He was standing in front of someone. Someone familiar. Haze stood puzzled for a moment, then realized it was his younger brother. But he was all grown up now, taller than Haze but with similar features. And those features were contorted with anger and sadness. They stared each other down for a long while, Haze feeling confused and his brother looking more angry by the second.
"You've forgotten me, haven't you?" His brother said quietly, his voice full of accusation. Haze gaped at him and struggled to reply.
"N-no! I can never forget you! All of you, I think of you everyday! Haven't you seen the vengeance I've done, for you and Mum and Dad?"
His brother merely looked at him with despair and frustration.
"Death is never the answer, Darren. I never asked you to do this. To kill unknowing people, regardless of who they really are.." he said sadly, turning away from Haze and crossing his arms over his chest. Haze was at a loss for words. He gawked at his brother's unrelenting back.
"But they deserved it. Who they are doesn't matter. That justice is served does matter. Nothing else." he finally managed, trying to maintain his normal calm, to recapture pain that wanted out.
"Oh, Darren," his brother whispered, turning around again "what have they done to you? I can barely recognize you!" he searched Haze's face intently, desperately. Haze also stared, for his brother's face had changed. The grey eyes and dark hair were gone. But Haze wasn't sure who it was, even though he knew it wasn't a complete stranger. The person's face grew anguished.
"Why can't you remember me?"......

Haze woke slowly, trying to sort out where he was. What had happened. He vaguely remembered a dream, talking to his brother, but not his brother...
Haze blinked but otherwise still didn't move. Something was wrong with his body, he hurt all over. Especially his neck.
At that thought, the events that led to his loss of consciousness came flooding back and Haze quickly sat up from the sprawl he had been laying in. He cautiously looked around him but Tail was on the other side of the room.
He had a chance to kill me but he didn't. I wonder why.

The captain used this time as an opportunity to study the sleeping pirate without him knowing. Tail's face was relaxed, erasing lines of stress, made him look a lot younger and less hardened. A youngster playing make-believe by wearing an eyepatch. He looked exhausted but his colour was improving: his skin was faintly tanned and his hair appeared more healthy, looked less brown and more blond. Tail was still rather thin but his well-muscled body told Haze that it was not a result of starvation or sleep-capsule.

Eventually Haze turned away and quietly walked to the nearest vidscreen. It flickered uncertainly once in a while but otherwise seemed to work fine. He checked how extensive the damage was and the findings were grim indeed. No life signs could be found anywhere on the ship. Engines were down. Almost all power was down. Life-support was fairly functional and, miraculously, now only worked on their level. All other levels were sealed off because of hull breaches or system failures. Ironic that the prison, designed to best keep people in it, not out, was the most secure and protected spot on the whole ship. There was only the two of them left on the entire ship, and who knew how long they could survive before help arrived. They were, after all, in the outermost regions of space.

Haze rested his forehead on the cool plastic of the screen and tried to think.
I'm stuck with a lawless pirate who almost killed me once already.
A faint noise behind him caused Haze to spin around and both men froze in defensive postures, Tail caught in the middle of getting up. The captain's hand went to his phaser and the pirate's hands went up at the same time. Neither of them moved, eyes cautiously watching each other.

"Look, you daft bugger," Tail said quietly after a long moment "I was just sitting up, that's what people do when they wake up. I'd like to put my arms down now."

Haze regarded him silently then slowly began to take his hands off the gun. The tall pirate relaxed and lowered his arms, idly shaking them. Haze offered no apology and continued to watch Tail with suspicion. The pirate was halfway to the food replicator when he turned and grimaced at Haze.

"Would you stop looking at me like I'm gonna escape or kill you!" he exclaimed.

"You already tried to kill me, remember? What stopped you last time?" Haze replied dryly. To the captain's surprise, Tail went white for a brief moment, then recovered and shrugged.

"You know how this ship works," the pirate said nonchalantly "You could be useful, no reason to kill you."

"That didn't stop you before!" Haze replied heatedly, feeling the bruises on his neck. Haze watched Tail clench his fists and flush with anger.

"That's because I was sick you acting all high-and-mighty, looking down your nose at me, you arrogant prick! Do you treat everyone else like worms or was I just lucky today?" the pirate taunted. Haze eyes lit with cold fury and he was at the Tail's throat in a second, slamming his balled fist into the pirate's jaw. Tail staggered back then scrambled up and threw himself at Haze. The two of them exchanged blows, shoving and struggling, but both felt a strange reluctance to do any serious injury to each other. Abruptly they broke it off and leaned against a nearby wall, glaring at each other and breathing heavily, filled with frustration.

"You cunt. You have it so fucking easy," Tail rasped out of the blue, wiping blood off a small cut on his lip. "Everything handed to you on a silver platter. You think I enjoy creeping around the edges of space? That I get some sort of thrill out of 'plundering' and taking only what people don't want?"
Haze stared at him for a moment, then laughed; a sickly laugh, totally devoid of any real humor.
"Yes, my life was so terribly easy," he replied with a mirthless smile. "it was so easy cramming myself into ventilation tunnels, staying perfectly still even though your seven-year-old's muscles are yelling at you for relief, but movement meant death. It was no task at all to watch my belongings and memories get brutally destroyed only for the chance that they might be worth something to your pirate brothers and sisters. And it was so very easy to watch my family die one by one, tortured and dying slowly, crying out to me that everything will be alright BUT I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP THEM!" Haze closed his eyes and tried to calm down. But Tail's voice startled him into opening them again.

"They were not my brothers and sisters," he said bitterly "I've never had a family. I've been alone longer than you have, you lucky bastard." Tail paused for a moment wipe a little more blood from the clotting wound on his lip.

"You're not the only one who's suffered through misery, you know. So quit acting like you have some right to act all pretentious to the rest of us, like you won a fucking medal or something. Cos everyone's got one just like you."
And with that, Tail closed his eyes and turned his back to Haze.