Authors Notes: The conversation between Mike and Dutchy at the bar was entirely to short, with way to much left out. So here is my take on what should have been said. After all, how fun would it have been to see a drunk Mike and Dutchy talking about their women woes!?

As always, all feedback and comments welcome. Enjoy :)

Chapter 3 – Mike and Dutchy

"Boss, hey." Dutchy said surprised, of all people he had not expected Mike at the bar, he had expected that he would have been with Kate, but seeing him here, drinking his sorrows, it was obvious things had not gone well. Feeling low himself he asked, "Want some company?"

Mike looked up and nodded at Dutchy. Drinking with his bosun was better than drinking alone.

"Nothing of interest she said. Just felt like she was brushing me off. I mean did she even pass on the info?" Dutchy commented angrily whilst waiting for his drink to be topped up.

"Don't worry about it Dutchy, It's out of our hands now. Like many things." Mike sighed with frustration. He still could not understand how his relationship with Kate had faltered. One minute, they had been so happy, he was posting off and they were starting a life together. Suddenly it had all evaporated, another man had proposed to her and she was 'seriously considering it'.

"Yeah, Women hey." Dutchy replied, not sure how to respond.

"They have these expectations, but you never really know what's going on in their heads." Mike replied angry and frustrated. He thought he knew Kate and how she felt, but now he felt as though he knew nothing about her.

No longer able to watch the suffering of the man in front on him, Dutchy owned up, "Kate broke it off with you because she was trying to protect your career."

"Ay," Mike's head shot up, looking at Dutchy in astonishment. He could not believe what he had just heard.

"Speaking to you man-to-man boss." Dutchy confirmed what he had just said. He was feeling uncomfortable, not only was he betraying Kate's trust, but he was again discussing their forbidden relationship.

"My career?" Mike asked surprised looking for more confirmation. In a million years he never would have guessed that his career was the reason.

Seeing the surprise on Mike's face, Dutchy added, "Yeah, she seems to think that's the most important thing in your life."

Mike took a minute to take in what he had just heard. Finishing his beer and requesting another he finally responded, "You know, I knew something was going on, I knew there was a reason, I just couldn't figure out what it was." Taking a drink from his fresh beer, Mike continued "I mean, why would she think that? I told her that I wouldn't let work get in the way again, that I would do whatever it takes, and she just unilaterally makes this decision without talking to me." Mike said angrily as he went back to his beer.

"In her defence, it sounds like you chose your career once before." Dutchy said wondering just how many beers Mike had already had, and how far he could push the envelope.

Mike raised an eyebrow, surprised that Dutchy knew so much, but deciding not to comment on it, he turned to face Dutchy, "Why am I starting to think that it was a bad idea to send the two of you on the steaming party together?" He knew that most of the crew at least had suspicions about him and Kate, but Dutchy was the only one he knew for sure that there was something going on, and he was starting to wonder just how much he knew.

"Yeah, probably. If it's any consolation she wasn't impressed I told you about the proposal." Dutchy said with a bit of a laugh, amused that for the second time that day he was going to have an awkward conversation with one of his bosses about their love lives.

"Sounds about right." Mike said laughing with Dutchy. He knew better than most what Kate could be like when she was unimpressed, and she would have been unimpressed to say the least. He smiled and was happy that at least this time he wasn't on the receiving end. "What else did she tell you?" Mike asked quietly. He knew Kate and Dutchy were friends, but until now he didn't realize they were the sort of friends that would talk about relationships, least of all his relationship with her.

"This and that," Dutchy responded, his discomfort increasing, he requested another beer himself before continuing, "I didn't realize how much had happened between the two of you." He didn't want to betray Kate's trust, but then, he couldn't stand still and watch Mike in this state either.

"Yeah... but had would be the important part there. I can't believe she actually thought that I thought my career was more important than her. Where did that come from? I don't understand, I thought we were..." Mike asked with disbelief and disappointment whilst shaking his head. The anger he had felt initially had disappeared and had been replaced with disappointment that she had not confided more in him earlier. If she had told him what was going on back then he might have been able to talk to her and sort things out. They would still be together, and Jim would never had proposed.

"So now that you know, what are you going to do about it?" Dutchy was hoping that this new information would spur Mike into action. He had nothing against Jim, but he could see how much Mike and Kate cared for each other and didn't want to see them end up apart because of a mix up in communication, or in this case, a complete lack of communication.

Mike paused for a few moments before answering. He had tried a few times. He tried talking to her earlier in the day and it hadn't work. If anything, they just ended up further apart than they already were. Taking another drink from his beer, he knew exactly what he was going to do. "Nothing."

Dutchy choked on his beer as he heard Mike's answer. "Nothing? No offence, but that's not the 'Mighty Mike Flynn' answer I was expecting. I mean, even if I was going to forget everything I've see between the two of you, I've been hearing stories of you running through fire, you even threatened to resign so you could be together, and now you're going to do nothing? Absolutely nothing? Are you really going to give up?" Dutchy was in a state of complete disbelief. After his conversation with Kate he knew that she still had feelings for Mike, in fact he was certain that she still loved Mike and that's why she had given him up, to protect him. Only someone who truly loved someone would be able to make that sacrifice, and Kate had for Mike. It wouldn't have taken much for him to convince her to give them another chance. But doing nothing? This was just playing into Jim's hands.

