Author's Note: A special thank you goes to theicemenace, who patiently beta'd everything and caught my silly mistakes. And to Ani-Maniac494 for doing the same and just being a friend. And a shout-out to Gateworld for the use of their transcripts. I hope everyone has enjoyed this little plot bunny. ~lg

oOo

It actually took two days for Evan to return to Orenth. In that time, he allowed Jennifer to do all the tests that she wanted while enjoying her smile every time she glanced at him. When she finally released him from the infirmary, he walked straight to her office and found her typing a report. One of his paintings hung above her desk, and he grinned. "Hey, Doc."

Jennifer looked up. "Major."

"Hey, remember last night?" He watched while her face heated. They'd shared several sweet kisses after their private reunion and had talked late into the night. "Maybe we should drop the rank."

She grinned. "I think I can do that."

"Good." He pointed at the painting. "It looks nice there."

Jennifer glanced back at the painting and met his eyes. "Colonel Sheppard hung it there a few weeks ago. He wanted me to have something. . . ."

"To remind you of me?" Evan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To give me hope." She stood and walked around her desk, leaning against the edge. "It was hard having you gone."

He let out a deep breath. "It was hard being gone." Rather than following that train of thought, he met her eyes. "How's Maitland?"

Jennifer turned back to her desk. "He's as well as can be expected for a man who's just been beaten. He's showing minor lead poisoning thanks to that stunt with the paint, but that may have saved his life. He had two cracked ribs, and one had splintered against his lung. If he'd taken one more blow in that spot, he could have punctured a lung and died. Your little trick got him out of the cell and away from the torture."

Evan nodded. "It was all I could think of under the circumstances."

"And he'll be fine."

"He's already asking to go back."

Jennifer blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

Evan held up a hand. "He left someone back there. Kaela, the daughter of the doctor I stayed with, went to visit her family in the countryside. I think Andren did that to protect her and her mother. But Maitland wants to return and bring them here. Away from the war."

"Will Mr. Woolsey allow that?"

"Don't know." He straightened. "But I plan to ask him."

"Good luck." Jennifer smiled at him, and Evan was tempted to steal another kiss before leaving. Instead, he gave her a glance that told her that they would talk later.

Woolsey was surprisingly willing to allow Evan one return trip to Orenth when he fully explained the situation. He apologized that it had taken so long for Atlantis to find them, and Evan walked away with the feeling that the man had been put in his place by Sheppard. It felt good to be home, however, and Evan spent the remainder of the day strolling the corridors of the city and reacquainting himself with the flow of life. He would return to Earth soon, to see his sister and two nephews. He hoped to take the painting of the two boys to her. But, for now, he simply breathed in the salty ocean air and smiled.

Life was good.

oOo

Returning to Orenth was as easy as it sounded. Evan flew a Jumper through the gate and cloaked the moment they rematerialized. Flying over the city of Talgrom, he glanced at Maitland in the copilot's chair. They would stop at Andren's ocean-side home before Maitland guided him to Kaela's family home. The man was clearly concerned about Kaela, especially with Andren's death so recent. But Evan had a different goal.

Setting the Jumper down on the beach, Evan lowered the back hatch. He and Maitland walked out, and he cloaked the Jumper using the remote in his pocket. It felt good to be wearing his uniform again, and the weight of the TAC vest and P90 made him smile. He'd have to get accustomed to this P90 as his preferred weapon was lost when Derron captured him. Still, the sense of familiarity was heartwarming.

Leaving Maitland to wander the beach while he retrieved his belongings, Evan climbed the stairs to the back of Andren's home. He felt sadness for the loss of the doc's life, but he could not mourn. Not yet. There would be time when Teyla returned from playing Wraith queen and he'd settled back into life in Atlantis. Before he could settle, though, he needed to resolve a few issues.

The first was Kaela, though he suspected that he'd resolved that issue when he absentmindedly left his sketchpad out. His nightmare had been intense, and the images he'd drawn from it looked like a horror comic book. He didn't even want to look at them.

