That's a big pot of oil…

Jim assumed that was what it was. It sure smelled like hot oil. He'd spent enough time in the galley with Silver that even after this many years he knew what oil getting to the ignition point smelled like. It was almost nostalgic. But what the oil would be used for…he knew it wouldn't be as harmless as cooking a meal. Likely either he or William, or both of them, would face that pot, and there would be no holding in his screams then.

What would I give to go back to being fifteen getting run ragged by that old Ursid?

A lot. He'd give a hell of a lot. The list of things Jim was willing to sacrifice for one yesterday with Silver went on forever it seemed.

It was the thought of never seeing the cyborg's crooked, gap-toothed grin that finally forced a tear from his eye and he swiftly rubbed his cheek on his shoulder to wipe it away. Not that anyone could see it; Raith's crew was apparently shit at everything.

The men posted as guards were dead asleep, the one set up next to the pot of oil to keep it from getting too hot was asleep, the crew set to watch over him and Will were asleep. Everyone was asleep except Jim. He hurt too badly. Despite his cocky attitude earlier, he was in utter agony and he couldn't decide where on his body hurt the most. The pain had a way of alternating where it was and every time Jim thought it was at its worst it would start up in another place even more intensely than before.

"I wonder if Sidon went looking for me," Jim murmured toward the sky. He traced constellations with his eyes. He'd certainly bled enough to lead Sidon right to where he and William were. Would he be able to handle fighting all of Raith's crew?

Jim's eyes came back down and he looked around the camp. There were close to twenty pirates including Raith and he and Will were positioned right at the middle of all of them. The only crew member that might be able to put up any sort of real fight was Bigs the Desandron. But with so many of them, if even one woke up and sounded the alarm Sidon would likely be overwhelmed and ki-

The thought that Sidon might not live if he came to save him brought burning tears to Jim's eyes and he fought to push them back down. Damn I've got it so bad for him…

Maybe they really were soulmates. But what a shitty situation to meet your soulmate. No matter how Jim looked at it, their relationship was doomed. One of them was bound to die and they had only just found each other.

A blur coming toward him through the darkness startled Jim and he jerked to look at the object flying at him.

' Oh…Morph… ' he let out a sigh when the blob stopped in the air in front of his face and wiggled excitedly. Wait… Jim's mouth fell open in shock and he stared at the shapeshifter. His voice came out as a desperate whisper, ' M-Morph?! '

There was no way- he had to be hallucinating- that had to be it; his brain had finally snapped and he was going crazy-

But then Morph nuzzled against his cheek and under his chin and the physical touch was what he needed to verify that Morph wasn't just his imagination and was very much ALIVE. Jim couldn't fight the tears now and he felt them streaming down his face as he leaned into Morph's cuddling, ' Morph…Morph…why didn't you come when I called you…I thought…I thought I'd lost you…I missed you, bud…I missed you so much… '

His little friend made a soft chirp and looked at him expectantly for a moment before transforming into a key. Jim lifted his chin to give him access to the shackle and the relief at the metal falling away from him was so overwhelming that he nearly cried again. The chain clinked softly and Jim remembered again that he was very much in danger still and he looked around wildly.

No one had moved.

Jim leaned forward and Morph zipped behind his back to free his wrists. He grasped the chain to keep it from making noise and lowered the shackles to the ground before pulling his arms from behind his back and stretching them. His wrists were raw from the rubbing of the metal while he'd strained, but he didn't have time to check all his wounds now.

He had to fight down a cry as he pulled his boots on. His feet were sure as hell screaming as his shredded soles made contact with the worn in-soles. It took longer than he felt he had time for before he finally caught his breath and forced the tears back down. He could cry later.

Morph followed him, still in key form, as he crept around the tree to where William was sleeping. Just like Morph had with him, he unlocked the manacle around his neck first. William instantly reacted and started to shout, but Jim clamped his hand tightly over his mouth and leaned in close. William's eyes widened when he recognized who was in front of him and both of them looked to the men stationed to 'guard' them.

