Yeah, titles are getting melodramatic and silly, but they're kind of needed...

Disclaimers: See the other two, and the hotel doesn't exist, but the Met does.

Rating: There's a little violence, not a ton of bad stuff... PG-13, maybe?

Nothing worse than that...A little language, not a ton, though.

Note: I'm going on the theory that MR 7 is bad luck.

Prologue

On the bridge, Commander Ford is in command, but it seems as if Lieutenant Henderson is.

"Commander, requesting permission to speak with you privately?" Henderson asks coyly. Commander Ford nods and puts Lieutenant-Commander O’Neill in command. Christi looks up from her station and shakes her head, mock-sadly. Lucas signals for her to use the headset.

"Let me guess, another one of her attempts," Christi says, clearly disgusted.

"It’s entertainment at least."

"Lucas, it’s like a soap-opera! She’s throwing herself around at all the men, except maybe you."

"She’s much too old, and I’m not interested in her." Christi rolls her eyes.

"Never stopped her before, did it?" Lucas chuckles, but abruptly cuts the line when Captain Hudson walks onto the bridge.

"Ensign Gorman, Lieutenant Wolenczak, meet me in the Ward Room in 5."

Lucas and Christi nod. They quickly pull off their headsets and walk off the bridge.

Inside of the Ward Room, Lucas, Christi, Captain Hudson, and an unfamiliar face are already seated.

"Ensign, Lieutenant, I’d like you to meet Dr. Marilyn Cooperman. She is a psychologist from ashore, and she will be joining our med-bay staff."

Christi and Lucas both shake hands with Dr. Cooperman. Captain Hudson continues: "Ensign Gorman, Dr. Cooperman is going to be helping you get through your recent tragedy. Lieutenant, the reason why you are here is that you will be helping Dr. Cooperman to sight the problems the Ensign is dealing with. Ensign, Doctor, you are dismissed. Lieutenant, I’d like to speak with you for a moment." Dr Cooperman and Christi walk out, leaving Lucas and Captain Hudson sitting.

"You need to speak with me further, sir?" Lucas asks.

"Yes. Lieutenant, I don’t want you to tell the Ensign yet, but Mr. Bourne was not killed when we blew up his sub. He managed to eject just before the blast. He was the one who killed her brother, and he is still on the loose. I have reason to believe that Christi is in danger because of this. Bourne knows she isn’t dead, he knew he was blowing up an empty sea crab, but he wanted us to think he was finished with us. We’re having shore leave in three days for one week. I’m letting Christi off the boat, but you are to go with her, and make sure that no one can hurt her." Lucas nods.

"Of course Captain. I’ll keep her safe, don’t worry." Captain Hudson nods in affirmation.

"Good. Lieutenant, I want you to wear this at all times. And give this one to Christi." Captain Hudson hands Lucas two PAL-shaped objects.

"We already have PALs, sir."

"Lucas, this is a different kind of PAL. It lets the SeaQuest know where the two of you are at all times. And if you’re in trouble, there’s a switch which will alert us right away. I’ll be carrying one of the sensors at all times. Dismissed, Lieutenant." Lucas salutes and walks out of the room, thinking about what Captain Hudson has done.

‘He’s provided Christi with help to deal with her pain, and he’s genuinely worried about her. Captain Hudson is human,’ he thinks, smiling, as he heads back up towards the bridge.

Chapter One

It is a Tuesday evening, and Christi’s first session with Dr. Cooperman. Christi is clad in a black skirt and blouse. Lucas, who is sitting next to her on the couch in a small med-bay office, is dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a SeaQuest T-shirt. Dr. Cooperman is sitting in an overstuffed chair across from them.

"Now, Ensign, please tell me your full name."

"Ensign Christi Gorman." Dr. Cooperman nods.

"And Christi, when did this start?" Christi looks confused, but Lucas looks at her reassuringly.

"Being suicidal started about three weeks ago, when my sister-in-law killed herself. My parents were killed by a man named Alexander Bourne, my sisters in a car crash, two of my brothers in a terrorist bombing, and my last brother was shot by Bourne." Dr. Cooperman nods.

"How long ago were your siblings and parents killed?"

"My parents were killed one year after the war ended, my sisters seven months ago, the bombing was five months ago, and my last brother was killed three weeks ago, just before my sister-in-law committed suicide. I have no other close relatives."

"I see. Have you ever attempted suicide before?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"The first time I tried to kill myself was when I saw my sister-in-law lying in the Captain’s chair of the RED ROBIN Two, dead of a gunshot wound to the head."

"And exactly how did you try to kill yourself?"

"I took my gun, ejected all the bullets from a cartridge but one, and put the gun to my head."

"What stopped you?"

"Lucas did. He managed to talk me out of it. The second time was when I was in my quarters. I took out a knife, and put it to my throat. An Ensign saw me and called the med-bay. Dr. Perry managed to get the knife away from me."

