Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the fan fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do not belong to me unless stated otherwise.

A/N: Hello. How are you today?

This is another longer chapter (yay). Anyone who has been craving a proper Vaas backstory you'll love this chapter.

I'll get you get on with it.

Chapter 10

"Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!"
"Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you."

He saw her sprawled naked across the small bed with her hair loose and shining in the small amount of moonlight that came through the window; and he couldn't help but to think of mermaids. When he was a small boy, barely six years of age, he heard some sailors speak of a story. Not so much of a story, rather a myth. A myth of beautiful women with long hair, tempting men with their stunning looks and beautiful voices to join them in the depths of the ocean. The sailors said that mermaids were the worst kind of monster one can meet out there, on the sea. Then laughed and noted the one exception to that, the kraken.

If one believed such tales.

Vaas always believed.

The Rakyat never went to the sea much, only out of absolute necessity. The Rakyat worshipped the earth and all that was apart of it, the rocks, the dirt, the trees. They only went to the sea when they needed to go fishing but even then they never strayed too far from the shore. He always wished they would, because he yearned to see what was behind the horizon. He wished to sea all of the sea monsters and beautiful creatures. Perhaps it was his fathers genes, the Argentinian pirates, that stirred the love for the sea and the thirst for adventure within him. Over time he learned to despise the sea and what it represented, not wholly of course. A part of him remained that wide-eyed young boy listening to the sailors tales.

Now, with his eyes trailing Scarlett's face, the faint freckles and the small scars. He couldn't help but to think of mermaids. They had been lying there together for a while. He was floating somewhere between awake and asleep.

She was a mermaid with her soft skin, slightly flushed and wet with the traces of his kisses. A mermaid with her long hair and eyes the colour of sunshine shining through whisky. He could drown in them. He could drown at the sight of her, goddess in the moonlight. His to worship.

She had called to him earlier, she said his name and gestured for him to come to her. And he obeyed.

Scarlett opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them, while her mouth stretched to a yawn.

He would always obey.

And he would have to give her up sooner or later. She would be ripped away from him, but he couldn't help but let himself fall deeper. She was his heaven and she was his hell. He preferred this hell over any other that he had been offered. In this hell he was king and it was good to be king.

"I'm a little colour blind." Vaas blurted out before he realized, the thoughts of mermaids pushed away with his sudden confession.

"Hmmh?" Scarlett fully opened her eyes and turned her head so she was looking at him. "Wha...?" She trailed off.

He nodded slightly looking slightly sheepish at which Scarlett chuckled. "A side effect of... I don't even know which fucking drug."

That caused Scarlett to frown slightly and her eyes to widen. She, however, lifted up her left hand and confessed. "I have barely any feeling left in these three fingers." She motioned to the middle, ring and pinkie fingers. "Also I can't bend the pinkie." She tried to demonstrate and Vaas let out a small laugh when the pinkie indeed did not bend. Not properly anyway.

"I don't like gin."

"How so?" she questioned.

Vaas shrugged as well as he could. "Don't know."

"I was married once."

Vaas was taken so off-guard that he just started laughing. A full on belly laugh that made the bed shake slightly and at the sound of his laugh even Scarlett managed to crack a smile. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Scarlett shrugged. "It was for like five minutes. A Vegas thing. It's no big deal."

"Not a big fucking deal? Does Kidd know?"

Scarletts eyes went wide and she froze. "No! And I swear to God if you tell him I will unman you myself."

"I don't doubt it, mina." Vaas chuckled ad she trailed patterns with the tips of her fingers on her chest. "How is it with Kidd now?" He wondered quietly. "Thinking that he was dead and now... Him not being."

