A/N: Ten days later...

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"Alright, now that everyone is here, we can start the meeting." Mike closed the door to the ship's office and faced his senior sailors. "Welcome back everyone."

A round of 'Thank you, Sir' reverberated around the room at his greeting.

"Glad to see you back on your feet again X." Mike nodded to Kate in acknowledgement.

"Glad to be back Sir." Kate replied with a small smile.

"You're still on light duties though, Ma'am." Swain commented teasingly, knowing that she was not too fond of that directive.

"Yes, Swain, as you keep reminding me." Kate rolled her eyes fondly at the medic and the rest of the occupants in the room just grinned at her reaction.

Mike then directed the conversation to ship's business. "Charge, I presume all the maintenance work went well during the break?"

"Yes Sir. The gearbox for the anchor was a little bit touchy earlier, but with a little bit of love, it's now back to perfection."

Mike nodded, "I guess this is a great time to test the engine then. Just to make sure there is no lingering problem. Charge, I need you to devise a plan for testing and any manoeuvres that you need the helmsman to perform throughout this patrol by tomorrow morning."

"Yes Sir." Charge made a mental note to do so in the next few hours.

Mike then continued, "I am planning to make this patrol a light one in terms of watching out for FFVs and SIEVs. We'll do a casual watch, but I've received an approval from Navcom to delegate most of our watches to Kingston and Glenelg. We'll only respond to an emergency mayday if no other patrol boats can respond to it. The main purpose for this patrol would be for engine testing and training drills."

"What sort of training are you thinking Sir?"

"Ah, that would be up to you Dutchy." Mike looked at his bosun with a small smile. "I am proposing full combat and weapons training for all the junior sailors. But you will need to work out the finer details. Make a plan and submit it to me by tomorrow morning as well please."

"I'm so glad that I'm not a junior anymore." Charge commented with a shudder, "those young people would be so glad when the patrol was over after the big fella here had put them through their paces."

Dutchy just smirked at the comment. He must admit that this task was right up his alley. It would be really good to spend some time with the juniors and assessed their potential for boarding parties. "The plan will be on your desk by morning Sir."

"Very good." Mike then turned his attention to his medic. "Swain, I need you at the helm to help Charge with engine testing, but I want you to set aside an afternoon or two to do a refresher on first aid training for all crews. Coordinate with Charge as to when the best time would be please."

Swain nodded at the directive but then looked at his CO seriously. "I think we need to also talk about this morning's news Sir."

"Ah Yes, thanks Swain."

"What sort of news, Sir?" Kate looked at the two of them quizzically, wondering if this was about Ryan and his noticeable absence in this patrol.

Mike sighed at the troubling news that he just got this morning. "This is strictly between us in the room. The rest of the crews do not need to know, understood?"

Charge, Dylan and Kate looked at each other confusedly before agreeing to their CO.

"This morning, ASIO informed Swain and I that Agent Smith's death in our last patrol was not an accident." Mike paused before delivering his next sentence. "Madelaine Cruise killed Agent Smith."

"What?" Kate stared at Mike in disbelief. "I thought the stowaway killed Agent Smith."

"Nope. Ms Cruise made the confession herself. She said it was in self-defence as Agent Smith was trying to kill her that night."

"That doesn't make sense Sir. He didn't seem violent. Just struggling because of the death of his agents. Why would he want to kill Ms Cruise?"

"Maybe the alcohol made him lose his rational thoughts?"

Mike lifted his hand to halt the discussion between Charge and Dylan. "Ms Cruise said that she suspected that Agent Smith was a double-agent and confronted him about it that night. That's when he attacked her." He then continued, "further investigation by ASIO proved Ms Cruise's allegation. They found evidence of his treachery at his home and his personal computer."

"A bit too convenient since a dead man couldn't defend himself." Charge commented cynically.

Dylan nodded at Charge's comment. "Did they test the blood under his fingernails? Was it 2Dads'?"

"Yes. But there was Ms Cruise's too." Swain piped in.

"And I missed the marks when I inspected her that day." Kate sighed in annoyance.

