PART IV

CAN IT BE FIXED?

Chapter 10: Lost is Found

Wheeler looked for a place to land the geo-cruiser. They'd finally made it to Canberra, and now, all they had to do was find a parking spot, find the right building, and then of course, find Linka.
Simple plan right?
An hour later the two rushed up the street.

"Twelve Mort... twelve Mort..." muttered Wheeler, like a little mantra, as if finding this particular address would solve the root of all his problems. Wrong.
A swipe card was required to get in. Wheeler sighed in frustration as the guard on duty asked him to move away from the door.
Wheeler was brimming with impatience and everything was taking too long. The flight was long, finding a park... long. Finding the right building... long.

He looked over as he saw a man light up a cigarette, taking a quick break to have a puff.
Wheeler frowned. "Do you know how bad that is for you?"
The man laughed, "I get reminded every day."
Wheeler nodded. "But you don't quit?"
The man shook his head, "There's no need, besides, there are worse things to be addicted to."
Wheeler stared.
"That and it's nice to have the excuse to step out of the office once in a while."
The man gestured to the building behind him.
"You work here?" Wheeler asked, excitement welling.
The man nodded, "Level three, I do the file creations here, in the RMU section – Records Management Unit." He clarified.
Wheeler paused, that was the same unit Linka was in...
"You don't know a Linka, by any chance do you?"
"The blond Russian woman? Yeah, she works in my section. Off sick today."
He took another puff.
"She's sick?" Wheeler asked in concern.
"Oh, Elle said it wasn't anything serious, just headaches and back pain. Apparently it's common for pregnant women."
"Who's Elle?"
"She's pregnant too, they've been living together while her husband's away overseas."
"Linka's married?"
"No no, Elle's husband. I really don't know what Linka's story is, she doesn't talk about herself much."
Now done with his cigarette, he threw the butt on the ground, stamping in out with his foot.
"Well, I gotta get back to it. Files don't create themselves you know."
Wheeler gave an absent wave, taking in this new information.

Right, he thought... He hadn't found her yet, but he'd been given enough to go by that he was sure he could find her now.
Jumping back into the geo-cruiser, he looked at Gi.
"No luck?" she asked with disappointment.
"Not exactly, but we're on the right trail..."
He booted up the geo-cruiser's computer.
"I have an idea."

He got Gi to repeat the advanced searching technique she'd used before to find that same piece of information that had led them here originally. It loaded up Linka's details and photo again, and from here, he was able to see the names and faces of those that she worked with.
"Elle, Elle, Elle... there! Eleanora Taylor. That's got to be her.
He looked at her picture. She was young and pretty.
"Once we find where Elle lives, I think we find our missing Linka..."
So the two sat back patiently to wait for the rest of the day.

The day at the office had been long for Elle. She missed having someone to talk to as she sorted through and scanned the files back into the filing system.
She gave Linka a call at lunch time to make sure the Russian was okay, and now, as five o'clock rolled around, she was glad to be able to return home.
She'd caught the bus today, so that she didn't have to worry about parking, and was very glad to return to the warmth and comfort of her home. Seeing that Linka was nowhere downstairs, she went up to check on her.

She paused at the top of the stairs, hearing that the shower going.
'Good', she thought, knowing that a nice warm shower would help. Elle went and put her bag away, quickly checked her emails in the study, before she heard Linka's footsteps, coming out of her room.

"Hi!" greeted Linka, looking much better.
Elle smiled. "You've recovered?"
Linka nodded. "Just in time for the weekend!" Elle laughed.
"Come on," urged Linka, "'Neighbors' is about to start!"
Elle laughed again, she'd been surprised at how much Linka had taken to the Aussie soap.
Linka settled back into the lounge, happy to relax. Elle passed her the remote, "I'm just going to go for a shower, what do you want to do for dinner?"
Linka paused thoughtfully, "Perhaps a simple stir fry tonight?" she suggested.
"Sure thing," agreed Elle with a grin, "I'll catch you in ten." She left the room, making her way towards her bedroom when a knock on the front door stopped her. Answering it, she opened the door to find that she was looking at a young red-haired man.

