Date : 09.01.2008

Title : The A.U. Series : New Beginnings

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 1 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Lt. Col. John Sheppard / Dr. Ellie Harrison

Major Evan Lorne / Nurse Jessica Reilly

Ronon Dex / Lyssa Hunter

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 the last story in that series - Loves Double Trouble.

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 : When Ellie does the decent thing and swaps teams with McKay will she be able to cope with the stubborn and demanding Major Lorne or will her new beginning end in disaster?

Dr Rodney McKay all but threw his laptop onto the work bench in front of Dr Ellie Harrison and she frowned at him as he began to rant,

"I have had it with that guy….he is just impossible to work with. I quit, yes…that's it, don't try to stop me or talk me out of it…..", he paused and looked at Ellie, rolling his eyes when she didn't speak.

"You're supposed to try and stop me", he moaned and Ellie blinked at him.

"Oh! Sorry. I take it you're talking about Major Lorne?".

"Yes of course I'm talking about Major Lorne. I mean, I clash with most military types but he just takes the biscuit", Rodney replied tetchily and Ellie sighed.

"What happened this time?", she asked, picking up his laptop and taking it to his work bench.

"Same as usual…I wanted to check out some caves and a wooded area which I thought could turn up some useful samples and he just completely ignored me and said we were to head back to the gate", Rodney answered as he continued to stomp around their lab.

"Oh…I see", Ellie said feeling guilty and not for the first time since Rodney had been made to step onto Lorne's team so that she could be on Sheppard's.

"It's just ridiculous", Rodney said, turning around just in time to see Ellie heading for the door.

"Where are you going?", he called and Ellie glanced back over her shoulder.

"I wont be long", she replied, avoiding answering his question and Rodney muttered a curse before opening up his laptop.

Ellie left the lab and headed for Dr Weir's office, thankful when she found that Elizabeth was sat at her desk and she stuck her head around the door.

"Hi. Can I have a word?", she asked and Weir looked up and smiled at her.

"Hi Ellie, come in, take a seat".

Ellie did so and smiled nervously as Weir looked at her expectantly.

"It's about the teams…I think you should put Rodney back onto John's team and I will go onto Major Lorne's", she said eventually and Weir raised her eyebrows.

"Any particular reason for this change?", she asked and Ellie twisted her hands in her lap.

"I feel guilty for taking Rodney's place on John's team. He was happy and now he hates going off-world because he and Major Lorne clash all the time so I think its time he had his rightful place back".

"Well I guess I'll have to discuss it with Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne but…..", Weir began but Ellie shook her head.

"No…please. I know John will object and I'm not sure Major Lorne will be too keen either and I'd be grateful if you'd just approve the change without bringing them into it", she said and Weir sighed.

She thought for a moment and then said,

"Alright. But we'll do a trial period, if Colonel Sheppard or Major Lorne come up with any valid reasons as to why the swap isn't working out you will just have to go back to being on Sheppard's team".

"Thank you", Ellie said and Weir smiled.

"So, do you want to tell them or shall I?", she asked and Ellie sighed deeply.

"I'll do it", she replied, standing and Weir laughed.

"Good luck".

Ellie entered the mess hall and glanced around, unable to believe her luck when she saw Sheppard and Lorne sat together.

She approached their table and slid into the seat next to Sheppard.

"Hey, what're you doing here?", he said, squeezing her shoulder and she smiled at him, glancing at Major Lorne who she could see was already getting ready to leave.

"I need to speak to you…..and to you Major", she said as Lorne went to stand and he sunk back into his chair at her words.

"What's wrong?", Sheppard asked frowning when he saw she looked a little nervous.

"It's about the teams", she began and Lorne leaned forward, his elbows on the table, his interest piqued.

"What about them?", Sheppard asked warily and Ellie replied,

"I've been to see Dr Weir and as from the next off world mission I'm swapping teams with Rodney".

"What?! No way!", Sheppard said at the same time as Lorne blurted,

"Why?".

Ellie looked from one to the other and grimaced at the looks on their faces.

"Rodney was taken from your team unfairly John to accommodate me and I know he really doesn't get on with you Major", she said turning to glance at Lorne who looked away feeling a little guilty for being so off with McKay, but the man did drive him mad.

