7632. United States, just because the current Secretary of Defenses' name is Johnson does not mean what happened in 1949 is going to happen again. You can stop hiding now.

San Diego

"Say, Indy, you hear the latest from Washington?" asked Constellation.

"No, what happened?" asked Independence(CV-62).

"We got a new SecDef."

"Really? What was wrong with the last one?"

"Secretary Morris had a stroke last year, and his doctors' told him to call it quits before he had another one." said Constellation sadly. "The good news is that he's spent the last year training his replacement, so hopefully it should still be business as usual for the navy.'

"What's the new guy's name?"

"Uh, something Johnson." said Constellation, looking at her phone. "Here it is. Louis A. Johnson, Secretary of Defense."

Before either carrier could say anything else, the sound of a tray slamming into the ground behind them drew their attention. Turning, they saw United States(CV-58) stopped dead in her tracks, face growing paler by the minute.

"No, no, not again!" wailed United States before she ran out of the mess, almost running Ticonderoga over.

'Was it something I said?" asked Constellation.

Two hours later...

"Where the heck is she?" asked Admiral Holloway. 'She's not a submarine, for crying out loud!"

"We're looking for her, sir." said Forrestal. "But so far, we've had no luck. Heck we don't even know why she ran away in the first place."

"Good question." said Holloway, turning to Independence and Constellation. "What were you two doing right before she left?"

"We were talking about the new SecDef."

"Secretary Johnson?" asked Holloway. "I can't see how that could've caused it."

'Wait." said Forrestal. "What's Secretary Johnson's full name?"

"Louis A. Johnson. Why?"

Forrestal's face fell. "That's the same name as the SecDef who canceled her back in '49."

"She probably thought it was happening all over again." said Holloway.

"In that case, I think I know where to find her." said Forrestal.

Ten minutes later, at the summoning pool.

"United States, it's me, Forrestal." said the carrier to the apparently empty room. 'We need you to come back."

"No." a quiet voice quivered. "He'll just say I'm not needed anymore and get rid of me."

Tracking the source of the voice, Forrestal walked over to one of the storage containers and opened it, revealing United States curled up in a fetal position. From her expression, Forrestal knew she had been crying.

"United States, you trust me, right?" asked Forrestal gently.

"Mor-, More than anyone, Forrestal." whispered United States.

"Than trust me when I say that nothing is going to happen to you. This Johnson isn't the one that hurt you back in 1949." she soothed. "No one's going to get rid of you, and even if they want to, they'll have to do it over my dead body."

"You mean that?" asked United States, eyes widening. No one had ever said anything like that before to her.

"Of course." said Forrestal, smiling. "After all, supercarriers stick together."

At United States nod, Forrestal gently gripped her and lifted her out of the storage crate.

'Let's go home."