Yes. I am starting a new story. No, you are not hallucinating. I'm sorry but I've been very stressed out since my interview at Barnes & Noble and I got the sudden inspiration to write a pirate AU while I wait for them to call me so that I can HOPEFULLY fill out my W2 and start working. Fingers crossed!

Anywho, enjoy this! I'm gonna try to make it short and fast and smutty and fluffy, all at the same time, so I'm giving myself a MAXIMUM of 15 chapters to get everything down. This is going to be a challenge for me, but you should reap the benefits because that means longer chapters and frequent updates, so ENJOY!

Prologue

The young Lady Katherine Beckett lived a life of luxury and privilege…for the first nine years.

She was raised the child of a lawyer and a midwife, James and Johanna Beckett. Her father was born into privilege, much like she was, and was trained as a prosecutor, quickly finding success under the consciousness of the King, whom they'd have dinner with every now and again, and who constantly requested Jim's services in some of the largest trials in the country.

James Beckett put more criminals away than any prosecutor in the history of England—a fact that his entire family was very proud of. His wife and daughter included.

Johanna's past was more of a mystery to both husband and daughter. Kate knew that her mother's childhood was not as privileged as her father's. She also knew that Johanna had medical training that allowed her to work as a professional midwife, but she knew nothing of her mother's family or what led her to the marriage to her father.

According to Jim, they met in Surrey, in 1846, when she helped birth his sister, Theresa's, first son. They married three years after and then had Kate within the next year.

"That's all I know, Katie," Jim used to say, fondly, when Kate asked him to tell her, again, about how he and Johanna met. "Good night, Love," he would add, kissing her forehead and then made his way out of her bedroom.

Regardless of their pasts, James and Johanna Beckett were wonderful parents to their one and only child. Jo refused to hire any nanny for Kate and would take her to birthing and prenatal appointments before Kate could even walk. And James would teach her everything he knew about legal proceedings and encouraged her to learn math and science from her mother.

"Perhaps," he once said to Johanna, when Kate was supposed to be sleeping, "she'll be London's first woman doctor."

"No," Johanna said, shaking her head. "She won't be. That title has already been taken, my dear. But she shall be one of the firsts, I can guarantee it."

Kate's heart had swelled with hope and excitement as she rushed back to her bedroom and jumped under the covers before her parents could spot her.

All that changed, however, at the age of ten, just a few weeks after her birthday.

On that day, Kate and her father were eating dinner, awaiting Johanna's return from a birthing—Kate had been unable to join her due to her lessons—and talking about this and that, just passing the time, when they heard a large crash.

Kate jumped in her seat, and Jim's eyes widened in fear as he stood, placing his napkin on his plate and walking towards the foyer. He was only in the doorway when he froze, his body going completely rigid.

"Katie," he whispered, "you have to leave."

"Wh-what?" Kate asked, confused and scared.

"Katie, leave," he hissed back. "Go! You must go now!"

His whispers were frantic and confusing. Kate stood and tried to make her way towards him, but he shooed her away with frantic hand gestures.

"Leave through the kitchen door!" he ordered. "Don't stop running. Not for anything, Katie!"

"Where will I go?" the frightened young girl asked in a whimper, tears filling her eyes.

"Go to the shipyard," Jim told her. "Board the first ship you can. Tell the crew that, by demand of the King, they are bound to bring you to safety. Now go!"

"But what about Mum?" Kate asked, her voice smaller than Jim had ever heard it.

He sighed, looking away from her. "I suppose they've already gotten to her."

Kate gasped, her eyes widening, her head shaking slowly, back and forth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"No!" she exclaimed.

"Kate, GO!" Jim bellowed at her, just as she heard a crash and an explosion of debris flew in from the foyer, knocking Jim onto his behind.

"Dad!" Kate exclaimed, taking a step towards him.

"No!" he screamed. "GO NOW!" Kate spared him one more look, before turning and running through the kitchen, right out the back door. She had to pick up the skirt of her blue dress as she ran, but she never stopped. Not even as the thorns of the backyard rose bush scratched at her arms and tore at her clothing. Not when she encountered a mean looking stray, who clamped his jaws around her skirt and tugged, ripping the expensive fabric. She barely seemed to notice the blood oozing from her many cuts and the bruises that riddled her arms as she tripped and knocked into walls, nor the boy she knocked down, who was carrying a crate of some sort of vegetable, which spilled all over the ground as some woman screamed after her.

