Chapter 2: Yeah…run

Buffy stared at her hands. She knew this was going to happen. She was going to marry this man.
Someone jerked at her arm, pulling her up and placing her next to Liam and her father.

“I am very honoured to become a member of your family.” The young man declared.
Hank smiled and replied: “My daughter is lucky to have you.”

All Buffy could do was stare and smile. Her mind was working overtime. What was she going to do? Was she really marrying this man or was there an option of escaping?

During all her thinking, Buffy was congratulated by several couples and some who requested her to help them with organising their dinners. She politely declined those.

The evening ended. Some of the guests went home and the few who came from afar, including Liam, retired to their rooms. Buffy made sure most things were already cleaned up properly. When she was done, she went to her room as well.

For a long time Buffy didn’t go to bed. Her maid Jane came to get her dress, while Buffy sat in a chair staring at the dancing flames in the hearth. When Jane was about to leave Buffy asked: “Jane, what do you think of my engagement with Liam?”

“He’s an excellent choice. He’s not too old, he’s good at business and he’s very rich,” Jane answered dutifully, “Of course, the downside is that he lives in Jamaica. So we don’t have you with us anymore.”

Buffy nodded. She heard him say that during dinner. It was silent again for a while. Jane still stood close to the door. The girl noticed and gestured that the maid could come and sit in the other chair. The only thing making noise was the fire consuming the wood it was given.
“What did you hear about him in the kitchen?” Buffy broke the silence.

In the corner of her eye she saw Jane stiffen. It wasn’t good to trust rumours, but the rumours spread by Netty, the cook, were mostly true.
“‘M not supposed to tell you, miss.” Jane stated. She hesitated for a moment. Was it fair to keep the truth away? She looked at the young lady in the other chair. She looked calm, but serious.

Jane sighted and finally uttered: “You deserve to know what’s been spread. Netty says he’s very possessive. If he doesn’t get what he wants he becomes this monster and tries until he gets it. I also heard he was married before, but the poor girl committed suicide after a couple of months. The poor girl was only 19 years old.”

Jane peered at her mistress. Buffy still looked calm, but her features were greyish and her eyes were shot open.
“What do you suggest I do?” She enquired.
“If I was in your position, I’d try to run, miss.” Jane said softly before she got up.
“Yeah…” Buffy said wearily, “Run…”

*********

Next morning she was still a bit spent from the stress of the day before. Luckily Jane took over some of her tasks and Buffy could start her morning slowly.
Her head had been grinding the question ‘how are we escaping?’ She still had no answer.

After breakfast Buffy was invited to the office of her father. She had to cross halve the town to get there, she didn’t mind. There was a firm breeze, sweeping her mind clean.

When she arrived at the office Liam and a man she thought was called Henry Jones were also present. Buffy remembered him to be her fathers’ consultant. It also made clear what this meeting was about. Wedding plans.

“Good morning Elisabeth,” Hank greeted her happily, “You remember my consultant?” And he pointed into the direction of the man with grey hair and a big moustache. He looked around the age of 65.
Buffy shook his hand politely. Next she moved on to Liam. “Good morning.” She said slowly.

“Good morning, Elisabeth.” He answered, emphasising ‘Elisabeth.’ When she wanted to shake his hand, Liam brought it to his mouth and placed his lips on her knuckles.
After he finally let go, Buffy sat down next to him, secretly wiping her hand with her handkerchief.

“Great,” Hank said with a loud voice, “Now that we’re all here, let’s get to business. Elisabeth, you know that now you are leaving this household, I am moving to a smaller house?”
Buffy merely nodded.

“I want you to be in charge of that. Everything is paid for, isn’t it Henry?”
“Yes, Mr. Summers.” The old man responded.
“So that should be no problem,” Hank mused.
“Father? No offence or anything, but why are you leaving me in charge?” Buffy asked with curiosity. Her father always said that if he was going to move, he would decorate it.

“Oh right,” Hank muttered, “That was what Liam, Henry and I were discussing before you came in. Liam has recently bought a small farm, planning on growing certain special plants that don’t grow in England or Jamaica. It has very fertile ground and it supposed to be fairly successful. He asked me to be his business partner. To start it up, which is going to take about 4 years, we’re both going to live there and spend time on the project. Of course you are going to live there as well.”

Buffy was surprised. She hadn’t expected her father to start up anything new. It also left a different question: “When are we leaving?”

Before Hank could answer Liam already replied: “Your father and I are leaving in about two weeks. You, on the other hand, are leaving in 3 months. It gives us time to decorate the house a bit and make it livable.”

She hated the way he spoke to her, like she was a 6 year old. But 2 and a half months of freedom made her face lift up.
“When will the wedding be then? 2 weeks isn’t enough time to plan the whole day.” Buffy spoke to her father, ignoring the man next to her.

“I’m not sure when the wedding will be, but it’ll have to wait until we have arrived in America.” Hank said with a smile.

Buffy felt relieve in her stomach. She still had time! After these announcements the men talked more about the new business. Buffy wanted to contribute to the discussion, but Liam seemed desperate to keep her out of the conversation. Every time she wanted to say something, he cut her off.

After three hours the meeting came to an end. Buffy was glad to leave. She went to the harbour to get some fresh air, but she didn’t even bother to look anymore. All she now had on her mind was escape.

“You’re happy aren’t you?” A dark voice said behind her. With one fluid motion Buffy turned around. “You’re happy you still got time. I heard them gossipping in the kitchen. Buffy is already planning on absconding. Funny, eh, how news can reach the wrong ears.” Liam’s voice was lower than normal and had a dangerous edge.

Buffy looked him straight in the eye. “I’m not afraid of you Mr. O’Connor. You try to intimidate me with the dark voice and the invading my private space, but it takes a bit more to scare me.” Her voice was clear and sharp. It showed no sign of fear. And in fact, Buffy didn’t even feel fear. Not in the least. She felt strong.
“I’ve heard some rumours too, you know. A girl, you were married to even committed suicide. I knew you were an asshole. I didn’t know you could drive people that mad.”

Liam smirked at that remark. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
Buffy snorted: “Yeah…You’re really the one to talk.”
Liam shrugged. “Anyways, to make sure you’re not running away, I’m going to let you be watched when I’m gone. Just to be sure.”
With that comment he turned his back on her.

Don’t think you’ve won Mr. O’Connor. You might have successfully end this discussion, a battle is not a war. And this is definitely war.” Buffy thought, staring again at the horizon.

TBC

Chapter 3: Don’t cling to the past, it’ll kill you

After her conversation with Liam, Buffy noticed she was being watched from a distance. She knew she would be closed in as soon as he had left.

It annoyed her, but there wasn’t much she could do. Buffy accepted that she was being tailed and she wasn’t going to do anything different from what she did normally.
At dinner Liam still tried to make her talk, but Buffy stubbornly kept her mouth shut. It irritated him greatly. She enjoyed seeing him irritated. It gave her pleasure that she could anger him as well, although it was in a different way than Liam annoyed her.

During the day they barely saw each other. Buffy was often busy with running the household and making arrangements with the decorators and the movers on the new house. The house was bought, but Buffy had received a sum of money to decorate the house. She had to make sure that it wasn’t becoming too expensive.

Liam was often discussing the plans he had for his piece of land in America and otherwise he was out talking to client and business partners about his other trade.
So, the only time they actually spend together was that one and a half hour, silent dinner.

One night, when Hank was out, Liam had enough of her stillness. As always all you could hear was the cutlery ticking on the plates.

