A/N: I would like to take this moment to declare myself in a total state of denial after watching "Sunday". It never happened, and it shall never be acknowledged in those universes of my creation.
"On a ship like this, men must work for a livin'," Te'Lan had said with a hearty chuckle. "Ya either work or ya sit in the bilge chained up an' starvin'. An' don't be thinkin' that there's ta be any escapin' from this ship, neither. Where would ya go? Only place ta go would be over the gunwalls, an' ya can trust that would nay be pleasant. If the cold does'na get ya, the sea-scurries will. Those beasties love the taste of human flesh."
With all said that the captain had deemed needed to be said, Carson and Rodney's shackles were promptly removed from their wrists and ankles, and both their jackets and their shirts were taken from them. Carson could not help but wonder how the crew seemed to come under the impression that he and Rodney were rich men, and although the fabric of their clothing was cleanly machine-woven and synthetic in nature, he wouldn't have suspected that the crew would find them so valuable. Some of their captors lauded and fought over the bits of clothing for themselves, and the foray eventually resulted in the tearing of Carson's jacket and the shredding of Rodney's shirt. It was then that Sonnal reappeared from below-decks and glared down at them with the purest expression of contempt that either of them had ever seen.
Without warning, Carson was hauled back up to his feet by a single hand on his throat, pressing him against the main mast. "The Cap'n ordered that ye be given a chance ta work for yer dinner this evenin', but don't fool yerselves into thinkin' I'll be letting ya off easy. I'm Sonnal, the coxswain an' first mate on this boat. If I catch you lubbers slackin' or up ta no good, don't think that I won't toss ya over the gunwalls to the scurries myself. Ya got that?"
Carson nodded as much as the man's tight grip on his neck would allow and did not resist when the man pulled his face closer. Sonnal's lips curled into a snarl, and Carson cringed in disgust at the stench of the man's foul breath that wafted from him.
"That don't sound like a proper response ta me," Sonnal growled lowly, letting loose a gob of spit that landed right on Carson's cheek. "You'll address the captain's officers with respect unless you want ta meet the rope's end!"
"Aye... sir," Carson gasped, clawing at the hand that held him in its grip and trying to turn his head away.
Releasing Carson's neck with a rough shove, he bore down on Rodney next, jabbing a grimy finger into his ribs threateningly. "An' that goes for you, too. Don't ya be forgettin' it."
Captain Te'Lan had retired to his quarters for some time after that, and Sonnal again disappeared from sight. The first undignified duty of Rodney's and Carson's unfortunate debacle was finally assigned to them. A thin man with equally thinning hair wearing what appeared to be a short pair of breeches handed them each a flat piece of what appeared to be sandstone. Both Carson and Rodney looked down at the filthy stones, then back at the man questioningly.
"You lads look like you've never seen a holystone before!" He cackled madly with laughter, and a few men looking below from the crow's nest joined him in his laughter. "Yer scourin' the decks today, mateys! There's quite a bit o' algae an' mineral salts built up since the last good swabbin'. Best get to it, if ya expect ta eat tonight!"
Rodney had opened his mouth to utter a bit of snarky commentary, but had not managed to speak more than a few unintelligible words before having a bucket of seawater thrust into his arms, which spilled in abundance onto his pants. Promptly shutting his mouth, he silently followed Carson's lead as he knelt down and began scrubbing. Rodney knew that his back would twitch and twist from the cold, not to mention from the awkward position of kneeling.
Clouds drifted lazily across the bright violet-blue sky occasionally blocking out the sunlight a bit, but not quite often enough to let Carson become too uncomfortably cold. Rodney, however, was shivering miserably from the wetness that was drying slowly in the remaining clothing that he wore from the waist down. Eventually the stiff breeze calmed and Rodney's shivering had lessened while the sun shone down on them, and it eventually disappeared below the horizon, turning the sky to orange and indigo colored hues of dusk. Carson's mind wandered with the mindless dragging of time as their hands accustomed themselves to the task of scrubbing, and the faces of the friends and comrades that he and Rodney had left behind passed through his thoughts. Not that he would've wished his fate on Rodney had the opportunity to relieve him of it presented itself, but it would have been so much worse if he had been kidnapped by himself, and he found himself thanking his lucky stars that Rodney hadn't decided to leave him alone at the bar the previous day.
Soon enough they did not have enough light left to continue their scrubbing, and their knuckles were already scraped and raw from just the couple of hours of hard labor they'd invested thus far. Captain Te'Lan and Sonnal had left them alone for the most part, but as the darkness encroached, the teasing and berating from the crewman who had drenched Rodney with the bucket had gone on for some time unabated. When the majority of the crew had finally begun to disappear below decks to have their meal, he'd snuck in a swift kick to Rodney's ribs. Rolling painfully onto his side, Rodney could barely even manage a moan through the clenched cold muscles of his body, and Carson had finally had enough of the abuse. Jumping up to his feet, he threw himself at the crewman and tackled him to the deck.
The fight quickly morphed into a wrestling match. Carson found himself not to be quite so out of practice as he thought and had the man in an elbow lock and strangle-hold in just a few moments. The crewman spit and howled and yelled, but Carson was furious and did not let go... until a field of stars suddenly passed before his vision as something impacted his head from behind. Carson felt himself falling backward onto the deck. It had been Sonnal, and he was now reaching down for Carson's neck as if to strangle him.
