The room was silent. With the exception of the soft clicking of the keys on the keyboard as Tracy was typing up the last of the notes that Bob had written down. They had all been about the current projects being conducted on board and of the issues that they had come across a few times with various run-ins with pirates and with stranded or abandoned ships. She couldn't help but to become worried about what the notes contained in relations to what the teams had been able to discover with each ship that they had boarded. For it seemed that each one was very similar to the last one.

Most of them were cargo ships that had been taken over by pirates and had been used to transport goods from one area to another. But unlike the last one, there was usually still quite a few pirates on board. Or it was completely stripped down to the studs as the pirates had removed everything, only to abandon the ship and dump it all together. Which puzzled Tracy and even had her curiosity spiked.

Right as she finished the last few notes, she could once again hear Bob's voice out in the hallway. Immediately she felt butterflies in her stomach. Which surprised her at first since she had never felt anything like this before with anyone. But then again, she thought as she smiled to herself as she stacked up the papers neatly in his outbox. She had never met anyone like him before in her life.   And she didn't think that she ever would again.

"......I'll be busy for the next few hours. So I would appreciate it if it you could keep the interruptions down to a minimum. Preferably none at all. Tracy and I have to get these notes sent back to the main lab. And they need them now." Bob was saying just outside the door.

"Tracy? Really?" Tracy heard Misty say in a excitedly mischievous voice. "Okay sir. Consider your cabin off limits to everyone then."

Great. Tracy thought as she rolled her eyes before she closed them as she slightly shook her head. Now that's going to be all over the ship in a matter of hours.

Then with one last tap to the papers to finish straighten them up, Bob walked into the room. Tracy looked up from the desk and smiled as she met Bob's gaze. He gave her back the gentle smile that she had learned was her favorite sight.

"Now that's much better." He said as he closed his door.

"How so?" She asked as she gave him a slight smirk.

"I can function now. That's how. I work better when your here to help me out." He said with a smile.

Tracy dropped her head as she smiled. "I'm glad I can help. To be honest I was starting to go crazy just sitting in medical. And I feel better knowing that I'm helping out again."

"I'm glad." Bob said as he walked over to his desk and looked down at her after a quick glance to his outbox. "I see that you got all of those notes done already."

Tracy looked up at the outbox and smiled again. "I did. I just finished printing them out for you and sending them off to the lab."

"Well good." Bob said as he moved his chair, Tracy and all, away from the desk.

Tracy grabbed the arms of the chair as the motion caught her by surprise as he spoke. "That makes this easier then."

"What are you talking about? Make 'what' easier?" She asked as he leaned down to her.

Next thing she knew he was wrapping his arms around her as he picked her up off of the chair and into a bridal carry. She initially jump and grabbed onto him so that she didn't fall. But then as he began to move, she relaxed a bit when she realized that he wasn't about to drop her. That was until she saw that he was heading for his bedroom.

"Whoa! Wait a minute?" She asked as he stepped through the door and turned to his bed. "What are you doing?"

"Doctor's orders." He said as he laid her down on his bed.

"What?" She asked as she felt her cheeks immediately flush from the heat of her earlier thoughts coming true.

"He told me to have you lay down and rest after lunch so that you wouldn't over do it." Bob said as he released her and moved the sheets and comforter off to the side so that he could cover her up.

"Wait a minute?" She asked as he started to take off her boots and set them beside his bed. "Don't I get a say so in the matter?"

After getting both boots off, he lifted both of her legs up and moved them under the sheets. "Nope."

"But what about work?" She tried to argue back as he started to pull the sheets and comforter back up and over her body.

"We'll do it when you wake up." He said as he brought the covers up to her chin. "And that's why you'll be resting here. It will save you the hassle and the distractions of your own berthing."

"But what about you? What will you do?" She asked as he made a few adjustments to make sure that she was covered up completely.

He then leaned down so that his face was right in front of hers. "I can do some work without your help you know."

Her breath caught to the closeness of him.

"I know that." She practically whispered back as she felt his warm breath on her face like a splash of warm water.

"Good." He whispered back as he looked longingly at her lips.

But then he stood back up and headed for the door. "Get some rest. I'll wake you in about an hour."

Tracy laid there stunned and breathless as she watched him walk back out and close the door.

