As usual, Nathan's meal was delicious. He fussed way too much over whether everyone enjoyed it, and whether they needed seconds or not. He was constantly jumping up and down getting more garnishes for his dishes, and snatching up empty plates to toss into the kitchen. But he seemed genuinely at ease in his element on ship. Molly couldn't help but lean back into her chair as she watched Nathan tease Russell as he dribbled food down his shirt. She'd never really known much of what it was like to have a family until she had joined the Sirius. It was ironic for her to even think that, given that she was on a pirate ship with a bunch of pirates, but she'd never felt more at home in her entire life.
Everyone was talking and laughing and quite visibly enjoying themselves for the first time in what had felt like months. Thomas and Eduardo were arguing about the particular alcoholic beverage that they were drinking, arguing as to which of their favorites was the better drink. Morgan, Christopher and Nathan had all ganged up to tease Russell, who continued to drop food onto his shirt as he shoveled food into his mouth. Molly laughed to herself, thinking about how if had been a couple of years ago, she'd have cringed away from the hustle and bustle that was unfolding in front of her now. She'd been so shy and timid when she'd first come onto the Sirius, she was unsure how she'd been able to cope. But when she caught Nathan's eye, who smiled at her and winked before returning to his conversation, she remembered exactly how she'd been able to cope.
Molly excused herself from the table and grabbed a few discarded plates and silverware, making her way towards the kitchen. Her movement went unnoticed as the conversations continued behind her as she disappeared into the other room. She shoved the dishes into the sink and moseyed her way to the soap and wash cloth. She'd let the boys have a little time with themselves while she cleaned up the mess. The sound of the water running through the sink soothed her mind. She picked the wash rag up and rubbed it in the soap, watching as the water crashed against the dirty dishes, knocking off some of the food residue.
She lost herself in thought as she rubbed at the plates with the soapy cloth. She remembered the scrawny, gangling girl she used to be before she met Nathan. Practically afraid of her own shadow when she first came on board. Didn't even recognize that girl she used to be, compared to who she was now. Learning how to fight, shooting guns, searching for lost gold and treasure, running along with a band of pirates. The mere thought of that kind of thing a few years ago would have made her feel faint.
She hadn't had the best home life growing up, though she tried to hide it from everyone she met. On top of a lot of other things that her family had gone through, her father had a terrible gambling problem, and had squandered away most of their money. He'd then run off, not that she wasn't thrilled that he did finally leave, and left all of the debt to her, her mother, and her two younger brothers. So she'd found herself having to work in the bar back in Yamato, trying to help provide for her family. Her mother, the only decent human being in her life, had encouraged her to do something better with her life. Told her that she could take care of her brothers, but that told Molly that she needed to get as far away from Yamato as she possibly could. At her first opportunity, she hid herself in that barrel on the Sirius, hoping for a better life for herself.
Nathan had been prickly with her initially, when she first started working there. He hadn't really wanted having a woman there being in the way all the time, not that she could blame him much. After a couple of months, he'd warmed up to her, and eventually even started asking for her help around the kitchen. It was only after one particular incident where she'd had a bad nightmare, and woke up screaming, and of course scaring the crap out of Nathan, that she'd been forced to tell him about how abusive her father really was. That was when he'd really softened up towards her, and was considerably less harsh with him. The rest, well, was history.
She couldn't help but smile at how gentle Nathan had tried to be with her after she'd initially told him about her father. It was almost as if he was afraid she would crack like some cheap china set. He would go out of his way to make sure the other guys didn't pick on her. She'd eventually tried to convince him that she was fine and that he didn't need to fuss over her so much, that what had happened to her had happened a long time ago, and he'd surprised her then. He had told her that it was about time somebody did fuss over her, as she fussed over everyone else. Now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure that that was when she'd fallen in love with him.
Her thoughts were abruptly halted as she felt the ship shake fiercely, followed quickly by the sounds of the guys shouting in the other room. She grabbed the edge of the sink as she ship shook, as if it had been struck by another ship. Her immediate reaction was to go into the other room with the guys, but she stood still briefly, listening intently. Her heart leapt into her chest as she heard unfamiliar voices coming from the next room in the dining room.
In the next room, Nathan had been laughing with the guys when the sounds of footsteps echoed down the hall, leading up to the dining room. All conversation had immediately halted, and everyone was instantly on their feet, weapons drawn. You could hear the sound of a pin drop as the group listened quietly as the footsteps neared the door. It didn't very long for the door to burst open, and a group of pirates, presumably James's crew, came storming in. Nathan went directly into fighting mode, swinging his sickle and chain into the first man who rushed him. He ducked a sword flying over his head, and elbowed his opponent in the side. He swung his sickle out again and sliced at his opponent, as the rest of the crew fought valiantly beside him.
He searched around the room for Molly, not noticing that she'd exited the room earlier. Terror hit him in the pit of the stomach as he scanned the room, unable to find her form amongst the group of men now crowding the dining room. He blocked another blow as he threw the end of his chain into the man attacking Russell, knocking him to the ground. Russell quickly patted him on the back, then immediately swung his sword and clashed with the man rushing Nathan from behind.
"How the hell did they sneak up on us so quick?" Morgan shouted, clashing swords with his opponent and knocking him over.
Christopher spun around, knocking his opponent unconscious. "We couldn't have been down here that long. They'd have had to move here quickly."
"Where's Molly?!" Nathan exclaimed anxiously in the direction of Eduardo, who was fighting next to him.
"I don't know. She disappeared at some point while we were all chatting with each other." Thomas shouted back, dodging a sword simultaneously. Almost as if it were on cue, the sound of gunshot could be heard coming from above. Nathan and Morgan exchanged looks with one another as they processed, continuing to struggle against the intruders. The sound was too loud and too echoing to be a regular pistol. It had to have been…
"Was that…?" Morgan started.
Russell laughed as he knocked over another man charging him. "That was the flare gun!"
Nathan smiled to himself as he cut his way through a line of men, heading towards the deck. "God bless that woman."