Tracy slowly opened her eyes as she heard someone talking just off to the side. She slowly blinked her eyes as she tried to focus again. Which became clear as she could finally make out the doctor as he talked to a few of his assistants who were standing in front of him.

"I want everyone to keep an close eye on her. Her body will get to the point that it starts to reject it. And it may start to force it out of her. I'm not sure when that will be, considering we don't have an exact time frame of when it passed. If this happens before we reach Altissia, we may have to fly her off. We don't have the right equipment to handle the procedure here if anything goes wrong." Doc was saying in a calm mello voice.

But to Tracy, he sounded more like an executioner. She had had a feeling that something was wrong. But she had tried not to give up any chance of hope. But as he spoke, she knew then that there wasn't any hope left anymore.

She closed her eyes tightly as she fought off the immediate rush of emotions. The sadness of the loss. The fear for herself and for her lost baby. Even helplessness of not being able to do anything.

But the loudest was her anger in failing yet again. And not just herself this time. Or even for her team who gave their lives to save her. Even though that one thought alone, was pure rage itself.

No. The one that hit the hardest was the anger towards herself for losing her baby. It was an tiny innocent being. Who never had a chance.

It never had a chance to grow up and explore the world. It never got to be held and loved by everyone. It never even got to take its first breath of fresh air. Before it went back to the life stream.

Tracy's whole body started to shake as she could feel the emotions winning the battle. But as soon as she started crying, she felt a sharp pain seer her side. The pain was so intense that she couldn't help but to cry out loud. She had to open her eyes again as the pain seemed to take over.

"Fuck!" Tracy cried as she quickly grabbed her side.

Only for her to slightly jump as she felt the soft cloth of the bandages under her fingers. She quickly clutched her hand into a fist to prevent herself from grabbing the bandages. She hissed as she tried to calm back down. For the pain was starting to cause sparks in front of her eyes.

"Here Ms. Sullivan, this will help with the pain. But it won't be enough to knock you out this time." Tracy heard Doc say from her right side.

Tracy slightly started to relax as she could feel the cool liquid flow through her IV and into her body. She tried to calm down her emotions the rest of the way as she tried to stretch out a bit. But as she did, she felt pain from the pull of her skin where they had had to stitch her up. She had to clutch her jaw again as she tried not to cry out again.

"Try to relax my dear. You'll only hurt yourself more if you try to move to much." Doc said as he placed one of his hands on her forehead and the other on her arm.

Tracy slowly settled back down as she tried to calm down her now labored breathing and racing heart. She knew that he was right. But how was she suppose to relax after what she had just heard. Hell she wasn't even sure how she was suppose to feel at all, considering what she had just learned.

"There you go." He said when he saw that she stopped trying to move all together. "Just stay still for now. The Morphine should kick in, in a few minutes. But until then, I don't suggest moving unless you absolutely have to.

"How bad is it?" She quietly asked in a raspy voice.

"You have two broken ribs and a laceration on your side. We were able to safety stop the bleeding and sewed you back up. And the ribs were a clean break that should heal fairly quickly since they never got compounded." She heard doc say as she stared at the bulkhead that was opposite of her. "And take comfort that you are young enough that you should have next to nothing in a scar from the laceration."

"And my baby?" She asked as her mouth went dry. "Is it really....?"

There was a long pause that seemed to last forever before he responded.

"I'm afraid I couldn't hear a heartbeat, other than your own. But I won't know for sure without a few more tests. But that is only if I have your permission to do so?" He carefully asked.

"Yes. Please." She absently said. "I would like to know."

"Can you tell me how far along you think that you are?" He asked.

"I should be just shy of 17 weeks." She said with a shaky voice.

She heard a couple gasps from the assistants in the room. He removed his hand from her head and slightly tightened up his grip on her arm. Then he slowly rubbed his thumb against her arm as if to try and calm both of them. To which she took some comfort in.

"Thank you for that." He replied in a strained voice. "Now let me draw some blood for the other tests and then we'll do an ultrasound. After that we should be able to get a better idea of how big it is. And what our next steps will be to keep you comfortable until we can get you back to Altissia."

Tracy simply nodded. That was all she could bring herself to do. For she couldn't move without hurting herself. She couldn't cry without hurting even more. Hell, she couldn't even breathe without it hurting. So her only option was to stay still and wait.

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

"How are you feeling?" Tracy heard Bob's voice ask as he slowly walked into the room and saw that she was now propped up slightly in the bed so that she could eat.

