Hey everyone,

I'm back already! This one came to me while re watching season 1 and Kate was talking about her brother. I promise gonna try and keep the Mike bashing to a minimum (even though season 1 was the season I couldn't stand him in! So many underhanded comments, although Kate gave as good as she got!) I'm might even try and make them work, we'll see... I've made a little change, he's her older brother not younger and he's still alive.

I've got a general path for this story but it's the first one I've published without having it nearly finished first so you'll have to bear with me.

As always feedback is appreciated and always sending love to my loyal regular reviewers!

Enjoy!

The Ties that Bind

Chapter 1

Kate carefully tried her hair away from her face and re straightened her shirt, she stood in front of her mirror and titled her head looking at her reflection. It was her first day at Navcom and she needed to look immaculate. She inhaled slowly and held her breath for a moment, she swallowed hard.

"You've got this Kate..."

She frowned as the doorbell rang, she had meticulously planned her morning, she didn't have time for interruptions. She swung open the door about to dismiss the person standing there but instead she froze and her jaw dropped to the floor.

"Paul?"

The man grinned ear to ear, he was splitting image of Kate but in male form. He reached out and pulled her in for a hug. She was shocked and stood there for a second, then slowly wrapped her arms around him.

"Ah, what are you doing here?"

They separated and he held her by her shoulders.

"Didn't you miss me?

"Of course, but I umm..."

He walked past her and into her house, he walked around admiring her home.

"Wow, you must be doing alright for yourself..."

She closed the front door still puzzled at his presence, she followed him around the room.

"Paul?"

He ran his hand along the cupboard and picked up a photo of Kate and her crew.

"Mmm?"

"What, I mean how... what are you doing here?"

He put the photo down and turned and smiled at her.

"Can't a big brother visit his little sister?"

"Ah yeah, but I thought you were in umm..."

She broke eye contact.

"Oh c'mon sis, you can say it, prison, but that sounds so harsh, correctional and rehabilitation facility is more pc these days."

Kate stared at him blankly still trying to comprehend that he was in her living room.

"Right."

He flopped on to her couch like he already live there.

"So, mind if I stay for a while?"

Kate looked at her watch and suddenly realised that she was going to be late.

"Ah yeah, look I gotta go, but umm, I'll come back at lunch and see if you're okay... okay?"

He put his feet on the table and grabbed the remote.

"I'll be fine, you got Netflix? I heard that's supposed to be good..."

Kate paused at the doorway completely mystified, she glanced back at him for a moment and she shook her head slightly and left.

She rushed into Navcom and headed straight to Maxine's office.

"Sorry I'm late Ma'am, my umm, brother arrived at my house this morning totally unexpected..."

Maxine looked up from her computer.

"To be honest Kate I didn't even realise, I've had 2 conference calls and it's not even 9am... and I didn't realise you had a brother..."

"Ah yeah, he's been away for a few years."

"Oh well, it must be nice to have him home."

"Yeah..."

"Look umm I'm kinda swamped here, you wanna just give me a hand today then this arvo we'll set you up with you office and things..."

Kate nodded sensing that Maxine had no time for small talk.

"Well looks like you could use a coffee Ma'am..."

"Oh yes please, you might need one yourself yeah?"

Kate laughed.

"Why do you think I offered..."

Later that morning Kate sat at Maxine's desk trying to sort through the various reports and intel files. Dutchy knocked on the door and was surprised to see Kate sitting at Maxine's desk.

"That didn't take long!"

Kate looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh you'd hear about it if this was my permanent desk..."

He laughed and perched himself on the edge of the desk.

"Where's Maxine?"

"Oh, she's in a meeting, anything I can do for you?"

Dutchy smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, now that you ask..."

Kate was sorry she asked, she pushed him off the desk.

"No! I take that back!"

She glanced at her watch.

"I'm busy Dutchy..."

He put his hands up in defence.

"Geez, okay, the rumours are true, Navcom guys are..."

She gave him a stern look.

"I wouldn't finish that sentence Petty Officer..."

He placed a hand on Kate's shoulder.

"Seriously Kate, it's your first day, relax..."

Kate took a deep breath in, Dutchy sat down opposite her on the desk and gave her a sympathetic look.

"What's going on McGregor..."

Kate continued to shuffle the paper on Maxine's desk.

"Nothing! Just first day jitters I guess..."

Dutchy continued to stare at her, he knew she was lying. She was a terrible liar, if it was a lie about something serious her face always gave her away.

She looked up at him annoyed, she hated that he knew her so well.

"Dutchy, everything is fine..."

