Chapter Thirty-eight

Jack walked slowly along the deck, looking out to sea and feeling the night breezes caress his face. Heedless to how much time had passed between his supposed trip to the bathroom and his not returning to the cabin, his mind did not dwell on what Will might do when he didn't return. He could hear the music coming from the Witch yet it did not cheer his heart. What was he to do? He had a half crazy Werewolf in love, an insane girl hell-bent on hurting herself, and a man who he loved more than anything else in life yet who he was failing miserably! He knew he probably should go and hunt Lex up. That man would be sure to hold the answers to some of the questions tormenting Jack's mind.

He had been just about to go in search of Lex when something fell out of the night sky, barely missing hitting him on the head, and then took off again. It was a bird startled from its resting place. He peered anxiously upward at the rigging, wondering who could be up there. "Ahoy! Who's there?" he called.

He swung over to the Witch and almost fell over Faith's clothes where she'd left them in a puddle. They were surrounded by glittering, smashed glass. He figured the "who" was Faith, but why he had no clue. "Faith, what are you doing up there?" he called anxiously.

"Why the Hell should you care?" the answer came from far above his head.

"You know I do. Why I haven't a clue," Jack admitted, speaking almost to himself. "Why are you up there naked, and what is this smashed all around? A person could get cut terribly."

"Tell me about it," Faith muttered, "and as for why I'm up here, I'm up here because I want to be."

"But naked? You usually don't run naked everywhere!"

"I do what the fuck I want to!" she retorted, climbing still higher.

"What did you smash down here?"

"A bottle."

"Rum?" he asked hopefully. "Do you have rum up there?"

"Hell no! I wouldn't bother with that weak stuff! Try some tequila. It might do ya good. Actually, screw that. You don't deserve any!"

"Now, Faith, I couldn't exactly put the boy off to be killed. I have every intention of having him get off in Tortuga. Would you have had him killed, and really, when did I have the time to get totally rid of him? Things have been happening much too fast."

"Don't worry," she called, which only made Jack's brow crease in worry. "I'll make it easy on ya! We hit Tortuga, I'm outta here!"

"Faith, why do you want to leave us in Tortuga? Have we not been getting along really well together despite our differences?"

"Can't trust a Captain who doesn't make sure his damn orders are followed," she called back to him. "We had a deal, Jack! You told me you'd get rid of the kid; I told you I'd help you with the Governor. I did my part, but you failed me."

"I HAVEN'T HAD TIME!" he yelled back at her. "I'M NOT GOD! I CAN'T BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME! BUT DID YOU? NO! ACTUALLY, I BET YOU WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN TOLD ME IF YOU'D KNOWN!"

"Faith, if I had found the boy, I still would have put him off in Tortuga, not Port Royal. I am not in the habit of killing innocents!"

"You could've shipped him off on another ship!"

"Tell me when I had the chance! He would have only been on the Pearl! I didn't have time to get him on anybody else's ship! That bloody bastard was after us!"

"I don't care if you had it or not! It doesn't change the fact! When we hit land, I'm gone!"

"I APOLOGIZE FOR SCREWING UP!" Jack yelled back up at her. "I CAN'T BE ALL THINGS TO EVERYBODY! I'M ONLY A MAN!"

"Correction," Faith called. "You're only a bastard!"

"And that too!" Jack answered her. "All I can do is try, and a lot of the time I screw up! Don't you have anything left to drink down here?"

"tequila," Faith answered him with a burp.

"Damn! I want some rum! I need some rum! I deserve some rum!"

"You wanna know what you deserve?"

"Probably not, Faith, but I'm sure I'm gonna hear it any way!" He began to search around on the deck for a bottle of tequila, being careful not to get in the glass.

"A good, swift kick in the ass!"

"Come down here, and give me one! It can't hurt any worse than what I'm feeling now!" His searching hand had finally found the bottle of tequila, and he popped the top off of it, brought it swiftly to his lips, and took a swig. "Damn! How do you drink this stuff! It's strong enough to take the bark off a tree!"

"Yup!" Faith called back. "That's exactly why I drink it, and I'll give you the kick when I come down which'll be when I'm damn good and ready!"

"You do that," Jack told her, lifting the tequila bottle in a salute toward her. Then he took another swig.

"I will," Faith promised him, "but what the fuck's your problem? Not that I care," she quickly added.

"I'm lost! I'm doomed! I don't have the foggiest clue!" His voice trailed off as he took another swig.

