Ben was perfectly aware that taking a day of rest here and there was not an inherently sinful activity. And he could even wrap his head around the notion that it made the patients safer. He couldn't quite marry that fact to real life as it applied to him specifically, but he could understand it and accept that these were the rules.

Every time the Captain gave him an off day, though, he found himself wondering how he was going to handle having actual days off when he went back into civilian life. Maybe even weekends off—wouldn't that be exciting? What would he do with himself? There weren't a lot of recreation opportunities on board the ship. His pregnancy meant he wanted to spend more time sleeping than anything else, but he still wound up with a lot more free time than he was used to.

Maybe he'd take up knitting.

He picked up his tablet. He didn't get a chance to check the news very often when he was out on assignment. Now he got to read it every day. He couldn't be sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but at least he was informed about it. Now that he knew he was going to settle in Virginia Beach, he supposed he should probably keep up with the local news there. He found a couple of local news sites to follow and added them to his list.

He had a hard time getting too into those sites, though, just because he had no frame of reference. He read through them for a little while and then he moved on to national and international news. Those stories might have less of an effect on his daily life going forward, but at least he understood what they were about.

He scanned through articles about wars begun and wars averted. He found articles about natural disasters across the globe, and he itched to go and help the survivors. He read articles about some of the truly terrible ways people could treat each other and considered locking the door to his cabin and just not coming out until the end of time.

Then, an article caught his eye that made him sit back up. His heart sped up, and his mouth went dry. The headline was enough to either send him running for the hills or looking for some kind of weapon. Eleven Congressmen Members of Terror Group Chaos Tree. In smaller letters underneath the headline, in case someone in a more distant state hadn't been paying attention, Group responsible for Maryland, Virginia, and Orlando bombings is linked to European white supremacist group.

Ben's hands shook as he read the article. He'd sort of tried to follow the bombings while he was overseas, but that hadn't been so easy while his Internet connectivity had been so limited. He knew those guys were the ones the SEALs were chasing. He had no idea any members of Congress were involved.

The men who'd written the article, Colin Church and Mansur Mohammed, had an awful lot of courage to publish accusations like this. As Ben read the article more closely, he could see they had an awful lot of proof. Congressmen from Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina were all caught up in this organization, but that wasn't all. Chaos Tree's branches extended into more than a few branches of government, including the armed services.

Ben looked up at the wall. Maybe he should reconsider taking that flat in Grenoble.

He dismissed the thought. France wasn't likely to be any better. It was only shocking because America had gone for so long believing their government to be immune from this type of scandal and temptation. Evil happened everywhere, and any time power was concentrated in a single place it would be a temptation for bad people.

The only question he had was, what now?

Dave stopped by the cabin. Ben didn't give him time to even settle in. He just showed him the article. Dave turned several shades of pale and picked up Ben's tablet. "This ain't good, sweetheart."

"I know it." Ben bit his lip. "I mean, is this why you guys keep getting pulled back every time you get closer to White Dawn?"

"I don't know." Dave's grip on the tablet tightened. "I think Chief has some suspicions. But there's stuff I don't know and don't want to know. It's above my pay grade, you know? Anyway, these guys? They were embedded with us not too long ago. Colin Church is Adami's husband. I don't know if he was using privileged information or what."

Ben staggered back. "Oh my God."

"Yeah. I'm going to go talk to Chief. Then I'm going to talk to Adami. Pull him off the ceiling or whatever." He bit his lip. "I know we were supposed to have some quiet time together, but I've got to do this."

Ben waved. "Go. I'll find some way to entertain myself."

Dave disappeared, and Ben lay back in his bed. Bad enough that the congressmen were corrupt. Now they were corrupt, and the story only came to light by splitting a family apart? And, maybe, endangering the whole operation to take down the bad guys once and for all?

He stared at the ceiling for a while, until he finally drifted off to sleep. He had no idea how things were going off in SEAL land, but he had to figure they weren't going well. Why else would they be keeping Dave that long?