An officer knocked on the door.

"Ah sorry Ma'am, but there's someone here to see you... he doesn't have any ID but he's being quite insistent."

Kate walked nervously to the door, Dutchy followed intrigued at who it could be.

Kate spotted Paul being escorted into the office area.

"It's okay Patterson, he's with me..."

Paul shrugged off the officer's grip.

"See, I told you! Remember me mate, I'm related to your Boss!"

Kate grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got bored, I thought I'd come and see your official work place."

She looked around at the sets of eyes on her, she pulled him towards Maxine's office, Dutchy discreetly followed. They entered the office, Dutchy shut the door behind him, Paul turned to confront him.

"Who are you? Her body guard or something?"

Kate glanced at Dutchy, she could see he had questions.

"Ah no, Paul this is Petty Officer Dylan Mulholland, we used to serve together. Dylan, this Paul, my brother..."

Dutchy was shocked, she had never mentioned a brother. Paul stepped toward Dutchy and laughed.

"Yeah that was Kate's face when I turned up on her doorstep this morning... she doesn't like to talk about me or is it the other way round Sis?"

Paul playfully hits Dutchy on the arm.

"I guess we're both the black sheep of the family huh?"

Dutchy glanced at Kate to see if she was okay. He could see she wasn't comfortable with him being there, he cleared his throat.

"So umm, you staying long?"

He shrugged.

"Not sure yet, but it seems pretty nice here, I may stay a while, don't have anywhere else to be..."

He walked over to Kate and wrapped his arm around her.

"Plus, my family is here... what's not to like..."

Kate forced a smile.

"Look Paul, I've got a lot of work to do..."

He rolled his eyes.

"What happened to you Katie, you used to be fun!"

"Yeah well, that was a long time ago..."

Dutchy stepped forward.

"Well I've got an R and R day today why don't I show Paul around..."

Kate thought it was a very generous offer but she didn't really want her work and personal life to mix.

"Oh you don't have to do that Dutchy..."

"It's fine Kate, really..."

Paul shot an angry look at Kate.

"Did you plan this? I don't need a babysitter!"

Dutchy was surprised at his reaction.

"Nah, didn't mean it like that mate! Thought we could go have a beer, you could tell me all the stories for Kate's childhood that she refuses to share..."

The angry look dropped off of Paul's face and was replaced with a grin.

"Ah yeah, good idea mate!"

Paul walked out of the office, Dutchy followed, he turned at the door and gave Kate a reassuring wink and a smile. She sat back down at the desk and put her head in her hands. She was startled as the door opened again, she stood as she saw Maxine.

"Oh Kate..."

"Sorry Ma'am, I was just trying to sort out these files..."

Maxine laughed.

"No problem, just don't get to comfy at that desk!"

"Yes Ma'am... ah, I think I need another coffee..."

Maxine nodded.

"None for me thanks, I'm limiting myself to 4 a day! When you come back I'm got a free half an hour we can sort out your office..."

Dutchy and Paul sat in the beer garden of the local and sipped on their beers.

"So umm, Kate says you've been away for a few years, been anywhere interesting?"

"Ah, not really... you know nowhere and everywhere..."

Dutchy wasn't really sure what that meant.

"Yeah, fair enough... So tell me about Kate when she was little...she's gonna hate it..."

"Yeah, she was a tough little kid, she used to follow me around and insist to hang out with the boys..."

"Yeah, that sounds like her... but you know that's not what I want to hear!"

"Ah well, sorry to disappoint you but there isn't much to tell..."

Dutchy looked disappointed

"Except..."

His eyes lit up.

"The time she got high..."

Dutchy's eyes bulged out of his head.

"What? Kate? High?"

Paul took another sip of his beer as his smile grew on his face, he suddenly realised this story was going to make him look like the worst big brother in the world, he tried to change the subject.

"Ah look, probably not the best story to have floating around the Navy."

Dutchy frowned at his serious tone, maybe he was just trying to protect her.

"Yeah okay, fair enough..."

There was a pause in the conversation, Paul laughed.

"But I can tell you about the time when..."

Back at Navcom Kate was beyond anxious. What were they talking about? Was Paul going to tell him everything? She took out her phone and sent Dutchy a message.

"Everything okay?"

Dutchy was laughing his head off trying to compose himself, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he took it out and shook his head, Paul noticed Dutchy's strange expression.

"Everything okay?"

"It's your Sister..."

Paul rolled his eyes.

"Let me guess, checking up on us?"

Paul didn't need to wait for Dutchy's answer.

"Well I think that calls for another..."

