(The picture is a ship named RV Atlantis (AGOR-25).  She is a research vessel that sails under the US flag and is used for underwater research. The picture has been provided as a photo reference only. The ship is not associated with any of the content within this story.)

THE salty sea air stung her eyes as she stood by the pier. And she slightly shivered from the cold ocean breeze as she watched the dock workers finish loading up the ship. But she stayed still since she knew that she had to in order to see the opportunity to sneak onboard the awaiting ship. It was the only way that she was going to be able to escape and get back alive. And she had to. She had to get back home to him.

She absently rubbed her stomach as she watched the men moving about the pier. She had to find a safe way to get on board and either blend in, or find a safe place to hide out until they got to Altissia. Then she could find a boat that she could use to get back to Gaulden Quay. From there, she knew that she could hitch a ride to Insomnia.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a boatswain's pipe being played over the loudspeaker. Then, much to her delight, a lot of the workers put down what they were doing and started heady to their ships to eat dinner. A few of them grabbed the last few items.  Most of them started boarding the various ships that were mourned to the pier.

This was the case for the ship that Tracy had been watching, the Atlantis.  Which stood out from the others due to her bright white superstructure and dark blue hull.  She knew this ship would be the most secured means of getting back just based on her markings as a research vessel.  Which also made it the perfect one to escape on since research vessels usually travel alone.

As she watched them packing up, she knew that now was her chance to sneak aboard. She scanned around the pier as she looked for the perfect person to replace. Then she saw a group of girls walking down the pier as they headed towards the boat. She noticed that the last person was a trim brunette with hair that looked like it was just as long as her's. Tracy gave a sad smile as she noticed that the girl didn't seem to be interacting with the others. She just followed behind the rest of them as if she was a dog on a chain that was headed for the pound.

Perfect. Quiet and ignored. Just what I need. Tracy thought as she stood up behind the crates and started to skirt along them as she followed her.

"I just can't get over how hot Mike is." One of the other girls was saying out loud to the others as they walked along. "I wonder if he's still dating that Stacy chick?"

"Why don't you just ask him?" Another girl with light brown curly hair and dark complexion asked her.

"I can't do that." She quickly returned as she flung her dishwater-blonde hair around.

"And why not?" Asked the light brunette.

"Faith, Faith, Faith. Things like this have to be handled with a certain style. You know. Guys like it when you play hard to get."

"Misty, that only works if they already like you. Mike doesn't even know that you exist." Faith returned bluntly.

"Ouch! Thanks for the blow to my ego." Misty returned in a hurt voice

"Look, if you really like him. You have to start out by talking to him first." Faith said in an exasperated voice. "Stop beating around the bush already."

Right at that moment the solo brunette in the back of the group was yanked behind the crates. After a couple of minutes, Tracy was standing back up wearing the girl's hat, glasses, coat, and badge. Tracy tucked part of her hair under the cap for the most part as she looked at the badge. Sara Long showed across the name badge with the Atlantis Ship Seal.

Sara huh. I think I can handle that. Tracy thought as she pushed the girl's unconscious body off of the pier and onto the beach below the pier.

The body slightly rolled under and out of sight. I'm sorry love. But I have to get back. You'll just have to catch up with the boat later.

Tracy then moved out into the open and tucked her chin down like the girl had been doing as she walked down the pier, and she started towards the ship. Tracy was able to catch up to the other girls fairly quickly as they slowly walked down the pier talking. Which worked out well for Tracy as they helped her blend in as they lead her down the pier. Which made it much easier to go undetected. She just hoped that they were going to the same ship, considering that there were a few ships on the pier that day. But this was good, since that meant that there were more people to hide among.

"Oh my god! Will you hurry up Sara?" Misty said in an impatient voice as she looked at Tracy. "I swear you have rocks in your shoes or something."

I'll put rocks in your shoes if you don't watch. Tracy angrily thought as she kept her head down.

"And what the hell? Don't you talk either?" Faith asked as she rounded on Tracy as well now. "I swear you are the quietest person I've ever met."

Tracy glanced around as she tried to remember if she had heard the girl talk or not. Fuck! I have no idea what she sounds like.

Tracy did the only thing she could think of and just shrugged her shoulders.