"Elizabeth said that we can give it a trial for a while…see how things go. I owe it to Rodney…he loved being on your team John", Ellie said and Sheppard looked at Lorne who looked non too pleased but remained silent.

"But I like having you on my team Ellie…we get to see more of one another", he said and Ellie blushed and looked away as she felt Lorne's gaze fall on her.

"Yeah, well….absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that", she replied shrugging and Sheppard pulled a face at her.

"Well I hope McKay appreciates this", he said and Lorne said,

"Has he been told yet?".

"No…I thought I'd better tell you guys first", Ellie said standing and Sheppard's hand fell away from her as she did so.

"I'll see you later", she said moving away from the table as Sheppard nodded.

She knew he wouldn't be too happy about the change but truth be told she was happy to put a little distance between the two of them. Ever since the visit from their other selves she had felt confused about her motives for being with Sheppard and she needed a little space to figure out how she felt.

This way she could help Rodney into the bargain.

Back in the lab she didn't think she had ever seen Rodney look so happy as she gave him the news of their swap.

She was even more taken aback when he suddenly grabbed her and crushed her small frame to him.

"Thank you so much….that's so….nice of you", he said into her hair and Ellie grimaced and patted his back.

"That's okay Rodney…I'm just giving you back what is rightfully yours", she said as he released her.

"Well, good luck with Lorne…you're going to need it", Rodney said wagging his finger at her and Ellie steeled her back determinedly.

"Lorne will be a pushover, trust me", she said sounding more confident than she felt and Rodney made a sound of disbelief as he turned back to his work.

Ellie's first day with SGA-2 didn't quite go as she'd planned. In fact she'd hated every second of it!

Major Lorne was going to be an absolute nightmare to work with. He hadn't listened to one word she had said to him and he had kept leaving her behind, forcing her to run to keep up with him, Lt. Franks and Lyssa.

As they got back to Atlantis and headed up the gate room steps, Lorne turned to her,

"So Dr Harrison, how have you enjoyed your first off-world mission with us?", he asked.

Ellie glared at him before stalking past him dismissively, muttering 'asshole' under her breath as she went.

As Lorne stared open-mouthed after her Lyssa laughed and said,

"You kind of deserved that, you were pretty hard on her today".

"Yeah well, things can get tough out there and she needs to realise we're not just on some archaeological dig", Lorne replied and Franks who drew alongside them said,

"I'm sure she realises that Sir, after all she had been on Colonel Sheppard's team for some time".

"But she and the Colonel are 'involved' so I'm sure he must have gone a little easier on her if you know what I mean", Lorne replied as they headed after Ellie and toward the briefing room, Franks and Lyssa exchanging a glance as they went.

In the briefing with Weir, Ellie tried to explain how Lorne hadn't wanted to listen to her but he kept interrupting her so she decided to try and speak with Weir alone later.

Unfortunately she didn't get a chance to and so she went to her quarters feeling frustrated and determined to make Lorne listen to her the next time they went off-world.

Thankfully she didn't have to wait long to try to put her determination to the test.

The next day Weir sent them to 2HY - 668 and Ellie made her intentions clear that she needed to examine any glyphs or things she deemed necessary as and when they came across them.

At the first stop though Lorne only gave her ten minutes before he tried to get her to move on.

"You are joking right?", Ellie asked pulling herself up to her full height which unfortunately for her still only brought the top of her head level with Lorne's shoulders and he wasn't an overly tall man.

Lorne looked down at her, his eyebrows raised.

"I never joke about my work", he said dryly and Ellie shook her head before kneeling back down.

"I am not moving from here until I have studied these glyphs properly. They could hold some vital clues or information about the Wraith or about ZPM's".

"Okay. Ten more minutes and then we move", Lorne said stubbornly and Ellie twisted to look back up at him.

"You can move if you like but I'll stay here and do my job", she replied stiffly.

Just as Lorne was about to argue a blast hissed past him and exploded into the rock that Ellie was kneeling in front of.

The force of the blast knocked her backwards and she lay for a second or two on her back, stunned as Lorne whirled around, his P-90 raised as he tried to see where the shot had come from.

