Chapter 9

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Danny hadn't seen Kara since the night they had spend together. She was trying to avoid him, that much he had figured out. He had asked Ravit several times where she was, but she was covering for her, telling him she was either in the head, or somewhere else occupied at the time. He just didn't understand what was wrong with her now? Was it the part that they broke the rules, or hadn't it been as good for her and she was afraid to tell him that he sucked in bed? But then again something was telling him that it wasn't the case. He sighed as he thought that they were back to square one again.

He was inside the helo bay as they were preparing for their usual shore duty. She had excused herself from the shore duty yesterday by saying that she was going to be holding the training skills lab for the Tac Team with Cruz. Today she was running late which she usually wasn't. So he did wonder if he would be seeing her today.

But as he turned around, he saw her standing there, behind him. Looking at him.

It was hard to keep the thoughts just at the moment as he quickly remembered how she looked under all the layers of clothes.

"Lieutenant." He then heard her voice as she addressed him. He hadn't expected her to speak to him at all. After all she had vanished for two days. "Lieutenant." He replied as he nodded with his head.

"Foster! Green!" They heard Dr. Scott's uptight voice.

"Yes, ma'am?" Danny looked at Rachel as she came to stand in front of them with a map.

"How do you two feel about a field trip?" Rachel gave a look at them and he noticed the smirk smile she gave to Kara. Suddenly wondering if she knew?

"Sounds great to me." Danny replied casually. Kara remained silent beside him.

"I need the two of you to scout this area, it's farther inland, I know. But I need all the help I can get at this point." Rachel pointed a spot on the map.

"You're not coming?" Kara asked nervously. She would be alone with Danny. And somehow she thought that her beloved aunt was playing the matchmaker right now.

"No, I need to stay and continue gathering the samples." Rachel stated and gave the map to Danny. She had figured out who the hunky blond guy with the green eyes was, and Kara's sudden disappearance act hadn't gone unnoticed by her. So she added up the facts and this field trip was a way to get Kara back in the game, she thought. She can't hide forever.

Kara nodded and moved past Danny and grabbed the map from him. "You'll just get us lost." She said as she walked after Dr. Scott.

They arrived to the shore and it was windy. It looked already like it would be snowing soon, but she hoped it was just a passing weather occurrence. She and Danny started driving with the snowmobiles to the spot Rachel had showed them.

The air was freezing and the wind was quickly catching up. Kara stopped after they had driven quite a while, she tried to look at the map and Danny had stopped beside her. Due to the wind she tried to block the map with her body as she studied it. She was memorizing the map in case the wind took hold of it.

"So?" She registered Danny's muffled voice. He had half of his face covered with a scarf since the air was getting to them as they drove.

She remained still, studying the map and glancing around them. Visually it was getting harder to see. It wasn't just windy anymore, it had started to snow and now it felt like a worst snowstorm she had ever seen. But then again she hadn't never been to the Arctic during a snowstorm.

Why they had kept driving was out of her reasoning. Little wind they could take, but the snowing.. It was making the trip harder since the heavy snowfall made it harder to see the landmarks.

She felt a bump from Danny to her overarm and she glanced at him. He was pointing to a ridge that she fairly saw in the distance. It might be a good spot to wait for the weather front to pass. She nodded and placed the map in her small backpack she had with her.

Rachel had noticed the sudden change in the weather, it was snowing now. She was used to the icy wind, but now the wind was throwing clusters of snowflakes right at her face as it was blowing horizontally.

Ravit approached with the snowmobile to where she was holding up with Dr. Tophet.

"Rachel! We need to go back to the ship." She heard Ravit's voice and for once she agreed with the guards accompanying her. The storm might be over in a few hours and they could return back after, if it was possible.

"Are Kara and Danny back?" She asked Ravit and saw her shook her head.

"We tried to contact them through the comms but it was garbled." Ravit explained. She nodded, but she couldn't get her mind free of the thought that they were out there somewhere and she had send them there. Even if it had been for her mission. At this point she was grasping at straws. She had been in contact with the labs back home again. The virus had jumped to Phase Four now, and her last communication with them had only been a week prior. She felt the pressure of succeeding with her mission even more greater right now. Even doubting herself, was she right about the primordial strain? What if all this was just a wild goose chase?

