A/N: Four months later….

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"We are now going live to Ashley McDonald in front of New South Wales' Supreme Court as the first hearing of the high-profile case of former ASIO Agent Madelaine Cruise for alleged terrorism charges has just begun."

"Thank you, Shane. Two hours ago, Ms Cruise was brought into the Court under police protection with her defence team following closely behind. The Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) is confident that they have sufficient evidence to prove strings of allegations levelled against the former agent, which include aiding a known terrorist to carry out an attack on Australian soil, murder of a fellow ASIO agent and kidnapping of a Navy Officer. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a life behind bars without any chance of parole."

"Ashley, is it true that the Federal government is considering a Royal Commission to review the ASIO operations as to how one of our own could allegedly turn against our country?"

"As of right now, that hasn't been confirmed by either the Prime Minister or the Defence Minister's office. However, we could imagine the potential damage this case could cause to ASIO's reputation, especially since the institution was founded to protect the Australian public from the very threat that its former agent now being accused of. So, it's not surprising that the government could be considering a form of review, be it a Royal Commission or any other forms of independent review very soon."

Kate's eyes were glued to the TV in the officer's mess as the news played a recorded footage of Ms Cruise being flanked by two police officers on the way to the court room. The woman held her head up high even as she faced the throng of reporters shouting questions at her. There was always a certain air of defiance and coldness around the woman, and she continued to maintain that façade in her first public appearance since she had been apprehended by Glenelg's crews together with Mirhad Moshir and a few others inside the cruiser heading to international water.

It had been hectic few months for everybody. The case was moving at a rapid pace and all the parties involved had to spare some time to assist the Federal Police and the DPP with the investigation. She had had to give video interviews in between her watches in the ship and had signed various statements and affidavits in relation to her kidnapping and any other events involving the former agent.

Her move to HMAS Ballarat and the steep learning curve required to do her duty had also taken a toll on her mentally and physically. Thankfully her CO had been informed by the Fleet Command about her involvement with the legal case and had been supportive of her plight so far. It also helped that for now, her rotation had only consisted of joint training with the US Navy, and not a regional deployment just yet. This gave her the opportunity to adjust to the frigate life once more.

"Hey, what are you watching?"

Another person that had helped her immensely in the last four months would be the person currently at the door, her current bunkmate, Lieutenant Nikki Caetano aka 'Nav'.

Her surprise in seeing Nikki's familiar face on the bridge of Ballarat on her first day had turned into a joyful reunion between the two. While they hadn't kept in touch too much for the last 2 years, they had quickly found their rhythm again both as colleagues and friends, something that Kate was eternally grateful for.

"Earth to Kate?"

"Sorry Nik." Kate waved her in and scooted further to the left of the bench to leave space for Nikki to sit. "It's just the news about the trial."

"Oh, it's started already?" Nikki turned her attention to the TV just in time for the screen to play the loop of Ms Cruise's arrival on court. "Her hair looks fabulous. Too bad she's a terrorist."

Kate's lips curved up involuntarily. Nikki's sarcasm and wit was legendary. In Hammersley, Kate had been the more serious one, while Nikki had been the one that readily joke around with the boys. ET's death had dimmed Nikki's spirit considerably during her last year in Hammersley, but it looked like she had bounced back in the new environment. It was obvious that time eventually started to heal the gaping wound in Nikki's heart.

"Is that Captain Roth?" Nikki raised her eyebrows as she saw a familiar face on screen.

Kate looked up to see the news showing Jim stepping out of court followed by a throng of reporter trying to get his attention. "Yes, he was involved with the whole saga from the start."

"Is it just me or his uniform fits a lot nicer now than it did 4 years ago?"

Kate smirked at Nikki's words. "I still have his number if you are interested."

"What? No."

"He's single."

"Kate…."

"Sorry." Kate smiled apologetically, "I shouldn't push."

"It's OK," Nikki sighed, "one day…."

"Nav and McGregor to the bridge."

"Come on Kate. The sooner we finish this rotation, the sooner you'll be at the airport."

