Chapter Twenty-nine

Jack was on his feet and by Crystal's side the minute she stopped talking. Pandemonium rang throughout the house. He couldn't tell what they were saying; it seemed like every one was talking at the same time. Finally, he banged his mug on the table again.

"Each person should be able to make up their own mind. We're going to vote," he announced. "The way we're going to do it is if you want Crys to stay, you will stand up. If you don't want Crys to stay, remain seated. As for me, I want Crys to stay." He reached out and hugged Crys reassuringly.

Lorne and Angel had been standing beside her before he had gotten there but had parted way to let him in. He noticed that Cordelia also was standing.

Celina stood. "It's an awful thing when the ones you love most do not believe in you, Crystal," she told her, "but we saw him and we believe you. What he has done is not your fault, and I will stand by you."

"As will I," Morph spoke simply, standing beside his wife.

Katrina stood and looked at Crys. "I believe in you, Crys. We too have been persecuted and found safe haven with Jack. You are one of us now." She smiled at her. She felt Tom stand at her side. He didn't say anything but placed his hand on her shoulder.

Beside the catpeople who had grown to beings that Vang could already tell made him very proud, the tiger stood. Sebastian scuttled upward onto Vang's back and, when he received a few curious looks, shrugged his crab shoulders. "Best I can do, mon."

Zora couldn't help the admiration that touched her heart. That group were her family through her mother, but she had been furious for them for Vang's and Sebastian's lies. It was not the others' fault, she realized, and they must really be brave people to stand in the face of such an enemy. People like them were rare; indeed, she'd only known four her entire life. She was still looking at them as she stood.

Jack's eyes continued watching the group as one by one, his crew who he trusted got to their feet. They didn't say anything, but they looked at Crystal, welcoming her.

All of a sudden, a loud mouth shouted out, "DOWN WITH THE GIRL! GET HER OUT OF HERE BEFORE THE REST OF US ARE DEAD!"

All eyes turned to stare even as James reached out and snatched Frederic out of his chair, his hook gripping the boy by his shirt. "Boi, I told you to keep your big mouth shut! To your room, I am confining you! I'm sorry," he said simply as he dragged Frederic back to the room. He threw him in there and then locked the door. He came back to stand at his place beside Smee.

It took Will a little longer to recover from his shock than several of the others did. When he finally managed to get past all the shocking revelations of living things he'd just heard, he, too, stood. He walked a few paces over to join Jack, Crystal, and the others immediately around her.

Piper had felt Cole rise from his seat but had not felt his hand attempt to take hers as he was letting her make her own decision. She reached out, groping for a moment, before feeling his hand take hers. With his help, she stood to her feet. "Perhaps it was the crystal who healed me, Crystal," she told her, "but you are the one who dared to use it to do so. You knew taking it off put you in danger of his reading you, but you still saved me. Besides," she added, "beings like him need to be stopped."

Ororo smiled at her goddaughter. Never had she been prouder of Piper!

Prue was standing next to Piper. She smiled at Brendan, who was already standing, and then at Crys. So much was in her heart, but she couldn't find the words to get it out so she simply just smiled at Crys.

Phoebe and Paige stood together in their place between their older sisters and their godmother. Carl jumped up as soon as Paige did. If she was volunteering, so was he!

Joxer was a little more skittish. He knew danger all too well, but these people were his family. With a deep breath, he stood and nearly tripped. Phoebe caught him.

Xena walked over to stand before Crys. "My sword is at your disposal. I will do all within my power to help defeat your enemy." She reached out and clasped the girl's arm. "Call me if you need me." She took her place beside Jack and Will.

Gabrielle was right behind Xena. "Count me in, too," she told her. "We'll find a way to stop him." She smiled reassuringly. "Xena's found ways to stop things that nobody else could have." She moved to stand beside her lover.

Crystal could not answer Xena nor the blonde who followed her for the tears that choked her. She could not believe that these people were actually welcoming her! Frederic had been the only one who had said "no" thus far, but Blue had cooed to her when he'd spoken, reminding her point blank that the boy had come after she had.

