A/N: Spoilers for the episodes "Sunday" and "The Kindred - Parts I and II."

Many thanks to my Beta buddies for their assistance while I'm recovering from surgery.

Thanks,

~Sandy

Wildflowers

Chapter 1

The Mess Hall was bustling with activity. Scientists and military alike had all decided that NOW would be the perfect time to have a meal. Trouble was, that meant there were very few seats left and none provided privacy so one could just sit, relax and eat.

Carrying her tray in both hands, Amanda Cole turned in a circle looking for a place to sit. She spent all her working hours with medical personnel and most of her patients were military but it seemed like avoiding both would then put her in her quarters for the meal. And that she didn't want either.

As she was about give up her quest and head for her office, a voice spoke to her. Not that she hadn't heard this one before. Just not with that particular tone.

"Lookin' for someone, Doc?"

She turned angling her head down slightly and found herself gazing into a pair of blue eyes that looked back with a touch of humor. He was seated at a table for four with his team, the remains of their meals in front of them.

"Not someone, Major. Something. A place to sit."

Evan Lorne glanced at his teammates, Captain AJ Reed, Lieutenant Paul Coughlin and Dr. Harry Sullivan. As one, the three men excused themselves, took their trays to the pass-through and were gone leaving their leader and the doctor alone.

"It seems that a few seats have opened up, Doc. Join me?"

Seating herself across from him, she didn't mind his intense scrutiny and wasn't surprised when his eyes stayed on her face instead of skimming over her curves like most men would. Normally she wore her lab coat over the base uniform just to prevent such actions, careful not to encourage unwanted attention. That was also the reason she kept her hair short and off her face.

But she'd had to shed the lab coat, dropping it into the contaminated clothing bin due to a scientist with food allergies having gotten sick all over it. She'd wanted to go shower before eating but her hunger won out. In lieu of a shower, she'd spritzed a very small amount of cologne on her wrists and neck to offset any lingering smell. It was a light and very subtle fragrance that suited her fair skin and blonde hair.

And as for the hair, it was the bane of her existence. It grew fast and she'd gotten tired of cutting it every six weeks so now it was down to the middle of her back. Much of it had escaped from the elastic and curled around her face in frizzy waves which she brushed away impatiently with the backs of her hands. It didn't stay making her huff in annoyance debating if she should go ahead and fix it, meaning she'd have to go wash her hands again, or just let it be.

Amanda was startled when Evan stood and moved around behind her. "Hold still." A small thrill started the moment he touched her hair. He took the elastic from it, pulled back the strands tickling the side of her face, gathered the entire mass in one hand and twisted the elastic around it again. No man had ever done anything like that before and it made her breath hitch with the care he took getting the unruly strands into the ponytail. "There." He seated himself in front of her again, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "Better?"

Resisting the urge to press her hands to her warm cheeks to cool them, she nodded. "Thank you, Major."

"Evan…Amanda." One eyebrow lifted. "As the seconds of Atlantis, we should be on a first name basis, don't you think?"

She took a bite of her BLT and swallowed before responding. "I agree completely, Evan."

They spent the rest of the meal with him regaling her with stories of growing up in San Francisco while she told him a few about being not only the youngest sibling of a large family, but also the only girl. She had four older brothers, all in the military. Two in the Marines, one in the Army and the fourth in the Navy. Evan laughed out loud when she told him how her brothers had tried and failed to find out where their little sister's job had taken her. And though she missed them, she didn't have to worry about them interfering in her life as they did while they were growing up.

Evan escorted her back to the Infirmary, touched her on the arm and bid her good-bye. She turned around to find Jennifer and Marie watching her with identical smirks.

Breezing past them with her head held high, she muttered, "Not a word!"

~~O~~

Evan resisted looking back as long as possible then gave in, watching Amanda walk away. The side to side sway of her hips stirring up emotions that he'd allowed to lay dormant for too long. This had been his first encounter with her outside of her work area, the first time he seen the real her, that she'd allowed him to see under the doctor's mask she wore when on duty. The feeling he'd gotten from her told him she seldom let anyone see what was hidden and he felt honored that he could now count himself as one of the chosen few.

Until today, the only thing he'd known about her that wasn't in her personnel file aside from the fact that she seldom socialized was that she was left handed. He didn't know if her reserve had to do with her family situation or if it was the result of a bad relationship. But he did know that he wanted to find out and help her overcome whatever it was that had kept her from having fun now and then.

He'd been given the job of arranging a beach party for the expedition staff. What he knew about throwing a party could be held between two fingers with room left over and maybe that was the hook he needed. Play on her sympathy a little. Sure, it would be more than a little manipulative as he'd be using it to get close to her. But it would also give them both something to think about besides work and the fact that they both spent most of their nights alone when they should be spending them with that one special someone who set their hearts and souls on fire.

Finally reaching his office, Evan powered up his workstation composing in his head the email he'd send that would make her say yes.

~~O~~

Carrying a tablet in one hand, Evan slipped into a chair on the patio where he was to meet Amanda. They had gotten a good start on the party just three nights before by spending the evening in his quarters going through the Ancient database of planets they'd already visited to find a venue suitable for their purposes. They'd been at it about two hours when the perfect planet popped up on the screen.

