Chapter 12
Morning came in like a spring breeze. It was nearly afternoon by the time Lucas woke, Alex wrapped in his arms. Despite the passion and desperation that had led him in here in the first place, they had spent a quiet night. They hadn't even talked very much. Instead he had held her in his arms, stroking her hair like a child until finally she had slept. More than once he had come awake when she stirred, a nightmare coming on, and soothed it away with soft words and a gentle caress. She would sigh peacefully and continue slumbering. She slept still and he didn't have the heart to wake her.
So he had slipped silently out of the bed and was now sitting in a oversized chair drinking a cup of coffee. He watched her shift in her sleep, but she remained undisturbed, so he contented himself with watching her. Something about last night had solidified something he hadn't known needed it. Yes, he was perfectly willing to admit his relationship with her now, the jibs and jokes be hanged. He hadn't realized that in only a couple of weeks, during most of which the object of his affection had not even been conscious, he could fall this hard or this far. He had expected it to be fiery, wild, fierce, that's how it had always felt before. Instead he found it peaceful, quiet and strong. It had hit him during the night, when he had soothed her out of what threatened to be a very bad nightmare. He had watched her slip back into restful sleep, watched her lashes on her cheek, the way her mouth curved, the way she had turned into him and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. He was in love with her, he had always carried something of a torch for her, but they had been younger then. He had thought her dead and relegated her memory to a sweet remembrance, one he had not bothered to share with anyone not even Captain Bridger. This was no crush and while it might be quiet and peaceful in its own way it terrified him.
He wasn't sure what to do about it either. Say something? Do something? Let what ever happened, happen? He decided that the last was probably the best option for the moment. He would cross that bridge when he got to it. He didn't get a chance to contemplate it further, Alex opened her eyes slowly blinking at him through the diluted light of the room and smiled.
"Hello sleeping beauty," he said smiling back. She chuckled sleepily at him as she sat up on the bed. "Now that would make you my prince wouldn't it," She observed through a yawn. He laughed back, making his way to the coffee pot to get her a cup and refresh his own. He took a moment to resent that only high ranking officers and guest quarters got the luxury of an in room coffee pot. He handed her the cup and settled on the bed beside her. She took it carefully, blowing on it to cool it before she took a sip.
"Thank you for last night. I haven't slept that well since I came out of the coma. Not even with the dream repressing drugs Dr. Smith gave me," she told him softly as she cradled her cup. Lucas draped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.
"Anytime," he told her. She surprised him by going wide eyed. "Really? Are you serious?" she prattled. She sounded so serious Lucas didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned.
"Yes, of course I am," he responded seriously. She looked up at him with limpid round eyes. He thought she looked more like a lost child in that moment than the woman he was falling in love with.
"Will you stay then? I mean just for a while? Until this whole mess is over with?" she pleaded with him. Lucas felt his eyebrows shoot up. Now that he hadn't been expecting, and it could lead to a whole slew of problems. The least of which was his dwindling ration of cold, very cold, water for showers. But then again, it wasn't as if he wouldn't thoroughly enjoy the experience and she wanted him here so why not?
"Alright. I'll need to grab somethings from my quarters first though," he told her and she sighed with relief. Was she really that desperate to have him nearby or was it just the fear of being alone? At the moment he guessed they were both one and the same. He wondered what Tony would think about having the room to himself for a while. He would probably come back to the place covered in posters of the latest swimsuit models. He might even have to win back his bunk again. Alex yawned again using the coffee as a weapon against morning grogginess. Lucas chuckled at her.
"I think we both need showers before either of us will be worth anything. How about we do that, I'll get my things and meet you back here?" he suggested. Alex nodded at him and he kissed her forehead, he would have left it at that but she caught his head in her hands before he could pull away. She kissed him once passionately and let him go. She was smiling happily at him when she did and he couldn't help but give her that lopsided grin of his as he made his way out the door.
Lucas had alterior motives already. Her asking him to stay had both thrilled him in some way he couldn't quite describe and worried him. If he did he was afraid she would shut herself off in her quarters, making it her own little world with him alone and ignore the rest of the human complement on the boat. She needed the social interaction. Only in the galley had he seen her revert back to the quick witted girl he had known in college. Solitary confinement, self induced or not, twisted her into a vulnerable, terrified, and reclusive semblance of herself. If he let her she would ignore the world in favor of the safety of her quarters and his company. He was not about to let her do that.
He grabbed a quick and as promised, cold, shower. Got himself dressed in fresh clothes and made arrangements for what he couldn't carry from his quarters to be brought to hers. Arrangements meaning he asked Dagwood to do it. Dagwood had of course been perfectly willing to help a friend but his moving things out of his room to hers had resulted in the expected barrage of questions.
"Lucas is leaving?" Dagwood asked pensively over the top of a server tower. Lucas couldn't help but grin at him. Dagwood wasn't one to beat around the bush, it was something he had always liked about him.
"No, just a change in residence for a while. I'm going to stay with a friend for a while and help them recover from a very bad experience," he assured him. Dagwood looked relieved. Lucas shouldered the last duffel bag he could carry and not topple over and they began the trek back to Alex's quarters.
