The Phoenix

Chapter 5

  "I'm so sorry... Serena please... I swear I'll do better... I swear I will protect you better... I'll do whatever I need to do... please Serena... come back to me..." I hear Alex's Scottish voice say. I feel him holding my hand. I hear a knock on the cabin door.
  "Captain..." a voice says. "How is she?" I feel Alex squeeze my hand and feel him rubbing it with his thumbs.
  "She's still not awake... how are you doing Finn?" Alex asks. I try to get myself to move or open my eyes.
  "I've been better. Cap I'm so sorry... I should have tried harder." He says. Alex sighs.
  "It wasn't your fault Finn. We got Cutter. He's dead. Lucian is locked up until she wakes up. We have them. It's not over. She just needs to wake up." He says. I feel him stroke my hair and then my cheek.
"May I?" Finns voice asks.
"Yeah of course. Go ahead." Alex says. I feel another hand grab my other hand.
"Serena I'm so sorry. I tried. I really did. But cutter and Lucian together... Lucian is the biggest guy on the crew aside from captain... I know that that isn't an excuse. But I'm so sorry." Finn says.
"Finn it really wasn't your fault... you tried. That's all we could have ever asked of you." Alex says. I try my hardest to move, talk or make any type of noise. I finally get out a groan and my fingers twitch.
"Serena?" Alex and Finn say. I feel someone cup my cheek.
"Come on love... wake up... please..." Alex's gentle voice says. I squeeze my eyes shut and then blink them open. I look up at Alex and then at Finn. My eyes widen as I see the damage Finn got. His face is all cut up and his arm is in a sling.
"Oh my god... Finn." I gasp. I sit up really fast and reach for him. Before I can the pain catches up to me and I cry out holding my stomach. I clench my jaw and take in a short breath.
"Serena.... careful love. You are hurt pretty bad." Alex says softly sliding onto the bed and sitting behind me so he can support me. I sigh and lift my shirt slowly. I look down at the cut that cutter left on me. I gulp and let out a shaky breath as I see a gash stitched up from the middle of my chest down to my belly button. I bite my lip as tears burn my eyes. I put my shirt down and Close my eyes. I sniffle and dry my face from the tears that slipped. I hold my head up high and force a smile at Finn. I see the tears in his eyes at the sight of me. I shake my head at him and reach out for him.
"No... no don't cry. I'm okay. It's okay. Shh. I'm fine. I'm okay." I say shakily as he moves closer and I wrap my arms around him in a hug. He buries his head in my neck and I hug him a little tighter. I run my hand through his hair and bury my face into his neck as well.
"I'm so sorry Serena. I'm so sorry." He cries into me. I slowly move myself so that I am slid into his lap and closer to him. He wraps his good arm around me and hugs me a little tighter.
"It wasn't your fault Finn. Not at all. You did your best to protect me. I'm so sorry you got hurt. You didn't deserve it at all. Thank you. Thank you for doing your best to protect me." I say to him. "This wasn't your fault love. I promise. It wasn't. I'm okay. You're okay. We are both alive. We will heal. That's all I could ever hope for. It's okay love." I say. I gently rub his back. "Hey. Look at me Finn." I say softly. He sniffles and slowly pulls back from my hug. I cup his cheeks and dry his tears. I gently kiss his cheek. "You. Are my hero. You almost gave your life for me Finn... you didn't have to do that. You are my hero. You both are." I say looking back at Alex. "If it wasn't for you guys... who knows how bad it could have gotten... thank you guys..." I say softly. They both smile a little at me. I kiss Alex's cheek and smile at him. Then I wrap my arm around Finn. He lays on my shoulder.
"You're welcome love. I just wish I could have gotten there sooner..." Alex says. I shake my head.
"No. You got there right on time. One second longer and I would have been done for... you got there right on time Alex. Thank you." I say. He sighs and nods at me. He wraps his arm around me and Finn. I lay into his chest and Finn stays on my shoulder.
"I'm just glad you both are alive..." he says softly. I smile a little and look up at him.
