0Commander Ford was happy to help Lucas with his physical therapy, although, as Lucas had feared, he had lost a lot of ground. Everything he did seemed to take longer, and his muscles ached from the inactivity. Ford could see him struggling.

"I think we should stop there for today."

"Just a little more, let me just go on a little longer." Lucas continued to pull himself along the bars.

"Lucas..."

He pushed down on his left leg for support, but he was exhausted. His leg slipped beneath him and his arms gave way. Jonathon rushed forward and caught him just as he started to fall, and helped him to his chair. He was gasping for breath which resulted in a fit of coughing.

Ford handed him a bottle of water, and rubbed his back.

"I told you it was time to stop."

"I know."

"You have to work up to it again, you can't pick up where we left off."

"I know!"

Ford looked down at him sympathetically. He looked miserable.

"Hey, you did well. And tomorrow you'll do better, as long as you don't overdo it. Come on, I'll walk you back to your room."

The room was empty when they got there. Ford looked around, worried.

"Can I help with anything, would you like me to stay a while?"

"No, I think I'll lie down. Dagwood should be back soon. Thanks though!"

Once Ford was out of the room, Lucas wheeled himself into the bathroom and pulled out a jar of muscle rub that Perry had given him. Moving back to the bed, he started to massage it into his legs, trying not to wince at the soreness. He heard the door open and looked up, expecting to see Dagwood.

It was Stephanie.

She moved into the room, a gun in her hand. "Stay right where you are!"

He moved just enough to press the communicator button on his wrist.

She giggled.

"Of course, I don't really have to say that, do I? 'Stay right where you are!' Where are you going to go?" She looked down at his uncovered leg. "Ugh, that's gross! Look at you, you'll never be able to walk again, not with that. Why are you wasting everybody's time?"

His face flushed angrily. "What do you want, Stephanie?"

"I want to finish what I started."

"You won't get Bridger back, he's already gone. You're wanted by the UEO. As far as plans go, this one's far from perfect."

"I don't care. I'm already in trouble for attempted murder. I may as well make it murder, and at least I'll have my revenge. You ruined everything for me. I was happy - we were happy, before we met you."

"And I was happy before he found Michael. And I have no doubt that Michael was happy before he met you. Seems to be the way it goes with the Captain. I wouldn't waste anymore of your life on him. It was bound to be someone else, sooner or later."

She glowered at him. "It would not! He loved me like a daughter, he would never have left me if it wasn't for you! So now, I'm going to kill you. Look at you," she said spitefully, "you're disgusting, you should be dead."

On the bridge, Hudson heard the chirp of the communicator. When he heard who it was, Tim put it on speaker.

They heard Stephanie's voice. "...do I? 'Stay right where you are!' Where are you going to go?"

They looked up in horror. Tony ran to Hudson. "That's Stephanie! Where are they?"

"...that's gross! Look at you, you'll never be able to walk again, not with that. Why are you wasting everybody's time?"

Tim checked his screen. "It's coming from your quarters."

"Call security, have them meet us there."

"I want to finish what I started."

Hudson turned on his communicator and listened as they ran.

"...you're disgusting, you should be dead."

"How did you get out of the brig?"

"Even in this day and age, you'd be surprised what a girl can accomplish with a few tears. Once the guard was near me, I knocked him out and took his gun."

"They're going to catch you."

"I know. I don't care. I just want to kill you first."

Hudson and Piccolo ran into the room, their weapons drawn. Startled, she swung around to face them.

"Put the gun down, Miss West."

She looked furious. "No! I'm going to finish this. What does it matter to you anyway? Just look at him! It's disgusting, he's useless anyway!"

Tony flashed a look at Lucas to see how he was coping with hearing those words. He was surprised to see him gesturing to Tony to keep her occupied.

Hudson saw, and continued, "We weren't keeping him here for his body, Miss West, and there's nothing wrong with his brain."

Tony was surprised to see that Lucas actually grinned a little at that.

"There's no way out of this for you, Miss. West."

They were now trying to keep attention away from Lucas, but from the corner of their eyes they saw Lucas moving across the bed and pulling himself up to a standing position. They tensed as they saw him hitch as if to cough, and he held himself like a rock until the impulse passed. They both held their breath as he raised himself and stood for a moment, one hand leaning against the foot of the bed. He leaned forward and picked up an empty soda bottle that had been left on the table.

There was a noise, and Dagwood opened the door and came into the room.

It was enough of a diversion. As she started, she swung the gun away.

Lucas lurched forward. He hit her on the back on the head with the bottle. They fell together, and she dropped the gun. As she reached for it, Tony stomped on her hand and grabbed the weapon. Hudson pulled her hands behind her back and held her. Lucas pushed himself away from her and leaned up against the bed.

