Disclaimer: I do not own Treasure Planet

A/S: Okay guys I just want you to know, that you're currently just about to start reading the penultimate chapter here and before you start bombarding me with emails or throwing garbage at me I just want to assure everyone that this isn't going to be the end of Jim and Cassandra. It's only the beginning...Okay erase the corny line. Basically there is going to be a sequel to this story and yes this story will just so happen to end on a cliff hanger and I can only hope that you will be...impressed by it? Even like it a little bit...? Anyway I will stop talking and just get on with it. Sorry for the long wait by the way...

The Worst Luck

For Broadwaybiz560

When they arrived it was cold, stormy and dark, like a night in the opening of a Gothic romance. How appropriate it was. Although this was no romance. And this was no ghost story. All of this was real. And all of this was her fault. She was hearing it in the streets. She had to cover her eyes to block out all the things they were saying. The worst part of it all was that none of it was lies. All of it was her fault. If she had never said anything to them none of this would have happened. It was all her fault...No matter what Jim said...

She glanced up at the inn glowing in the distance. She wrapped her arms around herself and tugged on the hood of her cloak in case anyone should spot her. If she was seen she would be arrested on sight. No hesitations. No trial. Her only destination would be behind closed bars and she would probably rot in there for the rest of her days. Like she said it was all her fault. Someone had to pay the price and that person just happened to be her. She didn't mean for any of this to happen, but it did. She didn't want it to be her fault, but it was.

Now because of what she had done she had to pay the worst prices of all. She had to loose everything she held dear to her. Her chance for a future. Her family. Her friends. Her freedom. Everything that she loved more than anything was now gone. Well, she still had one thing...Jim. Jim would always stand beside her. He would still help her. He was even helping her now to seek asylum. Even if he was risking his own life...

~ (***) ~

Jim and Cassandra settled themselves down in a dark corner of the ship amongst the barrels and mechanical equipment so that they wouldn't be seen. He smirked at the memory of the last time he had to sneak onto a ship, but then again this was less dangerous circumstances. Well actually the circumstances were a lot more dangerous now. Before he was just being pursued by pirates. This time there was a risk of open war. They sat down so close to another that they had their legs pressed against each other. Jim wrapped his arm around her shoulders and felt her shiver against him. Not out of nervousness but the cold.

Cassandra looked around and smirked nervously. "Nice place." She joked.

Jim glanced down at her and smirked. "I suppose its got its own little charm." He replied.

"I just hope it isn't always going to be this cold all the time down here. Otherwise I hope theres some blankets round here." She commented looking around.

"I'm sure there will be." He assured her. "Shall I go get some now?"

He about to get up but she stopped him and shook her head. "Not yet. Can you just stay here for a moment? Just...Hold me?"

He nodded wordlessly and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He glanced down at her staring into the darkness.

"What are you thinking about?" He whispered.

She smiled. "I'm not thinking I'm wondering."

He tilted his head. "Alright what are you wondering then?"

"I wondering if we're all going to be alright in the end."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit of a broad statement. You're going to be fine, Cassandra. When you get back you'll be able to go to scho-"

She shook her head in frustration. "No I don't mean that. I mean- I was wondering whether we were going to be able to stop the Duke. If all of this goes wrong Jim its not only us who are going to get hurt. The whole galaxy will be at war. The first Celestrial War did not end well. Did you see the numbers of people who died on all sides?"

Jim looked away with a darkened look on his face. "Well...The official numbers given aren't exactly the actual numbers of people who died. More people died in those wars than the public was told." He explained when her saw the confused expression on her face.

"It's going to be okay. You know that right?"

She nodded, still shivering. "We're going to get off this planet." He continued. "We're going to get as far away from here as possible and get to Montressor then we're going to warn everyone of what's happening here and then...Everything will be fine."

"But what if that leads to another war, Jim? What if whatever we do to try and stop it it still ends up bringing about another war?"

He shook his head. "It won't come to that." He kissed the top of her head. "I promise."

~ (***) ~

Jim knocked on the door the same moment lightening flashed in Cassandra's eyes quickly followed by rolling thunder. She shivered rather than jumped at the sudden fright, considering there were more pressing matters weighing down on her mind. She clung onto his arm as if she were a child and rested her head on his shoulder as they waited in the cold wind for his mother to answer the door. She hoped that she had received the letter otherwise Mrs Hawkins was going to be in for a shock...

