Exhausted from the long drive, Chuck closed the front door behind him. He had only come home to get some new clothes, but he felt so tired right now, that he decided to stay the night. He didn't think he could stay here longer than that. Everything in this house still reminded him of his new wife and those memories were just too painful.

When he stepped into the kitchen he saw his son leaning on the counter. The first think he noticed about Neil was the bad looking bruise on his forehead and the cask on his right leg. Then he saw the scared expression in Neil's eyes when he saw him.

"What happened to you?" He asked surprised.

Neil just stared at him for a moment. "Kurt?" He finally called out. He had no idea who this man standing right before him was.

"What's up?" Kurt said as he stepped into the kitchen.

Without saying anything Neil pointed at the man he had never seen before in his life. Or had he? This was getting more and more frustrating every day. It has been a week since his accident and he still couldn't remember anything. He had hoped that when he would get released from the hospital and would return home that his memory would start coming back. But he had been back for hours now and nothing – not one thing looked familiar to him.

"Chuck." Kurt said surprised. This was the least he had expected.

"Hey. What happened?" Chuck asked again, pointing at Neil. He was slightly confused about his son's strange behavior. They had never been really close but Neil had never been afraid to be alone in the same room with him.

"Uhm, Neil, that's your father. Looks like his trip is over." Kurt forced himself to smile. The truth was he couldn't feel more uncomfortable. He had no idea how he was supposed to explain to Chuck what happened to Neil.

Neil stiffened at Kurt's words. "Oh ..." He wasn't really able to say more. Just another hope that blew up. He had hoped that he would at least recognize his father when he came home. But not even that had happened. He looked like a complete stranger.

"What is going on here?" Chuck asked. He was getting more and more confused. Why was Kurt introducing him to his own son?

"Chuck, why don't you sit down. Uhm, there is something you should know ..." Kurt began. He wished Angela or Sara would be here right now.

"Just spit it out." Chuck ordered impatiently. He looked back and forth between Kurt and Neil, waiting for an explanation.

"I have amnesia." Neil explained dryly. "That's why I don't know who you are. I can't remember a thing."

Chuck stared at him in shock.

"Oh, and I have a few broken bones. Apparently I fell into a hole. You have to ask Kurt for more information about that since I obviously don't remember that either." Neil added in a bitter voice.

"What?" Chuck choked out. He finally decided to sit down after all. This was more than he could handle right now.

"We were camping in the forest and Neil stumbled into this ... well, hole." Kurt stammered. Angela and he had come up with this story to give at least some explanation for what they were doing in that forest. They could have hardly told Neil the truth.

"You were camping?" Chuck asked confused. Neil hated camping.

"Neil, why don't you go into the living room, you should give your leg some rest. I'll explain everything to your father." Kurt said before Chuck could say anything else.

"Okay." Neil said hesitantly. Again he had that feeling that Kurt was trying to keep something from him.

When Neil had left the kitchen, Kurt turned to Chuck.

"You're all right?" He asked quietly. Chuck looked a bit pale after hearing all this about his son.

"What happened?" Chuck asked after a few seconds.

Kurt let out a deep breath. "We were looking for a sentient lab in the woods, about three hours outside of Houston. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but suddenly the ground beneath Neil gave in and he fell about six meters down. It was some kind of cave, I didn't get a good look on it. Neil was unconscious and when he woke up again hours later in the hospital he had no memory at all." Kurt let this information sink in a few moments before he went on. "We only told him the necessary things. So far we left out anything about Sentients and time traveling. We figured that would be a bit too much at first. We had hoped that his memory would come back after a few days but ..." His voice trailed off. It was obvious that that hadn't happened.

"Is it permanent?" Chuck wanted to know.

"No one knows. The doctor said it could take a few days, weeks or months before he remembers anything. Or he might never get his memory back." Kurt looked down on the floor as he said those last words. He still blamed himself for what happened to Neil and right know he wasn't strong enough to look Chuck in the eyes.

"It's probably best if you'd stick to our story. You know, about the camping and all." Kurt finally broke the silence between them.

