"Yay… the pool." Rock really doesn't like this part. This was the last underwater simulation they were doing as a whole group. The plan was to split them into their teams for the last week of training, Faith couldn't wait.

"Scared of the water, Rockhound?" came Bear's gentle, yet booming, voice.

Rock looked at the big guy. "No, man. I'm not scared of anything."

"Except getting your dick chopped off," A.J. stage whispered.

"Angry dads with shotguns," Oscar added. "Getting arrested for sleeping with someone underage.

"Sexual harassment lawsuits," Freddy said with a chuckle.

"Oh, come on, guys. You know his biggest fear is women who won't fuck him," Faith said, earning a laugh from her friends.

Rockhound looked at her. "Hey now, you're more than welcome to take yourself off the list."

"Not even if the world was ending, Rock," she told him. "Oh, wait, it kinda is."

"That's okay, Faith," he said, looking over at her. "I know your tastes are a little more… patriotic."

Harry looked at them both. "Who might that be, exactly?"

"Nobody, dad," Faith lied. That was not a conversation she was having right here and now.

"Uh huh," Freddy and A.J. muttered in unison.

"Frosty and Freddy," she said in the sweetest voice possible, "do you really want me to start talking? Oh, the things I know." She smiled at them. "The stories I could tell. "

They both went silent and Bear laughed, his baritone voice was soothing even when he was giving the boys grief. "Now, ya'll know better than to mess with Faith. Especially you, A.J. We all know Gracie don't go for that."

"Whipped." Oscar made a whipping sound. Faith glared at him and he closed his mouth.

"He ain't the only one," Freddy said. "She's not even your girl and she shut you up. Who's really whipped?" Faith looked at her best friend, who also closed his mouth.

"Dude, she's gonna hurt ya," Max said, shaking his head.

"I don't have the energy and we don't have the time," Faith said. "Now, can we get to work to it?"

"Stampers, you're with me. Everyone else, you're done for the day."

Faith glanced at her dad before they followed Truman from the room. They walked down the hall and entered a conference room where Quincy, Kimsey, Flight Director Clarke and the flight teams were sitting. Faith sat next Tucker while Harry sat next to Watts.

"So, we need to pick the teams. I'm sure we all have some ideas about who should go where," Truman told the group. She and Harry were already assigned to specific shuttles, apparently, they hadn't figured out where to put everyone else.

Clarke nodded. "Since we're doubled up, the teams need to be even."

"You guys really do love making things difficult," Faith said. "Me, A.J., Freddy, Oscar and Bear on Independence. Harry, Rock, Chick and Max on Freedom." They all looked at her; Kimsey was the first to speak.

"How did you come up with that, Miss Stamper?" the general asked.

"Uh, process of elimination," she said with a shrug. "Me and dad are team leaders, A.J. and Max run the 'dillos, Oscar and Rock are the geologists. Freddy is my right-hand man, same goes for Chick with Harry. I have more control over A.J. than Harry does and he works best with Oscar, they're both with me. Bear is the odd man out but I figured dad wouldn't want us kids up there without adult supervision. Like I said, easy."

Clarke and Truman shared a look before the head of NASA looked at her father. "Thoughts?"

"I think she covered it." The veteran driller nodded. "Teams are as even as possible and they work well together."

"Well, that's all I needed," Truman told them. "Get outta here and get some rest."

Sharp nudged her as she passed him, so she slowed her steps to wait for him. "I've never seen the general with that look on his face before."

"It's a gift," she said with a smile. "He's lucky that I'm being nice. I don't like him any more than he likes me."

"What's not to like?" Sharp whispered.

Faith felt herself blush. "Careful, Colonel, flattery will get you everywhere."

"I'll have to remember that." He chuckled. "I wanna show you something, if you're up to it."

"Depends on what it is."

"Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you."

"Color me intrigued," Faith said.

"Where are we?" Faith asked as she looked around.

