A/N: Yes! The long awaited… or at least requested then probably forgotten sequel to "To Wives and Sweethearts"! And let me warn you now, if you had issues with the last story being pointless, weird, unlikely, and insane, you ain't seen nothing yet. This one's even worse! It's actually quite plotless really… more like a bunch of random silliness that follow the unexpected journey of Olivia, Tom, Jack, Stephen, and Will Blakeney. It focuses mainly on Tom and Olivia (of course…) but it has the rest thrown in there to add to the insanity, and give them some of their own amusement. It's all Jack's fault. So if you hate it, poke Elessar King. Hehe actually most of the amusing events are from us joking around so many much thanks to Jacky! Other people contributed to the silliness…. Hehe and a million thanks to Whitney for all the Pullings jokes which will certainly appear in later chapters…

Rating: PG-13…. Yeah guys, this story is set at an American university, and as a student I can tell you that no story set there can possibly be less. There's language… there's drinking…. there's loads of perverted jokes and innuendo… and maybe a little bit more than that ;-)

WARNING: DO NOT TAKE THIS STORY TOO SERIOUSLY!! This is just me having fun guys… I don't think this could really happen… nor do I think the characters would behave so ridiculously… it's just a bit of fun and over exaggerating and again… having fun while having a seriously high sap content at times as well….

You have now been warned. Enjoy!

"On Distant Shores" (where the heck do I get these weird titles by the way?)

Chapter One

Olivia Corin stepped back with a sigh and looked around the room with exhaustion. Since her roommate had moved out that morning Olivia had spent the entire day cleaning, scrubbing woodwork, floors, vacuuming and getting rid of any dirt, dust, or mildew in the apartment. It had been a long battle, one that left her looking less than presentable and rather filthy herself, but it had been worth it. The place never looked better, and that in itself was satisfying.

She stretched lazily and yawned. Scrubbing woodwork all day was hard on her back, which had not been the same since her "accident" about a year earlier. She absentmindedly twisted the simple metal ring around her finger, a habit she had picked up. Upon waking up from her coma and confiding in her closest friends that she had been sent into the past her friend and later on, her doctor, told her it must have been a coma fantasy. A strange and oddly accurate coma fantasy, but a fantasy none the less.

However, there was still the ring that Tom Pullings had given her. She could not explain it away and found the whole thing to be a puzzling mystery. Her friends all worried, saying she had not been quite the same since the whole thing. For one thing she never dated anymore, her thoughts were how could she date when she was engaged to Tom? But of course, they all said he didn't exist. It was all so confusing, and it was not surprising that she was rather depressed for quite some time after the coma, but she was doing much better now. Her life was getting back to normal and she immersed herself in vocal training and work. Opera took discipline and style, and while Olivia had always loved to relax and enjoy herself as much as the next person, on the stage she was focused and the very picture of a disciplined performer. Things were almost as they had been before, except that she still couldn't bring herself to date. That would take longer, but in time.... maybe...

Olivia had been so lost in thought that she jumped when her phone rang. With a small laugh Olivia threw down her rag and went to the phone, picking it up and taking a seat at the kitchen table. "Hello?"

"Hello dear. It's your mother."

Olivia held back a groan. Her mother never shut up when she called and Olivia really was not in the mood to deal with her right now, granted she normally was not in the mood to deal with her mother, but she held back her annoyance and managed to sound cheerful. "Hi Mama."

"Did Sandi move out?" She asked, sounding a bit unhappy.

"Um... yeah this morning. Got a job in Detroit you know." Olivia said, picking up a pad and pen and making a shopping list while her mother talked, bracing herself for the onslaught of disapproval ahead.

"Are you going to be all right alone?" Her mother launched into her worries about a young lady living all alone in an apartment and all the horrible things that could happen, while Olivia occasionally added an 'uh huh' or a 'yeah' or an 'oh really', barely listening to a word her mother said. After about thirty minutes of this Olivia interrupted.

"Mama. I'll be fine. Lannie and Kate live right next door." She said. "And I have to go." Her mother's constant worrying was one of the reasons why this summer she was staying at school, rather than going home, not to mention her psychopathic grandmother lived at home as well, and Olivia certainly did not have the patience for that either.

