Birthday Surprises
This was not how Major Evan Lorne imagined his birthday.
Firstly, he'd been woken up at 5am by a blasted alarm clock malfunction (he needed to get another one ASAP!). Secondly, during his usual sparring session with Ronon the Satedan decided to beat him up more than usual, resulting in a trip to the Infirmary. Thirdly, he'd been forced to skip lunch to catch up on some of Sheppard's paperwork, since the Colonel was off world. Fourthly, said Colonel and his team got into trouble off world and Evan had to haul ass to rescue them. And fifthly, his girlfriend Selina was currently off world at an Ancient facility translating blueprints and working technology with her ATA gene.
Again, this was not how he imagined his birthday.
He unzipped his vest and hung it back up on his personal rack before handing in his gun to be cleaned and checked. Even his team could sense his less-than-hospitable feelings and steered clear, although they all knew that he would go to the west pier where he could be alone.
As soon as he was alone he switched off his radio and set off at a run, flying past everyone until the crowd thinned and he was alone. His footsteps echoed against the bare walls and that was somehow comforting, after the day from hell he'd just had. The sun had just disappeared below the horizon, leaving the sky a murky grey colour. Now he had a night of sitting on the west pier to look forward too, followed by a night alone filled with tossing and turning, wishing that someone would have remembered his thirty-first birthday. He wouldn't have cared if it was Zelenka! It would just be nice to know that someone cared. Of course, his girlfriend would probably remember and give him a present when she got back, but that just wasn't the same.
So, what would he do? Oh! The Daedalus had just brought in a batch of new movies and he'd managed to snag Judge Dredd. Even though he didn't think the movie was that good, the concept was great and he hoped that a better movie was made in the future. So he would grab some popcorn or chips and lie in bed while watching the movie. That would probably be the best part of his birthday.
The second he saw the stairwell that would take him to the surface the lights flickered and shut off, plunging him into darkness.
"And I left my torch in my vest," he groaned, stumbling over to the wall and feeling his way along. The emergency power flickered and settled on a low setting, giving just enough light to see by. Squinting (as if it would make him see better), Evan moved carefully over to the stairwell, grabbing the railings quickly. Approaching footsteps made him jump and he peered into the gloom. A shape appeared at the end of a corridor and he could make out the glowing of a stunner. The shape was big and had long here. A Wraith?! What the hell were the Wraith doing in Atlantis?
"Hey!" Evan yelled. He let go of the railing and ran towards the Wraith, but it turned and fled. So the Wraith had attacked Atlantis again? He reasoned that they'd either taken the Control Room or used an EM pulse to knock out the electronics. Great. Just another thing to add to the list of why his birthday was awful.
He pursued the Wraith through the west pier and closer into the city. As he ran, he activated his radio. "McKay?" he panted. "Sheppard? Anyone? Hello! This is Lorne. What's happening?"
There was no reply. Blasted things took out our communications, he thought angrily, pumping his legs faster. He was gaining on the Wraith! But wait… It ran past a light and he could make out brown hair instead of white… a Queen perhaps? That made no sense.
Oh man. He was the victim of a joke wasn't he? Just as the thought formed the Wraith dived through an open doorway and Evan barrelled after it. For a second was saw nothing, but then it was lit up so bright that he was blinded for a moment. He raised his hand and felt a slight breeze. Why was he outside? Why would the Wraith/thing had led him here?
"SURPRISE!"
Evan fell over as the shout rang out all around him. Hands reached down to haul him to his feet and he blinked in confusion. There was Ronon holding a Wraith stunner (so he was pretending to be a Wraith), Sheppard wearing a party hat and grinning widely, McKay shouting incomprehensible words while jumping up and down, Teyla raising a glass of champagne to him, Weir wearing a sombrero, Beckett pouring drinks and countless other expedition members that served under his command. Edison and Morris came forward, grinning, and clapped his back.
"Good to see you speechless, sir," Edison grinned. Morris laughed and they stepped aside, allowing a small blonde woman to rush forward and throw herself into his arms.
"Selina!" he cried, embracing her tightly. "I thought you were off world!"
