Sea Patrol Fan Fic: Not Your Average Sailor (9/?)
Title:Not Your Average Sailor
Author: somebodysangel/nyafangirl
Part: 9/?
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
Chapter 8
2115 hours
Expelled from the communications room while the captain spoke to Commander Marshall, ET immediately moved up to the bridge so as to ensure he wouldn’t miss out on the briefing that was sure to follow.
When he got there he found the right side of the room completely empty; the vacant chairs of the navigation and EOD consoles lending further emphasis to the conversation currently occurring below deck. He turned to the left, and saw a multitude of heads turning away; Charge and Buffer in the corner near the engineering console, Swain at the helm, X in the captain’s chair, and RO at his station. The only person who returned his gaze was Bomber, seated on the chart table.
Her rich brown eyes were filled with fear, unease, hope and the many other emotions ET himself was feeling. From the soft smile that crossed her face when she looked at him, ET figured his own eyes must have been reflecting those same feelings back to Bomber.
He walked slowly through the bridge without saying a word, legs moving sluggishly, as if he was walking through a swamp. He felt his fellow sailors - his friends - following his movements, could feel their eyes shift to his back as he passed each person. Finally he reached the foremost point of the bridge and stared out the window, watching the night waves crash over the bow of the Hammersley.
There was a throng of emotions flowing through him, each separate feeling warring for prime position. He was anxious about Nav and Spider and the baby, hopeful that they were all going to be OK, worried that they wouldn’t be, frustrated that he couldn’t do anything to help, and scared that he would never be able to show Nav just how much he loved her. The previous few hours had been a rollercoaster of feelings like he’d never felt before, but at this moment, waiting for the news that could make his day or break his heart, he felt like he was about to explode.
The door creaked open earlier than ET expected, and though it hadn’t exactly been noisy on the bridge, there was complete silence the instant they heard footsteps on the stairs.
ET and Bomber were the only ones who moved more than their heads; Bomber hopped off the table and moved to the middle of the room, resting a hand on the chair to the EOD console, while ET did the same thing with Nav’s chair. X noticed the synchronised movements and smiled, but it was merely a contortion of facial muscles with no emotion behind it.
Mike’s face was solemn, and he seemed to be deep in thought. Bomber covered her mouth and stifled a gasp, her fear combined with his expression overriding her composure.
When he reached the top of the stairs Mike paused for a moment, and everyone in the room could see he was trying to figure out the right words.
Buffer was the first to crack, “C’mon boss, just tell us.”
“They’re both alive.” Though everyone let out the collective breath they had been holding since the door opened, Mike’s tone left them hanging for more information. “Nav’s out of surgery, she’s stable, but in a critical condition. And the baby’s fine.” He added, pre-empting ET’s question. “She hasn’t woken up yet, but it’s only been about an hour. Spider is still in surgery, also critical. They won’t tell us any more until he comes out.”
Mike took a breath, and there was another moment of silence while everyone digested the information they had just received. Then the room was filled with noise as they all started talking at once.
X was beside Mike before anyone else had even moved. “Did they give you any details as to Nav’s condition?”
“Why’d they let her out of surgery if she’s still critical?” Buffer asked, pushing Charge out of his way as he moved towards Mike.
“Over three hours in surgery, was the internal damage serious?” Ever-wary of his duties, Swain stayed in his seat at the helm, but turned to face the rest of the room.
“Why hasn’t she woken up?” ET exclaimed, his proximity and volume to her ear startling Bomber, who was the only one not speaking.
The chef was staring in the direction of Mike, however she didn’t actually see him. The image before her eyes was that of her boyfriend, lying unconscious in a sterile room, his face pale from the loss of blood that had reddened the bandages covering his abdomen.
Still in surgery…critical…comes out… Mike’s words repeated over and over in her head, and her hand unconsciously tightened on the chair. All afternoon she had been telling herself that she’d done everything she possibly could to help Spider, and so far it had allowed her to remain composed. But now, stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean while he fought for his life over a hundred kilometres away, the confirmation that his injuries were very serious caused her composure to waver.
Bomber felt a tingle that indicated her legs were about to buckle, and quickly moved to sit in the chair she had been leaning on. As she settled sideways into the cushion she looked back at the centre of the room, where all eyes were on the captain. No, wait, there was a pair of eyes staring back at her, concern filling the chocolate orbs.
She nodded at him, took a deep, calming breath, and then refocused on the captain.
“They can’t do anything more for Nav in surgery, now it’s up to her body to heal.” He answered Buffer first - though he would never admit it, the look on the bosun’s face scared him. “I’ve told you everything I know about both Nav and Spider’s conditions - the doctors won’t release any more information over the phone. And as for the waking thing, I don’t know…” He looked at Swain helplessly, eyes pleading for the medic to reassure ET.
