Fortunate Journey Season 3 Chapter 1: This is Lucius Luvin, a stargate: atlantis fanfic

Fortunate Journey Season 3

Author: ShaViva

Rating: T

Content Warning: Adult themes, minor language, some violence here and there, a couple of instances that might be considered graphic.

Season: 3

Summary: A new enemy emerges in the Pegasus galaxy, bringing new challenges and new discoveries for Sabina and John as they both learn that the greatest battles are those that take place inside. OC 1st person perspective story, established ShepOC relationship.

Classifications: drama, Romance

Pairings: John Sheppard & Original Character

Spoilers for: Pretty much every episode in Season 3 is mentioned in some way. BIG huge honking spoilers (i.e. more than just a few lines of dialogue included) for Irresistible, Progeny, The Real World, Common Ground, The Return Pt1 & Pt2, Tao of Rodney, Submersion, and First Strike. Also HUGE spoilers for the beginning of Season 4 – Adrift and Lifeboat. Finally minor spoilers for SG1 Season 10 – The Pegasus Project.

Acknowledgements: I used Gateworld dot com transcripts to back up my own viewing as I worked through each episode. Anything else I reference will be acknowledged at the point it's used in the story.

Disclaimer: The Stargate characters, storylines, etc aren't mine – I took them for a test drive and decided I liked them so much that now we're moving in together. I am unfortunately not associated in any way with the creators, owners, or producers of Stargate or any of its media franchises. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, equipment, etc are the property of whoever owns them. The original characters and plot and anything else I made up are the property of me, the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Authors note: Reviews and 'Mary Sues'

I got a review at the end of Season 2 that suggested Sabina was a bit of a Mary Sue – to be honest I had no idea what that meant so I had to look it up! Wikipedia had a really good explanation plus a few sites an author can use to test to see if their original character is a Mary Sue. I did three tests and on one of them Sabina was borderline mainly because of the established relationship with Shep and because of the ATA and Wraith gene thing. Since I set the story up that way from day one I'm not gonna change it or switch her whole character just to make her less a Mary Sue. If you think she is a Mary Sue that's okay – I'm not allowed to defend her or try to change your mind because apparently that will only make her more a Mary Sue! (Check out the tests yourself to see what I mean). I appreciated the comment because I want to improve my writing as I go along - the main change I made as a result of my research into Mary Sues was to make sure I didn't make things too easy for Sabina – so not that much different from last time ; )

I like reviews – the ones that say you like the story, the ones with ideas or comments about what people might do next, AND the ones that say how I might improve. So if you have something to say that fits into any of these please leave me a review. I've been lucky having a loyal few reviewing as the stories have progressed and I really appreciate that and I think/hope it has improved my writing.

Last general note on this season 3 story ... to be honest I don't think it's as good as the first two seasons. There are bits I think turned out well but the glue that binds it all together – the overarching stuff – is still causing me to cringe/frown/wonder/worry. It's very hard to do something plausible that's different from season 1 and 2 and extremely hard to develop (rather than just maintain) the Sab/Shep relationship without degenerating into fluff. I like fluff myself (no surprise there!) BUT since I've been trying to keep things as in character as I can the fluff starts to sit less and less comfortably as it gets further and further away from anything remotely like what we've seen in the show. I'm not gonna apologise for the fluff or any out of character moments as I post each chapter – consider this your warning – it's not a big part of the story but it is there ...

Okay – enough blah blah from me – on with the story.

Chapter 1: This is Lucius Luvin

"I feel like crap," I complained, watching from our bed as John got ready for his scouting mission. It had been a couple of days since we'd returned from our trip off world to celebrate John's birthday. Our little adventure had resulted in John getting a terrible cold ... which he'd obligingly passed on to me of course.

"Just stay in bed today," John came over and sat down beside me, stroking my hair back from my face.

"Are you sure you should be going on a mission?" I croaked.

"I'm fine," John's claim lacked conviction when he followed up those words by coughing harshly.

"You sound fine too," I said sarcastically. "Just promise me you'll take it easy ... no jumping into icy rivers or anything stupid like that."

"I promise," John said somewhat hoarsely. He leant down to kiss me goodbye before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.

