Fanfiction, "The Scientist and the Major", SGA, Lorne/Novak, 1/?
Author: world_of_blade
Title: The Scientist and the Major
Rating: PG (Rating might change for other chapters)
Pairing: Lorne/Novak
Summery: Lindsey Novak is part of an off-world class the Major is teaching.
A/N: Huge thanks to ubiquitous_girl for the awesome beta job!
(cross-posted at lorne_novak, lostcityfound, oddball_sga, and who_needs_canon)
“I want you all to remember E.T.G.” Marcus Lorne was standing in the middle of one of the gyms on Atlantis. He had an attentive audience looking up at him from the floor. “That stands for eyes, throat, and groin.”
The scientists from the Daedalus shifted nervously at those words, some even began to blush. Major Lorne, seemingly noticing their reaction, reminded them, “It might sound a bit crude, but this is self-defense people. There is nothing polite or politically correct about it. Remember that it is you or him.” Lorne said, pausing to let his words sink in.
The Daedalus was in dock at Atlantis for the next month, and Caldwell had decided that it was time for his non-military personnel to get some “off world” training. Colonel Sheppard had agreed, but thought it would be a good idea for the personnel to learn some self-defense first…and an even better idea for Major Lorne to teach them.
“For now, I am going to show basic self-defense that you can use against any human and get results. Later we will go over tactics for fighting against the Wraith.” Before he could begin to demonstrate the use of E.T.G, he was interrupted by a loud hiccup. Lorne raised an eyebrow as some of the scientists snorted with suppressed laughter.
The crowd seemed to part of their own accord, showing the Major a woman sitting at the very back. She seemed to almost have a bird like quality about her. Lorne could tell that she had almost porcelain skin, even though at this moment her cheeks were red with a blush.
“Sorry,” the woman hiccupped again, and turned darker. She pursed her lips together for a moment, and then let out a sigh. “Go on, Major.”
Not quite sure what to make of her, Lorne tried to forget about the interruption and get back to business. “Imagine a guy 6'6" with shoulders so wide you wouldn't think he'd fit through doors and huge muscles bulging out of his skin tight t-shirt. He openly demonstrates that he lives in a gym and eats steroids for breakfast, lunch and dinner. How could a little thing like you with no muscles to speak of fend off an attack from such a huge monster?” Major Lorne went on. “That is where E.T.G comes in. The eye, throat, and groin areas will always be vulnerable for the simple fact that they can not be trained or toughened by exercise.”
“But we have all those too,” the hiccupping woman burst out, causing a small smile to form on Lorne’s lips.
“Doctor…”
“Novak,” the woman said, meeting the Major’s eyes. “Doctor Lindsey Novak.”
“You are completely right, Doctor Novak.” Lorne went on, a full smile now on his face. Something about the woman just made him want to laugh. “We all have those parts. We will also be going over how to protect from E.T.G. but that is a different lesson.” Forcing his eyes away from the intriguing woman, he got his thoughts back on track. “Now, the eyes are a good resort for several reasons. The first being that they are the easiest to reach, and not only does the strike cause the attacker pain but blinds them to make an easier escape.” Lorne went on to explain all the other vulnerable areas, and by the end of the class they had already practiced some of the moves with partners.
Later, Marcus stood to one side and watched the Daedalus scientists as they filed out of the gym. All in all, the first class had been a success. He had complained about the assignment when it had been handed to him, but he felt differently about it now. It was actually kind of fun to teach novices some basic things that could end up saving their lives, not that he would ever admit that to Sheppard. Suddenly, Lindsey Novak came back into his view. She was laughing with another scientist. The hiccupping seemed to dissipate as the class progressed, and after awhile, she had seemed to get a hold of herself, and showed a natural talent for the moves that were required for self-defense. Finding himself drawn to the scientist, he found that he had to stop himself from calling out to her. Instead he just watched with hooded eyes as she slowly exited the gym.
***
“What is it with you scientists?”
Lindsey whirled around when a voice called out from the hallway. There stood the man who had been in her dreams last night…all of last night.
“Major, you scared me!” she said putting a hand over her pounding heart.
Lindsey Novak had come down to one of the unused gyms that night, to get some practice in before their next self defense class. Her mind knew that she had every right to use the gym, at any time of the night or day, but it still felt like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“Sorry,” Lorne gave her an innocent smile, but Lindsey wasn’t dumb…there was nothing innocent about Marcus Lorne; and now she had the memory of his dimples to take to bed as well. “We are patrolling this part of the city tonight. I heard some noise coming from this room so I came to check it out.”
“Oh,” Lindsey said, trying to bring herself under control. She had not been affected like this by a man in years. She didn’t know what it was about Major Lorne, but ever since their class she could not get him out of her head. “Well, things are fine here… so you can go on your way.”
Lorne choked back a chuckle; the picture of Lindsey Novak ordering him to “be on his way” was almost too much for him.
“Good to know you’re on the case.” He teased, his smile growing wider.
Lindsey felt her face grow warm. Suddenly, she realized how her last statement sounded. She hadn’t meant that she could police the halls better than his team; she was just trying to tell him that nothing was amiss. “I didn’t mean… I wasn’t….” To her utter embarrassment, right in the middle of her crazy ramblings she hiccupped loudly. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she had the strange urge to start crying. Usually she did not stumble over her words, but with the Major she was turning into a babbling idiot.
“Calm down, Doctor Novak.” Lorne said. All teasing was gone from his face. He now felt bad that he had caused the woman to grow so agitated that she actually started hiccupping again. “I was just giving you a hard time, I knew what you meant.”
“Oh…” Novak searched for something else to say to ease the awkward moment. Finally her mind hit on something he had said before. “What did you mean when you said ‘what is with you scientists’?”
The killer dimples were back, as Lorne let a smile light up his handsome face again. “My team and I have come across about a dozen scientists in different rooms around Atlantis tonight. All of them chanting E.T.G to themselves, while trying out some of the moves we practiced yesterday.”
“We believe in being prepared.” Lindsey said. She had actually already known about the others practicing. Earlier today they had set a schedule so that the whole group could get in practice time.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Lorne was now moving closer, and Lindsey had a moment of panic. She wasn’t very sure just why she was panicked…but she had an inkling that it could be because a gorgeous man was still hanging around talking to her. “I think it’s great that you guys want to practice, I just don’t understand why you all are doing it for hours on end.”
“We don’t want to fail the test.”
Lorne seemed to stop dead at that last remark. He cocked his head to one side, and raised his eyebrows.
“What test?”
It was Lindsey’s turn to be surprised. “We aren’t having a test?” she asked, horror blooming on her face.
Finally, the Major let his laughter come full force. “Are you all really practicing because you think you will be graded?”
“How are we supposed to know if we’ve done a good job?” Lindsey felt like the floor had just been ripped out from under her. No test? Life was made up of tests.