Eventually, the many dirty allies of London led her to the shipyard. Kate turned back, panting, her eyes searching the sky, widening as they fell on a cloud of black smoke, rising into the night sky.

Her house! It could only be from her house! Kate took a step back towards it, but her father's words echoed in her ears. His instructions…

Board a ship!

Kate stumbled as she ran towards the first ship she saw, three navy men guarding it.

"Please!" she exclaimed. "You must help me! You must let me board this ship!"

The tallest of the three men looked down at her with disgust.

"And why, pray tell, should we do that?" he asked in a snotty-sounding voice.

"Because I am Lady Katherine Beckett," Kate replied, standing tall and proud, "daughter of Lord James Beckett."

"The prosecutor?" the chubbiest of the three clarified.

"Yes!" Kate exclaimed. "Yes, exactly!"

The three men shared looks, before they suddenly burst into raucous laughter, slapping their knees and wiping at their eyes.

"What an imaginative little wench, eh?" the plain-looking one asked the other two, before turning to her. "Go beg somewhere else, rat!" he growled at her, before all three men turned away, leaving Kate astounded.

She found similar luck on the next two ships, before she realized that she wouldn't get anywhere with any of the navy men—all of whom were pompous and rude, she thought bitterly.

She continued on to the next ship, which was very decidedly not filled with navy men at all. She spotted a colored man, with graying hair and a mustache, ordering around a couple of boys, not much older than Kate herself, as they carried crates up onto the ship.

This would be her chance, she thought, creeping up the ship's ramp, dodging every crew member she caught sight of—none of which even had an inkling of her presence.

Once on board, Kate hid behind a pile of crates, curling herself into a tiny ball and waiting, patiently, for the ship to start moving before she revealed herself.

She waited an extra twenty minutes to make sure they were not close enough to turn back around so she could be thrown off, and stepped out from behind the crates, scaring a small, pale, brown-haired boy so bad that he squeaked.

"Captain!" he shouted and, at once, the colored man was racing towards them, with a small colored girl toddling after him, barefoot.

"What is it, Ryan?" he asked, his voice worried but firm. Ryan pointed at Kate, who forced herself to keep from hiding again.

The Captain's eyes softened when he saw the young girl, but his voice revealed no affection or trust.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"K-Katherine Be-Beckett, si—Captain," she answered.

"I see…and just what do you think you're doing on my ship, young lady?" He crossed his arms over his chest, the younger body mimicking this move.

Suddenly, Kate's eyes filled with tears and she sniffled, trying to keep them at bay. "I…I…I need your help," she gurgled, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

"With what?" the man asked, his voice softer this time. The little girl was peering around his leg at Kate, her chocolate brown eyes wide with wonder.

"Th-they're after me!" Kate cried. "They killed my mother and perhaps my father, too! You must take me to safety, b-by order of the King!"

The man laughed at that.

"Look around, Love," he said, "does it look as if we work under the King's command?"

Kate glanced around, catching sight of even more young people. Many were children her own age, but there were a few older teenagers and a few adults, all staring at her, smirks and scowls on their faces. They were all dirty and tattooed, wearing tattered clothing and sporting scars bigger than the cuts Kate must have been sporting on her own frail body.

Suddenly, it occurred to her what kind of ship she was on.

"You…you're pirates?" she squeaked, backing away, her back hitting a crate, but not budging and inch.

The man nodded. "Now you've got it, Love," he laughed. "Now don't be frightened," he said, once he noticed even more tears filling her eyes. "We are not going to hurt you; but we can't protect you, either."

"Wh-why not?" Kate asked, not knowing which she was asking him to clarify for her.

"Because I am a firm believer of every man—or woman—for his or herself. Understand?"

Kate nodded, slowly, her face paling.

"So are you going to throw me over the side, then?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"What?" he laughed. "Now why would we want to do that?"

"You said—"

"I said that we couldn't protect you," the man said, "but that doesn't mean that I can't teach you how to protect yourself. And if you become part of my crew, I'd be more than happy to do that for you. Provided you pull your own weight, of course."

Kate's green eyes widened at that. "You want me to…to be a pirate?" she asked.

The man nodded. "Exactly," he confirmed. "Otherwise, we can just drop you at the next port and you can go off to find your precious king. Though I don't suggest it."

"Wh-why not?" Kate asked.

