Part Five – Faith is its own reward.

It had been two days since the Iris fleet arrived, in those two days I've been locked in a conference room with both the Iris fleet and the Vichya fleets, sitting listening to them yell at each other from opposite sides of a table, at least they had done me the service of using English.

On day two during a break Algérie pulled me off to the side to talk to me, "Daniel, how come you have not called or messaged me back?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose and look down when I say, "Algérie, this is something I don't want to talk about right now."

"Non, I deserve an answer, you have not been in contact with me aside from as required by our duties all month." She said, folding her arms under her bust and leaning against a door frame.

I sigh while trying to avoid eye contact, I can feel her eyes narrow as she looks at me and she demands, "Answer me, Daniel."

"Commander." I snap at her when I finally look at her.

She seems to stiffen up for a moment before she changes tactics, "Commandant, why the change in our relationship?"

I sigh and lean against the wall behind me as I say, "I did some thinking over the month Algérie, and as much as it pains me and will likely sadden Cassidy, I think we should keep things professional, and before you ask, the same is going for Dunkerque."

She looks hurt and asks me with one word, "Why?"

I look her in the eyes as I tell her before I move away and off to get something to eat, "I was disappointed in your behavior in the clinic; I also do not enjoy being used as a tool to irritate others."

I felt her reach out and grab my arm, before she could say anything I said to her without looking back, "Let go of my arm Algérie, I would hate for you to be confined to quarters again."

Pulling my arm away I made my way to the room where we had set up a lunch station. Once I got into the room, I moved to a wall and leaned against it looking skyward and I let out a heavy sigh before taking off my cap and running a hand over my head as I think about how it feels like I just broke up with a girlfriend. I slide down the wall and rest on the balls of my feet before I hang my head and groan.

After a few moments, I hear a voice ask me, "Commandant, are you okay?"

Having folded my arms against my knees and resting my head in the pocket it made, I shake my head back and forth, truth be told I was feeling like I failed Cassidy again… that seems to be a running case since I took command here. The voice spoke again as I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Would you like to talk about what is wrong?"

I sigh as I say, "Not really."

"It might do you some good to share the burden, Commandant." They said this time, their voice felt so inviting and warm at this point, and truly I could probably use someone to talk to.

I lift my head to see who is talking to me and I found myself drawn into these reddish-purple pools that were framed by strawberry blond hair, it took my mind a moment to catch up as I say, "I probably should Cardinal, but the issue is, it is an entirely personal problem."

I see her smile at me before she sits across from me, her legs together and off to the side, a plate of food beside her before she says with such a calming reassuring tone to her voice, "Those are often the most crushing and important ones, non?"

I felt a smile creeping onto my face before I crush it through force of will before I say, "They are, but I shouldn't burden you with them."

She gives me a sweet smile as she thinks for a moment and says to me, "I believe that any obstacle can be overcome with fervent faith and untiring efforts. But if that does not work, then one best seeks out assistance."

I sigh, maybe if I talk to her about it, she could help me figure out what to do, so I test the waters a little by telling her, "I have an eight-year-old daughter who desperately wants and needs a stepmother or at the very least a woman she can talk to about girl problems with that might come up in her life."

Richelieu tilts her head up and off to the side to look at me through half-open eyes as she asks, "What happened to her mother?"

"She died when my daughter was eight months old..." I tell her, resting my chin on my arms as I sat on my rear and put my knees against my chest.

I notice the look of surprise on Richelieu's face as she asks, "Then your duties must make that very difficult to provide her?"

Sighing as I nod to her and say, "It does."

Richelieu is quiet for a moment, her eyes going wide as she asks, "Does this having anything to do with the difficulty between you, Dunkerque and Algérie?"

Again I nod as I tell her, "It does. Cassidy likes both of them, both apparently like both me and Cassidy. That seemed to add fuel to the problems between them, and that all came to a head last month when my daughter broke her arm…"

I pause to bite my lower lip before I admit, "I was looking at having a personal relationship with Algérie, but during her confinement for her actions in slapping me in full view of subordinates as well as challenging me on doing what I felt was best for Cassidy, I had time to think about things and decided that it would be best to keep things professional."

Richelieu sits back a little and nods, taking a moment to think before she says to me, "I am guessing that you had that conversation with Algérie recently, oui?"

When I don't meet her gaze I hear her sigh before she put a hand on my shoulder as she says to me, "Commandant, you likely made the correct choice. If she was willing to do such things in full view of others, without a defined relationship one can only wonder what she would do in one."

