New Fic - Who I Am
Title: Who I Am
Category: Friendship
Pairings: Tim O'Neill/OFC - Kate King
Summary: Nathan clapped Tim’s shoulder, “Don’t give up on her, Tim. Kate is tenacious and although she said she won’t fight Kincaid…” he paused, “Kate isn’t the coward she proclaims she is.” “I know,” he smiled slightly, “Nuts, but not a coward.” Sequel to The Past We Try To Leave Behind.
Author’s Notes: - Thanks to Stonedtoad for betaing.
This is at the moment the final in the series. I may write a sequel but at the moment I’m not sure.
Hope you enjoy.
*********************************************
“What do we do with her?”
Nathan glanced across the room to the girl slouching in the chair before turning back to his friend, “I have no idea, Bill.”
“You can let me go,” she snapped at them, “I haven’t done anything.”
Nathan and Bill looked at her with disbelief.
“Then explain how my officer turned up naked, tied to the hull of a ship covered in rotting fish?” Nathan demanded, “While we found you sneaking out of the base?”
She shrugged, “But as he is a rapist then I’m sure he got what he deserved.”
“And you?”
“I got lost,” she replied with innocence in her eyes.
The two men sighed, she was right that they had no way to hold her.
“How old are you?” Nathan demanded.
She kept her gaze even with his, “Nineteen.”
Nathan stared at her not quite believing she was that old.
“Then you should be able to turn your life around,” he replied, “Kate, right?”
“Yes,” Kate confirmed coolly, “And there is nothing wrong with my life.”
He rolled his eyes before opening the door, “Go.”
Kate stood with a smug smile on her face as she walked out.
“Hey,” Nathan called after her, “We will be watching out for you.”
Kate shrugged again before tossing him a phone, “Oh, this is your officer’s cell. It shows all the women he’s attacked. You might want to let the police see it.”
With that said she walked out and Nathan turned to Noyce, “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret letting her leave?”
Noyce clapped his friend shoulder, “Because I already do.”
-
Bill Noyce stepped into his office relieved he was finished with meetings for the day. He checked his messages quickly before calling Seaquest.
“Bill,” Nathan greeted him, “Anything?”
Noyce shook his head, “She hasn’t contacted me at all, Nathan.”
“So she’s probably faked her death already,” Nathan sighed.
“I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion just yet,” Noyce told him, “I’m listed as her next of kin remember. How’s O’Neill?”
“Worried,” Nathan replied, “So am I. Tell me the moment you find out anything.”
“I will,” Noyce promised before sighing as his friend disappeared from view. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, “Where are you, Kate?”
“Looking for me?” the familiar voice said from behind him, softly with no hint of her usual sarcasm or over-confidence.
“Kate,” Noyce moved to her catching her in a quick hug, “Are you okay?”
She nodded, “I’m fine.”
He moved her to the couch and sat across from her, “I thought you would have left by now.”
“I thought about it,” she confessed, “I was seconds away from ‘killing’ Kate King and becoming someone new but I couldn’t. I have a life now, I have friends and I have someone I want to be with. I need your help, Bill. I know I probably don’t deserve it but I need your help.”
“Kate,” Noyce squeezed her hand, “As much as I hate to admit this you are family. To both me and Nathan.”
She smiled at him relief filling her eyes, “Lewis Kincaid took that away from me once, I won’t let him do it again but he is powerful.”
“Not that powerful,” Noyce reminded her, “We’ll stop him, Kate. Can you trust me?”
She nodded, “I always have.”
“Then I’ll find somewhere for you to get some sleep and we’ll start working on this tomorrow morning.”
*********************************************
Nathan sat staring at the plans in front of him. Checking his watch he knew he only had a few hours to work on this before his other duties took over but this ship was his dream.
“Am I interrupting?” a smug voice from the door made Nathan look round and he frowned at the owner of it.
“Kate?” he stood and moved to the young woman leaning on the doorframe.
“And you remember me,” she smiled, “That’s good, kind of.”
Nathan frowned at her, “What do you want, Miss King?”
“It’s Miss King now,” she gave a mock wince, “I take it you’re still not happy that I exposed that guy as a rapist.”
“I’m not happy about the way you did it,” Nathan retorted.
Kate shrugged, “It’s been two years.”
“Why are you here?” he demanded.
She dropped her head for a second and let out a long sigh, “Be at Pier 19 with the police in an hour, a man called Travis Mason is trafficking kids. They’re homeless and have no one to miss them.”
Nathan stared at her confused, “Why are you bringing this to me? How do you even know about this?”
“Because I trust you to give a damn about this,” Kate cried, “I was hired by him to get around the security systems. I just found out a few hours ago why.”
Nathan stared at her in bemusement.
“Damn it,” she snapped at him, “These kids are going to be sold into hell unless you do something. Help them.”
-
Nathan stood watching Darwin as he swam in the moon pool splashing the man sitting forlornly at the side. Tim had been depressed since Kate had disappeared, he wasn’t neglecting his duties but every project he’d been working on had been put aside as he brooded worrying about her.
“Tim sad,” Darwin’s voice came over the speakers.
