Bridger stood behind Kristin and sipped on his cup of morning coffee. He had spent half the night trying to get the disastrous images of Lucas and Samantha out of his head before he�d finally fallen asleep, though he was graced only with five hours before his annoying alarm went off.

          Over the past two months, Samantha Kinkade had started to warm up to him as more than just the man who ran the biggest boat in the water. She was already more pleasant at this stage than Lucas had been, and he was more use to the fact that there were children on board.

          He�d heard of the work her father had done in the deserts of Egypt with his archeology crew. Dr. Kinkade�s work had earned him as much respect among the world of Egyptology as Neil Armstrong had won the hearts of every space travel fanatic among the science fiction community. Because he�d started to feel the threads of a bond forming between himself and the young woman, his heart ached to see her lying on the medical bed, plugged into machines, and breathing with the help of a C-PAP respirator.

          �What�s the prognosis?�

          �Same as before. She�s alive, but in a deep coma,� Kristin answered, turning to look at Sam. Her eyes fell from the sight of her--the girl she�d taken under her wing. �She received a heavy charge of electricity through her brain, which was enough to hyper-stimulate the electrolytes in her nervous system. It�s a wonder she�s even still alive at all.�

          Bridger lifted Sam�s small hand and held it a moment, hoping just slightly that the contact would make a difference. �I�ve got Lt. Hitchcock working in the core right now. Hopefully, she can shed some light on this,� he turned to Kristin, who had taken note of the small gesture of kindness between Sam and the captain. �You�ll inform me of any changes?�

          �Of course. You'll be the first to know,� Kristin answered meaningfully. �Can you send Lucas in? I�d like to run some more tests to make sure he�s alright. And change the dressings of his wounds. He took a fair amount of voltage himself, Nathan. I�ll be keeping a close watch on him.�

          Bridger nodded and turned, walking out of the med bay.

          �Oh, and no more experiments! Heaven knows we don�t need anymore wounded from that blasted computer!� she called to him as he walked out. Letting out a breath, she occupied herself with studying the readouts of the EKG and taking another blood sample from Sam�s arm for re-testing. Handing the new vile of blood to Nurse Ellen--one of her more skilled team members--she took a seat by Sam�s bed, taking vigilant watch until she was needed again.

* * * *

          Lucas awoke with a start, feeling the taste of cotton in his mouth from a rather vivid dream involving him on a tropical beach sipping a martini (if he could ever drink one), and watching Katie Hitchcock walk by in a skimpy bikini. It would have been a great dream if the only other woman who showed up hadn�t looked like Samantha.

          He threw his feet wearily over the side of the bed and stood, stretching out every cramp, stiff muscle, and popping joints before throwing on his bathrobe. He grabbed his toiletries and made his way to the community men�s room--still half awake.

          Dropping his bag on the counter, he turned on the faucet and splashed the cool water on his face to get the sleepers out of his eyes, and the weird recollection of yesterday out of his mind. Blindly, he grabbed a towel and wiped off his face, then squinted at the mirror to assess how much of his barely existent five o-clock shadow he had to shave off.

          Finding someone else�s face looking back at him was the last thing he ever expected to see in his lifetime.

          He screamed, heard the high pitch of a feminine scream echo through his head, and stumbled back, knocking the bag of toiletries off the sink, and backed up against a bathroom stall.

          �Hey,� someone pounded from the inside of the stall, causing Lucas to step away. �Back off, man. Can�t a guy shit in peace?�

          Lucas blinked, then turned to the mirror again, ignoring the irritated crew member.

          Damn. He hadn�t been dreaming. Samantha�s face reflected in the smooth surface of the mirror with his own, except hers seemed more ethereal and transparent, like a ghost. Stepping cautiously up to the sink, his blue eyes never leaving the reflection, he warily touched his face and drew his fingers slowly down his left cheek, seeing the same look of confusion and shock on hers, as was on his own. �What�s going on?� he whispered.

          *That�s not my voice,* a quiet whisper answered. A flash of fear swept through him which he was sure wasn�t his own.

          He spun, looking around for the source of the voice and the reflection, but saw no one in his immediate area. Though he recognized both, his voice held trepidation, as he was afraid to even ask. �...Sam?�

          The voice came a bit more evident than before and filled with alarmed confusion. *Oh my God. Why am...what....why am I seeing you? Lucas, what...what the hell is going on?*

          He winced as her voice grew loud enough to make his head pound.

