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Chapter Ten - Chaos

She came back to full consciousness to find herself lying on a table in the mess room. Her arm felt like it was on fire. She tried to move it and screamed with pain. Gentle hands firmly held her in place on the table, keeping her from thrashing. When she calmed again Serenity opened her eyes to see a small handful of crewmates standing around her. She looked at each face clearly, recognizing them all as friends. They returned her gaze with concern and fear. No one said a word.

Her memory slowly returned and the realization of what had just happened dawned on her. "Is he…?" she started to ask. Her mouth was too dry to finish the question.

It didn't matter. Everyone seemed to know what she was going to ask; they shifted nervously where they stood, unwilling to meet her eyes. Finally, someone spoke:

"Aye. He's livid as a wet hornet. Marty is in there with him right now about his eye."

"Max is in there, too," said another. "I walked by a few minutes ago; sounds like they're having a bit of a squabble."

"'A bit'?" asked a new voice. They all turned to see who had entered. Kered set some parcels down on another table and walked over. "Mayhaps you should try going out there again. They're going at it like an old, married couple. What happened? We just got back." Everyone shifted nervously again and made room for him to stand around the table. When they parted and Kered saw Serenity lying on the table he stopped with a gasp of horror. Serenity could only imagine what she looked like to everyone right now: a healing bruise on her cheek, a scabbed lip, harsh cuts and smaller gashes along her arms and legs, burn marks on her hands, shoulders and face, bruises all over her body, most specifically on her neck just under the chin, and her right arm in a makeshift sling. If it weren't the sign of her impending doom it might have been impressive, she thought.

"Serenity," he said quietly. "What did you do?" She tried to give a weak smile, but instead of grinning tears began to well in her eyes. After a couple very weak attempts to keep herself calm her control broke and she began to weep. As the tears soaked her face she felt herself being carefully sat up, with extra caution not to bump her arm, and embraced in a deep, strong hug. As she cried into Kered's shoulder he patted her lightly on the back, shushing her softly, much like he would do for his own daughter. She continued to heave and wail for minutes on end, her fear of death finally showing its ugly face. After a while, Kered leaned toward her ear and whispered: "Don't be afraid, little missy. We are not going to let the captain do anything more to you. Even if my own conscience didn't plague me with guilt, John will surely kill me if I let Bennett kill you."

Serenity's tears stopped almost instantly as she sat up and grabbed hold of Kered's sleeve. "John?" she asked. "You saw him? Where is he? Did he say anything?"

"Hush, child. He's fine. Fine enough for murder, which he tried today, already." When Serenity looked at him, greedy for information, he sighed. "John followed me and Jasper to whatever planet we were near. I dunno the name of it. Can't even speak the language there. It was hell getting the groceries. Anyway. He followed me into a store and practically killed me to figure out what was happening to you. We have…" he looked around at everyone present, checking each face to make sure they were all trustworthy. "…plans." He proceeded to tell everyone what he and Silver had devised.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Serenity felt hope fill her. Maybe she wouldn't die on this boat after all.

Footsteps came thudding down the steps from the deck. Kered and Serenity immediately let go of each other and the men all leaped back, leaving lots of space between them and Serenity. Jasper finally dropped down into the mess hall. He cast a quick, quizzical glance at each of the men before saying, "The captain wants Serenity brought to his cabin now."

One of the men nodded. Another said, "We'll take care of it."

After Jasper left, Kered looked again at each face. There were roughly eight of them, not including himself. "Are we missing anyone trustworthy?"

"Japhon."

"What about Ryan and Mitch?"

"Don't forget Mikey."

"Are you thick? Mikey don't say much, but if you catch him when he's talking it's nothing but murder and undressing the girl. I don't trust him, leave him out."

"Max."

They all turned to look at her in disbelief. "Max?" someone asked.

"You really don't expect us to tell him the plan, do you?" asked another.

"He's Bennett's First Mate!"

"Yeah, there's no way we can trust him."

"Well, I trust him," Serenity said. "I trust him, and he can help. Besides, we are barely a fourth of this ship. We need all the help we can get."

No one said anything. Finally, Kered agreed to tell Max. "We need to do this tonight. Jeff, you're friendly with the cook." He threw him a small packet. "Make sure this gets into tonight's dinner, even if you have to sneak it in. Rick and Alex, you two follow captain's orders and take Serenity to his cabin. Sam, you come with me. The rest of you go back up-top and wait. Don't draw attention to yourselves either; stay in small groups and keep silent about the plan. I'm going to make sure Silver gets up here without notice."

As the crew left, Serenity said to Kered: "When you see him again, tell him…" She paused, trying to think of something. "…tell him to be careful."