Mike again finished his beer and ordered another before something dawned on him. "Wait, I didn't tell you I threatened to resign. How do you know about that?" Mike looked intensely at Dutchy who refused to look at him. He thought the only people who knew about his threat was him and Fleet Command. Seeing Dutchy wasn't going to respond, he started thinking out loud. "The only person who would have told you is Kate, but not even she knew what I said to them, I just told her that I'd fix it. She doesn't know anyone at Fleet Command, well, obviously she knows them, but it's not like she's friends with any of them to the point that they would have told her."

"Maybe she's not friends with any of them, but you are..." Dutchy replied quietly looking into his drink, knowing very well he was playing with fire. Kate had a point, Mike and Maxine had enough issues to deal with, they really didn't need another one, but as he watched his CO drowning himself with beer after beer, trying to nurse his broken heart, he knew he had a right to know.

"The only person I am friends with there is Ma...Dutchy, I've had a bad day, and one to many of these for a cryptic conversation," Mike said shaking his near empty glass of beer, "what exactly are you saying?" Mike asked looking directly at Dutchy, waiting for confirmation of his suspicions.

Dutchy realized he didn't have a choice but to spill the beans. "I don't know the details, she wouldn't tell me much, but what I do know is that Commander White pretty much scares us all, and I think they might have had a friendly chat that wasn't all that friendly." It was partly true, he didn't know the details, but he knew it must have been some threat for Kate to pull the pin the way she did.

Mike's head started spinning. He didn't know whether it was the alcohol or the information he had just received, or a combination of both. He had spent months trying to figure out why Kate ended things with him, and why she refused to talk about it, and now he knew. "Bloody Maxine, who does she think she is?" Mike said pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Dutchy looked at the phone in Mikes' hand and realized he was scrolling past Kate's number to Maxine's. Before he could hit dial, Dutchy put his hand on the phone and took it off him. "Sorry Boss, can't let you do that. Kate doesn't want to be an issue between you and her, she thinks you have enough to deal with, and for what it's worth I agree with her."

Mike's head slumped as he realised what, or rather who, Dutchy was talking about. "Ryan," Mike sighed out under his breath. Suddenly it all hit him as he began to realize how hard the past few months must have been on Kate, and how much it must have hurt her knowing that he had a son with the same person who threatened her about starting a relationship with him. "Tell me something Dutchy, is your life ever as messed up as this?"

Dutchy tried unsuccessfully to hide his chuckle. "Boss, the last girl I tried to have a relationship with was not only married, and gay, but she also tried to kill me. And now, I am seeing someone who either is very good at their job and I am a complete prick for questioning her on it, or she is dodgy and I am a fool for not questioning her more."

As the fresh beers kept coming it was taking longer for Mike to register what Dutchy was talking about. "Are you talking about Madeleine? Do you really think she is dodgy?" Mike was trying to cast his mind back over their dealings with her and while something felt off about her he couldn't remember anything that indicated she might be corrupt.

"It would explain some things if she was. Whenever I try to bring anything up she has this way of turning things around and somehow winning the argument before I even know it's happened." Truth be told, it had been doing Dutchy's head in. One minute she would be all over him, the next she would be so cold towards him. She could turn so quickly, he never knew what to expect.

"She's definitely a woman then." Mike said taking another drink, remembering the arguments he had lost with Kate. The alcohol had done its job and Mike was now speaking much more freely than earlier in the conversation. "Kate called me an emotional coward once. She said I hide behind a, how did she put it... a veneer of command. I just wanted to know why she cancelled our date, and that's what came out."

"Seriously?" Dutchy looked astonished as he looked at Mike. He knew Kate had a way with words when she was angry, he had been on the receiving end more than once when he first joined Hammersley, but to hear this was something else. "Must have been some argument. What did you say?" He had to know more, Mike had his own way with words when he was angry, and he was beginning to wonder just how they had kept their relationship off the ship for so long.

Mike started smiling involuntarily as he remembered that night. "I kissed her." He admitted looking to Dutchy who seemed to be confused so Mike clarified, "It's always one way to end an argument. Especially when you know you aren't going to win." Mike's smile grew as he remembered how happy they had been that night and the next morning, before it was taken away from them again.

Dutchy couldn't help but laugh, there was so much more to Mike than he had realized, "I'll have to keep that in mind." Through his beer haze, his mind drifted back to Madeleine and what he should do about her. As if he was reading his mind, Mike spoke up again.

"This terrorism activity and the caesium has me worried though." Mike finished off his current beer before holding up the empty glassy up and continuing, "We've both had a couple too many of these for it to make any sense tonight, but if you have concerns come and talk to me tomorrow, maybe there is something we can do about that." He might have lost Kate, but he was still in the Navy and at least he could focus on his work.

"Yeah, will do." That was the best idea Dutchy had heard from Mike all night. He needed a clear head to figure out what was going on, and that wasn't going to happen tonight. That was his problem dealt with for the night, he still didn't know what Mike was going to do about Kate. "And the other thing, what are you going to do about Kate?" Dutchy asked his question tentatively. He wasn't sure if their conversation had helped or made things worse.

"She's made her choice Dutchy. She deserves to be happy. Something I obviously can't give her." Mike announced as he finished his final beer. As much as he loved her, he realized how much he must have hurt her as well and he couldn't go on doing that. He wanted to see her happy, even if it meant she wasn't with him. It was time to let her go.

To Be Continued