Chapter 3: What happened last night?

Authors note: chapters might get a little shorter now as I go back to work. Also, a guest asked why Harry has no SoulMarks, if you are also wondering the question is answered in the bottom.

"Feisty aren't ya?"

~...~...~

"So it's true," she gave a deep sigh and frowned in mock-sympathy, "you really have no soulmate."

"It's no surprise really though," she stated as if it was obvious to everyone, "someone as broken as you wouldn't have a soulmate would they?"

~...~...~

"Who are you to me?"

"I don't know," she squeezed out of her throat.

Pure adrenaline was pulsating in his chest as he stepped into the door frame. What a rush. Harry hadn't had a chase like that in ages, it was almost a shame it would be coming to an end in a moment.

Of course he was going to hook her, but first he was going to play with her.

"Here, kitty, kitty." his deep voice carried into the dark storage building. Harry's voice was simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. He took a slow step forward, his eyes scanning the back wall and corners for his lost kitty-cat. A short creak came from the fallen door as his weight warped it.

It was almost a shame to catch her, he pondered. He kind of liked her; she was feisty. His lips stretched into a crooked smile. 'And she was certainly somethin' to look at.' his inner voice added. Maybe instead of hooking her he could make a different offer—

In his thoughts he almost missed the sound.

A small exhale of breath, like a disheartened sigh. It came from the direction of the door.

Smart kitty. It was his oversight and now he had his back to her, completely open to an attack from behind. Years on the isle should have taught him better than to give openings like this, but something about her had him off-kilter. Harry's breath stilled and evened off.

The attack never came though.

To Harry's surprise he looked over his shoulder to see her, standing there holding a small pool stick. She was completely still, her eyes were in a far off place. It looked like all her fighting-spirit had left her.

The puzzle surrounding her grew even more. What sort of villains kid didn't take such a perfect chance to strike?

The pool stick, which she had previously been holding up like a batter at first base, slowly lowered until the fat end gently clinked to the cement.

Harry's eyebrows knit together. What was going through her daft little mind?

The pole slipped from her listless hands to the concrete. She didn't even flinch at the sound. He recognized then that she was tangled in her own thoughts. Whatever was going through her mind had caused her to drop her weapon and her only real chance at getting away.

'Well, well, well' Harry's mind was abuzz with amusement, there was more to this little kitty than he had first thought. A hint of admiration pricked inside his blackened heart. No one who grew up on the isle and reached their age had any sort of mercy left in them, but he had somehow managed to find the only one on the isle. Harry's emotions were a jumble of admiration and something unidentifiable warm and restless.

Harry Hook's interest was thoroughly peaked.

Suddenly her eyes shot up to him. In an unconscious movement he had shifted some glass with his feet and snapped her out of whatever thoughts held her.

He could now see the panic in her eyes.

Harry Hook didn't move.

He had no clue what he wanted to do but he knew that if he moved so would she. So he froze as the gears in his mind worked double-time trying to plan his next step.

A maelstrom of thoughts, feeling, and plans swirled around loudly inside him; none of them really establishing any true shape.

Oh Hades, how he wished for the simplicity of hooking her and being done with it, but that voice inside him warned that hooking her would be worse than the maddening pull he had felt to her.

Maybe there was still something, a reason, behind the connection he felt to her. 'Maybe she really could be his...like Uma thought.' Even in his own thoughts he didn't dare use the word. His eyes quickly scanned her, hoping to see something on her that gave him an answer. It was fruitless. Under her crop-top jacket, undershirt, and skinny jeans there was practically no visible skin. What was visible outside of her all-black attire was blank skin.

The thought that she was blank like him briefly cross his mind. It was quickly thrown to the side though. Too much of her skin was covered to infer anything.

It felt like he was grasping at straws.

Her eyes flicked to the exit. She was right next to it.

She was considering running.

Everything inside Harry wanted to stop her. His pale blue eyes locked onto her amber-brown orbs. He could feel it, the connection. She was someone special to him.

"Who are you to me?" His voice was barely a whisper, but it carried clear across the room. His words were full of wonder and his eyes held naked yearning for an answer.

Did she feel it too? The way she looked at him it certainly felt like she was being equally drawn to him as he was to her.

