Sitting in her office four hours later Mike nervously patted his hat against his leg
"Mike, nervous are we?" Maxine entered
"No Ma'am"
"I'm surprised given the way you spoke to me on the sat-phone" she moved behind her desk
"I apologise Ma'am things were rather heated after finding out you'd ask my Swain to spy on me"
"Yes well someone had to make sure you weren't stuffing up your career and as I said on the phone your Swain pulled out of our little deal"
"Good on him"
"Enough about him I want to discuss you and this stupid idea of a shore posting" she sat down at her desk
"I just don't want to be out at sea anymore"
"Funny I'm pretty sure you'd told Commander Marshal you'd joined the Navy to be out at sea not drive a desk"
"People change"
"Not our kind of people Mike"
"Maxine…" he sighed in annoyance
"Why are you doing this? She dosen't want you I mean she's applied for a transfer herself"
"This transfer has nothing to do with my XO I just don't want to be on Hammersley anymore"
"Bullshit" she tested leaning back in her chair
"This is ridiculous we're getting nowhere just give me my paperwork and I'll be on my way"
"Paperwork?"
"Yes my shore posting paperwork"
"Oh I'm sorry I forgot that's what this meeting was for"
"Oh come off it Maxine! I want my transfer"
"Mike… are you sure this is what you really want?"
"Yes!"
"You know it's ironic I'm supposed to meeting your XO in five for a meeting too it seems the potential of a relationship between you two has fizzled up in smoke"
"I'd really rather not discuss that" he shook his head
"Right well… your paperwork" she pushed it across the desk
"Your serious?"
"I thought about what you said and if want off Hammersley then you can have off"
"Ah thank you Ma'am" he placed his hat on her desk while reaching for a pen,
looking up slightly he spotted Kate exiting from the elevator he hesitated
"Is something wrong?"
"I can't sign it…" he dropped the pen on the desk
"I thought this is what you wanted?" she arose from her desk in confusion
"It is but at the cost of loosing the one thing that matters most to me… I can't do it" he picked up his hat and moved to stand
"I don't understand"
"I don't just want off Hammersley; I want out of the Navy"
"YOU WHAT!" Maxine yelled when he began moving backwards to the door
"I want out, I'm done"
"Mike"
"There are some things that are more important than the Navy Maxine"
"Come back here" she walked towards him
"I'm sorry but there's something I need to do" he smiled widely
"Mike!" she yelled,
looking up from her watch when she heard Commander White yelling his name for the whole of NAVCOM to hear Kate looked at him in confusion
"Sir I…" her eyes widened when he dropped his hat as one hand came to rest on her cheek while the other removed her hat;
it all happening in quick motion and before she knew it his lips were on hers kissing her passionately,
hovering her head closer to his when he pulled away Kate looked around in embarrassment at the people staring and muttering
"You are all I ever wanted Kate, not the Navy and not Hammersley" he answered softly keeping his hand on her cheek
"I… I have to go.." she looked at him sadly moving backwards his hand dropped off her cheek
"Kate…"
"I have to go…" she turned running towards the stairs
"Kate I…" he held her hat tightly in his hand
"Well.. was that worth your career?" she crossed her arms stopping next to him
"I…" he turned to look at her
"Well?"
"Absolutely" he smirked reaching down to pick up his own hat he moved towards the elevator
"Where are you going?"
"Home"
"Mike.."
"I want out, either you do it or I'll get someone else too"
"You can't just…"
"See ya round Maxine" were his last words when he entered the elevator
"Mike" she tried again
'Totally worth it' he grinned pressing the button to the lower floor as the doors closed,
"What are you all looking at, get back to work!" Maxine huffed moving back to her office slamming the door,
"Did that really just happen?" he questioned turning around
"I think so" she nodded slowly
"We didn't hallucinate it?"
"The Boss quitting the Navy and kissing Kate in front of the entire NAVCOM?" Nikki raised an eyebrow
"Well this will replace the Swaino being a spy for Commander White gossip" Buffer looked at her in confusion
"Do you think they saw us or?"
"Um.. given what just happened I'd say no" she assured him
"Still it's our job to inform the crew right?"
"Oh yeah a hundred percent we wouldn't them hearing it from anyone else"
"The local?" he pointed towards the stairs
"The local" she nodded pulling out her phone when they walked towards the stairs.
Opening her front door 2 hours later Kate rolled her eyes when she walked back down the hall
"Not exactly the reaction I was expecting"
"What are you doing here Mike?" she turned to face him
"You forgot your hat" he cleared his throat crossing the threshold
"Yeah well I wasn't exactly focusing at the time was I?"
