Kay opened her eyes and shrieked. Then she clutched her head. Then she looked at Tobias and shrieked again. The process was repeated a few times before she managed to get control of herself. She had to think, but her head hurt far too much for anything coherent to come to her. So, instead she leapt out of her hammock, made a quick search for her bucket and then threw up in it.

After this, she did feel a little bit clearer, and as she sat with the bucket between her knees she made a renewed attempt to think. What the hell was she going to do? Tobias - Tobias - was asleep in her hammock, completely naked; she didn't need to remember the evening to know exactly what had happened. It always happened this way, but somehow this was worse. It was Tobias, that was why. He was so...nice. She couldn't imagine him ever having such base thoughts as sex.

What was she going to say to him? She had to see him every day! Usually she could shag someone and in the morning they'd be gone, and that was it. But he was here, and he would be for ages, at least until they got back to Tortuga. In the mean time...

Jacq' was going to love this. Or maybe she would hate it. Kay had suspected that she quite liked Tobias, and they seemed such a logical choice. Either way, she couldn't tell her.

Argh, this was all too confusing! She liked life to be simple - rum, blood, shiny things, Jacq', pretty men equals good; lack of treasure, lack of rum, ugly men, boredom equals bad. Things where so much easier that way. Tobias was threatening to ruin that well being, she felt, though admitting this left her with an intense panic so she immediately forgot about it.

From behind her there was a noise. She started and jumped up, looking at Tobias with an expression that was close to fright. Maybe she could kill him. She knew how, it wouldn't take long, just a quick stab through the neck, but would that look enough like suicide? No, Jacq' was clever, she'd know. Anyway, she didn't really want to kill him, it would feel too much like drowning a puppy.

There, he was stirring again. Kay hid herself just behind a chair, though she suspected that he might still see her there. He turned slowly towards her, stretching his arms up over his head, then opened his eyes.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully, sitting up and smiling brightly at her. She blinked.

"Um, hi," she replied. He looked down and picked up one of the sheets, offering it to her. She snatched it and pulled it around herself.

"Would you like to come and lie down?" he asked. She looked uncertainly around her, but the cabin offered no ideas to her, so she nodded slightly.

"S'pose," she mumbled and stepped very slowly towards him. He beamed at her and she felt that she had done something fantastic, so gave a tiny smile back before toppling into the hammock with him. Tobias ran his arms around her shoulders and Kay didn't have the heart to make him stop. After a moment, she even cautiously admitted to herself that it was comfortable.

"Why aint you bloody hung over?" she demanded of him, as if to counter the thought.

"I don't get hung over," he replied with a shrug.

"Bastard," she swore, touching her head again. He laughed and lifted his hand, using it to stroke her hair, which she found annoying but, at the same time, comforting somehow. She decided to allow him to continue, and closed her eyes. She was quickly asleep once more.

*

"Where does this go Cap'n?" Tobias asked Jacqueline, holding up the piece of paper she had just pushed aside. He felt like he should try and do something besides smile and wipe up ink spillages.

"It doesn't," she replied without looking up, chewing the end of the quill as she spoke. "It goes were ever I put it,"

"Oh," said Tobias, looking around. "Have you ever considered a filing system, Cap'n?"

"No," Jacqueline said. Tobias blotted the paper and placed it back down.

"How do you know where to find anything?" he asked curiously.

"That's half the fun of it," she smiled. She scratched her nose with the end of the feather and placed her head on her hand.

"How's Gaston doing, by the way?" she questioned. She hadn't seen him for a couple of days, but she knew Tobias had earnestly been teaching him to speak English.

"Very well!" Tobias answered. "He's a fast learner, and he did know a little English already,"

"Good, I'm glad," Jacqueline said genuinely.

"Actually, he did ask me to pass a message onto you," Tobias confessed, though he seemed hesitant. "He said to thank you for your kindness to him, and say that he, er, well, that he thinks you're very beautiful,"

"Tell him I said thank you," Jacqueline said after a moment of looking bashfully at the parchment before her. "And that it's very sweet of him to say so,"

"Aye aye sir," Tobias said solemnly. There was a thoughtful pause.

"It's funny though," Jacqueline added, twirling the quill between her fingers. "I have never yet heard anyone call Kay beautiful, yet my own opinion was that she was the better looker. Don't you think?" She looked up questioningly, and he took on the manor of an animal caught between a cage and a death trap, which made her grin; she was a cruel, cruel woman...

"Um, well, um..," Tobias said desperately, not wishing to offend the woman who had given him a job, but also not wanting to say anything against Kay, who he had found he was secretly becoming a little fond of. "Er...you see, well, I think that...that Kay tends to scare people a little more than you Cap'n," He breathed a silence sigh of relief; the truth was, he didn't think of the two woman in terms of who was the prettiest. They both meant something different to him.

