CHAPTER TWO: The Eagles Have Landed

The coast of northern France was in sight by the time morning arrived, the large beaches appearing grey in the lack of sunlight. It was nearing autumn and so wasn't too warm. Katie was glad she'd packed a shawl in her small bag. She approached Jack at the bow. He was watching the land draw nearer with an unreadable expression on his face.

"How is your leg?" She asked him, bringing him out of his reverie.

"I've been scared to look at it, but it feels alright. Sore, you know, but the bullet didn't make it all the way in." Jack replied thoughtfully.

"We'll find an inn or something. Maybe even a doctor. It might go gangrenous." Katie pointed out matter-of-factly. Jack grimaced, but it was hard to tell if this was more at the idea of a gangrenous wound or seeing a doctor- neither was a welcome prospect.

"I don't need a doctor. I've been shot before, love. It'll heal up." Katie considered this. If he'd been shot before, she ought to worry about what kind of life she was signing up to. But strangely she didn't care. "I was thinking…" Jack turned to her with an uncharacteristically apologetic look on his face, "While we're here, in Europe anyway, it'll make things a lot easier if people think we're man and wife." Katie blinked. She hadn't been expecting this. "People are gonna wonder about a woman and a man travelling together, unmarried. An' I know you said when we got on this ship you don't care about that, but it wouldn't do well to attract too much attention to ourselves. We are, after all, pirates." Jack explained himself quickly when she didn't respond immediately.

Normally he'd make some uncouth joke about the relations between a man and wife but for some reason he didn't feel like he could with Katie. Well, that wasn't true- she'd proven just a few hours before, at night, that she wasn't going to get offended by things like that. But that made him all the more eager not to be a scoundrel towards her, to prove her wrong. She had his rarely given, grudging respect for her straight forward manner and single-minded determination to be good at whatever task might befall her neophyte hands.

"It makes sense…" Katie said finally, "But you draw attention to yourself just by being… well… you." She indicated with a wave of her hand his eccentric appearance, the tricorn hat, the dangling trinkets, the dreadlocks. Jack smirked.

"Aye, you ain't wrong, love. But we can tell anyone who asks it's an elopement- people will assume it anyway, but they'll think it's romantic if we tell 'em instead of disgusting." He was still showing his teeth in a smile as he said this but Katie heard the jarring, single note in his voice that said otherwise.

"Marrying you wouldn't be disgusting, Jack." Katie said flatly, laying a hand on his arm. It was his turn to blink in surprise now.

"It wouldn't?" He asked, then, to recover his bravado, "An ol' ruffian like me?"

"If I thought that I wouldn't be marrying you, would I?" Katie asked, with a subtle wink, as some sailors nearby looked around at them. One of them smiled; he had been raised not to bother ladies so he hadn't spoken much to Katie but he found Jack amusing, even if he did appear to not be completely clean-cut. To complete the charade, Jack offered his arm to Katie as they disembarked the ship. She tossed some money to the swain as they went to thank them for making their escape from England possible. They headed into the town, which contained a small market which was already starting to get busy. Katie could feel the eyes of the French women on her; the French fashions were different from the English. Jack sensed the discomfort from Katie at the glances coming their way.

"They're only jealous you have me on your arm, love." He muttered to her, and she laughed unwillingly. He felt her relax a little after that though.

It didn't take them long to find an inn. Katie had never been any great shakes at French. She was educated, but had had little interest in many of her studies, barring music and literature. She managed to remember enough to get them a room though; they booked in under a false name, Monsieur and Madame Aigle, meaning 'eagle' in French, a play on Jack's real surname. The room they had taken was humbly sized, with enough room for the queen sized bed, table and wardrobe it contained and some space to manoeuvre, though there was a window seat too. The window was large and brightly lit, giving the place on overwhelmingly cheerful feel.

"Merci beaucoup." Katie thanked the maid who had shown them to the room, who curtseyed and departed at this bidding. As the door closed, the pair stood in silence for a moment. Jack suddenly seemed a lot more intimidating in this intimate setting than he had on the large merchant ship open to the air. Gathering all her courage back to her, she returned to her business-like manner. "Let's see your leg, then."

