Date : 10.08.2007
Title : Loves' Past and Present
Author : ElaineDex
Chapter : 1 of ?
Rating : M
Pairings : Lt. Col. John Sheppard/Lyssa Hunter
Major Evan Lorne/Dr Ellie Harrison
Warnings : Sexual content, maybe some strong language.
Spoilers : This story is part of a series and follows on from Love's Dance With A Stranger.
Feedback : Yes
Disclaimer : Dr Ellie Harrison, Major James Reece, Lt Franks & Heather Russell are mine. Lyssa Hunter belongs to Kazavid. Stargate & Stargate Atlantis, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.
Summary : Find out how Sheppard and Lyssa's wedding plans cause chaos on Atlantis and what happens when tragedy strikes for Ellie and Lorne?
"But you can't go to that planet without me Evan, you know how much I wanted to check out those caves with the ancient inscriptions on the walls and the soil….I wanted to get soil samples", Dr Ellie Harrison moaned as she glared at Major Lorne from across his desk.
"It's not my fault you can't go off-world", he replied, then cleared his throat as she placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him and he realised what he'd said.
"So I got myself pregnant did I?", she accused and he tried to smile at her but she was having none of it.
"If you put the team forward for this mission now I'll…….I'll never forgive you…..", Ellie said, folding her arms and Lorne stood and sighed deeply.
"Don't you think you're being a little irrational about this?", he asked and Ellie gasped.
"Irrational? Oh that's nice…..I suppose that's because I'm pregnant too is it?" and she turned on her heels and headed for the door.
She flung it open and Lorne called after her,
"Don't slam………", but he trailed off, wincing as the door nearly fell off it's hinges as it banged, bone jarringly shut, behind her.
Lorne raked a hand through his short hair and blew out a breath of air. Since Beckett had grounded her a couple of weeks ago due to her pregnancy, Ellie had been a nightmare. He knew it was probably hard for her as she enjoyed being on his team, but she was driving him crazy.
Suddenly his door opened and he said,
"Look, I'm not going to discuss it any further…..", but he trailed off when he saw that it was Lt. Col. John Sheppard stood in his doorway instead of Ellie whom he thought had returned for Round Two.
"Ellie giving you grief again?", Sheppard asked casually and Lorne nodded absently as he shuffled some paperwork around on his desk.
"Kinda", he replied and Sheppard nodded sympathetically.
"Hormones", he stated as though the one word explained everything and Lorne nodded.
"I guess. It's just…..she gets excited about weird writing and mud…..mud for Christ's sake".
"McKay's the same……I don't understand it either", Sheppard said and Lorne sighed again.
"What can I do for you anyway Sir?", he asked and Sheppard moved into the room a bit more.
"Some new personnel just arrived on the Daedalus, can you process them for me only me and mine are about to leave?", Sheppard asked and Lorne moved out from behind his desk.
"Sure. Anyone interesting this time?", he asked and Sheppard grinned.
"Well….there was this one woman asking after you", he said and Lorne frowned.
"Really? Who is she?", he asked but Sheppard shook his head.
"Don't know. She was tall and slim with really dark hair……way darker than Ellie's…..", he trailed off as Lorne's eyes widened.
"It can't be Heather. What the hell is she doing here?", he said sounding angry and Sheppard looked at him inquiringly.
"Heather is my ex-fiancée", Lorne informed him, then added "I found her in bed with my best friend, hence the 'ex' part".
"Ooh…….nasty", Sheppard said as they left Lorne's office.
"Yeah", Lorne agreed.
"They're in the briefing room", Sheppard informed him as they went their separate ways and Lorne nodded and waved as Sheppard headed down the stairs toward the gate room.
Lorne's 'ex' watched as he entered the room and her breath caught at how handsome he looked. She watched as he moved to their personnel files which were on a desk and he began to flick though them.
Eventually he looked up and said,
"Welcome to Atlantis everyone. I'm Major Lorne and I'll be processing your arrival today. I'll get to you all as quickly as I can so if you'll all please be patient……", he trailed off and then called out the name of the person on the file which was at the top of the pile in front of him.
Eventually, after putting her file underneath some of the others twice already, Lorne called out his exes name almost reluctantly.
"Heather Russell".
Heather stepped forward and sat at the desk opposite him.
"It's good to see you Evan", she said silkily but Lorne avoided her gaze, skimming through her file.
"What are you doing here?", he asked, his voice low and Heather smiled.
She loved it when Lorne acted all sulky.
"I believe my file tells you why I'm here", she said and he finally looked at her.
She hadn't changed at all since he'd last seen her, she was still immaculately made up, her clothes, make up and hair all pristine despite her three week journey on the Daedalus.
He looked back at her file and said,
"You're here as a Liaisons' Officer to our off-world teams", he read and glanced back at her.
"That's right and I'm really looking forward to seeing how you handle your team", Heather replied.
Lorne pointedly ignored her comment and shut her file.
