Author's Notes: Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.

Enjoy.

From the sound of things Hudson was not happy when the Section 7 soldiers appeared in front of him from the ship, Kate could see Tobias taking a deep breath as he prepared to play Nathan in a situation he had never imagined. This was yet another piece of information Kate had to try to remember when they returned to the past.

"Hardass Captain," Kate murmured to him, "Just remember Nathan as he was before Robert died and you'll hit the right note."

Tobias nodded, "And how are we explaining you accompanying me?"

"That I was with you when you were given this assignment," she shrugged.

Taking another breath Tobias walked out to meet Hudson.

x

While Tobias, as Nathan, and Hudson talked Kate had been given a room with the strict proviso that she stay out of trouble. It always amused Kate when they always added she was to stay out of trouble, like she would actually pay attention to them if she planned to do something.

"I'm online," she said softly over the link Tobias was wearing so she could listen in and keep him right.

She heard the quick cough letting her know he could hear her and settled back to listen to them talk. The irritating thing about this situation was that it had absolutely no bearing on their plan but was a mess the real Nathan was needed for. The one good thing was it gave her a legitimate reason to be on the boat in order to check their bug and start the cover story of doing an engine upgrade, which they would need when the time came to execute their plan.

The knock on the door made Kate wince because she knew exactly who it would be.

"I've got a visitor," she told Tobias who was just finishing his debriefing, "I'll talk to you later."

x

Tim was relieved when his shift ended and he could check on their other visitor. Hudson had quietly asked that he keep an eye on her, Tim was relieved he hadn't rolled his eyes at the request. Like Tim had any chance of controlling Kate in any way.

He couldn't describe how relieved he'd been when word had filtered through that Kate had come onboard with Bridger. Tim had spent the past few weeks worrying that she had died of blood loss before getting back to Darrow after disappearing on him.

Now standing outside the room she'd been given Tim readied himself so he wouldn't let her know he was worried, Kate would be insufferably smug if he did.

The door opened and she stood smiling at him.

"So, you didn't bleed to death creeping away from the Seaquest," Tim said instantly, feeling a little superior when her smile faded.

"Say that a little louder," she sniped at him, "I don't think the bridge heard you."

Tim folded his arms across his chest, "You were the one who showed up wanting me to help you and then disappeared without letting me know you were alright. I think I'm entitled to be annoyed."

Kate grabbed his arm and yanked him in the room slamming the door behind him. She pushed him against the wall before stepping back then moving her top and pants to show the red scar she had on her stomach.

"There you go," Kate said coldly, "Satisfied or would you like to do a more thorough examination."

Tim frowned at her, "What I want is you to stop acting like I'm the bad guy because I worry about you."

"I don't need you to worry about me," Kate retorted sharply, "I am more than capable of taking care of myself."

Tim held his ground retorting, "It seemed that way when I found you bleeding on my floor."

She grimaced but had no reply.

Tim stood in stunned silence that Kate had actually backed down, it was possibly the first time he'd actually truly won an argument with her.

x

Kate dropped her head, "I'm sorry," she said softly, "I left because I knew that the longer I stuck around the more chance I would get caught and you'd catch hell."

Tim nodded softly understanding.

"I take it no one knew I was here?" she asked.

Tim shook his head, "No, unless they're keeping to themselves but I don't see many people doing that."

"I miss talking to you," Kate whispered, "We only seem to fight these days."

"We don't exactly have much in common anymore," Tim replied taking a seat on the bunk, "Your life these days is...darker than it used to be."

"No," Kate sat beside him, "It's as dark as it was before I met you. Even when I lived with Nathan I always expected to leave and go back to my old life," she smiled slightly, "Then I met you and being better suddenly seemed easy."

Tim smiled back before asking, "I was surprised when Hudson said you were onboard. I thought you and Bridger had parted company?"

Kate shrugged again, "Nathan had an idea to upgrade the Seaquest engines. He asked me to look over it and I decided I was helping him with it. He didn't argue much. I think he misses me."

Tim chuckled at the smile she gave before asking, "Does that mean you'll be back?"

"Yeah," Kate nodded, "We will be."

Tim nudged her with his shoulder with a slight smile, "Good."

Lucas walked into the gym to find Kate running on the treadmill. After the mission he'd spent time writing a report then getting something to eat. He was still disturbed by the experiments he'd learned about and just wanted to forget.

Since joining up Lucas had started training with Brody and found that he enjoyed it. Taking his frustrations out on the punch-bag or running and clearing his head so he could see problems better.

"Are you coming in," Kate asked, her attention still on the screen in front of her, "Or just going to hover in the door staring at me."

Wincing at begin caught he stepped inside and took the treadmill at her side. Entering his code the computer uploaded his programme and Lucas began to run.

After ten minutes Kate finished and stepped off, as she grabbed some water Lucas paused his own and turned to her.

"Bridger is different," he stated, finally saying what had been preying on his mind for months.

Kate shrugged, "Aren't you?"

"You know what I mean, Kate," Lucas frowned grabbing a drink from his water bottle, "From the moment I saw him on the island that first day back he's not been the same as he was."

"Come on, Lucas," Kate said as she readied herself at the punching bag, "He lost his ship, lost people he cared about, found out he had a grandson because the son he thought was dead obviously isn't. Could you stay the same?"

Lucas shook his head, "I guess."

x

Kate watched Lucas as he started running again. She should have known Lucas would notice the differences in 'Nathan'. The others wouldn't notice it as much because he was their captain, he was the leader whose orders they followed whereas Lucas knew him differently. Nathan had been a father figure to the teenager and it was a role he took seriously because he knew how useless Lucas' own father was.

"Neither of us wanted to leave, Lucas," Kate said, "But we both had to."

Lucas stopped the treadmill once more before challenging, "Did you?"

"Okay, we've been over me before," Kate reminded him, "So, I'll remind you that Nathan was injured and suddenly had a grandson to care for. Would you want him to abandon the child? Shove him away to some school like your parents did to you?"

Kate watched the anger then guilt travel over the young man's face, she knew it was a low blow but she needed to stop him thinking about how different Nathan was these days.

Lucas was smart. If he kept prodding at the thought like a bad tooth then he would work it out and they couldn't afford that.

"Life has to change, Lucas," Kate reminded him, "I've never liked it but you learn to change with it or you get left in the dirt."

Before Lucas could reply Tim appeared at the door.

"Captain Bridger is ready to leave," he told her.

Kate gave Lucas a quick hug, "Look after yourself," she told him before turning to Tim and giving him a hug also.

Without a word she left the room smiling when she heard voices floating to her.

"I miss her," Lucas said.

Tim's reply made her smile, "So do I."

x

Reaching the boat Kate nodded to Hudson who was standing there before she slid inside and joined Tobias.

"Well?" she asked.

Tobias sighed, "I completed the mission. Now it's time to start working on our own."

"Are we ready?" Kate asked surprised.

As they left the Seaquest Tobias turned to her, "We're getting there. It's time to start putting the pieces together."

Shifting slightly to watch the boat grow smaller Kate nodded, "Good."