Disclaimer: Own nothing
Warnings for historical misogyny, racism and homophobia, abuse, violence and mentions of marital rape and mentions of rape in general.
The buccaneers' prize
Part one
Needing time
Clarke Griffin peered around the room she was in, for far from the first time.
The room she was in, was big, vast, covered in beautiful things. Silk sheets, beautiful paintings, and other attractive antiques that she honestly couldn't identify.
She was rocked back and forth as the ship she was on rocked. She was planning to stay in this cabin for a while.
Technically, this entire ship was open for her to explore. No one would stop her. Technically, this ship was her home. If she wanted it to be.
Clarke leaned back against the back wall, her legs hanging over the edge of the bed. She stared at the wooden door across from her. The door wasn't locked. She could lock it if she wanted. But it wasn't.
The ship was big and vast, and spacious. There were compartments and cabins all over.
The pack of pirates that had taken her from her home, had provided her with everything she could possibly want. Beautiful things to look at, alcohol, should she want it, all the delicious food she could want, flowers-she even had a couple of pets.
There were two large Bracco pointer dogs, which the pirates had gotten for her, grabbing from a village in Italy. The dogs supposedly were from the same litter and were both two years old, both female.
Their wooden water bowls and food bowls were in front of them.
She had named them Francesca and Giulia.
Technically speaking, these pirates had provided a lot for her.
And they promised her that eventually, they'd let her go, if she really didn't want to…
She sighed, leaning back more against the wall, the movement catching Giulia's attention and causing the pointer to lift her head and look at Clarke, before turning back to her sleeping sister and lowering her head down between her paws again.
It had been four months. And she wasn't going to lie, these had been some of the best months of her life, since her father died.
Clarke Griffin had been the daughter of an Italian fisher and his wife. Had been, because both her mother and father were dead.
Her father, Jake, had died almost six years ago, when she was fifteen.
He died of an illness that was going around, that Clarke and her mother hadn't received.
Clarke had grieved and suffered alone, as whenever she would try to comfort her mother or get comfort from her mother, it would only be met with alienation.
From then on, Clarke practically grew up alone, save for her few friends back at the fishing village, Wells and Finn.
She had known that Finn was sweet on her, was hoping she'd give him a chance, but she wasn't interested in him in that way.
Then when Clarke's mother, Abby, had decided it was time for Clarke to marry, so as to support Abby, clearly only caring about her own comfort and happiness, never giving a thought to Clarke's, Abby had tried to get Clarke to marry to a somewhat better off villager, who clearly enjoyed having sex with young girls and decided that Clarke was to his taste.
A disgusting man named Bellamy Blake.
Clarke had suffered with the knowledge of Abby and Bellamy's plans for almost a year, till she had tried to run away, deciding she'd get away before the marriage.
As it turned out, there was no need to.
Because a year before the marriage was set to take place, pirates came ashore at their village line, apparently, having been drawn to the city of Porto Ercole, which was a city on an island not far from the mainland of Italy, and they came, perhaps exactly because it was separated from Italy and they saw it as easy pickings.
They sacked the city, taking the valuables that were there.
Then when Clarke arrived, attracted by the sounds of the chaos, unaware that pirates were attacking, and had run right into the pirates.
The group that she'd run into, had been eight made up of eleven people. She learned later that their names were Natasha, Steve, Clint, Laura, Wanda, "Rhodey," Carol, Bruce, Thor, Brunnhilde and Tony.
And Clarke, as soon as she'd seen them, had felt a sort of relief. Like if they were planning on raping and killing her? At least after they'd kill her, her problems would be over. Her unloving mother couldn't destroy what bit of a life she had left, and wouldn't be able to marry the pig, Bellamy Blake, that her mother wanted her to marry.
So, if the pirates planned on rushing her? She decided that she'd do nothing.
And her desperation to be killed, must have been clear, must have been obvious all over her face, because she had watched them stare at her, shocked, then, to her surprise, their expressions, while previously fierce, were now soft and gentle.
A very unbecoming expression for a bunch of vicious pirates.
As the many other pirates ran around, pillaging and stealing and yes, killing, one of the pirates, Laura, walked over, looking at Clarke and asked, "What makes you so sad, little girl?"
Clarke hadn't even had the strength to snap at them and say that she wasn't a child and was a grown-woman of almost twenty-one, and had sadly, told them that her mother didn't love her and was trying to get her to marry a man who would hurt her most likely.
It perhaps was not ideal to tell pirates such important information.
But for her? Her life was over anyway, even before the pirates had come ashore. So, why not tell them everything?
