by Aura Thundera
deonii@yahoo.com
Disclaimer:
The characters of seaQuest DSV are not my property. Much as I love Nathan Bridger, he belongs to NBC, Universal, Rockne S. O'Bannon, the Sci-Fi channel, and maybe others I've forgotten.
Author's Note for Fanfiction.net:
This was my very first fan fiction to appear on the internet. It was first posted at Pinkrabbit Consortium SeaQuest Site-http://pinkrabbit.simplenet.com/seaquest/, before I had a website of my own. Several months later, this tale and my Pele's Chosen series took up residence at Roy's Roles, the site I created to house homeless fanfiction about Roy Scheider's characters.
However, it was not the first fan-fic I ever wrote. I am too much of a lazy bum to type up my really old Star Trek stuff. But here is a treat for you. My first [relatively] polished fanfic.
Nathan smiled at Kristin as she sat down next to him on the narrow bunk in his quarters.
"You said that you would tell me all about yourself as soon as we were alone together," Kristin said.
"Yes," Nathan sighed. "I want you to know what you to know what you're getting if you decide you want to start a relationship. I do, but I think you should know more about me."
"I suppose it's a good idea," Kristin muttered. "After all, I already told you my life story. But what I really want to know is why your nose looks like that. Did you break it?"
"Exactly," Nathan said. "I broke my nose as a young officer-in-training at Annapolis."
"How?" Kristin questioned. "Were you in a fistfight?"
"No, I was stupid. My girlfriend at the time, Laura, was behind it."
"What did she do? Or did you do something to earn a broken nose?" Kristin said, wondering if the Captain's broken nose had come from a well-earned punch.
"I snuck Laura into the restricted area of the Academy. It's supposed to be off-limits to anyone but military personnel. I guess Laura wanted to see where and how I lived, I don't remember how she conned me into taking her there. But it was dark, and I tripped- over her foot!
"I fell face-first onto a concrete walkway. I blacked out for a few minutes from the pain. I came to when I heard Laura screaming. I wanted to tell her to be quiet or we'd be caught, but I couldn't. My nose hurt too badly. I could feel a big puddle of blood where my face had hit the concrete. Laura told me later that she had thought I was dead because of the blood all over.
"That's all I remember of that night. I was gushing blood, and I passed out again. The next morning I woke up in the infirmary with a bandage across my face. The first thing I saw was my commanding officer, glaring at me with a look that would probably melt steel. He promptly informed me that I was facing a court-martial for my actions that night," Nathan said, with a soft smile. "Later, I found out that my nose had been broken when I fell, and it would be permanent."
Kristin laughed softly. "It looks good the way it is."
"At first I thought I would be ugly. Then I found out that women like it," Nathan said. "Laura turned me down flat later, and I thought I couldn't go on. I was in a bar one night and a blonde beauty just my age came up and sat next to me.
"She just kept flashing these looks over at me, like she was interested in me but not sure how to say it. Finally, I'd had enough. I paid my bill and got up to go. Then she realized that if she let me get up, she'd probably never see me again. She grabbed my arm and asked me to stay. The first thing she did was confess to me that she thought I was sexy and wouldn't be surprised if I had a girlfriend.
"I told her that I just broke up. She grinned, and soon we knew everything about each other. Her name was Carol. We were pretty serious, but one day we were alone together, I had managed to finagle some shore leave to be with her. She was alone at her parents' beach house.
"I came in and put my stuff down in the guestroom. I hadn't really been sure this was a good idea, but the note I found made me sure that it really was an excellent idea. It was from Carol's mother.
"It said, 'The last boy our little Carol went out with only wanted her looks. He told her that she couldn't carry out her dream of being a marine biologist. She was going to be his wife and stay home to raise his children. Since then, she has never told anyone about her dream of being a marine biologist. I think you are different. Please try to encourage her to chase that dream.'"
"How sweet," Kristin said. "Did you encourage her?"
"Yes, I did. Previously, all that Carol had told me was that she wanted to be a scientist. I started telling her what a wonderful place the sea was. Then I started saying that she should be a marine biologist so that someday I could command a Navy research vessel and she could be the head scientist," Nathan said, shaking his head sadly. "It was our dearest dream that never came true."
"But it was prophetic," Kristin said. "Your dream was a sign that you were destined for the head scientist of the submarine that both you and Carol put in so much work on."
"I didn't know you were a believer in omens," Nathan said, bestowing upon her one of his rare grins.
"Only when they show me that the love of my life is destined for me," she responded.
"So I'm the love of your life, am I?" Nathan questioned her, moving closer to Kristin on the bunk.
"Yes, you are," Kristin said, moving close so that her thigh brushed against his.
The reaction to the simple touch of their bodies sent a shock through the pair. Nathan managed to get a deep breath and attempted to return to the teasing banter they had been using before.
"Sweet talker," Nathan growled, pulling her into his embrace.
Kristin quickly gained the upper hand and rolled Nathan onto his back so that he lay under her. Nathan looked up at Kristin out of slightly frightened deep blue eyes.
"I think this is the start of a beautiful love," Kristin said, then pressed her lips to his.