Here and Now.

Part four.

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Enjoy! Disclaimer – I own nothing.


Mike sat in his cabin, glancing between his stack of paperwork and the clock on the wall. Only four more hours until his watch. Only four more hours of torturing himself and making trips back and forth to the tent that held six people currently experiencing hell on earth.

It had been three days since those six people had been injected with the virus and just over twenty-four hours since Rachel had put the first prototype of the cure into their bodies, all anyone could do at this point was wait.

He had never been a fan of paperwork, but right now, he couldn't think of anything else to take his mind off things, so he pulled the files over and began to work through them, hoping that four hours would come and go so he could move onto the bridge, and hopefully feel a little more useful than he did right now.

Then again, it didn't matter where he was, he felt useless no matter what. Dr Scott and Dr Tophet where the only ones who could hopefully control what was going on in the isolation tent, and all he and Tom could do was hope for the best, but right now, their hopes and prayers didn't seem to be getting answered.

He scanned over another document, putting his signature at the bottom, moving it across his desk, making a pile of papers that Tom needed to look over when he had the time if he ever had the time.

Since the trials started, much like himself, Tom was either in sickbay, on the bridge or with Dr Scott, occasionally Mike would find him in his stateroom, but that was normally in between visits to one place or another onboard the Nathan James.

Mike was trying hard not to think about Andrea, instead, trying to stay positive about his kids. Hoping his ex-wife had gotten them to safety before the virus fully took hold, but as they gained more intelligence, the more they knew, the more they didn't know, it looked as though no one was safe. Mike hoped that they found safety, and, as awful as it was, he hoped that had they succumbed to the Red Flu that Christine was with the kids and that they all went quickly, and with as little pain as possible. His brain went as far as to hope the kids went first as sick as it made him feel. Hoping his kids died first so they wouldn't have to be without their mother.


"Never thought I would live to see the day I wouldn't have to ask you for paperwork," Tom said sarcastically.

Mike shrugged it off. "Needed something to do,"

"Don't we all. I haven't heard from Rachel in a few hours, at this point I am hoping no news is good news." Tom said.

"I hate to say it but all we can do is wait. I just hate the not knowing, I know this job is all about being prepared no matter what, and we lose people, but, this feels different."

"On a Navy ship we have weapons, we have ways of escaping, we have help, or at least we did. This, the virus, we have a British Doctor, who for the first few weeks onboard managed to get us in a firefight with the Russians." Mike couldn't help but laugh.

"First time in a long time I've had to put faith in someone I don't know," Mike admitted, moving further into Tom's stateroom to sit on the couch.

"I know the feeling. Have you spoken to Andrea?" Tom asked, mainly out of curiosity.

"I'm not really someone she wants to talk to right now, and besides, I'm not sure they're all fully with it. Besides, pretty hard to have a conversation when you have seven other people listening in."

"Fair point, but, you know, she'll come around."

Mike gave a sort laugh, although it sounded bitter and harsh.

"Sure, because she has every reason to forgive me. All I want is for them to make it through. Is this slightly personal between me and Andrea? Yes, but I also know she has a kid at home, I know Kara's mum is waiting for her, the Master Chief leads a church group, Maya has three sisters and Miller's father was in the Navy. Not too sure about Tex, but if the way he holds that locket has anything to do with it, I'm willing to say he has someone waiting for him too," Mike paused.

"It's personal for everyone, Tom." The captain nodded, it was too personal for his liking. Not that he didn't care for his crew, and not that he didn't want to know them, but he wanted to know them under different circumstances, he didn't want to find out who they had waiting at home while they were on their deathbeds.

"What happened? Between you and Andrea?" Mike frowned.

"I told you, I left,"

"No, I meant before. You met at the academy, I know how strict it was back then," Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you teach at the academy?"

"Yeah, but it was a long time ago and only to get to get extra brownie points with the higher-ups." Tom shrugged it off, it was the truth, in the beginning anyway.

