodney asked.

“I was just about to.” John replied. John realized that he should have thought of that himself, but normally he was the one in trouble, not the one left behind on Atlantis worrying about his friends.

He asked Chuck to dial the gate for Planet Honeymoon, as he was starting to think of it. He tried hailing the jumper on all frequencies, but there was no reply.

“Maybe they’re on the opposite side of the planet and can’t pick up the signal?” Chuck suggested hopefully?.

“I suppose it’s possible,” John acknowledged. “But the gate was in a geostationary orbit, so if they made it to the agreed landing site they should be in communications range the whole time.”

“We could send a mini MALP.” one of the technicians suggested.

“A what?” asked John.

“Like a MALP, but smaller and easier to replace.” Rodney explained. “We designed them for use with space gates, for when we don’t want to send a jumper through.”

“Cool.” said John. “So how long will it take to send one?”

“It should only take a couple of hours to finish assembling one.” Rodney told him.

A couple of hours later, John asked Chuck to dial the gate again and one of the Marines sent the mini MALP through. John stood behind Rodney and watched the laptop screen over his shoulder, trying not to show how worried he was. There was the usual time delay before Rodney picked up a signal from the remote camera mounted on the device.

“Getting a picture through now.” Rodney said, pulling the image up on his laptop. He stared in shock at the floating debris round the gate.

“Oh no,” he said. “That can’t be right. When Kass said debris, I thought she meant small bits of rock.”

John squinted at the image on the screen.

“What is that?” he asked Rodney.

“I’m not sure, but it looks like pieces of a Wraith Hive.” Rodney replied. “It could have had a run in with a rival Hive.”

“That’s not good.” John said. “Even if they made it through the debris safely, there could still be Wraith on the planet. We need to send a rescue team.”

“Are you kidding, Colonel Suicide Run?” Rodney exclaimed. “Whatever happened to Kass and Lorne will probably happen to any other jumper we send through. We need to send the Daedalus.”

“It’ll take more than a week to get there, Rodney. What if one of them was hurt?”

Rodney’s face took on a stricken expression.

“Look, we have an advantage over Kass and Evan because we know what to expect. I could probably clear our way through the worst of the debris with the drones.” John pointed out.

“I suppose I could modify the shields on Jumper One, to improve their effectiveness?” Rodney suggested.

“Good. I’ll go and talk to Woolsey, get him to clear the mission.” John said, rushing off to the expedition leader’s office.

****************************************

Kassandra woke up at dawn, snuggled up to Evan with her head on his chest and one arm thrown across his waist. Evan’s arm was wrapped possessively round her.

“Hey, sleepyhead, wake up.” she said, reaching up to place a tender kiss on his lips. She carefully untangled herself and got up, wrapping a soft Athosian style blanket round her to keep out the early morning chill.

Evan woke up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He caught sight of Kass rummaging in the storage cabinets for breakfast.

“Hey, honey, sleep well?” he asked, smiling up at her.

“Sure did. We should do this more often.” she replied. “Any idea where Rodney put the food?”

“Try on your left.” Evan suggested.

Kass followed his suggestion and found the food supplies.

“Well, we’ve got MREs, power bars, chocolate bars, crisps and all manner of junk food. You can tell Rodney packed the food.”

“Well, from what I remember of the mission report, we should be able to find plenty of fresh food on the planet. I don’t suppose Rodney packed any fruit cups?”

Kassandra passed him a fruit cup and a peanut butter power bar, before grabbing a chocolate pudding and a blueberry muffin for herself.

“So, how much do you know about this planet?” Kass asked, between mouthfuls of pudding.

“Just what I read in the mission reports. The anthropologists don’t know why the people here left, but they don’t think it was a culling, or not a complete one anyway. Whoever lived here took all their stuff with them when they left. The scientists didn’t pursue it any further, since there wasn’t any technology here we could use and the planet was rejected as a possible Alpha site because it only has a space gate.”

“You know, we have the Daedalus now, we could just move the gate down to the surface.” Kass pointed out.

“Yes, but it would still need a DHD.” Evan reminded her.

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.” Kass admitted.

“I wonder where the people went?” Kass said thoughtfully. “Unless they had their own spacecraft, like the Travelers, they had to go somewhere else on the planet.”

“We didn’t pick up any life signs when we scanned the planet.” Evan pointed out.

“We were looking for humans, though, or Wraith. What if they were something else, like the Hebridians or the Unas?” Kass asked.

“In that case wouldn’t the Ancients have known they were here and mentioned it in the database?”

Evan suggested.

“I guess.” Kass replied. She stood up and threw her trash in the jumper’s recycling box. “So, do you want to help me with the jumper repairs?”

“No problem.” Evan replied with a smile.

By lunchtime, Kass had come to the conclusion she probably wouldn’t be able to fix the jumper, so she tried bringing communications online. Unfortunately they were too far away to dial the gate. Kass suspected that at this distance the debris field was interfering with communications, which meant that someone would actually have to come through the gate to contact them. Since it didn’t seem likely that Mr Woolsey would authorize a rescue by jumper, Kass and Evan resigned themselves to waiting for the Daedalus.

After a short break for a lunch of MRE’s, Kass suggested they investigate their new home, to look for a source of fresh food. They didn’t know for sure how long they would need the supplies in the jumper to last. Evan suggested they start by checking out the ruins. There were a couple of buildings that appeared to be structurally sound and waterproof, but Evan had to admit that the jumper was a more pleasant place to spend the night. They wandered down to the river, where Kass used a small portable kit to test the water quality. The water appeared to be safe to drink, although Evan suggested they should probably boil it anyway, just in case. The ruins had been built right on the edge of a tropical forest, so there were a number of trees that bore fruit. Evan and Kass picked a few of each kind to take back to the jumper, so that they could look up which ones were edible.

By mid afternoon the weather was getting hot enough to be uncomfortable so Evan suggested they returned to the jumper for a nap and waited until it was cooler to continue the exploration.

********************************************************

Mr Woolsey had been reluctant to authorize a search and rescue mission that might result in the loss of a second jumper, but John had finally talked him round after Rodney had explained his proposed shield modifications. With both Evan and Kassandra missing, John was the obvious choice to pilot the jumper, so the mission was assigned to his team. After the meeting, the various members of Kassandra and Evan’s gate teams had all requested to join the mission, but John wanted to save space for an emergency medical team.

When John arrived in the jumper bay, Rodney was already geared up and arguing with a tired looking Radek, holding a half eaten power bar in one hand. Radek had been up all night working on the modifications to the shields on Jumper One. John grinned to himself at the memory of Radek kicking Rodney out of the jumper bay to get some sleep, after pointing out that Evan and Kass were his friends too and he wanted to help. Ronon was the last to arrive after he dropped off Kenzie with Teyla. The Athosian had felt it was her duty to keep her promise to Kassandra to look after the little girl.

John was pleasantly surprised to realize that Carson was leading the small medical team waiting in the jumper.

“Hey, Carson, glad to have you on board.” he greeted his old friend. “I didn’t think you were back till after lunch.”

“Well lad, the last planet I visited is a few hours ahead, so it is after lunch for me. After Katie here told me about poor Kass and Evan, I convinced Jennifer to let me take her place.”

After a final check of the shields, Rodney finally admitted that Radek’s work was “adequate” which John interpreted as “excellent” in Rodney speak. With a sigh of relief, Radek headed off to get some sleep, while Rodney settled next to John in the co-pilot’s seat. John checked to make sure everyone was on-board and closed the access hatch before running the standard pre-flight checks. Finally, he was ready to fly the jumper down to the gate room and wait while Amelia dialed the gate.

As soon as John passed through the gate, he raised the modified shields and checked for a clear pathway through the debris field. The telemetry Rodney had collected with the mini MALP had suggested that Kassandra’s jumper may have cleared a pathway they could follow. John noticed that the blocks of debris had started to move closer together, but there was still a noticeable pathway through the field.

“Hey, Rodney, could you try and clear some of these blocks out of my way?” he asked.

“You do realize I’m really bad at this, right?” Rodney moaned, as he started shooting.

“You don’t have to get them all, Rodney.” John pointed out. “Just enough to save the power drain on the shield.”

“I knew that. Just concentrate on steering in a straight line.”

“Actually we need to turn to port here.” John pointed out.

“Oh no, that’s not good, is it?” Rodney worried. “Something must have happened to knock them off course.”

“Or maybe they just spotted a short cut.” John tried to reassure his friend, although he secretly suspected the scientist was correct.

*******************************************************

Evan was woken up by a cool evening breeze brushing over his bare shoulders. He reached out for Kass, but all he found were rumpled up blankets and pillows. Looking up, he spotted her sitting on the ramp looking out over the ruins. She was already dressed and was sipping a cup of coffee. He wrapped an Athosian blanket round his shoulders and walked over to sit by her.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“I was just thinking about Kenzie. I miss her.” she said, wistfully.