"Yeah, that's probably best. He won't be able to help us anyway without any memory of what happened" Chuck said quietly.

Kurt cleared his throat. "Yeah ... So are you going to stay?"

Surprised Chuck looked up. He hadn't even thought about that. Only a few moments ago he had thought that he couldn't stay in this house for more than a night. But how could he leave now? "Of course I'm staying." He finally said determinedly.

XXXXXXX

After Kurt had went back to his apartment a few hours later, Neil and Chuck sat silently in the living room.

Neil was watching some family photo albums. He looked at the pictures, trying to remember anything, but all he could see were strangers smiling at him from the pictures.

With a frustrated sigh he put the album next to him on the couch.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." He told his father and got up.

"Do you need any help?" Chuck asked.

"No, thanks." Neil hesitated a second before he slowly walked to his own room. He wasn't sure how to act around his father. There seemed to be a distance between them and he didn't think that was just because of his memory loss. He figured they didn't have the best relationship before. That would explain why his father left for his trip alone. Or maybe he had refused to come with him? If only he could remember.

XXXXXXX

Chuck had tried for hours to get some sleep, but he kept thinking about his son. Would he still be okay if he hadn't left? He knew it had been selfish to just leave Neil alone. But at the time he had just seen Neil as a 22-year old man, who had been living on his own for some time before the Odyssey 5 mission. But Kurt was right – 22 years wasn't really that much older than 17.

Suddenly he heard a scream coming from Neil's room. Startled he quickly jumped out of his bed and ran over to Neil to see what happened.

He found his son sitting upright in his bed, trembling all over.

"Neil, what happened?" He asked worried.

Trying to regain his composure again, Neil took a few deep breaths before he answered his father. "Just a bad dream. I'm sorry I woke you." He said in a shaky voice.

"That's okay." Chuck reached for Neil's hand, but hesitated before he took it. He had never been that close with his son. Noticing his fathers hesitation, Neil pulled his hand back and rubbed over his tired eyes. Immediately Chuck felt a stab of guilt. "What was the dream about?"

Neil let out a long breath before he answered. "It was weird. I saw my mother. At least I think it was her. I called her mom, so ... She ran out of the house and I called after her but she didn't stop. Then I saw her with a gun in her hand. I tried to stop her, but ... but I came too late. And when she pulled the trigger, I ... I don't know, I was in some kind of space shuttle and I looked down on earth. Then I heard the shot and the whole planet just exploded. That's when I woke up." Nervously Neil looked down on his hands. "It was just a crazy dream."

Chuck sat silent for a while and looked thoughtfully at his son. Maybe it was time to tell him the truth? But where was he supposed to start?

"I'm fine ... Dad." Neil hesitated a second before he called his father "Dad". This man was still a total stranger to him, it felt strange calling him that. "You can go back to bed, really."

"You sure?" Chuck looked worried at his son. "I could stay here until you fall asleep."

"No, that's not necessary, really."

As the trembling had stopped, Chuck decided it was best to leave his son alone and went back to his own bedroom. He didn't think though that he would get any sleep soon. Now he had another worry. Should he tell Neil the whole truth? Or would it be best to just let him believe he was a normal 17 year old teenager for a while longer? Somehow the last option made Chuck feel more comfortable. Not because he was convinced that it would be best for Neil, but because Neil never had been a normal 17 year old teenager. Before he had turned into an A-Student he had taken drugs – Chuck didn't even want to know what kind of drugs that had been – and he had drank way too much alcohol. Then, after Mark had run away, he had studied so hard, that he had lost most of his friends – including his long-time girlfriend. Neil had lost his teenage naiveté much too early. Now he had a chance to get that back, even if it was only for a short time.

And Chuck had a chance to rebuild his relationship with his son before it was too late. He knew that Neil had always worked hard to make him pride. But no matter what he did, it had never been enough for him. The only thing Neil had ever asked of him, and he had refused him that. This time he would make sure that Neil knew how proud he was of him.

Tbc

A.N: I hope you like this chapter. If so, let me know, I'm always happy about feedback. ;)