Please remember, I own nothing. This is all in good fun. :)
Was able to work on this more than I had thought. Things in my life were put on standby with circumstances that are out of my reach, so I had time to write. Hope you enjoy!
Andi stood on deck watching the offload of the last of the crab they caught for their quota. The season they had started off bad, but they caught their quota in record time. Sig was more than thrilled to have the season over, and they were scheduled to leave the next day to head back to Seattle.
"You going to the bar with us tonight?" Jake asked Andi, who was staring off into space.
"Maybe. I'm not much in the mood." She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Don't say you're all depressed that the season is over."
Andi shrugged her shoulders.
"It's not really that. I'm just sad that Blake is still fishing. I miss him."
Jake made a fake gagging noise, smiling.
"Not my fault that you can't find yourself a woman." She snapped back, joking.
"Who said I wasn't holding out for you?" He joked.
"Yeah, that'll happen."
"I still don't believe this marriage will happen." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Thanks for the lack in confidence." She said, crossing her arms.
"I don't' know. Just, have a feeling." He said, getting serious.
"Well get rid of that feeling. It's happening." She said, giving him a look.
"What's with you two?" Edgar asked, walking up to them with the clipboard with the weights on it.
"Junior knows how to piss me off." She said, glaring at Jake.
"Just telling her my honest opinion. Won't see her now until the wedding."
"According to you, there won't be a wedding." She said, hands on her hips.
"Jake, why do you have to go and open your big ass mouth. I told you to keep your opinions to yourself." Edgar spat, giving Jake a look.
"And when do I ever do that?"
"You need to learn." Andi said, turning away from him. She then noticed Andy Hillstrand walking towards the Northwestern, looking visibly pissed.
"What's wrong with you, old man?" Andi asked, smiling at him.
"I have a problem, and you know I hate problems." He said, jumping on deck.
Andi watched him walk up towards her, and waited for him to go on.
"We have had nothing but engine trouble this whole trip, and now I'm down a couple deckhands, and you know how we hate training a greenhorn when we are so close to finishing a season."
Andi crossed her arms, again waiting for him to get to the point.
"I have one more trip I need to make, and I was hoping you would be willing to come out with us so I didn't have to deal with training a greenhorn. It would make this bitch of a season go by a little smoother than before."
"What do I get out of it?" She asked, giving him a hard time.
"I won't throw you overboard right now." He said, not wanting to play around. She could tell at that point he was in a bad mood. She stood there, staring at him, contemplating on if she really wanted to go out again. Her body ached, and was screaming at her to say no, but then her heart told her to go, because it's what she loved to do.
"Fine. I just have to call Blake and tell him I won't be home when he gets back." She said, looking over at him.
"Can you call from our boat? I want to get going." He said.
Andi nodded.
"Good. Pack your shit and I'll see you on the boat." He said, then walked away.
"Someone seemed pissed." Edgar said, smiling.
"Usually they are done well before everyone else. The fact that most of the boats are done and he has another trip has to be killing him right now." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "I can only imagine how Johnathan is acting right now."
"Yeah, good luck with that." Edgar said, laughing.
Andi sighed, and then headed towards her room to start packing her things. Sig came to the room after hearing she was going back out fishing, and stood there.
"What makes you think that it's a good idea?" He asked, scowling.
"Who said I ever listened to good ideas?" She asked, not looking at him.
"I don't like it. Crabbing on a different boat is so much different than tendering. I don't think your mother will be too pleased if she hears I let you go out again with someone other than us."
"She'll get over it." She said, throwing more things in her bag.
"If it has to do with money, I will lend you the money." Sig said.
"It has nothing to do with that, and you know it." She said, throwing the last of her things in her bag, and then zipped it up.
"Just be careful, will ya'?" He asked, watching her.
"Don't I always?" She asked him. "Do you really think the Hillstrands would put me in danger?"
"Who the hell knows." He said, shaking his head.
"Now I know you're bullshitting me. I'll be fine." She said, and then walked out of the stateroom past her uncle. She headed up on deck, where the guys were closing up the now empty tank.
"We don't have to ride back to Seattle with you?" Norman asked. "Thank God."
She stuck her tongue out at her uncle, and then smiled.
Andi made her way off the deck, and then headed towards where the Time Bandit was docked. When she got there, she saw the group of guys standing on deck waiting for her.
