Homecoming Heroes by catescorner

Hello again, folks! Yes, I'm back, with another multi chapter story.

This won't be the one that my regular reviewers might be expecting. The sequel to Miles To Go has turned into a bit of a monster - ten chapters so far, and the plot bunnies still haven't finished!

This one, though, is rather shorter, and is already finished, so I can post it up without keeping you waiting. Yes, I'm nice that way. Besides, I'm keeping the cliffhangers for Trojan Horse :o)

It takes place a few days after the events in Enemy At The Gate. As a Lorne lover, it struck me as odd that Evan didn't join the others on the balcony for that final scene. After all, he was born in San Francisco, and if anyone would want to see that view of his hometown, it was going to be him!

So with that in mind, here's my idea on how his homecoming might have gone. It will focus, of course, on Evan and his family, but John, and the rest of the team, will feature heavily too.

All comments welcome, and I hope you enjoy!

Homecoming Heroes

Chapter One - Worth The Wait

After five years away from it, this wasn't quite the return home that John Sheppard had imagined. No Ancient technology. No hyperdrive. No Jumpers. Hell, he hadn't even Gated into the SGC. Instead, he'd sailed into San Francisco on a… boat. A highly advanced one, the best carrier the USN had, but still a frustratingly slow boat.

Not that he'd ever say that, of course. All rivalry aside, his USN cousins still had his utmost respect, and always would. But he was so used to zipping at hyperdrive around the galaxy that this last leg of his journey home had been tortuously slow. Throughout the trip, he'd had to fight the urge to take one of its F-18s out for a 'loosen up' spin.

Still, they'd arrived now. And however slowly they'd got there… yeah, it had been worth the wait. From Atlantis, the Golden Gate had looked incredible. Sailing majestically beneath it had been all out awesome.

And more than that, more than anything beyond how long it had taken to get there, they were… home.

Through personal necessity, rather than military protocol, he'd been in the first group to disembark – McKay's gripes over seasickness, and his delicate stomach, falling, as usual, on conveniently deaf ears. As he'd quickly learned, the best way to ignore these hypochondriac rambles was to keep quiet, and just ignore them.

"Och, shut up, Rodney, there's nothin' wrong with ye!"

Straight talking Scottish doctors worked pretty well too, John thought through an approving grin.

Leaving them to bicker on behind him, he then turned back to scan the latest group of disembarkers. There was one person among the milling crowds, more than any other, that he wanted to see. A reunion, among all those that were joyously erupting around him, that he did not want to miss.

Luckily, his quarry was easy to spot, and John felt his smile widen as he finally caught sight of him.

Evan Lorne hadn't exactly walked down that gangplank. Thankfully for his reputation, he hadn't skipped down it either. Instead, without the help of wings, or jet engines, he'd flown. He'd hit it running, and just kept going.

Watching him skid into the ranks of eager face-searchers, John grinned, in the same excitement. Somewhere in the crowds ahead of him, his family were waiting, to welcome him home, and – yeah, no wonder his XO had slipped his unflappable leash, and gone totally demob happy.

A moment of pure joy was just seconds away, and… yeah, Rodney, way to go to almost ruin it.

"Hey, Lorne grew up here, right? Maybe he can, you know, show us some of the sights."

Imagining how his XO would react to that suggestion, John rolled his eyes, and dryly did it for him.

"I think he'd rather see his family, Rodney, than play tour guide."

Leaving the biggest brain in two galaxies to mull that over, John shook his head again, returning to the task in hand. With crowds of laughing, hugging families between them, it was hard to keep his XO in sight.

But then the crowds ahead of him started to move, scattering sideways like a human Red Sea –

"Uncle Evvvv-annnn!"

– and John grinned, in pure anticipation, as Evan dropped just as instinctively onto his heels. He knew what was coming, just knew what was going to happen next. He wasn't disappointed.

Two mop haired missiles now shot out from the crowd, homing in on their target. Perfectly synchronised, they ploughed together into Evan's chest, with such force that he was knocked flat onto his back. And as John burst into helpless laughter, he wasn't at all surprised when Ronon did the same.

"That's gonna leave a mark."

Teyla was laughing too, with the additional pleasure of seeing this priceless scene before.

"Yes, that certainly explains the photograph."

Knowing the one she meant, John nodded, still grinning, as the real thing played out in front of him – leaving her to explain the moment that, it seemed, only a few people had been lucky enough to see.

"Evan has this photograph, in his quarters, of him and the boys playing together. It is remarkably similar to what has just happened."

Quicker on the uptake, Ronon grinned, jerking his head towards three, still helplessly tangled bodies.

"…so they flattened him then too?"

Knowing it hadn't been the first time, and wouldn't be the last, Teyla smiled back and nodded, glancing across at John, in the same proud amusement for this most special of homecomings. Even if it had flattened him, left him laughing too much to move, no-one deserved it more than Evan Lorne.

And as both of them knew, this wonderful reunion wasn't over yet. In fact, it had just got started.

With perfect timing, his mother and sister appeared, just as he managed to climb back to his feet – stepping forward in turn to wrap him back into a tight, ecstatic hug that none of them wanted to break.

Still watching his friend, John Sheppard smiled with professional pride, and personal satisfaction. His team was safe, and he'd brought them home. Life, in any galaxy, didn't get any better than that.