Date : 24.08.2007
Title : Loves' Past and Present
Author : ElaineDex
Chapter : 9 of ?
Rating : M
Pairings : Lt. Col. John Sheppard/Lyssa Hunter
Major Evan Lorne/Dr Ellie Harrison
Warnings : Angst/hurt.
Spoilers : This story is part of a series and follows on from Love's Dance With A Stranger.
Feedback : Yes
Disclaimer : Dr Ellie Harrison, Major James Reece, Lt Franks & Heather Russell are mine. Lyssa Hunter belongs to Kazavid. Stargate & Stargate Atlantis, unfortunately, have nothing to do with me.
Summary : Find out how Sheppard and Lyssa's wedding plans cause chaos on Atlantis and what happens when tragedy strikes for Ellie and Lorne?
Ellie glanced around almost nervously as Lorne's sister lead her into the lounge of her mother's home, her eyes falling on the painting that stood to one side and her jaw dropped open as tears misted her eyes.
Rachel watched Ellie's reaction with interest and then sighed as her mother bustled in and said,
"So 'you' are Ellie".
Ellie cleared her throat and replied,
"Yes. I take it Evan has mentioned me then?"
"No. I know absolutely nothing about you, he refused to answer my questions", his mother said and Rachel muttered under her breath and took Ellie's arm.
"Mom, would you excuse us", she said, leading Ellie into the kitchen.
"You'll have to forgive mom, she can be a little abrupt. I'm Rachel by the way", Rachel said, offering Ellie some coffee but she declined.
Rachel lowered her voice as she continued,
"Evan told me everything and I'm so sorry about the baby….from what he tells me he was so looking forward to being a father".
Ellie nodded, tears filling her eyes again and she swiped at them angrily, not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of Evan's sister.
"Oh honey, don't cry", Rachel said kindly and Ellie sniffed as she tried to stop herself sobbing.
"You look so much like Evan", she said and Rachel smiled.
"Everyone says that. There's only a year between us, he's the elder of course".
Ellie forced a smile, wondering how she could find out where Lorne was.
"I was hoping to see Evan", she ventured, "Do you know where I can find him?".
Rachel eyed Ellie for a moment or two as though weighing her up and Ellie almost couldn't stand the tension.
"I love him very much…..that's why I'm here", she offered and Rachel sighed.
"Mom wants Evan to try again with Heather…..you do know about Heather don't you?", she asked and Ellie nodded.
"Oh yeah…..I know all about Heather. The last time I saw her she made it perfectly clear to me how she saw her future panning out with Evan, how your mom had always wanted them to have kids…", Ellie's voice broke as she said the final words and Rachel reached out and touched Ellie's arm.
"Evan doesn't want to be with Heather", Rachel said and Ellie looked at her hopefully.
"What does he want?", she asked and Rachel smiled.
"You'd have to ask him that yourself", she said.
"Will you tell me where he is?", Ellie asked and Rachel reached for her purse.
"I'll do better than that, I'll take you to him".
They left the house after Rachel said a hasty goodbye to her mother without explaining what was going on and Ellie headed over to Mitchell's truck.
"Evan's sister is going to take me to see him. Cam would you mind staying with Lyssa for me for a while?", she asked and Mitchell shook his head.
"No problem", he said and Ellie turned to Lyssa.
"Is that okay with you?", she said and Lyssa smiled.
"Sure…..good luck".
"Thanks", Ellie replied as Lyssa squeezed her arm.
"I'll take Lyssa for something to eat and then we'll head back to my place to wait for you", Mitchell said and Ellie nodded.
"Okay, I'll see you later then", she said heading back toward Rachel who had gotten into her car and was waiting for her.
"Thank you for doing this", Ellie said as she got into the passenger side and as Rachel reversed off her mom's driveway she said,
"I just want Evan to be happy and if you're what makes that happen then I'm happy to take you to him".
oo
They drove for a while, the sun setting as Rachel took Ellie to Evan's favourite retreat.
By the time they reached the lake with the picturesque dock it was twilight and Ellie glanced around at the beautiful scenery.
"I had no idea this place was here", she said and Rachel smiled.
"You'll find Evan at the end of the dock, his car is over there so he is still here", she advised and Ellie took a shaky breath as she opened the door to get out.
"Thanks again", she said and Rachel nodded.
"I'll see you again then…….hopefully", she said and Ellie laughed nervously.
"Hopefully, yeah".
As Rachel drove away, Ellie hovered at the entrance to the long wooden dock which stretched out over the lake.
It had small lights built into the sides, lighting the way to a wooden gazebo and Ellie's breath caught as she saw Lorne stood with his back to her, leaning on the railing as he looked out over the peaceful water.
Slowly and as quietly as possible she made her way toward him, stopping when she was stood just behind him.
She wanted to reach out and touch him so badly but she was scared at how he would react. Would he be glad to see her or would he tell her that it was definitely over between them?
Lorne knew that someone was standing behind him but he didn't dare to hope that it would be the one person that he wanted to see the most.
Slowly he turned, his chest tightening as he saw Ellie, her eyes huge with worry as she looked at him.
"Evan", she said his name quietly as he continued to merely stare at her.
Lorne wanted to say something but his voice appeared to have deserted him.
The silence between them screamed and Ellie twisted her hands together nervously.
'Say something', she told herself, 'and remember to breathe'.
Yes, breathing would be useful.
She sucked in some much needed air and was about to speak when Lorne closed the gap between them and took her in his arms, his mouth closing over hers in a kiss filled with need and longing.
Eventually their mouths broke apart but Lorne continued to hold her and press kisses to her face and neck as he asked,
"What are you doing here?"
