Green scoffed as Anna adjusted the sword again. "What, Mrs. Cotton's ready to play now? All reset upstairs?"

"I'm set enough." Anna took her ready position. "And getting out of Mermaid Lagoon wasn't nearly as difficult as you made it seem when you left me there. Rather… childish, really. I can see now why Nigel never wanted you taking over. You really did make a mess of all of this, didn't you?"

Green's eyes widened and he leveled the sword at Anna. "Only Mrs. Cotton knew that. Only she was there that night."

"There to kill him myself, as it happened." Anna only managed a small smile as they circled one another. "But you did that for me so thank you, for taking that life from my conscience. I was worried for a stretch that I would have to consider myself a homicide like you."

"Not counting that one you burned to death in your cabin?"

"He's a tragedy, not a murder." Anna rotated her wrist to manipulate the sword in her grip. "What an interesting choice of weapon. Pistols at dawn too much of a gentleman's game for you?"

"There she is, the acerbic Mrs. Cotton come out to play."

"That's not at all how I'd describe myself." Anna pointed at Green with the end of her sword. "That's the name your father chose for me."

"And what, you'd want to choose a name for yourself?" Green laughed and shook his head. "Then choose any name you want. Livia, Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth for all I bloody care."

"Who says it's for you to care about it?" Anna paused, "I don't remember asking for, or expecting, your opinion. In this case, as in all things in my life, you have no say in it."

"Says my creature." Green lunged at her but Anna easily batted the blade aside. "You'll do as I instruct."

"Not bloody likely." Anna parried another of Green's blows and they switched positions in the circle of torches and spectators. She caught John's eye for a moment and nodded at him before addressing Green again. "And I was never your creature. It's why you took what wasn't yours to receive and then received the beating of a lifetime… Twice, if I remember the sound of Senior's cane on your back."

Green flinched, one of his hands instinctively going toward his back before he lunged for Anna again. Their swords clashed in a series of five strikes before they separated again. "You always were good at this."

"I was good at everything you drilled into me here." Anna shrugged, "How do you think I escaped?"

"John helped you." Green pointed to John and then Thomas, "And then the poofter lost his hand for his part in it."

"You always were so banal in your punishments." Anna offered her own conciliatory gesture toward Thomas. "It's why you were always second best. There was nothing in you that could offer growth. It was no wonder your father didn't want you taking over this place. It's already stagnated and you've only been at it what… Ten years?"

Another lunge, this time accompanied by an animalistic shriek from Green, and Anna was batting away his unfocused blade but landing no hits of her own. She studied Green as he attacked her, watching with a cool eye through his motions to leave him with a moment of almost victory before she deflected his strikes. Each left the screech of metal on metal before Green pulled himself away to huff for air in his corner of the ring.

"This is what you've done. No better than your father did and worse than he hoped for this place." Anna paced the ring. "This horrible nightmare reborn in a pale imitation of two men's misguided and corrupted dream."

"It's the future for those with no future."

"And what is this but just a delay of the possible for the inevitable?" Anna pointed to one of the spectators at random. "You take them, as your father did, on the assumption that they'll be nothing. That they'll die on the streets or be shuffled to a workhouse to lose all hope for their survival until there's nothing but bones held together by thin strips of meat, yes?"

"What do you think would happen to them?" Green breathed and Anna noted the hitch, as if he could not get enough air. "That the state would provide for them?"

"That's what your father thought this would be." Anna snorted and parried another two strikes before grabbing Green by the back of his shirt so she could turn him into a strike with her knee. It caught him in the midriff and his lungs emptied before Anna dropped him to the ground. "In all of his high-minded arrogance and misplaced sense of patriotism he joined forces with an equally morally compromised individual to hatch this reprehensible plot between them."

Anna raised her arms and brought them down in time to defend herself for another three strikes before landing her fist along Green's jaw. He staggered back and she shook her head. "To take those they thought beneath them, those others ignore, and turn them into weapons. All funded and sanctioned by the state they claimed to be freeing them from. How lovely in its despicable poetry."

"How'd you know that?" Green held up his sword and Anna noted the tremor in his hand. "My father never told you that."

"I learned a few things, while I was away." Anna rounded on Green and blocked his attempt to stab her from behind before completely disarming him. She held his wrist, bending it until a snap preluded Green's cry of pain. "Things that told me that maybe your father was right. Maybe those he brought here would've died on the streets. But they might've also had lives and families of their own. He robbed them of their future. He took that from them without a second thought."

"They were for the rubbish heap anyway."

