2Dads leaned in close, his hands gripping the rail on either side of her. The X didn't move but her eyes, holding steady on his, seemed to grow darker.

The sunset around them was slowly fading into night. They were the only people on a chartered fishing yacht that they had busted earlier in the day for drug running. Mike, in a move that was pure pettiness, assigned the XO and 2Dads to bring the yacht into port.

What had started as a playful conversation about what their "type" was–brought about by their speculation that Dutchy must have owned a strip club in a past life (his taste in women was so one-dimensional)–had turned into a game of cat-and-mouse between them.

It wasn't the first time. They'd been playing this dangerous game for months now. Look but don't touch had become their unofficial modus operandi. Kate had overheard a conversation between Charge and Buffer, years ago now, where they argued about the concept of 'eye-fucking.' It was basically a crasser version of undressing someone with your eyes. Kate wished she had remained ignorant to the entire idea of it–every time 2Dads and she locked eyes it was all she could think of.

The metal rail against her lower back was cool and the wind blew strands of her hair loose from her braid. As the sun went down, the fly deck would become too cold for comfort, and soon they'd have to move inside to the cabin.

His mouth was close enough for her to kiss, his hands close enough for her to hold, but she stayed still. If one of them lost this game, then the game ended. So far, they'd both been trying very hard not to let the game end.

"I don't really have a type," 2Dads finally answered the question that she had asked what felt like minutes ago. "Powerful women, maybe. Older women," He kept his blue eyes locked on hers.

"Interesting," She murmured, refusing to give in. "How much older?" She asked, adding a cautionary, "Be careful."

It did what she had intended and broke the tension. He stood up and walked away from her, laughing. "Yeah, I'm not an idiot, I'm not getting into a discussion of age with you."

She walked over to the wheel and checked the compass heading–they were still on course.

"Past time to switch on the running lights," He observed. "You distracted me from my duty." He shot her a grin as he disappeared down the ladder, on his way to prepare the ship for night time sailing.

"Don't blame me!" She called after him, "You're too easily distracted."

His bark of laughter floated up to her before the sound of the waves and the wind made talking between the two decks too difficult.

They switched control to the cabin and Kate made her way down to sit in the comfortable co-pilot's chair, checking the radar screen and double checking that 2Dads had them on course.

"You never had a chance to answer, earlier." He stood with one hand resting lightly on the wheel, even though they had a straight course ahead of them for miles. "What's your type?"

Kate thought about Mike Flynn and other type A personalities she had been attracted to in the past. "I've been rethinking my type, lately," She confessed. "I always go for someone exactly like myself. Driven, career-oriented, serious. It never works out."

He turned his head to look at her, one eyebrow raised.

"I've been wondering lately…you know the saying 'opposites attract?'" She paused but he didn't interrupt. "Anyway, what if I tried going for someone just the opposite? Someone who didn't necessarily value his career over having a relationship, who knows how to have fun, who dares to talk back–just a little." She smirked at the last bit, 2Dads didn't need any encouragement to talk back any more than he already did.

"You think I'm not serious about my career?" He had given up pretending to steer the ship and leaned with his back against the console, frowning at her.

"That's a pretty bold assumption–-to think I'd be talking about you," Kate gave him a stern look and he looked away.

The game required them not to admit that either of them had ever so much as thought about the other in a non-professional context.

"I guess for some people, opposites do attract." He shrugged and settled into the other captain chair, propping his feet up on the console.

Kate sighed. She could tell that she'd inadvertently hurt his feelings. She hadn't meant to imply that he wasn't serious about his career but when compared to someone like herself or Mike–Navy lifers–it wasn't hard to realize that 2Dads wasn't exactly cut from the same cloth.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the lights of the Hammersley shining brightly in the distance off their port side as the patrol ship escorted them home.

"Are you sulking?" She finally asked.

Even in the dim light of the cabin, she could tell he was rolling his eyes.

