Rachel awoke with a start and it took her a moment to get her bearings. She was sitting behind a pile of boxes in the cargo hold of the Wicked Wench. She yawned and tried to stretch her aching and cramped muscles. She froze, halfway in a crouch, when she heard a scuffling noise. She peered behind the large container but it was too dark to see anything. The scuffle sounded again and this time she heard a man's voice. "Where is that damn box of rum? The Cap'n wants his rum and I don't know wheres it is." Before she had a moment to think the man was right in front of her. "'Ey! What're you doin' here. Have us a stowaway do we?" He grabbed her roughly and half dragged her across the floor and out of hiding. He was dirty and scrawny but his grip was quite strong. She grabbed her hat and held it tightly to her head as she struggled to break free. "Easy lad, I ain't gonna hurt you. That's the Cap'n's job," the man chuckled. Her eyes were wild with fright but she actually felt a measure of relief when the man said he was taking her to see the Captain. At least she could be certain that her secret was safe, for now. He pulled her to her feet and up onto the deck.

A moment later the man was pounding on the Captain's cabin door. They could hear someone muttering and then the door was jerked open by Captain Sparrow. "Aye! Where's me rum Rag— " he began but stopped when he saw Rachel. "Who's this?"

"Stowaway, Cap'n."

Rachel met his gaze. A flicker of recognition shone in his eyes but then he said, "Take 'im to the brig." He waved his hand dismissively. "I want me rum."

"I…" Rachel began but faltered. The two men stared at her. "I wish to join your crew Captain Sparrow."

"Have we met before son?" Jack asked, using a finger to tip her hat back off her face. She bit her lip, praying that he wouldn't remove it, thus giving her away.

"Yes, we have. In Port Royal."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned in so his face was inches from hers and suddenly she saw the realization hit him. He turned to her captor. "Bring us some rum. It seems I have some catching up to do with an old friend…" He escorted her into his cabin and closed the door behind them. Before a word was exchanged, he grabbed her hat and pulled it off her head and her brunette hair tumbled down her back. "You! What are you—I left you in Tortuga!"

"I'm sorry… I can't go back to Port Royal, Captain Sparrow." She found herself on the verge of tears and was angry. What had she done? She knew that Jack was a criminal but if Cutler found her now it was the hangman's noose for him and his death would be on her hands. He had tried to send her back to Lord Beckett after all.

Jack appeared thoroughly confused. "Can't go back? I thought you were marrying Beckett. Are you trying to get me killed?" He was angry now.

"That marriage is being forced upon me. I do not love him and I will not go back to live a life that is not mine!"

"Well, you bloody hell can't stay here!" Before Jack could say more there was a knock on the door. The man had returned with two bottles of rum. Jack shoved one bottle into her hand, opened the other, and drank half of it in one long gulp.

Disgusted, Rachel set her bottle of rum down and again tried to explain. "Perhaps I was rash into stowing away on your ship but I refuse to return to Cutler Beckett. My life in Port Royal is over now. I'm sorry to put you in danger—well more danger than you're already in—but I didn't know where else to go." Jack's expression softened, but only a little, so she continued, "I hadn't made up my mind until you left my sister and I in that horrible tavern in Tortuga. My father is a prominent merchant in Port Royal and does most of his business with the East India Trading Company. He offered me to Cutler in marriage as a business deal. Perhaps Cutler does love me, but my marriage will be no more than a matter of 'good business'. I refuse to allow that to be my life."

Jack scowled, hating the man even more than he already did. "You know those clothes don't really flatter you. It should be a dress or nothing and I happen to have no dress in my cabin."

Rachel was shocked. "Captain Sparrow! You certainly don't think that I returned to this ship for you, do you?"

Jack shrugged and offered her his bottle of rum. "Call me Jack, love. It seems we're going to be getting to know each other before I decide what to do with you."

Rachel took the bottle of rum. "Does that mean you're letting me stay?" He shrugged again. This time they both said nothing and she took a small taste of rum. She grimaced at the taste but took a bigger sip when she saw the amused look on Jack's face. If he was going to keep her around she had to prove to him she could fit in with the rest of the crew. Rachel sat down in the same chair she had sat in previously in the evening when she had been locked in the cabin with Katherine. It seemed like ages ago now. "Why did you turn to piracy?" She offered the rum back to him.

"Keep it," he said as he opened the other bottle. "I couldn't let him take my ship," he didn't meet her gaze and his focus was on the bottle of rum he held in his hand.

"I thought the Wench belonged to the EITC—" she began but closed her mouth when he met her eyes with a furious glare. She took another sip of rum, this time it went down a little more smoothly, and began again. "I'm not justifying Cutler's actions but it seems to me he relieved you of this ship because he thought it best for the Company." She was treading on thin ice here, for Jack looked ready to hurl his nearly full bottle of rum at her. She hastened to finish her argument, "If this all came about because of piracy then why would you turn to that life?"

To her surprise Jack smiled grimly. "Well you see love, I wasn't entirely truthful with Beckett." He hesitated to tell her more. She was a beautiful creature no denying it, but he wasn't caught up enough to let his guard down. After all, he'd seen too many a man meet his demise over a woman. How could he really know her reasons for being here? Her being on this ship alone put his life in jeopardy and he wasn't ready to trust her yet.

However, he didn't have to for she asked, "You were double dealing? Working under the guise of the EITC but dabbling in piracy?" She didn't know whether to be impressed or revolted. This man was far different than she imagined him to be but she was beginning to wonder if that was a bad thing. When Jack didn't immediately answer she took another swig of rum and she could feel his eyes watching her. In the course of one day her entire life had been turned upside down and now she was drinking rum with a pirate, hardly more than a stranger. "Jack, you have to let me stay now. I know too much," she meant it as a joke but neither one of them were smiling.