*~*~*

*~*~*

Bridger led Justine to the mess. All the way down there both of them spoke only very few words, for different reasons: Bridger because he was still too caught up with what he had just witnessed and he was having a hard time accepting that a young woman that Lucas had never before spoken of could easily achieve within minutes what none of his other friends aboard had been able to do in days. Justine in turn kept quiet because she could sense the Captain's distraction. And furthermore, she was simply awed by the sight of the seaQuest – true, she had read a lot about the submarine, especially after Lucas was situated here. But to see all the technology (even the rather simple design of the corridors seemed high tech to her) and the aqua tubes was yet another story to tell; and Justine knew very well that the chances were high that she would never set foot on such a vessel in her life again. So she was enjoying every minute of it, despite the seriousness of her visit.

As soon as the two of them reached the mess they went to stand in line in order to pick up some food. When it was their turn, Bridger addressed Justine again.

"I wouldn't take the beef if I was you." He advised her. "It tastes like nothing at all."

Justine grinned. "Oh, that would still be an improvement. The beef at the canteen at Stanford tastes like sole." But she did follow the old man's advice and opted for pasta as did the Captain. Next he led her to a table where two men and a woman were seated. They all wore seaQuest uniforms, so Justine guessed that they had to be officers. Her suspicions were confirmed as soon as Captain Bridger introduced them.

"Justine, these are Lieutenant-Commander Hitchcock, Lieutenant Krieg and Lieutenant O'Neil. Lieutenants this is Justine Beck from Stanford University." They smiled at the young woman and they sat down to eat.

Justine had heard all those names before, on countless occasions when Lucas had told her of his life aboard the seaQuest. But right now, only one name really rang a bell. Krieg. Lucas had spoken a lot of him, his jokes and attempts to make money quickly. Justine decided to try and make a conversation and so she addressed the man sitting opposite of her.

"Krieg... You're Ben Krieg, am I right?" She asked him. "Lucas talked of you a lot whenever he called."

"Yes, I am Benjamin Krieg, Supply and Morale Officer." Krieg said and smiled. "Hopefully the boy only told you of my good sides..."

"He wouldn't have had much to talk about had he done so." O'Neil commented, producing some laughter.

Hitchcock in turn was more serious. She eyed Justine critically and said: "So, Lucas told you about us. I have to say that he never mentioned you."

Justine quickly swallowed the bite she had been taking. The indication in the woman's words was clear: Lucas had never talked about Justine and now she was here, acting like his best friend. It had to be hard on those who were close to the boy.

"Well, I have no control about what Lucas chooses to tell about himself... but I know that he isn't the most open person." She said defensively. Why the hell was she doing this? She was acting like a school girl! She wasn't the enemy! She was here to try and help their mutual friend!

Bridger also sensed the tension and tried to lighten the mood. "Yeah, well that's Lucas. But I guess I'm not mistaken to say that I'm not the only one who would like to know more about how you got to know Lucas and what you know about him that we obviously don't."

"If you wish so." Justine ate another bite of her dinner and took a sip of her soda. "I guess I best start with the beginning. As you might know Lucas was handed to the Institute that my mother is working at to be raised and studied. As my mother, Dr Elisabeth Beck, was his main doctor, she was spending the most time with him. She was fascinated by him and soon she also spent her free days and even most of her nights at the Institute. I was sixteen at that time and had just lost my father in a car accident. And now there was this dolphin boy who was stealing my mother from me. Hell, I was so jealous! You could almost say I hated Lucas, or back then Milan at that time. But then the Institute was granted some funding and we moved to a specially prepared and equipped house together with Lucas, Shay, another wolf's child who was found a few months earlier, and her doctors. There I got to know Lucas better. And I began to understand that it wasn't his fault but my mother's – she had become obsessed with Lucas' case, obsessed with the thought of finding the dolphin language."

Justine looked into the round. By now they had all forgotten their lunch and were listening intently to her story.

