Dive Tank by Kethrineth San Francisco Legacy House April 17, 1997 11:04AM
"Anyone have an idea why Derek called for a meeting this morning -- and when he's going to show?" Rachel tossed out to the others as she sat down with a fresh cup of coffee. "I really have to get to the hospital by one for rounds..."
"Then I suggest we get started." Derek said as he sailed in, took a pastry off the plate on the side table and took his place at the head of the conference table. "Philip won't be able to join us this morning, he had duties he needed to attend to at the church."
Derek opened the first file in the stack he had brought in with him. He regarded the other members. "I have recently been approached by an old student of mine, a Captain Carl Mitchell, who has asked that I -- or rather we -- look into some strange occurrences that have been taking place at the Special Warfare Center at the Coronado Naval Base." The precept's eyes slid to Nick who, he knew, would be quite familiar with the location where all SEALs went through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training school.
Nick Boyle shifted uncomfortably in his seat under the scrutiny. Derek could not tell if this was due to the partly healed ribs that the young ex-SEAL had been favoring or the painful reminder of a chapter in his life that had been closed to him.
"So -- What sort of occurrences are we talking about here?" Alex inquired, interest sparking in her deep brown eyes. Rachel eyed Nick with some concern, aware from her sessions with him that this could be a painful subject for him to deal with.
"Sudden changes in water temperature, strange lights at night, deep booming noises, fog filling the structure that the tank is in, et cetera, et cetera." Derek looked at his notes, flipping a few more pages, and continued. "The occurrences seem to have been centered around a building that houses a 50 foot tall-- 110,000 gallon tank-- used by military divers to practice underwater operations. Most of the events seem to be happening inside the tank itself. They apparently started around mid-October of last year." He passed portions of the folders around.
Nick soon acquired most of the folders and was rapidly assessing the contents of each of them. Derek's eyebrows slowly climbed to his hairline as Nick began to dismiss some of the folders after barely a glance. "Garbage ... garbage ... garbage... " Nick muttered, dropping the offending folders to the floor beside his chair.
Alex, incredulous at his disregard for the information files, stooped to gather the folders. "Nick... What are you doing?"
"Yes, please Nick, I would like to hear this myself." Derek said as Nick, now smiling slyly, continued to drop folders into Alex's waiting hands.
"These are accounts from a class in the sixth week of training. That's 'Hell Week'." The ex-SEAL informed the others, "Trust me, these guys were hallucinating... you wouldn't believe the things I saw during that week. I still don't believe the things I saw!"
"Very well, since you're our resident expert on the subject, I'd like you and Alex to handle this." Derek handed the remaining files pointedly to Alex, "Commander Simpson, the officer in charge of this matter, is expecting you sometime tomorrow afternoon. It's a long drive, you might want to leave today and spend the night someplace along the way."
"That's it?" Rachel rolled her eyes at Alex, an-- I-came-for-this?-- expression on her face. "Fine. I'm out of here!"
The psychiatrist gathered her belongings and left the room, the Luna Foundation's head researcher close behind her, eager to get started on the case.
"Nick? Could you stay a moment please?"
Nick settled back into the chair he had begun to vacate, a slightly wary look on his face. "Sure, what's the problem?"
"I hope there isn't going to be one. Are you sure you're all right with this? I know your departure from the SEALs was a painful experience." Derek eyed the young man. Giving the ex-SEAL this assignment had been a difficult decision for the precept. There was no question Nick was an expert on the subject, however, he was concerned that it was still too soon after his possession by the Warden to subject his operative to the sort of emotional strain he knew awaited him.
"That's part of life. Besides, didn't you say that now was the time for me to face the things that have haunted me?" He laughed uneasily as he quoted the advice Derek had given him on that long night when he'd finally broken down, crying in his precept's arms, and admitted he couldn't pull himself back together again on his own. Nick cocked his head to look sidelong up at Derek. "Y'know, my training was one of the only memories that the Warden didn't need to twist to torment me with. Reality was rough enough."
"Yes, I remember you telling me that. That's why I need to know are you going to be all right?" Derek pressed, wanting to be sure he had made the right decision.