“Hey, honey, it’ll be okay.” Evan tried to comfort her. “Look at it this way, we were going to be here for a week anyway and it probably won’t be much longer than that before we get rescued.”

“Yes, but we can’t dial Atlantis to make sure she’s alright.”

“The guys will look after her just fine. They know Teyla will hit them with her bantos sticks if they mess up.” They both laughed at the mental images Evan’s comment conjured up.

“Thanks Evan.” Kass said. She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. Evan kissed her back, passionately. They made out for a while, until Evan’s stomach started rumbling and Kass couldn’t help laughing.

“Come on let’s get something to eat,” she suggested with a grin.

After the evening meal, Evan suggested they see if they could catch some fish to stretch out their supplies of MREs. The main river appeared to be too wide and fast moving for fishing, so Evan suggested they follow the smaller tributary up stream to look for a suitable spot. The smaller river followed the tree line for half a mile before turning sharply into a small canyon. The sides of the canyon were overgrown with bushes and small trees, but the river was low enough that they could walk along the gravel at the edge of the water. They had been walking for roughly half an hour when the canyon opened up in front of them and the river widened into a deep pool. Kass gasped as she noticed a waterfall at the far end of the pool.

“Wow, Evan, this looks like something from a movie.” she said.

“Well it is our honeymoon, I guess we deserve our own personal tropical paradise.” Evan joked.

“Do you think it’s safe to swim?” Kass asked hopefully.

“I don’t know. There could be all sorts of alien creatures in there.” Evan warned.

“You sound like Rodney.” Kass giggled. “The water’s pretty clear, I think if there was something in there we’d be able to see it. Besides, I could do with a real bath, the jumper’s hygiene facilities just aren’t the same.”

Kass quickly stripped off her clothes and placed them in a neat pile, along with all her field equipment including her radio. She waded into the deep pool, stepping carefully over the slippery rocks at the water’s edge. After a moment’s hesitation Evan followed her. He left their life signs detector on top of the pile of clothes and equipment, so neither of them noticed when a third blip appeared on the screen.

*******************************************************

Once John was sure they were clear of the debris field, he asked Rodney to dial Atlantis so they could check in and let everyone know they were safe.

“Atlantis this is Colonel Sheppard, we’re safely past the debris field.”

“Colonel, is there any sign of Kassandra and Major Lorne?” Woolsey asked from the control room.

“We haven’t had time to look yet. I’ll report back if we find anything. Sheppard out.”

John didn’t have any luck trying to hail Kass and Evan over the radio. He hoped it was just because they had lost communications systems and not because they were injured or worse. He asked Rodney to set up a search pattern to scan for life signs, or the signals produced by the subcutaneous transmitters that all Atlantis staff were fitted with. They agreed to start with the area surrounding the ruins from the first mission, in case Kass and Evan had managed to reach their intended landing site.

Rodney couldn’t find any trace of Kassandra’s jumper, but John pointed out that they would probably have cloaked it if they weren’t expecting rescue. On the first pass over the site there were no visible life signs either, but the second time they flew past they had better luck.

“Sheppard, I’ve picked up two life signs leaving the ruins in the direction of the river. Looks like they’re going for a swim.” Rodney said with a grin.

“We sure it’s them?” John asked.

“Yes, we’ve got a match for their subcutaneous transmitters.” Rodney confirmed.

“OK, let’s wait for them at the ruins then. They might want a bit of privacy, as it’s their honeymoon and all.” John smirked.

“Oh no!” Rodney exclaimed. “That can’t be right. I’m picking up another signal moving towards them and it’s reading as non human.”

“Wraith?” asked Ronon from his seat behind John.

“Possibly,” Rodney replied, sounding uncertain. “It’s a shame Teyla isn’t here, she would have been able to tell for sure.”

“How can you tell it’s not human?” asked one of the nurses from the medical team.

“The jumper can distinguish life signs by size and body temperature.” Rodney explained. “Otherwise we’d be picking up signals for every large mammal on the planet. This signal is closer to Wraith than human, although it’s running at a lower body temperature than I’d expect.”

“Maybe it’s hungry.” Ronon stated. John remembered the Super Wraith from their first year in Atlantis with a shudder. It wasn’t a comforting thought.

*******************************************************

Kassandra felt a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the cool evening breeze on her wet skin.

“Something up, honey?” Evan asked, pulling her into a hug.

“I’m not sure.” Kass replied, thoughtfully. “I just have this gut feeling, like something bad’s going to happen.”

“You want to go back?” Evan asked. “It is starting to get a bit chilly.”

They started wading back to the side of the pool where they had left their clothes and packs. Evan climbed out first and with predictable chivalry, turned and offered his hand to help Kass out of the pool. The water wasn’t deep at the edge of the pool, but the rocks were slippery with moss which made getting out awkward. Kassandra took his hand with a smile, although she was sure she would have been fine getting out on her own.

With Evan’s back turned, he didn’t notice the tall pale figure approaching from the entrance to the canyon. However Kassandra spotted the stranger as she stepped out of the pool.

“Evan, look out! There’s a Wraith.” she exclaimed, letting go of her husband’s hand.

Evan turned in time to see that the Wraith was only a few meters away and approaching fast.

“Stay where you are, Kass.” Evan ordered, wanting to keep his wife safe. He looked around for a weapon, quickly spotting the pistol in his thigh holster stacked neatly on top of his clothes nearby. Kass watched with horror from the edge of the pool, wondering if there was anything she could do to help, as Evan grabbed the weapon and started firing at the Wraith, not wasting any time getting dressed. He didn’t have time to think about what he looked like, not if he was going to stop the Wraith before it was too late. He emptied the whole clip into the body of the Wraith but it wasn’t enough to stop it. Like a terminator, it just kept on coming. Evan reached for his spare clip before he realized he didn’t have one. Cursing himself for getting lax, he threw the weapon at the Wraith, hitting it on the head. With one last glance at Kass and hoping she would forgive him, Evan ran around the edge of the pool, towards the waterfall. His plan was to draw the Wraith away from his wife, giving her a chance to escape. He fervently hoped that Kass would take that chance and not risk her own life to try and save him in turn, for Evan realized that any chance of his own escape was slim at best, but if he could just draw the Wraith away, distract it, then maybe, just maybe, he could find a sharp rock or something as a weapon, or even lose it in the woods somewhere, giving him a chance to circle back to the weapons on the jumper. But if the worst happened, then Evan knew he would sacrifice everything to keep Kass safe.

The Wraith watched Evan with a grin as it realized he was trapped. It limped after him, revealing that the gun had done some damage after all. Kass took advantage of the distraction to crawl out of the pool, but instead of escaping as Evan had intended, she looked round for something she could use as a weapon. She spotted a large branch about the length and weight of one of Teyla’s bantos sticks. Kass grabbed the stick and ran after the injured Wraith. Without pausing to think, she swung her improvised weapon and whacked the Wraith on the back of the head. The creature turned much faster than she had expected and reached out towards her chest. Kass tried to knock its arm away with her branch, but she lost her balance and fell backwards onto the rough ground.

“Kass!” Evan screamed, as he watched the Wraith placed its hand over Kassandra’s heart and spread it’s fingers.

He grabbed a large rock and threw it, but the Wraith wasn’t going to be distracted from its prey now.

Just when Evan thought it was too late, Ronon appeared at the head of the canyon and fired his gun. The Wraith fell forward, landing to one side of Kassandra, with one arm stretched out across her chest. She pushed it out of the way with a grimace and stood up, wincing at a sharp stabbing pain in her left ankle. Evan ran towards her and wrapped her in his arms.

“Don’t ever do that again, you scared me to death.” Evan told Kass, as he hugged her tightly.

“Fine, but the same goes for you.” she replied with a smile.

Of course that was when John entered the clearing, gun raised with Rodney right behind. They were surprised to see Kass and Evan, completely unaware that they were still undressed, hugging next to the body of a dead Wraith while Ronon watched with a grin on his face.

“Hey, you two, why don’t you get a room!” John said with a smirk.

“Oops!” Kass said and they all started to laugh.

*****************************************************

A couple of hours later Evan and Kass were fully dressed and back in the safety of Jumper one, where Carson was fussing over Kassandra’s ankle. They had agreed to return back to Atlantis with John, just in case there were any more Wraith in hibernation on the planet. Kass was annoyed that they would have to leave her jumper behind, but Rodney had promised they could come back and fix it once the Daedalus returned to Atlantis.

“Sorry how things turned out Major,” John apologized to Evan. “I was so sure we’d found the perfect place for a honeymoon.”

“It’s not your fault, Sir.” Evan told him. “I’m just glad you got here in time.”

“Actually, the credit for that should go to Ronon.” John pointed out.

