Here's Part two

Sea leave was over once again, and Kate was back on the Hammersley. She loved being aboard ship, but she hated being away from her son. Every time she left, it was hard, every though she'd been doing it for years. She knew that it was tough on Will as well, but at least today they would both have the sea to keep their minds off each other. Kate, because of her job and Will, because he finally persuaded Nicky to take him fishing again. He loved fishing, ever since he was tall enough to walk, had he loved the calmness of it. Kate took him most of the time, in the dingy that she'd bought years ago. She wasn't a huge fan, but it kept him quiet for once and gave her a chance to spend some time with him. Nicky hated going out there, but every once in a while, Will's whinging got the better of her and she took him. Today was going to be one of those rare days.

Mike was standing on the bridge, watching his XO. She always looked happier when she came back from shore leave, kind of physically refreshed. At the moment there was a lull in activity, they had gotten the ship out of the base and were sailing smoothly out to sea. She seemed to have this mysterious smile on her face, as though she had a secret no one else knew, but would die to find out, kind of like the Mona Lisa. She looked as though she was remembering something, someone and he was jealous. What he really wanted now was a job, something to get his mind off her or at least some kind of excuse so they would be physically separated for a while, so he could have the chance to rearrange his thoughts onto anything but her. He finally couldn't take it any longer; he had to get out of there before he ended up grabbing her and kissing her right then and there, just to show everyone she was his. He took his chance to leave, and almost ran to his cabin, trying to find some kind of self control over his emotions.

Two days later and she had caught on that the CO had started acting suspiciously around her. He was hardly able to stay in the same room as her, he could only handle it if there was at least two other people. As soon as the numbers dropped and they were alone, he'd begin making excuses, things like having to speak to crew members he'd seen minutes before or having to get something by RO, Chefo or Charge. She was sick of it; the two leading officers of a ship couldn't act this way. She decided that the next moment they were alone; she'd jump in, before he could make an excuse to leave and confront him about it. The only problem was waiting for such a moment to turn up.

She finally found her chance, the next day. It was early morning and they seemed to be the only two awake. She hadn't been able to sleep and had found him standing on the top deck of the ship, when she went up there to look out at the ocean. Her mind was full of thoughts of Will.
'Sir' her voice, called softly towards his back 'why have you been avoiding me over the past couple of days' He turned round and look at her, her voice had shocked him, he hadn't noticed her presence.
'Sir' she called again, her voice mixing with the wind
'Kate, can we not have this conversation now' his voice cut sharply though the air
'When are we going to have it then?' she cut back, her voice sounding of both anger and hurt that she had kept bottled up for years
'Want to know what your problem is?' she asked 'You could never express your emotions, at least not when they had to do with me'
'Really' he said, anger bubbling away below the surface.
'Yeah' she said
'You want to know what I'm feeling. I'm angry. I'm god damn furious at myself!'
'Why?' she asked, her voice softer and gentler. She stepped in towards him, placing a warm hand on his fore arm 'Tell me'
'I'm myself because I'm jealous' he started 'I'm jealous of you Kate. Don't think I didn't notice that you were glowing after you came back. You've gotten on with your life and I'm still pining over you.' He looked away from her, unable to meet her gaze after what he had just revealed.
'Mike, it's not that simple' she started, but they never got to finish that conversation. At that moment the voice of the Navigator called from the bridge below.
'Sir, we've just gotten word from NavCom. A woman and a young boy are missing off the coast, they want us to find then.' They both raced down the stairs.
'Did they say anything else Nav?' Mike asked
'The woman's name is Nicole Summers and the boy's called William,' she answered. At that moment Kate's heart clenched in her chest. Her son and her best friend were missing.

TBC