"Not your fault X." Swain said sympathetically, "it could be somewhere hidden. Or she could've used make-up."

"And yet, she had tried to have 2Dads arrested for the crime, while knowing all along that there was no way he could've done it." Dylan scowled at the thought.

"I'm still not trusting her. Period." Charge stated. "Especially not after she prevented me from firing my gun on the man that was attacking the X on that Moshir's mission."

"What?" Dylan exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah. She pushed my gun down and said that I couldn't break my cover as it would have ruined her precious intel." Charge then continued hotly, "we knew at that point that Moshir would've run anyway, there was no way he would've stayed in that location after discovering that we were onto him. So, her intel was shot to hell. I don't know why she thought she could preserve it by letting the X died."

"She's trying to buy time for Moshir to get away cleanly." Kate stated her theory calmly.

The men in the room went silent at their XO's words.

"X?" Mike looked at her questioningly.

Kate had had a lot of time to think about the sequence of event on that mission and the odd way Ms Cruise had insisted to protect the intel at all costs, despite the fact that it had been compromised. There could only be a few reasons why she would do such thing. One, she was a bad agent, which was unlikely. The other one would be that she was the double-agent, not Agent Smith.

"If Dutchy didn't start the gun battle, Moshir would have been able to clear the camp, destroy all the evidence and run away with all his men intact to start a new training camp in another location. By delaying or preventing us to start an assault of the camp, she was giving time for Moshir to do just that." Kate then continued, "I suspected that was why the mission was only an intel-gathering one and not apprehension. By delaying the apprehension part, she could control when the information would reach her superior and thus giving her time to warn Moshir."

"X, there is only room for one conspiracy theorist in this ship and that is Charge's territory." Mike warned Kate gently.

"Noted Sir." Kate smiled as she noticed Charge's excited expression at her theory. "I have no evidence obviously and she did save Swain's life in the end. But I think that our lives are expendable in her eyes unless we are useful to her goals. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what her goals are. And if those goals remain ambiguous at best, we need to be extremely vigilant when we are called to assist her mission."

"Welcome to the conspiracy club X." Charge commented teasingly at his XO.

"Just don't start joining him in searching for UFO." Swain warned jokingly, melting the serious atmosphere even further.

"Alright… alright…." Mike shook his head fondly at his crews. "Let's keep these theories to ourselves please. For the time being, Ms Cruise is cleared of all suspicion. The enquiry is officially closed. Let's just keep looking out for each other and keep our wits sharp and our trainings current so that we are ready for any circumstances that may come our way. Understood?"

"Aye Sir."

Mike nodded at all of them and said, "very well. Let's get on with this patrol. X, can I speak to you privately please?"

Kate nodded and waited until her crews had left the room before she looked at her CO curiously. "What is it, Sir?"

Mike closed the door again before taking a deep breath and looking at her with weary expression. "I want to let you know that Ryan has officially gone AWOL."

"He didn't turn up for duty at his new posting?"

"No." Mike sighed in defeat. "He sent a text to Max saying that he's fine but don't look for him."

"What are you going to do?"

Mike shrugged. "I don't know. I tried calling him several times. I'm sure Max has done the same."

"Maybe ask Bird or 2Dads to contact him? Or does he have any other friends that he could have stayed with?" Kate replied thoughtfully. "I think he might be more responsive to his friends rather than his parents at this stage."

"Good idea, Kate." Mike smiled apologetically at her. "Do you mind keeping this between us for now?"

"Sure." Kate shrugged, "it's not my story to tell anyway. Do you want me to get Bird to come and see you when she has finished prepping lunch?"

"Yes, that would be great." Mike nodded gratefully, "thanks Kate, appreciate it."

Kate nodded, "no worries Sir, anything else?"

"No. That is all."

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Ten days later, Kate was officially bored out of her mind. Mike had made true of his promise of making this patrol as light as possible. There had been no boarding and no mayday to respond to, just training, paperworks, inventory checking, equipment testing and light maintenance all around the ship. She was immensely grateful for his decision, as it had allowed her to truly recuperate, but she honestly couldn't wait until she finished this patrol and rest at home and ultimately in Dylan's arms.

