Author's Notes: Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.
This was a chapter I was looking forward to.
Deep breath in, Henderson thought as she paced, deep breath out. She was doing her best to stay calm because she knew very soon she was going to die.
She could see her guard standing watching over her and refused to cry, no matter how much she wanted to. Turning away she thought of her friends and her family, anguished that she would never see them again, confused when she heard a thud. She turned staring in amazement to see her guard on the floor unconscious with a woman standing above him. She was wearing all black, had short cropped hair and an annoyed look on her face.
"Are you going to stare at me all day," Kate demanded as she opened the cell, "Or are you going to move your ass and get out here?"
Henderson walked over to the other woman, "What are you doing here?"
"At the moment, saving your life," Kate replied taking the gun from the unconscious guard, "Though we do have one stop to make before we can leave."
As Kate started out Henderson stood confused for a moment before a harshly whispered demand to move started her forward.
x
Kate glanced back to where Henderson was creeping behind her. In a perfect world Kate would have left her in the cell until she was finished, though the bad side of her would have just left her there. The problem was there wouldn't be time to do anything other than haul ass off Macronesia so rescuing her had to come first.
"Where are we going?" Henderson whispered when she reached Kate.
"We're going to pay a visit," Kate stated before explaining with a wicked smile; "Basically I'm going to gloat."
She knew Henderson was confused but didn't bother going into it any further as they walked into the opulently decorated office and Kate bounced up to sit on the desk.
"Stay by the door and get ready to run," Kate ordered, "Cause trust me we'll need to."
Before Henderson could ask the door opened and she dived out of the road while Kate sat smiling smugly at the man who walked in.
"Miss Kincaid," Alexander Bourne greeted her smoothly as though it was an everyday occurrence to find her there, "I did not realise you were here."
Kate kept her smug smile on, "Of course you didn't."
"Are you here to witness the execution?" Bourne asked.
"Do you really think there's going to be one?" Kate chuckled, nodding to where Henderson stood, "Because I don't."
Bourne glanced briefly at Henderson before turning his attention back to Kate, "Miss Kincaid, I have already offered you a job. I suggest you take it otherwise I shall be forced to order a second execution."
Kate chuckled again gleefully, "You can try."
Her wide grin made Bourne hesitate for a moment before his veneer of confidence appeared once more.
"What exactly can I do for you, Miss Kincaid?" he asked moving to sit behind his desk.
Kate smirked back at him, "I thought I'd say hello and let you know that I will do everything I can to destroy you while you let that bastard walk free."
Bourne laughed, "And you think I will just let you wander around? That the UEO will agree to you being free to come and go to cause problems which I will ensure are blamed on them?"
"I don't work for the UEO," Kate replied coolly, "I am now a citizen of a free colony. Don't think I'll tell you which one, the megalomaniac in you would have to try and take it over."
"Why rescue the lovely Lt Henderson then?" he asked glancing over to where the woman in questions stood watching in bemusement.
Kate shrugged amused, "Because it will piss you off and make you look really bad."
"And I have now had enough of this discussion," Bourne sat forward, "I'll make sure your cell has a nice view until your execution."
Kate pulled out her knife stopping him calling any guards, "Do you really want to try it?"
Bourne moved to grab the phone and Kate slashed his cheek, "Whoops, you need to be careful with that razor."
With a smirk she turned, grabbed Henderson's arm and ran.
Tim checked his weapons while they waited for the launch to be ready to take them to try to save Lonnie from the death penalty. They weren't on the best terms right now but he didn't want her to die.
"Captain," Lucas came over the radio suddenly, "We have a small sub coming towards us fast."
Hudson frowned, "Any contact from the pilot."
A chuckle came from Lucas, "Yes, sir. It's Kate and she has Henderson."
"Miss Foster?" Hudson called knowing Lucas would transmit him.
"Captain," the unmistakable voice came over the radio, "I wasn't sure if you'd let me onboard after our last meeting. So I brought you back a gift to make sure you would."
Hudson shook his head, "Docking bay 3, Miss Foster. We're waiting for you."
Tim handed back the weapon to the security guard Brody motioned over before he turned and watched the docking bay door open. Henderson came out first; she nodded to the Captain before clasping hands with Ford and Brody giving Tim a quick nod hello. Kate appeared a few moments later, looking so different to the woman who had lived and worked beside them for the past few years.