Kate nodded, "after you then."

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"He's not going to show up, is he?"

Nikki's head turned sharply at Kate's words. "What? Why did you say that?"

"It's 3 pm and he's not here."

"That's because the plane is delayed." Nikki frowned at Kate's pale face and the way her friend held her phone tightly. "Didn't you hear the announcement?"

"I did. But he could still not come out of the gate."

"How?" Nikki replied incredulously, "once the plane landed, he would have to come out of the plane. The airline people shoo everyone out quickly so they could clean the plane and board the next set of passengers."

"What if he's not there anymore?"

"Again, how? You mean he jumped out? Mid-flight? Or he teleported out like a wizard?"

"Maybe he didn't board the plane in the first place."

"Didn't you say he texted you this morning saying that he was boarding the plane and that he would see you soon?" Nikki folded her arms in front of her chest with a small smile. She didn't think she would ever see Kate McGregor in this kind of state, worrying over a man and behaving irrationally.

"He could have decided last minute to turn around and not board the plane."

"Kate, come on…." Nikki put her hand on Kate's shoulder and steered her away from their position across the gate. "Let's sit down over there and I'll get you a brew."

Kate sighed and let Nikki guided her to the set of chairs overlooking the tarmac. She had been a ball of nerves ever since she had gotten home yesterday afternoon. Her night had been spent tidying up her place for his arrival and sleep was scarce. That was why Nikki had to drive her to the airport today, as she had been too jittery to drive.

Dylan had indeed sent her a series of texts and images this morning throughout his process of leaving the doctor's office for one last check-up, loading his luggage to Swain's car, checking-in the airport, and boarding the plane. As if he had been aware of her jitteriness and had wanted to assure her that he really had been on the way to her.

Gosh…. 4 months had really flown by so quickly. She still remembered how hard it had been to leave Dylan behind on that hospital bed in Cairns. They had been fighting the week leading up to her departure as she had been insisting on staying in Cairns to look after him instead of flying to Perth to start her new posting. On the other hand, he had insisted for her to go as he hadn't wanted her career to suffer because of him, a notion that she frankly hadn't care about too much at the time as she hadn't wanted to leave him out of her sight.

But looking back now, she knew that he had been right to push her to take the posting. She now realised that her insistence to stay behind had been out of fear. Fear that had been born out of seeing that vessel blew up in front of her eyes and thinking that her man had died. She would have suffocated him if she had stayed behind. This way, she had been forced to work on her fear. She was also reminded that the dirty bomb saga, while it would never be forgotten, shouldn't prevent her from living her life to the fullest.

"Here you go."

The smell of green tea reached her nose as a takeaway cup appeared in front of her. "Thanks Nik." She smiled at her friend and carefully opening the lid and blowing on the hot liquid before taking a few small sips at a time.

"I am now really looking forward to meet this bloke in person." Nikki smiled teasingly at Kate, "he must be pretty special to have thrown Princess Perfect into a tizzy like that."

Kate rolled her eyes at Nikki's words, "more like a pain in my behind…."

"The good one usually is." Nikki replied with a nostalgic tone, remembering how Josh used to drive her crazy too.

Recognising Nikki's melancholy, Kate nudged her friend's side, "have I told you that we didn't get along at first?"

Nikki frowned, "no. But that's probably understandable as he was replacing Buffer, right? You and Buffer worked so well together. It would have been a huge adjustment for you to have this new bosun in the ship."

"Yes. But it was even more difficult as Dylan was so overprotective." Kate remembered their struggle for the first 6 months in Hammersley. "He just couldn't find the balance between protecting me and letting me do my job. Once, he pushed me away because of a perceived harm and I ended up getting a black eye from the push, which frankly pissed me off."

"Wow, I wished I was there to witness this." Nikki smirked at the story, "maybe he was already crushing on you back then."

"Yeah nah…. I brought that theory up once and quoted the rule book about fraternisation to him. Which I must admit not the greatest moment for my ego because he laughed it off as the 'most ridiculous thing' he has ever heard."

