So we say farewell to Black Hole High, yet some things just aren't sorted out! How could they leave Josie's clone stuck there! Oh, thanks to the StrangeDays forum for putting up Conclusions on the web; it pays to be a lurker sometimes! I don't have enough to say in order to join, really.

Title: Someday
Summary: Whatever it takes, I'll bring you back… (Conclusions spoilers, one-shot. Pretty short.)
Warnings: Definite spoilers for Conclusions, quite short. Lucas/ Josie2 romance, Lucas/ Vaughn bonding. My first BHH fic! Italics are thoughts.

Disclaimer: See profile.

It was dark.

Night descended over Blake Holsey Prepatory Academy, a breeze wafting through the empty halls and blowing open doors. The building was devoid of life, save for one room, where a figure sat hunched over an odd looking machine. Deep bags hung under his eyes, having not slept in a week, choosing to rely on caffeine for energy. The linoleum flooring was littered with spare parts, nuts, bolts, screwdrivers and the like, half of which had been melted by an unknown force.

The boy wiped his forehead, taking his glasses off and cleaning them. He was so close to achieving his target, he couldn't stop now. He picked the screwdriver back up and got back to work.

He was growing to become fond of the silence that had haunted him after everyone's departure. The silence had taunted him to begin with, to remind him how he had failed, how he was the only person who seemed to care, or be unable to accept her fate. As the weeks progressed, he took it to be a reminder; the sooner he finished, the faster the silence would be filled by her voice, her footsteps…

He shook his head, opening his eyes. He couldn't fall asleep now, not when he was-

"Lucas?"

Lucas turned to see Vaughn Pearson standing in the doorway of the Science Office, formerly of Professor Zachary. The blonde football player was concerned about his friend, spending every hour of the day working on a machine. He held up a cup of coffee as a peace offering.

"Can I come in?"
"Sure," Lucas replied, with a voice scratchy from lack of use. Vaughn was surprised. The few other times he'd come, Lucas hadn't said a word.
He walked cautiously up behind the bespectacled teen, putting the coffee on the table next to the machine. It was gone in a few minutes.
Vaughn watched Lucas for a while, as he worked like a man possessed, furiously pulling parts off and fiddling.

"Lucas," Vaughn said again.

Lucas continued to work.

"You can't help her if you run yourself down, you know."

The frenzied boy stopped, then glared at his companion.
"If I stop now, she'll never come back!"
"Yes she will! Because you'll get her back!" Vaughn shouted, standing. "You're being stupid, Lucas, and that's not something I know you to be."
As an afterthought, Vaughn added, "Very often."

Lucas cracked a slight smile. He was excellent at being a twit, this he knew.

Sobering up, he sighed and closed his eyes.
"I just need to get her back, Vaughn. She shouldn't have had to sacrifice her life like that."
Vaughn nodded, sympathetic yet annoyed at the same time.
"You'd rather Josie had been stuck there, then?" he asked.

Lucas turned, prepared to yell at Vaughn when a sudden thought struck him. Would he have rather let Josie stay where she was, now that he knew how he felt, and had Josie's clone with him for a brief while? Or did he, deep down, know that what Josie had to do was more important than anyone's feelings?

"…I'd just gotten over her, Vaughn. I know it's selfish, but I finally found someone who liked me. And I mean liked me liked me. Josie is just so… Beautiful. She deceived us, but there was still this aura of innocence, you know? You could see it in her face; she appreciates life, then had to give it up."

"She isn't dead, Lucas. She's just waiting for you to bring her back," Vaughn muttered, taking a minute to realise that he was talking about Josie's clone, and not Josie herself.

Funny how he sees them as two different people.

"That's why I need to finish this!" Lucas replied, banging a hand down on the tabletop. He slammed far harder than he'd meant to, and the device on the table fell of the edge. Lucas made a desperate grab, barely catching it before it smashed into the ground. Vaughn put a hand on his shoulder, worried.

"You alright?"
Lucas checked the machine over before nodding.
"Ok, you're coming to my house, now."
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "I thought I just said-"
"You need food and sleep. Then tomorrow, I'll help you. As much as I can, anyway."
The smaller boy watched Vaughn for any deceit.

"Why?"

"Because we're friends. Now, come on."

With that, he grabbed the device from Lucas' hands and placed it on the table, before steering the protesting boy out of the door and towards the Pearson residence. Lucas would thank him in the long run.

In the Science Office, a surge of purple electricity ran across the machine. There was a flash of orange light from the middle of the room, and a teenage girl appeared on the floor, sleeping. She sat up, half asleep, before smiling and settling down again.

She was back.

Ok, sucky, I know. Please review! I'm not too proud to beg!

Yours, Straitjackit.