Title: Sum of His Parts

Author: Squeezynz

Chapter: Thirteen - Mixed Messages

Rating: PG13

Pairing: Stabby

Abby found Stephen in one of the anterooms of the hospital wing. If she didn't know it was part of a military base, she would have been none the wiser. Once they had been removed from the quarantine area, the rest of the set up was just like a small hospital with operating rooms, nurses stations and all the paraphernalia you'd expect.

She had paid a fleeing visit to Nick and Connor in the critical care ward, only able to view them through several panes of glass, before being led away by Lester back to the reception area of the laboratories. Stephen was stretched out on a raised bed, his arm hooked up to a line, his blood siphoned off to aid in the production of a cure for the parasite affecting their friends.

“Hey,” Abby called softly, Stephen opening his eyes and smiling at her tiredly.

“Hey.”

“They treating you okay?” she asked, coming to stand beside the bed and taking his free hand, his fingers holdings hers with a reassuringly firm grip.

“Yeah. How are Nick and Connor?”

“Hard to tell. Only saw them through a window.” Abby glanced over her shoulder at James Lester standing in the doorway. “They'll be a lot better once they get some of what's in your blood serum.”

Stephen nodded, his eyes sliding shut again. Lester cleared his throat and came to stand next to Abby. Stephen opened his eyes and looked steadily at Lester for a long moment before speaking. “Will my blood cure them of the parasites?”

“The parasites and pretty much anything else swimming about in their systems. Initial testing has yielded some surprising results. Maybe at long last we've found the cure for the common cold.” The joke was wasted on Stephen, but Abby couldn't stop a smile curling her lips. “So lie back, and think of England.”

“Why would I do that?” Stephen asked, confusion creasing his forehead.

Lester rolled his eyes and huffed. “Don't know why I bother. I'll leave you two alone. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about.”

Abby waited for the sound of Lester's footsteps to fade into the distance before speaking. “Don't worry about it, he was just making a joke.” She let go of Stephen's hand and started to fiddle with the edge of the sheeting, pleating the material then smoothing it out before starting all over again.

Stephen watched her actions with an air of puzzlement. “Is something wrong? What does Lester think we should talk about?”

“In his unsubtle way, he was giving us an opportunity to discuss....um...well...about me being pregnant.”

“Oh.”

Abby waited for something more, but Stephen remained silent.

“Oh? Is that all you can say?”

Before Stephen could speak a male nurse entered, ushering Abby to one side while he disconnected the tubing attached to Stephen's arm and prepared to remove the transfusion equipment. Abby fumed but stood back, keeping silent through the process, watching the man remove the needle and dress the small wound before gathering everything up and leaving the room. Stephen was staring down at the plaster on his arm, one finger worrying the edges. Abby approached the side of the bed again.

“Stephen?”

“Yes?”

“Are you being deliberately obtuse, or do you not understand what I'm saying?”

Stephen pursed his lips and made to sit up, the action making his head swim so that he swayed slightly, Abby automatically putting out a hand to steady him.

“We had sex, you're pregnant, it's my baby,” he stated baldly, not meeting her eyes.

“In a nutshell.” Abby felt as if there was no air in the room, her lungs feeling squeezed and unable to draw breath. “Aren't you a little shocked by that?”

“Not really. Isn't that what having sex, between a man and a woman, is supposed to do?” He looked up at her at last, the expression in his impossibly blue eyes making her revise what she was going to say. He looked out of his depth, confused and a little scared as well. “Did I do something wrong? I liked what we did, I thought you liked it too....”

Abby raised a hand and rubbed at her forehead. “No, you didn't do anything wrong....we didn't do anything wrong....this is just an added complication to what is an already complicated situation.” She sighed, folding her arms over her chest and looking at him. “Did you know about the side effects of the Nanites in your blood?”

“I didn't know I had them to start with....they never told me anything like that at the Center.”

“No, I don't suppose they would.” Abby stared down at the floor. “Look.....I don't expect you to make any sort of commitment to me, or the child. It was an accident...” she stopped talking, emotions choking her, leaving her gasping. She couldn't do it, couldn't just pretend this all meant nothing to her, that being told she was pregnant was no more momentous than being told her car needed servicing.

