**Honey Don't, Cal Perkins**

Kara stretched her arms over her head and glanced at the clock. Only one more hour to go. Danny had been back in St. Louis for a week and Kara had yet to see him during the day outside of meetings. They came back from PT and rushed to get showered and then they were each off and running for the day. Chandler and Slattery were still sticking to their 2000 troops by June schedule so on top of helping Master Chief train the first group of recruits, Danny was also spending hours approving the next set of recruits who made it through the first level screening. This afternoon however, she was finally going to have a chance to be with him, albeit along with 30 or so young men and women, but it was better than nothing.

As she reviewed network maps a list of repeater addresses Mason wanted permission to work with, no fewer than six different people came in to ask her questions ranging from "My son is enlisting and I'd like to confirm that meals will be provided." to "Do we know of any dentists in the area?". At one point Chandler emerged from his office to close his door, apologetically. "I don't know how Mason is going to manage when you are out." Was all he said. She had been training Mason for two weeks in anticipation of her eventual maternity leave and she was sure he'd do quite well as an assistant to Chandler. She wasn't so sure he was going to enjoy being information central however.

When Mason arrived she described the info Chandler needed and he assured her that he would get an ensign to work on testing some radio repeaters to see if they could reliably contact remote ports such as Anchorage to find out if they had any personnel or equipment there. "Of course, for radio communication we're probably going to want to encrypt everything. I got my cryptology certification while we were in the arctic but it's a pretty rare certification so there's no guarantee there's anyone in Anchorage to work with at the other end." He blushed when she gave an appreciative look.

"You are gathering an impressive set of skills Will. Maybe we can get Val's help on that. She did design that app for the immunes after all."

Mason jotted down some notes. "So, today is my first trial handling the office when you're not here. Chandler has two meetings coming in and my own staff knows where to find me but I don't know where to find you. Are you having a doctor's appointment?" She found it charming how the junior officers wanted to ask her about the baby but were too shy to come right out and ask.

"Nope. Baby is doing great. I'm off to the shooting range to give a lesson."

Mason's eyes bugged. "Is that safe...in your condition I mean. Is the noise ok?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not you too Lieutenant! Yes it is safe and if I don't get out of this office and do something active it's not going to be safe for anyone else around here much longer!"

She grabbed her knapsack from a hook by the door and strode to Chandler's office. Well it was more of a quick waddle but she was pretty sure Mason got the point. She stuck her head through the door. "I'm heading out for the rest of the day. If you need anything urgent, send a messenger."

Tom looked up from the diagram Val was showing him of some kind of amplifying tower she wanted to set up. "We'll be fine here Kara. Have a good time out there today."

As she descended the courthouse steps she marveled at how much had changed in the two months since the Nathan James got to St. Louis. The president didn't really have a staff yet, but a plan for rebuilding the government was slowly unfolding. Soon they would have the means to spread the cure around the world. After that, it was only a matter of time before life became more normal again. She patted Flutter. Well back to whatever the new normal was going to be.

"Ma'am" the ensign guarding the door saluted as she approached. "Do you need a driver to bring up your car?"

"No thanks Carter. I need to stretch my legs. You have a nice day."

The sun was warm compared to the day before and there was a hint of Spring in the air. Every time Kara went outside she was struck by how normal everything looked. People were streaming into the city on a daily basis now. The President had selected the Old Courthouse as the new government offices and the Hyatt, located kitty corner from the courthouse, was serving as the executive residence where she and Danny also lived. The old market area behind the courthouse had become the new trading center and many of the stores and buildings in the city center were being put to use now too. But with 90 percent of the population gone, the city had a different feel than it had when she came here in her youth. Most of the upper floors of the buildings were empty, reminding her of an old west town she'd visited on a family vacation once. It had simply become a museum where the buildings were preserved but had no life. It was sad to think that all those people were just gone.

