Adapt

Chapter Ten

My stories tend to unravel in a relatively unpredictable manner, so it's kind of strange to find this one ending relatively where I thought it would end… If a little later than I expected it to be finished! So, here is the conclusion: enjoy!

&&&&&

"This would have been more effective on seaQuest," Kristin said darkly, brandishing her shotgun threateningly at the now-subdued members of the coalition who had been on the same evacuation pod as she and Captain Bridger. "Don't you think?"

"We should have time to get back to the crew," Bridger answered, his desperation clear in his voice. "We have to have time to get to them."

The two had realized that they had no choice but to stage a two-person rebellion when they saw the coalition launching empty escape pods to prevent the seaQuest crew from escaping the sinking boat. The decision to wait until they had better odds, once they were sealed in a pod with fewer enemies, had been Bridger's call.

"Well, if we'd done this weeks ago-," Kristin heard herself snapping at Nathan. She knew it was useless, counterproductive, and likely not even valid, but she could not control herself at this moment when she thought of the rest of the crew, stranded on the sinking submarine. She broke off and settled for waving her weapon around some more, relishing the fear on the faces of the six coalition members on the pod.

"Kristin, that's a lethal weapon," Bridger said slowly, hoping to calm her down before someone got shot.

"I know," Dr. Westphalen sighed as she her nervous energy began to dissipate. Now she felt less out of control than simply furious and highly motivated. "Funny, isn't it, that they're now facing lethal weapons simply because they chose to use them against us."

"Certainly," Captain Bridger 'yesed' the doctor absently as he began securing the prisoners in the back of the pod. "Now, should we go back, or can we do more good for the crew from outside the seaQuest?"

"Well, it would help if we knew which systems were the last to give way," Kristin responded, channeling her anger and frustration into this more productive avenue. "Do you think the cause for the blackout could have been external?"

"Oh, yes," Nathan pointed out the front hatch after he turned from securing the last prisoner in a makeshift detention area in the rear of the shuttle. "I do believe it was."

"My God," Kristin breathed, looking out toward the seaQuest – and the large UEO submarine that was following its descent slowly, apparently biding its time and waiting for a signal to move in.

&&&&&

"We have to go after them," Ben Krieg paced in front of the still-open clam doors, refusing to seal them against the water that they knew was rising exponentially quicker than it had been even minutes before. "I'll go alone; seal the doors behind me, and I'll… I don't know… knock loudly when I get back or something. I'll take a rebreather, and-,"

"Absolutely not," Commander Ford strode across the bridge to address the officer. "You're not going anywhere. If they are alive, then they will be here before the water. If not, then I don't want you joining them. We have almost two hundred people on this bridge, and they need you here, Krieg."

"Then let me go, sir," Crocker stepped up beside Krieg. "I feel responsible-,"

"You're not." Commander Hitchcock's voice rang out from the clam doors.

The officers spun to see Katie follow Lucas and Miguel onto the bridge.

"You're alive!" Commander Ford bounded forward with uncharacteristic glee. He grasped Hitchcock's forearms briefly, grinning, and then scooped Lucas up in a hug.

"We're fine, Commander," Miguel grinned at Ford over Lucas' wet hair. "He's fine, too, although he's pretty cold. He was in the water for a while."

"What happened?" Crocker demanded, looking Katie over for any injuries that might be attributable to his own negligence to go after her sooner.

"We just had to find Lucas," Ortiz explained. "He takes a lot of looking after."

Ford finally released Lucas and took a better look at him in the increased light of multiple lanterns on the crowded bridge. "You're all right, Lucas?"

"I'll be fine, sir," Lucas looked up at the commander. "Where's Captain Bridger?"

"We don't know, Lucas," Commander Ford admitted.

"Oh," Lucas looked over at the clam doors. "We should probably seal those, though. The water's only a level or so below us."

Even as Lucas spoke, the first trickle of water slid over the floor.

"That's it, then," Ford, O'Neill and Krieg snapped into action. Ortiz and Perkins quickly joined them in forcing the clam doors into a closed position. They began sealing it as best they could with the few tools they'd been able to locate.

"Can we hold out for another fifteen minutes?" Katie asked, consulting her timepiece anxiously. They were now crushed into the bridge like sardines, and had just cut off the last of their air supply.

"We have oxygen," Perkins gestured at the supply that now looked incredibly meager in comparison to the large crew that perched on consoles and stood against the walls of the bridge. "If the systems provide oxygen almost instantaneously when they're booted up, our supply should keep the crew from getting brain damage, wouldn't you say?"

