SquidgeWorld Archive

That's what friends are for
by Lyn

He woke up, his head throbbing. He looked around him and saw a still body in the corner of the cell.

"Brody, is that you? Are you ok?"

Crawling slowly across the floor, he touched him. Brody didn't move. He turned him over carefully, gasping in horror when he saw the bloodstained bandage wrapped around his shoulder, underneath his torn shirt.

It all came flooding back.

They'd been returning to the shuttle when they'd been ambushed; he remembered how Brody had thrown him to the ground as the shots ran out. Oh God! He remembered the sharp cry of pain, and then Jim had fallen unconscious beside him. As he had tried to move him away, he must have been struck from behind. A blackness had come over him, and now this.

Brody was starting to come to. He moaned in pain. "Easy Jim, don't move."

His eyes fluttered open, eventually his vision cleared. "Lucas, are you ok?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me, they only clobbered me on the head."

Lucas helped him up into a sitting position." Do you know who they are, what they want?" he managed to gasp out, grimacing in pain.

"No, not yet, and you need to stop talking, you've got to conserve your strength."

"A Brody stop talking, that'll be the day." He could see how nervous Lucas was, so he spoke light-heartedly, trying to ease the tension.

They heard the cell door being unlocked; Brody spoke in an urgent whisper, "Lucas we mustn't tell them anything ok, whatever happens we mustn't say anything." Lucas nodded, too scared to talk.

Three men walked in, one of them was armed, and the others carried batons. One of them said, "Right which one of you is Lucas Wolenczak? Brody shook his head at Lucas. They both stayed silent.

"It's ok, we know it's you kid, we want you to tell us what we need to know about the computer systems on the seaquest, otherwise it won't go easy for your pal here," he said looking towards Brody.

"Sorry, can't help you" Lucas replied, looking towards Brody for assurance. Brody nodded at him.

"Pity, ok guys you know what to do;" Without warning the other two grabbed hold of Brody by the arms and manhandled him roughly to his feet, causing him to cry out in pain.

"NO!" Lucas cried out. "Don't hurt him, please don't hurt him."

"You gonna tell us what we need to know?" "I can't" Lucas whispered, feeling sick at the thought of what they might do to Brody.

One of the men hit Brody in the legs with his baton, Jim somehow managing to hold back the scream that wanted to come.

They systematically hit Jim, targeting his legs, back and stomach; he kept trying to focus on looking at Lucas, willing him not to talk. Eventually, his vision blurred and a blessed darkness overtook him.

Back on the SeaQuest, Captain Bridger was growing increasingly worried; there had been no word from either Brody or Lucas.

He conferred with Commander Ford, "Jonathon, I don't like this, they should have reported back by now. Is there any reason you can think of why they haven't?"

"No Sir, Brody reported they were on their way back to the shuttle; and it's not like him to be this late."

"Right, I want a security team to scour the area. It could just be a malfunction in either their transmitter, or the shuttle, but I think we should check it out."

"Aye Sir." Ford replied, "Do you want me to go with the team?"

As Bridger was about to reply, Dr. Wendy Smith came up to speak to them. "Any news?" she asked.

"No, not yet Wendy, we're hoping it's just a malfunction."

"Nathan, I'd like to try something, you know Lucas has slight telepathic tendencies, I want to try and contact him. Is that alright with you?"

"Wendy, right now I'd welcome anything. You have my permission to try."


In the cell, Lucas had taken off his jacket and put it under Brody's head, holding him in his arms. He was worried sick, he knew he'd promised Jim not to say anything, but he didn't want anything else to happen to him.

He closed his eyes, trying to figure a way out of this. Eventually, exhausted, he drifted off to sleep.

Wendy lay down, focusing on thoughts of Lucas. She could feel herself connecting with his subconscious, #Lucas, can you hear me? Show me where you are#.

Suddenly, a vision of a room came into her mind, and she could #see# Lucas sitting down, holding Jim in his arms. She could see that Jim was badly hurt, he appeared to be unconscious, and there was blood on his shirt. #Do you know whereabouts you are Lucas? #

#No Wendy, can you help us? Jim's been shot, and they're torturing him to make me tell them about the seaquest's computer system, I don't think he can take much more, please help us#.

