Past:
Mike had left this morning after a long and exciting goodbye he made his way to Sydney for a few weeks to visit for his sister's graduation he had asked Kate to come along but with everything being fresh and new she decided to stay behind and deal with the whole situation with her brother.
After careful thinking over and over about what to do she turned him in and he was put on house arrest until he could testify against the people who are his bosses he understood why she did what she did so her wasn't mad but he was a little upset.
Making her way over to his place she entered throwing her bag on the floor next to the door
"Jake?" she yelled out as she made her way into the kitchen
"Kate?" he replied as he made his way out of the bedroom
"Hey" she answered as he pulled her into a hug
"You have to go it's not safe" he whispered in her ear
"What are you talking about?" she asked as she saw a man make his way out of the bedroom
"What's going on?" Kate asked confused
"Kate leave now!" Jake yelled as she ran towards the door a man moved from the bathroom grabbing her from behind pushing a knife into her back as she let out a scream of pain
"Let her go! She's not involved in this" Jake yelled as the man who had the knife in her back threw her against the couch
"So this is the famous Kate, the one who went to the Police" the man from next to Jake said moving towards her as the one with the knife sat next to her
"Who are you?" she asked confused
"We were your brothers bosses, I'm Luke and this is Buck" he said pointing to the guy with the knife "What are you doing here?" she asked as Luke sat in the arm chair next to her
"We're here to persuade your brother to come back and work for us" he answered as Kate moved slightly Buck pressed the knife back into her back
"She is not a part of this, just let her leave" Jake answered moving towards Luke
"She knows too much we can't let her leave" Luke answered as he arose from the armchair
"She's not going to say anything" Jake answered moving towards the couch as Luke arose from the chair and placed a hand on his chest stopping him from moving.
"So you're the reason Jake here is bailing on us" Buck said pressing the knife harder into her back as she flinched in pain
"Dealing in drugs isn't a life, it's a cheat way to make a quick buck" she answered angrily
"Really? We seem to do pretty well" Luke answered grinning as Kate tried to shift from the knife that was pressing into her back
"You won't get away with this you'll get caught" Kate answered
"And what makes you think that?" Buck answered as Kate grinned
"I'm not just a pretty face" she answered bluntly as Buck ripped at her shirt
"Luke! She's bugged" he answered pushing the knife harder against her skin
"Well Miss McGregor I do believe that you have set us up" Luke answered angrily
"The cops have been staking this place do you really think you'd get away with showing up here?" she answered hissing in pain
"Buck get rid of her" Luke yelled as Buck moved off the couch pulling Kate with him and pushing her towards the bedroom
"Where are you taking her!" Jake answered as he tried to move towards them
"Don't even think about it" Buck said pointing the knife as Jake as he pushed Kate towards the bedroom.
"Looks like it's just you and I" Buck answered throwing her against the bed
"Your forgetting someone" she answered smugly as she pulled the wire's out from under her shirt
"Better make this quick then" he said moving towards her as he pinned her against the bed pushing the knife into the side of her waist caressing her right breast as he pushed the knife against her hard
"Any last words?" he answered looking down at her
"Now" she answered bluntly as she heard yelling coming from the lounge as the cops stormed the place
"Wrong decision" he answered dragging the knife hard along the bottom of her back across her stomach and stopping under her right breast as Kate loud out a loud cry of pain
"Drop the weapon!" one of the Cops yelled as they stormed into the bedroom Kate needed Buck in the groin as he fell sideways dropping the knife and holding himself to repress the pain.
"Kate!" Jake yelled as he ran into the bedroom as the cop was handcuffing Buck
"I'm fine" she answered visually unaware that the cut Buck had given her was deep and bleeding
"Kate you're bleeding" Jake answered in shock as she moved off the bed she started to feel light headed
"I'm fine... Stop fussing…" she answered hitting his arm away as she stumbled a little
"I'm taking you to the hospital" he answered quickly as she lifted her shirt a little to reveal a massive cut from under her breast running along her stomach and down to her back
"Fine…" she answered softly as he grabbed his keys off the table
"You may need stiches for that…" he answered on concern
"Let's just get this over with yeah" she answered moving slowly towards the door as he followed behind the cops placing Luke and Buck in the back of the cop car as they walked past.
