Date : 23 July 2007
Title: Love's Dance With A Stranger
Author: ElaineDex
Chapter: 1 of ?
Rating: MA
Pairing: Lt. Col. John Sheppard/Lyssa Hunter
Dr. Ellie Harrison/Major Evan Lorne
Archiving: None
Warnings: Sexual Content/Strong Language
Spoilers: This story follows on from Love's Jealous Way
Feedback: Yes
Disclaimer: Dr. Ellie Harrison, Major James Reece, Lieutenant Franks, Carly, Tariq el Azir, Nazim el Azir and Kalim are mine. Lyssa and Caleb Hunter belong to Kazavid, the rest of Atlantis and the SGC, unfortunately have nothing to do with me.
Summary: A desert adventure has Dr Ellie Harrison dancing with a stranger to save not only her own life but the lives of the people she cares for the most.
Only a day had passed since Lyssa had found Sheppard in bed with Carly but it seemed like a lifetime.
She had asked Dr Weir if she could have some personal time so that she didn't have to deal with going off-world with Major Lorne's team. But she was bored already and her mind was dwelling on things far too much.
Initially after the shock had worn off she had considered going to stay with her friend Sean but decided against it. Conner needed somewhere nice and safe and Sean's place just wasn't right.
And besides, something kept niggling away at her, telling her to go and see Dr Beckett, just to see if he confirmed Sheppard's story about being drugged. Ellie was right, something just didn't seem right about the whole thing.
Making up her mind to find out for certain whether Sheppard was telling the truth or not, she entered the infirmary and Beckett knew immediately why she was there.
He took her into his office and closed the door.
"Aye lass it's perfectly true", Beckett said in answer to her first question. "Colonel Sheppard was definitely drugged".
"But how? Why?", Lyssa asked and Beckett shrugged.
"I can't answer that I'm afraid. You'd have to speak to your brother or Carly. The Colonel says that one or the other is responsible and I have to say that I am inclined to believe him. No offence but there is something decidedly strange about that Carly woman".
Lyssa waved a hand to show she was not upset by his comments.
"But why would my own brother do this to me?", she mused out loud and Beckett sighed.
"Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was all Carly's idea", he said and Lyssa looked at him, her expression desolate.
Lyssa left the infirmary still trying to figure out why Carly or Caleb would drug Sheppard.
She rounded a corner to see Lorne stood talking to Carly and she paused, hanging back as Carly stepped closer to him.
"You're a very dangerous woman", Lorne said and Carly grinned.
"Things are much more fun when they're dangerous", she said, her tone seductive.
"You think so?", Lorne asked.
"I know so", Carly answered and Lyssa's fists clenched at her sides as she watched Carly go to touch Lorne's face but he reached out and gripped her wrist, preventing the action.
"Are you going to try and drug me like you did with Colonel Sheppard?", Lorne asked and he turned to look at Carly's hand which he was still keeping away from him.
"Is this the ring you used?", he asked and Carly smiled.
"He figured it out", she said simply and Lorne nodded.
He spun Carly and twisted her arm up her back.
"We have some questions we'd like to ask you", he said as he escorted her down the corridor in the opposite direction to where Lyssa was stood.
"John…..what have I done?", she murmured to herself.
She needed to find Sheppard. She had to talk to him. She also needed to find Caleb to tell him that it was all Carly's doing and that Sheppard hadn't cheated on her after all.
OOoOO
Lorne had just left Carly in one of the holding cells when his ear-piece buzzed.
"Major Lorne could you please come to the briefing room immediately please", Dr Weir said and he tapped his ear.
"On my way ma'am", he replied, wondering what was going on.
He arrived just as everyone else was sitting down - the everyone else consisting of Sheppard, Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, Major Reece, Captain Franks, Dr Weir and Ellie who smiled at him warmly as he slid into the seat next to her.
"Right, now we're all here….", Weir began.
"Major Reece and his team recently brought back an amulet from the planet Zuran, which I'm sure you've all heard Dr McKay and Dr Harrison have been trying to work on and it seems that they have now come up with some information regarding the ancient device that we need to hear, hence this briefing. So……Rodney, Ellie….", and she looked to the two Doctors to continue with the meeting.
Rodney was the first to begin, of course, and Ellie rolled her eyes at Lorne and sat back, content to let Rodney waffle in his own unique way.
In detail he explained how the amulet worked and that Major Reece's team removing it from it's resting place had been a very, very bad idea.
"So…..what is it exactly, that would happen if we don't go back to Zuran and put the amulet back where Reece's team got it from? Just to clarify", Sheppard asked, looking at Ellie and feeling as confused as ever by Rodney's hugely overboard scientific explanation. The fact he was tired and worried about Lyssa was not helping him to concentrate either.
Ellie smiled and replied, "If the amulet is not put back soon, more of the sleeping ancient Wraiths will awaken and probably bring about something akin to the next Apocalypse".
Sheppard nodded.
"Nothing major then", he said and Ronon smiled as Rodney went into hyperventilation mode.
"Oh, no, nothing major at all….just more bad Wraith's running around taking over people and creating havoc and….."
Sheppard cut him off. "Alright McKay…Jeez….chill out".
"Okay!", Weir interjected just before Rodney launched into another tirade.
"Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne, both your teams will return the amulet to Zuran. I don't want anything to go wrong. This device must be put back into it's rightful place……", she trailed off as Lyssa knocked and entered the briefing room.
Everyone turned to look at her but Sheppard was the first to turn away.
