Hey, it's been a while since I've posted, hasn't it… (hand behind head, sheepish grin) and this chap is kinda just a short one as well… you still love me, right? Working on my Dannyfics too… mmm… Jack Daniels (drools, pants, slobbers, wipes up drool puddle) GAWD I'm gonna miss my Dannyboy when he's gone!!! Everyone who watches Stargate, PLEASE write in to MGM and tell them to bring him back!

Um, yeah, and visit my homepage! It's really good… yeah… If you like really CRAP pages… but most importantly, I want you to sign up on Neopets, so I get free stuff :)

Anyone who's already on Neopets, join our guild! The_Slashers_Guild. It doesn't seem much now, but if we had more members, I promise it'd be a fun place to hang… have I come off as pathetic yet? :)

Neways, read…

I'm only out for a few seconds. I come to and realise that Tai's still shouting, and I'm hanging upside down from a badly broken leg.

Briefly, I give in to my impulses and let a scream rip out of my throat.

There's only one time I've ever felt more pain. And I really don't want to think about that right now.

The rigging is shaking now, as Tai climbs up after me, and one or two others follow.

I try to straighten myself up. The pain of moving makes me black out.

Lying on cool wood, I wake up just as someone is setting my leg.

It doesn't last long.

A hand is smoothing the hair back from my brow. I mumble a wordless question.

"Matt… it's me, Matt. It's me. You'll be alright." Tai lays a kiss right where his hand was.

I look at him. There's a sharp, fiery ache in my leg. It's seriously damaged. "My leg?"

He blanches. "It- it broke badly. Both bones came through the skin. But Joe knows a bit about medicine, he- he set it and everything. It'll heal."

His voice is low because we both understand how serious this could be. Even if- by some miracle of chance- the wound doesn't putrefy, I will probably never recover full use of my leg.

"Oh, Matt."

"It'll scar, won't it?"

Tai hangs his head. "Yeah." He smiles through a sheen of tears. "You'll still have that one when you're- you-re an old man, never having to fuck anyone." His hand cups my cheek.

All of a sudden, I'm crying too. Tears are streaming down my face, and I'm sobbing.

He wraps his arms around me, rocking me gently. "You'll be fine, love. You're gonna be fine," he reassures hoarsely.

I bury my face into the crook of his shoulder. "I'm scared," I admit.

"Oh, Matt. Oh, Matt."

He rocks me until, some minutes later, my tears run out. Holds me a few minutes more. Then sets me back a fraction, and softly kisses me. "It's alright, love."

Almost against my will, I snap at him. "It's not alright! I might die! Die! I'll be dead, Tai! And stop calling me 'love', you don't love me, you just like a good fuck!"

For a long moment, he's silent.

"I'm sorry." I try to pull back but he won't let me.

"You're not going to die. I won't allow it."

" I feel better already," I snort.

"Good," smiles the shaggy-haired Captain.

Despite myself, I smile in return. "If it's alright, Tai, I'd like to speak to my brother."

"Sure thing." One last kiss, and he's out the door.

It would have been a good time, while there's no-one else in Tai's cabin, to review my feelings over the last twenty minutes. But I'm not brave enough. Instead, I opt to examine my leg.

Gingerly, I lift the blankets. Heavy cloth is draped over my wounded leg, and it's splinted. I let the blankets fall back with a quiet sigh of relief.

"Hey, Matt." TK sounds a lot quieter than usual. I guess this is hitting him pretty hard too. "How's your leg, big brother?"

I smile at him. "It hurts, little mon, but it's gonna be just fine. Don't you worry about a thing."

He looks down. "Matt, for real, tell me how it is."

My little brother is getting so big… "For real, TK, it might get worse before it gets better. But I'm not going anywhere yet."

Eyes shining, he glomps me. "I love you," he whispers.

"I love you too." I hug him back just as fiercely.

"I don't like it when you get hurt. It's scary."

I smile. "How do you think I felt all those times when you got sick? That scared me so much that sometimes I couldn't breath."

"I'm sorry," he sobs.

"It's okay," I murmur. "We always get through this. We'll be fine."

"Yeah." He sits back up.

"So, what have I missed?"

"Not much. The Captain yelled a lot at everyone. I think he's really worried, even worse than me. And he sent off two boats with the- the sailors that were left from Kari's ship. They're sposed to tell her family about the ransom."

Leaning forward with a grin, I ask, "And how are you and Kari getting along?"

Who would have guessed that that would make him blush? Oh, not me. It's a shock. Really.

"Good then," I grin.

"Yeah," he blushes. "Good."

I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on peeing into a bucket.

Tai takes care of me like a baby for the next three days. I can't stand it. I hate being dependant on anyone. But when I tell him this- constantly- he just challenges me to stand up.

Bastard.

And then-

On the fourth day, I wake up feeling hot and muzzy. My leg is throbbing, in worse pain than before. This could be bad.

I let Joe examine it, and his wince tells me everything I need to know. The wound has festered.

Silence.

I'm going to die.

Another cliffhanger… this is me milking for reviews, here :) c'mon, you know I promised you a happy ending…

eventually…