A glimpse into Kate's mind when she saw the Hammersley was in trouble in Episode 9. Understated Kate/Mike.
"X! Fire!"
Buffer's exclamation cut through her previous thoughts in a nanosecond. Whirling away from the suddenly and suspiciously defensive Rick, she saw something that she had hoped she'd never see.
Hammersley floundering with smoke coming from it.
She ordered the boarding crew back to the Hammersley on the instinct that years in the Navy had honed to perfection. If some one had called her on it later, she wouldn't have been able to recall her words.
Her first thought wasn't about the wellbeing of the crew still on board, but of just one man. And it would stay that way until Kate saw that he was safe and unhurt.
Nothing could stop her blurting out her concern when she saw Mike, sweaty, filthy from head to toe, but seemingly unharmed. His short clipped reply belatedly jolting her into awareness of the others who had been in equal danger.
Then he'd started to reprimand her for coming back—especially without Ursula Morell. That came like a kick in the guts, although after his reaction to her being on the Mariner, she later supposed that she shouldn't have been surprised by it. But at that instant, she couldn't help her sharp retort back.
"But Sir, the ship was on fire!" At least that argument held merit, and she knew that Buffer would have returned to the ship had he been in command of the boarding party. And this way she could pretend to ignore the heated feelings racing through her chest: worry and jealous being chief among them.
Their eyes locked for a moment before looking sharply away again, both keenly aware of everything they saw in each others eyes, everything they would never say to each other.
Fin
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