PERSEPHONE

1

The night swallowed up everything but the moon and stars; Kate admired their reflections on the calm, clear water. More wind, more wind would be better. They'd been anchored for two days now, and while there had been no threat so far, she was itching to be on the move again, and she knew her crew was becoming restless too.

She loved the stars. They were her guide, her map, and so far they had never failed her. This life, this freedom, could be too much for some people, but Kate just picked a star to follow and found new places that way. Sometimes they had somewhere to go, sometimes there was something they needed, but she preferred it when they were explorers, when they had nowhere to be and nobody to answer to... when the whole world was hers.

"Captain?"

She turned around.

"Yes?"

It was a young man on her crew, he'd been stationed in the crow's nest, and she did not like the look on his face.

"I've seen something..." he said unhappily. She took out her telescope and gritted her teeth. She looked in the direction the man was pointing and saw what he had seen. A dot on the horizon, slowly growing larger.

"Should I put out all the lights?"

"No. They've already seen us. They won't get here quickly, the wind is picking up a little, but not much."

"So we're running?"

"Boy, Captain Beckett does not run. Prepare the cannons. We'll wait for them."

"Maybe they're not coming towards us..."

"Of course they are," she said, smiling. "But we will be ready. Rouse everyone, but quietly. We don't want them to know we know they're coming."

He scurried away and Kate reached down to her hips to check that her sword, dagger, and pistols were safely in place. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the cool night air in her lungs. There was something about a fight, too... The excitement flowed through her muscles; her sword tickled to be used. She reached up to her neck, briefly touching the chain around it before returning her focus to the approaching ship. She could see it with her naked eyes now.

She looked down at the deck; her crew was assembling. They were looking forward to the fight too. She whistled to get their attention. Her whistle wasn't loud, but they knew it was coming and they immediately turned to her.

"You know what to do," she said softly. And that was all. They needed nothing else. She loved that too, the control she had over them.

And then they waited, until they could hear the swishing of water under the other ship. Kate grinned.

"Ready," she called.

Thirty seconds... Twenty... Ten...

"Cannons!"

They fired; she felt the deck shake beneath her feet as the cannons fired, several of them piercing the side of the other ship already.

"Let them board," Kate reminded her crew. It was much easier to fight on familiar ground, much easier to pick them off one by one as they climbed ladders onto Hades.

She could see a few men from the other ship attempting to climb over. Englishmen. She sighed. This would not be a long fight. She drew her pistols and was soon in the thick of a rather disappointing fight. It didn't take long to overpower them. Most of them surrendered; she would let them go in the lifeboats of their ship. Survivors did wonders for her reputation.

"We're going to search the ship," she said, calling a few of her men to follow her.

She didn't like the ship much, which was good, because it would be no longer in a few hours.

"You check for money. I'm going down to the brig, to see if there's anyone we know."

She drew her sword, just in case, and went below deck. It smelled, a mixture of must and rats. There were some good weapon stores though, they would bring those across. She went along a narrow passageway and found herself in the brig. There only seemed to be one prisoner; only one door was locked. She went up to the grating and looked in. A man, standing, his back was to her but-

"Richard?" she asked with wonder. He whipped around at the sound of her voice.

"Katherine!" he said, stunned. Kate struggled with the door, shaking it, but to no avail. He chuckled.

"The keys are on a hook behind you," he said. She blushed and turned to grab them, almost dropping them in her haste to unlock the door and grab him.

He pressed his mouth to hers, sliding his hands under her shirt. Their tongues resumed their battle for dominance as if it had been seconds, not years; he pushed her against the metal bars and-

He stepped away and winked at her.

"Sorry, sweetheart. But I've wanted your ship for years."

"Castle!" Her wrist was tied to a bar. "Castle, let me go!"

"Is Johnson still on your crew? He always liked me more than you anyway."

"Castle, let me go, now!" she commanded. He just grinned at her. She tried a new tactic.

"Come on, Richard, you know you don't really want me dead," she said, widening her eyes and batting her eyelashes at him.

