Title: Songs For Swinging Lovers

Author(s): Kat & Mermaid

Fandom: SeaQuest Season 3

Pairing: Lucas & Lexi

Rating: NC-17.

Archive: yes, just let us know where, please!

Emails: kittycat104@hotmail.com &/or mermaid@irvens.freeserve.co.uk

Series: Part of the L/L universe at WWOMB & The Book Case.

Disclaimers: Amblin Entertainment owns all original SeaQuest characters.The authors own Alexia (Lexi) Collington and "Smitty." No wildlife was harmed or traumatised in the production of this story. Thanks to Jen for her suggestions. Enjoy!

Summary: What happens when Lucas decides to visit Caicos Cay...



Songs For Swinging Lovers
by Kat & Mermaid

Leaning against the wooden post, Lucas stood on the pier and watched as the sea-taxi skimmed over the sapphire water, leaving a thin white wake trailing behind her. He could see Lexi standing next to the captain, chatting animatedly as they approached the dock.

If it had been any other man Lucas supposed he might have been jealous, but "Smitty" was ancient; old enough to be her grandfather. Smitty was one of those characters that seem to have walked right out of the pages of the kind of adventure novel he had read as a boy.

According to local folklore, the captain's real name was Jonathan D. Smith. Supposedly, when in his prime during the 1990's, he had earned a reputation as a modern day pirate and smuggler, notorious for stranding wealthy private charters on or around the many uninhabited islands in area. Local legend also had it that Smitty had finally hit his mother-lode during a chartered dive, He had discovered the treasure of the "Sans Pitie", a French pirate ship that had been lost in the Caicos Passage in a storm during the summer of 1730. After that he had left the area, only returning in later years to captain the sea-taxi, SeaJack.

Now, he was a old man somewhere in his seventies. He had a reputation for being crusty and crotchety with everyone, although he was much less so with young women - and he seemed to have taken a shine to Alexia, watching out for her after being introduced by Malcolm Lansdown.

Lucas continued to watch as the SeaJack drew in. The boat was close enough to see the scowling, weather-beaten face with its shock of white hair curling under the cap that Smitty he wore.

Lexi picked up her bag, then slowly made her way to the other side of the little boat. She let the bag fall as she spotted Lucas on the pier waiting for her, and gave a quick wave, then grasped the rail as the taxi's captain expertly piloted the vessel into a berth. As it came to a stop, she lifted the bag two-handed and heaved it up onto the pier. Lucas gripped the handle and took some of the weight as they manuevered the thing ashore, then Lexi reached up, taking Lucas's outstretched hand - ending up in his arms.

The old captain looked on as the couple embraced, scrutinising the young man with the longish blonde hair.

"Hmph! Another pretty boy!" he thought, shaking his head, But his features softened a bit as he saw the way the couple looked at each other. It was obvious to any one with eyes in their head that they were in love.

A faint smile played around Smitty's lips as the scene in front of him brought back memories of another young couple in another place.

It was the sound of the SeaJack's noisy engine roaring back to life that ended the intimate moment.

"You take care now, Miss Collington," Smitty drawled in his raspy baritone, the look on his face causing Lucas to frown.

"Good night, Smitty. Play a lucky number for me, okay?"

She smiled, knowing that the captain would now head off towards an outer Island that was notorious for its casinos and wild night-life, a hang-out for gamblers and ne're do wells down on their luck, or anyone hoping for a quick win. She supposed that on a single evening he could make a small fortune chauffeuring drunken tourists.

Tipping his hat at the couple standing on the pier, Smitty shifted the SeaJack's throttle into reverse. The boat slowly eased backward out of the slip, then turned as he headed on his way.


PART 2


Lucas reached down and picked up Lexi's bag. As he pulled the strap across his shoulder he staggered, suddenly thrown off balance by its unexpected weight.

"Still haven't learned to pack light yet, huh Lex?" He laughed. "What have you got in this thing - bricks?"

"Sorry," she responded sheepishly, grabbing for the handle, trying to help as he struggled under its weight.

"It's okay, I got it," he said sharply, pushing her hand away.

They made their way slowly down the pier, stopping several times for Lucas to readjust his burden.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you with that?" she asked, trying again to reach over and grab the bag's leather handle.

"Never let it be said that Lucas Wolenczak wasn't a gentleman. I've just had a long day already." Then, grinding his teeth and returning her amused look with a thin smile, he adjusted the strap once again, very clearly determined to make it to the cottage with the bag.

They had made it as far as the knotted hemp-rope hammock that was tied securely to sturdy palm trees, when Lucas tripped, staggered sideways and dropped the bag into the sand. He caught at the trunk of the tree for a second and then collapsed heavily onto the swinging hammock.

"I think... I'm going... to die," he whined, gasping dramatically, trying to catch his breath and closing his eyes. "We're not even married yet, and she's trying to kill me."

"Lucas? Are you okay?"

Lexi leaned over him, concerned. He was panting theatrically, but there was a thin layer of perspiration beading his upper lip. Although the humidity was low and there was a pleasant off-shore breeze blowing, it was still hot in the direct sun and she wondered whether he had worked through the heat of noon.

Soothingly, she said, "Relax, I'll be right back. You'll be fine as soon as you drink something." Lexi smoothed the hair off of his sweaty forehead, then leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

"I'll be right back - don't move."

"Don't worry - I don't think I can," came the raspy reply.

Kicking off her sandals, she ran the few steps to the cottage. She had never been happy about the warm, discolored tap water there, although tests showed it to be quite safe. Skidding to a halt in front of the refrigerator, she leaned in, pushed a bowl of sugared orange segments out of the way and and grabbed a bottle of water from the shelf with sticky fingers. Turning on her heel, she hastened out of the door, only to slow to a walk as she noticed that Lucas was sitting up in the hammock, clearly recovering. His hands were cupped around one of the colorful native chameleons that inhabited the Island. Lexi moved towards them very slowly indeed.

Thrusting his new friend under her nose, and reaching for the bottled water, with his other hand, Lucas said, smiling, "This little guy's kinda cute, isn't he?"