“You can’t go on ignoring me, you know?” Liam declared.
Buffy didn’t look up from her plate. “I know,” she said uninterested, “But I’m not ignoring you. I’m just not talking. Now please be silent again so I can finish my dinner.”

Liam smirked and took a rather large bite. “Why do I have to be silent?”
Pieces of meat flew over the table. Buffy wrinkled her nose at the sight of it. “To prevent scenes like that. You are disgusting, Liam.”

He looked very pleased to hear that. After this he ate his dinner silently. When Buffy walked past him to exit the dining room, he grabbed her arm and whispered: “I’m not always disgusting. On the contrary, most ladies of my household find me far from repulsive.”

She looked down on him with mere vileness. “Indeed you are far from repulsive. That word is even to clean to describe what you are.”
Buffy pulled her arm out of his grip and walked away.

*&*&*

Next day Buffy was in the library, working out the exact final costs of switching houses. She was almost finished when Liam came in.

“There you are!” He said pseudo-enthusiastic.
She let out a deep sight and mumbled: “What do you want?”
“Just keeping you company.” He responded innocently.
“What do you want, Liam?” Buffy repeated with a firm voice.

“I had a little talk with your friend today.” Liam sat on the couch close to the window, pretending to admire the room they were in. It was full of books, except on the desk were Buffy had made some space to work.

“Xander?”
“Yes, your friend Xander. I told him to stay away from you if he didn’t want to die.” He said with an evil smile on his face.
“Fascinating.” Buffy answered without the slightest interest.
“You know I really will kill him.” Liam confirmed with a dark and sinister voice.

“Yes, I already told him you would threaten with stuff like that,” Buffy lied with a cool voice.
She looked him in face to show him she was not affected by him.

“How is it that you do not respond to anything? Not to my flirting and not to my threats? Don’t you have any weak spots?” Liam wondered out loud.
“What do you call flirting?” was the only thing she said before turning back to her papers.

“Well, like what I did on Friday was flirting. You didn’t respond to it. I just threatened to kill your friend and still I get no reaction whatsoever. I’m beginning to wonder if you are even human.”

Buffy gritted her teeth. She wanted to shout at him and kick him, but she had to show he couldn’t get to her. She started putting away her work and while doing that answered him: “I’m human, just so you know. But there’s no way you can make respond to anything you say.”

Liam arched his eyebrows. She was one tough lady. “What about your soft spot?”
“I don’t have a soft spot. It died a long time ago.”

^*^*^*^*

The weeks dragged on. Buffy hoped Liam would leave her alone, after what happened in the library. But Netty had been right. He wanted her and he was not giving up so easily.

Most of the week, Buffy didn’t see him. Not even at dinner.
This was what made her believe he had given up.
But the night before Liam left was the proof he was still trying

She had gone to bed early, because she had a busy day. Buffy was making her self ready for bed when she noticed something in the mirror. The curtain was moving and not like it was moved by the wind.

Slowly she walked to the curtain. Buffy made sure not to make a sound. Once she was in front of the curtain, she pulled it away with one swift move.
No one was there.

Suddenly the hairs in her neck were standing up straight and she felt a shiver running down her spine. Some one was behind her. Almost afraid to turn around, she stood there, watching the empty space behind the curtains.

Her mind was racing. She couldn’t show she was scared. She couldn’t stay there, but she couldn’t run either.
With all the power she forced herself to turn and face the evil.

The evil turned out to be Liam. Buffy didn’t show her shocked reaction, although she really felt it.
“Gentlemen aren’t supposed to invade a girls’ bedroom.” She commented. Liam’s features grey dark. With firm pacing he was walking to her. When he’d reached he didn’t stop, forcing Buffy to back away, until she hit a wall.

“I wouldn’t give such witty comments, Elisabeth.” He grunted, “You may want to keep up the illusion, but face it: you’re mine. And when you’re my wife I can do what I want with you. And I will have you. If you manage to run, I’ll hunt you, capture you and keep you locked up inside one of my houses. And probably not the one in America. I was thinking about my estate in Jamaica. Far away from the living world. You’ll love it.”

She had to admit it, he had scared her. He caught her off guard and took advantage off it. Now she was pinned against a wall.

Soon she recovered her strength.
“I’m not yours,” she hissed, “Yes, you have my body, but you’ll never control my mind or have my heart. I will never, ever love you. Nor will I ever want you or lust after you. You know why? Because you’re a monster and monsters don’t deserve love. Hell, they don’t even deserve to live.”
“But yet they do,” Liam smirked, “I’ll make you all mine, in time.”

He let go of her and left the room. Buffy still stood there, frozen.

^*^*^*
After this incident, Buffy’s urge to leave grew. With her father and Liam now at sea, Buffy was constantly surrounded by guards, hired by Liam.

The days crept by and turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months.

She didn’t really have time to plan her escape since she was very busy with her fathers’ new house and the packing of her furniture, to take with her to America.

Although Buffy might have said he was dead, she still looked out for William everyday. She wished he could by and he get her away from this nightmare her life turned out to be.

She never saw Xander anymore, because she was really afraid for his life.

Everyday Buffy felt like she died a little more. She didn’t show it, but she felt it. Secretly she hoped Liam had died in a storm, but she knew he was too evil to die in such a way.

The day before Buffy had to leave, she officially said goodbye to her youth and to William. She couldn’t cling to the past, she had realized. It would kill her.

TBC

Chapter 4: Pirates!

“Miss, are you all right?”
Buffy mumbled something and turned around in her berth. She was feeling sick. She’d vomited after an hour the ship had reached sea and right now she felt like she wanted to kill her self.

Buffy heard the man retreat. In front of her door was some mumbling. Some one else came in.
“Good day, Miss Summers.” He said.
“Go away!” Buffy yelled. She was feeling miserable. She didn’t want anyone to bother her.

“I’m just here to introduce myself, Miss Summers.” The man answered.
Buffy turned around and sat up. The man was middle aged. He wore normal sailors clothing and glasses. He didn’t look unkind.
“Can’t you introduce yourself when I am sleeping and away from all the misery?” Buffy asked.

The man smiled and answered: “I’m quite sure I can not introduce myself properly, while you are sleeping. You see, when you’re in a sleeping state you are unable to hear me.”
Buffy grunted and let herself fall back.

“I’m Rupert Giles, but most of me call me Giles. I’m the doctor on this ship.” He simply said, looking at her.
“Miss Summers, it helps to take your mind of the fact your feeling miserable.”

“How do I do that?” was the muffled answer.
“By entering a conversation. And since I am the person sitting closest to you, it could be a conversation with me.”

She sat up again. “Alright. But first I’d like to point out you can call me Elisabeth or Buffy. Now, Giles, tell me about yourself.”
Giles smiled and started his story. He told about his youth in London, his parents, how he started his education for healing. He also talked about his wife on the shore.

It was a long story, but at least it distracted Buffy from her seasickness. When he was finished, Giles studied her closely.

“You look better. Do you want to go up to the deck or stay in your compartment for a little while longer?”
She felt better, but she didn’t have the strength to go up. “I think I’ll stay here.” She mumbled.

“Great, I’ll keep you company. Now tell me about yourself.” Buffy hardly had time to protest, since kept on urging her to him something before she could say anything.

“Fine!” She grunted and Buffy started telling the man about her life. She told him everything. She told him about William, about her education. She talked elaborately about her mother. Buffy talked about the time after her mother had died and how she had taken on all her mothers’ tasks. And she told about her war with Liam.

