The constant rocking and rolling of this damn ship was going to make her sick, but this was the price she had to pay if she wanted to be close to her father. The small brunette tilted her head backwards and closed her eyes, wondering when this torture would end. Another rock of the ship caused the back of her skull to meet the thick wooden pillars behind her. She groaned, as she placed her hand onto the back of her head, cursing under her breath and rubbing the injured spot. She had to ask herself if this sudden storm was because she was the only woman on a ship filled with men? That was the superstition wasn't it? Women were bad luck on ships, or some nonsense like that. She wasn't even fully sure anymore. All she knew was she wanted to get off this damn ship as soon as possible.

"Miss Anson! Miss Anson!"

A boy came barreling down the wet, slopping steps from the upper deck, his hair matted to the sides of his face and his clothing a sopping mess. He sucked in a deep breath, as he grabbed onto the nearest pillar.

"Miss Anson! You're all right!"

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Just feeling a little ill."

The boy kneeled in front of her and smiled a big toothy grin. He was a young boy, around the age of 9. A young midshipman, as it were. He was full of joie de vivre; running all over the ship and doing anything he can to please the captain. It was clear that he loved the naval life.

"The storm is letting up. We'll be out of this mess soon!"

"That's wonderful. Thank you, James."

He turned to run back upstairs, presumably to continue helping the others keep the ship afloat. Before he made it all the way up the stairs, the woman called to him.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Please, call me Cora."

He hesitated for a moment, before finally smiling at her.

"Yes, Miss Cora."

He took off again, disappearing onto the top deck. From where she was sitting, the sky was starting to look calmer. The dark, menacing gray clouds were starting to disperse and the sun was trying its damnedest to make its grand re-appearance. Despite that, the ship was still rocking, and Cora's body had had enough. She crawled over to a barrel and put her face over the opening. The next unfortunate soul that came down the stairs was met with coughing, gagging and the smell of vomit. He placed a hand over his mouth and nose, to keep himself from joining her.

"Miss Anson, the captain wanted me to check on you."

When Cora got a moment to speak, she picked her head up and sighed.

"James just came to see me. I'm fine. Thank you, though."

"Understood, ma'am."

Not a moment later, he disappeared. Either he had other chores to attend to, or the smell of the vomit was too overpowering. Cora figured it to be the latter, considering the small area she was in. She, honestly, wouldn't be able to spend much time in there either. So, as soon as the ship seemed stable enough, she hiked up her skirts and ventured onto the top deck. Cora stopped the first crewman she saw and frowned. Before she could speak, she felt her cheeks get warm. She wasn't sure why but something about throwing up in a barrel was a little embarrassing to her. Even though it was a normal bodily function, she felt as if women weren't supposed to do that, or at least make sure no one found out about it.

"I apologize, I got a little sick. The ship was- "

"No need to say more, ma'am. I'll have one of the cabin boys take care of it."

"Thank you."

Cora walked over to the handrails of the ship and looked over. The water was, now, lapping gently against the ship. It was almost as if the storm had never happened, hadn't not been for the fact that it was still a little gray out. Those menacing clouds had dispersed but left mass amounts of fog instead. Weather on the sea was strange to her but normal to everyone else on board. They were used to it, she wasn't. Cora was used to some dreary days in England, especially around this time of year. The weather was a gamble, every single day. It seemed like down here in the Caribbean the weather was warm and very often, sunny. Today was a minor exception. Honestly, she almost forgot that she wasn't close to port in the English Channel.

Her eyes focused on the waves and she let her mind wander. Commodore George Anson, Cora's father, was always out at sea, sometimes for years on end. One of his excursions had taken him away from his family for close to two years. He was always leaving Cora and her mother alone, but that was how his career operated. Cora's mother, Katharine, never complained though. She was used to it. She knew how much her husband loved the sea life and she never wanted to take that from him. She was a loyal woman, through and through. Someone that Cora based her morals on.

