Family

By Mara

Disaclaimer: I don't own most of them. I do own Lessa, Calli and Devin. Also I do own all the previous stories in this series and the charcters I claimed in those parts.

Note: This is an AU second season. Katie, Kristen, and Ben never left. The first seaQuest was never destroyed. The episode Higher Power/Ocean On Fire never happened. In fact none of the events after the Ep. 'The Last Lap Of Luxury' happened in this universe. This is an E.E. and Y.L.E story with a little of P.E. at the end of Part Four. This story includes a scene in Part Five suggesting sexual abuse of a minor. It doesn't go into detail though. Note to ELF Lister's: In the preview for this I said that Nathan's brother showed up. That charcter has been erased. I realized I had no idea how to create a story including him! So the story focuses on only Nathan and Lucas. Sorry about the change but I think it will work out better this way.



Family
By Mara

Nathan was pretty excited. A few minutes before he had recieved the notice saying -

Captain Bridger, Your request to adopt Lucas Wolonczak has been reviewed. In light of Mr. Wolonczak's parents, and their recent behavior, your request has been approved. You will need to come by UEO headquarters to sign the final paper work. After that the adoption will be final. Thank you for your co-operation.
Ms. Karen Turner,
The Department Of Children's Protective Services.

Nathan had practically done a backflip he was so happy. He raced out of his quarters and down to the lab he knew Lucas and Kristen were working in today. When he reached the door to the lab he stopped. Nathan just stood there for a moment watching Lucas work. The teen was bent over his computer console typing. His blonde hair was flopping over his face and obscurring the look of utter consentration on the teen's face. Nathan smiled to himself. Lucas wasn't going to be concentrating on his work for much longer. "Lucas! I've got good news!"

Lucas jumped and spun at Nathan's exclamation. "What?" he asked quietly, slightly embarrasssed at having jumped like that.

Nathan grinned like a kid and handed Lucas the papers he was still holding. "The adoption has been approved. All we have left to do is sign the final paper work tommorrow and you will officially be a Bridger."

Lucas' jaw dropped. "You mean that by tommorrow I'll officially be your son?" Lucas asked quietly, scared to say it loudly.

"Yes. I'm going to talk to Noyce and get you and me some leave, because i doubt either of us will be able to concentrate on work for at least a few days." Nathan told him.

Lucas finally looked up smiling. "Okay. I guess if your going to do that I should go pack some clothes. I... I can't believe that tommorrow it will finally be official. I'll finally be your son."

Nathan grinned and pulled Lucas into a hug. "Yeah. I can't believe it either. But I am thrilled. I love you kiddo."

Kristen walked in and noticed the hug. "What's going on?" she asked.

Lucas turned to here and said, "They've approved the adoption! All we have to do is sign some paper work tommorrow and it will be official!"

Kristen smiled. "No one on this ship ever doubted it would be. Congratulations!"

Nathan Smiled. "Well, Kristen, your going to have to do without Lucas for a few days. I'm planning on taking him to my island for about a weeks vacation once the paper work has been signed."

Kristen smiled slightly. "Well, it will be hard...but I'm sure I can make do."

------

Two days later Nathan and Lucas were stepping out of the launch that had brought them to Bridger's Island. Miguel had insisted that they let him take them first to UEO Headquarters and then to the island. "Bye Lucas! Bye Captain! See you in a week!" Miguel called out as he closed the hatch.

Nathan Led Lucas upto the house and, when the entered, up the stairs to the second floor. At the top of the stairs Nathan opened the first door. "Well, here's your room. I hope it's okay. I haven't exactly had a chance to dust lately."

Lucas smiled, "It's great. I can see the dock from here. It really is great Nathan."

Nathan smiled himself. He and Lucas had had a long talk the night before. They had both agreed that, for now, Lucas would call him Nathan. Lucas had mentioned that he might be able to call him dad someday, but not yet. "I'll call you when dinner's ready. Alright?"

Lucas nodded absently. "Okay. I gotta call one of my friends, Lessa. She wanted to know as soon as the papers had been signed. I'll listen for you."

Nathan smiled and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Once Nathan was gone Lucas called Lessa. "Hey, Les! Listen it's all signed and stuff. Has you know what happened yet?"

On the screen Lessa smiled, "No. We halted the sim when you stopped logging on, so the Devin Republic is still in existince. But their flag will soon fall. Oh! Sarah sent me your message. Pretty clever way over disguising your meaning. 'The red bone drops soon'! Even I had trouble figureing it out at first. I still shudder to think that Dev actually choose to have a bloody bone on his sim countries flag! It is soooo gross. Listen the parental units are bugging. I gotta go."

