A/N: Five days later…
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"Here are your discharge papers." The nurse then gestured to the space at the bottom of the page, "just sign here and you'll be a free man."
"Thank you." Dylan quickly scribbled his signature and handed back the papers. Going home and sleeping on his own bed sounded so good right about now.
He then grabbed his sea bag from the small cupboard at the corner and hauled the bag to his shoulder before realising that the nurse still stood there.
"Did I forget to sign something?" He tilted his head at the nurse curiously.
"No." She looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry for being too forward, but I am finishing my shift in about 20 minutes and I am wondering whether you would like to grab a drink somewhere. I can give you a lift home too afterwards."
He smiled politely at the invitation. "Thanks for the offer but my friend is picking me up so I can't."
"Oh…" She was disappointed but then she got curious. "Is this friend a pretty girl?"
Dylan smirked at her nosiness. "No, it's a 'He' actually."
"Oh…. Oh…." Her eyes widened at the possible implication. "Damn, you are batting for the other team."
"What?" His eyebrows rose at the suggestion.
"Oh, you're not?"
"Definitely not." He grinned at her comical babbles. In another time and place, her light-heartedness would be an attraction. But his heart simply yearned for another.
The thought of Kate brought a little bit of cloud to his eyes. She had been avoiding him ever since the rescue. She had not visited him either in the wardroom or during the 5 days he had been in hospital while his other crewmates had come by at least once. Her reply to his text had been short and matter-of-factly. Either she had been angry at him or she had been dealing with her own problems. Both prospects had made him worried.
The sound of someone clearing his / her throat made him looked to the direction of the door. His eyes widened in surprise. "X?"
Kate smiled softly at him. "Hey. I heard you need someone to break you out from this place?"
"I thought Swain is going to pick me up?"
"He was. But Sally just got called to work this afternoon, so he has to look after Chloe. He called Charge first but apparently, Charge went fishing up north and he won't be back until tomorrow. So here I am."
Nurse Lisa looked back and forth between her patient and the woman who just arrived. Their interaction was a little bit awkward, but when their gazes met, she could see a hint of softness in both of their eyes. No wonder he had said no to her invite, she thought. "Oh well, it looks like you are in capable hands already, Petty Officer. Good luck!"
"Thank you."
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"Do you want to come in?" Dylan offered as they arrived at the front of his building. The ride had been quiet and it hadn't been a comfortable one.
"Thanks. But I probably shouldn't."
"What's going on, X?" Dylan continued to address the elephant in the room. "Are you angry at me for running off the ship and causing trouble? If that's the case, then don't you think we should discuss it before the next patrol instead of letting it fester?"
She didn't answer. She refused to meet his gaze and just stared resolutely at the steering wheel.
"Fine. I'll see you next patrol."
Kate could only stare as he opened the door and stepped out of her SUV resignedly. She yearned to reassure him that she was not angry at him. Though if she had done that, then she would have been opening a whole new can of worm for the things that she hadn't been ready to admit to herself, let alone to him. However, the sight of his slumped shoulder as he slowly made his way upstairs to his unit changed her mind. So, she parked her car at the visitor parking spot before following his footsteps.
"I'm not angry at you." She watched as he froze in front of his door when hearing her voice. "I was terrified that day."
She continued as she stepped closer towards him, "that day, your heart stopped." Tears started to pool in her eyes at the memory. "Somehow, in the last year, you have become important to me. I don't want to lose you."
Dylan closed the distance between them and grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, I'm OK. You got to me just in time."
"But I almost didn't." She closed her eyes briefly before meeting his. "I wished that you didn't just go off on your own. I wished that you would have trusted us to back you up instead of doing that."
"I trust you." He was surprised at her thought. "I trust you with my life."
"I know you do. But I think deep down, your first instinct is to solve the problem on your own. You take the burden on your shoulder instead of sharing it with us. You need to fight that instinct, Dutchy. You don't need to solve everything on your own now. You have your friends; you have me…"
His finger brushed away the lone tear that escaped from her eyes. "If I promise that I would try to fight that instinct of mine, would you stop avoiding me like the plague?"
She chuckled at his attempt at levity. "Yes, I would."
