Chapter 18. Early Mornings

Delta woke up with a start. She whipped her head around ready to panic, but the nights recent events came back to her memory. She yawned and looked up. She saw Killer laying with his head back and one arm on his leg and the other over her back. She had fallen asleep in his lap.

"Sorry " Delta mumbled sleepily and scurried to sit up.

"It's fine" Killer breathed.

"How long was I asleep?" Delta yawned and scratched her head.

"Almost two hours, not too long" Killer replied.

"Its about about 3 am, we got about 5 more hours" Killer informed her.

"I'm bored..." Delta complained.

"You just woke up..." Killer shook his head.

Delta gave him a sheepish grin. She wouldn't know but Killer smiled a little under his helmet.

"Hey! You never answered any of my questions." Delta pouted.

"What?" Killer asked, a little lost.

"Like where you were from, how you got here, that kind of stuff"

"Oh...hmm." Killer hesitated.

"It's fine, you don't have to tell me. " Delta giggled.

Killer sighed. He still hadn't come to terms with many things that occurred in his past, let alone talk about them. After all this time, he still wasn't ready for anyone to know. There were things Kid didn't even know about.

"What's going on down there..." Delta patted Killer's shoulder with a hand, making him jump. Delta was peeking over the sides of the crows nest to see Kid who seemed to be yelling at a much taller individual.

Killer looked over the side with her to see the commotion. He couldn't make out what Kid was saying, but based on his body language and the volume of his voice he was royally pissed. More so than usual.

"Should we go down there?" Delta turned to Killer.

"I'm not sure.."Killer whispered

"Who is that.?" Delta pointed at the darker figure

"I think that's Wire" Killer grabbed her hand and put it down.

"Who's Wire?" Delta grimaced, confused by yet another strange name.

"..let's go down so you can find out" Killer teased.

"...nope" Delta slumped back down in the crow's nest.

"What are you so afraid of " Killer scoffed.

"A lot of things" Delta raised an eyebrow in frustration.

"Pfft...Tell me something I don't know" Killer laughed.

"RUDE." Delta snapped , a little loudly causing Killer to duck down.

"Hush.." Killer growled. He didn't want Kid to know they were looking. He didn't care to be a part of the issues on deck.

"You can't tell me what to do"

"Actually I can" Killer retorted.

"Oh...right." Delta trailed off. She had forgotten about Killer being Kid's first mate.

"You've never had a problem listening to me before, why now?" Killer taunted.

Delta licked her lips.

"I don't have a problem with it..." She replied. That sounded weird to her but she couldn't take it back. It's not like she was lying anyways. Killer had never guided her wrong so far. She should have listened to him before going to work too.

"I really wish you would have stayed with me earlier.." Killer muttered.

"Don't have to rub it in" Delta blinked at him

sadly. It was as if he could read her thoughts.

"No, I'm not trying to...I just wish you hadn't been hurt." Killer spoke with his deep voice lowered.

Delta shrugged, feeling butterflies in her stomach a little.

"Yeah..but I'm fine" Delta reassured him. She didn't want him to worry.

Killer reached out and touched Delta's face. He delicately ran peachy fingers across her tender wounded cheek. It was still clearly bruised, but the scratches were scabbing over around her eye. It looked a whole lot better with the blood gone. The side of her eyeball was a little red, but that could have been from her napping on his leg earlier. Killer was just glad there was no permanent damage. He didn't want for her to have to suffer through that, to feel the need to hide.

Delta jumped a little when his fingers trailed close to her lips, she looked up at him worriedly with dark eyes

"What's it going to take for you to trust me?" Killer mumbled softly.

Delta took Killer's other hand and squeezed it, but she didn't reply.

"Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" Killer asked her worriedly. His heart skipped beats waiting for her answer.

"No...I don't" Delta said.

"Then what are you afraid of?" Killer tried again

"..the same thing you are afraid of." Delta scanned the man's helmet as she spoke.

"And what is that?" Killer asked, taken aback.

"You're afraid to tell people your story because of how you think they will see you. You think your story validates what the world has made of you, when it's probably not true." Delta added.

Killer squinted from behind the mask. Delta was right. That is what he thought. It concerned him that she was able to figure it out, but it also gave him a sense of relief.

Killer gently rubbed Delta's cheek with his hand. The girl looked down shyly and closed her eyes, her eyelashes brushed up against Killer's hand.

Killer cocked his head a little to the side, peering down in Delta's face. Delta turned her eyes upward to him and caught a glint of a soft sapphire blue behind his mask, a very brilliant and beautiful color. Delta gasped a little in surprise.

"What's wrong? " Killer questioned her with concern. Delta's eyes darted around his mask, but it was gone, she couldn't see the blue anymore.

"Nothing, it's fine" Delta sniffled and pulled Killer into a tight hug. Killer stiffened up, but soon relaxed.

He was still confused, but let Delta hug him. He more than enjoyed having her close.

Delta sighed into the fabric of his shirt. What was he hiding behind that mask? What could one with such a beautiful thing have to cover up?.Delta only wished she could see his face.

Just then, they heard the commotion down underneath them again. They had both forgotten of the Captains screaming and managed to ignore it for a while. Delta listened carefully, still holding onto Killer, enjoying being close to his body when she was able to finally make out one sentence Kid said. It was loud enough to wake the birds up out of the trees and send them flying and squawking in distress.

"GODDAMMIT WIRE, YOU WERE ASLEEP THIS ENTIRE FUCKING TIME?!"

Delta looked up at Killer who was already sighing.

"Don't worry...this happens all the time...he'll...uh he'll get over it.." Killer assured her and rubbed his neck, annoyed with his Captain's screeching.

Delta giggled and gave Killer's torso a gentle squeeze. She was already starting to enjoy it here. It wasn't so bad after all, just as Killer promised.