"It's about damn time! Don't think we will wait for you the whole trip!" Johnathan barked, then headed inside to the wheelhouse.
"Nice to be here too." Andi said, throwing her bag on deck.
"It's been one hell of a trip, to warn you." Mike said as Andi jumped on deck.
"So who all is going to be here?" She asked.
"It'll be Russell, Neil, and myself." He said. "And, well, you."
"Oh, just have to add that in there, don't you?" She asked, smiling at him.
"But of course." He said with a smile.
"What happened to Eddie and Scott?" She asked, concerned.
"Scott had a family emergency he had to get back too. Eddie broke his leg and is out until next season."
"Wow, the crab God's are definitely against you guys this season, huh?" She joked.
"You have no idea."
"Well, now we get to see your crabbing skills! That's what I'm looking forward to most about this arrangement." Russell said, smiling.
"I can't crab. It's all an act." She joked, grabbing her bag. "Now where do I put this shit?"
"I'll show ya'. You have to share a room with Mike. Sorry to break the bad news to you."
Andi made a face, and he gave her a look as if he was hurt.
"Someone told me you snore." She said, looking over at him.
"And someone told me that you talk in your sleep. I guess we're both screwed, huh?"
Andi laughed, following the guys inside to where her bunk was going to be. She threw her bag on her bunk, and then headed outside back on deck where Andy was yelling to get ready to set sail. Andi glanced over at Russell, who just shrugged his shoulders. Andi sighed, and then dug into work. She started getting the bait ready, wanting to be ahead of the game, that way they were ready when they got to the crab grounds.
Once they were heading out of the harbor, she heard Andy yell over the hailer for her to come up to the wheelhouse. She headed inside, taking her rain gear off first, and then went up to the wheelhouse where Johnathan and Andy were waiting.
"Yes?" She asked, looking over at them.
"You wanted to call Blake?" Andy asked, holding the SAT phone.
Andi nodded, and then went over and dialed the number to the Maverick. Blake answered the phone, seeming distracted, until he heard Andi's voice on the other line.
"What do you mean you're going out on the Time Bandit?" He asked, obviously disappointed.
"They needed my help. It's only one trip. I hopefully won't be out that long."
"We are headed back in now. I was hoping you'd be there and we can head home together."
"I'm not even in the harbor. I am heading back to the crab grounds now."
"So, you decided to do this without even talking to me first?"
"I'm sorry, didn't know I needed your permission to work. Never needed it before." She said, sounding annoyed.
"I just would like, for once, to go home and have you be there. That's all."
"Well, I guess that one time won't be this time. Have a safe trip home." She said, then hung up the phone. "If he calls back, I'm busy." She added.
"Trouble in paradise?" Andy asked, smiling.
"What do you think?" She asked. "Now, I'm going back to setting bait, that way we're ready for when we get to the grounds."
Andi left the wheelhouse, and went back to work.
A few hours later, Andi woke up from a nap, trying to get some of her energy back, and realized that the boat wasn't moving much. She crawled out of bed, seeing that Mike was not in his bunk, and walked out in her pajama bottoms and tank top. She headed up to the wheelhouse where she saw Johnathan, Andy, and Neal sitting. Her eyes adjusted to the light and realized that they were surrounded by ice.
"What's going on?" She asked, crossing her arms, looking over at Andy.
"Our season just turned to shit." He responded.
"What else can possibly go wrong this season?" Johnathan asked angrily.
"Are you guys telling me you set your pots near the ice pack? The ice pack that has been creeping up on the grounds faster than any other season? The same ice pack that we have all been warned about all season long?"
"Welcome to the Time Bandit my dear." Neal said, laughing.
"Why are we laughing? We need to find our pots. I can't find our shit!" Andy yelled, getting more agitated as time goes on. "I want everyone dressed and outside now!"
"Roger." Andi said, turning around and heading down the stairs towards her room. She passed by the guys in the galley, who were all eating, trying to wake up.
"Andy wants us outside." She said, grabbing a piece of sausage that sat on one of the plates of food.
"We had a feeling." Russell said, taking a bite of food.
"I notice how you guys kept the fact that we are fishing pots out of ice from me." She said.
"We all knew you wouldn't come." Mike said, shrugging his shoulders.
