Chapter Twelve
Totally relaxed, Lex laughed as Tim, Ben and Manuel recounted tales of their failed escapades. Foiled smuggling operations, practical jokes gone wrong, and worse yet, the ones that had gone off without a hitch.
Tim, Ben and Manuel shared sly, meaningful glances with each other as they caught the looks Lucas and Lex shared, noticed how Lucas kept shifting his chair a little closer to Lex's. They noticed something special was happening, and were happy for him.
Someone else had noticed too, and was disturbed by it.
"For goodness sake, Nathan, stop staring at them," Westphalen admonished over her cup of coffee.
"He's falling for her!" Bridger argued, clunking his own cup onto the table.
"That's a perfectly normal occurrence at their age."
"She's a juvenile delinquent!"
"She's a troubled young girl whose had a hard time of her life. I think Lucas will be good for her."
"She'll be gone tomorrow, Kristen. I don't want him to get hurt."
"You can't stop the inevitable, Nathan. It's all part of growing up and falling in love." When he remained silent, her eyebrows shot up. "What? You're not going to argue that they're too young, it's too soon for them to fall in love and that there's no such thing as love at first sight?"
"Nope."
"Oh, I'm dying to hear the explanation for this one," Westphalen muttered dryly.
"I can't argue with them because I believe they exist."
Westphalen's brows rose again in surprise. "You do?"
"Yes," Bridger sighed, "because it's happened to me twice."
Westphalen smiled as she followed Bridger's gaze once again to the laughing teens.
After having helped Westphalen with some research projects, during which Lex had been considerably warmer towards the doctor, Lex and Lucas now sat next to the moonpool playing with Darwin.
Tossing the ball for the dolphin, Lex's thoughts drifted to that morning. At first, she'd felt uncomfortable in the presence of the doctor, unable to maintain her cool distance when she'd seen the genuine affection, Kristen, as she'd insisted on being called, and Lucas shared. She was also surprised at how much fun she'd had helping them, eagerly absorbing the information they'd shared with her.
As the morning had worn on, Lex had found herself liking the doctor. Part of her wished Kristen could have been her mother, and the other part wondered how different her life would have been had Kristen been her mother.
"What are you thinking?" Lucas asked softly, his blue eyes watching her intently.
Too embarrassed to tell him, she hedged. "Just stuff."
"Must be pretty heavy."
Lex smiled, shrugging. When Lucas looked like he was going to press the issue, she scrambled to change the subject. "When's your birthday?"
"My birthday?" Lucas frowned.
"Yeah, you know, the day you were born. The day you wear party hats, eat cake and ice cream and get dozens of gifts."
"August twelfth, but I don't have parties."
Now it was Lex's turn to frown. "Why not?"
"My parents are too busy to remember. I'm lucky if I get a phone call." His voice was laced with bitterness as he crossed his arms.
"I know the feeling."
Lucas' blue eyes turned to her. "What about you? When's yours?"
"February fourteenth."
Lucas grinned. "A Valentine's baby. You must get some interesting presents."
"Only the ones I get for myself," Lex shrugged.
"What do you mean?"
"My parents, like yours, stopped caring a long time ago, and the people I'm around now are too busy dealing with their own problems and lives to notice a little thing like a birthday. Most of them don't even know when it is."
"Doesn't sound like a very nice world you live in, not to mention your job."
"It got me off the streets and gave me food."
"But it's dangerous. You could get hurt." Lucas leaned forward, worry in his eyes.
Lex chuckled. "I was doing fine until a couple of days ago."
"I'm serious, Lex. You could really get hurt. Especially when you're going after organizations like the UEO."
Lex sighed deeply. "Yeah, you're right."
Lucas shifted on his stool uncomfortably. "You could turn things around by telling me who the others are. Who your boss is."
Lex shook her head. "You know I can't do that, Lucas. In the first place, I won't be a rat. But more importantly, my boss gave me a break when I needed one the most. He gave me food, shelter and protection."
"He used you! And still does! Everything he's given you has a price tag attached to it. Right now the price is you freedom, but someday it might be your life!" Frustration and anger radiated from his thin body.
Lex's head dropped. "I know."
Lucas pressed on. "You're old enough now, you can get a real job. Something honest and less risky."
"You want fries with that? Super sized?" Lex laughed.
"I'm serious," Lucas chuckled, in spite of his glare.
"I know, and you're right."
"Of course I'm right. I'm a genius remember."
At that moment, Darwin decided to add his five cents worth to the conversation, shooting a stream of water into Lucas' face. Lex burst out laughing, as Lucas wiped the water away from his eyes. Darwin clicked in what sounded suspiciously like laughter.
As Lucas wisecracked with the snickering Darwin, Lex realized he was right. She was old enough to make an honest living, and it was well past time.
