Boys Cry

Disclaimer: I don't own SeaQuest or its characters and I make no profit from writing fanfiction.

“You know ‘quasi-shore leave’ is always so disappointing,” Tony bitched to two of his fellow crew members and closest friends as they waited for the maglev to arrive, “It’s like on shore, and we have no duties to carry out, but we’re on call so we can’t have any fun.”

Lonnie looked at him sympathetically, getting it, but not sharing the annoyance as intensely.

“We can still have fun,” Lucas reassured him, he wore his neatly pressed khakis like everyone else, and held his black carry back over his shoulder in a manner similar to Tony’s, “We just have to make sure we’re still in reach if we’re needed.”

Tony cocked his head to look at his young friend, “Lucas since you signed on, you’ve forgotten the meaning of the word ‘fun’.”

“I haven’t forgotten to meaning of the word fun,” Lucas chided.

Lonnie rolled her eyes, “Guys, guys, could you pretend you still love each other for just a second.”

"We still love each other," Lucas told her, looking back at the doors, "It’s just that Tony has an inferiority problem sometimes."

"I don’t have an *inferiority* problem, Lucas," Tony retorted back, more annoyed, "It’s your *superiority* problem that I find difficult to handle."

The doors finally opened and Lucas stepped in first, Lonnie and Tony followed him.

"You’re still a kid you know, Lucas," Tony reminded him, as he turned around to face the hall that they had stood in, "Not a man yet."

Lucas stared straight ahead, not quite ignoring him

"Just remember that," Tony told him. The doors slid closed.

***

Lonnie led the small group as they convened with the other members of the senior crew

Jonathan greeted her with a smile, and the two approached each other as though they were about to give each other a casual peck on the cheek, but stopped short as they reached each other. They stood like that unnaturally as Tim hung back uncomfortably

"Hey," Tony greeted ever the one to break up anything uncomfortable.

Lucas hung back, not quite scowling, but shoving his hands in his pockets and staring out at something else.

"So," Jonathan shrugged, "I'll be updating Captain Hudson on hourly checks of the situation, but there won't be much else for me to do.." he hinted

"Well, if it's hourly, it's not like we can even watch a movie," Tony growled.

"Who wants to watch a movie while we're on shore anyway!?" Tim asked him, "We should just get some food and set up a picnic or something.”

He pulled a scrape book out of his bag, "I was hoping to be able to do some drawing," he looked at them, "But I kind of wanted some company."

Ford nodded, thinking about it, "Well it is a gorgeous day,"

Lonnie smiled at him, "I certainly agree."

The two shared another sickening moment.

Tony used the opportunity to turn his back to them, and Tim walked closer to Tony, "What’s up with Lucas?"

"His personality," Tony growled.

"I'll look for a good spot for us to settle," Tony finally changed the subject.

Tim watched Tony leave before he cast Lonnie a questioning look.

She shrugged, "They were just snapping at each other again."

Ford raised his eyebrows, "You can't blame Tony," he said, "I mean, its easy for us to understand the Lucas is still settling in to his new role, but we don't have to bunk with him."

Tim nodded, "Good point.."

He looked over at where Lucas had been standing, "Hey, did Lucas go off with Tony?'

The other two turned to look, "Uh, no, I don't think so.."

Tim shrugged, "Guess he was in a worse mood than we realised."

Ford rolled his eyes and tapped Lonnie on the shoulder in a 'let's go' gesture, "He'll turn up. Let him brood for a while. He'll have his PAL. We'll just contact him when he's needed."

Tim nodded and turned back to look for Tony, "Guess we should look for Tony then."

The three of them headed off to find their friend and hopefully relax under the trees.

***

The walls were covered in moisture. The setting was clearly somewhere underground. The concrete walls looked like it could be a sewer, but it wasn’t that dirty.

Faint struggles of a weak young man were barely loud enough to echo of the walls.

Another man chuckled, bent over him, holding something to him, "That's right, you be as scared as you want to be," he smiled.

He giggled inanely, "Maybe, I'll burn you, maybe not."

The boy struggled with the rope around his wrists, chaffing the skin but not caring.

He sobbed openly through his gag as he smelt the kerosene pour over him, soaking his body.

"It was pretty exciting taking a young soldier away from his trained friends," he smiled, "In daylight."

The man looked much like a mad scientist, complete with the frazzled graying hair and daggy clothes.

He looked at the boy, "I'm so glad I have more than one of you."

He patted the young man across his red vest and stroked his brown hair.

The Macronesian soldier pulled at his bonds as he tried to block out the smell of kerosene.

The mad man turned around to look at the floor behind him, "I can't wait to play with you."

Lucas lay on the floor with his hands tied tightly behind him, and makeshift gag shoved in his mouth.

The man smiled and took out a box of matches...

***

Tim had the sketch book resting on his knees as he lent up against the tree. Lonnie packed up the food beside him and Jonathan looked at his watch.

He got up quickly, grabbing his PAL to contact the officer in charge of the coastal operations, "Is there anything to report, Lieutenant?"