Dutchy gave him a nod of approval, Paul got up and went to he bar, Dutchy replied.

"Finding out all your secrets McGregor... seriously, we're fine, everything is good! Now get back to work!"

Kate was now more worried, she shook her head and tried to continue her work. 5pm came round and she quickly packed up her things and raced home. She found Dutchy and Paul sitting on the deck having a drink and talking.

"Oh, you're still here!"

Dutchy turned and smiled.

"Yeah! We've been swapping stories and taking shit!"

Paul got up and gave Kate a hug.

"Yeah, I thought all your Navy friends would be straight and boring but Dutchy's alright..."

Kate turned and smiled at him, Paul pat her on the shoulder.

"Just gonna check on dinner, want a drink?"

Kate sat next to Dutchy

"Sure, thanks."

Paul walked inside, Kate glanced sideways at Dutchy.

"You didn't have to stay with him all day!"

"Didn't mind, he's a good bloke... he's cooking us dinner!"

Kate raised an eyebrow.

"Us?"

"Yeah, it smells good and I'm staying..."

"What did he tell you?"

"What do you mean?"

She hit him on the shoulder.

"Dutchy!"

"Kate! Nothing! He actually was protective of you! He didn't think that we should know about your past indiscretions..."

"So he did mention something..."

Dutchy rolled his eyes.

"No Kate..."

Paul came back out to the deck and winked at Dutchy. Kate could sense something was going on and she wasn't impressed. Paul cleared his throat.

"Ah Sis, why don't you go and get changed..."

Kate shot him a strange look.

"Why?"

"Ah well, I'm sure you don't want to eat dinner in your white uniform..."

She scoffed.

"Alright!"

Kate went and had a shower and got changed, she was walking down the stairs trying to pick the fluff off her dressing gown and called out.

"Hey Paul, I hope you didn't talk about..."

"Surprise!"

She stopped in her tracks seeing her living room full of her colleagues, Paul ran up the stairs.

"I think you'd better go out some clothes on Sis!"

Kate ran up the stairs mortified.

10 minutes later she came back down, Dutchy walked up to her and put a glass of wine in her hand.

"You got fluffy slippers to match that robe Lieutenant Commander!"

She hit him on the arm.

"You'll never find out Petty Officer...anyway what is this?"

He nodded towards Paul who was pulling trays of food out of the oven.

"Well, when I told him this was actually your first day at Navcom and that you had been promoted he insisted on throwing you a party..."

Kate was completely taken aback.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why haven't you ever mentioned that you have a brother? He really loves you and he seems like a great guy..."

Kate sighed.

"Yeah well, he didn't used to be, but it doesn't matter... he seems to have changed and that's what matters right?"

Dutchy could tell she didn't want to talk about it.

"Yeah exactly, and how nice is it to have family around hey?"

Paul walked over and gave her a hug.

"Congrats! Who knew that one of the black sheep would turn out to be a success! You always said you make something out of yourself Katie, and look at you! Lieutenant Commander McGregor! I'm so proud of you!"

He gave her a hug.

"Thanks Paul, you really didn't have to do all of this... and who's paying for this I mean I didn't think you had..."

He put his hand up to stop her, he laughed and looked at Dutchy.

"I can see nothing has changed! She always worries too much!"

Dutchy laughed and clinked his bottle with Paul's.

"Yup!"

"So, when do I get a proper tour of Navy life? I wanna see everything! Mum used to go on and on about how little Katie was on this big ship out at sea..."

Dutchy smiled.

"Ah, I'm pretty sure we can hook you up with a tour of the Hammersley, I mean Kate's not on it anymore but I'm sure she's got some pull in that area!"

Maxine approached them, Kate was surprised to see her.

"Oh, Ma'am, this is my bother Paul, Paul this is my Boss, Commander Maxine White..."

They shook hands.

"Kate, sorry to talk work at your party but we need to have a meeting first thing..."

"Oh no worries, anything the matter Ma'am..."

Maxine sighed.

"I might as well tell you here, your replacement has been injured and because it's such short notice I'm probably going to need you to go back out with the Hammersley..."

Maxine could see she was torn, she knew that she loved the sea but it was bad timing.

"Look, I've got a few days to find a replacement while the crew are on R and R but it's not looking good, I thought you're better off having the heads up now then being crash sailed..."

Kate nodded.

"I Understand Ma'am..."

"Well anyway, just popped for one and to ruin your night so I'll be off..."

Dutchy laughed.

"Well, so much for congratulations, I guess it's and congratulations and welcome back..."

Mike walked over to them and cleared his throat.

