Disclaimer: Don't own anything except original characters. All material (c) to respective owners.
Sorry to leave you hanging so long, things have slowed down a bit with my ideas...I'm working on it thought. Onto the adventure.
Chapter 29: Revealing & Tortuga
I ducked under various crates, and other things being moved around the ship, he was very good at putting obstacles in my path. Like he stated though I was too stubborn for my own good and easily maneuvered around the various obstacles, pausing long enough to notice he had slipped my line of vision and grumbling. "He's purposely going to drive me nuts now, I can feel it." I glanced around the back of the ship where he had vanished to; taking note to the various barrels and crates he could easily hide among and crossed my arms. "He could be anywhere." Cautiously I started to move through the cargo carefully inspecting every spot, just in case he got sneaky. I finally heard something off to my left and leaned over one of the crates, Jack sat there lazily leaning against the crate with his hat tucked over his eyes. I smirked cautiously reaching down and snatched his hat, then promptly took off out of the crates and directly for the ropes leading to the crows nest.
--Jack's POV--
"Bloody hell!" Jack quickly stood seeing her take off quickly toward the front of the ship. "And she calls me the pirate…me hat." He took off after her watching her easily make her way up the ropes to the crows nest, she then leaned backwards hanging upside down with his hat in hand. "Yer coming closer to being the pirate ye think ye are." She giggled waving at him upside down.
"I told you that just because you didn't think I was pirate material, didn't mean I wasn't capable of pirate things." She waved his hat taunting him watching his amused smirk broaden at her antics.
"Ye monkey." She scowled at him for a moment and then leaned back up turning around to look down at him.
--Original POV--
"Am not…I'm not undead and you don't use me for target practice." I stuck out my tongue and placed his hat on my head. "Come get it." I started to move back up the crows nest, I cautiously glanced over my shoulder and sure enough he was following after.
I managed to maneuver myself into the crows nest and glanced down seeing Jack wasn't far behind. "Why did I corner myself?" I sighed dejectedly and glanced back down. He stood there his dark eyes meeting mine, an amused knowing smirk lighting up his face. I wanted to so kick myself right then, I should have kept on the deck and ducking around the ship. "He's so smug." I smiled at the thought and noticed he was starting the rest of the way up. I glanced over the other side and smirked, sometimes I had far too many blonde moments for my own good. I immediately started down the other side of the crows nest, knowing full well he would get up there and I would be halfway down and on my way again.
--Jacks POV--
Jack got up to the crows nest and froze. "Bloody woman." He sighed glancing over the other side seeing she was halfway down to the deck already. "She's going to drive me over the edge…then again, she is much more pirate like then I give her credit for." He turned making his way back down the deck.
Once he was on deck he noticed several amused gazes following him, he ignored them and started to search around for some sign of Blair. Will pointed toward the wheel watching Jack raise a brow curiously at this, he had a feeling Will was doing more to help her then him and ignored him. Elizabeth had long since given up glaring at the pair for the moment and set her mind to returning home when it would all end. Jack finally walked over glancing under the stairs seeing he again had misjudged her hiding capabilities.
--Original POV--
"Will!" I observed Will point directly at me and sighed seeing Jack give him a curious look, before ignoring the obvious and searching with his own methods. "Jack didn't believe him." I smiled at this deciding to be smart and slipped from behind the wheel walking cautiously over to the steps and peeked down through them, Jack stood there with a frustrated expression scratching the back of his neck lost in thought. I was aware of something tapping my foot and almost yelped, before turning seeing Gibbs had an amused expression on his face. I smiled and returned to watching a very puzzled looking Jack.
"Bugger." He murmured absently getting the odd feeling he was being watched and looking around to find nothing. "She's watching me, I can feel it." He slipped out from under the stairs swiftly, which startled me forcing me to slide down several steps and land at his feet. "Hello love."
