That little blob creature was coming in handy.

William had thought it was a nuisance before, always squeaking and chirping and getting into everything, but Jim loved the damn thing so he'd just dealt with it being around them constantly whenever they were together. It was a good thing its name was just its species, because William really wouldn't have been bothered to remember anything more elaborate.

Morph required more than a small amount of coaxing to come out of his pocket, and William tried not to sound annoyed as he whispered soothingly to the little pick animal. He had to admit he'd gotten attached just a little bit, but only because Jim adored the pet so much, though he ultimately decided he would have preferred for it not to be around when he was with Jim. William knew if he'd been entrusted with the thing it would have suffered; he had no patience for pets. They were just a burden and timesuck he didn't have energy for.

It finally came out of his pocket and transformed into a knife to cut his bindings free. William spared it a pat on the top of its…head?

"I guess you're sorta cute," he mumbled as Morph cuddled against his cheek.

He was rather pleased with himself for snatching the little creature and stuffing it in his pocket in the whole mess of getting recaptured by Raith.

His good mood darkened at the reminder of how they'd been caught. They'd almost killed Jim. They weren't supposed to do that! The damn pirates still needed both their sets of the coordinates, what good were they if they were dead?!

William darted toward the door. It was locked. They tied me up and locked me in? What were you expecting me to do, open it with my mouth? He motioned with his head at the door and Morph disappeared underneath the crack at the bottom, only to reappear again floating in the air on the other side as the door swung open.

"Good…boy?" He patted the thing again and they started down the hall, William tiptoeing and Morph floating over his shoulder. "Go find Jim."

The blob didn't need to be told twice. It zipped off, darting underneath doors and then back out as it searched for its master.

It stopped at one door and started to 'dance' excitedly in front of it, squeaking and chirping urgently.

Bingo.

Key-Morph unlocked the door - William rolling his eyes the entire time - and they snuck in.

"Oh my God…"

William rushed forward, almost forgetting to close the door quietly so his sneaking around wouldn't be heard or seen. Not that he really cared at this point. There were only six pirates left, barely even enough to run the ship, and likely after the last tirade he'd heard Raith going on if might even be less than that.

Jim lay on his stomach on the floor, unbound, shivering, and unconscious. William reached out to touch him. Jim's skin was hot. Really hot. He was breathing, which was good, but it was labored. William looked him over quickly, feeling rage and guilt welling up in his chest. Jim was so damn pale. The criss-crossing wounds on his back were so raw and inflamed that he was sure Jim must be in agony.

"Never should have worked with that bitch," William touched the angry red mark around Jim's throat. He could feel the other man's pulse slamming against his fingertips. That Gerudo woman had been a bitch too, but she at least had that healing drink, and they could really use some of it right now.

"Jim, Jim, come on, I need you to wake up," he whispered gently. It wasn't hard to hook his arm underneath Jim and lift him off the floor, but it was harder to do it while not touching any of the wounds. Jim whimpered the smallest amount as William pulled him up and into his lap. He buried his face in Jim's hair as the man sagged against him, his cheek pressed firmly to William's shoulder, breaths tickling against his neck.

"Will?"

God, his voice sounded worse than he looked.

"I'm here," he whispered back.

There was a short pause before Jim let out a small, sad noise, and his shoulders started to shake. William stiffened. In all the years he'd known Jim, he'd never seen him cry. Not even a hint of redness or damp eyes, like he didn't know how to cry, so feeling Jim's tears soaking into his shirt and hearing the sniffles was a shock to the system. He almost reached around to hug him, but he remembered the awful cuts all down Jim's back and settled instead on holding his arms.

Jim spoke as a sob, "What do we do now?"

William wanted to sit and hold him forever. For once Jim wasn't fighting the touch, wasn't teasing or riling him up for the fun of it, he was just accepting the affection. It may be pushing his luck; it was already a miracle that Jim was letting them be close like this at all, but William couldn't help himself. He pressed a gentle kiss to the bare shoulder closest to him.

It was too much; he felt Jim tense.

"No."

Even with how weak he was, the sharp tone in his voice was enough of an indicator that Jim was ready to fight him.

"I know," William whispered. He couldn't even begin to ask Jim to forgive him for everything he'd done, but he didn't want this small level of intimacy to end, "Just sit here, I won't do anything, I promise."