“Thanks, big guy.” Evan said. Ronon shrugged his shoulders and grunted, which Evan interpreted as “You’re welcome.”

“You know, there are plenty more planets in Pegasus, I’m sure we could find one where you could enjoy the rest of your holidays.” Rodney suggested, hopefully.

Evan looked across at Kass, who shook her head.

“Thanks for the offer,” he replied. “But we’d both rather go back home.”

The End

This story was written by Kassandra as a birthday present for barcardicider.

Warning: I don’t recommend that you read this story whilst eating or drinking.

Kass walked down the hallway, studiously tapping away at her tablet in preparation for the Trouble Triplets visit later that day. Stopping for a moment she glanced around to figure out where she was, a moment later turning down a dimly lit corridor. Looking back down at her tablet, she glanced up suddenly when a low rumble filled the corridor. Her eyes widened in shock as she dropped her tablet, staring at the object in front of her.

****************************************************

When Bar, Jayne and Mirth were beamed into the gate room a few hours later it was a barely ordered madhouse, the usual welcoming committee nowhere in sight. Suddenly Evan appeared on the stairs, his usual calm façade blown out of the water by the frustrated look on his face.

He ran a hand through his hair before speaking, “hey you guys, sorry about all this.” he gestured around the room.

The Trouble Triplets exchanged a glance before Bar spoke up. “What is going on anyway?”

Evan sighed before speaking, “Kass was supposed to be working in that lab out on the South Pier but she uh, disappeared a few hours ago….” He trailed off, looking at them.

“Disappeared?” Jayne asked, looking concerned.

“Yeah how’d she disappear?” Mirth questioned.

Evan rubbed his neck looking a little uncomfortable. “Well, we have no idea actually. We can’t find any sign of her in the city.”

Bar looked at the others, conducting a silent conversation. “We’ll help look for her.” She said decisively.

“Okay. We need all the help we can get.” Evan replied, turning to the door out of the Gate Room. “Come on let’s get you some gear.”

*****************************************************

Bar glanced at Jayne across the opening before signaling that they should check out the dimly lit corridor. After a moment she stopped, staring down at the tablet on the ground before tapping her coms unit.

“Evan, Mirth I think we might have something here.” She said simply.

Evan’s voice came across the channel a moment later. “What do you have?”

Bar looked down at the tablet again before answering. “It’s Kass’ tablet, she can’t be far from here.”

“Okay, Mirth and I will be there shortly. Don’t move.” He said before clicking off the channel.

Bar leaned down to pick up Kass’ tablet. “So where…” she started to say when a low rumble echoed down the hallway.

Eyes wide Jayne looked at Bar. “Did you hear that?”

Bar nodded glancing toward where the sound had come from. “Let’s check it out.”

“But Evan said to wait for him!” Jayne exclaimed before realizing Bar had already headed down the hallway. “Wait for me!” she cried before racing after her friend.

*******************************************************

Evan growled softly when he and Mirth finally reached the corridor.

“I thought I told them not to move!” he muttered quietly.

Mirth just snorted. “Right. This is Bar and Jayne. Have to use…” she never finished the sentence as a scream pierced the air.

Evan and Mirth took off running down the hallway. A moment later they nearly ran into Jayne and Bar in front of an open door.

They all stood there staring for a moment before Mirth recovered her voice. “Is that what I think that is?” she murmured.

Jayne nodded her voice soft, “I thought they were only rumor.”

Bar for her part giggled in glee as she stared at the creature within the room.

Evan shook his head as he watched the three women.

Suddenly from behind the monstrous thing Kass’ voice could be heard.

“Could someone get me out of here already?!” she pleaded.

“Kass is that you?” Evan asked, shocked.

“No, it’s a leprechaun with a pot of gold you nut job.” Kass replied sounding exasperated.

Without warning, the creature rolled to one side, making a growling noise that caused the Triplets to back up a step. Evan looked at it for a moment before pulling out his sidearm.

Bar glanced over and saw what he was preparing to do. “NO!!!” she screeched. “You can’t shoot the giant wagon wheel!”

“And why not?!” he growled as he looked at her, 9mm at the ready.

“Because it won’t do any good.” Bar replied matter-of-factly.

“But we have to do something!” Jayne said, Mirth nodding in agreement.

Bar rolled her eyes, pulling her backpack off and starting to rummage through it. “Hang on I’ve got just the thing in here.” She muttered and kept digging.

The others stood staring at her, exchanging glances. Evan finally muttered softly. “This better be good.”

Finally Bar stood up holding a container with a white liquid.

“What is it?” Mirth asked, incredulously.

“Milk!” Bar exclaimed as she removed the top. “Now clear out so I can get rid of this sucker” she said with a determined look.

Unsure what else to do the other three ducked out of the room leaving Bar with the giant wagon wheel. A moment after they were clear Bar rushed toward the creature and shoved the container of milk as deeply into its chocolate skin as she could, then dived for the door.

Bar was barely clear of the doorway when a loud pop was heard and marshmallow and biscuit chunks flew out of the door. Bar just grinned like a mad woman. “Okay it should be clear now.” She said before moving to head back into the room.
Evan glanced at Mirth and Jayne with a shrug before preceding Bar into the creatures lair.

Kass stood on the far side of the room, glaring at them as they walked in, covered from head to toe in a sticky mess of chocolate, marshmallow and biscuit.
“Are you okay?” Jayne asked cautiously as she stayed a fair distance from her friend.
“I’m fine, but next time you decide to blow up a giant wagon wheel, don’t use the milk bomb!” she exclaimed turning her glare on Bar.

“But at least we saved you!” Bar replied with a grin.

Evan chuckled and shook his head. “We better get you cleaned up and checked out by the infirmary.” He said, winking at Kass.

Mirth remained strangely silent as she collected pieces of the giant wagon wheel to analyze later.

A few minutes later the five of them trooped silently out of the room, carefully avoiding touching anything. They realized that Mirth was not walking with them and turned round to see her doing something complicated to the Door Lock, “Something Rodney taught me,” she said bashfully. She stood back to admire her work, “There, no one should be getting in there anytime soon.”

“Why shouldn’t they get in there,” Lorne asked, worry flooding his voice, “It’s not dangerous to breath in there or anything, is it?” he asked, moving over to his wife to hold her close.

Mirth looked at him, smiling, “No, nothing like that. We just don’t want anyone else to get their hands on our chocolate stash.”

“You can’t eat that!” Lorne responded, tensing. “You’ve no idea what created that, what if it affects you all too.”

Mirth rolled her eyes, “Well, that’s why I took the samples to make sure it’s edible first.”

Lorne watched the way all three eyed the box with the large chunks of Wagon Wheel inside. He grabbed the box, “I’m not sure I trust you with this.”

Mirth grabbed it right back, “I know I don’t trust anyone with this,” she said as she hugged the box close to her chest with a look of outrage on her face.

Lorne went to grab it back but found Mirth had a stronger hold on the box now and it was just passing backwards and forward in the air between them with no actual winner. He suddenly realized that any one of his Marines could walk round the corner and find him having a tug of war with Mirth over a box of chocolate. He would never live it down and it was that more than anything that made him give up as Mirth took control of the box and wound her arm around it. “Fine,” Lorne said, “but I’m accompanying you to see Radek. To make sure you arrive with the same number of chocolate pieces you left here with.”

Mirth rolled her eyes and looked at Jay and Bar. “He’s a little worrier isn’t he?”

Jay responded, “When it comes to you and chocolate we are ALL little worriers……although normally we’re just wondering if you’re gonna leave us any.”

The Triplets broke into laughter. “Oh very funny,” Mirth responded. She turned to Lorne, “Shouldn’t you take Kass to the infirmary, just in case she has Mallow-itis or something?”

Lorne looked torn, glancing between the Triplets with the chocolate and Kass with god knows what lurking underneath all that goo. Kass smirked and turned to Mirth, “That was a very underhanded tactic.”

Mirth shrugged, smirking wide as she answered. “All’s fair in chocolate wars.”

Kass placed a hand on Lorne’s bicep, gaining his attention instantly. “We can all walk to the infirmary and we can ask Radek to meet us there,” she said, staring pointedly at Mirth.

Mirth pulled up an innocent face, “Didn’t I say I wouldn’t go,” she turned to the other two Triplets, “did I?”

The other two shook their heads, smirks pulling at the edges of their mouths as they shook their heads, “No, no you didn’t.”

They all traipsed to the infirmary. Lorne had called Radek to meet them in the infirmary, giving him a quick rundown of the incident as they went. Keller gave Kass a quick check over before taking her away to get her cleaned up. Lorne paced the entire time. He stopped short when Radek came racing into the infirmary. “Everyone is okay, yes? I am so sorry. I went to check on a simulation and was only going to be gone five minutes and then we were called into help search for Kass and it never occurred to me.” His eyes searched the infirmary frantically, “Tell me Kass is okay. Nothing has happened to her because of me.” He hand clutched at his heart and he still roved the beds as if she might be hiding under one of them.

