Unmanned

The Kiddway Collection

Summary: She wasn't sure what to do. He made her want to tell him... But secrets were secrets for a reason. How do you decide to tell someone you're a woman, anyway? The Unmanned mission from James's perspective.

Word count: 1,806

Hey everyone! I know I said I'd be working on some older stories, but I couldn't help it with this. So, yeah, I was watching YOGSCAST Hannah's playthrough of AC4, got to part 16 (the Unmanned mission). There's no harm in saying this as if you're reading this you've either finished the game or don't care about spoilers, so. My reaction: HOLY HELL KIDD'S A GIRL?! And then I wrote this. To clear up some things in the story for those of you who don't already know it (if you do know it, just skip this part):

Mary Read was, of course, a real pirate and she actually did pretend to be a boy. At first her mother forced to in order to replace her brother, who had died, but once she started sailing as a pirate she kept dressing as a guy and didn't tell anyone she was a girl. I'm pretty sure that in history only Calico Jack and Anne Bonney knew the truth. There's no record of whether or not she actually went by James Kidd.

Just warning you now, I've changed some of the lines in the cutscenes to fit the story better. Well, almost all of the lines.

God damn him.

Mary hated it when she felt out of control. The nerve of him! Waltzing over to Kingston, ruining her kill, generally being an arse... Edward fucking Kenway. So she ran. She found the windmill and climbed up to the top to think. What to do... Bad enough she had to tell him she was an Assassin. No way she could let him get close enough to find out she was a girl. All pirates should ever know of her was James Kidd. No one could learn her secret unless she trusted them, or it was imperative to her survival. And yet...

And yet a part of her wanted to trust Edward Kenway. The part that wanted someone to know, just so she wouldn't be the only one knowing this secret. Maybe if someone knew she'd get a chance to be a girl for once, not just the bastard son of William Kidd she'd been playing as her whole life. She liked being James Kidd, of course; if she hadn't she would've stopped years ago. But it was hard, constantly pretending, and she did wish that just for a day she could be Mary Read instead.

She heard movement below her. Kenway. Of course he couldn't just leave her to sulk. She did need to talk to him, to plan how to deal with Prins, but she would have liked some time to herself first. Ah, well. If he was coming up anyways... But she could still hear his voice as she chased after Prins and Torres, yelling for her to stop. She could still feel his arms wrapping around her waist so he could drag her to the ground, just meters from her targets. He had been so close to finding her out...

She was jolted from her thoughts by him sitting down beside her. He looked amazing in the light of the sunset. Not that she cared. It didn't matter whether she cared or not, even if she had, because Edward fucking Kenway still thought she was a boy. And it would stay like that. Because she didn't care about whether or not he liked her at all. And she wasn't going to say anything to him either.

"Kenway."

Goddammit.

"Kidd. Nice evening."

"Guess so. I wasn't really paying attention."

"Why not?"

Oh, go away.

"I was thinking. We should try to get at Prins tonight, or he might move and then I'll have to spend another few months tracking him down. He knows we're hunting him now; we'll have to do this soon."

"Do you have to bring that up?"

"Yes." Mary pointed to one of the alarm bells around Prins' home. "There are quite a few guards around. See those bells?"

"Aye."

"The way I figure it, they use those to summon aid if they see something they don't like. So what I think we should do is sabotage them, in case we're spotted. Don't want reinforcements coming to bother us."

"How do we get to Prins, though? Those are some strong looking gates, and well guarded."

Well, fuck. Mary had been hoping he wouldn't think of that. Then she could have distracted and killed the guards without him learning her secret. But he had thought of it. Edward fucking Kenway! Why did he have to be so observant? Of course, that made him good Assassin material. Uh, other than the very pirate-like focus on wealth and glory above all else.

"I'll distract them." She hesitated another moment before unsheathing her hidden blade and cutting her finger. She wiped the blood over her lips, resisting the urge to lick it off immediately. Then she reached up and undid the bandana keeping her long black hair out of the way. When Edward looked over again, it was Mary Read and not James Kidd who sat beside him. He blinked.