Lexi handed him the bottle at full arm's reach, then backed off into the shade of the nearest tree. She smiled nervously as she said, "I don't do lizards." She shuddered as the chameleon hopped up out of Lucas' hands, dropped and raced up the other tree.

She looked around warily for the creature and watched the palm fronds for a few moments before she was satisfied that it was gone. Then she moved over to the hammock and sat down next to Lucas. He took the bottle from his lips, gave the cap a casual spin into place, held it by the neck and let it drop to the soft sand below, before reaching over lazily and pulling her close.

"Feeling better?" she murmured, as his lips trailed across her jaw.

"Mmhm," was the muffled reply, as he carefully turned over on to his side in the slowly swinging hammock.

Lexi closed her eyes as he gently pushed her back against the hemp-rope, his mouth hot and hungry on hers. As the kiss deepened she felt his hands reach down and untie the knot at the waist of her blouse, then sensuously work their way up to her breasts, unbuttoning the single row of tiny pearl buttons that glistened in the sunlight.

Watching from above them, the chameleon turned its head at an angle, smelling fresh water and attracted to the shiny things below him, near the two large creatures. The lizard started to move down a palm frond, towards the scent of fresh water. Then, as the humans shifted their weight, the leaves swayed, the little reptile lost its grip and dropped - straight onto Lexi's midriff.

When the chameleon's tiny needle-like claws made contact with Lexi's skin, she moved sleepily to scratch at the irritant. Her fingers brushed against the small, cold body and she opened her eyes in shock, as the lizard skittered up to her shoulder, away from her hand. This brought her face to face with the little creature. For a second or so, beauty and beast just looked at each other, then, as the horrified chameleon decided he'd better beat a hasty retreat, Lexi sat bolt upright and screamed.

Her sudden movement caused the hammock to swing wildly, straining at the supports tied around the two trees. There was a sharp cracking sound.

Startled, and struggling to stay in the hammock, Lucas cried out,

"Lexi, what is it? Honey, what's wrong?" watching as she frantically wiggled around and agitatedly brushed at her arms, while trying to both shake out her blouse and cover herself with it.

"Get it off of me! Lucas, help me!" she yelled as the deep hammock tipped precariously, threatening to dump her out.

"What - get what off of you?" he asked, fighting hard to squelch the laughter that threatened to erupt any second, as he observed her frantic movements.

"That ..that thing...that lizard - thing you were playing with..." she gasped through her distress. Then her eyes suddenly darkened as she watched him nonchalantly cover his mouth with his hand in a last ditch effort to suppress his laughter.

As she clenched her jaw, Lucas' willpower ran out and his laughter bubbled over. Rolling onto his front he laughed uncontrollably, helplessly.

"It's not funny! " she snapped, nudging him hard in the side with her elbow. "That thing could have bitten me...or something..." She looked at the scratches her own nails and bracelet had made on her skin and her mouth trembled,

"It did! Look at the marks!" she cried, watching as he looked over at her, then started to laugh again.

"It's just a little, itty, bitty....chameleon," he sputtered, "It wouldn't hurt you," he teased, lightly brushing his fingers over her arm. Unamused, she turned away from him, sniffing, fighting tears.

Realizing she'd had enough teasing, he reached out and pulled her close. "I'm sorry. I wasn't laughing at you."

She turned back to look at him, and sniffed again as one single tear traced down her cheek. He reached up and gently wiped it away, the look on her face making him feel horribly guilty for making her cry.


PART 3


Lucas sighed. "I'm sorry," he murmured, nuzzling her neck, while he gently pried her hands away from the blouse that she was clutching tightly around her. It fell open, revealing the lacy bra she wore underneath. Lucas gazed down at her with longing as he bent his head and kissed her softly on the lips, slowly easing her back against the knotted hemp-rope.

Closing her eyes, Lexi inhaled sharply as his finger tips caressed her smooth skin. His fingers deftly unclasped her bra and he dropped it over the edge of the hammock. Lexi's blouse had already fallen across the water-bottle which had been standing below the hammock, tilting it. As the water drained into the material the increasing weight of the blouse slowly tilted the bottle onto its side. The pearl buttons started a slow slide down the wet glass.

Kissing his way up to her neck, he lifted his head and smiled at her. Then, cradling her face in his hands, he said huskily, "Ever made love in a hammock?"

She opened her eyes and smiled back up at him, slowly rubbing the side of her hand against his unshaven cheek, the roughness sending chills through her.

"No, but since we're here......"

Lucas smiled, the passion he felt for her burning in his eyes as he brought his mouth down to hers and kissed her.

Meanwhile, the chamelon was getting over its fright. The smell of fresh water was a powerful attraction in the arid heat. The lizard was hungry, and insects would be drawn to the damp. As it crept nearer it could see the dull shine of round beetle-like shapes and, when these started to move, hunger overcame caution.

As Lucas pressed hard against her, the knotted hemp-rope chafed Lexi's skin. She squirmed uncomfortably, then gave him a subtle nudge. Putting a hand on his chest she gently pushed him away and sat up examining the red blotchy areas that marked her skin.

"I think I'm getting rope burns," she quipped, almost amused at the situation.

Lucas looked at her helplessly. She glanced around, then pointed towards the beach house.

"Let's go and grab some towels and we can spread them under us."

Nodding his head, he gingerly climbed out of the hammock. If Lucas had chosen that moment to look down he would have noticed that Lexi's blouse was half-soaked. The chameleon was nested in one of the drier folds, ambushing insects that came to drink and sometimes flicking a hopeful tongue at one of the tiny pearl buttons.

However, Lucas had been pleasantly distracted by assisting his lover in removing her blouse; wicked thoughts were dancing through his head. He took a few steps after Lexi and then paused to watch her walk quickly to the deck. She scooped up towels from a chair and turned back towards him with the bundle held modestly to her breasts.