Neither man moved even a little and continued to open-mouth snore.

Jim moved his hand and motioned for William to lean forward. His friend looked confused, but he did as he was bid and Morph released his wrists. The blob darted back up and turned back into himself to nuzzle Will's cheek.

William's eyes widened and he looked from Morph to Jim, whispering, ' How? '

' I don't know, he just flew over and unlocked me. We gotta- '

He didn't have a chance to finish what he was saying before William had him in a death grip and he was yanked forward into the hug. Their chests getting forced together aggravated the not-so-dully throbbing brand mark and he tried to twist free to get the pressure off the wound. ' We have to go!'

The danger of their current situation seemed to dawn on William and he let go. Jim winced with every footstep as he stood and they inched around to search for the best escape route through the camp.

Morph danced in Jim's face excitedly and made wild motions.

' What?'

The shapeshifter flew in the direction he'd first come from to unlock Jim and stopped at the edge of the trees to continue to dance and motion for them to follow.

Jim understood what Morph wanted, but…his eyes took in the form of the sleeping Desandron blocking the way and his tongue reflexively moved to touch the deep split in his lip. If Bigs woke up while he and William were trying to sneak out of camp it was likely he wouldn't hold back and they wouldn't make it to the morning.

He looked to William and made a motion with his hand, pointing to the shortest route out of camp and drawing his finger through the air as if tracing the edge of the clearing with his fingertip. If he could get away without speaking, he would. William's face lit up with understanding and he nodded.

They'd nearly made it to the edge of camp when Jim's eyes caught sight of the closest 'guard' with his laser pistol clasped loosely in his fist. The man's fingers were only barely holding the gun.

We need a weapon…

Jim couldn't resist the urge. He crouched in front of the man very slowly and reached for a rock to replace the weapon while his other hand very carefully wrapped around the barrel of the gun.

He saw William tense in his peripheral and he could almost hear his voice asking 'what the fuck are you doing?!'.

Almost…

The man jerked awake and he and Jim stared at each other for a beat as they both took stock of their new situation.

"PRISONERS ESCA-"

Jim didn't give him a chance to finish. His body moved instinctively, swinging the arm holding the rock and bashing him on the side of the head. The man fell limp, but it was too late; the alarm had already been called and Jim looked up in time to see the rest of the crew lurching sleepily to their feet.

"Here!" Jim threw the pistol to William, "Go!"

William hesitated, and Jim shouted more forcefully, "GO! I'll distract them and be right behind you!"

I'll more than distract them- Jim turned back to face the men coming at him as William started running. He snatched up the second pistol that had been in the pirate's belt and picked off the biggest threats.

Bigs went down with a roar of pain. Not fast enough though; Jim grimaced at how many charges he had to go through to kill him alone. How many were left? Five. And there were plenty more than five pirates scrambling to get their own weapons in-hand.

Each shot counted now and Jim aimed carefully. A wash of relief went through him as each spark of blue-purple light hit its intended mark and took them down. He tossed away the useless pistol.

That should be enough to get away-

An angry cat-like yowl behind him sent a thrill of fear down his spine and Jim dove away from the sound and its owner. He scrambled to his feet with his back to the fire and Raith in front of him and nowhere to run.

Fuck!

"Leaving so soon?" the woman nearly purred at him. Jim assumed she was pleased at having him cornered.

"Oh, you know-" Jim looked around desperately for anything to defend himself. He almost wished he'd kept the pistol and one round in it to give Raith a piece of his mind, "-I figured I'd have more fun somewhere else, since you were so limp wristed with your torture methods."

Fury flashed through her eyes. Apparently she'd never had to deal with someone as charming as Jim, or she at least hadn't had that pleasure in a long time. Either that or she really didn't like being insulted.

