AN: Things get a little more graphic in this section. If you can handle watching ER, you should be fine. There is one little bad word in this part. There did not seem to be any way around it given the situation. Thanks to the following people for their reviews: Gina, Cory Holmes, Sky (Wendy hasn't decided if she's psychic or not.), Psuedo (It's about time you got back to your story.), Marika (I wonder how Lucas would look flying a Gundam?), Krystalrain, Jessica, (Found Lucas yet?), Vampy, and Joxer. (Was this soon enough? And yes, I agree. The captain was a bad man.)

"No!" shouted Katie as two shots rang out sending the boy's small body flying. Then all hell broke loose.

Before the ring of gunshots had faded from the air, Tim had the over-weight man in his sights. A simple flex of his finger and the man was dead, a drop of blood oozing from the hole between his eyes. Any chance to avoid a gunfight was gone. Crouching behind a seat, he took aim taking out the next man to pull a gun.

"Put down your guns! If you resist we will be forced to kill you," shouted Brody as he shot the gun out of a slaver's hand. The slaver stumbled back against one of his cages. Hands reached out pinning him into place against the bars.

"Freedom!" cried one of the men throwing himself at his captor. The tall red headed slaver managed to get off a single shot before the man was on him. They wrestled on the ground providing a distraction that allowed Tim to take out two more men around them. The former slave stood victorious over the body of his former master. He turned and glared at another slaver who was guarding his property in the booth next to the man. The slaver took one look at the angry, bleeding man before him and another look at the body on the floor and raised his hands in surrender.

"Fight!" screamed the slaves as they rushed to free their comrades. The slavers did not go down easily but more and more slaves joined the crowd. The slavers were being taken out from above and below. Staring at the advancing mob of slaves, one by one they began throwing down their weapons. The guns clattered falling in heaps and the former slaves slowed to a stop.

"Freedom," gasped the fighters as their chest heaved from the exertion. "Freedom," laughed the former slaves eliciting smiles from the frightened children. "Freedom," cried the mothers clutching babies that they would be allowed to see grow up. "Freedom," thought the boy with a smile as the word penetrated the haze of pain that surrounded him. Free.

Miguel pushed his weapon back over his shoulder and began climbing down the steps to the floor. He paused, turning to meet eyes with Tim. Silently, he conveyed his need and Tim nodded agreeing to stay to provide cover should they need it. On every side, the Seaquest crew was making their way onto the floor. They moved through the crowd accepting restrained slavers into their custody. The few pockets of resistance that tried to pop up where crushed. The mission was a success. The slavers were captured and none of his men were injured.

Katie was weeping as she knelt beside the body of the young boy. She wiped the tears from her eyes preparing to pick up the body. To her surprise, the boy was still alive. "Reserve A, we need medics up here now!" ordered Katie into her PAL. The boy's eyes fluttered at the sound of her voice. She stared into them past the haze of pain that curtained them. In those eyes, she glimpsed a soul so beautiful that she knew she had to save this boy. He wheezed, coughing and pink froth appeared at his lips. She looked down at his torso paling at the blood soaking through his shirt and seeping onto the floor. One of the bullets had entered his chest puncturing his lung but the blood from that wound was mostly internal and there was nothing she could do about it. She placed her hands over the other wound in his abdomen. His blood was warm and slick between her fingers but the flow slowed as she applied pressure.

A medic touched her shoulder causing her to jump. She moved out of his way being careful not to let up on the pressure and he surveyed the situation.  He started a saline drip noting the cold, clammy feel of the boy's skin as he did so. He was not surprised when he checked the pulse to find it rapid and weak. He inserted a tube with a one way valve into the boy's chest to drain the blood. The boy did not stand a chance but he had even less of one if they let his lung collapse.

"He won't make it back to Seaquest."

"No. Don't tell me that! He has to make it." The medic looked at Katie and at the boy who was still clinging to semi-consciousness with every ounce of his being. The medic nodded.

"Attention," he yelled. "Is there a doctor here?"

"There's a town, twenty minutes up the road. They have a small hospital."

"Brody, get us transportation. Something big enough to bring the other wounded with us." Brody nodded running outside to check. He returned moments later with some keys.