Lorne was looking at the woman before him in a new light. She was really upset that they were not going to be graded on their off-world class. He couldn’t help but think she was cute standing there, in her little workout shorts trying to come to grips with it not all coming down to a A+; it was new for him to find someone who wanted a test.
“So all of you want a test?”
She just looked at him like he was slow. Who on earth wouldn’t want to prove themselves through a test? “Yes, we need a test.”
He should have known, that to make a group of scientists learn how to protect themselves; they would need the goal of being able to flaunt a good grade.
She stood there watching him as he thought that over. In her mind, the military guys had always been the butch ones who used a gun instead of their brain. After spending time on the Daedalus, her thoughts had changed about the military. Yes, they usually wanted to use a gun first, but they were smart. Novak found that she thought that Marcus Lorne was especially smart. A tiny voice in her head asked if it was smart or hot; but she was pretty sure it was smart.
“Alright, Doctor Novak, we’ll have a test.” At his words, her face lit up like a Christmas tree. Lorne’s stomach flip-flopped as he stared into her shinning eyes. Hell, if this is what it took to make her smile at him he would give the group a test every time he worked with them. He still wasn’t even sure what the appeal was of Lindsey Novak… he just knew that he wanted to see more of her.
His radio squawked, braking up the moment. “This floor is clear, sir. Only more scientists.”
Lindsey was again knocked sideways by Lorne’s smile at that comment. He had such a commanding presence even while seeming relaxed. He was so secure in himself, and that caused her to want to be around him. They really didn’t even know each other, but she found that she liked being around him; he made her feel safe. She listened as he told his men to start on the next level. Lindsey found that she really didn’t want him to leave.
“I’ll let you get back to your practice,” Marcus said, giving her a quick smile as he headed out of the room. Right before he hit the door, he looked over his shoulder. “Be sure and widen your stance, which will help you achieve a stronger base.”
He was out the door before she could even get her thoughts together. Jogging to the opening she called down the hall.
“Thanks for the tip, Major.”
Lorne turned, and felt his heart speed up. Lindsey Novak stood there in work out clothes, her hair pulled up in a messy pony tail, and all he could think was that she looked luminous in the soft light that lit most of Atlantis’s corridors. He also finally let himself acknowledge that the doctor had legs that went on for days.
“No problem, that’s what I am here for Doctor.”
“Well, have a good rest of the night.” Lindsey answered back, trying to find anything to keep him around a while longer. “Don’t go finding any scary disease in one of the locked rooms.”
“I’m not worried about that tonight; we don’t have McKay with us.” Lorne said, and then with a cheeky wink he was gone.
Lindsey stood a while longer in the hallway. Finally, she let out a slow breath. “Damn, he’s cool.” She said to the silent walls around her.
***
“What do you mean no test?”
“There is a test now.” Lindsey hurried to tell the whole table. She was sitting with the scientists from her “off- world” group having breakfast. They were all staring at her in bewilderment but seemed to calm down after she assured them that their hard work would not be wasted and they would be graded. “The Major assured me last night that he would have a test prepared for us at the end of this course.”
“Last night,” Sarah Benning jumped in, causing Lindsey to curse that she even mentioned her meeting with Lorne. Benning always turned everything into gossip. “What were you doing with the Major last night?”
Novak felt her face flame. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, but just that speculative look on Benning’s face made her nervous. “He and his team found me practicing while they were on rounds. We had a quick word, and then he left.”
Sarah looked like she was about to press for more information, when Tyler jumped in. “You didn’t have him help you out on moves did you?” Then before waiting for an answer, he stood up and pointed accusingly at Lindsey. “No cheating, Novak. We already talked about that rule; no one can get help from the Major unless it is in class.”
“I didn’t…” Lindsey started to defend herself, when another scientist jumped in.
“You’re just mad because you didn’t think of it first, Tyler. The rule, if you will remember, stated that we can’t get help from other military personnel. It said nothing about getting help from the one who is teaching us. So Tyler, unless you have forgotten what the world teach means, then it is perfectly okay for Novak to get help from our teacher.”
“I didn’t ask for any help…” Again, Novak was cut off by a furious Tyler.
“Fine! If that is how you want to interpret the rule, although some could call it a loop hole, then we should change the rule to clearly state that it is okay to seek help from Major Lorne.”
“You guys have rules?”
The two men fighting it out visibly jumped. The whole table looked around and saw Major Lorne standing behind Tyler. Lindsey could tell that he was clearly amused by them, and holding back a laugh.
“Of course we have rules,” Tyler huffed, as he sat back down at the table. “It is how we can all be sure it is a fair test, and no one tries to cheat.” He said the last shooting a glare at Lindsey.
Marcus saw the glare, and didn’t like that it was pointed at Lindsey. He couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, but could see the accusation of cheating was hitting Novak hard. The need to protect her welled up inside him.
“Doctor Novak did not search me out to get pointers.” Lorne said, his tone challenging anyone to disagree with him. “Besides, she doesn’t need them.” A smile was back on his face, but it was not a friendly one as he looked straight at Tyler. “If anyone needs to get some extra help it would be you, Doctor Tyler.”
Tyler sat gaping, his mouth hanging wide open. The rest of the table hid smirks at Lorne’s statement. Tyler was indeed the worst of the class, so far, but the man had such a big ego her refused to entertain the notion that he wouldn’t be the best in the class.
“As to getting extra help from me,” Marcus went on giving the rest of the table a true smile, “if I am here and available, I will be more than happy to help you.”
At that, the table began to talk excitedly together; probably coming up with a schedule of when everyone could get his help. Shaking his head at what these groups of scientists were doing, he made his way back out of the mess hall. He was half way down the hall, when he heard his name being called. Turning, he saw Novak walking after him. His nerves immediately went on high alert. Ever since the night before, he had been trying to think of ways to come in contact with the woman. Now here she was seeking him out.
“Did you mean it?” Lindsey asked, trying to catch her breath. Lorne seemed to be able to get from one end of the mess hall to the other in lightning speed. She had to run to catch him.
“Mean what, exactly?” the Major asked.
“That I wouldn’t need extra help…I mean….that I was doing good?” Her words tumbled out of her of their own accord. She didn’t want to admit it, but this class had her worried. She wasn’t good under pressure, and the fact that Lorne had told the others that she was doing well had really caught her by surprise.
Marcus could see the vulnerability on her face. “We have only had one class, so it is hard to say for certain who will be the best, but everything that I have seen shows me that you have a knack for the movements.”
Lindsey’s body relaxed a bit at his words. Lorne forced himself not to tease her. Who would have thought that a little self-defense class would have a whole group of scientists so on edge?
“Well thank you, Major Lorne.”
“Call me Marcus.” Lorne said, taken back by his own words. He hadn’t planned on saying that.
Lindsey just blinked at him a few times, making him want to squirm. Hell, it was just going by first names, it wasn’t a marriage proposal! He felt better, when after a few seconds a small smile appeared on her face.
