Heeeey! New chapter! So sorry for the long wait, I hope you haven't lost interest!

Thank you for the support and reviews and faves :) once again I cannot express how much I appreciate it.

In this chapter, explicit sex (watch out, this is M), and very ominous clouds in the horizon. Disclaimer applies as always.

Hope you enjoy :)

After giving in to her sick curiosity (which is how Alice likes to think of her attraction to Vaas), there was some time when Alice feared that now he'd had what he wanted, the pirate would lose interest in her. She is relieved to see that this really isn't the case, and quite the contrary, as Vaas seems to be in fact even more attracted to her, and his general possessiveness towards her appears to have heightened dramatically.

Following the... Execution, Alice enters a long, fierce, completely silent battle with herself. As she eats, she sleeps, she showers, she washes, she walks, she has sex, Alice is at war with herself, there's explosions and yelling and cries in her mind as her lips remain sealed.

She wins by convincing herself that he forced her to shoot the man, that no one could have known the mine was faulty, and that if she enjoys having sex with Vaas, then good, perfect, it's better like that, because imagine if she hated it and had to take it every single day, or nearly.

His declarations of love never fail to startle her, as regularly and casually given as they are. He never says it in public though, and part of her is amused at the idea of the mighty pirate being embarrassed in front of his mates. True, he grabs her, holds her, kisses her, runs his hands all over her when others are around, but she does wonder what his reaction would be if she randomly started kissing and cooing over him in front of the rest of the camp. Alice wishes she was brave enough to try it, just to see. Luckily for her, he seems happy enough with her having sex with him rather than saying I love you back. In his twisted mind, that's love. He doesn't seem to notice that he is always the one to initiate their love-making, or perhaps he is happy to ignore that, plus she never has to fake her enjoyment.

Maybe it's because she's not had sex in a very long time, prior to Vaas, maybe it's because he's only the second man she ever has sex with, maybe it's the loneliness, the fear, maybe she's mad, but Alice does truly love having sex with Vaas, and her reluctance is more for show than anything. She keeps her distance, but secretly sighs in relief whenever she feels his hands reaching for her and his breath ghosting her neck, tender kisses on her skin and foreign endearments whispered in her ear. Soon she presses back against him and smiles whenever she does something that earns her a pleasured moan. She's yet to go down on him, and him on her, and she tells herself that she can keep that as her joker, even though she's given him pretty much everything else. They don't have sex from behind, either, and Alice refuses to let herself be touched by what she realises is his way of letting her set the pace, so as not to spook her.

She sometimes has to slap her own face, sharply, to remind herself of all the evils he's done her.

One morning, Alice wakes abruptly. She doesn't dare move, but she knows who's standing behind her, at the side of the bed. She can feel him there. He looks all bloody, she knows that, she can smell it. He doesn't speak but she hears his voice all the same. He says oh you were forced to kill that guy were you, he made you do it, did he make you kill me? You fucking murdered me in cold blood. You shot me for that psycho, that slaver, I came back and I risked my life for you you stupid, selfish bitch, and you just shot me. I died protecting you. Ever wonder what's happened to Jessica since you shot me in the guts? Do you, you selfish bitch? You shot me you idiot, you know it, there was no one else there and your gun was smoking, god you're such a fucking... You're just so fucking stupid! Waste of space bitch.

He's angry, she understands that. He's telling her the truth. Alice feels it. She cannot turn around. Leave me alone, I know I'm horrible, leave me!

You like it when he fucks you!

He laughs. It gurgles because of the blood in his mouth.

You're so sick. I'm glad I never got you out, you're right where you belong. In his bed. Stupid bitch.

I am surviving. If you'd just waited and listened...!

He just laughs her off, his cackles nothing like what his real laugh had used to be like. Before she killed him. Tim would not speak to her like this, although he's right. Alice is shaking, she doesn't want to turn around and face him, because he cannot be there, but what if he is? She reaches for Vaas.

He is asleep, but wakes gently as she shuffles up to him and starts kissing him. He kisses back, humming contentedly, but doesn't wake. Alice has no time for this, she needs Tim to shut up. She needs to hear nothing.