After 8 long hours, 30 stiches and many police interviews Kate made her way back into the living quarters as she rounded the corner she spotted Mike standing near her door
"I thought you left this morning?" she answered confused slowly moving towards the door as she unlocked the door before moving inside as he followed behind
"I did but I wanted to try and persuade you to come with me" he asked hopeful as he shut her door
"I told you, I don't think it's a good idea" she answered placing her keys down
"Ok no arguments here, I just wanted to see you one last time" he answered moving towards her as he wrapped his hand around her waist she hissed in pain
"You okay?" he asked concerned
"Yeah I just pulled a muscle earlier" she answered looking up at him
"Do you want me to take a look? Give you a massage?" he asked gripping the bottom of her jumper
"No!" she answered pulling it down
"I mean no it's fine, rain check?" she asked hopeful
"Yeah sure" he answered pulling her into a soft hug
"I best be going" he answered pulling away from the hug
"Have fun, but not too much fun" she said grinning at him
"It's my sister's graduation how much fun can I have, I'll take you out for dinner when I get back" he said smiling at her
"Promise?" she asked hopeful
"Absolutely take it easy yeah?" he said nodding at her
"I'll be fine" she answered as he moved towards the door
"Alright I'm going for real this time" he said smiling at her
"Kiss?" she asked moving towards him as he placed a soft kiss on her lips
"Love you" he said pulling away as he opened the door before leaving,
closing the door behind him Kate pulled her jumper off throwing it on the floor and quickly taking off her bloody soaked shirt as she moved towards the mirror turning her back to it she slowly looked at the scar as she followed it softly with her finger as she turned around getting to the front of it she let out a big sigh as she chocked up some tears a painful reminder she'd always have to confront every time she looked at herself or anyone would see her in bathers or even Mike when they made love…
(Present:)
"X?" he asked as he knocked softly, no response knocking again he this time opened the door as she made her way out of the bathroom in her bra
"Sir?" she asked confused quickly grabbing her shirt of her rack and holding it against her
"Sorry I did knock" he answered moving inside her cabin as he shut the door
"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked clearing her throat
"Hmm?" he said softly
"Is there something I can help you with?" she said again as he blinked
"Yes right, I just wanted to see how your eye was going?" he asked crossing his arms
"It's fine Sir barely noticeable" she said smiling softly at him
"Good..." he answered softly
"Is that all?" she asked staring at him confused
"Uh yes nothing else" he said smiling at her
"If we're done here, I need to get dressed before my watch" she answered as he nodded and turned around opening the door, Kate turning around herself as she reached for her clean shirt on her pillow
"Kate…" he said softly her not hearing him as he turned back around to face her he spotted 3 scars on her back one of them looked like something had been dragged across her skin and around her waist
"Mike!" she answered as she spotted him looking
"I thought you left" she answered pulling her shirt the rest of the way down
"I had, I mean I was… What are those!" he answered pointing to where he saw the scars
"It's nothing, not your concern anymore" she answered crossing her arms
"Did someone hurt you?" he asked
"I'm not having this conversation with you" she said moving towards him to exit her cabin
"Kate…" he said softly grabbing her arm as she stopped to look at him
"What…" she answered as she turned to look at him
"Can I see it?" he asked sadly as he reached both of his hands to the bottom of her shirt Kate quickly grabbed his hand
"Mike…" she said trying to pull his hand away as she shook her head
"It's okay…" he answered as he slowly lifted her shirt up the material brushing against her skin causing her to shiver.