This was huge, as huge as huge could get in her life. This was a big as discovering a Scutosaurus wandering around an English wood. Dammit, she wanted that commitment, she wanted Stephen to tell her it was all going to be alright, that she would have him by her side through it all, that she wouldn't be left to raise a child on her own, that she didn't have to be frightened for hers and their child's future. She wanted all that, but didn't know how to tell him. God, what a mess. Drawing in a shuddering breath, she raised her head and looked him straight in the eye. “We'll talk about this later, okay?”

“It'll be all right, Abby.....I promise.”

Abby felt her heart skip a beat, then plastered a smile on her stiff lips. “Sure.” Bolstering her flagging courage, Abby unfolded her arms and reached for his hand. “How about we go and see about something to eat? You'll need to replace all that blood they took.”

Stephen gave her a searching look, before nodding and easing himself off the side of the bed. When the room didn't start to spin he squeezed her hand and they left the room, asking a passing nurse where the cafeteria was.

Z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z

Stephen watched her sip her tea, her eyes unfocussed as she stared across the room. He took another bite of his sandwich, hers largely untouched on her plate, washing it down with a swig from his own cup of luke-warm tea.

He was searching her face for any sign of the change taking place inside her, wondering if having a baby growing in a woman's womb radically altered how they looked or behaved. Reproduction had been part of the knowledge stuffed into his head, but knowing the mechanics was woeful preparation for the knowledge that the young woman sitting opposite you was actually going to have a child made up of a mix of your and her DNA.

As he munched he tried to picture what a child would look like, with his eyes and her hair, his nose and her lips. He wondered if Abby wanted it to be a boy, or a girl, not that he minded one way or the other. Staring at her bleach blond head, he suddenly realised he didn't know what its real colour was. He'd accepted, at first, that it was already natural, but after seeing her bathroom at the flat, it was obvious that she had to work at keeping it that way.

“What colour is your hair?” he asked out of the blue, startling Abby who stared at him blankly before answering.

“What on earth has that to do with anything?” Self-consciously she reached up a hand and tugged at the short strands.

“I just wondered what colour your hair really was.”

Abby shifted under his intense stare and lifted her cup to take another sip. “If you must know....brown, like yours.”

Stephen nodded and went back to his sandwich, leaving Abby to shoot him curious glances over the rim of her cup. The silence stretched between them, Abby once more staring off into the distance, her chin cupped in one hand, while Stephen finished his meal.

So their child would have brown hair and blue eyes, possibly a shade between his intense blue and her cornflower colour. Stephen mused that whatever the sex of the baby, it would break hearts before it could talk if it was half as good looking as its mother. Despite having no practical experience of children, he had watched the mothers at the café, that day they'd gone shopping, one woman breastfeeding at the table, while another held her child on her shoulder and rubbed circles on its back to bring up its wind. He wondered what it would be like to hold such a small creature, glancing down at his hands for a moment and imagining such a fragile, dependent, wholly vulnerable scrap of humanity being held by him.

“Can I hold it?”

Abby snapped her gaze back to him and arched an eyebrow. “Hold what?”

“Our baby. Will they let me hold it?”

She felt a jolt of electricity shoot right through her. “Do you want to?”

Stephen nodded, excitement making his eyes glitter.

“Then I don't see why not. It's your baby too,” Abby answered, a warm flush spreading through her at the thought that Stephen was obviously thinking about the baby as an actuality, of him being there when it was born, of being a part of its life enough to want to hold it.

“It is...isn't it,” said Stephen, his lips suddenly curling up into one of his bone melting smiles, her own lifting in an answering smile in response.

“It will be some time before you'll be able to....nine months, in fact,” Abby told him.

Stephen reached across the table and took her hand. “Do you think Connor will mind having to move out?”

“Connor – move out?”

“Or will your flat be big enough for the four of us?”

“Four of us?” Abby repeated faintly. “I take it you mean to be there....with me....when the baby is born?”

Stephen frowned at her in puzzlement. “Where else would I be?”

Abby laughed nervously. “No where else....that's where I want you to be.” She felt her heart give a small leap of joy. Maybe it would be all right after all.