Jim simply smiled back at her, "Oh, but I've got something for you. Call it a parting gift-"

His left hand wrapped around the end of the branding iron and he swung with all his might. He felt like he should be at least a little ashamed at how satisfied he was at Raith's scream of pure agony as the hot metal connected with the side of her face, but he really didn't care. She reeled away, clutching at her face. Jim could smell the burnt fur, could see blood seeping between her fingers. He admired his handiwork for a moment before she staggered away from him and an idea struck him.

Whipping around in a tight circle, Jim kicked over the pot of oil. The instant the liquid made contact with the flames the stuff lit on fire and spread wildly wherever it splattered. Jim stumbled back, covering his face with his raised arms.

That's probably enough of a distraction- Jim turned and started to run but was met head-on by another pirate.

He didn't have time to dodge out of the way. The snap-crack sound of a pistol shot, combined with the sparking light and a searing pain in his gut-

Jim went to his knees.

He couldn't focus his vision through the pain. Everything was double or triple and each breath torture.

There was another shot fired and he was sure it was for him as well…

But he wasn't dead. He wanted to be dead considering it would hopefully mean the pain would finally, mercifully, stop.

His eyes followed the motion of the pirate in front of him going down and then they moved back up to face their killer. William gazed back at him with a tight expression, "You stupid son of a-"

Jim whimpered as he was heaved bodily from the ground and his arm hauled over William's shoulders. His legs didn't want to work. The pain in his feet, the pain in his gut, the hot blood oozing from between his clenched fingers over the wound from the laser shot…

"I'm not…I'm not gonna…just go…" he gasped.

More than just the darkness of night was closing in at the edges of his vision.

"I'm not leaving you."

Jim's head dropped. He couldn't hold it up any longer. He didn't have the energy. His fingers were failing him too and he felt his grip on his blood soaked shirt slipping. Each word was a breath, a gasp, "Please…Will…I'm…not…"

He didn't get a chance to finish before he felt his body sag and darkness finally closed in on him.

"I found those Navy men. "

Silver had not been expecting this situation when Sidon first mumbled those words. He should have known better by the utterly defeated tone in the Zora's voice and how distraught he'd looked. He had just been so overwhelmingly relieved that Jim was finally found that he was willing to overlook the clear red flags.

He'd been annoyed at the boy - the man - when Morph had come zooming up to him on the destroyed Navy ship. How could Jim leave Morphy behind?! After a few days though, and Morph mimicking that he'd gone into some little hole to hide when the laser cannonballs had started flying, it was clear Jim hadn't done it on purpose. He was just damn happy now that both Morph AND Jim were safe and alive.

Well…while they were at least both alive , Jim was far from safe.

It was hard to see in the darkness, but he could make out Jim's silhouette in the light from the campfire as he rested against the trunk of a tree. He stared at the sky and then quickly rubbed his cheek on his shoulder before gazing at the scene around him.

The chain around Jim's neck made him madder than he had words to describe. He knew if he'd seen it getting shut around the human's neck as it was happening he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from charging straight into the camp. It was taking more self-control than he'd thought he even had to keep from doing that same thing right now. So he busied himself with surveying the camp and its guards as he waited for Sidon and Timetra to circle back around with their companions to give him a report of what they could see as well.

Silver had a rapidly growing pit of hopelessness in his stomach. It looked as if all of Raith's crew was in the camp, surrounding their two human captives at the center. He'd already sent one of the men he'd brought with him back to the ship to get more of the crew.

Even with how proficient he, Timetra and Sidon were at fighting, they were outmatched. He couldn't rely on the element of surprise either; if Raith was even half as smart as he knew she was, her crew wasn't actually sleeping. Heavens knew he'd pulled the same trick more times than he could count, and even once used it against Jimbo himself. He pushed that memory down as deep as he could.

It was too late when he noticed Morph shooting away from him toward Jim.

Dammit, Morphy!