          �Ah! I don�t know. Where are you?� He kept looking around the room looking for small speakers and microphones, then slowly smiled as he thought he�d figured it out. �Very funny, Sam. Who put you up to it, huh?� It was then he remembered sharply that Samantha was still in the med bay unconscious. There was no way this could be her doing.

          �Hey, kid, who ya talkin� to?� the other crewmember said as the toilet flushed and he came out to wash his hands in another sink.

          �eh?� Lucas had forgotten about him.

          �You were talking to yourself.� The crewman dried his hands on a towel and tossed it down the oval laundry shoot.

          �You didn�t hear that?�

          He laughed. �Just you and me here, kid. I think you need to lay off those vid disks of Ben�s. You�re hearing things.� With a fresh grin and a chuckle, he walked out of the men�s room, leaving Lucas alone. Well, almost.

          �Jerk.� Lucas felt himself say the word, but didn�t give the command. It was then that something seemed to creep forward enough so that he could now feel something else stir in his mind, and it gave him goosebumps. He put his hand to his forehead from the sensation, then oddly found himself examining the same hand as if it was something unfamiliar and deformed from another planet. Something flexed his fingers and kept turning it over like it wasn�t real.

          *What happened to me?* Samantha whispered shakily, recognizing nothing about the hand she commanded.

          Lucas� mouth went dry and he swallowed. �Where are you?� he asked the empty room again, keeping his voice low, afraid of an answer.

          *I�m...I...* she uttered, then looked back to the mirror--at his angled features, blue eyes and floppy blond hair that hung untamed to either side of his face. She used his left hand to touch the reflection. Lucas� mirror image followed suit. *Oh...God...*

          His eyes widened and he forcefully clenched his hand into a fist, pulling it back and spinning around as he backed away. �No way are you in my head. No way!� ~Holy shit!~

          *I don�t believe this. I just felt myself talk!*

          He grabbed the sides of his head in frustration as he heard her speak. �Get out!� he demanded.

          *I can�t!* she gasped. *I�m trapped!*

          �Out, out! Get out!�

          Lucas clenched his eyes closed as he felt something test the edges of his mind, hunting for an escape, and he felt pressure as if his brain wanted to explode from his skull, yet was unable to break through. �This can�t be happening to me. It can�t. It�s--it�s impossible,� he argued, picking up the toppled bag and setting it on the counter. He was still on the adrenaline high the incredible, unbelievable shock created as it ran through his system like a lit fuse.

          *If it�s so impossible, how come I�m in a mens room and no one�s noticed?* She made his head turn to look around them at the details of the mens room, spotting a man carelessly singing �La Donna Mobile� off key in an open sonic shower. He turned their way to full view before Lucas seized control and whirled completely around.

          �Don�t do that,� he shot through gritted teeth so as not to be heard by the shower guy, who only stopped singing when he caught Lucas staring at him. When the kid turned around, the crewmember went back to his off-pitch rendition of Greek opera.

          *I was proving a point.*

          �I don�t care,� Lucas snapped quietly, then sighed, grabbing his black bag with his left hand and zipping it closed. �Guys just don�t....look at each other. It�s sick.� He let someone else enter before stepping up to the door.

          Samantha felt the motion and instinctively took control of his legs, fighting him for the ability to walk, yet achieving nothing but causing him to trip and fall on his face.

          �Ah! Let go!� Lucas pushed himself up and felt something surge through his arms--the same tingle he�d felt last night. �Let...er....g'ya!� He stood partially on his own and clung onto the edge of a sink. His heart was racing. "This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not.... Whoa!" He flattened himself against the wall and grabbed a towel rack. "Cut it out!"

          When she tried to get up again, he shoved every bit of the invading intelligence violently back to regain full control with a jolt to his body as it accommodated for two people trying to walk at once. �It�s not you, it�s me. Leave off.�

          Samantha cried out as she was ripped from control, ending the battle. She felt like she were being kept in a box, away from anything familiar, from the knowing, sense of freedom. *It�s not easy to suddenly find myself unable to walk on my own,* she stammered, feeling scared and frustrated.