"Don't get me wrong", she said, "I love my mother. But at that time I began to understand that she isn't perfect, not at all, like most teenager do sooner or later. Well, eventually she reached a point where she totally lost Lucas' wellbeing out of sight and was only thinking about finding the answers to her countless questions. And Lucas was too good-natured and naive to understand it; he always tried to please her, even though it was never enough for her. And I started to see that I had to help him, to free him. With the help of Sandy Orlev, Lucas' other educator I was able to convince the 'Big Wigs' of the Institute that Lucas had to be reintegrated into society and that he should be placed under the custody of a regular couple and given the chance of going to school. So Lucas was given to the Wolenczak couple and went to school. We were incredible lucky as we were both accepted at the same school so that Lucas still had a friend nearby. He once told me that he wouldn't have gone there had it been otherwise. By the time we went to school together Lucas and I had become best friends. No actually we were more than just friends; Lucas saw me as his big sister and for me he was the little brother I never had."

Justine took a sip of her soda and hesitated. Why was she telling them this? These were people she had never met before but still she found herself telling them intimate details of her past. "I never quite understood why Lucas turned to me..." She continued, mostly talking to herself. "I could never give him all the answers to his questions. But still he instinctively searched for my friendship from the very beginning..."

Ben Krieg looked down at his hands. Yeah that sounded exactly like the Lucas he knew – it had been the same with Ben himself: Lucas had been the only one to see past Ben's surface, past the show he put up, his jokes, his less than clean businesses, the avaricious, slimy person Ben claimed to be. The boy had seen past all this and searched for his friendship, despite all their differences and despite all the troubles Ben pulled him into. And it was only now that Ben began to realize that Lucas had showed more of his true self to him than to anybody else on the boat – except for Bridger maybe.

Ben was so lost in his thoughts that he missed the beginning of Justine's next sentence.

"Once I asked him, why he had chosen me of all people, and do you know what he answered me? He said: 'Because you listen to me and because you care'. I just can't believe that that was the same boy who is now sitting in your Med Bay looking more like the shadow of a skeleton than a teenager!" She sniffed. The other people at the table also felt tears come to their eyes, but nobody let them fall. There was silence for a while, even though the mess was still noisy. Members of the crew and the science team came and went, few of them noticed the stranger sitting at the table with the Captain and some of the higher officers; for them it was just a regular dinner.

Justine pushed the plate with the rest of her now cold dinner away from her; she wasn't hungry anymore. When the silence threatened to become to heavy to bear O'Neil tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, well but now you are here and you're going to help him..."

Hitchcock agreed with him optimistically. "Yeah, and soon we're going to have our old Lucas back. The real Lucas, we all know!" The three men surrounding the table nodded affirmatively but Justine looked at her plate and slowly shook her head.

"But you can't have both." She mumbled.

"What?!?"

"Would you care to explain what you mean with this?" Captain Bridger demanded.

Justine raised her head and look at the old man with defiance shinning in her eyes. "I meant what I said." She declared. "You can't have both. Either you want your 'old Lucas' back – though I doubt very much that that is possible anyway – or you want the 'real Lucas'. From my point of view these are two very different things."

O'Neil, Hitchcock and Krieg were staring angrily Justine; only Bridger thought he understood what the young woman was pointing out – and she was right. Consequently he was less shocked than the others when Justine continued.

"It should have occurred by now that most of the things you thought you knew about Lucas aren't true, that it isn't his true self. Most of it was only show, played to fool everybody around him. And with visible success."

Hitchcock was furious. "How dare you say so? How do you want to know what part of Lucas is true and what is show?!?"

"Because I was the one who taught him all this."

"WHAT?!?"

Justine sighed. This was going to be another long story and the four adults in front of her wouldn't like it very much. "It all began during our joint time at school. One evening Lucas came to my bedroom and asked me to teach him how to become a regular boy and teenager. When I asked him why he wanted to do so he answered me that he was tired of being seen as the dolphin boy that everyone pitied. I could understand his reasons very well and so we started with the lessons. I taught Lucas to behave and dress himself like a moody teenager, that he had to love loud, hard music and junk food. I showed him computer games and action vids. All things that actually weren't Lucas' favorite occupations. But he acted to it in order to fit in. And how well he acted! I always told him that should anybody find out about this someday he would surely receive an Oscar for the role of his life. Guess now would be the time for the handing over." She gave an ironic snort, then looked at persons sitting opposite of her. They all were amazed. To think that all they knew about their young friend had just been part of a big show, created to deceive them all! It was devastating.