"Sign this and then you're free to go to your assigned room", he said shoving a form under her nose.
"Is my room anywhere near yours?", Heather asked coyly, sliding the piece of paper back toward him once she'd signed it.
"No", he replied bluntly.
"Pity", Heather said standing and Lorne shook his head as she disappeared from the room.
OOoOO
Sheppard turned to Ronon as they waited for McKay to finish repairing the jumper's systems which had mysteriously had a malfunction just as they were about to head back to Atlantis.
"So……I've been meaning to ask you….", he began and Ronon looked at him, one eyebrow raised as he waited for Sheppard to elaborate.
"This wedding of mine…..would you um……would you like to be my best man?", Sheppard managed and Ronon grinned.
"Sure", he replied. When he had married Ellie, she had explained to him the whole best-man concept and he'd chosen Sheppard so he should now return the favour.
"Good……good", Sheppard replied, obviously relieved until McKay's voice whined from the back of the jumper,
"Oh that's nice isn't it? How many years have I known you and you go and ask 'him' to be your best-man. I'm offended Colonel, I really am".
Sheppard rolled his eyes at Ronon who smothered a smile as they turned in their seats to look at Rodney.
"Look Rodney, it's nothing personal….really", Sheppard said but McKay huffed as he turned back to the jumper's wiring.
"Oh really? That's funny because it feels 'personal'".
"I could step down if you……", Ronon began but Sheppard gave him a look that said 'if you dare finish that sentence I will kill you with my bare hands', so Ronon closed his mouth and slouched in his seat.
"Maybe Lyssa has something you could do", Sheppard pondered for a moment.
"Maybe you could give her away", he said and Rodney's face brightened.
"You think she'd let me?", he asked and Sheppard shrugged.
"We can ask".
As the jumper powered up and Sheppard flew them home, Ronon and Teyla exchanged a look that said there would be trouble ahead when Lyssa heard about this.
OOoOO
Lorne entered the mess hall and got himself a coffee and some sandwiches before he joined Sheppard, Lyssa, Ronon, Teyla, Rodney and Franks around one of the larger tables.
He had spotted Heather as he'd arrived but he avoided her gaze as she watched him from a few tables away.
As he sat down Lyssa was glaring at Sheppard.
"Rodney can't give me away John I told you, I already asked Sean to do it".
"Oh", Sheppard replied looking at Rodney apologetically.
"That's ok, never mind", Rodney said sounding all hurt and rejected and Lyssa's glare intensified as she stared Sheppard down.
Just then Ellie arrived and stood by Lorne's side.
"Hey", she greeted everyone and they all waved absently in response.
"What's going on?", she asked, placing a hand on the back of Lorne's chair as he replied,
"Wedding plans".
"Ah", Ellie said, thinking Lyssa looked a little stressed.
"Sit down", Lorne said patting his leg and Ellie was just about to when Heather appeared at his other side.
"Evan…..aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?", she asked and Sheppard nearly choked on his coffee as he realised how awkward this was going to be for Lorne.
Ellie looked at the immaculately dressed woman as Lorne rattled off everyone's names including her own and she suddenly felt somewhat under-dressed in comparison. The woman's pin-striped suit fitted her like a glove, she wore high heels and her dark hair shone like a glossy, ebony silk curtain around her shoulders.
Her make up was perfect and she was very, very beautiful.
Ellie absently smoothed a hand through her unruly curls as she heard Lorne say,
"Everyone, this is Heather Russell, our new off-world Liaisons Officer".
"I'm also the Major's ex-fiancée", Heather interjected, smiling at everyone who said nothing, merely looked from Heather to Ellie as though they were expecting her to explode or something but Ellie didn't.
She turned to Lorne calmly and said,
"Can I have a word with you…Major?"
"Sure…..excuse us", Lorne said to no-one in particular as he followed Ellie from the mess hall.
"Nice to meet you all", Heather said as she moved away, wondering what the woman called Ellie had wanted to see Evan about.
She was going to make it her business to know every detail about Lorne's life.
She'd have to if she intended upon getting him back.
Outside the mess hall Ellie turned to Lorne and folded her arms across her chest.
"Ex-fiancée?" she said accusingly and Lorne nodded.
"It was years ago", he said but Ellie glared at him stubbornly.
"So? We're having a baby together yet you failed to mention that you nearly married someone else just because it was years ago?".
"I'm sorry….I didn't think it was relevant", Lorne replied getting a little tired of these mood swings of Ellie's.
"Relevant?", Ellie said incredulously.
"Look Ellie, I said I'm sorry now can we please just move on? What difference does it make if Heather is my ex or not? Ronon is your ex-husband but do you hear me griping about that?", Lorne said tetchily and Ellie stared at him.
"I'm going to finish my lunch, are you coming back in?", he asked, his hand poised on the door but Ellie shook her head.
Lorne sighed and dropped a quick kiss on her cheek.
"I'll see you later", he said as he disappeared back inside the mess hall.
End of Chapter 1