Smiles and Fears

By Somebody's Angel

"It's way too early for dinner, what are you guys doing ordering already?" Charge commented when Nav and Spider moved to leave the table where the Hammersley crew were celebrating their first evening of shore leave.

"We have plans at 6:30," Bomber replied succinctly, and her tone left no room for further questioning, though Swain and Charge exchanged Looks.

Nav and Spider were at the counter ordering when Nav felt ET's hand slide around her waist and his warm breath against her cheek.

"There's some guy checking you out at the table over there." He whispered softly.

She giggled. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah, he's looking over here right now. Want me to tell him to stop staring?" ET's voice was laced with amusement.

"Are you jealous?" Nav teased.

He looked at her with a smug expression. "Maybe a little."

A surprised smile flickered across her face. "Good."

He chuckled. "You like that I'm jealous. Hmm." He tightened his grip around her waist as she paid for their meals with the wallet she had pickpocketed out of his jeans.

"Maybe I do." She couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she moved aside to allow Spider to pay for his and Bomber's meals. Though she allowed ET's possessive gesture while they were standing there, as soon as they began walking back she pulled his arm away – she wasn't quite ready to show off their relationship to the entire crew.

……………………

"I told you we should have come earlier."

"We'll still get in, the movie's not going to sell out. Relax."

"But we have to wait in this long line," Spider whined. He rocked back and forth on his heels and turned around in circles, like a fidgety child who was getting impatient.

"Suck it up, Spider. And would you stand still?" Bomber chided in a motherly tone. ET and Nav, standing behind them, watched the two younger sailors in amusement.

"Why?"

"Because you're making me anxious."

"Why?"

"Because your fidgeting is annoying."

"Why?"

"Spider!" Bomber warned with an evil eye.

Spider couldn't help but chuckle, proud that he'd successfully annoyed Bomber. Then he remembered that he wasn't on the ship anymore, he was on a date with her, and grinned at her cheekily before taking her hand and swinging it between them.

Nav hadn't intended it to be a date, much less a double date. She and Bomber had made plans to see Sex and the City the movie on their first night of shore leave. Hearing of the plans, Spider had invited himself along and thus Nav, not wanting to be the third wheel, had asked ET to join them.

So now they were sitting in the movie theatre, two rows from the back, and she was incredibly nervous. They had had dinner at the pub with the rest of the crew, but now it was just the four of them, and Nav wasn't sure how to act.

It was her third official date with ET, and while the first two had felt like a natural extension of their friendship, she was still learning how to act when she wasn't trying to hide her feelings. The addition of two extra people wasn't helping any, and she jumped when ET took her hand.

"Hey," he said softly, taking her chin in his hand and gently turning her to face him. "Relax. They aren't paying any attention to us."

Startled by his ability to read her mind, she stared at him until he indicated over his shoulder. She glanced over at the pair on the other side of ET; indeed they were cuddled together and absorbed in the movie.

He kissed her cheek and intertwined their fingers as he turned his attention back to the movie. She gazed at his profile thoughtfully, wondering how he always knew what to say to reassure her.

She turned back to the movie but her mind kept wandering down to her fingers, so warm against his. Moving the armrest she sidled closer to him, bringing their linked hands over her head to rest his arm around her shoulders.

He looked over at her the moment she moved his hand, and tightened his arm around her when she was comfortable. Leaning up to kiss him softly, she whispered "thank you" against his lips before moving her eyes back to Carrie's wedding preparations.

"Don't even think about it, Spider." Bomber's whisper was quiet enough not to disturb the rest of the theatre, but the tone made Spider's wandering hand freeze in its travels down off her shoulder.

"Aw come on Bomb, you know you want me." His fingers began their travels once again, aiming for the v-neck of her top.

This time Bomber's hand made him stop, and she squeezed until he retreated back to her shoulder. "What I want is to watch the movie."

"Some date." He grumbled, taking a handful of popcorn from the bucket on her lap. He stuffed the entire handful in his mouth, making his cheeks bulge out like a chipmunk.

She rolled her eyes, "You are such a boy."

He swallowed, then smirked at her, "Oh no, I'm a man, you'll find out soon enough." He ran a hand up her jean-clad thigh. "Why didn't you wear a sexy dress like Nav?"

Bomber lifted his hand off her leg, clasping it in between both of hers. "Because a) I don't wear dresses, and b) I know you way too well to risk it."