It had been months since she had seen her father, for he had gone off on another mission, after the success of the Porto Bello operation in Panama and last she heard; her father would be heading to the Pacific to attack Spain's possessions, continuing the tensions with the European country. However, he would be stopping in Port Royal to refit before they set off again and she was excited to finally see him.

Cora didn't have many things that reminded her of her father, but she did have at least one thing. It was a necklace he gave her when she was 15. It was a simple looking black rock, set in gold. When it was held up the light, it become almost translucent, as if you were looking into amber. Any other time, it looked as if it was a piece of lava rock. She reached up to touch it, a smile sliding across her face as she did.

Cora's thoughts were abruptly disrupted by someone tugging at her elbow. She looked down to see James, smiling up at her. Cora returned the smile, as she turned towards him.

"Why, hello, James."

"Hi Miss Cora!"

"Are you finished with your chores?"

His smile almost completely disappeared. He looked down at the deck and kicked at imaginary rocks.

"Almost. I just wanted to check on you. See how you were feeling. I heard you threw up all over the place."

Cora pursed her lips together, feigning annoyance.

"Now that is just a lie. I only threw up in a barrel."

"Close enough," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Well, I heard the lieutenants talking and they said they're making you sleep in there, so I don't have to."

"No!" The look of horror on his face caused Cora to laugh.

"It stinks! I'll never be able to fall asleep!"

"Ahh well, that's too bad. You'll have to get used to stinky smells on ships."

"Miss Cora, it's worse than the livestock down there!" He protested, his voice turning very whiney.

She folded her arms over her chest and scoffed at him.

"It is not!"

"You stink." He said through a laugh, before running off.

Cora watched him and shook her head. Cheeky little thing, he was. Ever since she stepped onto this ship, James clung to her as if she was his older sister. Even though they had only known each other for a little more than three weeks, he had a special bond with her that she didn't really share with any of the other children. If her father and mother had had a son, she would want it to be James. Even though he was only 9, he tried to act much older. He tried to act like one of the teenage boys that were on the watch. He wanted to be just like them, but Cora had a habit of bringing him back down to being a true child.

James had made his way over to a group of boys standing by the bow of the boat. They were all looking towards the fog that still took over in the distance. Cora folded her arms over her chest, watching and wondering what was so interesting over there. James squeezed through the crowd to get a better. The officer of the watch stood there, peering through the spyglass. The other midshipman beside him looked out to into the distance.

"What was it?"

"It … it looked like something in the fog, but I can't be sure of what it was exactly."

He took the spyglass from the officer and looked through it. He saw nothing but perhaps the fog was just too thick to see anything. Or perhaps the officer was just seeing things.

"What do you want to do?" Asked the one holding the spyglass, looking to the officer with a slightly concerned face.

He hesitated, unsure of himself. From what Cora knew about him, Hollom was an incompetent midshipman who was too old to still hold that title, but he was a candidate to become a commissioned officer. His current duty, however, was to keep watch over the ship, a job that changed to other midshipmen throughout the day.

"I said, I can't be certain." He said, looking down at the ground, not wanting to look at the group behind him. He knew their eyes on were on him; he could almost feel them, like hot daggers stabbing at him.

"Well you're officer of the watch, you need to be certain. Are we going to beat to quarters or not, Hollom? You must make a decision."

The watchman, Hollom, sucked in a breath, looking to the other midshipman and shrugged. The midshipman, looking clearly, perturbed, turned to the group.

"We shall beat to quarters!"

Cora watched as everyone began to scatter around her. The sound of the drums from a Royal Marine started. It was chaos. She felt as if she was lost and was unsure of where to even go. Where did you run at a time like this? Thankfully, James ran to Cora and grabbed her hand. He began to pull her towards the entrance to the decks, below.

"What's happening?"

"We aren't sure, Miss Cora! Mr. Hollom may have seen something in the fog, but he wasn't sure."

The midshipman who made the call ran downstairs, his top hat askew and his face beat red. He was making sure that Cora was somewhere safe. He nodded towards James for a job well done.