"Miss Foster," Hudson greeted her formally.
"Captain," Kate nodded, "Alexander Bourne is going to be calling you soon demanding you hand me over to him," she passed him a small card, "This will help."
Tim saw confusion on Hudson's face which turned to an amused smile when he read whatever the card said.
"Captain," Lucas came on again, "President Alexander Bourne wants to speak to you."
Hudson grinned, "Lieutenant Henderson, go and see Dr Perry. Miss Foster, if you would join me."
Tim followed on wondering what was on the card and if Kate would talk to him after the way they had left things.
x
"Mr President," Hudson stated as Kate stood at his side, while the others returned to their places on the bridge, "What can I do for you?"
Bourne looked angry, he had a fresh cut along his cheek, "You can hand over that woman. She has committed crimes in Macronesia including assault."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Hudson replied in the same even tone.
"Captain, she is not a citizen of the UEO," Bourne snapped, "And by your own laws you are obligated to hand her over to face trial."
Hudson turned to Kate who nodded the self-satisfied smile not leaving her lips.
"I am unable to hand Miss Foster over to you," Hudson returned his attention to the screen and replied, "As she has diplomatic immunity."
"What?" Bourne snapped as all heads on the bridge turned to Kate.
"I am the adoptive daughter of the leader of Darrow," Kate answered smugly, "Therefore I have diplomatic immunity and you have no way to get Captain Hudson to hand me over. Have a good night, Mr President and I am sure I'll see you again."
The screen blinked off and everyone waited for what was going to happen next.
"Dare I ask what you were doing on Macronesia, Miss Foster?" Hudson broke the silence.
Kate shrugged innocence filling her voice, "I was running some errands."
"Mr Jacobs," Hudson called to the nearest security guard, "Escort our visitor to a room. I will let you know once we are near Darrow, Miss Foster. Until then I am trusting that you will be the perfect houseguest."
Kate nodded, "Of course, Captain. It'll be nice to relax in familiar surroundings with some old friends for a few days."
With a soft nod she followed Jacobs off the bridge.
Hudson sighed in annoyance.
"Captain?" Ford asked confused, "Is something wrong?"
Hudson shook his head grimacing, "I'm actually beginning to like her."
The room she was given was on the opposite end of the boat from where she used to stay and had no access to the ventilation system but it was the Seaquest.
"What are you doing there?" Tobias demanded in her ear when she contacted him, "Mac is not happy."
Kate let out an annoyed sigh as she lay back on the bunk, "Mac is never happy with me these days. It's like Harkens died and Mac became him."
"He's just worried about you," Tobias reminded her, "So am I."
"I got you the information," Kate replied, "I just decided to take a detour before I came back."
Tobias was silent for a moment before asking, "And rescuing Henderson?"
"A moment of weakness," Kate told him, "Besides they were going after her and from the odds one of them would have ended up dead in her place. Tobias, I'm fine and I will be dropped off close to home in a few days."
"Kate, I know you miss being on the Seaquest," Tobias said softly, "But remember you can't stay. We have a plan to get everything back to the way it was. Once we're done then you can go home."
She let out a soft sigh, "I know. I'll see you in a few days, Tobias."
x
About ten minutes later a knock came on the door.
"Come in," she called, forcing herself not to smile too much when Tim stood there, "Hi."
Tim gave a small smile, "Hi."
Knowing he wouldn't make the first move Kate closed the gap between them and hugged him tightly. Tim's arms wound around her while Kate buried her face against his neck holding on.
She needed this.
A few minutes resting in the comfort of her best friend before she had to go back into the dark world she was living in.
"So," Kate pulled away first trying to regain her equilibrium because she had to leave again soon, "I guess you're not mad at me anymore."
Tim shook his head chuckling slightly at the smug tone, "And now I'm wondering why I'm pleased to see you again."
"I do miss you," she smiled before taking a seat on the bed.
Tim sat beside her and they sat in silence for a while.
"Aren't you going to ask me?" Kate said finally, "About who I really am?"
He shrugged, "I read the files on Kitten and Sophie Kincaid. There's not much more to ask."
