Usual disclaimers - if you recognise anything, it belongs to Disney - everything else is mine!

Thanks as ever to Pendragginink for being my beta... a true treasure! If I could find out where they'd dug her up, I'd bury her again! (hehe)

On holiday for a fortnight from this Saturday, so next update will be slightly delayed - apologies.

Chapter 28 - Negotiations

Joshamee Gibbs leaned over the ship's rail, fellow pirate Alain Peters at his side. He could quite clearly see Jack and Mab on the quayside, but they showed no signs of moving yet.

"I guess he'll be back when he's finished eating," Alain reasoned. "Ah, to be so in love…" he chuckled.

"Yes," Joshamee agreed, frowning at Alain's judgment of them. "It's most unlike Jack though…" He had initially not even recognised his captain with his tidy hair and wondered if Alain was right.

"I don't know," Alain teased. "He was clean in th' inn last night an' threatened to run me through when I asked about his woman…"

"He did?" the quartermaster exclaimed. "Good grief! Will wonders ever cease?" He stared towards the two lovers on the dockside. "I wonder what will happen when he delivers her back?" he mused to himself.

"Delivers her back?" Alain remarked, raising an eyebrow in question. "Where did he discover her is what I'm more interested in!"

"Eh? Ah… um, I'd best not say," Joshamee evaded. "He'll have my guts for garters." He guessed that Jack would not be too happy with him revealing how he had found her in the magistrate's summerhouse.

"I was merely wondering if there were more like her at home," Alain pressed, sensing an opening. "She has quite an unusual accent, yes?"

"She's Italian, from what I gather – or at least of Italian parentage," the portly man explained evasively.

"Ah, yes… I thought I recognised it," Alain lied. He liked to make the most of his own French blood, thinking it made him appear more mysterious and attractive to the ladies, although he had never been outside of the Caribbean himself. "Look, the lovers have finished eating," he smiled, watching as Mab went to bite Jack's fingers before they rose and climbed down to the nearby ship's boat that was moored nearby.

"He'll never hear the last of this," Joshamee chuckled to himself, shaking his head as Jack picked up the oars and began to row back towards the Black Pearl. "They'll think he's even madder than ever!"

"So you don't reckon he'll tire of her soon?" Alain sighed, looking questioningly towards his friend. "If she were to take up whoring she'd make a fortune!" Unlike Jack, he had caught the mutterings in the inn the previous evening and he had been asked on more than one occasion who the dark haired woman with the English pirate was.

"I doubt Jack will tire of her," the quartermaster reasoned. "An' I doubt she'd sell herself."

"He's got it that bad then?" Alain mused, watching as the ship's boat neared. "Does she… on board…" he ventured hopefully.

"Aye, they're at it all hours of th' day an' night," Joshamee teased, enjoying the other captain's evident interest in Mab.

"They are?" Alain gasped, looking with even greater interest at her.

"And not quietly either…" he taunted, although – to be fair – he knew that the two of them tried their best.

"That's it, Gibbs!" Alain declared, slamming his hand into his fist. "I have to have her!"

"You'll have to kill Jack first," Joshamee reasoned, guessing that if Jack were truly smitten, he would not part with her any other way.

"Ah, that is a slight inconvenience," he sighed, catching the line that Jack threw up to him. "He is younger than me, and a better swordsman… but I am more handsome!" He winked at Joshamee as he made the boat secure. "Afternoon, Jack!" he called down. "I thought you were never turning up! Mademoiselle Mab," he added, smiling at down her, his position above giving him a delightful view of her cleavage.

"It's not afternoon already, is it?" Jack exclaimed, squinting up at the sun.

"It was afternoon two hours ago!" Alain chided.

"Heh! Sorry, Alain," Jack chuckled.

"I could see you had other things on your mind," the captain of the Camille remarked dryly, watching as Mab climbed over the ship's rail, a flash of booted ankle showing before she headed towards the master cabin. Jack followed her on board.

"Do yer want ter come down to th' hold an' have a looksee?" he prompted, trying to remind the other captain why he had come on board..

Alain reluctantly tore his gaze from Mab's departing figure back towards Jack. "Aye, why not," he chuckled, knowing Jack had noted his distraction.

"At least it'll stop yer ogling m' woman," Jack commented wryly.

"But some things are so deserving of such attention," Alain teased, sighing as Mab shut the cabin doors behind her.

"They are," Jack smiled in agreement as they walked along the main deck towards the stairs. "No hard feelings, eh?" he grinned, enjoying for once having the upper hand.

"None whatsoever," Alain shrugged. "But if she ever feels the need for a more experienced man…"

"She won't find any more experienced than me," Jack retorted sharply, angry at himself for rising to Alain's barb.

"Ah, but Jack… don't you know that we French make the best lovers… and she being Italian… ah, it is a match made in heaven!" Jack snorted in derision. "Well, if you are not convinced, perhaps I could borrow her for an evening and let her decide," he tempted, although from the smile on his face it was clear he was not entirely serious – nor entirely joking.

"Over my dead body!" Jack growled, reaching for a lantern to light their way in the hold. "And Mab'd refuse anyway!" he added.

"Aye, Gibbs did say I'd have to kill you first," Alain sighed, following Jack along the narrow corridor. "Anyway… cannons?""

"Cannons," Jack repeated, holding the lantern high to illuminate the store that they had just entered.

Alain cast a careful eye over the four cannons that Jack showed him, checking that he could use his own ammunition for them. All four were in good condition and, although he would have liked all four, he reluctantly admitted to himself that he could not afford them. He knew Jack would not give them to him without payment and paying his old debt for the powder had left him short. "I'll take the two smaller ones," he decided, "if yer price is right?"

"M' price is always right," Jack insisted.

