Jim knew the talk with Aladdin the following night did not go well when John returned to his room mere minutes after leaving, clutching his bloody arm.

"What happened?" Jim demanded, closing the door as John sat down on the bed. "What did Aladdin do to you?"

John shook his head. "Jasmine did this. I didn't even get a chance to say anything before she tried to stab me. I managed to dodge her, but she still cut me." With a sigh, he got to his feet and removed his shirt. He dropped the shirt on the floor as he walked over to the wash basin.

Last night Jim understood Jasmine's animosity towards John. Now, the sight of all the blood on his arm and the two bruises on his face, all from her, was quickly turning his understanding to anger. It was true John forced her to betray the man she loved and if someone had done that to Jim, he'd be furious, as well. But, John was only trying to protect the people he cared about. He never wanted to hurt her or Aladdin.

Without a word to John, Jim stormed out of the room. It took him a little while of wandering the ship before he finally found Aladdin and Jasmine in the brig. They were sitting on the floor across from one another, each leaning against a cell. They both looked up when Jim came down the stairs.

"What do you want?" Aladdin hissed. There was so much hostility in his voice, for a moment Jim believed there might actually be in venom in his bite.

"I just want to help."

Jasmine glared at him. She didn't appear to be armed, but Jim kept his distance anyway.

"Our fight is not with you, Jim," Aladdin told him. "But, we know you're here on behalf of John, so you can understand why we don't want to talk to you right now."

"Your fight isn't with John, either."

Jasmine tried to say something, then growled in frustration when still no words came out.

"I'm not excusing what he did. You have every right to be angry with him," Jim continued. "But, he really didn't want to do what he did. He felt like his hands were tied. He's trying to protect the crew- and that includes both of you. Which is why he never had any intention of going to Meg. But, he had to do something; he couldn't just wait around to see your plan play out. He had to make sure no one was going to get hurt. Neither of you would have told him anything willingly and last night we were only three days away from the Southern Isles; he was desperate. He came to you tonight to work with you to make sure nothing will happen to anybody."

Aladdin rubbed his hands over his face, then pushed them through his hair. "I don't have a plan. I chose Gaston over The Damned because Corona was my home and Gaston has been like my brother since we were kids. Despite everything, I don't want to see either of them destroyed."

X X X

Jasmine left Aladdin and Jim in the brig to talk things out. The whole situation was starting to become overwhelming for her. She understood now that no matter what happens in Corona, it will not end well for anyone. She wasn't even sure if there was a "right" side to be on.

Jasmine went to the galley and sat at one of the tables. Letting her weariness take over, Jasmine rested her head on her arms. She thought back to her life in Agrabah before Kida kidnapped her. It seemed like her previous life was nothing but an endless parade of suitors coming to the palace hoping to buy Jasmine with gifts given to her father.

There wasn't much to miss about that life, except her pet tiger, Rajah. When she and Aladdin had gone back to Agrabah to tell her father she was abdicating, the Sultan hadn't allowed her to take Rajah with her. Not that he would have fared well stuck on a ship all the time. But, she missed him terribly. Ever since Aladdin told Jasmine his plan for her to go to Syracuse and stay with Proteus until he can arrange a ship to take her back to Agrabah, a small part of her has been considering it just so she can have Rajah back. Before she joined this crew, he had been her only friend. It was killing her being away from him.

"Are you all right?"

The unexpected voice startled Jasmine. She jerked her head up and saw Flynn standing next to the table. She took a deep breath to calm the sudden racing of her heart and nodded.

Flynn sat down across from her. "Are you sure?"

Jasmine started to nod again, but tears burned her eyes and she shook her head instead.

Flynn reached across the table and put his hand on hers. "What's wrong?"

Jasmine wrote down a quick note telling Flynn she lost her voice and slid the paper across the table. He furrowed his brow as he read it and looked back up at her.

"Jasmine, you are not crying because you lost your voice. Tell me what happened. Is it Aladdin? Did something happen?" There was hint of panic in his voice, though he was trying to hide it.

Jasmine didn't respond. She just sat there, clasping her shaking hands in her lap. She wanted so badly to tell Flynn the truth. He was Aladdin's best friend and had the right to know. She couldn't tell him, though. She already betrayed Aladdin once, she wouldn't do it again.

"Jasmine…"

Jasmine reached over and wrote, 'I can't tell you' on the paper in front of him. After reading the note, Flynn studied Jasmine as if her secret was hidden somewhere on her face and if he looked hard enough, he'd discover it.

"What's bothering you…" he said cautiously, "it has to do with Aladdin, doesn't it?"

Jasmine pressed her lips together. She debated not answering, but found herself nodding.

"Did something happen to him?"

Jasmine shook her head.

"But, you're worried about him and you can't tell me why."

She hesitantly nodded.

Flynn took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He was quiet for a long time before saying, "He told you, didn't he?"

Jasmine frowned. She didn't know what he was getting at, but no way was she answering that question.

Flynn nodded knowingly. "Of course he did. With the upcoming fight, he'd have to tell you; not only to protect you, but also because he won't be able keep it a secret once we get to Corona."

