Alright, this is my first published attempt at a Deadliest Catch fanfic... So forgive me if it's horrid. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Deadliest Catch or any of the real life people. (Although I wish I did...) I just own Astri Hansen.

Jake Harris sat in the hotel room that he shared with his brother. This shouldn't be happening to Pops, he thought bitterly as he took another swig of whiskey from his fifth glass. He didn't do anything to deserve this. He sighed as he pulled out his cell phone. He saw that he had four missed calls from Josh and two from Astri Hansen, Sig's daughter and his best friend. Rolling his eyes and taking another swig of his drink, he closed out of his missed calls and pulled up his contacts. He quickly scrolled down and found what he was looking for. He tapped on the number and waited for it to start ringing.

"Yeah," a gruff, stressed voice answered on the other end.

"Hey, Sig. It's Jake Harris," he said quietly.

"Hey, kid," his voice softened. Sig rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "How's the old man?"

"I- I'm not there right now. Last time I saw him, the doctors said he was doing pretty good. Better than what they thought he'd be actually."

"Good news. I'm guessing you didn't call to talk to me," Sig half heartedly laughed. It seemed like no one on the Northwestern, or in the whole fleet for that matter, had laughed since the news of Phil had spread. It was like every one was scared to laugh or even smile at the moment. "Who did you need?"

"Um, is Anderson able to talk?" Jake had to talk to some one his age that wouldn't scream at him for something or take his brother's side. He just wanted some one to talk to that would listen and he couldn't talk to Josh or Astri.

"Yeah," Sig said, "Let me put her on auto and I'll go find him." Jake could hear Sig rummaging around and setting up autopilot and then walking down stairs to find the other Jake.

Suddenly there was a rustling noise on the other end, then some one sleepily mumbled, "Hello?"

"Hey, man. It's Jake." He felt bad for waking him up. Jake knew how tired Anderson had to be if he had just gotten off deck after a long grind.

"Hey, dude. How's Phil?" Anderson sat up and tried to wake himself up alittle. He swung his feet over the edge of his bunk and landed with a soft thud. He glanced over and saw Edgar roll over and face the wall. He sighed and made his way out into the hallway toward the galley.

"He's doing, uh, okay. The docs say he's doing better then what they had expected." Jake paused awkwardly then asked, "What's the word on your dad?"

Anderson sat down at the table and ran a hand through his shaggy hair, "They've, um, found his truck up on an old trail but they still haven't found him yet. I'm still hoping though."

"They'll find him. Don't worry, dude." Jake internally scoffed at himself. How could he comfort some one while his world was falling apart around him? How could he comfort some one while he's drunk?

"Thanks, man. You know Phil is gonna make it through this, right? He's gonna be okay." Anderson fought back tears as he spoke. During the time that the Cornelia Marie and the Northwestern had switched their Jakes, Phil had become like a second father to him. Even before then, Phil and Jake Anderson were good friends.

"Yeah," Jake mumbled, "I hope so." He glanced over at the clock by his bed. "Listen, man, it's getting later here so I know it's late up there and you've probably been working for days. I'll let you get back to bed."

"Alright, dude." He paused for a second, "Hey, Jake?

"Hmm?"

"If you need anything, man, you know you can call at any time."

Jake choked up. It was nice to have some one that would just listen and be a friend. Astri, his best friend, was always mad at him him now and Josh was always screaming at him or too numb too even register what was going on. "Thanks, bro. I'll remember that."

"No problem. Talk to you later, dude."

"Later, man." Jake hung up the phone and placed it beside him in the window sill. He took a long drink from his glass and sighed when he finished it. Running a hand through his hair, he stood up and poured himself another glass. I told the old man that I was gonna go get help, he thought as he walked from the desk that had the liquor to his suit case, but tonight is one of those nights. He reached inside and dug down to the bottom and pulled out a small orange bottle. He twisted the top to the right and poured out four pills. Jake quickly threw the pills to the back of his throat and took a drink of water from a water bottle he bough earlier. Groaning, he stood up and staggered a bit. A buzzing noise was coming from the window sill, telling Jake that his phone was ringing. Jesus Christ... He walked over to where his phone was laying and picked it up. The screen said that Astri was calling. Against his better judgment, he slid his finger across the screen and answered it, "Hey, Astri."

"Jake? Where are you?" She asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'm safe. I just had to get away for a while," he mumbled.

There was silence on the other end of the phone then Astri finally spoke, "You sound drunk, Jacob. Where are you?"

He sighed and sat down in the window again. "I'm at the hotel. What does it matter?"