"Building 30. It was built in '65 for the Gemini four mission." They went up a set of stairs to the third floor. "This is MOCR two, also known as the Apollo Mission Control Center."

Faith took in the room. It was small compared to the other mission control room in the other building but so much seemed to happen here. This was where missions to the moon were monitored.

"Mission Operation Control Room, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. They changed it to mission control sometime in the seventies. We were still using this place until 1992. It's been a historic landmark since '85 so they couldn't upgrade like they wanted to."

"Because of Apollo 11?"

"Glad to see someone was listening to me." He smiled before sitting in one of the chairs and looking up at her. "I was beginning to think that class was pointless."

"Truman gave us some stuff to read. Might've glimpsed it." Faith shrugged. "Besides, everybody knows about Apollo 11, we put a man on the moon."

"That we did," Sharp said as Faith looked around. She ran her fingers over the small plaque that said 'CAPCOM'. "I've manned that station before. Not in here, though."

"Really?"

"You'll learn some of this tomorrow. CAPCOM means Capsule Communicator; call sign Houston, like in the movies. It's easier to have one station at mission control that talks with the crew and it's almost always a team of astronauts on a rotation."

"Big job?" she asked him.

"No bigger than the others but it can be. If everything goes how it's supposed to, it's standard but for missions like Apollo 13... to be Houston during that mission is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Don't get me started on the Challenger." He shook his head.

Challenger was a shuttle that exploded in 1986 a minute and thirteen seconds after launching on what would've been the shuttle's tenth mission, killing all seven crew members. NASA grounded the shuttle program for two and a half years after that.

"You come over here a lot, don't you?" she asked. He seemed really comfortable in this place. Not like he was in the plane, but still.

"I don't know about a lot. It's just, we have a difficult mission coming up. Helps me to remember those who came before us. Like the guys from Apollo 13. The general consensus is that they shouldn't have made it back but they did, despite the odds. Maybe some of that luck will rub off on us."

"Maybe it already has." Faith ran her fingers along his jaw; he caught her hand in his and kissed her fingers.

"We should head back, it's getting late."

"Yea. Wouldn't want to fall asleep in class, I doubt my instructor would like that very much."

Sharp chuckled as he stood. "You're too busy watching me to fall asleep. Besides, you need the info. I'll make astronauts outta all of you, even if it kills me."

"Might. We're all stubborn," Faith said quietly.

"So am I," he whispered before his lips descended on hers.

All the thoughts in her mind just vanished and everything became about this, about him. The only thing that registered to Faith was the feeling of their bodies pressed against each other, the feeling of his lips against hers, the gentleness of his hands as they cupped her face. If she could stay like this until the end of the world, she would.

When they finally pulled away from each other, there was something in his eyes, like he could see straight through to her soul and it took her breath away.

"Faith." It came out almost like a prayer.

Whatever this was, whatever they were, it had nothing to do with the planet's impending doom. If nothing else, the only thing being here did was put them in the same place. Other than the rig, her whole life was in Texas. Her home, less than an hour away from the space center. How many times have they passed each other on the street? Or been in the same place? Maybe this whole thing was just fate's way of forcing them into each other's lives.

Much as she hated to admit it, maybe Grace was right.

"What's wrong?" her sister asked as soon as she opened the door to A.J.'s room.

"Just let me in," Faith muttered with a shake of her head.

"What's wrong with you?" A.J. asked from his spot on the bed. Instead of answering him, Faith looked at her sister.

"Oh," the younger Stamper said. "Ohhh."

"I don't know what happened. I mean, he looked at me and I swear I… It was like getting hit by a Mack truck. This feeling in my chest like..."

"Like you love Sharp," Grace finished for her.

"This shit doesn't happen to me and not with someone I've known for like a week. I mean… I don't even know what I mean." Faith sat on the empty bed and took a breath. Grace opened her mouth to say something but AJ stopped her.

