WHOA! The last chapter I got reviews from 9 different people! I've never gotten more than 7 before! I know it's not that big of a difference, but it's big to me!

Thank you so much you guys!

I wish I could give you a longer chapter to show my appreciation, but I'm trying not to cram to many events into each one, so this one's a bit shorter than usual. Sorry!

Enjoy!

"Two men gone," Ivan said solemnly. "And the rest injured. I don't understand. These are children! How could something like this happen?"

Charlotte, who'd remained quiet through the whole explanation given by Ivan's cronies before he angrily though them out, finally lifted her head and glared at Ivan. "You lied to me."

Ivan stopped pacing and turned to her. "How?"

"You promised that Tabitha wouldn't get hurt," Charlotte said bitterly. "You promised she'd be okay."

"Oh for the love of God, woman! Why does it matter?" Ivan shouted. "She's just a bratty, little girl, standing between us and what we - wait." Ivan stopped, and Charlotte looked up fearfully. "You've started to care for her, haven't you?"

"She's my family," Charlotte defended.

"She's always been your family! It's never mattered before now!"

"She was never hurt before now!"

Ivan closed the space between them. "You are not going to ruin this when I've come this far, do you hear? I've given up a lot to - "

"So have I!"

"What?" Ivan scoffed. "You mean that pathetic excuse for a boyfriend that you had?"

"He's not pathetic! He's a hundred times the man you'll ever be!"

Ivan quickly stepped forward and forced her back against the wall, holding her upper arms so tightly that she knew she would have bruises there. "Really, now? Then tell me - where is this love of yours? If he's such a big man and he cares so much about you, why did he let you leave? Why hasn't he come back since then?"

"Just stop," Charlotte pleaded.

"You would do well to remember that going against my wishes does not end well for you," Ivan said menacingly. "Or do I need to teach you another lesson?"

Charlotte didn't answer, couldn't answer. She held his gaze, refusing to be show how intimidated she was, declining to turn her head to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Eventually, he released her and quickly stormed up the stairs.

Charlotte remained stunned for a moment, then shook her head. "No," she said to herself. This was the last straw. She rushed to the sitting room where Rylee was currently seated alone. The girl looked up confusedly as Charlotte began to untie her gag.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a fierce whisper.

"I'm leaving, and I'm taking you with me. I won't leave you here alone with him," Charlotte said, pulling out a pocket knife. She began to saw away at one of the ropes binding Rylee's legs, but footsteps from upstairs, moving closer to the staircase, made them both freeze.

"No, please, just go," Rylee begged. "There's no time for you to take me too."

Charlotte paused and stared into the girls eyes.

"Please. Someone has to get back and explain everything to Tabitha and Jim, before anything else happens."

Charlotte resigned, closing the pocket knife. "Here."

"What - "

"Just in case," Charlotte explained. "Don't be afraid to defend yourself. Don't let him hurt you."

Rylee nodded emphatically. Charlotte placed the knife in her hand and Rylee slid it up the long sleeve of her dress - out of sight, but within easy reach.

"We will come back, as soon as possible."

"I know," Rylee said. "Please tell Cason... I love him." Just then, footsteps sounded on the landing. "Hurry!"

Charlotte quickly retied the girls gag, then, with one last regretful glance at the her, ran from the house as fast as she could.

"So t'at's it t'en?"

"Yeah," Graham sighed tiredly. "That's it."

Silver had waited all night for Jim to come talk to him, but he'd never come, so the next morning, he sought out the other boys to explain things, and explain things they did. They'd been siting there for at least an hour, doing a play-by-play of everything that had happened.

"I never shoulda left you kids in t'e firs' place," Silver commented to himself. "Well... firs' t'ings firs' - we gotta get yer girl back, lad."

Cason had zoned out, but now looked up hopefully. "Rylee?"

"O' course!"

"But how?" Theodore asked.

"We're going to have to bargain with them or something," August commented. "We can't just show up at the Bryne's and demand Rylee back. Well, we could, but I doubt it would have a good outcome."

Silver rubbed his chin. "I t'ink yer right, lad. We gotta give 'em what t'ey want."

"They want the treasure!" Cason said frustratedly. "How are we supposed to give them that? Tabitha's been working on the clue for weeks and hasn't been able to figure anything out. We've all looked at it, and we've tried everything - anagrams, codes, times, replacing numbers with letters - and none of it works."

"He's right," Graham added. "All we've got is what we guessed about the times, and Tabitha obviously can't work on it..."

"Could we give them the watch back?" Theodore suggested.