She waited in the hangar with Ravit, Frankie and Burk. Quincy had taken the samples they had managed to collect today and was analyzing them for further results.

Her head jumped to the door as she heard that it was being opened by someone. And then she saw him, Tom walked in with Mike on his tail. One thing she had noticed that Mike was following Tom around like a lovesick puppy, and this was after the evening they had kissed, and if it wasn't Mike, it was some other young Ensign. She chuckled sarcastically as she thought that he was probably more guarded than the Queen of England.

"Still no contact?" Tom gave a look to Ravit.

"No, sir. The last connection was garbled and after that we haven't been able to reach them." Ravit explained.

"Sir, they got a tent and gear to survive through the night if it comes to that." Frankie informed professionally.

Tom was silent for a moment as he thought the situation over. "Keep trying with the radio, I want an update as soon as we hear anything. And as soon as the weather clears, we'll get the helo up in the air." Tom ordered and the Lieutenants nodded in unison.

"Are you joking?" Rachel asked in disbelief. Shocked about what she was hearing.

"You can't just abandon them there!" Rachel raised her voice.

"Dr. Scott. A word?" Tom went to the side and gave a sign to Mike that he didn't need to follow him right now.

She obeyed him, hearing the cold tone in his voice as he addressed her as 'Dr. Scott'. Was he trying to push aside the feelings he had by distancing himself from her? To protect him and his marriage?

"You experienced the weather out there in first hand just a moment before. Are you saying I should endanger the rest of my crew to go find two Navy SEAL's who are trained to survive in extreme conditions?" Tom stated calmly and met Rachel's gaze.

She hesitated in her reply. Her immediate answer was 'YES!', but she couldn't say that. Everything he said was true, the weather at the moment was the worst she had seen so far. And if she thought about it rationally, it would be difficult to maneuver the helo and it might end up in a crash landing. And they were SEAL's. So she reluctantly and quietly said "No" as she folded her arms across her chest, avoiding his gaze. Feeling like she was outnumbered at the moment.

"I'm glad you agree." Tom added and before he turned to leave, he quickly placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a small squeeze as to comfort her. Then he leaned towards her a little and whispered quietly "They'll make it through." She met his gaze and nodded at him. Feeling slightly better that he had wanted to comfort her despite of everything that has happened.

As she watched Tom and Mike leave the hangar, all she kept thinking was her promise.

"Take care of Kara. Promise me you'll do that?"

"I promise."

It was her fault that Kara and Danny were in danger right now. She had send them out there.

Kara pulled the stiff wool blanket over her as she sat inside the small tent with her knees against her chest. They had set up the tent between the snowmobiles to make sure the wind wouldn't take a hold of it. They heard the wind howling and felt the tent being briefly dragged in the wind but so far the setup was holding.

Danny was rubbing his hands together and blowing warm air to them to keep warm.

"So are we ever going to talk about what happened between us?" Danny looked at her and she knew they would have to talk. After all there was plenty of time for that now. And it was cold, they needed to keep concentrating on something else.

"You've been avoiding me." He added.

"We broke the rules." She said hoping he would leave the matter be. There were rules to be followed. Although realizing that her comment would only start a fight with him. It was after all too late to preach about the rules.

"Oh come on! Are you really going to lecture about the frat rules?" She saw his upset look.

"Danny.." before she could say anything he had moved to sit in front of her and had his hands around her cheeks, looking right at her eyes. His hands were cold, but yet his touch was warming her skin.

Then he kissed her and she didn't stop him. It was a slow and agonizing kiss as she felt she wanted so much more.

"I think you're afraid." He said with a husky voice as their lips parted.

"You're afraid, because you feel what I feel." He locked eyes with her and she nodded to him.

"But we cant." She tried to reason with him. Trying to hold on to her sense of right and wrong.

"You can fight this all you want.." He gave her a smug smile which pretty much got her half furious that he thought he was something she couldn't live without.

"But I'm not going away. So when you're ready to admit that.." He added and she sighed as she gave him a smile. He was telling her that he wasn't going anywhere, no matter how hard she would try and keep him at bay.

