Rating: T
Spoilers: None
Pairings: Lorne/Teyla
Disclaimer: I own none of the Stargate Characters but I do own Maria
Authors Notes: Beware this chapter involves whump. This is the last official chapter but there will be an epilogue.
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"Cadman, I thought I told you to get back to the gate," gasped Major Marc Lorne
"The Genii have the gate covered sir," replied Lieutenant Laura Cadman "besides I'm not leaving you like this". Laura Cadman was kneeling beside him pressing a dressing onto the bullet wound in his chest
"Cadman, I told you..." he began
"Don't give me that superior officer, direct order crap" she retorted. The team had been ambushed by two Genii soldiers, Reeves and Mortimer had been killed outright and they had killed one of the Genii, The remaining Genii had fired at Laura and Lorne, in an act of bravery, chivalry or stupidity she wasn't sure which, had stepped in front of her taking the bullet that should have killed her. Now she had to deal with the aftermath, a critically wounded and very pissed off senior officer, she was glad that she'd paid attention to Carson's nagging and carried a more extensive medical kit than the basic one the rest carried.
"Cadman leave me, get back to the jumper" he said
"No, drag me in front Colonel Sheppard if you want to when we get back, but I'd rather face a courts martial than have to face Maria and tell her that I left her daddy behind to die" replied Laura. Marc grimaced with a mixture of pain and fear at not seeing his daughter again, he'd promised her faithfully that he'd be back by the time she went to bed, he knew Laura was right there was no way they could get back to Atlantis.
"Are you this bossy in the Doc's bed?" he joked and Laura grinned
"I'm worse but I haven't heard him complain" she replied. Marc started to shiver so she slipped of her own jacket and tucked it around him trying to ward off the shock that was setting in "just be thankful I'm the CMO's girlfriend, if you'd have been stuck here with McKay you'd have to treat him for hyperventilation and fainting fits first". He tried to smile but it was becoming an effort to stay awake, he mustn't go to sleep.
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"How long are they overdue now Sergeant?" asked Dr Elizabeth Weir
"An hour and a half Ma'am" replied Chuck, the Canadian Techie
"Ok Dial the gate and try to contact them" she said and Chuck started to dial the gate.
The gate splashed open and the Genii soldiers got into position, waiting to capture the Lanteans they knew would come through,
"Atlantis to Major Lorne come in, Major where are you?" Laura grabbed Lorne's radio and turned the volume down as low as she could.
"Atlantis this is Lieutenant Cadman we were ambushed by the Genii, Reeves and Mortimer are dead and Major Lorne has been badly wounded" she replied in a whisper
"Cadman, this is Sheppard what's the situation" said John
"There are about a dozen Genii soldiers at the gate, the rest are hunting for us" she replied.
"Where are you?" he asked
"About half a mile south east of the gate sir, in a clump of brush I can just see the gate from where I am," she said
"Laura love its Carson, you said the Major's been wounded" said Beckett. Laura sighed she'd been hoping they wouldn't ask as she knew Teyla would be worrying
"He took a bullet to the chest, I've done my best but his breathing is getting shallow and he's in shock I...I..." she closed her eyes and took a deep breath "he's in real trouble"
"Sit tight Cadman we're coming to get you, Atlantis out" said Sheppard.
"John..." said Elizabeth
"Don't start Elizabeth, I'm not leaving them to fall into the hands of the Genii, Lorne would do the same for me" he replied. He wasn't so sure his second in command would jump so readily to his defence anymore, not after the way he'd treated Lorne these past few months. At first he'd been angry because Teyla seemed to drift away from him as she started to spend time with Lorne and the kid, then he'd become bitterly jealous of how close they had become. She had never been as comfortable around him as she was with Lorne. Now they were a couple it was loneliness John felt.
