A/N: story will get a bit darker from this point on. hope anyone reading is enjoying it. remember, rated mature for a reason. and again, apologies if you find the content to be in bad taste.

/

Jason could see his brother walking towards him. Was he dreaming?

"Grant," Jason choked out.

Grant looked just as he had when he was alive, tall and muscular and strong. His brown hair was buzzed so short it was almost non existent. But his brother's easy smile appeared on his face. Despite being a military man, Grant had always been such an easy going guy.

"Hey, bro," Grant said.

Jason felt like he'd swallowed a rock. The lump stuck in his throat.

"I'm sorry," he managed to wheeze.

"It's not your fault, Jason," Grant said, shaking his head. "I'm the one who should be sorry..."

"About what?" Jason said, completely thrown off.

Grant's shoulders sagged.

"I left you guys alone... you and Riley... I promised Mom I'd look after you," Grant said sadly. "And Daisy... I left her."

Jason's chest felt as if it were still being constricted by ropes which were slowly strangling him... he couldn't breathe.

"Grant, I..."

Then Grant looked up, and Jason had the worst feeling of vulnerability wash over him, as if his brother could see into his soul. He could hide nothing from his older brother, not his pain, not horrible deeds, not his anger, not his feelings... Jason wanted to tell Grant that he wasn't so sure about being with Liza anymore. He wanted to say that Daisy... Daisy made him feel again.

But he felt as if Grant already knew.

"Jason... You've grown strong. And you've learned," he said seriously.

Jason shivered. Grant knew everything. He knew about all the blood on his hands.

"I need you to do one last thing for me," Grant finished.

"Anything," Jason croaked.

"Take care of them, Jason..." Grant said, his form fading into mist. "And take care of Daisy for me. Make sure she's safe."

Jason felt his heart pounding. His brother didn't hate him. He could breathe again...

"I will," he whispered as his brother's form disappeared into darkness.

"Get up, punk," a voice echoed in his head.

Jason's eyes snapped open. He was lying on his back in a small, dark cell. A dim light flickered overhead.

"We've decided to make you a deal," the voice said. In a second, Jason was on his feet, hands swiping furiously at the brutish face that was just inches from the bars. The pirate only just managed to pull his face away in time to avoid losing an eye.

"I don't want your fucking deal!" he roared. "Give me Daisy back right now and I might leave some of you alive!"

"That's what I'm talking about, kid. We could kill you right now, and you just don't fucking care."

The leader was back. But now he was looking at Jason with renewed interest. Jason simply glared at him.

"You thinned out our ranks, kid... so we've decided to offer you a second option," Jay said, sitting down on a barrel of whiskey and pulling out a rag, cleaning his knife with it. "Join us."

"I'd rather watch you die, thanks," Jason hissed. "Makes me feel better inside."

Jay snorted, pointing his knife at Jason.

"You'd be smart to take our offer, kid. We were going to let you have the girl if you did," the pirate leader said easily. That made Jason pause.

Immediately, his mind went to betrayal. If he could get the pirates thinking he was actually going to join them to save Daisy, he could slaughter them all in an instant. But he couldn't let them think he was too eager.

Jason made a sound of disgust.

"You must be dumber than you look..." Jason said scathingly. "As soon as your back was turned, I'd just stick a knife in it."

Jay slapped his knee and laughed.

"I love it, kid!" he roared. "You don't even know how crazy you are! Come on, take the deal... if you care about the girl, you'll take it. She's your brother's girlfriend, isn't she?" he added with a twisted grin.

Jason growled and slammed his fist against the bars of the cage. He glared at the pirate leader, hoping the guy could see the anger burning in his soul.

He hoped the pirate knew that as soon as he got free, they'd all be dead. He'd paint the walls red with their blood.

"Fine," Jason hissed. "Bring me Daisy, and I'll join your pathetic little gang."

A cruel grin spread across the brute's face, and Jason didn't like it.