“Okay, Marcus, you may call me Lindsey.” Novak said, and then hurried on. “Although, I really think we should go by our titles when we are in class…we don’t want people saying that just because we are friends you are giving me preferential treatment….I mean not that we can really be called friends, we just met…although if we are calling each other by first names that does lead one to believe that we will become friends sooner or later…”
“Take it easy, Lindsey.” Marcus cut off her babbling, trying not to laugh. What was it about this scientist that made him take notice? She was the opposite of who he would normally be interested in. Case in point, she was nearly hyperventilating just because they were calling each other by their first names. “I agree that we should call each other by our titles in class, and yes, we are becoming friends.”
“Oh, okay….good.” Lindsey said, trying to keep her blush from surfacing. Why did she become a lunatic every time she tried to talk to this man? For that matter why would a man like Marcus, want to be her friend?
“Yeah, good.” Lorne agreed with Lindsey, not being able to stop the smile that came to his mouth. Looking back down the hall, he saw some of the scientists she had been sitting with coming. “We better not be seen talking to each other in the halls.” He couldn’t resist teasing, “They might think you are trying to get test information out of me.”
Lindsey’s eyes became wide, as she too spotted the scientists headed their way. “You’re right,” she said starting to walk away from him. “I’ll see you in class.”
“I was joking.” Marcus called after the retreating figure, but Lindsey did not acknowledge him. Looking up to the ceiling, Lorne rolled his eyes. “Scientists.” He sighed, and then continued down the hall.
***
“Of course they would have rules.” McKay called from under the drone chair.
Sheppard and Lorne just looked at the man as he played around with more of the Atlantis circuitry. Lorne had gone to give Sheppard an update about some of the exploration he and his men did of Atlantis, when his commanding officer had asked about the off-world training class.
“How else would they be able to make sure the test would be fair?” McKay went on, undisturbed that the Lorne was looking at him like he was crazy. “Also I agree with, what’s his name…Novak got off on a technicality. She should have never asked you for help. Rather brilliant of her to find a way around the rule.”
“She didn’t ask me for help, Rodney.” Marcus began to fight with the man, and then threw up his hands. “Why am I even explaining this to you? All you scientists are nuts! It is just a simple self-defense class in case any of them go off-world. There is no need for all these rules, and tests.”
“No tests!?” Rodney came to his feet, shock was written all over his face. “I had to take a test.”
“That was because you demanded one, Rodney.” Sheppard said, rolling his eyes. “You didn’t even do that well on it.”
“That is only because I was doing the test against you and Ford. Of course the military would get a higher grade then me; you set an unfair grade curve.” Rodney snarled, his face going red. “I am sure that I would have top marks against the Daedalus scientists.”
Sheppard just smiled. He loved reminding McKay that he didn’t get a good grade on the mock test had had forced them all to take. “What about Teyla? She isn’t military.”
“Oh, please, she doesn’t count. Her whole life has been spent training to keep her people safe.”
“She still got a better score then you.” Sheppard said lightly, leaning back on the heels of his feet, his hands in his pockets.
McKay just glared at Sheppard for a while, and then slowly made his way back to the chair. Lorne could make out some of the mumbling. Mostly he caught words like “fly boy” and “gun crazy”.
“So you knew that I would have this exact problem with the scientists?” Marcus asked Sheppard, a note of chastisement in his voice.
“Of course I knew. Why else would I make you in charge of their training? Trying to train one McKay was enough for me.”
***
“I thought I would find you here.”
Lindsey whirled around, in a scene that was very familiar. She had actually been waiting for him to show up, and wasn’t scared this time.
“Is your team still going through this part of Atlantis, Marcus?” Lindsey asked a smile on her face.
“Nope,” he said, leaning against the doorway. “We are four stories down; I just figured I would stop by here before we got started.”
It had been three weeks since the off-world class had begun. The group had gone through their basic defense moves, as well as ways to defend themselves from the feeding hand of the Wraith. They had just gone through the correct way to use a Wraith stunner (with only one mishap, and Tyler was fine a few hours later), and were about to start their M9 training.
Lindsey had faithfully come down to “her” training room three times a week, and Marcus had always managed to show up. They seemed to have an understanding between them. She would come down to practice, but made sure she got there in time for Lorne to “stop by” before he had to start his patrol. At first it was awkward, but as time went on they were able to laugh and talk about most anything.
“Has Colonel Sheppard told you when the patrolling of Atlantis is going to come to an end for you guys?” Lindsey asked, as she moved away from the practice dummy to get a drink from her water bottle. The dummy had shown up in her practice room about the second week of coming here. Lorne would still not admit to being the one to drag it in, but every time Lindsey looked at it she was hit with thoughts of just how kind he was.
“Sheppard is running patrol duty a month at a time.” Marcus said, sliding down the wall to sit next to her on the floor. “I think he is just trying to put off his own team having to do it as long as possible.”
“You can’t blame him,” Lindsey said with a snort. “The last time they went out, McKay fell down a stairway and broke his arm. From what I understand, all of Atlantis had to listen to him whine and complain about the pain for weeks…even after Beckett had cleared him for duty.”
“You know, for someone who is not even stationed at Atlantis, you sure know all about our dirt.” Lorne teased, “Are you hacking into secure files?”
“It just helps to have girlfriends here who can’t wait to tell you the gossip the second you step off the Daedalus.” Lindsey joked, turning her head to smile at Lorne sitting beside her.
Their eyes met, and the tension in the room changed dramatically. The air felt charged around them. Lindsey had a hard time getting a breath in, and was sure Marcus could hear her heart beating. They had been moving steadily towards something each time they talked in this room, and she was pretty sure that nameless “something” was going to happen tonight.
She was beautiful. That was the only thing that had been running through his head for days now. During class time, he was hard pressed not to let his eyes follow her around the room. Marcus found that he would try and will the hours to go by so he could come to this tiny room, just to talk to her. They had first just talked about every day things. How they came to be in their jobs, what family life was for them back home. They laughed at each others stories about childhood, and somewhere along the line he had fallen for her.
Slowly, he reached out a hand to tuck loose hair behind her ear. He let his hand rest gently on the base of her long neck. He could feel her pulse beating erratically, and was amused that it seemed to match the pace of his own pulse.
“We can walk away right now, if you want to Lindsey.” He said softly.
Lindsey looked at him for a second, and then dropped her head. Thinking that this was her answer, he slid his hand away from her neck. Suddenly, her small hand grabbed his, and brought it back to her neck.
“I don’t want to walk away.” She said, her dark eyes looking into his. Then, in true Novak style, she was off and running. “We just need to think about this. We can’t go around like teenagers mooning over each other. What about our jobs? I am not even on Atlantis. So what does that make this? A crazy one month thing…well really not even a month because we only have two weeks left, and then the Daedalus is going to Earth again…we can’t…”
Marcus turned, bringing Lindsey’s body to him. He brought his head down closer to hers. His lips were hovering just a tiny bit above hers. “Lindsey, shut up.” Marcus whispered before he let his lips descend the rest of the way.