"Lay off of her will ya!" Said a third girl with fiery red hair. "It's hard enough working with the assholes on the ship. We don't need to fight among ourselves."

"Damn Jen, we're just playing." Misty said back as she glanced at her.

"Yeah. We don't mean anything by it." Faith said back with a smile that told Tracy that she meant every word of it.

"Yeah, right." Jen returned.

Jen then turned and looked at Tracy. "Don't worry about them. They didn't take to kindly to newcomers. But their not really bad or anything. Just a bit rough around the edges is all. But what do you expect when your doing a 'man's' job."

Tracy looked up at Jen and smiled. She liked this one. Perhaps this won't be as bad as she first thought that it was going to be. Hell, it might actually be fun.

"Hey, weren't you wearing your boats when we left?" Jen asked as she looked at Tracy's feet.

"Please tell me you didn't lose them already?" She asked when Tracy gave her a surprised look. "Bob's going to kill you if he found out that you lost them before we even left. Come on. Let's get you a new pair before we eat."

Tracy simply nodded as she followed. Perhaps it's a good thing that this girl is a dunce. But still, I wonder whose fucked up life I just took over?

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

"I see that you ladies are the last ones on-board. As usual." The brown haired, medium complexion quarterdeck-sized guard said in a deep romantic tone.

Tracy became very nervous as he started to check their badges and smiled at them with his handsomely chiseled face.

"Oh get off it Rick. Being stuck on-board with all you assholes is enough to make us all consider looking for a different job and leaving all the paperwork up to you dick heads to try and figure out." Jen said as she yanked her badge back from him.

"Now there's no need for that." Rick said back as he flirted with her. "You know we have no idea how to do any of that."

"Yeah, I'm very much aware of that." Jen said as she got right back in his face and flirted right back at him.

"Hmmmm." Rick hummed back at her as he narrowed his eyes and raised the corners of his mouth up. "See you after dinner tonight?"

"Hmmmm. We'll see." She said back with her flirty eyes again. "I still have to get our new girl here all settled in. This is her first time being on the ship after all."

"Well don't take to long." He hummed back at her. "I had something special planned for us tonight."

"I'll try." She said back then gave him a peck on the cheek.

Rick then smacked her on the ass, which made her yip in delight. Tracy was starting to get very uncomfortable watching these two. She was starting to wonder if it was too late to give the real Sara back her stuff and find another ship. But before she could walk away, Rick turned his attention to Tracy.

"So you must be the new girl. Welcome to the Atlantis, Ms. Sara Long." Rick said with a bright smile as he took Tracy's badge and examined it.

He studied the picture for a moment, then he looked closer at Tracy. She felt her heart rate start to increase as he looked at her.

Shit can he tell I'm not her? Tracy thought as she was getting ready to run.

"They say that a person's driver's license picture is the worse one." He said as he studied her face. "I think that in your case, it would be this badge. Your face looks a lot more elegant than what this shows."

Tracy dropped her head for a moment as she tried to hide her face from him. Shit, shit, shit!

"Hey!" Jen said as she smack him on the arm. "You've never said that about mine before?"

"Whoa!" He said as he jumped back laughing. "You can get another one done again if you want. But I think you have had it redone enough. Don't you?"

"That's not the point." Jen said to him in a pouty voice.

"But it's hard to catch your true beauty on film love." Rick said as he gave her a dazzling smile.

"Fine. I'll let you off the hook this time." Jen said as she rolled her eyes as she smiled back at him.

Rick then handed Tracy back her badge. "Be sure to swing by the boatswains locker so that we can see about getting you a better picture done will yeah."

Tracy took the badge back and slightly nodded. "I will. Thank you."

"Wow. I think that's the first time that I have ever heard her talk." Jen said as she looked at Tracy in surprise. "She must like you."

Tracy then quickly dropped her head again. Oh my six, did this girl ever do anything? Perhaps it's a good thing that I took over for her. These guys would eat her alive at this rate.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

After leaving the quarterdeck, they made their way to the supply office. Tracy sighed quiet as they walked away from quarterdeck. So far so good. Now all she had to do was survive the three week trip over to Altissia.

"Rick's really a great guy once you get to know him." Jen was saying as she walked Tracy through the passageway. "They all are actually. And they are doing very important work on board this ship. They just need to blow off some steam ever once in awhile."