Her eyes rolled heavenward. "Tell me something new?"

"I've tried to do everything I can to help those I care about," his voice came floating up to Faith. "I failed Brendan, you, and Prue," he hiccupped, "but, most importantly, Will!"

"You didn't fail me," Faith told him. "I never asked you to try whatever you think you failed! In fact, I would've kicked your ass for doing it!"

"Couldn't even get rid of that kid for you. Not much of a man." He sat on the deck and drained the bottle.

"You can say that again!"

"You got another one of these?" Jack asked.

"Sure," she called. "There's a shittload down there. Help yourself."

Jack's groping hand located another bottle. "I just don't know what to do any more," his voice was thickened with the drink. "I can hold him. I can kiss him. But I don't know what the Hell to do after that!"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Faith called in disbelief. "You don't know how to fuck him?"

"Right! I mean, with a woman, you're different, but a man's the same. Where does it go?" He took another swig, laying back against the wall of the ship.

"Well, I don't know how two men do it," Faith admitted. "You'd have to ask that damn Luthor about that. But there's always a blowjob."


Unbeknownst to Jack and Faith, Dawson had been laying in the shadows and listening. When he heard "blowjob", his mouth fell open. What the Hell was that! He hadn't had one of those yet, or at least, he thought he hadn't. Would it be fun, or would Faith bite him? That could be fun, too! he thought.


Lex had been walking around searching for Faith and had only now heard shouts and come upon the scene. He couldn't help but to stare at Jack who was sprawled against the wall, drunker than Lex had ever seen him. "Captain?" he asked worriedly even as he drew closer to Jack. "Can I do something to help you?"

Jack looked up with a silly grin on his face. "Well, I'll be damned! Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear! Hello, Lex!"

Lex, not sure how to respond, said, "Hello, Captain. Can I help you to your cabin?"

"HELL NO! I'M NOT GOING IN THERE! YOU'RE GOING TO HELP ME DO SOMETHING ELSE!"

"YEAH," Faith called, "YOU'RE GONNA HELP HIM FUCK WILL!"

Lex's head jerked upward at the garbled sound of Faith's voice that he could barely make out, and he kept looking higher and higher until he located Faith by the moonlight shining on her naked rear. "FAITH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE!" Lex called worriedly up to her. "DON'T YOU THINK IT'S TIME TO COME DOWN AND PUT YOUR CLOTHES ON?"

"DOWN, YEAH, MAYBE. I DID REACH THE TOP, AND I'M NOT GOING TO GET ANY FURTHER WITH YOU DORKS SCREWING AROUND DOWN THERE. BUT FUCK THE CLOTHES."


Wolverine had been walking around, checking out the ship and making sure that they were safe for the night, when he had heard voices and found three people he would never have expected to see gathered together in the dark. He had been just in time to hear Faith tell Lex he was going to fuck Jack. It had come out in garble, and that was the only thing he could make out of what she was saying. This would never do! He looked at Jack, who was sprawled against the floor and wall. "What the Hell hit you?"

Jack grinned up at him. "tequila. Want some?" He waved the bottle at him.

"Don't mind if I do," Wolverine replied. "All of you are out here getting drunk; I might as well help myself. Where's another bottle?" He looked at the almost empty bottle Jack was holding out to him. "How many of those have you had, Jack?"

"Two, I think. I'm not sure!"

"TWO?" Faith repeated. "THEN YOU'RE WELL ON YOUR WAY, CAPT'N," she called tauntingly. "ONE tequila, TWO tequila, THREE tequila, FLOOR, YOU KNOW? I'M ON MY THIRD, AND I'M COMING DOWN!" With that said, she simply released the rigging and let herself drop. "WATCH OUT BELOW!"

Dawson could not believe it when Faith simply let go and fell out of the rigging. She landed right on top of Wolverine, knocking him to the floor. Dawson still did not reveal himself although he wanted to crawl out of there and pull her off of him.

Lex had not had a single chance to do anything as everything had happened too fast, not even respond to Faith accusing him of doing it with Jack. He was about to speak when another voice was heard calling, "JACK? JACK, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Don't tell him," Jack whispered. "I don't want him drunk, and I don't want him to see me drunk!"

"WE'RE OVER HERE!" Wolverine hollered, laying on his back on the floor and pushing at Faith in hopes that she was going to get off of him.

