The Right Thing
Jan. 15th, 2012 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
intheheartTitle: The Right Thing
Rating: PG.
Summary: Gail and Nathan do the right thing.
AU: EPIC PIRATE AU
Notes: Gail is on Danny's side now.
The girl spoke with her head down, picking at a worn place on the scarred wooden table. She spoke in little more than a mumble, slurring words, dropping syllables, skipping from subject to subject like a horse shying away from danger. Nathan's heart tightened in his chest at the sight of her, blonde hair hacked away from her face, thin shoulders hunched in tight as if she feared a blow. He thought of his own children-- Ivy, almost four, already bossing around sailors ten times her age, nine-year-old Aaron watching the world with a wry smile-- imagined them in this poor child's position, and thought that if he could have found her parents it would have gone very badly for them.
Beside him, Gail's hands, folded in her lap, slowly tightened until her knuckles went white.
Nathan reached over and laid his own hand over both of hers, stroking her fingers until they relaxed. The last time she'd gotten this angry, her nails had left little bloody crescents in her palms.
The child-- Daniella, she'd said, Daniella Sierbenski-- was winding down her tale, her picking at the table intensifying. A small splinter pried away; she looked at it for a moment, as if she did not know what it was, then threw it away and looked up at the both of them, her eyes huge in her starved little face, brimming with tears.
"Please, missus," she begged, and Nathan's heart broke all over again. "Please, sir! I'm good, I am. I try. Please." She brought a dirty hand up, wiped angrily at her eyes, as if the tears had somehow betrayed her. "I got nowhere else to go," she whispered.
Nathan wondered if she'd meant for them to hear it at all.
He opened his mouth but Gail beat him to it, standing up briskly and shaking out her skirts. "Well, of course you'll stay," she said. She almost snapped it, her anger with the poor child's parents leaking into her voice, and the girl shrank back, eyes wide. "You'll have to have a bath first, though. Ships are filthy places at the best of times."
"Well, thank you very much," Nathan said, a little stung. "Don't let her fool you, child. She lives on one eight months of the year."
Gail sniffed disdainfully, nose elevated in her best lady-of-the-manor attitude. "And how else would I know what they're like?" She gave the child a critical once-over. "How old are you, child?"
The girl looked thoroughly startled, but said, "Thirteen."
It was a blatant lie. She wasn't even Aaron's height. Nathan snorted, but Gail didn't respond except with a raised eyebrow.
"Eleven?" the girl tried.
"Once more," Gail said. "The truth this time."
She deflated, and muttered to the tabletop, "Nine. Almost."
"That's more like it," Gail said. "You obviously don't mind breeches, so we'll put you in Aaron's clothes for now. They're old but they're clean and whole, and they should fit well enough with a few stitches." She eyed the child again. "Not a lot of food at first, or you'll be ill, but we'll soon have you healthy. Nathan, keep her company while I get Aaron to fill a bath."
"He's not here," Nathan said, before she could run off on a fool's errand. "He's taken Ivy to Davy's." In fact, he suspected that Aaron had intended to give his parents some time alone. A kind impulse, but scuttled now.
"Hmph." Gail sighed. "Fine. Keep her company while I fill a bath. Don't go running off, child," she instructed the girl, then went off towards the back of the house.
Nathan turned his attention back to the little girl, who'd straightened a little during Gail's onslaught, and had to stifle a smile at her bewildered expression. "Don't worry," he said. "She takes everyone like that at first."
The girl blinked and looked at him, bewilderment still firmly in place. "But..." she started, then stopped, and hunched in on herself again. Oh, dear.
"In fact," he said, thoughtfully, trying to smooth over the moment, "the first time I met her she tried to hit me in the head with a candlestick. Mind you, she thought I was a pirate at the time."
As he'd hoped, the girl perked up a little at the word 'pirate.' "Were you?"
He smiled at her. "No. I was... I am a privateer, with a letter of marque given to me by the queen herself."
The girl's eyes went wide again. "The queen? You met the queen?"
"I have. So has Gail. She used to be a grand lady, you know." She still was, in all the ways that mattered-- she might not wear fancy dresses or dine with the court, but she cared for the people she thought of as hers as fiercely as any good noble.
The child's eyes widened yet more. Nathan wondered idly if they were bigger than a shilling yet. "Oh," she said, voice full of wonder. "How come she lives here?"
