Chapter 13

Lucas and Alex spent the next two days together. He had managed to move everything he needed to work anywhere but the bridge into her guest quarters, much to her chagrin. She had spent forty five minutes raving companionably about the mess the place was now in and how did he live like that? Lucas had just laughed at her. She was notorious for her little friendly rants to those who knew her. The crew had begun joking that they must be attached at the hip when they thought they weren't looking.

Wendy had even managed to recruit Alex for more than psychology appointments and therapy sessions. She had convinced her to help her with a minor project she had been working on, to develop a biological treatment for plasma rifle burns. Lucas had been more than happy to tag along, helping where he could and working on his own routine assignments when he was inexplicably locked out of the conversation.

He found getting two women scientists together in the same room, working on the same project, resulted in the same phenomenon that occurred when two women were busy gossiping. Usually about men. Lucas didn't begrudge them it though. Alex seemed to let go when she worked and well she needed it. Medical research wasn't really his forte' anyway.

Lucas awoke the morning of the third day with someone rapping on Alex's door. He tried to ignore it, Alex seemed to be capable of sleeping through it, she hadn't even budged. After the fifth round of knocking he decided whoever it was wasn't going away unless someone answered them. Carefully disentangling himself from Alex's limbs, he hauled his protesting body out of the bed and stumbled for the door. His hair was going every where and he must have looked like someone had sent him through a wind tunnel he thought as he pulled the door open.

"What?" he barked running his hand through his sleep rumpled hair. Tony stood on the other side of the door and said absolutely nothing. He was too busy looking past Lucas at Alex and back again. He broke into a large grin.

"Uh huh. Alright Lucas!" he congratulated him, clapping him on the shoulder. Lucas knew very well what he was congratulating him on and ignored it.

"What do you want?" he groaned at him. Tony was still gaping.

"Oh, Captain Bridger called down to our room, when I told him you weren't there he told me to find you. Now I see why you weren't. I knew you had hied off somewhere after I saw half the room gone. I don't blame you, I think I'd prefer her quarters too," Tony rambled. Lucas considered head slapping him, but thought better of it.

"Alright, alright I know your position on my choice of sleeping accommodations. Why is Captain Bridger looking for me?" he asked, trying to force him to get to the point.

"OH! We're there. Or almost. Captain wants you both up on the bridge so we can all get a look at what we are dealing with," Tony answered, the message he'd been sent to deliver had become an after thought.

"We'll be right there," Lucas said and before he could launch back into his take on Lucas' assumed conquest he shut the door in his face. Let Tony assume what ever he liked, it would be all over the boat within a matter of minutes anyway with Tony as the messenger.

#**#

Lucas and Alex arrived on the bridge within thirty minutes. They would have arrived sooner, but Lucas had to very nearly physically take Alex there. She was still terrified of Sanborn and what he might do to her if he could get his hands on her again. Lucas had tried to explain that she was safe on the seaQuest and there was no way he could. It didn't seem to help much. She spent the whole trip to the bridge muttering Darwin's words under her breath. "Ghosts can't hurt you unless you let them."

He hated to see her so torn up and afraid. He wished he could make it go away and knew he couldn't. How could he do that when he couldn't even bring himself to tell her he loved her too? It wasn't that he couldn't show it, he had no problem with that. But somehow saying it out loud made it concrete and unchangeable. He didn't want to change it, but he had never fallen like this. He felt like someone had shoved him off a cliff with no warning and no safety gear.

He stuffed his contemplation to the back of his mind as the bridge doors chimed and slide open. Alex walked beside him, hand in hand, like a mechanical doll. Every step seemed to take every bit of will power she had. Despite the leers and snickers he knew he would get he dropped her hand and slide one arm around her waist instead, hoping the added contact would offer some measure of comfort. Let them gawk. He didn't care anymore anyway.

Bridger turned to face them as they came in. He looked them both over so briefly someone who didn't know him might have missed it. But his expression betrayed no mockery only a light-hearted amusement and what looked oddly like approval. The other crew members weren't all so benevolent. More than a few were grinning at them with knowing expressions on their faces. Alex was too busy trying to keep it together to notice. Lucas shot a look that could kill at the back of Tony's head.

"We're closing in on the perimeter of the trench now. Ortiz has WSKRS out searching for the installation. We should have a visual with in a minute or two," Nathan relayed, "Are you okay Alex?" he asked, while everyone else might be focused on the latest bit of rumor, he was more interested in what was going on here and now. Alex nodded weakly and swallowed apprehensively.

"I'll be fine," she whispered. Nathan didn't look like he was entirely sure he believed her but he nodded anyway, patting her on the shoulder reassuringly. Wendy cast her a warm glance from across the way and smiled encouragingly. Alex managed a nervous smile back. Dr. Smith simply shrugged at Lucas and held her hands up as if to say what can you do? He knew exactly what she was referring to. Of course she would know more than anyone what the rest of the crew was thinking.

"I've got it Captain," Ortiz announced.

"Let's see it," the captain ordered. What popped up on the screen left everyone present speechless and every thought of gossip fled. They stared back at an installation situated on the rim of a dormant volcano and the place was armed to the teeth. It looked more like a military base outfitted for the next World War, not a research facility. Drones swam back and forth ready to fire on anything that moved and there were so many gun turrets attached to the installation it looked like a huge metal sea urchin.

