A/N: This is for Ainmell Snape :P And all you other lovelies of course.


-1852-

- The Clementine -


Another of the crew had fallen ill, this time it was Grey, the first mate of the ship. That made four since they had left port. Even more if Calypso counted the passengers. Almost a dozen sick in the three weeks that they had been at sea. The Captain's son, William, among them. There didn't seem to be any explanation, or any connection between them.

If there was something wrong with the food or water, why weren't they all ailing? And why were they getting sick at different intervals? Calypso knew very little of medicine, but she knew she had never seen anything remotely similar to this infection. It was almost like a rash, but instead of any natural color, it was a sickly green, the slender tendrils growing like veins in a spreading pattern over the skin. It was followed by a powerful hallucinations and a fever. What had bothered Calypso the most, was the skin closest to the original rash would start to harden. When she had been cleaning out the wounds of the passengers, she could have sworn it looked like there were fish scales. But that was ridiculous. Surely, there was nothing that could cause a person to grow scales.

They had blocked off part of the steerage to keep the passengers separated from the rest who weren't ill. The crew had their own quarters, and were less likely to cause a panic. She spent most of her time split between the two groups of infected, no one was overly eager to keep an eye on the sick, since they were still unsure of how it spread. But Calypso felt pretty confident that whatever it was, she couldn't catch it. After all, she had avoided the Black Death. While she looked human, or Gallifreyan, she doubted she shared enough biology to ever fall ill.

She was on her way to the top deck, a glass jar in her hands. She had just finished visiting with William, it was lonely to be the only sick child, and without a mother as well. The Captain had little time for him, though it didn't seem to be from lack of concern. He was doing his best to keep the ship running, and the crew still diligent in their work with the disease slowly spreading. He was relatively young, the Captain. She guessed he was in his forties, but it was not the best maiden voyage to be having across the Atlantic. He was normally in charge of a fishing vessel, which was why they were headed to the Caribbean, to start work down there. But work meant supplies were needed, and so he had found himself now captaining a large boat, along with fifty odd passengers, and a mostly unfamiliar crew.

She met him at the bottom of the stairs as they were both ascending to the deck. He caught sight of the jar in her hand and frowned.

"Afternoon, sir." She nodded as they climbed the wide stairs, leading to the rear of the ship.

"Afternoon." He greeted, his eyes flickering on the jar once more. "How is he?" Though he didn't spend much time with the boy, he knew of the jar. It was little more than a comforting thought, bringing fresh air down from the deck for William, since by now he was too sick to make the trip himself.

"As well as can be expected." She admitted. There was no point in lying to him. None of the others seemed to be improving, their fevers coming and going but the main infection never reducing. He knew the truth of that just as well as she did. "The nightmares were troubling him again." She twisted the lid off the jar. While it didn't actually do anything, the smell of the sea did seem to sooth William when the dreams became too much.

"As it does with the others." The Captain nodded grimly, staring out into the open waters. "Perhaps I shall take the evening meal with him in my chambers." He suggested.

"I think he would like that very much." Calypso smiled, it would do them both some good. "And, how is Officer Grey?" She inquired, she knew it must have been a blow to lose one of his most trusted men to the sickness. He was saved the trouble of answering by an interruption from the edge of the deck.

"Funny," Drolled a familiar voice. "I could have sworn the beach was supposed to have sand. You know, rather important part. Seeing as it's the beach." Donna was wearing a bright peach shirt and an unseemly pair of trousers that didn't even reach her knees. She didn't look like she had dressed for a trip aboard the Clementine. Or in this century, for that matter.

"Donna!" The Doctor chided her, he was still wearing the dark pinstriped suit she was familiar with. Though his brown jacket was missing, so perhaps he had anticipated a warm sunny beach as well. "You're missing the incredible view we've got here! Besides, you don't want sand. Sand is rubbish. It's all grainy, and dry, and then there's all…bits of stuff in it. Plus," He nodded knowingly. "It gets everywhere." They were both standing side by side at the stern of the ship, and the Captain had spotted them.

