Casting her gaze about, suddenly uncomfortable with eye contact, she nodded once and asked, "How long until midnight?" Her mouth was so dry, her chest so painfully empty, "Is there anything I need to do?"

"Midnight is in roughly five hours. You need to mourn, and rest. After all this is over with, tomorrow-- or the next day, whenever you're ready-- we'll discuss arrangements for Mordecai. I'm going to go have a nap. You should too, Jane Lewin." As he spoke, the Captain rose and limped toward the stairs.

   Jane watched him go with heavy eyes. Placing her elbows on the table, she put her face in her hands. She wanted to cry, tried to force it, out of the hope that it would bring relief. The tears wouldn't come! After all this! Frustrated, angry, she pushed up and away from the table, letting the blanket fall to the floor. She cast her gaze around, looking for something to take out her anger.

   "Alone!" she said through gritted teeth, Mordecai left her here alone! There was nothing here that she could push or break! Did she even want to break anything? Isn't that what people did? She paced angrily in a small circle, raking her fingers through her hair and exhaling sounds of hopelessness and frustration. She kicked a stationary table leg, and only came away with throbbing toes.

   Her mind couldn't focus! All that she could do was feel the emotion slam against her like waves on the rocks. Slowing down, Jane felt lightheaded, there was too much noise, too much space. Turning for the kitchen, she crouched down in front of a cabinet she knew was nearly empty of supplies. Feeling childish, but not knowing how else to decrease the amount of senses bombarding her, she pushed the sacks to the side and climbed in, closing the door and wrapping herself in muffled darkness.

   Placing her hands over her ears and closing her eyes tight, Jane focused on her warm breath, and the quick pace of her heart.. It felt like a long time before her heart rate slowed, the spots of light that had danced behind her closed eyelids had faded. Only then did the tears come, and they were silent, hot and fast. She suddenly felt so tired, so bone tired. Leaning her head against the back of the cupboard, she wiped her nose, and merely thought to close her eyes. She fell asleep in less than a minute, a dreamless sleep of exhaustion.

"Jane? Jane!" Voices called her name, penetrating the thick, warm darkness. "Where are you? Jane?"

   Coming out of her sleep felt like she was being dragged up through the mud. She grimaced and leaned forward, rubbing her neck while she opened the cupboard door, "I'm here." she called hoarsely. Standing up and rubbing the stiffness from her legs, she straightened and brushed the remnants of tears from her cheeks. Memory hit her like a brick wall and she fell back against the counter for a moment, placing a hand on the wooden surface to steady herself. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she moved toward the door.

Raff was standing at the head of the stairs up to the deck. "Almost midnight, miss. Time to prepare."

Behind him on deck, near the rail where the Captain had talked to her and Mordecai just the night previous, there was a small gathering. Brax, Dr. Damien, and the Captian. Alex was keeping watch up by the helm. Wesley was nowhere to be seen, and no other crew members were present either.

"Wes is making sure none of the boys leave their beds," Raff rumbled as they approached. "And keeping an eye on Carson."

   Hands by her sides, Jane climbed the stairs and walked carefully over to stand next to Brax's comforting side. She dried her wet palms nervously on her thighs, "What do I need to do?" she asked, glad that her voice was calm and steady.

Brax patted her comfortingly on the back once she got to him. The Captain clapped his hands together, rubbing them vigorously. He looked tired but alert, his green eyes shining with an eager light as he looked up at the full moon above them. Brax looked down at a clock in his other hand, holding it up to see better. Jane recognized it from the Captain's quarters.
"Three minutes," he said tightly.

"All right, Jane," the Captain said cheerily. "I'm going to need a few drops of your blood on this lump of metal." He produced the pitted heart trinket with a flourish. He was still swathed in sweaters, and with his hair pulled back a sheen of sweat was visible on his neck and forehead. Yet he shivered as he nodded to Raff, who produced a knife and proffered it to Jane hilt first, face stony.

   Jane took the knife, the lightheartedness of the Captain making her wary. She realized her heart was beating fast, she knew she was scared. What if she did die? Who cares? a terrible thought murmured. Clearing her throat, she held up her left hand, the knife in her right. She chose to cut along the side of her palm, where a bandage wouldn't be much of a bother. Pressing her lips together, she held her left hand out over the heart shaped trinket and cut her palm with a wince. She quickly turned her hand slightly to let the blood drip onto the trinket.