Secondly, he wanted his relationship with Jennifer established. The two of them had talked about their feelings during that first night he was back on Atlantis, and he'd been pleasantly surprised to find that she shared the same thoughts he had. They should be together. In fact, she'd turned down McKay to wait for him. Evan couldn't describe how that made him feel, but he intended to make sure she was treated right for the rest of his life. They may have been new to their relationship, but Evan knew where his heart was headed. He knew that Jennifer was The One.

Upstairs, he found his room undisturbed. Glancing out the window, he saw Maitland looking out to sea and rushed to grab the paintings he'd left behind. The two boys splashing in the surf would go home to Earth with him once Kaela, Maeryn, and Maitland were settled. The one of Jennifer would be given to her later that evening. Evan grinned as he thought about his plans and wrestled the paintings and his sketchpad down the stairs and back to the Jumper. Maitland came without a word, and they took off toward the countryside.

Maeryn and Kaela had taken refuge in a large farmhouse about a day's train ride outside of Talgrom. The short time the Jumper took to get to the farmhouse surprised Maitland, and Evan merely smiled at the man's shocked exclamation. Once there, he landed the Jumper a good distance away, and the two men hiked the remainder of the way to the farmhouse.

Maeryn opened the door, her expression guarded until she recognized Evan. She flew down the steps and into his arms, hugging him the way he remembered his mother hugging him after he'd come home from Atlantis that first time. He let his arms go around her as Kaela appeared in the door behind her. Finally, Maeryn raised her head and speared him with a direct stare. "Andren?"

Evan shook his head, every ounce of regret he felt coming through in that one motion.

Maeryn nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "I knew it!" She drew in a shaky breath. "He tried to warn. . . ." Her voice choked, and Evan pulled her back into a hug as Kaela drew close. The younger woman had apparently deduced the reason for her mother's tears and also cried. Evan reached for her and let her cry on his other shoulder. As he stood there, both women weeping, he realized that he could have found a place in this family. His feelings for Kaela ran toward those of a sibling, and he knew Jennifer would be secure enough to realize that he would look out for these women.

Finally, Kaela pulled away and turned to Maitland. As she went to Maitland, Evan gave Maeryn enough time to gather her thoughts. She wiped her face. "I'm sorry, Evan. So very sorry we kept you from your home."

"You didn't keep me." Evan let out a deep breath. "You're not responsible for what happened. But I have remembered, and that's what's important."

Maeryn nodded and eyed his uniform. "So, you are a soldier."

He realized that she was curious about his life. "Yeah. Ah. . .actually, I'm second-in-command of the military base I'm from."

"And that is?"

"Atlantis."

Her eyes widened. "The City of the Ancestors?"

"One and the same." Evan motioned over his shoulder, where Maitland still held Kaela close although the younger woman was no longer crying. "Maitland has requested asylum for you and your daughter, and it's been granted. If you'd like to come."

Maeryn's eyes went to the farmhouse, to the sky, and to the Jumper. "We'd never see Orenth again."

"No." Evan hated the abundance of bad news he'd given over the last few moments, but she needed to know.

"We're not welcome here, anyway." She blinked back a few more tears. "While you've been gone, Culver has lost ground. Two more regions have seceded and joined Derron's cause."

"His government fell apart." Evan nodded. He thought about the collapse of the Soviet Union and idly thought that he should get up to speed on what this planet might need. There were likely to be a lot of innocent refugees just like Kaela and Maeryn who would need medical aid and a safe place to go. Turning to Maeryn, he said, "You'll be given a new home on a new world. A way to support yourselves."

"A new life." Maeryn blinked slowly and turned toward the farmhouse. "How long do I have to pack my things?"

Evan stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Are you certain you want to leave?"

She nodded. "Andren is dead," she said, her grief making her voice squeak. "I have nothing here, and my daughter and I cannot return to Talgrom. Culver will hunt us down and kill us simply for being Andren's family. I may not be in politics, Evan, but I know my husband was in too deep to get out. He told me everything the day we left our home." She shook her head. "I took the things I could not live without because I knew I would not be back."

Evan squeezed her shoulder and let her go. She grabbed her daughter's arm, and the two women returned to the house. Rather than saying anything to Maitland, Evan took up a guard position on the front porch. No one knew he was here, and the Jumper remained cloaked. Still, he wanted to remain vigilant.