Kitty stood beside Wolverine. She was not going to say anything, but Lockheed cooed, telling Blue that he was there for his fellow dragon.

Jack looked around the room one last time and, seeing no one objecting, looked at Crys. "Welcome to the family, Crys. It's good to have you here." A cheer rose up around the room for the bravery of the woman who stood in front of them. She had told her life story and had blown the room away. Each person vowed in their hearts to do what they could to help Crys overcome her enemy.

Crystal was crying, but her tears were at last happy rather than sad. Cordelia turned to her with a smile. "Angel and Lorne told you they'd stand by you," she reminded her. Crys nodded but still could not manage to get any words out. When she tried, they came out as a soft sob, and she quickly covered her mouth.

Cindy reached up to Lorne with a paw.

Lorne reached down and took Cindy's paw. Then he looked at Jack. "There is one hope, Jack. At least Jack Frost thinks there is one sure-fire way, and that's to get Big Red involved."

Jack looked at Lorne as though he had taken leave of his senses. "Big Red?" he queried.

Lorne's words so excited Dawn that she could barely help herself. "Santa Claus?" she squeaked, her eyes as wide as if it were Christmas morning.

"Yes. Santa Claus," Lorne said. "He has complete power over the North Pole, and Jack thinks he might have power over her uncle."

"Then, when we're rescued," Jack announced, "we will go on a little trip. Imagine Pirates at the North Pole! What will Santa Claus think?" His words were met with rowdy laughter.

Delvira cleared her throat as the laughter settled. "Crystal, you said you could not speak his name aloud, but I have many resources. If Santa Claus can not help, I may be able to contact those who can find something that will." She looked around the room. "Does anybody have any kind of parchment or something else we can write on?"

Dawson stepped forward, still holding the quill and parchment. "What do you need these for, ma'am?"

"So that Crystal can write his name down. That should keep his attention from being aroused." Her black eyes turned back to the blonde. "Will you?"

Crys nodded, still too shocked to speak.

Dawson gave the quill and parchment to Crys. With shaking hands, she wrote down Frostbite and then, beneath that, David Frost. "Thank you," she finally managed to get out as she handed them back to him. Her eyes darted around all the faces who had just welcomed her. "Thank you all!"

Lex felt some one tugging on his shirt and, looking down, saw that it was Julian. "What is it, Julian?" he asked as he knelt beside the small boy.

Julian handed Lex a picture. "Sarah told me to draw that." Lex stood up and held the picture up so that all could see that it was a picture of Santa Claus with a reindeer.

Clark was still staring at the picture when he felt a tiny hand touch his leg. He looked down to see Sarah looking up at him with big eyes. She motioned him down to her, and he knelt beside her. "What is it, Sarah?"

In a very quiet voice, she told him, "We'll help."

Lex almost fainted. After having tried every way in the world to get Sarah to say a single word and failing, she had now spoken! "Sarah?" he said as he knelt beside her. "Why have you never spoken before?"

Her small shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Wasn't impor . . . import . . . " She frowned and looked to Julian for help.

"She didn't have an important enough reason to before."

Lex and Clark grabbed both the kids and hugged them. "I guess that answers the question for all of us!" Lex said with a grin.

Crystal had been watching the scene with the children in still-growing amazement. Now, she asked in a quiet voice, "But what do we do about Frederic?" Blue cooed. "I know he wasn't here before, but . . . What do we do about him?"

"Nothing," James said. "Leave him in his room to rot. He's my son. I can't do a damn thing with him! He needs a witch doctor."

"Actually," Delvira spoke up, "that is what I would like to see the Sorceresses about later this morning."

"I now call this meeting officially closed!" Jack announced to the room. "Remember to come back for the third meeting if you're interested in escaping this Gods-awful island!" The group began to wander off, but Jack knew most were headed for the dining room. He followed along behind the group that was heading for the dining room and hoped that there would be enough room for everybody.

Crystal looked at the ones who remained around her -- her beloved, her babies, her brother, and his lady -- with tears still shining in her eyes. "Thank you," she told them, "for helping me to do that. I couldn't have without your support."

