USS Washington

( Off the coast of Florida)

16:14 Zulu

Vukovic's POV

He couldn't believe it. The man about to shoot his partner was petty officer Jones. " Jones! Don't! Put the gun down! NO! DON' T-" He yelled, and pulled the trigger on his own gun.

The bullet hit home, right in the petty officer's shoulder. He went down with a hollar sure to wake the dead, and the gun flew away from him.

Kat slid down the railing, sighing. " Good save, hero. What took you so long?" She asked, eyes closed against the rain, and he knelt down beside her.

" You're welcome. Do you know how hard it is to find two people on a ship this size? You're lucky I heard the petty officer yell."

" And they wonder why fraterenization is so high- Wait. Isn't Jones supposed to be dead?" She asked, as Vic pulled her to her feet, placing his arm around her waist to steady her.

" When I was searching, Sara came running up to me, crying. Apparently she overheard Sheppard and me talking about you being missing, and her conscience won out. She and Jones were involved in an illicit relationship, and they were ordered many times to put a stop to it."

" They decided to fake Jones' death. Apparently, there was this guy who was a dead ringer for the petty officer, and Sara lured him onto the ship. Jones killed him, and they passed off the body as his. No one really knew Jones, except Graines, and he didn't see the body. So they thought they would get away with it."

Kat cleared her throat. " Ahem. That's all nice and wonderful, but why was the dead-but-not-dead petty officer trying to kill me? I thought Sheppard was the one who killed the petty officer." She asked.

" Jones got paranoid, went after you. Apparently, he saw you as the greater threat." He replied dryly.

" I'm honored. What are we going to do with him?" She said, pointing her chin at the cringing figure on the floor.

" There's a couple of guys coming to lock him in the brig. And here they are!" The door opened, and a couple of burly seamen came in, yanking the petty officer to his feet and taking him away.

" Come on, We'll get you to the infirmiry, see if there's anything wrong with you." Vic said, and Kat shrugged off his arm.

" I'm fine." He caught her as she swayed and almost fell. " Yep. I can see that. We're going, so shut up and move your feet." He said, and she grudgingly complied.

When they got to the infirmiry, Roberts was waiting for them.

" Are you two okay?" He asked, as Vic helped Kat up onto the table. " Yeah, I'm fine." Kat said, and Vic and Bud exchanged a look that plainly said : Yeah, right.

" Really, I am. I don't even need to be here." Kat said, recieving no answer as the nurse, a tall blonde, started examining her.

" You should have no lasting effects from the chemical. You appear to be in perfect health otherwise. I see no need to keep you here."

" Tell me something I don't know." Kat muttered, getting off of the table with a glare after the nurse as she walked away with Vic.

" This won't even go to trial. They'll be handed a sentence, and that will be that. I have to say that I'm proud of us. Nice and easy. Well, other than the attempted murder." Kat added after seeing the look on Vic's face.

" Yeah. The general should be pleased. We should pack up our stuff. The captain will have a helo waiting for us." Vic said, and the pair walked to their quarters.

Mason's POV

" So are you planning on telling me what is in that folder or not? The suspense is killing me." Kat asked as her partner placed the mysterious folder in his suitcase.

" You'll have to wait a little longer. I'm sure you will survive." Vic said, a hint of teasing in his voice.

" Oh, Vic, come on! Tell me. I promise I'll keep it to myself. Unless it's a deep, dark personal secret of yours. Then I don't think I want to know." She raised an eyebrow at him, and he nodded.

She was silent for exactly five seconds, than jumped off of her bunk and leaped at the suitcase. Vic grabbed her, and they fell on his bed, rolling around and grappling.

Laughing, Kat managed to get the upper hand. ( She suspected he let her, but didn't mind.) She sat on his chest, effectively pinning him to the mattress.

She reached for the case, only to lose her position of supremacy. " What are you going to do now?" She asked him, voice low and teasing. " Handcuff me to the bed?"

He grinned leaning down so his face was inches from hers. " Let me think about that. No, I think I'll let you-" Before he could finish his sentence, the door to their room swung open, and Bud walked in.

" Hey, are you guys- oh. I- I'll come back later..." He said, and Kat knocked Vic off of her.

" Commander! Wait!" He came back in. " It isn't what you think. We were just fooling around." She cringed. " I didn't mean that. What I meant was that- I don't know what I mean. Not that, though." Bud just blinked.

" What lieutenent Mason means is that she was trying to get into my suitcase, and I was restraining her." Vic said, and Kat shot him a deadly look.

" Just get out to the helo." He told them, leaving. " What the hell was that? Do you try to make my life miserable? ' She was trying to get into my suitcase'? God!" She punched him in the shoulder, and grabbed her bag.

Jaming her hat on her head, she stopped at the door. " Well? Are you coming? Or are you just giong to stand there and stare?" She said, flashing him a smile that was intended to make his knees weak.

It worked.