Disclaimer: I don't own the Bloody Jack series. If I did I wouldn't be writing fan fiction about it.
Warning: Major spoilers for "In the Belly of the Bloodhound".
A/N: Takes place during the fourth book. Clarissa's point of view of the kiss. Contains implied Clarissa/Jacky, so if femslash isn't your thing, then why did you click on the link in the first place?... Anyways, enjoy!
I impatiently await Jacky's return at the bottom of the stairs in the passageway, a bit miffed that she got to go exploring the deck while I had to wait for that scrawny girl here. Damn her.
Suddenly there is uproar from the deck, men shrieking about ghosts and bells ringing. I stick my head out the hatchway and frantically try to seek out Jacky with my eyes while seeing dozens of pairs of feet running up on the deck of the ship. If that girl was captured, we would be found out and all would be lost! And I'll be sure to blame it on Jacky! I curse under my breath and pull back my head into the hatch.
I hear feet pounding behind me and I whirl around, thinking it was another sailor when I spot the black clad small form of Jacky Faber sprinting for me. I could have breathed a sigh of relief if I wasn't so mad at her at the moment.
"Damn!" I hissed at her. "What happened?"
"I got spotted! We've got to hurry! They're mustering the crew; which means they'll muster us, too! Hurry!" she responds hurriedly pushing past me. I look after her incredulously before sprinting after her, the meaning of her words hitting me hard. If we're not in the Hold where we're supposed to be, then they'll know it was us.
We rush into the storeroom and pull ourselves through the Rat Hole we created, which leads into the Hold. The other girls are already being wakened up by the ruckus outside. Beatrice was standing by the Rat Hole with a candle in her hand, looking down at us as we wriggled through with questioning eyes.
Jacky immediately got to removing her shirt while Beatrice and me start putting the boards up against the Rat Hole to hide it with only one screw in the top corners, there being no time to do the other two. Then we put some candle wax mixed with soot and brown paint on our thumbs and hurriedly applied them against the screws so they could blend in to the boards.
I spy Jacky in the corner of my eyes struggling out of her black burglar outfit to get into her drawers and chemise as quickly as possible. I look away immediately. Now was not the time to notice how white and creamy her skin looked. Why was I even noticing that???
"Lord, save us!" one of the girls that was on lookout cried out, signaling to the rest of us that someone was coming down to our Hold. Probably that damned Sin-Kay! My blood boils of the mere thought of that man and my sense of urgency heightens when I realize Jacky is not going to be ready in time.
"Bea, leave the candle and get back topside! Cause confusion! Give us some time!" Jacky whispered urgently. "We've got to get this stuff into the hidey-hole!" she then says to me, motioning to her black rig. She crams it in hurriedly while I watch the other girls wreaking havoc overhead. They are acting like a bunch of crazy females, just like we had trained them to. Cries of "Oh my Lord!" and, "Saints preserve us!" and, "Please God!" are heard. Then came Sin-Kay's roaring voice with "Dammit! Line up! Get up from there! Get out of my way!"
Good girls for remembering their training… But they are not acting nearly dramatic enough! What the hell is wrong with them?
I and Jacky put the boards up over the hidey-hole, screws in, sooty wax over them. I start looking over my shoulder impatiently as I see the light from a lantern overhead. Jacky is having trouble getting her drawers back on and I'm losing my patience fast.
"Hurry!" I whisper.
"There's two missing," Sin-Kay says from above. "That goddamned Faber and Howe, the two biggest troublemakers of the bunch!" he roars. Uh-oh. That can't be good.
"Lets check down below." says a voice that I know to belong to Captain Blodgett. Shit! Jacky is not yet ready!
"They'll wonder what we're doing down here," I whisper to Jacky, who still topless and looking like she just realized we're going to get caught. "They might decide to look at things real close..." I briefly consider running up there to get myself out of trouble… Or maybe to whack Sin-Kay a good one across the head when he was busy looking for Jacky. I smiled slightly at the thought, and then frowned at the flaw in that plan. We'd all get killed.
The light of the lamp is swinging towards the stage and legs are seen on the stairs. That's when Jacky gets that look in her eye, which meant I wasn't going to like what's about to come out of her mouth.
