Gifted by catescorner
Hello, all, and welcome to my latest multi chapter story! This was written for this month's 'flyboys celebration thread' on TeamFlyboy at Gateworld. It's been buzzing around my head for a while now, so I'm really happy to have finally written it.
The story follows on a year after the events of Homecoming Heroes, and is based on a "what if..." scenario that I included in one of its chapters. What would happen if Evan found out his nephews had the ATA gene? More to the point, how would the rest of his family react to finding out that he's been leading a secret life, that he's never told them about?
I've had to use a bit of licence on how he, and the rest of his family, all find out, but I hope it's still feasible. I'm as much of a neatfreak as our favourite Major, but I still let things slip occasionally. I was going through my wardrobe a few weeks ago, and found an old purse caught up in a pile of sweaters!
So with that in mind, here are my thoughts on how the boys could accidentally stumble on their uncle's secret life with the SGC and Atlantis. There'll eventually be three flyboys in this story, but at the moment, Uncle Evan is on his own, and on a very special mission!
I hope you enjoy!
Gifted
Chapter One - Mission Impossible
The military-trained part of Evan Lorne's mind would call this 'black ops'. One of his favourites, too. A yearly ritual that, when he was home, and had the chance to do it, he thoroughly enjoyed.
Right now, though, it felt like the kind of mission that would make Ethan Hunt quake in his boots. Hiding a stack of Christmas presents from two hyper-curious, and scarily determined kids? Yeah, that was mission impossible alright, and he was already running out of time. And hidey-holes.
They'd be home any minute, hopefully too worn out by their day with grandma to go present-hunting, and… awww, hell!
"Moooom! Uncle Evvv-annnn! We're baaa-aaaack!"
"No kidding," Evan muttered, wincing slightly at the sound of yelling voices and clattering feet. Kevin first, of course, with his brother tagging happily at his heels, and… three… two… one…
"Kevin! Andy! Muddy shoes off!"
Still smiling at Tanni's attempts to keep order, he then chuckled through the inevitable afterthought. Expecting two happily muddy kids to put such trivial things as décor ahead of milk and cookies? Yeah, that was as likely as inviting the Wraith round for a nice neighbourly barbecue.
Even when fading yells gave way to cookie-induced peace and quiet, Evan knew it wouldn't last. God, those kids were a handful, like two Energizer bunnies plugged into a ZPM, and… hmmm. As his mother would dryly remind him, he'd been every bit of a handful at that age too.
One hell of a present-hunter too, and since Kevin had inherited that trait from him as well – yes, to this closet-climber's expert eye, the shelf above his shirt rail was still much too low.
It had been fine last year, of course, but… well, his firstborn nephew was growing fast. From his mom's famous cooking, no doubt, or the more macho incentive of Uncle Ronon's tattoos. Speaking of which, that uncle's help to reach this higher shelf would come in real handy right now.
Still, it was good to know that, after all these years, those closet-climbing skills hadn't gone rusty.
Stowing the rest of his presents up there, while he had the chance, Evan continued to fondly reflect. Thirteen months on, and Kevin was taking his new hero's advice to 'grow some' very much to heart. He was the tallest kid in his class now, and… well, yes, that had his Uncle Evan a little bit worried. At the moment, he still had enough of a height advantage to order his oldest nephew to his room. But if Kevin took too much after his Uncle Ronon… well yes, life could get interesting.
It certainly gave him something to think about as he hid Kevin's final present under a pile of tatty old sweaters. The first XO in history to be busted by a nine year old? Yeah, his CO would just love that!
The solution, of course, was simple. On a need to know basis, his CO… well, didn't need to know.
Self-preserving promise made, and all presents now safely hidden, Evan trotted downstairs, bracing himself for the assault of two hyper happy kids who couldn't wait to tell him about their day. He'd barely sat down before the boys flew into his lap, winding and deafening him in equal measure.
"…what do you think of the tree, Uncle Evan? We helped mom put it up!"
"…then grandma took us to Marin to paint the Gate!"
"…then we went riding! And I'm big enough now to ride Rolo, Uncle Evan! All by myself!"
"…Uncle Doug took us to lunch!
"…yeah, and – and I lost another tooth in my pizza!"
Already struggling to keep up, Evan glanced over their heads, into his mother's equally amused eyes. The teasing within them was obvious, leaving him with little choice but shrug in rueful agreement. From their uncle's share of complex genetics … yeah, it was a Lorne thing. Definitely a Lorne thing. And while none of them went out looking for trouble… well, fate and destiny had other ideas.
They both knew a secret about Evan Lorne that no one else in his family could have ever imagined. With silent regret, he'd kept that secret from them for over ten years, but that was about to change – an innocent hunt for hidden presents setting off a discovery that would reveal something much, much bigger.
Relaxing over the game later that evening, Evan then jumped out of his skin – a series of crashes, and Andy's frightened yell, sending him upstairs at an all out run. From his own painful experience, he knew what had happened, and… no. Oh, God… no. Oh, crap.
The trivial matter of Kevin finding his Christmas presents was the least of his worries now. No, he'd found something else instead. A piece of alien technology that he was never meant to see. He'd activated it too, into a pulsing glow that made Evan swallow, hard, for what that signified.
Having followed him upstairs, his mother and sister were staring at it too now, and again…oh, crap.
"Evan? What the hell is that?!"