Join Your Fellow Man

Disclaimer: I do not own Hornblower or any of it's characters, Victoria, Rowan, and Sarah are mine though.

This story is a joint effort between me and my friend Higher Magic, constructive criticism welcome. Please keep flames contained in the galley stove.

Chapter 1 – The New Arrival

Victoria climbed up the side of the ship as nimbly as any old tar and scrambled, rather less gracefully, up onto the deck. She stood next to her sea chest, kindly brought up by a sympathetic sailor, and looked around, totally bewildered. It was not the first time she had been on a ship; she had been a passenger once on a merchantman returning from Jamaica. Her father owned a plantation there and she had gone out to see him. This was very different though, when she was a passenger there were people waiting to greet her on deck, and she travelled with a pair of maids who were under strict orders to keep her out of trouble. Here, she felt alone and lost.

There were a few people wandering around on deck, but no one came over to talk to her. It was just after two o'clock in the afternoon and the sun was shining, but it was rather cold; she hugged her arms to her chest, as much a defensive gesture as a means of warming up. She had no idea what to do or who to talk to. In her sailor's handbook it said she must make herself known to a senior officer, but she couldn't see one. She had been standing there for nearly five whole minutes, just looking around when a man came over to her. He was an officer, a midshipman by the looks of it, and she was grateful to see him; although the idea of talking to someone she didn't know made her stomach coil nervously.

"Are you alright? You look rather lost." Kennedy smiled to try and put her at ease; she relaxed a little and smiled faintly back at him.

"I'm the new midshipman…come aboard," she said, stating the obvious and biting her lip when she realised she had done so. "Victoria Munroe." She held out her hand daintily for him to shake, imitating what her father did when meeting people. He shook it with an amused twist of his lips.

"Welcome to the Justinian."

"Thank you, Mister….?"

"Kennedy."

"Mr Kennedy," she said, her voice perfectly ladylike. Kennedy inwardly pitied the girl, he was sure she wouldn't last long in the Navy. He wondered why the Admiralty had bothered with this absurd experiment; it could never work.

"Captain Keene will probably like to see you, now you've arrived, I'm afraid you're the first one though." He called over a grey haired sailor in a checked shirt and instructed him to take Victoria's sea chest to the midi's berth. The sailor picked it up easily and left, acknowledging them both respectfully as 'Sir' and 'Miss.'

"How many more women are you expecting?" Victoria asked as they walked across the deck.

"Only two." They stopped outside the captain's day cabin and Kennedy knocked.

"What is it?"

"Midshipman Munroe, come aboard. You wanted to see her Sir," Kennedy said, raising his voice slightly so the captain could hear.

"Send her in," the captain replied, before coughing loudly. Kennedy opened the door and gave Victoria a reassuring look as she went into the cabin, then he shut it quietly behind her.

Captain Keene turned to Victoria. "So, you are the first female officer, ever to enter the Royal Navy."

"Yes Sir," Victoria said tentatively.

"Lets hope you can measure up to the men." Keene coughed into a grimy handkerchief and continued. "What do you know about sailing?" He didn't expect her to know anything, and only nodded when this was confirmed, "I expect you will learn quickly enough, lucky for you, that we are not a fighting vessel." His voice was getting fainter as he spoke. "This is not going to be easy for you, being a woman; but if you do your duty as an officer, and do it well, the men will respect you." He turned to his desk and shuffled through some papers. "We have, two more women arriving. You will sleep with the other midshipmen, but at the insistence of the good Admiral, we have set up a curtain, so you may have some privacy." He gave a wheezing laugh,

"Apart from that, you will have no special treatment, or privileges, as you are just, in the eyes of the crew, another midshipman."

"Yes Sir."

"That will be all." Victoria was about to curtsey, but checked herself, and made a quick bow instead. Keene shook his head after she left, aware that this whole arrangement was likely to end in some sort of disaster. "Women in the Navy indeed," he muttered to himself, wondering what the world was coming to.

Kennedy met her outside. "Now, let me show you to the midshipman's berth, and I'll introduce you to a few of the inmates." She smiled weakly, but at the mention of more introductions the snake in her belly returned. Kennedy must have sensed her apprehension and again found himself trying to make her feel better. "Don't worry, you're not the only newcomer, we had a mid arrive a couple of weeks ago. You'll be fine." He was on the verge of telling her how Hornblower had been seasick when he first arrived, but figured that that possibility would give her something else to worry about, so he kept quiet. Again, the thought that this delicate girl was completely unsuitable for life in the Navy entered his mind.

