A Whole New Man #35

by KaitlynRose

Lawrence has devised a new game, one that might destroy the bond between Nathan and Lucas forever.

I do not own seaQuest or its characters. I am not profiting from this story since it is for
entertainment purposes only.


A Whole New Man
By: Kaitlyn Rose


Katie walked up to Ben's door and knocked lightly on it. It only took a second for Ben to open
the door.

"Hi Ben," Katie said.

"Katie," Ben replied.

"May I come in please?"

"No, I don't think so," Ben replied.

"Ben, please I need to talk to you, it's important."

"I'm sure you think it is. Listen, Katie, I think we should keep a professional distance between us
from now on. We both have a job to do and luckily for us those jobs don't really involve us working
together very often. The fact is, I like living here and I have a lot of friends. More than I realized that I
had, and I'm not going to risk losing them again. In a strange way I've gained a family here much the same
way Lucas did.

I know you don't love me, and I accept that. Now, if you don't mind, I have to finish getting
ready, I have to go on duty in about ten minutes."

Katie was stunned to see Ben actually close the door on her. He hadn't even let her in so she
could tell him how she felt, and that she was glad that he agreed to stay on seaQuest.

Ben really was a different person than the man she married. He had matured, even if he still knew
how to act like a kid at times. She walked away from his door sadly and headed for the bridge.


_____________________________



"Don't you think this material is too flimsy?" Nathan asked. "It won't be able to go very deep."

"That's not true. This is just the outer coating to the new stinger. The underbody will be a shell of
something stronger, I just haven't decided what yet. I want the stinger to be able to go somewhat deep, but
if it's too heavy that will slow it down. This one has to go even faster than the first one did."

"Lucas, you don't have to make this one better than the last one. The last one was fine just the
way it was."

"I know, but what's the point of building a new one if you don't make improvements on it. I have
ideas for a one-man stinger and even a two-man version. Obviously the two man version will go a bit
slower that the one man craft, but it'll still be faster than anything else out there."

Nathan smiled and shook his head. Lucas was like a kid in a candy shop.

"Just remember," Nathan said, "you still have to write up a new report for all of this. You don't
have funding yet."

"I know, I remember from the last time."

"So, are you going to have Katie work with you to build these?"

"Actually, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty, I thought we could do it. You and me,"
Lucas said, looking at him hopefully.

Nathan smiled. "Yeah, I think that would be a great idea. It's not a '69 Mustang, but the
principle's the same. But you're writing the report yourself. I already do enough paper work around here."

"Deal," Lucas laughed.

Lucas and Nathan's Pal's went off at the same time. Nathan answered his first.

"Bridger."

"Captain, I've Secretary Noyce on line for both you and Lucas. He says it's urgent."

"Fine, Lucas and I are on our way to my quarters. Patch the call through to there. Tell Bill it'll be
a minute."

"Aye sir," Tim said.

Nathan and Lucas both hurried to their room. Nathan clicked on the vid-link and saw Bill sitting
there.

"Bill, what's the emergency?" Nathan asked.

"Actually, it's not an emergency. I have some news, and I'm not sure how it's going to be
received," Bill said. "Besides, I wanted you to hear it from me before you heard it on the news."

"What's happened?" Nathan asked again.

Bill looked at Lucas and said, "Lucas, yesterday morning your father, or…I mean, Lawrence
Wolenczak, was found dead in his cell. Autopsy showed that he had a massive heart attack."
Nathan looked at Lucas and saw that the boy didn't look to upset. He seemed to be deep in
thought. After a moment of awkward silence he finally said, "I want to see the body."

"Lucas," Nathan said, but Lucas stopped him.

"No, I…I need to see the body. When is the funeral going to be?"

"Uh, Lucas," Bill said, "there isn't going to be a funeral. Since technically Lawrence didn't have
any family and no one to claim the body, he has already been cremated. Do…do you want the ashes?"

Now Lucas did start to look a little distressed. "How could they burn him already? I mean, who
actually saw him dead? Are there at least pictures?"

"Lucas!" Nathan stammered. He was starting to think that Lucas had gone into shock.

"Don't you understand? How do I know this isn't some kind of trick? I have to have some kind
of proof that he's actually dead," Lucas yelled.

"Lucas, the prison doctor performed an autopsy. Trust me, the man is dead."

"They take pictures during autopsies, don't they?" Lucas asked.

Nathan couldn't believe what Lucas was asking.

"I believe so," Bill said.

"Then I want to see the autopsy pictures," Lucas insisted. "It'll never be over otherwise."

Bill and Nathan exchanged a look before Bill finally said, "I'll have copies of the photos
transmitted to seaQuest.

"Good," Lucas replied, and then left the room, leaving a very disturbed Nathan and Bill left to talk
privately.

"That wasn't the reaction I was expecting," Bill said.

"I admit that it was strange, but I guess I can understand. Lawrence terrorized him his whole life,
brought him to the point of death on several occasions. I guess if sees the pictures it will give him a sense
of closure to the whole thing."

"I'll call the prison right now," Bill said.

"Fine, I'm going to go check on Lucas. I don't believe he's really as calm about this whole thing
as he just appeared to be."

Nathan broke the connection and then paged Kristin. He wanted her to be there when he talked to
Lucas, he also told her to bring a sedative just in case.




Lucas was in his room pacing back and forth. Lawrence was dead. At least that was what they
were saying. He was dead. Lucas found that he wasn't saddened by the news what so ever. He was
strangely happy about the whole thing, but he was also surprising pissed. Who gave Lawrence permission
to die? Dying was way to easy for him. He was supposed to suffer sitting in that cell for years. Now he
was dead. Lucas could only hope that the man was burning in hell.

He stopped pacing when Mom and Dad entered his room.

"I don't want to talk," Lucas said in no uncertain terms.

"Lucas, I think you need to," Kristin said gently.

"There's nothing to talk about," Lucas said. "He's dead. Once I see the pictures life can go on as
usual."

"Lucas, I don't believe this is that easy for you," Nathan said.

"If you are expecting me to feel sorry for him or be sad then you best think again."

"We don't expect that," Kristin said. "He did awful things to you, to all of us. Of course you
aren't going to be sad, but surely you're feeling something."

"You want to know how I feel, I feel like we should be having a fucking party!!!" Lucas yelled.
"The bastard is dead. Good."

"Lucas," Nathan said in a warning tone.

"Lucas what? Lucas calm down? Lucas behave? Why? You came here asking how I felt. Well I
just told you. My only disappointment is that he died too soon. He was supposed to suffer more sitting in
that cell. Death was the easy way out for him. But I'm still not convinced he's dead. I'll believe it when I
see it!"

Lucas was shouting by the time he finished. Nathan knew there was no point in trying to talk to
Lucas when he was like this. This was one of those times when words were useless. He took two steps
forward and reached out for Lucas. He wrapped his arms around his son and pulled the boy to him.
Lucas fought the embrace. He pushed away and tried to get loose from Dad's arms but the man
only held him tighter.

"Let go," Lucas cried. He didn't want comfort, he didn't want love, he only wanted to be alone
with his anger. Nathan refused. He held on to him and pulled him over to the bunk and had a seat on it.
Lucas had stopped struggling and though he didn't return the embrace he sat there allowing Dad to
hold him. Mom sat on the bed next to him also and ran a hand through his hair.

"Lucas, its okay to be angry, or happy, or anything else you might be feeling right now. This
news is shocking to all of us, but especially to you. The man was evil, and he hurt you so much, that I have
to admit that I'm oddly relieved that he's gone myself. I never thought in all my life I would say something
so callous, but its true."

Lucas looked at her, eyes wide from her revelation.

"She's not the only one who feels that way," Nathan said. He continued once Lucas turned to
look at him. "Lucas, I hated that man more than I've hated anyone in my entire life. That night in the
graveyard when I tackled him and we fell into that grave, the only thought going through my mind was that
I was going to personally kill him with my own bare hands. I mean, he sent you a bomb, he shot up our
home, he kidnapped you and made me think you were dead, then once we got you back he kidnapped
Kristin.

"Not to mention I had already witnessed several of your dreams. You'll never know how painful it
still is for me to watch him beating you, hurting you so badly and you were so little and innocent. You
never deserved anything he ever did to you. So if your feeling bad because your happy he's dead, then at
least be comforted by the fact that there are a lot of people who will be happy he's dead. Ben might even
throw you that party you mentioned."

"I don't really want a party," Lucas whispered.

"I know." Nathan sighed when he finally felt Lucas relax and lean into him.

"I'm still not sure if I really believe he's dead," Lucas said. "He's a master of lies and deceit. I…I
have to see those pictures. I have to."

"I'll tell you what, I'll go to med bay right now. If Bill called the prison as soon as you to hung up
chances are that they are already there," Kristin said comfortingly.


______________________________



Lawrence woke up slowly. He felt groggy from the anesthesia. He lifted his hands and felt all the
thick bandages that covered his face. Pulaski had wasted no time. Literally thirty minutes after Lawrence
awoke from his near death sleep he had gone under the knife. He had been told that they were changing his
nose, giving him a chin implant, plus a face-lift to make him appear younger, plus they were going to alter
his hairline.

He would be a completely different person once the bruising and the swelling went away. He
heard someone enter his hospital room. He slowly turned his head to see Pulaski standing there.

"How are you feeling?" Pulaski asked.

"At the moment rather awful," Lawrence told him.

"I would imagine," Pulaski replied. "I am arranging for you to be moved to a hotel room. The
room has been paid for two weeks. You will stay there and recover from your surgery. Here is your new
documentation." Pulaski placed a large yellow envelope on the bedside table. "This contains your new
birth certificate. You are now John Daniels. You are 44 years old. Also inside you will find your
certificates for your BA from Princeton, your Masters from Harvard, and your PH.D. from Princeton once
again. If anyone tries to verify this information they will find that the records in the school's data bases
will back up your certificates."

"Next," Pulaski continued, "you will find a credit card issued in John Daniel's name and there is
$200 cash. I have already taken the liberty of having several outfits of clothing placed in your hotel room.
Welcome back to the world, Mr. Daniels."

"So that's it then. I can live my own life."

"Yes, as long as you work for Section Seven. As I have already said, I am the only one who
knows what has gone on here. In two weeks when you have recovered you will report to work at this
address. The personnel director will be expecting you. You have already been hired, you are simply
finishing your two weeks notice is what everyone else has been told. Once your face is healed then you can
apply for a drivers license."

"So does this mean I'm not going to see you anymore in the next two weeks?" Lawrence asked.