Faith lay where she landed but called quickly back to Will, "DON'T BRING YOUR DAMN ASS OVER HERE! I'M NAKED!"

"BUT WOLVERINE SAID 'WE'," Will called back in confusion.

"YEAH, ME NAKED AND HIM DRUNK! YOU REALLY WANNA KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING?"

Lex stood quietly in the dark, shaking his head. He could not believe the fiasco before him!

"NO, NO!" Will quickly returned. "HAVE YOU SEEN JACK?"

"AIN'T SEEN HIM," Faith told him, "AND HE BETTER BE DAMN GLAD I HVAEN'T 'CAUSE I'D RUN HIM THROUGH! FUCKING BASTARD BETRAYED ME!"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM THAT WAY!"

"YOU WANNA COME TRY AND STOP ME?"

"Faith," Jack whispered to her, "you'd best not hurt Will!"

In the darkness, Faith winked down at Jack from her perch on Wolverine. "Not my plan, birdie." Aloud, she called back to Will, "ALL RIGHT! BRING IT ON! I'LL JUST HAVE TO KICK YOUR BUTT NAKED!"

There was a pause before Will finally asked, "YOU WON'T PUT YOUR CLOTHES ON?"

"IF YOU'RE MAN ENOUGH TO FIGHT ME, YOU'RE MAN ENOUGH TO FIGHT A NAKED BITCH!"

"I WON'T FACE YOU NAKED, FAITH."

"THEN KEEP MOVING, MOUSE BOY!" There was a long pause that was finally interrupted by Will's footsteps as he walked away.

Jack looked balefully up at Lex. "Well, Luthor, teach me."

"Not when you're drunk, Jack! I will not! You will not touch Will when you're drunk! It's not right for the first time you two do it, it should be perfect. There should be no liquor in you." He stared disdainfully down at Jack. "You might be a friend and my Captain, but right now, I'm ashamed of you."

"Come on; we're going to get some coffee into you." He reached down, picked Jack up as though he didn't weigh anything, and carried him straight to the Witch's galley. It was empty. Setting Jack down at one of the tables, he went about making coffee. "Now, my friend, you're going to sober up and tell me what your problems are. I don't know if I can help them go away, but I can help you to face them."

Jack looked disdainfully down at the coffee. "Do I have to drink that?"

"Yes," Lex told him firmly, "to the last drop."


Lex and Jack had left Faith alone with Wolverine, or so she thought. She reached down and poked at Wolverine's chest. "You know, for a short guy, you're kind of comfy."

"Get off of me, bit! What do you think 'Ro would think if she caught you sitting on me! As much as I like ya, Faith, I don't wanna lose my woman over ya!"

"Please," Faith returned. "Like I'd ever screw you! You're not my type!"

"What is your type?"

"Figured you knew. I'm Faith: Virgin Slayer," she proudly made her introduction.

"So that's why you never give second rides? What happens if the first ride ain't a virgin?"

"I can tell a virgin a mile away."

"And what would cause you to give a second ride?"

"I don't," she told him, looking away into the very shadows Dawson was hiding though never realizing he was there. "It's against my rules." She hiccupped. Finally getting off of Wolverine, she finished her bottle, tossed it away, and set to searching for a fourth. "One more, and I'm out."

"What if they owed you a debt they couldn't pay? How would you take it out of their hide?"

She set back on the heels of her boots and turned her bloody face to face Wolverine. "Depends. What are you talking about?"

"Well, I think there's a certain man aboard that you sent a bag of clothes to. He can't pay you for 'em. Don't you expect payment of some kind?"

Faith shrugged. "Wan't thinking about that when I grabbed them." She cocked her head to one side, a thoughtful look suddenly falling over her face. "But that might help."

"What might help?"

She eyed Wolverine warily. "You ever catch a virus that you just couldn't shake?"

"Yeah, it's called 'Ro. I don't wanna shake it."

"Well, I want to shake mine."

"Then do something about it."

"I've been trying." She gestured to her face. "Why the Hell do you think I look like this? But a second ride might get him out of my system."

"Think about it, Faith; see ya tomorrow." Wolverine walked off into the darkness, knowing that if Faith thought about it, it was only one step away from her acting on it. Now he had to go check on Jack, the idiot. Why had he gotten drunk? Removing the rum had not done any good, but he was thankful to whoever had done it. Now if he could just find the rest of that damn tequila and get rid of it.

