And a Bottle of Rum Chapter 6, a supergirl fanfic

And a Bottle of Rum

A/N: This chapter has a lot of stuff in it, including Kara's back story with Captain Schott that may be difficult to read. We already know some of it but please be aware that she's been through A LOT and she tells the story in her own words.

Also, there's a very mild scene of M/F love. I couldn't, in good conscience, let Winn pine for Kara forever!

Kara's cabin had luckily survived with very little damage, so she gently sat Alex on her bunk and then sat beside her, blowing out a long breath and rubbing absently at the blood on her fingernails. Now that the adrenaline was beginning to abate, she was feeling very sick to her stomach and suddenly it rebelled, and she dove for her sink to vomit fitfully.

Alex went to her and held her long, blonde hair out of her face as she rubbed her back gently. "I'm here, Sweetheart," she said softly.

Finally, after washing her mouth out and drinking a mug of water, Kara lowered herself to the floor and sat with her back against the wall and her knees tucked up. "This has been a nightmarish day," she said, tipping her head back against the cool timber and closing her eyes. "So many lives lost to the whim of a mad man."

The brunette nodded and sat next to her. She lifted her left hand and looked at the mark left by so many years of wearing the betrothal ring she'd never wanted. "I would have married him," she said, breath hitching. "Had I not met you, I would have been none the wiser. I would have married a murdering rapist. You've changed my life, Kara."

"Everything turned out as it should have," Kara replied tiredly but a small smile rose to her lips. "And you've changed mine too."

Just then a knock at her door made her stand and square her shoulders. "Enter!" She smiled as Winn ducked into the cabin. "How is everything?"

"We're working everything out," the first mate said. "John says the Endeavor is beyond salvaging, so we'll have to take the Navy crew to the nearest base which is in Port Royal, Jamaica. It's going to be tight quarters and I've ordered food and water to be rationed."

Kara chuckled. "Sounds like everything is under control. Thank you, Mr. Schott."

"I mainly just wanted to let you know that there's nothing for you to do for the next few hours except get some sleep."

Alex chuckled. "I think both of us need it." She got up then and went to Winn to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you for everything."

The man blushed and then grinned. "My pleasure. I'll come wake you later, Captains." He headed out the door and Alex went back to the bunk, dropping the sheet draped around her onto the floor and pulling back the blankets.

"Join me?" she said as she slipped between sheets that smelled like Kara and she smiled as the pirate nodded and stripped naked to ease in next to her. Kara wrapped her arms around her lover and nuzzled her neck, but Alex gasped softly and shifted a little. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I took a kick to the ribs. I'm a little tender."

"Forgive me, I didn't think," the blonde replied gently. "What can I do?"

"Just… hold me please," Alex replied, breath hitching as she finally let the tears of horror and fear fall. "Keep holding me so tightly that I forget their t-touch."

"Of course, My Love," Kara said with a smile. "Always."

Waking with Alex in her arms brought a wide grin to Kara's face. They'd shifted during their nap and Alex was now lying on top of Kara with her head on her chest and her thigh nestled between her lover's. Alex's hand was firmly clasped on Kara's hip and it felt like heaven. Kara tightened her hold on the smaller woman as she kissed her head and caressed down the soft skin of her back.

"Don't want to get up yet," Alex mumbled sleepily, nuzzling the blonde's breast with her nose.

"Me neither," Kara agreed. "But I really should check on things." But when her lover's mouth closed around her nipple and teased it gently with her tongue, she sucked in a deep breath. "Alex…" she groaned softly. "You're injured."

Mischievous brown eyes lifted. "Do I look like I care?"

"But…"

"Captain Zorel… are you really arguing with me?" Alex chuckled. Her hand slipped between their bodies and worked its way down. Kara's eyes slid shut and she licked her lips as her body responded headily.

"No, Ma'am," she whispered as her hips tried to lift, seeking more contact.

"Good."

Alex watched with a smile from the bridge as Kara scaled the Cutlass' rigging and hopped into the crow's nest, bringing her telescope to her eye to survey the sea around them.

"I feel like I've been a very lazy captain," she chuckled as Winn came to relax against the deck rail next to her. "I always just had someone do that for me. Kara has already fixed some planking, swabbed the blood off the poop deck and now she's scaling rigging like a monkey."

"She doesn't expect anything that she's not willing to do herself. She's always been very hands-on," the first mate agreed. He grinned then. "But I expect you know that about her." He waggled his brows and Alex blushed.

"You… heard?"

"The whole ship heard," Winn laughed. "But don't worry. It did nothing but reinforce Kara's reputation for being good at everything she does."