She sits up, Tim' shadow practically buzzing behind her, and yanks her own top off. She pulls her underwear down, throws the lot to the floor, goes back to Vaas. She kisses his cheeks, his neck, grazes her teeth around his ear, something she's learnt drives him wild. Finally he is stirring, a hand coming up lazily to carress her back. His eyes open when he feels the bare skin. She swallows his appreciative mumble with a kiss, half climbs on top of him as she deepens the kiss herself, and he's getting wound up now she can feel, he's awake, he's kissing back. Alice risks a quick look to the side.

Tim is still there, his blood is dripping onto the floor.

"Vaas, I want you." She tells the pirate. For once she's wanting to have sex, and he's the one who's slow to get started! She's got no time for that. Tim has moved closer. What would drive you crazy, if you were an insane pirate?

"Vaas, I want you to fuck me, now."

He grunts, finally, finally getting it, and grabs her face roughly.

"Say that again, nena."

"I want you to fuck me."

"Again."

"Fuck me, Vaas, fuck me."

He lets out what sounds like a desperate, breathless laugh, and rolls them over until he is on top, settles between her legs.

"You want me to fuck you?"

"Yes, yes I do. Just fuck me."

Now, for God' sake! Tim is about to climb into bed.

"I'll fuck you, baby, I'll fuck you," he says, then starts speaking in Spanish as he settles between her legs, his cock hard, and Alice eagerly wraps her legs around his hips and tries pulling him inside her, and when that doesn't turn out to be enough she reaches down and guides his penis into her sex. Vaas is surprised by her eagerness, she knows, but his arousal is clouding his judgement and he complies immediately, entering her fully and starting a fairly quick rhythm straight away. She isn't ready, and it does hurt a bit, but the mixture of pain and arousal makes Tim's sinister, horrible appearance flicker like a faulty television. A bit more, and he'll be gone.

Vaas is oblivious to her torment, thrusting into her whilst keeping up with the dirty talk. He looks like he's about to come, but Alice needs him to last longer, or if not then she needs the sensations to be more violent so Tim will fuck off once and for all. If only he'd bloody listened to her!

"Harder!" She urges him, not recognising herself.

Vaas is just as stunned, staring at her face in comical shock, and when she repeats the injunction he hesitantly starts moving again, his eyes not leaving her face.

"Vaas, I am sure, I really want this. Fuck me harder. If you like? You don't have to." She adds, suddenly aware that he is in fact a person with feelings, and that he may not actually want to be having sex with her this early in the morning. Luckily this momentary flicker back to her regular self seems to be just what Vaas needs to get going again, and his face sets grimly, dangerously, as he lifts himself up onto his knees, bringing her hips along with his, and starts moving in her again, this time in short, powerful thrusts that make their hips slap and Alice's breath catch each time they collide. Tim is still there, but she's forgetting that he is, because Vaas' eyes are compelling hers, his look intense and lustful. He's pulling her hips into his with each thrust, then his hand goes to her throat, and stays there, not quite squeezing but definitely applying a slight pressure. Alice's eyes shut, because it's too much, and she can feel the now familiar first few sparks of her orgasm building up. She cannot control the noises coming out of her mouth, doesn't attempt to, because it doesn't matter, Tim's right, she is a pirate's whore, but she knows why she's doing this, she's surviving, she's entitled to, she's not going to apologise for surviving where others would have given up long before her.

"Like this? Huh? Hard like this?"

"Yes, yes please!"

He slaps her bum harder than he's ever done before.

"You like this?" He asks, his whole face contorted in pleasure, his muscles hard and strained as he never slows his pace. God forgive her, she does.

"Yes! God... Vaas, I'm co-!"

"No." He says suddenly, pulling out of her. "No, no, no, you ain't coming yet, nena, we're not done here."

Alice blinks in confusion, her whole body feeling like it is one hot nerve.

"You can't do this to me."

He leans down, the pendant on his necklace grazing her breasts teasingly.

"We're not done here. I ain't done with you, sirenita. You can't do this to me."

He's looking straight into her eyes, the hand on her throat softening its hold, shifting to cup her face, his thumb teasing her lips and entering her mouth. His tone is almost harsh, and Alice feels vaguely frightened, though it is dulled in delicious arousal. She's watching him, transfixed, waiting to see what he'll do next.

