Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all relating to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (other than two bags of M&Ms, one 2-disc collector's edition of PotC:CotBP, the soundtracks to CotBP and DMC, and one CotPB poster). I'm not affiliated with Disney, Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp, etc. I'm a poor college student who has no money for the foreseeable future and threats should be enough to make me knock all this off.
Thank you for your time.
"Jack."
Jack Sparrow was happily oblivious to the fact that someone stood in the doorway of his cabin. The heat of the sun streaming in the large bay windows held him in golden chains. The same amber rays that warmed his skin through his fraying shirt shot through the bottle in his left hand. At one time he'd played with idea of docking in Tortuga or a similarly friendly port for a week or so to tend to some minor repairs – both nautical and sartorial – but his newly regained freedom was still too precious to surrender to anything that wouldn't amount to more than a few clean shirts.
"Capt'n?"
Jack lazily scratched his chest as he lifted the bottle and took another swig of rum. Idle hands and the devil and all that… he thought rather fuzzily as warmth of a different kind rolled through his body. There were worse ways to spend a day as his most recent sojourn in prison proved.
"A-hem!"
Jack spun around, weaving a bit on his feet as his eyes landed on his first mate. "Gibbs." It was an identification, as if he had to literally remind himself of his surroundings. "What are you doing just standing there? Join me in toasting this superb example of superior sailing conditions." The bottle rose again.
"Ordinarily I would, Capt'n, make no mistake," Gibbs said from his place at the door. "However, Moisesreports that a ship has been seen from the crow's nest and the lads are getting' a mite antsy. They're thinkin' that a bit of coin would be a fine thing to have in their pockets when next we make port."
"And you agree." The statement was a soft purr of sound that just barely hid a warning. Jack didn't take kindly to any sort of demands from his crew. Always a captain in name, it'd been too many years since he'd been a captain in truth and he wasn't going to repeat the kind of mistakes that had once led to his losing the Black Pearl. One man had already been "persuaded" to jump ship after testing his theory that Jack had lost his edge.
Gibbs shuffled his feet uneasily as Jack's mood came through loud and clear. The captain had been touchy as of late, being irritable, driven, and drunkenly pensive by turns. A smart man tested the winds and adjusted his course to sail with them. "Moises says the ship is a fleut, an easy enough mark. Since we've no other plans…?" When Jack didn't contradict that belief, Gibbs hurried on, "And no stockpile neither, considering what happened to…" He took the time to cross himself and spit on the deck despite the increasingly sour look on Jack's face – though that might have had less to do with the reminder of lost wealth and more to do with the glob of spittle now gracing the deck. "Well, cursed treasure is more trouble than it's worth, Jack. And we've neither heading nor harbor in mind. After a week of trolling calm seas and mending sails, the crew is in need of action before they drink every last drop of rum out of boredom."
"Hmm, the rum…you may have a point." Jack scratched the back of his neck as he circled around the cabin to a glass-fronted cabinet. "A fleut?" he inquired as he pulled several rolls of parchment out to lie on the table. "You are aware that Dutch ships usually have a hold full of grain?"
Gibbs watched as Jack used the rum bottle and his compass to hold down one side of the map while he pinned the other down with a stoppered bottle of ink and a convenient piece of scrimshaw. "Right you are, Capt'n, but this particular fleut is flying a Union Jack."
"Ahh, resourceful Colonials, much better. Let's see…we're here…the wind is…and the sails…so about eight knots…and they're…?"
"About three leagues to the south-east, Capt'n," Gibbs supplied when Jack looked at him expectantly. "With the wind coming from the nor-east –"
"We'll be able to intercept them without much fuss," Jack finished as he studied his charts. He absently ran one rough finger along the course they'd need to take. "Very well." With a snap he rolled the maps back up and put them away. "Tell the crew to prepare for a skirmish."
