New York, 9th of June 2013
The local library was quiet and dark place, especially when it rained. It was exactly the place they needed to be, secluded and somewhat comforting. Katherine scoffed as she pulled out the book she wanted, 'Lost At Sea: True Stories of Disaster by John Harris', she doubted it would hold any answers but it was a start. There was a rumble from above them, a storm was coming. Edward sat at the table and stared at the book in front of him intently before turning a page, her lips twitched up at the sight of the man. They had been getting along decently, he was a little annoying and rude but otherwise polite most of the time. He's like a child, she thought, a violent adult child.
"Anything interesting?" She arched an eyebrow as she took a seat.
"No, lass." He frowned, "They mention Thatch, Hornigold, Vane and Rackham in this but not me. It's like I wasn't even there."
She gently pried the book from his hand and frowned at the cover, 'Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate'. It had nothing to do with what they were looking for, they needed information on people being lost at sea, disappearances or even mental health. That's what they planned on doing - finding information first and then figuring out what to do. Although, it seemed that they were truly getting nowhere.
"Edward, this isn't what we need to be looking at. I told you to find things on ship wreckages, not this." Her brow furrowed in annoyance but soon her gaze softened as she noticed the man was distressed. "I'm sorry, Edward. I don't know what to say."
"You don't need to apologise, Katherine. You've told me before about the way things are. I should have known."
She leant forward, putting her own book aside and spoke quietly, "We need to start at the beginning, Edward. Can you tell me what you think happened to get you here?"
"I've told you before, it's the same. I was on the Jackdaw tailing another ship, there was a storm coming... I made it on board alone, there was no treasure on the ship so I went back on deck. One of the soldiers, a Spaniard, he said something about 'Triángulo del Diablo'. I don't remember much after I jumped off board, not until I woke up here."
Triángulo del Diablo, Katherine spent a few moments thinking on the name. She had taken Spanish back in high school, some of it still stayed with her now. Triángulo meant triangle and Diablo meant devil... Devils Triangle? The name sounded oddly familiar, she felt as if she had read a book about it or seen a movie that mentioned it. Then, it hit her.
"The Bermuda Triangle!" She exclaimed loudly, earning her a few glares for the other patrons in the library. Edward cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. Perhaps they had a different name but Katherine did not doubt they were the same thing. She lowered her voice and snapped at him, "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
Edward spoke harshly, "I couldn't exactly recall on it earlier, Katherine. I was too busy learning about a new world to remember what happened in mine. Besides, your constant chatter has done me no good."
"Ungrateful prick," She said quietly, "Stay here and don't move, I think I know what to get."
She stood up and walked into a different section of the library. When she returned she brought a handful of books with her, a combination of fiction and non-fiction. She put them down on the table in front of a sullen looking Edward, pushing her chair in and taking a seat beside him. It was best they didn't yell at each other and get kicked out when they could quietly snap at each other.
Katherine slid a book in front of him and quickly took her own, they sat in a silence. From the corner of her eye she could see the man beside her staring at her and so, she huffed and turned to him. Katherine cleared her throat and moved her seat to the side slightly, their faces were a little too close for comfort. She growled, "Do I look like a book to you, Edward?"
Much to her surprise, the man quietly began to chuckle. He did not break their gaze, "Aye, you do. Much more interesting than the one on the table."
One of Katherine's eyes twitched. Flattery, she thought, and obvious flattery. Although she did not what brought such a thing on, she did not care and promptly shut him down. "Read the damn book, Edward. Flip through it if you must, just don't stare at me when you could be doing something better."
"Fine." Edward turned to the book in front of him and muttered something under his breath.
"What? I'm sorry, I missed that. What was it?"
Edward turned to her again, a smirk on his face. "Nothing at all, lass."
Katherine's eyes narrowed and she regrettably moved closer to him, "Go on, say what you need to say."
Edward laughed at her face, "Well then, Katherine. What I said was I could be doing something better with you instead of reading this damned book. I think we're both stressed-"
With a red face, due to either embarrassment or anger, Katherine stood up and firmly said a few words before walking away from Edward. "Nope, that's it. You're on your own. Find your own way back home."