The looks on the pirates' faces, had startled her. They had looked furious.
Then the unexpected happened, and Natasha had asked Clarke what the names were of Clarke's mother and the name of the man who Clarke was going to be forced to marry.
And Clarke, she might not have understood why they'd do it, but she had understood in that second, that these pirates were offering to get rid of the people that were making her life miserable.
And Clarke, oh, damn her for what she did, but she realized she saw a way out. And she told them the names of her mother and Bellamy. She gave the pirates her two tormenters, their full names.
Which was why, that same day? The pirates had hunted down her mother, Abby Griffin, and had run her through with several swords, and had done the same to the lover that Abby had with her, Markus Kane.
Then they had gone to the house of Bellamy Blake, had drawn and quartered Bellamy to several horses and made the horses run, the ropes pulling Bellamy and tearing him apart, limb from limb, making him die in agony.
They had cut his head off, severing it from the mass of meat it was still on, after he had died, just for good measure.
Then the pirates had killed Bellamy's sister, Octavia, and Bellamy's friends, Raven, Jasper, Monty, Miller and Murphy.
Clarke wasn't going to lie, she was grateful to the pirates for that.
Then the unexpected happened.
The pirates had chosen to take Clarke with them.
After they had left the bloody corpses on the ground, they had turned to Clarke and had calmly said, smiling, that Clarke was going to have a new life. With them.
Clarke, of course, had resisted, but she'd been dragged aboard.
Wells and Finn had tried to stop them, but they'd just been captured too.
When the pirates had seen how loyal Wells and Finn were to Clarke, they had done the inevitable and asked about both Wells and Finn's families. As they had learned and as Clarke had known for years, Finn had no family at all, and Wells practically had no family, since his mother had died when he was a baby and Wells's father, Thelonius, might as well not be a father to Wells.
So, for the two of them, Clarke was their family.
Knowing that, the pirates had forced Wells and Finn aboard too.
So, Clarke's friends were here as well.
Clarke had no idea why the pirates had done what they'd done. They would give a few explanations here and there. That they had seen such sadness, such willingness to allow a bunch of invading pirates to do whatever they wanted with her, was…..so devastating.
So, they had killed the people that had made Clarke that pained.
But they hadn't told her why they had taken her aboard.
Something Clarke had come to realize a day after being taken from her city, something she remembered distinctly, was that she hadn't seen any of the pirates committing rape.
There had been pirates running all over the city of Porto Ercole, men and women alike, and she hadn't seen a single one of them assaulting anyone sexually.
Perhaps they had done it in some secluded spot, but if they committed rape, it was unknown to her.
And last time Clarke had heard? Pirates tended to rape.
When Clarke, Wells and Finn had confronted the pirates about it the next day, after Porto Ercole was pillaged, the leaders of the pirates, a group of them, at least, the pirates that Clarke had first met, had explained that they didn't allow any of their crew to rape. No pirate was allowed to rape anyone on land, or on their ship. No rape was allowed amongst their crew. And should they meet a fellow pirate crew that had pirates that raped, those pirates were to be killed on the spot.
Clarke had been startled by that, and she honestly disbelieved that, but from what she had seen in the city, when Porto Ercole had been pillaged, she wasn't sure it wasn't true, since she had seen no women, men or children being sexually attacked by the pirates.
The ship's name, as Clarke and her friends learned, was Spanish, because the ship had been taken from Spanish shores, and was called 'La muerte navegante,' which meant, "The sailing death."
The pirates were referred to amongst the many "wanted" posters, as "The Devil's Avengers."
Clarke, Wells and Finn had learned what they could.
The crew had been cobbled together over the years from various places. Laura, Clint, Tony, Rhodey, Jessica, Carol, Luke, Danny and Steve, from the Americas.
Pepper, Matt and Bruce, from England.
Natasha, Yelena, Melina, Alexei, Wanda and Pietro, from Russia.
Frank, from Italy.
Elektra, from Greece.
Brunnhilde, Thor, Sylvie, Loki and Hela, from Norway.
Their many other subordinates, the other pirates, were from many different parts of the world.
Italy, France, Spain, South America, from some countries in Africa, from all over.
And their massive ship, "The sailing death," was stolen, specifically to accommodate the many crew members, which the founding members of the Devil's Avengers, had decided long ago to accumulate.
This was planned. They had been cast out of their various countries, and had sought revenge and riches. And had intended to gather up one of the biggest pirate crews in the world.
