"Miss Gibbs?" Imogene curses her own shy and quiet nature, thinking she sounds little more than a child. It had never bothered her before. Indeed, she'd never had reason to think on it before. But watching Captain Peg has her feelling small and almost inadequate in some way.

The older woman is softer than she tries to appear in front of the men, or at least she has the ability to be. Her voice quiets and grows more delicate as she turns to Imogene, setting down the knife she'd been using to cut up potatoes. "Miss Ellsworth."

A pause. Imogene fiddles nervously with her dress. "You were friends with my Alex as well, correct?"

A strange sort of grimace contorts the older womans features. She wipes her hands on her apron, sighs, plants her hands on her hips. "Aye. We were thick as theives for a time there, Emily 'n him 'n me."

"May I ask you something? If the matter is somehow a delicate one you needn't feel compelled to answer."

The older woman raises a single brow. Instead of answering, she strolls over to a barrel and plucks a large, juicy apple from within it, tossing it to Imogene. "You still looked half starved." Miss Gibbs settles herself at the table. "Go on then. Ask away."

Imogene sits herself down across from Miss Gibbs, and allows herself the luxury of staring down at the apple instead of the one she's conversing with. "Was he very different? Before? You see, the man I know is so gentle. Intelligent and playful sometimes but often soft spoken. He has told me of his adventures with you and the captain but I could not picture it. Indeed, I still cannot very well. Certainly I cannot see him being - that is, having the affinity for the pleasurable company the women who cared for me at Tortuga offer. Though Captain Peg seems to have implied he did once have such an affinity, I have never known him to..." She is rambling. She stops herself abruptly, an apology on the tip of her tongue. But it never makes it past her lips.

Miss Gibbs begins to laugh. Peals of the chiming, pleasant sound fill the room for several long moments, leaving Imogene quite befuddled. "Gods above!" Miss Gibbs gasps out finally. "I haven't had a laugh like that in ages, feels like."

"Forgive me." Imogene says, quiet and quite confused. "I - I believe the joke escaped me."

"The joke might very well be on you, Miss, and that's what worries me." Miss Gibbs replies with a final snort. "Truth is, you might've just described a whole different person from the Alex I knew and..." She trails off, and that strange sort of grimace is back again.

"And...?" Imogene prompts.

But the older woman only shakes her head. "Oh, I give up on this one, it ain' my business. You want know what you should be looking out for with Alex, go talk to the captain."

Imogene is growing frustrated and is finding it harder to contain, but she forces herself to remain composed. Remain a lady. Which, in this case, means biting her tongue as she sweeps out of the room.

...

The door is left open a crack, so Imogene doesn't bother to knock. "Captain." It almost sounds demanding. The captain is sat at her desk with the Irishman that Imogene had first spoken to upon being rescued, leaning on the desk next to her. Imogene's mind is in such turmoil she quite forgets some of her manners, which is to say, she scarce even notices him.

"Miss Ellsworth." The captain raises her eyebrows, the only sign of surprise she gives. "What can I do for you?"

Imogene finds herself near storming across the room, planting herself before the desk. "You can tell me why everyone seems to have so much to say about my fiancé but won't breathe word of it to me." Hearing in her head the scolding she'd be receiving from her mother, even in her present state, she belatedly adds, "If you please."

The captain seems to be studying Imogene, looks thoughtful. Next to her, the Irishman - Connelly, Imogene remembers now - looks rather amused, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Well, suppose it was only a matter of time. Ready to wise up some, are we, Miss?"

"Riley." The captain is quick to scold him, honey brown eyes flashing with a hint of danger as she sends him a look.

"What?" He shrugs, playing the innocent. "You know the truth better than I."

Pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand, the captain waves him off with the other. "Shoo."

"But..."

"Mister Connelly!"

"Aye, Captain." Now, he beats a hasty retreat.

The door shuts behind him. The captain gestures for Imogene to have a seat. "My apologies. The downfalls of working with pirates; diplomacy isn' even in the vocabulary, speaking in general. Though, you'd think he'd get the concept of discretion at the least. Cheeky ginger bilge rat."

Deliberating a moment, Imogene sits herself primly in the chair across from the captain. "Captain, please. I cannot stand this. It seems as though there is some terrible secret that everyone is afraid to let me in on, but I begin to fear more for what should happen if I do not know it. I am to - to wed him, if - if he..."

"Miss Ellsworth, please, please." The captain stands and skirts around the desk to sit atop it before Imogene. "What you hear from this lot must always be taken with a grain o' salt. Know this first and the rest becomes much less troubling. S'only Jo 'n I that really knew Alex, anyway." A pause, the captain darts a calloused hand out to scoop up one of Imogene's much more delicate ones. "Hones'ly. Breathe."

Imogene does as instructed, taking a few slow breathes and forcing some composure on herself. "Alright. Please, explain."