The next day he got up and went about his business. Having a job to do kept him from obsessing about the article, and the problems coming with it. It was easy to lose himself in the rhythm of surgery. He was a disciplined doctor, and he could easily narrow his world to the patient and nothing else.

Dave was waiting for him at the end of his shift, a little smile on his face. "Hey. Let's go chat. I tried to come talk to you last night, but you weren't moving come hell or high water. Is your cabin okay?"

Ben blinked over at him. "Yeah. Yeah, of course." Why wouldn't it have been okay? They'd been hanging around in Ben's cabin ever since they started sleeping together. Ben headed toward his cabin, and Dave followed him there.

Dave fussed with the hem of his shirt while Ben let them in. "What's going on?" he asked, turning to face his lover. "This is all very strange, babe. What's really on your mind?"

Dave sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's…well, it's weird. The article was apparently authorized."

Ben tried to process that for a moment. "Authorized. That seems a little bit at odds with little things like the First Amendment." The Navy didn't authorize articles. The press was supposed to be free and independent.

"Yeah. Tell me about it. And, ah, Chief authorized it." Dave rubbed at his face. Ben couldn't tell if he'd slept at all the night before. "Which he did, apparently, because he wanted to make sure our guest downstairs didn't walk once we got home. He shouldn't, because he's got a bunch of active indictments in several states, but the way things have been going I wouldn't bet my life." He laughed, a little hysterically, and shook his head.

"Are you okay?" Ben put his hand on Dave's shoulder. "I'm confused, but you seem upset."

"I shouldn't be. Not really. I knew there was a handful of guys who knew more, you know? They were keeping some secrets about this stuff from the rest of us, so we wouldn't get in trouble if shit hit the fan. It was a big sacrifice on their part. It still is. The thing is, now I'm in on it. I'm one of the guys that's going to get court-martialed or worse, because now I know. I know what they know."

Dread pooled in Ben's limbs, but he forced himself to wrap his arms around Dave anyway. None of this was about Ben. This was all about Dave, and his relationship with the Navy. "It sounds like it's pretty bad."

Dave blew out a fast stream of air. It was too strong for a sigh. "It's…all of it's political, you know? We want to go after White Dawn, because they're basically Nazis and every good American wants to take Nazis down. It's just what you do, right? Our superiors want to take them down. Their superiors want to take them down, and so on and so forth. But someone, every time we get close, yanks us back. I knew we just weren’t admitting we were having encounters with White Dawn. I didn't know we were actively pursuing them. I didn't realize we had this whole side mission.

"And it's not like I can object to that, because come on now. You heard that whole part where putting down Nazis is as American as baseball and apple pie, right? But this whole side mission thing is dangerously close to insubordination. I'm a little worked up about that." He picked his head up. "I'm all for doing the right thing, but I want the choice to do the right thing." He rolled his neck and managed a smile.

"But you know what? At the end of the day, if they'd come to me and told me about this in the first place, I'd still have been right on board. And I'd have been mad because they read me in when this stuff is above my pay grade. So I guess I should just get over it and move on, right?"

Ben kissed his neck. "You feel how you feel. And it's okay to be freaked out about it. I mean I wasn't so much 'asleep' last night as 'passed out in horror' from what I'd read, so I'm not about to judge you for being bothered when you read something deeper. That said, why would Chief authorize the article? I'm still a little lost on that one."

"Public scrutiny." Dave rolled his eyes. "He figures the public attention on members of Congress, and on Chaos Tree, will make it harder for them to get away with letting our boy walk." Dave licked his lips. "It's a gamble, but if I know Chief he'll hedge his bets. He'll make sure they can't do anything too sneaky."

"I'm sure." Ben scratched his head. "Isn't DeWitt the ranking officer here?"

