Chapter 5

x

On the evening of reaching their destination in the Arctic, Tom had decided to invite the newest members in his crew for a dinner with him. Rachel and Quincy included. He wanted to get to know the people he was housing on his ship and thought it was a great moment to find out things about Rachel since she wasn't really giving him any answers.

They were all sitting around the table, chatting and eating. He noticed the soft looks Mike and Andrea were sharing, slight touching of hands. He smiled as he saw how happy they seemed to be. Reminded him of how he had felt with Darien after their wedding.

They had been in the airport, kissing in line as people behind them told them to get a room or move closer to the counter. But they weren't hearing anything else around them that day, nothing else had mattered except them two in the moment.

And as his mind went down the memory lane, he couldn't help but remember another time long ago when he had felt exactly the same.. They had been in his car, parked by the beach as Rachel was sitting in his lap, kissing him with those soft lips of hers..

And then his gaze went on to Rachel, who was talking rather friendly with Lieutenant Foster. He hadn't thought about Kara's name before, there were after all several Foster's in the Navy.

"So Dr. Scott, tell me about yourself." He saw Rachel startle a little at his question and everyone was looking at her now.

"That depends, what is it that you want to know?" Rachel replied and took a sip of her drink. Not wanting all the people by the table to know they had a history together.

"I have a pretty boring life, married to my work. Although my work isn't that boring." She added and felt slightly nervous that everyone was watching her.

"How do you know Lieutenant Foster then?" She heard his question and glanced at Kara.

"I was friends with her mother. We met when she was an exchange student in London." She explained knowing that he would connect the dots now. He had after all met Debbie too.

"So Debbie is your mother? I had the pleasure of meeting her." Tom gave a look to Kara who was just puzzled by this conversation. She was sensing that there was something going on with the Captain and Rachel, and now the Captain was telling her that he had met her own mother.

"Yes. She was." Kara answered. Not quite ready to share sensitive information about herself to everyone present. She somehow felt Danny gazing at her which she found out to be true as she quickly gave him a look.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that." Tom added. "Is your father still in the Navy?" He asked and saw that Kara seemed a little uncomfortable with the personal questions, but since he had met both Debbie and Matthew, it was a normal thing to ask. Last thing he remembered of them was that they had moved to Kansas.

Kara met Rachel's gaze. How sad would this dinner be now, when she would have to tell the Captain that his father had died too. He died when she was 8 years old. Killed in action.

"Kara's father died when she was young." She heard Rachel answer for her and she sighed and focused to finish her meal. Hoping there wouldn't be more questions directed at her.

"What a weird dinner." Ravit stated as they walked in their dress uniforms towards the Crew Lounge. Kara just gave her a look which meant that she agreed with her. It had been a strange dinner.

"Is it me or is it getting hot in here?" They heard Burk's voice behind them and Kara smiled.

"Must be you." Ravit wore her usual ice princess act. Kara thought that this had gone long enough.

"Carlton, don't give up. You're getting under her skin." She raised her eyebrows suggestively and left as she gave a wink to Ravit.

"Am I now?" Burk gave a look to Ravit who then smiled at him.

"You're not that bad." Ravit admitted with a coy smile and Burk felt a little blushed. He hadn't actually thought that she would notice him of all the people. And it wasn't like they were on the Love Boat. But it would be nice to be able to talk to her. Be her friend.

"Want company?" Burk gestured to the Crew Lounge and Ravit took his offer.

Kara was on the deck enjoying some fresh air as she leaned to the cold railing. Deep in her thoughts. The dinner had brought up her mother and she missed her. It was a little over a year ago that she had passed away.

"I'm sorry about your parents." She heard from beside her and knew Danny was standing there.

She gave him a look and he did look quite dashing in his dress uniform. And she saw all the merits he held. Impressive, she thought. Although she had her own, she was just a few years behind him.

She nodded, feeling like she wasn't in the mood to talk and especially not to him. She still felt that she needed to hold him at a distance. She had noticed that he was cute as Ravit put it, not to mention his fit body.. But she couldn't let her mind run away with thoughts of indecency. They were on a ship, under the command of Captain Chandler. There were rules, even though she had noticed the warm looks between the XO and the Chief Engineer during the dinner. Both of them had wedding bands on them, so she made the assumption that they were hitched.

The air was freezing and she felt she was starting to shiver, and the last thing she wanted was Danny offering her his coat just because she felt a little cold. Which is why she felt like just walking away from him. If she would allow herself to let her guard down.. She wasn't sure what would happen.

Danny got into his cabin he shared with Frankie and Halsey. Undressing from his dress uniform. Frankie was already on the top bunk under the covers.

"I saw you follow her." He heard Frankie say.

