A/N: First, my apologies for not updating for so long. Secondly, I'd like you to know that I found the original version of the story, thanks to Olivia Sutton. I did revise the first chapter by replacing that with the original version, minus the lyrics. You may want to go back and reread that. From here on out, this will be the original story, not a rewrite. Thank you.
Inspiration for the chapter: Before You Lie by Chely Wright: (colon, slash, slash) www {DOT} youtube {DOT} com (slash) watch?v=iMM70XLHrgA
Chapter 2
Alpha Colony
Although Alpha was secluded, the residents there weren't strangers to illness. There'd been several unknown viruses throughout the years that plagued the small community. And, each time, people perished. But, they'd been lucky. There hadn't been any illnesses for several months. Unfortunately, this was about to change.
After getting Michael off to the small school within the walls of the community, Robert walked to visit his friend, Zachary. He and Zachary would always walk to work together. There were two kinds of people in Alpha: those who owned the farms and those who worked there. Robert and Zachary were workers. In fact, most were workers. Only an elite few actually owned the farms. Robert and Zachary happened to work for Eric.
Upon arriving at Zachary's apartment, Robert knocked on the door but received no answer. "Zachary?" he called. He received no answer, so he walked in. He found Zachary lying on the bed, nearly unconscious. He was sick. "I'll go get the doctor," he replied. But, on his way, Robert ran into Eric.
"Zachary's sick, sir."
Eric nodded. "He's not the only one. Dr. Davidson's office is filled already. I think the virus is back."
"What are we going to do?" Robert asked.
Eric sighed. "I think we need some help from the outside."
Robert was worried, but he was also pleased. He'd hoped this was his chance to get out of Alpha for good.
seaQuest
A few days later, seaQuest was back in the water. Nathan managed to keep things together, both emotionally and professionally since his dreams had stopped. And so, he and Kristin lived in wedded bliss, at least for the time being.
Kristin was glad to get back into the swing of things as well. Sure, she'd enjoyed the summer, but being idle was never pleasing to her. On her first day back, she and Wendy were training new recruits. After a busy morning, she and Wendy finally had a few minutes alone.
"So, how was your summer?" Wendy asked.
"It was fine," Kristin replied. "How was yours?"
"Fine?" Wendy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that all you can say?"
"Well, what would you like me to say?" Kristin asked.
Wendy laughed a bit. "Well, you're a newlywed. I would think it was more than fine, that's all."
Kristin nodded. "Well, it's not always a walk in the park, dear."
"What?"
Kristin sighed. "We've hit a few road blocks," she admitted. "But we're doing fine now," she added.
Wendy heard what Kristin said, but the look on her face said things weren't as perfect as she said. "Do you need to talk about it?"
Kristin thought for a moment. "Not right now, thank you. Really, we're doing much better. But if I need to talk, you'll be the first to know."
Wendy placed a gentle hand on Kristin's shoulder. "I suppose it's a big adjustment for all of you."
Kristin nodded. "Well, I suppose we should get back to work, hm?"
Wendy agreed, and the two women went their separate ways to check on their medical teams and science staff.
But one week after the seaQuest's launch, Nathan sat up straight in bed. His heart was pounding beneath his chest. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He turned to the sleeping form next to him; she was sound asleep, and he was glad of that. He hadn't wanted to wake her, didn't want an uncomfortable confrontation. But he did want to talk. He headed to the bathroom. A few moments later, he emerged, fully dressed. He quietly stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Before leaving the small apartment altogether, he looked in each of the bedrooms of the children, who were sound asleep as well. Then he headed towards the door and quietly left.
Kristin began to stir in the early twilight. She instinctively reached her arm over to the man sleeping next to her, but she found no one there. She sat up, rather confused. "Nathan?" she said, wondering if maybe he was just in the bathroom.
When she received no answer, she called a bit louder, "Nathan?" She walked out of the bedroom and searched their apartment. No Nathan. She walked back into the bedroom and grabbed a robe. She, too, checked on the children to be sure they were still asleep. Then, she opened the door and walked down the corridor in search of her husband.
First, she checked the bridge, but she didn't find him. After asking the night crew if anyone saw him and finding none of them had, she could think of only one other place he might be, a place she'd met him many times before, a place he went when he needed to think. She walked towards the labs. Sure enough, as she came upon the moon pool, she could hear Nathan's voice, along with Darwin's.