Taking some of the books in her hands, Katherine went and dropped them in the returns trolley and waved at the librarian at the counter. Edward could get lost for all she cared, after all, she wasn't the type of girl that fell for the advances of men like him. He could find his own way back to damn ship and his damn world. As she went to push the door open, she felt a strong grip on her wrist and scoffed as she turned around. She didn't know why a lie slipped out of her lips but she couldn't stop once she had begun. "I have a boyfriend, you know. He wouldn't appreciate you trying to sleep with me."
"Is that so? I haven't seen him, what's he like?" Edward beamed at her
"Michael... is wonderful, he's an actor and a gentleman, unlike you." Katherine glared at him.
Edward laughed at her and pulled her closer to him, "Well, he mustn't be doing too good a job if you're spending so much time with me."
"Fuck-"
"Everything okay here?" One of the elder librarians said, her hands on her hips.
"We're fine, thank you. Can't quite get our hands of each other, actually. Apologies, we'll leave now."
Awestruck by his comment, Katherine inwardly cringed and nodded at the librarian with a quick smile. She pulled him out of the building with a tug of his arm, fuming as he laughed at her. As the cold breeze and light rain hit them, she released his arm and marched off with him following behind her, grinning like a fool. This was not happening, she couldn't believe she let him into her house - of course, he just wanted to sleep with her and leave. Katherine wanted to hit herself for letting him into her home.
"Where are you going Katherine?"
"Away from you," She turned around to face him, "You can find somewhere else to go, I'm going to get a drink."
Not caring how early in the day it was, Katherine managed to dissolve into a crowd and head to a local watering hole. She didn't quite care if Edward was left alone, he'd probably find his way back to her house and break-in or maybe he would use his eagle vision to find her. She laughed at the thought of it, he could try but he wouldn't find her, life was not a game.
Edward had to admit, he didn't imagine finding his way back to Katherine's house would be so easy and yet, there he was in front of it and picking at the lock. If she didn't want him around, she shouldn't have given him directions earlier. He laughed at the woman as the door opened, she was so easily riled up. When he entered, shutting the door behind him, he noticed that the house was silent. How long could a woman of her stature be out drinking? He had wandered for a good hour before getting to her house, surely she wasn't at a tavern still. She must have gone for a walk, she had done that the other day when he accidentally discovered where her undergarments were when he was looking for his clothes.
He figured she would be back soon as he sat on the couch. He grabbed the button device for the moving picture box, switching it on and watching various things that came on the screen. He stopped abruptly when he saw a ship on the screen, the pictures were telling a tale of a Captain Sparrow. He never knew of this Captain, he seemed the most eccentric fellow.
As time went by, Edward noted that it began to grow darker and that Katherine had yet to return. He instinctively felt worried, she was his only hope of returning back to the Jackdaw and the only person who seemed to give a damn about him in this world, no matter how angry she got with him. Edward groaned as he rose and slipped on one of the hooded garments Katherine had given him and his hidden blades. He would have to find her and he hoped his only ticket home wasn't in a ditch.
He followed the path that he took when finding his way to her house, now arriving at the spot where she had left him. From where he stood in the vicinity, there were two taverns. Edward figured he'd try his luck at the closer one to see if she was there. Taking a look in from the window, he could not see a familiar face inside but he pushed the door open and strode in just in case he missed her. Men were screaming at the moving pictures and wenches sat on their lap, some of the people were drinking things that looked far from rum in clear bottles.
Bartenders were always good for information, he thought as he walked over to the tattooed man behind the counter. "I'm wondering if you've seen my friend, a pretty lass - Not too tall, auburn hair, green eyes and seemingly angry with life?"
The man shrugged, "Sorry, haven't seen her."
Nodding, Edward left to try the other tavern. He could see more from the window of this one than the last, there were a few women there that had their back turned to the door. Pushing it open, he repeated his actions from last time and went to the bartender. This man was burly looking with fierce eyes and Edward found himself glaring at him as he described Katherine to him.
"Ah, the chick with the great rack?" He cackled, "How can I forget? She's in the corner there, I think."
"Thank you, mate." Edward spat and turned on his heel in the direction that the bartender had pointed to and saw her immediately. She was talking to a man who had his arm firmly around her shoulder, Edward clenched his jaw as he approached them. The man stared at her lecherously as he tried to pull her closer to him, Edward felt a pang of rage as he got closer to them.
