Authors Notes: Sorry for that short break, but I had to work on my Stargate SG-1 fan fiction, including a series about Michael Welch (Luke's) character of the young clone of Colonel Jack O'Neill. The series is called Dazed and Confused, for anyone who's interested. I know there are a lot of people who are fans of both shows.
I mentioned his Stargate character in the last chapter, and the show is discussed in detail in this fic. The episode they are talking about is the very famous "Heroes" so watch out for spoilers. As this fic is set in 2003, and Michael was in Stargate in 2003, I've chosen Heroes as it was the same year.
Oh, and I like The O.C. so sorry about them hating it! Right, that's all the trivia etc out of the way. Enjoy!!
That night at dinner, Luke sat beside his sister, keeping a close eye on her food intake. Their parents were too busy having a heated discussion with Kevin to notice.
"That's enough," Helen sighed, playing Peacekeeper for a minute. "Let's not talk about this now."
"Fine," Will nodded, turning his attention to his meal. "Nice chicken. Very nice."
"Yes," Joan agreed, with a small smile. "Very good. Tasty, even."
"Thank you," Helen nodded, cheering up. "So, Luke, Joan, how was your day?"
"Uneventful," Joan shrugged. "Right Luke?"
"Yep," he nodded, looking down at his plate. He couldn't look at his Mom or especially his Dad while he lied, he'd blurt the truth out instantly. "So how was that...thing?"
"I met up with an old friend," Helen smiled. "It was nice. I missed Dana a lot. We had lunch and went for a swim at her health club."
"Good," Joan nodded, her plate now empty. "May I be excused?" Helen nodded, and Joan took her plate in to the kitchen.
"Me too?" Luke requested, although he hadn't finished. He was still a little hungry, but his sister was more important, so he picked up his plate and took it in to the kitchen. He emptied the contents in to the bin and then handed it to her, to put in the dishwasher. "That went surprisingly well."
"I have homework," Joan said, closing the dishwasher and moving toward the door. Luke stepped infront of her, blocking the way.
"No, you don't," he said firmly. He wasn't going to let her go upstairs and do what she was planning to do. "Joan, I'm helping you, remember?" He put a hand on her arm, and dragged her in to the living room. She sat down on the couch and sighed.
He took the chair and flicked on the t.v. "We'll talk with Glynis tomorrow and find out who you can speak to."
"Will you talk to her with me?" Joan pleaded.
"Of course," he nodded, smiling slightly. "I'm going to help you. I promise you."
"Help you with what?" Kevin asked as he entered the living room. He took the remote from the table and turned the channel over. "Sorry Joan, but I'm not watching The O.C. tonight. I don't care how hot Mischa Barton is, it isn't enough to make me watch it."
"Kevin!" Joan moaned. "It's Stargate night. I thought you actually liked that?"
"I forgot Luke got you in to that. The only decent show you like," he smiled, turning it back on to the original channel. "There. It isn't starting for like fifteen minutes yet though."
"You watch rubbish, not me!" She growled, throwing a cushion at him. "The O.C. rocks."
"If you're sixteen, it probably does," he said. "So what's Luke helping you with?"
"Homework," Luke replied, quickly. "She's struggling with some AP Chem work."
"If you're struggling, should you be in AP?" Kevin frowned.
"It's only one project," she replied sharply. "There's no way I'm leaving, Adam is in there with me. And Grace. Besides, I rock at Chem generally."
"Fine."
"Dad!" Luke yelled, and Will appeared in the living room, and took his place on the couch beside Joan. "I warn you, rumour is someone dies tonight. And the most likely canditate is either Samantha Carter or Janet Frasier."
"No!" Will gasped, causing the kids to laugh. "They can't kill off that sweetie doctor. And Sam is just so cool! They have four lead guys and two women. Why can't it be one of the guys who goes?"
"Because they already killed Daniel and brought him back. They can't kill Jack, he's the lead, and Teal'c is like indestructable. Hammond never leaves the base to get killed," Luke explained. "The beauty of sci-fi is that if you get killed, you'll probably come back. So maybe Janet will be back next season, like Daniel."
"Doubt it. There would be no risk if they did that every time," Kevin pointed out.
Will sighed.
