Chapter 1: Prolog: Worlds Collide
The night air was thick with the scent of treason and the only light was that of the moon. Most wouldn’t dare go out the night of all Hallows Eve. Elizabeth Summers wasn’t most people.

She grunted as she fell out of her window and hit the roof with a thud. She was on her feet before the sound reached her ears and was carefully climbing out onto the nearest tree branch. Effortlessly she swung to the ground and grinned as she wiped her blistered hands on her britches.

Her dark blonde hair was tied up and hidden well beneath her fathers top hat. Her breasts were hidden beneath his oversized dress coat and her sun tanned face was free of all powder and rouge. She thought she was well disguised but only a blind man wouldn’t be able to tell, she was fully woman.

She broke out in a sprint and ran toward the front gate, at the entrance of her father’s estate house. She prayed that Mr. Andrews had left the gate unlocked for her again tonight, and wasn’t disappointed when she reached the opening. The old rusty hinges squealed and protested loudly as she opened the gate just enough to squeeze through the gap. Panting she took off down the street as fast as her short legs would carry her, toward O’ Riley’s Bar.

The bar was crowded, as it always was when Elizabeth entered and tried to muscle her way through the mobs of men. She cleared her throat to get the bartenders attention and ordered her whiskey. She loved the noise and the thrill of being out doing something no proper lady was allowed to do. She ignored the women in the crowded room completely. She might not have conducted herself as a proper lady at all times but she was better than them. She was better than every sailor, officer, and whore in that room when she was Elizabeth Summers, but when she was John Tarleton son of a farmer and brother of a whore she was no better than anyone else in the bar.

She found her seat at her usual table and nodded to the rest of the gentlemen. The weekly poker game hadn’t started yet. There was still an empty seat and until someone filled it they wouldn’t start the game. She recognized most of the men sitting at the round table in the center of the tavern, she had played with them many times.

“So Johnny boy you feeling lucky tonight?” Hughbert Barton slurred as he nudged her. She could smell the stink of liquor on his breath and it made her want to vomit. Hughbert Barton was a fat man with six chins and a drinking problem. He disgusted her but she was careful to never let it show.

She snorted and imitated her father’s deep, clear, crisp English voice when she answered. “Luck has nothing to do with it Hughbert.” She slapped the older man on the shoulder as he went back to talking with one of the bar maids.

He caught her attention the moment he walked through the door. A man she had never seen before with an angels face and a devils smile. The crowds seemed to part for him as he made his way to the counter. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He towered over almost every man in the place but it wasn’t his height that did it. He couldn’t have been taller than 5 foot 10 but the way he carried himself made him look ten feet tall and she swore on her dear mother’s grave that she had never seen a more strikingly handsome man in all her life.

He looked in her direction and that broke the spell, she turned away so quick her head spun. She scolded herself as she felt her cheeks flood with warmth. No respectable, honorable man would be caught dead in a tavern. She needed to get her head on straight. She was here to win a poker game not think utterly unthinkable thoughts about a total stranger. She went back to starring into her glass of whiskey when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

“Is there room for one more at this table?” The stranger asked and all she could will herself to do was stare blindly and nod her head.

He grinned, “Thank you,” he tipped his hat to her and took a seat in the chair across from her. He looked at her like she was a woman. With eyes as blue as the sky and a smile that could melt even the coldest heart. There was a question in his eyes and she knew he knew who she was. She felt herself blush. The way he looked at her made her feel naked. His eyes didn’t miss a thing.

The cards were dealt and the game started. She forced herself to concentrate. Her first hand was terrible, she folded right away. She caught the stranger’s eye, he smirked and with a mischievous glint in his eye he winked, than folded himself.
He was laughing at her! She couldn’t believe it! He knew she was a woman and he was laughing because he thought she didn’t know how to play the game! He thought that she wasn’t gutsy enough to go for it, to throw caution to the wind and go for it. Well, he was in for a big surprise. She’d show him. She was just as good as any man!

The next hand was dealt; she had a pocket pair of Queens. She inwardly grinned. This was going to be her hand. The stranger frowned and placed his cards back on the table. Her smile grew.

Ten minutes later there was a crowd of thirty very rowdy, very drunk men surrounding their table. “Give it to him, Cap!” One man yelled.

“He aint nothing but a pretty boy! Send him home to his momma!” Another slurred.

Elizabeth’s heart pounded furiously. She had bet more money than she had. The pot just kept getting bigger. The man sitting across from her smirked. It was time to lay down her hand. She had a pair of queens. She should have never stayed in. She was going too loose and there was no way to pay him. In that moment she knew that nothing would ever be the same. She would be ruined or killed tonight and she didn’t know which was worse.

She laid her hand down.

He tsked. Shook his head and laid down his cards. He had four aces. “No one has ever beaten me at poker,” he smirked “boy.”

She swallowed slowly trying to choke down the lump in her throat. “I don’t have the money.”

His smile widened. “Than you’ll work off what you owe me. My ship, The Talon is docked in the harbor. One of my men will go home with you and you can collect your things.” He turned away and she stormed after him grabbing his arm. He spun around and her breath caught in her throat. His eyes were furious. Blue clashed with green in a battle of wills.

“You touch me ever again and you’ll loose your hand, boy. You be very careful.” It was his warning and she didn’t dare say anything back. He walked away, out the door and she released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

“Come on boy.” A big man pushed her in the back and she hit her knees. Oh God. What had she done?

Chapter 2: Chapter 1: Before you could say 'No'
Chapter One: Before you could say ‘no’

She couldn’t go home. Call her a coward, call her a child, but she couldn’t go home. She’d rather die than see the look of complete and utter hatred on her fathers face when he saw the truth of what his little girl had become. A liar, a cheat, a scoundrel, a man, and all for a few thrills and a couple of bucks! She was despicable.

Elizabeth’s mind was spinning at a thousand miles a minute, she needed to come up with a plan. They had barely reached the entrance of the tavern when it struck her.

“I have the money!” She yelled at the back of the man who now “owned her”.

He was perched on his horse yelling orders to his crew men, while looking devastatingly handsome. He swung around and glared at her, nostrils flaring. “What’s that, boy?” He clearly didn’t like being interrupted.

Not so sure she wanted to do this, she shouted out a reply, sounding surer of herself than she felt, “I can get you the money.”

He looked at her and grinned. “Pray, tell.”

She swallowed hard. “May I speak with you alone?” She was crazy! Insane! Completely out of it, and yet the excitement outweighed the fear.

He chuckled but galloped over to her and picked her up around the waist, hoisting her up onto the saddle and setting her down in front of him. “We can talk in my cabin, luv.” He whispered and she shivered. “Promise I won’t bite…much.” He dug his heals into the side of the beast and sped off, with her clinging to him for dear life.

When the reached the ship yard he slowed to a trot, “Almost there, luv.” His voice rumbled against the back of her neck and she could feel his warm breath. She felt flushed and heated. She had never been up against a man like this before, her body sliding up and down his with every jolt of the horse. There was an unfamiliar ache between her thighs, which seemed to keep increasing.

She moaned.

He froze.

The horse stopped.

She went stiff.

He chuckled, low and deep, hopped off the horse and tied the reigns to a wooden post, than reached up a hand to her. She was flushed bright red, and avoided making eye contact but put her small hand in his larger one, and proceeded to let him slide her down the length of his body, setting her down right in front of him. He still held her waist loosely and she looked up at him, a question in her eyes. Why was he holding her so close? Why did his touch make her want to melt?

His face was mere inches from hers, she gasped as he looked at her from under his dark lashes. He had the most beautiful eyes; baby blue with little flecks of gold in them, she was mesmerized. She stared not knowing how to break this enchantment he held her under.

She didn’t know what was going on. She knew that she shouldn’t be feeling the things she was feeling but she didn’t know how to make it stop. Her eyes widened as he dipped his head- he was going to kiss her!

She jumped back, breaking the spell and he smirked. “Follow me.” As they made there way onto the ship and across the deck, Elizabeth tried to get her jumbled thoughts in order. She still hadn’t really come to term with how she got hear tonight. She was always very careful; she couldn’t afford to be reckless. Tonight all of her sanity left the moment this striking, mysterious man walked into the room. She has never felt anything like what she was feeling now.

She wanted to know him.

