Nathan waited with Lucas in the launch bay waiting for the shuttle that was to bring Dr. Daniel Brannagh aboard.  Lucas couldn't wait to meet the man who had done more for dolphin research than ten men in his lifetime.  Admittedly Lucas was nervous, as was Nathan.  Dr. Brannagh wanted to come aboard to meet Lucas and Darwin and to see the vocorder.

Dr. Brannagh often worked for the British military on sonar that dolphins and whales use to find their way through the water.  The man had revolutionized sonar with his work and now was being granted access to the vocorder and all its magic.

The launch docked and the doors open to show a man in his mid-forties with light brown hair and blue eyes alight from the small craft.  He his face sported a beard and his eyes seemed to dance with mischief as he surveyed the launch bay.  He a large black bag was slung over his shoulder and he was dressed in a very colorful button down shirt and khaki shorts and a straw hat on his head. Not really what Nathan expected but oh well.

Nathan stepped forward with Lucas in tow.  "Hello, welcome aboard Seaquest.  I'm captain Nathan Bridger."  He extended the hand and Brannagh shook it.

"Hello captain, Daniel Brannagh.  It's great to be aboard.  I've been looking forward to this for weeks."  Said Brannagh in a British accent that reminded Nathan of Kristin.  He set down his bag.  "Damn thing gets heavier every time I put more stuff into it." Said Brannagh with a laugh.

"I think it's called gravity doctor." Said Lucas.

"You must be Lucas wolnechek." The boy and the doctor shook hands.  "I heard about you.  Damned cocky indeed." Said Brannagh a smile, which Lucas returned.

"No one ever calls me cocky except the doc." Said Lucas.

"Really?" said Brannagh with a mischievous smile on his lips which Nathan for some odd reason didn't quite like.  "I'm looking for a doctor."  He used his hands to emphasis his words.  "Say about five four, hundred-ten pounds with fiery red-hair and really large" before Brannagh could finish he sentence Kristin Westphalen came running in to his arms.

"Daniel!" she said as she flung herself into his arms.

"Kitten." Said Daniel as he lifted her off her feet in a big hug.

Lucas was thankful for the perfect timing of Dr. Westphalen to interrupt Brannagh's description of her.  The last comment though unfinished was making his face color a little bit. Nathan on the other hand was getting more than a little peeved at the marine biologist/sonar guru especially his last quip. It was apparent that Brannagh knew Kristin but Nathan wasn't sure how well. He hoped to God not well.

His hopes were dashed though as the two Britains share a kiss that looked a little bit more than friendly and Brannagh's hand grabbed Kristin's behind.  She pulled back from him with a laugh.  "So have you met everyone as she turned to Lucas and Nathan?" Daniel put his arm around Kristin's shoulders as he turned to look at Bridger and Lucas.

"Yes I have and yes that boy is one cocky kid." He indicated Lucas with a nod towards the boy.  "Okay, you three you must show me that beautiful talking dolphin of yours before I explode with anticipation."

Nathan and Lucas led them from the room catching Daniel's comments to Kristin as they walked down the hall.  "So little girl I brought some candy with me you gonna play with me later?" asked Daniel in a playful little voice to which Kristin just laughed.  The sound of her laughter grating against Nathan's ears.  `I am not jealous.' Thought Nathan as he listened to the playful banter
of his CMO and Brannagh as they all walked down the hall to the moonpool.

Brannagh for his part was totally fascinated by Darwin and Lucas' vocorder and couldn't praise the boy enough.  "I can't believe I'm talking to a dolphin." He laughed. "It's incredible. My boy you are a genius."  Lucas beamed; Brannagh had been his inspiration in creating the vocorder.

Nathan couldn't concentrate on much of the conversation between Lucas and Brannagh due to the fact that Brannagh's hands roamed over Kristin.  Brannagh had not taken his hands off Kristin except to pet Darwin.  Nathan's hands clenched at his sides as he saw Kristin accept Brannagh's rather intimate gestures.

Nathan's stomach seemed to clench in a knot as Kristin returned Brannagh's attentions with her own.  She smiled and laughed as she interacted with her friend.  She was smiling at Brannagh with such warmth in her eyes.  `I wish I could light that fire in her eyes.' thought Nathan but quickly pushed the idea from his mind.  `No, I don't want her to look at me that way.'   But a small voice in the back of his mind countered, `yes you do' so fiercely Nathan almost flinched.

His PAL sounded as Ford called him to the bridge and Nathan gladly excused himself from the doctors and Lucas and head towards the bridge thinking `he will only be here for a week, only a week.'

As soon as the captain had left Daniel turned to Kristin and said, "so what's going on between you and the captain?" asked Daniel amusedly.

Kristin looked at him a bit curiously as she spoke.  "Nothing."

"Uh huh, so why was he giving me dirty looks every time I touched you?"

