Chapter Seven

Italian highway, near the coast, twenty minutes later…

He had been searching for twenty minutes when he found the car.

It had apparently skidded off the road and came to a halt, unable to back out of the sand it had come to a halt on.

Quickly getting out, he searched for any sign of Lucas but found none inside the car.

There were, however, foot prints leading down to the beach.

Bridger followed them, reporting back via his PAL that he'd found the car and was in pursuit of Lucas.

He found him sitting on the beach. Relief flooded all over him at the sight.

Unfortunately, a third of the bottle of whiskey was already gone and it looked like he was preparing to take another swig.

Anger replaced relief rather rapidly.

He snatched the whiskey bottle from the boy's hands and threw it into the surf.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Bridger yelled at the kid, sternly.

"Uh, I think I'm sittin' on the beach," Lucas said, smirking drunkenly at him. "What are you doin'?"

"I'm chasing after a boy who's in a lot of trouble," he told him, sternly.

"Really?" Lucas said, hiccupping. "Anybody I know?"

Bridger fought to hold onto his temper and patience, but both were at their breaking point.

"Cut the bull crap, Lucas," he growled, grabbing the boy by the collar. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Lucas asked.

"Home," Bridger told him, beginning to pull him back toward the car.

"I told you," Lucas said, trying to jerk free. "S'not my home—it never was!"

"Lucas," The captain said, sighing.

"No," Lucas said, managing to jerk free but stumbled and fell onto his behind in the sand. "I'm not goin' back there!"

"Oh yes, you are," Bridger told him, firmly. "And you're going back right now, young man!"

He reached down to help the boy up, only to have him jerk away and scoot beyond his reach.

"You can't make me," Lucas growled, continuing to scoot.

"Wanna bet?" Bridger growled, lunging and grabbing the boy.

In one swift move, he'd picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder to start carrying him back to the car.

"C-Captain!" Lucas exclaimed, bile rising in his throat. "I'm gonna be sick!"

Bridger had figured as much and quickly put the boy on his own two feet again, where he proceeded to up chuck his guts out.

This went on for several minutes until Lucas had emptied everything from his stomach.

"Feel better?" Bridger asked, handing him a handkerchief to wipe his mouth on.

"Not really," Lucas replied, wiping his mouth.

The captain sighed. "C'mon, Lucas," he pleaded. "Talk to me!"

Lucas' eyes hardened. "There's nothin' to talk about," he growled. "I'm fine."

"The hell you are!" Bridger growled, angrily. "Do you have any idea what could have happened!?"

No response, just a blank stare from the kid.

"You could have killed yourself!" he finally yelled, at his wit's end.

"So what?" Lucas challenged, petulantly. "It isn't like anybody cares what happens to me."

"There's no one that—" Bridger gasped. "Lucas Nathaniel Wolenczak, how can you say that?!"

"Because it's true," the boy growled, angrily. "You know it is!"

Bridger felt like giving the boy a good shake right about then…or perhaps a good spanking.

"Lucas," he said in-between clenched teeth. "Kristen cares what happens to you, Krieg cares what happens to you, Darwin cares what happens to you! Ford, Hitchcock, Crocker, O'Neill, Miguel, and the list goes on and on! But most of all, Lucas…I care what happens to you!"

Lucas looked away, not wanting to look him in the eye.

"You're just saying that," he said. "I know I just get in the way of things on SeaQuest…"

"Now wait just a damn minute," Bridger stopped him. "You do not just get in the way, Lucas! You are a vital part of my crew…"

"I'm just a kid, Captain," Lucas stated, sneering. "Remember?"

"That's right, you are a kid," he agreed with him, as it was all too clear at the moment. "But you're a kid that built a computer that allows a dolphin to talk!"

Lucas shrugged.

"Anybody could do it," he stated. "Hell, even Ben could do it if he really tried!"

Bridger really couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The boy had so little faith in himself…but there was more going on here then he was letting on.

"You know what, Lucas," he told him, crossing his arms. "The more I hear the more certain I become about something…"

"What's that?" the boy asked, rolling his eyes. "That I need to be in reform school?"

"No," Bridger said, seriously. "That you're in need of a good old-fashioned spanking."

Lucas snorted.

"Yeah, right," he said, scoffing. "They didn't care enough about me to even do that."

Bridger narrowed his eyes, his course laid in.

"Well then, Mr. Wolenczak," he stated, firmly. "Let me show you just how much I really care about you."

Lucas' eyes widened at the implication, but before he could do anything he found himself in the man's strong grip being led back to the cars.

"C-Captain," he stammered, trying to dig his heels in. "What are you doing?"

"I told you, Lucas," Bridger said, sitting down on the hood of the car. "I'm going to show you just how much I care about you."

He then promptly pulled the boy over his lap and propped one knee up so that the boy's jean clad rear end was sticking up in the air.