Lindsey thought he had some good advice. Shutting up and kissing him was probably the best decision they had ever made together. Then all the reasons why this could and should not work began clogging her brain. First of all, what did he even see in her? Was it just that he had run though every other woman here? No, she knew Marcus better than that. He wasn’t a womanizer, although not too many women on Atlantis would say no if he asked. So why her?
“Lindsey,” Lorne sighed, bringing her right back to the situation. He pulled away from her. “You’re thinking too hard. I might be even a little hurt that my kiss was so boring that your mind wandered.”
“No, your kiss wasn’t boring.” Lindsey said, her face flaming. “Let’s try it again, I won’t think of anything else.”
Marcus looked at her for a beat and then threw his head back and howled with laughter. Leave it to Lindsey to say that they just needed to “practice” kissing.
Lindsey didn’t know if she should laugh with him, or tell him to go to hell and leave the room. She was in uncharted territory here. Finally he seemed to bring himself under control. Sighing he leaned his head back against the wall.
“Why is it that every time I am around you, I turn into an unsure teenage boy?” Lorne finally said, shifting his eyes to her.
“You? I’m the one who messes up easy things like a kiss.” Lindsey answered back, settling her body closer to his. After a moment, she was even brave enough to rest her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in even closer, and she let herself relax, feeling comfortable and secure in his hold.”
“So, Doctor, what is our problem?” Marcus asked resting his own head on top of hers.
“Why me?” Lindsey finally voiced the thoughts that had been running through her head for days. “I’m nobody Marcus. You could have any woman here. I just keep thinking this is some weird science experiment you are testing out.”
“Hey,” he pulled back, and maneuvered himself so that he could look directly into her eyes. “There is no science experiment Lindsey. Even if I could have any woman here, which is highly doubtful, I would only want to be with you. I think I fell for you the minute you hiccupped in that first class.”
“You would bring that up.” She said, giving him a playful shot to the shoulder. He just gave her one of his full on smiles. No matter how many times she saw that smile, it still made her stomach flip-flop and her knees go weak. Lindsey reached up her hand, and touched his cheek. “I love your smile.”
Marcus turned his head and kissed her palm. “I love your legs.”
“My…why you…” Lindsey laughed, and again gave him another shot to the shoulder. He just laughed, and brought her up against him again. Suddenly the radio came to life.
“Damn,” Lorne sighed, at the interruption. Lindsey looked at her watch and saw that it was about ten minuets passed when he usually left. “Lorne here.”
“Major we are at the south side door.”
Lorne’s eyebrows lifted, and he gave Lindsey a smile. Letting go of the talk button, he spoke to her again. “That’s just his way of asking me nicely to get my butt there.” Lindsey held back a giggle, as he pushed his radio button. “Understood, I’m on my way.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Standing up, Lindsey helped him get his pack back on. He checked that everything was correctly in place before gathering her in his arms again. This time, his kiss was full of promise. Breaking away too quickly for both of them, Lorne leaned his forehead against Lindsey’s.
“Have dinner with me tomorrow.”
“Is that even proper?” Lindsey asks, and then felt her face heat up. Like what they were doing now was proper. “I mean, you are my teacher.”
“Lindsey, this is not college. I’m not a professor, and you are not a nineteen year old. We have every right to have a date. You are not under my command, and you are a civilian…there is nothing stopping us besides your group of scientists and their crazy rules.”
“You’re right,” Lindsey said, giving him a small smile. “Who cares if they think I am cheating by having dinner with you.”
“Right,” Lorne smiled and they began to move towards the door. He gave her hand a squeeze and then started walking down the hall. Right before he turned the corner, he glanced back at her, a sparkle in his eyes. “Besides, you would have to do a lot more than have dinner with me, if I was going to rig the test for you.”
“Oh, very funny!” Lindsey yelled at the retreating figure. It warmed her heart when she heard his laugh float back to her. Hugging herself, she found that a smile had formed on her face that she couldn’t get rid of. For whatever reason, Major Marcus Lorne was interested in her…and she was going to enjoy it.
***
The next morning Lindsey found herself trying to get the courage to knock on Katie Brown’s door. The botanist had always been very nice to her when the Daedalus had come to Atlantis, and now she was in need of a favor. Taking a deep breath, she gave a quick rap.
After a few seconds, the door slid open. Lindsey could tell that Katie was shocked to see her, but decided she didn’t have time to explain everything, so got down to the basics.
“I have a date with Major Lorne tonight, and I need a dress.”
***
“Do you think the black dress or blue one is better?” Martha asked the group surrounding Lindsey.
After the initial shock had worn off, Katie had immediately swung into action. Feeling that they needed more help, she had knocked on a few more doors. Lindsey had sat in the botanist’s room, growing more and more embarrassed as girl after girl piled into the room. Some had come with makeup, others with curling irons, and hairspray. It seemed that the whole group had taken it upon themselves to find the look that was sure to bring the Major to his knees.
Dresses had been scrounged up from everyone’s closet. Lindsey was surprised at how many women had brought dresses with them. Her own down-time clothing was mostly jeans and t-shirts with enough workout apparel to mix and match with. The group had made her try on every single one that was her size, as they rated them. It was now down to two dresses.
“Defiantly black,” Laura Cadman called from the back of the group. “That slinky number will kill Lorne.”
Cadman had been passing by Katie’s room, when Miko had opened it to run and grab a different pair of shoes. The Lieutenant had forced her way into the room, not being able to stay out of what could be great gossip. At first, Lindsey had been terrified that she would go and tell all her military buddies what was going on and get a big laugh out of it, but soon calmed down when Laura had entered into the fun with as much gusto as the others.
“I don’t know,” Lindsey said as everyone began agreeing with Cadman. “It was kind of low cut.”
“Exactly, that’s what makes it perfect.” Laura answered back, causing the whole room to giggle like a bunch of teenagers.
Lindsey found that she had to laugh as well. It had been years since she had let her hair down, so to speak, and just be a girl. She was one of the top scientists in her field, but it was still a “man’s world” out there. It was kind of nice, to let herself be girly for once.
“The black it is.” Novak finally said.
That decision made, the group began going over the different make up schemes to go along with the dress.
***
Lindsey found herself again at a doorway trying to get the courage to knock. This time, it wasn’t for a dress. Looking down at herself, she was starting to worry that she shouldn’t have worn the black dress after all. Several people had watched her walk by, their mouths hanging open…she still wasn’t sure if that was a good sign. It also didn’t help that all of Atlantis was sure to hear about this. Suddenly Cadman’s words came back into her head. The Lieutenant had told her that a girl could never go wrong with a little black dress…especially when she had the figure to back it up with. Lindsey felt her confidence rise when she thought about that. She looked pretty damn good, if she said so herself, and it was about time she quite hiding behind her Daedalus uniform.
