A/N This is my first story in a long time so I apologize in advance for errors, no beta either. So I was feeling nostalgic and re read my old stories, and subsequently cringed at them, hormonal teenager me was a terrible writer. Adult me seems much better. Let me know how I go! Also this story is mostly finished, i'll just be uploading once or twice a week.
The room filled with gasps as the latest additions to Atlantis were beamed down. It may have just been the infirmary but the architecture was still breath-taking, especially after being cooped up in a space ship for the last three weeks. The room was cool in the morning sun as nurses took people for their medicals. Standard procedure on arrival.
A short brunette stood when her name was called and followed the nurse into a private cubicle. The nurse was quick and thorough, she'd have to be with having only two staff to get through the 15 new arrivals. There was little time for chit chat, just basic instructions on what to do.
When the nurse asked for her sleeve to be rolled up the brunette hesitated before complying. If the nurse noticed the light scars wrapping around the back of the arm, she didn't say anything.
Very quickly the exam was over, smiling the nurse walked the brunette back out to the waiting area, "Welcome to Atlantis, Doctor Allen."
The brunette thanked the nurse, sitting back down with the others to wait for someone to show them around. They had to collect their uniforms today, then tomorrow had their firearm and hand to hand combat assessments. After that, it was off to work.
Dr. Allen took a deep breath and followed the group to get uniforms and tablets before undertaking a tour. Her hazel eyes wandered, taking in the marvels around her. The cool metallic like corridors, lit up panels, and the stained glass. It took her breath away. The most majestic stained glass she had seen as it filtered a rainbow of colours everywhere. Just when she thought she couldn't be any more amazed they were brought to the gate room. She had seen plenty of stargate's. She'd been at the SGC for a few years before coming to Atlantis. But the Milky Way gates had nothing on the Pegasus gates. This stargate held a level of elegance that the Earth gate couldn't hope to achieve. It was breath-taking.
Sooner than she would have liked they were called away from the gate room, shown to the Mess Hall and finally their individual quarters. Dr. Allen's quarters were one of the first. She couldn't help but stand in the doorway and stare for a moment. It was bigger than she'd expected, with two doors leading off the main room. Her bags already sat on the bed waiting for her. Stepping inside she slowly paced around. One door led to a bathroom, complete with a deep bath. She did love baths. Then out the other door she stopped once again. It led onto a balcony, and the view... She stood there, awestruck as she took in the magnitude of Atlantis and the ocean. Bigger and more magnificent than she'd ever dreamed of.
After what seemed like an eternity enjoying the sea breeze she slowly turned back inside to begin unpacking. There wasn't a lot. The clothes came out first. Then the books, there was more of them. And lastly, she carefully placed a few photo frames on the desk. Smiling sadly as she put the last one down, she remembered when it was taken. An off world placement with her half-brother. She'd done a month on a mining planet where he was stationed. Not long after she left, he had been killed by the species they hadn't known were living there.
A knock at the door pulled her away from her memories. After taking a moment to remember how, she managed to open it.
"Ah Doctor Allen, how are you going?" The man said in a thick Scottish accent.
"Please Doctor Beckett, just Jessica is fine." She smiled warmly in return, "I wasn't expecting you."
"And just Carson is fine too, thank you. I make a point of meeting all my staff when they arrive, circumstances permitting of course. It's nice to have a proper field medic onboard. Will save me going off world too often."
Jessica laughed, "Bad track record?"
"Aye you could say that. It's almost dinner time. Would you like to accompany me to the Mess hall?"
"That would be perfect," Jessica stepped into the corridor, letting the door close behind her as she followed Carson to dinner.
Reed wandered along the corridor with his team. They'd just finished up on M3X-522, trying to negotiate a peace agreement between the villages on either side of the gate. He was dirty, hungry and tired. Following most missions, they would eat together before crashing out. It was part of the reason he liked his job, the work itself may not always be so glamorous but the company sure made up for it.
Major Lorne made a quick dig at Coughlin and Reed laughed along. He was a good leader, cared about his team. One of the better ones Reed had served under. Lorne was the one who had started the tradition of eating together after missions, team building apparently. But whatever the reason, it worked. It made sure they all had some food in them and helped them to unwind after the rough ones.
