CHAPTER 10

"I recognized that look," Eddie said with a smirk as the vehicles finally rumbled out of New London. "You got laid."

Doctor Morrison started sputtering, coughing up the water he had just drunk. Danny rolled his eyes. Kara had woken him up in a particularly … pleasant manner that morning, but they were well past the age of kiss and tell. There were disadvantages to being around his childhood friend. It sort of felt like being seventeen again.

"And here I thought that was Green's normal face," Tex joked from the front seat. "He has apparently been a very happy man in the time that I have known him. Well, except those first few weeks after Gitmo. Glad that hoity-toity routine didn't last long."

"What happened in Gitmo? Hopefully it involves Danny screwing something up," Eddie jested. "Have to take advantages of those moments."

Danny had split the party between two vehicles, Burk, Wolf, Miller and Rebecca following them along the broken road. He hadn't wanted Eddie to be in the same vehicle as Rebecca, but apparently he should have separated Tex and Eddie as well. The two men had hit it off immediately.

"What are you? A bunch of gossiping old ladies?" Danny retorted half-heartedly, knowing it was useless to try to stop them and enjoying the camaraderie, even if he was the chosen punching bag. References to Gitmo no longer smarted the way that they used to, overshadowed by all that had happened since then, seeming far longer than six months ago.

Tex turned around and winked at Eddie. He was seated in the passenger seat while Cruz drove. "I'll make you a deal. For every good piece of intel you give me on golden boy over there, I will return the favor."

Eddie smirked in Danny's direction. "You aware of Green's obsession with old sci-fi movies?"

"All that talk wasn't just to impress the lovely KFG?" Tex hooted. Danny kicked the man's seat. "I'll give you the life story of Danny Green and you tell me where I am wrong. First-born son, apple of his parents' eyes. Straight A student. Football player…"

"Soccer," Eddie interrupted.

"My mother is a doctor. She was worried about concussions," Danny added.

Tex snorted. "Soccer player. Popular with the girls. Voted homecoming king…" Eddie was now laughing so hard that he was crying.

"Runner-up, actually," Danny tossed in. Waldron had won, of course.

"Never in any trouble. Probably didn't even skip school." Tex was on a roll now.

"He did get suspended once." Eddie threw in. Danny groaned. Tex would love this story. "We decided to let some chickens loose in the school as a prank. Unfortunately for Green here, the chickens came from his house. His dad recognized them immediately. That was a scene. The school principal suspending his own kid."

Even Doctor Morrison laughed at that one. "Dear lord, Green, and I thought Kara was the farm girl," Tex drawled.

"Says the man named Tex who's from Reno," Danny retorted.

"You owe me something now," Eddie piped in. "Something about Kara."

"I got one," Tex replied. "So I join the Nathan James at Gitmo and that lout gets assigned as my roommate. Now he's going on and on about the navy fraternization policy but it doesn't take long before I start to notice that he spends a lot of time watching a certain pretty lieutenant, and I am not talking about Burk. But Green insists that there's nothing going on. Until one day Danny does a swan dive onto the floor of the crew lounge. Everyone freaks out that it's the Red Flu and the Captain orders the ship locked down and everyone in biohazard suits. A minute later the lounge door swings open and a certain lieutenant comes charging in, looks right at the Captain, and says 'if he has it, I have it - we had lunch together.'"

"Lunch?" Eddie was roaring with laughter. "That was the best excuse she could come up with?"

"The look on Captain Chandler's face was indescribable," Cruz added, chuckling. "I thought he was going to kill all of us on the spot. You were lucky to be unconscious, sir."

Yes, Danny thought with a twinge of guilt, lucky. He had been able to avoid not only the Captain's response, but also the reaction of the crew upon finding out what he and Kara had been up to in the arctic. Kara, unfortunately, had not been so lucky. She had forced to face both the Captain and the crew, immediately and alone. Danny's memories of the two days after he collapsed were blurry, random images of people coming and going and snippets of conversation that made little sense. His first clear memory was waking up and seeing Kara, eyes closed as she leaned against the door to the medical bay, looking exhausted. He had thought perhaps he was imagining the sight, and had croaked her name questioningly.

