Warning: There are sexual references in this chapter. Nothing graphic, but they're there. This story does have an M rating anyway, but I thought I'd let you all know.

CHAPTER NINE: The Past and The Future

"Quién es usted?" The young girl cried in alarm, seizing her blanket and pulling it up to her chin, brown eyes wide in shock, "Qué haces?"

"Sorry?" Jack said, not speaking a word of Spanish beyond 'hola'.

"Who are you?" She repeated in English, "What are you doing? Why are you in my room?"

"Me? I'm uh… I wanted to get a little closer to God." Jack answered quickly, spotting a large Crucifix hanging on the wall above her bed. He had believed he was visiting a brothel, as a local had referred to a house full of girls. What he had found, in actuality, was a convent. The young girl took in his appearance slowly.

"Are you…a pirate?"

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?" Jack introduced himself absently. The girl's dark hair was shiny and her olive skin was clear and soft-looking. With those big, doe eyes, she was beautiful and more enticing than any woman had any right to be, appearing so innocent and yet with so much potential to not be innocent… She had dropped her sheet and slowly got out of bed, looking wary. She was wearing a long, loose white nightgown that gave nothing away. She was about a head shorter than Jack, and was slender.

"You have not told me the real reason you are here." She whispered.

"I told ya." Jack responded smartly.

"No, you are not here to be close to God…"

"Well, alright, I lied. But the real reason… that's classified information. What are you doin' here, love?" He had decided to charm his way out of this situation rather than alarm the girl and have her running for the nuns.

"I live here… I have lived here for as long as I recall." She replied, but then there was a sudden noise outside the room. Both froze and the girl pressed her finger to her lips, warningly. After a moment, they heard another noise further away and both breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn't been caught.

"What's your name?" Jack asked her quietly, stepping a little closer, feeling that the moment he must leave was imminent.

"Angelica." She whispered back, and Jack thought it suited her. "Jack, we must get you out of here, quickly. If the nuns catch a man in my room…" She seized his hand and began to pull him towards the door. In silence, they crept through dark passages and hallways until they had reached the front gate outside. There was a small orchard in the grounds, and Jack looked towards it as Angelica let go of his hand. He felt a pang as she made to turn away and go back inside, but he grabbed her arm on a whim, pulling her around. He couldn't let her walk away.

"Angelica… can you meet me here, in that orchard, tomorrow night?" He begged huskily. She blinked and slowly smiled. She stepped towards him, tiptoeing, tentatively kissed his lips. It was her first kiss, ever, and she could be thrown out of the convent if anyone ever found out about it. Jack's lips felt hot as she parted from him. He stared down at her, feeling as if he'd been winded.

"I will be there." She answered him.

Jack had been muttering in his sleep so much that it woke Katie up even though she had promised herself a lie in as now that they had a crew she and Jack did not need to rise so early to sail. She turned to look at him. Despite his muttering, he was sleeping peacefully. What disconcerted her was the fact he kept saying the same thing over and over: "Angelica… Angelica… Angelica…"

If Katie had believed that Jack was moving on from that woman, evidently she'd been wrong. Sighing, she got out of bed, pulled on her boots, and headed out onto the deck. Gibbs was at the helm, squinting into the bright, clear early morning sun. At that moment, Katie wished she could have the steady, calm, dependable company of Teague.

"Did ye sleep well, Katie?" Gibbs asked her politely.

"Not so badly." She replied.

"Captain not awake yet?"

"No." Gibbs watched her out of the corner of his eye; she looked as if her mind was quite elsewhere. It was strange, to him, that Jack was now married (or at least, that was what he believed). It had come suddenly. Just the last time Gibbs had seen him, he'd been refusing to even acknowledge he had feelings and now suddenly he was in love with a brand new woman of mysterious origin. Katie was pretty enough, for sure, but it still seemed as if it didn't quite fit to Gibbs. Katie and Jack had both discussed this when they had returned on board the ship from Tortuga; Gibbs would take more convincing than others. Jack had not mentioned that this was because Gibbs knew only too well about his recent 'stirrings' for Angelica.