"Faith, look at me," her future brother-in-law ordered. Usually, she would just glare at him if he said that to her but she didn't have it in her. She looked at the man who wanted to marry her sister. "You want to know what the rest of us see?"

"The rest of us?" she asked.

"Me, Rock and Freddy. Maybe Bear too, I'm not entirely sure," he told her. "Kinda hard to miss how you light up when Sharp's around. Or, for a guy with a rep for being a hardass, how laid back he is when he's with you. I haven't seen you like that since we were kids." A.J. smiled. "So, it's only been a week, big deal. I knew I loved Grace day one. I think you need to stop worrying so much and just go with it. We don't know what this mission will bring and I don't know about you but I don't want to have any regrets when I strap into that shuttle."

"That's the most eloquent thing I think I've ever heard you say," Faith said quietly.

"Can't reveal all my skills," he said. "Now, go get some sleep because we got astronaut school with your boyfriend in the morning."

"That's not…" she started before pausing. "We kinda are, huh?"

Grace nodded. "Yep."

"You'll be fine once you decide not to worry about it," A.J. said.

"And you'd be fine if you showed some of this wisdom around Harry. He might not give you such a hard time," she told the not-so-hotheaded hothead.

"I don't know if everyone could handle the A.J. I get to see all the time," Grace pointed out. Faith knew that behind the devil may care attitude, A.J. had a big heart and that's why Grace loved him so damn much.

"I only use it on important stuff," he said with a shrug.

"Like girl talk," Faith teased.

"Okay, get out of my room," A.J. half ordered with a laugh.

"But, Frosty, I thought we were gonna paint our toes or something." She chuckled.

"I really don't see how Sharp puts up with you," he said with a smile.

"Me neither." Faith shrugged. "That might actually be part of the problem."

"You're overthinking it, as usual. Just relax," her sister said. "Please."

"I will try," she told Grace before standing up to give her a quick hug. "Love you."

"Love you more," Grace said.

"What about me? I'm the one with all the advice," A.J. said. "I don't any love?"

Faith rolled her eyes before giving her soon-to-be brother-in-law a hug. "Love you too, Frosty."

Will was right; she was too aware of him to do anything but pay attention. At least she wasn't the only one. They had a week until launch and that meant that they needed to get everything done, including understand a few years' worth of information. Of course, Harry noticed that something was up with her. After lunch, he pulled her aside.

"You okay? You're quiet today."

"Got some stuff on my mind. I'm fine," she told him.

"You sure?" he asked, his eyes giving her a once over.

"Yeah, I'm good," Faith said. "Really."

Her father kissed her temple. "If you say so. I know I haven't been the best dad to you and Grace but I hope that you'll tell me if something's bothering you."

"You're a good dad," she argued. "Maybe not the smartest dad but a good one, nonetheless. You love us and you did everything you could to take care of us. It's not your fault that mom split."

"You sure about that?"

"She made a choice to ran away from whatever the problems were, that's not on you. She missed out, Grace is amazing and I'm pretty kickass, if I do say so myself," she said, earning a smile from her old man. "Come on. If we do this right, the 'dillos will be finished today."

"And here I thought I was the boss." Harry chuckled.

"That's what me and Grace let you think," Faith told him. "You can't run the company without us."

"Yeah, about that…" he said. "I updated my will, you and Grace get everything if I don't make it back. The business, the rig, the property in Galveston, my personal assets."

She looked at him. "Dad…"

"The company can run without me but not without you or Grace. I was gonna give it to you in a couple years anyway."

"What? You didn't even wanna hire me, now you're telling me that you were gonna just give me Stamper Oil. Are you planning to die on me or something?" She barely noticed that everyone was listening to them.

"I didn't want you to stay because I didn't want to hold you back. Watching you this past week, Faith, I realized that it's in your blood as much as it's in mine. I couldn't be prouder of you if I tried. And no, I'm not planning to die, just making sure you girls are covered if I do."

