He could hear a sobbing coming from somewhere behind him and he could hear the sound of waves hitting the shore. It didn't make sense as the last time he had gone ashore had been to face down Swan, Barbossa and Sparrow. He had returned to the ship after that, he was certain of it.

Things had gone wrong for him. As he lay there he recalled the anger he had felt when Sparrow refused to surrender in exchange for his sister.

'Didn't think kidnapping was your style, mate' Sparrow had slurred. The pirates' eyes had gone to his sister whose wrist Cutler had been gripping to keep her at his side. He'd seemed angry when he met his sister's gaze and Cutler had noticed that Maris shifted with discomfort when Sparrow spoke. Then Swan, as elected Pirate King, had called for them to battle.

It was coming back to him now...

They had gone to battle... but it had gone wrong. Everything had changed, it hadn't been a fair fight and The Endeavour had gone.

So… why was he here? Where was here?

Cutler groaned as he opened his eyes to bright sunlight, snapping them shut immediately. The sound of sobbing stopped. He opened his eyes a second time and cautiously rolled onto his side. He was lying on sand, the crashing waves were in front of him and as he took them in he noted that debris littered the water. Twisted metal and large pieces of wood were lining the shore and churning in the waves. His stomach sank when he realised they were probably from The Endeavour.

Lying at his feet between him and the sea were his dark blue jacket and boots. He was wearing his shirt and trousers and both were soaking wet. The ship had gone – it was there in front of him in pieces, and he had ended up in the water. So how was he there? He lay, aghast, staring at the driftwood for a moment before he remembered the sobbing.

He wasn't alone.

He turned on bruised ribs and looked at the beach behind him where he came face to face with Maris Teague kneeling a few feet away. She was shivering and the green dress some of the crew found for her was sticking to her thin body. Her hair sat plastered flat against her head and the sides of her face. He could see that her shivering lips were blue and salt crystals clung to her cheeks and clothes. He suspected they did to his too.

'I thought you were dead' she choked out finally, eyes wide as she stared at him.

'I... should be' he replied, wincing as the words caught in his raw throat. He coughed and felt panic welling up as he struggled to catch his breath but Maris approached him and brought a metallic canteen to his mouth.

'Drink' she whispered, tipping the flask and allowing cool water to fill his mouth. Cutler fumbled for the canteen with hands that he found were also shaking and took several more greedy gulps before the woman snatched it back from him. She sat on the sand to his left, her back facing the glanced at her, a questioning look on his face as he gasped in the air that his lungs had been craving.

'If you gulp it down like that you'll make yourself throw up' she explained.

"What... happened?"

Maris had been staring at the sand beneath her feet as she hugged herself to try and get warm. His question broke the tense silence that had descended upon the shore, and her head snapped up with a look of surprise on her face.

'You do not recall?'

Cutler shook his head and Maris swallowed, her eyes going back to the sand before she glanced back up at him.

'Well, all I could hear was fighting, screaming… explosions. The sea was ferocious. I could feel it. The ship lurched to one side and water began to fill the room you had me in. I thought I was going to drown. I could hear people outside the door running around, I screamed at them to help but nobody would open the door. It got up to my waist before something smashed through the side of the ship and knocked the door through. The corridor was a mess. There was… there was blood everywhere...'

Maris paused, swallowing, before continuing with her eyes closed this time. Cutler watched her, drinking in every inch of her face. He had forgotten about her below decks. They'd just left her there to die.

'The ship was going down. I could tell from the way it was lurching at an angle but I managed to get to the stairs and up onto the deck well enough. That's where I found you." She opened her eyes and met his gaze.

"Just... you were standing there. With your eyes all closed up just... waiting to die. I was going to run past you and jump into the sea to take my chances but you grabbed me, and you were talking about business as the ship was exploding around us, but you wouldn't let me go and so I dragged you to the side and pulled you over with me.'

Cutler found he could not respond and so stared blankly at her.

'I think you lost consciousness when we hit the water. The ship just exploded, so I just kept dragging you through the water as much as I could.'

She bit her lip to stop it from wobbling and Cutler turned away from her. There was silence as it sunk in. A Teague had saved him. He closed his eyes and sank back onto the sand with a groan of disbelief.

Cutler had sat exactly where he'd awoken, staring out to sea as Maris moved around him and along the shore. He presumed she was exploring the island they'd washed up on. He knew it was the right thing to do, but he felt numb. Despite the voice at the back of his head telling him to take charge of the situation, he just sat there in silence.

