New Fic - The Past We Try To Leave Behind
Title: The Past We Try To Leave Behind
Category: Friendship
Pairings: Tim O'Neill/OFC - Kate King
Summary:"He cares about you," Nathan continued, pushing the only advantage he had, "And you care about him?" "I love him," Kate whispered shaking her head, "And I've never told him because I knew that one day my past would rear its head. I didn't think it would be this but I knew I would have to leave." Sequel To Safety Net
Author’s Notes: - Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.
I am stunned that I have actually written a fifth story in this series without jumping to something else. There is another story being written now.
Enjoy.
*********************************************
“Why?” Nathan Bridger demanded of his old friend as he leaned back in his chair.
“Senator Kincaid is one of the people you need on side for future funding,” Noyce reminded him, “All you have to do is pick him up at Fairmain, where you are due to go anyway and bring him back to Florida. You’re not going out of your way and you give him the grand tour of what the money he can give us is for.”
Nathan sighed, “Bill, I hate politicians.”
“I know,” Noyce sympathised, “But it’s an election year so it’s not like you can avoid them at the moment.”
Nathan groaned.
“On the bright side you will be picking up your Chief Scientist on the way to Fairmain,” Noyce reminded him.
“Two months into the tour,” Nathan retorted but a smile slipped onto his face.
“Well blame her,” Noyce chuckled, “She wanted to finish her project. Oh I’ve been told to warn you about a surprise, I just want to let you know I have nothing to do with it.”
Nathan grimaced as before he could ask the vidscreen blinked off.
“Commander,” he called up to the bridge.
“Yes, sir,” the voice of his Ex-O filled the room.
“We’re picking up a VIP on Fairmain,” Nathan told him, “Can you make sure everything is prepared for our guest.”
Yes, sir,” Ford replied making Nathan smile at the irritation he felt was echoed by the other man.
“Any word from the Exon?”
“O’Neill just spoke with them and their EST is still the same,” Ford reported.
Nathan nodded, “In that case I’m going to get some sleep. Call me if anything happens.”
“I’ll try and make it a quiet night,” Ford promised before the radio fell silent.
Nathan stretched before changing and climbing into his bunk, as he fell asleep he mused that it would be nice to have Kristin back on the Seaquest.
-
“That’s me,” Wendy smiled at Tim as she pressed a small pad of cotton wool to the injection site and raised his arm.
“It’s been three months,” Tim noted as Wendy filed the blood sample with the others, “Surely something would have shown up by now.”
“Possibly,” she smiled back at him, “But I’m just being cautious. So, how are you feeling?”
Tim chuckled, “I’m fine.”
Wendy took a seat and looked at him making him squirm slightly, “And once more.”
“I really am fine,” Tim told her, “Spending the time with my family was great but it’s nice to be home.”
Wendy hesitated before pressing, “From what I’ve been told you were happy with your family but there was an issue with a certain individual.”
Tim winced slightly, “You mean Kate.”
“You tell me.”
“The version of Kate in the simulation told me something that shook me,” Tim confessed, “But I talked with the real Kate and I know it wasn’t true.”
Wendy smiled as she felt Tim’s surety that Kate was his friend and the strength of his feelings for the young woman.
“I’m glad,” Wendy told him, “Well, I’m done here.”
“Thanks, Dr,” Tim nodded as he slid off the bed, “Enjoy your trip. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
-
Tim checked his watch and decided to head to bed, he wasn’t due on the bridge until midmorning tomorrow but he did have a few things he wanted to do before his shift so decided to get some sleep.
Reaching his cabin Tim checked to see if he’d received any messages, disappointed that of the ones waiting for him none were from Kate. He was a little bemused that he hadn’t heard from her, it had been almost three months since he’d last seen her at the wedding. Taking off his glasses Tim rubbed his eyes as he thought back to the kiss they’d shared, the one she’d confirmed afterwards she only saw him as a friend while unwittingly cementing his confused emotions into the realisation he loved her.
Tim quickly noted down the few ideas he’d had during his shift to the log he was keeping. Once he had everything together he’d pull together a proper proposal for Captain Bridger. The Captain had asked at the beginning of the tour if he could augment the communications systems the same way he did during the simulation but Tim wasn’t sure it would as easy as it had been then in reality so he was working on it during his downtime.
With that done he went to bed.
*********************************************
“A High School Reunion?”
Tim chuckled at his friend’s bemused question, “Yeah.”
