Author's Notes: - Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.

November is over and I managed 50,000 words two days early. Happy, relieved and exhausted.

So I am taking a break from my novel, which is nowhere near finished, and came back to Kate and the Seaquest crew.

Here is a connector between Season One and Season Two.

Enjoy

Kate stepped off the stair onto the sand watching the sea crash against the shore, lit only by the full moon and the dim light from the lamp on the porch. She dropped onto the soft sand, still warm from the sun that day and stared at the ocean.

It was now two weeks since the Seaquest had been destroyed and Nathan had sent them all on leave. With nowhere else to go Kate had joined Nathan returning to the island for some 'rest and relaxation'. Now all she needed was someone to actually explain the meaning of that phrase to Nathan who had spent the past two weeks going over schematics for the new boat.

"You know it's late, don't you," Nathan sat at her side, "Shouldn't you be sleeping? We've an early start tomorrow."

Kate glanced to her side, "I watched the last of my father's videos tonight. I just needed a few minutes to get my head round it."

She knew he wanted to ask, he'd wanted to ask her from the moment he had given her the envelope and she smiled because she knew he wouldn't.

"My father, from what I can tell, was a good man," Kate told him, "He was an engineer, I actually followed in my father's footsteps."

Nathan chuckled.

"I think you would have liked him," she continued, "You guys have a similar way about you. The one thing I don't understand is why Kincaid killed him. He was just trying to build a business and raise a family." Kate paused and turned to the man who had been the closest thing she'd had to a father most of her life, "They'd been trying for a baby for over five years. I was a surprise just before they started IVF treatment."

"That makes sense," Nathan told her with a straight face before laughing.

"Thanks."

Nathan clapped her shoulder, "Come on. We're leaving early in the morning, you should get some sleep. I'd better make sure Lucas is sleeping too."

"He is," Kate assured him as Nathan helped her to her feet, "I checked on him before I came out. I'm glad you brought him after everything with his father. He needed this as much as we did."

Nathan wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked back into the house.

x

The next morning chaos reigned in the house as all three of them tried to get showered, have breakfast and dance around one another so they were ready to leave in time. Kate assumed this was what having a normal family was like and for a day it was interesting however it would drive her crazy if she had to do it all the time.

They heard the chopper coming and Kate nabbed the final piece of toast before Lucas could. She smirked at him before grabbing her bag and headed out to house.

"Have you heard from any of the others?" Lucas asked as he climbed in beside her.

Kate nodded, "I spoke to Tim yesterday. He and Miguel met up a few days ago, they'll see us there. No idea about Ford."

Lucas lapsed into silence and stared out the window before Kate tapped his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked him.

He shrugged, "Just wondering how this will work. I'm not worried about working with you and the others from the boat but there will be people who will just assume I'm some annoying kid."

"You are an annoying kid," Kate reminded him with a chuckle, "But you are also one of us and I promise that if anyone messes with you they will have to deal with us."

Lucas grinned cheekily, "I want to see that."

x

Nathan smiled to himself as he watched his crew say hello after their two weeks leave. O'Neill, Ortiz, Ford, Lucas and Kate were sitting round a table drinking coffee telling stories about their few weeks off. It made him proud how close his team was and he knew they would ensure the new Seaquest was even better than before.

"Alright," he called interrupting them, "We're due to start work soon. Get your gear stowed away in your rooms and we'll meet back here in twenty minutes."

"Yes, sir," Ford nodded before he began to herd them out.

Nathan watched the five of them head out, smiling to himself as Kate wrapped her arm around O'Neill's waist chatting away to her friend. She was completely different in some ways to the girl who had washed up on his island years before. Checking his watch he drained his own coffee and headed to his room to dump his own bag. It was time to get to work.

Kate leaned back in her chair smiling smugly.

"You're not serious?" Miguel demanded.

Kate chuckled, "The name of the game is Strip or Drink Poker," she reminded them, "You both chose strip and you both lost," she smirked leaning forward with a raised eyebrow, "Lose the pants, boys."

Miguel and Jonathan shared a look of resignation before frowning at Lucas and Tim who were trying hard not to laugh and failing, both relieved they had folded.

"Hurry up," Kate clicked her fingers at them, "Haven't got all night."

Miguel sighed, "You're a Card Shark, aren't you?"

"I thought it was Card Sharp," Jonathan noted.

"I've heard both ways," Miguel replied before turning to Tim and Lucas, "What do you guys think?"

