Remember these names: Eliseo, Jedidiah, and Valiente

Jack swiftly, almost carelessly, unstrapped his peg leg and hurled it at the nearest brick wall, only to feel it connect with his forehead, slamming into it as it bounced back. The recoil knocked him onto his back, and the first actual sob escaped him. He grabbed the wooden leg and turned, chucking it with such force that it flew a good portion down the alley before landing and coming to a complete stop. He let out a half-sob, half-howl of suffering before he half-heartedly rolled onto his side to face the dead end.

*X*

Angelica had froze at the end of the alley when she saw him attack the brick wall. She hadn't seen him like this since their younger years. And that time he'd nearly gotten himself found out by the Sisters of the Covenant. He'd left a hole in her wooden wall that she'd had to hide with a picture that had barely covered it. It had taken her quite some time to calm him down.

But she could tell that this was much worse, as he was attacking a brick wall rather than a wooden once. She could see the blood staining his shirt and dripping to the stone alley floor. She grew more worried as he didn't seem to care or notice.

She was briefly relieved when he stopped, but her heart cried out when she saw him sink to the ground. She could barely make out what sounded like a sob. Now this she had never seen before from him.

She took a few steps into the alley and picked up the peg-leg he had tossed away. She began to head over to him.

*X*

Jack heard what sounded like footsteps and gave a hoarse, weak snap. "What do ye want?"

The approaching individual didn't answer. The footsteps ceased right behind him and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He knew who it was almost immediately. Angelica. Why had she followed him? He didn't do anything to show that he reacted.

"Jack…" Angelica sounded heartbroken, shattered even, by how he was acting.

Jack suppressed a sob, trying to distract himself by grabbing a handful of gravel from a damaged spot of stone in his bloodied hand. He let it slide from his grasp and fall back to where he'd taken it. It was mostly silent, besides the sounds of the night.

"I'm fine." He growled, his voice purposely low and rough. He tried to repeat it, but his voice broke and he was forced to admit it. "I'm fi…who am I kiddin'?"

"I'm so sorry, mi amor." She murmured.

"This isn't how I wanted it to go." He said quietly, after a few moments of silence. "I didn't think we were goin' to win, but bloody hell- it was worse than I imagined. The Navy destroyed us- there's not much left aside from whatever lot decided to hole up in the Cove."

"They were going to do this anyway. You told me yourself when you asked me to join." She reminded him. "You didn't think we stood a chance."

"And we didn't." He added hoarsely, sitting up partially.

She reached out and took his head in her arms gently, pulling it to rest against her stomach. He didn't move, lost in his broken thoughts. He slowly began to relax, the remaining tears beginning to evaporate. The noises of horses snorting and crickets chirping became distant as he fell into some kind of a soothing daze. A hand cupping his cheek snapped him back to reality.

Jack looked up at Angelica and sighed with exhaustion, resting his left hand on her hand.

She gave him a fond, sympathetic smile before she spoke up. "We'll need to get back soon, Jack."

"Think they'll mind if I stay 'ere t'nite?" He asked quietly, in a way that showed he would stay there anyway. He really didn't feel like being fussed over for being a bloody mess. He could explain it in the morning.

The look in her eyes showed that she understood. She gave a warning look, which didn't last long as she mumbled in agreement. "As long as we're back before sunrise and they don't know."

"I can make that work." He told her, remembering back so many years as to how he'd had to be out of Angelica's room in the Covenant before sunrise each morning as to not be found out. How he missed those days, when he wasn't constantly mourning or looking over his shoulder.

He pulled himself off of her, moving back a few inches and resting his head on his elbow. She laid down opposite of him. The way they were positioned forced their eyes to lock. He could tell that something was bothering her. His curiosity got the better of him.

"Somethin' wrong, love?" Jack asked.

"I'd ask you the same." Angelica responded. "I haven't seen you like this in a long time, Jack."

"Which was when?" He asked, struggling to recall a moment of his anger getting the better of him through the memories of his various adventures.

