Disclaimer: 'Sea Patrol', the Hammersley and all characters mentioned here are owned by McElroy and Australia's Channel 9

You'll Always Hear My Voice…
Spider/Bomber One-Shot/Song-Fic

Yawn.
Scratch Nose.
Yawn Again.
Rub Eyes.
Roll Over.

"Bloody hell!" Spider jumped as a figure stood, only millimetres from his face, watching him wake up. It was ET. In his moment of haste to get away from ET's grinning face his head flew back and hit the wall behind him with a sickening thud. Grabbing his head, his eyes beginning to water, he sat up and glared at ET.

"What the hell ET?" He asked, the pain in his head making a dull, thudding sound echo around his skull. That had hurt, and had made a din. Just as ET was about to answer Nav and Bomber appeared at his door, quite obviously wondering what had happened. ET, to the amusement of the girls, explained while Spider fell back against his pillow in a slightly foetal position.

"No harm is there? No brain, no pain." Nav laughed. "I'm sure Bomber can check it out for you, can't you Bomb?" She glanced at the woman next to her who just laughed.

In Spider's mind he'd much rather have a rat crawl up his overalls than admit to Bomber he was wondering whether this pain was a serious sign of head trauma. It was common knowledge now that he and the new girl had started a war that wouldn't be resolved any time soon.

"Him? I'm more worried about the wall!" Her laugh washed over him but he ignored it. He was in a level of unquestionable pain.

After a few minutes of Spider not taking their bait the girls got bored and left. ET muttered something incoherently and Spider looked up at him.

"What did you want ET?" He asked wearily.

ET just smiled. "Time to get up. They've found the raft."

Fall away fall away
I'm never coming back
This is a hard run attack
It isn't what you'd say or what you say
You'll never hear my voice

It was one of those large rafts that professionals took with them. Easier to spot than the little ones but had still taken the Hammersley, with the help of a local Search and Rescue chopper, four days to find it. With the Rescue chopper needed a little further down the east coast, the Hammersley crew were left with the task of fishing the man out of the sea and taking him back to the real world. Him and his Kelpie, a prospect which had lit up Bomber's face when she'd heard it. It was one of the many things that made Bomber genuinely smile, and for some reason this made Spider uncomfortable. He didn't know why. But he could tell she had a thing for dogs, and they seemed to have a thing for her too. This was the third one they'd saved from the water so far.

"Wakey wakey Spider." Buffer tapped him as they came closer to the raft and Spider was met with a smirk from Bomber who was sitting on his right. He shot her a pair of raised eyebrows and looked back at the raft. They were close now and Spider could see the occupants rummaging around inside, making the inflatable rock in the water. The dog came to the opening and Spider heard Bomber emit a slight 'ooh'ing sound but he didn't look at her. A second later the man appeared at the opening.

"Australian Navy, we're here to take you home sir." Buffer called. The man, Spider noticed, looked rather nervous by having them here but he smiled anyway.

"And… and about time too." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

So load your gun and fire it so we can forget this now
Load your gun and fire it, stop when you hear the sound
But I won't

"X, it's a Kelpie. It just needs to run about a bit." Bomber pleaded the crying dog's case.

Ro jumped on her side but Spider just sat back and watched. He knew better than to fight the X over anything, let alone a stupid dog who'd been tied up downstairs for over two hours now and had been crying and barking since it got on board.

"She's right ma'am. If you just let it out on the deck for a bit it might stop that noise."

Bomber gave Ro an appreciative smile and Spider frowned. What a kiss-up. But then X did something they hadn't expected. She agreed.

"Alright Bomber, you take care of him. But if you neglect any of your duties playing with the puppy we'll talk."

Bomber grinned, looking like she was practically about to launch herself at the X and hug her. Instead she just walked as calmly as she could muster downstairs and off to find the dog. Ro gave the X a nod and went back to work, and it was then that Spider noticed the X was watching him.

"Ma'am?" He asked.

"Go with her Spider. And go see how Mr. Harris is doing while you're down there." She then turned back to talk to Nav. Stifling a sigh Spider did what he was told. After checking the dog's owner was fast asleep he headed back up to the deck to find Bomber throwing her cap at the dog for it to catch.

"Better not let the X see you doing that, she'll have a fit."

