WHEN THE ADVENTURE GOT WILDER

Quite clearly, this AU is based on the second-season episode entitled "Wild Adventure."

            After Robinson and West managed to save the ship from its collision-course with Earth's Sun, they turned on Smith again, still seething from his having "hit bottom" in tricking young Penny into changing the course for him.

            Steely-eyed, Robinson demanded to know the details of how Smith had tricked Penny.

            Now resentful over the position that he'd put her in, Penny readily explained, "He said he was already in trouble with you and Don before he failed to reset the course on the astrogator, and that he didn't know what you two would do when you found out." Her tone was accusational toward Smith.

            The tone was echoed by the resentful, fiery look shot at Smith by both Robinson and West. Smith gulped hard and regarded them wide-eyed in return.

            Penny continued, "I said to him, 'I think you should tell them.' And he responded, 'I'm afraid.' I felt sorry for him, so I agreed to do it carefully, and to try not to get caught, so you two wouldn't have to know that he hadn't done it when he was supposed to."

            Will piped up, "Boy, Dr. Smith, that's even worse than any of the ways that you ever tricked me!"

            West said harshly, "So, you told Penny that you were afraid of us, eh? Maybe we should make the most of that." He eyed Smith dangerously, and Smith gazed back at him unsteadily.

            Robinson said coldly, "You played on Penny's sympathy for your fear of us. You dirty...unprincipled old fraud!"

            Smith winced just from the sharpness of his words and his gaze.

            Judy put in, "Dr. Smith, many times I have felt sorry for you, when they've frightened you, but this time I just can't. You used my sister and hurt her deeply. You've gone too far."

            The two men were smiling in dark, unsavory satisfaction at the support that they were receiving from all three of the children. Smith was slowly shaking his head in dread for the same reason.

            Robinson and West were, exquisitely slowly, circling gradually toward Smith from opposite directions, deliberately drawing out the suspense. Equally slowly, Smith was easing closer to Mrs. Robinson, trying to place himself behind her, for cover.

            She wheeled on him. "How dare you try to hide behind me, after you took advantage of my daughter's kindness and sympathy, to knowingly risk getting her in trouble and to protect yourself!"

            "But dear lady...!" he implored desperately.

            "Don't you 'dear lady'-me, after pulling a stunt that low. Judy, Penny, Will, come with me. We're going below. We'll leave the men to settle their differences with Smith alone." She ushered her offspring into the elevator ahead of her.

            "No!" Smith whispered in horror. Only Will would meet his eyes, and that, only dubiously. Smith whirled to face Robinson and West. "No!!" he cried louder. "I...can't...!"

            "Can't what?!" taunted West viciously.

            Smith continued to back away from them. "Can't...take it, can't...face you, can't...cope...!"

            Robinson hurled at him roughly, "Well, we'll find out, won't we?!"

            Smith whispered on, as if hypnotized, "Can't...be left alone with you two! Can't...survive this...!!"

            As the two men came within striking-range, Smith let out an uninhibited, loud scream of terror. It did no good. The men were still coming at him eagerly, determinedly, and the heads of the others were disappearing from sight as the elevator descended.

            The women and children had just emerged from the elevator below-deck when they heard a loud, sharp crack, and a blood-curdling scream of anguish from above them.

            "Mom," Will said poignantly.

            "Shh, it'll be all right." Mrs. Robinson enfolded her son in her arms.

            Penny sagged. "Now I feel guilty."

            Judy put her arms around Penny in response, even as their mother whispered, "Hush, don't let Smith hear anything like that."

            Judy agreed, "This time, it must be done." But her own regret was evident in her tone, and in her sad, worried face.

            Standing in a huddle in the middle of the lower deck, Mrs. Robinson and her children were subjected to terrified shrieks of agony and horrified guttural cries of pain from Smith on the upper deck, as well as the enraged growls of John and Don, along with repeated vicious cracks of blows, and thuds of a body hitting the floor. When they heard a noise from Smith that sounded like the agonized howl of a tortured cat, Penny whimpered, and Judy promptly ushered her quickly into the sisters' cabin.

            At the same moment, Will whispered softly, even more urgently, "Mom!"