Suddenly someone came barrelling out of the mess hall, straight into the Major. She bounced right off him and onto the floor with a thud. Reed almost laughed as the indignation spread across her face before it quickly changed to shock and perhaps, a little bit of horror.
Lorne's own face reflected the surprise before he quickly reached a hand down to her. Reed's eyebrows furrowed a little as he saw her flinch back at the Majors hand. It was so minute he thought he may have imagined it.
"E-Evan," the short brunette squeaked, gingerly accepting his help, "You're, you're in Atlantis."
Once she was up Evan dropped her hand as though burning and shoved his in his pockets, "Jess... Ah, yeah, I am, and apparently, you are now too. I thought you were settled on Earth?"
Reed noticed the almost grimace and dark flashes in her eyes before a mask slipped back into place. Unconsciously he shifted his weight around, moving a half step towards her.
"Things changed," she replied, her voice flat, "and, ah, I gotta, um, go, I've got, ah, yeah, see you."
Coughlin and Reed exchanged looks with slightly raised eyebrows as the Majors eyes followed her down the corridor. She had turned the corner long before he gave a small shake of his head, straightened, and carried on into the Mess as though nothing had happened.
The next week came and went quickly. Jessica had failed both the firearms and combat assessments, unfortunately they weren't quite like riding a bike. So now she had firearm training with Sergeant Brown and hand to hand with Ronon twice a week. The firearm training was going well, albeit she'd only had two lessons, mostly just going over the different weapons before working on their aim with the smaller ones. Hand to hand however, wasn't so great. Only one lesson so far but she'd been embarrassingly close to shaking the entire time, hanging at the back of the group and out of the way. Ronon reminded her of her ex. If you cut his hair, they might even have been able to pass as relatives.
Jessica yawned as she sat down for breakfast, slowly flicking through her emails. They now wanted all teams to have at least two members with first aid training, and until they did, they would be accompanied by someone who had the appropriate training.
Jumping slightly as a tray dropped on the table in front of her, a cheery face beamed down, the smile a little too happy for so early in the morning.
"So, we're gonna have fun." The strawberry blonde gleamed.
"What?" Jessica couldn't figure out what Laura Cadman was on about, though, that happened often. Cadman liked to go off on tangents, like an overexcited child. The first time they'd meet just two nights ago, Dr. Cole had invited Jess along to the weekly girls nights. Cadman had tried to teach everyone how to tap dance because they'd been talking about the cute Irish oceanographer. Jessica still didn't understand how the two related.
"I'm in your group," seeing the confusion still on Jessica's face she elaborated, "for the first aid training. Did you not read the email?"
Waving at her tablet she grumbled, "I was, until I got interrupted."
Cadman looked slightly amused, "Well, you're taking me, Reed, Cheung, and Emily for advanced medical training."
"You made it sound so much more exciting than that."
Shrugging Cadman waved Dr. Emily Garcia over to the table, "I think it'll be fun, don't you Emily?"
"I think you're a touch sadistic is what I think, you're just hoping to stick a needle in something." Emily replied, brushing her short dark hair behind her ear, "but, on another note, we have girls poker night this Friday. Jessica, are you coming?"
"Well, if I'm going to be teaching you guys, I think I'll need it." Jessica laughed, noticing movement out of the corner of her eye as another joined the table.
"Major," Cadman greeted him casually, "we were just discussing you."
Lorne raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
Jessica couldn't help her eyes flicking to him briefly. Even though the dimpled smile wasn't directed at her, it made her feel uncomfortably warm.
Emily laughed as Cadman replied, "No."
Standing, Jessica kept her face carefully blank, "I'm off, see you girls on Friday."
"See you at 1700, Doc." Lorne piped up.
Slowly turning, hoping the surprise wasn't on her face, she carefully replied "What?"
"I'm taking over firearms training."
Feeling the blood drain from her face, Jessica quickly left the Mess hall. Training with Lorne. She had been trying to have as little to do with him as possible, and now she was being forced straight to him. It was unavoidable, she supposed. Atlantis may be a big place, but the number of people working here wasn't. Sooner or later, they'd have to work together.
