Chapter Text
Someone is shaking your shoulder and calling your name, and even though your head feels like it’s filled with cotton, you lift it up to see a concerned Emily standing over you in the back room of the museum. “We’ve been looking all over for you!” she says, rolling her eyes. “It’s Halloween- your favorite day of the festival! What are you doing napping back-” she stops as she looks at you. “Omigosh, are you OK?”
“I’m trying to figure out how to break a curse,” you say simply, willing the weariness to go away. You have hit dead end after dead end all day, and must have dozed off. “Did you know you only get a full moon on Halloween every nineteen years? I have to figure it out tonight, or wait nineteen years before I can save them.”
“Ohhh kayy,” Emily says. “You’re clearly not up for work today; I’ll just tell the boss you had to call in sick. You really should get some rest.” She moves to leave.
“Emily?” you call after her.
“What?”
“How would you break a curse?”
“Um… in the stories, it’s always true love’s kiss, right? Like… Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty?”
You laugh, a little maniacally. “Those aren’t real. Thanks anyway.”
“Yeah, ‘cause even though fairy tales aren’t real, curses are,” Emily mutters sarcastically, and leaves the room.
You check your phone for the time, and gladly see there’s plenty of time left before you have to leave. You’re bound to find something.
You found nothing. Nothing about pirate curses, nothing about magical lightning, nothing about why these particular ships are bound to repeat the same battle every time there’s a full moon on Halloween. And especially nothing about people getting sucked into the curses themselves.
The only thing you can think of is that hauntings are the results of unfinished business. Since Lieutenant Mitchell swore to get the cargo back, it stands to reason you just had to get the cargo from the pirate ship to the navy ship, and the unfinished business would become finished business, freeing Stan, Ford, and the cursed spirits. Right?
If that didn’t work, your frazzled mind did have a half-baked plan involving chloroform and dragging Stan and Ford back to their boat.
Everything seems so surreal it was hard to focus, and you keep kicking yourself for not apologizing to Stan when you had the chance. But there’s nothing you can do about it now. You’ll have plenty of time later, after you rescued them.
You hoped.
You silently reach the original coordinates and drop the anchor, and soon the pirate ship once again appears close by, cannon fire already rivaling the lightning from the storm. You once more use your grappling hook to quietly climb up to the railing, cursing yourself for not taking the time to go home and change out of your costume. Then you take a deep breath, and haul yourself over the railing-
And are met by a half circle of five pirates leering at you, a very mean looking Pirate Captain Stan right in the middle.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” you say dumbly.
“It’s my ship, I can be wherever I want.” Stan answers, the cold eyes and expression completely wrong on him. “And you’re trespassing. Committing an act of piracy on a pirate ship.” He grins, and you do not like what you see. “What are you doing here?”
You are so full of disappointment and fear you don’t know what to say, and Stan laughs mirthlessly at your silence. “Maybe a couple of nights in the brig will loosen her tongue.” He grabs you by the arm. You look at him, right into his eyes, hoping to see a little bit of the Stan in there, but it was just cruelty. He was gone, just like Ford, and there was no way of convincing him he was the Stan you knew and loved…
Wait.
With no option left, you moved and grabbed his shirt collar, dragging him into a kiss.
You concentrate on your memories of Stan- the first time you met, late nights at the diner, beating him at bowling, him teaching you how to cheat at cards, long walks by the marina, how proud he was showing off pictures of his great niece and nephew, the adventures big and small. You soon relax into the kiss, drifting away as you finally admit that yes, you are falling in love with Stan Pines.
He suddenly pulls away, and you’re brought back to harsh reality as you see the pirate captain in front of you-
With a sparkle in his eye that can only come from Stan Pines.
“Whoa, kid…” he says, using that nickname that you’ve loved since day one. “Did…did you just kiss me?” he asks, slightly out of breath.
“Yeah,” you answer, unable to contain the tears of relief that begin to roll down your cheeks.
“Oh good,” he says, and brings you in for a deep kiss.
You immediately wrap your arms around his shoulders as he leans you back, the wind coming in a gust causing your hair to stream behind you, a dramatic picture of a pirate captain and a lady locked in a passionate embrace. He brings you back up and starts deeply and quickly renewing the kiss, as you return in kind, so glad to be doing something you had wanted to do since that first day.
You tangle your hands in his hair as he brings you in by the hips, the both of you trying to close every bit of space between you, knowing that nothing else mattered-
The loud boom of cannon fire causes Stan to break the kiss and pull away. “Ford,” he says urgently. "We still gotta figure out how to save Ford.” He looks at other pirates staring at you. “Whaddya want? An encore? We got a battle to fight, get outta here and… fire some cannonballs or whatever!” Then he turns back to you. “All right, am I gonna have to watch you make out with Ford? ‘Cause I gotta make sure I’m near the railing so I can hurl-”
“No, no,” you say quickly. “I, uh, I don’t think it will work on Ford.”
“Why not?” Stan asks, then pauses. “Lower the sails on the mizzen mast!” he yells. “There’s a storm, you bilge rats!” He shakes his head. “Yeesh, that’s gonna take a while to get outta the system. But Ford- just kiss ‘im and we’ll get outta here!”
“Um… I think it’s because that was true love’s kiss.” You can’t bring yourself to look at Stan, your cheeks burning.