"How close are you and Lucas?"

"We’re friends." Dr. Cooperman looks at Lucas, who nods.

"Okay, have you tried to attempt suicide after those two times?"

"Yes. Once. But I stopped myself."

"Why did you stop yourself?"

"Because I remember what Lucas said when we were in med-bay."

"What did he say?"

"It wasn’t as much what he said as what he did. He held a scalpel to his throat and told me that he’d join me if I didn’t step back from the cliff."

"And that stopped you from going through with it?"

"That and the fact that I heard someone coming."

"All right. Lucas, you’ve tried to ‘knock’ Christi out of her suicidal attitude?"

"Yeah. I thought it had worked. I didn’t know about the last time she attempted to kill herself," Lucas sighs.

"Christi, I need you to answer this question. Why did you become suicidal?"

"Because no one in this world cares about me. I’m alone." Dr. Cooperman just nods, and Lucas frowns sadly.

"Christi, you know that isn’t true. I care about you," Lucas replies, taking Christi’s hand in both of his. Dr. Cooperman looks up from her notepad.

"Christi, why do you feel that no one cares about you?"

"Because my boyfriend cheated on me. Because my entire family is dead.

Because of the whispers and stares aboard this ship whenever I am in civvies.

Because my sister-in-law killed herself." Christi allows a few tears to drop from her eyes. Lucas hugs her with one arm and hands her a tissue.

"Christi, if Lucas didn’t care about you, do you think he would have stopped you from killing yourself?"

"No. No, he wouldn’t have stopped me. But he may very well be the only one."

"I know this may sound strange to you, but isn’t one enough for now? Isn’t that a reason to stay alive?" Christi nods in affirmation.

"It is. Thank you, Doctor."

"You’re welcome. The next session is in 10 days, at 8pm." Christi nods, and leaves the room with Lucas.

Chapter Two

It is the first day of shore leave. Christi and Lucas are at the Launch bay in their uniforms, awaiting a Launch to take them ashore.

"Launch MR Seven, boarding for shore." Christi starts to walk towards the loading area, but Lucas stops her.

"Don’t go on that launch." Christi looks up at him, confused.

"Why not?"

"Any launch with the name MR Seven is cursed. We’ll go on MR Nine."

Christi nods, willing to believe him. They wait while MR Seven is loaded and then get onto MR Nine. Lucas gives Christi the special PAL, and they arrive at the Harbor in New York City.

"So, have you ever been to NYC before?" Christi asks as they stop at a corner.

"Yeah, when I was twelve. I grew up in Buffalo. What about you?"

"I grew up in White Plains. It’s only about forty minutes from NYC, so we came here often. Then we moved to LA when I was eleven. I went to Stanford when I was fifteen for four years. Then I went to the SEALs for six months." Lucas looks surprised at the mention of Stanford as they cross the street and continue.

"You went to Stanford at fifteen?"

"Yeah, so? They have a special program for gifted adolescents now."

"Did you try for a doctorate?"

"Yes, but my siblings had all died except for Gregory by then, so Gregory moved to France and sent me through the SEALs to hide me from Bourne."

"So you have half a Ph.D.?"

"Yes, but so do you."

"Yeah. My dad dumped me on SeaQuest before I could finish it."

Christi and Lucas reach a hotel, and stare up at the huge building.

"How are we going to pay for this?" Christi asks as they start to walk in.

"We aren’t, the UEO is. They reserved rooms for everyone, I think."

Christi nods. They reach the concierge desk.

"How may I help you?" the young woman asks, paying attention to the UEO SeaQuest uniforms.

"Reservations for Lieutenant Lucas Wolenczak and Ensign Christi Gorman?" Lucas asks.

"Oh. Let me see.... Here it is, room 678. Here are two keys." Christi’s eyes widen.

"Um, there must be some mistake. We aren’t supposed to be in the same room."

The woman looks through her book. "Yes you are. A Captain Hudson made the reservation. He said to put you in one room for safety purposes."

Lucas and Christi look at each other, then look down, both blushing. They thank the concierge and take the elevator to their room. Lucas opens the door, expecting to find two single beds.

Chapter Three

Christi and Lucas both have shocked expressions on their faces.

"Wait a minute! This is not happening to us," Christi says as they walk in. The room is furnished with a loveseat, a big screen TV....and a large alcove with a queen size bed.

"Ok. Now we have a problem. No offense Christi, but..." Christi interrupts him.

"I know what you’re thinking; same as I am. I’ll call the front desk." Christi walks over to the vid-link and dials the front desk.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" the woman from before asks.

"Hi, this is Ensign Christi Gorman, I’m in room 678, there’s a slight problem with the room: there’s only one bed, and the Lieutenant and I have no intentions of sleeping in the same bed."

