Title: Heart to Heart

Spoilers: All of Season 1 and 2.

Summary: Set a few years after the end of Season 2. Buck pays his respects to his family and has a heart to heart with Wilma.

Author's Notes: This was just a silly idea for a story that came to me after I recently purchased the DVD collection of the entire series run, and wondered how the show would have come out. There were definite sparks between Buck and Wilma, but that never really got addressed in the show. This is sort of a coda to the whole series that focuses on a possible relationship between those two. I only watched the first season so far, and used what I remember about season two, so this story might be a little out of character.

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Captain William Anthony 'Buck' Rogers knelt down and placed the small bouquet of flowers next to the gravestone. His hand brushed away some of the dirt and old leaves that had accumulated on the old stone. Four names were visible:

Edna and James Rogers
Son Frank
Daughter Marilyn

Four names, but no date. Buck sighed. He remembered the first time he'd wandered through the ruins of 'Old Chicago' soon after returning to Earth from his five hundred year sleep. The hope had been to find something, anything that would have given him a link to his past. Unfortunately, five hundred years had erased so much since the nuclear holocaust that records were either lost or frustratingly incomplete.

It'd been blind luck that he'd stumbled upon this grave running away from those mutants that had stalked him and Twiki on that cold night. He'd held hope of finding some mention of people he'd known back then, but never imagined to find his entire family buried in one grave. Buck didn't know who had taken the time to do that one bit of service for his family back then, especially in a time when death had reigned everywhere, but he sent silent thanks across time nonetheless.

One of Buck's regrets was in not finding out where his fiancée Jennifer might have been buried, if she was buried anywhere to begin with. His only connection to her was the one picture he'd carried with him on Ranger 3…and the painful memories of seeing an woman surgically altered to look like Jennifer die in his arms. What would life have been like if she'd survived? The fact that she'd taken a shot meant for him told him that maybe something could've been between them. Although he didn't see his Jennifer die in the nuclear fire half a millennium ago, he did see a part of her die with that woman. The memory almost overtook him as his throat tightened and eyes stung.

Buck closed his eyes, reigning in his emotions. Not here. His coming to this spot was meant for more bitter-sweet reasons than tragic ones. He looked back at the gravestone and smiled wanly.

"Happy birthday, mom," he said quietly. "I know I haven't been too good about remembering and all, but I can honestly say I've been a bit busy lately." His smiled widened a little. "You know, saving the planet, exploring the cosmos…small stuff like that." He could imagine his mom smiling and clucking at him about being too prideful. Don't worry mom, he thought. I try and not let it get to my head.

"I guess I should give you a heads up on what's been going on with my life so far, shouldn't I?" Buck sat back, pursing his lips in thought. "Well, you probably already know about the time I flew for the Earth Defense Forces and then after that I joined the crew of the Searcher." He chuckled a little. "There's so much in-between there I could tell you about, but I really don't want to bore you with the details. When I came back to Earth, they were already planning a second mission for the Searcher." He shook his head. "I opted out. Honestly…as much as I enjoyed finding the lost colonies of Earth, I always kept thinking of home. So, I took up a position as flight instructor." He grinned. "You should see what they're teaching kids these days. It's still a little hard trying to get them to use their instincts, instead of computers, but I'm getting there. It's definitely not like it was when I went to the Air Force Academy, that's for sure."

A light breeze picked up in the mid afternoon sun. Several miles away, the ruins of the old city still stood, like the burnt-out husk of some charred beast. Most of the decay and dead foliage around these parts slowly began to recede with time. No matter how hard mankind had tried to destroy itself, Earth was, given enough time, slowly reclaiming what was hers. Trees and grass sprouted here and there. It certainly looked better than the last time Buck was in the area.

Buck cocked his head, again imagining something his mother would say. "Unfortunately, no, there's no one yet. You probably already know I've dated more than a few women who were out of this world." He grinned, knowing his mother would have rolled her eyes at his joke. "None of them really lasted long, though. Maybe it's like you always told me, sometimes when you're not looking, the right one just shows up."