Giles frowned and said: “Yes, I heard Mr. O’Connor is quite an unpleasant man. If I were you I’d try to run.”
“I’m going to run. I’m just waiting for the right moment.” Buffy said softly.
He let out a dry chuckle. “Buffy, running from a ship? That’s madness. How on earth were you planning to escape from a ship and get out of it alive?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, Giles. I couldn’t run when he was around, because he was watching me. I couldn’t set myself to run when he was gone, because I was guarded all the time and I couldn’t leave my dads’ business unfinished. So, now I’ve set my chances of escaping from this boat.”

Giles studied her face. Buffy really looked determined to leave. And in the few hours they’d spend together, he had grown quite fond of her.
“Alright, I’ll help you.”
She looked up with surprise on her face. “What? Why?” she asked confused.
“Because, I can see you’re a lovely girl and you don’t deserve to have to battle for the rest of your life.”

“Thank you,” She muttered gratefully and hugged him, “You have no idea what this means to me.”
Giles smiled softly. “It’s alright, girl. Just don’t do anything to disgrace my trust. Then everything will be okay.”

*^*^*

Buffy’s seasickness past and things started to look a little brighter. She found a very good friend in Giles, to who she talked to often. They discussed all kinds of things from how he was going to help her to their favorite books.

Life on a ship was regular and most days looked like on another. Buffy spend her time talking to the staff, reading and learning how to navigate a ship. The last thing was the only thing she looked forward to every day. It took her mind of everything. When she was talking or reading she couldn’t concentrate. When she was studying she was forced to concentrate and ban all other things out of her mind. Buffy enjoyed that.

Everyone on the ship still called her Miss. Summers, except for Giles. Buffy didn’t mind, really. The only one she had befriended was Giles, so Giles was the only one to call her Buffy.

One day (the ship was now sailing for about three weeks) Giles was busy helping a man who got him self wounded, while Buffy was looking at him from the side line.
“How can you do this work?” Buffy asked with a disgusted face.
“At first you can’t, but later on you get used to it.” Giles answered.

The man was clearly in a lot of pain. He had a wound on his arm, which he hadn’t had checked right away. The wound had become infected and it started oozing puss. Giles tried the best he could, with the small amount of herbs he was allowed to take with him on board.
Buffy learned Giles was not the most popular man on board.

Later that day, when Buffy was studying, she heard men shouting on deck. Of course that happened a lot, but this was different. It sounded like emergency shouts. Something was attacking them.
Slowly she walked to the deck and had her thoughts confirmed.

Giles approached her quickly.
“Hide!” he urged.
“Why?”
“Pirates!” and off he was.

Buffy ran back into the captains’ cabin. She hid in the wardrobe and shut the door. Apparently she shut the door to hard, because something fell on her head, knocking her out.

She couldn’t remember how long she’d been in that small room, but she knew why she woke up.
Outside were two men walking around and talking.
“I wonder why they wouldn’t give in. They’re not packed with very important cargo.” said one voice. It sounded low but melodious.

“That’s not what they were really shipping,” the other said. His voice was also low, but with a more raw edge, “There’s something more important here. It’s hidden, but we’ll find it.”

Buffy listened closely. She heard one man approaching and standing still in front of her wardrobe. She held her breath hoping he would pass.

Suddenly the door opened and Buffy tumbled out.

“Uhm…captain, I think I’ve find the special cargo you were talking about.” The man looking at her grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

Buffy heard someone taking place in front of her, but she didn’t look. She was too busy with wiping her hair out of her face and yelling: “Don’t you dare to hurt me, or you’ll get it.”

Suddenly a soft hand was placed under her chin and lifted her up. She looked directly into two familiar blue eyes.

TBC

Chapter 5: You deserve it

Suddenly a soft hand was placed under her chin and lifted her up. She looked directly into two familiar blue eyes.

Buffy took a step back and took up what she saw. William was no longer a boy of fifteen. He was a man. In the 7 years apart he’d became very muscular; his skin was tanned from the work outside; he’d grown several inches; on his hands were several scars and his curly hair had been tamed and slicked back.

She felt overjoyed, but she didn’t show it. She punched and she punched him right on the nose.
“Bloody hell, woman!” William roared, clutching his nose to feel that warm blood was streaming out of it. “What you do that for?”

“For showing up 5 years to late,” she replied calmly, “And for threatening my ship.” She added less convinced.
The man who had found her was still standing there with an amused smile on his face.
“Out you!” he shouted furious at the man. The guy shrugged and left.

She saw him reach for a handkerchief in his pocket and noticed it was the one she’d given him for his birthday.
“You still carry that around?” Buffy asked with certain disbelieve.

William nodded. “Of course, it’s the only thing I have to remember you by.”
It was silent again. She watched him nurturing his nose. She felt a bit guilty for punching him, but not too guilty.

When the bleeding had stopped a bit, William asked her the question she dreaded to answer: “What are you doing here?”

Buffy sighted and was quiet for a while. He looked at her with great expectancy.
“Alright. I’m on my way to get married.”
“To whom are you getting married?” He asked with great interest.

“Liam O’Connor.” She mumbled not looking at her friend.
“WHAT?” William practically screamed, “You’re getting married to ANGEL? The biggest, deceitful scumbag who walks this earth? Please tell me you’re not doing this out of your own free will.”

Buffy got annoyed by this last comment. “And what if I was doing this because I really loved him? What were you planning on doing then?”

“First of all I would say you’re a liar, because no woman in the right mind would marry him out of her own free will. Second of all I would kidnap you and talk some sense into your head.” William declared with a serious look on his face.

She smiled at the sight of it. He would be her savior.
“Well, lucky for you then, my dad arranged it. What are you planning on doing now?”
“Leave this ship and take you with me.” Was the comment.

Buffy smiled, but a thought shot through her head. “Aren’t you afraid that Liam, or Angel as you seem to call him, will come after you? You’re leaving about 50 witnesses. That’s not good. And no, you’re not gonna kill them all.”

William had to think about that. The only option he saw was to pick her up at midnight, but then he still had the chance to get caught.

“We could ask Giles to help.” She finally concluded.
“Giles? Who is he?” William said with suspicion in his voice.
“No one you should be worrying about. He’s my friend on this ship and happily married. Get that?”

“Alright. I’ll go and get him.” He stood up and walked out of the compartment. Buffy was alone and finally had a moment to register what had happened. She was going to be safe and even better, she had William back. William! Her William!

She still had to find out where he had been all those years. But once she was on his ship, she’d be safe. Buffy felt happy and hopeful.

After a few minutes, Giles and William came back in.
“Buffy? What’s going?” Giles asked bewildered. William had taken place behind Buffy, standing close to her. Before he could say anything Buffy told the old man: “You remember the man I told you about?”

Giles nodded slowly, noticing what she wanted to say.
“This is him,” she continued, “And he offered to help me escape. We have only one problem, how can we leave?”
He looked like he was about to faint. “Buffy, can I talk to you for a moment. Alone?” He emphasized the last word.
William shrugged and left the cabin.

“Do you realize what you are doing? You’re about to risk your life!” Giles cried.
“I totally trust William. He’d never do anything to hurt me and he’s not going to let anyone hurt me,” She calmed Giles, “Pirate or not, he’s a trustworthy man. And he loves me.”