The brunette laughed with him and rubbed at her cheek's redness, but then she sobered and put her hand on his arm. "Winn, I know how you feel about her and I'm sorry…"

"Don't… please," he interrupted softly. "Loving someone means that you want them to be happy. You make her happy."

"You're a good man," Alex whispered, voice stolen. "The best, in fact."

"So," Winn cleared his throat and changed the subject. "How do the clothes feel?"

Alex looked down at her leather pants and boots and the airy white shirt with frills at the cuffs and too many laces open at the throat. They were Kara's and slightly too big but very comfortable. Luckily, John had managed to salvage her boots before they'd sunk with Endeavor. "I feel more comfortable than I've felt in thirteen years." She shook her head. "I'm not sure I realized how much I didn't like wearing that uniform. It was part of me for so long that I'd become numb to it, I think."

Winn nodded. "And what are you going to do now… for the future, I mean?"

Alex's eyes moved to Kara, who was now stacking cannon balls in neat piles next to each cannon. "I'm unable to think about anything except being back with her," the brunette said quietly. "I was so terrified that I'd never see her again."

"She was too," the man replied. "She loves you, Alex. Please… don't hurt her. She's had enough hurt for three lifetimes."

Alex nodded. "She hasn't told me about her life," she said softly as the blonde Captain's eyes met hers across the deck and she smiled brightly. "How is it that she's suffered so much yet she can still smile like that?"

"Because she's amazing," Winn replied. Then he clapped her on the back and headed off to help Kara with the heavy cannon balls.

Alex followed, grinning as her lover paused to kiss her gently on the lips. "What can I do to help? I'm still a sailor, you know," the brunette said.

"Alex," Kara said with a frown. "You're injured still."

The brunette rolled her eyes affectionately. "I'm not a guest. I will earn my rations, Captain. Now what can I do?"

"The mizen mast needs to be retrieved and repaired," the Captain said, looking at the long timber pole that was lying over the deck rail. Its other end was bobbing in the water. They were very lucky they hadn't lost it completely. "Perhaps you could help Mr. Schott lead the effort?"

Alex was touched that Kara was mindful of her previous position, but she didn't need to be in charge of anything. "I will follow First Mate Schott's orders, Captain."

Winn chuckled and patted Alex's shoulder. "I think we're going to make a great team."

Despite the slight tension between the Navy crewman and pirates, the mood was fairly jovial on board the Devil's Cutlass. Work was getting done, repairs were being made and finally, when the Cutlass arrived in Jamaica, she was looking a lot better than she had after the battle with Endeavor. As the Navy crewmen filed off the ship, John and Alex went to the base to make an official report, for John to receive his official commission and for Alex to officially retire.

What Alex had NOT expected was for her father to be there.

Admiral Jeremiah Danvers, a tall, lean man with salt and pepper hair and a neatly trimmed beard, rose as she entered the base commander's office, his face the picture of shock. "Alexandra, where is your uniform," he asked, scandalized by her attire before he even greeted her with any fatherly affection.

Alex sighed, guessing correctly that fatherly affection would not be forthcoming. "At the bottom of the Caribbean Sea," she replied evenly. "It went down with the Endeavor and my ex-fiancé." She took a seat at the small conference table. "Hello, Father."

John and Vice-Admiral Wilcock-Johns, an old friend of hers from her academy days, also took seats, so Admiral Danvers did too.

"How is that possible?" Admiral Danvers demanded.

"Well, Sir," Alex went on. "As it turns out, Captain Lord was quite the criminal. I heard about his… wrongdoings… toward women from someone I love and when I broke our engagement, he went quite mad and tried to destroy my ship and me along with it. Luckily, I had help and we were able to defeat him. But he kidnapped me, Father, and tried to…" She swallowed. "He tied me to his bed and…" She swallowed again. "But I was saved from being cruelly used by someone who means everything to me."

Admiral Danvers sat there for a moment, his mouth agape. "YOU BROKE YOUR ENGAGEMENT!" he roared then, slamming his fist down on the table and making everyone jump. He got to his feet then, pointing at her, his face furious. "YOU HAVE DISCRACED ME, ALEXANDRA!"

John looked down, his hands fisting in his lap as tears welled in his friend's eyes, but Alex just blinked them back and slowly stood to lean closer to her father with her hands on the table. "You don't know the half of it, Father," she replied coldly, wondering to herself why she'd even hoped her father might care even a modicum for her. "I've retired from the Navy and I've fallen in love with the most incredible woman in the world." She grinned then. "And she's a pirate."