"Um," Katie looked from Ford to O'Neill unsurely. "I'm not sure how long the system will take to come back up, and we'll need at least one person to work from within to restore the individual systems – such as life support."

"I guess we'll have to wait and find out," Ford sighed in resignation. "Tim, grab a rebreather for Lucas. He's our best shot at getting the systems up after the jumpstart."

"No!" Lucas protested instantly and violently. "Commander Hitchcock knows more about what they're doing. She should be the one."

"Lucas," Katie gave Ford a knowing glance and began speaking to the teenager. "You have been through a lot, and it has been important that you not touch the systems, but now it's okay."

"I know that," Lucas responded, clearly shocked by his own vehemence, "But I don't want to be the one."

Katie's mind raced as she reflected on what had just happened in the stairwell and how that was likely affecting Lucas' emotions. She had no idea what to say to the traumatized teen; for the moment she felt just as traumatized by the idea of watching her crewmates suffocate around her. Commander Hitchcock froze for a few moments as her thoughts became too complicated to sort out in the present situation.

The lights suddenly flickered on, briefly blinding everyone on the bridge before going dark again.

"Looks like you won't have to do it alone, Lucas," Miguel fairly sang out as he realized the implications of the power flicker, "but would you mind helping me boot the systems up?"

Lucas stared at the faintly glowing consoles in shock and wonder before responding to Miguel enthusiastically. "You bet!"

The crew quickly made room for the two to start working at the main life support interface.

"I'll get communications up," O'Neill called out, quickly moving toward his usual console. "Will the virus have survived the reboot, Lucas?"

"I have no idea," Lucas called back.

"Let's assume no," Ford directed, herding crewmembers out of the way so Katie could begin working to revive her own console. "If it is still in there, we're going to have even more problems than we can expect due to the hardware problems caused by the systems breakdown. Let's be positive; we can deal with the virus if and when we need to."

"Ah!" Miguel hopped backward as a shower of sparks emitted from his console. "Speaking of hardware problems… does anyone have a bobby pin and some non-conducting gel? I need to repair this cable."

"As a matter of fact," A young biochemist quickly made her way over to Miguel and Lucas, "I've got both. I was trying to repair a scanner when the lights went out. And I always have bobby pins."

Commander Ford surveyed the bridge and the crew critically and proudly. The seaQuest might not be salvageable, but this crew certainly was; they were going to survive.

&&&&&

Bridger waited anxiously as the seaQuest was brought into docking position for the third time. The navy had been forced to tow the unwieldy submarine to a refitting dock when it was discovered that, despite the apparent disappearance of the rogue virus, the propulsion systems had been damaged beyond any ability to patch it as sea. Moreover, with most of the ship inaccessible, the crew had been forced to work only from the bridge deck – though they had thankfully found that internal pressures on the boat had stabilized enough that they could open the clam doors and access the whole deck.

It had taken four days to tow the flagship of the UEO into dock. Four days in which the boat's entire crew was confined to one deck of the ship. If they hadn't been so jubilant and grateful for even that small freedom after their extended stint as hostages, Bridger reflected, they probably would have been at each other's throats. As it was, though, they had reacted as though they were having a huge sleepover. And every crewmember had individually called to thank Bridger and Westphalen for having the presence of mind to insist that the schedule be pushed up fifteen minutes on the rebooting of the ship's systems.

Lucas' call had been short and sweet: "Thanks for not making me save everyone again."

Bridger hadn't been able to keep the teenager on the line after he'd made that petulant statement, but he had a feeling they'd be having a long conversation after the seaQuest was finally evacuated for refitting.

"They'll be here any minute," Kristin exclaimed, unable to contain her excitement even as attempts to dock approached the two-hour mark with no assurance that this attempt would be any more successful than the last two. It was difficult, admirals had explained to an irate and impatient Bridger, to tow in any ship with the kind of precision needed in order to safely evacuate a crew from a deck that was not meant for any form of disembarking.

"I hope so," Bridger smiled at Kristin. "Hostile takeover or no, you and I got off easily."

"It was hardly hostile," Kristin raised an eyebrow at the captain. "You just threatened that one man, and I held a shotgun."

"You were definitely hostile," Bridger grinned, teasing the doctor. Since the crew had confirmed that everyone was fine and they were almost home, Bridger had become increasingly punchy. "You didn't think they surrendered because of me, did you?"

"Maybe because four of the six coalition members were pacifists?" Kristin ventured with a wry smile. The information they had received in debriefing had been both enlightening and humbling.