"I think you're stalling," Lucas chuckled as Tim grinned.

The two men sighed.

"Come on," Kate laughed, "Take em off. You could have chosen to drink."

"Considering the bottle you brought has no label and is a strange green colour," Jonathan sighed as he started to remove his pants, "You know I'm never playing cards with you again."

Kate chuckled and shrugged, "We'll see."

They had been building the new Seaquest for a month and every Friday night they got together for some relaxation. They each took turns deciding what they were going to do and Kate had chosen poker for her turn.

She had a feeling they were never going to let her choose again.

x

Kate sat in the dark; she'd been unable to sleep after they'd all said good night so had come back down to the communal lounge for a while. Finally she opened the bottle that was still sitting there from their poker game earlier and took a swig.

"Are you sure that's safe to drink?" Tim asked making her turn to where he was standing in the doorway looking concerned.

"An old friend of mine brewed it," Kate told him, "It's strong but safe," she paused before adding, "More or less."

Tim pulled over a seat and sat beside her, "Are you okay?"

"I'm just not tired," she replied, handing him the bottle.

Tim took a drink wincing at the strange taste then choking as the alcohol burned the back of his throat while Kate chuckled.

"How can you drink that?" Tim demanded when she took the bottle back taking another swig.

"It's an acquired taste," she told him.

Tim sat for a while watching her as she took a few more drinks. Finally he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Why would anything be wrong?" Kate asked innocently.

"Because you're sitting alone in the dark drinking something that's possibly toxic," he replied wryly.

Kate winced, "Honestly…" she let out a soft breath, "I recently found out about my real father. It's coming up for the anniversary of his death and I've been thinking about going to visit his grave."

"You didn't know him?" Tim asked.

She shook her head taking another drink. Tim wrapped his arm around her pulling her to him comfortingly. Kate smiled slightly; it was only recently that he would do something like this. Before her encounter with Kincaid there had been an invisible wall between them that he would never dare cross. Then he'd pushed through because she needed him to and she hadn't put the wall back up. Kate found she liked the new closeness with her best friend, the fact he wasn't afraid of invading her personal space any more was something she was more than comfortable with to her surprise.

"You should go," he told her, "It might help give you some closure."

Kate smiled; she kissed his cheek and stood up taking one more swig of the bottle before closing it.

"Night, Tim."

The sun was shining as Tim reached the spot they'd agreed to meet. Bridger had chased them all to have a day off so they'd gone their separate ways agreeing to meet for dinner.

"Timmy?" a familiar voice called making Tim look up to find his older brother jogging towards him.

"Mike," he grinned, hugging his brother when Mike reached him, "What are you doing here?"

"Perils of being engaged," Mike told him with a chuckle, "Yvonne is shopping and I'm here to carry. What about you?"

"Day off," Tim told him, "I'm just waiting for everyone else to arrive so we can go for dinner."

"How's the building of the new Seaquest going?" Mike asked.

Tim smiled proudly, "We have the outer skin of the boat and it's coming together. Amazingly we're ahead of schedule."

Mike chuckled at the grin on his baby brother's face.

"Knock it off," Tim elbowed his brother in the ribs, "What are you doing for dinner? I'll tell the others I'll see them later."

Mike nodded, "Great."

Tim quickly dialled Kate as he was sure she would be the easiest to get a hold of shaking his head as the distinctive ring of her phone came from behind him. He turned and saw her walking over to him.

"Hi," she said, "You do know I'm actually ten minutes early, right?"

Tim chuckled, "Kate, I'm not going to make dinner."

Kate glanced at Mike before turning back to Tim, "Better offer?"

"Kate, this is my brother Mike," Tim introduced, "Mike, this is Kate Foster. She's the engineer we have working on the Seaquest."

Kate frowned at him, "Stop gushing, Tim. I'll start blushing."

"Hold on," Mike said before Tim could retort, "Kate? As in the Kate Mom met who helped you stop two robbers?"

Tim saw Kate's smirk at the memory of how they'd done it, "Yeah."

"Nice to meet you, Kate," Mike offered her his hand, "You're just like Mom described you."

Kate shook his hand laughing, "I'm not going to ask. But why don't you join us for dinner, I'm sure you have some good stories you can tell us."

"I…" Tim started but Mike cut him off.