A skinny woman about the same height as Cassandra in her mid maybe late forties answered the door. She looked like she hadn't been sleeping in weeks but then again Cassandra were her she would be exactly the same. If she had heard that her son was somewhere which as the most frequent topic of conversation for the past week for all the wrong reasons she would equally paranoid. Cassandra knew immediately that this was Jim's mother. She could see who he had got his big, bright blues and brown hair from anyway...

"Jim!" The woman flung her arms around him.

Cassandra stood there in the cold feeling a little uncomfortable while waiting for them to stopping hugging one another. Then again they were mother and son and she knew already that he had been in more danger than she expected him to be. Even though it was part of his job description...She could remember being incredibly close to her own father. The one wish she had over the past few weeks that he was still alive so that he could be here to comfort her.

The woman eventually drew away from Jim with her hand still resting on his shoulder. Cassandra couldn't help but feel like there was a sense of ownership on her part just by making this mere gesture. Her eyes slowly drifted from Jim to Cassandra and which suddenly made her feel like she was being put under a microscope. She was putting them all in danger, she was going to have to expect a little bit of resentment and antagonism.

Cassandra decided to be the one to blink and stepped forward offering and outstretched hands and gave an uncertain but friendly smile. Sarah Hawkins looked at her hand and then back at her, after what seemed like an age she took the hand firmly and shook it. Cassandra couldn't tell whether this was a resentful or nervous handshake but she couldn't stop herself from cradling her hand as she had broken every bone in her hand.

"Please come in." Sarah Hawkins said as she beckoned them inside. "You must have had a hard journey. I'll go get a room ready for you to sleep in."

~ (***) ~

At first, Cassandra tried counting the hours but she became increasingly impatient. She began tapping her foot against the wood planks until Jim gave her a look when he placed his hand on her knee. She then began counting the minutes and then the seconds when the dawn would arrive to take them away from this Godforsaken place. She could only pity those who had to live under the rule of that man which wanted to rage an unjustified war to satisfy his overgrowing greed.

"Do you know what time it is?"

Jim glanced out a crack in the wood where he could see outside and saw no sign of the dawn on the horizon.

"We won't be going any time soon."

She sighed and tucked herself into the crook of his arm. "You should try and sleep." He suggested.

She shook her head. "I can't."

"Is it because you're cold? Shall I get a blanket or something? I'm sure there's one around here somewhere-"

She placed her hand on his arm gently to stop him. "No. It's not that."

Jim blinked. "What is it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well...There's a lot on my mind, Jim. Considering what we've been through for the past few hours."

"Is it about us? I thought we talked about this-"

She shook her head. "Wrong again."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is it about what he threatened to do? Because we're going to stop him. You have my word on that."

She shook her head again. It was something else that he had said and as she was ashamed to admit something which bothered her much more than what was going to happen to everyone else if the Duke should succeed.

"Then what is it?"

She turned away and stared into the darkness for a moment before answering him. "I don't even know why I'm bothering myself with this. I shouldn't believe him but..."

He voice trailed off into the darkness wondering if she was ever going to say those words aloud that night or ever at all. It was not only cruel but disrespectful towards both their memories. The memories of two people who she held so close to her heart even though they were so far away from her now. How could she allow herself to get to this place now? How could she let his poisonous words to infect her mind? Was she ever going to bring herself to admit to it? Was she ever going to give in to what he had told her? Was she going to even consider that he may be right? Was she going to, even for a moment, begin to doubt who her father was altogether?

~ (***) ~

It was daybreak when they arrived back in Montressor. George had never felt so relieved or so worried in his entire life. He had been thrown into dangerous situations throughout his whole training in the Academy and he had this uncanny talent to remain calm in all those situations. When he was assigned as Captain in some exercises people who were assigned to him as the crew members gave a sigh of relief knowing that they were going to be under his command. Although right now, even when he was out of danger, he had never been so scared in his entire life. It wasn't his life he was concerned about of course.

He was beginning to wonder whether he was beginning to wonder whether he was going to see his sister again. Cassandra was strong and resourceful. Her being able to escape the clutches of their brothers intentions for her was enough proof that when so many others had failed. It had been days and he expected them to be able to catch up with them at least even when they were travelling at a faster speed than they were on their onward journey. As they docked he saw someone waiting for him on the docking bay. The last person he expected to be the first person to be greeting him on his return.

He waited until it was safe for him to get off the ship before running over to his brother. "Fredrick? What are you doing here?"