"He is. He's younger, and he's got a longer career ahead of him. Chief's older. He's nearing retirement, and he's risen as far as it's possible to rise without going to OCS. And his husband's got money of his own, so he can take all the risks he wants without worrying about what's going to happen to that brood of his." Dave huffed out a laugh. "He's got five."

"Wow. That's kind of a lot." Ben put a hand on his belly. Funny how Dave didn't seem to have a problem with Chief's husband's money. Maybe that was because it was someone else's money, or maybe it didn't come with as much baggage.

"I know, right?" Dave leaned back against the bulkhead, feet dangling off the bed. "Anyway, he can risk more, and he's been around more. He can do more." He shrugged. "DeWitt's a good officer, don't get me wrong. He just doesn't have the same knowledge or connections."

"Makes sense." Dave seemed calmer now. Ben straightened up, although he kept a hand on Dave. It made Ben feel better, if nothing else. "So what happens next? Do we just kind of hang out and hope they're too busy to bring us back to the States?"

"Cute, but no. They'll drag us home soon enough. And good thing, too, because we need to get you to an actual obstetrician who knows how to take care of omegas." Dave touched Ben's nose. "I know it can be dangerous, Chief's husband's experience notwithstanding, and I'm not okay with taking any risks with you."

Ben blushed. Sure, childbirth was riskier for omegas than for women, but dwelling on it wouldn't change anything. He had no reason to think he'd have any more difficulty than anyone else. "I'm sure there's no rush, but yeah. It might be hard to find an obstetrician that far south. Are there doctors south of Alexandria?"

Dave nudged him with his shoulder, and Ben laughed. "You're going to be in for a rough time when we get to Virginia if you keep popping off with stuff like that." He wrapped his arm around Ben and eased him back onto the bed.

"How about if I only say that stuff when I want to get a rise out of you?" Ben asked. He liked this position, with Dave looming over him. Maybe it was silly, or stereotypical, but he liked the feeling of being pinned underneath this big, strong alpha he'd found. It made him feel safe.

"Aw, Ben, you know you can get a rise out of me without even trying." He bowed his head and touched his lips to Ben's. His words were playful, but the heat of his body was anything but.

Ben pulled him in for a deeper and more passionate kiss. Dave had been shaken deeply, and he needed some kind of release. Ben sure wasn't going to object. He didn't know if it was pregnancy hormones or the joy of a new relationship making his libido suddenly kick into overdrive lately, but he couldn't get enough. He used his mouth to show Dave how willing he was, how eager. He licked into Dave's mouth until Dave took control. Then he let Dave in, let him plunder and explore.

Dave nibbled and sucked on Ben's lower lip until he couldn't take anymore. Ben clutched at the back of Dave's neck, desperate for more. Dave would give it to him, he knew that he would, but when? He tilted his head back to show his neck, giving his alpha a not so subtle hint at what he wanted next.

Dave was a great lover. He picked up on these kinds of cues. He grazed his teeth along Ben's neck, and suddenly Ben's clothes were just too hot. He had to get rid of them, he just had to get rid of them. Dave had to lose his first, though. It wouldn't be fair, and besides Ben couldn't get rid of the prisons trapping the heat so close to his body if Dave didn't move.

Dave grinned at him. "Look at you. You're already sweaty, just from a little bit of attention to your neck. I'm starting to think pregnancy agrees with you, sweetheart." He slowly pulled his olive drab shirt over his head.

Ben threw his shirt to the side. "Maybe it's just you."

"Could be," Dave chuckled. "Could be." He pulled the zipper down on his pants, so slow it was like a show. "Could be. You want this, Ben?"

"I do. I want this. And I want you." Ben shimmied out of his pants. "I want you, Dave." He met his lover's eye. He didn't just mean sex, and he didn't just mean for the short term. He trusted that Dave got that.

