Prologue: This is written after the first season, but as if the second & third seasons never existed. It has all the characters from the first season (includes Chief Crocker even though he's only mentioned).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 AM - The Bridgers' home on Bridger's Island
"And do you Kristin Claire Westphalen take Nathan Hale Bridger to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, until death do you part?"
"I do."
"Kristin. Kristin, I think our daughter wants you."
Kristin Westphalen-Bridger woke up to hear her one year old daughter, Moira Claire, and her husband, Nathan Bridger, in the next room. Nathan's desperate tries to stop Moira's crying floated into the bedroom. 'Boy, will he be glad when we get back to SeaQuest and there are plenty of people to help take care of her'.
The sound of Nathan sitting down in the rocking chair in Moira's room, brought her back to reality. With a sigh, She got out of bed and began her morning routine of taking care of Moira, making a quick breakfast, and getting dressed. 'Mental Note', She thought, '1. Remember to pack the suitcases. 2. Remember to give Lucas his present'.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Same time- SeaQuest (Bridge)
"So when does the Captain get here?" Lucas asked Commander Ford.
"About 3 and 1/2 hours." Ford answered.
"You never gave Ben an answer on whether or not we can throw the Captain, Dr. Westphalen, and Moira a party."
"Will you guys leave me alone?"
"Yes."
"Then go ahead."
"Thanks, Commander.", Lucas turned and began running down the hall, "Hey, Ben!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 hrs later
Kristin held her squirming daughter in her lap, while Nathan looked out of the window on the launch.
"So what do you think Lucas is going to do when we get there?" Kristin asked breaking the silence in the quiet launch.
"Well, considering the fact that I broke the promise that I would let him come visit Moira while we were at the house, I figure he's going to have some fun with Silly String or confetti, probably both."
"Nathan, We were at the house for 3 months and you wouldn't let him visit? If I was there, I'd be waiting to get you back too."
"oh would you?", He said, putting his arms around her and Moira.
"Yes, I would" She answered, before giving him a long kiss.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 minutes later - Officer's Mess
"Are we almost finished?" Lucas asked impatiently.
"Yeah. We just have to wait for Miguel to get the cake down here." Ben Krieg answered.
"Where's Tim?"
"Upstairs trying to get Katie and Chief Shan to help with the confetti and silly string."
"I hope we aren't overdoing it." Miguel said, walking through the door with the cake.
"I don't think so." Lucas answered looking around the room which had Welcome Home posters, balloons, streamers, bagged and loose confetti, cans of Silly String, and presents all over.
"Lucas, is the Silly String and the confetti really necessary?" Miguel asked again.
"Yes, it's payback." Lucas said, matter-of-factly.
"I couldn't persuade Chief Shan, but Hitchcock and Crocker both said they'd love to help.", Tim said, entering the room, "How much longer till they get here?"
"about 20 minutes." Miguel answered.
"So what do we do now?" Tim asked.
"Well, I have some presents for Moira that I have to dig out of my room, and Darwin's party hat is in my room, too." Lucas answered.
"I have some presents for Moira, too, plus some things for the Captain. So I guess everyone can go get ready and grab any last minute presents, and we'll regroup down here." Miguel interjected.
A chorus of okays were murmured. Miguel spoke up again, "Well, we've got at most 15 minutes, so get going." Everyone made a mad dash for the door and ran to collect last minute items.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 minutes later - Bridge
"Commander, I'm picking up a signal from a launch." Katie Hitchcock said.
"What kind of signal?" Ford asked, hoping it wasn't one of the Seaquest's.
"It's a distress signal.", Hitchcock paused in disbelief, a grim feeling filled her eyes, "It's the launch carrying the Bridgers."
"Are you completely sure?" Ford asked, his voice shaking.
"Yes, sir, SeaQuest Launch MR-3.", Hitchcock paused again, a lump forming in her throat.