Standing in front of the hammock, with one hand on a tree for support, Lucas started to remove his own clothes. Suddenly he laughed, gave a slow bump and grind, and started to parody some of the dockside strippers he had seen with Tony. Lexi whooped with laughter, dropped the towels a few yards away, and then got into the spirit of it, wrapping herself around a slender nearby palm like a pole-dancer. Then she remembered the falling lizard and came out from under the fronds too quickly for grace, running over to kneel beside the bundle of towels and then look up at Lucas, laughing.

For a moment he was tempted to join her, but she turned away, suddenly embarrassed, and reached for the thick beach-towels Lucas took the largest out of her hands, and then helped her to spread the padding in the hammock.

He stepped back, letting Lexi get into the hammock first, and ready to hold the edges of the towel to prevent it from creasing under her. Then she untied the knot at her waist and let her skirt slide away - and he found that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Once settled, she reclined on her side, and grinned over at him, head propped up on an elbow.

Her eyes traveled over him lustily, taking in the muscles newly outlined on his body, the result of months of the hard, physical training with Commander Kimura that Captain Hudson had ordered. Her fiance would never be Hercules, but he was broad shouldered and definitely hot!

His blue eyes held her gaze with a steady intensity as he moved slowly towards her. Balancing very carefully, he climbed into the hammock, melting into her outstretched arms. He shuddered slightly and closed his eyes, as he felt Lexi's mouth move across his chest, her tongue teasing the little pink nubs. Moaning in pleasure, his hands drifted down her back, caressing her soft skin.

Lexi could feel his hardening cock pressing against her stomach, the subtle movement of the hammock increasing the friction between them. She heard him groan as her hand stroked him, then unable to stand it any longer, Lucas shifted his body and moved his hand down over hers to guide him into her.

Overwhelmed by the pleasurable sensations flooding through her, she tried to wrap her legs around him, causing Lucas to shift his weight. The hammock tipped dangerously to the side, as the once gentle swaying motion suddenly changed to a wild swinging. It swung out uncontrollably, then suddenly dipped low to the ground.

Taken by surprise, Lexi quickly opened her eyes.

"Lucas, I think we're...." She started squirming, trying to feel for a grip on the hemp ropes under the towel.

Feeling her tense, he stopped and looked down at her, confused, "What?"

But before she could reply, the hammock swung out wildly again, this time tipping over completely and dumping an unlucky Lucas in the sand. The chameleon felt the thump and froze. Then, as Lucas rolled over and touched the edge of the blouse, moving the material, the lizard panicked.

They both stared as the creature jumped up out of Lexi's blouse and ran scampering off up a tree. Then finally fully aware of his predicament, Lucas cursed loudly, realizing that he now had sand stuck to him even in places that light rarely reached. Momentarily defeated, he sat where he had landed, glancing accusingly over at Lexi, still safely in the hammock.

"What? It's not my fault that you fell out of this thing!"

He started to get up and dust himself off; his sweating skin was literally covered in sand.

"Oh, no!" giggled Lexi, when she saw his condition, "don't even think about getting back up here like that!"

Silently he threw her a withering look.

"What, a little sand is a problem for you?" She gestured downward, giggling as she noticed that his dwindling motivation now resembled a sugar-dipped roll.

"Rope burns are bad enough." she told him.

Then, seeing the look on his face, she sighed and started to get out of the hammock.

"You know, this was your idea, genius." she said, gesturing to the ocean.

"C'mon, I'll help you wash off."

"Skinny dipping, Miss Collington? - Your grandmother must be rolling over in her grave," laughed Lucas, raising his eyebrows in mock horror as she stood beside him, surveying the damage.

Then, after playfully swiping at the sand on his buttocks, she took his hand as they walked down to the shoreline.

They played in the waves for a while, enjoying the warm tropical water. Refreshed and relaxed, Lucas dove into a wave and surfaced directly behind Lexi. He dived again and teasingly grabbed at her foot. She quickly spun around, treading water and scanning the surface for threat, then, realizing it was only Lucas, she smiled thinly.

"Careful, there are sharks in this area..."

Swimming closer, he pulled her into his arms, his face barely inches from her as he replied,

"Then maybe we should get back to that hammock." Their bodies meshed together for a moment, as he pressed his lips lightly against hers in a sweet kiss, then, inspired, they headed back to shore and the waiting hammock.


PART 4


Lucas climbed into the hammock with great care, settled back and waited for Lexi to join him. Gingerly, but with cat-like agility, she climbed in - then the hammock lurched and she half-sprawled against him. She dropped her face against his shoulder to hide her blush, and felt the hammock bending and straining at the supports as the two shifted around trying to get comfortable.

The tradewinds offered a faint breeze that gave them relief from the simmering late afternoon sun. They were tired from their swim and, tranquilly, arms wrapped around each other, they lay in the peacefully swaying hammock, softly kissing and caressing. Lexi let her hand slowly wander down his stomach, gently stroking him as his lips glided to her shoulder, then back up to her mouth again.

Lucas moaned and closed his eyes, a slight shudder passing through him as she lightly massaged his balls, then grasped them firmly. His erect member raised upright, saluting her efforts and betraying his need. He opened his eyes as she moved over him, straddling his naked hips, sensually arching her back and taking him inside her completely. Then she leaned forward onto all fours, taking a firm grip on the ropes through the towel. A jolt of sexual pleasure passed through them both, caused by their intimate contact and the increasing motion of the hammock.

Lexi leaned still closer and kissed Lucas deeply, her tongue caressing his. His hands held her waist gently as she moved against him. It wasn't long before their passion and the intensity of the sensations flowing through them caused what was left of their inhibitions to melt away.

The hammock was swinging with a strong, steady motion, stressing the wooden support bars at each end. The two trees began to shake wildly; the palm fronds threshed against each other as the trunks shook and swayed. Had Lucas been thinking he might have realised that the steady, repeated vibration was a greater strain on both trees and hammock than any normal impact. The absorbed couple had not even realised that the bracing bar at the foot of the hammock had cracked, earlier. Suddenly the strain became too much. The damaged bracing bar bent, and then snapped in two, almost at the center. The base of the hammock closed over their legs like a huge but gentle mouth. As their motion continued some of the hemp strands began to work their way free of the broken bars....