"Kara?"

At the sound of his voice, her eyes had popped open and she moved to his side. "Danny?" She felt his forehead, and then gave a sigh of relief. "Your fever seems to have broken. How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty," he replied, unwilling to admit that he could barely lift his head from the pillow. Using what little strength he had, he reached out to take her hand, needing that connection. The last few weeks had been agonizing - missing the sound of her voice, the sight of her smile, the feeling of her heart beating when she was wrapped in his arms, her soft breath against his chest. "What happened?"

"You had dengue fever," she explained. "You've been so sick. I was afraid…" She stopped, turning to pick up a cup with a straw from behind the bunk. "Here, drink some water. I'll get Doc Rios."

His strength gone, Danny had fallen back asleep. Waking up a couple of hours later he had seen Doctor Scott bustling around the medical bay. Upon noticing that he was awake, she had come to check on him.

"How long have I been out of it?" Danny asked feeling disoriented.

"Two days," Doctor Scott replied. Then in a telling statement, she continued. "Lieutenant Foster has been very concerned. She has hardly left your side. I imagine she'll be back as soon as she is off duty."

And as if that wasn't enough to let Danny know that the cat was out of the bag, both Burk and Tex had mentioned Kara when they swung by, independently, to check on him later that day. Tex had been only too willing to fill Danny in on the events in the crew lounge, making sure to rub it in that, no matter what Danny said, things with Kara were plainly not over. As Tex told the tale, in addition to his own embarrassment, Danny had felt physically ill knowing that Kara had been forced to face the Captain and the crew alone. He had heard the crude comments made about female sailors caught breaking the fraternization rules, the blame so often placed disproportionately on their shoulders. If his team where still alive, they would have stepped in, protected her for him. But his team was gone and he was stuck in this bed, barely able to make it to the head by himself. Kara was dealing with the fallout herself.

After an uneasy night of restless sleep, Danny had broken down and asked Burk how she was doing. It has been an awkward conversation. While in the arctic, he and Burk had developed only a casual acquaintance, their interactions limited to the occasional game of poker and a few superficial conversations. Even their duties on the Nathan James had not brought them into close contact, as Danny and his team had spent their days on the ice with Doctors Scott and Tophet, while Burk remained on the ship assisting in the weapons tests that were being conducted. In the weeks since they had left the arctic, their connection had mainly come from their joint efforts to train the crew for the new mission and little of a personal nature had been shared. Worse, Danny knew that Burk felt protective of Kara, seeing her as something of a little sister after spending three years working closely together on the Nathan James. But there was no one else Danny could ask, Tex still too much of an outsider to understand the implications of breaking the rules.

"I heard that Kara stopped by the crew lounge while I was unconscious," Danny said casually once Burk had finished his report of the day's training.

"She did," Burk replied, his voice guarded. Danny was an outsider, not a member of the Nathan James crew, assigned to the ship for only a single deployment. Burk had no reason to trust him, especially now.

"I heard that the Captain wasn't too happy about that," Danny pushed on.

"She got two weeks, stern and aft, six and six. Plus regular duties. Plus creating a new training program for the engineering JOs." Burk leaned back in his chair as he delivered the news, watching Danny's reaction. Although Danny wasn't surprised, he still felt like he had been punched in the gut. Kara would be on duty for a minimum of eighteen hours a day for the next two weeks. No wonder she hadn't been anywhere in sight.

"Anyone giving her a hassle?" He asked, finally voicing the question that had been taunting him all night. Understanding what Danny was really asking, Burk paused, sizing him up. Danny met his gaze directly. He was embarrassed and ashamed of his behavior, but he wasn't embarrassed of how he felt about Kara.