"He did not."

"Yes he did.  Lucas back me up here."

"Yeah, he did doc." Said Lucas shyly trying not to smile. He had noticed his captain's face when he saw how Daniel was behaving towards Kristin.

"You both are seeing things." Said Kristin seriously.

"Yes I think we were seeing a jealous man." Daniel said to

Lucas who laughed until a glare from Kristin silenced him. "Leave him alone Daniel." Kristin said pleadingly.Daniel pulled her into his embrace and kissed her forehead.

"I'm going to be here all week and while I am extremely excited to be working with Mr. Wolnechek I plan on having some fun." He said playfully.

Kristin was about to say something but her PAL went off and she was called to medbay.  Daniel relinquished his hold on her.  She started towards the door and said, "behave yourself Daniel or I won't play with you anymore." He gave her his best innocent face and she smiled shaking her head as she left.

As soon as Kristin was out of sight Daniel turned to Lucas with an evil grin on his face.  "Now you are going to play with me aren't you Lucas?"

Lucas couldn't help but smile at this very playful man.  "You're going to get me into trouble aren't you?"

"Oh most likely but it will be a fine ride."

"What do you plan on doing?"

Nathan rubbed his eyes tiredly as he sat down to dinner with Lucas.  "You look tired cap." Noted Lucas as he looked at the older man.

"Trouble sleeping last night, Lucas." Said the old man.  It was the truth.  He had been up late the night before going over paper work with Jonathan Ford but afterwards Nathan had gone to seadeck to find Kristin and Brannagh sitting on the steps next to the moonpool.  Brannagh was sitting one step above Kristin and she was leaning against him.  He watched as the two flirted and
laughed and held each other.  He left the room without being seen and stormed to his quarters slamming the door behind him as he entered his cabin.

He was angry at her he knew that. She hadn't been to talk to him since Brannagh had arrived, not for three days, and he missed her.  `No I do not miss her.' Nathan thought to himself.  `I miss talking to someone other than that damn holo-imager.'

Rumors were running rampant on the ship about the two doctors.  He had heard how she had been seen coming out of the guest quarters the morning following his arrival.  He had felt hurt and betrayed.  `I have no claim on her.' He thought but it didn't help ease his heart.

He thought of how chummy the two Brits were and how they behaved in public.  `She should know better than to behave that way in public.' Nathan thought angrily.   `Get a hold of yourself Nathan.'  He told himself `you have no right to be acting like this.'  A small voice from deep with in himself said `just admit it, you're jealous.'  `No, I'm not.' Thought Nathan angrily.  `Okay I have to stop this!  Just stop thinking about her.'

"Captain are you alright?" asked Lucas.  He had been talking to Nathan about his work with Brannagh and had noticed that Nathan had not been paying the slightest bit of attention.

"I'm sorry Lucas. I've got a lot on my mind." Said Nathan apologetically.

"Well I was just saying how much fun it was to be working with Daniel.  He's great.  Of course he can't seem to keep his hands off the doc when she's in the room but hey can you blame him?" Lucas said trying to keep the smile off his lips as he baited his captain.  He hadn't the nerve to look at Nathan to see his reaction but he knew it was probably worth it.

Nathan just stared at the boy in disbelief.  Not so much at how he described Daniel's behavior towards Kristin but at Lucas' last remark.  The boy had never made such a statement about a woman let alone Kristin.  Nathan's eyes were drawn from Lucas to watch as Brannagh and Kristin walked into the mess hall, Brannagh's arms ever present around the woman's waist.

Lucas watched his captain.  He couldn't help but smile as Nathan flinched a little as Brannagh kissed Kristin on the cheek.  Lucas almost choked on his food as he saw Daniel wave as he caught Bridger's eye then replace his hand on Kristin's behind.  Lucas watched as Nathan got up to leave.

"Where you going cap?" asked Lucas innocently.

"I'm not very hungry right now.  I think I am going to go to my quarters and try and get some sleep." Nathan said and he left the mess hall.

Some time later a knock sounded on Nathan's door.  "Come in.," he said as he laid the book he was reading on the desk.  Well you really couldn't call it reading, more like staring aimlessly at a page in a book.  He couldn't stop thinking about how happy Kristin looked when she was with Brannagh and a small part of him had to admit that he wished he was the one making her smile.

The door opened and Kristin Westphalen walked in. She was dressed in a white button down shirt and khaki shorts. Her hair was up in a ponytail and he couldn't help smile as he saw the spring in her step as she crossed the room and sat down in the chair opposite him.

Even though he was glad to see her, Kristin's appearance both surprised and annoyed him.  She was the last person he expected to see and the last person he wanted to see.  He almost glared at her questioning look as she took the seat opposite him leaning forward and resting her elbows on his desk.