"Alex is not what my men want to think him to be." She speaks slower, her words chosen with care. "Some of what they say is quite true. Other bits are utter poppycock. All you need know is that if he has professed to you his love, then you are blessed in ways you cannot begin to imagine."

This is a surprise. Somehow she hadn't expected such praise could possibly come from the other woman's mouth. Imogene has already seen the captain to be many things: clever, eccentric, downright cocky, sometimes cold as ice... but not so soft in any way as she has gone just at the moment. "I am?"

A smile pulls at the other woman's lips. "You are. To earn such a profession from a Sparrow is a novelty in itself. Alex, he is another thing entirely. He will love you so well you'll feel that all the world has to offer besides him fades to utter insignificance, and I pray - truly, I do - that you'll never have to find yourself learning to live without that again. That, is my explaination of Alex."

Imogene is startled. Really, truly startled. "You loved him. You truly loved him."

But this was the wrong thing to say, and it is instantly apparent. The captain clears her throat, her eyes growing harder and guarded again. "Aye, well. Didn't say he never made mistakes. Just meant I hope you don't end up bein part of his next one."

"...so there is something to what your men say. The way he left."

The captain slides down off the desk, fists clenching. Imogene thinks her eyes must be deceiving her, but she could swear the other woman's hands are glowing, just faintly. The window rattles, as does the mirror on the wall. Anything glass around them begins to hum ominously. The captain reaches out, abrupt, to snatch up a bottle on her desk and bring it to her lips...and mutters under her breath as she tips the thing over and not a drop comes out. "Bloody empty. Course it's bloody empty." She shoves it back onto the desk.

"Magic." Imogene is staring at the captain's hands. "But that's...that's not possible. It was only a book."

The captain closes her eyes and huffs. "You'll find with me that it's best to toss 'impossible' out of your vocabulary. By your definition, I myself am quite probably very impossible."

"Do it again." Imogene finds herself asking, only she's not asking, she's all but demanding.

The captain blinks at her, seeming to relax a fraction. "Beg pardon?"

"Your hands, they glowed, please, may I see it again?"

The other woman's brows are furrowed now. She plants a hand on her hip. "You're not afraid." Stating the obvious.

"No, no, you must understand. When I was a girl there was a book of, well, sort of fairytales. It was one of many in my father's library, he always kept it well rounded. And I'd sneak in at night and read. And the fairytale book, it described - why, it described in perfect detail what I just saw there!" She gestures to the captain's hands.

The captain pauses a moment, looking thoughtful again, and then brings up a tentative hand. It begins to glow again, just faintly, the lovliest shade of blue. The captain holds her hand out towards the window and a stream of the strange energy shoots out to coat it. It swings open, letting in a chilly breeze. Imogene finds herself laughing in delight, and this seems to egg the other woman on to let go a little. Soon it's a book floating across the room, the bottle floating out the window (and being dropped to land with a distant splash). A hand swept over the desk, and the mess it has been is no more; maps have vanished back to where ever they are stored, as have any tools for navigating, and the few other empty bottles have disappeared. And then the captain reaches out for Imogene's hand. Imogene doesn't hesitate to take tuck her hand back into the other woman's and soon her whole person is engulfed in the pretty blue glow. The sensation that comes with this is strange, a sort of tingling warmth that is not unpleasant. The glow flashes brighter and then Imogene is looking down to find that her battered dress has been restored to it's previous glory. But that's not all that's happened. Imogene's too thin frame has filled back out some, and her skin now possesses a healthy glow, and this is nothing compared to how she feels. She feels as though she has the energy to scrub clean the whole of the mansion back home and then go for a ride on her horse and then come back to cook dinner herself and still not be exhausted.

Throwing her arms out, she twirls around and lets out a giggle. "Oh, captain, this is wonderful! How is it I have not seen you use such a wonderful gift until just now? Oh, surely there are so many ways such power could be of use!"

But the captain has grown more subdued again. "It's - it's not so simple as it sounds. It...it's not easy to control. I can make good things happen, but earlier, when I was upset..."

Imogene stops short. "The glass."

"It can be dangerous. It's proven dangerous, before."

"Captain." Imogene goes on, gentler. "You do not seem to be easily upset. What I said..."

The captain darts out of the room without another word. Imogene, knowing enough to understand when her mouth really should remain shut, just watches her go.

Emily anchors the ship a good distance out from the actual docks, but is kind enough to accompany them herself. Alex appreciates the gesture immensely but wishes she'd sent anyone instead, even Riley. Imogene has been distant and barely spoken to him for the past day and half. Somehow, with Emily around, the atmosphere this creates is so tense it's nearing hostile.

Hostile. His Imogene, hostile? No, no. He must be imagining it. He reaches out a hand to scoop hers up, squeezing gently. "We'll go to pay Laurel a visit. You know she'd never mind the company. We can 'ave a rest and a few proper meals. Doesn't that sound good, my love?"