She knocked, and forced herself to stay put.
To Be Continued…
Chapter Two
Title: The Scientist and the Major
Rating: PG (Rating might change for other chapters)
Pairing: Lorne/Novak
Summery: Lindsey Novak is part of an off-world class the Major is teaching.
A/N: Huge thanks to ubiquitous_girl for the awesome beta job!
(cross-posted at lorne_novak, lostcityfound, oddball_sga, and who_needs_canon)
“I want you all to remember E.T.G.” Marcus Lorne was standing in the middle of one of the gyms on Atlantis. He had an attentive audience looking up at him from the floor. “That stands for eyes, throat, and groin.”
The scientists from the Daedalus shifted nervously at those words, some even began to blush. Major Lorne, seemingly noticing their reaction, reminded them, “It might sound a bit crude, but this is self-defense people. There is nothing polite or politically correct about it. Remember that it is you or him.” Lorne said, pausing to let his words sink in.
The Daedalus was in dock at Atlantis for the next month, and Caldwell had decided that it was time for his non-military personnel to get some “off world” training. Colonel Sheppard had agreed, but thought it would be a good idea for the personnel to learn some self-defense first…and an even better idea for Major Lorne to teach them.
“For now, I am going to show basic self-defense that you can use against any human and get results. Later we will go over tactics for fighting against the Wraith.” Before he could begin to demonstrate the use of E.T.G, he was interrupted by a loud hiccup. Lorne raised an eyebrow as some of the scientists snorted with suppressed laughter.
The crowd seemed to part of their own accord, showing the Major a woman sitting at the very back. She seemed to almost have a bird like quality about her. Lorne could tell that she had almost porcelain skin, even though at this moment her cheeks were red with a blush.
“Sorry,” the woman hiccupped again, and turned darker. She pursed her lips together for a moment, and then let out a sigh. “Go on, Major.”
Not quite sure what to make of her, Lorne tried to forget about the interruption and get back to business. “Imagine a guy 6'6" with shoulders so wide you wouldn't think he'd fit through doors and huge muscles bulging out of his skin tight t-shirt. He openly demonstrates that he lives in a gym and eats steroids for breakfast, lunch and dinner. How could a little thing like you with no muscles to speak of fend off an attack from such a huge monster?” Major Lorne went on. “That is where E.T.G comes in. The eye, throat, and groin areas will always be vulnerable for the simple fact that they can not be trained or toughened by exercise.”
“But we have all those too,” the hiccupping woman burst out, causing a small smile to form on Lorne’s lips.
“Doctor…”
“Novak,” the woman said, meeting the Major’s eyes. “Doctor Lindsey Novak.”
“You are completely right, Doctor Novak.” Lorne went on, a full smile now on his face. Something about the woman just made him want to laugh. “We all have those parts. We will also be going over how to protect from E.T.G. but that is a different lesson.” Forcing his eyes away from the intriguing woman, he got his thoughts back on track. “Now, the eyes are a good resort for several reasons. The first being that they are the easiest to reach, and not only does the strike cause the attacker pain but blinds them to make an easier escape.” Lorne went on to explain all the other vulnerable areas, and by the end of the class they had already practiced some of the moves with partners.
Later, Marcus stood to one side and watched the Daedalus scientists as they filed out of the gym. All in all, the first class had been a success. He had complained about the assignment when it had been handed to him, but he felt differently about it now. It was actually kind of fun to teach novices some basic things that could end up saving their lives, not that he would ever admit that to Sheppard. Suddenly, Lindsey Novak came back into his view. She was laughing with another scientist. The hiccupping seemed to dissipate as the class progressed, and after awhile, she had seemed to get a hold of herself, and showed a natural talent for the moves that were required for self-defense. Finding himself drawn to the scientist, he found that he had to stop himself from calling out to her. Instead he just watched with hooded eyes as she slowly exited the gym.
***
“What is it with you scientists?”
Lindsey whirled around when a voice called out from the hallway. There stood the man who had been in her dreams last night…all of last night.
“Major, you scared me!” she said putting a hand over her pounding heart.
Lindsey Novak had come down to one of the unused gyms that night, to get some practice in before their next self defense class. Her mind knew that she had every right to use the gym, at any time of the night or day, but it still felt like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“Sorry,” Lorne gave her an innocent smile, but Lindsey wasn’t dumb…there was nothing innocent about Marcus Lorne; and now she had the memory of his dimples to take to bed as well. “We are patrolling this part of the city tonight. I heard some noise coming from this room so I came to check it out.”
“Oh,” Lindsey said, trying to bring herself under control. She had not been affected like this by a man in years. She didn’t know what it was about Major Lorne, but ever since their class she could not get him out of her head. “Well, things are fine here… so you can go on your way.”
Lorne choked back a chuckle; the picture of Lindsey Novak ordering him to “be on his way” was almost too much for him.
“Good to know you’re on the case.” He teased, his smile growing wider.
Lindsey felt her face grow warm. Suddenly, she realized how her last statement sounded. She hadn’t meant that she could police the halls better than his team; she was just trying to tell him that nothing was amiss. “I didn’t mean… I wasn’t….” To her utter embarrassment, right in the middle of her crazy ramblings she hiccupped loudly. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she had the strange urge to start crying. Usually she did not stumble over her words, but with the Major she was turning into a babbling idiot.
“Calm down, Doctor Novak.” Lorne said. All teasing was gone from his face. He now felt bad that he had caused the woman to grow so agitated that she actually started hiccupping again. “I was just giving you a hard time, I knew what you meant.”
“Oh…” Novak searched for something else to say to ease the awkward moment. Finally her mind hit on something he had said before. “What did you mean when you said ‘what is with you scientists’?”
The killer dimples were back, as Lorne let a smile light up his handsome face again. “My team and I have come across about a dozen scientists in different rooms around Atlantis tonight. All of them chanting E.T.G to themselves, while trying out some of the moves we practiced yesterday.”
“We believe in being prepared.” Lindsey said. She had actually already known about the others practicing. Earlier today they had set a schedule so that the whole group could get in practice time.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Lorne was now moving closer, and Lindsey had a moment of panic. She wasn’t very sure just why she was panicked…but she had an inkling that it could be because a gorgeous man was still hanging around talking to her. “I think it’s great that you guys want to practice, I just don’t understand why you all are doing it for hours on end.”
“We don’t want to fail the test.”
Lorne seemed to stop dead at that last remark. He cocked his head to one side, and raised his eyebrows.
“What test?”
It was Lindsey’s turn to be surprised. “We aren’t having a test?” she asked, horror blooming on her face.
Finally, the Major let his laughter come full force. “Are you all really practicing because you think you will be graded?”
“How are we supposed to know if we’ve done a good job?” Lindsey felt like the floor had just been ripped out from under her. No test? Life was made up of tests.
Lorne was looking at the woman before him in a new light. She was really upset that they were not going to be graded on their off-world class. He couldn’t help but think she was cute standing there, in her little workout shorts trying to come to grips with it not all coming down to a A+; it was new for him to find someone who wanted a test.