Lorne smiled at her. "You need to rest, little one," he said as he scooped her up. "See you guys later, and -- "

"Sorry, Lorne. You've gotta go to the dining room. You're part of Jack's family now."

"How?" He looked at Angel as though he could bite him. He had not set Crys back down.

"I adopted Faith yesterday. She's also Jack's sister. Crys is my sister. Get the picture?"

"Yup. On the way to the dining room now!" He continued carrying Crys straight into the dining room and sat her in a chair.


When Logan managed to push his way into the dining room, he was surprised at how many people were in there. "This is the meetin' o' Jack's family, isn't it?" he asked.

Jack grinned at him from where he sat at the head of the table. "These are my new half. Well, most of them any way," he amended as he noted that some of the Alderberan members hadn't made it yet. "Where's yours?"

Wolverine turned to look behind him. "They're comin' now."

Cole shimmered in, holding Piper and set her in a chair next to Crys. "Call me when it's over, Piper," he said as he went to pull his hand from hers so that he could shimmer. He looked down at his hand where she was still clinging to him. "Piper? I need to leave."

"No," she told him, "you do not. Cole, I love you just as much as I do any other member of my family only in a different way. You are part of my family now."

"Thank you, Piper," Cole said as he sat in the chair next to hers, still clinging to her hand.


Kitty had been behind Wolverine but had decided to hang back just a little ways. She wanted to talk to one of her new sisters. As the other Halliwells entered the room, she tapped Prue on the back. "Hey. Got a minute?"

"Sure, Kitty. What's wrong?"

"Well," Kitty told her, "it looks like we're going to be part of the same family now, and I couldn't help overhearing your situation with Brendan . . . "

"Everybody knows that!" Prue exclaimed as though she wished the floor would open and swallow her. "It's just so frustrating! No hope at all because he won't even try! He spends half his time hiding from me and the other half cringing as though I've bit him or something! Gods know I'd like to!"

Kitty couldn't help laughing at that. "Sounds a lot like one of the problems I'm having," she told her, "and I was thinking that maybe we could soundboard off of each other sometime."

"Sure! How about after the meetings? I can use any help I can get with Brendan! His own brother can't do anything with him!"

Kitty shook her head. "Well, at least he's not a Priest," she whispered to her.

"A Priest! Where's one of those?"

Kitty looked out toward the living room, but Kurt was already gone. "He's my problem," she explained, shaking her head. "I shouldn't even be looking at him, but I can't seem to stop myself!"

"Gods, I know the feeling!" Prue was quick to tell her. "Every time I look at Brendan, I just want to look at him more, and even that causes him to gawk at me and not eat! It's just so frustrating sometimes!"

Kitty nodded. "Girl, do we ever have a lot in common!"


Vang was about to follow the last of the cats into the room when Zora called to him. He stopped and turned back slowly, hardly daring to believe his ears. He found her standing to the side in the shadows. "Vang?" she called him again, and he had to slow his pace to keep from running to her. Finally, she was talking to him!

Zora knelt as Vang approached. "Vang, I need to know something. Was part of the reason why you didn't tell me because you didn't know how I'd take it, because you thought I might not believe you?"

Vang considered her words before answering truthfully, "Not before your father died, but after . . . Yes."

Zora smiled sadly. "I think I can finally understand that a little more now." A part of her wanted to hug him, but she held back. "You'd better go ahead for your meeting."

Katrina turned to look back at Vang and Zora. "Zora, are you coming?"

Zora looked at her in confusion. "Why would I come? Isn't that where Jack's family meeting is going to be held?" At that, she wondered why they were even going into the dining room.

"Yes, but you're a member of Jack's family. Faith and I are adopted sisters which makes the rest of my family part of Jack's family." She held her hand out toward Zora.

Zora hesitated in taking her hand, and Vang looked behind her to where Connor lurked even more in the shadows. "Think she might want to bring some one with her," he told Katrina.


Angel and Cordelia had just come level with Katrina, Vang, and Zora. Angel didn't know what was going on or why Connor was hiding in the shadows again. The boy seemed to love the shadows. He took a sniff and almost choked. "Connor, come closer."

Connor stepped forward. "Yes? Did you need me to do something?"