Jasmine quickly wrote, 'What are you talking about?'

Flynn glanced down at the note before meeting her eyes again. "Do you still love him?"

Jasmine was caught off guard by the question, but nodded.

"Are you going to stay with him?"

She nodded again.

"Even if he goes to Gaston?"

Jasmine's eyes grew wide for a moment, but she recomposed herself and narrowed her eyes, not answering him. Whatever Flynn knew- or thought he knew- Jasmine was not going to give him anything.

"You don't have to be so guarded, Jasmine. I already know. I've been keeping his secret longer than you have."

Jasmine continued to just stare at him. Aladdin said Flynn didn't know about him and Gaston. Was Flynn just baiting her? Trying to trick her into spilling everything to him?

"The fact that you haven't asked why Aladdin would go to Gaston tells me you know about his past, too." Flynn watched her, looking for any indication that she knew what he was talking about. She hoped her face didn't reveal that she did. After a moment, he sighed and lifted up his shirt. He tapped a scar on his abdomen. "You see this?" Jasmine nodded. "A few months after I joined the crew, we came across a seemingly abandoned ship just floating in the middle of nowhere. We boarded the ship to raid it and were ambushed by soldiers from some kingdom's navy. The whole thing had been a trap to lure in pirates. That was my first fight with the crew and, admittedly, my combat skills were poor. I had some fight skills, enough to survive on the streets, but they weren't enough. One of the soldiers stabbed me with his sword. He was about to finish me off when Gaston came between us. The soldier was a damn good fighter. Probably properly trained. Gaston eventually killed him, but he was in bad shape; he had multiple stab wounds all over his body and was rapidly bleeding out. After the fight, I got stitched up, but they didn't think Gaston was going to make it. Aladdin had managed to see Gaston and talk to him while the doctor was stitching me up, but he was eventually ushered out for being in the way. Later that night, I found Aladdin alone in the galley, drunk. He was inexplicably torn up about the possibility of Gaston's death. When I asked him about it, he told me everything about how they had been friends since childhood and how he was Gaston's first mate on the Huntress, but no one on the ship could know." Flynn paused for a moment. "He also told me that Gaston had stepped in to stop that soldier because he knew I had become Aladdin's best friend and he saved me because I was important to Aladdin."

Jasmine gaped at Flynn, not sure how to process what he was telling her.

"Aladdin doesn't remember telling me that and I never brought it up again. I never told anyone, either." Flynn shrugged. "Even though Gaston saved my life, I never liked the bastard. But, Aladdin has become a brother to me and I know that's how he feels about Gaston, too; so, whatever Aladdin does when we get to Corona, I'm on his side."

'You have to tell him,' Jasmine wrote. 'He thinks if you knew the truth about him and Gaston, you'd turn on him.'

"I've been wanting to tell him, but you were always around and I didn't know if you knew, so I figured it was best not to bring it up around you."

'John and Jim know, too. Long story,' Jasmine wrote. 'Jim is with Aladdin in the brig right now, working on a plan.'

Flynn gathered up Jasmine's notes. "I'm going down there."

Jasmine followed Flynn up to the deck. Flynn ripped up the notes and threw them in the water, the same way Aladdin had done the night before. They headed down to the brig, but when they got there, Aladdin and Jim were gone.

X X X

John was awakened by a hard knock on the door. He groaned and rolled onto his back. He realized the other side of the bed was empty and that Jim hadn't returned, yet. Another loud knock forced him to get out of bed.

"What?" he growled, flinging open the door.

Meg stood on the other side, with one hand on her hip and the other poised to knock again. She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "I never thought it'd be you, John."

"What do you mean?"

"I expected to be met with some resistance when I took over as captain and made Sinbad my first mate. But, I never once thought it'd come from you."

John frowned at her. "I've accepted you as the captain. And, for what you're planning, Sinbad is the best choice as first mate."

"For what I'm planning," she repeated. "Why don't we talk about what you're planning."

"I'm not planning anything." John leaned against the door frame. "Why don't you tell me what you're getting at so I can go back to sleep."

Meg's eyes flared and she slapped him.

John moved away from her. "What the hell, Meg?"

"How could you do this to me- to Hercules?"

"I haven't done anything!" he snapped.

"Not yet. Did you think I'm so stupid that I don't know what's going on on my own ship?"

"What-"

"I know everything about Aladdin and Gaston and how you and Jim are trying to help him."

John's heart raced. "How do you know that?"

Meg rolled her eyes. "Eric saw you and Jasmine on the deck last night and heard your entire conversation. He immediately came to me and told me everything. Which is what you should have done!"

"Meg-"

"Shut up!" Meg shoved him. "I've had Shang keeping an eye on Aladdin since last night and he caught him and Jim making a plan to go to Corona to meet up with Gaston instead of going to Syracuse with the rest of the crew. They're being dealt with-"

John advanced towards her, anger controlling his actions. "What have you done to Jim?"

Meg pulled her gun from the holster and aimed it at him while Adam appeared in the corridor behind her. "You should be more concerned about what I'm going to do to you."