"This is just a precaution, miss. If Hollom did see something, we can at least be read- "

At that moment a loud bang sounded through the air. Cora ducked behind some barrels, letting out a scream and placing her hands over her ears. She had never dealt with a battle, especially at sea. She didn't need to be an expert in battle to know that that sound was a cannon.

This was a world that belonged to sailors, not daughters of commodores. She wished that she could make herself smaller, but she couldn't. She wasn't even sure if this was the safest place to be or if there was even a safe place.

The midshipman, who Cora knew as Calamy, ran upstairs with James in tow. Cora wanted so badly to yell at James and tell him to stay with her. He was much too young to see battle, but that was the way of the Royal Navy. That was war in this modern age.

"Miss Cora, stay here and keep your head down! Stay as flat at you can!"

With that, he was gone. He disappeared onto the top deck once again.

Cora could hear the shouting of various men above her. The one that was the most prominent was the captain. He barked orders, calling for the Royal Marines to get ready for a fight. Another loud bang sounded, making her fall to the ground and curl up. This time it was clear that the ship was hit. She heard the impact and the cracking of the hull. It sounded as if the ship was tearing in half.

She tried listening some more but the blood, that was now, rushing through her ears was deafening. Her heart was nearly pounding out of her chest. Thoughts flooded her head and none of them were good. Were the Spanish attacking them? After all, they were still in conflict with Great Britain. Was it pirates? They were in the Caribbean. Whatever it was, she wanted no part of it. She wished she could just close her eyes and wish herself away. She was beginning to think that leaving England was a bad idea.

The yelling above deck became louder, somehow. It seemed like there was more men aboard, due to the sheer volume of voices. Gunfire soon took over and Cora continued to stay hidden.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the deck began to fall silent. Now, she heard a single man shouting orders, but it wasn't the voice of their captain. Perhaps it was a lieutenant or another high-ranking officer? No. The orders that were being shouted didn't seem like they would come from their mouths. They were, definitely, British, though.

"Look for anybody hiding. Surely some of these sailors are weak and wanted to avoid the fight!"

The sound of boots began to parade down the stairs below decks. Cora tried to peek through the barrels to see who they were, even though she already had a good inclination. It didn't take long for one of them to find her. Hiding behind barrels wasn't really the greatest hiding place but she had been far too frightened to move anywhere else.

One of the men grabbed her by the ankle and dragged out her from her hiding spot. Cora kicked and screamed, knowing full well, in the back of her mind, that that would do absolutely nothing to help her. Another man stood over her, a rope in his grasp. He tied Cora's hands and feet before hoisting her up under her arm pits, as his accomplice grabbed her ankles, once again.

They walked up the steps, Cora squiggling every inch of the way. She was still screaming. One of the men grumbled, telling his partner that he should have 'shut the bitch up.' The other man had responded in his thick Irish accent, telling him that he didn't have anything to shut her up with. However, he had an idea. He moved his lips to her ear; his breath was hot and smelled of rum and decay.

"If ye keep screamin', I'm gon' slit yer troat."

Cora did as she was told and instantly shut her mouth. A part of her wondered if being killed would be better than what was possibly going to happen to her next.

"Oh look, cap'n! They have a little whore on board! Wonder who she was waiting for next, below the decks!"

The captain turned to the man that seemed to be caught in a rhyme and nodded once. When he turned back to look at Cora, who was, now, being placed onto the ground and tied to a post, he wore an evil grin. It was enough to make her skin crawl.

Cora, finally, got the chance to look around her and she noticed how many men were left alive. There were a few bodies on the ground, but most of them were just injured and tied up.

"So, who is this, Captain Hammond?"

