Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet

A/N: PLEASE VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT GET AN UPDATE UNTIL THERE IS A MAJORITY. THANK YOU. ALSO ITS A MULTIPLY CHOICE ONE SO YOU CAN SELECT UP TO 4 CHOICES IF THAT HELPS.

Ignoble Deeds

For AyBenelli

When the first blast hit the ship Cassandra thought she went back in time back to the day of her fathers death. She could hear her heartbeat she she slipped away from Jim's grasp and fell to the ground with her back crashing against the deck. She couldn't feel the pain which would usually be soaring up and down her spine. Even the explosive sounds swirling around seemed to be just sucked into a void. Her second thought that perhaps something was telling her that she was going to die the same way as her father. She could imagine death flying right down, staring her in the face, telling her that she was foolish for not heeding his first warning. As if it was those who would become Captains in the Richardson family were doomed to die in space.

However when she looked up from the ground after falling over and saw fighter planes shooting across the sky over them. She tried to see if there was a symbol on their planes so that she could identify them but she could see that her vision was slightly blurred also. Her felt dizzy and also found herself swaying from side to side gently. She could hear Jim ordering the crew to man the cannons and fight back. He was so busy about defending the ship that he had completely forgotten about her. She was glad of this because she didn't ever want to be a liability to the safety of the rest of the crew. However there was the faint sound of a little girl in her mind screaming at him for not thinking about her and her safety. She reached out to him and felt herself try to call out to him however it only came out as a faint, weak croak from the back of her throat. She shook this away and got up. She could take care of herself.

She got to her feet and shakily made her way across the deck. Her hair was more disarrayed than it was before. Her dress had been ripped by something and was now hanging off her shoulder. She knew that if she could see herself in the mirror or if she was walking down the street she would be easily mistaken for being a prostitute. She smirked momentarily at the thought. She found the concept funny as well as the fact that the only thing she seemed to care about or find herself thinking about was her appearance. Of all moments it was this one. She wanted to mentally slap herself around the face and get serious. The ship was being attacked. She wanted to help but due to her lack of expertise she knew she would only get in the way. She was going to to do what she usually thought a coward would do and run to safety. However when she tried to turn around and run under deck she found she couldn't move.

She looked around and felt herself be pushed now and then when she was in the way. She didn't seem bothered, in fact she felt almost brain dead now. She could see people screaming in her face, probably telling her to get below deck but she didn't seem bothered by what they were saying to her. She continued to walk and they ignored her thinking that she would eventually turn back and run to safety. They were just faces. Screaming faces who meant nothing to her. They had too much to do to worry about her now. She felt like she was under some spell which she couldn't get out of. She could feel her mind telling her to turn around and run but something inside her seemed to pull her into the midst of all the danger. Her arms felt as heavy as lead and allowed them to slump down the sides of her body. Her legs felt as free as the wind and seemed glide across the deck.

She looked around and saw the person she wanted to find. She watched Jim order the crew members and told George to pass on orders to those he couldn't get to. Something was wrong. She didn't know what it was but there was definitely something wrong. These enemy planes just came out of nowhere. Nothing could just come in without the motion sensors inbuilt in the ship detecting them. What was their cause as well? Montressor had more peaceful relations with other systems, galaxies or planets than anyone else. So who could possibly want to attack them. She took another step forward and leaned over the side to see who it was. No. Nothing. Although just before she was about to turn away. She saw something. There was nothing hidden underneath what must've been painted over the plane which looked so familiar. It almost looked like...

She then felt like she was caught between being pulled back sharply and being pushed back by some shock wave. She tried to grab onto the side but the grasping functions in her hands didn't seem to work for a moment and yet again she was thrown onto the floor which hurt her spine more than it did the first time round. She thought this would make the distortions of her senses even worse however a sudden, intense pain in her chest immediately shot her back into reality. All the sounds of chaotic screaming, shooting from both sides and running across the deck seemed to crash down on her ear drums. She wanted to lift her hands to her ears to block out the noise but she also found that she couldn't even move her arms. She tried moving a toe and felt that move a little which assured her that she hadn't paralysed herself completely. However this knew she still wouldn't be able to push herself up and get to her feet.