"A WOMAN?!" Danvers roared. Then he heard the pirate thing. "A PIRATE?! NO DAUGHTER OF MINE IS A…"

But Alex just turned and walked out the door, leaving her father spluttering behind her. He glared at John, who just shrugged, and then looked at Vice-Admiral Wilcock-Johns. The man was smiling and shrugged too. "Her life. She's earned it."

"Commander Jones, go after her," Danvers commanded. "Bring her back for court martial."

"It's Captain Jones. And I will not, Sir," the big man replied, his eyes steely. "She's a private citizen now and nothing she did while in command of Valiant warrants court martial. She almost lost her own life defending her crew against that maniac, Lord."

"Did you know about this woman?" Danvers asked angrily.

"I would not assume to have an opinion nor will I comment on Miss Danvers' personal life," John said with a cool gaze. "But without her beloved, we'd all be dead now, Sir."

"Her beloved," Danvers spat in disgust. "ABOMINATION!"

"No, Sir," Jones replied. "Love in not an abomination." He got up and firmly placed his tricorn on his head. "It's EVERYTHING." Then he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Danvers' fists opened and closed. "Give orders to ready my ship, Vice-Admiral. I have a pirate to catch."

"But, Sir…"

"NOW!"

At five bells, Alex entered the tavern in which she'd agreed to meet her lover. Port Royal was a far safer place than Tortuga but still Alex felt uneasy with no weapons. One thing she regretted was that her sword had gone down with Endeavor. She'd earned that weapon by working twice as hard as any other sailor and acutely felt its loss.

She found Kara sitting at a table near the back of the room, next to an open window and she wove through the crowd to sit next to her. The pirate immediately sat forward. "What is it, Love? What's wrong?"

Alex took a deep breath. "My father was at the base. He got angry, I got angry. We had words. I told him how you saved me and my crew. I told him about us."

Kara nodded, trying to process all that. "What did he say?"

"I don't know. I walked out when he started yelling." Alex buried her face in her hands. "I made a terrible mistake," she said.

There was silence between them for a long moment. "Choosing to be with me?" Kara then asked, very quietly.

The brunette's head shot up. Her eyes met Kara's and she saw the lost look in their blue depths. "No!" she exclaimed. "Never, Kara. Being with you is what I want more than anything!" She shook her head. "I made the terrible mistake of telling him you're a pirate. I wanted to hurt him and…" She shook her head again. "I'm such a fool."

Kara shook her head as she reached out and pulled her lover into her lap to hug her. "You are NOT a fool, Alex. But you HAVE committed yourself to a pirate so that may indicate questionable judgement." Her eyes danced with mirth as Alex laughed and gently slapped her shoulder.

"Stop that, or there will be punishment."

Kara's eyes widened playfully. "Ooohhh, promise?"

As always, her lover had made Alex feel so much better, but she was still apprehensive. "My father is going to come after us."

But the pirate just kissed her gently, ignoring the judging eyes in the room. "Let him come."

"We should tell her," Vasquez said softly as she ran her hand up Winn's stomach to play her fingers through his chest hair. "She's going to be happy for us."

"I know," the man chuckled. "When she gets over her surprise."

"Surprise? Why?" Sue asked. She chuckled then. "Oh. No, Kara knows that I like both men and women. She and I were only together once… many years ago." She paused then. "Unless… don't you want to tell her?"

"No, I do," the first mate said with a smile. "Maybe it's just me who feels a little strange."

"Because you love her?"

Winn didn't say anything.

"I know you love her," Vasquez said gently. "It's impossible not to," she admitted. "But you can't live your whole life pining for her."

"No, I know. If I was, I wouldn't be here with you. I wouldn't have these feelings for you." The man eased over onto his side, going chest to chest with Sue and kissing her gently. "I'll tell her."

The kiss deepened as she pulled him on top of her and parted her thighs. Winn pushed slowly and deeply inside her and their passionate dance started all over again.

Alex's eyes squeezed shut, her breathing coming hard and fast as Kara's fingers coaxed her into her third climax of the evening. "Oh Lord God, Kara," she groaned out, shaking her head as the blonde kissed her and began again. "As amazing as that feels, I'm sorry, I need to stop."

"Of course, Love," Kara gently replied. She rolled onto her back and grinned at the ceiling as the brunette snuggled against her.

"Kara, can I ask you something?" Alex's fingers played with one of the pirate's braids as she tried to frame her words.

"As me anything," Kara replied with a smile.

"Why did you become a pirate?"

The blonde chuckled. "Well, becoming a pirate wasn't exactly my choice," she said.

"Will you tell me?" Alex asked as she ran her fingertips over the ridges of her lover's stomach muscles. She loved Kara's stomach. Even the scar from her near-death experience with Maxwell Lord was sexy as hell. Although, in fairness, she realized, she loved every part of Kara's body.