William, who was standing just outside, followed the conversation.
“Do you love him?” Giles asked with a piercing voice.
“You know the answer Giles. I’d follow him till the end of the world. Just don’t him that. He’s got to earn it.” She said it without a doubt in the world.
William smiled at that remark.

“Alright, since this is your best option and you’re rather sure of yourself I’ll help you.” Giles concluded.
Buffy hugged him tightly and muttered: “Thank you!”

*^*^*^*^*^*

To escape took several weeks. The best option to escape was at night when the ship wasn’t sailing. And the only time it wasn’t sailing was when it was lying in the harbor. Giles knew that before they’d reach America, they’d make one last stop on the island St. Lucia, to drop of some of the cargo.
William followed the ship from a great distance and made sure he wasn’t seen.

The first night, the ship was harboring the crew was still on board. They could leave next day to shore.
It was in the night that most of the men were on shore that William and a few of his men sneaked in.

When it was almost time, Giles came to pick Buffy up from her compartment.
“Are you ready?” He asked quietly.
Buffy merely nodded. She had been waiting for this moment for such a long time. And now the time had arrived, she was really scared.

“Come on.” Giles urged and pulled her up by her arm. With a gentle nudge, he pushed her to the door. Together they slowly walked to the quarterdeck.
Just like he thought, no one was near the quarterdeck. Softly talking they waited for William.

All of a sudden, an owl was hooting softly. Buffy looked down and saw him in a small rowing boat. Giles hooted back and let a long rope fall down. He tied it rigid to the railing and let it hang behind the back of the ship.

Buffy had been on the look out, but couldn’t spy any one who noticed them. She walked back to Giles and looked down. “Am I supposed to climb down?” she asked dryly.
He nodded, “It’s not that far.”

Buffy chuckled, because Giles seemed to think she was scared about the climbing.
“I’m not worried about the height. I’m worried that Liam will catch me and bring out his promise. And on the way, he might kill William and his crew.”

She looked down again and gave the sign she was ready.
“This is it,” She announced, “Thank you for everything.”
Giles smiled and embraced her. “It’s okay.”
“I left some extra money in your working space. It’s behind the jars with herbs.”

Buffy left behind her belongings, except the dress and the cloak she was wearing, the ring her mother gave her before she died and some money.

When she was sure everything was safe, Buffy climbed over the railing at the back of the ship and made way to William. For a moment she felt like was 13 again and she enjoyed that feeling.

Giles was on the look out. When he was sure that Buffy was in the boat, he untied the rope and threw it overboard. “Goodbye.” He whispered and walked away slowly.

As soon as she had reached the boat with her feet, two strong hands grabbed her by her middle and lifted her up, to put her safely on a bench.

When she wanted to say anything, it was made clear she wasn’t allowed to speak, until they were out of the harbor.
William gave out quiet orders to the other two men who were aboard and slowly they made way. Buffy couldn’t see where they were going, but she knew it was further away from the dreaded ship. When she looked back, it was still lying silently. Buffy knew that tomorrow there would be hell.

Outside the harbor, the tension lighted and the three men started speaking to one another. No one really seemed to pay attention to Buffy. She didn’t mind. Her head was registration what had happened that night.

“Do you think she’ll manage on the ship?” one of the men asked their captain.
“Of course she’ll manage. I know her and I also know that beneath the fancy clothing lies a brave girl dying to wake up.”
“Okay, if you say so…”
“I know so!” William objected.

“Uhm…guys, I know you’re talking about me, but take notice that when you talk about some one when the person in question is present, you should whisper.” Buffy commented dryly.

The three men looked at her with astounded expression.
William soon recovered and smiled brightly.
“At least she’s not afraid to make smart remarks.” One of the other men mumbled.

“She also hit me one the nose.” William said, almost proud.
“Why?”
“He deserved it.”

Chapter 6

“She can protect herself with her fists. And she’s not stupid.”

“How can you be so sure?”
“The bint hit me on the bloody nose.”
“Yeah, but she knows you. Who says she’ll beat a stranger?”

“She’s too girly.”
“You know what? She stays on the ship and we’ll see how it goes. If she’s no good we bring her to a save port. But no way am I sending her back.”

“Fine, but she’ll act like the rest of the crew.”
“Ah, just like you?”
“Shut up! I’ll watch over her. Make sure you won’t do anything inappropriate.”
“Fine, it’s settled then? She’s on trial.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. As soon as the decision was made, everyone went to work.
“We’re sailing out right now!” William shouted and went to his quarters.

Buffy had been waiting on the sideline. She knew what was going to happen, but it scared her.
“Here.”

She looked up and saw another girl dressed in men clothes standing in front of her. She had thrown typical sailor clothing in Buffy’s lap.

“You have to put it on. You’re part of the crew now. Or at least you’re on probation.”
Buffy smiled weakly. “So I’ve heard.”

The girl held out her hand. Buffy shook it friendly.
“My name’s Faith Lehane.” The girl introduced herself.
“Elisabeth Summers,” Buffy answered, “But most call me Buffy. Please call me Buffy.”

Faith smiled and pulled her up. “Come on! I’ll show you around.”

As soon as Buffy was dressed Faith dragged her all over the ship, introducing her to the crew. Buffy noticed they were studying her, but she just acted friendly. When some of the men started to make obscene jokes, she just laughed and joked back with just as obscene things.

Faith had an amused smile on her face. She liked this little rich kid, who had just come on board.

*^*^*^*^*

“So tell me your story.” Faith demanded as they both were laying their hammocks. The place were they slept was secluded from the rest of the crew. Because as Faith noticed, ‘they may be part of the crew, men will be men.’
“What story do you want to hear first?” Buffy asked lazily.

“I don’t know. How’d you meet Spike?”
“Spike?”
“Ah, of course your actually one of the very few who still call him William.” Faith said.
“Apparently.”

“But how’d you meet him?” Faith asked again.
“That’s no story, really. More like a sentence,” Buffy laughed, “My mother was very ill. Always had been. Died when I was 16. Anyways, she tried to teach me manners, but she always went to bed at noon, so the rest of the day I spend on the street with kids from the neighborhood. And one day, a small boy from London came to live here. That was William. I think I was about 6.”

“That was more then one sentence.” Faith observed, “But a nice story anyway.”
“How did you meet him?”
“I lived on the streets and I wanted to quit being a beggar. Well, then you have only a few options left: thievery, prostitution or going to sea dressed up like a men.” Faith started.

“What did you chose?”
“I chose two of them. I went into thievery first. That was quite how I met him. Spike was already becoming a successful pirate. I didn’t know he was a pirate of course,” Faith grinned, like she was having a really nice thought, “but he looked wealthy enough to miss his money. Evidently he caught me. He was really mad at me, but I wasn’t impressed.

He thought I was worthy and asked me to be a part of crew. It took a while to persuade the rest of the crew, but he did it anyway. That’s when I went to sea dressed up as a man. I sometimes wear dresses, but only as a cover-up, so other ships won't notice we're pirates.”

Buffy nodded, although Faith didn’t see her. She wandered about what the other girl just had told her. How long had William been a pirate?
She wanted to ask, but soon discovered that Faith was already sleeping. Buffy smiled and also went to sleep.

*^*^*^*^*

Next day Buffy was assigned her shift, which was to begin late in the afternoon. Faith also had the late afternoon shift and decided to work on Buffy’s sword fighting skills. She soon discovered the girl wasn’t totally helpless.

Buffy was complimented on her footwork. She stole some moves from the dances she had learned during her education. Some men stood aside, watching the two girls circling around each other. William was also watching and smiled softly at the sight.

