Meg sat on the floor of her office, her hands buried in her hair, clutching it. She didn't want this. She never wanted any of this. She just wanted Gaston to pay for what happened to Hercules. Meg was rapidly losing control of the situation and herself and she couldn't stop it.

John was lying on the floor across from her. He had drifted in and out of consciousness the last two days, but was unconscious now. Meg had been keeping up on cleaning his wound and changing his bandages, and she cried every time.

She shot him.

Meg tried to kill John.

And she almost succeeded. If Sinbad hadn't done that surgery, John would likely be dead right now.

Fresh tears fell down Meg's cheeks at the thought. She started rocking back and forth, her nails digging into her scalp. She couldn't handle this anymore. John was right about everything. Her hatred for Gaston was destroying her and the crew from the inside out. But, she didn't know what to do. She couldn't stop now; not when she was so close to killing Gaston and avenging Hercules.

The sun was rising on the horizon, filling her office with an orange glow. They'll be arriving in the Southern Isles today.

John stirred as the sunlight reached his face. His eyes fluttered open and he blinked. He rolled over onto his side, his eyes meeting Meg's. She froze, lowering her hands. John sat up, cradling his arm in his hand.

"You're crying," John said, his voice flat.

Meg wiped her cheek, but it didn't stop the tears.

"Have you hurt Jim and the others?"

Meg shook her head. A sob forced its way out and the tears fell harder. "You don't deserve this, John. I'm so sorry." Her own voice was raspy and cracked.

John watched her with a blank expression for a moment. "So you can still feel something."

"I wish I didn't."

John narrowed his eyes. "If you're looking for sympathy, you won't find any here."

Meg glared right back at him. "I'm not."

John held her gaze until she finally looked away. "Where's Jim?"

"He's fine. He and the others are in cells, where they're going to stay until this is over. I'm not risking them getting to Gaston first and warning him."

"And Sinbad?"

"He and I will lead a small group to Syracuse and stick to the plan. You will be accompanying us to make sure Sinbad does what he's supposed to."

"You're not having the entire crew go to Corona?"

"If everything goes according to the plan, I won't have to."

"You mean Aladdin's plan?"

Meg pursed her lips. "Regardless, it's a decent plan."

"It could be a trap," John pointed out. "I thought you didn't trust Aladdin."

"I don't. But, he's right: Gaston won't be expecting us to come from the Atlantian border. It's our best shot at a surprise attack. With the help from Syracuse, we could pull this off." Meg leaned her head back against her desk. "Despite what you think, John, I don't want anything to happen to this crew. I just want to kill Gaston and Kale and be done with it."

John let out a laugh. "And be done with it? Meg, you're talking about killing a prince in his own kingdom. You're going to be executed."

"I don't care."

"Everyone aligned with you will be executed, as well. If you go through with this, you're still condemning all of us."

Meg groaned. "What would you have me do, John? Just let Gaston get away with it?"

"Yes." He didn't hesitate or even have to think about it.

"How can you say that?" Meg demanded.

"Because Hercules wouldn't want this. Believe me, I want Gaston to pay. But, not at the expense of Jim's life. Or Sinbad's. Or anyone else's."

Meg rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "You always have to play the hero, John."

"It's not about that!" John snapped. "This is- above all else- about protecting Jim. I will not let you sacrifice his life for your vendetta."

"Jim is going to be on the ship in the Southern Isles the whole time, no one is going to know he's involved. He will be fine."

X X X

It was late that night when Jasmine told the others of her plan. Meg had come down to get Sinbad a few hours ago and they were likely well on their way to Syracuse by now. Perhaps even there already. Jasmine wasn't entirely sure how far Syracuse was from where they were. Either way, she knew Meg was no longer on the ship and she felt safe enough to reveal it.

"The four of us are going to stop this before it starts," Jasmine told them.

"From our cells?" Jim asked.

"Obviously not. From Corona," Jasmine replied. "Aladdin can pick these locks."

"I don't have anything to pick them with," Aladdin said.

"I do." Jasmine pulled the long, pointed hair pins out of her ponytail and her hair fell down her back.

"Even if we get out of here, how are we going to stop this?"

"By going to Corona and talking to Gaston. Aladdin, you know Gaston better than anyone else here and if you think Gaston had nothing to do with Hercules' death, then I believe you. But, he was with the man who killed him, so he must know what happened. If we can figure out what really happened, maybe we can stop Meg from going after Gaston."

"It's not the worst plan I've ever heard," Flynn said. "But, what if Aladdin is wrong and Gaston was behind Hercules' murder?"

"He wasn't," Aladdin insisted. "If Gaston wanted someone dead, he'd kill them himself. He lives for the kill; he'd never have someone else do it for him."

"And did you enjoy killing as much as he does when you were his first mate?" Jim asked, not hiding his disdain for Aladdin.

"We don't have time to get in to that right now," Jasmine said, stepping in before Aladdin could reply. She desperately did not want to hear his answer. "We need to get to Corona before Meg does." She stuck her hand out of her cell door bars and tossed one of her hair pins over to Aladdin. It landed on the floor just in front of his cell.

Aladdin picked it up. "All right. Let's do this."