With their passion knowing no bounds, the lovers were completely oblivious to what was beginning to happen - the hemp-rope ends were folding in and curling around the hammock's occupants.

The chameleon in the palm-fronds above was hanging on for dear life! It had made the mistake of going almost to the end of a leaf after a succulent bug; now it was inching back with its feet clamped around the edge of the frond, never moving more than one foot at a time. The steady threshing was like no hurricane that it had ever experienced, and it moved with the utmost caution.

The lovers peaked together, bodies glistening with sweat. Smiling, Lexi leaned down and kissed Lucas softly, then slumped heavily against him. Returning her smile, he held her lightly with one arm, but then moved her upper body away from him slightly as he let his free arm dangle below the hammock, groping for the bottle of water he had discarded earlier.

Lucas had swung his hand beneath the hammock without looking, hoping to catch the neck of the bottle and bring it to his lips with minium effort. The bottle lay tilted below them, almost on its side, under Lexi's half-sodden blouse and a busy group of thirsty insects. After a few moments he rolled slightly and started to sit up, muttering, V "Where is the darned thing?" under his breath, as he shifted his weight, swinging the hammock again. He leaned half-over Lexi, gripped the edge of the hammock, and shifted his weight again; the hammock lurched; torn fronds and leaf fragments showered down around them, some hard enough to sting.

The chameleon had relaxed slightly as the violent threshing had died away. It speeded up, trying to get back into the crown of the tree while the fronds were still. Then, as the trees threshed violently again, the leaves scythed across each other and the chameleon was swept from its hold, falling towards the hammock.

Lexi felt her lover's arm tighten around her waist. She turned, with her eyes still closed, and tried to nestle against him. Lucas leaned over her, shielding her from the rain of debris from above. He suddenly realised what had happened to the trees and chuckled, despite his discomfort, as a ripped length of frond slapped him sharply on the shoulder before sliding down his fore-arm to the ground.

The chameleon had landed, and found itself struggling for a footing on a strong, potentially entrapping web. It lived on an tropical island and had an instinctive reaction to this. It fought free of random strands as gently as possible and then, without risking trying to get a grip on the stuff, started trying to glide quietly away, flatfooted, not risking tweaking the web and bringing the spider that was big enough to weave it.

The rain of debris seemed to have stopped. Lucas hoped that they had already brought down the worst of it. He thought of snuggling down with Lexi, but knowing that the bottle had to be just beneath him made him very aware of his thirst, and the dust and frond fragments clinging irritatingly to his sweating skin made him think about getting to the sea to rinse off.

He moved gently and carefully, trying to untangle himself from Lexi and roll over; that was when he realised that something seemed to be lying over his legs. He knew it had to be the towel and tried to move a foot and push it away. The gentle pressure remained firm. Instinctively, Lucas tried to roll over, sit up and look. The hammock lurched ominously again and Lexi sleepily murmured a complaint.

The chameleon in Lucas' hair tried desperately to take a grip, too late. It slid, and then, as Lucas tossed his hair back, it was flicked upwards with some force. Then it plummeted down.

The little lizard landed on its back, squirming and threshing its tail frantically in the attempt to get its feet under it and escape. It was almost precisely between Lexi's bare breasts...


PART 5


Lexi stirred sleepily, and tried to turn to nestle against Lucas as the palm-dust and pieces of fronds rained down around them. She was raising a hand to protect her face as Lucas realised that something was covering his legs.

He gripped the edge of the hammock and tried to sit up to see what was restraining them, tossing back his damp and dusty hair as he did so, and dislodging further shredded leaves. Lexi gave a protesting murmur as a wider tatter of frond slapped her sharply on the waist. Her eyes squinched tightly shut for a moment, but she was waking.

The hammock creaked an ominous protest as Lucas shifted his weight, and as he tossed his hair back the chameleon was flicked up and away. Then it dropped.

The chameleon landed on its back, squirming and threshing its tail frantically in the attempt to get its feet under it and escape. It was almost precisely between Lexi's breasts.

The soft, solid impact of the cold, reptilian body felt quite different from the flat, dry slither of the fronds. Lexi's eyes snapped open and she was pushing at Lucas, trying to sit up, even before she felt the frantic writhing as the little lizard tried to twist over onto its feet and escape. Lexi shrieked and tried to sit upright, hitting out frantically as the squirming, struggling creature slid down her body to her waist.

In the first seconds Lucas had choked with laughter. Then he became aware of a straining, creaking sound, as the hammock, stressed beyond its limits, began to rebel.

"Lexi, honey... it's okay, its gone now," he said, trying to soothe her. He tried to pin her arms to her sides and was elbowed solidly in the solar plexus. The breath was knocked out of him and, as he landed hard against the side of the hammock, he suddenly felt the netting twist, and saw one of the strands unravelling, causing the center of the hammock to drop and sending them both tumbling deeper into the hemp-rope netting.

Lexi tried to leap off the hammock and realised that the hemp strands had somehow moved over her legs. She went on screaming as she tore at them for a moment, twisting her body frantically in the attempt to escape. Her shrieks almost drowned the creaks and cracks of the collapsing hammock.

In a desperate maneuver Lucas frantically tried to pin the still struggling Lexi under his weight, holding her still - but it was too late.

With one final crack, the center of the hammock dropped again. The bracing bar at the head cracked, and then bent double, and the netting folded in like a venus flytrap effectively trapping the couple; holding them suspended above the ground, like frantic flies wrapped in a spider's web!

Lucas, pressed heavily into the netting, gave a painful groan as Lexi was thrown against him, driving the breath out of him.

"OOF!"

" Lucas, are you all right?"

"I think so. Um..," he coughed, "if you could move your elbow, Lex, I might be able to breath... You've already hit me there once." His voice took on a self-pitying whine, for a moment. He controlled himself as he became aware of it. Lexi tried to move away from him and started to realise how thoroughly they were trapped.