Lucas grinned at her. "No prob. Nathan's cooking dinner so I would have to go soon anyway. I'll talk to you soon. Oh! Let's start the sim again in three days?"

Lessa smiled back. "Perfect. Calli and I need to work on the strategy some more anyway. You will be connected for the flagging dropping, right?"

Lucas grinned again. "Yes. Of course. I can't wait to see Dev's little country fall. See ya'!" Both hung up similtanously and Lucas got up to head downstairs for dinner.


PART TWO

Just as Lucas entered the kitchen Nathan began to turn around to go get him. "Well. Perfect timing. Here, we can eat on the deck." Nathan handed Lucas a plate loaded with some delicious looking food.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Okay. I gotta ask. Do you actually think I am going to be able to eat this much food?"

Nathan glanced at him. "You can try. If you can't it's okay, but do try to eat as much as you can. Okay?"

Lucas smiled and nodded as he sat down. "I'll try. I just don't eat much."

Nathan smiled and patted Lucas' shoulder. "I know. I've noticed. So, is the Lessa you called the same one you had Sarah send the biziare message to?"

Lucas smiled. "Yeah. Oh. And before you ask Lessa and I are involved in a sim game. One of the other players has a country with a bloody red bone on it's flag. The message meant we strike soon and conquer him. Luckily when I stopped communicating they put the game on hold. We're starting it again in three days. If you don't mind?"

Nathan smiled. "of course not. As long as you go to sleep at a decent hour, and that when you defeat the other guy you let me see."

Lucas laughed. "Sure. I have no doubt the battle won't last long. Dev, the other guy, he protects the seaward side of his country just fine. But the land side is virtually ungaurded. The way Lessa and I figure it Dev must be a navy guy or a navy guy's kid. He thinks that since the land side is rocky and treacherous no will try it. But he's wrong!"

Nathan chuckled slightly. It felt wonderfull to see Lucas in such a great mood. It had been a while since he had heard that particular laugh. It made Nathan think that maybe Lucas would be okay. That the teen might be able to get past what his parents had done to him. The two talked and laughed for several more hours before they both were yawning to much to talk.

"Alright, kiddo. I say we go to bed so tommorrow we will have enough energy to do some fun stuff. Like swim with Darwin. I'm sure he will have found us by then."

Lucas smiled. "Sure."

The two headed up stairs and to bed. The next few days past basically uneventfully. Lucas played with Darwin every morning and usually talked Nathan into joining in. Lucas started up the sim again and Devin's country was defeated. Nathan teased Lucas about being a ruthless warrior. Lucas just blushed and said that actualy Lessa was in charge of the fighting. He was in charge of rebuiling in the aftermath of the battle. Nathan still said that it was an interesting game. Then, on the 8th night there, Nathan woke up to a horrendous scream.

"No!" That one single word got Nathan to his feet and running down the hall to Lucas' room. When he opened the door he saw Lucas thrashing around on his bed, obviously in the midst of a horrible nightmare. "No! Stop! Don't! Please Daddy don't!" Nathan stopped in his tracks. Even knowing they hurt Lucas, he was shocked to here those words. "Please! I'm sorry Daddy! Stop! It hurts!" Lucas' conitued crying, and the agony in the voice snapped Nathan out of his thoughts.

"Lucas! Lucas wake up! It's just a nightmare! Wake up!" Nathan cried as he shook lucas gently at first but with more force as the boy refused to wake. "Lucas!" This time Lucas sat bolt upright when Nathan called his name. The boy's breathing was labored and quick. He was panting from the terror of the memory of the nightmare. "Lucas? It's alright. Your safe. It was just a nightmare." Nathan whispered as he gently pulled Lucas against him.

Lucas let out a strangled sob and relaxed slightly. "I...I'm sorry I woke you up." he whispered. He was truely worried Nathan would be angry with him and was surprised when the older man just hugged him.

"It's okay. You couldn't help it. I need to know what the nightmare was about, though. Well, I don't need to know but I want to." Lucas tensed up again and pulled away.

"I don't want to talk about it." He answered simply, tensely.

"I want to help you Lucas, but I can't if I don't know what's wrong. Please. I won't be mad at you no matter what, but I want to know what's scaring you so bad your having nightmares like that. Please tell me." Nathan said quietly as he pulled Lucas back against him. "Please."

