Chapter 30

x

Rachel

Standing against the railing on the James, she held on to the steely surface under her hands more tightly than usual, as if she was afraid to be taken away. She felt like hugging the ship. It had become her home. Her safe haven. And it seemed it was the safest place on earth after all. Baltimore has proven that sentiment right.

Everything had changed in a moment, their high spirits came tumbling down when Granderson showed her ugly side.

A flashback coming back as she processed everything that had happened.

"That will end this foolish bloodshed.."

Standing in the elevator, her heart was pounding in her ears as Granderson's words were haunting her in her mind. Quincy was dead.. Her friends were being slaughtered. Perhaps she should have just gone with Granderson's plan in order to save them?

Tears were coming into her eyes as she felt completely hopeless in the moment. She had lost a friend, a colleague. Trying her best to keep calm and not to break down right there and then, she suppressed her emotions which were running wild inside of her. Much of it was due to the disappearance of Tom and Kara. But it should be a good sign, right?

As she pulled herself together, the doors of the elevator suddenly opened and the sight in front of her was hopeful. Tex!

"Going down?" The neutral facial expression he wore told her one thing, he was better at keeping his cool than she was. Luckily his eyes told her a different story. It didn't take him long to take care of her escort.

"Go ahead. I'll take care of him." Michael, the statistician from before took a peek from the elevator at the corridor in front of them and she stepped out with Tex.

"I thought you left." She lowered her voice as they walked over the lobby.

If Tex hadn't come back, she wasn't sure what would have happened. What more would have Granderson done in effort to make her mind waver? The thought caused goosebumps on her skin as she dreaded all the possible ways everything could have gone wrong.

"Huh? Oh. I made a new friend. He told me what was going on down here. I figured I'd come see it for myself." Tex replied with his witty humor filled voice as he ever so discreetly escorted her on the corridor.

Closing her eyes she still remembered the screams of a woman, dragged by Granderson's people. Her thoughts run wild in that moment as she only saw a brief look before they disappeared behind a door.

"Did you see that?" Rachel glanced at Tex desperately.

"What?"

"They have Kara." She only said and picked up her pace, dragging Tex along. And he was suppose to be the one escorting her, and not the other way around.

"Heard it over the radio, Granderson's looking for one Kara Foster. Why?"

"Because Kara is pregnant and they want most likely to collect the stem cells of her unborn baby." She gave her hastily reply, her chest filling with worry as they might be too late.

"Oh.. Guess they didn't get the memo of her being Green." Tex said and for a moment she was glad that she hadn't gotten around to change her name on her file, but what good did that do now, when they had already found her?

It only took some odd number of minutes to find her, but to her those were the longest moments of her life. Her heart weighing like a stone on her chest as the thought of these monsters having their hands on her, the anger grew inside of her in the moment as she opened her eyes and looked at the skyline of Baltimore. Exhaling, she hoped her anger would disappear.

Tom

"You'll stay here until I can find you a stateroom. I'll use my at-sea cabin for now." He brushed his finger over the picture he had of Darien. Staring at the photo in his stateroom, that was all messed up, his personal belongings scattered around. She was gone.

Yesterday had been a day full of hope and pride. Hope for the future - Pride for that they had succeeded.

Reaching the remainder of his crew at the rally point after being united with his family, he walked over to Kara. Searching her eyes for confirmation that she was okay.

"You okay?" A brief nod from her gave him comfort.

"Captain. She took over our ship. We can't get through to comms, the bridge, or the CIC." Danny laid out the situation as Tom walked beside Jeter, glancing at his arm that now held a white bandage.

Tom could hear Danny's puzzled voice in the background, the situation was more than odd to them as they hadn't just witnessed what he and Burk had.

But Lieutenant Green's ranting was almost getting to his nerves as he wondered what the hell country were they at, and the talk began quickly pointing a finger at Alisha. He would have shut him up himself, but luckily for him Kara did.

"Hey! Stop that. Alisha doesn't know anything. That I'm sure of." Kara voice was sharp and from the corner of his eye he could see that she held Danny by his overarm and gave him a stern look. Look that meant 'keep your mouth shut'. A look he recognized in himself every now and then.