Lorne placed a hand on his arm and Radek visibly flinched, “Radek, it’s okay. She’s out back cleaning up. Are you saying you are responsible for that giant Wagon Wheel?”

Radek nodded, backing up as far as he could, given that his arm was still in Lorne’s grasp. His eyes watching Lorne’s every move warily. “We were looking into ways of extending our food. We make it larger then it lasts longer and we can also use up less room on Daedalus and use the room for medical supplies and computer equipment.” He paused, just watching Lorne’s reaction.

Evan was about to say something when Kass reappeared from behind a curtain, clad in a pair of infirmary scrubs. “Okay now that I’m cleaned up why don’t we go home?” she asked, glancing at the assembled crowd.

The Triplets exchanged a look at the comment, grinning amongst themselves.

“Sure that sounds good.” Jayne said with a smile.

Mirth nodded, “Yeah we’ll just see you for dinner?” She asked grinning.

Evan glanced at Kass then back at the Triplets. “Yeah we’ll see you for dinner.” He turned to look at Radek. “As for you…since Kass seems to be okay, I forgive you for making giant Wagon Wheels.” He said with a chuckle.

As they left the infirmary, Bar took a last look toward the South Pier and wondered what the chance of finding a giant cream cake was, ah well, she could dream.

The End

Evan waved open their quarters with a tired sigh, glancing around for Kass and the kids. Not surprisingly, he found the three of them in Kenzie and Olivia’s room, playing on the floor. Leaning against the door, he observed them for a few minutes.

Kenzie was nearly six now and he was continuously amazed at how smart she was. Just last week he’d come home from a mission to find her reading out loud to Kass, while Olivia toddled around the living room. Olivia had just turned a year old a few months ago, much to the delight of the Trouble Triplets, who’d sent heaps of presents for the girl. They had all then promptly started bugging Kass and him about when they were going to have another. Glancing at Kass he couldn’t help but grin, their second anniversary was tomorrow and he’d finally figured out what to get her.

Pushing off the door, he walked over and dropped onto the floor next to Olivia. Kenzie nearly tackled him once he hit the ground, squealing.

“Daddy!”

Evan grinned, hugging her back.

“Hey small fry. I missed you today.”

“I missed you too, Daddy.” she said, letting go of him. “’Livia tried to eat my pictures and mommy was grumpy all day while you were gone.”

Evan raised an eyebrow at Kass who just shook her head.

“Well you know ‘Livia is just a baby,” he paused to scoop up Olivia who’d toddled over, “and she doesn’t know better. As for mommy, I’m sure she had a reason to be grumpy.”

“Now Kenzie, why don’t you and daddy clean up and get ready for bed, while I change Olivia into her PJ’s?” Kass asked as she stood, scooping up Olivia.

“But mommy!” Kenzie started to protest but Kass just shot her a look. “Okay mommy.” She said with a sigh, starting to clean up her toys.

Kass changed Olivia, before putting her down in her crib with a kiss to the forehead.

“See you in the morning princess.” she said, as she kissed Kenzie then went into the living room.

***********************************************

A few minutes later, Evan came out and sat next to her on the couch. She leaned her head on his head with a soft sigh.

“So how was your day?” she asked quietly.

He shrugged then pulled her closer.

“Well you know how it is when the IOA is in town. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings.” He said with a laugh. “So what had you so grumpy today?”

Kass sighed softly.

“It was just a long day with the IOA here.” She said.

Standing up, she tugged him to his feet.

“Come on flyboy, let’s go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we do.” He said with a smirk, following her.

***************************************************

Evan was leaning against the wall when Kass emerged from her last meeting the next day.

“So…how was your meeting?” he asked, grabbing her hand.

“Ugh! I thought it’d never get over!” Kass said with a groan as they walked.

“That bad, hunh?” he chuckled, pulling her out a door.

“Not bad, just long.” she paused, glancing around. “Where are we going?” she asked with a frown.

Evan chuckled as he led her toward the end of the pier.

“I figured we’d have a nice dinner together, watch the moons come out and just relax a bit for a change.”

“What about the girls?” she asked softly.

“Don’t worry, John agreed to feed them dinner and put them to bed.” He replied, stopping at the blanket he’d laid out earlier.

Kass dropped to the blanket with a grin.

“Thanks for this, I figured we’d have to spend tonight at home.”

Handing her a full plate, he sat down, grinning.

“I figured you might enjoy some time away for our anniversary.”

Leaning over she kissed him for a long moment before pulling back.

“Happy anniversary, Evan. I love you.”

“Love you too, Kass.” he paused, holding up a rectangular box. “This is for you.” He said, grinning.

Curiously, Kass took the box, offering up an envelope.

“This is for you, though I have a feeling that compared to the box it’ll be nothing.” she said with a laugh.

Taking the envelope, he grinned.

“Why don’t you wait to judge until you open it?”

Laughing Kass opened the box, staring at it for a moment before teasing.

“Oh gee, just what EVERY girl wants dear, a remote detonator.”

“Anyone teach you not to judge a book by its cover?” he asked laughing.

“Yes, of course, they did Evan. I just don’t see how that applies here.” she replied.

“Well why don’t you light it up and see?” he said with a smirk.

“Oh fine.” She sighed, flipping the switch.

A moment later the sky over the city was filled with fireworks. Kass stared in awe as they exploded, not noticing as Evan opened the envelope.

After the explosions of color ended, she turned, beaming at him.

“Oh my god, that was amazing, Evan. Thank you!” she exclaimed.

Beaming back, he held up the three pictures from the envelope.

“Really?” he asked, grinning.

Nodding, she grinned back at him.

“Jen confirmed it yesterday.”

Beaming like mad, he kissed her deeply, his hands smoothed over her shirt as he pulled away.

“Well it’s great. The best present you could have given me.” He said smiling.

“Just don’t expect a repeat next year.” She said, with a laugh.

“All I care is that it’s healthy and maybe different than the girls. Not that it matters of course.” He said with a soft laugh.

“No it doesn’t but it would be nice to have one that looks like you.” She said, with a wink.

“So…how are we going to tell the Triplets this time?” he asked with a smile.

“We’re not.” She replied.

“We’re not?” he frowned.

Shaking her head, Kass laughed. “Nope, we’re not. We’re going to let the girls do it when we send pictures home next.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He said, hugging her tightly.

Grinning at each other they both whispered.

“Happy Anniversary.”

The End

This is a (very late) birthday present for Jayne.

Jayne arrived at the office just after 8am to find Nikki setting up the deluxe coffee maker Radek had bought for her as a present.

“Morning Jayne.” Nikki said, turning to face her. Jayne noticed she was wearing a new black tee with a slogan written in large white print.

“Physicists do it with Friction.” she quoted, one eyebrow raised. “Where on Earth did you get that?”

“Actually, it was a present from Mirth. She got you one too.” Nikki pointed to a small parcel in Jayne’s workspace. Curious, Jayne walked over to her desk and unwrapped the brown paper parcel. Inside was a red shirt with the slogan ‘Ramblers do it with their mouths.’ Jayne stared at it for a second before she got the joke and burst into laughter. She held up the shirt to show Nikki.

“Good Lord.” Nikki said when she could catch her breath. “You might want to be careful where you wear that.”

Jayne carefully folded the shirt and put it away in a desk drawer. She was definitely going to have to find a way to get back at Mirth for that.

“So what’s the plan for today?” she asked Nikki.

“I was thinking you could work on Dr Jackson’s translation program.” Nikki suggested.

Jayne did her best to stifle a groan. She grabbed a mug of steaming hot coffee and sat down at her desk. While she waited for her laptop to boot up, she grabbed Daniel’s notebook and started reading through the comments. At the other desk, Nikki started off her first batch of simulations for the day on her third best laptop.

A couple of hours later, Jayne was fed up with working on the translation program, so she decided to check the dGeek forum. Fortunately, Nikki had crawled under the table to do something technical with the rats’ nest of cables that always seemed to fill their office. Jayne launched her Firefox browser and navigated her way to the Random Chat thread.

“So how is everyone on dGeek?” Nikki asked from under the desk.

“How do you always manage to do that?” Jayne asked. Somehow, Nikki always seemed to know when she was checking out the forum instead of working.

“If you’ve got a spare moment, could you put on a new pot of coffee?” Nikki asked.

Sighing, Jayne got up to make the coffee. Working in Area 51 wasn’t as glamorous and exiting as she had thought it would be.

************************************************************************

It was close to lunchtime, when Nikki turned to Jayne and said.

“Hey Jayne, are you feeling hungry?”

“A bit, why?” Jayne asked.