I felt terrible enough that I did spend the rest of that day dosing in bed. John came back briefly and checked in with me before heading out again. Rodney was really pushing for their team to find a heap of abandoned space gates as quickly as possible so that he and Colonel Carter back at the SGC could complete their intergalactic gate bridge.

"Sabina?" I came to awareness when John put a hand on my shoulder and shook me gently.

"Hey, you're back!" I turned over and looked up at him sleepily. "Did you find any gates?"

"One," John replied. "Rodney was disappointed but until the Daedalus is fixed we can't do anything with any gates we find anyway."

"How's the cold?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes tiredly, trying to wake myself up a bit.

"It's not worse," John glossed over how bad I could tell he was feeling. "You?"

"I think I feel just a little bit better than this morning," I said in surprise. "Have you had dinner?"

"No," John admitted. While I got myself up and somewhat presentable John told me about the first planet they'd scouted that day, and how he'd met a guy called Lucius Luvin. "You should have seen Teyla's face when Lucius told her he loved a woman with spirit and a great body," John said with an evil grin.

"I can imagine," I replied. "Do you think he's really got anything Doctor Beckett will find useful?"

"Probably not," John shrugged. "Although Carson hasn't returned yet which is a little ... odd."

John and I had a casual dinner in the commissary before John was called away to talk to Doctor Weir. When he returned to our quarters an hour or so later I could tell that something wasn't right.

"What is it?" I asked in concern.

"Carson brought that ... guy back to Atlantis," John said in irritation.

"That guy?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Lucius!" John grumbled. "Carson brought him through the gate without getting approval from Elizabeth first."

"That is odd," I agreed. "What did Doctor Weir say?"

"She's giving him the benefit of the doubt at this stage," John replied. He glanced at me for a moment before continuing. "Look, it's probably nothing but ... while I'm gone tomorrow just stay well clear of Lucius, okay?"

"I can do that," I agreed.

John left early the next morning for another scouting mission, this time just with Rodney. Teyla and Ronon had been left behind to keep an eye on Lucius. I stuck to my agreement with John, spending the morning in my lab working with the latest Ancient artefact on Rodney's priority list.

"Doctor Weir wants to see us," I looked up to see Major Lorne standing in my doorway.

"What about?" I asked curiously, shutting my laptop and jumping up to follow the Major out the door.

"Don't know," Lorne admitted. "All I know is Weir's been meeting with the off world teams all morning."

We walked silently the rest of the way to Doctor Weir's office. When we got close enough I could see that she wasn't alone – a tall, chubby man wearing medieval garb that I could only assume was Lucius was sitting on the edge of her desk. Elizabeth was smiling up at him fondly as he talked animatedly, waving his hands around and grinning at her in return.

"Doctor Weir?" Lorne stopped just inside the doorway.

"Come in Major, Sabina," Doctor Weir greeted us more exuberantly that was her usual practice. "There's someone I'd like you to meet. This is Lucius Luvin," she gestured towards him and said his name like we should be very impressed. "Lucius, this is Major Evan Lorne and Ms Sabina Scott."

"Major, it's a pleasure," Lucius approached Lorne first, invading his personal space as he reached out a hand to shake in greeting.

Before Lorne could even think up a reply, Lucius turned to me and eyed me with a distinctly lascivious look that made me very uncomfortable. I glanced at Doctor Weir, expecting some kind of protest from her but instead was shocked to find her looking on approvingly.

"Sabina," Lucius turned my name into a verbal caress, holding out his hand expectantly. When I just looked at him without expression he shrugged and smiled. "Give it time," he said, "you'll grow to like me ... everybody does."

"Elizabeth tells me you pilot one of those flying ships just like Colonel Sheppard," Lucius turned his attention back to Lorne.

"That's right," Lorne agreed, casting a frown Doctor Weir's way. I too was puzzled about why Doctor Weir would have shared such critical information with someone she'd only just met. The whole situation was beginning to freak me out, and as the conversation between Lorne and Lucius continued my feeling that something was definitely wrong only got worse. I'd expected Evan to just blow this guy off as an annoying nuisance but instead it was clear he was beginning to fall under Lucius's spell. After only five minutes of conversation the Major was wearing the same infatuated and indulgent look that Doctor Weir had been sporting since we'd first arrived at her office.

Lucius turned his attention back to me and I realised I was his next target. I had no idea what was going on but somehow this man was winning over everyone he talked to. The one thing I was sure of was that I didn't want to be the next member of his fan club.