"The files are quite extensive," Kate mused, "I'm not too happy about that but it does mean that Kitten is still feared even now."
"What I want to know," Tim continued as if she hadn't spoken, "Is why Captain Bridger brought you here pretending to be his niece?"
Kate smiled softly to herself. She should have known that would be what he honed in on.
"He brought me here to ensure I was protected," Kate told him softly.
"That's not the full answer," Tim noted.
"True," she shrugged softly, "Okay, I've known Nathan since I was fifteen years old after he and Noyce tried to arrest me," she held up her hand when he opened his mouth to ask, "That is a long story I'm not telling. Anyway I went to my mother's funeral and wasn't careful enough. Kincaid caught me and…" she paused hating that this could affect her after all this time, "I don't know how I made it to the island but somehow I did. When Nathan found me I had three broken fingers across two hands, my right arm was broken, left ankle fractured, six cracked ribs, fractured eye socket and a very serious concussion. Plus I was covered in so many bruises and cuts that made my skin look more red and black than a draughts board."
Tim stared at her horrified but remained silent letting her continue.
"During this time I accidentally let him know my real identity, something I'd hidden for so many years," she told him, "I couldn't be Kate King anymore since Kincaid knew that identity so Nathan offered me the name Foster, his wife's maiden name. I didn't intend to stay any longer than I needed to heal."
"But you liked being there," Tim finished for her.
Kate nodded, "I felt safe and I didn't want to leave because I was afraid. I was terrified of being alone again. When Nathan brought me here…when I met you…" she trailed off annoyed at herself for getting emotional when she needed to stay calm."
"I'm glad you stuck around," Tim told her.
Kate smiled at him, "Unfortunately that all went to hell when we got thrown ten years into the future."
Tim checked his watch, "Captain Hudson asked to see you in about an hour. Do you want to get some lunch first?"
Kate bounced off the bed and smiled, "That sounds great."
x
"Come in and take a seat, Miss Foster," Hudson said when she stood in the doorway with O'Neill, "Thank you, Lieutenant you can go."
The young woman turned to her escort and clapped his arm, "I won't point a gun at him this time, Tim. I promise."
With a soft nod O'Neill left and she stepped inside taking a seat at the table. Hudson sat in his chair and stared at her for a few moments.
Kate leaned back in her chair, "Nathan explained your conversation when he came onboard. I would have preferred a little warning before you blurted out my real identity to all and sundry though."
"The purpose was to make you leave," Hudson reminded her.
Kate rolled her eyes, "I'm a con artist, Captain. I can act."
"Would you have left?"
Kate shrugged, "We'll never know, will we."
They sat in silence for a few moments.
"So are you going to tell me this time what you were doing in Macronesia?" Hudson asked finally.
Kate shrugged innocently, "As I said I had some errands to run."
"Alright," Hudson mused, "That doesn't seem enough for Bourne to demand I turn you over to him."
"I did rescue Henderson," Kate reminded him.
"And from what she says you then paid Bourne a visit," Hudson pushed.
Kate smiled amused, "Annoying Alexander Bourne is my new hobby. I was just indulging it for a few minutes."
Hudson laughed, "On that point you and I can agree, Miss Foster."
"Is there something specific I can do for you, Captain?" Kate asked pointedly, "Or do you just want a chat?"
Hudson leaned back in his chair, "I wanted to apologise to you for the way I backed you into a corner the last time we met."
Kate shrugged, "I almost shot you, I think we're even."
"You are missed. I know Lieutenant O'Neill and Mr Wolenczak especially feel your absence," Hudson told her as he stood, "As I said earlier you are welcome to all but the classified areas,"
"I will be a good girl," Kate promised before adding with a slight smile, "This time."
Kate slammed face down onto the mat hearing the people around the room wincing in sympathy. She rolled onto her back before flipping herself onto her feet. The past few days had been relaxing and Kate wanted her old life back more than before.
"Nice move, Commander," Kate chuckled as she readied herself once more, "This time I'll not hold back."
Jonathan nodded before reminding her, "Just remember this is only a training session, Kate."
Without answering Kate attacked, they went through several combinations before Kate broke the routine, she dodged before hitting him then dropped and cut Jonathan's feet out from under him.
"Ow," Brody said aloud making Kate smirk at him.
