A/N: In case it wasn't obvious: I don't own Forever. After various brainstorms of numerous ideas for a Lucas fic, this one showed the most promise. I hope you guys enjoy it. :)

Just Go With It

Lucas Wahl, eleven year old genius. He could practically see the headline now. He put the finishing touches on his volcano for the science fair. Was a volcano that spewed lava on the town people of Pompeii cliché for a science project? Maybe. But Lucas knew he'd get first prize. And if not… he could just eat it afterward. The lava was strawberry jelly.

He placed the final marshmallow Pompeii citizen on the display and put his hands on his hips, looking on his project with pride. His mother walked by, focused on something in her hands.

"Mom! Come look at my project! I'm gonna win first prize!" Lucas grabbed his mom's arm and pulled her over to the table where his volcano stood.

"What is it, dear?" Lorraine asked.

"It's a volcano," Lucas spread his arms in a 'ta-da' fashion, "It's Mount Vesuvius, the one from Pompeii. I hooked it up so that the lava is strawberry jelly."

"Very nice, Lucas… but don't you think you can do better?"

Lucas deflated a little, "I guess so."

"This is my best one yet," Lucas stopped the video to his latest horror erotica short film. He was eighteen, but he knew that with practice and schooling he might even become one of the greats in filmmaking.

"Looks like I just need someone to write a critique on this," Lucas looked at the flier for the contest he entered at school. He went through a list of people in his head. His girlfriend? Nah – Rachael wouldn't be into it. His mom? No. She definitely didn't like his horror stuff.

"Dad," Lucas grabbed Logan Wahl as he passed by his room, "Could you do me a favor?"

"What is it son?" Logan asked.

"Would you watch my new short film for me? And write something on it? It doesn't have to be long. It could be a paragraph," Lucas explained, "Then I can finally enter it into the contest."

"Is this one of your horror films again, Lucas?" Logan sighed as if he had gone through this conversation time and time again.

"Yes," Lucas held the tape in his hand.

"Why do you waste your time and talent on that garbage? You should apply yourself for something better," Logan shook his head.

"But I…" Lucas opened his mouth to defend himself, but any response he was about to give would've fallen on deaf ears for his dad had already left the room.

Lucas took a deep breath. This was it – first day on the job as an assistant medical examiner. Everyone in his class was going to be assigned to a ME that had been on the job for a few years.

"Okay, so who do I have?" Lucas looked once again at the name of the doctor he would be assigned to, at least until he had the choice of who he wanted to work with once he was comfortable in his job, "I got Dr. Henry Morgan."

"Ooo, sorry, man," Matt patted him on the back, "I heard he's a real winner."

"What do you mean?" Lucas looked worried.

"I've heard Dr. Morgan's a bit crazy… wrapped up in death, doesn't talk too much to the living. The only reason he's on the list to take on one of us is because his bosses are making him," Matt told him.

"Great," Lucas feigned enthusiasm.

"Good luck, man," Matt headed off on his own.

"Thanks," Lucas sighed. Jerking him out of his thoughts, his phone went off to the theme of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. He answered his phone, "Hey, mom."

"How's your first day so far, sweetheart?" Lorraine asked.

"Amazing! I just found out I have the best doctor as my mentor," Lucas replied with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"Oh, that's wonderful news, Lucas," Lorraine smiled, "Maybe this time you won't be wasting your time and you'll be the boss in no time… even if it is for such a macabre profession."

"Thanks, Mom," Lucas nodded. That was as close to a compliment as he was going to get from his mother. Through the years, he's learned to just go with it – to just roll with the punches and know his parents weren't ever going to think whatever he did was good enough.

"Talk to you later, dear," Lorraine hung up.

"Bye, mom," Lucas hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. It was time to find his boss and hope for the best.

Present Day

Lucas Wahl stared blankly at his phone. He was going to be so screwed. Or at least, he was anticipating trouble.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

"Lucas? Is there something wrong?" Henry asked, pulling Lucas from his 'crap' mantra in his head.

"No, no," Lucas shook his head unconvincingly. Henry gave him a 'just go on' look and he caved, "Yes."

"What's the matter?" Henry took his hands out of the corpse lying on their table to give his assistant his full attention.

"My parents are in town," Lucas started.