Kered looked at her. As if he knew what she was really thinking he simply responded, "Serenity, look at me and hear me true: We are not going to let Bennett do anything to you, understand? You are gonna make it off this boat alive and in one piece." Serenity only nodded as her eyes filled again with tears. He gave her one last, solid hug before Rick and Alex gently helped her off the table and escorted her outside.

"I thought we weren't gonna follow through with this t'ing for another couple o' hours, Kered. What's goin' on?" John let Kered help pull him into the hanger.

"'Fraid we can't wait, Silver. Serenity's… --well, to be honest I haven't heard what happened yet." They both looked at Sam, who listened quietly for a few more seconds at the door before walking towards them. As he sat, Kered noticed for the first time that Sam, too, was sporting as many, if not more, bruises than Serenity was. He had an especially nasty looking lump forming on his forehead, between his eyes. In a whisper, Sam retold everything that had happened.

"You should have seen her! It was such shock to see her crying a few moments ago; after she zipped down the ropes and flew into the sails I was fully convinced that she had not a trace of fear in her soul. She can do anything, she can." He paused in wonder. "Anyway, she slid all the way down the sails, accounting for all the burn patches you saw on her skin. She caught hold of the ropes that hang just below the fore topgallant, and we almost thought she wasn't going to make it, but she managed to hang on, despite the circumstances. After she slid down all the sails she landed on the stateroom roof and walked toward the edge where Bennett was just below. Did they ever have quite the stare-down! Bennett: quiet, thoughtless, and unreadable; Serenity: solid, majestic… immortal." He sighed and hung his head. "Aye, if only she were. If anyone deserves to live forever, it's her. The rest of us only sat, silent, unsure of what to do; curious and afraid of what would happen next. They exchanged a few words, but seeing as how I was holding onto the one remaining good rope for my own life, I didn't catch what they said. The last thing I remember is Serenity jumping from the roof to land at Bennett's feet. She looked up at him and said something, and without warning she pulled a dagger out of somewhere and tried to kill him. Nearly got him, too. But he was too quick. She didn't kill him, but she did cut him across the cheek and straight through his eye.

"I don't think I've ever seen him that angry. He always terrified me because it seemed that no matter what happened he knew everything and kept his composure, as though he did what you wouldn't expect just to keep you on your toes. But, boy, if he didn't teach her a lesson right there and then. He snatched her arm with one hand and used the other to pry the dagger from it before grabbing her by the neck. He held her a few feet off the ground and choked her a bit. I thought she was dead for sure. Finally, he heaved and threw her onto the deck into the crew mates. She landed on her arm and it snapped." Another sigh. "If he can ever see out of that eye properly again even I will proclaim to believe in miracles."

Kered placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Believe," he said. "We need one."

The silence was interrupted by John's fist solidly meeting the hull of the lifeboat they crouched next to. "I'm goin' t' kill him," he whispered violently.

"Good grief, Silver! Do ye want to blow the cover? For Serenity's sake, and our own, save your passion for the fight! Don't let your anger blot out your sense of reason; you need it to save the woman you love, after all!"

Silver's anger left him instantly and he looked at Kered, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Love? He thought.

Sam had snuck back over to the door and put an ear to it. After a few moments he whispered frantically to Kered, "Someone's coming!"

"Stay with Sam, he knows where to take you," he told John. He stood and hurried to the door. "Do what needs to be done," he said to Sam. "I'll take care of this." Kered pulled something out of his belt, opened the door and stepped through. After he closed it, John and Sam heard him greet whoever was coming down, spinning a tale about having left something in the lifeboat from earlier. Silence engulfed them as they waited to make sure the way was clear for them to go through.

"I'm sorry you won't get to see her right away." John looked at Sam, who continued. "See, just before we came to get you, Jasper came down to the mess where we all were and relayed the captain's orders for Serenity to be brought to his cabin. I don't know what he's got planned, but John, it's not good. That's why you're here now. We need to save her and we need to do it now. Her spirits are broken worse than her arm. She seems to have already accepted death. I don't trust that she can protect herself very long, if at all, especially against Bennett."

John didn't say anything. Thousands of thoughts were flying through his mind, all of them incomprehensible. The only thing that rang coherently in his mind was "love". After a few more minutes, Sam pointed to the door and lead Silver quietly through the hallways.

Alex knocked on the captain's door when they arrived. "In," was the only harsh reply. Rick gave Serenity a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before they escorted her through the door.

