3

Great Friends

One year three months and sixteen days after the second homecoming.

Lieutenant Colonel Evan Lorne was bored. He swore that if nothing interesting happened soon, he would go crazy. With a sigh he stared at his laptop with unseeing eyes, everything on the screen floating together in a blur. He blinked, trying to focus but gave up and instead let his eyes come to rest on the beautifully arched windows a few meters in front of his desk. They were obscuring the view of the calm ocean outside but they more than made up for it by refracting the rays of the sun in a vast number of colors.

He sighed as he unwittingly drummed his fingers against the table-top. Then he suddenly got out of his chair with a cunning smirk on his lips. "Lorne to the gate room," he said as he clicked on his headset.

"Corporal Adams here, sir," came the voice of a soft-spoken young officer.

"I'll head out for a few hours. I'm taking Jumper five on a little system check," he explained.

There was a moment of hesitation at the other end before the Corporal spoke up again. "Acknowledged sir, but – ah – can't someone else do-,"

"I'm sure someone can, Corporal," Lorne interrupted sternly, "-but I want to do it myself. Please tell my assistant I'll be back later."

"Yes, sir."

Evan had a boyish grin on his face as he quickened his pace to the jumper bay. Back in Pegasus, Jennifer Keller said he was such a nice guy all the time and Sheppard always taunted him about being a by-the-book officer, saying he should live a little. 'Well,' he thought sarcastically, 'they should see me now.'

OOOOOO

Jennifer Keller glanced at the wall-mouthed watch in her office and noticed with satisfaction that it was lunchtime already. She'd been hard it since early this morning, juggling schedules, seeing patients, coordinating things with a neighboring hospital and trying to phone Rodney without much success. Sometimes, when she was stressed, she had to remind herself just how lucky she was.

After Atlantis had landed on Earth and the IOA had refused to let the city leave, most of them had been thrown out of their quarters – their homes. Jennifer and Rodney had decided to try living together and see how it worked outside their usual shielded environment in the ancient city. At first, they'd thought about settling down in Colorado so that they could both take up a position at SGC but after having tried that out for only a week, they decided to move on.

After years of stress and tension they looked for something that was equally valuable to them as being at the frontline - saving lives one way or the other – but less stressful and less harmful. Jennifer missed her dad and wanted to be closer to him now that there was opportunity. After some serious discussion Rodney agreed to move with her to a house in Madison, which wasn't situated that far from Chippewa Falls. Upon arrival to their new home, Jennifer had taken over a medical practice from a retiring country doctor and Rodney had set up a large laboratory and research company in Chicago as he considered it to be the closest city with the opportunity to meet his requirements.

They worked separately, and at different locations now, and that made it trickier with the domestic parts of life. There was always a possibility to call one another during the day but it wasn't the same as being able to walk over to the infirmary or a lab in Atlantis. Still, they made it work and both of them were content with how they'd set up their lives.

There were times though when Jennifer missed the thrill and dread it sometimes caused her to be the CMO of the Atlantis Expedition. She missed her friends and her colleagues in the infirmary and the closeness with the rest of the expedition members; civilian and military side alike. It was great comradery that she doubted she'd find anywhere on Earth, at a normal job. Like the rest of them, she'd promised to visit, never to forget the people she'd come to love and respect while in Pegasus, but life was filled to the brink of things to do all the time and the frustration she felt about letting her friends down was starting to get to her.

She jerked and straightened in her office chair as there was a sharp knock on the door. She frowned as one of the nurses popped her head in and said she had a visitor.

"Who is it?" Jennifer asked curiously, wondering if Rodney had somehow managed a surprise visit.

"Said you'd know once you saw him," the younger woman answered with a mischievous smile, then added; "I didn't know you used to work with gorgeous military officers, Doctor Keller. Perhaps you'd like to introduce me some time?"

Jennifer had to fight the urge of running out of her room to see who it was but she already had a fair idea and that didn't exactly make it easier to wait. "Would that officer be of medium height, have great physique, brown hair and blue eyes?" she asked, trying not to be too disappointed if there was someone else waiting for her at the door.

"Ah ha," the nurse replied.

Jennifer broke into a grin. "I'll be taking a longer lunchbreak today," she announced, leaving the nurse behind. The poor woman dying to know who the captivating man was.

"Evan!" Jennifer called brightly as she quickly closed the distance between them and gently wrapped her arms around him.

Lorne barely had time to turn around and open his arms before she embraced him.

"If I had known you'd give me such a reception, I would have come earlier," he said mischievously into her ear.

She actually blushed at that as she straightened and turned to look at him and then playfully slapped his arm.

"Ouch," he said.

"You'll survive," she replied with a smirk.

He hesitated for a moment. "You – huh – want some lunch?"

She nodded. "That would be great – thanks," she teased, indicating that he'd just volunteered to take the tab.

He broke into a dimpled smile at her cunningness. "No worries, I am buying," he replied dryly. "I am sure that as a doctor, with a private practice, times are tough and you'll have to turn every penny."

Jennifer's eyes twinkled; she hadn't realized how much she'd missed their banter. "So, my adopted big brother, what brings you to town?"

He threw a cautious look over his shoulder and then leaned closer to her to whisper in her ear. "I'll have to wait to tell you until we're out of earshot or I'll have to kill your nurse."

She harrumphed amusedly as she pushed him toward the gate and lead him out on the street. "There's a great restaurant just up the street," she said.

"I took one of the jumpers out for a spin," he replied, answering her earlier question. "I was so bored after listening to whiny technicians, IOA members and funding issues. I had to run away."

She stopped and turned to him, pretending to be shocked. "Evan Lorne," she teased. "The steady, solid and reliable soldier. I think I've heard it all."