"They already had the watch. They had the watch and the clue for years and couldn't figure anything out." Cason sighed heavily.

"Why don't we just bust in there and kill 'em all and take her back?" Graham suggested, half joking, half serious.

Silver laughed. "Don' t'ink t'ats the best idea, lad. The lass might get hurt."

"Not to mention we have no idea how many people we're up against," Landon added. "We thought it was just Ivan and Charlotte, but there were several that attacked you in the alley. Who knows how many more Ivan's got working for him."

Cason suddenly sighed. "You guys, look, I've already thought through every possibility, and I can't figure anything out. Ivan wants that treasure, and that's what it's going to take to get Rylee back. So thanks for helping, but... " he swallowed anxiously. "We've just got to find that fortune."

Silver walked over and squeezed Cason's shoulder reassuringly. "We will. From what I 'eard from the lot o' ya, Tabby should be more inclined t' find it now t'at I'm back, an' I'll help ya in anyway I can."

Cason nodded with a small, thankful smile, then lowered his gaze to the floor, running his hand nervously through his hair.

"I'm gonna go talk t' 'im." Silver sighed and headed over to Tabitha's bedroom. He knocked and slowly opened the door. "Jimbo?"

Jim jumped and looked up. "Oh. Hey, Silver."

"Mind if I come in?"

"No."

"Ya figure anyt'ing out yet?" Silver asked, gesturing to the paper and watch in Jim's lap.

Jim ran his fingers through his hair. "No."

"Maybe yer over-t'inkin' it."

"Maybe."

Silver took a seat next to Jim. "Mind if I take a look?"

Jim shrugged and passed them to him. "Did the commodore not tell you about it?"

"He did, but I t'ought maybe seein' might help me t'ink o' somet'in'."

"Oh. So, uh, how is the commodore?" Jim questioned.

"Well he's been sleepin' mostly cause o' t'e medicine, so I'm no' sure, t' tell t'e truth."

"Oh," Jim sighed, running his fingers anxiously through his hair. "That's why Tabitha's still asleep too... right?"

"Aye," Silver said. "T'at or 'cause she' been sick, or bot'."

"So when will she wake up?"

"Can't rightly say, lad. Soon, I 'magine."

Jim nodded, but it was a nod that said he wasn't convinced. While Jim's eyes stayed focused on Tabitha, Silver's focused on Jim. It was then he noticed how Jim looked; he had dark circles under his eyes from getting no sleep the night before, his brow was creased with constant worry, even his posture looked stiff and concerned.

"Did ya sleep at all las' nigh'?"

Jim averted his eyes away from Silver, knowing he wouldn't be able to lie convincingly to the man. "No..."

Silver tsked. "Ya need yer rest, lad... 'specially when yer as injured as ya are."

Jim looked up in shock. "How - ?"

"Yer friends 'xplained everyt'ing t' me," he said seriously. "When 'xactly were ya plannin' on tellin' me t'at ya were attacked an' shot?"

Jim shifted down in his chair moodily. "It wasn't important."

"Wasn' - Now see here, Jimbo - yer healt' is mos' definitely important."

"Whatever," Jim muttered under his breath.

Silver opened his mouth to object again, but the bedroom door flew open, causing both of them to jump.

"Jim!" August panted. "You need to come see this."

"What? What is it?" Jim asked expectantly.

"It's Charlotte! She's here! She said that she's on our side and that she wants to help."

"What?" Jim asked incredulously.

Before anything else could be said, Silver quickly left the room, rushed up on deck, and froze as soon as he saw her. Her. Abigail.

"So, wait, let me get this straight," Landon was saying. "You... knew Silver, before all of this started... and now you're back to be on his side? Our side?"

"Well, yes, that's basically it," Abigail answered.

"Why didn't you come back sooner?" Graham challenged. "You've known that Silver was on our side from the beginning!"

"I would have, but Ivan - never mind. If I had told you that I was on your side, would you have believed me?" The boys looked at each other, silently agreeing that they wouldn't have. Charlotte sighed. "I needed Silver to back me up. If you trust him, then you should trust me as well. You're right, though - I did let this go on much too long. Ivan assured me that Tabitha wouldn't be hurt; when I found out she was, it was the last straw."

"You kidnapped Rylee!" Cason argued angrily.

"No, Ivan's men did, and I don't wish to be a part of that group anymore," she answered earnestly. "And... if it helps at all, Rylee gave me a message to give to you."

His face lit up. "She did? So she's okay?"