A slight noise behind him made Buck stop short. He sighed and said, "Twiki, keep your shirt on. Last reports stated that the mutants of this area died off some time ago. So you don't have to worry your little head over getting taken apart and melted down."

"Well, that's a relief," a quiet, contralto voice said behind him.

Buck turned around and caught sight of a brunette woman walking towards him wearing the uniform of a Colonel in the Earth Defense Force. As she walked toward him, her eyes kept looking here and there, looking for any possible hideouts for mutants. Her right hand stayed fixed on the butt of her gun.

"Reports say one thing, Buck, but I still remember the last time we were both here," Wilma Deering said as she stood next to him.

"How could I forget? You had shot me soon afterwards, remember?" Buck said with a grin.

"You were being unreasonable at the time, Buck, and you didn't really leave me much choice." Satisfied that there were no surprises, Wilma sat down. She relaxed somewhat but still kept ready for anything. Her composure warmed a little when she looked over at Buck. "Why are you out here, anyway? I thought the last time – " Her eyes drifted to the tombstone. "Oh."

"Yeah," Buck said. "I saw the date for my mother's birthday coming up and thought it might be a good idea to stop by." He frowned a little. "How'd you know where to find me, anyway?"

"I didn't at first, but your personal transport had its satellite tracker on so it was easy to find you."

"I thought I had that thing deactivated?" Buck said to himself.

Wilma shrugged while pulling back a stray hair behind her ear. "I can leave you alone if you'd like?"

"It's alright. I just came out here to clear my mind."

Wilma said nothing. They sat there in companionable silence. Finally she stirred. "Buck, it's none of my business, but I've noticed you've been a little…withdrawn lately. I remember how you were before your birthday, but this time you're more preoccupied than before. So, I just wanted to ask: Is there something wrong?"

Buck said nothing for a few moments and Wilma thought maybe he hadn't heard the question. But then he said, "It might be a combination of things, I don't know. I guess I'm trying to figure out where my life is going."

"Where your life is going? I thought you liked how things turned out here. You've been a great help to the Directorate, you've saved Earth more than a few times – "

"I know," Buck interrupted, "and I don't want to give you the impression that it wasn't gratifying knowing I helped in doing all those things. I guess I hoped things would eventually work out on a personal level for me. I had plans when I went out in Ranger 3. Things were coming together back then and when I finally had time to think after waking up, I realized I had to start all over." He shook his head. "It sort of started when Hawk finally found a colony of his own people, just before the Searcher ended its first mission. The last message I got from him was that he'd gotten married, or whatever his people call it and his wife was expecting their first kid." Buck brooded a little, before glancing over. "Wilma, did you ever wonder if you were always going to be career-military?"

Wilma blinked. "Honestly, I never thought about it." She grinned sadly. "To tell you the truth, I almost didn't make into the Academy."

Now Buck looked confused. "You, not make it?" He laughed. "Wilma, you're one of the best starfighter pilots I've ever flown with."

"Well, I almost wasn't." Seeing Buck's confusion grow, she explained. "When I first thought of entering the Academy, the Draconians – passing as pirates back then – were just starting to strangle Earth's shipping lanes. In one of the early engagements I – I lost an uncle on my father's side. My father didn't take losing his brother very well. You can imagine the look on his face when I told him I had placed my application in for the Academy."

"I take it since you haven't talked much about him, you guys haven't made up," Buck said.

Wilma shook her head. "It didn't help any when my mother died. I guess that was one reason I never got too close to people: my dad's fears for me were always in the back of my mind."

"I didn't know that," Buck said quietly. "You can't let that stop you, though. Life is going to throw whatever it can in your path and if there's someone out there you want, you should try and grab the chance with both hands."

"I tried that once," Wilma said. "It didn't quite work."

"When was that?"