"Captain, what does that look like to you?" Winn Morgan handed the spyglass to the man who had just come to her side. She waited patiently for a reaction from the man, and when he let out a stream of curses that turned the air blue, she merely blinked. "I take it that you agree we're being followed by a pirate ship?" Winn asked with imperturbable calm. Of course, she'd noticed the ship some ten minutes ago. After watching for a moment to make sure they weren't simply going to pass each other she'd clambered up onto the quarter galleywith a telescope to examine the other craft. About the same time she'd done that the call had come from below that they were being approached by a ship that wasn't bothering to fly any colors.
The captain didn't appreciate her cool head. He didn't necessarily appreciate carrying female passengers, much less ones that didn't have the good sense to stay out from underfoot. "Miss Morgan, this is no time for wit. We need to prepare for bat –"
"I agree. We do need to prepare. Reef the sails and drop anchor."
"What! We still have a chance to outrun them. The Kestrel is a fast ship, Miss. It is unlikely that we would be caught if we –" The man paused as the temperature of his companion's gaze turned from cool to arctic.
"No, Captain, it is very likely that we would be caught. If you haven't noticed from the ship's description, that is the Black Pearl, the fastest ship in these waters. We cannot outrun her, and it's unlikely that we would come out unscathed in a sea battle. I prefer not to irritate the Pearl's captain. If it is possible to escape damage to ship and crew, we should pursue that avenue. The goods we're carrying, though expensive, are easily replaceable. Follow my orders please."
"The contents of the hold are not my first priority," the captain said heatedly, "as well you know. Your grandfather will have my head if something happens to you, and claiming that you gave me orders will do me as little good as attempting to reason with pirates will do you."
Winn listened to all this and weighed the words. "Captain Sparrow isn't known for being bloodthirsty," she said at last. "Nor for being cruel. There is no Jolly Roger flying, so they don't exactly intent to murder us all where we stand. I believe it's in our best interest to appear unremarkable and accept the leniency that is being offered. Follow my orders, Captain Riley." Winn's tone was firm as she stared down a man she had known since late childhood.
Riley's back stiffened as he said against his better judgment, "Yes, ma'am. Now, if you'll take some advice from me and change your clothing so you look a little less… noteworthy."
Winn looked down at the toes of her boots which were left bare by the hem of her full breeches. Her fingers wriggled self-consciously in their fingerless gloves. "Hmm…I suppose trousers and canvas vests are unusual apparel for a proper young woman, aren't they?"
"You were the one that suggested we appear unremarkable."
"I hate it when you do that," Winn muttered under her breath.
"Do what?"
"Use my own arguments against me. I hate it almost as much as I hate wet skirts," she grumbled as she collapsed her telescope and stomped off towards her cabin.
"Captain!"
Jack winced and covered his ear as he made a mental note to never sneak up on Gibbs again. "What?" he growled as he reached into the pocket of his jacket for his telescope.
"The Kestrel is reefing sails and preparing to drop anchor, sir."
"The who?" Jack brought his spyglass to his eye. "Oh. The ship. Very good. Terrible waste of gun powder, having to fire on merchant vessels. Not to mention messy for all involved and not so good for the cargo."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. "The entire point was to let the lads work off a bit of steam, Jack."
Jack pulled his head back and looked at his first mate. "I thought the point was to provide them with a bit of glitter to calm their greedy souls…no matter." He returned his attention to the ship they were quickly approaching. "Perhaps we'll get lucky and they'll stage a bit of a rebellion once we're boarding."
"Aye…" The old seaman nipped a drink from his flask. "I'll tell the men to be on guard."
"You do that."
The ship had been taken without a fight. Despite Gibbs' hopes, the crew of the Kestrel hadn't resisted the pirate boarding party. The ship's crew had easily been gathered on deck, not a weapon in sight as they apparently waited for the pirates to board. Jack had watched from the deck of the Black Pearl as his men corralled the prisoners – did they count as prisoners if there hadn't been a fight? – and grouped them near the mainmast. The Kestrel's captain and first mate were being held on the stern near the helm. Those two men had been quite reluctant to go even that far from the rest of the crew. Jack watched them, certain there was something going on, something that would explain this show of docility. It wasn't uncommon for merchant crew to surrender in an attempt to avoid torture and death, but this crew seemed to be going out of their way to make the pirates' work easier.
