Cold All the Way Through, But Warming

Long Lost Family

Will found himself looking closely at his officers as he introduced Bertie, trying to see if any of them recognized him. He thought he saw a brief look of shock in Ives's eyes, but then he had simply asked Bertie to join him on a walkthrough of the Unicorn's guns, he wanted to know how they compared to the Collingwood's. Tyne and some of the others asked Bertie to sit near them in the wardroom, peppering him with questions.

Will let out a sigh of relief when the questions proved to be about Scapa Flow, and he even listened in a bit.

Tyne let out a laugh, "Well, Lieutenant Johnson, I don't think we can promise you a golf course just for us sailors, but Edinburgh has its own entertainments."

Bertie blushed, "I d-don't really need much. Usually I prefer a quiet night in."

"There's plenty of that here." Nettles grumbled, shrugging. "Well, it's not as if Beatty lets us take the squadrons out to practice. If it weren't for Captain Murdoch here we'd never get any actual gunnery training done."

Bertie glanced to him, and Will nodded. "I believe the ship should be kept ready at all times, and that includes her crew. If I have to flatter the Admiral to get us permission, it's not a hardship."

Sharpe, coming around with port for all of them, perked up at that. "Actually, sir, I meant to tell you earlier. Admiral Beatty asks that you visit Lion tomorrow morning, he'd like to speak to you."

"Not a problem," Will replied, although he could feel a curl of suspicion in his gut. "I'll brush out my uniform tonight, you don't need to worry about it, Mr. Sharpe."

Will took on all the worry himself instead, brushing his jacket and trousers at least three times. What could Beatty want him for? They hadn't spoken since after the battle, but he knew Beatty had been speaking to damn near anyone who would listen. Every paper he'd read at the house had featured interviews with anonymous sailors who spoke glowingly of Beatty and disparaged Jellicoe at every turn. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Beatty himself, or at least those trying to get into his good graces.

Will hardly cared about that, but Beatty seemed to be all about politics. He may not have read a biography on the man, but he knew how he fostered relationships that proved fruitful for him in the long run. Or Ethel did, she seemed to meddle as much as he did. Will pondered briefly if Ana would do anything like that for him, promote him to the right people in order to secure his advancement. He didn't think she would, but when he laid down and reached for one of her letters, he was forced to admit that she might.

Ana had found a most interesting penpal, Lord Fisher. She had written about what an interesting man he was, and even included some of their letters. A lesser man would have scrutinized every letter for some sign of flirtation, Will felt very secure in their marriage now that he had banned Oscar from seeing her and had worked through things with his wife. Ana wouldn't be looking at a man old enough to be her father, instead she was writing to him about ideas and theories relating to the Unicorn.

And Fisher was only encouraging her!

To think that in between all the sweet moments she wrote to him about; the picture of Ruth with her puppy, the garden that Rowan had planted, the purchase of the first location of Murdoch Soldier and Sailor's Homes, there were comments about a more advantageous armor scheme, or the effect of more smaller caliber guns along the edges of the deck. It made Will shake his head.

He was still shaking his head as he was piped aboard the Lion, although that was more because the bo'sun was playing his pipe as shrilly as possible. And directed right at his ear. Fortunately, his hearing didn't seem to be damaged in any way as he stepped through the door to Beatty's office, saluting.