the elegant captain hook | scömìche

chapter twenty-three

right or left?

~ansley

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Mitch woke up alone. Anger immediately spiked in his chest and he let out a soft growl, getting up and throwing on some clothes before stalking out of his room.

Scott was being held at end of the plank of wood sticking out of the side of the ship. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he was dressed in nothing but his boxers, his whole body trembling almost violently. Mitch's eyes flashed and he stalked over, shoving the pirates to the side and climbing up on the plank. "What the f*ck do you think you're doing?" he snarled, marching forward to free Scott from the arms of his captor. The pirate that was holding the prisoner panicked and shoved Scott off the end, into the water below.

Mitch's heart jerked and a lump formed in his throat, terrified that Scott was dead, but he also got angry. A scream of rage passed his lips and he stabbed the pirate, the motionless body falling into the water and sinking to the bottom. Mitch took off his jacket and boots, leaving him in his shirt and pants, and jumped into the water.

The cold water grasped at Mitch with icy fingers, trying to pull him into the dark depths. Mitch looked wildly around for Scott and spotted the poor boy straining to stay above the surface, immediately swimming over. "Shh. You're going to be okay," he whispered, draping Scott's arm over his shoulders. His calves burned already from the effort of keeping both himself and Scott from drowning, but he ignored it, swimming through the water back to the side of the ship. Scott tried his best to help his daddy, but he couldn't do much — he was already weak.

"Smee! If you don't f*cking help us up I swear to God I will f*cking kill you!" Mitch called, tightening his grip on Scott. It took a few moments, but a rope came down the side, and Mitch immediately grabbed it. "Scottie, baby, can you hold onto me? Don't let go, okay?" he murmured, rubbing his back. Scott sniffled and nodded, wrapping his legs and arms around Mitch like a koala.

Mitch proceeded to climb up the side of the ship, his breathing becoming ragged from the effort. Scott himself was breathing hard, resting his head in Mitch's neck. Mitch's arms and legs began to tremble, but he refused to let go, finally making it over the edge and safely on the deck.

Scott carefully removed his legs from around Mitch's waist and set his feet on the deck, but as soon as Mitch wasn't holding him up anymore, he collapsed. Mitch wanted nothing more than to join him, but his anger flared up again as soon as he saw the pirates. "What the f*ck?! How many times have I told you you're not allowed to touch him?! You could've f*cking killed him!" he shouted, and the remaining pirates flinched and looked down at their feet. "And you," Mitch snarled, turning his attention to Mr. Smee, "you've touched him before, haven't you?" Mr. Smee opened his mouth to say something, but soon closed it again, fear evident in his eyes. "That's what I f*cking thought. Henry, you're the new first mate. Your first order is to kill this f*cking b*****d."

It was silent for a moment before the new first mate hesitantly stepped forward. Mr. Smee watched him fearfully, but didn't dare move, knowing Mitch would murder him much more brutally. Henry squeezed his eyes shut, then thrusted his knife into Smee's stomach. "Dispose of the body." Henry shuddered, but picked up Smee's body and tossed it into the ocean. "Good job. You're already more obedient than he was," Mitch said coldly, glaring at Henry and the other pirates. "Now. Care to explain why you thought you could kill my prisoner?"

"W-We were jealous, C-Cap'n," a hesitant voice spoke from the group of pirates, and Mitch raised an eyebrow, beginning to play with his knife. "Oh?"

"Y-Yes. You spent so much time with Scott you didn't pay as much attention to us anymore. So we thought we'd get rid of him and s-... solve the problem."

"Don't touch him anymore," Mitch said simply. He had gotten distracted by Scott, worried out of his mind. However, he refused to show that Scott was one of his weaknesses — one of the pirates would surely use it against him. As slowly as he could, Mitch crouched down and gently helped Scott up, allowing the blond to lean heavily against him. Without another word, Mitch began to walk. But Scott was still weak, and he stumbled before falling to the floor. Mitch frowned slightly and gently scooped him in his arms, suppressing a smile as Scott let out a shuddering breath and curled into him.

As soon as they were safely inside Mitch's chambers, the captain became a worried mess, words tumbling out of his mouth before he even registered what they were. "Oh my God, Scott, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't know they would do that. Are you okay? Please be okay, I can't lose you too—"

"You won't lose me, Daddy," Scott whispered weakly, brushing his wet hair out of his eyes. Mitch's heart broke and he kissed him softly, wrapping his arms around his waist despite the fact that they were both soaked.

When they broke apart, Mitch immediately got to work on pulling Scott's boxers down, pressing comforting kisses to his chest and neck. Scott wrapped his arms around himself and closed his eyes, the heat steadily rising in his cheeks. Mitch tossed the wet boxers to the side and grabbed a towel that was left over from Scott's bath, then gently dried him off, making sure not to hurt him. As soon as he finished, he got Scott a new pair of boxers and gave him the onesie to put on. Scott sniffled and pulled on the clothing as Mitch got dressed himself, and they crawled on the bed to cuddle once they both had finished.

"D-Daddy?"

"Yes, darling?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, darling."