Liam wakes slowly to Killian shaking his shoulder.

"Liam!" Killian's voice calls out in a near panic. "Liam!"

"I'm awake. Did father forget to leave the lamp burning?"

"Father's not here," Killian says. "The man said he left. He said he traded us for a boat to get away. That can't be true, can it?"

Liam sighs and sits up. To say that he was expecting it, for their father to sell them for a damned row boat, would be an overstatement, but neither is he as surprised as Killian. He certainly isn't denying it the way Killian is. Liam is five years Killian's senior, too old for their father's bedtime stories about bravery and what kind of man he was going to be. He has a general idea of the kind of man their father is and wants no part of it.

"I'll figure it out," Liam says. He wants to scream, to curse their father for leaving this all on him, but he doesn't. A piece of Killian still clings to the hope that there might be another explanation and he can't bring himself to destroy that hope. "Hey, Killian, it's alright. Look at me. You like the ocean, right?"

"Yeah," Killian says hesitantly.

"Well, it's okay then. We stay on the ship, explore the realms, just like we planned. It's just you and me, but that doesn't have to change the plan. I'll look after you, I promise. Now go back to sleep. I'll go talk to the captain."

"Captain?" he asks hesitantly, knocking on the captain's door. A nagging piece of hope in the back of his mind makes him want to turn back, not to know. He sighs and forces himself to knock again.

"Come in." The captain is seated at the desk, looking over some papers. It's a merchant vessel and there are a lot of papers to be dealt with apparently. "Ah, one of the new boys."

"That's what I came to ask you about."

"Did the other boy not tell you? You're father sold you to me for the boat he got away on."

Liam swallows and forces himself to nod. "And what…" he clears his throat, hating the way it almost cracked, wanting to sound strong. "What will you expect of us?"

"Hard work. There's always too much work to do on a ship like this."

"I'm not afraid of hard work, sir"

The captain snorts and hands Liam his flask. Liam accepts it and takes a single swig, hating the burn but not wanting to look weak.

"Nothin' like your old man then," the captain says with a chuckle.

"I try not to be," Liam replies seriously.

The first few weeks are some of the worst. Killian still holds out hope that their father will return and Liam can't bring himself to crush that hope. He knows he probably should but he just can't.

His hands ache because he hasn't built up the callouses he needed for the work he is doing, his own and as much of Killian's as he can manage. Killian is exhausted too and Liam tries to take as much of his brother's work load as he can.

Killian screams at the first lash and Liam grits his teeth. He keeps his clenched fists studiously at his side. It wouldn't help Killian for him to get himself killed in a fight with the captain.

"Captain, please," Liam says. "He's only ten."

"He ruined the haul. Someone's gotta pay for that."

Liam swallows. "Aye," he says. "I know that. I'll… I'll take the rest of his punishment."

"You sure, boy?" the captain sneers. "I'll have Gunth do it proper with you. You ain't no kid." Gunth has the strongest arm for this, or maybe just more enthusiasm. Either way, that is a considerably more severe punishment than just five more lashes from one of the others.

"I'm sure," Liam says. And he is sure. He's done this, more or less, a few times, taken the blame for Killian's mistakes, but never straight up taken a beating for him like this before. Damn the captain for his treatment of Killian and damn their father to the depths of Tartarus for leaving him to take care of Killian alone.

"Liam?" Killian asks, his lip trembling. "You don't have to. I can be strong."

"Hey, none of that," Liam says softly as he unties his little brother's hands from the mast. "Go down to the bunk and wait for me. Go on," he says with a strained smile.

"But why…?"

"I always look after you. You know that. It's alright, Killian. Go on. I'll catch up."

He takes the lashes well, only crying out on the final blow when it crosses the marks already made.

Killian is curled up on his side on his bunk, crying quietly. Liam sits beside him, hissing in pain as it stretches the wounds on his back.

"I'd best get that cleaned up," he says softly. "Here, roll over so I can get to it."

Killian complies, still blinking back tears.

"It's not bad," Liam says, managing a smile. "Didn't even break the skin."

"I don't know what I did wrong," Killian says through his tears. "I mean, I know what I did, but I don't know how not to do it next time. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough."

"Hey, none of that. You're a lot stronger than you realize."

"But you had to take my lashes because I wasn't strong enough."

"Who told you that?" Liam asks. "Because it's not true. I look after you. It's what I do. It's got nothin' to do with how strong you are. That's what a big brother is for."

"Isn't it what a father is for?" Killian asks in a very quiet voice.

"Aye," Liam says. "But he's not here. I am."

"He's not coming back, is he?" Killian asks very quietly.