#Don't worry Lucas, we're doing everything we can, just hold on honey#.

At that, the connection was broken, and Lucas coming to, started to cry softly, tears running down his cheeks.

This caused Jim to startle awake. He looked up at Lucas. "Hey, don't worry, it'll be ok" he whispered, squeezing his hand.

"I'm sorry Jim, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Time I was up anyway," Brody joked, but when he tried to move, he gasped in pain. "Oh shit, that wasn't such a good idea," he said, trying to make light of the situation.

Lucas heard the cell door being unlocked. "Ssh, pretend to be unconscious," he whispered. Brody immediately closed his eyes; he didn't need telling twice. He knew he might not be able to hold on for much longer, and he didn't want to burden Lucas with watching him break down.

The same men came into the cell. "Right, on your feet" one of them said to Lucas, pushing Brody off him; Jim landed on his wounded shoulder and was unable to stop himself crying out in pain.

Both Lucas and Brody had their hands cuffed behind their backs.

When they were forced to their feet, Brody nearly passed out from the pain. They were then taken out of the cell. "Time for a walk, and a little experiment," one of them said laughing, Jim struggling to stay upright.

Whilst all this was happening, Wendy had reported her findings to both Captain Bridger and Commander Ford. When they heard about Brody, they were both very worried that Lucas might crack in order to save Jim.

"We've got to find them before he says anything Sir," Ford said.

"Yes, I agree Jonathon, any luck from the away team?"

"Not yet Sir, they've found the shuttle, but that's all so far. Tim and Miguel have been going through old maps of the area, in case anything has been missed out. Nothing yet" he said apologetically.

In the meantime, Lucas and Brody had been taken to a large, bright room. A pool, similar to the moon pool but much larger was there, with what looked like a big cage hanging above it.

Jim spoke to Lucas, while he had the chance. "You've been really brave Lucas, not saying anything, but you've got to continue, whatever happens ok?

"Ok Jim" Lucas whispered.

"That's enough, you two, quiet!" one of the men ordered, and they were forced apart, Jim managing a wink at Lucas beforehand.

Just then, a woman came in, and Lucas gasped in horror. "Oh my God!" he breathed.

"Hello Lucas, long time no see, aren't you pleased to see me?"

Brody looked at Lucas questioningly.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Lieutenant Brody isn't it? My name is Marilyn Stark, and Lucas and I are old friends, aren't we Lucas?"

#Jesus#, thought Jim, no wonder Lucas had gone pale, he'd heard a lot about this woman, none of it good.

"Right, onto business, we need those computer codes Lucas, and I suggest you help us, unless you want your friend here to face his greatest fear."

Brody frowned at this, what was she talking about?

"Oh Mr. Brody, I know a lot more about you than you think; ok boys show Mr. Brody what's in line for him if our friend here doesn't tell us what we need to know."

With that, one of the men pressed a button, and a panel in the moon pool opened.

"Oh God No!" Brody cried out involuntarily.

The men holding him started to move him towards the moon pool. He immediately began to struggle against them, even with his injured shoulder they were hard pushed to move him, his fear was so great. "No, No, please no!" he cried.

"You see Lucas, everyone has a weak spot, and Mr. Brody's is the great white shark. Do you want to know why?"

Lucas couldn't answer, the shock of seeing Brody almost whimpering in fear was unbelievable. How could he help him?

#Wendy# he thought, immediately focusing on somehow reaching her.

On the SeaQuest, Wendy was talking with Bridger, Ford, O'Neill and Ortiz, when suddenly she stopped, feeling the connection with Lucas. She immediately closed her eyes.

She #saw# the room, the fear on Brody's face and the cause of his fear. She #looked# around the room, gathering as much information as possible, before the connection was broken.

When she described the room to the four men, Miguel jumped up and ran over to one of the maps. He'd remembered something from a previous mission.

"Sir, here it is, it's a disused underground science institute; you remember it was shut down about three years ago."

"Yes, I remember" Nathan answered. "What is it Wendy?" he said, seeing her face go pale.

"Something to do with big sharks in a pool, and Brody's being pulled towards them," she answered, frowning.

"Oh Christ!" Ford exclaimed. "What?" Bridger said.

