Chapter Ten;
Partners In Crime

"Those two spell trouble, watch them." Swain warned with a smile as he and Buffer followed Emma Murphy and Luke Haynes chatting loudly as they left the bridge and headed inside. "I just passed them planning to steal the belongings of Seagull and hang them off the Quarterdeck."

"Why?" Buffer snorted.

"Because Seagull has threatened to put Haynes out in the hall if he snores. I think Seagull isn't happy about losing a room he's had for himself for so long."

"In that case, I have no sympathy for him." Buffer grinned as they left the deck and headed for the bridge. Meanwhile Emma and Luke had turned their attention to their next plans for terrorising Seagull.

"What about that cricket ball of his?" Emma asked, with a smile.

Luke held up a hand. "Uh, no, not cool. That cricket ball is signed by Merv Hughes. You can only go so far before you go too far there Emmy."

"It's a cricket ball!" Emma protested, not getting the relevance and having absolutely no idea who Merv Hughes was. "It's not like dad's football. It was signed by Shearer! Shearer!"

Luke laughed. "Yeah, I've seen Rembrandt's signed soccer ball, very impressive. But seeing as you Pommies can't play cricket, I understand why you have no idea. But let's just put the cricket ball in the no-go area and forget about it." Emma shrugged in agreement. "We'll leave it there for now, but one more threat and there goes his towels…"

"Towels? You're losing your touch there."

Luke shrugged. "There's cold," he pointed to her, "and then there's revenge." He pointed back at himself. "Personally I prefer revenge." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Stay away from the cricket ball you cold, cold witch." He left her behind, headed back to the room he was sharing with Seagull as Emma turned back to the bridge. With a chuckle and a rub of her hands together, she knew she probably wouldn't keep that promise. But in the end surely Luke had expected that.

***

"Small child!" Bomber called a warning as Spider stepped out of the galley without looking where he was going. Because of this he nearly collected young Alexander. The 6-year-old grinned up at Spider and looked very proud of his attempt to get under foot.

Spider growled, tussling the boy's hair. "What are you doing down there little man?" he asked the child. The boy pointed at Bomber with a wagging finger. "Aunty Rebecca?"

Bomber growled. "I've been trying to get him to stop calling me that."

Spider chuckled, surprised that after all this time Bomber still hated her real name. "Aunty Becca then?"

"I hate you." Bomber muttered and Spider met her eyes with a grin.

"You love me." He chuckled before looking back at Alexander. "What's your name?" he asked, squatting down to the boy's height.

"Alex." He said softly, putting one hand up to his dark brown hair in a move that Spider recognised as nervousness.

"Nice to meet you Alex." He offered the child a hand and Alex took it slowly, Spider giving it a soft shake. "My name is Billy."

"I know who you are Uncle Billy." Alex returned with a look in Bomber's direction.

Spider looked up at her. "Uncle Billy?"

Bomber held up both hands. "Don't look at me, Jess must've told him that."

Spider looked back at Alex. "Well, it was nice to finally meet you Alex. I have to go back to work. You'll help Aunty Becca…" another growl from Bomber "… won't you?" Alex nodded enthusiastically. Spider stood up. "Good man." He glanced at Bomber. "See you Aunty Bec." He gave a cheeky grin.

'I hate you' Bomber mouthed in his direction again.

Spider blew her a kiss then left the galley. As he walked past the serving counter he stopped, watching Bomber gather Alex up in one arm and sit him on the counter nearby, getting him to help her stir a bowl of batter for her. Spider gave a slight smile at how good she was with her nephew then, realising he should've been on the bridge five minutes earlier, hurried off.

***

Kasey looked up as she finished unpacking her clothes to find Robert standing in the doorway watching her. She hadn't even heard him appear. She jumped a little, startled, and his expression changed from blank to a frown. His eyes refocused and he met her eyes.

"I'm sorry, did I surprise you?"

"It's fine. Maybe just, next time, invest in shoes that make a sound." She said, a hint of a smile on her lips.

He smiled at her. "Okay, sure thing." She looked up to find him watching her with a smile. Hers fell from her lips straightaway. "How're you settling in?"

She shrugged. "Okay. I'm sharing with this Emma girl."

"Emma Murphy?" RO asked and Kasey nodded. "She's a bit loud so, be prepared." He warned.

Kasey lowered an eyebrow at him. "You know her well then?" She asked, the smallest hint of jealousy lingering in her question.

"I'm kind of her boss, nothing else. It's a small ship, you get to know everything about everyone." He frowned. "Why do you ask?"

She shook her head. "No reason." She looked away, caught up in folding and re-folding a small pile of towels she'd been left. "If that's all, thanks for coming to see if I'm alright."

"I actually came to tell you that, although I know you like your base job, you're very welcome to join the crew and be assistant CIS." RO offered, trying to sound like he didn't care even though he clearly wanted Kasey to take the offer.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Well, get out of the ComCen and up to the bridge. Plus, we can work together."

Kasey turned on him. "I don't think so Robert." He frowned. She explained. "I said I wanted time for us to work this out. By being on this ship I'm risking that, but working with you too? You must get that it just isn't possible."

"But Kase, it's been three months. Maybe we should just talk about this and then we c…"

"Robert, please, just do what I ask."

RO nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll see you later then." He turned and walked away. Kasey sighed and sat down on her bunk feeling utterly and completely torn.