"I promise I'll try then."
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"Here you go." Dylan brought two mugs of tea and handed one to Kate. He then sat down next to her on the sofa.
"Thanks." She sipped the tea gratefully before looking at his mug curiously. "I thought you'll opt for something stronger."
"Probably not a good idea to go straight to alcohol after I just recovered from concussion."
"True." She nodded in agreement. "What about your lungs?"
"They did another X-ray last night and satisfied that it's now dry."
She nudged his shoulder gently. "I'm glad that you are OK."
"Me too." He smiled at her gesture and scooted closer so that their sides were touching. Now that he had her on his orbit again and away from prying eyes on the ship, he was going to enjoy this moment of peace.
"I'm transferring off the ship." She suddenly said, shattering the quiet moment they had just shared.
"What?" he choked a little bit on his tea.
She looked apologetic as she rubbed his back while he coughed out the little liquid that went the wrong way. "I just lodged the transfer request to the system two days ago."
"Why?" He dreaded the answer; assuming that it would have been related to her relationship with the boss.
She shrugged. "Fresh start. A change in scenery. A chance to test my leadership skill in different setting."
"And to be free with him?"
She shook her head. "No. We broke up."
He stared at her in shock. "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Are you OK?" he looked at her worriedly, wondering whether she was in a denial phase as she seemed too calm for someone who had just broken up with her significant other.
She sighed. "I think so…. We talked for a long time at my house." She continued, "We both cried, but we agreed that going our separate way would be the best course of action."
"Is this because of both of your careers?"
"One of the reasons, yes. We couldn't find a compromise. We thought we did with me trying for promotion and him transferring back to shore posting, but then you knew how that attempt went. Now that the higher ups are sniffing around, we needed to find another way and we just couldn't find a solution where we both would be happy and thriving."
"Hold on. The higher ups? You mean Commander White?"
"Not just her, but Commodore Reynolds too, the head of the fleet command."
"Damn." He looked at her in sympathy.
She grimaced, "That was an awful conversation. I thought Commander White was going to fire me on the spot. But she was quite practical about it. She didn't want to know the detail, but strongly suggested that Mike and I made some decision during shore leave, which we have done now."
"And the other reason?"
Their eyes met at his question. She knew that she wasn't ready to jump to another relationship, not by a long shot, but at the tiny little hope she could see in his eyes, her heart couldn't help but beat faster. "I didn't feel the same way about him anymore." She finally admitted.
"Oh…" He stayed quiet after that small remark, willing himself to not getting his hopes up too much.
"Now I have to wait for a spot to come up for my transfer to come through. It could take up to 6 months apparently. So, I'm going to annoy you for a few more months at least." She nudged his side playfully.
His lips curved up a little at her attempt at levity, "the ship won't be the same without you."
"The ship will survive." She felt a little bit disappointed that he had only mentioned the ship.
Recognising the hint of bitterness in her voice at his attempt at being nonchalant, he then pulled her body gently to rest on his side. "I mean the people in the ship will miss you terribly, especially me."
She smiled at his quick correction. This was indeed why she felt so comfortable with him. His uncanny ability to sense her mood was indeed a gift. "Facebook is invented for a reason you know."
He chuckled. "Facebook is definitely not enough. That's for long lost relatives and people that secretly hate each other in real life but want to keep tabs on each other."
She laughed. "Skype chat then or good old phone call."
"Or maybe I should just follow you and transfer off to wherever they posted you." He said half-jokingly.
"You're crazy." Her eyes widened at his statement.
"I don't think so." He shrugged, "my only attachment to this city is currently you and people like Swain, Charge and 2Dads. Oh, and chicken legs too for some extent. But especially you."
Stunned, she went speechless for a few seconds. She knew that it was unfair to compare the two men and their approach to their career, but the thought had crossed her mind.
"Too much too soon?" He smiled apologetically.
"Maybe." she smiled back and then reached up to kiss his cheek briefly, "But your intention is much appreciated."
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A/N: This next scene is set a month later, after episode 5.04 Spoils of War.
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"Glad that you could make it mate." Charge patted Swain's back with his left hand as his right held his fishing rod.
