Disclaimer: I do not own Sea Patrol. I merely use its characters for my own enjoyment.

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Kate let out a groan as the alarm went off beside her. She reached out with her arm, punching the clock to shut the alarm off. Her sleep-befuddled brain was confused though when the alarm let out a groan of pain rather than plunging the room into silence. In a second attempt to shut the alarm up, Kate was more than surprised when the alarm called her name. She opened her eyes, expecting to be looking onto her bedside table and her alarm. Instead she was looking into the very angry, blue eyes of Mike. Confusion swept through her mind at to what exactly Mike was doing in her bed, considering that last night she had gone to bed in her rack.

"Why'd you punch me?" he muttered, leaning over her.

Her face screwed up in confusion, "What are you doing in my bed."
His own face screwed up in confusion before his face cracked into a grin. He gently shook her shoulder, "Kate, wake up."

She stared at him, "I am awake."
He shook his head, his smile widening, "You're in my bed."

"Did you get me drunk last night? How could you though when we're on the boat? That's very unprofessional of you Sir."

Mike couldn't help himself anymore and dissolved into laughter, collapsing back onto his side of the bed.

Kate continued to stare at him, wondering what exactly had spurred her captain into behaving so erratically. She moved to climb out of the bed, realising she was in Mike's bed and even more, she was sleeping on the right side. Everything came back to her and she laughed at herself for her own stupidity. She shuffled back into the bed, falling back against Mike's chest.

"I'm an idiot."

She felt his chest rumble underneath her as he laughed.

"I'm not denying that."

She rolled over and hit him on the chest, "I'm not a morning person. You know that. I can't help that I'm not able to distinguish between what's reality and what's a dream."

He smiled at her before pulling her into his arms, pressing his lips against her forehead. She rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a soft sigh.

"It wouldn't happen though if I was sleeping on the left side of the bed," she muttered, knowing what his reaction would be.

"You're not getting the left side," he replied, "The left side is my side."

She sat up, planting her knees either side of him, looking him square in the eyes.

"You would give me the left side if you knew what was good for you."

Mike raised an eyebrow at her, "Is that a threat Lieutenant?"

She smirked at him, sitting back on his stomach as she leant in close to whisper in his ear, "It might be."

She didn't see the smirk that crossed his face, but she let out a surprised shriek as she was flipped onto her back, Mike's cheeky blue eyes staring down at her.

"That's insubordination Lieutenant," he whispered back.

She leant up, pressing her lips against his as she wrapped one leg around his waist. As he pushed back, his own lips seeking hers, she flipped them back over. Both let out cries of surprise as they tumbled off the bed, Kate having misjudged their positioning on the bed.

They both broke into laughter, their bodies entangled together with the sheets wrapped around them. Kate lay down, her head resting on Mike's chest in exhaustion.

"Do we have to go to work?" she whispered, her eyes slipping shut again as sleep called.

"Kate," he gently shook her shoulder. "Don't go to sleep. We have to go."

She let out a soft sigh, allowing the blackness to creep in from the edges of her vision.

"I could stay here all day," she whispered as she yawned, sleep finally overcame her.

Mike looked down at her, gently shaking her shoulder again.

"Kate?"

When he got no response, he shook his head, knowing she had gone to sleep. He moved out from underneath her, pulling a pillow from the bed and tucking it under her head. A small smile crossed his face at the sight of her lying on the floor, the sheet wrapped around her, her hair spread out over the pillow framing her face.

He walked off towards the bathroom, knowing that he shouldn't have left her lying there asleep.

"Mike! Why the hell didn't you wake me!"

He laughed as he watched her race around his room, picking up her clothes and looking for her uniform. He knew he should have tried harder to wake her up but she looked too adorable lying there asleep.

"I tried to," he told her, for the tenth time. "You just didn't wake up."

Kate rolled her eyes at him, "I'm sure I would have woken up if you tried harder."
He shook his head, "Well, you've got ten minutes."

She let out a frustrated growl as she ran into the shower.

Mike just laughed, knowing he would be hearing about this until they reached the boat.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Kate was shouting at him as they walked out of his place.

"Couldn't wake me up could you. And now my hair is going to be disgusting because it's going to be put up wet!"

He shook his head as he pushed her out through the door, "Just get in the car."

She turned and glared at him, poking him in the chest, "Easy for you to say. You woke up on time."
"Only because you woke me up with a punch."

"Well, if you'd let me sleep on the left side of the bed…"
"Nooo… Not this again."

Their constant bickering drowned out the phone ringing inside and the beep as the answering machine picked up the call.