"Well, what's so wrong about that? I'm sure they'll be happy to see you," Henry didn't understand Lucas' apprehension.

"Yeah, I'm sure they will, but they're on their way over here to see me at work," Lucas gestured to the body.

"Okay?" Henry wasn't entirely following.

"I sort of told my parents that I was the head medical examiner at work," Lucas admitted.

"Why would you do that?" Henry furrowed his brows.

"They've never really been proud of anything I've ever done and they've never really fully approved of my choice in career now. One day, they started belittling this job even more than usual and I couldn't take it anymore so I just blurted out that I was the boss and then they were finally so proud of me and…" Lucas rambled on an explanation.

"And now they're coming to visit you at work and you're worried they'll find out the truth," Henry nodded, finally understanding.

"Would you just pretend I'm your boss for one day, Doc?" Lucas clasped his hands together in pleading.

"No," Henry shook his head, "No, absolutely not. I refuse to be part of your charade."

Henry went back to closing up the body.

"Please?" Lucas wasn't going to drop it, "If you do this for me, I'll do all your reports for a month."

"Lucas, that is not the point," Henry paused his suturing for a moment, "Your parents should know the truth. There is nothing wrong with being an assistant ME. In fact, you are the best assistant I've ever had."

"Aww, thanks, Henry," Lucas smiled.

"You're welcome," Henry nodded and finished up closing their body.

"Can you just go with it, Henry?" Lucas wasn't going to let up, "Please?"

"No," Henry wasn't going to give in to his pleas.

Lucas looked up and saw his parents headed his way, "Crap, my parents are here."

"Better tell them the truth," Henry said, "Living a charade can weigh on a person. Trust me."

"Mom! Dad!" Lucas greeted his parents with a hug to each of them.

"Lucas, dear, so wonderful to see you," Lorraine gave her son a kiss on the cheek.

"Couldn't resist seeing the boss at work," Logan patted Lucas on the back.

"Yeah, uh," Lucas looked back at Henry and then back to his parents, "Listen…"

"And after all your failed so-called 'career' choices, it's so good to finally see you in something professional," Lorraine held Lucas' arm, "And the boss to boot."

"If you're going to insist on a profession so morbid, you may as well be the head of it," Logan agreed, "Not some lowly assistant."

"Right, uh, mom, dad," Lucas tried again, "I'm…"

"The best boss any of us could hope for," Henry jumped into the conversation. He was silently listening in on Lucas' parents ridiculing their profession and their son. Henry would have none of it. Through the several months of their growing friendship, Henry had started to see Lucas as a son. If pretending Lucas was his boss for a few minutes would make his parents happy and stop making fun of their profession, then he'd happily oblige.

"What?" Lucas turned to his actual boss.

"Lucas is an amazing boss," Henry came up to the trio.

"And you are?" Logan held out a hand.

"Henry Morgan," Henry shook his hand, "I'm Lucas' assistant."

Lucas mouthed a thank you to Henry unseen by both his parents. Henry gave him a slight nod in response.

"Nice to meet you, Henry," Lorraine took her turn in shaking Henry's hand, "Tell us, how do you like working for our boy?"

"Marvelous," Henry answered, "He keeps a tight ship and always goes above and beyond the call of duty. You should be very proud of your son; even in this macabre profession. He's very good at what he does."

"Thanks, Henry," Lucas lit up. He looked back at his parents and continued the front, wrapping his arm around Henry's shoulders, "And if you keep up your good work, I might even show you a trick or two."

"Don't push it, Lucas," Henry said under his breath, mouth unmoving so Lucas' parents wouldn't see. Lucas quickly took his arm off Henry.

"Would you care to join us for lunch, Mr. Morgan?" Lorraine readjusted her purse on her arm.

"I'm afraid I have a few things to finish up here, Mrs. Wahl," Henry politely declined.

"Eh, I'm sure your boss wouldn't mind if you played hooky for an hour or two," Logan patted Henry on the shoulder, "You'd be dining with his parents."

"As much as I would love to, I just don't think I could tear myself away," Henry shook his head.

"Lucas, tell your assistant it's okay," Logan told his son, "I think you're running a little too tight of a ship."

"No, Dad," Lucas shook his head, "Henry's right. We really should get back to work. I'll see you guys later and we can have dinner together instead."