She passed several groups of people as she strolled over to the parking garage that housed the car she was driving. Sergeant Simpson-Slattery's team had been a great help in getting the garage cleared. It had taken a week but with a few locksmiths and a former DMV employee they had managed to identify the cars belonging to the confirmed deceased and selected some for government use. Then they had trialled an auction system to raise money for the government to put toward recovery. Based on the success of that program, soon there would be a housing auction too. Her own car, now relegated to her mother, was a beat up blue Honda, but the crowd that had parked at the Hyatt had more expensive taste. She had gotten a fairly low number in the car selection lottery and had ended up picking a late model Outback. And although it had hurt her heart when she had opened it up and seen the two car seats strapped in the back, she was sure that Jenny Vickers, the owner on the registration, would be happy to know that a family was going to be using her car now.

Danny had taken the recruits to Gabaret island, about two miles from the presidential compound, to use as their outdoor training area. Driving around the city was far quicker than she ever remembered from before the outbreak. There was significantly less traffic than before and, thanks to some good work between Gator and the SLPD, almost all the street lights were currently set on flashing yellow and red so she could cross to the north part of the city pretty quickly. But, although travel was easy, Kara had hardly been outside the downtown area since arriving in St. Louis two months ago. She turned on the one working radio station. It might only play a huge jumble of music from 8 AM to 8 PM, but it was much appreciated. With a startling realization, she realized that this was also the first time she'd gone anywhere completely by herself in months. Rolling her window down a crack, she enjoyed the freedom to be all alone for just a few minutes.

She pulled off the highway a few exits north into what was probably once a nice neighborhood. There were large victorians with decent sized yards lining streets shaded by massive trees. It was exactly the kind of in-town neighborhood she had always wanted to live in back when she was growing up on a farm in Kansas. As she stopped at a four way stop she let her gaze linger on one pretty blue and cream house with a massive oak tree in its yard. She could almost imagine the sound of kids banging ornate gingerbread screen door all day as they ran in from one friend's house to another. The tree had the perfect branch for a swing. With a sigh she accelerated through the intersection. It felt a little eerie that no one was out on the sidewalks, sitting on the porches, or playing in the yards.

Kara arrived at the parking area for the little footbridge that would take her across a side channel of the Mississippi to the island a few minutes late. She hadn't planned on it, but when she'd seen the little bodega open in the last neighborhood she'd come through, she just had to stop and go inside to say hello to the shopkeepers. It turned out to be run by some twenty somethings, barely old enough to had graduated college, and they were seriously intimidated by her. "Ma'am, can we get you a pop Ma'am? Do you need any snacks for the baby Ma'am?" She had been charmed. When she inquired, she found out that one of their families had owned the place before the outbreak and now that they were able to trade for goods down at the central market, they thought they should open up again even though they didn't have much on the shelves. "People give us orders and we try to find what they need. You know, so people from the surrounding neighborhoods don't have to drag their kids out and go far for stuff they need." We're all hoping the mayor picks this area for resettlement so it is lively once again. She agreed that it was nice to see some normal little stores opening their doors. As soon as she saw the bag of oreos she'd known she had to have some.

"You know what guys? I'm going to buy a some pop and those cookies. And then I'm going to give you my number. I work in the Navy office and most of my job is connecting people with what they need around the city. We're trying to support people putting their communities back together so if you have any trouble at all, you call me, ok?" They'd agreed and she had left feeling very pleased with herself. Maybe she'd push for this area to resettled too.

She reached over to gather her bag of snacks but before her hand even found the handle Danny was opening her door. "What happened? Are you ok? You're late!" He looked her over for signs of injury or other trouble.

"Oh for crying out loud! Daniel Joshua Green, I can't take any more fussing today! You know I am perfectly capable of driving myself across town. It's like everyone suddenly thinks I'm a child again or something." She waved off his hand when he tried to take her packages from her. "Hands off my snacks. I'm late because I stopped at a convenience store to buy these. A real convenience store that was open and everything."

"I'm sorry." At least he had the decency to look contrite. "I know you can take care of yourself. It's just that you are never late for anything and we did have to break up a group harassing some people setting up gardens over by the school before we headed over here."