"I don't know." she squeezed out of her throat, the briefest twinge of hurt crossed her features.

Those three little words felt like a cannonball had been dropped on his chest. All the air was expelled out of his lungs. The crushing weight made his following breaths shallow.

And then she was gone.

Harry couldn't muster the urge to chase her again. The wind had been blown out of his sails and he felt as empty as sheets with no wind.

It took him a while to even gather the strength to walk back to his ship. When he finally did though, his walk back felt different than other mornings.

What had once been an exhausted, but fulfilled walk back, or even an infuriated storm, had turned into a languid dragging of the feet. The odd glances he got when he finally dragged himself onto the ship and towards his own quarters was quickly forgotten when his eyes fell on his bed.

Only taking time to strip off the necessary items, he quickly rid himself of his belts, sword, boots, and other outwear.

Harry crawled into his bed that morning feeling more drained than ever before. Even back when he was training under his father to become a captain he hadn't felt this sort of soul-emptying, mind-numbing exhaustion. A disgruntled part of him knew that it was in part because he was emotionally exhausted as well, though he would never admit or acknowledge such.

Harry wasn't looking forward to his conversation with his captain. He knew that there was no avoiding her, but he could put it off for a few hours.

~...~...~

Harry woke from his deep slumber with a sudden jerking motion, not knowing what had woken him.

The answer came a few seconds later in the form of a hesitant knock.

The first mate glared at the sunlight beaming through the captain's observatory windows. It didn't matter what hour of the day it was, it was morning to him, and Hades did he hate mornings.

Never one to shirk his duties as first mate though he roused himself out of bed and, upon realizing he had fallen asleep fully clothed, called whoever was knocking in.

Harry wasn't surprised to see the muscular blonde step in; very few pirates knocked so gently.

Any thoughts he might have had of taking out his morning grumpiness on whoever had woken him was quickly shelved as soon as he laid eyes on Gil.

"Hi Harry," the muscular blonde greeted with his usual cheery smile.

"Wha' is it this time?" Harry prompted the son of Gaston, as if he didn't already know what had brought him.

Pleasantries gone, Gil's smile dimmed as he got to the business that had brought him.

"Uma said she wanted an update on last night." That wasn't all though. Gil's sheepish look was as easy to read as a book. Harry knew the other pirate was holding in what he really wanted to ask. No doubt he knew what it was too.

"And? Whatever you're goin' to ask get it out with." Harry again prompted. Absently his eyes searched the floor for a decent change of clothes.

"Uhm, I wanted to know..." Gil sounded like he didn't really know if he wanted to ask his particular question, but the words tumbled out anyway, "You didn't hurt them right?"

Harry grabbed a shirt that looked like it had only been worn once and threw his current one into the corner where Gonzo or Jonas knew to grab laundry from. After quickly jerking the article on he considered Gil's question, "No."

It was a short answer but it was apparently all Gil needed for his clouded expression to evaporate and his smile to return full-force.

"Cool," the dreamy smile was a pleasant change in atmosphere, "Oh, there was more. You should get to the Chip Shoppe when you're ready. Uma said she would be waiting there for you."

Satisfied that he had successfully done what his captain had asked of him and even got his own answers Gil said a quick goodbye and left. Harry had no doubt that the sunny blonde was going back to the Chip Shoppe to report that he had completed his task.

~...~...~

Harry had been right. Gil had gone straight to the Chip Shoppe.

The blonde teen visibly perked up when he spotted Harry dumping his sword into the sword-check barrel.

"Harry!" Gil's smile was pure happiness. The teen was possibly the most positive person Harry had ever met. Sometimes Harry wondered how someone like him had grown up on the Isle. Most V.K.s were mean, cruel, cunning, and vengeful—himself included. Somehow Gil didn't have a single one of those traits. The thick-headed, happy-go-lucky teen often showed he was the opposite of what people expected of Isle kids. While most on the Isle were selfish and hurtful, Gil was often concerned about the well-being of others.

It was with a frown that Harry realized he knew one other person on the Isle that didn't quite fit the mold.

Whoever she was to him, she had shown mercy and an unwillingness to hurt him even at the jeopardy of her own safety.

