23Title: Bloodletting
Summary: I own nothing!
So, this update is late. I blame my new job, because my hours haven't become stable yet…hopefully the next chapter will be sooner!
Using the candle to guide his way, Rigsby avoided the foot-sized hole in the century-old crisscrossing tree roots that kept him from his final destination. The rowdiness from Pelicans' Bar had long faded away, but the smell of smoke and stale urine still clung to his nostrils as he carried three bottles of rum to the top of Hanger's Nook.
"Best part of my day, really," Mashburn greeted him, happily, as he accepted the bottle of aged rum with a grin. Cho silently accepted his too, before Rigsby joined them sitting on the dried ground. "I've got to say, boys. This is the perfect way to escape the Captains." Rigsby watched Mashburn take a swig of his rum. "Vintage, Wayne?"
"I figured we could all use it," Rigsby said, popping the lid off his. "It's been one hellish week." Neither Mashburn nor Cho said anything, as he took a swig of his own rum and savored the burst of flavor within his mouth. "I just needed to get off and away from the Scarlet Oasis."
"It's not so bad now," Cho commented, fingering the bottle. Rigsby glanced at him. "In-between Captains. Jane's not wreaking havoc. O'Laughlin isn't pushing to punish those, who hurt his wife." Cho met his eyes. "I'd say it's our idyll situation."
"For what?" Rigsby asked, snorting. "Taking back the ship? Locking Jane and O'Laughlin together, hoping that one will kill the other?" Rigsby shook his head, rolling his eyes. "I've got to say that I'm honestly tired of this damn situation. I hate O'Laughlin. I dislike Jane." Rigsby lifted the rim of the bottle to his lips and downed a good amount of the rum, before he glanced at either Cho or Mashburn. "It's not too hard to run a sword through their damned chests and be done with this nightmare, is it?"
Mashburn looked alarmed. "Wayne, you can't mean…"
"Why can't I?" Rigsby asked. "Grace is my wife; she's pregnant now and…and…" Rigsby stopped to take another sip. How in the world could he even welcome a baby onto a ship, captained by a former Red John acolyte or by a former man whom used women to his advantages? "I'm supposed to seriously be okay with this? Watching my friends and family get tortured for taking part in O'Laughlin's antics. Watching my friends and family get imprisoned for taking part in Jane's antics." He had promised Grace, within their wedding vows, that he would keep her safe; and safe wasn't what Jane or O'Laughlin had been providing for the last few months to any of the crew. Rigsby sighed, until he felt Mashburn's hand on his shoulder. "Things were much easier with Kris and James around, weren't they?"
Cho side-eyed him. "They had good reasons to leave." Mashburn nodded, agreeing with Cho's statement. "Someone brought Gale Bertram to Cannibal Cove. If they had stayed, his death would have been treason."
"And let me tell you, Wayne," Mashburn replied to Cho's comment, "I don't look good with a noose around my neck, personally." Rigsby said nothing, playing with his bottle. It was ridiculous be upset with the departure of James and Kris, nearly a year later, but they had become a family to him; and now, considering his marriage to Grace, they were a legitimate family. "Kris might have saved Teresa a few years ago, but now, Kris has a family of her own to support and love."
"Grace and I are a part of that family, Walter," Rigsby argued, sipping at his rum. Mashburn said nothing. "Our wedding invite went ignored. How do you explain that?" Cho's glance at him told him that Cho thought he was being ridiculous, but he had wanted his brother-in-law there to walk his beautiful (and blushing) bridge down the aisle. Instead, a psychotic Jane had offered and trying to make peace, Rigsby and Grace had accepted Jane's offer. "Whatever, I suppose. It's their lost, not mine." Of course, nobody (but he) had to deal with a sobbing Grace for nearly a month afterwards at her brother's lack of appearance at the wedding.
"I get that," Mashburn said, smiling. "However, the wedding was a whirlwind. One moment, you're both together and the next, you both want to be married. If I were James, I wouldn't have believed the news either." Rigsby frowned. Had the news of their proposal and subsequent marriage not been taken seriously by anyone? "You mean well, my friend; but Grace dug her metaphorical claws into you."
