Thanks so much for all of the reviews! I truly appreciate it. :)

Chapter 5

I woke up. All too soon to.

I'm not saying that it isn't pleasant to wake up in a fluffy bed with maids swarming around. I mean it's pretty sweet actually. But I felt sufficiently groggy, meaning I had no idea how much time had passed since my fainting fiasco. See I have never actually fainted before in my life. I always assumed that only the damsels in distress fainted. And contrary to the impression Port Royal seems to be getting, I am not a damsel in distress. I never fainted or had my life threatened until I came to Port Royal. This place is cursed.

Or maybe, I'm cursed.

"What day is it?"

Molly, one of the many maids, gave me a sympathetic look and said, "It's the same day as it was when you fainted Miss. Just later at night. Almost time for you to turn in actually. Terribly awful what happened to you with that pirate. I'm guessing it's the shock that did you in."

"Actually, I think it was the corset."

Another sympathetic look. "If you say so Miss."

"I am not a damsel in distress!"

Um, that may have come out sounding a bit like a violent outburst. Which really isn't like me due to my people pleasing issues. Needless to say, Molly looked a little scared.

I quickly tried to backtrack. "You see it's just that ever since I've come here it's been mess after mess. And I'm generally pretty well put together. Except when I'm not. And it's kind on distressing to always be in some situation where I'm fainting or being threatened by a pirate."

Molly smiled politely while giving me a 'you're slightly off your rocker' look. Hm. I figured bringing up Jack again would grab her interest.

"I'm just so shocked by what happened."

If that wasn't a bunch of crap then I don't know what is. I'd known all month what was going to happen. Sort of.

She immediately shot forward. Apparently the gossip monger was now ready to talk to the Governor's crazy niece.

"Why yes Miss! Everyone has been talking about how you were threatened by that pirate."

"Yes," I said adapting a somewhat faraway tone to my voice. "It was pretty scary. Did they catch him by any chance?"

Molly nodded vigorously. "Caught him down at the Blacksmith's shop. They found him knocked out and the Commodore led him off to the jail. Great man that Commodore is."

"Yup. Great guy."

Her eyes took on a much sharper look then the normal lightheaded one I was used to her having. "Yes, the Commodore proposed to Miss Swann. Did you know?"

Awkward much? "Yeah, I did."

"Really?" She sounded surprised. "How would you know? Did he tell you before he asked?"

This was almost as bad as my grandmother interrogating me about every detail of my life; love life included. Both Molly and my grandmother would be sorely disappointed though.

"Uh. Could you turn off the lamps. I'd like to go to bed."

The disappointment was evident on her face and I couldn't help but feel she would be back to get me later. Creepy.

"Of course Miss."

As I lay in bed contemplating the day, my mind kept wandering back to a certain pirate. I didn't even mean for it to happen. I'd be thinking about something perfectly innocuous like flowers and then out of nowhere Captain Jack Sparrow would step on the flowers and then slide a finger down my cheek. Stupid bastard. What if I really liked flowers, huh? And he was spoiling my thoughts about them. Will was now officially my favorite guy ever.

I had just fallen asleep (maybe) when suddenly I was being shaken awake.

A frantic Elizabeth looked down at me and shouted, "Rebecca! Wake up you clod! A canon ball was just fired into the house and you slept through it! Wake up right now! I have no intention of letting you die."

I moaned and rolled out the lovely bed. I landed on the floor with a very loud thump.

"Get up!"

Elizabeth dragged me to my feet and before I could trip again we were running. We sprinted down the stairs. It was exhilarating to say the least. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as we ran across hall just as the chandelier crashed down behind us. We got into the hiding room and Elizabeth swiftly locked the doors.

"What are we going to do?" She exclaimed panicking.

"Calm down!" I said grabbing her hand. It was a totally friendly gesture. Only she squealed loudly and I realized that in my fear I had put a death grip on her relatively delicate hands. I let go quickly. "You are going to go hide in that closet and when the one-eyed pirate and the creepy one open the door you will shout 'Parler'. I am going to go find Will, in a desperate attempt to stop this before it starts. Got it?"

"We can fight them!" Elizabeth exclaimed running towards the swords over the mantle.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't even try. They're just for show. Besides I'd wind up killing both of us if I tried to fight."

Ignoring me, Elizabeth grabbed at the swords. In the midst of my panic and confusion I was rewarded with the comical sight of Elizabeth trying to undo the swords. So, she wasn't perfect enough to do everything now was she. Ha.

Elizabeth ran back to me. I blinked at her cautiously and suddenly felt my stomach knot painfully. Was it because I missed dinner or because despite my flares of jealousy I really did like her and would miss her when she was gone? Well. I'm not exactly one to spend loads of time analyzing and deciphering my feelings so I pulled her into a tight hug and ran for the window. I heard the closet door click and not being to help myself I flipped over the edge of the rug that she slid on. I was then scaling down the side of the house with the use of a few well-placed bushes and drops. I then proceeded to run as fast as I could down to where all of the really wild stuff was taking place.

It was probably not one of my finer ideas. Running into the lion's den, I mean. I could have had a nice time on the ship with Elizabeth but I was thoroughly expendable and Barbossa probably didn't have two pretty dresses. I would be the one who got stuck dining with the crew naked. Sweet. I say that sarcastically.

"My god Will where are you?"

I have a tendency of talking to myself when I panic or get nervous. It lands me in severely awkward situations sometimes. Like when my principal Sister Mercedes (evil nun) caught me doing it in the hallway. I received her classic cold 'oh you teenagers amuse me so' glare. That was hands down one of the most frightening experiences ever.

