Fixing a Broken Wing - Chapter 9

DK Lover: I used to like Mike too... But that "coffee" conversation in season 4 made me angry with him Re his inability to put Kate as a priority... That's why this fic was born...

Guest Reviewer: Thank you!

A/N: This is the last chapter of this fic and will be set only few hours after the previous one... Stay tune for the sequel !


Dylan slowly woke up from his slumber. He was surprised that the room wasn't as bright as he thought it would. Did someone come here and turn off the overhead light? As his foggy mind became clearer, he then remembered that Kate was here at some point.

Kate...

He smiled remembering that night after the horse riding outing. They ended up on his couch sleeping on top of each other after watching few movies. That was easily the best night sleep he had for a while. Unfortunately, as the sky turned the shade of orange, reality came crashing down on them. They had to sail in 3 hours time. Few kisses and hugs later, she got out from his front door to go home. He missed her already at that point.

It was a struggle not to act differently during this patrol. He found that he felt even more protective of her. That was why he followed her to that warehouse even when she specifically told him not to. That was why he insisted to go with her when she proposed a diving trip. That was why he asked the CO to let him join the shore party even when he felt his wound was still tender. He sighed deeply. He knew that he was in big trouble right after he put her to sleep in Swain's house months ago. But nothing compared to the trouble he was in now. Not only he struggled not to touch her, but also struggled not to grin stupidly every time he looked at her. You got it bad, Dylan...

His head whipped around when he heard the doorknob turned. Half hoping it would be Kate on the other side of the door; he was a bit disappointed when Swain opened the door instead.

"Mate, how are you feeling?" Swain flicked the light switch and moved to check on Dylan's IV bag. Satisfied that the bag was almost empty, he turned off the drip and gently pulled out the needle from his arm.

"Like I've been knocked out for several hours."

Swain chuckled at his answer. "The painkillers knocked you out pretty good." He then looked at Dylan sternly. "Although that was necessary after you fainted yesterday."

"I'm fine." Dylan sighed deeply. He supposed that he kind of deserved Swain's look right now, but he couldn't bring himself to regret his decision to join the shore party. He would rather get hurt himself than letting Kate got hurt.

Swain only shook his head at Dylan's stubbornness. "You're free to go. You might want to freshen up and get some breakfast." He then looked at his watch. "We'll be at home port in 2 hours."

"Thanks mate." Dylan smiled gratefully while gingerly getting up to a sitting position. He cringed when his movement pulled his stiches a little bit.

"No worries." Swain said while giving him a new grey tee to wear. "Try not to get injured too often hey. I'm kind of sick of having you here." He patted Dylan's shoulder jokingly. "Although on a second thought, you were pretty funny when you were high on painkillers. So thank you for the entertainment."

Dylan raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

Remembering what happened yesterday when the X was in the wardroom; Swain couldn't help but smile broadly.

"What did I do?" Dylan asked warily.

"It wasn't what you did, but what you said..." Swain had to stifle a laugh bubbling up in his throat. "Why don't you ask the X what you said yesterday?"

Dylan looked at Swain alarmingly. Crap! Kate is going to kill me if I said something incriminating.

Seeing his pale face, Swain took pity on him and said soothingly, "Don't worry. I don't think she was offended at all. You were pretty out of it anyway. Just ask her."

Dylan huffed. "You are not helping, mate."


"Oi Dutchy... Pub?" Dylan heard Charge's booming voice in the empty corridor. Most sailors had already left for shore leave. But because he spent the whole night in the wardroom, he hadn't got a chance to do his paper works. That was why he got caught up.

"Maybe later. I have to give this report to the X and then I'm off to the hospital." He smiled at the older man.

"Alright then, take it easy mate... We'll be at the usual place if you decided to come by." Charge said while patting Dylan's shoulder as he walked passed.

"Thanks Charge..."

Dylan then continued his journey to Kate's cabin. Few minutes later, he raised his knuckles and knocked on her door. "Come in." He could hear her muffled voice from inside.

He opened the door to find her standing with her back facing the door on the side of her bunk, tidying the content of her sea bag lying on her bed. He smiled at the sight.

"X..."

Hearing his voice, she stopped her movement. But she didn't acknowledge him. Instead, after a few second of silence, she got back to her previous task, ignoring him.

He was puzzled by her behaviour. Then he remembered what Swain said to him before and he looked at her worriedly. Maybe I did say something incriminating about us and now she's mad at me. He then looked around for any sailors near the vicinity, but the corridor was empty and the ship seemed empty, so he went in to her cabin and closed the door behind him. He then put his sea bag on the floor and his report on her desk before carefully stepping behind her and hugged her waist to him.