She wanted to know everything, and even though he had done nothing to show her that he was anything other than a scoundrel, deep down in her soul she could feel that this persona, this facade he waltzed around wearing, was nothing but that of a rouse.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She hadn’t met the man but an hour ago and already she felt she knew the inner most depths of him and still knew nothing at all. Yes, her sanity had left her for sure.

“You comin’, luv?” She looked up not realizing that they had reached his quarters, giving him a shy smile she ducked her head and walked into the room. He gave her a questioning look but smiled back and than shut the door behind them.

Her eyes first went the massive four poster bed in the center of the room. It was a dark mahogany color and it was fitted with black sheets and a bear skin comforter that looked very inviting. She turned to her right and was surprised to find that the entire wall was a huge book shelf, and it was currently overflowing with everything from geography books to Lord Byron and William Blake. The more she discovered the more questions she had. To her left was a desk covered with maps, different utensils, and more books.

She turned around to find him studying her with a frown. She cleared her throat. He blinked and shook his head as if to get rid of whatever he was thinking. “So pet, what is this grand idea you have? Please tell me you have one, because if you don’t and we came up here for nothing, you will be on that bed, on your back, with a lack of clothing faster than you can say ‘no’.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not afraid of you.”

He came closer and she held her ground as he traced a finger along the side of her face. She had to force herself not to lean into his touch. “Well, maybe you should be.”

She stepped back and wrapped her arms around herself. “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, Elizabeth. I do.”

She frowned, clearly not expecting that. “How?”

“You didn’t think us meeting tonight was purely chance now, did you?” He feigned shock. “You did! Didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “You thought all this was real? Poor little chit. Daddy never let on?”

Right then all the pieces fell into place. He knew. Her father knew what she had been on about all along, he just pretended like he didn’t have a clue. She should have known better than to think she had finally pulled something off without him noticing. He always knew and now she would be punished for it. Her father wouldn’t stand for disobedience. She had the physical scars as well as the mental to prove it.

“He hired you to hurt me. Didn’t he.”

It wasn’t a question but he answered anyway. “No, Elizabeth. He hired me to kill you.”

Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Kill me Slowly
Chapter2: Kill me slowly

He was puzzled, floored, really. She didn’t look shocked or even upset. There was an odd peace about her, it was quite unsettling.

He took a step toward her, not knowing if she’d back away or not, praying that she wouldn’t for all the wrong reasons. “You’re quite beautiful Elizabeth. I couldn’t see why any man, least of all your father, would want you dead.” He said this as he picked up a stray strand of her hair that had fallen out of her hat and twisted it around his finger. “Would you care to elaborate, sweet?”

She hated herself for letting him touch her, she hated herself for wanting him too. He was so calm. He had just announced he was hired to kill her and yet he acted like he was her beau, playing with her hair and looking at her like she held the secrets to the world in her eyes. She tried to hate him, and hated herself for not being able too.

She looked at him hard, green eyes shining bright with unshed tears. “If you’re going to kill me do it now, for I don’t care for conversation that only prolongs the inevitable.” Her voice was a strong as steal as she tossed her head and sniffed.

He was perplexed. Shouldn’t she have been begging for her life now? Or maybe she should have been on the ground unconscious from a fainting spell. He hadn’t been hired to kill many women in his life but he knew that if she was anything like any woman he had ever met she wouldn’t have told him to hurry up and get it over with. It just wasn’t common and now he was intrigued.

“What if I said I like to get to know my victims before I off them?”

“I’d say you were ill and then I would not speak another word to you.”

He went to lean against his desk. “Sassy little thing, aren’t you? Talking to the man who holds your precious life in his hands with such a quick tongue, you m’dear don’t think before you speak.”

She stepped closer to him, so close she could feel his breath on her face. “Or maybe I just have a death wish. So tell me how are you going to do it?” She asked, her eyes spitting fire, all traces of her previous tears gone. When he raised his eyebrow she continued, “Off me. How are you going to do it? “

He rolled his tongue between his front teeth and smiled when he saw her eyes dart down to his mouth. She shivered and not because there was a draft although if asked that’s what she would have blamed it on. “Oh baby I’ll hurt you so good you’ll ask me to stop and beg me to never let it end.”

“Will you have me first?” She said in almost an inaudible whisper. She did not know what possessed her to say such a thing, but it was out now and there was nothing she could say to take it back. She blushed and tried to duck her head but he gripped her chin and forced her to look at him.

“Yes.” WHAT! The devil he would! Fucking her would do neither one of them any good. He couldn’t fuck her than kill her. He might be a rascal, a murderer, a liar and a cheat but he wasn't heartless.

“Now?” She asked as she broke his grip and looked away from him.

“No.” She didn’t look up until she heard the door slam.

~*~

“Perfect.” He leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin, grinning broadly.

“I thought you wanted her dead, sire…”

“I don’t pay you to think, you bloody imbecile. Now go fetch me my tea there’s a slight draft.” He tossed his slipper clad feet upon the ottoman and sighed. Everything was going so well!

~*~

“Perfect.” William moaned as the short little blonde’s head bobbed up and down on his cock. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and thrust his hips slightly. “That’s it, luv. Mmmmmm…..just like that.”

After leaving Elizabeth in his room back on the ship he found the nearest whore house and was very precise when he insisted he be given the most talented blonde slut they had. He barely gave her time enough to make her way up the stairs before he was tearing her dress and throwing her on the bed.

Frustration didn’t sit well with him and Elizabeth Summers had him frustrated beyond belief. What would possess her to say such a thing? Did she want him to take her? Was she attracted to him?

God! He was here to forget about her! He couldn’t even concentrate on the stupid chit that was sucking him off. Well that was going to change! He wasn’t going to think about it. He wasn’t going to think about her!

He flipped the girl over onto her back and than put his fingers between her legs, checking to make sure she was ready for him. He was a lot to take in so he eased into her slowly. Once he was fully inside of her he began to move, leisurely at first.

“Ahhh fuck…that’s right. Mmmmm.” He felt her inner walls tremble around him and he picked up the pace.

“Oh, sweetheart….feels so good.” He moaned as he looked down into her eyes but they weren’t her eyes anymore. They were Elizabeth’s. Her beautiful green eyes that held so many secrets and so much hurt. Her eyes that could keep him hopelessly captivated for lifetimes to come. Her eyes that cried out for a savior and begged for a miracle. Her eyes, that even though she was a stranger to him, told him things that he never even believed possible enough, to hope true.

“Oh God! I’m gonna come! Ahhh…ELIZABETH!” He roared out his climaxed and collapsed on top of the woman he just had sex with but whose name he did not know. Whose name he did not call out.

But he wasn’t going to think about her…right?

Chapter 4: Chapter 3: His Name, Her Eyes
Chapter 3: His Name

Should she leave? Would he come back?

Oh course he’ll come back. He couldn’t afford not too.

Did he leave the door unlocked? Elizabeth wondered as she paced back and forth. She should probably check. It would be the smart thing to do. So why couldn’t she move in that direction?

“Stupid man!” She took off her father’s hat and tossed it on the bed. Walking toward his dressing table she started to slide the pins out of her golden blonde locks. How could she be so affected, so quickly? Why did she feel like she knew him? Why when she physically looked at him did she see a stranger but when she….GAH! She threw her pins on his table, next to his razor. When she what?! He was a stranger!

Then how did she know him?

That’s ridiculous! She couldn’t know him! She didn’t even know his name for heavens sake! She shrugged off her fathers coat, bunched it up and threw it on the bed.

He was hired to KILL her, to take her life! If he was hired to do it, it probably means that he had been hired to kill before. He was a murderer, not to mention the fact that he cheats at poker!

Then why did she want him?

No! It wasn’t true. She didn’t want him. She was attracted to him yes; you would have to be dead, dumb, or blind not to be. That most certainly did not mean that she wanted him. It did not mean that she had anything but loathing and contempt for this man. It did not mean that she could ever forgive him for doing the things he did tonight.

And what did he do exactly?

Well, he….well…you know. She ran her hands threw her hair and than threw herself onto the bed. He had walked into a bar. He had played poker, probably cheated and beat her miserably. When she didn’t have the money that she bet, something that was punishable by death in most parts, he told her that she was to serve out a sentence on his ship. When she came up with a “better plan” and asked if he could take them some place private, he did as she asked and took her to his ship.

He tried to kiss her.

Yes. She remembered that part quite well.

He told her that he had been hired to kill her and than he left her alive in his room.

So what did he do wrong exactly?

