A/N: Just as a warning, this one does have a mature element to it near the end of the chapter.

Part Thirteen – Winners and Losers

I dropped part of my burger in the to-go container as I grabbed a couple of chips while I asked Julia, "Seriously?"

She nodded and put her burger down before wiping her face as she said, "Seriously! He proposed to me after three weeks, who the hell does that?!"

I can't help but laugh, god I needed this… I'd missed Julia since our time in the academe. We'd be so close, study partners and study partners.

After a few moments, she shifts in her spot on the couch in the living room of… I guess they're her quarters now… She gives me a look that suggests she's going to be asking something that I know I would've jumped at the chance to before I came here and a moment later she gives voice to that look, "I've missed you a lot since the academe… so, I was kind of wondering, are you seeing anyone?"

I sigh and rub the back of my head as I say to her, "That's a really complicated question with an even more complicated answer…"

She raises one of her red eyebrows at me as she pops open her beer, I can see a twinkle in her green eyes as she asks, "Are you going to answer me on that?"

I sigh again before I say to her, "It's really complicated…"

Sipping from her can a second time before putting it down and leaning back and crossing her legs at the knees as she asks, "Fine… What about this one, is something I've wanted to ask you for a couple of years now…"

She pauses and fidgets a little before touching on it, "Your eye color is super unusual, and since we both went to the academe, I think I can ask you about it… My aunt has the same eye color, and I've been wondering if you might be related to her?"

I give her a sideways glance as I sip my beer and I ask, "Who's your aunt?"

She sips hers' again and says, "She's my aunt by marriage first of all… she married my Uncle John when he was stationed here… her name is George…"

She gets really quiet when she says this next part, "She's a kansen."

I choke on my beer, putting the can down, and start pounding on my chest. After a few minutes, I ask her, "Ho... How do you feel about the kansen?"

She sits back, putting her arms behind her head and pushing her chest out as she says, "I think they're interesting, and since Uncle John married one, I got to know her fairly well after I joined the academe… why?"

She watches me fidget a little and she gives me a sideways glance like she's putting two and two together and she says, "Your mother's one, isn't she?"

I sigh again and look down at my can as I slowly rotate it in my hands before I say to her, "Yeah, my mom is one… but there is more to that, and it's kind of uncomfortable to talk about."

She tilts her head and asks, "Uncomfortable, like seeing each other naked for the first time, talking about feelings for the first time, or…?"

I sigh, putting down my can and getting up to stand at the window before I tell her, "I was stationed here, about six months ago as the base commander. My father made it happen, I'm not sure how, but he did. Then within a week of me being here, I get abducted by my father, after thinking he was dead, I get turned into being the central processor for a ship, and then he takes said ship here to try and kill my mother with it. I didn't like that, so I killed him, when my mom and a friend I had made took me out of the hull, I was dying… So to save my life, they tried making me one of them; I was already halfway there anyway."

During my little rant, she had gotten up and stood beside me, a hand on my arm and she asked me, "Did it work?"

I nod as I say, "Yeah, it worked. Mitchel Thatcher died that night and I was given new life."

She's quiet for a moment then asks me, I guess it was something I had been dreading all evening so far, "So… what kind are you?"

With another sigh, I say to her, "Battleship class. I'm right now the most powerful direct surface combat kansen in the port."

She whistles then asks, "You still got…?"

I laugh before I say, "Yeah, I still got it."

"Huh…" she said before giving me a sideways glance and asking, "So, back to my question, are you seeing anyone?"

I hang my head and sigh as I say, "I'm seeing two kansen right now and the Royal Navy flagship is threatening to put me out to stud."

"Do they think it could work?" she asks.

I shrug before I say, "I don't know, they seem to think so… I'm not against the idea of maybe being with one, but I don't want to be used like some prized racehorse or bull."

She nods and asks me a different question, "So what does your mother think about that threat?"

"She's doing as the Queen demands… we all do really…" I sigh back.

Again she nods and she asks, "So who is your mother? Can I meet her?"

I hang my head again as I say, "You're bound to sooner or later; she heads up Queen Elizabeth's retinue after all."

"Still not going to tell me, are you?" she says with a sly tone of voice while slipping a hand into my back pocket she adds, "I could always pump you for the information, like old times."

