Past, Present and Future
Summary: Will Wheelers past affect his future? W & L, naturally.
Disclaimer: I do not own Captain Planet, I'm just borrowing it and will make no money whatsoever from these stories.
Chapter 1 - Past
Wheeler checked the post and sighed before flopping down at the kitchen table. He seemed distracted. That is the third time in as many days. His fair-haired colleague noted, and sitting down beside him she asked. "What are you waiting for?"
"For you to fall madly in love with me?" He said, turning towards her with a twinkle in his eyes.
Reassured that he was not feeling that bad she said. "Do you expect me to write you a letter?"
"Anyway you like Babe." He leant towards her and she rolled her eyes making him sigh. "I was waiting for a letter yeah, and it's late. I wouldn't normally worry but since me and Ma-Ti are off to South America for a few days I was hoping it would have come by now."
"So what is it you are waiting for?" she asked again.
Wheeler hesitated. Normally he would tell Linka anything she asked but he wasn't sure how she would react to this and he really needed her to be okay with it. "Lin… I want to tell you it's just... I don't want you to hate me."
Not unnaturally surprised she shook her head and said, "I could never hate you."
"That's easy to say but…" he began.
Linka put her hand on his arm, "I mean it. Wheeler we have been through far too much together for me to ever throw our friendship away, do you really not know that?"
The American searched her eyes for a moment and then made a decision. Taking her hand gently and standing up, he told her to. "Come on."
Wheeler led the wind planeteer to his cabin and indicated that she should sit next to him on the bed, before rummaging around in his bedside cabinet. He looked unusually serious as he said, "I've never told anyone about this and I need it to stay that way…?"
"I promise that it will stay between us." Linka said earnestly, but then gave him a shy smile. "But thank you for trusting me."
The American gave her half a smile back but it was obvious that he was still nervous. "Here." He handed her the oldest of five letters, all in the same handwriting.
Linka took the envelope and removed a letter, and a picture of a small baby. Wheeler nodded for her to continue so she opened the single sheet of paper and read.
Hey Sweet Lips guess what?
Her name is Paige and you can see how cute she is from the picture, not that she could be otherwise with parents as gorgeous as us.
Now don't go getting any heroic ideas, what we had was great and all that but what's done is done. I'm only telling you cos I figured you had a right to know. I promise I'll tell her about you when she's older, but right now we don't want or need anything so don't worry about us.
Luv Maria
Linka stared at the letter in shock, then looked up at Wheeler, her eyes demanding an explanation.
"Almost a year before I joined the Planeteers, Maria moved to my school. Her Dads job takes them all over so she doesn't believe in putting down roots, in fact she doesn't believe in anything except having a good time. That suited me just fine and we had the wildest three months. Then her Dad moved on and so did she and that was fine with me too. I wasn't in love with her, and I had this on again off again thing with Trish so I wasn't exactly lonely."
He swallowed, not daring to see what effect his words were having on her. "Just before Gaia called us I got that letter. I managed to get her on the phone, though they were due to move again and I never know where the letters will come from. I didn't have enough money to do anything else… anyway she made it clear that she meant what she said in her letter, she didn't want me involved and I guess I was selfish enough to be relieved, except that I wanted to be part of my daughters life, I never wanted to just leave her to it. So she agreed to send me pictures on Paige's birthday and tell her about me, and let her know I'll be here for her if she ever needs me." He laughed, "I guess she wont though, I'm not exactly the mature responsible type."
Linka was silent so he asked. "Still sure you could never hate me?"
The Russian looked up. There were tears in her eyes, not from her own pain, but because she'd heard his in his voice. As he looked away again she moved closer and put her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "Why should I hate you? If you had not cared about the child I would not have thought well of you I admit, but I would have to be stupid not to see how much you want to be a part of her life."
He wrapped his arms around her, still sounding nervous. "And my behaviour? That doesn't make a difference either?"
"To what?" she asked, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Wheeler stomach turned over. "Lin… you must know how I feel about you… I'd never act the way I did back then, now, not since I met you but… I… Oh hell, I know I'm not good enough for you, I've always known that, but I don't know what I'll do if you send me away."
Ma-Ti's voice interrupted them as he called Wheeler to hurry up, and Linka pulled away. "You had better go."