“So all of you want a test?”
She just looked at him like he was slow. Who on earth wouldn’t want to prove themselves through a test? “Yes, we need a test.”
He should have known, that to make a group of scientists learn how to protect themselves; they would need the goal of being able to flaunt a good grade.
She stood there watching him as he thought that over. In her mind, the military guys had always been the butch ones who used a gun instead of their brain. After spending time on the Daedalus, her thoughts had changed about the military. Yes, they usually wanted to use a gun first, but they were smart. Novak found that she thought that Marcus Lorne was especially smart. A tiny voice in her head asked if it was smart or hot; but she was pretty sure it was smart.
“Alright, Doctor Novak, we’ll have a test.” At his words, her face lit up like a Christmas tree. Lorne’s stomach flip-flopped as he stared into her shinning eyes. Hell, if this is what it took to make her smile at him he would give the group a test every time he worked with them. He still wasn’t even sure what the appeal was of Lindsey Novak… he just knew that he wanted to see more of her.
His radio squawked, braking up the moment. “This floor is clear, sir. Only more scientists.”
Lindsey was again knocked sideways by Lorne’s smile at that comment. He had such a commanding presence even while seeming relaxed. He was so secure in himself, and that caused her to want to be around him. They really didn’t even know each other, but she found that she liked being around him; he made her feel safe. She listened as he told his men to start on the next level. Lindsey found that she really didn’t want him to leave.
“I’ll let you get back to your practice,” Marcus said, giving her a quick smile as he headed out of the room. Right before he hit the door, he looked over his shoulder. “Be sure and widen your stance, which will help you achieve a stronger base.”
He was out the door before she could even get her thoughts together. Jogging to the opening she called down the hall.
“Thanks for the tip, Major.”
Lorne turned, and felt his heart speed up. Lindsey Novak stood there in work out clothes, her hair pulled up in a messy pony tail, and all he could think was that she looked luminous in the soft light that lit most of Atlantis’s corridors. He also finally let himself acknowledge that the doctor had legs that went on for days.
“No problem, that’s what I am here for Doctor.”
“Well, have a good rest of the night.” Lindsey answered back, trying to find anything to keep him around a while longer. “Don’t go finding any scary disease in one of the locked rooms.”
“I’m not worried about that tonight; we don’t have McKay with us.” Lorne said, and then with a cheeky wink he was gone.
Lindsey stood a while longer in the hallway. Finally, she let out a slow breath. “Damn, he’s cool.” She said to the silent walls around her.
***
“What do you mean no test?”
“There is a test now.” Lindsey hurried to tell the whole table. She was sitting with the scientists from her “off- world” group having breakfast. They were all staring at her in bewilderment but seemed to calm down after she assured them that their hard work would not be wasted and they would be graded. “The Major assured me last night that he would have a test prepared for us at the end of this course.”
“Last night,” Sarah Benning jumped in, causing Lindsey to curse that she even mentioned her meeting with Lorne. Benning always turned everything into gossip. “What were you doing with the Major last night?”
Novak felt her face flame. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, but just that speculative look on Benning’s face made her nervous. “He and his team found me practicing while they were on rounds. We had a quick word, and then he left.”
Sarah looked like she was about to press for more information, when Tyler jumped in. “You didn’t have him help you out on moves did you?” Then before waiting for an answer, he stood up and pointed accusingly at Lindsey. “No cheating, Novak. We already talked about that rule; no one can get help from the Major unless it is in class.”
“I didn’t…” Lindsey started to defend herself, when another scientist jumped in.
“You’re just mad because you didn’t think of it first, Tyler. The rule, if you will remember, stated that we can’t get help from other military personnel. It said nothing about getting help from the one who is teaching us. So Tyler, unless you have forgotten what the world teach means, then it is perfectly okay for Novak to get help from our teacher.”
“I didn’t ask for any help…” Again, Novak was cut off by a furious Tyler.
“Fine! If that is how you want to interpret the rule, although some could call it a loop hole, then we should change the rule to clearly state that it is okay to seek help from Major Lorne.”
“You guys have rules?”
The two men fighting it out visibly jumped. The whole table looked around and saw Major Lorne standing behind Tyler. Lindsey could tell that he was clearly amused by them, and holding back a laugh.
“Of course we have rules,” Tyler huffed, as he sat back down at the table. “It is how we can all be sure it is a fair test, and no one tries to cheat.” He said the last shooting a glare at Lindsey.
Marcus saw the glare, and didn’t like that it was pointed at Lindsey. He couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, but could see the accusation of cheating was hitting Novak hard. The need to protect her welled up inside him.
“Doctor Novak did not search me out to get pointers.” Lorne said, his tone challenging anyone to disagree with him. “Besides, she doesn’t need them.” A smile was back on his face, but it was not a friendly one as he looked straight at Tyler. “If anyone needs to get some extra help it would be you, Doctor Tyler.”
Tyler sat gaping, his mouth hanging wide open. The rest of the table hid smirks at Lorne’s statement. Tyler was indeed the worst of the class, so far, but the man had such a big ego her refused to entertain the notion that he wouldn’t be the best in the class.
“As to getting extra help from me,” Marcus went on giving the rest of the table a true smile, “if I am here and available, I will be more than happy to help you.”
At that, the table began to talk excitedly together; probably coming up with a schedule of when everyone could get his help. Shaking his head at what these groups of scientists were doing, he made his way back out of the mess hall. He was half way down the hall, when he heard his name being called. Turning, he saw Novak walking after him. His nerves immediately went on high alert. Ever since the night before, he had been trying to think of ways to come in contact with the woman. Now here she was seeking him out.
“Did you mean it?” Lindsey asked, trying to catch her breath. Lorne seemed to be able to get from one end of the mess hall to the other in lightning speed. She had to run to catch him.
“Mean what, exactly?” the Major asked.
“That I wouldn’t need extra help…I mean….that I was doing good?” Her words tumbled out of her of their own accord. She didn’t want to admit it, but this class had her worried. She wasn’t good under pressure, and the fact that Lorne had told the others that she was doing well had really caught her by surprise.
Marcus could see the vulnerability on her face. “We have only had one class, so it is hard to say for certain who will be the best, but everything that I have seen shows me that you have a knack for the movements.”
Lindsey’s body relaxed a bit at his words. Lorne forced himself not to tease her. Who would have thought that a little self-defense class would have a whole group of scientists so on edge?
“Well thank you, Major Lorne.”
“Call me Marcus.” Lorne said, taken back by his own words. He hadn’t planned on saying that.
Lindsey just blinked at him a few times, making him want to squirm. Hell, it was just going by first names, it wasn’t a marriage proposal! He felt better, when after a few seconds a small smile appeared on her face.