In the afternoon Faith thought Buffy about the sailing of a ship and all the work they had to do. Buffy found out life on a ship was less boring when you had actually something to do. She enjoyed it. The feeling of seeing only sea freed her from the idea to be caught by Liam. Sea is so big, he’ll never catch me Buffy thought, looking at the horizon with a broad smile.

At night there was a lot of drinking by the ones who didn’t have shift. There was music and songs. Everyone was talking to one and other. Buffy found that she was wrapped up in a conversation with a man every one called Gunn.

She found out he was Williams’ right hand and that he was also first mate. He was in main charge of the navigation. When Buffy told she had learned a bit about that on her way to Florida, Gunn was highly interested. He asked if she wanted to continue her studies and offered her to learn some bit about strategies as well.

Buffy didn’t talk to William all night. She really wanted to, but she felt like there was a barrier, but she couldn’t put her finger on the cause of it. This highly annoyed her. Buffy decided to talk to him as soon as every one went to bed.

It took a long time for that to happen. And when everyone went, Buffy lost him. She went to the place where he’d most probably be: the captains’ quarters.
When stood in front of the door, she took a deep breath and prepared herself for a painful conversation.

William heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” He answered, unbuttoning his shirt. It was probably Gunn who wanted to discuss something before he went to bed.
He was surprised when Buffy came in.

“Hey,” he greeted and he noticed her eyes sliding down his bare chest.
“Hey,” she greeted back, concentrating again on what she wanted to do. “I just came by to see if everything was alright between us.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” William replied.
“Because ever since I’ve been here we haven’t talked properly and I know you’re not giving me a special treatment or anything and I don’t expect that. I just wish that we didn’t ignore each other.” Buffy said in a calm voice.

He smiled a bit. “Everything’s fine, love. I was just waiting ‘till tomorrow. I wanted to talk to you tonight, but I noticed you were talking to Gunn and you seemed to enjoy yourself. But now that you’re here, how are you coping so far?”

“Good. Everyone’s been really nice to me and Faith has been patient with explaining all kinds of things. And enjoy the sight of the ocean.” She added with a grin.

“Aren’t you mad that everyone on this ship has blood on their hands?” William asked almost with disbelieve.
Buffy shook her head. “No, I’m not. Everyone here has a different story, but I can tell most of your men are good at heart. Circumstances have driven them to piracy, but it doesn’t make them evil. Some of the legal ships are more horrible than any pirate ship that has ever sailed the sea.”

William nodded in agreement. He’d been on such a ship, but he wasn’t going to tell Buffy that just yet.

“Anyways, I better get going.” She said, “We can talk more later on.” Before she left the cabin, she turned around and asked: “What kind of nickname is ‘Spike’?”
“What kind of nickname is ‘Buffy’?” William retorted. He earned a scowl. To sooth her he added: “I’ll tell you later on.”

TBC

Chapter 7: Explain it to me

No one had truly decided yet, but the future on board the Liberty, Williams’ ship, was looking bright for Buffy. The crew would decide when they had reached Africa, so that if Buffy was repelled, she could go on land there.

They were now sailing on open sea and did some commandeering. Buffy wasn’t really fond of that. Every time they attacked another ship, she was afraid one of the might die. Eventually one of them did. One of the younger boys named Curtis was decapitated. Buffy thought it was horrible. She had known the boy quite a bit and saw him as her little brother. He was only 16.

But life went on and no one mourned long over the dead boy. No one except for Buffy. She was disgusted by the way how every one carried on with their lives. At one point she didn’t even want to talk to anyone anymore.

“What’s wrong B?” Faith asked one night. She had noticed her friends’ strange behavior and she didn’t like it. For once there was another woman on this ship and she refused to talk.

Buffy sighted. “Nothing.” She mumbled, staring at the horizon.
Faith leaned next to her on the railing. “There is something. You just won’t tell me.”
“Exactly,” Buffy replied with a firm voice.
“C’mon B. You’re the only one I can really talk to and now you refuse to open your mouth.” Faith wined.

Buffy turned to the brunette. “You want to know what’s wrong?” Buffy asked angrily, “I’ll tell you what’s wrong! Some one dies and you all go on careless that one of our friends died!”
Faith frowned “You mean Curtis?”
Buffy nodded and turned back to the horizon.

“Buffy, you have to understand something,” Faith started slowly. There was a pause. Buffy looked at her expectantly. Finally Faith carried on, “We’re pirates. What we do is dangerous and Curtis knew that. We all know that. When we attack other ships we all know what kind of risk there is. We all were very fond of him, but we cannot mourn for months over his death. If we mourn extended for every man we lose, we couldn’t do it. And I bet everyone misses Curtis, but we cannot linger. We have to move on. And as pirates, we have to do that quickly.”

Buffy still didn’t agree, but she could make more sense of it now. The two girls stood next to each other for a while.
“Let’s go and play a game of cards with the others?” Faith suggested.
“Yeah, sure.” Buffy agreed.


When William went to look for her, he found Buffy with the others laughing, drinking beer and playing poker. She seemed to have a nice time.

“Buffy, can I talk to you for a moment?” He asked softly, standing behind her.
Buffy looked up and stared straight into two blue eyes.
“Yeah, sure.” She mumbled and she got up.

They walked away from the rest and from the watch. They walked to the quarter deck and stood there for a while.
“So what’s wrong?” Buffy asked, nervously twirling her blonde strands of hair around her finger.

William didn’t answer straight away, but first ran his hand a couple of times through his hair.
“You know we didn’t speak to each other, about what we were going to talk about.”
Buffy nodded slowly, to show she understood the weird formulated sentence.
“That’s true…So you want to tell me now?”

William shrugged. “I was planning to. But if you don’t want to ta-“
"You're going to tell me. I demand an explanation, for you abdoning me.” Buffy interrupted.
He took a deep breath. This was it. She was going to hate him from now on.

“Alright,” He started, “When I first went to sea I had signed up for two years. I have been to America, Jamaica, the whole lot. It wasn’t particularly bad at first. We had decent food and water. The weather was lovely and we made quick progress. We reached our destinations and got rid of our cargo and such.

But after a while we got stuck in this really bad storm. We went from the route and we couldn’t find our way back. The captain didn’t want to stop at any island, because we would lose more time. The food went off, the water contained maggots. Most of the crew was suffering from scurvy. I did too, but I was saved in time. One day, some started talking about mutiny. I was involved as well, but not because they trusted me. The captain found out. He tried to get information out of everyone and all who knew pointed at me.

I didn’t do anything, I just knew about it. They dropped me on a deserted island. I spent there for about a week.
It was horrible. There was almost nothing to eat and hardly anything to drink. There were some puddles of fresh water, but because of the heat they started to evaporate very quickly.

When I was found, I was lying on the beach, dehydrated. I was found by pirates. The captain, Henry Sharpe, took me on board and asked me to sail under his command. I couldn’t refuse. He taught me how to navigate a ship, do bookkeeping and all that stuff. He treated me more like a son than my own father.

These men couldn’t go to England. They all had a price on their heads. I was allowed to go, but then I would leave the ship and I couldn’t do that. They saved me, I couldn’t just desert them! They were like my family. In the beginning I found the attacks on other ships horrible. I didn’t really want to participate, but I had to. As a part of the crew it is your duty. Anyways, as time went by, I grew to find it not so horrendous anymore and at one point almost common. I did terrible things; I killed people in terrible ways. I drove a spike thru some ones’ head, hence my nickname.