It was when he heard the crackle of flames that he realised the clever girl had managed to start a fire. A small fire yes, but a fire nonetheless. She was sitting next to it, her chin resting on her knees as she poked at the kindling with a thick stick she had found. As he took in her disheveled appearance she glanced up at him as though sensing his eyes on her. They stared at one another for a moment and then she spoke.

'Always start a fire, Jack used to tell me. Get to safety and start a fire or you'll die."

Nervousness crossed her face when he didn't respond. "Are you okay?" she pressed.

She looked back at the sand when he didn't reply. As he continued to stare at her a strange and uncontrollable feeling spread through him. She had rescued him and was now rubbing it in his face. He was a man and she was a woman and ought to know her place. He was a Lord, for crying out loud! He had authority, not her.

He wasn't aware that he had climbed to his feet as an irrational rage burned through his mind and clouded his thoughts. Before he knew it he was standing in front of Maris. Her big, sad eyes were looking up at him and they were filled with fear as he tangled his left hand into her hair at the back of her head. She yelled as he pulled her up from where she sat on the ground leaving her legs twisted underneath her body. He leant in so that his face was closer to her and roughly pulled her head back so that she had no choice but to look at him. One of her hands gripped his thigh as she tried taking the weight off of her trapped legs. Her other hand met his own in her hair, trying to free it from his grip.

"Stop...'

"As if it isn't humiliating enough that you stopped me from going down with my ship. Now you're acting as though you have authority over me" he hissed.

Her hand scratched at his in an attempt to get him to release his grip on her hair. He responded by tightening his grip, causing her to cry out with pain.

'You're worthless.'

She lashed out at him, landing an awkward blow to his chest with her arm. He caught her wrist and pinned it between them, pulling her head back further with the hand in her hair, which caused her to overbalance. As she toppled backwards she pulled him forwards onto one of his knees. He ended up straddling her, with her back in the sand and his left hand pinning her right hand into the ground.

'Even your father wanted to kill you and your brother didn't care if I killed you. He had no idea what things I might do to you aboard the Endeavour and he still let me take you back. What use do you think you could be to me?'

She stopped struggling against his grip and stared at his chin, a frightened look on her face. Her hands lay motionless either side of her head, one of which he was still pinning into the sand. Her body trembled beneath him. The rage that had overcome him was ebbing away fast and he became aware for the first time of the inappropriate position he had forced them into. He released his grip from her hands, sitting back so that he was no longer pinning her to the floor. Something he hadn't been aware he was doing.

Maris scrambled away from him, standing up and eyeing him like one might a dangerous predator.

"I'm sorry… I don't-"

He felt almost dazed by what had just happened, he wasn't sure what had come over him.

"I thought you were going to-"

"-no", he turned to look at her, sincerity in his voice as he addressed her, "I won't hurt you, Maris."

"You keep saying that" she accused, rubbing her wrist.

They stayed like that for quite some time. Her standing, not quite sure if he was going to strike again. Him sitting on the floor and looking at her, not quite able to look at her face. The two least likely allies who were hardly allies at all. Neither of them should have survived and yet sheer determination had brought them here.

"What's going to happen to us?"

Her question dragged Cutler from his thoughts and he realised he didn't have an answer.

'I'm not sure' he told her.

There was something about the honesty in his answer that must have reassured Maris. She took a couple of hesitant steps towards him and sat down on the ground. She turned her gaze towards the sea which had grown black with the night.

"Night time always seemed worse at Shipwreck. The dark sky made it feel like you're trapped there."

Cutler watched her as she spoke, unsure of whether she was addressing him or not. She was fidgeting with her hands.

"When I got away, the night sky became reassuring. It made it feel like there was so much space between them and me."

Neither of them said anything. Maris broke the silence once more.

"You look different without your wig," she pointed out.

Cutler frowned at her. He was trying to form plans in his mind but she was distracting him. Was she in shock? She must be in shock, but there wasn't anything he could do to help her.

"You should get some rest" he offered as a suggestion but she didn't move and he wasn't going to touch her again. There were so many questions and he didn't like not having answers.

He wondered if it would be the first of many nights they would spend there. Whether there might be enough crew members left to form search parties. How far from the wreck were they? Was it likely the Brethren would search for survivors? Were there other survivors, or was it just him and Maris?

…and did he really look that different without the wig?