Angel sniffed him again. "Who's your mother?"

Connor had expected many things but not a question like that. "She's a Piratess aboard the Saucy Wench."

"Damn!" Angel said. "Is her name Darla?"

"Yes. How do you know of her?"

Angel ignored the question and asked another question, "Did she ever tell you about your father?"

"I never . . . knew my Mother. She abandoned me when I was born, so I don't know who my Father is."

Angel looked at him again dead in the eyes. "You've just met him."

Connor didn't know rather to reach out and knock the Hell out of him or shake his hand. "What makes you think you're my Father?" he finally asked.

"There's no mistaking the smells." He looked at Zora. "Smell me, and then smell Connor."

This was too much for Cordelia. Her legs felt weak, and she started to faint but found somebody supporting her from behind.

Tom, who had come back to check on Katrina, smiled down at the brunette. "Hello."

Cordelia stared at him but could not speak. "I wish I was one to faint," she murmured. Why couldn't she just faint and block all this insanity out?

Angel turned to look at Cordelia, reached down, and took her from Tom. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Is he . . . Are you sure . . . ?"

"We're going to find out," Zora answered the question Cordelia seemed unable to get out. She stepped forward, leaned close into Angel, and sniffed him. Then she moved back to Connor. She sniffed him and smelled the familiarity. Wanting to be sure before she accepted Angel's claim for Connor's sake, she stepped closer to him so that her body pressed against his and sniffed his neck again.

Connor stiffened. He was already overly heated around Zora, and her sniffing of him did not help matters. "Well?" he finally demanded.

Zora straightened and gazed into Connor's eyes. "Connor . . . " She shook her head slowly. "Looks like your life is just as crazy as mine."

Angel looked at Connor. "If I had known about you, I would have come for you."

"Sure you would have," Connor told him. "You didn't want a kid any more than my Mother did."

"What you don't understand, Connor," Angel replied, "is that she's a Vampire and I'm a Vampire. We are not supposed to be able to have kids. I would have never thought I had one, not in a million years, and she sure as Hell didn't tell me!" He reached out a hand, offering it to Connor around Cordelia's and Zora's bodies.

Connor grasped it, and Zora stepped out of the way at his acceptance. "I can scarcely believe it," Connor told him, "but I'm glad that at least one of my parents wants me."

"Somebody's gotta tell James," Angel said.

"Tell me what?" a voice behind them asked.

"Dad?" Connor questioned. "Who's my Mother?"

"She's a bitch, son. You don't wanna know her. I told ya she's aboard the Saucy Wench, and her name's Darla."

"This man claims he's my Father, and it's true: he is."

James felt taken aback. "I've always tried to be a good father to you!"

Connor reached out to him. "You have been. I've just got two fathers now."

Hook reached out, hugged Connor, and then offered his hand to Angel. Angel took it and shook it. "Looks like we got another common interest besides piracy and Jack."

James nodded. "It's good to meet you, Angel."

"And it's good to meet you, James," Angel replied. He could hear Jack banging his mug on the table. "Guess we'd better get in there to that meeting. Connor, you get to go to the meeting too. That includes you too, James," Angel told him.

Smee, who was James' constant shadow, finally spoke up in a voice so quiet that it was barely audible. "What about his third father?"

Angel grinned at Smee. "Welcome to the family! That includes you too! Let's go surprise Jack!" He headed into the dining room, still carrying Cordelia.

Zora stepped quickly in beside Connor. She leaned as close to him as she could but was afraid that the ones with advanced hearing like their own would still be able to overhear them. "You okay?"

"I'm not sure. Ask me tomorrow," Connor said. "I've got three fathers now! That's a strange feeling indeed!"


As soon as the last person was inside the dining room, Jack looked at Wolverine. "Well, you called the meeting."

"Just what the Hell ya been doin'!" Wolverine looked at him. "No woman involved yet ya been breedin' like rabbits!" he said with a laugh.

"I could say the same thing to you except that there is a woman involved," Jack retorted.

"How are you related?" Wolverine asked.

Faith grinned at that question and waved at him.

"What the Hell are ya doin' in here, girl?"