"Andrea and I met on her first week, I was nineteen, she'd just turned seventeen. Basic training, first time I ever saw someone look so innocent but be a force to be reckoned with when given a gun."

"Woman do that to you. All innocent one minute, but they can hold their own."

Mike leant back on the couch, waiting a moment before speaking.

"Why does it feel like we had the same experience?" Tom gave him a knowing look, one that said back off, but Mike wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to learn a little more about his CO's personal life.

"There was a girl, it happened, it shouldn't have, we both moved on and that's that."

"It shouldn't have,"

"She may or may not have been a student of mine, but like I said, we moved on, I'm happily married,"

Mike interrupted, "Wasn't it you who said the first was always important?"

"Yeah, and I stand by that, but we're not here to talk about me, we're here to talk about you, so let's get back on track and discuss your feelings." Mike wanted to make a sarcastic remake, but he had known Tom long enough to know when to leave him alone and when to push him, and this was certainly a topic he needed to leave alone.

"They tell you not to get involved, but I was nineteen, cocky as hell. I signed up at seventeen and felt invincible, two years in and I'm helping new recruits and like I said, she could hold her own, tough as nails." Mike smiled at the memory.

"It took a few months, but finally got to know her, and that was it, I was completely taken. Didn't think I could fall so fast, but I did. Andrea was, everything back then, tough, kind, took no BS from anyone, she spoke her mind, and, she was beautiful, even in the combat gear," Mike paused for a moment.

"A year after meeting her we're practically living at each other's places, I met her dad, he hated me. I took her to meet my folks and they thought she was great, it was like that for nearly three years. We'd even spoke about marriage and kids, it was just natural, all that pillow talk."

"I didn't realise you took it that far," Tom said.

"I loved her, still love her, I don't know if I actually stopped or if I just pushed the feelings down. After three years, I left and told myself that she would have moved on, that she would find someone else, and she did, but…"

"But?" Tom pushed his friend again.

"It's selfish, I was on my first mission, and I honestly thought she would wait for me. I thought I would have her to come home to, but she wasn't, and still isn't cut out to be a military wife, she belongs here, and on the front line, that much was obvious from basic training." Mike said, and Tom smiled.

Everything Mike said Tom could imagine. When he first met Andrea, she was just an engineer, but Tom knew she'd reach the top eventually, she was dedicated, and good at her job, she worked hard, trained hard, and seemed to take things in quickly. A part of him was glad that time had moved on, moved on from the 'men only' side of the Navy because he knew onboard the Nathan James he had a lot of good women serving, a lot of them who were just as tough, and some even tougher than the men onboard.

"Yeah, it's selfish, but I get it. You loved her." Mike nodded, that much was true.

"You think it makes me a bad husband? I mean, me and Christine, it wasn't going to work out in the long run, but when we were married, I was faithful," Mike asked, knowing Tom would be honest.

"You were a good husband and a good dad, and you're still a good dad, the kids love you. I mean, Lucas thinks you're a superhero. You said it yourself Mike, it wasn't going to work out, but it wasn't a nasty divorce, and I think if anything happened to Christine you'd be broken," Tom stopped, not sure where he was going with the short speech.

"If you're asking me if it was wrong of you to think of Andrea during your marriage then, personally, the answer is no. I mean, morally, it's not the best, but you were faithful, and she was the first. I've served with Andrea, and even without the romantic connection, she's pretty hard to forget." Tom told him, hoping it would make him feel better about the whole situation.

"Thanks. I know, it not the best time to be talking about this."

"Well, I need a break from the paperwork, and the Russians, and well, she's fighting for her life. As a friend, Mike, I would be worried if you were fine, she means a lot to you," Tom's sentence was interrupted by a banging on the door.

Not simply knocking but a pounding as if to knock it down.

It was Mike who moved to open it, a worried look on his face as he pulled the door open, looking at a sailor who was slightly out of breath and a little red-faced.

"Sorry, Sir, but you need to come quick. It's Maya Andrews, Sir." Mike and Tom looked at each other for a moment, but just a moment, before they both moved.

