A/N: MossGarden asked about the time period, and I really should have clarified the anachronisms I've already described. I don't have a specific time period in mind, except for the obvious time of pirates and wooden ships being the main method of transporting goods across oceans. Obviously the biggest anachronism is Hana's use of a primitive radio of sorts, which is highly inappropriate for a historical treatise, but for a fun story, it just seemed an appropriate sort of situation to place into to keep her in-game traits involved. Of course, the inclusion of primitive radio is not just there to give her something to do- as far as my story planning goes, as of now, everybody's skills will be required at critical points, so while my anachronisms are just that, they're meant to serve a greater story purpose :D

I'm very happy to see that people are enjoying this story! I love the feedback, and as demonstrated above, it gives me a chance to better explain things for you guys :D

With the sloshing sort of slamming that accompanied Lena's deckbrush hitting the wooden slats below, her face slid into a dissatisfied frown as she threw her arms out, sending the brush in patterned lengths as suds trailed about. For all she enjoyed about being aboard the Splitstream, Captain Morrison's methods of building and maintaining a group cohesion often frustrated her. Fresh off the dock and they were already swabbing the deck, leaving her with inaudible growls as her bare feet clattered along in time with her arm's movements as she turned her head toward the others, Angela appearing to be having a ball of a time as she happily danced with her capris yanked up to her knees, her feet splashing the sudsy water about as she laughed.

"What fun!" Angela exclaimed with a quick spin of her head toward her father, "I can't believe you kept me from this!"

Jack grinned as he shook his head, his own pants rolled up as he partook in the cleaning himself, "Look around, dear. The feeling won't last."

Sure enough, Angela peered around to the others, first meeting Lena's gloomy face before noticing Hana's and Junkrat's unhappy faces. Lucia seemed to be the only one enjoying himself, though he was also spinning along with rags tied to his feet, making the most of this team-building exercise. Angela shrugged with a smile as she held her brush between her arm and side, hiking up her pants before wielding the broom once again with a fierce look.

"Welp, as long as I'm enjoying it, I might as well! Hey, Lucio, I'll race ya!"

The deckhand eyed her from over his shoulder, offering a scoffing sort of glance as he replied, "Really? You know I've outraced kangaroos and lions all at once, right?"

"He's lying," Hana muttered without looking up from her work.

Angela grinned, "Sure! Win or lose, this is fun! Just stopping and sliding- if I did this at home, father would have me drawn and quartered."

The lack of a response from the Captain prompted Angela to give a unwieldy sort of grin at such teasing, though she was quick to ready her self as Lucio slid around to her side, his broom held out as he directed her, "Alright; three laps around the deck, brushes down at all times, first to grab Bastion wins."

A collectivize groan arose from the crew as Angela turned her head to them, confused, quickly asking, "Wait, Bastion?"

Lena eyed the two as she stood up, "C'mon, hasn't that poor bird been through enough?"

"Oh, you know he loves it!" Lucio replied happily, pointing up toward the bow of the ship toward a falcon-shaped object hugging the wooden edge with its claws, "There he is. I picked him up while we were in Singapore a few years ago. Poor thing's wings were clipped so nobody would take him, so I-"

"That things alive?!" Angela shouted out in near terror, "I've walked past it, like, eight times! I thought it was a statue!"

Junkrat let loose a high pitched giggle as he sloshed his brush along the deck, Lucio chuckling in unison before crossing his arms proudly, "Nah, Bastion's just an odd bird. Literally. He loves playing, though; first to catch him after three laps wins, okay?"

"O-Okay," Angela's words stumbled as she crouched to ready herself, Lucio counting down enthusiastically before the two took off along the slippery surface of the ship, Angela quickly getting caught in the excitement and grinning competitively as she did her best to steady herself on her bare feet.

Jack stood upright and watched pleasantly, enjoying the sight of his daughter's fun as Hana approached him, her eyes lowered unhappily as she spun her broom to her side, voicing displeasure, "Captain, between splinters and our hard work scrapping, I'm none too pleased to be a witness to this."

