A/N; Thank you for all the reviews it's fantastic! On a side note; there is a new forum for posting up TLS story ideas. I recommend you pop over and check it out. It's called 'Nathan James Challenges' under Last Ship in the Forum button. You'll also find the link in my bio! Now onto the story! Enjoy!

Chapter 26

"I think it's the best idea." Miller said to Bobbie wishing she'd just let him protect her instead of being so stubborn in her ways. But then this was pretty typical of his Mom, she had to do things her way; something she wished she wouldn't now as they were both potentially in danger.

"And I'm an adult who can make her own decisions." Bobbie argued.

"Mom, please I just want you to be safe." he told her.

"And I will be. Here." Bobbie said stressing the 'here' so there was no confusion on where she wanted to be.

"What's going on here?" Andrea asked as she came into the house.

"My son thinks that I should move back in with him. I don't want to go back. This is my home." Bobbie said with a sigh.

"What about a compromise?" Wolf offered.

"Let's hear it quickly, we got things to do." Slattery said as he came in at the end of the conversation.

"Bobbie stays here, I come in the morning and I'll train her in hand to hand combat. She'll promise to not go off on her own and we leave her safety in Commander Garnett's care here." Wolf said, Miller looked ready to argue but to do so would show insubordination and a lack of trust in his superior officer. It was the only way Wolf could see Bobbie getting her way even if it meant going against his friend's wishes. But Wolf felt there was something much deeper going on than a simple break in and Bobbie wasn't sharing.

"Good, it's settled. Let's go." Slattery told them.

"Wh-" Miller started but Slattery and Andrea looked at him with a glare of dominance daring Miller test them. Miller of course closed his mouth and kept quiet.

"Miller, Taylor; you gotta push Cruz's car into Tex's drive way and then we'll talk about where we're going from there." Mike told them, his tone clear that it was an order not a suggestion. Both men gave a nod.

"Bobbie, I'll be by at 7am tomorrow." Wolf told her.

"Ok," She said not looking happy at the prospect, but it was an agreement. Miller gave his mother a quick hug and they left the house leaving Slattery and Andrea with her.

"This man ever shows up on your doorstep you call the police immediately. Even if they don't catch him, they'll have his activities on record which will help in court later." Slattery told Bobbie.

"Andrea told you." Bobbie stated.

"Not the details only the name. I'm not going to get into your business but I will give some advice, it's better to come clean now than have him find out on his own." Slattery advised her, Bobbie gave a nod appreciating his discretion and advice. He took a deep breath and gave a curt nod to Andrea before leaving. Bobbie covered her eyes with her hand wishing she could just disappear. No, she wished Rob had stayed away or had the decency to die from the virus.

"Dude, you're supposed to be on my side." Miller grunted as he and Wolf rolled Cruz's now dead car into the garage of Tex's house. The man himself was in the driver's seat directing them.

"I am, which is why I'm going to train her how to fight." Wolf told him.

"Do you like my Mom?" Miller asked.

"Yeah, she's tough and she's the reason you're a top bloke. So I think you need to respect her wishes even if you don't like them." Wolf said as diplomatically as he could. Plus there was no way in hell he was going to admit he was attracted to Bobbie. It was just weird admitting as much to himself. But then most of his friends' mothers weren't close to his age as Bobbie. It was a situation that needed to be tread carefully.

"You can stop!" Tex shouted, the car rolled for a moment before Tex pulled on the handbrake. He stepped out of the car and smiled at the men. "Thanks guys, I owe you a beer." he told them.

"No problem but you sure you want this car?" Wolf asked, he wasn't sure how Cruz was going to feel about Tex buying his car but glad it brought Miller and his conversation about Bobbie to a stop.

"Yeah, Kat will hate it cause it's brown but we need a father daughter project." Tex said as he tapped the top of the roof.

"No one ever likes their first car." Wolf offered in good humour as he couldn't imagine a 14 yr old girl being enamoured of the car even one as practical as Kat.

"Oh I don't know, I had this cruisy Datsun back in the day." Tex said with a reminiscent smile.

"Here I thought you were still riding horses in your day." Miller quipped.

"Dinosaurs actually, mine was called 'Datsun'. You cheeky asshole." Tex told Miller with chuckle.

"Hey, how are things going with your friend Burk?" Ava asked Cruz as she helped him move Clara's bassinet into her bedroom. He brought it over from his apartment along with other supplies to keep Clara relatively clean and fed. Said baby girl was content and snoozing in her car seat where they could see her. Ava though it was adorable that Cruz thought Clara would miraculously learn how to roll over and manage several rolls to end up on the floor. But she let it go as all parents worried about their baby, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Haven't spoken to him in a while." Cruz said with a grimace as he'd meant to get in touch but he was afraid of being dragged into Burk's mess. The sad part was that he was too afraid to help in fear it would impinge on any chance he had of getting a permanent posting in St Louis to be with Clara. He needed that locked down before he could even think of helping Burk.

"By choice?" Ava asked out of curiosity.