Tracy looked up and slightly smiled at him. "I could be worse. I could still be in that cell."

Bob slightly smiled as he walked up to her bed. "Yeah. Well doc insisted that you be kept here. Apparently he doesn't like his patients to be treated like criminals."

"And besides," he said as he stopped by her bed, "that's no way to treat a hero."

Tracy dropped her head. "I'm no hero."

Tracy could feel her heart starting to break again. That was until she felt his hand grab hers.

"You are here. And to us. You saved us back there from something we really weren't prepared for. But apparently your were." He said as he started to rub his thumb across her hand.

She looked at her hand as her skin tingled from his touch. She couldn't help but smile from his gentle touch. She slightly squeezed his hand as she took in a shaky breath. She had forgotten how nice it felt to have a strong hand to hold.

"Not completely." She slightly smiled. "It still got me pretty good."

"Just what was it anyway? What the hell attacked us?" He asked as he couldn't seem to release her hand.

"That, was a very large, and highly upset karlabos. It must have been sleeping before Mike yelled and woke it up." She said with a slight smile as she looked back up at Bob.

Bob closed his eyes for a moment as he squeezed her hand. Damnit Mike!

"But it's okay. He didn't know." Tracy quickly said as she saw Bob start to get pissed. "Hell, none of us knew that it was there. And.. I'm sorry I pushed you like I did. I hope you didn't get hurt."

Bob then brought her hand up to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss. Tracy felt her heart skip a beat as his lips touch her skin.

"Don't make excuses for my crew." He quietly said as he dropped her hand back down. "And I should be the one apologising. We never should have put you in danger like that. That mission was never your mission."

"And the kiss?" She half whispered.

"To thank you for your help." He whispered back as he met her gaze. "And for saving me."

"I'm glad I could help." She responded back with a shaking voice as she felt her heart pounding in her chest. "It's the least I could do after deceiving everyone like I did."

Bob then looked at her with a slight smile. "Let's just call it even then."

"Okay." Tracy replied with the same.

"Besides, I was finally able to talk to your Intelligence department in Insomnia. In fact I talked with the department head himself." He said to her with a smile.

"Really?" She asked in surprise. "Who did you talk to?"

"He said his name was Korn. Korn Scientia." Bob said with a slightly uncertain tone.

Tracy dropped her gaze and smiled. So he got it after all. Good for him. He deserves the promotion.

"I take it you know him." Bob said in flat tone as he looked down while he slowly stroked her skin again as he laid her hand back down on the bed.

"I do. He's actually a good friend of mine." She replied with a smile.

His hand froze. "How good of a friend?"

"Nothing like that." She quickly responded. "He is totally not my type. If you knew him, you would know what I mean." Why the hell did I just say that?!

Then she felt his hand relax. "Good. Because he spoke very highly of you. And he was thrilled to hear that you're safe."

"Really?" Tracy asked out of surprise.

She just couldn't picture Korn being thrilled over anything. He wasn't exactly the most expressional person. In fact most people thought that he was very standoffish. But that was due to his quiet and inquisitive personality. Which makes him the perfect person to run the Intelligence Department.

"You seem a bit surprised?" Bob asked as he watched her.

She smiled back at him. "Not as surprised as I am thrilled for his promotion. He's exactly what Insomnia needs in that position."

"Good for him then." He said as he looked at her with a gentle gaze.

But as she watched him, his eyes seemed to darken as they seemed to stare almost longingly at her lips. She could almost feel the heat rising up in her cheeks as she wondered if his lips would feel as soft on her lips as they had on her hand. He seemed to think the same thing as he started to slowly lean into her. She felt her heart start to race as he got closer.

"So this is where you have been hiding?" Tracy heard Faith's loud voice say from the door.

Bob released her hand and stood back up. As Faith, Misty, and Jen all walked into the room, all carrying trays of food. Tracy followed Bob with her eyes until he turned to them. Then she turned her gaze to them as well. Misty glanced at Bob with a confused look, before she looked at Tracy and gave her a slight smile. While Faith gave her a wicked look as she did a quick glance between the two of them. As Jen gave both of them a relieved look.

What the hell? Did they see something that I had missed before? Tracy thought as she looked at each of them.

"So what is the Admin department doing in medical?" Bob asked as he kept a straight look.

"Well, we always eat together at noon. And since she can't leave the medical ward. We brought lunch to her." Misty said with a smile. "Unless you would rather she ate with you?"

