There Comes a Time (seaQuest)
TItle: There Comes a Time
Rating: G
Characters: Lucas Wolenczak, OC
Pairing: Lucas/OC
A/N: Takes place after the events of In Father's Footsteps, the unaired episode of seaQuest season 3.
Summary: Lucas calls Addie with bad news regarding his father and his military career.
There Comes a Time
Addie sat, curled up on the couch, reading her book as Kristen played quietly on the floor. She glanced at the clock; another ten minutes and she’d send her to bed. IT was getting too late for her to be up.
“Start cleaning up,” Addie said, “you have about another five minutes before it’s bedtime.”
“Yes, mom,” Kristen said with a roll of her eyes. She began carefully piling her Legos and toys back into the toy box, leaving her favorite doll out.
She sat on the couch next to Addie, watching the cartoons flash on the screen. “All right, kid. It’s time for bed.” Addie dog-eared the page and tossed the book onto the coffee table.
“I’ll race you to the stairs!” Kristen yelled, jumping up from the couch and racing to the stairs.
Addie rolled her eyes and followed her daughter up. She twirled her ring around her finger as she ascended the stairs, silently praying to hear from Lucas soon. It’d been two weeks since the last vid call, and it was two weeks too long.
By the time Addie reached Kristen’s room, the young girl was already in bed, buried beneath her blankets and various stuffed animals. “Love you, munchkin.” Addie sat on the edge of the bed and brushed a lock of hair from Kristen’s forehead. “You know that, right?”
“Of course, Mommy. I love you, too.”
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Sweet dreams and sleep tight. Good night.” She stood up, leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Kristen’s forehead.
“Good night, Mommy. If you talk to Uncle Lucas, tell him I love him, okay?”
When Addie reached the door, she turned back to smile. “Of course. You’ve said that every night for two weeks. What makes you think tonight he’ll call?”
“I don’t, but I didn’t want you to forget to tell him.”
“There is no chance of that, sweetie. Get some sleep.”
Addie turned off the light switch and softly shut the door behind her. She retreated back to the living room, wishing she wasn’t alone for the remainder of the night. You’d think that after being alone for so long, I’d be used to it, she thought as she sat back on the couch.
Just as she got comfortable, the VidLink beeped, signaling an incoming call. “Just my luck. It better not be another damn telemarketer.”
Addie clicked the button as she sat down, surprised to see who’s face popped up. “Hey there.”
“Lucas,” she breathed, a smile spreading across her face. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to see you…”
“Oh, I’m sure I can imagine. I’ve missed you.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. They were still sad, worried and a mix of other emotions. Addie couldn’t even identify half of what was racing across his face.
“What’s wrong?” She didn’t even bother to waste time with small talk.
Lucas laughed bitterly, “you’d be better to ask what isn’t.”
Addie frowned and rested her elbows on the desk, and her chin in her hands. She wanted to help with whatever was wrong, but it was so hard being so far away. “Okay, what isn’t wrong?”
“I get to talk to you tonight, that’s probably the only thing that isn’t wrong.”
“Oh, Lucas…” she trailed off. “Do you want to talk about it? Can you talk about it?”
Now it was Lucas’ turn to frown. “Yeah, I can talk about it, but I don’t know…” He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’m sorry, Ad. Is Kristen in bed yet?”
“Yeah,” she said softly with a small smile. “Just put her up there about ten minutes ago, right before you called. She reminded me to tell you that she loves you.”
“Man, I love that kid.” He smiled again, this time his whole face lit up. “How’s school going? She’s got to be ready for summer time.”
Addie raised an eyebrow, “you sure you really want to talk about Kristen? Or do you want to talk about why you called? I’m fine with either, just want to make sure you’re okay.”
Lucas was silent, his eyes avoiding making eye contact with her. “I don’t know how to say it…”
Addie bit her lip, nervously thinking the worst. Was he leaving her? Not that they were a couple, but… Was he never coming back again? “You might want to come out and say it, since I’m thinking the absolute worst.”
“My dad,” he said and Addie let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “We found his body.”
“Oh, Lucas…”
“He was stuck in a magma flow… he went into cryosleep and rigged the… what we were looking for… to keep him alive. Unfortunately, it backfired and he…” This time, he looked up and met her eyes, his blue ones filled with tears. “He was a skeleton… he’d been dead since not long after he disappeared.”
Reaching out, Addie pressed her fingers against the Vid Link screen, trying to offer him as much comfort as she could from thousands of miles away. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I mean, I’ve been thinking he was dead since I came back… it’s not like I was expecting some happy reunion…”
Yes you were, Addie thought sadly as she pulled her hand away. “But it couldn’t have been easy, finding him like that. I wish there was something else I could do.”
