Another week goes by...

Uma sighs as she scrubs the counter. Her crew on staff left before the last damned customer had been flung out. Serving food to grumpy has-been sailors and pirates was one thing. But now she had to clean.

"I expect this filth to be gone when I come back." Ursula shouts from the kitchen before Uma hears the door slam.

Not like she had a choice. If her mother wasn't happy, she took it out on the ship. At this point she was living here just to get everything done. She was so close to getting the Lost Revenge seaworthy, so close to being able to set sail. Not that it would actually help her escape her mother. There was a barrier keeping her confined to this damn isle, and the waters were easy to navigate when you were part fish.

Which sucked because all she wanted to do was get away and fucking wallow in peace.

She slams her fist down on the rough countertop. She was stuck being her mother's slave, at this point she couldn't see an end in sight.

Even with her lovely boys helping out, which she let happen once the coast was clear, this was going to take all night. She glares up at the grits dripping from the ceiling, side kicks were fucking pigs.

"You're good boys." She calls out before she turns back to her cleaning.

Harry and Gil peek their heads in through the saloon doors before they barge in.

"Where ya want me to start Uma?" Gil asks as he looks around the shop looking overwhelmed by the state of it.

"You two get rags and the scrappers," Uma eyes the ceiling again, "Think you can take Harry on your shoulders to tackle that again?" She points at the disgusting mess dripping to the floor.

"O'course Uma." Gil nods, "I can do that." He sighs in relief.

"On it Uma." Harry claps Gil on the back, "I be ah grabing what we be needin' lad, ya need ta be stretching or ya be getting ah cramp again."

Gil nods in understanding, before doing as instructed.

Uma smiles as she watches Gil from the corner of her eye. She fights a yawn as she continues to scrape the food scraps to the floor. It was so much easier to dump the scraps down the hole in the kitchen. On the upside, her laziness seemed to attract more sea life, making it easier for her to catch her quota.

Serve. Scrape. Wash. Fish. Repeat.

It had become her entire life. She was fucking exhausted.

She yawns again. Sometimes she slept. Two hours was sleeping, she'd survived worse. But it killed her to know her boys were suffering with her.

Harry softly caresses her cheek as he walks past, the small action making her smile. That's why she loved them so much. They didn't need to be here. She hadn't ordered them to help- In fact had even yelled at them for at first. However now she just appreciated it.

"Ya be ah ready lad?" Harry asks as he slaps a handful of rags over his shoulders and grips the broken handle of the scraper.

"Yeah." Gil grins, though it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Lad," Harry smiles as he pats Gil's shoulder again, "ya know I'd be ah doin' it for ya instead, but ya be packin' muscle on ya and now ya be ah wee bit denser than me."

Gil lets out a chuckle. "Like you could've picked me up before." He crouches by a table so Harry can position himself on his shoulders. "Come on. Let's do this. Cap'n needs ta get some sleep."

"Aye." Harry winks at Uma before he starts working on the mess.

They fall into a comfortable silence as they settle into a routine, all of them too tired to carry on meaningful conversation.

It was the same thing they did almost every night now.

She didn't even notice T until they were cleaning the same table. "T!"

"Huh?" Gil turns at the sudden shout.

"Mate!" Harry drops the scrapper to grab Gil's hair instead.

"Sorry Harry." Gil grimaces.

"Be ah warnin' the top yeah?"

"Sup." T drops the rag, before he walks over to pick up the scraper and hand it back to Harry.

"Thanks," Harry winks even as he yawns, "ya be ah sight for sore an tired eyes."

"You guys all look like shit." T observes before he walks back to the table, and picks up the rag to start washing the table again.

Uma snorts at the boy's blunt observation. "No, please, tell me how you really feel."

"I did." T states not looking up from his task.

Harry and Gil snicker.

"Oh yeah..." Uma glares at T before she reaches over and smacks him in the back of the head.

"See. That barely hurt." T frowns in concern. "You guys have ta be feeling worse than you look."

"Fuck you." Uma shakes her head, "And in case you were actually wondering," She rolls her eyes, "that was for clampin' your hand over my mouth in my fucking room."

T shrugs, "Won't make a habit of it."

"Good."

"I be ah sure ya was gonna be ah loosin' the hand." Harry chuckles as he furrows his brow and stabs at something crusted onto the ceiling, "What the fuck be bein'-" He growls, "What the fuck, we be ah doin' this not two nights ago."

"Grits." Uma states with a sigh. "Apparently the fireside chat wasn't what they wanted to hear." She rolls her eyes.

T frowns as he looks around the shop. "You cleaned this two days ago?"

"We be ah fuckin' cleanin' it every damn night." Harry growls as he continues his attack.

"Huh." T frowns before going silent and continues to work.