I sighed miserably glaring at the stairs before allowing my head to drop back down on the deck. "Sneak." I grasped his hat the minute he reached for it and was quickly back on my feet. "Who said I gave up?" I quickly scrambled up the stairs and attempted to dodge around the wheel.
Jack kept moving easily blocking my path. "I think ye should give up." He smirked seeing me stick out my tongue again, before I ducked under his arm and managed to get back to the stairs.
"Never give up, never surrender." I grinned at the amused expression on his face and took the stairs two at a time.
Before I could get too far Will was blocking my path, he grinned mischievously at me before attempting to get Jacks hat. "No you don't Will." I ducked to the side and was off before he could blink. I nearly collided with Anna-Maria who noticed I had been ganged up on; she smirked at my current annoyed expression and stuck out her foot stopping Will rather bluntly. She then took off along with me, both of us ducking into a mass of cargo.
Will and Jack kept wandering around the area looking for us, while Anna-Maria and I observed them. "They aren't going to find us right away I hope." I barely whispered seeing her grin.
"Not likely lass…in ere." I eyed her apprehensively, she then pointed to a large empty crate and we both ducked inside out of sight. "I haven't seen tha man tha way in a while." I smirked lightly brushing Jacks hat in my hands lost in thought.
"He's fun to tease…problem is he always has a way to pay me back." She smirked with a knowing raise of her brow; I promptly turned pink and lowered my eyes to the crate floor. "Back in Tortuga…he does remember toothless and friends, what are we going to do about them?" she frowned slightly, she hadn't thought about that in a while.
"Ye should bring it up to him." I studied her blank expression for a moment; before I could speak she said something more. "Whatever tha man wans it can no be good." She met my curious gaze intently.
I glanced down at Jacks hat still in my grasp. "Anna…what would he want that Jack has failed to mention?" I had a feeling he had yet to share a certain detail with me.
She shrugged and cupped my mouth before I could say anymore, I listened intently hearing shuffling nearby our hiding spot and felt her remove her hand. She cautiously scanned the area around us and found a hole inside the crate, she spotted Jack and Will very close and frowned thoughtfully. If we got discovered there wasn't really anywhere left to run, she very slowly slid out of the crate motioning me after her. Once we were both clear of the crate I followed her around several more, she was easily maneuvering us away from them. She motioned me on quickly ahead and turned in time to block Jacks path. Anna-Maria offered Jack an amused grin and stepped aside once she was sure I was clear.
Crash
I glanced up briefly from my position on the deck and sighed seeing a very startled looking Gibbs. "Sorry Gibbs…gotta go." I took off immediately knowing full well that collision had probably given me away.
Will come around the corner at the startled sound, Jack halted before colliding with him and both exchanged looks with one another. I ducked around a corner taking a deep breath and listened intently for them to follow, there was a cautious sound not far off from me and I slid quickly along the wall.
Bump
I glanced up and sighed in defeat. "Hello love." Jacks smirk broadened at my annoyed pout and he easily snatched his hat back from my grasp. "Anna's good, but we're better." I glanced over at the amused expression on Will's face and muttered something incoherently under my breath.
"She never did like loosing." I flipped Will off seeing his startled offended look and laughed at Jacks puzzled expression. "You don't want to know Jack…it's not good." This got his interest and he walked around to discuss the birdie with Will.
Jacks eyes widened considerably when Will had finished explaining the meaning behind the middle finger. "That isn't acceptable." His eyes ticked over to me and I started laughing again. "Love that isn't lady like." I stopped laughing immediately raising a brow at this understatement.
"Since when was what I've done or been like considered lady like to begin with?" Will chuckled at my retort seeing Jacks face slip into a small amused smile.
"She has a point Jack…as long as I've known her, lady like…she is not." I offered Will a sour look for the trouble and then charged after him. "Excuse me Jack." He was off before I even got a hold of his coat.