I sigh inwardly before I say to her while taking her hand out of my back pocket, "Julia, I'd really rather not. I have my hands full as it is, getting used to being kansen, I've only been this way for about two weeks now… hell I just got walking down again last week. And I'm trying to balance two very lovely ladies that have both been offered to me by two different factions… I really don't want to be sleeping with the base commander too."

She looks a little put off by that before shrugging and saying, "My door is always open to you; if you change your mind… what do I call you now anyway?"

With a sigh, I inform her, "In private, you can still call me Mitchel, but in any other setting I suggest calling me by my registry name, Thunderer."

She turns and looks me up and down, biting her lower lip for a moment and making a noise like she just ate something delicious before she says, "That name suits you, I think."

I nod and say to her, "I'm going to head back to my quarters; it was great seeing you again Juli… Commander Thorne."

I see she looks a little hurt as I used her title, but she nods and says, "Sleep well Thunderer."

XXXX

XXXX

I was walking through the square when I looked up at the stars that were just starting to come out and let out a heavy sigh and ran both of my hands over my head before I looked around the port, I was the only male in a thousand kilometers of this place right now, I'm also the object of affections, I should be loving this… and yet, I'm not.

It was hard enough when I was just… okay I was never just human, but it was easier when I was under threat of being put out to stud.

I move to set on the wall that went around the anchor as I thought about the options that Elizabeth had given me, find someone worthy of bringing before her for judgment or be used to stud any she deems worthy. I let out another heavy groan, I honestly don't know what to do at this point, I mean I've been having fun with North Carolina, and she is differently putting in the work… but it's never as easy as it is with Gneisenau… yet with Gneisenau, I never know if I'm just her assignment still.

I hear clicking on the pathway that sounds like heels and I twist slightly to see long blond hair and red eyes that make me feel relaxed, when she spots me she smiles and puts away her phone before coming and sitting beside me to ask, "Something wrong Mitchel?"

I sigh and look down before saying, "The universe hates me. Out of all the people to be assigned as Commander, why did it have to be Julia Thorne…?"

My Aunt George tilted her head to the side and took out her phone and scrolled to a picture from last Christmas to show and ask me, "Is this her?"

I nod as I sigh out, "I figured you knew her when she talked about her Uncle John getting married to a woman that looked like me…"

George nods, putting her phone away and propping herself up by her arms, looking up at the night sky, and asks me, "Did the two of you have a falling out?"

I shook my head and said, "No, we both understood in the beginning that our… arrangement… was just for our time at the academe, so when we parted we parted on good terms."

I watch my aunt for a moment to try and get a read on her, but all she does is nod and I add, "But she's made it clear that she would like to continue that arrangement… I've turned it down; mostly because I already feel overwhelmed and under pressure from the Queen."

"A wise decision Mitchel, being involved with your superior is complicated… Truth is, I worry about my relationship with Johnathan… I know he's going to grow old and pass from this world, long before I ever will, so long as my hull is maintained." She says to me, before reach over and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I just feel so conflicted, Julia is familiar and fun… but I know she's not right for me anymore… if she ever was." I confide to George.

She nods again and looks around before asking, "And what about North Carolina or Gneisenau?"

"North Carolina is fun, and she has made it clear her boundaries… she's also under no illusion about what is going on." I say, looking skyward.

"And?" she asks me.

"And Gneisenau's end game was always out in the open, it was the first time I meet her in the flesh… steel? I don't know what the right term is…" I say with a heavy sigh before adding, "The problem there is I wonder if I'm still just an assignment, but counter to that is I like spending time with her and everything just feels easy with her."

George gives a little laugh before saying, "I'm not really sure what the correct term is between kansen. But ask yourself this Mitchel, if you could have one to spend eternity with, who would it be?"

I lean forward and run my hands over my head again as I groan out, "That's the problem, I could see myself with both."

George sighs for a moment before saying to me, "Don't think with either head, think with your heart before you answer this question."

I sigh and start thinking about things, every time I've spent time with North Carolina we've spent a lot of it kissing, not doing a ton of talking. Whereas with Gneisenau, we spend time talking, holding hands, or just being in each other's company, aside from the night I was transformed, we've never had any physical intimacy with each other. I close my eyes and just let myself think, no pressures on me, just me and my mind.

After a few moments, I think George sense I've come up with something as she touches my shoulder again and asks, "Well?"