"Meet your new daughter," Jack told him. "I adopted Faith yesterday. So did Clark, Lex, Salem, Katrina, and Angel."

At Wolverine's disbelieving look, Faith shrugged. "Hell, not even I could keep pushing this group away!"

"Welcome to the family," Wolverine told them. "Now I want ya to meet my side o' the family." He reached out for 'Ro. "'Ro an' me found something together that both o' us were needin'. We're in love, an' we want to get married!"

Jack grinned. "Do I get to perform the ceremony?"

"Where's yer ship, son?" Wolverine reminded him. "Ya know ya can only marry us if we're at sea."

"Well, just as soon as I get a ship, I'll perform it," he promised. "Congratulations!" He reached out and gave 'Ro a big hug. "Welcome to the family!"

"The next thing," Wolverine said, "is yer gettin' sisters. They go along with your new stepmom."

Ororo pulled back from Jack's embrace so that she could smile at him. Her blue eyes danced as she told him, "Surprise! You've got four new sisters!"

"No, five," Wolverine corrected her. "Just found out today that this beautiful young lady," he clarified, indicating Kitty, "is my daughter. She's actually got my blood flowin' through her veins!"

"That's wonderful!" Jack exclaimed. "Six new sisters! Boy, have y'all got your hands full keeping him straight!" He indicated Wolverine.

"Nope. They got their hands full tryin' to keep you straight," Wolverine told him.

Jack shook his head. "That's impossible. Can't anybody keep me straight!"

Will cleared his voice as he announced quietly with a sly, shy smile, "We'll see about that."

Jack grinned back at him. "I got an announcement all my own to make!" he said to his family. "Most of ya already know it, but Will and me are together!"

A clicking sound came from behind Jack. "Yup, and it's about darn time too!"

Wolverine grinned at Donkey. "Ya said a mouthful, partner!"

Donkey grinned back at Wolverine.

"Any more announcements?"

"I got one," Angel said. "I got me a son today that I didn't know I had. His name's Connor."

Jack looked at Connor. "Welcome to the family, Connor!" Then it hit him. "Well, I'll be damned!" he cried. "James, you old seadog, now you're a part of my family too!"

Wolverine looked around the room one more time. He could not believe how much his family had grown in two days' time. "This is wonderful! I always did want a big family! I'm not sure if I'm their big brother or their father," he said, looking at Donkey, "but it doesn't matter."

"Nope," Donkey agreed. "We all got plenty of love for everybody! Now all we need is some rum!"

"Sounds like a great idea!" Jack said. "Wonder where they would have stored it at? The basement!" He got up and headed straight for the basement.

"Guess the meeting's over," Wolverine commented. "Welcome to the family! I'd better follow the boy before he gets into trouble!"


Jack had not gone very far down into the basement. The stench from the dead dinosaurs had hit his nose. They would set into decaying quickly, and he knew they had to be gotten out of there or no one would be able to live in the house! He heard a sound behind him and turned to see that it was Wolverine. "Jack, ya out did me again! I think you brought a bigger group than I did!"

"Aye, but ain't it nice to have a big family?" Jack asked him.

"You're right about that, Jack! You and me started out just two people adrift in the sea of life, an' now look at us! I don't even know how many are in our family, but it does feel good!"

"Don't get maudlin on me, Wolverine," Jack told him. "I feel like sitting down and crying too! It just feels so darn good -- having so many to care about who care about you! And just think! I've got Will, and you've got 'Ro! The Goddess has blessed both of us! I'd like to do something in return for Her."

"Well, pray about it," Wolverine told him. "Maybe She'll give ya a sign. I've never been big on it myself, but 'Ro is."

"Let's find that rum. We can take a case up, and we can all have a party!"

Wolverine found the rum first as his nose led him straight to it. He took a case, and Jack took another. They headed back up the stairs. They carried it out through the dining room and into the living room. "We've got rum, everybody!" Jack called to which both Will, Cole, Tom, and Brendan all had to stifle groans. "Come and get some!"

Paige started to go for the rum, but 'Ro shook her head. "Paige, your mother would not wish that foul stuff in your body!"

