Part Eight – Where you lay your head

With a grunt, I drop the bag of cake flour on the counter as I ask, "Was there anything else you needed?"

A woman with rose-colored eyes smiled sweetly at me as she said with a thick French accent, "Non, but if you take a seat, I should have some lemon tarts coming out of the oven shortly."

Taking a seat at the counter I lean forward a little, resting my elbows on the table and watch as Dunkerque hums away in the kitchen. When she puts on the oven mitts and bends to open the oven she says to me, "I knew your uncle well enough when I was at Midway."

I blink a couple of times and ask, "You know Uncle John?"

"Oui, but that was before he married your Aunt George," she says as the tarts come out and she adds, "I was teaching him baking, though I think it was an excuse for him to try and spend time with me alone."

Giving her a sideways look I ask, "Did you two ever… you know?"

She shakes her head as she tells me, "Non, we kissed once, but it was…" she pauses and lifts the tarts onto the wire rack before adding, "I think we were both disappointed by it."

"Huh, I've only known Uncle John to be with Aunt George, I guess I just don't see it." I say as I take in the smell of the tarts.

She shrugs and bats away my hand as I try for a tart and says, "Non, they are still too hot."

Leaning back on my stool I look around the kitchen and ask, "So, what are you going to make next?"

She laughs and tosses me an apron as she says, "We are going to make a simple chocolate cake."

"We?" I ask as I stand and start to do it up.

"Oui, we, you have been lounging around here in my kitchen for almost a week now, I am going to see if you've picked anything up in that time." She says as she hands me a mixing bowl.

"What if I can't do it?" I ask, looking at the collection of ingredients all over the table.

"Then I will know you are in the same spot your uncle was before he came to me for help with baking." She says and gives me a little push forward.

XXXX

With my first chocolate cake in a little box I walked away from the bakeshop, true it wasn't perfect, but I had done something, with only minimal guidance. I take a deep breath and smile as I whisper out, "Thanks for all your help with baking Aunt George."

Keeping up my pace it wasn't lost on me that I was feeling a little better after a week of being here, well at least a little less angry. Lifting my chocolate cake I felt myself smile, something I hadn't felt like doing in over a month. I was pulled from my thoughts as I hear my mobile ring and I tilt my head to the side as I dig it out of my pocket, rolling it over I see V. Veneto. With a raised eyebrow I wonder why she would be calling me right now, but with a shrug, I answer, "It's nice to hear from you, but I'm a bit far for a booty call."

"Mitchel?" I hear my mother respond and I feel my chest get tight.

"Mum?" I say in a slightly panicked tone of voice.

I hear her sigh before she says, "Yes, " she pauses for a moment before continuing, "are you safe?"

"Yes, I'm safe right now, but I'm not ready to come home yet." I say to her as I find a spot to sit down on a grassy hill and look out towards the direction of Italy.

She's quiet for a moment before asking me carefully, "Is there anything I can do?"

Putting my cake down and drawing my keens up to rest my chin on them I tell her, "Not at the moment. Is everything okay where you are?"

In the background of the phone call I can hear two voices in Italian arguing, followed up by the sound of a slap and my mother says, "Yes, Vittorio is explaining to Littorio what she did was wrong and that she needs to smarten up." She pauses and I hear her moving closer to a street as she says, "I've arranged for an escort for Illustrious to return to Midway, along with a letter explaining what happened out here to Sovereign and Conqueror. I imagine between your aunts and your sisters Miss Illustrious is bound for an unpleasant experience when she returns there."

"Good." A cold tone comes out of me as I think about what occurred.

With my sharp tone, my mother asks, "Mitchel, did I fail you in some way?"

With a sigh I shake my head as I say to her, "No, thinking on it, I'm not sure you were happy with what I was being forced into. Did you know, about her… past?"

"Not all of it, but Vittorio filled me in, shortly after I arrived." She says after a moment and pausing to ask, "Speaking Vittorio, and going by how you answered the phone, I take it that it would be a bit much for her to be of interest?"

Taking a moment to think before I answer her with a heavy tone, "No mum, I don't think I'm in a good headspace to be looking for something to take the place of what just ended right now."

"I understand, Mitchel." She says, sounding a little down before asking me, "But, please call me at least once a week, just so I can stop worrying so much, okay?"

"Alright mum, I'll do what I can about that." I sigh out and pick at the bow on the box with the cake in it.

She's quite a moment before asking, "Can I get a hint as to where you are right now?"

Before I can answer I hear a woman shout out, "Salut, Thunderer!"

"France?" my other asks in a not overly amused tone of voice.

"Southern France." I respond out of habit as I see a well-endowed woman with red hair walking towards me, a big smile on her face.

My mother laughs and sighs out, "Just don't leave me any bastard grandkids out there, okay? I know what some of those girls are like after all."

"Yes, mum." I say as I wave her over to me.

"I love you, Mitchel, and don't forget to call me next week." She says to me.

"Love you too, mum, and I'll call you." I say before I hang up and turn my attention to the red-head that comes over and flops herself down beside me and I say to her, "I thought you would be running late Surcouf."

