Date : 05.10.2009

Title : The Fate Series : Part 1 - A Touch of Fate

Author : ElaineDex

Chapter : 13 of ?

Rating : M

Pairings : Lt. Colonel John Sheppard/OC

Major Evan Lorne/OC

Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Angst, Maybe Some Strong Language.

Feedback : Yes please, always welcome whatever it may be.

Disclaimer : Dr. Ellie Lorne, and any O/C's are mine. Lyssa Hunter belongs to Kazavid and is from her Atlantis stories Behind The Mask and Reunions. Lexi Roberts was created by Soccer-Bitch. Stargate Atlantis, unfortunately, has nothing to do with me.

Summary : AU : Lorne is gone for good this time and Ellie must move on with her life. There'll be no second chances this time, no way around them being parted…or is there…and is that what Ellie and Lorne for that matter, really wants?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A/N : My O/C's are in this story quite predominantly at one point and I do apologise for that, but I felt it necessary for the series to work. Hopefully though, you'll like them enough to continue to read on and enjoy what they're getting up to! There are of course all the old favourites in here and a newbie or two…oh and remember…forget the Ellie and Lorne's of the past, this is another AU

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ellie awoke the next morning and frowned when she found that she was alone.

Although a part of her had had a feeling that Statham would stay away last night, a part of her had hoped that he wouldn't.

She sighed and throwing back the bed covers, got out of the bed and padded over to the balcony doors. She opened one and stepped out, the ocean breeze hitting her in the face.

She looked out at the water for a moment, letting her mind wander where it would. She had always loved being by the sea at home, the infinite mass of water always had a calming effect and made one think that life's problems weren't so bad after all.

She remembered hers and Evan's honeymoon. They had enjoyed lots of walks along the beach. In her mind's eye she saw him reaching out for her as she darted away to avoid the waves that crashed onto the sand and then he had caught her, his kiss making her melt…

Ellie turned away from the view of the ocean abruptly and walked back inside, swiping at the tears that she hadn't known had started to fall until she had felt one roll down her cheek and she had tasted the salty liquid.

'Why has the other Evan come here?' she wondered, feeling angry. 'Is it fate or just some cruel joke?'

She shook her head, deciding that she needed to get a grip on herself.

'Its neither,' she told herself firmly as she headed into the bathroom. 'It's the fact that there are lots of other universes out there and every now and again, a solar flare decides to screw up and introduce them to one another.'

As she showered she made the decision to stay out of new Lorne's way for a while. He needed time to settle in and she needed time to get used to the idea that he was staying. There was of course all the other things that that entailed, such as seeing him every day and knowing that she didn't have the right to touch him - he 'wasn't' hers - and knowing that he yearned for Lyssa and that it wasn't her best friends' fault.

And then there was Frank Statham.

Lyssa had been right when she had said that Ellie hadn't given much thought to how he had been feeling and she felt a stab of guilt. Why, she wasn't quite sure as she knew that Frank didn't see their relationship as anything more than a casual one.

As she dried off and moved to the bedroom, she glanced at the clock by the bed and saw that she might just catch him in time to have breakfast with him.

She dressed quickly and headed out to his quarters, wafting her hand over the buzzer part of the door panel.

She frowned when she got no answer and buzzed again.

Sighing she realised that he must have already left and just as she went to turn away from his door, Lyssa jogged around the corner up ahead.

"Hey, how you doing?" her friend asked and she came to a halt at her side.

"I'm okay," Ellie replied and Lyssa indicated to Statham's door as she caught her breath.

"He's in the gym, I saw him as I ran past."

"Thanks," Ellie said, thinking that she should get some exercise at some point.

"Um, Ellie, last night in bed I was thinking…about this new Evan…" Lyssa ventured and Ellie regarded her a little warily.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I was thinking that I should talk to him, clear the air about me and him…well, I mean the other me and him. I don't want him to think that there's a chance, because you know that there isn't…right?" Lyssa looked at her worriedly and Ellie shook her head and touched a hand to her friend's arm.