"And what if I decide to do something else or I die?" she asked.

"Grace gets it all."

"Can't talk you out of it, can I?" Faith already knowing his answer, he's more stubborn than she is.

"Nope."

"I don't like this," Faith told him.

"That's because you're smarter than me. Now, we got work to do, boss."

The next day, they took the -finished- armadillos out to the testing sight for the first half of the day. After lunch, they did more D.A.T. training with Tucker and Watts. Faith couldn't help but notice the missing colonels, one in particular.

That night, she took a quick shower and was about to climb into bed when there was a knock on her door. Not light enough to be Grace but not loud enough to be one of the guys, that left her with one person. She opened the door and a huge smile broke out on her face.

"Hi."

"Can I come in?" Sharp asked with a smile of his own.

"Yeah. Sure," she said as she moved out of the way. The second Faith closed the door, she found herself pressed against it. Sharp kissed her like a man stranded in the desert who just found water. When they broke apart to breathe, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Missed you today," he whispered.

"I can see that," Faith said. "What were you up to?"

"Flight sims in the morning and a meeting with Kimsey while you guys were doing D.A.T."

"All that and you still had time to miss me."

"Of course, I did." The pilot offered up a tired smile, looking more exhausted then she felt. It was just after midnight, he should've gone to bed instead of stopping to see her.

"Will, you look like you could use a few hours of sleep."

He chuckled. "That your way of saying I look like crap?"

"I was trying to be nice." She reached up and touched the side of his face. "You okay?"

"Yeah. No. I'm not sure."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not supposed to. At least, not with anyone who isn't Kimsey or Davis." He closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. "You can't tell anybody. Not Harry, not your sister or the team. I could get grounded, tossed in the brig and kicked out the Air Force if Kimsey even thinks I disobeyed an order."

"You don't have to tell me," she told him. "Last thing I would want to do is get you into any trouble."

"That's just it. If I don't tell you and something happens, my career'll be the least of my problems. I want you to know. You just have to promise, it stays right here."

"Of course. I won't tell a soul," she promised.

"Some idiot came up with a fail-safe in case the drilling doesn't work."

"I'll try not to be insulted."

"Right. I doubt it'll work but, if they think that the drilling's not working, I have orders to I have orders to protect a surface detonation. With deadly force if necessary. Kimsey called it Secondary Protocol."

If something like that could work, they wouldn't be going on this trip in the first place. And how the hell did Kimsey, the Air Force or anyone else expect her team to just stand back and let the bomb go off?

"How would they even…?"

"Remotely. The trigger can be activated using the same signal as the comms. It's actually a little more powerful."

"And they want you guys to… what, exactly? Beat us over the head with a wrench if we try to disarm it?"

"Weapons locker on each of the shuttles." He took a breath. "If I'm being honest, I get why but we're all on the same team. How Kimsey expects me and Davis to pull a gun on any of you, I'll never know."

Faith placed her hands on either side of his face. "If something like that happens, you'll do the right thing."

"How can you be so sure?"

Faith placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Because you're a good person, Will."

"How do you know that? We haven't known each other that long." He jokingly tossed her argument back at her and she smiled.

"I know enough. Come on, I'm going to bed and so are you. Boots off."

He gave her a look before he moved to do what she told him. "There aren't a lot of people who can get away with telling me what to do. I like it."

"Good to know." Faith chuckled and pulled her sweatshirt off.

She heard him suck in a breath before she felt his fingers run along the tattoo on her side. "'If you're going through hell, keep going.' Churchill?" She nodded. "That sounds like you."

"I thought so."

After stripping out of his jumpsuit and grabbing the pillow off the other bed, he slid into bed with her. Will pulled her into his arms and for the first time since she got to the space center, she relaxed. This should be awkward but it wasn't, Faith was more comfortable than she expected to be.

He kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, beautiful."

She kissed his neck. "Goodnight."