          Finally sensing he�d regained full control, his head whirling, he started for the door. �This is my body,� he gasped, feeling her fear coupled with his confusion. ~I don�t know how she ended up in my head, but I don�t intend to fight her for control of my own limbs, ~ he thought.

          *That wasn�t on purpose.*

          Lucas stopped short as his hand gripped the handle of the door. His eyes widened almost painfully.

          *You don�t have to talk out loud. Apparently, I can hear your thoughts. Which is greatly disturbing.*

          ~Oh, perfect. This is going to get annoying real quick. ~ He rolled his eyes and pushed the door open, stepping out into the hall. It was then he realized he was still in his happy face boxers and rainbow striped robe. The shift in air temperature was a tremendous help in reminding him.

          *Are you blushing?* She could feel heat gather at her--or rather his--cheeks, and felt like she wanted to laugh, then caught the wave of his reason. *Oh,* her voice came soft and held shock. *Oh, God, I need to sit down.*

          �You need to sit down?�

          *Well, what on earth do you expect me to do? I�m a man for Christ�s sake, and what�s worse,--I�m YOU!*

          He flinched slightly as she hollered.

          ~There�s got to be a way to get her out of my head, ~ he thought urgently, and headed back to his quarters, opening the cabin door and sifting through a pile of cloths for a shirt and pair of pants. ~How the hell--what the hell happened? It was the VRN, the surge, the broken chip--conduits out of alignment maybe, faulty connection with the core or the VR helm--maybe I missed something in the calculations--the math, but I�m sure I covered everything--double, triple checked... ~

          *If I knew, I�d tell you. Stop thinking! You�re giving me a headache.*

          He blinked. That was a new one.

          Throwing something quickly on--a pair of jeans, his blue flannel and black t-shirt, and his shoes--he started back down the metallic corridor again. Blue light from Darwin�s tubes (scientifically known as �Bridger�s Follies�) gave the halls the feel of being on a glass bottom boat with the ocean light softening the hard industrial steel that formed the girders and halls of the SeaQuest DSV.

          Samantha remained quiet in the back of his mind and watched the world through his blue eyes. Though she felt every movement of his body, it seemed more like a layer of thin clothing than actual skin. She could sharply feel the way his arms moved when he walked, hear the sound of jean as the fabric brushed against itself, feel the pressure of his feet each time he took a step, even the warmth of the cloth over his skin. And she had no part in this symphony of human movement. Yet what struck her the deepest was that she could feel the subtle rhythm of a pulse, and she could breathe. Yet so could he. For a moment, the whole of the situation became painfully real to her.

          Lucas inhaled involuntarily, and hurried to the captain�s quarters as fast he could, dodging people just getting on the day shift, leaping the last few stairs before reaching the bottom, shoving a couple of people out of his way, and skidding on the floor when he had to make a ninety degree turn down one of the narrow connecting halls. A part of him was almost afraid someone would see Samantha running with him, or beside him, or something. All he could tell was that another consciousness had invaded his mind, living there against his will to choose, and didn�t seem to care about when and how it decided to grip control of an arm, or hand, or legs, or eyes, or anything at all. He felt so used.

          Samantha pulled herself out of the realization slap and gathered enough energy to form a thought--her only method of speaking without taking control of Lucas� voice. *Where are you going?*

          �The captain�s quarters,� he replied with a breath, his skin prickling like he�d been hit by carpet shock.

          *What for?*

          �The captain will know what do,� he said with conviction. He truly believed in his heart that the captain wouldn�t turn him away. After everything they�d been through, that status had been affirmed many times in the past.

          *Are you sure?*

          �You don�t know Captain Bridger.�

          *It�s not like I�ve had a lot of time to discuss game scores with him.* Her answer was short, but enough to cause him to blink. Somewhere he thought he detected a deeper meaning.

          Then again, he just wasn�t thinking straight much anymore.

* * * *

          Bridger looked over the thin rim of his glasses at the insistent pounding on his cabin door. Placing his leather bound copy of J.R.R. Tolkien�s Fellowship of the Ring, on the night stand, he removed his gold reading glasses and stood. He knew he was getting old the minute he had to report to the optometrist to obtain these things. �Who is it?�

          �It�s Lucas,� the voice sounded as urgent as the knock. �I really need to talk to you.�

          �Come in.�

          Lucas burst into the room, neglecting to shut the door, and not noticing the captain do it for him. �Are you alright?� By the way he appeared, Bridger thought that Lucas had just rolled out of bed.

