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They were covered with soot, and ash, and sand, and their bodies bespoke the battle they had fought. On one side of his head Daniel’s hair was bloodied and matted. Casey looked far worse, her slender body covered with cuts and bruises. Her long hair was full of sand, and the blonde streaked with red from several gashes.

"Let’s get them to the infirmary," Jack said quietly.

Daniel refused to let go of Casey. Jack and Teal'c helped him to his feet, practically carried the exhausted man down the corridors. Aaron and the Seeneys were directly behind them.

He gratefully stretched out on one of the beds, still holding his wife’s dead body against his own. Too tired to think, Daniel closed his eyes and drifted into unconsciousness.

Fifteen minutes later Casey took a deep breath, her back arching away from his chest. She took a moment to orient herself, and smiled at her father, who waited patiently beside the bed. She could feel Daniel’s arms around her, and when she had moved, they tightened, pulling her closer to his body.

"Sleep, my darling daughter," Aaron said softly.

She gave a nod and closed her eyes.

A  A  A  A  A  A

An hour later she was standing in the shower. She had scrubbed her hair, washed the dirt from her skin. The warm water felt wonderful as it flowed over her body. The wounds and the pain were gone, but the weariness remained. She smiled when strong, familiar arms wrapped around her, shivered when he nibbled at her shoulder.

"Welcome back, Angel," he whispered.

"Thank you. I guess we won," she said, a smile on her face.

"Yep. Thanks to you. Couldn’t have done it without you, babe."

"Just remember that," she said, snuggling back against his chest.

"Can’t forget it." His lips moved against her neck.

"So…um…how did you…" she wanted to know how it had ended, needed to know. His teeth were nipping at her, distracting her.

"Tossed his sorry ass into that lava flow," he replied.

"Good thinking."

"Payback, babe," Daniel said. "That’s what he intended to do to you."

She pushed her hips back against him, felt his arousal. "Why Doctor Jackson, I do believe you’re happy to see me," she giggled.

"Oh, yeah," he grinned. He pushed against her. "So what are you going to do about it?"

She leaned forward slightly, put her hands against the wall. "I’m not going to do anything. What you do is completely up to you."

He slipped his hand between her thighs, made her ready for him. With a moan he slid into her body, sighed when he felt those muscles grab him, hold him, massage him. "That’s it babe, make us both feel good," he whispered. He moved his hand to the front of her hips, his fingers searched for and found that swollen, hard nub. He began to move in and out of her, smiling at the tiny sounds of pleasure she made with each thrust he made.

She whispered to him, filled the air with her whimper, then shoved her hips back against him. He grabbed her hips, began to pound into her body, urged on by more whispers, another soft cry. It wasn’t long before her name echoed around them.

"Now I suppose you need your back washed," she teased, still leaning back against him in the sweet afterglow.

"That would be nice. I’ll wash yours for you."

"I’d like that. But just washing. We have a debrief to go to. I want to get home to my babies."

He kissed her shoulder, smiled against her skin. "Just washing," he promised.

A  A  A  A  A  A

"Okay, what I want to know is if this thing is over," Jack said, looking from Aaron to Liam to Amanda and back again.

Aaron looked at his friends. "The battle is over. The effects are just beginning."

"And this means…?"

"Gamma may have a few more Ancients in residence."

Jack sat back in his chair. He studied the Ancient for a moment. "Kinda want a chance to know their kids and grandkids, huh?" he asked softly.

Aaron nodded. "Those of us willing to speak out against the idea of an Immortal nursery were few in number, but many others agreed with us. After our DNA was taken, we were summarily ushered out the door. Oh, a few of us managed to find out about our children. Knew whether we had a son or a daughter. But we never had a chance to know them. Raise them, as was our right. That is why we…helped…Oma convince the Ascended to change Casey and Sam’s Quickening to allow them to get pregnant. It was just those two, members of SG-1, reward for saving the universe sort of thing. But we knew that the Immortal scientists would never stop trying to find a way to allow Immortals to have children, and that two pregnant Immortals could be of great help in that endeavor." He turned to look at his daughter. "If you should decide you want more children, I’m afraid you’ll have to take the shots. Once Nicholas was born, your Quickening…reverted."