Jack crossed over to the merchant ship and walked up to the helm. "Search the holds." As most of his men scattered to search below deck or to investigate the alarming screams coming from the coop at the sternof the ship, he watched the captain. The man was nervous, though he hid it rather well. What finally gave him away was his eyes as they darted to and away from a tight bundle of five men grouped near the mast. From the elevation of the deck, Jack could see a sixth person inside the circle.
"Captain, there's noffin' but foodstuffs and spirits in the hold," one disappointed crewman called out, distracting Jack from his discovery.
"One would think you'd be pleased, considering the way you've been going through the rum," Jack muttered before calling back, "Did you want to spend the money we don't have on food we wouldn't need if we simply take what isn't ours while what we do have is the time?" Silence. "For the love of… Transfer the food to our ship, then search the cabins for your bloody loot." Leaving his crewman to forage, Jack climbed down to the main deck and cut a path through the Kestrel'screw towards that protective huddle.
Gold and silver the ship might have not, but Jack was certain he'd found his treasure.
Drat, drat, drat. Winn backed up as far as she could as she saw the captain of the Black Pearl headed her way. "Let me out. Hurry," she urged, tapping the elbows of two of the men. As they were men hired by Riley and not her grandfather, their loyalty wasn't necessarily to her; they shifted uneasily on their feet – they knew a command when they heard one – but stayed planted. "I don't care what Captain Riley's orders were," she growled impatiently. "Whatever they were, they were to keep me away from Sparrow, and he's coming this way. Which means I should be on…" Winn ducked and bobbed her head, trying to see around her guards. "…on my way as well." Not being a tall woman, she wasn't able to see much. "Oh for goodness sake."
Just as she was about to resort to shoving at hips and stomping on feet, two of the men leaned far enough away from each other for her to slip through the protective ring. Moving slowly – she still had to contend with the rest of the crew – she left her safe harbor and circled around the mast, putting it between herself and the pirate searching for her.
Jack's gold teeth flashed as he saw two of his targets sway away from each other before once again closing ranks. Whatever treasure they'd been holding was being held no longer. He had to admit that the men had their wits about them; they didn't so much as blink as he paused and started searching the heads around him. In fact, if they'd been part of his crew, they would have been deserving of an additional ration of rum this evening. Each man was careful to move with the motion of the ship so that the passage of one short individual was near impossible to notice. Even his prey would deserve a kind word because she – Jack assumed it was a she, and a she with a good head on her shoulders – was just as adept at using the ship's natural motion to conceal her passage as her companions were. Unfortunately for her, Jack was well accustomed to many methods of sneaking away unnoticed.
It would be faster to go to her, but ever so much more fun to allow her to come to him. Using one bejeweled hand Jack motioned two of his crew to make their way towards his fleeing target from behind while he circled around the other way.
Winn glanced over her shoulder as she edged around the mast. She could see her people move as someone came her direction. A silently uttered curse was all she allowed herself when she really wanted to close her eyes and hit something.
At least he's behind me –
The soft song of metal ringing on metal made her freeze. I don't suppose he'd go away if I ignored him, Winn thought for a desperate moment before turning around to face the very person she'd been working so hard to avoid. Her temper flared when she noticed the sword held in one indolent hand and the spark of amusement in his eyes, but she tramped it down.
At least she's not screaming, Jack thought as he returned her silent regard. The lass barely came up to his chin and she was dressed in a dull brown that seemed specially chosen to emphasize her tanned skin and to help her fade into the woodwork. And were those…she had freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose. The only part of her that hinted at life were the blue eyes behind brass-rimmed spectacles and the reddish tint the sun brought out of her dark hair. There was nothing about her to indicate that she was anything more than perhaps the daughter of the captain or one of the hands…nothing but the way she stood with her chin proudly raised and the way her eyes met his without giving away anything but a touch of impatience.
"Captain Jack Sparrow at your service, luv," he said to break the silence, one hand fluttering about the brim of his hat as if to indicate a measure of respect.