Maeryn and Kaela reappeared less than twenty minutes later, their bags dragging the ground behind them. Evan heaved the largest onto his shoulder and led the way from the farmhouse, leaving Maitland to help the women as they carried the lighter valises they'd packed. At the Jumper, he lowered the cloak and gave both women a reassuring smile as they responded to the advanced technology. They followed him inside, their eyes wide as they inspected every inch of the place. Evan reactivated the cloak as he closed the back hatch, giving them time to become comfortable with their new reality.

Settling into the pilot's chair, he watched Maitland give his front-row seat to Kaela. Maeryn settled behind her daughter. Evan glanced at the two women. "Ready?"

Maeryn nodded, and Evan lifted the Jumper from the ground and took them to their new lives.

oOo

Late that evening, Jennifer walked onto the balcony Evan had told her about in his email that afternoon. Teyla had returned to Atlantis and begun the transformation into her human form. It would take two weeks for the changes Todd had made to wear off, and Jennifer needed to be vigilant. But, for now, she decided to leave the infirmary in Cole's capable hands and spend some time with Evan.

That man stood with his elbows leaned on the railing of the balcony, the ocean breeze ruffling his freshly cut hair. After his return from Orenth, he'd seen the base barber and had a lot of extra length cut from his hair. Jennifer liked this freshly-groomed look. The longer, floppy hair was endearing, but Evan had always been a military man. He looked best when he was clean-cut.

He turned and caught sight of her. "Hey, Jen."

She smiled and joined him when he held out a hand, loving how he laced their fingers together. Letting him pull her close, she propped one hand on the railing and leaned her head on his shoulder. "This is nice."

"It is," he agreed. They stood like that for a long time, letting the silence speak for them. These moments, when he didn't try to make her world okay and when she wasn't working to make him feel better, meant more to her than almost any words he could say. Finally, he stirred. "I have something for you."

Jennifer released his hand as he moved to a corner of the balcony. She watched as he retrieved a painting roughly the same size as the one of Teyla and turned it to face her. She blinked and stared as he held the image almost as if it were priceless. In the painting, she wore a long, flowing, off-the-shoulder gown as she walked up stone steps from a beach. She stared at the detail, loving the way he used the light to brighten her hair and give the entire thing an ethereal feel. "I'm not that pretty."

Evan actually laughed. "You haven't looked in the mirror, then." He sobered quickly as he put the painting in her hands. "Jen, I may not have remembered your name, but I never forgot you. I knew I loved you from the moment I woke up, and I never gave up believing I would find my way back here."

His words brought her head up, and she blinked back her tears. "You love me?" She wished her voice hadn't squeaked with that last word, but she could do nothing about it.

"Yep." He rocked back on his heels, seeming somewhat sheepish. "I wasn't planning on saying that today. Just so you know."

Jennifer stared at him for a few moments. He loved her. It meant more to hear him say that than he knew, and she carefully set aside the painting to rush into his arms. As he held her close, she gazed up into his eyes. "This may be too early for such things, but I love you, too!"

He smiled. "Early, yes. But I don't intend to take things too fast. Just fast enough that we're both happy."

"I can handle that." Jennifer sighed happily as he kissed her again, and they stayed on the balcony until late that night. When Evan escorted her to her quarters, he held her hand the entire way and never once acknowledged the glances people gave them. A lot of the military personnel patted his shoulder and welcomed him home, but Jennifer didn't mind. She had Evan.

At her quarters, he stepped inside long enough to put the painting against the wall. At the door, he touched her face. "I learned a lot on Orenth, Jen. I learned about what makes a man. It's not what he does that matters. It's not his money or anything. It's the people he has in his life." He flattened his hand against her face. "Thank you for still being here when I came home."

"You're welcome." She shrugged. "I couldn't go anywhere else."

"Good." In full view of the corridor, Evan leaned forward and kissed her one more time. He said a quick goodnight after that, and Jennifer watched him leave with a smile. She couldn't know what tomorrow held, but she knew one thing. Evan Lorne was home. He loved her. And that made life worth living.

~The End~