"Thanks to you." Finn and I say together. I smile at Finn and he smiles back. We both look at Alex and he smiles a little. I bite my lip and sigh.
"So... what are you gonna do about Lucian?" I ask softly. I look down as flashes of Cutter and Alex fighting go through my head. A flash of them both stabbing with their knives goes through my head and my eyes widen. I let Finn go. "Omg Alex... I forgot... are you okay?" I ask softly. He furrows his eyebrows.
  "I will deal with him eventually. Trust me I have a plan for him. What do you mean am I okay?" He asks. Finn sits up and Alex wraps his arms around my waist helping me turn to him. I hold my stomach as I slide into his lap and kinda straddle him. His eyes widen a little but he doesn't move. He puts his hands on my hips and watches me. I look at him and bite my lip. I slowly reach down and grab the hem of his shirt. I gently lift his shirt and gasp a little as I see his stab wound. He bites his lip and keeps his eyes on me. I gently place my hand on his torso and I feel his breath catch and he shivers. I look up at him.
  "Sorry..." I say softly. Then sigh. "I'm so sorry Alex... I didn't mean for you to get hurt... how bad is it?" I ask softly.
  "It missed my organs... ill be fine love..." Alex's Scottish accent sounds softly. His eyes never leaving my face. Finn clears his throat.
  "Um... I'm gonna go..." he says. Alex and I snap out of it and I look at Finn.
  "N-No. It's okay. Um..." I say. I look around. I see a tray of tea on the desk. "Do you guys want some tea?" I ask. I slowly slide out of Alex's lap and wince a little as I stand. I hold my stomach and Alex gently steadies me with his hands still on my hips.
  "Easy love..." he says. I bite my lip and look down at his hands on my hips. I feel my breath catch a little. I let out a breath and smile a little at him.
  "I got it..." I say softly. He nods and lets me go. I limp over to the desk and pour some tea into the cups. As I pour the tea, I let out a short breath. How come when Alex touches me it doesn't bother me? Usually after going through something like I did... it's hard to let people touch you right? What's so special about Alex? The only reason I felt okay touching Finn was because I initiated it... but for some reason... I feel calmer when Alex touches me. I shake my head slightly and snap out of it. I grab the cups and limp back over to the guys. I hand one to them and I sit down against the bed post and curl up in a ball and take a sip of tea.
  "So this has been an adventurous few first days... can't wait to see what other horrors await me..." I say softly. I sigh and lay my head on the post. Alex gulps.
  "Look... I swear I'm gonna do everything in my power to protect you from anything else that could hurt you... as soon as you are feeling up to it, I'm gonna start training you to fight. So you can stand up for yourself. I have a feeling once I do that... you could end up being the best fighter on the ship..." he says softly. I nod a little.
  "That's probably a good idea." I say. Finn smiles a little.
  "I can't wait to see you kick Captains butt." He says. I smile a little. Alex laughs.
  "Yeah. We will see about that." He says. I smile. He looks at me. "Do you wanna go get some fresh air? Both of you?" He asks Finn and I. I look at Finn and nod a little.
  "Yeah. That actually sounds really good." I say. Finn nods.
  "Yeah." He says. Alex nods and stands up. He takes all of our tea cups and puts them back on the desk. Finn and I stand up and head to the door. I hook my arm with finns good one and we head up to the main deck. Alex helping us both up. We get to the deck and he keeps his arm around my waist to help support me.
  "I'm gonna take care of Lucian now. Okay? You and Finn go on up to the sterncastle. Then you guys are out of the way and can just watch." Alex says. I nod and Finn starts to lead me up to the sterncastle. "Harry! Get Lucian for me. It's about time he gets what's coming for him." Alex yells to Harry.
  "Aye captain." Harry says turning and seeing me and Finn. His eyes widen. "You guys are okay!" He says. He runs up to us and my eyes widen a little as he hugs Finn. I let Finn go and back up a little bit.
  "Hey! Harry easy! Serena... are you okay?" Alex asks running up the stairs and coming to me. I take a few fast shaky breaths and close my eyes. Harry looks at me.