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

Tracy wasn't sure when she had falling asleep. But as sure as the sun rises, she felt a warm and gentle hand brush her hair away from her face. She slowly stirred as the hand slowly moved down her chin. Then she felt a slightly collapsed thumb gently glide across her bottom lip. She opened her mouth slightly and let out a shaking breath.

But then it pulled away. Leaving her feeling empty as she wanted to feel more of him. She wanted to feel his touch as she kissed his thumb again. But was left with nothing but breathlessness.

"Time to get up love." She heard him say in a gentle tone.

Tracy slowly opened her eyes and looked up. She was greeting by a pair of beautiful green eyes as they shined back down at her. She smiled back up at him. This was a sight she could easily get use to seeing every time she woke up.

"Do you sleep well?" He asked as he searched her face.

"Yeah." She said as she stretched out and smiled up at him.

"I'm glad. Well come out when your ready." He said and stood back up and started to head for the door. "I'll wait in my office for you."

"Bob?" She called to him as she sat up.

"Yeah?" He asked as he turned around and looked at her as he had his hand on the door frame.

"Thank you." She said with a smile. "For everything."

"Your welcome love." He replied with a gentle, but heated gaze.

Then he stepped out of the room so that she could get up.

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

The next few days were pretty much the same as that day, as Tracy fell back into the routine. Each morning she would get up and head up to his stateroom so that she could take her shower. Followed by her heading down for breakfast with Jen. Then she would spend that morning in the personnel office helping out with the daily taskers and personnel updates.

Followed by lunch with the rest of the girls on the mess decks. Then she would head up to his stateroom and type up all of the notes from the experiments for him. Then when he came in after watch and eating lunch himself. She would lay down in his bed while he got caught up with his emails and other tasks.

Then came perhaps her favorite time of the day. He would come in and would wake her up with his gentle touch. Then she would type, while he recapped the day's events. After which they would talk about various missions that they had both been on and on the current projects that the different research teams on board were working on.

She loved to hear about the progress and successes that they had been having with improving the overall quality of life for several different species of sea creatures. Let alone hearing about the mysteries that they had been finding on the different ships that they have been boarding lately that had been raided by the pirates.

But much to her dismay though, each night would end the same. She would head down to her berthing. And he would stay in his stateroom by himself. And it seemed that each night she was finding it harder and harder to leave. It was as if she never wanted to be apart from him. Only to reminder herself as she would have to, as she slowly walked away. Because that was how it had to be.

That was until everything seemed to change overnight. Bob had been doing his usual walking around as he spoke, as Tracy typed while they worked on his Captain's Log.  When they were interrupted by the sqwauk box on his desk going off.

"Sir!  We have a fire in Main 1. The number 1 engine had a lube oil leak that caught fire! We had to shut her and number 2 down and evacuate the space. We're getting the fire team donned out now to head back in once the halon alarm clears. I'm sorry, but it looks like we're going to be down to only one engine in the space until we get back to Altissia." Came Mike's almost frantic voice over the loudspeaker on his desk.

Tracy felt her heart stop. A fire?! Holy shit! That's bad! I hope that everyone is okay?

She was starting to get scared until she looked at Bob and saw that he was as cool as a cucumber as he listened carefully to Mike. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No sir. Everyone got out in time." Mike returned. "But we have no idea how bad the damage is to the space until we get back in there."

Tracy closed her eyes as she felt relief wash over her at his words. Thank the six no one was hurt.

"Understood. Just keep everyone safe. We don't want anyone to get hurt. Equipment can be replaced. But we can't replace our people." Bob said in a calm voice. "I'm heading down to DC Central now. You have command until I get there."

"Aye, Aye sir." Mike replied and Bob released the talk button.

Then he turned back to Tracy with a half smile as he stood up beside her. "We'll have to continue this later love."

"Of course." She replied as she watched him in wonder as to how he could be so calm as he headed for the door.

"For now, head down to the crew's lounge in case we can't keep this under control." He said with a slightly concerned tone starting to show in his voice.

"Why do you say that?" Tracy asked as she was starting to get nervous.

He paused with his hand on the door jam and looked down for a moment. "Because if we can't extinguish the fire, it could spread. And if that happens, we could be facing more issues than just traveling a bit slower."