"Yeah, Derek, don't worry about it." Nick left the room after slapping Derek on the shoulder affectionately, determined to make everything be all right even if it really wasn't.
~*~
Alex had been impressed at the ease with which Nick had guided them through the many security check-points on the base. His pensive silence on the long trip here had worried her. It was too reminiscent of the silence that had hung over Nick when Derek first brought him into the House. The silence only Julia had been able to break through. Five years ago Alex had respected the stranger's privacy and not asked any questions. It was a relief not to have to question him now. She had been a little concerned that her friend was going to allow whatever happened to him here, before he came to the Legacy, to interfere with their current assignment.
Nick had barely spoken to her during yesterday afternoon's drive. Instead, he'd kept the radio blasting loudly enough to discourage questions and drive both her and neighboring motorists out of their minds. Alex had tried to discuss the case when they stopped at a small motel for the night, but Nick had claimed exhaustion and shut himself in his room until she woke him the next morning. With his body still recovering from their last investigation, she would almost have believed his claim if she hadn't been able to hear the television playing in his room until she fell asleep. Judging by how groggy he'd still been when she woke him, he'd been up most of the night and from what she had been able to see of the bed he'd had a rough night once he finally gave in and slept.
Alex looked up from her notes, a bit irritated as yet another officer came into the outer office and was given immediate permission to enter Commander Simpson's private office. Clicking shut the notebook she'd already gone over three times, she turned to Nick, who was stretched out in his chair with his eyes shut and poked him in the ribs. "Nick, wake up!" That got him upright fast enough.
Nick frowned at her and made a show of rubbing his sore ribcage. "Watch it, will you? That still hurts a little."
"Sorry. It's just that we've been waiting out here for nearly two hours. Derek told us he was promised we'd have full access to any personnel or files we needed to solve this case. Is this the Navy's idea of cooperation?"
"The Navy never even heard of cooperation. This is their idea of hurry up and wait."
Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. His calm acceptance of the situation had completely floored her. She had seen Nick storm into places uninvited after a simple five minute wait. But when some petty military bureaucrat decides to keep us cooling our heels for two hours, he just goes to sleep!
Just then they were admitted to the office, saving Alex from her own temper for the moment. The man who greeted them certainly looked the role of a petty bureaucrat. Very average. The man's brown hair was starting to thin and he wore glasses. He also wore the somewhat harried 'I'm doing you an enormous favor just seeing you' expression common to his kind the world over. It didn't escape either Legacy operative's attention that the man didn't rise to greet them as introductions were made. He simply motioned for them to be seated in the hard government-issue chairs across the desk from his own.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Simpson asked, clearly eager to be rid of them. "I've been informed by Captain Mitchell that you're here to look into the supposed happenings at the dive tank. If you'll tell me what you need to get started I'll see what I can do."
"What you can do," Alex informed him in a precisely controlled voice. "is let us examine records pertaining to any deaths or serious accidents that may have been connected to the tank in... say the last five years. I think that would be a good place to start."
Simpson leaned back in his swivel chair, regarding them very much like a principal with a particularly dense pair of students. "I'm afraid that's classified information Miss Moreau. I'm surprised Mr. Boyle didn't explain that to you." The commander's emphasis on Nick's status as a civilian didn't escape notice. He clearly was aware of Nick's previous military background. He'd plainly heard rumors about this particular ex-SEAL and his last mission and had a problem with how it had ended.
Nick spoke up for the first time since they had entered the office, his voice carefully neutral. "I thought since your Captain assured our boss of the military's full cooperation, he would have arranged clearances for us."
"Thinking like that explains why you are no longer a SEAL, Mr. Boyle. The information your associate requested is still classified." The man informed them flatly, his eyes daring them to make a scene that would allow him to have them thrown off the base as a disruptive element.
Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. They had come all this way at the military's request, yet they weren't to be allowed access to the files they needed to do the job and, to top it off, they had to listen to insults! Her eyes were blazing but she could hardly lose her temper now, when Nick was doing such an incredible job holding his in check. She decided to try another approach. "Can we at least see the building that houses the tank?"
