Date : 21.02.2008
Title : The A.U. Series : Ellie and The Major
Author : ElaineDex
Chapter : 1 of ?
Rating : M
Pairings : Major Evan Lorne/Dr. Ellie Harrison
Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Adventure, Maybe Some Strong Language.
Spoilers : This story has character's in it from my Loves series and follows on from my last story - Lost City of the ZPM's
Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.
Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison, Lt. Matthew Franks and any O/C's are mine. Lyssa Hunter belongs to Kazavid and is from her Atlantis stories Behind The Mask and Reunions. Stargate Atlantis, unfortunately, has nothing to do with me.
Summary : Lorne owes Ellie his life and not for the first time, but when payback times comes will the Major be able to do what needs to be done to stop her turning to another for help?
Major Evan Lorne stared at the Valentine card in his hand, his face colouring slightly as he took in the red hearts and the delicate scent that had filled his nostrils the moment he had pulled the card from its envelope. It smelt vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite place it.
He hated things like this for the simple reason he was never sure if they were genuine or if it was one of the guys playing a joke on him.
He had no idea who would want to send him a valentines and since he and Jessica hadn't worked out so well he was in no hurry to start up another relationship anytime soon.
Just then, Lt. Col. John Sheppard ambled into his office and Lorne tried to hide the card but, unfortunately for him, he was just not quick enough and his c/o snatched the card from his hands and began to read it.
"You have an admirer", Sheppard commented and Lorne smiled.
"I doubt it Sir, it's probably just Franks or Tyler messing around".
"I don't know", Sheppard said sounding sceptical, "Whoever sent this sprayed perfume on it", and he breathed in the scent deeply, his eyes suddenly widening as he recognised the smell almost immediately.
It was Ellie's favourite.
"What is it?", Lorne asked as he saw Sheppard's expression. "Do you know whose perfume that is?".
"Ah…no…no…it's just nice, that's all", Sheppard replied and Lorne nodded.
"I thought so too", he admitted and Sheppard hid a grin.
"Well, you'll have to do some detective work in the bar tonight…sniff the culprit out, so to speak", he said and Lorne frowned.
"I can't go around sniffing women's perfume sir", he said looking instantly worried and Sheppard laughed.
"Sure you can…you just have to be sneaky", he said and Lorne regarded him.
"Something tells me that you've done that kind of thing once or twice yourself", he said and Sheppard shrugged.
"Once or twice, yeah".
Lorne smiled and Sheppard said,
"What are you doing in here anyhow…you should be getting ready for the party. Ellie is your team-member now so your team gets the credit for the ZPM's we brought back".
"It was a joint effort Sir", Lorne replied and Sheppard sighed.
"Just get out of here Major…and take your card with you. Remember to breathe that scent in deep before you leave your quarters so that you remember what it smells like", he advised and Lorne shook his head but snatched the card from Sheppard's fingers nonetheless as he left his office.
Ellie had finished getting ready for the party and had slipped into a pretty red wrap around dress that had little cap-sleeves. As she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, running her hands through her brunette curls, she remembered that the dress had been a favourite of Emerson's when they had been together and since they had split up she had put the dress to the back of her wardrobe and left it there.
Why she had chosen tonight to resurrect it she had no idea. Maybe it was because it was valentines' night and she felt like red suited the occasion, she wasn't sure.
She remembered for once to swallow a couple of her heart pills but then without thinking she reached for her perfume and sprayed herself with her favourite and then left her quarters.
She was halfway to see Michael when she remembered that she wasn't supposed to be wearing that scent for a while and she stopped abruptly in the corridor and groaned. She was torn between going back to her quarters and taking a wash or just staying well away from Lorne at the party.
Deciding the latter would have to do, she approached Michael's quarters' door and frowned as she saw Lieutenant Tyler and Sergeant Stackhouse on sentry duty outside.
"Hey Doc, can we help you?", Tyler said, his eyes glancing over her curves appreciatively as Ellie smiled, not noticing his perusal of her.
"I want to see Michael please Lieutenant", she said and Tyler nodded.
"Okay…but you'll have to leave the door open if you intend going inside", he told her and Ellie sighed but knew better than to argue.
Tyler buzzed the door and called out,
"Visitor for you Kenmore".
After a few seconds the door slid open and Michael smiled as he saw it was Ellie that had come to see him.
"The mission was a success I hear", he said and Ellie nodded.
"All thanks to you", she replied and Michael shrugged.
"Look, we're having a bit of a party in the bar and I want you to come with me…you should be in on the celebrations", Ellie said, ignoring Tyler and Stackhouse's obvious disapproving stares.
