Some warnings about this story - references to a non consensual m/m act (nothing graphic, mainly the emotional fallout). If you want to skip that part, it will be chapters 1 & 3. Also, some strong language.

Okay, here it is, the final part! Many, many heartfelt thanks to all those who have taken the time to review, follow and favourite. It makes me ridiculously happy to know that people like it! Also, many thanks to all those who have been reading the story, I hope you find it a satisfying conclusion.

Finally, R.I.P. Jonathan Brandis. I wish his story could have had a better ending.

Oliver Hudson was reading at the desk in his quarters, when he heard a knock at the door. He was surprised to see Tony Piccolo standing there, although they had developed a friendship of sorts. It was no secret that the Captain saw something of himself in the young man, and was trying to be a mentor to him.

"Mr. Piccolo, come in."

He walked in with a little less confidence than usual. "You don't mind me stopping by?"

"Not at all. Something on your mind?"

Yes, Tony thought, something was very much on his mind. Trust the Captain to go straight to the point, instead of letting him work around to it.

Reluctant to just blurt it out, he hedged, "Yeah, I guess."

Hudson nodded, and motioned for him to sit.

"Drink?"

"Thanks."

There was a pause, broken by Hudson.

"Did you have a good shore leave?" And then, after a moment, "Any problems?"

"No, it was great. It was good to see my folks again. They liked Dagwood and Lucas."

But it was something about Wolenczak, Hudson could deduce that just from the slight hesitation before Tony said his name.

"How is Mr. Wolenczak?"

"He's fine. Picked up a bit of a bug, we had a couple of scary moments, but he seems okay now. Doc's checking him out now."

Hudson didn't fill the silence, and waited.

"Kid musta had a weird childhood," Tony mused, sipping his drink. "Do you know he's never played a board game? Never played Monopoly. What kid has never played Monopoly? Never built a snowman either. Weird."

Hudson raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. They were getting closer, but whatever Piccolo wanted to talk about, that wasn't it.

Tony took another drink.

"Can I tell you something?"

Hudson nodded, but remained silent.

"Nick...my Dad...he said some stuff to Lucas. Stuff that wasn't very nice. And then he told him that we needed money. My Aunt Angie, she woulda had to sell the house. He said some really crappy things, but Lucas...well, he gave him the money. Fifty grand."

He looked up at Hudson. "Did you know he was broke?"

Hudson's reaction mirrored his own. Tony felt better seeing it. He'd wondered if he would have known if they had been around for the last ten years, but apparently not. This was news to Captain Hudson.

"Apparently, his father invested everything in Wolenczak Industries, which went bust."

"But Wolenczak invented things on his own."

"Yeah, when he was a minor. They just invested all his money in their business. The only money he had was his pay, and his mother took that when she had him declared legally dead."

"He had $50,000."

"Yeah..."

Hudson knew that despite all the revelations of the previous conversation, they were only now coming to what was bothering Piccolo.

"I asked him about that." He took a drink, looking even more uncomfortable. Hudson watched him closely.

"He told me he got $60,000 for wrongful imprisonment from the UEO. You know, from when we got back?"

Now Hudson did look interested. "Go on."

"Well, far as I know, he was only there for one night. Seems to me that's an awful lot of compensation for one night's imprisonment, even if he was a civilian at the time. So I kinda wondered, what isn't he telling me?"

"I think that's a very good question. Did you ask him?"

"No. I got the feeling he hadn't meant to tell me, he clammed up right after, changed the subject. Anytime I try to bring it up, he says he doesn't want to talk about it. And..."

"And?"

"And his hands were shaking when he was talking about it."

They fell silent.

Hudson had never asked about that time. Odd, really, but with so much going on he'd never even thought about it again.

Lucas had escaped, and then joined the UEO. Although, wasn't it strange that the UEO never held any kind of enquiry or hearing about that? Escaping from a UEO prison and stealing a sub? It was never mentioned again. And Piccolo was right, $60,000 was a hell of a lot of money for just one night. Hudson checked the time, and then stood up and walked over to the Vidlink.

Within minutes, Secretary General McGath appeared.

"Captain Hudson?"

"Yes Sir. Sorry to disturb you at this hour. I was wondering about something, and thought you could clear it up for me."

"What is it?"

"Could you tell me why Lucas Wolenczak received $60,000 compensation from the UEO?"

McGath froze.

"That's confidential, how did you hear about that? What did he tell you?"

Hudson assumed a look of innocence.

"He didn't tell me anything. I found out from another source. Care to tell me why I didn't hear anything about this from you?"

"As I said, it's confidential."

"Well it's not anymore, and I'm his captain. I have a right to know anything that might affect my crew."

McGath sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"This goes no further."

Hudson didn't even glance to check that Tony was still out of sight of the Vidlink.

"There was an incident."

"An 'incident'?"

"As you know, Wolenczak obviously wasn't a threat. He had no weapon and collapsed at my feet, for heaven's sake. But we needed to keep him where we could question him, so he was arrested."

"Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication. He was placed into the general prison population." There was a long pause, which Hudson didn't break. "There was an altercation in his cell."

"Could you please tell me what happened?" Hudson was becoming impatient.

"Two of the inmates started fighting over him. One of them drew a knife and slit the throat of the other while they had him pinned between them, spraying him with blood. Then, at knife point, the inmate threatened him and started...making advances."

Hudson closed his eyes for a minute.

"How far did it go?"

"That was it! A guard was walking past and heard the commotion, and they subdued the inmate before anything more happened." He cleared his throat. "But he was soaked in blood and in shock when they pulled him away. That's how he managed to escape, he spent the night in the medical ward. There was a social worker there at the time, checking on conditions, and she threatened to take this further unless some kind of reparation was made immediately. We're just lucky that the story didn't get out, this could have been very bad for us."

Hudson looked at him with distaste. "I imagine it was bad enough, at least for him. Will you send me the files?"

McGath nodded. Hudson turned off the screen and sat down. They finished their drinks in silence, and he got up and poured them another.

Tony sank his head to his knees and ran his hands through his hair. "God! Just when I think his luck is rock bottom, it manages to get worse."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"Well, I guess we know why he escaped. And why he never told anyone."

"And if I know Mr. Wolenczak, he probably planned to never mention it."

"He was different this tour."

"Was he?"

"Yeah, kind of snarky and withdrawn."

"He's not usually like that?"

"Na. Don't get me wrong, he was always a smart ass, but he used to be nicer. He's made some really snotty comments to all of us in the past few months. We just thought he had a bug up his ass about being an officer now. But now..."

"You think it was because of this?"

"Yeah. I do." He looked at the Captain. "So now what do we do?"