Calypso thought, a little belatedly, that she should have tried to distract him. But it was difficult to do when she was just as surprised to see them. Although their sudden appearance on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic was probably more of a surprise to him, since she at least knew it was possible.

"Ugh," Donna muttered. "Do I not want to hear about your personal life. But really, incredible view? I just see a lot of gray and blue. And a pirate ship. Are you joking me right now?" Her hands were on her hips, glaring at the Doctor.

"Pirates? Honestly Donna, give me more credit than that. If this is a pirate ship, then I'm Davy Jones."

"Excuse me." The Captain had approached them both silently, pulling his pistol from his hip holster. "Might I ask what you two are doing on my ship?"

They both turned slowly at the same time, each raising their hands above their heads as they realized that it was a weapon he was aiming at them.

"Well, call me Davy." The Doctor said with a half frown.

"Oh look." Donna said with a huff. "A pirate. With a gun."

"Don't be silly," The Doctor scowled. "He can't be a pirate. He hasn't got one of those…hats." He made a swirling motion over his head with his hand but stopped as he saw Calypso over the Captain's shoulder. "Oh, hello!" He said with a grin. He thought better of it as the Captain gave him a curious look, and then did the same for Calypso. "Sorry, I'm the Doctor. And this is Donna."

"Hello." Donna gave a small wave and plastered a smile on her face, it looked almost like a grimace.

"We're…researchers. Of, science…things. I've got papers." He finished confidently and moved his hand slowly to his jacket, waiting for the Captain's sharp nod before pulling out the small wallet. He flipped it open and Calypso recognized the psychic paper, although, she didn't quite recognize it. She had just remembered the explanation he had once given her, but the paper looked to be several degrees from Oxford, and even a personal recommendation from the Queen herself. She shook her head, although, knowing the Doctor, she wondered if it was entirely out of the realm of possibility. Calypso just hoped it would work, the Captain was no fool, and he was certainly not a fan of stowaways.

"And you said you are a Doctor?" He asked shrewdly as he returned the wallet.

"Yes, well. Not exactly medical." The Doctor shrugged.

"And why have I not seen either of you? Three weeks is a long time to avoid notice."

"Er…well," The Doctor clearly hadn't planned his excuses ahead of time. "Donna here, she's been quite ill." He said, stuffing the psychic paper back into his jacket. Donna frowned at him but kept her mouth shut. "She's just been…oh, terrible. Got the…" He looked to her for inspiration, but found none. "The whooping damp cough…lung." He recognized that the lie could have been a little better formed.

"I've seen them on occasion, sir." Calypso offered, before the Captain could think to ask what exactly the Doctor meant. "They've kept below decks mostly." The Captain gave her a meaningful look over his shoulder.

"Your wife does not look very ill." He said, finally holstering his weapon.

"Oh, no." Donna wagged her fingers in the air. "No, we're not together."

"Not wife." The Doctor agreed just as quickly. "Just an associate. She's real interested in this whole…science business. She was ill." He said, getting back to the point. "But what, with all the fresh air, sunshine. Lemons. She's much better now."

"She has not had fever? Or gangrene?" The Captain took a moment to eye her carefully, perhaps wondering if these two had been the source of their troubles all along.

"Oi!" Donna said, looking rather offended. "I had a cough is all. What's gangrene got to do with a cough?"

"Yes, alright Donna." The Doctor said placating her.

"There has been illness on the ship." The Captain said somberly. "I thought perhaps if you had recovered…" His voice trailed off. Calypso knew what he had hoped, that it was a sign that the rest of them would also get better. Including his son. "If you'll excuse me." The Captain didn't seem interested in continuing to discuss it further with the strangers.

"Here," Calypso held out the glass jar for him. Hoping he would remember to visit with William. He accepted it with a sad smile.

