========================================================================== FOR ERIN Kathy Wolenczak a.k.a. Kathleen Brown ========================================================================== Timeline: SeaQuest DSV Author's E-Mail: kwolenczak@hotmail.com ========================================================================== AUTHOR'S NOTES: I wrote this for Erin Doremus. :) It's short, and Lucas isn't experiencing anything out of the ordinary for _anybody_ (or me, at least). :) K.W. ========================================================================== Night. First season seaQuest. Lucas is chatting on the 'Nex with a few friends, listening to headphones, quietly updating and downloading files between his quickly-typed responses. Darwin is nowhere to be found, his door is closed. Lucas is alone, content, to the point he feels comfortable enough to lean back, pop his slender knuckles, and give a great heaving sigh of total relaxation. It's an invitation for trouble. As Lucas checks his chat and sees a new message, he smiles and leans foreword. Without so much as an "I'm coming in" or even a knock, Krieg walks right in. Shocked and appalled, Lucas' mouth nearly drops open. He stares at Krieg. The Lieutenant picks up Lucas' journal from his desk, casually leafing through it. He then drops it down like Lucas' private thoughts aren't _interesting_ enough and walks over to Lucas' music collection. Nothing good there, either. He walks behind Lucas to read over his shoulder. Finding a conversation discussing the intricacies of regional accents too boring, he plucks Lucas' headphones directly off his head. He listens to Lucas' tribal music before looking at him and making this bald statement: "You need a life." Krieg leaves without a word. Lucas watches his doorway a moment, then drops his head down on his desk, shaking with tightly-held sobs. Later. Lucas has just returned from a wet shower. His hair is wet and disheveled, he's lying on his back on his bed in only a large fluffy white towel around his waist. His left arm is over his eyes, and he's just now giving the deep, jagged sigh that follows long term crying. There's a gentle knock at his door. Lucas sighs, "Yeah". Nathan walks in, sees Lucas, and pushes his reasons back, obviously something's troubling the boy, and Lucas deserves the attention, things've been busy here and Lucas has dropped on Nathan's list of priorities, as much as he hates to say it. Eyeing Lucas, Nathan speaks quietly. "Something wrong?" Lucas moves his hand and picks his head up, sighing as he sits up. "I'm just feeling a little unappreciated, I guess." Nathan sits down. "Anything you wanna talk about?" Lucas shakes his head sadly. Nathan _knows_ something's up. "Do you want some company?" Lucas nods slowly, contemplating his fate. Nathan looks into Lucas' clear blue eyes and sighs. He gently touches Lucas' hand. "Son, what's wrong?" Lucas sighs. "I was sitting in my room, _finally_ getting to catch up on some of my _own_ stuff, when Krieg comes in, starts leafing through my journal, looking in my music, reading over my shoulder and just grabbed my headphones offa' me. Then he left. Without a single word, Captain. My first day off in God-only-knows how long." Nathan continues to look at Lucas. "There's more." Lucas sighs. "I'm lonely. Desperately, _insane_ with loneliness. I was talking to my girlfriend for the first time in four days. Krieg ruined it for me, and then she hung up on me for not answering in time, but I couldn't because Krieg was right there. And I haven't been able to call her back since." Bridger's confused. He didn't know Lucas had a girlfriend. "Julianna?" With great frustration in his voice, nearly in a groan, Lucas answers. "_Erin_." "Who's Erin?" Lucas sighs in irritation, but then the thought of showing off his girl becomes too appealing, and Lucas becomes greatly excited. He hops off his bed, goes over, and pulls her picture from between the pages of his journal. He goes over and sits back down. It's a picture of a slender, lovely girl with dark brown hair, glasses, and a sweet, enthusiastic, smile. Nathan smiles. "She's pretty." Lucas gazes at the photo like Nathan knows he has a thousand times. "She's beautiful." Nathan smiles at the boy. "Where's she live?" Lucas looks up at Bridger, somewhat shocked. *You're not saying....*. "Near Boston" "Is she a genius?" Lucas looks suspiciously at Nathan. "No. But she's still really smart." As an afterthought, but a poignant one, Lucas adds "It doesn't matter. I love her". Nathan smiles. "Follow your heart." Lucas can hardly believe what he's hearing. "Can I borrow the Stinger?" Bridger gives Lucas an unbearable teasing *Well, should I?* look, but then smiles and hands over the keys. "Be back by Monday". "Thank you, Captain." Lucas cries, as he wraps his arms around his commanding officer. Near Boston, Mass. A girl, the girl from Lucas' picture, is quietly sitting in her living room, watching an episode of an old 90's TV show called "Ocean Girl." There's a gentle knock at her door. The girl quietly stands and looks through the peephole, then, in confusion, opens the door timidly. Lucas throws the door open and wraps his arms around her, nearly spinning her around in joy. She rests her head on her shoulder, quietly whispering, in a state of total shock "Oh, Lucas..." He laughs estatically and hugs her firmly, finally ending it with his arms wrapped around her soft body. "My God, how I've missed you." Erin sighs softly, realizing the situation here. "I love you, Lucas." Lucas has tears pouring down his cheeks into her satiny hair. "I love you, Erin. So much that it hurts to be apart from you. I never want to leave your arms, but I only have a weekend." She pulls away from him to look in the eyes. "Then we'll just have to make the best of it, won't we?" He smiles and hugs her again. "I'm happy right here." THE END. hehehehehe...it's better ========================================================================== Copyright Kathleen Brown June, 1997.