I give Richelieu a weak smile before I push myself up off the ground as I say, "Thanks Cardinal, but if this choice only affected me that would be one thing, but since it also affects Cassidy, it made this so much harder."

She stands, dusts off her dress, places her plate on a table, and says to me, "Have faith Commandant, you are being tested by God, he never gives more than we can handle."

I laugh as I say, "Well just once, I'd like a break. I've been near the end of my rope for eight years now."

The next thing I know, I feel pulled into an embrace, I can hear a heartbeat through my left ear, I feel a soothing rubbing on my back and I hear Richelieu say, "Sometimes all we need is an embrace to know that we are not alone, Commandant."

I close my eyes and just enjoy this moment, my own arms moving of their own will to wrap around her waist. After a few moments, I lean back a little to look at her, her cheeks turning pink as I look at her as she trips over her own tongue to get out, "Ma… May Heaven confer upon you its blessings, Commandant, and know that I will be there if you need me."

I feel my own cheeks starting to get hot and I let her out of the embrace and step back before I rub the back of my head with a hand as I say as my voice cracks, "Thanks Cardinal."

Richelieu looked down and folded her hands in front of her, but I could see a subtle smile on her lips, before she looked up and suggested, "Now Commandant, perhaps find something to eat, for I do not think we are done for the day with my wayward sisters."

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When I got Cassidy tucked in for the night I flopped down on my couch and ran my hands down my face, letting out a heavy sigh as I think about the decision I made to put the brakes on anything with Algérie or Dunkerque, I had explained it to Cassy and she seemed to take the news well enough. Yet I found myself still wondering what I'm going to do, I've managed to keep things together for eight years, but I think about what I had said to Richelieu, that I had been near the end of my rope the entire time, truth is I need someone to support me or at the very least be able to pull me across that finish line.

I like Algérie, but Richelieu was right, if she was willing and able to do what she did in public, without the protections of being my partner or Cassidy's mother it made it clear things could only get worse if she had those protections. As for Dunkerque, she had been more professional about things, but I didn't enjoy her being mad at me for something that I had no idea about… again Algérie's doing.

I sigh as I get up and go to prep the coffee maker for the morning, while I'm doing that I say out loud to myself, "Just once, I'd like to catch a break… maybe find someone that is in a position to be willing to take on all of this and make me feel even a fraction of what I felt with Savanna."

I knew no answer would come, but it felt a little better to get it said out loud before I headed up and turned in for the night.

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The next morning as I and Cassidy are walking into the secretarial office, I see Richelieu sitting in one of the chairs, her hands in her lap holding that red book of hers, head down and I can see her lips moving. I catch myself looking at them, I can see a slight sheen of pink lip gloss on them, my attention is brought up by Cassidy tugging on my arm and looking up at me. I bend slightly so she can whisper in my ear, "Who is she? She's really pretty…"

"That is Richelieu; she is the leader of the Iris fleet." I whisper back to her.

It was then that Brooklyn noticed me, causing her to smile and greet me, "Good morning Commander, you came just in time, a few files need your signature… and your first appointment for the day is already here."

"Thanks, Brooklyn. Cardinal, if you please." I say to both of them as I take the files from Brooklyn and open my door for Richelieu.

Richelieu closed her book and got off the couch, turning to look at me with those eyes of hers' that were like reddish-purple gemstones, a smile on her lips as she said, "Merci Commandant."

Her attention turned to Cassidy and she smiled at her as she added, "Bonjour, tu dois être Cassidy."

My daughter grinned at her as she said, "Oui!"

As the three of us entered my office, Richelieu took a seat on the couch, crossing her ankles as she went on to say, "It is good of you Commandant to make sure that she can speak more than one language."

Taking a seat at my desk, I open the folders and give the reports a quick once over before signing off on them and handing them to Cassidy as I say to her, "If you don't mind sweetheart, could you take these to Brooklyn and wait with her while I have this meeting?"

Cassidy took on a look of disappointment as she said, "But I want to stay with the pretty lady…"

Richelieu lifted a hand to cover her mouth as she giggled and blushed while Cassidy took the files out. Once the door clicked closed I turned my attention to Richelieu and said, "I'm sorry about that… Kids can be rather honest to a fault."

"Non, it is alright Commandant. If anything I thought it was sweet of her to comment on me in such a way." She says, leaning back against the couch, a smile on her lips.

