seaQuest: The Dawning
Nathan heard the door slam and footsteps clamoring on the floor above.
"Uncle Nathan!" Natalie screamed.
He jumped up and grabbed the light, moving toward the door, a crowd of officers behind him.
"Natalie? Nathania? Lucas!" Nathan called, wrapping his arms around them all. "What are you wearing?"
He stopped, staring at Nathania, who sheepishly looked down at her bra.
"I..uh...I was caught and I tried to change...but the shed was collapsing and...I...uh...." she blushed, glancing at Tony. For the first time, Bridger noticed that Tony was topless as well. He raised an eyebrow, barely visible in the dim light. Lucas looked away, sheepishly, and Natalie moved to stand in front of her sister, blocking her from the averted gazes of the rest of the men as they entered the room.
"Whoa...ok..." Jim looked away, shielding his eyes. Natalie pulled Anya towards the stairs.
"Come on, let’s get you upstairs."
As the rest of them moved to return to the guest room, Nathan grabbed Tony’s arm.
"What happened out there?"
"There was...a storm, and we got caught. We were lucky we made it to the shed or we wouldn’t...I mean...have made it." Tony looked away. He knew what the captain was thinking and he knew how guilty he looked. As the rain pounded on the roof, Nathan looked up and pointed his finger at Tony.
"We’ll talk later." He turned and walked into the room, shutting the door after they were all inside.
"So what happened with you and Tony up in that loft?" Natalie asked, handing Nathania a shirt.
"Nothing worse than what was going on with you and Lucas downstairs."
Natalie blushed and looked down.
"I thought you hated him?" Anya asked, pulling a shirt over her head.
"I do...I mean, I did." Natalie sighed. "It’s complicated."
"Isn’t everything?" Anya unzipped her jeans and slipped into her sweatpants. Natalie pulled on a pair of denim shorts and an oversized sweatshirt.
"Yeah. It’s just...I realized that Lucas and I have a lot in common."
"Well, I could have told you that." Anya smiled. Natalie grinned. Then she sighed.
"And I realized that you and I do, too."
Anya raised an eyebrow.
"We do?"
Nat nodded.
"Lucas pointed something out to me, and it made me think." She sat down in the dark on the bed. "We’re both hiding, Nathania. You chose your music, and I chose computer science. But it’s the same place. And we do it...because...we’re scared of letting anyone in. Because then they can leave us. Like mom and dad."
"And Bobby." Anya said softly, sitting down beside Natalie on the bed. She nodded and wrapped her arms around her sister.
"This doesn’t mean we’re going to stop fighting, you know."
Natalie nodded.
"I know. But it means that I won’t try to kill you anymore."
Anya laughed.
"Good to know." A loud clap of thunder came and Anya groaned. "We better get downstairs with the others."
Nathan Bridger awoke. It was silent. The storm had passed. Yawning, he surveyed the room and the tangled bodies around him. Jonathan and Loni were asleep in the corner. Dagwood was laying flat on his back, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest. Miguel lay flat on his stomach, head resting on his folded hands. Jim was on his side, curled into the fetal position. Lucas lay on his back, arm draped over Natalie, whose head lay on his chest. But Nathania and Tony were curled up with one another in the far corner of the room. Quietly Nathan got up and crossed over to them.
"All right, you two." He said, lightly slapping Tony on the arm. He groaned and covered his eyes.
"Uh?"
Nathan reached down and touched Anya’s hair.
"Nat...Nathania Kai, time to wake up."
Tony, finally realizing what was happening, opened his eyes.
"What’s wrong?" He asked, sitting up. Nathan held a finger to his lips and looked down at Anya. Tony shook her shoulder gently.
"Natty..."
Her eyes slid open.
"What’s going on?" She asked, looking from Nathan to Tony. Nathan motioned for the two of them to get up and exit the room.
In the hallway, Anya crossed her arms over her chest.
"Uncle, what’s going on?"
Nathan sighed.
"I don’t know what’s going on between you two, Natty, but I don’t like it."
Tony looked at Anya.
"Captain..."
Nathan held up his hand.
"No.. This isn’t personal against you, Tony..."
"Like hell it isn’t!" Tony turned red, and he struggled to remind himself that Nathan was his captain.
"Uncle, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but nothing happened between us."
