Chapter 26

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Despite of how successful their plan had been, it wasn't without losses. Tom stood beside Cossetti's cold body and looked at him. He looked so peaceful. He could still remember the look of admiration he got from the young man back on the Vyerni.

He heard Master Chief's words about a hero's farewell. This was just another death weighing him down on his shoulders.

"He wanted to redeem himself. He never had to." He let the words out. Thinking how he had received the flag from him when he had reenlisted.

"He gave his life for the mission. And now we're free to finish it." Jeter's words got him to meet eyes with the man beside him.

What he was dreading more now, was the next part of the mission. Rachel had informed them that she needed to test the vaccine, again. This time on humans. Six people to be exact. Six people from his own crew, from his family.

He would have volunteered himself but Master Chief had already yelled 'shotgun'. Leaving him and Mike to stand on the sidelines. Completely helpless. All they can do is watch whatever was going to happen right before their very own eyes.

"So what happens now?" He had been in the lab with both Mike and Russ when Rachel had told them about the next phase in the mission.

"I need to do further testing." Rachel cleared her throat a little as she shifted from one foot to another. It wasn't easy to tell them what was the next step.

"On humans, which means I need volunteers." She then let out quickly, getting a rather stunned look from Tom. Russ had already suspected the obvious and had agreed to participate if he fit her criteria's which he did.

"Absolutely not!" Tom said and shared a look with Mike.

She knew the thought was absurd but there was no other way. They couldn't blindly say they had the cure and then have it fail on them.

"I know this is not an easy thing to ask but it's the only way." She started to explain.

"Quincy and I will build a vaccine prototype which we will then inject to the volunteers and once they are inside the isolation tent.. We'll inject them with the virus." Rachel met Tom's gaze and saw he wasn't keen on this idea.

"You say volunteers, how many?" Mike asked.

"Six. That's how many we can fit inside the tent."

"But the monkey survived? So this is just a walk in the park?" Tom asked and she was baffled that he would assume that this was just like a routine drill on a ship. It was about so much more than that.

"I can't give any guarantees." She answered honestly.

Kara was about to leave the gym when Danny came barging in.

"She won't even test my blood!" She heard his uptight voice.

"Well, she must have a reason for it." Kara sat down on a bench and hoped the reason wasn't her. Although she wasn't sure if she could watch him go through the trial. Feeling completely helpless at the thought.

"Dengue fever, and how I barely survived that." Danny told her as he walked back and forth in front of her. Clearly still worked up about the 'no' answer.

"She's right you know. You barely survived dengue fever. You're still recovering and hopping about the Vyerni didn't help much." Kara stated firmly.

"I didn't do any hopping anywhere." Danny felt the need to correct her. He hadn't moved from his post on the RHIB. If he had, perhaps he could have helped when the Russians were firing at the team aboard the Vyerni. Perhaps he could have taken out the man who shot the bullet that got Cossetti killed. Again he was short of one man on his team. He fired a punch against the punching bag and Kara watched silently as he took hold of the bag and leaned his forehead on the bag for a brief moment, his arm holding the bag still. He then moved to sit beside her on the bench.

"I called her mom, when we were at the Vyerni. For the first time. It felt so surreal. Never thought I would be calling someone with that name ever again." Kara began explaining, changing the subject and she could feel Danny assessing her right now. Wondering what she was thinking.

"I'm not sure she heard me." Kara then met his gaze. She had been thinking if it had been entirely wrong place to say it, but she had only tried to get her out of the obvious shock she had felt in the moment.

"I'm sure she did." He gave his reply, placing a hand on her thigh for the slightest moment before realizing that there were cameras in the room.

"You thought you could have gone through with it?" Kara asked in a thoughtful tone.

"Through what?"

"The trial? Knowing that you can die?" Kara met his gaze and she saw him hesitate for a moment. Immediately wondering if her question might be foolish as dying is one of the dangers in their line of job. But she had asked the question as a wife, it wasn't an easy task to separate her role of being more than a colleague right now.

"The mission comes first." He intertwined his hand with hers and let out a sigh.

"Come on. I'll walk you to your cabin." Danny got up and pulled her with him.

"Bertrise doing okay?" Danny asked knowing that Kara has had a few nights with a sore back as Bertrise is sleeping in her bunk and Kara is left the floor space by the bunk bed. Additional thin mattress as her only comfort.

