SQ 2034 1: Beginnings

by Artemis

This is part one of my series, and part one of that part (I can feel my sanity leaving already <g>). Anyway, necessary disclaimer:

SeaQuest is not mine. Yeah, duh. Unfortunately, I don't have enough money to own SeaQuest. I don't know anyone who owns or once owned SeaQuest. I very much wish that I did. So, to continue, Lucas, Hudson (yeah, I know he's hated, but I kinda messed with his brain), O'Neill, Tony, Ford, Henderson (ICK!!!), and Bourne do not belong to me. Ensign Gorman and her mostly deceased family does, however. I intend no offense to Gothics.

I've given this story a rating of PG-13, because of some violence and maybe a little language (not a lot).

Warning: A bit of drama

The year 2034. The refit of the SeaQuest II is finally done, and everything is finished to perfection, including the new crew. Some of the crew is from the previous sailing, and some of the crew is brand-new, most just out of the academy or freshly enlisted.

SQ 2034 1: Beginnings

by Artemis

Prologue

SeaQuest docking bay, June 5th, 2034, 1100 hours. Commander Ford is in the docking bay, assigning all the crewmembers to their quarters. "Ensigns Alvarez and Amberson, B-deck, bunk 1. Ensigns Burnheart and Clemente, B-deck, bunk 2. Ensigns Cunera and Davis, B-deck, bunk 3,"
Commander Ford continues with the list as a young woman, no older than 20, makes her way through the docking area. She is in uniform, and her ID tag says: Ensign Christi Gorman, Serial Number ENS006770-536475. She adjusts her large duffel bag and checks her smaller one, apparently waiting for Commander Ford to call out her name and bunk assignment.

"Ensign C. Gorman, Sea-deck, bunk 5. Ensign L. Wolenczak, Sea-deck, bunk 6." Christi hears the assignment and makes her way to the new mag-lev, sitting down on one of the cushions. Ensign Lucas Wolenczak rushes in just before the doors close, then nervously adjusts his duffel as the mag-lev comes to a stop at Sea-deck.

"Sea-deck, thank you for riding mag-lev," the computerized voice says as the doors open and the two Ensigns step out and walk to their respective quarters.

Chapter One

Sea-deck. Christi's quarters (bunk 5) are slightly cramped but bigger than some. Christi is present. She unpacks her uniforms and civvies; the civvies are all darkly colored and morbid, and not all of them are what the majority of Americans would deem as conservative. She hangs a black velvet cloak on a hook and dumps her now empty duffels into a small closet provided for her. She walks to the hatch and opens it to leave the room.

The room is now scattered with Christi's personal effects. A black picture frame with a picture of Christi, four teenagers, and two adults, presumably her siblings and parents, a black throw along with a burgundy pillow on her bunk, and various black, midnight blue, royal purple, and burgundy hair items on a small desk are all present. A small object, a black rope necklace with a small Ankh on it, is laying on the desk.

The interior of Lucas' quarters. He has finished unpacking, and walks out of the room. His personal effects are also laid out in the room. Included are a silver picture frame with a picture of himself, Captain Bridger, and Tony Piccolo, a midnight blue throw, and a black comb/brush. In the hallway, Christi is making her way to the bridge, when she bumps into someone. That someone is Lucas.

"Hey, watch it!" Christi says irritably as Lucas helps her up.

"Sorry, I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings."

"Well, be more careful next time," Christi says, her tone hardening.

"Sure. What’s your name?" Lucas asks, curious.

"Ensign Christi M. Gorman, serial number EN00..." Christi states stiffly,saluting.

Lucas interrupts. "You don’t need to salute me or state your serial number. I’m an Ensign, Ensign Lucas Wolenczak," Lucas holds out his hand, but Christi refrains from shaking it. There is a look of slight disgust on her face.

"Pleased to meet you I'm sure, but I was on my way to the bridge, so if you’ll excuse me.." Christi starts to walk away.

Lucas quickly catches up to her. It is already clear that he likes her. "I was just on my way to the bridge also. I’ll walk with you."

"I wasn’t aware the bridge was in the direction of the moonpool," Christi says, smirking. Lucas grins sheepishly.

"I was also going to visit Darwin." Christi looks at him, puzzled.

"The resident dolphin," Lucas says. Christi nods.

"The one that talks?"