"Point taken," Jacqueline agreed, enjoying watching him squirm a little. "It's a shame though, I have always wanted to see her go all gooey over someone - it struck me as something that could be quite amusing," Tobias nodded dutifully.

"Actually," she continued. "I was thinking I might try a little matchmaking - I don't suppose that you have any suggestions as to who, do you?" It was all she could do not to laugh at the look of panic that he was struggling not to let take over his face at this idea, but then she felt a little sorry for him, so she added; "No, I don't suppose that anyone on the ship would hold much weight with Kay. It's one night stands with her," Tobias said nothing as he recovered from what Jacqueline had been suggesting.

"One night stands," she mused. "I always thought that was a very odd thing to say - surely it would make more sense if you said 'one night lay'?" She chuckled to herself and looked up. "Are you alright Tobias?"

"Um, yes!" he said. "Yes, I'm fine!"

"Oh, good," she smiled. "You just look a little...nervous..,"

"No, no, no, I'm fine," Tobias assured her, finally coming back to himself. "Really! Though it reminds me that I never asked about your state of health..?"

"Oh, so-so," Jacqueline sighed. "That confounded Kennedy still won't allow me to come off the sick list - I mean, do I look ill Tobias?"

"A little..," he admitted, though in truth he thought that she looked no better than when she had first been sent to her bed. It was partially her own fault though. She wouldn't leave work for anyone else to do instead. Kay had confessed to him that the reason for this was quite simple, in that she had once made the mistake of leaving more work than she rightly should have to her then-first mate, and he had used this freedom to try and incite a mutiny against her. A good reason, Tobias thought, but not when it was making her ill.

"Oh," Jacqueline said, disappointed. Clearly she had been hoping that he would agree with her. "I feel better though..,"

"Do you, Cap'n?" Tobias asked a little sceptically.

"Well, no," she sighed. "I feel tired and my head hurts, but I want to get back to running my ship, so don't you dare tell anyone I said that,"

"No sir," Tobias smiled. Jacqueline bent back over her papers, scribbling intently on the parchment.

There was a sharp knock on the door and Tobias moved to open it. Gaston was behind it, a note in his hand, passed irritably to him by someone as he passed them on the orlop. He gave it to Tobias, much to his surprise, as he had been expecting it to be for the captain. He opened it, read the words, then seemed to blush just slightly.

"Er," he said, attempting to act normally. "I, er, think Kay wants to see me - may I go Capt'n, or shall I tell her I'll be along shortly..?"

"No, no, you can go now," Jacqueline said. "I was just on my way to bed anyway. Goodnight Tobias,"

"G'night Capt'n," he replied, and disappeared. Gaston made to leave as well, but Jacqueline caught his shoulder.

"Capt'in?" he questioned, making an effort to say it in English.

"Are you doing well here?" she asked. There was a pause while he mentally translated.

"Oui, good," he replied. "Er...Tobias, 'e helps me learn your English, 'e is well. You, Capt'in, and is...er...good also. Kind,"

"Thank you," Jacqueline smiled.

"Truth Capt'in," Gaston smiled back. "And...er...you is...er...assez, beauty. I would, er, want to...to kiss you," She looked taken back.

"Sorry?" she said, and Gaston frowned, shaking his head.

"Are you sure that's right?" she asked. "Kiss, I-I mean..,"

"Oui, oui," he assured, lifting her hand and kissing the back of it. "Kiss, oui?" She nodded.

"Yes," she said, and he smiled again. There was some desire in it this time, and she was aware then that she hadn't seen desire for some time - not for her, at least. She took a step backwards, but found that the bulkhead was in the way. Gaston took the step as well, but he took it forward, and he kept moving, until he had kissed her mouth.

"Um," she managed to murmur, but as he kissed her again she sighed and gave in.

*

Gaston managed to slip away before Jacqueline woke. It was not that he didn't want to see her, but he had a job to do. He had a way to get rid of Kay, forever, and all he had to do was break the trust that the pretty captain had shown him. He only hoped that if she ever found out, she would understand why he felt he had had to do this.

He snuck into her office, his hands shaking and his heart racing, and picked up a single rolled piece of parchment. He spread it out across the floor and followed the carefully drawn line with his finger. It ran around in a near-arc, before returning to Tortuga, but then continued on again and straight to a small spec of an island. There it went on still, but its destination Gaston was not interested in. He had found what he had been instructed to, and rolled up the paper hastily, placing back were he had found it. He left the room, still guilty and shaking as he stepped down to the gun deck, especially as he passed the feared quartermaster, and though she as good as ignored him, he felt somehow as though she knew.