"No," His voice sounded so petulant when he answered that he ended up laughing at himself. "Fine, maybe a little. I just–I like to think I've proven myself worthy of the Navy. Hell, I know I'm not ever going to be the same caliber of sailor that you or Mike are–"

Kate interrupted him, "–let's not talk about Mike. I spent too many years of my life thinking about a man that was completely out of reach." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted it.

2Dads looked over at her in surprise. "I thought the CO was just a theoretical example of the sort of type A guy that you usually go for? You mean you actually went after the CO?" His voice sounded almost incredulous.

Kate buried her face in her hands and gathered her thoughts before she looked back at him, "I can neither confirm nor deny any personal involvement with a fellow officer."

2Dads searched her face and then grinned, "So that's a yes, then. You and Mike…wow." He chuckled. "I thought I was being absolutely ridiculous to even consider the idea of anything happening with a senior officer, but come to find out you've already tested the waters."

"2Dads…" She didn't know whether she should admonish him or try to explain what had happened. It really was none of his business. She opened her mouth to try and explain how the younger version of herself had first met Mike Flynn and fallen head over heels in a way that was no longer possible. She was too cynical for love at first sight and too cautious to fall into anything, never mind love.

Suddenly, she realized what he had just said. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip to keep from smiling. She had just won their game and he didn't realize it yet.

"Don't worry, I would never tell anyone about you and the CO," He was still talking about Mike; he hadn't yet realized that he'd admitted to thinking about her.

She interrupted him, "I'm sorry, could you repeat what you just said?" She tried to keep the smugness from her voice but he could sense that something had changed and he looked over at her, not entirely sure what was happening.

"I said 'I'll never let anyone know about you and Mike,'" He repeated himself with a frown, the furrow between his brow giving away the fact that he was thinking hard to figure out what she was up to.

"Nope. What you said before that. About how you had thought about trying something with a senior officer before?" Aside from a brief few months sharing the ship with Nikki, Kate was the only female senior officer 2Dads had served under. "Unless you've been harboring feelings for Dutchy, I think I've just won." She finally let her smugness out and gloated at him.

"What? Hey! That's not what I said, I was being hypothetical, I wasn't saying I've ever thought about YOU. Maybe I do have a thing for old blood and glory, himself. There's something about a man in uniform, isn't there?" He was talking fast, he'd finally caught up with her and realized what he'd admitted.

Kate relaxed back into her seat and let him ramble.

"What do you mean, you 'won'? Won what? We've never discussed any rules." He stood up quickly and faced her. "Is there a bet in play here that I wasn't part of?"

She let out a snort of laughter and shook her head. He was trying to change the subject and deny the fact that they'd been going back and forth with each other for months. "No, there's no bet. Though I trust that if there was a bet you would be able to sniff it out."

He played dumb. "I can neither confirm nor deny that I have engaged in gambling while on patrol."

"Ah, so that's a yes then," Kate parroted his words from earlier back at him.

"Fine! You win." He leaned back against the console again and crossed his arms. "What would you do if I had thought about you in a non-professional way?" He looked truly curious but a grin twitched at the corner of his mouth and she realized there was still room for him to claim a come-from-behind win.

She decided to play along–sparring with 2Dads had become one of her favorite activities to pass the time. "I suppose first of all, we'd have to coordinate our schedules," She began.

"Wrong answer," He jumped in and cut her off mid-thought. "First of all, one of us would have to transfer off." He grinned triumphantly, as if he had just poked a hole in her master thesis.

She started to laugh at how much fun he was taking in correcting her but the laugh died on her lips at the same time the grin faded from his face. The rules of the game were being rewritten.

She nodded slowly. "Yes. Of course. One of us would need to get a posting somewhere else. We couldn't be on the same ship. You could see if Buffer's ship needs a sparky. Or I could request a posting back to the world of big ships."