When Sharpe grew old, he left the ship to me. He trusted me the most. Almost everyone of the crew agreed and that’s how I took over command. At that time I was pretty notorious in England myself.

I changed, yes. But everyday I longed to see you, tell what happened that day. Even though I knew you wouldn’t like. It kept me going. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to see you again, but I couldn’t think about that.”

Buffy had been listening intensely. She knew he had blood on his hands, but to hear it from William was still quite shocking. It hadn’t bothered her to know that everyone else on this ship had murdered some one, but she always had seen him as this innocent little boy. Just like 7 years ago. But at least she got her explanation and the chance to understand his choices.

It was quiet for a while. William was waiting for a reaction, but he didn’t get any. He was afraid he’d scared her off.
“Are you okay?” He asked quietly.
Buffy nodded. She shifted and moved closer to him. Slowly she grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly.

William smiled and planted a kiss on her lips. She was surprised. When her brains had registered what happened, she deepened the kiss.

Slowly his arms wrapped around her waist. Buffy let her hands rest on the back of his neck. His tongue begged for entrance. Before she could open her mouth, there was a loud bang, breaking them apart.

Buffy looked at him shyly. She smiled and walked away. William stared at her and smiled as well. He felt wonderful.

TBC

Chapter 8

“Vanished? How do you mean she just vanished? People don’t just vanish!” Liam roared. He was pacing around in his study. Captain MacDonald was sitting nervously in his chair. “She was gone. I don’t know how the escaped, but no one saw her.” He answered.

Liam gritted his teeth. Buffy had managed to escape him.
“Did anything else happen?”
The captain stared into space, not saying anything.
“Well?” Liam hissed.

“W-we had an encounter with pirates. Nothing serious, because we had no special cargo or anything.” MacDonald squeaked.

Liam scowled. He hated pirates. Everyone knew how much he hated pirates…
“What pirates?” he asked.
“I think it was Spike the Bloody. They sailed with the Liberty, so no doubt about it.” Captain MacDonald said with a soft voice.

“Fuck, not again!” Liam shouted. It was silent for a while. He was still pacing around his office and stopped in front of the window. He looked over his lands, seeing his people working.

“Uhm, sir?” the Captain squeaked.
“What?” Liam grunted, still staring outside the window.
“Miss Summers befriended the doctor…uhm Rupert Giles. Maybe that’s useful information.” MacDonald answered. Liam turned around.
“Is he still on board?” The captain nodded.
“Go back to your ship and tell him to visit me, this night. You can borrow one of my carriages.” Liam ordered.

The Captain nodded again and hurried out of the study. Liam set his attention back to what was happening outside and soon he saw MacDonald leaving. He smirked and thought, I’ll get you Buffy. You won’t escape me. I’ll squeeze it out of that little friend of yours and you’ll regret that you ever left.

*^*^*^*^*

“Giles!” Captain MacDonald shouted from deck.
“Yes?” Giles asked politely when he came out of his working space.
“O’Connor wants to see you. Go!”
“Did he say why?” Giles asked.

“Yes, he wants to question you about your friendship with Miss Summers. Since she disappeared and all.” The captain answered.
Giles nodded and didn’t question the matter any further.

Giles was dropped of at the mansion. It was large and a bit showy. He didn’t like it much,
“The O’Connor mansion.” The servant announced.
“What happened to Mr. Summers?” He asked.

The servant shrugged and opened the door to let Giles out. He was directly led to the study. Liam was sitting behind his desk. Giles watched him closely. He came to the conclusion that the mansion was a reflection of the man who lived in it. Mr. O’Connor was a large man. He wore clothes according to the latest fashion, made of the finest and most expensive materials. His hands were dressed up with rings. When Giles entered he didn’t even bother to stand up.

“Good evening.” O’Connor said.
“Good evening.” Giles replied, still standing close to the door.
“Please sit down.” Liam said again. Giles slowly moved over to the chair in front of the desk sat down.

“I hope you are aware of the purpose of this meeting?” Liam asked business-like.
Giles nodded and shifted in his seat.
“Good,” the man stated, “Your captain told me you had a friendly relationship with me fiancé Elisabeth Summers.”

“Yes,” Giles answered, “I’m very sorry for you she disappeared.”
“I bet you are,” Liam said not to convinced, “could you tell me something about it?”
“We used to talk about things, our lives mostly. I was fond of her.” Giles said.
“When did she disappear according to you?”

“I’m not sure when she disappeared, but it was discovered a few days after we left St. Lucia. I’m guessing she escaped somewhere after we left.” Giles lied.
Liam shifted in his seat and hung over his desk. He stared into the eyes of the man across him. “I know that you’re lying, Mr. Giles. Tell me something, when was the encounter with the Liberty?”

Giles felt slightly uncomfortable, but he didn’t show. “A few weeks after we left England.”
Liam was quiet, waiting for the middle aged man to continue.

“Nothing much happened. They searched our cargo and the captains’ compartment. And they questioned some of our crew. But for as far as I know Miss Summers was in her compartment, hiding in her wardrobe.” Giles lied again.
Liam looked him very closely in the eye. “Mr. Giles, I know when people are lying. You are lying. And if you don’t want to die a painful death I would suggest you tell me the truth right now.” He hissed in a dark voice.

Giles swallowed, but didn’t give in. Liam got up and started pacing around again. “She was in the captains’ compartment.”
The man on the chair didn’t respond.

Liam resumed: “They found her there. She begged him to take her with him, but this great pirate’s captain didn’t want to take her, because there was a great risk. Then she thought of you. You were her friend and you were going to help her get her out of there. When you were in St. Lucia, you helped to get of the ship unseen.”
Giles sat in his chair staring into space. His lips were clammed together. Liam was circling behind him like a vulture.

“Great. You can go.” Liam finally said.
Giles looked up in surprise. “No painful death?”
The man nodded. “No yet anyway. I’ll find you when you’re actually useless.”
Giles got up from the chair and rushed out of the manor. When he was walking back to the docks he thought, Oh hell

*^*^*^*^*

A couple of weeks later

After a few weeks they reached Africa. Buffy was voted part of the crew.
At this moment the Liberty was harbored in Algiers. Most of the crew was on the shore including Buffy. William himself was having a meeting with Marc Baker, captain of the Red Dragon. Apparently they worked together.

Buffy was sitting in a bar with Gunn and Faith talking to this sailor called Parker. They had a nice conversation about what they were doing with their lives and what they might want in the future. Suddenly the conversation took a turn.

“The Bloodhound set out again.” Parker said sideways.
Faith and Gunn let their mouths hang open. “No!” Faith managed to bring out.
Buffy took a pull from her pint. She didn’t get the commotion.
“Are you sure?” Gunn asked.

“The rumors are flying around. Of course I’m sure.” Parker answered irritated.
“Crap…” Gunn whispered.
“What’s the Bloodhound?” Buffy asked looking at her friends.

“The Bloodhound,” Faith started, “is the most feared pirate hunter. Or at least, the man on it is: Liam O’Connor.”
Buffy spat out her beer. She never told anyone her total history and neither did William. Faith and Gunn stared at her with surprise.
Buffy ignored their stares. “What do know?” She asked Parker.

“O’Connor is looking for a certain pirate, Spike the Bloody. Rumour has it that he stole O’Connor’s fiancé away.” Buffy shifted nervously in her seat.

