Spoilers: Two Sailors Walk Into A Bar…

A/N: After re-watching both 'Two Sailors…' and 'Trials' I was slightly stunned to notice how little actual communication or even contact occurs between our favorite couple between that kiss and that hug… at least onscreen. The way he acted all protective of her while getting her off the Russian ship was nice and all but I am convinced that a whole lot more must have gone down in the interim between those episodes once they where safely back aboard and this is my explanation as to what.

A/N 2: While it wasn't my intention in the beginning, this very much turned into a sequel to my other story 'Passing The Note'. So read that one first if you like, but know neither story needs the other to understand what is going on…you just need to have seen the relevant episode…which I'm fairly certain, we all have. :-D

Disclaimer: I do not own Last Ship.

LSLSLS

It was late morning by the time the crew of the Nathan James noticeably started to come down from their adrenaline highs of the previous night's activities, and that included those crew not even directly involved in the mission…because the entire crew had been holding their collective breath for them. And why not? They would have all suffered the same fate if things had gone south, which they all too easily could have.

Tom didn't want to hear that even with the loss of Cossetti the mission had been an overwhelming success. He knew it was true…he just didn't want to hear it. Right now he was still weighed down by the all 'what ifs' and the loss of a young man who had died for him while trying to prove himself to him…even though he had never had too.

Mike had been quick to provide his reasoning's for all the decisions he'd made…all the orders he'd disobeyed. He had listened, not said much, just listened. Truthfully he was starting to feel the energy reserves and adrenaline that had got him through the last 48 hours start to evaporate on him as well.

Tom was about ready to call it night despite the time of day. Everyone involved in the mission was on stand down, and if they were smart and following 'recommendations'…asleep. As the only one of the three of them that had gotten some sleep in the last two days, Garnet was in charge of the bridge. Mike was on call. After seeing their Russian nemesis of the last long month blow out of the water with his own eyes…he was relatively confident that he could afford to shut off for a while without risking all hell breaking loose while he was down.

There was just one thing left undone, one conversation as yet un-conversed that meant he wasn't going to get a wink of sleep…and he knew it. It involved a certain scientist who had apparently run and hid practically as soon as they had got back aboard because that was how fast she had disappeared from his sight this morning, much too his displeasure. One minute she had been just behind his right shoulder…the next…poof. A logical part of his brain told him now was not the time to do this, when they were both exhausted and frankly still a little emotionally reeling after recent events… the mission…their rescue… personal aspects of both…

Another part of him told him that she was probably asleep like everyone else who had had a very busy night. He immediately scoffed at that part of his brain, as far as he could tell the woman didn't sleep at all, and sleep after she had been ordered too? Ha! He had had yet another lesson last night in how good she was at following orders. The frustrating woman was probably fighting sleep just to spite him.

And now she didn't even have the excuse of racing the clock for a vaccine to justify her twenty plus hour working days. That was another thing he had learned from Mike during their pretty one sided debrief. It hadn't been a bluff; she really had created the vaccine for the virus. She had done it.

Step one in saving the world.

And he was on his way to find her and yell at her.

Yep…he really probably was too tired, angry, frustrated and generally pissed off to handle this situation well…didn't seem like it was going to stop him though…as his legs further hastened their already fast pace towards her lab.

The lab was the last place she should be right now, so of course it was the first place his feet took him in their quest to find her. And right they were. He crossed the threshold, acknowledging…barely…the guard that was one of a chosen trusted handful that had been stationed at this post since he had first learned the importance of the contents of his helo bay, both in terms of the work being done here and the woman doing it.

Tom noted the guard's almost excited look upon seeing him, he was confused for a moment before realizing that the man was glad to see him alive and well and walking around the ship. Aside from any regard and thus happiness the man might have for him personally, it was a sign that they had won, defeated their recent foe…and he knew that for most of his crew that was cause for immediate…if subdued…celebration.

After answering the man's pleased look with an acknowledging nod, he entered the lab, taking the time to close and seal the access behind them. He wanted…needed…privacy with her. He was quite sure they were unlikely to be interrupted by Tophet, the only other person aside from Mike, who had clearance to enter the lab unescorted.