Finding a secluded balcony Jessica sat, passing the half hour before her shift. The sun had risen quickly. Light dancing across the waves lapping at the city. A strong breeze tugged at her dark hair as she unwound it from its bun, letting it whip around her. Deep breath in, slow breath out. She could smell the salt from the sea as she breathed calmly, relaxing herself after the talk of training. Shutting her eyes she listened to the water. It had always been calming. She had grown up beside the sea, so now it reminded her of home. A smile graced her lips as she remembered getting up in the mornings watching the fishing boats come and go. Opening her eyes, she glanced at her watch. Ten to eight. Feeling a lot better than when she had arrived at the balcony, she took one last deep breath and headed towards the infirmary to start her shift.
Five o'clock came far too slowly for Lorne's liking. He had been looking forward to taking the firearm training, anything bet his mountain of paperwork at the moment. There was only so long he could stare at the names and roster before it all started to blur together. He arrived at the range and took his time setting up the guns, figuring he'd assess their competence with sidearms first.
There was a soft whoosh as the door opened and closed behind someone. Turning he caught her hazel eyes before they flicked away. He couldn't help but watch as she strolled in, her head held high, hips naturally swaying slightly. Her brunette hair was braided, ending neatly between her shoulder blades, though, thinner than he remembered.
The fluttering in his chest returned, just as it had when she crashed into him outside the mess hall a week ago. His collar seemed irritatingly tight. It was difficult, how she always had this effect on him, ever since they'd first met.
"Jess," he started.
"Major." She interrupted, remaining business like.
Rubbing the back of his neck he kept his eyes on her. She returned his stare, face blank. He didn't know what to say, observing the tension in her arms and shoulders under her long-sleeved top.
Before the silence stretched too long the door interrupted, letting someone else into the room. Lorne's eyes broke contact with Jessica, flicking towards the door, immediately recognizing his team mate.
"Reed." The relief was a little too obvious in his voice.
Reed raised an eyebrow, "Sir." before noticing Jessica standing off to the side, "Doc."
Jessica nodded in reply as the room began to fill with the rest of Lorne's team and the other trainees. Lorne quickly started instructing them on the parts and assembly of the Beretta. As much as he tried he couldn't stop his eyes repeatedly flicking to her. She was avoiding looking at him, her eyes carefully looking at the gun instead. Reed hung close to her, giving her pointers as everyone attempted to disassemble and reassemble their weapons. Lorne felt a pang of jealousy, immediately feeling guilty for it. He didn't think there was anything between Jessica and his Lieutenant. Not to mention he'd barely talked to her in over a year. He wasn't the same man, and doubted she was the same woman. There was no reason to be jealous.
Jessica tried to stay focused on the weapon in her hands. Disassemble. Reassemble. Wait, where did that piece go? She shook her head slightly. Concentrate. A voice started near her ear, making her jump a little. The lieutenant apologized before helping her reassemble the gun. She nodded her thanks before trying it again. Disassemble. Reassemble. The quicker she got it right the less time she had to spend near Lorne. Briefly glancing up at him she was relieved to find him helping someone else, paying her, seemingly no attention, until he finished and started to walk towards her.
Breathing slightly quicker, Jessica's eyes could of bored holes into the gun in her hands. It was much easier to stay disconnected when there was distance between them.
"How's it going here, Doc?"
She took a breath, willing her voice to remain steady, "Just fine, Major."
"She's almost got it, sir, a bit more practice and she'll be 'right." Lieutenant Reed added.
Lorne nodded silently, before carrying on to the next person.
Jessica let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Disassemble. Reassemble. No, something wasn't right, something was missing. A small spring was held up in front of her.
"Missing something?" Reed grinned a little.
Sighing Jessica disassembled the gun again, taking the spring from Reed and correctly assembling it. Easy. Disassemble. Reassemble. She smiled, finally getting the hang of it.
She looked up at the lieutenant, "Thank you, for your help, ah..." She paused, realizing she didn't actually remember his name.
"Reed. Lieutenant Reed. Obviously, part of the Majors team."
"Well thank you, Lieutenant Reed." Jessica smiled.
A/N Hope you all enjoyed the start, please review, let me know how I'm going.
