Once Upon a Time Lord

Chapter Two

"Illustration" ft. Karlie's weird ability to write in italics

"Where did you learn how to sail a ship, Doctor?" Lucy asked.

The Doctor chuckled. "I don't know that I ever did. But technically, I'm not sailing this ship, I'm flying it. And that I have lots of practice with," he joked. Lucy laughed.

"So... who taught you to fly the TARDIS?" Lucy asked.

"I did," the Doctor said. "There wasn't exactly a drivers-ed course on the subject."

Lucy smiled. "So, do you think you could, you know, teach me?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe someday, Luce. Maybe someday."

Lucy smiled softly. "The sky is beautiful," she whispered. The Doctor nodded. The horizon was streaked with pinks, oranges, reds, and lights blues, creating a collage of beautiful colors.

She looked over to the Doctor. He was so focused; always ready for any surprises. Eyes fixed on the horizon, slowly watching the sun rise.

The Doctor felt her eyes on him and he turned to look at her. "Something wrong?"

"No," she replied softly with a smile. "Everything is perfect."

...

Jane woke up in a small room, curled up with a blanket that smelled like sleep and familiarity. She sat up, confused, and looked around the room, but she didn't recognize it.

She stood, wrapping the blanket around her. Outside of the door was a ladder that led to the upper deck. She climbed up enough to see what was going on up there, and saw Lucy and the Doctor, but no Killian.

She returned below deck, and considered going back to the room to sleep, as the bed was comfortable and she was still somewhat tired. The ladder that led even further below deck, however, triggered her interest even more then sleep.

With the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders, she moved to the edge of the hole the ladder went through and tried to see what she might get into if she went down. She didn't see any people or anything that looked dangerous, but the gap in the floor exposed very little.

Cautiously, she curled her fingers around the top wrung and stepped down until her head was below that level and she could see everything below. The space seemed massive. This was the third deck, she decided, since the deck with the wheel was the first, and the one she had woken up on was the second.

The third deck, or as much as she could see of it, held rows of hammocks hung above each other, which was presumably where the crew slept. It occurred to her then that she hadn't seen a single crew member yet, which struck her as odd.

All of the hammocks were empty, and so seemed to be the rest of the room. She climbed down the ladder further until she reached the floor. To the right of the ladder she had just stepped off of was a second ladder. She glanced at the rest of the room hesitantly, and then decided to take the ladder down. She had already seen everything interesting on this deck, and if the next deck was a bore she could always come back up.

She climbed down this ladder quickly, without turning to look at what was on the fourth deck. When she reached the floor and finally turned around, she was startled by Killian's leather-clad chest appearing inches from her nose.

Before she could just back, Killian put his hands on her shoulders and moved her away from the ladder. "There ya go, love. Now you can be startled all you want and no harm will come of it."

Jane breathed out. "It was so quiet; I didn't think anyone would be down here. What are you doing?"

"Just sitting," Killian said. "I love the sea air and everything, but it is warmer down here. And I don't have to listen to your friend and the Doctor flirt shamelessly," he smiled.

"I can't believe you have four decks," Jane said in amazement, taking a few steps to get the feel of the place.

Killian chuckled. "It's called the hold, love."

"Oh yes, right, the hold," Jane said, rolling her eyes. "Because calling it deck four would be an outrage. You pirate folk are so complex."

A half-smile played on Killian's lips. "Not all of them."

Jane waved a hand as she lifted up one of the lids of the barrels scattered about the hold. "Yes, of course not all. What is this deck used for?"

"Cargo," Killian said, pressing the lid back onto the barrel. "Nothing much down here but salted meat and rum."

"Nothing?" Jane asked. "I thought you were a pirate. Aren't you supposed to have buried treasure somewhere around here?"

The half-smile returned. "The treasure my crew found was more stolen than buried, love. But what goes around comes around, I suppose. All of my treasure was pillaged when I lost my ship."

"You lost it?" Jane asked in surprise.

Killian nodded solemnly. "But by the good graces of fate we have been reunited."

"How did you lose it?" Jane asked.

Killian shrugged and jerked his head at the ladder. "A story for another day. What do you say we go back on deck? Who knows what those two will get into while we're gone."

A/N: Shorter chapter. Long one next time :)