A/N: I'm not gonna lie: this chapter is horribly written. I had to push passed my writer's block, which meant shoving through this chapter. Now the story is rebuilding itself in my head. So please just read it, get through it like I did. It'll get better.

Interstellar Academy

13: Silver

"I hope you don't mind, Jimbo, but I snuck into your room for little Morphy here." Morph was hiding under John Silver's hat, resting on the man's warm bandana.

"Uh, as long as my roommates didn't see you," Jim said in a low voice. "But what are you doing here? Is everything OK?"

Silver's bright smile dimmed, replaced by a grimace. "Oh, lad. Not in the slightest, unfortunately. But we'll have to continue this conversation elsewhere. A man's gotta sleep. And it looks like you can use all the rest you can get." Silver referred to Jim's broken leg.

"Well, I guess. I mean, I get the cast taken off right before school lets out so. I'm not worried about it." Jim shrugged, then pulled out his key, about to unlock the door. "Are you gonna be staying for awhile?"

Jim's relationship with Silver was something rocky. In fact, it was one of those up-down-up type of things. They left off on "up" so he assumed they were on pretty good terms. Still, Jim couldn't help but feel his defenses rise.

"Yep. Until you're all better, I guess. Though I'm goin' to stay low profile, ya know, for the whole 'avoid-getting-arrested-because-there's-a-warrant-on-my-head' deal."

Jim nodded, remembering that Silver was still on the run. It was well deserved- he plotted a mutiny, placed the lives of an entire crew of people in danger, threatened the lives of him and his friends Dr. Doppler and Amelia, and then ran off before being tried. He was in deep doo-doo.

"Right. Well, I'll see you around then." Before Jim could open the door, someone had pulled him from behind to hug him. Jim obliged, Silver's warmth and girth familiar and loving. He looked up, pushing away slowly. "I've missed you."

"Aye, and me too, lad." The cyborg winked and hobbled away, Morph flying excitedly around him.

Jim met up with Nova the next day, sending her message that it was urgent. She sat in the courtyard, alongside the fountain, breaking up bread and handing out to the birds. She looked a lot more rested than he did; he couldn't bring himself to sleep knowing Silver was so close by. He was just so excited.

"Jim?" Nova asked slowly, her eyebrow going up on curiosity and worry. "Is… everything OK?"

"Well, yes and no." She didn't say anything to that, only stared in confusion. "Silver's here."

Instantly, Nova turned this way and that, searching for the cyborg. "What, where?"

"Not HERE, in town."

"Since WHEN?" He'd captured her attention.

Jim knew Nova had mixed feelings about Silver. She cared for him because Jim did, but beyond that, she didn't like him. He DID point a gun to her face. Nobody would want anything to do with someone who did that to them.

"Last night, I'm assuming. That's the first I'd seen him."

Nova sighed, looking away. Then she said, looking at him soberly, "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. Not yet."

There was an awkward silence. Jim knew what she was doing: making assumptions. 'He's going away. I won't see him for months, maybe even longer. What if something happens? What if he gets really hurt? What if he's worse off than that?' Jim rested a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look at him.

"It's going to be alright, Nova. You have to trust in that."

"I trust in YOU, Jim. But that's the extent of it." She smiled- though it turned more into a grimace.

"Then that's how you know it's going to be OK. It's me we're talking about." That caused her to laugh. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Nova."

Her heart stopped at the confession, and she gazed into his eyes for any sign he wasn't telling the whole truth. But he was.

"I think if Silver wanted me involved, he would have said so. Or come found me."

"And? If he wants to drag me along anywhere, my stipulation is I have you alongside me."

"And if the Doctor or Captain found out? You're dealing with a fugitive, Jim."

"They can come along!" Jim said, his eyes glowing. He believed that the old adventure they once had would come alive again.

"Jim, Amelia is pregnant. She's not going anywhere. Neither is Dr. Doppler."

"Then it looks like it's just the three of us."

Nova still stared at him with disproval.

"What, Nova?"

"I don't want to go along with him. I know you love him, and I respect that because it's YOU, but I can't bring myself to do anything for him. Even if in the end it would be for you. I'm sorry." She squeezed his shoulder, stood up and walked off. He watched her leave, then huffed, folding his arms.

How frustrating. He believed that she was missing adventure just as much as he was. But after all they'd been through in the entire year they'd been here, he could also see where she'd want a break from excitement. That, and, as it was said before: Silver put a gun to her head.

He stood up and walked toward the coast, keeping it slow and steady; he'd gotten up quickly and was reminded of his broken bone. He couldn't wait to get the blasted cast off his leg. It was a menace and a constant hindrance.

The day the earthquake showed up, he'd skipped class to play more basketball. He couldn't focus knowing just how popular Nova hadn't gotten. And worst still- Stav had made a move. First Roger then his best friend? It felt like a fate worse than death, if she'd accepted him. But, thankfully, she hadn't, confessing for the umpteenth time how she felt about Jim.

Even that didn't comfort him enough. He needed something physical, but because of Roger, that wouldn't be allowed. Though she'd said the words, the action of showing someone how much you love them meant more to Jim than anything. Seeing her hovering over him, keeping him safe from falling rubble, keeping him company. All that was the real confirmation needed to still his worrying heart.

