A/N- A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well!

Chapter 13

Once they were in his cabin, Captain Salazar had left her on her own for a few seconds before returning with a small tin. She watched as he seemed to grimace as he bent down and gave him a perplexed look but though nothing of it.

He had made her sit in the seat opposite his which wad near the desk and was now knelt next to her, his eyes fixed on the task of unravelling the bandages. She watched as he took a pair old silver scissors from the tin and pulled her blooded sleeve towards himself. Seconds later he was cutting the material away and she wanted to tell him she could have just pulled the sleeve up but decided to let him carry on with his way. As he meticulously cut away the fabric, she allowed herself to study his face.

Despite looking as though he had not slept in a while, he was clean shaven and his mouth was parted slightly as he focused on what he was doing. She admired his dark eyes which were lowered and pulled her own bottom lip between her teeth as she took in his appearance. She felt warmth creep onto her cheeks and flinched when his hand brushed against her wound.

"Thank you for saving me again". She whispered, feeling like a damsel in distress for the hundredth time since she had met him. He nodded but didn't reply and she wondered if he found it hard to talk whilst he was concentrating. He stood up back to his full height and without a word disappeared momentarily to come back with a small porcelain pot full of clean water and kneeling down once again he began to clean the wound. She tried her best not to pull her arm away as the stinging sensation was quite unpleasant and felt his gloveless hand kept her in place. He seemed in deep thought and she attempted to break the silence again.

"Is this a common occurrence?" She asked. He looked up at her for the first time since they had been in the cabin and he tilted his head.

"You mean the pirates aboard the ship, yes?" He asked back and she nodded.

"It has happened enough". He grunted and slowly wrapped the bandage tightly around her arm. "Your attempt at fighting was…Interesting however. Having a woman aboard is not a regular occurrence". She felt her cheeks flush and had a suspicion he had been amused at her rather sad attempt of fighting.

"To be fair Cap- Armando, I have never really been in a fight for my life. I'm sure if I was trained I would be much more efficient next time ". She replied, feeling sure of herself. However, she wasn't expecting a deep chuckle which erupted from the Captain.

"You assume you will be fighting again?" He asked, his voice full of mirth. She decided that she liked his laugh and gave him a pointed look.

"Well you never know". He stood up once again and she was sure he made a small sound, causing her eyes to narrow at the tall man. "Are you amused by me?" She asked.

"A bit". He replied honestly causing her to frown at him. She was about to add a comment when there was a knock at the door and the rather bashful face of Santos shuffled in the Cabin. Whatever mirth had graced the Captain's face was now gone and he was giving the officer a harsh glare. He began speaking in his native tongue and by the tone of his voice and the pained expression on Santos' face she had a feeling the Captain was not very happy.

Santos appeared to stutter out a reply but he shut his mouth when the Captain stalked towards him. Captain Salazar circled him like a shark and his voice although harsh was lowered which to Constance was far scarier than anyone shouting. Santos nodded his head frantically and when the Captain seemed satisfied he walked back over to her. But, just before Santos was about to leave, he began to speak in English once more.

"The body has been prepared Captain, we await your orders". Captain Salazar nodded and she watched as the door clicked shut. The Captain was clenching his fist and she wondered what they had been arguing about, or rather he was arguing about.

"Is everything alright?" She asked. Her arm was aching and she slowly stood up so that she was in front of him.

"The young officer who was killed was a relatively new recruit, we are going to dispose of the body". He murmured and she was taken back at the pain which flashed through is eyes. She hadn't fully considered how close the crew may have been together although she did suppose that being at sea for long periods would require them getting along.

"Was he the only fatality?" She asked timidly. He nodded and didn't say anything else and walked away through another set of doors which she assumed were from his own private quarters where he slept and came back with a new shirt.

"I will leave you to change, there is a basin through that door if you wish to wash you face". And with that he stalked away although a tad bit slower than usual. She was beginning to get the distinct impression that he may have been injured and was attempting to act like nothing was wrong.

Once he had left she rather consciously took off the stained shirt which was now ripped. As she shook it off her slender frame she gasped as she had a large bruise along her side and wondered if that had been caused when she was nearly shoved over the ship by the Captain. Running her finger over the rather garish purple mark, she put it down to her having thin skin. She was known to bruise a lot from even the smallest hit.