"I don't know…", Michael began but Ellie wouldn't take no for an answer and so finally they headed for the bar area, Tyler and Stackhouse following them.
Ellie glanced over her shoulder at them.
"You really don't need to accompany us you know", she said and Tyler replied,
"We're under Major Lorne's orders to stick with Michael".
Ellie sighed and looked ahead again.
"It's alright, I'm used to it now", Michael said, smiling at her.
"Well, now that you've helped us gain three ZPM's, I'll have to see what I can do about gaining you a little more freedom", Ellie said and Tyler and Stackhouse glanced at one another worriedly. If Lorne got wind of Ellie's plan he would flip his lid.
Lorne ordered a drink and then hovered behind Lt. Cadman at the bar and tried to 'sniff' her as inconspicuously as possible.
It didn't quite work though and he coloured up as she looked over her shoulder and gave him a strange look, his close proximity freaking her out.
He picked up his drink and moved away, bypassing Jessica, his ex, completely. If she had sent him the valentine then he most certainly did not want to know.
He did a circuit of the room, trying to gauge who he thought might have sent him the card but none of the women who were there so far stood out as candidates, but then again, just because he didn't find a woman attractive it didn't mean that she didn't think he was nice.
Shaking his head and groaning inwardly, he headed toward Lyssa who was stood with Lt. Franks and tried to get close enough to her to enable him to sniff her perfume.
"You alright?", Lyssa asked him as he leaned in just a little too close for her liking and he backed away immediately.
"Yeah, sure…are you?", he replied and she nodded, frowning at him.
Just then though, a flash of red in the doorway seemed to distract Lorne and Lyssa followed his gaze and saw Ellie enter the bar with Michael, Lt. Tyler and Sgt. Stackhouse at their heels.
"What's the Doc brought him for?", Franks muttered and Lyssa glanced at him.
"He did give Ellie the location of the lost city", she reasoned and Franks reluctantly agreed as did Lorne as he watched people begin to gather around Ellie, clapping and starting to chant,
"Speech, speech!", over and over and he saw her face turn pink with embarrassment and he felt an overwhelming urge to go and rescue her.
Ellie glanced at Michael who merely grinned at her and she waved her hands to try to get everyone around her to stop chanting.
"I don't do speeches", she told them and everyone laughed and gradually moved away disappointedly.
"I cant believe you didn't say a few words", McKay said as he appeared at her side, "I would've told everyone exactly what we went through on that mission….".
"I know you would Rodney which is why I think you should get up on that bar and go for it", Ellie replied and Rodney glanced at the bar before looking back at Ellie.
"You do? Seriously?", he asked and Ellie nodded.
"Uh-huh…you go for it", she said and as McKay bustled off toward the bar and the microphone that was used for karaoke, Michael laughed.
"That was kinda mean", he pointed out and Ellie shrugged.
"He'll be okay", she said just as Dr Weir joined them.
"Ellie", she said in greeting and Ellie smiled as Weir looked at Michael.
"We owe you our thanks", she said.
"All I want is your people's trust", Michael replied and Weir smiled.
"Well…I think you're going the right way about it so far", she said and Michael nodded.
"Can I get you both a drink?", he said and both Weir and Ellie nodded as Rodney's voice suddenly boomed out over the speakers.
Sheppard and Teyla joined Lorne, Lyssa and Franks just as McKay began to go through their epic journey to the lost city and Sheppard groaned.
"Who let him loose up there?".
Using the distraction to his own advantage, Lorne stepped a little closer to Teyla and breathed in deeply, trying to catch a whiff of any scent she may be wearing but Sheppard caught him and nearly spat out his drink, making Lorne cringe and so he excused himself and moved away.
He headed toward Ellie and Weir and as he approached them from behind he watched as Ellie flicked her curls back over her shoulders and he instantly smelt the perfume from the card.
His eyes widened but he couldn't be certain if the smell was coming from Ellie or Dr Weir and he froze as Weir turned and smiled warmly at him as she spotted him.
"Major Lorne", she beamed at him and Lorne swallowed hard.
'Oh jeez', he thought, 'What if my secret valentine is Elizabeth? Oh crap…'.
He didn't know which would be worse, his boss making advances on him or the woman he was trying his best to convince himself that he didn't like.
Ellie turned as Elizabeth said Lorne's name and she panicked as she remembered that she should really be avoiding being within sniffing distance of him tonight.
She tried to back away but the backs of her knees bumped a chair and she realised that she was stuck.