She sighed. The last part was the part that troubled her most. Why not just get it over with? He had had the perfect opportunity. They were alone together, something that she suggested. They were surrounded by the ocean, the perfect place to dump the body and there was no one else around that was sober enough to give a damn.

Why hadn’t he killed her?

Her eyes popped open as she sat up straight and stepped off the bed.

Why hadn’t he killed her?

She took one step at a time eyes fixed on the door.

Why hadn’t he killed her?

She prayed she was right as her hand settled on the door knob.

Why hadn’t he killed her?

She turned to knob, and her question was answered as the door opened easily and the night breeze penetrated her skin through the light cotton of her fathers dress shirt.

Because he was just as helplessly lost as she was.

She shut the door quietly and walked back to his bed… to wait.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ****
~Her Eyes~


“Bloody Hell!” Spike mumbled as he tried to do up the buttons on his pants while negotiating the stairs. It wasn’t an easy feat when you were drunk.

“If you weren’t so pathetic I’d be angry.” Rupert Giles sighed as he went to help his friend.

“If you wouldn’t have talked me into taking the job I wouldn’t be so pathetic.” Spike slurred while glaring daggers as he let the man half carry him down the stairs.

“No you would still be pathetic whether you chose to take the job or not.”

“Stupid wanker.”

“Sticks and stones, my friend, sticks and stones.” Giles sighed as he pushed his overly intoxicated friend into a chair and frowned when he realized that there would be no moving him until he had a good sulk. If he knew anything about Spike at all it was that he was a stubborn fool and if he had something he needed to talk about, he wouldn’t go anywhere until he was good and ready.

Giles took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses. It looked like for the time being he was stuck in a whore house. Oh how his Jenny would love to hear about this.

“Elizabeth Summers,” Spike slurred. “That bloody woman is a mystery.”

“You were hired to kill her. Not figure her out.” Giles stated while leaning back in his chair.

“Think I don’t know that mate?” Spike said while running his hands through his already mussed hair.

“So I take it you haven’t yet done the dirty deed.”

“Have you seen her? Bloody gorgeous! She’s smart too. A little spitfire, that one. Who would want a woman like that dead?” Spike looked at the man who had always been more of a father than a friend, not knowing what else to say.

“Your job isn’t to ask questions, my boy.” Giles said knowing where this was going and dreading it already. When it came to women Spike thought with his heart, always his heart no matter what trouble it always seemed to get him into. He never changed. Stupid git.

“I know.” He sighed and stood up. “I know!” He went from calm to angry in two seconds flat, swiping his arms across the top of the table, Giles winced as the sound of glass shattering reached his ears. “The bloody bitch got to me! I don’t even know how! She’s everywhere. I haven’t even known her for more than a few hours and I’m obsessed. I’m drawn to her, like a moth drawn to a flame and I want her so bad I burn. I want her so bad I get hard just thinking about it. Her hair, and her mouth, and her eyes. Oh Giles you haven’t seen desire until you’ve seen those eyes.” He threw himself back into his chair and pouted like a child.

Giles shook his head and looked at the younger man, not amused. “You done?”

Spike looked up and nodded.

“Good. So this is what we’re going to do.”




What do you think about that?
Hmmmm?
Well I guess you'll just have to comment and tell me all about it.
~Noel Darling

Chapter 5: Chapter 4: The next ten minutes
Chapter 4: The Next Ten Minutes

By the time they got back to the ship it was practically sunup. He had one more blasted day in England and than he was gone, oh how he hated the motherland. England held everything he had ever dreamt of and everything he would always hate. He wasn’t a complex man, quite simple really. He said what he meant, except for when he didn’t mean it and that was it. That was the key to getting him, you see quite simple.

He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. God he smelled like shit but when you got over the smell of cheep perfume, alcohol, and vomit, it was a heavenly morning. Pinks, and purples, painted the sky and made him think back to a simpler, less demanding time where he would have been inspired by something as recurring as a sunrise, to write. Not many things inspired him anymore. He hadn’t written anything in years, there was something immensely depressing about a man who had lost all inspiration.

Standing out on the deck, of one of the only things he had ever been truly good at, he braced himself for what he was about to do. He thought about all the things that were about to happen in the next ten minutes, and how they would quite possibly change his life forever. Funny how your world can change in just ten minutes, funny how it can change in two.

Opening his eyes, he took one last look at the sunrise before turning around and heading toward his quarters. Hoping she had left but knowing that she hadn’t.

***** ***** ***** ****** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***

‘I’m watching her sleep. Her beautiful face even more beautiful in the dreaming. I wonder if there was ever a time when I didn’t love her. I wonder if there was ever a time where my soul didn’t cry for hers because if there was one…I don’t remember it. All I see, all I know and all I remember is her.

She is my life, my love, my everything. If I ever lost her…Id loose myself. It is terrifying to say, to even think that I, a man, am nothing without a woman but I know it’s true.

I go back to the sea tomorrow and I will leave her. I go back to a lady but leave one behind. I wonder if she’d go with me. I don’t know how I’ll make it a year without her. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet because for now she’s here in my arms. I cant bare to think about what it will do to us both when she isn’t there to fill them anymore and when I’m not there to hold her.

I want to stay here with her. In our house. The world can’t touch us here. There is no one to judge or tell us we’re wrong, not that we’d listen anyway. She is mine and I am hers and that’s all that matters. That’s the only thing that matters, to hell with everyone else.

She’s starting to stir again. Her breasts rising and falling with every breath she takes. She even makes breathing look beautiful. I should probably stop writing… she doesn’t like when I do it anyway. Says it’s not very manly. She doesn’t understand that if I didn’t have an outlet for all the inspiration she gives to me I’d go insane.

That’s another thing! She-’


She heard someone coming, closed the diary she had been reading and shoved it under a pillow right before the door flew open and a much disheveled man barged through it.

“Stand up!” he ordered as he strode up to where she sat and she was too flustered to do anything but what he said.

“You will sail with me to Jamaica and than I will decide what to do with you from there. You will work like a man, dress like a man, and sleep with my men down below. Is this understood?”

She nodded. She had suddenly lost her voice, but with every word of his she grew angrier and angrier. She had been ordered around by overbearing men her entire life. She was 20 years old and she wouldn’t be talked to like that by a man who was surely beneath her.

“If you don’t work, you don’t eat. If you do not follow orders, you will be tossed overboard and fed to the sharks. You will clean, you will cook and you will tend to my men. You follow my orders and only mine unless told so by me to do other wise.” He looked at her closely and shook his head. “No, this wont do.” He said as he brushed her long blonde hair back behind her ear and frowned.

“We’ll have to cut it. It will just get in the way... pity.” He turned around and started toward his writing desk, when he felt something sharp hit him in the shoulder. It sunk deep into the skin and he inhaled sharply. Well, he hadn’t been expecting that. He turned back toward her to find her with her hands over her mouth, eyes wide.

“I-” she started but was cut off when he walked back toward her and slapped her across the face, satisfied with her sharp cry of pain. Her green eyes clouded with hate and anger was the last thing he saw as he slumped to the floor, still not believing she had stabbed him.

~+~ ~+~ ~+~

(gasp) Theres the Buffy we know!

You know what I was just thinking about. She still doesn't know his name. I find that kinda funny. I really don't know why I waited so long to....wait oh wait... I was just about to spoil you and we cant have that now can we?

Longer chapters are coming I promise. I know they have been really really short but that wont last forever. Keep in mind this is my first fic and these chapters were written a while ago. Things do get longer and I know Im spending a lot of time on just one night but its all crucial to the story, keep that in mind.

Chapter 6: Chapter 5: Oh Dear

Chapter 5: Oh Dear

“Somebody Help!” She yelled while flinging the door open and running out onto the deck. “Please, someone. I think I killed him!” She was frantic! What was she thinking? She stabbed a man! She actually stabbed him! What was she? Insane.

“God, please! I need help!” The ship was deserted. Now what was she supposed to do? Fix him? Yeah, right. Running her fingers threw her long blonde hair she tried to think about this in the most calm, rational way possible.

“Please someone hel-”

“Is there something I may assist you with?” She turned and almost fainted in relief when she saw a handsome older man jogging her way.

“I don’t…I mean I didn’t….I mean I need….No I think he’s….I killed him.” She spit out the words and looked at the newcomer with wide eyes not knowing what he’d say or do.

“You killed who exactly?” He asked starting to walk with her toward Spike’s cabin.

