Author's note: Chapter two for your enjoyment. I hope you are enjoying this so far. More to come. Leave a review on your way out, especially if you want a chapter three. Happy Reading. Dark Rolling Sea.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Last Ship or any characters. I make nothing from this. I just take them out for a spin once in a while.

CHAPTER TWO

Two weeks had passed since Tom had broken down about his wife to Rachel. She had thrown herself into the new work, getting things done faster and more efficiently. She was in her lab finalizing a report to send to St. Louis when she heard someone enter the lab. She looked up to see the captain coming toward her with a warm smile on his face. They hadn't seen much of each other over the last two weeks, each busy with their own duties.

"Captain, what a pleasure," she said with a smile. Tom returned the smile as he came up next to her.

"I heard you made some progress on getting the cure out faster," Tom returned.

"Yes. I'm working on the report to send back to St. Louis. The new cure will be ready when we hit the next port."

"That's great news," he replied. His smile reached his bright blue eyes, something she hadn't seen in some time. It made it hard to push those feelings down deep. She internally cursed herself for allowing this to go so far. To fall for a man that was unavailable to her. Especially when there were others on the ship that had expressed interest. Her thoughts were interrupted as the captain continued speaking. "So, um, I came by, to see if, um…" the captain stammered. Was that a blush in his cheek? His body language seemed uncomfortable and nervous.

"What can I do for you, Captain?" she asked trying to coax his question out. Yes, that was definitely a blush in his cheeks.

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd, um, like to have, ah, dinner with me tonight," he finally asked. His hand rubbed absently at the back of his skull, smoothing the short hair of his faded haircut. Rachel was speechless for a moment as his question fully registered in her brain. She saw even more nervousness cross his eyes at the pause.

"Yes, Captain, I'd like that," she replied. That full blown smile returned to Tom's face and Rachel fell a little bit more down the rabbit hole. Worry struck her as thoughts intruded on her. What if it's just a friendly dinner? What if she is reading more into this than there is? What if it's just a thank you for getting through that moment of grief a couple weeks ago. She fought hard to keep the doubts from her face.

"Splendid. Around 20 hundred hours? I should be done with official duties by then."

"I look forward to it," she replied working hard to keep her voice even. He nodded, stood for another moment longer, the abruptly turned and walked away. Rachel watched him leave, her brain spinning at all the possibilities. Working hard not to get her hopes up. It was just a dinner, nothing more. It had been two weeks since he had broken down, and they had hardly seen each other in those two weeks.

It was just after 8 in the evening and Rachel had lost all track of time. She closed her laptop as the last report was finalized and she took in a deep breath, stretching her neck from side to side. It had been a long day of writing and proofreading the reports headed to the new White House. She was startled slightly when someone walked into her lab. She looked up and saw a petty officer approaching.

"Ma'am, I'm tasked with bringing you to see the captain." The young man said with authority. Rachel's brow furrowed in a confusion before the earlier conversation with Tom reentered her brain.

"Oh!" she said looking for a clock. She was late. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she frantically tidied up her desk and tried to regain some control. "I'm sorry. I lost track of time," she mumbled. The petty officer simply nodded, waiting for her while standing at attention. Satisfied everything was good on her desk she rose and followed the petty officer through the ship to the wardroom. The young man opened the hatch and stepped through allowing Rachel to follow him.

When she stepped inside, she stopped. Tom had been sitting at the head of the table and stood when the petty officer entered. He was dressed out of uniform in a casual manner, and she couldn't help but let her eyes wander the length of him. This was going to be harder than she thought to keep her feelings bottled in and treat this as a friendship.

"Sorry," she breathed out. "I lost track of time working on those reports for the president."

"I figured as much. I sent the petty officer to the lab first," Tom replied softly. He reached out a hand and pointed to a chair. Rachel nodded slightly and walked towards it. As she sat down Tom looked up at the young man. "That'll be all, Petty Officer. Thank you."

The young man nodded and left the wardroom shutting the hatch behind him. Rachel and Tom sat at the table in a slightly awkward silence as they helped themselves to the food in the center. This was the first time Rachel had been in the wardroom alone with Tom. All the other times she had eaten in there with him, there had been at least one other member of the command team present. Rachel looked at Tom and saw he seemed just as nervous as she was. She laughed. Tom looked at her puzzled, but it appeared her laughter may have broken the spell.

"Something funny?" Tom asked, as he settled back into his chair, his plate full. She contemplated her reason for laughing, this certainly was not the first time they had been alone in a room together, so why the nerves.

"Just trying to loosen the mood, I suppose," she replied looking at her plate of food. She could feel Tom's gaze still on her, studying her. She looked up and saw his blue eyes had darkened a color, and she couldn't quite put a finger on the emotion she saw there.

"Didn't know it was too tight," he mumbled. Rachel laughed again and immediately covered her mouth.

"Sorry, I didn't mean…" Rachel said as she regained control.

Tom waved her off and started to eat. Rachel took a deep breath and followed suit. This was proving more difficult than she had imagined. They ate in silence for a while and Rachel was starting to wonder if the whole dinner would be this stiff. She looked up at Tom and watched him as he studied his plate of food. He took a few small bites but seemed to be shoving it around more than eating it. Eventually he shoved it aside. Rachel finished her meal, she had actually been hungry after spending all day in the lab and shoved her plate aside as well. She looked up at Tom.

"Thank you, that was a lovely meal," she said, trying to spark a conversation with him. She had never seen him so quiet, and it was starting to unsettle her.

"Yeah," he mumbled, as he rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks for coming."

Rachel waited, expecting him to say more but there didn't appear to be more coming. She was thoroughly confused by this point as to why he had asked her to have dinner with him. He had seemed excited and happy to ask her earlier today but now, he was reserved and quiet, not a side she was used to seeing. She watched his face as he stared at the wall and saw that there was some kind of emotional battle waging in his eyes. She pursed her lips and nodded. He had thought he was ready for this and found out he was not. She stood from her chair.

"Well thank you for the evening. It's late and I know I have an early morning," she said. She would get one of two responses to that. One she hoped for, the other she knew she was getting.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Tom stumbled over his words. His gravelly voice cracking. She gave him a small smile and started for the door. She was at the hatch when she heard him speak.

"Rachel?" His voice was full of uncertainty. She looked back over her shoulder at him and saw the pain in his eyes. She forced a smile, waiting for whatever was coming next. "I'm sorry, this…my company tonight…I'm…sorry."

That was all he said. Rachel nodded slowly then opened the hatch and left the wardroom. She chided herself for agreeing to this. For letting herself open up to the possibility of something more with the captain, knowing it will probably never come true. Rachel was angry with herself for even falling for him, although she knew there wasn't much she could have done about that. She never imagined when she took the mission to the artic all that would follow. Her mind drifted back to the kiss on the Russian ship, something her mind did often when she was tired. Tonight's dinner opened up that memory again for her, and she knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. Maybe someday in the future he could overcome his inhibitions, but tonight, he was still unable to move forward, no matter how hard he was trying.

To Be Continued…