Disclaimer: POTC belongs to POTC, and the title 'Ghost Ship' appeared in my head before I even knew there was a movie already called that. I saw Ghost Ship. It was so lame!

It wasn't the first time the Pearl had been boarded. It wasn't the first time the crew was fighting for their lives. But this time it seemed that this was the first time that the crew were losing.

Swords clashed, cannons boomed, pistols roared. Squirrel looked around her, wide-eyed, her heart beating like a live fish brought into the air. A pirate loomed behind her, cutlass raised. She turned to face him, snarling. But it was only Jack.

"We can't hold them off!" The captain roared over the noise of the battle. He pulled her down behind some barrels, out of line of pistol-fire. The pair exchanged glances.

"Is he safe?" Jack whispered, breathlessly.

Squirrel nodded. "I hid him."

The worry on Jack's face disappeared into a grin. "Good." The smile vanishes again. "And what about you?"

The young woman frowned slightly. "I'm fine, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "You should stay hidden. I don't want any of these bastards to find you." He places a hand on her shoulder, tenderly. Lovingly. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Squirrel raised a teasing eyebrow. "I think I've got a pretty good idea."

Jack pulled a face, then rose up and dived back into the fray.

"Take care of yourself, Jack." Squirrel whispered after him. I know what you'd do, Captain Jack Sparrow. But I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you.

There was little time to let thoughts wander, though. The battle was getting worse. Squirrel clambered up onto the barrels and scrabbled up the rigging. Some pirates saw her, or rather, a figure in a grey cloak, climbing out of the battle. Some cheered, some shouted curses, and others took advantages of their opponents' momentary lapse in concentration. Squirrel shut her eyes as she climbed. So much death.

She crouched in the crow's-nest, listening to the battle, visualising everything. Thousands of questions assailed her. Was he safe? Was he still alive? Why hadn't she told him she loved him just one more time? Was he still hidden? How many of our own crew are dead? Squirrel shut her eyes and mumbled under her breath, trying to calm herself down.

More than a year ago, she would've been down there with them, fighting the enemy pirates that seemed to have come from nowhere and everywhere at once. But now there were other factors to consider. In such a short time she'd grown up, and learnt the wonders - and the dangers - of being a pirate. Squirrel's thoughts were interrupted by shouts from below.

"Is that all of them?"

"No, there's still one."

"Where?"

"Up there, up in the rigging."

Squirrel's heart leapt to her throat. She heard Jack scream and curse and threaten, and realised: We lost.

"Oi!" Someone was shouting to her now. "Come down out of the rigging, laddie, and we won't 'urt you." Squirrel would've smiled if she wasn't so panicked. She'd been mistaken for a boy many times before. She'd also been called a grey ghost, or a wraith, but that was a long story.

Squirrel answered the summons. "Parley! Set the crew free and I'll come down!"

There was sniggering from below. Jack shouted a muffled warning.

"Very well, me son, the crew is free. Now come on down and let Captain Paolo see your face."

Squirrel muffled the sound of her pistol being loaded by shouting back. "I don't think you want to do that, mate."

After a pause, the captain replied. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Because I'm bad luck!" Squirrel leapt over the edge of the crow's-nest and aimed. Fired. Swung down the ropes, back and forth like an ape from South America. Threw her pistol back into the crow's-nest and continued to swing.

She'd killed one of the enemy pirates. The crew were bound and gagged, but cheering nevertheless. Jack was surrounded by pirates' swords, but he still managed to grin.

"You'll regret that!" Captain Paolo raised his pistol. Squirrel watched him with one eye as she swung back and forth. But the enemy pirate did not fire. He kept his pistol trained on her. Waiting. Waiting for the opportune moment.

Squirrel looked back down at the crew, putting together a quick plan in her head. She's have to free some of the crew, Jack first because of the way they were guarding him, and then probably Mister Gibbs because he still has a small knife he keeps in his shoe…

The rope she was swinging on became tangled, and the girl looked up and gave a squawk of alarm. She was pulled in the opposite direction suddenly, and as she reached for another rope, some of the rigging fell, twisting around her. Soon, she was caught, like a fly in a spider's web. She struggled. Her cloak was tangled too, riding up around her face. She kicked, trying to break free of the tangle of ropes that were tightening around her torso. And her neck.

A gunshot. A rope snapped, and the heavy bundle of rope and cloak fell, then hung, spinning slowly in mid-air. Squirrel's legs shuddered, and began kicking frantically. Her hands went under her cloak, reaching for her neck. Seconds passed, and the frantic kicking of the girl caught in the rope slowed and slowed and … stopped.

Captain Paolo tucked his pistol back into its holster and surveyed his prisoners. "Get these scum aboard the ship!" He ordered his crew, "Take everything of value that you can find!" His crew obeyed unquestionably. The crew of the Black Pearl stared at the still body of Squirrel, even as they were lead away. No-one spoke. They all just stared silently, unbelieving.

This wasn't the first time Squirrel had 'died'. Jack kept watching her, hoping that she'd wake up and climb down from the rigging, and smile her gentle shy smile. But the grey-cloaked girl was still, and spun gently in the breeze.

"I think," Captain Paolo said to Jack's tear-stained face, "This could be the first time that a pirate has hung on a ship, no?"

Jack said nothing.

"Leave the body!" Captain Paolo roared to his crew. "Leave the ship!" He grinned at Jack. "No longer will the Black Pearl be the most infamous in the Caribbean! Leave it to sail the waters, forever a ghost ship!"

A breeze stirred the black sails of the Pearl. But it did not move Squirrel's silent form.

A/N: I know, I know, I'm an evil murdering bitch. Shutup and wait for the next few chapters. You should know by now I kick-start everything with angst and/or death.