"Can you blame her?" Rigsby asked, watching Mashburn drink. "With her father dead and her brother gone, she wanted someone in her life. She wanted her own family to be happy and look at us now; we're expecting our first child." He smiled proudly and imagined their little boy or girl with her beautiful eyes, as the both of them cared for the baby together. When Rigsby had joined the Scarlet Oasis many years ago, he had never thought that his pirating career would have eventually brought him to a beautiful woman; after all, he had just joined the Scarlet Oasis in an attempt to get away from his past. "I'm happy, guys. I'm truly happy. I was miserable when I first joined this crew and while I'm still miserable now, Grace makes everything better."
"Even though she hurt Lisbon?" Cho said.
Rigsby peered at Cho. "Grace likes Lisbon, Cho. She had Lisbon be her maid-of-honor, after all." He continued to smile, as he remembered Grace in her white gown. "It's nothing personal, I'm sure. It probably has everything to do with wanting to keep from Jane's wrath, honestly." Mashburn scowled, while Cho shifted and Rigsby snorted in response. "You two don't truly believe that Grace wanted to hurt Lisbon, do you?"
"Wayne," Mashburn started, scowling. "Grace has kicked Teresa."
"Grace is surviving," Rigsby defended. "I respect Lisbon and want her to get better, Mashburn, but come on. How do you think Jane would react, if Grace wasn't at least siding with him?" He shook his head and downed another quarter of his bottle. "We're all about saving ourselves at the end of the day; and Grace is saving two people at the end of the day. Can you fault her wanting to protect our child?"
"No," Cho answered and Rigsby opened his mouth to respond, when Cho interrupted. "But it doesn't make her activities right either. How would you feel if Grace were dehumanized or kicked at, Rigsby? Angry? Upset?"
"Lisbon can handle it," Rigsby responded, even though, he did feel angry at the fact that everyone seemed to be blaming Lisbon's "behavior" on Grace. Lisbon's stupidity was because of Craig O'Laughlin and his brainwashing, which none of them had been able to stop or see. "If Grace were in this situation…" He shuddered at the thought of it. "I'd kill whoever put her in this situation."
"Yet, you've forgotten all of your loyalty to Lisbon, to the Scarlet Oasis?" Mashburn asked, crossing his arms against his chest. Rigsby said nothing. "Wayne, we all agreed to protect each other. I know you care for your wife and unborn child, but please understand, we're concerned about Grace. It's not natural for anyone, especially a woman, to have such rapid changes in personality."
"What do you mean?"
"From fear of violence to acceptance of violence," Cho retorted and Rigsby rolled his eyes. He should have stayed in with Grace, instead of taking up Mashburn's offer of a drink outside the ship. "Don't believe us? That's fine. You're making a mistake."
Rigsby clenched his fists and pitched his bottle of rum into a nearby tree, making Mashburn wince. Cho didn't seem to care. "Don't you ever call my wife a mistake, you son-of-a-bitch." And before he could think about even wrapping his hands around Cho's neck and choking the life out him, Rigsby scooped up the candle and left the two.
He needed to see his wife.
He needed to know that everything (eventually) would be okay.
::::
When he entered their bedroom, nearly an hour later, Grace glanced up at him from her book with a tired smile. He smiled at her and worked to remove his own clothing, before he joined her in bed and snaked his arm across her bare mid-section, tracing patterns into her warm skin. "Couldn't sleep?"
He heard Grace yawn, before she replied. "I was waiting for you, Wayne." He watched and felt her shift against him, until they were almost nose-to-nose. "I don't trust sleeping here alone, not with certain individuals on the prowl." So close, he could see the dark shadows under her eyes in the flickering candlelight and he grimaced. "You make me feel safe." Rigsby felt her lips flutter against his forehead and he closed his eyes, taking in her scent of lilac. "How was your night out?"
"Same old, same old," Rigsby lied, because he couldn't very well tell Grace that they had all discussed her again. "Cho and I tried a game of drunken darts at Pelicans' Bar. Walter decided to buy drinks for everyone, again. It ended up being a disastrous night, truly." He smiled at her, before he kissed her nose. "How was your night, love?"