“I thought you might like to take an early lunch break.”

“That would be great. Hey, are you coming?”

“Nah, I’ve got some stuff I need to prepare.”

Jayne disappeared off to the canteen to get some food, wondering what Nikki was up to.

When she got back, there was a large cardboard box on Nikki’s desk marked “Mostly Harmless”, and Nikki had a broad grin on her face.

“What’s in the box?”

“That’s what we’ll be working on this afternoon. This box has all the stuff in it that the gate teams brought back to the SGC, which nobody could get to work. They passed it on to me in case I could activate some of it with my Ancient gene. I’ve been saving it up for a quiet afternoon.”

“So does that mean I get to try and turn some of it on?” Jayne asked, reaching out to grab something from the box.

“Hey, not so fast.” said Nikki. “There’s a reason the label says mostly harmless. We don’t know if one of these things is a bomb or something.”

“Oh.” said Jayne, sounding disappointed. “So what do we do then?”

“We follow the manual.” said Nikki. “This is Radek’s ‘Guidelines on Safe handling of Ancient Devices.’ He told me that most of the precautions were added as a direct result of accidents involving Col. Sheppard and Dr. McKay.”

She put the book down on the desk in front of Jayne and opened it to a page entitled “known hazardous devices”. Then she pulled on some bright yellow rubber gloves and reached into the box.

“Why the gloves?” asked Jayne.

“So the devices won’t recognize my gene. Of course there are still a few devices that are thought activated and don’t need human contact at all, so be careful not to think ON”

“That’s like telling someone not to think about purple elephants.” Jayne muttered under her breath.

Nikki lifted out the first device, a small blue egg shape with ancient writing etched into it’s surface.

She compared the item to the list of known hazardous devices on the list. Then she put it down on the bench and scanned it with a small hand held device, which looked for energy signatures.

“Well, it looks OK. Do you want to give it a try?” she asked, offering the device to Jayne.

Jayne cautiously took the small device, holding so that the ancient script was right way up. The top of the device opened up like a flower and it projected a bright picture onto the ceiling. The picture rotated and the device played a soothing sound.

“Ahh, that must be a children’s nightlight.” Nikki suggested.

“Did you know that?” Jayne asked, suspiciously.

“Well yeah.” Nikki replied. “I read the inscription on the side.”

“So the whole thing with the scanner and the book?”

“Is still good practice when testing ancient devices. Remember that time Rodney nearly got himself ascended, or lab with the nanite virus?”

The second item Nikki handed to Jayne didn’t appear to do anything, even when Jayne thought “On” at it really hard. She handed it back to Nikki, who couldn’t turn it on either. Nikki concluded it must be broken. The third item Nikki pulled out of the box looked a little like a drinking bottle, but when Nikki looked it up in Radek’s manual it turned out to be a charging unit. Nikki carefully labeled it and placed it in the spare parts box. The next two items were not even Ancient technology, but some sort of Goa’uld copies. Nikki threw them in the rubbish bin.

It was getting late in the afternoon when Nikki picked out a small, shiny black cube, with no obvious markings or buttons. It didn’t look like anything in Radek’s book, but it seemed to have an interesting power signature.

“That’s odd.” Nikki said. “I’ve not seen anything like this before.”

“Is it dangerous?” Jayne asked.

“I don’t think so. The power signature is all wrong for a weapon. If anything it reminds me of the Asgard beaming technology.”

“Ooh, do you think it’s a personal teleporter?” Jayne asked, hopefully. She reached out for the cube with grabby hands.

“Hey, careful, I don’t know if it’s………” Nikki said, as Jayne placed her hand on the device. There was a burst of bright light and she materialized in the canteen.

Well that was different. Jayne thought to herself. She noticed that she was standing right by the cake counter, so she grabbed a chocolate muffin.

“Jayne, what happened to you?” Nikki said in her left ear. For a moment Jayne thought her friend had teleported too, until she remembered that she was wearing an ear bud radio.

“I’m fine Nikki. I just teleported to the canteen.”

“Let me guess, right by the cakes?” asked Nikki. “I guess it is time for a break. I don’t suppose you could grab us something and meet me back in the lab?”

**********************************************************************

By the time Jayne had walked back to the lab with a big tray of snacks, Nikki had packed away the “Mostly Harmless” box and was studying the cube, with a large mug of coffee in her hand.

“Chocolate muffin?” Jayne offered, holding out the tray of cakes.

“Thanks.” Nikki said. “This doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you, though. That was a really dangerous thing to do. This thing could have teleported you anywhere or it could have gone wrong and vaporized you.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that.” Jayne told her. “I’m really sorry Nikki.”

“Just don’t do it again.”

“So, any thoughts on how this works?” Jayne asked.

“Not yet. I don’t suppose you know why it took you to the canteen?”

“Well I might have been thinking that I was really hungry.” Jayne suggested, tentatively.

“That figures.” Nikki said. “So does it take you where you asked to go, or where it thinks you need to be?”

“We could test it some more.” Jayne offered, hopefully.

“Maybe, but we need to plan our tests carefully, so you don’t end up materialized in the middle of a wall.” Nikki pointed out.

“OK mum, I’ll play nice.” Jayne agreed.

In the end they only carried out a few tests, with Jayne jumping to various locations around area 51, before Nikki caught Jayne yawning.

“Well, that’s enough testing for one day.” Nikki said.

Jayne glanced at the clock and realized it was 18:30.

“I guess it is getting late.” she said. “Can we do this again tomorrow?”

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Nikki told her, smiling.

As Jayne packed up her things and got ready to go home, she thought to herself how lucky she was to have a Job at Area 51.

The End.

The messages on the T-shirts were inspired by something Mirth posted on dGeek

Kass sat down in front of her laptop, clicking open the email nervously. Hitting the new email button she started typing.

To: Sheppard, John <ltcol_errandboy@flyboys.af.atl>

From: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

Subject: Visit to the City

John,

Hey, it’s been a long time, hope things are well in the city. I was thinking of making a trip out to visit the city.

Kass

She quickly hit the send button before she lost her nerve, and then went on with her day.

***************** Later that week *****************

Kass skimmed the subject lines in her inbox and was surprised to see a reply to her note. Normally it took John at least a week to get back to her, she thought clicking the note open.

To: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

From: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

Subject: Re: Visit to the City

Kass,

Colonel Sheppard has agreed to your visit and is curious if there is anything we can do to expedite the process on this end?

Evan Lorne

Kass frowned as she reread the email, before figuring this must be John’s new file rat.

To: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

From: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

Subject: Expediting Visit

Evan,

I already have our Earth side clearances in place, but thanks. However, Trish is ATA positive and could use some flying lessons. I can provide my jumper for them, if someone would be willing to teach her.

Kass

She clicked send, yawning tiredly, and then went to get ready for bed.

********* During the Wraith Enzyme Incident ***********

Evan walked into the mess and poured himself a cup of coffee. They’d been back from P2M-449 for a few hours now and Jen had kicked everyone out of the infirmary. He’d grabbed a quick shower and then decided to grab something to drink. Scanning the room, his eyes landed on the woman who’d been integral in today’s rescue. Turning he poured a second mug and made his way across the room to her.

“Coffee?” he asked, sliding into the seat across from Kass.

Shutting her notebook, she looked up at him.

“Sure, I guess.” she said with a shrug.

Evan pushed the steaming mug across the table to her watching as she added cream and sugar.

“You did good work out there today.” he said, grinning at her.

Kass shrugged.

“I guess, I mean it’s been a long time since I had to do something like that.” she said.

Evan raised an eyebrow as he studied her.

“You seemed pretty natural at it to me. Not a lot of people are willing to chase down someone hopped up on Wraith Enzyme and face down Bubblebees,” he paused chuckling, “especially not to save McKay.”

Kass couldn’t help but laughing, “Yeah well SOMEONE had to save him and since I brought Trish out here…it was my responsibility.”

Evan shrugged.

“You could have left it up to John.” he said with a wink.

Kass grinned, “Trust me, had I left it to him? We’d never hear the end of it.”

Evan sat back studying her.

“So shouldn’t you be sleeping or something?” he asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.” she said with a pointed look.

Evan rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well I figured that I’d work on some of my paperwork.” he said with a chuckle.

“So you ARE John’s personal file rat.” she retorted with a teasing grin.

“His WHAT?!” Evan asked, incredulously.

“His personal file rat, you’re the one who makes sure that he actually files all his paperwork.” Kass replied, laughing.

Before Evan could answer her coms beeped, drawing her attention for a minute.

“That was Jen, apparently Rodney is awake. I’m going to go see him.” she said standing up.

Evan stood up and grabbed their mugs.

“I’ll walk with you.” he said, falling into step on the way to the infirmary.

