Thanks to my reviewers from last chapter! hateme101, Christineoftheopera, and my anonymous guest reviewer. :)

Chapter 37: Betrayal

Betrayal.

That was the first word that crossed Lauren's mind when she came around. She didn't notice the fact that she was in the captain's cabin of the HMS Arrowhead, or that she had been changed out of her pirate garb back into a simple dress, or that she had been washed, a plate of food on the nightstand waiting for her to eat. Her head pounded and she absentmindedly put a hand to it.

After everything that Jack had said to her, after he had kissed her, told her she belonged with him aboard the Black Pearl, how could he so easily hand her over? When she had been taken by Hunter's officers, he simply stood there, not even looking in her direction. How could he send her back to her old life when she had ran from everything there in the first place? She had finally decided where she wanted to be in life, and he handed her over like a lost puppy being sent back to its master.

Betrayal.

She angrily wiped at her misty eyes. Going back would be absolute hell. She knew that everyone would talk, look down her nose at her, and tsk her wild ways and broken rules of decorum. She could handle that. What she wasn't sure she could handle was being thrust back into that society like everything was okay. Back into tight corsets and revealing dresses; back to absentminded chit-chat and complimenting others when you hated everything about them; back to plastering a smile on your face and pretending like everything was fine; back to a boring life, filled with no meaning or purpose, just how pretty you could do your hair. Back to life after Gerard, and life without Jack.

And her father. Oh hell, her father. If he hadn't returned from the war yet, he would eventually, and she didn't think she could bear to face him. How angry he will be and how ashamed. She could imagine the long, awful lecture now, his face red as he tried to control his temper and she just sitting there like the obedient daughter she had become. She nearly snorted. Yes, how obedient she was.

But what she feared the most as she laid there in the soft sheets was what her father would do. He could yell, he could cry, he could simply ignore her; anything that he said she could handle. But would he marry her off? She gritted her teeth thinking of Percy, the vilest man she had ever known. Or would he send her off to someplace else? Perhaps to England to her grandparents? Those were her only options. Send her off or marry her off. She was growing too old to stay with her father and at this age, women began to whisper behind hands if a man would ever ask for the girl's hand or if she was destined to grow an old maid.

A knock on the door broke her from her thoughts. Captain Hunter stepped in the room and, upon seeing her awake, shut the door behind him. "Miss Stratford. I'm glad to see you awake."

A stony silence answered his greeting.

"My apologies for the less than warm welcome we initially gave you, but you see it was necessary."

"Yes, knocking women unconscious and then kidnapping them is completely necessary." She hissed.

Hunter had to suppress a smirk. "That's where you are mistaken. We didn't kidnap you, Miss Stratford. We simply escorted you back to where you belong. Your ties with the crew of the Black Pearl were severed by the captain. He made that quite clear."

Lauren had to swallow the lump that was rising in her throat. "You lie."

Hunter took a chair and sat it next to the bed, seating himself. "I'm not lying. Jack Sparrow handed you over for the safety of his own neck."

Lauren felt tears prick her eyes. Oh, my God, please no. Don't let me cry in front of him. She tried to quickly blink them away, but Hunter had already seen her tears. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. "I truly am sorry, Miss Stratford. I realize this must be difficult for you. But they are pirates – they don't follow the same moral code as we do."

Lauren turned away his handkerchief.

Hunter stood to leave. He got to the door when he paused and turned back to face her. "I really am sorry, Lauren, about Gerard. He was an honorable, respectable man. He…he was a good friend of mine. We all miss him; we all cope in our own way."

She plopped her head back on the pillow and sighed deeply. We all cope in our own way.

Hunter's kind words only confused Lauren. Was he really here for her own good, to protect her from what he thought a real danger, or was he only trying to advance his own career by doing as her father had ordered?

She rubbed her temple. What a mess she was in. She layed there in the bed, her thoughts torturing her for the next few minutes before she couldn't take it any longer. She pushed herself out of the bed and stepped out of the cabin into the warm sun. She squinted her eyes and her head pounded from where she'd been hit, but she made her way to the railing. Hunter soon joined her side.

"Are you feeling well enough, Miss Stratford?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She answered shortly.

Their ship was drawing near to one of the other British vessels.

"Gunner!" Captain Hunter called out.

The color in Lauren's face drained as the large, dark-haired man came into view on the other ship. Her hands tightened on the rail and her knuckles turned white. She looked accusingly over at Hunter. "Him!" She said in disbelief. "Him? Why is he with you!"

Hunter looked surprised at her reaction but he quickly dismissed it. "We were in temporary need of his services."

The two navy vessels neared and a few of the men departed from the Arrowhead and to the other ship. "What's happening?" Lauren asked. When Hunter didn't immediately answer, she added, "Need not I remind you that you rather unceremoniously knocked me unconscious over the head for not initially being compliant, in which case I was—"

"Miss Statford," he interrupted. "Do you really believe I had enough men free to join me on this expedition while we're at war with Spain?"

"Well I…" She trailed off as she searched the opposite navy vessel. Before some of Hunter's men had joined the ship, she had only seen Gunner and one other sailor. But that couldn't be right… She felt like she was going to be sick as she now understood Hunter's plan. All of his ships were manned only by two, maybe three sailors, and the rest were on the Arrowhead, the only one that the crew of the Black Pearl would be able to clearly see. It was just a trick. They had convinced the pirates that they were outnumbered, when in reality it was the other way around.

Hunter studied her face as she realized what had actually happened.

"You lied." Lauren accused angrily.

"No, you just saw what you wanted to see."

Lauren could feel the tears prick her eyes once more. She was torn from where she truly wanted to be, on the Pearl with Jack, because they had been surrounded by empty ships? This is how she saved all of the pirates' lives? She momentarily turned her face from Hunter until she could compose herself. She cleared her throat, set her shoulders, and stood up straight. Her tears were gone and now only a fierce determination remained. "What the hell is he doing on one of your navy vessels?"

Hunter was startled by her change and her course language. "I said before-"

"What were his services, then? He's a pirate; he wouldn't agree to help you unless you decided to repay him with something he wanted."

Hunter was momentarily distracted as Gunner began to cross over to the Arrowhead. Hunter held his hand up and said firmly, "I believe it best if you stay on the Malabar, Gunner."

Gunner stalled, his eyes sliding from Hunter to Lauren, who held his gaze, before sneering and hulking back to the helm. Hunter turned his attention back to the impatiently waiting Miss Stratford. "He agreed to help me find the Pearl, and in return, he would get his revenge on Jack Sparrow."

Her eyes narrowed. "His revenge." She repeated. "And what does this revenge entail?"

"I'm afraid I'm not privy to that information – nor does it concern me or you."

"It concerns me—"

"—no longer." He interrupted firmly. Lauren felt like a young girl again, being chastised by her father or governess when she had done something wrong. But she wasn't a child anymore and she was tired by playing by everyone else's rules. She had done nothing wrong, and yet here she was, sailing farther and farther away from what she now considered to be her home, from the man that had changed everything for her.

And at the same time, he had so easily given her up.

She angrily brushed past Hunter, reaching for the door handle to his cabin. "Oh yes," she said. "I'll be needing my own private quarters. I think these will do just fine, so if you don't mind, inform the rest of the crew where my new residency is and where yours shall be." With that, she slammed the captain's door behind her.

:'O

Thoughts? What do you think Lauren and Jack's next moves will be? Let me know in a review below! They make my day!

xoxo Becca