"Jim's terrified of sharks, always has been, ever since he was a kid; he saw his great-uncle killed by a great white when they were on a fishing trip; he told me this in confidence a while back."

"There's something else Nathan, a woman with blonde hair, Lucas appears to know her, and he seems terrified of her, Marilyn?" she said.

"STARK!" Nathan and Jonathon shouted together.

Back at the underground institute, the men holding Brody had somehow managed to get him into the cage, although he hadn't made it easy; considering how weak he was he had fought like a lion, but now that he was in the cage he was shaking in fear of what was below him.

"Now Lucas, as you can see your friend is terrified of these wonderful creatures; and if you don't tell us what we need to know, then I'm afraid he's going to get to know them very soon."

The cage started to move slowly down towards the water, and what it contained.

Jim forced himself upright, and to the back of the cage; his breathing shallow. He swallowed hard, trying to get his breathing back to normal and stay calm; but he was fighting a losing battle. Rivulets of sweat poured down his face, and he whimpered in terror.

Lucas didn't know what to do; he knew Brody had told him not to say anything, but he couldn't just stand there and watch him disintegrate before his eyes.

Brody, making a superhuman effort, somehow managed to turn and focus on Lucas. "NO Lucas! There's only one of me, think of the others," he managed to gasp out.

"Oh, how noble Mr. Brody" Marilyn Stark sneered, "but it won't help you I'm afraid; carry on men, see how long he can stand it, and how long before our little friend here cracks." With that she left the room.

In the meantime, three teams led by Ford, Ortiz and O'Neill had arrived at the institute. Wendy stayed in the shuttle.

Tony Piccolo was on Ford's team. "Tony, I want you to get into that moon pool and lure the sharks away somehow, I don't care how you do it, as long as you're careful ok?"

"Sure thing Commander, leave it to me."

Tony then went into the sea, looking for a way in, Darwin helping him.

"Um how can I help Commander?" Dagwood asked slowly.

"You can help us break this door down Dagwood ok?"

"Okay Commander."

The cage was getting closer and closer to the pool, and Brody was finding it harder and harder to stay calm, plus his legs were beginning to buckle. Eventually, they gave way completely and he slid to the bottom of the cage. His shoulder had also started to bleed again, and he was terrified that the sharks would smell it, or worse still that the blood would drip into the water. He had seen first-hand the results of a shark attack. He now remembered vividly the day that his great-uncle had been killed by a great white.

Lucas watched Jim; God, if only there was something he could do.

Jim was finding it more and more difficult to breathe, his chest seemed to be tightening, what was happening? He gasped, struggling for each breath. He eventually managed to turn towards Lucas. "Help, can't breathe," he choked out.

"Oh God, what's wrong with him? Help him! For God's sake Help him!" he cried.

"Tell us what we need to know, and we will" one of them replied.

#Oh God, what shall I do? # Lucas thought.

All of a sudden, there was a commotion, and Ford's team burst through the door, taking everyone by surprise. The guards were forced against the wall, and taken prisoner.

Brody had by this time, slumped unconscious.

They quickly released Lucas's cuffs. "Help Jim, I don't think he's breathing," he cried.

Dagwood, with his great strength, pulled the cage down, and forced the door open.

They pulled Brody out and after removing his cuffs laid him on the floor. Ford checked for a pulse.

"We need to do CPR, get Wendy quickly," he said, already starting compressions, with another member of the team giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Wendy arrived some minutes later and took over; by this time they had managed to get Brody's heart beating again, but his pulse was very weak and somewhat erratic.

Wendy and Lucas went back with Jim to the SeaQuest. As soon as they arrived, they went straight to Medbay, where Captain Bridger was waiting; a med team had been assembled, and they whisked Jim off, in order to treat him.

Now that he was safe, Lucas couldn't hold back the tears, and Nathan held him as he sobbed uncontrollably. "It's ok kiddo, it's ok, you're safe now," he said, hugging him close to his chest.

A short while later, Ford returned to the Seaquest, having secured the underground facility, although Marilyn Stark had managed to escape. "How's Jim doing?" he asked, worried how long it had taken them to get his heart going again. "No news yet" Bridger replied.