"Ah, these boards are sanded every time she goes in for maintenance," Jack shrugged with a smile, "And this cleaning was just to get Angela more acquainted with you all and used to some of the work around here. She seems to be taking to our deckhand well enough, so I'd say mission accomplished."

Seemingly annoyed, Hana bit her lip before replying, "Yes… Work…"

Jack chuckled, turning an instructive glance down toward his communications officer, "Don't worry. Given my daughter's propensity for merriment and general troublemaking, I'm sure you two will find something to have fun over instead of work."

Hana frowned as Angela belted around the deck for the third time, racing for the stationary bird that sat as still as could be, peering out into the vast sea until the loud bursting of stomping footsteps broke its concentration. Bastion's feathered head suddenly whipped around, his eyes blowing wide at the sight of Angela reaching out to him with Lucio right behind her.

"CAAAAWAWAWAAA!" he crowed with a massive pitch, scurrying off the edge and waddling along the perimeter of the deck with his wings outstretch, desperately trying to escape as Angela and Lucio both dove toward him, their bodies hitting the wooden deck below as they slid along, their heads thumping into the siding with a weak clunk.

They turned up their heads to find Lena clutching the horrified falcon in her arms, holding it against herself carefully as his eyes swirled, a frown crossing her, "Totally mean, ya know!"

"Oh, he's having a blast! Just look at him!" Lucio pleaded as he rose to his feet, pulling his shirt down as the sudsy water had it clinging to him.

Junkrat cackled happily, "Havin' a blast a'right! If 'e thinks THAT'S fun, tha bird should try my gauntlet! I've always wanted ya use 'im fer it!"

"Uh, no!" Lena answered before Lucio could say otherwise, dropping her head to examine the bird with saddened eyes, "Poor thing. Just look at how-"

Bastion turned his head sneakily so, hidden behind Lena's arms, giving her something of a mischievous glance as he continued feigning fright in order to prevent either of the competitors to win. Lena's brow dropped in a second, angrily, at the realization of being used, by a bird no less.

"Why you little…" she muttered quietly, her head jumping back up as Angela leapt at her, arm outstretched.

"First one to touch-!" she cried out before Lena instinctively recoiled, turning to dash around the deck as Lucio followed, leading to the third mate being corralled around as Bastion snuggled in, not having to bother with wearing out his aging frame, preferring to have Lena Oxton do it for him.

Hana groaned as her sense of professionalism waxed upon her mind, burying her face into an open hand as she heard Junkrat crying out excitedly, almost giddily, "Go on! Get 'im! Get 'im!"

The comms officer turned to where Captain Morrison had been standing, only to find him having disappeared, her body turning gradually until she found him back toward the hold, grabbing a small trumpet that hung from a rope tied to a nail, raising it to his lips before blowing a sickly off-key note that immediately brought everybody to attention, Angela and Lucio sliding to a stop beside Lena, and even Bastion hopping out from his savior's arms and standing with his attention of the Captain.

"Alright," Jack nodded with a wry sort of grin, "Now I'm all for having a good time. We're all going to be out on the water for a few months, and we'll need to keep our spirits up. But we're going to pace ourselves this voyage, right? We have a new crewman in my daughter, and I want her to learn how everything works around here."

He reached down to adjust his cuffs as he spoke, "Now, just so Angela knows, we haven't begun our trip yet, right?"

"Uh, no," Angela answered, her arms crossed in thought, "We're still sailing along land over there."

Jack nodded affirmatively, "Exactly. We're just headed to San Francisco, so we're close enough to the coast that most of our operations are unnecessary at the moment, which explains the, uh… Kids say 'tomfoolery', I think. Once we leave San Francisco Bay, we'll need to have our wits about us. Until then, I'd like everyone to maintain their posts as though we were out at sea, just to give Angela an idea of what to expect. Okay?"

"Yes, sir!" "Yess'uh!" "Yessir!" came a chorus of replies in unison.

