Bloodstream - Chapter I
Title: Bloodstream (Also on Wattpad if you prefer that) Pairing: Killian Jones x fem!reader Word count: 2183 Warnings: None that I can think of but let me know if you find anything questionable. Synopsis: She have always lived in a small town by the sea. A peaceful life, out of harm's way. That changed after one day she received bad news - news that would turn everything upside down. The ship she tried to run away with turned out to be the ship of the infamous Captain Hook. Without a better idea on hand, she decided to disguise herself and join the crew. A/N: This is the first chapter of a series, I think it might be a long one and bit of a slow burner so I hope you’ll like it 😬😳
The autumn breeze peeked through the old windows, causing a chill to run down her spine while she was getting ready in the morning. It seemed like any other regular day, the town’s noises started creeping up from the street. It wasn’t a big town – but it was located by the sea, therefore had all kind of people turn up at the docks. She could see the water from her bedroom window, and it always fascinated her how beautiful the world could be.
She never got to see more of it than her little town, where she lived ever since she was born. Her father was the owner of the local tavern. She worked there and spent most of her time there since she could remember. One would say a tavern is not very suitable hangout for a young girl – but she had always felt safe and the tavern seemed like an adventurous getaway for her.
As she got older, she would always eavesdrop on stranger’s stories of faraway lands and dangerous adventures, and that served as an aid for her ever growing curiosity of the world. She never actually wanted to leave her home, she loved her father and the life the two of them had together. Her life was colorful enough as it got – being around travelers and adventurers all day in the tavern, listening to their tales, getting to know their stories and their troubles was just enough for her. Over the years she learned how to put up with different types of people who showed up in the little town. She definitely wasn’t a scaredy girl – she knew how to take care of herself when her father wasn’t around. Even if sometimes he failed to see that.
She was getting ready for the day shift at the tavern. Her father had opened up the place already, she could hear the muffled conversations coming up from the ground floor. She gave a quick glance to herself in the mirror and went downstairs where her father was already waiting for her.
‘Morning!’ He said with a smile under his beard as she came downstairs. His voice was warm as usual but it had a sad undertone to it.
‘Morning, father’ she answered, giving him a small hug. She loved the man with her whole life, he was an amazing person and father. Ever since her mother died, he took amazing care of her and never let her down. He seemed to be troubled, which was unusual of him.
‘Is everything alright? You seem preoccupied’ She asked, and put her hand on his shoulder. Her old man crumpled a small piece of paper he was holing and put it into his pocket.
‘All is well dear. No need to worry about me! I’ll have to go now; will you be so kind to take care of the tavern while I’m gone?’
‘You say that like I usually don’t take care of it.’ She answered with a little smugness in her voice. As an answer she received a little chuckle from his father as he left the building.
She was left alone with a few guests; they were the ones who always greeted the day with a few drinks before proceeding with their business as usual. Not the problematic type, she knew these people just as well as they have known her and her family for a long time.
‘May I get anything to you, Buck?’ She walked next to the old man who was sitting at one of the tables. He looked a bit scruffy and worn down, but he had the kindest eyes. He showed up every day at the same time before going to work.
‘Ah, (Y/N)! Good morning! Always a pleasure to come by when you’re here!’
‘So… every day?’ She asked and she let out a laugh.
‘You get it! I’ll have the usual, thank you. Just a quick breakfast and I’m off to the docks!’
‘You should consider retiring, Buck. You could spend more time here!’
‘I bet your father would love all the money I’d spend here! Especially nowadays.’ He answered while letting out a small chuckle. She furrowed her eyebrows while thinking about what Buck said. Usually, she wouldn’t pay much attention to these things but with his father’s gloomy mood this morning and the suspicious piece of paper she couldn’t help herself but to feel like something was wrong.
She liked this job a lot. She loved meeting and getting to know people who visited from all around the world. She prepared the breakfast for Buck, then cleaned the bar and kitchen area. While sorting the utensils, glasses and plates she found some kind of letters in one of the drawers. She wasn’t used to her father leaving paperwork around, so her suspicion from the morning grew even bigger. She quickly looked around to make sure no one will see whatever is in the envelope other than her. The letter seemed to be some kind of a payment notice – or more so, a letter sent after late payment to inform her father that the tavern will be closed down if he won’t pay the taxes to the town very soon. She quickly put the letter back to its original place and furrowed her eyebrows. Her father never mentioned that they had problems with money, let alone problems so bad that it could cost them their own home. He probably tried to save her from the trouble of it all, but why? She was an adult and she could help somehow, right? At least that’s what she thought at that moment.
People were coming and going all day, it seemed like an exceptionally peaceful day in the little seaside town. That was the case until a group of very loud sailors entered the tavern. She was occupied by cleaning a table when they came in. She turned towards the door to face the new guests, when she saw him.