"No," Liam says softly. "He's not."

Killian nods, looking very serious and suddenly much older. "You could get away," he says. "When you're ashore to unload cargo or something. It wouldn't be difficult."

"That is never going to happen, Killian," he says. "I promise. I'll never leave without you."

Killian nods. "I know," he says.

"Good. Now, my turn. Scoot over," he directs as he lays down on the bunk so Killian can reach his own bleeding back.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I know, Killian, but I can hardly reach me own back."

"Yours is a lot worse than mine," Killian says.

"I'll be alright," Liam says. He grits his teeth and doesn't complain while Killian washes the stripes on his back.

"Here, you should get some rest," Liam says when Killian finishes. "What story do you want? You want to hear about the golden cities of Agrabah, where the air smells of spices and the women are carried on chairs through the city?"

"Don't worry about it," Killian answers with a shrug. "I'm too old for bedtime stories anyway."

That night, curled up on his own bunk, is the last time Liam cries. Not for himself, he's taken lashings before, but for Killian. He can bear his own pain, but he can't bear watching his brother lose hope.

Every time the men go to shore, Liam stays behind and teaches Killian to read off the navigation charts on the walls in the captain's quarters. It is the only time they are nearly guaranteed to have to themselves, although a couple of crewmen usually stay behind to guard the ship. The captain is getting old and his eyesight isn't what it once was, especially in a dark cabin by candlelight, so he can hardly read the letters he gets for himself anymore. Liam teaches Killian to read to give his brother a way to be indispensable.

They pick up some new crewmen in port about a year later, rough men the lot of them. Jukes is the worst and sets his sights on Killian straight away.

"Boy," he calls to Killian, who was working on the rigging.

Liam glances over, keeping an eye on them, as ever, while he worked.

"Let's get a look at you," the man says.

Liam walks over, his calm demeanor belying the anger surging beneath.

"Come on, little brother," he says, the words a shield, a promise. If you want to hurt him, you have to go through me. He hopes it is enough because if one of them decides to make trouble, he could lose. If all of them do, he doesn't stand a chance. "The captain needs you to go over the manifest."

"I'm not so little," Killian objects, as Liam led him away.

Liam is on constant alert for a while, always ready to step between them, always having some ready excuse to call Killian away.

Jukes crosses a line when Liam spots him grab Killian's wrist. It's not like none of the other crewmen ever strike them, a backhand for talking back, a single blow for not moving fast enough. Those are just petty cruelties that they have both grown painfully accustomed to. But none of the rest of the crew exudes the same menace that Jukes does.

"Jukes," Liam says, keeping the anger out of his voice. "Captain wants to see you."

Killian moves to follow Liam, as usually when he's scared, but for once, Liam stops him.

"Finish with the rigging, little brother. I'll be right back."

Killian frowns, but does as he is told, scurrying back up the rigging while Liam follows Jukes bellow. Liam's fingers find the small knife he uses for various tasks around the ship. It isn't much of a weapon, but it is sharp. Once again Liam silently curses Brennan, he has long since stopped calling the man 'father', for leaving this to him.

Jukes half turns. "What did the cap…?"

He never finishes the sentence because Liam drives the small knife through his neck. Liam lets the knife fall from shaking fingers as he watches the life ebb from the first man he ever killed.

He'd had a plan, to throw him overboard before anyone could find out, and he could do that, shove him into the sea through the gunnery ports would be easiest, but he hadn't counted on how much the man is bleeding. They'll know someone stabbed him. And everyone knows Liam and Jukes don't like each other.

They take Liam to the brig and the captain comes to see him.

"You killed a fellow member of the crew. Do you dispute the charge?"

Liam swallows. "No, sir. I did what I had…"

The captain held up his hand. "Don't try to explain. Jukes was a damn problem since he came on board. I may be half blind, but I'm not completely blind, boy."

"Of course not, sir," Liam says, hope stirring.

"I should probably be thanking you, but you killed a member of my crew. You understand, I can't let that stand."

"I know."

"If I wasn't glad to be shed of the bastard I'd have you keelhauled."

Liam tries not to look scared at that. He hadn't even considered that as a possibility. He'd seen a man keelhauled and it was a bad way to go. "I know, sir."

"Fifty lashes before the mast then. To be carried out by the bo'sun."

Liam nods. It could have been much worse. He could have been keelhauled, or hanged, or sentenced to whipping by someone with a stronger arm, or even to have the men trade off because a man's arm gets tired delivering fifty lashes. He is getting off lightly and he knows it, although it doesn't feel like it.

He remains stubbornly silent for the first twenty lashes, long enough to look strong to the rest of the crew. By the end he is nearly silent again, barely able to stand on his feet, and it is nearly a week before he is able to get back to work.