"Oh gosh, I missed out on all this excitement! Frigate is great for climbing up the ladder, but patrol boat is the best for this kind of stuff."

Kate shook her head at Nikki's enthusiasm for gossips. It would have been great to have her input back then on how to deal with Dylan but her teasing would have been too much to handle. "It's not until we were both kidnapped and trapped inside a sub in the middle of the sea and had nowhere to go that we really talked to each other about his PTSD from the gulf and his fear of losing another boarding officer under his watch."

"Aww…. Your story is such a classic example of 'enemies to lovers' trope." Nikki grinned at the thought.

"A what?" Kate frowned at Nikki's strange words.

But before Nikki could explain what she meant to her friend, announcement could be heard across the gates.

"Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, Virgin Australia flight VA672 from Brisbane has landed after a short delay. Virgin Australia wishes to apologise for any inconvenience the delay might have caused. Passengers from this flight will disembark from Gate 47."

"Go on Kate, go get your man…."

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Dylan waited until the plane had almost emptied out before carefully standing up from his seat and reaching to the overhead compartment for his backpack. His crutches were stored somewhere else by the flight attendant and he would need them soon. His moon boot restricted his movement slightly, but his doctor and Swain insisted that he wore it for his plane travel to avoid any bumps to his lower left leg when navigating crowded and tight spaces such as his economy class seat.

His recovery had been slow but steady. The orthopaedic surgeon had managed to save his leg and repair most of the nerves and tissues. However, he still couldn't feel any sensation on some patches of his skin and his left leg hadn't regained its previous strength. He also wobbled a little bit without the support of his crutches.

There were days where he felt sorry for himself and wondered whether his leg would ever go back to normal; whether he would be able to do active service again; and he guessed the biggest question of all, whether he was still worthy of Kate's heart.

Kate, being the loyal and amazing woman that she was, had never missed their Skype chats, even when he could see the dark circle under her eyes and the little cute yawns she had tried to hide unsuccessfully.

He had wondered whether she would have been better off without him dragging her down but every time his rational brain had contemplated giving her a clean slate by breaking up, his heart had protested vehemently.

So here he was now, about to get off the plane in another state and see his girlfriend in the flesh for the first time in 4 months. To say that he was nervous would be an understatement; he was terrified, probably more so than when he had jumped out of that exploding vessel.

"Sir, here are your crutches."

He accepted the crutches gratefully from the flight attendant and started to make his way down the aisle towards the exit. He supposed there was no time like present to find out whether Kate was waiting on the other side of that gate.

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Kate stared anxiously at the gate as the previously modest stream of passengers disembarking through it had gone down to just a trickle and eventually no one could be seen passing through it anymore. She wondered if her fear had indeed come true and Dylan had never boarded the plane in the first place.

"Excuse me?"

The gate attendant looked up at Kate's greeting. "Yes, how can I help?"

"Do you know if all the passengers from this flight have disembarked from the plane?

"Umm, I'm not sure. I can check with my colleagues of course. Are you waiting for a particular passenger today?"

"Yes. His name is Dylan Mulholland. If you could maybe check please?" Kate pasted a smile as she voiced her request.

"Sure. Just one moment."

Kate watched as the attendant started to type into her computer again, presumably looking for Dylan's information in there. The woman then picked up the phone on her desk and started dialling.

"Oh, hi Deb, it's Maree here at the gate. I have a Lady here waiting for passenger seated at 16F, a Mr Mulholland. Do you know if he has disembarked?"

But before Kate got a chance to hear the answer from the lady on the phone, she could see a movement from the corner of her vision towards the end of the corridor.

And there he was….

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Dylan was slowly making his way down the corridor towards the mouth of the gate. His muscles were stiff from sitting on the cramped seat for the last 6 hours, so speed was not exactly his strong point today.

Suddenly, a blonde whirlwind almost tackled him to the ground.