“A little,” Tim replied.
“Play and feel better.”
Tim chuckled, “For you maybe. Okay, fish face I’ll play for a while.”
The communications officer picked up one of the toys sitting at the side of the pool and tossed it to the end of the pool, watching as the dolphin started after it. Snatching it Darwin threw it back making Tim duck, he turned and saw his captain standing there.
“Sir?”
Nathan motioned him to stay put, “Sorry, Lt. No word yet.”
“She’s done it,” Tim sighed, “New identity, new life. And I’m…we’re part of her old one.”
Nathan clapped Tim’s shoulder, “Don’t give up on her, Tim. Kate is tenacious and although she said she won’t fight Kincaid…” he paused, “Kate isn’t the coward she proclaims she is.”
“I know,” he smiled slightly, “Nuts, but not a coward.”
-
Nathan nodded to his team and they burst into the warehouse.
“Sir,” one of the men called, “We’ve found someone.”
Running over Nathan grimaced, “Kate. Get a medic in here now,” he ordered before forcing the door open.
The young woman on the bed was lying completely still; dried blood covered her arms and face covering the assortment of bruises.
“Kate,” he crouched down beside her, when he gently touched her she jumped trying to get away, “It’s okay,” he soothed, “Kate, it’s me.”
“Nathan?” she whispered forcing her eyes open as much as she could.
He gently rested his hand on her forehead, “Yeah. Just rest the doctor will be here soon.”
“Stay,” she caught his hand, “Please don’t leave me. Please.”
Nathan gently squeezed her hand before soothing, “I’m not going anywhere, kiddo.”
-
Kate forced her eyes open relieved to find she was in a hospital bed and no longer in that cell.
“Good morning,” a voice made her turn and she stared in amazement at the man sitting at her bedside.
“Nathan?”
He nodded, “Bill’s getting coffee. We didn’t want you to wake up alone.”
Amazement and relief filled her eyes, “Thank you.”
“The doctor assures me you’ll recover,” Nathan told her but his pause made her frown.
“You found the poison,” Kate whispered.
Nathan nodded, “You know?”
“He told me,” she forced out, “He told me what he was doing. It’s so if I was found before he could kill me then he’ll always have a way to do it.”
“We have access to the best medical professionals around,” he told her, “They’ll find out a way to remove it.”
Kate sighed, “I wish I could believe that.”
Closing her eyes she let her exhaustion take over falling asleep again. When Kate opened her eyes once more it was dark and she was alone in the room. She curled as best she could knowing she shouldn’t have expected anyone to be here, she was alone in the world the same as she always had been.
“You’re awake again,” Nathan’s voice made her look up stunned.
“You stayed?”
He shrugged, “I promised, didn’t I?”
Unable to control herself Kate felt tears sting and found she couldn’t stop herself from crying. The next thing she knew Nathan had wrapped her in his arms rocking her as she desperately tried to get herself back under control. Finally she managed to calm down and looked up at him.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” he smiled.
The doctor appeared and quickly assessed her before adding some pain medication to the IV in her arm.
“I’ll let you get some sleep,” Nathan said softly confused as Kate caught his hand.
“Would you stay a little longer?”
He nodded, “I think there’s a movie on we can watch.”
Kate smiled and settling back down she watched the film until she couldn’t keep her eyes open feeling safe enough to sleep.
-
“What are you doing?” Noyce demanded as he and Nathan walked into Kate’s room to check on her.
Kate looked up from her packing, “Checking out.”
“Why?” Nathan demanded.
“Because I can’t stay here any longer,” she told them.
“Where are you going?” Noyce asked.
She shrugged, “I’ll work it out. I always do.”
The two men grimaced at the kid in front of them who was desperately trying to persuade them that she was fine when they both knew she wasn’t.
“Kate,” Noyce took over, “The doctors think you should spend a few more days…”
“What?” she cut him off, “More tests. None of them have found any way to remove this stuff from me and they won’t. I have a life, I’m going to get back to it.”
“Are you sure?” Nathan asked softly, “What happened to you was horrible and you have to deal with that.”
Kate stilled dropping her eyes for a moment before looking up at them, “I have nightmares anyway. One more isn’t going to matter.” Throwing the final few things into her bag Kate turned to them, “Thanks for saving my life. I owe you.”
-
The rain was light, Nathan wrapped his arm around Carol as the memorial service ended and they were able to escape. He was trying hard to keep himself in check, trying not to let go of the anger he was feeling at the moment because if he did then he didn’t know what he’d do.
Looking away from the sea of people he frowned as he spotted the young woman standing just behind a tree watching.
“I’ll be right back,” he whispered to his wife.
Leaving her with Janet Noyce he headed over to lone figure standing under the tree.
“What are you doing here, Kate?” he demanded angrily.
Kate stood her ground, “I came to offer my condolences.”
Nathan stared at her, “Really? I was sure that since the last time I saw you I ended up without a wallet in the middle of nowhere then you wouldn’t show your face again.”
She shrugged, “I couldn’t have you messing up what I was doing, besides I sent you your wallet back - think of the cash as a loan.”
“Kate,” he growled in annoyance.