"How you feeling?" Tom asked Jeter, who tried his best to stand in his full height, hiding the fact that his arm must be killing him. But the man had endured much worse than this.

"It was a through and through." Jeter managed to say.

"He's lost a lot of blood, sir." He registered Kara's voice from behind him.

"I'm fine. What's our play, sir?" Jeter gave a reassuring reply.

"And then what?" Ashley's voice broke through his thoughts and he looked at his daughter. Sighing as he moved to hug her.

"We'll sort things out here in Baltimore. Then we head back home to Norfolk, so the crew can look for their families. And from there, we'll figure things out." He added calmly. As he held Ashley in his arms he could still clearly hear the helos circling the James the night before.

Lieutenant Green's suggestion to try and get back to the James had been an impossible task, doomed from the start as Tom had himself concluded while watching the James from afar. You gotta hang in there, Mike.

"Right now, Dr. Scott's our primary mission and she's Granderson's prisoner." He said and met eyes with Kara. I can't lose her too.

Giving a light kiss on the top of Ashley's head, he moved to sit beside Sam on the small couch and held his arm around his little boy. Both of his children had been through so much already.

Ashley placed herself on his lap, leaning against his chest. Even his own father reached to touch his shoulder from beside Sam. They sat in stillness for a moment. For a moment they sank into their thoughts of what had happened. Finally having time to realize the finality of Darien's death.

"Avocet's got armed guards, electric fences, security cams on every floor." Danny laid out the facts and Tom noticed a slight nervousness coming over Kara's face, not entirely sure why she was suddenly breaking from her usual behavior.

"We saw some armored cars and plenty of weapons at Olympia." Burk added.

"So then what? We take on all of her troopers without our ship?" Danny asked.

"Five of us against 80 of them. I don't like those odds." Danny shook his head slightly.

"Me neither." Kara said and he noticed the shared look between the two Lieutenants.

"Lieutenant, a word?" Tom looked at Kara and they stepped to the side.

"Is something bothering you?" Tom looked at her. He had to know she was 100 percent qualified to be on this mission right now.

"No, sir." The answer came quickly, but the small crack in her voice was making him doubt her.

"You're sure?" Tom asked again.

"Yes, sir." Kara nodded.

"We'll get her back, okay?" Tom placed his hand on her shoulder and could feel her body relax under his touch. She was nervous, a feeling he knew all too well. They both had someone to lose right now and he wasn't ready to lose yet another loved one.

After saying goodbye to his family and leaving them to the care of his father and Jeter, he walked over to his team.

"Where are we going, sir?" Burk asked and Tom took the gun Kara offered to him.

"Taking down the queen bee." He said with a riddle like voice as he checked that the gun was in shape.

"To do that, we hit her where it hurts the most." He glanced at the scenery in front of him, his eyes firmly on the smoking factory. Coal-fired my ass - driven with cold bodies, he inhaled as the thought of Darien's body going to the burning oven on that factory came on his mind. Darien.. The fresh wound inside of him was still sore at the thought that she was really gone.

He exhaled as he brushed the thought away. He had to focus. He had to keep his mind clear or else he was putting himself at risk. His family at risk.

Coming back to the present, he felt a tear escape from the corner of his eye as he thought about his wife. Thinking back if he should have come home when he had the chance? When he decided to turn the ship around, turn his back to his own family, to everyone else's family? Who was he to make that decision at the time?

Danny

Lying on his bunk. He brushed Kara's wet hair as she laid curled up on top of him. Both of them shocked after the events of yesterday, both of them still processing the thought of having a baby. Becoming parents in the middle of chaos. His mind still thinking how she had been in the face of danger.

Danny maneuvered the truck to the entrance of the loading dock on the power plant. Sharing one last look with Burk before exiting the vehicle. It was go time.

The sight in front of him was sickening as he watched the workers remove any personal items before burning the bodies. Even wedding bands weren't holy enough for these people. A feel of sadness was coming over him as he thought about his own family. If his parents were still alive, was this what might have happened to them too after their death? A thought that made his stomach turn.