************* After the Trip to Atlantis ****************

Kass bounced Kenzie on her hip as she read Evan’s email for a third time. She hadn’t been expecting one so soon after her arrival back on Earth, considering everything that had happened.

To: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

From: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

Subject: Nice to meet you =)

Kass,

Hey it was nice to finally put a face to your name, even if it wasn’t the best circumstances. Anyway, nice to meet you and I hope everyone is settling back into Earth alright. Oh and Colonel Carter says that you are all welcome to come visit again.

Evan

Glancing at Kenzie she let her mind drift back to another man, another time in the city.

**** Three Years Earlier – Prior to the Siege of Atlantis *****

Kass glanced up when a tray of food materialized in front of her, expecting to see one of the other SSD agents. Instead she found herself staring at…Peter Grodin.

“Thanks, Peter.” she said, ducking her head to hide her blush.

“I figured even you had to eat sometime,” he said with a slight smile. “May I?” he asked with a nod at the empty chair next to hers.

“Sure,” Kass shrugged. “So I hear McKay is taking you with him to the satellite…”

Peter squeezed her hand gently under the table.

“I’ll be fine, Kass.” he said with a laugh.

“So, uh, what are you doing tonight?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well I have some DVD’s in my quarters and if you want to join me…you can.” he said as he stood up, nodding at the door.

“Of course,” Kass said, grinning as she followed him out.

**************** Present Day *******************

Kass snapped back to the moment when Kenzie squealed. Setting her down, Kass quickly typed out a reply to the email.

To: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

From: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

Subject: Re: Nice to meet you =)

Evan,

Trish is recovering quite nicely. Nikki was offered a job at Area 51, which she’s considering taking. I’m hoping to be able to visit the city more as I’d forgotten how much I love it there.

Kass

Ps- It was nice to finally meet you as well.

Kass hit send and then shut down her laptop, heading off to check on the baby ducks.

*************** Later that week ******************

Kass was just about to shut down her laptop when a new email appeared on screen. She knew she should get some sleep- it had been a long week with the new kids arriving. When she saw it was from Evan, however, she couldn’t help but click on it.

To: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

From: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

Subject: Crazy Rumors

Kass,

Glad to hear that Trish is doing well and that Nikki got a job offer. I’ll have to send her a note of congratulations when I get a minute. So, I have to say after you left there was a pretty crazy rumor that you used to be on some elite Special Forces team. Which of course made me wonder- how DID you get your jumper?

Evan

Fighting down a pang of jealousy she starred at the screen for a long moment- it wasn’t like she and Evan were dating so it was okay if he emailed Nikki. Then she wondered how to answer the question. Did she tell him about the time before the Jumper- when going to Atlantis wasn’t easy? Did she say she missed Quen and that there wasn’t a day she didn’t rerun their last mission, asking ‘what if?’ or how she regretted quitting but knew she hadn’t had another choice? Finally she shook her head and started typing.

To: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

From: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

Subject: RE: Crazy Rumors

Evan,

It’s funny you should mention that…see I was once a member of the SSD- the Stargate Squirrel and Dragon Platoon. There were three of us- Quen, Fraggle and I. I don’t really remember how we came to work together but boy what a team we made. We lost Quen not long after the Siege on the city while we were assisting in the search for Lieutenant Ford. That was when I found out about my gene (I’d never been tested). See Quen was always our pilot but with her gone it fell to me. I didn’t think I had it but Fraggle plopped me down and told me to try. When we got back to the city, Dr. Weir decided that since our ship had been lost that I should take the Jumper so we could reach the city easily. Three weeks after that we disbanded our ragtag group when I quit. Though it was thanks to those adventures with Quen and Fraggle that I got the one thing I love the most, my daughter, Mackenzie.

Kass

Hitting send, she laid her head down and fell asleep on the desk.

*********** A few days later, Atlantis ***************

Evan frowned as he reread Kass’ newest email, wondering silently why she hadn’t told him about her daughter before. After all he’d told her about his sister and nephews, while they were waiting for Trish to wake up. He’d even asked if she had family back home but she just changed the subject.

“What’s got you so sour?” a familiar voice drawled across the table from him.

Shrugging, he looked at John.

“Nothing really, just reading an email from Kass.”

“Oh really?” John said in a surprised tone. “You two seemed to be getting awfully cozy during her visit.” he said, with a wink.

“Nothing happened, sir. We were just waiting in the infirmary for Trish to wake up.” Evan glanced at the email again. “Did you know she has a kid?”

“Of course I knew that she…what?” John said in shock. “Did she say how old the kid is?”

Evan glanced up and studied his CO.

“Did you two….” he paused, pondering how to word it, “you two ever date?”

John scoffed and shook his head.

“No, no we never dated. The SSD agents had some kind of….rule. No dating rescuees or something.”

“Okay, then if you’ll excuse me….I have an email to write.” Evan said, standing to leave.

“Good luck with that!” John called after his retreating XO.

***************** A week later ********************

To: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

From: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

Subject: no subject

So…tell me about Mackenzie.

Evan

Kass pondered the five simple words on her screen. Then biting her lip, she started typing.

To: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

From: Burnham, Kassandra <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

Subject: Mackenzie

Evan,

Mackenzie (or as everyone calls her- Kenzie) is 2 and ½. She is a smart and charming little girl, much like her father, though she can be quite the spit-fire. She was born seven months after my last trip to Atlantis as an SSD agent. See while I technically didn’t break our rule, if anyone had found out who her father was…it would have reflected badly on the Platoon. While we never rescued him, we worked with Peter Grodin frequently enough that he was like one of the team. We started out as colleagues but I quickly developed a crush on him. At first we saw each other only during work. Then he’d stop by when I was eating or on downtime on the pretense of helping with something or other. We moved on to meeting on balconies near our quarters then clandestine nights together. During this we carefully concealed our personal relationship from everyone. It wasn’t too long after we got really serious that he was selected to accompany McKay to the satellite, of course he died on that mission. A few months later we lost Quen and I found out I was pregnant. I decided at that point that I’d go back to Earth and quit the SSD but stay in contact with the SGC. Everyone of course assumed that I was still distraught over the loss of Quen and never found out the real reason I left back then. Until I met Trish on the Squirrel intranet I hadn’t ever felt bad about not coming back to the city. Then I did come back and realized how much I missed it. But I should run – I’ve got chores to do around the farm.

Kass

Ps- I’ve attached a photo of Kenzie for you.

Wiping at her eyes, Kass clicked send before noticing the second note from Evan, dated a few days earlier.

To: Burnham, Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

From: Lorne, Evan <fortune_cookie@flyboys.af.atl>

Subject: Heads up

Kass,

Just wanted to let you know not to worry if you don’t hear from me for a couple of data bursts, I have some leave and am going to visit my family.

Evan

**************** A few days later *****************

Kass had just come in from the barn to take a break from painting. Sitting down in front of her laptop she clicked her email server open, grinning when she saw an email from Nikki.

To: Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

From: Nikki <dragon_wings@geeks.a51.ea>

Subject: Party Saturday

Kass,

Hey, hope things are well on the farm. Carl and Roy are holding one of Area 51’s infamous parties on Saturday. Was curious if you could make it?

Nikki

Kass glanced at her calendar and saw that she had Saturday free so she quickly hit reply.

To: Nikki <dragon_wings@geeks.a51.ea>

From: Kass <jumper_girl@geeks.sgc.ea>

Subject: Re: Party Saturday

Nikki,

Just checked my calendar and Saturday looks open. I’ll arrange a sitter for Kenzie and see you around 7pm.

Kass

Hitting send, Kass shut her laptop down, then went to finish her project in the barn.

************** During the Area 51 Party **************

As the music wound down, Kass noticed for the first time the late hour. She took a step back from Evan as the song ended.

“I should probably get going…I had a really nice time tonight, Evan.” she said, with a smile, turning to go.

Evan caught her hand, spinning her back to him.

“Not so fast, missy I was hoping you might take a walk with me.” he smiled, dimples out in full force as he looked at her.

Kass eyed him back before shrugging.

“Okay, why not?” she said softly.

Evan beamed before tugging her up the short flight of stairs to the surface. Once out into the chilly air, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“So…I got your email…” he trailed off unsure what else to say.

“Oh…” Kass said quietly, staring at the stars. “Now that you realize I come with baggage you don’t want to continue our friendship I suppose.” she said, voice nearly cracking.

Evan glanced over at her.

“I never said that. But I will say that I’m sorry. I mean from what I heard Grodin was a good guy.”

Kass turned to look at him silently.

“I also wanted to say that I think you are very brave and strong. Not many people would choose to give up a job they love to raise a child alone.” he paused, reaching up and cupping Kass’ cheek lightly.

Kass eyed him, suddenly glad she hadn’t been drinking, before leaning in and kissing him softly for a moment. Pulling back she looked at him and whispered.

