Skull and Dagger

“Belle!” Frank exclaimed once they were on deck and had no place else to go. “What’s wrong, Belle? Why ‘re you—”

“Stay back!” she insisted, wide-eyed, back against the railing. “Y-You won’t have me!”

The spectacle caught the attention of half the crew, and soon a crowd had formed.

“Easy now, pet,” Frank held out his hands in a soothing gesture. “I'm not gonna hurt you.” He took a cautious step toward her.

“Don’t come any closer!” she insisted, gripping the railing behind her so hard that her knuckles turned white.

“It's all right,” he insisted with a disarming smile, taking yet another step toward her.

The worst thing was that she so wanted to believe him. The soothing timber of his voice, the affection in his eyes, even the way he moved – it was all screaming to her, trying to draw her to him, body, mind, and…

“Get. Back!” she repeated, brushing the softer emotions aside. In an instant, she was over the railing, the thin strip of wood right at the edge of the deck the only thing keeping her from plunging into the ocean below. “I’ll jump,” she insisted.

“She can’t swim!” Elizabeth cried out in horror from the assembled crowd.

Frank instantly froze in place, not daring to risk that she was bluffing.

“I-I need to get off this ship,” she insisted, tears in her eyes. “Now…before…” she trailed off. “It’s not right,” she pleaded to Frank with tears in her eyes. “I can’t be… I can’t feel… Not with you. It’s wrong!”

“What on earth is she talking about?” Sites came up behind Gerard and Elizabeth.

“I have no clue,” Gerard shook his head.

Elizabeth merely frowned, trying to figure out what had driven her friend to this sudden flight of theatrics.

“Belle…” Frank began cautiously.

“Don’t call me that!” she insisted.

“All right, Annabelle,” he agreed. “Now, you really don't wanna take a dive. So why don't you just take my hand and—”

“Please, don’t,” her voice sounded weaker than before. “This is hard enough already…”

“Annabelle, what’s wrong, sweetheart?” Frank persisted. “Can’t you just get away from the edge so we can talk?” He hazarded another step.

She gulped and looked down at the water beneath her. She was scared, so scared. But she just couldn’t give up. She couldn’t let… This ship was doing things to her, dammit! And she had to fight it!

“Oh, god!” Elizabeth exclaimed, slapping her face when she realized what this was about.

“I beg your pardon!” Sites felt obliged to point out his priest’s outfit.

Elizabeth gave him an apologetic shrug before turning back to the matter at hand. “If this is about the pirate thing,” she called out to Annabelle, “I am so going to give you a good whipping!”

Annabelle's eyes left Frank's for the first time, and she turned her attention to Elizabeth. “But, my father…” she insisted.

“Is an idiot,” Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stepped forward, now that she knew what this was about.

All the men just watched, completely confused.

“It’s not just him!” Annabelle protested. “Even I know that…” she trailed off abruptly.

“Yeah, well I’ve known my fair share of ‘gentlemen’,” Elizabeth batted one hand in the air dismissively, “and, from what I’ve seen, pirates are far better behaved.”

“It’s wrong,” Annabelle insisted vehemently.

Elizabeth sighed in annoyance before noticing that Frank had taken the opportunity to get a few steps closer to Annabelle during the distraction she’d provided. “Father Sites?” Elizabeth turned to the priest in hopes of prolonging her little previously-unintentional diversion.

“Um, yes?” Sites fiddled with his glasses, a bit agitated and confused by the current state of affairs.

“Is the devil in me?” she demanded.

Sites frowned at that. “Um…not that I know of. Why do you ask?” he said, still slightly baffled by the question.

“Then can you please inform Annabelle that if I’m not evil for sleeping with a pirate, then she’s not either?” Elizabeth demanded as direct as always.

“What?” Sites sputtered in disbelief.

“What?” Gerard turned a shocked glance to the blond pair.

“What?” Frank looked at Annabelle with hopeful, disbelieving eyes.

“Lizzie!” Annabelle exclaimed, too annoyed to worry about being embarrassed. And then she realized just how close Frank's ‘what?’ had been. She started in surprise just as he dashed forward and caught her arm. “Hey!” she protested half-heartedly when he hauled her up and over onto the safe side of the railing.

“Gotcha,” he said softly, his words stirring the hair on the crown of her head as he held her close.

“I-I can’t…” she whispered softly, whimpering slightly when the feel of his strong, warm arms around her faded her resistance to nothing. “I can’t let myself fall in love with you,” she breathed raggedly against his shoulder. “What kind of person would…?”

“Hush, Belle,” he murmured into her hair, his embrace turning tender now that the danger had passed. “It's not so bad…”

She couldn’t do anything but nod in agreement, her own arms slowly slipping around his back to hold him as well.

“Love you, too,” he whispered somewhat raggedly.

She pulled back slightly to look at him in surprise. “You’re a very strange man,” she informed him with a shy little smile.

“Mmm-hmm,” he murmured, leaning slowly forward and resting his forehead against hers. “No stranger then you, love.”

She let out an annoyed/amused sigh. “A normal man would’ve kissed me by now,” she decided before tilting her head to the side and reaching up to brush her lips lightly against his.

In an instant all his lassitude vanished, as if he had just been waiting for her to make the first move, and his lips crashed into hers with passionate and needy intensity.

She moaned against his lips, allowing her tongue to come out and duel with hers as they pulled each other closer together. And Annabelle's thoughts were, Lizzie never said it would be as good as fighting. Hell, BETTER than fighting…