New York, 6th of June 2013

When Edward woke, the throbbing pain in his head had disappeared. This couch that Katherine had made him sleep on was surprisingly comfortable, he could easily lie there for days on end. If only his fair rescuer would join him with a tankard of rum, then he would most definitely stay in this state. He smirked to himself, stretching before rising from where he lay. His robes and possessions, including his weapons, were on the other couch and when he approached them, he found them untouched. The woman must have been asleep still and from what little light came into her house, it was still early. Some of the devices she had were flashing, strange numbers lighting up and then changing.

Edward, curious of what these things were, started to press a button turning on what he only then figured out was a portable shanty machine. He laughed when music filled the room. It only took him seconds before he was touching everything. He fiddled around with a button device and turned on the moving picture screen, nearly falling back as he realised what he had done. Another laugh escaped his lips, he still could not believe the pictures on the glass box were moving! Edward began to press more buttons and the volume on the picture screen started to rise. He sat back on the couch, pulling his blanket with him and watched the screen with his legs crossed and an amused look on his face. He was entirely focused on it and with the volume at its loudest point, he was content. The people on the picture screen were talking about animals that were going extinct. Ah, hunting season, he thought.

Enraptured by the screen, Edward did not notice the half-asleep woman stumbling down the corridor. Her interesting attire had caught his attention, making him turn his head and grin at the woman. Edward wondered if all women dressed as scantily as they slept in this era. As she came into sight, snatching the button device and turning off what had turned on, she crossed her arms across her chest firmly and glared at him.

"Good morning, lass."

"Piss off." She yawned, "What the hell are you doing? It's five in the freaking morning! People are asleep now!"

"You're the one raising your voice." He said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Katherine looked annoyed with him, "Because you raised the volume on the television and speakers! What is wrong with you? This isn't your house, you cannot do what you want here."

"Television and speakers, ah, so that's what they're called." Edward smiled at the discovery.

"Stop evading the question, you little shit." Katherine stopped herself, "Sorry. I'm not a morning person. Look, don't do it again."

Edward didn't like the way she spoke to him, it was like he was a child or a fool. It was his turn to glare at her, though that was all he could do. She was the only person willing to help him the other night and he did not doubt she would be the only person willing to help him now. "I won't, sorry."

She sighed, "Whatever. Do you want to go shower? I'll make up some breakfast in the meantime. Bathroom is the first door on the right."

He was surprised when she walked off and left him to his own devices again but he followed instructions. The bathroom, first door on the right, was exquisite. He had never seen something like this, perhaps to another person it was plain but all of the things were new to him. It struck him that he had little idea of what he was doing. He eyed the glass door in front of him as he called out, "Lass!"

He heard her footsteps and her grumbling, she stuck her head in through the door. "What?"

"How do I work it? Where do I fetch the water from?"

Katherine scoffed, walking in and opening the glass door and extending one hand into the closed off space. She moved a handle to the side and water started to flow from another device, a head of sorts. He started to laugh, nodding in excitement. When the woman spoke to him she sounded annoyed, "Turn left for cold, right for warm - push the handle down when you're done. You have two minutes in the shower, three at most. All good?"

"Do the water thing again." He said pointing at the handle.

Sighing heavily, she turned the water on but it was different from before. The force of the water was intense, he stepped back and sneered. "The water pressure is too high, it'll causing unnecessary bruising. I don't want to die."

The woman looked at him with wide eyes and huffed, "You're... You're scared of showers... Wow, you would so be dead if I didn't help you last night."

Edward snarled at the woman, "I'm not scared of it. I don't know what the damn thing is. I'm cautious, you could be trying to kill me."

A very loud cackle was her response, "Adjust the flow and just take off your clothes and have a damn shower."

He glared at her as she hit the handle, stopping the flow of the water. Smirking, he started to remove his pants in front of her, let the woman feel uncomfortable so she can learn her lesson, he thought. "Aye, I can do that."

When she turned around, she gasped. "Shit, no! Not in front of me!"

Edward laughed as he saw her cover her eyes and slam the door behind her. Perhaps he shouldn't have done that, staying on the woman's good side was essential. Walking into the shower, he carefully lifted the handle and turned it slightly right and up. As warm water ran down his back, he felt at ease. He smiled and let the water fall onto his head. It wasn't as bad as he thought it was and perhaps Katherine wasn't trying to kill him after all. What Edward knew as he stood within the water box was that he did not want to spend two minutes or three at most in there.


Katherine scowled as she opened the fridge to get some eggs. She couldn't believe herself, she couldn't believe she let this man into her house and now she was making him breakfast. He was a stranger and a mad man but here she was making him bacon and eggs! Katherine wasn't even a fan of cooking but alas, she was already at it for her mental challenged guest. She couldn't believe he started to strip in front of her, the man clearly had no decency. He is pretending to be a pirate, she thought. Still though, his actions were foolish and hardly the decent thing to do.

She put some bread in the toaster, she was startled by a voice from behind her. "Lass, do you have any clothes?"

"Shit!" She whipped around to see the man quite confidently standing in front of her with a towel wrapped around his waist. Her face was starting to go red, whether it was from embarrassment or rage, she couldn't tell. "Yes. Yes, stay there."