She relented and handed him the cookies and soda before she wedged herself out of the driver's seat. "OK, I guess that's reasonable. If you want to be helpful you can carry the big gun which I would have used if anyone gave me any trouble." Wisely, Danny kept his mouth shut. While she shimmied a pair of navy blue shorts under her skirt, he slid the long black plastic case holding the gun she had checked out out from the way back. He leaned against the car while she unbuttoned her blouse leaving only a faded navy tee shirt stretched tightly over her expanding breasts and belly underneath. She topped it off with an oversized gray Nathan James Hoodie. She'd bought it off of Bacon to replace the one she had sacrificed for Danny's Secret Santa gift last July. Bacon had joked that with his new diet and exercise plan she'd better plan to make a blanket out of it after the baby came and she shrank back to her normal size. Right now it felt like she'd never be normal again. Her back hurt and everything felt out of place. As she bent to switch from her work shoes to boots she felt Danny's gaze follow her movements. At least he didn't seem to mind her new curves even if she felt like a cow. Their hands met briefly when she lifted the case by the handle and a little smile snuck out of the corner of her mouth.

"I don't think anyone is around. If you kiss me good enough I might let you carry this thing after all."

"Oh really?" A matching grin appeared on his face and he gently swung her so her back was against the side of the car. The package of cookies crunched a little as he rested his forearm on the window and leaned in. His lips were warm, despite having been out in the cool spring air for at least an hour. Now that her baby belly was growing rounder he had to lean in a little to kiss her and she missed when they could press closely from hip to shoulder. Still, she breathed in his comforting scent and relished the taste of him while she could. His hands skimmed down her sides but finding no waist to grip they returned to her shoulders and pulled her closer.

They broke apart after a few minutes. "Was that good enough?" The teasing note to his voice assured her that he knew damn well how good it was.

"Yes. Me woman. You man. Man carry heavy thing." They chuckled together as they started over the wooden bridge. Their boots made hollow clumping sounds as they crossed a debris clogged thread of the Mississippi onto the sandbar island. Halsey sat at the other end, tail thumping as she came into view. "Hey boy!" He sniffed her pockets looking for treats. "If you're nice and don't try to coddle me I might have something special for you later." Behind her Danny snorted.

They proceeded down a gravel path that skirted a picnic area. On the far side, Miller and about thirty young people were were sitting under a picnic canopy. When they saw her they rose immediately. "Ma'am." Miller, as the ranking enlisted member present, acknowledged her arrival. She found it funny that even though she'd already outranked them all, now that she was so obviously pregnant the young men seemed extra deferential. She recognized Bertrice, Lee, Ray, Colin, Rob, and Dylan but the rest were all new recruits or prior enlisted who wanted to re-volunteer. Two of the young men looked like they were barely old enough to be in high school. She supposed there were plenty of 18 year olds who choose to serve but having come through the academy and then getting assigned to the Nathan James, she just hadn't seen too many of the youngest enlisted in her time.

"Commander Foster," Danny said her name with an impartial voice, as if the thought of kissing her in the parking lot had never even crossed his mind. "Meet our first class of recruits." She would have to remember to tease him about calling her Foster again this evening. He kept doing it and she kept asking him if he was regretting marrying her already. She loved the way he apologized profusely every time he realized he was doing it.

Most of the young men and women looked intimidated by Danny. Although he could be tough when it was warranted, she thought they better learn to respect, not fear their leaders if they were going to become the best of the best. Mentally she divided the group in her mind between the ones who had shorn or tied back hair indicating they were over 18 and already enlisted from those who didn't. A few had uniforms from other services indicating they had already been enlisted before the flu outbreak. Based on the number of gangly elbows and skinny necks she had a feeling that both men and women had known starvation in the last few months. Never the less, their clothes were clean and most were watching her with alert expressions. "At ease recruits." They sat again and she surveyed the tables in front of them. Miller had his rifle laid out neatly with all of the parts in the correct positions. The rest of them had a jumbled mess of parts strewn across the tables.

"Recruits, Commander Foster may not look formidable but she's fierce when it comes down to it and she can shoot just about anything in our arsenal better than anyone I know. She hadn't thought of it that way but she supposed that to someone outside the CIC her job did seem pretty much like it was to shoot things. She single handedly took out the last known Russian Admiral when they were preventing the Nathan James from continuing our work to develop and spread the cure."

