Disclaimer: SeaQuest and its characters are not mine.
I was so happy to the reviews! Thank you so much! You guys have made my day ;-)
KatKnits00 : Glad you like it! ;-) sorry it took so long but hope this chapter makes up for it.
Roses : Thanks for the review! And here's another chapter!
Kiddo : I just hope that the rest of the chapters are good too. Hope you like it! Thanks!
TeacherTam : I know what you mean about loving angsty Lucas. I love it too. That's what made me look around and stumble upon fan fiction! Nothing like a good old ELF. Hopefully I can manage to make this angsty enough.
wolenczak2004 : Glad your liking it. I was thinking that I should get a beta reader. If your offer is still open I'd like to send you my next chapter when I finish it.
Aewnaur : I wasn't quite sure what sort of role I wanted Ben to play cos he is kind of like a big brother figure. I will definitely try to get more of him in the story.
Anyways on with the story; Enjoy! And I always love your reviews!
Captain Nathan Bridger suppressed a smile as he noticed that Lucas had not only missed his presence, he hadn't heard him either. He shook his head. Lucas could get so absorbed in what he wasdoing that hecould probably go without food or any human contact for days thinking it had only been a matter of minutes.
Commander Ford moved towards the teenager but Bridger just shook his head indicating that he would handle it. Slowly he moved towards the young teen and repeated his earlier observation.
"Lucas, you're shift is over." Seeing that he was not yet getting a response he moved a bit closer to see what had gotten the teens undivided attention. Apparently his proximity was enough to shake the boy out his intense concentration as Lucas nearly jumped out of his seat.
"Huh? Oh Captain! What are you doing here?" Lucas asked as he ran a hand through his hair. Bridger could barely suppress his smile. Although the teen was addressing him he could see that his mind was still at his console because he would turn to it after every other word.
"I came to relieve Commander Ford, you do know that your shift is over?" Bridger inquired trying to keep the mirth out of his voice.
"Oh… just a second. I'm almost done." Lucas replied absently as he turned back to his console.
"I'm nearly done with these upgrades. I just need a couple of more minutes." With that he was lost to the world again. Bridger could barely conceal his surprise. The teen had yet another week to finish the upgrades and yet three days in to his assignment he had already completed it? No wait forgive him, he was a couple of minutes away from completion?
When Lucas had first come aboard, Bridger was sceptical as to what it was a mere child, genius or not, could do that was so important that the UEO insisted on him joining the SeaQuest. In a mere matter of days Lucas has proved his worth time and again by upgrading and fixing in a matter of minutes what was deemed beyond the diagnostic capacity of his enlisted. Now they could barely imagine life without him. He couldn't imagine life without Lucas. The teen had earned a special place in his heart as time passed by. Bridger couldn't quite explain it. Somehow with Lucas it was almost like he was redeemed. Somehow Lucas had made him feel again. It was almost like he had another shot. A chance for what he couldn't have with Robert.
Robert.
He had to mentally shake himself not to go down that road again. Instead he stole the chance to observe Lucas. If only he could get the teen to open up to him a bit more. Though Bridger had in his heart adopted the boy, Lucas was still aloof. Lucas was the master of the 'one-step-forward-two-steps-back' approach. Whenever he seemed to make some progress into penetrating the defences Lucas had around him, the teen would immediately retreat into himself, yielding for only a nanosecond.
Once he had taken Lucas some lunch because he had noticed his absence at the mess hall and a few inquiries had confirmed his suspicion; Lucas had yet to come out for a meal. So he had taken the boy some lunch. UEO regulation meals weren't exactly the best and sometimes he couldn't blame Lucas for avoiding meals that closely resembled toxic waste but he needed nutrition like anybody else. The look on the teens face when he realised that he.. no.. anyone had noticed his absence was surprising. For a matter of seconds Bridger could see the confusion in the teen's eyes and then it was gone, replaced with a smile so fast that Bridger almost doubted that it was there. But he knew what he saw. And he couldn't quite understand it. Why would the teen be so shocked that someone would bring him lunch? Was it so inconceivable that someone would care about his well-being? He knew that the key to that puzzle would only be revealed if he ever managed to unearth why Lucas was on the SeaQuest in the first place. He knew that regardless of the rather over whelming benefits of having Lucas on board, the UEO would still have its reservations to allow him aboard. What ever the motivations of the UEO may have been it didn't take a genius to realise that the teens parents hadn't put up much of a fight.
"There." Lucas said triumphantly. "The upgrades should be kicking in now. I ran through all the subroutines to make sure that there wouldn't be any problems. But just in case something does go wrong don't do anything before calling me first." Lucas ran a hand through his hair. "The last time Ben tried to fix something I had to spend hours trying to undo everything he had done." He mumbled tiredly. He had been working on the upgrades non-stop and he was feeling exhausted. Generally three days of work wouldn't leave him this tired but today he was feeling absolutely drained.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it would be fine. Why don't you go take a break, you deserve it." Bridger said with a smile. Lucas merely nodded tiredly as he shuffled his feet unsure of how to respond to the Captain's praise. He mumbled something unintelligible before quickly making his way out of the bridge. Bridger quickly concealed his disappointment. Lucas couldn't have run out of the bridge any faster.
Yes, Lucas definitely had a ten-foot wall around him and Bridger couldn't quite understand what caused it to be erected in the first place. Luckily Bridger wasn't one to be daunted by the teen's defences. He wasn't made a captain of a ship without learning a few tricks of his own. He knew he just needed to give it time and Lucas would open up to him eventually. It would be on his terms and in his own time. When he was ready, and only then would Bridger get the chance to prove to Lucas that he wasn't going to betray his friendship and trust. Lucas just needed the time and Captain Nathan Hale Bridger was a very patient man.