“I am really sorry for your loss, Nathan,” she told him, “I just wanted to say that.”
As she turned to leave he sighed in annoyance that he actually cared and called to her, “Be careful.”
She turned back and gave him a quick nod before she continued walking away.
********************************************
Kate sat curled on the couch in the small apartment Noyce had her holed up in. She was watching an old movie missing her usual companion. It felt odd to be in hiding like this as though her ability to be self-sufficient had suddenly been taken away. A knock made her reach for the gun she had sitting on the table.
“It’s me,” Nathan’s voice came through and she relaxed.
Kate opened the door smiling at the man standing there, “Hi.”
“Are you trying to drive me insane?” Nathan demanded as he walked in.
She rolled her eyes closing the door, “It’s one of my main goals in life,” she retorted before impulsively hugging him, “Thank you for coming.”
Nathan hugged her back, “Are you okay?”
She shrugged, “Living on my nerves. Noyce keeps telling me that he has enough to get the bastard but to make sure he can’t wriggle out of anything we have to do it in this huge spectacle.”
They sat on the couch, “Kristin and I will be there,” he told her, “Lucas will be there too but only because we need his technical expertise.”
“Tim?” she asked softly.
“He will be nowhere near it,” Nathan assured her, “In fact I’ve sent him home for the duration.”
“Good,” she gave a soft sigh, “How is he?”
Nathan shook his head, “He’s worried about you.”
“I’ll make it up to him,” she replied giving a slight humourless chuckle, “I’m good at that.”
-
Tim sat at breakfast staring at the mound of food on his friend’s plate.
“Miguel, you do know we’re here for a few weeks and they’re not going to cut off the food supply,” he stated with an amused smile.
“I have to eat,” Miguel told him, “It helps the hangover.”
Tim chuckled, “I warned you.”
Miguel groaned, “I honestly didn’t think she was that bad.”
“She used a patch on me to get me off Seaquest,” Tim reminded his friend, “Then talked me into helping her break through a communications net where I was shot. She’s as bad as I said.”
Miguel groaned again before downing his coffee, “I need juice.”
Tim chuckled watching his friend stagger across the room. He jumped as a fork speared a slice of apple off his plate.
“Morning,” he grimaced turning to where Kate was standing behind him.
“I thought we’d got over this,” she rolled her eyes as she pulled over a chair; “Then again you are a huge killjoy when it comes to having fun.”
Tim stared at her, “I wasn’t giving you another opportunity to do anything to me I wasn’t aware of.”
Kate tapped his cheek, “You are so cute when you’re suspicious.”
“What are you doing here?” Miguel groaned as he rejoined the table with a glass of apple juice in his hand.
“Be nice. I didn’t force you to drink that much,” Kate told him, “Try and smarten up a bit too, Miguel.”
He frowned at her, “Why?”
Kate turned and motioned to someone. Tim and Miguel turned both men staring at the tall blond woman who walked over.
“Trina,” Kate smiled at her, “This is Miguel. Miguel, Trina is a dancer in the show and works part time in the bar but today is her day off. When I told her about you, a sailor on shore leave, she thought you might want to see the sights.”
Miguel’s eyebrow raised and he glanced at his friend who rolled his eyes.
“Go,” Tim said.
Not needing to be told twice Miguel stood and offered Trina his arm, they left the restaurant and Tim turned to the woman sitting at his side.
“Anyone else joining us?” he asked sarcastically.
Kate smiled at him sweetly, “Oh no, you’re mine.”
-
“So,” Tim asked as they walked through the corridors of the hotel, “What do you want this time?”
Kate sighed, stopping him before he marched away from her, “Okay. You are still mad about what I did. I understand that but I promise I had no idea you were here. Let me make it up to you.”
“How?”
“What do you want to do?” she asked, “I mean do you want to go to the beach; there’s a market not far from here that has some craft stalls. Whatever you want to do.”
Tim stared at her, “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“There’s an exhibition in the museum in town that I want to see,” he replied.
Kate stared at him, “The Egyptian exhibit?”
Tim nodded.
“Okay,” she told him, “Let’s go but before we do there is one thing I really need to do.”
Tim sighed, “What?”
Mischievously she reached out and messed his hair, “I’ve wanted to do that since I met you. Let’s go.”
-
Tim laughed as Kate finished her story; he was astonished to find he’d actually enjoyed the day. He was even more surprised that Kate had not only seemed to enjoy the exhibit but had understood why he liked it.
“Okay,” Kate grinned, “Dinner?”
Tim hesitated, “I had planned on watching a movie that’s on. But I’ve already seen it so sure.”
“What movie?” she asked.
He shrugged, “It doesn’t matter.”
“Come on,” Kate nudged him slightly.
Tim sighed, “The Philadelphia Story. It’s…”
“I love that movie,” Kate cut him off, “How about we get room-service and watch?”
He stared at her bemused, “You’re serious.”
“Tim,” Kate smiled slightly, “I love old movies, I like wandering around museums and I think the fact you can speak so many languages is incredible. Can you stop suspecting me for five minutes?”
“I’ll try,” he replied darkly but a slight smile had appeared on his lips.
Part Two