Chapter 12

A few days later,

Kate sat down on the stairs that lead to the upper decks taking a break from her duties of helping Master Chief. Her head hung low as she rested her forearms on her thighs. She blew out a breath as the humid heat was stifling; her skin had a light sheen of sweat. A couple days ago the sweat was rolling off her, now it just clung to her which was not a good sign.

Once she stopped sweating that would mean she would graduate to a whole new level of trouble. She looked to her bottle of water on the ground. It barely had a shot of water, the last of her rations. It was nothing in the grand scheme of things as it wouldn't save her nor would it sate her thirst.

"How you holding up now?" Master Chief asked as he walked up to her and leaned against the wall.

"Great" Kate lied as she lifted her head up and gave him a weak smile. "I was thinking about heading up for some fresh air, cool down for a bit. Get some more medical supplies" Kate told him. She'd been helping him look after crew who had become bedridden with dehydration below the decks. There weren't many people still able to stand let alone walk around. They were nearly out of water, what water that was left was being given to the crew in critical condition who didn't have an IV bag. But even so, Master Chief had informed her that morning that the water they had left wouldn't last the day and there was still at least day and half until they reached Serrana Bank. If they reached Serrana Bank.

"I'll get the supplies. You go take a break" he told her.

"You sure?" Kate asked him, she wished she had his stamina. He nodded.

"Yeah, you're near dead on your feet" he told her. She nodded as she dragged the back of her hand across her forehead and gave a sigh of exhaustion.

"I'm in awe of you, you're holding up better than me and I'm in reasonable clothing" Kate said as the man seemed to have boundless energy even if he was moving at a slower pace he didn't look like he was going to stop and fall down anytime soon. He was dressed in BDUs and boots while she was in her loose racer back tank and crop top with ¾ leg yoga pants and sneakers. It just wasn't fair.

"I'm suffering like everyone else. You need help getting up top?" he asked her as he held out his hand to her.

"No, I can make it" Kate said waving his hand away dismissively. She picked up her bottle of water that barely had a shot of water in it and rose to her feet. "I'll be back in half an hour" She told him.

"Get some sleep and come back in a few hours. I'll call down for help if I need it" he told her in a firm tone that made it clear he was ordering her.

"Ok, thank you" Kate said to him, he gave a nod and Kate turned on her feet and pulled herself up the stairs.

She slowly made her way up through the ship moving towards the Helo bay two knowing it would be a few degrees cooler than her bunk even if it was further away. She was sure she could make it.

She had made it halfway there when she realised her ambition to take a shortcut to the Helo bay was rather overzealous of her. She leaned heavily against the wall of the hallway as she slowly made her way to the ladder she needed to climb to get up to the next level. But she didn't have enough energy to back track to the long way up.

"Why is everything so freaking steep to climb?" Kate mumbled when she reached the outer area before the maintenance tunnel. She took a sluggish breath mustering her energy and pushed off the wall. Her vision clouded with white sparks and her head swooned as she gripped the door frame with one hand and her bottle of water in the other. She carefully lifted her foot up to step in but misjudged it because when she put her foot down it landed on the bottom edge of the door frame. It unbalanced her and she fell forward, hitting her head hard on the way down. Kate had no idea what on as everything snapped out black.

**Flashback**

Naples, Italy.

In the early hours of the morning, Kate felt Mike smooth a hand over her naked hip and up her flank careful of the bruises that marred her skin. She gave a sleepy yet sexy chuckle as he slowly grazed his fingers up over the top of her shoulder.

"You going to let me get any sleep?" Kate asked him, a smile spreading across her lips as she felt amazing, but then Mike was good at making her feel so. The man was a drug to her, she never been one to get attached to people especially a man but there was something about him other than his damn fine skills between the sheets.

She still couldn't believe that they had managed to meet not once but 5 times since their first time in Rota. Considering their schedules it was miraculous though Kate had killed a few frequent flyer miles to meet up with Mike a couple of those times but it had been worth it. He was worth it. She would never admit it out loud but she was in love in. She knew it couldn't last, it wouldn't last but it hadn't stopped her from falling for him. So she had learnt that she needed to enjoy it as long as it lasted and when it was time. Let him go. He had kids, an estranged wife he was separated from. They lived in separate worlds and being pragmatic she knew there was an expiration date on the relationship and she wasn't stupid to ask or take more than what he was offering. Right now, she needed him.

"You going to tell me what happened to you?" he asked her as he gently nipped her shoulder.

