The Phoenix

Chapter 6

"Hey Serena... how are you feeling today?" Alex's soothing, perfect Scottish accent says as he comes up behind me. I smile as he catches me looking at the ocean once again. "Somehow I always catch you looking at the ocean." He chuckles wrapping his arms around me. I hug his arms around me as he hugs me from behind. I look up at him and he smiles. I smile and go up on my tippy toes and kiss him softly. He smiles and kisses me back before looking down at me again.
"I'm alright. Still a little sore but I'm getting better." I say. It's been a week since the incident with Cutter and Lucian. I'm starting to heal up and I only have a little less than 5 weeks left with Alex.
  "Good. Is there anything I can do to help you?" He asks. I smile and turn around to face him. He wraps his arms tighter around me and pulls me into him.
  "I'm good love. I promise." I say. He sighs and nods a little. He tucks my hair behind my ear and I lay my head on his shoulder. I look back out at the ocean and sigh as I wrap my arms around his waist. He sighs again and cups my cheek, making me look at him.
  "What is on your mind? You seem like you are a little off..." he says. I lay my head into his hand and sigh.
  "I'm just thinking... it's only been a little over a week and so much has happened... i don't know how I'm gonna be able to go home..." I say. He furrows his eyebrows and lets me go as I step back and lean against the side of the ship. He walks forward and lead toward me as he leans on his hand on the railing beside me.
  "What do you mean love? Not that I want you to go home. I don't. I really don't. But why wouldn't you be able to go home?" He asks. I bite my lip and search his eyes. I sigh and look down at my feet.
"Alex... I'm engaged... to William..." I say. "But I don't love him... I'm falling for someone else. Hard. And I don't know if I'll be able to face William... I can't hurt him... also I love the ocean... I'm literally dreading going back because I want to stay on the ocean forever... but I miss my dad. I miss William... I just... I'm gonna have to make some really hard choices and I don't want to." I say softly. "Then there is the matter of what almost happened with Cutter. I've grown to be very fond of Finn... Harry and Killian... and you... you aren't what people say you are... you have your moments yes and I know I haven't seen you take a ship yet but... you aren't who they say you are. At least to me. You are sweet and handsome and loving and... you are perfect alex... your accent is pulling me in deeper and deeper and making me fall in love with... it's not just your beautiful voice your sweet gentle caring voice. It's your powerful voice that roars the power you have when you call to your crew. It's the way you hold yourself. You don't let your crew push you around. You put them in their place. You put up this big wall when you are around people. Making you seem scary, ruthless, and a monster... but you aren't... when you are with me those walls go down..." I say. I bite my lip and look up at him. He smiles a little grabs my hand and strokes it with his thumb. I hold his hand to my chest and put it on my heart. "I see you... the real you. Trust me my plan was not to like you! But you keep pulling me in with those eyes... that voice... with you just being you... no matter how hard I try... all I want to do is be near you. Be with you any chance I can. I... I can't leave you... I know saying all this is probably repulsive to you and you don't want to settle down but I needed to say it... going home is going to make me make some of the hardest decisions of my life... I just... idk what I'm saying you probably didn't want to hear all this. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all th-" I get cut off as he steps forward and cups my cheeks with both hands and smashes his lips on mine. I gasp softly but melt into him and grab his waist with one hand and pull him closer. One of his hands slide around my back and pulls our bodies as close as possible as he holds me. I take my other hand and cup his cheek as I kiss him a little harder. He wraps both arms around my waist and hugs me into him tightly. He presses me up against the side of the ship and I wrap both arms around his neck tangling one hand in his hair and stroking his cheek with my thumb on the other hand.
"I feel the same way you do love." He whispers into my lips as we kiss. "God you are beautiful. I knew I was screwed the minute I laid eyes on you, love." He says pulling back a little bit and stroking my hair and lifting my chin so I look at him. I smile a little at him. I close my eyes and lean into his hand. "We will figure out what you should do when we head back okay? I really need your father to follow through. If he doesn't... I can't kill you. But you could stay with me... forever... be the lady of the ship... BraveHeart. Even if he does follow through... you can stay... you can stay with me..." he whispers laying his forehead on mine. I play with the hair on the back of his neck as he talks. "I'll take care of you. I'll teach you how to fight, how to captain, how to take care of the ship... I'll teach you whatever you need... I'll do anything you need me to... I'll give you the ocean if you want... if you stay with me..." he whispers. Tears burn my eyes as he says all these sweet things to me. He cups my cheek again. Stroking it with his thumb. I grab his waist and rub his sides as he talks. "But I'll let you go... if you want to go home... I want whatever will make you happy. Whatever is best for you... that's what I want... even if it cuts me out of the picture." He says softly. Tears slip down my cheeks and I sniffle. I kiss him softly then wrap my arms around his neck and bury myself into his neck in a hug. "I'll change if you want me to. I'll do anything..." he says. I shake my head as I hug him.