The woman at the desk sighs. "I’m sorry Ensign, but there are no other rooms available for the
rest of the week. The entire city, in fact, is blocked up because of the celebration. I apologize, but you’re stuck in that room. Have a nice day." The woman cuts the vid-link and Christi is left open-mouthed as Lucas walks out of the bathroom, now in civvies.

"Well? Can we get a different room?"

"Nope. The entire city’s booked solid for the week because of a celebration. We’re stuck." Lucas looks at Christi and smiles.

"Well, I’ll sleep on the couch and you’ll take the bed." Christi shakes her head.

"Nuh-uh. The loveseat is too small for you. I’ll sleep on it."

"Nope. Chivalry isn’t dead yet. You’re sleeping in the bed, and that’s that."

"But you aren’t sleeping on the loveseat. We don’t have a choice, I guess."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We’re both sleeping in the bed. It’s huge, we’ll be fine," Christi says, dropping her duffel on the set of drawers. Lucas sighs.

"Alright. At least we don’t have any sleeping issues," Lucas replies while Christi walks into the bathroom with a set of civvies in her arms. She walks back into the room a few minutes later in her black flares and black tank. Her hair is let down, and is shoulder length. Her eyes are lined in
black on top, and her lips are glossy, but their color has not changed.

Lucas draws in his breath sharply. Christi looks at him.

"What? You’ve seen me in black before."

"But never like that," Lucas says, blushing as Christi giggles a little. She grabs her PAL and puts it in her pocket, then pulls Lucas up off of the loveseat.

"We have shore leave for a week. We aren’t spending it in the hotel room."

Christi takes one key and gives the other to Lucas, then drags him out of the hotel to the street in front of the building. "Where to first? There’s plenty to do." Lucas takes a piece of paper out of his back pocket and looks at it.

"How about the Met?" Christi nods, and starts walking, with Lucas following her. They reach the Met in under ten minutes, and pay the entrance fee. They walk through the museum, stopping at various exhibits, and finally stop at the new Egyptian pyramid.

"This is cool," Lucas says, looking at some hieroglyphs. Christi smiles softly, and since Lucas can’t see her, a little affectionately. When Lucas turns back around, the smile disappears. Suddenly, Lucas pushes Christi out of the way as a huge block falls down. As the dust clears, Christi screams.

Chapter Four

Christi is openmouthed, staring at none other than Alexander Bourne.

Lucas sees him too, and quietly switches the emergency button on his PAL.

*

On the bridge of the SeaQuest, "Captain, Lieutenant Wolenczak’s PAL is sending out an emergency beacon. He and Ensign Gorman are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art," Lieutenant-Commander O’Neill says. Captain Hudson acts quickly.

"Alright. Piccolo, get a security party ready. At least 10 people.

Then get back to your post. Commander Ford, you have the Con." Commander Ford looks confused.

"Commander, I’m not breaking my promise again." Commander Ford still has no idea what Captain Hudson is talking about, but he figures it must be serious and he sits in the Captain’s chair as Captain Hudson walks off of the bridge.


Back at the Met,

"Well, well, well, hello Ensign, Lieutenant. We meet again, and for the last time. Don’t worry Ensign, he won’t suffer. You, on the other hand.." Christi interrupts him.

"What do you want, Bourne?" she asks, quietly switching on her emergency beacon.

"You already know. The sins aren’t paid for until you are dead." Christi sneers.

"The sins of my father aren’t my own. You aren’t going to kill me." Bourne smiles.

"Not yet. First, I’d like to take from you what you wouldn’t give my son, Robert."

Christi’s eyes widen as she realizes the import of the name.

"Robert Bourne Haven is your son!? May I make note he cheated on me, not the other way around!" Bourne’s smile widens.

"Maybe so, but I will have what I want before killing you."

Christi screams as Bourne tries to pull her towards him. She pulls a hidden gun out of her pocket and points it at his head.

"I will kill you. It would avenge the deaths of 6 of my family, and the deaths of many others." Bourne laughs.

"You won’t kill me. You’re too weak." Christi flips the safety catch off.

"Not when an SOB has killed my family. Now, let go of me." Bourne realizes that Christi will kill him, so he complies. "Back up against the wall, and put your hands on the back of your head. Lucas, did you flip the beacon?" she asks, not taking her eyes from Bourne.

"Yeah. They should be here any minute now..." Lucas is cut off as Hudson and a team of security walk in.

"Hello, Captain Hudson. Arrest your officer, she is threatening to kill me."

Captain Hudson growls menacingly.

"Security, I think the Ensign can handle this." Christi nods. She steps closer to Bourne.

"Captain, are you going to let her kill me in cold blood?"

