Oh.My.Goodness. I am in shock and awe at you, my readers! How is it that I've deserved so many reviews? Seriously! 205 reviews for one story is something I couldn't even dream of! Let alone being on 3 C2's and being on so many favorites lists! You all are my world. I am forever grateful that you have put in the effort to give me your words.
Now I'm gonna stop kissing ass and get on with the story!
"Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet?"
Bob Dylan – Visions of Johanna
---
A veil of dark hair hangs over the edge of the bed; the owner of the long locks groaning quietly. The body of a buxom young woman sits up, stretching her arms over her head with a sigh. The light of the early morning sunrise creates a glow upon her tawny skinned back, the slight warmth of it slightly comforting against the woman's tense muscles. A knock on the door causes her to jump and lift a sheet up to cover her chest.
"Yes?" She calls, tucking some hair behind her ear. The door opens to reveal a robust Latina, her pudgy brown hands on her wide hips.
"What are you still doing in bed, Janetta?" She asks coldly, "Your boat is leaving in two turns, so you'd best get moving."
Janetta nods and waits until Marciana closes the door to her room before getting out of bed and crossing the room to her clothing chest, opening the lid and removing a black shift and dress, tying her hair up after dressing herself. Grabbing and storing everything she needs in a canvas bag, Janetta leaves her room and walks down the stairs to the main room of the tavern where Marciana awaits, holding a small pouch of gold pieces, sending the young woman out the door with them but without any goodbye. With a grin, Janetta makes her way down to the docks, her eyes vivacious when she sees the ship that will take her to Spain.
--
"How close are we, Gibbs?" Jack asks casually, despite the conflict they are headed for. Gibbs hands his Captain command of the helm, massaging his weary eyes.
"Three days, Cap'n. We'll be docking in Llançà by this time Friday."
Jack nods, dismissing his first mate, allowing him to go to the galley. Jack flicks open his compass and closes it again, staring out at the pale blue horizon. He repeats the action habitually.
It has been a month since Jack's confession to Sadie. The young woman steadily is becoming more and more extroverted, spending more time out on deck more often than not. Jack finally came to terms with her friendship with Codney, although instead of taking the jealousy approach, he tries more often the 'this belongs to me,' method. If the two of them ever get too close, the perpetrator being Peter of course, Jack moves from the helm and calls Sadie behind the stairs to 'ask her a question' or 'go over a map drawing,' when in all actuality, he just pulls her into the shadows and reminds her of the events that would happen later that night. Sure it maddens Peter, but Jack at least gets his fun out of it.
Jack leans against the helm, his arms between the spokes of the wheel. With heavy eyes he scans the deck, speculating the quality of his ship that morning. Glancing up and shielding his eyes from the sun, Jack notices something amiss amongst the sails. While most of them are rigidly tied, one hangs loosely, one end untied and flapping in the wind. How he or anyone else had not noticed this was at the back of his mind. At the front of it, Jack knew that an improperly tied sail could mean life or death had a storm hit. Jack calls Ana over, the woman bounding across the deck quickly, noticing the vexation of the captain. Bounding up the stairs, she comes to Jack's side.
"Aye, Cap'n?"
"Who manned the sails this morning?" He asks coldly. Ana thinks for a moment before nodding to herself.
"Codney," she says, pointing the kid out amongst the rest of the crew. Jack groans, hoping it had been some half-wit sailor that had done the misdeed. Jack tells the woman to get Peter and prepare him for his two-dozen lashes. Ana, sensing his solemnity over the situation, nods slowly and walks away. In turn, Jack sighs and turns from the helm, pushing a finger against his temple. Lashing had to be his least favorite part of the entire 'piracy' gig. But of all people, it had to be Peter. Jack wonders if he shouldn't tell Sadie of her friend's fate, but Jack knows that is she finds out the wrong way, the trust she had in him which took so long to build would crumble. Jack walks back towards his cabin, opening the door with a labored shove. He heaves a sigh upon seeing Sadie on the bed, still just as or perhaps more beautiful as when she first boarded The Black Pearl. Her hair now reached farther down to her hips, the normal dusky gold now a bright, sun bleached blonde. Her fair skin now held a healthy color to it, the pinkness of her high cheeks accentuated by the hue of it. Sadie looks over at Jack with the same robust sky blue eyes, a smile lit in them. Had the situation for Jack not been so ominous, he would have leaped at the woman in heated frenzy upon seeing her there on his bed in nothing but one of his shirts. But instead of making mad and passionate love to her, Jack sulks towards the woman and sits next to her. Sadie gives him a smile, but it quickly becomes a frown when he doesn't return it.
"Jack?" She asks, standing up from the bed only to kneel in front of him, reaching up and putting her palms on each side of Jack's face. "What's wrong?"
Jack puts his own hands on Sadie's wrists, massaging them gently with his thumbs before pulling her up and taking her into his arms, turning his face into her hair and breathing her in. Confused, Jack's lover puts her arms around his neck and nudges his head with her own.
"Jack?" She whispers again. The man pulls away and sighs, fidgeting with the ends of Sadie's hair.
"I wish I wasn't the bearer of bad news, love, but Peter's gotten himself into some trouble."
Sadie pauses, her breath hitching in her throat.
"How? What happened?"
Jack stands, putting each hand on either side of Sadie's waist. After a brief pause, he goes on.
"One of the main sails was undone from this morning's rigging, which endangers the ship and everyone on board." Jack takes a long breath. "By code, he's to receive 24 lashes."