Bomber turned and gave him a smile. Spider almost frowned but held back. What was up with him today? He just put it down to the on-going headache and proceeded to make himself comfortable leaning up against the railing, watching Bomber and the dog, and rubbing his sore and smarting eyes. Bloody ET.

"So, what's it's name anyway?" He asked, not looking at her as he was rubbing his eyes.

He could hear Bomber call it over and then the chain around the dog's neck jingled as she grabbed it. "Stevens." She paused. "Stevens? What kind a name is that?" Spider finally looked at her to see her frowning.

Spider just chuckled. "What's better, Stevens or Foo-Foo?"

Bomber just smirked. "Why? You thinking of changing your Pomerian's name?"

Spider didn't know what a Pomerian was, but he guessed from her tone it was a little dog and gave her a withering look. Bomber just laughed again and tossed her cap again. When the dog didn't return it she called it's name. It didn't respond at all.

Bomber glanced up at him. "Stevens isn't his name. He doesn't even know it."

"Maybe it's just stupid?" Spider suggested. Bomber frowned but didn't answer him. Instead she just chased the wayward dog down the side of the ship. Alone on the deck, Spider went back to leaning against the railing and rubbing his eyes. He glanced up when he heard a footstep on the deck near him and a small click, but didn't look up into the familiar face he'd expected to see. Instead, in front of him, stood Mr. Harris very much awake and holding a gun to Spider's face.

"Don't try anything." He ordered Spider, clicking off the safety. Spider took a small breath and glanced around him. Just his luck. The deck was deserted. He tried to reason with the man.

"What are you doing Mr. Harris?" He asked calmly, well as calmly as he could.

"It's not Mr. Harris, it's Mr. Stevens." Suddenly the dog tag was clear. Stevens wasn't the dog, it was the owner. "And I need you to help me turn this boat around."

"Of course, whatever you want Mr. Stevens. Just put the safety back on okay?" He suggested, wishing he could just reach his own gun that was still on his thigh. But he'd had his hands to his eyes when Stevens came out and hadn't been able to put them down. They sat, useless, over his chest, too far away from his gun or anything else useful.

Mr. Stevens appeared to be listening to Spider as he raised his thumb to the safety, but then everything went wrong. Bomber's voice echoed over the deck as she followed the dog back towards them. Shocked by the new voice Mr. Stevens turned and, intentional or not Spider didn't know, fired on Bomber. The bullet caught her in the shoulder and she gaped for a moment before falling. Spider seized his chance and grabbed his gun.

"PUT THE GUN DOWN. DOWN, NOW." Stevens, still in a state of shock at having actually fired the weapon, did what he was told. The gunshot had attracted attention and a moment later Buffer and the CO came out onto the deck as Spider ordered the man to the ground. Buffer helped him restrain the man, which gave Spider the opportunity to finally go to Bomber. She was leaning up against the side of the boat, gripping her shoulder and trying to stop the bleeding. Her face was so white it was almost transparent and Spider could see her starting to lose consciousness.

"Bomber?" He asked, watching her bloody fingers press white as she tried to hold the wound with what little energy she had left. As he watched she finally fell unconscious and, pressing his hand over her own, Spider lifted her to her feet and half-dragged, half-carried her inside.

Talk to me talk to me
As if I was here not on the other side of the
Curtain wall this is your curtain call
You'll always hear my voice

He picked her off her feet gently and laid her down on the ship's medical bed. She was still unconscious and Spider wondered what would happen next. Actually, if he was more realistic with his feelings he would've known he was worried. The CO and the X joined him a moment later, followed by Nav and ET who brought with them medical equipment. The CO just glanced at Nav and the X as they talked about what to do next. He then looked at Spider.

"We need to talk about what happened up there." He told the slightly shaken Seaman.

Spider motioned to Bomber. "I'd like to help out down here first."

The CO nodded. "I'll get Ro, we'll need to call base. We can get back to the mainland in the next two hours if nothing else goes wrong." He frowned. "Of all the weeks Swain had to take off." He hurried off.

Swain was having problems at home. His young wife Sally had only just given birth to their baby daughter and was suffering from Post-Natal Depression. Swain had gone home to look after Chloe while Sally attended her first week of counseling. That, however, left the Hammersley now without a medical officer. Bomber was second-in-charge.

