Usual disclaimers - if you recognise anything, it belongs to Disney, all else is mine!
Special thanks to Pendragginink for being my beta and thanks to 1BabyBoy, SparrowsVixon and Snuffles-sweetie for understanding the three-for-three idea!
Chapter 43 – The Offer
Mab finished in the galley, tiredly placing the final pot back into the correct place for the next day. "I'm heading to bed now, Nathan," she sighed, rubbing her hand across her face.
"Aye," he nodded. "Thanks fer yer help today. I'll see yer in th' morning?"
"Sì," she smiled, glad that the bearded cook had not been one of those killed in the battle with the HMS Amersham. Richard Jenkins, Thomas Pew, Patrick O'Neill and Benjamin Collins had been killed when a cannonball smashed through the hull next to the cannon they had been firing. Although she had had little to do with the pirates other than serving them their food when she had been aboard before, she remembered Benjamin and his fight with the surly Frank Whittins over the whore in Tortuga. It: "The day we first made love," she sighed to herself as she walked across the main deck towards the master cabin… and Jack
"I was just about ter send a search party out after you," Jack drawled as she opened the doors to the cabin to find him sitting staring at a chart of the region, a bottle of rum in one hand. He smiled at her. "You look bushed."
"There were a lot of pots," she explained.
"Do yer want some rum?" he asked, offering her the bottle.
"Grazie, but no," she replied. "I think I'll just use the head and go to bed… if you don't mind?"
"Of course not," he smiled, turning back to the chart as he tried to figure out if there was any way to save even an hour of their journey. He looked up as she walked past and paused at the side cabin doorway, turning back with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"If we are not arguing any more, you don't have to sleep in a hammock," she offered, her eyes falling on the bundle of canvas that he had yet to put up.
Jack arched an eyebrow, pondering her offer. "You sure?" he asked. "I don't mind th' hammock."
"It's up to you," she shrugged, turning and pulling the drapes across the doorway. She slid out of her shirt and breeches, slipping beneath the blankets naked. She fidgeted briefly, getting comfortable, before drifting into a deep and thankfully dreamless sleep, not noticing Jack as he quietly pulled the drapes apart and stood, leaning against the door frame, watching her for a time.
"Yer did offer," he muttered quietly to himself, his decision reached as he too stripped off and climbed in beside her, wrapping his body protectively around hers. Although the day had not gone at all to plan, he was glad to have her back.
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But when Jack awoke, Mab was nowhere to be seen. He yawned, pulling his clothes on and walking out barefoot into the bright, early morning sun. Glancing around the deck, he made his way below to where he assumed she would be – the galley. He smiled on seeing her busily kneading the flatbread that she had made for the crew before, knowing he could steal a few moments with her on hearing Nathan cursing as he battled with the chickens.
"Mornin', luv," he said softly.
"Good morning, Jack," she replied, turning to face him.
"Did yer sleep well?" he asked. "I didn't hear yer leave…"
"You were out for the count," she chuckled. "I did not want to wake you." She turned her attention back to the bread, checking the batch already on the stove.
"Aye, well it was a bit of a day yesterday," he admitted ruefully. "But it looks as if th' repairs are coming along better than expected, so we should make good time in catchin' Th' Tarantara."
Mab nodded, not sure if she wanted them to catch up with the ship or not. She wiped her hands in her shirt, flipping over the bread that was half-cooked. She did not know if she wanted her father to get to the treasure first and keep it for the troupe, or for Jack to… but either way, she knew there was no going back for her. Jack frowned, catching her hesitation.
"Do you want ter catch them up?" he asked, mindful of what she had said the day before.
"It does not matter really," she admitted. "Not to me, anyway. I cannot go back, I know that. But I do need to know what I am to do, where I am to go. I need your help with that at least for I do not know the Caribbean at all, only Port Royal."
"Yer can sing," Jack suggested. "I could take yer to a safe, respectable port an' you could earn a livin' that way…"
She turned to look at him. "A fine singer I would make," she snorted, nodding to her manly attire. "But what of you? What do you intend?"
"I'd look after yer," Jack assured her. "I've buggered yer life up, th' least I can do is make sure that you've got a future… a home…"
"That is not what I meant, and you know it," she pressed, a frown creasing her brow as she considered her words. "You'll take me to some safe island, fine! But what then? You and the crew are the only people I know here – will I ever see you again?"
"If that's what you want… yes," Jack replied cautiously. "I didn't want ter force th' issue with you… you could go somewhere with no naval base, or just a small one, an' we could visit you on a regular basis… or just me, if yer like?" he added hopefully.
Mab lifted the bread from the stove, adding it to the pile of cooked bread before slapping another one onto the stove to cook. She turned back to face him, sighing heavily. "What do you want from me, Jack?" she asked, knowing that she had to ask him straight. "I need to know!"
"I want what we had before," Jack replied simply.
"But how can we if I am to live ashore and make myself a life?" she demanded.
Jack grinned to himself that she had not instantly dismissed his words. "I'll visit so often you'll be fed up with me," he assured her, reaching for the cooling bread. "Ow! It's hot!"
"Blow on it!" she sighed, shaking her head at his antics.
"Well?" he asked. "That's what I'd like. What do yer want from me?"
"Only the truth," she replied quietly. "I'm frightened of being alone."
"I won't let yer down," he promised. "I won't sail off into th' sunset an' forget all about you…"
"But what am I, Jack?" she demanded. "To you? Woman? Whore? Occasional bed partner? I need to know if I am to build myself a life!"
Jack rocked back on his heels slightly, forced to face a question he had been avoiding asking himself for some time. "I'd like yer t' be my woman… if you want?" he said finally, unsure of her answer.
Mab blinked, clearly it had not been the response she had been expecting. She nodded, before turning back to the stove and flipping the bread over.
"Is that a yes nod?" Jack asked hopefully.
"It is," Mab admitted wryly, a smile flitting across her face as she glanced at him. "I guess I should have learned to forget better…"
"Forget what?" he asked, moving closer to her.
"Love them, leave them, forget them… except it did not work this time, did it?" she frowned.
"Good," he murmured, reaching for her. "Because I didn't forget yer either… however hard I tried."
She looked up as Nathan entered the cabin, carrying a bucket with the eggs in. "Not many, th' lazy things," he muttered, looking surprised to see Jack. "Oh, sorry, Captain… didn't see you there."
"Obviously," Jack replied dryly. "I'll see you after breakfast? he said, looking to Mab.
She nodded. "Sì," she replied, smiling briefly at him before turning back to her work.
"Sorry," Nathan apologised to her as Jack left. "I didn't realize…"
"It is all right," she smiled ruefully. "We'd better get this finished or the crew will never eat!"
"Aye, that we'd better," he agreed, starting work beside her.
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