“Him. The man.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, I don’t really know his name.”

Giles was pretty sure that this might be the infamous Miss. Summers and wasn’t surprised when he saw Spike crumpled on the ground by the bed. He told that boy to be careful, you can't trust women, that goes double for a woman who fears for her life. Stupid git.

He knelt down, picked the boy up and not so gently tossed him on the bed. Spike groaned. “Good news he’s not dead.” He shook his head thanking God; Jenny would have killed him if he had let her son die on his watch.

He ripped the shirt Spike was wearing to expose the wound. He had already lost quite a bit of blood but they had seen worse than this. The knife wasn’t in deep but he sure was bleeding like a stuck pig.

“Thank God.” She muttered eyes glued to the naked back of the man who still remained nameless.

“You say you did this?”

She nodded and backed away from him a bit.

He whistled long and low. “Nice aim.”

“Thank you. I practice…” Wasn’t he supposed to blow up! Who was this guy? If he was one of the crew shouldn’t he be a little more concerned about his captains well being and her apparent spirit? “Aren’t you supposed to be mad now?”

He shook his head. “I assume the bloke had it coming to him?”

She nodded.

“Then no.” He chuckled at the look she gave him. She wasn’t expecting that answer he presumed. “I’m Giles by the way. Rupert Giles but everyone calls me Giles…or Ripper.”

She smiled. “Elizabeth but everyone calls me Buffy.”

Giles turned his attention to the man on the bed but asked her, “Buffy?”

“Ripper?”

“Touché.” He asked her to turn away as he slid the blade out of Spike back and wasn’t surprised when the wound started bleeding even more. He quickly grabbed the shirt he had already ruined and bundled it up to press against the wound. “Buffy, I need to ask for your help.”

She spun back around and went to him grimacing when she saw the amount of blood he had lost. Her eyes welled with tears, but he deserved it didn’t he? “Okay,” she mumbled.

“I need you to hold this tight for me while I go run and get my supplies. Can you do that for me?” She looked distraught the poor girl. Spike was right in saying who ever wanted this beautiful young woman dead was off his rocker. He tried to keep his eyes on her face but he was a man after all and her shirt was pretty darn near see through.

She nodded and placed her hands where his were. “Hurry.” As soon as her hands were there Giles was sprinting out of the room, for more reason than one. God he hadn’t seen Jenny in a long time. He couldn’t wait to get back home.

Elizabeth’s fingers trebled as she kept pressure on the wound that she had inflicted. What had she been thinking?

No, that was her problem. She hadn’t been. She just reacted. He was going to cut her hair, and God knows what else. Before she knew it the knife that she always kept strapped to her ankle was in her hand. Call it survival instinct.

The poor man never saw it coming. She must have hit something. He shouldn’t be bleeding this much. God, what if he died right now? She didn’t ever want to kill anyone. She was a none violent individual. She just carried it for protection and that’s what she was doing right? Protecting herself.

She stilled when he moaned and stirred a bit. This would be the most inopportune time for him to come too. She really didn’t want to be alone with him. If he wasn’t already going to kill her, he sure as hell would now. Great going Buffy that’s just fantastic! If you weren’t already dead enough...

She jumped when she heard Giles walk back into the room. “Did you find what you needed?” She asked trying to keep herself focused.

“Yes. Now if you would be so kind I think it would be best it you were to step outside for awhile. This is no place for a lady.” He was rummaging through the bag of supplies he had brought into the room but looked up when she didn’t respond. “Well?”

“You called me a lady.”

“Why, yes isn’t that what you are?” He was held entranced by the look on her face. She looked like maybe she had seen a ghost or like she was remembering something from a time long ago. Than just like that the look was gone and without another word she walked out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

“Well, William m’boy I see what you meant about her now and some quick advice. She’s to good for the likes of you.”




+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Okay so to clear something up...Yes Giles is married to Jenny and yes Jenny is Spike's mother but no Giles is not his father.

We will explore all those possibilities a little bit latter on. Thanks for reading I will update as soon as I get back!

Chapter 7: Chapter 6: And he let her
Chapter 6: And he let her

She could feel tiny beads of sweat starting to form on her brow as she continued to pace back and forth across the deck of the ship. The sun was hot overhead but she didn’t seem to notice.

Hours had passed since Giles had kicked her out of the room and she was surprised at how worried she actually was. She couldn’t think about anything other than the man lying on the bed in that room, about how she reacted. How ignorant could she be? How utterly daft?

She needed to put things right. She needed to do something to make it up to him. She needed to do something!

She let out a sigh of frustration and plopped down on the floor, leaning back against a long wooden pole. What could she do for him? She wiped to sweat off her brow and frowned. She had no money, no apparent worth at all, but she needed to come up with something, a way to convince him that she didn’t deserve to die for what she did.

She closed her eyes. She was too tired to breathe, let alone to function or sleep. She knew she should probably walk away and leave, than never come back but she felt this connection, a draw to the man who could never be a lover or a friend but was destined to be her demise.

She would have to tell him everything. He wasn’t the only one who was full of secrets, she knew things that could ruin men or earn them a medal of honor and she was willing to spill it all. Her survival instinct was making itself known and she was willing to do or say anything to stay alive. She had a purpose, there was meaning to her life and she had a felling that she was just beginning to stumble upon and discover just what it might be.

~+~

Spike moaned, and tried to roll over but strong, sturdy hands held him still. His shoulder was on fire and his arm was numb. He opened his eyes and turned his head ready to kill the person who decided it might be fun to poke and prod his shoulder but sighed when he saw Giles.

“So you decided to join the world of the living now did you, m’boy?” Giles smiled and continued to stitch up Spikes shoulder.

“No, once you’re dead you never go back. Besides living isn’t all its cracked up to be.”

Giles shook his head. “What are you going to do to her?”

Spike played dumb, “who?”

“Buffy, who else?”

Now Spike was utterly confused, “Buffy?”

“The woman who injured you so badly you passed out.” Giles tried to contain his mirth.

Spike frowned, “You mean Elizabeth?”

“No, I mean Buffy…it’s a nickname.” Giles tied a knot in the string and pulled tight, making sure that it wouldn’t be coming undone or opening back up anytime soon.

“I’m glad to see that you’re making friends with the woman I’m supposed to kill.” He sat up and shook his head trying to ignore the head rush and than closed his eyes to stop the room from spinning.

“She does have impeccable aim, she practices.” Giles smiled.

“Oh I’m so glad she was able to show it off…on my shoulder. I’m glad you got that bonding time in because you know-- I don’t mind at all.” Spike said while standing up and marching over to his closet. He grabbed a white linen shirt and put it on mindful of his stinging shoulder.

“Now where is that little bitch? I’ve got something to show her.”
~+~

“Well, well, well, what do we have ourselves ‘ere mates?” Elizabeth sat up straight with a start. She hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep. Looking around at the mob of men surrounding her she realized that others had.

“Looks like a little girly has wondered her way onto the cap’ins ship.” One of them piped up.

“What do you suppose we do?” Another one leered.

“I ‘ave and ide’er!” One of them shouted and without hesitation reached out and grabbed her by her hair. It all happened so fast, they were touching her everywhere, fondling her, molesting her. One moment her shirt was gone and the next her britches. She was screaming and crying, her voice lost in the grunts and moans of the men. This was her punishment. God help her she deserved something by his hand but not this.

Her cries seemed to excite them further and her begging did no good so she did what she could as she thrashed out and clawed. She had never felt so small, so completely and utterly helpless. Someone’s hand was between her legs and her breasts ached from being violently squeezed and than she saw the man who was first to speak, the man who had woken her up, undo his pants and she went numb with fear. She gave up the fight as the others spread her legs for him and she felt him move between her thighs. She went still and accepted the fact that there was nothing she could do and right than, in that instant, she wished she was dead.

“BLOODY FUCKING HELL!” She heard his voice before the man who was on top of her was ripped off. She was dropped to the floor as all the men who surrounded her before went and stood before their captain.

She didn’t hear any of what was said. She curled herself into a ball and prayed that it was over. That they wouldn’t be coming back. That the Captain who didn’t seem to care would find it within his heart to save her, because she needed saving. She needed saving from them, she needed saving from her family, from the world, but most of all from him.

And then she was wrapped up in a pair of strong arms and picked up off the floor. She heard a muffled curse and felt bad because she knew that her weight on his shoulder had to be excruciating. She buried her face in his neck and even when they reached his room and the door was safely shut behind them she refused to let go.