"Yeah, my mother-in-law is in town." Swain replied with a small smile.
"Oh no…." Charge grimaced in sympathy.
Dylan looked up curiously at the interaction. It was indeed nice to have Swain hanging out with them at their home turf as the other man had always understandably preferred to spend time with his little family whenever they were on leave. He had thought for sure that would have been the case again especially after the incident with the refugee boat and the death of the little girl in the last patrol.
"What's her story?"
"She hates Swain's gut. And the Navy in general." Charge answered for Swain. "I have only met her twice and both times I wondered how she could be related to Sally at all."
"I think she was just afraid of history repeating itself. Her ex-husband, Sally's dad, was in the Navy and he left the family astray many years ago." Swain sighed, "and when Sally got together with me, she was not happy about it. But at least she isn't openly hostile towards me anymore. And she's a good grandmother."
"You are a good man, Swaino." Dylan commented. "Don't let her prejudice affects your marriage."
"Thanks mate." Swain sent an appreciative nod to Dylan before continuing, "I was planning to take Chloe out of Kindy today and then go to the playground to spend time with her. But she begged to go to Kindy as she didn't want Riley to be lonely."
"Who's Riley?" Charge frowned.
"Her 'boyfriend' apparently." Swain gestured with an air quote and shook his head at the thought.
"What?" The three men looked at Swain in shock and amusement at the same time.
"How's a 4-year-old girl can have more luck than me?" 2Dads asked dumbfoundedly.
Dylan sent a warning glare to 2Dads to behave himself, "What do you think about that, Swain?"
"Sally said to me that it's all innocent and Riley is just a friend who happens to be a boy." Swain then smiled ruefully. "For me it's just a reminder that I missed out on so much while I was away on patrol. It won't be long before my little girl is growing up and won't be as excited to see her daddy anymore."
The other men didn't know what to say to that. Charge had his own regret in terms of his own son, but he had made peace with that a long time ago. Swain was still in the middle of experiencing this and any words of platitude seemed empty in their minds.
"Anyway, enough about me." Swain shook his head to get rid of his melancholy. "What's going on with you three? Anything interesting?"
"Nothing. As I said before, my luck hasn't been particularly good with the ladies lately." 2Dads shrugged. "I need a new wing man." He looked pointedly at Charge and Dylan.
Charge rolled his eyes at 2Dads' usual dig. The younger man was still trying to recruit their bosun to join their escapades.
"Give it up 2Dads." Dylan chuckled. "You don't need a wing man. You just need to stop trying to impress the ladies with magic tricks and have a real conversation with them instead."
Swain laughed at the other men's banter; he hadn't been particularly good at the dating scenes either. He knew that he was a lucky man for having found Sally.
"You just don't have time for your friends anymore, now that you are hanging out with the X all the time." 2Dads teased Dylan playfully, "I'm surprised you even made it to our fishing trip today."
Charge sniggered at 2Dads' words, "or that she's not tagging along."
Dylan glared at the two men and sneaked a quick glance at Swain worriedly. "you guys need to stop gossiping like a bunch of teenagers."
"Oh, come on, Dutchy." 2Dads patted Dylan's back. "Everybody could see that you guys are getting closer."
"And that she doesn't even bring her car anymore to the dock. You just give her a lift on your bike instead." Swain chimed in.
Shit. Dylan looked up in alarm at Swain's words. "Guys, it was nothing. Her house is on the way."
Swain raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I know both of your addresses. And hers is definitely not on your way. You had to go 20 minutes the other way to pick her up before heading to the base."
"Wow, that's dedication…." Charge commented. He had been wondering about their XO and bosun's interaction ever since that café outing at the marina a few months ago.
Dylan sighed internally. He knew that he had been a bit careless about his interaction with Kate in the last month, but he hadn't known how much. He needed to be a lot more careful from now on. "Look, we are friends. We just like hanging out with each other. There is nothing going on other than that. She didn't need this kind of rumour going around guys. Please just don't, OK?"
The three men listened to Dylan's pleading tone and looked at each other. They could sense the seriousness of the situation.
"So, you are OK then with her and Captain Roth having lunch together a few days ago?" 2Dads asked curiously.