"Bridger sad," Darwin said.
Nathan nodded. "Yeah, pal, I'm sad," he admitted. "I'm just not sure what these dreams mean. I-" He stopped short when he saw Kristin on the other side of the moon pool. He shut the vocoder off. "Why aren't you in bed?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Kristin replied, trying to remain calm.
"I-I couldn't sleep," he admitted.
"So, you decided to tell Darwin your problems?"
"I didn't want to wake you."
"Well, I'm awake now," Kristin said. "Why can't you sleep?"
"I, uh, well," he began. "It's nothing," he said. "Just stress, I guess."
"Are things that stressful here already?" she asked skeptically.
Nathan was silent.
Kristin walked closer to him. "I thought we were going to be honest with one another."
"I am being honest with you," Nathan lied.
"Then why were you telling Darwin that you were sad?" Kristin challenged.
She was met with silence once again as he turned from her.
"Why can't you talk to me?" she asked desperately.
"It's not easy to talk about it," Nathan admitted.
"But you can talk to Darwin," Kristin pointed out.
"I was just thinking out loud."
"With the vocoder on?"
"I-"
"Nathan, please. If you're having a problem, let me help you. I want to help you," Kristin pleaded.
Nathan sighed. "I know you do," Nathan said. "But I'm not sure you can. I'm not sure anyone can."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Nathan was silent once again, worrying Kristin even more. "Nathan," she began quietly. "Is…is it me? Do you still love me?"
Nathan turned to her. "Of course I still love you. None of this is because of you."
"Then, why can't you talk to me?" she asked, nearly in tears.
"Kristin, I'm sorry," Nathan replied. "I just...can't."
Now it was Nathan who was met with silence. She'd turned her back to him. "Kristin?" he said after a few moments. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
She pulled away as she turned around. "Nathan, I can't take this. You can't talk to me, but you'll talk to a damned dolphin! You promised you'd be honest with me."
"I know I did, and I'm sorry-"
Kristin nodded. "I'm sure you are. Well, let me just leave you while you pour your heart out to him instead of me." She started to walk away, but a thought came to her, so she turned once again. "And just so you know, I always tell you everything. I've never tried to hide anything. When you do decide to come back, don't think you'll be climbing in bed next to me. I'll put a blanket and pillow on the couch for you." And with that, she stormed off.
Nathan stood there for a few moments. Part of him wanted to chase after her, to tell her everything, to tell her he'd been having nightmares about his late son, but he was so afraid. He was afraid she'd blame herself, and that's not what he wanted. The guilt was his and no one else's. He sighed and turned back to Darwin.
A few hours later, the alarm went off. Kristin leaned over and turned it off, swearing under her breath. She hadn't intended to go back to sleep, and now, she felt more tired than ever. But she'd done so much crying after she'd gone back to bed that she must have fallen back to sleep without realizing. She got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Upon looking in the mirror, she saw the effects of her crying still on her face-her eyes were red and swollen and her face was puffy.
"Hopefully, I'll look better after a shower," she muttered.
After a quick shower, she decided she did look somewhat better. She dressed and headed out to the living room. She glanced at the couch. The blanket was neatly folded and set on the table with the pillow on top of it. She decided Nathan had returned after all. However, she decided he must have headed to the bridge already since he was nowhere to be found now.
After waking the children, she ushered them to the mess hall, and the three sat down to breakfast.
"Mommy, where's Daddy?" Kristy asked.
"He had to head to the bridge," Kristin replied.
"But he always eats breakfast with us," Harry said, sounding disappointed.
"I know," Kristin said, "but-"
"Is this seat taken?" Nathan asked, coming up behind her.
"Daddy!" Kristy cried, giving him a hug.
"You didn't think I'd miss our breakfast time together, did you?" Nathan asked, sitting down next to Kristin.
As the children chatted excitedly, Nathan stole a glance at his wife, trying to wage her mood. However, when she met his eyes with a glare, he knew she was still angry.
Kristin quickly drank her coffee and ate the fruit that was left on her plate. "Well, I need to get to medbay," she said. "Are you two ready?"
"Aw, Mom," Harry said. "Can't Dad take us today?"
"I doubt he has time."
