Salt

A 'The Last Ship' fan fiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I am merely borrowing them from the truly talented Mr. Steven Kane, TNT, Michael Bay and the brilliant cast and crew of the USS Nathan James.

Author's note: It's no small secret to my fellow TLS fandom friends that I adore the characters of Lt. Danny Green and Lt. Kara Foster. My favourite 'Danny and Kara' song is 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons. Listen to it, as it's beautifully captures Danny Green's psyche.

Lieutenant Danny Green's shoulders tensed. Being forced to relax made him anxious. His eyes flicked from his stand up paddleboard, back to the shoreline, where Burk and Miller were patrolling the beach. Burk subtly gestured for him to stop looking back and trust them.

It had been three days since they'd arrived in the Maldives with the intention of staying a few weeks. The Captain had cleverly identified that the region was sheltered from the mainland, with small islands that were easy to clear and a multitude of heavily resourced five star resorts. The order was for everyone to regroup and prepare their teams for the eventual move toward Australia.

A lot had happened in the last few months. So much had been lost. Danny felt as though he met the Devil himself at Olympia. When he had realised what was going on there, the mass executions and deception, his blood had run cold and he swore his heart had momentarily stopped. The presence of evil had licked at him and nipped at his heels. I am human nature at its worst, a voice had whispered. I didn't do this, you did it to yourselves, like you always have and always will.

The most difficult events had not been finding his own parents lost to the virus and even worse, not locating Kara's mother at all. Burk and Miller had scoured Rose Hill, Kansas with him until the XO himself had to come out and bring them back in. Kara's mother had vanished into the mist. It had broken his heart telling Kara that he'd been unable to find any sign of her.

Danny took the plunge off his paddleboard and into the comfort water. He ducked his head under before resurfacing and leaning his arms and head over the board. Danny lay there, with his head on the board, for a good moment and admitted to himself what he would never confess to anyone else – he was very tired and overwhelmed. In the blissful days prior to the global pandemic, Danny would have confided in Kara and she would have patiently listened and stroked his hair, as he unveiled all of his worries to her. Now it just didn't seem fair to burden her with his fears. He had to be the strong one. Now was not the time for weakness.

Danny heard someone swimming towards him and his head shot around defensively. He exhaled slightly as he recognised the lithe, bikini clad body making good progress through the water. Kara hoisted her arms over the opposite side of the board and quirked an eyebrow at Danny.

"I was surprised to hear you were out here?"

"The Captain ordered me to relax," Danny grimaced.

"How's that working out for you?" Kara looked at him sceptically.

Danny cast a lingering glance over Kara's body and his eyes darkened.

"Miller and Burk saw you looking like this?" He almost growled.

"People generally dress like this in the Maldives, Danny." Kara met his eyes teasingly and Danny gazed back into them. Kara was so much stronger than he was. She always tried to put on a good front. "Although, I'm not so sure that I'm wild about the ladies of the Nathan James seeing the resident Navy SEAL without his shirt. Trust me, you have more than your fair share of admirers, Lieutenant Green."

Danny reached out and ran his forefinger, very slowly and deliberately, from the hollow of Kara's neck and down her décolletage. He hooked his forefinger, over the string of her bikini top and leaned over the board.

"I'm yours and you're mine," Danny whispered huskily into her ear and he felt Kara inhale sharply against his cheek. Their eyes locked challengingly and Kara nodded almost pleadingly in consent. In one quick movement Danny moved away from the board and signalled to Burk on the shoreline. Burk signalled back and suddenly the cove was free of onlookers. Danny placed Kara on the board and swam it to shallower water, where she could stand with her head and shoulders above the water.

"The Captain won't be impressed," Kara smirked. Danny loved the way she enjoyed playing the truant. He had introduced her to all the different kinds of ways Tac Squad were able to bend some of the ship's rules.

"I'm just following the order to relax." Danny breathed into the back of Kara's neck and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, relishing the feeling of her pressed up against him. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," Kara murmured, as Danny tauntingly lay kisses along her neck and firmly placed his hands on either side of her rib cage. Kara's back arched slightly at Danny's expert teasing. If Danny was anything to go by, Navy SEALs seemed to make for very disciplined and mission orientated lovers.

"Take this off," Danny commanded as he tugged at the string of her bikini top. Kara pulled away from him and very deliberately made her way to where the water splashed about at her knees. With her back still to Danny she took of the bikini top in one swift movement and tossed it to the shore. Kara turned around and stood confidently in the waves daring Danny to look. Despite being twelve weeks pregnant, Danny noted that the only visible change to Kara's body was that her breasts were looking much fuller, with every other aspect of her body remained strong and muscular. Danny had always likened Kara to a saltwater nymph or mermaid, but in this one moment he had never found her to be more beautiful. Danny bit his lip.

"Come here," he ordered and Kara eyed Danny hungrily as she approached. She stopped an arm's length from Danny, the tide caressing her breasts.

"You don't look pregnant," Danny mused, as he ran his hands through the water and across her taut stomach.

"Not yet," Kara said as she reached up and drew Danny's face to hers. "We've haven't really spoken about it properly yet, have we?"