"Commander, we are being hailed." Ensign Highlander called.
"From?" Ford asked. 'Please God, Let it be them.', He thought.
"A launch."
"Put it through.", 'Come on, let it be them. please.', Ford thought.
The image of Kristin, bloody, obviously tired, and still holding Moira, appeared in the screen. In the copilot seat beside her is the image of a barely conscious Captain Bridger, bleeding heavily.
"Commander?", Kristin asked, almost uncertain her friend was there.
"Kristin, What happened? Where's the pilot?"
"I don't know what happened. I was talking with Nathan and the pilot, when something hit us. The pilot's dead.", Kristin stopped, " Commander, we have to get Nathan to SeaQuest, he's dying."
Ford's expression turned as grim as the feeling in Katie's eyes. Immediately, he turned to Katie and began to speak, "Katie, take a rescue team. Go as fast as you can."
'Please, don't let him die. If not for his daughter, for Lucas. Captain Bridger is all he has in the way of a father. Please.', Ford didn't know it, but everyone in the Bridge was praying the same prayer for their captain and a teenager who needed their captain to have discipline, friendship, and love.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Docking Bay 3
Lucas, Ben, Miguel, and Tim sat on the steps awaiting the arrival of the Bridgers talking, when Katie walked to them followed by 3 medical officers.
"Hi, Katie. Ready to join us? I've got you can of Silly String here.", Ben said, casually, looking around for the can of pink silly string.
"I need the 4 of you to come with me, now. I'll explain in the launch."
"What's wrong?", Lucas asked, almost afraid of what her answer would be.
She gave him the look she'd given people before when some thing had gone terribly wrong. Without anymore questions, Lucas, Tim, Ben, and Miguel stood up, waiting for orders. Katie walked up the stairs and headed to the launch, her eyes showing pure fear. Lucas grew afraid, 'Please don't let there be anything wrong with them.', he thought.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Launch MR-4
"Katie, What is wrong? Is it the Captain?", Lucas asked, as the launch left SeaQuest.
Katie sighed, "The launch was hit. Dr. W-B appears to be fine, same with Moira.", She stopped, unable and unwilling to continue.
"What about Captain Bridger?"
Katie pretended not to hear him. Everyone on SeaQuest knew that to Lucas, Captain Bridger was like a father. She wasn't going to answer that question for a while.
"What about Captain Bridger?", Lucas asked again, his voice cracking with fear.
She ignored him again, knowing that Lucas now must be expecting the worst. Ben slid into the copilot seat and turned to Katie.
He began to talk, his voice barely audible, "Katie, what about the Captain?"
Katie, knowing he would tell Lucas, decided to tell Ben, 'might as well, Lucas needs to know.', She began to talk, loud enough for Ben to hear, but not loud enough for Lucas, "He's bleeding to death. The pilot's dead, and the way Kristin looked, I don't know if she's going to be conscious when we get there. The only one who looked fine was Moira."
Ben's expression showed pure shock. His lip quivered, but he didn't cry. He turned, got up, and went to sit next to Lucas. 'God, please, for Lucas, let the Captain survive.', Katie thought, almost repeating Ford's prayer.
Katie turned around in her seat in time to see Ben, Tim, and Miguel trying to calm Lucas, who was crying now, a torrent of tears coming down his cheeks. She turned back around, hope filling her as the Bridgers' launch came into view.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Lucas," Katie begin, kneeling down to look him, "He is going to survive, I know it, but now we have to hurry." Lucas nodded and got up. Katie headed to the hatch, med-kit in hand. Lucas right behind her, followed by the med crew, Ben, Tim, and Miguel.
Inside the Bridgers' launch, an ankle deep lake had formed in the bottom of it. The pilot's limp body lay on a seat, a surprised expression still on his face. Kristin was conscious, still holding Moira, and trying to put a good amount of pressure on the worst of her husband's wounds. Kristin was trying to shush her crying daughter, and becoming more frustrated.