"Ready?"

"I'm guessing your name's not really James?"

"Not most days." And she leapt off the windmill.

LINEBREAK

He was doing well. Mary watched Edward as he sabotaged the bells. The sleep darts and blowpipe she had given him came in handy. Before long all the alarms had been dealt with, and Edward came close to the gates. Waiting for her to make a move. So she walked down the path, glaringly obvious, and faked a limp. She thought she was doing rather well. Apparently the soldiers at the gate agreed, as they stood and watched closely as she approached.

"Hey, lass! Are you all right?"

She looked up, forcing an expression of pain onto her face. "I've been shot! I need aid!"

They opened the gate and came over to her. "Take an arm, lass."

"Bless you."

Then she stabbed one in the throat with her hidden blade, spun around, and slashed his sword through the other's neck. Pity. They were only trying to be helpful. Edward walked over and through the gates. No words were exchanged, which was nice; she didn't want to talk about her little distraction at that moment. They stole into the mansion's grounds and split up. She had been looking around for a while when she heard someone moving around nearby. Being naturally curious, she went to investigate. She entered one of the rooms, felt something press against her temple, and heard the familiar sound of a pistol being cocked.

Well that was just perfect.

"What's a lass like you doing here?"

"Helping a friend," she managed. "Who're you?"

"None of your business."

She managed to turn partially and got a glimpse of his face before he spun her back to face front. One of his eyes was blue, the other amber.

"I know you!" Mary said, pleased. "Roberts, wasn't it?"

He growled. "Who's this friend of yours? That Templar from before?"

"Not exactly."

"Hmm." Roberts shoved her forward. "Let's go meet him."

LINEBREAK

At least Prins was dead. Mary could just see his body from where she stood. Unfortunately, Edward hadn't noticed her on the balcony above him yet. Well, she'd have to fix that.

"Head's up Kenway! I found your man!"

He turned. She could just make out the subtle tightening of his eyes as he spotted one of his allies being held captive with a gun pressed against her head. Now why was she so pleased to be his ally? It wasn't like she cared what he thought of her. Besides, she had bigger things to worry about. Like the pistol against her skull. She preferred to be the one holding the weapon, thank you.

"You're that Templar from Havana!"

"That was a ruse, mate. We've come to save your arse from this slaver!"

"Save me?! I work for Mister Prins!"

Oh, that didn't bode well for her.

"Then he's a poor man to call master. He was planning to sell you out to the Templars!"

"Really? Well you can't trust anyone these days."

Okay, time to go. She half-turned and punched Roberts in the head. Once the gun moved she swung herself off the balcony. He tried to aim the gun at her, but she ducked underneath before he could. So he shot a nearby alarm bell instead. As the guards began to appear, Mary slid away from the balcony and over the wall. She spared a glance at Kenway before she left. There were too many guards; nothing she could do. He'd have to get himself out. She managed to dodge the few guards chasing her. There were benefits to the fact most men saw women as weak. It made escaping much easier. Soon there were none left on her tail, and she settled down to wait.

Just as she was beginning to worry something had gone even more wrong, Edward walked over. She smirked.

"Miss your man again, Kenway?"

"Aye. Roberts is a strange man, with a queer aversion to kindness. I guess that's two men I've lost today. So, what's your real name, lass?"

"Mary Read to my mum, and them I call friends." She walked a bit closer to him. "But don't you dare tell a soul about this, or I'll unman you faster than you can think."

Mary winked, then left quickly, before he could respond. Couldn't have him coming up with some witty remark. She smiled quietly to herself.

"Until next time, Kenway."

So, what'd you think? I adore this pairing, so this might become quite a long series. Also, if you have any suggestions for oneshots, short arcs, songfics, etcetera, let me know and I might put it in. It just has to involve some form of Kiddway. You can do romantic, brother-sister, one being really protective towards the other, or whatever, I don't care. But until further notice, nothing that fits into the game's plotline past the part where Edward and Vane are marooned. That's as far as I've gotten in the playthrough and I don't want any spoilers. Until next time, and

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-Bird