The other man currently displaying absolutely no desire to be separated from his newly reclaimed wife and daughter. A situation he could well understand…if he managed to get his family back…all of them…then…

It was best not to focus on such thoughts. No until it was time to find out if they could become a reality or not…a time that just might be approaching…

She was here of course, suited up and working in the quarantine area. It didn't seem like she had noticed his entry, such was the continued captivation she was displaying over her work.

He moved to stand directly before her, as near as he could with so many layers of quarantine plastic between them. His gaze locked on her. He cleared his throat…. loudly. She jumped…somewhat nervously…and guiltily…her eyes snapping up to meet his… a look somewhat reminiscent of a deer caught in headlights… at least until she lowered them again, pretending to return her attention to her work. He almost smiled at that. It was the goal of every commander to make their subordinates distinctly uncomfortable when they were in trouble.

And while she may not be his subordinate exactly…she most decidedly was in trouble. And by the look on her face in that first quick instant…she knew it.

That look didn't last long…quickly buried under layers of confidence and bravado as she drew herself up to sit straighter on her work stool. Bringing her gaze squarely back up in a doomed attempt to stare him down.

"Can I help you with something, Captain?"

"Step outside please, Doctor." He tone was cool but assured, broaching no argument…a memo it was apparent she had failed to receive when she began to…wait for it…argue.

"I have a lot of work…"

"Outside, Doctor. Now." He interrupted.

Before she could protest further he turned and walked away from her, towards her desk, the usual place for their usually more frivolous discourses. There, he then made himself comfortable leaning against the wall and waited for her to join him. The notion that she would ignore him unthinkable…or such was the outward appearance he quite deliberated presented.

For a moment she didn't move, just stayed statue still staring at him. It was clear the moment she gave in, she huffed loudly and began clearing her workstation quickly and in a rather vexed manner. He watched her as she proceeded to go through departing quarantine procedure, eventually striping off her paper covering and joining him.

"There, Captain! I'm outside!" She was on the defensive. "Now, can you tell me what was so impossible for you to communicate to me while I was inside and still able to quickly and easily get back to my wor…"

She suddenly wasn't able to continue further. All the breath being forced out of her lungs as she was caught up in the urgent and all encompassing embrace of a man much larger and stronger than herself.

His moved stunned her. His hold on her only increased as the moments passed. He gripped her to him even tighter, her feet now not making any real weight bearing contact with the floor. He wasn't yet impeding her breathing…too much… but he was close. He was holding on to her as if for dear live. Hers or hiss, she wasn't sure. Her mind was abuzz with the implications. She had felt sure he had been just about to start laying in to her, initiating a serious dressing down of her actions as if she were his unruly subordinate.

He had his face buried in the narrow space between her neck and shoulder now. Her mind finally catching up with the unexpected turn events had taken, she relaxed her tensed body and allowed it to mould against his. She brought her own arms up to encompass his large back, returning his embrace heartily.

His move stunned him. But the intense emotional response that seemed to pour from every cell in his body at their first contact shocked him more. He hadn't intended to hug her…or rather grab her and hold her so tightly she couldn't ever get away from him again… But the moment he saw her there before him…safe…unharmed…beautifully angry… he had had to have her in his arms…space between their bodies anathema to his minds current desire to assure itself in every way that she was in fact safe and unharmed.

He belated realized that she was in fact hugging him back…and strongly too. He was immensely glad of it, but ashamed that he had not even taken the time to notice if his complete physical attack of her personal space and her person was welcomed or not.

"You're alive…" He heard himself pronounce softly into her neck, needing to say it out loud apparently to convince himself of its essential truth.

"Yes." She replied after a moments pause, the word whispered into his shirt. That was what this was about? He had lost control like this over concern for her safety? Because the man holding her as if she was his last lifeline was not in his normal state of complete command and control…far from it.

As it very much seemed that it was concern for her wellbeing that had him in such a clearly distressed state... as confusing and foreign as the notion was to her, she hurried to reassure him further of her welfare.

Drawing herself out of his tight embrace, their bodies still in contact, she craned her neck up significantly, as she had to, to meet his eyes. "I'm fine, Captain. Really and truly fine."

He released her from his crushing hug to his chest but did not release her fully from contact with his form…he couldn't…for reason he wasn't going to closely investigate right now.

