Part Fourteen – Steal Whales
Pinching the bridge of my nose as I let out a yawn and dropped my styles that I had been using on the datapad before I rubbed my eyes just as my mobile started to ring, looking over to it I see it's Conqueror. With a couple of quick taps, I put her on video and asked, "What's on your mind Big Sister?"
"Are you still slogging away at your desk?" she asks in that Scottish accent of hers, pausing to add, "It's got to be getting close to twenty-hundred hours there now."
With a sigh I confirm, "Aye, I am. And yes, it's getting late here, but what about you though? Why are you calling me at nearly midnight?"
"Oi, it's only twenty-three hundred here, but I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you're doing alright." She says to me as I see her starting to move around her room.
Sitting back in my chair I rub my face as I say, "If only someone had told me how much paperwork would be sent my way…"
She laughs and calls back when she's out of the frame, "Now where would the fun in that be? But seriously little brother, why are you still in the office this late?"
Getting out of my chair I walk over to my window and look at the harbor in the dark and light snow coming down as I answer, "Mom is part of the convoy that's due in tomorrow, I want to make sure I've got everything squared away so that I can spend time with her this weekend." Conqueror doesn't say anything right away, but I can hear her moving about so I ask, "Somethings up, isn't it?"
"Aye." She says in a tone that suggests she doesn't want to admit something so I press, "What is it?"
Conqueror sighs and comes back into view with a giant oversized tee-shirt I had sent her with a maple leaf in the center, I see her looking off to the side and she takes a deep breath before saying, "I wanted to give you a heads up, but Dominion wouldn't let me till the last minute."
I feel my chest tighten up as I ask, "About?"
"Illustrious is part of the convoy." She says finally.
The news hits me like a wave out of the North Atlantic, sending a shock through my system and my voice raises into the near panic levels as I ask, "Why wouldn't Dominion let you tell me sooner?!"
Conqueror sits on her bed and pushes some hair behind an ear as she says to me, "We've had some time to talk to her and hear her side of things, and we both feel it'd be good for the two of you to talk."
I ball my right hand and bang it on the window frame as I snap, "The last time I saw her or talked to her she ripped out my heart and stomped on it."
"I know." Conqueror tells me before pausing and adding, "But there was a lot that went on that you didn't know about little brother."
"Is it going to change what she did?" I ask over my shoulder at her.
"No, but it'll give you some context you didn't have before." She says to me.
"Thanks." I say as I go over and turn off my phone before picking up a pen and throwing it across the room as I softly curse out, "Damn it!"
Walking around my office I pick up my pen as I remind myself that I still have a long way to go on being better. Just after I picked up my pen, my office door opens and Ontario is standing there, her heavy winter coat around her and she smiles at me as she says, "Good night, Sir, and have a good weekend."
I force a pleasant smile onto my face as I say to her, "Thanks Ontario, you too."
She gives me a sly look before looking around and asking, "Is New Jersey coming into town again?"
With a shrug I admit with a frown, "I don't know, what I do know is at my mother is due in tomorrow, along with my ex."
I was surprised to see Ontario cross the room and give me a tight hug as she says, "Don't fret about that, Sir. Halifax is big, you might not even bump into your ex."
Patting her back I sigh out, "If only I was that lucky, anyway, you should get out of here and enjoy your weekend."
Ontario lets go of me and turns to face me just as she starts to go out the door, "I wil-" she didn't finish that as her heels caught on the transition, and down she went, landing on her stern. She looks up at me with her red eyes, her cheeks starting to go a bit red and I move to help her up as she says with a bit of a laugh, "I'm such a klutz."
"You mean you don't do it to break the tension?" I ask with a tone that suggests I'm having a go at her.
She laughs and playfully slaps my arm as she turns to leave, again, and waves before she's out of the office. Looking over my shoulder at the clock on the wall I sigh and shut down my office, not much more I can get done tonight anyway.
By the time I was almost home, I hear my mobile ping with a Juustagram post from New Jersey. I open it to see a picture of some passes to the film festival that's starting this weakened here in Halifax. Below it, I see Mo has posted asking who the second ticket is for. I shake my head and pocket my mobile before heading back to my quarters to try and get some rest before my mother and ex arrive.
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I spent most of my morning standing at the docks the next day, waiting for the convoy to dock and unload; my stomach was doing backflips as I saw that all too familiar aircraft carrier hull finish tying down. I was so consumed by that sight I missed my mother coming up to me; it wasn't until she put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Mitchel."
Blinking and jumping a little before I turned my attention to her and wrapped her in a tight hug as I said, "Hi Mom."
She rubbed my back before kissing my cheek and saying to me, "Oh I missed you, my sweet boy." Leaning out of the embrace she looked towards Illustrious' hull and sighed out, "Can you send me your address so that I can meet you there? You and Illustrious need to talk."