He smiled again, involuntarily, thinking of the day he'd come down the gangplank and seen her waiting, half defiant, half pleading, and the sheer breathless joy she'd woken in him, just by her presence. "She fell in love with a dashing privateer," he told the girl, very solemnly. "So she ran away from her family and married me."
"Dashing is not what I'd call you," Gail said, amusement in her voice, as she came back into the room. "Don't believe a word he says, child."
Nathan winked at the girl, then turned to face his wife, miming exaggerating shock. "You don't think me dashing? So cruel!"
"You aren't fooling anyone," Gail informed him, but leaned down and kissed him anyway, quick and warm. He slid his arm around her waist, encouraging, but she straightened, looking at the girl. "Come along, child, I've enough water for your bath now. It'll be a cold one, I'm afraid."
The girl looked back and forth between them, then blurted, "Why?"
Gail stiffened under his arm. Nathan looked back to the girl, mood suddenly solemn. "Why what?" he asked.
"Why're you doing this?" the girl asked. "Why're you helpin' me? I haven't done anythin' for you!" She looked suddenly very suspicious. "What do you want from me?"
"Child," Gail began, but Nathan pinched her hip lightly, and she went silent. She wouldn't understand this, or not well-- she was the beloved eldest daughter of an indulgent and rich father. Before her disastrous first marriage she hadn't ever known what it was to be hungry, or unloved. He, though...
He looked the girl in the eyes, and said, "We have two children, Gail and I, a daughter and a son. Ivy and Aaron. Ivy's four years old this April, and Aaron turned nine in January."
The girl still eyed him with suspicion, but it was less frightened now. "So?" she demanded. "What's that got t' do with me?"
"You're Aaron's age," Nathan said. "We're helping you because we would want someone to do the same for Aaron, if he ever, God forbid, found himself in your position."
"Because it's the right thing to do," Gail added, quietly.
Because, Nathan thought, and knew Gail was thinking it too, someone should have loved you like Aaron and Ivy are loved. Someone failed you, so we cannot.
The girl looked back and forth between them, doubtfully.
"Besides," Nathan added, "I need a cabin boy. Aaron tries, but he has to watch his sister, so he can't always get everything done."
"Oh," the girl said, and looked enormously relieved. "I can do that. I'll be good!"
"I know you will," Nathan said, relaxing himself. "It's a month or two yet before we sail. There's time to learn everything you'll need and more."
Gail ran her hand over his shoulders, approving, and said, "You'll be helping me until then. I need to get the house clean and packed up before we go." She looked around the room, at the dust and dirt gathering defiantly in the corners, and added, "I hope you like cleaning."
"I hate it," the girl said, bluntly. "But I'll do it."
Gail smiled at her. "Good. First thing to clean is you, so come along and we'll get you in the bath."
"Yes'm." The girl got down off her bench and trotted to the door Gail indicated. She hesitated, then turned back to face the pair of them and dropped a wobbly but very definite curtsey. "Thank you, missus. Thank you, sir."
"It's Gail and Nathan," Gail said, kindly. "Go on, Danny. It's all right now."
Her eyes widened again, but she said nothing, merely curtsied again and scampered into the other room.
Gail sighed, and bent down to kiss Nathan again. "Why do I get the feeling we've just taken on a lot of work?" she murmured, into his ear.
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her down to sit on his knee, just for a moment. "She'll be no more work than any other child. Less, in some ways."
"More in others," she pointed out, resting her head on his shoulder. "Ah, well. We couldn't have done anything else."
"No," he agreed, turning his face into her hair. "We couldn't have. She's a good girl, love. She'll do well."
"She will." Gail sounded as if she didn't know if she was agreeing with him or reassuring herself. A moment later, she added in a much more definite tone, "And if I ever meet her parents, there will be a reckoning."
Nathan laughed, and kissed her again, sliding a hand down her leg to hold her more firmly in place. "Please, promise me I get to watch."
Gail snorted, and shoved at his arm. "Let go, I've got to go get that poor girl clean. You can make her up a pallet, if you've so much free time that you're trying to get under my skirts."
"Dear heart," he said, "I'm always trying to get under your skirts. Free time or not." He kissed her once more, then let go.
"At least you're honest about it," Gail said, getting up. "To work."