"No! Lin answer me, please?" Wheeler swallowed. "I'm not asking you tell me how you feel, just if knowing this… if I've lost any chance to convince you…?"
"It is a lot to take in at once…" Linka began, knowing that despite her feelings for him, she wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of him having a child. But then seeing the look on his face, she blushed and shook her head. "You were acting like an immature boy but you obviously did not treat her badly or walk out on them so I have no reason to think ill of you. Besides it was before we met... so any decisions I made would be based on who you are now."
Wheelers relief was so obvious that it made Linka laugh. "Go and have fun." She told him, and then added sternly, "But not with any of the local girls."
The American grinned and said sincerely. "Babe, I wont even notice them."
She looked away, both flattered and embarrassed. "May I look at the other pictures?" She asked indicating the remaining envelopes.
"Sure. Take care of them for me okay?" She nodded and he darted forward to give her a quick peck on the cheek before grabbing his bag. "I'll miss you Lin." He paused in the doorway, doubts still assailing him about the state of her feelings. I pushed her into answering me and she didn't want to make me feel bad. What if she changes her mind while I'm not here to defend myself, maybe I should put Ma-Ti off…
Linka looked up and smiled and the American smiled back. I'll only be gone a few days, it'll give her time to get used to the idea. He decided, before heading off to join Ma-Ti.
"I'll miss you too." She said quietly after he had gone, and then sat back on the bed to look through the letters.
Wheeler stared out of the window of the eco-copter deep in thought.
"What is wrong my friend?" Ma-Ti asked, concerned about his uncharacteristic behaviour.
The American shook his head and attempted to dispel his worry. "Nothing, just thinking about Linka."
"That does not normally make you frown?" His young friend pointed out.
Wheeler was reluctant to tell Ma-Ti everything he had discussed with their Russian friend, however he did need to talk about part of it. "I was a different person before I met her Ma-Ti. I just had to tell her something I know she didn't like, but she's too good a friend to say so and… I can't help thinking that the more she finds out about me the less chance I have of getting her to care for me."
"She already cares for you Wheeler." Ma-Ti said grinning. "But you can only have a future together if you let her see the real you and trust her to like you for who you really are."
Shaking his head Wheeler said, "That's fine as long as she likes who I really am." But then he pushed his worries aside, determined to enjoy their short break. "So anyway, what do you have planned for us?"
They chatted for a while as the skies slowly grew darker. When a flash of lightening lit the horizon, they both jumped and paid greater attention to the controls. The storm increased in intensity very quickly buffeting them about.
"We'd better find somewhere to land!" Wheeler called out and his friend agreed.
As they began their descent, the craft was hit by a flash of lightening and shorted out, the blades stuck and the 'copter fell. The two planeteers tried their best to get the systems going again but in the end had to bail out, their parachutes taking them below the tree line shortly after their craft smashed into the undergrowth disappearing from sight.
Three days after his departure, Wheelers letter arrived. Recognising the writing, Linka immediately pounced on it and announced her intention to put it in Wheelers room for him. Their last conversation was still bothering her and while she had to acknowledge that she didn't like the careless young boy her Yankee used to be, she cared too much for the person he had become since to let it come between them. I let him leave before we had talked it through properly, he must be wondering if I meant what I said… I wont be comfortable until I know everything is okay between us.
When she got to the fire planeteers cabin, she decided that Wheeler would want to know his letter had come, and while a part of her realised that was just an excuse to call him, the rest of her mind assured her that it was a perfectly legitimate reason for disturbing her friends holiday.
Closing her eyes and lifting her ring to her forehead, the wind planeteer thought to their youngest member. ~ Ma-Ti? ~
There was no response so she tried again. ~ Ma-Ti, can you hear me? I have a message for Wheeler ~
Again there was no response and a sinking feeling began to creep over the lovely Russian. ~ Please answer me Ma-ti? ~
Telling herself she was over-reacting and that Ma-Ti had probably just taken his ring off and forgotten it, Linka forced herself to remain calm. It is irresponsible of him, but it does not mean that anything is wrong. And Ma-Ti and Wheeler are never more irresponsible than when they are together.
