A/N: After much delay, the Lorne Brothers return!! This is the third in my Lorne Bros' Universe, so you'll want to read Something to Prove and What Matters first. And without any further ado, I present:

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Instant Replay

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Major Evan Lorne followed the string of music out onto the South Pier. It was early in the morning—real early. In fact, the Lantean sun was just barely coming over the horizon. One thing he knew for certain—the man playing the coronet at the end of the pier had never been this kind of morning person.

"Marcus!" he shouted as he drew near. The younger man turned towards him, but didn't lower his instrument until he had finished the song.

"Eve," Marcus returned, "why're you up so early?"

"I could hear you through my window."

"Oh. Sorry about that. I thought I was far enough out..."

"It's a bit early even for you, isn't it?" Evan asked.

Marcus' fingers went through several different notes, silently playing whatever tune was on his mind. "Couldn't sleep," he admitted.

"Something wrong?" the elder Lorne frowned. His brother squinted out over the water, blowing a breath out through his teeth.

"Not really," he said.

"You sure?" Evan was unconvinced.

Marcus chuckled humorlessly. "Not really."

The major drew closer. "You wanna talk about what's on your mind?"

"Uh... maybe later? I think I might try to get some sleep before the briefing later."

"Yeah. You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks," Marcus smirked.

"Anytime, kid," Evan grinned. "Anytime."

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Evan strode into the mess hall. Cadman was seated near a window, sipping at a cup of coffee. He grabbed some cream of wheat and an orange juice and went to join her.

"Was that Marcus I heard earlier?" she managed through an impressive-sized yawn.

"Yeah," Evan replied. "Did he wake you?"

"No. I was already awake—couldn't fall back to sleep," she leaned forward, frowning thoughtfully. "Y'know, it's kinda strange, but I think the only time I've actually seen Marcus sleep is when he's in the infirmary."

"He goes to bed on missions."

"Well, yeah, I've seen him crawl into his sleeping bag or tent, but I haven't actually observed him sleeping."

"And that is strange because..?" Her CO couldn't see what she was trying to say.

"I've seen you and Parrish sleep lots of times—you fall asleep here in the mess hall or doze off in meetings," Laura told him. "Marcus always seems tired, but I've never seen him sleep—he's always the first up and the last to go to bed. I just think it's interesting, is all." She returned to sipping at her coffee. Now that she mentioned it, he hadn't actually seen Marcus sleep outside the infirmary, either. At least, not since he'd come to Atlantis. They often shared a tent, but Marcus was always still awake by the time he dozed off. Evan hadn't thought anything of it—Marcus had always functioned on surprisingly little sleep, ever since they were kids. But, had he always seemed so tired?

Evan frowned. He'd have to talk to Marcus later.

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"I'm Lindsay."

"Marcus. It's nice to meet you."

"If you two are done flirting, the research site is this way."

"So, you're here to protect us, right? .right? ..right? ...right?"

Marcus jerked awake violently, sweat soaking his hair. The lieutenant shook his head as though doing so could remove the images from his mind. Rising to his feet, he stumbled across the room. Splashing water on his face, he willed his breathing to calm. A glance at his clock told him he still had an hour before the briefing.

Getting ready quickly, Marcus went off in search of his brother. He wasn't in the mess hall or his quarters, and it was more than likely that he'd already gotten his jog out of the way for the day. Finally, he found his sibling on his way towards the conference room.

"Eve!"

"Hey," Evan turned his head to look at him as he kept going. "You get some sleep in?"

"Yeah, a bit," Marcus answered. "Hey, do you have a bit?"

"Actually, Dr. Weir asked me to attend the briefing in five minutes. Colonel Sheppard was originally going to, but his team's off-world at the moment."

"One of the other team leaders can't do it?"

Evan stopped to look at him. "Probably. But they weren't asked, I was. What's this about?"

"You asked if I wanted to talk about it—what's on my mind," Marcus' brown eyes were pleading. "Eve..."

"Sorry, Mars, but now's just not a good time," the major said. "Later. I promise, okay?"

Marcus watched as his brother jogged the rest of the way to the conference room. "But—later probably won't be until after our mission..."

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To be continued...

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A/N: Be sure to let me know what you think so far.