"So I'm assuming by the unimpressed look Maxine told you the news."

Kate nodded and sipped on her wine.

"I'm not unimpressed Mike, but I was just starting to get used to the idea of being on shore and actually having a life..."

Mike laughed.

"You're secretly excited, I can tell!"

Paul cleared his throat, Kate realised she needed to make introductions.

"Oh sorry Paul, this is Mike Flynn, CO, Ah, Commanding Officer of Hammersley, so my Boss, well my other Boss. Boss this is my brother, Paul."

Paul smiled and shook his hand.

"Right, so he's the one who's gotta like me for me to get a tour..."

"I think we can arrange that!"

Kate gave him a strange look.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in the Navy?"

"Can't I be interested in my sister's life?"

Mike and Dutchy sensed the sensitive subject and walked away.

Paul put his hands on her shoulders.

"Kate, we've lost all of time. I realised how important family is, we used to be close. Can't you see I'm trying to make things up to you!"

Kate sighed.

"I know..."

"I want us to be a family, Mum and Dad are gone. Kate we are bound together whether you like it or not..."

He gave her a hug and laughed wanting to lighten the mood.

"Now where is she? The fun crazy Kate, I know she's in there somewhere..."

2Dads appeared at her side startling her.

"Did someone say fun and crazy in the same sentence with Kate's name, I don't believe it!"

She hit 2Dads on the chest.

"Paul, this is 2Dads, do NOT pay any attention to him, actually just pretend he's not here."

2Dads raised an eyebrow.

"You know what that means Paul?"

He shrugged and shook his head, 2Dads smiled a devious smile.

"It means e definitely need to have a beer together!"

2Dads grabbed him by his arms and dragged him away. Kate took a deep breath in, maybe she did need to stop stressing. She was going back out to sea which she wasn't that disappointed about and her brother and her work friends got on like a house on fire. She sipped on her wine and looked around her house at her family and smiled.

Dutchy wrapped his arm around her.

"You all good..."

She nodded and finished her wine and handed him her glass.

"Refill?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Yes Ma'am..."

He returned a few moments later with another glass.

"So umm, back out with us..."

He nudged her.

"You don't seem too pleased about that!"

"Oh, I, no, it's just with Paul here, I feel kinda bad just as he's back I've gotta leave..."

"Yeah, so where's he been? It seems like you guys might not have had the easiest time in the past and he's trying to reconnect with you..."

Kate suddenly felt awkward.

"He told you that?"

"No, just I see he's trying really hard to, I dunno, like, impress you..."

Kate sighed.

"Yeah, we had a falling out I was 14 maybe, he was 18..."

"What? You haven't seen him for that long?"

"Ah kinda... I saw him a few years later but it was still the same, we couldn't see eye to eye."

Dutchy was confused.

"What issue could possibly tear you apart at 14 and 18?"

"Just leave it Dutchy, like you said he's trying to make things right..."

Dutchy didn't really want to leave it, but he knew that Kate would tell him in her own time.

"So back on Hammersley, just like old times..."

Kate scoffed.

"Dutchy, it's only been a week..."

He shrugged and broke eye contact.

"I know but I missed you!"

Paul approached them.

"So, Mike says we can have a tour tomorrow, as long as it's cleared with Maxine..."

"Sounds good!"

Later that night the party had wound down and everyone was leaving. Dutchy was cleaning up all the cups and bottles outside and Kate and Paul were doing the dishes.

Paul handed Kate a plate and glance at her.

"Did I ever thank you for what you did?"

She gave him an uneasy look.

"Paul..."

"Well in case I didn't, thank you and I'm sorry that I let you down..."

Kate sighed and continued to dry the plate and put it in the cupboard.

"I'm not going to lie Paul, it hurt a lot and I wasn't really prepared for the fall out but I did it to protect you and you just..."

Kate stopped herself, she didn't want to get into it. She had dealt with it nearly 20 years ago, she didn't really want to dredge up the past unless she had to. She exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment.

"It's been a long time and there's no point staying angry, you paid your price and you have to live with it."

Paul flicked the water off of his hands and dried them on the tea towel Kate was holding.

"Does that mean you forgive me?"

She nodded slightly.

"Yeah..."

Paul lunged forward and pulled her in for a hug, tears welled in both their eyes.

"I love you Katie..."

Dutchy stood at the doorway and cleared his throat. They separated and both wiped the tears from their eyes. Dutchy cautiously walked into the kitchen.

"Ah everything okay?"

Kate put on a smile.

"Yeah, just family stuff..."

End of Chapter 1

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