Title: Closer Than Ever

By Technician Fan

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except this idea.

A/N: Okay, I thought of this idea while playing ping-pong, so if it sucks, you know why. This also takes place around the episode Reunion in the fourth season. Lorne and Cadman, in the beginning of this story, are friends, but not close friends. More on the line of acquaintances.

Chapter One: It's All Sheppard's Fault

"I'll talk," Lorne said to Cadman. They were about to go into Carter's office. "You just stand there and nod."

"No way!" Cadman retorted. "This is as much my problem as it is yours."

Lorne sighed. "Fine, but keep your hand behind your back. Let's not expose the problem any more than it needs to be." She nodded her head and put her left hand behind her back while he put his right hand behind his back. He took a deep breath and they entered Carter's office.

Carter looked up from a data padd that she was reading. "Major Lorne, Lieutenant Cadman, what can I do for you?"

"Ma'am, we have a problem," Cadman said. She exchanged a quick glance with Lorne before they both took their hands out from behind their backs. Cadman's left hand and Lorne's right hand were attached by a pair of handcuffs.

"What…?" Carter trailed off.

"This is all the brilliant work of Colonel Sheppard, ma'am," Lorne said. "He decided that he was the best magician on Atlantis and handcuffed us together, saying that he could get us undone. Then he accidentally dropped the key into the ocean. Now we can't get undone."

Carter looked at them with a surprised and shocked expression. "Well… I don't know what to say. Uh… I guess I'm just sorry to hear about this."

"What?! Aren't you going to do something about this?" Cadman asked in an exasperated tone. "Ma'am," she added.

"Lieutenant, what exactly do you expect me to do? I can't put everything down just because you two were victims of Colonel Sheppard's magic tricks," Carter replied. "Look, I understand that you're a bit… angry at what has happened, but what do you expect me to do? All I can say is that you should try and find the key."

"Colonel," Lorne interrupted. "We can't exactly find a key that's been dropped off one of the highest balconies on this tower into the ocean."

"Scan the surface of the ocean floor," Carter said. Cadman could tell that Lorne was starting to get on her nerve. Maybe she should just … leave.

"Uh, Major, that seems like a good idea, come to think of it," Cadman said. "We can just go ask one of the technicians to run the scan and we can hope that they're able to find it." Lorne looked at her and sighed, muttering something incoherent. Cadman gave a tug and he followed her out of Carter's office to the control room.

"Hey, Chuck, can you run a scan of the ocean floor?" Cadman asked the Canadian technician. He nodded and wheeled his chair over to a laptop, hitting a few buttons.

"Scan started. It should take about thirty minutes." he said. "Anything in particular that we're looking for?"

"A key," Lorne said in an annoyed and pissed off fashion. "A tiny, silver key, about the size of a quarter."

Chuck looked at him. "Sir, that's going to be next to impossible to find."

"I realize that, but apparently Cadman and Colonel Carter don't. I tried to explain it to them, but they wouldn't listen." Lorne said thanks and walked down the stairs and through the gate room, heading towards his quarters.

"You really are an annoyance," Cadman said, following him. "It's bad enough that I was stuck in McKay's head, and now I'm handcuffed to you!" She threw her hands up in the air, along with Lorne's right hand. "It just always has to happen to me! Why couldn't if have been someone else?"

She tried to turn right to go to her quarters but Lorne was walking left. She lost her balance and fell to the floor, landing on her right shoulder. Lorne started to fall down with her but he managed to stay up.

"Ow," Cadman muttered. With her left hand, she grabbed his right hand and heaved herself up. "Great, now I'm going to have sore muscles. No thanks to you."

"Hey, it's not my fault. I was simply heading towards my quarters. You just weren't following," Lorne said.

"Excuse me? What about my needs?" Cadman retorted. "Why can't I make a decision? Why does it have to be you all the time? What if I want to go to my quarters?"