Liam has earned a brief span of relative peace after that. The rougher element of the crew decide it's not worth it to hassle Killian after what happened to Jukes. It's still hard work, but Killian is getting stronger and better able to pull his weight on the crew, and most of Killian's work involves being aide to the captain anyway and that just involves reading. It's a life Liam could almost enjoy, if he were working for himself or for a captain he chose.

Liam starts to worry about Killian as his brother gets older. He has a defiant streak and resents being ordered around by a master he had no say in choosing. It's a new captain now, the old one finally retired, so Killian no longer has the luxury of working as the captain's aide. Liam knows it's only a matter of time before Killian does something stupid and gets himself hurt, or worse.

"If I got out, you would be able to get away pretty easily, right?" Killian asks one night. And that scares Liam. The truth is, he has seen this growing in Killian for some time, but he knows it isn't that simple. Killian is thirteen, too young to just get away easily, not fast enough to run away, not strong enough to fight his way free.

"Do you have a plan to go with that daydreaming, little brother?" he asks, trying to dissuade him.

"Not yet. But we should make a plan of where to meet, in case I get a chance."

Liam keeps putting him off, trying to keep Killian from doing anything rash. Finally, after a week of badgering him, Killian approaches him with a new tactic.

"You can't put me off forever, Liam. I'm doing this."

"It's too big a risk," Liam says. Not for himself. If it were just himself he would have taken his chances on escape, probably a long time ago. But he won't put his fourteen year old brother in danger.

"Risk of what?" Killian demands. "Anything is better than this. I'm leaving as soon as I get a chance and I don't want to lose you in the escape."

"That's why I don't want you to do this at all," Liam says softly, but relents and makes a plan for a place because he knows Killian won't give up on this idea.

Killian does try to escape when they make port, and, as Liam had feared, is caught. The captain is furious and gives him forty lashes before the mast and gives the first five personally. It takes all the strength Liam has not to interfere. He will do Killian no good if he gets himself killed.

Killian doesn't cry out, not once. That doesn't really surprise Liam. Killian has a tendency to take the few things he can control very seriously.

"Do it again and I have you keelhauled," the captain snarls when the punishment is complete.

Liam cuts him down and half carries him downstairs to clean his wounds. "I told you it was a bad idea," he says. "Why wouldn't you listen to me?"

"I can't stay here," Killian murmurs, his voice a little slurred.

"Killian, you heard the captain."

"He can't keelhaul me if he can't catch me. I surrendered too easily last time."

Liam goes to the tavern with the men when they dock. He claims it's to get rum or something to clean Killian's wounds properly. It's a reasonable excuse. None of them worry about him escaping. The whole crew knows he won't leave his brother so he will be back before the ship leaves. He keeps his eye out for the best places to run, whether this town would be sympathetic if they did. He knows Killian will try again and he will do his best to make sure it works this time. And if it doesn't, he will be there with his brother when it fails.

There are notices up, recruiting young men to fight in the ogre wars. Most of them are for infantry battalions, but the one for the navy catches his eye.

Technically, Liam does what is only possible because none of them think he will do it. He escapes. He heads to the navy recruitment office and asks what the rules are for signing up if he is currently indentured. Turns out, the navy will buy off their contract so he returns to the ship with the full might and authority of the king's navy supporting him.

They lie through their teeth about Killian's age because he is too young to legally join, but by that night both of them are free men and proud members of the royal navy.

They distinguish themselves quickly in the navy. The plan is to become officers. It isn't an easy path for boys not born to nobility, but neither of them is bothered by working hard, and their new duties leave them more time than they have ever had to themselves before, time they spend improving themselves.

Liam has never been more proud than when Killian receives his officer's commission and a short time later they receive special orders from the king. This is what they have been hoping for.

It's strange. Their orders said this realm was uninhabited. Liam pushes that thought aside to deal with the boy they encounter on the beach in Neverland. Admittedly there are a lot of things strange about Neverland, but he takes his king at his word. If not for the king's law, he would still be in servitude, or worse, would have gotten himself killed trying to protect Killian. He owes the king this.

He sighs and cuts off a piece of the plant. Liam may be willing to take the king at his word but Killian isn't going to let this go, not without proof.

"Liam!" Killian's voice calls out in a near panic. "Liam!"

He hears Killian's panicked voice calling his name and tries to open his eyes and reassure his brother that everything would be alright, but can't. He's too tired and poison from the wound on his arm is spreading like fire through his blood.

"I'm sorry, little brother," he wants to say. "It looks like you have to be the strong one this time."