"Oh? You have a date?" Her mother sounded extremely hopeful, she had always wanted Olivia to settle down and get married right out of high school, to the proper sort of man of course, preferably one with a medical degree, or a law practice. "You know, Janos is planning on transferring to-"

"No Ma. I have to go get food." Olivia said shortly, cutting her off before she could attempt to set her up on another date with her psycho Grandmother's friend's grandson, who according to them was a 'nice young boy of Hungarian descent' who needed a wife to support him in his future law practice. Olivia hated it when her family set her up, and could not stand Janos, an arrogant little jackass whose eyes had a tendency to settle on her cleavage rather than her face when she was talking. She determined that she had been patient enough listening to her mother and it was time to go before her mother managed to use guilt against her. "Got to go, it's getting dark. Love you. Bye."

"Bye dear! Be careful." Olivia did not reply to this, but hung up the phone.

She didn't care that she looked awful, it was only the grocery store. So she grabbed her keys off the hook and looked over her list, making sure everything was there. "Beautiful." She muttered. Looking out the window she noticed it was pouring down rain, and she sighed. "Oh well." She said to herself, knowing full well her refrigerator was empty, and left, prepared to be wet. Another boring, typical day almost gone.

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Tom Pullings had no idea how he came to be in what appeared to be a large grassy field. It was pouring down rain and rather dark with lightening occasionally filling the sky, and at first he thought he might be dreaming. He remembered going to sleep in his cabin on the Surprise, it had been a long day and he had not bothered to even take off his uniform or boots at all. Instead he just collapsed in his hammock hoping sleep would come quickly. However, it had not he recalled, and he remembered thinking of Olivia before he fell asleep. Ever since she died he had not been able to pass a day without thinking of her. Some days were worse than others, but always at night, as he went to sleep and lay there drifting off did thoughts of her drive him to tears. During the day he could distract himself. Something always needed his attention on the ship, however, at night, his mind would spin with thoughts of her. The worst was remembering her as she lay dying and him helpless to stop it. Olivia's death had been so difficult to bear, and the loss of the life they never had stung more than anything. He never knew that losing someone could be so painful, as if a part of him died with her and was now buried at sea as well. Perhaps, he thought looking around the dark field, perhaps he had died as well? It seemed too real to be the afterlife, and he did not recall dying at all. Nor did he remember feeling ill going to sleep, so he doubted he was dead.

"Mr. Pullings?" Tom turned to see young Lord Blakeney standing there looking terribly confused as well. "Sir? Where are we?" He asked.

Tom shook his head, "I'm afraid I have no idea." He replied to the young man.

"Well! Gentlemen! We appear to be quite misplaced." It was the Doctor, who was walking towards them with the Captain. They both also looked around quite confused, as the rain soaked their clothes. "Any ideas as to how we got here?"

"No sir." Blakeney replied.

Tom looked around to see if anyone else was here, and saw no one. "Are there others sir?" He asked the Captain.

"None that I've seen." He said, glancing around to get some bearings. "We can hardly continue to stand here in this weather however."

"There are lights in that direction." Tom said, nodding across the field.

Jack Aubrey nodded. "Perhaps we will find some shelter there then. And perhaps some answers."

As they went towards the lights, it was clear that they were quite unusual as well as the buildings that housed them. There were no backdoors, just windows with small balconies, several of them in fact. Stephen drew their attention to the lights, saying they were quite fascinating and he had never seen the like. None of them had, and Tom felt uneasy. This place was strange and seemed so very foreign. They walked around the buildings to where they suspected the front doorway be and found a well-lit black stone courtyard. It was filled with strange objects that had wheels, so they could be carriages, but yet, there was no place to fix a harness of any kind. The Doctor was immediately drawn to them, examining them in fascination. He started knocking on the front and peering through the windows to the interior, while the others stood by, watching and looking around in sheer confusion.

"Hey! Get away from my car!" A female voice broke through the storm. Tom looked up immediately. That voice was so familiar, but it couldn't be.

There he saw her, standing in an outdoor stairway with a large bag, dressed much like she had been when he first pulled her from the water so long ago, her hair was hardly neat and orderly, piled high on her head as if hastily pulled away from her face and she would argue that she was hardly at her best, but to Tom, she was the most beautiful sight in the world. He felt his heart leap into his throat and all else seemed to fade away and he stood there for a moment simply staring at her. Finally, he found his voice, which seemed weak and hardly his own anymore.