"Captain was pretty pissed," Carlton acknowledged. "He sent us all out but you could hear him two decks up. Captain Chandler's a reasonable man, though. Once the punishment is done, he won't hold it against her. As for the rest, Kara has been on the ship for three years, and we are all pretty tight." Danny felt a small sense of relief over that, at least. "Besides, I don't think the crew was quite as surprised by the news as the CO. You've been watching her since we left Norfolk. Think the only surprise was that it wasn't all one-sided. In any event, we have bigger problems."

Burk had gone on to explain about the sailors – including Cossetti – who had asked to leave the Nathan James. The timing had worked in Danny's favor. Violating a few rules about fraternization – even screwing up a mission (especially one where nobody actually got hurt) – was nothing compared to abandonment of the crew, of the ship, of the mission. Even Danny's conversation with the Captain had been anti-climactic, the activities with Bertrise and the Vyerni having intervened and taken priority. The hardest person to talk to about the situation, ironically, had been Kara herself. Although he had seen her in CIC, it hadn't been until after their return from the Vyerni when he had finally caught her alone. He had come off the overnight shift and was on his way to grab a bite before meeting the team for their first training session of the day, set at 0730 in an attempt to avoid the punishing heat, when he bumped into Kara, almost literally, at the door to the officers' mess.

"Lieutenant," she nodded formally as she stepped back, waiting for him to enter so she could leave. She looked tired, her face pale, rings under her eyes, but all he could think about was how beautiful she was. Scanning the room to confirm that they were along, Danny shut the door behind him, blocking her escape.

"We haven't had a chance to talk," he said, leaning back against the door, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms.

"I'm sorry I outed us – outed you – to the Captain," Kara said, meeting his gaze, her eyes somber. "Heard you got night watch?

Danny shrugged. The worst part of his punishment wasn't the watch, it had been the mortifying task of talking to his team about how badly he had screwed up at Gitmo. Not only that he had almost blown the mission, but that he had created the situation by insisting on joining Kara on the boat in the first place, knowing that his emotions were compromised. And then he had topped it all off by blaming it all on Kara – although he hadn't shared that particular fact with the guys. "Night watch isn't bad. Gives me time to think. Consider what I've gotten right. What I've gotten wrong. Recently I've gotten a lot of things wrong. Starting with Gitmo. I was the one that screwed up. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"We should never have allowed ourselves to be in that position," Kara responded, looking away. "I am as much to blame for that as you."

"I thought that if I wasn't around you, it would be easier," Danny admitted. "But it wasn't. My team is gone. All of my friends dead. My family probably dead as well. I don't want to lose you too."

"We can't…." Kara began, but Danny cut her off.

"Not now. But once we get back home, we can start again. Do things the right way."

"We don't know how long this mission will take or when we will get back to Norfolk – whatever is left of it." Kara shook her head. "Things could change."

"I meant what I said that night. I love you. Two months, two years. That isn't going to change, Kara."

Kara had hesitated, and he had been afraid that it was already too late, that he had screwed things up too much, that she didn't feel the same way about him that he did about her. Then, after what felt like an eternity, she had reached out to grasp his hand. "I love you too."

They had stood there, his hand in hers, and for that brief moment, Danny had felt at peace.

Danny was pulled from his musing as they began to pass houses, Tex and Eddie continued their banter, having moved on to mocking Danny's (admittedly) poor skiing technique, an irony considering his most recent arctic assignment. Cruz slowing as they all scanned for civilians.

"There!" Danny said abruptly – pointing to the twitching of a curtain in a window. "Looks like we have our first stop. Ready Doctor Morrison?"

It was the first stop of many. Four hours later they finally reached Norwalk, traveling a distance that would have taken no more than forty-five minutes under normal conditions. The word had apparently begun to spread, both from New York and New London, that the navy was distributing the cure and the populace, while cautious, had not been overly suspicious. In New Haven, they had been especially fortunate and made contact with several of Doctor Morrison's colleagues, who had quickly grasped the importance of the contagious cure and arranged for its spread throughout the city.