Tracy's heart almost stopped as she felt the magnitude of his statement.

"But don't worry." He said with a slight smile on his face as he looked back at her. "I have thee best engineering team on the high seas. They'll get it out with no worries. And besides, we still have three more engines that can take on the load. We just won't be as fast heading back now."

Tracy slightly smiled back at him. She was glad to see the confidence in his crew on his face and hear it in his voice. It gave her the faith in them that they could handle anything. Plus she was secretly happy that the trip was going to take a little bit longer now. Perhaps fate was trying to tell them something.

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

Tracy didn't sleep very well that night.  She stayed in the crew's lounge for a long time after the fire had been put out, and the overhead speaker didn't have his voice resounding through the ship anymore. Because for the first time, she truly knew what they were facing out on the open sea and it actually scared her. They were by themselves as they sailed around. Sure they had radios and everything to call for help. But at the same time, it's not like they could just step off of the ship and walk home. No they had to rely on each and every person onboard to keep each other safe.

She was still in a daze as she stood in the shower the next day as she thought about it. But she was not only lost in thought about the fire. She was also concerned, since she noticed that his bed looked like it hadn't been touched since the day before. Had he even slept last night? She wasn't sure, since she hadn't seen or heard him anywhere.

But then again, no one had really seen anyone from engineering walking around. They had spent most of the night taking care of the fire and removing the debris and damaged equipment as they tried to figure out how bad the damage had been. Let alone they were investigating how it had happened to begin with. But the only reason that Tracy knew that was the case, was because that was all the crew was talking about.

Which is what led to her spacing out in thought as she stood in the shower. In fact Tracy was so lost in thought, that she didn't notice that the door to the bathroom suddenly opened up and closed as someone walked in. It wasn't until the curtain was slightly draw that she even realized that anyone was even there.

Luckily for her, her fighter instant was still just as sharp as ever. As she quickly whipped around and slammed her arm up against his throat.  She pinned his head against the shower wall as she put the pointed edge of her shower gel tube up against his stomach like it was a blade.

They were both frozen for a moment as she stood there in shock as she realized that it was Bob she had just pinned against the wall. He gave her a slight smile as he slowly grabbed her wrists and pulled them gently away from his throat and stomach so that he could look at her. But instead of letting her go. He removed the gel from her hand and slowly brought both of her hands up by his neck as he slowly pulled her up against him.

Then he slid his fingers down her arms and on down her sides as his eyes darkened as he stared deeply into her eyes. Tracy couldn't help but to get lost in his eyes as she shivered from his fingers as they left behind lines of electricity in their wake. His touch seemed to awaken every nerve throughout her entire body as his fingers slide down and came to rest on the small of her back as he pulled her closer to him. Her whole body felt like it was going to fall apart as she shook in anticipation of what he wanted to do next.

"I didn't mean to startle you." He said to her in a deep voice as he looked at her with eyes that where now as black as coal. "I hope you don't mind if I join you?"

"Are you sure you don't want to be less confined?" She asked as she searched his face as she could feel her entire body heat up, to feeling his against hers.

"But why would I want to be anywhere, other then right here in the confinement of your arms?" He asked in a seductive tone.

Then he leaned down and gently placed his lips on hers. Suddenly her entire body was on fire from him as he kissed her gently at first as he held her. Then as he continued to kiss her, he started to increase the pressure, she could feel the hunger starting in each kiss. She eagerly returned with the same as she started to become lost in him.

The shower seemed to shrink and heat up like a sauna at the exact same time. She had never felt anything like it before. And she never wanted it to stop. So she reached her hands around his neck and pulled him harder to her as her hunger for him intensified.

He eagerly answered by pulling her harder against him. Then he brushed his tongue against her lips as he sought to taste her. She gladly opened her mouth as she wanted to taste him in return. Then she felt him deeply exhale as his tongue dove into her mouth as his hunger seemed to grew as he pulled her harder against him.

She could feel him starting to get hard as her body rubbed up against his with each kiss. The feel of him was starting to make her core start to heat up. She wanted him to do more. She could feel her whole body start to yearn for him to do more. And she was about to ask for more when suddenly there was a knock on the bathroom door which brought both of them to a dead stop.