"It'll be a few weeks 'til we reach Shipwreck Island. I only hope our journey not be difficult." Gibbs said, to fill the silence.

"The seas have been quite free of trouble recently," said Katie thoughtfully.

"Aye, since Calypso was freed the East India Trading Company and Navy haven't been able to chase us as much. Still, ye can never have too many eyes out." Katie nodded and drifted away to the edge of the ship, wishing she were still back on the beach at Tortuga and not on The Black Pearl among strangers. She had become used to the crew on the Troubadour, besides which now that she was beyond the initial excitement of being a pirate she was concerned with living day to day, and for the foreseeable future she would be living a lie- the lie that she was married to Jack, married to a man so clearly obsessed with another woman. As if he'd heard her thoughts, Jack burst out from his cabin at that moment, bouncing as he walked and clearly in an excellent mood.

"Just what I like to see- the open sea and possibilities unlimited! And my ship fully crewed so I don't 'ave to do anything!" He added loudly. Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Where's me wife? There's me wife!" Jack approached Katie from behind and wrapped his arm around her waist, squeezing her to him and kissing her on the cheek. Katie stiffened against him at the contact, though didn't say anything. She was annoyed that he had gone from dreaming about Angelica to being affectionate with her. This was exactly the type of problem she had foreseen!

"What's wrong with you?" He asked her more quietly.

"Nothing." Katie lied staunchly. Jack raised his eyebrows, not believing her. His arm was still around her waist.

"You 'ave to be more convincing than this." He muttered.

"Nothing's wrong." She said again, extracting her arm from where it was trapped against Jack's body and wrapping it around him in turn. "What reason do you have for being so cheerful?"

"Dunno. The fresh sea air, I s'pose." Jack replied, letting go of her at last. Katie rolled her eyes just like Gibbs had done before her, but managed to pass it off as coming from endearment rather than a sarcastic gesture. She would have to begin preparing the day's food, so was glad to have a reason to leave Jack's side. She thought of Moss as she entered the Black Pearl's kitchen. It was smaller than the one on the Troubadour, but she wouldn't be disturbed often. Now that some time had passed, she of course realised that Moss had only been trying to comfort her that day on the Troubadour. He had been raised a gentleman and wouldn't dream of hurting her; and besides, he was her friend, and had been good to her the entire voyage. Katie had definitely over-reacted, but it had been out of her control. She couldn't have helped having that panic attack, and if she'd had any power over that she would never have had it.

But the fact Moss was a gentleman was exactly the problem: gentlemen were refined in their ways, but that sometimes meant they were sly. They could dress their actions up as honourable or righteous. When she had talked to Jack about this, however cryptically, she had neglected to mention one thing: when Jack, or men like Jack, touched her, she knew what was coming and what to expect. They didn't sugar coat their actions… Angrily, Katie slammed the large pot of water onto the fire and sprinkled salt into it as it slowly began to heat up. She shouldn't be thinking about any of this. Instinctively, she reached down to her breeches, which she had donned this morning instead of her dress once more, and ran her hand over the handle of Teague's pistol in her belt. Once, Jack had passingly mentioned that "you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest". It was true, after all, and as reassuring as the weapon she possessed.

Out on the deck, Jack had taken the helm and his First Mate was beside him, studying his Captain and friends' facial expressions closely, despite the fact Jack was still inexplicably merry. "What are you gonna propose the Brethren Court do?" Gibbs questioned Jack.

"Blow Angelica to smithereens, what else mate?" Jack answered with a smirk. Gibbs gave him a sceptical face in response. "Teague wants Calypso bound anew- says it's the only way to ensure she won't seize the opportunity to fight us through Angelica."

"Seems logical." Gibbs grunted.

"Won't be easy though, mate, and I'm not sure I miss Tia Dalma enough to want her back- she'll probably turn us all into toads."

"Maybe that's true but it'll be worse with Angelica havin' the Goddess o' the sea on her side." Gibbs reasoned. "Speakin' of which…" He shifted slightly awkwardly, but nonetheless planted his stout form firmly in Jack's line of vision so he couldn't evade the question to follow: "Are ye quite sure your stirrings'll be under control when we finally track down that woman?"