He slowly removed his hat, coat, belt, sword and pistol from about his person, placing them on the small table. Then, with his hands poised at the waist-line of his breeches (a new pair acquired from the ship they'd left, as the old ones had been ripped by the bullet), he looked over at her, "I'm sorry you'll have to see this."

"Just…" Katie said awkwardly, waving her hand at him impatiently. Jack pulled the breeches down and off slowly. His shirt was long enough to cover his dignity, and the wound on his thigh was still bound tightly. Gingerly, Jack began to unravel the lace, which was stained almost completely through with blood. He gave a small, barely audible gasp of pain and sank onto the edge of the bed. Katie came towards him a little nervously- she'd never seen a man in any state of undress before now- but resolutely. She bent close but there was no tell-tale stench. The maid had left a bowl of warm water at their request and Katie dipped a handkerchief into it now, cleaning the dry blood away from the wound. Luckily, it wasn't oozing, and looked to her untrained eye and Jack's more experienced one like it would begin to heal quite soon. Katie lifted the outer part of her skirt and tore at the petticoat beneath it. The material tore loudly, and she took the strip she'd torn and wrapped it back around the wound, more loosely than the original makeshift dressing. Jack gave a small sigh of relief when she was done, and she caught his eye at the noise. Hastily, both looked away.

"Thanks for that." Jack said, his voice sounding gruff. Katie settled on the edge of the other side of the bed.

"That's alright." She replied quietly. There was another long pause.

"So, this is what married life is then?" Jack indicated the bed between them. Katie's lips twitched.

"I suppose it is." She hadn't really thought about what this façade of being married would mean in places like inns- she would have to share a bed with Jack. Although she was mostly comfortable in his presence by now, she had never lain in the same bed as a man. Jack had most certainly shared a bed with any number of women before, however, and it definitely hadn't been platonic lying side by side in slumber, as this would be… or would he expect there to be more… action?

Jack seemed to guess what she was thinking, somehow, by her silence.

"I'm not a gentleman, so I won't offer to sleep on the floor. But I'm not enough of a bastard to expect you to make love with me." He murmured quietly, in a serious and sincere tone of voice. Katie took another moment to answer, but when she did it was in an equally soft and sober tone:

"Thank you."

The day was spent acquiring a change of clothes for Katie and a supply of rum of Jack. She was glad to come by a dress of some lightweight material that would be less cumbersome to move about in. She was considering graduating to breeches later on, though while they were in France and on land there was no way she'd get away with it without attracting suspicion. Jack was pleasantly jolly by the time night fell, and he found himself watching from his position sat against the headboard of the bed as she struggled out of her old dress and down to just her chemise. He could see her figure properly now, the slim waist, the curve of her hips, the roundness of her breasts… He gave a self-aware cough and put the bottle of rum down on the floor beside the bed. By the time he looked around, she was sliding into the bed beside him, looking shy.

If you had asked Jack before this day if Katie O'Connor could be shy, he would have laughed. She had seemed sure of herself and confident almost the whole time during the crossing from England. But it seemed that when placed in this quiet, intimate setting with a man, she was painfully self-conscious. She was avoiding his gaze even then, which made the warm prickly feeling he was getting all the more inappropriate. He had reassured her he wouldn't try anything, but it was going to be difficult having a beautiful young woman sleeping right beside him… no. He was better than these rogue thoughts.

"Tomorrow we'll gather together some supplies- food, more rum, just what we can carry- and then the day after we'll try to find a ship heading south- hopefully to Spain, at least." Jack told her. Katie nodded, still not looking at him. Jack sighed, "Look, I can see you've got yourself in a state worrying about being in bed with me- but you 'ave my word, love, that I won't touch you. Don't get me wrong- you're a fine woman- but I don't want you that way. If I was desperate I'd find a wench." Katie's eyes didn't widen at the mention of a prostitute as polite society would instruct a young lady to react. She didn't get righteously offended that he didn't want her. Instead, her shoulders loosened and relaxed and she finally turned her head. Her green eyes seemed to glow in the light from the candle burning on the small stand on Jack's side of the bed.

"I'm sorry," Katie said sweetly, her hand finding his and squeezing it, "I should know by now I can trust you. We've already come a long way."