Totally relaxed, Lex laughed as Tim, Ben and Manuel recounted tales of their failed escapades. Foiled smuggling operations, practical jokes gone wrong, and worse yet, the ones that had gone off without a hitch.
Tim, Ben and Manuel shared sly, meaningful glances with each other as they caught the looks Lucas and Lex shared, noticed how Lucas kept shifting his chair a little closer to Lex's. They noticed something special was happening, and were happy for him.
Someone else had noticed too, and was disturbed by it.
"For goodness sake, Nathan, stop staring at them," Westphalen admonished over her cup of coffee.
"He's falling for her!" Bridger argued, clunking his own cup onto the table.
"That's a perfectly normal occurrence at their age."
"She's a juvenile delinquent!"
"She's a troubled young girl whose had a hard time of her life. I think Lucas will be good for her."
"She'll be gone tomorrow, Kristen. I don't want him to get hurt."
"You can't stop the inevitable, Nathan. It's all part of growing up and falling in love." When he remained silent, her eyebrows shot up. "What? You're not going to argue that they're too young, it's too soon for them to fall in love and that there's no such thing as love at first sight?"
"Nope."
"Oh, I'm dying to hear the explanation for this one," Westphalen muttered dryly.
"I can't argue with them because I believe they exist."
Westphalen's brows rose again in surprise. "You do?"
"Yes," Bridger sighed, "because it's happened to me twice."
Westphalen smiled as she followed Bridger's gaze once again to the laughing teens.
After having helped Westphalen with some research projects, during which Lex had been considerably warmer towards the doctor, Lex and Lucas now sat next to the moonpool playing with Darwin.
Tossing the ball for the dolphin, Lex's thoughts drifted to that morning. At first, she'd felt uncomfortable in the presence of the doctor, unable to maintain her cool distance when she'd seen the genuine affection, Kristen, as she'd insisted on being called, and Lucas shared. She was also surprised at how much fun she'd had helping them, eagerly absorbing the information they'd shared with her.
As the morning had worn on, Lex had found herself liking the doctor. Part of her wished Kristen could have been her mother, and the other part wondered how different her life would have been had Kristen been her mother.
"What are you thinking?" Lucas asked softly, his blue eyes watching her intently.
Too embarrassed to tell him, she hedged. "Just stuff."
"Must be pretty heavy."
Lex smiled, shrugging. When Lucas looked like he was going to press the issue, she scrambled to change the subject. "When's your birthday?"
"My birthday?" Lucas frowned.
"Yeah, you know, the day you were born. The day you wear party hats, eat cake and ice cream and get dozens of gifts."
"August twelfth, but I don't have parties."
Now it was Lex's turn to frown. "Why not?"
"My parents are too busy to remember. I'm lucky if I get a phone call." His voice was laced with bitterness as he crossed his arms.
"I know the feeling."
Lucas' blue eyes turned to her. "What about you? When's yours?"
"February fourteenth."
Lucas grinned. "A Valentine's baby. You must get some interesting presents."
"Only the ones I get for myself," Lex shrugged.
"What do you mean?"
"My parents, like yours, stopped caring a long time ago, and the people I'm around now are too busy dealing with their own problems and lives to notice a little thing like a birthday. Most of them don't even know when it is."
"Doesn't sound like a very nice world you live in, not to mention your job."
"It got me off the streets and gave me food."
"But it's dangerous. You could get hurt." Lucas leaned forward, worry in his eyes.
Lex chuckled. "I was doing fine until a couple of days ago."
"I'm serious, Lex. You could really get hurt. Especially when you're going after organizations like the UEO."
Lex sighed deeply. "Yeah, you're right."
Lucas shifted on his stool uncomfortably. "You could turn things around by telling me who the others are. Who your boss is."
Lex shook her head. "You know I can't do that, Lucas. In the first place, I won't be a rat. But more importantly, my boss gave me a break when I needed one the most. He gave me food, shelter and protection."
"He used you! And still does! Everything he's given you has a price tag attached to it. Right now the price is you freedom, but someday it might be your life!" Frustration and anger radiated from his thin body.
Lex's head dropped. "I know."
Lucas pressed on. "You're old enough now, you can get a real job. Something honest and less risky."
"You want fries with that? Super sized?" Lex laughed.
"I'm serious," Lucas chuckled, in spite of his glare.
"I know, and you're right."
"Of course I'm right. I'm a genius remember."
At that moment, Darwin decided to add his five cents worth to the conversation, shooting a stream of water into Lucas' face. Lex burst out laughing, as Lucas wiped the water away from his eyes. Darwin clicked in what sounded suspiciously like laughter.
As Lucas wisecracked with the snickering Darwin, Lex realized he was right. She was old enough to make an honest living, and it was well past time.