"Still seeing nightmares, but she feels safe when she's not alone." Kara said and let go of Danny's hand as they walked on the P-Way. Noticing how he took a turn to the other direction. A smile creeped on her face as she knew what he was up to.

"She needs time." Kara added and followed after Danny.

"Well, isn't it the Green Team?" Tex's voice was filled with humor as he walked towards them on the narrow P-Way.

"You make us sound like a eco-activist group." Danny quipped and they walked past him. Kara tried to remain her cool, hoping Tex wasn't onto them.

"Hey, Danny! Up for cards in twenty?" Tex hollered from behind them and Danny managed to reply with a short "We'll see".

It wasn't long before they were by the familiar small opening, accessible from the P-Way and she felt a strong tug on her hand as he pulled her into the small space.

"Lieutenant Green!" She landed against his fit body, placing her hands on his chest. Feeling goosebumps go through her body in his embrace, and as she looked at his darkening eyes, she knew his mind was thinking something inappropriate.

"Yes, Lieutenant Green?" He smiled that overly confident smile of his and looked at her in amazement. His touch was giving her more shivers as he sweeped a strand of hair away from her face.

"This isn't allowed." Kara reminded him, it had after all been him who had followed the rulebook after they got caught.

"You're free to go." Danny loosened his grip around her waist a little and she stared at him. He was testing if she could do it. Walk away from him.

She took a step backwards with a mischief of a grin on her face and felt him tighten his grip around her again.

Mike opened the cabin door to Andrea's quarters and slowly walked in. Andrea was sitting on her bed and reading the familiar paperback he had teased her about before. She gave him a slight look from behind the book. The atmosphere was loaded as he had seen her in the helo bay earlier today. Volunteering for Dr. Scott's trial.

"I saw you volunteer." Mike closed the door and let out the obvious thing on his mind. He was at loss right now. His boy was already gone, his girls had still been alive when he had talked to Christine, but nothing was certain at this point. If he would lose her too..

"I don't need your permission." Andrea got up and placed the book on the small table beside her bunk.

Mike opened his mouth to say something but she moved quickly to embrace him.

"I love you Mike." Andrea said with tears pricking in her eyes as she thought about the following day. What would happen.

"But I love Lily too. And you love Laura and Sophie. You once loved Christine and probably still do as a friend." He watched her as she spoke and the words were like a sting in his heart. Wasn't this entire mission for the ones back at home? For the ones surviving? For the entire world?

"If there's a chance that this is it. I'm taking it. For you. For Lily. For Laura. For Sophie. For Christine."

"And everyone else." Andrea stated and he noticed a few tears rolling down on her cheeks.

He closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against hers and tightened his grip of her. Wanting to hold her. After tomorrow, who knew what would happen?

A moment later he felt a lingering kiss against his lips and he opened his eyes. Searching for the green light he lifted her up and placed her on the lower bunk.

"I thought you followed the rules." He whispered as he kissed her neck and she chuckled softly but answered in a loving tone "We've waited long enough." He wasn't sure if this was something she desired right now, or a more final thing, perhaps a goodbye. A thought that was too scary for him to process at the moment. He continued to place kisses on her neck and felt her trying to get rid of his uniform. It was just him and her in the moment.

Kara touched her cheek with her hand. All red and warm, well she was coming from the gym, technically speaking. Her detour of a walk had quickly escalated to something that had completely made her tired. Definitely at 85 percent, she thought with a smile as she gave an assessment in her mind on how Danny was recovering from his illness. She reached finally hers and Ravit's cabin and noticed that the door was open. Looking in, she saw Ravit sitting with Bertrise, talking about something.

"What's going on?" Kara asked, hoping the redness on her cheeks wasn't that obvious.

"Where have you been?" Ravit asked with that carefree voice of hers.

"I was at the gym." Kara quickly answered, her eyes only briefly avoiding her friend's studying gaze.

"We looked, you weren't there." Ravit said with a smirk on her face and the look in her eyes was enough to tell her that she was onto her.

"Ahm, can I have a moment to speak with Kara?" Ravit said to Bertrise which made Kara slightly worried about what was going on.

"Sure." Bertrise said and gave a comforting squeeze to Ravit's hand before leaving the room.

"Okay. Who died?" Kara asked as she sat down on the lower bunk beside Ravit.

"I'm going to be one of the volunteers, Kara." Ravit's voice was more deeper, a more worried tone coming through as she listened to her friend.