“Thank you.”

“What for?” he asked with a confused look.

“For accepting me.” she said, leaning in to kiss him again.

Epilogue

Kass shifted the diaper bag on her shoulder, knocking on Nikki’s door. She then glanced over at Evan.

Evan shot her a grin, squeezing Kenzie’s hand.

“They’re going to love her you know.” he said, a moment before Nikki opened the door.

Nikki beamed at them.

“You guys are here finally! Everyone is out back.” she said, scooping up Kenzie. “Hey little Miss how are you?” she asked the girl.

“I’m good Auntie Nikki, we saw Daddy’s mom and she gave me this.” she pulled out a necklace with the letters ‘ML’ on it, beaming.

“That’s gorgeous, sweetie.” Nikki said, setting her down and watching as she ran off. Evan followed her waving at Bar, Mirth and Jayne.

“So, how have things been in Pegasus?” Nikki asked, grinning at Kass.

Kass chuckled, following Nikki into the yard.

“Things have been good. It took some adjustment at first but we’ve all settled in lately.” She said, setting the car seat on the table out of the sun.

Within moments the triplets had descended upon them, like a flock of hungry seagulls.

“Well come on, let us see the baby!” Jayne demanded.

“Yeah, your pictures didn’t answer the million dollar question.” Bar said.

Mirth remained silent, instead pulling the blanket off the car seat, drawing an ‘awww’ from the others.

“She’s absolutely adorable!” Mirth exclaimed, grinning at Kass.

Kass laughed, extracting the baby from the seat.

“Bar, Jayne, Mirth, Nikki, I’d like to introduce you to Olivia Samantha Lorne” she said, as Olivia blinked her eyes open.

“Wow, she sure got Evan’s eyes.” Jayne said, plucking Olivia from Kass’ arms.

Nikki laughed, watching the other three women.

“So, how’s your down time been?” she said, directing the question at Kass as she settled into a chair next to her.

“It’s been a long few weeks.” Kass said with a shrug. “We spent a couple weeks visiting his mom in San Francisco, and then swung by the farm. It will be nice to spend our last week back at our house.”

Nikki laughed.

“Yeah, I’ll try and keep the triplets busy but I’m not guaranteeing your quiet time.” she said, glancing out to where Kenzie and Evan were playing.

Kass snorted softly.

“Yeah, I figure they’ll come up with some excuse to be in The Springs.”

Jayne suddenly looked up from where they were fawning over Olivia.

“So, when are you two going to have another?” she asked curiously.

Kass nearly choked on her drink, looking at Jayne wide-eyed.

“Wha-wha-what?” she managed to stammer out.

Jayne looked at her and laughed.

“I was just teasing you, Kass.” she said with another laugh.

Kass scoffed out a nervous laugh.

“Right, of course I knew that.” she said, as Jayne turned back to Olivia.

Kass sighed contently, drifting off into her thoughts as she watched the others.

******** A bit later ******

Evan glanced in Kass’ direction when he heard Olivia fussing, grinning when he saw that she’d dozed off. He quickly fished a bottle out of the diaper bag and crossed the yard.

“Mind passing her here, Mirth?” he asked, as he settled into a chair.

Mirth handed him Olivia, watching as he started to feed her.
“So how are things going?” she asked finally.

Evan looked at the expectant faces of the triplets and grinned.

“It’s been great. Well other than the flight out to San Francisco.” he said with a laugh.

Bar raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, what happened?” she asked, curiously.

Evan chuckled and glanced down at Olivia.

“Apparently while this little lady does fine with Jumpers, she doesn’t like planes. She screamed the whole flight and poor Kass couldn’t get her calm. One of the other passengers said that if she couldn’t keep her quiet maybe she shouldn’t have come.”

Jayne grimaced slightly.

“Please say that Kass didn’t have her stunner?” she asked.

Evan shook his head.

“No, thankfully she didn’t. Though she snapped that maybe if they weren’t such aliens, maybe Olivia would be happy with such a simple mode of transportation. I’m pretty sure the guy’s head nearly popped off at that.” he said with a laugh.

The triplets laughed at the image of their mild mannered friend snapping at a stranger.

“Well I guess he picked the wrong mamma bear to mess with.” Bar said, with a laugh.

Evan nodded and glanced at his watch.

“Yeah, but we should probably get going. Have to keep the kids on some kind of a routine.” he said, standing up.

“You guys are going to be up in The Springs right?” Jayne asked.

“Yeah, but if you’re going to visit, call first?” Evan asked, buckling Olivia into her car seat. “I’d like Kass to take some downtime.” he said, glancing in her direction.

He watched her and Kenzie for a moment before calling out.

“Honey, you ready to go?”

Kass looked up and grinned at him.

“Yeah, sure. You tell them they have to call first before visiting?” she asked, nodding in the triplets’ direction.

Before he could answer, Nikki piped up.

“Yes, he already did. Now you better get going.”

Kass rolled her eyes from the porch.

“See you ladies later.” She said with a wave, before disappearing off into the sunset.

The End

Proudly Introducing…

Kass rubbed her back, shifting on the bench, looking out at the ocean.

“Come on kiddo, can’t you give me a break just until your dad gets home?” she growled softly, not hearing the footsteps behind her.

“Uh, Kass? Woolsey needs you in the conference room.” Rodney said.

As she turned to look at him his eyes widened and he took a subconscious step backward.

“Something the matter Rodney?” she growled at him.

“Uh no, no of course not!” he stuttered, looking at her. “Are you, uh, okay? You don’t look so good, kind of off…”

Kass rolled her eyes at him.

“Of course I’m not okay!” she huffed, rubbing her back again. “I’m nine billion months pregnant and have been having contractions off and on since my husband left this morning.”

“But you can’t be…” Rodney shut up when he saw the glare she shot him. After a moment it hit him what she’d said.

“No! Just no! I am NOT delivering that kid!” he screeched, backing up again. “Lorne would kill me if I did!”

Kass rolled her eyes, “God McKay, you really must be some kind of genius for them to keep you here!” she growled.

“Wait, does Keller know you’re in labor?” Rodney asked, frowning worriedly, as she rubbed her back again.

Kass looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

“I am NOT in labor, Rodney!”

“Sure you aren’t, let’s get you to the infirmary.” he said, carefully helping her to her feet.

Kass leaned on him heavily as they made their way toward the infirmary, half listening to his conversation with the control room.

“Uhm, so they are going to try and get Lorne back, but he and his team were sent to bust John and Ronon out of some alien jail.” he informed her, clicking off his coms.

Kass muttered something stopping as another contraction hit her. Once they were moving again, she looked at him.

“So why aren’t you with them?” she asked, breathing slowly.

“Uh, space squirrel bit me and Keller said I had to stay here.” Rodney said as they entered the infirmary.

Jen seemed to appear from nowhere, taking Kass’ arm.

“Okay Rodney, I got it from here.” she said, guiding Kass away.

“But, but, but what am I supposed to do now?” he said, huffing out when she ignored his question.

************* Two hours later ***********

“Come on Kass, you can do it.” Jen said encouragingly, as she looked up at her.

Kass growled, eyes squeezed shut as she pushed again.

“Okay breathe, you’re doing great, almost there.” Jen said, pausing when she heard pounding footsteps in the hall outside.

Evan skidded to a stop in the doorway, panting softly as he looked at Kass.

“I am so, so sorry I wasn’t here Kass.” he said, taking a step toward her.

Kass glared ominously at him.

“I swear, if you are ever late like this again I’ll…” she groaned her unspoken threat hanging in the air as another contraction started.

Jen glanced at Evan, who was still in full gear.

“Vest and berretta off.” she said, before turning back to Kass.

Evan quickly handed off the items to Rodney who was loitering around outside the room, before going to Kass.

“That’s it, you’re doing fine.” he whispered as he stroked her damp hair.

Kass growled something, squeezing his hand tightly.

“That’s it Kass, one more push and you’re done!” Jen said, looking up at them.

Kass nodded, panting as she looked at Evan.

“Come on, you’re almost done.” he said soothingly, kissing her forehead.

“That’s it honey.” he murmured, eyes locked on hers.

Suddenly a loud wail filled the room, drawing both their attention. Jen grinned at them as she held up the squalling newborn.

“Congratulations you two, it’s a girl!” She said before scurrying off to tend to the baby.

Evan kissed Kass for a long moment grinning at her.

“You did great honey.” he said, wiping her brow gently.

Kass nodded, eyes closed, as she sighed tiredly. She opened them a moment later when Jen reappeared holding a tiny pink bundle.

“She’s perfect, 6 pounds, 19 inches.” Jen said, grinning as she deposited the bundle into Kass’ arms.

“I’ll give you two a few moments while I go beat back the horde of visitors.” she teased with a wink as she left.

