Elias: We lured the Federation fleet away. But the factory is still guarded by one ship. A destroyer packed with advanced weaponry. It's air defenses prevent an attack from above, but it's vulnerable in one place...Sixty feet below the waterline, near its thermal exhaust port. Keegan, Logan, I'm tasking you with this. Clear us a way to that factory.

Keegan: Roger that. We're going to add one more ship to the graveyard.

OOOOO

With Keegan and Logan tasked with the mission, it allowed the others to stay on the sub and worry about other things. Merrick was with Elias in the operations room overseeing the mission progress and Hesh was not permitted to be in with them. Elias didn't want Hesh to be in there in case something happened so the operations room was off limits for him. Alex was in her room catching up on some sleep when someone came in. "Alex." It was Merrick. Alex pulled the sheets over her head. "I'm off the clock." She replied. Merrick walked over and sat on her bed side. "Come on, get up." he told her.

"Why?"

"Hesh is going a little insane and I want you to just hang out with him today until Logan gets back to keep his mind off of the mission."

Alex pulled the sheets off of her. "Just let him in the operation room to observe the mission."

"The last thing we need is Hesh seeing or hearing something that happens to Logan out there. It's only for a few hours."

"You want me to babysit?"

"I want you to dome a favor and be nice."

Alex let out a breath and agreed. "He's pacing up and down in the back hall. Go." Merrick said before leaving. Alex got dressed in grey jeans and a loose black long sleeved shirt as well as he boots which she left half untied. She brushed her hair out and wore it in a messy bun before going to find Hesh.

Sure enough Hesh was where Merrick said he would be: Pacing in the back hall. "Hesh?" She said as she approached. He stopped pacing and looked at her. "Hey…" he greeted.

"You alright?"

"My brother is out there and I am stuck on this submarine."

Alex walked over to him so she was in front of him. "I know it sucks, but worrying about it will make it worse." She told him.

"So I'm not supposed to worry?"

"You're supposed to relax and trust that your brother can do this and Keegan will keep an eye on him." Hesh nodded. "You're right." He said. "Of course I'm right." Alex replied. "Now come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To get your mind off of everything and play card games." Hesh smiled and followed after her down the hall.

The two went to the lounge area and sat down at the table where Hesh shuffled the cards when Riley trotted in and laid down next to Hesh. Alex tensed up, but he was on the other side of the table as her so she relaxed again. Hesh dealed the cards and they settled on playing war. Hesh won the first game and Alex won the next two before Hesh won the last two. Then they switched to Blackjack.

"So what's your story?" Hesh asked. "How'd you end up here?"

"I come from a military family. My grandfather, my dad, his brother, and my two cousins were all in the military." Alex explained. "Then Merrick enlisted and my brothers followed. My dad never admitted it, but he hated the fact that his fifth kid was a girl. I am the only girl in the family other than my mom and aunt."

"Sound rough." Hesh said.

"Yeah. Anyway I got the same training as my brothers and never really got to be a girl until I was like fifteen."

Hesh laughed. "How was that?"

"My dad ended up on a year long deployment in Afghanistan and left my brother Stephan and I with my dad since our other three brothers were deployed elsewhere in the world. I still was being trained, but my mother and aunt decided that since my dad wasn't around we could do something normal. They taught me how to dance in our living room. It was nothing spectacular, just basic two people pair dance steps. My dad would have never allowed it, but it was fun learning something other than how to throw a knife or make a bomb out of objects in a custodial closet."

"What happened to your mom?"

"Well my dad was killed in Afghanistan on that deployment and my mom died a year later in a car accident so I lived with my uncle for two years before I could enlist."

Hesh sat back. "So you know how to dance?" he questioned with a smirk. Alex laughed. "Yeah, Merrick didn't even know about it, but it actually did help with training. I became more balanced."

Hesh stood up and held a hand out to her. "Prove it." he said. Alex looked at him in disbelief. "Are you serious?" she questioned.

"Yeah."

Alex shook her head and then took his hand, hers fitting in his perfectly. Hesh walked them to the center of the room and stood in front of her. "What do I have to do?" He said. Alex reached for his arm and moved it so his hand was on her waist. She put her hand on his shoulder and took his other hand in hers so their arms were out to the side of them. "Okay when I step back, you step towards me and bring your feet together." she instructed. She stepped back and Hesh stepped forwards. "Now when I step back and to the side, you follow." Alex did her step and Hesh followed, looking at their feet. "Don't look at your feet, look at me." Alex told him. Hesh picked his head up and met her blue eyes with his green ones. "All you do is step and touch your feet together. It's really basic so just follow my lead." Alex told him. The repeated the steps she showed him and the ended up dancing with same steps for about two minutes. Hesh took her by surprise and spun her as they moved and she had a smile on her face when he saw her face again.

