This is my first fan fiction. I hope I'm not creating any enemies by splitting mike and Kate up, but I just thought that Pete and Kate made an even cute pair. Please tell me what you think; all your reviews would be greatly appreciated.

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The XO was making her way up to the bridge with a fresh brew when she turned the corner and walked into a preoccupied Buffer.

"Crap." Muttered X as hot coffee spilt over the both of them.

'I'm so sorry Buff' she said looking up and smiling weakly at him.

"Don't worry about it X" He chuckled as he nonchalantly patted her on the shoulder.

He reached up and pulled his shirt over his head, exposing to X the tanned and toned muscles of Buffer's chest.

Instantly she felt the heat on her cheeks and could already imagine the red rush that would have surged to her cheeks, she tried to look away but his broad shoulders were too high and wide to look past.

Buffer laughed again at the embarrassed look on his XO's face.

"I…uh, need to um, go ah…" and she quickly pushed past him and headed for her cabin and left a grinning Buffer behind.

Once inside she closed the door and turned to lean against it. It wasn't the first time she had felt strange around him, but the funny thing was she couldn't decide whether it was because she was uncomfortable around him, or too comfortable to be considered appropriate.

Something had changed between her and buffer lately, but she couldn't remember the exact moment that it had become so awkward between the two of them.

She trusted Buffer with her life; god knows how many times he'd saved her, but recently she'd found the lines of professionalism being blurred. She knew it was wrong though, as the feeling couldn't be mutual.

Sighing, she reached into her cupboard and changed her damp shirt and made her way up to the bridge.

She saw the boss turn at her arrival and he flashed her a quick smile before turning back again.

"Sir?" Ro started "We've just received word from Navcom about a stray boat that they have not been able to contact; we are the closest resource at the moment".

Mike thought for a moment "Nav set course for this boat, I think we should check it out" and he turned to his XO "X?"

X nodded her head "Hands to boarding stations, hands to boarding stations" and listened to her voice resonating around the ship.

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