"Spider." Nav shoved what looked like a cotton pad in his face. It was a gauze pad and he placed it under he and Bomber's hands to help the bleeding. As he'd lifted her hand softly he'd seen the hole. Only small, it was almost perfectly circular and just inside he could almost make out the bullet. He knew that this was a good sign. It hadn't gone very far in, so it would be easy to get out. But there was still a hell of a lot of blood and Spider glanced around the bullet hole to see where this was coming from. He then noticed the small piece of plastic embedded in her shoulder just further up. The pen in her arm pocket. It had been hit by the bullet and had broken and stuck in her skin just further up her shoulder. It didn't look too far in, but obviously Bomber hadn't noticed this when she'd been hit and it was actually bleeding worse than the bullet hole. He pointed it out to Nav who just frowned.

"Great, now she runs the risk of poisoning too."

Spider just frowned and glanced back at the pen and bullet hole. He couldn't even stop the bleeding in the pen hole because that would make the shard go deeper. He was completely unable to help Bomber right now and he felt useless because of it.

So load your gun and fire it so we can forget this now
So load your gun and fire it, stop and take your bow
But I won't

"The medic's on the phone." ET said, handing the phone to Nav who had now established herself as the one in charge. Spider didn't mind. He'd never been much of a leader anyway.

Nav picked up the phone but was stopped by a voice; quiet but still easy enough to hear. "No, we don't need a medic. I'll tell you what to do." Bomber had woken up, was speaking, and was now ordering them to do what she said.

Spider interjected. "Bomber, you're badly injured. We need to give you morphine. You can't tell us what to do under morphine."

Bomber just raised one finger towards him. "For once in your life Spider, shut up." She glanced at Nav. "Please, at least you'll know when it's best to take something out." She almost teared up at the concept of telling people to pull things from her own body, but gathered herself. Nonetheless Spider could feel her hand starting to shake under his and pressed a little harder to stop it. Bomber continued. "The medic isn't here, and you don't know the correct way to explain to him where the bullet is." She seemed to be getting nothing out of Nav and tried her luck with Spider. "Please."

Spider agreed. He glanced up at Nav. "She's second-in-charge medical officer, let her do her job."

Nav shook her head. "Alright, but you're explaining this to the CO." She handed the phone back to ET and glanced down at Bomber. "What do I need to do first?"

Once his hand was no longer needed Spider made for the door, but Bomber grabbed his wrist. "Where do you think you're going?" She muttered, smiling weakly.

Spider frowned. "Look, i…" He wasn't about to admit that he was starting to feel guilty about her being here. He'd stuffed up, again. He hadn't been aware of Stevens sneaking onto the deck, he hadn't warned her and he hadn't done anything when Stevens turned on her. That and it was genuinely hurting him seeing her in this state, seriously injured but still brave enough to conduct her own operation.

But Bomber didn't need an explanation, she just smiled. "It's fine. Go." She turned her attention back to Nav and, despite not wanting to leave her like this, Spider left the room.

Ro basically jumped him as he entered the control room. "What's happening? How is she?" Spider just nodded at him and went to the X who had been watching him enter.

"She's doing alright. We've got her patched up enough. We had to take out the pen bit, but the bullet is still in there. It's lodged against her collarbone." X just nodded. "How long till we reach the mainland ma'am." He asked.

X glanced at the clock. "About half an hour. She'll be okay until then won't she?"

Spider just nodded again and turned away. He really, really hoped she would.

Your mind's set so it never matters anyway
We're both right cos we never hear a word we say
Slip back take a look around and let me know
Is this real so we turn around and let it… go

The ride to the hospital, according to Nav, had been a rather eventful one with Bomber constantly telling the officers what to do until she finally lapsed unconscious. Nav explained to Spider, as the pair stood talking near the foot of Bomber's bed, that the ink from the pen had poisoned her slightly and her body had gone into a state of shock to control it. Their fears had been correct, but that certainly didn't make Spider feel any better. Instead he glanced at Bomber's barely moving figure with a tinge of apprehension. Would she be alright? And if, no when, she woke up would she back to the egg throwing, smirking person he knew too well? And Spider realized he was really worried about Bomber, but not in the same way the others were but at a much deeper level. He really liked the girl, and he didn't want her here like this. He'd give anything right now to swap positions with her, make her okay instead of him. But in truth he wasn't okay. He was heartbroken.

