Ben's face went dark and he moved towards the door of the mess hall intent on following Lucas and killing him. Katie grabbed her father before he could follow Lucas and dragged him to her quarters.

"That little punk, when I get my hands on him… Ooo he's gonna get it," Ben ranted the whole way and continued after Katie had shut the door to her quarters. He was too busy ranting to notice that Katie was silently sobbing.

"Who the hell does he think he is, the little—" Ben stopped when he saw the tears streaming down Katie's face.

"Come here" he said pulling her into a tight hug. "It'll be alright, shhh, shhh. It's ok." Ben stroked her hair trying to calm her down. "Daddy will take care of everything." The last line was said with a hint of maliciousness as Ben plotted all the ways he was going to hurt Lucas.

"No Daddy," Katie pushed away from her father and started drying her tears. "I don't care."

"Yeah, the tears cascading down your face scream 'I don't care'," Ben's voice was slowly rising with each word. "When I get done with that little brat he won't know what hit him." By then Ben was yelling.

"Please just butt out. I can handle it."

"I can see how you "handle it"; you let the little jerk get away with whatever he wants. You're his superior officer; you should put him in his place."

"Look, I will handle this in my way, in my own time so just butt out!" Katie's voice was beginning to rise too.

"So I should just sit back and let that annoying little know-it-all say what he wants?"

"You're just going to make things worse," said Katie stubbornly.

Ben was just about to retaliate when they heard a knock on the door.

"Go away!" Ben snarled at the door.

The knocking persisted. Whoever it was they were very persistent.

"Go—"

"Dad, this is still my room! Stop answering for me, I'll see who it is and then I'll decide if I want them to go away!" Katie shouted at Ben.

Katie opened the door and found herself face to face with Ortiz, O'Neil and Dagwood, who had something over his shoulder – correction. Who had Piccolo over his shoulder.

"Put me down Dag!" Tony shouted.

"You heard the man, put him down," replied Ortiz.

"Inside if you don't mind," added O'Neil.

Dagwood walked into Katie's quarters and deposited Piccolo on the bed. Tim and Miguel followed them in shutting the door behind them.

"Who do you think you are, barging in here? Get out!" yelled Ben.

"Gladly," said Piccolo, standing and moving towards the door.

"Oh no you don't, Dagwood stop him!" said Miguel.

Dagwood moved in front of the door. Now no one could leave until he moved.

"What do you want?" asked Katie suddenly very very tired.

"Nothin, I don't want nothin," said Tony.

"We wanna know what's going on with you and Lucas," replied Miguel, ignoring Tony.

"We need to know," added Tim softly.

Katie stood up straight and erased all emotion from her face. "There's nothing going on with me and Ensign Wolenczak, so I suggest you all leave. You too dad, I'm tired." Katie moved towards the door to signal that the visit was over, but Dagwood refused to move.

"Mr. Dagwood, if you don't mind," Katie wasn't sure how to address Dagwood or how to interact with him. She'd only seen the Dagger while in the mess hall or when he was cleaning the lab-which he usually did when she wasn't there.

"No." Dagwood answered sternly. "Something IS going on. Lucas made you sad, and then he said the bad things that made you cry. It's not right. And Miguel and Tim said that we have to find out why so Lucas doesn't get into trouble. Lucas is my friend. I want to help him."

Katie stared at the giant man before her. Her eyes teared up at his words. So Dagwood noticed how hurt I was around Lucas, even before that snide comment. I guess he isn't as dumb as people think.

"I want to help him too Dagwood," Katie answered slowly.

"Then tell us what's going on," interjected Miguel. "Today he was insubordinate to a superior office. If Ford and Hudson find out – which they will- they'll be forced to punish him."

"He's already been warned. If this doesn't damage his career than the next time will," added Tim.

"It's not just his career either," Miguel finished. "He's this close to losing every friend he's got."

Katie stared at the two men. "I don't know what you expect me to do about it."

"Besides he deserves everything he gets," Ben said angrily. Katie knew he'd been too quiet.

Tim and Miguel started defending Lucas and arguing with Ben about whether Lucas was a jerk or not and how big and whether he deserved to have his career destroyed- or worse.

Katie shrank back away from the group as the yells got louder and louder. Tony saw her trying to hide in the corner, trying not to cry. That's when he made up his mind. Ortiz and O'Neil had dragged him down here to help Lucas, and he hadn't wanted to - after the way Lucas was acting, he deserved what he got. But the pretty doctor didn't. Whatever she had done, she didn't deserve to be subjected to insults and screaming.

"ALRIGHT SHUT IT," yelled Tony. The other three men stopped yelling and stared at him.

"Look," Tony said pointing at Katie who still had her head in her hands. "We're as bad as Lucas the way were treating Doctor Krieg."

At the sound of her name, Katie lifted her head, to see the four men starring at her.

"Whatever is going on with Lucas and the doc, and Lucas and everyone else it has to stop," Tony continued. "And we have to stop attacking each other, 'cuz it's not helping."

"Tony's right," said Tim, being the first to calm down.

"Yeah, you are Piccolo. But we still need to know what's going on," replied Miguel looking pointedly at Katie.

"The only thing you need is to get out of here before I rearrange your face!" snarled Ben.

"No." All eyes turned back to Katie at the one word. "No," she repeated.

"No we can stay, or no you won't tell," asked Dagwood confused. The others wondered the same thing.

Katie sighed. She really shouldn't betray Lucas' trust anymore. But was it worth keeping what happened a secret if it meant his career and her sanity? Besides, technically she could tell her friends, and for the moment that's how she was going to classify the men before her. "Tea anyone?" They all mumbled responses ranging from 'yes' or 'no' to 'what the…'. Katie ignored them and turned to the small kettle she kept in her quarters. As she began preparing the tea she took a deep breathe and told them the whole story- from the beginning.