Okay, chapter two! From the point of view of Major Evan Lorne. I wanted to show how difficult it would have been for the SGA expedition members to reajust to life on Earth, and it would be hard for thier family members as well. So...here you go!

Major Evan Lorne woke with a start as his girlfriend abruptly threw the covers off of him, snapping him out of a nightmare he had been having about one particularly nasty situation he had faced on Atlantis. He bolted upright, automatically scanning his surroundings for any sign of danger before relaxing as his surroundings came back into focus. He was in his house on Earth, not Atlantis. There were no Wraith about to storm in, only his furious girlfriend. Wait...

Kayla stood over him, arms crossed angrily across her chest. "Who the hell is Elizabeth?" She demanded.

He stared at her in confusion. "What?"

"You heard me. This is the third night in a row you have been muttering about some girl named Elizabeth. If you are so worried about her well being, why the hell are you here with me?"

Evan sighed as he figured out what must be going on. "I've been talking in my sleep again, haven't I?"

Kayla nodded, and he noticed for the first time that tears were running down her face.

He gently pulled her down until she was facing him on the bed. "Come here, baby. It's not what you think, I promise. Elizabeth- Dr. Wier- is my boss. It has been my job for the past two years to protect her, and there were a lot of bad guys who would have loved to kill her. I've faced some pretty rough situations trying to keep her safe, and I still have nightmares about most of them. Thats it. She is a friend and team mate, but we never had any sort of romantic relationship. Anyway, my commanding officer was completely in love with her, and she with him. I wouldn't have gotten on his bad side for anything."

Kayla stared at him intently, clearly unsure of whether to believe him. "I can't imagine anything so horrible that you would still be having nightmares about it. You have been home for over a month. And I suppose that Teyla is another person you were supposed to protect?"

Lorne couldn't help but laugh, despite her obvious anger as he did so. "I'm sorry, it's just that if you knew Teyla..." He managed to regain his composure. "Teyla could kick my ass in a heartbeat. Anything I said about her would have involved me asking her to protect me...or anyone else on my team. Plus, Ronon would have split me in half. Easily."

Kayla shook her head. "I just don't know. You've been gone a long time Evan. You disappeared for two years without being able to tell me anything, and now you are back and waking up screaming every other night. You almost threw me across the room yesterday when I tried to wake you from a nightmare."

Lorne sighed and shook his head in sorrow. "I know. I'm sorry...about everything. I know this must be hard for you, and how hard you have been trying to understand. If its any comfort to you, all the nightmares that I wake screaming from are because something has happened to you. Never Eliz- Dr. Wier, never Teyla. You. I would never intentionally hurt you, and I wish that I could explain everything."

Kayla laughed bitterly. "That shouldn't be comforting. Why would you willingly go to any post that caused you such distress?"

Lorne shrugged. "Actually, I don't think I had a single nightmare this bad while I was there. It helped being there, and actually knowing I was doing something to protect you and everyone else on this pl- er, country. Anyone else in this country."

Kayla fixed him with an ironic stare. "Not that you can tell me where 'there' was. Or what you did there. Or what this 'gate' that you keep shouting about leads to. Or why my putting my hand on your chest to wake you up causes you to try and throw me into a wall."

He winced at that particular reference, and she sighed in defeat. "Worse, I know that if offered the chance, you would probably leave to go back in a second."

He stared at her, truly startled. How did she know that? He had never spoken about how much he loved his job or missed him surrogate family, and as far as he knew he hadn't even dreamed about it.

Kayla smiled fondly at his confusion. "I see the way you light up when you think about the oddest things- you were smiling fondly at a turkey sandwich the other day. I never knew what you were thinking about till just now when you told me about your friends there. You had the same look in your eyes. I know you can't tell me anything confidential, but can you at least tell me about them? At least I'll know who was taking care of you. And, if you do leave, I'll know that you are with people you love."

Lorne beamed at her. "I love you, you know." He murmured, completely in awe of how selfless she was. The trust she was showing was unequivocal. He reached under the bed and pulled out a box full of pictures. He picked up a picture of Sheppard's team eating in the mess hall and smiled at it fondly. "These guys are always managing to get into trouble..."