"In the Covenant, when you put a hole in my wall." She answered.

"Oh." Now he remembered. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It is fine, Jack. They never found out." She assured him.

"Good." He muttered.

They lapsed into an awkward silence and he found himself examining his bruised, bloody right hand and forearm. He didn't really care about it that much, he was just trying to preoccupy himself for the moment. The sounds of the night started getting to him, and he felt himself gradually becoming drowsier and drowsier. He rested his right arm on the stone, holding it against his body as he struggled to keep his heavy eyelids from closing. They did, however, yet he did not fall asleep.

The sounds of something shifting startled him and he jumped slightly, though his eyes remained shut. The night breeze grew cooler and he could hear things, presumably flags, flapping. He heard more shifting and could feel warm air- someone's breath- against his skin. Angelica. He wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her tightly against him. She snuggled into his form and he relaxed, the tension completely leaving his muscles. His head rested against the stone and gravel as he finally lapsed into a dreamless sleep. A well needed, well deserved sleep.

*X*

Jack awoke to a hand teasing his beard. For a moment, he kept his eyes closed as he relinquished it. Then he finally opened his eyes and smirked at Angelica. She smiled back at him from where she was sitting up beside him. He glanced up at the still dark sky before sitting up too. He grabbed his peg leg from where it lay beside him and strapped it on, curious of how it got there. Angelica, probably.

"How long 'till sunrise?" He asked her, sleepily.

She shook her head. "I do not know. We should probably start going back, Jack."

He nodded. "Aye, probably."

She got to her feet and helped him up. He took a moment to stretch, his body stiff and sore from the events of earlier that night; those being the wolf attack, nearly falling off a cliff, and punching a brick wall.

They began walking back towards the way out of town. Even though he was weary, he scooped her up into his arms from behind, startling her. He gave a light chuckle at her gasp of surprise and held her close after adjusting her in his grasp to a more comfortable position. He felt her rest her head against his chest and wrap an arm around his neck. Her other hand gripped his shoulder.

As they left town, he glanced down at her and his lips made contact with hers. They pressed against each other slowly, softly, with equal force, but it drew into a quicker-paced, passionate make out session within moments. He tried to break the kiss for air, but she cupped the back of his head to keep it in place. She sucked on his bottom lip to enter his mouth and he obliged, their tongues each dancing around the other to explore the other's mouth.

Angelica released the back of his head and Jack finally broke the kiss, gasping in air. He saw her chest heaving too. He could also see the lust in her eyes as she clung to him. She leaned against his chest as he walked them along the trail, towards the Turners' house. He heard her breathing slow after a few minutes, chuckling to himself as he realized that she'd fallen asleep.

He reached the house not long later and carefully managed to climb up a tree, holding an arm around Angelica's waist tightly. He'd left his window open so he could easily slip inside. Thankfully, the tree was right by the window too. He climbed onto the outer part of the windowsill, carefully lying the woman on the floor inside before he climbed in after. He closed the window, latching it.

He picked her up in his arms once again and headed over to the closed door, opening it and walking over to her room. Thankfully no one was in the hallway; they were sleeping. Then he opened that door and gently rested her on her bed. He tucked her in under the covers, giving her a kiss on the forehead, before he left the room quietly, not forgetting to close the door.

Upon entering his room again and closing the door, Jack took off his shirt and laid it aside, examining the bite he'd received on his right forearm. Realizing it'd be easier to see with light, he lit the nearest candle and sat down at the desk. His breath caught in his throat for a moment as he took in the sight. The teeth marks were engraved deeply into his flesh, so deep he swore he could see the bone. Blood covered the whole area surrounding the marks, but the skin around it was yellow instead of its normal sunburned tan. He touched it as softly as physically possible and was slightly surprised that the skin felt so...mushy. He knew from experience that this was no ordinary wound.

Something certainly wasn't right about it.

Putting his shirt back on, Jack climbed into bed and let sleep take him. And then the nightmares came...