"Olivia?"

She froze, her mouth falling open in shock. She dropped her bag and stared back, unable to move. A moment ago she had been taking out her trash and saw someone poking around her car and was going to yell at them, but now, Tom was standing there in the rain calling her name. For a moment she thought she might be dreaming and prayed if she were dreaming, she would not wake up.

Suddenly she flew down the stairs and across the parking lot, covering the distance quickly despite the weak feeling in her knees. Tom caught her in his embrace and kissed her hungrily, as if his life depended on it. She was real. She was alive. How was this possible? All his thoughts disappeared as he kissed her, holding her tightly and feeling her lips against his, assuring him that she was in fact real.

It took a rather loud cough from the Captain to pull them apart. Tom turned a deep shade of red, still smiling and refusing to completely let go of Olivia, for fear of losing her once more.

Olivia glanced at the others quickly before locking her eyes on Tom once more. Happy tears were streaming down her cheek, mixing with the rain that had now completely soaked her. She could not believe he was here, holding her as she had so often dreamed of. Her mind spun with questions and she hardly knew where to begin.

"How did you get here?" She asked her eyes still wide with wonder.

Tom shook his head, "We have no idea." He replied, staring at her. "But how... Olivia, how is this possible? You were dead!"

Olivia merely gave a small laugh, "I can't explain that either. But I can tell you that you've somehow gotten to the future, my time."

Tom felt his mouth drop, he was about to ask another question when the Captain interrupted them. While the others had found their reunion quite heartwarming it was time for Jack to ask some questions. Stephen seemed quite fascinated with the thing Olivia had called a car earlier, and was back to looking at it in child-like fascination.

He cleared his throat rather loudly. "Miss Corin, it is good to see you again, but if you could be so kind as to explain-?"

Olivia turned her attention to the others for the first time, having almost completely forgotten their existence, and smiled, "Oh! Of course, I'll try to explain whatever I can." Olivia stepped back, taking Tom's hand. "But not here, it's pouring. Let's get inside." She looked at Stephen who was still tapping the hood of her car. "Doctor, I promise I'll let you look at my car later."

Maturin turned to look at her and smiled, "Of course my dear." He said.

They all followed her into one of the large buildings, where she stopped to pick up her bag and threw it into a large metal bin just outside the building. "There. Trash's out." She muttered, giving them a rather nervous smile.

Tom caught her hand again and gave her a quizzical look. "Olivia, you're shaking." He pointed out.

She laughed, "No kidding, you appeared out of no where with him banging on my car hood!" She replied, leading them up a flight of stairs and to a door with a six on the door. She opened it, wiping her feet on the mat at the door. "Welcome to my home." She said simply, leading them inside.

Tom glanced around, taking it in. It was a tidy little place, with strange objects he could not identify. Music was playing from somewhere, an opera, but he could not see any singers or musicians. Olivia picked up an object off the table and pointed it towards a black box on the shelves and the music stopped.

She smiled when she noticed they were all staring at her strangely, "Um… Wagner opera." She said as a way of an explanation. She glanced at the wet puddles they were leaving on her floor and sighed. "Oh… the carpet… um… come into the kitchen." She led them all into another room with even more strange objects and flipped a switch. The light came on which surprised them all and she could not help but laugh a bit. "Let me get you some towels and I promise I'll explain everything… well… as best I can anyway." She assured them, disappearing down the hall.

"Mr. Pullings, where are we and what did Miss Corin mean by her time?" Captain Aubrey demanded as soon as she had left.

Tom was watching her go down the hall from the kitchen door and turned back to the Captain, having been lost in thoughts of her and not paying the slightest attention to anything or anyone else in the building. "I'm sorry, sir, what did you say?"

Jack was not sure whether to laugh or become angry. He had no idea where he was, but he was certainly not on his ship where he should be, and he was not getting the answers he wanted fast enough.

Blakeney, who had been rather quiet through the whole thing and was quite pale at the moment, turned to the others with a look of shock on his face. "I thought she was dead sir." He said, not indicating which sir he was addressing but seeing as Tom was still looking down the hall at Olivia, and Stephen seemed to be occupied exploring and touching everything in the room muttering to himself, Jack decided to answer.

