II.

EVAN

"Good morning sir!"

"Good morning."

It still amazed Evan how he of all people ended up as Colonel Sheppard's SIC. He had, ever since he heard about the Atlantis expedition wanted to be on it, but because of his place on SG-15 he had not been able to go the first time. Then he had been asked if he wanted to go on the second run, Evan had of course jumped at the chance to get to see another galaxy. He would have been happy just being on Atlantis but being the now technically third highest ranking person in the military on Atlantis was mind boggling.

He knew some people resented him for his high rank and low age (he had just turned 36), but here on Atlantis no one seemed to care. Maybe the people here just liked him better than some stuck up officer on earth or maybe he had earned their respect and trust, and Evan really hoped it was the latter even if a bit of both would not be bad.
Humming on a song he had heard on the radio a while back, Evan did his usual morning round. He had made it into a small routine of every morning taking a small stroll through Atlantis, the jumpers bay, the infirmary, the training rooms etc. at first it had been to become more familiar with the people there and to find his way around, after a while it just became a habit, a nice and relaxing habit. More often than not, he found himself stopping and speaking with people, this usually made him late for breakfast but it had never bothered him, he had never been a big eater.

Having three meals a day was good enough for him and then maybe an apple or banana or any other fruit was always a good snack if he started to feel hungry in between meals. Evan could not help but smile when he thought about some of the marines the stack of food they piled on their trays at dinner time was almost more than what Evan ate on one day.

Thinking about food and hungry marines made Evan's thoughts spill into a bit more than forbidden territory, McKay. It would do him no good, okay the man was not even near as snappish as he was in the start and he maybe was ready to talk in a more civil manner with him, but that did not mean that the Doctor liked him. God knows McKay had more than once, whined over 'all-brawn-no-brain-explosive-happy-soldiers'. Why Evan even had entertained the thought that he would have a chance with McKay, was ridiculous. McKay did not want a grunt, a lowly Major in the army, who had studied geology and barely understood what he was talking about. And even though McKay was known to be bi, he had no idea that Evan was gay, in fact no one on Atlantis knew that he was gay, it was just not something he spoke about much.

With a determined huff, Evan pushed those thoughts out of his head and plastered his standard small and calm smile onto his face. His 'Zen-face' if he was to listen to his more than annoying teammates (AKA. Parrish and Cadman).

"Good morning sir!"

"Ah, good morning Sergeant Harriman," greeted Evan back signaling for the saluting woman to stand at ease. "You seem as if you've got something on your mind."

"Uh… yes sir. I… just wondered… these personal interviews we have to have with Fields…."

"You're wondering why he wants everyone's files?"

"Yes sir."

Evan gave the nervous woman a small reassuring smile, he understood why she was worried, not too long ago she had had a small nervous breakdown but had been back on Atlantis for almost two months and nothing had happened yet.

"Don't worry about it sergeant, the only file Fields will be looking into is your standard file, of course there is a marking that you were on an extended sick leave but no he has no right to look into your medical file," explained Evan.

He could practically see how her shoulders slumped in relief. Sergeant Harriman was a good marine, she was dedicated and smart she did not deserve getting punished over something which was not her fault. It could have been anyone getting that breakdown, after all being held captured by raving lunatics wanting to do experiments on you was enough to push anyone over the edge.

"Okay thank you sir." He was rewarded with a bright smile and a salute before she hurried away down the hall, leaving him behind with a sour taste in his mouth.

Personal interviews, ugh. Evan had gotten a few days ago an e-mail from Fields, telling him he was to gather everyone's files and give them to Fields, who would be going through them before he started with the interviews. More than that he did not know about it, they were now at the end of the first week and so Evan made a well educated guess that it would not be too long before things would start to change. So far Fields had not done more than make a few rude remarks (the man's rude remarks had done nothing else but bless him with people's dislike) and butted heads with Colonel Sheppard. It was hard to say who liked who less, Colonel Sheppard or Fields.

"You seem thoughtful today, sir."

