Twisted

Disclaimer: I do not own Kong, or any of the characters. Plain and Simple.

Quick Summary: My version of the newest movie with a couple twists.

Author's Note: None.

Chapter Nine: Memories

"Now, which room is Hayes'?" Asked Alex; turning to Ann.

Ann Darrow glanced down the hallway then at Alex. "Down, to the left, and the first door on the right," she directed.

Alex nodded in thanks and ran off down the hallway. She had to see Hayes before he was able to walk again, or even stand for that matter. If he got out of his room before she got to him... she wouldn't be able to explain anything. Hayes, being the sensible man that he was, wouldn't believe that Carl Denham had thrown her into a cage and had captured Kong and had taken over the ship. It just wasn't something that he would believe.

Hayes had known Alex since she was a little girl, and it was partially his fault that she became the Venture's captain so young. The story briefly flashed through Alex's mind as she approached her first mate's room.

"Mister Hayes?" Asked an eleven-year-old Alex Englehorn while tugging at the man's sleeve. Her beautiful long brown hair hung around her shoulders over a simple white dress. Big brown eyes peered up at him from a height of four foot eleven.

"Yes, Allie?" Replied a stunningly handsome young Hayes; looking down at her.

"Where are you going?"

Hayes looked away from her; how could he tell her? "Well, I'm going sailing for a while."

"How long, Mister Hayes? How long will you be gone?"

"For a while, Allie,"

"But... Mister Hayes... what about--"

"I'm sorry Allie," he said softly, turning to her and crouching to her height. He took off the brand new sailor's hat that he was wearing and placed it on her head. "Keep this… keep it until I come back, Allie. I need it back when you get older, so if I don't come back--come looking for me. But only when you're older will I need it, so don't come for me before then. Okay?"

The young girl's eyes were tearing up. "Okay, Mister Hayes, I will,"

"Do you promise?"

"I promise, Mister Hayes,"

The sixteen-year-old African American stood again. It broke his heart to see her cry, but he didn't have a choice. It was either sailing or trying to scrounge up a good job in the city; which for a black person wasn't all that easy, especially after the Civil War like this.

"Come back soon," she sobbed; clinging to his torso like a little animal. "Come back, Mister Hayes,"

Of course, Hayes hadn't come back for six years, and Alex had gone looking for him--with her own ship and crew. By the time she had found him, the Great Depression was in getting into full force and more and more people were getting kicked out onto the streets and jobs were hard to find. Her parents moved farther west looking for a less "crowded" life. Alex stayed in New York, determined to wait for Hayes if it killed her.

When Alex finally found him, she bailed him out of the navy and brought him back to New York. They decided together that they didn't want to follow her parents back west, so they stayed on the ocean and captured exotic animals for money. Which led them to where they were now.

Alex had finally arrived at her friend's door; excited and nervous at the same time. If she didn't tell him what happened now, then...

She didn't want to think about what would happen. As her fingers closed around the door handle, it seemed as if a small electric current ran through it and spiked her adrenaline. Now the fear was gone and she was completely ready for whatever was there.

Opening the door the rest of the way, she stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. She tiptoed quietly across the room, pulled up a chair beside the bed and watched Hayes' chest rise and fall with every breath. It was the first time since this King Kong fiasco started that she had actually seen him calm, even though he was sleeping.

The room had fallen silent, and it was extremely awkward for Alex, since she was used to the normal noise of an active ship. Just for some noise, she sighed loudly to the darkness. A little too loudly.

"Alex?" A soft whisper cut through the silence like a knife, completely and utterly surprising the young captain. Hayes was awake.

Alex had become speechless for the first time in a long time. What was she supposed to say? I had "accidentally" sighed, sorry I woke you up? Or maybe, hey, how'd you get stuck in the trees? Even, sorry I cut your arm open, I wasn't looking where I was swinging my machete sounded horribly bad.

"Allie?"

The brunette was shocked by the sudden use of her childhood nickname. Now finding the right words was even harder.

"What happened?"

Alex didn't know what to do any more, and, again, she found tears streaming down her face unchecked. Why am I crying? I am NOT going soft! I can't cry--no! She screamed inwardly, angrily brushing away the tears.

"Alex, tell me," Hayes' voice was stronger now, as if he could almost sense the tears and feared the worst. "Tell me, I need to know,"

Alex finally pulled herself together, took a deep breath and told Hayes everything, staring at where they had to rescue Jimmy, Carl, and Jack from the giant canyon-like pit.

"Mutiny, it was, all mutiny..." she mumbled toward the end of the story.

"Are you hurt?" Asked Hayes; finding her hand and taking it in the dark. Alex figured it was his good hand.

She reached up with her other hand but refrained from touching the sore wound. "I guess you could say that,"

"Who? How did it happen?"

Alex took a deep breath. "Carl Denham smashed a bottle of alcohol across the left side of my face. I have no idea if it was full or not."

"So he was the one leading the rebellion, huh?"

"Pretty sure,"

"Who's driving the ship if you're in here?"

"Preston,"

"He knows how?"

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised too."

"Wow, I guess they all have more talents than we thought. What happened to Denham and Baxter?"

"Oh, Jack took Bruce down to the cages in the brig and I sorta locked Carl in his own room. I don't think he'll be able to get out without somebody seeing him and alerting me or somebody trustworthy."

"Right,"

"I'd better be going now; it has to be getting close to dawn and I'm going to want to get back up and steer the ship."

"I want to go with you."

"What?"

"I want to go with you, Alex."

"No, you shouldn't, you're in no shape to do anything like that."

"I want to, Alex; I'm tired of just laying here."

"But you're laying here for a good reason!"

"I don't care," Hayes grunted as she felt him sit up in the bed.

"Hayes!"

Ales let go of his hand and pushed the stool aside so he didn't trip over it. She took his arm--hoping it was the right one.

"Ouch!" Cried Hayes; drawing back.

"Sorry!" Alex walked around him and took his other arm, leading him to the door. "Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked.

"Yes," said Hayes confidently.

Alex swallowed and reached for the door; to think that she wasn't the one ready for this...

Sorry that took a little while to get out. We're almost done. Thanks to my reviewer--Stroppyteenager! What happened to the rest of you, darlings? I'm beginning to become worried!

Until next time, all!

KTez