"Not exactly single handedly," A flash memory of being on that windy boat with Danny, heading toward a looming foe, and telling him she would not bail hit her in her midsection. Or maybe that was his restless progeny. "But I suppose it's a good reminder that we should never fall into the trap of underestimating the capabilities of our opponents."

Danny continued, "She volunteered for the first vaccine trial and almost died. She took over at TAO of the Nathan James when the previous one died in service. Heck, she pretty much built the drone that was used to find the nesting sites of the birds that carried the strain of virus used to make the vaccine. She's has saved my life more than once, and if you ask, Lieutenant Burk will tell you how she's saved his twice."

"I've asked her here because unlike myself or Lieutenant Burk, she earned a perfect score on her long range certification test. Foster is currently Chandler's right hand woman and basically the person you have to go through to get anything done around here too so I suggest paying attention and staying on her good side. Also, in case you didn't notice, she was pregnant during most of the events I described and she doesn't have the time or energy to take any crap from anyone. Are we understood?"

"Sir, yes sir." The recruits replied forcefully. Training in the CIC was certainly a quieter affair. She noticed that while Miller looked confident, some of the recruits were flushed or looking down at their tables as if they were embarrassed about their lack of knowledge. Danny might have over done the talking up the instructor's skills a bit too much in his intro. She knew the special teams could really use as many hands as they could get before Michener sent them out to take on the MCF and spread the cure to the entire United States. She smiled warmly and told herself to tone it back a little, hoping that they would turn out to be as eager as they had looked a couple minutes ago.

But then she caught a chubby recruit in the back row sneering as he whispered something to his companion and her pride won out over modesty. "If you guys have every heard of Sargent Eric Foster, he was a sniper in Operation Eagle Freedom, that's my brother..or rather was my brother and he was pretty well known. And you're too young to remember him, then ask Master Chief about Sargent Butch Foster, that was my father. Honestly, they taught me everything I know so I'm not going to take you through the standard Navy marksmenship course...besides, we don't have a computer simulator to work with. We're going to wing it..safely of course." She picked up the barrel of a Seaman Hoon's rifle and set it down facing the opposite direction. "Am I guessing correctly, Lieutenant Green, that you have not drilled on assembly yet today?"

Danny's cheeks pinkened ever so slightly. "That is correct Ma'am, I am afraid we spent most of the morning clearing a firing area."

Kara had been afraid of that. "Very well then. We'll start from the beginning." She began to talk them through the parts of the gun and had Miller demonstrate how the parts assembled and disassembled. Once they were pretty good with that she talked a bit about safety and the regulations in the Navy regarding authorization for use. After a few rounds of going through it together she set them to work on it in pair. After a few more rounds she decided their hard work deserved a little friendly competition to liven up the day.

"I have the last known packages of oreos in all of St. Louis in that grocery sack over there. After a little practice we're going to have a race between pairs. On my mark you will each disassemble your weapons, pass the parts to your partner, and reassemble. The first team with two properly assembled weapons gets 4 cookies each. And then everyone else gets two."

"No fair, Diaz gets an advantage being partnered with Miller." The smart ass kid from the back row called out.

Reluctantly, she admitted to herself that he was probably right. "Mr. Verner, you do need to work on addressing officers correctly and not speaking out of turn, but your point is well taken. Mr. Diaz and Seaman Miller, you will not be eligible for the prize." Good thing she actually had another bag of cookies in the car. Sour Rob wouldn't know if she happened to give Kat a bag of cookies for the kids later. After a few practice rounds, Ray and Miller were able to dismantle their M-4s in seconds and began to trade parts before the other teams had completely separated theirs. She cut the time shorter and shorter each round but they still maintained a good margin over the other recruits. Miller was expected to be good but she was surprised about Ray. The day after their adventure in East St. Louis Kat had claimed that he better get not get an MOS that had anything to do with maintenance or repair because in her view he was mechanically challenged.

They sat back at the same time and she acknowledged their success with a quiet nod. When the second team to complete the challenge sat back she stopped them all. "Alright recruits. Pieces down, hands up. Let's see how you did."

"Seriously? How'd you guys get so fast?" Rob Verner set down his half assembled stock rather forcefully. She could see that he had been trying to put the delta ring on backwards, a common mistake. "When do we get to actually shoot these things?" The kid asked impatiently. Danny had already explained several times that they had to master the care of the weapons before they could start target practice.