The thought of her man brought a smile to her face. She suspected that out of the two of them, he was the one having a greater time that she was. Being in the jungle for training expedition with 2Dads, RO and Bird should match his idea of fun. He had been keen for the two of them to go camping for some time now but while she would enjoy the company, she wasn't too sure about roughing it up in the wilderness for a week or so. Maybe she could convince him to do a shorter, less hardcore trip to a location with at least a running shower nearby instead. She made a mental note to do so on her next shore leave.

Hammersley was currently on its way to pick up the Exped crews from the Hawkesbury Island near Torres Strait and after that they would commence their journey home to Cairns. They were currently running late which irritated Mike a little bit, although Swain managed to pull a smile off his face by commenting on the possibility of the junior sailors marching up and down the beach on Dylan's order.

Flick was currently manning the communication system with Charge's help. The young sailor had supposed to go to the Exped with the rest of the team but a stomach bug just the night before had forced her to stay aboard the ship which had disappointed her immensely. She was a keen sailor, loved the sea and readily grasped her training especially in terms of weaponry and combat. Dylan saw a lot of potential in her and had already mentioned to Kate on a few occasions that Flick would be a great bosun one day. Kate agreed with Dylan's assessment, but she also saw another possible path for the young girl if she would choose to go the Officer's route and earned her commission instead.

It was during her contemplation that the radio suddenly crackled and RO's voice could be heard reverberating around the bridge.

"Hammersley, this is RO. Can anyone hear me, over?"

Swain frowned at the call. "I'm pretty sure they didn't bring a sat phone to this Exped."

The rest of the bridge's occupants were also puzzled and started to get worried.

"RO, this is Flick. We can hear you loud and clear."

"Flick, how far away is Hammersley?"

"Around 20 minutes." Flick replied after Kate had gestured with her hand.

"We need medical assistance. Can you make sure Swain is in the landing party with first aid equipment?"

At this point Swain got off from the helm and took the radio away from Flick. "Robert, what happened? What kind of injuries are you suffering?"

"Oh, it's not for me. I only got few scrapes and bruises. It's for Dutchy. And I guess also for the man that Bird shot."

Kate's heart dropped after hearing RO's words. So much for thinking that her man was having the time of his life.

"Robert, how bad is Dutchy's condition?" Swain's frown got deeper.

"Judging by the blood pouring out, pretty bad. 2Dads and I warned him not to pull the arrow out of his thigh, but he didn't listen to us."

"OK, Robert, listen to me. Get Dutchy to lie down and put his leg on elevated position. Put heavy pressure on the wound. Use your shirt or any other relatively clean cloth to do so. If the blood is not slowing down, make a tourniquet out of your shirt. Just like we practiced a few days ago on that training drill. Do you get all that?"

"Yes."

"OK good. You said that there is another man with bullet wound there?"

"Yes, but honestly, he's not important. He and his friend have been trying to kill us in the last few days."

Mike breathed a curse as he wondered about the misfortune of his crews. He couldn't really blame RO for thinking that way. He then signalled Swain to give the radio to him. "Robert, it's the CO."

"Sir."

"Are those two men secured and alive for now?"

"Yes."

"Good. Keep them that way. Just do as Swain has said for Dutchy and we're coming soon. Hang in there."

"Yes Sir."

"Good. Hammersley's out."

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"Captain has the ship."

Kate looked back at Mike's approaching figure and quietly acknowledged his order by getting up from the captain's chair and repeating his words. She then asked worriedly. "How's everyone, Sir?"

"Considering what had happened in that island, not too bad." Mike shook his head. "Apparently, those two men had captured Dutchy first, tied him up, tortured him and shot him with an arrow and then proceeded to make a game of hunting the three junior sailors all night. This was not their first rodeo either. Because Bird saw three other dead bodies in that island and then Dutchy said there were another New Zealand couple who were the subject of the hunt as well. So, there are five possible dead bodies there."