"No sir," the voice came through, "Everything is up to speed, nothing unusual."

"Okay, I'll be down on the next hour to check things out myself," he told him.

"Very good, sir."

Ford clicked the PAL again to raise Hudson, pacing slightly away from the site.

"Sir, everything seems to be in order down at the docks. I told the Lieutenant I'd be down on the next hour to run a check."

"Thank you, Commander," Hudson sighed as he stood in the large room, dressed in his white dress suit, "Have you contacted security?"

"Yes, sir, they reported back early. Everything seems okay."

Hudson nodded and sighed, "Hopefully there won't be anything to report. The Macronesian's have put up very little resistance to the trade agreement. There's nothing controversial here. McGath seems to think we might even be on our way early."

Hudson seemed very pleased about the news.

"Great sir, we'll keep you up to date all the way."

"Oh, Commander," Hudson asked him, "Is Wolenczak there with you? I also need a systems update."

"No sir, he actually left us early on. You'll have to contact him on his PAL."

Hudson sighed, "I already tried that and the signal isn't connecting."

Ford furrowed his eyebrows, slightly worried, "The signal isn't connecting?"

Hudson sighed, "No, and I'm caught up here. Would find him and have him report to me A S A P?" It was more of an order than a request.

"Yes, sir."

Ford clicked on the PAL and furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think were he could start looking.

"Everything okay?" Lonnie asked him.

Ford shook his head, unsure, "Hudson can't raise Lucas on his PAL," Tim looked up at him worriedly, "He said that the signal wasn't working."

They were silent for a few moments, "That's strange," Henderson commented, "Surely he should know not to go somewhere were he couldn’t be contacted."

Tony sighed, "He's probably not really thinking about that," He stood up, "He'll be found when he wants to be."

"Hudson wants him now," Ford told him.

"Guess we gotta go find him then," Tony rolled his eyes.

"I'll go with you," Tim stood up, more concerned than anyone else.

Lonnie shrugged, "Yeah there's nothing else to do, three heads are better than two."

She picked up the blanket and shook it out.

They packed up there things quickly as Tony stayed behind.

"Are you going to be here, Tony?" Ford asked him, "I don't want you to go off too."

"I'm hardly as likely to want to sulk like Lucas," Tony told him casually.

Ford scowled at him.

Tony thought for a moment, off his look, "But I guess you guys could use some help. It’s probably a good idea to help keep Hudson in a good mood."

"That's what I thought" Henderson rolled her eyes.

***

Lucas shook as he felt the blind fold wrap around his face. His chest ached and he felt that his heart would explode. Oh God, it didn’t look as though the man was going to burn the other boy yet but Lucas wanted more than anything to avoid that outcome.

He wasn’t sure if begging would help, even if the gag was removed.

He tried to push down the frightened shakes as he felt himself being dragged out of the room and to some other unknown destination.

He was plopped down in the dark and left. He heard the door to the other room close and held back a sob of fear.

It wasn’t long before he heard the young man scream from the other room. His heart jumped into his throat and he tried not to scream himself.

He heard frantic movement next to him, and remembered that there were three of them all together. The third guy was obviously a friend of the other man.

The screaming stopped and Lucas felt his stomach contract with relief. It seemed to mean that he wasn’t burning.

He gasped through his gag, trying to shift toward the other young man.

Maybe they could help each other.

He heard the dirt on the ground shift and body movement shift behind him. He tried to turn to face who ever it was.

But boy protested through his gag at his movements and used his shoulders to push Lucas back the other way.

He felt the other man's back press up against his as he shifted some more and suddenly realised that they had almost the same idea.

Lucas shifted so they could find each others hands, and hopefully each others bonds.

***

“Okay,” Ford’s voice was partially breathless with worry, “It’s about time we split up.”

“Is there anywhere we haven’t looked?” Tim asked him.

“We can’t have looked everywhere because we haven’t found him yet,” Jonathan reasoned. He looked at his watch, “And we’ve only been searching for… almost an hour.”

He sighed, “I’m surprised that Hudson hasn’t called back yet.”

“He’s probably waiting for you’re next report,” Henderson mused.

Tim ran his hands through his hair, “Okay, how about we contact Hudson and then I think we should keep looking.”

Ford sighed, shaking his head and taking out his PAL, “I hate to do this to you, Lucas,” he said to himself.

He spoke into the PAL, “Captain, this is Commander Ford.”

“Commander Ford,” Hudson sounded a bit peeved, “Didn’t I ask you to get me Wolenczak?”

Ford sighed, “Yes sir, we can’t find him.”

Hudson was silent for a few moments grunted slightly, suppressing an irritated groan.

“We’ve been looking for almost an hour, sir.”

“When did you last see him?” Hudson asked.

“Almost *two* hours ago, sir,” Ford told him.

“We never saw where he went,” Tim said loudly, worried that Hudson would assume nothing had gone wrong.

Hudson sighed, “Well I guess if you can’t find him or raise him on his PAL we’ll need to send out a search party.”

