A/N: Okay, here we are with the tenth chapter. For the first time, I think, I've actually made it through to chapter eleven without the fic being finished yet! We're not close to the end yet, though closer than at the beginning (Sorry. 'ave read too much hobbit-riddle-langue lately!). I must warn you about this chapter, though. There's not much action in it, but there is a lot of thinking being done. I mean, feelings are expressed and stuff. Basically just Mary Sue stuff. Just so you know.

Oh, and just one more thing. I know they probably never would've said "drink our brains out" at the time of this story, but I couldn't help it. I added it anyway.

Dawnie-7 and Bonnie Pirate Lass, thank you for reviewing everything that I post. Love you guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any of the characters in it. Walt Disney Pictures does. I do own the Kelly family, Mary, Duncan, the Devil's Dispute, Dirty Rackham's Place, and everyone and everything else that is in this story but not in the movie.

Read and review!

Miss Sofie.

Chapter Ten – Too Much Rum, Too Little Company

That night they anchored the Pearl and the ship that had been Nosy Nick's right outside the port of a small town well-known among pirates. It was not Tortuga, but it was not bad. The Devil's Dispute, as Nosy Nick had named the ship, needed a fill of the hold and Jack, who hadn't tasted rum since Port Rewland, needed a night with plenty of his favorite liquid, and – if everything turned out right – he would have plenty of women as well.

He was in quite a good mood as they reached the town, and so he thought he'd bring his new friends to Dirty Rackham's place, a tavern that he had been to quite a few times before.

As he entered the galley he found Will and Matthew already enjoying them selves with plenty of rum. Matthew, however, was not at all as drunk as he had been two nights ago. The hangover had probably just worn off today anyway, Jack thought and chuckled to himself. He hadn't had a two days' hangover since he was 16, and he was not likely to ever have one again. He was too hardened for that nowadays.

"Are you coming to join us, Captain?" Matthew asked as he noticed Jack's presence.

"I'm coming to make you join me." Jack replied and took the bottle of rum that Will handed him. He took a big gulp of the strong alcohol before he continued. "We're going ashore. Tonight we'll drink our brains out and celebrate I have a new ship!"

Jack didn't tell them that he was more happy about the kids being safe than about getting a new ship. They'd just think the two young ones had made an impact on him. And of course they hadn't!

"We'll be right with you." Will said and tried to get up. He had obviously had too much rum already, and Jack grabbed his arm to help him stand upright.

"We'll see!" Jack said with a grin and left the galley. He wasn't sure whether they would make it up on deck or not. Right now their chances seemed rather slim.

---

"Come in!" Julia said as she heard the knock on the cabin door. She and Mary were talking, trying to take their thoughts off of Harriet not being well. Daniel was there too, but he was asleep.

"How is she?" Jack asked as he entered the cabin. "Any progress yet?"

"She looks a little less pale, but she hasn't been awake yet." Mary replied, but Jack wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Julia, who didn't understand why.

"I…ehm…I hope she'll get better soon." He said and cast a glance at Mary. "But right now it's time to go ashore."

"I feared that." Julia said and looked away. It was time to say goodbye, she knew that. Jack had promised to get her siblings back and then leave them at the nearest port.

"Feared? Why is that?" Jack asked with a puzzled frown.

"How are we supposed to travel with an unconscious girl? What if something happens and we're all alone with a long way to the next town?" Julia asked quietly.

"What do ye mean?" Jack asked still not getting it. "Why would you have to travel alone with her?"

"But you said you'd drop us off at the nearest port. Isn't that what you're intending to do?"

"Ah, now I know what you're talking about." Jack finally comprehended. "Well, that was then, and I had some plans of me own, but as there's no pressing matter at the moment, I think I'll take you back to Port Rewland. There's no need to move the girl as long as she's unconscious."

It was a load of Julia's mind to hear this, and she didn't care if the relief showed on her face. Captain Sparrow really did prove a more decent man than she had thought possible in the beginning.

"But what will we be doing in town, then?" Julia asked wanting to get home as fast as possible.

"We need to fill the hold of the Dispute. Ana Maria and her crew…" Jack thought about the sound of it for a while. It sounded good, as they were still under his command! "…need something to live on as well as we do."

"But what has that got to do with us?" Julia asked. This time she was the one not getting it. Mary didn't say a word. She rarely did when Jack was around.

"You'll be coming with me. Your brother and Will are coming too. I'll show my guests one of my favorite taverns. It's the…"

"Are you serious?" Julia exclaimed in disbelief. "Do you really mean to go drinking rum all night while my sister's unconscious and…"

"Don't you think it's time for me to have my way?" Jack asked only restraining from raising his voice to avoid waking up Daniel. "I am, after all, the captain of this ship. Don't you forget, Miss Kelly!" He warned pointing his index finger at the girl.