"Not bad." she complimented.

Hesh smiled and spun her again. She rested her hand on his shoulder again and moved a bit closer to him. Riley watched the pair as they danced and Alex accidentally stepped on Hesh's foot. "Sorry." She said through a laugh. "It's fine." Hesh replied. "In your defense I don't think combat shoes are meant for dancing." Alex smiled and turned them so he could dip her, keeping one hand on her lower back. "Why do I get the feeling you've danced before?" Alex questioned as she looked up at Hesh.

"My mother always said you should know how to dance in case you find yourself in that kind of situation." Hesh told her.

All of the sudden Riley barked and Hesh dropped Alex. She landed with a thud and Hesh kneeled next to her. "Guess that's my payback for stepping on your feet." She said as she sat up. Hesh smiled innocently. "Sorry." He apologized.

"It's fine." Alex told him. "Wanna get some lunch?"

"Yeah."

Hesh took Alex's hands in his and helped her to her feet. Then they walked back down to the cafeteria.

Hesh and Alex ate lunch in the cafeteria and by that time Keegan and Logan were on their way back to the submarine. They were snacking on sandwiches and chips when Merrick came in. Alex was taking a sip of her iced tea when he approached. "Keegan and Logan are on route to the submarine. Everything went fine, but Logan got injured." He told Hesh.

"What do you mean injured?" Hesh questioned as he stood up.

"It's nothing serious. Some debris fell on him and he banged up his arm a bit and has some splintering in his side, but it's nothing serious."

Hesh sat back down. "They'll be back in about an hour." Merrick said, looking at Alex before returning to the Operations Room where Elias was. Alex heard Hesh's foot tapping on the floor. "Okay come with me." Alex said.

"Where?" Hesh asked.

"Somewhere. Now let's go." Hesh stood up and followed Alex out of the cafeteria after they threw their trash out. Riley trotted behind them in a casual fashion.

Alex led Hesh to the very back of the submarine and then led him down a set of stairs into the bottom level. The first thing Hesh noticed was it was really quiet which was a change. The rest of the submarine was filled with conversations people were having or footsteps or some other distant sound you couldn't place. Alex finally stopped in an empty room and Hesh stopped. "This place is basically vacant. I don't even think anyone knows it's here quite frankly." She said.

"What is it?" Hesh asked.

"It's the only quiet spot on the submarine." Alex explained. "It's just a good place to calm down and think. I know you're worried about Logan."

Hesh leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. "He got hurt…" he said. Alex walked over and sat next to him. "I know and he'll be alright. Just some splintering." She reminded. Hesh turned his head to look at her when Riley sat next to him. "Why are you afraid of dogs?" he asked her. Alex shrugged. "Always have been." She told him.

Hesh had Riley go around and sit in front of them. "Riley is harmless. I've been his handler since he was a puppy. Just pet his head." Hesh assured her. Alex thought for a second before turning her head to look at Riley. She held her hand out and Riley leaned forward so Alex could pet his head. She ran her fingers through his soft fur and Riley closed his eyes. Alex smiled and so did Hesh. "See?" he said. "He likes you."

Riley got up and plopped himself right next to Alex. She smiled and pet him from his head all the way down to his back. "Okay he's not that bad." Alex admitted. Hesh chuckled and watched Alex pet Riley. "How'd you even find this place?" he asked out of curiosity. "Was wandering around and found it. Come on, let's go wait for your brother and Keegan. I'm sure Logan will want to see your face first."

Hesh and Alex went up near the Operations Room and waited outside when Hesh finally saw Keegan and Logan walking down the hall. Hesh, who was originally leaning against the wall, stood up straight as his brother approached and wrapped his arms around his brother. Logan hugged Hesh back to the best of his abilities between his messed up arm and bandaged up side. The brothers then went to go and talk to their father in the room and Alex saw Keegan leaning against the wall. Alex went over and looked at him. "You alright?" she asked him. Keegan nodded. "I'm… just tired." Alex put her hand on his shoulder and turned them around. "Come on loser, let's get you to bed." She teased as she slipped an arm around his waist. "Thanks Princess." He said. Alex rolled her eyes and walked Keegan towards his room.