  "I don't want you to change. You are perfect just the way you are. Please don't change. Ever." I say. He hugs me tightly and nods into me. "Who'd of thought that The Phantom could be so sweet. So thoughtful, so loving and so unworthy of someone like me. He deserves so much better." I say. He lets me go and kisses me again.
  "The Phantom doesn't want anyone else. He wants you. You, dear Braveheart, performed a miracle. Just like you said you would." He says. I smile and kiss him a bit rougher this time and tug on his hair as he tangles a hand in my hair as well and presses his body up into mine as he pushes me against the side of the ship again.  He growls a little bit into my lips. "I swear no one has ever been able to do to me what you can do to me with one glance or one touch." He growls into my lips. I grin and bite his lip as I tug on it. He moans softly and bends down picking me up and wrapping my legs around his waist and pushes me back into the side of the ship again to anchor me as he slides his hand up my side.
  We hear a really uncomfortable, shy clearing of the throat and alex sighs into my lips and gently puts me down. I blush a deep red as I turn my head and see Finn and Harry.
  "C-Captain." Harry says. I blush deeper as alex growls into my jaw and neck as he slides down my jaw and neck with kisses. I gasp softly and bite my lip to keep from moaning. I close my eyes for a second and then let my jaw drop a little.
  "A-Alex... Harry and Finn are needing you." I say softly. I cup his cheek and look at him as he pulls back and looks at me. I blush still and smile a little at him. He kisses me gently one last time then turns to Harry and Finn.
  "What? Can't you see we were in the middle of something?" He growls. I clear my throat and blush looking down. I pull my shirt down and pull my pants up a little bit then grab his arm. Not really used to the pants and shirt thing.
  "Alex it's okay. I'm sure it's important." I say. I look at them. "What happened?" I ask trying to hide my blush.
  "Um... a ship wreck captain..." Finn says. My eyes widen a little bit. I look up at Alex.
"It's bad cap... you should come take a look and see if we can find any survivors..." Harry says.
"Captain... it's the Black Revenge... Raven could have still been on it..." Finn says. Alex clenches his jaw and nods a little bit and I let him go and run down to the main deck and look over the edge. I gasp as I see the ship wreck. There is a broken ship in flames stuck between some big rocks. The rocks being the only thing stopping it from sinking. But it's definitely at least half sunk. Alex and the other guys run down to join me. I see alex narrow his eyes at the ship. His jaw clenching.
"Who's Raven?" I ask. He looks at me and I see the guys gulp and take a step back. I gulp and look up at Alex.
"My sister..." he says. My eyes widen and I look back out at the water. He turns to his crew. "Search for survivors. If the Hellfire is alive... he's mine. Do you understand?" Alex growls. I gulp as his crew nods and bow their heads at him. Alex turns to the water and ship wreck again and pulls out his telescope to be able to look closer. I bite my lip and look out with him and look for any signs of life.
"Help! Please!" A voice calls. My eyes widen as they snap toward someone clinging to a sinking piece of the ship.
"Hold on!" I yell. I rip off my jacket and back up.
"Serena... what are you doing?" Alex asks. I ignore him and sprint toward the side of the ship. I jump and clear the railing diving head first into the water. "SERENA!!!! THERE COULD BE SHARKS!!" Alex screams at me. I come up and take a breath of air. I look up at Alex.
"I got this! I'm fine! Just make sure the ladder is ready! I'll get them." I yell back.
"There is another way! Get your butt back up here! What are you thinking?!" He yells down at me.
"Just get the ladder!" I yell.
"Serena!" He yells as I turn and start swimming as fast as I can toward the person calling for help. "Get back up here, please baby come on! I can't lose you too!" He yells. I bite my lip with a small smile as I hear him call me baby for the first time.
"I'm coming back, love! I promise! Please just get the ladder." I call back. I get to the person calling for help and I wrap their arm around my shoulder. I look at them and see it's a girl. "I got you. Come on. Let's go." I say. She coughs up water and nods at me as I use as much strength as I have to get us back to the ship.