Anna pushed Green back and slashed with the sword in her hand. The perfection of her aim left a line across his throat without splitting it but brought her strength to the blow when she took off his right hand. His scream tore through the gray of the early dawn and Anna stepped back as he fell to the ground holding the stump of his hand.

"They had every right to live their lives." Anna dropped the sword. "Just like I'm going to live mine."

"As an assassin?" Green tried to crawl to his knees, still holding his bleeding arm. "As Mrs. Cotton? As a person ruined as you are?"

"As Anna Smith." She stood taller, meeting John's eyes in the growing light. "I was never Mrs. Cotton and she was never me. Who I am, right now, is who I'm supposed to be and I've no regrets."

She crossed the space, leaving Green cradling his arm, and walked toward John. The shift in his expression had Anna pivoting to try and defend herself as the world slowed. A moment stretched to eternity as she saw the gun he brought around awkwardly with his left hand. And then flinched at the sound of a shot.

But there was no pain. John's hands ran over her a second later and Anna faced him, shaking her head. "I'm not-"

"I'd hope not." Both of them looked up as Talbot, accompanied by a dismal looking Bricker and a furiously scribbling Gregson, joined them. "I aimed for his head and that's exactly where I hit."

He nodded at both of them before edging around them to check on Green. "There was a moment when I hoped to get more information out of him but I think that ship has sailed, yes?"

"Bastard deserved it." Talbot started and turned to see Thomas standing next to him and barely moved out of the way as Thomas spit on the body. "Burn in Hell."

"I'll second that." Talbot stood and extended his hand before changing which one he held out at the sight of Thomas's hook. "I'm not sure I've heard about you."

"If you're relying on Anna for information then I'd suspect not."

Anna snorted and accepted John's help to stand. "I didn't expect to see you again. I thought…"

"I'd leave you here alone?"

"There was a moment of doubt, I admit." Anna bit at the inside of her cheek. "But it's probably what I deserve after all the doubt I stirred up by leaving everything here to fester or ten years."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yes and no." Anna took John's hand, tugging him away from the conversation between Talbot and Thomas as the others, the agents Talbot brought with him and the potential agents Green left upon his death, simply milled around waiting for instructions. She waited until they were far enough away to give their conversation a bit of privacy. "I wasn't myself."

"No, just now you were-"

"No," Anna put her hands over his, stopping John continuing. "I mean that I've not been myself for a very long time. I've been… split."

"Like Braithwaite?"

"Similar but I did it better." Anna shrugged, "I guess my mind was stronger because it allowed me to split myself into the side of me that protected me, Mrs. Cotton, and the version of me who remembered nothing."

"But you remember it all now?"

Anna nodded, "Clearly and without fault. It's all mine again."

"So you're whole?"

"For the first time in a very long time, yes." Anna smiled at him and squeezed his hands. "I said it earlier but I'll say it again. I am, now, who I was meant to be."

"And who is that?"

"For the moment, with you." Anna leaned to kiss him but stopped.

"Anna?"

She nodded toward Talbot and his men, trying to gather the skittish trainees. "I think he needs my help."

"Alright." John kissed her hand before releasing it. "I should go apologize for commandeering a boat and leaving him in a lurch."

"He got here on time." Anna pffted. "Let Talbot sweat a little bit. It's good for his constitution if we don't let everything work out for him."

They both laughed and separated, Anna quickly pacifying the nervous agents so they could pair up with one of the soldiers Talbot brought and take their places on their boat. Between Thomas and Baxter they collected everyone from all over the island before loading everyone into Talbot's boat. Gregson and a few of others volunteered to stay until Talbot returned, to ensure it was shut down and for Gregson to snoop the island, but all the others gladly waited to cast off.

Talbot pulled at his hands before nodding toward the boat. "There's room for you as well."

"I think I should go back with John." Anna pointed toward John's boat. "I've given him enough scares and he's got to catch me up on a few of the activities you two decided would occupy your time while I was here."

"I doubt you'll get to any of that on that boat." Anna swatted at Talbot but he dodged the blow. "But I've got another offer for you."

"If it's a position in your business with the government I'm going to tell you, for the last time and very firmly, that I'll never work for you."

"I'm glad you let me know but that wasn't the question on the table… This time." Talbot winked and Anna raised an eyebrow. "My question was if you'd help me to debrief these ones."

"Me?"

"I'll have Dr. Seward consult on it, since she's the expert, but they could use a steadying hand and you're the only person I trust who's got any experience with any of… This." Talbot waved his hand at the island and Anna turned back over her shoulder to look at it for the last time.

"I think that'll be wise and of course I will." Anna took a breath, "I can only hope they'll find the healing they need."

