A/N — I happened to find my original outline for this story. Which was ten chapters long. Can you tell that I am longwinded? LOL. xoxo — kals

x

Chapter 18

x

Sasha jumped down from a Seahawk, momentarily startled by the number of people lining the deck. She scanned the crowd, quickly checking for unexpected faces — Amy Granderson here to do some damage control sprang to mind — her shoulders dropping as Sasha realized that it was merely the crew. Of course, that raised the question of why the crew was here. Mike's presence, along with Andrea and Russ, to greet the helo made sense, as it wasn't every day that the President of a neighboring country stepped foot on a DDG. Sasha could even understand why Benz and Burk were here, in case security was necessary. But Bacon?

Catching sight of Danny, Sasha gave a pointed look around, to which Danny rolled his eyes before giving her a stilted hand wave. Mind still focused on the events in Mexico City, it took her a minute to realize that it was a princess wave. Ah, well, if half the crew was star-struck, that wasn't something she cared about. Eyes shifting past Danny, Sasha scowled, her stomach tightening as she realized who wasn't here.

Kara was nowhere in sight.

God, was it possible that something happened — to Kara or the baby? Although their trip to Mexico City wasn't gentle, Sasha hadn't found it particularly rough either. But it wasn't as if she knew what was safe for a pregnant woman and, either way, Kara's stress levels had to have been through the roof. She caught Danny's gaze again, mouthing Kara's name but, before he could respond, Rachel appeared out of nowhere, throwing her arms around Sasha, she brought her in for a tight hug. "Thank God you're safe."

"More like thank Tom Chandler," Tex snarked from somewhere behind Rachel.

Startled by the hug — Sasha would not have considered Rachel a touchy-feely person — she raised her hands to Rachel's arms, taking a step back to look the other woman up and down. Rachel didn't seem hurt, thankfully. "Are you okay, Rachel? Were you injured getting out of the Superdome?"

"No, no," Rachel assured her. "Frankie got me safely to the helicopter. But I had no idea that you and Kara would be stuck inside. If I knew of the threat posed by the cartel, I never would have agreed to allow you to impersonate me."

For half a second, Sasha almost pointed out that, while they hadn't known the cartel was after her, Rachel had known about the significant security concerns around her going to the stadium. Plus, Kara would have been in the line of fire either way. Sasha herself raised many of the issues prior to their arrival and, in fact, those concerns were the very reason why Sasha was masquerading as Rachel. But the pallor on Rachel's face told Sasha that Rachel remembered those warnings perfectly well. Instead, Sasha asked, "How is Kara?"

"She's ..." Rachel paused, no doubt considering how much she could share, the delay doing nothing to calm Sasha's growing concern. "I suggested that she lay down. A precaution, just until we are back on the mainland and can check her out with appropriate equipment."

Given that Kara seemed to be okay, Sasha softened her stance. "Then it sounds like everything worked out as it should."

Rachel's gaze moved past Sasha, her brow furrowing. "Was Tex hurt?"

Glancing over her shoulder, Sasha watched as Pablo helped Tex down, the latter cradling his shoulder. "Apparently Nolan's wall climbing skills were a little out of practice."

Turning as Rachel moved forward to check on Tex, Sasha waited as President Gispert exited, turning to assist his wife and thirteen-year-old daughter. Finally, after another long delay, Tom stepped out of the helicopter. Like Sasha herself had, Tom's glance took in the deck, stopping at Mike first. But then his eyes continued until his gaze met hers, and held. For the first time in forty-eight hours, since the helicopter first left carrying Tom to Fort Sam Houston, Sasha felt herself relax. Tomorrow would bring problems of its own but, at this moment, everyone she loved was here, safely on board the Nathan James.

Holding Tom's eyes, she smiled.

xxxxx

Tom focused on the screen before him as President Gispert continued with his tale to President Obama. But instead of watching the President, Tom was studying Amy Granderson. He would give the woman credit. She barely flinched when Gispert thanked her for authorizing the rescue operation. That was a gamble, Tom knew, but Sasha had been certain that Granderson would go along with the story and she appeared to be correct. Tom did wonder what Granderson would say once she and Obama were alone, given that this level of operation should have been run by the President himself in advance of any green light or, if time was really that critical, he should have been immediately informed of the operation in progress. If Tom was going by the look on Obama's face when Granderson was forced to admit that the highly-publicized story concerning the possible assassination of the EU President was nothing more than a distraction and smoke screen — one that looked like he was mid lemon head — any chance Granderson had of salvaging her political career was quickly going up in smoke.