"Drop the dang ladder, Tyson! Now!" Alex yells from the ship. The ladder gets thrown over and I wrap my arm around the girl.
"Can you climb up?" I ask her. She coughs and nods.
"I think so..." she says weakly. "Thank you so much..." she says. I nod.
"Of course. Grab the ladder." I say. She grabs the ladder and when I get her go she pushes down on me when I'm not ready or expecting it, to lift herself a little. I go under water swallowing a bunch of water and coming up gasping for air.
"Serena!" Alex yells again. Then I hear a splash behind me as I try to get the water out of my eyes and cough it up as well. I feel an arm wrap around my waist and feel it pull me to the ladder as I rub my eyes. "Grab the ladder, baby..." he says softly holding onto it as well. I nod and grab the ladder and start to pull myself up. He helps push me up at little ways then follows me up. I get to the railing and fall over it landing on the deck. I lay there and cough up a bunch of water.
"Serena..." Killian, Finn, and Harry say. Alex jumps over the railing and runs right to me, pushing my hair out of my face, rubbing my back, and checking on me the best he can.
"Serena..." he says softly. "Get it all out of you. Good job, love." He says as I cough all the water in my lungs up. When I'm done coughing I turn and lay flat on my back. I close my eyes and just breathe for a minute. Alex moves so he is hovering over me. He lays on one arm and strokes my cheek with the other as he kinda lays/hovers over me. "Are you okay, baby girl?" He asks softly. I take a deep breath and open my eyes looking up at him. I nod a little as I search his eyes.
"I told you I'd make it back." I say with a small laugh. He smiles and shakes his head.
"Barely. She almost drowned you." He says. I shake my head.
"She was just scared. She has been trying not to drown for God knows how long. She just wanted out and into safety." I say softly. I reach up and run my fingers through his soaking wet hair. "You are kinda cute all soaked." I say with a smile. He smirks and kisses me softly. I smile into his lips and kiss him back.
"You are quite the vision yourself, my love." He says. I smile at him. "You breathing alright?" He asks. I smirk a little.
"I would be breathing perfectly if you weren't on top of me." I say softly. He looks down at our bodies and he blushes a little. I grin at him.
"Right. Sorry..." he says. I giggle a little bit and let him pull me to my feet as he stands. I wrap my arms around his waist and peck his lips softly before laying my head on his chest and looking toward the girl I rescued.
She is wrapped up in a blanket and her eyes are wide as she looks at Alex and I. I bite my lip and grab the blanket that Alex wraps around me.
"Thanks baby." I say softly as he rubs my arms to try and warm me up and he smiles as he kisses me again. I open my arms and wrap him up in it with me. He wraps his arms around my waist as I wrap the blanket around both of us. I look back at the girl.
"I'm seeing things... I'm dead..." she says. Alex looks up from looking at me and looks at her. He lets out a breath.
"Oh thank God. It's you. I thought you were just some random girl and that killfire killed you." He says letting me go and running to her wrapping her up in a big hug. I hug myself with the blanket and bite my lip as I watch them. Finn comes up and wraps his arm around me trying to warm me up by rubbing it. I lean into him.
"So I'm not dead?" The girl asks. Alex shakes his head.
"No Raven. You are very much alive." He says. She hugs him back and then furrows her eyebrows as she looks at me as they hug.
"But I must be dead..." she says. But she buries her face into his shoulder and hugs him tighter. "I missed you so much Alexander. Gosh I love you..." she says. He hugs her tighter and kisses the top of her head.
"I missed you too Raven. I love you too. I'm so glad you are safe now." He says. "Why do you think you are dead? You are very much alive. See." He says. He pinches her and she gasps.
"Ow!" She yells. He smiles a little. "I'm saying that I have to be dead because my brother, The Phantom, does not... let a woman besides me sail with him... nor does he settle for one girl... or call any of his girls, baby... or kiss them like that... nor care if one of them were hurt... or I-"
"Okay I get it!" Alex says cutting her off. I bite my lip as he lets her go and holds his arm out for me. I walk up to him and wrap my arm around him and lean into him. "Serena is different... she's not like the other girls..." he says softly looking down at me. I look up at him and smile at him. I wrap my other arm around his waist and hug him as I lay my head on his chest. I close my eyes as he kisses my forehead and wraps his arms around me.
"Okay... if I'm not dead... am I dreaming? Am I unconscious?" She asks. He sighs.