Scarlett let out a slow breath, her fingers never faulting. "It's odd, to say the least." She averted her eyes from his face and instead turned them toward his chest. "I was completely broken after he died. I kept re-living the last moments I had with him, torturing myself. I was used to him going on jobs and he always survived. I didn't think that mission would be any different." Scarlett paused, it was easier to talk to Vaas when she couldn't see his eyes. "It took me so long to function properly, after his death... Or supposed death. And when I did get over it... I didn't really get over it. I was left with a hole in my heart and my live, so I set my sight on one thing; revenge. It filled the whole for a while and when I finally got my revenge..." Scarlett shook her head. "Revenge is a funny thing. Once you get it, you are completely satisfied but at the same you are less satisfied than when you still wanted it. The spot where your lust for revenge used to be is the same big black gaping hole, that same hole, that will continue to eat you alive."

"The hole, how did you fill it in the end?"

"I haven't." Scarlett admitted with a sigh. "I suppose now that I know Gareth is alive, the hole is supposed to be filled and it partly is. That doesn't stop me from feeling like it's not real though, I feel as if one day I will wake up and he will be dead again. Or dead still. Like none of this ever happened."

"All of this shit is quite real."

"I still can't decide whether that's a good thing or not." Scarlett mumbled, her fingers still tracing lazy patterns on his chest.

"You'll know when it's over." Vaas said, causing Scar's fingers to falter momentarily.

Scarlett let out a deep breath but didn't say anything in response. "What are we going to do about Citra?"

"What about her?" Vaas wondered, his body tensed slightly. Enough for Scarlett to notice.

"She kidnapped me." Scar started. "She poisoned me. You expect me to just let it go?"

"Mina. I made a promise to kill her once, I will keep my fucking word. If you try to go after her you will not succeed."

Scarlett raised her eyebrows and tilted her head up to look at him. "I will if you're by my side."

Vaas trailed his finger on her cheek. "Pedacito de cielo, it will be a suicide mission. At least with what is going on at the moment."

"What do you mean... What is going on at the moment?" Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

The Pirate King let out a heavy breath and rubbed his eyes. "The fucking Rakyat took out a shipment boat off he fucking coast of the island. That ship was heading here. It held a large amount of guns and ammo, that would have been distributed all around the North fucking Island. Now that that's fucking gone, we're weak. If we're fucking lucky and Hoyt is in a good fucking mood we might get a shipment of ammo in the next two weeks. New guns in a month." He paused. "That is if we're fucking lucky."

"So we do nothing?" Scarlett frowned.

"Unless you want to be killed." Vaas noted.

Scarlett opened her mouth to ask Vaas about his history with Citra, about what really happened but faltered the moment the words were to leave her mouth.

"What is it?" Vaas wondered and Scarlett's fingers started drawing patterns again.

"I uh-" Scarlett mumbled. "I was wondering what happened between you and Citra that made you leave the Rakyat? And how'd you end up working for Hoyt?"

"Are you sure you want to fucking know?" He asked, not unkindly. "It's not a very pleasant story..." He let the sentence hang in the air as if he wanted to say more.

A small smile rose to Scarlett's lips. "Exposing your dark side doesn't frighten me. Hiding it does."

He sighed heavily. "What did Citra tell you?" Vaas wondered.

Just like that Scarlett was taken back to Citra's temple in her head. She tried to renumber what Citra had spoken about, when the only things she truly remembered was being in pain. "She... She spoke of how the island came to be."

"Once, long ago." Citra began. "There was a lotus pond filled with clean water. The bank composed of smooth sand and the smell" Citra breathed in and closed her eyes, as if she was actually smelling it, "of blossoms moved the air. But a giant," she threw up her arms for emphasis. "lived beneath the pond's surface, devouring any who came to its edge. A warrior, from the northern kingdoms, heard of the giant and vowed to slay him." Her fingers trailed the tattoos on her body. "He painted tatau on his body and took power from the land of the dead. When he was ready, he walked the path to the lotus pond. And the giant rose from still waters, the Warrior raised his dagger. He cut the giant's head clean off its body. The skull of the giant fell to Earth and became our island..." She motioned around her and then placed both of her hands on her chest. "The descendants of the Warrior became the Rakyat, our people."