"Maybe forget?"

"No," Anna shook her head. "I doubt they'll ever forget what happened to them here. They'll block it, like I did, but it'll never leave them alone."

Talbot nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. "Makes me all the more guilty than I was before."

"Because you've seen the sins of your father?"

"Understanding takes on a new element when the head and heart are combined." Talbot jumped onto the boat. "And I'll let you know when we hope to begin. It'll be a few days, to get them settled, so don't be too anxious."

"I'm looking forward to a holiday." Anna waved them off, watching the boat fade into the fog of the morning before turning up the dock. She was barely a few paces away when Gregson jogged toward her. Anna snorted and pointed, "I think you missed the boat, if you changed your mind."

"Not at all." Gregson waved his arm behind him. "There's so much here."

"Try not to forget the context, that's all I ask." Anna went to move but he stepped in front of her. "Yes?"

"Before I lose you to… Life." Gregson took a breath, trying to steady the gasping of his breaths. "I was curious if you'd find a way to make these the kinds of stories you'd write for the paper."

"You want stories about this?"

"Written for children and, therefore, heavily edited, but yes." Gregson shook his head, "There's so much here and I've got the pen for the facts but not the fiction of what you could write."

Anna put a hand through her hair and shrugged. "I did promise you stories and it's your right, as my editor, to request what they'll be."

"So you will?"

"With a little time and distance, of course." Anna held out her hand to him. "Until we're both back in the city, Mr. Gregson."

"Always a pleasure Ms. Smith." He shook firmly before releasing and letting out a gasp. "If I'd known what our association would lead to, I'd have contacted you long before now."

"Keep talking like that and it'll go to my head." Anna pivoted around him and jumped onto the deck of John's boat. "Happy hunting Mr. Gregson."

Between the two of them, John got the boat onto open water and steered it toward shore before rigging the wheel to hold steady as he joined Anna on the deck. She wrapped a blanket around herself and smiled as John did the same. "If you're here then how do we know we'll not be blown off course?"

"Because I'm an expert seaman and I know how to navigate these waters."

"Even in winter?"

"Especially in winter." John moved closer to her and Anna sighed.

"I'm sorry, about your mother. I don't know if I fully communicated that when I first knew but now that I remember her-"

John's hand covered hers. "I know." He squeezed there before kissing the back of her hand. "And thank you."

"And I should thank you for deciding to be a Dutch commando and come rescue me all on your own."

"You're the one who rescued yourself." John paused, "How did you do it? Green was sure you'd drown in Mermaid Lagoon."

"Part of me did, I think." Anna paused, looking out at the choppy waves. "My mind was split and I had to lose myself to find the parts of me that were separate too long. Once that was over I was whole again. And the whole part of me remembered how to escaped my restraints and I got out of the caves."

"So now you're the real and true Anna Smith?"

"That's right."

"What does that mean?"

"It means…" Anna let out a breath, "Part of me is the girl who died the night they took me. Part of me is Mrs. Cotton. And part of me is the Anna who's lived her life in confusion for the last ten years."

"And what does this Anna Smith want?"

"To put it all behind me so I can heal… And not like last time."

"When you tried to pretend it didn't happen?"

Anna nodded. "I understand it all now. I didn't then but it's so much clearer now. It's not perfect but it's clear and… And that's something to say for the future."

"What else would you say for the future?"

She leaned into him, "More clarity and a better life." Anna adjusted to see his face. "You? What are you saying for the future?"

"It's not the time for resolutions until the end of the month." Anna nudged at him and John laughed with her before nodding. "I'd like to help Talbot. Just with what he's got on his hands now."

"Based on how close you two seemed, perhaps you should think about working with him on a more permanent basis." Anna shrugged at John's raised eyebrow. "Just an idea."

"An idea I'll keep in mind." John nodded toward the cabin. "I need to check our heading and get us back to land."

"You don't want to stay out on the freezing water and risk getting ourselves stuck in the North Sea in winter?" Anna followed him into the cabin, sitting back on the bunk as John steered them toward land.

"I'd rather not."

They were quiet for a moment before Anna spoke again. "Why not go back to being a fisherman? It was what you did before and it's in your bones."

"It's been a bit ruined for me."

"Ah." Anna scooted over on the bunk as John joined her there. "They stole so much from us, didn't they?"

"Yes they did." John met Anna's eyes. "But they didn't take you from me, that's what matters most to me."

"And you matter to me." Anna put her hand on his cheek, reveling in the familiar bristle of hair there and the way the curves of her fingers fit perfectly along his jaw. "Despite all my best efforts, I never did forget you. Not completely."