Z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z

A week later and Nick and Connor were given the all clear, both of them glad to finally be able to leave the confines of the military hospital and return home. Lester had kept the news of Abby's condition to himself, leaving it to her and Stephen to decide when they told the others. Abby had asked Stephen to keep it to himself for a little while longer, until Nick and Connor were a hundred percent better, and he'd agreed, happy to do whatever brought a smile to her face and chased the shadows from her eyes.

On their first day free and back home, Abby suggested dinner at her place for Nick and Connor, the former patients quite happy to eat anything as long as it wasn't hospital food. Abby and Stephen had been released much earlier, returning to the ARC to file reports before being sent home by Lester to enjoy a few days of doing nothing, a squad of special ops and ARC personnel detailed to take care of any anomaly incursions in their absence.

A day spent shopping had produced a kitchen piled high with produce, and pots bubbling with enticing whiffs of exotic smells to tempt the most jaded of appetites. While Abby stayed home, Stephen went to collect Nick and Connor, Stephen filling them in on any news that they'd missed in the day or so since he and Abby had last visited the recovering pair.

“I'll be glad to be sleeping in my own bed tonight,” Nick sighed, putting his hands behind his head and stretching in the passenger seat of the silver utility. Like a great many skills, Stephen had picked up driving as if he'd been doing it for years, passing the necessary tests with flying colours, and now fully licensed for a variety of vehicles, from forklifts to heavy truck and trailer units. Connor sat in the back seat and smiled happily, glad to be free of the hospital confines and out of the backless gowns he'd had to wear while recovering.

“I'll just be glad not to be woken up every two hours to have another needle stuck in me, and my temperature taken.”

“Couldn't agree more, Connor....one more helping of stewed apple and muesli, and I was ready to commit murder!”

They pulled up outside Abby's flat, Stephen taking Connor's bag from out of the covered flat deck at the back of the truck, while the other two let themselves in and trooped up the winding metal staircase. Abby welcomed them both with a hug, before handing them each a glass containing their favourite drink. Nick savoured the fine malt swirling in the bottom of his glass, and smacked his lips appreciatively.

“Abby, you're a treasure. Nothing like a bloody good Scotch to make a man feel human.”

Connor had flopped on the couch, taking a long pull on the bottle of chilled beer thrust into his hands. Rex flapped down and landed in his lap, preening and chirruping when Connor obliged and stroked the green reptile's head and neck. “I'm famished. What's for dinner Abs?”

“You'll find out soon enough. Help Stephen set the table, would you?”

Connor sighed theatrically but heaved himself off the couch nonetheless, helping Stephen pull out the little-used leaves on their breakfast table, to make it better suited for four. Not long after, Abby was bringing out the first of the dishes, everyone sniffing appreciatively.

“Smells wonderful, I can't wait to taste it,” Nick commented, lifting the lid and dipping in to serve himself. “What is it?”

“I think I'm supposed to say something like – 'it's an old family recipe' – but it's not. One of the girls in my yoga class passed it on to the group.”

“Yikes!” Connor yelped. “It's not bean curds and lentils, is it?”

“I don't care what it is, it smells divine,” Nick retorted, bringing a forkful to his mouth and tasting the savoury stew. “Hmmmm....Abby.....”

Connor quickly followed Nick's lead and helped himself to a generous serving, Stephen taking his turn before handing it on to Abby, who took only a small portion. The pattern was repeated with the presentation of the next casserole until Nick pushed back his plate and heaved a deep sigh.

“I'm full up. That was delicious, but I can't eat another mouthful.” He eyed her own plate, noting that she wasn't exactly stuffing herself sideways, but rather pushing what little there was from one side of her plate to the other, and back again. “Not hungry?”

Abby flicked a glance over at Stephen before meeting Nick's curious gaze. “Um.....no. Not exactly.”

“What's up?” Nick rested his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers, sure that there was some sort of mystery afoot. “You're not sick are you?”

“No, nothing like that,” she flicked another glance at Stephen. “Actually, there's something I need to tell you.”

Connor had lifted his plate as if to lick it clean, Nick casually reaching out to take it before he could, never once taking his eyes off Abby. “Go on....I'm all ears.” Connor made to say something, but Nick raised a finger to silence the young man. “What is it, Abby?”

