Disclaimer: I can, of course, claim no ownership to Barbossa or any other characters from POTC, but Scarlett is mine. And I intend to keep it that way, thank you very much.
The Debt To Be Repaid
Chapter Eight
Scarlett ran back down to the brig and into the first cell she could, slamming the door behind her. She hid in a corner and watched the door swing slowly open, as there was nothing to secure it in place. She leaned back swiftly, hitting her head against the wooden wall. She took hold of great clumps of her hair and attempted to pull it out, hissing at herself in frustration. "Stop it, just stop it!" she told herself. "Think of Charles, think of Father, think of anything but him."
But it was no use; every thought in her head led back to Barbossa somehow. Barbossa had attacked their fleet, possibly killing Charles and certainly killing her father. Even memories of her early childhood were filled with reminders of the pirate captain; sitting on his knee as a little girl when her family happened to come across him at some port or other, smiling brightly when he allowed her to try on his hat, playing with Jack the monkey while she waited for news from the physicians with her father and Hector, receiving the coin that garnered Charles' promise of marriage. Why did everything return to him?
Finally she broke down and cried, throwing herself against the floor with tears in her eyes. She didn't want any of this to be happening, and if she could go back and rewrite history, she would make him forget about the useless debt her father owed him. But she could not alter the past; no matter how greatly it pained her, she was trapped in the miserable present.
But perhaps, she thought to herself, sitting up and drying her eyes, the present did not have to be so miserable. She thought back to what her father had always told her, to try to make the best of a bad situation, that there was always some good in it if one looked hard enough. It would be difficult, as there seemed to be very little good in the situation to begin with, but then she remembered that at least she was still alive. She had new clothes and she was being fed, if only sparingly. Perhaps it wasn't so bad after all.
And it was with this thought in mind that she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, as the Caribbean sun poured through the small window in the brig, it illuminated a small part of Scarlett's left cheek. She was too deep in sleep to notice the warmth, but Captain Barbossa saw the flash of pale light as it danced across her flesh. He stood just on the other side of the door, not daring to enter the sanctum of her cell. Jack, however, had other ideas, and so he scurried through the door and over to the sleeping girl, crawling under her skirts. "Jack," Barbossa said, in a reprimanding tone, and the monkey crawled out again, looking mildly disappointed. The Captain only chuckled.
Suddenly she stirred, but did not wake, merely shifted in her sleep. He saw so much of her mother in that simple movement. Scarlett was very much like her mother, even if she had inherited all of her father's spunk and spirit. But it was truly in her hair, he supposed; Chelsea's hair had been that exact shade of red, but it had looked more beautiful against her porcelain skin that it did against Scarlett's tanned complexion. But it was beautiful nevertheless.
There were so many things he wanted to do to her, so many things he wanted to do with her, that he had never been able to do with her mother. But it seemed that both Chelsea and Scarlett were destined to have their hearts stolen by brunettes with blue eyes; Victor had looked that way, and so did Charles, if memory served him. He had seen Charles once; he was a handsome lad who could have had any woman he wanted, but of course he chose to chase the redhead.
And part of him couldn't blame Charles. Scarlett was certainly a fine thing, but not a woman to be taken lightly. She had already proved herself to be more trouble than she was probably worth, but she amused him, which was why he kept her around. That and the fact that she was still virginal, and she therefore made enticing prey. He could honestly say that he had never felt more alive than he did when he was around her, when he engaged in their complicated little mind games whose consequences were as yet unforeseen.
Though he wasn't sure why he was so remarkably kind to her...well, kind when one considered how he acted toward his crew. He was a man, and a pirate at that; he could take her any time he desired. Perhaps he felt guilty about killing her father and tearing her life away from her. Perhaps he had a penchant for delayed gratification. Perhaps it wasn't really about his carnal desires, but her sexual awakening. For some reason, he liked the idea of opening her eyes to an entirely new world of pain and pleasure, give and take. Whatever the reason, he enjoyed keeping her on her toes, always waiting for his next move. Not that she hadn't surprised him once or twice...but in truth, that really only made it more interesting.
A small smile crossed his lips, and he chuckled as he gave Jack a pat on the head. He spared her one last glance before exiting the brig, set on what he would show her next.
Scarlett woke some time later, and began to contemplate whether or not she should go up on deck. She had exhausted what few resources were available to her for entertainment, and she was getting rather hungry. Finally she decided to take a chance and go out among them; after all, it was day time, so she was in no danger of seeing any of them in their skeletal forms.
And there was Barbossa, standing once more at the ship's wheel. His monkey, however, was for once not on his shoulder, nor near him at all; the little beast chose instead to climb and play in the rigging. Part of her hoped it would lose its balance and fall off into the ocean, but for some reason that seemed highly unlikely to happen, so she continued to walk toward the Captain, banishing all thoughts of homicide.
He didn't seem to notice her at first, but she knew better than to believe that he would let her slip by without a word. When he did finally decide to look upon her, he grinned his grin and nodded slightly, saying, "Good day, missy. I trust ye slept well?"
"As well as one can on the floor of a cell," she replied.
"Well, now that yer awake, what can I do for ye?"
"I'm hungry."
The grin increased in size as he reached into one of his pockets. He pulled an item out, revealing it to be a bright green apple. "Apple?" he offered.
Scarlett glanced at the thing in disgust, but accepted it anyway. Then she mumbled, "You and your bloody apples," and made to throw the thing off the ship.
But Barbossa acted quickly, grabbing hold of her wrist before she could toss it. With one hand on the ship's wheel and the other on her, he said, "Waste not." He chuckled at her as she struggled to free herself. He released her after a moment, and she ran to the edge of the ship, determined to rid herself and him of just this one apple. But he wouldn't allow it, rushing over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her away from the edge the moment before she could hurl it into the sea. "Why do ye behave so badly?" he asked her, whispering the question in her ear. "I don't treat ye bad, do I?"
And this is where she realized her mistake. In many ways, he hadn't treated her badly at all; in fact, he'd been unusually hospitable. True, there had been one occasion where he'd tied her up and gagged her with an apple, but other than that he had proved to be a fairly charming host. Fortunately for both of them, he could read her well, and so he knew when to leave her be. But he didn't force her to do anything, he kept her well-fed, and he had even given her a new dress. In many respects, he was right to call her on her bad behavior. And she felt a fool for not seeing it earlier.
She stopped struggling, knowing that it would be futile anyway. She relaxed her body slightly and relinquished her grip on the apple, allowing it to fall to the wooden floor of the deck. "No," she answered.
"I've been quite hospitable, haven't I?" His hand moved from her wrist down to her waist, pressing her body against his as he gently bit down on her earlobe.
"Yes."
"Then I say it's about time ye return the favor." He released her unexpectedly, and she almost stumbled backward, as he'd clearly surprised her. "Run along to my cabin. I'll be joinin' ye in a few minutes."
Ooh, tonight it's a double header! I'm uploading this chapter and Chapter Nine of The Ties That Bind, my Star Fox story. If any of you are interested, I suggest you check it out (shameless self promotion, yeah!). The blood is the life, Sikerra.
