Fic: Carried Away (NC-17)

TITLE: Carried Away
AUTHOR: Lisa
RATING: NC-17
SPOILERS: None
DISTRIBUTION: Irresistiblyfictional.com. All others please ask.
DISCLAIMER: Use of wrestlers real names, they of course belong to their good selves. All other WWE gimmicks/characters belong to V. McMahon, WWE, Titansports and all their subsidiary companies. I claim no affiliation with anyone featured in this story and claim no knowledge of their personal lives. Of course if this had happened I would be trying to find out where the people in question had hidden their time machines. This is all just fiction people, as you will realise when you check out the subject matter. No offence intended. I am not making any profit from this story or this site.
SUMMARY: This is an AU story set in the 18th century world of sea piracy. Don’t expect historical accuracy, as this is very definitely a piece written for fun rather than anything else.
A/N: Well I call this a story very loosely. I have the feeling that it’s just going to be nothing more than a smutfic, no plot whatsoever or if there is it will be cheesy as all get out. In short this is just a little fun puff piece for me! Thought that I would write something that made me smile for a change. That being said please remember that it’s dumb, dumb, dumb!

-o0o-

CHAPTER 1

Somewhere off the coast of the Americas – 1721

Dipping her head Mary tugged as discreetly as she could on the stocking cap that covered her head. She wasn’t sure how much good it was doing her. As it was she knew that it was pretty much stretched to it’s limit and wouldn’t be surprised if it just slipped right off her head in spectacular fashion. The elasticity may just make it jump up into the air as it did so. Now wouldn’t that be the perfect way not to draw attention to herself? She sighed and then shook her head. As long as she stayed here then she would be just fine. She could hide behind this clump of men for as long as she needed to. They seemed to have no problem with her doing that. In fact if she wasn’t mistaken then when she had first moved over there their little huddle had tightened up considerably as if they were doing their best to protect her. After this was all over she would be sure to find out their names and would see to it that they were properly rewarded.

The only thought that was going around her mind in an ever more rapid way was that she couldn’t quite believe that this was happening. They hadn’t even been out of harbour at the Carolinas for a full day but still they had run afoul of these heathens already. But it must be a pretty common occurrence for sea faring folks if the way that the crew of this vessel had and were reacting.

From the moment that the ship across the way had run up the red flag they had ... well for want of a better word they had kind of just switched themselves off. Not that they had stopped working or anything like that. Of course not, if anything their dedication to their duties had actually grown but they hadn’t reacted the way that she would have expected. There had been no great rush to put some distance between the two ships. There was no hurry to get away, and no preparations to attack their would be attackers. If anything she could only explain it as ... they had accepted their fate.

“Why do you not prepare to stand and fight?” She asked as she looked around her and didn’t see anyone moving towards somewhere that they might have hidden weapons. It was beginning to bother her. They were about to be attacked and no one was going to do anything about it. Were they all cowards?

But no one answered her. Instead out of the small group of men that stood in front of her most of them started laughing as if what she had just said was the funniest thing that they had ever heard.

“You would that we should stand here and be willing to do battle like the soldiers we are not?” One of the men asked her finally. He was an older man and someone that garnered great respect from the other men on the ship even though he seemed to be nowhere near the rank of captain.

Her eyes widening she turned to look at him and found him watching her with a soft look on his face. It was the way that perhaps a father might look indulgently at his child. “I just thought that ... you would want to protect what is yours.” She said and knew that her words had no strength to them whatsoever. They sounded just like she didn’t want to appear right now. Weak.

“But it is not mine milady. That is the point.” The older gentleman pointed out and smiled again. He spoke deliberately as he might have done if he were explaining something to a slow wit. “There are a few things in life that I might be willing to die for but a cargo of sugar is not one of them.” He told her and a couple of the other men nodded in agreement. “You must realise that we do this every day ... we are exposed to this kind of element on a regular basis.”

Again she just looked at him in surprise. “You mean you have been attacked by these ... these pirates before?” She asked and felt a horrible feeling settle in her chest. It had never occurred to her that these criminals would come back to ships that they had attacked previously.

“Of course.” He continued with a nod. “They watch all the ships that travel this route closely. Every time another ship comes out of the harbour they are most likely to be carrying a new cargo. That makes every one of us a target ... sometimes repeatedly.”

She let out an angry snort from the back of her throat. “They are worse than I could have ever imagined. They are animals.” She added and taking a step to the right she looked between two of the men and watched as the ship inexorably drew ever closer. She knew that within the half hour they would be boarded and that thought alone was making her heart pound as if it were trying to beat its way out of her chest.

“Now I wouldn’t go quite that far.” The older man said and again his voice was perfectly calm and even. “They are men just like any other. They just made different choices from the ones that we have but that doesn’t make them beasts. There but for the grace of god...” He said in a meaningful way and let his words trail off.

She shook her head. “No ... you would never do that.” She said and had no real idea what was making her think that let alone say it. But she was sure that she was right.

“And perhaps you give me too much credit milady.” He told her but at the same time he smiled as if he were pleased by the words that she had just said to him.

-o0o-

It took only a matter of minutes for several of the pirates to move from their own ship to the one that they were so obviously set on plundering. It was a series of movements that were obviously more than familiar to them.

Mary pulled herself in even more. It might have seemed impossible but she had to try. She had to make herself as small and non-existent as possible. She almost laughed at the irony of the situation. After all of those years with her father telling her that women should be seen and not heard and the way that those words had made her react in totally the opposite way that he wanted her to ... now she was heeding them to the letter. Damn but he would be proud. And she really didn’t want to start wondering why her mind had taken such an odd path to follow. It was obviously the fear that she was feeling that was making her think such odd and fractured thoughts.

