"Let's hope so. We will be making up for nearly twenty years of broken contact." Resting a hand on his cheek, Marabelle moved so that their foreheads touched. "Between your love affair with the sea and the time you spent in jail because of it, or the fact that I'm an only child and you married into government society, we really haven't been together since you kidnapped me." Giggling, she gave him a chaste kiss before pulling away to tend to their daughter who had started to mumble nonsense in her drug induced sleep. "Hopefully we don't get sick of each other and have someone end up overboard. I've been there, done that, really don't want a repeat experience."

---

Seeing the intent of the swing before it happened, Elijah had a split second in order to make a decision. Should he dodge and retaliate, or let himself get hit again? There was a moment of hesitation before he moved, causing him to get hit, but not to the extent he would have if he hadn't moved. The graze still had enough force behind it to split his lip, he probably wouldn't have been standing if he had received the full fist. "You drove her away, Jack!" As the other man moved back into position for another throw, Elijah had to act. Rushing forward, he hooked his ankle behind Jack's and let his momentum drive his shoulder into his chest. Jack was stronger on his feet, but Elijah was the one that everyone called on to restrain a combatant. His leaner frame gave him the advantage on the ground. Crashing against the chairs as they went down, he wondered for a fleeting moment how no one in this house could not hear what was going on.

The corner of the chair knocked against Jack's head, causing a small wound to open. He ignored the pain as he fought Elijah off of him, "Fight like a man, you fucking bastard!" He roared as he threw the other to the side. At that moment, Amy had come in after hearing the crashing and shouting from the kitchen. "What the hell is going on here?!" She shouted. Jack jumped to his feet, blinking away the blood as he glared at Elijah. "You coward! You dare try to pin this on me!?" He ignored the entrance of his mother as he took the few steps towards the other man, intending to beat him to a pulp. He felt as though someone had opened up a dam of emotions that he didn't realize he had locked away. The guilt he had towards hurting Josephine, towards scorning Alice, the anger he felt towards Alice's captors, towards Elijah all blended into mass of blind rage directed towards one person.

Stumbling backwards as he was tossed like he weighed nothing, Elijah just stared at Jack, a dangerous expression slowly forming and twisting his features. Even though he truly was a bastard, getting called it by someone he loved like family was a button not many were willing to press. Swiping the back of his hand against his lip, he wiped away the trickle of blood that had started there. "Listen t' you!" He said while grinning like a madman, "Resorting to callin' names because you can't handle the truth!" Watching every single movement Jack made with an eye like a hawk, Elijah rushed forward again, this time using the brute strength he had but never showed. Shoving the other man backwards against the wall, he ducked his head low, his fist going to work on Jack's ribs.

Upon hearing Amy's shriek, Marabelle's head jerked up and she ran towards the sound, only to see Jack and Elijah going at it. "'Ey!" She called, attempting to draw attention. She had seen plenty of fights on board, and knew better than to get between them. Unfortunately not even the Captain could pull the two out of their fight and they'd have to go until they couldn't any longer. It was the only way.

Sebastian followed his wife and saw the scene playing out in front of them. The two men were spitting swears and throwing punches. Jack had managed to push Elijah off of him and rammed him onto the table. The wooden furniture couldn't handle the weight and snapped underneath them. They didn't seem to mind as Jack managed to straddle Elijah, throwing punch after punch. The captain was surprised to see his son holding his own, blocking many of Jack's blows. He was always the calm one, breaking up the fights that occurred on the ship. His inexperience still showed, Jack still was the more seasoned fighter, yet he still managed to get in a couple of good shots. Sebastian knew better than to break up a fight between two pirates, especially one this passionate, without a second backup but Jones was nowhere to be seen. He frowned, wondering just what exactly brought the two men to blows. He asked the question to Amy whose only answer was a bitter, "Josephine."

Elijah's spine was practically screaming as he nearly bent in half over the edge of the table, but that was nothing compared to the fury unleashed upon him once the wood snapped and he was trapped beneath Jack's weight. No matter what he did, the other man was landing blow after blow. Somehow contorting his body, Elijah placed one foot on Jack's stomach and shoved with every ounce of strength he had left, pushing him off and backwards through the window and into the backyard. Once the relentless beating ceased, all he could do was lay there, pant, and take inventory on everything that hurt. He was pretty sure he had a few broken ribs and possibly a broken finger or two, but he was alive. Almost immediately Marabelle was on the move, making her own assessments of her injured son. "This is more than just her, Amy." She stated matter-of-factly. If she hadn't walked in on her daughter and Jack this morning, she would have agreed, but there was more to this situation than just that.