"As did we all, Mr. Blake- Stephen what are you doing?" His thought was interrupted when Stephen pressed something, a strange white object that was hanging from a cabinet that was mounted to the ceiling, and it made an odd beeping noise.

"I say!" He exclaimed, pressing another button. "How extraordinary!"

"Doctor, are you really sure you should be touching- what is that anyway?" Jack could not help but being curious himself, and he went over to look as well, touching one of the numbers and hearing the beep. "Whatever could this be used for?" He asked.

Blakeney came over as well, his natural curiosity bringing some color back into his cheeks. "What do you suppose this one does, sir?" He asked, pressing the bar like button that seems to stick out at the bottom.

Suddenly, what appeared to be a door swung open with force hitting Jack Aubrey clean on the nose. He stumbled back surprised and grabbed his nose, which subsequently began to bleed. "DAMN!" He shouted, backing out of the room and into the hallway.

"I say!" Stephen intrigued by this fascinating machine, stuck his head inside to further examine it, ignoring the poor bleeding Captain at the moment.

"Stephen! That thing is dangerous!" Jack declared, glaring at his friend.

The young midshipman was horrified, and repeatedly declared his apologies over and over again, his eyes wide. Will Blakeney then locked his hand behind his back and swore not to touch another thing until he quite new what the consequences would be.

Tom was finally pulled from his staring down the hall by the captain swearing and all the ruckus. "Sir? Are you all right?"

Jack glared at his first lieutenant in annoyance, more at the entire ridiculous situation than Pullings. "Do I bloody look all right man?" He demanded.

Olivia returned, carrying a stack of towels. "Okay, I'm going to have to wash my- What happened? DON'T BLEED ON THE CARPET!" She quickly dropped the towels and sprung on Jack with surprising speed, quickly pulling him in to the kitchen. "Over the SINK!" She demanded, positioning him over what he supposed was in fact, the sink. "And Doctor! Get your HEAD out of my MICROWAVE!"

Stephen jumped and back away from the machine. "Is that what it is called?" He asked mildly. "And heavens Jack, what did you do?" He finally noticed the bleeding Captain and went over to see to his nose.

"That damn machine is a menace." Jack grumbled. His nose was already beginning to stop bleeding, though he imagined he would have quite the bruise in the morning. "What the devil does it do anyway?"

"It heats food." Olivia replied, resisting the urge to tell Stephen not to use her rather nice bath towel to clean up Jack. "And the door is broken." She said, shutting it. "Normal I put a hand here to stop it from swinging so hard." She said, demonstrating the proper way to open the microwave door.

Jack took no notice of this, he was still grumbling over his smashed nose and was quite vexed that Miss Corin seemed more concerned for her carpets than his injury. It had stopped bleeding, thankfully, but it was still quite painful.

Olivia noticed Jack's bad mood while picking up the towels and handing one to Blakeney and one to Tom. "Captain Aubrey, do you want some ice for your nose?"

"Ice?" Stephen looked up quite interested. "Where would you get ice?" He looked around as if it would magically appear out of thin air, which quite frankly would not have surprised any of them after all they'd seen today.

Olivia tried to hide her amusement and went to the cabinet to get a plastic bag, then she opened her freezer and quite simply retrieved ice, knowing full well all four of her guests where watching her with fascination. She then took the towel Jack was holding to her nose (trying not to cringe at her nice towel now stained with blood from his nose) and wrapped the ice in it.

"Hold that there for about twenty minutes, it should keep the swelling down." Olivia explained to the confused captain.

"I say! It's awfully cold in this box!" Stephen exclaimed.

Olivia looked up to see the Doctor with his head in her freezer. "That's my freezer… and if you don't mind could you shut the door?"

Stephen obviously wasn't paying attention, "Ice, foods that appear to be frozen, and something called chunky monkey?" He pulled out the carton with interest. "What a fascinating machine! How does it work?" He asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Um…" Olivia had no idea how to answer that. No one had ever asked her how a freezer worked. "I'm not sure… it just does…" She replied, handing him a towel and taking her ice cream to put back in the freezer. "If you gentlemen would like to sit down in the other room I'll explain everything in a minute, as soon as I clean up the sink a bit."