            "Hush! He'll be all right. They know what they're doing. They won't go too far." Fortunately, as she held him close to her, he couldn't see the worrying doubt that crossed her features.

            Finally, there was silence. Maureen insistently pushed Will into his cabin, admonishing him to stay there until summoned. She hastily gathered first-aid supplies. By the time that she had what she thought that she would need, John and Don were descending in the elevator. The two men were wiping their bloody hands on towels. Maureen quickly silenced her brief gasp that she couldn't quite suppress at the gruesome sight. John nodded at the supplies in her hands, and said, "Good thinking."

            "Shall I...?" She pointed upward.

            "Yeah, but we're going with you. You'll need our help. He won't cooperate."

            Her expression asked her question for her.

            Don answered, "He's curled into a tight ball, whimpering and whining, and won't uncurl. We had to forcibly unwind him just to assess the damage."

            John elaborated, "His nose is broken; he has two black eyes; we both gut-punched him: he's badly-bruised there; and he has a sprained wrist from falling on it wrong."

            She asked hesitantly, "Was that the horrible animal-howl that we heard?"

            "Yeah," said Don. "We didn't mean for that to happen. But, during the entire beating, he just kept muttering, over and over, 'Mercy...mercy...mercy!'" He shook his head. "Ridiculous!"

            "Pathetic!" semi-agreed John, but with perhaps a bit more pathos for the pitiful older man.

            "Tragic!" Maureen decided, more to the point. Then she gazed meaningfully at their hands. "Please wash-up first, before we go up. And again, after we care for him, before the children can see." Her addendum was heavily-laden with meaning.

            Both men nodded ruefully.

            John asked, "Are the kids all right?"

            "Well, mostly," she hedged. "But we may have some problems to cope with that will require patience. When Penny began to cry, Judy took her into their cabin and closed the door, to hopefully shut out some of the distressing sounds."

            John and Don both winced when she mentioned Penny crying.

            "And then, when things got quiet up there," she went on, "I pushed Will into his cabin, and told him to stay there until summoned. But he had been quite worried."

            John nodded agreement with how she'd dealt with their son.

            "They all may be a bit traumatized. And I don't want them to see him...at his worst," she said delicately.

            Both men again nodded.

            John asked pointedly, "Are you all right?"

            Maureen nodded half-heartedly. "I knew it had to happen this time. I just wish things like this weren't necessary."

            "Yeah," he agreed.

            As Maureen accompanied the men up-top, she barely managed to suppress a gasp when she saw Smith. His face appeared a bloody-ruin, and he was lying on the floor, curled up just as the men had described. Upon closer look, she realized that all of the blood was coming from the severe nosebleed, and that Smith was cradling his sprained wrist against his brutalized abdomen.

            He flinched violently at her gentle touch, and she soothed, "No, no, easy, it's me. I'm trying to help."

            As expected, John and Don had to forcibly uncurl Smith so that Maureen could treat him, and he whimpered and writhed and cried as they did so.

            Ever-so-gently, she cleaned all of the blood from his face, with him mewling throughout the procedure.

            "Now open your eyes for me," Maureen urged, because he had, so far, not done so even once.

            "Can't," he moaned.

            "Yes, you can. I have to see if both eyes look normal and uninjured."

            Smith struggled to comply, and winced at the light.

            "Good, they look fine."

            He hastily closed them again.

            "Now, I'm going to bandage your wrist." Maureen did so, and Smith fussed continuously.

            With his right wrist now bandaged, his left hand carefully touched his abdomen. "Hurts! Too much!"

            "Let me see." As she pried up his shirt, Maureen again had to suppress a gasp at the amount of discoloration. He cried out as she carefully probed. But finally, she was able to conclude aloud that he had suffered no organ damage, and only surface blood-vessel ruptures had caused the severe bruising.

            He lay sobbing, but presently, he blearily forced his eyes open to regard her, as he said, "None of you even tried to save me. None of you cared. It's as if all of you did this to me."

            Control of her temper failed. "Smith, don't you dare say that to my children!"

            From where he stood above them, John stated sternly, "If you say such a thing to any of the children, you'll get it again! Understand me?!"

            Smith cried out and cringed. "I won't say it again. I promise," he said meekly.