After a few moments she brushed some hair behind an ear before going to speak, "I was wondering if you had any ideas to help with bringing the Templar Knights back into the fold. They will follow Jean, but I do not think Jean has much interest in it."

I noted how sad she sounded talking about Jean Bart, so I ask her, "You sound kind of sad when you mention Jean Bart, is there something I can help with?"

She gives me a forced smile before telling me, "Non, you have enough on your plate, Commandant."

I get up and sit beside her on the couch, twisting slightly so I can face her as I say in a falsetto tone of voice and my best attempt at a French accent all while I have a smirk on my lips, "I believe that any obstacle can be overcome with fervent faith and untiring efforts. But if that does not work, then one best seeks out assistance."

Richelieu laughs and playfully slaps my chest as she puts some false hurt in her voice as she says, "Are you mocking me, Commandant?"

I shrug and lean back as I say, "Just repeating some advice I got the other day."

Richelieu leaned forward towards me as she smirked and said, "Sounds like she was very wise to offer such advice."

I felt something touching my hand and I looked down to see the fingers on her right hand touching those on my left, she seemed to copy the motion before we looked back at each other, I felt my cheeks getting hot and I saw a blush start to build in her cheeks. I found myself leaning a little more forward towards her, my heart rate picking up and I found myself whispering, "She is so much more than being very wise."

Richelieu leaned more in, our lips were almost touching at this point, I could feel her breath on my lips, the subtle floral scent of her perfume filling my nose. I moved the fingers on my left hand to lace with those on her right; I could see the blush on her cheeks getting deeper, just as I felt my own getting hotter, I wanted to kiss her so badly right now… there was just something about Richelieu, she felt so calming to be around and at the same time so exciting to be around. I caught her eyes dart down to my lips then back up to my own eyes and back down again, I took this as a sign and leaned in that last little bit.

Her lips were so wet and soft, my right hand moved to touch her left shoulder, sliding along it to the side of her neck, then up to touch the left side of her face with her left ear in the gap made between my thumb and index finger. To my surprise she didn't stiffen at the contact, rather she leaned into it, deepening the kiss. At the same time as she did that, I could hear her making little pleasurable noises, god I loved that sound she was making, I could listen to it all day, sadly my lungs had other ideas, they were starting to burn with the protest of needing oxygen. Richelieu seemed to hit the same point as she broke the kiss, both of us leaned our foreheads together for a moment, both of us panting. After a moment we both lean back, I know I must be glowing red from the blood in my cheeks, I can see that Richelieu is blushing brightly, a smile on her lips as she teases me with, "If nothing else, your audacity is commendable, Commandant."

I take my hands away and look down as I offer out, "I'm sorry Cardinal, that's not something I normally do…"

"I didn't mind, Commandant… it was rather enjoyable." She says to me, I took this moment to look up at her quickly, to see that she was looking down at her hands that were now in her lap.

I get off the couch and sit back behind my desk and clear my throat before I say, "It was… I'm sorry if I made this more complicated than it needed to be."

Richelieu shakes her head, before looking back at me, I can see that she is centering herself before she speaks, "It is alright Commandant, for now, let us work on this problem with getting the Templars on board."

"Of course Cardinal, I'll help in any way I can." I say to her with a nod.

She gives me a shy smile before saying, "Richelieu, my name is Richelieu… You may use it in private Commandant."

I nod and give my own shy smile as I respond in kind, "Daniel, you can use my name in privet as well."

That seemed to make her blush again and stroke her own hair as she tried to direct the conversation back to what she came in for, "There has to be a way to get Jean on board with bringing the Orthodoxy back together…"

I spin my chair to look out the window behind me and I ask, "Have you tried to talk to Jean Bart without any of the other Templars around?"

"Oui, I have tried… or rather I have tried to locate her to do so… I miss my sister dearly." I can hear the sadness in her voice when she talks about Jean Bart, I stand and go over to the window as I think about taking Richelieu to the hideaway.

After a few moments, I turn towards her and offer my hand as I say, "Then let's go to Jean Bart then."

Richelieu slowly puts a hand in mine as she stands, her cheeks flushing as she says, "Just where are you going to take me, Commandant?"

I look over my shoulder at her and smile as I say, "To your sister."

Richelieu smiles at me and to my surprise, she laces her fingers through mine with a nod. As we get to my office door, she lets go of my hand as she says, "For appearances, Commandant, I do not wish to start any unfounded rumors."