"Yes'm," he said, and made her laugh.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Gail and Nathan do the right thing.
AU: EPIC PIRATE AU
Notes: Gail is on Danny's side now.
The girl spoke with her head down, picking at a worn place on the scarred wooden table. She spoke in little more than a mumble, slurring words, dropping syllables, skipping from subject to subject like a horse shying away from danger. Nathan's heart tightened in his chest at the sight of her, blonde hair hacked away from her face, thin shoulders hunched in tight as if she feared a blow. He thought of his own children-- Ivy, almost four, already bossing around sailors ten times her age, nine-year-old Aaron watching the world with a wry smile-- imagined them in this poor child's position, and thought that if he could have found her parents it would have gone very badly for them.
Beside him, Gail's hands, folded in her lap, slowly tightened until her knuckles went white.
Nathan reached over and laid his own hand over both of hers, stroking her fingers until they relaxed. The last time she'd gotten this angry, her nails had left little bloody crescents in her palms.
The child-- Daniella, she'd said, Daniella Sierbenski-- was winding down her tale, her picking at the table intensifying. A small splinter pried away; she looked at it for a moment, as if she did not know what it was, then threw it away and looked up at the both of them, her eyes huge in her starved little face, brimming with tears.
"Please, missus," she begged, and Nathan's heart broke all over again. "Please, sir! I'm good, I am. I try. Please." She brought a dirty hand up, wiped angrily at her eyes, as if the tears had somehow betrayed her. "I got nowhere else to go," she whispered.
Nathan wondered if she'd meant for them to hear it at all.
He opened his mouth but Gail beat him to it, standing up briskly and shaking out her skirts. "Well, of course you'll stay," she said. She almost snapped it, her anger with the poor child's parents leaking into her voice, and the girl shrank back, eyes wide. "You'll have to have a bath first, though. Ships are filthy places at the best of times."
"Well, thank you very much," Nathan said, a little stung. "Don't let her fool you, child. She lives on one eight months of the year."
Gail sniffed disdainfully, nose elevated in her best lady-of-the-manor attitude. "And how else would I know what they're like?" She gave the child a critical once-over. "How old are you, child?"
The girl looked thoroughly startled, but said, "Thirteen."
It was a blatant lie. She wasn't even Aaron's height. Nathan snorted, but Gail didn't respond except with a raised eyebrow.
"Eleven?" the girl tried.
"Once more," Gail said. "The truth this time."
She deflated, and muttered to the tabletop, "Nine. Almost."
"That's more like it," Gail said. "You obviously don't mind breeches, so we'll put you in Aaron's clothes for now. They're old but they're clean and whole, and they should fit well enough with a few stitches." She eyed the child again. "Not a lot of food at first, or you'll be ill, but we'll soon have you healthy. Nathan, keep her company while I get Aaron to fill a bath."
"He's not here," Nathan said, before she could run off on a fool's errand. "He's taken Ivy to Davy's." In fact, he suspected that Aaron had intended to give his parents some time alone. A kind impulse, but scuttled now.
"Hmph." Gail sighed. "Fine. Keep her company while I fill a bath. Don't go running off, child," she instructed the girl, then went off towards the back of the house.
Nathan turned his attention back to the little girl, who'd straightened a little during Gail's onslaught, and had to stifle a smile at her bewildered expression. "Don't worry," he said. "She takes everyone like that at first."
The girl blinked and looked at him, bewilderment still firmly in place. "But..." she started, then stopped, and hunched in on herself again. Oh, dear.
"In fact," he said, thoughtfully, trying to smooth over the moment, "the first time I met her she tried to hit me in the head with a candlestick. Mind you, she thought I was a pirate at the time."
As he'd hoped, the girl perked up a little at the word 'pirate.' "Were you?"
He smiled at her. "No. I was... I am a privateer, with a letter of marque given to me by the queen herself."
The girl's eyes went wide again. "The queen? You met the queen?"
"I have. So has Gail. She used to be a grand lady, you know." She still was, in all the ways that mattered-- she might not wear fancy dresses or dine with the court, but she cared for the people she thought of as hers as fiercely as any good noble.
The child's eyes widened yet more. Nathan wondered idly if they were bigger than a shilling yet. "Oh," she said, voice full of wonder. "How come she lives here?"