Damien stepped forward, swabbed a warm, wet rag over the wound and then quickly bandaged it. The Captain took the knife from Jane and cut his own palm. As his blood dripped, he said "Now Jane, this'll probably knock me out for awhile. Once were done, you head on off to bed, alright?" Once finished, he held out his hand for the doctor to bandage. He glanced at Brax.

"Minute and half," the cook supplied. The Captain nodded and took a deep breath. He held the trinket so it was bathed in the light of the moon, the blood on the metal glistening wetly. Captain Jackson started to speak. By the way he stood and the way his mouth moved, you'd have thought the words would be heard loud and clear. But they were strangely muted and unintelligible, like someone trying to speak under water. Damien and Brax fidgeted, discomfited by the muffled chanting. Raff just stared at the Captain, his look almost a glower, but not quite.

   Holding her bandaged hand to her chest, Jane stood close to Brax. She pulled the necklace out from under her shirt, not sure what else she could or should do. At first, she tried to hear what the Captain was saying, but after a few more words she glanced at the others to see if they were as confused as she was. Confirming her thoughts on that score, her eyes settled on Raff. She fidgeted from one foot to the other, doing her best to trust that the Captain won't kill her.

When the Captain finished speaking, a brittle silence fell. Brax put his hand on Jane's shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. "Twenty seconds," he whispered.

The Captain nodded to Damien, who stepped forward and helped him kneel. On his knees before Jane, Jackson reached out and put his hand on her other shoulder to stabilize himself. "Hold very still," he breathed, his eyes on the necklace. He held the heart trinket up between them.

"Ten," Brax began. "Nine." As the cook steadily counted down, the Captain's stare intensified. He carefully moved the heart closer until it was hovering over the metal flower. "Three. Two." Brax's hand tightened painfully on Jane's shoulder. "One."

There was a soft clink as Captain Jackson touched the heart to the knotted center of the flower. All sound seemed to cease. For the space of two heartbeats, nothing happened. Then blinding white light flared from the two bits of metal, and Jane and the Captain were trapped in it. Brax's hand was blasted off of Jane's shoulder, but then to the perspectives of the people inside the light, time outside slowed. Jackson saw a surprised Brax drop his clock, watched it start to fall, impossibly slowly, to the deck. Jane saw Raff start to take a step closer, but then his foot slowed, seeming to hang in the air.

Inside, the Captain and Jane were frozen as the strange white light seemed to rush around them in a gale. Neither could move an inch. Then the Captain felt heat in the fingers holding the heart trinket; with all his will, he managed to open his hand. Then, floating above his palm, the metal began to warp. He and Jane watched as the ropy lines of the flower began to slowly crawl off of Jane's shirt, reaching up to enfold the heart in viney tendrils. As it was covered, the heart's mass redistributed into a new shape, shrinking in some places, ballooning outward in others. The flower lost petal after petal, grew smaller and smaller as it joined the new lumpy mass growing in the air between them. Finally, the last strand of it unraveled, languidly uncurling itself from the metal ring that attached it to the necklace chain. It seemed to cling to the ring, lifting it slightly away from Jane's body. Then the connection snapped.

There was a deafening metallic ring, like the worlds largest hammer on the worlds purest anvil. The light was all sucked inward towards the new trinket, but it didn't stop there. Jane's and Jackson's eyes lit up with the same intense white light; time resumed. The clock clanged as it hit the deck with the sound of shattering glass. Jane felt an enormous pressure-- it closed around her like it was trying to crush the life from her. The light from her eyes pulsed like it was about to leap out.

But then the Captain's hand snapped out into the air between them, closing on the floating, glowing lump of metal there. The pressure immediately left Jane, and she watched the light in the Captain's eyes pulse, then begin to flow outward into his closed fist. It flowed for just a few moments, but Jackson's face blanched of all color, his teeth gritted and bared in a grimace. Once it stopped, the soundlessness came again as the Captain teetered backward, his arm dropping. The light faded from both of their eyes. Raff finished stepping forward in time to catch Captain Jackson before he fell, holding him up on his knees. Sound returned with a gust of warm wind that sounded like a woman's sigh.

"Captain?!" Raff dropped to one knee beside his Captain, who flopped limply in his Quartermaster's grip, chin on his chest. Raff shook him, each hand clutching handfuls of the sweaters at both of the Captain's shoulders. "Captain!" There was a dull thump as something dropped from the Captain's hand onto the deck.