"At my service. How unexpected." Winn didn't necessarily trust all this good humor. "I don't suppose you'd consider getting out of my way then."
"Have you somewhere you need to be?" Jack shifted his weight at the same time she did, blocking her path.
"Does it matter if you're at my service?"
"Good point." Jack flashed his golden teeth in a smile and Winn couldn't help but look. He smiled wider to give her a better view. "Like what you see?"
"Hardly." She tore her gaze away from his mouth and narrowed her eyes at him. "I was wondering if you bite." Winn stepped back as Jack leaned towards her, only to run into two men who were blocking her path. She gave them a slow perusal to confirm they were strangers, then hot breath on the side of her neck stole her attention again. Facing forward, she caught the scents of sun and salt, unwashed man, rum…and horehound candy?
"Ahh, now that I have your attention again, I can reassure you that I rarely bite…and only when asked." Jack was noticing a few things of his own as he stood next to his new companion. A strand of hair had come loose of the knot at her neck and was fluttering against his face. Herbal scents tingled in his nose – he'd hidden in enough wardrobes to recognize some of the more common herbs used to keep pests away from clothing but there was one that he couldn't identify that seemed to come from her skin. He imagined that she used it in her bathwater…or perhaps in a lotion she used after her bath to keep her skin soft after a long day ofbeing out on the water and under the sun…
"Captain?" Winn asked breathlessly as she attempted to put some space between them. She wasn't used to male attention aside from her brothers, and she certainly wasn't used to being so close to a strange man. His nearness was driving her irritation right out of her head, and without that protection… "Captain!" There, her voice had a bit more bite in it this time.
"That's exactly how I like to be addressed," Jack replied absently as he slowly pulled away. "You haven't told me how you like to be addressed."
Winn fought the urge to press her hands to her hot cheeks. "It doesn't matter. You won't be here long enough to use my name. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you'd oversee the removal of your men from my ship."
"Your ship?" Jack raised an eyebrow before giving her a good once-over from head to foot, his eyes lingering in places that made Winn wish she had filched a sharp knife while she'd been trying to hide.
"No one who ever saw that leer on your face would ever believe you went around rescuing drowning ladies and defeating shiploads of cursed pirates before making miraculous escapes from the King's justice." Moving deliberately, she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What's that, luv?" Jack looked up from his perusal as her words started to make sense. Just how did this sharp-tongued siren – No, bad word choice. Sirens are sexy. Jack eyed the brown sack she was wearing with disfavor. How does she know about that debacle with the Swann wench? "Who are you?" he asked bluntly as he raised the point of his sword to hover around her midriff. It was clear that he didn't know nearly enough about this female who knew a bit too much about him.
"Lecherous cad," Winn muttered under her breath. She'd caught the second probing look he'd sent towards her hips and didn't appreciate the way he was gripping his weapon when she had nowhere to run.
"Not the answer I was looking for, luv. How did you know about –"
"Are there any of your exploits that don't eventually get retold over a round of ale? And that's not what I meant," she snapped as his eyes lit at the use of the word exploit. "Everyone knows that Jack Sparrow escaped the gallows last summer to return to his ship, the Black Pearl, and what happened before that – likely exaggerated to undeserved proportions – has also made its rounds. Really Captain, is that sword absolutely necessary?"
"Yes, it is." Jack noticed that the wench was letting irritation win out over caution. Whatever else she was, she had more bravery than smarts. "While what you say makes sense, I'm more concerned with how you got your information than with what information you have."
"Easy, I read smoke signals. Especially those fueled by rum." While her face was solemn, her eyes gently mocked him from behind her spectacles. When she saw that he was not amused, she muttered something that sounded very much like, "so much for a sense of humor," then said, "Look, if you don't let us go soon we'll be late getting to port, and then there will be all hell to pay."
"Unfortunate. Where did you get your information from?"
"Someone who was there at the time. Are we done now?"
Jack ignored the question. There was only one other person who'd been on that island who would know the means of their escape and he was fuming under his own breath, something that sounded distinctly like, "yes, tell us all why you burned the gods-blest rum. Why don't you tell the entire bloody world while you're at it? There's no living with some people."