The look of complete shock and then deep relief on Jim's face as Morph nuzzled him only solidified in Silver's mind that Jim had been upset and hurt that the little shapeshifter had been left back on the ship. Silver allowed himself a moment to watch as Jim started to cry before his hackles rose and he scanned to make sure that Morph's appearance in the camp and Jim's whispering to him hadn't alerted any of Raith's crew.

Apparently she wasn't as smart as he'd thought.

No one moved even a little as Jim was unshackled, and then his friend. Not even when Jim's friend - partner? Lover? - started to shout and had to be muffled did anyone react.

Fucking idiots.

The way Jim moved indicated that he was in a fair amount of pain, but Silver couldn't quite tell HOW much. Knowing what a bitch Raith was…he wouldn't put anything past her. If she hurt his boy, he'd make her death agonizingly slow…

Thank Heavens for Morph; he was trying to get Jim and his friend to come to Silver. He dared inch forward more, maybe if Jim were to see him…but then he saw the path they would have to take and the hesitation Jim made when his eyes also landed on the Desandron. He motioned to his friend and they started another way out of the camp.

Good lad.

Silver caught Morph;s attention and the shapeshifter darted to him and then into his pocket when prompted. He moved around the edge of the camp to meet them.

But then Jim stopped. He was reaching for something. A weapon maybe? But he was so close to another alien-

No, Jimbo! It's not worth it!

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Jim woke that one alien up, which woke everyone else up, which caused his friend to flee while Jim fought the aliens off on his own. If that other guy was abandoning Jim…he'd get it ALMOST as bad as Raith did.

Speaking of the devil…

Silver's heart dropped into his stomach when Raith leapt right in front of Jim, an annoyed but smug smirk on her face.

He couldn't hear what they were saying no matter how hard he tried. But he didn't need to, his hand was already switching to his laser pistol. He'd end this- he'd end this right now- She was NOT going to touch his boy while he had any say in the matter.

It was so overwhelmingly satisfying to see Jim swing that hot iron rod from the fire and crack Raith straight across the face. Silver only wished a little bit that it had been him to get that blow in, but Jim doing it was almost as good.

But then Jim had to knock over that pot of- was it oil? It erupted in flames and he couldn't see Jim anymore. This only hurried his feet to get around the camp to hopefully meet Jim as he escaped-

Suddenly, the sound of a pistol-shot rang out, and Silver forgot how to breathe.

It didn't hit Jimbo, it didn't hit Jimbo, it didn't hit Jimbo…

But when Silver went around the camp to meet Jim, he wasn't there. He was still among the flames, and Silver was ready to run right in there after him.

Another figure running back toward camp caught his attention and he bristled again for an instant before he recognized it as Jim's friend. He had his hand on his gun and was trying to draw it. The sound of a shot rang out and Silver briefly thought the man had shot himself, but the human continued to raise his weapon and he fired in toward the camp.

What-

The man hoisted Jim up and started to pull him away from camp.

"Jim-" Silver's throat went dry. He ran. It didn't matter that his leg was creaking and groaning in protest.

"JIM! JIM, WAKE UP!" He heard a panicked voice and turned toward it.

Silver saw the flash of purple-blue light through the trees and heard a scream that sounded like- "TIMETRA!"

He crashed through the trees just as the second man was getting dragged back by Timetra and Sidon's scouting companions. Timetra leaned against a tree, snarling angrily as she dug a health elixir from her side bag and popped the cork off with her teeth while she tried to staunch the blood from the wound on her leg.

"Oh, there you are," She glanced at him between swigs of the red potion as if this was a perfectly normal thing.

Silver's eye turned red in anger, "Who did tha'?!"

Timetra nodded casually toward Jim's 'friend', whose eyes widened slightly in fear, "Woah, woah, it was an accide–"

The young man didn't have a chance to finish his sentence before Silver exclaimed, "All those fuckin' minions o' Raith's an' ye 'ad te hit HER?!"

"Sh-she just came running up as I was trying to protect-" His eyes darted to the side in a panic. "Wait…you're not with Raith?"