"No. You are alive and awake Raven!" He says. She furrows her eyebrows.
"You are different... what have you done with my brother?" She asks. She looks at me. I gulp and look up at him. He rolls his eyes at her and holds me tighter.
"I'm Serena... um... your brother kidnapped me. Sort of. I came willingly to save my town and my family." I say softly.
  "I kidnapped her to save Edward. Her father and... fiancé... have less than five weeks to get me what I asked or I said I would kill her." He says. Then looks down at me. I nod at him.
  "Which that's obviously not gonna happen with how you are looking at her. Alex you look like a love sick puppy." Raven says. "You two are together And she's engaged?!" She yells. I sigh and look at her.
  "It's complicated... this whole situation is complicated. My fiancé... he was my betrothed. But I don't love him... he's more like a brother to me. That would be like you marrying Alex. I don't love him... I don't want to marry him. I... trust me my plan was not to fall for your brother. I was supposed to hate him. But obviously that didn't work out. Now I don't know if I can even go home... with everything that's happened..." I say. Alex bites his lip and rubs my back as he holds me as close as he can.
"Everything that's happened?" She asks. She looks around a little bit. Alex clears his throat and looks around.
"Yeah um... it's been quite the week and a half." He says.
"Um... I don't see Cutter... or Lucian..." Raven says. I bite my lip and look down at my feet.
"Yeah um... Cutter decided that um... that he wanted Serena for himself. He hurt her really badly... and nearly killed Finn. I got there just in time but he really hurt her. So I killed him... Lucian helped Cutter with it all and helped take down Finn and was supposed to get Serena next after Cutter had his fun so..." he trails off and looks at me. I look up at her with my head held high and look her dead In The eyes.
  "So I killed Lucian." I say. Her eyes widen at me.
  "Wow... I did not expect that from you..." she says. "How did they hurt you?" She asks. I bite my lip and look around at the crew then up at Alex. He look down at me sadly and then looks at his feet. I rub his arm.
  "It's okay baby. It wasn't your fault. I'm okay. Thanks to you." I say softly. I kiss his cheek then let the blanket fall from my shoulders. I take a deep breath and lift my shirt up a little for her to see the long gash from the middle of my chest to my belly button. "This isn't even the half of it..." I say softly. Raven gulps and looks at me. I bite my lip and put my shirt back down. She bites her lip and looks between Alex and I. She nods and steps forward giving me a hug. I gasp in surprise but hug her back.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I know the feeling. That nearly happened to me before the ship wrecked." She says. I hug her tighter.
"Omg I'm so sorry." I say. She nods. She lets me go and pats Alex on the shoulder.
"I swear... if you let this one go or screw this up I will kill you myself. She is the strongest girl I've ever met... strong, brave, courageous, fearless, loving, kind, sweet person. And I just met her. Do. Not. Screw. This. Up." She says to Alex. He laughs a little.
"I'll do my best not to." He says. "I don't ever want to hurt her." He says wrapping his arm around my waist again. She nods.
"K I'm going to bed. My old room?" She asks. Alex nods.
"Yeah. It's all yours. Killian go with her and make sure she's alright." Alex says. "Goodnight Raven. I'm glad I have you back." He says letting me go and hugging her as he leads her to the stairs. I smile as everyone watches them. Killian jumps up and runs over to her. She grins and wraps him up into a hug.
  "Thank God. I was hoping I'd get to spend some time with you. God I missed you Kill." Raven says. Killian picks her up and hugs her tightly.
  "Thank God you are safe. God I missed you princess. Come on. Let's go fix you up." He says kissing her cheek. I grin as I watch them not knowing that they had a thing. Alex, Killian and Raven all go to the stairs and alex watches them go down. I let out a breath and smile.
  "If you move one muscle or make a sound. I will slit your throat right here." A voice growls behind me as an arm wraps around me from behind and a knife is pressed to my throat. My eyes widen and I stand up straight not moving a muscle only a small squeak coming from me as the knife touches my throat. Finn turns to look at me and his eyes widen.
  "Captain!" He yells.
  The man holds me tighter and presses the knife deeper into my throat. I wince in pain as he pushes on the gash on my stomach. I bite my lip to keep from crying out and start breathing heavily as tears burn my eyes from the pain the pressure on the gash is causing me. I squeeze my eyes shut and my jaw drops in pain as Alex snaps his head toward me and the man behind me. Causing the man to hold me tighter.
  "Oh Lover Boy!" The mans deep threatening voice sings out.