"Oh, you're late." The one in charge hollered over, looking at the clipboard in his hand.

"What'd you guys do, take the scenic route?"

Whisking away thoughts of his family, anything that could distract him right now, he walked over to face the man.

"A couple of a-holes tried to hijack our suits." He said in his best Connecticut accent. Trying to blend in to the situation.

"Believe that?" He took the clipboard the man gave him.

"Yeah, this town, man. Crazy, crazy." The man continued. Yeah you don't have to tell me how crazy this is.

"Yeah, you're telling me." He glanced at Burk who just seemed overly stunned by what he was seeing. He was definitely going to blow their cover, he thought.

"You guys new around here? I've never seen you before."

Danny looked up from the clipboard where he had just signed and shared a look with Burk. This was it - and in a heartbeat he slammed the clipboard at the man in charge, taking him out quickly.

He registered the shots fired from the back of the truck and it didn't take long that they had the upper hand in the situation.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" He stilled the question, puzzled by her secrecy. The question made her body stiffen slightly under his touch.

Kara

Her heart was still racing at the flashback of the attack on the power plant.

"Like clockwork." Tom shared a look with Kara as they hopped down from the truck. Kara smiled internally as it was strange to be working together with Tom, her father. Her father. After the devastating loss of the father she grew up to know, she never thought there would be a father figure in her life.

"She told me just before we left the ship and I.." She said with a thoughtful voice, trying to explain. Trying to smooth things over, even though he wasn't angry.

"Ready to move?" Danny came to her side and she nodded. He wasn't wearing a protective vest so she had to pull herself together. Tom was already wondering what was wrong with her.

"I didn't want this to get out, because when it does. You won't let me leave this ship. I can't be out there, that's why I wanted to wait." She said, knowing now all too well how she had been under stress during that attack.

Tapping Danny's back, she walked closer to the command center on the plant. Her heart was racing in the moment, but Danny got her back. He would always have her back.

The bullets firing from his gun brought her to reality of the moment as she took cover slightly. That was close. Danny was engaging forward and as she took leave she fired her gun. In turn saving his ass.

They continued their way towards the command center.

"Stairs!" Danny yelled and she moved up the stairs.

She took down one guy and nodded to Danny who had just shot down one more on the floor beneath her. They worked well together, but she couldn't help but feel her heart taking a few extra beats as she was worried. Not just about her mother, but about the baby.

She heard him let out a sigh as he gave a kiss on her forehead and she could feel his arms tightening around her. On the floor she could hear Halsey get up and find a better place to doze off.

"I need to be useful or else I'm off this ship." She continued, her voice wary. They would soon head towards Norfolk and it meant that the Captain might kick her off the ship. Taking in consideration that it was safe there.

"You don't know what will happen. Let's just take it a day at a time." She heard Danny's warm voice whisper and she smiled. He definitely knew her well to say the right things. Her mind going back to the moment he found out. Still remembering his smile.

"You're not yourself today. What's on your mind?"

"I'm fine." Kara straightened her posture and avoided his gaze. One look right into her eyes would tell him she was lying, although she suspected that he already knew, he was after all a Navy SEAL trained to read people like a open book. She had to tell him.

"Mhm. You've been nervous all day. You even flinched as I shot down the guy in front of you. Not your usual MO. What's going on?"

At that moment she knew she was fried. She couldn't hide the discovery her mother had made anymore as it was affecting her work more than she thought it would. Because she wasn't just responsible of her own welfare anymore, she had to think of the baby.

"Rachel thinks I'm pregnant." The confusing look on his face widened into a smile as he thought over what she had said.

"Thinks?"

"My iron level is fairly low and she was worried. Took a few tests and it turns out it was positive for pregnancy. But it's still early."

"When were you gonna tell me?"

"Soon." It was a lie but the best explanation she had at the moment.

"I didn't exactly know that all this would happen when we would arrive at Baltimore. I thought Baltimore was safe."

"Me too."

"You're not happy about the baby?" His question took her by surprise, feeling the anxiety behind it was like a punch to her gut. He was scared she didn't want the baby. Their baby.

