“Is this how you’re trying to fix things?” Max asked as she got out of the car. “You want us to move half-way across the world for some job that you know nothing about?”

“No this isn’t how I want to fix things, but I think that it’d be good for us to go somewhere different for a change.” Evan said, getting out of the car as well and walking back to the trunk to pull out Max’s luggage. “And I know a little about the job; but I can’t tell you.”

“You want something different, what about California or New York? That’s different and we don’t have to leave the continent.” Max looked at Evan as he set her suitcase and carry-on down. “And why can’t you tell me? I have clearance.”

“I know you do, but this is beyond your clearance. Hell, I had to agree to the job before I got the entire story.”

Max sighed, “But how are we going to do everything in the space of three months? We have to put the house on the market, find a place there, pack everything, ship it, unpack, find schools for the kids…” Max trailed off, a worried expression appearing on her face. “Maybe I shouldn’t go; we need to start right away.”

“Hey,” Evan replied, kissing Max lightly on the forehead. “you are getting on that plane and enjoying time with your friends. I’ll contact a realtor tomorrow and I’m sure that Torchwood-” Evan cut off when he realized that he had just given away where he’d be working. “There goes ‘it’s a secret, don’t tell anyone’.”

“Torchwood? What’s Torchwood?” Max asked, raising an eyebrow. After seeing Evan’s expression she continued, “That’s where you’re working isn’t it?”

“Shhh…I don’t know if they have anyone listening.” Evan said softly while taking Max’s hand. “Yes that’s where I’m working, it’s in Cardiff, but you need to swear that you won’t tell anyone; I wasn’t even supposed to tell you.”

Max looked Evan in his eyes and saw that he was serious. “I promise.” She replied, nodding her head but was concerned by the fact that Evan didn’t know if anyone from there was following them. All that told her is how they did things; maybe Torchwood was another NID or Trust. If that was the case, she hoped that he wouldn’t get in too deep before the history with both those organizations repeated.

“Good.” Evan gave her one last quick kiss. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

Three months later…

“So explain to me again exactly why you’re moving to the far side of the world?” Lydia asked as she taped a box shut.

Max stood up with a pile of clothes in her arms and walked towards the box she was currently filling while saying, “Because it’s a ‘we’ll trade you one of ours for one of yours’ kind of thing. Ames had free reign over who he got to choose so that’s saying a lot on Evan’s part.” Max paused and was silent for a minute before adding, “Maybe after this he’ll get a better assignment.”

Lydia raised an eyebrow at the last comment but chose not to say anything about it. “But still…you’d think that they’d just switch them out on Atlantis.”

“True, but from what Evan told me before leaving is that General Carter felt that Gwen, the person from there, wasn’t quite up for another galaxy.” Max responded as she closed the flaps on the box and taped it shut. “Besides,” she paused giving the room a quick once over before leaning forwards and continuing in a low tone. “Evan told me in not so many words that Cardiff is every bit as exciting as Atlantis.”

“Oooo,” Lydia breathed, eyes lighting up. “now you have to tell me what that means.”

“Not sure.” Max shrugged, standing and picking up the box. “I just told you everything I know.”

“Fat lot that does.” Lydia groused, picking up her box as well. As they moved into the hallway and down the stairs she continued, “Do you even know what Evan is going to do? You’re not living on any kind of military base, you had to rent an apartment for christssake, and you don’t even know where he’s working.”

“I know.” Max lied. She ached to tell her friend what she knew but had promised Evan that she wouldn’t. She had said too much all ready without actually saying anything at all and Max didn’t know how much she needed to push before she got busted. “He said that it was beyond my clearance level.”

“Beyond your clearance level?” Lydia asked, sounding skeptical as she said it. “My clearance level is higher than yours and I have no idea what’s in Cardiff.”

“I guess it’s a bigger secret then the Stargate.”

“Apparently. So when does your flight leave?”

“Lemme, check.” Max said, setting her box down and walking to where the tickets were being kept. “It leaves at…eleven for New York then after an hour layover we change plans for Cardiff International.”

“An hour layover…sounds like fun.” Lydia deadpanned. “And why do you have to take a plane? Couldn’t the Valiant or Daedalus beam you guys and everything over?”

“I wish but no. Evan no longer works for the SGC but doesn’t work for the British government quite yet so we have to find our own way over. But hopefully it won’t seem like the eternity it sounds like.”

Lydia rolled her eyes and muttered what the SGC and British government could do to themselves while Max just giggled. “Just promise me that you’re not gonna pull a Madonna and suddenly spout an accent.”

Max laughed as she pulled two sodas from the refrigerator, “I promise I won’t be getting an accent any time soon. Hopefully I’ll still sound like I’m an extra from ‘Fargo’.”

“What about work?” Lydia asked, after taking a sip. “I know that Evan’s gonna get paid pretty well for this but somehow I don’t see you becoming a ‘June Cleaver’.”

Max shrugged, “He doesn’t want me to work while we’re over there, said that I’d have my hands full enough just taking care of the apartment and kids but we’ll see.”

---

Evan stepped onto the tarmac of the airstrip and looked around. There wasn’t much to see; a medium sized building (which he guessed was the airport itself) with the small air traffic controller tower and four runways with a large hanger at the end of the fourth runway.

All of which was surrounded by fields.

Torchwood had needed him a month earlier than originally expected, so he had to leave Max with the kids and to finish up closing the house and packing alone while he got to work here and got their apartment set up.

They had tried to find a house big enough for all seven of them in town but what they did find was out of their price range and a fair distance from town. Even with what they had saved over the years and what he was now getting paid they couldn’t afford it, and Evan needed to stay in Cardiff for Torchwood so they found the biggest apartment they could afford and rented it for a year.

Evan knew that since this was between two secret government projects then he wouldn’t be flown in on military transport but thought that he’d be arriving in Cardiff itself, not some out of the way airfield. But this is where he had been told that someone from Torchwood would meet him.

“Colonel Lorne?”

The question broke Evan out of his thoughts and he looked towards the voice, which sounded oddly American.

“Yes?” he asked, looking at the man who had brown hair and was dressed in what looked like a World War II RAF outfit. He looked vaguely familiar to Evan, but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen the man.

“Captain Jack Harkness.” Jack said, smiling and sticking out his hand.

When Evan heard the name everything clicked. Smiling he shook Jack’s hand while saying, “It’s been a while Captain. What are you doing here?”

A/N: The End! (well at least for this story)

Want to learn the answer as to how Lorne knows Jack? Keep watch for my Torchwood/Doctor Who/Stargate Atlantis crossover, which’ll appear as soon as I find the time to start working on it (which should be sometime in the near future...like tomorrow). Reviews are love, and thanks/cookies to everyone who left one.