At first, he was so confused, but the whiff of vanilla from the blonde hair burrowed on his chest made him realised that his favourite human was currently on his arms. He then quickly transferred both of his crutches to his left hand while his right tightened around her.

"Hey sweetheart…." He greeted her softly and kissed the crown of her hair, savouring the warmth slowly spreading to his whole body.

For a few minutes, they just stood there in each other's arms, cherishing the moment of their reunion. But they were soon interrupted by the apologetic-looking gate attendant from before.

"I am really sorry to interrupt but we need to clear the corridor for the next flight."

They sheepishly let go of each other and Dylan picked up his crutches once more and resuming his walk, this time with Kate by his side, just like what they did for all their years in Hammersley.

Kate felt that all was right in the world once more. And as she guided Dylan to where Nikki was waiting for them, she couldn't help but reach up and kiss his cheek a few times. A move that earned her a soft smile from her man and a kiss to her temple.

"Aww, look at the two of you…." Nikki teased the pair as they reached her before offering a wave to Dylan and introduce herself, "Hi, I'm Nikki, you must be the famous Dylan that Kate keeps talking about."

Dylan smirked at the greeting, "and you must be Nikki, or Nav, as the boys in Hammersley used to call you then? Oh, Swain and Charge sent their regards too."

Nikki felt nostalgia hitting her hard at the mention of the two sailors who were like big brothers to her. "Oh… thank you. How are they? Gosh, Chloe must be so big already."

"I think she'll be in Prep soon?" Kate looked to Dylan for confirmation. She had missed the two sailors as well.

"I think so." Dylan nodded. "And Lani is adjusting well to her new life, so Charge is in a happy place right now."

"Lani?" Nikki tilted her head at the name she had never heard before.

"Oh, Lani is Charge's new wife. I forgot to tell you the story." Kate smiled at Nikki, "it's a long one which involved kidnapping and hostage situation."

"What?" Nikki then shook her head, "seriously, why does Hammersley always have this kind of situation happening?"

"You have to ask Mighty Mike Flynn why," Kate smirked at the thought and turned to Dylan. "Remember when he ran off from you guys at that foreign port in Moroku?"

It was Dylan's turn to shake his head, "and I had to chase him through the market and apparently he kept knocking off all the merchandise in that market because people were cursing this 'foreign man'. That was when I knew I was on the right trail." He then turned towards Kate and teased her, "and you, you are not that much better with the palm oil trader and the gold smuggler?"

Kate slapped his chest playfully, "as if you are any better with that shark cage incident and the grog runner."

"But no one beats Charge and 2Dads for their penchant in getting into trouble."

"True." Kate smiled at him as they quickly regained their bantering rhythm once more. "Frigate is pretty bland in that regards, the most exciting thing that happened to me was when my boot's laces came off and I tripped and fell on the way to the bridge."

"What?" Dylan frowned, "you need to be more careful. You could've injured yourself."

Kate rolled her eyes at him, "the only thing that bruised was my pride." She then reached up to smoothen his frown, "don't you start with your overprotectiveness Mister, you just got here. Besides, Nikki has been doing a pretty good job in helping me adjust to frigate life once more. So, you don't need to worry."

Dylan sighed and kissed Kate's forehead before turning to Nikki once more, "in that case, thank you for looking after her Nikki."

"It's my pleasure." Nikki smiled at the visible happiness radiating from the couple. "Shall we go and get your luggage then?"

Dylan nodded, "after you."

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"Hey, dinner is ready."

Kate opened the bedroom door to find Dylan sprawled out cold on top of the bed. It looked like he hadn't had a chance to even open the bed cover before he had lost consciousness.

Her eyes softened at the sight. The two flights that he had taken and the subsequent drive to her place must have tired him out. Earlier, he had excused himself to take a shower while they were waiting for the food deliveries. Something about feeling icky after being on a plane for so long.

She must admit that the bed looked really inviting. On second thought, she was not that hungry after all. She might follow his lead and take a shower now before accompanying him on his nap.

With that decided, she then went back to the kitchen to pack up their dinner and put it into the fridge to be reheated later.