The planet they'd chosen had an unusually thick and undisturbed ozone layer making sun block unnecessary. When he heard that bit of news, Dr. McKay finally agreed to attend and Evan had it on good authority that he would be in the company of a certain blonde CMO.

Today they were working on the easiest element of this celebration: the menu. Burgers, hot dogs, chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, corn on the cob, grilled fresh veggies, a tossed salad, lemonade, soft drinks, water-lots of it, baked beans, pies, cookies, the usual condiments, plus a few dishes that would be made by the staff. Much of the food would be the Pegasus version of the items they'd listed. He smiled when he found that Amanda was excited to try new foods.

When Evan had questioned her exclusion of alcohol, the light had gone out of her eyes, the hazel going dull and lifeless as she shook her head emphatically refusing to discuss it and not budging on her ruling.

Then he remembered standing with her in the Gate Room the day they had the services for Carson Beckett and Lieutenant Waltman, the explosives disposal specialist who'd taken Laura Cadman's place. The same thing had happened then and it told him not to push this particular issue. Instead, he tried to get back some of their former camaraderie by showing her the responses from the staff who were planning on attending.

Everyone was enthusiastic about taking a day off to go to the beach, particularly Radek Zelenka who'd only recently learned to swim.

Evan kept to himself that he was privy to a secret that only a few knew about their CMO. Jennifer didn't know how to swim either. Or she hadn't. He taken on the role of big brother and taught her himself in secret while they'd been on a two-week mission to study a plant that had amazing healing properties, somewhat like aloe on Earth. It hadn't panned out as well as they'd hoped but she did learn to swim well enough to keep herself from drowning.

Colonel Sheppard had offered to teach anyone who wanted to learn how to surf and Evan had been surprised at the number of people who'd signed up. Looking up from the tablet, he saw Amanda gazing into the distance knowing she had drifted into the past again. He touched her hand to get her attention. "Why haven't you signed up for surfing lessons with our esteemed leader?"

Her wry smile brought some of the sparkle back to her expression. "Because I already know how to surf, that's why."

"Oh? When was the last time?" Thinking it had been before she started med school, he wasn't prepared for her answer.

Eyebrows drawn together in thought, she drummed her fingers on the tabletop. "When I was on leave, a few months ago. Went with a, uh, friend."

As the 2IC of the military, Evan had to keep up with who was coming, who was going, when they were coming, when they were going and the estimated date of each. And something about her tone and the time frame tickled at his memory. He couldn't bring it into focus just then so he let it go. It would show itself when it was ready. At the same time, a small sliver of something he couldn't define wedged itself in his brain at the thought that she might have someone waiting for her at home and that was the reason she didn't date.

"You?"

Evan grinned. "About a year before I posted to Atlantis. Half Moon Bay."

She laughed with him. "Seal Beach for us. A rare Pacific hurricane named Kaimi that never really made landfall created some crankin' waves!"

Satisfied that he'd restored Amanda's good humor, Evan continued the conversation, both of them having forgotten why they had met in the first place.

~~O~~

Catching Evan's eyes with hers, Amanda silently thanked him for not prying into her reasons for not having beer at the beach party. In just the few short days that they'd been planning this get-together, she'd come to admire his organization skills as well as his dry sense of humor. Somehow, he could make her laugh, bring her out of the doldrums quicker than anyone else ever had, including her best friend.

But she wasn't thinking about Jennifer, though she had taken on that role since being appointed to the position of Chief of Medicine. Amanda had been on Atlantis twice as long and had served as Carson's unofficial second the year before he'd died. And she'd been greatly relieved when they'd given the job to someone else afterward. At one time she'd coveted the position, but once Carson was gone, she didn't care if she stayed or left because it just wasn't the same without him.

But in the time that Jennifer had been in charge, the two women had become friends as well as colleagues. They respected each other's abilities and Amanda admitted freely that Jennifer had been the better choice. Then when Carson had returned, seemingly from the dead, everything had been thrown into chaos though they'd put up a front for his sake.

Now Carson was back on Earth for six months of recovery and with it came the physical and psychological therapy. One does not return from the dead and find out he's a clone all within a few days' time and come out happy and well adjusted. Not even him.

No. Someone else's face appeared in her mind next to the words "best friend." They'd known each other since long before college and had been astonished to find themselves both posted to a lost city in another galaxy, their friendship picking up where it left off. And that had been one of the things that had kept her sane and in Atlantis.

Now however, she felt as if she'd found something else worth staying for. Maybe. We'llsee.

Amanda yawned and checked the time. "Oh, man. It's past my bedtime." Pushing away from the table, she reached for the lab coat she'd tossed over the back of her chair surprised when it was taken from her. Evan helped her into it and she was certain she'd imagined his hands lingering just a few seconds too long on her arms. She knew she was right when he extended his elbow.

"I'll walk you, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Her slender fingers curled around his arm giving it a slight squeeze.

When they reached her door, both seem reluctant for their time together to end and she searched for a reason for it not to but nothing came to mind. With a smile of thanks, she activated the biosensor and let herself into her room knowing she'd have pleasant dreams for a change and that it was all Evan's doing.

TBC