The Mercenary and the Lord's Daughter (Alpha and Risi)

[AlphaZero]

Nick Sharpe had decided, he no longer liked stairs. Stairs where now his sworn enemy and he would find the man who invited stairs and throw him down the biggest flight of stairs he could just to prove a point about how god damn inconveant stairs really where compared to elevators. Infact he was convinced that after he threw Mr. Stairs down the the stairs that his wife Mrs. Stairs when leave him for the man who invited the elevator because elevators are SO much better.

He sagged against the bare stone wall of the old Spanish fort, wheezing and puffing, his face red with effort. He ran a hand down his face, whipping away the sweat that was dripping from it before wriggling his way out of his battered leather flight jacket, something that he probably would have been smarter to not wear in a leather jacket lined with fur in the middle of the South China Sea. Or maybe, whoever designed the stupid tower could have put in SO MANY FEWER STAIRS.

He tied off his jacket around his waist, grumbling to himself some more about stairs and why hadn't the stupid ass pirates set up some kind of rudimentary lift to move up and down the tower to make his life eaiser. If the money wasn't so good he'd never have found his way out this far. But when a wealthy British Nobel offers a good payday for his daughters safe return who was Nick to argue with that.

He adjusted the coat around his waist, making sure it wasn't interfearing with the holstered semi-automatic tied to his thigh and continued to trudge, wondering under his breath why he hadn't thought to bring a canteen with him.

Oh, right, because he hadn't thought he'd have to climb so many damned stairs.

After what felt like an eternity of more climbing Nick finally reached the top level he collapsed in a panting heap against the wall, wanting nothing more than a glass of water.

"Owwww......." He wheezed. There was no point in laying around trying to recover. And it was possibly dangerous. He had managed to sneak through the fortress wile the majority of it's occupants where out on business, leaving only a skeleton crew behind to guard it and their valuable prisioner didn't mean he's was at all safe.

He pushed himself back to his feet, running a hand through a shaggy head of sandy coloured hair before wiping his sweaty palms on his dark slacks and kneeling infront of the heavy looking iron door infront him, sliding a set of lockpicks from inside one of his boots and setting to work, his pale eyes focused on the task at hand. After several moments there was a loud click as the lock opened and with a little bit of effort Nick was able to shoulder the door open and stepped into the small cell.

 

[Risi]

She was pretty sure it was lunch time. Even though she had been fed breakfast, well, someone’s idea of it, the last few weeks they had been pretty punctual with her food. Really, it was how she kept track of passing time and days. It was day twenty-three now, or was it day twenty-four?

Either way, Aurora thought they were late. Didn’t these men know punctuality was important?

Or had they left you to die? Her brain whispered, darkly, Did father refuse to pay the ransom?

Her abduction had happened while she was visiting nuclear power test sites on behalf of her father in south France. It happened all so fast, but she had been forced upon while headed back to her room at the inn one night. A man scooped her up from behind, hand around her mouth with a cloth that had a very odd and chemical smell. She was still wearing her business attire when they grabbed her, a long grey wool pencil skirt with eight black buttons down the front, a white vaguely sheer sleeveless blouse, and an oversized tan overcoat with buckles in the front and around the wrists.

They took her coat after the knock out, but she didn’t remember much besides being in a ship hold. Then another chemical cloth, this one more forceful than the last because she tried to fight them, and she was here.

Where here was, Aurora wasn’t entirely sure. The men seemed to be Asian, but she didn’t know what dialect they spoke. They just called her Miss Ah-burn, a mispronunciation of her father’s last name, Osborne.

However, she had been realitively well fed, mostly rice, beans, and some sort of meat product, three times a day, almost at the same time the light hit through the bars and where it intercected with the wall. No tea or hot water to be seen, but she imagined it could have been worse.

More often than not, it was the same man. But, the last few days it had been a different man. Hopefully nothing had happened to the first. He would make her rice into shapes and try to teach her the words.

Aurora’s first thought when the door opened was, Oh, maybe not too late after all. But then when she looked up, it was not an Asian man, but a seemingly English one.