"I'm going to flip you over." He tells her, softly, reverently. "I'm going to hold you there," a hand on her thigh, "and there," a hand on their back of her neck, "and I'm going to fuck you, baby, hard and deep, until you scream my name, and then I'm gonna come inside of you, because you're mine. And I'm yours. Whatever is standing over there watching us fuck is gonna go away for good. That sound good to you?". He just sees everything. Alice is in awe.

"Yes." Is that her voice?

"But first, I want to hear three little words from you, nena. I want you to say to me 'I love you'. Can you do that for me, nena?"

What? Is he serious? And he must be, because he is waiting, looking at her, almost smug, with a hint of vulnerability in his eyes. Tim' silhouette is taking shape again. Alice needs this. He wants three words? Fine. They're just words. They mean nothing.

"I love you."

"Mean it."

"I love you." She repeats, making sure to hold his intense gaze. "Now make it go away. My love."

Vaas swears loudly, and turns her over. He forces her on all four, one of his hands holds her thigh as he starts fucking her again, the other goes to the back of her neck and pushes down, pressing her into the mattress, and all his predictions come true.

Tim leaves, never haunts Alice again.

Over the next few days, Alice doesn't say it again. Vaas becomes strangely chivaleresque. It's as if the dirtier their love making gets, the more gentle he becomes out of the bedroom, which probably makes perfect sense in his crazy mind. He kisses her hand. Brushes her hair. Doesn't kick her dog again. Simultaneously, Alice' self loathing issues simmer steadily at the back of her mind. They creep around her head, and at random times they launch an attack, and she hears her own voice ring next to her, saying "fuck me" and "harder" like a gross impression of a 90s porn film.

She keeps telling herself she does it for survival. That it's just biology if she enjoys it.

At least Tim's gone for good.

Something else starts playing on Alice's mind.

Vaas has gone weird.

Which, said as such, seems fairly difficult to imagine, but he has. Vaas is different. He spends quite a long time staring into the distance, unblinking, smoking weed and cigars.

One evening, he is nowhere to be found, and Alice, unable to handle his absence, goes to find him. He finds him at the beach, staring into the sunset, burning his green eyes into the orange glows, his head surrounded by a slow cloud of smoke.

"Vaas?" She asks timidly, stopping a couple of steps away.

He doesn't turn, just extends his hand, an invitation. She takes it. He pulls her to him, settles an arm over her shoulders. Offers her his joint, which she turns down.

They look at the sunset together. Or rather, Vaas is looking at it, Alice is peeping up at him.

"Where is your necklace from?" She asks timidly, getting worried by this quiet, still version of her insane pirate. It can't be good.

"This?" He nods to the green pendant on his neck. "Just a...memory of a past life."

She suddenly realises that she's never gifted him with anything, and feels oddly guilty about it.

"It suits you," she says, still looking for a reaction. "Same green as your eyes."

He chuckles, tears his eyes away from the setting sun and kisses her temple.

"You're quite the smooth talker yourself, nena" he tells her. "Do you know what colour your eyes are?" He asks her, staring into her eyes, holding her face gently with the hand holding his joint.

"What?"

"They're blue. And green. And grey. And brown. Gold, silver, purple, orange... They're every colour I ever want to see."

She'd make fun of his chat up line if he didn't have such an intense sincerity in his expression. He leans down and kisses her, slow, deep, his hand cupping her face, and Alice feels building in her the lust for him which now permanently lies dormant in her, awakening nearly three times a day.

"Here, try this, baby," he tells her, before pulling on his joint. He keeps it in his mouth and leans into her as if to kiss her. The smoke travels from his mouth to hers, and she breathes in, obliging him, keen to find out exactly what is wrong with him at present. She doesn't cough, and Vaas gives her a little smile before turning back to the dying sun. Alice weighs her words carefully.

"Is there something on your mind, Vaas?" She asks, her voice roughened by the weed.

He remains silent for a little while.

"Yeah."

"Is it... Is there anything I can help with?"

"You can help with relieving stress, sirenita," he says playfully nibbling at her ear.

Alice knows he's trying to dodge the question.