She laughed into his chest as he rested his chin on her head. "Weir let me come home for your birthday. It only comes around once a year you know!"
Music began pumping and Evan glanced up, his mouth flopping open as he saw Sheppard at a DJ stand. Since when did the Colonel DJ? He voices his question and McKay answered.
"He learnt how to do it in high school!" he shouted over the music. Evan rolled his eyes and accepted a glass of champagne. As over-the-moon he was, he didn't plan on getting drunk.
"So," he said, "no one forgot my birthday I take it?"
"Oh no," she giggled. "Sheppard and your team have been planning this for a month. This is going to be the party of the year in the city."
Evan finished his champagne and put the glass on a nearby table, taking Selina's hands. "Dance with me," he said.
"Is that an order?" she said cheekily.
"Don't make me make it one," he purred into her ear. She laughed and allowed him to spin onto the dance floor, where they lost themselves in the music and each other.
oOo
Hours later the two of them left the party tiredly.
It was well into the hours of the morning now. Selina was right – it had been the party of the year. Evan had danced with her for hours before cutting his cake and eating with his team. He drifted among people for a while, talking and laughing, before inevitably ending up at her again. Then he'd been told that nearly fifty presents had been delivered to his room. That in itself had shocked him and he'd been rendered speechless yet again.
Honestly, that party made up for the awful day. Sheppard had DJ'd nearly the whole night, except for when he danced with Teyla, and he'd been enthusiastic about the whole thing. Evan couldn't believe the kindness of his friends. They had spent a lot of time and money getting the whole thing sorted and it paid off.
Of course, the whole power-cutting-out-thing had been a set-up designed to get him outside and onto the pier. Ronon had pretended to be the Wraith and McKay had jammed his radio temporarily. Evan had laughed when they'd explained the whole thing and slapped Ronon's back.
"The way you yelled 'Hey!'" the Satedan snorted. "It was priceless."
"What gave it away was your hair," Evan retorted.
Over the course of several hours people began to leave, either going to sleep or coupling off. As the hours lengthened only a handful remained on the pier and even they were tired. Eventually Evan and Selina left, promising to return to help clean up when they woke up.
Now they went into his room and stared at the pile of presents sitting off to one side.
"So," Evan said, "which one is yours?"
Selina smiled and picked up a small wrapped parcel from his bedside table, handing it to him. "Let's see what you think of this."
He gave her a lopsided grin and ripped open the parcel, revealing a keyring. And not just any keyring. This keyring was shaped as the Atlantis insignia and his name was printed below: EVAN LORNE. Judging by its weight it was probably pure gold. He raised his eyes to look at her. "What can a say?" he said thickly. "It's beautiful."
Selina was one of those women who could light up a room with her smile. She was an engineer with the ATA gene and specialised in reading Ancient. She was also shorter than the shorter-than-average Major, which he found endearing. They'd arrived on the Daedalus together and began dating soon after. It had been well over a year and a half and they knew they loved one another. What he would have done without her (especially when he'd come back from being presumed dead) he didn't know. Now, her thoughtfulness buried the military man and allowed Evan to really shine.
She smiled and sucked in a breath as he kissed her hard, wrapping his arms around her. The seconds ticked away, and he pulled back, breathing deeply.
"I take it you like it then," she said breathlessly.
He nodded. "Hell yeah." They glanced around at the other presents. "I'm not really up to opening these right now," he murmured. "You wanna watch a movie?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Judge Dredd. I know it's pretty sucky, but the concept is good."
"I know. They better make another one."
Evan turned on the movie and curled up on his bed with Selina, linking their hands together as the movie played. About half an hour in she began dropping off and they took off their shoes before he pulled the blanket to cover both of them. Even though they'd dated for nearly two years, they'd never done any physical things beyond kissing and embracing. Their relationship wasn't about that. It was about mutual respect, deep love and connecting on a personal level. As Evan looked down at her tired face he once again thanked whoever was listening for gifting him with her in his life. She was the one he wanted to eventually see walk down the aisle to meet him.
She tilted her head up to look him in the eye and smiled tiredly. "Happy Birthday, my love."
This was exactly how Major Evan Lorne imagined his birthday.
