Hey everyone,
Hope you're all enjoying my latest ramblings!
I'll try and get a couple of chapters out in the next week or 2 as I'll be away for 3 weeks after that, although leaving you on a cliffhanger maybe fun! hahaha.
Thanks to the people who sent me feedback!
Disclaimer: I don't own nor did I create the characters of Sea Patrol. *Sad face*
Charlotte
Chapter 3
Later that afternoon Mike was standing on the deck of the Hammersley checking off the inventory list. He looked up and smiled as he saw Kate and Charlie walk down the dock, his smiled faded as he saw Jim following behind them. He walked down the gangway to greet them, Charlie ran into his arms, she hugged him tight.
"How long are you gone for Daddy?"
He knelt down and put her back on the ground.
"I'm not sure sweetie, but Mummy will take good care of you!"
She nodded and ran over to Jim and held his hand.
"Yeah and Uncle Jim, he lives around the corner now!"
Mike stood up and looked at Kate and Jim trying not to look too surprised.
"You've moved here?"
Jim nodded and put his arm around Kate.
"Yeah, after years of moving around I thought it was time to put down some roots!"
Kate was uneasy, she didn't want to give Mike the wrong impression seeming she had just told him that she wasn't jumping back into things. She stepped slightly to the side but gave Jim a reassuring smile. Swain ran down the gangway much to Kate's relief, it was a bit awkward.
"Swain!"
He smiled and held out his arms.
"Kate! Good to see you!"
They gave each other a hug, he knelt down to greet Charlie.
"Hey cutie!"
Charlie hi-fived him.
"Hey Uncle Chris!"
Swain stood up and realised that the other person standing with them was Jim, he had to do a double take.
"Jim?!"
Jim smiled and gave him a nod.
"Swain! How are you..."
They shook hands, Swain glanced at Mike making sure he wasn't going to explode.
"Ahhh, surprised! Really surprised! Umm Sir, we're due to sail in 5..."
Mike nodded. Swain turned his attention back to Jim.
"I think we better get a beer when we get back!"
Jim shook his hand again.
"Yeah, maybe a few, it's a long story!"
Swain and Mike boarded the boat. The crew pulled in the ropes and the boat started to pull away from the dock. Kate lifted Charlie into her hip, she was waving like a maniac.
"Can you see him? He's right up there!?
Kate pointed to the bridge, Charlie leant over to Jim wanting him to hold her.
"Uncle Jim is taller! I can see better."
Kate handed her to Jim, he put her on his shoulders while she kept waving. Mike looked out the window and saw Jim holding his little girl and sighed. Swain walked up behind Mike.
"Strange isn't it?"
Mike snapped back to reality.
"Huh?"
Swain nodded towards Kate, Jim and Charlie.
"Well, it's like the boat never exploded, that's what would have happened right?"
Swain suddenly realised what he had said, he hoped that Mike hadn't taken offense.
"Oh sorry Boss, I didn't mean that..."
Mike put his hand up to stop him talking.
"It's ok Swain, I know what you meant..."
Mike sat in the Captain's chair trying to forget the picture of Jim playing happy families with *his* family. Dutchy walked up the stairs to the bridge, he stood behind Swain.
"Was that?"
Swain nodded.
"Yeah, crazy huh?!"
Dutchy leant closer towards Swain.
"Great, you remember how he used to be when Jim was around."
Swain laughed.
"Yeah, but things are different now..."
Mike could hear his crew whispering, he knew it was about Jim. He turned to address them.
"Don't ask me, I don't know the story yet!"
Dutchy cringed, they were busted.
"Oh no worries Sir, I'm sure we'll hear it sooner or later..."
Later that day Mike was in his cabin completing his paperwork. Dutchy knocked on his door.
"Come in..."
Dutchy entered the cabin carrying 2 brews.
"Though you might have needed this boss..."
He put the brew down on the desk.
"Thanks Dutchy..."
Dutchy hovered in his cabin, Mike looked up from his computer.
"Something else I can help you with?"
Dutchy shook his head and sat down.
"Ah no Boss, just thought you might have wanted to discuss Captain Roth being back."
Mike looked at Dutchy, he was the only one who really knew what went on years ago, he was appreciative that he had crew that cared but sometimes it made it difficult to separate work with his personal life. Mike continued on with his work trying not to make a big deal of it.
"Not much to tell mate, he's alive..."
Dutchy knew Mike wasn't great about talking about his feelings, he thought it was one of the reasons that Mike and Kate didn't work out.