"You alright Ensign?"

He nodded, breathless, not entirely sure, adrenalin rushing through him.

Security arrived, one of them rubbing his head and glaring at her. They took her - not too gently - back to the brig.

Hudson moved forward and helped Lucas back onto the bed.

"Good work, Mr. Wolenczak."

He almost smiled.

Three months later.

It was a beautiful day on Nathan Bridger's island. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the water lapped gently over the golden sand.

Everyone had taken their seats, guided there by Tony Piccolo and Dagwood, looking very different in a smart tuxedo. The Gelf saw a few curious looks sent his way.

Captain Bridger straightened his tie as Bill Noyce checked his pocket for the ring one more time. They looked into a crowd of happy faces. Or perhaps, they should say, a crowd of happy faces and Oliver Hudson. Nathan Bridger wasn't even sure Oliver Hudson could smile. He certainly wasn't doing it now. To be fair, he knew how he would have felt if his crew had been diverted by the top brass to attend a wedding, but what was the point of having strings to pull if you didn't pull them?

He heard a rattle on the temporary walkway, and saw Lucas' wheelchair heading for the end of the aisle. Dagwood moved to his side holding a crutch and helped him to stand. It still made Nathan feel slightly sick to see Lucas like this, but he was getting better about hiding his feelings. Lucas didn't need to be dealing with Nathan's demons.

Their relationship was improving again, thanks mainly to Kristin, who had insisted Nathan try to repair a least some of the damage that he had thoughtlessly caused. She reminded him to write regularly and call once in while. It was Kristin who had insisted that Lucas had to be the one to give her away, and she had been delighted when he had said that he would walk her down the aisle.

He had been determined to refuse at first, thinking it would be ridiculous to see him wheeling himself up the aisle beside her. Tony had convinced him that he had improved sufficiently to walk the short distance with the help of a crutch, and in a moment of (what Lucas now considered to be) reckless madness, he had agreed.

He had been practicing ever since, and though he could walk twice that distance on SeaQuest, they had been out there late last night and early this morning practicing on the wooden walkway.

Even so, he had still begged her this morning to ask someone else to do it instead, someone who wasn't likely to fall on flat on his face and ruin the whole ceremony.

She wouldn't even consider it. He was going to walk her down the aisle, or he would wheel himself, but it would be him and no-one else.

Lucas had reached the end of his treatments, and unless there was another significant step forward in medical research, no further improvement was expected. Kristin had explained that it wasn't as much as they'd hoped for, but it was better than nothing. Lucas could walk and stand for short periods of time with assistance. While he was still building up his strength, he felt more confident with a crutch, but he hoped to be able to use a cane occasionally when he felt more confident. The rest of the time, he would have to rely on the chair.

He tried to be positive about it. At least now he could go short distances without his chair, that was something. And Hudson seemed happy to keep him on the SeaQuest. He was inventing again, and had installed a few new innovations that the Captain was very happy to be the first to enjoy. Keeping Lucas on the boat had turned out to be a good idea.

Lucas had managed to gain some weight, although he was still prone to catch any virus that was going around and they were all starting to see that he would never be entirely healthy again. But he was getting stronger, and that was the point to focus on.

Michael ran out on pudgy legs, hand in hand with Kristin, her daughter Cynthia beside them, holding the flowers. Lucas thought that Kristin still looked as beautiful as she had when they first met, despite the years. She never seemed to change, and he loved that about her.

As they reached the end of the walkway, Michael shouted "Luka!", which seemed to be the closest he could get to 'Lucas' and held out his arms to his friend. Lucas had been riding around with him in the chair, and now Michael wanted a ride whenever he saw him.

Cynthia smiled, and bent down and whispered to him. "Not now, sweetheart, remember you have to throw the petals for Kristin?"

Michael remembered, and began by throwing a handful over Lucas, making everyone laugh. He walked ahead, sporadically throwing flowers, but more often just waving to everyone.

Cynthia took her position behind her mother and Lucas, and gave him a smile of encouragement. With a deep breath, he reached for Kristin as she held out her arm to him. Her smile was beaming as they linked arms and they walked down the aisle together.

The End.

Well, that's it! Many thanks to anyone who stayed until the end, I hope it was enjoyable! It turned out to be longer than I planned, and became very different as it progressed. The first one went exactly to plan, the second one went in a completely different direction, and the third was like trying to nail custard to a wall...I had so many elements I wanted to incorporate, but I also wanted to finish it and not leave it hanging. I'd love to hear what you thought, constructive criticism is welcome as long as it's not mean (it was a first attempt!). Oh, and I know there are a few punctuation and grammar errors, I plan to go back and fix them when I have a few moments. Again, many thanks for reading!