Max nearly collided with them on his way out. He was noticeably angry, breathing deeply through his nostrils. With seemingly no regard toward Bennett's presence, Max took Serenity firmly by the shoulders, with care toward her broken arm, and looked her in the eyes for a long moment. He said nothing, and she couldn't read his eyes. Finally, he gave an angry grunt and pushed his way past her, slamming the door shut behind him.

Serenity watched him go, staring at the door. The harsh sound of a nearly empty bottle being dropped onto the table brought her attention back to where she was. Bennett was standing behind the table. The eye Serenity had cut was hidden behind a patch with gauze underneath it, while his remaining eye glared at her. She held the gaze, refusing to let her fears surface in front of him.

He picked up several coils of rope she hadn't bothered to notice were on the table and threw them at Rick and Alex. "Tie her down," he said, and pointed at his bed. The two of them looked at the ropes, then at each other, with uncertainty. It was Rick who asked:

"I'm sorry sir. Tie her down?"

"Did I stutter?" He responded coldly.

"No, captain, I just… What are you going to do to her?"

"Are you questioning my orders?"

Alex tugged at Rick's arm. "Come on, Rick, just do what he says," he whispered to him. "Don't be a fool!"

"NO!" he cried. He pulled his arm away from Alex and pointed at Bennett. "We may run business in the black market, but captain or no, I refuse to tie a woman to a bed for you to have a way with her! I may have to be dishonest for this line of work but I do not have to be immoral!" He threw the ropes aside for emphasis.

There was a long silence before Bennett crossed his arms, folding his hands into his jacket. "Is that how you truly feel?" he asked calmly.

"It is," Rick said. He seemed slightly confused by Bennett's even demeanor.

Bennett sighed and shook his head. "That's a shame. You were one of my best crew members." With that, Bennett unfolded his arms from his chest, pulling a handgun from his jacket. In a fluid and practiced motion he aimed, cocked and fired. Serenity screamed. Alex pulled his sword and stood in front of her.

Rick's body fell to the floor lifeless.

Bennett lifted his gun again and aimed it at Alex. "Tie her," he said. "Now!" Alex hesitated, keeping his sword guarded. Bennett cocked the gun.

"Alex." Serenity grabbed his arm and made him look at her. "Please. Just do it. Please." She looked down at Rick's corpse, still in shock. Alex looked like he was going to refuse. He started several times as though he were going to say something before he finally sheathed his sword. He proceeded to guide her to the bed and tie her to it.

"Do it right," Bennett said. "I'll know if you haven't."

There were only a few men already eating when the gun went off. Most were still on deck slowly making their way below. Serenity's scream was impossible to miss. In the silence that followed immediately afterwards they heard the evidence of a quick scuffle on the floor below them and were unprepared when John roared his way up the steps and ran through the mess to the deck, pushing aside anyone in his way. When Sam ran by, sword unsheathed, chasing Silver, the rest of the crew leapt from their seats and charged up deck, readying their own weapons.

John ran up the steps and was immediately greeted by the remainder of the crew on their way to eat. He jerked to a halt, just as surprised to see all of them as they were to see him. Sam joined him just as he turned around to run a different direction. He was cut off by those in the mess who were climbing on deck and backed up as the crew formed a large circle around him, weapons drawn.

"I've got no problem killin' each an' every one o' ye, if that's what it takes to save her," he said clearly. Most of them laughed. After all, the odds were one against almost forty. Almost simultaneously, about eight men walked slowly toward Silver from different parts of the circle, Kered among them. They formed another circle around him before turning and facing the rest of the crew, weapons guarded.

"You're either with us or an enemy," Kered told them.

At that moment, the door to Bennett's cabin opened and Alex came out, hurriedly shutting the door behind him. He had run all the way down the stairs to the deck and halfway to the mess before he noticed everyone was already outside. He seemed shaken. "Rick!" he exclaimed. "He's dead! Bennett killed him."

Several crew members cried out and others asked what had happened.

"We took her there like we were told. When we got there he ordered us to tie her to his bed. Rick refused; so Bennett pulled his handgun and shot him."

"That's what he gets for disobeying the captain!" someone yelled.

Another scream came from the stateroom. "SERENITY!" Silver yelled. He roared again and drove himself into the enemies blocking his way. The deck soon filled with the clang of swords and the smell of blood.

"We'll get you out of here. Don't worry."

Alex whispered this to her right before he left. Now it was just the two of them. The smell of whiskey was strong, even from how far away he was. He chugged the last of the bottle, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

"So," Bennett said as he walked towards her with a swagger. He grabbed a dagger from the table as he walked past it; the one she had cut his eye with. His blood was still on it. His face twitched as a greedy smile spread across it. "What game shall we play first?"