Faith watched Wolverine go, then stretched out on the deck. Her mind pondered his suggestion even as her hand groped around in the darkness for the fourth bottle she needed, yet while she was still contemplating rather a second ride would get Dawson out of her system or make matters even worse, her mind turned back to the memories that were insistent upon haunting her that night. It was at just that time that her hand closed on the fourth bottle, but she realized suddenly that it would do her no good. "Not even the damn tequila works," she muttered, picking the bottle up and throwing it against the wall.

Dawson cringed at the sound the bottle made as it crashed against the wall. What was the matter with Faith now? Had the bottle been empty? He watched to see what Faith would do next.

She rolled over onto her back and gazed up through vision clouded by both tears that she fought against and her drunken state. "You're having a fucking good laugh, aren't you, bitch?" She reached out and let her good hand run over the glass that was scattered across the deck. "I'll see you in Hell one of these days."

Dawson wanted to run out and pull her out of the glass. Instead, he crept out, hoping to get closer to her and find a way to get her out of the glass. She lay in it. It seemed to be everywhere, and he knew she was getting cut from its sharp edges. "Faith?" he called to her.

She had heard a sound and had been about to warn Carl that she would gut him like a fish when Dawson called to her instead. She bristled at the sound of his voice. Dare she face him now? "Kid," she returned nonchalantly.

"Whatcha doing? You wanting to cut the rest of your body, rolling around in that glass?"

She shrugged, part of her shoulder moving right into a shard. "Don't care," she replied, "and don't try to tell me you do."

He had been about to do just that but decided to try a different tactic. "Nnno, it's up to you what you do. Just wanted you to know you were laying in glass in case you didn't know."

"I'm not an idiot," she told him. "I know about the glass; hell, I'm the one who put it there."

"I figured that much, but I thought you might like to get up and come over here. I've got another bottle." He had almost kicked the bottle, not realizing what it was. He now reached down and held it up. "It's full."

She glanced over at him through watery eyes. "Even that's fucking me over tonight. It won't do me any good. Hell, the fourth one'd probably bring it even closer to mind instead of taking me to the floor -- "

"You're already in the floor," he reminded her.

She glanced around. "Guess I am." She shrugged again, pain slicing through her left shoulder. "But I'm not out."

"No, but this one'll do the job," he told her. "Come over here, and I'll give it to you." If he could just get her out of the glass and get the glass out of her, maybe things could get better, he hoped. He wagged the bottle at her.

She watched him for a moment. "Hell, it can't hurt anything. I'm leaving when we hit land any fucking way." Had she said that aloud? She didn't know and told herself she didn't care even as she rolled to a standing position and began to stumble toward him.

"Why do you want to leave?"

"It's been coming for a while," she told him. "Best thing for all involved." She reached him, held a hand out for the bottle, but missed. Her hand found a resting place on his chest instead.

He stood still, waiting for her to make another move. "If you want the bottle, Faith, sit down here," he indicated a low bench that ran against the wall, "and I'll give it to you." He held it out enticingly toward her.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. Was he trying to tell her what to do? Yet that was not the comment that escaped her mouth. "You know you owe me?"

"I do?" Dawson asked innocently. "I don't have any money. I guess you'll have to take it out in trade." He handed her the bottle.

She pressed the bottle back toward him. "Yeah," she replied, her bleary eyes peering at him, "ya do. What? Did you think Birdboy stole all those clothes and everything?"

"No, he told me they were from you. I figured you'd be around to collect the debt sooner or later."

She managed to keep from telling him that she had never intended to place him in her debt. "You figured right for once," she fingered his shirt, "and I'm here to do just that, kid."

"Well, I'm willing. What do you want me to do?" he queried.

She looked at him through narrowed eyes as if truly taking the question into consideration. "You don't have much," she told him, "but there is one thing I might be interested in." Without warning, her hand moved lower until her fingers brushed against his sword through his pants.

He closed his eyes and sighed. How he had longed for her to touch him! He stood very still, waiting for her next move. "Not here," he finally spoke. "Too much glass and I don't want to get cut, but anywhere else."

"Good boy," Faith whispered against his lips as she leaned in closer. She stopped suddenly and frowned as she looked down at him. "I'm doing it again," she observed, more to herself than him.

"Doing what again?" he questioned.

"Getting blood all over you," she answered with a shake of her head.

"If you'll let me take care of your wounds, then you won't be getting blood all over us."

