A.N Hi all and welcome to my first ever Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic! This story is set some 20 years after 'The Curse of the Black Pearl' and does not take into account the second, third or fourth films. I'm also probably a little lax on my pirate lore so apologies in advance. This fic is also full of OCs, so characters of my own making. So if that's not your cup of tea, again, apologies.
You're going to learn something halfway through this first chapter, but please don't stop reading! All is not what it appears (after all you can't have a POTC fic without him in it can you!)
Hope you enjoy it. Rating is for language and lemons.
Disclaimer I don't own anyone you recognise.
Chapter One
The hull of the Black Pearl seemed darker still as it crawled into Tortuga Harbour, in fact anyone that had been watching it on this late afternoon would not have believed it was the infamous pirate ship, scourge of the Caribbean and rumoured to have the largest bounty of any other ship in history, hidden away somewhere only the captain knew. Ah, the captain; Captain Jack Sparrow. Undoubtedly the most recognized and legendary pirate to ever grace a ship; who would have known that he was the reason for such a sombre mood that day.
As Nicolas Abraham stood at the helm of the great ship a sudden sadness swept over the pirate and he dropped his eyes, tears prickling the back of them. He remembered the last time they had been to the pirate town, so full of life and jollity as they bragged about their latest conquests, their bounty and how they were, and always would be, better than the, 'Navy scum'. It had been shortly after that, when they had left to make for Haiti when the aforementioned, 'scum' had attacked. And had they attacked. It had taken nearly two months for the ship to make its way back into Tortuga, far longer than it ought to.
The Pearl groaned as they berthed in Tortuga and, if Nicolas believed such things, he would have said it was in relief that she had finally been allowed to stop. Her mast was barely straight, having taken a massive blow. They had lost three of their cannons on the portside and two more on the starboard. There had been more damage that Nicolas just could not think about now because, eventually, it would lead to him thinking about the men they had lost too, their cost far out-weighing that of the ship. Good, decent men, pirates to the core.
"Are we goin' ashore?"
The unusually quiet voice of Andrew Turner bought Nicolas out of his thoughts, something he would admit he was thankful for. Turning he nodded, looking briefly past the tall, dark-haired pirate at the rest of the crew stranding on deck, most of them at least and, he couldn't help but notice, far less than there should have been. With one extremely noticeable absence.
"Aye," he replied, eyes going back to his friend, "We need to get the ship fit t'sail again." Hearing the tired murmurs and quiet protestations from the rest of the crew Nicolas sighed, taking off his hat to rub his forehead, pushing his inky-black hair back as he replaced it. "We'll stay as long as we need to," he said, addressing the whole ship, "It's safe 'ere. We start on the ship tomorrow. Tonight, we mourn." And mourning meant a hell of a lot of drinking and whores, both of which Nicolas did not partake in but he would not deny the crew it. "Cristen," he said, addressing the ship's doctor, "Make sure the men have enough money to take ashore. As much as they want for tonight but remind them we have a ship to repair." The blond pirate nodded, rallying a few of the other men to help him as Nicolas looked back out at Tortuga harbour.
"Not the same is it?" Andrew said, coming to stand beside him and leaning against the side of the ship. He pushed a hand back through shaggy brown hair and brown eyes locked with Nicolas' grey, the latter not having to speak to make his feelings known.
"Let's get ashore."
It had been a slow few months in Tortuga and no place had paid the price more for this than the 'Tortuga Arms' tavern. It seemed that fewer and fewer ships were returning and that meant fewer and fewer pirates, which in turn meant lower and lower profits. And profit was something Bernadette Luce understood very well. As the co-owner of the tavern she had longed for the day a ship would berth back in the pirate town, and now…
"By 'eck! It's th'Pearl!" With a whoop of delight the busty blonde barmaid tossed the cloth down she had been using to wipe over the glasses and quickly went to the cellar, shouting down for the boy to start bringing up every barrel of rum they had. Grinning the woman clambered back up the stairs, panting as her hefty frame had not moved so fast in months as she went to the back room of the public house and burst through the doors. "Amelia! Amelia the flippin' Pearl's 'ere!" With another whoop of delight and a yell of, "I'll go an' get the girls!" Bernadette dashed from the room again, leaving a young red head working on the hem of an expensive-looking dress wide-eyed and opened mouthed at her revelation.
"The Pearl," she breathed, a grin spreading across her pretty face as Amelia Hart tossed the dress and needle aside to jump up, brushing her hands down the skirt of her moss-green dress and tugging the front down a little to reveal a modest amount of cleavage. She was no whore, that was her sister's job, but she knew what pirates liked to see. Tossing her mane of curly crimson hair over her shoulder and straightening her back Amelia sauntered out of the room into the bar, grinning when she saw the other girls whom worked for her and Bernadette piling through the door, their expressions matching hers. Pearl men always paid well, that was a well-known fact whether it be for rum, ale or whores. Especially the captain. For a moment the grin faded; she had been so excited she had forgotten all about Captain Jack Sparrow. Shaking her head the young woman moved behind the bar, the grin back as Bernadette nudged her gleefully in the side.