“True love’s kiss?” he asks, a smile growing on his face. “You said you weren’t-”
“I know what I said,” you snap. “But look- I think there’s another way. We have to finish the unfinished business- get the cargo stolen back to the navy, so Lieutenant Mitchell can fulfill his oath.”
“Kid, that’s brilliant!” Stan says, bringing you into a quick kiss and making your knees weak. “All right, that shouldn’t be a problem. The cargo’s right in my cabin, we can bring it over as soon as we get close-” he stops and swallows as he sees something that makes him go pale. “That’s not supposed to happen.”
You follow his gaze to see the members of the Royal Navy are boarding the pirate ship, fighting their way furiously through the pirates.
And leading the charge is Ford.
You and Stan look at each other, and make a break for the cabin
Stan grabs a non-descript wooden box off of his desk.
“That’s it?” you ask. “Are you sure?”
Stan taps his head. “Still got all my pirate memories up here,” he says.
“So what is it?”
“Dunno,” he shrugs. “Haven’t had a chance to open it. I just know it was under a lot of security, and I had to- uh, I mean Captain Kent- had to have it.” He grins at you. “Ready to go commit reverse piracy?”
You smile back. “Only for you, Stan Pines,” and the two of you burst out the cabin door.
A marine comes charging at you, and Stan shoves the box into your hands and pushes you out of the way, drawing his own sword to engage the marine. “I’m right behind you!” he shouts. “Go!”
You pick up an abandoned sword just in case, and start to make a run for the edge of the pirate ship. But in dodging the fighting going on, you miss the big pile of rope in the middle of your path and trip, falling straight to the ground.
You keep the box in a tight grip, but the sword clatters out of your hand, and when you move to reach it you find your foot is tangled in the rope. You let out a little sound of exasperation, and work to untangle it with one hand so you don’t have to let go of the box-
Stan calls your name, and when you look at him he begins pointing frantically to your right. You turn to see Ford coming toward you, an expression of pure hatred on his face. You desperately turn back to the rope, scraping and clawing at it, absolutely confused as to how it had gotten this tangled in such a short time.
Suddenly there’s a clang, and you turn to see the split second after Stan had blocked Ford’s sword strike that was meant for you. Stan is breathing heavily, but doesn’t break eye contact with Ford. “Heya, bro.” he pants.
Ford forgets about you and turns to face Stan with a defiant sneer, and lunges at Stan with the sword. Stan jumps back and parries the next strike. “Uh, kid?” he says as his sword once again clangs as it meets with Ford’s. “Hurry up! I’m not going to kill my brother!”
“That’s too bad,” Ford said. “Because I am definitely planning on killing you.”
They engage in a rapid sword fight, and without the pressure of someone getting closer in order to kill you, you are able to untangle the rope. You sprint over to the railing, shoot your grappling hook towards the navy ship, and take a deep breath before swinging over.
For a moment you land on the solid deck, and the next you realize you are in thin air and are dropping, and soon you are miserable sitting in the cold, dark ocean.
Then the realization hits you. It worked. The cargo was restored, the ghost ships were gone, and Stan and Ford-
Where were they?
You call out their names, swimming towards where you can see the Stan O War II. Very soon, you hear a jubilant “Kid!” from Stan, and you look up to see that somehow Stan and Ford, once more in their regular clothes, seemed to end up right on their own deck. They are both smiling from ear to ear, already throwing out a life preserver to you. You grab it and allow them to pull you in and pull you up. You collapse on the deck, muttering about how you are never wearing this dress again, and Stan helps you up as Ford turns the boat around, heading for your home.
A few days later you’re locked in another kiss with Stan, the two of you standing on the marina in front of the Stan O’War II, unwilling to say goodbye.
“Turns out I am one of those stupid girls,” you say softly after breaking the kiss.
“You ain’t stupid,” Stan murmurs back to you. “An’ we went over this- you got my number and we’re gonna keep in touch, an’ me and Ford are comin’ back in February with the kids- you’re gonna love ‘em, and they can’t wait to meet you.”
“I can’t wait to meet them either,” you say sincerely. Then you look him in the eye mischievously. “Are they going to meet the rest of your ‘girls in every port’ too?”
Before Stan can answer, Ford lets out a loud laugh as he passes by. “A girl in every port? Stanley?” he is laughing so hard he can hardly breathe.
Stan frowns and turns to his brother. “We’re havin’ a nice moment, Ford,” he says witheringly. “Beat it.”
“Of course, of course, apologies,” Ford waves to you, fresh peals of laughter accompanying him up the gangplank. “A girl in every port! HA!”
Stan turns back to you, still frowning. “Shoulda left him on that ghost ship,” he mutters.
You laugh softly and lean into him, and the two of you stand there, simply enjoying being with each other. Then you look up at Stan, and he once more brings you into a deep kiss.
“Take care of yourself, kid,” he says softly.
“You too, Stan,” you answer, and untangle yourself from his arms. You wave to the brothers as their boat sails away, staying on the marina until you can no longer see it.
You turn and start walking home, annoyed that “Brandy” is stuck in your head… Brandy walks through a silent town, and loves a man who’s not around-
You’re interrupted by the video chat of your phone ringing, and happily look to see it’s Stan. “What, did you forget your toothbrush?” you answer cheerfully.
“Nah,” Stan chuckles on the other end, the warmth of his brown eyes still visible even through the screen. “I just wanted you to see these dolphins following us…”
You remember that first day meeting Stan, and the feeling that an adventure was about to happen. You were right, you did actually experience an adventure.
And was still going on.