"Now a new giant has risen. Hoyt Volker lured my brother away with money and drugs. Power. Vaas left the tribe, his birth right. He became a monster." Citra said with anger. "Vaas was supposed to be the perfect warrior, but he did not walk to the end of his path. He didn't achieve his destiny." Citra shook her head. "And now he cannot return."

"She said that Hoyt lured you away with money and drugs. That you were supposed to be the perfect warrior but instead you abandoned them and became a monster." She spoke, her head playing back Citra's words. "Then she poisoned me... And she spoke of your necklace."

"You know the necklace Vaas has? The green one, carved out of mountain jade." Citras voice asked, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead, Scarlett was walking down the path into Vaas' camp. "It was our mothers originally. Then she gave it to me to give to whom I will. I gave it to my brother." The jungle around her was on fire and there were human heads just above ground, all of them dead. Some had visible wounds, some not. "It used to be in the shape of a twist. The single twist represents the joining together of two people."

"And I saw my parents." Tears were welling up in hear eyes at the memory.

On the path infront of her were Scarletts mother and father. It was when Scarlett was small because they were both so young. Scarlett remembered this vaguely. Scarletts father looked sharp in a black tailored suit, with his hair gelled and set. Her mother held her stomach with her left hand and the other was on her fathers cheek. Scarlett looked at them both with wide eyes, this was just before they were killed. Scarlett ran toward her mother, panicking.

'Scarlett.' Her mother said, but her mouth didn't move. 'Come say bye to daddy, he'll be gone for a couple of days.'

'Dad.' Scarlett said automatically.

Do not worry, Letty. I will be back, but until then you have to help mummy with the baby. Alright?' Her father smiled and his brown eyes lit up with joy.

Scarlett's lips parted in realization. Her mind was filled with the memories of her hallucinations, this was the first time she had allowed herself to fully think about it. "My mum was pregnant. Oh my God, my... My mum was pregnant."

Vaas' hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her tighter to his side.

Scarlett tried to scream but no sound came out of her. Both of her parents vanished into thin air and when she looked down she saw their dead bodies both surrounded by blood. Her mother was couched over, hands on her stomach. Her father stared emptily and all joy had gone out of his eyes.

"Even though sometimes people move away, their journey of life will have their paths cross again. The single figure eight represents the path of life, it is the eternity symbol." Citras voice sounded again and Scarlett saw Gareth. He was younger too, his eyes bloodshot as he extended his hand out to Scarlett.

"The necklace broke when he left. I know not if he broke it or it broke itself."

Vaas' hysterical laugher came from next to her, she looked left and right but there was no one there. She turned her eyes forward again and there stood Vaas. Citra came up behind him, wrapping her slender arms around his torso. The native woman then locked eyes with Scarlett and a fire burned in them. Citra turned her head slightly, while keeping her eyes locked with Scarlett, and said something to Vaas in a language Scarlett didn't understand. Vaas looked different, he was clad in clothes made out of leather. The wound of his head was fresh, with blood still trickling down his eyebrow.

"At one point you were there." Scarlett explained, her eyes were wide but unseeing as she focused on her memories. "You were in Rakyat clothes and the wound on your head was fresh."

"Vaas murdered my father. Vaas deserted his people. He is a traitor of the worst kind and I will kill him one day."

"She said you murdered her father... And that she'll kill you one day." Scarlett said and felt like a bucket of cold water was dropped on her. She looked up to find Vaas' eyes boring into hers, she was drawn back to reality.

"And do you remember what I told you, after you took the antidote?" He wondered and Scarlett's cheeks went up in flames, to which Vaas only laughed.

Her mind automatically went to her rambling when they were in the old army shelter. She layed her cheek on his chest and avoided his eyes.

"Citra said you killed your father."

"Her father," Vaas said and the smell of cigarette smoke filled the air. "I killed her father."

"Why?"

Vaas hesitated, he didn't want to open himself to her. Yet he was strangely tempted to do exactly that. Perhaps he was just that tired. "She asked me to."