He could feel Jim trembling, but it was almost impossible to tell whether it was from fear or because he'd lost so much blood. Likely he would be too weak to pull out of William's arms, so he could just hold him there as long as he wanted.

Morph chirped and nuzzled himself against Jim's cheek.

"Morphy? What are you doing here, bud?"

"Helped me escape, must have snuck into my pocket in the chaos," William ignored the creature's quizzical look. The thing seemed to have at least a basic understanding of what was being said around it, even if all it could do was parrot phrases back and not form its own words.

The blob wiggled and motioned toward the door and William remembered with a start that they were still in danger. He couldn't trust Raith to not come down and try to hurt Jim again. He'd listened for what felt like an eternity as Jim screamed on deck while he pleaded with Morph to undo his bindings. He needed to get Jim out of here. Raith wasn't keeping up on her end of the deal, so why should he? She'd gotten too cocky with all her success and notoriety and had started letting the little things slip.

William shifted his weight and stood up, hauling Jim up as well. Jim's subtly shaking fingers clutched at his forearms as he staggered. William's hands went to his hips to support him. Jim started to twist out of his grasp, so he held on tighter. There was a weak glare in those blue eyes, but William ignored it, "Come on, we're getting out of here."

"I can walk on my own…" Jim immediately stumbled a little.

Stop trying to be brave and take my fucking help.

Jim tried to fight him as he grasped his hand, but William held on too tightly, and he pulled Jim along behind him as he snuck back out of the room and down the hall deeper into the ship. Morph drifted between them, transformed into a lantern to light the dark halls as they walked.

"Where are we going?" Jim spoke so quietly he almost didn't hear him.

"Longboat hangar."

There was a pause before another hushed question, "How do you know where it is?"

"Scouted ahead before I found you."

William could have walked this ship blindfolded and not run into anything. He'd been on the damn thing enough times over the last four years he may as well be part of the crew. God knows Raith had joked about that countless times no matter how viciously he told her to shut the hell up. She knew how angry it made William to hear her calling him 'her spy' and she adored spitting that insult every chance she got.

He preferred the term 'informant'. Not that it was any different, but it made it sound better in his head and it was enough for him to justify his actions.

There were voices ahead and he slowed their pace to a crawl. Morph turned back into himself and tucked into the closest pocket, which happened to be one of his own. They were coming up to the galley, the light from a lamp spilling into the hall ahead of them. William glanced over his shoulder at Jim as they pressed themselves to the wall and crept forward to listen. Jim noticed him looking and their gazes met. He watched Jim's lips carefully.

'Is there a way around?'

'No.'

They'd have to wait. Or sneak past. William leaned around the corner as much as he dared. The galley and mess hall were empty save for two crew members at the farthest end. The two of them were shucking some sort of vegetable out of its thick husk. The husks were tossed into a waste bin and the vegetables put in a bowl. But it seemed that most of the vegetables were going into the bin too considering the state of mold on most of them.

"-She's gone mad, mark me," the Zirrelian - William couldn't remember his name - stared down at his tentacle 'hands' as he threw another rotted piece of produce in the bin. The Mugwop sitting across from him didn't even flinch, "Don' let her hear you talkin' like that or she'll kill you too."

"Can't believe she gutted Olath like that…after he patched up her wounds too…"

Raith had apparently gone on a rampage. It wasn't uncommon for her to rotate through the crew regularly and occasionally replace the whole lot, but she'd never done anything like this in the middle of a journey. If she didn't slow down she'd be sailing the ship all on her own, and it was definitely not small enough for that.

The Zirrelian fell forward into his 'hands' with a sigh. William perked up. With the man's eyes closed and hidden in his tentacles and the Mugwop with its back to them they were effectively invisible.

Now was their chance.

William gripped Jim's hand and hurried across the room, eyes glued to the hallway ahead of them. They were nearly there-

"Holy-" A gasp came from the two spacers, followed by a scuffling as the stools they were sitting on were tipped over, "RAITH! CAPTAIN! THEY'RE ESCAPING AGAIN!"

"I hope you can run-" William kicked up his heels, going into a full sprint. Jim was struggling behind him, but he was keeping up the best he could.