Tracy's heart leaped at the question as she turned and looked at Bob.

"I think I'll take a rain check on that. I just wanted to stop by and check on her." He said without looking at her.

Tracy slightly glanced down before she looked back up at him and replied. "Thank you for stopping by."

Bob then turned and looked at her with that gentle glance again. "Anytime. I'll stop by tonight to see if you need anything. But until then. Just have me paged, if you need me."

"Yes sir." Tracy replied automatically.

Bob then nodded at her and walked out of the room. Tracy followed him with her eyes as he left the room. While the girls quickly went about pulling up some chairs and a makeshift table so that they could talk. Much to the dismay of the medical assistants who were very surprised that Tracy suddenly had a lot of visitors. But after Bob was long gone, and the assistants gave up trying to argue with them, everyone finally settled down to eat.

"Okay. You have to come clean with us now. How long have you been a secret agent?" Faith asked with sparkles in her eyes. "And you have to tell us every detail.

"Down girl." Misty said with a smile. "She is right thought. We have been going crazy ever since yesterday. You are way cooler than Sara ever was. So you have to tell us about yourself. And this time, we want the real you."

Tracy dropped her head as she slightly laughed at them. This was not what she had expected from those two. They were acting like two high school students anxiously waiting to hear the latest gossip. Then she looked at Jen. Who had a honest smile.

"I'm just glad your okay." She simply said.

Tracy smiled back at her. "Me to."

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

"We'll stop by tomorrow for lunch. Okay?" Jen asked with a smile.

"Yeah. I'll see you then." Tracy responded to Jen as the three women headed out the door.

Tracy smiled at them as they left. Only for her heart to leap as Bob walked in right before they reached the door. They all smiled at him as they greeted him and wished him a good night as they stepped out of the room. Faith, being the last one to leave, gave her a smirk after she indicated a kiss and nodded towards him. Tracy gave her a warning look, before she glanced at Bob as he smiled at her.

Tracy could tell by his smile that he knew what faith was implying. Smooth Faith. Smooth.

"I see that you have been entertained by some new fans." Bob said with a smile.

"I think you meant to say friends." Tracy smiled back at him.

"One friend for sure. But two fans." He corrected as he pulled over a chair.

He then spun the chair around, and straddled the chair before he sat down on the seat with his arms on the back of the chair. Tracy smiled as she watched him. She liked that he was starting to relax around her again. He sat there for a moment as he smiled at her. She beamed back as he looked more like a high school student trying to act cool to get a girl's attention, then the Executive Officer of a research ship.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he rested his head on his hands.

Tracy laid her head back on the bed as she watched him. "I'm okay."

"Are you in any pain?" He asked in a serious tone as he looked at her with a concerned gaze.

"Nothing I can't handle." She replied as she searched his face.

He shook his head and looked down. She could tell that he wanted to ask her something. But he seemed to be trying to decide on if he should bring it up or not. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. She then watched him look down as he leg started to shake.

"You are terrible at asking for help aren't you?" She asked as she watched him.

"Perhaps in this case." He said as he leaned back and straightened up as he tried to avoid her gaze.

"And why is that?" She asked as she watched him get as nervous as a kid trying to ask his mom for a cookie or new toy.

"Well." He started as he looked down for a moment. "You see, you have put me in a bit of a predicament."

"And what could I have possible done to bring an Executive Officer down a peg or two." She teased.

"Tst, it's not that bad." He retorted back.

"If its not, then why haven't you asked me already?" She asked as she smiled at him.

"Because I don't really have a right to ask you for a favor." He quietly responded as he dropped his head down as he looked at the chair.

Damn is he cute when he's cornered. She thought with a smile. "Well, shouldn't that be up to me to decide? And how do you know that I won't say yes?"

He looked back up at her with a slightly stunned look.

"Of course I could also say no." She added when he didn't say anything.

"But you won't know unless you ask. Now will you?" She asked as she gave him a gentle look as she was studying his beautiful emerald eyes as they were starting to look almost desperate as he looked at her.

"Very true." He added with a slight smile.

"Then ask me already." She said back with a smile as she tried to sit up straighter in her bed.

Which she immediately regretted as she felt a slightly sharp pain shot through her, that made her close her eyes as she hissed in pain. All she heard was the chair move. And all she felt was the suddenly warmth of his arms around her as he held her. She grabbed onto him firmly as she felt the pain shear through her ribs. He held her firmly so that she could grip his shirt as she calmed back down.