"But she said-"

"Yeah, Citra does that. She is a wolf dressed like a sheep." Vaas said and Scar wiped the last of her tears away.

"Did you know your father?"

Vaas shook his head. "No." He lit up another cigarette. "He was an Argentinian pirate, who ended up on the island for a couple of weeks. Him and mother fell in love. After he left mother found out she was pregnant and said it was from her fiancée, the leader of the Rakyat." He paused. "When I was fifteen, the leader of the Rakyat, the man who I believe to be my father found out. I didn't look like him anyway. Mother came to me and told the whole story. The leader killed mother, I wasn't in the camp when he did it. Then Citra convinced me to kill the leader... and I fucking did."

Scarlett kept staring at him, focusing on him as he spoke, because if she didn't she would start to focus on her hallucinations.

"The thing, about our loved ones is that they fucking blindside you any chance they fucking get. My sister is a crazy fucking bitch. If I had known that then my life would have been so much fucking easier." Vaas shook his head. "I will kill her, I will put a bullet into her pretty little head for all of the fucking shit she had done."

"Why don't you have any tattoos?" She blurted out. "The rest of the Rakyat do."

Vaas took a swig from a bottle. "I was going to have. The Rakyat start getting tataus after they make their first kill. For the boys there is a ceremony at fifteen, the girls can participate if they wish. After you come back to the camp, you get a tatau. Then you will get tataus based on age and achievements. I did the ritual, when we got back to the camp... This was after he killed mother, we got back to the camp and I was seen unfit to receive a tatau." Unconsciously Vaas' hand went to the jagged scar along his head, his fingertips trailing it back and forth.

Scarlett nodded. "I remember. I remember all of it."

Vaas sighed. "I was devoted." He started explaining. "I was completely devoted to Citra. I loved her more than fucking anything. Citra... She was fucking insane. It was a year after her father, the tribe leader, killed my mother. After he found out that I was not his child, that Citra came to me. I was sixteen at the time, she was a year younger. She spoke of how we, how her and I would be better leaders for the tribe." He let out a bitter laugh.

"That we would be just and rule with a fair hand. We could unite our people and fight against any fucking treats from the outside world. The only thing standing in the way was her motherfucking father. So I killed him." He shrugged slightly. "I killed him because she asked me to, I thought it was the right fucking thing to do. Then after that, after she had become the perfect leader and I the perfect warrior, she became more and more goddamn unstable. She had me kill people who fucking doubted her, who questioned her methods and ways. She had me kill just to somehow justify the killing of her father. She grew more and more fucking deluded, more manipulative. Simply to serve her own purposes."

Scarlett went back to tracing patterns on his chest as he continued the story. Vaas relaxed at the contact.

"She drugged me a couple of fucking times, poisoned rather. She said that only the strongest warriors could live through the poison. She made me cold. Ruthless. The perfect warrior, that's what she called me. She was convinced that a fucking child between us would become even better than me." His voice was laced with disgust. "The child would be the perfect warrior and the perfect leader mixed together. I said no. The fucking bitch had manipulated me to do whatever the hell she said and I didn't want to be that. I knew that if I would have gone along with her plan, the plan with the child, that she would have fucking killed me the moment it was born. Hell, knowing her even sooner. So I told her what our motherfucking people thought of her, how she wasn't the ruler she was supposed to be. I was what... Eighteen? Nineteen? I left, promising to kill her. She made the same promise."

"I wandered to the south island. I craved oblivion. My drug use and my nature, my anger, it drove every one away. I sat in the same fucking shithole of a bar every single fucking night, at first people came to talk to me. They wanted to make friends with me, but soon they stopped. I would have too. It's what I fucking do, I drive people away. One night Hoyt came to that bar. He was a newcomer on the island and no one took the asshole seriously. Sure, he sold a couple of fucking people here and there, but he was small time. That same night I won against a couple of pissheads in a bar fight. After seeing that Hoyt invited me to the table." He was speaking but when Scar looked up, she saw that his eyes were unfocused. He was in another place in his head, reliving that night. She didn't stop drawing the patterns on his chest, but offered no comment. "By uh..." He paused, his hand finding Scars and he laced their fingers. His eyes, the curious mix of hazel and light green, garnished with gold specks, trailed her face as if to see if she was still there. Still listening.

