Marvelous nodded to each one of his crew in turn. Their faces were mostly stony, with little real expression, and he couldn't shake the sinking feeling that they were patronizing him. Treating him with kid gloves, as though he might be something easily broken if improperly handled. But he stood, turning away and walking down the hallway as slowly as he could manage.

He was still getting used to walking on the galleon, now that it was sailing on water instead of air. They'd landed it in the ocean after the escape, hoping to throw off any Zangyack searches, and it seemed to have been fairly effective so far. Marvelous could count the number of attacks they'd had since on one hand, and it'd only been a week.

Against all odds, the Zangyack had been fairly quiet since their escape. Damaras had been on the bridge of the ship when Gai had smashed GoJyuDrill through it, and the newspaper had reported him dead a few days later. Ahim had been the first to point out that the paper's obituaries hadn't been entirely accurate as of late, but Marvelous insisted on counting it as a win. That didn't mean they'd let down their guard, but he wanted to bring some sort of accomplishment away from their whole ordeal.

Basco, however, had somehow managed to survive their encounter. From what they could tell, the order of execution still stood, but he'd been placed on the wanted list with the rest of the Gokaiger crew. Once or twice Luka swore she'd caught a glimpse of the Free Joker, but it was always in passing and they hadn't yet seen Basco himself. Marvelous, however, had a gut feeling that his nemesis wasn't quite dead yet.

The keys, every single one of them, had been flitted away by none other than Navi the moment the crew had been attacked on the surface. She'd confessed that she'd done it without orders, but felt that it was the best thing to do, considering the situation. Marvelous had given her a firm pat on the head and thanked her for her foresight, something he was sure would come back to bite him in the ass at some point in the future.

The hardest part had been dealing with Don's injuries. The wound hadn't been fatal, but it had been serious nonetheless, and Marvelous refused to listen if anyone tried to suggest not treating it to the best of their ability. For the first several days he'd stood guard himself outside of Don's room, keeping a careful eye on anyone who came or went during the course of his treatment.

But Ahim and Gai saw that Don was properly treated, and he'd even finally woken up about two days before this meeting with the crew. Marvelous regretted waiting so long to have the talk with the rest of the crew, but he needed to be sure of what he was saying before he went to the trouble in the first place. Soul-searching was a much more difficult task than he wanted it to be, but he wasn't about to half-ass it. Not when something so important was on the line.

Marvelous paused outside of the wooden door, his hand already settled on the knob. His mind flashed back to that first night, curled up against the door and coaxing Doc into letting him in. The plaid sheets twisted and flung all around the room. The look on Joe's face when he'd been caught leaving the next morning. All of it sat in his memory like an anchor, weighing him to the present.

He swallowed, then let himself in.

Don was fastened to his bed at his wrists and ankles, using a set of manacles Marvelous had hoped they'd never need to use. Granted, Don hadn't yet tried to escape, but Marvelous wasn't willing to take the chance and trust him. Not yet.

The door shut behind him with an audible click, and Don's eyes blinked open to see who had just entered the room. "Marvelous," he said with a tired grin. "It's good to see you."

Marvelous walked over to the chair that had been kept by the bedside, hands clasped tightly in front of him. He wasn't sure how Don was going to take the news, but he'd already decided that Don didn't have a choice in the first place.

"I spoke with the crew," he began, his voice cracking despite having just used it in the main cabin minutes ago. He went through a dozen different ways of saying it in his head before gritting his teeth and meeting Don's eyes directly. "They don't trust you."

Don laughed, weakly, then winced as the movement pulled at his injury. His stomach was tightly wrapped with bandages, but Marvelous could tell it still hurt. "Well, of course," he said, his voice an odd mixture of Doc's relaxed tone and Don's certainty. "I can't expect them ever to, really."

"I agree with them," Marvelous continued, letting his eyes drift away slightly.

The lightness fell out of Don's voice. "I understand."

Marvelous took a deep breath and looked out the porthole window. The sun was setting on the horizon already, even though it'd been just past lunch when he'd sat down with the crew to talk. But it was a gentle sunset, reflecting orange and red off the water, and for some reason it put Marvelous at ease. "But you're my crew, Doc," he said finally, his voice painfully strained. "And I'm not getting rid of you that easily."

He heard the sharp intake of breath, and could feel Don's eyes as they turned to stare at him incredulously. Marvelous could hardly believe the words himself as they tumbled from his lips. "You're to stay here indefinitely," he went on, unable to stop himself now. "I can't guarantee you'll ever leave this ship again. I'm not saying it's impossible for you to gain back our trust, but..." Marvelous let his eyes drift back down to meet Don's green ones. The emotion he could see there almost knocked him off his chair, but he swallowed once and went to finish. "But it could happen. With enough time."

"Marvelous..." Don sobbed, eyes brimming with tears. "Thank you."

The captain couldn't watch anymore. He stood quickly, nearly knocking the chair over in his haste back towards the door. His hand was on the knob, the door half open when he caught himself. He needed to say it, if only just once. Almost breathless from the tightness in his chest, Marvelous managed to pause long enough to say the only thing left on his mind.

"I love you, after all."

NOTES:

I can hardly believe this is finally finished.

First of all, I absolutely have to thank ladyisana for being my awesome and lovely beta reader, and catching my errors before I posted them. Also, so much love and thanks to curryjolokia, butyoumight and borrowedphrases, who have given me more encouragement in my writing than I think I've ever gotten before. Most importantly, my husband, for giving me this idea in the first place, even if I took it in an entirely different way than he probably imagined.

Lastly, but not at all least, every one of you who read this entire thing. It means more to me than you can probably imagine.

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