"We still 'ave a long way to go." Jack told her in answer, as her hand slid away. He settled down on his side. The bed was terribly comfortable. He barely managed to extinguish the candle as his eyes began to droop with exhaustion and the rum he'd drank.

"Goodnight, Jack." Katie whispered through the darkness. They were on opposite sides of the bed, but somehow her hand had found him, barely grazing his wrist.

"'Night, love." He mumbled back.

It was walking down the cobbled street of this obscure French town, the next day, that the man appeared. His face was old and weather-beaten, his hat sat at a jaunty angle on his head, and his coat was red with elaborate embroidery, belying his apparent manner that he was of no grandiose background. He seemed to loom ahead of Jack and Katie out of nowhere, and her eyes flashed to the gun his hand rested on, tucked into his belt. Jack stopped beside her and there was a pause as she looked back at him. He swallowed. Katie opened her mouth to ask the question, but before the words left her lips, Jack spoke:

"'Allo, Dad." Katie glanced around quickly. The other man was grinning now, the smile seeming to crack the face in two. Jack walked to him and the two embraced. When they separated, the man's dark eyes were on Katie.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" He offered to her politely.

"This is Katie, my… friend." Jack said, searching for the word with difficulty, "And Katie, this is my father, Captain Teague." Teague… the name rang a bell even with Katie. Teague was a well-known pirate, having fought several battles with the Navy, though Teague had always evaded capture.

"It's nice to meet you, Katie-Friend." Teague made her a bow. Then he spoke to Jack, "You're probably wondering why I'm here."

"I'm wondering how you always find me, actually." Jack replied.

"Jackie, you leave a trail of clues behind you wherever you go. I heard about the disagreement in London, and the shooting. Witnesses had you board a merchant ship less than an hour later with a young lady," He nodded politely again to Katie, "And the ship was headed to France."

"And you just happened to be in the area?" Jack guessed. Teague gave him a strangely appraising look.

"You could say that," He shrugged, "I'm just telling you to look out, Jackie. I've heard some funny things about some old friends of yours- Angelica Teach being one of 'em."

"Angelica." Jack repeated the name and a weird look crossed his face. Katie was starting to feel like she was missing a rather large piece of this puzzle but got the feeling now was not the time to ask- instead she just paid intense attention to what was being said and Jack's reactions to it. Who was Angelica, she wondered? She'd heard Jack mention certain names a few times- Barbossa, Gibbs, even Blackbeard, but not an Angelica.

"You need to get the Pearl back and fast, and get yourself a good crew because things might just turn ugly. You need to trace the Dutchman, too, because your connection with Bootstrap's son isn't going to be of no use."

"No use against what?" Jack asked.

"I dunno, Jackie… Like I say, it's just rumours. But trust me on saying that getting the Pearl back should be a priority."

"We were heading to the Caribbean to do just that." Jack informed his father a little defensively now. At the mention of 'we', both father and son's eyes went back to Katie. She lifted her chin in a slightly defiant expression. She didn't know what her role was in any of this, but she knew she was going to find one or she'd have nothing to cling to in this new-found freedom.

"You and the lady are welcome aboard the Troubadour. We're heading to Shipwreck Cove anyway." Jack didn't seem enthusiastic about this idea, but he also realised he had no choice. This was too ideal to pass up- free passage with allies to his intended destination. "We'll drop you off in Tortuga if you want- then you can find a crew."

"What do you think Katie?" Jack asked, turning to her. Katie looked at Teague; there was a trace of Jack in him, for sure. Maybe it was the way he held himself, because it was hard to say in looks.

"I think we'd be silly to pass this up." She replied, smiling at Teague.

A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for reading if you've gotten this far! I realise I forgot to include an author's note in the first chapter, but I'm still getting used to using this website so bear with me. I hope you like what you've seen so far! I don't think neither the title nor the summary does this story any kind of justice but it'd be hard to fit an idea of this plot into the allowed character length. If anyone has any idea of a character change I'd be grateful to hear your idea! I should also add, that I don't own any of the recognised characters or anything to do with the Pirates franchise. Sad, I know, but true. Anyway, please leave me a review telling me how awful and horrendous this is! Any feedback would be lovely. Speaking of which, thanks a lot to GraciesJarOfDirt for your review last time, you're very kind