"But what happened to your wish about getting rid of me?" She asked next. She really couldn't follow his thoughts right now.

Jack looked to the ceiling and hesitated. He had wanted to get rid of her at the very moment he had said it, but no more than everybody else wanted to be freed from annoying people once in a while.

"That was yesterday." Jack finally replied locking Julia's eyes.

"And today? You can't stand the thought of leaving me behind?" The girl asked sarcastically, well-knowing that the pirate was close to boiling. She wasn't afraid of him anymore. He really wasn't that tough.

Jack breathed in deeply trying to cool down before he replied. "I just thought there was still hope for you." He said. "But now I see I was wrong!"

He turned around to leave in an angry manner just as Will and Matthew entered the cabin.

"She's your sister!" He mumbled to Matthew as he passed him in the doorway. "You try to bring her to her senses!"

"Why do you listen to her?" Matthew said after Jack as he left. "Why don't you just ignore her?"

Yeah, why didn't he?!

---

Matthew was quite a lot better at persuading his sister than Jack had been. He told Julia that there was nothing she could do as long as Harriet was unconscious anyway. Besides, both she and Mary needed to think of something else for a while. When Mary said that someone had to stay with the kids, and she didn't feel like going, Matthew told her that he felt like spending some time alone with Daniel anyway. Julia was quite sure he only said so to make her and Mary go with Will and Jack, but in the end he had persuaded them both, though Julia still wasn't sure what to think of it. And she had been able to almost avoid Will since Jack had told her about his attachment to Miss Swann, but she probably wouldn't be able to anymore, if they went to that tavern with him. It would be so awkward!

But they did go. Julia, Mary, Jack, Will, and most of Jack's crew. And Ana Maria's as well.

Jack noticed the two girls (counting Ana Maria as a man, as so many times before) walking very closely holding on to each other when entering the town. They were scared, and he found this very amusing. He hadn't noticed them being like this in Tortuga, but back then they had, of course, worried about the kids and not had time to worry about them selves.

Jack was still mad at Julia, but the more she amused him by looking scared, the more did he soften towards her. Oh, and Mary, of course, but he had never been mad at her so that was different.

Will tried to talk to the girls, but only Mary replied. It was the first time Jack had seen Will and Julia together since he had told Julia about Will's engagement (except for when they talked strategies, but Jack had been the only one to talk then). He hoped she wouldn't make a scene or something, though, when thinking about it, it would only cause more amusement. But right now she seemed too scared to make any sort of scene anyway.

Jack lead them into Dirty Rackham's place, which was actually not as dirty as it sounded, as it was owned by a girl, who used to be a pirate. How anyone who had been a pirate could ever give it up and take a job instead, or, like this girl, get her own place and hand rum onto the tables twenty-four-seven he did not understand. He would definitely not give up his profession for the world, not even now when he could afford not to do anything for the rest of his life. He would keep sailing till the day that he died!

"How d'ye like it?" Jack asked when they had settled by a table. Will and Duncan were sitting closest to the small windows on either side of the table. Jack was sitting next to Will with Julia in front of him, and at the end of the table he had placed a chair for Mary, who had been too diffident to take one from one of the other tables herself.

Mary had definitely never been to a place like this before, and neither had Julia, but the latter seemed to relax a bit more. She had definitely improved since Tortuga, though Jack was still not too satisfied with her. She was still too stuck-up!

As time went on and plenty of rum was consumed, everyone began talking a little louder and, in some cases, dirtier. Julia and Mary, of course, both had only one glass of rum before they refused to drink anything further. Jack rolled his eyes at them but otherwise didn't care. He was definitely not gonna sit languishing for rum, when there was plenty of it all around him.

He soon began to feel warm and comfortable as the alcohol overtook his mind and body. He had tried this so many times before that he knew that at a certain point he would start looking for female company for the night. That certain point had come without him noticing, and for a while he scanned the room for good-looking wenches.

Will said something that he didn't hear, which made Julia laugh. Jack looked at the girl, but to his big surprise she wasn't giggling flirtatiously at Will's remark. She was just having a good time, and she didn't even look at Will as if she was very fond of him. That was the first time, Jack believed, that he hadn't been able to trace that look on her face with Will around. There wasn't the slightest glimmer of Will Turner fondness in her eyes now… Her eyes… They seemed big and blank to Jack. Had she been drinking without him seeing it? She definitely hadn't had so pretty eyes when they had first entered the tavern.

He frowned at his own thoughts and got up to get a new bottle of rum. He had definitely had so much to drink that it was time to find some wench or another. While he waited for the rum, he looked around in search of someone again, but his eyes stopped at the very table he had been sitting at. The young ones were all enjoying them selves very much. What part of the conversation had he missed? They were laughing and smiling, and Julia's cheeks had turned a soft pink. It only made her look better.