   Jane finally took a deep breath and staggered slightly, reaching up to feel the pendant-less chain that dangled at her throat. "Um, he said that it would drain him, but I think he'll be fine." Knees feeling like jelly, she knelt next to the Captain, grateful to be alive. She smiled a little, and looked down at the object that had fallen from the Captain's hand. Hoping that she had learned her lesson from last time, she took a handkerchief from her pocket and used it to pick up the object and wrap it up.

Dr. Damien hurried forward and put his hand on the Captain's neck, pausing for a few moments while Raff looked on worriedly. "Yes, he should be fine," the doctor said. "Raff, Brax, if you'll help me get him to his bed. Jane," he gave her a nervous smile. "Sleep well."

The Quartermaster and the cook hefted Captain Jackson between them and carefully started to make their way up the stairs to his cabin, Damien hovering just behind them.

   Jane watched them go for a few moments, before turning toward the stairs and making her way below decks. She ached everywhere, she was so tired. She reached up to touch the bruises on her face from where the Captain's enemy had struck her. So tired.. Opening the door to the tiny room that had been converted into a living space for her, she closed the door, locked it, and sat heavily upon the bed. Grateful for this space, grateful to be alive, grateful to be alone... Shame washed over her and she closed her eyes. Grateful to be alone? Grateful to be alive? Her brother was gone. She carefully told herself that she was grateful to be alone so she didn't have to hold back her emotions. She still felt shame. He was gone. She was here. Why?

   Sniffling softly, she bushed at the tears clinging to her lashes and remembered that she had that object in her hand. Holding it in her palm, she pulled the edges of the handkerchief back to get a closer look.

In her hand lay the doll-sized figure of a young woman, legs pressed together and hands folded across her belly. But it was strange. She had no skin, no hair; it was just her muscles, gliding over her delicate curves, carved from metal, perfectly symmetrical. There were odd voids in her body at her joints and her face, just empty of anything and ominously black. The edges of her muscles encroached on the edges of the voids like they were meant to be covering something, but there was nothing there. The metal had the same tarnished, pitted look that the flower and the heart had both had. The hole where her face should be was very disconcerting, because though there were no eyes, it seemed to glare.

*****

The Captain moaned as Raff carefully lowered him onto his cot. Brax threw heavy blankets over him, and Damien dragged a chair over, pulling a thermometer from his pocket.
"What the hell happened?" Raff said as the doctor carefully put the glass tube under the Captain's tongue. "Something..." He trailed off as he struggled to find the words, gesturing to his own face. "Something came out of him!"

"I saw," Brax whispered, dark eyes worried. "I saw that too."

The doctor sighed, checking Jackson's pulse again. "He said it would drain him, didn't he?"

"But what did it take?" Raff asked, agitated. "He's sick! We should never have let him do this."

Brax stepped forward. "This saved Jane," he argued. "You saw as well as I did that the necklace's pendant was gone. It worked. If the Captain was willing to risk it, then..."

Raff looked at him, then reluctantly nodded, rubbing a hand over his face. "I know. It's just... he's so reckless sometimes. I'm not convinced the curse protects him as much as he said. I mean, Connor says he died today. He drowned! What if what was needed to save Jane is too much to take after something like that?"

The doctor cleared his throat as he checked the thermometer. "His fever is worse," he said nervously. "I need to get some things from my cabin. Just to bring the fever down," he said to Raff, who looked like he was about to explode. "I'm sure it's from the water in his lungs. I'm sure he'll wake up fine, once I bring his temperature down a tad. It means he's fighting, alright? But high fevers can be bad for the body too. I'll be right back." Stepping quickly, the doctor left.

Raff began to pace in the small space in front of the desk.

"You look like a caged bear," Brax said. "Calm down." Raff just shook his head, continuing to walk back and forth. Step, step, turn. Step, step, turn. After a minute Brax sighed. "I'm going to sleep. I have to relieve Wes in a few hours. You," he pointed at Raff as he passed, "Should also sleep. He'll be fine."


The next day, Raff and the Captain didn't make an appearance. Damien was back and forth all day, from the Captain's quarters to his own, where Carson lay. The doctor had dark circles under his eyes, but those eyes were also quietly determined. He even gave Jane and Connor poultices for their bruises, saying it would bring the swelling down.

The other boys didn't bother the two of them, just let them go about their assigned chores in silence. Connor quickly started seeking out their company though, drawing them into conversations and trying to make jokes. He wanted things as normal as he could get them. But a pall of depression hung over the ship, like the shroud they had lain over Mordechai. Everyone was down, everyone was worried. For Carson, for the Captain, of Patrol pursuit. The only bright thing anyone could see was that Jane seemed to be out of danger, whatever danger it was, and that was a relief. A bittersweet relief, but a relief nonetheless.

