While Anna was in her room Fain remained in the bridge. At least he assumed she was in her room. She had never come back and in truth he was trying avoid her until he had his emotions under control. Or at least buried so deep he could remain around her and not doing or saying anything that would give him away.

Sometime later Fain found Anna in the kitchen cooking. "Didn't know you could cook." He commented sitting down at the table.

Without looking up Anna laughed. "I've spent some time with Kasen the last few years. She taught me. I find it relaxing almost comforting for me."

"Far be it for me to turn down a pretty cook." He realized what he said as soon as he heard it leave his lips. It might be harder than he originally assumed to be indifferent to her on the outside. He cleared his throat and added. "Besides if Kasen taught you it'll be good."

"She is a wizard in the kitchen yes." Anna didn't look up from what she was doing. But Fain knew her well enough to know that didn't mean she had missed what he said. "Speaking of Kasen I got an email from her earlier."

"No."

Anna turned to look at him. "You don't even know what she said in the email."

"Sure I do. She needs help because she got herself up the creek and can't find her paddle." Fain smirked when the expression on Anna's face told him he was right. "Need I remind you that the last person who went to help her ended up on the executioner's block. You do remember when Caillen almost died don't you?"

"She's not in trouble. She's got a job but not a whole crew she trusts with it. It's a search and rescue, a mother and her four kids. Her husband contracted Kase directly since she's done runs for his business before. He has reason to believe that his competitors have his family as blackmail to get him out of the way." She took a deep breath and continued. "Where are we setting down next?" She asked.

"Triliana, why?" He asked suddenly suspicious.

"Because I'm going to email her back and tell her to meet me there. She promised not to tell Darling where I was. I'll do this job and then go on my merry way again."

Fain starred at her as she went back to her chopping as if what she had just said was as mundane as the weather report. It took a full five minutes before he could speak again.

"Not. Happening." He finally gritted out.

Anna turned to face him. "Excuse me."

"You heard me. You are not going to go help Kasen and then just disappear. It's not happening."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Anna growled as she put the chopped vegetables in the pot. "That family needs her help and in order to help them she needs my help. So please tell me what I should do."

"You should be quiet for a minute so that I can think." He growled. A few minutes of total silence passed before he spoke again. "We'll meet Kasen at Triliana. We will go from there on her ship. When the job is done we'll have her take us back to Triliana where we will get back on here and figure out what to do." He sighed, feeling a sense of foreboding with his decision.

Anna nodded. "Dinner needs to cook for a bit. I'll go email her back and tell her. I'll remind her not to tell anyone we're with her. When should I tell her to be there by?" Anna asked in an almost business like tone.

"Tell her we'll be there in twelve hours. And Anna?" He added as she started to leave. "I meant what I said that night I brought onboard. You're not in this alone, so no disappearing acts okay?" Anna nodded before leaving the room.

Fain was still in his seat when she returned half an hour later. "Dinner should be about done." She said as she placed a tablet in front of him before she headed to the stove. "Kasen said she'd make it there in eight hours. That she'd meet us in the hanger when we land. That opened document has all the details she has on every crew member who will be onboard for this one. It also has every detail she has on the client and the people believed to have his family."

"There's almost fifty pages of information you already read it all?" He asked looking at her.

"No." She said as she dished out what looked like stew. "I didn't need to. I already know the crew. I only had to read the stuff on the client. Kasen sent the other stuff because she thought you'd want it." Anna brought the bowls to the table. "Might as well read it while you eat."

Fain nodded before devoting all his attention to the tablet. Sometime later Anna was startled by Fain's voice. "Chert Raps."

Anna nodded. "Human, no fixed address, save for his or Kasen's ships, 33 years old, purple hair which is dyed, and blue eyes."

Fain looked at her and Anna knew what had led him to speak out. "Says here dating Anna Cruel."

"It does." Not really paying attention, like she said before she knew all of the information on the crew.

"SO you're sleeping with him?"

"WHAT!" Anna exclaimed, her head snapping up to look at him. "Good Gods no."

"Anna."

"He's married, happily, his wife is also part of Kase's crew. We put down that he was dating me so Kase could justify putting his room by mine."

Fain raised an eyebrow. "Why the secret spy stuff?"

"Because at the time her older brother was Kasen's boyfriend and on board a lot. As far as I know a month before he and Kasen broke up they came clean. My guess is Kasen just hasn't changed the file yet."

"That's a hell of a thing to do for a friend." Fain said shocked, there was a chance the crew would think she was sleeping with him instead of his wife, it was not a reputation a princess should have.

"Yeah well I'm not the spoiled bratty diva bitch my brothers and everyone else think I am." Anna spat back at him.

"I never thought you were." At Anna's raised eyebrow he put up his hands in surrender. "Bratty maybe, spoiled a little but that's mostly your brothers' fault, but the diva bitch part? You always played that perfectly, too perfectly. I never bought it."

"You are probably the only one who knows me who thinks so. Aside from Scorche and Kasen." Anna mumbles starring at her food.

"Sometimes our defenses defend us to well and isolate us." He commented softly.

Anna just looked at him for a second. She opened her mouth to say something then closed it. A second try and she managed to speak. "Want more food?"

"Sure." He said pushing his bowl to her. "I meant to ask earlier but were able to get enough cloths before our friends showed up?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well your pack didn't look like it had hardly anything in it when we boarded."

Anna laughed. "I have a knack for packing things really small. Besides I didn't want to charge a lot to your card." At Fain's thoughtful expression she chuckled again.

"Anyway if I run out Kasen and I are the size. And the woman has a wardrobe twice the size of your average person. I'll share with her if need be. It wouldn't be the first time."

Without effort his mind automatically began putting Anna in some of the more revealing outfits he'd seen Kasen in over the years. His mouth went dry. Not supposed to be thinking about her in any way other than the younger sister of a couple of your friends idiot. He mentally yelled at himself. But the mental reprimand didn't erase the image from his mind.

"Fain?"

"Sorry, what did you say?" He mentally shook his head.

"I asked if you'd be alright sharing quarters with a crew that size." She said with a look that told him she was trying to figure out what he had been thinking.

He shrugged. "Kasen's ship is big enough to be comfortable with this amount of people. Besides I'll be telling her that you and I will be sharing a room."

Anna blushed and looked away. "I, um, already did. I told her I'd been having nightmares and where you're used to it another roommate might not be."

Fain nodded. "I'm going to go pack. You might want to get some rest." He was proud of how indifferent his tone was and how he didn't let his concern show.

"I will, but I just want to pack up the rest of this soup first." She smiled at him. "Kasen's crew is a bottomless pit. This will all get eaten."

With a final nod Fain left. He was going to split his time tonight between packing and finding ways to not have the feelings he had for Anna. She was everything right and bright in the world and she deserved a man who could give her everything. He could give her nothing, so regardless of his feelings for her they were one more thing in Fain's life that would never be.

Because really, princesses don't fall for pirates anyway.