"Thanks," Jonathan frowned at him from the floor, he pulled himself up and stretched, "That was new."
Kate shrugged slightly, "Mac has been training me again. He's not happy that I haven't been keeping it up properly since I joined the Seaquest."
"What did he think we've been doing?" Jonathan demanded annoyed.
"You can ask him if you ever meet him," Kate chuckled before turning to the rest of the room, "Who's next?"
Of the several people watching none of them made a move. Kate knew a few of them had been expecting Ford to kick her ass and now they'd seen her fight him were not as enthusiastic to have a go themselves.
"Come on, Brody," she goaded, "You must want to see if you can beat me."
The man in question frowned, "I don't want to hurt you, Kate."
"Were you watching what just happened?" Kate asked amused, "I promise to go easy on you."
With an annoyed grimace he pulled off his sweatshirt and took Ford's place.
x
Tim frowned as he checked his systems, this was the second time in two days he'd found a strange anomaly during a scan. Sliding out his seat he opened the panel and checked the system before moving to the station where Lucas was working and asked him to do the same check.
"Is something wrong, Lieutenant?" Hudson asked seeing Tim standing with Lucas frowning.
Tim grimaced, "I've noticed an odd reading the past two days, sir. It seems to appear and then disappears."
"Is it a system error?" Hudson asked.
Tim shook his head, "I've performed a diagnostic on my console and Lucas...Ensign Wolenczak has just performed one as well."
"And?" Hudson demanded.
"The blip is gone," Lucas spoke up, "I've set up a scan so that we can find it when it appears again. Once we have a pattern we should be able to isolate whatever is causing the anomaly."
Hudson nodded, "Good. Keep me apprised."
Tim let out a long sigh when Hudson left them.
"What's up?" Lucas asked.
"Nothing," Tim replied, rolling his eyes when Lucas looked up at him with a frown, "It's just Kate is going to be leaving soon and I was hoping to spend time with her while she's still onboard. This means I could be stuck here while we wait for this to show up again."
Lucas chewed his lip for a moment, "Kate's an engineer who helped build this boat. See if she has any idea."
Tim stared at him, "Hudson would never allow it."
"He might if we ask," Lucas noted.
Tim grimaced before sighing, "Fine," he moved across the bridge, "Captain?"
"Yes, Mr O'Neill."
"Kate helped design the systems and worked on them every day for about a year," Tim told him, "She may be able to help us locate the anomaly."
Hudson stared at him, his expression not changing, "Miss Foster is a known thief."
"Yes, sir," Tim replied, "But she is also the most qualified person other than Captain Bridger or Chief Barclay to trace this."
"Alright," Hudson agreed finally, "I will allow her to work with you on this but you are responsible for anything she does."
x
Kate listened as Tim and Lucas explained the issue making sure she didn't give away anything. It looked like their bug had been discovered, which honestly didn't surprise her as it was useless to begin with. She was just relieved it happened while she was here so she could do some damage control.
"So," she said once they finished, "Someone has screwed up my engines and you want me to fix it?"
Tim frowned at her, "Not the words we used but yes, I would like you to help."
She smiled, "And Hudson has agreed to let me loose?"
The two men nodded making her grin.
"Then let's get started."
It felt like old times as the three of them sat working on the bridge, managing quickly to track down the erratic signal to one of the labs.
"Okay," Kate said when they entered the room, "I will go up and get whatever this is."
"Why you?" both men asked in unison.
Kate gave them an amused look, "How much time did either of you spend crawling through the ventilation shafts?" they both frowned and she nodded, "Exactly. Tim, give me a boost."
He obediently crouched and created a foothold with his hands, resting her hands on his shoulders Kate easily moved into the ventilation shafts above them. She instantly saw the bug and grabbed it.
"Wow, this little thing is fast," she called down, giving herself some time so she could break the thing so that there wasn't much of a signal and wipe the memory as well as think up something to explain its existence.
"Have you got it?" Lucas called up.
Kate slammed her elbow into the wall to make them think she was still chasing it, "Almost. Give me a minute."
She waited a few more minutes, getting her story straight in her mind before she slid back and tossed the small device down to Lucas before dropping back into the room.
x
Tim studied the strange looking device Kate had found in the ventilation shafts, "Where do you think it came from?"
