I've now seen Dead Man's Chest 5 times in the theater! LOL I'm a little bit of a die-hard. Now I apologize that this little plot twist was quick, but I'm more of a character writer than a plot twister. Also, I made some changes in chapter 24 towards the end. 'Funchal' is an island off of Morocco, so that was one little edit, and I was typing up the chapter at midnight so there were some grammar errors at the end that I fixed up. Enjoy!
"You cut me down to size and opened up my eyes, made me realize what I could not see."
Coldplay – Swallowed in the Sea
---
A strong gale awakens Jack from his position at the helm, telling him to look around. Indeed, there on the horizon is the small sight of a small port town off of Morocco, no more than a few miles away. Having sailed all night at the helm, hell bent on finding Sadie, a weary Jack stumbles away from the helm and down the stairs towards his cabin after pointing weakly at Cotton to man the helm in his place. Walking through the scantily lit cabin, Jack sits at the table in the middle of his study, reaching for a bottle. The dark liquor appears so inviting as he lifts the crystal bottle up to meet his gaze. With heavy eyes, Jack shakes his head and sighs weightily, setting the container back on the table and turning around, resting his hands against the edge of it. Bowing his head, Jack massages his brow with his fingertips and shuts his eyes, trying to collect his scattered thoughts. Once Janetta caught up with him, there would be many things to do, and Jack had to do them all right for Sadie's sake and his own. There of course was the large chance that Sadie had been locked in the hold without proper care for the two weeks she had been gone, and would be under constant watch by crewmen or even Janetta herself. It was probably going to take more than a simple raid and go to save the woman.
Jack groans, wishing women didn't always have to be so emotional all the time.
--
Sadie shuts her eyes against the cold seeping in through the thin cracks in the side of this ship, wrapping her arms about herself and rocking back and forth to try and keep some warmth in her frail body. If Jack doesn't come soon, she realizes, she wasn't going to last another two days. Janetta had blessed her with her presence that same evening just long enough to mention that they would be docking at a small island just west of Morocco by midnight. Although the thought of land comforted Sadie to some extent, she found that she wasn't getting too worked up about it, as Jack wasn't going to be there.
The night seems endless to Sadie as she sits there in her cell, cold and alone. No mater how hard she tries to be strong for Jack, each passing moment takes another piece of hope away from her heart. Sadie rolls her head back to rest uncomfortably against the wood, blinking her eyes repetitively to rid away the tears threatening to form. She can scarcely hear the water roiling outside, the ship lumbering through the waves. The young woman is agitated that the day went by quickly, but the night was inching away at a slow crawl. Tired, sick and weak, Sadie closes her eyes again and coughs violently. Pain shoots up her spine and she cries out quietly, wincing and wrapping her arms around herself once more, shivering vehemently. The hunger pangs are so terrible she can barely think, and her swollen tongue and splitting headache only add to the misery of it all. Sadie's vision begins to turn foggy; the last bits of her resolve to live crumbling like thin dry mortar. As the young woman teeters on the edge of unconsciousness, she hears a sound beside the ship: close but distant, like a shadow. Shaking her head, Sadie presses her ear up against the wall, trying to breathe naturally in order to hear the sound again. She can hear the voices of Janetta's crewmen above her, but the other hint of noise becomes closer and more evident, and the men do nothing. Sadie gasps when she hears one of the two doors unlock, and she leans away from the wall, striving to keep her heart calm. Janetta appears behind the second door keeping her away from freedom, giving her a scrutinizing and all together unkind look of contempt.
"We're in Funchal," is all the woman says, giving Sadie another once over before turning and shutting the solid wooden door and locking it. Once the sound of Janetta's footsteps disappears, Sadie returns to the wall and holds her ear against it, listening for the noise. Faintly, although close, she can hear the telltale sound of another ship drawn up next to theirs.
"Jack!" Sadie whispers, the action causing her head to split in pain. She groans and reels, falling onto the floor as the quiet of night wraps around her, too weak to stay conscious any longer.