Victoria was having similar thoughts, and was angry at herself for letting her nervousness show. She was such a shy girl, but as she frequently told herself, she really needed to get over this fear if she was to survive anywhere in the world.

They descended some wooden stairs and he lead her through the next deck, this one though was crowded. She kept her head bowed and hoped no one would notice her under the large bicorn hat she wore, but a few of the men whistled as she walked past. She saw Kennedy tense slightly, but they both chose to ignore the whistles as they reached the midshipman's berth. Kennedy led her to a curtained off section with three hammocks in and informed her this was where she would be sleeping, her sea chest was already there against the wall. For some reason Victoria found that the familiar object brought her comfort. She took off her hat and dropped it on the nearest hammock, taking off her cloak as well.

She had long brown hair hanging in a plait to the middle of her back; hazel eyes and quite a petite figure: her head was just above Kennedy's shoulder. Kennedy also noticed that she wore exactly the same uniform as all the other Midshipmen, except her coat was slightly tailored to better fit her female form, and a very female form it was, Kennedy thought to himself, suddenly approving of her.

"Are you ready?" he asked after a second, still smiling kindly.

"Um…alright...yes." She sounded unsure, but she left the makeshift room and followed him to a low crowded table.

"Gentlemen! If I could have your attention please!" He nearly had to shout to be heard over the sound of a violin playing a lively tune in the corner. The violin stopped, and all the men at the table turned towards him. "This is the new midshipman, Victoria Munroe." He went to a free seat and sat down, nodding to the space next to him. She followed quickly and sat down without saying a word. The man across from her opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when another entered the room. The man who entered was very tall and had sandy hair; he leered at her as he came in and sat down at the end of the table.

"Well who are you then?" he asked roughly, taking a gulp from the nearest mug and setting it down again.

"Victoria Munroe, the new midshipman," she said quietly, and with a nervous smile in his direction.

"Speak up, I can't hear you." He began grabbing items of food from the plates of the people closest to him and didn't look at her as she tried again, a little louder.

"I'm Victoria Munroe, the new midshipman." She raised her voice, perhaps a little more than was necessary, wondering if he was deaf.

"You're a woman." He didn't look up from his food.

"Yes, the Admiralty, they thought….well, they might bring women into the Navy… I'm the first you see…." She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"And what's your secret?" He looked at her this time, menacing.

"W…What? I'm afraid I don't understand." She frowned.

"I know everyone's secrets." He stared straight into her eyes. "What's yours?" He had raised his voice a little and his stare was really quite intimidating.

"I..I.." She turned to Kennedy, but he was staring straight down at the table and did not meet her eyes. "I don't have any secrets," she finally managed, speaking quietly again.

"Everybody has secrets!" He had raised his voice even louder and was almost yelling at her. "But don't worry," he added in a softer tone that somehow seemed worse than the shouting. "We can have a little talk tonight and I'll find them out." He didn't smile at her, but continued staring straight into her eyes. Now she knew how the foxes felt when her brothers went out hunting on the family estate.

"Don't worry," he must have noticed the look on her face, "I don't bite." His gaze flicked across to Kennedy, who shivered almost imperceptibly.

"Mr Simpson!" a man yelled from somewhere, "Lieutenant Eccleston wants to see you on deck."

"Damn." Simpson slammed his hand on the table but rose quickly, and stormed out, leaving the other midshipmen in an uneasy peace for the time being.

When he was gone, Victoria let out a breath she did not realise she had been holding and lowered her eyes to the table. That was petrifying. Her eyes wandered to the mug in front of her and she picked it up and sniffed it.

"Try it," Kennedy almost whispered from beside her. She glanced at him but he was smiling again. She raised the mug to her lips and took a small sip, wrinkling her nose.

"You don't like it?"

"It's a little strong for me." She put the mug down again. Kennedy shook his head, how anyone could think that their watery grog was strong was beyond him.

"So, Archie," said the man opposite him, engaging Kennedy in conversation. Victoria glanced up at the man at the same moment his eyes flickered over to appraise her. He looked away sharply and continued his conversation with Archie. The grey haired man in the corner picked up his violin again and began to play softly, Victoria briefly looked up at him and he smiled at her, nodding his head in greeting. Victoria turned her attention back at the table and spent the next few hours gazing dully at it; ignored by everyone else and locked in her thoughts. Well, almost ignored, the man opposite kept glancing down at her as if he were about to speak to her, but thought better of it. She didn't notice.

"She's not listening, Horatio," Archie said to his friend after he had finally worked up the courage to talk to her.