Her soft, sky blue eyes trail up slowly to meet his. She's acting so skittish, he just can't make sense of it. She nods after a moment, managing a smile though it is forced. "Yes. Yes, that sounds lovely, dear." A pause, and she turns to Emily. "Captain, would you think of joining us for a spell? You said you knew Laurel and we could work out what's to become of the other girls."

Emily meets Alex's eyes, snaking a hand up to rub the back of her neck. "Ah. Not so sure you'll want to be seen strollin through town with me, Miss."

"Oh. Well, yes." Imogene looks visibly disheartened. "Never mind, then."

Silence. As they near the docks, Emily's eyes sweep them, taking in all the large Navy ships resting there. "I'll come back 'round nightfall tonight, meet you at the beach here." They have just run aground in the long boat. "If you've a plan for the other ladies occupying my hold by then, great, but if not..."

"We'll have a plan by then." Imogene asserts, as though there is not other option.

Alex just nods as he helps his betrothed out of the boat. They stand and watch a moment as she and the other crewmen begin beating a hasty retreat out to open waters. Imogene hikes up her skirts a bit as she begins trekking up the beach. Hovering close behind her, Alex follows.

"I don't...I don't understand." Imogene. She's not crying. Her voice is tiny and tired and she's staring down at the table, expression blank as her mind wants to go. She can hardly think anymore. "You mean to say they made it here and then just - left one day?"

Laurel lays a hand on her shoulder, setting a cup of tea down in front of her. The younger woman scarce has the energy to waste on acknowledging it. Laurel sighs. "I'm sorry. I can arrange for alternate passage for you, but a journey like that...it will take time. Especially considering I suspect there to be good reason why your ship left so suddenly."

"Do you think your brother...?" Alex trails off, hardly needing to finish the sentence.

"I can't imagine why he would make a move to hurt Imogene in any way." Now they are beginning to talk as if she's not even in the room.

"Per'aps, with the wedding coming up so soon, to me of all people..."

"If he'd had any overt objections he'd have had no compucture about voicing them, and long before now."

"Per'aps the scoundrels that took Imogene in the first place, then?"

"Mmm. That's entirely possible. I have suspected that your dealings with them were too simple and clean."

"We'll need someone willing to 'elp us watch our backs from 'ere on, then."

"Captain Peg." The name swims it's way past Imogene's lips before she's full realized it's made it into her thoughts.

"I..beg your pardon?"

"Come again, my love?"

She finds the strength to look up now, meeting Alex's eyes. "Captain Peg. We'll ask her."

"Captain..." Alex trails off, looking expasperated. He contains himself with a practiced control, though, comes to sit next to her calm and collected. "Imogene, you're tired. I know you don't sleep so well on the ship."

"No." She says, brows furrowed. "Well, yes I am, but no. I know what I'm saying. She could take us. She knows how to deal with rogues like my captors, if we should encounter more..."

"Imogene." Alex grows a little more urgent, taking her tiny hands in his own much larger ones. "Peg is...she's a good woman. But she's a pirate. You 'ave to understand that. To take us all the way 'ome, she'd demand a king's ransom."

"An understandable demand under the circumstances." Imogene replies primly. "That's provisions for a month's journey at least, and then the journey back and we've promised her payment for the rescue besides. It will take time to gather so much coin but she'll have more than earned it."

"Imogene, please. Think about this. We - we can't - I'm not sure I could..."

Something foreign snakes through her veins to her heart and leaves her feeling cold. She takes her hands back. "You're not sure you could stand to be on the ship with her for so long."

He looks startled in some way. "Well, yes. Yes, I suppose that's it. Only, I'd forgotten how infuriating she can be."

Infuriating. Of course that's it. Why had Imogene ever even begun to think anything else? That strange, cold feeling disperses all at once and her shoulders slump. "Oh, Alex, I just want to go home. I don't feel myself out here at all. Please. Just get us home."

He sighs, beginning to look the worse for wear himself. He slumps back in his chair and runs a hand through his hair. "I will, my love. One way or another."

She reaches out to grab his hand and squeeze.

"...look, Miss Norrington 'as promised no questions will be ask. We need only get the girls ashore and we can be on our way and...I'll double the amout spent on provisions."

A smirk tugs at the corners of Emily's mouth. Her eyes begin to spark and dance with mischeif. He knows that look. That's the look she gets when she's got her eye on some manner of treasure and is trying to figure how best to get her hands on it. She sashays up closer to him. "Question is, love, just how bad do you want to get home?" She's backing him up now, right into a wall. "Because I would think," she lays a hand on his chest and slides it upwards to play at the collar of his shirt, "assuming you're telling the truth 'bout it," she leans up and in, so close he can smell and feel her warm, rum-and-sweet-apples breath, "that you're getting awful antsy after so long without a womans touch. M'sure you're no less ready to be married than she is by now, eh?"

His hands start to shaking. His cheeks are turning red. There's a cold sweat forming on his brow as he feels a certain heat pooling somewhere down low and beginning to cause another reaction... His hand shoots up to snatch her wrist in an iron grip, stilling it. "Blast and bugger it! You wretched minx!"