"Ah, Doctor Henley how are you settling in, into the Botany Department?" asked Evan, his breath not even hitching when he turned around to face one of the newest addition to Parrish's botany team appeared behind him.

Henley was an interesting fellow and Evan did not mind sitting down and talking with the man. He was a bit like Zelenka, only British.

"Yes thank you Major, I must admit I didn't think I'd like it this much," answered Henley brightly in his very attractive British accent.

Evan did not continue the conversation before they were slowly walking down the corridor side by side.

"That's good. Parrish has gossiped and I must admit we've been in a bit of a pinch when it comes to the Botany Department for a while now, ever since Doctor Brown returned to earth to get married, there's been a shortage of staff."

"Well then I'm glad I accepted this post, if nothing else I enjoy working with Parrish, Dumont and Wingfield," admitted Henley happily.

"So am I, so am I. Parrish and Dumont love doing odd experiments with the plants and sometimes it works out fine, but most of the time it goes straight to hell, maybe they'll slow down a bit when they're not alone anymore."

"You don't count Wingfield?"

"Wingfield is mostly off world, living with different people helping them make simple medicine and stuff with the plants on the planets and other stuff, the man is eccentric to the point his picture should be placed in a dictionary beside the word."

"Oh… so you hope I'll be able to keep the two in check?"

"I can always hope Doctor Henley," said Evan with a small smile, "but I fear Parrish and Dumont won't care, either way I'm sure you've already heard of some of their more famous experiments."

"Oh yes! I've been approached by a lot of people giving me good advice about those two, and of course a few stories have been shared," said Henley.

"I can almost guess which stories…"

"So it's true that they made… -you know what I mean- that they extracted it from some plant?"

"Yes, all rumors about Parrish and Dumont creating a sort of more ecological and almost better lube than that what we have with us is true, and is held as their biggest achievement here on Atlantis," confirmed Evan.

"Wow, that's kind of cool."

"Well, you've just entered one of the smallest science departments on Atlantis and unfortunately their given a bit more leeway than some others."

"Oh goody," smiled Henley rubbing his hands together.

They did not talk for much longer as Henley had to go back to his plants, and so Evan continued alone once again. Not that it bothered him; he was at the end of his tour and was already heading for his office. He had a bit of paperwork to do, and for some odd reason doing paperwork was something that calmed him down. Evan was not sure if it was because of the simple routine in it, of reading and signing or if it was because he had to shut out everything else to be able to concentrate which did it for him.

He had barely sat down and started looking through his papers when the door to his office banged open and in barged Lieutenant Cadman.

"Sir! We need you in the gate room, its Colonel Sheppard and Mr. Fields!"

Evan was already out of his chair and halfway down the corridor on his way to the gate room when Cadman finished. Of course, he had expected something like this to happen but for it to happen this early on, no; Evan did not want to know what had triggered it. Colonel Sheppard was a man with seriously good self-control, and even if he mouthed off 99.9 of the time when a superior officer of his ordered him to do something, Evan knew that John was a man with an iron control over his emotions. Getting angry, especially where anyone could see, it just did not sound like the Colonel.

It was easy to find where the commotion was, as there seemed to have gathered quite the small group of watchers. Then again, Atlantis gossip channels were seriously well connected, it was almost creepy.

He was lucky that clearing his throat was all he had to do for the people to make way for him; it would have been so annoying having to elbow himself through. What he found when he got through was not a very pleasant one. Fields was redder in the face than a tomato and one could see he was not happy and Colonel Sheppard was angry too, in his eyes burned a crazy anger that any sane person would be scared of.

"What's going on?" asked Evan in a lowered voice of Zelenka who was standing on the side looking worried.

"Oh thank god, I almost thought Cadman would not find you!" whispered Zelenka pushing at his glasses nervously, "it seems as if the Colonel refused to follow an order made by Fields about some off world thing, I don't know what, actually I don't think anyone else but those two knows."

"So it's bad?"

"Very bad," said Zelenka with a defeated sigh.

