A/N - I'm cheating a *tiny* bit here but I know that you'll forgive me. Next up will probably be Cruz introducing them in Norfolk and then I was inspired to open this up to another couple or two but I'm keeping who a secret for now. :)

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Title: Second Impressions

Location: The Nathan James, the North Atlantic

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Bang, bang, bang.

Danny Green sat straight up in bed, leaning towards his nightstand to pick up his watch, remembering only when he landed flat on his ass that he wasn't in his apartment in Norfolk or even in the barracks. More awake now, he reached for the post where he hung his watch and checked the glowing hands. 0230. There were no alarms going off, so either Captain Chandler was a fan of surprise room inspections or Frankie had forgotten his key. Again.

Bang, bang, bang.

Now wide awake, Danny stumbled across the room to open the door - only to be completely baffled by the sight before him. Rather than Frankie, who was on overnight duty, or even some unknown sailor sent to rouse everyone from their bunks, he was faced with the sight of a petite brunette wearing a cutoff tank top and a pair of yoga pants that clung to her in all of the right places. Her hair was floating around her face - definitely not regulation - and she was barefoot.

It took a second to place her. Lieutenant Kara Foster. She worked in CIC, an operations specialist of some kind. They had met, briefly, during Danny and Frankie's introductory tour, but Danny had taken little note of her. Just another person in coveralls and a baseball hat who worked in CIC, meaning he would spend more time talking to her over the radio than he would face-to-face. Now, looking Kara up and down and feeling the blast of pure attraction, Danny realized his initial impression was dead wrong. Still, none of that explained why she was banging on his door in the middle of the night.

"Is something wrong, Lieutenant?" he asked, hearing the raspy note in his voice.

"Yes something is wrong," she snapped, arms crossing across her chest. Which had the most likely unintended effect of pulling her shirt more tightly across her breasts and making it quite obvious that she wasn't wearing a bra. "Whatever you are doing in there needs to stop. The noise is driving me crazy."

Forcing his gaze away from her breasts - which, he couldn't help but notice, were just the right side for a man's hand - and back to her face, Danny leaned against the door. "All I was doing in here was sleeping. And before you ask, no, I don't snore."

"As if you would admit it," Kara muttered before, to Danny's astonishment, she brushed past him into the cabin, snapping on the light. He turned, closing the door out of habit and, perhaps, a desire not to be interrupted, before leaning against the wall. He watched as she turned in a circle, hands on hip as she surveyed the small space, giving him a nice view of her ass. It was chilly in the cabin and he could see her nipples had tightened under her shirt. He hoped to hell that she couldn't see the way his body reacted to the observation. "It has to be coming from here. I've checked every other option. Chung even came by to check my vents in case there was some kind of debris. This is the only other explanation."

"Look, Lieutenant..." he began, only to be cut off when Kara's shoulders slumped.

"Kara, please." She glanced up, grimacing. "I don't hear anything. Sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night."

"No big deal," he lied. If either Burk or Nishioka, his neighbors on the other side, were standing in Kara's place, Danny would have been ripping the guy a new asshole. "Frankie does that regularly, tromping in and out of here at all hours."

Her eyes lit up for a second. "He wasn't here in the last thirty minutes or so, was he?"

"No," Danny replied. "He dropped Halsey off about midnight before..."

"The dog!" Kara cut in, turning back to the bunk before lifting both arms to the top bunk to leverage herself up, treating Danny to a view of creamy skin as her shirt lifted. "That's it!"

"Hmmm..." Danny replied, focused on Kara's backside. Once he realized what he was doing, he frowned. Since when had the sight of two inches of a woman's back had him this distracted? Sure it had been a while since he indulged. The team had gotten back from Afghanistan only days before they got orders to join the Nathan James, leaving little time for recreation. Although the boys managed to hit the beach for a couple of days, Danny spent the little leave he had with his parents, feeling bad that he would be missing both Mother's Day and his mom's birthday. Again. But, really, he was thirty-six. Didn't he have a little more self-control?