"That's sick." Kate felt nauseous at the brief summary and worried about both the physical and the mental health of the Exped crews, especially Bird and Dylan. "How's Bird?"

"Dutchy is speaking to her now." Mike sighed, "she did very well on all accounts. Her training kicked in and she saved the day according to RO and 2Dads who saw her bravery on the final confrontation on the beach."

"Permission to get a brew, Sir?"

Mike looked at Kate knowingly. He could guess that she was anxious about the bosun's condition and hence the need to check on him. "Permission granted."

"Thank you, Sir."

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Kate looked towards her left and right to check whether the coast was clear before knocking on the door to the wardroom. Hearing the muffled 'come in' from the inside, she then pushed the door forward carefully. Her lips curved up slightly seeing the warm blue eyes greeting her.

"Hey gorgeous." Dylan whispered softly as she closed the door behind her. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

She moved to the side of his bed before taking his hand in hers. "What am I supposed to do with you hey?" She sighed at the sight of his bandaged thigh and frowned at him worriedly, "I can't even let you out of my sight for three days without you getting injured."

"Then maybe you should just keep me with you forever." He said half-jokingly.

"Be careful what you wish for." She glared at him playfully before leaning down to kiss his forehead. "I'm glad you are OK now."

"Me too." He smiled softly at her before his eyes turned serious. "The only reason we are still alive is because Bird defied my order to run and hide. I was helpless at that point. Trussed up like a chicken about to be slaughtered and unable to do anything. I am so proud of her today."

Kate replied sadly. "I felt like her innocence was shattered forcefully today. Maybe it's my fault for not pushing her towards combat training a lot sooner."

He shook his head. "She wasn't ready back then. I guess no one would ever be ready for circumstances like this. But she stepped up when needed. There would be fallout of course, we just have to watch out for any sign of PTSD and intervene early if necessary."

She nodded and squeezed his hand tighter. "You know, I was about to take up your offer of a camping trip in the next shore leave, but I guess that's out of the question now hey?"

"Definitely no camping for the next year." He replied jokingly. "We just have to camp on my bed. Are you down for that?"

"Yes, absolutely." She smiled at him before finally closing her lips to his in a soft kiss.

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A/N: Approximately 3 weeks later, during episode 5.11 The Morning After...

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Kate had been staring at her laptop and the opened email for a good five minutes. She had been waiting for any official news related to her transfer for 7 months, but now that it was here, she didn't know how she felt about it. She thought that she would have been ecstatic once she had received the news, giddy even. But she felt almost sad instead.

She then sighed. Maybe this would be something that she needed to discuss with Dylan at home. After all, this would be their decision, not her decision alone.

She was about to shut down her laptop for the night when a knock to her opened cabin door startled her.

"Sorry X, do you have a minute?" Charge stood in front of her cabin sheepishly.

"Sure." Kate gestured for him to take a seat on the spare chair next to her desk.

"Sorry X. I know it's late."

"Charge, it's all good." Kate smiled at the engineer reassuringly. "How are you going?" she asked referring to his ordeal in the last few days.

Charge shrugged. "I'm alive. Lani is alive. I think that is all that matter in the end."

"You are allowed to feel something, you know." Kate replied gently. "You don't have to shrug it all off just because it turned out relatively well in the end."

Charge sighed. "I'm worried about Lani. She lost her father. And she had to leave everything behind. All she has is the clothes on her back."

"And you."

"Yeah." He smiled ruefully, "an old bloke like me."

"Who has a good heart and an extremely curious mind. Don't sell yourself short." Kate admonished him gently.

Charge finally nodded after a long couple of minutes. "I need your help X."

"OK."

"It's for Lani actually. She needs a place to stay for a couple of days until I sort my place out. It's messy and I need to organise a few things including furniture. I really want to make my place as comfortable as possible for her before our next patrol."

Kate looked at him thoughtfully. "That's not a problem. Maybe I should take her shopping as well for clothes and other girly things while she stays with me. That way, you don't have to worry about that."