"That sounds great," Mike told her, "I'll call Yvonne."

x

Laughter filled the room as Mike and Tim finished their story. The entire night had been great fun and the Seaquest team were enjoying their relaxation. Kate watched the brothers intrigued how similar they were in some aspects but in others they were completely different. Yvonne, Mike's fiancée, was thankfully easy going and lots of fun. Miguel already knew Mike and Yvonne so he was able to help integrate the two groups.

"So what do you do, Mike?" Lucas asked before Kate could.

Mike chuckled, "I'm a cop."

They all turned as Kate choked on her drink.

"Sorry," she coughed, "I wasn't expecting that."

"I'm the black sheep of the family," Tim joked, "My dad was one and so is our brother-in-law."

Kate coughed a few more times, "I'll be back," she told them before slipping away.

Jonathan stood, "I think I'll follow her example."

Heading towards the restrooms he spotted Kate rubbing her eyes slightly.

"You okay?" he asked when he reached her.

Kate shrugged, "I've known Tim over a year and he's never once mentioned the fact his family are in law enforcement."

"I thought you were no longer…" he hesitated trying to find the right phrase before finishing, "Someone who would worry about the police."

"I haven't been for very long," Kate chuckled, "Still makes me uncomfortable."

Jonathan patted her shoulder, "Try not to think about it. Don't make them suspicious of you."

"You are a riot," she glared at him.

x

"So that is the Kate Mom was telling us all about," Mike noted as he and Tim walked just behind Yvonne and Kate who were talking quietly.

Tim frowned at him, "What was she saying?"

Mike grinned at his little brother's discomfort, "Just that she's cute and you two seemed pretty close."

"Our mother needs to stop trying to match make," Tim grimaced, "Kate is a friend. Nothing more."

"Are you sure?"

"Mike," Tim rolled his eyes.

"I'm just saying you two seem to be closer than people who are 'just friends'."

Tim sighed, "You know I was shot a few months ago."

"Yeah, Mom was not happy you wouldn't come home to recuperate," Mike told him.

Tim sighed thinking back, "The guy who shot me was after Kate. He thought she was someone else and he…well let's just say she wasn't in a good place after it."

"So you're holding back because of that?"

Tim frowned at his brother, "I'm explaining why we seem closer than you would expect. Kate doesn't trust people easily, what you saw is a front. Other than the captain I'm the closest person to her. She's my friend, Mike."

Kate walked through the corridors of the new Seaquest stunned by how close it was to completion. Although it was very disconcerting to see the aqua-tubes with no water in them and open. She leaned in and found Tim working on something in the tube. Bemused Kate climbed in and walked over to him.

"What are you doing?"

Tim glanced down at her, "I'm putting directions in here."

Kate stared at him confused, "I don't think Darwin gets lost."

He rolled his eyes at her, "Do you remember when he was sick?"

"How can I forget," she smirked at him, "its how you came into my life."

At her glib reply Tim shook his head, "Well the captain and I got lost trying to get him down to the moon pool. This is just case."

Kate chuckled, "It makes sense."

Tim finished fixing the plate to the wall and turned to her, "Are you here for a reason or just to annoy me?"

Kate chuckled, "I was actually heading to talk to Lucas. Finding you here was just a bonus."

Tim laughed and jumped into the corridor before offering Kate his hand. She bounced down and smiled at him.

"I'll see you later?" she asked.

Tim nodded, "Movie night, I'll be there."

x

Kate continued through the corridors towards the almost finished bridge so she could pass some calculations over to Lucas. She was amazed how satisfied she felt from working on rebuilding the boat that had been her home. And then there had been the call she received a few hours before.

Handing the tablet over to Lucas she saw Nathan as he finished talking with one of the people from the private firm that was helping them rebuild Seaquest.

"Hey," she called catching up with him, "Anything interesting happening with you?"

Suspicion filled his eyes, "No," he replied, "What about you?"

Kate smiled, "Kristen called me. She's invited me to visit her for a few weeks."

"You don't have to ask for my permission," Nathan noted rolling his eyes.

She winced, "It's because you guys were…and that went…" she trailed off, "I just thought it might be weird for you."

Nathan gave her the fond smile, the one that always made her feel like a little girl who was being praised by a proud father, before he squeezed her shoulder, "Kristen and I are still friends. No matter what else happened and I want you to stay close to her. There are so few people in your life that you would even contemplate visiting. So go."

As he hurried away to his next meeting Kate smiled to herself. The Seaquest would be ready soon and she was looking forward to the new tour.

It was never dull.