"What? Sorry, were you talking to me?" Victoria lifted her head from where it had eventually ended up, resting on her raised hands with her elbows on the table. She had obviously been startled out of her thoughts and both the men laughed.

"Horatio wanted to know why you joined the Navy," Archie prompted.

"Oh." She turned her attention to the man opposite. "Um, you know about the experiment?"

"Not in detail."

"Well," Victoria began, playing with the mug in front of her, Archie listened in, and soon she found the whole room was listening. None of them really knew what was going on. "The Admiralty decided to try putting women in the Navy; and…it's kind of a long story." She paused, not sure if they really cared or were just trying to include her. She didn't want to dominate the conversation.

"Go on," encouraged the man, now identified as Horatio. Victoria risked a swift glance at his eyes, they were intense and soulful, but playful at the same time.

"It all started a few years ago when some scientist came back from an expedition in Africa, he was a friend of someone's at the Admiralty, and at a dinner party he was telling them about his trip." She shook her head. "Crazy really." Archie was about to ask why this was crazy, but she continued before he had chance to speak. "At one point he observed that the female animals, when around their young, were much more aggressive than male animals of the same species, and someone made a jest about sending the women out to fight instead of the men." She laughed. "Unfortunately that suggestion was discussed and…. Well, you can see where it led to."

"That's certainly… an unusual way of doing things," said Archie.

"So why did you choose to volunteer for this experiment?" asked Horatio, leaning slightly forward as if they were discussing something secret.

"I had always wanted to go on an adventure, and of course, I was an avid reader of all those romantic novels about dashing young officers in the Navy that all us girls like to giggle over." Her eyes were faraway when she said this, like she was remembering. Suddenly she blushed and giggled, remembering a particular conversation with one of her friends over just such a book. Archie and Horatio looked at each other and raised their eyebrows, wondering just what was in these books about dashing young naval officers. Victoria composed herself. "Sorry."

"That's quite alright," said Horatio. "Carry on." He waved his hand to tell her to proceed. Victoria bit her lip and it looked very much like she was trying not to laugh again.

"Anyway," she said after a pause "When my father found out about this experiment he told us at dinner and I insisted that he should put me forward for it. My mother was shocked, and my brothers, well, they thought it was wonderful that their younger sister should go to sea. My father wasn't best pleased but after a while I persuaded him to let me go and eventually he talked my mother round. He wrote to my uncle, and a few weeks later I was sent a package with a list of things I needed to buy and a sailing handbook. I suppose you know how the rest goes."

"Who is your uncle," asked Archie, "a Captain?"

"He's…no one." She didn't think they needed to know, for once she was tired of being treated specially because of her family connections.

"Well he must have been someone to get you into the Navy," Horatio said.

"Really, it doesn't matter."

"What's this?" Simpson appeared in the doorway. "Looks like someone does have secrets after all." He walked into the room and Victoria turned around to watch him, but when he came up behind her she looked at Horatio, panicked. Simpson put one large hand on each of her shoulders and leaned close to her ear. "You were saying?" Victoria tried to stand up, but he pushed her into her seat again. "No, you stay where you are." The midshipman in the corner stopped playing the violin, and out of the corner of his eye Jack saw him put a hand on the pistol in his belt, warning him.

"Another time then," Jack said, releasing Victoria and going to sit at the head of the table, he'd make Clayton pay for that later. The next hour was passed tensely, with hardly any conversation, Clayton resumed his playing, and everyone else retreated into their thoughts. Simpson occasionally spoke to the toadies next to him, but other than that kept mercifully silent. Or maybe not so mercifully, if Victoria knew what he was planning for her.

When Simpson left for his watch, everyone breathed an inward sigh of relief. The atmosphere in the midi's mess was still uneasy, but gradually it relaxed. The conversations were rekindled, but thankfully no one mentioned Victoria's uncle again. Archie and Horatio tried to include Victoria in their conversation, asking her opinions on things, but she had always been taught not to have opinions, and so she politely excused herself after a while and went to curl up on her hammock alone.

