A Matter of Honor

by MetusR

A story that developed from a Reddit challenge 'A Mother Like No Other' (I go by MetusR there), this one follows a Commander as he discovers his past and builds a future for himself.

21. Chapter 21

Part Twenty One – Rumblings

My vision came into focus on blue pools looking back at me, a smile spreading on the beauty that was lying beside me, facing me. Her hand reached out to touch the side of my face and she said, "Good morning."

I slid my right hand out under the sheets towards her, over her belly over her waist and I pull her closer to me. I take note of how soft her skin feels and how I can feel her curves pressing against me. I give her a soft kiss before I say, "Good morning to you too."

She snuggles in against me and pushes me onto my back as she climbs onto me to rest her chin on my chest and says to me, "Last night was good."

I smile before I bring my left hand up to rest on her lower back and I say, "It was, and I look forward to more."

She makes a purring sound and she sits up, pushing the blankets down, giving me a full view of her body, her hands resting against my chest and she says, "We could always…"

Her words were cut off by my phone making the noise it does when it's a video chat. She looks over at it to see the name and she frowns a little while saying, "You should get that."

"I'd rather…" I start to say, but she places a finger against my lips as she says, "You should get that, it's Conqueror."

I sigh and stroke her hips and I say, "Fine, but this isn't over Illustrious."

She giggles and gets off of me, letting me have a full view of her from behind as she starts to get dressed and I answer my phone, "Good morning, what can I do for you?"

My sister smiles at me and asks, "What took you so long?"

"Good morning Conqueror." Spoke Illustrious, as if to answer that question.

My cheeks got a little hot as I see a grin spread across Conqueror's face and she teased, "So I guess you've been up fer hours then?"

Illustrious laughs and I sigh, "Yes and no."

"Ugh! I was joking… I don't need to know about that!" she bemoans at me.

I adjust how I'm in my bed, sitting up more and I ask, "So why the call?"

I can see her snap her fingers before she says, "I was calling to let you know a couple of things…"

She pauses and splits the screen to show me an image of a kansen that had long blond hair and a not slender but not too top-heavy. I raise an eyebrow and I ask, "So who is that?"

My sister grins at me and says, "Who you were supposed to be. It took some digging on my part, but you were going to be named Sovereign, and you were the planned flagship for the Pacific fleet."

I blink a couple of times and I ask, "I was going to be a flagship?"

Conqueror nods before closing the extra screen as she says, "Yeah, the Crown was planning on three of my class, each of us were to be the flagships for one of the three fleets. I was for the Atlantic Fleet; Dominion for the Home Fleet and Sovereign was going to be for the Pacific Fleet."

I find that I start to frown before I say, "So I am living a stolen life…"

Conqueror shrugs and looks off to the side before saying, "She never had the chance, so it was never stolen."

After a moment she adds, "Anyways, the other reason fer my call, I was talking to Dominion the other day, teasing her that she missed out on meeting you, and apparently after that call she went and reported it to the First Sea Lord, who then done passed it along to the Crown…"

I gulp and take note that Illustrious had stopped getting dressed and sat on the end of my bed, clearly listening in while my sisters paused before saying, "Apparently you being found has caused a bit of a stir. From what Dominion told me, they are making ready to set sail for the Pacific to figure out what to do with you."

I sigh and hang my head; I'm worried now that I'm headed for the scrap yard…

Conqueror takes a moment before adding, "An' from what I heard, they've got questions for Queen Elizabeth as to why she didn't report your existence, immediately."

I look up and raise an eyebrow as I ask, "Was it bad that she didn't?"

Conqueror is silent for a moment, looking off to the side before she fidgets and says, "It's not my place to say… but it's not the first time it could be seen she's acted in her own self-interest, rather than that for the Crown… I mean that's why she lost the position as the Atlantic Fleet Flagship."

I see Conqueror yawn and I look at the time, doing a little math in my head I ask, "Long day?"

She nods before saying, "Yeah, but I've still got stuff to do, before me, Victorious and Formidable go to the pub tonight."

That was when Illustrious moved to be seen on screen and said, "Give them my best, if you don't mind."

Conqueror winked and teased me, "I'll let them know you say 'hi' to them, but I hope only my brother is gettin' yer best."

I laugh and say, "Good night Conqueror, call again soon, alright?"

"Aye… Once I know when they plan to set sail, I'll be sure to give you a heads up on the planned arrival date." She says back to me, giving a wave before adding, "Dunna let me keep you two from any boarding actions."