When he dared to look over his shoulder he saw that the two crew members weren't immediately behind them, but that didn't mean they could slow down. No matter how badly Jim looked like he was hurting they had to keep running.

They tumbled down the stairs into the hangar.

Morph squealed as it flew to the control to lower a longboat. William grinned as he slammed the door shut, the blob knows what's up! He waved a hand at Jim, "Get in the boat-"

There was a heavy clang at the door, whatever had slammed into it leaving a bubbled out dent. William jumped back. Blood - or something that looked like blood - pooled under the door and dripped down through the grate. Holy shit-

William dove into the longboat just as the door made a grating noise and stopped half open, several aliens falling through the opening with shouted curses.

Jim had a look in his eye that distracted him for a moment. He looked haunted, like he was reliving something traumatic. William pushed him down by his shoulders to sit on a bench and threw himself into the driver's seat. The clamps released. They were falling.

It always sent William's stomach into his throat whenever a longboat launched into the freefall before the sail and thrusters engaged and now was no different.

The thrusters sparked and then roared to life and they lurched violently under the sudden change in force. In moments they were pulling away from the ship and the rain that it was shielding from hitting them came down as a heavy sheet over them. Jim groaned at the water slapping against his back.

Morph squeaked, urgently flying toward Jim and transforming into a tiny umbrella and floating over Jim's back.

"Here, it won't stop the rain, but it should lessen the blow," William reached to pull his shirt off and offer it to Jim.

He didn't get a chance to pull the cloth over his head.

Blinding white pain shot through his torso, just below the bottom-most rib, and William jerked forward and away from the pain. His hand flew to his side. Jim jumped up and reached for him, his eyes gazing beyond William into the pelting rain. His eyes followed the gaze of those blue orbs instinctively.

Raith and her remaining crew were in the second longboat, shooting through the storm after them, the Feliformid standing at the bow with her flintlock pistol raised.

You fucking bitch- you shot me!

William barely had the strength to look down at the blood gleaming on his fingers before his knees buckled and he staggered backward and fell into the seat.

He threw his hand out to stop his fall.

It caught the controls. The force of him dropping to a seated position and the trajectory in which he came down shoved the mechanism downward and jammed the tiller under the lip of the seat ahead of him.

He and Jim both tipped over as the boat went into a nosedive straight for the planet's surface.

His fingers were too weak to clasp around the handle and draw it back up. It was firmly wedged. Jim's hands grasped the handle with his own, both of them tugging on the tiller and swearing a great number of expletives that would make even an old spacer blush.

"FUCKING DAMMIT!" Jim dove into the second stern seat and began to kick at the bench ahead of them. William joined his efforts. The trees were coming closer every moment. He could practically see individual leaves and branches now. The great swath of green was sliced right through by a rushing white-rapid river.

The nails holding the wooden board in place caved under the pressure, bending and allowing the bench to be pushed out of the way just enough that the tiller bounced up as it was released from the tension of being held too far down. He and Jim reached for it, wrenching it skyward.

It was too late.

But they didn't smash straight into the ground. Instead the hull scraped against a large rounded boulder, pitching the boat to one side and bouncing them out of their seats. They scrambled for anything to hold onto, somehow finding each other, as the boat knocked against another boulder and it heaved the other direction.

They were flung straight over the side.

This is going to hurt . William found himself thinking calmly. Why wasn't he more worried? The speed they'd been going was surely fast enough that a sudden stop with a rock or tree or even with the ground would kill them. Hopefully it would be instantaneous.

He was surrounded by intense coldness and he sucked in a sharp breath reflexively, his body spasming as water flooded his lungs instead of air. There was something gripping his hand and he tried to pull it free so he could claw at his throat. It only clamped down harder.

William felt his arm getting dragged up. He was above the surface of the water, coughing and fighting for air, flailing blindly.

"Will!"

"Jim!" his voice came out ragged as his body still attempted to clear his airway.

They were in the river, rushing along with the current, ricocheting off rocks and debris as they were dragged downstream.

Jim disappeared under the surface for a moment and panic shot through every fiber of his being until the man appeared again with a splutter and squinted eyes. He gripped Jim's hand tighter, trying to fight the current to pull him closer, but his body was too weak to win against the torrenting waves.

