"Coming Home"...

Liandra took advantage of the home gym that was in the house. Needless to say, exercise was a big item with 10 former military officers for whom fitness had been a way of life. But still the treadmill was a new item for the men and women to use and Liandra certainly found that out. Most of the running in the military had been restricted to road or trail-running and the treadmill with the constant running that one had to do...if you slackened your pace in anyway shape or form or ended up forgetting that you had to slow down the treadmill; your face met rubber - painfully.

The house had a lot of amenities to start with, but there were still a few things that Tosh had to obtain. And because they had pooled their resources together, they were able to get a number of these things. The realtor in the property condition disclosure hadn't mentioned anything about them landing on a tiberium mine so when he saw those green rocks spawning all over the yard, he was about as shocked as a "bird landing on an electric fence". Kimber found the first tiberium rock and told Tosh. And that find would help immensely with the house finances because they'd worked hard, risked their lives and earned every cent of that combined §13.5M pension. And it hurt to see it go flying out the window...due to necessary expenditures, however they knew that landing on this lot with what appeared to be a tiberium mine allowed them a lot of financial flexibility. And even insane Phil seemed to agree on one fact. "Good Job...Tosh."

The home provided a recreational oasis, a place for them to recharge and it appeared to have everything that one could ever want - a basketball court if they wanted to practice hoops, a pool that jutted right onto the foundation with windows if one wanted to be a peeper (or is that a creeper) and look in on someone skinny-dipping. And there was a small lake...on a 60x60 lot it wasn't much of a lake, but it was enough...stocked full of fish and plenty of different types as Tosh soon discovered and Harm decided to foresake the law career he wanted to pursue in law enforcement and became an angler instead and he signed up at the city hall and pursued self-employment instead. Of course, fishing in one's gonch at the height of summer was one thing, Harm would have to remember to put on some clothes as fall and winter approached or he'd become a popsicle...(and Mr. Happy would probably crack off...and that wouldn't do well for interpersonal relationship with members of the opposite gender).

Kimber had access to Tosh's refuge which was the top floor of the home - well after all, he was an O-5 (a full three-striper Commander and the highest ranking of all of them with the exception of Kimber who had reached Commander just before she put in for her retirement and she outranked Meg by a rank)

...and she marvelled at the space. Of course, she understood that Tosh didn't like tight enclosed spaces, aircraft carrier personal spaces were notorious for that, in fact it was one of the secrets that she had kept for Tosh while they were CO and XO. As XO she covered for Tosh on certain things; nothing though that contravened the UCMJ, if it was a UCMJ matter that needed officiating over, Tosh would deal with it, however little things like taking care of certain tasks in the squadron that needed doing that the CO didn't have time for because of other conflicting duties, Kimber would deal with it.

As Tosh walked back to the living room after relieving himself at the toilet within his spacious bathroom, he noted Kimber's relaxed skimpy attire. The erotic revalation that he'd experienced in the gym bathroom still sent electric shocks that cascaded through his brain. Throughout their time in the Navy, Kimber had been the upright, by-the-books executive officer who showed no other sign of being attracted to him than the nearest lamp-post. She had shown nothing other than professional courtesy and the respect due a superior officer. Now it was time to get the full explanation from his former XO. Why, and why now, did she unshutter her curtain and let her attraction for him hang out in full view (oh, the places I could go with THAT comment) Frankly, though, he had to sit down first so that he didn't drop through the floor at the revelation.

Kimber stared at him for a long moment before she spoke. "I know you're probably wondering why now?"
Well, that was half the question... Tosh thought to himself. "Yes, that thought did cross my mind..." he answered slowly. "You never did show any signs of being interested in me."
"Well, as you know, we were governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice..." she paused for a long moment. "If I had taken advantage of the feelings that I had for you at that particular moment in time, I'd have been under a JAGMAN investigation so fast that you wouldn't have had a moment to say "Wait..." So it was squelch down those feelings for you and stew in silence. You've had a storied career, Tosh and you are well-respected by everyone in the Navy. Not everyone could do what you did on that hill and I sure as heck wasn't going to be the one to destroy your storied career because I couldn't handle my own hormones."

Tosh felt a bit of anger at the antiquated regulations that governed a "one sex Navy" at the time of the regulation's inception. Was the Navy brass that obtuse that they thought that they could regulate people's hormones? And then he realized that they weren't regulated by the Navy's restrictions any more. "So...I know why you didn't pursue me then..." he paused fearful at her answer, "and why the regulations prevented you from telling me what you thought about me..." he looked at her, "What did you feel back then and...what do you feel for me now?"
Kimber's languid blue eyes locked in on him like her Sidewinders had on those two unfortunate Iraqi MiG 23s over the Al-Hajarah desert that one morning in 2002. She'd gotten two confirmed kills on that day (yeah, unfortunately in RL F-14s could only combine for 1 Mil-8 and that was a helicopter - but they still have 2 MiG 23s and 2 Su-22 kills over the Gulf of Sidra) and that was as a lieutenant in the VF-41 under Tosh's tutelage, he was flying wing-man...and three MiG-23s had come up to bump noses - none went home. Tosh got the other one adding to his now combined total of four; one short of an ace.
Kimber paused for a long moment...and then said, "It was hard to squelch down those feelings. It felt like two souls connecting, but then being kept apart by regulations...and knowing that we were in the same chain of command, it hurt. Knowing that we should be together, but that we couldn't...all because you and I were separated by one rank at first, then even if we were at the same rank, you were my superior because you were the commanding officer and I was the XO."
she looked at him for a long moment and then stared at the fireplace.

"It's hard to know if I made the right decision, but I think my heart tells me that I did make the right decision...because it preserved your career and mine at the cost of years together." Kimber sighed sadly as she looked intently at the fireplace. "But since we're now out of the Navy, free to live the rest of our lives, what do we do now?"
"Well, you certainly made an aggressive opening move..." Tosh said looking over at her with a wry expression on his face

"Well, you only have yourself to blame for that. You taught me that." smirked back Kimber.
"That was for aerial combat, Jugs..." Tosh protested feebly using her callsign
"Adapt and Improvise...Animal..." She retorted with a cheery expression on her face using his callsign in return

"C'mere, you scandalous thing..." Tosh grinned at his former XO and now lover. Kimber willingly slid across the couch into Tosh's arms. It now truly felt like coming home as their hearts connected and as they looked into each other's eyes, their souls connected...and without fail, they fell into each other's arms.