"Yeah, he's been getting into trouble and I just can't get involved as he got Miller and Wolf locked up only a few days ago." Cruz said.

"Wow, yeah jail time wouldn't look too great for you especially if Clara has any other relatives who'd want custody." Ava said, Cruz looked at her as he never thought about Elsa's extended family might wanting Clara. But he knew if they did appear, he'd fight for custody of Clara. He couldn't give up his daughter, not ever even if it could be an 'easier' solution.

"I didn't even think of that. But if they were alive they would have signed up for People Smart." Cruz said, shaking the thoughts of that scenario

"True, well I hope whatever's got Burk in a twist will resolve itself." Ava offered.

"He's grieving, there was a woman. Ravit, she was on our ship as a transplant from the Israeli Armed Forces. They got pretty close and she died. It hit Burk and Wolf the hardest." Cruz said.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ava said with empathy, they all had lost family and friends to the pandemic or violence that was a result of it.

"Me too, she was a pretty awesome woman and badass soldier." Cruz said with a faint smile.

"Well, I find majority of women who join the military are kick ass, no question." Ava said with admiration.

"Yeah, I know better than to get on Alisha or Kara's bad side." Cruz said with a chuckle.

"They called me when you were messing around next door. They offered to come over and stay with me. It's been a long time since I've had friends like that." Ava said, she had to admit she felt incredibly blessed to have them as friends. For all the bad that had transgressed through her life, she was lucky to have people around her to help pick her back up.

"You got Preacher, he's a good friend." Cruz stated as he was still a little jealous of the big guy given he knew Ava longer than he did.

"The best but he doesn't like braiding my hair and talking about boys though." Ava joked with a sigh.

"You want to teach me how to braid hair while we talk about boys with me?" he asked, Ava smiled brightly at his humour. "I have to learn for Clara's sake." he explained.

"Sure, there is one I'm seeing at the moment but he's not a boy. More of a man." Ava said as she moved closer to him.

"Yeah, is he hot? You know, is it serious? what kind of car does he drive? What does he do for work?" he asked her, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thanks for the name, we got a positive ID on the man who broke into the apartment of your sailors." Lt Fisher told Slattery as they were in his office, Slattery had to admit he missed the atmosphere of the police station. He and Lt Fisher had connected as it was always wise for the Military to liaise with the local PD when they came into town. It also helped in the distribution of the cure as local PD knew where people were hiding to stay safe, they were connected to the people.

"I'm not supposed to show you this you know? So I'm going to get some coffee, you want some?" Lt Fisher asked Slattery.

"Yeah, black and no need to dress it up with sugar or milk." Slattery said as he moved to stand behind the desk. Lt Fisher left the office and Slattery looked down at the screen reading the information. He cursed under his breath as he looked through the photos and records. Robert Barlow was one messed up individual, when he assaulted Miller's Mom it had been his third strike and not his first assault charge. Judging by the medical report on Bobbie, she'd been lucky to survive. Mike had a seen the dark side of humanity but it never ceased to stop turning his stomach when he saw the path they carved and the victims they left behind. He could see why Bobbie wouldn't want to share this event with anyone let alone her son.

"Here." Lt Fisher said as he came back and placed the coffee on the desk.

"Thanks," Slattery said stepping away from the computer, he picked up the coffee; nursing it as there was one thing all cop shops had in common. Terrible coffee.

"As I said before the correctional facilities haven't been maintained during the pandemic. Many were locked down and inmates were left to rot and some prisons had major riots and were taken over by the inmates. I'd say this man got lucky, correctional services is in the process of seeing who they are missing but-"

"It's a monumental task. They can't make a blanket call to all those who could be affected like Barbara Miller." Slattery finished, it was the one thing that sucked about their jobs. They couldn't save everyone.

"Yeah, just like our job with crime rates going up thanks to food shortages and land ownership rights. I don't know what you can tell your men but I'd caution them to be careful. This guy only seemed to get worse in Prison." Lt Fisher said, Slattery nodded as he noted the records of Robert having joined a gang in prison and making a name for himself as an enforcer. It made the man even more dangerous than first perceived. The only problem Mike had was how did he warn Wolf and Miller without tipping them off to Bobbie's secret.

"Are you moving next door?" Wolf asked Cruz as the man came back for baby supplies for the umpteenth time. Wolf hadn't bothered to count but it was more than three trips but less than ten.

"No, just spending the night." Cruz told him as he'd left Ava and Clara laying bed while he came back for extra baby clothes and formula which reminded him that he had to grab another baby bottle. He moved to the kitchen to do so and Wolf followed.

"You're taking a lot of stuff over there." Wolf teased.

"Clara needs a lot of stuff. So how did Bobbie take the news?" Cruz asked Wolf, changing the topic. Wolf leaned on the breakfast bar while Cruz messed in the kitchen, he listened to see if Miller was finished in the shower. So when he heard the water still running he spoke to Cruz; knowing they had relative privacy.

"I know this sounds crazy but I think she knows the bloke who broke in. I think it's Miller's Dad." Wolf said in a low voice to him. Cruz stopped what he was doing and looked at Wolf.