"You are?" Kara asked, it wasn't her place to second-guess her decision to participate. Heck, she wasn't sure if she could have second-guessed if Danny would've been chosen. The mission comes first. The words went through her mind and she took Ravit's hands in hers and looked at her in the eyes.

"I.." Kara began to say something but the words weren't coming out. What was she to say in a moment like this? Best of luck? See you on Monday?

Luckily for her Ravit wasn't without words. "I don't want you to blame yourself. I might be on this mission because of you, but now there is another purpose for me being here. To do this." Ravit said with a husky voice and she saw a single tear escape her eyes.

"You'll pull through. You always do that." Kara hugged Ravit tightly and they sat there for a moment. Holding each other.

"Does Carlton know?" Kara asked as they broke off the stillness of the moment.

Ravit simply nodded and she wondered what the deal between them was. She knew they had been spending time together back in Serrana Bank, but as far as she knew, they had just shared a few kisses. Getting to know each other by talking their main focus, wanting to be friends before lovers. And them working on the same mission would complicate things if they were head over heels for each other, although she suspected that it was the case already even if they weren't ready to admit it to themselves.

The following day Mike stood restlessly beside Tom, looking at the six volunteers inside the isolation tent. Mike watched as the doctors were preparing the shots with the virus. He could feel there was a weight pushing down on his chest. Anxiety growing even bigger as his eyes followed Rachel who was walking towards Andrea. In his mind he found the moment slightly funny, Andrea had after all exploded about Rachel's secrets and here she was now, getting the most deathly injection from Rachel herself.

Inside the tent Rachel moved with the syringe towards Andrea, feeling a slight tremor in her hands as she placed herself on Andrea's cot and met her gaze. Never did she think that she would be one of the guinea-pigs. Allowing her to inject her with the virus.

"Try not to kill me even if you want to." Andrea tried to keep the mood up-beat and not-serious.

"I think it's enough with one with a sense of humor here." She glanced briefly at Tex who was getting his shot from Quincy. Here it starts.

"Seriously though.. I would like to see my daughter again." Andrea was staring at her hands, trying to hide the fact that she was nervous. Rachel saw the picture of Lily over the cot and placed her hand on Andrea's.

"Well, if this all goes as it should, you'll be back with her in a week or so." She saw Andrea meet her gaze and nod in understanding about the same time as Russ' voice came confidently into the conversation. "Oh, we'll be back. No doubt about that."

Rachel looked at the man and hoped he was right. She then moved to inject Andrea with the virus. Please, don't die.

"I never got a chance to tell you. It was a nice eulogy for Cossetti." Mike said as he was sitting with Tom, watching closely what was going on.

"I don't want any more funerals, Mike." Tom stated with a deep voice. Mike let out a deep breath as he looked at Andrea. She was still up and about, talking casually with Jeter and Ravit.

"I think she's got everything in hand." Mike said, hoping the words would give him some comfort but the crushing force on his chest wasn't getting any easier.

A few hours later, besides a few alarming fever spikes, which was expected, although Quincy seemed to be more worried, Mike's gaze was mostly pinned on Andrea. He saw Quincy approaching her with the engineering report and as he witnessed her dropping the report on the floor, he felt like jumping up to stand as he saw her move her fingers strangely. It was something with her fingers. There was a clump forming in his throat. Would he lose her too? Like he had lost Lucas, and possibly his girls?

"Perhaps you need a break?" Tom stood beside him and he felt his eyes on him.

"Rachel said they might experience some side effects similar to the early stages of the virus, I'm sure whatever is going on, there's a reason for it." He felt Tom's hand on his shoulder and he gave him a look while he shook his head ever so slightly. He didn't have any words to say at the moment. But as hard as this was to watch, he knew he had to be here. In case something went wrong.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird."

"And if that mockingbird won't sing. Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring."

Mike sat by the table and stared at his wife with a troubled mind. Letting out a heavy sigh as he listened to her sing by Ravit's bedside. Thinking how he one day had hoped she would be singing the song to their child, although having kids was something they hadn't discussed since they both already had been there, done that. But somehow he had envisioned a couple more in their future. Red haired, as feisty as their mom. It made him sad that there might not be a chance for much more. There might be a possibility that he would end up alone, again. He tried to held his posture in front of Tom, and fought back the tears.

"They're delirious." He said in his effort to avoid getting too emotional right now. Luckily for him Master Chief was causing a scene inside the tent as he waltzed inside a vision filled with ghosts of his past.

