I've apparently got some flood trauma I've got to work through. TW: Flood.

Kate's body woke her as soon as the rain started to ease. Her mind was groggy from lack of sleep and she blinked blearily at her clock radio until its lack of power finally registered and she reached for her phone.

7:14

Facebook was the first thing she saw when she unlocked it. It had been the last thing she'd seen before she went to sleep, full of people shouting for help as the waters rose and the rain just. Would. Not. Stop.

She swung her feet out of bed and they landed on the damp remains of her clothes. She'd tried to head to the Hammersley as soon as they'd realised that the rain would be worse than anyone had predicted but every road had already been cut. She'd been soaked just getting into her car. She'd emailed NAVCOM after her third attempt at a phone call had dropped and received a terse reply instructing her to shelter in place until it was safe.

Kate pushed herself off the bed, glancing out the window, half surprised to see her backyard - it was neither hidden by the downpour nor underwater. She supposed that would have to do for safety.

She shrugged on a dry pair of DPNU's and her wet weather gear, stuffing food and water and supplies into a backpack. The rain that faced her as she opened her door was heavy but not the torrential downpour that she had watched in torchlight turn her front yard into a river only a few hours earlier.

One of her neighbours waved her over from her front verandah where she was standing with a mug watching her husband attach a boat trailer to his car. Kate jogged through the rain, feeling the splatters that the hood couldn't quite catch.

"Hi." The woman smiled at her and Kate felt a little foolish for having no idea of her name.

"Hi, I'm Kate." She reached out her hand and the other woman shook it.

"Alison." She nodded to her husband. "Mark is my husband. We haven't met, you're in the Navy, yeah?"

"I am."

"And you're going to help?" She gestured vaguely with her mug at Kate's outfit and bag.

"I'm going to try."

Alison nodded to herself once, decisively.

"Oi, Mark, I've got you a passenger!"

Mark was a man a few years younger than Kate wearing work boots and a fishing shirt. He looked up at his wife's bellow and raised his hand in friendly greeting before opening the driver's door and slipping in.

"He'll get you to where you can do some good and I'd feel better knowing he's not on the water alone."

That seemed to be a dismissal and Kate nodded and jogged down to the idling car.

Mark shook her hand before putting the car in drive and pulling out.
"I was out as soon as it was light. From what I can tell we should be able to put in at the end of Barnes Street."

Kate appreciated his no nonsense practicality.
"We should head for the highway once we're in the water. I'll be the safest option, less chance of hitting something under the water." She considered suggesting that he let her go alone but one glance at his face told her she'd have better luck swimming to the Hammersley.

"Good thinking." He replied, his eyes focused on the road ahead of him. Kate watched everything pass as they drove, people on their front verandahs, sightseers out with their umbrellas and at least three other boats all converging on the water.

It was worse than she could have imagined. They hadn't made it to the highway yet because every street they motored down had more people on roofs. Kate had guided them to bump gently at the eaves, hands reaching up to guide person after person into the boat, her legs automatically steadying her as a bow wave rocked them. She held tightly to a kelpie's collar as they took their current load back to dryer land.

As she waded out of the water, a child clutching at her, she realised that the sightseers had been replaced by a waiting crowd, hands outstretched, ready to take their cargo from them.

"Thank you." She murmured, handing the little girl over to a heavyset woman.

She passed the girl's mother on her return to the boat, having her hand briefly clasped before she followed her daughter out of the water.

"Right," Mark said purposefully, clapping his hands together. "Let's see how far we get this time."

Kate smiled a little at him. He reminded her of Swain, competent and jovial, comforting to the kids they'd had on board. She wondered whether Swain'd made it to the Hammersley, she knew the junior sailors would - they were too close to the wharf not to. She just hoped the watch - which should have been Dutchy and RO - wasn't the only supervision they had.

It was a relief to realise that the stranded families lessened as they approached the highway - lower lying areas that had been evacuated even with the lower forecast peak. The other thing that had happened was the radio had begun to crackle with calls from further than the boats that formed their little flotilla.

"Anyone near the state school? Over."

Kate glanced at Mark, who shrugged, before grabbing the receiver.

"We're on the highway, just past Stockland. Over."

"Thank fuck. I need a second set of hands. Over." The voice nagged at something in Kate, even through the static.

"On our way. Over and out."

They noticed the other boat first, tied up to the fence. A distant figure stood at the bow and waved at them as they approached and even before she could see the uniform Kate knew that stance.

"X!" The surprised shout made her grin.

"Fancy seeing you here Buffer."

They drifted closer until she could throw her own line over the fence and let the bumpers knock against Buffer's boat.

"Nice boat."

Buffer laughed and she noticed the new lines around his eyes as he smiled.

"I'd say the same but I'd guess it's not yours."

She was sharply reminded of Mark behind her at the helm and turned, ignoring her flush.

"Mark, this is an old shipmate of mine, Pete. Buffer, this is one of my neighbours, Mark."

"Just met him today huh?" Buffer muttered with a laugh. Kate pretended not to hear him.

"So, what do you need?"

Buffer was suddenly all business again.
"Got word that there was someone in one of the houses behind the school, I tried but I couldn't get close though without being able to watch out for debris. And the water is moving pretty quick over there."

Kate was silent for a moment considering their options. Buffer's boat was new and nimble, and she knew she could trust him at the helm even in the hardest currents.

"Are you good to head back by yourself?" She asked Mark who nodded, glancing down at his instruments.

"I would have had to head back in soon anyway, fuel's getting low."

Kate slipped her backpack on and grasped his hand in another shake. "Thanks for your help, Mark."

"Yours too, Kate."

She stepped up onto the gunwale and then leapt across. She nearly slipped as she landed but large, warm hands anchored her waist.

"Welcome aboard, X."

Buffer hadn't changed much but it had been a long time since she'd been so close to him. She took a step back and smoothed her hands down her wet thighs.

"So, where are we headed?" She asked, biting back the awkwardness she couldn't identify.

Buffer took a second too long to respond, his eyes intent.

"Around the other side of the school." He finally answered, his body already moving back behind the controls.

Kate mentally shook herself, not sure why she was so affected by seeing him again, and reached to release the tie keeping them against the fence.

"You're pretty low on fuel," Kate noted, standing steadily beside Buffer at the helm. She wanted to give the couple huddled together in the bow as much space as she could in a small boat.

"I've been out since it was light enough to see." Buffer didn't take his eyes off the water but he did kick at some bags that were shoved under the seats. "That's all I managed to get out when I woke up to water coming in." He shrugged ruefully. "I was paranoid enough to have the boat up against the house, but not to evacuate."

Kate froze for a moment, her eyes tracking the way his tight shoulders belied the lightness in his voice. She stopped herself from reaching out, not sure how he would take the contact.

"You'll have to stay with me then. The power's out but it's dry." It was the right thing to say, she just wasn't sure why it made her so nervous. No one would judge her for helping an old shipmate in need.

Buffer's shoulders slumped a little and his voice was suddenly serious, no hint of the lightness he'd been affecting.

"Thanks, X. I appreciate it."

She let herself touch him then, resting her hand on his, feeling the warm flex of his fingers against the throttle.