"Of course." The man rose to see them to the door, suddenly gracious now that he'd put the interlopers in their places. "If you'll come with me, please, I'll take you out there myself."
Nick had finally had enough and cut him off sarcastically. "I think I can remember the way over there by myself. Thank you."
Simpson smiled grimly, not making any effort to hide his dislike of the situation any longer. "I'm sure you can, Mr. Boyle, however you are no longer a part of the United States Navy and I can't permit you to wander around the base unaccompanied. Security reasons, you understand."
"Ohhh... we absolutely do." Alex responded, letting him know she understood the game he was playing with them as well.
~*~
Once the Commander had driven them to the building housing the dive tank and introduced them to the instructor in charge, the Legacy team split up. While Nick kept the officers distracted with his questions, Alex moved apart from the others, lightly running her hands over the smooth sides of the tank, trying to pick up any lingering impressions from the metal. Confusion. Panic. Anger. All these feelings clung to the tank in plenty. From what little Nick had divulged about his training, all of these feelings would be normal for this place.
She slowly started to climb the winding metal stairway that led to the platform at the top of the dive tower, keeping one hand in contact with the metal. Suddenly her hand grew cold. To her extra senses it was plainly an ethereal chill rather than an actual change in temperature. Stopping, she felt the area with both hands. The cold spot was quite narrow, but ran as far as she could reach vertically. The psychic's nerves were screaming with urgency now. The vast building seemed darker all of a sudden. In Alex's eyes, a shadow of fear now clung to the walls that surrounded them.
Alex pulled her hand from the tank surface and reeled slightly with the intensity of the impressions there. Before she could lose her balance on the stairway, she grasped the railing and turned to lower herself to sit on the step. Looking down, the psychic noted that her partner had not missed her strong reaction. Nick was already heading up the stairway to her with the Navy brass hard on his heels.
Nick reached her and lightly laid his hand upon her shoulder, looking intently at her, his green eyes were pools that were filled with questions and concern. "Are you okay, Alex?" He dared not ask his other questions with Simpson there a few steps below them both. Nick shot a look at the man, noting the irritation in his face. He winked at Alex, who hid her own smile from the obnoxious official.
"I'm fine, Nick. I just got a little bit dizzy for a second up there." Alex squeezed his hand to reassure her friend that she was just playing a role for their audience and moved to rise. Her eyes conveyed to her partner that she did get something through her sight that might be important. Nick would have to wait until they were alone to hear about it though.
"You'll have to come down from there, Miss Moreau." Commander Simpson demanded. "It's not safe."
"You've plainly had a long trip here," He continued in a condescending manner that set Alex's teeth on edge, "Perhaps now would be a good time for my Aide to show you to the guest quarters we have prepared."
Nick smoothly intervened as he pointedly assisted Alex down the stairs, forcing the Commander to back down and out of his way. "That's all right. I've already made other arrangements. We'll be back in the morning, say... Oh-Six-Hundred in your office?"
The pair made their escape, Alex miraculously revived, before the Commander could react. Once they were safely back in Nick's car and past the main gate, he couldn't keep his curiosity in check any longer. "Well? Are you gonna pull a Derek on me or tell me what you got in there?"
"Nick! That was mean." Alex had to smile at the way he rolled his eyes. She wasn't any fonder than he was of the way their precept played his cards close to the vest but she wasn't going to make fun of him when he wasn't there to hear it. It was much more entertaining to make fun of him in person and watch his expressions. "Besides, you keep secrets too. Did you really make other arrangements or just say that to get back at that obnoxious twit?"
"Alex, would I lie to you?" He asked, eyes twinkling impishly.
"Yes! And I'm not going to tell you anything until you tell me what you're up to, you little brat!" Alex smiled laughingly at Nick's teasing. Whatever had been bothering him yesterday seemed to have passed and it felt good to spar with him again.
"Fine by me." Nick slowed, checking the intersections of the narrow side street they were on. "I'm up to.... that!" He pointed with great satisfaction at a looming beachside resort hotel just ahead of them. The old Spanish structure's cream colored walls and red tile roofs glowed in the setting sun. It was breathtaking, nestled there in the old neighborhood. It was also the most expensive looking place Alex had ever seen, not excluding their own castle on Angel Island.