The older brother stood up so that he could seem that little bit taller than George, just to intimidate him. George knew this wasn't a good sign.

"I was here to see if you had got back safely from your first Space Voyage. You're back here in one piece. No scratches. I suppose that's a good sign. Although I am also here to see our sister."

George paled. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. He had hoped that he would be able to protect her for a few days but now that he had arrived at the dock there was no way of hiding it.

"She..."

"Where is she George?" He moaned impatiently.

George scratched the back of his head. "Well...Well you see..."

"Oh out with it George!" He bellowed causing a few heads to turn.

George looked around self-consciously and was about to answer until an angel at his side came to his rescue.

"Hello, sir. I am Diana Firestone. Are you acquainted with Mr Richardson?"

Fredrick blinked at the red-haired girl and stepped back. "I am his brother, Ma'am. Were you...I

am sorry but were you not to be married to the Duke of Orion?"

She laughed charmingly. "Ah yes. Well you see, it turned out that we discovered there was a problem with the arrangements and conditions of our engagement and the marriage had to be postponed. Although I rather doubt it shall ever happen at all."

"I see. May I ask where my sister is? I believe you are a good friend of hers."

"Certainly. She is currently taken hostage by my soon-to-be ex-fiancé."

It took a while for Fredrick to take this in then stared at George in horror. "Is this true George? Why didn't you tell me? Or send me a message?"

"Well he was about to tell you but you interrupted him. As I did also but, I'm sure you don't mind do you George?" She asked him sweetly.

Fredrick looked between the two and shook his head. "May I speak to the Captain?"

"Ah, well he also stayed behind to help your sister escape. I'm sure they may have escaped by now and are merely on their way back here."

"This all sounds rather far-fetched." Fredrick replied narrowing his eyes at Diana.

"Oh feel free to check the ship." Diana offered.

Tired of her forwardness Fredrick marched towards the ship leaving Diana and George standing there. He watched his brother angrily walk towards the ship probably to harass Cassandra about some man she had refused to marry which he would think to be a good match for her. George could only begrudgingly think that he didn't have to worry about that for much longer if there had been any developments between Jim and his sister in his absence. Although she was his sister he didn't want to think about that so he decide to turn his attentions back to to Diana. He had never seen her like that before...

"Well you handled my brother well."

She looked a little uncertain. "Did I?"

He laughed and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Other than my sister I have never seen anyone talk to my brother like that before. You were brilliant!" He replied a little too enthusiastically.

She blushed and cast her eyes to the ground. She looked up a little and saw one or two people watching them. Nothing in their eyes made her think they were thinking anything bad about them. However she never liked to be stared at. George followed her eyes and saw what was wrong.

"You don't have to worry anymore. No one is going to think any less of you. In fact they're going to think very highly of you for rejecting him."

She stroked his arm. "Thank you."

"Besides I wouldn't want you to say no to me because there would be anything wrong with us..."

"What?"

George was about to ask her something but was interrupted by his brother. "I've checked the ship from top to bottom, in every corner and I can see that neither of you are lying. So what have you done? Have you sent word to the guard?"

"What? I-"

Fredrick rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. I'll do it. You will need to come with me anyway and I need to talk to you on the way there."

Fredrick was beginning to pull him away until halted and gestured for him to wait and ran back to Diana.

"I'll see you soon." He promised and kissed her quickly on the lips when his brother wasn't looking.

George ran back to Fredrick who had an impatient, frustrated expression on his face. George and Fredrick had never gotten along. In fact none of the siblings seemed to get along with Fredrick. He was so determined to be the head of the family and to be stronger and firmer than his father ever was on them but the problem was because of that he was unable to command their respect. He was too high-minded and prejudiced to have their respect.

"You seem to like her a great deal." He noticed.

"Lady Firestone is easy to admire. She's very intelligent, gracious, modest-"

"And I am sure you find her income very attractive also." Fredrick slurred.

"No Brother that would be something that would attract you the most to a woman." George snapped.

Fredrick raised an eyebrow. "Lots like the dog has finally decided to bite. Maybe the Academy has instilled a little assertiveness into after all. Took you long enough." He added under his breath.

"Well at least I don't feel the need to belittle everyone in order to make myself feel like I have a little bit of power. When really Fredrick you have no power over anyone in this family. Not me. Least of all, Cassandra."

"Well while we are on that topic I might as well say what I intended to talk about today with our sister."

"What about it?"

"Her inheritance? Do you know how much it's worth?"

"We aren't really interested in money, Fredrick. Only you."

