Chapter 52


Tom looked down at the reports on his table, not really reading any of it as he was just trying to busy himself while they waited for whoever was in Baltimore to call back. He really needed the waiting to end as he couldn't seem to concentrate on anything.

"Captain, I've got Baltimore. A Mrs Granderson is on the line." He told Tom, with an excited smile. Tom rose from his chair looking at Ensign Mason with disbelief.

"Did you say Granderson?" Tom asked him, genuinely surprised at the coincidence and wondered if there was any family connection to Lt. Granderson.

"Yes, sir." Ensign Mason replied with a smile. He motioned at Mason and the young man obliged and came into the room.

"Well, put her through" Tom said returning the smile as he gestured to his computer on the desk. Mason didn't need to be told twice as he moved over to the computer. Tom stood back trying to contain his joy that there was finally a response and judging by Mason's face it was good news. Something Tom needed to keep coming their way.

"They're trying to use the vidcom, but so far it can only get audio, sir." Mason said as he typed into the keyboard transferring the call from comms room to the Captain's computer. The screen went black but Mason continued to work the keyboard typing in unintelligible garbage that Tom didn't comprehend. "Go ahead, sir." Mason told.

"This is Tom Chandler, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Nathan James, over." Tom said, speaking loudly and clearly so he would be hopefully be heard on the other end. A low squealing noise and static came from the speakers for a few seconds before a disembodied female voice came through.

"Captain Chandler." A female voice came through the speakers. She sounded utterly relieved and she wasn't alone in that feeling. It sounded like she was shouting from a far distance but Tom knew it was just a dodgy connection. "You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. We thought you were lost at sea." She said, though she was just a black screen but Mason continued to work.

"No, ma'am, we're alive and well." Tom answered, a smile playing on his lips as he couldn't help but feel joy at hearing her voice.

"I got it" Mason said as a picture appeared on the screen it was of an African American woman who looked to be in her late 40s early 50s short hair; stylishly cropped in a bob. She had a rather regal air about her the bespoke of a background in Politics, that and how well dressed and her general demeanour gave her away. For a woman who had survived the end of the world, she looked well put together not that Tom would begrudge her abilities.

"Oh! There you are." She said giving Tom a warm and excited smile. "You must be nearby. I'm Amy Granderson." She said introducing herself. Tom could see the family resemblance between his Lieutenant the older woman on the screen as they had the same smile. Mason stepped back as Tom moved to the chair in front of the computer and sat down.

"And I suppose an explanation is in order. As vice-chair of the President's defence policy board, I was briefed on your mission to the Arctic. I knew the risks of the coming pandemic, and I had my daughter transferred to your ship. You must forgive me." Mrs Granderson said to him, apologising sincerely. Tom felt a sense of comfort and relief knowing that someone from the government survived and a friend at that given she was Lt Granderson's mother. It meant by extension she was family to all of them. Thus in his mind could be trusted. Tom looked to Mason.

"Go get Granderson and inform Commander Slattery" Tom told him. Mason nodded and dashed out of the room as Tom turned his attention back to the computer.

"No apology needed, Ma'am. Your daughter's been an incredible asset. Pleased to hear from you. We had no word from the Presidential bunker." Tom said as he kept his attention on the screen. The picture was growing fuzzy and breaking up every few seconds which made him wonder how strong the connection of the vidcom was and how long they'd be able to talk. He hoped it would be long enough to garner enough intelligence to start making solid plans.

"President Geller invited me underground. I declined. I-" The connection flickered and Mrs Granderson frowned "I felt the risk was too big to have so much of our civilian and military command in one confined space. Unfortunately, I was right." Mrs Granderson said gravelly, confirming some of Tom's worst fears.

"So the government is gone?" Tom asked, needing know everything she knew on what was going on politically speaking in their country so he could prepare himself and the crew. He had hoped for better.

"For the most part, yes. Since the bunker went silent, there has been a breakdown of infrastructure, general panic, and, of course, a tremendous loss of life."she paused and for a moment Tom could feel the sense of helplessness exude from the woman at the situation she was in. "I have tried to execute a contingency plan working with the state and local police to create safe zones. We have been hanging on as best we can and I have been praying every day for your return." She told him, he could see that the Nathan James was a beacon of hope for her and they could form a productive team.

"Ma'am, we can be in Baltimore in the matter of hours." Tom informed her. Mrs Granderson smiled at the news.

"That is some excellent news. I'm also curious is Kathryn Lassiter still alive and on your ship?" Granderson asked, Tom felt something deaden in him at the mention of Kate's name.