Scarlett smiled in encouragement and gave his hand a little squeeze.

"By the morning I was gone." He broke eye contact, but their fingers stayed firmly locked. He couldn't bear to face the emotions in hers, knowing she would surely hate him after this. He had let his weakness turn him into a monster. His weakness toward Citra, his weakness toward the drugs and the power. "I was fucking gone. I was addicted, pumped full of cocaine and alcohol. When I felt like I couldn't drink anymore, Hoyt slid over more fucking cocaine. That allowed me to drink more. It was a week like that, or close to a week anyway. Drinking and then doing drugs just to allow me to fucking drink more. During that week I signed a contract, promising to help Hoyt take over the island."

"I thought it was the right thing to do. I thought this was the way to redeem myself, that I was more than a fucking spoiled blood Rakyat. If there is any way to get Citra out of power, I would do whatever it fucking takes. Even if it meant working with a fucking outsider. I still would, that has not changed." The scarred man sighed. "Hoyt liked what he saw in me, I suppose, because I became his right hand man. When his presence of the South Island became more concrete, I was handed the ownership of the North Island. Hoyt knew my fucking sister was here, he knew that I know this island like the back of my fucking hand. I got my little fucking army, some weapons and a shitty ass boat. I did his dirty work, he paid me money, drugs and some other shit from the rest of the world. Entertainment mostly movies and music."

"After a couple of years. I realized that Hoyt was the same as Citra. He had fucking manipulated me the same way. I had not redeemed myself, I had only made it fucking worse. I thought about leaving."

"Leaving?" Scarlett mumbled, when Vaas had been quiet for too long.

"Mmh." He nodded. "Leaving. I thought about leaving this fucking island. But it would be impossible. I am not fit for the outside world. Perhaps if I would have left when I left Citra, maybe then I could have made a fucking life for myself. Now it's too fucking late. The drugs, the... bloodlust and Hoyt. Hoyt would never let me fucking leave, he'd find me and kill me." He let out a small laugh. "I couldn't function there. I've seen your cities, built out of concrete with people like ants crawling in them. Every single fucking one trying to convince themselves that they're happy." Vaas shook his head. "I can't leave this island."

Scarlett didn't know what to say. She couldn't come up with anything that would offer him comfort. Hell, she couldn't come up with anything, so instead of talking she placed a kiss on his chest. And another. And then another one. Every time going a little bit higher until she reached his neck. She placed the last kiss on his jaw and then let out a heavy breath.

"So what will you do?" Scarlett wondered. Those weren't words of encouragement or comfort, but it was the best she could do.

"I will kill her. One day." Vaas admitted shrugging. "I will do what I have been doing this far. My mother used to say that every man who is unwilling to fight for what they want deserve what they get." He said. Before Scarlett had a chance to say anything, he changed the subject. "So how are we going to go about catching the rat?"

Scarlett groaned and buried her face in his neck. "It's not even morning yet, Vaas." She lifted her head with a small smile. "How about we talk business when it's actually light out, huh? Like normal people?"

"And what do you suppose we do until sunrise, mina?" A small smirk was playing on Vaas' lips.

"I have a few ideas."

She kissed him, the feeling of his warm and rough lips on hers made her smile against his mouth. With a quick and seemingly effortless movement, despite his damaged shoulder, Vaas moved Scarlett on top on him. Their tongues met, stroking slowly and teasingly. She can feel the slight tremble in his hands and she couldn't decide whether it was the lack of drugs in his system or was he just nervous. He bit her lower lip and she moved her hands to his chest. His heart was beating steady, a little faster than normal, but steady. His shaking hands were caused by the drugs, she frowned slightly. He moved his hand to her hair, placing light kisses on her neck which had Scarlett humming in approval. She turned to meet his lips, kissing him again, when a shout from outside the building made them freeze.

