Yona could not tell if it was irony or fate's fault that she ended up here, so she blamed both. Standing here on what were supposed to be her turf, even though she had never set foot here before today, just barely holding up a badly wounded pirate captain and facing the one person she never thought she would see again, Soowoon.

"Yona, what are you doing here? How are you even alive? And is that Hak? What are you two doing together?"

"Soowoon." The name was voiced simultaneously from two different throats and for a moment the pirate and the medic stared at each other in surprise, how could the other know the current prince of the British Empire? She knew why she was familiar with him, intimately. They had been close when they were little, growing up in the palace as cousins and spending most of their childhood together.

That was before his father usurped the throne from her father eight years ago though. When her father was killed she had run for her life, gone into hiding and been adopted by a kind doctor, Ik-Soo. As the years had gone by she had resettled into her new life and he had taught her everything he knew about modern medicine and made sure that she had been able to study medicine at the university. Though she would never forget what had happened, the man she held responsible and his son, whom she used to play hide and seek with when they were small.

What in the name of his almighty holiness was he doing here? Last she heard he was leading his troops into yet another battle with the Franks.

...

The mission had started off pretty well. Instead of trying to sneak into the heavily guarded fortress, they had waltzed in through the front door: her in her old medic uniform and Hak in a similar 'borrowed' suit. They had wrapped his head and his face partially in gauze to conceal his features from nosy, curious looks and to give themselves a reason to enter the infirmary without being asked to do something else on the way. She showed her identification papers, they told the admin staff about the imaginary burn Hak had received from accidentally tripping over a raised heater filled with hot coal, and they were let through. -Oh how Hak had grumbled over that part, apparently the proud captain did not like the idea of being seen as clumsy. Even if it was for the sake of the plan, but she had persisted. Pointing out that it was way to risky to enter the fort without anything to cover his face and how else would he have gotten hurt? In battle? As a medic? Highly unlikely... eventually he had reluctantly agreed, under protest.- It had worked too, she smugly thought to herself. No one even asked for the fake ID they had conjured for Hak.

Well there they had quickly sneaked into the medication storage room and she had grabbed the needed bottle while Hak stood guard. When she exited the room though, Hak made a sign for her to wait for him while he went back in, pulled out a travel bag and started loading it and his pockets with gauze, disinfectant alcohol, painkillers and anything else he could decipher and thought could be of use to the crew on the ship. It was not every day you ran into a virtual goldmine like the medicine cabinet of the royal fleet and he was determined to make the most out of it. Yona, wild eyed, tried to mouth to him to stop the plunder and get out, they had what they came for and she was not comfortable with stealing just for the hell of it. To no avail, he turned a blind eye to her frantic gesturing and filled his pockets to the brim.

Once Hak was satisfied with the spoils of his impromptu raid, and his pockets couldn't hold another pill, they left the infirmary and headed towards the main entrance of the building, still unrecognised, at least until they reached the gate.

Thinking back at it, stopping to plunder the storage room was probably what doomed them and led to this fated encounter. If they had left as soon as Yona had picked up the quinine, or even just a few short seconds earlier, then Soowoon probably would have missed them as he had, after all, seemingly just got off his shift and was heading out into the town in civilian clothes when they ran into him at the gate of the fort.

Yona noticed him first. Her eyes widened and her heart raced. It could not be: he could not be here! Why was he here? Crap, he noticed her staring. She quickly lowered her gaze and quickened her pace.

They were so close. They had agreed to part ways as they reached the gate. He would move on back to his escape boat that would take him back to his ship and she would return to the headquarters, explaining that she had been kidnapped and managed to escape on her own. She would finally be able to go back to her old life.

"Yona?"

'Crap crap crap crap'. Yona sped up her pace; dragging Hak along with her by the sleeve of his uniform, but it was too late.

"Guards, stop those two!"

"Yes, sire."

...

And now they were here: surrounded by soldiers with Prince Soowoon in the middle. Hak quickly bleeding out from a gun wound in his side he got from shielding her from the first round of bullets the guards had fired before Soowoon ordered them to stop. Him barely standing and her staggering under his weight. As medics never carry weapons themselves, they had entered the fort defenseless and completely reliant on not being recognised. Now she vexed at the circumstances that led to this moment.

Then, quicker than she could grasp, she found herself losing her extra burden as Hak pulled away and spun her around to hold her in front of himself like a shield, with a knife to her neck. When did he pull that? Where did he even get it? She had been adamant that no weapons could be brought into the fort but he must have hid it from her from the start.