"Sir?! I hate to disturb you while your taking your shower. But you told me to let you know when we discovered the reason for the leak." Tracy heard a muffled voice say.

She figured that it must be Mike. But it was hard to tell over the sound of the running water and her heart as it pounded in her chest. Bob pulled his head away and looked at the door.

"What was it?" He asked in a loud firm tone.

Tracy held her breath as she was afraid that they might hear her. Not that they should be able to considering it would be the same thing as to why she couldn't tell who it was on the other side of the door.

"It seems that one of the major oil line hose clamps came loose sir. It doesn't look like it was sabotaged or anything. But the hose is damaged beyond repair. We're trying to locate a replacement somewhere on the ship. But so far none have been located that we can safely use to replace it for now." The person explain.

Bob then looked down. And for the first time, Tracy noticed that he looked tired. She hadn't noticed it before since they both seemed to be in the moment for what it was. But as he stood there in silence for a moment she could see the strain starting to take over.

"Just leave the engine off line for now. We'll be fine until we get to port. Just make sure that everything is cleaned up and that we know exactly what parts that we will need to replace when we arrive." He returned in the same loud tone.

"Yes sir. Sorry again to disturb you. I'll update you later on with what we find out." They returned.

"Aye." Bob replied.

After that, they didn't hear him anymore.  Bob then looked back down at her with tired and disappointed eyes. 

"I shall leave you to your shower. I can finish mine later."

"But.." She almost pleaded with him as he released her and started to get out of the shower.

"Take your time and finish up." He replied as he stepped out. "I'll see you this afternoon. I have to go take care of a few things."

Tracy stood there in shock for a moment as she watched him grab a towel as he opened up the door. But then she snapped out of it as she heard the door close behind him. There was no way she was letting him get away with leaving her that hot and bothered. She wasn't about to be left hanging like that. And certainly not by him. Not when she wanted it just as much as he did. In fact she didn't want to let him go for anything.

Because even if she was scared of the unknown dangers at sea and of the dangers associated with each mission or research case. She couldn't leave him now and go back home to an empty hell. With the baby gone, there was no reason to go back home.

Hell, Paul was already married. So what would she be doing? Following him around like a lost puppy while he lived out his days with someone else. While she lived in torment as she wished that it was her. Why? When there was obviously something here, with someone new, that she wanted to get to know better.

No. She was tired of chasing someone who didn't even notice her anymore. She wanted someone, who obviously wanted her. And someone she desperately wanted in return. And that was Bob. And she felt that he was the one that she had the urge to fight for, if she had to.

She looked at the door with determination and a new purpose. She was going to be happy. And nothing was going to take it from her again. And with her new drive and decision made, she quickly turning off the shower. Then she threw open the curtain and stepped out of the shower as she called out to Bob.

"Bob! Wait!" But right as she did, she felt a very strong and deep pain in her gut.

At first it made her stop in her tracks and grab her stomach as it felt like a very strong cramp. But then it intensified and seemed to be going throughout her entire gut as if something was trying to rip its way out of her. She cried out as the pain intensified to the point that she had to grab onto the sink with one hand to keep herself from falling to the floor.

Then it intensified even more and was starting to take away her vision. She cried out again as she clamped onto the sink and slammed her other side up against the wall as she fought to try and stay upright as her legs began to give out from under her.

Suddenly the door flew open to reveal Bob standing there in shock, wearing only his underwear. But that was the last thing she saw as her whole body collapsed to the deck in a sea of black.

"Tracy? TRACY!....." Was the last thing she heard as a coherent sound that she could possibly associate with anything normal before everything went silent.

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

"They should arrive in fifteen minutes." Bob heard through the loudspeaker in medical.

"Let's get her down to the flight deck. It shouldn't take us that long to get her down there. But I don't want us rocking her to much. She's already in enough pain without everything shifting in her anymore then it already is." Doc was telling his medical assistants.

"Yes sir." They replied and started to move her out of the ward.

"You need to get to the bridge now sir. We need you up there to make sure that the ship stays steady. We don't want the ship to rock the wrong way. Otherwise the med-flight won't be able to land safely so that they can get her to the hospital." Doc said to Bob who was just standing off to the side only wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.  He quietly stared at Tracy as they started to move her down the passageway.