"Kate..." He tried once more to get her to acknowledge him, while resting his chin on top of her head. "Is everything alright?"

Kate could feel tears developing at the back of her eyes again. She thought that all her tears had dried up when she left his bedside just after 5 am this morning. Apparently, she was wrong. This morning, it was easier to ignore her personal situation when she had a ship to bring home and a huge pile of paper works to finish. But now, engulfed in his arms, she could feel the weight of the situation and it was tearing her apart.

"I think that we shouldn't see each other anymore." She choked at her last word.

Dylan blanched. "Why?" He then turned her around and tilted her chin up so he could see her eyes. "Did I do or say something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No. Definitely not." Tears were now running freely on her cheek.

Seeing her tears, he slowly moved them towards her bed. After pushing her sea bag aside, he then sat down, pulled her to his lap and held her tightly. He stroked her back soothingly and kissed her temple repeatedly, willing the heart-breaking tears to stop.

"Kate, would you please just tell me what's going on?" He whispered softly to her ear.

She slowly lifted her head from his chest and looked into his eyes. "Bomber decided to transfer off from Hammersley."

He looked at her puzzled. "Okay... That's news for me and we are definitely going to miss her and her cooking, but how does her decision to transfer off affect us?"

"Because she was forced to make that decision." She took a deep breath. "Swain caught her and 2Dads kissing in the junior mess."

Bomber and 2Dads? Seriously? He then started to get an inkling of what her tears were about.

"If someone opened my cabin door right now, we would be in the same position as them." She cupped his cheek with the palm of her hand. "One of us had to leave the ship. Your reputation would be damaged. Not to mention that there would always be people whispering behind your back that you were with me just because you wanted to get a promotion. I don't want that happening to you. Maybe it would be best if we stopped this right now, before it got too far."

He kept his silence for a few minutes and then asked quietly. "Do you want to be with me? Because if you do, then I don't care about all of that, as long as you are with me."

"Dylan..." Her pupil widened at his question. "I..."

He could see that she still had that 'deer caught in the headlights' look on her face. She's still not ready for my standing offer.

"Shh... It's OK. You don't have to answer that now." He kissed her softly, letting her know that she could take her time for that question.

He then looked at her seriously. "Kate... If one of us has to transfer off, I'll go."

Hearing his answer, tears welled up in her eyes again. "Just like that? You don't need time to think about it?" She looked at him in disbelief. "How could you just make a snap decision like that?"

He smiled softly at her. "Think of it logically. Firstly, there would always be more vacancy for my position compared to yours. Secondly, you have been serving in Hammersley for more than 3 years whereas I've only been here 6 months. Your level of attachment to this ship and its crews is a lot stronger than mine. It made more sense for me to transfer off compare to you."

When she still didn't respond to his rationale, he tried a different explanation. "Look, Kate. At the end of the day, I could be a buffer in any ship." He kissed her again before continuing. "But, there is only one Kate McGregor in the entire universe. If leaving Hammersley means that you and I could have more chances of being together, so be it."

At this very moment, Kate wanted so badly to say yes to his standing offer. She wanted to be with him. To be with a man that was willing to give her the world. But she knew that half of her heart was still in pieces right now. He deserved a lot more than that. That was why she didn't say anything in response. Instead, she just kissed him passionately, pouring all her feelings towards him in her kisses.

"So, are we good?" Dylan looked at her questioningly once they had caught their breaths back.

"Yes, we're good." She nodded.

"You owe me lunch though." He grinned at her.

She looked at him confused. "Why?"

"Because you scared me before." He tapped her nose playfully. "When you said you didn't want to see me anymore."

Her eyes softened at his statement. "Alright. Just pick the place."

He smiled at her quick agreement. "Now, as much I want to be sitting with you like this for a long time, I need to go to the hospital before I can officially start my shore leave. Care to accompany me?"

"Of course." She rolled her eyes. "God knows that somebody need to keep an eye on you, otherwise maybe you'll do a runner from the hospital."

"Hey! I've never done that..." He looked at her half amused and half offended.

"Really? Not even once?" she raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

He grinned. "Well, maybe once or twice."

She grinned back at him before she got up from his lap and reached for her sea bag again.

"I'll wait on the dock for you." He kissed her cheek briefly and then grabbed his sea bag. He was just about to open the door when she grabbed his hand.

"Let me open it. Just in case the corridor is not clear."

He nodded in agreement; grateful that she remembered.

She opened the door slowly and looked around the corridor. She breathed a sigh of relief that it was clear. "Go on. I'll see you later."