Lucas sighed and looked up at Nathan for a moment before resting his head against the older man's chest. He quickly began speaking, worried that if he didn't say it fast enough he wouldn't be able to say it at all. "It wasn't really a dream. It really happened, about two months before they sent me to the SeaQuest. I was in my room back at my parent's house. I was working on my computer. I think it was something about the vocorder, but I can't remember for sure. It was late, eleven or twelve at night. I heard the front door slam and I tried to figure out where I could hide but my room was fairly sparse. My bed sat on the floor. I had an oak desk but it wasn't big enough to hide under. My father threw the door open all of the sudden and came storming in. I...I...I tried to get him to go away by acting like I was scared. Sometimes it worked. But not this time. Father kept coming at me. i tried to back away but there was no where to go. He grabbed me and threw me against the wall. I couldn't stop the scream. It hurt. I...He came at me again. This time he just kept punching. I couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't move. It hurt so bad. Then he stopped hitting. He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and threw me across the room again. This time my back hit the corner of my desk. It hurt so much. I just screamed and kept screaming. after a while I realized he wasn't hitting me anymore and I...I opened my eyes and saw he wasn't in the room. Just as I started to sit up, he came back. He shoved me back down and kneeled over me. He grabbed my jaw and forced it open. Then...He pulled his gun out from his back pocket. He opened it and took all of the bullets out then put one back in. He spun the wheel thing then he put the barrel in my mouth and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He pulled it four more times then stopped. He smiled. God. He looked evil. He squeezed the trigger again. Nothing happened. He had taken every bullet out then pretended to put one back. He just smiled again and whispered, 'I love seeing you so scared. It reminds me that I control you. That I own you.' He stood up and walked out. Nathan I...it really did happen. Please believe me. It did."

Nathan sat quietly for a moment, trying to absorb what he had just heard. God! Wolonczak put a gun in his son's mouth and pulled the trigger. Nathan squeezed Lucas tightly. "Listen to me kiddo. I do believe you. I know you wouldn't lie about something like that. And he doesn't own you. He never did. I...I promise nothing like that will ever happen to you again. He can't get near you. Your safe with me. And remember, he's in jail for at least five years. He will never hurt you again. I swear. He will never get near you again."

Lucas started shaking, "Please don't let him hurt me. I... I don't want to be scared anymore. I hate it. I know I'm safe. I know I can trust you. I know you would never do that to me. But I just can't feel safe. I'm sorry I'm scared. Please don't be mad at me."

Nathan squeezed the teen again pulling him even closer. "I understand. I am not mad that your scared. Well, I am. But not at you. I'm mad at your Father for hurting you so bad you can't live without fear. But I promise to help you get over it. I promise. We'll fill your head with newer, happier memories so there's no room for the scary ones. I promise we will."

Lucas started crying again, clinging to Nathan as though the older man was a life preserver. "Just don't leave me. I need you." he whispered.

Nathan gentled shifted so he could stand up. When Lucas realized that he grabbed Nathan instinctively. Nathan smiled and gently tucked Lucas in before sitting down on top of the blankets and pulling Lucas against him.

Lucas gratefully rested his head against Nathan's chest. He was just so glad Nathan hadn't left him like so many others had.

Nathn smiled and wrapped his arms around Lucas. "I love you kiddo." Lucas smiled slightly and let those words wrap around his mind to block out the nightmares.

Nathan gently rested his chin on Lucas' head. His last thought before drifting off was that at least he knew Wolonczak couldn't hurt Lucas anymore. At least Lucas was safe.


PART THREE

The next morning Lucas woke feeling pretty good. He wasn't sure why at first then he remembered having the nightmare and that Nathan was with him. He shifted slightly and looked up to see Nathan sitting on the edge of the bed snoring softly. Lucas couldn't stifle the giglge that erupted from his mouth enough and Nathan woke up with a loud snort. At this Lucas started laughing outright.

Nathan smiled to see Lucas laughing then it dawned on him to ask what was so funny. Lucas' answer was long in coming. "You were snoring quietly, and I guess when I laughed slightly at that it woke you up and you snorted." Lucas said more but it was lost as Nathan's own laughter mixed with Lucas'.

"Oh. So you think my involontary snorting is funny do you?" Nathan said as he reached around and engulfed Lucas in a tight hug. "Okay. Time to get serious." The response he got was more laughter. "I mean it. I'm going downstairs to start some breakfast. If your not down by the time it's ready you get the burnt toast."

