Summary: They say a good captain always went down with his ship. Luckily for Arthur, he wasn't exactly a 'good' captain. Besides, his first mate would never let him go down no matter what.

USUK Pirate!AU

Smoke in the Water

Smoke.

It filled Arthur's lungs, and covered his eyes. It choked him with its chalky thickness and poured out of his gaping mouth as he gasped for breath. Here and there, a harsh orange glow flickered through the wood. It was hot—unbearably so. The hair on his forearms singed away and the heat licked at his cheek.

And then it was cold—unbelievably cold, all around his legs. He was moving sluggishly up broken stairs, clutching at splintering wood.

And then the smoke cleared but the smell stayed, and his face cooled, and his trousers hung heavy and wet around his waist. He heard the screams, then.

Harsh screams. Men burning and running, jumping overboard and engulfing themselves in the flames. They leaped from the collapsing mast and waded through rising water now spilling onto the deck. They screamed for the captain, begged for help with his name, and then the cries were washed away with another tremulous wave. The ship rocked once more.

The S.S. Majesty was capsizing now, leaning too far to starboard.

Arthur clutched at the splintery railing, trying to keep himself standing amongst the waves, the flames, and the smoke. Amongst the cries of his mean who he couldn't save, amongst the desperate calls for an order. What was he to do now, but stare into the reflection of flickering flames that dotted the dark ocean water before him?

"Arthur!" A voice rang out, familiar, important. "Arthur, get over here!"

The captain looked up, seeing the image of his first mate flailing desperately towards him. His clothes were blackened and the edges still glowing red. He was bleeding through the side of his head.

"What have you done now, boy?" Arthur yelled through the commotion. He reached out his arm just as Alfred did, clutching onto him for dear life. He was grateful, knowing he was still safe, more or less.

"I-I'm sorry," He stammered. "I failed you. I've damned you all. I can't do a damn thing but hold onto this ship and—"

"Arthur, we have to jump."

"What?"

Arthur looked up. Alfred's blue eyes reflected the flames, and they were dead serious. Grimy and fatigued his face looked, but his eyes showed determination and desperation. A man willing to jump overboard despite being in the middle of the damned ocean.

"Alfred—" he tried to reason, he had to. But the boy wouldn't listen.

"Please, Arthur, we need to jump! It's the only way to save both our asses." Alfred grabbed his waist and edged him closer to the ship's railing, but Arthur dug his boots into the floorboards, clutching his arm and pushing back with a hiss.

"I can't swim!" He yelled.

Alfred must've done a double take, but he was too focused on the water to notice.

"What?! What do you mean you can't swim? You're a fucking pirate!" Said the first mate.

Despite the utter fear churning within his stomach, Arthur swallowed and looked up at Alfred with what he hoped was fury. "I can't bloody swim, you twat! Most pirates can't swim! Neither can the most of the bloody British Isles, for God's sake!"

Alfred blinked, brows furrowed, looking frustrated and confused. "But you live surrounded by water!"

"Surrounded by it, not in it!"

Alfred blinked, then steeled his jaw. With a great bolt of determination, he clutched Arthur harder around the waist and all but dragged him to the edge of the ship. She was near halfway to capsizing now, and the water was a good eight foot jump below.

"Alfred! Alfred! Stop you idiot, please!"

Arthur wasn't ready to jump. He didn't want to be surrounded by darkness. He would suffocate, even more than in the smoke. He would die down there.

"Arthur. Arthur, please, trust me." Alfred's voice broke him out of his stupor, and slowly he looked up.

He looked into dead serious blue eyes.

"Relax, please. I've got you. I won't let you drown. I'll have you know, I'm a good swimmer!" He smiled a tad, not looking away. Arthur felt himself gulp, let his grip loosen, as Alfred's tightened around him.

"I-I'll weigh you down."

"No you won't. I'll keep us both safe, okay? I got us. Do you trust me?"

Arthur knew the answer. He'd given it a million times and had his life saved a million times. His heels still dug into the floorboards and his grip on Alfred could rival a tourniquet, but he looked at Alfred, and kept looking, without even so much as a glance at the nightmare that waited below and was sure to shoot up his lungs within minutes, then said, "Of course I do."

Alfred smiled and held him tight, and with a final push they jumped, abandoning the burning wreck above.

(a/n): Wowee how dramatic. Anyway, tell me what you thought! I actually had a lot of fun writing this~