"What?" Dylan couldn't help his immediate reaction at the new information before remembering that he had to appear nonchalant about this whole situation.
The three men looked at Dylan amusedly. His reaction just proved to them that something was definitely going on between the two, especially on his part.
2Dads shrugged, "Bird and Flick saw them having lunch at that café next to Navcom. They said that the two looked cosy together."
Dylan stayed quiet after hearing that, pretending to concentrate on his own fishing rod so that he could ponder about the revelation. He wondered why Kate hadn't mentioned the lunch to him. He then sighed internally. Who was he kidding? She was a free woman; she didn't owe him anything, he thought frustratingly.
"Hey Dutchy, you know it's probably nothing yeah?" Charge stared at the other man worriedly after a prolonged silence.
"They broke up a long time ago." Swain chimed in too.
"And you are definitely way cooler than him." 2Dads rounded up the pep talk.
Dylan chuckled at the way the three men had tried to support him and finally said to them. "Just shut up and let's just catch some fish hey."
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A/N: This next scene is set a month after the last scene, straight after episode 5.05 Dead Zone.
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It was quite rare to have a feeling of total accomplishment when one finished a regular patrol. Usually, it was a balance, where they won some and they lost some. But not in the last few days. Ruby Johnson was responding to the cancer treatment. Dr Wallace's clinic in Stokes Island was getting more funding due to the exposure from the media and of course Braxton Mining would be held responsible for illegal waste dumping after the evidence that Hammersley had collated.
Kate lived for moments like this in the Navy, a reminder that her job really made a difference in people's lives. This outweighed the mundaneness of the day-to-day running of the ship and the sacrifice that the crews had to made in terms of other aspect of their lives.
This was why her hair was loose, the saucepan was sizzling and a large glass of wine was sipped in between her chopping motion. She was a bit disappointed that Dylan had left the ship before she had gotten the chance of asking him to come over for dinner tonight. But she still had decided to treat herself and started cooking anyway.
She just took another sip of her wine when her doorbell rang.
Frowning at the interruption, she then washed her hand before turning the stove off and made her way to the door. At the sight of the tall silhouette, her lips started to curve up.
"Hey." She smiled at the man she had wanted to invite as a guest in the first place.
Dylan grinned broadly at the sight of her welcoming smile. "Hey, I am hoping that you are free tonight so that we can go out for dinner."
"I think I have a better idea." She then gestured for him to come in before locking the door.
"Something smelled good." Dylan commented when she pulled his hand to encourage him stepping further into the house.
"Yep, I am cooking and there are definitely enough ingredients for two." She stepped back into the kitchen and turned the stove back on to continue browning the meatball.
They kept each other company during cooking and eventually dinner. Easy conversations were flowing and by the end of dinner their fingers were entwined, and smiles were abundant.
It was when he finally sat down on her couch while she went back to the fridge to grab more drinks for them that he remembered why he was craving her company in the first place. He thought that he had needed some time alone after the patrol to think about the unsettling conversation he had had with Ms Cruise, but the resulting havoc it had created in his mind had forced him to stop. He could feel himself unravelling and he needed to talk it through with someone else.
"Here you go."
"Thanks." He took a few sips of his beer before putting the bottle down on the coffee table and rested his back on the couch.
"Are you OK?" Kate had been observing him throughout the night and while he had been smiling and attentive during dinner, she could still sense a wariness in his posture. In fact, she had noticed that he had been a bit quiet during this patrol. Unfortunately, the whole ordeal with the mining company had occupied her and she hadn't had a chance to ask him about it.
His lips curved up at her observation power. He then turned his body towards her and looked at her seriously. "Have you ever had a one-night-stand that you couldn't remember?"
Kate raised her eyebrows at his odd question. "Which part that you couldn't remember? The act? The person's name or the fact that you had it in the first place?"
"The last one."
"Then no." She frowned in contemplation. "I would say that the last one sounded more like an assault." She then grabbed his hand and held tight. "what's going on?"
He squeezed her hand in reply before telling her about his conversation with Ms Cruise. "After telling me that I continue to be a security risk because I was a bit of a tool and had random one-night-stands in the past, she then asked me how many times I have spilled work secrets to the women that I've slept with."