"What is it?" She asked.
"The Hotel del Coronado." He let the words roll, savoring the name of the place and making his partner laugh despite herself. "Probably the oldest resort hotel in southern California, and still the best. Best of all, for us at any rate, it's right down the beach from the base so we can keep an eye on things."
"Better than we could have from on base?" She had to ask, still not believing they were staying there as he stopped the car and made a great show of helping her out before giving the valet the keys and telling the man to have the bags in the trunk sent up to their rooms.
"Sure, there's no 'lights out' here and nobody keeping track of us." He blithely continued to justify things as he registered them. He really had made reservations for two connecting rooms.
Alex couldn't believe this. "There is no way Derek is going to pay for this, you know. He'll probably dock your pay for the rest of your life, Nick." She warned him on their way up in the elevator, only half joking. Derek probably will dock his pay for this.
"Oh, come on Alex, lighten up. I've always wanted to stay here. Every day at Coronado I used to run by this place on the beach. I was always wet and filthy and tired as hell and so jealous of the people staying here that would come out to watch us train." He was pleading by now and he could tell the pitiful recitation was working from the look in his friend's eyes. "Now I've got a chance to be one of those people. Don't spoil it, okay? Pleeaase?!?"
He wanted this so bad, Alex couldn't put a damper on his dream. Not when he was doing the lost puppy routine with his eyes anyway. The best she could do was one last stern warning. "All right, but if Derek blows his stack when he gets the bill, you're on your own, mister!"
~*~
Once she had unpacked the bag that had magically appeared at the door of the room not long after she got there, Alex had to agree that staying in this place should be worth ticking off the boss. The air of old world luxury that permeated the old hotel was like a warm cocoon. After a quick knock, Nick came bouncing through the connecting door before Alex could reach it, carrying his laptop, still eager to learn what she'd picked up at the tank.
"Well. Where do we go from here?" Alex asked her partner, who was comfortably perched cross-legged on the foot of her bed. "We've been to the tank, and there is definitely something there."
"What did you pick up from the tank itself? We're alone now, spill it Alex." He stretched out on his side to see the paperwork Alex was laying out on the bed beside him.
Alex frowned as she ran the impressions through her head. "Dark emotions like fear, confusion, even anger. But all of it was infused with a sense of growing urgency. I don't think we have much time here Nick."
"Okay." Alex could almost see the gears turning in her partner's mind as he spoke. "So we need to find out why the urgency. If we could get a look at the training schedule that might tell us something."
"Yeah, right. If Derek can get that commander to cooperate." Alex grimaced. "I keep getting the feeling that this is about something that's going to happen rather than something that already has happened here. This is a warning, Nick. What I can't figure out is why the impressions were all in one narrow strip down the side of the tank. Maybe we should also take a look at the maintenance schedules and safety reports on the tank itself as soon as we have access?"
Nick frowned and started to sit up. "Good idea. That sounds like..." His words trailed off in a gasp. He clutched at his ribs and had to sit still for a moment as a spasm of pain shot through the ones that had been broken on his last mission. Alex grasped his shoulders to steady him, her voice rising in concern.
"Whoa. Take it easy for a second." She eyed the ex-SEAL closely. He'd turned very pale and his eyes were shadowed. The lines around them had deepened with pain. "When was the last time you took one of those pain pills the doctor gave you?"
"I don't know. Last night?" He shrugged her hands off to prove he was okay.
"Nick! It's nearly five now." Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're supposed to take those whenever you're in pain and I can't believe that you haven't been in any at all today. Where are they? Please tell me you brought them with you."
"In my jacket, on the bed." Nick admitted with a scowl. "Look. I'm fine. Can we just get on with this?"
"No, you're not fine, Nick. Stay there while I get your pills." He flopped back on the bed with a defeated groan as she disappeared into his room and emerged a moment later with the pills in her hand and a determined glint in her eye. Obviously he wasn't going to get out of this and may as well cooperate. Without a word he swallowed the painkillers.