The captain that Cora had come to know and respect, stayed silent. This annoyed the intruder, causing him to kneel and get close to the captain's face. If it wasn't clear that they were pirates, now, it was. Hammond looked over to Cora, his eyes sad. He had failed; failed his crew, failed Commodore Anson, and failed Cora. He shook his head as the man whispered something into his ear. The man stared at him for a moment before straightening up and moving towards Cora. Hammond struggled against the ropes that bound him, but it was no use, he wasn't going to be getting free.

"Get away from her!"

It was Calamy that yelled out. He, too, was struggling against the ropes. As a matter of fact, most of the men were wiggling around, trying to get out of their restraints. These men were warriors and they didn't want to sit idly by and let these pirates win. Unfortunately, this ship wasn't big enough for a battle and the pirates outnumbered them.

"Well, hello there." The pirate bent down, getting level with Cora's gaze.

"I'm Captain Cross, and what's your name?"

"Don't tell him!" Captain Hammond shouted. He was, quickly, silenced by another pirate, punching him in the punch. That seemed to give Cross enough information. She was someone special, at least to that captain. He just didn't know how special.

Cora tried to avert her emerald eyes from the man. She wanted to look anywhere but at him, but she was finding it difficult. If she turned her head to the side, she saw dead bodies, scattered across the deck. The best she could do was close her eyes, but that only caused the pirate captain to grab her chin. She squeaked at his touch, terror sweeping over her.

"That's fine, lass. You don't have to tell me."

He took to his knee, as his eyes wandered the rest of her body. He focused on cleavage that caused by her corset and tight bodice. Nestled in between her breasts was the black rock. He grabbed at it, his fingers grazing the top of her breast when he did. Cora looked straight ahead, trying to pretend that he wasn't there and that this wasn't really happening. The rock didn't seem to interest him, since he let it drop back down to her chest. He did find something that he had interest in, but he couldn't see. Cross moved his hand down to the bottom of her skirts and took a grip on them.

"Say boys, it's been quite a while since we've had a woman around. What do you say we take advantage of that, right in front of this lovely crew?"

This was it. They were going to rape her. A chill ran down her spine and her skin began to crawl all over again. She tried to take in a deep breath, but it didn't catch. She tried again but had the same results. It felt as if the all the oxygen around her was sucked away. Her heart began to pound against her rip cage, as if was trying to break free from her chest and expose itself to the world. She tried for another deep breath, but nothing came. Cora noticed that her breathing was becoming faster and more erratic as the seconds ticked on. As all this happening, Captain Cross was pulling up her skirts, revealing her legs inches at a time.

As her breathing became chaotic, his hand slipped under her skirts and moved up the rest of the way up her thigh. She could feel his grimy fingers, gently, touching her labia. Cora could feel her eyes welling up, as the panic attack she was experiencing was reaching its peak. Captain Cross moved his lips to the side of her neck, sending another shiver through her body, as a gasp escaped her mouth.

Just as Cora thought he would finally penetrate her with his finger, a yell came from behind her. She turned her head toward the sound and saw James running towards Captain Cross and herself. Where had he been hiding this whole time? She didn't care, she was just happy he was safe. At least he was. Now, he was putting himself into danger. Too much danger.

"Leave Miss Cora alone!"

James closed the space between him and Cross. It wasn't until he was close enough that Cora noticed he was carrying a wooden board. Cross reached down onto his belt, pulled out his pistol and aimed it at James. Cora didn't have time to protest. Cross pulled the trigger, unleashing a bullet towards James and hitting him in the forehead. Cora screamed as James' eyes rolled backwards, his head tilting and him falling to the ground. Bits of brain matter and skull fragments speckled the blood that began pooling around him. Tears streamed down her face, blinding her, momentarily. She shook her head, violently, from side to side. The only word that she could utter was a constant stream of 'no.'

The shot caused Calamy to squirm even more, all while screaming James' name. Other men had followed suit, while some stared in shock at the dead boy. Somehow, Calamy managed to get free. He scrambled to his feet and ran at Captain Cross. Knocking into him, the teenage boy pinned him to the ground. The crew cheered him on, before the pirate crew took hold of him. Captain Cross, slowly, got to his feet and sneered at him.