Lucas had been checked over by one of the medbay staff, they were happy to report he had not suffered any adverse effects from the blow to his head. They wanted to give him something to help him sleep, but he refused, he wanted to be there when Jim woke up.

Eventually, Wendy came out of the operating area of medbay. She reported to the three of them that they'd managed to treat Jim successfully, although the fact that his shoulder hadn't been treated earlier meant that there was a risk of infection. They would just have to sit and wait.

What she didn't tell them was that she was worried that Jim might have suffered neurological damage as a result of his heart stopping; but there was no point worrying them about that; she would know more once he regained consciousness.

She could see how desperately Lucas wanted to stay near Jim, so she set up a bed for him in medbay next to Brody's.

When she went to check on Brody a short while later, Ford accompanied her; he was deeply worried about his friend. They both smiled at each other when they saw that Lucas had fallen asleep on his side, holding Jim's hand tightly in his.

Sometime later that evening, Brody began to stir. "Mmm" he moaned softly; eventually he came to and his eyes opened. Looking down he saw three? hands, he blinked and looked again, yes there were three hands. He looked across, and saw Lucas stirring in his sleep in the bed next to him.

"Lucas?" he croaked; Lucas woke up suddenly.

"Jim!" he exclaimed happily. "How are you feeling?"

"Dunno, sore, I guess," he rasped.

"I'll go and get Wendy" Lucas said, and he bounded off, so happy to see Jim awake.

Wendy came back with Lucas, smiling. "Welcome back Jim, how are you feeling?"

"Ok, I guess, a bit sore, and my throat hurts" Brody answered slowly.

"That's to be expected, we had to intubate you. Are you thirsty?" she asked.

"Yeah." he replied. "I'll get some water," Lucas said, wanting to do something.

He bought the water, handing it to Wendy, who held it for Jim while he sipped slowly.

"Lucas, will you go and get the Captain please?" Wendy said. "Sure" Lucas replied, leaving the medbay.

While he was away, getting the captain, Wendy checked Jim over. "Do you know Lucas has been with you the whole time, he wouldn't leave you, I had to set a bed up for him next to you" she said. "Really? Why?" Jim asked.

"He was very worried about you, we all were. Jim you do know what happened don't you?" she asked.

"I remember not being able to breathe, and then I must have passed out, I guess" he replied.

Wendy sat down, taking his hand in hers. "Jim, your heart stopped for a short while"

"What? I don't understand, why?" he asked fearfully. "I'm not sure yet, but I want to do some tests, to make sure everything's ok. Don't worry Jim, I'm pretty sure it's a combination of your shoulder, and also a result of being in that cage."

At the mention of the cage Jim shuddered, remembering the moon pool and the sharks.

Just then, Captain Bridger, along with Jonathon Ford and Lucas came into medbay.

"Well Jim, you gave us quite a scare, how are you feeling?" Bridger asked kindly.

"Ok, thank you Sir" Jim answered. "Glad to hear it, I'll talk to you some more tomorrow, when you're feeling up to it" Bridger replied, relieved to see him doing so well.

"How about some ice-cream to help soothe that throat of yours Jim?" Wendy asked.

Brody nodded; "That would be nice thanks," he said.

Wendy, along with Ford helped Jim up into a semi-sitting position. "Aah; sorry, it just hurts a bit" he said tiredly. "I'll leave you to get some rest Jim, take it easy ok?" Ford said, also looking relieved. "Thanks Jon," Brody said.

Lucas hovered nearby, wanting to help. Wendy, noticing this gave him the ice cream. "I've got a lot to do, why don't you give this to Jim" she suggested, and was rewarded by a big smile. Before she left, she gave Jim a shot of morphine. "This will ease the pain, and help you sleep," she said.

Lucas sat down next to Jim, feeding him the ice cream. "Thanks Lucas" Brody whispered.

After a few minutes, Jim started to nod off. "Sorry Lucas, I can't eat any more," he said, the morphine starting to take effect. "That's ok, you get some sleep Jim, do you want me to go?"

"No, stay please, if you don't mind" Jim murmured, hardly able to keep his eyes open. In less than a minute, he had fallen into a deep healing sleep, and Lucas lay down on the bed next to him, watching him for a short while before he too fell asleep.