The draw of gravity swept them up and they plunged over the lip of a cliff and tumbled down with the waterfall.

William was more prepared this time to be submerged, but it didn't stop him fully from trying to gasp at the slap as he hit the surface of the pool. He must have blacked out for an instant, because he found himself rising out of the warm embrace of darkness as his head was pulled above water.

Jim had an arm wrapped around him and was holding him close, kicking his feet and paddling with his free arm as he strained to keep his own head over the surface. William gazed at him numbly. Where did he get this burst of strength?

The sensation of rounded stones, smoothed from years of endless abuse, brushing underneath his fingertips caught his attention as Jim dragged him up onto the bank.

William sagged on his side where Jim dropped him. The brunet fell to the bank next to him so they were facing each other. Both gasped for air, shivered against the cold, reached weakly for each other. They were still for a minute as they caught their breath.

"We…need to go…" Jim panted. But he didn't move to get up. The strength he'd found to swim them to the bank seemed a distant memory.

He jerked a little at William's gentle caress of his cheek, "Will, we gotta-"

"I'm not making it out of this."

William could feel the heat leaving his body. His vision was starting to blur. Dying wasn't so bad. He was calm. It wasn't cold anymore. Why was everyone so afraid of this?

As he stared into those wide blue eyes he found he couldn't fight the guilt any longer. He didn't want to fight it. He let his eyes close as he spoke, searing the memory of Jim's face into his mind so he could die with the image of the man he loved behind his eyelids, "I need to tell you…you need to know…Jim…you deserve to know the truth…"

'Officer Delaney,

We send our condolences for the death of your father.

We understand that this is a trying time, and that finances are not the forefront of your family's mind. We send this letter as a final warning that if the balance due is not paid at least in half by the end of the month, we will be seeking compensation in whatever means possible.

Cordially,

Triamba Intergallactic Financial Group'

William set the letter aside and leaned forward onto the table, falling into his hands with a groan. He closed his eyes and attempted to block out the image of the stack of bills sitting next to him out of his mind.

"Seeking compensation in whatever means possible, huh?"

They'd take his mother's house. The house he'd grown up in. The house his father had built by hand when he was young and healthy and alive. And then when the house wasn't enough to pay off the debt, they'd garnish her already minuscule wages to get their money.

How much more could he possibly send them a month? He was giving almost his entire wage as an officer in the Navy over to cover this debt. He didn't hate his father for dying, but he was starting to hate him for how long he took to finally pass. Guilt twisted in his gut. He shouldn't be thinking like that. His father had been his hero, and it had broken his heart to watch him waste away to nothing in a hospital bed. To watch his mother slowly lose her hope as she too watched the man she loved being reduced to a husk. It had been her decision to finally end everything and let him go, but only after she'd spent almost a full year sitting at his side.

William glanced at the pile of letters. The bill from the hospital wasn't the only one threatening to come after both his and his mother's assets, but it was the largest of them and needed the most attention.

"This isn't going to work…something has to give…" He stood up from the table and paced the length of the kitchen. His mother was in her room, sleeping. Her health had been failing since father passed, so he was sure that soon she would follow him, and then everything would fall onto him.

He paused to gaze out at the living room. His eyes lingered on the pictures on the walls, the old furniture patched with scrap fabric and the wood polished lovingly, the knitted blanket from his great grandmother folded neatly and laid over the back of an armchair.

It would destroy his mother to lose this place.

William hurried to his room, the one his parents hadn't changed a thing about since he'd moved out and joined the Navy, and changed into clothing he used only when he was working around the house. An outfit no one would recognize him in.

He pulled a bandana over his hair and snuck out the window. The street was dark, it was far later than he realized, and he trotted down the side of the road toward the docks.

His resolve waned the farther he went.

This was wrong.

He could find another way to pay the debts.

But the looming numbers on the letters reminded him that they owed more than he'd made in the past four years in the Navy. Even if he got a second job - which would be nearly impossible with how often he shipped out - he wouldn't be able to pay the costs down in even another five years, especially not if he would have to find another place for his mother to live and support all of her needs on top of paying the debt. And they wanted their money NOW.

The bar he slipped into was dark, dingy, rowdy.

Chock full of pirates.