"I'm not." She replied.

"But this is not exactly the best time to be building a family." A family. The thought of suddenly still having both her parents, and forming a new family with Danny was overwhelming. She still hadn't processed the whole baby news entirely, not really feeling joyous over the news, the unsure future was bringing a shadow to the dream of a safe childhood for their child.

Smiling at the memory of him knowing exactly what to do in the moment as he had embraced her and held her. She had felt protected in the moment, just like she felt now.

It was right after that, that they got the sign to cut the power. Destruction being Danny's middle name, he had fired at the controls and soon after that the radio crackled to life. A familiar steely voice came over.

Earlier a warm thought accompanied the voice, giving everyone hope as she had witnessed what Amy Granderson had built. Now, there was a new level of horror that made her bones chill.

"Avocet power. Come in. Avocet power, what's going on?"

Kara noticed Danny give her that boyish smile of his before answering to the hail.

"Baltimore Water and Power. How can I help you this evening?"

"The current hold time is forever. If you need immediate assistance, please place your lips firmly on my ass cheeks and press the pound sign."

Kara couldn't help but chuckle at what her ears were hearing right now.

"Yeah. That ought to get a rise out of her." He dropped the radio and met her eyes.

"And you kiss with that mouth?" Kara teased.

"You don't seem to complain.." Danny shrugged and took her by surprise as he pulled her close and kissed her. The burn on her lips making her knees weak as she leaned against him. The things she wanted to do with him right now. As abruptly as the kiss began, he broke off and leaned his forehead against hers. Gently placing his one hand on her belly. A note of nervousness hit her as the feel of his hand gave her a new worry. What was yet to come. They weren't out of the woods yet.

"You ready for the showdown?" He whispered and she held her breath for a moment.

Nodding silently and as she met his eyes, she knew he would do anything to keep her safe. Her and the baby.

Feeling his hand caressing her belly brought her to the present. She placed her own on top of his and she couldn't help but smile. They had made a baby together.

Rachel

Crossing her arms over her chest, she held the Nathan James sweater tightly against her body. Standing on the deck, listening to the waves as they hit the metal hull of the ship. She was still trying to clear her mind.

It was pitch dark suddenly, she didn't know why, but it was stopping her from finding Kara, and she could hear noises coming from a room a few doors from her and Tex. She rushed towards the sounds and saw the door open in the darkness.

She stared at the open door in front of them. The torn uniform giving her the chills, but as she met the glare of the woman standing in front of her, she was relieved - it wasn't Kara. But the mother in her was still restless - Where was she?

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, placing her hand on Ravit's shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am. But they are not." Ravit nodded her head backwards, pointing out that she had taken out the people holding her down. Rachel noticed a womanly figure stand against the wall, staring at them. Afraid.

"Impressive, but I think we should move along." Tex glanced both ways on the corridor.

"Where's Kara?" Rachel asked. Hoping Ravit had an answer.

"I don't know."

"All I know that they were looking for her on the ship, and it doesn't take a genius to know what they were after. So I said I was pregnant. Then they took me here." Ravit explained as they moved on the corridor.

"Smart. But how did you manage to take down all of them?" Rachel asked, although her question did feel slightly idiotic as she was talking with an experienced hand on the field.

"Their problem was that they underestimated me. Thought I was weak, which was a role I played well. The damsel-in-distress." Ravit's voice was steady the entire time as she told her. But one thing was clear, she had risked her life for Kara, and for that she was grateful. The thought that she too might have lost her life because she hadn't agreed to Granderson's terms made her entire body cold. It was unsettling to think who might still be alive, and who was dead.

A gust of wind blew to her face, the autumn air making her cold. A state she felt very well right now as she thought the ones who had lost their lives in the foolish bloodshed as Granderson called it.

Still staring at Mike, who had marks of struggle on his face. He took the Primordial strain of the virus from its hideout and held it in front of her.

"You saved it?" She barely got the words out, her entire body still in a state of shock.

"Not me." Mike's voice was calm.