"No, I will be stopping by periodically to check on your progress, and to make sure you are where
you're supposed to be. I meant what I said. If you try to run from me I will have you killed. Don't doubt
that for a moment. Right now you are just a figment of my creation, and I can just as easily have you
erased.

"I'm not going to run," Lawrence said. "Believe it or not, right now just being an ordinary nobody
sounds very appealing. I look forward to simply getting a place to live, maybe even starting a new family."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" Pulaski asked.

"I don't really care if you do or if you don't," Lawrence said. "It makes no difference to me one
way or the other."


______________________________



Lucas sat on his bunk looking at the autopsy photos once again. This had been probably the
fiftieth time he had done so in the past five days. He couldn't help it. His mind refused to accept the fact
that he was really dead. So he sat and stared at the photos, hoping that if he looked at them long enough
then maybe his head would start to believe what his eyes were telling him.

He heard Mom enter their quarters and he quickly stuffed the pictures under his mattress. She had
made it clear that she didn't approve of Lucas hanging on to the pictures but he had refused to give them
up.

He went back to his computer and continued working on the report for the funding for the new
stingers. He was about halfway through doing it. He would have been finished with it by now but he was
finding it hard to keep his concentration focused lately.

He decided to save the report and work on it later. Right now he just wanted to forget about
everything and anything. He started one of his computer games and decided to blow up some alien
spaceships for a while to de-stress.


_______________________________



Nathan stepped into his quarters and saw Kristin sitting at the table reading some papers. He
walked up to her and hugged her from behind.

"Hi there," he said.

"Hello yourself."

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm reading over Lawrence's autopsy report. From what I can see everything here is fine. He
had a massive heart attack. There is a report from the warden saying that Lawrence had been angry and
hostile as of late. I guess the stress finally caught up with him."

"Has Lucas seen this?"

"No, and I'm not going to show it to him either. He'll probably insist on keeping it like he did the
photos. I still think we should insist on him giving them to us."

"Kristin, he's having a hard time accepting this. Just let him have them for a little while longer.
In a few days we can take them away. Maybe by then he'll really believe it."

"Nathan, I'm worried about him. This is more than him skipping a few meals or working to hard.
He's angry, depressed, withdrawn, and sometimes even hostile. I think…I think we should get Lucas into
counseling."

"He'll never agree to that. He's not going to tell a stranger what's going on in that brain of his,
never in a million years. If we send him to a shrink he'll just pull further away from us. He just needs time
to deal with this, and he needs us to be patient and to provide support."

"I just wish I understood what he's feeling," Kristin said.

"He doesn't know what he's feeling," Nathan told her. "I've popped into his head several times in
the past few days, and he's called me into several dreams. What he's mostly feeling is confusion. He also
never really got a sense of closure. He feels like he was robbed by not seeing a body or attending a
funeral."

"I'd thought he'd made peace with all of that at Nana's."

"At the time he had, but then Lawrence came back into his life and proceeded to torment him in
brand new ways," Nathan told her.

"I guess you're right," she said. "I just hate seeing him in so much turmoil and feeling helpless to
ease his pain."

"I know. I feel the same, but Lucas will get over this. As long as the three of us are together we
can get through anything," Nathan said.


_____________________________



Lawrence removed the final bandages that were on his face. He was healing nicely. The swelling
was down and the bruises were yellowing and beginning to fade away.

He looked at the stranger in the mirror. It was a very odd thing, to look in the mirror and not see
the face that you had had your entire life. But he had to admit the surgeons had done an incredible job. He
was truly a whole new man, and rather handsome too, if he did say so himself. The face-lift had smoothed
his deeper wrinkles and made him look at least a good five years younger than he really was.

He opened the paper bag and poured out the contents on the bathroom counter top. He had
purchased brown hair dye and a bottle of foundation to try and mask the bruising. It was time to start his
new life. He was expecting the General to arrive tonight. He looked forward to seeing him. He wanted to
give him a proper thank you for his newfound freedom. He held up the last item that was in the paper bag.

A large pocketknife with a three-inch blade. He slipped the knife into the pocket of his jeans and went
about dying his hair.

He let the dye stay on for an extra five minutes to make sure it really lightened his dark hair. Then
he washed it out and blew it dry. He looked at his reflexion again and said, "Not bad."

He smoothed on the foundation gently since his face was still sore to the touch. The makeup
didn't completely hide the bruising, but it was a hell of an improvement. He stepped back into the bedroom
and opened up the new laptop computer he had bought with his credit card. He plugged it in and connected
it to the phone jack. The next hour was spent contacting a certain person he had met and making
arrangements to meet with him. Next he hacked into the internex and began to search for Lucas. It was
time to start a whole new game. He would also have to hack into a bank and set up and account for
himself. He was going to need money in this new life of his.


______________________________________



Lawrence had spent three hours on the internex but it had been productive time. He had managed
to hack Lucas' e-mail address and get the seaQuest schedule for the next two weeks. He saw that seaQuest
and the senior crew were scheduled to attend a conference at The Marine Research Center in San Francisco
in eight days. If Nathan was attending the conference then he knew Lucas would also be there. That could
be fun. He also had a brand new bank account and it currently had $12,000 in it.

He heard a knock at the door and went to let the General in.

"Good evening Lawrence, I mean, John. I see you're looking well tonight. Nice hair color,"
Pulaski said.

"Thank you," Lawrence replied. "I figured it would go well with my new look."

"You are recovering faster than expected. I think maybe you can report to work even sooner than
anticipated," Pulaski said.

"I think you're right. I'm eager to start working on the project, see what it is my son created
exactly."

"Just remember, this isn't about your twisted vendetta."

"Yes, I know," Lawrence said. "Would you mind if we went out to eat somewhere. I think I can
go out in public without frightening people now. We can talk about your cyborgs over a hot meal. Prison
food leaves a lot to be desired."

"That would be fine," Pulaski said. "I even have the journals downstairs in my car. You can start
reviewing them so when you come to work you'll already have a head start on it."

"Perfect," Lawrence said.

Lawrence had a pleasant dinner with Pulaski at a quiet out of the way restaurant. The two men
discussed Dr. Price's journals and Lawrence pretended to be fascinated by the work.
Halfway back to the hotel Lawrence asked Pulaski to pull over.

"I'm going to be sick," Lawrence said.

Pulaski pulled over and Lawrence quickly ran out of the car and into an alley where he made loud
retching sounds. He'd wait a few seconds and then made some more noises. He pulled his knife out of his
pocket and waited.

In the car Pulaski was growing impatient. After two minutes he decided to go check on the man.
He pulled his handgun out from the dashboard first. He wasn't a fool, and he didn't trust Lawrence for a
minute.

He walked into the alley looking for Lawrence but he didn't see him. He was coming up to a
dumpster. He approached it cautiously, trying to peer around it. He slid silently along the front of the
dumpster preparing to check behind it. He never made it around the edge. Lawrence stood up inside the
dumpster and plunged the knife into Pulaski's heart and even managed to grab the gun before the man
could fire a single shot.

The general stared at him in shock and pain and he wordlessly slid down the surface of the
dumpster clutching the knife in his chest. His body slowly lay flat on the ground and his hand fell away
from his chest and lay limply on the ground. Lawrence watched as the man took several ragged breaths
and then finally died.

He climbed out of the dumpster and dusted himself off. He took a long look at Pulaski, then bent
over and pulled the knife from the man's chest. He wiped the blood off on the general's shirt and then
closed the knife and put it back in his pocket. He also kept the general's handgun. He was tempted to try
and drag the body farther down the alley but he didn't want to chance getting his DNA or other evidence on
him.

Instead he left the corpse where it was and headed back for the car. He drove back to the hotel and
packed up his things and thoroughly washed any blood off of himself. He wasn't in any hurry. There was
no reason for him to be concerned. At the moment he was the invisible man, and it was a powerful feeling
to be invisible.

He was ready to leave when he decided to do one more thing. He pulled out his laptop and sent an
e-mail.


______________________________



Lucas was working in the lab with Dad on the new stinger when Ben came into the room.

"Hey kid, I got a package here for you. I just now found it. Tex left the storeroom in total
disarray. It's taken me days to get it back in order."

Lucas took the box. "Oh, it's from Wolfman." He opened the medium sized box and laughed as
he pulled out the surprise inside. It was a stuffed Frankenstein Monster doll. He opened up the letter that
was inside the box.

Hey Frankie,

I saw this and thought of you, dude. Had to get it for ya. Hope ya like it. Talk later,

Wolfman…..hoooooowwwwwlllllll



"Considering what happened in Romania I think it's pretty appropriate," Lucas laughed, holding
the doll up for Nathan and Ben to see. Both adults also let out a laugh. Nathan was grateful to see Lucas a
little more relaxed and like his old self tonight.

"Well, kiddo, I'm tired. What do you say we call it a night with the stinger? I want to take a
shower and then go to bed."

"Okay," Lucas said.

"Goodnight you two," Ben said. "See ya tomorrow."

"Night Ben," Lucas said with a wave.

Nathan and Lucas walked to their room, Lucas discussing a new idea about the stinger.

"Lucas, I'm sure it's a good idea, but honestly, I'm too tired to truly comprehend it at the
moment," Nathan grinned.

"Fine," Lucas laughed. They went in their room and saw that Kristin was already asleep.

"Goodnight," Lucas said, and went into his room.

"Goodnight," Nathan said.

Lucas changed into pajamas and was about to climb into bed when he thought to send Wolfman an
e-mail thanking him for his gift. He logged in to his account and saw that he had several messages. One
was from Juliana and the other was from "W". He was curious about who "W" was. Maybe it was
Wolfman. He opened the e-mail and saw a picture of himself. He recognized the picture. He had seen it a
dozen times. It was one of the tabloids favorites back during the trial when Lawrence went to jail the first
time. The picture was of him and the Captain leaving the courthouse. Dad had his arm around Lucas in the
picture as he led them through the crowd of reporters.

The picture began to change. A red spot started to form over Lucas' chest, slowly growing in size.
Then slash marks started to appear on his face and blood poured from the cuts. Finally the words 'See You
Soon' appeared on the screen. A moment later the words "You're Going to Die' showed up under the first
message.

Lucas felt his breathing quicken and the beads of sweat forming on his brow. Someone had just
sent him a death threat. He bolted from his room to get Dad. Lucas beat on the bathroom door.

"What's the matter?" Nathan asked, holding a towel around his waist. He had been about to jump
in the shower.

"Dad, I got an e-mail. Someone…someone threatened to kill me."

"What? Give me a second." Nathan closed the door to throw on his robe. He stepped out of the
bathroom and followed Lucas to his room.