"Ok John, take anyone you need" replied Elizabeth, he sucked in a breath
"Just don't tell Teyla about this ok," he said
"Tell me what?" said a barely controlled voice behind them. They turned to see Teyla standing behind them, they had no idea how long she'd been there or how much she had heard "I want to come with you, I am a member of your team"
"Teyla I..." he began, he didn't want her there because he didn't want to see her reactions to whatever was going to greet them when they found Lorne and Cadman because he knew it would break his heart, one-way or the other. Elizabeth put her arm around Teyla
"I need you to stay here, for Maria's sake she's going to need you more, Colonel Sheppard and his team will deal with this and they will bring him back to you both" she said. They all knew the chances of that were very slim, she'd known they were in deep trouble when Laura had answered their call instead of Major Lorne. Teyla leaned against Elizabeth for a brief moment relishing the other woman's comfort
"I will do as you ask," she said. Sheppard ran off barking orders and Elizabeth led Teyla out to the balcony, she could see the control slipping away from her friend and wrapped her arms around Teyla.
"Elizabeth I'm so scared, I do not know what I will do if he does not come back" she murmured as tears began to fall, Elizabeth didn't say anything, now was not the time for empty, meaningless words of comfort so she let Teyla cry and ramble and worry the way someone so deeply in love does.
"I am sorry Elizabeth I did not mean to embarrass you like this," said Teyla a while later, Elizabeth smiled
"Don't be, everyone needs to let go once in a while, I'm just glad I could be here for you" she said, Teyla smiled
"Thank you," she said.
"Hey, now you know how he feels when you go off world with John and Rodney, those two haven't exactly got a spotless record when it comes getting the team into trouble" Elizabeth said with a grin
"I never thought of that, I do not worry about him as much because I know he takes care of himself and his team, he has never said anything about being worried for my safety" Teyla replied.
"Doesn't mean he's not" said Elizabeth, Teyla touched her forehead to Elizabeth's
"Thank you for being my friend now I must pick up Maria" she said and left.
John Sheppard was in the first jumper and dialling the gate, with him were Ronon, Carson and a couple of SF's. Behind him in the second jumper were Stackhouse and SGA-3 and 4,
"Ok as soon as we get to the other side cloak, the Genii know we have cloaking technology, Stackhouse keep them occupied until we get to Lorne and Cadman and as soon as the gate closes dial home, we need to keep the gate open as long as possible, ok? Let's go," he said as he moved the jumper towards the event horizon. The Genii began to fire as soon as they appeared on the planet but the small arms fire was no match for the shields,
"Cadman this is Sheppard, there's a lot of life signs in your vicinity, turn on your locator beacon," John said
"Done sir, I saw you come though the gate"" she replied.
"How's Lorne?" he asked"
"Not good sir, he's conscious but only just," she said
"I can see you Lieutenant, coming in now" he replied. Laura covered Lorne, trying to protect him from the dust that was thrown up by the jumper, the back of it lowered and the two SF's and Ronon ran out beginning to prowl around the area looking for Genii soldiers, Carson and John ran over to Cadman and Lorne
"What happened?" he asked
"That bullet was meant for me, the Genii fired and the Major just stepped in front of me" Laura's voice started to crack "he saved my life," she said
"Easy Lieutenant" John said gently
"Aye and your quick actions saved his, love," said Carson "we need to get him back to Atlantis as quick as we can but if it hadn't been for you he'd be dead already". Laura smiled shakily
"At least now I can stop worrying that Teyla will kick my ass straight back to Earth" she said with a nervous laugh
"Let's get him in the jumper," said John as he signalled the SF's to pick up the bodies of Reeves and Mortimer "Stackhouse we're on our way back, keep them at bay".
As soon as she heard the Stargate alarm Teyla took off at a run for the jumper bay. She skidded to a halt as she saw Laura Cadman's blood stained uniform and stifled a cry as she saw Marc carried out of the jumper
"Marc...oh no...Marc" she whispered as they loaded him onto a trolley and ran off. John caught hold of her arm
"Let Carson do what he does best" he said
"I must go to him" she replied
"Carson won't let him go without a fight". He knew his next words were going to be hard but he kept his head up "he's a lucky guy to have you waiting for him, I'm happy that the two of you finally got together, you deserve a little happiness and I'm glad you found it here in Atlantis" he said.