Even with the increasing Navy presence and the crackdown on pirates, they were everywhere, and many of them were still brazen enough to come out in daylight in a port that was heavily trafficked by Navy ships and officials.

William made his way to the counter. The bartender looked him over quickly and took his order. He sat and stared into his cup. What the hell was he doing? Where was he even supposed to start? Who did he talk to?

"What's a Navy boy like you doing in a shitty little place like this?"

He'd remember this meeting for the rest of his life.

The snowy white-furred alien woman approached him and slid onto the stool on his left side, sitting so she faced him, her elbow leaned up on the counter casually, a smug grin on her furred face. Three of her four ears were adorned with gleaming gold earrings, the fourth too mangled to support one. She flicked her long tail casually.

"What do you mean?" William took a drag from his cup.

"Hah!" the woman barked a short laugh. "You stink of Navy, little boy. Stick out like a sore thumb in this room. What are you doing in here with no backup?"

William's eyes darted around the room. The dull roar of conversation hadn't stopped, but it was clearly forced now, all eyes turned to watch him and this cat-like woman. He set his cup down. He was going to die in here and no one would ever find his body…

"I'm in debt. Looking to make some quick money to save my mother's house from being seized…" He turned back to the woman in defeat. His chest was tight with shame. He'd sworn an oath that he would defend the Queen and Empire with his life, and here he was, sat in a bar full of pirates and offering to give them confidential Naval information for money.

"Poor little Navy boy, they don't pay you enough?"

"Not enough for the debt I've collected."

The woman tapped her claws on the countertop, her whiskers twitching as she smiled, "So what's your crutch, huh? Alcohol? Drugs? Gambling? Women?"

William sneered, "Hospital bills, my father died."

"Mmmmm, I see," She traced a knot in the wood slowly with one blackened claw. "Assuming you have information worth buying, how do I know you're legitimate?"

He flashed his ID, just long enough that her sharp eyes could read it, but quickly enough he was confident she couldn't memorize it.

"Navigational Officer William Delaney, huh?" The woman's tail flicked the tiniest bit and he could tell that he had piqued her interest. He was high enough up the food chain in the Navy to be privy to confidential information, which he hoped would be enough to get the money he and his mother desperately needed. One hundred and thirteen thousand drubloons wasn't going to materialize out of thin air.

"I happen to have the privilege of knowing the next mission for the RLS Imperial and I may be willing to part with it…for the right price," he sipped at his drink, watching the woman out of the corner of his eye.

Her tail twitched again. He was on the right track.

"What sort of mission are we talking about? I'm not going to blindly hand over even a single drabloon without some inclination of what I may be sticking my neck into."

"Transportation of highly confidential cargo."

Her eyebrows rose the smallest amount and William knew he had her hooked.

"I'm listening."

William finished his drink and pushed the cup toward the inside of the counter, slipping off the stool and heading toward the door, "I really shouldn't…sorry to have wasted your time-"

The woman's claws dug into his wrist painfully as she clamped down around his wrist and stopped him from leaving. Her eyes flashed dangerously, "What's your price?"

As William hurried back home, his pocket substantially heavier than it had been before entering the bar, he felt the pit in his stomach turning hard and dense as if it were becoming a tangible mass he would carry around for the rest of his life.

"Never again. I'll never do it again."

But it was a lie.

He had been right about his mother's health failing. And just like his father had, she took a long time to fade away, but he couldn't bear to tell the doctors to end everything. He understood now why she had held on for so long when his father was dying.

The debt to the hospital for his father's care was paid off, largely in part because of what he had sold to the pirate, and then the rest from taking every mission he could and skipping any shore leave he had earned.

William regretted not taking at least a few weekends off to see his mother. They spoke over communicators, but it wasn't the same. He missed her hugs.

When the transmission came that she was on her deathbed he'd been granted leave instantly by his superior officers. But even with pushing the ship as fast as it would go and sprinting from the docks all the way to the hospital, he didn't make it in time.

They didn't even give him the courtesy to mourn in peace before they were handing him the bill for her care.

He'd refused a leave of absence adamantly - he couldn't afford it - but his captain wouldn't hear any argument and placed him on mandatory shore leave for three months to settle all affairs.