Lucas nodded, still trying to stifle his laughter. "I'll...(Giggle)I'll be down in a few minutes. (More giggles)"

Nathan just shook his head as he walked out. Despite that the laughter was directed towards him, Nathan was glad to hear it. He had been worried that it would be awhile before he heard Lucas laughing again. That nightmare... To think it was real. That it had actually happened to Lucas. His Lucas. The kid who always joked with Ben Kreig. The kid who made it possible to talk to Darwin, had been terrorized by his own father. God! Wolonczak was lucky he was already in prison or Nathan would hunt him down and kill him. To do that to Lucas.

Nathan didn't have the heart to carry out his threat of making Lucas' eat the burnt toast when the teen came down stairs. Lucas looked more serious now and Nathan could see that he had been crying. "What's wrong?" Nathan asked with the concern evident in his voice and on his face.

Lucas grimaced. "I guess I didn't do a good enough job hiding the fact I was crying, huh?" Nathan shook his head. "No. You didn't. What's wrong?"

Lucas sat down and sighed. "I just... God. I hate being so scared. I...Did you mean what you said last night? About not letting him hurt? About helping me make new memories? About you lov..." Lucas trailed off, worried that he had heard wrong last night. That Nathan hadn't said 'I Love you, kiddo' to him.

Nathan frowned and moved over to sit in the chair next to Lucas. "Of course I meant it. I won't let him get near you again. I will help you make brand new memories that will overshadow the bad ones. And I do love you. You mean more to me than anything else in the world. I love you so much Lucas. Don't ever think anything else." Nathan placed his hand on the table next to Lucas'. He didn't want to push it, but he smiled broadly when Lucas grasped his hand tightly.

"I can't remember anyone every telling me that." Lucas whispered "I...Thank you. I feel alot better knowing I heard right last night. I thought I may have imagined you saying that."

Nathan gently squeezed Lucas' hand. "You weren't. I meant everything I said. I love you." He smiled and hugged Lucas.

"Thank you. I...I...I..." Lucas stuttered then sighed.

Nathan nodded. "I understand. I don't expect you to be able to say it." He squeezed Lucas' hand again. "I know it's hard for you to even trust anyone, but you can trust me. I promise."

Lucas smiled at him. "Thanks. I want to say it but...the only other people I have ever said that to hurt me. But I do. Please know that. I really do. I just can't get it out."

Nathan smiled and hugged Lucas again. "I know. I just hope that someday you can say it."


PART FOUR

After Nathan and Lucas finished breakfast they walked out to the dock and talked for the rest of the day. "So she never really tried to stop him. Never even told me it wasn't my fault. She just said I deserved it for being such a brat. I never understood what I did wrong. Why they both hated me so much." Lucas finished through tears late that evening. He had been telling Nathan what his childhood had been like. Nathan just sat there shocked at what he had been told. The repeated insults. The constant beatings. The continueing fear this boy had suffered. After a moment Nathan noticed Lucas stareing out at the waves on the ocean.

"I... I don't know what to say. I knew it was bad, but that... I can't believe what you just told me." Nathan finally said. He noticed Lucas tense up at his words.

"You don't believe me?" the boy whisper through his tears.

Nathan realized his mistake and moved closer to Lucas. "I do believe you. To tell you the truth I almost wish you were lying because I hate the thought that anyone hurt you like that. What I meant was I can't believe no one ever tried to stop it. No tried to prtect you. I hate the fact that you are in so much pain that you can't believe me when I say I will always believe you. I love you and I will never think your lying unless I have hard proof that you are. I swear to you." As he finished Nathan wrapped his arms around Lucas, ignoring the boy's weak protests. After about five minutes Lucas finally gave up trying to squirm out of Nathan's hug, and relaxed.

"I...I..." Lucas took a deep breath. "I love you, too." he whispered, still unable to say it too loudly.

Nathan smiled and said, "I know you do. I'm glad you were able to say it. Come on. It's getting dark and we should head inside." He stood up and reached down to help Lucas stand.

When the teen was standing he moved as close to Nathan as he could. Nathan smiled slightly and put his arm across Lucas' shoulders. Maybe everything would work out alright. Maybe they could actually be a family.

------

As they reached the house Nathan realized they had left the vo-corder on the dock. "I'll go back and get the vo-corder, you go on inside and pick something for dinner, Okay?" he said to Lucas.

Lucas nodded. "Okay. Is pizza okay with you?"

Nathan smiled. "Yeah it's fine."

Lucas walked into the house and noticed his computer was flashing 'New Message'. He got himself a glass of milk then headed back to check the message. When he saw it he was shocked. He drew in a deep breath and fought to keep from passing out.

