Monday morning, as he is stepping on to HMAS Anzac, Mike hears a familiar voice.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mighty Mike Flynn. Decided patrol boats are no longer your thing?" They shake hands; Lieutenant Commander George Ball with a smirk on his face, trying hard not to laugh at Mike.

"Very funny George, and no, I sort of got ordered to come here."

"You follow orders? You've got to be bloody joking."

"Nope. Marshall said 'either you take it or I order you to take it'."

"Oh well, it will make for a far more interesting six months with you as CO."

"Thanks, but personally I would prefer to be back in Cairns on a patrol boat. These frigates are far to formal for me." George and Mike talk about what's been going on since they last saw each other, while George shows Mike around the Anzac and then to his quarters.

Mike is on the bridge when his mobile goes off and doesn't bother to check who is calling before answering it.

"Mike, it's me." Mike is shocked to her her voice on the other end of the line. George is watching him.

"Mike? You there?"

"Yeah, sorry, just I didn't expect you to ring." George sees the shock on Mike's face and wonders who has called him.

"Why?"

"Well, think about how we left things."

"Yeah, me walking out on you and slamming the door after we made a promise not to do that to each other. I'm sorry if my walls have gone back up, I'm just not used to having people stick around and be there for me. Everyone I have ever cared about has either walked out on me or abused me." Mike hears the emotion in Kate's voice. He can tell from the way she is talking that she is struggling not to cry. They say nothing to each other; the silence reminding them of the events of that night, and the pain they caused each other.

"I love you...please make sure you come home...alive," Kate manages to get out before crying. Mike is trying to keep it together.

"Honey, is Nikki around?" George hears this and wonders who he is calling 'honey'. Kate says nothing, but Mike hears her faint crying. He can tell shes trying to hide that she is crying.

"Hang on honey. George, I'm just heading to my cabin. I'll be back in about five minutes, I need to deal with this call before we leave."

"Yes, Boss," George says as Mike leaves the bridge and heads to his cabin, closing the door behind him before he speaks to her again.

"Honey, can you not cry, please?"

"Sorry, I thought I would be out of tears by now." What's been going on? Mike thinks to himself

"Mike, I'm scared." Great. I'm due to sail and now she's talking.

"Why?"

"I'm scared you're not going to come home to me." Great. Thanks for making this harder than it already was. It was easier when I was hating you for what you did.

"I'll be coming home, don't worry about that."

"I know you'll be coming home. I'm scared that when you return, you won't be coming home to me, to us," Kate gets out in sobs.

"Honey, calm down. You've got a boat to command. The crew are going to be wondering why you're all red-eyed and puffy." Mike leaves the cabin as he is being called to the bridge.

"I'll just tell them I'm saying goodbye to you, its not a lie."

"Yeah."

"Am I allowed to still wear.." She can't get the words out but he knows what she means.

"Of course you can, I did give it to you," he reassures her as he walks onto the bridge.

"Thank you."

"Look, I'm going to have to go, we're due to set sail. I love you and make sure you take care of my baby, ok?" George smiles at what he hears.

"Mike, she's my baby now." He hears a slight change in her voice.

"Ok then, take care of Hammersley. Is that better?" he replies cheekily.

"Yes it is, but please don't do anything stupid. Please come home to us. I love you so much."

"I love you too and I'm sorry we had to say goodbye over the phone."

"Me too. I should let you go."

"Yeah, I better go. I'll email when I can. I love you, honey. Bye." Mike voice is full of emotion. Damn, this is harder than I thought it would be. I was fine till she rang. God, she has a damn hold on me like no other woman has ever had. Steve's right, we do need this time apart. She can deal with the brass without me overreacting to things and she can have her walls up without worrying about what I might do.

"Everything ok?" George asks as he comes up to Mike.

"Yeah, sorry about the phone call."

"Hey, we've not left yet so doesn't matter."

"Right, lets get this girl moving. I've been told they're like driving a school bus," Mike says as he gets himself settled in his new chair.

"Oh God, no," George says shaking his head.

"What?"

"I forgot that Lieutenant Caetano had served with you before she came to us. She was forever telling us these are like school buses compared to your patrol boats."

"Hey, don't down them till you've been on them."

"Mike, remember we both started on Hammersley."

"I know but you left after six months. I stayed."

"And never left." Mikes phone starts buzzing.

