Not Forgotten.

"Where is she, Henry? Please, I beg of you. She's the only family I have left. All I want is to have her back. Please! Where is my sister?"

"I'm so sorry, Margaret,"

"… N-no,"

"I swear, Margaret. I didn't mean to. I couldn't control him,"

"No,"

"Please, Margaret. I'm so sorry,"

"NO!"

"Would you shut it?" she snapped.

For the past week she'd been in a foul mood. At first she'd thought it was the rush of hormones caused by her monthly bleeding but when that had ended, she had to look to another reason. She'd tried to get more sleep, to make sure she ate better, drank more water. None of it seemed to put her in a better mood. But deep down, she knew the reason. She'd been remembering again.

And now, for the last ten minutes she'd been listening to crude behavior from Rubin. And for the last five minutes she'd been wanting to kill him.

"Oh come on, Meg," he laughed happily, unwittingly approaching a very angry predator about to snap at him. "You have to admit. Bedding a fairy would be an interesting experience,"

His hand touching her shoulder was the last straw. She'd known the second he'd shouted in surprise, flipping over the railing and falling into the ocean, that she'd overreacted. It had just been a number of things all added together that had sent her over the edge and made her react more harshly than she otherwise would have. So as soon as Rubin had been pulled aboard, sopping wet, Captain Jones had ordered her into his cabin to deal out her punishment.

"What the hell was that, Meg?" he snapped at her, slamming the door behind them. "I can't believe you'd do that. It was completely unbidden and unprompted,"

"I know, Captain," she sighed, sitting down in one of the chairs next to the charting table. "It won't happen again, Captain,"

"You're damn right it won't," he growled at her, stopping his pacing to approach her. "I will not tolerate this sort of behavior from my crew. And don't think for a moment that you being a woman will get you out of this or give you any sort of excuse,"

"Understood, Captain,"

He sighed, crossing his arms across his chest as he looked down at her. "Damn it, Meg. What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know! I don't know what the hell is wrong with me!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and knocking it backward as she paced aggressively across his cabins. "I've felt sick for a week now and it's all just built to that moment," She turned and glared at the door leading out to the deck. "I could not listen to another word of Rubin's thoughts on how one could have sex with a fairy when they remain the size of one's palm,"

Her fists clenched at her sides, her nails digging into her own palms.

"I feel… I feel sick! I hate that I cannot just breathe. I cannot breathe anymore. I hate it! And it hurts so much. I just- I-I-I-I do not- I don't know how to fix it,"

Her eyes met his again.

"God damn it, Captain. I feel like shit,"

"You look like shit, Meg,"

She couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you. That's exactly what I needed to hear,"

He snorted at her. "You need to relieve some stress,"

Angry eyes looked up at him from her face, nearly knocking him back a step in surprise. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that, Captain? Between my chores on the ship or between the time I need to sleep? I can't exactly take a vacation now can I?"

She turned on him, brown eyes meeting blue as she took a breath. She watched him as he stalked towards her, coming to stand a hair's breadth from her, close enough for his body to be warming hers. It was a bit uncomfortable to be that close to her captain but she didn't back down from his challenge. Whatever it was.

"I can think of other ways to relieve your stress,"

Her eyes went wide as she realized what he was implying. She stumbled away from him in shock until her hip struck his charting table. "Captain! No… and… well, no,"

He laughed at her. "I was expecting you to say no but not with such fervor,"

She frowned at him, stepping away from the table.

"I understand however," he murmured, almost as an afterthought, turning away from her. "I am your captain and you are a deckhand…"

"… Yes…"

"I am sure being with someone with only one hand,"

This, no matter what it implied, made her laugh at him. "Of all the reasons to not… let you relieve my stress… your missing hand is certainly not one of them, Captain,"

He grinned at her over his shoulder. "Then maybe you're afraid?"

"Of you?" she questioned, rolling her eyes. "You've only ever frightened me once. I know you too well to be frightened of you unless it is with good reason,"

"Then tell me, Meg," he grinned at her, a smile that showed her the sarcasm, life and handsome charm she'd grown used to in her long months on his ship. "Why won't you let me help you?"

She laughed at this, shaking her head as she moved to walk past him. "Goodbye, Captain,"

However, as she passed him his hook caught her arm, pulling her to a stop. "You can't go yet, Miss Meg. Rubin still is soaked from your last tirade,"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh Captain, my Captain. I promise never to push Rubin or any others of the crew overboard for as long as I am a crew member aboard your ship,"

Her captain smiled. "Good,"

"Unless they deserve it,"

That bought her a laugh and a smile. "Fair enough,"

She moved to leave again but he stopped, her pulling her back again.

"What happened to your family?"

This was something she didn't want to talk about.

"If you don't talk about it, you'll just make yourself sick,"

She could have laughed. "And you've talked about what's happened to you?"

He shrugged. "I'm not being eaten by it,"

She snorted at him. "Do you ever wonder what the constant pursuit for revenge is doing to you? When the Dark One is dead for good and all of this is over, there will be nothing for you to look forward to. Life will be empty," She took the hook off of her arm and faced him completely. "What will you do then, Captain?"

He frowned at her, studying her face. His eyes were soft, the blue bleeding with raw emotion that she hadn't seen from him before. It was a shock that had her stepping away from him. He was a new creature that was dangerous to her.

She turned and left him in his cabin, ignoring the looks of the crew as she went back to work, refusing to speak.