"Are you sure?" Brice asked as he looked down the gang plank warily. "I could go with you."

"The captain can not always go with his 'bottom bitch' to shop for their children." Jim said with a wide smile.

"You're not my bottom…whatever. That phrase only works if I have other wenches." Brice said.

"Good, because if you ever call me a bitch I'll make sure these are the last drops of sperm you will ever see." Jim said as he gestured to the children waiting for him on the dock.

"Don't refer to my children as ejaculate." Brice said as he took Etta from his arms.

"Who pissed in your coffee this morning?" Jim asked. "Since when are you such a worry-wart-prude? You called Eli a 'nut-squirt' just yesterday."

"Well that was before my 'bottom-bitch' decided to take all my little treasures ashore where it's dangerous." Brice said. He laughed a little when Jim held up his cutlass and reached for his crotch.

"I warned you."

"I was joking." Brice laughed. Jim glared at him as he took Etta back. She giggled as if she were on some kind of ride being passed back and forth like that.

"You have work to do and I can take care of myself and your 'little treasures'." Jim said. "They're mine too, y'know."

"I do."

"And if I get in trouble…I'll have Celena with me." Jim shrugged. Brice chuckled.

"Daddy! Come on!" Eli and J.B. called in unison. Brice smiled at them.

"One minute boys." He said. "Listen, you just got better from your illness. There's been a lot going on. If you're tired—"

"The only thing I'm tired off is laying around on my ass. I'm anxious, the kids are stir crazy. I need parts to build them and myself surfers." Jim said. He pressed his forehead to Brice's when he looked down. "Leland is dead—"

"Silver is still out there."

"We don't know that." Jim countered. "And he's far less likely to hurt me than he is you."

"Don't trust him—

"Brice, I won't." Jim assured him. "Never again." Brice let Etta grab his finger when she reached for him. He smiled at her until Jim nudged his head. Jim kissed him, slow and passionate and Brice smiled afterwards. "This won't be like last time."

"Daddy!" Celena whined impatiently.

"Go…before they burn the dock down." Brice said. He watched Jim go down and waved when they all waved to him. He kept his eyes on them until they turned a corner and were out of sight.

"Sir?" Brice started when Wren called him.

"Aye?" He asked as he pulled himself together. "Wren, what's first then?" Wren presented a stack of papers and Brice sighed. "Business as usually."

"She's beautiful." Jim looked up from the parts on the shelf when someone leaned in close and spoke to him. He smiled a little at the man before he glanced down at Etta. She was staring at something shiny that caught her eye.

"Thank you."

"Just look at those green eyes… what a little doll." He said. "How old is she?"

"Mm…about four months now." Jim answered. Etta looked up at Jim when he spoke.

"Got any others?" He asked. Jim was about to answer when a loud bang and then something crashing to the ground interrupted them.

"Ahhh!"

"Daddy! J.B. broke it!"

"I did not Celena!"

Jim sighed and gestured and the man chuckled. "Sir your children broke a rather expensive piece of—" The clerk began but was interrupted but a blood curdling scream. Eli came running up to Jim.

"Daddy I got hurt! I got hurt on the glass. My arm!" Eli wailed and the store clerk paled when he saw the blood dripping down Eli's elbow.

"Well he did break—"

"Not on that!" Eli screamed and pointed to something next to the cash register. The store clerk noticed the register was open and ran to close it – only to find the money was gone. When he turned back Jim and all his children were gone.

"You three, I swear." Jim said as they disappeared into the vendor crowd. He looked at them and they all shrugged. "Are you even hurt?" Eli licked the red goop off his arm to reveal there was no cut. "Ketchup? That…was actually really good acting, Eli."

"Thank you."

"So what'd you get?" Jim asked.

"An AR-78 drive." J.B. said as he showed Jim.

"Fuel injector." Eli smiled and pulled it out of shirt.

"1,287 dubloons!" Celena said and Jim noticed how much she was jingling as they walked. Jim snorted.

"Brice would be proud." Jim said. He opened Etta's diaper bag and they all deposited their spoils in it. They stopped to eat in the afternoon. Jim was feeding Etta as the children played in the fountain nearby.

"That's very illegal you know." Jim looked up and was surprised to find the man from before standing in front of him.

"Pardon?" Jim played stupid as he reached for his knife.

"They shouldn't take the dubloons from the fountain." He said as he looked at Celena, Eli and J.B. Jim whistled at them and they looked at him.

"Come on guys – those are peoples wishes." Jim said – pretending to be upset. They stopped playing in the water and came up to him. "I'm sorry about them."

"Well it's their first offense – I won't throw them in the slammer." He said as he sat down across from Jim. He noticed the man's badge and gun as he took off his jacket. The kids gathered around him.

