Tom watched Rachel and Tophet work in their lab, feeling distinctly uncomfortable with the fact a few millimetres of plastic sat between him and certain death for his crew. He had felt unsettled and impatient ever since he learnt about the virus. He knew Rachel and Tophet were working tirelessly but right now, he needed answers.

Well, at least one answer was Morley immune or not. They could test for the virus in a matter of seconds but the tests to confirm immunity seemed more labour intensive. Tom heard Mike's heavy footfalls as he came into the lab and stopped just by his side.

"How's the resupply?" Tom asked, his eyes never leaving the tent.

"We're fully stocked and we have an excess medical supplies. But Dr Scott said the supplies will be necessary in the coming months. We're splitting the load between here and the other helo bay." Mike said.

"Keep the helo on the flight deck for the time being, make sure it's secure for when we hit bad weather. I want us out of this bay as soon as we tie up this loose end here." Tom told him, he was already tired as he could feel this day stretching on forever.

"Barometer and satellite imagery says it's a minor afternoon storm." Mike said.

"It's hurricane season and those satellites aren't reliable anymore. I don't want to be caught in this bay if it's something more." Tom argued. Mike nodded in agreement as it wasn't just the weather that could do them in, they still had the Russians on their tail. Last thing they needed was for them to catch up and blockade them in the bay.

"True and knowing our luck, we'll be hit hard either way. Whether it be the Russians or the weather." Mike huffed a breath and sighed, "Do you really believe Morley could be immune?"

"It would be quite the boon. If she's immune then others could be. That kind of hope will help keep the crew motivated." Tom said, they would all need something to keep them going for the coming days.

"One person on a base of 95,000. Those are not great odds." Mike pointed out.

"We don't know how many of the survivors including the detainees were immune before they started killing each other. And you're also forgetting Tex, he might be immune." Tom reminded him.

"I doubt anyone can forget that man." Mike drawled, Tom chuckled as Tex was not a shy or reserved man by any means. But he was a good operator, they needed him and Morley.

"Even so, it'll be good to have the fresh blood on the ship." Tom assured him.

"What we need is R&R." Mike said.

"How long does it take for them to tell us what we already know?" Tom asked impatiently as he ignored Mike's comment about R&R. It was a non starter, they couldn't go home and there was nowhere safe to dock and allow shore leave until they had a vaccine to keep them safe.

"They have to triple check everything." Mike said in a withered tone. Tom gave up being patient and moved to the phone by the tent they had set up for communication.

"Doctor Scott, what's your progress?" he asked.

"I'm still running tests." Rachel replied.

"We need an answer now as we can't sit in the bay for much longer. So, I'll ask a simple question: is she infected?" Tom asked her.

"No, she is not but-"

"Thank you Doctor." Tom said, he hung up on her and turned to Mike. "Let's get Morley on board and the ship out of here." he ordered, Mike nodded and left the helo bay. Tom turned back to tent where Rachel pointed at the phone. He picked it up.

"That was incredibly rude." She informed him.

"My apologies, but it's safer if we're on the move." Tom reminded her.

Danny sat by Cruz's bedside, he should be chasing up the results for Jess' blood and informing the captain that he was related to Jess. But he couldn't muster the urge to move. He felt someone nudge his shoulder. He hoped it wasn't that civilian Tex. The man was too nosey and noisy for his own good. He turned and looked up to see Smith with his usual unreadable expression.

"We gotta go." Smith said he motioned for Danny to follow. They went into the hallway a few feet away from the infirmary.

"What's going on?" Danny asked.

"XO wants us to go collect Morley and deliver her to the labs ASAP." Smith said in a low voice.

"She's immune." Danny said. He and Smith had split up when they returned to the ship. Smith went to the labs to pass over the blood for testing while Danny made sure Cruz would be ok.

"I didn't ask, but I think it's the running assumption. Captain already sent a team to collect what we left behind, only to find it all ready to go and some more. Your sister is doing the legwork to prove her worth. The XO is pretty keen about bringing her on board." Smith said, it looked like they both had positive outcomes.

"Of course." Danny sighed.

"This is good." Smith said.

"Yeah," Danny said but he didn't feel overly happy about it. Not that he wanted to abandon his sister. He just didn't want her on the ship, upsetting the delicate balance he had with the Nathan James crew. He had a certain image to uphold and Jess was going to turn it to shit. She had gone from organisational freakshow to whatever she was now and one thing he knew. It would be impressive as everything Jess did was impressive.