She reflected on her day, and was soon reduced to tears by the realisation of what she had got herself into. She had wanted an adventure, but this was not what she had in mind; this was no place for her. She could hear the sailors on the gun deck swearing and singing bawdy songs. It was language no lady should ever be subjected to. She remembered when she was back at home, how she had gone riding and hunting with her brothers, and she had thought herself a rebel for not riding side saddle. She had always liked the idea of independence, and on more than one occasion had been snapped at to hold her tongue by her mother when giving her opinion on a subject. Strange how she had suddenly surrounded herself with the image of a perfect lady when coming aboard the ship; it was like she almost didn't want to fit in. It wasn't like her. At home she had always fit in, wherever she was; she had been capable of climbing trees and fishing, and mock fighting with her brothers in the morning, and putting on the most distinguished graces and elegance for a high society ball in the evening. It seemed like she was a completely different person now, a frightened young lady in a world full of men. She had always thought herself tough when she fought with her brothers and she got bloodied knees and didn't cry; she was only now realising how weak she really was, and how insignificant. All her romantic dreams of running away to sea and having great adventures, and falling in love with a dashing young officer were fast fading, and after only one afternoon on board ship; and not a particularly difficult one at that. And, after all that had run it's course through her mind, she was yet to realise that things could get much, much worse.

Victoria hugged her arms tighter to her, she was cold, despite the stuffiness of the ship, and for a moment she pathetically wished her mother was there to reassure her that everything would be alright. She shook her head stubbornly, trying not to think of her family and what she had left behind, instead she fixed her eyes on the wall and forced herself to conjure up one of her favourite fantasies: that she was the captain of a pirate ship and she had just taken a Royal Navy frigate. The handsome young captain, impressed by her fighting skills and air of command had fallen in love with her, and at present was walking up behind her with amorous intentions as she stood on the quarterdeck of her ship, gazing out over the sea.

The captain looked exactly like she had always imagined him, but it was only after a few minutes that she realised he also looked exactly like someone she had met: the man sitting across from her in the midi's mess…Horatio. Victoria tried to alter the appearance of the captain in her mind, but none looked so good as the original. Resignedly, and deciding it didn't matter anyway, she continued to fantasise about the now, much more real captain until she fell asleep.

A little while later, Midshipman Kennedy poked his head around the curtain wall that separated the women's sleeping quarters from the men's. Victoria was curled up in her hammock, sound asleep, and still wearing her boots and coat. He smiled and turned away, sighing wistfully and wishing sleep would find him as easily.

As he and the other midshipmen got into their hammocks, Simpson returned from the deck above. He seemed to be in a very bad mood, but no one dared to ask him why. As he took his coat off, he casually inquired as to how the new midshipman was faring. Everyone exchanged worried glances, he noted with pleasure, but they told him that she was already asleep and begged him to leave her so. Ignoring their protests, he pushed aside the curtain and crept over to her hammock.

When the curtain fell back into place, the other midshipmen said nothing, but after a while, when no noise had come from the other side of the curtain, they drifted into sleep. All except two; Midshipman Kennedy and his dark haired friend, Midshipman Hornblower; they were still lying awake in their hammocks which hung next to each other. Listening.

"What do you think he'll do to her Archie?" asked Hornblower.

"I don't know." Kennedy rolled over, turning away from his friend, knowing that his words were a lie.

Simpson watched her sleeping for a minute, deciding whether to go through with his plan or not. It was her first night, but then, the earlier she learned her place the better. Besides, he had just been berated by Lt Eccleston and his temper was high, he needed something to take it out on, and a change from young Kennedy would be nice – delightful as it was to see the boy in pain.

He hovered closer to Victoria and began to ease her coat off, dropping it to the floor with a rustle. Both the listening midshipmen's eyes widened slightly with the easily identifiable sound, and even more so when her white waistcoat was unbuttoned and dropped beside it. The two midshipmen could see the garments, and Simpson's booted feet through the wide gap under the curtain.

On the other side of the screen, Simpson put a hand on either side of Victoria's waist, taking his weight on his forearms as he lifted first one foot, and then the other into the hammock. Midshipman Kennedy watched Simpson's feet disappear and screwed his eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the memories that threatened to surface.

Victoria sighed and rolled onto her back, Simpson realised she was still asleep and decided it was time to wake her up. He put his head close to hers and whispered tenderly in her ear, as if he spoke to a lover. "Wake up little one." She didn't wake but he persisted, pressing her shoulders back hard into the canvas and whispering to her. When she opened her eyes, his face was inches from hers, she tried to scream, but he clapped a hand over her mouth; preventing her from doing so.

"Now." He was still whispering, but his voice had taken on a menacing quality. "We're going to have a little talk, and you're going to answer every single one of my questions. Understand?" He didn't leave much room for a choice and Victoria did her best to nod.

Of the two midshipmen who had been awake, only one now was. Kennedy had blissfully found sleep, odd as that was in the circumstances; but his friend Midshipman Hornblower was still wide awake. Still listening to what was happening beyond the canvas wall. He wanted to sleep, but he felt guilty doing so; he knew that he could not best Simpson in a fight if he tried anything, but he just couldn't sleep and leave Victoria alone. Even if she didn't know he was there.