"COME BACK WILL!" I called sliding to a halt and turning to go after him, not before I noticed Jack rubbing his ears in an irritated fashion. "Sorry Jack." Before he could reply I took off after a fast vanishing Will Turner.
--Jack's POV--
"Ye…" he stopped watching her rapidly vanish after Will. "…didn't have to worry about it." He finished to no one in particular.
"I see my fiancé has decided to assist you in your attempt of hurting my best friend." Jack winced at Elizabeth's venom filled voice. "I swear Jack…if you hurt her to the point where she comes crying to me…" she met his dark gaze with honey fury filled eyes. "…You will wish I could bring the bloody Kraken back from the dead." She turned to stalk off, pausing when she heard an amused chuckle from behind her.
"And why are you so sure I will do anything to hurt her Lizzie?" She crossed her arms sending him a suspicious look. "Ye don't seem to get it…for some bloody reason yer best friend is different enough…that I might not hurt her like you seem to think. Maybe ye should consider this love…" she tilted her head starting to fume and was about to bite of his head. "…Ye be hurting her by not listening, and continuously expecting her to be fond of Norrington isn't helping her like ye any better." He swaggered away knowing full well he had put her in her place for once.
--Original POV--
I had given up chasing after Will and had returned in just enough time to hear Jacks remarks to Elizabeth. I froze seeing him spot me before I could react, he sighed offering me a warm smile and slid an arm around my shoulders. I stopped halfway following him and eyed him curiously before shrugging and allowing him to lead me to the cabin. Elizabeth had become a major thorn and I didn't feel like dealing with it at the moment, I knew we had more important things to worry about once we got back to Tortuga. I was about to remind Jack of those problems once the door shut and he easily walked over situating his feet on his desk and leaning back relaxing in his chair.
He studied me observantly from under his hat. "Yer sore over me putting Lizzie in her place?" I met his gaze and shook my head. "Then ye have something else to discuss?"
"Toothless and friends." Jack was leaning slightly back in his chair and at the mention of this he promptly tipped over with a 'crash' and very profuse swearing. "I had a feeling you were hiding something." I walked over glancing down at the un-amused looking Captain Jack Sparrow and offered him a hand up. "Thanks for putting Liz in her place…now about Toothless and company?" once he got on his feet he offered a small scowl at my observant nature, and easily returned to his seat. "That's why it's safer to leave chairs on four legs, just in case you were wondering."
"Yer not cute." I smirked at his annoyed expression. "About them…for once I don't have an idea, all I know is they don't like me much." He met my gaze and saw clearly I wasn't buying his innocent act; he couldn't help the mischievous smirk that lit up his eyes at my rose brow. "Ye know I'm lying through me teeth." I nodded at his understatement wondering if he was going to tell me anything or not. "I'm not going into detail love, right now its best not too." my expression turned thoughtful at the almost nervous sound in his voice. "Ye really don't want to know what I was planning before ye got under my skin." He winced wondering if and when I did find out, what would happen.
I had a sneaky suspicion it had something to do with revenge and backfired. "Why do I get the feeling your worried of what I might do?" if I hadn't reacted he would have again been on the floor. "I said four legs Jack." He scowled tipping his chair back down and met my intense eyes. "You were different back then…it won't change my mind about you." He studied me so intently I almost felt as though he was seeing through me.
"Ye don't mean that." He tilted his head to the side and saw her expression turn far too serious for him to feel comfortable. "She does mean that." He watched her hands land on her hips and saw her eyes narrow waiting for him to say more. "Ye aren't going to like what I have to say." I shrugged at this point I didn't care.
"Jack…I already gathered it took you a great deal of time to like me, it's not like it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't come up with some sort of revenge plan." I studied him carefully seeing another almost wince and realized that had been exactly what had happened. "Explain?" I wasn't sure if I had spoken the thought aloud or not.
Jack closed his eyes in a defeated way and sighed. "I set up the fight with…his name is actually Dexter, not Toothless." He allowed a brief smile before continuing. "For some reason I couldn't go through with it, thanks to ye and changed me mind. He didn't take kindly to this and ignored me and ye know what happened after that." He hesitantly studied me.
