Ten
"Major Moore!" Dammit. How is it that he dares to venture just one step out of Atlantis and immediately Lorne and Cadman's relatives – in this case Cadman's mother – descend on him? Oh, okay, so it's not just one step and he came to drop Maureen off at the umpteenth 'emergency meeting' of the wedding council and then go and find something useful to do but unfortunately, Mrs. Cadman spotted him before he could duck away from the café.
He takes a deep breath, puts on his best flyboy smile and turns around. "Yes, Mrs. Cadman?"
There's a smile on her face as well – and it always astounds him how much she looks like Cadman, or Cadman looks like her… whatever – but it looks just a wee bit strained. "Major Moore, you're Evan's Best Man, aren't you?" Oh crap. Now she's gonna rope him into some stupid Best Man duty… seriously, had he known that he'd have to do more than just making sure Lorne made it to the ceremony after getting drunk off their asses, he'd have declined.
Okay, no, he wouldn't have. Because… Lorne's his superior. Yes, that's the reason why. Not because deep down he's a softie and couldn't ever refuse the request of a friend and of course the fact that feeling just a little bit flattered had had nothing to do with it, either. "Yes, ma'am, that's correct."
"Well then, how about you remind him to remind Laura that we need to make some last minute arrangements and of course remind both of them to be at the ceremony rehearsal at the Rosewood tomorrow. Could you please do that?" Uh-oh. She's going to blow any minute and from the looks Maureen and Keller are shooting him from behind her back, they'll probably kill him if he just makes some excuse and leaves now. Oh God, does that mean that he'll have to…
Jesusfuckingchrist.
Saved by the bell. Literally. Or, by the ringing of his cell. Giving Mrs. Cadman an apologizing smile that usually works on all female humans except Maureen, he takes it out and answers it. "Moore."
Without preamble, there's Lorne's voice saying, "Hey, uh… I need your help."
Okay, that doesn't sound good. After another apologizing smile, he takes a few steps away from the café's entrance. He's already dying to know what this is about… but just for having Mrs. Cadman descend on him like that just a few minutes ago he thinks he owes Lorne some of what Maureen likes to call his inner bastard. So with a grin he says, "What, Laura got you trapped in a tux?"
From the other side, there's silence for a moment and then a very serious, "Barn doors are open, Tom." Huh. What the… oh. Oh. Level 3 security breach.
Fuck. How the hell could that have happened? And why is Lorne phoning him instead of Sheppard or Woolsey, if that is the case? Level 3 means the SGC is just one step away from being compromised… as in 'exposed to the public' compromised. Not. Good.
However, there's one thing he actually likes about hearing this. "Oh thank God. Please tell me you've got something or someone to shoot at for me." Because damn, would that be great right now. "Boy, your mother's really got it in for me, I swear." Seriously, just yesterday, Mrs. Lorne had tried to actually lecture him on his duties as Best Man, in that understated way of hers, but it was still an attempted lecture. "And my mother now of course also knows I'm back stateside and she's out to get m…"
"Can you be here in thirty minutes?" Oh, okay. That was the CO voice, mixed with some real urgency and even worry. Must be bad, then. Time for antics is up and immediately, his Special Tactics Officer side kicks in.
"Sure," he simply says because they both know that no matter where here is, he can make it in thirty minutes. Yeah, he really is that good.
Lorne adds, "Make sure you bring some backup," and that just serves to heighten his curiosity… and his alarm. If Lorne doesn't even bother to sugar coat it and right out tells him to bring backup. Again, not a good sign.
So yeah, Dee will probably hate him for pulling him away from… whatever he's doing right now but to be honest, apart from Maureen and Morsberg, there's no one else he knows who would literally drop whatever they were doing to follow an order from him right now, no questions asked, no matter how obscure it is, and Morsberg is still on leave for three days. So, Dee it is. "Will do." He turns around and throws a look back at the café where Mrs. Lorne just arrived and where Maureen looks anything but happy and decides that if he's going to help Lorne, Lorne should probably help him as well. "And you should probably send Laura back."
That seems to have taken Lorne aback a bit because he can definitely hear a bit of confusion in his voice when he asks, "What, why?"