"Don't worry." Doc said to Bob as he tried to reassure him. "You didn't do anything wrong. We had a feeling that this might happen. Remember? That's why we were prepared for this."

Bob then silently turned to Doc and gave him a stoney look.

"Go. We'll make sure that she gets on the helicopter okay. You just make sure that the ship is steady enough for them to safely extract her." Doc said as he placed his hand on Bob's arm.

Then without a word, Bob turned away from him and returned to the bridge.

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

"Steady up to zero seven zero. We need to keep the wind at a steady pace." Bob said to Rick.

"Aye aye sir. Coming to course zero seven zero." Rick replied as he expertly brought the ship around to a smooth sailing speed and direction before holding it still as he carefully watched his instruments.

Once they were steady they saw the helicopter approaching. "Keep her steady Rick. I'll have you make any adjustments if need be from the aft comms box."

"Aye aye sir." Rick said as he looked up and flipped on the aft command station that was located outside on the back of the bridge. "It's lit sir."

"Roger." Bob said as he walked out of the bridge and around to the back of it so that he could watch the helicopter's approach.

As he walked out, Alex joined him as they watched the helicopter slowly make its way around to make its approach. "She's going to be okay Bob."

Bob didn't say anything as he watched Doc and his team walk the transport board and gurney that held Tracy on it, out towards the flight deck.  He watched the flight team greet doc and his team as they directing the helicopter. Then he grabbed the handheld mic.

"Helmsman, steady up to course zero seven one." He called to Rick through the handset as the flight deck team got ready to receive the helo.

"Aye aye sir. Coming to course zero seven one. Course set to zero seven one sir and holding steady." Rick returned over the loudspeaker.

"Very well." Bob replied into the handset before lowering it a bit.

"Doc said that her body is just now starting to show signs that it is rejecting it." Alex was saying as Bob watched the helo slowly make it's approach on the port side.

"Helmsman, hold her steady. The helo in making its approach." Bob said through the handset before dropping it back down again.

"Aye aye sir. Holding her steady." Rick returned.

"Very well." Bob replied.

"It could still be a day or two before she's in critical condition." Alex continued with a breath of relief as the helo safely landed on the deck. "She'll be in Altissia long before then."

"Helmsman, maintain course. The bird has landed." Bob said into the handset.

"Aye aye sir. Maintaining course zero seven one and holding steady." Rick replied.

"Very well." Bob returned.

"They'll get her there in time. Then as soon as we pull in, we'll go check on her." Alex tried to say in a reassuring tone as they watched them load her up into the helicopter.

Then once she was safely loaded. The medical team quickly backed away from the flight deck and the helo was cleared to take off again by the flight deck signalman. The sound was deafening as the engines roared loudly to provide enough lift to make the machine lift back off of the deck. Then after a slight pause as it steadied up over the flight deck. The flight deck signalman waved it off to the starboard side of the ship. To which the helo complied and turned to the starboard side of the ship and flew off as it headed for the awaiting shore.

"The bird has departed. Secure from flight deck operations and return to the original course. The CO has the Con." Bob said into the handset as he looked at Alex.

"Aye, aye sir. Returning to course zero nine zero. The CO has the con." Rick replied.

"Very well." Bob replied and hung back up the headset.

Then he turned to Alex as Rick made the announcement over the overhead that the flight operation were done, and he spoke in a stern tone. "And I'm not worried about our team taking care of her."

"I'm worried about those who had brought her to us to begin with. She will only be protected to a point unless I can get a hold of Korn and he can pull some strings in Altissia." He said as he turned and watched the helo fly away. "Because right now she is as vulnerable as that baby was when it died. And I don't want to lose her now. Not without seeing her again. Because I can't stand the thought of her being in danger like Jessica was. And I won't lose her the same way."

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

Don't you hate cliffhangers? But not to worry. You only have to read the next chapter to see what will happen next. Unlike when I was typing this, I had to prevent myself from freaking out. ;)

But who is really on the cliff? Is it Tracy with her choice to stay and risk her life for the man that she has grown to care for deeply? Or is it Bob with trying to push her away to protect her, at the cost of any chance of happiness that they both could have?

We shall see.

Thanks for reading. :)

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