William walked slowly through his childhood home. Paused and gazed around at every single room quietly. The furniture was gone. The pictures removed from the walls. There was no love here anymore, but still he was hesitant to leave. His father had built this place, his mother had loved it, it was the only permanent home he'd ever known.

"Hey Will. Thought I'd find you here."

He turned with a small start. Jim Hawkins stood in the doorway, gazing at him with those beautiful blue eyes of his, a look of understanding on his face. The brunet turned his attention to the room and he stepped inside, "It doesn't look right when it's empty like this."

It had been a while since they'd seen each other in person. Ships rarely ever needed more than one navigator, and Jim was the best of the best, always moved from ship to ship for important missions. William stared at him. The last time they'd been together was the weekend after they'd graduated the Interstellar Academy, right before they'd received their first assignments, bright eyed and bushy tailed and eager to prove themselves to the universe. Was it really five years ago now? God he'd missed seeing the man's face all the time. His heart stammered in his chest and he realized he was still desperately in love with Jim.

"What are you doing here?"

Jim flashed a small smile, "I couldn't let my best and longest friend be alone in a time like this. I was in the middle of a mission halfway across the galaxy so I couldn't be here for you when your dad died, and I wasn't going to let you down a second time."

"You've never let me down, Jim," William whispered.

Jim came to stand next to him, that little blob creature that was always hovering over his shoulder noticeably absent. They were quiet as they looked around the room.

"I know you're on a mission right now too, how'd you convince the captain to make a detour to come here?"

There was another smile, this one mischievous in nature, "I can't tell you all my ways of persuasion."

They settled into silence again for a while. Eventually William grew tired of the room they were in and he led them down into the kitchen. So many years of laughter and tears and shared memories wiped away the moment all his family's belongings had been removed and sold…

"It feels so empty without them here…"

William hadn't let himself cry when his father had passed. He'd barely been able to hold himself together enough not to break that resolve when his mother had followed suit. The weight of unshed tears and buried emotions weighed on his chest. He jumped again when a gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder and he turned to meet Jim's steady gaze. His eyes were filled with tears.

He moved before he could think to stop. Slipped his arms around Jim, pressed his face to one of the shorter man's shoulders, and hugged him tight. Jim embraced him back immediately.

Neither of them spoke. They didn't need to.

Jim let him cry as long as he needed to, and he held him the entire time, and when he'd finally worked all the suppressed pain out of his system they stepped away from each other.

"Sorry-"

"Don't apologize," Jim spoke in that confident, understanding way he had, "I know it hurts. I'm not going to think any less of you for crying."

They lingered together until the new owners of the house came to collect the keys, and then they walked to the docks together. Jim waved from the ship he was stationed on and William watched the horizon even after it was long gone.

The pit of guilt he'd grown so accustomed to pulsed and grew in size. He loved Jim, but he didn't deserve his love in return. Not for what he'd done. Not for what he was going to do again. He had debts to pay. William shook his head and sighed. That was another thing he regretted; not being more present to help his mother understand that the people she went to for monetary help when his father was ill, and then again when she was sick, were predatory and were fully taking advantage of her and trapping her - and now him - in a pit of debt they would never even hope to be able to climb out of. But he hadn't known the full depth of the problem until both of his parents had passed and he had inherited the debt. And now it was too late. With the wages he made and the monthly price he was required to pay after the insanely steep interest rate was calculated in, he would quickly become delinquent on payments. Once he was delinquent he would be seen as a 'criminal' for taking their money and not following through on his side of the contract to pay it back, they could then take legal action, and with his position in the Navy it would reflect poorly to go through the court system to settle what was owed.

Best case scenario would be dishonorably discharged. Worst case...he'd end up in prison. Either way, if they didn't get their money it could ruin his career, and he'd worked for too long to lose it all now.

William waited until late into the night before he grew the balls to go down to the same dirty bar he had sold his soul in close to a year before.

She was there. He saw her the minute he walked in. What were the chances that would happen? Did she frequent this port regularly? Was she waiting for him specifically? Her eyes glued to him the minute he walked up to the counter, and the rest of her followed her gaze quickly after, approaching and sitting the same way she had when they'd first met, "Well, wouldn't you look at that. It's my little Navy boy, Officer Delaney. That information you shared last time earned me a handsome sum after everything was sold."

