Sea Patrol Fan Fic: Not Your Average Sailor (8/?)
Title:Not Your Average Sailor
Author: somebodysangel/ nyafangirl
Part: 8/?
Rating: PG
Characters: Nav/ET, Bomber/Spider, Ensemble
Genre: Angst/Friendship/Romance
Summary: It was an ordinary day, an ordinary boarding, just another illegal fishing vessel…or was it? “How did the guy manage to shoot two of my sailors when there were six armed personnel on his ship?”
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.
Notes: Thanks to Thea for the banner.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Missing sailors found, and with X in charge of the ship as they started back to base, Mike sat in his cabin, contemplating. The injuries of Nav and Spider had hit him hard, not least because Bomber, ET and Buffer were all working below-par.
Unlike many other seamen who had worked under him, Spider had made a deep impression on Mike, not least due to the young man’s uncanny ability to get himself into trouble. Every time he saw the look of contrition that was quickly becoming a familiar expression on Spider’s face, Mike couldn’t help but want to protect him. And it had been a long time since he’d seen a seaman with so much potential - it seemed there was no middle ground with Spider, he was either messing up or standing out.
In contrast to Spider, Nav almost never slipped up. Thus Mike was extremely concerned as to the multitude of factors that had caused her to make such a huge mistake. Even putting aside her dabbling in the grey area that was the Navy fraternisation rule, the fact that she had deliberately disobeyed the Navy rules for maternity leave would have some serious consequences.
Mike thought of Nav as the sister he’d never had, but she wasn’t the annoying little sister, more of a friend-type sister. They worked so well together, could almost read one another’s minds, and if not for his need to speak out loud occasionally, Mike knew he wouldn’t have to direct her to do anything. Not only was she excellent at her job, she always found the right balance between friendliness and insubordination, thus got away with more cheeky comments than anyone else. He knew it had annoyed Nav when X first came aboard and the navigator was no longer the only woman on the ship, but true to form she didn’t let anything affect her work, and her unique charms soon won the blonde lieutenant over. Mike was amazed at her ability to bond with every person on board; despite the wide variety of personalities aboard the ship, she worked well with literally everyone, and most of the boys would protect her as a little sister.
Which brought him to his problems - those sailors who didn’t think of Nav as a little sister. Mike had known Buffer and Nav were close, but his reaction to her pregnancy told the captain there were more than brotherly feelings involved. Buffer and ET seemed to have made up after their spat during the briefing, but Mike would have to keep an eye on them as they got closer to seeing their wounded sailors once again.
Before his brain could delve too far into the bureaucratic nightmare that was Nav’s situation with ET, the leading seaman knocked on the door.
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Yeah, come on in, ET.” He waited while the younger man entered the room and stood next to the desk at which Mike was sitting. “I take it you know why I wanted to speak with you?”
“I would guess it’s to do with my relationship with Nav, sir.” The tension was evident in ET’s stance, and determination showed in the set of his jaw.
Seeing this, Mike worded his response to set ET at ease. “Did you know the Navy policy on fraternisation is only applicable while actually on the ship? What happens on shore is your own business.” ET’s face and body visibly relaxed, but Mike wasn’t finished. “The problem occurs when one sailor is in a position of authority over the other.”
Though ET’s posture had become more rigid at the word ‘problem’, he didn’t actually understand what Mike was saying. “Sir?”
Seeing the confusion in ET’s face, Mike changed went with a more direct approach. “Nav’s your divisional officer, your direct superior. She’s the one who does your performance reviews, she recommends you for promotions, she’s basically your supervisor.” ET opened his mouth to protest, but Mike held up a hand. “And while I know the two of you are too professional to let anything interfere with your work, the promotional board doesn’t. Now she’s pregnant with your child.” Mike shook his head dejectedly. “I have to say, you two have gotten yourselves into a right mess.”
ET’s head with spinning with all the implications. “So that’s why she kept it a secret, she knew what hell would erupt.”
“I can’t see how delaying things worked out better, but you’re probably right.”