"In cold blood?" Christi repeats quietly, calmly. "This isn’t cold blood. This is a way of avenging the deaths of Dorothy, James, Gregory, Mary, Alanna, Alan, and Michael Gorman, the 6 people in my family that you killed. The only person you didn’t kill committed suicide _because of you_. And you’ve attempted to kill me twice. So, this isn’t cold blood, this is vengance." Christi puts the gun to Bourne’s head, but she shakes her own.

"No. A quick death won’t do for you."

"See you in Hell, Ensign," Bourne says. Christi nods.

"Been there, done that. Courtesy you." Christi backs up a step and aims the gun at Bourne’s heart. "I think the heart is best, to break yours like you broke mine." Christi ejects all the bullets but one. "One bullet. No mistakes." Christi flips the catch once more, takes her aim, and pulls
the trigger. There is a pulse, and Bourne slumps to the floor, dead.

Christi drops the gun, and follows his example, crumpling to the floor, sobbing. Lucas walks over to her, bends down, and looks her in the eyes.

"Christi, look at me." Christi looks up, her eyes filled with tears.

"Christi, stop crying. You’ve avenged the deaths of your family. Bourne is dead. It’s time for you to heal."

Christi shakes her head. "I just murdered someone, Lucas. How can you bear to even look at
me?"

Lucas sighs. "Christi, you aren’t a murderer. The fact that you could let him live as long as you did is proof. I know I would have killed him without explaining to him why. Come on, Christi." Lucas helps her up as security takes away the body and the weapon. Lucas flips the switches on their PALs off, and leads Christi back to their hotel room. They receive a few strange looks, but manage to get up to the room without anyone stopping them.

Lucas opens the door and they walk in. Christi walks over to the loveseat, sits on it, and starts to sob again. Lucas holds her, not saying anything, for a good ten minutes.

Christi looks up at him. "Thank you Lucas. Thank you so much." Christi leans up, and her lips meet Lucas’ in an innocent yet passionate kiss.

Lucas reacts quickly, and they kiss each other until they are breathless. Christi is the one who
ends the kiss, pulling away with tears in her eyes.

"What’s wrong?" Lucas asks her.

Christi looks up at him. "I cannot tell you how sorry I am. That shouldn’t have happened," she
whispers.

Lucas is shocked; this isn’t exactly the reaction _he_ was expecting. "Christi, there’s nothing to be sorry for."

Christi shakes her head sadly. "I feel like I lied to you. That wasn’t meant to happen," she sighs,
and Lucas puts his arms around her and holds her tightly.

"Christi, if it’s meant to happen, don’t prevent it. If we’re meant to be, we’ll be. Don’t tell me all of this happened without a reason."

"All of what happened without a reason?"

"You being assigned to the room across from mine on the SeaQuest. Bourne coming and trying to kill you, and me stopping him. Me stopping you from killing yourself and then trying to get you to step back from the cliff. Today, us being assigned to the same hotel room. The kiss. You can’t tell me it’s all coincidence. One or two of those things, maybe. But all of them, Christi? It’s not coincidence, it’s a chain of events trying to tie us together." Christi sighs.

"I don’t know if what you are saying is true or not. But I will say this: If it was meant to happen, then it will happen on it’s own." Christi shakes herself free of Lucas’ arms and looks at her watch. She smiles, dries her eyes, and looks at Lucas. "It’s 8:30, want to go grab a bite to eat?"

Lucas nods, and they leave the room.

Chapter Five

Room 678 at the Hotel Regale. Christi and Lucas walk into the room, joking and laughing.

"Trust me Christi, that’s exactly what he said."

"And you believed him?! Then when she told you that her brother was there, you went with her into the office anyway?!"

"Yeah, but we didn’t do anything, we decided we weren’t ready and her brother came in, threatening to twist my head off." Christi laughs. "No worse than your story! His sister actually thought that you’d already done that!"

"Yeah, but she didn’t try to kill me! Besides, the guy wasn’t even that cute. I wasn’t attracted to him. He lured me into the room. I was thanking the stars that his sister came in when she did." Lucas takes off his coat and Christi’s cloak. He hangs them in the closet and leaves to go change, since it is now almost midnight. Christi grabs her nightclothes and changes into them while Lucas is in the bathroom. When Lucas comes out, Christi goes into the bathroom, and comes out of it a few minutes later, sans her make-up. They turn off the lights, and climb into the bed, careful to stay on their own sides. A little while later, Christi is still awake, and she is crying softly. Lucas is awake too, and tears are falling down onto his cheeks. He turns over and taps Christi on the shoulder. Christi turns around.

"Couldn’t sleep either?" she asks. Lucas nods.

"Maybe we could, if..." Christi searchs his eyes, then nods. She turns around, and Lucas holds her to him, as they cry together. They slowly fall asleep in each other’s arms, thinking about their day, their hearts and feelings, and their first kiss.

The End
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