Title: Starting Over

Disclaimer: Not mine... yada yada yada.

Summary: Something happens to Luke that makes him re-evaluate his relationships with the people in his life.

"Its gonna be a huge riot," Grace was telling Luke, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the opportunity of a little bit of rebellion. "You can come if you want."

Luke looked apologetic, "I would but…"

"Ah, yes," Grace said, remembering his plans for the afternoon. "You've got a spelunking trip all planned."

Luke chuckled at her choice of words, as the little hole in the world he had discovered out by Harrison Woods with Friedman a few days back could barely be considered a cavern. At least, he was fairly sure it wasn't large enough for him going down to search it to be considered spelunking.

"I better never question your courage again," Grace teased lightheartedly, referencing the incident the previous week in which she had done just that. "Before I know it you'll be sky diving and bungee jumping the Grand Canyon or something."

"Very funny," Luke said, pulling her closer to him. "How about I swing by the protest after my cavern exploration?"

"I'll supply you with a sign," Grace grinned; glad he would be joining her after all. "And, hey, being covered in dirt might make the whole hippy thing work for you."

"Okay, okay," Luke said with a laugh. "I get it. Enough with the mocking. So I'm lame, but it's not everyday you find a cavern to explore."

"Just don't get buried alive or something," Grace feigned lightheartedness to cover the fact that she was worried by smacking his arm lightly.

Luke thought he might have caught a hint of concern in her voice, so he assured her, "I'll be careful, I promise."

Grace, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the fact that he obviously could tell she had been worried about his well being, said, "We have five minutes before class starts and we're talking about cave diving."

Luke smirked. "I think I can remedy that."

Grace rolled her eyes before letting him pull her towards him. As their lips met, her feeling of awkwardness was forgotten as she allowed herself to savor a few, short intimate moments with him.

Luke was pulling on his coat when Joan suddenly appeared next to him.

"Hey, where ya going?" she asked, peeking at the tools he was bringing with him to aid in his cavern exploring.

"I'm going to explore this small cavern I found out by the woods," Luke told her, eyeing her as she grabbed her coat. "You know, gather scientific data; see if there's anything of interest."

"Cool," Joan commented, sounding as if she really meant it. "Can I come?"

Luke thought to protest, but then decided she might actually be useful.

"Sure."

"Awesome," Joan said, with a slight squeal that made Luke wince slightly and wonder if he had made a bad decision.

Once they had reached the cavern, Joan peered down the hole in the ground.

"It looks… dirty," she observed, wrinkling up her nose.

Luke gave her a look, "You don't have to go down with me. You can just help me get down and back up. And if I happen to find anything, you'll completely miss out on account of being too girly to help."

Joan gave him a dirty look as he grinned cheekily at her and tied a final knot in his rope. Joan raised an eyebrow and watched as he tugged on it, testing its strength. With a shrug she sat on a nearby tree stump. All the Almighty had said was to spend some time with Luke for the day. Hadn't said a thing about going on some muddy excursion.

"Sounds good to me."

Luke looked at his sister curiously. She was being much more agreeable than usual. He inwardly laughed at himself and reasoned that she had probably just been bored out of her mind at the house and was glad to be out doing something. He wouldn't admit it, but he was actually glad for her company, even if she wasn't going to be any help.

Joan watched blankly as he lowered himself into the hole. She found herself wondering just exactly how far it went down. She stood from her makeshift seat and walked over to peer down into the hole. Luke had already reached the bottom and was looking around in wonder.

"It's huge!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking up the twenty feet or so at Joan.

"Don't wander too far, okay?" Joan yelled down to him, brow furrowed in concern.

Luke yelled back up to her not to worry and grinned to himself. Of the three women in his life who seldom showed that they cared for him, two had shown obvious concern all in one day.

Should do risky stuff more often, he thought before switching on his flashlight so he could see in the inky darkness that extended far beyond the opening.

After an hour of sitting around waiting for Luke to return, Joan was startled by the rope suddenly being ripped from its supporter and slithering down into the hole before she could even register what was happening. A short yell and a loud thud followed, and then there was nothing but eerie silence.

"Luke!" She called as she scrambled to the edge of the hole. She got down on her hands and knees and looked down to find her brother splayed out at the bottom, unconscious.

"Luke!" Joan cried out again, feeling helpless. Thinking fast, she searched through his gear haphazardly. Sure enough, there was a spare rope packed inside. She thanked G-d that her brother was so anal and quickly tied the rope to the supporter as well as she knew how. Praying for her klutziness to take a short hiatus, she carefully made her way down to where her brother had landed. Once she reached the bottom, she dropped to her knees in front of him and put her ear to his chest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the steady thump of his heart and felt the rise and fall of his chest.

Not knowing what else to do, she shook him and called out his name repeatedly in a desperate attempt to wake him up. When it became clear he wasn't responding she lifted his head up into her lap, contemplating the climb up the cavern. There was no way she could carry his dead weight back up.

She became aware of a wetness against her fingers and pulled her hand away from the back of Luke's head to find her hand stained red with his blood. Her eyes widened and her panic grew as she lifted him up and found the source of the sticky liquid coating them both.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged her unconscious brother tightly against her. She felt utterly helpless; she couldn't wake him, and she definitely had no way to get them both out of the cavern. Just as she was imagining the worst case scenario, an idea occurred to her. She let go of Luke and reached into her jacket's pocket. Sure enough, she had her cell phone stuffed neatly inside the small space.

Nearly sobbing with relief, she quickly dialed 911 and scooped Luke back up on her lap as she anxiously waited for an answer.