"Colonel Sheppard, Mr. Fields, please stop!"

Some people had pulled back when they noticed that Evan had arrived but the majority just seemed more interested than before.

"Stay out of this Major Lorne, go sign some papers! As that seems to be the only thing you're good at!" spat Fields at him.

If nothing else, but that burned. Swallowing a sharp retort, Evan used his best 'Zen-face' and calming voice.

"I'm sorry sir but I can't do that," said Evan turning to face John instead of Fields and continued in a lowered voice, "What's going on sir? What's the man screaming about now?"

"Mr. Fields here has gotten into his head that I'm not allowed to authorize a rescue party or give orders about off world things for the time being, and that I'm not allowed to follow rescue protocol made by the SGC that not only we follow but also earth," said John his every word dripping of sarcasm.

Evan could feel a headache starting, the small throbbing behind his eyes was always a good indicator that he would not like what would come.

"I gave you specific orders Colonel and I expect them to be followed, while I'm here you do as I say! And if I say that you're not to help SGA-5 then you don't do it!"

"They were being held captive, and needed help, I'm not going to stand by the side and watch them getting killed because you want to play the big man."

"Sir please, we do have our orders, and when it comes to missions off world we have a certain way we do it because of the high risks of the people held captive being killed," Evan tried to explain but Fields was not listening.

"Did I not tell you to be quiet Major? Or did you just decide not to listen?" spat Fields at him.

Seriously, how could the man expect anyone to respect him when he acted that way? It was a mystery to Evan.

"I heard you sir."

For a split second Evan though he was going to get punched in the face. He was already bracing himself for the hit, when Fields took a step back still glaring daggers and both Evan and John it was as if he could not decide which one he disliked more.

"Mark my words, this is not over, I'll deal with it in due time," growled Fields before he stalked away.

By this time most people had left, not wanting to feel the brunt of the man's anger, it was bad enough when he made a few flippant comments when he walked past or thought he could do their jobs better than them. Evan could see from the corner of his eyes a shadow standing up in the control room and when he turned his eyes locked with Commander Mitchell's who gave him a small approving nod. It seemed as if he was not the only one who had been alerted about John's small disagreement with Fields.

"Are they in the infirmary?"

"Huh?"

"SGA-5 sir, are they in the infirmary?"

"Yeah, they're getting checked over by Keller."

"I should probably go down there and talk to them?" it came out more as a question than Evan had thought.

"That's a good idea Major, make sure they all take tomorrow off, they've had a rough three days."

"Yes sir, I'll make sure of that."

With that Evan left the gate room. His day had suddenly taken a different route. Walking past Commander Mitchell's office on his way to the infirmary, he could hear the agitated voice of Norman Fields. Whatever it was he was after, it seemed as if Mitchell was not in the mood to give it to him.

Evan smirked, most people when they described Mitchell used words like, honest, nice, calm, leader but most people forgot the word stubborn, Mitchell could be exactly as hard headed and stubborn as Sheppard. And by the hard edges around his mouth and eyes, the Commander of Atlantis would not make this meeting an easy one.

CAMERON

Cameron had been sitting behind his desk in his office for the past three hours, he had not been sleeping very well and instead of rolling around in his bed he had decided to do something worthwhile. Putting his pen down on top of the paper he had been reading, Cam stretched his arms above his head, stretching, trying to work out the kinks in his back. Sitting in the exact same position without moving for three hours was not the smartest thing Cam mused.

He had been lying in bed later than usually unable to sleep, thinking of John. It was funny how he could concentrate on his work when he had John sleeping beside him but even one night when he did not know where John was and he turned into a nervous mess. Even if he now knew that John was sleeping in his own bed and not held captive somewhere on some planet, it was no better, if nothing else it was worse. Knowing exactly where his lover was and unable to reach for him and hold him.

