A/N: This is an idea I've had for a while. I'd been putting it off due to multiplying plot bunnies, but I can't get it out of my head, so hopefully you won't mind.

Setup for the story is that this is set shortly after the events of 'Bad Water'.

Disclaimer: SeaQuest DSV and its characters are not my creation. They are the creation of Rockne S. O'Bannon as a 1990's television series. This work of fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only and is not for financial gain. I am just borrowing the characters for a bit and promise to return them unharmed and in their original condition, maybe just a bit happier.

Letters From Home

Mail day. It was one of Ben's favorite days. Sure, everyone on board had a fairly positive attitude most of the time, but there was nothing like a letter from home to boost their spirits. Ben loved to see the crew members rip open the envelopes and witness the soft smiles that formed on their faces. There were even a few tears on occasion, but those were mostly happy.

As he pushed the mail cart into the mess hall, he noticed faces light up.

"Mail day already?" Chief Miguel Ortiz asked. "About time. Anything for me?"

"You know it," Ben said, handing him a stack of letters. "I think there's one from just about every person from Cuba in there."

Miguel grinned. "It's because I'm related to everyone in Cuba; didn't I tell you?" He took the stack from Ben and began leafing through the envelopes. "Thanks, Ben."

"Anytime."

Ben smiled to himself. This is exactly why he loved mail day. It seemed to put everyone in a better mood, even the most stoic of crew members.

"Here's your mail, Commander." Ben handed him his letters.

Jonathan reached out to take them. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I was looking forward to these."

"Anything that can put a smile on your face," Ben said with a nod.

Jonathan opened one of the envelopes and began to read. "All right!" he said after a moment.

"Good news?"

"I'm going to be an uncle. My little sister's having a baby, due in the spring."

"Congratulations." Ben gave him a pat on the shoulder as he continued to pass letters out, giving Jonathan his privacy.

Things between the commander and him had been a little awkward since the MR-7 incident. Jonathan hadn't been particular amused with his initial cavalier attitude, and Ben couldn't blame him. Seriousness didn't come easily to him. And even when things got sticky and he tried his best to 'act like a Lieutenant in the UEO Navy' as the commander had requested, they hadn't spoken about it since.

Ben wasn't too fazed. He was used to being the black sheep of the crew. He was never the model submariner; he'd barely graduated from the academy, and it was always his charm rather than his skills that seemed to win his superiors over, even though he'd cleaned more than one latrine with his toothbrush for his antics.

The commander, however, never seemed very taken by his charm. Annoyed was more the word. Jonathan Ford was the model submariner; top of his class at the academy and obeyed orders to the letter. No wonder he looked down on him, Ben decided. He'd never be anything close to the perfect submariner…ever.

He shrugged off his thoughts as he saw Katie and Tim enter the mess. "Good morning, you two," he said, holding their letters out.

"Thank you," they said in unison as they moved to sit at the table with Jonathan and Miguel.

"From your mother?" Ben asked Katie after she'd began reading.

She nodded. "She's doing well; everything's the same back home. She wants to know how you're doing, though."

His brow furrowed. "Me?"

"Sure," she said with a grin, pointing out the line in the letter with her finger. "I want to know how my ex-son-in-law is doing." Katie turned to look at him. "She always liked you, you know."

"Maybe I should have married her instead."

She rolled her eyes. "What should I tell her?"

"That I haven't changed a bit," he replied with a wink.

Katie nodded her head towards the mail cart. "What about you? Any news from home?"

Ben nodded, plucking an envelope from the cart to show her. "Mom never misses a mail day."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense. What does she say?"

"You're really interested?"

"I always did like my ex-mother-in-law." She gave his arm a gentle push.

He smiled as he opened the letter and began to read. "My dear son, I hope you're doing well. Aunt Sandy's finally feeling better. Remember I told you she had that nasty cold? Well, she's doing much better now.

You won't believe it, but Hartman's is finally going out of business…"

"Oh, you're kidding," Katie said. "That's horrible."

"What's Hartman's?" Jonathan asked.

"It's a little café in Westport," Katie continued. "Ben proposed to me there."

Ben nodded. "But the place is falling down; last time I was there, they could barely afford new paint on the walls."

"Someone should declare it a landmark." Katie sighed. "Well, what else does she say?"

Ben continued to read. "Don't tell Katie; she'll be crushed."

"Smart move, Ben," Miguel said.

Ben simply shrugged. "How is she doing? You'd better be treating well. She always was the best thing to happen to you."

"Have I told you how much I love your mother?" Katie teased. "When you write her back, tell her I'm fine but that she needs to work on you."

"Yeah, yeah," Ben muttered. "Other than that, everything's the same old same. I asked your father if he wanted to send you a message. He gave one of his famous grunts, but you know he sends his love…" He trailed off as he folded up the letter and stuffed it in his pocket. "Uh, there's nothing else really interesting." He nodded towards the cart. "I really don't have time to shoot the breeze; more mail to deliver, you know. See you guys later." He then turned and left the mess hall, taking the cart with him.

-sQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQ-

Jonathan couldn't help but notice how strange it had seemed when Ben had left so abruptly. Sure, he'd had letters to deliver as he'd said, but Ben never let the clock run his life, not like the typical UEO sailor. As the others began to depart, Jonathan turned to Katie. "Is everything all right with Ben?"

She shrugged. "As far as I know. Why do you ask?"

"I just couldn't help but notice how quickly he left…"

"Oh," she said with a nod. "Well, that might have been something. You see, Ben's never had the best relationship with his father."

Jonathan's brow rose. "Really? I never would've guessed. He doesn't act like it bothers him."

"Ben acts like nothing ever bothers him," she pointed out. "But that's the way he's always been. Only his father… Well, he's the kind of father that insists his mother coddles him all the time."

Jonathan smiled. "But you and I both know how Ben is. He needs a little bit of tough love once in a while."

"Not like this," Katie said with a shake of her head. "I don't know if his father has ever once said he was proud of him. Even on the day we graduated from the academy, he wanted to know when Ben was finally going to make something of himself."

"Ouch."

"I know." She let out a sigh. "I know how Ben is, and he gets on everyone's nerves. But he's not a failure…not like his father makes him out to be."

Jonathan pondered on this. No, he hadn't always agreed with Ben's behavior and could count on more than one occasion when he'd annoyed the heck out of him. But he had to agree; Ben was certainly not a failure. He felt a sudden pang of guilt, though. Had he ever told Ben that? The first thing that stuck in his mind was how he'd yelled at him during Hurricane Sheila. He never once said, "Good job," or anything remotely close, not even after Ben started acting more responsibly. "You're absolutely right. Someone should tell him that."

-sQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQ-

It wasn't until he was off-duty that Jonathan had gotten a free moment to even think about the Ben situation again. He hadn't seen Ben at dinner, and he felt rather awkward knocking on the lieutenant's cabin door, but it was now or never. He raised his hand to the door, swallowing hard. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly so nervous…

At that moment, however, the door opened, startling him.

"Commander? Do you often lurk outside my door?"

Jonathan gave a nervous laugh. "Of course not. I was just about to knock. Were you busy?"

"I was just about to go for a walk, but it was nothing important. Something wrong?"

"I just… Do you mind if I come in?"

Ben stepped aside, allowing him to pass, and then closed the door behind him. "What's this about?"

"I…I wanted to talk to you about something. I was just thinking how we haven't really spoken much since the hurricane."

"I know how it is." Ben gave a shrug. "We get busy."

"That's not really an excuse. We get free time nearly every day, but that's not your fault we haven't really talked; it's mine. I should have said this earlier." Jonathan gave Ben a pat on the back. "I wanted to commend you."

A brow rose. "Commend me? What for?"

"For your actions the day of the hurricane, for your actions since that day… You really stepped up to the plate, and I thought you should hear it."

Ben shook his head. "I really haven't done anything. You said it yourself; it's about time I start acting like a lieutenant in the UEO Navy. The truth is, I'm not even sure how a lieutenant should act. I mean, I'm never going to be like you. I…I don't even know how I made it this far."

Jonathan sighed. "I never meant to make you feel like you aren't good enough. You worked hard to be where you are now; you should be proud of yourself."

"Proud of being the joke of the boat?" he asked with a laugh.

"You're far from the joke of the boat. Have a little faith in yourself. The brass put you here for a reason; own it." He shook his head. "I've never seen you so…negative. This isn't like you."

"Sorry," Ben muttered. "I'm just in a mood."

"Because of the letter from your mother?"

Ben gave him a questioning look.

"Sorry, but I talked to Katie," he said sheepishly. "I figured something was up."

Ben waved a hand. "Ah, it's no big deal. I'll be better in the morning; promise."

Jonathan, however, wasn't going to drop the subject so quickly. "We're off-duty; you don't need to push your feelings aside, you know. I'm available if you want to talk about it."

"Really?" Ben said. "You wouldn't mind? I mean, you and I have never been particularly close…"

"I know, but I think we need to change that," Jonathan said with a grin.

-sQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQ-

By the end of the conversation, Jonathan knew what he had to do. Ben's father had never once been convinced that his son was an asset to the Navy. Even when Ben had tried to tell him of the small accomplishments he'd made, his father was never impressed. "I'm not sure if he even believed me," Ben had said.

Jonathan listened, tried to offer some words of comfort, and even though Ben had said he felt better, Jonathan felt like he should have done something more…like he should do something more. Ben's father made the same mistake he'd done: judged Ben by what he saw on the outside. He now realized what a huge mistake that was. As he made his way back to his own quarters, he wished there was something he could do to convince Ben's father of that.