Then after a moment, she loosened up her grip on him as it calmed back down. He then slowly moved her up higher on the bed so that she was almost sitting straight up. But she kept a firm grip on him as he held her, even after she was sitting up. She laid her head on his shoulder for a moment as took comfort in his strong arms and in his musky scent that seemed to calm her down the more she breathed it in.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly as he moved his head towards her ear.

"No." She answered honestly as she tightened her grip him. "Not really."

He then slightly shifted so that he could sit down on the bed beside her as he held her. Then he slowly wrapped his arms further around her so that one was in the small of her back and the other was right in between her shoulder blades. She pulled him closer so that he was holding her against his chest. He then sat back so that she would lay against his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He again softly asked into her ear.

"I do." She said at first. "Just not now."

"I take it doc told you something today that your trying to avoid thinking about?" He asked as he started to slowly rub her back.

She dropped her head and tightly gripped a bit of his shirt. He slightly tightened up his grip on her as he tried to comfort her as her body started to shake. Then all she could do was start to cry as the weight of everything washed over her like black tar. But as she cried, he didn't let go. In fact he tightened up his grip on her waist as he continued to rub her back.

The pressures that he applied seemed to ease the pain in her ribs, as she wept in his arms. It was as if he was providing the right amount of pressure so that she couldn't hurt herself, even as the tears intensified into deep sobs. For suddenly all of the pain and anger came back out as he held her firmly. She couldn't seem to stop as she cried deep sobs into his shoulder.

But he didn't let up once. In fact, he almost seemed to be crying with her as she let all of the emotions take over. She could almost feel his own body slightly shake under her fingers as she tightened her hands into fists as she gripped his shirt. After as bit she slowly started to release her grip on his shirt. She took comfort in his honest emotions as she slowly slid her arms around his neck.

Then as she seemed to calm down as her cheeks were now soaked with tears, she relaxed her arms around his neck. She laid her head to the side as she laid it on her arm. He slightly turned his head as he glanced at her. Then she felt his gentle lips on her cheek as he seemed to kiss away the pain that she was feeling. Both physically and emotional.

She closed her eyes as he kissed her gently a second and third time. Each time seemed to kiss away all of her tears and fears as his soft lips gently touched her skin. She slightly turned her head as he pulled his lips slowly away after the third kiss. She could feel his warm breath on her skin as if he was a gentle air dryer.

She looked at his eyes and saw that longing look again as he searched her eyes. "Feel better?"

She could feel the shift in his body as he spoke. But it wasn't a fearful movement. Instead it felt more like a slight struggle for him as she could feel his body start to heat up as he breath began to get short.

"Yes." She said back in a heated breath as she look longingly at his lips before leaning into him as she closed her eyes. "Thank you."

"I'm glad that I could help." He said as he moved his lips even closer to hers as he started to close his eyes.

"Sir?" They heard one of the assistants say from behind him. "Sir you really shouldn't sit on the bed like that. You could break off the hand rail. And besides, their not really designed for two people."

Bob then stopped and opened back up his eyes again. Then, much to Tracy's dismay, he started to pull away as he loosened up his grip on her. Then he leaned forward and placed her back against the bed. Then he removed his arms completely and carefully got back off of the bed and stood beside it.

"I should be letting you rest anyway. It is late." He said in a slightly deeper voice.

Tracy watched him as she felt her heart slightly break from not being able to kiss him when he had been so close. But then it leaped as he looked back up at her with his deep emerald eyes. He gave her a slight smile. She smiled back as she felt her heart start to beat faster and warm her up as she looked at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He quietly said as he stood back up to his full height and put back on his XO charm.

"Tomorrow then." She replied as she felt a bit sad to see the gentle look slightly fade from his eyes.

Then he turned and started to walk away, only to stop short of the door as she spoke. "Sir, you never did ask me what you wanted to?"

"It can wait until tomorrow." He said over his shoulder. "Good night Tracy."

"Good night Bob." She said to him as he stepped out of the room.

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

They frown upon fraternization in the military. And especially between the enlisted person and the commissioned officers. There is a fine line there that should never be crossed. But does it really count anymore if they don't really get paid by the same company. Even if they do work together where one is over the other?

As the tension from the crew has all but disappeared. They now seem to embrace her as one of them. But a new tension arises that could make future decisions way more difficult to make. But will it be to much for them? Or will they embrace it for everything that it's worth. We shall see.

Thanks for reading. :)

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