------

A few minutes later Nathan walked into the house and he saw Lucas standing at the table looking down.



PART FIVE

Lucas heard the door open and close but he was too distracted to respond. He had checked his e-mail and found another note from his mother.

Lucas,
Why can't you just admit you are the one who is wrong? I never hurt you. Your father hit you. I didn't. Why do you have to keep lying? I don't see why that captain wants a liar like you. You truely are a worthless brat. You don't deserve having me for a mother. I hope the captain realizes what a mistake he made adopting a worthless liar like you and he gets rid of you.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Wolonczak

Lucas held his right hand against his stomach absently. When he had first read the message he had slammed his hand down on too the counter, forgetting about the glass of milk he was holding. The glass had shattered and cut into his hand. Lucas barely noticed though. He was too upset about the note. Why was she being so mean? It had been almost two weeks since he wrote her the letter and she sent her viscious response, but she just kept sending more messages. Each one felt like a knife digging into him. A reminder that she had tried to have him killed. It hurt more to think of that than his hand hurt. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up.

Nathan gently wrapped his arms around the teen and held him tightly. "She's wrong. You are not worthless. You are worth a lot to a lot of people. I know you aren't a liar. She's just mad that you are happy. That everyone knows what she did. Lucas. She is wrong about everything she wrote there. She really is. Well, she's right about one thing. You don't deserve a mother like her. You deserve someone a lot better." Nathan looked down and noticed the blood spreading across the front of Lucas' shirt. "Lucas! What happened?!" When Lucas looked at him blankly Nathan took the teen's hand and looked at the cuts. "God! What happened? Lucas?"

Lucas looked down at his hand and whispered "I forgot I had a glass in my hand and I slammed my hand down. The glass broke."

Nathan nodded grimly and gently pushed the teen into a chair. "Just sit here." Nathan went over to a cabinet and took a first-aid kit out of it. He was glad he was often a klutz in the kitchen, because now he had the kit right there. He grabbed a clean dishcloth and went to sit in the chair next to Lucas. He spread the dishcloth across the table and set Lucas' hand on it. "Alright. I'm going to have to see if there are any glass shards in your hand. If there are, it will probably hurt when I take them out. Then I'll bandage your hand. Okay?"

Lucas nodded. "I'm sorry." he whispered so softly Nathan barely heard him.

"Don't be. I understand you were upset. The only person I'm mad at is her for upsetting you so much. You realize you'll have to deal with Kristen inspecting your hand when we get back." Lucas grinned slightly. "Yeah. But you'll have to deal with her wrath for not calling her the second it happened."

Nathan smiled and patted Lucas' good hand. "Who says I'm not calling her right away? I'm just waiting until I finish wrapping your hand. Then I'm calling her. I'm going to have the SeaQuest come back for us early. Tommorrow afternoon. I hate to cut our vacation short but I really will feel better once Kristen has taken a look at your hand."

Lucas sighed. "Okay. But can you ask her not to be mad at me?"

Nathan patted Lucas' hand again. "I will. But you know she won't be mad at you anyway. It wasn't your fault. You know that. Okay, your hand is all done."

Lucas smiled slightly. "Nathan? Can I go upstairs to my room? I'm really tired."

Nathan nodded. "Of course."

Lucas smiled and hugged Nathan tightly, before heading upstairs.

Nathan sighed and dialed up the SeaQuest. When Tim answered Nathan said, "Tim. Could you tell the commander I want to speak to him and Kristen on the vid-link in the wardroom?"

Tim nodded and relayed the message. "I'll patch you through. They'll pick up once they are in the room. How's the vacation so far?"

Nathan sighed. "Alright. Things haven't been perfect but things never are."

Tim smiled. "Okay. The commander is ready. Say hi to Lucas for me."

Nathan nodded and waited for the screen to switch over. One look at Kristen's face and he knew he was in for a lot of explaining.

------

The conversation with Kristen and Ford continued for almost two hours. As soon as Ford had learned that Nathan needed to get picked up early he had called the bridge and ordered a change of course. Kristen was upset that Cynthia Wolonczak was still harrassing Lucas. That poor boy had been through so much already and that woman just couldn't let Lucas live his life in peace. If she ever got her hands on either of the Wolonczaks she would kill them. Ford was thinking the same thing. He knew he didn't show it, but he did care about Lucas. The teen was like a younger brother to him. To think that anyone had ever hurt Lucas as bad as the Wolonczaks had...It hurt. It still upset him to think that they had known Lucas for months before they ever knew about his home life.