"So, aren't you glad to have Dr Harrison on your team now?", Weir asked Lorne jokingly and Ellie gulped as Lorne looked at her and nodded.
"Oh sure…she's a great asset to have on board", he said, watching with interest as Ellie coloured up and tried her best to keep her distance from him.
'Why was she backing away?', he wondered, 'What was she trying to hide…the smell of her perfume maybe? No, he was being ridiculous. Ellie was the last woman he could expect a valentine card from…wasn't she?'
Just then Michael returned with Weir's and Ellie's drinks and they took them from him and Lorne watched as Ellie took a few good swallows of her wine as though she was nervous about something.
Someone called out to Weir and she excused herself, leaving Lorne, Ellie and Michael stood together, Tyler and Stackhouse hovering against the nearest wall.
An uneasy silence settled and Michael was the first to speak,
"Ahhh…I'm going to get a seat…anyone want to join me?", he asked and Ellie nodded and went to follow him but Lorne stepped forward.
"Um, can I have a word Doc?", he asked and Ellie felt her heart almost stop.
"I'll come over in a moment", she told Michael and he nodded and moved away.
"What is it?", Ellie asked, trying to speak as the sound of Rodney's tale of Indiana Jones style proportions threatened to deafen everyone.
Lorne was just about to speak when Rodney let out a squawk of surprise and both he and Ellie looked over to see Ronon and Sheppard dragging McKay off the bar and then Lyssa put some music on.
As a soft love song came through the speakers, Lorne turned back to face Ellie, watching as her smile faded as she looked back up at him.
The scent of her perfume filled his nostrils and he was about to mention it when he saw Jessica striding toward them purposely and he remembered that the song that was playing, If You're Not The One by Daniel Bedingfield, was her favourite and he panicked and without thinking grabbed Ellie around the waist.
"Dance with me", he said, his mouth close to her ear and Ellie gasped with the shock of suddenly having his arms around her and his hard body pressed close to hers.
She stood stiffly and Lorne abruptly turned her and she saw Jessica all but upon them as he whispered in her ear desperately,
"Please!?".
Immediately Ellie knew why he had done what he had and she raised her hands and rested her palms against his shoulder blades.
She watched as Jessica abruptly did a U-turn and headed back to the group of nurses and she groaned and muttered,
"I hope I don't get sick anytime soon".
"Huh?", Lorne replied and Ellie turned him so that he could see Jessica and her friends glaring over at them.
"Oh…sorry", he said and Ellie sighed.
She felt somewhat deflated that he had only asked her to dance to get him out of smooching with Jessica and equally deflated that he hadn't seemed to even notice her perfume…but then again, she really didn't want him to know that she had sent him the card…did she?
They swayed to the music and both began to relax a little as they realised that dancing together wasn't all that bad.
Lorne's hands slid to Ellie's hips and she bit her bottom lip to stop herself from moaning out loud at the gentle move. She did, however, press her fingertips into his shoulder blades, a little give away sign to Lorne that she liked what he had done.
Lorne wondered why he had never noticed just how curvaceous Ellie was before now…sure he had seen her in her underwear that time in the jumper when she'd warmed him up, but he had only been half conscious and too embarrassed to look at her properly. He had had numerous encounters with her and he'd seen up her dress in the lost city…but, none of that had actually prepared him for holding her properly against him as he was just now.
Even more surprising was the fact that he liked how she felt and how she fit perfectly against him. He loved the scent she was wearing and that thought jogged his memory and he turned his face into her hair.
"I want to ask you something", he said against her ear and Ellie turned her face into his neck.
"Hmmm?", she asked, not realising how dreamy she sounded.
She was lost in a fantasy where there was only her and Lorne in the room and any moment now he was going to undo the buttons at her hip and push his hands into her dress…
Her eyes sprang open though when instead of that happening, Lorne suddenly bristled, his fingers tightening on her hips as he set her slightly away from him and her head shot up and she looked up at him, wondering what was wrong.
When she saw that his attention was caught by something over by the entrance to the bar, she turned her head and followed his gaze.
"Charlotte!!", they both said at the same time as they took in the slim, petite red-head with the sparkling green eyes, stood just inside the doorway.
They then looked at one another, confused as to how the other knew Charlotte, but explanations would have to wait as the red-head in question spotted them and made her way over to them.
"Well would you look at that", she drawled, her Southern accent grating on both Lorne and Ellie's nerves in a way they'd never noticed before as she continued,
"My two favourite people together…does this mean that you're dating now?".
End of Chapter 1