"Katherine!"
She turned and have him a confused look, the stranger with her turned to face him as well. It didn't occur to him that this may have been the man she spoke of earlier, her partner but even if it was, he wasn't happy with the sight before him.
"What are you doing here, Edward?" Her words were slightly slurred. He had seen this before, men taking advantage of women who were in no position to make a choice in the matter. It was how he met Caroline, by saving a girl she knew from three men who wanted to do no good to her.
"I came to find you, how long have you been here?"
Katherine shook her head and turned back to the man she was speaking with. Edward, however, remained in the spot he was before, refusing to leave. It was the stranger's turn to make a comment.
"I think you should leave, man." He snarled, "The lady is with me and clearly doesn't want to be around you."
Whoever the man was, he had the audacity to place a hand on her thigh and run it up and down her leg. Edward noticed Katherine flinch and stiffen, she gave him a look, one which gave away the fact that she was uncomfortable and scared. Edward clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles began to turn white.
"I said leave." The man stood up but Edward reeled his arm back and threw his fist in the man's face. The first punch hit his chin.
A veteran of bar fights, Edward stood up straight, his eyes building with rage as he stared at his opponent. As the man stood up, he went to punch him again, lunging forward but the man swiftly ducked underneath his blow. Katherine shrieked and drew his attention away from the man who sent a ripple of pain through his torso with a body shot. Edward did not fall, he made sure he did not fall as the man now leapt towards him. He shoved him off and threw two punches that staggered the man. He laughed at the man before him, catching his fist as it came flying towards him and responding with an uppercut. The sound of the man's teeth making contact wasn't enough as Edward grabbed him by the collar and then slammed his head onto the table where he sat. He growled as he held the man's head down, "Don't tell me what to do, mate and don't you ever touch her like that again."
Katherine stared at him with a mix of fear and gratitude on her face before jumping of the seat and taking his hand. He didn't care about the people looking at him as he gripped her hand tightly and pulled her towards the door. Once they were outside, Edward wiped the blood from the side of his mouth with his free hand, still pulling the woman along behind him.
"Edward?" A small voice spoke from behind him, "Edward, your grip is really tight."
"Sorry." He muttered, loosening his grip on her hand. He was expecting her to pull away from him, to hiss and yell but instead she kept her hand in his own as she now walked beside him.
"Edward, stop." Katherine stopped and stood with her hand pulling him towards her.
He sighed and faced her, "What, Katherine?" His words came out harsher than he intended, he was still fuming from the fight.
Katherine, however, merely stared at him with wide eyes as she bit down on her lip. She shook her head, opening her mouth and closing it as if she couldn't find the right words. He didn't want nor did he need her to thank him, he only did what he hoped any man would. Katherine's free hand reached out towards his face, wiping away some blood near his lip.
"Not that I don't appreciate it but you didn't need to do that back there."
"Katherine-"
"Wait," She closed her eyes and shook her head. When Katherine began to laugh, he soon found himself chucking at the woman in front of him. "I'm not going to lie, I'm a little drunk but uh... thank you for what you did. I'm sorry I was such a bitch before, you just make me really angry because you're so dumb but I love that you're dumb. God, I could kiss you for what you did back there... Actually, don't listen to me, I'm dumb too. I'm drunk. I'm so drunk, take me home please, Edward."
"Alright. Come on, lass. Let's get you to bed." Edward found himself grinning at the woman beside him who walked with a slight hop in her drunken state. It was a strange sight, seeing her like this. He couldn't imagine she would be so satisfied with the situation if she was sober and was glad that she didn't seem to care much about anything. It certainly was a nice change seeing her like this but Edward knew that the spectacle before meant that things would be different between them. He was not looking forward to when she sobered up and decided to be angry at everything he did again but for the moment, he was content.
A/N: So sorry for the late update guys! We've currently been in the middle of a heat wave and honestly, who wants to be anywhere other than in front of an air conditioner? Nonetheless, thank you for all the lovely reviews, it's so exciting to see all the support you guys have given us and it only fuels us to write more! Let us know what you guys think of this chapter!