They fell silent as they both tried to figure out what was happening. It had suddenly become less like a game of mental gymnastics and eye-fucking and more like a discussion of how they could become romantically involved in the real world.

"Look, X," 2Dads uncrossed his arms and ran his hand through his hair.

"You can use my real name. Just until we get ashore." She figured this was the last time they'd be able to banter like this. It was the end of their time toeing the line of professionalism.

"Kate, I think I should explain something to you." He was distracted when the boat hit a wave at the wrong angle. He corrected their course and turned back toward her. "I actually already filled out the transfer request. I just need you to sign it."

"What?" She was truly surprised. 2Dads seemed like he'd finally developed a good relationship with the crew. He respected the CO and had even managed to put aside his distrust of cops to form a good working relationship with Swain. "I thought you were happy here."

"No, no, don't get me wrong. I love it on the Hammersley. I feel like I belong for the first time in my life. I feel like everyone has my back and it's great–it's not something I'm used to. I've always had to rely on myself. I'm the only one to give myself pep talks or tell myself if I'm crossing a line when a prank goes wrong…and sometimes I misjudge and there's nobody to catch my mistakes."

"Then why request a transfer?" She was still reeling from the news. Aside from Dutchy, who she had a close friendship with, she would have said that 2Dads was the person on board who she knew best. Even before this game between them had started…she sighed as she realized that what she had jokingly been calling a game was actually just flirting. She was just so bad at flirting that she hadn't realized that's what they'd been doing.

2Dads didn't notice her realization. "It's you. You're the reason I'm requesting a transfer." He saw the way her face froze and rushed to explain himself. "In a good way! I like you too much to work with you any more." He cleared his throat nervously. "As we both know, I might not be the greatest at following rules. And, uh, this–," He motioned between them and then brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck, "–I can't keep doing this."

Kate stood up and reached for the console, steadying herself against the swaying of the ship, facing him. "2Dads, I am so sorry. I should have anticipated the consequences of this. I should never have let this go on as long as it did." She was mortified to think that it was her fault he wanted off the ship.

"Nah," He shrugged. "It was a lot of fun while it lasted, though. Whatever it was." He grinned at her.

Kate wasn't done apologizing. "If you want to report me, I completely understand. I won't hold it against you. This is probably an abuse of power," She was talking out loud to herself now, "Imagine if the genders were reversed…" She was in a downward spiral.

"Christ, Kate. Chill out," He reached for her arm and caught her wrist as she was about to hide her face in her hands. "I'm 30. I'm not a kid. I know what I'm doing." He reached out with his other hand and lifted her chin until she met his eye. "This is not your fault, ok? I knew I was playing with fire and this is the consequence. I got too close…now I need to leave before I make it worse." He dropped his hand from her chin and let go of her wrist.

"Thank you, but as the senior officer, it is all my fault." She made herself look at him. "Someday maybe you'll forgive me for being the cause of your transfer."

"There's nothing to forgive," He reassured her.

"I suppose the one good thing is that you are over 30 now–"

"–barely!" He protested and they both smiled. "Hey, I wasn't really done with my speech, though."

"Oh, you had a speech prepared for the moment I finally crossed the line, did you? That's comforting." She gave a wry grin. It was a bizarre situation and she was in uncharted territory.

"Yeah, actually, I do," He swallowed nervously. " Ready?" He grinned at her but then blushed and looked away before he started talking again. "When you tell me I've done a good job, or make me clean the fucking laundry room with a toothbrush," He glanced at her to see if she remembered and she bit back a smile at the memory, "and when you lecture me about how disappointed you are in me–that's what I want my life to be like. I want someone holding me accountable. I want someone celebrating the highs with me and pushing me to do better during the lows. I want to feel sad when we bust a boatload of illegals and feel stoked when we apprehend a FFV…and I want someone to share those moments with. I had started to imagine–had started hoping–that you could be that person."