Jess laid on her back in the shade with Halsey. She had been given water and food from the ship when a group in hazmat suits came by to take the medical equipment and supplies. The team was gone and she was left waiting.

"Jess." Danny called, Jess sat up with Halsey and saw him and Smith walk up to her.

"Hey, what did the doctors say?" Jess asked them, relieved to see them as it meant news.

"You're immune, let's go." Danny said, no explanations, no warm welcome at all. But she deserved that. She rose to her feet and grabbed Halsey's lead and her backpack with the meagre belongings she had kept on her for the past months and followed them.

"So, how long are you going to be pissed at me?" Jess asked Danny.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Danny said, trying to play it cool and professional.

"You're that angry." Jess surmised. Danny stopped and turned to her.

"Ok, sure, let's have it out here and now." he said, he threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Ok." Jess agreed, she waited for him to start.

"I- urgh! I don't know where to start." he told her, he started to walk away and then stopped and turned back. It oddly reminded her of when they were kids and he'd get frustrated because he could never finish an argument how he wanted to, "No, I do. What the hell are you doing here?!" he demanded.

"I work here." Jess said simply.

"As what?" he asked.

"I mainly translate and transcribe interrogations." she answered.

"Are you kidding me? You graduated from college at 17 with three degrees and PhD. You want me to believe you're just an interpreter." he said in utter disbelief. Jess smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, cause it's the truth." Jess said, it was the entire truth but she wasn't sure it was safe for Danny to get any redder in the face while he was trapped in a hazmat suit.

"Or as close as I will get to it given you've lied to me and our family for over 20 years." Danny sighed.

"I wouldn't say I lied, I obfuscated." Jess argued.

"It's the same thing!" Danny shouted at her.

"Semantics," Jess said dismissively, she saw how betrayed he looked. She did a quick pro and con list in her head before she decided for the sake of peace to just tell him everything she could. "Ok, fine, I'm Clandestines Operations officer. My main purpose here is to be an analyst and CIA liaison officer for the base. I occasionally sit in on interrogations but most of my job is translating and transcribing before sending it on to someone to decide what's pertinent. Oh and I was married which is why I transferred here to be with him. Now, you know everything, are you happy?" she asked him.

"No, I'm not. This is not what you're supposed to be." Danny told her.

"And what am I supposed to be?" Jess asked as this argument was exhausting.

"Not a Spook." he told her, then he paused for a moment as everything she said sunk in, "Wait, you're married? Since when?" he asked.

"I was. He died during the pandemic, not that I went looking for his body but he's somewhere out there. Either dead from the virus or strung up on the fence for the birds." Jess said, she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat as she thought of Tex and how she'd never see him again.

"You were lucky they didn't get you." Danny told her.

"Yeah, I guess I was lucky that Mom and Dad groomed us all from birth to survive hellholes like this one." Jess drawled sarcastically.

"That isn't true." Danny told her.

"Oh yeah, cause weapons training, martial arts, gymnastics and being fluent in at least 3 languages are totally normal childhood activities." Jess turned to Smith. "Back him up, Smith. You did all of that as a child, didn't you?" she asked him.

"Stay out of this." Danny told him, Smith held his hands up in surrender. Danny turned to Jess. "Our parents gave us the best of everything because they wanted us to be the best and we are." Danny pointed out.

"Do you really believe that?" she asked him incredulously as she never felt like the best version of herself. She always felt like there was something more she had to prove, that she was nor would she ever be perfect. For majority of her life, it had been near crippling to live with.

"I do, we were lucky." He told her.

"Yeah, lucky to survive childhood without killing one another. It was always a stupid competition with us all. You and Keeley always hated that I set the bar too high." Jess scoffed.

"How could we compete with you?" Danny asked her.

"Newsflash, not everything is a competition!" She shouted at him.

"Says the one who excelled at everything she did." Danny reminded her bitterly. Jess sighed and shook her head.

"That is not true, that is just what Mom made you believe so you'd work harder to impress her and Dad." Jess said, she was genuinely surprised that he hadn't thought about their childhood and how it affected who they were as adults.

"You're not a victim here." Danny told her.

