Well, here I go with another Jennifer/Evan story. I never would have thought of the pairing, but several stories here sparked my interest! Thanks for visiting and reading. I hope you enjoy it! I appreciate any reviews- they are encouraging.

Timeline for the story: Season 5, although I can't promise I have everything correct. I tried my best and any errors are mine.

Thank you to bailey1ak for all of the help and proofreading! I can't thank you enough!



Most would be slightly appalled at the disorganization of Colonel John Sheppard's desk. Quite frankly, many would even wonder if some sort of confrontation happened in the office, leading to the mess. Stacks of files littered the colonel's work area. Memos and mission reports filled the wire basket on the other end of the desk. Although the basket served as an organizational tool, Sheppard's method to filling the basket was less than neat. Papers lay there, in every direction, failing to conform to the trappings of the rectangular shape.

The new security protocol binders had arrived with the last shipment of the Daedalus. Both Sheppard and Lorne had spent many hours on the binders. It served as a way of formally instructing both permanent and temporary residents on Atlantis about rules, procedures, maps of the city, and a directory listing of the personnel they had to update every few months.

The pile on Sheppard's desk had reached such a height that Major Evan Lorne was surprised to hear a voice from behind the stacks. Hearing the muttering, Sheppard's second-in-command walked closer to see the colonel under the desk complaining about the IOA and their useless paperwork requirements.

"Sir, you radioed me?" Evan said, standing at a relaxed attention stance.

Hitting his head, Sheppard swore. "Seriously, Lorne, how about we take that formality down a notch. Considering that you're witnessing not one of my greatest moments right now."

Lorne tried to hide a smile. Even when they were on duty, Sheppard insisted on a more informal relationship between his second-in-command and himself. Lorne didn't struggle with it off duty as much as he did when they were in a work setting.

"Sorry, Sheppard," Lorne said. Spying a few papers in front of the desk on the floor, he bent to pick them up. Since Sheppard insisted on informality, Evan decided to push his luck. "Lose a few things? Pretty soon Woolsey's going to condemn this office."

"Shut it, Lorne. I don't want to hear about it. If Woolsey didn't insist on me attending every stinking meeting in this city, I may have a clear desk."

Rummaging through the papers, Sheppard found what he was looking for. "I need your signature on these requests I'm sending back with the Daedalus."

Evan looked over the forms, recognizing them as forms both him and Sheppard filled out last week. "Do you think this time they'll grant our requests?"

Sheppard let out a frustrated breath. "They better, that's for sure. Getting four more botanists that we didn't need and two brainless Marines who keep hitting on Keller's nurses and Keller herself during their physicals is about the last straw in my book. I specifically requested two additional doctors, one needing to be a competent surgeon, and another scientist in the lab that won't quit every time Rodney goes on a rampage." Taking the forms back, Sheppard stood up. "This time, I'm talking these directly to Woolsey. Maybe he can get something done."

Stepping aside, Lorne waited for Sheppard to close his office door.

"Walk with me, Lorne. I haven't eaten and need to go over a few more things for this month with you," Sheppard said over his shoulder. "As much as I hate meetings, we need to start having a monthly one. Starting today. But no offices, we meet over dinner, over in the corner."

Lorne kept up pace easily with Atlantis' chief military officer. "Sounds like a plan. And it will be even better if pie is on the menu tonight. I'd give a month's wage just for some apple pie."

Sheppard turned to him, sharing the fantasy. "And ice cream. Seriously, apple pie has to be served with ice cream. Now that's a request we need to put in next time."

They two men arrived in short time to the mess hall. Dinner was served until 8 p.m. due to many missions and post-mission debriefings extending after the normal times most ate their evening meals.

They filled their trays and glanced around for a private table. Sheppard was the first to spot Dr. Jennifer Keller sitting with one of the new idiot marines that came back on the Daedalus. The younger recruit was tall, but very thin. Judging from the first impressions he had of him, the man had the metabolism of four people. He was constantly moving, whether he was gesturing with his hands while talking, pacing before a training, or running around the city before his night shift began.

While keeping an obviously fake smile on her face, she darted her eyes to Sheppard, pleading for him to sit with them. John shook his head, mouthing "meeting" to her and nodding his head towards Lorne. Her eyes widened, threateningly, making him wince.

He sighed. "Lorne, mind if we postpone our meeting until after dinner?"

"I would've suggested it if you hadn't," Lorne replied. "Jen has ways of getting back at you when she's ticked off about something. You don't mess with the woman who can choose your needles, let alone stick you with the nurse with bad breath and cold hands.

Sheppard snickered. "All right, let's go rescue the damsel in distress." They began walking toward her.

"Hey, Dr. Keller," John said loudly, interrupting what sounded like the Marine's extended version of his greatest moments as a soldier. He purposely sat down next to her. "Mind if we join you?" Evan sat next to the man, who was clearly flustered that both the chief military officer as well as his second-in-command were sitting with him at dinner. He jumped up, saluting them both.