"This's what we've been waitin' for lovey!"
"I know! The amount these pirates pay'll be enough to keep us in business for th'next year at least!" She laughed as the older woman whooped again then again when one of the girls cried that they were coming.
"Places darlin's!" Bernadette cried and as the girls positioned themselves around the bar and tables to best show off their assets the tavern doors swung open and around a dozen pirates walked solemnly in, Nicolas at the head of the group. Their eyes didn't even go to the girls dotted around, most of them just slumping into seats and some resting their heads down on the tables as Amelia's grin slowly started to fade.
"Well ain't you lot a sight for sore eyes eh!" Bernadette's watery grey eyes scanned over the men, none of whom replied to her. "Fuckin' 'ell who died?" she muttered, "Yer like a bloody funeral parade!"
"Rum for the men," Nicolas snapped, slamming his hand down on the bar top and making the two women standing behind it jump, Bernadette quickly nodding and going to fetch some jugs.
Taking off his hat and leaning heavily against the bar Nicolas rubbed his forehead, pinching his eyes closed as tears stung the back of them. Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea coming to Tortuga, too many people knew them and of their reputation. Too many questions would be asked.
"So where's yer captain, sailor?"
Questions like that. Slowly opening his eyes Nicolas regarded the young woman leaning against the bar in front of him, a smile on her pretty face as curls of a luscious red fell over her shoulders to her cleavage. Nicolas allowed his eyes to trail over her for a moment before taking them back to her face and her inquisitive clear green eyes. She had obviously noticed the attention he had been giving her because her cheeks had flushed slightly and if the situation had been better he may have offered a triumphant smirk. Instead the pirate shook his head, pushing himself back from the bar and dropping his eyes to the floor. The truth was going to come out sooner or later so he replied, "Dead. Killed by the soddin' Navy and lost at sea." Glancing back up at her the flushed cheeks were gone and her cheeks were as pale as an English rose's, her eyes wide.
"Wh…what?" she breathed, "He's…Jack Sparrow is-"
"Captain Jack Sparrow," Nicolas snapped and the woman flinched before shaking her head, her hand going to her pink lips as she ran from the bar, throwing the tavern doors open and stumbling out into the street, unaware of Nicolas' curious eyes following her before going to Andrew, who shrugged in response.
Amelia ran as fast as she could through the streets of Tortuga, turning down various back streets and alleyways which as the sun started to set over the island made her shiver; she knew what lurked in the shadows, who lurked in the shadows. Only one thing was on her mind though; Jack Sparrow was dead. Reaching her destination the woman, stumbling over the body of a man passed out in her path threw open the door to 'The Faithful Bride' brothel and darted up the stairs. "Lilly! Lilly where the hell are ye!" Hearing a moan and a low grunt from one of the rooms down the hall Amelia rolled her eyes a little and moved quickly towards it, knocking hard on the door before pushing it open.
"'melia!"
Amelia gasped and averted her eyes as the cry of shock came from the young girl on the bed, her face flushed (though wearing an expression of boredom prior to the red-head's arrival) and her arms pinned above her head by the over-weight, obviously much older man on top of her with his breeches around his ankles.
"Fuckin' 'ell don't you get no privacy?" the man said, Amelia now noticing it was in fact the messenger whom had bought her his mistress' dress to mend, "Get the fuck out of 'ere woman!"
"Oi!" Tugging her hands free the young whore shoved the man backwards, Amelia looking away again as he fell off of the bed and onto the floor, his erect penis in full view. "That's my sister you fuckin' oaf! And th'owner of this place so show some fuckin' respect if y'want to come again!" The man just grunted, muttering something about not coming yet anyway and sat back up on the bed as Lilly Hart slid off of it, pushing her deep red skirts back down and running a hand through long, wavy dark-auburn hair as she went to her sister. "What's wrong?"
Amelia looked at the younger woman with an expression of regret, biting her bottom lip a little. "I need t'talk to you outside," she said taking her arm.
"Hey we ain't finished yet!" the man yelled.
"Finish y'self off!" Lilly snapped back before letting Amelia pull her out of the room, closing the door behind them. "Alright what's goin' on? 'e was going t'pay well."
"Lilly," Amelia said with a sigh of exasperation, the real reason she had come to find her sister leaving her mind for a moment, "I've told ye I don't want you workin' 'ere."