"I'm the higher ranking officer. What I say goes," Lorne said in a matter of fact tone. He started to walk towards his quarters again.

"Don't you dare condescend me!" Cadman reluctantly followed him. "I don't care what you say, sir, but I have rights, too, you know." They stopped in front of the doors to his quarters. Lorne turned to face her.

"Very well. If you have any desire to eat or drink or go to the bathroom, feel free to tell me," Lorne swiped his hand over the door control panel and the doors slid open. He went inside, but Cadman stood her ground and refused to go in. "That's it," Lorne said, "you leave me no choice." He lifted her off her feet and carried her in, bridal style.

"Put me down!" Cadman said. He took one look at her and dropped her over his bed, forgetting that he was still attached to her. When she landed on her back, he was pulled down on top of her. His face landed two inches from hers. She could feel his breath on her face. His blue eyes were staring into her hazel ones. His lips were just in reach… whoa, when did she start thinking that? This has gone on too long. "Major, when were you planning on getting off of me?"

His face turned to shock. He got off her and stood there, his cheeks starting to get flushed with pink. "Sorry, I, uh… sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"I know, it was a mistake," Cadman said. A stupid one, at that, but a mistake, nonetheless. One that she wishes could happen again… okay, now she was scaring herself. He was her CO for god's sake! There was a pause, an awkward one, then Lorne grabbed a data padd.

"You hungry?" He asked her. She nodded, unable to speak. He took a step towards the door and she followed, feeling like a ghost. They entered the mess hall, which was currently empty except for Sheppard and Teyla, who were sitting at a table in the far corner. Lorne grabbed two sandwiches while Cadman grabbed a couple of drinks and they headed over to the occupied table.

"Well, look who it is," Sheppard said as they walked up to them. "The Major and the Lieutenant, Air Force and Marine, working together as a united force. Isn't that sweet?"

"Can it, sir," Cadman said, sitting down across from him while Lorne sat down next to her. She handed him one of the drinks and grabbed a sandwich. Before she could say anymore, her radio buzzed. "Cadman here."

"Ma'am, the scan found nothing," a technician said.

"Okay, thanks for trying at least. Cadman out." Cadman turned to Sheppard. "This is all your fault. We're never going to get undone, no thanks to you."

Sheppard looked shocked. "Excuse me, Lieutenant? How is this my fault? You're the ones that volunteered to be part of the magic show."

"Sir," Lorne said. "We never volunteered. You asked for volunteers and when no one raised their hand, you chose us. So, overall, this is your fault."

Sheppard thought it over. "I guess it is my fault. Sorry about that. But what do you expect me to do?"

"Get. Us. Un. Hooked," Cadman said through gritted teeth, emphasizing each word. "Now."

"I'm trying to play pitch up here," Teyla said.

"Catch up, Teyla, it's catch up," Sheppard whispered to her.

"Okay, I'm trying to play catch up, then. What exactly happened?"

Sheppard sighed. "Well, I was having fun being a great magician. I needed two volunteers, and I chose these two. I handcuffed them together and was about to get them undone when the key dropped into the ocean. Now we can't find it and these two are stuck together." Teyla gave a slow nod. Sheppard looked back at the other two. "Nighty-night." He stood up and walked out of the mess hall.

Nobody spoke, and soon Teyla got up as well and left. Cadman finished up her drink. She looked over at Lorne and saw that his eyes were starting to close slowly. "Major?" she asked, tapping his shoulder.

His eyes flew open and he looked at her. "Hmm… what?"

"Sir, I think it's time for you to go to sleep. You look kinda tired," Cadman said. He nodded and gave his head a quick shake before standing up and taking his garbage. Cadman stood up and after throwing away their trash they headed towards the crew quarters' atrium.

"So where are we sleeping?" Lorne asked, turning to face her.

She froze. Good question, one that she didn't have an answer to. "Uh… I don't know. Your quarters are fine, I guess, as long as you have a normal mattress."

