"Lordy, lordy what's up his bum" Charge stopped next to Kate once Mike had walked off
"I have…" she paused raising an eyebrow "no idea"
"I get he's unhappy about shore leave being over, but it can't be helped"
"I don't think it's that" Kate shook her head
"Nah? You don't reckon?"
"The Boss just had a meeting with Commander White"
"Oh… the dreaded Knocker" he nodded in understanding
"Mmm-I might just…"
"Sure I'll finish up things here"
"Thanks" she passed him her folder
"Alright you lot enough slacking around!" Charge yelled in his attentive voice,
walking through the ship Kate stopped in the doorway of Mike's cabin looking around in confusion when she didn't spot him
"X, supplies all loaded?" he answered from behind her
"Charge is overseeing it Sir" she moved aside for him to enter
"Isn't that your job?" he placed his files on his desk
"Seems the crew is a very attentive in noticing you coming back in a rather odd mood"
"So?" he sat down in his office chair
"And I got to say given the way you left I'm rather interested myself" she moved into his cabin
"X I'm really not in the mood"
"Did Knocker say something?"
"Commander White hasn't said anything now if you'd please" he pointed to the door
"Not until you tell me what's wrong"
"Nothing's wrong"
"Seriously? I know you way more than you think we just spent a whole week together we may have shared separate rooms, but you weren't like…"
"Like what?" he turned in his chair to look at her
"Like this!" she motioned him up and down
"Kate…" he shook his head
"What's going on?"
"I had a rather interesting conversation with Maxine"
"Interesting?" she moved to sit on his rack
"Commander White seems to think I can't keep my Personal and Professional separate"
"Right…"
"You agree with her?" he turned his chair around to face her
"Well you've got to admit you never really can keep them separate"
"Don't you go turning on me too"
"What exactly did Knocker say?"
"Oh you know just the usual that everyone knows about our past at ADFA and I should learn to be more careful focus on my career"
"Our past was never a secret Mike I mean getting caught in the classroom wasn't exactly the way I wanted people to find out but…"
"Yeah I know"
"If Knocker thinks we're making a mistake if we've done something wrong…"
"Hey, hey" he wheeled forward in his chair grabbing her hands in his "I couldn't care less what Knocker thinks"
"Mike… maybe she has a point.."
"We haven't done anything wrong, not since the crocodile incident last year and I was on shore at the time so technically we weren't serving together besides not doing anything for a year it's not easy.."
"Well tell me about it" she laughed softly
"I know what I want Kate and it's not this ship or to stay on as CO"
"Mike…" she went to pull her hands back
"Don't you want there to be a future for us?" he pulled back first
"Of course I do" she reached across placing a hand against his cheek
"But?" he placed a hand over hers
"I have to agree with Knocker in this instance"
"Okay so maybe when it comes to the crew I can get a little personal"
"But it's not just the crew Mike, it's me too more so then everyone else"
"It's only…"
"I know it's because you love me but if Commander White and everyone else is noticing then what's to say this won't cause trouble for your career down the track" she teared up
"Kate…"
"A promise is a promise, but Commander White is right this patrol we need to keep this strictly professional"
"Professional…" he sighed reluctantly removing her hand off his cheek
"And in keeping it professional this patrol where are we headed?" she cleared her throat
"We're being tasked to the gulf of Carpentaria there's an army responder there, someone's been trying to sell illegal firearms" he reached behind him to grab the piece of paper off his desk
"So the SAS coming abord?" she took the paper from him
"Special request from Commander White"
"You mean spying from Commander White"
"We're to drop the SAS team off and hang back until we're called in for backup" he ignored her comment
"Great so we get tasked to sit back and watch while they get to have all the fun" she rolled her eyes
"You're not jealous are you X?"
"Please I'd rather be dealing with fishermen then stolen firearms" she placed the piece of paper next to her on the rack
"I'll keep that in mind"
"Right well.. I better head back to see over the supplies"
"Yeah.. we're um due to sail in twenty minutes" he cleared his throat
"Good I'll inform the crew" she shifted forward reading to move off his rack
"Wait…" he placed a hand on her thigh
"The doors open…"
"Not even one?" he whispered leaning in when a pair of footsteps echoed down the hall,
quickly moving back his chair to behind the desk while Kate shifted off his rack and moved to the door Mike smiled when Nikki stopped in the doorway
"Boss?"
"Yep?" he cleared his throat
"Am I interrupting?" she looked across at Kate then back to Mike
"No I was just leaving" Kate smiled softly moving past Nikki and out of his cabin
"We're ready to close cable party's just waiting for the crew to load the last few boxes" Nikki answered once Kate was gone
"Great, once the X is back on board we'll set off can you inform the senior crew there will be a meeting in the mess once we're on our way?" he nodded
"Not a problem Sir" she turned walking away,
taking in a deep breath Mike wiped the sweat off his brow from the nervousness of almost getting caught not knowing Jim had been listening in from near the stairs.
