Here is chapter 36. I'm finding it interesting at everyone's guesses... and you'll find out if you were right or not in a minute. It's kinda short, but don't worry, the next one will be longer. :D

Thank you to all you brilliant people who have reviewed, added to their favourite and story alerts.

Heather - Don't worry, you'll find out who it is soon enough. And I hope a week wasn't too long a wait. :D

Disclaimer - Nope... don't own Pirates of the Caribbean. Sadly. :(

Chapter XXXVI.

A Little Help From My Friends.

Jack hadn't released his death grip on Grace, even though she tried her hardest to shrug out from it.

'Jack, please, you're hurting me.' She whispered, as she gazed up at him with her green eyes, involuntary tears already forming from the pain.

His chocolate brown eyes met hers a moment later, and he instantly released her.

'Sorry, love.' He replied, but kept her tucked under his chin, so she couldn't see the man that had shouted on them. And so that man couldn't see her.

'Come on, Captain Sparrow, don't ignore me.' The voice spoke again, and Grace realised that it had a very fake French accent. She could tell it was fake because of the over pronunciation of certain words and letters. She almost wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn't know how dangerous this man was, and didn't want to risk it.

She heard Jack curse under his breath, before he slowly turned around, keeping Grace behind his back. Still wanting to shield her from his view. But it didn't work that well, however.

She stepped out from behind his back, trying to get a better look at the intruder.

She was shocked by what she saw. He had tanned skin, from long days in the sun. He wasn't as tanned as Jack was, but still held a glow to him. He had golden hair, that was slightly matted and shaggy, hanging collar-length and falling into his startling blue eyes. He had stubble from his cheekbones to his neck, giving him to look of neither having a beard, nor being clean-shaven.

He was quite tall, and even though there was a distance between them, she had a feeling he would level Jack's height. He only wore a black leather vest and jacket, as well as black breeches and boots. He held two swords and two pistols.

He's either extremely hated, or has an extremely big ego. Grace thought, as she took a sidestep, so she was standing behind Jack again. She didn't want to be the one to experience either of them.

And even through the black vest, she could see a large scar, running down from his shoulder and stopping near his stomach.

She had no idea how he had survived that wound.

'Derek.' Jack greeted, with a stiff nod of his head. His hand heading to his weapon-belt, apparently getting ready to reach for either his pistol or his sword at a moment's notice.

'Mon tu, Jack, mon tu. Call me Del.'

Grace couldn't help but furrow her brow at his exclamation. It just…

She leaned forward so her lips were next to Jack's ear, 'That wasn't French.'

Jack laughed once, his eyes briefly leaving Derek for a second to look at Grace, before they immediately whipped back to him. Not trusting him to be left unsupervised for any length of time.

'No, it wasn't, he thinks he can talk French, but he can't… he makes it up most of the time.' He replied in a whisper, his eyes narrowing as he watched Del walk closer to them.

'What do you want, Del?' He asked, putting extra emphasis on the nickname. His hand inching closer and closer to his pistol with every step Derek took.

'Is that any way to greet an old friend?' Del replied, signalling with a hand to Jack's moving hand.

Jack stilled in his movements, before he flexed his hand and dropped it down to his side, clenching his jaw as he did so.

'I wouldn't call you an old friend,' Jack informed, relaxing his jaw so he could grin at him. 'More like an old nuisance.'

Del let out a loud, exuberant laugh, as he took a few more steps forward.

'You haven't lost your charm, mon amour.' He replied, and Grace couldn't stop herself, she let out a loud giggle as she translated the French in his sentence.

Unfortunately, this brought Del's attention onto her, and she took another step to the side, bringing her directly behind Jack's back.

He looked over to her, and grinned at her. 'Enchanté.'

At least he got that French right, she thought, as she hesitantly took a step away from Jack, and plastered a smile on her face.

'Pleased to meet you, too.'

He didn't reply to her. He turned back to Jack, and waved his hand to the Pearl.

'How's Carlton? Is he ashore?' He asked, and despite herself, Grace flinched at the name.

Jack growled, having seen her do so, and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her tightly to his side.

'I asked him to join your crew, so, when the opportunity arose I could find out where you were going and why.' Del continued, apparently oblivious to the hatred that was emitting from Jack's eyes; oblivious to the fact his hand was hovering dangerously close to his pistol.

'Where is he?' Derek continued, as he looked from the magnificent black hulled ship, to the city made of ships. 'I didn't see him with the rest of your crew.'

Jack took a deep breath through his nose, trying his hardest not to pull his pistol out and do the same thing that he did to Carlton, to Del.

'He's dead. Gone. Probably decomposing somewhere in the sea.'

'Oh… is there a reason behind that?' Del asked, for once showing true shock on his face. He had never known Jack to be a violent man, and knew he never killed anyone in cold blood.

Jack didn't reply though, feeling he didn't need to, but for some strange reason, Grace felt like she had to tell him. Like he deserved to know the truth. Because if he hadn't had sent him, it would never have happened. It was his fault. He needed to know what he did.

'He raped me.' She spoke, her voice just above a whisper, and barely audible to Del. But he did hear it.

He let out a shaky breath, letting himself smile as his body visibly loosened up.

'That's all right then, I thought ol' Jacky here had killed him in cold blood.' Del chortled, as he pretended to wipe sweat from his brow.

He dropped his hand, as his face fell back into the same way it was before; emotionless.

'Though, if I had known you had a woman aboard, I would've just come myself. Though you can hardly blame me, I hardly expected you to… settle… Captain Sparrow.'

Grace tried to not let that bother her, she knew of Jack's past, but she couldn't help it. Mainly because she was half-expecting Jack to rebuff the statement, and say that they weren't together. Because they technically weren't. He hadn't said he loved her… they hadn't ever talked about their relationship. They hadn't even slept together! How was that a real relationship in Jack Sparrow's eyes?

She was bracing herself for his rebuff, when he moved his arm from his waist to her shoulders, pulling her even closer to him.

'What do you want, Del?' He snapped, as Grace tried her hardest to hide her smile. She did so by turning towards him, and tucking her face into his chest.

'I want to talk to you about something… something that I am sure will interest you.'

Jack scoffed. 'Not interested.'

He turned immediately, taking Grace with him, not that she was going to protest. She was eager to get away from this man. He didn't look dangerous, or seem deadly, but she didn't want to be in his presence any more. She didn't want to hear the fake French accent; she didn't want to see the emotionless face.

However, what she didn't except was what he said next.

And apparently neither did Jack, for he stopped as soon as the words were out of Derek's mouth.

'I can help you find the Fountain, Jack.'

What did you think of that? What do you think of Derek? Or Del, as he likes to be called?

Hehe, I feel kinda bad for making you guess who it was when it turned out to be an OC, but I wanted to see what everyone thought... how your brain worked. :p

Okay, so don't forget to review, and please vote in the poll that's on my profile. And like my Facebook page, it's great fun and it's got a lot of sneak peeks and that... so, yeah, if you have a Facebook, please give my page a like. :D

~Charlotte.x