* * *

Dave looked down into Ben's eyes. He'd been so damn lucky when Ben said yes to him. The SEALs had become his whole world, his first real family after everything had happened with Mama. Last night's revelations had shaken him, and deeply. Ben had sat by his side and supported him while he processed everything. He'd let him process in his own way, instead of insisting he process the way Ben would.

Ben didn't take long to get ready. He was eager in body, as well as in heart and spirit. Every part of him, it seemed, welcomed every part of Dave tonight. And Dave needed that, needed to be accepted and engulfed. He stretched Ben as quickly as he could without hurting him, smiling at the way Ben welcomed his touch. And then, when Ben was ready, he slicked himself up and slid himself home, bare.

They'd dispensed with their condoms when Ben announced his pregnancy. Dave hadn't gone bare with anyone before, and on the surface it didn't make a huge difference. The little differences were everything, but Dave didn't think he'd have that opinion if he weren't with Ben. Every time he slid into Ben's hot, tight, welcoming body, he jolted awake with the knowledge that this was Ben, all of Ben. There was nothing between them, nothing to separate them. This was them, together, and they were going to stay that way.

He worked his way in with short, shallow thrusts until he was fully seated. Holding back was torture. His arms strained and shook as he held himself still, giving Ben time to adjust to his welcome intrusion. Ben's body was perfect, but it was so tight and so hot he thought he might be crushed. He waited, holding his breath, for a decade, or for a minute, and then Ben whispered for him to move.

He rocked back and thrust into him, good and hard. "Oh, yeah," Ben groaned. "Just like that." Dave pulled back and did it again, and again. He picked up the rhythm and let himself forget everything he'd heard, everything he'd learned, and everything he'd seen. The only thing that mattered was Ben, underneath him. Ben, raising his hips to meet each thrust. Ben, moaning into a pillow to give them some privacy.

He took Ben's thick needy cock into his left hand and stroked it, timing his strokes to match his rhythm. His controlled, brilliant doctor's eyes were rolling back in his head already as he lost himself to pleasure. Dave loved to see Ben come apart under him, for him, and because of him.

He shifted his position, so he was on his knees. Ben's weight rested on Dave's thighs, with his strong legs wrapped tightly around his legs. Yeah, that was good. He could get amazing leverage this way, and Ben seemed to love it too. Dave kept his hands on Ben's hips and thrusted harder, letting Ben do the work of stroking his own cock.

Ben's orgasm seemed to take him by surprise, but he didn't fight it at all. He had the presence of mind to muffle his cries with the pillow, but Dave could still see and feel his pleasure coming out of him in thick spurts. His body clenched down on Dave, too, like he could somehow hold him inside forever.

It was enough to push Dave over the edge after only a few more thrusts, and he collapsed onto Ben with a groan. "Thank you," he murmured into Ben's ear.

Ben hummed. "Thank you." He gave a dazed little laugh. "What are we going to do when we don't have shipmates to worry about?"

"Wake the people three blocks over," Dave promised. He pulled carefully out and went to get a cloth to clean them up with.

He stayed with Ben until he was required to be back in his bunk. Someday soon he would be able to wake up in Ben's arms again, but on board a ship wasn't the place for that. Technically it wasn't the place for sex at all, but people looked the other way so long as everyone was discreet. He was able to walk there with more of a spring in his step and more of the easy, casual manner he was known for, and he knew he had Ben to thank for that.

The next morning he noticed he and the other SEALs got a lot of dirty looks from the corpsmen. He figured the order had already come down for them to pull out, and he could understand why they'd be pissed. He was pissed too, in a more philosophical way. Their mission wasn't finished—not the Solace's, and not the SEALs. The article had been a scheme, but it had consequences. Dave figured they'd be finding a way out from under these consequences for a while yet.

DeWitt summoned everyone to the conference room for a meeting. If the looks on their faces were anything to go by, he wasn't the only one who'd figured out where they were going. News travelled fast, he guessed.