"Soooo, you're ok with them being together while you're out here?"
Mike spun round on his chair.
"Don't have much choice do I?"
Dutchy rolled his eyes in his mind, typical Mike Flynn answer.
"I guess not, Sir."
Dutchy could tell this wasn't going anywhere, he got up and left, he turned at the door.
"Mike... if you wanna talk about it you know where I am."
Mike looked up from his computer.
"Thanks Dutchy, can you shut the door on your way out?"
Duchy did as he was asked, he walked off down the corridor shaking his head.
Mike lent back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face, Kate was right, they had tried it multiple times and it didn't work, maybe it was the thrill of it being against the rules, maybe it was impossible to have a decent relationship when you're both in the navy. He knew he cared about her and she had given him a child, he would always love her for that but he had to let go, even if it was just a little for now. Jim was a good guy and he did make her happy.
Jim, Kate and Charlie were driving home.
"Hey, do you wanna see my place?"
Kate shrugged, trying not to seem too interested.
"Yeah, sure..."
He turned a corner and drove a few hundred meters and pulled into a drive way. Kate looked at him and laughed.
"You weren't kidding when you said you couple of streets away."
Jim smiled innocently.
"Not my fault it was the only decent place in the area!"
They got out the car, Jim stopped at the door.
"Now you'll have to use your imagination as I haven't unpacked everything yet..."
He swung open the door, Kate couldn't help but gasp. The house was incredible, a palace. They walked through the 2 storey house, it was on the lake with a small private beach and a great outdoor deck. She walked out looking at the view and smiled.
"You bought this for the deck didn't you?!"
He reached out and held her hand and swung it in between them.
"Yeah, not quite the veranda but the view is just as nice, it reminded me of all those great nights we had at my old place!"
Kate spotted the spa out the corner of her eye and cringed.
"Oh, now I see the real reason..."
Jim looked over to the spa and then at Kate.
"Some might say it's romantic?"
Kate blushed, she looked away so he wouldn't see her rosy cheeks.
"Or tacky!"
She turned and admired the interior of the house.
"This house will be a lot of work!"
Charlie came running up to her with a photo.
"Look Mummy, is that you?!"
Kate knelt down and took the photo from Charlie. It was a photo of her and Jim from nearly 8 years ago. He had an arm around her and was kissing her forehead, they were laughing.
"Charlie, you shouldn't be going through other people's things!"
Charlie put a hand on her hip.
"It was just over there! I wasn't snooping, I promise!"
Jim walked over and looked at the photo, he smiled.
"Do you remember this?"
Kate was silent, she nodded.
"This is the photo that I kept, the one that got me through every day!"
They looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Charlie interrupted.
"Can I go in the spa?"
They all laughed. Kate cleared her throat.
"Maybe after sweetie, so umm, do you need a hand unpacking? I'm sure you would benefit from my organizational skills!"
He put the photo down on the mantle.
"Deal! And I'll cook dinner, we can christen the deck!"
Kate looked at Jim disapprovingly, he rolled his eyes.
"The BBQ Kate, but good to know where you're minds at!"
He smirked and winked at her.
A few hours later they had unpacked all the boxes, Kate stood in front of a book case and admired her handy work.
"Yup, still got it!"
Jim walked over to Kate and pretended to straighten a photo frame that was sitting on the shelf.
"Ha, I can just imagine your office! Nothing out of place right?"
She frowned and moved it back to the position it was in.
"Well, my house is chaos so something has to be in order!"
"Chaos?! Oh yeah right, there was a plate on the sink!"
Charlie tugged on Jim's pants.
"Can I go in the spa now?"
Jim picked her up.
"Yeah I think you've earned it. I'll fire up the barbie..."
Charlie splashed around in the spa while Jim and Kate sat at the table. Jim still couldn't take his eyes off her, she was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Stop staring! It's weird!"
Jim laughed.
"I'm sorry, I really can't help it! I can't believe you're in my house, so are we going to talk about the possibility..."
Kate interrupted, she out her hand on his.
"Jim, I know we've lost a lot of time and you want to make it up to me and I know I must sound like a broken record when I say..."
Jim sighed and nodded, he shuffled his chair closer.
"It's complicated, I know Kate, I just wonder if you're concerned about someone else's happiness over your own?"
Kate frowned, she thought that he understood that her life revolved around Charlie, everything she did was to protect her.
"Jim, Charlie's happiness..."