Mike looked away, eyes dancing around the room as he tried to decide the best thing to say next. His ocean-blue eyes flittered over the laptop on his desk, his iPod and speakers on the shelf above, the half-open drawer from which he had just extracted Nav and ET’s personnel records, the folders themselves lying beside his hand, and finally stopped on his wardrobe. The door was open a couple of inches, and in the dark recess he could just make out his formal Navy hat.
Sighing heavily, he turned his attention back to ET, who was now looking even more nervous, if that was possible. In that instant he felt the authority drain from his body, replaced with anger at how two of his most dependable sailors had become so irresponsible. “ET, how did this happen? Considering the fact that she didn’t tell you about the baby, I’m presuming this wasn’t planned. And why didn’t you come to me? You know I would have tried to help.”
“Of course it wasn’t planned, we’ve only been dating for eight months. I guess we’re just in that lucky 1%.” ET was incredibly uncomfortable discussing his sex life with Mike - it was worse than talking to his father; and ET’s father delighted in embarrassing his son with such conversation.
Thankfully Mike didn’t need any further explanation, instead he turned his attention to the other issue. “I know the two of you would never let anything happen on this ship, so having a relationship isn’t strictly against regulations, but the fact that she’s your divisional officer…why didn’t you two discuss this with me? We could have found some way around it. X or Charge could have done your evaluations…it didn’t have to get to this point.”
ET wrung his hands together, “Yeah…well at first we weren’t sure where it would lead, and we didn’t want to mess things up at work, and then Nikki wanted to wait…” He leaned against the wall, wrapping his arms around his torso. “I guess it’s a moot point now.”
Mike nodded glumly, trying to figure out how to bring up the next part - he knew it was inevitable that ET would become defensive and protective. “ET, there are going to be penalties for breaking the rules. Now, as I said before, the fraternisation rules are a pretty grey area, but maternity leave isn’t. Nav not only kept her pregnancy a secret, but she also stayed on the ship well past the mandated cessation point. There are going to be serious consequences for her, and most definitely a note in her file…which may come back to haunt her.”
As expected, the blonde’s face fell as soon as the CO started speaking. “What? No, sir, isn’t there something you can do…it wasn’t anything sinister, she’s the navigator, she hardly ever-”
“-leaves the ship, yes I know this ET. But look what happened today, while she was on board.” Guilt started to seep into Mike’s voice, guilt that he had been trying his very best to starve off all afternoon, and he looked away from ET. “I shouldn’t have let her go outside, I should have made you guys wear your vests when you were boarding…I should have noticed that something was up with her, long before this ever happened.” Mike took a deep breath and gathered himself before he could get too far into the self-loathing. He stared at a blank sheet of paper in front of him, deliberately keeping his eyes away from the leading seaman behind him. He didn’t want ET to see the vulnerability in his eyes, wanted to maintain the façade of calm, collected captain.
There was silence in the room. It felt like an eternity, but ET only saw the clock tick over a single minute before Mike spoke again.
“While I don’t think we need to involve the higher ups with the details of your relationship, there will be some punishment for you keeping it a secret. Firstly I’m going to have to deny the recommendation for your promotion.” Though ET’s face fell, Mike could tell he had been expecting this blow. “Secondly, you’re going to be on galley duty with Bomber for two months, and you’re going to do a thorough check of all the boarding gear equipment during our next voyage.”
Mike looked up from the paper he had been detailing the punishments on, and found ET standing stoically. When grey-blue met ocean, the younger man gave a firm nod, and Mike felt a ribbon of pride run through him - this young man was a fine sailor and an asset to the Navy. Unlike many others, he was facing his mistake head on, and was prepared to weather the punishment stoically.
Softening his expression, Mike spoke more casually, “ET, I will speak to Nav about her own punishment, and I can pretty much guarantee there will be a formal investigation about the pregnancy, but I will promise you something. I will go to bat for her, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure she keeps her job and her rank.” Now he stared at ET, eyes boring into the younger man in an attempt to convey his sincerity.
ET nodded formally, “Thank you, sir.” A grin broke through before he finished the words. “You think she’s going to be OK. Not once in this entire conversation have you expressed any doubt. It’s…refreshing.”
Mike returned the smile, but before he could respond X’s voice came over the internal radio.
“Sir, Comcen on the line for you. News from the hospital.”
……………………