“Er, hello there,” she said with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused at the situation. “I suppose you aren’t here to bring me my lunch, then?”

 

[AlphaZero]

Nick stood in the door, still panting and wheezing from the climb. The red was starting to fade, his face reverting to it's usual tan. He sucked in a deep breath and straightened up, "Ms. Osborne. I'm here to...."
When he heard her mention lunch he stopped mid sentence in order to allow his oxygen deprived brain time to process what had just been said.

"Your lunch...." He repeated slowly.

As if on que the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing began to echo from the stairwell making Nick wonder just how he hadn't been caught by the guard now approching from below, or, given how badly the man seemed to be wheezing, he hadn't heard him earlier. He also had to ponder how the pirate hadn't heard his wheezing as well but promptly decided to forget that part since there where more pressing matters at hand.

There wasn't much room to hide in the small space, a straw sleeping pallet on one side and a chamber pot on the other. The only real place he could think to hide was next to the door.
He closed it quickly and quietly, pressing his back against the wall Nick held his breath, listening as keys scraped in the lock and the heavy door was shoved open from the outside.

The man who entered was a weather beaten Asian man, exposure to the sun and other elements made it difficult to determine his age. He was simply dressed in a tattered shirt and cargo pants, a large revolver hanging from his belt.

He shouted something in Mandarin, or at least Nick thought that's what it sounded like, but it was kind of garbeled by the man's missing teeth. He shouted something else and shuffled further into the room.

Nick reached for his holster, his hand resting on the grip of his automatic, ready to act if he needed to.

 

[Risi]

As the reddened man huffed at the door, looking at her confused, Aurora started to get up. She attempted to adjust her travel and capture mussed hair by pulling it insecurely to one side and brushing it down through her fingers, fiddling with the ends just below her collar bone.

“Aren’t we going to...” she began as the man let the door shut and pressed his back up against the wall, but then realized her lunch was coming up the stairs after him. Pursing her lips, she scooted back to the mat she had been calling a bed for the last few weeks and sat down right as the pirate called out.

“Wufán, misses Auburn,” sneering through his rotted teeth as he handed over the bowl of rice and broth on a woven tray. Considering the situation at hand, and the unlikelihood of this mans survival, part of her was somewhat happy that it wasn’t the pirate who was kind to her, but rather the one who frequented her cell lately and generally scoffed at her.

The door was still slightly ajar. During all of this time, she hadn’t attempted to escape the cell when they brought her food. This would likely lend well to the escape that was about to happen, or at least she hoped that was what this was. But, she knew if that door shut, they likely were stuck in the cell until dinner was brought, or someone noticed this man was missing.

Blushing on command was a skill Aurora had learned early on in life. It often led to her getting her way as a child, and later helped her in business negotiations with leering men in her adult life. Her skin was a pale, almost translucent, creamy white color which lended well to the soft pink that would creep up her cheeks. She decided it was likely a good time to deploy this tactic. As the blood rushed to her cheeks, she parted her lips a little and looked at the pirate from under her long blonde lashes.

“Um...?” She trailed off softly, batting her eyes and pushing her arms together to enhance her breasts through the sheer white shirt, now slightly dirty from the mat and her captured travels. She held the tray in her hand, and traced around the rim of one of the bowls with her index finger. The pirate looked at her, drinking her in for a second. His face seemed to read that of course she was trying to seduce him, but it didn’t seem that he was too opposed to the idea. His mouth broke into a gap-toothed grin as he stepped towards her once again.

“Tang?” She tried in a barely audible whisper, hoping she was pronouncing the word for soup correctly. And, that the other man had taught her correctly in the first place. The pirate drew even closer and she could smell his unwashed body. Attempting not to grimace, she smiled and wondered how much time her assumed savior was going to let this go on before she would have to handle the situation herself.

 

[AlphaZero]

Nick sucked a sharp breath in through his nose and held it, waiting for the guard to depart. When he stepped fully into the room Nick swore under his breath, tightening his grip on the gun. But then something he hadn't expected happened, she started to play along, making use of her various charms to keep the toothless pirate distracted. It wasn't exactly a complex ploy, and he'd be lying if he said he wouldn't fall for it himself.