            Her ministrations now completed, Maureen looked to the men for the next step.

            John said, "We're not going to just leave you here on the floor. We'll take you down to your quarters. I'll carry you." As he lifted Smith into his arms, the patient cried out once, and then began sobbing quietly.

            John carried him into the elevator, and Don pressed the button for descent. Don and Maureen climbed down the ladder to the lower deck. Don opened the door to Smith's quarters, and John carried his weepy burden inside, as Don followed, and resealed the door again behind him.

            John seated Smith on the edge of his bunk, and said, "Let's get you undressed and into bed. Arms up." He skinned Smith's shirt up and off, and then he gripped him under the arms, raising the older man to his feet, as Don unbuckled his belt and slid down his trousers. Smith groaned during the entire process, but made no injudicious verbal protest. John let him back down gently onto the bed.

            This time, Don said, "Arms up," as he slipped Smith's nightgown down onto him. Then, he lifted Smith's legs up and swiveled him fully onto the bed, and then pulled up the sheet.

            Smith half-coughed and half-cried, and turned onto his side to curl up again as his uninjured left hand cradled his abused abdomen. "Have to," he muttered. "Hurts too much to lie flat."

            "That's fine," said John. He and Don left Smith there in his misery, and shut the door.

            John and Don let themselves quietly into Will's cabin. The boy regarded them wide-eyed.

            "Is he going to be all right, sirs?" he asked deferentially, worriedly.

            They nodded. John said, "Your mother believes that he'll make a full recovery."

            "It'll take a while, though," Don added.

            Will looked uncomfortable. "I should go see him, I guess. But I really don't want to."

            John shook his head in agreement. "Give it a while. I don't think he's ready for visitors right now."

            "Good. I mean...!" He blushed.

            "I understand," his father said kindly.

            Then, Will began to look a bit sheepish. "Can I ask you guys a stupid question?"

            John said, "You can ask us anything you need to, Will."

            "Sure," Don said supportively.

            Still, Will hesitated. "You two...would never do anything like that to me, would you?"

            "Oh, Will, no!"

            "Of course not!"

            John bent down to him, and tilted the boy's face up to his. "Why would you even think of such a thing?!"

            Will squirmed. "Sorry. I don't know. I guess Dr. Smith's fear can be kind of contagious. I guess I've been...putting myself in his place, ...imagining.... I mean, I am a lot littler than you two, but Dr. Smith is a lot feebler than you two, too, and you did it to him."

            John said, "Will, you're too young for that kind of treatment."

            The boy frowned in reluctance, as he admitted, "I...won't always be. And Dr. Smith's too old for it, and he'll only get older and more helpless."

            John looked his son in the eyes very intently, and said firmly, "Never! That would never happen."

            Don echoed in support, "Not a chance."

            "Thanks." Will forced a feeble smile. He repeated, "Sorry." Then, he surprised himself and them when tears came spontaneously. He rose from his seat. "I guess I was more scared than I thought. Dad? Can you just hold me for a minute?"

            The two embraced wordlessly, as John and Don exchanged looks of concern.

            Next, John and Don went to visit Penny in the cabin that she shared with Judy. Judy had left to talk to Maureen.

            "Will he be all right?" asked Penny anxiously.

            "He will be. In time."

            "Are you two all right?"

            "Why wouldn't we be?" John smiled.

            "He didn't fight back at all?"

            John laughed, even as Don said, "Are you kidding? He's incapable of it!"

            "This is all my fault, isn't it? If I hadn't gotten so mad at him for setting me up, you two might not have gotten so angry with him or been so rough with him."

            "Oh no, Penny," declared Don. "No way is any of this your fault. You were Smith's victim, not the other way around."

            John added, "Smith abused your trust and kindness. We would have been just as furious with Smith whether you had been angry with him or not."

            "That's good." She forced a weak smile of relief. "But anyway, I want to apologize to you two for letting him dupe me, so that I almost got us all killed. Are you going to punish me? I guess I would deserve it. Am I confined to quarters? Or...are you going to put me over your knee?"

            "No, Penny," John assured her as he embraced her. "You deserve no punishment of any sort. Just remember in the future how manipulative of a liar Smith really is."

            "I'll remember!"