Rolling his eyes even though Lorne can't see it, he explains, "Cause her mother's about to go off the deep end. She's harassing both Keller and Maureen. I really don't like people harassing Maureen." Most of all because since Maureen is Cadman's Maid of Honor, she gets the brunt of things when Cadman isn't there and no, he doesn't like to see her distressed, even when she tells him that she doesn't mind it and that she knows Cadman would do exactly the same for her, if it were her wedding and she needed a break from it.
At the other side of the line, he can hear a short huff and then a rather reluctant, "Fine, I'll see what I can do."
He can't help huffing, "Yeah, you better," himself, even if he knows that he's treating a very fine line here, seeing as Lorne is still his superior.
"Don't overdo it, Tom," Lorne shoots back as a warning, only half jokingly and yeah, that was to be expected. "Anyway, I'll text you the address and I expect you and your backup in thirty."
Not able to resist the temptation he lets sneak in just a little bit of amusement, when he says, "Yes, sir."
However, Lorne really is not amused. "I mean it, Major."
Sighing soundlessly, he reassures Lorne, "I do, too." He half expects Lorne to give him another reprimand but they do know each other well enough to hear when the other one is serious and when he isn't. So Lorne just reminds him to meet him in thirty minutes and then hangs up.
A few seconds later, his cell vibrates and Mrs. Cadman looks ready to grab him by the back of his collar – or by his ear – and drag him over to the table where Maureen, Keller and now also Mrs. Lorne are sitting and looking quite interested in what's going on but he's fast enough to utter, "Sorry, have to go. Just got a call from my CO and it's really urgent, ma'am."
"Oh. Oh, right." Phew, she'll let him… "However, I'm starting to get the feeling that all those alleged calls from your COs are just sorry excuses. Please tell me your mother didn't raise you to be someone resorting to sorry excuses, Major." Okay, that is low. Dragging his mother into this, and, even more importantly reminding him of her…
"Is everything okay, Tom?" Damn Maureen and her perceptiveness. One of the very few advantages of her not being on his team anymore is that he isn't subject to her creepy Mad Linguist Skillz all the time which means he gets at least a little time to prepare himself for her worried looks and the inevitable chiding after a mission gone down the drain.
But yeah, today there's no way he can get away from her and he probably also owes it to her that he tells her about Lorne's call. "I uh, I just got a call from Evan. Professional one."
Smart as she is, she immediately realizes that this isn't about someone being needed to watch a full system backup because no one else in the IT department wanted to do it and he's still their preferred choice for all the boring and unwanted tasks. She clears her throat and somehow manages to make Mrs. Cadman stop hovering around them without actually making the woman mad and when they're alone, she frowns and asks, "What's going on, Tom?"
Professional paranoia kicking in, he leans in closely and whispers just loud enough for her to hear, "Look like you're just a little irritated when I tell you, okay?" She just gives him a short nod and he continues, "He just told me someone opened the barn doors." He doesn't wait for her to inquire what the hell he means because he's pretty sure she's faster on the uptake than he is and continues, "I'd love to stay but… I really gotta go, Kid."
With that, he gives her a peck on the cheek and turns around. Only to be turned back to her by a firm grab on the front of his shirt. "Liar," she says and pulls her towards him. "You had no intention whatsoever of staying."
Grinning he decides to play along. "What gave me away?"
"Oh just… everything," she quips and grins back. Mh, he loves it when she does that. And that grip on his t-shirt thing is kind of… sexy. Not able to resist the temptation, he leans down and kisses her. The fact that she doesn't even hesitate with kissing him back tells him she'd rather be somewhere else – their quarters, for example – than here…
"Hey, get a room, you two!" Right. Keller. Of course.
The only reason he doesn't throw her a dark look is because he's got no intention of sleeping on the couch tonight. Well, alone that is. Because, you know, sleeping on the couch isn't as bad if he's got company. "Go, and try not to be too much of an ass, flyboy."
Damn, why does she always have to be so proper and dutiful? But he can still try and stall just a bit… "You know, I never try to be an ass…"
"That doesn't exactly make it better, you know." He wants to tell her that if she'd just stop with the pointed looks and the smirks, he'd have no problem with tearing himself away from her but she just adds, "Come on, get going," gives him another peck on the lips and then lets go of his t-shirt. Right. With a last sigh – a little on the overly dramatic side, granted – he leaves the scene, checking his cell for the address Lorne wants him to be at and then trying to get a hold on Dee. At least, it won't get boring this week.