"She is" Tom answered keeping his tone firm and face neutral. He couldn't help but wonder what Mrs Granderson would want with Kate let alone want to speak with her about before even asking about her own daughter's welfare. He squashed that niggle of doubt that it grew as obviously there was a sense of priority in play that he didn't know. He had counted on Mrs Granderson wanting to speak with her daughter then maybe Dr Scott but not Kate.

"I'd like to have a word with her in private if I could" Granderson said to him.

"I can organise that but in the meantime, I'm sure there is someone else you'd like to speak with." Tom said as the door opened and Lt Granderson stepped in. Tom pushed back his chair and watched for a moment as Lt Granderson rushed the screen smiling as she greeted her mother. He stayed for a moment before he stepped out of view of the computer's web cam and gestured to Mason to leave with him so as to allow Lt Granderson and her mother some time together.


Once outside, Tom turned to Mason and said "Go get Lassiter for me" he told the young man.

"Yes, Sir" Mason said, he stopped for a moment as if trying to decide which direction to go when Mike spoke.

"She's in the wardroom" Mike informed Mason as he'd just shown up as Tom gave the order. Mason acknowledged the order and went off in the direction of the wardroom to collect Kate.

Tom frowned as Mike had come from the opposite direction which made him wonder how the man knew where Kate was but felt it was wiser not to ask. He looked at Mike noting that the man looked a lot brighter than he had left Tom in the Comms room to change the Ship's course to Baltimore. Obviously the sleep had done the man some good or at least Tom was going to pretend that it was the sleep as he didn't want or need visuals of Mike and Kate having sex in his head.

"Mason bring you up to speed?" Tom asked Mike.

"Lt Granderson's mother is on the line from Baltimore" Mike said, Tom nodded as that pretty much summed up what Mason knew.

"Yeah but there's a catch" Tom said, not pleased at all by the bad feeling forming in his gut.

"There always is" Mike said.

"She wants to speak with Lassiter" Tom told him, Mike frowned as he like Tom seemed be confused as to why.

"Why?" Mike asked. He maintained his usual calm and professional manner on the outside while inwardly his happy 'I got laid' vibes were deadened and replaced with concern for Kate. He knew it had to do with her late husband, it was a bad stink that was going to follow her around and keep her in a bad mood. It was a shame given she was pretty satisfied and happy when he was rushing to get cleaned up to meet Tom. He tried not to smile as he was feeling damn pleased with himself for breaking the rules which should have left him feeling guilty but he wasn't. He couldn't even muster an iota of guilt. Either way it wasn't relevant to situation at hand as Kate was being summoned by Mrs Granderson who if Mike recalled was prominent member of the government.

"I have no clue but she wanted to do it before speaking with her own daughter" Tom said feeling a strong disapproval on where the woman's priorities lay. If it were him on the other end he'd want to speak with his daughter first and then talk business.

"You summoned me" Kate asked in a casual tone as she walked up to Mike and Tom. She looked a little better than she did the last time he saw her, that random about her and Mike fraternising entered his mind again but he squashed it as he had more important matters.

"Amy Granderson" Tom said, he said it because he wanted to see Kate's reaction to the name but he saw was confusion.

"Mason said Lt Granderson's mum was chatting with you. I assume that's her name right?" Kate asked wondering what exactly Tom was expecting her to say or do as she could see he was searching her face for something. He looked at her for a long moment before he spoke.

"It is, she's speaking with her daughter at the moment. She's the vice chair to the President's defence board and she wants to speak with you privately" Tom said to Kate and once again he could see that everything he said was meaningless to her. Even though it annoyed him to no end it was also slightly comforting to see Kate's vacant expression when he mentioned these things because it meant that Kate hadn't found anything in the information from Lassiter Industries which had to be a good thing.

"Why?" Kate asked him.

"You tell me? Maybe she knew Evan?" Tom offered but obviously she misinterpreted his tone as her eyes narrowed in annoyance and her posture became defensive.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to pack my Ouija board so we could bring Evan into this conversation because I sure as shit don't know why" Kate said a little too scathingly given that Tom wasn't trying to pick a fight. His earlier moment of thinking that Mike and Kate were having sex was quickly squashed as he'd like to believe anyone getting laid would be a lot happier.

"I'm not picking a fight or interrogating you. so could you keep your tone down and speak with polite language?" Tom asked her as he could feel their conversation slowly dissolve into a fight. He made a mental note on trying to develop some strategies to improve their relationship given that Kate was going to be sticking around longer than he expected or wanted. Especially given that Mike was wrapped up in the woman.

