The decision regarding Iowa's new captain had taken only two days to reach Reigns after the death of Eric Bischoff; a fact which surprised him a little. Before reading the single sheet of paper which had the news printed on it, he headed for the privacy of his quarters. Once inside, he closed the door behind him and sat down at the desk. Only then did he scan over the message from Admiral Lawler.

With a sigh and a rueful laugh, Reigns closed his fist, crumpling up the paper, and looked up to the heavens. "Good one. You got me. Whatever I did to piss you off in a past life, we're even now, okay?"

Shaking his head, he realised that he should probably have expected the news. It was typical of the McMahon administration that appearance was considered to be more important than any other factor, such as experience. This was President McMahon and his lapdog secretary of defense getting in Lawler's ear, saying, "Imagine how good it would look if we assigned our first ever female submarine captain to the Iowa." As if having the recruitment posters and TV commercials with her face all over them wasn't enough. Allowing women the opportunity to qualify for any rank in the Navy was fair enough, but was all of the fanfare and the recruitment drive really necessary?

'Maybe I'm being unfair because this is a shit situation for me? It's not like McMahon or Lawler knew about us; and she could hardly turn them down when they offered her the Iowa. This boat is the pride of the Navy. From what I hear, she does know how to command a sub too, even if she's typically hard-headed about it. Jesus, that's definitely not a surprise. I have to make sure to remain professional about this, no matter how challenging it is. One mission is all I have to get through as her XO, then I'm off the Iowa and in the clear on a boat of my own. It's going to be so fucking awkward though; my ex-girlfriend as my captain. I mean, what the fuck? You couldn't make this shit up if you tried.'

Iowa had been in port for a week before Reigns received orders to prepare the boat for the arrival of her new captain later that day. During the previous seven days the boat had been undergoing more adjustments, fine tuning and finishing touches. Reigns had enjoyed his first period in charge of a boat of his own, even though it had been destined to be a short one, and the boat wasn't at sea.

In his opinion, Iowa was in the best possible condition to be handed over, construction work notwithstanding. He was also pleased that the crew were already operating as a well-oiled unit; no small achievement given the relatively short time that they had been together.

After giving all compartments a final once over in person, he headed back to his quarters to change into his dress uniform. There was only one problem on his mind: Engineer Officer Otunga hadn't reported back for duty from his 24 hour liberty pass, which had now expired.

'Don't make us all look bad, for Christ's sake. Where the fuck are you? You'll start her off with something to be pissed off about, and that's all we need.'

Dean Ambrose had been ordered to take the conn while Reigns made his tour of the boat. Taking the conn primarily meant assuming control of issuing orders related to steering the submarine when it was at sea. As the Iowa was currently in port it was essentially an order for Ambrose to remain in the control room until he was relieved by Reigns. Ambrose was Iowa's navigator, one of her four department heads and also one of her most senior officers. Walking over to Helmsley, who was sitting at one of the two stations belonging to the planesmen, whose job it was to control the movement of the boat when at sea.

"How's she shaping up, Chief?"

"She's getting there, sir," Helmsley said pleasantly, not looking away from the equipment that he was in the process of adjusting. "She handles well, considering her size. Having twin screws helps. Having said that, she was a little sluggish when turning to starboard on that last run; likely a minor hydraulic issue. I logged it and it's being looked into as we speak."

"Good job," Ambrose said, a nod accompanying his praise.

As they spoke, there had been the sound of someone climbing down the ladder into the control room, hardly a rarity with so many construction workers and technicians coming and going. An ensign's voice brought both men to attention. "Officer on deck!"

Ambrose turned to see a woman wearing a white dress uniform and a stern expression. The insignia on her uniform denoted her as a captain, not that he needed to rely on that. No one in the Navy could have failed to recognise who she was. Inwardly, he sighed. 'Fuck's sake. One female captain in the whole damn Navy and they send her to us? Let's get some more fucking posters printed too, shall we?'

Displaying none of his reluctance or concerns, he stood to attention and saluted, as did Helmsley who now stood beside him. "Welcome aboard the Iowa, captain."

The captain returned the salute perfectly, but didn't bother to acknowledge the greeting, much less return one. "Where is Captain Reigns?"

Reigns had only just finished changing into his dress uniform when a loud knock came on his door, which then opened before he could respond. There she was; immaculately dressed and looking as beautiful as ever. It pissed him off that he found himself thinking that, given how much animosity there had been when their relationship had ended. At the same time there was satisfaction that she seemed to think something similar about him for the briefest of moments. He saw it in her eyes before she snapped off a salute and the moment was gone.

"Captain Reigns."

"Captain Rousey," he replied, returning the salute in kind.

"I trust you don't have a problem with this arrangement? Two captains on the same boat is unusual."

"No problem, ma'am. I'm XO for this mission; after that I get my own command. That's what was agreed when I was promoted."

Rousey nodded. "Very well. Off the record: Are you going to give me a hard time? The last thing I need is more of your..."

"I'm here to do a job," Reigns said, letting his impatience show and cutting her off as they were temporarily off the record. "You took this position knowing I was Iowa's XO. If you don't have a problem, why should I?"

"You tell me?" Rousey snapped. "You're the one who ended it."

"I'm not doing this, Ronda. Not now, not ever on this boat. On the record: I can bring you up to speed on the state of the boat and her supplies, captain, if you'd like?"

"Yes. Do so while showing me around." She stood aside to allow to get past and out of the door, not quite managing to remove the glare from her face. "Lead the way. We'll start at the back of the boat and work forwards. I want to see everything, then I want a meeting with all of the officers in the wardroom."

"Yes, ma'am." Reigns walked past her and into the passageway, leaving her to follow him. At least she closed his door behind her.

'I guess that's the last we'll see of you then, Otunga. Nice knowing you.'

Reigns couldn't have known how right he was. Engineer David Otunga was actually several miles away, being cut out of the remains of his car after a nasty four vehicle pile up on the freeway.

"This one's dead," a paramedic said, stating the obvious from his injuries. "That looks like a Navy uniform to me. He was probably on the way to the base just up ahead. Someone better call it in."