            The men were sure that she meant it.

            Then, they went to see Judy. "How are you, Honey?" John asked her.

            "Oh, I'm all right. But this has been quite an ordeal. Though Mom says that Dr. Smith'll be okay eventually. Dad? Are you all right?"

            John grinned, clearly anticipating an inquiry like Penny's. "Why wouldn't I be?" He semi-echoed the question he'd asked of Penny.

            But then, Judy surprised him. "Well, I know that you're a kind, gentle, sensitive man. I know that you don't like to hurt anyone, and that you've been trying all along to avoid hurting Dr. Smith, no matter how much mischief he causes. This had to be hard on you."

            John smiled glowingly at her. "What a sweet, tender thing to say, Darling, thank you. But yes, I'm fine. Smith managed to coax some viciousness out of me this time."

            "Well, his transgression was extreme."

            Don cleared his throat.

            Judy took the hint, and said as diplomatically as she could, "And Don, I know that you've been wanting to...um...clobber Dr. Smith for as long as we've known him. I hope that this incident was enough to...er...satisfy your need to punish him, once and for all."

            Don quirked a rueful smirk at John. "Well, I guess I know where I stand."

            John shrugged. "Well, Don, considering the number of times that I've had to stop you from giving him a beating...." He left the rest unsaid.

            Judy hastened to add, "I'm sorry, Don. I suppose this can't have been completely easy on you, either. You have tended to be a bit harsh with Dr. Smith in the past, but admittedly, his provocation this time was...exceptional."

            With slightly-forced good humor, Don said, "Well, I guess that's the best I'm going to get; I'd better quit while I'm ahead."

            "Oh, I'm sorry; I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or offend you."

            "That's okay. Nothing that you said was wrong."

            John went to see Maureen privately.

            "I'm sure that Judy and Penny will be fine, but Will has Don and me worried."

            "Oh?" She frowned in concern.

            "He needed for Don and me to reassure him that we'd never do to him what we did to Smith."

            Maureen gasped. "Oh my! Well, I assume that you did reassure him?"

            "Very firmly. We both guaranteed, promised him that we would never do such a thing. But it bothers us that he even thought of that. Plus, Maureen, he started crying, and needed for me to hold him like when he was little."

            "Oh dear."

            The evening of the next day found young Will sitting glumly in the galley, his arms on the table, hands together and fingers interlaced, with his chin resting on his hands. He didn't even notice their approach, and was startled when John and Don greeted him warmly. Will jumped, went briefly wide-eyed at the sight of them, and then somewhat nervously, belatedly, greeted them in return. The men tried to pretend not to notice the boy's slight discomfiture at their presence.

            At just that moment, Penny was letting herself into Smith's cabin to visit the patient. Will glanced gloomily in that direction, and then sagged, even more depressed.

            At John's inquiring expression, Will said miserably, "I'm still avoiding him. Everyone's been to see him but me. I just don't...want to."

            "Why is that?" Don asked evenly.

            "Two reasons." Will continued to glance between Smith's closed door and the two men. "I'm not sure he'll still want to be my friend. I didn't stand up for him."

            "That wouldn't have made any difference, Will," John said firmly.

            Will looked nonplussed at that, and then quickly tried to banish that reaction from his face, and went on, "I didn't even try. He had a right to expect me to at least try."

            "And what's the other reason that you don't want to go see him?" John prompted.

            But Will just looked uncomfortable, shook his head, and said, "Never mind." He dropped his chin back down onto his hands.

            "Let me guess," said Don. "You don't want to see what we did to him."

            Will's eyes met theirs; he sagged again, even more disconcerted, nodded despondently that Don was right, and put his forehead down on his hands, his eyes now hidden from them.

            Unseen by Will, John and Don exchanged concerned looks.

            Penny emerged from Smith's quarters. John beckoned her over to them. "Penny? How did it go? Was Smith decent to you? Polite? Friendly?"

            "Sure, he was fine."

            "Okay. Good. Had to be sure." John glanced and saw Will staring at him in only partly-suppressed horror and suspicion.

            Don noticed and said, "Will, don't blame your dad. We warned Smith that he'd better not take it out on Penny or anyone else."