"Kristin!", Lucas yelled, even though they were in a newly-compacted launch.
"Lucas!", Kristin yelled back, "Lucas, I could use some help."
The 8 people made their way toward the bridge of the launch. After dodging suitcases, some toys, metal, and other assorted items, they made it to Kristin, Moira, and Nathan.
Kristin looked up, her face tear streaked, frustration making creases in her forehead. She continued putting pressure on the worst wound, didn't even make a sound, when Lucas put his hand on her shoulder.
"Kristin, it's ok. come on, let get back to the other launch.", Lucas said. Kristin looked up, and allowed Lucas to help her up, take Moira, and help her hobble to MR-4. Katie's stomach stop doing flip-flops momentarily, only to have Lucas come back, his face distorted with fear and sadness.
"Let's get him back to MR-4 now. We've got to hurry.", Lucas commanded. Everyone obeyed, unwavering, even though they were listening to a 17 year old. Ben acted quickly, getting the backboard, and helping to get Captain Bridger on it. To Lucas, Everyone seemed to go to slow. His heart pounding faster and faster, His mind going to fast for him to realize what he was thinking.
After what seemed to be an eternity, The Bridgers were loaded on MR-4. The crew ran back to grab what they could of toys, clothes, suitcases, and other things before leaving, moving as fast as they could. Finally, they left MR-3 and Lucas hoped he'd left his fear, anger, sadness, and grimness behind, too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 minutes later-SeaQuest
MedBay was in emergency mode, when Lucas arrived with Moira. He looked around, knowing Kristin was in the mess some where. The med crew's shouts and calls made Lucas realize they were prepping his "father" for some sort of surgery to repair what they could of his wounds, even though the Commander had made the order to head toward the best UEO hospital there was. Suddenly, Lucas picked up the figure of Kristin, surrounded by people, all asking her to calm down and closing in on her. Lucas sprinted toward her, Moira on his hip.
"HEY! GET AWAY FROM HER! YOU'RE SCARING HER!", Lucas yelled, anger tripling as he ran. The people began to back away, and spread out, knowing that to him Kristin was his surrogate mother, the way Nathan was his surrogate father, the way Moira was his surrogate sister, and no one dared do anything that would get him made over any of the three of them.
"Mom.", Lucas allowed the word to escape his lips. Kristin looked at him, her eyes pleading him to take her away from this place, to some where safer.
"Come on, we're going to your quarter's you shouldn't be here.", He handed his "sister" to his "mother", and helped her to her feet. He helped her to the door, out in to the corridor, and on to the Mag-Lev.
"Lucas,", Kristin spoke, "When we get to my quarters, I want to show you something."
"ok.", Lucas looked at her, his eyes full of the love he had felt for his mother when she had been living with him. His mother had died of cancer a few months before, a friend of his mother's had told him. His mother had tried to take to her grave, but couldn't, allowing her friend to find Lucas and tell him. His father was sick, with radiation poisoning, because he hadn't heeded the warnings his colleagues had given him about a piece of equipment. All he felt he had now, were Kristin, Nathan, Moira, Darwin, and his friends on SeaQuest. The Mag-Lev stopped and Kristin stood up, careful not to wake Moira who had fallen asleep. Lucas followed her to the Bridgers' quarters, a place he had memorized since he'd often quietly gone in there to take care of Moira, so her parents could sleep. Kristin placed her precious child, who by every view, was a miracle child, in her white, pink, and lavender crib. She turned and went to the desk that she and Nathan shared, and opened a drawer which contained a few pieces of opened mail that they had forwarded to SeaQuest to file away. She flipped through the 8 letters looking for a specific one. After a few seconds, she pulled out two and took to contents out.