Just as Jack flew through the window, Jones and Josephine came bursting in. Josephine gasped and ran towards Elijah, "What the hell happened?!" She asked, looking around at the grim faces that surrounded them. At that moment, Jack came bounding back into the house bloodied and eyes filled with bloodlust. He was stopped by Sebastian who blocked his way towards Elijah, "Stand down, Jack." He shouted, holding him back. "It's over!" Jack stopped fighting against Sebastian when he saw Josephine kneeling beside Elijah. She looked up and met his eyes with a look of fury, "Did you do this?" Her voice was low as she started to stand up, hands clenched into tight fists.

After attempting and being unable to roll over and get himself up, Elijah finally realized what could have happened to him if the fight had gone on any longer. Jack was high on adrenaline, but he was still moving like he felt no pain. Groaning, he squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth against the throbbing in his abdomen and chest. Marabelle was caught between looking after her injured son and wanting to beat the tar out of Jack herself. She watched him go from a happy-go-lucky eight year old boy to an awkward and angry teenager then finally to a well rounded man, or so she thought. Pressing her lips into a fine line, she turned her attentions back to Elijah, helping him out of the wreckage of the dining room table. "Come on, Eli. Stand up, honey." She coaxed quietly, getting him to shift his weight and get to his feet. Although unsteady, he was standing, his whole body throbbing in time to his panicked heartbeat. "Let's get you somewhere better to lay down, okay?" With one final glace at Jack, Marabelle shook her head slightly, her disappointment obvious in the actions of the two men.

Jones recognized the look that was blazing in Josephine's eyes and stopped her before she started to move any further. "Don't do anything you'll regret." He said in a low voice. Josephine looked away from Jack to meet Jones' eyes. The stern look seemed to tell her that if she took another step, he would end her. She backed away, shooting one last glower at Jack before going to help Elijah. "Oh Eli," She frowned, looking at him, gently putting a hand on his cheek.

Jack watched with narrowed eyes as the three left the room. Amy ran over to her son, "Jack, honey." She cooed, reaching out for him but he jerked away from her and Sebastian. "I'm fine." He said, now focusing on the two people in front of them. The adrenaline along with his anger ebbed, giving way to the throbbing pain everywhere in his body. Sebastian narrowed his eyes, "What the hell was that all about?" He asked. Jack simply shook his head as he slowly began to realize the cost of his actions. The captain lifted the other man up by his shirt and pushed him to the wall, "If you aren't going to tell me, fine. But if this happens again, I will tear you limb from limb. I will not have this type of recklessness in my crew, do you understand?" His voice was low but filled with danger. Jack was silent, avoiding the eyes of the livid captain as he nodded. Sebastian let go of him roughly, letting him fall to the ground before turning and walking out.

As soon as he was let go, Amy ran to him, not noticing the tense look that was shared between the fathers of the two combatants. She knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his cheek, "C'mon. Lets get you cleaned up."

Lowering Elijah to the edge of the bed, Marabelle kept him sitting upright while she unbuttoned his shirt to check for any unusual injuries. While she worked, he concentrated on slowing his breathing and getting his eyes open. Looking up at Josephine, he gave a huff of laughter despite the pain it caused. Startled, Marabelle looked up from a bruise that was forming on his abdomen to make sure this outburst wasn't due to an injury. "Tell Amy I'm sorry about the table..." He said sheepishly, his eyes clear as he took note of her surprised expression. "...And the window." The second chuckle made him grimace, a hand going to his ribs. Jack was ridiculously strong as it was, add that to being beyond angry, Elijah was glad to have escaped with a broken rib.

Rocking back to standing, Marabelle placed her hands on her hips and studied her son. "You're an odd duck, my son." Leaning down she placed a kiss on his forehead, "I'll be right back, I'm going to go get something to clean these scrapes." With a glance and a subtle nod towards Josephine, she left the room, using the excuse to give the two some privacy.

Once his mother was out of the room, Elijah turned his attention back to Josephine, his typical half-smirk tugging up one side of his lips. "I guess I deserved that." Glancing at his reflection in the mirror across the room, the sight wiped all traces of his humor away. No wonder everyone was so shaken up about what happened, it appeared that he had gotten in a fight with an angry bull and lost. Splotches of red were appearing all over his body, giving an idea of what he was going to look like in a few hours.

It was no surprise to her to see the brutal aftermath of a pirate fight. Elijah's wounds were not even the worst she's seen. But just seeing them on him caused Josephine to worry. He was the one who broke up fights, not got into them. She played with her hands nervously, brows knitted when Marabelle pulled his shirt open to reveal a patchwork of angry red splotches. Her worry had dissipated when he chuckled and spoke casually, as if he didn't have a run in with Jack. Typical Elijah, never wanting anyone to worry over him. A small smile pulled at her lips as she shook her head. Taking Marabelle's spot at the side of his bed after she left, Josephine took his hand in hers. "You think you look bad, you should see the other guy." She smiled slightly, "I can't believe you kicked him through the window."