Oblivious of her nudity and unworried about her tarnished pride she came apart in his arms…

and he let her.

Chapter 8: Chapter 7: Hold me
Chapter 7: Hold Me


He didn’t know what was happening to him. He didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t know why he was rocking her back and forth in his arms, hours after she had fallen asleep. He didn’t know why he had an almost uncontrollable urge to kill everyman who had dared to touch her.

He closed his eyes and sighed. Yes. He knew the answer to that last question.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

It was because she was becoming his. He had been compensated for a task he had yet to complete—a task he knew he'd be unable to complete.

He looked down at her back once again and shuddered.

Scars. Ones that ran deep.

Ones like his.

He didn’t have any tolerance for men who hit women. She was so small wrapped up in his arms, pressed against his body, seeking protection and strength and he wondered who could harm something as tiny and defenseless as her.

He almost laughed out loud at that thought. Defenseless? She was anything but-- if the pain in his shoulder had anything to say about it. She was so full of life and he envied her that. It was something that hummed through her body and shone in her eyes. That life giving quality that each person had. Something that had died in him the day he lost everything that ever really truly mattered, something that was long gone and worlds past. Something he’d give anything to get back.

Maybe it wasn't only him that was going to do the saving in the circumstance.

She stirred and he stilled, not wanting to wake her, knowing she needed her rest. As gently as he could he stood up, groaning when his shoulder protested, and carried her over to his bed, laying her down between the sheets-- which were still rumpled and blood stained from earlier.

Covering her, he stood there for a long moment, watching her sleep. He wasn’t really thinking of anything, just admiring her beauty. Her long golden hair splayed out across his pillows, her little crooked nose sprinkled with the tiniest freckles. Everything thing about her was petite and small. She looked like a child-- all cuddled up beneath his sheets. Who was he kidding? He should have gotten out of the mercenary business a long time ago. Piracy was more his shtick. Kept him from falling into things like this.

He knew her secret now. Why she didn’t leave when she had the chance. Why when faced with death she looked at him boldly, without a trace of fear. She was a forced to be reckoned with. A beguiling force that radiated red hot life but there was also something in her that was dark, a desperate weary soul that would welcome death.

He ran a hand through his wavy hair. Of course he didn’t know what had really happened to her but scars like those told a story on their own. He took one last look at her and walked toward the door needing to get back to his men. They would reap the consequences of their actions.

You didn’t touch something that belonged to him and get away with it.

~+~

“ELIZABETH!?!?!” He roared and she coward behind her dressing table, please God don’t let him find her-- not today.

Not ever.

“Where are you-- you little whore?” His voice was coming closer and she knew that tonight, like most other nights would be no different than the first.

“You come out now or it will be ten times worse! You hear me girl? You don’t make me find you!” He was in her bedroom now, knocking things over, breaking items he had given to her, bribes so that she would keep her mouth shut. She knew that they'd meant nothing. That even if she were to utter a word about the things that went on behind the closed doors of their estate no one would believe her. Her father had made sure to ruin her credibility among other things.

His footsteps got closer and then slowed. She knew that he had found her and she held her breath hoping that he would walk away-- knowing that he wouldn't. He turned to entire dressing table over on its side and grabbed her by her hair. “You stupid bitch!”

She didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She closed her eyes tight and prayed for a quick beating and a rescuer. Ever since her mother left she'd been subject to his wicked scorn and seething anger.

She prayed for a savior that never came.

“Elizabeth! Hush, come on now luv that’s enough.” Spike had been shaking her for minutes but she was stuck in the throws of a nightmare. He had come back into the room after getting his crew in order and decided that his bed was big enough for the both of them so he climbed in next to her only to be awakened a few hours later by her screaming at an invisible foe.

He was exasperated. He didn’t know what else to do to try and calm her. He was just about to give up and go get Giles when she froze.

She laid still but her breathing was still erratic. He ran his fingers across her forehead, brushing hair out of her face and was surprised to see her cheeks wet with tears. He decided to leave her alone and let her sleep, he’d talked to her about the nightmares in the morning.

He rolled back over to his side of the bed and shut his eyes, they set sail tomorrow. He couldn’t wait to get away from England and get back to the sea. He needed time to think-- something that wasn't going to happen while he was stuck on land with the lubbers.

He sucked in his stomach and held his breath not knowing what to do when he felt her small arms encircle his waist. He certainly wasn't expecting that.

“You’re here.” He heard her whisper. He couldn’t get anything out but a nod but that seemed to be good enough because she snuggled closer. “I need you to hold me.”

He thought it was odd that they had already struck up such a candor with each other and obliged her. He never would have thought that this deal would turn out the way it had. He was totally and utterly screwed-- was his last thought before he fell asleep.

Chapter 9: Chapter 8: Red Dress
Chapter 8: Red Dress

She woke up naked and alone. She knew he was with her last night, remembered his soothing words and silky skin. She was confused. She should be horrified. She should have him strung up for sneaking into bed with her. She shouldn't trust him.

But he was her only hope.

Getting out of bed and taking the sheet with her, she went to the chest beside his bed and started digging for something that might fit decently. Discarding item after item she was surprised to find a ladies day dress on the bottom floor of the old cedar wood monstrosity. It had probably belonged to his mother or a woman he had on the ship for pleasure--surely he wouldn't mind.

She pulled it out and shook it, coughing a bit when the dress released a puff of dust. She smiled at the color it was a little faded and outdated but still very stunning shade of red. It wouldn’t have been her first choice. A little bit too bold for her liking but but it would have to do.

Not finding any undergarments in the chest she slipped the dress on quick and was thankful that it buttoned up the front instead of in the back. Splaying her hands down the wrinkled material, she wondered who the dress belonged to. Whosever it was, was quite a good deal taller than her and not as big in the bust. She looked at herself in the long dressing mirror and sighed as she caught sight of the dark circles around her eyes and the pretty yellowish bruise that was covering her right cheek. She looked awful and the red did nothing for her pale complexion.

She wished she had her own clothes. She'd feel stronger. More comfortable. Maybe there was a lad aboard who was close to her size. Maybe he would let her borrow a pair of britches and a clean linen shirt-- since hers was no where to be found.

Wishing she was taller and fiddling with her hair was how he found her, his smile instantly falling when he saw what she was wearing. “Take it off.” His demand was like ice.

She dropped her hair, it sliding down her back in slow motion. He had startled her whether by tone or entrance he didn't know or care to know. Trying to explain she began to stutter.

“I said take the damn dress off!” He yelled, slamming his fist down on his desk all of his little baubles scampering as far away from his wrath as they could get-- or that is what she thought it looked like.

Not hesitating a bit she started to undo the buttons, not caring that she wasn’t wearing anything under it just wanting the damned thing off. “I’m sorry I didn’t-”

“Did I ask you to speak?” He asked his eyes spitting fire. “I don't recall asking for your commentary. That means you shut your face.” He was menacing and terrifying when he was angry. She made a mental note to try her hardest not to upset him. She much preferred the man she knew last night.

Finishing with the buttons she slid the dress off her shoulders and let it pool on the floor, stepping out of it she almost lost her balance, she was trembling so badly. She refused to look him in the eye. She looked down at the floor instead like a wounded child. She covered her breasts with her hands as she walked over and picked the sheet up off the floor. She didn’t understand why putting on the dress had provoked him so.

“Pick it up, fold it and put it back where you found it. You ever touch my things again…” He let his empty threat hang in the air and fought his urge to go to her as he saw tears start to gather in her eyes. “Put on something of mine. I don’t care what just find something else.” He said still aggravated as he walked out of the room and slammed the door.

“I thought you said I wasn’t aloud to touch your things.” She mumbled as she folded the dress and slid it back into the chest. How the thought of trusting him had ever crossed her mind-- she didn't know.

~+~

She had been wearing Drusilla’s dress.

He didn’t mean to overreact but that dress had belonged to his wife. It was her favorite. Hers was the last body to occupy it and he liked the thought. To see another woman wearing her things was devastating. It was one thing to want to bed the girl, he had functioning male parts just like everyone else, but that did not mean he wanted her in his life… in his heart. He was not looking for a replacement just someone to pass the time with.

He sighed as he walked out onto the deck of his ship and as he ran a shaking hand through his hair he looked out into the depths of the never ending ocean. They had set sail this morning and he felt safer now. At home-- like it was finally alright to breathe.