"I'm not that bad. I came with you to watch the ultimate chick flick, didn't I?" He was bordering on whining now, and both their voices had risen to the point they were beginning to annoy the other movie-goers.

"You invited yourself on this date, I didn't even ask you to come, so don't whine."

He deliberately misunderstood her words. "You and Nav were going on a date? Damn, maybe I should have let you go alone."

"Shut up, you idiot." Bomber replied, smacking over the back of the head for good measure.

"Yeah, both of you shut up." Came a contribution from elsewhere in the theatre.

They looked at one another for a moment, Bomber glaring, Spider looking pitiful.

"Oh, don't look at me that way. You fight dirty, using puppy dog eyes. Some poor dog is going around blind now."

He continued with the eyes until she relented and allowed him to envelop her in his arms once again.

As the movie went on, Nav became more comfortable expressing herself, until finally she kicked off her shoes and brought her legs up onto the seat beside her, draping herself fully over ET's chest. His hand moved slowly down from her shoulder, along her back until he was playing with the hem of her dress. But he went no further than allowing his hand to dance along her outer thigh, and Nav had to marvel at just how much he had grown up in the past year. The week before he made the pact with her she had overheard him bragging about getting to second base before the end of a first date, and yet here he was two-and-a-half dates into his relationship with her and they hadn't done more than kiss. And while she did appreciate the chivalry, she was starting to wonder why he kept stopping when things were getting heated.

To this end she gathered her courage and placed a hand on his cheek, the second he turned towards her she kissed him, almost climbing into his lap in an effort to get closer.

He kissed her back, wrapping both arms around her lest she fall of the seat. But as soon as her fingers inched under his t-shirt he pulled away, pecking her once, twice, three times before placing a finger against her searching lips.

"Not here." He whispered into her ear, helping her rearrange herself so she sat sideways on his lap, her legs stretched out over the seat she had recently vacated.

"You are so explaining yourself later." Nav promised, settling into her new position.

ET kissed the top of her head and smoothed out her dress, wondering how he was going to explain his reluctance to get physical with the woman he loved.

That was the problem, in a nutshell – love. He had kept up the 'Jack the Lad' facade the entire time he had been in the Navy, indeed it wasn't exactly a facade, as he didn't have any long-term relationships. But it wasn't because he was trying to avoid a commitment, actually it was the opposite; he was still reeling from a broken heart. He believed Nav would be able to help him mend it, but wasn't sure if she would want to. Despite his best intentions he had fallen for her, and he was terrified of what would happen if she didn't catch him.

……………………

After the movie both couples went their separate ways, ET and Nav watching Bomber and Spider walk away while they waiting for their cab.

"Spider!" Bomber's voice rang out in the street, though few heads turned, the people of Cairns too involved in their own lives to be interested in others.

Nav and ET watched in amusement as Bomber cuffed Spider over the head – he'd obviously said something not-so-funny about the movie they'd just seen. Spider grabbed her hand on its way down, grinning mischievously as he linked his fingers through hers.

"So why did you guys want to watch that movie so bad anyway?" Spider asked, "It's about women in their forties, living in New York City – it's completely irrelevant to your own life."

"It's about women finding love and understanding that 'happily ever after' doesn't go the same way for everyone. That's entirely relevant to me." Bomber retorted.

"Although I did like that Samantha chick, the fascination with her next door neighbour, or should I say, with his-Ow!" Bomber had kicked him in the leg to prevent him from finishing the sentence.

"Stop being gross." She reprimanded, and he shut up…about the movie.

"So tell me the truth, oh wise-one, is Earth really being invaded by little green men?"

Bomber stared at him with mock seriousness. "Absolutely. Not only green ones, but yellow, pink, blue and purple ones as well. You know it's not even safe to walk the streets at night."

"Well, maybe I'd better walk you home then," Spider replied. "Heaven forbid they jump you while getting a breath of polluted air."

They both laughed, and Spider pulled her closer to him and placed a kiss on her temple. "This is nice." He commented, swinging their joined hands between them.

She smiled, "Yeah, it is. I'm glad you came."

……………………

"What's up with you?" Nav exclaimed after ET once again pulled away – this time they were making out on his couch and he pulled out of the kiss when she moved to lift his shirt. "What's with the stopping?"

He sighed and shook his head, leaning forward to kiss her again but Nav was having none of it, "You're not getting out of it this time." She pushed him off her and sat up, looking at him expectantly.

