So I was searching through my Google Drive and found this. The characters are a little OC, but that's for a reason. In this one, Kaz doesn't have his armor on, and because Inej is doing her job (protecting people from bad stuff on the seas) she has her armor on. I was getting tired of 'Inej and Kaz are equal' - though don't get me wrong I love this ship and every fic is amazing - but if you think about it, if Inej and Kaz were alone on the sea he would totally spend the most of the time staring wide eyed at Inej. And with the trouble he gets into, he would totally be stuck on a ship at some point.

On another point, I'm only borrowing these characters from Leigh Bardugo.

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IF HE HADN'T BEEN KNOCKED OUT BY THE GUY WITHOUT THE WEAPON, he might have been less offended.

But he had been. He had been jumped by five people - three of them with batons and one with an iron fist - and the final striking blow came from the weaponless one. He might have laughed if it hadn't happened to him. And, if he laughed.

But there he was. With his head throbbing spectacularly, he had barely managed to locate Specht right beside him and Rogan on the other side of himself. Anika was also crudely roped and he had felt a bitter pride as he felt, rather than saw himself infinitely more chained than anybody else. The best chains of the entire business were on him, and he wasn't sure that he himself would have been able to crack it in less than half an hour if it had been on somebody else.

"We're on a ship," Anika ventured halfheartedly. Kaz scowled at her. The ship's rocking had told them all as much, and noise was giving him a headache.

Rogan swallowed nervously and Specht smacked him on the back, stretching to the limit of ropes on his ankle. Looking at them all, Kaz felt infinitely more closeted, the pain in his head making the walls close around him even more. Inwardly he scowled. Claustrophobia was becoming more and more of a problem for him.

"Wait!" Rogan finally said, making them all pause. Looking at him, Kaz managed to arch an eyebrow that could hopefully only be read as don't you dare tell me to wait, but then he listened as well.

Loud banging. The sound of rushing feet. Gunfire. Wails of terror.

Footsteps rushing toward their door loudened and they all turned their head expectantly. With his head pounding as the footsteps loudened, they all watched as the door swung open, with a force so strong it almost ripped the door off its hinges. And then he saw her.

He heard his breath catch and the world seemed to have frozen. He could have sworn she was glowing - the air around her tense and fierce, her mouth pulled down into a growl that probably would have made people shiver with fear instead of beam, but that was the only thing he was doing.

Realistically, he had seen her only two weeks ago for reloading but his Wraith in action was even more awe-striking.

Inej moved immediately toward him, tugging uselessly at the chains. Scowling at it, she looked at the girl behind her and Kaz noticed an almost petite blonde girl, knifing her way through his three gang member's ropes.

"Jeryle!" she called.

The girl - Jeryle - turned and saw his chains. With a mouth wide enough to rival a fish, she moved off of Specht and extended a hand. It burst into flames, and Kaz's eyes widened.

As the blonde girl worked on his chains, melting them off at strategic points so the liquid wouldn't burn him, Inej looked at his mouth, still stuffed with the gag. He hoped his cheeks didn't flare as red as he thought when she hesitated, before inserting two fingers into his mouth.

"Ughfm-" he began, starting to spit it out. Inej pulled it out completely, her graceful fingers only holding the tip of it as she dropped it onto the wooden floor. The blonde girl pulled away once more, and he twisted his wrists, glad he could breathe once more.

"Are you alright?" Inej quietly asked, leaning into him to ask the question. Her breath was warm against his freezing cheeks, and he sucked in a breath.

"I don't know, I've just been captured and chained to the bottom of a ship - I think I'm doing perfectly fine," Kaz replied sarcastically, refraining from mentioning the still pounding head wound. Oddly enough, with Inej in front of him he could have sworn it had lessened. Inej rolled her eyes.

"Your head-" she cut off, pressing a hand to his face. He sucked in another long breath but her graceful smooth brown fingers were already gone, the soothing touch replaced with the freezing air once more.

"The head wound should be alright but you'll be off your feet and unbalanced," she warned him. "Lean on me for support."

He stood finally, shakily and found that she was right. The ship's incessant rocking didn't help either, and almost immediately he fell into her. He cursed himself, sure he was blushing. It didn't help that the four others were staring at the two of them wide eyed. The ship was too loud, but he could have sworn that Anika had subtly leaned over to Rogan and said something turning her expression sour with disappointment and his triumph. You owe me…?

"Jeryle, get the three others back to the Wraith safely," Inej instructed. "I've got him. It's going to be a slower process. Tell the others that as well."

The blonde girl nodded, before tugging his three members along. Kaz watched their backs cautiously, and Inej answered his unspoken question.

"They'll be fine. I trust her."

He nodded, trying to get off of her. She sighed, keeping a gentle hand on his back. He fell almost immediately as soon as the additional support was gone.

"You need a medic," she said concerned. "I'm going to call for one back on the Wraith. Until then, lean on me."

Kaz briefly wondered when he had become the damsel in distress of some ridiculous Kerch fairytale Ketterdam was so fond of playing. "I'm fine," he insisted.

"You're not," she returned sharply. Pressing him to her skin, he stiffened, expecting tides and cold salt water.

He didn't feel anything, except for the warmth of her skin and cloth, and the wicked pain of the head wound. Perhaps that was what was blocking it…

Either way, Inej didn't give a damn. Guiding him step by step, he found himself being supported by her more and more, and by the end of the walk through the ridiculously long hallway, was almost in her arms.

"Saints," Inej quietly said before pushing him completely into her and with obvious difficulty, picking him partly up, cradling him half in her arms, and half onto the ground. The overwhelming smell that didn't exist of Inej surrounded him, and he grasped desperately for her, unconsciously trying to surround himself with more of her.

"Inej-" he gasped, hands raking through her back. Inej lifted him a little higher, until he was off the ground entirely.

"Hold on," she instructed calmly. "I'm not letting go of you."

As they went up the stairs, Kaz was dimly aware of the even harder rocking sensation. "The crew… " he said softly, looking at her with wild eyes. "What's going on?"

She didn't respond, rather pressing him closer to her. He would have wanted a different answer, but as her comforting non-scent surrounded him, his eyes flickered shut and Inej pulled him back awake.

"We're almost there, you have to stay with me," Inej said quietly. Her eyes flickered down to him, and he stared at her with confusion. Her dark brown eyes were flecked with worry and reassurance and something so Inej-like that he couldn't think of anything else at the moment.

"What?"

The words were hard to speak, and the world was gradually fading even more into a black haze. Inej sighed, pressing him even closer to her. A hard crash hit the ship and he unconsciously threw his arms against her neck in an attempt to prevent himself from falling. In return, Inej propped him up a little higher.

"We're almost there," she whispered. "Just hold on for a while. I've got you Kaz. It's going to be alright."

The world faded to black, and as it all drifted away, he believed that right there, surrounded by her comforting non-scent and arms wrapped securely around her neck, it was going to be alright.