Author's Note:

Thank you all for your reviews for this story - life and all the Christmas things I have to do has gotten on top of me and derailed my plans to add to this daily - very sorry for the huge delay. Probably shouldn't have started posting a story right now but the lure of Christmas fanfic was just too great. I'll do what I can to catch up but I'm not sure how quickly it'll go so thank you for your patience too, and again, sorry I've messed this one up not posting it every day as I'd planned.

Now, lets all pretend time travel is possible and that we've gone back 11 days ...

December 10th

Lorne was on tender hooks for the remainder of the day and into the evening. It would frustrate anyone not knowing what was going on but with Evan's recent past, it was excruciating being stuck in a cell unable to help. Shades of past missions as well as the move of Atlantis lurked at the back of his mind to taunt him.

He'd spoken to Coughlin in the early afternoon, Eldon sneaking the other man in when the guards outside were changing shifts. The Olesian's might have got the drop on Lorne but they weren't exactly the most experienced of jailers. Despite the history of the island, or maybe because of it, the general population weren't militarily minded. The magistrate and his own forces had previously had all the expertise in that area and none of them survived the Wraith attack.

"You want us to break you out of here Sir?" Nate had queried before Lorne could speak.

"Not right now," Evan replied dryly. "We'll save that as a last resort. Since its Eldon's fault we're here I'm giving him the chance to redeem himself. Take him to the gate tonight – dial Atlantis and give them a sit rep."

"Do we want them to come and rescue us?" Nate queried.

"You mean, as opposed to providing reinforcements for the Torrell problem?" Lorne asked.

"Yes Sir."

"That's not my call," Lorne replied. "We have to take some responsibility for the situation though. I'm sure Colonel Sheppard will feel the same, if that situation is brought to his attention in the right way."

"Understood Sir," Coughlin acknowledged, a hint of pleased smiled playing over his face.

"Reed and Chang will have to stay in the hut and cover for you if someone comes checking," Evan continued planning the night's mission, "so you won't have a lot of time for conversation."

"Is Eldon going to let Atlantis dial back in again?"

It was a good question – just because Eldon was letting his control of the gate go so they could call for help didn't mean he'd thought about how they'd organise for Atlantis to call back, assuming leaving the gate operational was out of the question. "You'll have to get a quick agreement from Colonel Carter – either they'll dial Olesia as soon as the gate shuts down this end or you'll have to take Eldon back there a second time, when they are ready for whatever it is they're going to do."

"I'll make sure Eldon explains what he's done to the gate so they're aware that we're on a tight timeline here," Nate had promised.

Lorne had wished his team mate well and then settled back in his cell to begin the long process of waiting. Now, glancing at the time for the hundredth time, Evan began to believe the adage that a watched kettle never boils. Maybe it wasn't a good thing Privic hadn't removed his watch when they'd thrown him in here – Lorne was able to observe time passing too slowly for his liking.

The time he'd expected Nate to be back came and went with no sign of either Eldon or Nate. That didn't mean something had gone wrong – getting in to talk to him twice in one day might be harder to achieve than it seemed.

His accommodations grated on his nerves – pacing the enclosed space Evan realised just how small it was. He could fit the cell inside his quarters back on Atlantis twice over and still have room to spare. And that was just the standard crew room … if he and Jennifer got married then the regulations stipulated their entitlement to a bigger room. Smiling, Lorne thought back to the advent message he'd created, one of the more light hearted reason's he'd given Jenn, because he was pretty sure she had no idea what she'd be getting into marrying into the US military.

"We'll get a bigger living space if we're married – it's in the rules. Plus the military would look after you if something happened to me … I need that Jenn, to know that you'll be okay no matter what, so please say yes."

There was a serious edge to that message as well, because Evan wanted the legal bond so that Jennifer would be taken care of. She'd hate that he had plans for the worst happening – for him it provided a sense of security that he hoped they'd never have to fall back on.

With a clatter and the clinking of metal on metal his door was opened. Lorne held in a groan of dismay when Eldon was shoved into the room before the door was slammed shut again. "I take it things didn't go according to plan," he commented dryly.

"I-I-I'm sorry Major," Eldon had his chin all but buried into his chest he was so remorseful.

"What happened?" Lorne asked quietly. "Where's Lieutenant Coughlin?"

"The Lieutenant is okay – Privic returned him to the hut with the rest of your team," Eldon revealed.

"But you they put in here," Lorne commented. "So, tell me what happened," he requested again.

"W-we dialled Atlantis," Eldon began. "Colonel Sh-sheppard was there. They were gl-glad you and your team were all alive and accounted for. Lieutenant Coughlin explained the s-situation and then answered their questions."

"But?" Lorne prompted when Eldon stopped.

"But they were unwilling to s-send in more teams without being assured of s-safety and a means of returning home," Eldon grimaced. "I tried to convince them I could get them home any time but since I couldn't send any of your team through they didn't seem to believe me."

"Coughlin wouldn't leave," Lorne nodded, knowing there'd be no way Nate would go back to Atlantis, not even to assure them the help they needed, not if there was any risk the rest of the team would pay the price for his freedom.

"N-no," Eldon agreed. "Before he could explain Pr-privic and his m-men arrived. He h-held the l-lieutenant at g-gun point until I sh-shut down the wormhole."

Just great! Lorne pursed his lips to keep the curses from spilling out. "They followed you," he said grimly, "either that or Privic had a look-out covering the gate." That seemed more likely, given Coughlin had been able to speak with Atlantis for a few minutes before Privic got there. Maybe the guy wasn't as non-strategic as Evan had been counting on.

"He w-was a-angry," Eldon stuttered, still agitated over the encounter. He looked like he was at the point of crying. "Th-they t-took my d-device M-major."

"Can he use it?" Lorne asked, his expression grim.

"Y-yes," Eldon admitted, shooting Evan a guilty look before he redirected his attention to the ground. "I-I had to sh-show him or or …"

"Or he'd hurt Coughlin," Lorne concluded, sure it hadn't been quite as simple as that. It was in Privic's interests to keep some measure of cooperation going or there'd be no point in keeping Lorne and his team. Clearly he'd decided threatening Lorne's men was the way to get Evan to cooperate and since it had worked on Eldon already he'd have no reason to stop.

Evan's options were narrowing the longer they were on Olesia … and he didn't rate his chances of convincing Privic to see reason. On the plus side Atlantis now had confirmation on their location … the Daedalus would be there soon and then Colonel Sheppard would plan their rescue. The distance wasn't great in the whole scheme of things but it would still take a few days for the ship to get to Olesia. Days he'd have to bide his time ... and do what he could from inside a jail cell.

"Patience," Evan thought. "You're good at that, right?" He was, but it didn't mean he had to like it!