            Will was upset. "Or what? You'd do it again??"

            "That's right, Will," his father told him flatly.

            Will looked from John to Don, back and forth. He couldn't keep the outrage from his eyes. Abruptly, he put his head down into his folded arms, hiding his entire face this time.

            Almost impatiently, Penny addressed her brother, "Will!"

            "Huh?" He sat up abruptly.

            "Why haven't you been to see Dr. Smith? He asked for you."

            The boy brightened. "He did??"

            "Well, everybody else has been to see him. Everybody but you!"

            "Okay! I'll go now!" Then he stopped. "If...that's okay, Dad?"

            "Of course, son, go on." John exchanged a pleased look with Don.

            Will hastened to Smith's door, and let himself inside the cabin.

            Penny watched after him, and then shook her head. "What's wrong with Will lately?"

            John glanced at Don and hedged. "I think he's just...feeling guilty that he didn't stand up for Smith."

            Penny huffed. "That wouldn't have done any good."

            "And how!" Don agreed.

            "Are you sure that's it?" she wondered.

            John and Don exchanged a very quick glance, and John said in forced casualness, "What do you mean?"

            "Maybe he's jealous."

            Startled, because this was the opposite of what John and Don knew, they both blurted without thinking.

            "How's that?" demanded John.

            "Come again??" insisted Don.

            "Well, Will is usually the one who gets tangled up in Dr. Smith's schemes, and this time it was me. Could he be jealous of me?"

            This time, John and Don simply stared at each other.

            "Dad??" Penny prompted.

            Distracted, John fumbled, "Uh yeah, uh, I don't know, Honey."

            Penny stared at both of them, shook her head, and then went back inside her own cabin.

            After a pregnant pause, Don said very quietly, "Jealous of Penny?? Or jealous of Smith???"

            Shockingly, John was wondering the same thing. "Could that be the real reason why Will figuratively directed our threats at him??!"

            Now landed on the next planet, John put his arm around Will, and requested, "Come walk with us."

            He could see the question in Will's eyes: "Us???" Will looked around quickly, and saw Don on the other side of him. John felt Will tense up, but at least he cooperated in going with them.

            At the drill site, the trio halted, and sat down together.

            John said calculatedly, "You know, Will, we need for you to clarify something for us. After we beat Smith, and you claimed to fear the same from us, you went out of your way to point out that you won't always be too young and too little for that kind of treatment."

            Don took it up, "And then Penny wondered if you were jealous."

            "Huh? Of who? Of what?"

            "Well, of her maybe. Because you're usually the one who's tangled up in Smith's shenanigans, not her. Or...." He allowed a long pause. "Maybe you're jealous of Smith." After a beat, Don turned and stared right into Will's eyes.

            For a moment, Will couldn't find his voice. But when he did, it was unsteady. "You...can't believe that."

            Exaggeratedly casually, not even looking at Will, from the other side of him, John said, "We might not have...." He turned and stared intently into Will's eyes. "...If we hadn't talked to Smith."

            Will drew in a hissed breath. "But you said he's such a liar."

            "Not always. And not when he's scared into telling us the truth."

            Will seemed to cast about desperately for a reply. He came up with, "But the reason I said I wouldn't always be too little or too young, is because I knew I had to grow up, and I was afraid you and Don would use that as an excuse to beat me someday, if you were angry enough!"

            "Well, according to Smith, you were very interested in hearing every unsavory detail of what we'd done to him," John said. "Even though you told us that you didn't even want to see what we'd done to him."

            And Don went on, "Plus, even though you told us you didn't want to see what we'd done to him, and that you worried that Smith might not want to see you, just as soon as Penny came out and told you that Smith was asking for you, you eagerly ran off to see him. So your hesitation about seeing what we'd done to Smith wasn't really an important reason to avoid him, after all, was it?"

            Will looked from one to the other of them, found no way to reply, and looked sick.

            "What did you do to Will?!" Maureen demanded.

            "What do you mean?" John inquired blandly.

            She repeated, "What did you and Don do to Will??!"

            "We didn't lay a hand on him."

            "Then why was he crying hysterically when he came back???!"