“I’m no expert, but anaesthesiology is not an exact science - the medicine wears off at different rates for each patient.” Every eye in the room turned towards the helm the instant Swain began speaking. “You said she’d only been out of surgery for about an hour, right?” Though the question was directed at Mike, ET was the one who answered.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Then her unconsciousness doesn’t mean anything yet. As far as I’m aware it takes about 40 to 90 minutes for a patient to wake up after general anaesthesia. You can stop fidgeting, she’s still well within the normal range.” Despite the sombre mood on the bridge, Swain had to smile at ET’s reaction to his words - the blonde stopped wringing his hands, stared at them for a second as if they were someone else’s limbs, then stuffed them into his pockets.
“And Spider?” Charge finally spoke up, joining the group in the middle of the room.
“I’m not a doctor, guys.” Swain said, shaking his head. But the expectant faces remained focused on him, so he exhaled loudly and scratched his head. “Internal bleeding is notorious for causing long surgeries, because there’s no way to know exactly what’s been damaged until they actually open him up.”
No one noticed how Bomber’s body stiffened at Swain’s words, except for one sailor whose position allowed him to see both her and Swain. He wanted desperately to comfort her, but at the same time he knew she wouldn’t appreciate him bringing attention to her while she was distressed.
“There’s a lot of soft tissue in the abdomen, not much to slow down a bullet. It did go through his arm first, and it didn’t exit, so all we can do is hope that the arm bones caused it to slow down enough to cause minimal damage.” Though he hated to be so blunt, especially with Bomber right there, Swain knew that sugar-coating the seriousness would be worse.
All we can do…critical…minimal damage… Swain’s words joined Mike’s in the swirling vortex of emotions that was Bomber’s brain, and the fact that the seriousness of his injuries had finally been spoken aloud caused Bomber’s fragile control to finally snap. Her eyes filled with tears, but before any of them could fall she fled the room.
Every head turned towards the sound of footsteps on the stairs, but the only person who reacted was RO. He was out of his seat and following her off the bridge before the others had even realised what had happened.
……………………
All afternoon Bomber had been holding in her emotions. She had tried to disguise her feelings by focusing on her work and her cooking, and felt, for the most part, that she had done an admirable job. Being one of the newest members of the Hammersley crew, and a woman to boot, Bomber feared that allowing the others to see what she was really feeling would taint their view of her. Her ‘tough girl’ persona, the basis by which she had gained the nickname ‘Bomber’, had been carefully cultivated throughout her time in the Navy, and she intended to keep it that way.
But then Spider had asked her out and, despite her wariness about dating colleagues, she had accepted. She had invested feelings beyond friendship, and now he might never know the extent of them.
It wasn’t the first time today that her eyes had filled with tears, however this time should couldn’t stop them trickling down her cheeks. She leaned on the railing surrounding the foredeck, gazing out over the waves. Though the weather was calm, the very movement of the ship caused white peaks to form in the otherwise flat sea.
Bomber hadn’t always loved the sea; as a child growing up in rural Queensland the only time she saw the ocean was her family’s annual trip to her grandparents’ place in Brisbane. However when she decided to join the armed services, there was no other option in her mind and thus she became intimately familiar with the perils and pitfalls of salt water. Now watching over the water was a soothing pastime which allowed her to think about anything and everything on her mind.
“Bomber, you out here?” RO asked from the doorway, and for a moment she entertained the idea of keeping quiet, wondering whether he would venture out to check for himself.
But the consequences of the tears running down her face made themselves known at that very moment - she sniffed loudly.
Instantly Bomber heard footsteps on the deck moving towards her, and as she wiped her now-runny nose she cursed her body’s betrayal. Though admittedly she had shared her ocean view with Spider, for the most part she preferred to be alone, for his constant chatter inevitably spoiled the calmness she wanted.
RO didn’t chatter. He came to stand beside her, and looked out the same way she was, but stayed silent. As always, he was overly respectful, standing a foot away and making no move to touch her.
However when she sniffed again, and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, he could no longer hold in the instinct to comfort. Most guys would have attempted to hold her, but RO knew Bomber wouldn’t accept that. So instead he waited until her hand resumed its place on the railing, and covered it with his own.
When she turned and gave him a grateful look, the wetness in her brown eyes caused his heart to clench. Bomber was the closest friend he’d ever had, and he hated seeing her upset the way she was.
RO wasn’t one to spout insincere platitudes, and he hated speaking for the sake of speaking. So he didn’t tell her everything would be alright, but rather returned her look with a sympathetic one, then looked back out over the waves.
………………………