Fandom: Deep Blue Sea

Pairing: Carter/Scoggs

Summary: There aren't alot of people on Aquatica... and they were pretty buddy buddy.

Rating: R (for the manlove and bad words)


"Carter! Get your ass up here, the new guy is going to be here any minute now."

He cursed, leaving what he was doing to head up for the top surface. He didn't know why they were insisting on having him meet the new people, its not like he interacted with any of them. He went up and leaned against one of the doorways, giving the doc his customary bored glare when she looked at him. He saw the boat in the distance and rolled his eyes as they waited.

The boat pulled in and he waited for the new person to come off, but no one came. There was a several minute wait before a head timidly poked out and then out came the new one. The doc moved forward, officially welcoming him. She brought him around, introducing him to everyone. When they reached him he could almost swear he saw the doc flinch. "Tom, this is Carter. Carter this is Tom Scoggins." He put his hand out to shake and Carter ignored it, nodding slightly instead.

The new guy half cringed and looked away before mumbling an 'it's good to meet you' before being led off by Janice to be brought to his new quarters. The doc didn't mov

8e, just stood there looking at him. "What was that about?"

"What?"

"He's not temporary help here Carter, he's a new permanent worker here and would it kill you to be a little nicer?"

Carter pushed away from the wall with a sneer on his lip and took off in the direction Janice had brought the kid. The doc sputtered an 'oh shit' and then took off after him.

In his mind he knew this wasn't fair to the kid at all, but sometimes Susan just got him so mad he had to do something or he honestly thought he would kill her. He caught up to them quickly and he almost stopped when he took in the timid stance of the kid.

He saw Susan coming and that overrode any hesitation. He suddenly threw his arm around the kid, making him stumble. He spoke, the sneer in his voice too obvious to make the words seem friendly. "Hey Tom, listen, didn't mean to be so cold, but hey like Susan said, wouldn't hurt to be a little nicer. Wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of our new engineer as my ignoring you obviously did." He pulled his arm from the shoulders just as quick, causing him to stumble yet again before punching him on the arm what would be considered harder than friendly. He turned to leave and when he reached the corner he glanced back for a second to see the kid rubbing his arm and looking at him with an almost hurt look. Susan rushed to explain away his attitude. He was glad he got under her skin but as he turned out of sight he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

He went back to work but after a week the twinge of guilt had increased. He hadn't seen the new one all week, to the point where he knew Tom was avoiding him. He never saw him at any of the meals and he knew that this couldn't keep up. He hadn't meant to seriously upset the kid and at the same time he tried to figure out why he cared all that much. He normally wouldn't interact with anyone anyways, so he wasn't sure why he was so upset that this particular person was avoiding him.

It was a few days later when he had been busy with the sharks and had missed dinner that he first saw Tom again. He had been heading to see Preacher, hoping to get some late night food. When he opened the door to the kitchen he was surprised to see the new kid sitting on one of the counters, watching Preach move around the kitchen. That was amazing on its own; Preach barely ever made friends with the people on the ship and the fact that Tom was in here talking to him after a week and a half said something good about him.

Carter stood back a little so they couldn't see him and tried to convince himself he wasn't eavesdropping.

"What are you making?"

"A cake and if you don't shut up you aren't getting any of it." When Tom went to respond he found cookies shoved into his hand with a glare from Preacher.

The last week and a half he had gotten to know Preacher by constantly having skipped meals and being hungry later on. He told himself he didn't go the designated times because he ate on a different schedule, but part of him knew he was merely avoiding the man he had met the first day. He didn't know what he had done to cause such anger towards him, but he didn't want to face that again. He contemplated the cookies a minute before eating them. He hated that his image on Aquatica was quickly becoming that of a pestering child.

"You're thinking too much Tom, it's just a cookie."

"Yeah yeah." He hesitated and then brought up the conversation that he always got around to when hanging out with Preacher. "Hey I was wondering if-"

"He skipped dinner tonight Tom."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"Sure I do. You were going to ask if the brute we call Carter had been at dinner and where did he go after that so you can subtly avoid him for your stay on Aquatica."

"You don't know that is what I was going to say." There was a long pause, "So you don't know where he is?"

Preacher's laugh reached Carter but he was still stuck on the words. It seemed like the kid was actually afraid of him. He decided to make his presence known. He made enough noise that they wouldn't miss him come in. It was almost comical to watch Tom; he quickly pushed off the counter uttering a curse. Carter watched him glance around, the slightest bit of panic in his eyes but there was no other way out of the kitchen.

Carter almost snorted, did the kid think he was going to hurt him? He noticed Preacher gave Tom a look before turning back to Carter, and there was a warning in his eyes. Obviously the kid had brought out a protective side. "What can I do for you, my man?" He had a good idea, Carter had after all skipped dinner.