Gaston glanced around him, and saw his fellow conspirators at a table, alone, and he sat down. Next to him was Jimmy Adams, their translator, a learned man who was training up to be the carpenters mate, and had ideas above his station. It was he who had seen potential in the young French boy and of using him for their gain, especially when it turned out that Tobias was too loyal to both Kay and Jacqueline to be manipulated; they were the conspirators of James Reed, and they where not at all adverse to telling a few lies about the real plan if it meant getting someone else to run their risks for them.

"Well?" Jimmy said to him in French.

"I saw it," Gaston replied. "You were right, we are stopping were you believed we would be,"

"Good, good," Jimmy smiled. "You have done well, and soon your world will be free of Kay, thanks to what you've done,"

"I'm pleased!" Gaston replied forcefully, then stood up and went to break his fast, his heart lifted and his spirits high.

"Stupid bastard," muttered Lee Marley, Jimmy's crony.

"Froggy bugger," Jimmy agreed, taking a sip of his grog. "Reed'll be pleased though, and so am I - saves us havin' to sneak it and do it oursens,"

"Aye," Lee nodded. "'Ey, wadda 'bout the frog though, what we gonna do wiv 'im..?"

"Aye," Jimmy murmured thoughtfully. "Him..,"

*

Kay added the final touch of red to the broken head of a man on the poop deck, his brains spilling out onto the deck. That morning the 'Dancer had intercepted another ship and, much to Kay's annoyance, they had surrendered, so she got a lot of work but no fight. Now she was venting her anger in the form of a nice watercolour of melee combat on the deck of the Twilight Dancer. She was quite proud of it, it was the best she had done in a while.

Carefully, she dabbed the gold paint and added a spot to Jacqueline's neck, were she wore a necklace, and then it was finished. The Captain always seemed to look like that in a battle, Kay thought, all composed, largely unharmed and absolutely commanding. Jacqueline was possibly the only person aboard the ship who didn't know how inspiring that could be to the men, but Kay did, and she was glad because she knew that there was no way in hell she herself could hold that position, and anyway she didn't want; respect and threats were Kay's area of expertise, and Jacq's was inspiration and kindness. The latter was a constant source of amusement to Kay, who had known the captain to sit for hours talking to the men who had been injured in battle, just to boost their moral a bit.

With cautious hands, Kay held up her picture to the lantern and smiled proudly at it, a genuine look of pleasure that was not normally permitted to cross her face, but one that enhanced the looks she already had. It really was a good painting, and she was particularly pleased with the dead man sprawled on the stairs with his head missing, and the fellow stood next to Jacqueline, looking all cute and courageous; he bore an uncanny resemblance to Tobias.

Laying her picture back down the desk, Kay wiped her brush in a tankard of stale water and checked her paint box; some of the colours were starting to run out, she would have to buy some more and sneak them aboard without anyone noticing. Water colouring was her secret passion - very secret - not even Jacq' knew about it, and certainly no one else did.

Kay carefully boxed her paintbrush, followed by the paints themselves, and just in time as there was a knock on the door. She swore under her breath and stashed the still-damp painting into a drawer by her knees, then opened the door. Tobias smiled out at her.

"Hey, you coming?" he asked, cocking his head on one side.

"Aye, course!" Kay nodded, stepping outside and closing the door abruptly behind her. Jacqueline had invited all the 'officers' to dinner, as a way of breaking the monotony of the trip, and would probably have allowed the hands to have a little concert on deck if the weather hadn't turned out to be so bad.

Tobias and Kay walked there together, though they pretended that they weren’t, and sat side by side at the table. Jacqueline wasn't here yet, and neither was anyone else, but Kay was easily impatient, and quite hungry. She started picking at the plate of bread.

"Kay!" Tobias complained. "Leave it..,"

"Don't you tell me what to do!" she retorted, mouth full. "I'm hungry! You're nothing but a nagging wife,"

"Am not," said Tobias, sticking his tongue out. Kay held out a piece of chicken in front of his nose, swinging it backwards and forwards temptingly. He took it hesitantly and chewed with some guilt.

"We should really wait for the others..," he protested half-heartedly. Kay shrugged.

"There's plenty for every-bugger," she told him. "Stop being such a lubber about it," Tobias sighed but said nothing as Kennedy and the gunner, Gallagher entered the room. They sat, but only glanced at the picking first mate; after a few minutes they joined in. The same applied to the sailing master, his mate, and the carpenter when they also arrived. Eventually, Tobias conceded defeat and filled his plate, and if it wasn't for the empty seat at the table, it was doubtful that anyone would have even noticed Jacqueline's absence.