"You're right. I'm tired of beating ice. I'm tired of fishing pots out of ice. Andy had told me it was going to be a quick trip."
"Andy lied to you darlin'." Russell said, smiling.
Andi cursed under her breath, heading into the room to change into her work clothes.
"I can get used to seeing that walk around the boat." Russell said, laughing.
"You and me both." Mike said, smiling.
It didn't take long for the three of them to get out on deck. Andy chimed in, stating how slow they were, and not worth the jobs they had. Andi just gave a look over at Mike and Russell, smiling. She shook her head, and then headed over to the side of the boat to start looking for buoy bags.
"I would love it if you guys started to pound ice while I looked for the buoy's." Andy said over the hailer, not really giving them a choice.
Andi sighed. She decided that bitching about it wouldn't get her anywhere at that point. The Hillstrands had tricked her into her own personal nightmare. She just had to keep going, knowing the faster they started, the faster they would be done.
She started pounding the ice on deck, which was a couple inches thick. She felt every muscle in her body scream at her, but she ignored the pain.
"I got one! It's in the ice flow, but I got one!" Andy yelled over the hailer.
The three of them dropped what they were doing, happily, and went over to try to fish the pot out of the ice. They kept going back and forth between breaking ice and fishing out pots that Andy and Johnathan would find in the ice pack. The weather seemed to get colder and colder as time went on, and it was so cold that the crab were losing their legs, which they were unable to keep. All it did was bring down the morale on the boat, and made everyone more cranky as time went on. Neal had joined the group on deck to start helping pound ice, which helped move things around a little faster. After hours of fishing pots out of the ice, they finally were bringing up their last pot, which put Andy in a better mood than he had been in since she had gotten on the boat.
Andy let everyone come in while they moved to new grounds to set the pots. He was hoping to find the crab quickly so that they could fill the boat fast so they wouldn't have to be out there longer than they already were. If the ice pack didn't take hi pots the way they did, he would have been able to fill the boat on one last sweep through his pots, since he was on a 600 average. It killed him to leave such great fishing, but he knew he had to leave the ice.
Once they got to where they were going to set the pots, Andi quickly started baiting the pots as quickly as she could to get them off the deck as quickly as they could. Andy and Johnathan watched from the wheelhouse, impressed with how well Andi was keeping up.
"I have half a mind to call Sig and tell him we're stealing his deck hand." Johnathan said, watching Andi jump into the pot to bait it, and then crawl out quickly to close the door to the pot.
"No wonder why he never wanted her to work for us. He knew we'd find out his secret weapon." Andy said.
"I knew she was good when she was here for tendering season, however, never knew how good she was for this. It's like there are five guys down there." Johnathan said, smiling as he watched Russell slip and fall on deck. "And then there's our guys, who can't even keep up with her."
"Good idea bringing her on board for the last trip. We may actually finish this soon after all." Andy said, smiling. "Think she's going to still come out for herring season?"
"Why wouldn't she?" Johnathan asked.
"You heard the fight her and Blake had. She may not go out to make him happy after coming with us now."
"That girl better bring her ass out!" Johnathan said, raising his voice a little.
"Chill out, brother. I'm just going by what I just heard on that phone call. She's going to be a married woman soon. Things will change."
"I sure hope they don't change. That boy better not force her to do something she doesn't want to do."
"You know she is not one to do what she is told. However, he may guilt her into cutting back a little." Andy said.
Johnathan shook his head, staring out the window.
They set pots for the next ten hours. Once everything was in the water, they all headed inside to eat. Andi, volunteering to cook dinner, make spaghetti for everyone, which was devoured almost as soon as it hit the table. After everyone ate, they all headed to their beds to get some sleep.
Andi laid in bed, trying to sleep, but was unsuccessful with Mike snoring from his bed. She leaned over to her bag to fish her I-pod out of it to listen to the music to see if that would drown out the sound of the loud snoring in the room. After about twenty minutes of still not being able to sleep, she turned off her I-pod and crawled out of bed. She took her pillow in one hand, and then walked over to where Mike was in a deep sleep. She then took her pillow and started to repeatedly hit him in the head, waking him up.
"What the fuck!" He yelled, putting his arms in front of his face to stop her from hitting him.
