Heya. So, I know I should be writing the next chapter of 9, 10, Start Again but I needed to write something different, so I started this. It's pretty much my theory on Kate's past. Thanks for reading! I hope you like it.

There's a little swearing in it and it will get darker in further chapters. Just a warning.

Life Left to Go

Chapter 1

Shaun Dawset sat opposite Kate McGregor, watching her fiddle with the clasp on her bag. She had said nothing yet, save the mandatory greetings when she had first arrived five minutes ago. He wished she would talk – would at least look at him, but to his disappointment, she did neither.

"Dad's sick." He blurted out suddenly, causing her to duck her head even more so that her hair cascaded over her shoulders and hid her eyes.

"Your dad or my dad?" She asked coolly, though through the curtain of blonde he saw her flinch.

"Our step-dad, Phil. The only father we've ever known. Samuel never was much of a father to us."

"He was to me." She growled, and Shaun flinched at his sister's tone. He had never heard her sound like that. So angry, so full of hatred. It was scary. She wasn't the same little girl he had grown up with, nor was he the same little boy. They had both grown up, gone their own separate ways. And now he had no idea who she was anymore.

/\\/\

"So who's the guy she's with?" 2Dads asked Bomber, not taking his eyes of his XO across the bar.

Bomber gave a glance up at X, who was talking to a man she'd never seen before. There didn't seem to be anything interesting about the interaction. She shrugged and turned back to her phone. "How the hell am I supposed to know?" She muttered.

"Well, you're a g-" 2Dads began.

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm privy to all of the X's secrets." She glared at the back of his head, before adopting a confused and slightly curious. "Why do you care so much?" She sat up suddenly, an idea forming in her head. "You haven't got a little... crush, do you?"

2Dads whirled around, spluttering. "What? No – I ... what? No!"

Bomber smirked, her job done, and 2Dads went back to watching his boss again. But apparently 2Dads wasn't finished yet.

"Typical." He muttered, shifting in his chair to get a better look at the pair. "The one person on the boat who can lip-read is the one person we want to-"

"Spy on?" Bomber supplied.

2Dads turned to her again.

"I was thinking more, uncover the mystery behind..." He waved his hands about for emphasis.

Bomber tilted her head slightly. "So in other words, spy."

He didn't reply, apparently unable to hear her as he fixed his eyes once more on X.
She rolled her eyes at his lack of response before standing up. "Yeah. I'm going to get a drink."

/\\/\

"Phil's dying." Shaun stated, somewhat lamely.

Kate sat up, making eye contact for the first time that night Immediately he wished she hadn't. Her eyes were full of accusation and mistrust. "That's what this is about?" She hissed, eyes burning. "Shaun, I want nothing to do with him."

Shaun ploughed on. "Mum wants you to come up. Say goodbye. Work out whatever issues you had with him."

"Issues!" She demanded, gripping the table so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Calm down." He instructed.

"I'm not a child anymore Shaun, you can't make my decisions for me."

"Well then how about you stop making the wrong ones, hey?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"The Navy? Did you deliberately pick the career that would piss Dad off the most?"

She gave a wry smile that he took to mean 'pretty much', and he sighed. Getting his little sister to agree to come back with him was going to be harder than he thought.

/\\/\

Across the bar, Charge slid into the chair Bomber had vacated, following 2Dads gaze. He too frowned at the X and her companion, turning to 2Dads.

"So who's the guy she's talking to?" He asked.

Bomber, who had just returned, drink in hand, rolled her eyes and continued walking over to the rest of the crew.

"Boys!" She muttered, unable to believe that these two men outranked her.

/\\/\

"What is it?" Kate asked suddenly, breaking the silence they had fallen into.

"What's what?" He asked, genuinely confused.

She rolled her eyes in that purely Katelook that she had given so many times to their mother when she was a teenager. He fought back a smile.

"Phil. What's he dying of?"

"Does it matter?"

"Ooh, defensive." She sat up straighter. "Liver problems?" She guessed. Now it was his turn to look away.

"You know, liver problems can be caused by a variety of factors like viral infection, iron or copper accumulation-"

"Thanks Wikipedia. Phil drank all the time. You're actually surprised the bastard's dying?"

He wanted to yell at her, but he bit his tongue. This was for Mum. "He's our Dad." He whispered simply. It had no effect. Whatever sympathy she felt for their parents was long gone.

"He is not." She shot back, staring him down. He looked away, cursing coming here.

"Well then I guess we've got nothing more to talk about." He muttered. He stood up, intending to leave and go back to his Dad, but at her raised eyebrow he doubled back.

"You know what? No!" He started with more force than he had intended. She took a step back.

"No?" She questioned, and it angered him to see she still had a slight smile on her face. But she hadn't won yet.

"No." He repeated. "What's your problem with him?"

Kate rolled her eyes again, trying to step past him. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"Tell me. What have you got to be angry about? You left us, not the other way around!"

At this, her eyes darkened, and the smile faded. "Let me go." She ground out, staring at her arm.

"Not until you tell me why you left. What's your problem with him?"

"Let me go." She repeated, her voice low even though he was now shouting.

"Katherine-" He began, but that was the final straw. She grabbed his hand, managing to twist it backwards. He let out a shout of pain, releasing her arm.

/\\/\

The pub fell silent as the X and her companion's conversation grew louder and louder until the whole crew, not just 2Dads and Charge, were now staring at them.

Bomber slid into the chair beside 2Dads and Charge, her eyes fixed on their X and her companion.

"So," She whispered innocently. "Did you figure out who the guy was?"

"Girls." Charge replied cheekily.

/\\/\

"Katherine Nadine, you get back here right n-"

"Piss off, Shaun. I'm not going to see him, I don't plan on going, and I hope that bastard has the most painful death ever. Now leave me alone."

"So what, you're just running away? Aren't you a little old to be running away from Daddy?"

It was almost like it was in slow motion. Kate stopped, shaking with rage. Her hair was flying out of the ponytail it was in, wisps flying around her face. Her fists clenched, as she pivoted around, her fist hitting him square in the jaw. He staggered forwards, grabbing at a nearby table for support.

She froze as he turned around to face her, holding his jaw with one hand and pointing at her with the other.

"Shit, what the hell was that? You total psycho-" But she had already turned back around, flying towards the door, leaving Shaun stunned in her wake.

Across the bar, 2Dads whistled appreciatively, breaking the silence. Shaun turned to 2Dads, giving him the middle finger before storming after Kate.