The words were intended to inflict a blow upon his pride and from the look in Fredrick's eyes it had hit the mark dead on. He stepped back a little and was shaking all over. George was half-afraid that he was going to strike him. Not because of those fears he had of his brother since he was a boy but because it was never good for someone within his occupation to have a violent confrontation in public. It didn't exactly send out a good message about those whose job it was to protect the civilians. Fredrick seemed to calm down a little and took a deep breath.

"As I was saying...Our father seems to have left a great deal of money. A little more than he left us." He replied carefully.

George had to admit he was a little hurt by this but at the same time he could see the reason why he did this. His father knew what sort of man Fredrick was. He wasn't ignorant because he was his first son and heir. He was doing that so that when she needed to, Cassandra would have the resources in order to survive without troubling anyone else. He knew her well enough also.

"So this isn't just about your pride and jealousy...But also about money? Is there anything...valuable that you actually care about in this world? It's our fathers wishes I can't believe you're questioning this..."

"I am questioning it with good reason..." He began heatedly.

"Because you want the money for yourself?" He replied dryly.

"Oh for god's sake George will you listen to me? When I investigated into it further I found something else which makes me question why he was giving her so much money."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean...Is that she may not entirely be our sister." George blinked wordlessly allowing Fredrick to continue. "I read our mothers medical records and there was no documentation of our sisters birth. Besides...She was born during the time when our father was at war."

"He must have got back from leave and besides documentation must have gone out the window during that time, Fredrick."

"Oh please, even bastards were documented. Lord and Whore written down on the paper under where the names of the parents went."

George folded his arms. "So...What are you saying? Are you saying our father just found some orphan and brought him home to raise him as his own? That doesn't make sense."

"Well he certainly makes a habit out of it." Fredrick noted thinking of Helen Arkwright.

"Well what have you found which makes you so sure?" He spat.

Fredrick was quiet for a moment. "Nothing."

"Then you really can't be sure can you?" George replied walking back to where Diana would still be. She was all he wanted to be with right now...

~ (***) ~

Jim could see from the look on her face that something was wrong. Something which was really haunting her mind and Cassandra was never one to allow someone to bother her this much. Unless it was something truly terrible. Something which made her question everything about herself. He had noticed that she had a few of those early to late teen crisis's but then again who was he to judge. When he was fifteen he was one step away from spending a few months in Juvenile hall. She was being a lot less deviant than he was when it came to expressing all the anger which was caused by teen angst.

"What is it? What did he say?"

"He told me...He told me about my parents. He was implying that there were a lot of things I didn't know about them and that they had done things which...might make me think twice about what sort of people they were."

Jim blinked. "You do realise that he's just saying that to get to you. It's villain 101."

Cassandra giggled. "Villain 101?"

Jim looked back at her blankly. "It exists." He insisted. "Anyway I knew your Dad and I know that he is a good man. I also know for a fact that he isn't capable of doing anything that would make you think any differently."

Cassandra rested her chin on his shoulder. "I hope you're right."

Jim lean down and brushed his lips against hers. "I know I'm right." He whispered. "I also know you need to get warm. You're shivering like a leaf."

"No-"

"I won't accept no for an answer." He called over his shoulder before walking into the darkness.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Fine."

She wasn't going to be able to convince him to do otherwise anyway. Just thinking about marriage between the two of them she was sure that they were going to fight sometimes and those arguments were never going to be resolved because both of them were so stubborn. She wasn't even sure it would be a good idea. She never thought she would be one for marriage and was rather comfortable in the ambition of being a Space Captain since it would put off the arrival of marriage or a proposal for many years or would allow her to avoid it altogether.

She heard a noise and at first she thought it was Jim and crawled out of their hiding place. Although when she heard voices she knew that wasn't a good sign. Since she knew Jim didn't make a habit out of talking to himself in different voices it only meant one thing. That someone else was here. When she strained her ears to figure out who it might be it was a lot worse than what her first guess would be. A lot worse...

~ (***) ~

Cassandra climbed up the stairs as if her feet was made of lead. She had never felt so nervous in her entire life. Sarah was at the top of the stairs with her hands on her hips as she waited to show her the room she would be staying in. She glanced over her shoulder to look at Jim who gave her an encouraging smile but when she turned back to his mother all that disappeared into thin air. She had heard the horror stories of daughter and mother in laws seldom getting along but she never imagined that her first impression would be this bad. Under normal circumstances she was sure she and Sarah Hawkins would get along.

