Manifestation of Conflict
The flickering of hyperspace highlighted Parrish's face in the otherwise darkened room. Sheppard stood watching the other man gaze through the window without announcing his presence. He was pretty sure Parrish knew he was here but was politely waiting for John to cough or something. He should have and he would.
Just for a moment he needed to consider this man who had become such an important part of his life. They were not lovers but it was definitely more than friendship. Countless hours had been spent in the lab discussing everything from Lorne's peculiar habits to how many times McKay could say genius in one day. Meals were often taken together as well movies and what little leisure time they managed to take. Now, on the verge of their rescue mission, John considered the implications of having Lorne back in Atlantis. He immediately chided himself for such selfish thoughts. He really hoped there was no such thing as an instant karma device in the Pegasus galaxy. If there was he was really screwed.
"Colonel?" Parrish had turned and looked at Sheppard quizzically.
"David," said Sheppard a little quickly. "Just came to check if you're ready."
"All dressed and ready to go… John."
The Colonel nodded absently. "Are you sure you want to be in on this? We don't know what his condition will be or even…"
"Even if he will be alive?" answered Parrish. "Yes, I should be there. No matter the outcome I owe him that much."
He said it with what John could only describe as regret. He moved closer and put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "What's wrong David? This is the moment. This is why we have kept up the search all this time."
The botanist sighed heavily. "No John. Not us." He blinked quickly, the tears obvious in his eyes. "It is you who has kept up the fight. Truth be told I gave up long ago." He shrugged off the Colonel's hand and crossing his arms turned back to the window. "I let him go; accepted that he was dead. I could never tell you that because I knew what it would do."
"What it would do?" asked Sheppard incredulously.
"It is the only thing that kept you going sometimes: the belief that you would save this one man, after having lost so many."
Sheppard snorted. "You make me sound pathetic."
Parrish spun around and grabbed Sheppard. "Far from it. Your drive and your dedication have made others work miracles. Your stubbornness has led people to do the seemingly impossible. The Pegasus Alliance, the weapons and even this mission. All of it because of everyone who knew and loved Evan Lorne you never gave up on him." He lowered his head onto the Colonel's chest. "I did. I gave up and I will never be able to make that up to him. Yesterday when we got the news I was overjoyed, and utterly ashamed."
Lifting Parrish's head by the chin Sheppard whispered, "Lorne will understand. He's lost friends and comrades, and knows that to survive sometimes you have to let go."
"That's just it," muttered Parrish. "I moved on. I lived and in my mind he did not. I can't go back to before."
"Why not?"
"Because I did something. When I found out that Evan was alive I did something that will have serious consequences. It cannot be undone."
Sheppard was totally confused and stepped back from the botanist. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I cannot say. But you will find out and when you do I need you to do something for me."
"Anything, you know that."
"Take care of Evan. Be there for him as I know you can be… as I know that you would like to be."
The Colonel was speechless as Parrish moved forward and pressed his lips to John's. Sheppard hesitated before returning the kiss. Remaining passive for only a moment John spun Parrish around and pressed him up against the bulkhead. David moved his hands up John's chest before sliding them around to clasp his lower back. He groaned as the Colonel shifted to nuzzle on his neck and used one hand to caress the back of his neck. The sky blue of hyperspace bathed the two of them in a soft light. Sheppard took a moment to admire the shadowed profile of Parrish. His hair was in disarray, much like John's and his eyes were closed with long lashes evident even in the low light. In that moment he saw the choices before him.
"We can't," said John and pulled away.
"You don't want this?" asked the other man.
"It doesn't matter what I want."
"No secrets between us John." Parrish moved forward again but only placed his palm on Sheppard's cheek, as he had done countless times in the lab. "What you want? I would say that what you want is very important." He paused and opened up one of Sheppard's pockets. Inside was an item that the Colonel thought no-one knew about. Pulling it out Parrish held it out to John's face, not even looking at it himself. "Perhaps more important is who you really want."
Sheppard took the picture gently and Parrish smiled. The Colonel tried to smile back; tried to show that there were no hard feelings. He knew he did not have to and that Parrish understood. Perhaps he had always understood.
Parrish left the room and Sheppard held up the photograph in the blue light. A picture that showed two men, with beers in hand and laughing, arm in arm on an Atlantis balcony.
"We're coming," whispered Sheppard. He put it away and adjusted his uniform before moving out into the hall. It was going to be a very long day.
Wraith Hive Ship
The Queen slammed his face into the MALP and when he slid off it a trail of red remained. Lorne sniggered to himself. In all the time they had been at this she had never broken his nose. It often felt that every bone in his body had been smashed – but never his nose. Until now of course.
She stood over his prone body with hands on hips in that stance that only the Wraith seemed able to pull off. "Do you sense the end human? Do you see this piece of metal before you and know that it speaks of death for you and all your kind?"
Of course he could see it. It was pretty hard to miss a big piece of metal on wheels, especially when your face had been grinded into it. The phantom Sheppard stood behind the MALP and Lorne grinned at his hallucination. "What do you think Colonel? Have we not heard the chimes at midnight?" Laughing so hard at his own joke Lorne did not even see the kick coming.
As he tried to get a breath through his newly fractured ribs the Queen glared at the two guards standing to the side.
"He has been like this for days," answered one to the unspoken question. "He talks with things that are not there."