“Aren’t those things usually done on ten years or something?” Miguel asked as they walked through the corridors.
“The ten year was cancelled when the venue was flooded,” Tim explained, “And for various other reasons they only managed to finally reschedule it for this year.”
“You know if you did want to go to this thing you will be able to have a knockout date,” Miguel reminded him, “As in a date that will knock out anyone who annoys you.”
Tim chuckled, “True but one, if I wanted to go to this torture and see these people again there is no way I could get there in time.”
“And two?”
“I haven’t heard from Kate in months and have no idea where she is,” Tim shrugged a little sadly.
“How’re the upgrades coming?” Miguel changed the subject quickly, he was very aware of how his friend felt for the con artist.
“Slowly,” Tim smiled, “It seemed much easier the last time.”
Miguel chuckled before they entered the docking bay and the two men stopped.
“Wow,” Miguel whistled, “She doesn’t travel light, does she?”
-
Tim smiled when he spotted the distinctive figure of Kristin Westphalen as she directed the unloading of the launch. She turned and saw them standing watching her.
“Excellent,” Kristin said, clapping her hands together, “Two strong men to help me.”
“Nice to see you, Dr,” Miguel greeted her, “What can we do?”
“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to volunteer both of us for things anymore,” Tim murmured to his friend who simply shrugged and grinned at him.
“Well,” Kristin spoke up, “Miguel, you can help me with the last load from the launch. Tim, can you help my new assistant over there?”
Tim nodded. As he moved through the maze of people and boxes to a woman sitting on the ground sorting through boxes he mused that despite the mess it was good to see Westphalen back.
“Dr Westphalen told me to help you,” Tim said as he stood over the woman stunned when she turned and grinned at him.
“Fantastic,” Kate smiled up at him.
“Kate,” Tim gasped, “What are you doing here and why are you wearing a science uniform?”
She stood and Tim couldn’t stop himself cataloguing the differences in her appearance. Her once pale skin now held a healthy golden tan while her dark brown hair now had streaks of red and gold through it pinned up in a tight bun.
“You can interrogate me later,” she rolled her eyes; “I thought I would at least get a hug first.”
Tim smiled, happily obliging by wrapping her in his arms. He closed his eyes as Kate cuddled close to him, her body stiffening for a moment when he squeezed her tightly before she relaxed and rested against him. After a moment the noise of the room invaded and they parted. Tim looked down at her and grimaced as she gave him that smirk.
The one that said she was up to something.
-
“What do you think of my new assistant?” Kristin asked.
Nathan stared at her before looking at where Kate was sitting with that annoying smug smile on her face. He turned back to Kristin, “Are you insane?”
“I am sitting right here,” Kate noted trying to look offended.
Nathan rolled his eyes before turning back to Kristin, “Why? That’s all I want to know.”
“Kate has been a little overzealous in her work lately,” Kristin noted disapprovingly, “We decided that she needed some time away to rest.”
“And you brought her here?”
“Tim’s here,” Kate said softly.
Nathan nodded understanding. O’Neill was the one person that’d had a positive influence on Kate since he’d known her.
“Nathan,” Kate continued, “I am not here to cause trouble, I’m not after anything other than a break and some time with a friend. Kristin offered me a position on her staff for the time being so that if anyone asks who I am you have an answer.”
“And how exactly do you intend to work as Kristin’s assistant?” Nathan asked.
Kate smirked at him, “My mentor was originally a biochemist, he taught me enough about what he used to do so I can fake it. And considering my boss is very aware of my limitations in this field I’m sure there won’t be a problem.”
“Okay,” Nathan nodded, “But I am warning you right here, right now. If you so much as act as though you are about to betray my trust I will kick you off my boat and never let you back on. Are we clear?”
Kate nodded, “Crystal.”
*********************************************
Kristin looked up as Kate walked into the lab, “Come in and close the door.”
Kate did as she was told and sat on the chair across from the doctor.
“Alright,” Kristin said, “Let me see.”
Slowly and painfully Kate slid the jumpsuit off her shoulders before pulling off the white t-shirt she wore beneath it revealing the large bruises that covered most of her back.
“How did you manage to hug Tim the way you did without crying out in pain?” Kristin asked amazed.
“Practice,” Kate smiled slightly before wincing as Kristin gently pressed against her back. She took several deep breaths as she let the doctor examine her injuries, thankfully once they’d said hello Tim had started his shift on the bridge so she hadn’t had to explain anything just yet.
