Title: Sweat the Battle, Before the Battle Sweats You.
Author: Nat
Fandom: Sea Patrol
Pairing: Buffer/X.
Summary: "I'd have a drink that had some ridiculous name with an equally ridiculous umbrella in it in my hand right now. Not.." she paused again, digging her fingers into the dirt, "...wearing Kevlar and carrying a gun and being chased by the local natives!"
Rating: M – for some language
Word Count: 2436
Notes: Not My Sandpit. For the Sea Patrol secret santa 08. Phantom your brilliant as always.
---
"XO, move your ass!"
Buffer was pretty sure if she could have, the X would have dished him out all kinds of reprimands, but with bullets whizzing past their heads, he knew she would most likely let that one slide.
He stuck his head back out from behind the large tree trunk he was behind, spotting the X ducking behind a bulky tree stump. She swung the rifle in her hands over her shoulder by its strap, pulling her pistol from the holster on her thigh. She backed up slowly, her eyes scanning the tree line until she was close enough for him to reach out and grab the back of her vest to pull her up against him behind the tree.
When he looked at her, her eyes were huge, her breathing heavy.
"What do you think?" She asked, her voice steady in contrast to the way she looked. She nodded her head to the way they'd come.
He stuck his head out again. The bush around them was eerily quiet.
"Shit." he muttered. Where did all the crazy fuckers go?
The X looked over her shoulder at him, "Higher ground. Try to contact Hammersley?"
He knew she didn't have to ask him his opinion; she outranks him and he would blindly follow whatever order she said. But he nodded, taking a deep breath, glad she asked him anyway.
"Higher ground. Try to contact Hammersley."
---
"You know, when I said to the Captain that I wanted a holiday, preferably an island somewhere with a nice sandy beach.... This is not what I had in mind."
Buffer snorted. Though most didn't know it, the X had a wicked sense of humour, sometimes so dry and sarcastic that he could just picture her being one of those kids that always rolled their eyes at their parents.
"Yeah, but I bet the company is better here, X." And he looked down at her, just in time to see her roll her eyes at him, and that actually made him laugh out loud.
"Maybe… But..." She stressed the word and he watched her try to get her footing, the soft earth not helping their climb up the steep incline. "I'd have a drink that had some ridiculous name with an equally ridiculous umbrella in it in my hand right now. Not.." she paused again, digging her fingers into the dirt, "...wearing Kevlar and carrying a gun and being chased by the local natives!"
That he had to agree with. The next 'Peace Keeping' mission that they are tasked to, he might just have to decline. He was also beginning to see why when they said Peace Keeping they really meant Riot control.
Grabbing hold of a solid tree root, he gave it a tug before climbing up the last foot, then reached back to offer his hand to the X, hauling her up beside him. She leant over when she was back on her feet, sucking in some deep breaths. Buffer took that as a sign for a short break, sitting himself on a fallen tree log. The jungle vegetation was thick, and they were well covered, but they couldn't linger too long.
"Do you think we should do an inventory of what we've got?"
The X winced, and he knew why, because even he didn't want to contemplate that they were going to be stuck out here for days instead of hours. The X looked at him carefully for a moment, weighing up their possibilities.
"I want to hope that when we get a bit higher and find a bit of a clearing, we'll be able to contact Hammersley and be back on board just in time for dinner. But, there is a chance that they could be out of range, depending what the riot is looking like back at the main wharf."
He looked back at her just as seriously and reached out, his fingertips just snagging hers.
"The Captain won't leave us behind."
She nodded, her fingers gripping his.
"I know."
---
"Charlie Eight Two. This is X-Ray Eight Two. Do you read me?"
The X paced past him again for the fifth time, and he can see it written all over her face that she was starting to lose hope. He couldn't blame her, they'd been trying for over a half hour now. Hammersley had to be out of range, but that didn't mean they had left the island completely. That he was sure of.