"It's nothing, I was in a helo crash" she said as she turned her head into the pillow. It was not 'nothing'. She had been substitute co-pilot on a mission to retrieve two Special Forces soldiers from a tribe in the remote Afghanistan territory. But an hour into the mission returning back to base they had come under fire, they barely escaped but the damage to the Helo was enough to make it lose its shit and crash; killing everyone on board except for herself and one of the soldiers in the back. Her stomach churned as bile rose in her throat and tears burned the back of her eyes as she remembered the pilot she had been flying with, his body mangled and crushed into the metal frame of the Helo and the ground.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and shoved the memory away deep inside her as she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to be in the moment and enjoy her limited time with Mike. They had been lucky to even cross paths like this, for everything to just fall into place and for him and herself to still be interested.

Mike cursed under his breath. "Any survivors?" he asked as he placed a tender kiss on the side of her neck.

"Yeah, me and one of the soldiers I went to pick up. The rest were killed on impact." Kate said, Major Jack Lassiter, the one man she owed her life because she was sure if he hadn't gotten her out of the Helo and practically harassed and half carried her back to safety.

She turned around to face him and gave a sad smile as she traced a hand down the side of his face. His hair was charmingly rumpled and he was in need of a shave.

"It's no big deal. I've crashed before and survived. At least this time it was minor injuries and once the inquest is finished I'll be back on active duty. So let's not talk about it." she said she lifted up onto her elbow and kissed him. A sweet, hot kiss.

"We are limited for time" he murmured against her lips when he pulled back from her kiss. He then teased her back with a ghost of a kiss.

"When do you have to get back to the ship?" she asked him as she tried to kiss him but he teased her by keeping his lips close enough to graze hers. It was simultaneously annoying and incredibly hot.

"Three hours, I can't be caught doing a walk of shame" he told her before giving her a gentle kiss.

"We can't have that" Kate teased before his lips came down on hers again as she chuckled but soon her chuckle turned into a moan as she opened her mouth for the slow caress of his tongue.

*** flash back***

Mike was heading down to the lower decks to check on the crew. Make sure the Master Chief and Kate had everything they needed and just to show his presence to the crew. It usually helped the lower ranks to know they weren't forgotten. He had taken the long route down to the lower decks as he wanted to conserve his energy. He had only walked down the steps the deck below the Helo bays when he heard a moan of pain. He thought he was hallucinating for a moment as it sounded like Kate but then he heard Kate curse and knew it was not a hallucination. He followed the noise and found her sitting on the floor of one of the maintenance tubes that the crew used a short cut to the upper levels. She was sitting with her back against the and her knees to her chest with her head down.

"Kate" he said, she looked up at him and it was his turn to curse as she had a gash across her forehead just above her right eyebrow. Blood ran down the side of her face.

"Hmm" She said, she looked a little lost as he moved into the small space, the empty looking bottle of water with blood on it hadn't missed his attention. She gave a rather dopey expression as she pointed to the ladder "I was trying to get to the Helo Bay" she said, he crouched down in front of her.

"You had to take the short cut" he said in a scolding tone as he took a closer look at her wound. It looked superficial but it was hard to tell as there was too much blood and gore on her face.

"Yeah, I was adventurous. You used to love that about me" Kate mumbled, she winced and her eyes started to droop like she was about to doze off to sleep but Mike wasn't having any of it as it would mean him carrying her up to the Helo which would be problematic in his condition and the small hallways. So he cupped her chin and tilted her face up to his.

"Hey, look at me" He told her, Kate seemed to struggle but she locked eyes with him.

"I think I hit my head" she said stating the obvious, if he had any doubt before about her having a concussion. They were laid to rest as she was talking like she had a fried noodle between her head.

"Yeah, you did" he told her as he popped the top of his bottle of water and then moved his hand from her shin to cradle the back of her head. He gently pressed the bottle to her lips. "Here, take a small sip" he ordered her, after she took a couple of sips, he gently lowered her head back against the wall and capped the water bottle again and propped it up on a higher rung of the ladder to get later.

"Hey don't pass out on me yet" Mike snapped at her, she snapped her eyes wide as if trying to keep them open but was failing miserably. He had barely took his eyes off her and when he looked back her eyes had glazed over. He reached for his radio on his shoulder about to call for help when he realised everyone was tapped out and he could easily walk her to the Helo bay where Doc Rios was. "Ok, We need to move, come on, let's get you up" he said in a soft cajoling manner.

"Hmm" Kate murmured non-committally, her head lolling forward for a moment.

"Kate" he snapped, his sharp tone worked to wake her up as she opened her eyes wide and focussed just for a second.

"What? I'm up" She whined, he couldn't help but chuckle at her as she was about to doze off.

"Sure, now come on, let's get you off the floor" he told her, he could easily pick her up bridal style but he wasn't sure he had the strength to carry all the way to the Helo Bay. So he grasped her under the arms and pulled her up to her feet. His head swooned from the quick movement but the sensation disappeared as quickly as it hit him.

