A/N: Here's my long promised Doctor Who/Torchwood/Stargate Atlantis crossover. Follows 'That Kind of Day' and 'Best Laid Plans' so people might want to hop on over to and read those so you aren't that confused. I wish I owned Lorne, the Doctor, Jack, and all the others but sadly I don't; they belong to Cooper-Wright, RTD, MGM, and BBC (however I do own Max). Also Lydia belongs to BiteMeTechie and Crysta belongs to NenyaVilyaNenya. Finally, review's are love so please leave one.
Now that I've gotten all the standard stuff out of the way enjoy!
"Has anyone seen my keys?" Max called out as she rummaged though a drawer in the kitchen.
Evan looked at Max while raising an eyebrow, "Are you sure you should be driving?"
Max and the kids had just arrived at their new place in Cardiff and things were in utter chaos. Boxes were everywhere; some open and half-unpacked while others were still waiting to have their taped seal broken.
"Not the car keys." Max replied with a 'how dumb can you be' sigh as she closed the drawer she had been searching through and opened another one. "The apartment keys; I need to run out quick for some aspirin." She gave a short laugh as she pushed odds and ends out of the way, "You'd think that with everything we would've included it."
"Headache?"
"Yeah...the time change-" Max cut off when she pulled out a single key on a chain. "Hello," She murmured to herself, holding and looking at it. "I though I gave you back."
"What's that?" Evan asked, walking towards Max and looking at the key that she was holding.
His question snapped Max back to the present and she grasped the key in her hand while plastering on a smile, "Nothing, just an old key."
"What's it for?"
"Oh, nothing important." Max said, shoving it into her back pocket and resuming her search. Finding her original quarry she snatched them up and gave Evan a quick kiss, "I'll be back in a few."
"I have to leave soon." Evan replied, returning the kiss as well. "But it shouldn't be for long; Jack just wants me to go through some old stuff in the archives."
"Sounds thrilling." Walking out into the hallway she paused, pulling out the key from her pocket while looking at it in her hand. She didn't know exactly what Evan did at Torchwood but didn't press because there were things that needed to be hid.
After all everyone had their own little secrets to keep.
"This reminds me of Atlantis." Anglia remarked as the entire family, minus Evan, walked down the sidewalk towards Roald Dahl Plass. It was night and Max had been stuck inside all day so she had to get out or she would've gone stir-crazy as a result. That and she knew Anglia and Devon, even Miranda, were restless as well; they still hadn't adjusted to being on land so much and surrounded by people that they didn't know.
"How so Ang?" Max asked, although she knew how it exactly did. Sometimes when she was by the bay she could pretend that she was back on the city during happier times.
"The breezes, the smell of the water, stuff like that." Anglia commented, looking around. "Sometimes if I'm down by the bay and I close my eyes I can imagine that I'm back there."
"Really?" Devon asked, looking at his sister. "So can I sometimes." Looking at Max he asked, "What about you mom?"
"Yeah," Max softly smiled. "me too."
"Do you miss it?" Anglia asked as they reached the Plass.
Max stopped and looked at the water sculpture in front of the Millennium Centre and thought about the question. "I'm not sure." She replied after a minute of silence.
"Do I miss 'lantis, mommy?" Miranda asked, looking up at Max.
Max smiled as she looked down at Miranda. "I dunno, do you?"
"I guess so...don't really 'member it."
Anglia laughed at the comment, "Well, you'll have to remember it first to miss it."
"Hush, Anglia." Max gently chided. After glancing at her watch she sighed, "It's getting late, we should get back."
They had only gone a few steps when Max heard someone call out her name. Stopping and turning around, she saw that it was Evan with a group of people.
"Daddy!" Miranda exclaimed, running towards him.
"Hey there Munchkin." Evan said, picking Miranda up and swinging her up. "How you doin'?" he asked as she laughed and he set her down.
"Missed you." She stated, hugging his waist.
Evan smiled and ruffled her copper colored hair. "I missed you too." He took Miranda's hand and walked over to where Max and everyone else was.
"Where'd you come from? I didn't see you there a second ago." Max asked, kissing Evan in greeting.
"It's complicated." Evan replied after returning the kiss. Jack had called it a night, saying that after the two-day stint they pulled everyone needed a break. He had to agree with that; they had started sniping at each other and no amount of coffee could cure that.
