Skybound: a USUK fanfic

Waking Up

It was warm. So warm it was practically smothering. My eyes opened blearily and met a white ceiling. The walls were painted a warm brown and the windows were drawn shut. I sat up and wondered how I got here. The beds silk sheets pooled around my hips, and that's when I noticed I was only wearing a light dress shirt and my boxers.
I could feel heat pooling to my cheeks as I wrapped the covers around my bare legs. Quietly I got out of the bed and headed towards the door. Grabbing the brass knob I pulled, scowling when it became apparent that it was locked from the outside. " Bloody fuckin...oh great. " I finally remembered that bloody yank, and my embarrassing escape attempt.
I hurriedly made my way over to the window and pulled the drapes away.
" The windows are barred?? Are you kidding me?" Steel bars lined the window, worsening my mood. And continuing that path I noticed that the room I was in was somewhere near the fourth floor of the building. Even if I did somehow get the window open I would definitely break something trying to get down.
Something clicked on the other side of the door and I spun around trying to find some kind of weapon. The table lamp was the closest thing so I pulled it from the wall and pressed my body against the wall, waiting for the intruder to enter.
The door knob turned and I readied my aim. I held my breath as it slowly opened, and swung. " Hah!!"
The person ducked and the lamp shattered against the wall. My balance was thrown off and I ended up tilting forward. A familiar arm wrapped around my torso and spun me around to face them. Blue eyes twinkling with amusement met my acidic ones.
" It looks like you've finally recovered, but walking around in a nightshirts a little revealing don't you think?" Alfred said sarcastically. I gaped at him and tried to pull away from his grip.
" Let me go you perverted yank!" He laughed and let me go as asked. I grabbed the sheets wrapped around me and pulled them tighter. I knew I was probably pink in the face by now.
" Where's my clothes?" I asked.
" Well," Alfred shuts the door and walks around me, keeping his eyes locked on me and a hand on his holster the entire time,"  since your little accident with the river, they became a bit damaged. And since none of my clothes fit you, all you have is that shirt." He points at me and I look away in aggravation.
" Why can't you just lend me a belt?" He sits down on the bed.
" That's simple really. I would love to give you pants, but you soaked my clothes too. The only set of clothes left were the ones I'm wearing. And until my ship shows up, I have nothing else to lend you. So suck it up pirate."
" That's no way to speak to the most feared person in the eight regions." I spin around and grab the door. He's already up and grabbing my arm.
" Sorry darling, but being my prisoner, you're not going to be a pirate for very much longer." He pulls me out of the room and through the halls of the hideout. My hand clutches the bed sheets in a death grip as he rushes me into the stairwell and down the stairs. We reach the first floor and he pushes me into a wobbly chair.
" And it seems like we're going to be here for about two more hours. The storm picked up and my co-captains a bit of a worrywart."
" Great, stuck with a yank..." I mumble. He chuckles and sits down across from me, picking up some sort of comic laying on the table next to us. He flips through the colorful pages before sighing.
" This is booooring!" He puts down the comic and looks at me. " Why'd you become a pirate?"
" Excuse me?" I eye him warily.
" Why did you become a pirate? Why not, like, a school teacher, or something more heroic?" I blanche.
" I don't think I have to tell you anything. And just so you know everyone can't live such a free and wonderful life like you seem to think exists." Alfred pouts and I almost regret snapping at him," if you absolutely have to know, then you have to tell me about yourself first."  He perks up and smiles brightly, my cheeks heat up and I look away.
" Well you know my name obviously, Alfred F. Jones, and my ship S.S. Freedom. I've been aboard airships since I was very little. You see, me and Mattie are adopted, and our foster parents ran the villages safety department. I wanted to help out as many people as possible, so every other week I would load up weapons and food for neighboring villages with my dad and help him sail there using a small zeplin the village maintained. As I grew up it just wasn't enough so I set out to join the army. With some mix ups and shenanigans I'm here! So. What about you? " Wait what did that mean?
" Hold on. What do you mean mix ups?" His story was obviously meant to be vague, probably trying to keep as many details to a minimum. He looked troubled and twiddled his thumbs for a second.
" I guess I haven't been absolutely telling you the truth," he started," It's true that I am the Captain of my ship, but I don't exactly work for the Navy Airships." Severely confused I snap my head back to him, he evades his eyes. I'm starting to get suspicious.
" So you don't work for the military...and not for the navy...so what or who exactly do you work for?" I ask as I lean towards him.
" Hey! Hey, haha, let's just wait a second. I told you about myself, so now you tell me about you! That was the deal."
" No." I state.
" No?" He asks.
" I won't talk until your honest with me. Since you're not of the military or the navy, I don't understand why you have to bring me to jail!" I glare at him and he smiles sheepishly at me.
" Alright, I guess I'll spill the beans," I grumble at the silly phrase," I'm a bounty hunter." I almost fall out of my chair.
" Your what?! A bounty hunter?" I yell incredulously.
" Yes, but I get many special orders from the military directly. You were one of the most popular ones." He rambles off. My mouth is hanging open in shock.
" This is perfect then. I'll just pay you whatever the bounty was and you can let me go then. Right?" I ask, this is seriously not good.
" Not exactly. They asked for you to be hand delivered. If I just let you go then it's my head on a silver platter."
" How dare you! I was personally about to reunite you with your brother. And you want to hand me in for a little profit. What a hero you are. " he flinches.
" At least I don't go and steal people's hard earned goods and severely harm people!" He yells.
" What a hypocrite," I say," you shot my ship right out of the sky without a warning. I wonder how many others you've done the same to." He sits there shocked. " And I never take without giving something in return. I mostly target wealthier ships or ships from the military. If anyone's the bad guy, it's you." I point right at him and he looks away like I've wounded him.
" You should just let me go." He stands up suddenly and pulls me up by my arm. He glares at me hauntingly.
" I won't let you go. It's you people who destroyed my village and killed my parents. I won't trust your kind, ever." He lets me go and I drop to the ground in a heap. The place that his hand was clutching my arm stings, and I'm sure a bruise will be there later.
" Stand up! My crew should be arriving right now. Better hold a stiff upper lip before your crew arrives. Wouldn't want to damage your ego anymore." He stares cooly. I stand up and wait for him to say something else. He doesn't utter another word until the docking station opens up and wind and debris are blown into the room.
" Stand back," he puts his arm out in front of me and pushes me behind him.
     The ship docks all the way and a wooden ladder is thrown over the side. Men and women start climbing down, all holding guns. They line up at the bottom and someone shouts from the top to send down the prisoners. Then I start to see my crew. They look like they've been through hell, mostly bruised and bloody. The cabin boys are last, mostly unharmed save for a scrape or two, and then Jameson. We make eyes contact and he eyes me warily. Probably because of my current outfit.
     Following them are what I'm assuming to be the co-captains. My eyes widen as the last man climbs down and jumps onto the platform meeting the floor. He saunters over to Alfred and claps him on the back.
" Alfred! Mon ami! How are you? No bruises on your cute little face?" Alfred shoos him off and the flamboyant man flips his hair. He sees me standing behind Alfred and his face matches mine in surprise.
" Eh? Mon lapin what are you doing here? And why do you look like tha..." He stares at the ships prisoners, then at Alfred, and then at me again," looks like you've finally been caught. That's too bad. "
"Hello Francis, nice to see you too."

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Alfred's a little raw and vulnerable in this one don't you think? And wow Francis! Totally didn't see that one coming. To be continued.