A grin spreads her lips and she pulls away. "Right then. I think that answers that. Four times."

His eyes widen. "Four-"

She holds up a hand, silencing him. "Four times the amount spent on provisions plus what I was to get for her rescue, or, you double it and owe me a favor."

"I don't...I don't understand." His brows furrow in bemusement. "What would make you think a favor from me would be worth something?"

"You're marrying the daughter of a duke. And I'm betting Missus Ellsworth's got plans for you, assuming the pair of you ever actually get to the wedding... you'll have plenty connections. Don't pretend."

He paces her cabin, thinking this through. Four times the amount she'll spend on provisions...they don't have near that amount of coin amassed in one place. It would never do. But he so loathes the idea of owing her anything, he can hardly stand the thought of making that deal. On the other hand...he remembers the way Imogene had pleaded with him. Just get us home. It'd be awful sleezy. A man of the standing Missus Ellsworth is trying to help him earn, owing any kind of favor to a notorious pirate? It should be unthinkable. Even Imogene might have a harder time with that.

...but oh gods, does he want to go home.

Emily grins at him as he stops pacing and faces her. She shoots out a hand. "Do we have an accord?"

Far against his better judgement, Alex reaches out to shake her hand. "Yes. I suppose we must."

They scarce step foot back on the ship and Imogene is darting forward to throw her arms around Captain Peg, propriety be damned (at least a little). "Oh, thank you!"

The captain brings a hand up to pat Imogene's back. "Erm, s'nothing...really, dearie. With what I'm gettin out of it..."

"Oh, but only double the amount you'll spend to get us there? Alex thought you would demand more and I quite agreed with him, to take such an offer was really ever so generous of you."

Silence. Imogene pulls away from the captain and brushes out her dress some, supposing the lady pirate probably doesn't want anyone boasting of her in such a way. Bad for her reputation, or some such nonesense. "Ahem. But of course, should anyone ask, I shall be happy to inform them you drove a harder bargain."

"Mmmm. Thank you." But the captain isn't even looking at Imogene. She's locked eyes with Alex, and the pair seem to be having some sort of stare down. The captain is barely supressing a smirk.

"Alex." Imogene comes up to lay a hand on his arm. "Is something wrong?"

He tears his eyes away to look at her. "No. Nothing at all, my love, now come. We should settle you back below, you'll be taking enough sun as it is. Your mother will be worried of you."

Oh. Oh, there it is again, this feeling, that strange, foreign something that she can't put a name to. It's like ice in her veins and she doesn't like it but it's accompanied by a voice in the back of her head that whispers 'he lied, he lied', and it turns her stomach. Something is not right.

But a good wife, a dutiful wife, trusts her husband and never comes out with such accusations. And so she says nothing.

"Miss Gibbs?"

The older woman appears almost startled as she looks up from the game of cards she is playing with several other men, including Mister Connelly. "Oh, erm, yes Miss?" Imogene hesitates, but the look on her face must give something away. The older woman softens some, smiling. "It's alright, you can come down." A wink. "We won't bite. Eh, boys?"

A chorus of amused agreements. Imogene descends the last few steps and sweeps across the galley. "Alex has gone to speak with the captain about something and I'm afraid... I'm a bit bored. May I ask what you are playing?"

With another smile, the older woman pulls a chair in closer next to her and pats it. Answering with a grin, Imogene darts over to seat herself at the table.

The sun has only just sunk beneath the horizon. With little wind in the sails, Emily had given the men leave to relax, as to a certain extent there is little work can be done just now. Alex is feeling antsy, as they are less than a week into their journey as it is, and it will be another three weeks at the very least before they arrive on the shores of Virginia. With this in mind, he had gone to ask Emily if she could be bothered to at least try and keep things going but she had only scoffed and told him, summarily, to stopping acting such a whelp and relax.

In truth, were he in her position, he'd have done the same to anyone else. So he'd let it be.

Now he is looking for Imogene. He'd expected her to be tucked away in her quarters, resting already perhaps, but she'd been no where to be found. In fact, the lone candle that might've been lit...well, wasn't even lit. Knowing where Jo will be by now, along with several other members of the crew, Alex slips down to the galley. Perhaps Jo will know where Imogene is hiding, or at least have an idea.

He would never have expected what he actually finds.

"Ha! Where in the name of the gods did you learn to play like that, Miss Imo?" Jo, sounding delighted.

"Where indeed! You'd give the captain herself a run for her money, I'd bet!" Riley puts in. He's seated awful close to Imogene, his manner too flirtatious for Alex's liking.

"From my uncle!" Imogene explains. "He owns the shop where Alex works, but he likes to sneak out to the tavern every so often. My loving auntie is so pleased with the gifts he brings her home as a result, she never even bothers to scold him!"

Jo and the men around them all break out in raucous laughter at this. Imogene looks pleased to have garnered such a reaction, treating them all to an un-restrained grin.