Yes, Cam knew it, he was a lovesick fool but he could not do anything about it. He had just caught and gotten John to agree to give their relationship a try and then this annoying fool Fields turn up, it was a nightmare. John was a good leader and an even better soldier but not the best one when it comes down to emotions and relationships.
A warm smile spread on Cam's face when thought about his lover. They had soon been together for a year and Cam hoped Fields would be gone by that time so that he could plan something extra for him and John. Just the thought of what they could be doing sent a pleasant chill down Cam's back and he could feel his pants getting a bit tight. It did no good thinking about the more pleasurable side of their relationship, especially when he had gone back in his development, reduced to relieve the tension with his hand.

"Calm and steady, Cam…" chanted Cam to himself, "you can do this it's not forever… I hope…"

It was almost pitiful how much paperwork he had undone, when he rested his head on the stack of papers on his desk, he almost did not have to bend his back at all. It did not take long before it got harder and harder for his eyes to stay open, and he drifted off into a light slumber.

He had not been asleep for more than maybe an hour and a half when the door to his office banged open and someone rushed in. It took Cam's sleep muddled brain a few seconds to recognize the slightly worried look of Doctor Keller standing in front of him.

"Doctor Keller, how can I help you?"

"Um… how should I put this Commander…? Colonel Sheppard and Mr. Fields are having a small disagreement in the gate-room."

If Cam had been even the slightest fuzzy in the head from sleep a second ago, he was nothing of the sort when he heard the words, Colonel Sheppard, Fields, and disagreement in the same sentence. Standing up with such force that his chair fell over, Cam exited the room in a whirlwind of paperwork that fell from his desk.

When he reached the control room he stopped to look down from the big windows where he had a perfect view of the gate-room. It was not a nice scene that he saw, with John and Fields staring daggers at each other, and with the way Fields mouth was moving he was chewing out John good. Just as Cam was on his way to get down there and put an end to it, he saw Major Lorne entering the room a mask of utter calmness on his face.

"Commander? Aren't you going to do anything?"

"For the moment I'll let Major Lorne take care of it, if it seems as if it won't help, then I'll interfere."

"Ah, okay…"

"Don't worry Doctor Keller, Major Lorne can handle it."

Cam watched with keen eyes what played out down in the gate-room. It seemed as if Fields was not too happy about Major Lorne's presence if the threatening way he moved towards the shorter man. Usually all Cam needed was to look but right at that moment he wished that one could hear what was being said, down in the gate-room when oneself was in the control room. It would have made things much easier, now he just had their body language to go by and it was kind of hard when one was projecting a ridiculous amount of aggressiveness and the other one was projecting more calmness than Buddha could have in a similar situation.

A small smile crept onto Cam's face, the situation was probably not the best one but he could not help it. He still had his small one on one conversation with General O'Neill fresh in his mind from when he was to leave for Atlantis for the first time.

Flashback

"Ah Mitchell, come in," said O'Neill indicating for Cam to sit down, "Do you want some coffee?"

"No thank you sir, I'm fine."

"Well then let's get down to business, you're leaving for Atlantis tomorrow morning right?"

Even though O'Neill made it sound like a question, Cam knew it wasn't. After all, O'Neill was the one who had signed off on Cam's papers and stuff.

"Yes sir, tomorrow at 0700 hours."

"Good, I know it'll be a bit different from leading the SG-1 but I think you'll manage good, after all I wouldn't have recommended if you wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Thank you sir, I think… I've read all the reports from Atlantis."

"Good, but I hope you understand that what's written in the reports isn't all that there is, right?"

"Yes sir?"

"Even if you go in as the highest commanding officer and the 'leader' of Atlantis, I know that this may sound a bit odd but… I don't want you to make the same mistake as Johnson did, poor guy barley lasted three months and you know why Colonel Mitchell?"

"No sir."

Cam had not really cared listening, Johnson was an asshole and a whiner, that he had not managed to keep Atlantis afloat was no surprise. They should just have let Woolsey continue.

"Because he thought he could come there as a newbie and rule it like an emperor."

"Sir?"