Once the link went dead, I toss my phone onto the bed and look at Illustrious and ask, "Well?"

She shakes her head and says, "Do you mind if we don't? I'm a touch sore down there right now… "

I nod and sigh as I say, "Alright…"

I feel one of her hands on my cheeks as she says, "But we will again soon, I just need a bit of time to not be sore."

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Later in the day, I found myself sitting on that grassy hill, looking out over the harbor, my mind trying to figure out how many times Elizabeth may have acted in her own interests rather than those of the Crown. Enough to be removed as a flagship at least once already… but at the same time, I also knew now that the Crown was already planning on replacing her as the flagship of this fleet with the kansen I had been meant to be. I sigh and flop onto my back to look up at the clouds and I couldn't help but worry that I was about to be heading to the scrap yard so that my hull could be rebuilt and rechristened as Sovereign. If I was, well at least I know that the half-pint would likely be losing this position she currently enjoyed once Sovereign was ready.

I close my eyes and just take in the smell of the air, the warmth of the sun… On some level, I think I'll miss this when I'm gone. I notice that it gets dark, quickly and I pop my eyes open to see someone looking down at me, she has a smile on her face as she says, "What am I going to do with you…"

I smile up at her as I say, "Forty-Seven! How are you?"

She grins and sits down beside me, leaning back slightly and propping herself up with her arms as she says, "I just got back, it was a long trip back home. I hear you've gotten engaged…"

I smirk and mimic how she is sitting as I say, "Kind of. I've been paired with someone, but nothing is set in stone…"

"Yeah?" she asks giving me a sideways glance.

I nod and I ask, "Hey, I've got a question for you, do you know anything about what happened with Elizabeth and the Atlantic Fleet?"

47 shrugs her shoulders and says, "Only roomers, nothing I'd put in stock in… why?"

My brow knits together and I say, "According to my sister, something went down that got Elizabeth booted as the Flagship there and exiled out here."

"Wait, what?! You've got a sister?" says 47 in a state of shock.

I laugh and say, "Yeah, a lot's happened."

She bounces her shoulder against mine and says, "Well, tell me!"

I give her a relatively quick rundown of everything I know and she listens, whistling at some points before she says, "Well… damn. You got screwed… and so did Sovereign… You're worried that when they get here, they'll order you back to the UK and have you scrapped?"

I nod and sigh, "Yeah… I mean I am a thing that should not be."

She shrugs and says, "That's a possibility… if you don't want to risk it, you could defect to someplace they can't touch you."

Hanging my head I laugh and say, "Yeah… that'd go over real well."

She laughs and says, "I never said it was a good option, just an option."

After a moment she asks me, "So what are you going to do about it all?"

I sigh before looking skyward and say, "I'm going to try and enjoy what time I have left."

She nods and asks, "Have you talked to Wales about this yet?"

I shake my head and 47 says to me, "I think you should, she might have some insight."

I sigh again and turn my head to look at her, smiling at her before I say, "You're right… thanks, Forty-Seven."

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After I parted ways with U-47, I found that I was wandering the port and soon found myself standing before the Royal Navy quarter, looking at the massive structure that served as the central building and Elizabeth's throne room. My lips pressed together and my nostrils flared as I thought about that half-pint and I started to wonder if she knew about what was coming her way. If she didn't, was it my duty to let her know, or could I keep it to myself?

I was grateful that I had managed to avoid dealing with the brat since I'd gotten back to port; part of me wondered how I would react to her, another part of me worried she would flex her muscles with flagship protocols on me again. And that brought me back to the words of U-47, defecting… I had little doubt I'd be allowed to transfer since I knew that would require the consent of Elizabeth. I sigh and run a hand through my hair as I wonder if I should and if so, how long should I wait… I mean I might not be headed to the scrap yard…

My train of thought gets completely ruined when I feel someone hug me tightly from behind, once they speak I know who it is right away, "You're back! How was the Med?"

I smile as I pat their hands that are around my chest as I say, "Hi Aunt Howe, I got back the other day…"

She lets go of me and turns me around to look me up and down before she asks, "What's wrong?"

I shrug before I tell her about the trip, meeting Conqueror, finding out that I'm the third ship of that class, that my hull was meant to be called something else, that it was meant to have a more traditional kansen, and most of all that I'm worried that I'm going to be bound for the scrap yard once the representative of the Crown shows up. During the time that I spent telling her all about this, she had me follow her into the kitchens and started to make cookies. Just as I finished telling her everything, the first batch of toffee chocolate chip cookies came out of the oven to cool.