"Lyssa…I know that and you don't have to speak to him because of me, if you don't want to that is…"

Lyssa took Ellie's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I want to talk to him, he looked so lost in the infirmary last night…so alone…but then when I walked in he seemed to brighten up and I just don't want him to think…" she trailed off as she felt Ellie stiffen and she realised that her friend hadn't known that she had gone in to see Evan once she had left to go to her quarters.

"Anyway," she rushed on, "I just want to make things clear, then he can move on with his new life."

Ellie nodded, digesting the new information.

After a few seconds silence, she said,

"I should let you get a shower and go find Frank, he didn't stay with me last night…" she trailed off and cleared her throat before saying, "I wanted to see if he wanted to get breakfast with me."

"I'm sure you'll catch him if you head to the gym now," Lyssa said and Ellie smiled.

"Yeah, I'll catch you later," she replied, moving away from her friend, not wanting to know when Lyssa planned to talk to the new Lorne.

Lyssa waved and headed to her own quarters, feeling nervous about going to see Lorne, but knowing she would feel so much better once it was done.

000

Statham stepped out of the shower in the gym and reached for a towel. He had given himself a hard workout that morning, trying to rid his mind of thoughts of Ellie and new Lorne.

He knew that some of the other men and lots of the women on Atlantis were now speculating about his and Ellie's 'relationship' and it bugged him and he hated that.

He liked to know where he was with a woman. He liked to be in control, but with Ellie it had always felt different, like she held all the aces.

Scowling he pulled his spare uniform from his locker and dressed quickly, shoving his gym clothing inside before locking it with a wave of his hand.

'Maybe I should break things off with her for a while and see how things go…' he thought, but he didn't like the way his gut twisted at the idea and he sighed as he left the gym.

He had just turned the corner at the top of the corridor when he ran into the object of his thoughts and he gripped her waist as she banged into him.

"Hey," Ellie said, looking up at him. "I was just coming to find you."

"Well, here I am, you found me," Statham replied, unable to keep the slight tinge of sarcasm out of his tone and he looked away, annoyed with himself more than her and his hands dropped away from her waist.

Ellie frowned and she bit her lip.

"I wondered if you wanted to have breakfast with me…I uh…" she paused, wondering if to tell him her thoughts, after all, what she was thinking was partially true…

Statham looked at her, waiting for her to finish and she cleared her throat and admitted,

"I missed you not being with me last night."

Statham blew out a breath at her words and he cursed himself for wanting her so badly…it wasn't his style.

"Alright," he replied, "But we need to sit somewhere out of the way and talk a few things over."

Ellie nodded, wondering what it was that he wanted to say, although she had an idea it would have something to do with new Lorne.

"Okay," she agreed and they headed to the mess hall.

OoOoOoO

Lyssa nervously made her way to the infirmary and once she arrived she peered through the glass in the doors again, just to see how things looked first.

The place seemed fairly empty, just Keller and one other nurse ambling around and just two other marines in beds, but they were on the other side of the infirmary from where new Lorne was positioned.

He still had marines guarding him, but they were stood inside, just to the left of the infirmary doors.

Yet again the thought struck her as to how lonely he looked and she watched as he picked at his breakfast tray.

Taking a deep breath she pushed the doors open and went inside.

She nodded to the two guards and headed for Lorne's bed.

"Morning," she said and he looked up, his blue eyes instantly sparkling at her.

"Hey," he replied, putting his fork down.

"No, please, finish eating," Lyssa said, but he shook his head.

"I've had enough for now," he told her, "Doc Keller told me it might take a day or two before I can eat normally what with eating so little the last few weeks."

Lyssa nodded and moved his tray to the table at the bottom of his bed for him so that she could rest her hip against the side of the bed.

"I ahh, I wondered if I could talk to you…" she said, hesitantly and Lorne nodded.

"Sure."

"It's going to sound silly…and I don't want to upset or offend you…" Lyssa began, stopping when Lorne held up a hand.

"It's okay, I think I know what you are going to say," he told her.

"You do?" she asked and he smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"You're going to tell me that you don't feel the same way for me as my Lyssa did…and that's okay, I don't expect you to. It would have been nice, but I get it…"

Lyssa regarded him for a moment and could tell that despite his words, he was hurting inside.

"I'm sorry," she offered and he shook his head.

"Don't be…it's not your fault," he replied, offering her another weak smile.