"I just wanted to see if she was okay." He explained. Feeling sad at the revelations during the dinner. She didn't seem like a person who would share her private life that easily and since the Captain somehow knew her parents, the conversation had gotten private pretty quickly.

"You sure that you weren't secretly hoping that she would cry against your shoulder?" Frankie asked and he gave him a glance. After their game night he had felt that there might be something between them. He couldn't exactly deny that she wasn't in his thoughts, she was after all a beautiful woman. But after that night she had been giving him the cold shoulder again, so he didn't know what he should do with her.

"As I said. There are rules on this ship." He stated coldly, almost annoyed that there were rules on the ship. Perhaps that's why he was so intrigued by her, he knew he couldn't have her, so it was something he wanted, needed to have. So it was probably just that.

Rachel waited by the table slowly drinking away her drink as she was hoping that the XO and his wife would leave, and then she would be alone with Tom. After all she had figured out that this evening, friendly dinner or whatever it was suppose to be, was just a plot to find out facts of her life.

Mike and Andrea were finally leaving. Mike's glance towards her from the doorway didn't go unnoticed by her. She knew he was keeping an eye on her.

They were alone now and he was sitting at the end of the table looking straight at her.

"You had no right to bring up her parents." She stated calmly and gave him a look. She felt angry in behalf of Kara that her personal life had been outed in such a way.

"I couldn't have known." He replied as he stood up and went to close the door. Sensing that this would be a conversation that shouldn't be heard by others.

"What is it that you want from me?" Rachel asked and stood up.

"This whole dinner I suppose was just a scheme to get to me." She added feeling hurt. He could have just come to her and asked, instead he did this.

"I want to know who you are!" He raised his voice, feeling his emotions all over in the moment. Suddenly not sure which was what.

"You want to know me.." Rachel chuckled with sarcasm and walked to stand in front of him.

"I'm Dr. Rachel Scott. Virologist, born January 8th.." She was saying forcefully before he interrupted her.

"You know what I mean." He studied her for her reaction and saw the fear in her eyes. What was she afraid of?

"I'm sorry that I lied to you! Is that what you want to hear?" She raised her voice and stared at the man that she had once been so close to. She had forgotten how she had felt when she was with him.

She remembered waking up beside him, lying in his arms under the covers. She felt like she was the luckiest girl in the world. Thinking that he had chosen her of all the others. Even if they were just enjoying themselves, spending time together, she had felt wanted, which to a young girl like herself had felt like a strange drug like effect.

He stared at her, wondering what she was thinking since he could see from her eyes that she remembered something.

"Just answer me this." "Did I matter to you? At all?" He asked calmly. Perhaps knowing the answer to this question would let his mind be free of her.

She met his eyes, sighing as she began smiling faintly. She didn't know why but she placed her hand on his cheek, carefully caressing the rough skin with her thumb.

"You did." She then said and his demeanor got softer. Was that what he wanted to know? That he hadn't just been a fling?

"More than you know." She added almost breaking in her voice as she said it, and as she was about to take her hand of from his cheek he stopped her. She felt the familiar tension grip her as she felt his hand on hers.

She reluctantly pulled her hand away, feeling that she should leave before things would get carried away. She sensed there still might be feelings between them, but he was married. She wasn't a homewrecker.

She excused herself and left, leaving him to stand there silently.

The dinner hadn't exactly gone as he had hoped. He needed to apologize to Lieutenant Foster. It wasn't his intention to bring up the painful memories of her parents, but then again he hadn't known that Debbie and Matthew had passed away.

So he had asked the young Lieutenant to come meet him in the Captain's quarters.

"I'm truly sorry about your parents and.. It was wrong of me to bring them up yesterday." He said sincerely, hoping she still had some respect for him.

"No harm was done, sir." "You couldn't have known." She said formally.

"You see.. Rachel and I.. were together a long time ago. And that's when I met your folks." He felt he had to explain to her, she would probably hear it from Rachel sooner or later.

Kara nodded. Sensing that it had to be something like that. Rachel did seem on edge when around the Captain.

"Like I said, sir. Everything's fine." She tried to reassure him.

After Lieutenant Foster left his quarters he was at loss of what was wrong with him. Somehow this whole witch hunt after the ghosts of the past had open a whirlwind of emotions inside of him. And did he really think he would have a peace of mind if he only knew that he hadn't just been a casual acquaintance to Rachel?

To clear his mind he hoped he could just talk with Darien. Hear her warm and loving voice. But it wasn't a possibility. They had been at EMCON since they left Norfolk. The closest thing he got to hearing his wife's voice was the CD that held videos of his family. It would be long months, weeks, days and hours ahead of them aboard the 509 ft ship.

Hope you enjoyed this update! Thank you for the kind reviews!