When he could see no-one around Lorne dropped down onto one knee beside Ellie.

"You alright?", he asked and she nodded, scrambling onto her knees and reaching for her hand gun as another blast landed to their left.

They moved behind the rock for cover and reaching for his radio Lorne said,

"Lieutenant, who and where the hell are they? I cant see anyone but they can obviously see me and the Doc".

Franks' voice came back crackly as he replied,

"They're Wraith Sir, they're over by the gate. Lyssa and I took out four but there's four more".

Lorne turned to Ellie and indicated to the gun she was holding rather dubiously.

"Can you use that?", he asked urgently and Ellie nodded.

"Kind of", she replied, cringing as Lorne shook his head.

"Kind of?".

"I know how to work it and stuff but I tend to always miss the targets in practice…..", Ellie trailed off as Lorne looked ready to explode.

"Stay close to me…we have to move….and try to hit at least one of them", he said standing abruptly and Ellie followed.

They moved, covering each other's backs and Lorne was more than surprised when Ellie managed to bring down two of the remaining Wraiths leaving him the other two.

As Franks and Lyssa joined them, Franks said,

"Great shooting Ellie".

Ellie blushed and replied a little haughtily,

"Yeah well, I'm not quite as useless as some people think", and she looked at Lorne pointedly before moving back to the rock where her books and back-pack were waiting.

Lorne glared at her then said,

"Everyone back to the gate…now. This mission is aborted and we go on no more until I am certain that Dr Harrison is trained in everything that she needs to be to be a member of this team".

Ellie straightened and Lyssa and Franks raised their eyebrows as she rounded on Lorne. McKay had never been so argumentative with their C/O.

"I beg your pardon? What exactly do you think it is I need training in?", she asked and Lorne approached her angrily.

"How to use a fire-arm properly for one and do you know how to fly a jumper?", he asked and Ellie blinked.

"I just shot two Wraiths and why would I need to fly a jumper?", she replied, her confidence wavering as Lorne stared her down.

"You shooting those two was pure luck I'm sure and you should know how to fly the jumper just in case the three of us are incapacitated for any reason. Then there's self defence….I could go on", he said and Ellie folded her arms.

"Alright, alright….I get it", she replied and Lorne nodded.

"Get your stuff together then, we're going home", he said and Ellie risked a glance at Lyssa who gave her new team-member a half smile.

Once back on Atlantis, Lorne went to see Weir and Sheppard and told them his plans for Ellie.

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to have her a little more clued up", Sheppard said and Lorne nodded.

"I'm glad you see it that way Sir. After what happened today I'd feel better knowing she was a capable member of my team and not someone I constantly have to keep an eye on. At least McKay was geared up for most eventualities".

"Yeah….", Sheppard replied, beginning to worry about Ellie being off-world without him.

"I think it's a good idea Major", Weir said, "Maybe we could get some of the other scientists a bit more up to speed with the self-defence side of things. I could see if Ronon will give them a bit of training".

"Thank you ma'am", Lorne said.

He and Sheppard left Weir's office and Lorne turned to Sheppard.

"Would you like to teach Dr Harrison to fly the jumper Sir?", he asked and Sheppard regarded him.

"Are you mad Major? The worst thing a man can do is try to teach his girlfriend to drive….No, I think it would be better if you showed her".

"Right", Lorne replied trying to keep his voice neutral.

When he had suggested the training and the flying lessons he hadn't envisaged himself being the teacher….but now he guessed he was stuck with it….and Ellie.

"Oh, Major, I've been meaning to give you these", Sheppard said, pulling a pot of pills from his pocket and handing them to Lorne who took them and examined the pot.

"What are these?", he asked and Sheppard replied.

"You know Ellie has a mild heart condition right?".

Lorne nodded and Sheppard continued,

"She's always forgetting to take her damn pills so I have everyone who works with her carry some around. I'll get Teyla and Ronon to give their pots to Franks and Lyssa…just in case".

Lorne shoved the pills into his pocket, groaning inwardly.

"No problem Sir", he replied and Sheppard grinned.

"So…when's the first flying lesson…….?".

End of Chapter 1