"Ok. George. Pipe leaving specials please."

"Yes, Sir." Mike then looks at his phone. George does as he is asked then speaks to Mike again

"Sir you going to answer that?"

"They're only texts and there are a number of them. I think the crew on Hammersley have found out what I'm up to and are texting me."

HMAS Anzac pulls away from the dock crowded with family members saying goodbye to their loved ones and sails through the harbour to open water.

"Sir, is that thing going to stop going off?"

"I have no idea."

"How many messages have you got now?" Mike pulls out his phone and looks at it.

"There are 24 texts so far." George laughs. "And I'm blaming Nikki for this."

Anzac is now out in open water. Mike is looking at their path for the next few days and is satisfied with the course his Navigator has set.

Back on Hammersley, who are in the middle of the Arafura Sea, Kate has just gotten off the phone to Mike when she is called to the bridge.

Damn, I'm a mess and now I have work to do. At least he said he loved me. He spoke to me, called me honey and he is fine with me wearing his ring. She gets it out of the safe and puts it on. It's the closest thing I have that is his. Six months without him. God, this is not going to be easy, she thinks to herself as she arrives on the bridge. Nikki notices Kate has been crying.

"Boss? You ok?" Charge asks.

"Yes, Charge. I'm fine."

"Boss, you sure? Because you look like you've been crying."

"Well done on being so observant. Yes, I have been crying. I've been on the phone, wishing Mike a safe journey."

"What patrol boat has he been assigned to now?"

"Not a patrol boat, Charge. A frigate. HMAS Anzac, on a six month deployment to the gulf. They've just left Sydney now." The bridge is quiet.

"X, what was the reason for the summons?"

"This ma'am," Nikki responds and they go about their business. The crew each send a text to Mike. Kate decides to send a text to him once she has things sorted on the bridge. Nikki notices Kate has her ring back on.

Well that left them stunned. I'll miss you. Love you.

The next few weeks go by quickly for both crews. Kate emails Mike a few times, but he doesn't respond to any of them and she begins to worry.

Did he just say those things to make me feel better?

Why won't he return my emails?

I must have really hurt him.

To: Steve Marshall

Subject: Mike Flynn

Hi Steve

I know I probably shouldn't be emailing you and I should really be talking to you in person about this, but this way I can take my time.

Mike told me you deployed him to the Anzac. We spoke the day he sailed, but since then I've not heard anything from him. I know it's only been three weeks, but I'm worried. He said he'd email but I've had nothing from him. I know I should be asking in person, but can you email him and find out if he is ok and if he can at least email me, or tell you why he's not emailing? I would be grateful.

Thank you

Lieutenant Commander Kate McGregor

Kate sends the email to Marshall, hoping he might be able to get some contact through to Mike so he knows she is worried about him.

HMAS Anzac

Each day is business on a frigate and each night he checks his emails. Every few days there is one from Kate, which he struggles to read, let alone reply to her. When he gets up enough courage to email back he normally has another one from her and he's back to where he was a few days before.

He receives an email from Steve asking how he is going and if can he email Kate, or at least send him a reply he can forward to her. He responds to Steve's email, finding it easier to tell him than to tell Kate.

Cairns

Steve has just finished downloading all his emails when he spots a reply from Mike. God, that was quick. I only emailed him yesterday.

Hi Steve

Thank you for the email of concern. Frigates are totally different to patrol boats.

You're right though, this time away is giving me a lot to think about. I've not managed to email Kate yet as I'm still working through so much between the job and myself. Can you please ask her to not send me any more emails, it's not helping me at present. I've tried to email her to tell her but each time I start to reply, I get another one from her and I'm transported back to that night at my house. I just can't do it. Tell her I love her, but I need time to work through things. Please also let her know I hope all goes well with the brass and their inquiry.

You were right, Steve. The bottle does not help find the answers; time, I hope, will help me find them. I think what you did was the right thing. The timing may be bad for what is going on with Kate, but this way she can have whatever walls she wants without me having to worry what she might do. So thank you Steve, you just saved me a lot of shame.

Anyway, I better go it's late and I have an early start, like every other day.

Commander Mike Flynn

Steve then takes out what he needs to send to Kate and forwards it on. That poor girl is not going to like this at all. I hope she can keep it together out there and do the great job she's been doing so far.