"Of course, she's perfectly fine. I wanted to bring her with me, but I didn't have time to get us both out. She made me leave without her so that I could come back and warn all of you about Ivan," Abigail assured him. "She simply asked me to tell you that she loves you."

Cason started. "She... sh-she did?"

Abigail smiled and nodded. Cason released a shuddering breath.

"You okay?" Theodore questioned tentatively.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just..." he laughed breathlessly. "We've... we've never said that to each other before, a-and now I don't know whether to be happy or concerned."

"Happy," Silver spoke up, making everyone turn to look at him.

"Silver!" Graham began excitedly. "Do you know Charlotte?"

Silver shifted uncomfortably. "Aye, I do."

"So we can trust her too then?" Theodore added.

Silver sighed. "I dunno, lad. I need t' 'ave a word wit'... 'er," Silver said, unsure of what to call Charlotte/Abigail. "Alone."

"But - " Graham started to protest.

"Sure," Landon said pointedly, pushing Graham towards the stairs.

The boys eyed the two - somewhat wary, somewhat curious - but obeyed Silver's request, leaving the two lovers standing alone on deck. Similar thoughts raced through their minds - each wondered what the other was thinking, what they were going to say, what the other was going to do, how the other was going to react...

"So what am I s'pposed t' call ya?" Silver questioned crossly. "Charlotte or Abigail?"

"Abigail, of course," Abigail answered innocently. "Ivan was the one who started calling me Charlotte."

"Wha'? Was t'at 'is pet name fer ya?" he asked disdainfully.

"Please don't even get me started on that man," she said forcefully. "And no - Charlotte was my mother's name. When he looked up our family tree to find me, he just swapped our names around and I never bothered to correct him."

"Why's t'at?"

"I-I don't know," she laughed nervously. "Maybe because... if I wasn't able to hear you call me Abigail, I didn't want to hear anyone else call me that either."

Silver refused to stoop to the light level of conversation she was suggesting. He was all seriousness. "Well I mighta been able t' if ya 'adn't lef'."

Abigail gulped. "I can explain."

"T'en ya should," Silver responded gruffly.

"I don't know where to start..."

"Start wit' why ya ever lef' in t'e firs' place!"

She took a deep breath. "You remember the fight we had?"

"If ya mean t'e one where ya said ya were tired o' me tryin' t' find Flint's Trove an' ya refused t' go wit' me anymore, t'en yes."

Abigail winced at his harsh tone. "Yes... And then, the next time you left on a voyage, I didn't go with you - "

"An' when I got back, ya were gone, an' I 'adn't 'eard from ya since."

"Please," she begged, dangerously close to tears. "It was never supposed to be like this. A few days after you left, Ivan came to find me, and he told me that he knew how we could get the Reddend Fortune... so I took him up on it, because... well, you know my father always wanted it, a-and I thought that maybe..." She swallowed and breathed in shakily. "I thought maybe, if I could just find it, th-then we'd have enough money that you could... give up your search and w-we could... get married, a-and have a family... like I wanted."

"T'en why didn't ya explain all t'is in t'e note ya left?" Silver questioned, pulling an old, creased piece of paper out from one of his jacket pockets.

"You still have the note I left?" she asked in an awed whisper.

Silver's cold demeanor faltered for a moment as he looked at the paper, then back at her, but was quickly replaced with his stern facade again. "Ya didn't tell me anyt'ing! I didn't know where ya were goin', 'ow long ya'd be gone, why ya left - ya just promised ya'd come back soon, but ya never did!"

"I was young and stupid, John!" she shouted. "We'd already had that fight, and then Ivan made it all sound so easy! I thought that it wouldn't take that long. I just wanted to get the fortune and come back to you!" She lowered her head to hide the tears she no longer had control over. When she spoke again, it was calmer and quieter. "I've regretted the decision more every day since I made it. It was all my fault, and I'm sorry. I can't tell you how much I've missed you... a-and I know that... we haven't seen each other in fifteen years, and you've... probably moved on, forgotten all about me. But I-I just had to let you know... to see if - Wh-why are you smiling at me like that?!"

Silver blinked, unaware that he even had been smiling. However, he realized now that he'd been grinning at her like the love-sick man he was. "Yer even more beautiful t'en I remembered."

Abigail froze and stood gawking at him, convinced she'd heard wrong, but it was true. Here, now, in the pale blue light of dusk, when her raven hair reflected the last rays of the sun, and her bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle, as if mimicking the stars that filled the night sky around them, he was certain she'd never looked prettier. Before Abigail knew what had happened, Silver had stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her, as tightly as he could. After a moment of shock, she hesitantly returned the embrace.

