That morning
Monday

The 'Salty Swallow'

After breakfast the anchor was weighed and all were now heading north at eighteen knots, with Ryan and Chloe at the helm. When the yacht was about twenty-five miles off the coast, Ryan stopped engines and allowed the yacht to drift. The sun was lovely and warm, the water though was a lot cooler, but we were going to give it a go!

..._...

With a scream, Chloe was the first in the lake as her father scooped her off the deck, at the bow, and unceremoniously threw her over the rail, before jumping in after her. The hydraulic platform at the stern had been lowered so that it was level with the surface of the water. Cathy and Mindy were on the platform, Cathy with her legs in the water. Chloe was still screaming sixty-five feet away, somewhere near the bow, as it seemed she was having a water fight with her father! There was another scream, which Dave recognised as Mindy's, closely followed by a large splash and then a stream of expletives that had Cathy blushing. Dave turned to look behind him and saw a smirking Josh, who had just pushed Mindy into Lake Michigan!

"Oh, Mindy will not be happy with you Josh!" Dave advised with a chuckle.

Josh had an enormous grin on his face.

"I can handle Mindy!" Josh replied.

Mindy came swimming around to the stern and glared at Josh.

"You will die a long, drawn out, painful death asshole!" Mindy growled and then grinned, looking directly at Dave. "You going to help me out, lover boy?"

"Wasn't intending to," Dave replied and Mindy looked shocked.

"What!"

"Since when does Hit Girl need help?" Dave asked pointedly.

"Point taken, but I thought that my fiancée might want to be chivalrous!" Mindy teased.

"Okay," Dave said, simply and pulled Mindy out of the water and onto the swim platform, then promptly scooped her up and threw her back in.

Mindy just had time to scream, before she hit the water. She came up to the surface and turned the air blue for several seconds, just as Chloe swam around the stern from the direction of the bow, closely followed by her father.

"Why so grumpy, Mindy?" Chloe asked with a laugh, and then she turned to Josh. "What are you still doing up there?" she demanded.

"Oh, right!" Josh replied and stripped off his t-shirt, before diving into the lake.

The Galley

"They seem to be enjoying themselves, or maybe I should say: each other!"

"They do get on very well!" Ryan replied.

Ryan and Cathy were preparing lunch, while the 'kids', as they saw them, played in the water. Dave had joined them and there was a lot of splashing and shouting.

"Joshua, do it and you fucking die!" That was Chloe.

"Dave, don't you fucking dare!" That was Mindy.

"Oh, wow!" Ryan commented a minute later, as first one and then another, wet bikini top landed with a slap, on the sloping window forward of the galley.

Josh and Dave could be heard laughing loudly and very happily. It was also possible to hear Mindy and Chloe yelling obscenities. Cathy smirked and went aft to the cockpit.

..._...

"Lunch is ready!" Cathy yelled and saw Chloe and Mindy look horrified, as they both glared at Josh and Dave.

Josh and Dave laughed, swam over to the swim platform and climbed out leaving the topless girls in the water.

"You two got something that Dave and Josh have never seen before!" Cathy called and watched both girls blush.

Mindy and Chloe looked at each other, then shrugged and swam over to the swim platform. They climbed out quickly and covering their chests, ran through the main salon and down the steps to the staterooms. All the way the girls had to suffer wolf whistles and cheering from Dave, Josh and Ryan! Minutes later the girls reappeared with tops on.

"Ha, fucking Ha!" Chloe said and surprised Josh, who was expecting pain, with a kiss.

"I'm gonna get it later, aren't I?" Josh asked rhetorically and Chloe nodded.

"Oh yeah – the full Shadow!"

Josh grinned apprehensively and Cathy laughed at his expression.

"Hi, gorgeous!" Dave said, trying to keep a straight face.

"I can take a joke... We'll find out if you can, later, Ass-Kick!" Mindy said calmly, giving Dave a kiss.

Cathy had a distinct feeling that Josh and Dave might be in need of medical attention by the following morning!

The previous evening and that morning had given Ryan Bennett plenty to consider.

His daughter had managed to get herself involved with some strange and very violent people. Nevertheless, in doing so, she had found friends and not just ordinary friends. These people were true friends who would do anything for each other. Ryan found Dave to be very mature for his age and saw him as a young man who would go far in life. Mindy was a challenge and Ryan respected Dave for tolerating her eccentricities; however he found her to be a lovely girl, despite what he knew she did for a career! Commander Bennett was used to being around people that killed for a living; Fusion was no different and he saw what Mindy did, as just the same as what his Sailors and Marines did when it was required. Most importantly, Mindy did not kill for the fun of it; she was surgical in what she did.

Joshua...

Ryan saw Joshua as a potential threat to his only daughter, but he knew that Chloe was very close to Josh, long before he had 'died' and he was very much aware that Josh's 'death' had hit Chloe hard. Indeed, it had been the reason why the family had moved from New York to Chicago. Cathy had told Ryan about Chloe wanting to get herself 'protection', so that if something 'happened', then she would not get pregnant. Ryan was ultimately, very impressed with Chloe's maturity, when he had heard about that. Okay, he was concerned about his daughter having underage sex with an underage boy, but considering what else the pair got up to, a little hanky-panky was rather tame!

..._...

Chloe and Ryan had also become much closer, as father and daughter, which he was very pleased about. Cathy had confirmed that Chloe had been a lot happier, in general, since meeting Dave and Mindy and that she was no longer the moody, grumpy, argumentative teenager that she had once been. I also knew that Chloe was learning to make important decisions – the hard way, unfortunately. She had apparently made a disastrous set of decisions that had almost resulted in her own death, just a few months before, towards the end of the previous year and Ryan understood that Mindy had actually, temporarily, kicked Chloe out of Fusion as a result.

..._...

Ryan also had cause to be concerned about young Curtis, who was himself now involved in Fusion. Curtis was Ryan's nephew and all that was left of his brother. However, like Cathy, he felt comfortable trusting Mindy with Curtis, as he had with Chloe. Even Cathy was enjoying herself as the Fusion Medic! Ryan was more than a little shocked to find out that she had gone into action, and on more than one occasion, and that she had actually shot some people, too!

Well, he supposed that it could have been worse – his wife and daughter, along with his nephew, could be involved in something much more serious!

"Josh, you got a minute?" Ryan asked, attracting the attention of Chloe.

"Yes!" Josh replied, politely and he looked a little concerned.

"I would like a chat with you... In private!" Dad said, as Chloe also got up.

Chloe, with concern etched on her face, watched as her Dad and Josh went up onto the bow and sat down facing the horizon.

"Mom! Should I be worried?" Chloe asked, turning to her mother.

"Well... Probably not... No... He'll be fine... Probably!" Cathy Bennett replied with a smirk.

"Well, I feel a lot better now, thanks!" Chloe growled sarcastically, sitting down at the table and watching her father and her boyfriend.

"What could Dad be talking about with Josh?" Chloe thought. Chloe knew that her father liked Josh – well he hadn't said that he didn't! But then again her father probably wasn't all that pleased that she was having sex with Josh, on a fairly regular basis! Her Mom had said that her father was okay with it, so... "Dad wouldn't kill Josh, would he?" She thought to herself.

..._...

Commander Bennett and Josh came back aft about an hour later and both were smiling.

"What did you two talk about?" Chloe demanded, desperate for information.

"Nothing important!" Josh replied with a smirk.

"This and that!" Her father replied, noncommittally.

"You both talked about me – didn't you?" Chloe suggested, indignantly.

"Nah! You're too boring!" Her father said and walked off, followed by Josh who looked very smug.

"Assholes!" Chloe thought.