Abby pushed her chair back and stood up, her eyes darting between Connor and Nick, Stephen ignoring the tension and just sitting back, watching. “Well....you see....um....something came up when they tested me....at the military base.” She had both Connor and Nick's full attention now. “It appears that when Stephen passed on his immunity to me.....um.....” Nick was starting to look worried, while Connor just looked puzzled. Abby drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “The test revealed that....I mean it's really early, and there's no way I could have known....um.”

“For God's sake, Abby, spit it out!” Nick half laughed to break the tension, not sure whether the news was going to good or bad.

“I'm pregnant!”

Like marionette's pulled by the same string, Nick and Connor turned their heads to look at Stephen, who smiled back at them without a hint of smugness or guile. Nick frowned and turned back to face Abby.

“Did you just say you're pregnant?”

Abby nodded, sitting down again with a thump. Nick continued to stare at her as if he didn't quite understand the meaning of the words. Connor opened and closed his mouth several times, before turning to Nick, back to Abby, then finally turning to Stephen. “Blimey....you really don't do things by halves, do you!?”

Stephen's only reply was to shrug. He turned to Abby and raised his expressive eyebrows, receiving a nod in answer to his unasked question, before rising and starting to clear the plates from the table, still without saying a word. For a long moment only the clash and clank of the dishes filled the silence, then Nick shook his head, a smile playing around his lips.

“Congratulations to the both of you.” He got up and walked the short distance to where Abby sat, pulling her gently up and into a warm hug. “You had me worried there for a moment. I was thinking up all sorts of horrible possibilities...but none of them came close to this.”

“You think this is horrible?” Abby pulled away, only to find herself engulfed again while Nick laughed.

“Not at all...I didn't mean it like that. I'm relieved...you have no idea how much.” He held her away from him and looked at her closely, noting the lines of strain. “Is everything all right with you?”

Abby nodded. “I'm fine. Still coming to terms with it, to be honest....it kinda came out of the blue.”

“I can imagine. Does Lester know?”

Abby nodded again. “He's the one who broke the news to us. I fainted.”

“I would have too.” Nick chuckled. He let her go to allow Connor to have his turn, the two young friends embracing tightly, Connor giving Abby a big kiss on the cheek.

“Does this make me an honorary uncle?”

Abby laughed, “I guess so....you and Nick, and probably Lester as well.”

Connor leant forward to whisper in her ear. “I thought you were taking something so this didn't happen?”

“I was.....but the Nanites in Stephen's system...well....they apparently stopped it working.”

Connor gave her a wry look. “Obviously.” He let her go, went back to the table and dropped into one of the chairs. “This deserves a toast.”

“I agree....except no alcohol for you, young lady!” Nick wagged a finger at Abby, making her laugh. Stephen had been quietly working in the background, clearing the dishes from the table, but now stood uncertainly in the doorway of the kitchen. Nick approached him and held out his hand for Stephen to shake. Stephen looked at it for a heartbeat, then took it and slowly shook Nick's hand.

“Congratulations, Stephen....I imagine this was as much a surprise to you, as anyone.”

“I suppose. Abby was worried you wouldn't be pleased with the news.”

“There was no need. Is Lester making things difficult for you both?”

“Abby hasn't said so. Is it likely?”

“That Lester'll cause problems? Not if I have anything to do with it. Abby's too valuable to be kicked off the program at this stage.” Nick patted Stephen's shoulder, gently steering the younger man over to where Abby and Connor stood. Nick poured two glasses of Scotch before handing one to Stephen. Abby was already holding a glass of juice, while Connor had another bottle of his favourite beer in hand.

“A toast,” Nick raised his glass, the others following suit, Stephen only hesitating a second before doing the same. “To Abby, who'll be the most kick arse mum any kid could ask for,” Nick exclaimed, clinking his glass with Abby's and the others, before tossing it back as if it was water. Connor repeated the toast and took a long pull on his beer, while Stephen sniffed his drink before taking a sip, the face he pulled making Abby burst out laughing.

“I think Stephen would prefer something else,” Abby chortled, taking the whiskey glass that Stephen held out and placing it back on the table. Nick had seen his reaction, and felt faintly scandalised that the younger man would turn his nose up at a fine malt.