"Who are you?" Eli asked bluntly. Celena pushed him away.

"What he means is…pleased to make you acquaintance." She said and curtsied for him. She then held out her hand.

"Charmed, miss." He said and took her little fingers in his grasp. She giggled before she went over to Jim. The boys just stared at him for a moment longer before going to play on the simple playground behind the tables. "Single parent?"

"No." Jim answered. "Other-daddy is busy with… work." He said as he rocked Etta.

"Oh?" The man asked. "Surrogate?"

"Sort of."

"I'm Sean. Sergeant Sean Hawkins of the Royal Military." He introduced himself. Jim looked down at Etta when she got fussy – truly grateful for the distraction. He managed to stay calm as he burped her. When she settled back down Jim smiled.

"Jonathan Benbow." He said. "I'd shake your hand but I've probably got jelly or ketchup on mine." Sean smiled.

"Any relation to Sebastian Benbow?" Sean asked. Jim just smiled and shook his head. Leland had told his son everything. Jim just hoped his grandfather didn't hate him for disowning him.

"Sorry, no. But I've been to the inn." Jim said. "Kind of odd spending money at a place that has your last name over the door." Sean laughed. Jim was in hell right now. His children were very much within reach of the man he was trying to protect them from. The odds were just ridiculous – He quickly calculated what the chances really were of meeting Leland's other son on his first day out. He gripped his knife and hid it under Etta's blanket.

"I never got to go before it closed." Sean said idly.

"Oh it closed?" Jim asked as if he didn't know.

"Oh, yeah. Sad story. Everyone in the military knows it. The owner's son was none other than Jim Hawkins – Star Fleet Captain. Well, story goes he went out to stop some pirates by himself and got killed." Sean said. "She was so sad over his death that she closed the inn and retired but some people say she was taken by pirates too. Rumor has it the pirates that got them were the same ones he escaped during his legendary run to Treasure Planet."

"Tragic."

"But we both know that's not true…don't we Jim?"

"It's Jonathan."

"That's not true either." Sean said matter of fact. "Did you think I wouldn't recognize you? Longer hair and five 'o' clock shadow may fool stupid people but we're cut from the same crop – we're not stupid." Jim glared at him. "My father told me everything about you…and I'm not angry that you killed him cause I know you're sick."

"Excuse me?" Jim asked.

"Even after all these years you can't see what he's done to you. How he warped you? Forced you into this life…"

"…Silver?"

"No, that demented psychopath you call a husband." Sean answered and made a face like the thought of two men together disgusted him. "And if you don't believe me take a look at yourself. You had the world at your feet and you gave up everything because you were seduced by that devil."

"You have no idea what I went through—"

"It must've been hell." Sean said interrupted. He almost sounded like he was sympathetic to Jim. "So hard to deal with - you adapted to survive and let him take your soul."

"Fuck you." Jim hissed.

"Don't believe me? Look at that…'thing' in your arms and tell me you're not trapped in a life you regret."

"You had better—"

"No need to threaten me, brother." Sean said as he put up his hands defensively. He pulled a card from his pocket as he got up slowly. "But if you find my words to be true – this is my net frequency." He said before he walked off. Celena came up to Jim and watched Sean go.

"Was that man flirting with you daddy?" she asked. Jim looked at her and forced a smile.

"No, baby." He chuckled.

Jim was looking down at Etta as she slept in her crib. She looked so much like her father with her blond curls. She, Celena, J.B. and Eli were without a doubt the most precious things in his entire life. If he had gone back home, been declared AWOL and imprisoned he'd be back to where he was before he went to Treasure Planet. A loser with no future because of his record. He'd undoubtedly still be living with his mother, the inn would be failing without his income bumps from the military. He'd be single – no Brice, no babies just a dead end life…alone.

Jim didn't even want to think about what Sean had said to him but he couldn't help it. His mind wandered. He went back nearly thirteen years to that night on Kinapis. The stroll on the beach, the good food, the good beers…the feel of that palm tree against his back as Brice touched him for the first time. Made him come harder than he ever had in his entire life – feel a thrill unparalleled to anything he had ever experienced. Jim realized that was the moment – not the entire night he spent going over the pros and cons of staying and going home. That moment, under the stars as he looked into Brice's eyes and was entranced by his passion – enamored with him in that very instant. He fell hard but not quite so fast – it took them nearly another year to admit they loved each other. Love, real love. Not entrapment. Not manipulation. Love.