This went on for some time while the girl tried to stifle her growing mirth. Unluckily, she wasn't too successful at it, for she managed to draw his attention to her once again. Winn just asked, "Now do you understand why I wouldn't want to be late, Captain?"
Jack rolled his eyes. "It takes but four days to reach Port Royal from here –"
"Then perhaps you're the one that shouldn't be lingering. It isn't uncommon for the navy to run patrols this way. Just think of how you'd feel if you were captured again because you were preoccupied with someone of such little import. I know I'd feel like the world's biggest –"
"I think we'll be standing here for a while yet, luv; you still haven't answered all my questions." Persons of little import don't haul the royal navy out as a threat. Jack was more determined than ever to get some information out of this girl.
Her eyes went flat as she realized that he was as determined to avoid distraction as she was to avoid giving information. "I suppose that means that you aren't going to be putting that thing away any time soon, are you?" Her eyes threw a distasteful glance at the unsheathed blade that hadn't lowered and inch since she'd revealed her connection to their mutual acquaintance.
"I suppose it doesn't as it seems to be the only thing making you talk. So you can stop asking. What's your name?"
Winn sighed and once again looked around her, trying to locate some avenue of escape. "I was hoping you had forgotten about that."
"I haven't. Don't make me ask again, savvy?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you're bossy?"
"I'm a pirate captain."
Being a pirate has nothing to do with it. All captains are arrogant. With a huff of annoyance she said, "Winn."
"Winn…" Jack looked her over again, this time with an expression of disbelief. "That hardly sounds like a proper name."
"Proper enough."
"In your opinion, luv. Not in mine."
"Whatever happened to 'at your service'?" When Jack didn't reply or return the banter she sighed and said with more than a little animosity, "Winifred. Regrettably, most fail to understand that I have never liked that name, so they insist on calling me by it. Youcall me that and you'll regret it."
Jack came a step closer, forcing her to raise her head in order to maintain eye contact. Her eyes became wary behind her spectacles, as with a grin Jack purred, "What makes you think I would regret it, Winifred?" His tone implied he was speaking about more than just saying her name.
Her eyes narrowed, "Elizabeth burned your rum to save both your lives, Captain." At this reminder, Jack's eyes also narrowed. "What I would do would be ever so much more creative. I have three older brothers – I know all about pulling pranks and about how to defend myself." To prove her statement, Winn reached for Jack's wrist and twisted it as she swung under his arm. As his sword dropped she caught it. Within seconds she was surrounded by more unsheathed swords than she could count and was quickly disarmed in turn before being forcibly spun around to face the man she'd just made a fool of in front of his crew.
Stupid, she yelled at herself. Stupid. This is going to be bad.
What kind of woman would be caught dead in sea-boots? Jack wondered as he took his time straightening his coat and hat. His clothing wasn't all that had been upset by that little sneak attack; the hem of Winn's dress was snagged on the brim of one of her boots. And even more bewildering was the question, "What kind of woman attacks an armed pirate?" Although when all is said and done, a bruised ego is slightly better than a slap in the face, he thought with a slight grimace.
"That was fair foolish, missy." Jack looked up to see that though most of crew had come to his aid, one man had gone a step farther. Winn stood deathly still as one Joshua White held a knife to her throat, ready to slit it at Jack's earliest convenience.
While her face was pale, Winn's eyes were as steady as ever as she watched the pirate rise to his full height. Almost daring him to give the order to kill her, she said, "If you'd been a bit quicker, you probably wouldn't have been disarmed. Still, I suppose you deserve credit for recognizing my intent at the last moment. If you hadn't moved with me, you he would have hit the deck."
Rolling his eyes, the Pearl's captain responded, "Luv, didn't anyone ever teach you to hold your tongue when your life is being threatened? Or are you just too naïve to believe that I might have you killed for that little stunt?" Jack had no intention of actually harming the girl, he just wanted to see what was going on behind those glasses which were still perched upon her nose, albeit precariously.
