Disclaimer: I don't own SeaQuest but since the people who do aren't doing anything with it...

This is my very first SeaQuest fanfic, so please don't eat me if I mess things up.


Bridger watched Lucas waiting for the shuttle. The boy was chewing a wad of bubble gum so large that Bridger could see his jaw was strained. Chewing bubble gum was something Lucas did when he was especially nervous.

He walked up behind Lucas and said softly, "You might want to spit that out before you get to the podium this time, Kiddo."

Lucas jumped and turned toward Bridger's amused grin with slightly wild eyes.

"Uh, Captain." Lucas said trying to recover some semblance of cool while also trying to discretely spit out the gum. "You startled me. You're like a ninja sometimes."

"Uh, huh." Bridger said teasingly. "You're not nervous, are you? Maybe a little on edge?"

Lucas looked up through his eyebrows, as close to rolling his eyes as he dared with the ship's Captain.

"No." He said simply and with a hint of indignance and turned to face the shuttle dock.

"You're right. What was I thinking?" Bridger turned to face the shuttle dock with Lucas. "I mean, just because the foremost minds in astrophysics have assembled for the express purpose of evaluating your theories on the possibility of perpetual motion and it's implications on power generation. That's no reason to be nervous."

Lucas sighed and turned back to Bridger.

"Fine." He conceded. "I might be a little nervous. It's just, this is a big deal for me."

Lucas frowned. Being confused wasn't something with which he was comfortable and his feelings were always so confusing. That was why, before coming to the SeaQuest and meeting the incredibly stubborn yet brilliant Nathan Bridger, Lucas had avoided feelings by pushing people as far away as he possibly could.

Lucas looked at Bridger now. He was still gazing at the shuttle dock with that teasing and annoyingly smug look on his face.

Lucas sighed again. There was no point in avoiding the truth. Bridger, as always, knew exactly why this was such a big deal.

"He's going to be there." Lucas said in a slightly breathy voice. "If I'm right…If my project works…I would…it would…" Lucas couldn't find the words.

"You would succeed where your father failed." Bridger said turning his gaze back to Lucas who was now steadfastly studying the Captains UEO regulation boots.

"Yeah. Power for the whole world." Lucas couldn't help smiling at the thought. He had heard his father talk about that dream his entire life. Not to Lucas, exactly, but to the people around him. For the longest time even considering alternate means of power generation made Lucas angry. It reminded him of the fact that he would always come second to his father.

Then Lucas met Bridger. He came to see what a real father could be like and he wanted that. He wanted it so badly he could taste it and the idea occurred to him.

If I fulfill his dream. Maybe if I become a part of that dream…Maybe, just maybe, he'll love me.

Of course, people always told Lucas that his father loved him. Even his father told him that on rare occasions but Lucas knew enough about how the world worked to know that the truth was found in what a person did and not what they said. His father's actions constantly told Lucas that he was just not good enough.

"So, are you afraid that it won't work or that it will?" Bridger said in an easy, conversant tone.

Lucas almost snorted. "I've run countless simulations. I've learned my lesson and let you look at it." Lucas made a slight mock bow toward Bridger.

Bridger laughed. "I hate to shake your confidence, Kiddo, but that…" and he pointed to the data crystal case Lucas was holding "…is way beyond my meager abilities."

Lucas raised a skeptical eyebrow and Bridger responded with raised hands and a chuckle.

"Honestly, Lucas. I'm a fair designer but this is delving into areas in which I have little or no experience."

"You know, you presh at pep talks." Lucas almost growled.

"Presh?" Bridger asked.

"Depressurize. Like, you know, you're not good at it. You fail, like a submarines system failing and it depressurizes." Lucas struggled to explain the etymology of the slang.

"Ah." Bridger said. "Um, in my day we said 'suck' or 'blow'."

Lucas looked curious, but then, when didn't he look curious.

"Why?"

Bridger frowned. "You know, I honestly have no idea. Doesn't matter. That's not what I meant anyway."

Now Lucas frowned. "You didn't mean 'suck'?" He asked confused.

"No, I didn't mean to ask if you were worried if your prototype would work. I was asking if you were worried your plan to win over your Dad wouldn't."

Bridger had said this while staring steadfastly at the shuttle dock and politely ignored Lucas' long moment of incredulity.

Then Lucas grinned lopsidedly. "I should have known. You know something, Captain. You're a genius."

Bridger raised his eyebrows. "I thought that was your job."

But Lucas was serious. He shook his head frowning. "No, I mean, you're plenty smart, don't get me wrong, but you're not me smart." Lucas said this plainly and simply not needing to project any sort of false modesty around Bridger.

Bridger knew that Lucas wasn't bragging. He was stating a fact that really couldn't be denied. There were few minds on Earth that could even really understand the boy's level of genius. Bridger smiled as Lucas continued, struggling to make his point.

"You're…it's almost like you're psychic or something." Lucas looked up quickly. "Are you?"

Bridger couldn't help it. He laughed out loud at that, shaking his head.

"No, Kiddo. Definitely not psychic."

"Well, you're practically psychic." Lucas frowned. "You always seem to know what's bothering me, even when I'm trying really hard to hide it."

Bridger smiled, put his arm around Lucas' shoulders and rubbed the boy's upper arm in a reassuring fashion. "I'm not psychic, Kiddo. You're just not as good at hiding things as you seem to think you are." Bridger could actually feel some of the tension easing out of the boy's shoulders.

Sometimes it made Bridger angry, how much weight was placed on those bony shoulders. But it also made him so very proud, how well this extraordinary boy…young man…dealt with that weight.

"You're going to be fine, Lucas." He smiled and was gratified to see the smile reflected in sparkling blue eyes.

Bridger stood in the docking bay and watched Lucas depart, giving the boy one last bit of encouragement, a thumbs up, before the blond hair disappeared down the hatch ladder.

"Good luck, Kiddo." He said and finally gave the worry he felt about Lucas' familial reunion free reign. "I hope you don't need it."