I open my eyes, the answer is clear to me, at least I hope it is and I'm not… well I am going to make a fool out of myself, either way, I just hope I'm not going to regret this later… I turn to my aunt as I say to her, "I got a clear picture in my mind, I just hope she accepts and the Queen accepts."

George nods as she gets off of the wall and says to me, "Well good luck then Mitchel, I'm off to go see my niece, we usually get together at this time of year, but since I and Johnathan were going to be away, we sadly had to cancel on her… I'm going to go and make that right."

I nod and say, "She's going to press you for who my mother is… I've avoided telling her for now, I want to see how this plays out."

She nods and tells me as she starts walking towards the Commander's residence, "Then all I shall tell her is that she is one of my sisters."

I smile and say to her, "Thanks, Aunt George."

Once she's gone I push myself off the wall, I looked to the Royal Navy dorms, I needed to have a chat with the Queen.

XXXX

XXX

As I approached the throne room, I could hear her talking to someone, "… if he does not present Us with a viable option before the gala, then I will give him to you. Be sure that this is something you want however, I would hate to have to give him to one of those damnable foxes."

Stopping at the door I tried to listen in just a little more, to try and get an idea of whom I might be handed off too, please don't let it be one of the destroyers, they really creep me out. The voice that I heard respond was soft, almost musical as she said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, I will do everything in my power to make sure our aims are… satisfied."

Now I was really curious, I opened the door to see the Queen standing beside a rather well-endowed woman in white, the white hair made it clear to me that she was kansen, but was clearly one I hadn't run across yet. They both turned their attention to me, the woman pressing her bust together with her upper arms while her hands remained folded in front of her, she gave a soft giggle before offering me a curtsy as the Queen said to me, "Ah, Thunderer, excellent timing, allow me to introduce you to my pick."

She paused for a moment before saying and gesturing to the woman as she added, "Our only Carrier in this detachment, Illustrious."

Out of respect, I offer a shallow bow, before turning my attention back to the Queen as I ask, "I would like a private audience with you, my Queen… there is something I would like to discuss with you."

The half-pint gives me a sideways glance before nodding and saying to the woman, "If you would? I'll send him along once We've heard him out."

I watch as Illustrious stands back up as she says, "By your will my Queen."

As she goes to leave, Illustrious reaches out to drag a hand across my chest while passing before whispering in my ear, "I'm sure we could enjoy a soft landing or two."

I'll admit I did turn to watch her go, she was perhaps the most forward about things next to Akagi had been… And well I'll also admit the idea of… nope, nope, nope! What is going on with me? Why am I even entertaining that idea?

Turning my attention back to the Queen, I see that she has gone back to sitting on her throne, her right elbow resting on the armrest and her head against her right hand as she says, "We are sure Illustrious would make a fine partner to stud with… or at the very least, enjoyable enough for you."

I sigh to myself before asking, "If she is your pick, I'm guessing Nagato has made her offering directly to you?"

She nods, crossing her knees as she says, "She has, and if Our sources are to believed, it sounded like she was strong-armed into her selection by some kind of prophecy."

I gulp to myself, I'm kind of hesitant to ask, yet I do anyway, "Who?"

The Queen rolls her eyes and wrinkles her nose as she says, "Akagi. Something about her being the vessel for the dreamer's return… hogwash if you ask Us. We'd rather hand you over to the Iron Blood before the Sakura Empire."

I nod; made sense the Sakura Empire had been some of the hardest fighting for the Royal Navy under the command of Johnathan Hawker… So I ask the Queen, "Speaking of the Iron Blood…"

She waves her other hand and says to me, "We are aware that Bismarck has offered you her adjunct Gneisenau and We are aware that Washington has offered you, North Carolina."

I sigh inwardly and change my question before asking, "And what do you think of those options?"

She shrugs as she says, "Both of them are viable options, though We would've preferred Tirpitz to be in play, yet We can't do anything about that."

I sigh and nod, I understood the reasons for what was going on and looking at it from this side of the wisdom cube, it made a lot of sense. I look around the room and ask, "How much does my choice impact the outcome of this?"

"So long as it's not Akagi, We will give it serious thought." She says to me

I go to say something else and she holds up her hand before telling me, "We are done here Thunderer. I suggest you head down to the common room and start getting to know Illustrious, you may be spending a lot of time together in the future."