"Do you have any idea what it would have done to me if you had gotten hurt…or killed…while trying to save me?" The clear anxiety at the very prospect was saturating his every emotively toned word.

She studied the man before her, almost as if seeing him for the first time. In some respects that was true, he had always worn a certain amount of that standard issue military persona in her presence until today…she couldn't see a trace of it right now. Before her was just the man… and without that armor, with the normal shields firmly in the lowered position…there was so much more to see…

"I am beginning to get an idea…" It was very true. She was beginning to get all sorts of ideas. She had known from the get go that she found him very attractive…knew that attraction had grown past mere attraction on her part at least in the last month…but she had never thought that he…

She shook herself from the thought.

"I wish I could tell you that I was sorry for what I did, Captain, but I cannot. I still feel as I did then, that it was the right thing to do, and for the right reasons. The safest way for all of us and not any one individual…isn't that the military hive mentality way?"

She paused, continuing her study of his handsome worry lined features for a few more brief moments. He didn't look like he was planning on answering her mostly rhetorical question …he looked like he was trying to stare into her very soul… A feeling that was distinctly uncomfortable on one level and stirringly welcome on whole other one.

She felt a surge of remorse for the man before her, not due to her actions, but for the distress they caused him, she never wanted to make him suffer.

"I can tell you that I am very sorry that I caused you to worry. The last thing I would ever want to do is cause you pain." She spoke the words solemnly and with meaning.

"I told you not to risk yourself ever again…for any reason…that you were too important…"

"But after the breakthrough with the vaccine that was no longer true…"

"It never stopped being true!"

She jumped slightly at his very loud and very sharp statement. She was still in his arms, as he had not fully released his hold on her hips, and her hands that had been resting lightly on his biceps tightened with his words. Both reactions were apparently sufficient to clear his mind of anger and draw his absolute attention to the negative physical reaction she had experienced at his outburst. He had scared her.

With a look of utter shock and remorse, he abruptly released her as if burned and stepped backwards…breaking their contact fully…

"Oh god, Rachel, I'm sorry."

It was then he suddenly felt cold…far too much cold then could be explained purely by external environmental conditions. As he watched her, first steady herself and then draw her arms tightly around herself after their abrupt separation, he wondered if maybe she was experiencing the same odd reaction to their sudden physical parting that he was… No, if she was feeling the same as he was right now it would be because of the way he had just treated her…

He couldn't believe he had done that. It was contrary to his every moral conviction. He knew he had raised his voice to her before, but back then the situation and their relationship had been entirely professionally based. It was not anymore and that change made all the difference when it came to the manner in which it was suitable to address her when angry.

Raising his voice in ire at a woman he was holding in his embrace…as only a man holds a woman…for whatever reason… was a distinctly deplorable move for any man.

While taking a moment to acclimate herself to the fast changes of his mood…first his anger…and then just as sudden; contrition… she gather her voice to respond…to placate.

"There's nothing to apologize for. You were worried about me…and the continued quest for a tried and tested vaccine." She rationalized…to them both.

"I scared you."

"You startled me…and only slightly… it is not even worth mentioning again."

After a moment of consideration, he decided to take her at her words…for now…but also to proceed with caution… with more awareness of both his words and actions… There was something about this woman that made him act without proper consideration to either.

Also having apparently considered the topic closed for now, he watched the physical manifestation of her pulling herself together mentally. A few perimeter defenses that he now realized had been dropped popping back up.

"I can see you're not in the right headspace to call a win a win yet, and with the loss of your man I can understand how it might take some time. I can easily tell how important all your people are to you. I believe it's an essential part of what makes you such an exceptional Captain… But I also know that nobody reaches your position in any military or civilian leadership structure like this one without making some peace with the notion that they will sometimes lose their people…not might, will."

On a roll, and before he had time to intersect, she continued.

"As treacherous as the statement sounds, one good man's loss was a light price for what was achieved... and I think you can already see that…it's just the noble man you are doesn't want to admit such an ignoble fact. But you know it could have been all of us at any point. Ruskov had demonstrated painfully clearly the lengths of his madness. The lengths he was more than willing to go to… His every desired objective repugnant to ours…"

She wished she knew if her words were getting through to him, but he seemed to be deliberately showing no sign.