He squeezed her hand one more time before continuing his journey towards the dock.


After the Doctor released Dylan with clean bill of health and a warning to take it easy for next 3 days, he chose their usual pancakes' place for lunch. While they were sitting in their favourite restaurant, they discussed their plan for the rest of the day. Kate insisted that she would stay with him for the next 3 days, something about making sure he was resting. He tried to protest half-heartedly but she simply gave him her XO's glare. He smirked at her insistence. The truth was that he was glad that she offered. In his view, any excuse to spend more time with her would be a blessing.

Kate almost dozed off in the taxi on the way to his place. The event from the previous day, coupled with the lack of sleep this morning had drained her. All she wanted to do when she reached his place was to take a nap, preferably with him as her pillow. However, as she opened the fridge to get a cold drink, it turned out that he had nothing in the fridge that was edible for their future meals. Inspection of the pantry delivered the same result.

That was why she was now standing in one of the supermarket's aisle, looking at the different brand of can soups neatly stacked on the shelf. She tried to remember if Dylan had ever told her about his favourite brand. But after few minutes of racking her brain, she huffed. Apparently he hadn't. Maybe it's time to play 20 questions again.

She started to regret sending him to the next isle a few minutes ago. But remembering the reason, she erased any regret from her brain. The infuriating man kept complaining that he wasn't an invalid and he should be the one who pushed the trolley, not her. For God sake, didn't he understand that she just wanted to take care of him for a change? Managing to repress her anger, she asked him to be useful and got some eggs for her before they ended up having a public fight about a shopping trolley.

She decided to wait for him to come back from the next aisle to choose the soup himself. Instead, she moved to the pasta section. She was about to grab one of the spaghetti package when she heard a familiar voice.

"Kate?"

She froze. Slowly she turned around and came face to face with Mike.

He looked at her quizzically, sizing her trolley and its contents. She judged that whatever he saw in her trolley must not be to his liking, because his face hardened. The last thing she needed now was Dylan coming back from the other aisle. That would be a disaster.

Unfortunately, she heard another voice coming from behind her.

"Kate, for some reason they are running out of free-range eggs. So I got the normal one, is that OK?"

She sighed. She could feel the Man above was laughing at her current situation. This is unbelievable!

Dylan looked up from the carton of eggs he was currently holding when his question was greeted with silence. As he followed her line of sight and found the hardened face of his CO looking at them, he was instantly alarmed.

"Sir?" Dylan said carefully and waited for his CO's reply. However, even after a long silence, his CO still didn't say anything. At the end, he simply turned around and walked away.

Dylan looked at Kate with raised eyebrows. "What was that all about?"

She shrugged. To be honest, she was relieved that Mike had just walked away. God forbid that he opened his mouth and started a confrontation in the middle of the store. Her nerves were still very raw after their conversation this morning. Not to mention that Dylan was standing next to her. If he had any inkling of what was going on, then she would have to explain everything. She was simply not ready for that.

"Kate? Are you alright?" Dylan looked at her worriedly when she seemed to be deep in thought. Does the CO suspect anything about us?

She raised her eyes to meet his. "I'm okay." She smiled at him to abate his worry. Grabbing the carton of eggs from his hand and placing it in the trolley, she then looked at him questioningly. "Heinz or Campbell's?"

Deciding to put his worry to the back of his mind for the moment, he slowly grinned at her. "Heinz, please."


Dylan looked at his TV screen blankly. His mind couldn't stop thinking about their bizarre encounter with the CO earlier. He saw something in his CO's eyes this afternoon. At first, he thought it was suspicion. But if it was, why didn't he say something about it? It was within his right as their CO to investigate any possible deviation from fraternisation rule. The fact that Mike Flynn walked away from them added to his confusion. It was as if Mike Flynn couldn't stand to be near both him and Kate.

Then it clicked. He is jealous. Mike Flynn is jealous of us.

Dylan started to sit up straighter. His arms around Kate, who sat next to him on the couch, involuntary tightened.

Why? Why is he jealous? Were they involved somehow?

His mind spiralled further. Could he be the one who broke her heart? Anger instantly coursed through him at the thought.

"Kate?" he tried to control his rage. He needed to focus on the woman on his arms, not Mike Flynn.

When she only hummed as an answer, he looked at her and the TV respectively and found that she was engrossed in Sarah Connor's effort to escape from high-security mental hospital. He knew better than to interrupt now. So he waited until the heroine escaped safely before he kissed her temple and whispered her name to her ear. This time she looked up to him curiously.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Seeing his serious face, Kate reached for the remote and pressed the pause button.

