Chapter 7

There was a buzz around the Hammersley as their port came into view. The various crew were talking about what they were going to be doing on leave, now that the end of their patrol was in sight. Bird was going to visit her family, Charge was talking to Swain about day of fishing and 2Dads was trying to talk RO into a night out.

"Ma'am, looks like we have a reception party." Dutchy said pointing to the EOD which was zoomed in on the port.

"Dutchy, tell me you're kidding." Kate said refusing to even look at the screen. She somehow knew that meant Mike would be there, but she was hoping that Commander White wouldn't be there as well. She didn't want to deal with what she knew she had coming in front of the crew.

"Afraid not Ma'am. But it looks like he's alone." Dutchy said clarifying for Kate who was there, as if he knew what she was thinking. Kate had been able to stay quite composed and professional in her dealings with Jim, so he was hoping Mike wasn't about to do something to threaten that.

"Who's alone?" Jim said as he entered the bridge. He walked over to look at the EOD which is where most of the crew had gathered. He immediately saw Mike and looked over to where Kate was still seated.

"No-one anymore." Dutchy said, as Kate turned to look at him. "Commander White has joined him."

Kate turned back around and couldn't help but slump down into her chair as Swain tried not to laugh at her reaction. He had seen her take on and beat many dangerous fishermen, mercenaries, drug runners and all-round bad people, so the fact that she was so intimidated by her CO was the source of much amusement for him and most of the other crew.

"Maybe they are here to congratulate you all on a job well done." Jim offered with a wry smile as he knew that would not be the case. Swain started to chuckle.

Dutchy then turned to Jim and with his own wry smile and chuckle offered "Or maybe it's to question why whenever you and the Boss see each other things get blown up." At that point, Swain completely lost it and burst out laughing, quickly followed by everyone else on the bridge except Kate.

"Swain," Kate said looking over to him "Whose side are you on here?"

"Sorry Boss." Swain said still stifling his laugh.

"Alright you lot, you've had your fun for the day, and you all still have jobs to do. Let's get safely into port so we can all leave for home." Kate said as everyone got back to work, most of them still laughing or shaking their heads while Jim made his way over to stand next to Kate. She looked at him, raised her eyebrows and asked "Seriously?"

"Sorry." Jim offered with a smile.

Kate made brief eye contact with him before turning away, "I wasn't lying, we still have work to do. Are you and your team ready to leave?" Kate asked in a serious tone to let Jim know the time for jokes was over.

"Packed and ready to go." Jim said getting back to his professional self. "I better get out of here and let you lot get back to work." With that Jim turned to walk off the bridge.

"Don't forget it's your shout at the pub later!" Dutchy called out after him while everyone else on the bridge let out a cheer at the prospect of free drinks.

With Hammersley safely in port, everyone had gathered down on the boat deck. Most of the sailors had changed out of their uniforms and were waiting for their final dismissal from Kate, while the SAS guys started to make their way of the boat. Kate had changed into her whites, prepared for her meeting at NAVCOM and made her way onto the boat deck with Jim behind her.

"Sir we are all ready to go." One of Jim's men called out.

"Ok, I'll be right behind you." Jim said. He looked over to where Mike and Maxine were standing, and could see that Mike was not impressed and was not taking his eyes off him and Kate. He looked back and could see Kate trying to look at Mike without making it appear obvious.

"I could give you a kiss." Jim said quietly to Kate so no-one else could hear, while Kate just looked at him, half confused, half horrified. "Make him jealous; give you a kiss, for old time sake." Jim clarified.

Kate relaxed a little and almost smiled as she realised he wasn't serious. "Or you could just leave and buy me a drink later." Kate said.

"Are you sure, I seem to remember it wasn't bad..."Jim said before Kate cut him off.

"Now, go." She said pointing at the gangplank. She managed to hide her laughter, but couldn't hide her smile at Jim's openness towards her.

"I know better than to argue with that tone. I'll see you later then." Jim picked up his bag to leave. He stopped when he reached Dutchy, the two men shaking hands and exchanging a laugh. With that, Jim then left Hammersley and Dutchy walked over to Kate.

"He's an interesting bloke." Dutchy offered. He still couldn't quite get his head around how well Kate and Jim got along. Not only did they work well together, but they also seemed to be able to talk like old friends. He wasn't convinced there wasn't still some attraction there, from both sides, but it didn't look like either of them would act on it. He also couldn't get over how similar he was to Jim, but how different he was to Mike.