Jim shook his head.
"No Kate, not hers..."
Kate sat back in her chair, he knew he meant Mike. He was right to a point, she didn't want him to feel on the outer, to feel like he'd been forgotten.
"Jim, this is what I meant about complicated..."
"Okay, Okay, I'll drop it... I just have one more complicated question then I'll leave it..."
She raised an eyebrow waiting for a silly question.
"Why McGregor and not Flynn?"
Kate laughed nervously, she wasn't expecting that question.
"Why not?"
Jim put his hands up in defence.
"Hey, I was just curious, although it I guess it's you Kate, I know how much you dislike doing what's expected..."
He laughed, Kate playfully hit his arm.
"Yeah well, it just felt right, but at the same time Mike and I weren't married and to be honest if I was to ever get married I probably would keep my name..."
Jim gave her a nudge.
"Oh really?"
Kate blushed, she didn't want Jim to think that was a hint.
"Look, it was just more that if things ended badly I didn't want a constant reminder of him, it was hard enough having to justify all my parenting decisions with him when we broke up..."
Jim could see she was getting worked up.
"Sorry, I didn't want to make you upset..."
She squeezed his hand a little.
"It's ok..."
Kate looked out over the water in a bit of a daze.
"So umm how old was she when you guys..."
Kate snapped back to reality and looked over to Jim and raised an eye brow.
"Is that another question Captain Roth?"
He smirked.
"Ah, no it's part b of question 1..."
Jim could see it was a bit of a sore subject, he didn't mean for the conversation to go that way.
"I'll stop, it's ok..."
Kate looked back over the water, she hadn't really discussed this with anyone, it actually felt good to talk about it to someone that wasn't already friends with Mike.
"It's ok, umm she was about 2, we should have probably ended it earlier, we knew it wasn't working but the day she called him 'Daddy, it broke my heart. I couldn't stand the thought her asking me in the future whether we really 'tried'. I mean no one wants their children to grow up with separated parents and I didn't want it to be my fault she didn't have a father."
Kate was nearly in tears, Jim felt horrible that he had made her upset. He pulled her in for a hug.
"There's no way she'd ever think like that Kate, you're a wonderful parent and she would know that you would have done everything in your power to give her everything in the world. You can't control everything!"
She wiped the tears from her face, she wasn't prepared for the way this made her feel, she changed the subject.
"Anyway, back to the name, a lot of people are curious, Mike was actually great about it, we get it and that's all that matters right?"
Jim shrugged.
"I guess..."
Back on Hammersley.
The phone on the bridge rang, Mike picked it up.
"Hammersley, Commander Flynn speaking, oh hi Maxine, yes we're in the area... No haven't seen anything like that... ok, we'll keep an eye out..."
He hung up the phone.
"Right, there have been some reports of boats being hijacked and ransacked. The crew are described as average Australian citizens. They're mostly boarding at night so there's no accurate description of the boat. Navcom have asked us to board all boats in the area and do a covert search."
The crew nodded. Jack Tolley, the Hamersley's XO was sitting at the radar.
"Ah boss, we have a radar contact..."
Mike walked over to the EOD. Dutchy entered the coordinates into the computer and bought up the picture.
"That's a fancy boat to be out this far."
Mike shrugged.
"Maybe it's come from one of the islands, some rich guy with a skipper."
Mike picked up the radio.
"Cruiser 'Peachy Keen' this is Australia Warship Hammersley calling you on VH channel 1-6, do you copy?"
"This is Peachy Keen, how can we help the navy today?"
"We're just doing safety inspections as a courtesy, there have been some attacks around the area so would you mind if we came aboard?"
"Ahh, we're kind of on a schedule."
"It won't take long, we'd hate to not tick you off our list and something happened."
"Ok, see you soon..."
Mike nodded at Tolley.
"Right X, take a boarding party, gear up just in case, you never know!"
He nodded, Dutchy, Bird and 2 Dads left the bridge.
The RHIB made its way to the vessel. The crew boarded on the rear deck, the captain came up from the galley and greeted them.
"It's not every day you get a visit from the Navy!"
Tolley smiled.
"Yeah, we'll hopefully it's a good one, I'm the executive Officer of HMAS Hammersley, Lieutenant Tolley...
He shook his hand.
"Harry Knapp, good to meet you!"
Tolley got out his pocket notepad.
"Is this your boat Sir?"
Harry fidgeted on the spot.