"Dagwood is glad Lucas is not leaving. It is good that you are helping a friend. Can Dagwood help Lucas' friend too?" he said. He carried the server tower like it didn't weight more than a lunch box to him. Lucas could not have budged it alone if he had tried.
"I don't know Dagwood. That's up to her. She's been ambiguous about meeting new people lately," he replied, head half down against the weight of the bags.
"Ambiguous?" Dagwood queried, not knowing the word.
"Yeah, it means undecided. She has been a little afraid of meeting new people. She spent a long time alone in a very bad place. She's afraid to meet people she doesn't know I think. Even if she won't admit it," Lucas explained, navigating a corner like a top heavy horse cart. Dagwood didn't seem to notice his clumsy stumbling.
"Is Lucas' friend a Dagger? Many Daggers spent a long time in a bad place," Dagwood observed. Lucas was panting by now, he thought maybe he should have made two trips with the bags instead of one.
"No, My friend isn't a Dagger. She was in coma for six years, because a very bad man thought it would be fun to experiment on her brain. She's not the only one. He has others. That's where we are going, to stop him if we can." Lucas huffed. They were in the home stretch now.
"Oh. Lucas' friend should not be afraid Lucas and Dagwood will help her," Dagwood said with certainty. Lucas was mildly relieved when they reached the door to Alex's quarters. With no free hands he kicked it lightly to let her know he was there. Hopefully she would be back by now.
She was, the door swung open with a hollow twang, and she stood there dressed and showered. At first she didn't take notice of Dagwood, apparently she found the sight of Lucas standing there looking like a bad imitation of a storage rack rather amusing.
"I would have helped if I had known you were going to move half a lab in here," she chortled. Lucas maneuvered his way in the door and she stepped back to let him pass.
"I do have help," he replied, setting down the duffel bags. Dagwood followed him in and then Alex finally saw him.
"I see that," she said quietly. Lucas pointed at a empty corner that approximated a space large enough for the server tower.
"Over there should be fine Dagwood," he said, looping an arm around Alex's waist. It was a natural gesture for him, one he had dropped into without realizing it came without thought and kept her from bolting at the sight of Dagwood. Even if she had no prejudice against Daggers, if she even knew what a Dagger was, he was still imposing due to his height and size.
"Alex, this is Dagwood. A friend of mine. Dagwood this is Alex," he introduced before Alex could come up with some reason she had to suddenly be elsewhere. Dagwood set the server tower down carefully and turned, holding out his hand to Alex. Alex took it hesitantly. Dagwood shook it so gently if her hand had been a feather he wouldn't have rumpled it.
"Hello Dagwood," Alex managed to croak out. She was visibly trembling with fear. Lucas guessed she had heard of Daggers before, but apparently she had only heard the bad. Dagwood released her hand and looked like a hurt child.
"You don't like Daggers, you are afraid of me," he observed in a voice that was deceptively small for a man of his stature.
"No, no I'm not afraid of you!" Alex protested weakly. Dagwood and Lucas both gave her a look that said they knew better.
"Alright. Yes, I'm a little afraid of you. It's not you in particular. You have to understand," she argued. Lucas pulled her closer, twining both arms around her waist. He rested his chin on her shoulder, it seemed to help the trembling. Dagwood looked rather confused again.
"I know what a Dagger is. But, you see I was kept in a place for a long time, where I was forced to see only the evil they have done. The evil any human, Dagger or Monotone, does. It's not you I'm afraid of really. Lucas wouldn't call you a friend if you were a bad person. I just... I haven't seen the good side of people in a very long time," she tried explaining. Dagwood seemed to be considering it, as she leaned further back into Lucas' arms. He wasn't sure if she was seeking shelter or comfort there at the moment.
"Then you should see it. Nobody should have to be like that," Dagwood announced confidentially and without giving anyone a chance to move he had thrown his arms around both Lucas and Alex, embracing them in a tight hug. Alex was half wheezing when he let go. She looked bemused and flattered at the same time.
"Thank you Dagwood," Lucas said, he wasn't really sure what to say.
"I'd say that's a start, anyway," Alex replied a smile blooming on her face. Dagwood was so innocent sometimes. Lucas forgot he could have that affect on people. He couldn't help but smile at them both. Dagwood looked rather pleased the hug had garnered him a smile out of Alex.
"Well, I still have some things to move in here. But I want you to meet someone first," Lucas said to Alex, taking her hand and guiding her out the door.
"Someone else? Now what?" Alex wondered.
"Dagwood come too?" the Dagger asked hopefully. Lucas looked at Alex for the answer. He didn't want to over burden her with strangers. He would let her decide. She smiled at Dagwood.
"Yeah sure why not? The more the merrier. Besides you never know I might need saving from who ever Lucas intends to introduce me to," she quipped as they started down the hall way. Dagwood noticed Lucas was holding Alex's hand as they walked and innocent that he was decided he should too. He took her other hand and both Lucas and Alex chuckled at him as they made their way three abreast down the corridor.