But then again it would be hard for most men to not fall into that particular trap with a woman who looked that good, even if she was disshevled, which in Nick's mind somehow made her more attractive. But now really wasn't the time to be oggeling the VIP he was being paid to get out of this place.

He crept slowly from his hiding place, moving slowly to minimize the noise he made until he stood right behind the man and promptly leapt on his bag, locking his arms around the man's throat.

The pirate let out a muffled cry and began to flailed about, trying to dislodge the interloper from his back but Nick hung tight, "Easy easy." He muttered before the man turned and charged back first into the stone wall, slamming Nick into it.

He grunted in pain, gritting his teeth and held tight as he was slammed several more times against the stone, "come-on now, just a little nappy time for now, you know you get cranky when you don't have your nap."

The pirates movements became slow and his attempts to thawart Nick more labourus and less effective until he collapsed on the floor, Nick remaining in place for several second to ensure that he was infact out cold.

He patted the man on his thinning hair, "See, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

 

[Risi]

Once the man committed to the plan, it didn't take but a few moments before the pirate was on the ground. "Not bad," she said offhandedly as she pulled open the slightly ajar door.

"So I take it my father refused to pay their randsom and decided to go with the clearance price you were offering?" Aurora muttered as they made their way down the steep staircase silently. This wasn't the first time she had been abducted by a foe or competitor to her father. Unfortunately, since she had started scouting some of the new energy solutions, like the nuclear powerplant, she had be the target of a few kidnappings. However, this time, Aurora was through.

"Just hope the would be rescuer would be sufficent, you stingy bastard," she growled as she rounded yet another corner of the stairs. What was this, a fairytale? Hidden in the highest room of the tallest tower... She rolled her eyes and she could hear the man getting closer behind her. She speculated that he likely had not planned to give her a weapon of any sort, those weren't for women, so letting him go first was likely the best plan if they met any resistance on their way out.

"You have a plan, right?" she asked over her shoulder as she allowed him to pass, his muscular body grazing her slightly.

 

[AlphaZero]

Nick, all achy and brused not just from the climb but from the tussel with the pirate as well wanted nothing more than to lay on the nice cold stone floor for a few moments and recover, maybe close his eyes and catch forty winks. Yeah a nap sounded like just the right thing at that moment, no one needed to know he was sleeping on the job. But it was clear the little lady had other plans as she bolted from the room.

"Oh come'on." Nick groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, tugging his jacket back on and stumbeling after her, not bothering to offer much in the way of replies as she continued to rant and he learned much to his surprise this wasn't the first time this has happened.

"Look lady, I'm just here to get you out here. You can work out whatever daddy issues you have with him once you get home. That's the plan. Get you out."

There was a commotion in the court yard as they approched the door, the high pitched whine of engines overhead and the low hum of something bigger. Nick came to a stop in the door and grabbing the lady by the arm, pulling her back into the shelter of the tower. Overhead a massive zeplin was decending along with a series of small scout planes.

"Oh shit." He muttered.

 

[Risi]

Rolling her eyes with his “daddy issues” comment, she was about to quip back at him, but the building rumbled and the loud sounds of aircrafts. For a moment she was hopeful. Perhaps her father had really sent in the calvery to get her.

That feeling quickly faded as the curse came from beside her.

“I take it they aren’t with you, then?” She asked as they pressed their backs against the wall beside the door. She started to eye him, trying to take a catalog of the weapons on him, as far as she could tell.

Aurora hoped there would be something he would be willing to part with, or at least something he would care if she grabbed off his person. She cursed under her breath, remembering her coat and the knife held in it. She had really liked that coat, and that knife.

Either way, they were gone now and she couldn’t do anything about it. She thought she spotted a handgun in the small of his back before he had put his coat back on, but she couldn’t be sure now.

“Any weapon you’d be willing to let me borrow?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and hoping he was the type of macho man that was going to get them both killed for chivalry.

