"Captain, you should take the key in case of any emergency." Ara whispered as they sat next to each other, Thomas in the other corner. Charlotte's first mate slipped it under her bum and and then stood up as if she had been holding nothing, moving over to sit next to Thomas. Charlotte slipped the key in her trouser pocket. Marlow stopped by once or twice with Ben to check in. It wasn't until blinding, yellow afternoon sunbeams streamed throughout the window that something went…

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     In her large pink hat with cream colored roses and grey lace ribbon, she sobbed into the chief inspector's handkerchief. A feather on the hat seemed to bounce as each tear dropped with the bobbing of her head and the bouncing of her voice as she retold her tale of horror to him. He stared all the while with an awkward look on his face. she was really working at it though. Every time Eudora looked up, she couldn't seem to take her puffy red eyes off that man's goddamn mustache.…

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       Rain pattered outside, leaving a gloomy grey sort of light in the cells of Scotland Yard. But still, sweat dripped down the brow of Thomas Dunning as he sat against the side wall of his cell, staring into the eyes of Charlotte Bennet. Charlotte had woken up this morning with Thomas staring at her. 

        "We need a heart to heart," He had said but after that, not a single word had been said all morning. The only sound was the rain outside, and the leak inside that…

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      A crisp, clean white shirt and a smooth, satin blue cravat that made Thomas lift his chin in the mirror of his father's home; his home. Mother sat downstairs in the living room with a cup of Earl Grey. All was well again. He had paid his own bounty and opened up a bank account for his mother. Books of aroma therapy sat on shelves collecting dust as the former sky captain smiled at books on forensic science. He would rejoin the justice system with a container of volcanic ash in…

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    Charlotte and her crew stood fiercely outside Hadrian's food and drink a about two in the morning. They stood in the fog as a light misting stirred rain in the sky leaving Captain's charlotte short blond hair sprinkled with light drops as she smirked.

   "Ready gents?!" she called behind her and when the crew responded with a roar of excitement, she lifted her pistol in the air and fired two shots. "This won't be fun if a few coppers don't show up." She smirked and the…

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     London fog sat stationary as Arabella and Jon, cloaked in black, made their way through the empty alleyway, the smell of garbage and possibly something dead rising up through the air. 

     "I don't see why I have to come." Jon said quietly as they strolled through. 

     "Cap'n thought it'd be good for you." answered Ara. 

     "How is this any better than the damn ship right now?" 

     "You're from South London, deal with it." 

     "Just…

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     "There's a fucking ghost on this ship!" yelled Charlotte, stamping out the whispering hum of the galley in saying so. Ara nodded, arms crossed, legs crossed as she leaned against the wall, slightly aloof from the crowd. 

      "What made you change your mind?" She piped in, feeling a bit cocky. "You were so unsure before." 

      "Shut it, Porter. Don't you say a word. Your boyfriend showed his machine wrecked face last night before I went to bed and if we wanted…

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      It was midnight on the docks of London, fog drifting back and forth, congesting every open space where a ship was not present. From inside the cozy study, glowing light shone warmly, contrasting against the cold, cloudy gray of the London fog. Charlotte Bennet sat at her desk, eyes half closed, staring at a flaming candle in her gas lamp. It was obviously time to go to bed and she sighed upon the realization that she would actually have to stand up if she wanted to tuck herself…

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        A soft hum accompanied by the creaking of a ship echoed through the cloudy night as the Silver Widow hid in a cloud. Water droplets formed on Ara's goggles and her jacket felt damp but all was necessary to ambush the oncoming tea ship. 

        "Captain, I don't see it!" Fink called down from the crows nest and into a pipe that ran down near the mast where Charlotte stood next to Ara, goggles down, blue captain's hat on, with her feet rooted strongly in the ground and…

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    My darling charlotte, 

           This music box plays he lullaby that I used to sing to you from the time you turned ten until you were over your insomnia. Here are the lyrics that go with it. Never forget its tune for one day, when you are captaining my ship and have seen the things I have seen, you will need this lullaby again to ease your sleepless nights. I love you, 

                           mother

    Hush now, my little girl

    Lay…

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    the liquid sloshing sound of water bumping up against the docks broke through the London fog as she sat, kicking her legs off the side, trousers rolled up to her knees. She waited, staring blankly down at the water when suddenly the firm rim of something tapped onto her head, encircling it. She felt at her head with a confused look painted onto her face that wiped itself off when she pulled the black top hat off, shiny and black like the ones you could see at Kensington or North…

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     With blurry shapes that shifted back and forth, Arabella slowly opened her eyes, her mind struggling to work out the puzzle that was her sight. The shapes collapsed into eachother, taking on balance and form; a glowing purple lantern, an old wooden chair, something with a wooden surface (a night stand?). she sowly worked outher sideways position with the warmth of a cushion pressing up to her cheek and a blanket over her body, feeling its presence as she shifted. There were…

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"They're real." Ara stood with her legs strongly shoulder length apart, arms folded and blond hair braided into two with her goggles neatly sitting on her head as the scraggly stubbled man in front of her turned the diamond over in grey gloved hands with dark spotted fingers that probably hadn't been washed in a year or two. Dominique stood patiently behind her.



"Where'd you hook it?" He asked.



"A ship that had just lifted away from a cutter's outside the mines." She… Continue

"J'ai la post." Said Dominique as she strolled up to the captain. We had struck gold (literally) in China's Szechuan province and had stopped to use some of it on good food and drink. Sitting back, enjoying a glass of water after her stomach full of spicy squid, Charlotte took the letter from the gunner's hand and exchanged a humorous look with Arabella. Ara, who sat on her right side, watched her opening it between glancing around when there was a loud noise or a funny joke. Charlotte's eyes… Continue

Soft foamy soap and warm water covered Ara's hands and dripped off her wrists as she washed up from dinner. When finishing the plates, she grabbed the first pot from Dominique's cooking when the was a slow double knock on the open door frame of the galley. She watched Thomas walk in casually and sit down.



"And what's the fallen sky captain up to tonight?" She asked, turning back to scrubbing the metal pot. She heard The wooden bench squeak behind her as Thomas adjusted himself and… Continue

"Lower my bounty," moonlight

streamed in through Buckingham palace, silently illuminating the metal barrel of Ara's revolver as she aimed it at the Queen's chest with a click. Queen Victoria sat up slowly and stared with patient dark eyes.

"Shoot me, wonderful idea." The woman said dryly, "killing me will help your cause,"

"I didn't come here to kill you, I came here to threaten you unless you don't do as I ask in which case then," Ara pressed the gun barrel into the Queen's… Continue