Uma lifts her brow, "We clean it good, ain't like the pup good"

"No ones that good." T deadpans, he turns to Uma. "So...Wanna make a trade?" He asks as he moves to another table.

The question has both her boys turning their heads.

So it wasn't just her exhaustion. Uma narrows her eyes. This was a first. T never asked for anything when he brought things to her before. Weird he would start this late in their relationship. She didn't have the energy to play games right now. "What kind of trade?"

"Information on a certain gang for-"

The growl that leaves Uma in inhuman. "Are you fucking serious?!" She chucks a bucket at him, sending water sprawling across the floor.

T easily dodges. "That was scary and sad." He frowns.

"Shut up." Uma snaps, "Just, what T? What?" Seriously what the hell did the kid want from them? He was the one that brought them stuff. And it's not like she had time to gather rumours.

"To let me finish this." T shrugs, as he goes to pick up the bucket. "That's the deal. Take it or leave it." He offers as he places the bucket on a table. He crosses his hands over his chest and leans a hip against the table. "What's it gonna be?"

"Finish…" Uma furrows her brow, "Cleaning?" What the fuck just happened. That wasn't a trade. You had to get something out of a trade.

T frowns, "Question or choice?"

"Question…"

T shrugs, "Info on the Core for letting me finish cleaning. It seems pretty simple."

"Except I don't see what you get out of this 'trade'."

"You guys sleeping?" T shrugs. "Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it's been keeping up your reps without getting seen? Even with James' help- A fucking big one." He gestures around the room. "This just seems way less obnoxious..."

Gil stares at T dumbly, as slow smile pulls at Harry's lips. Both turn to watch Uma intently.

Uma tilts her head to the side and crosses her arms, "So your telling me that you'll give us information on Deez, and clean? Am I understanding that correctly."

"That's the deal."

"Sure," Uma throws her hands in the air, "why the fuck not." Why look a gift seahorse in the snout.

T nods, before he steps away from the table and pulls a hand full of folded crumpled papers. "These are all from her, but every time I've stopped by you guys have been fucking swamped and I kind of have to read them, and rewrite why I didn't just leave em at the ship… They kinda need to be burned after reading."

Harry slides down from Gil's back and the two rush over to join Uma at the small hoard of papers.

T nods before he slips away to continue cleaning.

Uma picks up a crumpled ball and smooths it out. "I'm sorry, this isn't what I would have chosen. But now I don't have a choice anymore."

Harry plucks another up, "I'm sorry I hurt you Gil, but I couldn't let my father get his hands on you. I can forgive myself for a lot of things, but never that."

With sad eyes Gil reaches for one himself. "I'm doing fine. I can only hope you three are too. Mal doesn't talk much about what you're doing, but T does, which I'm grateful for. I'm grateful that's allowed."

"I'm really sorry I didn't choose sooner." Uma's voice hitches as she fights tears, "I didn't realize how much I wanted to be with you guys until I couldn't see you anymore. But it is too late now. I just needed you guys to know how much you mean to me. Though maybe it's a good thing, at least I didn't have to betray my place in your gang and hurt your rep in the process."

Gil wipes at his eyes with his palms.

Harry wraps an arm around Gil's shoulder as he pulls Uma in for a hug. "At least she be ah writing." He chuckles, "Something never change yeah?"

"Except that's the only thing she's written since it happened- Besides notes to me, when we don't want Mal to know we're talking about you guys..." T explains not looking up from where he was carefully scraping the crud off the last table with his dagger.

"She hasn't written in that long?" Gil's lower lip begins to quiver.

T shakes his head.

"I'm sure she just be ah havin' ta be adjustin'. We all know Mal ain'nah being Uma." Harry clucks his finger under Gil's chin.

"You can say that again." Uma wipes away the tears, "Stupid bitch don't know the first thing bout our Deez." She wasn't sure she'd ever felt so bitter towards her rival. Even the Shrimpy comments hadn't affected her this much.

Gil nods sadly.

"Aye," Harry turns to T, "And you better be remindin' her that she be ours."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." T waves dismissively. "Why are you three still here?" He asks in exasperation with a raised brow. "A deals a deal."

"Because we sleep here now." Gil pouts.

T blinks. "Not fucking tonight."

Uma blinks, "But I still have to get my catch quota, and I can only do that after I dump the scraps in the kitchen access."

T frowns. "There's a couple of nets on the ship… Can't I just throw one in to catch the shit?"

Harry watches T for a moment before he nods, "Come on you two, I be ah puttin' ya both ta bed and then I be ah bringin' the net. Lad be ah havin' ah point."

"But-" Uma begins.

"But nothin', ye be makin' a deal cap'n." Harry nods sternly as he pulls the two close and starts to walk out, "We be ah followin' our words."

"Finally." T rolls his eyes. "Later Cap'n." He waves dismissively. "And don't fuckin' take your time Hook."