He kept quiet for a moment to compose the question. But none of the sentences seemed right on his mind.

"Kate, I'll understand if you don't want answer my question..."

"Dylan, what is it?" Kate's curiousness was replaced by worry.

"It's about your ex." He said tentatively. She looked paler but didn't say anything, so he continued. "Was he in the Navy?" Was he in Hammersley?

Silence greeted his question. Dylan was about to said to her to forget it when she answered.

"Yes." Kate looked at him sadly. "He is in the Navy."

Okay. That's a start. Is he Mike Flynn? "Do I know him?"

Kate turned her head to the TV once more, wishing that she didn't stop the DVD before. She honestly didn't know what to say. Tell him the truth, Kate!

"Yes." She finally said. They fell silent once again. She could feel that his arms around her tightened, as if he had an inkling of who they were dealing with and he was preventing her from running back to Mike. She rested her head on his chest and put her arms around him to calm him down. But she could still feel that his muscles were strung tight. Refusing to let Mike once again destroying her chance to move on, she then moved to straddle Dylan's lap, put her arms around his neck, and looked into his eyes.

At first, Dylan was stunned by her move, but a certain part of his anatomy reminded him that he indeed had a beautiful woman sitting on his lap. His heart swelled at her gesture. He then lowered his lips and kissed her possessively. One of his hands tangled on her hair to deepen the kiss, while the other sneaked under her shirt to caress her soft skin on her back. He swallowed her soft groan at the contact. They continued kissing passionately, only stopping to catch their breath every once in a while. The movie was long forgotten.

Kate pulled away first. She rested her forehead to his while trying to return her breath to normal. She caressed his cheek softly.

"You tried to distract me from asking more questions, didn't you?" Dylan smiled at her knowingly.

She looked at him sheepishly. "Did it work?"

"You know it did." He grinned at her cheekily. "I bet you could feel it."

"Oh, shut up!" She blushed profusely while trying to glare at him unsuccessfully. He's so infuriating sometimes.

For a while they didn't talk, they simply embraced each other tightly, cherishing the time they have together. Kate then lifted her head from his shoulder. "Dylan... About him..."

Dylan shook his head. "Kate, he can wait." He decided that all those questions could bugger off for now. Why should he care about a certain CO and his possible relationship with Kate while the woman in question was in his arms? It was obvious from Kate's reluctance to talk about him that whatever happened between them ended badly. He was not here to open the wound; he was here to help her heal it.

"Thank you..." She sighed, trying to find the next words to explain her situation further. "You know, sometimes you see a bird that was injured, its wings were damaged, either because of a collision with another bird, a tree or human cruelty. That injured bird is me. I'm still trying to fix my broken wings, Dylan. One of the wings was already healed because of you." She traced his lips with her thumb softly. "But the other one is still in pieces. I need both wings repaired to be able to fly again with you." She kissed him again before continuing. "I need more time."

Dylan cupped both of her cheeks with the palm of his hands. "That night on the beach, I told you I would wait until you are ready for my standing offer. That promise wouldn't change. Take as long as you need. I'm not going anywhere." His lips slowly formed a grin. "You wouldn't be able to get rid of me anyway. I'm really stubborn."

Kate rolled her eyes affectionately. Trust him to find humour in their situation.

He was about to start another kissing session when he remembered something. "Kate?"

"Yeah..."

"Apparently I said something to you when I was high on painkillers yesterday. Swain refused to say anything. He wanted me to ask you instead." He frowned. "Did I say something incriminating about us?"

She smiled at the memory. "You said that I'm an angel and an amazing woman."

Hearing her answer, he groaned. Apparently, his mouth had indeed spilled the beans. "I can't believe I said that in front of Swain." He shook his head amusedly. "No wonder the man looked so smug. Like he had some kind of leverage against me."

"You were high on painkillers. Your mind was forced to relax, hence your inability to filter what you said. But I'm sure he probably has heard them all. I bet he could write a book of the things we said when we were on painkillers under his care."

He smiled at her attempt to soothe his worry. "So... You're my angel huh?"

"Apparently..." Her lips involuntary curved upwards at his smile.

"Would you let me worship you then?"

The question hung in the air. The lust in his eyes and the husky whisper told Kate what he meant. She could only smile sadly at him in return. Kissing him softly, she then whispered her answer. "Raincheck?"

He chuckled. "You and your raincheck. Why am I not surprised?"

"Only until you heal properly." She reached to his side to gingerly touch the covered wound there, subtly reminding him that he needed to take it easy.

He took her hand from his side and kissed its knuckles softly. "Promise?"

"I promise."


FIN