Dead and Dying.


"Captain?"

He smiled at her, pain tainting the expression as he stopped in front of her. She didn't return the smile but examined the pained expression behind the smile, the fatigue in his gait and the sheen of sweat across his brow. She might not have been a healer back in the city but she knew the look of a person that was ill. It worried her that she was seeing it before her now.

"Captain?"

He was beginning to sway on his feet, his eyes becoming unfocused as he blinked them to try to see her clearly. Without hesitation she tucked herself under his arm just as he suddenly was caught up in a hacking cough that rocked him dangerously. When it was over she smelled fresh blood in the air.

"You're sick," she told him, feeling a bit of her temper flare as she looked up at him. "What the hell were you doing when you were away? Drinking poison to see if it hurt?"

"I apologize, milady,"

"Don't apologize to me, not until you defeat whatever is eating at you,"

With help from Smee she carried her captain to his chambers as his health began to spiral downward, as if the realization that he was very sick had made his body begin to shut down. Together they got him laid out on his bed in nothing but his heavy trousers, revealing how sick he was as they removed his soaked tunic. Water was brought in and she went to work wiping him down and cooling him off as he began to shake.

"Stupid man," she hissed as she brushed back his black hair from his face. "Even he himself believes the stories about how he is infallible,"

She shook her head and whipped away the sweat away from his neck in precise strokes, letting the cloth delve further down and over his defined chest. She pulled back and rinsed the cloth again as Smee sat down on the other side of him, a broth in his hand for the captain.

"If you want, you may leave him to me, Meg," Smee told her gently. "I think I've got it under control now,"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You could not keep me away with a pack of enchanted, vicious, rabid dogs,"

This caused Smee to smile at her and nod his red capped head. "That's my girl,"

"Do you know what has done this to him?" she asked, putting her hand on her captain's forehead as he began to mumble.

"The captain is a strong man," Smee told her firmly, as if he was trying to convince them both of that fact. "He's dealt with a lot since he became the Captain Jones that the world has come to fear and respect… but sometimes memories hold more sway than we give them credit for,"

"He did this to himself?"

"Poison himself?" Smee shook his head. "I'm sure some sniveling coward thought to be clever and poison his drink… but it was the captain's inhibitions that allowed it to happen. He is much too careful to have let such a slip happen otherwise,"

She frowned down at her captain but continued her work.

It was a week before the fever went away and her captain was coherent again. A lot of the week was spent by his side listening to him mutter broken sentences and confused words. It had been a blessing to hear him question her about why she was sitting on his bed instead of laying with him. She'd laughed and forced him to drink more of the bitter smelling brew that Smee had made. Of course, her captain had hated it and gotten most of it on his chin but at least it wasn't vomit like the last time. After she'd wiped his face and made him drink the whole thing he'd fallen back to sleep.

It was a few days later that her captain was trying to get up to take charge again, ignoring the fact that he'd been poisoned for the past two weeks. It was almost painful to watch him try to pull himself to his feet when he hadn't used his legs in weeks. Even his face looked a bit sunken.

"Let me tell you how things work on my ship," he growled at her from his seat on his bed, looking thoroughly warn out. "I make the demands and you follow them. Now let me up,"

"No,"

"No?"

"No,"

He chuckled at her sardonically, shaking his head. "You really are a stubborn one, aren't you?"

"You aren't well, Captain," she told him, ignoring his worlds. "Do you even realize how worried your crew has been over the past few weeks, Captain?"

He shook his head, getting up and pushing past her. She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him pull on his shirt, breathing heavily with the effort. "They don't have to worry anymore, now do they? I'm up and ready to command my ship,"

"How are they supposed to stop worrying when they watch you stumble around on deck looking as you do? You look horrible,"

"Thank you. I really appreciate that. I was feeling really optimistic and now I feel just peachy,"

She didn't laugh, she didn't even smile. She was too angry with him. "Captain, please. Just take a moment. Your crew is worried about you because they care for you," she told him. "… They think you dwell too much on the past,"

He hid it well but she could tell he was hiding a glare behind that smile of his. "I suppose you'll tell me to move on and forget about my losses?"

She laughed. It wasn't a humorous laugh but one that was filled with a pain that spoke of the memories she tried to forget. "I would never tell you to forget. Rather you should remember the good times and let go of the pain. Even though it is difficult…"

The last words were said low so he wouldn't hear it… but he did.

"Your family…" he breathed to her in a gentle voice. "What happened to them?" When she didn't answer him, he smiled teasingly at her, trying to coax her. "Come now, little Meg. One does not decide to go sailing in a life boat with no direction or water and then decide to join a pirate's ship for fun,"

She frowned at the irony of his statement. "They died… I don't have a family anymore," Her eyes watered as she looked up at him, watery brown meeting the soft blue. "I am alive by a cruel accident,"

The captain frowned at her, stepping up to her to put his hands on her shoulders. "Meg… it was no accident that you are alive, nor is it an accident that you found us. This ship can be your new home, your family," he told her with soft words, her eyes serious as he looked upon her. "It's never too late to start over,"

"Get back in bed, Captain," she told him, ignoring his kind words. "If we need you, we'll rouse you but until then, you need your sleep,"

She turned and left him alone, trying to keep the tears at bay.