Justine stood up and excused herself. She had shocked these people enough for one evening. She would go and look after Lucas again, before going to bed; it had been a very tiring day.

*

When Dr Westphalen looked up from her work to throw a checking glance through her office window into Lucas' room she was startled to see someone sitting at the boy's side. Upon further looking she discovered that this someone was Justine. The doctor hadn't even noticed going her inside the room. Curious what the young woman was doing, Dr Westphalen sneaked to the door and peered inside. Justine was sitting on the side of Lucas' bed. The boy was fast asleep. But still the young woman was whispering to him, calming words, and stroked his hair, gently pushing a lock out of his face and tracing his features. Lucas didn't awaken from any of this, however, he had a content expression on his face in his slumber.

Dr Westphalen decided to make a quiet retreat and pulled the door further shut not to disturb the two. Smiling she made her way back to her office. *Not bad, little one.* she thought, *Not bad at all.*

*~*~*

Captain Bridger woke early the morning but he felt perfectly rested as he had the spent this night in his own bed for a change. It wasn't that he minded staying at Lucas' side, but a real bed was simply better for his aging bones than a hard plastic chair. Even though he had been hesitantly to leave Lucas alone for the night, now he was grateful that Dr Westphalen had convinced him to do so. She had said that she would stay near the boy for as long as possible and then have someone of the Med Bay's nightshift watch over him constantly who would inform Bridger should there be any problems. But nobody had called him, so Bridger assumed that Lucas too had had a peaceful night.

After taking a shower and grabbing a cup of black coffee for breakfast from the mess Bridger headed directly to Med Bay to look after Lucas. Outside the boy's room he met the doctor.

"Morning, Kristin." He greeted her.

"A good morning to you, too." She replied smiling. "You look much better today."

"Gee, thanks. How was..."

Dr Westphalen answered him before he could even finish his question; she knew exactly what was on his mind. "Everything went fine, Nathan." She told him. "I haven't seen him so far, I just arrived five minutes ago. But the nurse told me that he slept peacefully the whole night through." She paused for a moment. "It's amazing what this girl did for him within a few minutes..."

"Yeah." Bridger nodded. "However, I have to tell you, what she said yesterday when we were sitting at dinner. But, Kristin, would you mind leaving me alone with Lucas for a short while before we talk? I would like to try and..."

"Sure, it's okay. I'll be in my office when you are ready."

Bridger was very grateful for Dr Westphalen's understanding. While he knew that she was also very close to Lucas, the Captain simply had to see the boy alone now. After yesterday the old man hoped that Lucas would react more positively to his attempts of talking to him.

The Captain quietly opened the door – should Lucas still be asleep, he didn't want to wake him. But the boy was already awake and sat in his usual position on the bed, leaned against the wall behind him, with his knees drawn up to his chin. He still had the rubber boots on his feet and was staring to the other side of the room. When Bridger turned to see what the teenager was looking at he wasn't really surprised to see Darwin swimming up and down in the aqua tubes. Slowly the Captain walked over Lucas and sat down next to him on the bed, patting the boy's knees.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?" He greeted him. "I heard that you seem to have slept well last night? That's good to hear."

Lucas didn't do as much as blink to acknowledge the Captain's presence; he just keep watching Darwin swimming in the aqua tubes. Bridger had to suppress a deep sigh. He had really thought that things had changed with the boy after yesterday. But it seemed he had been wrong.

"Hey, Lucas!" he tried yet again. "You must be happy, now that Justine's here. She's a very nice girl, isn't she?"

At the mentioning of the girl Lucas slowly turned his head towards his Captain and studied his features intently. Bridger stared right back at him. His skin was still so pale and showed his bones. But his grey eyes seemed to have lost some of their all time present dullness. After a few moments turned his head back towards the dolphin in the aqua tubes and ignored the Captain again. The old man sighed and patted Lucas' knee.

