Author's notes: - Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.

Enjoy

Kate ran on the treadmill as she waited for Jonathan to arrive for their sparring session. She wasn't on until this afternoon so was meeting Tim for lunch once she'd knocked the commander about the gym for a bit.

She finished the programme and grabbed her bottle of water wincing slightly when Ed Miller walked in to the room, his arm no longer in a cast it was now in a brace.

"Hey," he greeted her with a friendly nod.

"Hi, Ed," Kate smiled back, "How's the arm?"

"Doc says I can get back to light duty in a few days."

"You know I am really sorry about breaking it," she reminded him.

He waved her away, "I should have known better than to block. Brody is still not happy about it though."

"I don't think he likes me since that," Kate shrugged.

"He just hasn't had the time to get to know you," Miller shot back, "Not the way we have. Once he's lost at cards to you a few times then he won't like you the way we do."

Kate smiled to herself as Miller left and Jonathan appeared finally.

"Ready?" the commander asked.

Kate nodded, "Sure."

x

Jonathan readied himself for his sparring session with Kate, he got as much out of it as she did but the one problem was that Kate was vicious. Jonathan knew that this was due to the way she'd been brought up so before every session he reminded her that this wasn't the real world and set out the rules. It meant she didn't do him any real injury.

"Ready?" Jonathan asked.

Kate nodded and took her place across from him. Despite the possibility of injury Jonathan enjoyed these sparring sessions with the former thief. It forced him to keep on top of his own training since any time he beat her, which did happen, the move he used was only useful a few more times before she learned how to deflect it.

"Was that Miller I saw leaving?" he asked as Kate took a drink.

She nodded, "Yeah, thankfully he doesn't blame me for what happened to his arm even if Brody still does."

"Well as long as he doesn't realise why he's so suspicious of you," Jonathan noted, "We'll be fine."

Kate chuckled slightly.

"Did you really wipe the floor with him without him even getting a hit in?" Jonathan asked unable to stop himself.

"In Brody's defence he wasn't expecting the crying girl to suddenly smack him," Kate replied with a sly smile.

Jonathan grinned, "Come on, we've got ten more minutes."

Kate scanned the room trying to see which table Tim was sitting at, frowning when she saw he wasn't alone. Kate wasn't sure why she disliked Lonnie Henderson but there was just something that made Kate want to beat the other woman with her dumb soft toy. But Tim liked her and, as his friend, Kate had to be nice to her.

Being normal sucked sometimes.

"Hey," Tim greeted her as she took the empty seat.

"Hi," Kate smiled at him before she gave Henderson a quick nod, "Anything fun happen this morning?"

"Pretty boring," Tim told her, "You?"

Kate shrugged, "Just had a training session with Ford. I'm going to be in the ventilation system for the rest of the day doing upgrades so I thought I should at least try and get some exercise before that."

Tim chuckled, "You'll be finished on time though?"

"I wouldn't miss it," Kate replied.

"Miss what?" Henderson asked, reminding them both she was still there.

"Movie night," Tim explained, "It's a tradition from the last tour that we get together at least once a month."

"We?"

Kate grimaced. She had an idea where this was heading.

"Me, Kate, Miguel and Lucas," Tim explained, "Commander Ford comes on occasion. It's Miguel's turn to choose the movie."

"What did he choose?" Henderson leaned forward slightly towards Tim.

Kate rolled her eyes but remained silent.

"Blood Snow 3," Tim replied shaking his head.

"I am looking forward to it," Kate told him with a laugh, "The last one was hysterical."

Henderson smiled at Tim, "I saw that with my dad. He loves those movies."

"You should come," Tim told her not seeing Kate roll her eyes at him.

"I'd love to," Henderson beamed.

Tim turned to Kate, "We should probably invite Piccolo and Brody as well."

"Brody's not a good idea," Kate noted, "He isn't very fond of me."

"Maybe this would be a good way for him to get to know you better," Henderson suggested.

It took every ounce of restraint Kate possessed not to punch the other woman. Instead she stood and picked up her mostly full tray.

"I should get to work."

x

"Kate," Tim called after her as she walked towards engineering, "Hey, Kate hold on."

She let out an annoyed sigh but stopped, turning and waiting for him to catch up with her, "What do you want, Tim?"

"What was that about?" he demanded, "Lonnie was being friendly."

Kate grimaced resting a hand on his arm, "Tim, you are my best friend and I know you like her but I don't. I am being as friendly as I can. Okay?"

"I know you don't like change…"

"It's not that," Kate cut him off, "I actually like Piccolo and I like Dagwood, I can put up with Smith. Brody is a pain in the ass and Henderson just rubs me the wrong way."

"Come on…"

"You're a nice guy," she cut him off once more, "You get along with people, I don't. Just leave it, Tim. I'll see you tonight."

When she walked away from him she could feel his frown but didn't look back because she knew she might snap and she didn't want to argue with him.

"So, this woman," Kate said as she walked with Nathan through the boat towards the bridge, "Old girlfriend?"

Nathan shrugged, "I asked her to marry me before I met Carol."

"Should I be getting upset on behalf of my aunt?" Kate asked with an amused smirk.

He smiled down at her, "Is there an actual reason you're here? Or are you just here to annoy me?"