She looked at him, horrified. "You're drunk!" she exclaimed.

His belly gurgled with his deep throated laugh. "Oh, no. Not nearly. After all, at least one of us has to remember this little event, and seeing as how you won't be surviving it, I guess that duty is up to me."

"What do you know about duty?" she asked him. "All your life you've done nothing but waste yourself, your money, your skills. You tossed all sense of responsibility in your greed and your addiction to excitement! You wouldn't recognize duty if it was the only thing around you."

He finally reached the bedside. Leaning over, he put his face right in front of her. "I'd love to sit and chat with you about that and whatever else you wished. However, I have other plans." He reached out suddenly and grabbed her by the chin. "Let's start with the most recent, shall we? Don't worry. I'll go nice and slow." He took the dagger and placed the tip above her eye, slowly cutting down the eye lid. Her eyes filled with tears, blood dripping into them, but she refused to cry out. He followed the cut down across her cheek until it slid off at the end of her chin.

"You know, we're not so different, you and me," he said. He ran the flat of the blade gently across her face. "We've both had everything that was ever important or of value to us stolen. We've both devoted our lives to destroying the one who took it all away." He dragged the tip of the dagger slowly down the length of her body without cutting her. "You know what is different about the two of us?"

"Your lack of morals and ability to keep your breath fresh; my ability to care about other people more than myself," she spouted venomously. "You really need to be more specific. Really, the list is infinite."

"No, my sweet princess. The only difference between you and me is…" He stopped the dagger at her belt. "…you still have things to lose." With a jerk, he cut open her pants. She tried to bring her legs together, with no success. He tossed the dagger aside and crawled on the bed to kneel between her knees. "And it will be my pleasure… "—he said as he used his hands to tear open the rest of the fabric— "…to make sure that you lose it all…" -- he fumbled with the button at his own waist—"…and feel every loss." Serenity, who had been thrashing to get loose, screamed as she succumbed to tears.

Max slammed the door to his room shut. He knocked over and kicked random things as he paced around his room. When he heard the gunshot a minute later he started packing his things. No more! he thought to himself. I'm done working for this unprofessional jerk who lacks anything that involves tact and taste! Earlier he had gone to Bennett's cabin to see how he fared. When he saw the coils of rope and realized what he was planning, Max had tried to talk reason into him. The only result was a heated argument that ended with Max expressing that he no longer wished to associate with Bennett as business partners, or hold any other type of affiliation with him.

Clothes and property flew everywhere in his fervor to collect his things. He heard a second scream, and a few moments later a… roar? What the devil..? he asked himself. It had come from the deck. As he stomped over to his door, the air grew louder with the sounds of metal on metal and the deep yells of bloodthirsty men. Max threw the door open to see the deck in the midst of chaos. The entire crew was fighting with each other. A few fell to the ground dead. Others, he noticed, stopped mid fighting to drop their swords and clench their stomachs, crying out in pain. These men, collapsing to their knees as though poisoned, vomited white froth and whatever had been served at dinner before seizing into fetal position on the ground.

"GET OUT O' MY WAY!" he heard someone yell from the stairs just below him. Max stuck his head out a little further to see Silver fighting off two crewmates at once. As he stepped outside Max unsheathed his sword and ran down to aid his friend. He brought his sword to bear on one of the two men, who spotted Max out of his peripheral vision and blocked the swing. Max pushed the man's blade to the side and let all his anger out in one, solid punch across the face. The man fell to the floor, dazed.

Someone grabbed the back of his shirt and threw him into the nearest wall. Max gasped as Silver pinned him there, his face close, personal, and ugly with hate and vengeance. The man Silver had just been fighting lay lifeless in a bloody pool just a couple feet away. "Ye've got one chance t' give me a reason why I shouldn't kill ye along with th' rest o' this miserable crew."

Max wanted to slap him across the face for associating him with such cruel ideals. "You think I suggested all this? Bloody hell, Silver, I'm not your enemy! Stop wasting your time with me and go save her! I'll keep anyone from following you up."

John glared at him, but a second gun shot from the stateroom caused him to let go and run up the stairs. When he reached the door to Bennett's cabin he threw all his force into it without bothering with the handle. He hit it with such force that it burst from the hinges, showering the inside of the room with splinters.

She squirmed and wriggled violently, trying to get herself free of her bonds. Her shrieks were choked with tears as she strained her mind to focus on anything but the man rubbing himself against her. Time seemed to drag as he teased and tortured her with what seemed like everything but flat out rape.