-
"Joan?" Luke said, frowning. "Joan? Are you crying?"
"It's just...she died saving his life...she was so beautiful!" She sniffed. "She was helping that poor soldier and she got shot...poor Janet. She was so nice, and now her adopted daughter has lost another mom. Poor Cassie!"
"It's only tv, Joan," Luke reminded her, chucking her a box of tissues. "It's not real. Teryl Rothery is very much alive."
"I know..." she sniffed. "But it's so sad!"
"I guess you're just emotional anyway," He said.
"Why would she be emotional anyway?" W ill asked, as he surfed through the channels, looking for anything but The O.C.
"Umm..." Luke began, mentally yelling at himself for letting it slip. Now he'd blown it.
"Dad, you really don't want to know. Luke didn't want to know either, he just saw me taking my special painkillers," Joan replied calmly. She blushed slightly, and looked down at her feet. Luke watched her, amazed. She was such a great actress. He had almost believed that.
"Oh, I see," Will nodded. "Let me know if you want your hot water bottle warmed up."
"Will do," She nodded. "Thanks."
She then smiled and stood up, placing a hand on her stomach, and went off upstairs. Luke sighed loudly, and announced that he had homework he needed to do. Will and Kevin nodded and tuned in to sports and Luke made his way up the stairs.
He found Joan in her room, stretched out on the bed. She had the pillow over her head. He perched on the edge and removed the pillow, throwing it on to the end. "Joan."
"Hey," she said glumly.
"Very convincing," he smiled. "I almost bought it. Dad definitely did. Good one. I'm sorry I nearly blew it."
"Don't sweat it, little bro," She said. "That excuse has gotten me out of class, housework and even visiting the grandparents on one occasion. Although, usually it's actually the truth." She was slightly embarrased to be talking about that with her brother, but oh well. She could recall worse conversations, like the one where he'd asked if she was pregnant. "I might be in trouble when I get it in a couple of weeks though."
"Actually," he began, mumbling. He looked away, very uncomfortable. "I don't think you will...not for a while. I'm not sure but I think it stops when you're ill like this. You can ask Glynis."
"No way," Joan exclaimed. "Dad won't even remember by then, I'm sure. Where's Mom? She's awfully quiet recently. And she's never around much."
"I think she's on the phone still," Luke shrugged, his gaze returning to his sister. "To Dana I guess."
"I never liked Dana. She's very odd," Joan recalled. "You haven't met her, have you?"
"I don't think so."
"Oh when you were about four or five she came to the house," she said. "And I think you may have barfed on her shoes. May have been Kevin, but I'm fairly sure it was you."
"Oh dear..." Luke groaned. "Remind me to be out if she drops by."
"Will do. Now, if you don't mind, I have some music to listen to," she told him, hinting that he should leave her alone.
"I'll be next door," he warned her. "Beware."
"Okay," she nodded. "As long as you aren't here."
-
Luke was having a very nice dream where he was Jack O'Neill. He was trapped in a cave, with Doctor Frasier and Major Carter. There was no way out of this, or so they thought, so they decided to spend their last time having some naughty fun.
That 'sweetie' Janet was not as innocent as she looked. And as for Sam, well, she had a lovely figure under those fatigues...
Sadly, he woke up half way through. He lay there for a few minutes, before getting up, putting on his slippers, and creeping downstairs to get a drink.
He was pouring himself a glass of water when he realised the downstairs bathroom light was on. He frowned, and sat down at the table, assuming it was his mom or dad.
He heard a familiar sound and screwed his eyes shut, praying he was still dreaming. He opened his eyes again and pinched himself, several times. He was definitely awake.
He sighed, and sat there for a minute, thinking.
Then, he stood up and went down the hall. He knocked on the bathroom door. "Joan?" He called. "Who's in there? It's you isn't it Joan? Joan?" He called, still knocking. "If you don't answer me I'm opening the door, whoever is in there." There was no answer, so he did exactly what he said he'd do. He opened the door and found his sister hunched over the toilet.
He moved forward and pulled her hair out of her face. He fell to his knees beside her, putting an arm around her. "God, Joan..." he said. "Joan."
"I'm sorry," she cried, looking up at him. "I'm so sorry."
