This piece needs more explanation than can fit in the small space we're given in the summary box. It's a series of scenes that take place during On Stranger Tides. There is a much longer plot, which is referenced throughout. I've only written this so far and wanted to post it to 'test the waters' as it were (to see what the response would be before I make the decision to continue.) I do have plans to go eventually and do something like this with the other three movies if the response is good. In this piece, my O.C. Morgan has been with Hector since he turned pirate. She made a deal with Calypso in Dead Man's Chest, offering to free her in exchange for Hector's life. Some details are referenced in the piece.

Note: There is some Spanish in here (because my OC is from Spain), I make a point to try to translate it. If it is not obvious from the context, look at the end of the post.

Oh yea… and I don't own POTC in case you were wondering.

So… now, for your consideration

Acepta las Pulgas

Accept the Fleas

"Welcome aboard HMS Providence, gentlemen. Today, His Majesty the King has commanded us to set sail for White Cap Bay. Our purpose be to reach the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish and claim the waters there in the name of England. It be dangerous water we sail for now, mates. Any man not willing to risk death in quest of the prize ahead is best left behind…"

Try as I might, I could not keep from letting out a soft, almost undetectable sigh. The longer my husband spoke, the more difficult it became to act as if I was paying attention. The longer I stood in place, next to all of the men aboard the ship and dressed in the unnecessarily heavy Naval Uniform, the more sweat formed on my forehead. I wondered if that would was as much of a dead giveaway to what I was (or was not) as I thought. The longer I spent in such close proximity to rest of the crew, the more danger I was in of being discovered.

Standing next to the officers, the disguise I had been so confident of before seemed much less effective. It was an actual officer uniform, to be sure. It was one of Hector's own… the first he had been issued when he had accepted employment from the King. It was my alterations I doubted. I had been hemming and sewing at it for weeks after he feel asleep from either exhaustion or rum, whichever won over. It was never me anymore… never me he came to for assurance… never my name he sighed in his sleep, only the name of another, where his thoughts truly were his every waking moment, as it had been for the past years: Blackbeard.

"You, private," the sharpness in Hector's voice all of sudden brought me back to the task at hand. I looked all around me, but the more seconds past, the more obvious it became his address was directed at me. He was still standing above us on the platform, a few steps away from the helm, but the direction of his gaze was unmistakable. I met my husband's blue eyes quickly, thinking how different they had became since we had came to England, as I tried to form my response.

"Yes, sir?" I responded in the voice I had also been practicing for weeks, the masculine form of my own.

"Are you, just a lad, are ye not fearful of the seas ahead?"

"Not I, sir." I answered faster, still minding my accent and the natural high-pitch of my voice. "I fear no stretch of open water."

Something that resembled a devious grin came upon his face. A slight chuckle came from his chest.

"Then ye are either very brave… or a very foolish lad."

The rest of the ship laughed at his words. I stood, not allowing a single emotion to show on my face. I expected him to speak to me more. I wondered what was going on in his thoughts, something I hadn't known for quite sometime. I wondered if suspected or even knew by now his own wife was on the ship, ready to sail with him as she always had. But, Hector continued addressing the entire crew after asking me a single question and soon dismissed us to our duties. For the moment, at least, I thought I had succeeded in keeping my identity a secret.