Lucas pointed at the computer and then gasped.

"No!" he exclaimed. "It's gone," Lucas said. He sat down at his computer and began to try to
bring the e-mail back up once more, but there was no trace of it in his computer.

"Lucas, what did you see exactly?" Nathan asked.

"I had an e-mail from someone simply using the letter "W". I thought it was from Wolfman. I
opened it and I saw a picture of us from the trial a year ago. The one they kept using in the tabloids. Then
the picture became covered with blood and big cuts on me. Then it said, see you soon and you're going to
die. Now it's all gone. It was here a moment ago but now it's gone."

"Well, can you get it back?" Nathan asked.

"No, I tried but there must have been a program in the e-mail to make it erase itself after opening.
It's an old trick, I've used it myself."

"Do you have any idea who would have sent it? Is this just a sick joke or is this real?" Nathan
demanded, fear evident in his voice.

"No one I know would have sent that," Lucas said. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Dad, it's
Lawrence. The e-mail was from "W", it was a picture from his trial, and who else would threaten to kill
me!"

"Lucas, Lawrence is dead," Nathan stated. "We have the pictures of his autopsy and Mom has
already read over the medical examiner's report. The man is dead."

"Do we really know that?" Lucas asked. "If I really wanted to I could get on the computer and
make autopsy pictures of you. A report is nothing but words. We never saw his body!"

"Lucas, do you know how many people it would take to pull off a job like you're describing. The
man would have had to fake his death, and then the hospital doctor's would had to have been in on the
scam too, plus the prison guards who found the body, finally the coroner himself and the man who actually
burned the body. Lucas, your father just wouldn't have been able to pull off a stunt like that. There would
have been too many people involved. Lawrence was broke, how would he have paid off that many
people."

Lucas sat on his bunk. He knew Dad was making perfect sense, but still there was that little voice
in his head that refused to accept the fact that Lawrence was really and truly dead.

"Lucas, can you fix it so that if you receive another e-mail from this "W" you can stop it from
erasing?"

"Yeah, now that I know what to expect that won't be a problem. Although he'll probably change
his user name for the next one."

"Well then make sure you do it with any unknown e-mail. We need to trace these, find out where
this person is so we can put a stop to it."

"Do you think it might be that Maverick person?" Lucas asked.

Nathan thought about it for a moment, "I can't rule him out completely, but honestly, no. He'd
have no reason for doing this. He wasn't out for revenge against you personally but the UEO and Section
Seven. I doubt we'll hear from him again."

Lucas was quiet for a bit, thinking about possible people who might want to hurt him. His mind
kept coming back to Lawrence but he decided not to comment on it.

"Listen, you're safe on the boat. No one can get to you. If another e-mail comes save it and let
me know. Otherwise, as much as I hate to admit it, there isn't anything I can do about this right now."

"Okay," Lucas said. "Good night, Dad." Lucas turned back to his computer.

"Lucas, who don't you turn that thing off and go to bed. Come on, kiddo, it's late."

Lucas nodded and shut it off. He crawled into his bunk and Nathan gave him a kiss on his
forehead before shutting off the light.

"Dad," Lucas called in the darkness.

"Yes?"

"Do you think it was just a joke?"

"I don't know, but we'll get to the bottom of it."


_______________________________________



"Do you have what I want?" Lawrence asked the man. He stared at the man's base of operations.
It was a small and filthy little room in the back of an abandoned nightclub.

"Yeah, I have what you want, but man it wasn't easy to get. Just what in the hell are you planning
to do with this stuff? You do know you can't get high off of it, cause I don't give refunds?"

"I'm not looking to get high," Lawrence said. "I'm looking to really piss someone off."

"Well that will do it alright," the man told him.

"Perfect. Did you get the other stuff I asked for?"

"Yeah, it's in the box. Careful with that."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Lawrence tossed the money on the table and picked up
his merchandise. He couldn't wait to have his fun. Now all he had to do was jump on a plane to San
Francisco. The conference was in two days and he needed to have everything ready before the "Bridgers"
arrived.


________________________



Lucas was in his room finishing the report for the Stinger II when both Mom and Dad entered his
room.

"Uh oh, what did I do now?" Lucas asked.

"You didn't do anything," Nathan said with a smile. "We wanted to ask you something?"

"What?"

"Lucas, we would like it if you gave us back the pictures of the autopsy," Kristin told him.
"You've had them long enough."

Lucas thought for a moment and then finally nodded his head. He stepped over to his bunk and
pulled them out from under the mattress. He took one last look at them before placing them in Mom's
hands.

"Thank you," she said.

"Sure," Lucas replied.

"I'm glad to see that you finally accepted the man's death," Kristin said, giving him a small smile.

Lucas smiled back at her but didn't say anything. Truth was, he still wasn't totally convinced.
Lucas gave his Dad a look when he felt him tinkering around in his head.

"Cut that out," Lucas said good-naturedly.

Nathan gave him a smirk. Kristin left the room leaving Nathan and Lucas alone.

"You still aren't convinced are you?"

"Not totally," Lucas admitted. "It didn't help when I got that e-mail, either."

"Have you received anymore?" Nathan asked.

"No. Maybe it was just a sick joke. There's been nothing now in a week. You can have security
stop spying on me twenty four-seven."

"So you noticed," Nathan said. It had disturbed him a great deal when he had heard about the
death threat.

"Yeah, you can say that again. Chief Crocker might be good at being the head of security, but
he's actually pretty lousy at being sneaky," Lucas laughed. "Not to mention Chief Shan's popping up
every thirty minutes or so."

"I'm sorry I had you followed, I'm just trying to keep you safe," Nathan said.

"I know," Lucas said.

"So are you packed for the conference?"

"Yep, all ready to go. Mom even let me pick out my own clothes for once," Lucas joked.

"Well you're lucky. You get to hang out at the hotel and be a bum, although there are some parts
of the conference that I think you might actually like. Some of it is science related and right up your alley."

"Maybe I'll go to some of it," Lucas admitted. "But I kind of like that part about me being a bum."


_________________________



Lawrence opened the door and stepped into the large suite. Tomorrow Bridger and Lucas would
be checking in to this room. He had to give the Captain credit for one thing, the man had taste and didn't
mind living well. The hotel listed double rooms for the seaQuest crew, which were being paid for by the
UEO, but Bridger had paid out of his own pocket to get the spacious suite that was about a dozen floors
higher than the crew's rooms.

It just made him all the more angry to know that Lucas was living so well. Bridger was spoiling
the kid rotten while he had been sitting in a cramped cell, deprived of all the conveniences he had grown
accustomed to over the years. Even his computer time had been limited and a guard watched him as he
went on line.

Well, the kid wouldn't be living the good life for much longer. He was going to see to that.
He began to search the room for the best places to put the mini cameras. The next few days were
going to be very interesting and he didn't want to miss a minute of it.


______________________________



The UEO transport pulled up in front of the hotel across the street from the Research Center and
Nathan, Lucas, Ben, Katie, Jonathon, Tim, and Miguel got off. They lugged their bags out of the back and
went inside the nicely decorated hotel.

One by one they checked into their rooms. Lucas was obviously staying with Bridger, Tim and
Miguel ended up rooming together, and Katie got her own room since she was the only woman. Ben just
groaned as he realized that would leave him sharing a room with Ford. So much for hoping to have a little
fun on this trip.

Ben looked over and saw Katie staring at him, but she quickly turned away when she saw him
looking back at her. Ben was aware of the fact that she was sending out mixed signals. He wished that he
could believe that she might want him back, but he wasn't willing to torture himself again by risking
anything with her.

"Well, I guess we should check into our rooms," Nathan said. "The first conference we have to
attend starts in less than an hour."

"What's it about?" Lucas asked.

"Increasing ability while on duty," Nathan mumbled, shaking his head slightly.

"I think I'll pass on that one," Lucas smiled.

"Hey, Cap," Ben said, "maybe I should hang out with Lucas, you know. Keep the kid out of
trouble."

"Ben, you'll be the one to get him in to trouble," Ford said.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, but if I have to suffer through these useless lectures then so do you," Nathan
said.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," Ben shrugged.

Everyone went up to his or her rooms. Nathan led Lucas down the long hall to their suite. He
opened the door and looked around. "Well, this is nice," Nathan said.

"Yeah, not bad," Lucas agreed. He immediately went to the fridge and pulled out a soda. "We
really need to buy a few cases of this stuff and stash it on seaQuest," Lucas said. "I drink the coffee
because its available but I definitely would rather have a Coke."

"Maybe we can get a couple, but don't think Kristin will let you drink that stuff all the time,"
Nathan smiled. "Well, I have to go. They have a pool here for you to use, you can stay here and watch tv,
there's a couple of restaurants on the main floor, and I think I even saw a small family type game room, so
there should be enough for you to keep busy."

"Don't worry, Dad. I promise not to burn the place down, honest," Lucas grinned.

"Okay," Nathan laughed. "I'll see you in a couple of hours. Our lunchtime is at 12:30, so you can
join us at the conference in the cafeteria. Plus you might want to come to the afternoon conference. It's on
the latest shark research findings."

"That sounds cool," Lucas agreed. "Its too bad Mom didn't come."

"Yea, but she didn't want to interrupt her experiments that's she's working on right now since
much of the conference is military. I'll see you at lunch," Nathan said and left the room.


_______________________________________



Lawrence was in his little room in the same hotel watching the small tv monitor listening in on the
conversation between Lucas and Bridger. He figured out how he could get to the Captain. Drugging Lucas
was the easy part. He had simply laced the candy bars in the fridge, but he wasn't sure of how to
successfully drug the Captain. Now he knew that all he had to do was add an extra ingredient to the
Captain's coffee since Lucas wouldn't drink it, preferring to have a soda instead.


_______________________________________



Lucas put on his swim trunks and grabbed the big cushy robe off the back of the bathroom door.
He figured he could watch tv tonight with Dad, so he might as well go hang out at the pool until lunch time.

He opened the fridge and pulled out a second can of soda to take to the pool. He saw the candy bars in the
door and grabbed one since no one was here to tell him not too. He closed the door and then opened it
again.

"No one's here to tell me not too," he said out loud as he grabbed a second candy bar. Then he
grabbed his key card and left the room for the elevator.

He wasn't able to see Lawrence's smiling face as the man watched Lucas through the mini
cameras. God it was great when a plan worked exactly the way it was supposed too. Lawrence hurried to
Lucas' room. He didn't know how long the boy would be at the pool.




Lucas had eaten the first candy bar even before the elevator had reached the first floor. He stuck
the wrapper in a trashcan as he walked past it and then tore open the second candy bar.