She could see the disappointment in his eyes, the tears welling up, and she looked away. She couldn't take it.
"Joan..."
"I don't deserve your help. You've been so good to me," she croaked. "And I've just used you and lied to you. Lied and lied and lied. I don't deserve your help!" She wiped her mouth. "I'm so sorry Luke."
"Don't ever think that I will give up on you! Don't ever think you deserve to be given up on!" He snapped. "You're my sister, and I will always help you out, no matter what you do, I will be there for you. You want help. You want to stop, I know that Joan. I believe you. But I know it's not that easy. I realise that you're going to slip up along the way, and that it's going to be a long road until you're well again. But you will get better. I will make sure of it. I know it's going to be very difficult. But I'm here."
Joan just sat there, looking at him, amazed at her brothers warmth and determination. He helped her up, and took her in to the kitchen. He sat her down and left her for a minute, disappearing back in to the bathroom. A minute later, he was back, and he poured her a drink of water. "Drink it slowly."
He sat down beside her, a hand on her shoulder. She took small sips, and then turned to face him. "We'll talk to Glynis first thing tomorrow."
"Okay," he nodded. "You're going to be okay, Joanie."
"It doesn't feel that way," she said, her lip quivering. She was about to start crying again. Luke sighed and pulled her in to a bear hug. "Why did this happen? Why? I don't understand why this would happen. What good comes from me being bulimic?"
Luke pulled back, and frowned. "I don't know. If I was a priest, I'd probably tell you that there is a reason for everything, and that it might not be clear now, but one day it will be. But, I'm not a priest and I don't think I can subscribe to that. But maybe its right."
"Thanks," she nodded, standing up. "We should go back to bed."
"Yes, we should. You go on up," he told her, "I'll turn of the lights."
"Night."
"Night."
-
"Good morning," Luke said brightly, as he entered his sister's room and opened the curtains, letting the morning light into her room. She groaned and turned over.
"Luuke!" She growled.
"Up," he told her, pulling the covers off of her, like Lois had done to her kids on Malcolm In The Middle. Surprisingly, it actually worked in reality. Joan stood up and squinted, her eyes adjusting to the light. "Good. Get dressed," he told her firmly. "I'll be in my room. We're going for breakfast in ten minutes so hurry up."
"Okay," She yawned. "That isn't much time though. Can't you just go and I'll join you when I'm ready?"
"No. As long as you're upstairs, I'm up here too," he shook his head, and she gave in.
"Fine," she said as she opened her closet doors. "Go and play on your computer. I'll be out in a minute." Luke was halfway out the door when she called after him, "Oh, I need a shower."
"No you don't," he replied. "You have these great new things called Impulse wipes that will suffice. You can shower when you get home."
"If I smell it's soooo your fault," Joan moaned, closing the door on him. She returned to her closet and picked out a fairly baggy outfit.
She appeared in the doorway to Luke's room ten minutes later, clad in a longish pink t-shirt that was now several sizes too big for her (that used to fit perfectly,) and jeans. Not hipster jeans, just jeans, with a belt to keep them from falling off of her tiny figure.
Luke looked her up and down, and smiled, but he was actually shocked at how lose her old clothes looked. He didn't say anything, just stood up and followed her downstairs.
They entered the kitchen to find Kevin was already long gone. Will and Helen were sat at the table, he was reading the newspaper as usual, and she was drinking her orange juice.
Joan went to get her breakfast, but Luke stopped her. "Sit down," he told her. "I'll get it." Will was engrossed in the paper, but Helen frowned. "Joan isn't feeling at her best. You know, girl stuff..." Luke explained as he took two bowls from the cupboard.
Joan sat down opposite her mom and smiled feintly. Luke came over with two bowls of cheerios and set one down in front of his sister. He then sat down next to her and made a start on his, watching her closely.
Once she'd finished, he took their bowls and put them in to the dishwasher. Not wanting to leave any time for her to dash to the bathroom, he took her messenger bag from the closet and handed it to her, and then put his own over his shoulder. "Let's go."
Okay not much of an ending but there is a new ep of Stargate on very soon, and, well, I was going to write the scene with Glynis etc in this chapter, but Ive decided to split it in to two. So big scene next chapter. Review please, it makes me write faster.