  "Serena... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to spook you..." he says. I shake my head and close my eyes as Alex gently hugs me close.
  "It's okay. I'm okay... I'm okay... I'm good..." I say mostly to myself. I lay my head on Alex's chest and cover my face with my hand for a minute and try to calm down.
  "You gotta be gentle and slow with her. Guys kinda freak her out right now... you gotta be careful. Let her come to you." Alex says. He gently tucks my hair behind my ear. Harry nods and watches us.
  "I'm sorry Serena." He says. I nod.
  "I know. It's okay. I'm okay." I say to him. I force a smile and rub his arm. I let out a breath and look at him. "Let's try that again. Okay?" I ask. He nods and I slowly move toward him and hug him gently.
  "I'm glad you are okay..." he says softly slowly wrapping me up in the hug. I smile a little.
  "Me too. You can't get rid of me that easy." I say with a small smile as I let him go. He smiles and nods.
  "Good. I'm gonna go get Lucian now." He says. I nod and sigh. I look at Alex and he smiles sadly at me. I gently take his hand and squeeze it.
  "I'm okay Alex... I'm fine." I say softly nodding at him. He sighs and nods.
  "Like I said... we need to change your name to braveheart." He says. I smile and let out a small laugh. He smiles at me. He rubs my hand with his thumb and gently kisses it. "Go sit down okay? I'll deal with Lucian." He says. I nod and smile at him. He lets my hand go and I hook my arm with finns again and we go sit down on some crates. I gulp as I see a big guy in chains come up in front of Harry. Alex glares at him and Harry makes him kneel before Alex. I gulp and grip Finns hand.
  I see Lucian look up at me and Finn. He clenches his jaw and looks back at Alex.
  "Lucian... how could you?" Alex asks. I gulp and watch intently.
  "Cutter promised me I would get her next..." he says. I bite my lip and look down. Finn squeezes my hand. I slowly lay my head on his shoulder.
  "So just so that you could get some action in with MY girl might I add... you decided it was a good idea to team up with Cutter and beat the crap out of my second mate so that you could sleep with my girl? Which was most likely not going to happen. You had to know that..." Alex says. Lucian looks up at me.
  "It was worth the shot... I got to beat up the man that I dislike and was so close to getting the girl too... if you wouldn't have went crashing in and killed my best friend... I would have gotten her." He says. Alex clenches his jaw.
  "You know the consequences of messing with the Captains girl..." he says. Lucian looks back at Alex and holds his head high.
  "Yes I do. But I don't regret a minute. It felt so good to almost kill finn. It felt so good to almost get the girl." He says. I clench my jaw and stand up. Letting Finn go.
  "Serena..." Finn says. He stands up and limps after me as I walk down the stairs and grab the knife out of Alex's pocket. Alex's eyes widen as he looks at me.
  "Serena..." he says. I glare at Lucian. I stab the knife through lucians heart. He gasps and his eyes go wide as he looks at me.
  "You may not regret a minute of what you did to Finn and I... but trust me when I say this... I don't regret a minute of this... I will never regret killing you. If I could have gotten this chance with Cutter... I would have cut him apart limb from limb. But you will have to do and I don't regret a minute of this." I hiss at him. The crew all gasps as I twist the knife and Lucian spits out blood. I glare at him and clench my jaw in disgust at him. "See you in hell you disgusting piece of crap." I hiss. I pull the knife out of his chest and kick him over onto the deck. I glare down at him as he takes his last breath. The crew looks at me with wide eyes. I lick my teeth angrily and turn to Alex. I smile sweetly at him. "That felt so good." I say. I hand him his knife back and he looks at me shocked.
  "She's scary..." one of the crew members say as I push past everyone and head up to the poop deck.
  "I think I'm in love..." I hear Alex say as everyone watches me leave in shock. I get up to the poop deck and I sit down on a pile of crates and look out at the ocean.
  "Holy crap. What just happened?" Finn asks. Harry laughs a little bit.
  "I didn't think she had that in her... wow. I'm impressed." He laughs.
