A knock on his door roused him from sleep, and he was suddenly aware of the brightness of the room. He opened his eyes to the bright blue of the sky outside of the window, a sight he hadn't seen in what felt like ages.

He rolled out of the bed and shuffled to the door. "Who is it?"

"UEO security, open up please."

Lucas froze. Had he done something? He didn't remember doing anything. Why were they here? Taking a deep breath, he opened the door slowly and peeked around.

"Psych!" Sean called out with a laugh. "Did I fool ya?"

Lucas exhaled. "Jesus man, you scared me! I was wondering if I somehow started sleep walking and did something illegal in my sleep!!"

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure, come on in."

Sean stepped into the room and looked around. "Wow, they put you guys up in some nice digs when you travel!"

Lucas shrugged. "Maybe it's because some of us don't get to see the light of day most of the year so they figure they ought to treat us when we do?"

"Hah! Maybe. Anyhow, where's your mom?"

"I don't know, she kind of comes and goes at her leisure."

"Sounds about right for Elle. She really had fun with you last night."

"Until we got back here…"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, she kind of spilled a few details that she didn't mean to I think."

"Such as?"

"Such as how difficult it is for her to see how everything has changed while she hasn't. The fact that Lawrence was cheating on her with Cynthia before he even married her."

"Ooooo…she told you that did she?"

"Uh, yeah."

Sean nodded gently. "That was tough on her. She didn't know what to think or believe. If your father, Gavin, would have stepped in, it would have been all over for Lawrence."

"Why didn't he?"

"He wasn't here. He was on a research trip, helping chart and categorize what was left of the Titanic off the cost of Nova Scotia. He only got back 3 days before Ellie married Lawrence."

"Wow, he did that?"

"Yeah, it was a dream assignment for him. Ellie didn't want him to go, but she didn't dare stop him. She would never prevent anyone from following their dreams; she wanted everyone to be happy."

"There is still so much I don't know about her."

"Yeah, Ellie is a lot more complex than she looks. A very creative soul, always doing something like writing music, drawing. She was also a daredevil. She did some crazy stuff just to say that she'd done it. In just the short time I've spent with you, I can already see how like them both you really are. You're the perfect combination of the two," Sean said.

Lucas gave a half smile. "I wish I could have grown up with them both, or even just her. How different my life would have been…"

"Yeah it certainly would have. You wouldn't have been pawned off on others that's for sure. And as soon as a hint of that genius IQ showed up it would have been nurtured and encouraged. I don't think you would have ended up on the SeaQuest though, unless you'd wanted to."

Lucas took a moment to consider that thought. Never ending up on the SeaQuest? Not so long ago, that would have been a wonderful thing to imagine. Now he wasn't so sure. It had grown on him, the crew was his surrogate family, and Sam was there. They heard the door open and both turned to look.

"You boys talking about me?" Ellie said, walking in. Lucas was always startled to see her when she looked different then he'd last seen her. She'd changed her clothes, this time wearing a white, long sleeved top with a lavender stripe down each arm, jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun. She looked very relaxed.

"Always! How could we not?" Sean said with a smirk.

"I knew it. How can you help it, I'm oh so interesting," she replied with feigned dramatic flair "Good morning sweetie. Ready to do some more stuff?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Stuff? What kind of stuff?"

"Oh, you'll see." Ellie said, the trademark grin spreading across her face that let him know she was up to something.

After a quick breakfast, they all piled into Sean's car. Lucas was intrigued as they headed out of town and toward the coast. It didn't help that Sean and Ellie were talking cryptically.

"You know the spot, right Sean?"

"Yeah, I've gone there a lot of times since…well, you know."

Ellie nodded, but she was smiling, so Lucas couldn't tell where exactly it was they were headed. He gave up and decided to watch the scenery go by. He was amazed at the density of the city and thought about how many people there must be here. When someone said Los Angeles, they could mean any number of areas: Hollywood, Studio City, and Universal City; were all ones that he recalled seeing. Also interesting was the change in the look of the city and its streets depending on where you went or what streets you crossed. He wondered if he would ever be able to find his own way here, it seemed confusing and jumbled.

His interest peaked when he saw the ocean in the distance. Where were they going? He'd wanted to be far, far away from the ocean for these two weeks. He glanced at a sign as they went by. Highway 1? Where did he remember hearing that? He scanned the water, fixated on the way the light bounced off of it and sparkled as if diamonds had been strewn across the surface to bob gently on the waves.

Sean finally pulled the car over and Ellie got out. Lucas followed her and found himself standing at the edge of a cliff, looking out over the water. Turning his head to the left he saw a familiar looking bridge. He thought about it for a moment, trying to place it, before the full force of where they were slapped him across the face. Ellie had stood on that bridge, alone, on a dark and windy night, willing herself to jump. Lucas gasped and backed away.

"No…I don't want to be here. I want to leave," he said, beginning to panic. Sean looked at him strangely, as did Ellie, before she realized what he was seeing.

"Oh…Lucas, no, honey, it's okay."