"Damn right, I'm not. Neither are you." Jess pointed out, she gave an aggravated sigh, "Man, this is insane. It's the end of the world and you're still wrapped up in the bullshit rivalry of our childhood."

"I'm sorry, if I have to rethink every interaction we've ever had." Danny told her, he was angry, Jess just gave up.

"You know what? When you cool down and realise how hypocritical it is that you're angry at me when you're a Navy Seal who has to lie about literally everything he does. Then you'll see what a child you're being-"

"Oh and let me guess, that you were protecting me?" he asked mockingly.

"No, I cared about the people I was tasked to protect, the contracts I signed and the oath I took. Those promises mean something. So, yeah be mad, Danny. It's not like you hate me any less for knowing the truth." Jess told him, she started walking with Halsey towards the docks as she was finished with trying to talk to him.

"I don't hate you." Danny said, he and Smith followed her.

"You got a funny way of showing me you care." Jess said, they lapsed into a tenable silence for a good 5 minutes. Both were deep in their own thoughts.

"Were you able to call home before everything fell apart? I tried and no one picked up, not even Keeley was picking up." Danny said breaking the silence.

"I'd be surprised if she did. She was in the hospital in a medically induced coma last I spoke with Mom." Jess told him.

"Why?" Danny asked confused.

"She was hit by a car a week after you left. She was in the ICU last time I was able to speak with Mom. They were up in Baltimore but that was months ago." Jess told him.

"Simone was still in Russia?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I tried to get her to go to the US embassy back in June. But she wouldn't hear of it, she had a contract she refused to break with the company. I asked a friend to go talk some sense to her but I never heard anything back from them. But that isn't saying much since cell service is non-existent. SAT phones are spotty at best but then you need someone to pick up the other end of the phone." Jess explained in a dull manner, she felt like she was dragging the weight of the world with her.

"When did you last have contact with the outside world?" Smith asked her.

"August." Jess answered.

"It's October now." Danny said, Jess stopped in her tracks.

"That long?" she asked, she was surprised as she had felt like months had passed not weeks.

An hour later, Jess had gone through the decontamination process and had her arm injury redressed before she was given the basics as well as plain green BDUs and boots that she assumed were procured from lost and found on the ship. It didn't matter to her where they came from as they were clean. She was clean for the first time in months.

Now, she sat in the lab listening to Dr Rachel Scott tell her everything she knew about her immunity. Rachel's face was lit up with excitement and all Jess could think about was all the people who died, how she'd been alone thinking that surviving had been a curse.

"Passive immunotherapy is a possibility." Rachel said thoughtfully.

"A doctor on the base tried it as a last ditch effort after he was infected." Jess said tiredly as this was not the first time she heard all the possible treatments. Granted Rachel was in better health and seemed more knowledgeable on the matter. It didn't make it any less exhausting to sit through.

"It didn't work?" Rachel asked.

"It did and it didn't, the immunity, it required numerous blood transfusions. The side effects were brutal for him and me." Jess said.

"That's a very crude method of passive immunotherapy." Rachel said with a frown.

"But fast, he lived two weeks longer than the others. But he still died, horribly. I don't even know if it was my blood that killed him or the virus." Jess said, she felt her mind wander as she remembered how she kept trying to help him. In the end, he begged for death just like everyone else. Nausea and guilt rolled sickeningly within her as she felt responsible for his death.

"It sounds like he waited too long to start the transfusions. Maybe if he had the transfusions before he was infected he might have become immune for a short while. It's something we should look into but my primary focus is for a vaccine." Rachel told her, Jess inwardly sighed with relief as she didn't want to go down that road again.

"How's that going?" Jess asked.

"It's a slow process, but with the primordial strain and your immunity, I'll be able to make a vaccine in a matter of weeks not months." Rachel said, Jess knew it was supposed to be comforting but she felt a knot of anxiety form as she felt like she was on a hook until that vaccine was found.

"That's great." Jess said, her tone was a little lackluster but she couldn't summon the enthusiasm. She saw Rachel's expression, "Sorry, I'm just exhausted." she added. It wasn't a lie, she wanted to sleep for a week.

"Of course, why don't you find your lodgings and rest. We can talk more when you're rested." Rachel said sympathetically.

"Thank you." Jess said, the interior door to the helo bay opened and Tom stepped in. Rachel got to her feet and walked over to him.