Digging into my coat I take out my house keys and a note with my address before I hand it to her and ask, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
My mother pats my cheek as she says, "No, but I know it needs to happen, for you both to get some closure."
With a sigh and a nod of my head I give my mother one last hug as I say to her, "Alright, I'll be home as soon as I can."
Once she was out of my hug I watch as she picks up her pack and starts to head up the docks, I felt a tiny bit better and now so much worse, since I knew there was no way out of this. It was at that moment however I heard something that made my blood run cold, a voice I had known so well said, "Hello, Mitchel."
I opened and closed my fists a couple of times before I turned to face her, closing my eyes I turned around, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as I opened my red eyes to see her standing there, in a heavy winter coat, her long silver hair tied back and her blue eyes looking up at me. I was surprised to not see any malice in them, yet there was no happiness in them either at seeing me. That perhaps was the biggest dagger of all, trying to keep myself controlled I greeted her, "Illustrious."
Taking a gloved hand, she brushed a stray hair behind an ear and asked, "How are you doing?"
Looking off to the side I sigh out, "I got some help, so I'm doing better. How is Littorio?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her frown a little before admitting, "I don't honestly know, I haven't seen her since I transfer to the Home Fleet." She paused and look around a little before asking, "Can we go for tea and talk?"
My lips compress and I nod, leading her to my office since I knew there wouldn't be anyone to disturb us.
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I put down a teapot with her favorite tea in it and I had coffee, she moved to the couch in my office, taking off her coat, as she sat down and crossed her knees she gave me a sad look before saying to me, "I'm sorry for hurting you."
Rolling my eyes I snort out, "Sure."
She sighs and leans against the back of the couch and sips her tea as she says, "I told Dominion this was a bad idea."
"Then why did you go through with this?" I ask in a tone that suggested I was expecting a second shoe to drop.
She sips her tea and says to me, "No matter what happened, one of us was going to get hurt. Elizabeth saw to that."
I blink a couple of times and give her a sideways look and ask, "What does the half-pint have to do with this?"
Illustrious put her tea down and looks off to the side as she rubs her arms and says to me, "I'm not entirely innocent, I used sex appeal to get your interest and keep it, even used sex to keep you interested." She pauses and looks down at her hands, "But I didn't get a choice in how things started."
"Bull crap. I heard the two of you; she asked you if it was what you wanted." I counter.
That was when she looked up at me and I saw the pain in her eyes as she retorts getting to her feet, "And she robbed me of my ability to give consent!" I suddenly felt so sick to my stomach; did that mean that every time we did something, it wasn't consensual? As if sensing my distress she adds, "No, you had my consent when we did physical acts, don't worry about that."
That didn't help, much, but it was better than being accused of doing something very vile, I ball my hands and ask her point blank, "Did it mean anything to you?"
She looked like she was about to retort something spiteful or hurtful but stopped herself, adjusted her hair, and sat back down before saying to me, "It did, I care about you Mitchel, but I don't love you in that way, at least not anymore. But I'm not sure if I truly loved you like that or if it was forced on me."
I lean forward, making an arch with my hands, resting my elbows on my knees as I ask her, "How long were you feeling like that?"
"Shortly after Elizabeth was replaced as the Flagship and her hold over me ended." She admits, looking off to the side.
"So, for about two years then, why, why didn't you say something sooner?" I beg, doing my best to keep my voice from cracking.
She reaches over and touches my knee and asks, "How do you break someone's heart? I had become invested in what we had, but I was suffocating in it too."
I look down at her hand and reach down with my right and take it off my knee and stand to walk around my office before I say, "I think it would've hurt less, if you were honest about this, two years ago."
Looking over my shoulder I see her look off to the side as she picked up her tea and whispered, "Perhaps your right." She pauses to glare at me and snipe, "But what would you have done to me then? I worked hard on making you stable, even just a little!"
Sliding a hand down my face I took a deep breath before I try to be as calm as I can and say to her, "We'll never know because you didn't trust me enough. You knew full well what I had been through, so you thought lying to me for two years was the best option?!"
Without looking back at her, I know she's gotten to her feet again as she hollers at me, "And take the risk of you hitting me in a blind rage? I'm nice, but I'm not stupid!"
Taking another deep breath a couple of times before looking over my shoulder at her standing legs apart, hands on her hips, and leaning forward, I bit back all the rage I felt right now as I say, "No, you're just selfish."
"I gave you two years! How is that selfish?!" she yells back.
I take a step forward, getting right into her face as I shoot right back, "Selfish for not being honest with me! Selfish for letting me think that for two years everything was good! For letting me feel like I could trust you and love you!"
"So you would've liked it better if I broke your heart the second I was no longer under Elizabeth's control?" she asks blinking at me and a stunned look on her face.