"Abby, I coul' never forget ya. Ya shouldn't be apologizin' t' me - 'twas all my fault. I lost nearly everyt'ing 'cause o' Flint's treasure, includin' you. I should 'ave given up long before t'at fight, but I was too selfish. I shoulda settled down wit' ya like ya wanted. I jus' t'ought I was so close t'at it wouldn't be long 'till I was back at yer side, 'cept wit' the fortune, so t'at I could give ya everyt'ing ya wanted. You deserved more t'en what I had t' give ya. I didn't have a t'ing to my name, an' I still don't..."

He pulled back and looked her straight in t'e eyes. "But I love ya, Abby. I never stopped lovin' ya."

"Oh, John... I love you, too," Abigail choked. She couldn't stand it anymore - she started to cry. Silver held her as close as he could, supporting her while the sobs racked her body. She hadn't felt this comfortable, this safe, this loved, in a long, long time, and neither had Silver. He emitted a small sniffle and Abigail pulled back, smirking despite the tears.

"I'm not cryin'," Silver defended before she could comment on it. "I jus' got a bit o' grease in t'is cyborg eye o' mine is all."

Abigail's smirk fell. As Silver tried to rub the 'grease' out of his eye, Abigail reached out for Silver's mechanical hand. It wasn't a touch Silver had ever experienced before - it wasn't frightened and tentative, or curious and shocked, it was tender, caring, and compassionate.

"Does t'is change... t'e way ya feel abou' me?" Silver questioned, his voice shaking slightly. He kept his eyes focused on her hand as she gently ran her fingers across the cool metal of his.

Abigail looked back up at him, meeting his nervous gaze with a surprised one. There was only one answer she could give. Without a warning, she pulled him to her and kissed him.

Silver was too shocked to do anything. Even when she pulled away, he could do nothing but stare. When his senses finally returned to him, he released the breath he'd apparently been holding. "I'm a damned fool."

Abigail smiled. "We are all fools in love."

Jim turned around as the door opened. Morph, who Jim had just been petting, chirped cheerfully and flew to Graham.

"Hey, I was just going to let you know that Operation Rylee is a go," Graham said as he tickled the shape-shifter.

"Rylee?!" Morph repeated excitedly.

"Yeah, buddy, you want to come?" he asked.

Morph chirped cheerfully, performing back-flips in mid air.

"Okay, but you'll have to keep quiet, and do just what I tell you to," Graham added strictly.

Morph saluted then came to rest on Graham's shoulder.

"Great," Jim smiled. "Who else is going?"

"The guys. Charlotte and Silver are staying here."

"Okay. Well, um, good luck, I guess," Jim agreed. "For Cason's sake, if nothing else."

Graham smiled. "You sure you don't want to come?"

Jim sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing back at Tabitha before answering. "I really don't want to leave her..."

"You know a watched pot never boils."

"What?"

"You haven't even left the room, have you?"

Morph shook his head at Graham's question, transforming into a miniature version of Jim beside Tabitha's bed.

"No..." Jim mumbled.

"Hey, I don't blame you," Graham assured him. "How is she?"

"Oh," Jim said. "She's, uh, doing good, I guess. Her heart rate's normal, her head's mostly stopped bleeding, she just... won't wake up."

"Won't wake up..." Morph repeated sadly, landing lightly on Tabitha's hand.

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"What?"

"You know, just talking," Graham suggested. "Telling her what happened to her, what's going on now - anything, really. Sometimes hearing a familiar voice helps people wake up. Or at the very least, she'll probably dream about you."

Jim chuckled. "I'll try it. Thanks."

Graham sighed. "Jim, I... I'm really sorry about all this. The whole reason Tabitha asked me to go with her was to protect her, and obviously I didn't do a very good job."

"It would have been worse if you hadn't been there at all," he explained. "I should be thanking you for going."

"Yeah, well, your girlfriend's pretty persuasive," Graham laughed nervously. "She made the excellent point that if you knew I'd let her go by herself, you'd probably kill me."

"She was right," Jim laughed. "Don't blame yourself. It isn't you fault at all. Thanks for... thanks."

Graham smiled, understanding that Jim was thanking him for just being his friend. He started to leave, but Jim stopped him.

"Oh, yeah! I'm sorry I punched you," he added as an after note.

Graham laughed. "Right back at you."

"Right back at you!" Morph repeated.

Graham bumped into Cason in the doorway. "Oh, um... I was just coming to tell you that we're leaving."