"But often too high," Alain cautioned. "Perhaps we should start our negotiations… over a rum in your cabin, yes?"

"Just what I was goin' ter suggest," Jack agreed, wondering how high he could force the price. "When do yer want t' take them?"

"I'll come alongside later t'morrow and have m' men lift them off," Alain reasoned. "Isn't any point getting ourselves all hot and bothered over something so inanimate, is there?"

"Indeed not," Jack grinned, catching his inference. "And very animate things are so worth th' effort!"

"Indeed she is," Alain teased, hoping Mab would still be in the cabin when they got there. "Shall we?" He nodded towards the stairwell and Jack led the way back through the corridor: climbing first and heading aft towards the main cabin. Alain brightened on seeing Mab sitting quietly upon the stern seats reading, hoping her presence would distract Jack from the negotiations.

"Ah, Jack…" she began, before pausing on seeing Alain behind him. "Could you unlace me? I need to help Nathan…" She marked her place in the book with a piece of ribbon, leaving it on the seat, before rising and heading towards the side cabin. Jack grinned and followed her, smirking as he drew the drapes across the opening before turning his attention to her laces. He leaned close, kissing and nibbling her neck and shoulders as he did so. Mab leaned against him, chuckling at his attentions.

"Enjoying this?" he murmured, loud enough for Alain to hear.

"Sì, but alas I cannot stay, Jack." She sighed. "I have to work…"

"An' I have business to conduct," he admitted, watching appreciatively as she wriggled out of her dress, undershift and undergarments before pulling on her new breeches and shirt. She left her boots off, reasoning that she would not need to wear them now that she was back on board.

"I will plait your trinkets back in later, sì?" she asked, reaching for the heavy drapes and pulling them open.

"Aye, thanks luv," he smiled, patting her backside as she went.

"She cooks as well?" Alain sighed, leaning in his chair as he watched her wistfully through the open doors.

"Beautifully," Jack boasted, fetching two bottles of rum from his store and sitting opposite his fellow pirate. "An' you should hear her sing!"

"I'd be delighted to," Alain nodded. "When?" He turned to Jack hopefully.

Jack chuckled. "She doesn't sing to just anybody an' I don't want ter insult her by askin' her to perform fer you!"

"An' there I was thinkin' it was an invite," Alain sighed disappointedly.

"Y' know me, you never get anythin' fer nothin'," Jack reasoned, sliding one of the bottles across the table.

"Well, a song might have eased th' negotiations," he chuckled. "But scare me with what yer want fer th' cannons an' then I'll make yer laugh with what I'm prepared t' pay…"

"Sixty guineas a piece," Jack declared.

Alain snorted derisively as he uncorked the bottle of rum. "Yer've got balls, I give yer that, Jack!"

"Aye, an' Mab knows it too…" he taunted.

"I was thinking more like thirty…" Alain offered, taking a sip of rum.

"Thirty?" Jack spluttered. "Bloody hell!"

"Well, thirty and no song is a truly fair price…" the older pirate shrugged.

"It's robbery!" Jack stated. "Fifty-five!" he insisted.

"No, robbery is what got you them in the first place," Alain chuckled. "Or t' be more precise, piracy. Thirty-five and a song!"

"Not a cat-in-hell's chance!" Jack countered, wondering just how Mab singing had entered into the negotiations. "Fifty an' you can sing th' song!"

"Thirty-five and no song," Alain offered, frowning. He had been interested to hear Mab sing when Jack had bragged about her voice but knew his purse would not stretch much higher.

"Fifty!" Jack insisted, taking a swig from his bottle.

"Thirty-eight and a song?" Alain ventured.

"Make me a reasonable offer an' I might see about askin' her," Jack tempted, wondering if she would indeed sing if he asked.

"Forty is m' top offer, Jack. I'll go no higher, song or no song," Alain sighed.

Jack sat for a time, stroking his chin braids which he had plaited himself that morning. "Forty-five?" he suggested.

"Forty is m' limit," Alain insisted, "or you can find some other daft bugger t' buy them! Forty each… and a song! Over dinner would be nice, actually…"

Jack sighed dramatically, knowing that forty guineas each was a good price for the small cannons and more than he had thought he would get for them. "All right, " Jack agreed, "but yer can pay fer th' dinner!"

"You lady would surely not want to sing in the common room," Alain reasoned. "I was thinking of somewhere quieter… my cabin, perhaps?"

"I never agreed that Mab would sing," Jack cautioned.

"Ah, but my offer was forty for the cannons and a song. If she will not sing, I would have to re-evaluate my offer…" Alain sighed expressively.

"Damn yer eyes," Jack growled, wishing his lecherous friend had never set eyes on Mab. "I haven't even asked her if she'd sing yet!"

"Which means that you will, yes?" Alain smiled, knowing he had left Jack little option.

"If she says no, I'll sell them ter someone else," Jack warned. "An' yer know they're good! Be a shame ter miss out!"

"She will not say no," Alain chuckled. "How could she refuse you when the two of you are so in love," he teased. "I shall send one of my boats for you… say one bell last dog watch, yes?" (6.30pm)

"We'll be ready," Jack grumbled, still not wanting Mab to sing but not wanting to lose out on the sale of the two cannons. He had been trying to sell them for some time, but the opportunity had not arisen and he did not want to let this chance slip by.

"I shall await her… I mean your arrival with eager anticipation," Alain smiled, rising and heading towards the open cabin doors.

"I'll make sure she's wearin' a chastity belt!" Jack shouted after him.

"I know a good locksmith," Alain chortled.

"I'll have him imprisoned in th' brig fer th' night," Jack joked as he rose and followed.

"Aye, you probably would," Alain sighed. "Until later then," he nodded, climbing down over the ship's rail to his waiting boat.

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