She looked around to see if there was anyone nearby who could help her and found that her head was being supported by someone she nudged her head to the side to see who it was. Hawkins. He was staring down at her in distress and panic. She frowned and turned away to see what was going on. Everything in her vision seemed sharper than it was moments ago and everything in her mind seemed clear. She glanced up at Jim was shouting at her. Not in anger but in panic. She looked down to see what it was on her chest which he was getting so upset about. Her dress was previously that evening a pale blue, now it was soaked in the middle with a crimson red. She felt more surprised than distressed at this but was confused why she seemed more awake after rather than before she was shot. Jim slid his arm beneath her and ran across the deck and up the stairs to his room. She wanted to grab onto him in fear of him dropping her however he seemed to carry her up to his cabin with such swiftness and ease it was almost as if he teleported her there. George was there talking to some crew members working below and stared in horror at what Jim had brought in.

"Fetch a doctor!" Jim roared. "NOW GEORGE!"

George nodded dumbly and ran down the hall. Jim turned back to Cassandra stroking her hair. She wasn't shaking at all. However she was taking in huge, deep breath and looking around erratically as if she had lost something.

"You're going to be okay." He whispered. She looked at him as if she knew this and nodded just out of courtesy. Jim sighed and looked up to see when that doctor was going to get here.

~ (***) ~

George had fetched the doctor and told him to go to the Captains cabin immediately. The man looked at him shakily and asked if the Captain was alright. He was smart and experienced enough to know that once the Captain was injured the welfare of the rest of the ship was sent into a domino effect. As he was thinking over the possibility George could see he was losing sight of the point of him being there and considering it was his sisters life on the line he was becoming increasingly annoyed by the second. George snapped at him and told him not to ask questions and just go. The man jumped and nodded, thankfully running in the right direction. If he did he feared that he may grab him and throw him rather than turning him in the right way. If the situation wasn't so frantic and urgent he would make a mental note to apologise to the man later. However the man looked like he had seen too many wars he cared to watch and was probably used to being shouted at like this.

George ran back to the deck to take over Jim's responsibilities however he would find it surprising if he didn't come back down to return to giving the crew members orders. He wasn't saying that he loved giving orders but he knew James Hawkins wasn't the type of Captain who ran away from his responsibilities idly. So under the circumstance of his ship being under attack by an unknown enemy certainly wasn't going to be the event where he would step back from that principle. He ran forward and shouted them for all sides. He would shout for the crew to go to one side of the ship to another. He would roar if the sails needed to unfurled or furled up again. At some point he felt he couldn't shout anymore since his throat felt so raw. He would glance over his shoulder to see if Jim would emerge from the cabin but there was still no sign of him.

"Hey look their leaving!" Someone cried which was followed by a roar of applause. Some people were throwing their fists at the departing ships or making other jeering gestures at them.

He peered at a plane and was sure there was something smudged on there. He couldn't be sure but then again most of the time his intuition and his gut instinct always served him well. He thought it was his imagination and thought at first it was possibly nothing and maybe it had melted due to the heat of the engine. However there was something in his head telling him to not let it slide. They had no idea of who had attacked them and even the slightest sign or clue could help them find out who it was. He looked again and narrowed his eyes because it was so unclear. Like some symbol had been painted over in fear of being identified. He took out some binoculars and focused on the smudge and saw there was a faint but definite possibility of there being two swords crossing over one another as if there were two swords locking in battle.

He slowly took them from his eyes and tried to think clearly. He had to think about this before he talked to anyone about it. If he said anything he would cause a domino effect and if he was wrong it would be his head on the block. It would sound like madness if he said it out loud. He rubbed his eyes and tried to clear his head. He could sense that there was an emotional and personal compromise to this and knew that he couldn't be completely absolved from bias in this decision. He knew the only way to come to the right conclusion is to clear away all those factors. When he did this his thoughts returned to Diana. He had taken her straight to beneath deck and found himself walking in that direction before his brain even registered what he was doing. He needed to check that she was alright. She needed to know. No. No she didn't. It was just a speculation. But still...

He came to the door and knocked. Selina Felnela peered through the door and looked over her shoulder and called Diana. The young woman looked out timidly but reached out to touch his arm almost as if naturally.

"Is everything alright, Mr Richardson?" She asked breathless.

He nodded uncertainly. "They've retreated."