"And miss out on snacks from Miss Dunkerque's café? Never!" she says with a laugh before reaching across me to tug at the bow on the box.

I move the box away from her a little and she leans more across from me reaching for it as she teases, "If it's good, maybe I'll give you a treat later."

"Oh?" I ask and move the box just a little more.

With one last stretch, she goes just a little too far and bow into the grass and she pouts, "Meanie."

With a sigh I admit, "I don't know how good it is, it's the first chocolate cake I've ever made, I don't do a lot of cooking, let alone baking… at least not without my Aunt Howe's or Aunt George's help."

She rolls off of my lap to be on her back on the grass as she grins at me and asks, "So you were talking to your mother?"

I nod as I say, "I was, she worries about me."

Surcouf gives me this playful look before rolling back onto her belly and then crawling up me till we are nose to nose as she whispers, "I got it." A second later she is out of my lap and pulling open the cake box.

"Hey!" I protest and she gets up starting to move away with the cake box, with a giggle in her voice she calls over her shoulder, "This looks so good!"

Pressing my lips together I get up and give chase, the two of us run around on the grass as she starts running backward, laughing the entire way and teasing me with, "If you want it back, you're going to have to take it."

I lunge forward and she gets a surprised look on her face at my movement causing her to lose her balance, sending my cake flying into the sky as we collide. When we land on the ground, it wasn't lost on me the compromised position we were in, and based on the sly look on her face it wasn't lost on her either as she whispered to me, "If you wanted to have some fun like this, all you had to do was ask."

Before I can answer my cake comes down, splatting against the ground beside us and I groan out as I hang my head into her bust, "I was looking forward to trying that."

She giggles before slipping out from under me as she says, "Maybe next time!"

Looking up I see her heading down the hill, waving back at me and I fall to the ground and groan in frustration before rolling onto my back and looking up at the sky as I say, "I'm not even that mad."

Running my hands down my face to take a moment and get myself centered I hear a voice speak to me, "That is an improvement, non?"

Opening my eyes I see warm red eyes looking back at me, framed in strawberry blond hair, "It is." I respond.

She smiles at me and moves to sit beside me, tucking her hands under her large puffy dress as she says, "I was happy to see that you didn't try to force that compromised position with Surcouf to do something disgraceful."

Sitting up I look at my chocolate cake as I say to her, "I baked a cake with Dunkerque today, I wanted to share it with you, Richelieu."

She leans back to look at the cake on the ground before she says, "That is alright, cake comes and goes, but how are you feeling?"

"Not as angry at the world." I admit.

She smiles at me before reaching over to rub my shoulder as she says, "That is good. How is your mother?"

I blink a couple of times before asking, "H… how did you know I talked to her?"

She smiles and laughs before saying, "I didn't, but I have noticed you've not touched your mobile phone since you arrived. So I guessed that you would speak to someone that you care for if they called."

With a laugh and a hanging head I admit, "I thought it was Vittorio wondering if I would be up for physical pleasure."

Richelieu blinks a few times before her cheeks get bright red and she clears her throat before saying, "Ah."

Laying back down I look up at the sky as it started to turn red with the setting sun as I ask her, "You mentioned about enjoying life's pleasures before, have you ever?"

"I…I…" she stutters for a moment before finding an answer through bright red cheeks, "That is not a question I will answer at the moment if you don't mind."

With a sideways look I shrug and say to her, "Fine, but it does feel good."

Richelieu brushes some hair behind an ear, clearly trying to find a way out of this conversation and I take a deep breath of the sea air as I say to her, "I think I'm about done here, I can't live in a bubble forever."

Richelieu frowns and nods as she says, "That is true, but are you strong enough to return to your life yet?"

Shaking my head back and forth I answer, "No, I know that much. I'm better, but not ready for that, at least not yet."

Richelieu lays back and looks at me as she says, "Then perhaps find something fun, I'm sure you've had some experience with that now."

"I liked baking with Dunkerque, but I'm no baker. I'm good at fighting, but I don't like who I am when I lean into what I'm good at." I sigh out.

"That is a start, at least." She says with a smile before asking, "Would you take an evening meal with me tonight? I'm sure Jean wouldn't mind if you joined us tonight."

I blink a couple of times as I recall my first meeting with Jean Bart and my suggestion at tossing the sheets with her and I say, "Oh, I'm not sure about that."

Richelieu giggles softly as she gets up and pulls me up by my hands as she says, "I am sure it would be, she has not stopped talking about you since you made port here."

"Really?" I ask with a slightly happy tone.

Richelieu smirks as she says, "Oui."

"Okay then." I say as she links arms with me again and we start to head to her flat.

XXXX

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As we entered her flat, Richelieu called out in her native language, "Jean, tu es là?"

I watch as Richelieu takes off her shoes, leaving them at the door, beside a pair of boots. Just before a call from the kitchen comes back I hear the fridge door close, "Ouais, j'ai la sortie que tu aimes, pourquoi?"

Richelieu looks back at me and offers an apologetic smile

while an orange cat comes over and rubs itself against her leg and she calls back to the kitchen, "Êtes-vous en état de déshabillage?"