Carter smiled, "What ya got around?" He nodded in Tom's direction, "Hey." He got a nod in return.

"Well, I got tacos, it's what I was making for Tom, there is plenty extra." The food finished cooking and Preach handed Carter a plate and turned to give one to Tom, but he shook his head.

"Ya know Preach, suddenly I'm not hungry, ya know, I'm just gonna go head back to my room."

Carter laughed softly, "Don't be ridiculous." Carter took the plate from a dubious Preach and grabbed Tom by the elbow, pulling him towards the dining area.

Tom threw a look at Preach and was rewarded with a shrug. He didn't know what he had done to deserve this; he just hoped Carter didn't plan on hurting him or anything. Carter set down his plate and sat across from him.

Carter couldn't believe it had really progressed to this point, the kid looked terrified. "So why you skip dinner?"

"I j-just wasn't very hungry I guess."

"It wasn't because you're avoiding me?"

He choked on his drink. Carter reached over to gently pat him on the back as he waited for the choking to stop. "How did you know that? I mean, where did you get that idea from?"

"Look, that day had nothing to do with you, I was pissed at Susan and I'm sorry I took it out on you. Can we start again?"

Tom watched him, wondering what he was playing at and if maybe he was serious. He watched him for several moments as the other man ate the food and in his head yelled at himself for being such a girl. He put his hand out, "Tom Scoggins."

Carter smiled and shook the offered hand, "Carter Blake."

Preach looked at the table in the corner that everyone was steadily avoiding. Carter was having one of those days where even the doc wouldn't approach him. It had been a couple weeks since he had watched Carter and Tom become friends and at the very least was glad that he didn't have to make double meals anymore. Tom came in a little late and grabbed his food, heading for Carter's table. Too late Preach realized the kid had never seen Carter in one of these moods and didn't know to stay away. He moved to warn him but it was already too late he was almost at the table. He winced and hoped Carter wouldn't kill him.

Carter almost growled at his food. Normally he would stay in his quarters till his pissy mood wore off but hunger had driven him to the dining room. He was just glad everyone was staying away from him. Suddenly someone plunked down next to him, close enough to brush against him. Before he even thought about it he turned around with a snarl, "What do you want?"

The smiled that had been on Tom's face was instantly gone and he cringed. Oddly enough Carter found himself not actually minding Tom at the moment. Tom started to pull away, blushing and mumbling an apology.

Carter found himself giving a half smile, "No, no, Tom, it's alright, I didn't know it was you, you can stay, it's good."

He hesitantly sat back down but glanced around still looking nervous. "Are you sure, because if you don't want me here I understand, I mean, I mean I can sit with some of the other workers-" Carter watched him glance around uncertainly and realized that Tom hadn't made any other friends on the ship.

He smiled softly, "No, I'm glad you're here, really."

Tom settled down onto the bench, but far enough away that he wasn't touching Carter at all and that was what gave away that he was still nervous. Carter had discovered quickly that Tom was a very touchy feely person, it was like he was comforted by it. He wasn't pushy about it though, more like he liked being touched instead of touching. Carter had found that out when, after they had made up, a few days later he had been talking to him, explaining the behavioral patterns of sharks and had easily thrown his arm around Tom's shoulders. He had tensed and Carter had realized what he did and started to pull his arm away but the disappointment at the withdrawal had been obvious on Tom's face. He had bluntly asked if the touch was okay and Tom had stuttered over an answer, saying yeah, that touch reassured him.

Now he moved his arm suddenly to grab Tom around the waist and pull him over on the bench more, moving him to where he normally sat, his side brushing Tom's. When they were back to where they normally sat he semi-roughly ruffled Tom's hair. "Why haven't you made any other friends Tom?" He held up a hand to still the argument, "And you can't count Preacher because the only reason you met him was that you were avoiding me."

"I dunno, haven't really had the chance I guess."

Carter looked up from his food, "We'll have to change that then." He watched as Tom's face paled. "Okay?"

Tom obviously didn't want to but he nodded. The boy was cocky as hell but when it came down to it you couldn't find anyone more compliant. Tom poked at his food but didn't eat any of it, "You gonna, uh, ...help me make new friends...or...?"

Carter once again turned from his food to look at Tom, who was steadily looking at his plate. He reached up and firmly pressed against the other's chin, forcing him to look up. "I'm not going to throw you to the wolves, yeah, I'll stick around and not just leave you with new people." Relief flooded Tom's face, Carter always knew what was wrong. "Now eat."

