It had been four long years since Jim Hawkins had gone to Treasure Planet. Those who had come home from the voyage had moved on with their lives as quickly as possible. The inn was rebuilt, The Doctor and Captain Amelia were married and had a litter of children, and Charlotte Collins had settled into her independent lifestyle. Though Jim had gone off to the academy and was not home very often or for very long, the two of them had sustained the relationship they had started on the R.L.S. Legacy, falling more and more in love despite the distance between them.
Now that Jim had graduated and accepted the rare offer to become a captain of an small discovery vessel, he was home for a few months before his first assignment. He'd made plans in his head to spend as much time as he could with his mother, Sarah Hawkins, and Charlotte while also preparing for the next few years. His assignment on a discovery vessel meant that he and his crew would spend more time in uncharted space.
Kissing her cheek, Jim said goodbye to his mother and left the inn on his old solar surfer to make it to Charlotte's apartment as quickly as possible. When he reached the building he let himself in the front gate with the key that Charlotte had given him when she first moved in. As he climbed the stairs to her apartment, Jim could hear the beat of her music and smiled, she would be cleaning up and getting ready for their date tonight.
She wasn't expecting him until later and didn't know that he was staying there, Jim always liked to surprise her because of the way she blushed when she got excited. The front door to her place wasn't locked, and Jim slid into the room quietly. The living room was sparingly decorated but homey, warm reds and gold woven through all the decor and there was a small fire in the fire place. The music was louder now that he was inside, some electronic sounding dance music pouring out of the bedroom. With a mischievous grin, Jim advanced to the open bedroom door. He could smell Charlotte's shampoo and soap from the door way and knew that she had just gotten out of the shower.
Standing with her back to him, was Charlotte. Her long dark auburn hair was wet and brushing her shoulder blades as she danced in front of her closet. The black silk robe, she'd bought last winter, hung loosely off her shoulders as she flicked through her clothes. Jim watched her from the doorway, leaning against the frame and crossing his arms over his chest. She was stunning, even from behind, and she was his. Unconsciously, his hand dropped to his pants pocket, fingering the ring box he was hiding.
Finally loosing control, Jim pushed off the door frame and came up behind Charlotte, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her back against him. It took her a second for her to stop dancing even though her body was pressed against his and Jim held in a groan. Pressing his mouth to Charlotte's ear, he kissed it gently.
"You know it doesn't matter what you wear, right?" He said, not moving away. Her body relaxed against him at the sound of his voice.
"Then I'll just wear this." She said before she spun in his arms to face him. She smiled wide at him, a pink flush ran across her cheeks and over her nose, and her bright blue eyes held the shine of her smile.
"I'm okay with that." He pulled his eyes away from her face and let them trail down the neckline of her robe to the bit of lace bra that was peaking out, catching her smirk with the corner of of his eye.
"What are you doing here? You're early." She said, her hands moving to lay on his chest. Her touch made him tense and Jim knew that she could feel it.
"I, uh, got us a few days of free time. No work, no obligations, no inn. Just you and me." He leaned down to her lips, kissing her. Bouncing up on her toes she meet him, pushing against him enthusiastically.
"Alone time, I like the sound of that." She kissed him again. "It's been a very long time since we were alone for more than an hour." She snickered, shifting against his hips as she said it. The look on her face, sultry and loving at the same time, was the final straw. Jim crashed his lips against hers passionately, shifting her away from the closet toward the bed. She pulled away, laughing against his lips, but allowed him to keep moving her backwards.
"What about dinner?" She asked, her eyes flicking up to meet his as Jim trailed his hands down the opening of the silk robe to the tie.
"We can have dinner later, yeah?" The robe fell open, leaving Charlotte in her black lace undergarments. Jim's hands slid over her bare skin around her sides to pull her closer to him. When he looked back to her eyes Charlotte was pouting jokingly.
"Or we can go eat now." Jim said. He pulled his hands away from her skin, turned and marched toward the door. Ever nerve ending in his body was screaming at him to turn around, but he waited and smirked as he walked away. After two steps he felt her small hands on his arm, pulling him back around to face her. As she pulled him back into a kiss Charlotte maneuvered his jacket off his shoulders, letting it slip onto the floor. Her robe soon followed as she spun Jim so that he was moving backwards toward the bed, her body pressed against his.
"Dinner can wait." Charlotte said airily as she pushed him down on the mattress, her body sliding on top of his.