"Cobra to base," Danny called, hoping that Kara would be at the other end. Hearing her voice was always reassuring, even though there would be nothing personal discussed.

But it was Slattery's gravelly voice rather than Kara who answered. "Base here."

"We've finished in Norwalk and are heading north. Should reach next objective in thirty minutes." Danny didn't mention that the next objective was Cornwall. He wiggled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension that had been growing all day, the feeling that something was wrong.

"Excellent progress," Slattery replied. "What is the situation there?"

"There was a similar emergency plan enacted here as there was in New London, sir. Doctor Morrison's presence has been extremely helpful in explaining the situation to the local medical community." Danny wondered if Slattery would pass that gem along to Doctor Scott. The two had developed a firm friendship since the events of the Vyerni, one that seemed to be rooted in their shared desire to keep the Captain safe, as well as to keep him on his toes.

"Roger that. Base out."

As they headed north, Danny found himself more and more distracted, his thoughts turning to Cornwall and what they might find upon their arrival They were still ten minutes south of their objective when shots rang out, catching him by surprise, coming out of nowhere as they rounded a curve, the heavy leaf cover along the small two-lane highway making for poor visibility. Cruz spun the SUV sideways, blocking the road and allowing them all to take cover.

"Turn around and go back the way you came!" The order was punctuated by a few additional shots that landed nowhere near the SUV. Either the person shooting was a terrible shot or, more likely, their intention was not to actually hit anything. This type of situation wasn't unusual, locals protecting their territory and families.

"This is Lieutenant Daniel Green with the U.S. Navy. We are headed north to Cornwall. We have the cure to the Red Flu. Happy to share it with all of you."

"We've heard that before," a man replied. The voice sounded familiar and Danny raised an eyebrow at Eddie. "We aren't interested in your cure."

Eddie spoke softly. "Mr. Will, the mailman."

In his ear, Danny could hear Burk advising base of the situation, then he and Wolf appeared, running up from the second vehicle, which had remained several clicks back per protocol. "Wolf, take Doctor Morrison to Miller, just in case. Then see if you can figure out where those shots are coming from."

"I grew up in Cornwall," Danny shouted back. "Dr. Green's son. Just trying to get home to my family. Is that you Mr. Will?"

There was a long pause, then Mr. Will replied. "How do we know this isn't a trick?"

"Ask me anything you want to know," Danny responded. "I have Eddie Ward here with me. Coreen and Stan Ward's son. Found him down in New London."

"Hi Mr. Will!" Eddie shouted, although it was unlikely that the man would recognize the voices of two men that had left Cornwall ten years before.

"Who was your fifth grade teacher?"

That was easy. Cornwell wasn't that big – there were only two options. "Mrs. Taylor."

"Name of your dog?"

Mr. Will had loved animals, learning the names of all of the dogs on his routes and carrying treats for the days when he dropped off packages. "First dog was Jake. After he died, my parents got Hannah. Annoying little nipper."

"First kiss?"

That one came out of left field. Tex frowned at Danny. "Small town or not, that is a strange thing for a mailman to ask."

"Probably just looking for the name of a local girl," Eddie suggested. "Trying to throw you off."

"Or he's getting fed questions by someone else," Danny replied, suspicion forming. After a moment, he decided to test the waters. "Karen Myers."

"You have two minutes to turn around and leave before we start shooting!"

Danny tried again. "Tracy Mullens. That the answer you wanted?"

Eddie did a double take. "Isn't Tracy the girl that was always putting weird poems in your locker? You avoided her like the plague."

Danny shook his head, indicating for Eddie to wait. He might not have disliked Tracy quite as much as he claimed at the time. It had been his first crush and he had, predictably, handled it badly like most pre-teen boys. As the silence stretched, someone on the other side considering his response, suspicion crystalized into certainty. Mr. Will had not been the one to ask that question.

"You ready to talk to me yet, Caro?"