"CAW! CAW!"

Something was pecking at Jackie's neck.

He swung his arm up and hit the culprit, sinking his hand into its soft, warm body.

"Huh?" Startled, he opened his eyes to find himself eyeball to eyeball with a seagull.

"CAW?"

"Oh fuck off!" He pushed it out of the way and hauled himself to a sitting position. He had obviously passed out, and with alcohol on his face no less.

He wasn't alone. There were at least a couple other people still asleep, one lying on a barrel and the other one somehow on the forward mast of all things.

Damn. We had a hell of a party last night, huh?

The heat of the sun against his bare skin suggested it was around mid afternoon. There were quite a few clouds in the sky, but not enough to deceive Jackie.

He groaned, rubbing his neck. Something ached when he touched it. Was it a bruise?

Confused and dizzy, he rubbed his hand through his blonde hair.

Hair's sticky and even more messed up than usual. And...where's my bloody shirt?

He spun around to find Elma walking towards him with his shirt in hand.

Oh no. Oh, no no no.

Without a word, she tossed it over to Jackie and walked away, stone faced.

Oh. No.

He jumped to his feet and followed her with his shirt in hand, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.

"Hey, Elma. We didn't have sex last night, did we?" He asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible while tugging the gray shirt back on.

She said nothing, and simply turned around and gave him a thumbs up with a sheepish expression on her face.

Jackie sighed, and covered his face with his hand. "God. At least Eddie wasn't here. Does Rosa know?"

"I do."

The two nearly jumped out of their skin as Rosa spoke up from right behind them. "Damn! Can you stop being so...so unnoticeable?"

She started laughing, and so did Jackie and Elma. Side by side, laughing together, the three of them walked back to the staircase.

* * * * *

THUD!

Chairs and tables went flying as a boy flew right into them, crashing down to the floor.

Before him was a tall, muscular woman with short brown hair like his own, who towered above with her arm raised.

She wore a loosely fitting black vest with a button at the center holding it together. Her muscular arms, thick neck and impressive height made the already small and skinny child look even more pathetic.

"LYZA! This is going too far!" The man behind her cried. He was almost as tall as her, with a bushy mustache and and unremarkable, thinning black hair.

Still seething with anger, Lyza grabbed him by the collar of his brown shirt. "You. Shut the hell up. You don't get to have a say in this." She growled, only to be met with an equally cold stare from him.

"He's your son."

Unable to bring herself to do any more, she loosened her grip.

A small, stifled sniffling noise drifted through the uncomfortable silence in the small room, making Lyza clench her fists.

You're crying? You?

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"Weren't you gonna be a privateer, Cassian?!" She yelled at the boy grovelling on the floor.

He looked up at her with those big teary eyes, which only enraged her further.

The man opened his mouth again, and was quickly shut down by her. "Keep the spithole shut, Rafael." She muttered, and walked towards the boy on the floor.

"M-Mo-" Without hesitation, she grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the wall. His thin, scrawny body dangled in her hand like a twig she could break in seconds.

Breathing hard, she tried to think up of what to say.

What the fuck do you want to do in life?

Be a slave to the rich? That it, kid?!

"LYZA!"

You wanna be like your mother? Huh? You wanna be someone like me?

A damn failure who can't protect her family for shit?

"LYZA! CASSIAN IS DY-"

You think you can become a hotshot by being a scrawny coward that can't fight? You think you can survive out there alone?

"GET THE FUCK OFF HI-"

She stared, eyes unseeing, at the figure of her son as he slowly lost consciousness in her tightened hand, still wrapped around his slender neck.

She didn't realize she was gritting her teeth so hard it hurt.

She didn't hear Rafael's screams.

She didn't understand her son was dying.

Cassian...do...do you still love m-

"BITCH!"

She felt something hard slam into her jaw, and thrust her across the room. Her body rammed right into the wooden chair she'd thrown her son at, and collapsed on the floor.

Confused, she looked up to see Rafael carrying Cassian in his arms.

"Ra...Rafa? What the hell happened? Did I do that?" She asked, quickly getting back to her feet.