The next morning, Jim woke up feeling much refreshed. He looked around, but Lucas was nowhere to be seen. He was amazed how disappointed he felt.

A couple of minutes later Lucas walked in. "Hey, you're awake, how are you feeling today?"

"A lot better, thanks, where have you been?"

"I just went had a shower, then some breakfast; would you like something? I can go and ask Wendy what you can have if you like." He seemed a little edgy, for some reason.

"Yeah, but not just yet thanks; Lucas are you ok?" Jim asked concernedly.

He was dismayed to see tears in Lucas's eyes; "Lucas what's wrong?"

Lucas burst into tears. "Hey, Hey, come here" Brody said, holding out his hand. "What is it buddy?"

"I'm sorry Jim, I let you down," he sobbed. "How on earth did you do that?" Jim asked.

"I couldn't stop them hurting you, and I wanted to but I..." he couldn't finish, burying his head in Jim's arms.

Jim held him close; "Lucas, you did what I asked you to do, and I'm so proud of you."

"You are, why?" he asked. "Because it takes guts to do what you did, it must have been really hard to just stand there; but you did, you didn't give in, and because of that we're all safe. I'm really proud of you Lucas, you're a credit to the seaquest, and I'm glad you're my friend."

"I'm your friend?" Lucas said in awe. "Hell yes Lucas, you're a great kid, I mean a great guy," he said smiling. "Don't sell yourself short, you've got a lot to give, and I really mean it about being glad that you're my friend, not many people would have done what you did, like I said it took guts."

He ruffled Lucas's hair; "Come on, better dry those eyes," he said, changing the subject.

Unbeknown to the pair of them, Wendy, Captain Bridger and Commander Ford had arrived just as Lucas had started to cry and had heard everything, standing just outside medbay. "Poor kid" Ford said. "That Marilyn Stark has a lot to answer for."

Wendy decided to go into medbay; "Hi guys" she said brightly as she walked in, "How are we feeling today, fancy something to eat Jim?"

"That sounds great thanks, what can I have?"

"Only soft food for now, how about some oatmeal?" She laughed at the expression on his face. "Ugh, I hated it as a kid, isn't there anything else I can have?" he pleaded.

"I'll see what we can do for you," she said laughingly. She had deliberately not said anything to Lucas, giving him a chance to recover. But now she asked him to help her, by going and getting some lightly scrambled eggs for Jim. He nodded eagerly, and left.

Ford and Bridger came in, and sat down by Brody. They both knew he might need some moral support.

"Jim, I need to run some tests on you later, do you feel up to it today?" Wendy said.

"Is it to find out why my heart stopped?" he asked, looking apprehensive. She nodded. "Ok," he gulped. He guessed it was better to find out straightaway, but he was scared that it might spell the end of his career.

Wendy sensed this; "I'm sure it'll be ok Jim, you've recovered very quickly, but I have to be sure, I wouldn't be doing my job properly otherwise."

"Hey, we're all here for you buddy, you know that don't you" Ford said, squeezing his uninjured shoulder. "Yeah, thanks Jon" he said. "We'll leave you in peace now Jim, don't worry too much" Captain Bridger said. "Thank you Sir."

Lucas came back with the eggs, and some fruit juice. Jim couldn't believe how hungry he was, and made short work of it. "Thanks Lucas" he said.

"Right Lucas, I need to run some tests on Jim now, why don't you come back later."

He looked at Jim who nodded. "I'll be fine Lucas, I'll see you later ok?"

By the time Wendy had finished doing all the tests, Brody was completely wiped out.

"You need to rest now Jim, I'll talk to you later" Wendy said. She dismissed the rest of the staff so that he could sleep without any distractions. She leant over, and gently kissed him on the cheek, stroking his hair back off his forehead. "It'll be alright Jim, I'm sure." "Thanks Wendy," he whispered. She knew he must be feeling pretty low, because he didn't try any of his usual banter with her.

Some time later, Wendy was talking to Lucas and Nathan in her office, when they heard sounds of distress coming from medbay.

Rushing back in, they found Jim tossing and turning, "No, No, please No!" he cried over and over. "Jim!" Lucas shouted. Brody woke up suddenly, gasping for air. "Oh God!" he cried, "What's happening to me?" He shook, as if he had a fever.