He entered the poolroom and sat on a lounge chair and finished the candy. Then he pulled off his
robe and tossed it on the chair. He looked at his watch and saw that he had four hours before he had to
meet Dad for lunch. Plenty of time to swim and then get cleaned up to leave.

He dived into the pool and started swimming several laps. Since there were only two other
couples in the room and both were senior citizens he basically had the whole pool to himself.




Lawrence slipped on a pair of gloves and used his stolen card key to enter Bridger's room. He
hurried to Lucas' bed and opened the top nightstand drawer and put in three empty little bottles of vodka,
the kind that only held a single shot. Then he went to the fridge and got out the small container of orange
juice and poured the contents down the bathroom sink. He deliberately placed the glass bottle on Lucas'
bed table. Finally he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and smoked two of them in the room and put the rest of
the pack in Lucas' bag next to the bed.

Then he quietly slipped from the room and went about putting phase two of the plan into action.
He had to get to the conference center. It was time to give Bridger his little surprise.


______________________________



Katie looked at Ben once more. This is ridiculous she thought to herself. Ben was avoiding her
like the plague and here she was dying to tell him just how she felt. She sighed as she realized that this
must have been what it had been like for Ben all these years. To be so in love and not be able to have what
you wanted.

She felt guilt and shame as she thought about all the pain she must have put him through, and he
never let on. She divorced him and left him all alone and he kept a smile on his face threw the whole thing.

He hadn't asked for anything during the divorce, letting her have all their possessions. At the time she
thought he had been an idiot to let her keep everything, but now she understood. He had let her have
everything because he loved her.

She caught Ben looking at her and she quickly averted her gaze.



Nathan had pretty much tuned out the speaker. He was having a lot more fun watching Katie and
Ben pretend to not notice each other. The sexual tension between those two was thick enough to cut with a
knife, but they were both being so stubborn that at this rate they would never figure it out. He made a
mental note to help those two move things along when they returned to the boat.

Nathan yawned. The boredom was catching up with him and he still had three hours before he'd
see Lucas. He got up out of his chair and walked to the back of the conference room where people were
serving coffee. He would need a couple of cups to make it through this.

He looked at the waiters. They wore the basic uniform of a white button down shirt tucked into
black pants. He waited in line behind three other people to get his coffee. He groaned when the young
lady serving it excused herself for a moment. She hurried out of the room but then another man stepped up
and began to pour it.

Nathan stepped up and asked for his coffee with cream. The man poured the coffee and then
stepped to the fridge to get a new container of cream. Finally he came back and handed Nathan his coffee.
Nathan accepted it and nodded his thanks to the man. Nathan found himself staring at the person for just a
moment. The man had an odd look on his face, and his eyes were vaguely familiar, but Nathan was sure
he'd never met him before.

He turned and headed back to his seat sipping his cup. The coffee as a bit bitter but it would have
to do.


____________________________



Lucas climbed out of the pool. He suddenly wasn't feeling very well at all. His head was starting
to hurt very badly and he was becoming quite nauseous. He walked over to a lounge chair and sat down,
cradling his head in his hands. The pain in his head was getting worse by the minute.

He stood up and put on his robe so he could go back to his room. He really needed to lie down
and pop a few aspirins. He walked out of the pool room and down the long hall to the elevators. He had
almost made it to the elevator when he suddenly leaned over and threw up. It had happened so fast that he
didn't even know he was going to be sick until it was already happening.

"Are you okay?" he heard someone asking him. He looked up to see the faces of a very concerned
man and woman looking at him.

"Are you okay?" the man asked again.

"I need to lie down," Lucas said, sinking to his knees.

"What's you name?" the woman asked.

"Lucas, Lucas Bridger. Ohhhh," Lucas groaned and once more was ill right there on the floor.

"Honey, I think you better run to the front desk and tell someone about this. This boy needs his
parents," the man said.

"Okay." The woman left quickly.

"Thank yo…" Lucas tried to say, but he suddenly passed out.


_______________________________________



Nathan sat in his chair feeling more and more restless. The lecture was beyond just boring. It was
almost an insult to his intelligence that he was being forced to sit here and listen to this garbage. He stood
up and went to get another cup of that awful coffee.

He saw that Ben was coming up behind him.

"So what do you think of the speaker?" Ben asked, rolling his eyes.

"I think I'd like to take that microphone and shove it down his throat," Nathan replied in a no
nonsense voice.

Ben blinked and looked at the captain. He wasn't used to hearing the man talk in such a fashion.

"Well, I guess it isn't really that bad," Ben said. "I mean I'm sure it could have been worse."

"Whatever," Nathan said. "If you say so."

Nathan got his coffee from the same person he had gotten it from earlier and sipped at it. It really
was awfully bitter but since there was nothing else he took another sip.

"At the very least they could have provided decent coffee to drink," Nathan said. "This stuff
tastes like shit."

Ben was truly shocked to hear the Captain talk this way. If anyone else had spoken like that
usually the Captain would have been the one to put an end to it immediately.

"Sir, are you feeling alright?" Ben asked. "You don't seem like yourself today?"

"Just what the hell does that mean?" Nathan demanded.

"Uh, nothing, sir," Ben quickly replied. "I…I think I'll just…uh…get my coffee and
leave…now."

"I think that would be a good idea," Nathan told him.

Nathan turned and saw Ford standing there with his mouth hanging open.

"Something wrong, Commander?" Nathan demanded.

"No, sir," Ford replied quickly. Nathan walked past him and Ford just stared at Krieg. "What did
you do to the Captain to piss him off that bad?"

"I didn't do anything. I swear. I came to get some coffee, asked him what he thought of the
speaker, and then he just became almost enraged. I've never seen him ever act that way."

"Neither have I," Jonathon admitted. "Maybe he's just having a bad day, or feeling under the
weather."

"Maybe, I know one thing for sure, I'm going to stay the hell out of his way until he's in a better
mood," Ben said.

"I think that's a good idea," Jonathon agreed. They grabbed their cups of coffee from the young
woman and returned to their seats.

No one saw a man with brown hair slip out of the room as he hurried back to the hotel to watch
what he expected to be an incredible show.

Nathan had just returned to his seat when his PAL went off. He sighed and went to the back of the
conference room before turning the device on.

"Bridger."

"Captain," came O'Neill's voice, "the manager of the hotel just contacted us. It appears that
Lucas is sick and they need you back at the hotel immediately."

"Fine, I'm on my way there now," Nathan said, his worry over Lucas pushing his unexplained
anger down. He quickly left the conference center and crossed the street to the hotel.

As soon as he entered the hotel doors he was greeted by the hotel manager.

"Captain, I am Drake Blackwell, the manager. I have had your son taken to his room. I must say
that I am very disappointed, sir. If your son is going to be behaving in such a manner then he should never
have been left here without supervision."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about," Nathan replied, feeling the anger in him
rising to the surface once again.

"Captain, your son has been drinking. He went to the pool and became very ill, throwing up
several times on the way to the elevator. This hotel will not be held responsible should he fall in the pool
and drown just because his father doesn't see fit to be a responsible parent. If this happens again you will
be asked to leave."

"Now you listen to me right now," Nathan said through gritted teeth. "Lucas may be sick, but he
is not drunk. He did not have alcohol when we arrived here and neither did I. Furthermore you have
absolutely no right to assume what kind of a parent I am. Not that it's any of your business but I happen to
be a damn good one. Now if you'll kindly get the hell out of my way I need to see my son."

The expression on Nathan's face along with the tone of his voice made the manager back up and
step out of the way without saying another word.

Nathan walked to the elevator and pushed the button. His blood was literally boiling under his
skin. He couldn't believe the nerve of that man to talk about him and Lucas that way. After Lucas had
been so sick from his first drinking encounter he doubted if the boy would touch the stuff again anytime
soon. Not to mention he had felt horrible for ending up in jail with his friends.

He exited the elevator and hurried to his room. He opened the door and immediately heard the
sound of Lucas being sick in the bathroom. The boy was retching violently. Nathan stepped into the
bathroom and saw Lucas hunched over the toilet. He wet a washcloth and pulled Lucas away from the
bowel.

"Lucas, what's the matter?" Nathan asked, wiping the boy's face with the cool cloth.

"Dad, I'm sooo sick. I don't know why." Lucas looked as if he wanted to cry. Nathan slipped an
arm around him and helped him to his feet. He wondered if he should take him to the hospital. He led
Lucas to the bed and helped him to lie down. When Lucas started to gag once again Nathan grabbed the
waist basket and placed it next to Lucas. Lucas heaved once more but this time there was nothing left in
him to come out.

Nathan opened the nightstand drawer looking for a tissue to wipe his mouth with. He froze when
he saw the three empty liquor bottles in the drawer. Then he looked up and saw the empty orange juice
bottle.

Nathan was furious. He couldn't believe Lucas had done this. He felt like a fool. He had
defended Lucas and yelled at the manager.

"Lucas, you're not sick," Nathan said loudly, very loudly. "You're drunk. I can't believe you did
this after what happened last time. Where did you get the alcohol from? I want to know right now?"

"What?" Lucas groaned. "But…I didn't. I swear, that's not mine. It must have been left by the
previous person. I swear, I didn't drink anything."

"Then why are you sick like this?" Nathan demanded.

"I don't know," Lucas whined.

Nathan was furious. Lucas was looking him right in the face and lying to him. He got off of the
bed and went to look in Lucas' bag for anymore liquor. He only had to search the bag for a second before
he came across the open pack of cigarettes.

"Just what the hell is this?" Nathan demanded, holding the pack up for Lucas to see.

Lucas' eyes went wide with fear. "It's not mine," Lucas said. "I swear. I didn't. I don't even
like those things." Lucas wiped at the tears falling down his face. He felt so sick and Dad was positively
livid thinking that Lucas had been drinking and smoking.

"I can't believe you are going to look me in the eye and lie to me," Nathan yelled. "Maybe the
liquor bottles had been left by the previous occupant, but the cigarettes are in your bag. Do you expect me
to believe that someone just waltz in here and put them there without your knowledge!"

"Dad, I swear, I didn't do it." Lucas was growing more and more upset and the nervous tension
he was feeling mixed with the drugs in his system caused him to retch once more. Lucas clutched his gut
as the dry heaves overtook him.

Nathan wanted to comfort Lucas, the boy was suffering, but he was just too angry. Lucas had
brought this mess on himself.

"I can't believe I just yelled at a man because he told me you were drunk. I called him a liar. The
only liar here is you."

Lucas couldn't believe what Dad was saying. The man's words were cutting right through his
heart. He was now crying uncontrollably.