"That would be a first for you, from all I've heard. And the exploits of pirates are usually embellished, not understated. Besides, I was taught that pirates are like dogs in some aspects –" The knife at her throat darted in to raise a welt across her windpipe at the perceived insult. She gasped, as if astonished that someone would dare harm her. Then, before Jack could lift hand or voice to rebuke White, she threw her head back, jammed an elbow into her captor's diaphragm, and brought a booted foot crashing down on White's instep. Jack winced in silent pity at the crack of broken bones that followed the young pirate to the deck as he fell, trying to breathe through what appeared to be a broken nose and a thorough winding. Pity he wasn't a few inches taller – he could have avoided getting his nose smashed.
Sparrow made a mental note to talk to the man later as he accepted his sword from a silent and grim Gibbs. Winn was staring down at White, her chest rising and falling rapidly and her hands fisted and unfisted in a silent display of tension. When she was seized from behind by a burly pair of arms and once again swung around to face Jack, he saw that she'd barely noticed her renewed captivity. He was able to recognize total control in someone on the edge of violence. It probably wouldn't take much to set her off again, the consequences be buggered. But Jack just happened to know a good cure.
He signaled the man to let Winn go before purposely moving into her line of sight. He gave the young woman before him a moment to focus on him before asking, "What was it you were saying?"
Surprise flickered in Winn's eyes and she just barely kept herself from looking around nervously. Her temper was never particularly easy to control but she was usually able to keep herself from immediately repeating potentially life-threatening mistakes. And how was she treated for her lack of judgment? Was there to be no reprimand for striking at the captain and maiming a member of his crew? Her eyes followed Jack's actions as he slid his blade into its sheath. His unexpected kindness loosened her tongue. As she rubbed the sting on her throat, she murmured, "Umm . . . I was saying that pirates, like dogs, can smell fear. Although I don't entirely believe Grandfather when it comes to that…" She trailed off.
Winn was off balance and unsure of what to expect. The few pirates she knew would have backhanded any man – much less a woman – for offenses smaller than the ones she'd given this one. True, they tended to have a fairly strange moral code when it came to females, but this man's tolerance was almost unheard of. Even Grandfather would be bellowing to wake the dead by this point.
Watching him through cautious eyes, she brought her hand away from her neck to check for blood. Sure enough, there was a faint smear of red on the skin of her palm.
So caught up in her thoughts was she that she missed the look in the captain's eyes as he observed her. Not that seeing it would have helped her much; Captain Sparrow was a man used to keeping his thoughts to himself, as much as it might have seemed otherwise. At this particular point in time, he was wondering just what his next move was going to be. What he wanted to do was not necessarily something that was smart to do. But then again, when had he let intelligence get in the way of what he wanted? Wait…that doesn't sound right…
Winn, still studying her palm as if it could tell her what to do next, took an alarmed step back when the pirate captain reached for her chin. Ruefully she thought, So much for not showing fear.
"Hold still, will ye, Winnie? Unless you're afraid of ole' Jack." Winn's eyes darted up from Jack's outstretched hand to his face. The leer he had pasted on was almost comical; it was the same one that the old salts on her Grandfather's estate wore when she stopped to talk to them. She unconsciously relaxed slightly at the familiarity of the expression.
"I don't believe I like the name 'Winnie' anymore than I like Winifred." And I'm cautious with good reason. Once again Jack advanced on her, although this time she resolutely held her ground…and her breath. The heat rolling off his body made her feel strange. But when the man's hands started to circle her neck, she let her breath go so she could continue to distract him. The way his hands felt on her skin had nothing to do with it. She'd rather keep him from wondering if twisting her neck would be worth the effort or not. "If you could restrain yourself from using such unsuitable nicknames, I would be grateful, Captain."
"Now there's a delightful image." Jack took his time. The wound was insignificant and already starting to close up. It looked as if someone had taken a quill and some red ink with the intent of making his mark all over… No. Bad idea. Bad. Women are trouble… That argument didn't have much impact on the pirate inside Jack.
"We'll have to get that cleaned up when we return to the Pearl."