*

The wind was rising in the darkening sky, viciously whipping up the sea around the ship. It worried Captain Jacqueline, but she wasn't sure why; it felt like an omen that something was going to happen, though it was not that there was anything directly connected to the rough weather that concerned her. It was just...something.

She was on the spar deck, wrapped securely in her coat, and wedged between two cannon to keep off the wind. She didn't have the heart to go and break up the party in her dining room, nor did she really feel inclined to go and join in with such a sense of foreboding. Besides, she thought, since she was technically disallowed to take watch, she could take the opportunity to sit on deck while Kennedy was occupied.

She thrust her hands into her pockets, though it wasn't exactly cold, and folded her legs close to her. It was strangely cosy here, and it wasn't like she really wanted to go to her quarters anyway. Only her stomach said she should.

The watch bell rang, piercing even in the whistling wind, and Jacqueline watched idly as the men came down from the masts, rubbing this numb limbs, and others took their place. Gaston was one of them, ascending up the mainmast, and as he saw her sat there he gave her a smile. She grinned and flicked her eyebrow, letting her eyes follow his progress up the rigging and to the top yardarm, were he settled into the tarpaulin for his watch.

She turned her eyes away from Gaston and towards the helm, were the steering master was being extra cautious in his navigation of the ship, one eye on the compass at all times. She felt sure that he was concerned about the weather, and would go over and have a chat in a minute, when she could be bothered to get up...

She tucked her head onto her arms, leaning against the canon on he right, and closed her eyes. She was asleep within' minutes.

*

The food all but gone, Kay sat back and stretched at length. The room was warm and she was full to bursting on all variety of good food that they had found aboard their pillaged vessel. What she really wanted now was some talk, some gambling, and then some sleep. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cards, shuffling them hopefully.

"I'll play," yawned Tobias.

"You will, will you?" Kay said indignantly. "Got anythin' to bet with?"

"Recon..," he replied, fishing in his pockets. He pulled out some items and dropped them on the table; there was some lint, a piece of string, a brass button and a few shillings. He separated the coins from the rest.

"Pass the rum please?" he asked, and Kay turned to her left. She paused.

"Oh!" she said, pointing at the empty seat. "Jacq'! We're missing a bloody Cap'n..,"

"So we are," agreed Kennedy, who was slumped forward in his seat. "I thought she organised all this?"

"She did," Kay said. "So were the hell is she? There ain't any grub left for her now..," She was doing her best not to sound concerned.

"Maybe she's ill again?" Tobias said, suddenly anxiously. "I'll go see if she's in her cabin...," He disappeared, but was back quickly, shaking his head. "I checked her office as well..,"

"She wouldn't stay away if she wasn't well anyway," said Kay. "She'd be here, pretending all was fine," She stood up and took hold of the door. "I'm gonna find her, the moron! If she's on deck-," But she never got to finish her threat because, at that moment, she was cut off by a scream of utter terror from high above them.

*

It was half an hour before Jacqueline woke from her sleep and wondered why it was so cold. She soon realised she was on the deck, in the middle of two cannon, and rolled to the side with a groan. Slowly, she regained the feeling in her limbs and stretched out painfully, getting unsteadily to her feet. She was just in time to hear the awful scream that echoed suddenly around the deck, and to see the body plummet past her eyes and smash heavily into the planks. The scream stopped.

No one moved for what felt like minutes, like it was a mistake, or even a joke, and that, any moment now, Gaston would stand up and walk away; he didn't.

Jacqueline stared. She felt helpless, and was conscious that she was shaking her head, though she knew already that he was dead. She felt overwhelmingly sick, but everyone was looking at her, and him, waiting for some order or command that she couldn't give them.

The appearance of people on deck rescued her for a few moments. Kennedy went straight to the body and immediately pronounced him dead, while Tobias went to Jacqueline. He looked like he wanted to put his hand on her shoulder, but he refrained.

"Cap'n?" he said quietly. Kay glanced at him, but herself appeared uncertain what to do. If she took command it would reflect badly on Jacq', but she couldn't have the crew gawping at the dead body on the deck for much longer.

Luckily she didn't have to reach a decision, as Jacqueline chose that moment to snap out of her stupor, and although she was shaking, resumed command and authority with a shouted order to get back to work, and to have someone sent up the mast to take Gaston's place. Then she turned to Kay.

"Give them some extra grog when they come off watch," she muttered.

"Aye, aye Cap'n," Kay agreed in an overly loud voice, and even flicked off a small salute, conscious of a need for a show of respect.

In the dark evening, high up on the yardarm, no one noticed Lee Marly struggling solitarily with the main topgallant, a huge grin on his face.