As her movements gave him a little more space Lucas started to try edge his arms upwards. He got one hand to the bracing bar above their heads, but Lexi's weight was restricting the movements of his other arm.

"Look, Lex, could you move a bit and free my arm - or grab the other side of this bar? If we could force the bits apart we might be able to crawl out through the gap." He used all his strength and tried to move the top of the half-bar outwards to demonstrate. There was an soft cracking sound as the halves of the bar seperated completely, and loops from the center of the netting started to slide off the broken ends.

Lucas released the bar at once and tried to withdraw his arm. Every movement seemed to encourage more strands to slide loose. Then the head of the hammock dropped a couple of inches, sharply. The bars twisted against each other and locked the remaining strands into place. Lucas felt upwards again.

"It's no good, the gap isn't nearly big enough, and I think our weight's holding it like that, now."

"Good going, genius! Now, how do we get out of this thing?" Lexi snapped, her tone switching from concern to agitation.

She squirmed against him, trying to get comfortable as the hammock bobbed up and down. Their heads were now inches lower than their feet and she was starting to feel a little sick.

"Oh no, don't try and blame this on me lady - you're the one who freaked over a stupid little lizard!" he replied. He was pushing carefully against the hemp-rope, considering their situation.

"Genius, this was your idea - not mine! Besides, that stupid little lizard wouldn't have hung around if you hadn't thought it was so cool to play with him earlier...."

She squirmed again, her full bladder choosing this moment to draw attention to itself.

"I think you better call your therapist, Lex. It seems you need to work on some phobic issues..." he retorted, annoyed.

Lucas was twisting one of the hemp strands, trying to fray it through. He was developing a strangler's grip on it, but the twisting had no effect. It was obvious that they were tied up tight. Frustrated, he cursed loudly. They were trapped. Lexi flinched away from him and, again, her reaction brought him back to control.

"You wouldn't happen to have a knife or anything sharp, would you ?" he asked playfully, trying to stay calm and lighten the mood. The bouncing motion of the hammock was starting to make him feel slightly queasy.

He noticed that the beach cottage was becoming a dark silhouette and another thought occurred to him; it would be dark in a matter of minutes. The sun was already slowly sinking beneath the waves and he could only imagine what kind of nocturnal creatures lived on the island.

Lexi was sharing the same thought. She wasn't thrilled by the idea of being eaten alive by biting insects, and the thought that the lizard might return, and could have friends hanging around somewhere, almost unnerved her. She sighed and racked her brain trying to think of a way out of this mess. Lucas was trying to turn, seeking a weak strand in the netting, but they were pressed too closely, and too uncomfortably, together; neither could move much. He wriggled sharply and seemed to be trying to reach towards his feet. The pressure made her painfully aware that her bladder was very full. The boy cursed again.

"This is what I get for dating a younger guy," Lex muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Lucas snapped; his irritation was growing as he felt yet another mosquito feasting on his leg.

"I said, any idea of how to get out this thing before we become the main course for every mosquito in the area," she growled, trying to reach her shoulder and scratch at a bite.

" Look, don't give me an attitude. I'm not exactly thrilled to be here either... Wait! What was that?"

"What?"

"That... that - snuffling noise," he asked, becoming almost panicked as he strained towards the sound in the growing darkness.

"Are wild pigs native to these islands?"

"Wild pigs? You have got to be kidding me, Lucas. And you think I have a serious phobia....." she laughed . "No, they've been hunted into extinction in these parts. There must be a few tame porkers in the villages, but you're safe with me, kid!"

There was a rustling sound in the undergrowth beyond the beach, and a bush shook violently as something reacted to the sound of their voices.


PART 6


The bushes beyond the beach rustled and creaked as something heavy circled through them, still keeping its distance from the trapped couple, but getting no further away. There was another catarrhal snuffle.

Lucas was tense and Lexi thought she could feel him shiver.

"Perhaps he's looking for cough sweets. " she commented, trying to break the tension.

"Keep your voice down," Lucas whispered.

"Don't be silly," Lexi said aloud, "It's just an anteater or something - but if it finds any it might pig out!"

"That's not funny, Alexia," Lucas said, in a tone of warning. "Besides, we wouldn't be here in the first place if you hadn't freaked!"

"Oh would you please grow up!" Lexi snarled, losing patience. She scratched the mosquito bite on her shoulder for a moment, but then realised that she was making things worse.

"You know, for someone sooo smart this was a really STUPID idea!" she added, in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, you didn't think it was a bad idea when you were taking your skirt off, earlier! By the way, Babe, you need to work on the bump and grind a bit more......"

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were such an expert; but then you're the genius! Have you been helping Tony to make a study of the clip-joints, too?" she added vehemently, "Maybe you should publish your results! It's got to be more interesting than that stuff about Caspian soil samples!" She turned her body again, roughly straining against the netting, and trying to twist further away from her fiancé.

Lucas didn't even bother to think of a come back; he had another problem - the pressure against his body was making him increasingly aware that he had to pee.

"Well, this is one advantage to being a guy," he thought, as he manoeuvred around until he could relieve himself through one of the holes in the netting. Unfortunately, he managed to dig his elbow right into Lexi's rib-cage as he did so.

"Ow!" she hissed through clenched teeth, jabbing him hard in the kidney. "What are you doing back there, anyway?" she asked. She was squirming again, trying to lighten the pressure on her own bladder.

"What do you think?" he said, with smugness creeping into his tone.

Frustrated to the point of tears, she replied,

"Aw... Bloody hell! I have to go too," then she cursed rapidly in Spanish.

"Well, genius, What am I supposed to do now?"

"Tough lady, figure outta system!"

If there had been any understanding in his reply they might, she thought, have figured something out. As it was, it was difficult not to feel that this was his fault, too. She was sniffling uncontrollably as she managed to wriggle onto her side, where she tried to relax and not think about her growing discomfort. There was a crackling sound as something unseen again moved heavily through the undergrowth.