"At ease, Adams," Sheppard said, waving his fork at him. He looked at Jennifer before digging into the food. "So how's the infirmary holding up tonight? It's rare to see you dining with us."

Jennifer sent them both a grateful look. "Slow, actually," she responded. "I decided to rediscover what hot food tastes like. It's been awhile since I've made it to dinner this week."

Hungry, Sheppard nodded while cutting into his chicken marsala. The cooks did the best they could with what was provided and their limited ways of both storing and preparing the meals. John didn't miss many things on Earth, but one thing was for certain. He missed the snobby place his father used to take him out to eat at growing up. The waiters were rude but the food was incredible.

Returning back to the conversation, he motioned to Lorne. "We were just going over the new request I'll have Woolsey personally send back to Earth this time. In bold, and highlighted neon yellow, is our second request for two additional doctors. If it doesn't go through this time, I'll personally gate back and force Dr. Lam back with us from the SGC."

Adams suddenly grinned. "Man, Stargate command sure does pick them right."

The other three stopped eating and sent him a questioning glance.

"Uh," he stuttered. "It's just that Dr. Lam and Dr. Keller are both two of the nicest looking female doctors I've seen."

Sheppard frowned at him. "What you meant to say is that the SGC knows how to pick the brightest and most knowledgeable doctors you've ever seen."

"Yes, sir," Adams said, finishing up his food. "That's what I meant."

Lorne snorted into his food, making Jennifer cough. "Well, I better take advantage of this lull we have going in the infirmary and get a good run in tonight." She stood, taking her tray with her. "Gentlemen, I'll see you tomorrow."

The men watched her leave. Lorne made short work of setting Adams straight.

"Lieutenant, I'll let you in on a well known fact around Atlantis," he began, picking up his roll and buttering it. "But before that, let's make this clear. Think before you speak, especially if you're about to say something about a woman on this base. Commenting on a woman's physical appearance, especially in front of that particular woman as well as in the presence of two of your commanding officers, is not the wisest choice you could make your second week on Atlantis."

The man nodded, wide-eyed, obviously regretting his words earlier.

"Secondly," Evan continued, deliberately taking a bite and chewing slowly. "Dr. Keller has made it known that she prefers not to date. Her reasons are her own." Finishing, he moved on to the second half of his roll. "Now, it's perfectly fine if you want to attempt a friendship with her. Sheppard and I consider her to be a good friend. But just to clear the air, I wouldn't expect anything more to come of it."

"Sirs, I apologize," Adams said, clearing his tray. "If I'm dismissed, I would be more than happy to go apologize to Dr. Keller."

"Not necessary, Lieutenant," Sheppard said. "No harm done. Quite frankly, Doc is probably used to it. But in the future, I would back off of her."

He nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sirs."

They both waited until the man hastily retreated out of the mess hall. Laughing, they finished eating.

"No apple pie for you Lorne," Sheppard said, eating half of his Jello. "When we get a leave to go back to Earth, the first stop I make is to a bakery. I'm going to get one of everything. And the best thing is that no Jello will be in sight. Anyways," he said, pushing away his cup. "We're going to have to do some redistribution on some of our teams. We have three guys injured, one on leave back to Earth for a wedding, and these two new Marines to add into the mix."

Lorne nodded. "In my opinion, I'd add the two new guys in with each of us until we at least know how they can handle things. Any red flags on their records?"

Sheppard shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary in either way— good or bad." He nodded. "I agree. You can take Adams, I'll take Sanchez with my team. Teyla and Ronon can handle him, especially since I've been hearing he's a little overconfident. Aside from that, let's sideline SGA-7 and add two of our seasoned guys who have been stuck in the city doing rounds on the teams needing numbers."

"Sounds good," Lorne said.

"And then there's our little reoccurring problem with have with Jen going off world," Sheppard half laughed. "The poor Doc keeps running into problems."

"I've been thinking about the same thing. How about we make it mandatory that two teams go through with her every time? And one must be one of our own."

Sheppard nodded. He knew full well it wouldn't sit well with Jennifer that she required this much extra precaution. "And I'll up that even more. We'll assign one man to specifically guard her the entire time. She doesn't get left alone for any reason."

Lorne agreed.

Settling a few more problems, Sheppard leaned back. "See, these meetings are much more pleasant over a meal. And not in the confines of a small room with no windows. We need to get Woolsey in on this."

Agreeing, Lorne picked up his tray. "I'm late. I promised Ronon I'd go a few rounds with him later tonight."

"When did this start?" Sheppard said, surprised his SIC, although more than capable of handling himself in a fight, would want to subject himself to Ronon. Only Teyla and Sheppard had taken on the Satedan willingly outside of regular training sessions. Others were just unlucky if they found themselves sparring with him during their trainings. Sheppard knew for a fact Ronon went full out after hours.

"Tonight," Lorne replied. "I wanted to kick my training up a notch and told Ronon not to go easy on me. It will help on off-world missions the next time we get into it with the Wraith, I figure."