He laughed but it was without mirth. "I thought I was in trouble there for a while but you didn't use my middle name," he teased.

She shook her head.

"I should never have agreed to being the liaison officer, Jenn," he admitted, turning serious. "Like you said- I am a soldier. I am not good at sitting behind a desk, doing nothing."

"Hey," she corrected softly. "You're not doing nothing. You coordinate everything around Atlantis. You're taking care of the city for the rest of us and you have the privilege to work there. Besides, I know you're good with schedules, logistics and planning."

He sighed and pushed a small stone off the pavement with his military standard boot. "It's not the same, Jenn. It'll never be the same. I miss everyone – I don't know – I even miss the Wraith," he offered with a chuckle.

They walked the last few meters in silence, comfortable in each other's presence. To Jennifer it felt like he'd always been there, even though they hadn't seen one another for over a year. He was impeccably dressed in black BDUs, which was tucked into polished boots, and a black standard issue military shirt. His eyes seemed impossibly blue today against the slightly tanned skin and dark brown hair. A part of her selfishly wondered what would have happened if she'd had the guts to ask him out a few years ago. Jennifer had given that a lot of thought but in the end, she'd decided that she didn't want to risk their friendship over something with the potential of failing even before it had begun.

"Jenn?" Evan called, slightly concerned.

"What?" she asked.

He smiled at her. "For a while there I thought your mind had returned to Pegasus," he teased lightly.

She swallowed. He had no idea how close he had gotten to the truth.

Since most of their work was classified, they found other things to talk about and time was going so fast that Jennifer had to run back to her office to be able to see her next scheduled patient. Evan, for his part, promised he'd take another jumper out for a run sometime soon.

OOOOOO

Teyla beamed brightly, proud of her son, as the little guy attempted a laughing sound. Torren John was already able to walk. He might have a little trouble with the balance and he fell at times but he was a stubborn little boy and quickly got the hang of things.

"Ma-ma," he said as he flashed a toothy grin in her direction and then shifted his focus on the toy car before him.

"Yes, little one," Teyla replied lovingly. She was about to say something more as the door to the house suddenly opened and Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard entered, looking somewhat beat.

Torren John gave away a jovial sound again as he pointed at John's unruly black hair. "Spi-ke-s," he managed.

John gently, suddenly aware of his hairstyle, tried to flatten it. "Have you been visiting Jennifer and Rodney?" he asked sarcastically as he could think of no one else who would tell Torren to call him that.

Teyla smiled cunningly.

"Pa-pa," Torren said suddenly.

John nearly backtracked to the door at the word, clearly uncomfortable that the boy thought of him as his father.

Teyla watched him stiffen but, unlike John, she didn't mind the conclusion Torren had drawn. He had no way of understanding that his real father was living in another galaxy; that was hard enough for her to comprehend at times. John had been a great supporting friend ever since they had had to leave the city behind and he'd used his connections and money to buy her a house in Colorado, close to the SGC base. Teyla had tried to tell him it was too much at first and that he really shouldn't go through all the trouble. However, John had argued a fair point; he didn't want Torren John to grow up on the military base, missing out on what other children had just because he wasn't like them. Besides, doing what he did assured him that he'd have time to visit often, when he was between missions and report-writing.

He had been a great help, as well as Laura Cadman, who'd been reassigned to SGC. The two of them had offered to baby-sit, help the Athosian with everyday life on Earth – such as how to shop groceries, acquiring a car, learning how to drive it and so on. At the very beginning, Teyla had doubted she'd be able to acclimatize to everything. She had been on Earth earlier so that wasn't new but she wasn't used to having a bank account, paying fees and taxes, use a cell phone. However, she was a persistent woman and she'd never give up. Anyone who saw her now could never have imagined she'd been living anywhere else than in the suburban neighborhood she was currently residing in.

"Huh," John said as he knelt next to Torren. "Not your pa-pa, kiddo."

The child looked up at him. "Da-da," he tried.

The seasoned military officer broke into a grin and ruffled his hair. "That I can be," he replied.

Teyla gently squeezed Sheppard's shoulder and smiled. "How did the mission go?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "I prefer meeting the Wraith over the Lucian Alliance."

"Really?" she stated skeptically.

"Yeah, those guys just want to eat. I am not sure what the alliance members really wants."

She looked at her son for a moment before returning her attention back to her former team mate. "Look, John. I have been thinking. I want to come back to the SGC."

He shook his head. "Why? Teyla, it is dangerous."

"I am used to danger," she pointed out. "I feel out of place here. I have my yoga and bantos classes but I need something more. I need to feel useful again."

Knowing there was no point in arguing with Teyla once her mind was set, John shook his head and sighed. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Two things actually," she began softly. "First, I want to visit Kanaan-," she paused, seeing that he was about to protest, and quickly added. "I heard from Laura that the Daedalus is leaving for Pegasus soon to reconnoiter. I'll need your help to try and convince the General to have the ship visit the Athosian settlement and bring some supplies. I believe they'll have some important intel for us."

John pursed his lips together, not very fond of the idea to have Teyla embarking on a journey that might be potentially dangerous. "What's the other thing?" he asked.

"When we get back, I would like to become a member of an SG team," she replied. "I have the experience and I meet the requirements."

"Are you sure about this?" he wondered kindly.

She nodded.

"I'll get you onboard," he reassured. "I'll speak to Colonel Caldwell personally about it."

"Thanks John, that's all I could ask for."

He made to stand and took a moment to look at the woman and the child before him. "You must promise me one thing," he said seriously.

"Anything," she assured him.

"Come back," he said in a subdued voice, filled with emotions.

OOOOOO

To be continued