Elena
A couple of days after the visit with Billy's family, Elena was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, when she heard the faint sound of music. Her curiosity piqued, she ventured outside onto the deck. It was early evening, and then sun hung low in the sky, darkness threatening to spill. She saw Gibbs and Billy fiddling with something that she couldn't see, whilst the remaining men crowded around them, trying to see. Damon was standing off to the side, watching them with a look of amusement on his face. She went to stand next to him. Since their conversation in Billy's kitchen, Damon had softened somewhat towards her. Of course it wasn't like they were friends or anything, out of all the men on the ship, he was probably still the one she talked to the least. But some kind of unspoken understanding had been reached between them. While she remained on the ship, there was no point in any hostility towards each other. She had accepted her situation. And for some reason that she herself could not put into words if she tried, she trusted him. She really believed when her mother finally returned home (however long that took), and was able to scrape together the money to pay her ransom, that Damon Salvatore would keep his word and return her home.
"It's a radio." Damon said, breaking her out of her thoughts and answering a question she hadn't even asked yet. "One of the men picked it up from port while we were docked. They're trying to get it to work."
"Ah." Elena said in response, as she watched Gibbs smack the radio of his palm. It cracked sharply, and then suddenly a plucky dance tune was drifting across the ship. The men all cheered, as Gibbs grinned smugly.
"Play something with a bit more oomph!" One of the men shouted, and earned some whoops from the others for his suggestion.
"I don't think it takes requests." Damon called out drily, his mouth curved in a half smile.
"It's a waltz!" Elena suddenly recognized, taking a step closer to where the music was coming from. "A dance song." She added, remembering not all the men in the crew would be as well-versed in ballroom dance as she was.
"That's right." Billy confirmed, in the same way that teachers tended to speak. "May I have the honor?" He asked, stepping up to Elena with an outstretched hand.
She blushed and nodded, taking his hand. "Of course."
The steps quickly came back to her, as he twirled her around. He was surprisingly adept, leaving her convinced that Billy had some history of dancing. The rest of the crew cheered them, as they clapped along to the music, totally not in time with the beat. The song came to an end, and as the next one started, Gibbs stepped up to take his turn dancing with her. Surprised, but flattered, she continued into the next song with her new dancing partner. Gibbs was…not so skilled at the moves as Billy. Nevertheless she was enjoying herself, and soon the full crew were taking part, as she outlined the steps involved in dancing the waltz. She looked over at Damon at one point, who was watching with a small smile on his face. Eventually darkness fell, but the night was warm, and so the party remained above deck, as they continued to dance in the moonlight. Since it wasn't feasible for her to dance with every single man, the men soon resorted to dancing with each other too, practicing the steps she had shown them. She laughed as they occasionally trampled on each other's feet, leading to a long string of expletives.
"Cap'n, come on over! You're the only one hasn't had a go." Gibbs teased Damon.
"I'm quite alright, thank you. Watching you lot fall over each other is enough enjoyment for me." Damon grinned back, raising his flask of rum in a gesture of cheers.
"Chicken are you?" One of the other men called out, as the rest of the crew jeered in a joking manner.
"Come on, son. Elena's got no partner, be a gentleman and help her out." Billy joined in the fray, winking at Damon.
Elena started at her name, as she realized what Billy said was true. The men had all paired off as they had been repeating the steps she was demonstrating. Since she had taken on an instructor type role, she was indeed currently partnerless.
Damon looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "That true? Need some company?" He asked, smirking slightly.
She blushed, without quite knowing why. "If you'd like." She answered, shrugging her shoulders as if she didn't care either way. He tucked away his flask, and strode over.
"Alright boys, let me show you how it's done." He announced, and the rest of the crew around her cheered.
He reached her and took her right hand in his left, slid his other hand around her waist, and pulled her close. Automatically she put her left hand on his shoulder, assuming a dancing form.
"Don't let me embarrass myself." Her murmured into her ear, and she felt his warm breath on her cheek.
"I can't make any promises." She replied, earning a chuckle from him.
"Ok, let's go. And…one, two, three." She counted out, and heard shuffles and stamps as the men followed her lead and commenced the dance.
Damon was surprisingly adequate; not as good as Billy of course, but not a total novice.
"Have you done this before?" She asked him, pleasantly surprised.
"Never. Why, am I impressing you?" She looked up, and saw a twinkle in his eyes.
"You're not awful." She said in response, looking away from his penetrating gaze and back down to the ground, to make sure he wasn't stepping on her feet.