"I was wondering if it would be alright for me to come back to work?", Lyssa asked, forcing herself to speak in front of everyone and she kept her eyes focused on Dr Weir.
Weir smiled at her and said, "Well, I can't see why not…if Major Lorne agrees" and they all turned to look at Lorne who shrugged.
"Sure…I don't have a problem, just so long as you feel ready", he said to Lyssa who nodded.
"I'm ready".
"That's settled then", Weir said to Lyssa, "I'm sure Ellie can update you on the briefing". She stood and everyone followed suit.
"You leave in one hour", she said and they all began to exit the room.
Lyssa waited for Sheppard and she caught his arm as he went to pass by her.
"Can we talk?", she asked and he looked at her, his face betraying no emotion as he replied.
"Not now….I need to get ready", and with that he moved away and she was forced to let go of his arm.
She sighed. He was angry with her and she couldn't blame him. He had tried to tell her what had happened and she had walked away from him and basically called him a liar.
She needed to make things right with him. She loved him and she refused to loose him because of Carly's stupid games.
Carly.
Turning, Lyssa heading for the holding cells to see why her brother's 'friend' had gone to the lengths she had to get Sheppard into the compromising position she'd found him in.
oo
"You should speak to your brother", came Carly's response five minutes later.
"Why? What has this got to do with Caleb?", Lyssa asked as she glared at Carly through the bars.
"He hates Sheppard….it was his idea to drug….", suddenly Carly stopped as Caleb appeared behind Lyssa.
"That's enough", he growled and Carly shrank back into her cell.
"What is going on? I knew you didn't like John but you wouldn't do this…..would you?", Lyssa asked, her stomach churning at the thought that her only remaining family could hurt her like this.
Half expecting Caleb to deny Carly's allegations, Lyssa nearly passed out when he replied,
"I did it for you. John Sheppard is not the kind of man you should me marrying", he went to reach for her but she side-stepped his hand and headed for the door.
"Lyssa?", he said but she didn't look at him. Instead she turned to the marine on the door and said,
"Make sure he doesn't leave this room", and the marine nodded.
Just before she left, Lyssa turned and said quietly,
"I'm going to speak with Dr Weir and make sure that you……and that….that bitch are gone when I get back from this latest mission".
"Lyssa!", Caleb tried again and went to follow her from the room but the marine blocked his path.
OOoOO
Lorne finished re-tying the laces on his boots and from his position on the end of Ellie's bed, watched her tie her hair up, then let it loose again, then tie it all back up once more.
He could tell something was bothering her.
He stood and went over to her, his hands encircling her waist as his lips touched her neck.
"Your hair is beautiful, leave it down", he murmured and Ellie smiled absently at him in the mirror as she released her curls from the clip once more.
Her hands covered Lorne's and she leaned back against him, sighing deeply.
"What's wrong? Are you ok with everything to do with the mission, I mean I know McKay didn't let you get a word in….", he trailed off as Ellie shook her head.
"It's not the mission", she said, turning so that she faced him.
"What is it then?", Lorne asked as she trailed her hands up his arms and rested them against his shoulders, her touch light and caressing.
"You remember when we got back together and we made love without using anything?", she said and Lorne nodded, thinking about that afternoon, the memories making his body harden.
"Evan…my period is late", Ellie said and Lorne stared at her, a huge grin slowly spreading across his face.
"You're pregnant", he said, wrapping his arms around her waist, picking her up and holding her against him.
"No…well….I don't know for certain", Ellie replied, laughing as he kissed her neck over and over.
"What are we going to do? What if I am?", she said when Lorne finally put her down and he smiled at her, obviously pleased with the news.
"If you are then we have a baby….if you're not then we try harder next time".
Ellie swatted his arm and sighed again as he grinned inanely at her.
"I love you", she said impulsively, watching as his expression changed from mischievous to serious and he reached out and cupped her face in his hands.
"And I love you…….and if you are pregnant you know that I'm not going anywhere don't you, that I'll be right by your side?", Lorne replied and she nodded.
"I know", she replied scooting closer to him so that she could kiss him.
Lorne was about to push Ellie down onto the bed when their ear-pieces buzzed simultaneously.
"Major Lorne's team to jumper bay one please", Dr Weir's voice said and they both groaned.
"Damn but that was a quick hour", Lorne muttered and Ellie agreed, kissing him one more time before they left her room.
OOoOO
In the jumper, Lyssa tried to get in the front next to Sheppard so that she could maybe take the opportunity to talk to him on the journey but he told her that Major Reece needed to be up front to give directions, effectively dismissing her and so she sat in the back next to Rodney.
She refused to give up though and was determined that he would speak to her before they returned to Atlantis.
A while later, Sheppard flew the jumper through Zuran's Stargate and set it down onto the vast desert sands where Reece directed.
As the two teams piled out into the heat they had no idea that they were being observed from a great distance away.
Sat astride his powerful white stallion, Tariq el Azir, leader of the Zuran Rebellion observed the strangers who had entered his desert through the great circle and sighed deeply.
"Is it the same ones again my Lord?", one robe clad warrior asked and
Tariq nodded grimly.
"Yes Kalim, but in greater numbers this time", he replied. Covering his face with his howli he added, "Get the others, I will ride on ahead".
Kalim nodded and touched his hand to his heart, mouth and forehead in salute to his lord before riding away.
Tariq spun his horse around, his black robes flying around his legs as he gave the animal a determined nudge that sent it flying down the sand dunes toward the unwelcome visitors.
End of Chapter 1