"And I've told you the 'Arms' don't pay enough," Lilly replied, crossing her arms over her ample cleavage and giving her sister a stubborn pout, "You own this fuckin' place 'melia, y'can't tell me I can't work here." At Amelia's narrowing of her eyes Lilly sighed, rolling her own dark brown-almost black-pair dramatically. "Sorry, I know y'don't like me swearin'." Shaking her head Amelia let out a sigh of her own, tenderly brushing a strand of Lilly's hair over her ear and leaving her hand on her cheek. "Amelia what's wrong?" the girl asked quietly, shows of such affection were unusual between the pair; something awful must have happened.
Amelia couldn't help but bite the corner of her bottom lip, a nervous habit she had had since she was a small child. "It's the Pearl, Lil. It's back," she said softly, watching as the girl's face paled but a fire grew in her eyes as she moved away from her sister's hand.
"Is he here?" Lilly asked, her voice hard and in a tone Amelia wasn't used to hearing, not to her, "Amelia? Tell me is h-"
"He's dead."
For what seemed like hours when it can only have been seconds there was silence between the two sisters, both just staring at each other. Finally Lilly let out a choked gasp, shaking her head.
"I don't believe it."
"His crew are in th''Arms'"," Amelia said softly, moving her hand to stroke her sister's cheek again but the dark-haired girl pushed it away, shaking her head vehemently again, "One of them told me. Y'should see 'em, Lil, they're devastated. They're-"
"They're lying!"
"They're not! They're not." Sighing again Amelia shook her head. "You should see 'em, Lilly."
"I fuckin' will." Moving past her sister Lilly tore back down the hallway and stairs out of the brothel, Amelia going after her yelling her name to try and get her to stop. She knew what her baby sister was like; the pirates didn't stand a chance.
A jug of rum for each of the men had been put on the table, Bernadette standing to the side teary-eyed with the rest of the working girls. "'e was a good man," she said quietly shaking her head, passing a dirty handkerchief to the girl beside her who blew her nose loudly into it, "Always looked after us. Looked after Tortuga."
"Aye," came the reply from the pirates sitting at the table, Nicolas bent over his jug of rum even though he did not drink the stuff. Beside him Andrew clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder, squeezing it as Nicolas looked up at him and just nodded before standing up, raising the jug.
"To Captain Jack Sparrow. May 'e rest in peace. We'll never forget ye Jack."
"Aye, to Captain Jack!" chorused the rest of the men, the women weeping and some breaking into sobs behind them. It was at this moment, as the pirates were drinking from their jugs of rum in memory of their lost Captain that Bernadette noticed Lilly standing frozen at the door. She had heard everything and now her eyes were fixed on the black-haired pirate whom had spoken.
Feeling eyes on him Nicolas looked towards the door, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth and trying not to gag at the foul taste as he eyed the young girl. "What d'ye want?" he asked her, drawing the rest of the crew's and the women's attention to her. There was something oddly familiar about those eyes and Nicolas couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine as they stayed fixed on him. Andrew's eyes too went to the girl and he couldn't help but let them travel over her, over the dress that although full-skirted clung to all the right places of her slim figure, the ample amount of tanned cleavage she was showing all the way down to her bare feet. His eyes went back to her face, though she seemed to have noticed him looking at her and she shot him a glare before going back to Nicolas.
"Is it true?"
Amelia finally caught up with her sister and panting a little moved her out of the tavern doorway and inside, keeping a hand on her arm in what she hoped was a calming gesture. "You shouldn't be 'ere," she said quietly, making the girl shake her head and lock eyes again with the pirate.
"I asked ye a question."
A small titter of laughter went through the pirate crew, a mutter of, "She's tough for a whore," coming from one as another slapped him heartily on the back; such entertainment had been needed on this sombre night.
"I asked ye one first," Nicolas said back, his eyes narrowing at Lilly as he realised, thanks to his more experienced crew member, that she was indeed nothing but a harlot.
"I want t'know if Jack Sparrow is dead," Lilly snapped at him, her hands flying to her hips as she shook Amelia off of her, "Tell me!"
"Fuckin' whore, get out of 'ere!" the ship's carpenter Joseph Raid barked at her, chugging down more of his rum.
"Don't you speak t'her like that!" Amelia yelled back at him, moving protectively in front of her younger sister as the pirate just scoffed and shook his head, ordering more rum to be bought to the table.
"Joe," Andrew said shaking his head in something like a warning not to start before looking up at Nicolas, whose eyes had narrowed even further at the dark-haired whore.
"It's Captain Jack Sparrow," he said lowly, "And yes, he is." There was a pause, a deathly silence spreading over the tavern only broken by the ruffle of skirts as Lilly moved back in front of her sister to face the pirate.
