Date : 05.05.2009
Title : The Fate Series : Part 1 - A Touch of Fate
Author : ElaineDex
Chapter : 3 of ?
Rating : M
Pairings : Lt. Colonel John Sheppard/OC
Major Evan Lorne/OC
Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Angst, Maybe Some Strong Language.
Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.
Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Harrison, and any O/C's are mine. Lyssa Hunter belongs to Kazavid and is from her Atlantis stories Behind The Mask and Reunions. Lexi Roberts was created by Soccer-Bitch. Stargate Atlantis, unfortunately, has nothing to do with me.
Summary : AU : Lorne is gone for good this time and Ellie must move on with her life. There'll be no second chances this time, no way around them being parted…or is there…and is that what Ellie and Lorne for that matter, really wants?
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A/N : My O/C's are in this story quite predominantly at one point and I do apologise for that, but I felt it necessary for the series to work. Hopefully though, you'll like them enough to continue to read on and enjoy what they're getting up to! There are of course all the old favourites in here and a newbie or two…oh and remember…forget the Ellie and Lorne's of the past, this is another AU J
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Lyssa looked from Ellie to Statham and back again and she watched as her friends' mouth made an 'O' shape from which no sound came out.
Statham's mouth twitched at the look on Ellie's face and the move made something click in her mind.
"You?!" she said accusingly and Woolsey raised an eyebrow as Lt. Franks and Lyssa exchanged a glance.
"You two have already met?" Woolsey asked as Statham took a seat at the table.
"We kind of 'bumped' into one another earlier," he said and Woolsey nodded, frowning at the incredulous look that Ellie now wore.
"You didn't give me a chance to apologise or to introduce myself," Statham said, reaching across the table and holding out his hand to Ellie who looked at it for a moment or two before sliding hers into it.
"Hello, I'm Frank," he said and Ellie felt colour steal into her cheeks as she replied simply,
"Ellie."
He nodded at her and released her hand and Ellie cleared her throat and ignored the look that Lyssa was throwing her way.
"Right, well, now that we all formally know one another I would like to begin…" Woolsey said, starting the meeting and for the next hour they went over their teams' schedule.
Ellie had to have a weeks re-training before they could go off world, but they had all expected that much and so it came as no surprise.
Woolsey finished off by saying,
"It's good to see you again Doctor and I just wanted you to know how very sorry we all are for the loss of Major Lorne, it certainly hasn't been the same around here over the last nine months."
Ellie nodded, her throat tightening with the now all too familiar ache that she got whenever anyone mentioned Evan, but she forced herself to say,
"Thank you," the effort making her sound like she was being strangled though and Frank frowned.
He began to wonder whether Ellie was really ready to come back to the team and he decided to watch her closely over the next week. Coming back to Atlantis was one thing, but being an active team-member that others relied upon was a whole different ball game and he needed to be certain that she was up to the job.
Time would tell.
oooooo
Later that day, Ellie finally caught up with McKay.
"Ah, if it isn't Einstein," he said sarcastically, as she walked into his lab and Ellie walked right up to him and hugged him, causing him to make a small noise in the back of his throat which Ellie knew meant she was making him nervous.
"I missed you Rodney," she said and he made the noise again, patting her tentatively on the back just before she pulled away from him.
"Yes, well…it was a little different around here without you messing up my programmes and the like," he offered, turning back to his laptop and Ellie smiled, knowing that it was his way of saying that he had missed her too.
"So…" she trailed off and he glanced back at her.
"So?" he queried and she held out her hands in mock exasperation.
"So, do you want to come up to the Daedalus with me and check out my crystal?" she said and he pretended to think for a moment.
"I wondered how long it would be before you came and asked me to check it over for you to make sure you got it working correctly and the like…in fact I am surprised that Caldwell hasn't radioed down already," he said, grabbing his tablet from the desk and Ellie shook her head at him and linked his arm as they left the lab.
OoOoOoO
The following week passed quickly for Ellie, the re-training keeping her busy. She was glad of the distraction though as she still hadn't been brave enough to open the wardrobe that Lyssa had told her had Lorne's things in it.
She had come to terms with his death, just about, but sorting through his belongings felt like such a final thing to do and she knew that she wasn't ready for that just yet.
One afternoon, she was on her way to meet Lyssa when Statham caught up to her in the hallway.
They hadn't really spoken much even though he had looked in on practically every training session that she had had.
"Hey, how's it going?" he asked and she looked up at him.
"Okay…thanks…look, about the first time we met…we should clear the air…" she began but he held up a hand to stop her.
"Don't worry about that, you were right, I shouldn't have been jogging around down here," he said and Ellie shrugged.
"It probably wouldn't have bothered me usually…but, well, my nerves were a little taught that day y'know," she said, trailing off and Statham frowned, her admission only making him think that the next session he had lined up for her was indeed the right way to go.
He didn't need someone on his team whose nerves were shot at.
"I had a word with Woolsey and we, well I, think it would be a good thing if you had a one to one with the cities' psychologist, just to see how you're doing in that respect too," he said, his frown deepening as Ellie seemed to go very pale before all the colour rushed back into her cheeks at an alarming rate and she stuttered,
"A, a psychologist? What the…?" and she took a few steps backwards, away from him before continuing, "I cant believe….I mean, how dare you! I lost my husband, not my mind! I was right, you are a jerk and I will not go see a psychologist!" and with that she stormed away from him.