"Now can we get to work?" He asked pointedly before finishing the comment his sore ribs had so rudely interrupted. "It sounds like there could be a stress fracture in the metal." He frowned. "They should have caught that in a safety inspection. We won't be able to check on that stuff anyway until Derek gets us the proper clearances."
"That brings us back to square one. Where do we go from here?" Alex asked with a half smile.
"Bar hopping." Nick happily informed her.
"Bar hopping?" Alex raised an eyebrow at him and waited for this to make sense.
"We check out some of the haunts around the base. We can talk with the witnesses from the reports Derek gave us and find out what they didn't say in the official version." Nick seemed quite taken with his idea.
Alex wasn't really sure she wanted to do this, but it did make some kind of sense. She would have preferred calling it a night instead and waiting for Derek to straighten out the clearance problem but she remembered the conversation she'd had with their precept before leaving Angel Island. He'd suggested she let Nick feel he had the lead on this case and do whatever she could to bolster his confidence. This seemed to qualify. She threw up her hands and smiled, giving in gracefully. "Okay. Bar hopping, it is then. Let me call Derek first and get him working on those clearances."
~*~
"No...Alex, I said I would take care of it and I will. I promise, you will have all the information you need by tomorrow morning. Until then, try and track down some of the witnesses listed in the reports we already have." Derek Rayne shut off the speaker phone on his desk and began searching through his rolodex for Captain Mitchell's number. This shouldn't be difficult to handle. If this was the worst obstacle the team encountered on the case, they should have no problem settling matters. It was a relief to hear Nick was handling himself so well. Despite his reassurances, Derek had still been uncertain of the wisdom of sending Nick back to a place that triggered such conflicting emotions in him.
Before he could find the phone number he wanted, another problem walked into his office.
"Derek? Have you seen the Telemathian Prophesies?" Philip went straight to the small bookcase near the window and began pulling out the volumes there. "Mr. Giles called about them. The book was never scanned into the database and he needed to check a reference in it."
Derek frowned at the mention of the Sunnydale librarian. He had not been impressed at all with the way the man had handled himself. The book probably was scanned in and the man simply doesn't know how to retrieve it. The ungenerous thought immediately made Derek feel guilty. It hadn't been Giles' fault that Nick was hurt. Nick was his operative, and even he had trouble dealing with the unpredictable ex-SEAL when he was in one of his moods. "No, I haven't seen that for some time." He cast around for a moment in his memory. "Didn't you have it out for reference when the Atlanta House called about that vampiric infestation in January?"
"Yes, and I know I put it on the lower shelf, by the library worktable." Philip seemed to be working up to something. He had his right thumb at the corner of his mouth and it was obvious he'd been gnawing on it, as had been his custom since childhood. "It's not there now, an fer that matter, a lot o' books are turnin' up in the wrong places. Or not turnin' up at all..." Philip laughed ruefully before saying what he had on his mind. "I thought I broke you of that habit, Derek."
Derek raised his eyebrows, amused by his godson's protectiveness of his library. The priest had his own system for keeping track of the many volumes. No one else understood it, but it seemed to work for Philip, and he tended to get irritated when it was tampered with, as Derek well knew. "I haven't touched those, you'll have to talk with Nick about it when he gets back. You just missed Alex checking in."
Philip sighed. "I'd have more luck talkin' t'the walls." Nick tended to leave books wherever he was when he finished with them. "It's not that he does it on purpose. It's just not important t'him t'put em back."
"Philip!" Derek called just as the younger man was leaving. "Check his room. I know he takes files up to bed sometimes and I doubt he'll mind you going in there."
"I don't have much choice. I've looked everywhere else!"
~*~
Alex looked dubiously at the neon silhouettes of nude dancers over the entrance to the bar. "Nick, I really don't think this is a good idea. The first four places we went to were bad enough. This place actually looks worse than the last two bars you dragged me into. We've only found three of the people on the list. Why can't we just talk to this guy tomorrow on the base?"
Nick hid the grin he could feel trying to reach his face. He was enjoying this. "Because if we wait until tomorrow, Commander Simpson will have time to spread the word that it would look bad to go on record as believing in ghosts and nobody who wants to be promoted in this century will talk to us."