"Very well, but I want an explanation." Jack Aubrey glared at the young woman. He was not in a very good mood finding himself in a strange place with machines he didn't understand and having his nose smashed by a… what did she call it? Ah.. microwave did not particularly please him. He went out to sit on the comfortable looking furniture in the other room, followed by Stephen and Will Blakeney.

Tom paused in the kitchen a moment as Olivia dug under the sink for a rag to clean up the counter and sink with. He was not sure what to say to her, but he had so much he wanted to say. Part of him was still waiting to wake up. He had dreamed of her so often it made it hard to believe this was real. He stood awkwardly for a moment, just staring at her, then cleared his throat. "May I help?"

Olivia looked up from where she was wiping the counter with a smile, dropping her rag. "I'm done." She went over to him, her eyes searching him for a moment. "I've missed you." She said, taking his hand in hers. "You have no idea how much I missed you, Tom."

He leaned over and gave her another kiss, pulling her close. "About as much as I've missed you, perhaps?" He tightened his embrace, never wanting to let go lest something horrible befall her again. "I thought I'd lost you."

Olivia buried her face in his chest, crushing her fears and worries against him. "Everyone told me you weren't real. That it was only a dream, but I knew you had to be real. I could never even imagine someone as wonderful as you."

Tom tightened his embrace, swallowing hard. "You were in my every dream, Olivia. Promise me you will never do that again? Promise me I will never lose you again?" He begged.

Olivia was about to reply when her apartment door burst open.

"Livie! Hey… what the crap?" A woman shouted from the other room. "Who the Hell are you people?"

"I beg your pardon?" Stephen replied to the strange young woman who had burst in the room without so much as a warning. She was an odd sort of creature. Tall and thin with dark hair streaked with red. The red most certainly could not be natural.

Tom raised an eyebrow and looked at Olivia for an answer.

"Kate." She replied with a small smile, "A friend of mine." With that Olivia let go of Tom and went out into the room.

"Livie, what the crap?" Kate demanded. "Are you hiring strippers for Steph's welcome home party that dress up like that Hornblower guy she's always going on about? Because she's not coming back until January you know. And that one is too young to be legal." She stated with a nod towards poor confused Blakeney.

"No Kate. And Stephanie would murder us if we hired strippers for her." Olivia replied calmly.

"Then what the Hell is going on?" Kate demanded.

Olivia opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by Jack, who was quite infuriated by this point.

"Just one moment Miss Corin! You owe us an explanation! If anyone gets to know what the Hell is going on it is us!" He protested, rather loudly, jumping to his feet. "Wait your turn madam!" He said with a glare to Kate.

Kate however, was not easily intimidated and merely glared at the large naval Captain. "Who died and made you King?"

"I beg your pardon?" Jack was slightly taken aback by the young woman.

"You heard me!"

"HEY!" Olivia interrupted. "Kate, Captain Aubrey, sit down!" She ordered, not wanted a fight to break out between the two mismatched figures attempting to glare each other down.

The Doctor however, looked as if he was on the breaking point of hysterical laughter, and pulled his friend to sit with much effort. Tom remained in the doorway of the kitchen, unsure of what to do, while Kate froze, then sank obediently into one of the beanbag chairs on the floor. Will Blakeney stared at her wide-eyed, and Olivia sighed.

"Where should I begin?" She muttered to herself, rubbing her temple as if she had a headache and trying to think of the best way to explain the situation to everyone.

Tom crept forward and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Why don't you tell them what you told me on the Surprise, dear?" He suggested.

"Good idea." Olivia replied. "Kate, zone out for a second."

"No problem." Came the reply, as Kate began to flip through a magazine she pulled off the coffee table.

Olivia tried not to roll her eyes at her friend and directed Tom to the sofa as well. "Okay, well… a little over a year ago I was rock climbing and took a fall, but instead of hitting ground I hit ocean. Bit odd considering I was no where near water." She sighed, knowing that she wasn't making sense. "When you took me aboard your ship Captain Aubrey, I had fallen into the past, into your time."

Jack opened his mouth to voice how ridiculous this sounded but was silenced when Olivia held up a hand.