"Hey baby." Brice came in the room and shattered his thoughts. "Wren is a slave driver but he's got the kids already clean and in bed. We got through half of my catch up work though – once I'm done I'm gonna send him and Zila for some alone time. You think we can watch their cubs for two weeks?" Brice looked at Jim for an answer and noticed he hadn't moved since he came in. He noticed his shoulders twitch and the soft sniffle he let out. "Jim?" He came to his side and his expression dropped seeing the tears rolling down Jim's face. "Oh my God – what's wrong?" Brice looked down at Etta and she was sleeping soundly – no indication that his crying was due to something that happened to her. "Oh honey…come on…" Brice ushered him away from the crib and closed the curtain.

"Brice…" He sobbed as he wrapped his arms around him. Brice reciprocated but Jim didn't see his worried expression. "I don't know. I don't know." He repeated as he cried. Brice hushed him and stroked the back of his hair. "I don't know what to do."

Brice stared at the closed curtain for a moment before he went back to work. He had given Etta her morning feeding and she was gurgling happily to herself in her crib as she played with a toy that didn't make too much noise. Jim had been in bed all day. Last night had been the last time he spoke and Brice never found out what he 'didn't know'. "Daddy…" Brice looked up sharply when Celena peeked in the door. The boys weren't with her so he assumed she had left them playing some game and snuck off. The girl was very intuitive – she could tell something was wrong. "Is daddy okay? Is he sick again?" she asked quietly. Brice gestured for her to come to him and he hoisted her into his lap.

"No baby. He's just a little sad." Brice said as he portioned out a lock of her hair and started braiding it. "Did something happen yesterday while you were out?" he asked.

"We stole some stuff from a snooty parts dealer." Celena said - infinitely proud of herself as she recalled her misdeed. "But he seemed real happy bout it at the time."

"What'd you get?" Brice asked. She hopped down and retrieved Etta's diaper bag. He went through it and smiled seeing their haul. "I'm guessing the money was your bit?"

"She was really snooty." Celena rationalized. Brice smirked and looked in the bag again.

"What's this?" Brice asked when he found a small white card. He looked at the numbers on it. "Did someone hit on your father?" he asked.

"Oh yeah!" Celena said as if she suddenly remembered. "While we were eating he came up and sat with daddy while we were playing. He told daddy a story and it made him mad – he cursed at the man. I thought they were related at first but daddy seemed like he didn't know him."

"Did you hear the story? Did he say something mean to your daddy? Wait-why did you think they were related?" Brice asked.

"They looked alike."

"Did he have brown hair?"

"No – they looked alike, like you and Eli look a like." Celena said as she started counting out the coins she stole.

"The man was blond – like me?"

"No I mean they had the same face. The man looked like daddy." She said before she touched the tip of her nose. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"He gave your daddy this card?"

"Yup." Brice looked up for a moment before he focused on her.

"Celena, can you look after daddy for me?" He asked.

"Okay." She answered. "What about Etta?"

"I'll have grandma come for her. But what ever daddy needs you get it for him."

"Ok." She said. He pinched her cheek before he left the room.

"I understand your anger. Finding out your father was a fuck toy instead of an actual sailor well… that would definitely rattle me." Brice said. Sean snapped his head up. The last thing he remembered was entering his motel room. He could feel blood dripping down his head and soaking his shirt. "And if I really felt malicious I'd let you have a little taste of what your father used to get from my father but I'm afraid my cock is exclusively reserved for your brother."

"You're scum." Sean hissed. Wren punched him in the face.

"That punch means you don't get to talk to me anymore." Brice said almost gleefully. "It also means you're lucky to escape with your life. And you can thank Jim for that – cause he didn't tell me to kill you. I'd do anything for him." Brice held out his hand and Wren placed a knife in his palm. "It is only by his mercy that you get to leave here with your life. But… a lesson must still be learned. Because you came near my lover and far, far too close to my children – who the fuck do you think you are? I took your brother and made him mine. I split your father's head in two… what the hell made you think you should even show up on my radar?"

"…" Sean whimpered when Brice pressed the knife to his face.

"I'd take your eye…but I want you to see what I do to you in clear focus. I want you to see the scar I make and be reminded of your brother's charity. I want other people to see it and when you lie and say you got it doing something heroic I want you to be sickened by yourself."

"Move in." Sean said. His statement baffled Brice. He looked back at Wren and he shrugged. "Move in – now!"

"Shit!" Brice moved away from him just as a group of fleet officers stormed the room. Wren tossed a few of them and cleared the door.

"Go!" He barked and Brice was nearly out the threshold when he felt a sharp pain in his gut. He looked down to see one of the officers holding a shock-stick to him. He tried to take a step but his body locked up and he fell to the ground. Wren was over powered. Brice looked up when they cut Sean free. He stood over them and smirked.

"Brice Messier…you're under arrest for piracy and crimes against humanity…"

A/N: Cliffhanger but I promise there won't be a two year wait for the next chapter