DeWitt cleared his throat and began. "Men, I know this will come as a shock to you, but it looks like we're on our way back to Virginia. I know, I know. Try not to fall off your chairs in shock."

A few of the guys chuckled. Fitzpatrick raised his hand and asked, "So what's the Wheel of Excuses say this time, Sir? Are we being rewarded for our hard work? Honored for our grand strides against ISIS?"

DeWitt cracked a tiny bit of a smile. "No, we're being given extended R&R to compensate for the trauma we've seen in Syria. And, truth be told, what we've seen in Syria has been traumatic." He made a little face. "We go into a situation, and our job is to make a big mess, right? We don't usually stick around to see what happens next. And I believe in what we do. It's not pretty, but sometimes it does have to be done. That doesn't mean we can't reflect on the aftermath sometimes.

"Anyway. That's the official explanation. We'll be asked to speak with media, and I don't think whoever's pulling the strings here has figured out that we've got our own allies in the media because my superior has ensured that we'll be talking to Church and Mohammed among others. Chief and I will manage that process. No need to worry, none of you will be asked to add public relations to your skill set any time soon."

"Just send Hopper out there without his shirt on," Floyd joked. "That'll distract everyone."

"We'll take that under advisement," Chief deadpanned. "I do believe there's one other person whose opinion on the subject we'd need to solicit, but that's not an appropriate workplace discussion per your Navy operations manual."

Dave ducked his head and blushed. He was grateful they didn't need to continue that line of thought. Sure, he didn't mind when people thought of him as attractive, but he wasn't on board with being an attraction.

"When we do speak to the media, we'll be playing up our role in rescuing injured people. We will not talk about any combat related raiding we might have done. As far as the outside world is concerned, that never happened. We only even caught Conley by being in the right place at the right time. Am I understood?" DeWitt fixed the room with a menacing glower.

"Sir, yes, sir!" The men shouted out as one.

"Excellent. Hopper, Floyd, I want you to join Chief. We're not going to get many more cracks at Conley. You're going to be our first attempt of this trip. The rest of you are dismissed. Go be useful." DeWitt dismissed them.

Dave's stomach fluttered as he approached Chief. While he wasn't opposed to getting rough on occasion, he drew the line at outright torture. Conley was in a cell. He was helpless and injured. He didn't know if he could look Ben in the eye after deliberately hurting a helpless man, no matter how evil.

Chief kept them back in the conference room. "Hopper," he said after a moment. "You're looking a little green there. You doing okay?"

"Fine, Chief." He stood up straighter. "Never better."

"What exactly is it that you have in mind?" Floyd narrowed his eyes at Chief. "I know you don't think Conley's going to open up to me, and I know you don't think I'm about to condone torture."

"Of course not, Floyd. We've got to hand this guy over to the civilian authorities eventually. Besides, we have standards. Roughing him up a little when we take him in is one thing. We are supposed to be the good guys here." He raised his eyebrows at them. "He, of course, has a very guilty conscience. And you two are some fine, strapping young men."

Dave nodded. "You're hoping the thought that we will torture him will be enough."

Chief flashed him a rare grin. "Very good. Of course, he's been around for a while, and he's definitely not one of the good guys, so he might not buy it. In which case, we're kind of fucked. We'll see what happens though. We could be pleasantly surprised. Come on, let's go see what happens."

The brig was deep within the Solace. The only sound Dave could hear as they exited the stairwell was the hum of the ship's engine as she prepared to start the long journey home. All of the light down here was artificial. There were no windows, as this part of the ship lay well below the waterline. The place had an air of unreality about it, and Dave's hackles rose just being down here.

He'd hate to have to spend any time down here.

The crewman responsible for the brig, which was probably the single dullest job on the Solace most of the time, brought Conley into an interrogation room. He was secured to a bolt in the floor before the SEALs were allowed in, and even that made Dave cringe internally. The guy was injured, for crying out loud. His face was gray, and his leg had to be immobilized. He had to be in enormous pain, just to be forced to sit there.