"Thank you." He nodded to each of them before disappearing back toward the bow of the ship.

"Gangrene." Donna said murderously. "Do I look like I've got bloody gangrene?"

"No." The Doctor shook his head sympathetically. "You look the picture of health. Moving on. Calypso!" His attention turned back to where she was standing, still a little bewildered by their appearance. "It's lovely to see you! Fancy meeting you on this…pirate ship." He pulled her in for a hug, which she returned reluctantly. He didn't know yet, know what she was and what she had done. How could she act like as though everything were normal?

"It's not quite a pirate ship." She forced herself to smile, and hugged Donna as well, who seemed to have recovered from the gangrene accusations. "We're headed for the Caribbean islands, most of the crew are fishermen."

"Ah, lovely! See Donna? The Caribbean. Told you I'd find you a beach." The Doctor said cheerfully.

"Yeah. On a boat filled with sick people. Thank you Doctor. You're just the best." Donna muttered.

"Don't be silly," He waved his hand at her dismissively. "Calypso's here, didn't you want to see Calypso?" He said with a grin.

"Yes yes. It's always nice to be the third wheel with you two." She grumbled, but she winked at Calypso playfully. She felt her smile falter a little, but did her best to ignore it. Donna didn't know either. How could she keep lying to them?

"What kind of sickness is it?" The Doctor ignored her quip easily. "This Captain of yours seems traveled enough not to be bothered by scurvy."

"It's not something I've seen before." Calypso admitted. "It starts with an infection. The gangrene. Then hallucinations, an inconsistent fever. Nothing we do seems to help." She looked at them both honestly. "It might be best if you…left."

"Nonsense." He grinned in his cocky way. "I'm the Doctor."

"Not because you've got a degree for it or anything!" Donna reminded him. "I'm going below to get a sweater, this deck is bloody cold."

"I've got degrees!" He said indignantly. "They just…don't happen to be in medicine." He shrugged as Donna disappeared. "Don't fall on anything sharp or pointy!" He called after her. "Besides," He said, his eyes grinning at Calypso. "I'm not going to just pop off on you again." Her hopes of the disease chasing him away so that she wouldn't have to worry about how to act were dashed. Although, there was a part of her that didn't really want him to go. A part that remembered what he had said on the TARDIS, Christmas day. But that part was also frightened by it. "Sorry about Italy." He said sheepishly, dragging his hand across his neck. "Not really sure why the TARDIS affected you that way."

She swallowed, trying to disguise her nerves. Would he be able to figure it out if she told him what she really was? "It's fine." She said. She didn't really know why it made her jump, so it wasn't too difficult to keep quiet about it.

"So…" He said casually, but there was an interested glint in his brown eyes when she looked at him. "How many has this been for you?"

"Nine." She answered quickly. She had only just remembered Italy, and how…familiar he had been on that trip. With all of those thoughts running around in her mind, she wasn't quite sure she could handle that added burden.

"Ah, still behind then." He said a little ruefully. "I'm up to fourteen." He raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Don't suppose we're more…friendly, yet?"

She had to laugh at his attempted subtlety. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." She shook her head. She could almost forget her worries and her doubts, almost.

"Best not, then." He said with a smile, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'll just have to practice being patient." He said the word like it tasted foul in his mouth, but he winked at her. "Come on then, why don't you show me all the…ship-y stuff. I'm sure it's brilliant."

Before Calypso could admit that she knew very little of the ship itself, they were interrupted by a sharp startled scream. One that sounded very much like Donna.

"I said nothing sharp." The Doctor muttered, exasperated.

"Doctor!" Donna's voice could be heard clearly, coming from below decks.

"Never a dull moment." The Doctor said with a grin, reaching out to take her hand. But Calypso was already running down the ladder, afraid that she knew exactly what had caused Donna to scream. Everyone who had fallen ill had screamed like that.