"It's okay, kiddo. Just take your time." He said. "I know you'll find your way back to us eventually. And don't forget we love you, no matter where you come from and how you behave. You don't have to act like someone that you aren't just to please us." Bridger hesitated. "I have to go now, my shift starts soon. But I'll come back as soon as possible. And you have Justine, she'll also keep you company. I love you, kiddo. Bye." He stood up and walked to the door. Lucas hadn't throughout his speech, but he had blinked several times and his body had tensed a little.

When Bridger reached the door and was about to leave the room he suddenly heard a faint "Bye.", barely above a whisper. He whirled around and stared at Lucas flabbergasted. The boy hadn't moved nor did he look at the Captain; his face was completely expressionless. But Bridger had heard him and understood the message. A smile spread across his face.

"Bye, kiddo. See you later."

*~*

About an hour later Justine entered Lucas' room in Med Bay together with Ben Krieg. As much as her words had shocked him yesterday, Ben had begun to understand them in a way and now he wanted to see for himself what the girl was doing with Lucas – maybe he would be able to help the boy also once he understood how to do it. So he took position in the back of the room to watch the two after he had greeted Lucas.

Justine stepped to the boy's side and embraced him gently.

"Hey Lucas." She greeted him. Lucas slowly turned her head to her and gave her a weak smile.

"Justine..." he whispered.

"Yeah, I'm right here." And Justine began to talk to Lucas. It was merely chitchat, nothing serious in it. She would ask him how he had slept, if he remembered this or that, she'd make him play with his boots for a while and things like that. Nothing special and mostly things that the crew had already tried or talked about with Lucas. But different to their attempts it really worked with Justine doing it and neither Ben nor Justine could explain why. It simply was. Lucas slowly warmed up to Justine. He smiled and would nod or shake his head to her questions. Ben and Dr Westphalen who had come in some time before were speechless. It was like Lucas had only waited for Justine to come along and do all the things that his friends had tried without success. But why?

After a while Justine pulled disc out of her pocket and pushed it into the disc player.

"I have got a surprise for you, Lucas." She said and switched on the disc. Softly the first tones of Classical music began to sway through the room, enchanting the people in it. Lucas' smile grew wider. He half closed his eyes and began to rock himself from side to side. Justine stepped quietly to his side and whispered in his ear.

"Do you remember this?"

Lucas nodded with his eyes still closed. "Mozart..."

"Yeah..." After a while she took Lucas' hands and began to rock in the same rhythm as he did, letting the music flow through herself. "You know," she whispered to Lucas. "I would dance with you, like we did all those years ago, but I don't think you're strong enough to stand right now. But maybe in a few days, what do you say?"

"Hmmmm..." Lucas hummed softly in response. He was totally lost in the music, he could feel it in every fibre of his body, it harmonized with his heartbeat and breathing and made his mind find peace. He knew that other people didn't feel the music like he did, but for him every moment of it was like magic and he enjoyed it. Eventually the music drifted him to sleep, for his weakened body doing as much as rocking slightly to music was an exhaustion. Justine eased him slowly in a lying position, then she stepped back, leaving the music playing silently in the background. She walked over to Ben and Dr Westphalen.

"It's simply amazing." Said the doctor.

Ben was still speechless. "I just don't see what you are doing otherwise than we did! I mean, okay, we never gave him rubber boots to play with or Classical music, but we talked to him the same way as you and he never responded to it!"

The young woman nodded. "I can't explain it either." She said. "When I came here I had no idea what I should say or do to help Lucas. All the things I did came naturally and I'm sure you did the same – except for the boots and the music, but I only knew about this because I have known Lucas for a longer time. I don't know why Lucas wanted me..." She went silent and turned to aqua tubes. Justine put her hand on the glass, feeling its coolness against her warm skin. Suddenly Darwin appeared again and tapped with his snout against spot where the girl's hand lay. The dolphin nodded and moved his mouth like greeting her. The three humans smiled.

"Maybe I should introduce you two formally?" Ben suggested, looking at Dr Westphalen for her approval. She nodded; it would do them good to lighten their mood a bit.

"Come, Justine." Ben continued at this. "I'll show you the Moon Pool."