The soft caress on his hand drew Elijah's attention away from his own reflection and caused him to look down, noticing the scrapes and bruising that was forming on his knuckles as well. It was beginning to seem as if nothing on his body was spared in the onslaught. "He just looks worse." Replaying the scene in his mind, he couldn't even figure out how he contorted his body in order to kick Jack off of him in the first place. "I was outmatched from the beginning. I tried to avoid the fight, but..." Making a face, his attention returned to hers. "It just pissed him off more." With another quiet chuckle, he looked away, suddenly uncomfortable with everything going on. "I can't go back."

---

Fortunately, Alice was still asleep when Marabelle entered the room to get some supplies. The whole situation would have been much worse had she been awake and aware of what just happened. Frowning, she left the room to check in on Amy and Jack. "Do you need anything?" She asked quietly, offering some of the ointments and solutions she had taken from her daughter's bedside. Blood was starting to dry along Jack's shirt and all over his skin from his encounter with the window. He appeared beaten, hunched over and looking at the floor. Now that she knew that her son was okay, Marabelle was able to shove away some of the maternal instinct that had bubbled up earlier.

Lifting his hand, Josephine gently placed a kiss to the back of his hand. She had heard the rumors that Elijah was planning on leaving the crew as soon as they landed but never really thought anything of it because that's what they were, rumors. Pirates loved gossiping as much as women. And yet, his words suddenly put things into perspective. She wasn't sure where she was going to go from here. She couldn't go back onto the ship, not without Elijah. "If you're not going back, I'm not either." She said softly, smiling at him.

"You're not going back? On the ship?" Sebastian had walked in to check on his son. He frowned as he looked from Josephine to Elijah, "It can't be just because of this..."

---

Amy looked up from cleaning the wounds on her son's back, "Thank you, Belle." She said, "But I think we have everything. How is Elijah doing?" She asked, dropping a small piece of glass into the tray beside her. Jack's hands were clenched on his thighs, trying not to wince as his mother pulled glass from his wounds. There wasn't much, according to her but he wondered if she was just saying that to make him feel better. At the mention of Elijah, he looked up, still feeling absolutely terrible for blowing up on him. Eli was right. He was the one who drove Josephine away. He didn't know what had gotten into him. It was as though Alice was a hurricane, uprooting everything he thought he knew about himself and his life.

Elijah was about to respond to Josephine announcing that without him she wasn't returning either, but was interrupted when Sebastian entered the room. "It isn't." Pulling his hand from Josephine's, he sat straighter, not wanting to appear injured to his Captain. It was a silly gesture, but it was automatic. "It's something I've put a lot of thought into and now," He paused to look at the woman in front of him. "with this attack from Jack, I wouldn't feel comfortable putting myself into a hostile situation where the only means of escape is into the ocean." Frowning, his eyes returned to his father. Elijah had worked his way up in rank on board and was finally earning a little respect. Word would spread like wildfire that he lost a fight to the Navigator and all hell would break loose.

---

"He's sorry about breaking your things." Marabelle responded with a chuckle as she repeated the first words out of her son's mouth after the fight. "And he feels he deserved what he got, but he'll live." After a moment of studying Jack's body language, it dawned on her what was going on. That was a guilt fight and he had only been looking for an outlet to his anger and frustration. That avenue just happened to be her son. She wanted to say something encouraging to Jack, but she was, for once, at a loss for words.

"The ship has never been hostile to you, Elijah. It has always been a safe place for you." Sebastian had carefully controlled his emotions, not wanting to show just how deep his words cut him. Josephine cleared her throat, "With all due respect, sir," she said softly, "The crew is completely different when you are not around. Especially towards Elijah." She had seen with a first hand look just how two faced the crew can be with the entrance of their captain. One moment they are vicious, the next they are as respectful as pirates are able to be. It almost gave her whiplash, watching the change in personality.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes as he regarded Josephine, "I think I know how my crew is, Josephine." He said coldly.

---

Amy chuckled dryly, "I'll be sure to tell him it's alright. It's a good thing Jones was a very successful pirate." She went back to focusing on her son's back. "Thank you for asking, though, Belle." She said again. Jack had looked up and opened his mouth to say something before seemingly changing his mind. "Glad he's okay." He mumbled, looking away again and not holding back a wince.