"I'd like to stay and chat," I prevaricated, edging closer to the door, "but I left a critical experiment running in my lab that I need to get back to."

"I'm sure it can wait," Doctor Weir said, casting a glance at the two Marines stationed by the door. They stepped in to fill the only opening I'd had for escape. My heart raced with nervousness as Lucius slowly approached me.

"You know," Lucius smiled in a manner he probably thought was seductive rather than faintly repulsive. "You're tall for a woman. I find that very ... arousing."

"I just bet you do," I replied sarcastically. My brain was churning over at a rapid rate as I tried to work out what the hell was going on and what I should do about it.

"Lucius has six wives," Doctor Weir shared that piece of disturbing news like the guy should get some kind of award.

"Aren't you a busy boy," I quipped, glancing from Doctor Weir back to Major Lorne and realising that no help was going to be coming from either quarter.

"You're funny," Lucius said almost childishly. "That's great!" He turned to Major Lorne and asked "Isn't that great?"

"It sure is," Lorne replied happily. I almost shuddered at the disturbing sight of my team leader behaving in such a ... sickeningly agreeable manner.

"You know," Lucius drew my attention back to him. He'd gotten up into my personal space and reached out to grab one of my hands. I let him get away with that familiarity as I waited to see what he'd say. "I'm always on the lookout for wife number seven."

Before I could reply a sneeze overtook me and I turned away, holding up a hand in mock apology.

"Did you catch Colonel Sheppard's cold?" Lorne asked in concern. Lucius turned to look at me suspiciously, paying too much attention to something that should have just been a throwaway comment.

"No," I replied, thinking quickly. Lucius didn't know me and so would hopefully assume that my croaky voice was normal for me – if I could come up with a way to explain the rest of my symptoms. "I'm allergic to ... dust ... that artefact Rodney gave me was really ... dusty," I lied somewhat lamely.

"That's too bad," Lucius said with concern. "You know I have a potion that could clear that right up for you."

Lucius looked at me expectantly and I realised that given how long he'd been talking to me he was expecting me to begin behaving in a similarly enamoured fashion as everyone else in the room. I didn't really understand why I hadn't been overcome but I wasn't about to start complaining. Realising that the only way I was getting out of that room was to convince them that I had been won over I decided in that instant that I should just play along until I could work out what to do.

"You're so clever," I smiled up at Lucius with an adoring expression. "Tell me more."

Later that night I made my way to the commissary along with everyone else Lucius had 'influenced'. We gathered around him as though in worship – present was a large number of Atlantis personal, including everyone who should have been on duty at that time. Sitting practically at his feet were Doctor Weir, Teyla and Ronon. I stood to one side, standing behind Teyla's chair. Everyone was listening enthralled as Lucius told a story involving swords and a beast. I watched with what I hoped was a convincing smile as everyone laughed when Lucius completed his punch line, making a lewd remark about not lacking for 'female companionship'.

The relief I felt when I finally caught sight of John and Rodney just returned from their scouting mission was enormous. Not wanting to give myself away I watched as they looked into the room with expressions of confusion and disbelief. When John made eye contact with me I forced myself to give an airy wave before turning back avidly to gaze fondly at Lucius. Out of the corner of my eye I saw John and Rodney exchange a worried glance before they turned and walked rapidly away.

I hung around in the commissary listening to story after sickening story about Lucius' exploits before I finally judged it safe to plead work commitments and leave the room. I had been hoping to meet up with John so we could work out what to do but it seemed that Lucius still had some suspicion about me. Two Marines detached from the group at a glance from Lucius and followed me out the door. Tamping down the frustration I felt I realised that the only place I could go was back to my lab. At that point I could only assume that Lucius was unaware of my relationship with John – a view that would change if I gave my Marine escort a reason to report that I'd gone back to our shared quarters. Hopefully they'd report that I was working and Lucius would think nothing more of it.

In the end I curled up on the couch in my lab, hoping that John would understand my subterfuge once the whole thing had been sorted out.

Authors Note:

For anyone wondering ... no you didn't miss the story of John's birthday trip ... I have a plan in mind but I haven't written it yet as it didn't fit to be the beginning of the Season 3 story ... I might do something with that idea when this is done.