"Lucas says your not sleeping well." She said matter of factly.  When he didn't answer her she continued.  "Is something wrong Nathan?" she asked with concern in her voice.

His heart skipped a beat when she called him Nathan, it always did.  He sure as hell wasn't going to tell her he was jealous.  `I am not jealous.'   "No, nothing is wrong.  And I had trouble sleeping last night not every night." Nathan said testily.

"Well that would explain your pleasant disposition." She said dryly which earned her a glare from Nathan.  "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked.

`Yes.' "No." his tone told her he didn't want to talk and she rose from the chair.  "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." He sounded angry.

She sighed as she walked to the door and opened it.  "Lucas and Daniel are working with Darwin right now. Would you like to come and take a look at what they are working on? It's quite fascinating."

Turning back to the book he had been trying to read earlier he said, "no thank you. If I wanted to watch someone fondle my doctor I would call Malcolm."  `Why did I just say that?'

He heard the door slam loudly.  Nathan looked towards the door and say Kristin still in the room.  She was looking at the door trying to breathe.  He knew she was pissed.  `Apologize moron before she says anything.'

She turned and walked slowly back over to the chair she had been sitting in but didn't sit down and she had yet to look at him. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and her cheeks were flushed.  She was trying her hardest to get herself under control before she even looked at him.

She was also trying to figure out what she was going to say to him.  A whole myriad of things was running through her mind to yell at him but she couldn't decide on what to say.  Very quietly and slowly she said,  "I'm sorry captain," she practically spit out captain.  "I'll try to maintain a more professional distance from Dr. Brannagh."

"That would be appreciated doctor.  It's not a very good idea for the ships doctor to be running around like some teenager who's parents have gone on vacation."  `And why the hell did I just say that.'

She quickly turned her head and glared at him not saying a word.  The fire in her eyes made Nathan cringe inwardly. She looked away again.    She wanted nothing more than to slap him as hard as she could but she held back.  Instead of saying another word she turned and walked towards the door.

He heard it slam as it shut behind her.  He was angry with her and wanted to lash out.  He wanted to argue with her, to bring out the passion in her and he felt disappointed when she didn't take the bait.

Kristin stormed onto seadeck.  "Stupid son of a bitch." She muttered angrily as she walked over to the moonpool. Lucas and Daniel who had been working on the vocorder looked up at her with concerned looks on their faces. She picked up Darwin's ball and threw it as hard as she could against the wall.  The sound making Lucas jump a little in his seat.

"Um, Lucas I think maybe we should call it a night.  We'll pick this up first thing in the morning, okay?"

"Sure Daniel." He said as he looked over at Kristin with concern.

Daniel patted him on the back and the boy left the room.  "So, are you going to tell me why you are so angry?" asked Daniel as soon as Lucas had left.  He settled himself on the steps and watched as Kristin paced angrily in front of the pool.

"That bloody son of a bitch." Was Kristin's angry reply.

"Okay we've narrowed it down to a who. Can we have a why now?"

Kristin tried to speak but she was too angry.  `How dare he say something like that.'  She knew what the rumors around the ship were saying but she didn't care.  She never had and she thought he didn't either but now she wasn't so sure.  "How dare he say something like that." She finally said out loud.  "I am not some bloody teenager."

"May I ask what he said?"

"He said if he wanted to watch someone fondle his doctor he would call Malcolm."

"Who's Malcolm?"

"A friend of his."

"Okay, anything else?"

"He said I was acting like a teenager whose parents had gone on holiday."

Daniel burst out laughing.  "Stop it, it's not funny." Kristin said as stopped her pacing to look at him.

"I'm sorry." He said as he tried to calm his laughter.  "But it is funny."  His laughter started up again as he thought of her words.

"It's not funny." Replied Kristin but her face was betraying her as her lips started to twitch upwards.  "Okay it is a bit funny." She said as she smiled as she watched Daniel almost roll off the steps due to his laughter.  Kristin shook her head and sat down next to him.

Daniel's laughter faded as a smile graced his lips.  "Remember the time we got caught skinny dipping at the lake.  I thought you father was going to kill me."

She laughed at the memory.  "Then you tried to convince him it was for anatomy class. I think he wanted kill you even more."

"Well if I had known back then it was had more to do with curiosity than lust I probably would have gotten out of that situation a little better."

"Yeah probably." She said.  A sad smile graced her lips as she remembered her father.

"Hey, they would have been so proud of you." He said as he put his arm around her.  "Look at all you have accomplished.  You're father would have been so proud of you he probably would have painted `my daughter is amazing' on the side of Buckingham palace."

Kristin laughed.  "I know." She said softly.  "You know you are the only one I have left."

"Oh come on don't say that. You have Cynthia, the little brat that she is." Kristin nodded.

"Come on I think it is time to get you drunk, my love."  Daniel said as he stood up and held his hand to help her up.