Kristin turned to him, the contents of the envelopes in her hands, "Lucas, just after Nathan, Moira, and I left for our 3 month leave, we received a call from your father. He wanted us to do something for him. He told us he knew he was going to die, but he also knew you needed a family. He wanted you to make the decision, but was afraid to ask. We thought you may have mentioned someone to one of your friends, so Nathan put some calls through to Miguel, Tim, Jonathan, and others, and they all said the same thing. So your father started the paperwork for the family to adopt you. The adoption is in the second stages, but I am still going to ask you. We want to know if it's ok, the family your father chose, because if it isn't, the adoption can be stopped."
"Ok,", Lucas said, paused, then began again, "Who's the family?"
Kristin handed him the papers. Lucas took them, and smiled when he saw the Bold Print: ADOPTION OF LUCAS WOLENCZAH BY BRIDGER FAMILY.
"Kristin, I would be so happy to be adopted by you and the captain."
"You can call him Nathan, you know."
But Lucas just smiled and gave her a hug.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 minutes later - Med-Bay
Nathan had called Lucas via Darwin to tell him to come down to Med-Bay. Lucas was so happy he ran down the corridor, nearly missing the door to Med-Bay, Kristin behind him, this time Moira at her hip. When they came in, they went from a worried to ecstatic when they saw Nathan.
Lucas ran over, his heart pounding, "Do me a favor if you'd like to see me have a heart attack, don't do it by almost dying."
"You mean you don't want to be the first 17 yr. old to have one."
"oh ha ha.", Lucas said, sarcastically.
Nathan's attention turned to his wife and his daughter. He picked up Moira and put her on his stomach, and looked at his wife, "Kris, you can stop turning green now.", He said, sounding like his usual self.
"I can? oh.", She said, gesturing to way Moira was sitting on him and was hitting his chest, "I told Lucas."
"Oh you did, did you?", He said, turning to Lucas, "What's the verdict?"
"I'd be happy to be your son.", The activity in the Med-Bay stopped as Lucas uttered the word 'son', and Nathan began to laugh when someone dropped a tray.
After a few minutes, activity resumed and Lucas' PAL went off.
The voice of Miguel came through, "Lucas, did you just saw the words happy, your, and son in the same sentence? Because if you did someone on the Senior bridge staff just got 500 dollars and a 3 day leave pass to the Caribbean."
Lucas looked at Nathan who was wearing a huge smile, then at Kristin who wore the same smile, "Maybe Yes, Maybe No."
"Lucas, Yes or No.", Ford was heard in the background.
"Yes.", He said giving in.
Hooting and yelling was heard as Miguel's long line of curses came through.
"Lt., who's the one yelling?", Nathan asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"That would be the Commander, Captain. He won our bet. Katie won the other half, which I have yet to contact her about."
"ok. oh, and Lt., please don't ever curse like that again especially when Moira is on board." Nathan said, the voice of the captain saying the sentence.
"Sorry, Captain, won't happen again.", Miguel said.
Lucas shut off his PAL, and turned to his new family.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 weeks later
Commander Ford walked up to Lucas and the Captain, "Kristin asked me to bring these to you guys."
"Thank you, Commander.", Nathan said, and looked at the letter. He went to his seat and put it down, 'I'll open it later.'
"Captain,", The Commander said, "Kristin told me to remind you to look at the address on it."
"Thank you again, Commander.", Nathan said, picking it back up to look at the address, "Lucas, this is it." he said. The entire crew had been holding their breath waiting for the captain to say that. The letter told them if Lucas was to be a Bridger or not. Because Captain Bridger was a UEO captain, Secretary Noyce had pushed the adoption holding his breath for the Captain and Lucas.
Nathan opened it slowly, to annoy Lucas. Pulling the envelope away, Lucas tore it open. He opened the tri-folded letter, and looked for the answer yes. He started yelling and shouting when he saw the words: ADOPTION APPROVED.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's the end. I am going to write a second piece to this if I can.
Any constructive criticism would be useful, as would comments. Thanx!
*v* Katie *v*