Nathan sighed. "I really should go check on Lucas. Then I think I'll try to get some sleep myself. We'll be waiting on the dock when the launch arrives. Just wait long enough so we can have a leisurely breakfast and relax a little before heading back. Got it?"

Ford nodded. "Yes sir. The launch will be there around noon. Tell Lucas hi for me."

Nathan smiled slightly. "I will. See you tommorrow Commander, Kristen." Nathan hung up and sighed again. It was almost midnight. 'Well, there goes the idea of a good night's sleep.' he thought. As he walked upstairs he heard a soft moan coming from Lucas' room. He quietly opened the door and looked in. Lucas' thin body was jerking rapidly in fear. Nathan walked over and gently shook the boy, trying to wake him from the nightmare.

Lucas just jerked more, this time crying out in pain, no, worse than just pain...agony. Nathan felt the tears start to well up in his eyes. He shook Lucas more, this time calling his name too. "Lucas? Lucas wake up. It's just a dream. You safe. I won't let anyone hurt you. Wake up." Lucas sudden jerked up, sitting straight and trying to shove Nathan away. "Lucas! Stop! Your going to hurt one of us. Stop!" Nathan grabbed Lucas' wrists and pushed the teen back down onto the bed.

Lucas screamed in terror. 'Not again! Please god! Not again!' were the only things he was thinking. He could hear a voice calling his name but he was running on adrenaline. All he knew was that he was being held down on a bed.

Nathan was scared. Lucas was jerking so severely Nathan wondered if he was having a seizure. "Lucas? Please, stop fighting me! I'm just trying to help!" he cried trying to make himself heard over the screams.

Lucas heard the voice again. Help? That's what Corbin always said he was doing.


~~~FLASHBACK~~~

Eleven year-old Lucas was scared. More scared than ever before. Corbin was standing in his room watching him. He always did that before he...

Corbin moved closer to Lucas' bed. He could see the fear in the boy's eyes. The shear terror. Corbin laughed softly and smiled.

Lucas shuddered at the smile. Corbin only smiled when he was about to do something painfull.

"I'm just trying to help you. You know you need my help. If you don't hold still you will never get to go home." Corbin whispered harshly as he moved to hold the boy down against the bed. He pulled a needle out of his lab coat's front pocket and inserted the tip into Lucas' arm.

Lucas stopped screaming as he watched in horror. Corbin smiled again and slowly pressed the plunger in sending the blue fluid into Lucas' arm. Lucas saw the room begin to sway and braced him self for what came next. He was always unconscious when the worst part came, but before it was still painfull and terrifying. As his vision continued to sway he felt Corbin's hands on his chest, holding him down. He felt the man touch his cheek. Lucas screamed again. 'Maybe if I scream enough someone will come. Someone will save me from Corbin.' He knew it would never happen. All the other doctors knew what Corbin did to his patients, but they never did anything. Never. Lucas knew what was coming next.

~~~END OF FLASHBACK~~~


Nathan was terrified. Lucas had been screaming for several minutes. No matter what he tried the boy refused to wake from his nightmare. "Lucas! Please! Your scaring me! Please Lucas! Wake up!" Nathan cried out. He was trying his best to hold the boy still. With how he was thrashing he could hurt them both. "Lucas! Please don't do this! Stop! Please! What's wrong?! Wake up!"

Lucas jerked awake this time. His eyes flew open and after a moment of continued struggleing his eyes finally focused enough to see, in the moonlight filtering through the open window, Nathan's frightened face over him. "Nathan?" he whispered softly, afraid this was still a dream.

Nathan relaxed his grip on Lucas' wrists slightly. "Yeah. It's me. What wrong? You were screaming. I...I...I couldn't wake you up. I was terrified. Are you okay?"

Lucas was silent for a moment as he tried to catch his breath. "Nathan. I...I...Oh god!" Lucas started sobbing.

Nathan quickly gathered the boy into his arms. "It's okay. Everything's okay. It was just a nightmare. No one's going to hurt you ever again. I swear. Your safe. It's okay." He felt Lucas' hands gripping the back of his shirt. The teen was shaking with terror. Nathan could feel his shirt dampening both with Lucas' sweat and with the boy's tears. "It's okay now. Your safe. No one can hurt you here."

Lucas shuddered. If only Nathan knew what the nightmare had been about. Then he would understand that everything was not okay. That things would never be okay. Never. Nathan felt Lucas relax slightly and he gently layed the boy back down on the bed. He felt Lucas' hands clutching at his shirt.