"Why would I want you to take care of them? I did it on purpose."

"You cut yourself on purpose? Why?" Dawson could not believe that she had done it on purpose and thought it was the drink making her talk that way.

The drink was indeed having a strong effect on Faith, but it was making her reveal more truth to him than she ever would have knowingly. She nodded and teetered on her feet. "Helps to forget."

"There are other ways to forget, Faith," he reminded her gently. "What do you want to forget so badly?"

"Everything." She hiccupped. "You, Salem, them . . . Everything."

"Let me take care of your wounds, and we'll see if we can find another way that you can forget."

She held up a finger as she swayed. Looking at it cross-eyed, she wondered if it was truly three or the one she'd meant to hold up. "One ride, kid. That's it. Just one more."

"Okay," he agreed, "but not here. Name the place." He had to get her out of the glass before she cut herself more badly. "Where?"

She shrugged and simultaneously hiccupped again. "Don't matter."

Dawson remembered the place he had just come from. It was quiet, sheltered, and plenty of room for two. "Come this way, Faith. You'll like it there." He reached out for her hand and, once getting it, looked at it. It was covered in blood. "Faith, I really need to take care of your hand and your other wounds before we have this encounter. Will you let me take care of them?"

She eyed him. "The last time I was stupid enough to say 'yes' to that, kid, I got fucked over again."

"I didn't do it. You can trust me to help you."

"I can't trust any one, and you got a kick out of it."

"When?" Dawson queried in confusion.

"When that do-goody bitch, Katrina, tricked me and healed me."

"She cares about you, Faith. She just wants you to be well."

Faith barked a hoarse laugh. "You really are innocent."

"Maybe, but I still believe in people. Katrina really does care about you."

"No, she doesn't, and any one who would is an idiot."

"Then I guess we're all idiots," Dawson replied honestly, "because we really do care about you."

She glared at him. "I don't need any more lies."

"No lies, Faith. Just truth. We really care about you, but of course, you don't believe that. Who would ever care about Faith? you ask yourself while trying to push every one away, but you know what? We still care about you."

She had stopped walking now and started to pull away from him. "And you can damn well keep that bunch of shit."

"Okay, but I won't change my mind. Come in here; you'll like it in here," he told her as they had already reached the spot.

She eyed him warily. "I don't wanna hear any more of that crap, kid."

Dawson looked at her but didn't say anything. In the condition she was in, there would be no way to reason with her. Once inside the sheltered area, he turned to look at her. "Okay, Faith; here I am, waiting for you."

She continued to eye him, wondering if she was doing the smart thing. Shaking her head and shoving the doubts away as best she could, Faith entered after him. Turning to him, she cupped a hand around his cheek and pressed her lips to his . . . yet she found that she had to stop nearly as soon as she had began. She wiped at the blood that was on his cheek. "I can't let my blood get on you."

"Then let me take care of you," he requested reasonably. "It won't take long. I'm not going anywhere."

"To keep it off of you, not because you think you care about me?"

"Yes, to keep it off of me. I don't want to get dirty." He twisted his face into a disgusted expression.

"About time the truth came out," she replied with a nod. "All right."

"Stay here; I'll get some bandages."

"Watch out for Wolfboy," she warned teasingly. "He might be hungry."

Dawson laughed. Brendan had been nothing but kind to him, and he knew Brendan would never hurt him. He raced to the sleeping quarters and walked inside where he saw a brown bottle and some bandages sitting on a shelf. He took them back to where he had left Faith. "This is gonna hurt, Faith. Brace yourself." He reached up, forced himself to pull the shard of glass out of her shoulder, and then began to pour the brown liquid into her wounds.

"Kid," Faith growled to him through gritted teeth, "this ain't nothing. This kind of pain, I like. It's the other that needs blocking."

He was very serious in doctoring her and didn't reply. He wasn't really sure what she was talking about. Pain was pain; it didn't matter if it was in the body or heart. Dawson knew it could do you in. When he had finished, he sat back on his heels. "Faith, I'm through. What's next?"

Instead of responding to him, Faith was staring at the wall with a mixture of anguish and sadness etched across her face. Her eyes were open but did not observe anything.