"The snoring needs to stop Fourtner." She said. He could tell by her voice how tired she was.
"But pestering you is what I live for." He joked.
She went back to hitting him with her pillow, and he responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her on the bed next to him.
"I don't snore when I have someone to cuddle with." He said, laughing.
"Either that or you want to snore right in my ear." She said, struggling to get up, but his arm around her waist was keeping her in her spot.
"You need to learn to trust me." He said, laughing.
"Last time you said that to me, I was tied to the crane for a couple hours hoisted up in the air."
Mike laughed at the memory of his prank.
"There will be no pranks this time. I'm too tired." He said. He was laying on his side facing Andi with his eyes closed. His arm was draped across her waist with her on her back.
"I do retaliate you know." She said, her eyes getting heavy.
"That's what you said last time, and you still have yet to do anything about it." He mumbled.
"I'm just waiting for the right moment." She said, smiling.
"For being a Hansen, you sure are soft." He said with a smile.
Andi elbowed him in the stomach, and he groaned.
"Want to take that back?" She asked, looking over at him.
"If that would mean you will let me sleep, yes." He said, laughing.
Andi rolled onto her side facing awake from Mike, and found comfort having someone sleep next to her for the first time in months. She sighed, wishing it was Blake, but settled with Mike. She felt herself drift off to sleep, realizing that Mike was right on not snoring with someone laying next to him. She was grateful for that fact.
Russell made breakfast for everyone when they woke up. Andi crawled out of bed with the first smell of the food coming from the galley, careful to not wake up Mike who was heavily sleeping next to her. She walked into the galley and went straight for the coffee. After pouring herself a cup, she sat down at the table sleepily.
"Good morning. How'd you sleep?" Russell asked.
"Once Fourtner stopped snoring, wonderfully." She responded, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Ready for another long day?" He asked, setting food on the table.
"Yes. I'm hoping for stuffed pots today. That would make me very happy."
Just then, Andy walked out of his room, stumbling into the galley.
"Good morning captain." Andi said with a small smile.
"Morning. We ready to fill this boat up?" He asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"More than you think." Andi responded, sitting back in the chair.
"I have a good feeling about this spot. I feel large, stuffed pots." Andy said, smiling. He sat down next to Andi, sitting back.
Russell sat down the rest of the food, which consisted of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, and bacon, and then went to wake up Mike and Neal to eat before going to haul pots. The two of them walked into the room groggily, both getting coffee before sitting down at the table to dish up food.
"Good mornin' ladies!" Andy said, smiling.
Neither of them responded, both still trying to wake up from their sleep.
They all ate in silence. Andy headed up to the wheelhouse after eating, and Johnathan came down to eat himself.
"We'll be at our first string in twenty minutes." He said, filling his empty cup of coffee.
Everyone at the sound of that got up from the table, putting their dirty dishes in the sink, and went to get ready. When Andi finished, she quickly cleaned the dishes and put the food away in the kitchen, and then joined the crew on deck. It was cold, like Andi had expected, but she was happy to see that the boat hadn't taken on much ice. There was some breaking that needed to be done, but nothing like they had seen the day before.
"I want to see you throw the hook today." Russell said to Andi as they finished clearing the deck.
"So you're volunteering yourself to do bait? How thoughtful of you." Mike said, smiling.
"Hell no. You would switch with her." He said, putting the sledgehammer he was carrying away.
"How nice of you to think so fully into this idea. But I'm game. I want to see how well you throw the hook." Mike said, smiling.
"Fine. I'll show you wussies how it's done." She said, walking over to where the hook was at. She leaned over the side of the boat to get sight of the buoy's that were in the water. Once she got a good sight of it, she threw the hook and managed to snag the line on the first toss. She brought it in quickly and put it in the block while Neal used the hydraulics to bring the pot up.
"Not bad Andi with an I." Andy said over the hailer. She knew he was in a good mood when he called her that, and she hoped he stayed that way.
Andi did a bow, smiling up at the wheelhouse.
The pot came up to the water and Andi took the crane hook and hooked it on the pot and watched as it came above water. She groaned at the sight of the almost empty pot. Andi knew, at that moment, they were in for a very long day.
There you have it! Please review!!! It gives me the inspiration to work on this more. May be able to get another chapter done before life takes over again. :) THANKS!