The founders of The Devil's Avengers, were Fury, Natasha, Steve, Clint, Laura and Carol. They had formed a council and many had joined the council of the leaders; Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Rhodey, Wanda, T'Challa, Thor, Brunnhilde, Hela, Jessica, Bucky, Elektra, Matt, Luke, Danny and Sam.
And Clarke, Wells and Finn had all been treated very well here.
Clarke had more than a few times asked when they would be allowed to go ashore and leave them.
The looks Clarke had received at that question, had startled her.
It occurred to her, that the pirates had hoped she'd willingly stay.
Why, she at the time, didn't know, but clearly, they did hope for that.
Since then, she had realized their intentions.
She, Wells and Finn were treated well aboard the ship.
And more than a few nights every two weeks, at least one of the pirates interested in her, would bring her a flower, which they had gotten from the batch of flowers onshore.
And when one of them, Wanda, told her that they hoped she'd stay with them, that they could give her so much more than Clarke's mother or, in Wanda's words, "that pig, Bellamy," could give her, Clarke had figured it out.
Several of the pirates within the council, wanted her.
That was plain and clear enough to her now.
When Clarke had figured that out, almost two months ago, she had outright told them that this wouldn't work. That they were pirates. And she knew what pirates deserved in the eyes of the law.
To her surprise, the pirates had laughed, instead of looking offended.
"Yes," Yelena had said, smirking, "And by the laws you grew up with? It would have been perfectly alright for you to be forced to marry that abusive villager, Bellamy and no law would have done anything, when he eventually hit you. Or raped you."
Clarke flinched, hearing that, but knew Yelena to be right.
Husbands raped their wives far more than people thought.
And it wasn't considered in the eyes of the law as "rape," even if it was, since no consent was given from the other party.
But the law would do nothing.
Technically, these pirates had saved her.
But it appeared that they only had, so that she would be their prize instead.
And she'd told the pirates as such.
This time, the pirates had looked mildly offended.
Steve had said, standing up and looking calm, "We're not going to keep you here for much longer. But we hoped you would want to stay with us. Clarke, what life are you going to have in some other village? You'll be expected to marry the closest well-off man there, and it won't matter if he is much older than you or beats you or is a drunk. Do you think with all the expectations thrown at you, that you'll have a choice?"
Clarke knew that Steve was right, but still, she asked him, "And I have a choice here on this ship?"
This time, Natasha, who'd been sitting there next to Yelena and eyeing Clarke the whole time, a very calm and contemplative expression on her face, decided to speak up.
The redhead said, "You do have a choice here. We won't ever ask or demand that you do something you don't want to do. We won't ever make you kill anyone. And we'd never hurt you, Wells or Finn, or your dogs, regardless of your answer. And we wish to give you anything you could possibly want. Again, regardless of whether you allow us to be with you, or not. If that's a prison? I think it would be a prison anyone in your so-called free land, would want to be in, in a matter of seconds."
Clarke tried to ignore how Natasha's words affected her.
"But it's still a prison," she said.
"Yes," Natasha answered, "For now. But as we said, if you really want to return to land? We won't keep you here. We'll return you to land, in hopefully in a place that has more respect for women than your country, in a month's time."
Clarke huffed, and glanced at Wells and Finn, who both looked like they wanted to protest, but she shot them both a look and they quieted.
It had only been months since she, Wells and Finn had first been taken aboard, but Clarke already was sure of what she was going to decide on.
If Wells and Finn decided to go ashore and stay there? She wouldn't dream of stopping them.
But she knew what her choice was.
She was staying.
But she'd let the pirates think there was a possibility that she wouldn't choose them, for a while.
After all, best to take those arrogant ruffians down a peg or two before giving into them.
From what Clarke was able to tell, the people that wanted her sexually and romantically, were Natasha, Steve, Clint, Laura, Pepper, Tony, Rhodey, Thor, Jessica, Bruce, Carol, Hela, Brunnhilde, Sylvie, Loki, Yelena, Melina, Pietro, Wanda and Frank.
That was two other things that Clarke knew would never be tolerated in many countries that she knew of.
Being involved with more than one person romantically and sexually, and perhaps even more so?
Being with someone of the same sex or gender.
In many countries, including where Clarke had come from, two women or more, being together and two men or more, being together, was illegal.
Clarke knew that her attraction to the many women on this boat, would not be tolerated on land. And certainly not allowed to be acted upon on land. Or at least, not on a good portion of the countries and continents in the world.
It was that, that had been one of the reasons for Clarke's decision. Because she didn't want to live somewhere, where she was told that her desire to be with another woman, was wrong.