She went into the guest room, a place where her older brother would crash when he was in the city so often that she attributed the room to being his. Rummaging through one of the drawers, what she found were a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, it would be loose on him but that didn't matter. He couldn't run around the city dressed in dirty assassin's robes, however expensive they must have been to buy online.

As Katherine made her way back to the kitchen, she found herself narrowing her eyes. The man put her on a guilt trip last night, he didn't seem to be hurting or sad this morning, it all must have been lies. She needed to get rid of him as soon as she could. Approaching him she extended her arm, "Here. Go to the bathroom and get changed, please."

"Are you sure you don't want me to do it here?" He smirked, Katherine had never wanted to slap a man across the face more.

"No." She growled, "Go to the bathroom."

He walked into the bathroom again and Katherine began pacing, why did I offer him help? He's a lecherous mad man. She sighed, straightening her back as she returned to the cooking. What she needed to do was establish herself as a figure that couldn't be easily dominated or manipulated and then she needed to kick him out of her house. He could find his help elsewhere, not with her. She placed two plates on the table, evenly distributing the bacon and eggs onto them and placed a piece of toast with each. Why I am doing these things?

When he returned, he boldly pulled out a stool and sat on it, staring at her intently. She moved the plate across the counter, putting a fork just above it. He thanked her and went right into eating, she had to watch for a moment as he wolfed down the food. She didn't take a seat, instead leaning against the other counter and eating in silence. It was uncomfortable, she didn't want to hear the stupid things he would say but sitting quietly with him was just as bad. He would occasionally look at her, making her shift under his gaze or turn around to pretend to check something on the fridge.

"So, about the Jackdaw," He began, "When and how are we going to get back to it?"

"We? No, there's no 'we' here. I said I'd help you for the night and then drop you off at a hotel. I thought maybe once you had a sleep you'd wake up and realise you're chasing fiction but clearly, I was wrong." Her words came out rudely and it was evident that the man in front of her was not happy.

"You're going back on your word?" He chuckled harshly, "I don't think you understand, lass. I need to get back to my ship."

"And I don't think you understand, Edward - if that's your real name. 'Your boat' doesn't exist. This little character thing you've got going on isn't real so you need to stop because frankly, I'm seconds from calling the cops or screaming so my neighbours do."

"It's a ship, not a boat." He spat, "And I am real, in case you haven't realised. Are you mad, woman? You're the one questioning what's in front of your own eyes and you have the audacity to question me?"

Katherine shut her mouth for a moment, letting his words sink in. He was right, in his own way. She was questioning a living man for being living and calling him mad. She lowered her voice, "Bring yourself down to my level for a second, Edward. In this world, you are not real - you are fiction. You have to understand that whatever is happening is not a daily occurrence. You are something that was fictional, someone whose life I saw unfold in front of my own eyes and now you're here. You're sitting in front of me and asking me to help you find a fictional ship. How can you not understand this? How can you keep playing along with this gimmick you have?"

Edward's face softened, he seemed to be thinking on her words as she did his. He spoke slowly, "How does something like this happen? If I'm not real then why am I here?"

Shaking her head she replied, "I don't know."

For the first time, Katherine saw something genuine in the man's eyes. It was fear riddled with confusion and pain. She actually pitied him, whatever anger she was harbouring seemed to disappearing. The notion that he was a mad-man went with it. She ought to give him the benefit of the doubt, strange things could happen, they did happen. He truly and madly believed himself to be this man, this fictional character and perhaps he was.

"Lass, look. All things aside... you have to help me. I know I can be a right prick at times but if I'm not real in this world then you have to help me get back to the one where I am." His eyes were bearing into her own, she didn't like it. He looked too hopeless for her to turn away.

She shrugged, a frown making a way onto her face, "I don't know how to."

His face fell and he nodded. "Thank you for your help then."

He pushed the plate gently away from him, rising from his seat and heading towards the door. Katherine had to shake her head to figure out what was going on. He was leaving, he was leaving her alone! Yet, it didn't feel as triumphant and liberating as she imagined. She cussed under her breath before putting her plate down and following him.

"Edward. Edward!" She watched with her hands on her hips as he fiddled with the locks, clearly failing to open them. It was odd, the locks were simple to open, he should have been out the door by now. "Edward, stop."

Katherine put her hand on his shoulder and he froze, dropping his hands from the locks. She quickly retracted it as he turned around, shaking his head and folding his arms across his chest. "What?"

"Look, I'm just as scared and confused as you are and I don't know what to do but I know you, if you're Edward Kenway, I know you. I can try and help you get back..." Katherine didn't know what else to say.

Edward frowned, "But you don't know how to, that's the problem."

Katherine sighed, her guilt getting the best of her. "You can stay here with me, we can figure this out one day at a time and hopefully, I can get you back. "Edward stared at her blankly, "And if we fail?"

"We won't. You got here somehow… I'm sure we can figure out how to get you back."

He unfolded his arms and smiled at her although Katherine could easily see through it, the man was far from happy. She should have thought out her words properly from before, she had just dropped a bomb on him. "Thank you, Katherine. I won't burden you for long, I promise."


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