*~*

When the twosome entered the Moon Pool area Ben was still considering how much he should show to Justine – after all the vocoder was actually considered top secret. However, the young woman wiped out all his thoughts with one casual question as they neared the Moon Pool.

"I take it Lucas further improved the vocoder since he came aboard?"

"You... you know about the vocoder?!?" Ben asked surprised.

"Of course, it was one of the main reasons why Lucas came aboard the seaQuest." Justine answered while she looked around. "And furthermore, don't forget I went to school with Lucas. I was practically an all-time-witness when he developed the equipment."

Once again Ben was stunned by this girl. "So, does that mean that you know the vocoder about as well as Lucas does?"

Justine turned around to face the Lieutenant. "Hardly!" she laughed. "I'm no genius like Lucas, Lieutenant! It's true, I was there when he was working on it, but whenever he tried to tell me something about how it worked I never understood a word so that he had to explain it to me a second time in plain English."

"I see." Ben smiled. It was good to hear that he wasn't the only one who had difficulties with such high tech. There were times when he felt like a jerk among all those scientist and super-militaries like Ford and Katie.

His thoughts were interrupted by a splash in the moon pool that announced the arrival of Darwin. And there it was the sleek, grey form, swimming towards them underwater. Ben flicked on the vocoder and then stepped back a little, knowing all to well what was coming. And he was right: Darwin surfaced splashing Justine totally. The young woman shrieked then laughed. She bent down and petted Darwin's bump.

"Hi, you must be Darwin!" She greeted him. "I'm Justine."

Darwin nodded and whistled happily. "Justine Lucas friend!" Came the translation.

"Yeah, I'm Lucas' friend."

"Justine help Lucas. Lucas sick. Justine help."

She nodded. "I hope so. I'll try my best."

"Darwin also help Lucas. Lucas Darwin friend. Darwin miss Lucas." The dolphin announced.

"Well, I'm sure Lucas misses you, too. And it would be really good, if you could also help Lucas so that he can play with you again." Justine said, stroking him again.

"Justine play?"

"Not now, fish face. Maybe tomorrow." Ben told him. Darwin gave a short blow and sprayed the two before he turned and dove back towards Med Bay.

Justine stared after the dolphin for a moment. "He did this all only for my mother..." She said in a low voice, looking straight ahead.

"Huh? What?" Ben was surprised; he hadn't been able to follow Justine's trail of thought.

"Lucas." She explained. "He developed the vocoder only for my mother. He may not admit it, or maybe he doesn't even know it for himself, but I do know it."

"Why? Why would he do this?"

Justine remained silent for a while. "Because he tried to make her happy. All the time when Lucas was living at the Institute my mother tried to find the dolphin language. But she never succeeded and Lucas couldn't help her because she didn't understand when he tried to show her. She kept on trying and forced Lucas to help her even though he couldn't. So Lucas felt like he wasn't good enough for her and that hurt him. And then when Lucas was at school and he had gained the technical knowledge he built the vocoder. He did this for my mother! To give her the possibility to finally talk to the dolphins. He did it to make her happy, only to please her! Because it always upset him when he felt that she wasn't satisfied and he couldn't change it." Justine paused.

"I tried to explain him that nothing could make my mother completely happy, that she would always keep searching, no matter what he did. But Lucas didn't understand. He believed it was his fault." She sniffed and wiped away a lone tear that threatened to fall down her cheek.

Ben stood at her side, unsure what he was supposed to do or say. Once again Lucas' old life left him speechless. Before he could think of something appropriate to say Justine continued, starting to pace up and down.

"And now... this... In a way I feel that it is partly my mother's fault, that she is responsible for what happened to Lucas and how he behaves. Had she treated him different, had she supported him more than her own career, things might be different, better!" The young woman interrupted her pacing, clenching her fist, and hit the side of the Moon Pool angrily. Then she sighed deeply and relaxed. She looked at Ben.

"I know, I know... all these what ifs and hads won't change a thing. But I will right some of my mother's wrongs and help Lucas. I owe him that much..." With that she fell silent and leaned with her elbows on the side of the pool, looking dreamily across the water.