"I know it sounds crazy but it's true." She said calmly. "Anyway… when I… when I…" She swallowed hard, suddenly it had become rather hard to speak. "When I died, I ended up back here, in my own time. 2004. I can't explain why it happens, I can't explain when, where, or how. All I know is something made me travel through time, and now you're doing the same thing."

"So… we're in the future? 2004 you said?" Stephen asked in wonder.

Olivia nodded, "Yes, in Newberry, Virginia. Where I go to school."

Suddenly, Kate let out a gasp of what could only have been mortal pain and grabbed her heart, flopping to one side. The men all jumped to their feet startled and stared at her in shock.

Olivia however calmly turned to her friend and raised an eyebrow, "Paris Hilton's dress on page 26?" She asked.

"It's horrible!" Kate proceeded to clutch her chest as if in pain. "Burn it! Burn it! It pains me!"

Olivia sighed, while normally she found her fashion designing friend's antics amusing she was also well aware of the looks of shock on all four of the very confused faces witnessing her insanity. "Kate Peters could you not at least ATTEMPT to be normal around people you've never met?"

Kate paused, tossing the magazine across the room and noticing the shocked expressions on everyone but Olivia. "Sorry. So are you going to tell me what's going on now? Because I was trying to listen in earlier and was confused."

"I think there's not a single person in this room who is not confused right now, Kate. For once you are not alone." Olivia teased, picking up the magazine Kate had thrown and setting it on the table once more. "Remember about a year ago when I came out of the coma? And how I told you I went to the past on a ship and fell in complete love with a man?"

"Yeah… something Pullings." Kate said with a slight snicker remembering how much that name amused her.

Olivia smiled slightly, moving to stand with Tom, taking his hand quite possessively, as if she never wanted to really let go again and wanted everyone to know how much she loved him. "Meet Tom Pullings, Kate."

Kate's jaw dropped, "Are you serious?"

"Very."

"And he's…"

"Uh huh."

"So they're…"

"Yep."

"And you're really…"

"Yes."

"And you guys are gonna…"

"Hope so."

"Holy shit."

Tom blinked in confusion at the conversation that had just seemed to occur between the two women. He desperately hope they would start finishing their sentences soon because he had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

"So if he's your darling Tom then who are they?" Kate said with a nod towards the others. Tom held back a smile and could not help but wonder what exactly Olivia had told her friend about him. He also could not help but be slightly amused by this woman's odd manner. Kate seemed to have a carefree manner that reminded him of a butterfly, flitting from one thing to the next never pausing for long to consider her next move.

"Kate Peters, meet Captain Jack Aubrey, Doctor Stephen Maturin, and Will Blakeney." Olivia said, introducing each of them.

Kate smiled, "Nice to meet you."

Jack was still slightly miffed by Kate, not to mention he was in a bad mood in general, but he did respond with a civil nod to the young woman.

Will smiled, still looking overwhelmed, but did manage a polite "How do you do Miss Peters?"

"It's Kate. Miss Peters makes me feel like I'm old." She replied, unable to help her grin at the rather personable preteen before her.

Stephen gave her a civil bow, "Good evening." He greeted.

"Hi." Kate replied, before blowing onto the next subject. "So… you've got an apartment full of British sailors from the 19th century… what are you going to do?"

"Keep them here of course." Olivia said simply. "I have no idea how they got here, neither do they, and I have no idea how to send them back." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I came back to my time… so I guess we'll just have to wait it out and see what happens." Olivia admitted she secretly hoped they would not go back. She knew it was completely selfish but she wanted Tom to stay with her. She was still holding his hand tightly in her own, and she gave it a subconscious squeeze.

Tom felt her squeeze his hand and wondering what it was that troubled her suddenly. He had to admit he liked that she had intertwined her fingers with his own, and he was more than happy to return the grip. He wanted nothing more than to escape the others and be alone with her.

"Surely you do not live alone?" He asked, suddenly realizing that four extra people might not please her father, or whoever she lived with.

Olivia nodded, "I used to live with my friend Sandi, but she got a job offer elsewhere and moved out. So right now it's just me."

"What of your family?" He asked, curiously. An unwed woman, further more an attractive and young woman, living alone seemed odd to him.

"Oh…. my mother and brother live up in West Virginia with my grandmother and brother, and my father…" She trailed off, seeming uncomfortable.

"Is an asshole." Kate finished for her firmly.

