A/N: Here be chapter 2! I suppose it's slightly short but my guess would be that they will get longer as they go on. This story will get intense, never fear.

I Don't own what you recognize.

Dread began to bubble in James' stomach. He turned to Lily who had gotten off the bed and walked toward him. Taking her face in his hands, he said, staring deep into her eyes, "Stay here," and was gone.

He ran back on deck to see most of his crew there, waiting for him. There was, indeed, a ship coming toward them with a British mast. Squinting, James saw that the ship was called the HMS Endeavor.

"Orders, sir?" Asked Curly, looking, not fearful, but on his guard.

James set his jaw. "Just wait…"he said quietly but firmly.

"Do nothing?" Sirius, still at the wheel though they were no longer moving, exclaimed incredulously. He, like James, loved a good sword fight.

Remus changed the subject before James explained, "Why are they coming for us, I wonder?" Everyone stared at him. "Obviously I know we're pirates," he rolled his eyes impatiently, "but why now? They clearly came looking for us specifically, these waters are rarely sailed…"

James snorted, "Wouldn't they love to be able to report, truthfully, that they finally caught me?" James was the pirate everyone knew and feared. Sure, when you knew him, he was a 'decent' guy, but, on his bad side, he could be your absolute worst nightmare. And even though he had been cleared last year, he was a pirate; clearly he'd continued breaking the law. Having escaped more than a dozen gallows since then, James was the most cunning, sneaky and impossibly clever pirate the seas had ever seen. He was always on his toes and 3 steps ahead of his opponent. Why wouldn't the British Royal Navy be ambushing his ship?

"Smythe," James called to a portly man of the crew. "When their bow reaches about 100 meters to ours, aim to miss her, once."

Smythe did not object, merely nodded and bustled to the front of the ship. James ran a hand through his hair unconsciously as he looked up at the sun. If his calculations were correct, it was about 10:00 in the morning and he desperately hoped this would be over quickly; he wanted a nice nap and maybe some Sheppard's pie afterwards. Or perhaps he and Lily could-

His casualness wore off immediately. Lily. This skirmish would actually have been enjoyable had Lily not been in danger of being taken away from him…or worse. He was just glad she hadn't tried to-

"Where do you want me, James?" Asked Lily's voice from behind him.

He almost laughed at the implications of that sentence and what came to his mind in response. But, coming to his senses, he spun around very quickly, practically falling, and stared at Lily, wide-eyed. She had put on a pair of tight black pants where a sword now dangled from the belt loop and tucked in his white shirt sloppily. Her hair was hastily put up in a ponytail and James, damned him, noticed how pretty she looked in men's clothing. She must be the only woman, ever, who could do such a thing.

"You must be joking. Are you off your rocker?! Get downstairs-,"

"No," interrupted Lily as if she were a stubborn 7 year-old, insisting to her mother that it was much too early to be off to bed and that she wanted to play with the big kids. "I know how to fight, you taught me! You think I'm just gonna sit in your cabin and wait for it to be over?" She asked incredulously.

"UGH!" James exclaimed, holding up his hands, miming strangling Lily's neck. "Why do you have to be such a pest all the bloody time?" Had he not been so in love with and worried about her, he would have admired Lily for wanting to fight. But they could recognize her or, if not recognize, then kill her and he shuddered at the thought.

Lily grinned at him, "Come off it, you wouldn't have me any other way."

"Oh, wouldn't I?" James countered though annoyance sill evident in his tone.

She didn't reply, however, for Sirius interrupted them with a note of urgency in his voice, "Mate, I don't think one cannonball that misses is going to do anything! Why not have us board-," he stopped upon noticing Lily there, ready for a fight. His gray eyes widened in great confusion. "What? What is she doing here?" he turned to Lily, "What are you doing here?" He asked Lily a little more loudly and quickly.