"They ain't gonna wonder about nothing," she whispers to me and she all of a sudden flings herself on her back. "C'mere! Lie down on top of me! Put your arms around me!" she instructs much to my horror. I get pulled down forcibly on her and feel her legs wrap around my waist. With her left hand she grabs the back of my head and pulls my face towards hers. I suddenly realize what she plans to do. LIKE HELL!
But my protest gets cut off suddenly when she pushes my lips on hers. I am stunned for a second and I tense up and attempt to pull away, but Jacky maintains an iron grip on my head and all I can think of at this moment is how surprisingly soft her lips are...
"Wot the hell!" comes the surprised cry from near us. My eyes fly open, not realizing that they had closed in the first place. Jacky's eyes open as well in mock surprise. She releases her grip from my head and I pull my face away from hers, still stunned at what had just happened. Sin-Kay, Captain Blodgett, Chubbuck, and Sammy Nettles are standing at the bottom of the stairs looking down at us.
"Lookee there, lookee there." says Nettles with a dirty grin. Damn pervert.
"What the hell is going on here?" demands the Captain. Jacky is pretending to breath hard, which isn't exactly helping me in particular.
"We are particular friends, Captain Blodgett," Jacky says breathlessly and I briefly note that she's very good at lying. She almost had me believing it. "We are merely looking for a bit of privacy so as to give each other some comfort."
"Peculiar friends if you ask Me." the Captain says and I have to force myself not to role my eyes, seeming as he obviously had something on the side with that damn Nettles kid. "Chubbuck, check it out back there." he barks out. The big guy moves towards us and both Jacky and I tense up as he moves past the Rat Hole and hidey-hole as well as the Powder Hole to inspect. But he apparently sees nothing. He obviously doesn't expect to find anything, thinking us all dumb females. "Nothin'." he grunts.
Sin-Kay comes down for a look as well and I just know that Jacky can feel me growling when he comes near. A thumb starts soothingly stroking my neck and I feel myself relaxing under its ministrations. I look down at Jacky's face so close to mine and she gives me a charming little wink.
I blink. Did I just refer to anything she does as 'charming'? She must be rubbing off on me. Well, obviously, I think eyeing her naked chest still pressed against my own.
Some more words are said from above but my entire mind is focused on is the blue specks around Jacky's eye. From standing too close to a cannon, I recall from those ridiculous stories Jacky tells the others about her past adventures. My eyes are drawn to her lips as she speaks up about something, but I my hearing seems to have faded away for some strange and unknown reason. Something about soap.
There's yelling from above and I glance up just in time to see the Captain backhanding Nettles across the mouth and he falls over. I smirk and I hear Jacky snickering below me. Serves him right.
My attention goes back to Jacky as the Captain starts saying something about us being vile vessels and a corrupting influence. She breathes a sigh of relief into my face and sends a small smile up at me. Damn her for getting me to smile back! At least it was brief since I immediately wiped the smile from my face when I noticed it.
I hear the Captain sighing loudly. "Everyone's accounted for. There ain't no ghost. Let's all get back to sleep. That's what I'll say. Let's all go back to sleep." After that, I hear the footsteps of the rest of the men leaving, the light of the lantern following them.
My eyes never left Jacky's face the whole time. She's actually quite fascinating up close. I see her eyes meet mine and she raises an amused eyebrow.
"You can get up now," she states.
I don't want to.
"If you want to." she adds, lowering her voice to a husky drawl. That snaps me out of...whatever it was I was doing. I glance up and finally notice the faces of the other girls peering down at us curiously. I jump off of her and start spitting and retching. I wipe my mouth furiously for effect and stalk off into the growing darkness, my face burning. I hear the snickers from the other girls following me as I walk off and my blush deepens.
That's when the rage grips me and I can almost feel my body shaking in anger. Who does she think she is? How dare she kiss me! And how dare I enjoy it! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!!!
I glance back towards the pit as Jacky emerges and I glare at her. She spots me and sends me a teasing wink, probably to spite me. I give her the finger in response. She just gives me her trademark foxy grin and swaggers off towards the balcony, knowing that I'm watching her.
Damn her.
Well, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed my take on it. Flamers are not welcome!