"Ok. I do not know her, I have no idea what she would want to talk to me about and no, I do not want to talk to her to find out" Kate said answering the next couple questions she assumed he was going to ask her.

"Why not?" Tom asked her, he knew it was a stupid question but he had to ask because if their positions were reversed he'd be very interested in finding out.

"Seriously?" Kate asked incredulously.

"No, I just ask these questions to annoy you for my own amusement" he deadpanned. Kate blew out a breath as she ran a hand through her hair. He could see she was using the time to gain some measured control on her emotions as it was clear to see she scared. Of what he didn't know which was why he asked the questions. It didn't help that bad feeling in his gut when the normally confident woman looked ready to fall apart with a simple request of having a conversation with a stranger.

"Given what happened on the Vyerni. I'm not too excited to make friends with anyone who calls me by my proper first name given they never turn out to be my friend. So excuse me if I don't want this woman to put a name to a face" She said to him. Tom quirked an eyebrow at Kate's paranoid attitude. He briefly looked to Mike but the man was wearing a rather neutral expression which meant he wasn't going to be any help to Tom in any regard at the moment. But then Mike wasn't exactly helping Kate either which kind of made Tom feel a little better.

"If she has your name then she'll probably know your face. I'm sorry but I need to know what she wants from you and to do that. I need you to talk to her." Tom told her. Kate was about to argue with him but before she could the door opened. Kate turned away and put her hands on her hips as Lt Granderson stuck her head out of the open doorway.

"Captain, Mrs Granderson would like a word with Kate. She's pretty insistent on speaking with Lassiter before they lose the connection on their end. It's getting rather spotty" Lt Granderson informed them. Tom gave a nod acknowledging that he heard what she was saying but really he needed to stall Amy Granderson since it seemed he had to convince Kate to just sit down with woman.

"Tell her we need a couple more minutes and take the time for a proper good bye Lieutenant" Tom told the Lieutenant. The woman gave a him a grateful smile and disappeared back into the room. Tom looked to Mike.

"Go with her, if Mrs Granderson gets pushy step in and dismiss the lieutenant" Tom told him, he didn't need his Lieutenant upset because her mother was pushing her agenda. Whatever that agenda was.

"Yes, sir" Mike said as he stepped into the stateroom and closed the door leaving Kate and Tom in the corridor alone. He took a moment to choose his words carefully before he spoke.

"Ruskov was our enemy, what happened on the Vyerni is not happening here. Mrs Granderson is a politician from what is left of my government, she's the only one who can guide us from here on out. She has the facilities we need to produce the vaccine that will cure what is left of this world. We-" Tom stopped and corrected himself. "I need her, I need this to work not just for me but my crew. So I'm going to ask you to please go back into that room and talk to the woman. Hear her out. It could be nothing more than her sharing her condolences with you" Tom said to Kate as he felt her fears were probably due to her thinking the worst of people. He didn't blame her for being scared even if it was irrational to him because he didn't know the entirety of what happened on the Vyerni but given how they found her. Something told him he didn't want to ever delve into that with Kate.

"Ruskov was Jack's friend, he offered me condolences by stealing my boots and offering me Vodka. We all know how the rest of that night went" Kate said in a deadened tone. Tom couldn't deny her statement as only she seemed to know the truth on that one.

"Please just do this for me as favour" Tom said to her. Kate wore an uncomfortable expression as she seemingly struggled on saying yes to his request. But then a moment passed and she spoke.

"Fine but I want to cash in my favour today" Kate told.

"What do you want?" Tom asked folding his arms as he was willing to hear her out but not to agree just yet.

"I do this and I wash my hands of Lassiter Industries. I don't care what she says or what happens in the future. I'm out, you find someone else to trawl through all that data for you. I also want you to keep your accusations and suppositions about Lassiter Industries to yourself. In fact, just forget that I was ever involved with that asshole and his company." Kate told him, Tom inwardly was relieved as she solved one of his earlier dilemmas as the stipulation she made was one he could agree to.

"Ok, done" he told her, Kate reared back as she obviously expected him to fight her on it. He inwardly felt a little pleased that he'd one upped her but also glad that her favour meant removing a major issue between them. It didn't resolve anything but it would help ease the tension as long as Mrs Granderson didn't open up a can of worms.