Preach couldn't hear them talking, but watched in amazement as Carter not only didn't punch Tom, but pulled him closer and seemed to actually be friendly. Wonders never cease. He watched as they finished eating and then headed out, Carter's arm around the smaller man, probably talking about those damn sharks, and his previous bad mood was no where to be seen.

Carter moved around his room, looking for a specific shirt. He had barely any clothes and the fact that he couldn't find this one shirt annoyed him. He heard soft snickers and spared a glare at Tom who was sitting on his dresser and Tom's mouth snapped shut as he gave Carter an innocent grin.

"Come on Carter, just pick a shirt." He paused and seemed to consider something, "We could just not go."

Now Carter laughed. To get Tom to meet people he was dragging him down to the party the crew was having, every week they had a pool party at the inside tank and he figured that would be the best place to make Tom meet people. The reason Tom was in his room was that the kid had twice try to get out of the party and Carter wasn't sure if the kid was above hiding somewhere.

"We're going." He chuckled again at Tom's sigh. "I don't know why you are so afraid to meet these people, you're friends with me and I'm the scariest person here."

There was a snort from Tom, "Yeah, I remember."

Carter smiled in return as he found the shirt and pulled it on, moving towards the door. He felt Tom following him and he remembered suddenly that he hadn't told Tom it was a pool party. Without looking behind him he spoke up, "Oh yeah, Tom, we'll have to stop by your room and pick you up something to swim in, I forgot to tell you there's a pool."

He got several feet down the hall before he realized that Tom wasn't following him. He stopped and turned around to find Tom frozen in the doorway. "Tom?" Tom's head snapped in his direction and there was bright fear in his eyes. Carter moved quickly to him and gently cupped the back of his head, trying to get his attention. "Are you okay?"

He suddenly seemed to snap out of it and yanked back from Carter, looking at the floor. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine, I just, um, sorry, I got a little lost in my head, yeah, uh, something to swim in, in my quarters, right."

He turned abruptly in that direction and Carter followed him, worry crossing his face. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah Carter, I'm great alright, I don't need a keeper, if I say I'm alright, I'm fine," he snapped.

He frowned; Tom was never snappy with him, at least not in a serious way. "Hey, listen, I don't think-"

Tom put up a hand to stop him, "Why don't you just go to the party alright? I'll be there in a few minutes."

His patience wasn't infinite; his next word was nearly a growl, "Fine." He resisted the urge to reassure Tom when he cringed; he was pissed off and told himself he didn't care. He abruptly turned and stalked off towards the party.

He was sitting at one of the tables drinking a beer when Tom finally showed up. He watched him edge into the room, an uneasy smile on his face. Carter knew that look, it meant he was scared, and once again he resisted the urge to comfort him.

Tom moved slowly into the room, glancing around nervously, his first instinct was to go sit with Carter, he could see him across the room, but he could also see anger in his eyes and he didn't blame him. He knew Carter was just trying to help him and he had been the one to snap at him. He surveyed the room, in the middle that was a huge indoor tank, the 'swimming pool.' Everyone was either drinking or swimming, some doing both. He edged away from the water and towards the drinks. He didn't like meeting new people; he tended to be more of a loner.

He grabbed a beer and sat near the others, trying to figure out exactly how he was supposed to talk to these people, he didn't want or know how to make the first move.

Carter watched him carefully as Tom almost painfully tried to talk to the crew. They were rather welcoming, they always cheerfully connected with new people considering they were with the same people all the time. He seemed awkward in the situation, most noticeably that he didn't make eye contact with anyone. He seemed to be doing okay though and Carter turned his attention back to the kid across from him that was asking about sharks.

Tom was doing okay until almost everyone started hitting the pool. The pressure to join them was slowly increasing and he hedged around reasons he didn't want to swim. One of the girls tried to pull him towards the pool even as he shook his head. He pulled out of her grasp, only to have one of the bigger guys grab his elbow playfully and try to pull him towards the pool, thinking that he was just playing games.

Carter watched as they pulled Tom towards the pool, for a moment rolling his eyes at the games kids played, but something about it seemed off. He got up and moved towards the pool to where Tom was only a foot or two off. The guy made a motion to push him in. Carter had never heard a grown man squeal before, but that was the only way he could describe the sound. Tom jerked backwards, trying to get away from the water, but the guy that held his arm was frozen in shock, and all eyes in the room watched, trying to figure out what was going on.

He made the sound again and Carter shook off his shock and stepped forward, pulling him out of the other man's grasp. The sudden release made him stumble backwards. Tom whirled and was out the door before anyone could say anything. They all watched him for a few minutes before shrugging at why he had freaked, most laughing at him. Carter shook his head and followed Tom out the door.