Now they had a newcomer who'd rescued Nova before Jim even had a chance.

"Thinkin' about yer little girlfriend, are ya?" Silver had surprised him, standing against a strong palm tree and eating a purp.

"Ah, she's… she's not my girlfriend."

This news actually shocked the old pirate. "Not your girlfriend? What are you two callin' yourselves then?"

"Friends."

It sunk in then. "I see. Sorry lad."

"It's just some harassment issues. It'll be taken care of." Jim plopped onto the ground, wanting desperately to change the subject. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Silver smiled. "I got an idea to get across to ya. Are you in?"

Jim nodded eagerly. Maybe some time away would do both of them some good- and a Jim/Silver adventure sounded like the perfect remedy.

"I found this a few days ago." Silver reached into his pocket, pulling out an empty hand. Morph appeared from his other one, holding a slam triangle with weird inscriptions embedded into it. It reminded Jim of Flint's map, and he couldn't wait to hear where this was going. "It's a few months voyage. I believe if we leave right after your schoolin' ends, we'll be back before it starts up again. If all goes according to plan."

Jim chuckled. "When does that happen?"

Silver ruffled the boy's hair, the brown strands falling out of their ponytail. "You've grown up in that tiny head o' yers, didn't ya lad?"

Jim gathered his hair, now falling between his shoulder blades and tied the ponytail up again. "I guess you could say that. Age does that to you. But you would know better than me."

The pirate gave the boy a playful punch before continuing. "From what I understand, it belonged to a queen who hid a whole trove of treasure from her cheating king out of spite. It's worth a gigantic fortune. It would put you down in history, boy."

Jim smiled brightly. "I'm in, trust me."

"Glad to hear it, lad!"

"Hey, Jim, I have a question!"

It was Rayn's voice, the very last person Jim honestly wanted to see. He turned, panicked, to his big pirate friend. "You gotta hide."

"You're afraid of that kid?"

"N-no, it's not that, it's you're a fugitive, and he may know about your bounty."

"Good point." In an attempt to hide, Silver ducked down behind some foliage, Morph playing around just above his head before the man cupped him and pulled him down.

"Jim?" Rayn ran up beside Jim, confused and curious. "Were you… talking to yourself?"

Jim speared him a look before shaking his head. "What do you need, Rayn?"

"It's about Nova."

Great. Here we go. Jealousy was creeping its ugly, green head. "Yes?"

"What's her brother's name?"

That question took him by surprise, but Jim obliged. "Cassie. Short for Casanova."

"Nova isn't her real name. I knew it." Rayn pressed a hand to his head.

"Well, no. It's not." Where has this kid been? "It's 'Supernova'. And why does that matter?"

"Because of something she told me while we were hiding-" And then he stopped talking and covered his mouth, as if he knew he'd said too much.

"Rayn…" Jim warned him. "What did Nova say?"

Rayn shook his head. "It just reminded me of someone else. And I remembered her vaguely mentioning a brother. Casanova. He'd talked about his twin, though only briefly."

"Where are you going with this, Rayn?" Jim was growing impatient with the boy's constant whirling around.

"I'm saying that the next time Nova plans on going home, I HAVE to go with her."

Jim cut him another look, this time full of pure malice. "I don't think that's wise."

"Oh yes it is. Because Casanova and I have a score to settle and-" Before he could finish, the bushes behind him sneezed. He turned around on his heel and glared at the brush. "Uh… bless you?"

The bush sniffled and muttered its gratitude, followed by a curse. "Blast it! I've ruined my cover." When Silver emerged from the bushes and stepped over them, it took everything Jim had not to laugh at the other boy's expression. He looked utterly terrified.

"A friend of yours, Jimbo?"

"'Jimbo'?" Rayn repeated, sucking in his lips to avoid bursting into giggles.

"Not… really. He's Nova's friend."

"John Silver at yer service," said the pirate, extending his cyborg arm. Again, the boy jumped. "Oh, don't worry about this hunk o' hardware. Done me good, Jim'll tell you about it later."

"Why were you hiding in the bushes?" asked Rayn.

"Well we were talkin' about uh-" Morph popped out of Silver's pocket, the triangular map in his mouth.

"Hey, that looks like my grandmother's map." Rayn snatched it from the pink blob, shocking and angering the larger pirate. "HEY THIS IS MY GRANDMOTHER'S MAP!" He hid the map behind his back and turned to face them, his face red with frustration. "Where did you get this?"

"Found it, you little twerp! Now hand it back, if you know what's good for ya!"

"Oh no. I don't think so." Rayn felt Morph playing around with his fingers, trying to grab the map back, but he simply moved away, waving the map toward the ocean. "Either take me on whatever treasure hunt you're planning, or I toss this map into the ocean. And I got one heck of an arm."

Jim growled, facing Silver. The man at first looked adamant on just killing the kid. Then his face sagged, and he nodded. "Fine."

"What?"

"I said 'fine', Jimbo. We can't argue with him. It's rightfully his."

Rayn and Jim had a stare-off before finally Jim caved. "OK. Fine. But we call the shots here, you got it?"

Rayn, excited, tossed the map back. "Sounds like a plan to me!"