"It was set up to allow two pregnancies," Casey said, nodding her understanding. She looked at Daniel. "Do you want more?"

Daniel looked at her. They hadn’t had this conversation…yet…and a debriefing certainly wasn’t where he expected to have it. "I have a son and a daughter. I don’t know if I could handle watching you go through that again. Emmie’s birth was hard on you, being pregnant with Nicholas was hard on you…no, babe, I’m happy with the two we have."

She nodded. Her pregnancy with Nicholas had indeed been difficult. For a few short hours she had been terrified that she was going to lose him before he was ever born. And the line about forgetting the pain of childbirth was just that, a line. She could remember exactly how hard it had been with Emmie, and Nicholas hadn’t been easy, either. She was blessed with a god for a husband, and two beautiful, healthy children. To ask for more would be to tempt fate.

Jack looked at Sam. Amber’s delivery had been a difficult one as well. Had the baby not finally turned when she did, Sam would have been forced to have a caesarian section. "Don’t even think about it. You and Amber had a rough time. I’m like Daniel, I can’t watch you go through that again."

Sam smiled. "I’m happy with the family I have."

Casey started giggling. "This will be the weirdest debrief record on file!"

Laughter filled the room.

Teal'c looked first at Sam, then at Casey. "I am relieved that neither of you will be pregnant again. You seem to choose to do so at the same time, making it difficult to look out for you."

Casey giggled harder. "Oh, poor Teal'c. We really did run you ragged the first time, didn’t we?"

"Indeed you did."

She leaned over, put her head on the Jaffa’s wide shoulder. "You don’t know how nice it felt knowing that you cared so much. Thanks, my friend."

"You are welcome, my friend."

The ship suddenly shuddered around them. The team jumped to their feet and ran for the bridge.

"Tell me what we’ve got," Jack said as soon as he walked into the room.

"Al'kesh. Looks new. The Hak’tyl is being fired on as well."

"Teal'c, tell Bra’tac to get the hell out of here. If that ship goes down, the Jaffa Rebellion could die with it. Tell him there will be a better day to fight."

The Jaffa nodded, then began to communicate with the Jaffa Master.

"Case, get a lock on that ship!"

Casey was already working on a targeting solution. "Got it."

"Any idea who we’re dealing with?" Jack asked of no one particular.

"No, sir," Sam said, running the identification code of the enemy ship through the computer.

Before more could be said, the communication screen activated. Ba’al stared coldly at them, his gaze coming to rest on Casey.

"That son-of-a-bitch has more lives that a freaking cat!" Jack spat disgustedly.

"Turn the whore over to me, and I will allow the rest of you to live."

Casey flinched, and dropped her eyes, her cheeks burning red.

"Case, nuke ‘em."

"One left, Jack," she said softly.

"Nuke his ass."

She flipped up the plastic cover, toggled one switch. "Firing solution verified."

"Fire!"

The ship was already moving away. By the time the missile hit, the shields were able to absorb the majority of the explosion.

"Shit!" Jack swore, pounding his fist on the arm of the captain’s chair, the one he had requested.

"Pursue?" Daniel asked from the helm.

"Damned straight."

"Jack, we’re out of nukes, and they don’t seem to have much affect on those shields, and nothing else we have will take him out," Casey reminded him.

The older man sighed. "Fine. Okay. We’ll go back to Gamma. Find something bigger and better than nukes. I want big honkin’ guns on this thing…something that will penetrate those shields!" he said.

The Phoenix broke off and headed back for familiar space.

"Are you sure it’s allowed?" the Second asked, her voice a low whisper.

"I have been given proper authorization. The Chosen defeated the renegade Ancient. There are other battles to be fought. And the Committee wants to know exactly what The Chosen’s …talents…are. And how much power he truly has. We are to continue monitoring his… progress," the First replied happily.

The Third nodded. "Good. I have grown quite fond of them."

"As have I," the First admitted.

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