"Besides, you've seen what alcohol can do to people! You don't want that in you, Paige!" Piper told her.

Kitty shrugged as she walked from Prue's side and over to the men. "I'll have one." Lockheed cooed and shook his head. This was going to be an even longer day than he'd already thought it would be!

Donkey went over to stand by Wolverine. "Don't mind if I do," he said. Wolverine gave him a bottle. "There's plenty more downstairs."

Kitty grabbed two bottles, thanked them, and walked over to where her men were grouped together. She knew Kurt would refuse any alcohol beverage and was not yet ready to talk to him any way. Chong sometimes drank but not always. However, she hadn't known Sean to pass one up yet. "Hey, Cassidy?" she called. "Catch!" She tossed the bottle to him.

"Thanks, Captain!" he said as he caught the bottle.

Kitty glanced back to where Wolverine had been standing but could no longer see him for the throng of bodies reaching for the rum. She looked back to Sean. "You were right about Wolverine," she told him. "He's a heck of a man! My father actually!" She grinned.

"Like I told ye, Captain, ye can always count on Wolverine! Congratulations on him bein' yer father! Ye could nae have a better one! A toast to ye and yer father!" he said as he lifted the rum bottle and took a big swig.

Kitty rose her own in a returning salute. "And to friends who over-protective Captains should listen to more often!" She drank a long sip.

Kurt shook his head and backed even further into the shadows, hoping Wolverine wouldn't see him and get a whuff of him. That's all he needed! If Wolverine even had the faintest idea that Kurt was in lust with his daughter, he'd probably gut him just for the fun of it!


Jack had taken his bottle and gone over to sit in a chair a little piece away from the others. He drew his feet up into the chair with him and took a sip of the heavenly brew he had been missing for days. It warmed him all the way to his toes. He was thankful that he had finally found some and still wondered what had happened to the first shipment that he had had. He needed to put somebody on detail watching it to make sure that nobody stole it again.

He looked to where Will was standing, talking with Clark and Donkey, and wondered what they were talking about. His eyes grew heavy as the bottle grew light. He forgot all about the next meeting and began to doze off.

Will, watching Jack from across the room, sighed and shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Clark asked. His eyes followed Will's, and he sighed. "Oh."

Donkey looked up at Clark. "Need your advice on a little matter of a female wolf. I think I'm in love!" He grinned at Clark. "But I don't know what to do with her!"

Clark frowned. "I wish I could help you," he told him, "but I don't know the first thing about females." He turned to scan the room for his beloved and called out, "Lex?"

Lex was next in line to get a bottle of the rum when Clark called him. He snatched it up and hurried over to where Clark, Will, and Donkey were standing. He did not see Donkey's bottle anywhere and wondered if he could have possibly drunk it already. "What's going on, guys?" he asked.

"Donkey needs advice," Clark told him, "on a female wolf."

"Oh! Found you some one! You and me need to have a little walk and a little talk. Be back in a few minutes, guys," he told Will and Clark. Keeping his bottle close to his body, he hoped Clark had not noticed but heard him sigh as he walked away. "Donkey, where's your bottle?" was the first thing Lex asked.

"I hid it."

"Where'd you hide it at?"

"In my stomach," Donkey answered with a hiccup.

"Won't anybody find it in there for sure!" Lex told him. "Now what's this about a female wolf?" He continued to walk with Donkey, his words fading out to the boys' ears.


As soon as Lex and Donkey walked off, Will turned back to Clark. "How do you handle it?" he asked.

"Handle what?"

"Lex's drinking."

Clark sighed. "With care," was all he could tell him. "I wish he'd stop. It's not good for him."

Will's haunted eyes turned back to Jack. "I know all too well what you mean."


Jack was half asleep and half awake, and the buzzing of voices around the room was making him even more sleepy. Where was Will? his fogged mind wondered. He looked around and finally saw him talking to Clark. Boy talk, he thought.

Guess we should really have that other meeting. He wasn't in the mood for it, however. What he wanted to do was get Will upstairs to the bedroom, but with him drinking rum, he didn't think he stood a snowball's chance in Hell of getting him there. He pretended he was looking at Will and a bottle of rum. He could have one or he could have the other. Which one was the most important? I can't live without either one of them!