“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” Kristin stated darkly, “You could have been killed, Kate. You do know that, don’t you?”
“You’ve told me this several times already,” Kate noted.
Kristin frowned at her, “Well it’s worth saying again. I never took you for someone with a death wish but from what Bill Noyce told me all of a sudden you appear to have one.”
“I don’t have a death wish,” Kate replied with an annoyed sigh.
“Then what is it?” Kristin demanded, “What’s prompted this sudden reckless streak?”
“I’m not…”
“Kate!”
The younger woman sighed rubbing her hands across her face, “My life used to be so much simpler, you know. Find a target, make a plan and get money out of them. So easy but now…”
“Now?”
“I spend far too much time trying to make sure I’m the good one,” Kate replied, “Too much energy trying to make him…” she slammed her mouth shut.
“Trying to make Tim proud of you,” Kristin finished for her, “I wasn’t one hundred percent certain that you felt more than friendship for him until right now.”
Kate dropped her head with a sigh.
“Have you thought about telling him?” Kristin asked sitting at Kate’s side.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Kate stared at her, “You know Tim and you know me. There is no way it ends in any way other than me hurting him in some fashion because that’s all I’ve ever done.”
“You’re not as poisonous as you think you are.”
Kate shrugged, “Yes, I am.”
-
Tim finished his shift on the bridge and did his handover as fast as possible. He headed through the Seaquest to the bunk Kate had been given looking forward to spending some time with her. He was also very interested as to why she was masquerading as a member of the science team.
“I expected you sooner,” Kate grinned as she opened the door to him.
“I have responsibilities,” he reminded her as he stepped inside taking a seat on the bed, “Now I’m free.”
“So,” Kate said sitting up beside him, “How are you?”
Tim shrugged, “Fine.”
She laughed, “For a man who loves words you can be very monosyllabic when you feel like it.”
Tim shook his head, “It’s been three months since I heard from you, Kate. What more do you want me to say?”
She sighed dropping her eyes, “I’m sorry but after everything that happened I thought you might want some time without me intruding.”
“I missed you,” Tim told her.
Kate smiled, “Good. I missed you too.”
“So, working for Dr Westphalen,” Tim noted with bemusement, “How did that happen?”
Kate shrugged, “She was talking with Noyce when I returned from the last job he had me doing. I was a little worse for wear and she decided I needed a break. When I told her it’s not something I could really do as I don’t have a family or home to go to she mentioned she was returning to the Seaquest and if I agreed to sign on as an assistant for a few weeks then it would be a way to spend time with you without my presence being questioned.”
Tim stared at her for a few moments, “Define worse for wear?”
“You had to pick up on that bit,” she laughed, “I was just tired, Tim. I’ve been running around a lot and not stopping so I’m just really tired.”
Tim nodded satisfied with her answer, “Then you don’t want to join poker night?”
Kate laughed rubbing her hands together in exaggeratedly, “I love this place.”
*********************************************
“Lucas,” Tim frowned at the teen as they sat eating breakfast, “Please tell me you’re not seriously thinking about trying to invent a time machine?”
“Of course not,” Lucas rolled his eyes, “But I have been thinking about the mechanics involved and I think I can improve the engines by a thousand.”
Tim smiled at the enthusiasm Lucas had for his subject, “Why are you telling me?”
“Because I need your input before I take it to the Captain,” Lucas replied, “Please, Tim just have a look at what I’ve got.”
Tim nodded, “No problem but if I’m checking your ideas then I need you to look into a few of mine.”
“The communication upgrade?” Lucas asked
Tim nodded, “Among other things. Once I went over everything here it was more complicated than when we were…” he hesitated trying to think what to call it before settling on, “In that place. While we were there I spent a lot of time thinking of things to do to the ship. I’ve written it all down but with my schedule it’s not been that easy to implement. I’m working on it though. Mind you with Kate here my downtime will be a little busier than before.”
“Yeah, I was stunned to find her working for Westphalen,” Lucas mused, “I didn’t think she knew anything about science.”
Tim shrugged, “I don’t think she does.”
-
Kate sat going through the inventory Kristin had asked her to complete. It was actually quite relaxing work to her surprise. Rubbing her hand across her eyes Kate tried to stifle a yawn; she was exhausted despite sleeping most of the night. Whatever Kristin had given her for the pain was doing its job but was practically knocking her out.
