As promised, bumper postage...
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Aboard the Endurance…

Night had fallen over the ship, and Scully was alone in the cabin lying on her hammock, the only light coming from a candle on the table a few feet from her position. She sighed deeply, the sound of the waves lapping at the side of the ship failing, for the first time, to ease her nerves or help her sleep. She allowed her hand to slip from beside her head and grasp the sleeve of Mulder's jacket, which she still had and was now using as a makeshift blanket. She fingered the buttons at the cuff and sighed again, closing her eyes briefly. It still smelled of him. Scully then rolled to one side and tipped herself out of the hammock, landing gracefully on the floor. She looked at the jacket once more, before replacing it in the hammock and heading out of the cabin in search of Jack.

It didn't take her very long to find him. Jack was, as usual, standing at the wheel, one hand on it, the other bringing a bottle of rum to his lips. Scully narrowed her eyes and approached him, snatching the bottle from his hand. Jack's faraway expression suddenly snapped into focus, and he fixed her with indignant eyes.

"If you wanted some, love, all you had to do was ask."

She simply glared back at him. "Maybe if you drank less of this stuff you would've been able to come up with a way to save Mulder by now!"

"For your information, a little tot of rum every now and again helps me think." He made a lunge for the bottle but Scully stepped back and raised her arm above her head, keeping it out of his reach.

"A 'little tot'?" she snorted. "I doubt anybody would class four bottles a night as a little tot!"

Gibbs, who once again was watching their exchange, bit back a chuckle. This one really had Jack pegged.

"Anyway," Jack replied, stepping closer to take another shot at getting the bottle back, "I fail to see how my consumption of rum has anything to do with your fair self."

Scully's eyebrows shot up.

"It has to do with 'my fair self', as you put it, because your extraordinarily high alcohol consumption makes you forget exactly why I'm on this ship with you." Off his blank look, she rolled her eyes and continued, "To get my partner back."

Gibbs covered a smirk with his hand as a look of realization finally dawned on Jack's face.

"Ah yes, that Mulder fellow. Wonder how he's getting on, being part of Halcón's crew…"

"Back to the point captain," Scully interjected, stressing the last word. "How exactly are we going to rescue him, not to mention the two members of your crew that Halcón also stole…"

"Pressganged," Gibbs corrected, causing her to direct her glare at him for a second.

"Whatever. The point is, how do we get them back?"

Jack seemed to ponder this conundrum seriously for a few moments before coming to a conclusion.

"I think… I have absolutely no idea." He then launched himself at Scully, hoping to knock her off balance and retrieve his rum. However, she had pre-empted him, and moved even further back so she was leaning against the side of the ship.

"Dammit woman!" Jack yelled. "Return my rum this instant or I'll throw you in the brig!"

"What brig?! This ship is so small it doesn't even have a proper sized cabin!" she shouted back, which silenced him for minute. "Now, either you help me figure out what to do, or I'll… I'll throw the bottle overboard."

He gasped. "You wouldn't!"

Scully leaned further over the side and allowed her hand to slip higher up the neck. "Do you really want to test me?"

Gibbs, sensing that the situation was about to go irretrievably down hill, chose that moment to step forward and intervene properly.

"We could always storm the ship." Both heads turned in his direction, so he continued. "If we get into port under cover of night, they'll never see us. We could dock farther up, then sneak round and board them when they least expect it."

"I like it. It could work," Scully responded, while Jack merely rolled his eyes.

"There seems to be just one fatal flaw in your little plan Mr Gibbs - storming the ship is exactly what my dear old friend Halcón would expect me to do."

Scully sighed heavily. Drunken pirates trying to outsmart each other was never going to end well. "So how are you going to get your crew back?" Scully retorted. "What's your brilliant plan?"

Jack studied her with visible concentration, taking a slow breath. "Still working on that."

Scully struggled to hide her exasperation, then drew her arm back into the boat and took a long swallow of rum in an effort to temper it, before tossing the bottle over the side, to Jack's absolute horror. When she noticed she simply shrugged.

"It was empty."

It was the final straw for Gibbs. He started to laugh. Jack tried to shut him up by shooting daggers at him, but it only made it worse, the laughter gradually got louder and harder until he could barely breathe.

Scully couldn't help but grin as she watched Jack getting more and more annoyed, which only served to make Gibbs laugh even harder. He was bent double, clutching his sides as tears streamed down his cheeks, which had turned bright red as a result of the exertion.

After a few minutes his giggles began to subside until he was finally able to speak.

"S…sorry cap'n, bu…but … your face was priceless!" Jack just glared. Scully let out a soft chuckle before straightening her expression and trying to get them back on track.

"Ok, as Gibbs said before…," she paused, not wanting to continue, lest she set him off again. "I think we should seriously consider storming the ship. If we go in quick, when they won't be expecting it and we can use the element of surprise to our advantage."

"Far be it for me to agree with a woman cap'n, but she does make a good argument," Gibbs continued, ignoring the icy stare he got from Scully for his opening remark. This alone prompted her to take over again.

"I know there's only three of us, but once we get on board I know Mulder will help, and I'm sure the two members of your crew will help as well. And who knows, maybe if all you've said about him is true, some of Halcón's men will use to opportunity to mutiny against him and side with us."

"It's a fair point cap'n. We know what he's like. I'm sure some of those men would like nothing more than to settle a score with him, pay him back for the mistreatment."

Scully was about to continue hers and Gibbs' tag team effort in persuading Jack, but as she opened her mouth to speak he raised his hand, effectively silencing her. Wiping his forehead with the back of his arm, he turned and headed for the wheel.

"All this talking… I need a drink." He grabbed a well placed bottle of rum, pulled the cork out with his teeth and drained half the contents with one swallow.

It was all Scully could do to stop herself from marching over to him and wringing his neck.

Gibbs just shrugged.

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Lily & Sirocco
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