"Kate!"

"What?" She asked innocently. "It's nothing you haven't said yourself!"

Olivia shook her head, smiling slightly. "I haven't seen my father in sometime." She explained to Tom. "We don't exactly… get along."

"Livie's family hates her." Kate supplied.

"They do not!" Olivia protested. "They just like to… torture me and put me into therapy for the rest of my life… but one of my Aunts likes me!"

Tom raised an eyebrow, surprised by the information Kate was sharing. "Your family hates you?" He asked, wondering how anyone could possibly hate Olivia.

Olivia merely shrugged as if it were nothing. "Can we talk about this later?" She changed the subject. "Right now there's more pressing issues at hand."

"Right." Kate walked a circle around the four confused men, appraising them with the eye of someone who spent her whole life picking out and designing clothes. It made them all rather uncomfortable as she did this as they felt like she was staring a bit more than they would like. Kate paused when she got around to Tom's backside and smirked at Olivia. "Cute butt, way to pick him, Liv."

Tom's face immediately turned bright red, "I… I beg your pardon?" He dropped Olivia's hand, feeling as if he were on display and faced Kate with his eyes wide.

Olivia burst into laughter at both her friend's comment and Tom's reaction to it. "It's okay Tom. She was complimenting you…. Checking you out, yes, but it's a compliment." She then turned to Kate with an equally wide smirk. "And you keep your eyes off his backside. He's mine."

Kate merely laughed, "Fair enough." She then turned slightly serious, which was about as serious as Kate ever got really. "Okay, listen. If they're going to stay here they need clothes right? I'm thinking the best bet in general is the Goodwill and Wal-Mart for like… underwear and socks and crap. In the meantime, Rick and Mark might be able to hand over some of their old stuff." Kate glanced at them all again. "Though it might be too small for the Captain, and too short for Tom, and too tall for Stephen, and certainly won't fit Will… okay you know what? That won't work." Kate answered her own question, thinking out loud. "I'll just run up to Goodwill now on my own, I'm sure I can just spot at the sizes, and if it doesn't fit I'll make another trip and add the rejects to my fabric pile."

"Kate, you are an angel." Olivia said with a smile.

"Yeah, thank me by making them all take showers will you? No offense guys, but you stink!" Kate declared.

"Well Kate, there's not exactly showers on 19th century sailing ships." Olivia defended them. However, she secretly agreed. They did smell a bit and did need showers. "But I'll show them."

"Thanks." Kate then headed for the door in her usual carefree breeze.

"You need money?" Olivia asked.

"No… you can pay me back when I get in." Kate called over her shoulder as she left. "Bye guys!" She shouted, shutting the door behind her.

Once she was gone they all stood a moment in silence. Olivia shifted on her feet in the silence, Kate had a way of thinking out loud that while rarely made sense to other people, did in fact fill the room with noise and now that she was gone it seemed quiet.

She sighed, running a hand through her messy hair. She had no idea what to do with the four of them and they had no idea what to do with themselves it seemed. Olivia collected the towels, deciding to take this situation one step at a time she turned back to her guests. "Well, let me give you a tour and then you can get cleaned up, by then Kate should be back with some clothes and we can decide where to go from there."

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A/N: So there you are! An early Christmas present! Or holiday present for people who don't celebrate Christmas! Either way… I hope it's a welcome present! Kate's not based off of anyone I know, but she's such fun to write. Later on there will be some people based off of people I know… don't worry… I asked permission to steal them!

Miss Flossy: Sorry… no Mowett… but he does play a role in the next one… whoa I'm getting ahead of myself. Geez! Haha hope you like Olivia's friend's name… that's totally a coincidence by the way, I had started writing this in I think July… haha before I'd finished the first one… I always get ahead of myself. Anyway, Mowett is neglected and I apologize, but I'm sure you'll give him plenty of fun to make up for it!

The guys are all confused… poor them… but Tom has his Olivia back! Yay them! But Kate scares them all…. poor them… what will happen next? Wait and read!!

Have I ever mentioned that I like reviews of all kinds? Oh I haven't? Well, reviews of all kinds are welcome!

By the way... 's new little document window won't let me draw lines... it keeps bugging my computer.... grrr... so my apologies if it's hard to see my breaks.... I tried!