"Mike, it's your mother…"

The binoculars pressed against his eyes but he didn't care about the pain. His mind was on making sure that Kate wasn't hurt in the boarding party, his eyes following her every move. He stifled a gasp as he saw one of the people on the boat come up behind her. He mentally called to her, telling her to look behind. She must have heard because she whirled around in time to duck the piece of wood being swung at her head. As she tackled him, Mike let out a sigh of relief, knowing she would be okay. The phone ringing in the background caught his attention and he quickly grabbed it.

"Sir, we're in the process of apprehending the vessel…"

He trailed off at the voice on the other end of the line.

Nav's eyes flickered from the EOD in front of her, to Mike, her attention being dragged away as he slammed the phone down.

"Sir?"

He ignored her, storming straight out of the bridge in an uncharacteristic manner.

Nav glanced around at the other sailors, hoping to figure out what it was exactly that was wrong with the captain. The shrugs from the other sailors told her no one had managed to pick up on what it was that was wrong. She racked her brain, trying to figure out what it might be exactly that would send the captain off like that, but nothing, other than a disagreement with the XO, would come to mind. She turned her attention back to the boarding party.

From the moment Mike returned to the bridge, Nav could instantly pick up that whatever had set him off before, still was frustrating him in some way. It became more apparent when Kate returned onboard.

"Did you check the vessel?"

His question was brisk and not normal. It was on the rare occasion that he didn't trust Kate's skills on the boarding party and it surprised the entire crew that he didn't trust her now.

"Yes I did Sir," she replied, surprise evident in her own voice.

He turned to her, his eyes cold as they landed on her. The look hit Kate hard and she had to stifle the gasp that quickly arose.

"Well you must not have checked well enough if you didn't find anything onboard," came his snide reply.

Kate took a step back, his words hitting her hard. She glared at his back as he turned around.

"We searched that vessel from bow to stern Sir. There was nothing onboard. The drug vessel must be another one within the search area. I recommend we set course for one of the other vessels in the area Sir."

He turned swiftly, his eyes blazing.

"You will not recommend anything Lieutenant," he said, his voice cool and calm. He turned away from her, his next words unmissed by no one.

"In fact, you are excused from the bridge. I don't want to see hide or hair from you."

She was unable to stop the gasp that arose. Most took it as one of surprise but Mike instantly knew he had hurt her. He watched her as she walked out, her stance one of pain but full of dignity.

She spent the rest of the day in her cabin, not understanding what it was that had set Mike off today. She had been getting reports from Nav since he had sent Kate out of the bridge and every time it was about Mike going off for some reason or another. The most recent was him going off at Bomber for what was served for lunch. She knew that he was being extremely uncharacteristic. The door burst open and Nav stormed in. Kate instantly picked up that something was wrong.

"Nav?"

She let out a frustrated growl, throwing her cap onto the desk.

"He's being so bloody infuriating today! I have no idea what has ticked him off but he's getting on every ones' nerves. Bomber was almost in tears after he went off at her and he's just had a go at me about my calculations!"

She stood there, breathing deeply as she tried to catch her breath after her rant.

Kate raised an eyebrow, "You finished now?"
Nav shook her head, "No. You have to talk to him. Say something at least!"

Kate nodded her head, knowing that Nav was right.

"I'll see what I can do. Is he in his cabin?"

Nav nodded her head and Kate stood up, instantly walking out. Enough was enough.

She stood outside his cabin and knocked, waiting for some acknowledgment before walking in. It took a while, but eventually she heard his voice come through the door. She opened it and walked in, ready for the verbal barrage that was she knew she was going to get. Sure enough, he let loose.

"What did I tell you about not wanting to see you!"

She stood her ground, shutting the door behind her. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared him down.

"I'm not leaving here until you tell me what is wrong," she demanded.

He walked over and pulled the door open. "Leave now Lieutenant or you will be facing disciplinary charges."

Kate threw him another glare before putting her hand on the door and pushing it closed.

"I'm not here as your XO Mike. Something is wrong and I know it. I'm here for you Mike."

She lay her hand gently on Mike's arm, her eyes softening as she looked at him.

"Let me in," she whispered, "Let me help you."

His glare held, "I don't need help Kate. This is not your problem."

She felt her body tense but she took a deep breath to calm herself. "You may not think it's my problem, but it is when you start taking out your anger on the crew."

She didn't need to ask him again, her eyes pleading with him to tell her what was wrong.

He held his steely resolve, not willing to be weak, "Leave Kate. Please."

She stared at him a moment, knowing he wasn't going to give in. She smiled softly at him and gently rested her hand against his cheek. His eyes slipped shut at the quick but loving gesture, a small moment of weakness showing through. Kate smiled, knowing it wouldn't be too long.

"When you're ready to talk," she said softly, "I'll be here."
She turned to walk out, her hand pausing on the doorknob before she opened it. It didn't go unnoticed by Mike.

"Lucy's sick."

His outburst stopped Kate who turned around, her eyes wide at his admission.

"She's got cancer."