Lyssa looked at him, contemplating his words.

"Look, Evan…I can see that you're hurting about this, maybe I should leave you alone.." she trailed off as he grabbed her hand.

"No…you don't have to go…" he said and she nodded, looking down at their hands and he released hers.

"I'm sorry," he said and she couldn't help but touch a hand to his face.

"It's fine…really," she assured him.

Lorne covered her hand with his and closed his eyes as he leant into her touch.

"I miss her so much," he said and Lyssa felt a lump form in her throat.

She wished that there was something that she could say or do to help him through his grieving.

"I'm here…if you ever want to talk about her…or any of the others from your world," she offered and he opened his eyes.

"Thanks."

Lyssa nodded and as he straightened his head, she gently pulled her hand away from his face.

They looked at one another for a moment before Evan smiled gently,

"I still cant believe that the other me and Ellie were so happily married," he said and Lyssa sighed.

"What happened, between you and your Ellie…? You said she was quite a hard woman…why was that?" she asked.

Lorne frowned.

"She was obsessed with her work, wouldn't let anything stand in between her and her goal of becoming better than McKay…she had no time for me towards the end of our marriage, I think that's why she pushed Lyssa and me toward one another after the divorce...she felt guilty."

"But how did you even end up together in the first place?" Lyssa queried.

"I think she was lonely…and being a Major can be too," he smiled wryly at her before continuing, "I found her attractive don't get me wrong, but in the end our personalities clashed too much."

Lyssa shook her head.

"She sounds nothing like my Ellie…"

Lorne sighed and just then Keller approached them. The Doctor smiled at Lyssa before saying,

"Right then Major, final checks before I release you to your new home…"

"Great," Lorne replied, his eyes on Lyssa as she moved away.

"I'll catch up with you soon alright?" she said and he nodded, watching her until Keller blocked his view with the curtain.

OoOoOoO

Ellie and Statham took their breakfast trays out to the mess hall's outer terrace and sat at one of the tables overlooking the ocean. It was the only place that they could see where they would be alone.

"So..." Ellie began, taking a sip of her coffee as she watched Statham push his scrambled eggs around his plate.

Statham put his fork down and looked at her...really looked at her...before saying,

"What are we doing Ellie?"

Ellie looked back at him and smiled, but it didnt reach her eyes.

"We're having breakfast."

Statham raked a hand across his incredibly short hair and blew out a frustrated breath.

"Sorry..." Ellie said, seeing that he obviously in no mood to joke.

"This agreement we have..." Statham said. "How do you feel about that now...is it still what you want?"

Ellie looked away from him for a moment and out to the ocean as she considered her answer and he watched her, wondering what she would say.

Eventually she looked back at him and replied,

"Are you only asking me this now because the other Evan has turned up, or is it because you want out?"

Statham regarded her closely, then cursed colourfully and Ellie blinked at him.

"I dont want out...but do you?" he asked, ignoring the 'Evan' part and Ellie shook her head.

"No...I dont...so now we have establised that, what is the problem?" she asked, knowing just by looking at him that something was bugging him.

"Do the same rules still apply?" he asked and Ellie rested her arms on the table before her.

"You mean the 'exclusive' part...just me and you...no-one else...?"

Statham nodded and she frowned at him.

"Is there something you want to tell me...?" she asked. "Last night did you...?" she trailed off, the thought of Statham sleeping with another woman alarming her more than she thought possible and she felt the colour drain from her face.

"No!" Statham replied, seeing the look on her face and he reached out and cupped her cheek with his palm. "It's nothing like that...its just...hell Ellie, i'm not real good at stuff like this..." he shook his head and Ellie bit her lip.

"Just say it Frank..whatever is on your mind, just tell me."

Statham warred with himself for a moment or two before blurting,

"I want you Ellie...properly...none of this stupid agreement crap," he looked away, pulling his hand from her face and Ellie could tell that it had taken a lot for him to say what he just had.

Her heart fluttered a bit and a smile crept onto her face as she said,

"Frank...are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

Statham looked at her, relaxing when her saw her expression.

"Yes, I guess I am," he replied.

"Then my answer is yes," Ellie answered.

Fate was really taking a twist lately.

End of Chapter 13