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Kate closed her eyes as the warm water hit her shoulder and relaxed her muscles further. Her anxiety in the last few days coupled with her overall tiredness after her latest rotation had made the shower seemed so luxurious. She was looking forward to her 10 days off as she could finally spend some quality time with Dylan and help him settling in.

She was grateful that he seemed to be doing alright. She knew it had not been easy for him to spend so much time away from active service. His doctor had estimated that it could take up to a year post surgery for him to be back to sea posting. At the 6 months' mark, he would be assessed for his readiness to return to part-time shore position. If he passed, then it would be a step in the right direction for his recovery.

It was during this contemplation that she could hear a faint sound of rustling from outside the bathroom. She initially dismissed it as the sound of curtain billowing due to the windy condition outside, but after a few minutes of hearing the sound getting louder, she turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, before coming out of the bathroom to investigate.

The sight and sound that greeted her absolutely broke her heart.

The rustling sound was not a curtain after all. It was the bed sheet and the bed cover.

Dylan, currently in the throes of what appeared to be a terrible nightmare, had twisted and turned on the bed repeatedly. Beads of sweat could be seen on his forehead and his mouth was mumbling incoherent words that sounded like a mixture of 'No', 'Please' and 'Don't'.

She knew logically that she shouldn't disturb his nightmare, that she should just wait until it passed before approaching him. But the sight of his left leg dangling to the side and the long incision on his calf from just below his knee straight down to his ankle made her worried that if he should continue tossing and turning like this, he could have injured his leg again and months of progress could vanish overnight.

So, against her better judgement, she approached him slowly. She now could hear her name in among the jumble of words he whispered, and this made her more resolute in her resolve to wake him up.

She had known that a violent reaction had been a real possibility when someone was woken up from a nightmare, but she couldn't help her gasp of shock as she found herself on the floor under his large body and with his hand around her throat after her attempts in waking him up. She fought the urge to struggle against him and instead called to him softly while holding his hand that was on her throat.

It took a few minutes for his eyes to become clearer. The cloud of nightmares surrounding his mind slowly started to lift. She could see the exact moment he was finally awaken as the initial confusion in his eyes turned to horror and then anguish.

"Jesus…." Dylan quickly jumped away from Kate as far as he could. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself but he couldn't. The realisation that he had almost hurt the woman he loved was too much.

Kate quickly got up to a kneeling position in front of him and reached for his face with both of her hands.

"No!" Dylan tried to move back even further but he was trapped against the side table and the bed frame. "Kate, please, I almost hurt you!"

"But you didn't." Kate replied firmly and yet cradled his face softly. "It's my fault. I knew I shouldn't wake you up while you were in the middle of a nightmare."

He shook his head repeatedly. "No, you are not supposed to make excuses for me like that. I promised to always protect you. And now I'm the one who is causing you harm."

"Hey, that's not true." She tried to dispel his distress, but she could see that he was still struggling to even calm himself. So, she then touched her forehead to his and said, "breathe with me please?" And proceeded to synchronise their breathing for the next few minutes.

"I'm so sorry…." He finally managed to say after his breathing came back to normal. "Maybe I should sleep in the spare bedroom for the next few nights."

"Absolutely not." She shook her head, "unless you need to for health reason. But if you offered it to me because you were afraid of hurting me, then I'm vetoing it, I'm not afraid of you."

"Kate, I could've crushed your windpipe before." He gingerly touched her neck and couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

"Ok, I'll make you a deal." Kate looked at him seriously, "when you are having a nightmare, I promise to move myself away from the bed and try waking you up from a safe distance without touching you. Would that be a good compromise without having to sleep in separate bed?"

He sighed at the offer, "if I ever became a danger to you during this kind of episodes, I need you to use all your self-defence training against me or call triple zero."

"Dylan…."

"Kate, promise me." He pleaded, "I would rather die than hurting you."

"We are not going to get to that point." Kate shook her head firmly, "you would never be a danger to me. But if it would make you feel better, then I promise."

