A/N: This is the sequel to "Something to Prove." If you haven't read it yet, you'll want to do that first.

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"I see surfing in your future."

Lieutenant Marcus Lorne looked up in surprise as his brother sat across from him.

"What?" he asked around a bite of what he sincerely hoped was scrambled eggs.

"This weekend," Major Evan Lorne responded matter-of-factly. "We're both off, so I figured we should take the opportunity to spend some time together—just the two of us. Dr. Weir already cleared a jumper that we can take to the mainland. We'll make a day of it. I'll even teach you how to fly the jumper." Marcus swallowed.

"Oh," he said, a little less enthusiastically than he'd intended to sound, but Evan didn't notice. "Sounds great."

"Oh, it is," Eve grinned. "Have you been to the mainland yet? It's nice. It's very nice. We just gotta make sure we both get through the upcoming mission in one piece." He clapped his hand on Mars' shoulder before continuing with his meal, chatting about the plans he had for the weekend. Marcus watched him for a moment. He was really excited about all this. It was so seldom that he saw Evan looking forward to anything—in fact, it had been years. Which is why when he opened his mouth to say something, he simply closed it again. He'd tell Evan later.

"Sir? Marcus?" Laura Cadman, one of the other members of SGA-2, spoke as she paused beside their table. "You do realize we're supposed to leave in less than 20 minutes, right?"

"Yeah," Mars answered.

"Really?" Evan asked, glancing at his watch. He looked at his brother. "How long have I been sitting here?"

"About half an hour." They all gazed at Evan's tray. He hadn't eaten very much, yet, and he was still dressed in his civvies.

"Alright," the team leader told the two of them, grabbing a couple items off his plate as he rose to his feet, "make sure Parrish is ready. I'll meet you all in the jumper bay.

"Yes, sir," Laura said. She seated herself in the newly vacated chair. "Hmm... Evan didn't even touch his cream of wheat," she noted, taking up a spoon and eating a bite. "Ulgh! What did he put in this?" Cadman spit the mouthful out into a napkin. Marcus quirked a smile.

"You probably don't wanna know."

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"I can't wait for this mission to be over!" Major Evan Lorne declared as he entered the hangar bay.

"We haven't even left yet, sir," Lieutenant Cadman remarked, amused by her CO's barely contained excitement. The coming weekend was all the elder Lorne had been talking about for weeks. Now that she thought of it, however, Marcus hadn't really talked about it.

"Then, we'd best get started," Evan grinned. "Alright, kids, everyone pile into the jumper."

"Yes, mom," Mars smirked. The four teammates took their seats, Evan in the pilot's seat with Marcus beside him and Laura and David right behind them. The brown-haired lieutenant had been unusually quiet lately, Cadman thought. She silently regarded the younger Lorne. There was something off. Nothing huge or earth-shattering, yet distinct... She pondered the matter for a moment before she realized what it was—Marcus wasn't pushing to fly the jumper. He and Evan argued about nearly everything else, time and circumstance permitting, yet the few times they'd taken a jumper for a mission in the two months since he'd joined the team, Mars hadn't so much as asked to pilot the jumper.

"So, Marcus," Laura said, "I hear you're a pretty good pilot. I'd like to see you in action sometime."

"Don't encourage him, Cadman," Major Lorne told her before his brother could respond. "You want him to get some practice in, first. Believe me—I'm the one who taught him how to drive." He turned on the jumper and it automatically made its way to the gate room.

"I wasn't that bad!" Marcus protested. "Uncle Damien said I was good at it."

"Uncle Damien drives like a maniac," his brother snorted. They arrived in the gate room and Elizabeth gave them the all-clear. Several minutes after emerging from the wormhole, they landed on the planet's surface.

"Well, this isn't a very Parrish-friendly planet," Lieutenant Lorne commented, looking around at the sparsely vegetated and rocky terrain.

"Oh, my, look at this!" exclaimed the biologist seconds later. He began babbling something that his teammates scarcely followed as he examined a large brush-like plant.

"You were saying?" Laura laughed. Mars wrinkled his nose.

" 'Oh, look! Sagebrush!' " he said, mimicking David. The scientist rolled his eyes.

"I heard that, lieutenant," he declared.

"Well, it is sagebrush," Mars returned.

"Major," David attempted to gain his CO's back-up.

"Looks like sagebrush to me, doc," Eve grinned.

"Typical," Parrish sighed, capping a sample and putting it in his bag. They moved on, bouncing banter back and forth. Despite the rocky start with their newest member, SGA-2 was becoming a cohesive unit quicker than it had previously. Evan and David had worked together the longest, having been stationed on Atlantis since the beginning of the expedition. Laura had come on the Daedalus when it came to the city's defense against the wraith two years prior, later taking the place of one of the two members of the team who had fallen that day. Since then, they hadn't really been able to keep a fourth person on the team. Perhaps Marcus would stay around a bit longer.

"Alright," the major directed, "look around a bit, but stay in radio range and... ask me before you touch anything suspicious." He glanced at David as he said the last part.

"Aw, c'mon, Major!" the biologist exclaimed. "Marcus gets us in more trouble than I ever do!"

"Right," Evan conceded. "Cadman, keep an eye on him." Marcus glared at him as Laura suppressed a grin. The two lieutenants headed off while Parrish proceeded to take plant and soil samples, Major Lorne poking around a short distance away. The scientist was well aware of the air force officer's close proximity. There was a time when his CO's protectiveness had bothered him, but he had long since gotten used to it.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Laura asked her teammate as they made their way between large rocks and gnarled, undernourished trees.

"Nothing. Why?" Mars responded. The woman regarded him silently for a moment. She had gotten pretty good at reading Evan's body language, but, alike as they were, Marcus had his own set of quirks which she had yet to get accustomed to.

"You've been quiet," Cadman told him. "Too quiet. C'mon, Lorne Junior, what's bothering you?" Marcus squinted at nothing in particular and blew a breath out through his teeth.

"It's nothing, really. I just haven't told Evan something, yet," he answered. "It never comes up and I guess I'm kinda putting it off, y'know?"

"Well, why are you putting it off?" his teammate demanded.

"I don't really have a reason," Lieutenant Lorne shrugged. "I just..." He halted suddenly, bringing up his closed fist and indicating that he thought he had heard something. The teenage boy Marcus so often seemed to channel had vanished instantaneously, replaced by a man wizened by the peril that inhabited the universe.

Laura activated her radio. "Sir," she said quietly, "we may have some company." Two clicks indicated that Evan had received the message. Marcus took a silent step backwards and started to turn before a volley of stunner blasts erupted from somewhere ahead of them.

"Wraith!" the man shouted, jumping away in time to avoid getting hit. The two lieutenants fell back where Evan and David still waited.

"Get back to the jumper," Major Lorne commanded. "Mars, start it up and be ready to get the hell out of dodge. I'll cover our six. Now, move!" Cadman and Parrish immediately obeyed while Evan fired at the approaching wraith.

"Eve, I think it'd be better if I covered our six and you went for the jumper," Mars told him. "I mean, I've never even flown a jumper..."

"You'll do fine, Mars," his brother interrupted.

"No, I really think—"

"Dammit, Marcus! Now is not the time to argue. Go start the damn jumper!"

"I can't!" Evan shot him a look. "I don't have the gene."

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To be continued...