She was happy to be on the Seaquest, as much as she would profess Tim to be her only real friend it wasn’t exactly true. She and Miguel were on very good terms plus she got on well with Tim’s other friends, although only those who had been onboard during her first visit knew the truth about her past. The others just believed her to be a UEO operative who knew their Captain and communications officer.
“I still don’t believe it,” the amazed voice made her look up to find the resident teenage genius walking over to her.
“Hi, Lucas,” she greeted him.
“You’re actually working for Westphalen?” he laughed pulling a stool over to the table, “Seriously?”
“Temporarily,” she smiled back, “Why are you here? Don’t you have amazing breakthroughs to make?”
Lucas shrugged, “Normally yes but they’re about to do one of their preparedness drills. It’s best to be out the way or they whine.”
She chuckled before studying him for a few moments, “How are you?”
“I’m good,” Lucas grinned, “It was the weirdest experience and no matter what their intentions they made me realise I’m meant to be here.”
Kate sighed her eyes becoming distant, “I wish I had that kind of certainty in my life.”
*********************************************
“I love this movie,” Kate noted as she offered Tim some popcorn, they were sitting side by side on his bed watching Arsenic and Old Lace on the viewscreen.
“Me too,” he murmured back taking a handful of the snack, “I also like watching a movie knowing I won’t have a hangover.”
She chuckled and elbowed him, “You’re no fun sometimes,” she teased.
Tim playfully shoved her stunned as she cried out in pain when her back hit the wall, “Kate?”
She drew in a shaky breath, “I’m fine,” she gasped trying to catch her breath.
Tim swung himself off the bed, “No you’re not. I’m going to get the doctor.”
“No,” she snapped before softening her voice, “I’m okay. I don’t need the doctor. Kristin already has me on pain medication.”
Tim stared at her, “For what?”
She sighed and unbuttoning the top few buttons on her blouse slid it back off her shoulders letting him see her back.
“Kate, what the hell happened to you?” Tim gasped as he stared at the black, blue and yellow patches across her skin, one of which he was almost sure was a boot print.
She shrugged, “I just lost control of a situation. But Kristin seems to think I have a death wish so demanded I take some time off to heal.”
He stared at her for a few moments, “Kate, what exactly are you doing for Noyce?”
“I’m doing what I’ve always done, Tim,” she told him sternly, “I just get information instead of money these days.”
“Did you ever end up like this when you were only after money?”
Kate frowned before reminding him, “I was tortured and poisoned when I was only after money. It’s been worse.”
Fixing her top she watched as Tim rubbed his hand over his eyes, “Hey,” she caught his hand, “I’m fine. I came here to spend some time with you so can we just watch the rest of the movie?”
He nodded, after fixing an extra cushion behind her back to make her more comfortable Tim stretched out on the bed beside her then started the movie again. When Kate rested her head against his shoulder Tim rested his cheek against her hair trying to make her feel as safe as he could.
-
Kate sighed as she woke up, warm and comfortable feeling completely rested and safe. Then she realised why. She’d fallen asleep in Tim’s bed and she was wrapped in his arms as he slept peacefully beside her.
Trying to move she winced as her pain shot through her, she hadn’t lied when she told him she was fine it was just a little worse early morning especially when she hadn’t taken her pain meds the night before.
“Tim,” she whispered, shaking him. Smiling as he moaned in annoyance, “Tim, wake up.”
He sighed and opened his eyes, “Kate,” he smiled his eyes closing for a moment before they sprang open in shock, “Kate?”
She winced as he fell backwards and off the bunk with a thud. Kate slid over and looked down at him.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he moaned looking up at her, “We fell asleep.”
“I guessed that.”
“You know if anyone sees you leaving here…”
Kate chuckled and slid off the bed offering him her hand to help him up, “Then I’ll make it appear I just came early this morning.”
“Can…”
“What was my previous profession?” she cut off his question.
Tim gave a half laugh, “Yeah.”
Kate twisted her hair up and clipped it back using the clips she had left sitting on the desk the night before then poured the cup of water sitting beside them over a bemused Tim’s head. Opening the door she saw a few of the crew wandering by.
“Next time you offer to give me a swimming lesson,” she said as she walked out, “Remember and set your alarm or next time I’ll toss more than a glass of water to wake you up.”
She gave him a quick wink before leaving him standing.
Part Two