Lucas began to panic. Nathan was leaving him? "Nathan, please, don't go! Don't leave me!" Nathan gently placed his finger against Lucas' lips. "I'm not going anywhere. I just want to turn on the lamp. Okay? I need my arms though."

Lucas looked up at Nathann in the shimmering moonlight. After a moment he loosened his grip on Nathan's shirt enough for the older man to turn on the light. Suddenly the room was filled with a bright light and Lucas turned away from it.

Nathan turned the Lamp so that the light was less direct on Lucas' face. "There. See? It's okay. No one's here but you and me. I swear. Your safe."

Lucas turned back to Nathan and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "Nathan. It...Oh god. I...Please don't leave me alone. I'm scared."

Nathan sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Lucas against him. The teen rested his head against Nathan's chest and cried. The tears continued for over an hour before Lucas finally drifted back to sleep. Nathan let his own tears fall then. He had been so scared. Why had Lucas kept screaming for so long? What could have frightened him so badly? Nathan knew that if he kept thinking about it he would never get to sleep, and that he would be no good to Lucas if he was exhausted. Nathan made himself think about the party he knew Krieg was planning for when they got back instead. He reached over and turned off the lamp. It was another hour before Nathan also fell asleep.



PART SIX

The next morning Lucas woke up still feeling scared. God! Those memories! He had tried to supress those memories. They were more frightening then anything else he had experienced. He felt the bed move and he smiled as he remembered Nathan was there. "Hi." he said quietly, looking up.

Nathan looked down at Lucas and smiled back. "Hi yourself. How are you feeling, kiddo?" Lucas grimaced and looked away. "Alright, I guess. I know your wondering about last night. I want to tell you but I'm scared."

Nathan wrapped his arms around Lucas and shifted gently, pulling the teen into a more upright position and putting Lucas' head against his shoulder. "I understand. You don't have to tell me. But I will listen if you want me to. I promise."

Lucas sighed and told Nathan about the nightmare, including that it had happened several times while he was in the hospital and the fact that he tried to tell his parents but they just said to deal with it. "Melanie finally got him to stop by threatening to tell the press who came by once a week with the administrators. He knew that his career would be ruined if the public found out what he was doing, and Mel came from an important family and she would be listened to, so he stopped." As he finished he looked up at Nathan and saw the older man was crying. "Nathan?" he asked quietly.

Nathan looked down at Lucas and squeezed him tightly. "I...I...God. I am so sorry you had to go through that. God. I...I wish I could make it go away. Make it so it never happened. Anything to stop you from hurting like this. I...Lucas, I will try my best to protect you from anything like that ever happening again. I love you and I hate that someone hurt you like that. I..." Nathan paused as something dawned on him, "Lucas, he didn't do something like that when he kidnapped you 9 months ago, did he?"

Lucas shook his head. "No. He didn't. I don't know why I dreamed about it. Maybe because one time when I fought back he smashed my hand. Broke it. It barely healed right. I guess cutting my hand brought back that memory. I...Nathan? You won't tell anyone, will you? I don't want anyone else to know. Please."

Nathan looked down at the pleading face. "Of course I won't. I won't even tell Kristen if you don't want me to. Lucas, do you want me to stop hugging you so much? I won't mind if you do. I'll understand."

Lucas started shaking. "Please don't change how you act now. I couldn't take it if you did. I need to know you are there and that you love me. I know you would never..." Lucas trailed off as his voice dissolved into sobs.

Nathan wrapped his arms around the boy and held him for a few minutes. "I won't change, then. I just don't want to make you uncomfortable. I could never forgive myself if I did. And I hate to say this but the launch gets here in two hours. We really should get up and eat something. And get packed."

Lucas nodded and sat up. His eyes were red and puffy from crying and he was shaking as he stood. Nathan took his arm and gently led him down stairs. "You sit. I'll get breakfast and then I'll go upstairs and pack our things. I know you probably never even took out more then a few pieces of clothing and your computer." Nathan gently teased.

Lucas looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah. And the clothes I stuffed back into the bag unless they were wet."

The two quickly ate breakfast and then Nathan headed upstairs to pack. After twenty minutes he came back down with their bags. "You really know how to stuff things into a bag, kiddo."

Lucas glanced up and grinned. "Yeah, I do, don't I."

Nathan shook his head but he smiling. "Listen. I want to tell you now. I want to get you a new e-mail account. One *she* can't get hold of. You can tell your friends as long as they promise not to release it to anyone."