"Charlie Eight Two. This is X-Ray Eight Two. Do you read me?"
He reached out and grabbed the X's arm the next time she passed him and shook his head slightly. She sighed in frustration and for a second Buffer thought she was going to throw her radio. But instead she just stood there, gripping it tightly and his mind started racing with all the Plan B scenarios.
Suddenly there was a crackling sound from her radio, RO's voice plain as day, even through the static. It was distorted, the range just boarding out of contact and they were only getting every few words. But it was something, and Buffer couldn't help but smile.
"...Arlie eight two... Rendezv... side of the isla... ess fire there... repeat again... dezvous south side..."
The X grinned up at him.
"Rendezvous south side of the island. How long do you think it will take us?"
Buffer looked up at the sky, licking his bottom lip. It was late in the afternoon, the island was small, but they would not make it before nightfall. The dark of night might have made it easier for them to move undetected if they ran back into some of the locals, but they didn't know the terrain and that might prove more dangerous.
"Not today, we need to find some sort of place to bunk down for the night."
The X looked warily at him.
"I was afraid you'd say that."
---
"So what do you have left?"
Buffer patted his pockets down.
"Shotgun full, plus 8 more shells. Pistol, two clips, not counting the one in it which is full. What about you?"
The X slipped the clip from her pistol, and then pushed it back, sliding it back into her holster. Feeling her pockets, she made a face.
"Riffle only has a couple of rounds left. Three pistol clips."
Buffer nodded, it was going to have to do. He hoped to god they were only being paranoid.
"I'll take the first watch, you sleep X."
She opened her mouth to argue, but he looked at her sharply and she stopped. She was exhausted he knew, they'd run their asses off earlier and she wasn't used to this much physically exertion, not like he was.
"Okay" she replied finally, and then moved to take off her outer vest, revealing the Kevlar underneath. It was probably better if she kept that on, just in case, so he tried to give her his most devious look he could, hoping she wouldn't kick his ass.
"Keep the Kevlar on X,"
Then he added to it with an over exaggerated waggle of his eyebrows.
She did laugh at him, shaking her head softly, and looking up at him she winked playfully.
"For you Buff, anything."
---
He could feel her shuffling beside him, followed by a low hiss.
"Bloody hell, how cold is it?!"
The temperature had dropped significantly since nightfall and he was surprised she had gotten to sleep at all. Without a word he reached over and pulled her up and against him, wrapping his arms around her from behind. She struggled for a second; he imagined her fighting against all the regulations about propriety that had been drilled into her head. Then she relaxed, moving back into him slightly and he pulled her closer.
Buffer smiled into her hair.
---
Buffer clamped his hand down over the X's mouth.
Her eyes opened instantly, wild and panicked, her hand reaching up to encircle his wrist, trying to pull it away from her mouth. He moved his face closer to her, lifting his finger to his lips indicating for her to be quiet. She relaxed marginally and Buffer moved his hand from her mouth.
That's when he knew she heard it. Her head snapped up. The distinct sound of footsteps on foliage and then voices. Buffer watched her swallow hard, and then reach for her side arm. He reached out then and touched her arm, shaking his head.
They had the element of surprise, whoever it was didn't know they were there. They weren't taking precautions to quiet their voices and this gave them the advantage, he detected two, maybe three different voices.
Leaning in close to the X, he whispered, "I'll go left, you go right. Meet me on the shore, its only gotta be a couple of clicks downhill."
"No way." she hissed instantly, "We don't separate-"
He cut her words off with his mouth, slanting over hers, hard and fast. He gripped her hair tightly in one hand, anchoring her to him. She resisted at first, trying to pull away, but he held tight and like the night before after a moment she moved into him, gripping his vest in fists.
He pulled back suddenly, leaving her gasping and pointed at the opposite direction.
"Go"
---
He ran as fast as he could.
Jumping over logs, side stepping rocks, stumbling along just willing himself to stay on his feet.
