Jim felt the gust of air pulling at his dark hair and whipping it around his face, but he paid no mind to wondrous feeling; his mind was on other things.
Was Felicity alright? Was she hurt? Was she waiting for him to save her from the pirates' filthy, evil clutches? Why was he suddenly thinking of this as one of the fairytale his mother used to tell him, where he was suddenly the gallant knight going to save the fair damsel from a fire breathing dragon?
He didn't bother to think of an answer as he accelerated. His face was grim but determined.
"Just leave Jamie," Felicity finally told him, having enough of him asking her not to hold it against him for keeping her in a cell. He'd been going at it for at least half an hour now.
"I really am sorry Felicity," he told her sadly, turning towards the stairwell.
"Not sorry enough," she mumbled to his retreating back. He paused, but continued on when he realised there was nothing he could do or say.
She let out a shaky breath and ran her finger through her hair, something she knew she'd picked up from Jim.
Jim.
She sighed, what would he do if he were here? He wouldn't be defeated! She shouted to herself in her mind, and nor would she, she decided.
Walking right up to the cell door she turned her head to the side to inspect the lock. It was built in, and as she looked between the door and the door frame she could see where the bar crossed into the metal beam.
Slipping off her black boot she unsheathed her dagger and quickly pulled her boot back over her foot before she tripped and fell into a wet patch.
First she tried picking the lock, pushing the blade into the keyhole and jiggling it up and down. "This is harder than it appears," she mumbled to herself through gritted teeth.
After another unsuccessful twenty minutes she tried to wedge the blade in with the bar to see if it did anything, but the only thing she accomplished was getting her dagger stuck and had another five minutes struggling to pull it out.
She sighed as she slumped to the floor, uncaring if it was onto a wet patch or not. "Felicity Demand, you are pathetically hopeless," she berated herself. She continued on with criticizing herself, balancing her elbows on her knees and propping her head up with her hands. "What did you ever hope to achieve by going along with Silver?"
She sighed again, and felt tears prick behind her eyes. "You should have stayed home." She closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing. "What use am I aboard a ship anyway? I should have just given Silver some of my blood and left it at that, I'm such an idiot."
The annoying droplets of water escaped the confines of her eyelids and ran down her cheeks leaving watery trails in their wake. "I've been nothing but a nuisance," she choked out, angrily swiping a tear away from her face.
Jim finally caught sight of the pirate ship, and sped up to the creaking edge of the stern, he tied off the longboat on the balcony pillars and when he knew they were secure he shut the engine down and shimmied up the ropes.
He checked to make sure it was clear before heaving himself over the balcony and swinging onto the deck. He made sure to stay low as he made his way around the Captain's cabin; he tucked and rolled towards one of the barrels that most likely contained rum or gun powder.
He watched as all the unsuspecting pirates crossed the deck, he overheard the two leaning on the rail looking out to the stars. "Should we go pay our prisoner a visit?" one grinned to the other.
The second chuckled and cast a glance to the stairs leading below deck to the cells, "yer know we can't. Captain would 'ave our 'eads!" He rubbed around his neck, thinking about how he'd like it to keep his head attached there.
Although Jim wanted to remove the pirate's small head from his fat neck himself for even thinking about going near Felicity, he was also thankful because now he knew where Felicity was situated on the ship.
"Do yer think he'll let us an' the rest o' the crew 'ave a go at 'er when he's done?"
"I dunno, probably won't- I mean, if I were 'im, I wouldn't let no one near 'er."
Jim didn't care to hear the rest of the conversation and continued to scurry across the deck like an undetected mouse, weaving between barrels and other things big enough for him to hide behind, slowly but surely making his way towards the stairwell.
He had to stop and hold his breathe a few time, thinking for a few heart stopping seconds he'd been seen. Thankfully he made it to the stairs without being spotted and with a quick glance behind him descended down them.
How he'd gotten this far he didn't know and when he saw a small figure shivering in the far cell he didn't care, as long as he was here he didn't care how.
Felicity's sobs had thankfully stopped, but the tears streaming down her face continued; she was so absorbed in her own self-pity that she'd failed to hear the soft approach of footsteps. It wasn't until she heard the click of the lock and the groaning in protest as it swung open.
She jolted upright and nearly fainted with disbelief. That's it, she though, I'm hallucinating. She knew it was Jim, not Jamie. Jamie lacked the warmth and softness that Jim's eyes always possessed. Jamie may look a lot like Jim with blue eyes and brown hair but she felt stupid for even thinking for a moment that Jamie had been Jim when she first laid on him.
She stumbled to her feet, picking her dagger up as she went and braced herself against the wall. Jim's eyes lit with concern at her reddened eyes and tear streaked face, she gave him a weak smile and nearly burst into tears again at the tender expression he gave her and he stalked towards her small frame.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" His voice took on a hard edge as he asked the last question, but he continued to gently wipe the tears away with his thumbs, cupping her cheeks.
She shook her head unable to say anything as she became overwhelmed with the care Jim was showing her and in sheer shock at the fact he'd come to save her. Felicity couldn't help herself as she launched her body into his, hugging him tightly around the waist mumbling softly, "You came for me… Y-you're actually here."
He held her to him firmly, wrapping his strong arms in a secure embrace; giving her comfort and strength. "Of course I did, you didn't think I'd leave you here with these filthy pirates did you?"
Her reply was to hold him tighter, breathing in his fresh scent and snuggling into the softness of his shirt. In response his also gripped her tighter, hoping he wouldn't have to let go. Reluctantly he did knowing they had to get off the ship, but his held her hand firmly in his larger one, encasing it with warmth.
"We're gonna try and get away without them knowing, but if they spot us we run alright?" Jim told her quietly as they tiptoed up the stairs.
Felicity nodded, and tightened her hand for a brief second around his. He squeezed her hand back in return. "Stay low and next to me, don't let go of my hand whatever you do," he told her for fear of losing her.
She didn't have any problems with that, she was quite content to hold his hand for the remainder of the voyage.
Yay! Jim to the rescue! Did you ever doubt him? ;) Do you think they'll make it out alive?
Also, I have a poll up, it about Silver's sweetheart and whether or not you want her to appear in the story… All you have to do is say yes or no, so if you could all take the time to vote that would be great. I'll only take the votes from the poll, so if you comment, I'm sorry, but it won't be taken into account. You have to vote.
But please don't stop your lovely reviews, they're like little rays of sunshine in the crappy weather of England- I love reading them! :D
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you :) xx