"Damn, I'm going to have a new scar," Timetra grumbled softly as she joined him to stand over the human. The man's mouth fell open.

"It…that…it healed you?" He struggled against the two men holding him, "Heal my friend! Please! I-I'll do anything! Whatever you want, just name it!"

His eyes again went to the side and Silver felt himself turning to look as well. Sidon crouched over Jim with his hand pressed to the human's stomach. He could see blood seeping from under his hand and Jim was lying so still…

"We'll give you the coordinates to what the Navy wants! But you have to save him because I only have one half of the coordinates! He has the other half!" The other man was begging desperately. "You…you need us both…please…please, save him…"

Of course Silver was going to save Jim. But he also wasn't stupid, and turning down an offer of information from the fucking Navy.

"Fine, we'll give 'im some o' our elixir…but ye bes' keep yer end o' the bargain or there'll be 'ell te pay fer ye both!" Silver actually had trouble keeping a stern face, so worried was he about Jim, and had even more trouble ignoring Timetra's bemused expression.

She pulled an elixir from her bag without a word and started toward Jim without him even needing to say anything else. Sidon snatched it from her and she flinched at the aggression behind his motion.

"Come on, swallow it," Sidon sounded almost desperate as he brought the bottle to Jim's lips.

Thank Heavens… Silver let out a shaky breath when he saw Jim's throat bob as he swallowed. He felt the eyes of the crew holding the other man on him and Silver cleared his throat, "A'right, we gotta g't outta here. Wha'e'er's left o' Raith's crew's not far off an' we're ripe fer an ambush here. Back te the ship."

It was a tense walk back. Silver was desperately trying to check that Jim was breathing without being obvious about it, but Sidon wouldn't let anyone near him.

The hell's wrong with you?

"Demitria!" Sidon's shout startled the group and Silver's eyes were again drawn to him in surprise and confusion. He'd never known Sidon to be excitable or anxious like this.

The purple-blue Zora leaned over the rail of the ship as they hurried toward the gangplank. Her eyes widened as she looked around the group, "Dear Hylia, what happened?!"

"Need ye te make sure neither o' t'ese boys die on us," Silver interjected. "They owe me information."

She beckoned for them to follow her down into the ship to two separate cabins and Silver stayed in the one Jim was laid in. He turned his eye on Sidon, "Shackle t'e other one so's 'e don't try nothin'."

He snarled in warning when Sidon hesitated. The Zora gave him a slightly indignant look, but obeyed without argument and shut the door quickly on his way out. Demitra was already at Jim's side, carefully stripping his clothing off to check him over. She hesitated with the shirt pulled mostly up and looked back at Silver, "Sir?"

"Jest verifyin' 'e made it 'ere."

She seemed confused still, but satisfied with the response and turned back to inspect Jim's wounds.

Silver was ready for a lot of things: a wound, a burn, even whip marks…but he wasn't prepared for what he actually saw. As Demetria lifted Jim's shirt, the very bottom of some sort of odd burn appeared, and Silver felt his blood boil at just the thought of what it MIGHT be. Without thinking, he lifted Jim's shirt past his chest–much to Demetria's frustration–and gaped at the brand on the left side of his chest.

Branding and marking and all that shit was distasteful as hell to Silver, and for a good reason. No person had the right to own no other person. He'd stolen, killed, tortured, and done almost every bad thing a man could do to another man…but this was another level that even he wouldn't stoop to. And Raith had stooped so low as to do that to Jim?! When he got ahold of that bitch now…he'd shoved that brand right up her fucking ass.

"He's stable," Demitria straightened and cleaned her hands in the wash basin. "I see no reason why he won't recover. I'll go check the other one now. Are you coming with me, captain?"

"I'll stay 'ere a minute," He managed to keep his voice level as he spoke, but just barely. She regarded him for a moment before slipping out of the room and he was alone to his heavy thoughts.