"Just to annoy you," Kate told him, "I have some things to do on the bridge. I thought you'd like my company."

Nathan chuckled and gave her a quick one-armed hug, "How are things going? Anymore run ins with Brody?"

"He's keeping his distance," Kate shrugged, "I'm assuming you talked with him."

Nathan shook his head, "I passed that one to Jonathan. He mentioned casually you were my niece and that you lived with me for a few years before we joined the Seaquest."

"We'll see how that goes," Kate mused.

Nathan chuckled, "Look, when we head over to the colony I want you to come."

"In what capacity?" Kate asked innocently.

"Both," he replied.

Kate nodded. They walked in silence for a few minutes before she looked up at him, "We're going to have to be careful. Using my 'other' skills so often might raise suspicions."

"Maybe," he shrugged, "But Kate, your other skills make you a valuable resource to go along with the official reason you're here."

Kate shook her head, "Gee, stealing does make you special."

"No stealing," he reminded her.

"You take all the fun out of life."

x

Kate felt a shiver slide along her spine as she followed Nathan and Wendy through the corridors of the colony. Every alarm bell in her was screaming at her to get out of this place. Unfortunately she couldn't.

"Well?" Nathan murmured.

"Get back to the boat, turn it around and get out of here as fast as we can go," Kate told him, "But blow this place to hell first."

"Why?"

"I can't explain," Kate told him, "It's just a feeling."

Nathan nodded, "I'm getting the exact same one. Keep your eyes open."

Looking around at the confused scared people Kate raised her eyebrows. This was not going to be a good day.

x

Kate grimaced rubbing the bridge of her nose against the headache that was forming. She knew that they were all being affected by whatever the hell was making the colonists all loony but she was more worried about what she would do if she lost control. Kate was well aware how dangerous she could be.

"Foster," Jenkins called, "Captain wants you on the bridge."

"I'm on my way," she replied, catching the tablet he tossed her before starting out of the room towards the maglev.

Sitting down she turned to see who else was in the car with her freezing at the man smirking down at her.

"Hello Sophie," Kincaid said.

Kate closed her eyes, "You're not real. You're not real. You're not real."

"I am very real," his voice came from beside her while Kate kept her eyes squeezed shut, "Sophie, you and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

Feeling the car stop Kate lurched out of the seat and headed to the bridge, ignoring the man in the corner of her eye as she moved to her station.

"You can't ignore me forever, Sophie," he reminded her, "I'm here and we're going to finish what we started."

Clenching her hands into fists Kate focussed on her console, she tried to follow the discussion between Nathan and Jonathan but each time she tried to tune in Kincaid's mocking voice echoed in her ear.

"Sophie," he continued, "Next time I won't stop when I squeeze your neck."

A hand grabbed her arm and Kate twisted slamming her elbow into her attacker's chest pulling her knife out in preparation.

"Kate!"

Nathan's voice cut through the air making her pause, turning to Kincaid she gasped in horror to find Tim pinned below her. Slowly she moved the knife away from his chest letting Nathan take it from her before she released her friend and slowly walked off the bridge.

x

"Kate," Nathan called catching her just when she reached the maglev, "Hey, kid look at me."

"I'm sorry, Nathan," she sighed turning to him, "I was sure it was my psychotic step-father."

He hugged her tightly, "It's okay. This thing is affecting us all. I should have been prepared for how it could get into your head."

Kate sighed, "I tried to ignore him. I did but it was just…"

"Why did you bring your knife on the bridge?"

Kate looked up at him confused, "I don't remember doing that. I'm very careful never to wear it unless I'm heading off the boat."

"So you had it on the station?"

Folding her arms in thought she nodded, "Yeah but I went back to my bunk and changed after that."

Nathan rested his hand on her shoulder, "Are you able to get back to work?"

She nodded without hesitation.

"I'll keep this for now," Nathan told her holding her knife.

Kate shrugged before handing him the sheath for it, "You might want this then."

Nathan sat in the ward room relieved. They'd managed to help the colonists and everything was the way it should be.

"Come on in," he called at the knock on the door.

Kate appeared and after closing the door took the seat beside him, "I came for my property."

Nathan gestured to the knife sitting just to his side, "It's all yours. Have you spoken with Lieutenant O'Neill yet?"

"He reminded me there was nothing to apologise for," Kate shrugged smiling slightly, "I didn't need to tell him who I thought I was seeing, he knew."

"Well he knows you well enough these days to know what truly scares you," Nathan reminded her.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked concerned, "You thought you saw your son."

He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back to the moment on the bridge that his son. Opening them again he saw the young woman watching him with real worry in her eyes, "It was using whatever it could against us to live, that thing was basically pure evil."

Kate leaned back in her chair, "So it was my step-father."

"Go get some rest, Kate," Nathan told her patting her shoulder, "We all need some."

Kate took her knife and started out the door turning back when he called her name, "Yeah?"

"I'm going to pretend that doesn't exist once more," he told her, "Make sure I can."

Kate smirked before holding up both hands the knife hidden away. Giving him a smile she disappeared again.

Alone once more Nathan leaned back and thought about the choices he'd made through his life and how grateful he was that Laura had said no.