The Captain grinned, turning to leave, pushing open the door into the hold, "Good. Now, back to your tomfoolery for the time being. We've a couple days before he hit the Bay."

Despite his approval to go on, his authoritative air lingered behind, leaving the crew rather unprepared to go on as instructed. Lena's lips tugged to the side as she realized the Captain's absence left her in charge, such responsibility not exactly becoming of her, though she still groaned out a directive as her shoulders slumped weakly.

"Ooookaaay, let's just…I don't know; we'll wash off this soapy water and I guess we'll just hang out?" she figured, finally coming to something worth directing, "I suppose, Angela, you could just hang out with each of us as we do our jobs, if Cap'n's wanting us to go about as though we were out at sea. You can chill out with me up in the nest while I'm doing my watchkeeping; I actually have a handful of neat-o telescopes you can check out! Then see what Hana's up to-"

"I am not currently seeking out apprentices," Hana spoke with a haughty air, eyeing Lena with serious eyes, "I heard Captain Morrison, but I don't even allow him to worry about our communications systems. I work better alone anyway."

Lena frowned, her inspirational attempt at authority instantly being rejected, "Hey, I'm the third mate, lassie; that means I'm in charge of safety around here. Would be a shame if something happened to make your machine down there a safety hazard until we hit port…"

Hana shot her superior a disgusted stare, much to Angela's fright, the newcomer quickly speaking up to maintain some semblance of peace, "N-Now, Lena, it's fine- I don't even need to know-"

"Hoo hoo hooo!" Junkrat laughed as she circled the three of them, running his thumb and forefinger along his chin as if examining the situation, muttering aloud to Angela as if he'd pulled her aside, "No no, my dear! She, tha third mate, she'll do it, I tell ya!"

As Hana's fierce expression gradually lessened, it turned into one of worry, her teeth exposing themselves as she bit her lip, thinking of the previous time Lena Oxton had made such a threat. Her eyes jumped to Junkrat, who managed to nod amidst his giggling, seeming to communicate to her to accept the directive given, lest she find herself on the wrong end of Lena's wrath.

Sighing, Hana dropped her head in time with her shoulders, "Fine… But don't you dare come barging in without knocking, alright?! I've got sensitive work going on!"

She pointed an aggressive finger as Angela, who replied with raising her hands in front of her in innocence, "Okay, okay! Understood."

Lena took a deep breath, resting her fists upon her hips again as she struck a triumphant pose, "Ahhh! Now isn't it all better when we're not bickering?"

Hana mumbled to herself with a turned head, "Not when someone's doin' the threatening…"

"Lu!" Lena shouted, her deckhand shooting to her side attentively, "Do we have any more of those Eccles cakes in the mess?"

Lucio pulled up a hand to count at his fingers, his face constricting thoughtfully as his eyes wandered away in concentration, "Eh… Not enough, I don't think. Maybe two? I could whip some up myself, but aren't they only Eccles cakes if they're, y'know, made in Eccles?"

Once again, Lena found herself deep within the realm of authority, her eyes closed as she reasoned the best course of action, almost as though she were deciding how to go about starting her own nation, before she brightened up in a single moment, throwing a thumbs-up at her chef, "Meh, make 'em up anyway. Those Manchester guys are squares anyway; they share a bed with those Liverpool knobheads. Whip 'em up, Lu!"

"Aye aye!" he shouted, rushing off toward the door that led into the interior of the ship, leaving Bastion of squawk along as he hobbled his way in pursuit.

With that, Lena spun around to make her way toward the crow's nest, waving for Angela to follow along as she proudly spoke up, leaving Hana to grumble her way back to her own post, along with Junkrat's giddy hobble, "Now, daughter of Cap'n, are you ready for the most rickety part of the ship?!"

"N-Not really, no," Angela replied, a queasiness suddenly welling up within her at the thought.

Lena reassured her happily, "It ain't that bad, don't worry. Look, just keep your hands on the ladder steps at all times, alright? We don't want you flying off, do we?"

"Lena!" Angela shouted angrily at her insinuation, leaving the third mate to laugh happily in retort.