He was accompanied by four or five other men, but his presence was so demanding she didn’t see anyone else but him. His tall figure seemed almost threatening in the small and peaceful tavern, his blue eyes were scanning the room and at the end they settled on her. He had dark scruffy hair and a matching beard. It took her a second to gather her thoughts and snap out of the initial surprise of seeing someone like this in her little family tavern. The man and his company settled in one of the corners and brought an extra chair for themselves from the neighbor table.
She couldn’t really explain it why, but she had a bad feeling creeping up in her stomach. Problematic people sometimes came by, sailors without manners, with drinking or just general life problems. But he seemed a bit more… dangerous?
‘Can I get you anything, gentleman?’ She asked the group of men sitting around the table. The one who locked eyes with her earlier looked up, a cheeky grin spreading across his face while he was – not so subtly – eyeing her up.
‘Other than your sweet company?’ He replied with a question, and it made her a little uneasy. The man put his arm on the table, and she got snapped out of her thoughts by an unusual noise that accompanied the movement. She looked at the direction of the sound autonomously, and only then noticed that there were no hand on the table, but there was a hook.
‘Oh this? Don’t worry love, it can be gentle’ He smirked and shot a wink at her direction, which made her scoff.
‘Can I get you anything to drink?’ She ignored his comments and put some extra emphasis on the word drink.
‘A pint of beer for every lad you see here. And a bottle of whiskey.’ He said, broadly gesturing at the other people sitting around the table, who were all very silent.
‘Won’t that be too much at an early hour like this?’ She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. She wanted him to make no mistake by thinking she was intimidated.
‘We’ll see about that. You don’t get paid to interrogate me right, love?’
‘Your drinks are coming up!’ She turned her back on the stranger and headed towards the bar. Other guests, regular guests in the tavern were watching the events unfold, but they didn’t say a word about it. The group was a loud one, most of their conversations could be heard at any point of the building. When they weren’t shouting, they were whispering. She approached the table and set the ordered drinks down, the whiskey last, in front of the one with the hook. She didn’t speak a word, after the drinks were on the table, she held the tray by her side and turned to go back to the rest of the guests.
‘Thank you love!’ She heard the man say in his low voice, but she didn’t turn around. She was tending the bar and taking care of other, well-behaved people while she heard the group talk loudly in the corner. She couldn’t help herself but to eavesdrop and she learned these people were part of a crew which served on a ship. The one with the dark hair and the hook were the captain. They stopped here for the day and would set sail tomorrow heading to more adventurous places. She couldn’t help herself but thought about her father’s debt all day wondering what could they do to get out of the situation. He would never ask her to help for sure, he didn’t want her to feel unsafe or troubled. After her mom died, he tried to keep her out of harm’s way at all costs. She didn’t needed it though, but sometimes he refused to see that. As she was lost in her thoughts the little bell above the door rang and her father stepped inside. His troubled face lit up in a smile when he saw his daughter.
‘Everything alright, (Y/N)?’ He asked kindly while stepping beside her. The loud group of strangers didn’t go unnoticed by him and he didn’t go unnoticed by the captain either.
‘All is fine, father. Nothing worth mentioning from my end.’ The words at the end of the sentence were given a little more weight than it would’ve been necessary any other time. She didn’t want to tell her dad that she knew about the financial situation of him but she wanted him to tell it himself. She wanted to offer her help. She wasn’t sure yet on the how just that she wanted to do something.
‘I’m glad to hear.’ He replied with no emotion in his voice regarding the implications of her sentence. He had no intentions to share the news with her. ‘Do you know who these fine gentlemen are?’
‘Can’t say for sure. Sailors stopping by and setting sails tomorrow. That’s all I managed to figure out.’ Her father scoffed and raised his eyebrows as he started to clean the counter.
‘Sailors. More like pirates by the looks of it.’ He murmured under his mustache and didn’t look at the group, but she did. The captain glanced over to their direction in a barely noticeable way, then he turned his whole body towards her and raised his good hand.
‘(Y/N)!’ Her name from this stranger sounded weird and intimidating, especially because they didn’t even introduce themselves to each other, and he was probably eavesdropping on her conversation with her father. He looked at her with worry in his eyes. She just gave him a reassuring nod and picked the tray up while walking towards the dark-haired man.
‘May I get you something to drink gentlemen?’ She asked, not making the same mistake of asking an unspecified question as she did the first time. He rewarded that with a small chuckle and shook his head a bit.
‘We’re just about to leave. Just wanted to thank you for the extraordinary service here.’ He replied as he stood up. He put a small pouch on the table and nodded at her with a grin on his face as he and his men left the tavern. She quickly picked the pouch up from the table and started cleaning it. Behind the bar she set the empty glasses down and started to count the money. Her brows furrowed as she realized he left a ridiculous amount of tip. It was almost more than the cost of their drinks for the whole day. It was nowhere enough to pay his father’s debt but it gave her a small ray of hope.
She was fiddling with the money when an idea struck her – it was a pretty dumb and risky idea, but it was better than doing nothing. All these men and women who set foot on the docks of this little town are coming with grand ships, and most of the time with the grand ships there comes money. A plan was forming in her head and she felt weirdly excited about it.