That was when the sound of a bottle cap being tossed in a bin came along with Jean Bart's voice, "Pourquoi? Ce n'est pas comme si des hommes passaient."

Richelieu pinched the bridge of her nose before an amused smirk touched her lips and she motioned for me to go to the kitchen, just as I was about to round the corner, Richeliue called out, "Pourquoi pas, je suis sûr que Thunderer n'hésitera pas à te voir dans ton soutien-gorge et ta culotte."

As I round the corner I hear a crashing sound along with a squeak of surprise, leaning my head around I see Jean Bart sitting on her stern, her hands darting between her thighs as her cheeks are a bright red, all around her are pots and pans and a knocked over bin at her feet, when she sees me she goes a deeper read and I lean back around the corner. It doesn't take long before I hear rapid footfalls out of the kitchen and a door slamming, looking to Richelieu she shakes her head and says to me, "She's getting dressed."

XXXX

I carefully push the orange cat away for the third time since we all sat around the table, poor Jean wasn't able to look me in the eyes all night so far, and her cheeks were still bright red. The dinner had been a surprisingly simple case of take-out soup and salads after what felt like hours Richelieu got up from the table and said, "Jean, would you mind entertaining Thunderer? I forgot that there is something I need to deal with this evening."

Before Jean Bart can answer Richelieu gets up after wiping the corners of her mouth and touches her sister's shoulder with a little wink and heads off to another room, closing the door behind her. Jean for a moment looks panicked before stroking her long brown ponytail and asking, "How long are you planning on sticking around?"

Looking off to the side and out the window, at the water, I sigh out an answer, "Not much longer, I think I'll be getting underway in the morning." With a pause, I turn my attention to her and add, "I'd like to apologize for what I said and how I acted when I first met you."

Jean looked down at the table, her hands slipping off of it and to her lap as she said, "Don't worry about it; it was kind of refreshing to have someone not cower at me for a change."

"Really?" I ask as I arch an eyebrow.

She shifts around a little in her chair before getting up and heading to the kitchen as she asks, "Beer?"

Getting out of my chair I follow as I say, "Please."

The fridge opens and closes quickly before she comes back with a couple of bottles held between her fingers, as I take one she says, "Then again, with the reputation of your guns, I'm sure you've got the same problem. Almost everyone bends over for you when you come near."

With a sigh and a popping of the cap, I move to the patio doors before slipping outside as I say to her, "That hasn't been my experience, rather I would liken it more to a dog that is getting beat by its master."

She moves to stand beside me at the railing, leaning forward and bending at her hips a little, holding the bottle over the side before sipping from it as she says, "I hate people like that. Animals need someone to stick up for them."

Mimicking how she's standing and taking a sip of my own bottle I nod and say to her, "If only I was that lucky."

Jean takes a sip off of her bottle as she asks, "So, I've been respecting your privacy an' all that, but what went so wrong you drifted into our waters?"

With a hang of my head and a sigh, I say to her, "I got heartbroken and did something incredibly stupid and let myself become the monster I had been intended to be."

Jean gives me a sideways look and says, "She'd have to be damn stupid to break your heart."

With a shake of my head and another sip of the beer, I look out over the water and answer her, "An arranged marriage that didn't happen at the last second, and I went looking for why."

"Ah." Jean pauses for a moment, thinking about where she ran across me, and asks, "Littorio?"

Lowering the bottle from my lips and tearing at the label a little I say, "Yes and no. Littorio was involved, but it was not her directly."

Jean nods before using a hand to adjust her ponytail and says, "Well, Littorio has a knack for running things to get her way." She pauses for a moment before changing the subject, "Can I see your phone for a moment?"

With a shrug, I slip a hand into my pocket and take it out, and unlocking it before I hand it over and ask, "Why?"

She takes the phone and starts to type into it before handing it back as she says, "If you want someone to talk to, that understands what it's like to be on the outside looking in. I figure that's not exactly what you'll find over at any RN base."

"Thanks." I answer as I slip it back in my pocket and add, "When I head out of here, any ideas where I should go next?"

She takes a sip from the bottle before standing upright as she says, "Go north and get out of the Med, the Iron Blood for all their bluster are surprisingly fun to hang out with, they know their beer." Twisting around I watch as she heads inside adding, "I'm going to turn in for the night, so if I don't say it in the morning, have a safe trip."

I take the hint and head over to my boots and start to get ready to go, just as I do them up and exit the door, Jean comes back and says, "I seriously considered it, by the way."

"Considered what?" I ask a little puzzled.

She flushes brightly and whispers, "Giving the sheets a toss."

"Oh!" I answer in a surprised tone as my cheeks get hot, before anything else can be said, the door closes and locks. Looking down the hall I feel a little smile on my face as I start to walk to my hull.

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A/N: So, he's a little better and now headed for a more northern adventure. The next chapter will take a little bit to get out, as I'm going to spend a week or two working on the collaboration project with The Hidden War series over on Reddit. If you're on there, give me a follow (u/MetusR) and see WiP versions of these chapters as I post them.