Both running, following the sailor down the passageway, shouting at people to move as they tried to get to sickbay as quickly as they could.

When they reached sickbay, everything seemed to slow down, everything seemed to get heavier, and everyone was silent.

"Rachel," Tom's voice was quiet, but the doctor still heard him. She turned slightly, still in the isolation tent, giving him a small shake of the head.

Both Tom and Mike took a few steps forward, neither of them wanting to see what they knew had happened, neither of them wanting to confirm their worst fear.

"The virus…" Tom held his hand up to Rachel as she tried to explain what had happened.

It was clear though. To everyone in the room.

Maya Andrews was dead.

"Mike, inform the crew. Dr Scott, a word. Now." Tom said, his voice harsh, his eyes not leaving the body of the young sailor in the tent.

"I need to remove her body," Rachel said, a clear sadness in her voice.

"After you've done that," Was all Tom said after that.

Again, he was plagued with guilt. He should have said no. He should have told her no. He should have told Rachel to find another way.


Tom waited outside for Rachel to move Maya's body. A part of the Captain was thankful that the other five were too out of it to really understand what was going on, each of them at different stages, but each of them very clearly getting worse.

"Crew's been informed. Some of them want to see her," Mike began, taking a deep breath to keep his emotions at bay. "I told them it wasn't possible, but we'll be holding a funeral where they can all pay their respects."

Tom nodded, he knew he couldn't let the crew see Maya in the state she was in. He didn't want anyone to remember her as the one who was first, he wanted them to remember her as the dedicated sailor she was. It hurt Tom to know he couldn't say much else. Maya, along with many other young sailors were sailors he hadn't spent much time getting to know.

Something he regretted now.

"I'm going to speak to Rachel, see what the hell is going on, and then if I have to, beg her to find a cure for this before we lose any more."

Mike's only thought in the moment was Andrea, and how close he was to losing her. How she could be next. All he wanted was for her to make it through, he didn't care if they had anything, or if she hated him, but at least if she was alive he would have the chance to say sorry for implying she wasn't worthy, he would have the chance of running into her twenty years from now.

Then, of course, Lily would get her mother back. Mike hadn't met Lily properly, only seeing her a few times in passing while preparing for this mission, but she was the blonde, younger version of her mother, and Mike was willing to bet she had the same fight in her.

"Mike?" Tom pulled him out of his thoughts, and by the sound of his voice, the CO had said his name more than once.

"Sorry," Mike apologised.

"I'm going to speak to Rachel in my stateroom, could you stay with them?" Mike nodded, he knew it wasn't a question, but even if Tom didn't ask, he wasn't going to leave them, coherent or not, a part of them must have been aware of what happened, and when Mike put himself in their shoes, he knew he wouldn't want to be alone.


"We knew this could happen," Rachel's voice was quiet, uncharacteristically so.

"What is it going to take? What am I going to have to get you so that you can save those other five lives?" Tom asked his voice calm despite the angry and hurt he was feeling.

"I have everything, I just need to run some more tests," Tom nodded.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it, Dr Scott."

Rachel nodded, turning back towards the door of the Captain's stateroom, stopping before she could open it.

"I am so sorry, Captain. I, I honestly didn't want to lose anyone." She hadn't turned to look at Tom, an argument right now wouldn't be productive, or potentially help with the emotions they were feeling.

"You have five more lives you need to save, Rachel. So, I suggest you find a way to ensure that we don't have this conversation again."

Tom watched her as she left the room. A part of him regretting his choice of words, but when it came to the bottom line, she, Rachel Scott, was the only person who knew how to save those lives, she was the one who fought the CDC to be here, and in Tom Chandler's mind, that made her brave, but it also made her responsible.

At the end of it all, he should have said no, but he didn't, now he didn't want to have to say yes. He didn't want to travel home and have to say yes.

'Is she gone?' 'Did he die?'

He would have to say yes to one family, and it was now up to Dr Scott to ensure it was only one family.


Thank you for reading, let me know what you thought! Bethany.