Running a hand through his hair, he sat down beside her and sighed once again.

Noting the worried look on his face, Nav put a hand on his shoulder. "What is it Josh? You can tell me anything, you know that right?"

"I haven't always been such a…lad I guess is the term. I was eighteen, just out of school, in training with the Navy, and I met this girl." He was surprised that she didn't show any response to the mention of a woman, and it gave him hope that this would turn out well. "I fell in love with her, and I thought she loved me. We were together for 18 months before I got my first posting, and she took it hard, not being able to see me every day. Two months later, on her birthday, I took her out to a nice restaurant and proposed." At this point he turned away from her, unable to look into her blue-green eyes as he poured his heart out to her.

Nav allowed him to retain his dignity, but she did take his hand in a silent show of support, his other hand tracing mindless circles on the couch beneath them.

"She not only rejected the proposal, but broke up with me. Said she wanted a boyfriend who could be there for her whenever she needed, not sporadically every couple of weeks. I found out later that she had also been pregnant at the time – she aborted the foetus without even telling me." ET pulled Nav's arms around his waist, wanting contact with the woman he who owned his heart as he spoke of the woman who had broken it.

"I was devastated, even before I found out about the baby. I basically went into hibernation, couldn't sleep, couldn't eat…eventually it was affecting my work. Swain called me on it and so I told him – he's the only person who knows about Lucy – that was her name. He helped me get through the worst of it, even set me up with a friend of Sally's when I was ready to start dating again. But I…Lucy broke my heart and ever since I've done everything I can to protect it." Nav nodded; now she understood why his 'girlfriends' never lasted longer than a month.

"But then I met you, and everything changed. I care about you, I…I love you Nikki, but I'm scared."

Nav pulled on ET's shoulder, forcing him to face her. "I'm scared too, Josh. But the fun part of a relationship is figuring out what's going to happen."

He smiled hesitantly, "That's true. I'm sorry about the whole stopping thing – it's just that every relationship I've had since Lucy has pretty much been purely physical. You're different…and I want to take it slowly."

She looked at him lovingly, "ET there's human slow, and then there's turtle slow."

ET laughed, "Geez Nav, direct much?"

She chuckled and pushed him onto his back, then ran her fingertips lightly down his sides, grinning evilly when he flinched.

She tested again, fingers slipping over smooth skin, moving subtly. ET flinched again.

"Don't do it, Nikki. Don't even think it!" His voice was low, but it was too late. With a shout of glee, Nav launched a full-fledged attack. Within minutes, they were both on the floor rolling around, screaming with laughter. ET finally pinned her, and Nav began squirming for dear life - trying to get away from him, begging him to stop.

"Say Uncle!" He demanded, holding his clawed fingers above her stomach.

"Never!"

He laughed. "You are in so much trouble. I'll give you one more chance - say Uncle! Admit that I win!"

Nav grinned, looking into his handsome laughing face. Her brown eyes suddenly turned deadly serious. "I think I've won. Kiss me, Josh."

He slowly lowered his lips to hers, unclawing his fingers to caress her stomach as he kissed her. It was a soft kiss, more intimate that passionate, physically expressing everything they felt for one another.

Breaking the kiss, ET hovered above her for a moment, staring down at her, insanely pleased that it was he who had caused the serene look on her face, he who had caused her eyes to flutter shut and remain so by simply pouring his emotions into a simple kiss.

Her eyes finally flickered open, blue-green eyes met blue-grey and held. There were no words spoken, but nor were they required, their connection so much deeper than words.

Just as he was opening his mouth to break the silence, Nav spoke, so softly that he wouldn't have heard her if their faces hadn't been mere inches apart, "You messed up my hair, Josh." Her soft smile told him she wasn't really angry about it, just flirting.

He grinned back and spoke just as softly, their breath mingling in the small space between their mouths, "You started it."

"I know." Her grin was now impish, teasing him. "But it's still your fault."

He shrugged and let her up, knowing there was no way he was going to win this one. "Do you want me to fix your hair?" he asked, settling himself on the couch behind her.

She turned around and joined him on the couch, grinning widely as she shook her head. Placing a palm on his cheek she pulled his lips to hers, kissing him soundly.

THE END

So tell me what you think about ET's back-story – OOC? I can't believe a guy like the one they've portrayed in the show would only be a womaniser, especially considering the way he's always treated the women aboard the ship.