Kate couldn't help herself, she reached out and laid a hand on his chest. "Me too," She watched his eyes widen in surprise but he kept his mouth shut, waiting for her to say more. She dropped her hand from his shirt and spun to face the bow. The coast of mainland Australia was now visible as a series of light clusters on the dark horizon.

She knew she shouldn't be surprised–she'd been actively flirting with him for months–but it was a revelation to realize that she had been hoping this entire time for something to happen between them. Something more than just flirting.

He turned around as well, and stared out at the sea alongside her.

"It's just so unfair," Her voice was angry. "All bullshit about opposites attract aside, we should at least have a chance together, right? But the Navy won't let it happen."

"I'll transfer. I already am transferring. And if that's not enough, I'll quit. I can do loads of things besides the Navy: professional poker player, blackjack dealer–"

"Stop, Leo." She used his name and it seemed to bring him back to earth.

"Not great examples of upstanding careers…sorry," He apologized for getting glib during a serious moment. "I could be a civilian electrician. I could paint houses–I've painted Charge's house twice now. Look, the point isn't what specifically I could do if I quit. The point is that I would quit if it meant we had a chance to figure out whatever this is between us." He sounded so earnest that Kate felt tears prick her eyes.

"I haven't met many other people who are alone," She spoke cautiously, trying to determine the best way to explain herself. "I don't mean single people. Although, I suppose that's part of it. Some people are serial monogamists–jumping from partner to partner. And others–Dutchy comes to mind–are always single but never alone. I mean alone in the same way you meant–that you have to be your own cheerleader and scold yourself over bad decisions because nobody else will."

Leo looked over and watched her as she regained her composure, her eyes still focused on the far away coastline.

"No family to anchor you, no partner to encourage you…you get used to just doing it all on your own." She had been speaking in the second person, describing her situation in a general way. But that wasn't what she meant, she didn't mean anything generally, right now–she meant it specifically in relation to Leo. "I'm worried that I can't come back from here. I've been on my own for so long–for my whole life, really–and what if I'm stuck like this now? I know you make the best of it, and so do I–we're successful despite the fact that our families don't care…" She trailed off for a moment. "I have wondered about what it would be like," She looked over at him, "to find someone else who knows what it's like to fight against society's expectations of us. And to be strong enough to face it all alone."

She was thankful for the dark of the cabin and the fact that they had a few more hours to collect themselves before they reached shore. She watched the grim set of his mouth as he gazed out over the bow.

"It's the hope that gets you, isn't it? In the end? That hope that maybe this time you won't have to face life alone. But you always do." It was one of the more cynical things she'd ever heard him say and it made her heart ache.

"Maybe we don't, any more." Her voice was quiet. It sounded as if she were thinking aloud again. "Maybe I'm too set in my ways…or maybe you're too set in your ways, but maybe we owe it to ourselves to at least try?"

"That's a fuck load of 'maybes,' Kate." He finally cracked a grin and looked over at her. "But I get it. We'd be a united front, yeah?"

"Yeah," She sounded as if she were testing out the concept of a 'united front' in her head, "a united front."

He suddenly let out a laugh and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close against his side. Caught off balance, she wrapped an arm around his waist so she didn't stumble.

She could hear the cheekiness in his voice when he spoke. "So, in about seven hours, when patrol ends and I put in my transfer request and ask you out for a drink, you'll say 'yes'?"

She swatted his hip with the hand that wrapped around his waist, "Ask me that question again in seven hours when I'm allowed to give you an answer."

"Fair enough," He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze. "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to use your name more before we meet up with the others and I'm banned back into the realm of formality."

She chuckled and leaned into his side. "Look on the bright side–it'll only be for a few more hours and then you can go back to using my name."

"Aha! So you will say 'yes!'" He crowed triumphantly and she couldn't help but smile.

They fell silent, staring out at the horizon, Leo occasionally adjusting the wheel, and both of them holding tightly to the other.