trans_9 | Happy Birthday To You [Open]

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Happy Birthday To You [Open]

It had been a few hours since he had almost cautiously entered the room the young comatose woman had been in to find a quietly wiggling baby, tangled in medical cords that had formally been keeping her alive. She hadn't been crying, tiny hands waving quietly in front of her face, each gesture making her pause in confusion, as though her fingers were an alien thing not connected to her body.

He hadn't been sure if he should sigh in relief or feel more worried. She was moving under her own power, for the first time she was alive and not just existing. She was a baby, it had worked. But she wasn't crying. Which could mean any number of things, most of them not good and only a few of them tolerable. It could never be simple, could it?

She had been small in his arms when he picked her up, smaller than Conner had been a few hours ago, lighter than she should have been, he'd known that much.

It had taken hours to check for and repair any damage done to her. Tirelessly matching Mei-Xing's scans with the scans of the child until everything was as it should be. His head was throbbing; a low, constant ache that made him want to sleep for the next three days.

But she was cooing, soft and quiet in his arms, latching on hungrily to a bottle when it was offered and she seemed to have no problems eating. Everything matched. Just a normal, non-human baby. A beautiful baby girl. "Shhh...."

It had worked. Somehow, despite everything, it had worked.

ooc: Anything happening in this thread is assumed to happen after Amy's, no matter the order people tag in. The baby's name will end up being Molly.

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He'd been looking for Luthor. Special Weapons was a possibility so he'd been on his way there, when he popped his head into Medbay and saw Rory with... Rory with...

"Whoa, you and your girlfriend work fast," was the flippant jibe he tossed Rory's way.

Who was she?

And why--why did she have pointy-ears?

And...wait, where was Mei-Xing's clone?

"Rory...?"

He shifted the baby, smiling tiredly at the doorway. "I wish. No, no. This is Molly. We had the clock, there wasn't anything really wrong with her. Nothing that a normal childhood could fix, nothing that hadn't been done to her. So we took a chance." He smiled down at the baby. "It panned out. Isn't she beautiful? Stacy helped me check everything that could be wrong with her. She's a bit premature, but developmentally sound and perfectly on target. Also hungry, I hope the formula tastes better than it smells."

The baby was focused on the bottle, not seeming to mind new people in her area. More interested in eating than being gaped at.

"Mei-Xing's clone."

"Molly." Rory corrected, shifting the baby in his arms. "Her name is Molly, now. However she was born. But yes, she is."

When Nanoha had filled her in on the things that happened while she was a child, it was understandable that the thing she wanted to know most about was the test surrounding Mei-Xing's clone. It was one of the few things she had dealt with on this ship that truly hit home for her; she still thought about the poor girl sometimes, still wondered if there was anything they could have done...

So when she saw Rory's post on the comms, she could barely contain her joy. She typed in a few quick replies, even as she was practically running out of her apartment. Thanks to her natural speed, she was there in no time at all, so she took a moment to pause, catch her breath, and scan the Med Bay.

It didn't take long to spot them; she didn't know Rory, but the infant in his arms was an obvious giveaway. She kept her distance for now, letting them have their moment.

Rory made a soothing noise, stroking the baby's cheek with a finger, not even noticing her for a moment. Most of his attention was focused on the baby cradled in his arms.

He startled a bit when he finally realized they were being watched, tucking Molly closer, automatically using his body like a shield. He didn't feel threatened, but he was exhausted. "Ah, hello. Can I help you? Are you injured?" They had exchanged a few short messages, but he'd never seen her before.

"Ah, no!" The blonde laughed a little, bowing her head a little in apology. "I'm Fate T. Harlaown. We spoke briefly over the comm system a little while ago."

"Oh, ah. Hi. You're here to see her then." He laughed a bit, feeling awkward. She'd want to hold the baby, then. He was a bit hesitant to turn her over, but this woman had helped her. Had put her in a position to be helped. If anyone deserved a right to hold her and handle her, this room had more than earned it. "We're calling her Molly. Ah, at least, that's what we discussed. I'm Rory, Rory Williams."

He looked a bit taken aback, maybe a little lost.

"How...?"