“Ridiculous.” Gunn commented, but Faith cast a glance at her blonde friend. Buffy noticed. She quickly drank her beer and left the bar. Faith came after her.
“That’s you isn’t it?” She asked quietly.
Buffy nodded slowly.
“Big shit.”
Buffy nodded again. “I’m gonna find Spike.”

“So that’s settled then?” William said to Marc. The man nodded and shook Williams’ hand. Suddenly the door flew open with a loud bang/
“Buffy!” William said surprised. He smiled when he added: “I would appreciate it, if you knocked the next time.”

“Liam is hunting you!” She blurted.
“What?” Williams’ warm smile faded away and made room for seriousness, “You’re kidding right?”
Faith showed up, behind Buffy’s back and said: “Nope boss, the rumour is that the Bloodhound has set out to get you and claim his fiancé you took away…again…And after he did that…”

“He’s going to kill me.” William added gloomily. There was silence. Every one was in thoughts.
Suddenly Marc cleared his throat. The other three looked up. “I don’t want to be a drag or anything, William, but I suggest you get the hell out of here. Everyone who sails knows you have your base in Africa.”

“But no one knows where.” Faith argued.
“No one civil does,” Marc threw back, “But all the pirates who sailed with you do. I know that they took an oath and all, but if you have enough money, everything’s for sale.”
William nodded. “We have to move away from Algiers as soon as possible. I guess we go to Madagascar and trade the ship. Then we set out to Asia with a new identity.”

“But you love the Liberty.” Buffy protested weakly.
William smiled. “Yes, but I love you more.”
Faith raised her eyebrows. “You two are actually in love?”
Buffy nodded and smiled back at the two blue eyes who were staring at her. They showed a mix of adoration and love.

Marc tapped the man on the shoulder. “Snap out of it. No time lovey dovey stuff. You have to get your crew together and provision. Time to move!”

In a matter of two days, they were back on the move, sailing of to Madagascar. One day Buffy caught William staring at the land they were going to leave behind.
“You love Africa, don’t you?” Buffy asked.

William looked up and saw the small girl standing next to him. “Yes, I’m gonna miss it here. Maybe when it’s all over, I want to settle there. I mean, I have enough money to buy a huge piece of land. Would you want to live there as well?”

Buffy shrugged, “I never saw more then Algiers, but if you say it’s nice enough to live there I’ll go with you. Can’t go back to England anyway.”
William wrapped his muscled armed around her shoulders. “I love you.”

“I know you do,” Buffy replied. She finally saw the opportunity to ask the question she’d been dying to ask ever since she got on the ship, “How do you know Liam?”

William was silent for a while. It wasn’t a very embarrassing story and he didn’t regret his actions, but if he knew it would bring Buffy in danger, he wouldn’t have done it.

“You know the story in which his 19 year old wife committed suicide?” William started. Buffy nodded. “Well, in fact this is what happened. I was 19 years old. Sharpe just left me his ship and I wanted to be a hero. We invaded one of O’Connor’s ships. Not the Bloodhound, but one he used for trade. He was on it and so was Drusilla, his newly wed wife.

He was ordered to show us his cargo and everything that was hidden. I send on of my men with him to check it out. When I was on the deck Drusilla requested me to speak to me in private. She practically begged me to take her with us, to put her on shore, far away from him. She was so desperate, I couldn’t refuse. We took her with us and Angel soon found out. He chased us a very long time, but our ship was faster, with less depth, so we finally went over rivers. He couldn’t follow us, but he vowed to kill me next time we met.”

Buffy was quiet for a while. Then she asked: “What happened to Drusilla?”
William shrugged. “We put her on shore and made sure she lived in a safe village. I think she married someone and had kid.”

“Why was she so desperate?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t say. But things I’ve heard weren’t very hopeful. His favorite hobby is torturing. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.”
Buffy pulled a face and William smiled.


TBC

Chapter 9

Liam was standing on the quarterdeck looking over his ship. He hated to be surrounded by sea, but he wasn’t going to give up his search.

Suddenly someone shouted: “Ship! At starboard!”
Liam grabbed his spyglass and stared at the horizon. The ship is approaching. He’s sailing under a Dutch flag. The captain gives the sign to ignore the ship. When the ship is very close, the flag changes to a black flag. It shows a skull and bones. Under it is showed an hourglass.

“Pirates!” Liam roared still looking through his spyglass.
The captain took the command. “Prepare to attack!” It was a busy thing on the decks. Men were running around.
“No obvious behavior!” the captain shouted. In an instant the men were calm. The pirates apparently didn’t notice the men on deck, because they were still approaching.

Suddenly the other ship turned around.
“Try to catch them!” Liam yelled to the captain. Orders were given and soon the Bloodhound had caught up with the other ship.

The pirates were attacked and overthrown. Liam had yet to decide what he was going to do with these robbers. He was sitting in his compartment, behind his desk, when he suddenly had an idea.

“Get me the captain and bring him to the galley. Every one there is to be removed.”
The man, who had to obey orders nodded and went off.

Liam walked over to the galley and waited for the captain to be brought in. The pirate was roughly pushed down the ladder.
The men wanted to leave again, but Liam gestured that they had to stay.

“What do you know about Captain Pratt?” He asked in a low voice.
“Who?” the pirates’ captain asked nervously.
“He’s better known as Spike the Bloody, or Bloody Spike.”
“I don’t know anything I swear.”

Liam took a step forward a looked the captain straight in the eye. “Tell me good captain, what is your name?”
“I’m Captain Brook, sir.”
Liam started circling the captain. “Alright, captain Brook. I’m sure you’re not fond of pain, are you?”

The scared shook his head furiously. “So you’re going to tell me what you know about Captain Pratt.”
“I may not be fond of it, but I’m not scared either.” Brook shouted.

Liam pulled a painful face. “Wrong answer.”
With a flick of his finger, one of his men came forward and started pulling out fingernails. The captain shrieked and cried with pain. Blood was spilled on the floor. Liam watched it, smirking.

“I’ll tell you!” Brook screamed after a small 5 minutes.
“Good.”
“The rumour is that Spike left Africa for Asia. I believe he’s now on the Indian Ocean. It’s also word that he traded his ship on Madagascar.” The captain panted.
“What’s the name?” Liam inquired.
“I don’t know.”

On Liam’s’ sign the torturer started to pull out another fingernail.
“AAAAAAH! I’ll tell you!” the captain yelped, “He sails a ship called Le Coeur de l'Océan.”

Liam smiled and sounded truly sincere when he said: “Thank you, untie him.”
“Thank you!”

Before Liam climbed the stairs, he turned around and said: “Kill him.”
There was a scream and a thump. The once so brave captain had left his life.

All pirates were interrogated. Some answered freely, others were forced like the captain. All died. After Liam was done, the corpses were thrown on the other ship and it was set to fire. The flames ate and digested the whole ship.
Liam felt satisfied.

*^*^*

Buffy woke up with a small scream.
“Damn it, Summers.” Faith mumbled, turning around in her hammock. Buffy got up and put on some clothes. She felt restless and needed some fresh air.

On the deck, every one left her alone. They knew the new member was suffering from bad dreams and not because they were marauding other ships. The whole crew was informed of the situation. Some had left, not willing to take the risk. Others, like Faith, were loyal and stayed.

Ever since they left Africa Buffy was suffering from nightmares. No one, except William, knew what they were about, but if they shook her up so bad, they had to be awful.

