Ch. 19 Lovers' Quarrel

"How could they be so blind?!" Adam threw a glass of yum, smashing it against the wall. He and Lenora had stopped at a pub on their way back to the apartment Adam had in Marleybone. They had been sitting quietly, enjoying their drinks, until Adam broke the glass.

"Hey," the bartender yelled, "You've got to pay for that!" Adam scoffed at his demand and tossed a few gold coins to him. He slumped back in his chair, not wanting to hear any more of it.

"I'm just as disappointed as you, Adam." Lenora looked at the musketeer, comfort in her eyes. "But, at the same time, I can understand why they made their decision."

"What? You agree with them?"

"No," Lenora clarified, "I think they're making a huge mistake, too. But they're scared; people do stupid things when they're scared." Lenora went to take a sip of her drink.

"Is that what Kyle was when he hurt you?" Lenora froze. "He was scared, so he hurt you?" Lenora reached to feel the scar her father had imprinted on her so many years ago.

"I don't know," Lenora grumbled. "I don't know what kind of person he was back then. All I know is that he fought with us when the time came, and that he stayed behind to buy us time to escape Skull Island."

"I know," Adam apologized. He leaned his arms on the table, face in his hands. "That was wrong of me. I just don't know what to do. After everything I've done, it's still not enough to get us even a shred of help." At that moment, Brave walked into the bar. "Great. I'm guessing you have more bad news for us." Brave pulled up a chair to the table.

"Lenora, don't let Captain Drunk here have anything more to drink," Brave requested. He leaned in toward the two pirates and whispered the new. "Actually, I got us some support. Nelson was fighting for us in that meeting. He pulled me aside and told me he'd sneak us ships and troops when he could."

"That's a start." Adam took another sip from his drink.

"Didn't I just say not to let him drink anymore?" Lenora leaned back in her seat.

"You try stopping him. I tried and he nearly clawed out my eyes." Finishing the gulp in his mouth, Adam slammed the cup on the table.

"I am not so intoxicated that I can't follow a conversation!"

"I WASN'T excluding you from the conversation!" Lenora was losing her temper. "I only said that you've been slightly out of control since the meeting."

"So that's what I am, is that it? I'm out of control?!" Adam stood up from the table.

"That's not what I meant."

"Save it!" Adam addressed the whole pub. "It's clear that you don't think I'm fit to lead!" Adam reached to the sword and pistol tattoo that marked Sagittarius' location in his body.

"Adam, what are you…" Sagittarius was cut off as his control chip was expelled from Adam's wrist. He took the chip and tossed it onto the table.

"If you think you can do things so much better than me, you lead this whole counter attack!"

"Will you calm down?!" Lenora had snapped. "You made a bad call; it happens. But don't get mad at me because I saved lives!" She got up to stop him from leaving. "Take a breath and get over it!" Adam reared around and punched the right side of her face, his drunken state guiding his actions. She let go and fell to the ground. She clutched the right side of her face, feeling the blood that was seeping from the fresh wound. Adam looked down at her, then at his hands.

What did I just do? He saw the pain and sadness in her eyes. He looked at Sagittarius' control chip on the table. I'm not myself. "I- I'm sorry." Adam reached to comfort his girlfriend, but she flinched away in fear at his touch. "Lenora," Adam stuttered, "I'm sorry."

"Just go!" Lenora crawled away from him. "Stay away from me!" Adam looked at her one last time and ran out the door. Brave moved to check her injury. "How could he do that to me?"

"He was just drunk," the sniper responded, "You saw the way he acted." He handed her a napkin to wipe away the blood. She accepted it and cleaned the wound. She left the pub and went to find her parents.

"It's about time we got some time to ourselves," Morgan commented, "especially seeing as our honeymoon was cut short." The musketeer took off his shirt. He turned to the bed, his wife laying upon it.

"You're telling me," she laughed. "It feels great to not be a prisoner right now." They found a hotel that had a vacancy and rented a room while they waited for their departure. Sirena was reading a book while Morgan was getting ready for bed. "This is nice."

"Being kicked out of our home?" Morgan was joking, of course, but he couldn't help but detect some truth in his question.

"No," the privateer replied, "The calm. It's been so long since we could just take a break and relax. Even if we're technically homeless right now, we're together and there's no reason to fight right now." Sirena closed her book and set it on her bedside table. "That was a good chapter. Now, where were we?" Morgan crawled onto the bed, laying down next to his wife. He gave her neck a quick kiss. "Oh," she chuckled, "Now I remember." Morgan started to unbutton her shirt when he heard a knock at the door.

"Ugh," Morgan shouted, angrily, "We didn't call room service; that's two doors down!"

"Well," the voice, feminine, retorted, "When I see them, I'll let them know, but for now could you let me in!" It was Lenora. Sirena quickly buttoned up her blouse while Morgan went to answer the door. Lenora walked in as her mother finished with the last button. "Uh," shock filled the swashbuckler's voice, "Did I interrupt something?" Morgan closed the door. He didn't feel like explaining themselves after everything they've been through.

"Yes." Morgan got straight to the point. "We've had a rough few days and wanted to relieve some stress."

"Too much information." Lenora shook her head, giving her mother a chance to see the scratch on her face.

"What happened?" Sirena stood up from the bed and touched the wound.

"Adam did it." Lenora wrapped her arms around herself and walked to the mirror Morgan had been using. "He was drunk. We were arguing. We both said things we probably shouldn't have said and he hit me." Lenora started to weep. "I was SCARED of him. I flinched at his very touch. He ran out of the pub after I refused his apology." Sirena saw the desperation in her daughter's eyes. "I don't know what I should do."

"Morgan, could you step outside for a moment?" Morgan complied and closed the door behind him. As she heard the door click shut, Sirena sat down on the bed and motioned for her daughter to sit with her. "When I was with Kyle, we fought nonstop. Eventually, we would fight just to have a reason to want to look at the other person. It wasn't healthy. In our last shouting match, just two weeks after you were born, he had had enough. He took his knife out and slashed at me. I knocked away his arm and sent it flying toward you. I'm the reason you have that scar." Lenora reached to feel her birthmark on the back of her neck.

"Why are you telling me this?" Lenora loved that her mother was sharing this, but didn't understand the relevance.

"Because I used to think that my whole life would be one big fight." Sirena got up and leaned out the mirror. "Then I met Morgan. He cared about me, protected me, and you. He always listened and I felt I could tell him anything. That was something I couldn't do with Kyle because neither of us ever tried to have a calm discussion, but those fights made me realize something. I never tried to make peace with him. Maybe if I had, he could have been the father you always wanted to know." The privateer turned back to face her daughter. "I let our fights get in the way of what could have been a peaceful life, and so did he. Don't let the two of you end up like we did."

"I… I don't know if I can never fight with him again."

"I'm not saying you'll never fight again, but you both have to have the strength to put it behind each other. Every couple has their fights." Lenora got up and moved to the door.

"Thanks mom." Lenora touched her face. "Hopefully this will fade soon.

"Hey," Sirena chuckled, "Nothing a little bit of makeup can't fix." Lenora laughed at the comment and left. Morgan reentered the room. "Now, where were we?" Morgan pushed his wife down onto the bed. "Oh, now I remember."