"Fine, let's get this over with" Kate said, Tom nodded and opened the door to his stateroom and pushed it open. He gestured for Kate to go back into the stateroom. Kate woodenly stepped into the room just as Lt Granderson gave a teary eyed yet joyful goodbye to her mother before she rose from the chair. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened her uniform shirt before she quietly made her way out of the room with Mason behind her.

"Have a seat" Tom said to her, he watched her closely to see her reaction of seeing Amy Granderson. He wasn't sure what he was expecting maybe recognition but Kate just looked lost and unsure as she sat down. She looked at the screen as Tom pulled up another chair and sat down. She could see Mike standing against the closed door in her peripheral vision.

"Kathryn Lassiter, it's been a while but I'm so glad to see you" Amy said warmly greeting Kate like they were old friends.

"I'm sorry, but do we know one another?" Kate asked her, because it was true; she had never met the woman on the screen. She felt no qualms in being rude to her.

"We did, it was a charity event nearly 8 months ago. You were in attendance with Evan" Mrs Granderson told her with a warm smile like they were old friends. Anger furled within Kate as she realised the woman was either a friend of Jack's or Evan's either way it was about Lassiter Industries. Everything was about power and Kate hated being the 'toy' everyone needed to attain said power from the knowledge gathered by Lassiter Industries.

"I apologise but I have no recollection of the evening but then I was probably very drunk" Kate said in a blunt tone.

"No apologies needed even I understand that a lot champagne is the only way to survive those boorish evenings" Mrs Granderson said as if commiserating with Kate.

"So why do you want to speak with me?" Kate asked cutting a lot of unnecessary conversation out of the way as she didn't want Mrs Granderson regaling her of a night where she was nothing but a piece of arm candy. All she remembered from those galas was all the arse kissing Jack and Evan got while she was invisible after the first pleasantries were exchanged. The last charity events she had attended after Jack's death at Evan's request were completely unmemorable due to her drinking and spending majority of the evening outside the party at the hotel bar, alone. The way she liked it as she despised the pretentious atmosphere even if it raised large amounts of money for the less fortunate.

"I was hoping we could speak alone" Mrs Granderson said to Kate.

"I'd rather we didn't. I still recovering from a mild concussion as a result of a rough sea landing. So I hope you can understand I'm a little cranky at being brought up here to chat with someone I don't know when I'd rather be sleeping" Kate said getting crabby, at first Kate planned it to be an 'act' but her crabbiness was genuine as she figured after the call Tom was going to go all 'Conspiracy theory' on her ass and start accusing her of something Jack and Evan did. Something she was really sick of as she was sure Tom was too given their tenuous relationship.

"Oh my, the Captain didn't say anything" Mrs Granderson said.

"The Captain is too polite for his own good. So I suggest we skip the small talk and get straight to what you want so I can get back to my rack and get some sleep" Kate told her, the woman's eyes narrowed in slight annoyance that Kate could only assume was due to her crass language and her dismissive and blunt manner. But then again the woman was probably sizing Kate up because she broke into a somewhat awkward smile and threw her hands up in mock surrender.

"Of course as you know you're the CEO for one of the largest companies in the United States with multiple military contracts as well as many subsidiary companies. The facilities we've managed to secure that the Nathan James needs for vaccine production is a subsidiary company of Lassiter Industries but we're unable to access the entirety of the complex as we need the skeleton key" Mrs Granderson told Kate, Tom looked to Kate and watched as the woman feigned a headache as she had closed her eyes and rubbed her fingers across her forehead but the fact she had her left hand was in a tight fist in her lap told him she was struggling to keep herself in check.

Kate tried to keep her breath steady as she pretended like she was suffering a migraine when really she was trying to calm her jangled nerves. She wanted to know why Granderson knew about the skeleton key which in reality was just Kate's access codes because she was currently the highest ranking member of the corporation. Fear and pure rage suffocated her as she thought of Anna and how the labs Granderson was speaking about were supposed to be downed. How did the woman have access? What was she trying to access? And how did Granderson know she was on the Nathan James? So many questions and none she could ask without giving away her hand. She was hoping to play stupid that maybe it would filter through that she was nothing but a pretty face and the power to be gained from Lassiter Industries was lost when Evan died.

"Kathryn?" Granderson prompted, Kate looked at her and watched as the picture before her flickered and rolled. Her left hand turned into a fist on her leg as she was trying not to let her emotions get the best of her. The painful bite of her nails into her palm seemed to ground her and allow her some control over her emotions but not much.