"Good point," he said, coming back to untie her, only to tie her wrists behind her back. "I'll take you back to your ship. Well, my ship."

He picked her sword up off the floor. "I've missed this, too," he said, tucking it into his belt.

"You're a bastard," she spat at him.

"I know," he said. "I enjoy it."

"I'll get you back for this."

"I look forward to it," he said, grabbing her wrists and pressing his dagger into the small of her back.

"Now, come on, let's get out of here. I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to."

Kate groaned and walked slowly back out onto the top deck. Her men were horrified to see her captured, until they saw who her captor was.

"Captain Castle," Johnson said happily. "So nice to have you back. May I ask why Beckett is tied up?"

Castle winked at him. "It's important to keep women under cont-" Beckett stamped hard on his foot. He laughed.

"See what I mean?" he said, pulling her close to him. He untied her hands again, this time to tie them around his waist.

"So you don't fall in," he said, grinning. "Wouldn't want you to get wet now, would we?"

Kate rolled her eyes at him and gripped him tightly; he caught hold of a rope that hadn't been cut and swung back across to Hades.

"I've missed you too," he whispered to the ship.

"She doesn't like you," Kate growled.

"Is your cabin still in the same place?" he asked.

"Yes. Are you going to untie me?"

"Nope. Jump up," he said. She rolled her eyes.

"You wish."

"Yes. And my wish is now your command, my darling. Up."

Kate jumped into his waiting hands so he could carry her, her legs wrapped around his waist. He took her to her cabin, then finally undid her hands. This time he tied her to the bed.

"Don't worry," he said, winking again, "we won't do that until you want to."

She smiled seductively. "What if I want to now?"

He laughed. "You don't. You just want to distract me. I have to go and talk to my crew. The wind's picked up, we should let the prisoners go in their lifeboats and then get moving. I'll be back later." He leaned down until his mouth was close to hers. "And I really have missed you," he said gently. Kate just growled at him. He left the room.

She wriggled against the ropes, but he had tied her up too well. She hated him. She hated him.

He returned in just under an hour.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm going to kill you!" she yelled at him. He smiled, again.

"Better leave you tied up then."

"You'll have to let me go eventually," she said, narrowing her eyes. He sat down on the bed beside her.

"I know. This is only a temporary measure."

"So what do you want?"

"I want to know why you didn't come. You were supposed to meet me, we were supposed to run away together. But you left without me. Why?"

Kate sighed. "Because I'm a pirate. That's what I do."

"That isn't a reason." For the first time, he didn't look amused. "I thought you loved me."

"I make people think a lot of things," Kate said, avoiding actually telling him anything.

"So it was all a lie?" he asked sadly.

"You're a clever man, Castle. You're a strong, attractive, witty, entertaining man, and a bloody good pirate. I enjoyed my time with you. But love... I don't love, Castle. You know that."

He looked into her eyes. She forced herself to stare right back into his. He took out his dagger. For a moment she thought he was going to slit her throat, but he simply cut the ropes around her wrists.

"I told your crew we were getting reacquainted and that their captain would be out shortly to give them orders. Go on."

"What will you do?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her wrists.

"If you'll feed me until you make port somewhere reasonable, I'll stay on board until then."

Kate sighed. "Why don't you just take the navy ship?"

"Seriously? It's a piece of junk. A slow piece of junk. I'd be caught and hanged within days."

"Good point. Didn't think of that."

"Really?" he asked, not believing her.

"Really," she sighed. "And yes, of course you can stay. But if you take me prisoner again, I can't promise not to kill you."

She was about to leave when he asked something else.

"Why were you so happy to see me?" he asked.

"I was playing you too," she lied smoothly. "You just beat me to it."

He lay back on the bed. "I thought so."

Kate went up to talk to her crew, putting all thoughts of guilt out of her mind. She was a pirate. Of course he was a better person than her. Everyone was a better person than her. That was kind of the point.

A/N: More soon. M soon. Review now? x