"I prefer to think it was because you were so fearsome," Bridger laughed. "But it does seem an awful oversight to assign hostages to a crew that is two-thirds pacifistic and fully armed, doesn't it?"

Admiral Noyce entered the observation room where the captain and doctor were watching the docking attempts.

"They've managed to dock it pretty well, and they're attempting to cut through the bulkhead now. Would you like to be there?" The admiral gestured for Kristin to precede him out of the room.

"They're here, Nathan!" Kristin indulged in one more exclamation of joy as they headed toward their crew.

Bridger grinned and quickly followed the doctor down the hallway and toward the docking area.

&&&&&

The bulkhead was finally cut through, and Bridger watched in fascination as technicians lifted a large piece from the upper hull above his bridge. It was disconcerting to suddenly have a surgical, distorted view of one's ship. But that thought was quickly banished from Bridger's mind when the first crewmember was hoisted from within the boat. A resounding cheer followed as the young botanist set foot on the steel of the docking bay floor.

Grinning, the botanist threw herself into the arms of a civilian gentleman who was clearly her significant other.

Suddenly curious, Bridger realized that there were many, many people in this docking bay – which made sense, since the whole world had been watching the situation unfold for a month. Family members, friends, and privileged members of the media were crowded into the oversized docking bay, each waiting for their loved one to emerge from the broken hull. Amazingly, there had been no casualties among the seaQuest crew, nor presumably among the coalition, save for Tollman. Two pods had escaped, and the rest had been brought in by the navy within a day of the evacuation. None of the family members would be waiting in vain today, Bridger realized. His involuntary smile grew still bigger.

Bridger watched anxiously for Lucas, knowing that his father was probably present, but hoping to reach the teenager first. There was a lot he wanted to say, and "sorry" was first on his list. However, the ship was gradually emptying, and Lucas was not to be seen.

"Of course," Kristin voiced Nathan's thought, "he'll be waiting with the senior officers until the last."

"Of course," Bridger echoed with a note of pride in his voice that masked his nervousness.

A few minutes later, a telltale blonde head emerged from the hole.

"Lucas!" Kristin dashed forward and she assisted the technicians who had been helping the crewmembers out.

Lucas grinned bashfully as he was abruptly smothered by much-craved affection.

"Lucas," Bridger waited more patiently for Kristin to release the teenager.

"Captain!" Lucas leapt into Bridger's proffered embrace, talking quickly. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Lucas," Bridger answered, surprised by the teen's sentiment, but eager to voice his own apology. "I'm so sorry for everything. I should have protected you."

"You did," Lucas assured him. "You saved me."

"Lucas!" Dr. Wolenczak insistently called to his son, who left his captain with only a longing glance behind him.

Kristin and Bridger watched Lucas jog over to his father, Bridger aching to say more to the youth – knowing that their exchange had only scratched the surface of the talks to come—, and then both refocused their attention on Katie, the woman of the hour, as she emerged with Crocker and Ford.

"There's one more man in there," Katie announced loudly. "Don't arrest him; he's with us. His name is Perkins, and he was instrumental to us surviving."

The crowd in the docking area reacted questioningly, and Perkins climbed out shamefacedly. The crowd gaped, many gasping and pointing when they saw his coalition uniform.

"I'm willing to stand trial," Perkins stated, gesturing in a placating manner to the angry people. "I know how serious this all was, and I take full responsibility for my complicity."

"I'm sure something can be worked out," Bridger responded, nodding significantly to Noyce. The admiral looked uncomfortable, but nodded in return.

"We're putting everyone up in a hotel locally until further notice," Noyce announced to the crewmembers. "We'll be serving dinner in the hotel restaurant for the next four hours, so find your way there at some point. We'll have some sort of longer-term arrangements set up for you then."

A cheer went up from the shower-deprived crew, and everyone began to filter toward the hotel.

"I'll be seeing to my team, then," Kristin addressed Nathan.

"I'll see to my senior officers," Nathan agreed. "Seven o'clock?"

"Perfect; I'll see you then," Kristin smiled at the captain. They had grown closer over the last four days, not to mention over the previous four weeks of working together, and it seemed anticlimactic to lose this intimacy now that the situation had improved. Both were relieved to see that the other felt the same way. What neither realized was that, while the situation on seaQuest was over, it was far from resolved.

&&&&&

"So then Lucas kicks his butt, and we just came down in time to see Tollman go down, and Katie instinctively shoots her firearm, totally forgetting that it's lethal, and-,"

"Seriously, Miguel?" O'Neill demanded. "And you expect me to believe that you fought off two tiger sharks at that depth?"