"You never laid in bed at night and dreamed of a better man?"

"How could I when there aren't any?" Anna lost herself in his eyes. "You're the best man, John Bates, and I never want to lose you again."

John leaned forward and their lips met.

Anna basked in the sensation of his lips moving over hers and laid back as John urged her more fully onto the bunk. Their legs still hung over the edge and the angle proved a little awkward for a moment but once John hopped onto the bunk Anna swung her legs up. They maneuvered in the moment they had so John's knees depressed the mattress on either side of her hips and their lips stayed together.

It only took a slight shift to have John's hand smoothly cupping the back of Anna's neck so he could keep their kiss going. Neither of them moved quickly as they fell into the encouraging rhythm of the boat rolling over the waves. It kept them patient as they languidly explored one another as if for the first time.

Unlike their first time, they had more experience and both parties knew what they were doing. Anna grinned into the kiss at that, remembering their fumbling but satisfying inaugural foray into the exercise. But when John slanted his mouth over hers to leave him more control over the tangling of his tongue with hers so better ravish her mouth, Anna pushed the memories aside.

All that mattered was them was the soft glide of calloused fingers over exposed skin as the blankets that kept them warm sloughed to the floor. They moved in sync as each item of clothing fell to the floor to leave more skin exposed. Skin quickly reached for slow kisses that left them shivering and trembling in one another's hold.

Anna arched into John's hold as his kisses skated down her lips to her neck and over her collarbones. Her fingers tangled in his undershirt and she hauled it over his head to better smooth her hand over his back before dragging her nails across it in time to John's lips closing over her nipples. Whatever marks she left there were in direct response to the adoration he expressed as his mouth moved over her breasts.

But John's level of affection only increased the more skin they revealed to one another. He settled between her legs, despite the confines of the bunk, and Anna was left to hold at the back of his scalp to try and control his motions. Motions that left her crying out to the hollow echo of the cabin as John's tongue and lips brought her to the edge of ecstasy before helping her fall over the edge.

Her chest rose and fell, the air close and refusing to refill her lungs, as John reversed his progress to travel up her body. Kisses dotted her flushed and glistening skin until their lips met again. Met with Anna's hands trapping John's mouth to hers as they settled on his cheeks. A slide of her foot over the back of his calf before notching her knee at his hip had them sliding and grinding together until John broke the kiss to suck for breath.

They watched each other for a moment, waiting for one of them to move first, and Anna answered the call with an angle of her hips. It only took a maneuver to bring their bodies together as John sank as deeply as possible inside her. Her ankles locked under his ass as her arms wrapped around his shoulders to keep him close. Heat from his breath at her shoulder sent her hair fluttering slightly and she replicated the motion between kisses she pressed desperately to his collar.

John drew back, dragging his lips along her jaw, and held himself over Anna as he took the cue from the rolling of the waves to set their pace. The rocking of the boat countered their motions and when they ground together it only echoed hollowly in the motions around them. Eventually John's hand slid under Anna's ass and she arced into John to provide the angle that left each of his thrusts pressing at her swollen clit. The same place John's fingers delicately teased until Anna came with her fingers raking down John's sides.

He followed her soon after, sagging into her as he tried to fall sideways. But Anna held him close, almost wrapping his body with hers, and stayed there until he kissed at her shoulder. "I've got to guide us back to land."

"Unless we decided to stay lost here." Anna let her fingers drag down his cheek. "We pretend we're lost at sea. Start anew somewhere else."

"And what would your poor parents do if they thought they'd lost you again?" John kissed her and lifted himself away, dressing to take over steering the boat.

Anna wrapped herself in the blankets, tucked back into the corner of the bunk. "Did you tell them about us?"

"I told them that I love you and that I'd bring you back to them." John looked over his shoulder at her. "Whatever happens from there is your decision."

"Like what to do about my engagement?" Anna shuddered, "Poor James."

"I wouldn't say that."

Anna started, "He's not dead, is he?"

"No, James Kent survived." John checked Anna again and she frowned at the wince he gave her. "And he's going to break your engagement."

"Did he find out about us?"

"No. He found a lovely nurse and decided she was his Florence Nightingale."

"His father was alright with that?"

"Not at all. Made a scene in the ward and insulted James, the nurse, you, and himself in the process." John shrugged, "It's all going to work itself out on land and we'll wait until then to manage it."

"I guess we will." Anna lay back, tucked into the blankets. "Wake me with enough time to dress will you? I'd hate to greet my parents in my altogether."

"I'll make sure you're properly attired." John winked at her and Anna smiled. "I've got to make a good impression too."

"Yes, I think you do."