"Nice, Lorne," Sheppard said, impressed with his second-in-command. "Glad to hear you've joined the ranks of Teyla and I. From personal experience, I recommend lots of ice and keeping on good terms with Jennifer. You're going to be visiting the infirmary a whole lot more."

Grimly, Lorne waved. "Figured so. Night, Sheppard."

Sheppard waved, picking up his own tray and heading for a walk around the city.


Evan entered the training room, glad to see Ronon was running late as well. He'd made a quick stop at his room to change into work out gear, which to him consisted of black running pants and a white t-shirt. Making it a point to warm up well, he stretched out to avoid some of the soreness he knew would be coming tomorrow morning.

Ronon walked through the door several minutes later.

"Sorry, Lorne," he grunted. "Ran into the Doc on the way here."

"I thought she was going on a run?" Evan said. "She just left the mess hall about thirty minutes ago."

Stretching himself, Ronon pulled his knee to his chest while lying down on the ground. "Something was up. She was acting kind of weird. I tried to get her to talk more, but she ran off on me. Anything strange happen during dinner?"

Evan thought back to Adams and his off hand comment. "Well, when we got there, she was eating with the new guy... Lt. Adams. But she left looking okay."

Ronon stood up, moving toward Lorne in the center of the room. "Well, maybe she'll talk about it tomorrow." He grinned. "Ready to get killed?"

Sending a look back a Ronon, he sighed. "I think I'm going to regret asking you for extra training." Hands in a defensive position, he circled around the mat before Ronon took his first shot.


It was inevitable. Despite Ronon's assurance that Evan held his own for most of the time, stating he was impressed with him, Evan was still bleeding an hour after starting their session. Ronon escorted him to the infirmary, where Dr. Henry Stevens was on shift.

A nurse sat Evan down, purposely lingering until Dr. Stevens was available to come over. It was plainly obvious the woman was interested in Evan. She cleaned his wound, dropping hints that Evan needed a day off and should try and attend a few of the social events planned during the month.

Ronon watched, smiling at Evan's reaction. Glaring back at his friend, Evan just mumbled a few answers, hoping Dr. Stevens was on his way. Thankfully, the doctor appeared, leaving the nurse nothing else to do but retreat back to her paperwork.

"Ronon," the doctor nodded to the big man. "Major Lorne. We don't see as much of you in here as Colonel Sheppard and Mr. Dex over here. What happened tonight?"

Chuckling, Ronon glanced at Evan. "Doctor, you'll be seeing a whole lot more of him in the next few weeks. Tuesday and Friday nights, especially. We're training together."

The doctor looked back at Evan, sending him a look that clearly questioned if he was insane. "Ah. Well, major. Either you're overly ambitious or have a thing for one of our nurses..."

Evan immediately shook his head. "None of the above, Doc," he said, wincing as the man began to pull over a tray to stitch him up. "Just want to push myself to learn more."

The doctor began to stitch him. "Well, a few nurses in here will be glad to see your face in here more often."

Rolling his eyes at Ronon, Evan began to focus on the instruments on the tray. He agreed with Jennifer in this area. Dating on Atlantis only would lead to problems. Besides the fact that he kept himself busy and took his job seriously, he didn't see it worth the risk to begin a relationship. It always carried the risk of failing; and failing in the city meant you would be doomed to face that person on a daily basis. It was the same on Earth. If someone began a relationship within the same work environment and later ended it, you would inevitably see that person day to day. Only on Atlantis, it would be worse. Day to night and repeat for months upon end.

It wasn't that a few women hadn't tempted him. But instead, he'd been able to push those feelings aside. Friendships with the women had its benefits as well, without the damaging end results.

Before he knew it, Dr. Stevens had finished up and instructed him to take it easy with training for a few days. Evan sat up and both men made their way to the mess hall, hoping for a late night snack.


Meanwhile, Jennifer sat in her room, holding the letter she'd received just an hour ago. The run hadn't cleared her mind. And the letter in her hand was the source of that problem. Frustrated, she cursed the piece of paper for disturbing her first night off in over a week.

Many women may be flattered to receive such a letter. But Jennifer just found herself confused. Her brain tried to figure out who on base could've left her the note that greeted her on the floor when she returned back from dinner to change for her run. It wasn't as if she flirted. Far from it. Her reputation of refusing to date was common knowledge. And if it wasn't, Sheppard let it slip freely with the new recruits on base.

So why this letter?

Unfolding it, she read it again.

Dear Jennifer,

I couldn't help watching you today. The way you moved, each movement perfectly planned and purposeful.
It brings me joy to be close to you. For now, I'll watch from afar. But soon I hope to be with you- to hold you.
Until then, I'll be content watching you from a distance.

Love,
A friend

She refolded the note, knowing it was silly to keep it. But something disturbed her about it, urging her to hold on to it. Moving to her dresser, she tucked it inside and tried to push it from her mind.