"Wait, why would the guy break in and steal a photo? When he could just introduce himself like a normal person." Cruz asked in an equally low tone as Wolf made a pretty large claim and didn't want Miller to overhear. If there was one subject that was not uttered in Miller's presence it was topic about his father. As far as everyone decided Bobbie was a hermaphrodite and weren't going to question it. That and whenever people talked about their Dads; Miller either praised Bobbie or his Grandfather for being there for him. He never showed any malice or envy at not having a father.

"I don't know, he could be a crook- well is a crook given he kicked the crap out of two cops. It'd make sense as to why Miller never talks about his Dad, Bobbie just went twenty one or so years of being celibate." Wolf said drawing conclusions.

"How would you know that Bobbie's celibate and for that long?" Cruz asked Wolf, he inwardly smiled as Wolf perked up and went slightly red in the cheeks at being called on it.

"I'm guessing because she doesn't flirt or seem to notice men. Miller never mentioned Bobbie having any boyfriends." Wolf said slightly defensively which was surprising given how cool headed the man could be. Yet here he was acting like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Or you mean she hasn't noticed you." Cruz corrected him before Wolf could defend himself Cruz continued. "I see how you look at her, Bro and you gotta tread carefully as you work and train Miller. That's his Mom, not some tag chaser." He warned Wolf.

"Really, I hadn't noticed." Wolf remarked drily.

"Now, I just wondering how weird it will be if you two got married. You'd be Miller's Step Dad, Christmas would get uncomfortable." Cruz remarked.

"You're getting off topic." Wolf told Cruz as the man was getting ahead of himself. Frankly, Wolf didn't want to get lost on his thought train as they all needed to stay focused.

"Look, I don't know but maybe ask Miller-" Cruz started but Miller cut him off as he came into the room; fresh from his shower dressed in sweats and rubbing his wet hair with a towel.

"Ask me what?" Miller asked catching the tail end of the conversation.

"I have to walk Ava to work tomorrow morning. I was wondering if you could look after Clara for half an hour for me." Cruz said smoothly covering up for the conversation as he didn't want to get into it when he had a beautiful woman and baby to care for. Frankly he felt if it turned out to be Miller's father- well that was Bobbie's news to share not Cruz's. He'd support Miller in the fallout but now he had no proof and prefer to not be the one to make a mess.

"Sure," Miller said.

"Thanks." Cruz said appreciatively.

"How's Ava?" Miller asked.

"She's better, still a little shaken up though." Cruz said truthfully, he also felt that Ava was holding something back from him but knew better than to push for whatever it was. If she wanted to tell him then she would and right now she was preserving her sanity which was fine with him as he wanted her to be happy.

"Yeah."Miller said in sympathy, Cruz's mobile beeped and looked down to see a message from the X.O. telling him to meet him downstairs.

"Anyway I gotta go downstairs. Tomorrow at 8:30am." Cruz said to Miller.

"I'll be here." Miller told him.

"Thanks, when you have a kid; I'll babysit for you." Cruz promised as he exited the apartment.

"Here." Slattery said as he tossed Cruz his car keys, but Cruz stopped as he realised he wasn't holding his keys and when he looked at the street; his car was nowhere in sight.

"Sir?" he asked confused.

"That one and you're welcome." Slattery told him as he gestured to the car parked in front of them. Cruz looked to the X.O. and back at the car with a frown.

"That isn't my car." Cruz said carefully as he looked at the bright yellow Ford Fiesta parked in front of them.

"It is now, Tex bought your turd mobile for Kat, and I used the money to get this. Ford is a reliable brand, good fuel economy. The car has low miles, aircon and in good shape given it's age, spare parts are easy to find. Yellow makes your car more visible on the road." Slattery said in a pragmatic fashion, he folded his arms and looked at Cruz daring the man to challenge him.

"Didn't you once say that if you wanted to applaud mediocrity you'd stand around Ford car and clap?" Cruz asked him, Slattery's lips quirked in a small smile of amusement at his words being thrown back at him.

"Why do you think I got it for such a low price?" Slattery asked him in a rhetorical manner. Cruz wasn't feeling brave enough to say it probably because Mike scared the car dealer into a lower price because hey it was a slightly better car.

"Thank you Sir." Cruz said deciding it was safer to be grateful than question what was going on.

"I spoke with cops, they got leads on the guy who broke into the apartments. When they have him in custody you'll be notified. Until then just keep an eye on your surrounding." Slattery told him.

"Will do, Sir." Cruz answered.

"Good and we'll pick up our meeting tomorrow at 1400 hours. Given the short notice you can bring the baby with you. Commander Garnett said she'd be happy to look after her while we talk." Slattery told him.

"Yes, Sir." Cruz said with a nod; grateful for the special treatment he was receiving and for being blessed with the people he served with.

"Do you need a hand putting the car seat in?" Slattery asked him.

"I've got it." Cruz assured him, Slattery gave a nod and walked away leaving Cruz on the side walk looking at his new car.