  "Take care of him. Get rid of him." Alex says to the crew about Lucian. Then I hear him running up to me. "Please stay here forever." He says. He sits beside me and I smile a little. "I didn't know you had that in you. I knew you were strong and brave but I didn't think you could kill someone." He says. I look at him.
  "He was irritating me. I needed to get my revenge somehow. I just wish it was Cutter." I say. He nods.
  "Trust me. I stabbed him and ripped him apart cuz I was so mad. Even after he was dead. While Killian was working on you I went back down and tore him apart before we threw him over board." He says. I smile a little.
  "Good. He deserves it. Even tho he was already dead." I say. I sigh. "I'm sorry I just kinda... took over down there..." I laugh a little. He smiles and laughs.
  "It's okay. I totally understand why you did it." He says. I nod and look back out at the ocean. "You look out at the ocean like... I don't even know... there is just... this pure passion when you look at it..." he says. I smile a little.
  "The ocean is my favorite place in the world... my dad used to have to drag me away from the ocean... I would run away from home all the time at night to come to the ocean... it's my favorite place. If I could stay on the ocean forever I would... before my mother died... she would take me to the beach... everyday. She called me her mermaid. She was convinced that I was a mermaid... because I never wanted to leave the water..." I say with a smile as I stare at the ocean. I see him smile out of the corner of my eye.
  "She sounds like she was a pretty amazing mother." He says. I smile and nod.
  "She was the best." I say. He leans back on his arm and looks at me.
  "What happened to her?" He asks. I bite my lip and look at him. I look down at my lap and sigh.
  "She was murdered... by pirates." I say softly. Looking up at him. He goes pale and gulps. I smile a little.
  "I'm so sorry... I didnt know..." he says. I shake my head with a smile.
  "It's okay. It wasn't your fault. It was years ago. I was 12." I say. He bites his lip.
  "Do you know which pirate crew it was?" He asks. I take a deep breath and nod.
  "Yeah. It was Captain Mindossa. Him and his crew were caught and the king hung them for their crimes. They aren't around anymore." I say. He nods.
  "I'm glad they were caught." He says. I nod.
  "Thank you. She was killed right before my eyes and my fathers. No one knows why they did it. But... I guess we will never know now." I say. He sighs.
  "You must hate me... for taking you away from your father..." he says. I look at him. I shake my head.
  "I don't hate you. You aren't the person I thought you were. You are doing it to save your brother. Hopefully we can save him. I don't know what happened to him but hopefully we can get him out of whatever he is in." I say. "If he's anything like you... he's worth saving." I say. He smiles a little. He searches my eyes and I bite my lip as his eyes travel to my lips. I look at his and I gulp as I look back up at his eyes.
  "Please don't hate me." His Scottish accent says. It's starting to really grow on me. I love his accent. I love it when he talks... when he roars at his crew. His accent comes out thick and pure when he does. Also when he whispers things to me... he's slowly starting to make me fall in love with his gentle voice... I furrow my eyebrows at his words but before I can respond he smashes his lips on mine. I gasp and my eyes widen a little. His lips are gentle and sweet. Not rough and cracked like cutters. His kiss is nothing like cutters. It's... blissful. I gently cup his cheek and relax as I close my eyes. I melt into him and kiss him back. He gently grabs my neck and kisses me a little bit firmer. He cups my cheek with his other hand and I tangle my hand in his hair gently tugging on it. I put my other hand on his chest and kiss him back gently.
  "Oooooooooooooooohhhhh!!!!!!!" We hear the crew say as they laugh. I smile a little into Alex's lips and he smiles as well. He lays his head on mine gently and we breathe for a minute. "Serena! You got him hooked!!!" Someone says. I laugh a little and blush covering my face with my hand and laying my head on his chest. He laughs and wraps his arms around me.
  "Alright! Back to work! Nothing to see here!" Alex laughs. The crew laughs and gets back to work. I keep blushing and laying on his chest as I look back out at the ocean. He tucks my hair behind my ear and gently rubs my back as we both look out at the ocean.