Authors Notes: Just a reminder that this is set after season 4 so Mike is still just Ryan's god-father...Thanks for reading...all feedback greatfully accepted.


Chapter 2

Feeling nervous, but thinking the best approach was to spit it out, Mike explained everything as quickly as he could. Maxine had seen them kiss the night before and in an effort to stop the rumours about them she was keeping them both on Hammersley. And to top it off, they had been crash sailed and were due onboard in 1 hour.

"What rumours Mike? What are you not telling me?" Trying to hold back tears, Kate moved away from Mike, unable to look at him. "I practically begged you not to do this, not to end up back on Hammersley."

"You have to believe me, I tried to get my shore posting back. I'll keep trying, I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up on us. We just have to stay above suspicion, nobody needs to know," Mike said reaching out to take Kate's hand. Her reaction confused him, he was expecting fireworks, or at the very least some yelling, but Kate turned cold and distant which was scaring the hell out of him.

Suddenly feeling defeated, "You've already agreed to Maxine's conditions haven't you?" Kate asked removing her hand from underneath Mike's.

"I didn't have a choice, she made it an order." Mike replied softly, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Kate couldn't speak, getting up from the couch, she walked back into Mike's bedroom to change out of his shirt and into her own. Mike nervously followed her, his brain in overdrive trying to find the right words, but everything that popped up in his head seemed wrong, so he remained silent.

"You know what hurts the most," Kate started turning around to face him, "it's that you didn't even talk to me about this. We could have figured something out, one or both of us could have left the Navy, but you just decide that we can wait another 6 months. In 6 months time there will be something else. It's the story of our lives. I can't guarantee that I'll still be here, I've waited long enough." Kate said as she turned to leave.

"Kate, please don't leave like this. This wasn't my choice." Mike pleaded with Kate as she turned to face him once more.

"I'll see you onboard, Sir." Kate spat out as she turned and walked out the door.

Mike was rooted to the spot, powerless to stop her from leaving. He wasn't sure what hurt more, her retreating to calling him Sir, hearing the door slam shut, or turning around to see the flowers that he had left her had been placed in a glass of water. Flowers that had been a bit of an afterthought, that were half dead, and that he wasn't sure weren't weeds.

Maybe the flowers were a reflection of their relationship, hopeful but destined to fail. He walked over to them and threw them in the bin in disgust. The way he saw it he really didn't have a choice, he just had to keep it together for 6 more months and hope that Kate would still be around.

When Mike finally made his way down to the docks, he wasn't surprised to see Kate was already on board getting things organised for their departure. He was surprised however to see Ryan, in a Navy uniform.

"Hi Mike," Ryan said, "or should that be Sir now?" He asked as Mike looked at him slightly confused. "I finally joined up and have been posted on Hammersley. That's what Mum and I were coming over last night to tell you, but..." Ryan said as his gaze shifted temporarily to Kate and back to Mike, "Don't worry, Mum told me to keep quiet."

Mike nodded, realizing the full extent of the trouble he could have caused. "Have you been taken care of here?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's all good. 2Dads has been showing me the ropes." Ryan said before 2Dads called out to him to help move some gear, while Kate walked over to Mike.

"Sir, everyone is on board and we are ready to leave," Kate said barely able to look at Mike, "Dutchy is on watch, so I'll be in my cabin." Kate said before turning to leave.

Again, Mike was powerless to stop her leaving, not knowing what to say. There was no way they were going to be able to avoid each other for 6 months, but the least he could do was keep his distance today and give her some space.

It took 3 hours to reach the mayday, and Kate couldn't leave with the boarding party quick enough. Charge assured her that it was a simple fix, and she opted to send the rest of the crew back to Hammersley while she stayed behind with him until the other boat was fixed. As they made their way back to Hammersley Mike could tell something had happened, Kate was holding her face and Charge looked worried. The crew knew there was a problem was when the RHIB was lifted back onboard.

Before anyone could say anything, Charge called out "Ah, someone might need to get Swain. The X sort of copped a blow to the face."

"Sort of? Charge, what happened?" Mike asked worriedly, coming down to see them.

"Sir, it was an accident, I swear. I didn't hear her come in, I sort of swung the wrench to hit the engine and...I hit the X by accident. She swears she's fine," Charge explained before Kate spoke up.

"She's right here you know, and I am fine. Although the drinks are on you tonight Charge." Kate said placing a hand on Charge's back, reassuring him that everything was fine, as she found her feet back on Hammersley. Mike looked at Kate and was desperate to make sure she was OK. Desperate to reach out to her, touch her and see for himself that she was alright. But there was nothing he could do and for the third time that day he had to watch as Kate walked away from him, his heart sinking.

Down in the wardroom Swain had checked Kate out, patched up the cut under her eye and passed her an ice pack to try and stop the bruising. "Sorry about this Ma'am, I guess it's not exactly how you planned on spending your day this morning."

"Actually, given how my morning was going, getting hit in the face with a wrench has been the highlight of my day." Kate said, trying to force a smile.

"Well, that's concerning on a different level, but this all seems fine. It will bruise, but nothing that won't heal." Swain said chuckling a little while trying to imagine how bad a morning would have to be for this to be a highlight. Swain moved back allowing Kate to leave the ward room and go back to her cabin.

Kate stayed in her cabin for the rest of the trip back. This was the first time that she could remember not only hating the Navy, but hating being at sea. She wanted to get back to land as quickly as possible and away from Mike and Hammersley. Truth is that given the choice this morning she would have considered leaving the Navy. In fact she would have seriously considered it, especially after everything that had happened with the sub then finding Mike alive, she had seriously questioned her priorities in life. But Mike deciding they could wait another 6 months was too much for her to handle.

For the first time in her career, Kate was one of the first sailors off the ship when it docked, avoiding another encounter with Mike. She went home to change before joining the others at the pub. As she walked inside she took a moment to scan the room before she spotted the crew, without Mike, in one of the corners, with Charge at the bar buying the first round.

All of a sudden, there was a male voice from behind Kate. "Excuse me, but don't I know you from somewhere?"

To be continued