Goldrush

Lucy’s eyes grow heavy as she sits in her almost dark office. She can feel the strain of the computer screen’s brightness hitting her tired pupils. It’s been this way for almost three days now. Ever since Kate left, Lucy has made it her only mission to find the answer the blonde needs most.

Lucy is determined to prove Kate’s innocence. In all honesty she’s been thankful for the distraction. There’s a new emptiness to life on the ship, but filling it with extra work has been helping. She only has five days left of this way of life. Soon she’ll be back on land, back in her apartment and most importantly back with her Ohana. None of that appeals to Lucy now however. Her first mission upon her return is to try contact Kate, wherever she may be.

For the meantime however she’s left with a mountain of paperwork to work through. She never thought she’d be reading aircraft manuals or learning systems onboard a Super Hornet, but apparently her heart has other ideas. She jerks back as she realises she’s beginning to drift off to sleep at her desk. Deciding to call it a night, she bookmarks her document and shuts the monitor off. Blinking hard she fights to urge to just sleep there and then.

Opening the door to the cabin and seeing the empty top bunk hasn’t gotten any easier over the past few days. She thinks of Kate all day everyday. She wishes her mind could bring itself to settle but not knowing where Kate is hospitalised is proving even harder than Lucy could’ve imagined. She collapses onto her bunk, breathing deep into her pillow hoping for one last remnant of Kate. Imagining the blonde’s soft velvety scent is enough to draw Lucy’s mind back to one of her favourite nights she spent with her.

Kate lay next to Lucy, her eyes tracing every inch of the agent’s face, eventually ending up meeting her dark, captivating eyes. Eyes which made the blonde’s heart race no matter how many times they met her own. “You’re cute when you stare”. Lucy teases Kate who doesn’t even realise the trance the agent’s eyes have held her in for so long. “Sorry, I can’t help it”. She apologises innocently before changing the subject. “Okay my turn!”. The blonde’s raises her eyebrows in anticipation. Lucy twists over and turns away from the blonde. She feels Kate’s soft but slightly cold finger against her bare back.

She closes her eyes against the feeling, enjoying the electricity and comfort in Kate’s touch. Paying attention to the blonde’s touch as it traces over her shoulder blades now. As Lucy puts the shapes formed on her muscular back together it’s soon obvious what the blonde is writing. The last letter is traced in an almost circular motion on her mid back. Lucy opens her eyes once more before turning back to face Kate

A slightly fearful look is written across the blonde’s face. Still she doesn’t break eye contact with Lucy who smiles gently at the innocence of the woman before her. A smile Lucy has carried with her for weeks now. The kind of smile that speaks volumes without words. “I love you too, Kate”. Lucy can’t help but widen her smile as she says it. Kate’s expression immediately melts before Lucy’s very eyes. Her tensed jaw relaxes, and her brow lowers, as her lips form the downward smile that had Lucy hooked from that first encounter. “I love you so very much Lucy”. She slowly closes the distance between them, savouring Lucy’s eyes following her.

Lucy is rudely awoken from her daydream by her phone vibrating on the bedside table. She huffs in frustration, who could possibly need her assistance at this time of night. Slowly pushing herself up she reaches across and reads the message. Ramirez wants to meet with her first thing in the morning to discuss her findings with the rest of the accident investigation team. Lucy takes a long, deep breath. She has her facts ready to present, whether it’s enough to warrant Kate’s innocence in the accident is still up in the air.

Lucy has professional pilots and engineers to impress. She’s very accustomed to reading case files and presenting her finding to Tennant and her team, but this is a whole other predicament. She decides it’s ultimately best to try get some sleep before doing so and flicks off her lamp and eases into the darkness.

———

“Agent Afloat Tara, this is Captain Shaw, Commander Warren and their teams”. Lucy shakes their hands, asserting her confidence with her firm grip. The men lead her across to a screen set-up in a makeshift boardroom on the ship’s lower deck. The room itself is dark and bare. Like almost everything else on the ship it’s practical and not much more. There’s about fourteen men here from what Lucy’s eyes can quickly estimate from a glance around the table.

Introductions aside they begin getting to the facts. The date, times and weather reports from the time of accident are highlighted on the screen. Information that has become engrained in Lucy’s memory. The captain leading the presentation swiftly moves onto the next slide. This is something Lucy hasn’t prepared herself for as Kate’s navy profile flashes onto the screen. The photo of the slightly younger looking blonde sends a sting into the backs of Lucy’s eyes. “Katherine Marie Whistler aka Goldrush is a lieutenant with many years experience on the Super Hornet since graduating from the Naval Academy”. The captain lists off some of Kate’s other achievements, Lucy begins to somewhat zone out.

She can’t help but notice that the date on the image of Kate smiling widely on the screen is from before she lost Noah. The agent wonders how different Kate was before her brothers accident. Lucy came close to losing Kate and that was enough to shift her entire perspective on her life and what she values. She can’t begin to imagine the weight of grief Kate carries with her to this day. The blonde uses flying as her freedom, a way to feel closer to her brother and now she may lose that one last part of him she keeps alive.