Jo scoops up the cards spread over the table and hands them off to Imogene. "What say you to a bit of an actual wager, then? I don't often get such a challenge." There's a hint of mischief in her smile now, and the men around scoff at her and scowl.

Imogene opens her mouth, and the look in her own eyes tells Alex she might very well be about to agree to the idea. And he knows she will be upset for it, but for goodness' sake, he can't possibly let her. "Ahem." He clears his throat, loud and clear, stepping forward. All eyes land on him as smiles slowly fade, and one pair of sky blue eyes widens in something almost akin to fear.

Imogene shoots to her feet. "Alex. Oh, I'm so-I was jus-I mean, you'd gon-"

"Miss Imo, it's alright." That's Riley. "Alex." He appears to be trying for placating. "It's all in good fun. She's got little to do as it is, and now we're near dead in the water. You remember how that goes."

Alex glares at Riley, cold as ice, but resolves not to engage him, at least not in front of Imogene. "Imogene, come. It is time you should be off to bed."

"Oh..." She almost seems ready to protest. But she nods. "Well, alright." She looks around, sending, Alex thinks, a particular glance in Riley's direction. "Good night to you all."

Riley stands and scoops up her hand to plant a kiss atop it. "Sweet dreams, Miss Imo."

"Imogene." Alex snaps, his voice near a growl, and she starts as she pulls her hand back. "Come, please." Looking fretful, she nods and darts across the room. She doesn't look at Alex as she passes him, just hurries above decks.

Riley meets Alex's eyes, and there is anger there. "What need is there for you to be so harsh?"

"There is no need for me to explain myself to you. Don't touch 'er again, Connelly." Leaving it at that, he follows Imogene's path out of the galley.

.

He comes to bid her a proper goodnight, but she still won't look at him. "Imogene, please. It wasn't proper, that's all."

"Oh, but it's like Mister Connelly said." She murmurs. "It was all in good fun."

"They would 'ave you gambling with them! Your mother would throw a fit just to think of it!"

"Four years ago mother would have had a fit just to think of me speaking to the likes of you, much less marrying you, Alex Sparrow!" She bursts with a passion he's never seen from her before. "Captain Peg and her crew are taking us all the way back to Virginia, so far away from the place they call home, and you've been just - just the most awful..." She stomps her foot when she apparently cannot find the words.

"Because you don't know any of them as I do!" He roars back, really shouts, loud enough she backs away. "If you did you'd understand, you'd... I can't 'ave you consorting with them like that!"

"Oh, but think what a long journey it will be, how tedious, if we avoid our only choice of company the whole way!" She's calmed some, is trying to inject reason he knows, but he just can't.

"With the way Connelly bid you good night?" He says, voice quieter now but only because he forces it to be so. "No. From 'ere on you will not leave this cabin unless I am accompanying you, is that understood?"

"Are - are you forbidding me?" Her voice is so quiet, incredulous. "Is that some sort of...some sort of command?"

Oh. He knows he shouldn't but she's so precious and he knows his old friends. What they could do to her, even without meaning to. "Yes. I'm sorry, my love, my dearest." He darts forward to take her hands in his own. "But I won't allow it. I pray you understand I mean only to protect you."

Silence. She meets his eyes as hers fill with tears, but it's not sadness he sees. It's hurt that turns to real anger. She pulls away as the first tears spill over, snatches her hands back and throws back her shoulders. "Mother will be pleased. You'll make the perfect husband. I will remain here, of course. Unless you're feeling generous enough to be burdened with me."

He moves closer again, thinking to wrap her in his arms, to try and convince her that he does not want to be so harsh. But she pulls away. Flinches away. So he nods, and respectfully leaves her be for the night.

She's never felt this before. This strange, overwhelming urge to do the exact opposite of what someone has told her to. And certainly she's never felt something this close to hostile in relation to her Alex; nothing like that icy feeling that stabs her heart and makes her feel cold. But she cannot help it. She is not Captain Peg, or Miss Gibbs. It is not in her nature to be as they are. But Imogene Ellsworth decides that there is one thing she does not like, and that is being forbidden to do something in such a way as she has now been.

On this night it is she who cannot sleep. And so, she slips out of bed, remaining barefoot so as to be quiet as she pads up above decks. A lovely half moon shines down bright through a clear sky as she sweeps across the deck to stand at the rail and look out on the vast, dark sea before her.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?"

She starts, whirling around with wide eyes to face whoever it is that has just snuck up on her. But she needn't be alarmed. "Oh." A hand flies to her chest. "Mister Connelly, you gave me such a fright, how did you manage it?"

He chuckles softly. "Looked to me like you were lost enough in your head, you'd have missed it if a whale flopped up on deck."

She blushes. "Oh. Well, yes, I'm afraid I was rather deep in thought."