"The clock. Like I said, we took a chance. It was just as possible she'd age back up with everyone else. But everyone else had memories and things to age back up to. She had, well. A bed. Existence. So we thought we'd give her a chance." He rocked the baby, gentle and watching Conner. "Even if it was a small one. And here she is."

"You blocked it off somehow, so now she's just... she's a baby?"

She was a baby. A little girl.

"She can grow up normal?"

Kids Jr. was used to-- hell, people who met him saw him as one at first glance -- once they spoke to him and noticed he spoke like a man who'd been alive for a long time and saw it all. But babies? He had to double take when he passed by, leaning backward and staring into the room to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

He nodded, looking back down at the armful of newborn. "Just a baby. She's a bit premature, but not enough that it'd put her in any sort of danger. Might end up a tiny bit delayed for a few steps, but otherwise. Yes. She's just a baby, she's going to grow up like any other baby would. I'll make absolutely certian of that." The last was said to both of them, his kids. Both Conner and Molly. "Though I think normal is rather relative, considering everything. Her family certainly isn't anything close to normal. Is it Molly? Your parents are both time travelers, and your brother is a superhero."

"Can--can I...?"

Could he hold her?

Rory blinked, forehead furrowing for a moment as he watched the adolescent hovering in the doorway. For a moment he'd thought-well, kids coming into medical looking confused hadn't been a good thing for the past few weeks. It was safe to leave it at that. "Can I help you? Are you injured?" He was still technically on shift. He thought, anyway. Shifts had been a little haywire with everything going on.

"Have you ever held a baby before?" He shifted the baby, preparing to hand her over, pulling the bottle away and unable to keep himself from smiling when she fussed a little in response. That would get old quickly, he was certian, but for the moment she was reacting. She was trying to interact with her environment and make herself heard. "Shhh, Molly. It's ok."

Jr. shook his head, clearing his mind of the sudden confusion before speaking. "Oh, no! I was just--"

He was close to asking 'is that a baby?' but realized how absolutely stupid a question it was to ask when he was looking right at it. "I didn't know someone had a baby on the ship."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rory." Fate said, a warm smile crossing her face. "And I'm not just here to see her. I wanted to thank you, from the bottom of my heart." Her gaze dropped down to the baby in his arms.

"I don't think anyone thought she could be saved. Some people probably didn't think she was worth saving." Her smile faded just a bit as she recalled her conversation with Luthor, that time she checked up on the clone girl. "I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see that someone wanted to help her."

"Plenty of 'em. Gotta save babies all the time, and I took care of one of my dead mentors when he was recloned and was a baby for a while."

"You'll have to tell me that story at some point." He settled the baby carefully in Conner's arms, stepping back to give them a little space. "It was a risk. I'm not sorry I took it. I'm glad it worked out. For everyone."

"It's my job. You don't need to thank me for that." He smiled. "That's what we're here for, to help the crew of this ship recover from their injuries. As she was, I couldn't fix her. I couldn't make her well again. But I found a treatment that would work for her." He glanced down at the baby. "Everyone deserves to be saved. No matter how they're born or enter the world. I don't see how anyone could look at her and think she was less deserving of their attention and their efforts."

"She's a recent addition to the crew. Her name is Molly." He studied the kid, curious. "And yourself? You weren't affected by the clock, were you? Are you looking for someone?"

"Nah, I was just passing by. I was lucky enough to avoid that thing." And even if Jr. had been affected by the clock, he wouldn't have changed in the least as he aged backwards.

"Who's is she? Yours?"

Oh Rory, you have no idea what seeing this has done to River. She looks pale as a ghost and she can't seem to move. Her eyes are uncharacteristically wide and locked onto the scene taking place right infront of her. Rory. A baby. Rory holding a baby. This....must have been what he looked like when he'd held her. All those long years ago. Even being an evolve human-timelord, her memory didn't stretch back quite that far.

It must seem odd, that she's staring for so very long. Barely breathing.

It was slightly incredible that hands that strong could hold something that gently.

"Hey," Conner said softly. "Hey, baby girl."

A tiny hand curled towards his face and he laughed lightly, his voice slightly thick.

"I fought for you, you know."

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Happy Birthday To You [Open]

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