Chapter 6:

Three days had passed since the incident at the UEO gala. The crew were now staying at the armed base in Pearl Harbor as part of a safety precaution in case there were any more threats.

In the game room of the UEO compound:

Lucas, Ford, Krieg, Katie, O'Neill and Ortiz were playing poker in the corner of the room as other members of the crew kept themselves busy with video and board games, ping pong, and the pool table on the other side in the background. They were all dressed in civilian clothes.

"Ha! I got a straight. Read it and weep." Krieg confidently dropped his cards and started reaching for the pot as Katie, O'Neil, Ortiz and Ford folded theirs in frustration. Lucas spoke up.

"Not so fast, Ben." He dropped his own cards. "Doesn't a full house beat a straight?" He smiled knowingly, leaving Krieg to stare at the cards in disbelief as Lucas took the pot from him triumphantly.

"Beginner's luck." Krieg reluctantly agreed. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to teach you how to put on a poker face."

"He learned from the best." Katie chimed in, amused.

Just then the door to the game room opened and Nathan walked in, holding the door open for Kristin, who hopped in on crutches. Her leg had needed surgery and was bandaged up. Her other wounds were also covered in bandages, including butterfly ones on her split cheek. Overall she looked in fairly good shape considering what she had gone through. Nathan offered her extra support as he led her to a nearby couch and had her sit down with her leg gently supported on the coffee table. The crew dropped what they were doing and went over to the couple, with Lucas leaning down to give Kristin a hug.

"Doc! Good to see you out of the hospital."

"Not as glad as I am to be out of that dreadful place. I much prefer to be on the other side of a hospital bed."

"Doctors are notoriously horrible patients." Nathan smirked. "And Kristin was no exception. The poor nurse certainly had her hands full."

"I did drive the poor dear crazy." She laughed at herself.

"I know what she feels like." He chuckled. "Looks like you're doing better. " Ford continued, trying to be sympathetic to the situation.

"Well, I'll probably take a while for the stitches to heal...and to be honest, I think the psychological damage was far worse than the physical one." She shuddered, trying to keep a brave front, almost tearing up as she relived the situation briefly in her head. She smiled appreciatively as she stopped herself from being overcome with emotion. "Thank you. All of you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"Well, we're here for you both if you need us." Katie spoke up, grateful at the way things had turned out.

"The same goes for all of you." Nathan responded. "Your bravery very well saved Kristin's life...and the lives of countless others. I'll have you know the UEO is planning something very special for all of you."

"Please, not another gala." Lucas joked uncomfortably.

"No, Lucas. No more galas." Nathan replied, amused. "More along the lines of a paid vacation. This little hiccup has made them delay the launch of the new boat for a while until they reassess any more threats."

"Oh good. I think we could all use a nice vacation after all this." Krieg agreed.

"You should know something these people had been on the UEO's radar for a while. They have most of the group under control back in Turkey and they're mostly open to diplomatic talks. This guy just went a little crazier when we ended up killing his brother. This was all just a twisted mind game to get me to suffer. And it certainly worked."

They all took a deep breath, wondering what was going through their captain's mind.

Krieg broke the uncomfortable silence. "Hey, what do you say we get that poker game back on. Captain would you care to join us?"

"You go on ahead. I have to speak with Jonathan. You know, I recently taught Kristin how to play. Maybe she'd like to join?" He looked at her. "What do you say, Kris?"

Kristin smiled. "I suppose I could use a game of some sort to keep me occupied. Alright. Deal me in."

"Excellent." Krieg went and got the cards and they all started playing as Ford and Nathan walked over to another part of the room.

"Jonathan, I know we haven't had a chance to really talk cause I've been busy at Kristin's bedside, but I wanted to ask if you knew what happened to the camera film. Noyce and I couldn't track it down and we don't want it falling into the wrong hands and leaking to the press. The last thing the world needs is to see the head of the UEO and the captain of the SeaQuest bound and gagged. Not to mention what would happen if Kristin were to see it."

"What film, sir?" He responded with a smile as he produced a memory card out of his pocket and handed it to Nathan.

"Thank God." He breathed out relieved as he pocketed the offending card and gave Ford a pat on the back.

"Sir, we did mean what we said back there. I can't imagine what you've been through, but if you ever need to talk about it...we're here."

"Thank you, Jonathan. Kristin and I are set up to meet with a UEO psychiatrist and empath. I'm hoping she'll help us deal with what happened. Don't tell her I told you this, though. I know Kristin puts on a brave front, but...this was a more than either of us could handle. She's been having trouble sleeping lately. We both have. To be honest, I don't know if I want her back on the boat if it means there could be danger lurking around every corner. I mean, can you imagine how many people I've pissed off?" He admitted half jokingly as he noticed Kristin finally smiling with the rest of the gang.

"Well, sir just know whatever you choose, we're behind both of you. Maybe think about before you make any decisions...a little down time can also do us all some good to think about our futures."

Nathan nodded but before he could respond, they heard Krieg from the other side of the room.

"A flush? Doc, you made it seem like you were bluffing! Wait, I thought you said you just learned how to play."

"Mr. Krieg, I never said I didn't know what I was doing." Kristin smiled mischievously and everyone else giggled as she collected her winnings. Nathan smiled, happy to see Kristin almost back to herself as he took a deep breath and led Jonathan back to the group. They were really going to need to think things through for the next few months.

THE END.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story! My muse was really working overtime on this one and even I was surprised at how quickly it came together. Please let me know what you thought so I know whether it's worth it to keep going with my other ideas. Thank you!