Then he remembered why Conley was there, and his resolve stiffened. He stood behind Chief's left shoulder and kept his face as an impassive mask. Floyd stood beside him, in the same stance and with the same presented attitude.

Chief smirked at Conley and folded his fingertips together on the table. "Hey there, Conley. You remember me, right? Master Chief Boone. Your very best friend."

"Fuck you." Conley spat at Chief's feet. "You brought this in here, to see me? Really?" He looked Floyd up and down.

Floyd, obligingly, let out a little growl. He even curled his lip.

"Hey, if you like I can even leave him alone with you for a little bit. You know, the KKK killed his uncle. I'm sure you and he will have a mighty fine time together. But that's for later, Conley. I just brought these nice young men down here to let you know that you're going home!"

"You're letting me out of this festering hellhole and dropping me off someplace civilized?" Conley sneered at them all. "Why do I not believe you?"

"I guess that depends on your definition of 'someplace civilized." Chief stretched and examined his fingernails. "I don't think everyone in Rhode Island thinks of Texas as being all that civilized, but to each his own I suppose. Hey, they convicted you in absentia there, didn't they? Capital murder, right?"

Conley stilled. "You're not bringing me to Texas, you damn fool. They're not going to take this monstrosity of a ship all the way back to the US just because of me. And even if they did, there's no way they'd send me anywhere. I've got friends, buddy. I've got friends."

"Is that so? Would any of those 'friends' be sitting Congressmen from North Carolina, Virginia, or Maryland? Because eleven of them just got outed as members of Chaos Tree. They're not going to be able to help you with shit. They're too busy trying to cover their own asses. Yours ain't going to mean squat to them. And you know it, I think." Chief scratched his chin. "Congressman Hercules Cook, for example. His name's come up before."

Conley turned green. It was an interesting effect. Dave didn't think a human face could actually do that, change color like some kind of lizard but this one apparently could. It wasn't a pretty look. "I don't know him."

"I suspect that's not entirely true, Conley. But hey, if it's any consolation to you, I bet you'll be finished in Texas long before they have any time to worry about bringing you in front of the FBI to talk about Cook. I mean, they don't mess around there. You've already lost two appeals there, buddy, just because you couldn't be bothered to show up."

Conley scowled and looked away, but there wasn't anything else for him to look at. "I want a lawyer."

"Feel free to tell a cop that once we make landfall. That'll be in about three weeks, maybe a little more. In the meantime, you want to make yourself comfortable? Hopper and Floyd here can make sure you're not thinking about Texas at all." Chief pretended to think for a moment while he looked at the ceiling. "Or Florida. Conspiracy to murder eight thousand people is definitely a capital crime down there, I'd expect. I know they're looking real forward to meeting you too."

Dave rubbed his knuckles and gave his nastiest grin.

Conley snarled and rattled his chains. "I wasn't even in Florida for that bombing!"

Chief shrugged. "Bogdanovic gave you up. Backed it up, too. Man, I would not speak highly of your chances, if you know what I mean." He chuckled. "All right. Well, we'll see you in the States. Briefly."

Conley groaned. "Look. If I give you someone big, can you get me out of the death penalty?"

"I'm not a lawyer, Conley. I can talk to some people, I can see what we can do, but I'm not a cop and I'm not a prosecutor." Chief made an elaborate show of shrugging, apathy dripping from every motion.

"I can get you Patrick Wolf." Conley licked his thin little lips. "I can prove to you that Wolf ordered the hits on Orlando and Baltimore. The one on the college was all me. I wanted to show off what the kid could do, and I picked a target I already hated." He flipped Floyd off. "And you couldn't save them, could you?"

Floyd curled his lip again.

"All right," Chief said, rising. "We'll see if your leads pan out. Then we can talk deals."

Dave followed his superior out of the room, awestruck.