"Ah, yeah, we're just out here on a pleasure cruise...boys trip, you know?"
Tolley nodded and noted his strange behaviour.
"How many people do you have on board Sir?"
Harry looked around the boat.
"Ah we have 6 including myself..."
"Could you bring them up on deck?"
Harry looked unimpressed.
"Is that really necessary? This is already taking up our time..."
Tolley nodded.
"Sorry Sir, its protocol."
Tolley noticed he was getting touchier, he turned to give orders to the Hammersley crew. Before he was able to speak the crew of "Peachy Keen" stormed the deck, guns raised. The Hammersley crew followed and raised their weapons. They were outnumbered, Tolley tried to reason with them.
"Ah, Mr Knapp, we're not after any trouble, let's not do anything silly now..."
Harry dismissed Tolley's comments.
"Yeah, well you should have stayed on the Navy boat, it's too late now..."
Dutchy made eye contact with Tolley, trying to indicate a plan of attack, Tolley shook his head slightly, he didn't want to risk it.
"Alright, just take it easy, we're putting out weapons down!"
They slowly lowered the weapons on the deck and put their hands behind their head.
Back on the Hammersley, Swain was watching the EOD.
'Ah Sir, I think we have a problem!"
Mike rushed over to the EOD and saw the struggle. All of his crew had been disarmed and were kneeling on the deck. A voice came over the radio.
"Commander Flynn..."
Mike picked up the radio.
"This is Flynn, what is going on over there?"
"We have your crew, now if you value their lives you will bring the other RHIB with the rest of your crew."
"I'm sorry I cannot do that..."
"Then all of you will die!"
"What do you want?"
"Well originally nothing, but since you had to stick your head where it doesn't belong I thought I might as well make the government look bad!"
Mike was confused.
"I'm not following..."
"Oh come on Commander, I was told you were a smart bloke."
"Who told you that?"
He laughed.
"Does the name Madelaine Cruse mean anything to you?"
Mike paused. Madelaine had been put away years ago, she was a double agent and a part of the reason that Jim "died".
"Ok, just take it easy, I'm sure we can work something out?"
Mike turned to Swain.
"Get Commander White on the phone!"
"No, I don't want anything from you. I just want the world to see that the other side can win for a change! Oh and tell Roth I say hi!"
Mike felt sick, what had Jim got to do with Jim? Swain passed the phone to Mike.
"Sir, Commander White."
"Maxine, they have 4 of my crew, they have no demands, I think they're part of the cell that Madelaine cruse was a part of... yes I know... I'm sending you pictures right now."
Mike picked up the binoculars, they crew were clearing the deck of the boat.
"Maxine, we'll call you back."
Mike hung up the phone and rushed out to the deck and looked through the binoculars.
"Swain, prepare to take a hit, close up specials..."
Swain ran out to Mike.
"Sir?"
Mike looked at Swain.
"They have an RPG, I don't think we can out run them! Get someone on the typhoon and a gunner ready. Get everyone into the rafts at the rush!"
Before Mike could look through the binoculars again he heard them fire, he picked up the radio.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday this is Australian War ship Hammersley, we are being fired upon with an RPG, request immediate assistance."
The missile hit, it shook the boat. The gunner took position and aimed at the crew holding the RPG. Mike radioed the gunner.
"Only take a shot if it's clear! We have crew on that boat!"
They fired, The Hammersley crew jumped overboard. The crew of the Peachy Keen launched another missile. Mike frantically ran into the ship looking for his crew.
"Sierra 82 do you copy, is everyone accounted for?"
"This is Sierra 82, yes boss we're just making our way to the rafts."
Jim's house.
Kate and Jim were sitting on the deck enjoying the sunshine. He picked up the remote sitting on the table.
"Check this out!"
He pushed a button and a TV appeared out if the bulkhead.
"Ahh, that's the real reason you bought this place!"
He switched it on and turned the volume down. He turned his attention back to Kate.
"Hey, you can't tell me that you wouldn't kill to be here when the footy season starts."
Kate rolled her eyes, she glanced at the TV out the corner of her eye, she saw footage of a burning ship. She spun her chair round and was glued to the TV. Jim watched her strange reaction and looked around at the TV, words scrolled across the bottom.
"Breaking News, an Australian Navy Ship has been attacked and has sunk north of Cairns..."
They both stood up and looked at each other, Kate rummaged through her bag to find her phone, it rang as she was about to dial.
"Maxine? Please tell me it's not..."