The scout planes continued circling and she heard the thud of men rappelling to the ground. They were shouting directions to each other, Aurora wasn’t sure of much else they were staying though, or if they had come from the planes or the blimp.

“Bloody hell,” she said softly, wondering if this was going to be the time she didn’t make it home to yell at her father, of all the times.

 

[AlphaZero]

This was a massive monkey wrench in Nick's plan. Not that he had much of plan beyond, "get in, get girl, get out." But with a skeleton crew guarding the compound that would have been easy enough. This on the other hand was going to make thing a lot more difficult for them. He gestured at her to shush and peered around the door frame. They where on the upper wall that went around the courtyard and a low barrier would give them some level of cover to try and move around without being spotted.

He tugged his pistol loose from his holster, "ok, so what we're gonna do is stay low and close to the wall and use it for cover. So just....stay low and stay quiet."

He slipped out from cover, doing exactly as he said and crouching next to the wall and waving her towards him.

 

[Risi]

The silent type, then? she asked herself internally as he seemed to ignore all of her questions. But as he pulled his gun from its holster, she moved to reach for it, assuming he was about to hand it to her. But alas, he kept it in his palm and told her his so called plan. With an eye roll, she followed behind him, crouching. As she did, she heard the sound of boots marching towards them,

Fucking 'ell, her inner monologue continued. She looked at the man beside her, eyes wide and giving him a "What now?" look with her big hazel eyes. This is never going to work out, she thought as they continued silently againt the wall, unsure what would happen if this seemingly large military movement got ahold of her, or what their intent was in the first place.

Her father had always been an interesting sore spot for Aurora. He always treated her like her brothers, encouraging her to go off to school to study business, never letting her show much emotion, and never letting her settle for less than the best. But Lord Osborne was not a man to be trifled with. He always knew his bottom line and never would except less. It was because of this tendency that Aurora had been in similar predicments before. There was the aero-farmers in Amsterdam who held her for ransom when they didn't like the price she was offering on behalf of her father. The time in Africa both she and her brother were captured, and only by the grace of her sex had she made it out alive, her brother Adam not being so lucky. And now, here she was off the coast of some Asian country with an American trying to escape from a freaking blimp and paratroopers.

While family was important to Lord Osborne, business was always number one. And right now, Aurora wasn't sure if she was going to make it out of this predicament, as she had the last, and wondered if her father would particularly care. Austin could surely handle some of her business, but hopefully her father would miss her for more than just the business she brought in.

She was brought back to reality as gunshots exploded next to her, from the revolver of the American man. She had been keeping pace with him, but had clearly been in her head until the sound brought her back. After a couple more shots, Aurora hoped he had brought more bullets than the standard kept inside the gun. If not, she was truely fucked, they both were.

 

[AlphaZero]

Gunshots slammed into the concrete and whizzed above their heads as thunder roared from the courtyard below. Nick swore under his breath, covering his head with arms.

The roar of gunfire came to a sudden hault and a vocie could be heard shouting in some hacked up combination of Mandarin, Cantonse and English before shouting out in accented English, "Hey Sharpe, that you?!"

"Ah hell....." Nick muttered under his breath before peering over the low baracade to see a man in old millitary fatigues standing amid the pirates with a rifle stock resting against his hip. Nick ducked back into cover, "Hey Eddie, how ya doin'?"

He looked towards the girl, "why didn't you tell me you'd been kidnapped by Eddie Fung?" He whispered, clearly annoyed by the whole situation.

"Oh you know how it goes." Fung shouted, "robbing ships, kidnapping rich girls. Did you know we kidnapped a rich girl Sharpe?"

A nervious laugh escaped his lips, "No, no, I hadn't heard anything about that."

It was a bad lie and he knew it was, he also knew that Eddie was dumber than he looked, which was quite the accomplismet because Eddie looked pretty damned stupid.

Eddie swore, in Mandarin, "you I'm stupid Sharpe?"

"Yes?"

Another volley of gunfire eruppted.