He needed this-- fresh air and freedom. He needed the calm and the tranquility that the ocean brought to his marrow. He needed his mind on sailing and not on the beautiful creature currently naked in his quarters. He sighed, anything to get his mind off of her.

He still loved his wife.

He really did.

So why was it suddenly hard to recall her visage?

~+~

“Where are they?” He rocked back and forth in the chair behind his desk as he took another puff of his cigar.

“They have left the docks, milord. I hear they’re headed for Jamaica.”

“You hear?” He asked while getting up and walking toward the other man.

“Yes, sir.”

Smiling slightly he grabbed the other mans arm and stubbed his cigar out in the center of the servants hand. “Next time you’ll know, do I make myself clear?”

Swallowing down his scream of pain he managed out a choked, “yes sir” and quickly fled the room.

“That’s what I thought.”

~+~

“Poor girl, stuck in that room all day. After what happened yesterday I don’t blame her.” Giles said while picking his shirt up off the deck and wiping the sweat off of his face.

Spike chuckled as he put his sword back in its sheath and sat down next to the older man. “Don’t think she’s been in there all day because of what happened yesterday. I had it out with her earlier this morning. She was wearing Dru’s dress when I went back to the room and I yelled at her. She was pretty upset.”

Giles shook his head, he never liked Drusilla and he never really could see why William liked her either. “Ahh I see, well I guess you had every right to be upset. She shouldn’t have been disturbing Drusilla’s things although I could see how she did it in innocence and if nothing else because she didn’t have anything else to wear.”

“Still should’ve asked me.”

Giles smiled at his stepson. “She should have.”

“So why do I feel so terrible about being upset with her?” William asked while resting his head back against the mast and looking up into the sky.

“Because you’re falling for her.”

William fought down the urge to deny it.

Chapter 10: Chapter 9: His Name is William
Chapter 9: His Name is William

She jumped at the knock on the door and shoved the journal that she had been reading back under the pillows. Smoothing back her hair she walked to the door and cracked it open, relieved to see it was Giles and not the angsty bad news bearer she was expecting.

She was so angry. Angry at the situation-- angry at him. She didn’t want to feel like she owed him anything. She didn’t want to feel like she owed him something for sparing her life. He shouldn’t have agreed to take it in the first place but she felt this undeniable pull, this tug toward him.

It had been two weeks since they left the docks in London and she hadn’t seen him since their fight. He’d come into the room after she fell asleep and leave before she woke, the only evidence he had been there at all was the warm rumpled sheets and askew pillows. Maybe that’s what had frustrated her more than anything.

He was avoiding her.

“Good morning Giles, and how does the day find you?” She asked while ushering him into the room. Glad for a little bit of company.

“The day fares me well, kind lady, and how does it find you?” Giles was smitten that was for certain. He set Buffy’s lunch tray down on Williams desk and smiled as he wondered how such a tiny girl could invade his heart so completely in such a short amount of time.

“I’m bored out of my mind and just about to go crazy!” She exclaimed while picking at the food on her tray. “I have been stuck in here for weeks, I don’t know how I’ll survive the entire voyage.” She sighed and plopped down in a chair.

Giles chuckled remembering that William had strictly forbade him from letting her leave the room. “How about I take you on a stroll around the deck? Give you a chance to stretch those legs of yours.” The thing was-- he didn’t give a blast what William said.

Her smile brightened the room and he knew that he would go to the ends of the earth if it meant being on the receiving end of a smile like that one. He was hopeless. “Giles! I would love to! You have no idea…” She stood up and before he knew it she was in his arms, squeezing him tight. She looked up at him and nodded her head in thanks. “Give me two seconds to freshen up and then we'll go.”

Sighing Giles sat himself down in Williams leather, hand crafted desk chair. William would not be happy about this but he felt sorry for the poor girl. Thrust into a new world, alone, with no one to care for her or her well being. To top it all off the only man she had really grown to rely upon was ignoring her. Jenny would take a belt to her son if she were here.

He smiled. He missed her desperately.

He and Jenny had met in an odd fashion. William had stolen something from his store ‘The Mercantile’ and instead of taking the young boy to the police he turned him into his mother, which was just as bad if not worse.

The first time he laid eyes on Jenny Rayne he knew that he had to have her. Raven black hair and eyes so blue they rivaled the sky, he was enraptured. Of course she was spitting mad when they met and hadn’t hesitated to take a strap to her boy with him standing right there. Jenny had two roles to play-- the mother and the father of her child. She played both remarkably well balancing the roles of a strong disciplinarian and a nurturing care taker.

He had asked her out to dinner right then. Smitten from the start. Bonding over Williams unfortunate spanking.

He smiled remembering her shock at his request. He gave her no choice but to say yes and she continued saying yes. Not two weeks later they were married. William was seven and Giles had fallen in love with the both of them.

He still was utterly devoted. Which is why he was spending his days with his stepson sailing around acting like pirates in the God forsaken ocean instead of retiring and spending his morning, noons, and nights with his love.

He had made a promise to Jenny, to look after their son. His place was beside William even if his heart stayed in Jamaica with the boys mother.

He had always felt this magnetic pull toward William. They were everything and nothing alike. William had a tendency of pulling people into his world without realizing it. He oozed excitement and charisma it was a refreshing thing to be apart of. He hoped that that some of that zest for life might rub off on him.

“That was delicious!” Buffy smiled as she cleaned up her supper mess and wiped her mouth. “You must tell Cook I said thank you for another brilliant meal.”

Giles smiled. There was nothing delicious or brilliant about anything Alexander Harris cooked but it was food and so they ate it. “You ready m’dear?”

She linked her arm through his and smiled. “Away we go!”

Out on the dock Elizabeth breathed in her first breath of fresh air in weeks. Savoring everything about it, she closed her eyes and found bliss in the smell of the ocean and the taste of the salty sea air.

She had always loved sailing. Being out in the midst of the water. It was so calming-- so spiritual.

So perfect.

That’s when she saw him. He was awash in a sheen of sweat, his muscles rippling with every move he made as he played at sword fighting with a man twice his size. Her heart stopped and her breath caught, everything else forgotten but the sight of him. No longer did she walk or breath or think-- she was reduced to a puddle on the floor.

He was so graceful, so beautiful. She had never seen anyone move with such power and fierce determination. It looked as if he were dancing, instead of flirting with death and for the first time in her life she wanted a man. She wanted him.

“What is his name?” She asked so quietly Giles wasn’t certain if she was even speaking to him but he answered her anyway.

Giles wasn't surprised at the question. He had known William had never given her his name. He had known she had never asked. “William.”

She sighed and closed her eyes. William. She could have sworn she already knew, almost like his name had been written on her heart this whole time.

William. It sounded so familiar to her like she had been saying it all her life. Like she had been saying it for lifetimes.

William. So much strength and so much power. So sinfully beautiful and breathtaking.

Before she knew what she was doing she was walking toward him, determination in her step. Men started tripping over themselves to get out of her way, men who had tried to brutalize and hurt her took off their hats and bandanas and bowed their heads as she made her way through the crowd, Giles hot on her heals.

She didn’t stop until she was in the middle of the two men in the center of the group, both of them halting with surprise.

Williams face was awash with a million different emotions. Anger, fear, puzzlement. “What in the-” he started to speak.

She walked toward him until she was standing toe to toe with him. Looking at him with nothing short of adoration she touched his sweat soaked face and whispered one word.

“William.”

Chapter 10: 19th Year


What in the world was she doing? Had the crazy bird lost her mind? Spike shoved her hand away from his face and backed away from her. Did she not realize they were standing in a sea of men who he couldn’t allow to see weakness in him at all? Did she not realize that they were standing in a sea of men, just looking for a reason, to go against his orders and take her anyway? He didn’t need her girly, romantic, shit to go along with everything he was already trying so hard to deal with.

Her bottom lip trembled as she tried to blink back tears. “So you don’t remember me than?”

She had gone off the deep end! It was probably his fault, keeping her cooped up in that room all day. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck as he walked back toward her. “Of course I remember you, Pet. How could I forget?” This earned a couple of chuckles from his men.

She gave him a bittersweet smile and laughed slightly. “I don’t know how you could have, but you did.” Starring him dead in the eye, she spoke, “My name is Elizabeth Rayne and you do not know me now but I am your wife.”

