Aftermath

By Somebody's Angel

There was nothing Nav wanted more than to stay with ET while Swain patched him up. And the medic allowed her to hold his head for a while, as ET seemed to be calmer while in contact with her. However she hadn't even changed out of her wet overalls and her prolonged immersion in the water was causing her to shiver uncontrollably.

Swain finally forced her to leave, pointing out that he didn't need her to catch pneumonia while he was trying to attend to ET.

It wasn't until she opened the door to the cabin she shared with X that she realised why she hadn't wanted to return. She hadn't been in the room since this morning, since The Incident, as she had taken to referring it in her head.

She managed to strip off her wet clothes, but in the shower she found herself turning the water as hot as she could stand, watching as her feet and hands turned pink from the heat. Plucking her loofah from its hanging place, she loaded it with body wash and scrubbed until her torso and thighs was as red as the rest of her body.

But try as she might, she couldn't erase his touch from her skin. When she stopped scrubbing she could once again feel his fingers unsnapping her overalls and touching her. It was like his fingers had marked her, tainted her.

It was only when she turned off the water that she realised she was crying. When she felt the moisture on her face she cursed her body's betrayal – why should she cry over a scumbag like Campbell Fulton?

Logically she knew it wasn't her fault, however she couldn't force the images from her mind. What if she hadn't been able to knee him in the groin? What if he had…she couldn't even think the word. She cursed herself for being that vulnerable – all the training she'd done with her brothers while growing up, not to mention her Navy training, and a man was still able to assault her.

She slowly redressed in clean overalls, putting on multiple layers of underclothes in an attempt to ward off the cold that was seeping into her skin.

Now, more than ever, Nav wished she had a female confidant on the boat. For everything else she talked to Buffer, ET, even Swain, however she couldn't fathom talking to a male about any of this, especially one of the men on the boat. She knew how they would react, knew that they (barring a few notable exceptions) thought of her as a little sister, and would protect her as such. ET and Buffer were worse than her real brothers; after all look at the situation ET had found himself in recently, and that was just in reaction to comments about her – imagine what he would do if he found out what had actually happened.

And X, though female, had Navy procedures so fully ingrained into her psyche she was a useless confidant. Nav knew it was harsh, and over the past year she had come to think of X as a friend of sorts, however she couldn't shake X's reaction when she had requested to go to quarantine – the executive officer's first thought was to quote the legal definition of sexual assault.

She sat down on the lower bunk, curling into a ball in the corner and wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. Though more tears stang her eyes, she refused to let them fall, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of making her cry again.

There was a knock on the door, but it opened before Nav could wrest her head away from her arms.

When she finally did, she saw Bomber standing hesitantly in the doorway, two steaming mugs in her hands. And just like that Nav knew she could talk to the young chef. While Bomber had come looking for her, and made sure Nav knew she was there, she also respected Nav's space enough not to enter the room without an invitation.

Nav inclined her head to invite the other woman in, knowing her voice would crack if she attempted to speak.

Bomber smiled hesitantly, then joined Nav on the bunk, handing her the hot soup. "Minestrone." Bomber said simply, the words echoing in the silent cabin. "Your favourite."

Still unable to speak, Nav twitched the corners of her mouth in an attempt at a smile.

"It's awful. No matter how much you scrub you can't erase the feeling." Nav stared at Bomber – she was speaking Nav's thoughts as if she could read her mind. "I was assaulted once, my drink was spiked. I know it feels awful now, but I promise you it will get better. You've just gotta work through it, take it one day at a time."

"How did you…" As she had feared, her voice cracked as soon as she attempted to annunciate.

"A hunch. The way you were acting in quarantine, and how Fulton was so interested in you…and how you haven't let any male touch you since we got back on board." It wasn't pity in Bomber's eyes but sympathy, and Nav was exceedingly grateful. "Just let me give you a piece of advice; don't give in to the fear, don't let him win." The sincerity in her eyes told Nav exactly what she meant.

"Thanks Bomber." This time Nav's smile was wide, a glimmer of the old Nav.

THE END

Please let me know what you think of my first Sea Patrol fic!