"Thank you John, your blessing means a lot to me" she replied
"Go" he said and she ran off.
When she got to the med bay, she found Dr Kusanagi there with Maria
"She ran out of the lab and came here when she saw the medical staff run past," she said
"Is daddy going to be ok?" Maria asked.
"I am sure Dr Beckett will try his hardest to make sure he will be ok, the Ancestors will watch over him" Teyla replied
"I don't want my daddy to die," said Maria as she started to cry
"I know, I do not want him to die either but we must wait," she said.
Marc struggled to open his eyes, he felt like something was sitting on his chest. The last thing he remembered was Cadman telling him she wasn't going to leave him to die. Faces began to swim into focus, he could see Teyla asleep in the chair with Maria in her arms, he let out a long ragged breath, he was back on Atlantis.
"Welcome back Lorne" said Sheppard, standing on the other side of the bed
"Thanks sir" he mumbled
"Look, I just wanted to say sorry..." John started
"Sir, no you don't..." Lorne interrupted
"Yes I do, I'm sorry for the way I've behaved over the last few months, I was jealous and I had no right to take it out on you, you can make her happy in a way I never can". Teyla started to stir and Sheppard gently patted his second in command on the shoulder "you're a lucky man Lorne," he said as he turned to leave.
"Thank you sir" replied Marc.
Teyla could hear voices, she opened her eyes and saw Colonel Sheppard leaving, she looked over to the bed and saw Marc smiling at her
"Hey, thanks for waiting up for me" he joked feebly.
"Thank the Ancestors," she murmured as Maria began to wake up
"Daddy?" he said
"Right here baby" he replied, Teyla gently sat Maria on the bed
"Be careful" she warned as Maria curled up next to her daddy and went back to sleep. Teyla grabbed Marc's hand and squeezed
"Do not do that to me again," she said half jokingly, half seriously "I could not go through another day like that"
"I'm so sorry" he replied, "I didn't mean to hurt you"
"I love you so much, I cannot bear to think of losing you," she said. Marc realised how selfish he'd been, he'd wanted to protect Cadman from harm but hadn't realised what the consequences on Atlantis would have been if he'd have died. Laura was right to disobey his order to leave him,
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, please forgive me," he said
"I do forgive you but please do not make me go through this again," she said. He gripped her hand
"Marry me, I want you to be my wife" he said softly, Teyla gasped and then smiled
"Yes, yes I will" she leant over and kissed him gently.
"Hey now that's enough of that, let the man recover first," teased Carson Beckett, he frowned a little as he saw Maria curled up in the bed but didn't say anything
"I am sorry Carson," said Teyla
"Don't be love" he said with a smile, he checked on Marc and, sensing he was interrupting, he left.
"I love you" she said as she kissed him again, Maria stirred and started to move, Teyla gently picked her off the bed and sat her on her knee
"I think there is someone's opinion we should ask for before we make any plans," she said with a playful smile. Maria began to look from one too the other as Marc reached out and gently ruffled her hair
"Do you want Teyla to be your mummy?" he asked. Carson leaned back and stared out of his office at the sound of childish squeals of delight, he saw Maria with her arms wrapped tightly around Teyla, she was nodding vigorously at something that was being said to her. Carson grinned
"About bloody time too," he muttered to himself.
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AN: That's it, just an Epilogue to tie up a few loose ends and it's over. Thanks to everyone who's read a, reviewed and kept the faith.
Yes, Reeves and Mortimer are named after Vic and Bob; I've been watching old episodes of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
My Other Half (An ex soldier) has often wondered why SGA-1 don't have locator beacons so they can be easily traced.