“Well I'll not leave the rest then. I'll take myself off back home now and leave you good people to enjoy the rest of your evening.” Nick made to leave but Abby looped her arm with his and held him back a moment.

“Connor, call a taxi for Nick....we'll wait for it outside.” Then she tugged Nick along in her wake, leaving Stephen and Connor behind. Once outside she let go of Nick's arm and wrapped her own about her torso, the night air cold on her bare arms.

“I'm sorry, Nick.”

“Whatever for?” Nick asked, turning to face her, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets, the bottle of whiskey put down on the front step.

“If I'd have thought for one moment that this would have happened.....”

“You still would have fallen for him, that wouldn't have changed anything.”

Abby tilted her head back and stared up at the dark sky. “I've never really thought about having children before....not seriously. There was never anyone I felt.....well, there was just never anyone.”

“And now there is?”

“I'm not sure Stephen even understands what it all means, not really.” She threw her arms out in a frustrated gesture. “Just when I think he's coming to understand things better, something happens, something quite ordinary that you or I take completely for granted, and it throws him for a loop.”

“He's very devoted to you, Abby.” Nick stared off down the street. “I think you don't give him enough credit. You might be surprised just how much he does understand.....about everything.”

Abby hugged herself tightly. “God, if only I didn't feel like I'd somehow taken advantage of him.”

Nick laughed out loud at this. “Good Lord, Abby....he's not a child. Inside that ridiculously handsome exterior, is a fully functioning brain that has had to adapt to an extraordinary situation. I think he'll be able to handle being a father, and look at it this way......it'll be a whole new experience for both of you.”

Abby nodded, smiling wryly. “There is that, I suppose. I just....”

“Have a little faith in yourself, Abby. You're a great teacher, the best, and Stephen is a quick study. He's lucky you were the first person he got to meet, and bond with.”

“Not quite the first,” Abby corrected, then wanted to kick herself for reminding Nick about his treacherous wife, Helen. Nick just shrugged, turning his head to squint at the headlights coming along the road towards them.

“Helen did us....did you a great favour, Abby. She returned Stephen to us.....not entirely as he was, or how we'd want him to be, but still him, for all that. It's a gift horse I'll not be looking in the mouth.”

The taxi drew up beside them and Nick picked up the whisky bottle before leaning over to give Abby a kiss, his lips warm on her cold cheek. “Get yourself inside. I'll call you tomorrow. Lester is bound to want to have us all up in his office, sooner or later, to chew over everything until there's no life left in it.”

Abby waved until the taxi was no more than red brake lights in the distance, then turned and entered her front door, locking it tight behind her.

Z z z z z z z z z z z z z z

In a dark coloured car, parked only two houses down, Helen Cutter watched those same lights disappear into the distance, her eyes burning. She hadn't meant to leave it this long before checking up on her very expensive guilt trip, but circumstances had delayed her return.

She was not unduly surprised to find Stephen domiciled with the youngsters, although she would have taken bets that Nick would have taken the prodigal son under his own wing, and never let him out of his sight, but then Nick often did the opposite of what she expected. It was what kept her coming back, sometimes just to see how Nick had dealt with a situation, or what decisions he'd made to cope.

She knew that Nick, for all his desire to shoot her dead for what happened to Stephen, would probably still prefer an explanation before doing the said shooting; it was just who he was. Now, with Stephen returned to him, in a manner of speaking, it was more likely he'd bombard her with questions about how Stephen came about, than shoot her on sight. She was counting on it. But first, she needed to find out more about the current situation before she revealed herself and became once more embroiled in these peoples' ultimately insignificant lives.

She slid her seat further back, then pulled over the lap top sitting on the passenger seat. Powering it up, it searched and found an unsecured hot spot, quickly getting her online, her nimble fingers dancing over the keys as she used the codes needed to get her into the subsystem programming of the mainframe at the ARC. One of the advantages of flitting back and forth to the future, was having access to more sophisticated code breakers, the repeated attempts to block her by their resident geek making it more difficult each time she accessed the system.

After a lengthy battle with the latest crop of security protocols, she gave herself a mental pat on the back when the familiar logo appeared on the screen.

“I'm in.”

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End of Sum of his Parts