She smiled right away, not just recognizing him from news stories and magazine articles, she and Linka had talked about him often.
"Wheeler," she greeted.
He stopped confused, "You know me?"
Elle shook her head. "Only through news stories. Would you like to come in?"
"Um, I'm actually looking for a friend... Do you know a – or would there be a..." he paused, unsure of how to ask about Linka.
"Come on in, Wheeler. Would you like a drink?"

She led him through to the kitchen. Wheeler looked around as she led him in.
"Nice place," he said awkwardly. She smiled and poured him a glass of juice.
"Could you just give me a moment?" she asked him politely.
"Sure..."

She left the room quickly and went in to Linka.
"Linka, you have a guest."
Linka frowned, "Who?"
"I think that perhaps you should come and see for yourself."
Confused, Linka followed her through to the kitchen, but stopped short with a sharp gasp as she saw the red hair of the young man sitting on the kitchen stool, gazing at the paintings on the opposite wall. She ducked back behind the door.

What was he doing here? How had he found her?
She'd only just managed to put everything behind her, and get to place where she was moving on, and now, here he was.

Elle turned to see what Linka was doing, and realized that the young Russian had hidden herself upon seeing him. Elle turned to Wheeler, "Sorry about that, thank you for waiting. Can I ask what brings you here to Canberra?"
Wheeler paused. "Yeah, I'm looking for someone."
"So what makes you think that they're here?"
Wheeler shifted uncomfortably, but then changed his mind. Not knowing why he felt so compelled to share his problems, the young American set his glass down and divulged his troubles to the kind stranger.

"I'm looking for a friend that I hurt really badly. I did something really dumb and hurt someone that I really care about. And I just wanted to find them and set the whole thing straight."
Elle smiled. It was then that he really looked at the young woman and realized that she was pregnant. Of course, the man he'd spoken to earlier outside of Linka's work had mentioned this, and he looked at her, wondering how he had not noticed this until now.

"You're..." he started, looking at her baby bump,
"Pregnant, yes." she finished, "Nearly five months."
"Do you live here alone?" he asked.
"No, my husband is here usually, but he's in the Air Force and got a three month posting over seas."
"Is it hard being here alone while you're pregnant?"
"It's tough without him, yes. I worry about him every day. And I did not realize that I was pregnant until after he'd already left."
"Is – is it hard, here in Canberra, in your state?" he asked.

Listening in to the conversation, Linka realized the guilt that Wheeler felt. It was the driving force of all these questions.
She hesitated behind the doorway.
"Were you both happy to find out that you were going to be having a baby?"
"Yes, we were both a little worried and hesitant at first, it's a big step, starting a family. But it's also very exciting. We have a lot to look forward to." She smiled at him.
"You seem very worried, I'm sure that this friend is fine."

He sighed and shifted in his seat.
"I just wish I could go back and change it all."
"Well, we can't change what's happened in the past, only do our best to repair it in the present. I hope that you find this friend. And that you get the chance to fix whatever's happened."
Wheeler smiled at her. "Thanks, me too."

Shifting uncomfortably in her place behind the doorway, Linka gulped and made up her mind.
She stepped through the doorway and smiled thankfully at Elle. The young brunette returned the expression, just as Wheeler looked up and saw Linka standing there.
It felt like everything froze in time as he saw her.
His heart stopped for a second, before it started to race.
Standing slowly to his feet, he tried to talk to her, but all he could do was gape.

"Wheeler, what are you doing here?" she asked, folding her arms in front of her, almost protectively.
"I – I came to find you. Gi's in the geo-cruiser waiting outside."
"Gi's here too?"

