A/N: Written pre-season three, based on spoilers about ET's death.
Shattered
Hurt Nav, I'll hurt you.
Buffer flinched as the words ran through his memory. That was the promise he had made, so long ago; and while ET may have forgotten it, Buff sure hadn't.
One look at Nav's broken posture, the desperation in her dull eyes, and he wanted to kill someone. But not ET, he acknowledged silently, his throat tightening. You can't hurt ET, can you?
His hands curled into fists, and he hoped no-one could see how badly he was shaking. He was powerless; his brains, his muscles, his agility, all absolutely useless... and it was almost more than he knew how to deal with.
Afterwards, he had always tried to pretend that his warning to ET had been made out of concern for Nav; because everyone knew ET was a charmer, and that Nav was just a little too nice for her own good. He'd never imagined the lust-based romance would go anywhere, especially as neither of them were likely to give up Hammersley for it.
Now, there was only the ship and Nav's shattered hopes. ET couldn't have wounded her more painfully if he had tried. It made his own struggle with Ray Walsman look almost pitiful.
So what are you going to do, Pete? Buff asked himself. Nothing. Nothing I can do. No-one to hurt, no way to comfort. Absolutely useless.
He could see it in everyone's faces. They could all feel it. Life had been taken away, and there was no way, simply no way, of stealing it back.
Wait. There is something you can do. Something you can all do, he suddenly realised. This had been no accident. This was murder.
There was someone he could hurt.
It would be tough finding them, but he had no doubt the crew would all volunteer for a month of double shifts if it meant finding ET's killer. And he had no doubt what would happen when they did...
Something cold was growing inside him, and he let it.
Because when the time came, he wanted to be able to kill the bastards who had done this.