"Faith?" Dawson reached out, shook her arm, and was rewarded with a snore. "Damn! It figures!" he muttered even as he pulled her around to lay down. "I'll be back soon," he told her. He went back to the sleeping quarters where he left the medicine and threw away the gauze that he had cleaned her with. Then he went, fetched her clothes, and cleaned up the glass. He shook the clothes extra hard to make sure all the glass came out and then lay them beside her where she continued to sleep. She was murmuring in her sleep, but all he could make out was the occasional curse. He lay down beside her and pulled her close. It seemed that the only time he could hold her was when she was asleep; he was thankful for even that time.


Clark looked at the sleeping children and wondered what was taking Lex so long to return. He missed him terribly. He got up and walked outside the sleeping quarters just in time to hear Will calling for Jack. "I haven't seen Jack in a while," Clark told him. "Have you seen Lex?"

Will paused in his search long enough to glance at Clark and shake his head. His brow was creased with worry as he admitted, "In fact, the only ones I've even heard from were a drunk Wolverine and a naked Faith, and I've been out here a while."

"I can't just walk off and leave the children. Why don't you come and visit for a while? We can talk, get to know each other better. Maybe Lex will show up by then."

Will scanned the dark night as he considered Clark's offer. Finally, with a shrug, he accepted, "Well, it doesn't look like Jack even wants to show up."

"Jack's probably scared of you, Will," Clark said. "This is extremely new for both of you. He'll show up in a bit. I'm surprised Lex wasn't with Faith. He usually tries to help her when she's having one of her spells. You say she's naked?"

Will nodded. "It was the strangest thing," he admitted. "I was calling for Jack when Wolverine answered." He paused, thinking that he heard footsteps, but when he looked up, he didn't see any one and returned his attention to Clark. "He told me that Jack was with him, but when I started to go over there, I was warned off by Faith telling me that he was drunk, she was naked, and that if I didn't want to see what they were doing, I'd best not go any nearer." He looked up at Clark in puzzlement and was about to say something more when thunder suddenly split the night sky. His attention was drawn to it instead, and he missed the woman flying off.

"Looks like a storm's coming," Clark said, looking worriedly at the sky. "I wouldn't have gone any nearer to a naked Faith either. I don't like to see women naked. They're so gross! I guess it's all in what you're used to. I've never wanted any one but Lex."

Will nodded even as he slipped into the door that Clark was still holding open for him. "I can relate," he whispered. "I always thought I wanted Elizabeth, but when I met Jack, I realized just how foolish I'd been being."

"Lex had some one before me, so he had experience. I was glad of that as I didn't have a clue where to start. You're Jack's first, and I know he's totally lost. I hope he talks to Lex. Lex knows everything and is an expert at most things."

Will had to smile at the way Clark's face shone as he talked about his beloved, yet still he could not help worrying. "How do you do it? With a man, I mean. I don't know about a woman, but I'm not interested in any woman. The only person I want is Jack."

"Well, there are several ways to do it. Sit on the bed. We don't want to be very loud; we might wake the children up." He leaned over and glanced at both of the sleeping children. "Lex always leads, and I always follow, but there's the oral method, frontal method, and the rear. They're all exciting. You might have to lead with Jack. You might have to take it away from him." He paused to see Will's reaction.

Will stared at Clark in astonishment. "I couldn't do that! I will not betray him like that!"

"Betray him? What do you mean by that? You have to grow up, Will. Making love to the one you love is not betrayal. He's lost and doesn't know where to move next. If you have an ideal, move on him. Teach it to him. Lex and I try out different things and ways. If we both like it, we stay with it; if we don't, we throw it out. Which one do you want to learn first?" His blue eyes sought out his friend's.

Will was still staring at Clark in disbelief of what he was hearing. "To lead wouldn't be betraying him," he tried to explain, "but to take it from him without -- when he's not ready would be. I couldn't do that to him."

"He's ready," Clark said with a knowing nod. "He's willing, and he's able. He just doesn't know how to do it."

"You think that's why he's hiding from me?" Will asked. "Seeing a seadog about a wooden leg couldn't take this long!"

"Haven't heard that one before," Clark had to admit with a chuckle, "but he probably ran into some difficulty. I don't believe Jack would hide. When we finish talking, we'll go look for him again. Lex should be here by then. So we will start with the . . . frontal, mayhap?"

Will stole a glance at the children to make certain that they were still fast asleep, then turned his full attention to Clark and the promising conversation to come. He leaned so close to the younger man that his head nearly bumped Clark's.

Clark lowered his voice as he began to whisper so that only Will could hear. "It all begins with a kiss . . . "

To Be Continued . . .