"VAAS!" Someone shouted. A moment later a pair of shuffling feet was heard on the dirt outside. There was more shouting in a language Scarlett didn't understand, mixed in with a few more shouts of his name.

The scarred man groaned at the interruption. "Motherfucking pieces of fucking shit." He swore, which made Scarlett laugh. "Can't do anything on their fucking own. Fucking cocksuckers."

Scarlett layed her forehead on his. "You should go, King."

Vaas' eyes flashed at the nickname and he pressed his lips to hers. "You should call me that more often."

"We'll see." Scarlett said with a wink and climbed off from on top of him.

Vaas got up and dressed quickly. Before he left, he turned at the doorway and looked as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He didn't say anything, no goodbyes or promises of any more nights like that. Perhaps that was best, Scarlett decided. They weren't lovers per se, a relationship between them would never work, but there was something so strong between them. She knew she felt it and she sure as hell knew he did too.

But it was her job to be here. Scarlett curled on her side and pulled the sheet over her. This wasn't a vacation, this was a mission. There had been so much bloodshed already. She knew that the best, most rational thing in this situation would be to find the rat as fast as possible, collect the money and get the hell out. All the while avoiding Vaas' bed, or Vaas in her bed. But she had made mistakes. She revealed her mission to Vaas and now she was in even further.

The worst part was that she liked it. It felt so natural to be entangled with Vaas during the wee hours of the morning. She wished it wasn't. When he was in the camp, she had no nightmares. She didn't know how to explain that, because it wasn't logical. She liked the way they were able to share their souls and small secrets. She had told him about her 24 hour marriage for gods sake. But it felt so good. She knew he wasn't going to judge her no matter what came out of her mouth, because neither of them could help who they are.

He told her all about his past and it was obvious that he never did that. Even Gareth wasn't sure what had happened between Vaas and Citra and Gareth was one of Vaas' most trusted men. He was able to open up to her and that terrified her, but she liked it.

_x_

Vaas, Gareth and Carlos, among a handful of others, were gone for the whole night. They had taken Ash with them, because despite having a busted leg, which actually had healed quite well, he was still able to work as a mechanic.

Scarlett enjoyed the company of Kip for the whole day. For the better part of the day they listened to music. During meal time she was able to talk to a few pirates who she'd had little to no interaction with and listen to their stories. The whole day Smiley's eyes were on her, but it wasn't the normal leering way, it seemed like he was curious. Scarlett didn't confront him about it.

The absolute diversity of the pirates still amazed her. Today alone she spoke to people from Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Namibia, Kenya and Kazakhstan. The man who was from Kazakhstan raised a small red flag for her.

She knew the person who she was looking for had connections to Russia and Eastern Europe. Although Kazakhstan is in Central Asia, but it was the closest she had gotten this far. The man went by the name of Serik and was a man of few words. The conversation between them was short, he only spoke three sentences to her.

Serik however was a foot soldier at best. She was looking for someone higher up in rank, who could get their hands on sensitive information. She made a mental note to ask Vaas about him when he returned.

Her bed felt awfully empty that night and she wasn't sure what she thought about that.

_x_

The next morning, after a night of nightmares, she nursed a bottle of beer with her fruit. When she was halfway through the bottle, there was the unmistakable noise of music blasting in the distance. All of the men around her lightened up a little at that and ten minutes later a convoy of trucks pulled into the camp. Vaas hopped out of the first truck with Maccie and Carlos in tow.

"We've hit jackpot boys!" Carlos yelled with a wide smile. While Carlos and Vaas went toward the back of the truck, Maccie ran to curl up at Scar's legs. Instinctively she started scratching the top of his head.