"Don't start." Kate pleaded, and Dutchy could tell she had had enough.

"Fair enough. The crew are waiting for the OK to leave." Dutchy said as Kate nodded and the two walked over to the rest of the crew.

As Kate was congratulating the crew on a job well done in their last patrol, Jim made his way over to Mike and Maxine.

"Commander Flynn, you're looking much better than the last time I saw you." Jim said as he extended a hand.

"I could say the same about you, a head injury if I remember correctly." Mike said as he shook Jim's hand.

Maxine watched the exchange with amusement. She had assumed there would be some hostility, or jealousy, but if there was it was well hidden. She couldn't quite understand what was going on, and as she eyed Jim off, she had to admire Kate's choice in men.

"Commander White I presume." Jim said extending her hand to Maxine. "Tell me, does every patrol boat get visits from command on its return to port?" Jim asked as they shook hands.

"Only when they save the army's bacon." Maxine said with a smile as Jim nodded and lowered his head in defeat.

"Mike," Jim said changing the conversation, "I never had the chance to thank you, for Samaru. From what I'm told, you saved my life. If you are down at the pub later, I can start by buying you a drink." Jim offered to Mike.

As Mike was about to answer, his caught a glimpse of Kate saying good-bye to the last of the crew. He could see the bruise on her face, and she was clutching at her ribs. He knew most other people wouldn't have picked up on it, but to him, it meant her ribs were hurting more than she was willing to admit.

While still looking at Kate, Mike said "I read the report of what happened out there, and I think we can call it even." He then forced himself take his eyes off Kate and look back to Jim and smile. "But I'm sure I'll be down there later."

Jim nodded at Mike's response and looked over to see Kate walking towards them. "Commander White, it was nice to meet you. Mike, I'll see you later. Kate," Jim turned to face Kate who had now reached the group, "Always a pleasure." He said winking at her before smiling and walking away. As Jim left, Kate, Maxine and Mike were left standing together.

"Kate, I don't know you all that well, so don't take this the wrong way, but are there any other ex-boyfriends I should be on the lookout for?" Maxine asked. Mike looked at Maxine, while Kate looked at Mike.

"Well Ma'am, I'm not too sure about that yet." Kate said, not taking her eyes off Mike. Mike looked from Maxine to Kate and when he saw her glare, his expression changed to say what did I do.

"You could have given me a heads up." Kate said simply.

"I didn't think you would laugh." Mike said shrugging, "I thought you would shoot the messenger."

"So you let me make the call without knowing the full situation. Charming." Maxine said. "Listen Kate, your full debrief on your last patrol will have to wait until tomorrow, I have some other matters to attend to. As for today, I have read the reports and you made the right decisions. Just keep me informed next time. You need to trust me to back your judgement."

"Yes Ma'am." was all Kate could say. She was sure she was going to be at least reprimanded.

"Mike, I'll see you back at Navcom, Kate, tomorrow, my office at 0800." Maxine said as she walked away.

Kate and Mike turned to each other, able to have their first private conversation in weeks. There was a range of emotions going through each of them with neither too sure what to say first.

"You could have warned me. I had to hear about it infront of the crew." Kate said, still a bit angry at Mike for not at least trying to warn her.

Mike nodded in a silent admission that he was wrong. "How's the eye?" He asked lightly touching the bruise.

"It will be fine." Kate said, not about to admit that it hurt like hell.

"And the ribs?" Mike asked.

"They've been better." Kate said with a smile. She still had no idea how Mike managed to pick up on the little things like her sore ribs, but got other things like warning her about Jim so wrong. "I can walk you back to Navcom if you like, before I go and meet the others."

Mike nodded and the two started walking back to Navcom. "So, you want to tell me the unofficial version of what happened out there?" Mike asked.

"Maybe later. But the short version is that everything is ok." Kate said, trying to ease any of Mike's fears about her and Jim. "What do you think about having Dutchy, Swain and Charge over for a meal while we are on leave?" Kate asked.

"Sure. Any particular reason?" Mike asked in return.

"I just...they back me up. Swain has Sally to make sure he eats properly on leave, but I'm pretty sure the other two live on pizza and beer." Kate said. She would fill Mike in on the incident between Dutchy and 2Dads later, but for now this was enough.

"Maybe I can get their version of what happened out there." Mike said with a smile before chuckling. "Picking up Jim at Reminiscent Wharf. You must have nearly hit the roof."

"Let's just say I'd be happy to not go back to that particular Wharf." Kate said as she looked at Mike and laughed.