"Yeah. I’ll introduce you sometime." Christi doesn’t smile, she just nods again and continues walking to the bridge. The clam doors are open. Christi and Lucas walk in. Christi hurries to the back of the bridge, on the left side. The station is simple, just a screen, keyboard, and headset, which Christi quickly puts on. Lucas is at the same kind of station, on the right side. He puts on his headset and awaits orders from Captain Hudson.

"Ensign Gorman, nice to see you’ve decided to show," Captain Hudson remarks. He turns to Lucas. "Hello Ensign Wolenczak. I trust that you’ve settled into your new cabin?"

"Yes sir," Lucas replies. Christi has a look of trying to remember something on her face. She hits a few keys, and a red alert sounds.

"Shoot!" Christi yells, typing furiously. The red alert ends and she heaves a sigh of relief. Captain Hudson however, isn’t pacified.

"What was that, Ensign?" he asks ominously.

"I hit a wrong key sir. It won’t happen again," Christi replies tonelessly.

"Are you qualified to be on my bridge, Ensign?"

"Captain, I assure you, she’s qualified. I checked her resume," Lucas says, cutting in.

"I don’t believe you are involved, Mr. Wolenczak." Christi cuts in quickly.

"Sir, I am qualified. I served on the Xavier One and the Xavier Two."

"You’re the Ensign that saved the Xavier One’s crew from being killed?"

"Yes sir," Christi replies. Captain Hudson looks mildly impressed.

"Don’t let that little 'mishap' happen again, Ensign. Back to work." Captain Hudson gives a look that says ‘Cut in again and I’ll keel-haul you’ to Lucas, who doesn’t react, and then sits in the command chair.

Chapter Two

Two weeks later, all is quiet out in the waters, a good change from before the refit, since the war between Macronesia and the UEO ended quickly, with the UEO as the victors.

Lieutenant-Commander Kimura has left the UEO Navy, and so her replacement is Lieutenant-Commander O’Neill, who was once just a Lieutenant. Lieutenant Commander O’Neill is at communications, ready to receive or send a message at any time. Lieutenant (full) Henderson, is at Helm, dressed in her uniform, except this uniform has had changes made. Instead of the regular
slacks, the bottom piece of her uniform is a pair of cut-off type shorts, and the top of her uniform is unzipped, but not enough to earn a complaint from Captain Hudson.

Half the men on the bridge are casting longing looks at Henderson, but still

trying to go about their duties. Christi is at her station, and she gives Henderson a look of pure disgust. Christi’s uniform is the regular kind from waist down, but the top has had changes. Her under-tank is black instead of gray, and her collar is pulled up to hide her neck. She has one piece of jewelry, the Ankh necklace from before. Christi looks down ather console as Lucas looks at Henderson, so she doesn’t see the look of disgust Lucas is giving the Lieutenant.

"Ensign Gorman, is there a problem?" Commander Ford asks.

"No, Sir." ‘I’m just disgusted with Lieutenant Henderson, Sir,’ Christi thinks as she concentrates on her readings.

Chapter Three

Lucas is seated in the mess hall, along with about forty other SeaQuest

personnel. Most are in civvies, as is Lucas. Christi appears in the doorway, and the noise quiets to whispers as glances are thrown at her, since no one recognizes her. She looks a little like the grim reaper, clad in a burgundy skirt and a black shirt, and she has thrown her black cloak over her, with the hood shadowing her face for effect. She walks to the cart, and picks up a tray. She puts an apple, a glass of juice, and two slices of bread on it, and ignores the stares as she heads towards Lucas’ table,which is empty except for him. He doesn’t recognize her, and so he shivers
involuntarily.

"Are you going to kill me or something?" he asks, still shivering.

Christi pulls her hood back and raises an eyebrow.

"Why would I do that?" she asks.

"Oh, it’s you, Christi."

"Mind if I sit here?" she asks. Lucas nods, and Christi puts her tray down and sits on an empty chair.

"Nice, but I think Hudson’s going to have a problem with it," Lucas says, eyeing Christi’s clothes.

"You mean the clothing? Captain Hudson will just have to deal with it," Christi replies nonchalantly.

"You’re a Gothic, aren’t you?" Lucas asks, in an accusing tone.

"Just because I am doesn’t give you a reason to insult me," Christi says calmly.

Lucas sighs. "I’m not insulting you. It just explains your coldness and heartlessness," he
replies. Sadness is apparent on his face.