"Nerry, I told ye ta watch them carefully, ya moron!" Sonnal spat with disgust, dragging Carson to his knees so that Rodney, who was still struggling just to sit up, could watch him being strangled. "This one seems ta be eager for a wallopin'."
The stars continued flying through Carson's vision, but just as he thought that he might lose consciousness, a solemn, but cheerful voice spoke quietly, prompting Sonnal to loosen his grip enough for him to breathe. "Be careful, Sonnal. Remember that I want ta keep them both alive for now, or my plans ta ransom them back ta their friends will be for naught. If he dies, I'll see that ye join him in his fate. You'll be gettin' no more warnings."
"Aye, sir," Sonnal affirmed with a confused, but angry tone, still holding Carson firmly by the throat. "But this one attacked Nerry. He should be punished for that!"
Te'Lan stepped forward, emerging from the shadows being cast by the mast. He leaned over Carson and studied him, as if carefully considering what punishment he deserved. His eyes locked on Carson's powdery blue eyes and Carson's on his emerald greens. It seemed like a long moment before he finally spoke with a soft chuckle. "I saw ye defendin' yer friend, lad. I respect a man who defends his friends, especially while not bein' in a position that's advantaged ta do so.
"Let 'im go," Te'Lan ordered firmly after a dramatic pause, smiling pleasantly at Sonnal and straightening his posture regally. "I'm startin' ta like him more than I like you, Sonnal. If ye value yer job, you'd best hope I don't think ta ask him ta stay on as first mate once his friends pay the ransom. Now, arrange ta give 'em their dinner. I don't think I've ever seen this part o' the deck so clean."
Carson stared after him as he walked back to his quarters, dumbfounded, and then as shared a glance with Rodney, he saw the same perplexed expression that mirrored his own. He couldn't say that he'd met very many pirates over the course of his life, but he'd never have expected to be kidnapped by one, much less a pirate that actually seemed somewhat decent. It was totally unexpected, not that it was unwelcome, but he was suddenly sure that being in the care of two crewmen that had just been told that they were not as well liked as he, their prisoner, could not have been a good thing. Carson looked up at Sonnal and Nerry with dread as their rough hands firmly grasped their arms and led them both back toward the door to the bilge of the ship.
Sonnal tossed them inside while Nerry wandered off, and just after subtly checking to make sure no one outside was looking, he quickly stepped forward into the bilge space and thrust his foot into Carson's stomach as hard as he could. Doubling over and falling to his knees, Carson gasped for air, clutching at his abdomen while Rodney watched from the corner.
"Don't ever be thinkin' that you'll manage ta live through this on just the captain's good graces," he sneered menacingly, and Carson did not doubt that he meant it. He leaned down over him and snarled, his putrid breath once more assaulting Carson's nose. "An' if ya ever undermine my authority in front o' him like that again, I'll not hesitate to gut ya in an instant, to hell with the ransom."
It was then that Nerry returned, and he brandished a couple of brown objects that initially appeared to be biscuits of some kind. But when he tossed them into the room at the two prisoners, Carson could see that those 'biscuits' were actually hard as rocks and skittered across the floor toward them as if made of stone.
"Enjoy your dinner," Nerry said with a hideous snort of laughter, and then turned to leave. Sonnal's accompanying chuckle was deep and merciless, and he shut the door soundly and firmly, locking it behind him and leaving Carson and Rodney in utter darkness.
"You didn't have to do that, you know," Rodney muttered softly from the corner after a moment. His ribs and head still ached, and he didn't feel much like eating.
"O' course I did," Carson wheezed, trying to sit back carefully against the hull to ease the tremors that remained in his stomach. He was glad that Rodney could not see him wiping the tears from his eyes that had sprung forth unbidden. "It worked out a'right, I think."
A tired scoff echoed through the confines of the small space, and Carson heard Rodney shiver. "I beg to differ. Sooner or later, I think that guy is going to try to kill you."
Carson shifted uncomfortably, panting with the pain of the exertion. "He a'ready has. We're both still here though, aren't we?"
"That's my point," Rodney whined pitifully. "We're still here. All I'm saying is that if you can manage to keep that moron of a thug from murdering us both, I'm still hoping that Colonel Sheppard will figure out where we are and rescue us before the captain decides to have us both killed."
Carson didn't reply right away. He knew that the chances of Colonel Sheppard being able to find them on the open sea were nil, but Captain Te'Lan had made it clear that they were being ransomed. "Rodney, there's no reason for the captain tae permit any harm on us. We're no good to 'im dead. Somehow he does'nae seem like such a bad person, really."
"Not a bad person?" Rodney repeated incredulously. "Carson, he kidnapped us and just threatened to kill us unless the Colonel pays our ransom!"
"I know, I know," Carson said, rolling his eyes and cocking his head to the side in the darkness. "I'm just sayin' that he seems honorable… for a pirate, anyway. I don't think he'll kill us 'til he's sure they won't pay. But he's got tae return to port eventually ta collect the ransom, now doesn't he? We've some hope left."
Another scoff echoed through their small prison. "Yeah, assuming that brute doesn't kill us first, or the food. Have I mentioned that I'm claustrophobic?"
Carson would have groaned with annoyance, but stifled it as best he could. He could not help the sigh of fatigue and frustration that came instead.