--
Jack makes a silent gesture for his crew to lower anchor as he reaches for a grappling hook off the deck. Joshamee gives him a salute before turning to help with the anchor, to which Jack feebly returns. Peter appears at the captain's side, grabbing onto his arm pleadingly.
"Get her back, sir. For all of our sakes."
With a curt nod, Jack takes hold of the rope and hook and focuses on Janetta's ship, where dazed men pace back and forth in an ineffective hope of trying to appear on guard. Peter backs away as Jack begins to whirl the hook in wide circles, taking long steady breaths. With perfected aim and a quiet grunt, Jack releases the rope into thin air over the water separating the two ships, smirking proudly when it lands faultlessly on the rail of the other ship. He hands the rope end to Peter who ties it to the Pearl expertly, tugging on it to ensure safety. Meanwhile Jack climbs over the rail and grasps the rope, not fearing the water or whatever lay ahead on the opposite ship. Peter catches his gaze, and the two men exchange one simple look, to which Jack removes his hat and places it on the deck at Peter's feet.
"Just in case. You know what to do," He says bluntly. Peter nods, and Jack swings upside down onto the rope, sloth crawling his way across the water to the other ship. In a matter of moments he is on the vessel, his beloved Pearl lost in the darkness. In fact, Peter and the rest of the crew stood together at the rail, watching their captain climb onto Janetta's ship silently. Jack scurries along the banister towards the stern, keeping a constant eye out for either Janetta or her cabin. Crewmen are so lost in their drinking and sleeping that the new arrival goes completely unnoticed. Hardly ten minutes go by before he sees Janetta appearing from below, dropping something between her breasts with a haughty look on her tawny features, completely oblivious to the giant Black Pearl moored just along side her own ship. Jack watches carefully as she walks across the deck, that same overconfident smirk on her lips, towards her cabin. When she disappears behind the closed doors, Jack takes a look around for her men and dashes over to the cabin, not one crewmember bothering to look in his direction. With one last glance over his shoulder, Jack rests his palm against one of the doors, taking one last deep breath and closing his eyes. The image of Sadie lying bare on his mattress smiling up at him fills the pirate's psyche, and for a moment Jack wants only to reach out and weave his fingers into her hair, but stops himself and opens his eyes, only to see the cruel grey wood of Janetta's doorway under his hand. Resolution fills the man as he lets his mind go blank. It was all such a bitter way to get back his woman. With a grunt, Jack throws open the door, charging inside and not turning to see it close again. Standing by the window, Janetta is taken by surprise as Jack charges towards her, grabbing her roughly by her arms and pushing her up against the nearby wall. As soon as the woman's back collides with it, Jack dives forward and ensnares her in a bruising kiss that leaves an acrid taste in his mouth. Janetta groans in victory, wrapping her arms around Jack's neck and ravaging his mouth with hers.
"I knew you'd come back to me, Jack," she gasps out before the man silences her with another searing kiss. Jack's frantic, almost drunkenly insane mouth nearly causes Janetta's knees to buckle, but Jack only presses her against the wall harder, pinning her hands above her head and separating her legs with his knee. Janetta closes her eyes and smiles as Jack makes his way down her neck, untying the front of her shirt to expose more of her chest. The thrill of having won fills with woman with utmost pleasure, and the pirate's lips on her body only added to it. He tasted sweeter than she had remembered, and hoped he thought the same of her, for he had still not yet said a word to her. But Janetta, not one to complain, had no quarrels with that at the moment.
Swiftly, Jack turns her towards the table, shoving everything on it onto the floor and leaning the woman over it, keeping her hands behind her back. Janetta laughs darkly as she hears Jack's belts coming undone, somehow enjoying the torture of not being allowed to touch him. For a moment, she doesn't register the rope being tied around her wrists until the burning pain causes her to cry out. Janetta gasps when she is lifted off of the table to face Jack, who's stony gaze and dark features cause a shiver to run up her spine. Snarling, he stuffs a rag into her mouth.