A few men burst out laughing. Giles coughed and cleaned his glasses, looking slightly uncomfortable and William stood completely still not believing what his ears had just told him. Elizabeth, after standing there a few moments longer, with a serene smile gracing her lovely face, crumpled to the ground.

In a dead faint.


~+~

“How is she Giles?” William stopped his pacing and went to the other man, visibly calmed with his presence.

“She’s awake. Feeling just fine, chipper as ever.” Giles took of his glasses and continued to polish them again. Not liking what he was about to reveal to William next.

“What about-”

“What she said? She doesn’t remember a blasted thing she said. The last thing she remembers is taking a stroll out onto the deck with me and watching you play at fencing.” Sighing Giles sat down and William followed him. “I asked her if she had ever had blackouts before and she said no. I asked her if the name Elizabeth Rayne sounded familiar and she also responded negatively.”

“Is she lying?” William asked part of him hoping she was because if not they quite possibly had a very sick girl on their hands.

“No William, I don’t believe she was. She seemed genuinely confused and disoriented. She wants to know what she said, what she did but I refused to tell her. I can’t say if that’s for the best or the worst right now. I don’t know her families history of illnesses but this can not be good, m’boy.”

“Think I don’t know that? The woman I’m supposed to murder but decided to spare at my own risk instead, is claiming that we’re married, and I’m the crazy one because I don’t remember marrying her. I’ve been married before and let me tell you, its not something you conveniently forget. But everything’s fine here, because women telling me that were married is an everyday occurrence and I shouldn’t be worried at all.” William ran a hand through his slightly damp hair and sighed.

“Sarcasm won’t do you any good, boy.” Giles shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, sometimes William could drive a man to drink, and the headache wasn’t helping either.

“I know.” Spike said as he looked down at his feet. “So what now?”

“Now you go in there and see what happens. See if she recalls something while seeing you again.”

“Great. Why do I have to be the one to have a pow wow with the crazy lady?”

“I’m not the one who’s married to her.” Giles chuckled. “That’s two crazy women in a row Will.”

“Ha Bloody Ha Ripper! That was good.” Spike rolled his eyes and mock bowed to the other man. “ha bloody ha.”


There was a quite knock at the door and Elizabeth looked up from the book she was reading. She was trying to distract herself but nothing was working. She apparently was going mad because she was saying things that didn’t make sense and blacking out. Then to top it all off she didn’t remember a thing when she woke up.

It was this damned ship! That’s what it was. The looney captain and his perverse crew were all a bit damp and now their crazy was becoming her. It was the only logical explanation.

“Come in.” She called as she snuggled further under the covers.

“You had us scared for a mo, Liz.”

“Since when are you worried about my welfare, Captain?” She asked while sitting up a little straighter not liking that he was trying to play the nice guy now.

“Since you set foot on my ship you became my responsibility. Meaning you are under my care.” Stay calm, be nice to her, don’t get angry, stay calm.

“Really? Than would you have a care and tell me what’s going on Captain, because I cant for the life of my figure it out!” She was scared and upset. She didn’t really mean to come across demanding or harsh but she was afraid of the situation, of not having control of herself.

“Why don’t you tell me, Elizabeth? You were the one spouting crazy in front of my men. You were the one who fainted. Now you’re lying here demanding answers when you should be explaining yourself.”

“I don’t remem-” She started.

“Remember. Yeah, so I’ve heard. Some of us have jobs to do. I have to get to mine.” He spun around and headed toward the door but stopped short when she began to speak again.

“I’m sorry. This must be as frustrating for you as it is for me but just for a second imagine being in my position. I…” She trailed off afraid to go on, not daring to look up at him. “I’m scared, William. All the time. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. I don’t know where you’re taking me. I just found out that there are people out there that want me very dead. Now to top it all off I’m apparently loosing my mind. It just hasn’t been a very good last couple of weeks for me, quite possibly the worst of my life.” She felt him sit down at the bottom of the bed by her feet and she shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see him at all.

“You said that I was your husband. That your name was Elizabeth Rayne and I was your husband. That’s what you said.” He inched closer to her, until he was close enough to place his hand under her chin and tilt it up toward him. “Do you have any history of mental illness in your family, Elizabeth?”

She looked at him through teary eyes and nodded her head. “I was named after my great grandmother. Her name was Elizabeth Clarice Farnley but when she was 19 she went missing for months and when she was recovered, they say that she had gone crazy. Imagined an entire fairy tale life. I don’t know all the details. I had never paid attention to it much before.”

“Elizabeth, you’re 19.”

“I know.”

Chapter 11: Maybe, Maybe Not

“Tell me everything.” Spike was trying to sit still while everything inside of him told him that he needed to get away from this situation. Warning bells were going off like sirens inside his head, he didn’t need this on top of everything else. He couldn’t deal with another mentally ill woman. It had almost killed him once before and he didn’t know if he was strong enough to deal with something like that again.

“I don’t know everything. I never paid much attention to family history lessons and they stopped altogether when my mother died. I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe it has something to do with being held captive on a pirate ship! I don’t know but what I do know is sitting here discussing it is going to do us no good. I had an episode okay, let’s pray it never happens again.”

“And if it does?” He stood up and started pacing.

“Than we’ll cross that road when we come to it, for now we need to keep our wits about us. I feel fine for the time being. I would like to continue on my stroll, if Giles wouldn’t mind lending me his arm once more.” She slid out from beneath the covers and smoothed down her wrinkled shirt.

He stopped in front of her and made a grand gesture of holding out his arm to her. “Oh and my arm isn’t good enough for the, lady?”

Elizabeth looked at him like he was crazy. “You are going to take me on a stroll around the ship?”

“No one better than a Captain to show you ‘round his own boat.” He would have never admitted it aloud but he wanted a little more time with her. There was something in him that craved her presence. Maybe it was just not having a woman around for so long or maybe not. Right now he was going to take a lady on a stroll.

****************************


“So tell me about yourself, Elizabeth.” Spike asked as he watched her lean back against the ship railing and turn her face up to the sun. She looked paler than when she first came aboard and he hoped that she’d be able to get her previous color back.

“There’s not much to tell.” She answered without looking at him.

“Any woman who sneaks out in the middle of the night, to play cards at a pub with a bunch of men has secrets to tell.” He tried not to be so obvious in his appraisal of her body. The thin cotton of the shirt he had lent her was see through and where you wouldn’t have been able to notice anything in the dark of his cabin, out here in the light her supple figure was blatantly obvious.

“And what makes you think I would tell you any of my secrets, Captain?” She cracked an eye open to look at him and smiled when she caught his blush.

“What woman wouldn’t want to tell me all her deep dark lil secrets?” He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, “Unless you have something so precious to hide, ‘Lizabeth.”

She scoffed in his face and continued across the deck, calling back over her shoulder when she saw he was rooted to the place where she left him. “You’re so sure of yourself, Captain. What if this woman is immune to your charms?” She raised an eyebrow as he jogged to catch up and join her.

“Impossible!” He declared when he was but inches away from her.

“Plausible.” She smirked.

“Unheard of!” He grinned.

“Yet entirely true.” She rolled her eyes as he crept closer.

“How come I’ve forgotten why we are arguing?” He asked quietly while gazing into her eyes.

“Maybe it is not I who have been seduced but you who have fallen for my charms.” She swallowed as she tried to find her breathe. He was to close.

“Maybe.” He whispered.

His eyes, they were stunning and they held her captive. “Please,” she asked not really knowing what she was asking for.

He wanted to kiss her but knew that he would ruin things if he did. Caught between reality and fantasy in this daydream moment he wondered if she really would mind. She seemed to want it just as bad as he did. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and she turned away from him. He refused to say anything, knowing that the spell had been broken.

“I think I’ve had enough of the sun for one day.” She mumbled as she tried to look at anything that wasn’t him. What as happening to her? Was she able to forgive and forget so easily? The man was hired to kill her! He was cruel and wicked, treating her like she was no better than a dog.

Is that why he’s given you his bed? His protection?

He yelled at her and embarrassed her!

He saved you and held you.

That doesn’t make him an angel.

It doesn’t make him a devil either.

“Elizabeth!” She spun around and came face to face with a tired looking Giles. “I think I’ve found something. William, this pertains to you too.”

“Well what is it old man?” Spike said while steering them both back in the direction of his cabin away from the prying eyes of his crew.

