FanFic100: #027 Parents
What the hell is keeping his father? They were supposed to have met already ten minutes ago and it’s not General Evan Lorne’s way to let anyone - let alone his own son - wait, most of all not when it’s about something like an offer to join the SGC only a year after his graduation from the Academy. Oh well, his father is an important man and maybe some minor crisis or other simply delayed his departure. So… it’s another coffee and maybe checking some e-mails… “Marcus?”
Immediately, a chill is running down his spine and his gut tell him to ignore that voice. His gut helped him through four years at the Academy, so he should damn well listen to it. However… “Young man, I’m talking to you.” He can hear that the man who won’t stop pestering him just sat down in the chair opposite to him, but he doesn’t look up. “Marcus Gleeson!”
Okay, that’s enough. He puts down his Palm and looks at the man opposite him. Even after 20 years he knows exactly who’s sitting opposite him: Someone he never wanted to see again. “The name is Lieutenant Marcus Lorne. And I would strongly advise you to get another table… sir.” He would have loved to leave at least the “sir” out, but that’s not what his parents and his instructors have taught him.
“I don’t see any reason why. After all… I’m your father.” At that last word, he feels something inside of him almost snap. 20 years go, the man across from him ceased to be his father. Even though his mother took great care that he and Andrew wouldn’t forget that for the first years of their lives someone else had fulfilled the role Evan Lorne had taken over, both he and his brother had never wanted to remember this man, as young as they had been then.
Reining in his troublesome temper, he says almost grinding it out, “My father is a General in the United States Air Force. You certainly don’t look like one. I ask you again to leave this table.” Actually… he would love to tell this man to get lost, preferably forever. He never told his mother how much he saw of the way the man that used to be his father treated her before she took Andrew and him and got the hell out of the house, no matter how much she tried to keep that guy away from them. Having to face him now… it puts a lot of strain on his already impatient personality.
The man opposite him - he refuses to put any other names than “son of a bitch” and “bastard” on him - shakes his head disapprovingly. “Don’t be so rude to your old man, Marcus. Didn’t your mother teach you how to be a nice boy?”
His “old man” wears uniform and should be here any minute, dammit. He needs to get rid of this particular fragment of his past ASAP. “My parents told me to keep away from the likes of you. Which is exactly what I’ll do now.” With that he puts down his empty cup of coffee, gathers his stuff and leaves the table without any further words. That man… isn’t worth any of them, anyway.
But he isn’t even really out of the coffee shop when he hears that voice again. “Don’t you even want to know how I found you?” Wait… did that mean the bastard was looking for him… them? He feels the chills creeping up his spine. He and his brother… they are probably safe from anything really dangerous, but his parents… and maybe Katie as well… Ever since starting to harass him here, this man has given him the creeps. Like underneath the cordial behavior, there is something sinister lurking… like the bastard has an agenda bigger than just ruffling his feathers a bit.
He turns around again. “Alright. Fine. How did you find me?”
There it is again, the grin that already made him shiver 20 years ago. Because every time he saw it, it meant that someone was going to get hurt, and nearly always that had been his mother. He still wishes his childhood memories were as fuzzy as those of his friends and siblings, but at least a few of them are forever carved into his mind, and this grin is one of the most horrible ones.
“Your mother isn't the only one with friends in the Armed Forces. Took me a while, but imagine my surprise when I found out that she’s wearing the name of a guy she claimed died ages ago.” Okay… they have a situation here. Now he has to tell his parents and he already hates that. Laura and Evan Lorne have never told their children in words but all of them somehow knew that there was one thing both of their parents - although being seasoned soldiers and highly capable officers - were afraid of: This man returning into their lives.
“She had every reason to. Now that we have cleared this up…” Dammit, where the hell is his father?
“And imagine my surprise when I found out that my boys are wearing that name as well. I was disappointed beyond belief, and I’m just here to remind you that blood is thicker than water.” He doesn’t believe that for one second. There’s got to be more to this encounter. And if there’s one thing he has learned in the years since their mother bundled them up in the car, drove hundreds of miles just to get away from the man opposite him and brought Evan Lorne into their lives, it’s that blood doesn’t matter.
His patience is starting to wear thin and silently he thanks his father for teaching him how to hang on to every bit of control he has. Still… he unconsciously clenches his fists as he answers, “I hope to God that this will never be the case here.” The bastard wants to say something, but he isn't done yet. “And I swear to God, should anything happen to my family, I will make sure you will never see the world without vertical bars again. Get. The. Hell. Lost.” Okay… that wasn’t exactly what his parents taught him but he just couldn’t help it… he can keep his cool pretty easily now but never when people he loves are involved.
As if all of that weren’t enough the bastard now even leans towards him a little. It’s really testing out the limits of his patience. The man murmurs, “You can try to pretend to yourself you’ve got your mother’s temper all you want, but you are my boy as well.” God, how he wants to punch that guy’s lights out… but right in that moment he finally sees his father step out of the building across the street and that does wonders to cool him down. It must have shown in his face since the man that used to be his father steps away from him and simply adds, “Tell your mother I said hi.” and turns to walk down the street seemingly unfazed. It leaves him reeling and he needs all his strength to pull himself together when his father reaches him.
On his father’s face there’s something like mild worry as he asks, “Is everything okay? What did that guy want from you?”
He knows he should tell the truth now but… it looks like his father just had a very long day at the office and he’s sure that his mother had an equally exhausting day and… he can still tell them in a quiet moment when the much more pressing matter of deciding to take up the offer from the SGC or not has been cleared up. “Just asked for directions. Now… can we go? I’m starving.”
His father chuckles and turns to walk over to the parking garages. “Ah, the voracious hunger of the young… you don’t mind I asked the Sheppards to come over tonight, right?” Well… at least it can’t be bad to have two other Stargate program veterans at the table. He shrugs.
“Nah. As long as I don’t have to listen to stories about Torren the Great all the time, that is.” Now his father gives him a grin.
“Can’t guarantee that. He just got promoted a few weeks ago. Anyway… you heard about your sister, right?” It makes him roll his eyes.
“Yeah. Only two weeks at Annapolis and she’s already in trouble. Mom told me… something like “Why couldn’t she choose a normal civilian college like your brother?” I think.” As his father laughs again, he throws a look over his shoulder, relieved to see that the disturbing shadow from his past has vanished into the streets of Washington, D.C. He finally manages to loosen up again and gradually, his levity is growing real again, even though a slight feeling of dread keeps lingering. But he won’t let that man ruin anything in his life again, and most of all not an evening with his parents whom he owes everything he is today.