callmemajor

It’s been twelve days (outside of Milliways). Twelve days.

And Lorne meant what he’d said to Jack. He’s tired. So tired of waiting and hoping and doing fucking nothing. He’s pretty much given up on anything actually useful happening.

So when Chuck’s call of, “Unscheduled offworld activation!” rings through the gateroom, he’s expecting Wraith or Genii or hell, even Replicators storming through. He’s not expecting Chuck to say the IDC they’re receiving is Sheppard’s, and he’s not expecting Carter to tell him to lower the shield, and he sure as hell isn’t expecting Sheppard to come stumbling through, looking sandy but otherwise unharmed.

And most of all, after a couple really confusing exchanges involving Sheppard telling McKay he’s a genius (as though the man needed the ego boost), he definitely, absolutely isn’t expecting Sheppard to say, “I know where Teyla is.”

***

Everything after that is something of a blur. Lorne knows it must have taken a fair bit of time, because first they have to put Sheppard through quarantine and a medical exam, and Sheppard has to convince Carter to let them go, and they have to get geared up, and there’s a bit of a walk from the gate to the building, but almost before Lorne knows it, he’s exploring a lab in Michael’s facility and McKay’s saying, “Whoa, Jackpot!”

Lorne’s hoping for a big flashing sign that says, “TEYLA’S HERE.” He tries not to be disappointed when McKay says, “I've got everything! I've got Gate addresses, I've got sub-space communication codes. I've even got his research into the hybrids!”

He even tries to smile when McKay adds, “He’s history.”

Of course, even though it wasn’t what they were looking for, Lorne figures he should have known it was too good to be true.

Because the next thing he knows, McKay’s saying something about a countdown, and Lorne’s radioing Sheppard telling them it’s a booby trap and they have to get out…

And then there’s a sound not quite like an explosion, and the ground starts shaking, and he grabs McKay by his vest and tries to drag him from the room, but the ceiling caves in and blocks their way, and the walls collapse around them.

And then there’s pain. And then there’s nothing.

***

He’s not dead, but he’s beginning to wish he were.

He’s stuck in a caved in room with a broken leg and Rodney McKay. If he had to pick a definition of hell, this is probably it.

On top of that, whatever chance they had of finding Teyla has probably completely disappeared.

But the combat engineers show up before too long, and for once, Lorne is glad McKay can yell so loudly.

They’re dug out, and Lorne’s leg is put in an emergency splint, and they hide out in cloaked jumpers until the Daedelus arrives while Michael’s hybrids search the planet for survivors.

And Teyla’s on Michael’s ship. Probably. And they’re so close, yet again, to getting her back.

And then Lorne ends up in the infirmary, and Keller gives him something awfully strong for the pain, and he doesn’t remember any more.


[ooc: All dialogue from the SGA episodes “The Last Man” and “Search and Rescue”]

[ooc: Takes place shortly after this.]

He figures it'll be a quick, pointless trip. As much as he knows Teyla believes she'll find what she's looking for, he doesn't hold out much hope.

So he makes small talk. Tells her about living in San Francisco, visiting the flea markets there. Days like this make it almost easy to forget he's in another galaxy.



And then Teyla finds a merchant selling trinkets she knows once belonged to Athosians, and the mission suddenly becomes interesting, useful even.




He knows the trader will run when he sees Lorne, knows he won't be able to catch him, not on unfamiliar terrain.

He almost feels bad for the guy when he runs into the small log Teyla holds up just at face level.



He's never been good at interrogation. He's not intimidating enough. People aren't scared of him. It doesn't help that Atlantis has that reputation for kindness and mercy.

Teyla though...Lorne has never seen her like this, and though he knows it's just part of the plan to get the man to talk, he almost believes she would turn him over to the villagers as a Wraith-worshiper. It's the first time he really understands how much she's willing to do to find her people.

And when the trader cracks, Lorne knows, somewhere in the back of his mind, that it was too easy. But he's afraid of what Teyla might do if he points that out, so he just tells the Marines to untie the man so he can lead them to the place he found the trinkets he's been trading.




As they walk to the gate, he knows he has to do something, at least try to rein in Teyla's aggression. Sheppard's been worried about her for months now, and he can understand why.

"First thing we do when we get to the gate is radio back to Atlantis," he says, glancing cautiously over at her. "Let them know where we're goin', okay?"

She nods almost imperceptibly, but she doesn't look happy about it.

"Listen, Teyla. I know you're looking for answers about what happened to your people, but I'm thinking maybe it's better if you let us check it out, okay?"

He knows she'll refuse, but he has to suggest it. Has to at least try.

She shakes her head, giving him an incredulous look. "Major."

"Look, just let us scout ahead all right?"

And that's when he hears it. The sound that haunts his dreams, keeps him up some nights. The sound that every Pegasus native takes as the call to flee, run to safety, save your family, look to the skies.

He knows what it is, but as Teyla turns to look over her shoulder, he still asks, "What is it?" hoping he's wrong.

What happens next is too fast for him to even really process. He yells, "Dart!" and dives to his left, trusting the others to leap out of the way of the culling beam. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the trader grab Teyla, pulling her into the dart's path.

And then they're gone, and the dart is too, and he can't believe something like this has happened on his watch again.


***


They dial back to Atlantis, and Lorne sends his IDC through, waits for confirmation that the shield has been lowered and steps through, knowing what sort of greeting waits on the other side.

Carter comes down the stairs to meet him, along with Sheppard, McKay and Keller.

He knows they'll ask. She's conspicuous in her absence.

He can't quite meet Sam's eyes when she asks, "Major, where's Teyla?"

And he doesn't know how he's supposed to answer that.



[ooc: All dialogue from the Stargate: Atlantis episode "The Kindred".]

There's a small cabin a little ways up the mountain behind Milliways. It's cozy-looking and inviting, smoke streaming softly from the chimney. It's well-lit and welcoming on a cold, snowy night.

It’s part of his job, this cleaning up of other people’s messes. So when he gets sent to the Teranans’ planet (former planet) to clean up Michael’s mess, it’s not unexpected.

He’s known since the beginning that what they did to Michael was not only wrong, it was dangerous, and it was bound to come back and bite them in the ass.

But he’d never expected this.

An entire civilization, one they’d helped save, destroyed. Not just destroyed. Mutilated. Discarded like garbage. Left to rot in much the same way. (And there are dozens of worlds like this, dozens of planets Michael has turned into his laboratories in retaliation for the ostracism they forced on him.)

And with each grave dug (because it’s the least they can do, really, to dig them each their own grave), he becomes less and less like the picture-perfect, hardened, battle-worn 2IC he’s made himself into, and more and more like that queasy, first-time-off-world, hand-still-shaking-on-his-gun geologist, vomiting at the sight of Lieutenant Ritter’s body, racked up as a warning for the rest of them.

It’s our fault, is the thought that keeps running through his head, and that’s the part that makes this so very hard to live with. They put the Teranans on this planet. They provided Michael with the gate address (knowingly or not). And every single body buried is like facing Ritter all over again.

By the time he gets back to Atlantis, sits through a quick physical and debriefing, the smell of death still seems to be all around him, and he desperately needs to shower, to scrub the stench from his skin again and again until he smells like himself again, until he smells (feels) alive again.

But, as usual, the universe (or the Landlord) has other plans.

For some reason, the door to the Bar has been consistently showing up in Lorne's mother's laundry room the entire time he's been visiting her.

So it's a somewhat gentle whirring, a pleasant warmth, and the scent of fabric softener that greets them when he leads Jack through the door.

"It's not as exciting as Atlantis," he says with an apologetic smile.


[ooc: Adult content within.]