Miles To Go Before I Sleep by catescorner

Hello, all, and welcome to my second, multi chapter story for SGA. I had so much fun with the first one, I couldn't resist writing another!

This one follows on from Doppelganger (known in my household as the Lorne-Goes-Loopy episode). Poor Evan, he really had a hard time, didn't he? You just had to feel sorry for him (I certainly felt sorry for Kavan, who had to stand barefoot on that freezing floor!). Mind you, he has lovely feet - and don't get me, or the little sis, started on the bed hair! :o)

So this story deals with the aftermath from that episode. It's set a couple of nights after that unforgettable stand-off. And as John is about to discover, it's affected Evan more deeply than either of them have realized.

Enjoy!

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Chapter One - Silent Night, Troubled Night

John Sheppard knew there wasn't any real need for him to make these nightly patrols around Atlantis. There were countless systems, and sensors, that kept his city safe, as tirelessly efficiently as he did. But as he'd pointed out, through McKay's inevitable snarking, it was a military thing, not a scientist's.

Of course, it also bugged the hell out of the uptight genius. That was reason enough to keep doing it.

Usually, he'd make those rounds alone, enjoying the peaceful quiet until he, too, turned in for the night. Tonight, though, he had pleasantly unexpected company. Evan Lorne was making his own checks too.

Yep, John thought through a proudly amused smile, definitely a military thing. Just typically Lorne. Then, from a compulsion he couldn't explain, his eyes strayed down to Evan's feet – and he froze. Now, as then, they were completely bare. And John's smile vanished, into a frown of rising alarm.

Two nights ago, helpless under that entity's control, he'd held him at gunpoint, and tried to kill him. Now he was sleepwalking again. And those subconscious wanderings had taken him into the armoury. A room filled with guns. Not just Berettas either, but their P90s. Ammunition, and C4, and – oh, crap.

His first reaction was to call for backup. Get Carter down here, or Keller. Hell, Ronon too, if he had to. But something beyond those instincts stopped him, as John hurried to the armoury's doorway – memories of his XO collapsing, in frozen agony, from that stun blast still too raw to go through again.

He could still see him now, lying on the observation room floor, struggling back to consciousness. Staring up at them, in utter panic, while they'd questioned him over actions that he couldn't remember. John had never seen such fear, or helplessness, in his XO's eyes. He'd prayed he'd never see it again.

But it was happening again. Through alien influence, or otherwise, his friend was in that armoury. And as he continued to watch him, checking through their racks of P90s, John felt his blood run cold. It was like watching a living, breathing robot. Except that robot was one of his closest friends.

He'd picked up some boxes of ammunition now, settling onto a nearby bench while he counted them. Oblivious to his CO's presence, he was counting out bullets, with breathtaking speed. In. His. Sleep.

Not daring to interrupt him, John didn't have a clue, either, of how to bring him out of it. Oh, God. If ever there was time to call in Kate Heightmeyer, this was it. But she was dead, there was no-one else on Atlantis to help him with this, and… what the hell?

"Hey, Colonel! Making the rounds too, huh?"

Thrown out of his thoughts, onto the biggest loop imaginable, John just stared at his friend, then shakily nodded – the pain of Kate's death, and shock at what his friend was doing, giving way to still uneasy curiosity, and instinctive fascination.

Hell, forget the Wraith, with their glinty teeth, or the Replicators, with their robotic perfection. Watching Evan smile back at him, his eyes bright, wide open in deepest sleep, was just plain, all out freaky.

The only good sign, that took John several seconds to notice, was that he was so calm this time – the cheerfully reliable XO he'd always known as Evan finally nodded, with the satisfaction of a job well done.

"That's better. Said I'd check this ammo for you, sir, but… well, got kinda distracted."

Met with silence that, for once, he didn't understand, Evan's eyes then narrowed into a puzzled frown

"You okay, sir? You seem kinda distracted too."

Forcing back a smile that he hoped was calmer than he felt, John pushed it into a more convincing grin. He'd remembered more of Kate's explanation now, the classic signs of complete somnambulism – feeling her loss more deeply than ever as he noticed the glassiness in Evan's eyes, their telltale squint.

If he was talking too, then he was really out of it, too deeply asleep for him to rouse, and – damn it! Without Kate's calming presence to fall back on, or Keller's help, what the hell did he do now?

"Yeah, Evan, I'm… uh, fine. Just didn't expect anyone else to be up this late," he said at last, moving this most surreal of conversations straight to the top of his ever growing list of 'that was freaky' experiences.

Knowing that Evan wouldn't remember it when he did wake up made it freakier still, and… whoa! Seemingly happy with his CO's answer, he was moving again – thank God – out of the armoury. Still not knowing whether to stop him, or try to wake him up, John chose to just follow him instead – forcing himself to keep up with the most surreal conversation he'd ever had as they kept walking.

By the time they reached Evan's quarters, they'd covered everything from football to their first cars to team training – their final discussion, on favourite vacations, ending unsettlingly quickly. Swiping the door open, Evan strode inside, smiling up at him as they reached his bed.

"Well, time to turn in. 'night, sir. See you in the morning."

And, just like that, it was over. Crawling under a pile of tangled bedclothes, Evan's head hit the pillow, his eyes closed, and he was out for the count.

Still shaken by what he'd just seen, John tucked him more tidily into its covers, then sat carefully beside him. His unfailingly reliable instincts had already told him that this wasn't over, and the best thing he could do now was to stay put. So while his XO slept soundly beside him, John Sheppard settled in for a long, and now definitely sleepless night.