   Jane placed the last clean dish in it's place. She had been working methodically through the day, very aware of the heavy darkness that hung over the ship and the crew. She had received smiles of relief and condolences through the day. She was grateful for the crew. They were all so tough and yet, so kind to her. She refused to think about what to do with the body of her brother. She just couldn't. So she cooked and cleaned with all she had, devoting her thoughts to the tasks at hand. Now, all the tasks were done. She wasn't tired.

   The strange doll figure was still wrapped and in her pocket. Maybe she could give it to the Captain, if he was feeling better. She was nearly desperate to see him. What if he died too? Because of her? She was sure she would be thrown from the ship and be done for if that happened. The terror of that thought surged through her as she hung up her apron. Brax gave her a warm and strong hug, telling her to get some rest. She merely nodded and smiled mechanically before moving up onto the deck.

   The ship was quiet, but the crew was still about and stowing for the night. Crossing the deck, Jane tentatively approached the Captain's quarters and waited a few moments before softly knocking on the door. Damien had looked so tired, maybe he would let her sit with the Captain tonight so that he could rest.

Raff opened the door, just a crack. He peered down at her, blinking tiredly. "Jane?" he asked in his bass rumble. "What is it?

   "I can't sleep. I thought that I could stay with the Captain tonight, so that you and Damien could go and get some sleep." she said, smiling tentatively, putting her hands in her pockets and wrapping the figurine in a fist.

Raff looked back into the room for a moment, then back at Jane, shifting from foot to foot. "Well..." He looked back and said something Jane couldn't make out to someone within, waited for a response. Then he turned and gave Jane a searching look. "Are you sure? You look pretty tired yourself, miss."

   Shaking her head, Jane also lifted her shoulder in a shrug, "It's either sit awake in my room, or sit awake here and be useful." she gripped the figurine tighter, not wanting to go to sleep, not wanting a relief, "Please. I promise I'll come get you and the Doctor if anything changes, or if anything happens."

Raff lowered his head, thinking. He rubbed at his eyes. "Well... someone needs to stay with him. The doc and I are getting pretty ragged, it's true. Come in." He opened the door farther so she could step in.

Inside, she saw Dr. Damien sitting beside the Captain's cot. The Captain was turned away from her on his side, and the doctor was checking a few bandages across his shoulders, pulling the sweaters away from the Captain's back to do so. She could see some bruised skin between the bandages. He turned to look at her as he was replacing a swath of gauze. "This is from an ironwood club," he explained. "The Captain took several blows yesterday, and the poultice needed changing. But it looks like it'll heal up nicely. No scars." He leaned back in his chair and looked appraisingly at her face. "Have you been using the poultice I gave you, Jane?"

   Jane reached up to finger the colored half of her face and nodded, "Yes. It still looks bad, but I can't feel any pain there anymore." she let her hand drop to her side and moved a step closer to the Captain, unable to conceal her worry, "Has he woken up at all? Is he getting better?" she pulled a leather thong from her pocket, and used it to tie her hair back, wanting to feel as awake as possible to sit with the Captain for the night.

Damien smiled reassuringly at her, then motioned for Raff to come over and help him. Together, they lifted the Captain and replaced him on his back, Damien pulling his hair out of the way so it didn't get pulled. The doctor then pulled up the sweaters to look at a bandage on Jackson's ribs. "He hasn't woken up, but yes, he's getting better. He was running a fever last night, but it broke about an hour ago. I'll show you how to check his temperature." Satisfied with that bandage, he lifted the blankets and the Captain's pant leg to check a bandage on his right knee. "This all looks good," he said. "Though this one will leave a scar."

Then he took out the thermometer and showed her where to put it, expertly levering it under the Captain's tongue, and where the red line shouldn't cross. "If it does get higher than this line here," he explained, "Come get me right away. Please wake me or Raff if he wakes up as well." Standing close by, Raff seemed to sway slightly, and rubbed at his eyes again.

   Taking the thermometer, Jane nodded her affirmation to all of the instructions, "I promise I'll come straight away." she gave Raff a gentle smile and placed a hand on his elbow, "Please go to sleep. Neither of you will be of any help to the Captain if you can't even stand up." She turned and dutifully sat in the chair beside the Captain's bed, giving them both a nod of confidence.