1Authors Note: This is my first fanfic here, and I really hope people will respond well to it. I have come here in the hopes of giving you all a story you'll enjoy, as well as to become a better author, so criticism is welcomed! (As long as it's not just to flame me.)

I will be posting a new chapter everyday, or more. I will be posting chapter two later today, maybe even the third. Thanks for reading!

Just a Quick Disclaimer: Yes, I do own Jake and Liz and Makreedy. No, I do not own any of the members of the crew on the HMS Surprise, ect.

The large, ominous looking clouds had come early in the morning, and showed no signs of disbanding. They had brought with them torrents of rain, and a continuum of deafening thunder. There was one girl, however, who had hardly noticed. She sat alone on her bathroom floor, not doing much of anything.

No. She corrected herself. This is not my bathroom. It belongs to the orphanage. For the second time that day she had been hit, quite unexpectedly with a reminder that she no longer had any parents. She was about to start crying once more, when the door to the bathroom slammed open to reveal the caretaker, Ms. Makreedy.

A kind person would say that that Makreedy was a red round-faced woman, who cared a little excessively about the affairs of others. An honest person would comment that she probably ate a few too many cookies before bed, and made it her business to know everything about everyone else's business. Whatever she was, the girl in question found that she did not care very much for her new, and hopefully temporary guardian.

"Elizabeth!" said Ms. Makreedy, all in a fluster. Elizabeth winced; she did not enjoy being called 'Elizabeth' and found that she proffered 'Liz' to a much greater extent.

"No point in telling her," Liz thought aloud.

"What did you say?" Makreedy asked.

"Nothing…" said Liz. "What's the matter?" she asked, although she could bet she already knew.

"We found your brother outside, but no one can convince him to come in… We were hoping you'd try?" Makreedy half asked, half commanded.

Liz knew what this was about. Her brother had been missing all morning. Probably just trying to get attention. Everyone thought he was such a wonderful smart little angle… He

wasn't so perfect. And it was always her job to take care of him… her mothers voice still echoed in her head: "Take your brother to the movies…" "Help him with the dishes…" "Clean the house for when Jake gets home from camp…" Liz supposed it wasn't as bad as she was making it seem. And she loved him. She didn't say it all the time… but she did.

There was a moment's pause on Liz's end, accompanied by an annoyed impatience radiating from Makreedy. Liz heaved a sigh, and stood up. Makreedy hastened to waddle her way as fast as she could to the front hall. She pointed to the front yard, where a figure was barely visible through the rain. Makreedy went with Liz to the door, but then Liz stopped, and turned around.

"I'll take it from here." She said, tiredly. Which, of course was merely a polite way of saying: "Clear off, I don't need you hanging on my every word for this." Makreedy looked disappointed, and she had certainly been looking for ward to some good gossiping material. Reluctantly, she did as she was asked, moving slowly up the spiral staircase to he bedroom. Probably, Liz guessed, to wallow in her defeat.

Hoping to get it all over with quickly, Liz rushed out onto the flooded lawn, soaking her shoes and the bottoms of her pants almost immediately. When she got close enough, she could see her brother clearly. He was not moving, he didn't even appear to be thinking. He just stood, looking blankly out into the surrounding countryside. His t-shirt and jeans were completely soaked and the only thing that told Liz he was breathing was the fog that emitted from his mouth at regular intervals.

"Jake!" she yelled through the rain though they were quite close. "Come inside already! What are you even doing?" she asked, trying not to sound too annoyed.

Nothing. Jake did not acknowledge her, nor did he show any wish to.

"C'mon! The last thing I need is for you to get sick." She said, already feeling her nerves thinning. She was tired, and all she wanted now was her bed. Not the bed at the orphanage… that wasn't her bed. She wanted her bed at her home… where her parents used to live. For the third time that day, she felt as though she had been kick in the stomach.

" Why do you care?" Jake asked her, after a pause. His bright green eyes were focused on her now, and she could see the pain, raging like a storm inside of them… like the storm outside of them.

"Because," said Liz. " Then I would be the one who got stuck taking care of you." Liz meant it- a little. But for the most part, she had meant it as a joke. She wanted to hear him laugh. Jake watched her a moment more, before turning, to stare once more into the emptiness of the outside world.

"Dad's late," he told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Dad's late," he insisted. "He's late for my party."

"What party?" she asked, becoming more and more annoyed.

"My birthday party…" he said, his voice coming out hollow. "He said we'd go to the park to play basketball."

Oh. That party. She hadn't really thought about it before. The day of the car accident, her parents had run to the store together to buy some last minute shopping. It was Jake's thirteenth birthday, and they had gone out to buy him a brand new basketball, for the park. But they never made it back home. You could almost say came a small voice inside Liz's head, that Jake is the reason they're dead. She shook the thought out of her head, disgusted that she could even think something like that.

"Don't be an idiot," she said, partly to herself, ad partly to Jake. "Mom and Dad are dead. That's that."

Sure, it sounded harsh, but Liz was hurting too. Jake didn't seem to get that. That this wasn't just about him. It suddenly occurred to her how shallow she was sounding.

Liz grabbed Jakes arm. "C'mon." She began to pull him towards the building.

"Stop it!" Jake yelled, and he tried to return to the spot he'd been standing in a moment before.

They struggled on the lawn, and the storm raged on; Liz now as soaked as her brother. She wished she'd brought an umbrella. Liz gave another tug at Jake's arm, as the lightning crashed around them. The two of them ceased fighting and jumped as a particularly strong flash blinded them momentarily.

Suddenly the ground beneath them started to shake, and a spinning sensation filled both of them. The last thing they heard was the crash of thunder… and then…

Black.