How am I going to get Will to take a drink of rum? If he'll drink it, then he's going to like it, Jack reasoned, and he won't be so hard on me about it! That's what the problem is -- he's never had a sip!

He sat up, put his feet back on the floor, and looked at his almost empty bottle. He looked at the empty cases on the floor. I've gotta go back down there and get another case. Wonder if I can get Will to go with me?

He stood up and walked across the floor. "Will? I need to go get another case of rum. Want to come with me?"

Will was taken aback by Jack's words. "Jack, you don't even need that mess! Crystal makes perfectly fine drinks! Alcohol destroys you!"

"Have you ever had a taste of rum, Will?"

"Yes, I have," he told him, "and it's foul stuff! You only like what you know it does to you, but that isn't good for you!"

Clark edged backwards. This was one conversation the couple needed to have alone.

Jack looked disappointedly at Will. "Guess I'll have to wait 'til after the meeting. It ain't going anywhere," he said.

Will had managed to get enough advice out of Clark that he thought he knew what line to opt for next. "If the rum's what you want, Jack, have at it, but if you do, I'm telling you now -- I'll sleep on the couch tonight."

Jack looked at Will. "What the Hell you mean you're gonna sleep on the couch! Brendan's sleeping on the couch! I've gotta find the boy a room!"

"Well, if the couch isn't free," Will insisted, pulling his courage together, "then I'll sleep on the floor, but I will not sleep with you when you are inebriated!"

"What the Hell is that!" Jack asked. "Inebwho!"

"Drunk!" Will exclaimed.

"I'm not drunk! Why, I've only had one bottle! See?" he said and he held the now empty bottle out to Will. "And I won't have any more for a while."

"If you have rum on your breath tonight," Will told him, looking straight into Jack's eyes, "you'll sleep alone."

"Damn!" Jack protested. "Finally find the rum, and I can't get it! If I do, I can't get you! That's a Hell of a note! You would deprive me of me life's drink!"

Will folded his arms stubbornly over his chest and looked at Jack with a look he'd seen on Clark's face just a moment before. "That's about it," he told him. He softened only slightly as he told him, "Rum doesn't have to be your life's drink, Jack. It's not good for you, for us, or for any one around you. Alcohol destroys even the best of men, and I won't stand idly by and let that happen to you. I love you too much to let you drink."

"I'll be good," Jack told him. "I won't drink any more today or tonight. I don't want you sleeping anywhere but in my bed, but it's hard, Will! I've had it all my life like water! Last few days, I've missed it a lot, and now there's bunches of it down there! But I want you to know that you're more important to me than rum."

Will nodded, clearly pleased. "I know it's not going to be easy, Jack, but this is going to be the way it is from now on. I will not sleep with you any time you've had more than one, but any time you get to feeling thirsty for it, you can . . . " How had Clark put that? " . . . come quench your thirst in my lips."

"Promises, promises!" Jack exclaimed. "I've been thirsty for you all morning, but alas, we have another meeting! Maybe after the meeting?" He pulled Will to him and plunged his lips to his. He drank of his lips as though he was a man dying of thirst. The rum bottle crashed onto the floor, but Jack didn't even notice. Will tasted far better than any rum!


His brown eyes had stayed trained on her since the last meeting, and his heart was pounding so loudly that he knew the other advanced ears could hear it. He had to force his feet to walk as he stepped up behind the couch where she sat. "Prue?"

Prue turned to look up at Brendan. She was surprised and delighted to see him. "Yes?" she asked him.

"After the meeting," he told her, "I need to talk to you . . . in . . . in private."

"Doesn't seem to be a meeting right now," Prue told him. "We could have that talk now."

He shook his head. "The meeting will start soon, and our talk will be rather . . . long . . . "

"Okay. Come for me when you're ready." She smiled at him. She couldn't wait to have a chance to be alone with him and find out why he had been on edge all morning! Had he overheard her telling her sisters they'd slept together and didn't want any one to know?

Brendan nodded and did not speak a single word more. Instead, he quickly made himself scarce.

To Be Continued . . .