"Danny!" His thoughts were interrupted by Kara snapping her fingers at him. She gestured him towards the bunk. "Did you fall asleep?"

"Of course not," he replied, only to belatedly realize that dozing off was a better excuse for his distraction than the fact that he was ogling her. Fortunately, Kara didn't pursue the topic, instead tossing her hair over her shoulder as he joined her at the bunk. He wondered if the strands were as silky as they looked. "What did you want to show me?"

"The sound," she replied. "It's his tale brushing the wall."

She sounded excited, and Danny hated to burst her bubble but... "I can try teaching him not to do that but he's a dog. Tail wagging comes pretty naturally."

Kara's excitement dimmed for only a minute. She looked back and forth between him and Halsey, her forehead wrinkling in concertation. Danny fought the urge to reach out and smooth the line away. "Why is he awake now anyway?"

Danny shrugged. "He's used to more exercise. Frankie and I both take him on deck at least once a day but otherwise he's cooped up here or in the gym while we do PT. He ends up sleeping a lot during the day."

"I supposed you're too busy..." Kara began, stopping when Danny cut her off with a snort. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just that we're bored stiff. We have another week before we reach the Arctic and there's not much to do on a ship without getting under someone's feet," he explained. "I used the first couple days to catch up on paperwork but now that we're at EMCON that seems pointless. I have Benz studying for his competency exams but neither Berchem nor Smith have any interest in advancement so I've resorted to having them break down and clean all the equipment." Abruptly Danny stopped, realizing that he was venting to someone he barely knew. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

Kara hopped down from the bunk, her head tipping as she nibbled on her bottom lip. Danny's hand tightened on the bunk as he watched her. Damn that was sexy. Finally she spoke. "You should talk to Carlton. He's having the same problems."

That was not what he was expecting. "He is?"

Kara shrugged. "He's mentioned it a few times. With you on board, his team is unlikely to leave the James on this cruise. Morale is down. They feel displaced."

Danny crossed his arms over his chest, his mind racing. "We could do some cross-training. I don't know how much advanced winter training the VBSS team has done before." He paused, a quick shake of Kara's head confirming the answer he suspected - none. "But on the ground training is the best kind anyway. Maybe we could even get Captain Chandler to authorize a few all-ship exercises. It's been a while since I did any onboard door-kicking."

He was warming to the idea, already brain-storming logistics, when he caught sight of Kara's face. She was smiling at him, eyes dancing. Amused. And damn if he didn't feel like he had just won her the biggest stuffed animal at the county fair. If they were anywhere except a destroyer on a four month cruise at EMCON, he would have kissed her, frat rules be damned. But circumstances demanded a modicum of caution. He leaned forward slightly. "And other brilliant ideas in the gorgeous head of yours?"

Kara rolled her eyes, but she didn't seem to take offense. That was a positive sign. "Flattery will get you nowhere but...I actually do."

Danny decided to push his advantage. He had already missed ten days, he didn't have any time to spare. "Interested in talking about them during daylight hours. Maybe over dinner tomorrow night?"

"I'm on second shift," Kara replied. She hesitated for only a minute before continuing. "But I could meet you for coffee when I get off. Say nine?"

Despite having promised the guys a poker tournament, Danny didn't hesitate. "I'll be there."

"Well, I should probably go," Kara said, glancing around as though she were suddenly realizing where she was. In his cabin, in the middle of the night, with the door closed in violation of about a dozen ship rules.

He smiled. "I'll try to keep the dog quiet so you can fall asleep."

"Thank you." Kara was at the door now. She opened it, before pausing. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow."

As soon as Kara closed the door, Danny turned to the upper bunk where Halsey lay. Lifting the dog to the floor, he signaled him to lie and stay before snapping off the light and returning to his own bunk. Halsey might hate the cold, steel floor but, for tonight, he would simply have to tolerate it. Danny had other priorities.

After all, it wouldn't do for Kara to be too tired to enjoy their first date.