"I'll have you know I have fifteen minutes," Nathan said. "I can make sure they get to their lessons. Don't you trust me?"
Kristin raised an eyebrow. "Glad to see you're not too busy for them at least," she replied.
"See you at the staff meeting, sweetheart," Nathan called, but Kristin ignored him as she walked out.
"What was that all about, Daddy?" Kristy asked.
"Uh, Mommy's a little mad at Daddy," Nathan replied.
"Why?"
"Because...well, because...because Daddy did something Mommy didn't like."
"You two should kiss and make up," Kristy said before taking a drink of milk.
"Thank you," Nathan replied. "Don't worry, kids; grown-ups fight sometimes, but that doesn't mean we don't love each other."
After breakfast, Nathan dropped the children off with Kendall. He was about to stop in medbay in hopes of trying to make things right with Kristin, but his PAL beeped instead. "Bridger."
"Captain?" Jonathan Ford's voice asked. "I know it's a little early, but O'Neill informed me of a distress call. We need you on the bridge right away."
Nathan sighed. "I'll be right there."
Later that morning, Nathan sat in the ward room, waiting for his senior staff. Kristin was the next to arrive. Normally, Nathan always sat at the head of the table, and Kristin would always sit to his right. But she deliberately sat in the farthest possible seat away from him.
"Guess you're still angry with me?" Nathan muttered as she sat down.
Kristin said nothing as Wendy came into the room next. She took one look at Kristin, then at Nathan. She hadn't gotten a chance to speak with Kristin that day about anything other than work. She cleared her throat nervously and took a seat next to Kristin.
As the other senior staff members filed in, they could all feel how thick the tension in the room was. Strange looks were exchanged until, finally, everyone had assembled.
"Well, people," Nathan began, "it's a new year and a new mission. We've received a distress call from the Alpha Underwater Colony. I'm going to turn the floor over to Lucas so he can inform us about what we're getting into."
Lucas stood while Nathan sat down. He brought up a picture on the screen in the front of the room. "The Alpha Colony was formed during World War III as a sanctuary for refugees. They've always lived secluded, and they still do to this day. Unfortunately, they've become victims to an unknown illness."
"An illness?" Wendy questioned.
"That's why," Nathan interrupted, looking at Wendy and Kristin, "this will be a medical mission. I'd like both of you to organize a team."
"Excuse me, Captain?" Kristin began.
Everyone in the room was shocked, although they tried not to show it. Kristin always called him Nathan, at least now. But she'd said captain. Captain.
"Someone's in the doghouse," Tony muttered in a sing-song voice.
"I heard that," Nathan said sternly.
"Sorry, sir."
Nathan turned back to Kristin. "Is there a problem, Doctor?"
"Well, yes, actually, there is," Kristin replied. "I thought you and I agreed we wouldn't go on missions together."
Nathan nodded. "I remember, and we're not."
"So, you're not going?"
"Not until you and your medical team figure out what's going on," Nathan replied. "Do you really think I haven't thought about all this?"
"Well, you do seem to have a problem with thinking lately, so I was just checking," Kristin shot back. "And, I thought you didn't want me going anywhere too dangerous."
"It isn't dangerous."
"You call an unknown illness not dangerous?"
The rest of the senior staff fidgeted uncomfortably as the two argued. They seemed to forget where they were.
Finally, Nathan said, "Doctor, you seem to forget I am the captain of this ship, and you are my CMO."
"And you seem to forget I'm also your wife!" Kristin yelled. Suddenly she seemed to realize that she and Nathan weren't alone after all. She blushed hotly, nearly in tears. "I…I'm sorry you all had to see that. E-excuse me." And, with that, she quickly retreated from the room.
"Well, that went well," someone muttered.
"Dr. Smith, you'll talk to her, won't you?" Nathan said, ignoring the comment.
Wendy nodded. "We'll get a team together and prepare a launch."
"Thank you," Nathan replied. "Let's get back to work."
Wendy lagged behind.
"Well, now my marital problems will be the talk of the boat," Nathan muttered.
"She does have a point," Wendy said. "The mission could be dangerous."
"Do you think I'm wrong for sending her?"
Wendy hesitated slightly. "I'm trying to remain impartial."
Nathan sighed.
Wendy placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'll talk to her." With that, she left the room.