"Thanks X. That would be great. Just let me know the total and I'll transfer you the money."

Kate waved him off. "Don't worry about that. You'll have plenty of other things to spend your money on. Save it for your actual life together."

Charge smiled genuinely for only the 2nd time after he was rescued from Horta Cheng's boat. "You have no idea how much I need someone to treat this whole matter as an adult with empathy and not as something to be pitied over or made fun of."

Kate frowned at his statement. "Has anyone said something inconsiderate to you or treated Lani badly?"

"Not directly. But I can feel the whispers below deck, X. Although 2dads had now apologised. He even offered to help me with my place during shore leave."

"Please tell me at least Swain and Dutchy behave?"

Charge nodded. "Yeah. They have been good."

"Great. Let me know if someone else is giving you trouble about this. The heads need lots of cleaning and I have a couple of spare toothbrushes waiting to be used."

Charge then looked at her fondly, "you know, we would really miss you if you moved to Stirling."

"What?" Kate's head turned around in shock at his words.

Charge tilted his head to her opened laptop screen. "You might want to close it, if you don't want anyone to know about the letter."

Kate cursed inwardly at her carelessness and proceeded to close her laptop for now. "Please don't tell anyone Charge. I have not yet accepted it."

"But you are considering it."

"Yes I am." Kate nodded affirmatively. "Is there anything else Charge?"

Recognising dismissal when he heard it, Charge shook his head softly. "No X, you have been very generous already."

"All good. Maybe you can introduce me to Lani formally tomorrow morning after breakfast? That way she will know what's your plan for the next week and she won't be caught off guard."

"Good idea X. I'll see you after breakfast then."

Kate nodded. "Good night, Charge."

Charge reciprocated the greeting and was about to leave the cabin when he almost bumped to another person.

"Oh sorry!" Dylan looked at Charge and Kate apologetically as he realised that someone else was in the cabin with Kate. "Am I interrupting?"

Charge looked curiously at the other man who was currently holding a thermos on one hand and a mug of tea on the other. "Aren't you on watch, mate?"

"Yeah, just dropping off a brew for the X." Dylan tried to look nonchalant as he knew that his explanation didn't really make sense.

"Really? Where is mine then?" Charge raised his eyebrows amusedly.

"You can make your own, Charge."

"Yes, I'm sure the X is also capable of making her own brew."

Dylan sighed and looked at Kate for help.

Kate looked at Dylan fondly before getting up from her chair and ushered the two men away from the entrance to her cabin and took the mug from Dylan's hand. "Alright, everyone out. The lady needs her beauty sleep. Thanks, Dutchy. See you both in the morning."

The two men could only murmur their reply as their XO closed her cabin door on them.

Charge then grabbed Dylan by the shoulder and ushered him to the end of the corridor next to the stairs to the upper deck. "What are you doing mate?"

"What are you talking about?" Dylan shrugged Charge's hand off his shoulder and stared at him challengingly.

"You literally went on a break from your watch on the bridge and went down two levels below deck just to deliver a brew to her before bedtime? Did she even request the brew?"

"Drop it Charge. It was nothing." Dylan whispered tersely.

"Nothing my ass." Charge whispered back, "no one does that for their boss or even a friend really. Unless he or she were sick and incapacitated."

"Charge… Look, she told me she's having trouble sleeping lately and I thought the tea might help. That's all."

Charge looked at the other man seriously. "Dutchy, mate, listen to me. She is transferring off to Stirling base, that's all the way across the country in Western Australia. So, if you need to say something important to her, you better do it now."

Dylan was surprised at the revelation as he didn't know that Kate had received any news about her transfer. "Stirling?"

Charge nodded, "saw a glimpse of the word on her laptop screen just now. And she said she is definitely considering it."

Silence descended on the two men before Charge stepped closer to Dylan, "just a little advice from a man whose head was awfully close to get blown off this afternoon. Don't wait until it's too late. Time waits for no man."

Dylan could only nod at Charge's intense statement before the other man turned around to the direction of his cabin and left him behind.

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To be continued….