"That's understood." Tracy said in very quiet voice.

Jen looked back at Tracy and smiled. "You know what? I think this trip is going to help you out a lot. You're already talking a lot more. I'm glad."

Tracy simply smiled back. Then dropped her gaze again as she tried to keep an eye on her feet so that the knee-knockers didn't take her out as they walked down the passageway that ran the full length of the ship. This was going to prove to be a challenge for her, since she was use to responded to everything. It was something that had always been drilled and pounded into her.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you mean they're gone? I just dropped them off to her yesterday?!" Tracy heard the First Lieutenant shout at Jen as she tried to sweet talk him into giving 'Sara' a new pair of boots.

Tracy closed her eyes for a moment as she was starting to feel bad for Jen and upset with herself for not grabbing the new boots that Sara had been wearing. But if she had, would it have really matter? Based on what Tracy had seen so far, it didn't seem that it would change anything. Apparently this Sara girl was just more then quiet and ignored, as she seemed to be the blunt end of a lot of abuse.

Tracy slightly raised a corner of her mouth. Perhaps she could be herself enough to get these guys to back off of her. No one deserved to put up with the shit that they were trying to dish out to her. It was the least she could do for letting Tracy 'borrow' her identity for a bit.

"Here you go." Jen said as she walked back out with a large heavy shoe box. "But you owe me for this one. I can't fight with Jeff like that all the time for you. He's not as easy to persuade as Rick is."

"Thank you." Tracy said back in a sweet voice.

Jen got a huge grin across her face. "No problem sugar. Now let's head to the berthing so that you can change into your boots so that we can eat without Bob flipping out. Again."

Tracy then simply nodded, as she was screaming at herself in her head. Stop talking so much!

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

After stopping by the the berthing and getting changed, Jen finally lead Tracy to the mess decks. The smell of the food was like heaven to her. She hadn't eaten anything since she snatched a few scraps out of the garbage on the train from Nifelheim to the piers. She couldn't help her stomach growling as she walked through the hatch and up to the food line.

Tracy then quickly started feeling for her wallet. Shit! I forgot to grab the cash that the girl had on her.

"What are you doing now?" Jen asked as she looked at her with a smile.

"My wallet?" Tracy asked as she made it look like she were panicking, which was partially true.

Jen slightly laughed at her. "You're funny. We don't pay for this garbage. It's one of the perks of the job. Food and board are both included."

"You don't have to eat it you know." The chef said from behind the counter as he gave Jen a stern look as he slopped what looked like shredded meat and gravy over what Tracy prayed was rice onto two separate trays.

Tracy tried not to say anything as she looked at a very skinny, but toned chef with very short blonde hair and a baby looking kind of face. If his size was any indication as to how good of a cook he was. It wasn't a wonder as to why Jen called it garbage. Whoever heard of a talented skinny chef?

"It was nothing against you Henry." Jen said sweetly back at him. "Sara here was just afraid that she was going to have to pay for this."

"Don't stop her if she wants to pay for it." Henry said with a smile. "I could always use the extra cash."

"Yeah, I'm sure you could." Jen said as she took the two trays from him.

"I swear their not usually this rough on the first day." Jen said as she set both trays down at the salad bar.

She then grabbed two bowls and handed one to Tracy. "They'll start to calm down once they get us moving again."

"And when will that be again?" Tracy carefully asked as she started filling up her bowl with tons of lettuce.

"I think I heard them say something about after dinner." She said with a smile. "You can head up to the bridge and watch the departure once we're done here. The sunsets are totally gorgeous on the open water."

"Don't we have work to do?" Tracy asked as she was starting to get nervous as to what Sara's job actually was onboard.

"Honey we're HR. We always have work to do." Jen said as she smiled back at her as she slightly shook her head. "But for tonight, I just want you to get use to the boat. I'll show you the office tomorrow after breakfast. We'll have plenty of time to get work done as we cruise along."

Tracy nodded and as she smiled back at Jen. At least the girl's job wasn't going to be the hard part. How hard could it possible be to work in Human Resources on a small ship? Tracy started to relax a bit as she was suddenly grateful that she had had a lot of Admin experience in her past.