He smiled again, involuntarily, thinking of the day he'd come down the gangplank and seen her waiting, half defiant, half pleading, and the sheer breathless joy she'd woken in him, just by her presence. "She fell in love with a dashing privateer," he told the girl, very solemnly. "So she ran away from her family and married me."
"Dashing is not what I'd call you," Gail said, amusement in her voice, as she came back into the room. "Don't believe a word he says, child."
Nathan winked at the girl, then turned to face his wife, miming exaggerating shock. "You don't think me dashing? So cruel!"
"You aren't fooling anyone," Gail informed him, but leaned down and kissed him anyway, quick and warm. He slid his arm around her waist, encouraging, but she straightened, looking at the girl. "Come along, child, I've enough water for your bath now. It'll be a cold one, I'm afraid."
The girl looked back and forth between them, then blurted, "Why?"
Gail stiffened under his arm. Nathan looked back to the girl, mood suddenly solemn. "Why what?" he asked.
"Why're you doing this?" the girl asked. "Why're you helpin' me? I haven't done anythin' for you!" She looked suddenly very suspicious. "What do you want from me?"
"Child," Gail began, but Nathan pinched her hip lightly, and she went silent. She wouldn't understand this, or not well-- she was the beloved eldest daughter of an indulgent and rich father. Before her disastrous first marriage she hadn't ever known what it was to be hungry, or unloved. He, though...
He looked the girl in the eyes, and said, "We have two children, Gail and I, a daughter and a son. Ivy and Aaron. Ivy's four years old this April, and Aaron turned nine in January."
The girl still eyed him with suspicion, but it was less frightened now. "So?" she demanded. "What's that got t' do with me?"
"You're Aaron's age," Nathan said. "We're helping you because we would want someone to do the same for Aaron, if he ever, God forbid, found himself in your position."
"Because it's the right thing to do," Gail added, quietly.
Because, Nathan thought, and knew Gail was thinking it too, someone should have loved you like Aaron and Ivy are loved. Someone failed you, so we cannot.
The girl looked back and forth between them, doubtfully.
"Besides," Nathan added, "I need a cabin boy. Aaron tries, but he has to watch his sister, so he can't always get everything done."
"Oh," the girl said, and looked enormously relieved. "I can do that. I'll be good!"
"I know you will," Nathan said, relaxing himself. "It's a month or two yet before we sail. There's time to learn everything you'll need and more."
Gail ran her hand over his shoulders, approving, and said, "You'll be helping me until then. I need to get the house clean and packed up before we go." She looked around the room, at the dust and dirt gathering defiantly in the corners, and added, "I hope you like cleaning."
"I hate it," the girl said, bluntly. "But I'll do it."
Gail smiled at her. "Good. First thing to clean is you, so come along and we'll get you in the bath."
"Yes'm." The girl got down off her bench and trotted to the door Gail indicated. She hesitated, then turned back to face the pair of them and dropped a wobbly but very definite curtsey. "Thank you, missus. Thank you, sir."
"It's Gail and Nathan," Gail said, kindly. "Go on, Danny. It's all right now."
Her eyes widened again, but she said nothing, merely curtsied again and scampered into the other room.
Gail sighed, and bent down to kiss Nathan again. "Why do I get the feeling we've just taken on a lot of work?" she murmured, into his ear.
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her down to sit on his knee, just for a moment. "She'll be no more work than any other child. Less, in some ways."
"More in others," she pointed out, resting her head on his shoulder. "Ah, well. We couldn't have done anything else."
"No," he agreed, turning his face into her hair. "We couldn't have. She's a good girl, love. She'll do well."
"She will." Gail sounded as if she didn't know if she was agreeing with him or reassuring herself. A moment later, she added in a much more definite tone, "And if I ever meet her parents, there will be a reckoning."
Nathan laughed, and kissed her again, sliding a hand down her leg to hold her more firmly in place. "Please, promise me I get to watch."
Gail snorted, and shoved at his arm. "Let go, I've got to go get that poor girl clean. You can make her up a pallet, if you've so much free time that you're trying to get under my skirts."
"Dear heart," he said, "I'm always trying to get under your skirts. Free time or not." He kissed her once more, then let go.
"At least you're honest about it," Gail said, getting up. "To work."
"Yes'm," he said, and made her laugh.