"You seem a bit troubled," she continues, ignoring the tongue in her ear, "and I'm getting a bit worried. I want you to be happy, and I just wanted you to know that if there's anything you want to talk about... Well, I'm a good listener. And I can relieve stress too." She adds, smiling at him. She's a bit worried that her forwardness will get her in trouble, but luckily Vaas decides to be moved instead. He gives her a strange, glassy look, then leans in and rests his face against her neck.

"So you do love me huh?"

"I really care about you."

"I fucking care about you too." He says, his voice breaking. The shift in his mood is so sudden that for a second Alice wonders if she's dreaming it. "Fuck, Alice, I love you. I love you so much. I'd do anything for you, you know that? I'd fucking kill anyone. You just say the word, baby." A hand snakes around her belly, the thumb stroking gently. "I want you to carry my babies one day, nena. I wanna grow old with you. You and me, we're gonna grow old together, we're gonna be sitting on the beach watching the sunset together. The pirate and the mermaid. This is the real fucking deal for me, do you get it? The real fucking thing."

"For me too," provides Alice, telling herself she's lying.

"Nena," cries Vaas, and he gathers her in arms, joint forgotten, burying his face at the crook of her neck. "Fuck, baby, I wish this could all come true. I wanna see little kids running around, you know? With Mohawks and your rainbow eyes."

The image is comical, and Alice laughs nervously. His seriousness and sudden emotional display is making her on edge, more than the actual words he is speaking.

"That'd be scary, don't you think?" He ignores the question. "Vaas?" Still nothing. Alice cooes him into looking up. "My love, are you ok?" The loving words come out easily, naturally. "Why would it not come true?"

"Tell me the truth," he grabs her face, looks into her eyes. "Tell me the truth, nena. Do I still scare you?"

He wants a no, she knows, but he always seems to be able to see right through her lies. Alice opts for a half truth.

"You're scaring me right now. What is wrong?"

"I'm sorry I hurt you the other night. You know, when I got you against the wall? I wasn't thinking straight..."

"Vaas!" Alice moves out of his grasp, now positively alarmed. "Just tell me what's wrong! You're scaring me!"

It's the first time she's ever raised her voice at him,and he seems stunned into silence.

"Please, my love, just tell me what's on your mind. Why wouldn't it all come true? Watching the sunset together, growing old?"

Having kids?

The pirate looks at the sun, which has now disappeared in the horizon.

"Snow White." He says, suddenly. "Fucking Snow White, Jason Brody. I can't fucking kill him. He ain't dead yet. I fucking tried everything. He keeps coming at me. I just wanna be with you, I don't want this shit."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Fucking oh. I'm gonna try one more time, nena, I ain't quitting. He's gonna come for me. Tomorrow night, at the party. I'll be waiting. Thing is... I'm not sure I'm gonna live, nena. Maybe I'm not meant to win this one. Maybe it's fucking karma or some shit. I'll fight him. And I'll hide you, you'll be safe, Carlos will look after you. He'll send you home if I die." He grabs her arms. "Please fuck me one last time. Let's have sex all night, ok? In case I die."

Alice is shaken. What if he does, in fact, die? What of her then? And... What if he dies? What's a world without Vaas? Keep calm, keep calm, he's high as fuck, just cool him down.

"Don't be silly, of course you'll beat him." He's strong, really strong, he's a good fighter, that Jason is just some rich kid, no match for Vaas. There's no way Vaas is going to die. Not like that. Is there? "You'll beat him. Everything will come true. Karma doesn't exist. You will win."

She's trying to convince herself as much as she is trying to convince him, she knows that.

"You'll live. But if you want to have sex all night anyway... Then I'm ok with that." She gives him a cheeky smile, takes his hand in hers. "I believe I said please earlier." She says innocently, turning around, poking her bum out. He takes the bait.

Vaas gives her bum a gentle tap, laughing, and follows back towards the camp. On the way, Alice keeps things light hearted, joking, 'accidentally' apologising or saying please, accepting the joint he offers her.

She's over doing it, she knows, Vaas probably knows, but he seems happy to play along with it, desperate to forget about the fact that he thinks this is his last night on Earth.

God knows Alice is desperate to forget that too.