Setting sail on schedule Kate made her way down the steps to head towards the Mess for their briefing
"Kate?" his voice called from around the corner
"Ah Jim settled in?" she stopped on the bottom step
"Yes although that 2Dads fella he's a little sharp around the edges" he stopped in front of her
"He's a good sailor, when he decides to do his job"
"I get the sense he's trying to one up my crew prove he's the bigger man"
"If he hasn't challenged you or your crew to a poker game yet then I think you're safe" she smirked
"I'll keep that in mind"
"Well I better.." she pointed past him
"Listen is there any chance we could grab a coffee while I'm onboard?" he asked hopeful
"Jim I…" she paused when she spotted Mike down the corridor, turning to look at Mike he sighed sadly
"I didn't realise… I figured since you were still serving together that" he turned back to look at Kate
"We're not…"
"It's okay Kate really"
"Nothing's going on"
"You really don't need to explain" he moved aside
"But Mike is resuming his shore posting in a week so…" she stepped down the last step
"I'm happy for you Kate" he placed a hand on her arm
"I should really head to the debriefing…" she smiled
"Sure, we can catch up later" he removed his hand just as quickly
"Sure" she nodded moving down the corridor Jim watched her when she stopped next to Mike who placed a hand on her lower back
"What was that about?" he whispered
"Just Maxine's spy doing his work" she grinned
"The crew's waiting so we should" he guided her towards the Mess
"You might want to remove your hand first" she looked up at him
"Right sorry" he removed his hand letting her enter first he took a look back at Jim before entering after her and closing the door
"Boss were are we headed?" Charge questioned when he closed the door
"Hammersley has been tasked to the gulf of Carpentaria there's an army responder there, someone's been trying to sell illegal firearms"
"So the reason for the hot SAS guys coming onboard" Nikki grinned
"We're to drop the SAS team off on the island and hang back until we're called in"
"Seriously Boss?" Buffer huffed
"Look I'm not happy about either Buff but it's NAVCOM's request"
"Oh you mean.."
"Knocker" they all answered at once
"Alright that's enough, Commander White asked for Hammersley personally so we will do as we're told just like every other patrol" Mike held a hand up
"But we don't always follow the rules" Swain shrugged
"Yes thank you for that Swaino I now know why I'm always getting into trouble"
"Guess it makes sense as to why they call you a cowboy" RO piped up from the back
"Can we get on with this debriefing?" he raised an eyebrow
"Sorry Sir, continue" Nikki nodded
"Thank you Nav, ah X" Mike motioned
"What?" she looked up from her folder
"The debriefing"
"Excuse me if I'm wrong but um.. isn't that your job?"
"Yes but you still have the paperwork"
"Right.. sorry" she tried to hide her smirk while taking out the paper and passing it to him
"Thank you" he took the paper trying to ignore the snickers from the crew.
...
Standing on the back-deck Kate looked up when she heard footsteps approaching
"Settling back in?" she smiled
"Slowly, I know I've only been gone a year, but it seems so different" Nikki shrugged stopping next to her
"Different?" Kate questioned
"I don't know it seems like I've been away longer than a year I mean you and the Boss have slept together and Bomber left after sleeping with 2Dads"
"Woah the Boss and I haven't.."
"Kate it's obvious and there were a few stories going around after the crocodile incident"
"Guess those things don't really stay a secret for long" she sighed leaning on the railing next to Nikki
"Is it real? What you and Mike have?"
"Well…"
"I mean is he willing to leave the boat for you because from what I see he loves being the CO"
"He's put in for a transfer so.."
"But did you force him into it or was it his decision?"
"What?" Kate looked at her sadly
"Kate.. I've known Mike for years he dosen't want to leave the boat it's his lifeline"
"Why are you saying all this?"
"You know what ET and I went through to be together and when we finally made it he was.. he was killed, how do you know Mike will be happy leaving the boat?"
"Nikki it was his choice I didn't force him into anything" Kate shook her head
"I didn't mean… I'm sorry guess it's just hard being back"
"I get it, but you know we're all here for you" Kate wrapped an arm around her
"Even when your spending your free time flirting with the Boss?"
"I wasn't flirting with the Boss"
"Yeah, right even Buffer noticed"
"I'm all for you being back but your way too observant for my liking"
"What can I say I did a lot of soul searching while I was away" she nudged her
"It's good to have you back Nik" Kate smiled her mind running overtime as what Nikki had said.