His heart dropped. He'd read the report of the attack on the RLS Imperial. There had been no survivors. He knew he was the most at fault for the deaths of those brave men and women and he hated himself with a passion for sitting here again and knowingly causing the deaths of more innocent people.

"Raith."

"Oh, don't be so cold William, we're practically old friends at this point."

He turned with a glare, "We are NOT friends. You killed all those people!"

"And you sold me the information on what they were transporting," Raith met his gaze coolly, casually, and she ordered a drink.

Fuck you.

"So…what brings you back to this shitty little bar?"

"I could ask you the same thing," He shot back, "You seem to like it."

They were quiet for a moment, the tension between them strong enough that he struggled to breathe. She could kill him and she wouldn't even break a sweat.

"What have you got this time around?"

William's shoulders fell. He had no other options. The amber ale in his cup reflected his solemn expression as he spoke, "More confidential cargo. On the Supreme Majesty."

Raith chuckled pleasantly, "Name your price."

Whatever the Supreme Majesty had been transporting must have made Raith a small fortune, because the next time William was on shore leave she found HIM.

He choked on his drink when he saw her stride confidently into the bar and look straight at him. His crewmates were here. Everyone knew what Raith looked like, everyone knew who she was, everyone who saw them together would know he was a rat.

"Gonna take a leak," he nudged his buddy in the ribs and snuck out the back of the bar.

Raith found her way into the alleyway shortly after, grinning wide and watching him with a hungry expression, "Hello, Navy boy."

"What the fuck do you want?!" he hissed back at her. He tucked himself back into the alley as far as he could. His uniform was too obvious; if anyone looked down toward them they'd know something was going down.

She didn't even look like she was trying to be discreet.

"I have a proposition for you."

"I'm not interested-"

Her pupils expanded and she smiled cruelly, "I'm not asking. Either you come with me or your Navy friends and all your superiors are going to find out about the hand you played in the RLS Imperial and the Supreme Majesty's downfalls."

William was trapped.

And that was how he found himself in an old warehouse along the shadier parts of the docks with a dozen other high ranking Navy officials and double that in pirates. He was trapped working with them. There was no backing out now even if he'd wanted to. William regretted his decisions to sell information. The knot in his stomach was so heavy…

Over the next three years he sold out more ships than he ever dreamed, and each one was seared into his memory as burning momentos of his shame: The RLS Titania. The Regent. The Queen's Pride. The RLS Valiant.

The Eclipse.

He wasn't supposed to hear what they were being shipped out after, but Admiral Blake was still speaking on his communicator when William arrived at his office to receive his orders.

"Yes, your Majesty, I understand this is a dangerous mission-"

William pressed his ear to the door after a cursory glance down both sides of the hallway. The Admiral's voice was muffled by the wood, but there was no mistaking his proud voice even from here.

"I agree, your Majesty, the Ruby of Opath would be a prized addition to your treasury-"

Ruby of Opath? William's eyebrows furrowed. He'd never heard of that before…but if the Queen wanted it for her personal treasury it MUST be important. It was at least important enough that she was requesting the Navy to collect it.

"We could only afford to send one ship, your Majesty. There is no saying that the Ruby is even still there and hasn't already been recovered…yes, the linguist and culture specialists were able to decipher the documents and recover the coordinates…yes, of course your Majesty, this mission is of the utmost importance. I have assigned the Eclipse to this mission; it is the most agile and speed efficient of all the ships in the Royal Navy-"

There was a pause, followed by approaching footsteps from the other side of the door, "Officer Delaney will be arriving soon to receive his station for this mission, I must go. Thank you, your Majesty."

William scurried down the hall a short distance to make it look as if he were just arriving when Admiral Blake swung the door wide and looked down at him with his cool, calculated stare. William jumped to attention, "Admiral! Please forgive my tardiness, the docks were busy."

This would be the last time.

He sold out his own ship and dared to dream that he would die in the firefight defending his fellow spacers and absolve his past sins.

Jim was never supposed to be stationed with him.

Why had Admiral Blake assigned Jim to the Eclipse?! There was no way that William could let Raith get to Jim. If he'd known that they would be stationed together he never would have breathed a word of the Ruby of Opath to Raith. He would have happily died before he put Jim in danger.

Raith would have one hell of a fight getting what she wanted this time.