They decided to use the hidden lift and arriving topside had found Max and everyone in front of them. Since they couldn't just step out, it would startle everyone and raise too many questions that didn't need to be raised, they had to wait until his family had turned around.
"Oh." Max said, not pushing further but really wanting to. Obviously it was some kind of alien technology that let whoever use it become invisible but what kind she didn't know. Maybe it was Ancient, maybe not, but if that was the case then it might backfire when they least expect it.
"Something wrong?" Evan asked, seeing the worried look that appeared on Max's face after hedging around the perception field.
"Nothing." She replied as she looked past Evan towards his team. Putting on a smile she asked, "You going to introduce me?"
"Hmm? Oh sorry." Evan apologized, turning towards Jack and everyone else who were hanging back. "Max this is-"
"Captain Jack Harkness." Jack said, flashing Max a grin and sticking out his hand.
"Ease off Jack, she's already taken." Evan said with a grin, knowing that the man couldn't help but flirt with everyone (and sometimes everything) he met.
"So? That only means more fun where I come from." Jack replied, not taking his eyes off of Max. "Lorne, why didn't you tell me that you have such a beautiful wife?"
Max blushed at the comment and laughed, "It's nice to meet you Captain Harkness."
"Please call me Jack. And who are these?" Jack asked, kneeling down in front of the stroller.
"That's David and Jack." Max replied smiling, leaning down to check on the twins and seeing that they were starting to fall asleep.
"Would it be too much for me to think you named him after a certain handsome devil that you happen to know?"
"Yes it would be." Evan replied as Max laughed again. Realizing that he still needed to introduce the rest of the crew he said, "And this is Tosh, Owen, and Ianto. Guys this is Max and my family."
"Hey." Max replied giving everyone a wave and smile.
Tosh was the only one who returned the greeting with the same enthusiasm, even then Max caught the vibe that it was forced, while Owen looked like he'd rather be somewhere else, and Ianto gave her a tight smile and slight nod. She got the feeling that they didn't deal with their teammates families all that often and it was awkward for them.
"So we still going for drinks?" Owen called out, bouncing on his heels as Tosh shot him a look. He returned the glare, wondering what he had done this time to earn her ire. "If so we should get going, the pub might be packed if we wait too long."
Max looked at Evan with confusion, "You're going out?"
"Yeah, it's been a long couple of days and we were going to unwind-I was going to call you."
Max knew that he was still trying to find his niche within Torchwood and also knew that it was important for him to bond with everyone and all that male-testosterone stuff. Forcing a smile she gave him a kiss on the cheek, "That's fine, I'll see you later."
"You sure?"
"Yeah...just don't stay out too late."
"I'll see you later then." Evan said giving Max one more kiss, Miranda a hug, and the twins a smile each. He then walked away from them, rejoining Jack and everyone else.
"You're not leaving with them?" Jack asked as he watched the Colonel's family walk off.
"Nah, Max said I should go with you guys." Evan said. "So where are we going?"
Jack looked at the retreating figure of Evan's wife. He'd seen that look before; the way she stood up straighter and avoided eye contact. "Why don't you go home?" he said, nodding his head towards Max.
"Thought we were going out for drinks."
"We are, but you're not. Go home and spend some time with your family." Evan just stared at Jack, confused. "Do I have to make that an order, Colonel?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well it wouldn't be one since you don't outrank me, Captain." Evan said breaking into a grin.
"I'll see you tomorrow Lorne." Jack replied with a finality that said that there wasn't any room for protest.
"See you later, then." Evan nodded and jogged off to catch up to everyone.
Jack watched him go and knew that he had done the right thing. Gwen had pushed her relationship with Rhys past the breaking point and they had split up just after she started her third year with Torchwood.
She had started to slip into that place where Jack had tried so hard for her not to go and when the arrangement for the exchange came up he knew that it would be good for her (and everyone else) if Gwen got a change of scenery.
Jack didn't want the same thing to happen to Evan; he had much more to lose than Gwen.
He still didn't know how Evan knew him, he'd never run into the Colonel during his time on Earth (past or present) and whenever he pressed Lorne would quickly change the subject or clam up and refuse to reveal even the tiniest detail.
Jack assumed that it was only a matter of time until whatever that was supposed to happen to make him meet Lorne before now would occur and then he'd get his answers.