I'd be lying if I said I didn't like hearing her say that, but I understood the reasons, I give her a nod of understanding before I opened my door and I saw Brooklyn playing a game with Cassidy on her tablet. Brooklyn looked up and to see me, a blush of embarrassment coming to her cheeks. I shook my head with a smirk on my face as I ask her, "Brooklyn, would you mind watching Cassidy for a while? I'm taking the Cardinal down to Jean Bart's hideaway to see if we can hammer out this problem between the two of them."

"You can count on my Sir, should I have lunch made ready?" she asked me, moving to be behind her desk again.

"I don't know how long we'll be, but if this runs long, please order something in for Cassidy and try to balance out the veggies on the plate." I say to her with a wink at Cassidy who rolled her eyes at me.

Behind me, I swore I could hear Richelieu giggle at Cassidy's reaction.

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As I pulled the jeep off to the side of the road we got out and Richelieu looked around before looking back at me she asked, "Daniel, are you planning to do something improper to me out here?"

I cough and pat my chest, that took me by surprise and I ask her, "Richelieu, it took a lot for me to even kiss you in my office today, why on god green earth would I do something more than that?"

She laughed, folding her hands in front of her as she walked to the bushes as she said, "I am kidding Daniel. I could see how nervous you were. It let me know you are a good man, I have no worries about being alone with you, even so far from the base."

I felt my cheeks get hot and I tease her right back as I say, "Well, at least I wasn't the only one… To be honest though Richelieu, that was something I had wanted to do since I first saw you standing on the bow of your hull the other day."

She turned to look at my over her shoulder with a wink and a giggle she teased me, "Haven't you been getting too friendly with me?"

I was about to say something when she added, "I am just kidding Daniel, truthfully I wanted you to kiss me that night at the pub."

I hurry over to her and push back some of the leaves to show her the path we need to go down to get to the hideaway and I ask, "So if you wanted me to do that then, why didn't you kiss me?"

She shrugs before saying, "I did not know if you felt the same attraction and it would be improper for the Cardinal of the Iris Liber to be so forward with someone."

I nod, that was fair enough, truth be told I was in a similar position, that was when she added, "But when you told me about your daughter and the difficulties you are facing both professionally and personally and I embraced you I felt… I'm not sure how to explain it really…"

I sigh inwardly and offer out "Like it was right?"

Looking over my shoulder at her, I can see her blush more and brush some hair behind an ear as she smiles before she whispers out, "Oui, that it felt right."

I offer out my left hand to her as I say, "We've still got a little ways to go…"

To my surprise, I felt her slender fingers lace through mine as she says to me, "Good, I would like to enjoy this for a little while."

It wasn't long enough if you ask me before we made it to the last bush before we got to the hideaway; I look back over my shoulder to her as I whisper to her, "We're here…"

Richelieu looks disappointed as she removes her hand from mine and adjusts her dress before stepping out into the clearing and stopping in her tracks, I step out into the light only to have my eyes blocked almost immediately by Richelieu's hands as she hollers out in English, likely for my benefit, "Jean! Put on a shirt!"

After a moment the hands go down and I see Jean Bart standing across from the two of us, her top looking like it was put on in haste, a hand on her hip and leg out and off to the side as she demands, "What are you doing here Richelieu?"

"I am here to talk to you, to see if we can work something out…" she says, biting her lower lip.

Jean Bart folds her arms under her bust and makes a noise like she is irritated and I chime in, "You two are sisters, we should be able to work something out, that works for all parties."

Jean rolls her eyes and turns to walk back into her hideaway before coming back out with a bottle and three glasses. She moved over to a rock and put the glasses down and begun to pour a very dark-colored liquid into them. Once the glasses were full she handed one to me, one to Richelieu, and one to herself as she said, "If that's how you want to play this, then we do it my way… It's not oil or Oxy-Cola, Commandant, its good rum."

Richelieu looked at it hard for a few moments, and then back to her sister, Jean Bart stated again, "If you want to talk, then you drink."

Richelieu sighed and slammed back the shot of rum, causing her sister to grin as she said, "Well, how about that! Going to let your hair down, Richelieu?"

"I will do what I need to Jean." She said back to her sister.

I took a seat on the rock and took my shot, causing both of them to look at me and I said, "Not a word of this gets back to the base."

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A/N: Chapter Five down, thank you to everyone that has PM'ed, read and commented on this story. I'm very happy with the direction that this one is heading in now and I hope that you all like it as well.