Christi’s also saddened face is framed with light brown hair. Her blue eyes cloud over. "No, it doesn’t," she whispers, obviously in pain. She drops her still-full tray onto the finished-meals cart and goes to change into her uniform for her next shift, leaving Lucas staring after her, before putting his head in his hands.

He stands, then drops his tray on the finished-meals cart and follows her.

Bridge.

Christi and Lucas walk in, the tension between the two is obvious.

They seat themselves at their respective stations, and suddenly an alarm sounds.

"Captain, one unidentified sub Avenger class off our port. They’re flooding torpedo tubes," Christi says, typing at her console.

"Mr. Wolenczak, can you get an ID on the sub?" Lucas starts to furiously type at his station, then shakes his head.

"Sir, it’s not UEO. I can’t get a positive ID on it."

"O’Neill, open a channel with the sub," Captain Hudson orders.

"Aye sir." O’Neill types on his console, and then nods. Captain Hudson starts to speak.

"Unidentified sub, please state who you are and your reasons for flooding your weapon systems." There is no reply, and Captain Hudson sighs.

"Ensign Piccolo, flood torpedo tubes and fire if there is no response in thirty seconds." Commander Ford looks at him. "Sir, are you sure that is wise?" he asks.

Captain Hudson looks at him.

"If the occupants of that sub do not wish to be destroyed, they will respond."

"Aye sir." There is a tense pause on the bridge as the seconds pass. Just before Piccolo fires, the screen flickers to reveal a familiar face.

"Captain Hudson, I presume," says Alexander Bourne, former president of Macronesia.

Chapter Four

"Mr. Bourne, state your reason for arming your weapons in neutral waters," Captain Hudson clenches his hands.

"Why Captain, I thought you knew already. I’ve come to destroy you."

"You know you can’t do that. An Avenger-class sub is a row-boat compared to SeaQuest," Christi says, looking at the screen.

"Ah, a new face. Competition for Lieutenant Henderson, I see."

Lieutenant Henderson reacts to this by shooting Christi a look of hatred. Christi just ignores her.

"Maybe so, but that’s not the topic here. One Avenger-class sub cannot possibly hope to take on SeaQuest. You couldn’t even beat the Xavier two," Christi says, full of disgust and hatred for the man who destroyed people very dear to her. Bourne smiles. He knows exactly what is going through Christi’s head.

"That’s exactly what your parents thought about the Red Robin, before I killed them." Christi cringes visibly, and Captain Hudson takes over.

"Bourne, get out of here. You have no jurisdiction in these waters, and you are provoking the SeaQuest. I warn you, my weapons officer is a bit button happy. You never know when he’ll shoot the torpedoes," Captain Hudson nods to Piccolo,who prepares to fire. "If you do not leave this area right now..." Bourne cuts him off.

"What will you do, Captain? Against an army of Stealth-class subs."

Suddenly, Lucas looks up from his console.

"Captain, my sensors are showing at least ten Stealth-class fighters in the area." Captain Hudson reacts by smirking.

"I should have known you would do that. Hudson out." The communication is cut and Hudson immediately turns to several people.

"Piccolo, Henderson, Wolenczak, to your subfighters. Ensign Gorman, do you know how to operate a subfighter?" he asks, noting her hatred for Bourne, seeing it as a weapon against him.

"Yes sir."

"How many hours have you put in?"

"About two hundred, sir." Hudson nods.

"Take subfighter four. Wolenczak will show you what to do." Christi nods and she follows the others down to the launch bay. She gets into a subfighter and follows Lucas’ directions as she is cleared for leaving and pulls out into open waters, following the other three subfighters. Christi
looks at her console and pulls up sharply as two Stealth fighters collide in the space where her subfighter used to be. She shoots down a fighter and then tries to shake another one as Piccolo disposes of two more stealth fighters and Henderson shoots one, crippling it. Lucas sees Christi trying to shake the fighter. He realizes that she doesn’t notice another fighter hurling towards her: the fighter that Henderson has just crippled. He opens his link and Christi’s face appears.

"What?" Christi asks, annoyed.

"There’s a crippled fighter hurling towards you. You have to pull up."

"I don’t see anything on my trackers."

"It’s closing the distance fast Christi, pull up!"

"Mr. Wolenczak, I don’t see any fighter....Oh my God!" Lucas sees Christi’s face register shock, her deep blue eyes wide.

"Pull up, dammit! Christi, pull up!" The communications is disconnected.