"I would've respected it." I counter and stand fully upright as I add, "But for now, you don't have my respect and I think it would be best if you were to leave my office and get underway as soon as the convoy is ready to leave."
I can tell she bites back a retort as she turns and grabs her coat to leave my office, as she exits the room, she stops and looks back at me and says before closing the door, "Good luck, Mitchel, you're going to need it."
Once the door shuts, I sit back down in my chair, resting my nose between my hands, and close my eyes as I feel tears starting to roll down my cheeks.
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Following Prince of Wales
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Standing in the spare bedroom of her son's quarters she had just finished storing her clothes for the week when she heard a knock coming from the front door. Heading down to the door she heard a woman call out, "Come out here Big Guy we've got movie passes!"
Tilting her head to the side Wales opened the door to see a tall woman with long blue hair in a big puffy jacket facing away from the door and Wales asked, "Excuse me?"
The woman turned around and looked at Wales, her head tilting to the side and she asked, "This is Thunderer's place, right?"
Wales nodded slowly before introducing herself, "It is, and I'm his mother, HMS Prince of Wales, who might you be?"
The blue-haired woman blinked a few times before she started to grin and say, "I'm USS New Jersey, I got passes to the film festival for me and the Big Guy this weekend."
Wales stepped back from the door and gestured for New Jersey to enter as she said, "I'm not sure that is going to happen this weekend, but Mitchel should be home soon."
"Mitchel?" New Jersey asked as she came inside and took off her boots and jacket.
Wales nodded and closed the door as she said, "The name he was born with before he became kansen."
"Wait, so he wasn't born as one of us?" New Jersey asked as she shook out some of the snow out of her hair.
Wales shook her head and started to walk to the kitchen as she said, "No, he grew up human, then a series of unfortunate events left me with no choice but to force a change on him."
"Like what?" New Jersey asked as she followed along into the kitchen.
Wales moved to set on the kettle while New Jersey went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of orange juice. Wales watched her as she New Jersey had gone into the fridge without a moment's pause before she said, "Yes, it's a long story of abduction, abuse, and betrayal. Something I think you'd be better off asking him about."
New Jersey went to the living room and sat sideways in a big armchair, kicking her legs over an arm as she said, "Thanks, but no thanks. I've managed to figure out some subjects are sensitive topics for him." She pauses to lift up a hand as she raised a finger to list off the topics, "Queen Elizabeth, Illustrious, becoming kansen, and his father."
When the kettle started to boil Wales poured some tea and went into the living room to sit across from New Jersey and look at her sideways for a moment before asking, "Just how much time do you spend with Mitchel?"
New Jersey sips some of her juice and looks thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I come up from Norfolk most weekends, drag him around the city for a couple of days then head back home for Monday."
Wales nodded slowly and asked, "Why?"
New Jersey shrugged and said, "He needs a friend that is someone he can't boss around, and I've made it my mission to loosen him up."
Sitting back in her chair Wales sips her tea just as the front door opens, and shuts shortly after, New Jersey gets out of the chair and calls out, "Hey Big Guy, are we doing the movies or what?"
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Back to POV
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"New Jersey?" I ask out in a puzzled tone and look down at the boots by my door.
"I keep telling you, call me NJ!" she yells back.
Getting my stuff off, I hurry to my living room to see my mother sitting sipping tea and NJ standing there in leggings and a sweater, a big grin on her face. I look between the two of them and then address New Jersey as I say to her, "Sorry, but my mother is in town this week."
New Jersey pouts a little before coming over and touching my arm as she makes a big show of being disappointed and moans out, "But I was looking forward to this!"
"I know, I know." I say to her.
She winks at me and says, "I'll just go and find some Royal Navy girl that wants to take in the movies tonight then."
I escort New Jersey to the door and ask her, "You're okay with this, right?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asks as she does up her coat.
With a shrug, I answer, "I don't know, seemed like the right thing to ask."
She laughs and pats my arm again before opening the door and stepping out as she teases, "Have fun with mommy."
I smile at New Jersey and wave to her as she ducks out into the snow before closing the door and my mother says to me, "She was, interesting." My mother pauses to sip some tea before asking, "Are you two seeing each other?"
Blinking a couple of times at her I say, "Mom!"
She shrugs and says to me, "She said it herself, visits you weekly, it leaves me wondering."
Shaking my head I go into the kitchen and start the one cup coffee maker as I say to her, "She's a friend, nothing more, nothing less."
"If you say so." My mother says with a shrug and sips more tea.
"I do say so." I counter as I wait for the mug to fill.
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A/N: And here we got some closure for Lusty and Thunderer, neither came out of this one without some damage so to speak. As for writing NJ, yes, she is a lot of fun to write, but tricky to find the right balance between silly and serious.