At this Winn did react. She reached up and pushed his hand away, fixing her deadliest glare upon the grinning brigand in front of her. "I don't believe that we are going to do any such thing, Captain," Winn stated with as much dignity and authority as she could muster. "We have adequate supplies on the Kestrel to tend to a scratch. You are going to be returning to your ship without me, I'm afraid."
Jack took another step towards Winn, who was starting to resemble a cornered animal as she backed away as far as she could. "It's me that should be apologizing, luv, for I really must insist that you accompany us." She eyed the hands that were fluttering aimlessly in the air while he spoke as if she thought he might be trying to cast some sort of spell on her. He paid that no mind as he continued, used to the strange looks some of his mannerisms garnered. "Just think how I would feel if a wound you received from the hands of my crew turned putrid. I'd never forgive myself." Winn gave an unladylike snort of disbelief. "You wouldn't want me to feel guilty 'til the end of my days, would you Winnie?" At this he reached out and grabbed her arm above the elbow.
Winn automatically tried to jerk her arm away but Sparrow didn't give an inch. If anything, his grip tightened. She went along with the man when he started cutting a path through his men towards the stairs having accepted that trying to free herself from this grip would win humiliation instead of freedom. But cooperation did not equal defeat.
"I hardly believe that a scratch can make you feel what years of piracy, thievery, and deception have not," she replied in an icy voice as Captain Sparrow "escorted" her up the stairs to the quarter deck. He kept her so close that her shoulder brushed against his arm with every step.
"You don't believe in much, do you, luv?"
Jack let her loose once they were off the stairs and Winn took the opportunity to put several steps between them. Once again his men where there to block her from reaching any sort of safety – this time the company of Captain Riley. She growled at them in frustration before whirling back on her opponent. "I believe in staying on my ship."
"Staying on your ship isn't going to do you much good, lass. After all, a ship can't get far without its sails, now can it?"
"What?" Far from being defeated, Winn drew herself up and stabbed a finger in the general direction of his chest. "You can't just leave my men stranded in the middle of the ocean without any sails! You would be condemning them to a slow death. This isn't one of the more heavily traveled routes…with good reason."
"I'm not the one who chose speed over safety. If you knew that pirates regularly came this way, then perhaps you should have reminded someone in charge of that fact. Unless of course, you're serious when you say this is 'your' ship, in which case you have no one to blame but yourself." Over her inarticulate sounds of outrage, Jack continued, "Now, your men have sweeps with which they can make their merry way to Antigua. It will only take a few days or so of hard labor, and they've been left with enough provisions to last them that long if they're not greedy. Stop whimperin' and acquiesce gracefully, luv."
The look she gave him made him think she'd rather see him to the bottom of the ocean first. Still glaring, she said, "Fine, if you insist. However, I will tell you that my grandfather will not be pleased when he hears of this. Remember that, should you ever have enough sense to rue this." With that last pronouncement, she allowed herself to be shown to the plank running over the thin strip of water that separated the Kestrel and the Pearl.
Declining any assistance from Jack, she walked crossed the plank with all the dignity of a dethroned queen. Jack was just a beat behind her as she set foot onto the deck of the Black Pearl. Trying to hide his amusement, and not particularly caring as he failed, Jack once again took her arm in a firm grip and guided her to his cabin. Opening the doors, he waited for her to step inside. Understandably, she hesitated on the threshold once she realized that the room in front of her must be the captain's quarters. She turned to protest this latest offence, but Jack was a step ahead of her.
"Don't start thinking like that, lass." His voice was almost kind, but his smirk ruined the effect. "I just need somewhere to stow you until I've taken care of matters aboard your ship, savvy? This would be it, unless you truly prefer the brig. I must warn you though, there's a bit of a leak below decks that we still haven't been able to locate. Now, if you'd simply step inside and allow me to get on with my work, I'll be out of your hair." He looked at her meaningfully.
With the expression of the highly annoyed, Winn did as she was bidden. The doors closed behind her, and as she looked around the room in the dim light, she wondered what she was going to do now.