“How long should we wait before we contact the local authorities, sir? This isn’t like Lucas to just disappear,” Ford consciously pushed down the memory of Lucas disappearing for a night with a girl and not telling anyone where he’d gone.

“Alright,” Hudson sighed, clearly not happy with the situation, “Contact them immediately. They often wait 24 hours anyway, but we might as well put a report in.”

Ford nodded as he spoke, “Alright, sir.”

“In the meantime,” Hudson ordered, “Keep checking security measure and the situation around the colony. God help that kid when we find him if something goes wrong due to lack of surveillance.”

Ford pursed his lips, “Yes sir.”

He turned off the PAL and turned to his fellow crew members, “You can keep searching. Hudson has asked me to check security.”

Henderson touched his shoulder, “We’ll find him Jonathan. He’s probably gone off with some girl.”

Ford shook his head, “I can’t see him making that mistake again. He’s a lot more mature now.”

Ford and O’Neill shared a look.

“Not as much as you might think,” Tony muttered.

There was silence for a moment before the Commander made off.

“He was sayin’ before we left how I shouldn’t complain because we can be easily contacted so we can still have fun,” Tony sighed, “I told him he wasn’t any fun anymore.”

“I doubt he took that terribly seriously, Tony,” Lonnie said.

“I just wish I knew what happened,” Tony said.

“I think we all do,” she sympathized.

Tim spurred them forwards, “Okay, let’s take this to the local authorities. They might be able to help us.”

***

The two captives tried to scramble away from each other as the door swung open and the lanky figure charged in to punish them for their escape attempt.

He concentrated on the boy closest to the door. Lucas remembered that he had red hair with the red hair. Lucas could only listen as their captor kicked his cell mate severely, and then took to him with the long tazor.

Lucas struggled on the ground, oblivious to the dirt that was increasingly covering his uniform, furiously tugging and sliding his hands and twisting his arms around, trying to break free.

Lucas heard the captor stop his assault of his fellow captive. It wasn’t long before he felt hard metal push into his stomach, and then he was overcome with his own agony.

The other boy was too weak to help him, only able to lie and listen to sounds of another beating.

***

Tim was surprised at the almost immediate response he received as they entered the local police station.

The place was crawling with Macronesian officers, and there were several civilians sitting down with police officers in the reception lounge.

“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you,” Tim looked around, a little unnerved by the presence of so many enemies. A few of them glared back at him.

Tony tried to give them his ‘tough guy’ look.

“We’re here to report a missing person,” Tim told the police officer hurriedly.

The man in his late 40s sighed, looking away, “It’s no bother, just so long as it isn’t another teenage boy.”

Another officer approached the policeman and he turned away from Tim.

Tim and the others were slightly stunned by the comment, “W-wait.. excuse me?”

The officer turned back to him, “Never mind,” he took out some materials to write with, “So who are we looking for?”

“A teenage boy,” Lonnie exclaimed. She looked quickly at her two friends, “Well, a young man. He’s one of our officers.”

Tim noticed that they’d caught the immediate attention of a few of the more senior ranking Macronesian officers.

The officer beside man to whom they reported sighed in almost disgust, “Urgh, *another* one!?”

“What do you mean another one?” Tony was starting to get a little worried.

The first officer responded, “This has been happening for almost a week. Young men have been going missing around the colony.”

“And you didn’t think to report this considering that trade negotiations were being held here?” Tim demanded, ignoring the fact that this man probably had nothing to do with procedure.

“They have been a bit younger to date,” the other supported, “Average age was sixteen.”

The three SeaQuest officers sighed simultaneously.

“I’ll need his details,” the first officer told him, “Stay out here, I’ll have someone with you soon.”

He turned to leave.

“Wait!” Tim called after him, “Have any of the missing boys turned up?”

The man ignored him and the other policeman stepped in, putting a placating hand on Tim’s chest, “They’ve all turned up. Alive. No bodies so far.”

Tony looked away, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, “Well that’s a relief.”

He shared a worried looked with Lonnie.

“Hey!” they watched one of the senior ranking Macronesians demand some attention from the officer who had spoken with them, “How many kids do *they* have missing?”

The cop kept walking, “Just the one,” he responded without even looking at him.

The southern naval officer held up two fingers, “Well we have *two*. Shouldn’t they take priority?”

The cop swirled around, not bothered, “They all take the same priority, Commodore,” He pointed towards some more people, “So do these parents who are requesting answers for what happened to their sons.”

He walked away, ignoring anything else anyone wanted to throw at him.

One of the Macronesian’s colleges took him by the arms, trying to calm him. The man was still angry, “Even though their kids have already been found…”

Lonnie turned back to look at Tim, “If they’ve already been found why are their parents here?”

Tim shrugged, watching the other policeman leave them, “I think it’s going to be a while before we get any answers.”

“Well we can’t wait around,” Lonnie was worried now, “What if they do start turning up bodies? And what if that first one is Lucas?”

Tony touched her shoulder, “Look just calm down okay? Lucas’ll be fine.”

“We need to contact the Captain,” Tim sighed.