"Uh, Captain," Lucas said, attempting to squirm free. "Can't we talk about t-this?"

"What's there to talk about, Lucas?" Bridger said, raising his hand back. "I'm about to give you a spanking and that is that."

He then brought his hand down, hard.

Lucas yelped at that first stinging smack, and attempted to squirm harder.

The captain ignored his squirming and proceeded to rain down smack after smack onto his backside.

"C-Captain, p-please," Lucas said, as the heat and pain in his rear began to really register.

"I'm a little busy right now, Lucas," Bridger stated. "I'll be with you in a minute."

He continued to spank him.

Lucas bit his lip, feeling the tears he'd been holding inside for so long begin to leak out.

"P-Please, S-Sir," he stammered, his voice catching, "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what, Lucas?" Bridger asked, not stopping even for a moment. "Sorry for risking your life by drinking—when you're underage—and driving—also when you're underage—or for scaring everybody out of half of their lives?!"

"Um…" Lucas said, hesitantly.

"Perhaps," Bridger went on, still spanking. "It's that you're sorry for believing that no one on this entire planet cares about you, when many people actually do? Or are you just sorry in general for all the suffering in the world? I'm not as quick in the head as I used to be, son, so you'll have to be specific? Which are you sorry for?!"

Lucas couldn't really answer, as he could no longer form a rational thought, because of the intense heat radiating from what had once been his butt.

"I'm…I'm…" he gasped out, "I'M JUST SORRY, OKAY!"

That was when the dam burst and the tears started falling.

Bridger stopped spanking then, knowing he'd finally broken through the boy's defenses.

Sitting him up, he pulled him against his chest and allowed him to sob his broken heart out.

"Shh, shh," he comforted, "I know, I know…"

Lucas shook his head.

"N-No, y-you don't know," he stammered, tears and snot falling in equal measures now. "You don't understand…"

"What don't I understand?" Bridger asked, keeping a firm grip on his shoulders. "Please, Lucas, tell me!"

"T-They're dead…" Lucas said, wiping at his running nose with one hand and rubbing his aching behind with the other. "…a-and I-I d-don't f-feel a-anything!"

Bridger blinked. "You don't feel anything?" he asked, quietly.

Lucas shook his head.

"M-My parents are dead and I don't feel a thing about it," he said, sniffling. "Except that I'm pissed they never once cared about me and I f-f-feel r-relieved!"

"Oh, Lucas," the captain said, sighing. "Why couldn't you just say something?"

It broke his heart that the boy had been feeling this way and couldn't confide in him.

"I-I thought y-you'd think I was a selfish bastard," Lucas told him, honestly. "T-That I was just an ungrateful brat!"

"A brat, maybe," Bridger said, teasing, "but never ungrateful and definitely not a 'selfish bastard'. C'mere, son…"

He pulled him into another crushing hug.

Lucas hugged him back, but then pulled away and stared at him.

"That's the second time you called me that," he said, quietly.

"What?" Bridger asked, curious.

"Son," Lucas said, wiping the last of his tears. "B-But I'm not. I'm no one's son now—in some ways, I never was."

"Lucas," Bridger said, sighing. That was when an idea popped into his head. "You could be, you know…"

Lucas blinked in confusion. "Could be what?" he asked, puzzled.

"Someone's son," Bridger told him, smiling.

"Who'd want to adopt a sixteen year old kid?" Lucas asked, smirking.

"I would," Bridger told him, firmly. "And let's try fourteen, shall we?"

Lucas blinked at him. "H-How do you know that?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"Kristen found your birth certificate," he explained, shrugging.

"Oh," the boy said, and then looked him in the eye. "Do you mean that?"

"About adopting you?" Bridger asked. "Yes, I do—if you'll have me, that is."

"Are you kidding?" Lucas said, smiling. "You've been more like a dad to me than he ever was!"

Bridger laughed, relieved that the boy still had his sense of humor.

"Then, I guess it looks like I'm going to have to add a room to my house on my island," he stated, smiling.

They hugged a third time, both feeling better than they had in days.

"I really am sorry," Lucas mumbled, quietly. "You know—for that."

He nodded toward the other car, the one he'd taken.

Bridger sighed.

"I understand why you did it," he said, but then took his chin firmly. "But I just want to make one thing perfectly clear to you here and now, young man…"

Lucas swallowed. "W-What's that, sir?" he asked, hesitantly.

"If you ever—and I mean ever—do something that stupid again," he warned him, sternly. "I'll make the spanking you just got seem like a little tap in comparison to the one you'll get then. Understand?"

Lucas gulped. "Yes, sir," he told him, nodding firmly. "I read you loud and clear."

He reached back to rub his still aching behind when he said this, causing the captain to smile.

"All right then, son," Bridger said, smiling. "Ready to go face Kristen?"

"Um…" Lucas said, biting his lip. "…do I have to?"

Bridger laughed, long and hard, as they made their way back to the villa.

…TBC…