Wait a minute. Maybe there is something I can do. He nodded, as if confirming it to himself. He quickly made his way to Lucas' room. He needed his help.

-sQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQ-

"You want me to do what?" Lucas raised a brow. "You know I could get in trouble for that, don't you? UEO personnel records are classified."

"I know, but that's why I went to you. Admiral Noyce would find it rather odd if I asked him for access to Ben's records, but you can get them undetected," Jonathan explained. "And I don't want to come out and ask Ben for his parents' address. So what do you say? It'll only take you a minute."

Lucas sighed. "All right, but if we get caught…"

"I'll make sure I take full responsibility," Jonathan promised. "It's just this is something I have to do."

Lucas made a few commands on his keyboard and then the printer started up. Lucas then handed over the piece of paper. "Hot off the presses," he replied.

"Thanks, Lucas; I owe you one."

-sQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQ-

Back in his quarters, Jonathan stared at the blank piece of paper in front of him. He knew what he wanted to say, but he suddenly realized how awkward it was to write to someone he'd never met.

All he'd written so far was: Dear Mr. Krieg.

At least it was a start, but it wasn't exactly poetry. He gave a shrug, deciding just to write. He could always clean it up later.

I know you don't know me, but I'm the second in command on the seaQuest. I just wanted to write to you about your son. Ben, he can be a handful sometimes. He's gotten on my nerves more times than I can count. But when things get rough, he's dependable. He takes his job seriously. I know it's strange to see 'serious' and your son's name in the same sentence, but he is a lot more than a smart aleck. I'm the first person to admit that I forget that sometimes.

I don't know if you know this, but we recently were caught in the eye of Hurricane Sheila. We'd received a distress call from a submarine that got trapped in a fresh water sink hole. The only problem was, we couldn't find it. Call it bad luck or the effects of the Bermuda Triangle…perhaps even fate? Whatever it was, our launch malfunctioned, and we were stranded. It was touch and go for a while; we honestly didn't know if we were going to make it through the storm. But somehow we did, and seaQuest found the missing sub and rescued us, despite a few setbacks along the way.

As your son's commanding officer, I did express annoyance with him when we first stranded. My exact words to him were, "You're a lieutenant in the UEO Navy, and I need you to act like one." And he did. He had an excellent idea to use the foil packaging our food supplies were wrapped in to get a radar signal to the seaQuest. Unfortunately, the wind took it away, and we had to come up with something else (which we did). But during the time while we were getting swamped with wind and rain, your son did what he does best: boosted morale. Not only that, your son saved my life when I was flung overboard by the rough waters. I'm honored to have met him, and I'm proud to know him. I think you should be too.

Jonathan put down his pen and reread what he'd written. Certainly, he'd need to rewrite it since he'd crossed out a few words here and there, but he'd said what he wanted to say. He took out a new piece of paper and copied the letter to get rid of the mistakes. He then signed his name and stuffed it into an envelope and went to place it in the outgoing mail. Now all he had to do was wait to see what happened.

-sQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQ-

One month later

"Mail day!" Ben announced as he walked into the mess.

"Mail day already?" Jonathan asked. "Anything for me?"

"Here you are, Commander," Ben said, handing him his letters. He then proceeded to do the same with the other senior staff members sitting at the table. "How's my ex-mother-in-law, Katie?"

"Doing just fine," she replied. "She sends her love." She nodded her head towards the cart. "What about mine?"

Ben rifled through the remaining letters to find his. "Oh…"

"Something wrong?" Tim asked.

Ben shook his head. "It's just I have two letters…one from each of my parents…"

"One from your father?" Katie said. "Go on, open it."

Ben stared at the envelope for several minutes before setting it back down on the cart. "I should probably finish delivering the rest of the mail first."

Katie shrugged. "Well, you'll let me know later?"

"Sure thing," Ben promised.

-sQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQsQ-

Later that evening, Jonathan walked into the galley for a light snack when he saw Ben sitting at the table in the corner. As Ben looked up, Jonathan gave him a nod in greeting. "How are things at home?"

"Mom's doing just fine," he replied. "Says things are the same at home."

"And your father?"

Ben gave him a sheepish grin and pulled out the still-unopened envelope out of his pocket. "I haven't had the guts to open it yet. I was hoping my mother's letter would give me some clues, but nada. What if…what if it's bad news?"

Jonathan shrugged. "Don't you think your mother would have mentioned if it were?"

"I guess…"

"Go on, open it," Jonathan urged. "I think you'll be surprised."

Ben hesitated slightly before tearing the envelope open. He cleared his throat and began to read out loud:

"Dear Son,

I know I haven't written, but it occurs to me I've never said it, so I'll say it now. Son, you make me proud every day. I love you, and I always have. Please don't ever think otherwise." When Ben looked up, he had tears in his eyes. "I…I can't believe it."

Jonathan gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Good for you, Ben. You deserve it."