Gifted by catescorner
Well, here we are, the second to last chapter! This one starts on Christmas Eve morning - and I'm sure every parent can sympathize with poor Evan, for the rather loud awakening he's about to get!
On the plus side, though, the 'if only' dream that he shared with John during Homecoming Heroes comes a step closer too. Well, it is Christmas!
Enjoy!
Gifted
Chapter Ten - Dreams And Schemes
Day two of family Lorne's trip of a lifetime started in much the same way as day one, and rather earlier than Evan had planned. Then again, it was Christmas Eve, so being poked, prodded, and then bounced awake at six in the morning really hadn't been that much of a surprise. Trying to burrow under the bedclothes hadn't done him any good either. With shrieks of laughter all round, Andy had just commando-crawled beneath them too, and tickled him into submission.
Still, at least this early start meant he could get to the Commissary before the later morning rush for breakfast. Fending off two ridiculously excited kids had worked up quite an appetite too, so this generous plateful of eggs and bacon looked especially good. He was certainly ready for it, but - well, he should have known better. In the eyes of his nephews, finding out about their new 'alien superpowers' was much more important.
When he'd told them about the gene last night, they'd been too tired, maybe a bit too overwhelmed by the day's discoveries, to take much of it in. He'd just gotten to the good part too, explaining how it enabled him to use Ancient technology, when - ZONK. First Andy, then Kevin, had succumbed to their tiredness, and their latest dreams of Atlantisland.
Now, after a good night's sleep, they wanted to know everything. Were they aliens too? Did it give them special powers? Would it hurt when they used it? Was it dangerous? Did it make their blood a different color, like Mr Spock's?
That last one almost made him lose his coffee. His newly arrived CO, too, had come damn close to choking on his cereal. While loving the entertainment, though, John still felt honour bound to step in to help, earning him a glance of pure gratitude as Evan sat back to finish his toast in relative peace and quiet.
As he'd soon discovered when he'd first arrived on Atlantis, his CO had a natural way with kids, and took his surrogate uncle duties very seriously. Every one of the boys' questions was answered with all the patient thoroughness they deserved. But his first experience of the gene's more deadly aspects came in for some carefully judicious editing.
Yes, he'd flown General O'Neill to the Ancient's outpost on Antarctica. Yes, the General had the gene too. And yes, flying over all those snowy glaciers and mountains had made him feel a little bit like Santa Claus – a remarkably straight-faced, creatively improvised confession, that had his XO choking again on his coffee. But the whole bit about evading that accidentally launched drone was kept wisely to himself. The last thing he, or the SGC, needed was a swarm of Ancient weapons exploding over Colorado
For the boys, though, it was enough now just to know that they shared a unique, and very special gift. And finding out their Uncle Evan, and Uncle John, had it too, raised another excited question – from Andy this time who, without even knowing it, brought one of his uncle's dreams a little bit closer
"So can – can you fly spaceships with the gene too, Uncle Evan? Like ones you see on TV?"
Already smiling at the memory of having this conversation before, Evan glanced across at John. From the grin he found there, he knew his CO was remembering that night on the roof-deck too. Under a starlit sky, he'd revealed his yearning to take his space-mad nephew on the space-flight of a lifetime.
'I just wish I could tell him what I really do… that I get to fly real spaceships, up there.'
That dream had been a long way off then, of course, but now… yes, it was now realistically closer. So when Evan's smile wistfully deepened, John knew exactly where his thoughts had taken him. If still in his imagination, his XO was flying over Atlantis, with the SGC's tiniest co-pilot beside him. And when that day came, John knew he'd be riding shotgun too, sharing every whoop of excitement
For the moment, though, he settled for a proud grin as he watched Evan lift Andy onto his knee, enjoying this moment of closeness every bit as much as the one that he was still picturing in his mind
"Well, yes, you can. When we're on Atlantis, we fly these little ships the Ancients used, that we call PuddleJumpers," he said at last, unable to resist temptation now, against the playfulness that his nephews always brought out in him. "But we call them Jumpers for short, because when we fly them, they tend to do… this!"
With Andy now enjoying the knee-rocket ride that every kid loved to get, the result was inevitable. Climbing onto his Uncle John's knee, Kevin was soon giggling as happily as his brother.
Jumpers One and Two were thoroughly enjoying themselves too, of course, and… uh oh. The Commissary wasn't quite as empty as it had been a minute ago. And if Jack O'Neill hadn't thought they had a few wingnuts loose before… well, he surely did now.
Beyond the infamous smirk, though, Evan could see approval too, through more reflections of a tragically lost son. He could do nothing to change that, of course, but he could invite his former CO to join them, and be part of his family instead. After all, he'd made this trip possible in the first place, and its showpiece surprise was still to come.
They'd planned it together the previous day, and arranged it for the following morning, to get Christmas Day off to an unforgettable start. But as Evan had already found, the kids in his life could never wait to play with their presents – Andy's logically innocent question prompting a threeway exchange of amused, resigned glances
"But if Atlantis is so far away, Uncle Evan, and these ships are so small, how do you get there?"
It was such a simple question, yet none of his uncles, real or otherwise, seemed willing to answer it. Instead, they just glanced at each other, in that infuriatingly way that adults loved to do. Then the smile on Uncle Evan's face widened, into the kind of grin that his nephews just loved to see. It meant they were going on one of his special adventures, and their response was just as familiar – grabbing his hands, hauling him to his feet, and tugging him excitedly towards the nearest door.
Following alongside, his past and present commanding officers glanced at each other, and grinned. Okay, their big surprise would be revealed a tad earlier than planned, but neither of them minded. Whether it came a day early or not, they weren't going to miss this present's opening for the world.