"I'm sorry but I have no idea what you're talking about. You should be speaking with Evan about this. He's the one in charge not me" Kate said to her, she watched as confusion crossed Mrs Granderson's features. Obviously it wasn't the response she was expecting but Kate was not going to give the woman anything. She didn't care if she was one of the good guys, Kate had her own future to protect and playing stupid was the only way she could see herself being seen as useless and then forgotten.

"You don't know?" Mrs Granderson asked in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"Know what?" Kate asked feeding to what she hoped Granderson would believe, that Kate was truly useless to whatever grand plan she had that she felt she needed Kate's codes or the 'skeleton key' as Granderson called it to do what she needed and Kate didn't want to know either.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but Evan Lassiter is dead" Mrs Granderson said, Tom was inwardly amazed as he watched Kate's face paled, her body shook as tears formed in her eyes. If he didn't know better he would have thought Kate was hearing this news for the first time and trying hard not to break down. But then he looked down at her hand on her leg and saw it was in a tight fist; so tight that her knuckles had turned white. He realised then her tears and emotions were derived not from sadness or grief but anger.

"No, I-" Kate stopped and looked away from the screen and took a breath trying to calm herself. "When did he pass?" Kate asked her as she knew it was the right question to ask.

"A few weeks ago now, Evan sent you message before his death" Mrs Granderson told her, probably hoping for some flair of recognition in Kate's expression but Kate gave no indication whatsoever.

"He did?" Kate asked stupidly because there was nothing better she could say. Mrs Granderson looked to Tom for an explanation as if he were the one at fault when Kate just tangled them up in a nice web of lies.

"We've been out of Comms range of home for the last few months Ma'am. Your call is the first one we've heard in months directed to ship" Tom explained backing up Kate's lie to Granderson. She was surprised given his plea earlier to allow this meeting with Granderson to be something good. An ally they desperately needed.

"Then you don't know anythi-" Amy Granderson started but her image flickered and disappeared.

"Mrs Granderson?" Tom asked, he picked up the phone and dialled a number. "We've lost the VIDCOM, is the line still active?" Tom asked, he listened for a moment and watched as his screen return to its previous screen whilst Mason told him the connection was lost. Tom acknowledged the information and ordered they keep hailing the channel to get Mrs Granderson back before hung up the phone before he looked to Kate. She was slouching in her chair with her arms folded, she looked to him with expectation.

"Want to explain yourself?" Tom asked Kate as he sat back in chair nearly mirroring her posture except he didn't slouch.

"I don't know her" Kate told him in a flat and serious tone so he would hopefully take her seriously.

"But you lied to her, a stranger with great ease" Tom said, which unnerved him somewhat given how well she had lied at least from the neck up. The rest of her body gave away her true feelings on the matter.

"I did, you have a problem with that?" Kate asked him, purposefully goading him into a fight. It seemed her go to defence mechanism at the moment.

"No but I'm wondering what she meant by a skeleton key" Tom told her, since he knew why she lied he didn't need to push that line of questioning about the whys on that one as he wasn't ready to delve into her emotional issues or paranoia about Lassiter Industries.

"I assume the CEO's access codes can act like a skeleton key opening anything from restricted files to buildings that are in lockdown which is why she wants to be my friend. In the event of Evan and Jack's death I became the CEO, I have no idea how it all works on the technological side. How do computers know when someone has died?" Kate asked him, Tom gave a shrug as he didn't know other than the obvious answer that the information was imput into the computer to allow for update. Something Evan probably did when he knew he was going to die.

"She asked because she needs the codes to unlock the laboratories or certain parts of it that we may need to produce the vaccine" Tom said to Kate, he could see Kate was anxious to leave.

"I guess so and I wasn't hiding that information either so don't even think about accusing me of that" Kate told him.

"I wasn't going to accuse you of anything" Tom told her.

"Really?" Kate asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, you had the conversation with her like I asked you to. Why would I go back on my word?" Tom asked her.

"Cause you can be a capricious asshole" Kate told him and Tom gave a closed lip smile.

"And you're an insolent brat with a huge chip on her shoulder. If we're finished with the name calling, I'd like a word with Mike in private" Tom said dismissing her before they could even dissolve into an argument.

"Ok" Kate said, she rose to her feet and left the room feeling slightly disconcerted by the fact that she and Tom hadn't ended up in a shouting match.


"We'll be near Baltimore just after lunch" Tom said to Mike who closed the door for Kate. tom couldn't help but feel relieved to have Kate leave as the tension in the room disappeared completely.