Not that it really mattered, the real threat here was the cartel and what they were likely to do upon learning that a rescue operation happened right under Amy Granderson's nose.

"You have my gratitude for saving my family, President Obama," Gispert continued. "Now, however, I must ask you for further assistance as I work to free my country from the stranglehold of the Sinaloa cartel."

As Gispert moved into a plea for resources, asking for everything from the cure to military assets, Tom tuned out the discussion, wishing that he and Sasha had more than fifteen minutes to talk before Gispert interrupted, insisting on placing a call to the White House immediately. Tom managed to delay the man until the Nathan James hit international waters, but there had been no time to do more than confirm with Mike that all crew were present and accounted for and change into a clean uniform before he found himself faced with the President of the United States.

Certainly no time to talk to Sasha alone.

Over the hours since they pulled Gispert from his bed, followed by an almost anticlimactic escape with Gispert's family in tow where the worst thing that happened was Tex getting wall-burn from the stucco on the Palace wall, Tom had been conscious of the fact that Gispert was listening to every word any of them said. The escape had been so easy, El Chapo seemingly so focused on finding Sasha and Kara that he never noticed Gispert was missing until after the team left the Presidential Palace, that Tom half expected a trap. Even more telling, both Sasha and Pablo remained wary around the man. While Sasha had read his situation correctly, she clearly didn't trust the man — which meant that Tom didn't trust him either.

Tom glanced at Sasha, standing ramrod straight on the other side of Mike, but could read nothing in her expression. Her presentation to President Obama had been no more than a minute long, a representation that, after being informed by one of her contacts that Gispert needed help, she had approached Captain Chandler and then Mrs. Granderson regarding the operation. When it was his turn to speak, Tom made sure to mention Utt's assistance, wanting to be clear that he — rather than Sasha — was the one to approach the man in case details of their call came out later. Nothing was said by any of them about the attempted kidnapping of Doctor Scott and the actual kidnapping of Sasha and Kara, leaving Tom wondering whether anyone outside the cartel and the people on this ship knew about it.

Hopefully Jacob Barnes wouldn't catch wind, given that Sasha promised him a no-holds barred interview, although the man seemed to have more sources than even Sasha. Tom wasn't opposed to lying to the press when necessary, but he had a feeling that Barnes would know that he was lying, and Tom didn't think the man would make a good enemy. Suppressing a sigh, Tom realized that he would most likely need to cut another deal with Barnes to keep the truth of what happened in Mexico City under wraps. After barely dipping his toe into Sasha's world, Tom was already exhausted. He had no idea how she kept it all straight without going insane.

Call finally finished, Sasha ducked out. Unfortunately, another hour passed before Tom was able to escort President Gispert to his own cabin, where he and his family would be staying until transportation could be arranged to Washington, D.C. Tom felt a pang as he passed the couch, knowing that today, at least, there would be no chance of finding Sasha asleep there.

After stopping by the infirmary to check on Kara and confirming for himself that she was there merely as a precaution, Tom found his way back to CIC. Running on catnaps for the past forty-eight hours, all he really wanted was a solid couple of hours of rest, but Tom doubted he would get any sleep anytime soon. He was off the ship for less than twenty-four hours but, given how much happened, it felt more like a week. Gesturing for Mike, the two retreated to the wardroom, where both refilled their coffee.

"So much for a quiet in-and-out that nobody learned about," Mike said, settling into his seat.

Tom sighed. "I assume Green filled you in upon their return?"

"About Cooper refusing to leave without Gispert? And you refusing to leave without Cooper?" Mike asked, eyebrow lifting. "Yes, he mentioned it. I was understandably concerned when I saw the RHIB returning without you."

Although Mike hadn't criticized his decision, Tom felt the need to defend himself. "She said he was being held captive, and she was right. We couldn't leave him — leave them all — there after learning they were prisoners."

"I wasn't questioning your choice, Captain." Mike took another drink. "Green claims that Cooper is always right. So far, her track record seems to support that."

Sighing, Tom leaned back in his chair, thinking about the last twelve hours. Mike wasn't wrong — the only time Tom overruled Sasha in the Arctic was in allowing Quincy to assist in the search for the primordial, and look how that turned out. "I didn't even stop to think, Mike. I took the risk of starting a war, or at least creating an international incident, based on Sasha's gut instinct."