I continued searching for Will while narrowly avoiding sharp objects and death around every corner. And I'm only exaggerating a smidgen when I say that. Thankfully, Fate cut me a break and just as something heavy shot by my head I saw Will.

"WILL!" I screamed loudly.

And just as he turned around someone grabbed me. I must have "Damsel in Distress. Come after me!" emblazoned on my forehead. Because the person who grabbed me was none other then one of Barbossa's scary and disgustingly dirty crew members. This was such a cliché. I get trapped in POTC and someone drags me off to hurt me. The first flicker of fear disappeared when I realized that like in all the stories Will would come dashing to my rescue and take me away with my honor intact. My extreme panic picked up again though when the alley started getting darker and longer. Around the point that the scary pirate pushed me against the bricks, I realized Will might not be coming to my rescue. The other pirate had probably knocked him out.

"Why 'ello sweet."

"Close your eyes and pretend I'm hurting you."

I rolled my eyes and said, "Oh come on Sam. When am I ever going to need this."

Sam's blue eyes narrowed and he said condescendingly, "Becca you are a girl. You aren't an ugly girl. Boys like girls. Some guys are creeps and you're my only sister."

If he hadn't been such an ass during his speech I might have melted a little on the inside.

"Are we at an agreement?" I nodded grudgingly. "Alright. The place to go for is the balls. That hurts like hell when you get smacked there. Trust me. You need to slam your knee upward as hard as you can. To break someone's ears cup your hands and then clap them over their ears at the same time. Other than that get as close as you can and kick and gouge and scream like hell. Got it?"

I gave him a wry smile and made a move to knee him. He flinched back quickly and I let out an amused chuckle (cackle…).

He rolled his eyes at me. "Ok so you get it now."

Had that previous conversation never happened I would have never damaged my brother's hot friend John in his lower region or escaped the pirate. However, John had grabbed from behind when I thought I was home alone making eggs. He got a spatula to the face and a knee to the groin. John wouldn't talk to me for days. But going back to the pirate situation, I kneed him in the balls by reflex and when he doubled over in pain I took of running. Which is something I seem to be doing a lot of. And I don't even like running. It's one of those things that registers in my mind as bad. I continued running while trying to avoid the gunshots and tune out the screaming. Before I actually realized where I was going, I came upon the door to the fort where I knew the Commodore and Governor were. I slammed on the door and a frightened officer opened and pulled me inside.

"Rebecca?"

I spun around to see the Commodore looking at me with a horrified expression.

"What in the world are you doing out here? The city has been overrun with pirates. You should be safe in the Governor's house."

Feeling slightly indignant, I snapped, "No offense. But it's not really that safe." And then it hit. "Oh my God. Elizabeth."

The Commodore came closer. "What happened to Elizabeth."

The horror and shock of what had happened over the course of the last hour or so started to sink in. I slid down to the ground and shoved my head between my legs and started breathing hard.

The Commodore knelt beside and demanded, "What happened?"

"I just had to run. And Elizabeth. They have to have her now. And I had to get here. Oh my God."

"They have Elizabeth?" He sounded drained and tired. But then he froze. "Rebecca what happened to your nightgown?"

I blinked and looked down at it. It was dirty and smeared with the blood that had probably been all over the pirate. There was also a large rip down the sleeve.

Um. Shit?

"What happened Rebecca?" He sounded almost pleading. Which was way out of character. "Please tell me what happened."

"It's really ok!" I exclaimed pulling away from him. "Seriously it's fine. I got away easily. Someone just grabbed at me."

The Commodore's jaw tightened and his eyes shut. I suddenly felt bad. I'd never considered him much of anything then a nice enough (though very awkward) guy to be around. But he obviously cared about my well being. Probably due to the fact that he was marrying the girl who isn't really my cousin.

"Commodore," I said softly. I touched his arm and his eyes snapped to me. "I'm fine ok. Tired and little shocked. But everything will work out."

He continued to look away from me. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe Elizabeth was right. If maybe he did like me. He obviously liked Elizabeth more due to the proposal but maybe he was attracted to me. I wasn't attracted to him like that but he looked so sad and I felt myself go all gooey inside. I'm an awful closet sap and I wasn't used to guys maybe liking me. Having three brothers can do that. But the Commodore wasn't an evil gross guy like Captain Jack Sparrow. He was nice and now he was sad because I'm an idiot whose choices lead to impending doom.

"James," I whispered taking his hands in mine. "It will be fine."

His eyes snapped open and he grasped my hand tightly. We locked eyes and he stared at me intently. And then because my life is always looking for a way to make matters worse, someone cleared their throat. We both turned to see an officer with raised eyebrows watching us.

"Commodore the Governor wishes to speak to you."

"Yes of course Gilette." The Commodore replied straightening. "Gilette please lead Rebecca to Miss Lovett."

"She's here?"

The Commodore smiled slightly at me. "She arrived awhile earlier. She's quite a force to handle."

He proffered a hand to help me up. "Don't I know it. Thank you Commodore."

"James."

I blinked. "James."

He walked off and I turned to Gilette who was watching me with a shrewd and bemused expression. Perhaps the encounter between the Commodore and I could be construed as mildly suspicious. He kept glancing at me on the way to the room and I could feel myself getting more and more pissed off. Stupid judging tard.

"He's practically engaged. So stop with the judging looks."

"Yes," Gilette said slowly. "Practically."

By tomorrow I will be known as the tart of Port Royal.

My god. I am a damsel in distress! Why do I fail?

Why me? Why?