The gunshot rang out and a second later something hit him full force from behind and he tripped, shoulder nose diving into the ground. He tumbled, twisting and turning until he slid to a stop at the bottom of the incline.
"Fuck," He muttered.
---
Buffer could hear the footsteps and he tried to force himself to his feet, but everything burned and he couldn't breathe properly, all the air gone from his lungs.
Gunfire erupted through the air for a second time, multiple shots and he struggled to push himself over onto his back, so he could make out what was happening. His back hit the ground and he opened his eyes just in time to see two bullets explode into the man standing a foot away from him, blood spurted from his chest as he sunk to his knees.
The X was running towards him then, jumping over a second man lying face down in the dirt to his left. She dropped to her knees beside him, her hands reaching out and trying to help him sit up. He looked down at the sleeves of his overalls, they were torn apart and he could see the cuts and scrapes underneath.
But the X wasn't looking at that, she was pulling at his outer vest, getting it out of the way, then doing the same with the Kevlar. Before he could even protest her fingers were making work of his overall buttons and her hands were sliding into them and around to his back.
Her frenzied motion slowed then, fingers sliding over his back carefully checking for obvious injury. When she found none, she sighed softly her forehead falling down against his shoulder.
They sat there for a moment, both breathing heavily, the X's head still against his shoulder, and he was becoming aware of her hands, still pressed against his back, her fingers warming his skin in the cold, pre-dawn air.
He took a deep breath, willing himself to focus.
"X..." He spoke quietly, not to disturb her, or whoever it was still following them, "There were three guys."
She lifted her head sharply, and even while scanning the terrain her hands were already refastening his Kevlar vest. She then grabbed the front of it, forcing him to his feet.
"Move your ass Buffer," she whispered, her lips right against his ear, "So I can bust you down for disobeying a direct order from a superior officer when we get back to Hammersley."
---
He could see Hammersley.
She was floating just off shore, and through the tree line he could just make her out. Buffer turned to tell the X, but she shoved him down suddenly and he landed hard on the sand just as the sound of a bullet imbedding in wood rang out next to him.
"Knew that was too good to be true." He panted next to her. They'd run hard the last few clicks, dodging tree's and scrub, gaining more scratches on every inch of exposed skin.
The X, beside him, flashed him a grin that was part humour, part wild crazy woman on an adrenaline high, "Think we can outrun them?"
Buffer hoped she was joking. They could hear their pursuer a few dozen metres to their right. Even though the odds were two against one, their assailant knew the ground better than them and had managed to avoid a straight out confrontation.
The X drew her weapon, and started to get to her knees when another shot rang out and instantly the branch beside her head exploded. The X might have screamed, although Buffer would never mention it – ever – if she had of, and he grabbed her vest, yanking her back down behind their cover.
She looked back up at him, her eyes suddenly hard.
"In case I never have the chance to pay you back."
She grabbed his vest – the same hold he still had on her – and brought him forward, capturing his lips hungrily against her. Buffer didn't hesitate, kissing her back hard, a frenzy of tongues and lips and teeth, crashing together.
Pulling away as forcefully as she'd brought them together, the X sprung up from their hiding place, hands steady and sure as she fired off three consecutive shots. Buffer heard a strangled cry, and then silence.
The X fell down beside him again, her gun still clutched tightly in her hand, her forehead resting against the back of it and all Buffer could do was try not to stare. She caught him though, but he didn't look away, just shook his head at her.
"Crazy woman." He gave her a cheeky grin, as the radio on her shoulder crackled to life.
"X-Ray Eight Two. This is Charlie Eight Two. It's good to see you guys."
Buffer huffed a laugh at the sound of his CO's voice, as the X reached for her radio.
"Charlie Eight Two. This is X-Ray Eight Two. You have no idea. Get over here and pick us up."
"Yes Ma'am"
Dropping the radio, the X reached for his hand grinning down at him.
All Buffer could do was grin back.
fin