"If we had listened to your order and accepted your words and your loss, rode off into the sunset as you so theatrically suggested… How long do you really think that reality would have lasted? How long before an even more pissed off Ruskov caught up with us, having likely tired of playing games and started taking even more direct action against us?"

She didn't give him a chance to answer that one.

"Not long. That is the answer, Captain. Not long at all. We would have lost you…and Tex, and it would have been for nothing. This situation…and the actions that those involved, including myself, decided on and took in your absence offered us a unique strategic advantage over Ruscov…the first opportunity of such since our first unfortunate introduction to that lunatic. It was a unique opportunity that could be used successfully to eliminate a great threat to us…a great threat to the human race!"

"It was a risk." Tom spoke the key words that were still spinning in his mind, representing every example of everything that could have gone so wrong…

"And Commander Slattery was absolutely right to take that risk."

"But he shouldn't have risked you!"

"On the contrary…he would have been stupid not too! Without wanting to sound conceited…I was the key to this mission and its success and you damn well know it…whether you want to admit it or not. Without me it was a suicide mission…for us all." The implication was clear, she didn't think anyone would have survived the missions failure...including those supposedly safely back from the battlefield on the Nathan James... in the long term anyway. He hated that she was probably right, but was nowhere near ready to concede.

"The risk was too high!"

"I disagree, the risk of inaction was too high. Answer me this Mr. Student of military history…yes, I've seen your bookshelf… Was any great victory in history ever achieved without corresponding great risk?"

He deflated somewhat at that. She saw it and tapering off her verbal tirade accordingly. She could see that it was all coming back to her…it was her inclusion in the mission…her risk…that was giving him the most difficulty in coming to terms with what was done.

"I really am fine, Captain, really fine. A lot better then yesterday in actual fact, all of us are."

He gave her an odd look that beside anything else prompted her to continue and explain.

"If you let yourself consider it, there's some very important and very positive changes have occurred with all this, today we finally have a vaccine…yet untested…but a vaccine…and with that increased hope for the entire human race … Oh, and on a personal note, I no longer have my own personal super villain chasing me around the globe, trying to make me his personal slave…so yeah, I am definitely feeling better off today then yesterday."

He didn't conceal his small smile fast enough, the corner of his mouth uplifting slightly before being schooled. By the quirk of her own lips, it was clear she had caught the flicker and labeled it a victory. With a small knowing smile she continued sharing her estimations of their situation.

"Aside from Ruskov's rather disturbing preoccupation with getting his hands on me specifically, the man had no desire to help the human race survive this crisis, quite to the contrary he had a ship full of nukes that he had proved he had no compunction in employing on whim. Our aim is to save the human race and thus removing the somewhat massive threat that Roskov posed was very much an aim in line with that end goal."

He was forced to accept her words…the knowledge that their plan had worked out heavily in their favor…Cossetti's less not withstanding…helped him in that feat…a lot.

He could see by the look on her face that she could see she was getting too him. Damn woman read him too well…but then…he could read her pretty well too. And that was not something he was doing any more reading into right now.

She had a small guilty but amused smile on her face when she continued. It concerned him.

"Besides…. you weren't there." Deliberately suppressed humor adorned her features…. with maybe a touch of guilty embarrassment in the mix.

Now he was intrigued.

"Weren't there when?" He asked slowly and cautiously.

"When I made the breakthrough with the vaccine. When I looked through that microscope and saw that the monkey I have injected with the virus only hours before was completely free of the clear of it. You were the one I wanted there, the one I wanted to share it with. But you weren't there…I had to go find you."

She bit her lip nervously, waiting for him to understand the implication…the admission.

She lifted her eyes upward to be able to meet his, they were standing closer then a minute ago... thought she really wasn't sure which one of them had closed the gap...

Anxiously she waited.

Waited to see if the new ground she had only just attained was going to be yanked out from under her at her admission.

Silence continued to reign, her Captain giving her nothing to offer her clues as to his current thought processes.

But then he spoke…

TBC

A/N: Hang tight guys, I know things have been left unsaid. There is at least one more chapter in the works; I promise…I will try not to leave you waiting for it too long. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and remember…reviews are fic fuel. ;-D