They lay together in the knot of her sheets, breathless, and Charlotte smiled. She could feel the heat radiating off Jim's skin beside her and relished in the comfort. It had been two years since they had had a whole weekend to themselves. His graduation meant that she could have him back for a while and she didn't feel like letting that slip by. Even so, in the back of her mind she could feel her curosity taking over. How long would he be able to stay with her? How long would he be gone when he did leave?
"Jim?" She called softly, fearing that he may have drifted to sleep. He didn't say anything, just pulled her close to his side, leaving no space between them. With a soft laugh Charlotte settled her head on his chest, listening intently to the rhythmic beating of his heart. She had meant to ask him how long he'd be before he shipped out, but the sound of his heart and the warmth of his skin changed her mind. She didn't want to worry about the future, just enjoy the time she had with him.
"I missed you." He said suddenly, making her look up at him.
"I missed you too." She smiled at him with a little sadness. "But I don't have to miss you now." Jim's eyes showed a flicker of something Charlotte couldn't quite understand. Sadness, maybe? Or guilt? But it was gone so fast that she had to move on.
"I know that I haven't been around as much as you'd like. Or as much as I'd like." He stared at the ceiling as he spoke but Charlotte focused on him. "I hope that you can -"
"Jim, I love you." Charlotte cut him off as he spoke. "You were doing what you needed to. I'm here, I'll always be here when you get back. You know that, right?" He looked a bit taken aback, his eyes snapping to stare into hers.
"Of course I do." He placed his hand on her cheek, leaning down to kiss her softly. "I love you, too." Charlotte smiled but she could feel her eyes getting heavy. The soft beating of Jim's heart was mesmerizing as she lay beside Jim with her eyes closed.
"Good night, Charlie." Jim whispered to her.
For hours, Jim lay with Charlotte beside him, her head on his chest. He lay there, looking down on her. The way her dark hair lay sprawled across his chest and the way she clutched at his side as she slept. His mind was racing, he couldn't sleep. He could feel the weight of the ring box that was now in his discarded slacks on the floor. How could he expect her to say yes to him when he would be gone more than he would be there? The more the question replied in his mind, the more restless he became. Finally, after hours of mental agony, Jim slipped out of Charlotte's grasp and picked up his clothes off the floor.
Although she stirred a bit when he first climbed out of bed, Charlotte had settled now, she lay on her side as if Jim was still laying beside her. He watched her sleep for a minute before he slipped out the door and downstairs. Going on a walk would ease his mind, he could think clearly without the weight and sight of Charlotte so near to him. Heading out toward town Jim tucked his hands in his pockets and let his mind wander.
She said she'd always be there, but what would happen if they had a child. If Charlotte was left at home to work at the inn and raise their child while he was away. What if he became his father. What if he went out on adventures and left her here more and more. He couldn't ask her to sit and wait for him. He didn't want her to live like his mother had lived. The right thing would be to let her go, to walk away and let her make a life for herself with someone that could be there.
Jim's selfish mind took over at the thought of saying good-bye to the only girl that he had ever really loved. He didn't want her with anyone else. He wanted to call her his wife, his love. She said she would wait for him, be there when he got home. That reason alone would give him something to come home to.
And he wasn't his father, he was never going to be his father. He had seen the pain his father had caused. He would never make Charlotte feel the way his mother had felt that day. He didn't have it in him to see Charlotte cry the way his mother had.
As his thoughts cleared Jim realized that he was clear across town, headed toward the inn. Off to his left the sun was coming up, just barely giving a hint of purple to the dark sky. He hadn't realized that he'd been gone for so long and didn't want Charlotte to wake up with him not there, not when he'd been with her when she fell asleep. Picking up the pace, Jim trudged back to Charlotte's apartment, the ring box tight in his hand.
Jim reached the building, and saw that the front gate was open. Had he been that caught up in his thoughts that he forgot to close the door? Looking up to see if Charlotte's light was on in the bedroom he saw that the window was open, it had been closed when he left. Charlotte was awake, and probably worried. Jim jumped the steps two at a time to make it up the stairs quickly. The front door to her apartment was open as well, swung wide to reveal the living room. Jim felt his heart skip a beat and his muscles tensed.
"Charlie?" He called into the dark apartment, moving toward the bedroom as quickly as possible. "Charlie, is everything okay?" He knew it wasn't, he could feel it in the air. He thought back to his laser pistol, sitting in his room back at the inn and cursed himself for not bringing it.
"Charlie!" He called one more time in near desperation. She wasn't answering him. As he entered the bedroom he understood why. The sheets had been ripped off the bed and lay across the floor. Charlotte's clothes were still spread across the room the way the had been when he'd left but one thing was missing. Charlotte.