Surprisingly, as he had been not so eagerly anticipating, Sadie doesn't unleash her tongue, begging and yelling at Jack to reconsider. He looks at her, only to see Sadie staring past his shoulder out the window.
"Sadie?"
The young woman gently pulls away from Jack's hold, wandering over to the window. A long, tense moment passes before she speaks in a quiet, trembling whisper.
"Jack, it wasn't Peter…"
"What?"
Sadie turns around, tears trickling down her face. "It wasn't Peter's fault."
"Do you know who did it?"
Sadie nods, noticeably shaking. Jack goes to her side and envelopes the woman in his arms. Sadie begins to whimper, leaving Jack lost.
"It was me Jack…this morning, Peter showed me how to man the sails, and we both thought I'd gotten it right…oh god Jack, what have I done!"
Jack shuts his mouth, his tongue unable to form words. To cut the sound of Sadie's crying, the door behind them bursts open to reveal Peter, flanked by two haggard pirates that might have been from Barbossa's captainship. Sadie gasps suddenly and breaks away from her captain, fighting at the men to release the kid.
"It was I!" She screams repeatedly, trying desperately to pull Peter away. It's obvious that the pirates don't mind the trade, so they release Peter and takes Sattelle instead. Both Jack and Peter let out a strangled outcry of 'No!' fill the room, but the burst is unhindered by the other pirates as they ignore them and walk away, hungry for blood. Jack leaps past the boy and skids to a halt before the two men, his eyes and stance firm.
"You'd be wise to release that woman now, mates."
One of them chuckles with a grotesque gurgle.
"Apologies, Cap'n, but you heard the lass. It's law." They drag Sadie past with her head bowed. Jack for once feels almost completely helpless as the entire crew gathers around the main mast where Sadie is being tied.
"Jack, you have to do something!" Peter cries, tugging on his sleeve. A cold feeling creeps into the Captain's stomach at the sight of the young woman looking so defenseless. The memory of that night creates a crawling feeling up Jack's spine, the hairs on the back of his head standing on end. The air suddenly feels cold despite the hot Caribbean sun beating down on them all. A door appears before Jack's eyes and opens without him moving. A small, fair-haired girl lies on the cool, black floor, blood seeping from open lash wounds to gather at his feet, ghostly candles creating small flickers of light on the surface of it.
"JACK!" Comes Gibbs frantic yell from the crowd on deck. Jack shakes his head to clear the chilling images of Sadie's blood from his mind and looks down at the main deck, Sadie's bare back exposed to the sun and the lash in the pirate's hand. Gibbs, Peter and Ana all stare up at their Captain, their own eyes pleading. Finding his feet, Jack storms past them and sprints across the deck to the main mast as the pirate's hand begins to descend. Jack jumps before him, taking the painful blow across his chest. Only wincing, Jack raises his fist and gives the man a swift uppercut, sending him to the deck. The crew goes quiet as Jack turns around to look at Sadie, sitting on her knees with her shirt torn open. Blood on his own shirt, Jack unties her wrists and catches her exhausted body in his arms, her head falling onto his shoulder limply. Standing up, Jack orders the two men to be taken to the brig before walking with Sadie back to his cabin.
--
Jack descends to the brig some hours later having had to be with Sadie until her fears had passed. Both of the pirates ignore Jack's approach through the musky darkness, although unable to move either way with their wrists shackled behind their backs through the iron bars.
"You two are not part of my crew," Jack growls, standing in the shadows. Being two days out from Spain, he didn't have much time for stowaway vagabonds.
"Congratulations Cap'n," the smaller of the two remarks, trying to look over his shoulder. He can't see Jack anywhere.
"Don't get too excited, mate," Jack whispers dangerously, the obvious sound of a sword being drawn filling the small area. The nervous smaller man laughs.
"Excited? I'm damn well pissing myself, Sparrow! For once in a blue moon, someone knows how to get under your skin!"
"And how does someone accomplish that, pray?"
"Through that worthless tavern whore of yours!"
Jack appears from the shadows, unsheathing his cutlass and with a sickening slice, buries it into the man's back all the way to the hilt. The other man stands unfazed as his comrade slumps to the ground in a pool of blood. Jack presses the tip of his sword against the other's bare back, his gaze targeting on the wall ahead of them.
"Whom are you spying for?"
"The goddess of the Atlantic who shows me truth."
Jack rolls his eyes, pressing his sword harder against the man's back.
"No limericks mate. Whom are you spying for?"
"The goddess of the-"Jack snarls and cuts into the man's skin, a small trickle of blood coming down the blade of the sword towards Jack's hand. The man releases a quiet whimper as Jack digs the tip of the blade under the surface of the skin.
"Whom are you spying for?" He whispers. The man lets out a cry of pain as Jack pushes the sword again, twisting it against the sinewy muscles of the man's back.
"Atlantica!" He cries out, eyes closed tightly. Jack pauses, the name suddenly ringing true. Quickly turning his attention back to the man, Jack glares.
"You try and hurt Sattelle," Jack stabs the man through the chest like the other, "the repercussion is one cross Captain Jack Sparrow."
The spy falls to the ground, mouth open and eyes wide. Jack turns away and wipes his sword on the inside of his already bloodied shirt, sheathing the blade and walking out of the brig to the deck. Any crewmember nearby goes quiet, staring at their captain as he walks past towards the prow of the ship, glowering.
Atlantica. Janetta. Why did she need spies on his ship? Who weren't deterred having to hurt Sadie? Something, Jack knew, was awaiting them in Spain that had to do more than just Sadie's priest father.
--
YAYS! Enjoy everyone!