"Is this little bitch that important that you'd all risk dying for her?"

"You're going to kill us, regardless. At least we can die with honor, by keeping her safe." Said Captain Hammond.

Cross let out a bolstering laugh and placed his hands onto his hips.

"Honor, eh? We'll see about that."

Cross turned to his crew and threw his hands into the air.

"Let's go, boys. Leave the bitch here."

Cora raised her brow in confusion. She was grateful he wouldn't be touching her anymore but the sudden change in his demeanor was strange. He just wanted to have his crew rape her into of the Royal Navy and now he wanted to just leave her there? Did he think they wouldn't try to free themselves?

"Kill that boy first, then set the ship on fire. Let's see how much honor they have."

One of the pirates walked over to Calamy. He stood over the boy and quickly plunged a dagger into him. His screams filled the air, causing Cora closed her eyes and shake her head again. Her breathing had relaxed but her heart was still beating uncontrollably.

"You don't want to have fun with the girl, sir?"

"Oh, we are going to have fun with her. We're going to watch her burn. Watch her skin peel from her body as the flames engulf her, all while she realizes that the Royal Navy did nothing to save her."

They left soon afterwards, lighting a barrel on fire. It didn't take long for the fire to spread. The heat from the flames was beginning to make Cora sweat and the smoke was making her choke. She would rather die like this than have that ogre continue to touch her. Cora put her head back against the mast and looked up towards the sky. It was a lot bluer than it was an hour or so ago, even if it was being mixed with smoke. Screams of men burning alive began to pollute the air. That was a sound that she would never forget.

Cora felt something touch her arm, making her look down. It was Calamy. He was still alive; barely. He coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. He took a small knife from his boot and began to cut Cora's ropes. When he was finished, he looked up to her and tried to muster a smile.

"Go Miss Cora. Get off the ship."

His voice was weak. Cora knew he was dying. She placed a hand onto his cheek and frowned. There was nothing she could do to save him. Calamy had moved next to her, and when she turned to look at him again, his eyes were staring straight ahead, and they looked lost. His chest was no longer rising and falling; his body had gone limp. He was gone. She sucked in a breath, trying to hold it together a bit longer. She placed a kiss onto his cheek and whispered, 'thank you'.

The flames were spreading quickly, which meant she didn't have a lot of time to cut all of men, still alive, loose. She, however, was still going to try. Cora grabbed the knife from Calamy's hand and raced over to the closet men. She got them freed and one of them took the knife from her.

"Get out of here, we'll get as many as we can."

The only place to go was overboard and with her dress, that would be incredibly dangerous. Cora found the strength to rip the dress off, leaving her in her corset and chemise. She vaulted over the rails and plummeted down into the water below.

Thankfully, Cora didn't have to float there for too long, before she pieces of the broken hull to cling onto. She dropped her head and closed her eyes.

"Is anyone alive?"

"Not sure, sir. We're still looking."

"Why bother? It's an English ship."

Cora awoke what seemed to be hours later, as the sun was setting in the distance, to voices with thick Spanish accents. Her eyes fluttered, wanting to shut again. She couldn't shut them though; she knew she needed to get their attention. Fearing that if she let go of the wood, she wouldn't have enough strength to swim, she decided to call out to the men.

"Help!" Her voice was hoarse, her throat was sore. It felt as if she had swallowed embers and sand.

"Help! Please!"

"Over there! A woman!" Cora looked towards the voice, to see a small boat rowing towards her. Cora closed her eyes again. A moment later, she was being pulled into the boat. She was too exhausted to open her eyes again. She just hoped that, now, she would be safe.

*High society women in the 18th century did not wear underwear. The only undergarment they wore, besides a corset. was a chemise (a long white shirt). Just needed to make that note, in case people were curious as to why Captain Cross had such ... easy access.*

** There will be an UNCENSORED version on AO3, due to sexual restrictions here on. If you are interested, please look up this same title on AO3. **