"I wanna see my girls! Sarah, Annie, my girls!" Russ shouted, raging. Rachel was struggling to keep him at bay.

"Look at me Russ, look at me. You're hallucinating." Tom was trying to get to him, a useless effort.

"Where are my girls? I wanna see them!" Russ' voice was silenced by the sedative given to him. And shortly after another voice alerted them to something. They glanced at Miller who was distraught. And with good reason. It was Maya. She had died.

No more funerals, wasn't it only a few hours ago that Tom had said it?

Washing her face with cold water was giving her the chills as Rachel leaned over the sink in the small space and rubbed her face clean of the sweat she has gathered inside the hazmat suit. Stopping for a moment to think, she slowly looked up and stared at her own reflection in the mirror as the voices inside of her head were haunting her.

"Try not to kill me even if you want to." Andrea's lighthearted words came to her mind. She hadn't outright promised her that she would be okay, but still the thought of her dying on her watch was beginning to scare her..

"Oh, we'll be back. No doubt about that." And the completely opposite, Russ had from the very start stated that he was here for a reason. He had faith.

She took a deep breath in and let it out as she exited the space. Entering the lab only to hear that Quincy was talking with Tom and Mike.

"So these aren't side effects from the vaccine, it is the virus? You're certain?" Tom asked.

"Yes." Quincy replied.

"No, he can't be!" She rushed to them before the situation would get any worse.

"Maya died from a heart attack, which is not a symptom of the virus." She explained.

"But liver failure is, and that's what caused her blood pressure to drop." Quincy quickly added. Building up his side of the matter.

"The fevers, delirium, hemorrhaging. There is no other explanation." He continued on.

"There is one, we just haven't found it yet." She rubbed her temple with her hand, desperately wanting to find a reason for all this.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Tom's calm voice came into the air and frankly, she couldn't understand how he could hold his posture so calm. Wasn't he afraid?

"What's your solution?" Tom looked at Quincy.

"IVIG, passive immunization." Quincy replied with no hesitation in his voice.

"It could kill her!" Rachel raised her voice.

"Kill who?" Mike came into the conversation, hoping there was something they could do and fast.

"Kara." Rachel said and met eyes with Tom. Getting a vibe of the Tom-the-parent now. It wasn't just about his crew now.

"He wants to use the plasma from her blood and inject it directly into the patients." She continued to explain the process.

"To give them her antibodies." Quincy gestured towards the five remaining people.

"No, Quincy. If it's not the virus causing this, it won't make a difference." Rachel continued on.

"The amount of blood that we'd need to take.." She began to say but the thought was too frightening.

"But if it's the virus, we can save them. We can manage it." Quincy said.

"If there's a chance, we have to take it." Mike said, not sure if he had stepped on Tom's toes by saying it, but he had to be the voice of reason right now.

Tom nodded and felt like holding his breath as Kara came back to the lab. Completely unaware of their conversation. He witnessed as she looked at her friend inside the tent. He had noticed that the yellow coloring on Ravit's skin was getting stronger now. Sighing as he knew that whatever they could do, they had to do it fast.

He saw Rachel reluctantly position herself to talk with Kara. Searching for permission with her eyes as she gave him a look.

"I'll do it." Kara nodded when she was briefed about what was required of her. The mission comes first. There was no time to brief Danny about this, so she hoped he would understand.

Kara laid on a cot, her upper body slightly elevated as she followed closely as the line hooked up with her blood vein was transporting her blood to a bag. She was beginning to feel her eyelids slightly more heavier after the third bag donation.

"Sorry that you aren't getting a honeymoon considering how things are now." Rachel felt the need to take her mind of the fact that they were pumping Kara's blood out, in doing so, risking her life. Although it was what she had wanted. Stubbornly insisting that she was to do it alone. Bertrise has been through enough already, her exact words.

"We sort of had one in advance on the island.." Kara replied, blushing in full red as she thought about admitting this to Rachel, who actually is her mother. Even though they had talked about boys before back in the Arctic with such ease. Perhaps that's why the words had come out so easily because she thought she was talking with her fun-aunt, and not her mother.

"I would've done it too. That place was gorgeous." Rachel replied, thinking back to Serrana Bank. Allowing her thoughts to take her back to the night she had said her goodbyes with Tom. How their kiss had been like a burning inferno, the very thought of it still causing a joyous sensation inside of her body.