"I know" Mike said to him as he sat down in his usual chair. Tom couldn't help but be amazed at Mike's ability to remain calm under pressure. He had kept waiting for Mike step in and censure either Kate or himself but no; he just remained silent. It worried Tom given he really didn't want to get punched in the face by Mike. It had happened before and it was not experience he wanted to repeat.

"I also don't want to dock the ship at the port, instead I want to keep the Nathan James out in the harbour and take the RIB to the location Granderson's people will eventually send us" Tom said, talking out the logistics even though they already had done so earlier and they'd worked together long enough that they didn't have to discuss every minute detail as Mike could usually predict most of Tom's decisions.

"All sounds good to me" Mike said as he wondered why Tom was making conversation for the sake of it.

"Ok, so are we going to talk about what just happened?" Tom asked him. Mike quirked an eyebrow at the question as if confused to why Tom was asking the question.

"Calling her a brat is really going to win her over if that was your plan" Mike told him sarcastically assuming Tom was talking about Kate. It was the only topic that Tom seemed incredibly hesitant speaking about given how volatile the subject could be.

"She needed to hear it" Tom told him. Mike nodded in agreement as he tended to stay neutral where Kate and Tom were concerned.

"She's burning out, what she needs to hear that you trust her and that she can quit wallpapering my quarters and take a break without getting the third degree"

"You have to admit it's suspicious how Lassiter Industries keeps popping up" Tom said.

"Sure but Kate's involvement is purely coincidental. Holding her accountable for a company's past wrongdoings and its future potential because some asshole died and left it to her hardly makes her the criminal. Tell me should we be warning the lowliest crew member that if we fuck up then it's his or her fault and she's going to have to face the punishment for it?" Mike asked in a calm manner and before Tom could answer Mike continued.

"And while on the subject of Lassiter Industries; we haven't been utilising any information derived from the company since the Vyerni. Yet she's decorated my stateroom wall like a crazy person and it grows. I'd like that stop considering it's not helping anyone" he finished, he was a little proud of himself for not sounding angry and remaining relatively calm given he wanted Kate to be happy and Lassiter Industries was definitely hampering her good mood. He also knew shouting never accomplished anything other than making the person who was shouting feel a little better.

"Fine with me" Tom said, Mike narrowed his eyes suspicious of Tom's quick agreement.

"That was too easy" Mike said, Tom gave a shrug.

"I already made a deal with Kate about it before we sat down with Granderson. She's scared and hurt, the anger is a defence mechanism." Tom said in a thoughtful manner.

"I know, I was just wondering how long it would take you to cotton on" Mike said with a wry smile, Tom shook his head in dismay as he couldn't catch a break today.

"Is this why you didn't step in and defend her earlier? I know if you spoke to Darien the way I spoke to her-" Tom started but Mike cut him off.

"You two need to figure out how to deal with one another" Mike told him diplomatically but also being incredibly honest.

"But you care about her" Tom said.

"And I'm smart enough to know Kate doesn't need me to fight her battles for her. I also don't think the two of you getting pissy at one another like a couple of very cranky two year olds merits my attention or need to intervene" Mike said as he gave him a 'Aren't we all above this kind of behaviour' look.

"I wasn't-" Tom started to argue that he didn't act like a petulant child but Mike shot Tom a look of mild disbelief. "Nevermind" Tom said conceding that he really had no ground to stand on.

"Ok, we done for now?" Mike asked. Tom nodded and Mike rose from his seat he moved to the door but before he turned the handle to open it Tom spoke.

"She loves you and I'm going to turn a blind eye to whatever you two are doing because I don't want nor have the energy to deal with you two fraternising. Just don't end like Forster and Green" Tom said begrudgingly, he hated that he said it but he felt it needed to be said so Tom wouldn't have to bring it up again. Mike looked at him for a long moment with his hand still on the door handle.

"Oh so now I have permission to have sex. That's good to know though I'm amazed you didn't throw condoms at me with your advice" Mike said drawled sarcastically, it was a good sign to Tom as he knew when Mike held his tongue it usually indicated something worse.

"I didn't want to encourage you" Tom said dryly. Mike's lips quirked with a faint smile. "So don't make me change my mind. I could demote and make an example of you" Tom told him.

"but then who would you replace me with? Garnett or Barker?" Mike asked him, Tom made a face as much as he respected Garnett and Barker he had no real desire to build the working relationship he had with Mike.

"Just go and don't tell me anything that I don't need to know ok?" Tom told him.

"Isn't that what I always do?" Mike asked him, he opened the door and left Tom's stateroom; closing the door behind him, leaving Tom to his thoughts.