After his brief, none too reassuring chat with Colonel Young, Lt. Matthew Scott didn't really feel like joining the others in the galley. Everyone was so happy to have fresh food and water and he knew his less than chipper mood could dampen their high spirits. Instead he chose to wander through the cavernous ship that was their home, for better or for worse.

With a sigh, Mat let his hand trail along the chilled wall of Destiny's hallway. There had been a brief period of peace on the planet when he had come to accept the idea that he would probably spend the rest of his life there. Despite his fervent wishes, he hadn't been able to summon up the sort of faith Dr. Caine had expressed in the idea that an advanced alien culture would return and take them home, but the planet had been beautiful and felt safe.

Still, staying behind, abandoning his duty as a soldier would never have entered his mind. He had been so shocked that TJ would even consider going AWOL, but when she revealed her pregnancy it made sense. After that, his own choice had seemed simple. She was his friend and, as modern and evolved as he tried to be, he felt the need to be there, to protect her and her baby.

But Colonel Young's ultimatum had rendered their choices unimportant. He and TJ had to return to the ship in order to allow the others the option to stay. Eight men and women had remained on the surface and he offered up a silent prayer for their safety and wished Caine's faith would be proven well placed.

After a time, he found himself outside the door of TJ's makeshift infirmary and entered without much thought. For the first time in a long time, no one occupied any of the treatment beds. Sgt. Riley must have recovered during their month on the planet. The only person in the room, besides himself, was TJ.

The blond Lieutenant was sitting at her small desk, neatly tucked off to the side, with her back to him. Her head was bowed and her shoulders slumped and he felt a lump in his throat. Something about her posture screamed defeat and he silently repeated the promise he had made to her in the shuttle, before Colonel Young had come down to the planet.

Crossing the room, he asked, "TJ, you okay?"

There was no response from the medic, so when he was within arms length, he tried again. "TJ?" he said, placing a hand on her shoulder and feeling her jump in surprise. "Hey, it's just me."

"Oh," she said dully, raising a hand to swipe at tear stained cheeks. Turning to look up at him, she just murmured, "Hi, Matt."

He really wasn't good with crying women…well, to be honest, he wasn't good with women in general, always said the wrong thing. He was cute though, so they seemed to like him, but he just never seemed to be able to understand them. Then again, who was he to say men made anymore sense.

God, thinking like that made his head hurt.

Grabbing one of the other stools in the room, he pulled it over to sit by her. The metal on metal sounds seemed to echo in the room, as did the ever present thrum of the ship's engines. It was funny how the sounds of the ship seemed louder now, after a month of only natural white noise on the planet.

TJ had resumed her previous position, head down, eyes fixed on her hands, which were folded over the gentle swell of her stomach. Folded over he tiny baby growing inside of her. The baby she might well have to raise aboard this ship.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, raising a hand but letting it fall before he touched her again. "So sorry…."

She let out a small muffled sound that he prayed wasn't the renewal of tears. "I was going to leave," she finally choked out, raising her eyes to meet his for a moment. "Have my baby, go to school. My family would have helped me. He went back to his wife…he never would have had to know. I wouldn't have to be thought of as the other woman who got knocked up."

After his own discovery of a son he'd never been offered the chance to get to know, the idea of not telling the Colonel made him flinch slightly, but he couldn't really blame her. The two circumstances were quite different and now she'd had any options taken from her. It seemed unfair, to say the least.

"Hey," he said and this time did touch her, laying his hand atop hers. The next thing out of his mouth made him feel like a total hypocrite, but this wasn't about him. It was about TJ. "If you don't want to tell him it's his…then don't."

This statement actually got an aborted laugh from TJ, who said, "I think he might notice something and put two and two together."

True enough. "No, I mean, if he asks…you could say it's not his."

"I wish I could, but come on, Matt," she said, giving him a look that clearly said she thought he was saying something especially stupid. "I was on Icarus after he called things off with me. Where am I gonna say I met a guy?"

Matt bit his lip. Icarus base hadn't had what you'd call a massive dating pool for military personnel to choose from. Heck, TJ's own relationship with Young was against fraternization regs, as he was he CO. Claiming a civilian as the father wouldn't break any rules, but neither of them were particularly tight with any of the civvies. Not enough to ask someone to lie.

Again, his mouth seemed to have a mind of it's own, one that acted completely of it's own volition. "You could say it was me." If it were physically possible, he would have looked at himself to see if he'd grown a second, obviously insane head. "We're friends, both First Lieutenants…we could say we had a few off duty and it happened. One of those things, ya know…."

He trailed off when he realized TJ was looking at him, tears in her eyes and lips trembling. All he had time to do was think Shit! I said something wrong…oh please don't cry!, before she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, mirroring their positions from earlier in the shuttle.

She didn't seem mad at him, so he hugged her back, gently patting her as she tried to contain her tears. After a moment, she spoke without releasing him, "I can't ask you to do that, Matt."

Huh, maybe he hadn't put his foot in his mouth. "You're not," he assured her, holding her tight, pressing his cheek to hers. "I just…you are gonna have a baby. Here, on this ship. Anything I can do to help, I will."

It wasn't like he was proposing marriage or dating or anything like that and he knew TJ understood. She was a lot smarter than him and he wasn't ashamed to admit that. The simple fact was sometimes people make mistakes. It was totally believable that two attractive, healthy young people had a few too many beers and had sex that resulted in a baby. It was also possible for those same two young people to be friends who had no desire for a deeper relationship with each other, but both wanted what was best for the child.

TJ pulled back a little in order to look Matt in the eye. There were fresh tracks on her face and he blinked back sympathetic tears at the pain and confusion that still lingered in her expression. "Thanks," she said softly, then took a deep, bracing breath and sat back. Touching her stomach again, she continued, "I…I'm not sure what I'm going to say, but I'm going to have to make a choice soon. I'll let you know if I take you up on that offer."

Giving her a small smile, Matt shrugged, "I'll be here for you two. Whatever you decide."

TJ returned the smile and, for a moment, Destiny didn't seem so cold and lifeless. Friendship and kindness could do that, make a seemingly bleak situation once again a mere challenge to be conquered. Together.

Well folks, what do you think? Should I continue this or leave it as a one shot?