As her eyes focused on Rafael's face, she saw something she'd never seen before from him.

Fury.

He clutched Cassian's body as tight as he could, as if loosening his grip might cause the boy's life to slip away.

She raised her hand to touch Cassian, but he immediately smacked it away.

"What the...Rafa?" He didn't respond, and simply walked away with the kid in arms.

As he moved outside and back to Cassian and Tina's room, Lyza was left alone in the small dining room, uprighting the tables and chairs.

Her head was spinning, and her jaw throbbed like hell. It was as though...as though she had been punched.

Through the corner of her eye she spotted a short figure with red hair and a yellow dress run past the open doorway.

Ah. Tina.

Just a short distance from the dining room was Cassian's quarters. It was nearly empty, with a small hammock, chair, and table with a couple of his favourite books on it.

Rafael laid him down on the floor gently, and made sure he was breathing properly.

"Erm, Rafael?" He looked behind him to find Tina standing behind him, a look of concern in her green eyes. "Is he alright?"

He nodded. "Tina. Make sure she doesn't step foot in this room. I don't want her coming near Cassian until I'm sure it's fine. Okay?"

She gave a thumbs up and stepped outside.

Cassian...

She gripped her yellow and white striped sundress tightly, unable to stop worrying about him.

Relax, Tina. You're being stupid. He's gonna be fine. He's-

"Tina."

Despite hearing her coming, Lyza scared the crap out of her. Building up her courage, she turned to face her and stretched her arms out, as if blocking her way.

The woman in front of her didn't like that one bit. "The hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded.

"Rafael told me to not let you anywhere near Cassian." She replied, acting brave on the outside. Underneath her sundress, her knees were quite certainly shaking.

Lyza couldn't believe it. None of this made any sense. "Rafael. Rafael!" She called, and was almost surprised when he actually appeared at the doorway to Cassian's room.

His eyes no longer contained that fury, but instead held a worn out, tired emotion.

Almost like pity.

"What in Falk's name is all this?" She asked gruffly, and was met with no answer.

Rafael kept his eyes firmly on the floor.

"I can't let you talk to Cassian. I won't. Not now, not until I know you can without kicking his head through the wall." He replied, gripping the framework of the door as he said so.

She opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't come up with anything.

With tightened fists at her sides, she turned around and rushed away, no doubt to the ship's tiny bathroom to think.

"Rafael...you should talk to her!" Tina suggested, and he agreed.

Some things had to be straightened out.

But he didn't want to leave Cassian on his own either. Not after that scene. "Tina. Stay with Cassian, why don't you?" He said, and headed on after Lyza.

With a sigh, Tina returned to the room and shut the door.

"Tina!"

Startled, she turned her head to find Cassian wide awake, and happy to see her.

She was going to say something, but stopped when she saw the blackened bruise on his forehead, above his right eye.

Cassian noticed her staring, and smiled. "This is fine. It's nothing, really!" He said brightly, placing his fingertips on it.

Tina wasn't an idiot. She saw his fingertips tremble as they touched the spot, his closed eyes tighten at that fragile contact.

She lowered her eyes. "You aren't fine. I'm sorry." There was nothing else she could think of to say.

"H-Huh? You don't need to apologize..." He murmured, genuinely surprised and unsure of how to react.

What else am I supposed to do, then? That's all I'm good for- apologizing.

She moved besides him, and bent down onto her knees. "I just don't know what else I can do for you, that's all." She replied, her voice trembling despite all her effort.

He had no words left to say. Absolutely nothing. But Tina had one thing she wanted to do.

Swiftly, giving Cassian no chance to think, she wrapped her arms around his back and hugged him.

The feel of her soft, red hair against his face. The warmth of her body on his. The sound of her beating heart. It was all too much to bear.

"Tina, you-"

She cut him off by tightening her arms around him, and grasping his shirt.

Gently, slowly, she lowered her mouth to Cassian's ear. "I can't give you an escape from your mother. Or make you a privateer. But at least...at least let me do this much."

The sadness and helpless longing in her voice made tears well up in the eyes of Cassian, who was in the same state as the girl.

What followed was hidden by the silence and a closed door.