“It gets worse.”
“How?”
He laughed, “well, I didn’t exactly go looking on Hudson’s orders. In fact, I may have completely disobeyed an order to find him. I’m charged with mutiny and disobeying a direct order.”
“Lucas…” She sighed, “I don’t even know what to say.”
“I had to know, Addie. I had to know if he was still alive. Not to mention, what he was working on? The technology is amazing!”
Addie dropped her head, shaking it slowly. She wanted to be angry with him, she wanted to yell at him and ask him why he would do such a thing. But he’d always had issues with his father, and if she was in the same situation, she knew she’d do the same thing. “When do you find out your punishment?”
“Disciplinary hearing is set for two days from now. Best case, I get off with a warning and downgrade in rank. Worst case, I’m sentenced to a military prison for twenty years.”
She inhaled quickly and closed her eyes. Twenty years. Twenty years in a military prison. After she just got him back... “Well, I’ll pray for the best case option. You’ll call me when you get your sentence, right?”
“Of course. Who knows, I might get leave without pay and I’ll be able to come see you.”
“Is that before or after your prison sentence?”
“Addie…”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
The door to Lucas’ quarter’s opened and he glanced back. “Hey, Luke.” Tony’s voice sounded through the call and Addie smiled. She hadn’t met him yet, but had heard everything about him, even back before seaQuest disappeared.
“Hey, Tony.” He turned back to the screen, a sad smile on his face. “I’ll call you in two days, okay?”
“Okay. Take care, please.”
“I will. Tell Kristen I said hi. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Bye, Lucas,” she whispered softly.
“Bye, Addie.” The connection was cut and the screen went blank with the Vid Link logo emblazoned in bright purple.
Adelaide dropped her head to her hands, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Oh, please. Please let him be okay,” she whispered as she prayed to whomever was listening.
*~*~*
Two days later, the Vid Link beeped, causing both Addie and Kristen to jump. “It’s Uncle Lucas!” Kristen yelled, racing to the screen.
“Let me answer it,” Addie called, standing up and walking toward her. But, before she reached the Vid Link, Kristen had already hit the ‘Accept Call’ button.
“Uncle Lucas!”
“Hey there, kiddo. Is your Mom there?”
Kristen rolled her eyes. “You always want to talk to Mommy. Why can’t you talk to me? I’m important, too.”
Addie covered her face with her hand, trying to hold back the laugh that was threatening to burst out. She looked over Kristen’s shoulder at the screen, taking note of the expression on his face. He didn’t look upset, didn’t sound upset, so odds were he hadn’t been sentenced to a military prison. “Get out of the chair,” Addie said, pushing her daughter out of the chair and to her feet.
“I’ll make a deal with you, kid. You let me talk to your Mom right now, and I’ll come see you in a couple days and spend the whole day with you. Is that deal?”
Kristen’s eyes grew wide and she gasped, “really? You’re really coming to visit?!”
Looking back and forth between the two, Addie couldn’t help but smile at the expression on her daughter’s face. She was overjoyed. “Yeah, I’m really coming to visit. As long as your Mom will have me.”
“Of course,” Kristen confirmed, completely ignoring her mother. “Okay, it’s a deal. You talk to Mom and I get you for a whole day. See you!” She turned and ran up the stairs, thundering as she went.
Addie watched her go, waiting until she heard her footsteps in her room overhead, before turning back to the screen. She stared at him, meeting his eyes, waiting for him to make the first move.
She studied him, taking note that he wasn’t wearing his uniform and looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Well, you’re probably wondering what my punishment is.”
“The thought crossed my mind.” She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting.
Lucas mirrored her position, sitting back in his seat. “Well, I haven’t been court-martialed and I’m not going to prison.”
“Both good news.”
“I thought so too.”
“So… what’s your punishment?”
Lucas shook his head, whatever he was expecting her to say, she hadn’t. “I have a half rank downgrade and am removed from the promotion list for a full year. Not to mention three weeks off without pay.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Secretary General McGrath put in a good word for me. Hudson would have court-martialed me and sent me to prison for twenty years.” Lucas smiled, “I’m pretty sure he’s pissed at me, and probably will be for quite a while.”
“Understandably so.” Addie uncrossed her arms and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. “So, you’re coming here for a few weeks?”
He coughed and shifted on the chair. “If you’ll have me. I miss you, Addie.”
Addie smiled, “I miss you, too.”
“So, I’ll be there in two days.”
“Sounds good. I’ll cook dinner, something you really like. Kristen’ll be really glad to see you.”
Lucas reached out a hand, pressing his fingers to the screen. “I hope you will be also.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll see you in two days.”
“See you,” Addie replied, hitting the disconnect button.
