AN: Sorry, I totally uploaded the wrong chapter last night! Thank you Serenitey for letting me know, I probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Anyway, this is chapter seven, and I hope you'll enjoy this. Again, terribly sorry for the mix up
Eleanor lay in her bed, her eyes staring at the ceiling, going back to that moment in the woods. She had absolutely cracked, laid down her mask and let him see everything she had been thinking, everything that she had hid behind the mask she wore every day. And for the first time in her life, she did not regret it, and she did not feel like she couldn't breathe because she had lost control. It was something entirely new. Eleanor Guthrie had always kept a part of her hidden, always. She might tell people what she wanted, but never let them show what she truly needed. And just hours ago, she had told him exactly what she needed. She needed him, to be there, and most of all, to love this child, their child. The thoughts of raising the child alone had mulled in her head, just her there to protect it against the cruelness of the world. She could have done it; she was Eleanor Guthrie after all. But the thing was, she did not need to do it alone. Charles was a man who never backed down on his word, he never lied, so she was sure the child would have a father that loved it. This child would have everything she had lacked. It would be happy; it would not push away everyone who ever tried to love it. It would have none of her faults, she wished. And having Charles there to make sure the child would not grow up like she had was all she had wanted to hear. He had promised to be there, so he would be there. She knew that. Despite that, there was still a sliver of doubt in her mind, what if he had just said those things to get back at her? What if he never meant those things at all and did not mean to love the child at all? She tried to push those treacherous thoughts away, yet she was left lying awake in her bed, not getting even an hour of sleep.
Across town, Charles was doing exactly the same thing as she was. He too was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling and thinking of what had just happened. He too had doubts in his mind, but not about wanting to be there for the child. No, he wanted to, he truly did. That was not the issue. He doubted if he was capable of being there, giving a child a normal life. His childhood had been anything but normal, and he wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy. This child deserved more, and he was not sure he'd be able to give that. Alas, he had made a promise and Charles Vane always kept his promises.
"So, what did you decide then?" Jack asked, still every bit as awake as Charles was, that nosy bastard.
"To do the right thing," he murmured.
"The right thing being what exactly?" Charles turned his eyes from the ceiling to Jack.
"I want to be there, be a part of it," he grudgingly admitted. Saying this out loud was a strain on him, yet he forced himself to do it. Might as well get a head start in getting out of his comfort zone.
"Congratulations, daddy," Jack said with a stupid grin in his face.
"Shut up, Jack," he said, like he always did.
"What's next? She can't exactly raise a child with a known pirate captain and work for the English at the same time." Fuck, Charles cursed. Jack was right, and he hadn't even stopped to think about it. What now?
"Well, you still got a few months to decide. Everything will work out. In the meantime, just don't fall in love with her again." With that, the only thought in Charles' head was, had he ever really fallen out of love with her.
"Don't worry, I won't", he lied.
Things weren't exactly straight forward. After the night in the woods, she had not seen him. She had heard of him though, spoken by the English officers in their meetings with disgusted voices as she just sat there right under their noses, her belly ever growing as Charles Vane's child grew inside it. It seemed like every time they mentioned his name, the baby would kick. Week by week, she would feel it move inside her more and more. She seemed to have lost her concentration on anything else when the baby moved. It was something like she had never experienced before and she wanted to cherish every moment
So she sat in meetings, hearing about what Charles had been up to, sabotaging the English, threatening people who wanted to take the pardons and so on. Yet she did not see him. She didn't really even know how to reach him, so se gritted her teeth and tried to accept the fact that he would have to be the one to contact her, not the other way around. She was practically fuming over it. It had been well over a week since they had met, and it was getting on her nerves. He had wanted to be there, and now he was nowhere to be found. She was practically seething as she walked into the tavern, damning Charles Vane in her head. As she walked past the office, the all too familiar scent of cigar smoke hit her nostrils and she turned back to stare at the door that had been left slightly ajar. It was the smell; she couldn't help herself. She had to crack open the door and step into her office, Max's office, and see where the smell came from.
There, by the desk, he was smoking his cigar leisurely, his feet up on the table. For a second Eleanor stopped and took in the scene in front of her eyes. It was a replay of all those years before. Him coming to sit on her chair, just in attempt to irritate her. It always worked, which is why he did it, of course. Now, it was not her desk anymore, and yet he sat there like that, waiting for her. This time his position did the exact opposite it had always done before, now it soothed her nerves, calmed her anger about not seeing him. He was here, like he promised. She could have cried from relief, for until this moment, she had been so scared he had indeed made that promise to get back at her. But now he was here and Eleanor could finally breathe more easily.
He looked into her eyes, blowing smoke out of his lungs right at her.
"What's this, you're not going to tell me to get the hell out of your chair?" he asked in that deep raspy voice that never failed to make her shiver.