"Stirrings?" Jack yelped, then hastened to cover up his reaction: "That's ancient history, Gibbs. I 'ave a wife now, don't I?" Gibbs raised one eyebrow.

"I never thought that'd stop ye."

"Well, it will. Katie is worth a thousand Angelica's. In case ye haven't heard, Katie near enough saved me life after I was shot- an' more often than not, if I'm being shot at its Angelica doin' the shooting." This was undoubtedly true.

"You really care about that girl?" Gibbs indicated with his thumb the door of the kitchen, where Katie had gone to. Jack glanced in its direction, remembering the fact that in sharp contrast to himself, Katie had been in a very spiky mood this morning.

"I love 'er mate." Jack answered simply. Hearing the words come out of Jack's mouth put paid to Gibbs' retort- at heart, he was a romantic and didn't believe anyone could really lie about love. But that wasn't to say he entirely believed Jack and Katie just yet.

The rest of the day passed pleasantly with Jack in such a good mood, and the new crew were already growing to like their captain. Katie was the only one who was not cheerful, but she spent almost the entire time inside the kitchen. Jack opted not to disturb her, though privately he was facing the night to come with some trepidation because he'd have to see her, like it or not, in a bad mood. Katie was apparently dreading the encounter too, because she stayed up as late as she could without attracting too much attention to herself. She hoped Jack would be asleep or at least drunk by the time she made it to bed so that she could simply go to sleep without having to speak to him, but she had no such luck. She walked into the cabin to find Jack sitting on top of the covers, a bottle of wine in his hand, looking expectant.

Katie stared at him for several seconds before deciding she didn't care for this at all and made to turn around and walk straight back out, but Jack called to her:

"Oi! Don't even think about it." Katie sighed. She could still walk away but she had a notion he would follow her and if she had to have this conversation she'd rather it wasn't in front of curious crewmates. Resigned, she turned around to face him, arms crossed over her chest. "What's been wrong with you today, Katie? Answer me." He was using his captain's voice on her, the one which made it clear she had to answer. She opened her mouth, but then something stepped in: she didn't have to answer truthfully. Strangely, it'd never occurred to her to really lie to Jack, but thinking about him muttering Angelica's name in his sleep made her angry; angry and eager to wound.

"I suppose I'm homesick." She said sadly, drifting over to the bed and sitting at the edge, her back to him. "Being in Tortuga reminded me of what it's like to have the bustle of a town surround me…"

"I thought it was a pirate's life for you, eh?" Jack asked softly, offering her the bottle of wine. She took it, uncorked it, and drank a long draught. Jack privately had to admit he was coloured impressed by her drinking prowess nowadays compared to when he had first met her and she wouldn't touch even a drop of rum. But Katie liked wine; he'd known that when he'd purchased some crates of it for her in Tortuga, something none of the crew knew about.

"Do you never get homesick, Jack?"

"The Black Pearl is my home." He replied simply. "But Katie, please spare me the spectacle of you tryin' to lie to old Jack. It don't wash with me, savvy?" She was glad then that she was facing away from Jack because she had turned red; how had he known? Katie debated for a moment persisting with the lie, but then surrendered. Kicking off her boots, she scooted up beside him on the bed instead, permitting him to place his arm around her shoulders. She continued to drink from the wine bottle. Jack waited, but Katie didn't speak; she merely drank. "Alright. If you don't wanna talk about it." He said, finally. Relieved, Katie offered him the wine and he took the bottle, surprised to find it was already almost half-empty.

In her rapidly increasing state of tipsiness, Katie allowed her mind to stray into territory she usually didn't allow it to go to. The truth was, she knew she had feelings for Jack. That was why she couldn't stand the thought of him still being in love with Angelica, however much he denied it. This particular resentment had gone from being that of a friend indignant on Jack's behalf to something else. She knew him so well now, probably better than anybody else. She travelled with him everywhere, she talked to him, she slept in his bed, but he still wouldn't forget Angelica! And she knew no way of making him do so, either, except…

Several bottles of wine later (mostly drunk by Jack, though a considerable amount was consumed by Katie too), the pair were beneath the covers, singing at the top of their lungs in the direction of the ceiling of the cabin. Laughing raucously, Katie leant up on one elbow, with another hand on Jack's chest. The world span for a second before her vision straightened out and Jack laughed harder as he saw her attempt to focus.