Lucas nodded. "Your right. I'll probably just give it to Jamie. The guys from the sim... they get to caught up in the bloody battles part. I don't really have much in commomn with them."

Nathan smiled and patted Lucas good hand gently. "That sounds like the best option. I trust Jamie since he knows the whole story. I..." Nathan was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Who in the world?" He muttered to himself. As he opened the door he saw who. "Lt. your early."

Miguel Ortiz nodded almost apologetically. "I know. Dr. Westphalen insisted we get here soon. She's been driving everyone crazy." Just as Miguel finished say that Dr. Kristen Westphalen raced up.

"Where is he, Nathan? I want to look at his hand as soon as possible."

Nathan nodded. "I can understand that. He's in the kitchen finishing his breakfast. I think I should warn you he looks terrible. He didn't have a very peaceful sleep last night."

Kristen nodded and walked into the kitchen. She could see Lucas sitting in a chair muttering to himself. "Hello, Lucas."

Lucas jumped and spun around looking for an escape until he realized it was Kristen. "Hi. Your early."

Kristen smiled. "I know. I was worried and besides the senior staff wants you two at thr party as soon as possible."

Lucas and Nathan both groaned. Nathan asked, "I take it Krieg planned the party?"

Miguel laughed. "Yeah. But don't worry. Katie vetoed a few of his ideas and added some of her own. It will be fun. Trust me."

Lucas winced as Kristen finished removing the bandages from his hand. "Ow! That hurt." he said in a small voice.

Kristen nodded. "I know it does. But I have to take the bandages off before I can look at the injury. Now. That doesn't look too bad. But this poor hand. It just barely recovers from being burned and this happens. Oh well. It will be fine. Stop paceing Nathan. I said it will be fine."

Lucas laughed when he saw Kristen was right. Nathan was paceing back and forth. "Yeah. If you keep paceing your going to ruin your carpet." he said through his laughter.

Nathan smiled. He was glad to hear that laugh again. "Yeah, yeah. Very funny. Kristen. If your done checking his hand how about rebandageing it so we can go? I want to see what kind of party they're throwing. And, if neccesary, get over with it as soon as possible."

This just got everyone else in the room laughing. Kristen did however finish bandageing Lucas' hand. "Alright. We can go now." She said through her laughter.

The group got up and left the house, heading towards the dock and the launch.

------

Lucas fell asleep on the way back and Nathan hated to wake him from such a peaceful slumber. "Hey, kiddo, time to wake up. We're docking with the SeaQuest."

Lucas woke up and drowsily looked around. After a moment Nathan's words registered. "Yeah, and almost to the party." he said with a mischievious grin.

Nathan groaned. "Yeah. Almost to the party."

------

Ten minutes later they walked into the mess hall and found it tastefully decorated. "Katie must have vetoed Krieg's decoration ideas." Nathan whispered to Lucas.

Lucas stifled a laugh as the senior staff came up.

The crewmembers looked at eachother and smiled. "Captain, Lucas. Congrtulations on officially becoming a family. We all know that you have unofficially been a family since the start, but now we can celebrate that family being made official. If you'll come this way for the first surprise." Katie told them as she led them over to a blue cloth draped from the ceiling.

"What is this Katie?" Lucas asked still trying to stifle his laughter.

Katie smiled. "This cloth is the background for your first official family picture. Go stand in front of it."

Lucas and Nathan did as they were told and Katie the picture. Nathan smiled and glanced down at Lucas. "Kristen! Get over here. I need to ask you something." Nathan said with a twinkle in his eye. "Get over here!"<> Kristen walked over. "Alright. What do you need to ask me?"

Nathan smiled. "I've been thinking about something for awhile and last night Lucas and I talked about it because I wanted his opinion before I decided and..." Nathan knelt down onto one knee, "Dr. Kristen Westphalen, will you marry me?"

The whole crew gasped, waiting to here Kristen's answer. "Yes." she said simply. Everyone jumped up and started cheering.

Nathan smiled. "Then get over here. Katie! Take another picture."

Katie grinned as she raised the camera and took the picture. Kristen and Nathan with Lucas standing between them. A perfect family portrait.



The End

Well, there's the end of 'Family'. What do you think? The ending was inspired by a publicity shot I found of the trio in front of a blue background. The next fic is a direct sequel to 'Dear Mother'. It's called 'We Regret To Inform You...'. You can probably guess what happens from the title and my comments at the end of D.M. Bye! - Mara