Your name: e-ellens
Title of your fic: Bring The Rain
Rating of your fic: PG
Genre: Comedy
Characters/Pairings: Kate/2dads friendship
Summary: How will things between Kate and 2dads change after a night on Duty Watch together? Secrets are revealed, lessons get served, and sci-fi smack downs are calling from HMAS Zombie.
Word Count: 2,509
Disclaimer: Credit goes to Hal and Di for the creation of Sea Patrol. Technically I can't even take full ownership of the plot.

Written for the [ [ Sea - Patrol . com ] ] Shine(y) 09 Fic Exchange, where prompts included:
The Zombie Emergency procedures - Do not split up! Someone will get killed, turn into a zombie and the next person to see them will go "Oh, it's my friend, I'll just turn my back and OH GOD WHY IS HE TRYING TO EAT MY BRAIN" - Use it how you will.
Arm Floaties
Transformers - It can be a reference from the movie, a quote. a toy, the cartoon, anything go nuts!

After sitting for under 30mins, this idea popped to mind; I could fully see the whole thing. So Yay.

Written for Natushka

Bring The Rain

"You cannot be serious!" Kate exclaimed, rounding on the CO in his small cabin. In response, Mike Flynn just rubbed a hand across his tired eyes.

"Listen, X. You said you didn't want or need the shore leave. You were the one who volunteered for watch tonight," Mike told her tiredly. He had been in the middle of gathering his belongings for a night in his own bed when the cabin door had flown open. "Besides, there's not much I can do now; everyone's gone but Nav, and she was on watch last night."

Kate groaned and she tilted her head back to rest against the wall. "But Sir," she moaned, trying her hardest to keep the whine out of her words, "how am I supposed to stay sane after a night on Duty Watch with 2Dads?"

Mike managed a small smile before motioning her to leave.

"Take it one step at a time, X. Easiest suggestion? Just go with it." Kate glared at her superior, then turned to stalk away. "Oh, and X?" Mike's voice made her pull up short.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, stiffly, turning back around to face him.

"Make sure nothing gets damaged. We need to sail at first light tomorrow."

Kate rolled her eyes, before heading down the hall. "Oh, the ship will be in perfect shape," she muttered to herself, mentally listing the numerous ways she could silence the young sailor to preserve her sanity. She was just about to round corner when Mike's voice floated down towards her.

"That's all kinds of damage, X. It includes any persons in the vicinity, not just the ship's equipment."

"Damn!" Kate slammed her open palm against the doorway as she heard soft laughing. "There goes half my list."

.....

"So... X," 2Dads started, swinging around on a chair. "How did you pull the short straw that is watch tonight?" he asked, his boyish tone slowly grating against Kate's nerves. Opening her mouth to retort, she stopped short.

'Just go with it.'

Mike's voice floated through her head. Unsure of exactly what she was condemning herself to, Kate plastered a smile on her face. "Oh, you know, the usual; getting drunk, making a fool of myself in front of the CO," she replied offhandedly, trying for a casual tone of voice. 2Dads' shocked expression was enough to force a laugh out of Kate's throat. "Kidding! No I, er, actually requested the watch," she muttered, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Why?!" 2Dads exclaimed, totally thrown. Here was the uptight XO, who always seemed to have it in for him, making a joke and being real. Kate raised an eyebrow and shot him a look, causing him to blush. Clearing his throat loudly, he turned to the window. "I mean, why would you want to be stuck here on Hammersley when you could be out having fun? I know I would much rather be having a night out with the crew," he added, his eyes staring wistfully out to shore.

Kate just snorted.

"Yeah, and maybe you should think about that before you play pranks on your superiors when we are only a couple of hours from port," she said, shaking her head. She was a little surprised how easily the conversation flowed, once she had let her guard down at least. "You want to know why?" Kate asked him, raising an eyebrow and, seeing his enthusiastic nod, she sighed. "I don't have anything to go back to. Why make someone else stay on the ship whilst I waste the leave sitting home alone?"

"Alert the media, the X has a heart," 2Dads called out, as if addressing an audience. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, however, his face fell. If only for a moment, 2Dads had forgotten exactly who he was talking to. As such, the smack to the back of his head was expected. "Sorry, sorry! It was an automatic response," he cried, trying to explain.

Kate just rolled her eyes, idly wondering if it was possible to damage her eyes from over-rolling.