"What did you say?"
"Never of course." He sighed, "at this point I was really offended by her accusation and I was pretty sure that nothing like that have ever happened. To my knowledge, I have never been drunk to the point of blabbering about work to a random person. But then she asked me 'what about the gulf?'."
"The gulf? That specific incident with your boarding officer?"
"I assume so. I was too stunned to reply and she just left me standing there."
"Why would she bring up that incident? The whole thing was clearly documented in the report as random pirate attack. What does that have to do with a one-night-stand?" She shook her head at that woman's audacity and what clearly was a personal vendetta against Dylan.
"I suppressed a lot of memories from that time actually," he closed his eyes briefly as the conversation reminded him that he had lost a good friend in that incident. "But her question brought up a specific memory that happened just before that doomed patrol."
"What is it?"
"We had a party organised by the US base in Afghanistan during a rare quiet time. I remembered that I had fun and I was drinking and then nothing at all."
She shifted closer and tucked herself to his side as she could sense his distress.
His eyes softened at her gesture and he squeezed her shoulder in gratitude before continuing. "The next thing I remembered was waking up naked in a random motel room near the base. I really couldn't remember anything that had happened before that."
"Did you lose anything?"
"No. I still had my wallet, my ID, my access card. So, I just put my clothes back on and got out of there. I remembered that the receptionist didn't say a thing or demanded payment, so I presumed myself or someone else had paid the bill."
"Did you tell anyone about this?"
"I told Josh, my bunkmate, but since no actual harm had been done, we didn't think it warranted further reporting. And we were back in patrol that afternoon."
Kate pondered at the information and slowly understood the implication of the woman's random question. "You thought that you had a one-night-stand that you could not remember that particular night, then somehow spilled some operational secrets that contributed to the incident?"
"Yes."
"Dutchy…." She looked at him pleadingly, "you were not responsible for that incident. I read the report. There were no operational mistakes that day. Everything was done by the book. The fact of the matter is that pirates were rampant in the area and it was just an unfortunate incident. Do not let that woman poison your mind."
"But how could she know about that night then?"
"She didn't. She made an assumption." Kate insisted. "She is trying to undermine your credibility, so she had an excuse to exclude you from her operation."
"What if she was there on the ground that year, doing some work for some agency, and she was the one that I was blabbering to?" He just couldn't shake the feeling that Ms Cruise was somehow involved in this. "And I've always felt a bit off about the pirates' ambush that day. We got no intel at all about pirate activities and usually the base intel was spot on. But that day was just a disaster."
Kate shook her head as she could see him spiralling down. "Dylan…."
Their eyes met as he heard his first name came through her lips. Her hands on both of his cheeks also grounded him.
"Dylan, listen to me. You are not responsible for your boarding officer's death. The pirates killed him; they were the one who pulled the triggers. And you saved the lives of 6 crewmates that day. Without you, six sets of families would have been burying their loved ones. You should honour the fallen, but you must remember your victory too."
Touched by her words, he cupped her hands on his cheeks and took a deep breath to let it all sunk in. He then took both of her hands in his and peppered kisses on her knuckles softly.
Her cheeks burned at his sweet gesture, but she was glad that his eyes were a lot clearer now. "Better?"
"Much." He smiled at her. "Thank you."
Kate then looked at him seriously. "Promise me that you won't let her words get into your head anymore."
"I'll try," he sighed, "it's hard though. She just rubs me the wrong way."
"Well, that's her personality. I wished that we have seen the last of her, but unfortunately, I have another briefing at Navcom tomorrow about the security operation. So, I presume that she will grace us with her presence soon."
"Can't wait." Dylan rolled his eyes at the thought. "I still don't trust her."
Kate nodded in agreement, "the fact that she tried to mess with your head pisses me off too."
He chuckled, "am I going to see a cage fight between you two in my honour?"
"You wish…" she slapped his shoulder at his cheeky question.
He grinned at her reaction before staring at her seriously. "Thank you for listening today, Kate. I was not in a good place a few hours ago, but you have made it better."
"You are welcome Dylan."
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To be continued...