Better than what? Jack thought trying to shake the thought off of him. Better than when he had first seen her. Actually, he thought walking back to the table, she was rather pretty. If only her looks hadn't had to suffer under being attached to a mind so stuck-up, he would've thought her almost beautiful.

She give a quick look at him when he sat down, and to Jack's big regret he wasn't able to return the look without a flicker of his eyes.

He poured himself another glass of rum and emptied it at once. His mind was far away from the conversation around the table, and he didn't notice that Duncan spoke to him.

"Jack, are you still here?" The young man said after a few attempts to get the bottle of rum from the captain.

"Yeah. Sure." Jack said and held on to the bottle.

"Well…? Can I have some more rum?"

Jack didn't react at once as he was trying to break the spell that had come over him when everyone, including Julia, had laid their eyes on him.

"Captain Sparrow think you've had enough already." Julia teased still looking at Jack. "Or maybe he just doesn't want to share."

"Oh, he does want to share." Jack said now holding Julia's gaze instead of being held by it. "But he's afraid you can't take another glass, Miss Kelly!"

"Oh, so you think that one glass will get me drunk?"

"Well, now that you put it that way…!"

"Pour me another glass!" Julia demanded with a twinkle in her eye and handed Jack her glass. Jack grasped the glass with his somewhat big and rough hand, not quite able to control his moves anymore, and accidentally laid it on Julia's hand before she let go of the glass.

She withdrew her hand immediately and when Jack looked up at her she was looking out the window, though nothing could be seen in the dark.

Jack poured her the rum wondering what had just happened there. Then he poured himself another glass before passing the bottle on to Duncan.

"Finally!" The young man said and continued listening to Will, obviously not noticing anything queer.

Jack knew it was probably just him being drunk, so he looked back at Julia. She, however, did not seem to be enjoying herself as much as just one minute ago.

---

Julia drank her second glass of rum though she didn't like it at all. She was confused. She needed to clear her mind. She knew very well that alcohol didn't clear the mind, but maybe just one glass would make her relax and see things differently. It didn't help, though. She was still confused after her second glass. Perhaps even more than before.

Jack had touched her hand when she had handed him her glass. She knew it hadn't been on purpose, and there was nothing odd about him doing so. What confused her was her own reaction to the touch. She felt warm and disgusted at the same time. She wasn't sure which of the two feelings was caused by the feeling of Jack's hand on hers, but she knew they had both arisen at that time. But of course she would feel warm because of the amount (though small) of rum she had already consumed, and a touch of a warm hand of course made that feeling stronger. So disgust had to be what she felt about it, she stated, and after a while she started listening to the conversations again.

Will and Duncan seemed to have become quite good friends. Duncan was a nice guy and Will wasn't as bad as Julia had thought right after Jack had told her about the young man's engagement to Miss Swann. She noticed now that Will never let her believe that he felt anything for her, and he probably never had let her believe so. Whatever could be said about the pirate captain, she appreciated very much that he had told her about Will and Miss Swann. The pirate captain… Julia looked at Jack, who was trying to get Mary to talk to him. He sent her a quick look and a smile, but then he concentrated on Mary again. Was he trying to flirt with her? Julia couldn't help but laugh inside as she knew Mary would never flirt back with a pirate. Least of all this one.

However, Jack kept trying to flirt with her. It even seemed as if he made a pass at her, and after a while it began to disgust Julia. Just like his touch had done. It was so unappealing to her that she didn't like watching, especially when Jack, after a long while, finally got Mary to talk to him and even giggle once in a while.

That was when Julia announced that she'd be going back to the ship.

Mary, of course, came with her.

---

Jack left the tavern much later than the others. He had stayed to have some more rum, but in the end he had been thrown out, as they were closing. He was the last costumer, and he felt very alone. For the first time in years he'd be sleeping at the Pearl after a night in town with plenty of rum. It had never happened to him before, but he hadn't been able to find a woman that he wanted to spend the night with. Oh well, he had tried to flirt with Mary, but he hadn't been serious anyway. And just when his impact on women had finally began to show, Julia had told Mary to come with her. Okay, so maybe she hadn't told her to. She had wanted to come, but still. That stupid Kelly-girl seemed to spoil all the fun. She had even kept him from finding company for the night.

Jack reached the harbor and got into the small boat that he was supposed to row back to the Pearl. He just needed to sit still for a while before he started rowing. He hid his face in his hands and felt like the boat was capsizing. When he removed his hands he saw that it was floating calmly in the harbor, still tied to the jetty. He hadn't been this drunk in ages, and right now he just needed to lie down.

With his head under the plank that was meant for a seat he fell asleep in the bottom of the boat, not turning up on the Pearl until late in the morning on the following day.

A/N: Personally, I would have thrown meself at Jack before he got too drunk to find a girl, but, unfortunately, I'm not Julia. Stupid, stupid girl!

Review! Please review?! (Trying to sound like Jack. Not succeeding!)