"There's a truck waiting. You, you, and you can help transport everyone," he ordered pointed to a few crewmembers. One of the slaves brought over a flat board and they shifted the boy onto it. Two of the larger men picked it up gently walking along slowly so that Katie could keep pressure on the boy's wounds.

"Fight," she whispered to him, kneeling in the back of the truck. "You have to live. You saved all of those people. It's because of you they are free. You have to live so you can enjoy your freedom, too."

The ride to the next town was a nerve-wracking one. Every bump in the road caused the wounded to groan with pain. The back of the truck was packed. There was no room to move almost no room to breathe. As the truck rolled into town, Brody spotted the hospital. It looked like it had once been a big place but only the first floor had lights on inside. He jumped out of the truck motioning to the three crewmembers to follow him. He was in unknown territory and he did not want to take any chances. He kicked open the doors storming the room with guns lowered. Screams and frightened faces greeted his entrance.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded a woman moving into the center of the room. The red head put her hands on her hips and glared at the armed men. "This is a hospital!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am," began Brody backing away from her. "We just came from hostile territory and we weren't sure what we would find here."

"You found a hospital. Now get out."

"I'm sorry but we have wounded out in the truck. Some of them are hurt pretty bad."

"So you're going to let them die while you run around waving guns?" She pushed past them on her way out the door. She climbed into the truck giving a quick glance around at the injuries. "This one first," she said pointed to the boy in the back. "These two next. The rest of you can come in and wait until someone's available to see you." Two orderlies picked up the boy's makeshift stretcher and followed the petite doctor.

"I need him started on two pints of blood. O negative. Lisa, get me a scan of his chest. Margaret, prep the OR. Pete and Ann can you get started on the two gentlemen over there." The room was filled with ordered chaos as everyone leapt to her command. "You, stay where you are at," she told Katie. The doctor took a syringe and injected medication into the IV. She slipped a tube down his throat and hooked it to a respirator then clipped a monitor to his finger. Hopefully, the drug would not depress his system too much. She hesitated to give him anything but she could not have him conscious during the surgery. She took a pair of scissors and began cutting the clothes off of the boy. She tucked his hair under a cap and began spraying him down with disinfectant wound cleaner. She had to get him as clean as possible before she took him into surgery.

"Kristin, here's the scan. It's not good."

"Damn, the bullet's in his heart. I was hoping that this injury could wait until I closed the other wound. I'm going to need more help. Pete, feel up to surgery? Good. Cass, come take over for this girl. What is your name?"

"Katie Hitchcock."

"Katie, see that door over there? Go in there and wash up. You'll need to put on a pair of scrubs."

"Why?"

"You're going into surgery with us." Katie blinked wondering what on earth she was going to do in the operating room. She followed her orders though and went to wash up.

"Pete, take him on in and get started. I'll be in as soon as I've changed." She watched as the boy was wheeled into the OR. She followed the soldier into the prep room.

"Is he going to live?" asked Katie a bit anxiously.

"We're going to do everything in our power to make sure he lives. That boy's been neglected and abused. What's his story?"

"He was a slave. A hacker," answered Katie indicating her cheek. "He slipped us information about a big meet between the slavers. His owner shot him when we busted the meet."

"Poor child. We'll just make sure he hangs around to enjoy his freedom." Kristen led the way into the OR. "Stand here out of the way. I'll tell you when I need you."

Katie nodded. She could do nothing but watch as the doctor cut open the boy's chest. She used a saw to split his sternum then pulled the ribs back to reveal his beating heart. A nurse suctioned out the pooling blood then Kristin's work really began. Gently, the moved the soft lung tissue until she found the tear. The pink lungs gently flared with each breath the boy took. She stitched the wound shut quickly and efficiently. Katie glanced down at the other doctor and saw that the man had already removed the bullet. He was rapidly stitching away at something she could not see. She was mesmerized by the process by which they both worked. The man finished his stitching and lifted the boy's intestines from his abdomen. Carefully, he unraveled section by section checking it over for any tears in the membranes. He glanced up and noticed her watching him.

"When I let it go it'll pop back into place," he said letting go of a small section to demonstrate. The mass jiggled and she felt herself turning a bit green.