She crouched down and gripped his face with one hand. "We know your tactics. After the machine your people will send small groups. They will find themselves snared in a trap. If only one of them gives me what I need then all this has been worth it." Her hand started to squeeze but the pain was nothing compared to previous tortures so Lorne easily ignored it. "You can die knowing that worthless as you were for information – as bait you were invaluable."
The Major started to laugh again and she shoved him back in disgust. "His mind is gone. Pathetic human."
The laughter stopped and Lorne looked up at the Queen. "Not so insane that I don't realise what that machine really tells me."
"And what is that?"
He glanced at the MALP again and read the date written on the side: June 6 1944.
"You are so fucked."
Daedalus
The team checked their weapons again and stood close together in the middle of the room. Three teams were assigned to board the Wraith Hive ship and rescue Major Lorne. If it had been allowed there would have been many more teams but everyone had their assignments.
Lieutenant Cadman finished with her team and moved over to speak quietly with Colonel Sheppard. "I hear they offered you command of this venture but you turned it down."
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear Lieutenant," said Sheppard wryly. "Caldwell is who we need in that command chair."
"And if you had accepted you wouldn't be on this part of the mission."
Any response he had was drowned out by Caldwell's voice on the speakers.
"This is General Caldwell. We are three minutes from the target. At this moment our allies should have already begun their attack and drawn the Wraith's attention. We cannot waste this opportunity and I expect each and every one of you to perform above and beyond in the coming battle. We have put every resource into this mission. Our allies have joined with us to strike a blow at the Wraith that they should not quickly recover from – if ever. What started as a small rescue mission has become something that we had never thought possible… an all out attack on a Wraith fleet. If successful we will have freed dozens of worlds and hundreds of thousands of people from agony and death."
Sheppard raised his eyebrows as he recognised that Caldwell was putting real emotion into his words. His respect for the man skyrocketed.
"Today we fight with the people of Pegasus. I fight not because it is my duty and not because it is my responsibility. I will face the Wraith because Pegasus means more to me than just a buffer between the Wraith and Earth. Somewhere along the way I stopped thinking of Atlantis as a destination, and started seeing it as home. Fight today not as people of Earth, or people of Pegasus – but as humanity. The greatest asset we will ever have is our human courage. Use it now and remember it for all time. Good luck and may the Wraith feel the sharp sting of defeat."
The ship erupted in cheers and shouts of defiance. General Caldwell allowed it to die down before giving the final orders.
"All hands to battle stations. Ready boarding teams and prepare for attack."
Sheppard took a final look at his teams and nodded soberly at Cadman. "Form up! Shoot anything that moves and watch your six. We will rescue Major Lorne and nobody gets left behind." He avoided looking at Parrish. It was not guilt but the need to focus. Sheppard knew if he made eye contact with the scientist he would probably reach out for one final touch. Not something he could afford moments before action.
He clutched the P90 and tried to loosen up as he felt the ship drop out of hyperspace. Nodding at the technician he felt the familiar cold grip of the transport beam and everything turned a bright white.
Wraith Hive Ship
Several more Wraith entered the room and conferred with the Queen. She slapped one across the face in frustration and Lorne wanted to laugh. Unfortunately he was concerned that as soon as she remembered he was there his life would be over. Strangely one of the guards stood by Lorne but did not try to attract attention either.
It had all started only minutes earlier. Two Wraith had burst in and started blabbering about a massive ground assault. Much bigger than the small attack predicted by the Queen. So much bigger that the Wraith were falling back to the grounded Hive ship.
Lorne knew that only one people were capable of pulling off an attack with such numbers: the Genii.
The other thing that was causing a real stir was the fact that the Wraith had to communicate verbally. Something was blocking their telepathy and for a race used to such a thing it was difficult to co-ordinate a battle. The Queen was pissed, the Wraith were – dare Lorne even believe it… scared.
In his experience this did not improve his position. Sooner or later the Queen would want to take out her frustration on something. That something would be him and this time she would probably tear out his heart.
"Re-deploy the fleet," the Queen hissed. "I want the entire continent razed."
They rushed to carry out her orders and that is when she looked over at Lorne and grinned viscously. "Did your people think I would not sacrifice my own to destroy them? How little you understand the Wraith."
"We are in position," a functionary reported.
"Destroy them."
A split second after she said it the entire ship shuddered. The Queen looked at a subordinate and he rushed to a console. "Three vessels have exited hyperspace – two of our ships have already been disabled and our engines have received major damage."
"What!" Her voice lashed out like a lance. Lorne was fairly certain if her telepathy had been working she would have fried the functionary's brain.
"Our shields were down," he tried to explain. "To maximise our firing ability at the surface."
The ship lurched again and one wall erupted in flame and smoke. The explosion knocked several Wraith to the deck and Lorne would have fallen had not the guard steadied him. Looking at the Wraith's face Lorne realised it was the one that had helped only days earlier.
"You knew this was coming," the Wraith whispered. "How is that possible?"
"I have very determined friends."
An iron arm grabbed Lorne from behind and the Queen hissed in his ear, "Your friends cannot help you human."
Tbc…
Chapter Notes: The date - June 6 1944 is commonly known as D Day. The day that the largest assault the world has ever known was launched against the Axis powers of World War 2. Major Lorne would of course know this and that it meant more than just a rescue mission was planned.