"Mm. I think that's your way of saying I'm actually incredible, and that I'm probably in the wrong career."
She couldn't restrain the laugh that bubbled up from her, and she noticed he looked quietly pleased with himself.
"Well if the whole pirate thing doesn't end up working out, now you have a backup plan."
His warm laugh tickled her cheek as the song drew to a close. He let go of her hand and stepped back, and she immediately felt his absence.
"Can I try with you again? Mike keeps stomping on me." Gibbs walked close to them, complaining.
"I'll let you get back to your fans." Damon said, winking at her. He took her hand, placing a light kiss there, before striding back to resuming his position leaning against the side of the ship. Her hand tingled where he had held it, and she couldn't shake the feeling that Gibbs had just interrupted something. Though she had no idea what.
A few hours later, they were still on the deck, sitting in a circle. Eventually the dancing had tired them out, and they had reverted to their usual nighttime activities – playing Liar's Dice. But now it was late, and one by one, the crew had been filtering out, heading below deck to hit the hay. Billy had gone to bed a while ago, and now the last two men that Elena had been playing with, were unable to restrain their yawns anymore. Giving their apologies, they bid her goodnight, and also headed downstairs. Elena stood, brushing her skirts down and stretching her aching muscles that had become sore from sitting on the hard, wooden floor of the deck for so long. She looked over at the side of the ship, where Damon was standing, his back currently to her, gazing out at the seas.
She was about to head inside to her cabin, when something made her change her mind. Instead, she walked over to him, joining him where he was standing. He turned as he heard her walk up, so he was facing the deck again. She stood, also with her back to the sea, leaning backwards against the side of the ship so she could look up at the skies. The sight never got old. Having grown up in mainly towns, she had rarely seen stars. Occasionally if the skies were clear, she'd catch a glimpse of a couple here and there, on her walk back home from the bar where she worked. However out here at sea, it was totally different. As long as the skies were cloudless, which since it was currently summer they usually were, the skies were filled with hundreds of twinkling stars.
She sighed, content. "It's so beautiful."
She felt Damon lean back besides her, tipping his head up at the sky as well. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile, almost proudly, as if he was personally responsible for the stars in the sky.
"Billy always says they're watching over you." He said after a few minutes. "The stars, boy, the stars will always guide you home…" He said in such a way that she instantly knew he was quoting Billy.
"And where is home for you?" She asked out of curiosity.
He didn't answer for so long, she wasn't even sure he had heard her. She turned again so she was facing the sea, and listened to the soothing sound of the waves lapping at the side of the ship.
"I suppose I don't have one." He spoke up eventually, turning so he was also facing the sea. "Or it's here. At sea." He added, almost as an afterthought.
"Where are your parents?" She asked quietly, knowing she was probably pushing her luck but she couldn't help it. For some reason, this quiet, stoic, brooding pirate standing millimeters away from her evoked something in her. Some feeling she couldn't name, she just knew that she wanted to know him, to know about him. Know what made him tick, what made him the way he was. Know what made him ruthless enough to force a member of his crew to walk off a plank one moment, and the next vow to protect a girl he barely knew. Know how he had risen up to be the right-hand man to the most powerful, merciless pirate that had ever lived, but also how he had maintained a gentle side throughout all that, that allowed him to joke and dance joyfully with his crew, but go to war with them too.
"Dead." He answered bluntly. "Billy raised me."
She failed to restrain her heart from aching with sympathy for him. His fingers were clutching the side of the ship, and against her better judgement, she rested her hand over his. She watched to see if he would pull away, but he was still looking out at the sea. His mind seemed to be a million miles away.
"The man my father worked for, didn't approve of the concept of family. Didn't believe in it. Saw it as a weakness. So when my father met and fell in love with my mother, he kept it a secret. He married her in a tiny ceremony one night when their ship was docked at port, and from then on, whenever they came in from sea, he found a way to steal away and meet her as often as he could."
Damon's words came out in a rush, as if he had kept this bottled up for a long time, and was grateful to be able to tell this story now. The breeze ruffled her hair, and she noticed the temperature had dropped slightly, but she didn't feel cold.
"After a year, my mother became pregnant. With me. My father was overjoyed, but knew he needed to find a way to quit the pirate life. He wanted to be there for me and my mother, and that wasn't possible with their current situation. So he planned to explain everything to the man he worked for, find a hard-working, loyal man to replace him on the crew, and then retire and be with his family. However before he could enact this plan, the man he worked for somehow found out about his secret family."