Grace moved her shoulders, slightly. "It was nothing all that interesting. I helped down in the pantry, but aside from that, I read. I don't have much energy to do things." He kissed her nose again and she cuddled herself into him. "I had an odd encounter with the Captain though." Rigsby glanced down at her. "He asked if I was going to abuse our child, much like I abused his wife…"
Almost in an instance, Rigsby was out of their bed again. He didn't notice that his hands were shaking, until Grace's soft skin brushed against his. "Wayne…"
"No, Grace," Rigsby interrupted, hastily. O'Laughlin had done plenty of horrible things and while Rigsby had tried not to take sides, this was the last straw in what he could and couldn't tolerate. His pregnant wife certainly did not need all of that damned stress, regardless of Lisbon's current mental state. "I'm going to exchange a few words with our current Captain."
"He's not worth it." He watched her eyes glance toward the floor, before he wrapped his arms tight around her. Grace's head rested against his chest and his heart ached for her, as she was one of the few individuals who didn't deserve to be punished. "If you go talk to him, he'll make things worse." She glanced up at him, smiling. "He's given us a nice bedroom, Wayne. He's feeding us. He allowed us to get married."
One good deed didn't make up for all his bad ones, Rigsby felt. Regardless of his kindness toward officiating his and Grace's wedding, Rigsby still wanted to punch the bastard's lights out.
"We haven't left Hanger's Island in months, Grace," Rigsby told her, quietly. "We're all prisoners here, and it's all because of O'Laughlin and Jane." His expression darkened and he felt Grace tense in his arms. "Baby, I'm not mad at you. I promise." She still didn't relax and he grimaced, quietly planning to throttle O'Laughlin with his bare hands. "You need to calm down, okay? I don't want anything happening to our child." He moved one of his hands to press against her stomach.
The thought of a baby still filled him with giddiness, honestly. He hadn't expected a baby so soon, but one of their pre-wedding midnight rendezvous had proved to quicken the time table on marriage. Grace hadn't wanted to have a child out of wedlock, and because he was a gentlemen, he couldn't bear to let their child grow up with the title bastard. O'Laughlin's comments, however, reminded Rigsby of just why they had to leave the Scarlet Oasis.
"Grace," he continued, after Grace had fallen silent. "I think we need to leave." He had little money, but he knew Walter would spare them enough until he was able to find an appropriate job and house for them all. Rigsby pulled away from Grace and stepped toward their closet, so he could begin to assess their packing situation. He didn't have many items, having learned to carry light; but Grace's items (mostly dresses and other trinkets, which Bret Stiles had gifted her) would definitely need several bags.
"Wayne," Grace admonished with a snort. "Don't be ridiculous." He turned to glance at her, surprise written across his face. "Do you think we'd survive the outside world, love?" Grace's expression was soft and he eyed her. He was exhausted, so maybe he had just imagined her mocking tone. His Grace was sweet; she'd never hurt him or anyone else, regardless of what O'Laughlin retorted. "I'm scared, Wayne. I…" She trailed off and he watched her tremble, her brown eyes wide. "…I don't want to lose you. I can't. I've already lost my brother."
Rigsby sighed, feeling immensely guilty. What in the hell was he thinking? Of course, he wanted a happily ever after for the both of them, but not at the risk of Grace's happiness. James had left her and in doing so, he had ignored all the letters from Grace begging him to attend their wedding. Grace begging James to give her away, because Kris had killed their father in a fit of ill-fit rage.
Selfish prick, Rigsby thought darkly. He had respect for James, but hell, he had left his sister behind to deal with Jane. Jane had hated James and in turn, Rigsby was positive that both captains were taking their mutual feelings of hatred out on Grace. I mean, how else can you explain her behavior toward Lisbon? Or even her behavior toward following O'Laughlin's orders?
Grace had only followed Jane's examples in his treatment of Lisbon, so she could stay out of his line of vision. Just as Grace was only following O'Laughlin's orders to avoid the anger, which both captains surely held toward her. Unfortunately, for them both though it didn't deter Jane or O'Laughlin from pulling their shitty stunts.
He stepped over to wife and wrapped his arms around her again, his heart breaking at the sound of her sobs as she clung to him.
"How about you get some rest, love?" Rigsby offered, kissing the top of her head. Grace sniffed and glanced up at him. "You look exhausted and this can't be good for the baby." Mutely, she nodded and he escorted back to their bed.
In silence, he pulled back the covers and tucked her into the bed. Grace said nothing, her eyes closing and Rigsby waited until her breaths had evened out to redress. With one final look at his peaceful wife and a decision made, he was going to kill Craig O'Laughlin.