          �Yes. No,� Lucas sighed. �I don�t know, it all happened so fast.�

          Bridger looked at the kid, who seemed to be on a caffeine high by the way he continually paced the quarters running his hands through his hair. �Whoa, whoa, slow down, Lucas. Take a breath and sit.�

          Lucas stopped pacing and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. �Captain, it�s about Sam.�

          �She�s alright. She�s still in med bay with Dr. Westphalen,� he consoled, unsure of how he should feel concerning Lucas� sudden change in nature.

          �No, no, you don�t understand. She�s here. I can hear her voice just as clearly as you can hear mine.� Lucas looked at the captain. �I--I haven�t figured out how it happened, but--but she�s here.�

          Now the kid was making no sense. �How much sleep did you get last night?�

          �This isn�t about sleep!� Lucas came back, then sighed. �I�m sorry, captain.�

          Bridger forced the young man to sit on the bunk, then pulled out the desk chair so he was facing him. Lucas really looked confused and even a little bit scared. �Slow and easy, Lucas. What�s on your mind?�

          *Interesting way to put it,* Samantha quipped.

          Lucas cleared his throat. �Sir, something happened when the VRN overloaded yesterday. I�m not sure how--maybe caused by the surge in conjunction to the neural link, or prolonged exposure to the system--but she�s here,� he paused as if trying to accept the next sentence, �in my head.�

          All he got from Bridger was a raised eyebrow and a look of puzzlement. �In your head?�

          Lucas felt himself sigh. He dropped his gaze for a moment, feeling that the captain may not believe him, then looked up. �I know, I know it sounds crazy, and it is, but it�s true. Last night I had to fight my own arm to keep from turning the light off.�

          �Did you win?� Bridger asked in a cool tone.

          �Uh...no.� Lucas felt himself blink. �Captain, you have to believe me. You know how I feel about Sam, you think I�d make up a story like this just for...for...some stupid reason I can�t even think of?�

          *How do you feel about me?* She waited a heart beat--his heart beat. *Lucas.*

          Lucas ran his fingers through his hair, keeping his hand there as if it would silence her.

          Samantha drew his hand back to his shoulder. He had really soft hair.

          Bridger had to agree with the young genius. There was no reason to claim that the consciousness of a member of Westphalen�s staff was stuck in his head, and he was about to order Lucas to go sleep it off when he saw him biting his lip; A motion he�d hardly ever seen him do, but was a common habit of Sam�s when she was worried, concentrating on her work, or her music. Bridger stood, his face layered with concern and worry. �I want you to go see Dr. Westphalen.�

          �You think I�m nuts, don�t you,� he said, looking up at the captain.

          �I�m not sure what I think, but you�ve been working some long hours lately.�

          �I�m not crazy, captain, I�m telling the truth, and she�s....� Lucas felt a part of him being shoved to a corner of his mind, his eyes closing. That other tingle he�d felt surged forward beyond him and he now sat where it had been. He felt himself stand and speak, though he wasn�t the one performing the actions. Samantha was. ~Hey!~

          Samantha opened his eyes and paced in front of the holographic projector, speaking with a deeper voice than she was accustomed to hearing. �Stress? Stress? Yea, I guess it could be stress. But I was in the men�s room today and no one noticed, and when I looked in the mirror, I saw his face instead of mine, and for the love of Mike, I�ve got a...a...� Sam stammered, then caught herself. �Sure. Stress. Right.�

          Bridger blinked. He�d just seen a complete roll reversal. In the time he�d known the boy, Lucas had never said �for the love of Mike.� Samantha�s Celtic heritage sometimes gave her a small accent, and in the last part of that sentence, Lucas had been speaking with a slight Scottish inflection.

          Lucas took that pause to completely push the imposing consciousness to the back of his mind and gripped his head. �Don�t do that!� he yelled.

          *I was doing you a favor,* her voice came like a vivid memory.

          �Well, don't! I don't need any more favors.� He rubbed his temples and exhaled heavily. �What did I do to tick off the gods this time?� he asked himself.