"It's ok Jim, it's just a bad dream," Wendy said, trying to reassure him. "Would it help to talk about it?"

They sat down, Lucas holding Jim's hand tightly.

"Was it to do with sharks Jim?" Lucas asked. He remembered the look of fear when Jim had been in the cage, and he'd seen that same look on his face when he'd woken up just now. He also remembered Jim crying out the same words when the men had dragged him towards the moon pool.

Jim nodded. "I'm so sorry, I don't know why it's affecting me like this" he said.

Wendy thought about this. Finally she said, "Jim, it appears to me that you've had these feelings buried deep within you for a long time, and what happened to you while you were in that cage has bought them to the forefront of your mind. The best thing to do would be to tell us, while it's still relatively fresh in your memory. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'm scared Wendy," he whispered. "I know Jim, but we're all here for you ok?"

Eventually, Jim took a deep breath, and started talking. "My Grandpa had a much younger brother, I was named after him. He used to take me out with him whenever he went fishing. He was the nearest thing to a dad I ever had. When I was about eleven, we went on a big trip. He called it an adventure. I thought it was great." He paused, remembering it.

"We were having a great time, he told me stories about when he was younger; he was always telling me stories, I'm sure some were made up, but it didn't matter, I thought he was the greatest.

Anyway, that day we went out a lot further than normal, he said we would get a better chance of catching some really good fish. We cast our nets, and sat back, just talking. He always had time for me. Oh God, I don't know if I can do this" he said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"It's ok Jim, just take your time," Wendy said squeezing his hand. "Yeah, come on Jim, you can do it," Lucas said.

Swallowing hard, Jim continued. "Something happened to the nets when we tried to pull them up, and Uncle Jim jumped in to see what was stopping them. The next thing I knew the boat dipped, and I lost my balance and fell in. Uncle Jim swam round and grabbed hold of me, he pushed me back onto the boat; and there it was," he gulped convulsively; "This great huge shark, it was coming straight for him; he didn't stand a chance. Before I could do anything, it had him; he was screaming for help." By this time, Jim had started to cry in earnest. "I watched it carry him off, and I couldn't do anything," he sobbed.

"Oh my God Jim, no wonder you freaked out when you were in that cage," Lucas said; Jim turned and buried his face against Lucas, still sobbing. Instinctively, Lucas put his arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"God, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" Jim kept saying, still huddled against Lucas. "It's ok Jim, it's ok," Lucas said comfortingly.

"Is this the first time you've told anybody the whole story Jim?" Wendy asked a few minutes later, when he had calmed down.

Looking up, he nodded. "Yeah; I told Jon a bit a while ago, but that was because I freaked out when he dragged me into an aquarium when we were on shore leave once, he was chasing a girl he fancied" he explained. "But they were just small sharks; I nearly landed him one," he smiled remembering. "But it didn't affect me that badly; I thought I'd gotten over it, I guess not, huh?"

"No, but you've made a big leap in talking about it now," Wendy answered. "I think, in a way this experience has helped you come to terms with, what was a very traumatic experience for such a young boy."

Brody lay back, feeling utterly exhausted. "I'm going to give you something to help you sleep for now, we can talk some more tomorrow if you need to" she said.

Just then, a medbay technician came in. "Here are the results you wanted Doctor"

Upon reading them, a smile lit her face. "It's ok Jim, you didn't suffer any undue effects from your heart stoppage."

Jim breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been really worried that he might have to leave the seaQuest. "Sir, I'm so sorry about all this," he said to Captain Bridger.

"There's absolutely nothing to apologize for Jim, even I would have freaked out if I'd been through what you have, ok?" "Thank you Sir."

"Right, time we were off, we'll leave you to get some rest, coming Lucas?"

"Could he stay with me Sir, just for a little while?" Brody asked. "Sure, you ok with that Lucas?" the captain said.

"I'd like to stay with Jim, thank you Captain" Lucas beamed.

Wendy gave Jim a sedative, and she and Nathan left medbay, chatting.

"Lucas, thanks for being here for me, I really appreciate it" Jim said, gripping his hand.

"No problem Jim, I'm glad to" Lucas answered. "That's what friends are for, right?"

end