"Okay so maybe I could have waited or done it somewhere more private but…"
"Ya think?" she huffed turning back around and entering the kitchen
"Will you stop running away from me…" he sighed closing the door and following after her
"Wouldn't want you to try and kiss me again got to escape while I can"
"Okay I get it, your mad" he placed her hat on the bench when he entered the kitchen
"Mad is a weak word to use right now"
"So not mad?" he teased
"I'm pissed off Mike, you think this is funny?"
"Kind of"
"So embarrassing me in front of the entire NAVCOM, making me miss my meeting with Commander White and making me feel utterly flustered where I had to run out is funny to you?"
"Come on Kate it was meant to be a romantic gesture"
"Wow some romantic gesture, god help your future relationships if you think that's how you should do things" she nodded in disappointment
"What was I supposed to do? You made it pretty clear on Hammersley how you felt, and I figured if I'd done it there you'd finally realise you meant more to me then some boat"
"God your so infuriating!" she brushed her unbandaged hand through her hair
"I was loosing you all over again and I couldn't let you go not like that"
"This isn't some joke Mike, this is our lives"
"I know"
"This is my heart your playing around with and it can't take much more"
"I'm sorry but you know it's not just your heart that's getting hurt here either" he stepped towards her
"Don't…"
"Let me make this up to you, tell me how I can fix this"
"You can't! How can you fix all this, our whole relationship was messy Mike from five-years ago when I joined Hammersley and we weren't even dating at the time!"
"But things are different now Kate, you and I we're different people"
"And that's the one time where your actually right"
"What?"
"We're not the same as when we first met Mike"
"So what, nobody is"
"No… but you haven't changed"
"And that's a bad thing?"
"For you no but for me… I want more then just the Navy Mike I want marriage and kids, a white picket fence all I want is a family"
"I want those things too"
"No you don't… there's only one thing you've ever wanted and you even wanted it the first time we met ten years ago" she looked at him sadly
"Dreams change Kate people change too, I meant what I said to you at NAVCOM"
"How can I believe that when the thought of a transfer made you want to throw your guts up and it wasn't until you saw the possibility of us becoming more that you considered it"
"I quit" he held his hands up
"You what?"
"If that's not enough proof for you, minutes before I saw you in that office I told Maxine I wanted out"
"You…" she stuttered when he moved closer to her
"I'd rather have you and a family then work in the Navy any longer"
"You actually quit?" she looked up at him in confusion when he came to stop in front of her
"Well I don't really think Knocker thought I was serious but I've never been more serious in my life"
"Mike… the Navy it's…"
"No.." he cut her off resting his hand against her cheek and tangling it through her hair "you are my life Kate McGregor, not the Navy and certainly not a boat"
"I…"
"I'm begging you, let me prove to you just how much I love you"
"I never doubted your love for me Mike it was just…"
"Everything else, I understand really I do"
"I can't believe you quit…" she placed her hand against his chest
"Yeah well"
"What are you going to do?"
"There's only one thing I want to do right now and it's this…" he stopped mid-sentence leaning down he teased her into a slow kiss,
running his other hand behind her waist he used all his strength and lifted her to sit on the counter pulling away from the kiss when he felt her free hand rest against his cheek
"Now that's how I imagined the earlier kiss going" he grinned resting his forehead against hers
"Except there's certain things you can't do in public" she wrapped her leg around his waist
"My my Miss McGregor are you trying to seduce me?"
"Is it working?" she smirked moving her hand inside his shirt through the gap between the buttons
"Am I forgiven?"
"Mmm-I don't know"
"Okay" he nodded shifting his head and kissing her lips "What about now?"
"Hmm-getting there"
"Now?" he kissed her again
"Closer…"
"This is torture" he kissed her again this time deepening the kiss;
lifting her into his arms he carried her over to the couch slowly lowering her down there lips not parting until her head hit the throw pillow and he shifted to hover above her,
"What about now?"
"Definitely closer than before" she laughed when he begun tickling her
"Say that again, I dare you" he laughed along with her
"Okay, okay!" her laughing dyed down when he brushed the hair from her eyes
"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow
"You're forgiven but this is still going to be torture for you"
"I wouldn't expect anything less" he smiled when Kate wrapped her hand behind his neck
"A hundred and thirteen hours to go"
"No…" he shook his head "only ten seconds now" he lowered his head meeting her lips in a passionate kiss
he began undoing the buttons on her shirt when she smiled against his lips her good hand doing the same to his shirt.
(Okay I think 3 Chapters is enough for an upload today/tonight hopefully all this inspiration is still there in the morning so enjoy these updates and see ya for the next one which will be tomorrow as I'm off to bed Xx)