It could have been worse. It could have been so much worse.
Rating: G
Characters: Lucas Wolenczak, OC
Pairing: Lucas/OC
A/N: Takes place after the events of In Father's Footsteps, the unaired episode of seaQuest season 3.
Summary: Lucas calls Addie with bad news regarding his father and his military career.
There Comes a Time
Addie sat, curled up on the couch, reading her book as Kristen played quietly on the floor. She glanced at the clock; another ten minutes and she’d send her to bed. IT was getting too late for her to be up.
“Start cleaning up,” Addie said, “you have about another five minutes before it’s bedtime.”
“Yes, mom,” Kristen said with a roll of her eyes. She began carefully piling her Legos and toys back into the toy box, leaving her favorite doll out.
She sat on the couch next to Addie, watching the cartoons flash on the screen. “All right, kid. It’s time for bed.” Addie dog-eared the page and tossed the book onto the coffee table.
“I’ll race you to the stairs!” Kristen yelled, jumping up from the couch and racing to the stairs.
Addie rolled her eyes and followed her daughter up. She twirled her ring around her finger as she ascended the stairs, silently praying to hear from Lucas soon. It’d been two weeks since the last vid call, and it was two weeks too long.
By the time Addie reached Kristen’s room, the young girl was already in bed, buried beneath her blankets and various stuffed animals. “Love you, munchkin.” Addie sat on the edge of the bed and brushed a lock of hair from Kristen’s forehead. “You know that, right?”
“Of course, Mommy. I love you, too.”
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Sweet dreams and sleep tight. Good night.” She stood up, leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Kristen’s forehead.
“Good night, Mommy. If you talk to Uncle Lucas, tell him I love him, okay?”
When Addie reached the door, she turned back to smile. “Of course. You’ve said that every night for two weeks. What makes you think tonight he’ll call?”
“I don’t, but I didn’t want you to forget to tell him.”
“There is no chance of that, sweetie. Get some sleep.”
Addie turned off the light switch and softly shut the door behind her. She retreated back to the living room, wishing she wasn’t alone for the remainder of the night. You’d think that after being alone for so long, I’d be used to it, she thought as she sat back on the couch.
Just as she got comfortable, the VidLink beeped, signaling an incoming call. “Just my luck. It better not be another damn telemarketer.”
Addie clicked the button as she sat down, surprised to see who’s face popped up. “Hey there.”
“Lucas,” she breathed, a smile spreading across her face. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to see you…”
“Oh, I’m sure I can imagine. I’ve missed you.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. They were still sad, worried and a mix of other emotions. Addie couldn’t even identify half of what was racing across his face.
“What’s wrong?” She didn’t even bother to waste time with small talk.
Lucas laughed bitterly, “you’d be better to ask what isn’t.”
Addie frowned and rested her elbows on the desk, and her chin in her hands. She wanted to help with whatever was wrong, but it was so hard being so far away. “Okay, what isn’t wrong?”
“I get to talk to you tonight, that’s probably the only thing that isn’t wrong.”
“Oh, Lucas…” she trailed off. “Do you want to talk about it? Can you talk about it?”
Now it was Lucas’ turn to frown. “Yeah, I can talk about it, but I don’t know…” He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’m sorry, Ad. Is Kristen in bed yet?”
“Yeah,” she said softly with a small smile. “Just put her up there about ten minutes ago, right before you called. She reminded me to tell you that she loves you.”
“Man, I love that kid.” He smiled again, this time his whole face lit up. “How’s school going? She’s got to be ready for summer time.”
Addie raised an eyebrow, “you sure you really want to talk about Kristen? Or do you want to talk about why you called? I’m fine with either, just want to make sure you’re okay.”
Lucas was silent, his eyes avoiding making eye contact with her. “I don’t know how to say it…”
Addie bit her lip, nervously thinking the worst. Was he leaving her? Not that they were a couple, but… Was he never coming back again? “You might want to come out and say it, since I’m thinking the absolute worst.”
“My dad,” he said and Addie let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “We found his body.”
“Oh, Lucas…”
“He was stuck in a magma flow… he went into cryosleep and rigged the… what we were looking for… to keep him alive. Unfortunately, it backfired and he…” This time, he looked up and met her eyes, his blue ones filled with tears. “He was a skeleton… he’d been dead since not long after he disappeared.”
Reaching out, Addie pressed her fingers against the Vid Link screen, trying to offer him as much comfort as she could from thousands of miles away. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I mean, I’ve been thinking he was dead since I came back… it’s not like I was expecting some happy reunion…”
Yes you were, Addie thought sadly as she pulled her hand away. “But it couldn’t have been easy, finding him like that. I wish there was something else I could do.”
“It gets worse.”