"I don't care if it's His fuckin' Majesty Jack Sparrow, dead is what the bastard deserves!" she spat, hands clenching in fists on her hips as she glared at Nicolas, the pirate looking back at her in shock.
"Y'bitch!" The rest of the crew were now standing, chairs scraping noisily back on the stone floor as they glared daggers at the young girl whom dared insult their beloved Captain.
"Lilly Hart!" Bernadette gasped, going to the younger girl and standing in front of her in a matron-like pose, "This ain't the time for this silliness girly!"
"It is!" Lilly snapped back, ignoring the growling and hissed insults coming from the pirates as she pushed past Bernadette and looked Nicolas straight in the eye, "Because they should know I'm glad the bastard's dead! I 'ope 'e fuckin' rots at the bottom o'th'sea!"
Nicolas wasn't entirely sure how he was controlling his anger, he was short-tempered by nature and when anyone spoke ill of his friends or of his Captain…His fists clenched at his sides though and he slammed them down on the table, making the women around him including Lilly jump in fright, though the fiery-eyed girl regained her composure quickly.
"Who the fuck d'ye think ye are!" the carpenter roared again at her, knocking his empty jug across the table towards her and narrowly missing hitting her, "'ow dare ye talk about Cap'n Jack like that!"
"Lilly stop!" Amelia said going to her sister again, her tone pleading as she eyed the livid pirates standing before her but Lilly just shook her away.
"Ye want t'know who I am?" she hissed back at Joe, eyes going to each of the pirates around the table until they went back to Nicolas, "I'm 'is fuckin' daughter!" The revelation stunned them all to silence, except Amelia who pinched her eyes closed and let out a heavy sigh and Bernadette who just shook her head. "Y'heard me? I'm 'is daughter y'bastards! The daughter he left when I were just four years old 'cause 'e didn't want t'see me anymore! So I 'ave every fuckin' right to be glad he's dead!" Again silence settled over the tavern aside from Lilly's heavy breathing, she was so worked up her face had flushed completely red and she swore she could hear the thud of her heartbeat.
"Ye lying whore."
The growled insult from the black-haired pirate was enough to make Lilly flinch a little, swallowing hard as she tried to get her breathing under control.
"I'm not l-"
"You are!" With a swipe of his hand Nicolas knocked his half-empty jug off of the table as he glared at Lilly, leaning his fists so hard on the wooden surface that it creaked. "Yer nothing but a gold-digging harlot!" he hissed, "Y'know of the Captain's booty and y'think by making up lies about being his daughter we'll hand it over!"
"I don't want anythin' from 'im!" Lilly cried back, taking a step back towards her sister as Nicolas started moving around the table towards her, "But I am 'is daught-"
"Prove it then!" Lilly flinched again at the yell, Nicolas almost reaching her now as Amelia grabbed her arm. "Prove it then ye whore!" The girl opened her mouth as if to retort but shut it quickly, dropping her eyes to the floor as Nicolas let out a bark of laughter along with the rest of the crew. "See! Ye can't prove it because you're lying! Get out of my sight!"
"I'm not lying!" Lilly exclaimed, flinching as Nicolas almost snarled in anger and raised a hand as if to strike her.
"No!" Darting forward Amelia went to grab his hand, only to be beaten to it by Andrew who clasped Nicolas' wrist and clamped another hand down on his shoulder.
"We don't hit 'em," he hissed in the older man's ear, "The Captain didn't like us to hit them."
Lilly eyed Andrew in some confusion. After everything she had just said, after how his crewmate had reacted, why was he saving her? Feeling her eyes on him Andrew turned to her, his light brown eyes locking with her dark pair. A grunt from Nicolas snapped the two of them out of the stare though and Andrew let go of his wrist, Nicolas dropping it to his side.
"Get out of my sight," he growled again at Lilly, who snapped her eyes fiercely back to glare at him.
"Ye can't tell me to get out, my sister owns this fuckin' place," she spat looking over at Amelia, "Tell 'im." The crimson-haired woman felt her cheeks flushing a little; as much as she would have stepped up to defend Lilly under pressure such as this she was absolutely no good.
"M-maybe you should go 'ome," she said quietly, putting her hand gently on her sister's arm but with an indignant snort it was pushed away and Amelia was now the subject of Lilly's glaring eyes.
"Fuck ye then," came the spat retort and the young whore turned on her heel and pushed her way out of the tavern, letting the heavy wood doors bang behind her as the pirates jeered and snickered.
Nicolas' angry eyes watched Lilly go and, satisfied she wasn't coming back, he looked at Amelia and lightly nodded his head, earning a blushing scowl in return from the red-head.
"Drinks on the 'ouse!" came Bernadette's rousing cry, clapping her hands as she rallied the other girls to work and with silly giggles they draped themselves over the Pearl men, helping them to more rum and letting their wandering hands do what they wished.