“Okay, Marcus, you may call me Lindsey.” Novak said, and then hurried on. “Although, I really think we should go by our titles when we are in class…we don’t want people saying that just because we are friends you are giving me preferential treatment….I mean not that we can really be called friends, we just met…although if we are calling each other by first names that does lead one to believe that we will become friends sooner or later…”
“Take it easy, Lindsey.” Marcus cut off her babbling, trying not to laugh. What was it about this scientist that made him take notice? She was the opposite of who he would normally be interested in. Case in point, she was nearly hyperventilating just because they were calling each other by their first names. “I agree that we should call each other by our titles in class, and yes, we are becoming friends.”
“Oh, okay….good.” Lindsey said, trying to keep her blush from surfacing. Why did she become a lunatic every time she tried to talk to this man? For that matter why would a man like Marcus, want to be her friend?
“Yeah, good.” Lorne agreed with Lindsey, not being able to stop the smile that came to his mouth. Looking back down the hall, he saw some of the scientists she had been sitting with coming. “We better not be seen talking to each other in the halls.” He couldn’t resist teasing, “They might think you are trying to get test information out of me.”
Lindsey’s eyes became wide, as she too spotted the scientists headed their way. “You’re right,” she said starting to walk away from him. “I’ll see you in class.”
“I was joking.” Marcus called after the retreating figure, but Lindsey did not acknowledge him. Looking up to the ceiling, Lorne rolled his eyes. “Scientists.” He sighed, and then continued down the hall.
***
“Of course they would have rules.” McKay called from under the drone chair.
Sheppard and Lorne just looked at the man as he played around with more of the Atlantis circuitry. Lorne had gone to give Sheppard an update about some of the exploration he and his men did of Atlantis, when his commanding officer had asked about the off-world training class.
“How else would they be able to make sure the test would be fair?” McKay went on, undisturbed that the Lorne was looking at him like he was crazy. “Also I agree with, what’s his name…Novak got off on a technicality. She should have never asked you for help. Rather brilliant of her to find a way around the rule.”
“She didn’t ask me for help, Rodney.” Marcus began to fight with the man, and then threw up his hands. “Why am I even explaining this to you? All you scientists are nuts! It is just a simple self-defense class in case any of them go off-world. There is no need for all these rules, and tests.”
“No tests!?” Rodney came to his feet, shock was written all over his face. “I had to take a test.”
“That was because you demanded one, Rodney.” Sheppard said, rolling his eyes. “You didn’t even do that well on it.”
“That is only because I was doing the test against you and Ford. Of course the military would get a higher grade then me; you set an unfair grade curve.” Rodney snarled, his face going red. “I am sure that I would have top marks against the Daedalus scientists.”
Sheppard just smiled. He loved reminding McKay that he didn’t get a good grade on the mock test had had forced them all to take. “What about Teyla? She isn’t military.”
“Oh, please, she doesn’t count. Her whole life has been spent training to keep her people safe.”
“She still got a better score then you.” Sheppard said lightly, leaning back on the heels of his feet, his hands in his pockets.
McKay just glared at Sheppard for a while, and then slowly made his way back to the chair. Lorne could make out some of the mumbling. Mostly he caught words like “fly boy” and “gun crazy”.
“So you knew that I would have this exact problem with the scientists?” Marcus asked Sheppard, a note of chastisement in his voice.
“Of course I knew. Why else would I make you in charge of their training? Trying to train one McKay was enough for me.”
***
“I thought I would find you here.”
Lindsey whirled around, in a scene that was very familiar. She had actually been waiting for him to show up, and wasn’t scared this time.
“Is your team still going through this part of Atlantis, Marcus?” Lindsey asked a smile on her face.
“Nope,” he said, leaning against the doorway. “We are four stories down; I just figured I would stop by here before we got started.”
It had been three weeks since the off-world class had begun. The group had gone through their basic defense moves, as well as ways to defend themselves from the feeding hand of the Wraith. They had just gone through the correct way to use a Wraith stunner (with only one mishap, and Tyler was fine a few hours later), and were about to start their M9 training.
Lindsey had faithfully come down to “her” training room three times a week, and Marcus had always managed to show up. They seemed to have an understanding between them. She would come down to practice, but made sure she got there in time for Lorne to “stop by” before he had to start his patrol. At first it was awkward, but as time went on they were able to laugh and talk about most anything.
“Has Colonel Sheppard told you when the patrolling of Atlantis is going to come to an end for you guys?” Lindsey asked, as she moved away from the practice dummy to get a drink from her water bottle. The dummy had shown up in her practice room about the second week of coming here. Lorne would still not admit to being the one to drag it in, but every time Lindsey looked at it she was hit with thoughts of just how kind he was.
“Sheppard is running patrol duty a month at a time.” Marcus said, sliding down the wall to sit next to her on the floor. “I think he is just trying to put off his own team having to do it as long as possible.”
“You can’t blame him,” Lindsey said with a snort. “The last time they went out, McKay fell down a stairway and broke his arm. From what I understand, all of Atlantis had to listen to him whine and complain about the pain for weeks…even after Beckett had cleared him for duty.”
“You know, for someone who is not even stationed at Atlantis, you sure know all about our dirt.” Lorne teased, “Are you hacking into secure files?”
“It just helps to have girlfriends here who can’t wait to tell you the gossip the second you step off the Daedalus.” Lindsey joked, turning her head to smile at Lorne sitting beside her.
Their eyes met, and the tension in the room changed dramatically. The air felt charged around them. Lindsey had a hard time getting a breath in, and was sure Marcus could hear her heart beating. They had been moving steadily towards something each time they talked in this room, and she was pretty sure that nameless “something” was going to happen tonight.
She was beautiful. That was the only thing that had been running through his head for days now. During class time, he was hard pressed not to let his eyes follow her around the room. Marcus found that he would try and will the hours to go by so he could come to this tiny room, just to talk to her. They had first just talked about every day things. How they came to be in their jobs, what family life was for them back home. They laughed at each others stories about childhood, and somewhere along the line he had fallen for her.
Slowly, he reached out a hand to tuck loose hair behind her ear. He let his hand rest gently on the base of her long neck. He could feel her pulse beating erratically, and was amused that it seemed to match the pace of his own pulse.
“We can walk away right now, if you want to Lindsey.” He said softly.
Lindsey looked at him for a second, and then dropped her head. Thinking that this was her answer, he slid his hand away from her neck. Suddenly, her small hand grabbed his, and brought it back to her neck.
“I don’t want to walk away.” She said, her dark eyes looking into his. Then, in true Novak style, she was off and running. “We just need to think about this. We can’t go around like teenagers mooning over each other. What about our jobs? I am not even on Atlantis. So what does that make this? A crazy one month thing…well really not even a month because we only have two weeks left, and then the Daedalus is going to Earth again…we can’t…”
Marcus turned, bringing Lindsey’s body to him. He brought his head down closer to hers. His lips were hovering just a tiny bit above hers. “Lindsey, shut up.” Marcus whispered before he let his lips descend the rest of the way.