She chose not to acknowledged his comment this time but made a note to bring it up with Danny later. The Navy thrived on structure and order. If the kid wasn't ok with that, maybe he wasn't a good candidate for the hurried training of the first class of recruits. "Ok, so now that we've covered that, I'm going to let you take home the parts of the weapon to practice with. You still will not be authorized to acquire or use any ammo unless your commanding officer allots it, understood?

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am." They replied in unison and she decided it was time to wrap up and pass around the cookies.

"Alright, I think it's time for snacks." Kara held a cookie up. To Danny she said. "When I saw these cookies I knew they were exactly what I have been craving every night. Damn pregnancy hormones." She twisted the top off one and delicately licked the filling. Unaware that all the male trainees were watching her pink tongue dig through the creamy frosting, she scrubbed her teeth with her tongue. "Except I forgot how sugary they were. I think I really only want the chocolate part but I'd feel guilty wasting the frosting."

Danny cleared his throat. "Better hand them over then. We'll take care of them for you." He took a few cookies from the package and passed them on to Miller. Each man took a few and they began munching. Dylan and a guy named Pickering were the assembly champions after Miller and Ray so they each ended up with a stack in front of them.

Kara rummaged in her grocery sack again. "I also got some pop. Hope you guys like Fritz's and don't mind sharing." She pulled a can from the plastic rings and handed them on. Then she pulled out a little bag of pre-sliced pepperoni. "Halsey, here boy." The dog, who had been lounging under the picnic table scrambled to sit in front of her obediently.

"You're spoiling him Kara, and them." She just rolled her eyes at Danny while he shook his head at her.

"He works hard and he deserves it. Don't you boy?" She handed the dog a few pieces of pepperoni. He gobbled them up and then barked for more. "One more bite." She fed the dog another and let it lick her hand clean after.

"Geez Ma'am. This is real nice of you to share." Rob Verner commented. God that guy bugged her. Despite not winning the competition she saw a stack of six cookies in front of him and she was pretty sure he had pocketed a few more. Instantly put on edge, she had to resist the urge to make a snide remark. Maybe he had been starving and was afraid the Navy wouldn't be able to continue feeding the recruits? Still, there was something about him that irritated her. Perhaps it was the perpetual slight curl to his upper lip as if he was always disgusted at something.

"Well, I couldn't exactly sit here indulging in front of you guys without sharing, now could I?" The cans were still quite cold with condensation on the outside. She rubbed her hand down the smooth aluminum to dry the can.

Danny cleared his throat. "Finish up your cookies recruits and let's try our hands at some targets. Commander Foster, perhaps you can set up your M40 on that table out there and then we'll do our shooting toward that concrete foundation out there?" He pointed toward a 15 foot tall wall of concrete nearly half covered in vines and brush.

"Sounds good. Without a sandstop that's probably the best we can do." Kara dusted off her lap, or what passed as a lap these days. She patted the baby absentmindedly as she eyed the field. "What have we got for targets?"

Danny picked up a cardboard box from under the table. It gave a metallic rattle as he grinned. "Farmer's special." The two of them trudged out to the field. Kara began assembling the high powered rifle while Danny placed old cans marked in Sharpie with large x's at a variety of distances and angles from the table. He even had a few with twine around them to hang from trees. Kara assembled her rifle on a picnic table and then went to help Danny. After they had placed the cans they returned to the gun and she bent to look in the scope.

In the picnic shelter the recruits continued working on their guns. A two week recruit named Pickering leaned over toward Rob. "Damn, the way everyone talks about bad-ass Commander Foster I was expecting some ugly ass bitch but she is hot!" Miller frowned and exchanged a glance with Ray.

"Yeah, and it looks like she really likes to get her cookies too, if you know what I mean." The other man sniggered.

Miller turned in his seat to stare down the two recruits but underneath his freckles he had paled. "Uh, cool it guys." He said unconvincingly.

Rob sneered. "Why? You gay ginger? You'd have to be not to want to get your hands on those tits. Do red blooded men appreciating a fine looking woman make you uncomfortable?" Pickering laughed until Dylan scooted a little further away on the picnic bench.