"You hurt Sadie," Jack growls, pulling her over to the bed and pushing her onto it ungracefully, "I hurt you."
Janetta's eyes go wide, realizing that Jack wasn't just being serious, he was being real. She coughs out the rag and struggles to sit up.
"All of it? For her?" She pants. "You actually love that tramp, Jack?"
"You're not exactly a saint either, Netty," Jack growls, noticing a key hanging around her neck.
"Besides the point! What is it about her that gets you off, Jack? Does she know just how to please you?"
"Shut it!" Jack yells, grasping Janetta around the neck, causing her to gasp for breath. Bringing his face close to hers, Jack tightens his hold and fights the urge to shoot her there on the spot. "You wouldn't understand if I told you, Netty." He releases her neck, the woman coughing violently. She doesn't notice that her key is gone.
"Why wouldn't I, Jack? I felt the same way about you before you left me!"
The pirate becomes stoic.
"Is this about that bloody promise?"
"Yes! Why did you leave, Jack?" Janetta wails, desperate to grab hold of the man and never let go. Instead, he shoves her back down onto the bed and walks around the foot of it, removing his pistol from under his sash. Janetta swallows loudly.
"I left because I wanted to. I never wanted to take you anywhere, Netty. And I'm not going to waste any more time up here with you." Jack cocks his gun and points it at the quivering and tearful woman.
"Jack, please…"
"If you have to resort to these means, Netty, you don't know what love is."
"Jack!"
"Sadie means more to me than the Pearl and everything she represents!" He howls, "As you can see," Jack holds his gun in the air, calming slightly, "I'll do anything for that woman. Now you – you don't know what it's like to go mad when the person who means the most to you is dying on someone's ship. You seemed to be just fine after a few years of not having me around, so now that Sadie's back, why should it be any different? I never promised you anything in the first place. You always make assumptions and leave no room for the benefit of doubt."
Janetta, tears falling freely down her face, tries to form words.
"But Jack, I do love you…"
"And I don't. And I have no remorse for your tears after what you've done to Sadie and I."
Aiming the pistol, Jack glares Janetta down. She goes to scream his name, but the firing of the gun drowns the sound of her voice. Not taking a look back, Jack flees the woman's cabin and runs across the deck to the opening in the deck, flying down the stairs to the brig. He jumps the last steps only to land on the wet floor gracelessly, but Jack is on his feet in moments, running down the corridor and looking in every cell for the woman, but sees nothing of his beautiful, blue-eyed Sadie. In his mad searching, Jack runs directly into a door he hadn't seen. Landing on the floor once again, he winces as the key from Janetta's neck digs into his palm. Jack shuts his eyes, shamed by his foolishness. He sits up on his toes, sliding the key into the lock. He tries to push it open, but to no avail as it does not budge. Shaking his head, Jack rolls back on his feet and pulls the door open. He falls back onto his hands, eyes wide and mouth agape at the sight before him. Behind an iron-barred door on the ground lies Sadie in her black velvet shift, one hand reaching out to him with her hair falling over her head. Jack is frozen at the sight of Sadie's deathly pale skin and frail figure, the sight of her labored breathing causing a familiar stir in his heart. Jack unlocks the second door with the key and pulls it open, crawling over to Sadie's body.
"Sadie…" Jack whispers, pulling her weak form into his lap and pushing the hair away from her face. The woman's shallow cheeks are colorless; her blue eyes shut and caked with dry tears. Jack tries to shake her awake, whispering her name urgently, but the act is fruitless. He leans down and presses an ear against Sadie's clammy chest, hoping to hear a heartbeat. What he hears is in fact that, but the sound of it is so weak and quiet that sends a wave of melancholy through the pirate, nearly bringing uncharacteristic tears to his eyes. Holding back his own emotions, Jack lifts the unconscious woman in his arms and turns, running out of the cell and back down the corridor, dashing up the stairs and across the deck to where a plank of wood is set between the two ships. Jack whistles shrilly for Peter as he steps onto the board, looking down at Sadie. On the Pearl, Peter and Gibbs appear at the rail, only to see Jack standing there with a nearly lifeless Sadie in his arms and possibly the most somber face they had ever seen on their captain. Before Jack begins to walk across, he lifts Sadie's face up to meet his, bringing his lips to hers and shutting his eyes. Pulling away, he walks across the plank to his own ship, not bothering to tell the crew what to do. As the men begin to scurry about, Jack makes no eye contact, making his way to his cabin. The Pearl, a ghost in the black water, begins to move away from Janetta's craft with utmost ease, and Jack makes no move to fire on it, and his crew does not question him of it.