Kate on the other hand fell against him like a sack of potatoes. He had to take a step back to steady them as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up against him. She gripped onto the front of his BDU jacket like it was a lifeline and dropped her head on his chest.

"I got you" he mumbled as Kate leaned into heavily into him. He closed his eyes, holding her tightly against him. Without warning, the heat flared with him, the one thing he had hoped to entirely avoid this situation. But it was too late. He knew instantly he shouldn't have held her because there was dealing with his own thoughts, imagination but to physically hold her this close devastated him.

It was painful because he wanted more but couldn't have her, he missed holding her. He missed the feel of her body against his and right now was not the time to reminiscing. He loosened his hold her but immediately pulled her up against him again as she had tight grip on his jacket attempting to drag him down. He felt her body tremble against his and closed his eyes.

"Just hold me for a moment" Kate mumbled into his chest. There was deep sadness in her tone that struck a chord with him. The sense of vulnerability calling out to him to comfort her, he lowered his forehead to shoulder and closed his eyes. Giving her a moment to garner her strength and for him to get back some self control. They really needed to get moving.

"Kate-" he started but she shook her head, not wanting him to say anything. She felt like she had been hit with a two by four and on top of that her senses were spinning. She was beyond exhausted and right now her whole world had shrunk in her. She had to close her eyes as her waves of light shimmered through her vision that felt almost euphoric nature. The only thing that kept her upright was Mike as she could barely register her own body. He was her only tether and right now she needed him to hold her.

"Just a moment, please" she pleaded, she felt his arms tighten around her and said nothing. She turned her head to the side forgetting for a moment that his head was on her shoulder. He of course hadn't forgotten but in that moment instead of dropping her like a bad habit and stepping away as she expected he turned his face towards her. Her heart began to beat a little faster as she got muddled by the heat and maybe the possible brain damage. Whatever excuse she would give herself to tell herself later because right now she had the intense need for him and just wanted to recapture what they left behind those years ago. She wanted to settle her lips over his and kiss him.

The anticipation of the pleasure was heady as she felt his hot breath caress her lips. She barely grazed the corner of his mouth with hers when his shoulder radio crackled to life.

"XO this is bridge. Report" Tom's voice said over the radio. It snapped them out of their bubble and Kate turned her face away from his. Mike cleared his throat and reluctantly answered the hail.

"This is XO, I've been delayed. Will Report in 5" he replied. He blew out a breath of frustration but also relief as he didn't know what the hell had gotten into him."We need to get you to the doc" he told her, he grabbed his bottle of water and then looped an arm around Kate's waist.

"How they going down below?" Tom asked when Mike returned to the bridge and resumed his chair with great relief as he was exhausted.

"Surviving" Mike said, not point in telling the full truth as it wouldn't change anything but darken the mood on the bridge. After he had passed Kate into Dr Scott's care, he had down a round down below decks checking in with Master Chief and the engineers. It was looking pretty bleak but like stated before there was nothing they could but hope they reached Serrano Bank tomorrow or people would start to die.

He looked down at the bottle of water in his hands, his thumb brushing over dried blood and the permanent marker scrawl that read 'Lassiter'. He had picked it up on the way back to the bridge and closed the hatch making a note for the blood to be cleaned up. He knew she was too stubborn to die from something as mundane as dehydration.

"We're making good pace" Tom said making conversation. Tom had been giving out any good news he could just keep morale up or maybe it was Tom's peace of mind to know that he may not have gone too far this time.

"Mike, you got a little something" Tom said gesturing to his own neck and jaw acting like a mirror for Mike. Mike rubbed the area and pulled his hand back seeing flecks of dried blood and gave Tom a nonchalant shrug. He had taken off his jacket but obviously forgotten to check to see if there was blood elsewhere on him.

"I found Lassiter, she had fallen down the stairs. Hit her head pretty good. I took her to the Helo Bay and left her in Dr Scott's care before I went the lower decks" Mike said in a bland tone, Tom looked at him for a long moment and Mike could only imagine what he was thinking. But he was not going show that he cared about Kate as it would send up red flags. Flags he didn't need flying.

"Concussion?" Tom asked out of curiosity.

"I would say so but I'm sure it's the least of her problems" Mike said and mine… he silently added as he wondered what the hell he going to do with her. That ghost of a near kiss was currently plaguing his mind and if wasn't so dehydrated and exhausted he was sure his body would have had more to say on the subject. What the hell had he been thinking almost allowing her to kiss him? He had just stood there dazed but accepting when the woman was a wreck. He really needed to get his head screwed on straight before he did something stupid.

"We're going to make it" Tom told him breaking Mike from his thoughts. Mike looked to him and wondered if Tom was saying for his own sake like a positive affirmation thing or for the crew's sake.

"We've made it this far" Mike said as he knew better than to contradict the Captain in front of the crew.