"Actually, you did that before you got to Mexico City when you greenlit an operation without clearing it up the chain of command," Mike pointed out. At Tom's wince, he continued. "I know why you did what you did, and I supported your decisions then. I still do. Allowing two sailors in the United States Navy to be kidnapped from US soil and potentially killed by a cartel without a response would have been an international disaster at a time when we're already on the brink of disaster and Granderson would have killed it, no question. A fast, decisive responsive strike was necessary."

Tom felt some of his tension dissipate. He might still be second-guessing everything that happened over the past two days — or, hell, over the past five months, but at least he and Mike were good.

That reminded Tom of something else nagging at him. "We put a target on Granderson's back, Mike. You saw the President's face. She'll be lucky to have time to clear out her desk before she's replaced. And she still has the cartel to deal with."

"Not on you," Mike said harshly. "Whatever that woman did, she did it to herself."

Mike was right, yet Tom couldn't help thinking of Alisha, and how she must be feeling at the moment. He knew that the right thing to do would be to find Alisha and reassure her that nothing that her mother had or would do impacted his faith in her. Yet Tom didn't move. "Think Russ would be up for talking to Lieutenant Granderson?"

"Good idea." Mike took a sip of his coffee, setting the mug down before finally speaking. "You made a snap decision based on available information and a proven source, Tom. No different than staying in the Arctic to look for the primordial strain or chasing down Pablo to find out what Amy Granderson was up to. You're second-guessing yourself because you're emotionally involved, but I would have done the same thing in your shoes."

Emotionally involved.

What a joke. When he first met Sasha so many years ago, Tom fell hard and fast but, after everything fell apart, he had fooled himself into believing that he could move on, move past Sasha. For a while he had even thought that he managed it, despite Jed's constant harping about Tom marrying the wrong woman. Now, however, with the benefit of age and wisdom, Tom knew that the emotion burning between him and Sasha could not be extinguished, merely banked. The day he turned to see her standing before him, ready to board his ship, it had burst back to life as though no time at all passed. And Tom knew the same would be true again. If, God forbid, Sasha disappeared from his ship today and he didn't see her again for five more years, it would be the same. Mike might be looking at the situation objectively, pointing out Sasha's track record and experience, but none of that mattered to Tom. All that mattered was that Sasha wasn't leaving without talking to Gispert.

And he would rather die with her than leave without her.

"But," Mike continued, "what I was talking about was Nathan James watch. Apparently it's running a story claiming that Doctor Scott was kidnapped and the Nathan James ran a top secret black-ops to get her back. Jed must have seen it. He's called twice and he's not biting my excuses."

Tom groaned, wondering who fed the modified cover story to Jacob Barnes. Prince Karl, most likely, after Sasha touched base to inform him of the change in Gispert's status. Turned out that Karl knew the guy too. Hell, Karl might even have been trying to help. "God help us."

Mike smiled. "Being a spook seems exhausting."

There was a knock at the door, interrupting Tom's thoughts. "Enter."

Lieutenant Mir entered, closing the door behind her. "Sir, we received a communication from Fort Sam Houston. They are out of lockdown and available to relieve our passengers at your convenience. Also, General Williams sends his regards."

"Are we within range?" Mike asked, confirming Tom's suspicion that they weren't — not yet.

"They are offering to send an Osprey," Mir explained.

Tom glanced at Mike, then nodded. The thought of unloading their passengers quickly was appealing. Now that Granderson knew Gispert was here, there was always the possibility that she would strike out again in a last-ditch effort to save herself. "Tell Fort Sam Houston that we accept the offer and have General Williams patched through here."

"Also, ask Agent Reyes to join us," Mike added. "He will be escorting our guests to Washington, D.C."

Tom waited until Mir was gone. "Think Pablo's last name is really Reyes?"

"That's what he's going by," Mike replied, shrugging. "Doubt that it's any more real than Cooper."

Fair point.

"You reminded me, what's going on with our favorite German royal and his very effective distraction?"

Mike chuckled. "The guy kept his word. The EU President gave a press conference at zero eight hundred this morning, announcing that the news of his demise had been greatly exaggerated. Apparently his plane had engine trouble and turned around but were forced to make an emergency landing in Greenland at Thule Air Force Base. Since the base there was evacuated early in the crisis, it took the pilots a while to make contact with the rest of the world. He apologized for causing a panic."

Tom was impressed with Karl's creativity. "And the debris?"

"There's speculation that a satellite lost orbit and fell," Mike said, managing a straight face. "I suspect that it had help in the form of a missile. And was probably Russian."

Tom grinned, recalling what Danny said about Karl taking advantage of opportunities as they presented themselves. "Killed two birds with one stone."

Tom chuckled as a knock sounded on the door. "The guy does have flair."