"Let us through, the boy's my hostage, I'll slice his throat if you get any closer," Hak growled warningly, staring Soowoon straight in the eyes, daring him pick up the challenge.

"Hak, I know you, you would never kill a defenceless kid. You protected her, or is it him now? Just a moment ago. Put down your weapon."

"Never, I'll never give in to you. I'll never yield to an usurper," he growled back, putting heavy emphasis on the last word and lacing it with bitter venom.

"Me? You are the king killer are you not? My father simply stepped in as the new king after you killed King Il and went into hiding. Furthermore, while we are on the subject of royalty, do you even know who you have at the tip of your knife?" Soowoon asked casually, but his opponent didn't take the bait.

"Bastard, we both know what really happened," Hak bit back, steadfast and unwavering but Yona could feel her uniform getting wetter where her back pressed against his wound and she knew he could not keep it up much longer.

She had to do something. So she did the only thing she could think of:

She faked a dizzy spell and pretended to faint.

With that she could allow him to handle her more easily and not struggle against his grip while still acting convincingly. When he felt her leaning more heavily against him he pulled her up closer and once again demanded a free escape. The soldiers looked at each other hesitantly before looking up at their commander for directions.

"Let them through," the prince eventually offered. His eyes revealing nothing of what he was thinking.

"But, sire… it's the Thunder beast, the most wanted man in the entire empire.

"I said let them through, we'll catch him another time."

"Yes sire."

They ran.

Once he reversed them both through the gate and they had gotten out of sight from the fort, they ran as quick as they could. Her smaller frame supporting his larger the best she could as he staggered down the sandy path to where they had hid their escape boat. She guided him into the little skiffle and gently eased him into a laying down position on the small wooden floor. Worriedly noting how pale he was and that he barely seemed to hold on to consciousness as she pushed them out of the bay and began to row towards where the main ship was waiting. The sprint must have sucked the last of his energy out of him. She desperately hoped the bullet had missed the vital organs but she could not be sure until they got back to the main ship and she could have a proper look.

Her muscles ached from the rowing, holiness, it was heavier than it looked, when he opened his eyes and looked at her.

Biting through the pain he slowly propped himself up on his elbow. With one hand firmly planted on the wound to apply pressure and his face still scrounged up in pain, he forced out the question through clenched teeth that had been on his lips since the gate.

"Why?"

"Huh, why what? Bit busy over here trying to get your sorry butt back to the ship and make sure you don't bleed to death," she muttered before instructing the wounded pirate to be quiet, lie down again and keep applying pressure on the wound. She was not in the mood for one of his annoying interrogation sessions right now.

"Why are you helping me? You could have ditched me at any time. Getting me back to the ship was never a part of the plan," he breathed out, blatantly disregarding her prior order.

"Oh that, well I'm not a monster for one thing. If it weren't for me you wouldn't have made it out of the fort alive, you needed me. Secondly, I'm not a huge fan of the prince myself. I'm probably safer on the pirate ship than I am with him," she explained. Then she stopped for a moment before continuing in a softer, more thoughtful tone. "Besides, you saved my life first. You didn't have to cover me. Why did you?"

The pirate just snorted, then winched slightly. "Really, did you think I'd just let you get shot right in front of me? After everything you have done for my crew and Tae-Yeon?"

"Most men would," she answered, almost dejectedly, but he only threw her a sidelong glance before closing his eyes and lying down again.

"Yeah, well. I'm not like most guys then." Then he cracked one open again and turned to her. "And neither are you, Princess. I knew you had an interesting back story, though I have to admit I never would've guessed…"

"Wha? No, I have no idea of what you are talking about. I told you, I'm Yoon and I am a medic at the royal fleet."

"Mhm, tell that to the mermai-'"

"We are here now," she interjected. She was not keen on delving into her back story and it was true, they rounded a small bay and the main ship came within sight. With a few more forceful movements of the oar she pulled them up against the side of the ship. Just in time too, judging by how clammy Hak's skin felt when she helped him stand, how he swayed with the movements of the skiffle and would have toppled over had she not caught him, and how pale he was. She didn't think he'd be able to cope much longer without medical attention.

Then the other ship came within sight.

So, to set things straight: some parts I have borrowed from canon, some I have tweaked, and some are completely new. I hope it is still enjoyable and not too confusing to follow, especially since I did a couple of scene jumps in this chapter.