"So what's your dirty little secret?" asked Simpson. She kept silent. "Well, let's start with something easy. How did you get into the navy?"

"The Admiralty-." He cut her off.

"No, I know about the experiment. But why were you chosen? Sleep with someone did you? Old Captain Keene perhaps?" Horatio fought to keep that sickening mental image out of his head.

"No." She struggled and Simpson backhanded her across the face. Hornblower winced on her behalf as he heard a faint crack; he knew what Simpson could – and would do. Silently, he slipped out of his hammock and edged towards the curtain, looking through the tiny gap at the side.

"Who 's your uncle then? That's easy enough." Victoria said nothing.

Simpson slapped Victoria again and climbed out of the hammock, standing with his back to the curtain. Victoria took a few deep gulps of air as the weight on her chest was lifted, but he grabbed the front of her billowy white shirt with both hands and hauled her into a sitting position with her legs dangling over the side of the hammock. Her hair was messy, but still in its plait, and her lower lip was bleeding profusely. Simpson must have hit her hard.

"Now." Simpson shook her; she stared at him defiantly, but her eyes were beginning to rim with red. "I think it's time you learned how we do things around here, and since no one else is around to explain, I'll have to do it myself."

"First, if I want anything, anything at all from you, you give it to me. Alright?"

"That depends what it is," she croaked out. Angrily Simpson grabbed her and pulled her off the hammock, pushing her forcefully into the side of the ship. He put one hand on her throat.

"Anything." He growled at her, increasing the pressure.

"Anything," she agreed, fearing for her life now.

"Good, you're learning. Now take your shirt off."

"What?" She gasped, wide eyed with panic. Simpson put his free hand in the collar of her shirt and yanked downwards, causing it to rip down the middle. Victoria began to try and struggle against the hand on her throat, but soon he was pressing on the flesh so much that she couldn't breathe. She tried to scream, but not a single sound came out, and a disturbing black frame appeared on the edges of her vision.

Hornblower, eyes glued to the spectacle by shock, knew he had to do something, but what could he do? He was unarmed and by the time he had found his pistol things might be a whole lot worse for Victoria. So he did the first thing he could think of.

"Mr Simpson!" He said sharply, stepping out from behind the curtain. Probably not the most intimidating thing to say, but he figured it would do.

"Come to join in have you, Snotty?" Simpson dropped Victoria carelessly and started advancing on Hornblower. Horatio stole a quick glance at the girl on the floor; she was curled up in a tight ball and was crying now, clutching at her throat and trying to breathe properly.

"Well, there's plenty for the both of us, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait your turn." His voice was low and he looked hideously sinister in the gloom as he advanced on Hornblower. Luckily Matthews had heard the commotion and he wasted no time in finding out what was keeping him from his sleep.

"Mr Simpson Sir, may I ask what you're doing at this time of night; it's just, the men are trying to sleep." Matthews asked in his humblest of tones, trying not to incur Simpson's unpredictable wrath.

"I was just talking to the other midshipmen about their duties," Simpson said through gritted teeth. Matthews looked pointedly at Victoria who was sitting with her back to the wall and her head in her hands, he looked back at Simpson.

"Perhaps we should all go to sleep now Sir; Captain doesn't need to know." Simpson recognised the warning, and thought for a few seconds before pushing roughly past Hornblower and disappearing behind the curtain. Matthews nodded to Victoria but spoke to Horatio. "You'd best be getting her back to sleep, and you'll need yours." Then he turned and walked out without another word or glance at either of them.

After a moment Horatio walked over to Victoria and crouched down next to her. She was still sniffling but she had stopped crying and was breathing fine now. He put an arm around her shoulders tentatively, in an attempt to comfort her, and she sank against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"He's gone now. Simpson's gone now." He felt her nod. "Perhaps you should get back to sleep?" He suggested; she looked like she was falling asleep even now. She nodded again and he helped her stand up, holding her arm gently and guiding her back to her hammock. When she had climbed in and curled up again, Horatio turned to leave, but a pale hand clutched at his shirt and held him back.

"Please stay." Her eyes were closing as she spoke. "Just for a little bit?" Horatio could see she would fall asleep in a minute or two anyway so he agreed, reassuring her and climbing into the next hammock along from hers. He sat up awake for a few minutes but then, realising she was already asleep, he climbed out again and made his way quietly past the screen to his own.

A virtual pint of rum for anyone who's made it this far!

And another for anyone who reviews!