Statham blew out a huge breath of air and raked his fingers across his scalp in frustration.
"Damn," he muttered.
He hadn't meant to upset her. He'd thought it might help her and the team. But he guessed he'd been wrong.
Their first off-world mission was scheduled for later that day and he wondered whether he should have Woolsey take Ellie off the team.
He was still pondering the same question though as he stood in the gate room two hours later with Lyssa and Lt. Franks.
He was just beginning to think that Ellie had taken herself off of the team when she appeared on the gate room steps with Ronon and Sheppard and his jaw dropped as he saw her attire.
Lyssa smirked as she watched Statham's expressions change from shock to horror to incredulity and back again as Ellie approached them wearing her trademark sundress, military boots and tac vest, her back pack held in one hand.
Ronon and Sheppard exchanged a glance as Statham continued to merely stare at Ellie as though she had sprouted a second head.
"Dial her up Chuck," Sheppard instructed and Chuck acknowledged the command with a nod of his head before starting the dialling process.
The gate was half lit when Statham finally found his voice.
"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked, then added, "That is not acceptable off-world attire Doctor."
"You don't like it?" Ellie asked innocently and Statham felt his hackles rise at her obvious taunt.
Deciding not to rise to her bait in front of the others he replied calmly,
"We will discuss this further when we get back here later."
"Fine," Ellie said, not even looking at him and Lyssa eyed her friend, wondering what was with the iciness in her tone.
No doubt she would find out soon enough.
000000
Later, as Ellie collected soil samples, Lyssa approached Statham and narrowed her eyes at him.
"You told her to go see the psychologist?" she asked, her voice low and he groaned and looked away.
"I thought it would benefit her and us," he replied and Lyssa sighed.
"Have you ever lost a loved one Frank?" she asked and he glanced back at her.
"I've lost men in battle…" he said, but Lyssa shook her head.
"I know that must have been hard and a terrible thing to go through, but I mean have you lost someone very close to you, someone who was to all intents and purposes your entire life?" she said and he sighed and glanced over at Ellie who looked strangely happy in amongst the tall grass and soil pots that were gathered around her.
"No," he admitted and Lyssa folded her arms.
"Then cut her some slack and have a little faith in her. The first time she lets you down I'll be the first one to take her to the psychologist, you have my word."
Statham sighed and nodded before saying,
"But what's with the outfit? Does she always dress like that or is it just for my benefit?"
Lyssa shook her head and laughed,
"You don't like it?" she asked and Statham glared at her.
"Don't you start," he said.
Lyssa winked at him and sidled away from him as he shook his head at her and swore under his breath.
He turned back to Ellie and shouted over to her,
"You ready to move on yet Doc?" and Ellie raised a hand and wiggled her fingers at him.
"What does that mean?" Statham muttered to himself. "Yes, no, not sure…not bothered, don't care…?"
"She meant two minutes Sir," Lt. Franks informed him from his position nearby and Statham nodded.
"Of course she did…I knew that," he replied, a touch of sarcasm tingeing his tone and Lt. Franks smothered a smile.
Statham sighed and pushed away from the tree where he had been leaning.
"Two minutes Doc," he bellowed, not missing the glare that Ellie sent his way.
OoOoOoO
Same Time -
Parallel City of Atlantis
"Get the hell out of here Major, do you hear me?" Sheppard shouted from underneath the pile of rubble that had once been their jumper bay.
"I wont leave you Sir," came Lorne's response and Sheppard growled more with pain than with annoyance at the loyal Major's refusal to get away from the crumbling city whilst there was still one useable jumper available.
"It's not a request Major, its an order," he tried, his voice growing weaker as blood continued to seep from the wounds to his head and chest.
"There's only the two of us left here Sir…I'm not going to leave you and that's an end to it," Lorne replied, waiting for some kind of glib comeback from his C/O.
It never came.
"Colonel?" Lorne tried, not wanting to acknowledge what his common sense was trying to tell him.
"John?" he ventured a couple of seconds later.
Still nothing.
Lorne remained statue-like for the longest time, his blue eyes staring sightlessly at the devastation all around him.
Everyone was gone now except for him.
He should feel lucky to be alive…but he didn't.
'What was lucky about being the only member of the Atlantis expedition to survive the horrific surprise attack from their so called allies, the Genii?' he wondered, his fists curling into tight balls at his sides as the image of Acastus Koyla's face swam before his eyes.
He vowed to somehow catch up with the man who had orchestrated this carnage and make him pay, but first he needed to try and contact earth. Stargate Command needed to know what had gone on here.
He went to move and realised abruptly that the last time he had seen the gate, it too was in the process of being covered in rubble and he sat down as quickly as he'd stood, defeat washing over him.
'Who are you trying to kid Ev?' he asked of himself, his voice harsh as he let despair cloud his mind. 'Even if the gate was accessible you don't have a clue how to get it working again, you'd need all those pain in the butt scientists that you never got along with over the last few years.'
His mind automatically went through the main list of Doctors.
Zelenka, McKay, Kavanagh and last but not least, the biggest pain in the butt of them all, Ellie…his ex-wife.
"Damn it!" he cursed out loud.
Their deaths made no sense…no sense at all.
Tears pooled in his eyes and he swiped at them with the back of his hand, transferring dust from the rubble onto the skin of his face.
For the first time in his life, Evan Lorne did not know what to do next and he didn't like the feeling…not one little bit.
End of Chapter 3