Alex glared suspiciously at the ex-SEAL. "Don't any of these guys ever hang out in decent places?"
This time Nick couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Not at this hour, at least not the ones I used to run with." He grabbed her around the waist with his good arm and pulled the head researcher close to his side before opening the plain blue door. "Come on, Alex. I'll protect you. Just pretend we're together and nobody will bug you."
Alex considered giving the brat a good thump, right in his sore ribs, but changed her mind at the sight of the bar's interior. Most of these guys she had no desire to get to know better! She tightened her own grasp on Nick and let him steer them over to the bar. This was his territory and his show.
Nick took the liberty of ordering the drinks for them both, eyeing Alex to see if she would object. After two bars, she'd made him drink alone. She simply raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. Let him spend his money, there's no way I'm getting drunk tonight. She hoped he was enjoying this because Derek was going to hear from her about it. At length. They eyed the other patrons while waiting for their drinks. This place is just too much.
Alex looked down in disbelief when she felt Nick's hand enfold her own on top of the bar. She contented herself with a sharp warning look as she pulled her hand away and very decidedly clasped her hands in front of herself. Nick cringed. He knew he'd carried the game too far and would be in for it, but good, when they got back out to the car.
When the drinks arrived, Nick put out a hand to stop the bartender, making sure that his SEAL ring was prominently displayed. "You seen Rick Sherman tonight? Couple buddies of mine said he hangs out here and I should look him up if I was ever around."
He waited while the bartender, Danny Caites, looked him over, his eyes flicking to the ring and considered answering him. He must have passed the inspection. "Naw. I think he shipped out with the Navajo."
"Strike three. We're outta here!" Alex informed her partner, eager to quit going from sleazy bar to sleazier bar. There had to be a better way to locate the men on their list of witnesses.
Nick tossed back his drink before rising to stop her. Shame to let a good drink go to waste. Especially after I've paid for it. Setting down the first glass, Nick scooped Alex's untouched drink and downed the shot of whiskey in one long swallow. "Let's just check one more place. There are only three more names to check out." Alex glared at him, exasperated.
"Three more bars and you aren't going to be in any shape to ask questions if we do find one of these guys." She took a quick look around to see if they were causing a scene. Five guys near the door were eyeing them while they talked. She lowered her voice and grabbed Nick's arm before she started to head for the exit. "You've been tossing down at least one drink for every bar we've been in, and that's a lot of bars, mister! Cough up the keys!"
"Is this guy bothering you, missy?" One of the men who'd been watching them had arrived at her elbow unnoticed. Alex's eyebrows shot up. Missy?!? She wondered how much worse the night could get.
"No, I can handle him. He's just had a little bit too much to drink tonight." She brushed off the stranger's unwanted assistance and Nick's protest.
The newcomer, Chad Evans, was persistent, however. He had his own agenda here and wasn't going to be deterred from it. "So can we." One of his companions, Roy Claason, was on Alex's other side now and their three buddies had risen and were heading their way.
Alex could see that dangerous gleam entering Nick's eyes. The one that he got right before he did something stupid. It was beginning to feel like she was back in High School with all the macho posturing going on around her all night. Alex quickly grabbed his left arm and tried to pull him past the men confronting them.
She failed when Evans grabbed Nick's other arm and spun him away from her. The spasm of pain that flashed across Nick's face, when the half-healed muscles in his right arm protested being wrenched around so suddenly, was unmistakable. The man ducked Nick's awkward left handed punch and two of the newest arrivals pinioned the ex-SEAL's arms at his sides before he could throw another. "This is enough! Let him go. I don't need your help." She started forward to pull at one of the men holding Nick but was stopped by a pair of arms snaking around her from behind.
Nick used his smaller size to his advantage and nearly managed to slip loose from his captors. He could see where the man holding Alex had his hands and fully intended to tear him into pieces too small to be identified. He didn't get the opportunity though, instead Nick found himself staring into the barrel of a weapon he knew he had loaded that morning. The first man to confront them had pulled his own gun from the holster Nick wore under his coat. But only for a moment.
A hand reached out from behind and lightly removed the weapon from Evans' hand. "I don't think that's really necessary. What's your problem with the guy?"