She gasped and brought her hand to her chest. "Thank goodness. Where is Cassandra? We have been looking everywhere for her."

He looked down and reluctantly answered, "She has been shot by one of the enemy planes. She's being examined by the doctor as we speak but I would not go see her right now."

Diana paled over and George grabbed her before she fell down to the ground. "It's my fault." She said quietly.

He shook his head. "No. No, Diana it's not your fault. Don't ever think that."

"Well if I hadn't asked her to come she wouldn't be here and she wouldn't have gotten hurt." She sobbed.

"Don't think that, Diana! It's only the fault of those damn O-" He stopped himself and looked away to compose himself.

She tilted her head and frowned. "Mr Richardson? What is it? What's wrong?" She asked. She looked at him evenly as it now dawned on her there was something he wasn't telling her. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

He shook his head dismissively. "It's nothing. It's best if I never mentioned anything."

She picked up her skirts and walked right up to him and was now so close their bodies were almost pressed against one another. She didn't need to crane her head back since she wasn't that much shorter than him standing at five foot seven despite his taller stature.

"If it compromises a very dear friend and your sister, Mr Richardson you must tell me now. Otherwise you would be doing a great disservice to your character."

George stepped back and thought about this for a moment. He knew if he lied to her she would be able to tell since he knew his eyes wouldn't be able to lie for him as well as his tongue could. He also wouldn't be able to live with the fact that he would lie to her in order to save his own head and reputation. If he told her about his suspicions it would then be out. However the thing he was most concerned about how she was going to take it. He could see that Diana Firestone had a very delicate spirit and he feared that he may break it if he made his thoughts be known. Either by anger, shock or despair, it didn't matter. He didn't want to break it at all. It would be too much to bare for him. It was bad enough he had to stand by and wait in agony for her to be married off to another man. She hated it that she couldn't think of anyone but her but the problem was that she was unattainable. He could see that there was no excitement in her being married. He could sense that there was something else. Another element in this engagement no one knew about.

"When I looked at the planes as they were flying away. I was sure I saw something. We weren't able to identify them we didn't even see them coming. It was like they came out of nowhere. Anyway as they were flying away I focused in on them." He explained waving his binoculars. "And I saw something smudged over a symbol, as if they had painted over it to avoid identification. It was a symbol of a galaxy."

"Which one?" She asked hesitantly.

He paused and opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out of his mouth. It was his reason trying to hold him back.

"I don't want to speculate just yet."

"Mr Richardson please tell me." She cried desperately.

"It was the symbol of Orion."

There was a silence hovering between them. Diana looked paler than ever and he could see her little fist shaking a little. He didn't dare step forward to touch her or comfort her in fear of what she may do.

"Miss Firestone."

"You must be mistaken." She snapped.

"I'm sorry for distressing you."

"Is this about my marriage? Is everyone suspecting me of being forced into this?"

"Have you?" He asked.

She looked away quickly and was about to return to her room but when she was about to bid a farewell over her shoulder he grabbed her and brought her close.

"Miss Firestone, with all due respect, I must ask if you have been forced into this marriage against your will."

"It's a family matter."

"Miss Firestone, I recall you saying to me, in a rather suspicious tone whether my sister had been talking to me about your engagement. Now I can suspect that this is what you are referring to and if my sister has been able to indulge in your confidences, especially in a matter which could also become a matter concerning the government then it does concern me. Now let me ask you again, have you been forced into this against your will?"

"Why do you care? Why are you treat me this way? Why are you trying to force this out of me?" She sobbed hysterically. "Honestly tell me why you care so much about this matter?"

George Richardson responded in a way he never thought he would and committed another impulsive act without thinking that evening when concerning Diana Firestone. He grabbed her by the sides of her face, digging his fingers into her light red locks of hair and kissed her. It wasn't a hesitant, polite kiss. It was more desperate and passionate. He didn't want to hold anything back from her. He didn't want to share her or want any other man to have her. He wanted her to be his even if it was for this moment. Diana was rather confused and shocked in these moments when George Richardson was kissing her. She brought her hands to his shoulders to lean onto him. She didn't want this to end even though she knew it was madness. She always knew she loved him but she didn't know if it could be possible or even if he loved her back. She was so happy and so sad that nothing would come of it. When they drew away from one another and looked at each other and thought only one thing.

What have we done?