Nathan really hated himself sometimes.  The arrogance he held of his morals is what probably kept him from keeping his mouth shut.  It's not that he thought badly of her, it's just that he always felt your personal life should be personal, not public. And her actions were anything but private. `No you're wrong.' Said the small voice from the back of his mind.  He was really getting tired of that voice because it was usually right.

It wasn't her behavior that was the problem. She had done nothing but accept the friendly gestures of a man.  It's not like she had been caught necking in the mess hall or on seadeck.  No, she let a man kiss her who wasn't Nathan. She let a man touch her who wasn't Nathan and she had spent the night with a man who wasn't Nathan.  All that was the problem, the man wasn't him.

Nathan finally admitted to himself that he was jealous.  He was, dammit, and now he had probably stomped any chance he had with her whether or not the rumors of her sleeping with Daniel Brannagh were true or not.

`Alright so I'm in love with her, now what hot shot?' he asked the small voice.  `Go talk to her.' `Might as well,' he thought as he slipped off his bunk and pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.

Kristin Westphalen was feeling particularly good at the moment.  Well she should since she had about four shots of tequila that Daniel had brought with him.  It had been quite a while since she had four shots of anything alcoholic let alone something like straight liquor and the funny haze that was on her brain was making it difficult to concentrate.  Daniel on the other hand was doing quite well with the six shots that he had had.  No fuzzy brain, no listing ship, just a warm happiness coming from his belly.

"Come on kitten, we have to get you back to your quarters before I get you into trouble." Said Daniel as he led Kristin from his quarters.  They rounded a corner and almost ran headlong into Nathan.  `Oh dear.' Thought Daniel when he saw Nathan.

He did pretty much the only thing he could think of and handed Kristin over to Nathan.  "Captain I believe this belongs to you." He almost shoved Kristin over to Nathan who caught her before she had a chance to tip over to the floor.  "Sorry kitten but I've got to go find someone else to play with." And with that he continued down the hall leaving a very stunned Nathan holding a partly drunk Kristin in his arms.

"What was that?" asked Nathan.

"Oh who knows he's an awfully strange fellow." Said Kristin as she unconsciously leaned against Nathan.  She suddenly turned her face up to look at Nathan.  "We should go see Darwin.  Come on." She grabbed his hand and almost ran with him to seadeck.  It was slowly dawning on him that she must either be drunk or damned near close.

They reached the moonpool and Kristin let Nathan's hand drop as she reached out to touch Darwin as the animal swam up to greet her and Nathan.  "Hello Darwin. Oh you're such a pretty dolphin. Yes you are." She spoke lovingly to the dolphin.Nathan watched her.  She didn't seem to be angry with him at all.  It was probably just the alcohol but he felt he should take advantage of the situation and apologize to her."Kristin, I'm sorry for what I said earlier in my cabin. It was inappropriate of me. I'm sorry."

"Oh it's alright, I'm not mad anymore.  I probably shouldn't have allowed Daniel's somewhat public displays of affection continue after he had first gotten here."  She had yet to take her eyes off Darwin as he glided through the somewhat cool water.  "And if it makes you feel any better captain, Daniel would find you more attractive than me." She looked at him with a small mischievous smile as she said, "all though I can't say I blame him." She
laughed and returned her eyes back to Darwin.

"You mean he's…I would have never have guessed that." Said Nathan in quiet disbelief.  "I mean he was all over you." Nathan said to himself more than to her.

She laughed.  "Yes I know.  We've always been very comfortable around each other.  Some would say too comfortable but, I don't know, we have a very strange relationship."

"My parents died when I was sixteen and James and Sandra took care of me until I was of age.  Sandra was Daniel's sister and James fiancée.  When James and Sandra were killed I only had Daniel and he only had me."  Her face had become sad as she talked.  "I guess Daniel and I became closer than a brother and sister but less than lovers, we could never become that.  I've always felt safe with him, I know he would never break my heart."

"I was jealous." Said Nathan quietly looking down at his hands as he spoke.  Kristin looked at him as he sat on the steps.   "With Malcolm and now with Daniel.  I didn't want to admit that I was falling in love with you.  I promised myself I would never let myself love again because it hurt too much when I lost someone.  And then you had to storm into my life, yell at my XO and not ask for my heart but get it anyway."

She had never really expected Nathan Bridger to admit to himself let alone her that he was in love with her.  She stood there just looking at him not knowing what to say.  She slowly walked over to him and stood in front of him.  She laid her hands on his shoulders.  He put his hands on her hips and drew her closer to him so he could wrap his arms around her waist resting his head against her chest.

She laid her left hand on his back and slowly ran her fingers through his hair.  She kissed the top of his head then laid her head upon his. This was the one moment she could live in forever.  Just holding each other close with no one in the world but the two of them. The two lovers held each other that night and
forever.