          *Maybe you should ask, Luke.*

          �Don�t call me Luke.�

          His mind made up, Captain Bridger activated the PAL. �Kristin, I�m coming down to med bay with Lucas. Be ready for anything.�

          �Alright, Nathan,� Westphalen�s voice responded. �What�s the matter?�

          �It�s complicated,� Bridger looked at Lucas as he said this.

          Lucas bit his lip.

* * * *

          �He�s in perfect health. Well, aside from the burns on his hand and the gash on his head. His system is still retaining trace amounts of the electricity he absorbed, but that�s it. It should disappear within a day or so,� Westphalen explained to Bridger as Lucas sat cross-legged on a med bed watching a nurse rewrap his injured hand and put a clean dressing on his forehead.

          �You found nothing else wrong?� Bridger asked.

          �No, not from the tests conducted. Why�

          Bridger pulled Kristin away from where Lucas was so their conversation could be private. �Lucas says he�s hearing voices.�

          �Voices?�

          �Sam�s voice,� he noted the confused look on the doctor�s face and continued. �He claims that Samantha is somehow living in his mind, and from what I witnessed in my quarters, I don�t think he was lying.�

          Kristin looked to Lucas, then skeptically back to Nathan. �You actually believe this?�

          �It was a convincing performance.�

          �Listen to what you�re saying,� Kristin glanced to Lucas quickly. �You�re suggesting that two people--a boy and a girl--are surviving in the same body.�

          �Yes.�

          �Nathan, there are some things in this world that are odd but still accepted in science. This goes beyond any of that. It just isn't possible,� she lowered her voice even more. �Samantha�s still in a comatose state. The damage to her brain is extensive, but until I know for sure that it�s completely irreparable, I�m not willing to believe without question that she�s sharing a body with Lucas.�

          �Don�t. Just look at the facts for me. That�s all I ask.�

          Her eyes went to Lucas as the nurse finished with his hand. �Tapadh leibh {Thank you},� Lucas said absently as he examined the new bandage.

          Westphalen shifted her weight to her left foot. Lucas didn�t speak Gaelic. �I�ll run an Electro Encephalograph. Get comfy. This might take a moment.� Still not quite believing, she adjusted the elastic band holding her wavy red hair in a pony-tail at the nape of her neck, and went to find a nurse to give her a hand, along with the equipment necessary.

          �Is she there?� Lucas asked once the captain was alone. He�d caught him looking at a corner of the med bay that was separated by curtains.

          Bridger nodded and walked over to where Lucas was still sitting on the bed. �The damage is extensive, but Kristin�s giving her the best care possible.� He saw one of the young women from the science division walk behind the curtains. Lynn--a friend of Samantha�s that she had worked with from Lab 4.

          Lucas merely nodded in response, yet kept his eyes on the curtains. He could feel his pulse quicken.

          �You alright, kiddo?� Bridger knew he didn�t need to ask, but the question was ingrained in his psyche. It�s just what you said to someone who wasn�t well, even if you already knew the answer.

          �Yea,� Lucas breathed. �Just weirded out, is all. This is something that should be out of the X-Files.� His reference to a popular 1990�s t.v series just seemed to fit in all its ancient glory.

          Lucas looked from the direction of the curtains to the captain, and knew the fear he felt was Samantha�s reaction, though don�t ask him how. �She�s afraid, Captain.�

          Nathan looked back, but for one of the few times in his life, he didn�t know what to say.

          A moment later, Westphalen came back with a nurse, and an EEG machine. �Lie down,� she told Lucas, who complied, then began placing electrodes on selective points of his forehead.

          �What�s going on?� Lucas asked.

          *Oh, I don�t like this. I don�t like this at all.* Samantha was unable to fight for herself, and it left her open, vulnerable, and scared. She hated it.

          Her uneasiness at this was clear, and Lucas could easily imagine her curling up her knees to her chest and hugging them. It didn�t help he kept loosing control of separate parts of his body for short seconds. �We�re going to look at your brain waves and see if we can find any abnormalities,� Kristin replied, starting up the EEG machine.

          Lucas huffed lightly. ~Hell of an abnormality. ~

          *I heard that.*

          He sighed.