O'Tara, the resident doctor onboard the ship, appears and follows Jack to his cabin as everyone else watches on, already waiting with bated breath. O'Tara opens the door for Jack and the woman in his arms. Without a word, Jack passes inside and goes into the adjoining bedroom, laying the woman on the covers. He already feels more at ease to see her in his bed once more. Peter brings masses of food, while Ana follows with water and blankets and Gibbs with a bible in one hand and a flask in the other. The trio leaves their additions in the study and exits quickly, fearing the worst upon seeing the distraught looks on the doctor and captain's faces. As O'Tara shuts the door, Jack sighs.
"What can you tell me, Doc?"
The old man's eyes fall to the woman on the bed, his wrinkled brow furrowing upon seeing the once so lively woman reduced to so little.
"She's suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, sleep depravation and moderate hypothermia. I can treat everything, but it all depends if she wakes or not. For now, you go and command your ship-"
"No!" Jack shouts, catching the old doctor by surprise. "No. I'm staying in here with her until she opens an eye. Bring all the necessities, but I am staying here."
After a moment, O'Tara finally nods.
"Alright, Captain. Just…take a seat and hold her hand while I start working."
Jack nods and goes into the study, taking the chair from the table and bringing it back into the bedroom where O'Tara is already wrapping Sadie in blankets and gently splashing water onto her face. Jack sits down and stays his hand, shaking his head. O'Tara steps away, watching as the haughty, cocky demeanor of the pirate captain flies out the door as he takes the young woman's frail left hand, kissing the onyx stone on her index finger. The doctor backs out of the room quietly as Jack strokes the back of Sadie's hand with his thumb, staring at her with a pain O'Tara had never seen before. As soon as Jack hears the door close, he immediately leans up and kisses the young woman again, holding her face in his hands.
"Sadie," he mutters, rubbing his nose against hers, "Sadie, please wake up love. It's just me, I promise. You're safe now, I swear to you." Jack kisses her again, nearly shaking. "Just wake up." Sitting on the edge of the bed at her side, he leans down and rests his brow against Sadie's shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's your Jack, love. It's just old Mister Jack," he says, trying to laugh with conviction. When Sadie doesn't respond, Jack leans up, growling and whimpering like a hurt and confused dog.
"Sattelle, please wake up…I'm begging you now! Look. Look-" Jack stands and lifts a bottle of rum off of the table, walking over to the window and opening it, holding the precious alcohol over the edge of the ship. "If you don't wake up, I'm going to drop this and blame it on you completely!" Jack can feel his throat tightening and tears stinging the back of his eyes. Sadie doesn't move. Jack drops the bottle, releasing a strangled sob. "Damnit, Sadie! I love you, you miserably maddening tart! Wake up!"
Jack freezes when he sees Sadie's eyes moving beneath her pale lids. He appears by her side in a flash and grasps her hand, kissing her knuckles, whispering her name repetitively. Slowly, almost painfully slowly, she opens her eyes and groans, squeezing Jack's hand.
"Jack?" She asks in a cracked voice. The pirate cries out in happiness and kisses the woman again, his body quivering. Sadie begins to weep quietly, wrapping her arms around the man's neck, burying her face in his shoulder.
"Thank you, Jack…thank you."
---
TADA! Hope you all like! Let's see if we can't hit 300 reviews soon, eh?