The other members of the crew popped in and out during the day but Spider didn't leave her side, even when the X came in and suggested he get some food. Instead he ended up getting Ro to bring it in to him, much to the staff's displeasure. Ro was doing about as well as Spider was, but typical Ro kept it hidden from the world. Spider knew he wasn't doing as well as Ro with this, his pain was written all over his face. That and Ro was able to think the best and walk away from it all, if only for a short time. It was fine for him, Bomber considered him a friend. As far as he could tell from he and Bomber's previous encounters she wasn't much of a fan of Spider's strange sense of humour.

It was a little after nine on the Saturday night, almost two days since she'd been brought in, and Spider was starting to fall asleep in his chair. He'd done that many times, waking to find himself in his bed without any knowledge of how he got there. Once he'd thought he'd seen ET and Buffer enter the room as his eyes started to droop, but he'd put that down as a strange dream. He'd also heard Nav and the X talking about him behind the curtain as if they believed he wasn't there. They were wondering how they'd get him back on the ship on Monday morning if Bomber was still unconscious. Spider knew he'd get back on the ship on Monday, but he certainly wouldn't enjoy it. But now he was alone in the small room of the military hospital, just him and Bomber. He decided to stay awake tonight, he had a strange feeling things would turn out better if he did.

He decided the best way to keep himself awake was to talk to Bomber, the doctor had actually suggested it but he'd felt stupid doing it up until now. Not that it stopped the others, they'd all already spoken to her at least once. Of course she hadn't reacted to anything they'd said, but it wouldn't hurt him to give in a try.

"Hey Bomber. I'd ask you how you were doing but that would just be a stupid question wouldn't it?" He laughed softly to himself. He felt stupid but at the same time it seemed to be a chance for him to clear his mind of things. Things that he didn't think he'd say to anyone in the real world. He talked about things that had happened in his past, his life before the navy, his first year on the Hammersley, his opinions on the other members of the crew, a short list of his personal favourite foods and a few of his favourite jokes. And of course she listened, she had no other choice. But Spider got the feeling that if she'd been awake she would've listened anyway. And with that realization fell silent. Without her replies his words seemed empty. He missed her voice.

I'll be up I'll be gone I'll move on towards town
Your mind's set
Drop down turn around everyone forget me now
Then we say…
Ba da ba ba ba woah

He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until he opened his eyes to feel a small amount of pressure on the crown of his head and the hospital eerily quiet. The lights were all still on and Spider raised his head to look at his watch. It was a little after 4am. As he lifted his head he felt the pressure slid off his head and fall to the bed with a small thump. Glancing at it he saw it was Bomber's hand. And he frowned. Then he realized what had happened and he smiled. She'd moved her hand. She must've woken up.

"Bomber?" He whispered softly. Nothing happened. He tried again. "Rebecca?" Still nothing. Spider frowned. "Rebecca, please. If you wake up I'll promise to stop bagging out your meals." But there was no response and Spider looked down at his feet sadly.

Then a croaky voice spoke. "Sure Spi, and I'll stop adding so much salt to yours." Spider looked up to see Bomber glancing at him with a slight smile on her face. Her eyes were heavy, only small slits, but she was awake. And she was insulting him. Spider almost laughed. "Let's not make promises we can't keep." She continued.

Spider just shook his head. "No, no." But he couldn't help but smile. She was going to fine. "How are you feeling? Do you want a doctor?" His grin fell as he realized she was still not out of the rough yet. He actually stood to get a doctor but she grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just need some rest." She laughed softly, weakly. "Actually, I wouldn't be so bad if someone hadn't been twittering on all night."

Spider realized she'd heard him and smiled again. "Sorry about that, the doctor suggested talking to you."

"It's fine." Bomber just closed her eyes slowly. "It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah." He nodded slowly. "You woke up just in time to insult me."

Bomber laughed again. "Always Spider." She opened her eyes slowly again. "I'll be always be here to insult you." She closed her eyes again and Spider sensed she'd drifted back to sleep.

He just held her hand in his own and smiled to himself. "Good." He muttered to her before laying his head back down on the bed and going back to sleep.

A/N: The song is Don't You Just Love Theatre by The Mission In Motion. Hear it at their myspace webpage (/themissioninmotion)