In for the Kill

[shinon]

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Characters: Linebeck/Jolene??? A survey of my peers suggests that technically, technically, this might count as pairing fic.
Word count: ~1100
Warnings: None
Notes: Pre-canon. Gen Prompt Bingo - "Badass."

Jolene collapsed her telescope and smiled, and suddenly Linebeck realized what she reminded him of. He'd been trying to place it since the moment she invited him aboard. Well, okay, a few moments after the moment she invited him aboard, since for the first couple of minutes adrenaline had still been high, and his amazement at not being dead had given everything this rose-colored halo. For the first couple of minutes she'd been the most beautiful creature on the seas.

Now, though - now he got it. She was still, if he was feeling generous, in the top ten most beautiful sea creatures. But with those eyes? And that grin? The resemblance was obvious - someone in her family must have been a shark.

She nodded toward a square of white in the distance off the starboard bow. "See that? We've found ourselves a target. With a handful of archers on deck, so they must have something that's worth protecting. And we know what to do about a handful of archers, don't we?" she called back over her shoulder, to sounds of cheery assent from her small crew.

Then she turned to Linebeck. "Now you've had time to repair her, let's see if that shrimp boat of yours is as agile as you say. Or was last week a fluke?"

It had definitely been a fluke. If you drew a circle around all the brave deeds ever done on the ocean, and you drew another circle around all deeds ever done by one Linebeck, those circles would touch only in one place, and by accident. That one place would be dated "last week" and labeled "ramming attacks on nautical monsters: the kind that are actually just losing control and crashing into stuff."

But more importantly - "'Shrimp boat?'" he cried out, indignant. "'Shrimp boat?' The S.S. Linebeck is a proud vessel, fit for -"

"A braggart captain?" said Jolene.

"- wind or weather, the heaviest seas you can find, and sinking whole armadas by lunch! She'll run circles around that clumsy old tub."

"Good. Then do that. Just nip around and cut off their escape while I come from behind with a boarding party." She pointed to the rock wall looming up on the other side of their target. "There's only one channel through that reef. Keep them on this side, and they're ours."

Linebeck looked out at the reef and frowned. It was a simple plan, but it should work. The trouble was, it entailed putting himself between a rock and another ship. They'd be shooting at him as soon as they saw him, and if they tried to ram him or break past, he might end up wrecked on that reef. The S. S. Linebeck was a proud vessel, sure, but she couldn't take too many hits, and if worse came to worst...

He snuck a sidelong glance at Jolene. He trusted her - gorgeous bloodthirsty shark-woman that she was - about as far as he could throw her. She'd probably let him drown so she could keep his cut of the spoils. She was a pirate, after all. A cold-hearted, merciless pirate - and now she was staring back at him and smiling. Oh gods. She'd caught him looking. She seemed really pleased about that. She must be planning something awful.

He cleared his throat. "I, uh, hm, you know, that's an interesting idea, but I don't think I have anything to prove to you."

She frowned. "What?"

"I already saved your skin once. You know what I can do. So I think - if I'm going to be traveling with you, I want to see what you're made of. Yeah, that's it! You should show me how you'd take that ship if it was just you. And I, already being an expert in nautical combat - I'll stand back at a reasonable distance and, uh, supervise."

Jolene raised her perfectly arched eyebrows. "'Supervise.'"

He was starting to warm up to the idea. It was, he flattered himself, a pretty good dodge. "Yeah. Uh-huh. Supervise." He folded his arms and said loftily, "I don't throw my lot in with just anyone. I've always been more of a lone wolf type. Well. Sea wolf... wolf eel... something like that. If I'm gonna make an exception, I need to see how you operate."

She thought this over, tapping her lower lip with one finger. (Nice fingers, he thought. Nice lips. And then he reminded himself: Bad-tempered. Holding a sword. Insulted my ship.) Then she said, "I see. Perhaps when it's over, you'll share your observations with me. I would be glad to have an expert's advice."

"Of course. Uh, so, we're agreed, then? I'll hang back?"

Jolene smirked. "Know this, Linebeck." She tossed him the telescope. "I will expect you to watch me very closely."

She turned on her heel and started barking out orders, leaving him to clutch the telescope and mutter, "Yeah, I'll do that," and return warily to his own ship.

And once she was in motion, and once she'd closed with her hapless prey, it was hard to look away. She deftly slung a grappling hook to the other ship and threw herself into the air, landed, drew her sword as she came up in a neat roll, and then she was everywhere. Her blade flashed up and down the deck. A monster approached from her unprotected side; she pivoted and kicked it overboard. Was she really a shark, then? Was she really flesh and blood? Or was she something completely new, half woman and half cyclone, mowing down everything before her and leaving only wreckage behind?

There was a simpler explanation: Jolene was a badass, and he was in way over his head. He would have fled, except by the time the idea even occurred to him, she was sailing back in his direction. She'd have seen him go, and she might have been able to catch up.

And then there was this huge chest full of rupees and ancient treasure. Anyone's guess how it had ended up here, but it was Jolene's now. She showed it to him smugly, with strong implications that if it wasn't beneath his dignity to lend a hand next time, he'd get to do more than look.

Then she slammed the chest shut and sat cross-legged on top of it, grinning at him. They were alone in her cabin. He couldn't remember exactly how he'd ended up down here, but he was becoming increasingly certain it was a mistake. "So. About the attack," she said. "Have you seen your fill? What did you think?"

He stared into those black, black eyes. Her sword rested across her knees, but it was the eyes he couldn't look away from. He trusted his instinct for danger, and it said she hadn't brought him down here to kill him. But then, why?

Then it all clicked. He swallowed. "Flawless," he said. Her smile widened.