Tracing his hand softly along the scar starting on her back he slowly followed it as he moved up the side of her waist, Kate closing her eyes as he moved further up her shirt before stopping at the end of the scar under her right breast
"Who did this to you?" he asked sadly
"It happened years ago it's nothing…" she answered sadly as Mike rubbed his thumb across the two small scars that were on back
"Kate this isn't nothing…" he replied as the cabin door opened and Nav stood in the doorway looking at the scene before her
"Sorry…" she answered quickly as Mike moved away from Kate as she pulled her shirt down
"Um… I'll talk to you about those reports soon" Mike answered clearing his throat as he moved past Nikki and out of their cabin
"What was that about?" Nikki asked as Kate grabbed her DPNU's shirt off the back of the chair pulling it on
"Nothing, I've got to head for my watch happy sleeping" she said quickly exiting their cabin as Nikki shook her head
"What is going on?" she said to herself as she shut the cabin door and moved towards her rack.
It was just after 24:05 when Mike made his way onto the bridge
"Anything to report?" he asked softly as Kate jumped a little
"No Sir, nothing" she answered moving off the Captain's chair
"Why don't you go make yourself a brew? There's something I want to discuss with you" he asked hopeful
"I'm on watch Sir I can't leave the bridge unattended",
"Swaine you have the bridge right?" Mike asked Swaine who was sitting at the steering
"Yes Sir, go take a break Ma'am I'll be fine" Swaine replied
"20 Minutes and I'll be back" Kate answered as she exited the bridge with Mike following behind.
"So what's up?" Kate asked as she waited at the bottom of the stairs for Mike
"Come with me" he answered moving past her and down the hall
"Where are we going?" she asked confused as they walked past the galley and his cabin and out towards the boat deck
"I just wanted to apologise" he answered as they walked along the deck to the back of the boat
"You brought me out here to say that?" she asked confused
"Well not exactly" he answered softly pulling out a small box from his pocket
"Then what?" she asked confused
"It's after midnight" he said smiling at her
"I suppose it is" she replied
"Happy Birthday…" he answered softly as he handed the small box to her
"You remembered?" she said softly
"I remember every year" he answered smiling weakly
"And you brought me a present?" she asked confused as she untied the bow on the box
"Just a little something I wanted you to have" he answered sadly as she opened the box to reveal necklace with a small boat pendant on the end
"It's beautiful" she answered smiling at him
"Here let me" he answered picking the necklace up as he moved to behind her to put it on
"Thank you" she answered softly as he moved back to stand next to her
"I was thinking we could do something special with the crew when we get back to port in the morning" he said leaning against the railing
"I don't really want everyone to know…" she answered
"Why not?" he asked confused
"I just don't want anyone making a fuss" she answered sadly
"Your worth making a fuss for" he answered moving closer to her
"Don't go there Mike…" she said looking out at the water.
"Why not?" he answered reaching a hand up to brush his thumb across her cheek
"It's just better if we leave the past exactly that the past" she answered turning to look at him
"I never stopped loving you Kate…" he said sadly
"You're with Ursula now, it can never happen" she replied moving towards the end of the boat
"Kate…" he said softly following her
"We work together it's a bit different then teacher and student, are you willing to risk your career just to give things another go because I won't let you do that" she answered refusing to look at him
"Isn't it my decision?" he asked sadly
"I'm making the choice for you" she replied
"Kate your scars… That night I went to Sydney you didn't pull a muscle did you?" he asked scared of the answer
"No…" she replied looking at him quickly before looking back out at the water
"Tell me Kate…" he said moving closer to her
"Tell me who hurt you…" he continued as she looked at him sadly
"Who hurt me before you, you mean?" she answered bluntly
"I never once laid a finger on you Kate and you know that" he replied a little hurt
"No you did worse…" she answered
"Worse? What could be worse than someone leaving you with scars and cuts on your body" he answered as she moved to face him
"A broken heart is the worst form of punishment anyone can go through" she answered as she moved towards the hatch they exited out of
"Kate you still haven't told me…" Mike said as she stopped to face him one more time
"Jake's boss, I guess he wasn't too happy with a Navy girl trying to take her older brother away from the drug scene" she answered softly
"I'm sorry… for everything…" he replied
"I have to head back to my watch, but thank you… for the present" she answered as she disappeared out of view leaving Mike on the deck confused and hurt part of him knowing that day 5 years ago he should have insisted on her coming to Sydney with her maybe if she had she would have never gotten hurt..