Sarah nodded stiffly down the corridor. "Follow me."

Cassandra obeyed diligently and was led into almost the first room on the right. It was like she wanted to spend as little time as possible with her.

"There's a bell for you to ring if you need anything."

"Oh don't worry I'll be fine. But thank you anyway." Cassandra said instantly touching her arm without thinking about it.

Both women stared at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. "Sorry." Cassandra said instantly snatching her hand away as if she had burnt her hand.

Sarah nodded. "Okay."

Cassandra turned away and heard her begin to walk out the room and sighed. "Wait."

Sarah stopped at her doorway. "Yes?"

Cassandra turned back to her. "I am sorry."

Sarah blinked. "It's alright."

"No I mean about...About what happened. I didn't mean for all this to happen. I want to say that it wasn't my fault and mostly it wasn't but I can't deny that I did have a part to play in all of it...Mostly it just came to bad luck."

Sarah was quiet for a while and for a moment Cassandra was scared she was just going to walk away and shun her for the rest of her time there. Instead she folded her arms and walked towards her.

"And what would you say if I asked what you meant by bad luck?" She demanded.

Cassandra shrugged her shoulders. "That Diana's Grandmother chose the wrong bachelor for her Grand-daughter...That your son and I chose the wrong ship to hide in..."

~ (***) ~

"Well I do hope that you consider our proposal." Said the familiar, slurry voice.

"I wouldn't worry too much upon that account, my Lord." The other voice, gruffer than the Duke's, replied. "My master knows a good offer when he sees one."

"Then I am glad your master has more wisdom than his predecessors. Is does still fill us with absolute shame about the history between our two nations-"

"I would not worry about it too much, my Lord. My master does not even think upon it when you are mentioned."

"Well I must say that has certainly put my mind to rest." The Duke replied graciously.

"I hear you are to be married? To rather beautiful young lady from Montressor I am told?"

The Duke chuckled. "Yes, she certainly is. Although..."

"What?"

"Well we were to be married but suddenly she left in the dead of night not informing me or my guards. No word."

"Are you serious? Sir, if I may?"

"Of course."

"I would break off the engagement. If you would forgive me I also heard she is someone of little social standing. Her father, a politician and a noble. Yes. But not of any blood line from royalty or even nobility. I am sure there are other more worthy women and more deserving."

"You flatter me too much, Sir."

Yes, you certainly do. Cassandra thought to herself.

"I am even sure than the King of Celestri would be willing to marry off one of his daughters to you as a...new instalment to the proposal."

"I have heard many great things about them. I will consider the offer most strongly."

Celestri? This was an envoy from Celestri?

Cassandra was so shocked she fell back and knocked over a barrel. So much for the dancing lessons...She heard a flurry of feet hurry towards her and a moment later she saw the Duke and the representative standing over them, with a ghost of a smile on the Duke's face.

"What are you doing here?"

"I..."

"What right have you, Lady, to board this vessel?"

She slowly got to her feet, glaring at the Duke. "Sir, if you would give me a moment, I may be able to explain."

"Very well." The envoy snapped curtly.

"I am here because I was taken hostage."

The envoy exchanged a look between Cassandra and the Duke. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No." She stuttered. "I was taken hostage by the Duke."

The Duke chuckled. "I believe this girl may be a little confused. She must have wandered here from the bars, Sir."

"I am making no joke and if I may be so bold I would not take your proposal to your master considering this man will cross you as Orion has crossed Celestri before."

"So now you accuse this gentleman now? What wrong has he done towards you? Other than these ridiculous allegations?"

"He was also going to bring my friend, his fiancée into his schemes, to what purpose I don't want to even begin to speculate. Although he did have his men attack our ship which no doubt he would pin on your master."

"How dare you!" The representative spat. "How dare you make such claims!"

"Do you know what I think madam? I think you are a spy for Monstressor. As I recall your Grace they were also at war aren't nearly as gracious to your master as our nation cares to be. Seems rather suspicious don't you think? For someone to come here and make claims almost to the point of forcing us into war with one another once again?"

The idea was now planted in the man's mind and he turned back to Cassandra with his eyes burning with more rage than she had ever seen.

"Well that does rather make sense..."

Cassandra shook her head. "No. Gentleman. That is the last thing that I want. You should not believe his lies!"

"Don't waste your breath. As soon as I get back to my master I will inform them of Monstressors deceit and mark me you will wish you never set foot on Orion soil."