"Yes, and with that kind of gut response, do you honestly wonder why I don't go out with the crew?" She asked him, her eyebrow cocked in a challenge. 2Dads just laughed somewhat nervously, before turning back to face the clock and log book. Seeing she had shut him – and the conversation – down again, Kate muttered about going to get a brew.

By the time she got back, holding a mug in each hand, 2Dads was on the phone ordering dinner from a local Thai restaurant.

"Hey, can you get me a chicken Pad Thai?" she asked him softly, making her way over with the drinks.

He nodded and added the dish to his order, then began patting down his pockets.

"Crap," he muttered, realising his wallet wasn't on him.

Quick on the uptake, Kate came to the rescue.

"My credit card is in my pocket," she told him, motioning to her left side. His hands instantly reached for her, before stopping.

"You have, like, ten pockets," he muttered harshly, trying to figure out where it could be without manhandling the XO. However, just saying that reply made him remember a rather hilarious scene from the movie he had Spider had watched over the past weekend. And, in the case of the movie, there was a brilliant reply which was-

"Left Cheek! Left Cheek! Left Cheek!"

2Dads froze, as he realised his voice wasn't the only one talking. His eyes met Kate's and they both stood there, staring at each other, shocked. It wasn't until they heard the questioning voice from the neglected phone that Kate snapped to attention. She quickly put down the mugs and pulled out her wallet, motioning for him to hand over the phone.

After rattling off her credit card number to the Thai Restaurant, Kate hung up the phone and reached for her mug of coffee. She turned to offer the other mug to 2dads, only to find him still in a state of shock.

"What?" she asked him, perplexed. "It's just a cup of coffee..." Kate told him, her voice trailing off when he shook his head violently.

"Transformers quote," he blurted out, trying to get a hold of his motor functions. "How do you know a Transformers quote?" Kate rolled her eyes and pushed the other mug into his hands.

"It was a popular movie, you know," she told him, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice. To be perfectly honest, she had to be cajoled into the cinema but, once there, she had thoroughly enjoyed the action packed movie.

Kate moved back towards the captain's chair, keeping an eye out for their dinner delivery, quirking an eyebrow at 2Dads. He was now doing a fine impersonation of a fish, which almost made Kate burst out laughing. "You should close your mouth, before you catch a fly," she told him with a smile, turning to look out to sea. The pair sat in a somewhat comfortable silence, not really holding a conversation, until Kate spotted an approaching car half an hour later. "Why don't you make yourself useful and collect the food?" she asked, shooing him towards the door before he could respond. While she wouldn't admit it out loud, Kate was beginning to feel awkward at how easily the pair could cohabitate the bridge without needing Kevlar.

At the mention of food, 2Dads snapped out of his shock and hurried out to the dock. His mind was still racing as he made his way back in; he couldn't believe the change he had seen in the XO. This was the first time he had seen her as something more than an officer; untouchable and aloof in the way Nav was not. He now realised she was a real person, with real feelings and real experiences.

He scoffed slightly at that thought. Of course he knew she was real, but he just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact she had responded to a movie quote. An action movie quote, at that! He jogged up the stairs towards the bridge, brandishing the bags with a massive grin.

"Grubs up," 2Dads announced as he reached the top, his grin better fit on a young boy than a grown man. "And you know what? Your stocks just skyrocketed the moment I discovered you liked Transformers," he added with a wink.

Kate just sat back in her chair, a slight blush settling on the mantle of her cheeks. "What can I say? Bumblebee is one hot car," she replied with a wink of her own, making 2Dads almost choke on his dinner.

"Alright. Who are you, and what have you done with the real XO?" he demanded, playfulness dancing through his voice, making Kate laugh freely. "What next? You're going to start reciting the Zombie Emergency Procedure?"

The statement totally stumped her. "Zombie... Emergency... Procedure?" Kate asked slowly, brow furrowed as she lifted another fork of Pad Thai. "Is this something I should know about?"

2Dads' face lit up like a boy on Christmas morning as he realised he could school Hammersley's XO in a subject. It wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence. "You've never heard of the ZEP?" he asked incredulously. "The set of rules to follow in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse? Oh, this will not do. Come, come." 2Dads stood up and motioned Kate towards the door.

'Just go with it,' flitted through her mind again as she surrendered to the young sailor's wishes. She was almost out of the door when she stopped short.