            "Maureen, we're trying to get to the bottom of just what is troubling him, and it's turning out to be a great deal more complicated than we had at first thought. So, we called him on a number of contradictions while playing it very cool and calculated, and while observing his reactions very closely, in an attempt to peel aside some of the complex layers of his troubles." John sighed. "And what we've learned, so far, isn't very reassuring. But we have to continue. We can't just let whatever this is fester. He's confused. And his confusion, frankly, is confusing the heck out of us. But in lieu of a counselor, we're attempting to help him the best that we can. We can't just ignore this."

            "This what???!"

            "This...whatever it is."

            Don entered the room. "Sorry to eavesdrop. But Maureen, something is bothering Will, and we have to work it out. And if it makes him uncomfortable in the process, we're sorry. But we can't just let this go."

            "Well, does your investigation have to be so hard on him???"

            John sighed, regretful but resolute. "I'm afraid so."

            Don agreed, "He won't come clean about whatever the problem is, otherwise."

            "Are you sure??"

            "He doesn't want to tell us. We have to make him uncomfortable enough to get him to blurt out the truth to us."

            "Oh!!" she exclaimed in dismay.

            A few days later, John and Don again requested that Will accompany them to the drill site.

            Instantly, Will's anxiety was apparent. He stammered out, "I don't want to go." He looked to Maureen for help. "Mom!"

            Her return expression was crestfallen, but she steeled herself and forced herself to say, "Go on, Will."

            Upon arrival, the men sat on either side of him again. Will actually squirmed in discomfort.

            John said, "We're sorry to make you uncomfortable, Will, but certain things just don't add up."

            Don said supportively, "We're trying to help you work this out, whatever it is."

            Will's shoulders sagged, and he was clearly suffering a crisis within him. Finally, he answered quietly, "I know. You're right. But I don't understand it any better than you do. I'm sorry, but I can't explain what I don't understand." He looked searchingly from one to the other.

            "That alone is progress. At least you're admitting it."

            "Dad...I'm scared."

            John tilted Will's small face up to his. "Will, nothing will happen that you don't want to happen."

            "You sure? Promise?"

            "We promise. Now, let's just try a little thought experiment. You said that you had been putting yourself in Smith's place, imagining his beating. Now, I want you to do that again. Close your eyes. Just think. Picture it."

            Will complied, and then quickly wrinkled his nose and winced.

            "How do you feel?"

            "Scared! I don't like it."

            The two men shared a look of relief over Will's head that the boy didn't see, as his eyes were still closed.

            Don said, "Now, Will, look at me."

            Will turned and saw a motionless fist aimed right at his face. He yelped and jolted back from Don, bumping into John in the process.

            "Now how do you feel?" asked Don.

            "Startled!"

            John spoke, "But...startled in a good way, or startled in a bad way?"

            Will turned to try to answer him, and saw another unmoving fist aimed at him, so closely that he nearly barked his own nose on it. He gasped and jumped back from John into Don. But as soon as he saw that the fist remained motionless and that John was smiling gently at him, he relaxed a bit. "I'm not sure. But, I guess...as long as you don't...don't...."

            "Okay, Will." John dropped the fist and put an affectionate arm around him and squeezed gently. "You're fine." He smiled at Don. "After all, it's not as if we can take him to ride on a rollercoaster. Or to see a scary movie. Or even to go trick-or-treating."

            Don was also nodding and smiling. "So, we have here a little thrill-seeker. But not a masochist."

            "Not a what???" asked Will.

            John hugged him. "Never mind. We'll explain when you're older."

            Will thought a moment, shrugged, and then said, "Yeah, it's interesting, I guess. But...I don't think you ought to do that to me in front of Dr. Smith. It would scare the daylights out of him!"

            John raised a finger in something nearing triumph. "Now, see what you did there?"

            "What?? What'd I do???"

            "You planted a suggestion. That it would be okay if Don and I, now and then, startle you like this again once in a while. Just not in front of Smith."

            Don grinned knowingly. "You framed it as if your main point was not to alarm Smith. But what you were really doing was letting us know, subtly, that you'd like a repeat now and then."

            Will blushed bright red and squirmed. "I'm not sure I like being so transparent."

            "No, no, Will." John hugged him again reassuringly. "It's good to let those who care about you understand you."