"Oh my God," Commander Ford voiced for them all.

"How are we supposed to get past all that?" O'Neill asked feebly from his station. Bridger looked rather unsettled himself.

"I have no idea. We damn sure can't just move in. He'll just blow us out of the water. Ortiz make sure we stay out of sensor range. Lucas can you tell if you can gain access to the weapons system? Maybe we can disable it," he mused aloud. Ortiz busied himself ensuring they were out of sensor range. Lucas released Alex with a regretful glance and vaulted up to his own station, settling into the chair and scanning the screen in front of him. What he saw was not reassuring.

"No Captain, not without him knowing I'm doing it. He has that place buried under so much digital security he'd know I was there the second I tried," he answered him. Alex hadn't moved, she stood stock still where he had left her, her eyes riveted on the screen.

"Alright can we disable it manually?" Bridger asked. Henderson shook her head. "No Captain, we would have to get within sensor range to do it."

"There has to be a hole in his armor somewhere. Everybody makes one mistake. We just have to find it," Commander Ford insisted. When Alex finally managed to speak, her voice was so clouded with emotion Lucas didn't even recognize it.

"Oh no Commander. I wouldn't count on that. You're dealing with a man who will have thought through every possible scenario. He doesn't make mistakes," she forced out.

"Then what are we supposed to do? There has to be some way in there and we'll find it," Bridger assured her. Alex gave him a look that spoke volumes. She knew he would, she just didn't think he would find it in time.

"Captain, I don't think we have that kind of time. The longer we sit here, the bigger the chance he's going to notice us. We can't exactly back off and make plans, we won't even be able to see the place if we do," Brody told him. Weapons and tactical were his specialty and Bridger knew it.

"Do you have a better idea?" Nathan asked, hoping he did.

"I really don't know Captain. With the information we have there's no way for me to say with any certainty what will work without getting us killed." Brody confessed.

"If we could just get in there, I could disable the weapons system from inside. Then you could get as many men as you wanted in. Assuming we can stop Sanborn from initiating another self destruct," Lucas added. Alex didn't look like she was even paying attention, her gaze was still locked on the view screen, her bottom lip caught in her teeth. Lucas knew that expression. She only did it when she was in deep contemplation.

"That's the problem. We can't get in without him knowing, we can't get closer without getting killed and as soon as he knows we are here, he's going to shot first, ask questions later and destroy any evidence he was ever here," Bridger reasoned.

"You won't be able to find a single fault with his technical reasoning, but Sanborn is still human," Alex interjected suddenly.

"What do you mean by that?" Commander Ford asked.

Alex took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. "Bait him. He's a genius Commander, but he's also arrogant and completely self assured that not only what he is doing is right but that he is the only one who can. The ethics of intentions Commander. He'll stop at nothing to do what he thinks is best for humanity," she tried to explain. Bridger interceded before Ford could come up with a response, following her train of thought.

"Alright, it might work. But what do you suggest we bait him with?" he asked Alex looked absolutely terrified.

"Me. He thinks I'm dead. If he finds out I'm not I don't think he'll be able to resist the urge to return me to what he sees as my proper place." she told him. Her voice was quavering and she looked like she might turn and run at the first sudden movement. Lucas was down from his station and by her side as fast as he could scramble there.

"Alex. Are you insane? You want to go back there after what he did? What do you think he's going to do to you when he finds out the chip in your head is useless now? Invite you over for dinner?" he railed. Alex gave him a pleading look to understand.

"No, he'll probably kill me. But it would keep him busy long enough for you to blast your way in. He'll be too preoccupied with me to worry about initiating a self destruct. You were right Lucas. There are children down there, one of them might not be mine, but unless we do something they are going to grow up and suffer the same fate I did. The people he already has down there are already suffering it. What else can we do? We have to get in there some how." she argued. Lucas shook his head violently.

"No, no, there is no way I'm letting you go in there by yourself. If you go I'm going with you." Lucas insisted, he wasn't speaking from a logical point of view, he didn't care that he might be of some sort of aid in the mission, he just wasn't willing to let her go in there and never come back out again.

"No Lucas. You would just end up like I was. No." Alex argued back.

Bridger had stood there silently watching the exchange. Everyone on the bridge had. Some looked like they thought the idea had merit, others looked like they thought they were both insane.

"Wait a minute. Don't you think you should ask me first? I'm the Captain." he put in. Both of them looked at him waiting for him to say something else. Neither of them had a better idea.

"You both might have something Alex, but there has to be a better way of doing it. Just waving a white flag and handing you over isn't an option. Not only is it too much of a risk, you can't guarantee it would work the way you planned." he reasoned. Alex looked exasperated.

"Then what?" she spat in frustration. Lucas wrapped a reassuring and more than a little possessive arm around her shoulders.

"If he is as arrogant as you say he is. I don't think he could resist getting you back either. But he also wanted Lucas. When he took you both, he sent someone to do it for him. He didn't come himself. If he can just send henchman for you, neither of you will have a chance of getting out of there alive. You have to take that into account." Bridger said, his eyes weren't on either of them, his mind was busy turning over plans. "I think it's about time you two ran away together." He said after a moments pause.