"Doc Rios.. And Quincy." He added and she felt tears coming down as she rushed out from the bridge to let herself mourn the people she had lost, an old friend, and the ones she barely had a chance to know yet.

Quincy.. Poor Kelly and Ava. She couldn't even imagine the pain they were feeling right now.

If she had lost Kara or Tom.. Luckily they had survived, but a clump formed in her stomach as she had learned that Tom's wife had died. No matter how much she loved the man, no matter how much it hurt that she would never have him. She never wanted this.

"Rachel?" The voice startled her from her daze, causing a joyous rush of emotions to gallop on the surface. The mere sound of his voice made her knees weak, now more than ever.

Tom

Watching himself from the mirror as he shaved after washing off the blood, the sweat.. Staring at his own reflection, he hoped he could wash off the events of yesterday as easily.

"Hey, Commodore!" Tom moved near enough to get a look at his friend from Gitmo. A friend he thought that left them behind. He was glad he was still here. But what he saw next made his heart skip a beat. Rachel. On the surface she looked to be just fine. But he needed to hear it. Hear the words from her lips. Hear her voice, know it was her, even if he could see her with his very own eyes.

"What's Lieutenant Bivas doing with you?"

"It's a long story." Tex said and glanced at Rachel.

"You okay?" Tom leveled his gaze at her. Waiting for her to speak.

"I'm fine. Quincy's dead." Rachel said bluntly, and he knew what Quincy had meant for her. But the usually restrained doctor stepped closer to him, grasping at his forearm, making his skin jump at this gesture - Emotions coming along with it, feeling more free - but a note of guilt came with them, guilt that his wife hadn't even been gone that long.

"Tom. Where's Kara?" The tone of her voice was worried. He recognized the same voice, remembering all too well how he had felt when Sam went missing at the Carnival a few years back.

"She's with Lieutenant Green at the power plant." He answered, seeing a relief in Rachel's eyes as she learned the whereabouts of her only daughter.

"Granderson's looking for her. She needs be safe. She needs to hide." Rachel continued hastily and he was puzzled by this sudden behavior. Thinking back at the container yard, Kara had seemed to be nervous, more than usual, so there had to be something going on. Something that Rachel knew.

"Care to tell me what's going on?" Tom asked and saw the hesitation in Rachel's eyes.

"Well, you're gonna be a granddaddy, Commodore." Tex's voice came through the air and he felt a small pat on his shoulder as the man moved past him.

"Is it true?" He looked at Rachel who awkwardly nodded at him. He didn't know what to think, he thought he had made the rules clear as a Captain. As a father he should be happy for her - but right now was not the time to get into the business of solving this situation.

"Can your men help get them out of here?" He turned to speak to one of Thorwald's men.

Wiping his face clean after his shave, he still hadn't addressed the issue of Kara being pregnant. Right now his mind was occupied, thinking how and when he would tell his family that he has another daughter.

"Lieutenant Green, what is your sitrep?" He reached for his comm.

"Sir, we can't hold them off much longer." Was the rushed reply from his Lieutenant.

"Get out of there, and keep the other Green safe. She's on Granderson's most wanted list."

"Copy that, sir" - The reply came so easily, no questions asked. But he had trusted him before in Gitmo, he would keep her safe now too. Now he had even more reason to do it. Now Danny would know how he felt.

Alisha

Staring at the wall in the sickbay, she felt tears run down her cheeks. Wishing she could stop crying for a mother she barely knew anymore.

"Alisha!" She could hear her name being called out. Her focus being guided away from the agonizing pain on her abdomen.

She shot me. She still couldn't fathom the fact that her mother's guard had pulled out her gun and fired. Whether it was orders from her own mother, or whether it was just in the heat of the moment. She would never know. Nonetheless the act caused her pain.

"Green that you? What are you doing here?" She registered the voice of their Captain.

"Figured we had the upper hand already, so no need to hide." She heard Kara's voice from beside her. Glancing at her friend's way, she saw her press down on the bleeding wound.

"She's lost a lot of blood, sir." Lieutenant Green's voice gave her the answer she was afraid to hear - but knew herself.