"They must have come in through the aquatubes," Miguel shrugged, then continued with wide-eyed innocence, "We know so little about the ocean, really."

Katie snickered to Lucas at the next table.

"Hey, that's how I remember it," Lucas defended Miguel's version of the story. "Much better than your version, which has me being threatened at gunpoint when you came along."

"The tiger sharks and all?" Katie grinned. "I'll never tell, you know that. As long as you tell your shrink."

"Already did," Lucas sighed. The entire crew had been given a mandatory two-week stay in the hotel they'd been put up in, including on-site counseling, debriefing, and activities.

"Good," Katie left it at that. They'd struck the bargain when Katie realized that Lucas had no intention of rehashing any of the events from the situation, and that nobody actually had any idea what the teenager had been through. The last witness of Lucas' traumas had died on the seaQuest, conveniently enough for the closemouthed teen. So Katie had threatened to tell a very interested audience of Dr. Westphalen and Captain Bridger all about the near-drowning in vivid detail if Lucas didn't agree to tell his counselor everything about the traumatic events of the last few weeks. Lucas had instantly agreed; therapy was preferable to facing the captain or doctor any day, especially with its confidentiality clause. "Have you talked to Bridger yet?"

"He's been awfully busy this week," Lucas replied.

"Really," Katie eyeballed Lucas critically. "And where does he think you are right now?"

"Sleeping," Lucas answered without missing a beat. He looked up at Katie suddenly. "You promised, you know."

"I know," Katie replied. She took a sip of her soda. "I'm not talking about that – I'm talking about everything else you two need to talk about."

Lucas sighed.

"Well, I'm not going to get involved," Katie patted Lucas on the shoulder as she stood up. "But let me know if you want to talk, not talk, or anything else."

"Okay," Lucas gazed up at Katie as she walked away. "Sure."

Lucas spent a couple of minutes contemplating his steak and coleslaw before Miguel slid into the seat Katie had vacated.

"Hey, Lucas," Miguel greeted the teen. "How's the mandatory R&R going?"

"Long," Lucas replied. "But I have wanted to tell you how glad I am that you were there to fight off the sharks."

"Heh," Miguel grinned in response to Lucas' impish smirk. "Anything's better than letting people get into your head, right?"

"Are you using that strategy on your shrink?" Lucas asked quietly, his smirk fading.

"No-o," Miguel answered, realizing that the conversation was turning serious. "Are you?"

"No," Lucas answered quickly. "But I'm deciding whether or not to go that route with the captain."

"Don't," Miguel answered firmly.

"I'm not even talking about-," Lucas began, but Miguel cut him off.

"Not about anything, Lucas," Miguel thought for a moment. "Have you even talked to Captain Bridger since we got off the seaQuest?"

"Yes," Lucas replied defensively.

"Since saying hello in the docking bay?"

Lucas' silence confirmed Miguel's suspicion.

"Lucas, you're going to need someone to talk to," Miguel was silent again. After a few long moments, he sighed deeply. "Look, you can talk to me. I think the captain deserves to hear more about what happened on the seaQuest, and I think it would be good for you to talk to him… but if it's easier, and if there's some stuff you don't want to tell him, then you can come to me. If you need anything at all."

Lucas nodded, silently wondering if Katie and Miguel realized that they'd had the same impulse.

"Want a beer?" Miguel asked with a rakish grin.

"Thanks anyway," Lucas met Miguel's smile with a weak one of his own, "but I don't need to be getting in trouble or consuming depressants right now."

"Probably a good call, although not the one I've been making," Miguel raised an eyebrow at Lucas significantly.

"Oh," Lucas wondered what the appropriate response was. Honestly, he felt like any response to what had happened was appropriate. Whatever worked. But Miguel was clearly concerned enough to mention it, so… "Is it helping?"

"Okay, Lucas," Miguel's demeanor suddenly changed to a businesslike approach. "This is exactly what you want to avoid."

"What?" Lucas was deeply confused by the sudden turn in conversation.

"I'm trying to give you advice. You have spent four weeks dealing with everyone else's problems," Miguel stated firmly. "Here is where that stops. Now, don't rebound and fixate on yourself – you'll just get nervous and antsy, if I know you. But don't get dragged into anyone else's problems right now. You need some time spent not following a psycho guy around, trying to keep him sane."

Lucas stared at Miguel in shock.

"Too harsh?" Miguel was quiet for a minute. He ran a hand over his head wearily. "I watched you, Lucas, I watched you being worn down by him, and by everyone around you. You weren't the one who did everything, like Hitchcock or Ford, but you were ground zero in another way. So now… you need to not be in the middle of things for a while."