"Oh great, that's really going to help us, Lex." Lucas said acidly, "Go ahead - cry." By now Lucas was tired, stiff, and out of sorts; the added threat of unknown creatures was too much...

He heard another sniffle from Lexi, then she replied coldly,

"I think I'm beginning to dislike you immensely!"

"God, we sound like we're already married," muttered Lucas under his breath.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" came the retort from behind him. "I thought you were warm and sensitive. Boy, was I wrong. You are the most insensitive ....cold... immature... At least I found out before it was too late." She sniffed again as another tear found its way down her cheek.

"If I'm so terrible, then maybe you should have picked someone else to bump into on Sea Deck that day....like maybe Tim for instance!"

" If I HAD picked him, at least I wouldn't be here, wrapped up in this god-for-forsaken, oversized fishing net!" she growled. Turning away from Lucas best as she could, Lexi murmured,

"I knew I should have given Colin more of a chance....."

"What was that about Colin?" he asked, angrily twisting against the confines of their prison.

"Oh, you know, Colin; the SENSITIVE, mature dark haired guy with the British accent..."

"Oh, yeah...the one who plays with sharks! You really should be more careful about the company you keep - but then I forgot. You've lived around people of questionable values....."

Lucas regretted the words as soon as he said them, but it was too late. He felt her suddenly stiffen behind him. This was ridiculous - instead of being at each other's throats they should be concentrating on figuring a way out of this mess.

Lucas sighed deeply, then broke the icy silence that had enveloped them.

"I'm sorry, Lex, I didn't mean....ow, what was that?" Her elbow had caught him in the kidney again as she forced her hand through the mesh and dropped the ring. There was a metallic clinking sound.

"Your ring, Wolenczak - I'm calling it off! We're through!" she said, clenching her jaw so hard that it made her eyes water.

"ARE YOU NUTS?!" he yelled back at her, his agitation sending their hanging prison swinging again.

"What the hell did you do that for? We'll never find it - we're on a _'ing beach for Christ's sake!"

"Ask me if I care, genius - I've seen bigger diamonds on a dog collar!"

"Yeah?" he snarled, "and was a bitch wearing that one, too?"

"I heard that, you jerk!"

"Good! And you called ME immature....."

"Well, that's better than being labelled emotionally motivated!" she snickered.

He stopped and tried to turn over.

"How did you know about that...its in my Service Record...YOU READ MY COMPUTER FILE!" Angrily he wriggled again, trying to turn around to face her, but only succeeding in making the hammock bounce. Closing his eyes and fighting the wave of nausea that passed through him, he said in a quiet voice, "I can't believe you did that...."

"And this from the person who hacked into MY UEO files......well, luv, what's sauce for the goose...." came her smug reply. She paused a moment, circling her victim, and then moving in for the kill;

"And you know Lucas, from everything I've read about you - your parents taught you exceptionally well," then, with that, Lexi closed her eyes and squirmed again, finding a semi-comfortable position to sleep.

Lucas lay on his side, in a state of utter confusion. What the hell had just happened?

Only a few short hours ago everything had been fine between them - where had all of this hostility come from? And what did the comment about Colin mean?

As he lay there in the dark the words kept swirling around in his head; in the quiet stillness he pondered the things she had mentioned, albeit in anger, but maybe Lexi did have a point...

On the other side of the hammock, pressed up against the netting as far as she could possibly be, trying to avoid giving Lucas even one extra molecule of closeness or body contact, Lexi lay quietly, turning his words over in her head. She couldn't believe the things they had said to each other; words calculated to wound and hurt. Miserably she lay there, listening to the sounds of the sea and the night creatures, until eventually she drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

She was awakened to the bright glare of sunlight reflected from the sand, and the sound of a faraway voice calling her name.

"Lexi, wake up! I think someone's looking for you!" Lucas exclaimed.

"MISS ALEXIA... WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Lucas, it's Smitty! He must have come looking for me when I wasn't out on the dock to meet him!"

"SMITTY...HELP! HEY SMITTY, OVER HERE!" they cried in unison.

The gnarled old man approached carefully. Then, realising their predicament, he chuckled,

"OH dear...Oh my...my..my. Well, it seems that you two have ...er...uh...oh my....gotten yourselves into a nice pickle, haven't you!"

Unable to contain his mirth, Smitty turned away after seeing the couple, stark naked and hanging trapped like two doomed flies in a spider's web.

"PLEASE,... just get us out of this thing," growled Lucas.

"Umm, yeah, sure kids. In a jiffy. I ..um.. just gotta run back to the boat and...um.. get a knife or something to cut ya down with," the old man snickered as he shuffled off back towards the pier. Lucas watched the old man as he seemed to stagger slightly, his gait a trifle unsteady.

Lucas closed his eyes and hoped that the old man would remember what he had to do. The snickering had sounded senile. Then again, taking in the old man's dishevelled appearance, it was just possible that he was recovering from yet another bender.

"Wonderful!" thought Lucas. "We'll never get out of this thing!" Then, he reached behind him, searching for Lexi's hand as he said sincerely, "About last night...I'm sorry..."

"Yeah, whatever, me too." muttered Lexi, wriggling as far away from him as she could get.

Smitty hurried back, carrying what looked to Lucas to be the largest machete he had ever seen. His eyes were compulsively drawn to it as he painfully swallowed the dry lump in his throat. Without realising it, he held his breath, watching the flash of the knife as it glimmered in the brilliant morning sun.

He felt a slight movement behind him as Lexi strained to see Smitty's progress. Her audible gasp was enough to tell him she had just caught a glimpse of the heavy, dangerous knife in the arthritic, somewhat tremulous, hands of their would-be rescuer. As the old man moved closer they could smell the heavy reek of stale alcohol emanating from his clothes.

Lucas watched in disbelief as Smitty gripped the hilt in both hands and raised the machete high above his head.

Then it flashed down.