Ben looked at her. *You won't have to do it all alone.* He vowed silently. *I'll also help Lucas as much as I can. We'll give him the life he deserves, I swear.*

*~*

Bridger was sitting next to Lucas' bed when Justine returned to his room later that day. He had told Lucas about what had happened during his shift and Lucas seemed to be listening to it halfway.

"Hi Lucas! There I am again!" The young woman greeted him before she noticed that the Captain was also in the room. "Oh, hello Captain Bridger. I didn't know you were here, I'm sorry; I'll leave you two alone..." She turned to leave. But Bridger stopped her.

"No wait, it's okay!" Justine was leaving in order to give the Captain some time with Lucas so that Bridger didn't feel like she was taking over his place as Lucas' friend. Bridger understood her intentions and was grateful for it. But he had also seen how Lucas' eyes had begun to sparkle as soon as Justine had entered. Obviously the boy enjoyed the young woman's presence very much. And Bridger would be damned if he took away that little joy from the boy for his own selfish wish to remain Lucas' only best friend aboard the seaQuest! So he stood up from his seat and signaled for the woman to come back.

"Really, Justine, it's okay." He repeated. "I think Lucas enjoys your visit very much. Please stay. I'll just watch you two..."

She hesitated for a moment, then she nodded and came back into the room. She sat down next to Lucas on his bed.

"Hey, Lucas!"

The boy turned to look at her and smiled. His eyes sparkled, revealing his joy at her sight. Very quietly he breathed more than spoke a greeting. "Hi, Justine."

She smiled back at him and put an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, I met your friend Darwin today. He is very nice. But he seems to miss you very much. I'm sure he would be happy, if you'd come and play with him again. Wouldn't you like that, too, Lucas?"

He nodded and shortly looked at the aqua tubes where Darwin was swimming up and down; the dolphin was rarely leaving the part of the aqua tubes that lead through the Med Bay since Lucas was situated there. But when Justine spoke up again Lucas returned his attention to her immediately.

"But I won't take you to the Moon Pool with that thing in your arm." She told him and pointed to the IV that was attached to Lucas' arm, like it had been for days, as he still refused to eat. Now he looked down guiltily like he was ashamed of it.

"You wouldn't be able to walk with it. And furthermore you are much too weak to go there anyway. So I can see only one solution. Do you know which one, Lucas?" Justine asked him. Lucas looked at her eagerly, the idea of playing with Darwin had gotten his entire attention. Yet, he didn't answer Justine's question.

"You have to start eating again, Lucas." She explained him in a soft voice. "You have to get stronger, if you want to go and play with Darwin."

"Will you do that, Lucas? Will you start eating again?" Captain Bridger interfered also. He had watched the twosome long enough. It was a risky game that Justine was playing right now, tempting Lucas with the one thing he longed for – Darwin. Bridger himself had considered this to be a possibility to make the boy open up more to them again, but in the end he hadn't dared to do so as he didn't know how Lucas was going to react to it. Bridger believed that Justine also simply had a lucky guess as she did so. However, it seemed to work out. So now it was necessary to let Lucas know that he wasn't alone with this. This was a very important step.

"Lucas, will you do that?" Bridger probed further. "Not for me, or for Justine, or for anybody else here. Only for yourself. Will you do that?"

"Come on, Lucas..."

The boy was staring at his hands now while both adults studied him intently. The thought of seeing Darwin again was so tempting... And this eating thing seemed to be very important for the Captain and his friend Justine, Lucas thought, even though he couldn't remember why. He cursed inwardly; there were so many things he couldn't remember clearly lately even though he knew that they had once been important and natural to him. Now nothing of it held any meaning for Lucas. But it seemed to be important for his two best friends, the two people who had proofed that they still loved him, no matter what. There, the Captain was asking him yet again! "Will you do that, Lucas?" his voice sounded softly in the teenager's ears, he could hear the desperate and pleading undertone. So Lucas decided to make them happy and grant them their wish by eating.

Bridger was relieved to see Lucas nod hesitantly. The boy looked up from his hands to look at Justine's face for a minute, next at the Captain's. Then he looked down again and whispered: "For you."

*~*