Fifty to sixty people, all bound, were escorted out of the trucks and toward the part of the camp where the hostage cages were. Scarlett had been avoiding that part of the camp ever since her payback to Coin-Man. She didn't know what happened to him, since she hadn't seen him since. She knew he was probably not there anymore, but she didn't know what she'd do if he was. She was tempted to go and look, perhaps that might put an end to her nightmares.

Soon all of the men who were on the convoy were relieved by the ones who had finished breakfast. Gareth took a seat at the table with Scarlett, Carlos and Vaas in the one next to theirs. Scarlett was surprised when Maccie stayed with her instead of curling up at Vaas' feet.

"You're starting with the alcohol early."Gareth noted, eyeing the bottle of beer. "How come?"

Scarlett swallowed, the memories of her very vivid nightmares returning. She shook her head and offered no further answer. She could feel Vaas' eyes burning on her skin.

"Nightmares?" Gareth asked.

"I-" Scarlett was taken by surprise. "Yeah. How'd you guess?"

Gareth offered a small smile. "You used to have them when you were little."

She nodded in understanding. She used to have them after her parents died. The conversation moved on and Vaas' eyes were almost always on her. They spoke of how they'd have to go the the port the next day, because there were more new hostages coming. They had definitely hit the jackpot, a small cruise ship and a yacht. Throughout the conversation Vaas silently undressed the woman with his eyes. He could see patches of her long legs through the holes in her jeans and he noted, with a smug smile, that she was wearing a t-shirt instead a tank top. Definitely because she wanted to hide the bite and scratch marks.

Ever so often he noticed her shift almost uncomfortably under his gaze, but soon took to staring back at him. As if challenging him.

"See something you fucking like?" he asked her, his voice came out lower and more seductive than he had planned. The look she gave him in response was pure sin. Lustfully hooded eyes made contact with his and the sly knowing smile that crossed her lips made him want to kiss it off her.

Gareth raised both of his eyebrows, glazing back and forth between the two.

"I see something I like alright." She said, got up and nicked his beer bottle. The beer was a better brand than what she had drank before. She smiled at him as innocently as possible. "Cheers." She raised the bottle toward him a little and took off toward her quarters.

Vaas shouted a couple of swears after her, which only made her smile wider. He also took note of how many men leered at her as she walked away and Vaas was over taken by a great desire to rip off her clothes and just take her on the floor of Turkey Point, in front of everyone. Claim her as his.

_x_

"What do you know of a man named Serik?" Scarlett asked.

They were in the warehouse that held Vaas' ruined painting, the one where they shared their first kiss.

"Serik?" Vaas wondered, his head tilted as he looked at the painting. He was swaying slightly with drugs. "He's decent with a gun. Hasn't gotten himself fucking killed yet, so that's a plus." Vaas shrugged. "How come?"

"Just wondering. It's possible he's the rat, but I... I don't think so." Scarlett said, her fingers picking at the label on the bottle. "Do you know if he has any connections to Russia?" She set down the bottle and lit up a cigarette.

Vaas shook his head. "No fucking clue. He sat most of his life in jail, before washing up here. That much I fucking know."

Scarlett nodded with a heavy sigh. She leaned herself back so that her weight was on her hands, while her legs dangled off the table she was sitting on. She'd have to ask Kip more about the man, he might know something.

"You'll find him." Vaas said, slowly walking toward her.

"I will." Scarlett said and Vaas settled between her legs. She lazily hooked one around his thigh. She shifted her weight so she was properly upright again. She took a deep drag from the cigarette."I do like your confidence in me."

"I've yet to see you fucking fail, mina." Vaas said, his hands stroking her thighs.

"How's the shoulder?" Scarlett questioned, trying to steer the conversation to a different topic.

Vaas chuckled. "It has three fucking holes in it. It could be better."

"You know that's not how I meant it, asshole." Scarlett rolled her eyes but couldn't fight the smile that was plastered on her face.

"Ouch." Vaas said, mocking hurt.