"Oh no, that's not how this is going to work..." the guy said, a hungry look in his eye. "The girl's waiting for you. You're going to break her."

"You said you'd let me have her!" Jason snarled.

"And we will," the pirate agreed, nodding his head. "But you'll have her the way we want you to have her. It gets boring on this island... the boys want a show."

Jason had a sinking suspicion about where this conversation was heading...

"If you want me in your gang, you'll give me Daisy right now!" Jason screamed. His veins bulged out from his arms as he grasped the bars of his cage. "I'm not putting on any fucking show."

The pirate sighed like he was sad for Jason, at how uncooperative he was being.

"Kid, that big head of yours is getting in your way again. We don't need you in our group, we could just kill you now," Jay said with a shrug. Then he eyed Jason as if he were some kind of bizarre science experiment that he couldn't wait to see the outcome of.

"For whatever reason, you seem to be clinging to some twisted moral code of your own... you obviously want this girl and you haven't taken her yet. We're offering you a chance to have what you want..." he continued reasonably, trying to make his offer sound like the most rational choice.

Jason just stood there, fuming. He didn't trust himself to speak. Anything he said now might put Daisy in more danger. He didn't want any part of this fucked up offer. His ears perked up, listening for any sounds of his missing girl.

"Last chance, kid..." Jay said slowly, picking under his fingernails with his knife. "You prove to us that you can be one of us... you get the girl... everybody wins."

"And if I say no?" Jason said through gritted teeth. Jay shrugged again.

"Like I said, it gets boring around here..." the pirate said, a cruel gleam in his muddy brown eyes. "If you won't break her, the boys will."

"No!" Jason blurted out in a moment of fear.

"So, I take it that's a yes, you'll do it?" the pirate said, smirking at Jason's moment of weakness. "She's resisted us every moment... you need to soften her up..."

"Fuck you," Jason hissed, echoing Daisy's sentiment. "If I take her, then she's mine, you got me, asshole? Nobody else touches her."

"Fair enough, kid," the pirate said, slamming his knife back into its sheath. Jay pulled a pistol from its holster with one hand a key from his pocket with his other hand. He unlocked the door to Jason's cage and pointed his pistol at the young man.

"Move," the pirate said simply. "I still don't trust you yet, punk. One wrong move and I'll blow your head off. We'll see how much the girl likes you without your pretty face."

Jason grit his teeth and stomped out of the cell.

"Just show me where to go, shithead," Jason growled.

They walked, the pirate holding Jason at gun point. The young man was still tempted to pull something, to try and get away, but he couldn't see how he could do it without losing his head. Besides, getting his head removed before he rescued Daisy wouldn't be doing her a favor...

In his head, he began mapping the compound, looking for the best escape route. But sooner than he would have liked, he was standing before Daisy's cell. Her cell was bigger than his had been, with a dirty mattress and blanket squeezed into it. His deceased brother's girlfriend was lying naked on top of the mattress, her hands tied behind her back. Her long blonde hair had come loose from its ponytail and streamed down her back.

Daisy whipped around to look at the newcomers, hatred etched on her face, until she saw Jason. The look of anger melted from her face to be replaced by one of fear and concern.

"Jason?" she whispered, sitting up and pulling her long legs up underneath her. He saw a blush working its way up her face.

The pirate leader unlocked the door to Daisy's cell and tried to force Jason inside. Desperate, Jason whipped around, his fist striking the guy in the arm, knocking the gun away. His next hit got the guy in the nose. Jason heard a satisfying crunch as his fist smashed the pirate's face. The two of them struggled for a moment before Jason was yanked off his feet by more pirates and forced into the cell.

"Nice try, kid," Jay said, wiping his bloody nose. "You're going to be quite the asset."

"What'd you do to her?" Jason screamed at the assembled pirates, slamming into the door, trying to force it open. "You fucking touch her?"

"No," said Jay, pointing his gun into the cage, but not at Jason. He aimed his weapon at Daisy. "But you will. Unless you want her death on your conscience."