"We need to keep warm." She gestured him to sit beside her and lifted the wool blanket she had. He moved and she leaned against him as they were holding each other.

"Tell me something about yourself." She heard him ask.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, how was your childhood?"

"I grew up on a farm in Kansas. Had a happy childhood there." She smiled as she told him.

"But your dad was in the Navy? Wasn't it pretty long for him to travel home when he wasn't on the job?"

"Yeah, it was. My mom inherited the farm from her aunt. She didn't have any children of her own, so she left the place to my mom." Kara explained.

"You?"

"Connecticut. Born and raised."

Tom was on the bridge, it was already 2200 hours and the weather showed signs of clearing. He was holding his coffee cup as he sat in the CO's chair looking at the horizon.

There was a ring and Granderson took the call. He turned to see what it was about.

"Sir, we got through to Lieutenants Foster and Green." Granderson passed the info to him.

"The weather has cleared now. Get the helo up in the air." Chandler told Granderson and she gave the order forward to the caller.

He stepped down from the chair and placed his cup on the table. He had seen Rachel's distress about leaving the two of them behind, but he wasn't going to risk his crew. He just hoped she understood his decision. As a Captain he was responsible for all the sailors on the vessel.

This time around there were no guards following him, but he had learned his lesson now. At least he hoped he had as he knocked gently on her cabin door. It didn't take long before the door was opened. She must've been awake, he thought.

"Tom.. Captain Chandler." Rachel said with a surprised tone. She wasn't expecting him behind her door.

"We got the word just now. Lieutenants Foster and Green are okay. I'm sending the helo to pick them up." Tom explained why he had come.

"Thought you wanted to know." He added as he finally dared to meet her eyes. Remembering those beautiful eyes he had been looking at the night they were dancing.

"Thank you." Rachel replied.

"And I'm sorry.. for the kiss." She added. They hadn't spoken after that night yet alone had a moment to themselves due to Tom's tight entourage trailing him, but now he had come alone.

"Me too." He said even though it was a lie. Despite that the act itself had been very wrong because he was a married man. But what surprised him the most that in the aftermath of it, he didn't feel regret. And that made him feel even more worse inside of him. He felt guilty because he wasn't feeling the obvious guilt after such a deed.

He excused himself and left. Somehow sensing that she was watching him as he was walking away. If only she would have been honest with him all those years ago, their future, the present might have been different, but it was no use to wonder what might have happened.

The missing Lieutenants seemed to be in good shape despite the freezing weather and he had been present at the moment they were brought to the ship and gotten a checkup by Doc Rios and Dr. Scott as she had been the first to greet them, well to greet Kara. To make sure she was fine.

"Lieutenant Foster. You okay?" Tom asked when she was cleared by Doc Rios and on her way to get something warm to drink. They had already gotten warm beverages, but she felt like she could use a couple more.

"Yes, sir." Kara nodded.

"Dr. Scott.. Rachel. She was worried about you." He continued as he gave a glance to Rachel who was with Doc Rios surrounding Lieutenant Green.

"She made a promise to my mom. To take care of me." She explained. Her mother had told her about the promise aunt Rachel had given to her.

Tom nodded and asked "How was she when you were a child? Rachel?" Wanting to hear how she had been like. Perhaps the only person who could enlighten him about Rachel was Kara. She had after all seen the real Rachel, how she was as a person.

He saw the smile on her face as she told him "She was the fun aunt. Coming to visit every now and then. She always brought me different keepsakes from the places she had been.."

"What is it?" Tom wondered as Kara stopped her storytelling, clearly thinking of something.

"Oh, nothing." Kara shook her head a little, not wanting to alarm the Captain too much. Thinking back at her childhood, Rachel had come to visit them when she could, but in the later years it had been very little. She hadn't even been at her mother's funeral. Still remembering the distant phone call she got from her, feeling that it had helped very little. She didn't have anyone else left in the world and the one person she thought she could rely on, hadn't come when she needed her the most.

Perhaps that's why she had left the country the first chance she got. She hadn't really mourned her mother's passing, she had just wanted to get away. And now wasn't the right time to dig in to the emotional baggage she was holding onto.

"Excuse me, sir. It's getting late." She said and left the Captain's company distracted by her thoughts.

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