"He intended on Elizabeth and me getting dragged off?" My mind practically was screaming at me, I shook my head and lowered my gaze thoughtfully to the floor. "He didn't go through with it because I helped him…he saved us even though he didn't have too, that's when the old Jack must have come through again." I could see the almost sad smile on Jacks face out of the corner of my eyes and raised a brow thoughtfully in his direction.
"Yer angry." He again leaned back in his chair, startled when it went forward forcing his feet to hit the floor sharply.
"I said four legs." He glanced up observing me almost wearily. "And…I'm not mad, you came through. Keep your story out of range of Elizabeth's ears though…she isn't so forgiving." Before he could say anything else I leaned down pulling him into a slow kiss.
It had the effect I wanted, he stood pulling me tightly into his arms and relaxed. Slowly he pinned me against the wall and continued to kiss me, our clothes slowly disappearing.
Bang!
I sat bolt upright in bed and glanced around the darkened room curiously. "What the hell was that?" Jack stirred groggily from beside me and listened intently, slowly a smirk crossed his face.
"Tortuga…we must be docking." Before I could ask anything else, he was on his feet quickly dressing and exited the cabin.
"Oh." I groaned flopping back down, I really didn't feel like moving just yet and it also meant the next stop would be Port Royal. "Toothless…I mean Dexter." I sat upright and quickly climb from bed throwing on my cloths and hopping on one foot getting my boots on. I went to the deck and glanced around the ship, sure enough we were in the familiar pirate town and the crew was excitedly getting ready to go into Tortuga. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and saw Anna-Maria point to Elizabeth who was stomping off into Tortuga the minute the plank was down. "Liz." I sighed nodding and muttered something about letting Jack know, before dashing off after her. Elizabeth was moving very rapidly and by the time I come close to catching up with her, it was because she had abruptly stopped and pulled out her sword. I studied her for a minute seeing two of Dexter's men show up and sighed. "She just had to go off into Tortuga alone and on a rampage." I cautiously made my way toward them careful to stick to the shadows.
Elizabeth observed the men with a very cross expression on her face; I could already see it wasn't wise to annoy her further. She hadn't forgiven me and was ready to take it out on whoever decided to get in her path. I paused off to the side watching her easily shove one of the men onto the dirt ground and catch the others sword, unfortunately right about then more showed up. "Six to one." I knew going to help her would also involve a bickering match between us or at least a few spiteful remarks, but I couldn't just stand there and watch either.
Elizabeth frowned startled when someone attacked her from behind; I caught the blow and met her honey gaze. "I see you took some time off from that bloody pirate of yours." I rolled my eyes, this was not the time for this to start and I really didn't feel like hearing it either. "I suppose this is not Jacks fault either?" I kept my attention busy with the group of men that had gone from six to eight.
"You don't need to know." I thought spitefully before ducking a blow and watching her easily kick the guy in the gut. "I don't know…they don't like any of us after the last time. Why do you blame everything on Jack?" I caught another guy off guard and sent him into another creating a domino effect for the pair.
"Because it's always is his fault." Elizabeth frowned and punched one of them in the face viciously. "And because you shouldn't be so infatuated with him, he isn't good enough for you." I grit my teeth taking out my frustration on the nearest guy attacking us.
I met her furious gaze and sucker punched the guy latching onto her arm. "Why can't you just let me be happy for once? He isn't replacing you, and I want you to be my best friend…not my obstacle." She stopped suddenly in her fight, which prompted me to kick at the guy trying to run her through.
"Is that what's bothering me?" Elizabeth realized her mistake at stopping and started to fight again. "Damn." Her colorful words continued.
I froze seeing a sword coming straight for me and knew Elizabeth couldn't afford to intervene, which meant this was really going to hurt. "Damn." I managed.