“How?”
He laughed, “well, I didn’t exactly go looking on Hudson’s orders. In fact, I may have completely disobeyed an order to find him. I’m charged with mutiny and disobeying a direct order.”
“Lucas…” She sighed, “I don’t even know what to say.”
“I had to know, Addie. I had to know if he was still alive. Not to mention, what he was working on? The technology is amazing!”
Addie dropped her head, shaking it slowly. She wanted to be angry with him, she wanted to yell at him and ask him why he would do such a thing. But he’d always had issues with his father, and if she was in the same situation, she knew she’d do the same thing. “When do you find out your punishment?”
“Disciplinary hearing is set for two days from now. Best case, I get off with a warning and downgrade in rank. Worst case, I’m sentenced to a military prison for twenty years.”
She inhaled quickly and closed her eyes. Twenty years. Twenty years in a military prison. After she just got him back... “Well, I’ll pray for the best case option. You’ll call me when you get your sentence, right?”
“Of course. Who knows, I might get leave without pay and I’ll be able to come see you.”
“Is that before or after your prison sentence?”
“Addie…”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
The door to Lucas’ quarter’s opened and he glanced back. “Hey, Luke.” Tony’s voice sounded through the call and Addie smiled. She hadn’t met him yet, but had heard everything about him, even back before seaQuest disappeared.
“Hey, Tony.” He turned back to the screen, a sad smile on his face. “I’ll call you in two days, okay?”
“Okay. Take care, please.”
“I will. Tell Kristen I said hi. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Bye, Lucas,” she whispered softly.
“Bye, Addie.” The connection was cut and the screen went blank with the Vid Link logo emblazoned in bright purple.
Adelaide dropped her head to her hands, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Oh, please. Please let him be okay,” she whispered as she prayed to whomever was listening.
*~*~*
Two days later, the Vid Link beeped, causing both Addie and Kristen to jump. “It’s Uncle Lucas!” Kristen yelled, racing to the screen.
“Let me answer it,” Addie called, standing up and walking toward her. But, before she reached the Vid Link, Kristen had already hit the ‘Accept Call’ button.
“Uncle Lucas!”
“Hey there, kiddo. Is your Mom there?”
Kristen rolled her eyes. “You always want to talk to Mommy. Why can’t you talk to me? I’m important, too.”
Addie covered her face with her hand, trying to hold back the laugh that was threatening to burst out. She looked over Kristen’s shoulder at the screen, taking note of the expression on his face. He didn’t look upset, didn’t sound upset, so odds were he hadn’t been sentenced to a military prison. “Get out of the chair,” Addie said, pushing her daughter out of the chair and to her feet.
“I’ll make a deal with you, kid. You let me talk to your Mom right now, and I’ll come see you in a couple days and spend the whole day with you. Is that deal?”
Kristen’s eyes grew wide and she gasped, “really? You’re really coming to visit?!”
Looking back and forth between the two, Addie couldn’t help but smile at the expression on her daughter’s face. She was overjoyed. “Yeah, I’m really coming to visit. As long as your Mom will have me.”
“Of course,” Kristen confirmed, completely ignoring her mother. “Okay, it’s a deal. You talk to Mom and I get you for a whole day. See you!” She turned and ran up the stairs, thundering as she went.
Addie watched her go, waiting until she heard her footsteps in her room overhead, before turning back to the screen. She stared at him, meeting his eyes, waiting for him to make the first move.
She studied him, taking note that he wasn’t wearing his uniform and looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Well, you’re probably wondering what my punishment is.”
“The thought crossed my mind.” She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting.
Lucas mirrored her position, sitting back in his seat. “Well, I haven’t been court-martialed and I’m not going to prison.”
“Both good news.”
“I thought so too.”
“So… what’s your punishment?”
Lucas shook his head, whatever he was expecting her to say, she hadn’t. “I have a half rank downgrade and am removed from the promotion list for a full year. Not to mention three weeks off without pay.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Secretary General McGrath put in a good word for me. Hudson would have court-martialed me and sent me to prison for twenty years.” Lucas smiled, “I’m pretty sure he’s pissed at me, and probably will be for quite a while.”
“Understandably so.” Addie uncrossed her arms and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. “So, you’re coming here for a few weeks?”
He coughed and shifted on the chair. “If you’ll have me. I miss you, Addie.”
Addie smiled, “I miss you, too.”
“So, I’ll be there in two days.”
“Sounds good. I’ll cook dinner, something you really like. Kristen’ll be really glad to see you.”
Lucas reached out a hand, pressing his fingers to the screen. “I hope you will be also.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll see you in two days.”
“See you,” Addie replied, hitting the disconnect button.
It could have been worse. It could have been so much worse.