The fire was beautifully warm. Jack was grateful for it, but Dan didn't seem to notice. She had retreated to wherever it was that crazed children went, and she didn't seem to be coming back.

She was wrapped in a blanket. Lying on the wet ground. Her face was purely white, except her cheeks which were an alarming red. Both eyes were semi closed, the blue more than the green and her hands were gripping the rough material so tightly it seemed they would rip it.

"Jack?" her croaky voice nearly threw him out of his skin.

"Aye?" he asked, calming his heart.

"Got anything to eat?" she asked. And Jack burst out laughing. She smiled up at him and went to sit up, or he thought she tried because she didn't move far at all.

"Gods girl, you had me worried there" he said smiling.

Dan looked up at him slightly surprised, then she looked incredibly weary. Jack regarded her, then a thought struck him. She was still hurt, from the beating and fight. The rain had washed her wounds, so that no blood showed and Jack had been so worried about her mental state that he hadn't given any thought to her physical wounds.

"Now ye're awake, I'll be fixing up that back of yers and also the scrapes ye got when ye decided to get rid of tha' bastard".

Dan looked up at him sadly. "I hate him, I still do" she said softly.

Jack was about to say, 'perfectly understandable' when he stopped. This was her way of talking to him, giving these statements and wanting to be asked about them more. "Why?" he asked curiously.

For a second she seemed scared that he had asked then she answered even more softly than before. "Because he got to me, made me weak again. He beat me down and I almost gave in. How could I let that happen again" she trailed off looking at the stars rather than Jack. The night was startlingly clear now that the rain had stopped. Jack watched her, then shifted his gaze to the fire. He figured that something similar had happened in her past, something that changed her into what she was now. What had the situation been? Why had she looked so despaired and hopeless when he had seen her in that tent?

How could one so young really have anything to dwell on so deeply.

He looked over to Dan, she was still looking up, thoughtful in the darkness, her brow slightly wrinkled, in pain or thought Jack didn't know.

"Gotta see to your wounds luv" he chirped gently and Dan nodded slightly to show she had heard. Jack scooted closer to her. Her left eye was blackened. Her arm re-broken, knees scraped, scratches and claw marks all up her arms and bruises on her throat. Not to mention the sliced wrists and huge shallow cuts around her mouth.

Jack saw her looking at him and grinned widely.

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Jus' glad it ain't me luv" he smiled at her. Her frown increased but he knew she was playing with him. It seemed her way when she was injured.

The wounds were fixed up rather well. Her arm was once again in a sling, something which had highly amused her. The general had been generous in the bandages. She'd been fed and fixed and was lying now next to the fire. The men seemed to have gotten over most of their hatred for her, except for the translator who glared daggers from the other side of the fire. She was too hurt to hold anything against; they slept now around the fire. About four circled the camp on watch.
Dan was staring into the fire unblinkingly, lost in a dream.

"What' cha seein'?" he asked, noticing the dazed look in her eyes.

"I'm running over a big green plain. The grass is warm, the sun is out and the sky is bluer than the shallows of the ocean" she whispered reverently. "My horses are running beside me and we're all truly free" she sighed longingly. Looking up at the darkened sky she suddenly turned her head to her pirate companion. "Jack" she called softly to his silhouette.

"Ya?" he acknowledged her call in a bored tone.

"If I get waylaid or something happens to me, and you get your ship back. Will you take the horses to the large land mass in the north? An uninhabited part, and let 'em loose?"

"Nathin's gonna happen to ya" he said sternly.

"Promise!" she pushed.

"Okay. I promise" he answered looking down at her. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling.

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The next day the men started out again. This time they were going back to camp. The new general had consulted some of his men and it seemed they were preparing for an assault on the outlaws.

Dan and Jack were put back in the camp, and guarded. But they were not bothered, and not tied up. For the better half of the day they sat and talked. Jack told every story under the sun and Dan listened. It was after noon that she grew restless. No story could quell her and Jack soon realized that it was futile to try and calm her. 'May as well be shooshin' the ocean when she's in a storm' he thought wryly and let her go.

She got out of the guarded tent easily, and disappeared somewhere in the camp. Jack sat on a chair, his feet higher than his head resting on the opposite chair and his hat tilted down. He figured he'd hear about it sooner rather than later.

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Meanwhile Dan had wandered to the generals' tent. The replacement was staring down at a map, a group of three men around him listening to what he said. She walked into the tent unheeded. In fact she was standing at the table before they noticed her.

He was saying something and moving some red counters into the enemy camp. She watched his movements then spoke up.

"No, you want your troops coming from the northwest, they will have more cover there near the quarry. Besides there is a slight valley which will hide you from the hill here, which they use as a lookout" she said emphasizing her point by moving the red dots into her desired positions and indicating the valley and the hill the outlaws used.

The men watched her move them dumbfounded, and when they stopped two of the three looked up angrily and seized her arm, which she was in the process of withdrawing. They yelled something in Spanish at her face, and another said something murderous, she could tell by his tone.

While his men bickered and scowled the general mused over Dans suggestion. She was in the process of being pulled away by the guards when he looked up from his plan smiling. He said something sharply, then something else and his men looked at him in shock. He motioned Dan closer. She hesitated then inched forwards in a paranoid way.

He placed her in control of the counters without speaking and she maneuvered them into an attack arrangement, putting a small number along the left flank, to come out from the valley to the edge of the forest. The cavalry she kept on the valley lip, and sent a straggled line forwards. Then she used the blue markers present to imitate the enemies' response to the attack. Her attack was far better, almost fool proof.

The general snapped something to the men and they gathered around. Dan moved out and wandered back to the tent with Jack, feeling slightly perturbed by the turn of events. Had she just tipped the scale that she wanted to keep balanced? Her head hurt, this would be a tough week.

Jack greeted her slightly surprised. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a while. The shadows were lengthening before they had a guest. It was the general; he stooped as he entered the tent, and then straightened smiling at them both. His gaze came to rest upon Dan.

"Your plan was, how do I say, perfect" he complimented brightly. Dan gave a sour look, then protested his judgment.

"Nothing is perfect" she said stiffly and he grinned back at her. Jack slid a sidelong glance in her direction. What was this? Helping the enemy?

"After this fight you can go free, both of you" he said sincerely. "I can't let you go yet, seeing as you may warn the opposition..." he had a twinkle in his eyes as he said that and Dan studied the floor. "But afterwards you both may leave. This will finish them" he was confident and Dan shook her head ruefully.

"A desperate man fights harder than one behind an army, I wouldn't judge them so lightly" she reminded him doubtfully. He smiled and left.

Jack looked at her. "Warn tha enemy?" he asked mildly. She flashed him a small smile.

"I have to keep the balance don't I?" she said sheepishly. "They were going to be pummeled".

"So why help now?" he asked.

"I don't know" she said shrugging. Jack rolled his eyes.

"You're a strange one" he muttered and she smiled smugly.

"Proud of it" she retorted before settling down to her blankets.

There were four or five minutes silence and they both dozed off into sleep. The sound of night bugs and muffled shuffling of guards the only noise.