Author's Note: A drabble/side fic for my friend Shannon. We came up with this idea on our way to lunch one day and I decided to write it into a story!
******This has nothing to do with my other story "As the Wind Changes"******
What Happens in the Rum Closet Stays in the Rum Closet.
Barbossa, Cleo, Jack, and Gibbs sat around the table late one night playing a game of cards and drinking rum. Cleo had already won three hands, Jack won four, Gibbs won two, and Barbossa won only one. The Pearl rocked gently with the waves. On the fifth hand, Barbossa got frustrated and slammed the cards in his hand onto the table.
"Come now, Hector, it's only a game." Cleo said laughing.
She reached for the bottle of rum in front of her and tossed it back, draining the remaining alcohol from the bottle. Jack heard the empty bottle clink against the table. He looked around at the other rum bottles. Almost all were empty.
"You people sure know how to drink rum…" he said.
"When ye've been a pirate for as long as we have it becomes a second nature." Barbossa answered.
"Aye, that's true. Cap'n, why don't you go fetch us some more rum while Cleo deals again?"" Gibbs suggested.
"I be dealin' the cards this time! That vixen cheats."
"Now, Hector, I would never do such a thing."
They all rolled their eyes at Cleo, knowing her statement was a damnable lie. She smiled, shrugged, and handed the cards to Barbossa. Jack exchanged a glance with Gibbs and left to fetch more rum. Cleo noticed the glance and was curious. It was as if they had been having a silent conversation.
Minutes passed and Jack had not returned with the rum. Cleo, Barbossa, and Gibbs began the next hand without him. After they had finished the sixth hand, which Barbossa won, Gibbs stood.
"I'm….er….going to go find Jack. It shouldn't be taking him this long."
"As you wish, Joshamee. Hurry back."
Barbossa and Cleo sat there alone. Cleo watched him shuffle the cards repeatedly. The minutes ticked by slowly and neither Jack nor Gibbs returned. Cleo got fed up with sitting around waiting for them.
"I'm going to look for them, Hector. It does not take this long to get rum."
"Just promise ye'll come back."
"You know that I will."
"Good. Now go find the rum!"
Cleo rolled her eyes, smiled, and left. She crept down to the rum closet, making sure that she didn't wake any of the sleeping crew members. She didn't hear any movement inside the closet, but she opened the door anyway. This would prove to be a terrible mistake. Cleo was horrified by what she saw. Jack and Gibbs, their clothes discarded on the floor, engaged in hot, sweaty, skin-on-skin, rough sex. Cleo stood frozen, watching them go at it. Eventually, she took hold of the door handle and pulled the door closed. She pressed her back against the door and put her hand over her heart.
"This is not normal!" she exclaimed.
The seriously disturbed Cleo went back to Barbossa and the card game.
"Where be Jack and Gibbs? And where be the rum?"
"I didn't find them…" she said, staring at the cards.
Jack and Gibbs finally returned, shirts still halfway undone.
"Cleo I-"
"What happens in the rum closet stays in the rum closet, Jack." She said with a smile.
Jack and Gibbs smiled at each other, then at Cleo. Barbossa didn't understand, but figured that he didn't really want to know. The four sat down to another hand of cards and never under any circumstances spoke of the incident again.