Still, even as she attempted to keep her head bowed she found her eyes fighting to watch what was going on. She had watched openly for as long as she had dared when the ship had been boarded. She had watched as three of them had walked on as if they had every right to be here. One of them was undoubtedly their ships captain but she hadn’t worked out just whom it could be. Then she had been sure that one of them was looking right at her so she had fixed her gaze on the beams of wood that were varnished and waxed beneath her feet.

The most surprising thing of all was the conversation that she could hear going on around her in muted ways. There was no fighting. No violence whatsoever. In fact she was sure that several of this ships crew members had indeed shaken hands with the villains that meant to steal from them and she could hear them talking as if they were old friends. That was odd. She had expected nothing less than death and mayhem from the moment that the villainous group set foot here.

Then she heard it.

“Stay behind us!”

The words, though hissed, held all of the urgency that she had been dreading hearing since she first stood here. She attempted to swallow the massive lump in her throat and made sure to keep her head bowed down just as low as she could. Any lower and it would snap allowing her head to just roll right off of her shoulders.

-o0o-

“And you are sure?”

Shawn screwed up his face at the question and then shrugged his shoulders deeply. “As sure as I can be from this distance.” He said and it was the truth. Then he smiled. That mischievous smile that he had that had gotten him both in and out of more trouble than he could truly comprehend. “But you know that I have always had a pretty good ... instinct for things of this nature.” He added and laughed in a quiet way. He wasn’t one to laugh at his own jokes but that hadn’t been a joke ... it had been merely a statement of fact.

“Well whomever it is they’re tall.” Nash pointed out and tilted his head to one side. He wondered if that meant that Shawn was wrong. The guy was human after all and he definitely wasn’t infallible. Then a sly smile spread over his face. If his friend was right then that just opened up so many possibilities for them. “Try getting closer. See what you can see then.”

Nodding Shawn took a couple of steps towards the small group of men. “Well that’s just what I was about to do captain.” He said in a highly sarcastic manner.

“Ask them the usual questions.” Nash instructed as he turned to talk to another few men that he could see eyeing him closely. Yes, it looked like they might be able to get more than a couple of crewmen out of this little jaunt.

-o0o-

“Good day to you all.” Shawn said with a smile in place. At the same time he was trying to look at the person that had caught his eye practically from the moment that he stepped foot on this ship. He watched as the five men made a lot of non-committal sounds and just nodded in deference to him. “How are you all this fine summers day?”

“You find us as you see us.” The older gentleman stated and a smile that matched their questioner’s was on his lips. “We are fine ... working hard.”

Nodding as if that had been the answer that he had expected Shawn was slightly frustrated that the one at the back hadn’t spoken but they had obviously, and wisely, elected this man to speak for them all. He looked around. “Which one is your captain?” He asked just to have something to talk about.

“That is the person that you seek.” The older man pointed not caring that it might be construed as rude.

Shaking his head in the negative Shawn eyed the man that had been pointed out to him. He was cruel. He could tell that just from looking at his pinched face. And his eyes ... there was an emptiness there that he didn’t like. “Oh I do not seek him. I just wanted to know who he was.” He said and then smiled at them all again before getting down to business. “He is a good man? He is not cruel?”

Hearing these words Mary could only frown. What an odd question for a pirate to ask. She had never really given it much consideration herself until now. But now that she thought about it she realised that yes, the captain was cruel. Oh he was never overt about it but it seemed to her that when one of his men had done something that he considered worth punishing then he seemed to be unnaturally happy about it. She nodded before she could stop herself.

“Ah, I see that he is.” Shawn said and this time his smile was wide. True it wasn’t exactly words but the one at the back had done something independently of these men, which told him that this person wasn’t used to being around them ... wasn’t used to keeping their mouth shut because the situation warranted it. “Well ... we are always looking for good men to work our ship.” He stated tearing his eyes away from the elusive person that he couldn’t quite see as clearly as he would have liked. Still ... by now he knew that he was right. “It would be an honour for us if any of you men would like to come and join our collective.”

But the older man shook his head. He was too old to go changing horses mid stream. “I don’t think that we...” He didn’t get out all of his words before this stranger’s hand shot out and forced it’s way through them as quick as a flash.

Feeling someone’s hand clamp around her wrist fairly tightly Mary let out a squeal before she could school herself not to. It had been so unexpected that the sound was out of her throat before she could have stopped it anyway. At the same time she jerked her head up and found her eyes locking with those of one of the people that she feared. He was just standing there with a knowing look and a wide smile on his face.

“This one perhaps?” Shawn asked but it wasn’t really a question that needed an answer. She was coming with him no matter what and he knew that the men of the ship wouldn’t put up a fight to keep her. These were not warriors. They were crewmen ... most of them had been farmers up till a few short years ago. They could not and would not fight. “Since he seems to think that your captain is cruel perhaps being part of another ship’s crew would be good.” And without waiting another moment he began to move away tugging his prize with him.

Feeling only stark terror slice through her Mary shot a pleading look back at the men that had to some extent been protecting her. Surely they did not mean to just let her be carried away like this.

“Sir!” The older man said loud enough for this man to hear him. “Would you not consider leaving ... him ... with us?” He asked even though he knew that it was a losing battle. He was too old to actually fight for her and told himself that it didn’t matter. What was she to him after all? But still that look on her face was enough to have him feeling like he was being torn in two. “We need him. He is integral to our crew.”

Shawn smiled but at the same time shook his head in the negative again. He shot the person that he was dragging along behind him a look when he realised that they were about to say something. Now that would never do. “Oh is he?” He asked but shook his head again. “Sorry ... but whenever we find a crewmember unhappy with their captain then we do what any good Christian would do and offer them work with us. We’re only doing what needs to be done.” He added and then turning he gave the girl one last vicious tug and moved to board his own ship with this new treasure.