"Strength does not come from physical capacity.

It comes from indomitable will."

- Mahatma Gandhi -

The bridge crew was silent. The machinery around them clicked on and Nathan sat in his chair, ramrod straight.

They were waiting; silence had to be broken, but no one knew how to do it without shattering the illusion. They didn't want to ruin it, didn't want to change what the duty roster swore was about to happen.

Ben broke it though with a smile on his face and whistling a happily little tune that made everyone laugh. Nathan grinned quietly at Jonathan who looked at Katie – she'd been the one to suggest the crew not be informed of Lucas' status, to just let them find out what was happening when she made up the bridge shifts.

Lucas last dose of chemotherapy had been almost a month before. He'd been unresisting through out the entirety of the last round, but the last treatment… Lucas had been limp in his bed and shaking from doing something as simple as taking a sip of water. Abbott had promised him it'd been as expected though Nathan still felt they came too close to losing him that night.

Morning had brought a whole new life with Kristin appearing in the doorway, clutching blood counts and test results and a laugh in her voice. She'd breathed out that he was in the clear and Nathan woke Lucas up so Kristin to tell him, the boy all but bouncing off the bed in his own joy.

Slowly, Lucas had begun to gain back energy as his body mended the damage done by the treatments and as soon as he could walk a few feet unassisted, he immediately started asking to be put back on duty. Lucas had been told months before by Admiral Noyce that when he was well he would be given a formal title of Chief Computer Analyst and placed on the UEO payroll. While he'd gotten paid by the UEO previously for his work, the money he'd been given hadn't been from military funds – it'd been salvaged from grants and other venues.

Of course Kristin, Abbott, Jessie, and Joshua had all said no and resisted his charms for a few more weeks until Levine finally had to concede defeat; Lucas could get from his quarters to the seadeck and back again without any ill effects and he was no longer nauseous or fatigued. With promises to say when he'd reached his limits, Abbott and Jessie signed off on his forms, Levine made sure the t's were crossed and i's dotted and Lucas was officially declared well.

Katie had taken the news with the care of a sister. She'd questioned Lucas long and hard about his ability to do his research and bridge duty, asking him about things he wouldn't have thought mattered but somehow did. In the end, however, she'd been satisfied and agreed with him to make it surprise.

And a surprise it was. When the duty schedule popped up in everyone's electronic inboxes, there'd been a flurry of people asking her if it was true. Lucas' name had appeared between O'Neill's and Ortiz's, times new roman font declaring that he would be on duty for four hours beginning at 1100 hours. No one cared that for the relatively small amount of time Lucas had a thirty minute lunch break built in.

Miguel looked across to Tim who turned to glance at him as well, gesturing to the headset with his fingers and giving him a number.

They were silent for a few seconds and then Miguel broke it, he voice soft as he told Tim, "I'm sorry." And he was – Tim had been spending copious amounts of time with everyone but him. It had taken Miguel a few days to figure out what exactly he'd done wrong and when he realized it, it had been a good crack to the skull.

"You're forgiven. Just... just give me time," Tim said back and he watched Miguel nod before turning back to the communications console. "So you think he'll make it the entire four hours?"

"Maybe. He's a stronger kid than I thought he was," Miguel admitted. "He'll probably want to stay longer, if anything."

A new voice cut in. "And I expect fully that everyone present will ensure that Lucas doesn't stay any longer than he's supposed to, Mr. Ortiz," Nathan told them and he gave them both a stern look when they turned to see him standing beside Hitchcock with her headset on.

"Yes, sir. Understood, sir."

"Now, I'd appreciate if both of you could pay attention to your work." Said with some amusement but still authoritative, Nathan was sure both would give proper due to the information before them. He handed back the set to Katie and glanced down at his watch, noting that there was five more minutes before Lucas was set to be there.

He was unsurprised to see Lucas walk in when he looked back up. Lips quirked up, Lucas said nothing and did nothing extravagant, just held his little computer to him and waved hello to Ben before making his way to the appropriate station, beginning repairs.

A sigh of relief was uttered, the normal chatter of the bridge crew resumed and Nathan looked around. He looked at Shan, telling him, "All ahead full, Chief." Nathan slid back into his chair and laughed a little to himself as he heard Hitchcock reprimand Ortiz and O'Neill again, Ben talking over something with Jonathan and Darwin quietly watching it all from his tank.

Things were certainly getting back to status quo. He could only hope it would stay that way, though Nathan knew, watching Lucas jokingly push Phillips' hand away from his bald head, that things had changed irrevocably.

He wasn't sure if it was for the better, but Nathan knew he wouldn't change a thing.

"Every end is a new beginning."

- Anonymous -