Outside of the subfighters, Lucas’ subfighter speeds up and shoots at the fighter behind Christi’s subfighter. The fighter is crippled and Christi’s subfighter pulls up again, almost straight. Lucas’ com-link flickers on and Lucas heaves a sigh of relief at seeing Christi’s face.

"You saved my life," Christi says, almost whispering, and disbelieving. Lucas smiles.

"No problem."

"I know, you would have done the same for Piccolo or Henderson. Well, maybe not for Piccolo, but definitely for Henderson," Christi says, disgust evident. Lucas shakes his head and sighs.

"No, I wouldn’t have saved Henderson. She disgusts me as much as she disgusts you." ‘Besides, I like you, not her,’ Lucas thinks to himself.

"Piccolo is your friend then?"

"We used to room together before the refit, and before I became an Ensign."

Piccolo suddenly comes onto the link.

"Yo, Luke, Ensign Gorman, you’ve got birds on your tails at 2:00."

The com-link flickers off. Christi grimaces.

"Duty calls." Lucas nods and flicks off the link. Christi flips her subfighter over to meet the fighter on her tail. She fires at it, and it explodes. Lucas quickly maneuvers his subfighter and destroys the other fighter, which is the ninth one. Henderson sees the last one and shoots at it,but the shot goes wide and only knicks the wing. Piccolo shoots the fighter down, and an escape pod is ejected. He grapnels the pod, and drags it back to theSeaQuest.

Chapter Five

Launch bay, where the four pilots are getting out of their subfighters. Piccolo has secured the pod and is busy securing the pilot from the now destroyed Stealth fighter. Captain Hudson calls Henderson on her PAL.

"Henderson, are the fighters destroyed?" Henderson speaks into her PAL, "Yes sir. No casualties on our side."

"Good. Secure the pilot from that ejection pod and get back up here." Hudson disconnects the PAL connection.

"Well, you heard the man. Let’s go," Henderson signals for everyone to follow her. The four reach the bridge.

"Well Mr. Bourne, it seems that you are out of fighters," Christi says as she enters.

"So, our young fighters have returned victorious. Not for long. You’ve brought death upon your new ship." Captain Hudson looks at Christi, concerned. Christi is stone-faced.

"You have no right to kill them. If you wanted my blood so badly, you would have taken it already," Christi says, in a low growl. Bourne smiles.

"I wanted you to suffer first. If you want to spare your crew mates, come out in an unarmed sub, alone. I will kill you, and spare the SeaQuest."

Lucas looks at Christi worriedly.

"Fine. Captain, it’s been great these past 2 weeks. Lucas, I guess you’ll never know why I act like I do. When I’m dead, burn everything in my room but the throw blanket. Keep that, and read my journal," Christi salutes, walks off the bridge, and heads to the launch bay before anyone can reply. The bridge crew is stunned, to stay the least . On the vid-link, Bourne is smiling."Why do you want to kill her so badly, Bourne?" Lieutenant-Commander O’Neill asks. Bourne laughs.

"Because her parents managed to end the war in the UEO’s favor."

"The sins of my father are not my own," Lucas says. He salutes the Captain and runs off the bridge wildly, trying to catch up to Christi.

Launch bay.

Christi smiles grimly at the launch bay operator. The operator is about to let Christi past, when her PAL rings.

"Launch bay."

"Don’t let Christi by!" Lucas shouts hurriedly from the other end.

"She’s probably there already. She’s an Ensign, Ensign Gorman," Lucas disconnects, leaving a confused Launch bay operator on the other end.

"I’m sorry Ensign, you can’t go by," she says. Christi sighs.

"I knew he wouldn’t let me die without a fight. Officer, I’m afraid I can’t follow your order," Christi starts to walk to an unarmed seacrab.

The Launch bay operator starts to call security, but stops when she sees Lucas run in.

"Christi, stop!" Lucas calls. He catches up to her.

"Saying good-bye only makes it harder Lucas."

"You are not doing this," Lucas says. "I’m sorry Christi, but this is the only way." Lucas takes out his gun and sets it on low stun. He sadly backs away a few steps and fires the weapon. It is a direct hit, and Christi slumps to the floor, unconscious. Lucas sets a sea-crab out and puts up a
fake vid-link contact to Bourne. Bourne's sub.

"Why hello, dear Christi," Bourne smiles at the fake vid-link.