"I never liked him," he said, with a hint of disgust in his voice. "King William always sort of rubbed me the wrong way—perhaps it was the slavery I was forced into for the first twenty years of my life. Perhaps it's just because I know a few things about him."

"Like what?" Kate asked, nervously. She remembered having dinner in the Castle with his family, and how nice he'd seemed.

"That, my dear," the man said, "is a secret for a later date; trust me. Now…are you in? Or do we have to drop you overboard?"

Kate swallowed thickly. "Okay," she said, "I'll stay."

"Brilliant!" he smiled. "Lanie?" The little girl popped out, looking up at him for her instructions; she couldn't have been older than five.

"Yes, Papa?" she asked; her voice carried a Caribbean lilt that was almost musical.

"Take Lady Katherine down to your cabin; you two will be sharing from now on." The little girl's face brightened and she turned to Kate, holding out her hand.

"Follow me," she said. Kate hesitated for only a second, before wrapping her hand around the girl's smaller one and following her towards the door that led down into the ship. Before they entered, however, she turned back.

"Excuse me?" she said, politely, causing the man to turn around, his eyebrows raised in silent question. "What is your name?"

"I," the man said, "am Captain Roy Montgomery—but you may just call me Captain." Kate nodded.

"Yes, Captain," she said, before allowing the little girl to lead her downstairs.

Their room was small and contained far more bunks than necessary for the two girls.

"Does anybody else sleep in here?" Kate asked.

"No," Lanie answered, climbing up to one of the top beds on the wall and looking down over the edge. "It just you and me; Papa don't like mixing de boys and de girls. Besides, I was de only girl before you, so I've had it all to meself."

"Oh," Kate said. "Do you mind having another person sleeping in here?"

"Not at all!" the girl exclaimed, giving Kate a bright smile. "You are de first girl on dis ship since my Mama!"

"And where is your mother?" Kate asked, choosing the bunk right across from her. Lanie's face fell.

"She die," she sighed. "Last year."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Kate exclaimed. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It alright," Lanie said, giving her a sad smile. "I don't mind so much, anymore. I jus focus on all the happy things about my Mama and then I not so sad!"

"I'll have to try that," Kate murmured.

"Oh, your Mama die too?" Lanie asked. Kate nodded.

"I think so," she sighed. "That's what my father said. I think he might be gone as well."

Suddenly, Lanie was right next to her, climbing up into her bed. Before Kate could say anything, the girl's arms were around her neck, her face pressed into her neck.

"Why are you hugging me?" Kate asked, cautiously wrapping her own arms around the girl.

"Mama always say that hugs make everyting betta, so I try," she explained. "Is it workin'?"

Kate smiled, feeling more tears fall down her cheeks. "I think so," she said, wrapping her arms tightly around Lanie.

The girls fell asleep with their arms wrapped around each other.

The next morning, Captain Montgomery gave Kate some new—ish—clothes to wear; a yellowing button-down shirt, a pair of trousers with a rope belt, and a pair of boots that she had to fill with rags to keep from falling off her feet.

"They're Esposito's," the captain told her. "He's closer to your size than Ryan is, but you'll have to return them once you can buy your own, alright?" Kate nodded.

"Yes sir," she said. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," he replied. "Now change and get ready for your first day of work."

"What would you like me to do?" Kate asked, once she was dressed in the too-large clothing.

"Let's start with something simple," Montgomery replied. "Why don't you mop the deck for me, alright? Just as a start."

Kate nodded. "Yes sir," she said, quietly, making her way to the mop and a bucket that was visible at one side of the ship. But when she picked it up, she realized that it was empty. She looked around, looking for a water source.

"What're you lookin' fer?" the pale boy, Ryan, asked, stopping in front of her. He had a thick Irish accent.

"Water," Kate informed him. "Do we have any?"

"Are ya kiddin'?" Ryan laughed. "We're surrounded by it!"

"You use ocean water to clean your ship?" Kate asked, wrinkling her nose. "Isn't that quite dirty?"

Ryan shrugged. "Captain don't like using any of our drinkin' water. This is all we've got."

"Well, do you have any soap?" she asked.

Ryan snorted. "What are we? Princesses? 'Course we don't got any soap! Just use the water; gets it clean enough."

Kate makes a disgusted face, but gets to work, lowering the wooden bucket down into the water, before pulling it back up.

She fights tears as she begins to mop.

This is your life now, Kate, a voice inside says. Get used to it.

A tear mixes in with the dirty ocean water as she continues to work.

I don't think I can.

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