"Captain." Rachel started, but he held up a hand to silence her.

"If you're going to tell me off for moving the ship before your equipment could be calibrated. I don't want to hear it as there is a storm coming and I won't risk the ship staying in the bay." Tom told her.

"What?" Rachel asked, confused.

"Tophet, he said the machines need to be calibrated and the ship is required to be stationary for it." Tom said.

"It's ideal but not necessary. We'll make do." Rachel said, she looked at Tophet who was in the lab with a frown. She shrugged it off and continued, "No, I wanted to tell you that I'll have the answers you want in the next 48 hours."

"Thank you, but I came for Morley," Tom walked around Rachel to Jess. "Morley, good to see you." Tom said, Jess smiled as she rose to her feet and held out her hand.

"It's been awhile." Jess said as she shook hands with him.

"8 years?" Tom asked.

"Something like that." Jess remarked.

"You know each other?" Rachel asked them.

"I stepped in as a last minute substitute for a colleague on an op. Spent three weeks on the Nathan James. Back when this guy was the XO." Jess jutted a thumb at Tom, "Now look at you, all grown up and the Captain." Jess teased.

"That's right, I expect the same level of respect you gave Captain Choi." Tom told her.

"Of course." Jess said, she always knew Tom would be Captain one day. He had the gravitas and respect of his fellow officers to go far. It was nice to see that it came to fruition. Sure, she enjoyed poking fun at the straight laced sailors but she knew there was a time and place.

"Doctor, may I borrow Morley?" Tom asked Rachel.

"Of course, we're finished for the moment." Rachel said with a smile. Tom motioned for Jess to follow him out of the lab.

Danny stood in his quarters and stared at Frankie's open locker, this part of his job never got easy. Until today, he had believed that he was accustomed to death after years of service. It was just a part of life, but as he stowed each item away, the grief and pain he'd been ignoring became more pronounced as he slowly packed away Frankie's belonging.

He was reminded that there no one at home to be informed of their loss. There was no 'call tree' being activated to help with funeral arrangements, no one to help console and look after Frankie's Mom and Grandma. All the other SEALs teams, the men he went through BUDs with, the older operators who were like older brothers looking after them. The whole entire support structure of his world and second family no longer existed. He was at a complete loss.

He picked up Frankie's wallet and pulled out his military ID. He wished he could've saved Frankie. The same thought played through his mind again that he wished that they'd known there were people who were immune. Maybe that grain of hope would have saved his best friend's life. But wishing didn't change the reality, his friend was gone or that the rest of his family were most likely dead as well.

The gravity of everything he'd lost near drowned him. He sensed Kara's presence, the light scent of her shampoo drifted towards him as she moved closer.

He remembered how he had snapped at her at breakfast when she said he hadn't been dealing with Frankie's loss. She was right, he didn't deal with it because the pain was too much. Frankie had been family to him, losing him was like losing a part of himself.

"You know, I should be getting this stuff ready for his family. But, uh... there's nobody even to give it to." Danny told her, he couldn't stop the sob that tore through his throat. Without hesitation, Kara wrapped her arms around him. Danny crumbled under the strength of her grip and his grief, he buried his face in her neck as the tears streamed down his face. He drew comfort from her presence as he wished they could just escape this hell they were in.

A knock on the door sounded, Danny released her, stepped in front of Kara blocking her from view. Danny sniffed and scrubbed his hands down his face as Berchem leaned his head in.

"Wanna grab an early dinner?" Berchem asked.

"No, I'm good." Danny asked as he didn't bother to hide that he'd been crying. The best way to hide something was to make the other person uncomfortable to the point they wanted to leave. Berchem was not a touchy feely person and found any displays of strong emotions uncomfortable.

"You ah need help with Frankie's stuff?" Berchem asked him, he looked ready to run.

"No, I got it, but thanks man." Danny said before he sniffed loudly for dramatic effect. Berchem nodded uncomfortably.

"Ok, see you around." Berchem said, he tapped the wall a couple of times and left.

Danny turned back to Kara, she tugged on his t-shirt and gave him a closed lip smile of sympathy for his grief. Danny realised she was the only good thing in his life. He pulled her into his arms and took a deep inhale and savoured the comfort of having her close as he needed her more than anything in that moment.