"Barclay and I made it," Kate replied amused, "I can't believe its still here."
"What exactly is that, Miss Foster?" Hudson appeared behind them.
Kate looked up at him, "We had an idea a few weeks before the Seaquest was grabbed. It was supposed to locate system glitches and mark them so that we could fix them quicker."
"Why did we not know about this?" Lucas asked.
"Because it didn't work," Kate told him with a roll of her eyes, "It sent back some data for fifteen minutes then it was gone. It must have been running around since then."
Hudson frowned at her, "And we didn't find it before now because?"
Kate shrugged, "I have no clue. The stupid thing was a random idea we threw around one day and I forgot about it until now."
"Are there any other devices we should be looking out for?" Hudson asked sarcasm evident in his voice.
"I hope not," Kate threw back at him, "It would mean it was breeding and the machines were taking over."
Hudson frowned at her again, "Thank you for your assistance, Miss Foster. We should be arriving in the waters surrounding Darrow in a few hours."
"Then I'm hoping you will let me steal Tim for a while," Kate replied.
Hudson nodded, "Lieutenant, I'm sure the bridge can spare you until Miss Foster has left."
Tim smiled slightly seeing Kate grin at him, "Thank you, sir."
The mess was silent when Kate followed Tim in. She grabbed a cup of coffee before taking a seat across from him. It was almost time for her to leave once more and Kate knew they had to talk about what he had said before everything went to hell. They had avoided the subject since she'd arrived on the boat but she knew Tim wanted to talk about it.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked taking a drink of his coffee.
Kate shrugged, "I'm not sure yet. Mac may have a job for me."
"What about Captain Bridger?" Tim asked, "Do you still see him?"
"On occasion," she replied softly, "He's kinda busy with his grandson these days."
"Kate…"
"Tim," she stopped him, "What you said to me before," she paused and sighed, "No one has ever truly said that to me."
He raised an eyebrow at her making her frown back.
"People have said that to characters I've played," Kate told him, "But never to the real me."
Tim leaned back holding his mug close to his chest, "Was it the real you?"
"You've always known the real me," Kate whispered softly, "I don't even know how that happened but, despite hiding my past and certain skills I have, I was myself with you." She took a deep breath, "I wish I could tell you the same thing but I can't."
Tim dropped his head.
"Please understand," Kate continued before he could say or do anything, "I wish I could say it to you, there is no one in this world I would want to say those words to for real. But I'm not capable of loving you. I'm not capable of loving anyone."
Confusion covered Tim's face, "What?"
Kate shrugged, "I'm broken. I've known this for a long time. The world I live in, the world I have to go back to is so dark that even being your friend now is a weakness I can't afford."
"It's not weak to care about people," Tim reminded her.
"Caring about you is a weakness people can exploit," Kate replied, "And I can't afford any weaknesses."
Tim frowned at her, "So we're no longer friends?"
"We'll always be friends," Kate whispered with slight smile, "But I don't know if I'll be back on the Seaquest again so you can't rely on me."
x
Kate shifted her bag on her shoulder slightly before she hugged Lucas, "I miss the old you before the uniform."
Lucas shrugged slightly, "So do I but I had no other choice if I wanted to stay on Seaquest."
Patting his arm she moved to Ford, "Commander."
"Try and stay out of trouble," he told her.
Kate chuckled, "I was going to say the same to you."
Ford rolled his eyes and quickly hugged her before whispering, "Look after yourself, Kate."
When he let her go she gave him a cheeky grin before joining Tim who was waiting for her. They walked in silence to the docking port where her ship was waiting for her.
"I want you to do one thing for me," Kate said looking up at him.
"What is that?" Tim asked.
Kate rested her hand on his arm, "You have to start living. I know your whole family is gone, Miguel is gone and," she paused and shrugged, "I'm gone. I know you miss the way things were but you can't keep living in the past."
"I'm not," he protested.
Kate frowned at him, "You do know you can't lie. Plus I talked to the others while I was here."
Tim's grimace became more pronounced.
"This is the world we're in now," Kate told him, "Start living in it."
When he did reply Kate reached out and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. She placed a lingering kiss on his cheek before she slipped away to her sub and left the Seaquest once more.