“Kate’s brother Noah was killed in a crash in California four years ago. Since then she has attended therapy and passed every psychological evaluation relating to the accident. In fact she was cleared to fly less than two months after his passing, by her own determination.” Lucy is suddenly drawn back to the present. She has read Kate’s file and couldn’t stop herself from crying while reading the comments left by some specialists who have assessed Kate over the years. Her strength is something Lucy will never tire of admiring about her.

Lucy is somewhat pleased that it isn’t her job to present Kate’s file to the room as the swallows the lump in her throat. Her task comes soon enough however. She is responsible for presenting the case files of engineers and other personnel onboard the ship that have recently worked on Kate’s aircraft. Lucy moves to the front of the room and presents her findings. “Chief Engineer Peterson was the last to sign the aircraft’s airworthiness check after the airframes six thousand hour check”. A week ago Lucy didn’t know what half those words even meant but she’s read and revised nonstop since Kate left.

Lucy works through all the personnel and their roles associated with Kate’s jet and lets out a brief sigh of relief once her presentation comes to an end. The day starts to feel endless, with every person in the room presenting findings on different areas. Some facts are new to Lucy, while others are second nature given the number of times she’s re-read certain files.

“We’ll reconvene in the morning and make our final assessment”. The men nod and shake hands amongst each other before leaving the room. Lucy hovers behind, unsure as to what she can do in the meantime. “You did well Agent Tara”. A familiar voice comes from just behind her as she turns to see Ramirez. “Thank you, sir. What do you think will happen?”. She feels naive just asking the question but the idea of waiting twenty four hours for an answer feels endless. “It’s impossible to say Agent Tara, but we’ve done all we could do. Take a rest, enjoy your last days at sea”. He reaches and places a hand on her shoulder before smiling and leaving the room.

———

The sun begins to beam through the thinly veiled cream curtains. Kate’s eyes ease open as her mind takes a moment to remember where she is. She places her arms by her side and slides to sit up in the bed. It’s been almost a week since she arrived at the hospital to begin her rehabilitation. Being the determined individual she is, Kate has pushed herself beyond what even the doctors thought was possible in that short time.

She notices the newspaper left on the bedside table, and stretches across to begin catching up on this mornings news. She won’t deny that despite the traumatic events of the past week, being back on land has been a blessing in disguise. Even just the smell of a freshly printed paper is so foreign to her after so long onboard on the ship. Flipping through some boring economic and political articles Kate skips ahead to some lighter news stories.

Moments later a nurse knocks on the door and enters after seeing Kate up and ready. She’s carrying a plastic tray containing breakfast. A bowl of porridge with a fruit salad awaits the blonde along with a mug of coffee. “How did you sleep Whistler?”. The nurse asks gently placing the tray into the blonde’s lap. “Just fine, thank you”. Kate thanks her once again for breakfast. The short woman walks across and opens the blinds. Kate’s eyes close instinctively as sunlight floods the room. “It’s a beautiful day out there. Hopefully you can head out for a walk soon Whistler”. The kind nurse assures.

Kate has unfortunately forgotten her name. She’s seen a lot of staff in her short stay here already and the pain meds weren’t helping her memory either. “Any contact for me?…” she decides not to go with a name, out of fear of being wrong. “Nothing yet Whistler, I’m sure that friend of yours will get through to you soon though”. The nurse smiles before leaving the room. “Me too”. Kate mumbles under her breath before picking up her spoon and making a start on breakfast.

———

Settling back into bed Kate lets out a sigh of relief, feeling her legs appreciate the peace of not carrying her body weight any longer. Her muscles still ache slightly but Kate views her pain as progress. She’s managed to walk further than ever before this session. She’s even been signed off to walk alone provided she has her crutch with her. It might not seem like much but the blonde is relieved to have the freedom of leaving her room.

Being stuck in one room has left her mind wandering to places she would rather it didn’t. Her head is in this room but the reality is she left her heart on the ship. In the hands of the woman she loves. She worries endlessly about Lucy. Despite the agent’s strength Kate can’t help but think she should be there for her. Holding Lucy in her arms is the only thing in the blonde’s mind as she lies looking out at the blue skies which soar above her window as the sun begins to set in the distance. Her mind floats back to the blue skies above the couple, as they spent the day of swim call in each others arms on the flight deck.

A sudden knock on the wooden door brings her back to the present. She turns her head to see a figure in a white uniform through the small rectangular window. “Come in?”. She states half heartedly, unsure as to who could possibly be visiting her here in hospital. “Good evening Lieutenant Whistler, sorry to bother you so late”. A man steps into the room. As he walks towards Kate’s bed he removes his hat and places it by his side. Reaching forward he leans down slightly to shake Kate’s hand.

“I have some news Whistler”…