It was James who spoke. "Sirius, are you telling me that you think I don't already have this all planned out? And-,"

"Lily fighting is part of that plan, is it?" Sirius demanded, still more loudly.

James became annoyed. Was Sirius suggesting that he was willing to put Lily in harm's way? That Sirius was the only one who had her best interests at heart and her well being in mind? "Obviously not, you dolt," James said through gritted teeth. "You happened to have just interrupted me telling her that-,"

"Can you stop talking about me as if I'm not here?" Piped up Lily.

James growled. "Can I stop being cut off after every damn sentence?" He practically yelled, causing everyone around him to fall silent immediately, even if they were not part of the conversation. Was he not the bloody Captain of this ship? Were people not supposed to obey his orders?

"Sirius, the cannon. will. be. fine. Lily," his voice softened immensely, "love, please, go down to my-,"

"C-c-c-c-cap'n?"

Out of pure frustration, James' right hand flew across his body, to the hilt of his sword where it hung familiarly from the left hip, and gripped it tight; his eyes snapped shut. James Potter was not known for his patience. When he spoke, his voice was deadly quiet. "What, Smythe?"

"The Endeavor is about 75 meters away," he said nervously.

James wheeled around to his crew, "Then FIRE!" He roared. The incompetence today was impeccable. He watched as one of his men held a torch to the wick at the end of the cannon and ignited it. There was a deafening boom that filled the anxious silence and several men leaped out of the path of the heavy cannon as it recoiled. The black cannonball flew through the air and, to James' delight, it soared right over the ship, narrowly missing, landing with a great THUNK! into the sea on her starboard side.

To anybody but James, this act would have made absolutely no sense. What purpose did a cannonball in the ocean, having done no physical damage whatsoever to the opposing ship, serve? None, would be what anybody would reply. James Potter, however, knew what he was doing. He understood the reaction that the British Navy cowards would have.

James smirked as the HMS Endeavor let out their sails completely and started to slow with aid from the wind. A ship like The Charlotte was easily underestimated upon first glance. But, though small, she was impossibly fast and, despite it's size, was a 40 gunner. It was, also, masterfully captained by one of the most feared pirates known as James Potter.

When the Endeavor came to a complete stop just before their fronts met, James snorted when Sirius let out an embarrassed, loud, "Oh."

He glanced at Sirius with a grin, "I hate you."

Sirius laughed heartily, "And here I thought pirates to be good liars."

Lily, who had seemed to hope she'd been forgotten, looked sheepish when James focused his attention back to her. James recognized the determined look in her eyes and her set jaw as a form of defeat. He was not used to it; James Potter was never defeated. He sighed and shook his head, "I don't like it…" he said reluctantly.

Lily smiled radiantly up at him and he was almost pleased he was letting her fighting having been on the receiving end of that smile. Almost. "I love you," she whispered excitedly, pecking him quickly and chastely on the nose.

James couldn't contain his lopsided grin while Sirius muttered, "Ergh! Now, really…"

"Stuff it," Lily snapped.

"Captain! Get a move on, yeah?" Remus shouted to him from his spot up top as lookout. When James looked up at him, Remus was staring pointedly from him to the Endeavor, who were now, as James knew they would be, too scared to move.

"Right, then." In one fluid motion, James ran toward the front of The Charlotte. Grabbing onto a rope hanging from one of the masts, he swung himself to an edge of the ship; one that was closest to the Endeavor. He stood there calmly and released the rope. To someone who didn't know James, it would've been a wonder as to how, with the wind whipping through his black hair and causing his shirt to flap wildly, James had not fallen into the sea. But years of experience with sailing, James was as still as a statue. With an air of great confidence, he unsheathed his sword purposefully and held it slightly outward. He shouted amusedly, as if talking to an old friend,

"Oi! You lot!"

A/N: Yay cliffhangers! Please review and tell me what you thought, I appreciate them so much. And perhaps some suggestions as to what you would like to see happen? =)