Ellie forced a smile as she tried to joke,
"Well…..you can't make love to me like you did, then leave and not expect me to follow you across the galaxy for more…"
Lorne smiled and Ellie relaxed a smidgen until he said,
"I left because I thought you didn't want me…..that we were over".
They moved apart slightly, but were still touching as Ellie replied,
"I………I treated you so badly Evan and I'm so sorry. I can't even begin to explain to you why I acted like I did. I should never have pushed you away".
"That last night…..you said you didn't want to get pregnant again. Did you mean with me or with anyone?" Lorne asked and Ellie took his face in her hands as she realised with a jolt how her words must have sounded to him.
"Oh Evan…..I just meant that I was scared to get pregnant again so soon after losing the baby, I didn't mean I didn't want to try for any more babies with you".
Lorne pulled her close again, his arms encircling her waist tightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I have missed you so badly. I couldn't wait to get here, but I thought you might have married Heather already", she said, frowning as Lorne pulled back slightly so that he could look at her.
"Married Heather? What would make you think that?", he asked and Ellie went to look away but Lorne caught her chin with his hand and turned her face back so that she had to look at him.
"It doesn't matter", she said but Lorne nodded.
"Yes it does…..tell me why you would think I would marry Heather", he pushed and Ellie sighed shakily.
"Heather said to me that when you and she got back here that you would probably get married and have kids. That you're mom had always wanted you and her to have a family…….", she trailed off as the thought almost became too painful for her to bear and Lorne cursed and crushed her to him again.
"Heather made that up Ellie. I've hardly seen her since we've been home and when I have it's been in the corridors in the SGC. Sure, she calls me all the time but I don't take them, I've been making my mom tell her I'm out", he said and Ellie laughed with relief as she hugged him back.
"Not long after I'd had the miscarriage, Heather told me that she had every intention of getting you back and that someone as insignificant as me wasn't going to stop her", she told him, stopping short of mentioning the subject of marriage and the fact that she still wondered why he had never asked her to be his wife.
"Why didn't you tell me?", Lorne said, pulling back and cupping her face in his hands.
"I don't know. I should never have stopped talking to you Evan…..it was the worst mistake I have ever made", she replied, tears misting her eyes as Lorne kissed the tip of her nose.
Experiencing an overwhelming wave of tenderness, Lorne stroked the curve of her soft cheek with his forefinger.
The hunger he had always felt for her was still there but he held it in check.
"So you followed me across space because of the great sex?", he asked, his voice teasing and Ellie blushed.
"No! Of course not!", she said indignantly, then cocked her head to one side as she looked him up and down playfully,
"Although if that's all that's on offer…I'll take it", she said and Lorne laughed before growing serious once more.
"That's not all that's on offer", he said and Ellie frowned as he moved away from her slightly and took her hands in his.
"Evan……?", she questioned as he suddenly dropped down onto one knee and Ellie thought her heart would burst with joy as he said,
"Marry me?"
OOoOO
Lyssa looked at the diner that Mitchell pulled up in front of and said,
"What is this place?".
She watched with interest as a woman and two children exited the building laughing and joking.
"It's where we can get something to eat", Mitchell replied opening the door to his truck and getting out.
Lyssa did likewise and glanced around the parking lot.
Everything seemed so busy here compared to the street that Lorne's mother lived on.
Mitchell took in her worried expression and said,
"Come on, you'll be fine. You'll love it".
Lyssa nodded and they headed inside.
They slipped into an empty window booth and Mitchell immediately picked up a menu as did Lyssa.
"What'll you have?", he asked after a short while and Lyssa shrugged.
"You look like a burger and fries kinda girl", Mitchell said and Lyssa regarded him.
"John says he likes that when he's here….so, ok, I'll try that", she said and Mitchell grinned at the petite blonde waitress that suddenly appeared at their table.
"We'll have the house burgers and fries, fully loaded please", he said and the waitress scribbled on her note pad.
"Any drinks with those?", she drawled and Mitchell glanced at Lyssa who looked back at him.
"Nothing……what's that stuff that makes you go funny", she said and Mitchell smirked as the waitress gave her a funny look.
"You mean alcohol sweetie?", she asked and Lyssa nodded.
"Yes, that's it….alcohol".
The waitress looked back at Mitchell strangely and he said,
"We'll have two coffee's please".
As she bustled away he turned to Lyssa.
"You don't like alcohol?".
"It's alright, it's just that Ellie was in the bar a while back and…….", she paused as Mitchell said incredulously,
"Wait. You have a bar on Atlantis?".
"Well, yeah", Lyssa replied and Mitchell muttered,
"Well I'll be damned……..anyhow, sorry, carry on".
"Well, we all kind of got a little…….intoxicated and I felt really bad afterwards", Lyssa said and Mitchell nodded.
"Hmmm…..I remember some bad hangovers", he mused and Lyssa smiled.
Whilst they waited for their food to arrive they chatted about the diner and various foods, both careful not to make it obvious that Lyssa was not from around that part of town so to speak and finally when their order did arrive, Lyssa sat staring at the huge burger and mountain of fries for quite some time.
"Are you actually going to eat that?", Mitchell asked, his mouth full and Lyssa nodded.
"Yeah…..I just don't know where to start".
"Try a few of the fries", Mitchell advised so Lyssa did. And once she started she couldn't stop.
Mitchell watched with an amused expression upon his face as she wolfed down every last one and then moved on to her burger eagerly.
"It's nice huh?", he asked and she could only nod in agreement.
"You know I like a woman with a good appetite", Mitchell said and Lyssa glared at him which just made him laugh all the more.
Eventually, Lyssa began to laugh too and Mitchell handed her the dessert menu.
"Pudding?", he asked and her smile widened as her eyes feasted upon the pictures of the various delights that the diner had to offer.
End of Chapter 9