ONE STEP AT A TIME

**Authors note: I'm starting this story after the crew have retaken the Nathan James, as we all know they will, and it's totally AU – please be kind, it's been ages since I've written fanfic & never done one for The Last Ship – thanks!**

Chapter 1

Rachel looked out over the deck of the Nathan James, wincing inwardly at the number of casualties she could see. The fight to retake the Nathan James had been drawn out and bloody, Granderson's thugs wouldn't have wanted to let go of such a valuable asset as an Arleigh Burke class destroyer. Rachel shelved any plans she'd had about taking inventory of the equipment they'd managed to loot from Granderson's lab, it would just have to wait. She turned to Burke and Tex, the two members of the Rescue team Chandler had picked to transport Rachel and Alisha back to the Nathan James as soon as it was safe to do so.

After what had occurred in Baltimore, no-one wanted to leave Dr Rachel Scott, creator of the Red Flu cure, onshore any longer than necessary – something that gave Rachel mixed feelings. Ruskov's pursuit of her and by default the Nathan James's crew, had left her feeling hunted, as if she had a giant target pinned to her back. Slattery's successful rescue of the captain, Tex, and herself, along with Quincy's family had eliminated that threat - temporarily at least. Following the tragedy of Baltimore, Rachel wondered just when it would all end. When would she be able to stop looking over her shoulder or worrying that someone would see her and her work as commodities to be exploited at will?

"Gentlemen, could I ask you a favour? Could you find someone to deliver the equipment we took from Baltimore to the lab in the helo bay? I'll check it all out later, I think I'd be more use right now giving Rios a hand in sickbay" she said "Alisha, will you be ok if I leave you to get back to your quarters? It looks chaos out there"

"Actually, Rachel – looks like you could use a hand, I make a pretty good porter" Alisha replied, smiling. Rachel nodded, she'd come to appreciate Alisha's quiet steadiness while they'd been imprisoned by Alisha's mother.

"Rachel, don't you think you ought to rest? You've been through a heck of a lot" Tex tried to reason with Rachel, only to realise she and Alisha had already headed off back to the deck and the wounded she'd seen earlier. Burke just laughed, shaking his head and patted Tex on the shoulder.

"Tex, man, the only person capable of stopping Rachel Scott doing something she sets her mind to is the captain – let her go, she's probably right anyhow" he told Tex, thinking that they had to give it to Rachel – she was a force of nature despite her petite size.

Tex watched Rachel disappear out the hatch, nodded in resignation – Chandler really was the only one who could "control" Rachel, and he wasn't sure either one realised quite why. He smiled to himself wondering just what would happen when they did!

"You going to tell the captain she's flouted his "orders" or shall I?" Tex replied, grinning.

Burke just gave Tex an "It's your funeral" look, at which Tex just laughed – Burke was right. The arguments between Tom Chandler and Rachel Scott were already the stuff of legend aboard the destroyer. Although the disagreements had become less and less as the pair had forged a strong partnership, as formidable in agreement as they'd been in opposition. Still, threaten Rachel's safety and Chandler immediately went into overprotective mode – much to Rachel's chagrin. For two remarkably smart people, they were blind to the reason for this – the powerful attraction that had developed between them, something that had become stronger after the events aboard the Vyerni. Tex agreed with Burke, best leave the two of them to sort it out, with any luck, the captain would be too busy seeing to his family to notice Rachel had done anything but rest as he'd ordered!

"And pigs might fly!" Tex chuckled to himself, knowing full well Tom Chandler would go looking for Rachel as soon as he could, if only to assure himself of her safety.

It was several hours later before Chandler himself had been able to get his family aboard the Nathan James, as it seemed like one thing after another had conspired to delay his return to his ship. Jed, Ashley, and Sam had been safe in Thorwald's underground bunker, but the only place that represented true safety to Chandler after the horrors of Baltimore was the destroyer that had become home over the last 6 months. Like Rachel, he'd been quietly horrified at the sight of his bruised and battered ship and crew, but kept his emotions in check for the sake of his already shaken family.

Looking out over the deck, he could see various crewmembers with a variety of injuries being treated by the medical staff, who were doing their best to cope with the sheer number of casualties. However, it was the petite brunette kneeling next to a young sailor who had what appeared to be a nasty dislocation of his shoulder, that caught Tom's attention. He smothered a flare of temper, knowing that Rachel wouldn't have been able to walk away from a situation like this and not help. Nevertheless, she needed to rest in his opinion – the events of the last few days would leave a lasting impression on all of them, even the indomitable Rachel Scott. As he walked over to her position, she looked up and smiled – damn but he loved that smile!

"Tom! Good, can you give me a hand here? I need someone to provide a bit of traction whist I try and get Ensign Murphy's shoulder back into place" Rachel spoke, her calm tone belying the happiness she felt at seeing Tom Chandler again, whole and well.

"Uhh sure – what do you need me to do?" Tom asked as this was well outside his comfort zone.

Rachel calmly gave out her instructions, reassuring the injured ensign as she did so, poor kid looked in pain and not a bit reassured, everyone present knew there was no way this wasn't going to hurt. At Rachel's nod, Tom applied the traction Rachel had asked for, whilst she deftly manipulated the shoulder joint back into place. The injured ensign gave a howl of pain, and collapsed back onto the deck. Rachel sighed with relief for the injured man, before gesturing to two crewmembers acting as porters, directing them to take Ensign Murphy down to sickbay.

