Chapter Nine-

Dutchy and Taylor stepped off the RHIB and into the cold water. The plan was to head straight to the engine room, and to work their way back from there.

"You ready?" Asked Dutchy.

"I think so," replied Taylor. Dutchy pulled his mask on, and slipped beneath the water's surface. Taylor followed soon after.

They passed through open doors, rooms filled with seawater and floating objects…

It was quiet….

Both men flicked on waterproof torches as it became darker…

Deeper…

As they neared the engine room, Dutchy noticed the closed door; the same one that was warped from Charge's attempts to get in earlier.

Dutchy motioned to Taylor, and they pushed the door open.

Two floating, lifeless bodies met their eyes.

Dutchy took Charge, and Taylor pulled Mike along.

Now they knew there was no time to lose…

Perhaps it had already been lost.

The two men broke the surface with their patients in tow.

"Halfy! Get over here!" Called Dutchy, ripping the oxygen mask off his face. The RHIB motored over to the quartet carefully, just as the Hammersley gave a final groan and sank to her resting place. Halfy and Giordano pulled up Mike first, then Taylor, Charge and finally Dutchy.

"Get us back to Victory Halfy; now!" Ordered Dutchy. Halfy set the RHIB in motion, and they powered back to Victory.

"Taylor, radio in, let them know what's going on," said Dutchy, starting CPR on Charge. He recalled a moment back when Swain was around, and they were practicing CPR techniques.

"You never know when you might need to do this," Swain had said. Never before had Dutchy wished he'd listened more. On the other side of the RHIB, Giordano was frantically pumping Mike's chest, furiously trying to bring him back to life.

"Goddamit, don't do this," muttered Daniel, exhaling loudly. He knew the odds of them surviving were minimal, almost non-existent; they'd been submerged too long.

"Come on, come on!" Charge came around first, throwing up what seemed like litres of seawater. His eyes streamed as he coughed hard, his injured shoulder and now bruised ribs were complaining heavily.

"Boss?" He gasped.

"Still out," said Dutchy. They pulled alongside Victory, and were pulled up straight away. Giordano kept up the compressions, fighting for Mike's life. Slinger and Kelly raced out to meet them.

"Oh my God, Mike!" Screamed Kelly. Taylor was quick enough to get off the RHIB and grab Kelly before she could get to Mike. She fought hard against Taylor's grip, but he was stronger than she was.

"Let me see him! Let me go!" She demanded.

"You don't want to see him; right now, they're fighting to get him back. We need to let them work, okay?" Kelly nodded, trying to hold back the tears. She couldn't face losing Mike, couldn't face what they were doing to him, and turned to face Taylor, allowing the tears to fall. He embraced her tightly.

"Slinger's good at what she does. You know that; Charge raves about his niece all the time. He's in good hands," assured Taylor. He watched on as Slinger worked over Mike; as time slipped away, so did his chances.

"Come on!" Exclaimed Slinger. She gave Mike's chest a firm punch with her closed fist, and he suddenly coughed and spluttered, his chest heaving violently. His head ached, chest hurt, wrists rubbed red raw from being tied up. In short, Commander Mike Flynn looked a mess.

"He's back!" Called Charlie. She sighed with relief, and then they started moving.

"Take Charge to the Senior Sailors Mess; he can be holed up with Robert and Toby. When you're ready, we'll move Commander Flynn to the wardroom so I can keep an eye on him along with Tomaszewski and Bec," said Slinger. Giordano nodded, and he and Dutchy took the stretcher from Bird as she appeared.

"Alright Chargeo, we're going to move you now," said Dutchy. Charge nodded, and Giordano and Dutchy transferred him across, then stepped off the RHIB with him. He groaned as the new motion upset him, and he nearly threw up on the stretcher.

"Won't be long Charge, and we'll have you set up in the wardroom, and we'll have you warmed up. Once Giordano's free, he can probably fry you up a batch of chips," suggested Dutchy, a smile on his face. Charge half-grinned.

"Sounds like a plan Dutchy," he whispered. Bird followed them, and told them where to set down Charge.

"Feel like I've been hit by a truck," commented Charge.

"Well, nearly drowning will do that to a man," replied Bird.

"Well, Giordano and I are heading back up on deck to move the Commander. Hope you're feeling better soon Charge," called Dutchy. The two men headed back up on deck, where Kelly was stroking Mike's dampened hair back.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Kelly softly. Slinger held out a hand to stop Dutchy and Giordano.

"Give her a moment; she thought she'd lost him. She needs this," said Slinger quietly.

"Feel like I've been run over… but I'm feeling better now I know you're here," said Mike, almost cracking a smile.

"I thought I'd lost you Mike," said Kelly, wiping away another tear. Mike put up a hand, holding it to Kelly's cheek.

"Kel. You won't ever lose me, because I can't handle losing you. We're in this together," said Mike. Kelly continued crying.

"Damn hormones," she muttered.

"What do you mean?" Asked Mike, confused. Kelly looked embarrassed; she hadn't meant to tell him this way.

"Mike, I'm pregnant."

Kate sat in her quarters, filling in paperwork; a tedious job usually reserved for port, but she needed something to get her mind off the chaos around her. Even if it was only for a little while. She stood up to stretch, and heard a soft knock on the door.

"Enter," she called. Taylor stuck his head in.

"We got Charge and the Boss back," he said happily.

"Good work. You should get changed before you catch a cold," commented Kate, smiling. Alex nodded.

"I know. I just wanted to let you know that we've got everyone," said Alex.

"That's good," said Kate. Gordon appeared behind Taylor.

"Boss? I've got a medical update for you," said Flash.

"Taylor, we can talk later. Gordon, you may go ahead," said Kate.

"Okay. Here goes. Robert has woken up, but is very confused and disorientated, which backs up our theory of a concussion. Jones has severe bruising over his chest and head, and still hasn't regained consciousness yet. Pete has recovered a little from his incident, and we're still trying to…" Kate interrupted him.

"What happened to Buffer?" She asked.

"His heart stopped; someone injected him with something. He doesn't remember who did it though," replied Flash.

"Okay. Continue on," she said. Flash consulted his notebook.

"Thorpe was revived fifteen minutes ago, Commander Flynn was revived ten minutes ago. Both have been moved; Thorpe to the Senior Sailors Mess under Bird's watch, and Commander Flynn to the wardroom under Slinger's watch. And Bec and baby are doing well," finished Flash.

"What about Nikki?" Asked Kate wearily.

"I didn't know that she was ill ma'am," said Flash.

"Bird was supposed to be watching her; she took a sedative earlier, and she hasn't woken up. It was only mild; she should be awake," said Kate.

"I'll go check on her now ma'am," replied Flash. He disappeared out of her quarters, and Kate took a seat. So much had happened in the past few hours; she was struggling to wrap her head around it all. Another knock sounded on her door. She didn't turn around this time.

"Enter," she called. Her door creaked open, and she felt a cold blade against her throat. God, how many times had she been in this position before?

"What do you want?" She asked. The individual snickered.

"Revenge."