"Dad, please believe me," Lucas begged.

"Who gave you this stuff? I want to know right now. You aren't old enough to buy it yourself so
who got it for you?"

"No one. It's not mine."

"Damn it, stop lying to me. Tell me right now! Was it Lt. Krieg? Is he the idiot who thought this
would be good for you?"

"Dad, no one got it for me."

"I'm going to break Ben's neck for this. I would have thought he would have learned his lesson."
Nathan started to walk for the door.

"No, Dad," Lucas cried. He jumped off the bed and grabbed Nathan's arm to stop him.

Nathan didn't even pause to think about what he was doing. The next second his hand shot out
and smacked Lucas across the cheek.

Both Nathan and Lucas were shocked by what he had just done. Lucas quickly let go of Dad's
arm and placed his hand over his cheek. He backed away from Nathan slowly, afraid of what was going to
happen next. Lucas was terrified. The one person he thought would never ever hurt him had just called
him a liar and struck him.

Nathan was feeling overwhelmed by the conflicting emotions running through him. Shock,
horror, and sadness over his actions all coursed through his body, but they were overshadowed by an anger
so intense that it was unlike anything Nathan had ever experienced before. Part of him wanted to take
Lucas into his arms and hold him and apologize, but another part of him wanted to hit the boy yet again.

"Lucas, I want you to lay down and sleep it off. You are to stay in this room. Do you understand
me? Under no circumstances are you to leave. I'm going back to the conference. I think it's best if I'm
not around you right now."

Lucas looked at him through tear filled eyes. He didn't trust his voice to speak so he simply
nodded his head, then groaned as the movement caused the pain in his head to be more pronounced. If it
weren't for the fact that his stomach was completely empty he would surely be sick once again. The only
pain Lucas had that was greater than the pain in his head and his stomach was the pain in his heart. It was
breaking into a million pieces. He watched the man he loved more than anyone in the world walk out of
their room without so much as another word and close the door.

Lucas allowed himself to collapse onto the floor and then curled himself into a small ball as he
sobbed with everything in him. Lucas wouldn't have cared a bit if lightning had struck him dead at that
very moment. He had just lost the love and respect of the only person that really mattered. Images of
Nathan's angry face and of him hitting Lucas followed him into his dreams as he cried himself into a
restless sleep.


____________________________________



Nathan marched into the conference center and then made a beeline for Ben.

"Lieutenant, I would like to have a word with you outside, right now." Nathan said.

Ben heard the angry tone in the Captain's voice and simply nodded and stood up to follow him,
but not before he glanced at the others and saw the confusion in their eyes.

Once in the hallway Nathan turned on Ben and let the man have it. "I have a good mind to punch
your damn lights out," Nathan said. "Just what in the hell were you thinking?"

"Uh, sir, I'm afraid that I don't understand," Ben replied.

"You gave Lucas alcohol and cigarettes. It had to be you. No one else would ever even consider
doing that."

"Sir, I can assure you I did no such thing," Ben said quickly. "I learned my lesson the last time. I
would never let Lucas get himself in a situation like that again, honest."

Nathan just glared at him. "If you didn't do it then who did?"

"I don't know, but I swear on my life it wasn't me. You know how I feel about Lucas. I would
never do anything to jeopardize his health."

"You did before," Nathan spat.

"But that was an accident. Those drinks weren't meant for Lucas. He drank them without my
knowledge. You can ask Tim and Miguel if you don't believe me. They were just as shocked as I was
over what Lucas had done that night."

Nathan wasn't totally convinced yet, but he suspected that Ben was probably telling the truth.

"Fine, I'll believe you this time, but believe me when I say, I better never find out that you're the
reason Lucas is puking his guts up right now." Nathan turned and left Ben standing there.

Ben wanted to go see Lucas, but he decided against it. If the Captain was going to be with him
then the best thing he could do is give them some space. He didn't want to take a chance and angering the
Captain even further.


______________________________



Lawrence was practically rolling in the floor laughing. It had cost him a small fortune to buy
those drugs, but they had been worth every penny. Poor little Lucas. Bridger had slapped the shit out of
him. Luckily he had remembered to throw in a tape and record the whole thing. He might be able to use
the tape later on for something.

He grinned as he realized that he still had one more dose of the drug he had used on the Captain.
He'd wait a bit before giving it to him though. The Captain already had two doses in him. The effects of it
should last through the rest of the evening. But then again, with Lucas being so sick, they would probably
order room service tonight for dinner. An evil smile crossed Lawrence brand new face. He was having so
much fun.


______________________________



Nathan had gone for a walk trying to cool down some. He couldn't understand why he was so
angry, not to mention that his mind was plaguing him with terrible guilt for hitting Lucas. What on earth
had possessed him to do such a thing. He knew it would take a long time for him to be able to earn Lucas'
trust again. This was a lot more than just a simple slap. His hitting Lucas was going to have long term
effects on the boy.

He finally walked up to his hotel and went inside. He rode the elevator up to his room and slowly
walked to his door. He saw that his hands were actually shaking as he slid the key card through the lock.
He was actually nervous to see Lucas.

His heart broke when he entered the room. Lying in the middle of the floor was Lucas. He had
his knees pulled to his chest and his arms were wrapped around his legs. His face was stained with tears.

Nathan kneeled down next to Lucas and placed a hand on his brow and found that the boy was cold and
clammy feeling. He began to lift Lucas into his arms when the boy suddenly awoke.

Lucas' eyes popped open and as soon as he saw Nathan hovering over him he sat up and began to
push himself away from the older man. Lucas continued to scoot back on his haunches until his back
finally connected with the wall.

"Lucas, it's okay," Nathan said gently, holding his hands out in full view for Lucas. "Son, I am so
sorry about earlier."

Lucas fought to make his body stop trembling but he was powerless to stop the shaking. He was
afraid. Would the Captain hit him again? He tried to back away even more as Nathan got a little closer to
him, but the wall and the dresser cornered him.

"Lucas, please, I swear, I'm not going to hurt you."

Lucas found himself suddenly angry by Dad's words. "It's a bit late for that," Lucas snapped.
"So go ahead and smack me around some more if you need to. I'm used to it."

"Lucas, I'm not going to smack you around. I didn't mean to hit you earlier. That was an
accident. I was mad, and you grabbed me, and before I knew it…it just happened. I swear that will never
happen again." Nathan tried to keep his voice calm and comforting even though once again he was feeling
angry, but he knew he had to be very careful with what he said or he'd lose Lucas forever.

"I want to go back to seaQuest," Lucas said quietly.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"I want to go home. I want Mom," Lucas said, once again his eyes pooling with unshed tear.
"May I please go home?"

"Lucas, please…I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I love you kiddo, and I can't believe that
actually happened earlier. I don't even know why I was so upset. I mean I was mad that you were
drinking, but for some reason that I can't understand I was angry even before all of that happened."

"Dad, please don't yell at me again, but I swear to you I wasn't drinking today, and I wasn't
smoking either. I don't know how that stuff got in the room. When you left for the conference I had a few
candy bars and another Coke and then I went to the pool to hang out. About an hour later I got sick, really
sick. I don't know why, but it wasn't because I was drinking. Please believe me. I don't w-want you t-to
h-hate me. I d-didn't do anything w-wrong." By the time Lucas was done he was crying once again.

Nathan quickly pulled the boy to him and held him tight. "God Lucas, I could never hate you,
never. I love you. I'm so sorry I hit you." Nathan felt his own tears start to fall down his face. Almost by
accident Nathan picked up on Lucas' thoughts since the boy's emotions were so strong at the moment. He
pulled away and held Lucas at arms length as the realization hit him that Lucas was telling the truth. He
really hadn't done anything wrong.

Nathan felt such shame. He had called Lucas a liar. He had yelled at him and hit him, and threw
it all the boy had been so sick.

Lucas was getting nervous. Nathan had both his hands on Lucas shoulders and he was staring at
him.

"Dad? Did I do something wrong?" Lucas asked, chewing nervously on his lip.

"No, kiddo. You didn't do anything wrong, but I sure did. I was so wrong," Nathan said as he
pulled Lucas into a fierce hug. He squeezed the boy tight, almost crushing him. "Please tell me that I can
fix this between us."

Lucas rested his head on Nathan's shoulder. "It's okay," Lucas said. "I love you."


____________________________



Lawrence was furious. He had thought that the drug he had given Bridger would have lasted
much longer. Instead it had worn off and now the man was comforting Lucas. Watching the two of them
together was almost enough to make him sick.

He had wanted to drive a wedge between them and instead now they were closer than ever. Well,
all wasn't lost yet. He still had one more dose of the drug to give Bridger. Still, watching these two get all
emotional was ruining his fun.


___________________________



Nathan was still holding Lucas when he looked down and saw that he had fallen back asleep. He
felt that Lucas was sweating but his skin was cold to the touch. He wondered just what was wrong with
Lucas. Why was he so sick if he hadn't been drinking?

He realized that he needed to get some fluids into him. He had thrown up everything in him
earlier and now he was perspiring. The boy would get dehydrated soon. He lifted Lucas off the floor with
a bit of effort, and then placed him gently on the bed.

"Dad," Lucas moaned.

"Shh," Nathan soothed. "Rest." He started to walk away from the bed but Lucas grabbed the
bottom of his jacket and held on.

"Don't leave me," Lucas said.

"I'm not leaving. I'm just going to get you some water from the bathroom."

"I don't want any water," Lucas said, letting go of the jacket and rolling over in the bed. Nathan
went into the bathroom anyway and filled a glass with water. He went back to the bed and forced Lucas to
drink some of it.

After a few sips Lucas said, "No more or I'll be sick again."

"Okay, you can have some more later. Where do you hurt exactly?"

"My head is killing me, and my stomach is just as bad. I must have eaten something that
disagreed with me," Lucas said.

Nathan wished he could believe it had been something that simple, but he had this sinking feeling
that it wasn't. Lucas had come down violently ill very suddenly, and someone had worked very hard to
convince Nathan and anyone else who came along that the boy was falling down drunk. Someone had been
in their hotel room to plant the bottles and the cigarettes.

"Why are you so quiet?" Lucas asked.

"No reason," Nathan said, putting a smile on his face. "Why don't you close your eyes and get
some sleep. Hopefully you'll feel better when you wake up."

"Okay," Lucas agreed. "Are you going to go back to the conference?"

Nathan heard the silent plea in Lucas' voice for him not to leave. "No, I'll be staying here with
you for the rest of today. If you're still sick tomorrow then I'll make arrangements to have you go back to
seaQuest where Mom can take care of you while I finish the conference." Lucas smiled at him and closed
his eyes.