"I was born in the year of Our Lord seventeen hundred and fifty in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Lord Zachary and Lady Alura Zorel. I was raised there until I was ten years old, when my father was offered a position in Port Royal as a politician. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with my friends and school… with my normal life… but of course I had to go with my parents, so my father booked us all passage." She smiled a little. "At first the voyage was enjoyable. My mother and father spent all their time with me, playing games. Hide and Seek became one of our favorites and, since I was the only child on board, the captain even looked the other way when I hid one time on the bridge behind the wheel." She chuckled then. "My father never did find me."

"So sweet," Alex murmured with a smile.

Kara's face settled then, and a little frown crinkled her brow. "They attacked at night… the pirates… they were running dark and the lookouts of our ship didn't see them approach until it was already too late. My mother and father hid me under the bunk in their quarters and I just lay there. I heard someone… a man… come into the cabin and my father barely got a word out before he slit his throat and then my mother's. She was screaming and I'll never forget how the sound just abruptly cut off."

Tears trickled down Kara's face and Alex gently wiped them away. "I'm so sorry, Kara."

"But he heard my little cry from under the bunk and dragged me out. He hit me and knocked me unconscious. It wasn't until afterwards that I realized it was Captain Schott himself who had murdered my parents." She was quiet for a moment and Alex just waited patiently, caressing her chest. "Schott wouldn't let me go. He decided to keep me on board the Cutlass. At first, I didn't know why. I was a scrawny, pampered aristocrat, heir to the Zorel fortune. I complained constantly about chores and I asked them over and over if they knew who I was and how dare they treat me that way." She chuckled. "Then one day, after a particularly bad beating, I realized that my life would never be the same again… so I just stopped. Winn was my best friend and at his urging, when I was thirteen, I finally just decide to be part of the crew, so I learned. I learned everything I could until I was the best sailor of all of them. I was strong, tall and independent…" Her voice trailed off again as her eyes turned dark. "And then I turned sixteen and I finally learned why Schott had kept me on board. He was a patient man for the things he wanted, and I suppose I WAS lucky he waited as long as he did."

Alex closed her eyes as she realized what was coming next. She laced her fingers through Kara's and held her hand tightly.

"The night of my sixteenth birthday, he asked for me to be brought to his cabin and… It was the first time I'd been with a man. I hated it, Alex. It hurt so much, and I cried so hard… begged him to stop, as he panted on top of me. When he'd finished, he just kissed my forehead and sent me back to my hammock. I felt so dirty, so used, so…" She shook her head and her face slowly eased into an impassive mask as she cleared her throat. "I taught myself to go away in my mind every time he did it. For two and a half long years I was at his at his mercy. I fell pregnant thrice. I lost two. The third was stillborn."

"Oh, Sweetheart," Alex whispered, so sad for her lover, yet so furious at Schott.

But Kara shook her head. "I wouldn't have wanted to bring a baby into that life, Alex."

The brunette nodded her understanding, tears welling.

"Then, one night, as he came inside me for the third time, he groaned and looked into my eyes. He said You're mine forever, Kara." Her lips pressed together. "And I knew I couldn't live like that anymore. After he sent me away and fell asleep, I crept back into his cabin, took his knife and slit his throat." Her eyes moved to her knife sitting in its sheath with her breeches on the chair. "That knife."

Alex nodded slowly and then leaned up to kiss her lover gently. "You had learned so much that you were able to take command of the Cutlass."

"Yeah," Kara nodded, letting out a long breath. "Schott was a hard man and was not loved by his crew so the first mate didn't even object. He was killed a while later though and that's when I put Winn in the position."

"You could have gotten away," Alex said softly. "You could have gone back to your family. Why did you not?"

"By the time I'd killed Schott, Winn had become my brother… the crew of the Cutlass had become my family, for good or for bad. So, I just stayed."

"Winn loves you," Alex said with a smile.

"I know…" Kara said with a matching smile. "But he's finally let himself get close to someone else. They think they're being discreet, but there's very little that happens on my ship that I don't know about." She chuckled. "They'll tell me when they're ready."

"You know, Kara, you're a very good person," the brunette said. Then she kissed Kara again. She couldn't get enough of the pirate's silken lips.

"Not as good as you are," the blonde replied. "I love how you care about people and how intuitive you are about their feelings."

"You may not think it… but you are too," Alex replied seriously. "You've been so attentive toward me. I can't thank you enough."

"That's because I fell in love with you the first time I laid eyes on you, looking incredibly gorgeous in your tight breeches and tricorn."

"You did?" Alex's face was the picture of surprise.

Kara smiled lovingly. "Mmmmhmmm. It just took me a while to realize."