I sigh inwardly again and bow as I say to her, "Yes, Your Majesty."

XXXX

XXXX

Once I was out of the throne room, I started to slowly make my way to the common room, I put my hands behind my head and started to wonder if this is where I really want to go right now. I mean I have somewhere else I want to be and it was only really a suggestion…

I looked at my phone and sighed, it was getting too late to go calling on her and not be telegraphing what I wanted. I stopped in the hall, if I go to the right I go to the common area, if I go left, I go out of the dorms. I need some space to try and get my head right, this was a whole lot for me to take in.

As I stepped outside to call who I wanted to see, I saw what looked like a strange fog on the ground, if there was one thing I knew about this place, fog didn't happen often. I bent down to get a closer look at it, as I thought for sure I could see a hint of red in this fog, I waft it up to my nose and I notice it smells sweet and floral. I give it another whiff before my head starts to spin and I fall forward into the ground. I'm fighting the blackness from overtaking my mind, but as I lay in the fog it's getting harder by the second to stay awake. I tilt my head up as I hear the clicking of shoes on the pavement; I see long sleeves before the black overtakes my mind.

The next thing I know, I can smell incense burning, but I don't have any incense in my quarters… I feel a chill run through me and I clued in, I was naked at the moment, I don't sleep naked. I will my eyes open and I see that I'm in a room that is clearly not mine, it's lit by candles. I start to look around more and see that my arms are bound by red cloth; I look down and see that my legs are too… and yep, I'm naked.

My heart rate starts to pick up as I look around more as I hear soft giggling coming from a shadowy corner before whoever it is, speaks, "You are awake Shikikan-sama… I hadn't expected you to be awake so soon…"

My heart stopped when she lit another candle and I saw Akagi, nude, her hair covering her in a way to both make it clear she was naked, but still covered. She put down the candle and took up a bamboo brush, dipping it in some red paint before she started to write some kind of sigils on her belly as she said, "This would've been so much easier if you were still out cold…"

"Wh… what would be?" I ask her as I try to get my wrists free.

"There was a prophecy that Akagi would be the vessel for the return of the Dreamer… the father of the dreamer would be kansen." she says as she finishes writing the sigils and starts to saunter over to me, giving me an eyeful.

I gulp and struggle a little against the ribbons

I watch as she gets onto the bed by my feet, and rubs her body along me till she is nose to nose with me as she whispers, "Imagine my surprise when I learned you are one of us, I told you Akagi could be yours, all you needed to do was say the word…"

She paused and nipped my ear before saying, "Don't struggle, this will be more enjoyable if you don't."

She started to kiss her way down my body as I called out, "I don't want to do this Akagi!"

"What you want doesn't matter Shikikan-sama… all that matters is the prophecy." She says as she straddled my legs.

Thankfully she was interrupted by the door being kicked in and what I saw, made it even more clear who I wanted to be with, Gneisenau.

She looked angry, like really, really angry. She stalked forward, her blue eyes locked on Akagi as she said in a very measured tone, "Let… him… go."

"Why should I? He is important to the prophecy." Said the fox.

"He made it clear, he doesn't want this." said Gneisenau as she continued to cross the room.

"I don't care what he wants, once I have the dreamer growing in me, his use is at an end." Said the fox, I saw a dangerous look in her red eyes there, something that told me I wouldn't be long for this world if she gets her way.

"What is so important about this Dreamer?" Gneisenau asked, she was almost at my feet, for a split second I saw her wink at me.

"Shinano will allow us to remake the world… A better world." Said Akagi, it was clear she believed this.

I watched as Gneisenau reached across to the nightstand, picking up one of the incense burners before a blur of motion followed by an audible crack moments before Akagi fell forward, clearly out cold. Gneisenau looked at me and sighed as she put down the burner before placing a hand on her head and said, "Really Mitchel, you were warned about Akagi… Let's get you out of here."

I waited to be undone then I wiggled my way out from under Akagi and became painfully aware that I was naked when I saw Gneisenau blush at the sight of me. I covered myself and said to her, "Thanks.. do you see my clothes anywhere?"

She sighed and started to look around for my stuff.

XXXX

XXXX

AN: Chapter 13 done! Somehow I managed to find the time to get this one written, I might even be able to get 14 up before the New Year at this rate!