"Oh what the hell, what I'm trying to say is that Sheppard and Lorne is a one package deal, you piss off one of them you piss off the other one too. They have each other's backs and they've both been on Atlantis for a long time, the people there respect them, so I guess what I'm trying to say is, that yes you're the leader but don't ignore them and what's most important is don't aggravate them 'cause they can get nasty."

"Don't worry sir, I'm not Johnson."

"Yes I know, and thank god for that! Either way, you know them don't you?"

"Sheppard and Lorne, yeah I know them, Sheppard better than Lorne though, but I don't think it'll be a problem."

"Good, well then Colonel I wish you good luck," said O'Neill.

They shook hands and then Cam walked out from the room.

End of flashback

O'Neill had been right. Arriving on Atlantis, Cam had used a kind but firm hand showing that he was not there to push them down. He had listened to John's and Evan's advices, and in return they had listened to him. In the end, he had earned the respect of the people on Atlantis, earning himself the title Commander. Almost no one called him Colonel anymore, it was just Commander and he liked it.

Of course, he probably had been in a better position than anyone else coming after Weir as her replacement, as he had known John already in the Academy where they had become friends. From the first time they had met, Cam could still remember the day as if it had only happened hours ago; he had been instantly attracted to John when they had run into each other in the halls of the Academy. Unfortunately nothing had happened between them at the time but in the end Cam did not mind, after all he had gotten his one love, as his mother used to say "if you're meant for each other then it won't matter if you're separated for a while, because you'll meet again one day", and she had been right.

Cam stood up in the control room until he had made sure that the confrontation was over, and saw how Fields stormed out. It was not a positive sight, and it made Cam worry that the man would not forget this small encounter very easily.

Turning around Cam walked back to his office to take care of the last pieces of paperwork. He had a small feeling that he would have a very angry guest in his office in a few minutes, and he did not want to be taken by surprise.

Sinking down in his chair, Cam started to fill out the papers but like he expected he did not get far before for the second time of the day his office door was slammed open this time not by a worried friend but by a furious clown.

"Mr. Fields how can I help you?"

"Don't joke with me, Colonel! I will not tolerate this kind of insubordination, if you won't punish them I will!"

"Punish? Punish who, Mr. Fields? Colonel Sheppard for doing his job or perhaps Major Lorne who stopped your small fight from escalating, neither man did anything else but their jobs. Why should I punish them for that?"

Cam could see that Fields was seething on the inside. Not that it would do the man any good, Cam knew it probably was not one of his better plans to say no to Fields, but he was not going to punish either John or Evan when they for once followed the rules and did their jobs whilst following said rules. Nothing that Fields was saying would make him change that.

Blue eyes met brown in an intense staring game that lasted only seconds before Fields blinked and looked away. It was a small victory for Cam, but a victory nonetheless.

"Fine, I shall let it pass this time, but if it happens again, they can both, kiss their careers goodbye," hissed Fields.

"Believe me Mr. Fields, this way everyone will be much happier," except for you, said Cam leaving the end of the sentence unsaid.

"Let's hope so Colonel Mitchell, let's hope so."

"Well then if you'll please excuse me Mr. Fields, I've got as you can see, tons of paperwork to fill out."

No apology, no nothing left Fields mouth, as the man turned around and left. His shoulders squared a very certain indicator that he was not happy with how things had turned out. Not that it was Cam's problem, even though he promised himself to try and keep a better lookout when Fields was in close range with either John or Evan.

Yawning, Cam went back to work. He really was not cutout for the job of signing papers, but it had to be done so there was not much he could do about it. After all, he did not have the luxury that John had, who shipped off all his papers to Evan who took care of them without a complaint. Actually, Cam was sure they had a some kind of agreement going on, because there was a very clear pattern in whose signature there was on the papers as it was not that big of a deal if it was not about some more important paper, on all those papers that had numbers on them it was John's messy but neat handwriting and on everything else there was Evan's artistic and graceful signature.

"Well Cameron, there ain't no time like the present, let's do this before you get stuck to the chair," said Cam to himself.

So that was it, the third chapter is up and running :)