I watch as she puts them onto the cooling rack before slipping a fresh sheet into the oven, once the door closes she turns to me, a smile on her face as she says, "I can see you've got a lot on your shoulders Mitchel, but that's what family is for… we're here to help lighten the load."

I reach for a cookie and she slaps my hand and says, "You need to wait a little longer, they're not cool enough yet."

I sigh and pull my hand back before I say, "I get that Aunt Howe, but I'm conflicted about what I should do about Elizabeth… Do I tell her that I know what's coming or do I keep it to myself?"

I watch as she folds her arms under her bust, leaning against the oven, and takes on a very thoughtful look. It took a while before she finally said, "That's a tricky one I can see reasons for doing both."

She smiles at me and says, "I know what I'd do, but that's me… I don't have the same complicated history with Her Majesty… oh! The cookies should be cool enough for you now."

I pick up one of the cookies and take a bite, the right amount of snap to it and the right amount of chew… It also wasn't lost on me that she didn't try to correct me in calling her Elizabeth and not Queen Elizabeth or Her Majesty. I watch as my aunt comes over and takes a cookie, taking a bite herself and adding, "When it comes to a request to transfer, I'd try and hold off till the representative of the Crown arrives… who knows it might not be bad news, and it would be harder for Her Majesty to deny a well-grounded request with them looking over her shoulder."

I take another bite of the cookie and I nod, it made a lot of sense to wait and see how this goes. I sigh and collapse down a little as I say to her, "I don't want to be scrapped."

She tilts her head to the side and says, "Why do you think that's the most likely outcome?"

I take another bite as I say, "Because, I'm something that shouldn't be. My hull was supposed to belong to someone else… Why would they want to keep me around, when they could repurpose it into being what it was intended for?"

She shrugs and bites her own cookie, while from the wine racks I hear, "Art thee being no more brain than stone? Wherefore on god's green earth wouldst those gents throweth hence someone as pow'rful as thee?"

I watch as my Aunt Howe looks towards the racks and she calls out, "Really York? It's barely thirteen hundred…"

The call from the racks made me laugh, hard, "True, but t is seventeen hundr'd some wh're!"

I pop the last of the cookie in my mother before I get off the stool and give both my aunts a hug and bid them thanks before I head off.

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I wandered around for the rest of the day, took dinner in the mess hall, and just did my best to avoid dealing with anyone before I headed back to the dorm around lights out. Once I was sure that I had avoided running into Elizabeth I made my way to the common room and flopped down on the couch, letting out a sigh and leaning my head over the back, and closed my eyes for a few moments.

I don't know how long my eyes were closed before I felt something cold on my forehead, my eyes going wide and I see blue eyes looking back into mine, a smile spreading across her face before she took the can off of my head and sat beside me, offering the can to me as she asked, "So… are you going to tell me about this 'Mitchel' thing now?"

I smile as I take the can to see that it is beer. After I crack it open I take a sip and settle in close to her, taking her hand in mine as I say, "That was my name, when I was human… I've let some people keep calling me that."

Illustrious lifts our hands to kiss my knuckles before she asks, "Am I one of those?"

I nod, "You are, but I've gotten so used to being Thunderer that hearing my name from before sounds a little strange."

Illustrious smiles at me before she looks around the quiet common room and says, "I'm starting to like this time of night when it's just you and me."

I lean my head against hers as I say, "Me too."

After a few moments she asks, "Do you want to stay in my room tonight?"

My attention turns to her and I raise an eyebrow causing her to laugh and say, "Not tonight, I'm still a bit sore… But I'd be happy to cuddle."

"Honestly, considering where my mind has been today, that actually sounds nice." I say to her.

Illustrious sips from her own can and asks what's been on my mind today, so I fill her in how I keep grinding on the idea that I'm going to be scrapped. When I say that I can see she looks mad, clearly she doesn't like that possibility. A few moments after I explained to her where my mind had been she speaks, "I'm with Duke of York, I don't think the Crown would be that foolish. You are too valuable to scrap, both in terms of resources and what you represent to kansen worldwide."

She pauses, sipping from her can again before adding, "I think if they did something like that, the humans would find the kansen in open rebellion."