"Oh no? The two of you come in here last night, half naked, and you expect me to believe that it was just the storm?"
"Yes!" Anya exclaimed. Then she took a breath. "Uncle, I appreciate it, really, but I’m 20 years old. I live on my own. I’ve been taking care of myself for years now. I’m not a little girl anymore."
"And I’m not your father." Nathan said. Anya stopped.
"I didn’t say that."
"You didn’t have to."
Anya looked down, struggling to keep a sane thought in her head. Tony leaned forward and lay a hand on the small of her back.
"Captain, we weren’t doing anything honest. Ok, maybe we kissed, but that’s it. That’s all."
Nathan turned back to Anya.
"Nat, you have a career."
"Yes, I do." She said evenly. "A career that you helped me get, but one that I have fought for on my own. I’m sorry Uncle, but I don’t understand what your concern is."
Nathan sighed, and looked down.
"I just want you to think about this, that’s all."
"Ok." She said softly, realizing that she wasn’t going to win. Tony looked down and bit his lip.
"What’s for breakfast, I’m starved." Miguel said, coming out of the room behind them.
"Turkey." Nathan said, without taking his eyes off of Nathania. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"Yay." Miguel said, moving into the kitchen.
"Are we done?" Nathania asked. Nathan nodded his head. "Good." Without another word, she walked into the living room and curled up on the window seat she and Tony had shared the day before. Tony came in and sat down beside her. He reached over and gripped her hand.
"What are you thinking?" He asked softly. She shook her head.
"I don’t know what to think." She sighed. "I’m sorry he said that, Tony."
Tony shook his head.
"No, maybe he’s right." He looked down. "You have this whole career, this whole life. Me, I’ve ruined everything I’ve ever touched."
"That’s not true."
"Yes, yes it is."
Nathania reached over and touched his cheek.
"Tony, kiss me."
"What?" He looked taken aback. He glanced quickly at the door to see if Nathan could see them.
"Kiss me. Don’t look there, look here."
After a final glance at the door, he leaned over and locked lips with her. A thousand sensations coursed through his body , none of them able to be scripted. When she pulled back, she rested her forehead on his.
"Feel that?" She whispered.
"Yes." He breathed.
"That’s all that matters."
An hour later, everyone was gathered around the dining room table, surrounding the Thanksgiving dinner that they had missed yesterday. Nathan stood up at the head of the table.
"It’s a Bridger family tradition on Thanksgiving to go around the table and say what they are thankful for on this day. I would like to go first." He cleared his throat. "I’m sure at least 2 of you are wondering why it was so important for me to have you all here." Natalie and Nathania exchanged looks.
"I wanted to make an announcement, and I wanted you all to be the first to hear about it. But first, I need to go and get our final guest."
Everyone looked around, exchanging shrugs and confused looks. Nathan walked to the front door, and when he returned, he had a tall woman with curly hair in tow.
"Dr. Westphalen?" Commander Ford stood up. She nodded and smiled.
"How have you been, Jonathan?"
Nathan cleared his throat and took Kristin by the hand.
"I wanted you all to share in this moment, and Natalie and Nathania, I wanted you to meet Kristin...because..." he looked at Kristin and she smiled. "in December, we are going to be married."
"What!" Lucas exclaimed, standing up. He bounced over to Kristin and wrapped his arms around her. "Congratulations!" Miguel stood up, holding out his hand. Loni walked over and gave Nathan a hug.
Natalie and Anya looked at each other. Natalie stood up and walked over to Kristin.
"Hi...um, welcome to the family, I guess?" Kristin smiled and took her hand warmly.
"Thank you."
"I’m Natalie."
"I’m Nathania." Anya smiled. Westphalen looked at them carefully.
"Nathan didn’t mention that you were twins."
The entire room fell silent, as everyone looked to see which on of the girls would snap first. Instead, Nathania wrapped her arm around Natalie and grinned.
"We’re not, actually. Just sisters."
"Oh!" Kristin laughed.
"Come, come, sit down." Bridger told everyone. As they took their seats, the phone rang. "Uh, I’ll get that." Bridger said, leaving the room. A few moments later, he returned with a grave expression on his face. "Jim, It’s Miramar East."
"What?" Jim gasped, knowing immediately that something was wrong. Nathan walked over and placed a hand on Jim’s shoulder.
"Jim…there’s been an accident."