Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately.
"So, do you need any help sorting out for tonight?" Kara asked.
The mission to M7G-677, or Kid Central as Kara had started to call it, had gone well. Zelenka had monitored the field generator for about an hour before fine tuning some of the systems and announcing that he was done. Miles and Connor had stood guard while Lorne and Kara had gone to meet with Keras and the other elders to see how they were doing.
It hadn't been long before Kara had been distracted by a young woman and her baby who were seated a few meters from the circle of elders. Soon Kara had been introduced not only to the woman and her child, but also to five or so other new mothers and their respective babies. The call to return to the jumper had come all too soon for Kara, and she'd left promising to return as soon as she could.
This led to the present moment and Kara's question. They were in the jumper heading back to the gate and Lorne's date with Alex was looming.
"I've got it covered," he told her calmly as he retracted the drive pods for their trip through the gate.
"Are you sure?" Kara asked. "I know Alex pretty well if you want any hints of tips,"
"I said I'd got it covered, Captain," Lorne replied, his use of her rank cutting off any further comment.
Kara was quiet until Lorne had parked the jumper in its bay above the gateroom. "So where are you taking her?"
"It's a surprise," Lorne told her, his patience running thin.
"You can tell me," Kara insisted. "I won't tell."
"I have no doubt," he said, powering down the jumpers systems and standing up as Zelenka opened the rear hatch and left, muttering to himself in Czech.
"So where are you going?" Kara asked again.
Lorne spun and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying something he'd regret. "I'm not going to tell you where we're going," he told her then turned away from her and exited the jumper.
"Why not?" she asked indignantly.
Lorne spun around again and said, "Because I have the sneaking suspicion that if I told you, you'd follow us."
He turned again and made his way over to where Colonel Sheppard was waiting for him.
"How'd it go?" the colonel asked.
"Fine sir," Lorne replied. "Keras says their harvest for this season isn't looking good, so any spare food that can be sent their way would be helpful and he'd also like someone from the infirmary to go and check-up on a few of the pregnant women. They've been having some problems since we last visited and they've lost five babies and two women in the past three months."
"The food shouldn't be a problem," Sheppard told them. "But the doctor might be a bit trickier. Anyone who leaves has to have a security detail with them and at the moment we need all hands to deal with the replicators and the wraith."
"I'll volunteer," Kara said. "I told some of the women from Keras' village that I'd come back as soon as I could."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Sheppard warned.
Lorne saw his chance to escape and moved as quietly as he could out of the bay and back to his room. He was pretty much set for his date with Alex, but their early return gave him a chance to go and bug the kitchen staff for the last few bits he wanted and still have plenty of time to get ready afterwards.
Sheppard noticed that Lorne snuck out of the bay as Hopkins started to discuss the possibility of going to visit Keras' people on a regular basis. He wasn't sure what the Major was up to, but he had noticed one of the women in the gateroom watching him as he'd gotten ready to leave earlier, and that his normally chatty relationship with Hopkins had been slightly cold.
Well, if something was going on between Lorne and a member of the science team it would likely be all over the base by the end of the week thanks to the well used gossip channels. Turning his attention back to Hopkins, Sheppard tried his best to dissuade her from making a trip to see her new friends every week.
A couple of people had commented that Alex seem happier than normal today. If was only after Chuck had commented that she constantly had a stupid grin on her face that she'd made a conscious effort to get herself under control.
As Kara and Evan had left for their mission that morning she smiled at him and he'd smiled back, making her heart beat faster and her mind wish that it was already evening. She didn't know exactly what they were going to do, but she's received an email from Evan when she'd logged in to the cities network that morning as she started her days work.
He said that he was going to pick her up from her room at seven o'clock that night and that she was to wear something comfortable. She'd been going through possibilities all day as to where he might be taking her, each more fanciful that the next.
When the gate kawooshed into life she thought that she'd lost track of time, only to find that Evan and Kara had returned early. She glimpsed Evan use the back stairs to leave the jumper bay, and was slightly disappointed when he didn't look up at her as he passed the control room. She quickly chided herself for thinking such foolish things. What had she been expecting, that he would greet her with a passionate kiss in the middle of the control room?
She went back to her translation until she heard Kara drop into the seat next to her about five minutes later. "Did you have a nice time?" she asked, not looking up from her work.
"I suppose," her friend replied vaguely.
"What, no exciting story today?" Chuck asked.
"Oh, the mission was fine. I made some new friends with the women in the village we visited," she told him.
"So what's the problem?" Alex asked, still looking at her computer screen.
"Your boyfriend is the problem," Kara replied.
Alex's eyes swung from her computer to Kara and then to Chuck who was suddenly extremely interested in the conversation.
"Your boyfriend?" he asked. "Since when do you have boyfriend?"
"She means Lorne, and he is not my boyfriend," she insisted, trying to calm the situation before Chuck and Kara escalated it into something big.
Kara laughed and said, "After what I saw you two doing last night he better be your boyfriend."
Chuck's mouth dropped open and his gaze started to flick from Alex, who would probably give him the most accurate information, and Kara, who would give him more information. "What were you doing last night?" he asked.
"Nothing," Alex replied as she turned back to her work, hoping that by taking herself out of the conversation if might stop.
"He had his tongue down your throat," Kara told her.
"Okay, too far!" Alex snapped. "I know you like teasing me, but this is my business and I thought it'd be nice for a change to keep it quiet."
Kara looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "It's just...Lorne won't tell me anything about what you're doing tonight."