I feel as she lifts my arm and slips under it so that it is across her shoulders while her left arm comes up across her bust to keep our fingers laced together. I lean my head over against hers and I sigh out, "I know I've said it before, but thank you. Thank you for being an island of reason and calm for me… and as much as I hate to admit it, Elizabeth made the right call."

Illustrious moves her head to kiss my cheek before settling back into position as she says, "I'd like to think she did… You've become a constant in my life too, you know."

I laugh and ask, "In a good way or a bad way."

She giggles before saying in a tone of voice meant to mimic me, "That has yet to be determined."

I smirk and take on a falsetto tone as I playfully and softly slap her chest as I say, "You're just awful."

She giggles more and says something that I don't think either of us expected her to say, "I love you."

As soon as those words left her lips, she went bright red and we blinked at one another. After a moment she went a deeper red and said, "Um… I…"

Once I regained my senses I leaned in and kissed her, mostly as a way to buy some time so I could process this… I mean I counted on her for a lot, just as much as I did my mother for support and direction on what to do. The more thought I gave it, the more I seem to understand that I needed her in my life. I felt her let go of my hand and lean back on the couch, pulling me over onto her while her hands started to roam my back. Once the kiss broke, I used the fingers on my left hand to stroke her chin and she said, still a little embarrassed, "I guess the cat is out of the bag…"

I feel her shift her body on the couch under me and I roll so that I'm comfortably laying on her while I keep stroking her cheek before I decide to just go with it, "I love you too."

I feel one of her hands come off of my back to start stroking my cheek as her eyes start to water and she lets out a breath and says, "Well that's a relief! I was starting to worry there."

She leaned in and kissed me again, quickly before asking, "Should we head to bed?"

I stroke her cheek again as I say, "Sounds like a good idea, we can go to my room if you'd prefer."

She smiles and whispers in my ear, "I don't feel sore anymore."

As I blink a couple of times she adds, "Perhaps your room would be best… I'll go get some clothes for tomorrow, as well as my toiletry bag."

I push myself off of her and help her up as I offer out, "Bring more than just a change for tomorrow; I've got drawer space and closet space you can have."

Her smile grew boarder and she said to me while heading off down in the other direction, "I will… and I'll see you up at your room shortly."

As I started to make my way up to my room, my phone made a trilling noise, telling me that I had been sent a message. Once I was in my room I opened it and gave it a read:

Hey big-little brother,

Dominion managed to get a rough idea when the Crown is sending someone your way, she told me they're looking at setting sail on her sometime in June, they aim to be down there by the first of July.

Conqueror.

I blinked a couple of times and looked at the date on my phone, I had at best five months before they would arrive and likely a day or two more than that before they might have me taken for scrap. I try to put that out of my mind as I move a few things around in my dresser to give Illustrious a full drawer before I slide a few things down in my closet to make sure that there is enough room for anything she brings with her. It's not long into me getting this done when I hear her voice ask me "What's wrong?"

I sigh before I open my phone and hand it to her so she can read the message from Conqueror, as she read it, her bag dropped to the floor before she closed my phone and handed it back to me. It took a moment before she said anything, "It's just news; it's not good or bad… Just an idea of when they are going to be here."

I sigh and hang my head as I say, "Yeah, you're right…"

She moves over to me to wrap me in a tight embrace, rubbing my back as she says, "Hey, hey… don't start spinning your rudder over this. You don't know what the humans are thinking, and as I said, they'd have to be colossally stupid to want to scarp you."

I slip my arms around her waist and hold her close as I whisper, "I know, but I'm scared."

She keeps rubbing my back and whispers to me, "I know… I know."

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I wake the next morning, I really don't remember falling asleep… But the sight across for me brings a smile to my face, I see Illustrious, touching my hand with hers and she's still asleep. It's moments like this that I'm really starting to like and drives home what I had been noticing, I don't think I'd be making it through this without her. I roll to my back and look up at the ceiling above me, my brow knitting together as I told myself, "Everything with the Crown is out of my hands, and there is nothing I can do, but make my case to them when they arrive. Till that time, there is no point in worrying about it."

I feel Illustrious squeeze my hand as she mumbles, "Good… but could you pep-talk yourself a little quieter? I'm still kind of sleepy."

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A/N: Chapter twenty one done. I'm feeling that this one is on stronger ground than my first go at Chapter 20 was, it also lets me build to where I wanted to go in the end but leaves things somewhat out of the Thunderer's hands.