"What does it matter? Jake, you just admitted to your father, who is in the hospital if you forgot, that you're an addict. When you just up and leave like you did today, the people who care about you start to worry." Astri paused and sighed, "Jake, Phil was asking for you earlier. He asked where you were and Josh and I had to make up some bogus lie to tell him. We couldn't just say, 'Well, Phil, we don't really know where your youngest son, who is an addict, is. He left about ten minutes ago without saying anything to any one.'"

Suddenly, tears streamed down Jake's face. "I know, Astri. But I'm not used to this. I don't know what to do with myself as my dad sits in a hospital and dies. I'm lost, Astri. All I know to do is bottle everything up and drown my problems and numb the pain with pills."

She sighed, "Give me about ten minutes and I'll be at the hotel. Okay, Jake?"

Quietly, Jake mumbled, "Okay." Then a thought hit him, "Hey, Astri?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't bring Josh. Just you, okay?"

Astri smiled sadly, "Okay, Jake."

Jake hung up the phone and looked at the glass beside him. He took one last drink before walking over to the sink in the bathroom. He tipped the glass and watched as the dark liquid poured down the drain. Waist of good alcohol but it's for the better... I think. Jake didn't know what to do with himself until Astri got there so he walked back over to the window and looked out over Anchorage. He watched the lights of the cars as they drove past on the roads. He wished he was some one, any one, else so he wouldn't have to deal with everything that was happening. His thoughts drifted from the present and on to the future to when, or if, he went to rehab. How hard would it be for him to give up his pills? It couldn't be that hard could it? All I gotta do is make it through detox and just stay away from them. Simple as that, right?

Before Jake realized that ten minutes had passed, he felt some one wrap their arms around his neck. He looked up and saw the all too familiar shoulder length blonde hair that belonged to Astri. He stood up and pulled her into a tight hug, holding her close.

She rested her head on his chest and sighed, "Are you okay?"

Jake let go and sat back down, patting a spot beside him, "Not really. I feel weak and I feel like this is partially my fault."

Astri looked at him questionably, "Why is that?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, "Kinda like, if I hadn't told dad that I'm an addict that he wouldn't have had the stroke."

"Jake," she soothed and stroked his hair, "it's not your fault. Your dad didn't have the best health and you know that. He used to smoke nine and a half packs a day and drink about five cases of Red Bull at the same time."

Jake nodded and looked at her, "What if he doesn't make it, Astri?"

Astri thought for a few minutes and then finally sighed, "I don't know, Jake. But what I do know is that I'm gonna be right beside you and Josh through it all." He nodded and grabbed her hand. He laced his fingers through hers, "Thank you, Astri. You really mean the world to me." He looked away and then looked back, "Can you help me make a reservation at a rehab in California tomorrow?"

The young woman's breath caught in her throat, "Of course, Jake." She looked over at the desk and saw the bottle of whiskey and the pill bottle sitting on the top of his suite case. She sighed and stood up, "How many glasses have you had?"

Jake thought back for a few seconds, "About five or six, I think."

Astri grabbed the bottle and walked over and grabbed the pill bottle, "How many of these?"

"Four." He watched her as she walked to the sink and turned the water on. He walked over and stood beside her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything except turning on the water. You, Jacob, are going to break your pills in half so they'll fit down the drain and then you're gonna pour your whiskey out." She watched him as he absorbed his instructions.

Jake inhaled deeply and then reached for his pills. One by one, he broke them in half and threw them down the drain. Next, he opened the bottle of alcohol and pour it down the drain. Once the bottle was empty, Jake threw it in the trash and turned back to Astri.

She looked at him for a few seconds then suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, "It's gonna be okay, Jake. I promise."

"Thanks, Astri," he mumbled as he buried his face in her neck.

Pulling away from him, she ran a hand through his hair, "Why don't you get some rest? You look like hell."

Jake half heartedly smiled, "You don't look much better."

She rolled her eyes and walked to the door. She called over her shoulder, "If you need anything, I'm just down the hall, okay?" Astri turned back as she opened the door and let out a gasp when she came face to chest with Josh. "Oh! Hi, Josh."

"Hey, Astri. Is Jake in there?" He looked over her into the room.

"Yeah." She looked over her shoulder and saw Jake pulling his shirt off. "Can I talk to you real quick?" Astri reached up and pushed Josh back into the hallway. "Look," she started, "he feels like Phil's stroke is his fault. So take it easy on him, okay? He asked me to help him make reservations at a rehab tomorrow."

Josh stared at her wide eyed, "Really?"

She nodded, "Yeah. But just be careful what you say tonight because he's pretty messed up right now."

He nodded, "I just wanna talk."

Astri nodded, "Okay. Well, I'm gonna go back to my room and catch some sleep. Goodnight, Josh." She hugged the oldest Harris boy tightly.

"Night, Astri," he hugged her back.