Really, any of these people aboard The Sailing Death, would be frowned upon, should people on land learn of her desire for them.
But especially the women, and especially James Rhodes-Rhodey, because of his skin color.
That was another thing. Many countries and continents were not that open-minded about those with black skin being in relationships with those with white skin.
Clarke's near husband, back on Porto Ercole, Bellamy-everyone in the city had known that he was not entirely white. Everyone knew that his mother had been with a sailor that was described as being "light brown."
Everyone knew that Bellamy had not been entirely white.
But it never had been frowned upon when the possibility of Clarke being married to him, was brought up.
Because whatever someone might want to say about Bellamy? The one redeeming quality about his skin, in the eyes of bigoted villagers of the island, was at least Bellamy wasn't a black man.
Nathan Miller and Raven Reyes, Bellamy's friends who now were also dead, regrettably, had been treated not all that well by the villagers.
Given that Miller was good at navigating and so, was sent on trips to get more fish for the village and Raven had a talent for inventing things that the village found useful, they had been given a good deal more space and compensation than most individuals with their skin color.
But that was only because Miller and Raven had been useful.
And it didn't mean that the white people of Porto Ercole liked them, or at least, it didn't mean that they didn't consider Miller and Raven inferior to their white neighbors.
Which was what eventually led Clarke to making her decision.
Onboard 'La muerte navegante,' she might have to see many bloody things being done to people, and caused by other crews of pirates, but these people, they were so much more than what her society had told her they were. They were visionaries. They were protectors and trailblazers.
And they loved her. They wanted her to be with them. And they offered far more to her than anyone on land could.
And why should she choose to go back ashore and marry some villager who would never respect her?
For some sense of moral superiority, which she now knew was false? A sense of moral superiority that she knew now, no one in the society she had grown up in, had the right to, given how they treated people with black skin, women and those that wished to be with people of the same sex?
Clarke heard footsteps coming closer to her room, and she raised her head up, listening to the knock at her door.
She said, "Come in!"
Both Francesca and Giulia whined quietly, as Wells and Finn entered the room.
"Hello, Wells, Finn," she greeted.
They nodded to her.
Wells said, "Clarke? It's going to be time soon when the month is over, so, we should get ready to pack everything and leave."
Clarke sighed. Wells clearly thought she was coming with them.
"Oh," Finn mumbled and Clarke watched the young man as he observed her, realization crossing his face.
She knew that Finn was getting it.
"What is it, Finn?" Wells asked him.
"You're not coming with us, are you?" Finn asked Clarke.
Clarke shook her head. "No," she said, "I'm sorry, both of you."
"Why?" Wells asked, looking at Clarke, shocked, "You know what a lot of these pirates want with you, Clarke."
"I know," Clarke said, lifting herself up off of the bed, the much looser clothing than the ones she'd wore onshore, which the pirate crew had provided for her, far more comfortable than her previous clothing, "And I want them to. I'm happy to. Wells, I don't want to leave. If you and Finn decide to leave? I will respect that. But it's my decision to stay."
Wells looked frantic, like he wanted to protest.
There were footsteps coming from behind them and Wells and Finn moved out of the way, startled, as Natasha and Steve entered the room.
Natasha looked to Wells and Finn, then to Clarke, smirking, as if sensing what the topic of Clarke, Wells and Finn's conversation had been.
Steve looked at Clarke and said softly, "We'd like to speak for you, for a few seconds, before we get to shore next. We're arriving soon at Sweden, and we'd like to see if you would like to set down there."
Clarke nodded, smiling. Even if they were entertaining the possibility that she would be leaving them soon, they had sought out the place in the world, that they were certain she'd be treated better than she was in the city she'd been raised in.
She was grateful. But she wasn't leaving.
She said, "I'll come and meet with all of you, in a second."
Clarke got up from her bed and walked over to them, and she looked at Wells and Finn, smiled, then followed Natasha and Steve out.
Francesca and Giulia got up and quickly walked after Clarke, following her out.
Clarke felt Wells and Finn staring at her, shocked and Clarke followed Natasha and Steve into their main room, standing before them as she was in front of the pirates interested in her affections, most of them, save for Natasha and Steve, were seated.
Natasha and Steve walked over to their chairs and sat down, looking at Clarke and waiting for her answer.
Clarke smiled. She knew that they were more insecure about her decision than they wanted to let on.
That was alright. They didn't need to worry. She wasn't leaving them.
Francesca and Giulia lay down at her feet and she got ready to tell them her decision.
She knew that when she told them this decision? She would change her life completely. But you know? She had gotten rather used to that.