"Thank you, sweetheart." He then pulled her into his arms tightly and proceeded to bury his face on the crook of her neck.

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Kate quietly put the reheated takeaway containers on the coffee table before sitting down next to Dylan on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder.

His only acknowledgement of her action was his right arm circling around her waist. His eyes were glued to the TV as the news channel reported the continuation of the trial.

"Jim called me the other day after the first trial."

She looked up to him curiously, "what did he say?"

"It doesn't look like it would be a straightforward trial. Her defence team claimed that she was under duress the whole time she was helping Moshir."

"That's bullshit." She scowled at the thought. "She admitted to me on that cruiser that she did it to avenge her brother's death. She got paid handsomely too."

"DPP couldn't prove that the Australian man that died in Gitmo was her biological brother because they were both adopted into different family and the records were sealed and then purged. Both adopted parents had since died or suffered from dementia too. So, it comes down to our words against hers."

Kate closed her eyes at the difficult road ahead. "What about the money trails? Surely DPP would have some experts working on that?"

"Supposedly so…." Dylan shrugged, "but recorded interview from us may not be enough. We might have to testify in court and face cross examination."

"We do what we have to do I guess." Kate frowned at his visible worry. "What's the matter?"

"They might drag our personal life into the court as well." Dylan sighed. "I don't want the fact that we were in a relationship while we served in Hammersley disadvantages you in any way."

"What does that have to do with anything?" her frown deepened, "it still doesn't change the fact that she killed Agent Smith or helped a terrorist?"

"Still…. The media could spin that into a frenzy. And I don't think you need that kind of scrutiny for your career."

"Hey…." Kate reached up to cup his cheek and encourage him to look at her. "I think the fact that we were able to do our job properly and saved thousands of lives while in a relationship should outweigh the technicality of breaking fraternisation rule. Frankly, I really don't care anymore. What could they do? Demote me? Limit me to a shore posting for a year or two?"

Dylan stared at her sadly, "I feel like I'm dragging you down."

"What?" Kate raised her eyebrows. "In what way? Explain it to me because I absolutely do not agree."

"Kate, look at me." Dylan tightened his hold on her. "At this rate, it'll most likely take me another 6 months or more to regain my previous level of fitness. Not to mention the mental struggle that I am facing. The nightmares are only the tip of the iceberg, my PTSD has also come back with a vengeance ever since the explosion. How am I meant to support you or protect you if the sound of a mere thunder causes me to have a panic attack?"

"You've never told me this in the last 4 months." Kate frowned at his confession.

"That's because I don't want to worry you. I need you to keep progressing forward." Dylan kissed her softly, "you deserve the world, Kate McGregor. You deserve a man who is whole, whom you could be proud of. I wish that I'm not so selfish so that I could let you go. But I'm not that good of a person. So here I am, broken, but still so in love with you."

She then caressed his weathered face softly and said, "do you remember what you said to me when I was scared that I might not be enough to make you want to stay for long?"

"That you are more than enough for me. That I won't leave you, ever…." He could feel shame started to overwhelm him as he had thought of the very thing that he had promised her to never do in the last few months. "Kate… I…."

"Ssshhh…." She recognised the emotion in his eyes and kissed his cheek briefly, "you are more than enough for me too. I don't care that you are not whole. Our journey ahead won't be smooth sailing, but I think we are stronger together rather than apart. Those two years in Hammersley with you have taught me that there is no storm big enough that we couldn't handle as long as we are by each other's side. So, will you trust yourself to still be enough for me please?"

Feeling overwhelmed, Dylan could only nod as a response before pulling her for a kiss and pouring every single inch of his heart into it. She reciprocated kindly and circled his neck to pull herself to his lap and deepen the kiss further. They only separated when the need for oxygen became urgent a few minutes later. They then rested their foreheads together and finally whispered their love for each other softly.

"I love you, Dylan Mulholland."

"I love you too, Kate McGregor."

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To be continued….

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A/N: only one more chapter to go….