He comes up to stand beside her, looking out to sea himself now. Imogene knows what Alex is worried of, that Connelly is too forward with her, but he is not acting so now when it would count. He keeps a fair amount of distance from her. He glances at her as she resumes her own position at the rail. "It's alright. I myself am notorious for losing myself in my thoughts. Just ask the captain." A pause. "Would it be too bold of me to ask what you were thinking of?"

She bites her lip as a hand trails up to play with the sleeve of her dress at the neckline, in a similar way to her mother in fact. "Alex and I...we are somewhat at odds of late. It is beginning to weigh on me." The confession isn't entirely proper for her to make, and she blushes again, deeper as she glances at him. "Forgive me. I shouldn't..."

"No, no, it's alright Miss. There's hardly any call out here to impress anyone, to spite what he would have you think."

She sighs, fretful. "He means well, of course."

"Oh, of course." Mister Connelly is quick to agree, sounding genuine. "He's never liked being so deliberately harsh, at least as far as I know, but..."

She turns to him, earnest now. "Oh, please, don't try to spare me. If you've something you feel I should hear, say it, I beg you. He is acting so strange of late I fear you shall do me more harm by not warning me."

Connelly runs a hand through is hair. "You are wising up some, aren't you? Listen, it's none of my business, really, but from what I know of Alex he was... well, Miss, to be honest he was quite the womanizer. More so than is the norm even for a pirate. I don't think he ever broke a heart on purpose, but he did break them well all the same."

"The captain and he." Imogene starts slowly. "They were in love. Or, she loved him, at least?"

"Aye. In fact, of all the others he left behind, the captain may well be the one he did the greatest number on." He glances around to be sure, but it is the middle of the night, and there is no one else about. "We near lost her in the weeks after he left. She refused to step back on the ship for days and crawled far enough into a bottle we all grew worried, real worried. And even when we finally managed to drag her back to the land of the living, it was months and months before she was even remotely herself again."

Imogene's hand comes up to hover over her mouth as all this sinks in. Save for the single, very odd conversation Imogene had had with the captain that had ended with a display of her magic, Imogene has noted the other woman to be about as shakeable as a boulder, not at all easily riled up. "I have heard the men murmur... Mister Connelly, please tell me. What was it about Alex's leaving that so left her a mess?"

"Well..." He rubs the back of his neck. "Miss Imo, you should know this to be only rumor. There may be little truth to it, in point of fact. And I stress that I do not believe he would ever hurt a love of his so on purpose and you... that is to say, if anyone could have settled him, I'd think it would be you, and I'm not the only one to suspect so."

"Mister Connelly. Please." She's begging. A lady never begs, but she's begging.

He nods. "The rumor," he stresses, "the rumor was that he ran off with another woman. Some say a Tortugan whore, new to her station and hoping for an escape. Some say the daughter of a tavern owner, with the story being much the same. The important piece of the story always being that it was another woman."

She wants to burst into tears, scream herself hoarse, throw a tantrum like a child for all that she is so...so in utter turmoil. But she does none of these things. She takes a breath, in, and back out, nice and slow. "Thank you, Mister Connelly. I appreciate the knowledge of what I should look out for." She sweeps past him, heading back for her quarters.

"Miss Imo." He calls after her, forcing her to turn back to him. "Please. For all that the boys and I talk of him, that talk is mostly to do with things that are no concern of yours. Only you know Alex as he is now. I just mean to say, don't be too - hasty, with any actions you may take against him."

She can bring herself to do nothing more than nod before she retreats.

She avoids him. It's quite a feat with a ship providing such close quarters, but she manages. She stays locked in her room and only leaves when it seems she simply must and won't speak much to him. He soon begins to suspect she is managing to sneak past him and wander the ship on her own all the same, but he doesn't have the heart to confront her about it.

He just can't understand it. What could he have done to deserve such a cold shoulder from the woman who is always a saint? Could it be that he'd been too harsh on her and this is her special, quiet from of rebellion?

Whatever it is, he just knows that the woman he intends on marrying now scarcely acknowledges his existence. And it's eating him up inside.

It's eating her up inside, this strange dance they are now doing around each other. She sees him talking with the crew and helping with tasks about the ship and talking with Miss Gibbs. Laughing with her a little even, in a way that one could tell they are old friends. It takes longer for him to warm up to the idea, but eventually he begins to talk and laugh with the captain too.

Imogene isn't jealous. Jealousy implies an amount of hostility that she can conjure but a lady never hangs on to such things so she refuses to use that word. She is hurt that he treats her so different and she is frightened of what that might mean for them, for their future together. She sneaks around him, leaving her cabin whenever she pleases in truth, and she begins to noticed that he is, in fact, far more relaxed without Imogene around.

Even he and Connelly work alright along side eachother. Or at least, they appear to.

And she is a young lady, the daughter of a dowager duchess and she is to be married and she knows her place in the world and has never been discontented with it. Indeed, she'd be even less so now, after the adventure she's had. The love she has for Alex is the most passionate thing she has ever felt. But watching him here, she starts to worry...