As if on cue there was a knock at the door.
Elle moved out to answer it, and Linka stared at Wheeler incredulously.
"Look, I know that probably you'll never forgive me for what I said and did to you, and I can't blame you for that. But I had to at least come and try to make things right."
Linka nodded, moving past him to the dining table on the other side of the open plan area to sit down.

"How did you find me?"
"With Gi's help. We used an advanced searching technique..."
Linka smiled, "The one I taught her..."
"Yeah, and then, we went to your work, but you were sick, are-are you okay?"
She nodded now, just Gi came in followed by Elle.

Gi looked around, feeling a little awestruck at the whole situation.
How peculiar, thought the young Thai, Linka's been living here... It just struck her as strange that while the other planeteers had remained on Hope Island, living as per normal, Linka had this whole other life now.

Elle and Gi went to sit at the table with Linka, gesturing for Wheeler to join them.
There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Gi rushed into her own heartfelt apology.

"God Linka, I am so, so sorry that we didn't believe you! And that we weren't there for you when you needed us! And that Wheeler was such an idiot!"
"Hey!" protested Wheeler.
"It's okay Wheeler, I don't think that there's anyone here present that doesn't know you acted like a jerk." she said looking at Elle for a conformation of this.
Elle laughed. "I'm not completely out of the loop as to what happened before Linka came to Canberra, but if you guys need some time, I can leave you to it..."
Wheeler sighed, "No, I already admitted to you before anyway that I'd been stupid. And this is your house.
Look Linka, I'd like a chance to try and make this up to you. To you and the baby."

He had to actually hold himself back from saying 'our baby', he wanted to say it, but he didn't want to rush things. Building the trust back up first was vital, and a bombshell like that wasn't quite necessary at this point he didn't think.

"I know that what I did was awful, especially after everything that happened on the cruise, but I just, was hoping, that if you'd come back..."
"Go back to Hope Island?" Linka stared at him.
"Yeah, Linka we need you. I need you. We've tried it without you, it doesn't work."

Linka looked at Elle, she liked the life that she had built up here, she liked Canberra, and having a friend so near who knew and understood what she was going through... But being a Planeteer had been a part of her identity for so long... And she'd loved being a planeteer. But she also loved Elle and didn't want to abandon her after all her kindness...

Elle smiled, watching the mixed emotions run across Linka's face.

"It's okay Linka, you choose what ever it is you want to do. I know how much you love being a Planeteer, I've seen it on your face a million times as you told me about the places you've seen and the adventures you've had. And I know that you've enjoyed it here, but your life as a Planeteer doesn't have to be over if you don't want it to. You are a strong, smart very independent woman, and I see no reason why you couldn't be a mother and a Planeteer if that is what you wanted. You'll have supportive friends, whether you choose to stay of go. And you can always come back here if you ever need to, you know that right?"

Linka smiled, once again so grateful for the young woman's insight and understanding.

She turned to Wheeler now. "I will go back... But not indefinitely. I will allow the necessary time for us to work this out, but I do not know if I will continue as a planeteer..."

Wheeler nodded. That was all he needed. A bit of time.

He could make this work, he thought. Life without her was harder than he ever could have imagined, and he would not repeat his mistakes. This time, there would be a happy ending, he would make sure of it. And there was nothing Blight could do to ruin this...

Well, another day , another chapter... Almost. Didn't quite get one in yesterday, and tomorrow may be the same I'm afraid. I'm taking a little trip.To Canberra as it turns out, so I'm not 100 about when I'll be able to write next. But rest assured, this little fanfic of mine has been such a labor of love, and it is very far from over so I will definitely complete it and write as soon as I can. In the mean time however, I would love to hear any feed back, constructive criticism, or thoughts that you may have!

A big thanks to those who have reviewed the story too, by the way, this is the first time I've really really thrown my hand at writing, and while I definitely enjoy it, it 's great to hear what other people think!

Cheers, Ellibrial.