          Kristin studied the information given by the medical equipment as Lucas lay there like a guinea pig under observation. �Hmm...that�s odd.�

          �What?�

          �What?�

          *What?* Lucas, Bridger, and Samantha all asked simultaneously.

          �Look at this,� she pointed at a wavy line that looked like a frequency wave on a sound board. �This one here is Lucas� brain wave. But there�s another one right here, sort of imbedded inside it. Do you see?�

          Bridger and Lucas tried to get a closer look.

          �No, Lucas, don�t move,� Kristin ordered.

          Lucas lay back, unhappy.

          �Now, if what he claims is true....�

          �I�m not making this up,� Lucas interrupted.

          �...then if we isolate that, and bring up the data taken from Samantha�s last medical exam, we should have a match.� Kristin accessed Samantha�s files and called the information she needed, then placed that in a separate window below Lucas�.

          They made a perfect match.

          �This is impossible,� she mused. �Even the most advanced of psychics can�t duplicate this to this extent, and Sam�s not even psychic.�

          �See? I was right. Ha!� Lucas announced in a victorious tone. His vocal tone changed completely a moment later. �Is there anything you can do?�

          Westphalen watched as the wave that represented Samantha�s grew slightly, and Lucas� shrank the same amount. �Incredible. Each time one of them speaks--and I�m entertaining the notion that Sam�s consciousness is indeed residing in his head--their brain waves switch places. Like taking turns.�

          Lucas didn�t need expensive equipment to tell him Samantha had taken over his speech. He�d started spending his quiet moments in a hunt for her hiding place.

          Bridger�s PAL sounded in that moment of silence. �Excuse me.� He walked to a private area of the med bay to take the call.

          *Can you hear me?* Samantha got no response, and repeated, though louder. *Kristin, can you hear me?!!*

          �Ah!� ~Ow!~ Lucas cringed. �Don�t yell. She can�t hear you.�

          Westphalen�s confusion surfaced in a questioning expression, then she shook her head and sighed.

          *Am I dead?* Samantha quarried a bit slowly, apprehension edging her mental voice. Lucas repeated the question, only changing it from first person to third.

          Kristin's scientific mind had to back down to allow the idea of what was presented to her to grow to a theory. Yet with Samantha�s current condition as a coma patient, and Lucas suddenly knowing how to speak Gaelic, it was getting a little easier by the moment. �If Sam is as you say she is, then no, I don�t believe she�s dead. Not as long as she...remains in your body, Lucas.�

          Lucas felt supremely uncomfortable all of the sudden. �Can you get her out?� he pleaded.

          The only answer she could think to give was one she knew would most likely make the boy even more uncomfortable than he already looked. So, she turned off the machine and removed the electrodes.

          Samantha pushed her way forward so she could sit up, and swiped a swatch of Lucas� bangs out of his eyes. �Doctor, please. You have no idea what this is like. You�ve got to get me out of this.�

          Kristin sighed. Having nothing else to tell him, she thought of the safest words she could gather. �I�ll try my hardest. In the meantime, I suggest you try to work something out.�

          �Work something out?� Lucas repeated, arching one eyebrow. ~Is she serious? ~ �Doc, she�s the one who invaded me!�

          �Lucas, if either of you are going to get through this, you need to try to come to terms. Try to make it a little easier for both of you.�

          Lucas shrugged on his flannel and hopped off the bed, an unfavorable expression on his face. He felt his lungs expand and contract as Samantha sighed.

          �Why don�t you get something to eat?� Kristin suggested.

          *Food. Sounds good to me.*

          �I�m not hungry.� As if on queue, his stomach growled.

          *You liar. I�m starving.*

          Lucas sighed with more than a little embarrassment, all laced with a ring of annoyance. He was no longer alone in his body�s needs. He wanted to crawl into a cramped access port and seal the panel.

          �I insist,� Kristin pushed.

          With that, he had no other alternative than to nod, and walked out of the med bay.

          Westphalen was just putting away the EEG when Bridger approached her. �I worry about him most times,� she stated.

          Bridger nodded in total agreement with her. This kid was defiantly a contradiction in terms: a teenage genius. �Try to keep a little optimism, Kristin.�

          She smiled back at him before he too, left her alone in the med bay with six other staff members. �I need a vacation.�

* * * *

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