With discomfort, she raised her arms up and placed the clean shirt over her body, shivering at the cool material. She became aware that it was the Captain's and tried to shake the image of it being on his body from her mind. Since the Captain had offered for her to wash her face, she had the feeling that she must have looked rough and made her way to his quarters.

Constance kept her eyes on the other doors feeling as though she was doing something wrong but Constance reminded herself that he had allowed her to go into his room. Once she was in, she released a gasp as she regarded the quite elegant room. It was beautifully decorated and his bed was much larger than her own. On the wall was a small mirror and she groaned at her appearance. It looked as though she had been dragged through a bush backwards and her hair was awful looking. Attempting to run her fingers through her hair, unplaiting it and removing any knots, she then found the basin of water and began to scrub the dirt and occasional splatter of blood from her neck and face.

She finished relatively quickly and not wanting to intrude in the Captain's personal space any longer, she left the room and went back to his desk. As though she timed it perfectly, there was a sharp knock on the double doors and she called for them to come in. Captain Salazar came in and closed the door gently. He seemed less put together than usual and she was determined to find out if he was hurt. Bracing herself, she walked towards the temperamental Spaniard and crossed her arms.

"You seem off" She stated. He gave her a stern stare and she wanted to roll her eyes at the stubborn man. She was not even surprised that he would not admit he was in pain.

"I am fine, you may go back to your quarters now".

"I will go once you tell me what is wrong". She argued back and he growled at her before making his way to his large seat behind the desk. She watched closely as he lowered himself into his chair far more slowly than usual.

"A HA!" She exclaimed causing him to narrow his eyes at her.

"You are testing my patience Constance". He hissed, his composure starting to crack. Without standing down, she approached him and her eyes flickered over his body trying to see if there was any obvious damage. His coat was stained in numerous places and it was difficult to distinguish whether it was his blood or not. But as her eyes moved over his torso she detected a slight cut into his coat where a large stain of blood resided. Moving forwards, she went to touch him and squeaked when his much larger hand grabbed hers.

"Don't". He spat. She had never seen him vulnerable and in that moment she felt sorry for him. He seemed so caught up in being a perfect image of a controlled rigid Captain but, below this exterior was a human. He was a man after all.

She managed to pull her hand out of his grasp and batted his hand out of the way. He looked as though he was very close to smacking her and she kept her eyes fixed on what she was doing. Feeling rather bold, her trembling hands slowly touched his jacket. It felt like neither of them were breathing as she moved her hand against his chest until she reached the top button. His chest was lean and she could feel his heart beat against her hand.

He did not move and inch and she was amazed he had not attempted to push her away. She took his silence as permission to carry on and gradually she began to unbutton the coat. As she got lower, she knelt down and was very much aware that she was almost sat between his legs and hated the way her face was heating up, especially as he was staring down at her. She didn't dare look up and once the buttons were all undone she pushed away the thick fabric to see his white shirt which matched her own.

There, just above his hip was a large patch of blood which was obviously his own. He didn't seem in any significant pain and as she went to undo the shirt buttons when his warm hand came in contact with hers. She looked up and was taken back at how dark his eyes were.

"That's enough". He grunted hoarsely. He looked down at the wound and released a small irritated sigh.

"Why have you not got a doctor onboard your ship?"

"He was killed a few weeks ago". He hummed and he gestured for her to stand up. "Go and fetch me that tin and the water and I will sort this out myself". Without a word, she did as she was told and had the feeling that he had asked her help a tad reluctantly. As she placed the materials close to him on the desk and had fetched clean water from his quarters, she stood watching him.

"Yes?" He said sharply and she mumbled something in reply, but was forced to repeat it when he asked her again.

"I just wanted to make sure you are ok". And as he stared at her she lowered her eyes and went to leave. However, as she placed her hand on the handle, she was sure he whispered something. Something which sounded very much like a 'thank you'. Without turning back, she walked out of the room and decided to go on the top deck. She wanted to ask Lesaro some questions about the Captain and more importantly, how much longer she had left on the Silent Mary.