"Fine," Logan relented and turned to his wife, "Come on, Lorraine, let's let these two get back to work."

"Great to see you in your natural habitat, Lucas," Lorraine gave her son another quick kiss on the cheek before turning to her husband to depart.

"Nice to meet you again, Henry. You sure you don't want some lunch? We could get you two a doggy bag," Logan offered.

"No thank you," Henry shook his head as Lucas mirrored him.

"See you later then," Logan and Lorraine nodded a goodbye to both Henry and Lucas.

Once they were out of sight, Lucas let out a long breath, "Oh my God, thank you, Henry."

"Your parents are very interesting," Henry remarked.

"What made you change your mind? I was going to tell them the truth, but…" Lucas started.

"I just didn't like the way they were talking down to you," Henry said, "They acted like everything you had ever done was a failure and I guess I didn't want them to see you as an assistant as another failure… even though, an assistant medical examiner is nothing to sneeze at and you're learning every day."

"I know," Lucas said, "And I will tell them the truth eventually… preferably over the phone when they're back home."

"Good," Henry pulled the sheet over their latest autopsy.

"Did you really mean what you said?" Lucas tilted his head to the side.

"What I said about what?" Henry asked as Lucas helped Henry get the body on another slab so they could wheel him into a freezer.

"That you think I'm very good at this job," Lucas elaborated.

"Yes, Lucas. I meant every word," Henry smiled, "Even in the past few months, you've shown great improvement in your observational skills and you really do go above and beyond the call of duty… Jo told me about Hanson making you go through all that junk in a hazmat suit for a case a few weeks ago."

"Thanks, Henry. That means a lot coming from you," Lucas was genuinely touched, "Hey, after work maybe we can grab a drink or something. You know, before I meet my parents for dinner."

Henry opened his mouth to say his usual 'next time' but the hopefulness in his assistant's voice made him reply differently, "Sure, why not."

"Awesome," Lucas grinned.

The work day had ended and Lucas and Henry found themselves at the eleventh's usual hang out spot for drinks.

"Thanks again, Doc. I really appreciate what you did for me today," Lucas said again for about the millionth time that day.

Before Henry could open his mouth to tell Lucas to stop thanking him, Jo Martinez took a seat next to the immortal man, "What'd he do for you?"

"Good evening, Detective," Henry smiled as his partner took a seat.

"My parents came to visit today at the morgue. I had told them that I was the boss down there and I asked Henry to pretend that he was my assistant," Lucas explained.

"Oh, I wish I could've been there to see that," Jo smiled.

"Well, I only had to put on the façade for a few moments," Henry took a sip from his drink, "Besides… now Lucas is going to be doing my reports for me for a month."

Lucas mouth opened and closed like a fish, "What?"

"You said that's what you'd do if I pretended to be your assistant," Henry feigned ignorance, a smug smirk played across his lips.

"I guess that's the least I can do," Lucas sighed.

"So what made you decide to help Lucas and pretend he was your boss?" Jo wondered.

"At first, I admit I wasn't going to play into his lie," Henry admitted, "But then you should've heard his parents. They were basically mocking everything Lucas has ever done in his life and putting it down like it was nothing. They were even implying that his current job was stupid, but at least he was the boss and I couldn't take that away from him."

"You're a great friend, Henry," Jo nudged him in the shoulder.

Lucas opened his mouth to once again thank him, but before he could get a word out, Henry tossed an olive into Lucas' mouth. Quickly Lucas chewed it and swallowed it as he let a 'what the hell was that' look to Henry.

"If you thank me one more time, I will never do anything else for you," Henry explained his actions.

"Well, I have to head out," Lucas got up, "I need to meet my parents for dinner. I'll see you tomorrow, Doc."

"See you tomorrow… boss," Henry held up his cognac-filled glass to Lucas with a smile. Lucas returned an even brighter grin.

THE END

Sometimes I think Henry sees Lucas as another son… someone to protect. I see them more as a bromance than a ship. Well, it's a kind of ship, but you know what I mean. And I know we haven't found out anything about Lucas' parents, but I thought it'd be fun to explore and have their names start with Ls too.

I hope you guys enjoyed my contribution to the 'Lucas Wahl Appreciation Week' ficathon… and don't forget to read the other amazing entries (over on Archive Of Our Own)! This fandom rocks! :)