Harry quickly dismissed that line of thought. The idea of being spared by her was uncomfortable.

The Chip Shoppe still had customers scattered between the odd assortment of round tables, which meant Uma would be busy for a while longer.

Harry took his usual seat at the bar by the television. Gil moved with his tray to stand beside the taller teen.

"I got you this." the blonde said, pushing the plastic blue tray in front of the first mate. It was the house favorite; fish and chips.

"I didn't know when you would be here," the muscular blonde looked at the tray with a small pursing of his lips, "it's kinda cold. Sorry."

Harry hardly minded. He plucked up a chip right away and began on them.

Gil took the stool beside him. The pirate teen turned in his stool, putting his back to the counter before resting his elbows behind him as he stretched out.

"So..." the blonde drawled.

Harry, to his credit, did not sigh at the other boy's attempt at sounding offhand when it was obvious he was building up to a particular question. Luckily, he had been given food to get through this conversation. A small part of him wondered briefly if that was Gil's plan all along. The thought was just as quickly dismissed; Gil was not known for planning.

"I was wonderin'" Gil pondered as Harry shoved another two soggy potato wedges into his mouth, "What was it like? Ya know, meetin' them."

Harry gave the other teen a long sideways look, the one that usually made the other give up.

Rather than discouraged, his companion used his secret weapon.

"Come on," Gil urged, a big pout and puppy eyes on full display, "please Harry. I haven't met my soulmate yet an' I was wonderin' if ya know, you felt anything special after meeting..." his voice faded but his secret weapon was still aimed, fully loaded, at the notoriously black-hearted first mate.

'Damn the day Gil discovered that bloody face.' Harry's inner voice cursed. It wasn't that the look made him feel any sort of sympathy per say, it just irritated him for some reason and Gil knew it. Harry had made a mistake that first time when he had given in just to make the other cut it out. Ever since then Gil pulled that bloody look when he really, really wanted to know something, which was rare.

Knowing that the other teen wouldn't stop until he gave in, Harry gave a deep sigh and grumbled sourly, "I don' know mate. It was," Harry grappled for the word to describe everything it had been. Frustrating, alluring, magnetic, devastating, "weird." he decided lamely.

The blonde's eyebrows knit together, "How?"

A snarled of annoyance left the pirate, "It just was—"

"Harry." their captain's voice interjected, "Lets continue this downstairs."

Thank Hades.

Harry happily left his forgotten food and the conversation behind as he went to follow the teal-haired captain.

The three went down the same route as before, taking their previous positions on the crates and barrels.

Once comfortably seated the teal-haired girl leveled both males with a look, "Nothing leaves this room." This particular statement was followed by a pointed look at Gil.

"Now," she switched her attention to the first mate, "What happened last night?"

It was the question he had expected and had mentally prepared himself for before coming. Taking a deep breath, Harry began narrating the previous night.

Thank you again for reading and for your support!

BlueBerryBrina: To be fair, Harry is a really hard character to write with a lot of contradicting personality traits. With that in mind I hope I do him justice.

Nightlover77: Thank you! I hope this update was worth the wait~

quirkybookworm15: Thank you, I hope for your continued support!

SARITA1998: Thank you for saying that. The boat scene was so difficult to write.

Guest: Thank you for asking. Yes, there is a reason that Harry does not have any SoulMarks. It's inferred and explained in the foreword of the first chapter that for SoulMarks to appear the person (in this case Cassie) needs to be called something and she would also need to take it to heart. Think of it as magic through spoken word if that helps. Now, since Cassie has been living such a secluded life and has been avoiding contact with anyone other than her father (who died when she was 14) she has not been called anything that could become a SoulMark. Though never explicitly stated in the story, this is the reason he does not have any SoulMarks. As an additional note, her father was careful to avoid calling Cassie anything that could become a SoulMark as well. His motivation was that he wanted for her to avoid the pain he experienced because of soulmates, thus he hoped to give her other half as few clues as possible. Now, this combination of events has led to a very, very rare situation where one soulmate has blank skin into their teens.

Remember to favorite/review/follow!

If you follow this story you can know when I post a new chapter!

Thank you for reading and all the kind words!