This is my new fic. Set in about 2 years. No real spoilers apart from a Luby child.

I only own the made up characters.

The songs are 'Godspeed' by the Dixie Chicks and 'Home' by Michael Buble.

Read the lyrics because I chose specifically.

God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars

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The little girl smiled weakly as her father held her in his arms.

"Don't go daddy, please."

"I have to baby, I have to go." She shook her head.

"No! Daddy!" He placed her back in her mother's arms and turned his head away from her face, tear stained and empty.

"I'll be back soon." She turned her face away into her mother's neck and didn't look again until she could no longer hear his car chugging down the street.

"Come on, let's make dinner." But she wouldn't be coaxed into good humour.

"No." She frowned and ran into her room. Her mother sighed and began cooking, tears silently meandering down her cheeks.

"Abby! Come on!" She opened her eyes and yawned. "Come on! We're going shopping." Maggie grinned as she squirmed through the door.

"Mom, I don't want to. Can't I stay here?"

"Abigail, you're 7 and a half. Of course you can't stay here. Now come on, I want to pick up some fabric for a new dress for you." Abby rolled her eyes and threw back the covers. She hated dresses. She hated anything girly if she thought about it. Her legs were too skinny for dresses, her hair too straight for barrettes or bands. Maybe she was meant to be a boy.

"Abby, Eric is crying." Maggie called from the kitchen. "Sweetie, I'm making breakfast. Get him for me, will you?" She hauled herself off the bed and next door, to her little brother's room. Eric pulled himself up to standing with the bars of his old crib.

"Good morning Eric." Abby said softly, lifting him out and onto the floor. "Come on, nappy time." They manhandled him into a clean nappy and she hitched him up again and hurried now the hall just as 'breakfast' was served.

Cornflakes, softened with water. Abby tried to subdue a grimace as Maggie watched them intently. She forced down as much as possible and excused herself.

"Come on Eric." The toddler slid off his seat and grabbed his sister's hand.

Abby hated it, the forced motherhood for someone only 5 years younger than herself. She wanted to be outside, playing in the mud or racing her friends on her new bike. Instead she was inside, looking after a baby because their mother couldn't take the time out of her 'busy schedule' of…sewing and sleeping, to care about either of them. She swore, in her seven year old heart that if she ever had children they would have two parents, a nice house and she'd love them with every bit of her heart. They'd have everything she didn't.

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Let me go home

I'm just too far from where you are

I wanna come home

And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life

It's like I just stepped outside

When everything was going right

And I know just why you could not

Come along with me

But this was not your dream

But you always believe in me

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"You don't have to go daddy."

"Yes I do little one." She shook her head ferociously. "I'll be back soon, I promise. I just need to go to help some people."

"Help us! I hurted my leg. I need you to look after it."

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Dear Luka

How is Dafur? I hope it's okay, and not too hot.

Everyone here is okay.

Abby set down her pen and rubbed her palms over her face. The apartment creaked in the wind as shadows moved across the floor. It was 2am and she couldn't sleep again. The bed felt too empty without his solid warm weight next to her, the covers too loose with only her needs. She ached for someone to fight over them with.

"Momma." She heard a small voice whisper from the doorway and looked up. Bella tucked her thumb into her mouth and walked over, dragging Teddypig across the carpet. "I couldn't sleep." Abby scooped up her daughter and tucked her into her lap.

"Let's write to daddy." She whispered. "I need some help." Bella rested her head on her mother's chest and sighed. Abby knew it would be a few minutes and she'd be asleep again, but it felt nice to have the weight on her lap. It reminded her of being pregnant, a state she longed to be in again, but the chance had been torn away from her. "I have this little person though." She reminded herself mentally.

"Say we miss him mommy." Bella murmured. Abby kissed her soft hair and picked up the pen.

We all miss you loads. Bella keeps asking when you're coming home and she sleeps in our bed a lot now. It's nice to have someone to cuddle again.

"That's enough for tonight." Abby said to herself, capping the pen and sliding the paper away from them. She carried Bella into their room and slipped her underneath the covers before sliding in too. Curving around the little girl, she fell asleep immediately.

How are you both? Darfur is different. People are dying of diseases we don't even think about in America-diarrhoea, flu, childbirth. It feels like we're getting no where, then a patient will suddenly improve and everyone is boosted.

I hope Bella is being good, and work is okay. I'll write again soon.

Love to everyone

L xx

Luka licked the envelope strip and tucked the letter under his pillow until later, when he could send it. The silence outside was bliss after the screaming of a few hours ago.

Two girls had arrived, one half dragging the other towards the camp. Both their hands, feet and clothes were bloody and one was pale beneath the dust.

"Please help me." One girl called, before collapsing under the others weight. People hauled them both up, lifting the injured girl into the tents.

"What happened?" they asked the first. She sat down on the floor and moved her hands to inside her robes. Immediately people stopped, thinking she was a human bomb.

"Do not fear. I am not here to cause harm." She gently lifted a bundle from inside her robe and handed it to the nearest person.

"It was killing her." Lauren unwrapped the bundle and gasped.

Inside lay the smallest baby, the cord still attached and dangling. It took tiny breaths and its whole chest and stomach was working to drag in all the air it could.

"Her father…cut it out…he did it once before. This time she wouldn't stop bleeding." Luka quickly took charge of the baby while Carter's team went to work on the mother's botched caesarean.

"Okay little girl, keep breathing for us." Luka murmured, wiping around her little gaping mouth. The umbilical cord was relatively clean, a good but not perfect sign. He clamped and cut it to a shorter length then attached a drip to her arm. It was precious saline but without it, the baby would dehydrate within minutes. Her heart was fast but strong, and her pupils were reactive to light. Being premature, he guessed her lungs were having problems but without the proper paeds kit, there wasn't much to be done. They could only hope she was strong enough to live.

"I should have stopped him." The girl spoke up. Luka jumped, forgetting her.

"Come sit up here. I'll check you." She moved to the end of the baby's bed.

"Will she survive?"

"I hope so. She looks strong, despite being so early. They're both lucky you brought them in."

"It was the least I could do. I nearly killed her once before."

"You…how?"

"She's my mother." Luka stepped back. The unconscious woman looked no more than 33, this girl about 18. "I know you're shocked. I'm 16 and she is 29. She was 13 when I was born, much too small to bear a child. I not only nearly killed her; I almost stopped her having more children. Luckily she was strong. She has 5 others at home. We live with my grandfather, my uncles and aunts, cousins. They do not trust the US doctors, but I know you will help her."

Both had survived. They were sleeping now, all three together in an embrace so full of love that no one spoke.

Luka pulled back the covers and crept into bed. Sleep was usually easy, but it took him 30 minutes to succumb. And just as he slid under sleep, he pulled his pillow into him and believed it was her.

Now I know the medical bits are probably so wrong, so dont flame me for it.