Mustering the little strength and will-power she had left, she pulled her good arm with all her might. The ropes dug into her skin. Her hand burned and she manipulated it and twisted it to pull free. When her hand miraculously came through, pieces of rope stuck into the deep cuts and stung her ferociously. Moving before Bennett could detain her arm she reached for his side and took his handgun. She cocked it and brought it to bear at his head, but before she could pull the trigger he grabbed her arm and pushed it. The shot fired into the roof.

Bennett grunted as he slapped her across the face and pried the gun away from her. He took hold of both her wrists, ignoring Serenity's shrieks of pain as he stretched open her broken arm with her whole one. He shifted his weight and adjusted himself to start finishing what he had been doing to her; Serenity clenched up and braced herself.

Someone crashed through the door. With a bellow of fury, Silver dropped his sword and threw himself at Bennett, knocking him off Serenity. They both tumbled to the floor where John straddled Bennett and proceeded to punch him in the face over and over until blood and bruises hid any trace of the man's features. They grappled and Bennett was able to throw Silver off of him. He crawled toward the dagger that he had tossed on the floor earlier. As Silver stood and fetched his sword where he had dropped it by the door, Bennett tucked the dagger behind him, out of sight.

Silver took his sword and walked back to Bennett, who was cowering on the floor. "Stand up!" Silver commanded him.

Bennett rose to one knee in the move to stand, but as soon as he stabilized his balance he lunged forward, catching Silver off guard. He sank the dagger deep into Silver's right thigh, straight through muscle, until it protruded through the other side. John buckled in pain and howled with rage, dropping his sword a second time. Concentrating his energy from a fresh adrenaline rush, Silver reach forward and snatched Bennett with both hands around the throat. He drove him forward and slammed him into the wall, lifting the man far above the ground. His fingers tightened as Bennett clawed at them, desperate for breath as life slowly escaped from him. It wasn't until Bennett's grip weakened and his eyes began to roll into the back of his head that Silver dealt the mercy blow, snapping his neck. He let go and Bennett's body collapsed in a dead heap on the floor, never to move of its own volition again.

Silver heaved as the rage and energy slowly faded. Bracing himself, he took hold of the handle of the dagger in his leg and yanked it out. A string of curses escaped him as pain seared through his entire leg. He steadied himself on the wall to keep from blacking out. When he could once again see straight he limped his way to the bed where Serenity lay, feet tied to the end of the bed, curled into as much of a fetal position as she could manage.

She was an absolute mess. Bruises, bumps and cuts covered her entire body. There were rough burns on her face and hands from ropes and sliding down coarse sail material. Her pants were torn at the crotch, which she was trying to cover with the length of her shirt as she shook with sobs. He reached toward her, running his hands along the air around her as though he were afraid to touch her. Touching her would mean that this was truly her; this poor, beat up, ruined woman lying before him.

He used the dagger to quickly saw away at the bonds that were holding her feet to the bed. As she curled into a tighter ball, John quickly took off his shirt and cut it into long strips. He tied these tightly around the wound on his thigh until the bleeding slowed. Then he grabbed one of the blankets and sat softly and timidly next to her on the bed. "Ren…" he whispered. He unfurled the blanket and wrapped it tightly around her. Gently, he pulled her up to his chest, wincing when he accidentally jumbled her broken arm. He leaned back against the headrest, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other softly caressing her hair. He held her there until her sobs lessened and faded entirely, and eventually she drifted into sleep.

He held her warm form beside him, feeling the rhythm of her body as her breathing steadied while she slept. He was very aware of her hot breath on his bare chest and her nose buried in the crook of his neck. He rested his head on hers and sighed in the relief that, though badly beaten, she was alive.

The sounds of battle had died away while they sat there, before she had fallen asleep. Though he wished to know what had happened, he had no intentions of moving from his current position. Even if Max and the rest had lost to the crew, Bennett was dead and Serenity was resting in his arms, and that was all that mattered to him at that moment.

Sometime after the battle stopped and Serenity had fallen asleep, Silver looked up to find Max and Kered standing in the doorway. Both were riddled with cuts and gashes, their clothes torn. Each of there eyes took in both Bennett's and Rick's dead bodies, as well as Silver and Serenity on the bed. None of them said a word. Max simply caught Silver's eyes and held them for a moment before giving a single, solid nod. As Silver relaxed in the knowledge that this fight was over, he rested his head on Serenity's once more, closed his eyes and slept.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, it's been forever since I've work on this story. But, I haven't forgotten! Just been extremely with work this summer. I'm going to try to be more constant about this, but I can't make any promises. Hope you enjoy the chapter! I post updates on my userpage every so often, so check that from time to time and I'll try to keep you guys up to date with where I'm at. John Silver/Treasure Planet © Disney, Serenity © myself.