"Hello, Bourne. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to kill me now. I’d rather die in the ocean than on your sub." Back in the launch bay, Lucas is using a synthesizer to imitate Christi’s voice. Bourne's sub.

"Very well. Your parents died in the ocean and not on my submarine, you shall follow them." Bourne pushes a button. The sea-crab is hit by two torpedoes, which destroy it completely.

Chapter Six

Launch bay, where Lucas is holding Christi in his arms while she regains consciousness. On the bridge, Bourne is still on the vid-link screen.

"I have gotten what I came for, Captain. I shall leave you now," Bourne smiles.

"You killed one of my crew, and that’s what you have to say?" Captain Hudson replies, incredulous.

"Captain Hudson, that girl deserved to die. She paid for the sins of her parents."

"Like Lucas said before, ‘The sins of my father are not my own,’" Lieutenant Commander O’Neill says with disgust. Bourne laughs heartlessly.

"It seems that they were, this time." Bourne cuts the link. Captain Hudson looks around the bridge for a moment, before his eyes rest on Piccolo.

‘Far too many times have his children died,’ he thinks. "Piccolo, destroy him." Commander Ford looks at Captain Hudson.

"Sir, are you sure that’s entirely wise?" he asks, repeating his earlier words. Captain Hudson looks at him.

"Commander, he killed one of my officers and destroyed a very expensive piece of equipment. Piccolo?" Piccolo nods and fires three torpedoes at Bourne’s sub. There is a loud explosion, and the WSKRS show that there is debris floating all around. The clam doors open, and Lucas walks in, half-supporting and half-carrying Christi. Christi finally regains some of her strength and walks over to Captain Hudson.

"Hey Captain," Christi says weakly. "Did I miss anything?" Captain Hudson sees her, and just barely refrains from hugging her. He turns to Lucas.

"But the sea-crab was completely destroyed."

"She wasn’t in the sea-crab, sir. I stunned her and sent the sea-crab out empty."

"What happened to Bourne?" Christi asks.

"He’s dead. Piccolo fired torpedoes at him. We thought he had killed you. Lieutenant Wolenczak, take the Ensign to her quarters."

Lucas looks at Captain Hudson, puzzled.

"But sir, I’m an Ensign."

"Not anymore. It’s time that you were promoted. I’ll put the papers through tomorrow. You’ll get the new patches right after the promotion is approved."

Lucas’ face is lit up in a smile. He would jump up and down, but Christi is leaning on him heavily; the celebrations can wait. Lucas helps Christi off the bridge. The stun is still wearing off as they get onto the mag-lev.

Christi smiles weakly.

"I guess you’re glad you saved my life," she says.

"Yeah, but that isn’t the reason," Lucas replies, pushing a strand of Christi’s hair out of her face. Christi shies away from his touch. They arrive at Sea-deck, and Lucas helps Christi to her wuarters. He opens the door and is ataken back at the room.

"It’s uh...very different."

"One of the reasons I got my own quarters. On the Xavier two, I bunked with a girl my age. She went crazy," Christi smiles, still weak, at Lucas’ shocked expression. She moves over to her drawers and pulls out a long black T-shirt and a pair of burgundy boxers. She clears her throat.

"Be a gentleman, close the door and turn around please." Lucas blushes and does as she asks. A few seconds later, Christi sits on her bunk and pulls her throw blanket around herself. "You can turn around now." Lucas does so."So, why did he want to kill you?"

"He told you himself. My parents, the people in this picture," Christi indicates the black picture frame from before, "helped to end the war. Had they not helped so much, the war could have lasted up to 10 years longer. We might still have been at war, instead of just having killed Bourne. He wanted to kill off my whole family. He almost succeeded. My parents, my sisters, and two of my brothers are dead at his hands. ‘The sins of my father are not my own’ didn’t apply here." Christi sighs. Lucas tries to hug her, but she shies away.

"Why?" Lucas asks.

"Why what?"

"Why do you shy away from me? And why did you say that acting so cold and heartless wasn’t the result of you being Gothic?" Lucas sees pain flash in Christi’s eyes.

"This may not be a good excuse, but I’ve been acting like such a bitch because my ex-boyfriend wasn’t exactly faithful. I caught him in bed with another girl. He and I hadn’t slept together, I do have certain values and one is that I won’t sleep with anyone until at least one year after I’ve been going out with them. So far I’m a virgin. Anyway, he hadn’t only slept with this one girl. He had gotten another three girls pregnant before starting to date me. Two of them had abortions, and one had a miscarriage. He’s now HIV positive," Christi sighs. Lucas knows better than to touch her before saying anything.