"Alright, Katie, this is what I need you to do," said Kristin finishing with the lung. "The bullet has to come out now but with the size of the hole it will leave his heart will stop beating before I can repair it. I need you to plug the hole. When I pull out the bullet, stick your finger in the hole."

"My what?"

"Your finger. Ready? 1-2-3 Now!" Katie did not have time to think. She just blindly jabbed her finger at the hole. Her eyes widened in amazement as the heart contracted around her finger. It was the most amazing thing she had ever felt. Here was this boy and his heart was beating around her finger. Kristin began placing tiny sutures around Katie's finger. Katie held herself completely still while she worked. Time passed and Katie felt herself growing tired and knew the two doctors much be exhausted. More time passed and the man, Pete, finished and began closing up the boy's open abdomen. Still more time left and Kristin was left alone stitching with the utmost care and precision. Katie's neck and back were cramped from the tension and her feet ached. Her arm felt like it weight a hundred pounds from spending so many hours holding her finger still.

"Almost done," said Kristin her voice laced with fatigue. "I'm going to count to three and I need you to pull your finger out. 1-2-3." Katie removed her finger and Kristin pulled the ends of her thread so that the wound closed behind the finger as it left. Katie sagged back leaning up against the wall. She was completely drained. Kristin inserted a drainage tube then closed up the chest. When the boy was finally wheeled into recovery, it was well into the night.

"So how did things end up?" asked Katie as she and Brody sat down with a cup of coffee.

"The SeaQuest arrived about an hour after we left. There were one hundred and twenty slavers in total. Twenty-four of them were killed in the raid along with another twenty of their crew members. We now have close to five hundred people in custody. We're staying here in port until headquarters can send out a police ship to collect them. They're still tallying all of the slaves that were freed. Five of them were killed, six if the boy dies. Twenty-two injured but most were minor injuries. The slavers ships have been seized and once they are inventoried the Captain will probably give them to the slaves. Once they've been tallied they're free to go but most of them are sticking around for a while. We'll be taking some of them down the coast with us. There are places in New Haven and the Carolinas that are dedicated to helping freed men get set up. The children will be placed into the care of the government in Washington."

"What about the boy?"

"He's a child. He'll go with the children," Brody shrugged indicating that it did not matter to him where the boy ended up.

"Excuse me," said Katie standing. "I think I am going to go check on him." She walked down the hall towards the room where the boy had been moved. He was deathly white nestled among equally white sheets. There was the soft mechanical sound as the machines pumped air into his lungs. She had been frightened to learn that he had stopped breathing on his own but that doctor, Kristin, had assured her that it was just because his body was so exhausted. He was letting the machines take over while his body rested. The beep of the heart monitor was a more reassuring sign that he was still in there fighting.

"You're going to get better and you're going to run and jump and play," she told him quietly. "You'll even get your own computer so you can hack to your heart's content." She sighed brushing a strand of hair from his face. "You need a hair cut. Jim just told me that you'll be going into government care. I don't want that for you. You deserve to really be free. Most of those government hackers do not have real rights. They are guarded every moment of the day 'for their protection' but it's funny how it also keeps them around to obey the government's orders and do the government's dirty work. It's not that I don't love my country. I understand why they do it the way they do. Hackers are too valuable to take chances with. I just wish you could have something different. Maybe if I speak to the Captain he can do something." A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey," whispered Miguel poking his head into the room. "How is he doing?"

"He's holding his own. The doctor says he has a good chance especially if he makes it through tonight."

"I'm glad. A lot of people would like to thank him." He shifted in place glancing down at the floor. "Look, I can't really stay. Here," he said handing her a folder. "Tim said you should see this but he's busy translating and can't bring it himself."

"Thanks, Miguel," she said as he backed out the door. Curious, she opened the folder. Clipped to the inside was a couple of photographs. The first was of a laughing little boy with white blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. He looked to be between two and three years old. The second was the same boy several years older. In this picture, he was staring straight out in front of him. He was easily recognizable as a younger version of the boy next to her. She glanced under the photos to read his name: Lucas Wolenzcak.

"Lucas," she murmured to the boy beside her. "Your name is Lucas."