Miller stiffened. "No, but the Navy has strict policies about appropriate conduct and I'd hate for Lieutenant Green to hear what you just said." He shook his head in disgust and turned back to his task.

A few minutes later though Rob asked. "Hey Miller, you were on the Nathan James, before the Red Flu broke out, right?"

Miller eyed him with trepidation before answering. "Yes?"

"And that's where Commander Foster was, when she got knocked up?"

Miller slammed his fist onto the surface of the picnic table. "I don't think it's appropriate to discuss Commander Foster's personal situation."

Undeterred, Rob leaned in. "Yeah, yeah. We just want to know if all Navy girls put out on long cruises or if she's just extra nice."

"That's enough." Miller slammed down the rifle and stood rapidly. Rob jumped to his feet as well and then suddenly Ray, and Colin, and a few others were taking sides.

Rob poked him in the chest. "What, you gonna call your commanding officer and tell him we were admiring Foster's ass? I saw him checking her out before. Probably wondering the same as us, what it would feel like to…" Miller cold cocked him mid sentence. The young man fell like a sack of grain onto the cement floor of the picnic shelter.

"What the hell was that for?" Shouted Pickering.

"Saving your stupid buddy's ass, is what that was for." Miller got in his face and shouted right back.

"Dude, what the hell?" Pickering pulled back in confusion.

On the ground Rob moaned. "I can't believe you had the balls man."

"Dude," Miller mocked him. "When I said I didn't want Lieutenant Green to hear you idiots talking like that about Commander Foster it was because her full name is Commander Foster-Green."

It took a moment for Pickering to process what Miller had said. Then his eyes grew round and his lips made a silent "Oh". He sat and returned to working on his gun. Miller huffed, clenching and unclenching his hands at his sides. Then he turned and sat as well. They both continued to work, ignoring the man groaning on the ground.

Out at the other end of the field Kara cocked a thumb over her shoulder to indicate the picnic shelter. "Well, it looks like Miller's training is coming along well. One of those cocky kids is already on the ground."

Danny sighed. "Yeah. Sometimes the quiet ones surprise you."

"Should we do something about it?" She had little experience with this side of training recruits. By the time someone showed up in the C.I.C. they had been through quite a bit already. But Danny seemed to take it in stride.

"Nah, there's always one or two rabble-rousers but they learn quick enough. Let's just get them out here showing off the skills they don't have so you and Miller can humiliate them further." Danny winked and she melted just a little. How did he do that?

"Good plan. At least they can be learning something while they grow up a little." She shot him her own cocky grin and they headed for the picnic shelter to get their students to work. "Alright, let's go learn about sighting."

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and by 0500 she was ready to get off her feet. "I think you guys are doing great. Miller, I want you to work on your breathing between now and Thursday. You need to get more steady if you're going to qualify on the M40, especially when you're shooting without a frame. Recruits, work on assembly and disassembly. I am sure the guys back in the barracks will help you and suggest some drills." She let Danny dismiss the class and they trailed after the boisterous group as they all tramped back over the bridge.

She watched as Rob, Pickering, and Colin got into a giant souped up cherry red pickup truck. She guessed, based on the Indiana plates, that it was Rob's own vehicle. It suited his abrasive personality. From the passenger seat Colin's eyes followed Ray, Lee, and Miller as they piled into the ugly little 70's car Kat was now calling the Deuce-Mobile on account of its hideous poop brown and maroon 70's style wood paneling. She had to bite her tongue when Miller visibly raised his fist and swore at Rob for spraying them with gravel as he pealed out of the small lot ahead of them.

As soon as the last car departed Danny slipped his arms around her waist. "So I don't know about you Commander, but I'm exhausted. Want to show me that store so we can stock up on junk food and take it home to spend the rest of the evening in bed?"

Instead of the bed at the hotel room, at the word home she imagined sitting together on the porch of the blue and cream house she had seen earlier. She unlocked the car and grinned at him over the roof rack. "I tell you what Lieutenant, if you will indulge me for a short sidetrip I'll take you to the store and I'll even buy you a treat."