"We can't just leave," Kate said sternly. "We have a duty to the ship, and we cannot just abandon our posts."

"Do you honestly take no notice to the tasks I complete on board?" he asked, a look of melodramatic hurt flashing across his face. "That cuts deep, X. Especially since it is our ticket out of here." He waited a moment, but she continued to stare at him in confusion until he took pity on her and pointed towards the phone. "I connected and installed a portable sat phone. For use in emergencies and when departure from the bridge is unavoidable."

She picked up the phone and examined it, a slow smile spreading across her face. "This is a brilliant idea, 2Dads," Kate told the young sailor, genuinely surprised and pleased. She merely received a laugh in response, as 2Dads shepherded them out of the bridge.

"I knew there was a reason I was kept around," he joked back, looking around to get his bearings. "OK, rule number one," he began as he led Kate through the ship towards his cabin, "is that 95% of all zombies can be stopped by decapitation or destruction of the brain." He turned to face Kate as they walked along, taking in her stunned expression. "Perhaps you should take notes?" 2Dads asked with a smirk, before opening his cabin door and moving towards his cupboard of belongings. "As decapitation is ideal, the idea is to aim your desperate, improvised weapons at the head and neck."

Kate stood frozen in the doorway as she watched 2Dads rifle through his stuff. He had stopped talking for a moment, and she took the time to run through everything that had happened so far that evening. Well, she thought with a wry smile, at least this is turning into an interesting evening. Kate was snapped out of her thoughts as something flew into and hit the wall beside her head. Bending down to pick up the offending item, she instantly recognised it.

"A floaty?" she gasped, trying to stifle a laugh as she noticed the floaty's partner, as well as numerous other flotation devices strewn across the room. "Why on earth would you need floaties?" The question made 2Dads pause and withdraw from his search, smirk still firmly in place.

"What can I say? After those depressing comments about 'sink or swim', I figured I'd rather float," he replied with a shrug, before turning back to the cupboard to pull out two plastic Ninja Swords. 2Dads kept one for himself, holding the second out for Kate to take.

"Swords? Really?" She dropped the floaties to take hold of the sword handle. "What happened to 'desperate, improvised weapons'," Kate asked, quoting a part of rule one back at 2Dads.

"Ah, young grasshopper," he replied, using the best sensei-voice he possessed, "why use a knife when there is a gun at hand?"

"Touché," Kate muttered, spinning the sword a few times as the pair walked back upstairs. She then caught a glimpse of her watch and stopped, surprised how off-track the night had become. "We're late for the routine check and securing of the ship. How about you start from bottom, I'll start from the top and we meet in the middle?"

"ERR!" 2Dads buzzed loudly, startling Kate and making her jump slightly. "Wrong answer. Rule number two: Do. Not. Split. Up." He punctuated each word by hitting his own sword into the ground. The pair stopped by the bridge for the checklist before starting the circuit, and 2Dads beckoned Kate close once they returned to the main deck. "If you split up, someone will get attacked, killed, and turned into a zombie. Then the next person to see them will be all 'oh, it's my friend, I'll just turn my back and oh my god! Why is he eating my brain?!'"

Kate burst out laughing at the young sailor's antics as she made a couple of notes on the checklist. With 2Dads talking away, acting as a nice distraction, they got through the patrol of the Hammersley in record time. By the time they reached the bridge again, he had taught her a handful of sword passes to 'use if necessary'.

2Dads threw himself into a chair as Kate returned the sat phone to its bracket.

"So," she began, placing her sword on Nav's chair as she sat down in the captain's with a little more grace than 2Dads had. "Zombies can be, 95% of the time, destroyed by decapitation. It is also strongly suggested to never split up. Are there any other rules in this ZEP?" Kate had an eyebrow raised, genuinely interested as to what was coming next.

"Why, young grasshopper, you are learning quickly," 2Dads replied, once again using his sensei-voice. "Rule number three: do not use fire."

Having grown used to more in-depth explanations, Kate was stunned by the plain rule. She cleared her throat before voicing her confusion. "What? That's it? Don't use fire?" \

The young sailor just shook his head.

"And here I was, thinking you were learning and understanding the necessary procedures in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse. Now, why don't you answer this: what is worse than un-dead hordes trying to eat your brain?"

Kate's blank look made 2Dads throw his hands up in exasperation, sending his ninja sword flying.

"Imagine those un-dead hordes trying to eat your brain while on fire!"