PART 7


Having chopped through the foot of the hammock, between the broken base bar and the tree, Smitty eased the bundle to the ground as gently as he could. He aimed his next chop at the lowered bracing bar itself, turning his back to the couple as he pulled the the mesh away from the splinters. That turned the hammock into a string bag, open at the base. Then the old sea captain went into the beach cottage to search for clothing. As soon as he was through the door Lexi wriggled rapidly, backwards, out of the trap.

By the time Smitty returned with an indoor wrap and a bath towel, Lucas was crawling out of the netted prison on his hands and knees. He stood, stiffly and carefully, flexing cramped muscles - then he looked around desperately for something to cover himself. Cheeks flushed a faint pink as he thankfully accepted the towel the older man offered him, wrapping it snugly around his waist. Once covered he looked around, turning, and realised that Lexi was already in the sea. Smitty glanced out to sea and then handed Lucas the robe without a word. Then their rescuer walked off towards the pier, tactfully leaving the couple alone.

After a moment Lucas walked towards the sea himself, hesitating for a few moments above the tide-line before carefully putting down the robe and dropping the towel. Lexi had turned away and was swimming parallel to the shore as he walked into the water, shielding himself with his hands with almost ludicrous modesty. As soon as the water was deep enough he slid forward and swam, thankfully rinsing off the dust and palm fragments.

The salt stung the mosquito bites and he realised that he would have been more sensible to go into the cottage and rinse in fresh water, But Lexi could not go into the cottage while Smitty was there, and he could not shower in her place, at least not until she did. He had used up too much from the water-tank while she was on her way. On that thought he came upright, in water to his chest, and looked, first out to sea and then towards the cottage. The towel and robe were still heaped on the beach, but Lexi was not in the ocean and the cottage door was now closed.

Lucas came out of the water, and was hesitating between using the towel and donning the robe, or wrapping the towel around his waist until he found out what Lexi had to wear, when the cottage door opened. It closed at once, but not before Lucas had caught a glimse of Lexi wearing a sarong style dress. He slipped the robe over his shoulders and belted it, but hesitated, holding the towel, which was still fairly dry. He rapped gently on the door.

"Hey Lexi, could I come in and clean up? Please?" For a moment there was no answer, then Lexi walked out of the cottage, still drying her hair with a small hand-towel.

"Go ahead," she said, tiredly, "I've finished." She left the door open and started to walk away towards the ruins of the hammock, without looking at him.

Her voice was a raspy croak, the result of last night's tears. Lexi rubbed the damp hand towel over her face. She was feeling the beginnings of a pounding headache and she was tired. Worse, the verbal beating that they had given one another was weighing heavily on her mind.

She sighed, veering away from where the remnants of the hammock lay in pieces over her ruined blouse. She was still holding the hand-towel as she started to plod wearily through the sand towards the pier, where the sea-taxi waited.

"Lex! Wait!" Lucas called, quickly moving to her side. "I think we need to talk." He caught her wrist and tried to pull her around to face him.

She stopped and looked up at him, jerking her hand free from his hold. Fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill over, she sadly shook her head, replying in a tired, quiet voice, "I think we've both said too much already."

Lucas stopped and opened his mouth again, an apology forming on his lips as he realised how much last night's fight had hurt her.

"But you can't leave now, not like this..."

Lexi stared past him down the pier as an impatient Smitty gestured to her. Turning back to her companion, she sighed wearily and said, "I'm late and I really don't want to talk to you right now. I don't think we have any thing more to say to each other, Lucas."

She gazed steadily at him, ignoring the searching look in his eyes that slowly changed to one of confusion. Her expression became unreadable as she effectively tuned him out. Lexi drew herself up to her full height and held her spine straight as she turned towards the pier. She started to walk away slowly, but as the emotional turmoil that she was fighting to supress began to overwhelm her, she began to move faster and faster, seeming to almost run down the dock, her sandals dangling from her fingers.


PART 8


Stunned by Lexi's abrupt departure, Lucas stood where he was on the beach and watched as the Sea Jack left the dock. He combed his fingers through his hair, groaning at its itching tangles. He was tired and needed a shower; and he was on emotional overload. He was thoroughly confused, unsure of where he stood with Lexi. Oh, and let's not forget that somewhere on this beach was an expensive diamond solitaire that he probably didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of finding! The mere thought of it irked him. He was gritting his teeth with anger and frustration as he turned on his heel and made his way back to the cottage.

He was shuffling along through the sand, watching his feet, hoping against hope that he would see the diamond glint in the harsh sunlight, when he noticed the heavy bag that Lexi had been carrying when she first came to the island. It was laying forgotten where he had dropped it, close against the base of one of the trees that had supported the hammock. Lucas fell to his knees and began the monotonous task of searching the area around the ruins of the hammock for the ring.

As he worked, his mind was flooded with visions of Lexi. The repetative work did little to distract him from the fact that she hadn't seemed too receptive to making up after their terrible row.

Determined to not come away empty handed, he widened the search area, spreading out the pile of netting and hemp-rope that had once been a hammock. He sifted through the pieces, picking up Lexi's blouse. It was sodden from the overturned water bottle and covered in sand. Carefully, he shook it out and then caught his breath and swore as a huge palmetto beetle tumbled to the ground and a shower of damp sand clung to his legs. Something hit his foot, bouncing off the empty water bottle. For a moment Lucas flinched away, fearing another beetle. Then he saw the glitter. Reaching over, he picked it up; it was the ring.

Lucas held it in his hand a moment, mesmerised, watching as the marquis cut solitaire became a prism for the bright sunlight. He heard a sound behind him and turned, surprised to see Lexi standing behind him; her eyes were swollen and her nose raw and reddened. She looked at him solemnly.

"You were right, Lucas. We need to talk about what happened between us last night. I couldn't leave with things not sorted out."

Her tone was quiet and her manner apprehensive. She walked over to a small cluster of palm trees and sat down in the shade, her back pressed against the base of the tree.

Lucas saw that she was looking at the ring in his hand and that her expression had become closed and wary as she looked at his face.

She smiled apologetically, saying,

"I'm sorry..."