Lindsey thought he had some good advice. Shutting up and kissing him was probably the best decision they had ever made together. Then all the reasons why this could and should not work began clogging her brain. First of all, what did he even see in her? Was it just that he had run though every other woman here? No, she knew Marcus better than that. He wasn’t a womanizer, although not too many women on Atlantis would say no if he asked. So why her?
“Lindsey,” Lorne sighed, bringing her right back to the situation. He pulled away from her. “You’re thinking too hard. I might be even a little hurt that my kiss was so boring that your mind wandered.”
“No, your kiss wasn’t boring.” Lindsey said, her face flaming. “Let’s try it again, I won’t think of anything else.”
Marcus looked at her for a beat and then threw his head back and howled with laughter. Leave it to Lindsey to say that they just needed to “practice” kissing.
Lindsey didn’t know if she should laugh with him, or tell him to go to hell and leave the room. She was in uncharted territory here. Finally he seemed to bring himself under control. Sighing he leaned his head back against the wall.
“Why is it that every time I am around you, I turn into an unsure teenage boy?” Lorne finally said, shifting his eyes to her.
“You? I’m the one who messes up easy things like a kiss.” Lindsey answered back, settling her body closer to his. After a moment, she was even brave enough to rest her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in even closer, and she let herself relax, feeling comfortable and secure in his hold.”
“So, Doctor, what is our problem?” Marcus asked resting his own head on top of hers.
“Why me?” Lindsey finally voiced the thoughts that had been running through her head for days. “I’m nobody Marcus. You could have any woman here. I just keep thinking this is some weird science experiment you are testing out.”
“Hey,” he pulled back, and maneuvered himself so that he could look directly into her eyes. “There is no science experiment Lindsey. Even if I could have any woman here, which is highly doubtful, I would only want to be with you. I think I fell for you the minute you hiccupped in that first class.”
“You would bring that up.” She said, giving him a playful shot to the shoulder. He just gave her one of his full on smiles. No matter how many times she saw that smile, it still made her stomach flip-flop and her knees go weak. Lindsey reached up her hand, and touched his cheek. “I love your smile.”
Marcus turned his head and kissed her palm. “I love your legs.”
“My…why you…” Lindsey laughed, and again gave him another shot to the shoulder. He just laughed, and brought her up against him again. Suddenly the radio came to life.
“Damn,” Lorne sighed, at the interruption. Lindsey looked at her watch and saw that it was about ten minuets passed when he usually left. “Lorne here.”
“Major we are at the south side door.”
Lorne’s eyebrows lifted, and he gave Lindsey a smile. Letting go of the talk button, he spoke to her again. “That’s just his way of asking me nicely to get my butt there.” Lindsey held back a giggle, as he pushed his radio button. “Understood, I’m on my way.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Standing up, Lindsey helped him get his pack back on. He checked that everything was correctly in place before gathering her in his arms again. This time, his kiss was full of promise. Breaking away too quickly for both of them, Lorne leaned his forehead against Lindsey’s.
“Have dinner with me tomorrow.”
“Is that even proper?” Lindsey asks, and then felt her face heat up. Like what they were doing now was proper. “I mean, you are my teacher.”
“Lindsey, this is not college. I’m not a professor, and you are not a nineteen year old. We have every right to have a date. You are not under my command, and you are a civilian…there is nothing stopping us besides your group of scientists and their crazy rules.”
“You’re right,” Lindsey said, giving him a small smile. “Who cares if they think I am cheating by having dinner with you.”
“Right,” Lorne smiled and they began to move towards the door. He gave her hand a squeeze and then started walking down the hall. Right before he turned the corner, he glanced back at her, a sparkle in his eyes. “Besides, you would have to do a lot more than have dinner with me, if I was going to rig the test for you.”
“Oh, very funny!” Lindsey yelled at the retreating figure. It warmed her heart when she heard his laugh float back to her. Hugging herself, she found that a smile had formed on her face that she couldn’t get rid of. For whatever reason, Major Marcus Lorne was interested in her…and she was going to enjoy it.
***
The next morning Lindsey found herself trying to get the courage to knock on Katie Brown’s door. The botanist had always been very nice to her when the Daedalus had come to Atlantis, and now she was in need of a favor. Taking a deep breath, she gave a quick rap.
After a few seconds, the door slid open. Lindsey could tell that Katie was shocked to see her, but decided she didn’t have time to explain everything, so got down to the basics.
“I have a date with Major Lorne tonight, and I need a dress.”
***
“Do you think the black dress or blue one is better?” Martha asked the group surrounding Lindsey.
After the initial shock had worn off, Katie had immediately swung into action. Feeling that they needed more help, she had knocked on a few more doors. Lindsey had sat in the botanist’s room, growing more and more embarrassed as girl after girl piled into the room. Some had come with makeup, others with curling irons, and hairspray. It seemed that the whole group had taken it upon themselves to find the look that was sure to bring the Major to his knees.
Dresses had been scrounged up from everyone’s closet. Lindsey was surprised at how many women had brought dresses with them. Her own down-time clothing was mostly jeans and t-shirts with enough workout apparel to mix and match with. The group had made her try on every single one that was her size, as they rated them. It was now down to two dresses.
“Defiantly black,” Laura Cadman called from the back of the group. “That slinky number will kill Lorne.”
Cadman had been passing by Katie’s room, when Miko had opened it to run and grab a different pair of shoes. The Lieutenant had forced her way into the room, not being able to stay out of what could be great gossip. At first, Lindsey had been terrified that she would go and tell all her military buddies what was going on and get a big laugh out of it, but soon calmed down when Laura had entered into the fun with as much gusto as the others.
“I don’t know,” Lindsey said as everyone began agreeing with Cadman. “It was kind of low cut.”
“Exactly, that’s what makes it perfect.” Laura answered back, causing the whole room to giggle like a bunch of teenagers.
Lindsey found that she had to laugh as well. It had been years since she had let her hair down, so to speak, and just be a girl. She was one of the top scientists in her field, but it was still a “man’s world” out there. It was kind of nice, to let herself be girly for once.
“The black it is.” Novak finally said.
That decision made, the group began going over the different make up schemes to go along with the dress.
***
Lindsey found herself again at a doorway trying to get the courage to knock. This time, it wasn’t for a dress. Looking down at herself, she was starting to worry that she shouldn’t have worn the black dress after all. Several people had watched her walk by, their mouths hanging open…she still wasn’t sure if that was a good sign. It also didn’t help that all of Atlantis was sure to hear about this. Suddenly Cadman’s words came back into her head. The Lieutenant had told her that a girl could never go wrong with a little black dress…especially when she had the figure to back it up with. Lindsey felt her confidence rise when she thought about that. She looked pretty damn good, if she said so herself, and it was about time she quite hiding behind her Daedalus uniform.
She knocked, and forced herself to stay put.
To Be Continued…
Chapter Two