Scarlett pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and Vaas' eyes flashed. She took a drag from her cigarette and let the smoke seep out of her mouth. Vaas hunched his shoulders just slightly, so that their faces were closer but he was still towering over her. She locked eyes with him and took another drag, but this time blew the smoke onto his lips so that he breathed some of the smoke in.

Her free hand went to his chest and formed a fist, so she was clinging the fabric of his shirt. Scar gave him a little tug and smirked. She straightened her back and licked her lips, as his parted ever so slightly. The teasing was almost like a game, who would give in first. Their lips were hovering only centimetres apart from each others.

"Scarlett?" They heard Gareth shout.

Scarlett dropped her hand and Vaas quickly took a step back, grabbing the beer bottle from the table. Her heart was drumming when a moment later Gareth walked into the warehouse.

"There you are, I've been looking for you all over."

"Here I am." She said, taking a last drag from the cigarette before putting it out against the sole of her shoe and throwing the butt away.

Gareth's eyes were flickering between her and Vaas. "Asher was in need of you."

Scarlett hopped down from the table and started walking toward the door. It took all of her self control not to look back at Vaas.

_x_

After lunch and a chat with Ash, Scarlett decided to go to the spot where she last layed eyes on Coin-Man. She doubted it would ease her nightmares but she couldn't know until she tried. She tried not to think about whether or not Vaas would occupy her bed again or not. She didn't even know if he was going to be in camp for the night. With trembling hands she walked through the camp.

"Scarlett?" She heard someone shout as she walked through the area with the hostage cages, toward the back of the camp where the head garden was. She stopped and looked around, hearing nothing but the cries of the hostages.

"Scarlett Vincent! Scarlett!" Came the shout again, this time she focused enough to identify that the shouter was male. She traced the shout to a cage, which held five hostages. One of them was a man with light brown hair, blue eyes and freckles.

"Oh my God." Scarlett's mouth fell open. "David?"

"Scarlett! Help me!" David shouted again and Scarlett quickly raised her finger to her lips, her eyes on Smiley who was scanning the edge of the camp.

"David. I will come back okay? At this moment I may be more trouble than help. Trust me." She said. There was no knowing what these men would do to him if they knew she knew him. "I need you to stay... here." She grimaced at her poor choice of words.

_x_

Dinner time was as joyous as ever. All of the pirates were happy because a big pay day was on the horizon, so the music was blasting and the alcohol was flowing.

"How good are you with undercover work, Scar?" Carlos asked her. Vaas, who was sitting next to Carlos, raised his eyebrows.

She froze, her heart letting out a panicked jolt against her ribs. She looked up and they locked eyes. "Good. How come?"

"I think we have a little job for you." Carlos said.

"We do?" Vaas wondered, but Carlos didn't ask much as glance at him.

"There is a man who owes us money, he is also very fond of brunettes."

"I didn't peg you boys for the sneak and stab kind." Scarlett noted.

Carlos smiled a little. "We're not. Trouble is, the pendejo is under Hoyt's protection. We can't just go shoot up his place. We need the money, or at least the location of the money, and no bodies."

Scarlett nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can help you with that."

"Wonderful!" Carlos said. "You start tomorrow."

It was about an hour later when one of the pirates who was on patrol, came running to Turkey Point. He spoke quickly in a language that Scarlett didn't understand. By the time he finished the sentence, every pair of eye in earshot was on her.

"What?" Scarlett asked cautiously.

Vaas stood, leaning both of his hands on the table. "Apparently there is a hostage screaming your name."

David.

Fuck.

A/N: And we are at the end once again.

A reminder that I have a Vaaslett playlist, which I have a link to on my profile.

I also have a playlist solely for Vaas there. (Also linked.)

Also my tumblr is listed there. (You can totally come and fangirl with me over practically everything.)

As per usual, review, alert... post it to tumblr? Twitter? Whatever floats your fucking boat.

I feed off of reviews so don't forget to leave one.

Reviews are better than being a hostage.

Adiós amigos.

-Max