Wilma's cheeks reddened a bit and she looked away. "When I kissed you during the reception for Princess Ardala, just after we helped save her and her ship from those 'pirates.' "

Buck's eyes widened and the memory of that moment flooded back to him. At the time, he'd been so caught up in clearing his name as a spy and finding any evidence of Draconian wrongdoing. Wilma's sudden coming on to him had been a bit of a shock that almost made him forget that the Princess had been waiting for him in her shuttle. He'd begged off and had left her standing there. In all the time he'd known Wilma, that particular incident had never been brought up. He coughed in embarrassment.

"Wilma…why didn't you ever bring it up again?" he asked.

"Buck, when I first met you, I thought you were an anachronism, someone beneath me. But as I got to know you, I found you attractive and likeable...in your own way." She smiled briefly, and then sobered. "And when I kissed you and you told me that things were going too fast. It didn't quite help when I saw you going after Ardala. So, I decided to back off a little and be your friend."

Buck shook his head. "But you never really…?"

"No, it never fully went away. I still feel something…even after all those women you dated over time," Wilma said, and couldn't resist the jab and smiled at Buck's face flushing red.

Buck could only chuckle in embarrassment. Then his gaze fell on his family's tomb. "You know, it's funny. I was just thinking that I've gone out with more than a few women, but they never lasted too long. We either remained great friends or went our separate ways. With everything I've gone up against, from slavers, Draconians, space vampires, con artists, madmen, mutants, mob bosses, Zarina…hell, even one or two plots to destroy New Chicago…almost every time, only one person had been there for me." He glanced over and stared steadily at Wilma.

"Buck," she said slowly, "I don't want you to think that just because I just said – "

"Wilma," Buck interrupted. "Look…you're a great friend, but you're also an attractive woman. You have always been there for me. Not to mention you probably know me better than anyone else. Now I don't know what tomorrow might bring, but I'd hate to think I passed up a chance to be with someone like you." He chewed his lip. "Maybe I acted like a jerk that time and gave you the wrong idea. I really had other things on my mind."

"Ardala?" Wilma asked in mock petulance.

Buck chuckled. "I'd be lying if I said she wasn't on my mind, in some small way. But you can't tell me my going with her didn't help in taking out a big chunk of their invasion force."

"Shoving bombs into the tail pipes of Draconian fighter craft so that they explode on launch isn't exactly in any manual I know of."

"Hey, at least it worked," Buck replied, now laughing. Wilma couldn't help herself and joined in. Finally, with a sigh, Buck said, "I don't know how much this is worth, but I am sorry about what happened. I honestly didn't you'd be carrying the torch for all this time. If…if it's not too late…maybe we could give it a try?"

Wilma swallowed and looked away. Finally, she looked back, hope in her eyes. "Okay, I'd like that. On one condition," she said with her eyes narrowing. Buck reared back a little, nervously nodding. Wilma's face then went from stern to warm and said, "If you ever invite me to dinner again at your place, please don't make that lizard chili concoction you got from Hieronymus Fox."

Buck snorted a laugh. "Okay, okay! I guess I never could get all those scales out from my other batches."

They both stood up. Buck placed an arm around Wilma shoulders, who snuggled closer to him, and the two walked out of the old cemetery.

Several feet away, behind some old grave stones, the shiny head of a particular diminutive robot peered over watching the two with interest. A small, round, blinking robot hung from the neck.

"Twiki!" Dr. Theopolis said, "I cannot believe you placed the call that sent Colonel Deering looking for Buck all the way out here. And I know you activated Buck's tracker after he specifically told us he wanted some privacy."

Although expressionless, there was almost a smile in the tone of the small robot's voice. "Biddi-biddi-biddi! He doesn't need to know that, does he?"

Dr. Theopolis blinked on a off a few times, processing the possibilities. "I suppose not. Though, they do make an attractive couple, don't they?"

Twiki laughed. "Yeah, ain't I the matchmaker?"

-FIN-