But her relaxation was short lived as Jen lead her over to join Misty and Faith as they both sat in a booth in the corner. They were both giving her their non-sincere smiles as they called them both over.

This could be a long three weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~0~~~~~~~~~~

After a riveting dinner of listening to Misty and Faith asking every single detail of Jen's 'date' with Rick. Tracy found herself on the bridge looking out over the railing as the crew got the ship ready to head out. She was fascinated by the buzz of activity that was going on on the pier and on the ship as she watched them raise back up the gangway that she had taken to get on the ship. Once they had it secured to the deck again, they started getting ready to drop the last few mooring lines, Tracy was finally starting to relax completely.

Just drop the lines and I'm in the clear. She thought to herself as she watched them.

But then she happen to glance over at the pier where Tracy had pushed Sara off and happen to see some movement. She felt her heart start to go into her throat. Tracy was starting to regret that she hadn't used a stronger choke-hold on her. She woke up too early.

Damn it. Tracy said as she started to get nervous. Perhaps I should have broken her leg or something. I could have killed her I suppose. But I didn't want to waste her life like that.

But as Tracy watched, she saw Sara glance out and see that the ship was getting ready to leave. But instead of quickly trying to get their attention, she didn't make a single move to head towards it. In fact, Tracy watched the girl actually crawl back under the pier and hide when someone came walking past her. Tracy slightly smiled.

It looks like the girl is smarter than she let's others to believe she is. Tracy smiled as she nodded at the girl. Well that, or she read my note to her.

"Enjoy your short break." Tracy said out loud as if Sara could hear her.

"Oh, I did." Tracy heard a calm, deep male voice say from behind her.

Tracy quickly whipped around and came face-to-face with a tall, well built, tanned-skinned man, whose naturally bleached blonde hair touched the top of his broad shoulders. He looked like someone who should be riding a surfboard, not sailing on a ship. She couldn't help but to stare at him as he looked at her with his deep emerald eyes that seemed to be searching her very soul as she stood in front of him. She had to take a step back in order to get herself back under control.

"I'm sure you did." Tracy said as she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him.

She wasn't sure if she should be scared of him, or infatuated with him, as he stared at her. But either way he was definitely intimidating as he seemed to tower over her. She had never felt so conflicted before as she looked at him. And it was made worse as he stepped up closer to her so that he was within a foot of her as he cocked his head as he tried to figure out why she was just staring at him.

"You must be Sara." He finally said when he realized that she seemed to have forgotten how to talk.

"Who?" Tracy said as she forgot who she was suppose to be for a moment.

"Sara? You are Sara Long? Right? My new HR and Legal Clerk? Or did we pick up the wrong person again?" He asked as he searched her face.

"Yes....YES! That's me. I'm sorry. I'm still trying to get use to the ship I guess." Tracy quickly said before she dropped her head.

What the fuck am I doing? I can't blow it now. We haven't even left the pier yet! Tracy screamed at herself as she tried to play it off as just being nervous, which wasn't that far from the truth.

"It can be a bit much if your not use to it, I suppose." He said as he gave her a broad smile. "But don't worry. It'll get easier as we go along. I'm Robert. I'm the Executive Officer for this fine vessel."

"It's very nice to meet you." Tracy said as she held out her hand to him.

"Here to." He responded with a smile that could melt anyone's heart, and give even kittens a run for their money.

He took her hand firmly in his strong hand, which seemed to spike her heart rate before he released it again. "And you can call me Bob. Everyone here does."

Tracy's heart stopped. This is the Bob that Jen has been talking about?

"Come on. I'll introduce you to the Skipper." He said and gestured for her to head through the door and into the main bridge area.

Holy shit! What the hell did I just get myself into? Tracy though as she nervously walked onto the bridge.

******Author Note******

For those of you who are familiar with Tracy from my other book Growing Pains. This story starts long before she has official gotten back to Insomnia. A lot of those characters maybe be reference throughout the story. But only a few of them will actually be included in this short short.

I do hope that you are enjoying this one so far though. Fair warning though, this story will have shorter chapters and won't be a long. But it will still have a lot of action, drama, and romance involved. So be sure to keep an eye out for each chapter as they will come out faster then the main story.

And as always.

Thanks for reading. :)

*************************