"No. Not okay. You were going to jump, you wanted to."

"But I didn't."

"Why are we here, why did you bring me here?"

"Because, we're going to do something fun here. Maybe it will erase anything negative you associate with this place."

"Please…" he said, still backing away until his back was to the car and he could go no further.

Ellie stepped forward and took his hand. "Lucas, this place has other, better memories for me than that. I know that the one night is all you saw, but please believe me; I came here for a reason that night. It was a place where I remembered being happy."

Lucas felt as if he would hyperventilate. He shook his head. "No."

"Just give me a chance to show you Lucas. That's all I ask."

He looked into her eyes, the same color as the ocean stretched out beneath them. She was pleading with him, willing him to be calm, and it was working. His breathing slowed and he swallowed hard as he nodded his assent.

"Good," she said with a smile. She nodded at Sean who popped open the trunk of his car, pulling out a harness and several ropes.

Lucas' eyes widened. "What in the hell is that?"

Ellie smiled happily. "Just watch." She stepped around to Sean, who fitted the harness around her and attached one of the ropes before attaching them to the bridge itself. With Sean's help, she climbed up onto the bridge and stood, looking out onto the sea.

Lucas could hardly breathe as the images of that night flashed through his mind. "What…what are you doing!!"

"It's cool Lucas, check it out." Sean said.

"You ready Sean?"

"And willing. Hit it baby."

With that, Ellie stepped into space. Lucas screamed in horror and ran to the railing to look over. She was free falling, arms out. Just as he thought she would fall forever, the slack in the rope was gone and she stopped as it pulled her back up. He could hear her laugh of delight and just stared, open-mouthed.

Sean was laughing as she dangled there, and he began to haul her back to the top via a second rope, much longer than the first, that Lucas hadn't noticed.

As she reached the top, Lucas screamed at her. "What are you doing? Why did you do that!?"

Sean offered his hand and she nimbly pulled herself back up onto the highway. "It's called bungee jumping Lucas, and it's a blast. You look like Gavin did the time I did this to him!"

Furious, Lucas turned on his heel and marched back to the car. Ellie quickly came after him. Turning on her, he laced into her. "I can't believe you just did that, after what I saw you think of doing!"

"Lucas, calm down. It wasn't anywhere near the same. I was safe." Fuming, he looked away. "Now it's your turn."

"No! No way!"

"Lucas, trust me, I know you'll love it. Try it, just once. If you don't, I'll tell Ben you wimped out," she said, baiting him.

"You wouldn't."

"Do you want to test that theory?"

Lucas growled in frustration and stomped over to Sean. "Hook me up."

Ellie giggled and quickly stepped out of the harness, handing it to Sean. Sean adjusted it and slipped it on Lucas, buckling him in. "That's messed up Ellie," Sean said.

"Maybe, but we'll see if he still thinks so once he goes. Don't close your eyes Lucas; it will ruin the whole thing!"

"You'll be alright Lucas. This is totally safe, checked all the ropes and harnesses myself this morning. Okay, you're good to go."

The fear that sat in the pit of Lucas' stomach as he walked up to the railing made him feel like he was moving in slow motion. He looked over the edge and felt dizzy. He looked at Ellie, trying to determine if she was serious in her threat to rat him out to Ben. He decided she was. He swallowed hard and forced himself to climb up onto the railing. He heard Ellie behind him.

"Think of it this way Lucas, it will be your first chance to know what it feels like to really fly…"

Phrasing it in such a way to make it sound more like an experiment calmed his nerves slightly until he looked down.

"Don't do that!" Sean said. "You'll never go if you do that."

His hands had clenched into tight fists without him even realizing it. He looked out at the distant horizon, wondering where the SeaQuest was. He thought of Sam, of the Captain, Dr. Westphalen, and the guys. And then he jumped.

He felt the wind and the absolute weightlessness of his fall. Despite the harness, he felt completely unhindered and free. He forced himself to keep his eyes open as he hurtled toward the ocean. He didn't scream, couldn't scream. And suddenly, it was over, the rope snapping him back and pulling him upwards. He spun himself around so that his back was now to the ocean and, despite himself, he laughed.

She had been right. The rush was incredible and he could think of nothing but doing it again. He let out a yell of triumph and heard Sean and Ellie doing the same. He stared down as Sean hauled him back to the top.

"That was AWESOME!" he yelled as he climbed back up. "I want to go again!"

Ellie clapped her hands in delight. "Didn't I tell you that you would love it!?"

"Way to go man! It usually takes people a lot longer than that to make the leap their first time!"

Lucas grinned wildly, feeling absolutely exhilarated. "Can I go again?"

"Sure! Go ahead, I've got ya," Sean said.

Lucas quickly climbed back up onto the railing and looked over. This time, he decided, he would jump backwards. Carefully turning around so he didn't fall, he stood looking at Ellie and Sean. Lucas waved to Ellie and then launched himself into space. He closed his eyes and just let the feeling take him over. He didn't want to forget this for as long as he lived; this perfect, weightless freedom.