With Sebastian's cold response towards Josephine, Elijah pushed himself to his feet. "You would think, but you don't." Titles and rank went out the window suddenly as Elijah faced down the man he regarded as his father. "I have had to withstand beatings and torture like you wouldn't believe could happen right under your nose, just so I could prove myself to your men that I could be trusted." Clenching his swollen hands, he continued, "That I wasn't just there because I was your son. I had to earn respect in the language that your pirates understood." It was as if all of his wounds suddenly disappeared as he stood there, finally confiding something in Sebastian that he hadn't been able to for nearly ten years. "I couldn't tell any of this to you or else I'd lose all standing and end up getting beaten worse than I ever had." Gritting his teeth against the emotion that came along with his words, he turned away and ran a hand through his hair, all of his muscles screaming at the motion.

---

Nodding at the obvious dismissal by the other woman, Marabelle turned and left the room. Even she could take a hint that there had been a shift in their relationship, she just hoped it wouldn't end up destroying anything that they had built for the last twenty years. Cutting across the hall, she heard Elijah speaking to someone, but she could tell by what he was saying that he wasn't talking to Josephine. Stopping in the now opened doorway, she quietly watched the exchange as her son finally revealed himself to Sebastian. This was something that was a long time coming, but she understood why he couldn't say anything until now.

It was no surprise to him to hear about the crew initiating new members by fights or tussles. Sometimes they were brutal but they were necessary to test the strength of the recruit. He remembered when he was on the ship for the first time, the scars he obtained. But he had always fought back and it wasn't long before the abuse had stopped. Most initiations lasted only a couple months after either they had proved themselves or the crew got bored. The fact that Elijah endured years of abuse right under his nose and without so much as breathing a word was a blow to Sebastian. Even though he understood his logic, the captain's stomach twisted into a tighter knot as his hands clenched at his sides. "Who were the leaders." He said, his voice quiet but heavy.

When Elijah stood up, Josephine stood as well. She was hesitant to reach out and put a hand on his back in order to steady him. He needed to show the captain that he was strong, even after being beaten down he could stand on his own two feet. And while she understood that, her hands itched to support him, to show that she with him. It wasn't until he turned away that she put a hand on his back, giving him a small smile.

As Elijah debated whether or not to tell his Captain who the ring leaders were, he felt Josephine's hand on his back. She had seen everything first hand and knew how brutal it all got for him. Turning back to face Sebastian, he just stared at him an incredulous smirk on his lips. "Why the hell would it matter now? It seems every single one of them have had their go." The fear of having this conversation somehow leak back to the crew caused his heart to pound and his hands to shake. Studying his father's face, his whole body started to quake. "You have bigger things to worry about than who bullied me." He forced out, finally noticing his mother standing in the doorway. His eyes locked with hers for just a brief moment before his attention went back to the man in front of him. "I'll just take myself out of the equation." Elijah finished, slumping back to a seat, his muscles exhausted.

With a clenched jaw and thinned lips, Sebastian reluctantly let the issue drop for the time being, not pushing him to stay aboard his crew. He knew quite well that despite his good-hearted and quiet nature, Elijah was still the son of Marabelle and was raised by pirates. If he had set his mind to something, he was not going to change so easily. Especially not if he had been thinking about the decision for a while, which he seemed to have been doing. He would convince him later after he took care of the matter at hand. "Who did it." He said finally, his voice still tight. No one would ever harm his family and live to tell the tale.

"I'm not a bloody snitch!" Even though he continued to hold Sebastian's gaze, the dominance of the other man eventually cowed him into submission. Finally dropping his eyes, Elijah wished his body would stop shaking thinking how weak it must make him look. Gritting his teeth, he looked towards Josephine, truly hoping she wouldn't think any different of him.

"Fine!" He blurted, "It was Geoffrey. Are you happy now?" The anger radiating off of him was nearly tangible as Marabelle stepped quietly back into the room. Resting a hand on Sebastian's arm, she studied her son. He had just broken a law that had been in place in his life for nearly ten years and he hated himself for it.

Geoffrey. There was always something off about him. Always sneaking around and smirking whenever the Captain passed. Sebastian never liked him but he did good work with the sails so he never had a reason to kick him off. He nodded tersely. He could see the hate tearing him apart for breaking Pirate code. But if Sebastian had learned something in all his years it was that sometimes, you had to snitch if it meant saving your life. Elijah would forgive himself eventually. He touched his wife's hand before he turned and left Elijah with his regret.

Josephine put her hand on Elijah's shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile. He always worked to fit in with the pirate crew and lived by all their rules. She could see the toll that breaking the rule of snitching was taking on him. He just wasn't having a good day and she wanted to hug him.