He'll get bored with a silly, tittering little thing like Imogene, eventually. If this were not true, would he not be fighting harder for more communication with her?

But she is a young lady. So she will sit quiet and do as she's told, or at least appear to, and she will not fuss over him.

No. She will not.

"Would you mind terribly running that by me again?" He'd over heard them talking, Jo and Riley, and has slipped into the galley to face them. "I'm really not certain I've 'eard right, I'm deprived enough of sleep it's possible I did not, but it very nearly sounded as though you said something about me running off with a girl. A thing which I 'ave not done in so long I cannot quite recall the face of the last one I did anything of the sort with."

They pair exchange looks. Riley crosses his arms over his chest and scowls, but says nothing. Jo's the one who speaks up. "Rumors are funny things. Not much we know for certain, if I'm fair n' honest about it, might be best to just leave it alone."

He notes, offhand, not for the first time, that she's done the same thing with herself that Emily's done. Sounding and acting just exactly like the men they're surrounded by. Maybe using her own father as a bit of a template, even. And it saddens him. He has to fight to keep his expression unreadable. "Yes, well, all the same, if you'd be kind enough to explain..."

"You really don't know." It's a statement. She's incredulous.

"Don't know what?" He says tightly.

Jo exchanges a glance with Riley. "Story is there was a girl in Tortuga. Pretty little thing that..."

"That what? For heaven's sake, can one of you just come out with it?"

"Pretty little thing that was rather lost and very taken with you." Riley continues, blunt and gruff. "The story, Sparrow, is that running off with her is the reason you left."

His fists clench and begin shaking. He has to work not to raise his voice. "And just who, pray tell, was the one to tell this story?"

Jo and Riley exchange another glance, and he knows the answer before Jo gives him that scowl grimace and grudgingly answers. "Peg."

He loses it there. Spins around quick, stomps up on deck, storms past the men in such a fury they scramble out of his way, and comes to a hault up by the helm where he tears her away from it with more force than he's ever used on anyone before. "You. Ye awful, dispicable, dishonest - there's not a shred of decency left in ye!"

She seems startled, genuinely. Her eyes are wide and she's trying to back away. "Now, Alex..."

"No. Ye don't take that tone with me like I don't know you." His fists are clenched so hard he can feel his nails digging into his palms as he backs her up. He's so beside himself with rage that he's forgotten himself, sounds no better than her in his speech. "I should've known, this is just the sort of thing ye'd've... she won't speak to me! Did ye know that? Won't say a word in my presence!"

"Easy, Alex, I don't understand, what is it you think I had to do..."

"You had everythin to do with it! She heard the men whisperin about me runnin off with some strumpet just before meetin 'er and now she thinks - she thinks it's all been lies and I've told her everythin! Everythin there is to know about me! The only liar 'ere is you and so help me, ye miserable wretch..." He's backed her all the way up to the rail. She can't go any farther.

"Alex, please, it's not as though - you had a girl in every port for a time there, everyone knew, knows you're..."

He snaps. He's exhausted and angry and terrified and he really snaps. One fist unclenches and the next thing he knows his hand is wrapped around her neck because she never shuts up and he can't stand to hear it anymore, and he hates her, gods above he hates for the feelings she still stirs within him sometimes... Her mouth opens, but she doesn't get a word out. Just gasps for air as her hands fly up to claw at his desperately, but he's stronger and angry, so angry, she has no idea what she may have taken away from him because she's always ruining things and the thought just...

"Alex!" The voice isn't Emily's, and it doesn't quite break him out of whatever trance he's thrown himself in. "Alex, please! Stop it, you've got - Alex!" Except now she's next to him, is pulling at his arm with her tiny hands, begging him. "Alex, please!"

He looks at her. Sees big blue eyes full of tears. Sees a single drop run down her cheek, and slowly his grip loosens. He drops Emily, who falls like a sack of potatoes, coughing and gasping. Jo comes up to attend her as Riley and a few others pull Alex back with brute force.

Alex stares down at Emily, glances at Imogene. Turns around, and beats a hasty and silent retreat.

She finds him in the hold. She's searched all over the ship for him and this was the last place she'd have expected to find him, so after his earlier display perhaps this is the first place she ought to have looked. She knows he'd never hurt her. But there's something...her steps are tentative all the same.

Perhaps it's because there's a bottle in his hand, more than half emptied, and suddenly she doesn't know what to expect from him.

"Alex." She murmurs.

He's seated against a barrel, head resting back on it and eyes closed and for a moment she wonders... "S'she a'right?" He asks with a heavy slur.

"She is - herself." Imogene replies, because there aren't many words that can accurately describe the half mad sorceress-lady-pirate. "Of course she is alright." A pause. "And it did not seem that she is angry with you. I believe she knew she had it coming."

"Oh, m'sure she's good n' used to it, now, walkin' thin ice with people. I jus' ain' sure she's so use' to havin the life near choked out o' 'er." He brings the bottle to his lips.