Elena shivered, knowing this story was about to get unbearably sad. Damon continued speaking, in the same low tone. His voice betrayed no emotion, almost as if this story was about some strangers, not his own parents.
"The man had my mother kidnapped, and kept somewhere, and then blackmailed my father with this information. He told my father he would never see my mother again, unless he carried on working for him. Seeing no alternative, my father agreed, and for the next six months it went on this way. My mother gave birth to me, and still my father was not allowed to see either of us. Eventually my father realized this was not tenable. This man had full control over him, and if it went on this way, he'd never see his family again. Armed with this conviction, he confronted his captain."
Damon took a deep breath, and hurried on, almost as if he wished he could skip over this part of the story.
"The man laughed in his face. He said he asked one thing of his crew, that they have no family. That having a family was just giving your enemies a way to control you. My father protested, said that was not true. But the man pointed out that was exactly what had happened. He now controlled my father, and my father would always be in servitude to him. But he said not to fear, my father was free now."
Elena had a bad feeling, and a cold gripped her heart.
"The man had killed my mother. My father was free now, he repeated. Not to worry, he was not a monster. He had not killed his baby, he told my father. Instead, he would give the baby to another trusted member of his crew, and the baby would be raised as one of his own."
Elena removed her hand from where it had been covering Damon's. She felt bile in her throat, and she swallowed it down. She knew now, with a terrible certainty, where he was going with this story.
Damon had not noticed the change in the atmosphere, and continued on.
"My father could not contain his fury any longer. He raised his sword, and tried to run the captain down. He did not get far. The captain was able to slay him almost immediately. He used the story to instill fear in the rest of his crew, and word quickly spread to all corners of the land."
"It was Billy. The captain gave you to Billy, and that's who raised you." Elena said, almost in a whisper. Her voice was tight, she felt her throat constricting. Her heart was beating wildly, and she prayed with all her heart that Damon had not noticed anything was amiss with her.
"Yes. The captain kept his word about that much at least. He did treat me as one of his own." Damon breathed out, his fists clenched by his side. "Billy raised me, and the captain trained me. Having grown up under the wing of 'the best of the best' allowed me to rise quickly through the ranks."
Elena was gripping the side of the ship so tightly, her knuckles had turned white. She knew what he was going to say next, before he had even spoken the words.
"And before I knew it, there I was. The captain's right hand man. Second in command to the man who killed my parents. Captain Hook." He almost hissed the last part, and Elena heard the cold fury in his voice. The hatred.
She swallowed thickly, as her throat burned. She had spent the last ten plus years hating her father, thoroughly ashamed of ever having known him, let alone being related to him. And yet, she never felt as strongly as she did in this moment. She wished she had never been born.
Damon took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Elena hadn't noticed, but the temperature seemed to have dropped drastically in the last thirty minutes. She saw his breath turn to fog in the cold air.
"You're the Pirate Prince though….you'll take over from him one day." Elena whispered. "Why did you stay so close to him? When you learnt what he had done, why did you not just leave?" Her mind whirled with confusion, and regret. Of all the pirate ships in the land, why did she have to end up on this one? With the one person who seemed to hate her father more than she did. And who would probably hate her by extension, if he ever were to find out who she was. She was living proof of her father's hypocrisy. The man who claimed to hate family so severely, had his own one hidden away.
"I considered it. In fact I almost did walk away, so many times. But no. He'd replace me without a second thought, find a new prince to be his second, and carry on with life as if nothing had changed. No. He doesn't getto get away with this. I am owed revenge." He hissed, and for the first time, Elena really saw his dark side. The dark side that had got him where he was today. She could feel rage radiating through him. "I have spent my entire life earning his trust, building confidence. And when the moment comes, I will not hesitate. I will drive my sword through his heart. And take his entire kingdom from him, everything that he has spent so long building up."
He stepped away suddenly, as if the story had sapped his remaining energy for the night.
"Well there, now you know everything." He tilted his head to the side, warmth returning to his eyes as he almost instantly pushed away the dark thoughts the story had evoked. "And with that, I think I'll bid you goodnight. Early start tomorrow."
He tipped his cap at her, and without waiting for her response, headed below deck. She turned back to the sea, not feeling the chills in the air, because she still had a chill in her heart. One thing she was sure about now, if she had any doubt previously.
Damon could never ever find out who she was.