Her eyes followed him as he got to his feet, watching as he brushed the sand off of his knees and walked over to where she was sitting. Kneeling in front of her, Lucas gently took both of her hands in his. A tentative smile moved across his face as his eyes searched hers.

"I'm sorry, too, Lex. Let's just forget that it ever happened, okay? I didn't mean what I said."

Believing that he had made his peace, Lucas exhaled with relief. He let go of her right hand and still holding on to her left, started to place the ring back on her finger where it belonged.

"No, Lucas," she said, trying to pull away.

The smile faded rapidly from his face. Frowning, he gripped her wrist tightly. "What do you mean, *no*?"

The dark look in his eyes frightened her. Lexi fought to stay in control, clamping down on the fear that she felt growing in the pit of her stomach. The pressure on her wrist increased as he squeezed tighter, staring at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

"I can't accept it, Lucas; it wouldn't be fair..."

The painful grip on her wrist eased. Lexi snatched her hand away, wincing as she rubbed at it, the marks he had left clearly visible.

Lucas put a hand on the sand for balance and half-rose from his knees, then sat down heavily next to her. He shot her a miserable sideways glance and then looked away, staring straight ahead, his expression stony. This was not the way things were supposed to turn out.

He turned to face her, "Why, Lex? Everything was fine until last night..."

Edging away slightly, still nursing her wrist, Lexi shook her head.

"I think we need to be on our own for a while. Last night we said things to each other in anger that really hurt...both of us..." she sighed adding, "whether we meant them, or not."

Lucas lowered his eyes and watched the ring he held in his hand. He turned it, letting the light dance through it, then closed his fist tightly over it. In a tight voice he asked, "Is there someone else?"

He remembered the remark she had made about Colin.

Almost as though she was reading his thoughts, Lexi gingerly placed a hand on his arm. His blue eyes met hers and for a moment she couldn't breathe. Returning his gaze steadily without flinching, she replied,

"No, there's no one else. This would be so much easier if there was..."

"Then why? I don't understand," he replied. His tone turned bitter and she could hear the pain in his voice as he went on, "I thought you loved me..."

Lexi tried with difficulty to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. The anguish on his face was more than she could bear. Reaching out, she stroked his cheek, feeling his muscles tense at her touch. Biting her lip in an effort to keep from crying, she gazed deeply into his eyes.

"I've always loved you, but I think we both need some time apart to see if this is real. You're on seaQuest and I'm here. Lets give it a few months and see what happens. I need to be sure."

Lucas brushed her hand away. "I am sure..."

Lexi shook her head wistfully, "But I'm not," she breathed in barely audible voice.

He stared at her, wounded by the words she had just spoken. Then, muttering something about needing a shower to clear his head, he stood up and walked away, heading towards the cottage.

Lexi exhaled, releasing the breath she had been holding, but she still felt as if she couldn't breath. Gasping, she let the tears flow down her cheeks, sobbing as she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them.


PART 9


Back in the cottage, Lucas switched on the shower and adjusted the controls. His goal was to get the water as hot as he could possibly stand it. He stepped inside and felt his body relax as the water poured over him. He felt as if he had been blindsided; he hadn't seen this coming.

He kept pushing away the thought that, if he hadn't faked exhaustion to get Lexi into the hammock, this would never have happened. But it had to have been building up over time, didn't it? Or did it? Did Ford and Loni fight like that? But then, they weren't going to get married, as far as he knew. People didn't always quarrel like that in films, but wasn't this kind of thing normal in real relationships? His parents had sounded like that almost all the time. Once it started you had to win, or the other person would just ... walk all over you ... if people did seem to care about you they just exploited you and deserted you....

His thoughts seemed to be moving in tired, painful circles. He moved the hotwater dial up another couple of notches, but the hot-tank was exhausted and the temperature was falling rapidly. Lexi's behavior had totally confused him and now he had made things worse. Sighing deeply, he thought,

"Why does my life always turn into such a mess?" He shut the water off and wrapped a towel tightly around his waist. The cottage was quiet, Lexi hadn't followed him.

"Oh, to hell with it!" he said out loud and strode into the adjoining bedroom. Taking his duffle from the closet he started to wrench his clothes from the hangers, quickly stuffing them inside. Moving over to the dresser he pulled out the drawers and grabbed a pile of shirts. Something suddenly fluttered to the ground and landed by his foot. Curious, he bent down and picked it up, then barked an angry laugh. It was a snapshot of Lexi taken in the training pool area of the Aquatic Center. She was smiling as she shared a drink with another man...Colin. In an angry gesture Lucas stood up and ripped the photo in half, dropping the pieces carelessly to the floor.

He picked up the pile of shirts again and started to shove them roughly into the duffle before placing the small case that held his toiletries, and Lexi's ring in the top of the bag, pulling the drawstring tightly closed. He dressed, then quickly scanned the room for anything he might have left behind. Heaving the heavy bag over his shoulder, Lucas walked towards the front door with the slowness of exhaustion.

As he reached out, the door opened. Lucas stepped backwards and the bag slid off his shoulder and landed on the floor with a heavy thud, startling Lexi, who stood facing him. Her face was drawn and blotched from crying and mosquito bites; her eyes hardly showed behind the swollen lids.

In a voice thick with emotion, Lucas said, "I'm leaving. If you want me, I'll be on seaQuest." He ran a shaky hand through his hair, his eyes focusing at a point some where above her head.

The impact of his words left Lexi unable to speak. All she could do was nod her head in acknowledgement. There was a pregnant pause as the two just stood there in an uncomfortable silence for a moment. On impulse, she moved forward and closed the gap between them. Standing on her toes she brushed her lips against his, kissing him softly, her eyes brimming over, again. Then, Lucas pulled away, grabbed his duffle and slipped past her, out the door.

Lexi stood unmoving in the doorway, watching as he trudged wearily down the pier to where the DSV shuttle was docked. Her lips moved,

"I love you, Lucas, come back soon..." but the words were a whisper that barely stirred the air. Then she glimpsed her reflection in the hall mirror, shuddered, and closed the door between them.



END