"Are you really surprised?" Alex asked incredulously.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well after the way you reacted when you found us last night, I wouldn't put it past you to try to chaperone us for the entire evening," Alex told her.
Kara was silent for a minute, thinking through what she would have done if Lorne had told her where he was taking Alex. She probably would have followed them, now that she really thought about it. "I'm not trying to pry," Kara said eventually.
"I know, but you are, whether you mean to or not."
"I'm sorry. I should trust you more," Kara said, looking down at her hands again.
"Yes, you should," Alex agreed. "But thank you for trying to protect me, even if I don't need it. It's nice to know someone cares."
Kara eventually smiled and stood up. "I should go get rid on my stuff," she said, indicating her off-world gear that she still had with her. As she moved off she yelled back to Alex, "Thanks for trying to make me less annoying."
"Hey, what are friends for," Alex shouted after Kara.
Smiling, Alex returned to her work, only to look up a few moments later to see Chuck smiling at her. "So," he said, "You and Lorne?"
Alex looked at her reflection nervously in the mirror and checked her watch again. It was five to seven and the butterflies in her stomach were multiplying by the minute. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and looked back at her watch again.
Realising what she was doing she laughed at herself and moved to clean up the mess she'd made trying to decide what to wear for the evening. She was halfway through putting a dress back on a hanger when the door chime sounded and she froze. She took a deep breath, checked her reflection once more in the mirror and then activated the door.
She smiled as the door swished open to reveal Evan waiting outside. "Hey," she said clasping her hands lightly behind her back so he couldn't see that she was fidgeting nervously.
"Hi," he said, smiling back at her. He pulled something out from behind his back and Alex gasped as she recognised it as a calla lily.
She bit her lip lightly as she took the flower from his hand and ran a finger down one of the petals. "It's my favourite," she told him as she turned to find something to put it in.
"Yeah, I know," he replied. "I coerced Dr Brown into telling me which flower you liked best from all the ones they grow in the botany lab."
"Remind me to thank her," she said as she pulled some old flowers out of the only vase she had in the room and dropping the single stem in to replace them.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked her.
"As long as this is suitable," she replied, twirling to show him the dress she'd finally chosen after an hour of trying on everything she'd brought with her from Earth.
Evan swallowed before replying, "You look lovely."
The dress was a navy blue cotton halter neck that fell to just above her knees. She'd tied a brown leather belt so that it hung loosely around her hips and managed to find her pair of brown leather boots that she swore she'd lost last year to finish off the outfit.
"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself," she flirted. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black button down shirt with the first two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to the elbow.
"Shall we?" he asked holding out his arm for her.
She took it and allowed herself to be lead to the nearest transporter. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?" she asked.
"It's a surprise," he told her as they stepped into the transporter and he selected their destination from the map on the wall behind Alex's head. The white light flashed over them and the door open onto an unfamiliar corridor.
Evan pulled her out of the transporter and along a maze of corridors which all looked the same to Alex. She tried to look out of any windows she could find but didn't see much more than blue sky, grey buildings and occasionally some blue sea. Ten minutes later they reached the end of a corridor and Evan stopped before a set of doors.
"Close your eyes," he told her.
She raised an eyebrow but complied. She heard the door open and felt a slightly breeze rush past her, moving her dress and blowing her hair back off of her face. Evans hands touched her waist and shoulder, guiding her forward through the doors and outside.
"Can I open my eyes yet?" she asked.
"Not quite yet," he whispered close to her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
She took a few more steps forward until Evan stopped her and moved to stand behind her. "Okay, you can open them," he told her.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked him, smiling.
"I'm sure," he told her, the humour clear in his voice.
Alex opened her eyes and gasped. "Oh my," she said staring at the view before her. They must have been somewhere in the eastern part of the city on a balcony that looked back on the city. The sun was just starting to set, throwing the city into a riot of colours as the sky started to turn pink.
Once she got over the awe she felt for the view, her eyes examined the balcony before her. From somewhere Evan had managed to find a blanket and lots of t-lights which were spread out in front of a bench which was covered in plates and bowls of food.
She turned her head so she could see Evan face and asked, "A picnic?"
His cheeks flushed slightly and he replied, "I wanted to do something nice."
"It's lovely," she told him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "How did you find this place?" she asked him as she moved over to the blanket.
"Routine exploration of the city," he told her. "I've been coming here in my spare time to paint."
"Does anybody else know about it?" she wanted to know.
"Only Lieutenant Connor," he replied. "We found it together but he didn't seem to be as interested as I did."
"Well, he hasn't got a girl to take on a picnic has he."
"I suppose not," Evan said moving to sit next to her on the blanket. "Would you like a drink?"
"Sure, what have you got?" Alex asked.
Evan pulled an ice bucket and two glasses out from under the bench and handed her the bottle that had been chilling.
"This is actual wine," she said in amazement. "Honest to god, real wine. Where did you get it?" she wanted to know.
"I happen to know a guy," he replied.
"You know a guy," she said dryly.
"And he spends most of his allotted space on Daedalus shipping wine out here for his own enjoyment."
"And you managed to get him to give up one of his precious bottles of wine by?"
"Ah, now that I can't tell you," he said as he poured them both a glass.
He passed her one of the glasses and she clinked them together before taking a sip. "Mmm," she moaned. "That is nice wine."
"Would you like some food?" he asked and Alex's eyes widened as she looked over the dishes spread out before them.