She put Wheelers letter with the others in the bedside cabinet and headed to the games room, knowing it would be empty. Sitting down at the computer there, Linka tried to make a connection with the Eco-copters computer… again unsuccessfully. Perhaps there is a lot of pollution in the area they are in. - She told herself, trying to beat the rising fear - That always interferes with our systems.
Linka's next stop was the crystal chamber. "Gaia, I cannot get in touch with Ma-Ti… I wanted to tell Wheeler something."
The Spirit of the Earth smiled knowingly, "I'll contact them and ask Wheeler to call you."
The Russian blushed but she looked relieved, "Thank you Gaia."
Gaia's gaze turned inward as she sent her consciousness elsewhere, then after a few moments her eyes refocused and her expression turned into a frown. "I couldn't find them, they aren't where they were supposed to be."
Linka's heart started banging in her chest and her stomach turned over, as the panic she had been keeping at bay began to take over. "But they must be somewhere!" She exclaimed, "Is there much pollution in the area?"
Gaia consulted the planet vision. "There has been very bad weather in that region over the last few days… it's possible they were caught in a storm and have crashed somewhere. The pollution is not so bad but despite the amount of rain forest that is destroyed each year, there is still much territory that hard to search through."
"But you must be able to!" Linka insisted as the others joined them.
Kwame asked, "What is wrong Gaia?"
Linka looked away when the others came in and was steadfastly refusing to meet their eyes.
"We have lost contact with Ma-Ti and Wheeler." Gaia answered. "I was just explaining to Linka that though I can sense life in that part of the world, it is difficult for me to distinguish two specific life forms. It will take time and it might be quicker if you try an aerial search in the Geo-cruiser."
The Russian girl looked up at that suggestion, her eyes full of gratitude. "Da, that is a good idea."
As the planeteers headed for their plane, Gi put a hand on Linka's shoulder. "Don't worry Linka, they're probably safe and sound. Wheeler will laugh when he knows how worried we've been."
Linka smiled back, "Da, and I will make him regret it!" She threatened, making her friend laugh.
They returned home the next day, very down hearted. Linka had finally given up insisting that they stay, though now she wasn't talking to either of her friends.
There were severe storms over nearly all of South America and the three friends couldn't get close enough to search for their missing team members. After several attempts and a few near misses, Kwame had insisted they camp for the night and try again the following day. Linka hadn't been happy, worrying that their friends might be hurt, but she had been over-ruled. After a second day of the same, Gaia had told them to return to Hope Island, promising to continue her own search.
A few days and a few sleepless nights later, the weather cleared up but there was still no sign of the missing planeteers.
"I will not give up Kwame, we cannot just leave them out there!" Linka protested
The Africans face was sad as he replied, "I'm not suggesting we give up Linka, I'm just saying that it is becoming more unlikely that we will find them. The Shaman and his people saw and heard nothing, that means they did not even get close to their destination, they could have crashed anywhere between here and Ma-Ti's village and if they were in the sea…"
"Stop it!" Linka cried, holding back her tears as best she could. "They are not dead!"
Gi tried to put her arm around the distraught girl but was shrugged off. "Linka we all want to believe that but…"
"Nyet! They have to be okay! He has to come back to me…" The Russian insisted, then she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I never even told Wheeler how I feel… Gi, I am in love with him."
Gi looked as upset as her friend but she said, "I'm sure he knows Linka." And then, when the Russian girl just shook her head. "I want to go out searching as much as you do, but it just isn't practical."
"You are as bad as Kwame, you want to give up, but I can't!" she argued. "If you do not want to help just stay out of the way." Then she stormed off, heading to the computer room to search on the internet for anything that could give them a clue as to what happened.
The next few days went past in a blur for Linka. She couldn't sleep properly and she couldn't relax. Her need to go out searching just for something to do was even greater and when the others began to return to some of their planeteer duties, she stopped talking to them again, avoiding them completely.
One night - just over a week since her friends disappearance - exhausted, but still unable to sleep, Linka got up and made herself a warm drink. After sitting in the kitchen for an hour, the tired young woman headed back to her cabin, only to pause at the door of Wheelers empty room. She hesitated for a moment and then entered, looking around the silent cabin in the moonlight. Closing the door quietly behind her, Linka moved to the bed and pulled back the covers to climb inside. The lovely girl buried her head in Wheelers pillows, detecting the faint scent of him as she cried herself to sleep.