Nick blinked to focus his vision on the ghost of his past that had appeared out of nowhere to rescue them from the embarrassing situation he'd gotten them into. The ice-blue eyes and level voice carried him back to a dozen other bar fights he'd gotten into in his wilder days. Back then, no matter how much trouble he'd gotten himself into, Kenny had always been there to pull him out of it. Nick would almost have preferred getting shot to being rescued by him now. The pain of a bullet wound would seem like nothing compared to what he was feeling now from the dredged up memories. He didn't deserve to be protected this way anymore. Not after the way he'd left.
Before either of the men could do anything about her quandary, Alex proved she could look after herself by sinking her teeth into the arm reaching over her shoulder, simultaneously slamming an elbow back into the man's sternum as she pulled away from him. Roy yelped at the unexpected resistance but released his lovely captive when the steely-eyed arrival briefly shifted his focus to him. Suddenly, he felt like a bug about to be stepped on.
All of the participants in the increasingly intense encounter froze. Nobody wanted to force things until they knew where this newest wild card stood in the matter. Besides, Roy could see Danny glaring at him from behind the bar, tapping the bat, now lying across it, significantly. The slightly drunk SEAL backed up a few more paces, to demonstrate that he wasn't threatening the lady. The last time he'd bothered a woman in here, the formidable bartender had cracked his skull with the thing. The captain hadn't been at all pleased when he'd learned the full story behind the injury and he had no desire to repeat either his brief hospital stay, or the disciplinary action that had followed.
Chad Evans glared at the intruder, trying to place the man's face. He was wearing a SEAL ring but Chad had never run into him on base before and didn't know what team he was on. He'd just transferred in from one of the East coast teams and didn't recognize all of the local SEALs yet. This guy carried himself as if he had some kind of authority, but the question remained whether he could back it up or not. That didn't matter though, he'd heard all about their captive from one of his new teammates who'd been stationed at Coronado five years ago. He couldn't imagine any SEAL would defend what this man had done.
"He doesn't belong here anymore. This is the guy who walked his whole unit into a trap and got them all killed on a black op! He was on point and he blew it! He's got no business showing his face around here after the way he let them down."
"I heard he left one step ahead of a general court-martial." Roy piped up, eyeing Alex warily while he rubbed the fresh bite-mark on his forearm.
"Yeah? Well I heard you aren't even that far ahead of one if you keep messin' with the ladies like that." Nick's unidentified protector made eye contact with each of the five to be certain they all got his message. "You mess with him, you answer to me for it. We clear on this, boys?"
The ringleader seemed about to protest when two more SEALs wandered over to the action and made it clear from their stance that they were backing his prospective opponent.
Before things could escalate any further, Danny waded out from behind his bar and into their midst with his bar bat. He'd been keeping a close eye on the growing tension centering around the two strangers and felt it was time he put a stop to things before somebody sent for the Shore Patrol. With the addition of Kenny Tomlin and his two buddies, this was shaping up to be more than just a simple fight and he didn't need any more trouble. If the Navy decided to declare his place off limits he'd be out of business. "Okay, take it outside guys. I just got this place fixed from the last brawl you and your boys started in here, Tomlin."
The men holding Nick reluctantly let go of his arms. His eyes were wary as he tugged the sleeves of his jacket back down and came to stand by Alex. He took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, apologizing with his eyes for the trouble. She kept a tight hold on Nick's arm as they followed the tall SEAL outside. The Legacy researcher was grateful that he and his two friends had fallen in behind them, staying between them and the five men who had started the trouble. Alex was no coward but she really didn't want to be in the middle of a fight between eight guys with the same training Nick had, and a lot of the same attitude it looked like. She was also very aware that her partner's recent injuries may have been aggravated in the scuffle, not to mention the fact that he was also slightly drunk. He wouldn't be much help if there was any more trouble. Alex was relieved when the troublemakers slunk off under the glares of their three protectors.