"I already told him," Graham said as he bounded out of the room eagerly, followed by Morph.

Cason and Jim made eye contact, not knowing what to say. After a moment, Cason started to leave.

"Cason, wait!" Jim said, starting to rush after him.

Cason re-entered the doorway. "What is it?"

"I'm... I'm sorry for being such an asshole to you about Rylee being gone," he said sincerely. "I know that you love her, and... well I guess this apology doesn't mean much coming from me now, after Tabitha's..." He paused. "I'm just sorry."

Cason shrugged. "You were kind of right. It would be different if Tabitha was kidnapped. She's, you know, the point of all this."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"It's cool," Cason said. "You were right - we were all too hurt to go then, anyway. I'm probably still to hurt, actually," Cason laughed nervously, rubbing his injured leg. "But, now that Charl - er, Abigail - told us what we're up against, I... I can't wait any longer."

"No, of course," Jim agreed. "I couldn't either."

They stared at each other for a minute, then Jim extended his arm. Cason shook his hand, but then they both laughed and pulled each other into a comforting, albeit slightly awkward, embrace. When they broke away a moment later, they each took a deep breath, avoiding looking the other one in the eye.

"Well, um... good luck, I guess," Jim said.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Cason said.

Jim smiled and watched Cason hurry off before he sighed and shut the door. He fell heavily back into his seat beside the bed to continue watching Tabitha, as he had been since the night before. Her well being had consumed Jim's every thought, every emotion, so much so that he was able to forget that he hadn't eaten or slept since the day before. He hadn't been able to; he'd had no appetite, his nerves had been to racked for him to get any rest, and judging by how he was feeling now, the same would go for tonight as well. For now, Jim just wanted to be near Tabitha. He didn't know when she would wake up, but he wasn't going to miss it. He was going to be right there the second her cloudy blue eyes flickered open.

"Um, Tabitha?" Jim took a deep breath, feeling kind of idiotic talking to someone who wouldn't be able to respond. "It's me. Jim. Graham, uh, thought maybe talking to you would help you wake up, so, um, I am. You hit your head when you were attacked, and you're unconscious right now, in case you didn't know... Er, you're going to be alright, though. Soon. A-and I promise I'll be here when you wake up. I know I haven't been there some of the times I needed to be, and I'm really sorry." Jim paused, unsure if this was working at all and feeling dumber by the second. He reached out and carefully swept her bangs away from her eyes, smiling despite himself. "By the way, even though you're not awake, and, uh, you're kind of beat up right now, I, um... I still think you're still the most beautiful girl in the Etherium."

It was then that Jim got what he'd been waiting for - a sign that she could hear him. For right when he'd said that, he would have bet the Benbow that the corners of her mouth twitched just slightly, as if trying to smile.

"So you can hear me," he said excitedly, moving his chair closer to the bed. "Okay, well, I, uh, don't know what to say now... Graham said to talk about anything, so, er... Do you remember the first time we met? In the galley, back on the Legacy..."

God, this chapter took FOREVER to write! I thought I'd never figure out a way to make it un-awkward.

2nd Jane Austen reference! Did anyone catch it?

I'll post the next chapter soon! In the meantime, reviews are like, totally rad.

Thanks!
-Emily

+Responses to Reviews+

ecto1b: You think Jim's worried now? Just wait. Haha I've done that too (responded out loud to things I'm reading)! Yes, of course Rylee will be okay! I'll be honest with you - it's going to be a while before you see her again, but when you do, trust me - It's going to be pretty dang cool, in my opinion. Thanks! I'm glad it became one of your favorites!
NeverTooLate03: (See above response to find out about Rylee) Thanks you so much!
ADangerousPasttime: Whoa, I'm glad you love it! Thank you so so much!
anon: You're right - Jim does need to man up a bit. Just wait - I'm getting to that. You'll see :) Thank you very much!
Malisa:): Of course Jim apologized! Just wait - he'll do it again when she's conscious too XD. Don't worry, the proposal is very cute! Well, my opinion's biased, but still :) I'm so glad their relationship is coming across well and that you love the story! Thank you!
23jk: Thanks for the review, as always!
Kristy: Well, I'm glad! Thanks!
SweetAngel183: Don't worry - Rylee and Tabitha will both be fine, but you'll have to keep reading to find out how it all plays out :) Yeah, but at least Tabitha got back at him! Of course I didn't kill Jim! I couldn't; I'd be heartbroken. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure I'd lose quite a few of my readers lol. Thank you so much!