"Poor chap – not the best place for that procedure, but he was in so much pain there wasn't much alternative" Rachel said, looking exhausted and weary, she'd been at this for some hours.

"Rachel, I thought I told you to..." Tom's gentle remonstration was halted by a gently placed finger over his lips – he was stunned by the gesture, and by the feelings it awoke in him.

He'd only just found out that his beloved Darien had passed away, yet his feelings for Rachel remained strong as ever, a fact that left him feeling confused and torn. Tom knew he'd never betrayed Darien, that there was a gulf between intent and action, not to mention Darien herself would not have wanted him to bury himself in grief. In fact, he and Darien had once discussed the issue, knowing that you never knew what could be around the corner, especially given his job. They'd promised each other, that god forbid the worst should ever happen, that neither was to wallow in grief for the other and should they find someone else worth loving, who would care for the children, then they should take that chance. Tom smiled at the memory, Darien had been so earnest about it, and he'd given his promise readily – not ever thinking he'd ever have to keep it. Rachel's voice broke into his thoughts, bringing him back to the present.

"Tom, I know what you said, but Rios and the rest of the medical staff had their hands full...I wanted to help, so I did" Rachel smiled softly, sliding her hand over Tom's jaw, before withdrawing it reluctantly.

She couldn't believe how forward she'd just been, they'd always been so careful, not wanted anyone else to misconstrue their close friendship. Truth be told, Rachel just hadn't wanted a casual observer to see just how much she cared about Tom Chandler, she knew how much he loved his wife and family. She had no intention of being the "other woman", and had promised herself she'd keep her feelings secret, but it had become harder and harder as she'd got to know the Nathan James's captain – after the Vyerni and the events of the trials, it had become almost physically painful.

Peering around Tom's shoulder, Rachel suddenly noticed an older man and two children – she recognised them instantly from the photographs on Tom's desk. Returning her attention to the captain, she smiled and gestured towards his family.

"Captain would you introduce me to your family, please?" Rachel asked gently.

Chandler nodded, as if recalling their presence, before walking Rachel over to his family, noticing the curious expressions on their faces.

"Dad, Ashley, Sam – this is Dr Rachel Scott, she created the vaccine that I gave you, and now a member of the ship's medical staff" he said "Rachel – this is my father, Jed, my son, Sam and my daughter, Ashley" Tom gestured to each in turn, though he was pretty sure Rachel recognised them from his collection of photographs.

Jed Chandler looked at the petite British doctor who stood at Tom's side, he'd wanted very much to meet the woman, not just because without her, his family would be dead, but to meet the woman who'd clearly won his son's admiration. Loosing Darien had been devastating, he'd grown to love the warm-hearted, gentle soul Tom had married, despite his initial reservations. He'd worried that Darien was too gentle, that she'd allow Tom to run roughshod over her, but she'd proven him wrong. Darien had proven more than an equal mate to Tom, managing the alpha male side of his son's nature with consummate ease. Tom's love for his wife was soul deep and Jed had worried that the realisation he'd arrived too late to save his beloved Darien would send Tom into a tailspin of depression. The scenes he'd just witnessed between Rachel and Tom gave Jed cause for hope. There was clearly something growing between them, something that with time and encouragement would grow into a relationship that would fill the void left by Tom's broken bond with Darien.

"Mr. Chandler, a pleasure to meet you," Rachel smiled, her eyes twinkling with humour.

"Jed, please - only my lawyer calls me Mr. Chandler" Jed chuckled ,"and thank you, Dr. Scott, for saving my family's life."

"Call me Rachel, please, Jed, it's less of a mouthful, and you're welcome – it's my job," Rachel blushed shyly at the praise.

"According to my son, it's a job you do extremely well, Rachel, and my son doesn't impress easily," Jed replied, liking Rachel Scott all the more. She had a quiet self confidence that was an intriguing mix of confidence and humility; he could see why Tom had been drawn to her.

"Gramps is right, Dad's not easy to impress – trust me" Ashley piped up, with an accompanying teenage eye roll. Sam nodded in agreement, flashing a cheeky smile at Rachel. She grinned at the teen, giving her a conspiratorial wink, which drew a smile from Ashley.

"Oh I know - believe me!" she replied, laughing at the slightly disgruntled look on Tom's face.

"Hey, what's this gang up on Dad day?" Tom grumbled, trying to look annoyed.

Secretly, he was pleased that his family appeared to have taken a liking to Rachel, especially given his growing feelings for her. He had no idea where these feelings would lead, but he knew it was something he wanted to explore, very much so. Tom knew it was something he needed to talk to Rachel herself about, particularly as he was still trying to work through the flood of emotion he felt over Darien's loss – was it fair to ask Rachel to wait whilst he did so? Could he afford to allow his family to grow close to Rachel if they decided a relationship wasn't going to work?

Rachel could see the warring emotions rolling behind Tom's expressive blue eyes, there was a conversation that needed to be had about those emotions and soon, probably one that started with "Rachel, word ?".

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm exhausted and starving - anyone fancy something to eat?" Rachel said, not least because the children looked about ready to drop they were so tired.

Relieved smiles and accompanying nods from the Chandlers, all four of them, greeted Rachel's question. Tom led the way, offering Rachel his arm as they walked off the now empty deck.