"How are you feeling?" To distract herself she thought to focus on Kara.

"Tired.." Kara shifted slightly on the narrow cot and Rachel took a cup of water with a straw.

"All right, take a sip of this." She handed the cup towards Kara but there was no reply. Her eyes were closed.

"Kara?" Rachel repeated. Still no answer, she placed the cup back on the desk and palpated after a pulse from Kara's neck.

"Kara!" She exclaimed and Quincy came to them. "What is it?"

"She's fainted. Help me get her feet up." Rachel ordered quickly and stopped the blood gathering.

Kara opened her eyes only just, her vision blurry as she felt tired. She turned her head slightly to her right and saw Bertrise lying on a cot beside her, holding her hand. She saw the IV bag connected to her. She sighed as she had hoped they didn't have to take her blood too.

"Hi, sweetheart." Danny's voice came from her other side and she smiled as she saw him.

"I'm sorry." She said with a weary voice and he quickly replied "Nothing to be sorry about" as he held onto her hand. Behind Danny she could see Carlton standing, watching closely at Ravit.

"Brief the crew." Faint words from her father sounding somewhere nearby. She noticed the brief glance Danny gave to Carlton and she realized what it meant. Brief the crew.

The vaccine wasn't working. The IVIG wasn't working. Her mind was racing as she searched for her friend inside the isolation tent, looking rather still, but the slow motion of her chest was telling her she was still alive.

"Burk.." She said.

"If you want, I'm sure you can go gear up and go inside." She nodded towards Ravit and saw him get all shy as he stared down at the floor.

"Ahm.. And do what? She's not exactly the kinda girl who gets mushy." Carlton said holding his defensive side up. But she saw through his act, he was afraid. Afraid of getting hurt.

"This is it buddy. Take it or leave it." Danny said in his best Tex imitation. Looking at his bunkmate lying on his cot, not looking too good. He would miss him.

"Carlton John Burk. Either you go, or I will. She's not going to be alone." Kara stated with a firm voice which startled both Carlton and Danny.

"Yes, ma'am." Carlton answered as if he was addressing his superior officer.

Rachel sat behind a few crates, holding back tears as she thought how she had failed. Her vaccine was failing. Soon five more people were going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. She held her knees against her chest as she took a moment for herself.

"Rachel?" Quincy.. Just let me be.

"I just needed somewhere to clear my head." She said, avoiding his gaze as she felt hot tears going down on her cheeks.

"You were right. The IVIG hasn't worked." Quincy let out with a sigh.

"Their symptoms. They're getting even worse." Who was right and who was wrong doesn't matter. They had failed.

"You were right too. Who did I think I was that I could solve this?" She let out and met Quincy's gaze, remembering all too well his words to her a few weeks back.

"Kara and Bertrise are going to be fine." Quincy added with a warm tone and knelt down in front of her.

"You're the best there is." "I'm sorry, if I doubted that." Quincy said with a more sincere voice.

"Yet I've failed." She retorted while she shook her head slightly.

"Come on, we'll find another way." Quincy got up and offered his hand to her.

Another way? What way exactly? Are they suppose to keep trying until they will run out of crew to test on? No way Tom would allow it. He was already upset about the six people volunteering for this. Five of them are left and five of them are going to die.

Tom stepped slowly inside the tent. Looking at the remaining five people. Hooked up with oxygen to help them breath better, their lungs failing as we speak. Saline drips to fight back their low blood pressure.

He glanced at the empty cot beside Miller. Maya Gibson. Already dead. He stilled himself for a moment to think of her.

"I want her given the Navy Cross."

His eyes then moved to Miller, who was holding a brave face but the kid's eyes told him he was terrified.

He saw the blood coming from Jeter's nose. Russ' faith in God was strong, but it might not be strong enough.

"I am here for a reason."

His gaze wandered on to the Chief Engineer, the bleeding sores on her face were a cruel reminder of the nature of the virus.

Ravit appeared to be sleeping, almost like she wasn't breathing at all. Her skin more yellow in tone. Her liver was failing.

He raised his eyes from Ravit to see Quincy preparing the morphine. Remembering back to the cruise ship how Rachel had administered the morphine.

"The only thing that can help him now is morphine."

He knew it was time.

He glanced at the last one of them..

Tex. He was curled up in the corner. Almost dozing off. He would follow him into the gates of hell. He wasn't necessarily following him right now, but he had done it for the mission.

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