Nathan sat on the edge of the bed waiting till he was sure Lucas was asleep. He didn't want to
upset him anymore than he already was today. He thought back over the events that had transpired today.

He was sure that someone had broke into their suite. He was afraid that Lucas' sudden illness wasn't just a
coincidence. Lucas had eaten breakfast on the seaQuest with him and Kristin. If that food had been bad
then Nathan would also be sick. The only other things Lucas had eaten he said was a couple of sodas and
two candy bars.

Nathan got up off the bed and walked to the small fridge in the room. He opened the door and
removed the last two candy bars inside along with the three remaining cans of Coke. He pulled out his
PAL and contacted seaQuest. He needed Kristin's help. If Lucas had been poisoned then she would be
able to figure it out.

As he spoke to her he also asked her to bring what she would need to draw blood from him too.
He had a suspicion as to why he had been so angry earlier, and why he had lost control over his temper. It
was no secret that he had a temper and could be incredibly stubborn, but he had never deliberately struck
his children like he did today. He would never hit Lucas intentionally, not with the past the boy had
endured.


_______________________



Lawrence was furious. Bridger had somehow figured it out, but how? How had he known that
Lucas was drunk earlier? Honestly, he never would have believed Bridger would have doubted Lucas'
guilt considering how much evidence had been left against the boy, and his the apparent inebriation.

He stood up away from his tv monitor and began to pace his room. He looked at his computer and
grinned. He still had one more chance to have a little fun. Captain Bridger had just placed an order to
room service. An evil smile crossed his face. He grabbed the rest of the drug and dashed into the hallway
to the elevator. He needed to get on Bridger's floor and wait for room service to arrive.


______________________



Nathan sat in the chair next to Lucas' bed and watched him sleep. He looked at his watch. Kristin
should be there in about an hour. He was feeling so tired. Not tired really but drained. Today had taken an
emotional toll on him and now that things had calmed down and he was alone with his thoughts he found
that his guilt was almost overwhelming. He wished he could go back and erase what had happened today.


________________________



Lawrence was waiting for the delivery person the minute he stepped off the elevator. Lawrence
bumped into him and his cart. The man fell on his rear. Lawrence apologized and moved to grab the cart
so that the food wouldn't spill. Actually he dumped the remaining drug into the small pitcher of coffee.

"It's okay," the fallen employee said. "It's not the first time." He dusted himself off and
continued on his way.

Lawrence walked casually inside the elevator and pushed the button for his floor. That had been
almost too easy.


________________________



Nathan allowed the server to push the cart into their room and then he signed for the bill. He
looked at Lucas and decided not to wake him just yet. He ordered Lucas food but chances were he
wouldn't want it anyway with his stomach being the way it was.

He poured a cup of coffee. He grimaced as he took a swallow of the warm liquid. Didn't anyone
know how to make a decent cup of coffee anymore? He had a seat and began to pick at his chicken salad.

About thirty minutes later he was almost dozing in his chair when he suddenly felt the now
familiar feeling of anger coursing through his body once again. He was truly confused. Why was he so on
edge yet again? He looked at Lucas sleeping soundly in his bed. He remembered Lucas receiving a death
threat about a week ago. He shook his head angrily. Why was there always some terrible crisis going on
when it came to Lucas. He loved the boy but honestly his entire life anymore was devoted to keeping the
kid safe, which wasn't an easy task since Lucas didn't seem to mind putting himself in harms way. After
all, what happened at the mine and the cemetery had been a result of his actions. Then there was the whole
nightmare that took place in Romania. That trip had been Lucas' idea.

He stood up out of his chair and began to pace back and forth through the room. With every step
he took he felt the anger grow. Soon he was clutching his fists as the desire to punch something, anything
hit him.

He looked at the room service cart. He reached out and flung the cart over on to its side.

"Whoa!!" Lucas gasped, sitting up in his bed in a flash as the metal cart crashed to the floor
spilling its dishes. "Dad, what happened?" Lucas asked, holding a hand to his chest to calm his racing
heart.

"What happened?" Nathan bellowed. "I'll tell you what happened. You happened! Anymore all I
do is look after you and deal with your problems. I mean, let's tell the truth, you're something of a high
maintenance kid."

Lucas sat on the bed, his eyes as big as saucers. "I…I'm sorry," Lucas stammered. "I'll go back
to the boat if my being here is a problem." There was no anger or smart intentions in his words, only pain
as he realized that his Dad was fed up with him. He was right though, Lucas had to admit that he had
brought a lot of problems to the Captain. It was a miracle the man had put up with him this long.

"No, I'm not sending you back to the boat. Chances are someone would kidnap you while in
route," Nathan said sarcastically.

Lucas felt the tears threaten to fall. He didn't want to cry in front of the Captain now. There
would be no sympathy, only more anger. Lucas got out of his bed and hurried into the bathroom and
closed the door.

"Get out here young man, I'm not through talking to you," Nathan said. Nathan waited for Lucas
to come out again but after a minute he still hadn't emerged yet. Nathan began to pound on the door.

"Lucas, open this door!"

Lucas was sitting in the bathroom floor with his knees huddled to his chest listening to his Dad
yell at him through the door. He knew he should go out there, that the longer he stayed in the bathroom the
angrier Dad would get. He had been down this road before with Lawrence, but it was too hard this time.
He didn't want to have to witness his new father turn against him.

Nathan was interrupted from his pounding when he heard someone else pounding. He realized
that someone was at the door. He stormed over to the door and was surprised to find Kristin standing there
even though he had asked her to come.

"Nathan, what on god earth is going on in there? I could hear you yelling all the way from the
elevator."

"If you don't want to hear me yell then you can get right back on that elevator," Nathan replied.

"Nathan, need I remind you that you asked me to come," Kristin told him.

"I remember," Nathan said. "I'm not that old yet."

"Where's Lucas?" Kristin asked, losing her patience with Nathan. It wasn't like him to behave in
such a way.

"The brat locked himself in the bathroom and if he doesn't come out of there right now I'm going
to break his neck."

"Nathan, what in the hell is the matter with you?" Kristin demanded, pushing her way into the
room. She wanted to see Lucas, make sure he was okay. The whole reason she was here was because he
was sick.

"Nothing is the matter with me," Nathan said. "I'm just tired of having to deal with problems, and
Lucas is nothing but problems and I've had it!" Nathan yelled.

"How dare you talk like that?! That boy loves you with all his heart!" Kristin walked to the
bathroom door and knocked on it. "Lucas, it's mom. Come on out so we can go home."

Lucas heard Mom calling for him. He stood up and unlocked the door. He opened it slowly and
was relieved to see Mom there waiting for him.

"Oh great, so you'll come out for her but not for me. You ungrateful little shit! After all…"
Nathan never got to finish his sentence because Kristin slapped him.

"Stop it this instant. You leave him alone," she demanded. "Lucas, grab your bag, we're
leaving."

"You aren't going anywhere," Nathan said. The next second he punched Kristin in the face and
she fell to the floor.

"Mom!" Lucas screamed. "NO, NO, NO!" Lucas ran into Nathan and knocked him down. He
wouldn't let Mom be hurt anymore.

Nathan was in a rage. He grabbed Lucas and pulled him down in the floor with him where he
began to smack his head into the floor.

'No, this isn't happening,' Lucas thought. 'It can't be happening. This is a nightmare. Someone
please wake me up.' Lucas lie flat on his back on the floor while Nathan raised his fist to strike him.
Lucas watched as if in slow motion as Nathan pulled his clenched fist into the air.

"Dad, I love you," Lucas moaned. "Please, please don't. Not you too."

Nathan's fist stopped in mid-motion. He looked at Lucas as if he were seeing the boy for the first
time.

"My god, what am I doing?" Nathan whispered. "What's wrong with me?" He pushed himself
away from Lucas and scooted up against the wall where he broke down crying. He kept staring at his
hands like they belonged to someone else. Surely his hands could never have done something so horrible.

Lucas didn't move from his position in the floor. It wasn't because he was terribly hurt as much
as he just didn't have the mental strength to get up. Part of him just wanted to lie in the floor and die right
there. He closed his eyes and let the tears fall freely. He felt someone put a hand on his cheek and opened
his eyes to see Mom looking at him, her face also wet with tears. She held out her arms to him and he sat
up so she could embrace him.

"Shh, darling, it's over now. I'll take care of you. Shh," she soothed as she held him tight.

"What did I do?" Lucas asked. "Why…why d-does he h-hate me? I'll be better, I swear."

"Oh, darling, you didn't do anything," Kristin replied. "I don't know what's happening here but
this isn't your fault, I swear." Kristin continued to hold Lucas as the boy sobbed hysterically on her
shoulder. She looked over at Nathan who was also weeping in the corner. A shadow fall across the room
and she looked at the doorway and saw both Ben and Jonathon standing there with dumbfounded looks on
their faces.

"My god," Ben said. "What happened?"

"Ben, I need you to get Lucas out of here right now," Kristin said. "I want you to personally take
him back to the boat. Don't leave him for a minute even after you get him back to his quarters,
understood?" She was truly afraid that at the moment, with Lucas being in the state he was currently in, he
could do something drastic, like running away or hurting himself.

"Yeah, Doc, no problem," Ben said. He was still confused as all hell but one look at Lucas was all
he needed to see that the kid was falling apart. He stepped over to Lucas and said, "Kid, where's your
stuff?"

"Don't worry about his stuff, just get him back to the boat. Ben, don't leave him alone," she
reiterated.

"I won't. I promise." Ben lightly took Lucas by his arms and pried the boy off of Kristin and
helped him to his feet. Lucas' entire body was trembling. The boy hadn't been this afraid even when he
was being attacked by crazy cyborgs. "Come on kid, let's get you home."

"Mom?" Lucas said, realizing that she wasn't coming too.

"I'm going to take care of Nathan, but I promise to be with you just as soon as I can."

"No, you can't be near him," Lucas gasped. "He'll hurt you again."

"Lucas, the Captain would never hurt you or Kristin," Ford said.

"Jonathon, actually, Nathan is the one who did all this. I need to examine him. I think he was
drugged. It's the only explanation."

Ben and Ford both stole a glance at the Captain who was still sitting in the corner in his own little
world. Realization of what had happened in this room was really starting to sink in.

"Come on Lucas," Ben coaxed gently. He felt terrible for the kid. The Captain and the Doc were
the only two people on the planet the he really trusted, and from the looks of it the Captain had just gone
nuts and even hurt Lucas, and that was definitely a bruise forming on Kristin's eye. Ben had to pull Lucas
from the room since the boy was hesitant to leave Kristin behind. The kid was terrified.