Danny watched as the nervousness washed over Kara's face and he decided to reassure her the only way he knew how.

"I love you, Kara Foster. You're the most beautiful and intelligent warrior I have ever met and you will be the most amazing mother this little one could hope for."

Danny leaned in and kissed her tenderly and Kara kissed him back with increasing urgency. With saltwater lips she urged him on as she ran her fingers through his hair and pressed her breasts to his chest.

"I need you, Danny." Kara begged hoarsely into his ear, as she tugged at the hem of his shorts.

"Not here, sweetheart," Danny whispered back in a strained voice. "I have to keep my wits about me out in the open like this." Kara gave him a look so wonton that it almost broke his resolve.

"Turn around and face the horizon," Danny barked in a gravelly voice that he typically reserved for dealing with assailants. Mentally he counted to five before placing his arms around Kara's petite waist.

"What do you see out there?" Kara asked gesturing out to the endless sky in front of them, before reaching behind her and wrapping her arms around Danny's neck.

"Out there?" Danny shot her a confused look, as Kara took one of his hands in hers and placed it firmly on her breast. Her gently kneaded at her chest, as he pondered her question. "I see uncertainty and the unknown. Sometimes I feel too frightened to hope that there's something better out there in case there's not." Kara nodded. "Sometimes I need to remind myself to enjoy moments like these."

"Me too," Kara said softly. "I feel like the earth has gone back to the days of being a large, black void that needs to be explored. This might sound crazy, but after everything that has happened the thing that worries me most is how are we ever going to give our child a proper education in this world?" Kara laughed. "The other day I almost asked you to check the shelves of anywhere you ever go on a mission, so that we can create a library of knowledge for our child, but I thought you'd think I was crazy!"

Danny stopped in his tracks and turned Kara to face him. "I love you and I can do that and anything else you ask of me. There is nothing more important to me than you two – Not the SEALs, not the Navy, nothing."

Kara looked somewhat relieved by his declaration.

"You have to talk to me, Danny. I know you're hiding a lot away in there." Kara lightly brushed his temples with her fingers.

"I will. I promise." Danny nodded earnestly, before a playful grin spread across his face. "But I need to deal with an immediate threat to the crew of the USS Nathan James first."

Kara's brow crinkled in confusion.

"Sirens, or mermaids as they are more commonly known, are beautiful women known to seduce unsuspecting sailors and lead them astray. Fortunately…" Danny lingered on the word, as he hooked his thumbs over Kara's bikini bottoms and dragged them down over her long legs. "I believe I can neutralise this threat before she reaches the rest of the crew."

Danny pulled Kara's back towards his chest and taunted the apex between her thighs.

"Is this what you wanted, Siren?" Danny demanded, as he expertly played his fingers against her. "To be caught and captured?" Danny felt Kara buck against him begging for more physical contact and he palmed her breasts, as he whispered hotly into her ear.

"I'm going to make you scream my name across the oceans. Your cries are going to wake the ancient Norse, Greek and Roman Sea Gods." Danny watched in awe as his own personal Goddess begged for him. Kara was never more beautiful to him then in the throes of ecstasy with wild hair and eyes and beckoning breasts. Standing in one of the most magnificent places on earth, with the most alluring woman on earth moaning his name to the heavens, Danny suddenly felt powerful, capable and assured.

"You're going to wake the Gods from their centuries of slumber, Siren!" Danny dared Kara as he nipped at her ear lobe.

"I don't care, Danny! Please!" Kara begged her voice laced with lust. Danny loved that Kara enjoyed being handled roughly. His natural warrior instincts tended to break out during sex and he found Kara's desire to be almost primal in her approach. In one fluid movement he removed his board shorts and entered Kara from behind. Kara cried out.

"Wake the Gods, Siren! Bring them back to this God forsaken earth!" Danny drove into Kara and as they climaxed Danny felt certain that somebody out there had heard their cries.

They separated and dressed quietly. Danny swam out to collect the paddleboard that had drifted out to sea. They both tended to snap back into their Naval officer mindsets quickly after sex and Danny quietly loved that Kara always seemed a little abashed by her actions after the fact. It made him feel that her desire for him outweighed any inhibitions she may have.

Back on the beach Danny wrapped Kara up in a plush white Conrad Resort beach towel. Danny looked up at the sky and saw storm clouds brewing. A bolt of lightning shot across the sky and the slightest hint of drizzle began to fall down on them.

"Perhaps we did awake the Gods," Kara commented dryly, as she pulled what looked like an expensive pair of resort style shorts and t-shirt that she had commandeered from the hotel gift shop.

"The RHIB will be back shortly. We should head towards the RV point to get back to the ship. I'm sure Burk and Miller are completely over protecting the boundaries of our Area of Operation." Danny said, reaching out for Kara's hand. It was 1600h and he had a date with Tac Squad at 2100h.

"I love you, Danny." Kara said softly, as he led her towards the RV.

"I love you too, Kara." Danny squeezed her hand reassuringly as the thunder began to roll across the sky.

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