A/N: I'm so sorry that I'm not thanking those who have left reviews as often as I should. Usually I try to keep up with it, but the past couple weeks I've been on stress overload and on a huge time crunch. So, thank you to all those who have faved, followed, and reviewed.

Lucas walked into the living room and rubbed the back of his head. Even though it was close to eleven o'clock in the morning, he still felt dead tired. It had only been a week since he started his therapy sessions, but he felt as if they weren't helping at all. If anything, the nightmares were getting worse and more frequent. Oh what he would give for one decent night's sleep! Quite frankly, almost anything considering the nightmares and the restlessness started soon after he went back on board the Enterprise. Three months of pretty much no sleep… how am I still standing? he joked with himself.

"Good morning," Riley's voice sang.

He turned towards where her voice was coming from, and sat down opposite of her at the dining room table. "Morning."

She looked up from her book and smiled that smile that Lucas always loved, but once her eyes met his, the smile faded. "Are you okay? You've seem rather exhausted ever since you came home last week."

Lucas smiled weakly as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Guess I'm having some trouble adjusting to life back here."

As he looked back at Riley, he saw that she had raised an eyebrow and noticed that she didn't look all that convinced at his answer. Lucas couldn't blame her… he just couldn't tell her the real reason. Heck, he had a hard enough time trying to talk to his therapist about the whole thing.

"You do realize that if you ever need to talk about anything; that I'm here for you, right?" she asked.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"Okay. So, what do you want to do? Or should I say, what are you up for?"

He chuckled to himself. "Honestly, not much. I don't know, how does a movie sound to you? Just nothing too involved in a plot."

Riley's face brightened up once again. "That sounds great! I know we have quite a bit in that category. Maya's letting me borrow Airplane if you want a comedy."

All the blood drained from Lucas' face, and his stomach started to churn. Yes, most of the story was stupid and goofy, but it all took place on a plane that they were trying to prevent from crashing. "Uh… do you mind if we watch something besides that?"

The concern in Riley's face returned. "Okay," she dragged out. Midway? It's a bit more involved but it's a story we already know."

He closed his eyes as his throat started to close. No… not now! he mind yelled, but nothing could stop the feeling of cold sea spray and a harsh wind from sending chills down his spine.

"Anything you have in mind?" she counter suggested, but Lucas didn't respond. The same frightened and distressed look remained on his face as his mind took him back.

Another explosion sounded, causing the fighter jet to sprawl across the skies even more.

"I don't have power!" Farkle shouted. "Generator's out!"

"Reset!"

Farkle flicked several switches to no avail. "Can't!"

"We've lost the electronics! Switching over to emergency IFF!"

"Squawking seven seven hundred! We've gone to four hundred knots!"

"We're going to have to fly her straight through!" he announced.

"Cowboy, that'll put us in the center of the biggest thunderhead in the world!"

"I'm flying on grace right now!" he replied. "I don't know how much longer I can keep us in the air!"

"Griffin, what's the nearest point of land?" he shouted.

"Estimate one hundred miles due east!"

He shook his head. "She's not responding! We're going to have to punch out!"

"When do we go?"

"At five thousand."

Farkle nodded as he radioed, "Mayday, mayday! Navy two five oh one hundred miles east of Cape Fear." Once the distress call was sent, Farkle began preparations to eject. "Lock control of the harness!"

He flicked a lever. "Lock!" he echoed

"Visor down!"

He brought the plastic visor down over his eyes. "Visor down!"

"Mask on!"

He brought his oxygen mask over his nose and clicked it into place. "Mask on!"

"Lower seats!"

"Check!"

"Command ejection rear seat!"

He shifted the lever back, giving ejection control to Farkle. Once the lever clicked into place, the jet began to jerk about even worse. "I've lost her! Eject us now!"

"Position yourself! See you down there, Friar!" Farkle said right before he pressed the ejection controls, forcing the canopy back and sending him into the air.

His seat stayed right where it was, and the ocean was coming closer and closer to him as each second passed by. "Come on! Eject!" he shouted as he pulled the emergency ejection lever, sending him into the air a few seconds before the jet crashed into the sea.

Rain pelted up against him as his chute opened and he began to descend towards the water. Once the cold water enveloped him, he immediately became tangled in the cords of his parachute. With the combination of the choppy waters and the weight of the wet nylon, he felt his body being pulled underneath the waterline. He tried to unclip the chute from him as he tried to ignore the cold that began to seep into his bones, but the release refused to budge. He struggled to get it free as he began to feel the pressure in his lungs build up; the need for air became stronger by the second. He quickly took off his helmet, allowing him a bit more room to maneuver. He reached into one of his pockets, pulled out his switchblade, and cut the chute's cords. After the last cord was cut, he inflated his life preserver, sending him to the surface. As soon as his face broke through the water, he exhaled the breath he was holding, and quickly inhaled before another swell crashed down on top of him.

*FLASH*

"Is anybody out there?" he coughed. "Can you read me? Help… help!"

*FLASH*

He looked up and saw the helo hovering over an area relatively close by. Again, he shouted to no avail. As he saw it start to pull away, he gathered his remaining strength, swallowed, and reached to his belt, pulled out his pistol, and started firing into the air.

*FLASH*

The helicopter was suddenly above him, a bright search light surrounding the area. He could barely hear the helo's blades chopping through the air. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was someone reaching out a hand to him.

Lucas gasped as he felt something touch his arm, bringing him out of the flashback. He turned to see Riley sitting beside him, a look of worry plastered on her face as she quickly pulled her arm away.

"Lucas, what is wrong?"

He shook his head as he looked down at his hands. "Don't worry about it."

"How can I? Whatever is happening is hurting you so much and I want to help you through it! Now if you'll just –"

"I said don't worry about it!" he roared.

Riley's eyes widened as her mouth dropped in surprise. Once he saw her reaction, Lucas closed his eyes again and his mouth tightened into a thin line. He stood up as quickly as he could and headed for the door.

"Lucas!" Riley called out to him. "Wait!"

But he didn't respond. In one swift motion, Lucas grabbed his leather jacket from the rack, opened the door, and slammed it behind him; leaving a confused and worried Riley behind… left to wonder what had just happened.

A/N #2: Only two chapters left! You guys ready for it? If you could let me know what you thought before you leave that would be great :)