An Olive Branch

Disclaimer: SeaQuest and its characters are not mine.

My first SQ fic so hopefully it is ok. Please forgive any grammatical and spelling errors. Or any other errors for that matter ;-) Still a work in progress so any suggestions will be welcome. Hopefully I might get some reviews?

Lucas sighed for what could have been the hundredth time. Again. He couldn't believe that he was doing this to him again. He couldn't believe that he was surprised. It happened every shore leave and yet every time he heard it, it hurt a little bit more. Lucas heaved another sigh. It didn't matter, as much as he wanted to be angry, to feel anything other than that empty feeling in the pits of his stomach he didn't have the luxury to give in to any of it. Even if he did what did it matter? Who would listen? Or rather more importantly who would care?

The insistent beeping of his PAL interrupted his bitter thoughts. Lucas ran a hand through his unruly hair, which thanks to the latest vidlink he had with his father.. no, correct that.. his secretary had gotten even more unruly as if to reflect his current mood. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he answered the PAL.

"Lucas you're shift started 5 minutes ago. Why aren't you on the bridge?" came the no-nonsense voice of Commander Ford. Lucas hadn't meant to be late but the vidlink conversation had taken longer than he had realised.

"Sorry commander. I'm on my way." He mumbled as he hurried out of his quarters. 'Great' he thought to himself, 'As if things can't get any better I'm late for my shift.' His thoughts immediately strayed back to the conversation he had only moments ago.

"Sorry, Mr Wolenczak expressed his apologies that he wouldn't be able to meet with you during you're break. He has arranged for the chauffer to pick you up and the domestic staff has already been informed of your visit so I believe that you wouldn't be inconvenienced."

Lucas just stared straight at the screen trying not to let the disappointment show. The moment that she had called he knew what she was going to say. It had already become a tradition. His father would be informed of his shore leave and his father would get his secretary to come up with some reason to explain why he couldn't be there.

Lucas could not think. He didn't want to. He didn't want to rationalise what was just happening. It always came down to the same reason. He was just not good enough. His father would pick his latest pet UEO project over him any day. Not that he was surprised. He was a disappointment. Always would be one.

Some where between his musings he mumbled a response. He just hoped that his voice didn't sound as dull as it did to his ears. The secretary, what was her name? Lisa? Cringed. Guess it was as dull as it sounded. But at the moment he didn't care.

"Sorry Lucas but Mr Wolenczak is in a very important meeting and as much as he wanted to deliver the message personally he was unable to do so…"

Again Lucas found himself tuning out. 'Important meeting'? Translation; ' Your father would much rather do something of significance than waste his time on his worthless son.' He doubted there was any meeting. Just the same excuse that he's made every time.

"Hey Lucas where's the fire?" Ben Kreig interrupted his musings.

"Huh? Oh I'm just late for my shift." Lucas muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. Ben chuckled.

"Let me guess Commander Ford is on bridge duty today?"

Lucas could only give a wry grin. Captain Bridger tended to be a bit more lenient when he was running late, not that it happened often. Usually it would be because he was engrossed in one of his latest projects and the captain seemed to understand the fact that he honestly hadn't noticed the time go by. Of course the captain would notice other things too. Like the fact that he would have missed a meal or two because he was so engrossed. It was almost like the captain cared. Almost made him feel that he wasn't useless and wasn't as much a hindrance as he was to his father. Almost. But then again the captain cared about all his crew. He knew that he wasn't special. Was he so needy that he would put more meaning to the captains gestures of concern? He is concerned about all his crewmen. And that's all he was. Just another crewman.

"Hey Lucas relax, Ford maybe a bit stern but he's not going to bite your head off." Ben supplied when he noticed that Lucas was biting his lip in consternation.

Ben of course thought that Lucas was worried about any reprimands he might get from Commander Ford. Ben stifled a sigh. He was morale officer after all so how he can boost morale by sighing? But Lucas was just a kid. He didn't belong on the SeaQuest; he belonged at home, with his family, not here. Not worrying about the fact that he was late for a shift. He just didn't understand some parents. How they could allow their child to be put on the SeaQuest was beyond him.

"So looking forward to shore leave?" Ben asked hoping to cheer Lucas up. Surely the thought of going home after been cooped up in a submarine for so long would help cheer him up?

"You bet." Lucas said cringing inside as he plastered a fake smile on his face. He didn't want to think about that again.

"Listen Ben, I'll catch you later. Gotta get to the bridge before Commander Ford puts a ship wide search for me." Lucas said with a wry grin as he hurried off before Ben could question him more about his vacation plans.

That's it for now. So what do you think?