"As you might know, this is not my office anymore, therefore that is not my chair you're sitting on, and it is not my desk and papers you're dirtying with your boots," she said, slightly amused by the whole situation. It was almost comical, somehow. He moved his feet back on the ground.
"You never gave in that easily," Eleanor smiled and moved to the sofas in the back to get feet up. Lately it had gotten harder on her feet to stand for long periods of time. She sat down and sighed in relief as she lifted her feet up.
"What good is it for if it doesn't make you angry and frustrated?" A slight smile had crept on his face as well.
"Why are you always trying to get a rise out of me, Charles," she sighed and looked at the man sitting behind the desk. Why did he have to look so damn good, that bastard.
"The sex was always better after," he stated and got up from the chair, claiming a softer chair nearer Eleanor. She burst out in laughter at his words. The nerve the man had. She almost hit him with a comeback asking if that was what he was after now, sex, but she hesitated and dropped it. Saying that would be as if nothing had happened, as if they still had that kind of a relationship. But they didn't.
"At least you always tell the truth, Charles," she murmured. He nodded and left it at that, the smile now gone from his face.
"We need to talk, about the future," he started.
"What of it?"
"We can't exactly raise a child under the current conditions, now can we?" he said like he had been thinking about it. All Eleanor had been thinking was him turning his back on her, and here he was, thinking of the future, like it was real.
"I suppose you're right. I haven't exactly given it much thought, I must admit. My mind has been... occupied."
"It pains for me to admit this, but the English seem to be here to stay. Our resistance has not proven even nearly as effective as we hoped it did. I think it's safe to say, staying Nassau is out of the question." His words made her stop. Logically, they made sense, and yes she had perhaps thought of this at one point, but it had not fully registered with her, that she would have to leave Nassau, to settle somewhere else. It was hard for her to imagine herself out of Nassau, and even more so, it was almost impossible to imagine Charles Vane out of Nassau.
"You want to leave this place?" She asked the suspicion clear in her voice. He shook his head.
"This is not a matter of want, but of need. I'm a wanted man, Eleanor," he said and made a gesture as if to reach to touch her, but then thought otherwise, withdrawing his hand.
"So we must go. But where?" she asked, studying his features, his tanned skin and his appearance. Charles Vane was a pirate, more so than any other man in this island. If they left now, what would happen, what would become of the notorious pirate?
"There are several options, but the colonies of France and Spain in the Americas look most promising." His words just didn't fully register with her. The idea of leaving this island and settling down in some French or Spanish colony seemed unreal.
"But what will we do there? You can't be a pirate in New Mexico or Florida, Charles," she said with a small voice, unable to imagine the future they would have.
"That's irrelevant now, Eleanor. All we need to do now is make a plan, where are we going, how are we going to get there and when are we leaving. That is out only focus now." He said that with such preciseness that all she could do was to nod.
"Alright. The when is not an issue for me, all we need to do is leave without Rogers finding out. As to where, I would suggest Louisiana. New Orleans should be the kind of place one can disappear in." It seemed unreal, to be planning this, leaving this place. It seemed unthinkable.
"Fine, New Orleans it is. I'll look into the passage. But I doubt it will happen quickly. This might all take a couple of months." With the mention of time he glanced at her stomach. Time was of the essence here.
"Thank you," she mumbled, for some reason unable to look at him. He stood up from the armchair and hovered above her.
"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for the child." And with that he was out of the door.
For a man who took pride in not lying, lately Charles Vane had been lying quite a lot. He mostly lied to himself. He had lied to himself that he did not care that Eleanor had betrayed him. He lied that her death would have no effect on him whatsoever, and then when she had turned out to be alive, he had lied that she was as good as dead. He had also lied to Jack, telling him there was no chance of him ever loving this woman again. Yet the tight feeling in his chest whenever she was close would not leave no matter how much he lied to himself he was just imagining it. And now he had lied to Eleanor that this was not for her. But it was all for her. She truly was Charles' greatest weakness. Even after all the pain she had caused him, he couldn't rip himself away from her, he couldn't stop caring. It pained him, it pained him so much, and yet he still kept doing everything for that woman. She needed him, and it hurt him to be close to her, but he did it, for he would do anything for that woman. Anything. Fucking anything. Still after all that had happened, he would fucking die for her and that child. And nothing hurt Charles more than the knowledge of his life not being his own, but hers. It had always been hers. What a fucking tragic life he led.
AN: Lacontreras, thank you for leaving a review once again, they really make me happy :) I hope you, and everyone else reading this, will feel that how this is gonna play out is gonna seem like a natural progression for both the characters, but ultimately this fic was based on a dream, and my ultimate goal is to fix everything I hated about season three, so yeah, I hope this fic will continue to go in a way that readers want it to :)