She walked around for a bit and breathed in the cool air.
“Hey, you couldn’t sleep.” A low voice said behind her. Buffy turned around and stared right into Williams’ face.
“Neither could you.” She whispered back.

“Had that same dream again?” The blonde shook her head.
“It had Liam in it, but this time it was different. It’s always different, but his ways never change.”

“What changed, pet?”
“Instead of hanging them all except the captain, he questioned all of them and pulled out finger nails and that kind of things. Anyways, every single one of them died.” Buffy said with a shaky voice.

William wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned with her head against his chest and let out a breath.
“Did you see any faces?”
“No, just as always.”

Suddenly exhaustion overtook her and Buffy started sobbing softly. He wrapped his arms around her petite body and embraced her. Soothingly he rocked her and sang an old lullaby his mother used to sing for him.

[i]Hush, hush, time to be sleeping
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping
Dreams of peace and of freedom
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby [/i]


Buffy looked up and smiled: “I didn’t know your mother was Irish?”
William kissed her softly and answered: “She isn’t, my great grandmother was. She always sang it my mother, who in her turn, always sang it to me.”

She snuggled against his chest and said: “I wish we didn’t meet each other again, in this way.”
“My too, love, me too.”

*^*^*

The next morning, Buffy was exhausted. But against all the wishes of the crew, she did her job. She was part of the crew and she had her duty, she told them, so they had to accept that. Gunn didn’t offer her to study that day and Buffy was grateful for it.

Instead she helped some of the crew, who were new, with the mending of their clothes and such. One boy, Colin, who had just turned 14, had come with them after they had attacked the ship he was on. Buffy had been his guardian ever since, because the other liked to tease him about his pre-teens. She treated him like a little brother and he called her his big sister.

They were on the main deck and she was showing him how to mend his pants. Colin picked up very soon and she could start some chores of her own.
While they were working they started talking.

“Are you involved with Captain Spike?” He asked curiously.
“Yes, I am.” Buffy replied with honesty.
“Are you married?”
She shook her head, “Not yet, but I’d like to. First we have to make sure we’re safe from O’Connor. And now we’re certainly not.”
“Why?”

“Because, brother, I’m afraid that if O’Connor catches us, he’ll kill William in the most horrible way.”
“He wills any way, if he manages to catch us.”
“Yes, but you can never be to sure.”
Colin shrugged and said: “Whatever you say…”

TBC


[i]A/N: The lullaby in this chapter actually excists and is called Smile in Your Sleep. It's from Ireland, so that's why Buffy asks the question.[/i]

Chapter 10: Elisabeth and Billy

A few months passed. Le Coeur de l’Océan was traded for different ship called the Green Dragon. William tried to lay low as much a possible. They reached the East Indies and decided to go to China. Piracy there was a much more common thing and a little less dangerous, because the chance of Liam finding them was tiny.

Buffy still had her dreams and was really scared by them. She noticed that most pirates didn’t know what happened with because they all gave way the same information. But she was still immensely scared by them. Buffy barely showed her face and fulfilled her tasks in silence. It worried William. He saw her becoming whiter with each passing day. One night he decided to talk to her about it.

He found lying in her hammock.
“Buffy?” He said.
“Go away.” Was the firm answer.
“I really need to talk to you.”
Buffy shot up. “Why? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
William shook his head, “Nothing happened, pet. I’m just worried about, ‘s all.”

“Don’t be.”
“But I am and there’s nothing you can change it. Buffy, love, tell me what’s wrong.” He pleaded with a soft voice.
Her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t tell you. I can’t tell anyone. I might endanger everyone.”

He walked over to her grabbed her hand. It felt cold and tiny. “Just tell me.” He whispered.
Tears rolled down her face. Buffy desperately tried to hold in what she had on her chest. She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t tell anyone.

William saw the girl fighting against something and squeezed her hand encouragingly. She couldn’t hold any longer. Tears started to fall faster. Finally she managed to choke out, “I’m afraid Liam has the same dreams and will use them to find me. And if he finds me, he’ll kill you.”

She spoke out his very fear. He didn’t dare to admit it at first, but somewhere deep inside him the seed of fright was already planted. It was quiet for a while. Buffy was still sitting up in her hammock. “You thought so too.” She finally said.

William didn’t deny it. He thought so too.
“Then I should leave.” She stated. He looked up at her with fear in his eyes.
“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Will-”
“You have no say in this. You stay here. As long as you’re with us, we know what Angel is up to. We can manage to develop some sort of protection for you. But you if you go, he’ll follow you and then you’re totally unarmed and fragile.” William explained. Buffy wanted to protest at that last comment, but he stopped her. “You’re strong, love, but I feel that you’re safer with us then on your own. And I’m not losing you again.”

Buffy didn’t know what to reply. She knew he was right, but she didn’t want to bring him or any of her friends in danger. They were her family and she loved them. She didn’t what she would do with out them.

“Buffy, pet, look at me. I know you don’t want to bring any of us in danger, but we all love you. And I’m sure every one on this ship wants to protect you. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. So please stop worrying.”


*^*^*^*^*

A few weeks passed. Most of the crew was informed about Buffy’s condition, but no one spoke about it. She mostly stayed in Williams’s compartment, keeping track of the inventory and writing in the logbook. She wasn’t on duty anymore, just in case.

Buffy first objected, but it was most unlikely that if Liam could see her in his dreams, he could follow what she wrote down.
She rarely talked to anybody, except William and when they did, they talked about their past.

“You remember I always called you Billy.” Buffy said one time.
“Yes, vividly. I didn’t mind that when we were together, but I remember one time that you were very mad with me and you yelled at me in front of all our friends. And you didn’t use my full name, but Billy. That’s how mad you were. And after that everyone called me Billy.” William replied with a grin.
She smiled sweetly and said: “I apologized. But it suited you back then. Now you’re a man. Your name is really William.”

“You know…” He started, “You’re the only still calling me that way.”
“Except for your mother.”
“She never called me William. She always called me Billy, just like you.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” Buffy wondered out loud.

“The day I left. She came to wave me goodbye. She told me to have a safe journey and always think of her. And then I said that I’d never forget her and one day our paths would cross again.” He mumbled softly, “I think on some level she knew we’d never see each other again. I miss her sometimes.”

“I miss her too. After my mom died, I talked a lot with your mom. After my daily trip to the harbour I’d usually stop by the inn. And one day she was gone. I didn’t even know she was ill.”

William suddenly grunted and muttered, “She probably wasn’t. I think my dad took it a step to far. I hate him. I can’t even believe I’m related to him.”
Buffy stroked his hand softly. “You’re nothing like him, Will. You don’t even look like him. You are a spitting image of your mother. In appearances as well as in character.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He said with a grateful smile.

*^*^*^*
Next few nights, Buffy’s dream stayed the same. They showed nothing but an endless see. No tortures anymore. Just Liam looking over an endless sea. Sometimes they passed boats or harbours, but nothing of major importance. She started to dream on her own again for some parts of the nights.

One night she dreamt she was walking on the beach in England. She found her self in one of her childhood memories and walked past the young couple that was sitting there. She knew what they were talking about and smiled. Buffy walked on, watching the sun lower in the sea and she saw the two kids go. She walked and walked, until suddenly she tripped over something.

Buffy woke up, smiling of the memory. No Liam, nothing. A strange feeling started to creep over her. She first thought it was joy. Until realisation hit her right in the face. He was here.

TBC

I know you all hate me, because of the cliffhanger thingy. I don't care. If you all review, I'll update extra quick ^_^