"No. Coming from you, at least, perhaps, that was very much a surprise to us all." A pause. "Will you look at me."

Silence.

Imogene is growing frustrated, with him, but with herself as well. He is Alex. He is to be her husband. He is her whole world and he has always encouraged her to speak her mind and he would never hurt her, so she puts her hands on her hips and throws her shoulders back. "Alexander Sparrow. Look at me." Something in her tone of voice must get through the bottle he's swimming in because his brows furrow in mild surprise as he finally opens his eyes and looks at her, unfocused but apparently paying attention now. She goes on. "You need to know that I never believed it was all lies. I have always seen it in your eyes, when you look at me. The same look father used to give to mother."

He blinks at her slowly. "But ye've been ignorin me for - for days."

"I never believed it was all lies." She shoots forward to sit before him. "But you must understand. When you told me the truth about you, about what you were before, it was different. We were worlds away from all this, I didn't comprehend, and then suddenly I see you here with - with a sword, and the way you and the captain act with eachother, I just..." She shakes her head. "I can see it now and it's quite a lot to adjust to."

"I've frightened you." He says, uncertain.

"No!" She says, hasty. "No, you've worried me, it's not at all the same thing. I see the games she plays with you and the way these men who were once your friends now scoff at you and I worry you'll start to - want to prove yourself to them again. I worry you'll realize how boring life with a silly little thing like me will be. I worry - my darling, I worry you'll decide to stay here with her in the end, and the thought alone breaks my heart to peices."

"Oh." He says, a little slow to understand, but after a moment he reaches out a hand to brush a strand of her hair back behind her ear. "Oh. Imogene. I..." But no other words make it past his lips.

She covers his hand with her own and leans forward. "Alex. Kiss me." He glances down at her lips, his eyebrows shooting up. "Kiss me like you've kissed her, kiss me... kiss me like you mean it."

He almost does. They are inches apart, so close she can feel his warm breath on her lips, can smell the rum so strong on his breath. Her lips brush against his, feather light...and then he's shaking his head, snatching his hand back as though burned as he looks away.

Frustration wells up within her, and she shoots back to her feet. Her hands curl themselves into fists, most unladylike, and she whirls around to stomp off. "Forget it, then. Just - just crawl into your bottle, seems to be a pirates usual solution."

It happens quick considering the state he's in. She has no time to react. He's on his feet, has come after her, turns her around with force and throws her back against a wall and now he kisses her. Oh, how he kisses her. She could never have imagined a thing could be so remarkable as this, the way his lips devour hers and his tongue snakes into her mouth as she gasps in pleasant surprise. The fiery warmth he sends traveling down through her body with this, this wonderful though simple connection is like nothing she's ever experienced before. Her knees go week. Her head begins spinning as though she's the one swimming in the bottle and just when she thinks it couldn't possibly get better he's trailing a hand delicately along her collar bone as he breaks the kiss only to begin trailing lighter ones along her jaw, down her neck, a little lower...

He pulls away. So abrupt she mewls, a tiny little noise, a whine for him to continue escaping her mouth without her giving it conscious permission to. "Oh..oh, Alex..."

He rests his forehead against hers, and with eyes closed they just breath a moment. "Imogene." He murmurs. "Tell me - ye have to tell me. Say no."

"But Alex..." Her voice is tiny, still pleading. His lips cover hers again and she throws her arms around his neck, unable to contain herself. She wants, and she doesn't even understand yet what it is she wants, but she wants for him to show her what it is she wants.

But he pulls away again and something in his eyes - there's danger there. Not the kind that says he'll hurt her the way she was half worried of earlier, but she's getting the messages this could be just as bad. "Tell me, Imogene, 'cause gods above, if ye don't..." He starts trailing kisses along her neck again, her shoulder, down lower as his hand reaches up to try and pull her dress down a touch further in front, and ooh, she wants...

"Stop." She breaths, a shaky hand coming up with the intention of pulling him away but it only runs itself through his hair, and he's reaching to the area he knows is where to work her dress off. "Stop." She says, more firm, panic welling up because it feels so good but this is wrong and she knows it. "Stop it, Alex... Stop!" And on some strange instinct she brings up a hand and the slap that is the result of that hands connection with his cheek seems to fill the room so that is quite crowded to spite it being just she and Alex occupying it.

She watches him stagger back into the barrel he'd been sitting against, swaying heavily, eyes dark with lust, but he doesn't move. He stays right where he is and just watches her and she can't move. Spinning, spinning, around and around she's spinning and her knees are week and she just can't move. He runs a hand through his hair and swears under his breath and snatches up the bottle and tips it far back as he staggers past her and out the door.

And Imogene Ellsworth can do nothing but fall to her knees and cry for the innocence she feels being ripped away from her, one painful piece at a time.

So, I'm starting to notice that none of my heroes seem to remain very heroic. I wonder what that says about me...

Reviews? Thanks for reading. :)