"You alright?" Tom knelt down beside her and looked at Kara. Alisha recognized the worrying look he had. It was the same one as she had seen in her parents' eyes when she was a child, when she had climbed a tree that was a little too high in their mind, when she was learning to ride a bicycle, when she went to school the first time. Time when her mother had still been her beloved mother.

"Captain, I had no idea." Breaking the reunion between a father and a daughter, Alisha spoke.

"You have to believe me." She pleaded, struggling to keep her posture. The pain caused by the bullet making her weak. She had to tell them, she didn't know. She didn't!

"I know, Lieutenant. I know." Hearing the confirmation from the Captain, she closed her eyes.

She could hear gunfire and a moment later she was being walked between Kara and Danny.

The realization of where she was being taken hit her - Returning back to the ship after everything was frightening. Losing her mind she tried to fight back, she couldn't go back. How could she face the people that her mother had betrayed?

Moving her hand, she wiped the tears away and continued to stare at the empty wall.

Tom

He stared at the horizon from the deck of the ship as he walked towards the bow. Taking his hat down as he saw the memorial for the ones who had not been so lucky. Sighing how he had yet again lost men during this mission, this battle against what? It had first seemed like the Red Flu itself was the enemy, but as their journey went on, there had been other enemies.

"You want to be the last to die for a lost cause?" He asked Mrs. Granderson a simple question. Still thinking she had the upper hand she had ordered her goons to shoot him down.

"You heard my XO. We've taken back our ship, this building is ours and we're telling the people of Baltimore that your killing zone at Olympia is out of business." He laid out the facts.

"You have two choices. A trial or a funeral." He gave her a choice. But still the iron woman wouldn't surrender. But as he witnessed her goons put down their weapons, he knew she had lost, but she wasn't ready to see it. Not until he opened her eyes.

"I found your daughter lying in a pool of her own blood, shot by your guards, under your order!" He angrily added. He thought he saw a flicker of something on her face - Remorse? Despair? Disappointment that she hadn't managed to keep her daughter safe?

"My children were lined up to be murdered and sent to the ovens, along with thousands of desperate people. Including my.. wife.." He continued with an angry tone, slowing down as he mentioned his wife. The heartache fresh as he opened the wound inside of him again.

"All so you can keep the lights on for your select few."

"You don't know! The virus was spreading!" She yelled back at him and he knew there was nothing he could do or say to change her mind.

"So you get to decide who lives and who dies?" He forced the words out in the air. Listening as she told him about how the people reacted when the pandemic first came. She might have stood firm, made a plan, survived. But so had he.

"I'm the reason these people have survived this long." Hearing her words made him feel more angry.

"Except when you had the cure in hand, you wouldn't stop! You continued killing!" He stated. Still not quite understanding how a woman of her standard had gone so far from right and wrong.

"It's over. Your grand social experiment is history. I'm offering you the chance." Even when he just wanted to pull the trigger, revenge his wife's death, revenge for Quincy - but he was not that kind of a man.

"Surrender with honor."

Sighing heavily he leaned against the cold and rough surface of the railing.

Her parting words echoing through his mind, still not seeing what her actions had caused.

"I am not a monster. I am not."

"So this is home." He heard the footsteps of his XO. Glancing at Mike's way, he didn't say a word. None needed. They both had lived through yet another hell.

Stepping to the ship with a thud, he quickly helped his children aboard, meeting eyes with O'Connor as he rang the bell. He glanced over the deck and saw his crew hard at work. The scenery was cruel - Bloodstains tainting his ship - A clear sign that the ship and its crew had endured their fair share of hardship during the past few hours.

One thing was for sure, coming home hadn't been like they had hoped it would be.

Leaving Mike's company he moved towards the aft and saw a familiar figure gazing at the open water. His heart was torn to pieces as he felt the tension he had held onto, escape his body just by looking at her. He was free - But not in a way he had hoped nor wanted - Darien.. His heart still mourning the loss of his wife, and a lingering hope giving him comfort that perhaps one day, he might find happiness again.

"Rachel?" He said her name softly.