"Thanks, Kenny. Looks like I owe you another one." Nick spoke quietly, almost grudgingly, not quite meeting anyone's eyes as he accepted his gun back from the man who'd confiscated it in the bar. Alex stared. This was the first indication she'd seen that Nick knew their rescuers. She knew this was just the sort of encounter Derek had been worried about when he asked her to keep a close eye on Nick and to call if he was having trouble handling things emotionally.
"Forget it kid. Getting you out of trouble is kind of a hard habit to break." Lt. Kenny Tomlin shifted uneasily, not really knowing what to say now that the danger had passed. He hadn't decided whether to approach Nick in the bar or not when those meatheads had made the decision for him. Kurt and Terry weren't making this awkward reunion any easier. His teammates had taken up perches on the hood of his car and were watching as if this was some kind of soap opera put on solely for their benefit.
"I take it you guys know each other? Since it doesn't look like anyone's going to introduce me, I'll do it myself." She glared pointedly at her partner, for all the good it did her. Nick was staring holes in the asphalt to avoid meeting anyone's eyes. "I'm Alex Moreau. And you three are...?"
"Absolutely stunned." Terry piped as he slid off the hood of the car and approached with his hand out.
"You will be if you don't behave yourself around the lady." Kenny glared the self-styled ladies' man back to the hood of the car. "Lt. Kenny Tomlin. The quiet one over there is Kurt Bannen. Casanova here is Terry Russell. So Nick, little buddy, what brings you back here after all this time? And in such lovely company, no less."
"Are you guys gonna quit hitting on my lady long enough for me to answer that?" Nick's sense of humor was coming back a little bit at the familiar banter going on around him. "And don't call me 'Little Buddy'. You ain't no Skipper, Kenny."
"Actually, we were looking into some incidents at the dive tank here on base. We were hoping to track down a Rick Sherman here and find out if he can add anything to the statement he already gave the officials on base." Alex smoothly took the reins before things could deteriorate any further.
"He shipped out." The quiet one, Kurt, spoke up. "You missed him by about two days."
Casanova decided to give it another try. It wasn't often enough that he had beautiful women dropping out of nowhere and into his life the way this one had. He wanted to get to know her better before she could disappear on him. "If you really want to find out what's going on in there, I can introduce you to some guys who never reported the stuff they saw. If you wouldn't mind going for a little drive with me, that is?"
Alex's eyes sparked with interest. She walked over to the car and took the man's arm. "Why don't we all go meet them then?" She smiled disarmingly at the man she was manipulating. Alex could see what he wanted and there was no way she was getting into a car alone with him.
Nick was left standing awkwardly by himself, staring after his partner. He really didn't want to go with these guys. Seeing Kenny again brought back too many memories of when he'd belonged here, with these men. It made him too aware of the life that had been closed to him by his mistakes. "Why don't you go on ahead. I think I'm gonna just turn in."
Seeing the glare re-entering Alex's eyes, Kenny remembered that the argument he'd observed in the bar had begun when she'd tried to get his old swim buddy to turn over his car keys. The way he remembered things, Nick's driving was scary enough when he was sober. "How 'bout I give you a lift back to your hotel. We can catch up on old times on the way."
Nick could feel his temper starting to rise at the transparent ploy. Kenny always had been a bit of a nursemaid. Now he was starting to remember why he'd gotten into that barracks brawl with him during training that had landed both of them in the brig for a month. He pointedly handed his keys to Alex who had begun to look a little nervous at the thought of being abandoned to these two strange men. "No thanks. I'll walk. The air might help clear my head a bit." He tucked his chin into the collar of his jacket and headed for the nearby beach with his fists balled up in his pockets before anyone could recover enough to stop him.
"Let him go. He's always been like this. Either losing it or over-controlling." Kenny fished out his own keys and tossed them at Terry, forcing the seaman to release his newly acquired hold on their pretty acquaintance. "You drive. I'll play tour guide. I don't want to have to explain to the CO that you got beat up by a lady for getting grabby. I don't want to get a reprimand put in my file for not keeping you in line." Maybe if he could keep the guy's hands occupied with something other than the woman they'd all get through the night intact. He grinned at Alex. The answering fire in her smile told him he was right on target with his assessment of her personality and his teammate's danger. It was too bad she was already with somebody. He liked the fiery ones.
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