"Christi, I know how that feels, somewhat. My ex-girlfriend cheated on me and got herself pregnant. I hadn’t slept with her, thank God. In fact, I have the same rule as you. So far it hasn’t come to the one year point. But Christi, you have to move on from him. Not every man you meet
who likes you is going to cheat on you and sleep with someone else," Lucas looks at her pleadingly.

"I know, but..." Lucas silences her. He stands and walks to the door. He opens it and starts to walk out. He turns back.

"Just remember, I’ll wait for you until you’ve gotten over him." Lucas says gently and walks out, closing the door behind him.

Christi climbs under her covers, and starts to cry.

Chapter Seven

Christi’s quarters. Christi is still crying when the door opens.

Lucas walks in, but doesn’t see that she is awake. Christi watches him as he pulls over a
black fold-out director’s chair and sits by her. She closes her eyes. The room is dark.

"I know I said I’d wait Christi, but I had to see you. I don’t even know why I’m in your room, but I felt compelled to come in here. I just wish you could understand that I’d never hurt you. I know why your ex cheated on you. He wasn’t like me, he didn’t want a deep emotional commitment. He wanted a pretty girl on his arm and someone to sleep with. You didn’t want to give him what he wanted,because you probably want an emotional commitment too, so he looked elsewhere. Just like the girl I was going out with. She wanted a guy to sleep with. I didn’t want a girl like that. She looked elsewhere for it. I caught her, and said good-bye. This was during the refit and so I had known her for about six months when this happened. For a while I thought I’d never fall in love ever again. But then I did, after I realized that not every girl I dated would do that to me. That girl, she’s special, she’s different from any other girl I’ve ever met. That girl, she’s you." Christi’s eyes fly open. Lucas doesn’t notice and he strokes her hair. She doesn’t shy away this time. She moves her hand, and uses it to grab Lucas’. He is clearly surprised at this and turns on a light, which is right nearby.

"You’ve been crying," Lucas says.

Christi just nods. She is too busy dealing with the emotions going through her head and heart. "Lucas, I heard every word. I...I believe you. I didn’t think so at first, but you’re telling the truth." Christi sits up, her covers falling to her waist. "I am over him, and I can learn to trust you."

Lucas smiles.

Christi looks at him pointedly. "But somehow I think that Captain Hudson will not enjoy seeing us like this. What time is it?"

Lucas looks at his watch. "Time for dinner. When’s your next shift?"

"Not until tomorrow. What about you?" Christi asks.

Lucas smiles. "Same. Get dressed. I’ll wait outside." Lucas gets up, puts the chair away,and walks out of the room. He shuts the door and waits while Christi changes. The door opens and Christi walks out, clothed in a pair of black flares and a dark purple shirt. Lucas doesn’t say anything.

"What about you?" Christi asks as she shuts the door behind her.

Lucas looksdown. He is clothed in a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. He blushes. "I’ll go change. Be right back." Lucas goes into the door across from Christi’s own and comes out a few minutes later in a pair of jeans and a black shirt.

"You aren’t trying to change your style, are you?" Christi looks at him worriedly.

"No, it’s just the only shirt left in my drawers." Christi smirks.

"Not exactly the neatest person on the ship?" she asks, as they walk to the mess hall.

"You should have seen my last room. Piccolo had playboy pictures all over the place. It didn’t help that I wasn’t too neat either. I always had my books and papers everywhere." Christi smiles. They reach the mess hall and walk in, earning looks from half the personnel.

"Think they wonder why you’re sitting with me?" Christi asks as they grab some trays with food on them and sit down at an empty table.

"Probably. From the way you were acting before.... They probably thought we’d be enemies."

"Well, they’re wrong. We aren’t enemies. We’re friends." Lucas blanches.

Christi notices and puts a hand on his. "Lucas, I’m not ready for another romance. I believe you, and you said that you’d wait for me. I’m over him, but not over what he did and the pain Bourne caused. He killed my parents one year after the war ended. I need to mourn. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for a love relationship. For now, our relationship is purely platonic."

Lucas sighs, but nods. "All right, but don’t wait until I’m eighty, please."

Christi smiles a little.

The End
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