"Why would you need to be saved from someone Lucas took you to meet?" Dagwood asked. Alex and Lucas looked at each other and laughed.
"What?" Dagwood asked completely confused.
#**#
Their journey led them down to the sea deck. Alex and Dagwood stood on the edge of the pool waiting on Lucas to explain what he was up to. Alex looked rather confused and Dagwood was busy watching the water ripple back and forth in the pool.
"We're going swimming?" Alex asked perplexed. Lucas chuckled as he picked up the vocoder and started hitting keys. "Just wait and see," he told her. She crossed her arms and looked put off.
It took a few more minutes for his guest to arrive. Darwin announced himself with a wuffle of expelled air and a trill. "Alex I'd like you to meet Darwin. Darwin this is Alex the friend who had the shark in her head," Lucas introduced. Alex gave Lucas a befuddled look.
"Shark in my head? Alright so I suppose we have been formally introduced. I like dolphins, they are incredibly intelligent but, uh, I don't think he can talk back Lucas," Alex said mildly. Lucas merely grinned at her ironically.
"Hello Alex," Darwin said through the vocoder. Alex looked from the dolphin to Lucas and back again. "He can talk? How did you do that?" she demanded in amazement. She had snatched the vocoder and was turning it over and over trying to determine if this was one of Lucas' pranks.
"Yes, Darwin talk," the dolphin answered her. Lucas was too busy grinning from ear to ear at the look on Alex's face to say anything. Alex turned to Darwin and leaned over the edge of the pool.
"How? That's amazing," she asked him. Darwin chattered at her. Lucas thought it sounded more like he was laughing.
"Lucas help Darwin talk. Box tell people what Darwin says, box tell Darwin what people say," he told her. If it weren't for the perpetual smile all dolphins possessed Lucas thought Darwin would be grinning at her. Point in fact he probably was in his own way. Alex was gazing back at Lucas with a great deal of academic envy.
"This? What is it? You designed this? That's incredible! My parent's would have had kittens. They would have loved to have gotten their hands on this," she prattled at him.
"It's a vocodor, it acts more or less as a translator between Darwin and us. I thought you might appreciate it," Lucas explained.
"I do. Talk about a break through. I always believed dolphins and other cetaceans were as intelligent as humans. Maybe more but the idea that now we can actually communicate. That's amazing," Alex blathered. She was no longer looking at Lucas, she had returned her attention to Darwin. Dagwood had taken a seat on the pool edge and was rubbing Darwin's head. Darwin looked like he was particularly enjoying it. Lucas settled beside Alex and twined his fingers in hers.
"I'm pleased to meet you Darwin," she said to him. Speaking to him as a peer rather than an animal. Lucas had expected as much, you didn't grow up the child of marine scientists and take dolphins for stupid animals.
"Shark gone from Alex's head?" Darwin asked. Alex looked at Lucas to tell her what he meant.
"The chip. Darwin is the one who gave me the idea for how to get around it," he explained.
"Well then I owe you a very large thank you. Yes the shark is gone. I'm just stuck with ghosts now," she said. Darwin bobbed his head at her, moving closer and out from under Dagwood's hand. Alex reached out and rubbed his melon gently.
"Ghosts can't hurt. If Alex doesn't let them." Darwin advised her. Lucas quirked an eyebrow muttering, "That's a matter of opinion." Darwin tilted his head at him and gave him the equivalent of a glare.
"Yes it is. But I hope you're right Darwin. I hope you're right," Alex responded. The conversation might have gone further, but Commander Ford passed by.
"Meeting Darwin?" he asked from behind. All three of them craned their heads to look at him.
"Yeah. I thought Alex might appreciate it, since her parents were marine scientists." Lucas told him. Ford grinned and looked them both up and down. His eyes fell on their joined hands.
"Uh huh. I just thought I'd let you two know, we should be at the Kermadac Trench in two, two and half days," he said mildly, the bemused look on his face still stuck there. Lucas and Alex both ignored him. Though Alex looked decidedly unsettled, by the grip she had on his hand Lucas didn't think it was embarrassment. Dagwood was blissfully ignorant to the subtext of the conversation, he was busily whispering to Darwin.
"Thank you Commander. Though there isn't anything any of us can do until we actually get there." Lucas observed.
"No we can't. You are right about that. But I thought Alex would want to know. Let's just hope we know what we are dealing with when we do," Commander Ford said seriously. It didn't last long, he broke into a grin again, reached forward with both hands, tweaked both their cheeks and laughed.
"You're so cute together!" he squeaked at them in his best impression of an overly-affectionate aunt and promptly exited the area before either of them could say or do anything. Lucas and Alex exchanged glances and rolled their eyes sighing. Apparently the crew were altogether too happy to have something or someone to gossip about. But it didn't end there. Darwin had noticed their interlocked hands too.
"Lucas and Alex mates?" he quipped at them. They both turned to look at him slack jawed. Dagwood, was holding the vocoder and grinning widely. Alex and Lucas both just stood there and could think of nothing to say.