Kristin and Jonathon both waited until Lucas was out of the room before making an attempt to get
near Nathan. They didn't want Lucas to be further traumatized if Nathan were to lose control once more.

As Kristin looked into Nathan's face she saw that he had a blank kind of a stare on his face. She was
certain that he was under the influence of some kind of drug. She wouldn't know what kind though until
she could analyze a sample of blood.

She approached Nathan very slowly and talked soothingly. "Nathan, Nathan, we need to go to
seaQuest. Nathan, do you hear me?"

She waited for him to respond to her but he didn't. She tried again. "Nathan, I'm going to touch
your arm and help you stand up."

"Doc, maybe I should do that," Ford interrupted.

"No, it should be me," she said calmly. She slowly extended her arm and wrapped her hand
around Nathan's arm. The minute she began to pull him forward he struck out but Ford grabbed her and
yanked her back before Nathan could hurt her.

"Leave me alone," Nathan cried. He moved to strike again but Ford punched him first. Nathan
collapsed against the wall.

"Commander!! Was that really necessary?" Kristin demanded.

"He'll be a lot easier to get back to seaQuest this way, and for you to get your samples." Jonathon
said as he hoisted the Captain into a fireman's carry.

"Just…just don't hurt him anymore than you have too," Kristin said.


___________________________



Lawrence sat in his room having watched the whole thing. It had been great, absolutely great,
everything that he could have hoped for. The dear Captain had actually decked his girlfriend and attacked
Lucas. Plus he had caught the whole thing on tape. Sometimes life was truly good he thought to himself.

Since the show was now over he decided to start collecting his things and high tail it out of there.
It would only be a matter of time before they started to piece together what had gone on, but they would
never know who masterminded the whole thing. No, that one they would never figure out.
He would have to start planning his next big adventure now.


________________________



Ben walked onto seaQuest with Lucas. The kid had been absolutely silent the entire trip back to
the boat. Ben had asked him several questions but Lucas would only shake his head or shrug his shoulders
in response to his questions. There was so much pain in Lucas' eyes.

"Lucas, why don't you come to my room and hang out for a while," Ben said.

Lucas just shook his head no and started walking to his room. Ben fell in step behind the boy.
Lucas saw that Ben was following him and turned around and held up a hand for Ben to stop.

"What?" Ben asked.

Lucas looked frustrated. "Ben, leave me alone," Lucas finally spoke.

"No can do kid. Doc ordered me to stay with you until she got here."

"I mean it, Ben. Go away and leave me alone!"

"Lucas, I know you're upset, but I don't think it would be a good idea for you to be alone right
now."

"Ben, don't presume to know how I feel, and you don't know what I need. Now go away and
leave me alone," Lucas demanded and then turned to go to his room.

Ben stood there for just a minute. Maybe he should give Lucas a little space right now. The kid
was hurting and if it were him he'd certainly want to be alone. When he saw Lucas turn down the corridor
out of sight he thought better of that idea and walked after Lucas. He'd let Lucas go to his room but he'd
stay in the other room in there quarters. The Doc had said to stay with him and that was what he was going
to do.

Lucas knew Ben was going to come after him. He hurried into his quarters and went into Mom
and Dad's room. He knew that Mom kept a bottle of sedatives in there for him to take after a nightmare.

He pulled out her drawer and moved her clothes to the side and took out the bottle. He quickly slipped it
into his pocket and stepped out of the room. No sooner had he stepped into the family room did Ben walk
in.

Lucas glared at the man and then stepped into the bathroom.

"Kid, you okay?" Ben asked.

"Fine," Lucas answered. Why did people always ask stupid questions during times like this? Are
you okay? How are you feeling? Can I help you?

No one could help him. He had lost a second set of parents. The Captain had promised to love
him and take care of him, but he had finally realized the truth. That he was better off without Lucas
around. It would only be a matter of time before Dad sent him away. Lucas didn't want to leave seaQuest.
He didn't want to try to make another life for himself. Sure, Mom still loved him, but she also loved the
Captain. They were getting married soon. If she were forced to make a choice she would surely pick the
Captain over him.

No, he was about to be all alone once again and he couldn't do that again. How was he supposed
to go back to a life of being alone after finally knowing what it truly meant to be loved and cared for? He'd
rather be dead than be forced off of seaQuest away from his friends and family.

"Lucas! You alright in there?" Ben asked. "You've been in there for a while."

"I said I'm fine," Lucas said through the door. He opened his bottle of sedatives and poured them
into his hand. He counted sixteen of them. He hoped it would be enough to do the job. He popped them
into his mouth and washed them down with a glass of water. Soon he'd go to sleep and he wouldn't have
to deal with his screwed up life anymore.

"Lucas, I want you to come out of there right now," Ben demanded. He was getting worried.

Lucas put the empty bottle back into his pocket and stepped out of the bathroom. "You can stop
yelling," Lucas smarted off. "I said I was fine."

"I'm sorry," Ben said. "I was just worried. Hey, do you want to play a game or something. We
can play Monopoly or Dirty Pictionary if you want."

"Ben, I'm tired. I'm going to go to sleep. I…I just want to pretend today never happened."

Ben sighed. "Yeah, kid, sure. I'll hang out here while you sleep, okay. Stick around until your
Mom gets here."

"Whatever," Lucas replied. He went into his room and did something he had never done before.
He locked the door. He was surprised to see Darwin staring at him from the aquatube. He contemplated
turning on the vocorder but decided against it. He crawled into this bed and touched the glass separating
him from Darwin.

"Goodbye fish face," Lucas said. "Take care of the Captain for me." He was about to lie down
when he realized that he hadn't written a note or anything. He got up and took a sheet of paper from his
printer. He picked up a pencil from his desk and sat down to write his note.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Lucas sat there completely clueless as to what to write next. What did you say just before you
died? He had so many feelings going through him that he wasn't sure how to put it into words.


Dear Mom and Dad,
I love you. I'm sorry I was such a problem for you. Even though I'm not wanted anymore I really
am grateful for everything you've done for me. At least I got to know what it felt like to be loved even if
for only a little while.
Love Lucas


Lucas looked at the letter. It wasn't much but he guessed it'd have to do. He walked to his bed,
lay down, and then closed his eyes. He cried himself to sleep.


______________________



Nathan woke in the shuttle on its way back to seaQuest. He was confused and slightly disoriented,
trying to figure out where he was and why he was with Kristin and Jonathon.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Sir, we're going back to seaQuest," Ford told him.

"What? Why?"

"Nathan, I think someone drugged you. You were behaving irregularly," Kristin told him.

"Kristin, who hit you? What happened to your face?"

"Nathan, why don't we talk about it once we get to med bay. I'd rather not talk until I get to run
some tests on you to see what was in your system."

The mention of drugs made Nathan start to remember something. The whole reason he had called
Kristin in the first place.

"I think Lucas was drugged this morning. Someone broke into out suite and planted items to
make it look like he was drunk. He was also so sick, throwing up every few minutes. He wasn't drunk
though. I read his mind and he was telling the truth." Nathan looked around the shuttle. "Where is
Lucas?"

"He's already back on seaQuest. We thought it best to send him back first."

"Why?"

"Nathan, you don't remember what happened in the hotel room? Do you remember me arriving at
the room?"

Nathan closed his eyes and tried to recall what she was talking about. Suddenly his eyes shot open
as he remembered hitting Kristin and attacking Lucas. He also remembered every cruel and hurtful word
he had said to Lucas. Dear god, the boy would hate him forever.

"Kristin, my god I'm so sorry. I have to see Lucas, I…I have to explain…tell him that I didn't
mean it."

"I'll talk to him soon. Honestly, I really think it's best that you give him a little space for a few
hours."

"No. I have to tell him that I didn't mean all the awful things that I said. I told him that he was
nothing but a problem...that I was tired of always having to take care of him. I was so cruel to him,"
Nathan said, wiping at a tear in his eye.

"Nathan, I'm sure Lucas will understand. Ben is with him right now. He'll look after him until
I'm finished running some tests on you. You'll see. It'll all be okay."

Nathan wanted to believe her, but she didn't know. She hadn't been there to see what had
happened before she arrived, nor had she been there for his earlier attack on Lucas.

"Kristin, I hit him," Nathan said. "And I don't mean while you were there. I hit him earlier today.
All day today I have felt like something was wrong with me. I've been so upset, so angry. When I thought
Lucas was drunk and lying to me I…I lost control. I struck him. Just once, but once was enough. He was
terrified. He was terrified of me. Then I got back under control and managed to talk to him, apologize to
him. How on earth am I supposed to apologize for doing it all over again? He'll never trust me ever
again."

"Nathan, you weren't responsible for what happened. I know you. You never would have hurt
Lucas or me on purpose. Never. Let me get you to med bay and find out what was done to you."

Nathan buried his face in his hands and relented. "Fine. Do what you have to do."

The shuttle finally docked and Kristin led Nathan to med bay and immediately drew blood for
testing. She asked Dr. Levin to begin searching for drugs, especially mind altering ones. She would have
liked to have given him something to calm his nerves, but since she didn't know what type of drug was in
his system she couldn't risk medicating him further.

She spent the next few minutes checking his vitals and taking his blood pressure.

"Well, it appears you're alright now. Whatever drug you were given is obviously wearing off
now. It will take some time before we determine what you were given."

"You need to test Lucas too," Nathan said.

"There would be no point," Kristin said. "You said Lucas was ill hours ago. By now the drug
would have passed out of his system. I want you to stay here and get some rest. I'm going to go check on
Lucas."

"I want to come with you," Nathan said.

"I think it best if I go alone right now," she said. "Let me have a chance to explain to him what
really happened today." Kristin could see that Nathan wanted to argue with her. His emotions were clear
on his face. He nodded at her and once again put his face in his hands.

Kristin gave him a quick hug and hurried on her way to their quarters. She needed to check on
Lucas and make sure he was okay. He had been so upset earlier.
She entered her room and saw Ben sitting in the sofa alone.

"Where's Lucas at?" she asked.

"In his room sleeping," Ben said. "He said he needed to rest."

Kristin walked over to the door and tried to open it. She was surprised to find it locked. Lucas
had never locked the door. She began to pound on the door.

"Lucas! Lucas its Mom." She knocked on the door again. After a minute of Lucas' not
responding she tried once more. "Lucas, open this door right now," Kristin yelled, becoming truly worried.

"Ben, did he do anything or say anything when you got here?"

"When I came in here he was just coming out of your room. He went into the bathroom for a few
minutes, and then he came out and went to his room to rest he said."