“You know the journals you’ve kept aboard?” Giles asked as he took off his glasses to clean the lenses.

“The one’s mother sent with me?”

“Yes. Well I got to thinking what if…” he trailed off trying to decided whether or not he was going to tell them what he discovered or let them read what he read and figure it out for themselves.

“Yes…” Elizabeth urged him on. They were now all standing at the door way of Williams cabin.

“Here,” Giles said as he took an old leather bound book out of his back pocket and set it in Williams’s hands. “Read it for yourselves. It’s the marked page, Will.” William opened the door and the other two followed him inside.

“I don’t understand, how is this supposed to help?” Elizabeth asked perplexed.

“Come sit Elizabeth.” William motioned her over to the bed and scouted closer to her as she sat down, trying to give her a clear view of the journal. “This belonged to my great grandfather. He was a Captain in Her Majesty’s army.”

Elizabeth looked at him, clearly surprised and listened as he began to read.


”I do not know how it has come about but I have a Lady aboard my ship. She has refused to give me her name and I am at a loss of what to do. I mustn’t go back to London for we are already two weeks out and can not delay the Queen’s missive, which she has entrusted me to deliver.

“This Lady whom I shall call,” Spike hesitated and Elizabeth leaned over his shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of the reason he had paused for, but he was faster as he moved the book out of her eye sight and stood up.

He cleared his throat and began again. “This Lady whom I shall call Buffy,” There was an audible gasp as he looked up to catch Elizabeth’s reaction of utter shock. “This Lady whom I shall call Buffy, for she was wrapped up in buffalo fur when I found her trying to keep warm down in the hold. This Lady is radiant and I fear for my heart.” William glanced up quickly trying to gage Elizabeth’s reactions to all that he was saying and was surprised to see that a mask of indifference had fallen over her delicate features.

“Her hair like spun gold and light skin tanned by the suns rays with green eyes that burn me like fire. Beautiful does not begin to describe her.

“She refuses to answer my questions and has a stubborn way about her. She is a Lady, for none other than a Lady would dare to defy one of the Queens men when questioned. I do not know why she is on my ship but I will find out, for mysteries have never sat well with me.”

William looked up at Giles, “Read on?”

Giles nodded.

William cleared his throat once more, “This entry is dated some weeks later.” He stole another glance at Elizabeth and then began.

“She has bewitched me, body and soul. I do not know how it happened but it has, I have fallen for Lady Elizabeth Clarice and we are to be married as soon as we reach Spain. She has yet to tell me what she’s running from but I do not care. Her soul sings to mine and the love I have for her is all that matters.”

William stopped. “That is all he wrote. That’s the last page in the journal. It looks like others have been torn out.”

Elizabeth stood up abruptly and left the room.

William sighed. What did all this mean?

“She can’t be alone up there by herself. I’ll go keep her company. You stay here.” Giles didn’t know what to think. One thing was for sure though he needed to keep both William and Elizabeth apart for as long as he could.

Chapter 12: Oh Xander!


She was trying desperately not to think about anything. She was confused and angry. She had absolutely no control of her own life and that upset her even more. She knew Giles was nearby, she could feel his eyes on her burning holes into her soul. She would never be free. She just was passed a long from person to person doomed to live in an eternity of bondage.

Weaker women would have broken long ago but she had learned early on that what didn’t break you made you stronger. She had the scars to prove it. Scars that would never heal and would always bare evidence to the horrors she had endured.

She had never felt so truly alone. She had no family, no siblings, and no mother. She tried to create a fantasy life one where she was in charge, one where she called all the shots and people listened when she put her foot down and said ‘no’, a life where she was heard, a life that no middle classed woman was privileged too.

They were expected to be seen not heard. Ornaments and trophies to be won, not people. She hated, no… despised their way of life! Hated society and all their rules. And here she was…on a boat…in the middle of the God forsaken ocean, fallen prey to another man, once again.

Not to mention the fact that now fate deemed in necessary to intervene and sent the ghost of her great grandmother…to…do… something. Her life was one big joke and every laugh was at her expense.

Shortly after her mother had died, of an illness unbeknownst to her, her father shipped her away to a finishing school. It wasn’t long before they sent her back to him, labeling her a lost cause. The night she returned home was the night she found her father, a shadow of the man he had been, bitter and angry and cynical.

That night she had lost every piece of innocence she had left. Never again would she be the carefree girl who rode horse’s bareback and played hide and seek with the help. Never again would she write stories or sing lullabies, or dare to dream of something better.

Everything she had ever loved died that night.

If it was possible everyday out here in the middle of the ocean she lost herself further. She was a free spirit, not meant to be held captive. Not meant to be put in a cage, yet that is where they all kept her.

Locked up. Forcing her into a preconceived mold of what they thought she should be, never once able to be her true self, and even if they let her she wasn’t sure she could be. She had been walking around in a mask for far too long.

“What are you thinking?”

“What does it matter?” She refused to look at him, knowing that if she looked into his eyes she was liable to let spill all of her most cherished secrets.

“Thoughts are sacred I understand if you don’t want to share them.” William said nonchalantly, looking of into the ocean, the breeze blowing his longer than average sun bleached hair.

She sighed and turned to face him. “I just don’t understand why all this is happening. The coincidental meeting…or was it so coincidental? The journal, the blackout, the…spirits. Why now? Why us?”

“Glad to know I’m not the only one troubled by all this. To be completely honest Elizabeth; I have no fucking clue. Pardon my language. I have never in all my life encountered something like this but then again I have never in all my life encountered someone like you.” He stilled looked off into the distance, as if searching for the answer to all life’s questions, in the water.

“There has to something we can do, some other clue to find.”

“I am afraid the next clue we find will dig us even deeper into this hole we are already in.”

“So what are we supposed to do than?”

He finally turned around and looked her straight in the eye before getting a devilish smirk on his face, “I could think of a few things to keep us occupied.”

She playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “Something that wouldn’t bore me half to death.”

“Baby when I have you the last thing you will ever be is bored.” He winked and walked away, barking orders to his crew and leaving her more confused than ever. She knew she should have blushed but no one was around so why bother?

“It seems like you and William are getting along better than expected.” Giles said as she passed by him on her way down to William’s corridors once more.

“Yeah well don’t get used to it,” she said right before closing the door in his face.

“Women.”

~+~

This was quite possibly the most idiotic idea that had ever popped into her little blonde head but she was so tired of being under constant surveillance! She almost fell on her face as she stumbled while getting her leg through the hole of a smaller pair of britches she had found in William trunk.

Once dressed she braided her hair tightly and tucked in up into a small black cap she found in Williams dresser drawer. She looked at herself in the mirror and was satisfied with what she saw.

On that note she marched out of Williams’ room with confidence, dead set on going below to the kitchens. She had a cook to see. For too many weeks now she had been on the verge of purging herself after she ate, the food was that terrible. She figured if she had a few words with the cook things might start looking up, dinner wise at least.

Sneaking as quietly and quickly as she could she tip toed down the stairs into a small hallway. She heaved a sigh of relief when she realized no one was below. Sprinting to the end of the hall she turned a corner and couldn’t believe her luck when she saw the kitchen down the next hall to her right.

Making quick time of the short distance she burst through the doors with a smile on her face, hoping to make the best impression she could. She stopped short when she realized what she was walking in on.

“Oh Xander! Aaaagah! Oh fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!” The screaming woman was plastered to the counter atop a pound of flower, her dress up over her head, her inhibitions nowhere to be seen.

Elizabeth didn’t know why but she couldn’t stop staring. She tried to walk away but she couldn’t, she stood frozen, eyes wide and mouth open. Please God don’t tell me he actually prepares food on that counter.

“You are so big! Harder! Harder! Hurt me, baby! YEEEEEES!!!!” The counter girl had her eyes squeezed shut and shook her head violently. The man behind her continued to make his terrible grunting sounds, he had one eye shut and an eye patch over the other. They were a sight to behold.

Elizabeth came to herself and exited the kitchen as quietly as she could. No wonder the food tasted like ass! Turning around to head back up to Williams room she bumped into a very solid wall. She was afraid to look up, afraid that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life by coming down to the kitchens.

She looked up into the smiling face of a man she had never seen before. She shivered, for it wasn’t a good smile. She had seen smiles like that before and what came after they were given…

She tried to scream but he already had his hand around her mouth and was dragging her into one of the back rooms.

She was such an idiot.