"What're you tryin' to do, love?" He slurred. She had sat up further still. Clumsily, she straddled his lap, making his dark eyes widen in surprise. "Katie…" Jack's hands automatically went to her hips, though neither of them moved. She was positioned almost exactly on top of his goods, and he was hard. The truth was, lying in bed each night with a beautiful girl, he often was, but he ignored those feelings. "Katie, you don't wanna be doin' this."

"Doing what?" She asked innocently. The truth was, she didn't know much about the birds and the bees, and what she did know had been gleaned from eavesdropping on matron's conversations and the suggestions she heard prostitutes in Tortuga call out to clients. Her cheeks flushed a little bit as she thought about this, and Jack watched the blush spread. He had to make his point; he thrust his hips gently against her. The response was involuntary- she half gasped, half moaned, her eyes closing. He did it again, and she reacted the same way. On the third thrust, she moved against him and the friction drew a grunt from him, too. It had been an awfully long time…

"Katie." He held her still, forcing himself to stop. "Katie, if we carry on like this, I'll give you a baby." She bit her lip, surprised at his bluntness. "I… wouldn't be able to stop meself."

"Jack…" Her voice was husky. He gently manoeuvred her off of him, depositing her onto her half of the bed.

"You've had a lot to drink," He told both Katie and himself, "This isn't… you'd hate me in the morning." Katie's face changed and she dived beneath the covers again, hiding it before he could identify what it meant. However, her shaking body and uneven breathing gave her away. "Are you… crying?" He asked. She didn't answer, just tried to burrow deeper into the bed. He placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Katie, please don't… I'm useless at this kind of…"

"You don't want me," She said, so quietly between sobs that he hardly heard her, "I'm so stupid…" Jack was perplexed.

"What?"

"Oh…" Katie shuddered, "N-nothing! I just… I wanted you to… to forget about her! But you dreamt of her and you were s-so happy!" Jack frowned. He didn't recall dreaming about Angelica but he knew he sometimes spoke in his sleep. He heaved a deep sigh. Katie cried even harder, because now Jack surely knew how she felt and he would run a mile!

"You were tryin' to make me forget her… you were willing to do… that… to make me feel better?" Her horror vanished when Jack said this; somehow, he had convoluted her actions as some kind of sacrifice to help her friend. On the one hand, she didn't know how a man could be so stupid, but on the other she was relieved that she had not blown her cover.

"Well," She swallowed, slowly turning back to look at him. "I never really thought you'd actually go the whole… way. Not with me." This was at least partially true.

"No wonder you were crying… what if I had, eh?" Jack gave her a ghost of a smile. Katie just blinked at him.

"Yes…" She said, although she didn't fully understand what she was agreeing to. She was still rather drunk.

"Don't make a habit of that cryin', though, or I'll make ye walk the plank." Jack warned her and Katie managed a confused smile. As she went to sleep shortly after, Jack was pondering his decision to stop Katie in her tracks: would she have really gone through with it all? It explained why she had been so withdrawn all day; she had been planning this and was nervous. It also explained the excessive alcohol intake. But why had he turned her down? Captain Jack Sparrow had never in his life turned an attractive young woman down before. He supposed it was because he knew she was a virgin. He supposed it was because he knew she had a troubled past, even if he didn't know what'd really happened. He supposed he didn't want her, though his body told him otherwise.

It would be some time before the true answer would come to him. But neither of them had any idea how much the events of that night were going to change things between them.

A/N: So at the end of a long, wild chapter, I'd love to know what you all think of these developments! I hope I didn't push things too far, but at the same time that I pushed them far enough for it to be interesting! The next chapter they're going to arrive at Shipwreck Island and shizzle is going to go down, FYI. So lot's of juicy plot coming. Stay tuned! Oh, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited this story so far- it means the world!