Kristin's eyes went wide. She ran into her room and opened her drawer. She searched the drawer
but the bottle of sedatives that she kept in it was gone.

"Oh dear god," she exclaimed. She grabbed her PAL. "I need a med team to the Captain's
quarters immediately. I think I have a possible suicide here. I also need someone to force open a door.
NOW!"

"Doc, he wouldn't…he…he couldn't," Ben stammered. Even as he said the words though he
knew that he could, that he probably had. Lucas was so hurt, so despondent. Why hadn't he done a better
job of keeping an eye on him? Kristin and told him to stay with Lucas, to not let him be alone. Why
hadn't he done a better job?

"This is all my," Ben said.

"No it's not. It's not your fault and it's not Nathan's either, all though I doubt I'll actually be able
to convince either of you that I'm right," Kristin said as she knocked on Lucas' door once more. "Someone
went through a lot of work to manipulate both Nathan and Lucas today, even breaking into the hotel room
and planting evidence against Lucas to help encourage Nathan to be angry and lose his temper. Both of
them had been drugged today. I'm sure of it."

"What? But why?" Ben asked.

"I wish I knew, but who ever did this knew exactly how to hurt Nathan and Lucas. To make
Nathan attack Lucas verbally and physically, and for Lucas to think that Nathan didn't love him anymore."

Just then the med team entered the room along with several men from maintenance.

"Out of our way," one the maintenance men yelled and snapped on a blowtorch. They
immediately went to work on cutting the lock away from the door.

Kristin had been focused on the door but she turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Nathan
was standing next to her looking horrified.

"Nathan, you should be in med bay," she insisted.

"No. I did this. I need to see him. I…I drove him to try and kill himself." He was struggling to
hold in the tears.

"Nathan, someone used you like a puppet. You had no control." He words weren't comforting
him the way she had hoped they would.

The door finally popped open and the med team along with Nathan and Kristin pushed into the
room to get to Lucas.

Lucas was lying on his bed in what appeared to be a peaceful sleep. Darwin was in the aquatube
trying to wake Lucas by tapping the glass with his nose.

Kristin began to check Lucas' vitals. "He's alive, heartbeat is still strong. Thank god we got to
him soon. We need to pump his stomach right now." She stood back so Lucas could be loaded on the
stretcher and rushed out of the room. She saw the devastated look on Nathan's face but she didn't have
time for him right now. At the moment Lucas needed her more.



Nathan watched as the stretcher left with Lucas. He was left alone in Lucas's room to deal with
his pain. He sauntered over to Lucas bunk and sat down before his legs would have the chance to give out
from under him. He was so heart sick that he felt ill. How could this have happen? Who could have done
this to him? Why hadn't he been stronger and fought off the effects of the drugs? Drugs or no drugs how
could he have hurt Lucas so badly?

He lifted his head and saw the note sitting on Lucas' desk. He got up and picked up the piece of
paper and silently read the words to himself. He had only read the first few words before the tears began to
fall.



Dear Mom and Dad,
I love you. I'm sorry I was such a problem for you. Even though I'm not wanted anymore I really
am grateful for everything you've done for me. At least I got to know what it felt like to be loved even if
for only a little while.
Love Lucas


"Oh kiddo, I never stopped loving you, never. I'll make this up to you I swear." Nathan held on
to the note and hurried down to med bay. He would be there for Lucas when he woke up. He wouldn't let
him down again.

An hour later Kristin came out Lucas' room in med bay and updated Nathan and the senior crew
about Lucas.

"He's going to be just fine," she said. "Luckily the drugs he took weren't that toxic and we got to
him before he had the chance to fully digest them. He's resting now but I suspect he'll wake up shortly."

"I want to sit with him," Nathan said.

"Nathan, I don't think that's a good idea. You probably shouldn't be the first person he sees when
he wakes up."

"I know he's afraid of me, but I have to be there. I have to explain. He thinks I stopped loving
him. He…he thinks I hate him."

"Exactly, and that's why you shouldn't be there when he wakes up. Let me have the chance to
explain to him that you were drugged."

Just then Dr. Levin stepped into the room. "I have the results," Levin said. He handed Kristin the
paper. "Who ever did this knew what they were doing. Captain, you tested positive for a newly developed
drug not even released on the market for public use yet. The only reason I even know about it is because I
recently went to conference that profiled it. It's called Diprolex. It's being tested for use with people
suffering from bi-polar disorder. There was a draw back though. The drug in high doses causes severe
anger, paranoia, and violent behavior."

"Someone used me to hurt Lucas," Nathan said, trying to comprehend what he'd just learned.
"Who would do this? And why?" Nathan paced the room. "Did you get the candy bars that were on the
table in our hotel room?"

"Candy bars?" Ford asked.

"I think they were how Lucas was drugged. He said he had eaten two candy bars and two cokes,
both of which came from the small fridge in the suite."

"I didn't know about it but I can go and get them now," Ford offered.

"Yes, please," Nathan said. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his key card.

"I'm going to go sit with Lucas. As soon as I explain to him what happened I'll come get you,"
Kristin told Nathan.

"Fine," Nathan finally agreed.


__________________________



Lucas began to slowly come around. The first thing he noticed was the awful taste in his mouth.
He opened his eyes and saw that he was in med bay. He turned his head and saw Mom smiling down at
him. He saw he black eye and remembered what he had done. Correction, he remembered what he had
obviously failed to do.

"How are you feeling?" Kristin asked.

Lucas's response was to roll onto his side and start to cry.

"Shh, now no more of that. Everything is going to be okay," Kristin said.

"Why did you stop me?" Lucas cried. "He doesn't want me anymore…and…and I can't go
through it all over again. I can't be sent away again. I don't want leave here and lose my family. I'd rather
be dead. You should have let me die."

"Lucas, it's not true," Nathan said from the doorway.

Lucas jumped at the voice and immediately turned to look at Nathan, his eyes wide.

"Lucas, Nathan was given a very powerful drug today. It's a mind altering drug that causes anger
and violent behaviors," Kristin said. "He wasn't in control of himself when he hurt you. He didn't mean
the things he did or said."

Lucas looked at her. She could see the fear and doubt still in the boy's eyes. His attention was
drawn back towards the door when he saw Nathan begin to walk slowly into the room. Lucas backed up
some on the bed.

Nathan approached Lucas slowly and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Lucas, I still love you
kiddo, more than you could ever imagine. I have no intention of sending you away. I'd be lost without
you."

"But…but you said I was nothing but a problem," Lucas replied.

"I know what I said, but it's not true. I didn't mean those awful things. Lucas, someone did this
to use. Someone drugged you to make you sick and then made the room look like you had been
drinking. Then I was drugged so that I would lose my temper and hurt you. Lucas, please believe me that I
am so sorry for what happened."

"It's…it's not your fault," Lucas said.

"My head knows that but it still hurts to know that I let you down," Nathan said, fighting to keep
back the tears even though his voice was cracking. "It hurts to know that you tried to kill yourself because
of me."

Nathan raised a hand and wiped the tear that was falling down Lucas' cheek. Lucas opened his
mouth to say something but he didn't know what to say. Instead he threw himself into Nathan's arms and
wrapped his arms around his Dad's waist and cried tears of happiness. Dad still loved him…still wanted
him. He wasn't going to be sent away.

Nathan held his son and cried with him. He smiled at Kristin when he saw her stand up and
quietly step out of the room, giving them some privacy and some time to begin to move past this.

He moved from the side of the bed and positioned himself at the head of the bed and pulled Lucas
to him. Lucas rested his head on Nathan's chest. Nathan held him tight and absentmindedly played with
the boy's hair with his right hand.

"Dad, why do you want me? I mean…no one else ever did. I am a problem sometimes. I don't
understand why you care so much," Lucas said, his crying finally coming to an end.

"Boy, when you ask a question you don't ask easy ones do you?" Nathan teased.

"I'm sorry, never mind."

"No, I can answer your question," Nathan told him. "There are so many reasons Lucas, and none
of them have to do with you being a genius. You have one of the gentlest souls I've ever met. Sure, you
can be stubborn and cocky sometimes, but you always help people and you care about others first. We
share a love of science and most things, except music," Nathan joked, getting a laugh out of Lucas. "Plus,
you have this energy about you, an excitement for new things that is contagious. Then there is the fact that
even though I know we've only known each other for a year and a half, I feel like I've had you in my life
for fifteen years. I remember so many things, and maybe they aren't real, but they sure feel like they are.
Lucas, you are my son, and I will always love you. Nothing will ever change that."

"I love you too," Lucas said, tightening his hold on Nathan's waist. "You've done so much for me
that I could never repay you."

"Lucas you repay me everyday just by being here. It's not a secret that my life was not a happy
one before I came here. I was on that island slowly dying. Then I met you and everything changed.
Suddenly I had a reason to wake up in the morning once again. I couldn't wait to see what new idea you
would cook up, and I enjoyed our talks that we would have. Plus I knew you were hurting, like I was. I
didn't know at the time what Lawrence was doing to you, but I knew that you had been neglected for years,
and I thought that maybe I could change that, give you the life that you deserved. So you see, you've
helped me as much as I've helped you."

"I'm glad," Lucas whispered tiredly. He was physically and emotionally spent and his body was
fighting for rest even though he wanted to talk more to his Dad. He yawned softly and rubbed at his eyes,
looking much younger than he fifteen years.

Nathan could see that Lucas was exhausted. "Kiddo, why don't you get some rest? Don't worry,
I'll stay here with you."

"Don't want too…" Lucas mumbled, as he slowly drifted away, Nathan's heartbeat lulling him
into a peaceful oblivion.

Nathan smiled and kissed the top of Lucas' head. He was also exhausted and he kicked his shoes
off and lifted his legs up on to the bed. He was still deeply disturbed that someone had done this to them,
and that they had no idea who had manipulated him and Lucas this way, but he was grateful that his and
Lucas' relationship hadn't been irreparably damaged from today's events, and that Lucas' had failed in his
suicide attempt. Who ever had done this would pay when they caught him.

He finally closed his eyes and scooted down just a bit so he was a little more comfortable, and
then fell asleep shortly after that.



Kristin stood outside the doorway and watched them sleep. She knew she shouldn't have been
eavesdropping but she couldn't help it. It was just as important to her that they move past what happened
as it had been to them. She knew those two needed each other very much, and she would have been
devastated for both of them if Lucas had been unable to let go of his initial fear of Nathan.

She wished she knew had masterminded this whole mess, but even more she wished she could
know if it was over, or if this person was going to harm her family once more.