Evan pulled back the corner of the blanket grinning proudly at his daughter, glancing at Kass.

“So, you sure about the name we picked?” he asked.

Kass nodded, “totally, Olivia Samantha Lorne, fits her perfectly.” she grinned as he settled next to her.

Just as she’d handed Olivia off to Evan there was a knock at the door.

“You three up for a visitor?” John drawled as he held Kenzie’s hand.

“Yeah, sure,” Evan said, patting the bed next to Kass. “Sit right here, peanut and you can meet your new sister.” he said with a grin.

“So it’s a girl, hunh?” John asked with a smile.

Kass nodded, kissing Kenzie’s forehead as she settled next to her.

“Yeah, Olivia Samantha Lorne.” she said shooting John a grin.

“Well congratulations you two.” he said before ducking back out.

Kicks and Cravings

Evan glanced across the table and frowned as he watched Kass rub her belly, a grimace on her face. He quickly shifted his attention back to the meeting when he heard John clear his throat next to him.

“Yeah, my team will accompany SA4’s scientists to M3T-221, to check out those ruins, sir.” he said, glancing at Woolsey at the head of the table.

“Very good then, get your team geared up and meet at the ‘Gate in two hours.” Woolsey said, gathering his things and leaving.

Evan got up and walked over to where Kass still sat, gently rubbing the spot on her belly.

“You okay? Seemed to be really uncomfortable during the meeting.” he said, with a chuckle.

Kass huffed softly as she stood up.

“I’m fine, I’ve just been turned into someone’s personal playground.” she said laughing softly.

“You are sure there is nothing I can do?” he questioned with a worried tone.

Kass laughed and shook her head.

“As I’ve told you every other time you ask- not unless you are planning on carrying this kid for the next few months.”

Evan grinned as he leaned in and kissed her, hand still on her belly. Kass gently took his hand and slid it to where there was a steady barrage of kicks.

He stood there for a moment smiling at her.

“Active today, hunh?” he asked quietly.

“Active always,” Kass answered with a grin, “now you better get going before John chucks you and your team through the gate.” she teased.

Evan sighed and nodded.

“I guess I’ll see you when we get back.” he said before turning and leaving.

************* A while later **************

John set his tray down, grinning at Kass and Kenzie.

“Hey Kenzie, you getting excited about your new sibling?” he asked, settling in across from the pair.

Kenzie nodded, beaming at him.

“Momma and Daddy say it’ll be fun to have a baby around.”

John raised an eyebrow in Kass’ direction, taking in her overloaded tray.

“You know you could have left some food for the rest of us.” he said, with a teasing tone.

Kass glared at him, “it’s not nearly as much as Rodney has!” she huffed, picking at the Pegasus strawberries.

“So, how are you doing?” he asked, nodding at her belly.

Kass shrugged.

“Pretty good, though Jen has been nagging me to work less,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh and of course there are the weird cravings.”

John frowned and pointed to the eggs swimming in syrup.

“Like that?” he asked with a grin.

“Hey! It’s actually pretty good.” Kass replied with a grin.

“Yeah, well you’re just lucky the cooks have a soft spot for you.” he drawled as his coms beeped.

With a sigh he stood up, “if you’ll excuse me, I have to go deal with a situation in the control room.”

Kass nodded as he walked away, turning back to her meal.

Telling the Triplets

Bar frowned at Jayne and Mirth as they assembled outside Kass and Evan’s quarters.

“So…I wonder what was so important we had to meet her here?” she said to the others.

Mirth shrugged and looked at Jayne.

“Did she say anything to Nikki about what’s going on?” she asked.

Jayne shook her head.

“No, or at least not that Nikki has mentioned to me…” she trailed off, their memories floating to the ritual alien wedding incident.

Just as they were about to activate the chimes the door slid open, revealing a tousled haired Evan.

He grinned at them.

“Ladies,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Kass, honey, your guests are here. I’m going back to work; call me if you need anything!” He nodded to the triplets as they went in, before heading back to his office.

“I’ll be right out! I just have to sign off on this report!” Kass called from the other room, making the three exchange knowing looks.

They’d just settled into the living area when Kass appeared in the doorway.

“Hey guys, sorry I didn’t meet you in the gate room. I, uh, was a bit busy.” she said, drawing their attention.

Their eyes widened in unison as they stared at her. Jayne and Mirth squealed while Bar grinned.

“Does this mean I get to be Auntie Bar?” she asked with a laugh.

Kass chuckled, sitting in her favorite chair.

“I guess if that’s what you want.” she said.

“So tell us everything!” Mirth demanded.

“Yeah, so when are you due? Is it a boy or a girl? How’d Evan take it?” Jayne asked, excitedly.

Kass held up a hand to stop the barrage of questions.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” she said with a chuckle. “I’m just about six months along, so I’ve got about three months to go. Yes we know what we are having,” she paused seeing their expectant looks, “no, we are not sharing.”

Jayne squeaked and looked disappointed.

“But how are we supposed to send baby gifts if we don’t know what to shop for?” she asked.

Bar rolled her eyes, “she’s probably going to say she doesn’t want us to send anything.”

Kass scoffed.

“No, I was GOING to say you can just wait like everyone in the city has to.” she said, whilst sticking out her tongue at Bar. “Now, I think there was one more question,” she paused pretending to ponder.

“Oh right- Evan is thrilled, over the moons with excitement. Heck I think if he could he’d convince Rodney to build him a time machine or something to skip the next few months.”

The three grinned at her, Mirth breaking the quiet a moment later.

“So what were you two doing anyway before we got here? I hope we didn’t interrupt anything.” she said, waggling her eyebrows.

Kass laughed, surprised they hadn’t asked before.

“We had an appointment with Jen this morning and had to record our letter home for his mum.”

Bar scoffed softly.

“So that’s what they call it these days.” she said with a wink at Jayne and Mirth.

Kass rolled her eyes, cheeks tinged pink.

“Oh wait, a second!” she exclaimed, digging in a pile of papers next to her. After a moment she produced three pictures handing one to each of the women. She gave them a minute to study the grainy image from her earlier ultrasound before speaking.

“Those are for you, I’ll give Nikki hers later. You should probably however get to work, I’m sure she’s wondering where you’ve all wandered off to.” Kass said as she stood up.

The others grumbled for a moment before Jayne spoke.

“I guess we’ll see you later than?” she asked hopefully.

Kass nodded smiling at them.

“Yeah of course you will. I should probably grab a nap now anyway.” she said, yawning softly.

“Okay than.” the triplets replied, each hugging her in turn before leaving.

It’s a…

Kass sighed and glanced at Jen then at the clock.

“Maybe we should just reschedule?” she asked softly.

Jen patted her hand lightly.

“I’m sure his meeting with the Colonel will wrap up soon.”

Kass rolled her eyes.

“Didn’t you say that an hour ago?”

Before Jen could answer there was a chuckle from the doorway.

“Anyone ever tell you that patience is a virtue, honey?” Evan teased, with a grin.

Kass rolled her eyes at him.

“Yeah well, you were supposed to be here an hour ago, Evan!” Kass huffed, settling back on the exam table.

“Sorry, Kass.” Evan whispered pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Jen smiled as she watched them.

“If you two are done making goo-goo eyes at each other, we can start now.” she teased, with a chuckle.

Kass sucked in a breath as Jen started the procedure that had now become routine.

“Everything looks good, now have you two decided if you want to know the gender?” Jen asked, looking at them.

Kass licked her lips and looked at Evan.

“It was your idea so YOU can ask her.” she said with a laugh.

Evan cleared his throat and looked at Jen.

“Well, uh, we do want to know BUT we don’t want you to tell us.” he said with a grin.

Jen frowned looking at him.

“I’m not really quite sure how that works.” she said chuckling.

“Well we were thinking you could write it down…and put it in an envelope.” Evan shrugged as he looked at her.

Jen laughed and shrugged.

“I guess I could do that.”

Turning back to the screen she studied it for a few minutes before typing out a word and printing off the image. She slid it into an envelope as Evan helped Kass up.

“Okay, so I’ll see you guys in two weeks for a regular check up?” she asked, handing Kass the envelope.

Kass nodded as she grinned at Jen.

“Yeah, two weeks and then another two weeks after that.” she said as Evan placed a light hand on her back, guiding her from the infirmary to the nearest balcony.

“So…do we open it now or do we wait?” he asked with a grin, taking a seat on the bench.

“Of course we open it now.” Kass said with a laugh, sitting next to him.

Kass carefully extracted the picture from the envelope, studying it, reading the single word typed in the corner before grinning at Evan.

“Well that’s great.” she said with a smile.
Evan wrapped an arm around her, hand resting lightly on her belly.

“Yup, it’s perfect. Just what I’ve always wanted.” he said, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“So….now we just have to figure out a name.” Kass said with a content sigh settling back into his arms.