"How do you suggest I do that?" Lucas asked, suddenly angry. "No matter what happens, I end up in the middle of it. I have to fix it, I have to explain it, I have to justify whatever I did wrong…"

"So you need to learn how to keep your head down," Miguel patted Lucas on the shoulder reassuringly. "You seem to be doing pretty well so far if you've managed to avoid Bridger all week."

"He's still looking for me," Lucas countered belligerently.

"You need to satisfy him for now," Miguel replied. "Chat with him. But then just be a normal member of the crew; do your job and get rest. Reboot yourself. I'll help you if I can."

"I'm not a normal member of the crew," Lucas bit out angrily. "I never will be."

"But you're a part of the crew, and that has become normal for all of us," Miguel responded matter-of-factly. "So yeah, you are, Lucas. We're used to your brand of genius and abnormality. It would be weird without you."

Lucas thought this over. "I can blend in?"

"Give it a shot," Miguel answered. "I think it would be good for you."

"So… you're not actually drinking?" Lucas followed up, still confused by their conversation.

"No, Lucas," Miguel laughed. "And that's exactly what I'm talking about – stop worrying and getting involved, OK? I'm just happy to be off the boat for a while. I never thought I'd say that, but it was pretty claustrophobic for a while there."

"Do you think a lot of people will transfer off of seaQuest?" Lucas asked.

"I won't be leaving," Miguel offered. "Tim won't be, Ford won't be, and Bridger certainly won't."

Lucas shrugged, and then he nodded. "I guess things will be pretty much the same once the seaQuest is refitted."

"Which will be weird," Miguel agreed with Lucas' unspoken sentiment. "And that will certainly be weird for any new crewmembers who don't realize that normal is weird for us."

"Oy," Lucas raked a hand through his hair. "I hadn't even thought about that."

"Then don't," Miguel grinned again. "Don't worry about it and just pretend everything is normal. And that will make you blend right in with all the other crazies."

"Sure," Lucas smiled in response to Miguel's contagious upbeat attitude. "I'll give it a shot, I guess."

&&&&&

Captain Bridger and Dr. Westphalen walked into the hotel restaurant together for a late dinner, and were surprised to see Lucas and Miguel thick as thieves over the remnants of their own dinners.

"Go talk to him," Kristin waved Bridger toward Lucas immediately. "I'll sit with O'Neill and Krieg."

"Thanks," Nathan nodded and headed over to talk to his youngest crewmember.

"Captain," Lucas jumped, startled when he realized it was Bridger approaching his table. "I, uh, was hungry and-,"

"Yeah, I understand," Bridger looked to Miguel. "Can I have a few minutes with Lucas?"

"Good luck," Ortiz breathed to Lucas as he slid past him to leave. "I'll be in my room tonight."

"I'll see you later," Lucas responded, resigning himself to having the conversation with Bridger much sooner than he'd expected.

&&&&&

Two hours later, Lucas knocked on Miguel's door. He knew the older crewmember was sharing a room with Tim O'Neill, but he'd passed Tim at the pub section of the restaurant and hoped to get a few minutes alone with Miguel to talk.

"Come in, Lucas," Miguel called, guessing correctly that the only person who would be knocking at this hour would be the teenager.

Lucas opened the door and was surprised to find Katie and Miguel sitting on opposite sides of a small coffee table, clearly pausing in the middle of an in-depth conversation.

"Hey, Lucas," Katie slid over on the floor to make room for the newcomer. "Good to see you."

"Yeah," Lucas paused in the doorway, wondering what he was walking in on. "Am I interrupting?"

"Only if you're not willing to tell us what went down between you and Bridger," Miguel replied with a grin. "We've been speculating on how he's going to handle getting the crew reoriented once the seaQuest is up and running again."

"Oh," Lucas stepped fully into the room and sat down next to Commander Hitchcock. "Well, we didn't talk about that specifically, but he did ask me what I thought about a few policy changes…"

Lucas was relieved to be able to hash out his recent conversation with the captain – without having to explain his reservations, questions, or worries. As Miguel and Katie gave voice to the very thoughts he'd had, he relaxed. He wasn't alone; it wasn't up to him; they'd adjust and adapt to their new way of seeing the world together.

Lucas just hoped it would look this hopeful when they all stepped aboard seaQuest for the first time after it had been refitted.

&&&&&

The End!!!

Thanks, everyone who has been reading and reviewing! You've been very supportive and patient, and I am now considering a sequel… we shall see! I hope you enjoyed the story (and the ending!), and I wish you all well!

Sincerely,

Hari