"Yeah, I do," Lorne said, puzzled at the mattress comment, but he didn't ask any further questions. They walked towards his quarters. His doors slid open and they walked in. As soon as the doors closed, he realized something. "Hey, Lieutenant, I have a question."

"What is it?" Cadman asked, sitting down on his bed and taking off her shoes. Right as she said that, she realized what he was going to ask.

Lorne looked at her. "How do we get changed into pajamas? I mean, we can change into our pants, but our shirts aren't coming off," Lorne said. He sat down next to her. She stared at him. He saw her looking at him and said, "I don't mean it in that way, I'm just saying—"

"I know what you're saying, sir," she said. This was going to be a problem. She was used to not wearing anything when sleeping, but even so, you need both arms to get any shirt with sleeves off. Crap. "We'll just have to sleep in the shirts we have on."

They sat there in silence. Lorne finally spoke up. "So, do you need to go get any pajama bottoms or anything?"

Crap again! "Yeah, see, the thing is, I don't own pajama bottoms," Cadman replied. Maybe he wouldn't ask any questions.

"So you sleep in your uniform?" Lorne asked her, puzzled again. Of course he asked questions.

"Not exactly," she replied slowly. "You see, I don't wear anything to bed."

He looked at her, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. He was trying to say something, she was sure of it, but nothing was coming out. As she looked into his eyes she saw a hint of excitement.

Her embarrassment turned to a slight cross between fury and the knowledge that he was a guy, and like any other guy, he would think that this is some sort of opportunity. "Sorry to bust your bubble, sir, but you're not getting that lucky."

"What? No, no, no, god no, I wasn't… I mean I don't… I…" Lorne trailed off, trying to think of what to say.

"I know, I was just messing with you. C'mon, have a sense of humor."

"I have a sense of humor, thank you very much. I just haven't exactly been in a situation like this before, in this galaxy or the Milky Way galaxy."

"Well duh! It's not like every day you get handcuffed to another crew member by a bad magician and then end up being stuck like that because he lost the stinking key."

Lorne nodded. "Yeah, I get your point." He yawned. "I think I'll just stick to what I'm wearing. It'd be easier." He looked at his bed and then back at Cadman. "You want the left side and I'll take the right?"

"That depends, left from my point of view now, or when I'm actually in the bed?" Cadman asked.

"Left from the point of view when you're actually in the bed," Lorne said.

She nodded. "Sure, whatever."

She climbed into the bed with him. He lay down facing her, his right arm dangling in front of him. She got down and attempted to face him, but her right shoulder was screaming at her.

"Okay, never mind, not such a good idea," she said, sitting back up.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, my shoulder still hurts from my little accident earlier. I have to sleep on my left side."

"Go ahead, I could care less," he replied, sitting up so that she could maneuver herself easier. She lay down on her left side and realized that there was another problem.

He seemed to have realized it, too, because he asked her, "Lieutenant, how am I supposed sleep?"

Shit. "You know what, I could care less. Whatever makes you comfortable."

"Okay," he muttered. He lay down next to her, almost touching her due to the handcuffs making them. His right arm rested on her waist, his hand down beside her left. She could feel his breathing on her upper back and neck. It slowed down a bit and she knew that he was asleep, but she couldn't get to sleep. She needed to run, help her wind down a bit, but she knew that wouldn't happen.

She could hear him muttering in his sleep. She never knew he was one for talking in his sleep. His right arm tightened a little around her waist, causing him to be pulled closer to her. Much to Cadman's surprise, it felt comfortable, warm. She sank into his slight embrace and fell asleep easily. All night, though, only one thing kept running through her mind:

Why did it always have to happen to her?

A/N: Okay, weird ending, I know, but there's the first chapter! Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to run them off. OH, and try to find the two quotes from Duet that Cadman said. Reviews are welcomed greatly with soup and crackers. Not really, but just please review! It'll help me decide whether or not to continue with the story.