Summary: Jayme lands herself on the Pearl, caught up in the world of Pirates, and finds herself exceptionally close to Jack Sparrow.
Pairing: JS/ModernOC
Rating: T
Notes: I fully understand that it's been over 3 years since I updated. If you care about excuses you might like to look at my profile page. I cannot thank you enough for continuing to read. I'm setting a goal to finish everything I have.
Disclaimer: I do not own POTC or its story-lines. All original characters and plots are of my own.
Under-whelmed
Knock Out
** November 30, 2020: As a reminder: This is a ModernxPOTC story that I have been struggling with since 2005. That being said this is post-COTB and nothing else. That's also the year I graduated high school. I know this is pathetic. But even though I rarely post, just know all of my stories are in my mind every day. I have 3 that are most important to me, and I each night I lay down with one of them in my mind trying to sort out what's next for them.
I am still passionate about this story, and all my others, and while I'm so gracious for any readers, I know my writing is not professional (but hopefully better than when I was in high school) and just publishing these is enough to give me some sense of accomplishment.
Also, something we didn't do in 2005:
Trigger Warning for assault…. My brief stint in the Psych Fandom opened my eyes to how much I love writing Whumpage.
As Jack walked back towards town with Jayme, he kept himself from pointing out that she needed to be with someone when she left the ship. She didn't need to know that he was keeping such a close eye on her. Instead, he stayed silently at her side as they walked from the market towards the docks until he saw Gibbs and Ana approaching with the ship's ledgers.
"Ah," Jack said to catch their attention and put his hand on Jayme's upper back to direct her towards Ana. "Mister Gibbs, if I could get a moment of your time."
Ana opened her mouth to protest but the look on Jack's face made it clear that no part of his request was actually a request. Jayme missed the exchange completely and grinned at Ana as Gibbs doubled the burden of notebooks in her arms.
"Ladies," Jack excused himself with a sarcastic bow and a flourish of his arms before leading Gibbs towards a different tavern.
Ana shifted the books and jut out her jaw towards Jayme, who rolled her eyes and took half of the ledgers. The two then headed into the familiar inn for Ana to balance the books in a private corner.
Meanwhile Jack led Gibbs into a neighboring tavern and made his way to the back of the dining area.
"Oy, we're not open for business, you!" A young Irish girl yelled from the bar before she saw who was entering. Jack haphazardly fluttered both his hands towards her as if he could shoo her away, and once she saw who was invading her inn she nodded a 'hello' and turned back to her duties. She knew Jack Sparrow as a regular in the town, and he had used her quiet inn as a meeting pointbefore.
Jack and Mr. Gibbs sat and after a quick moment another woman brought them both a mug of grog.
"Now Mr. Gibbs, I want you to think very hard," Jack started and paused for dramatic effect as he took his first drink.
Gibbs cringed, usually when conversations started like this they led to nowhere good, and fast. "Aye, Captain,"
"When you took young Miss Miles out yestermorn, did anything un-normal happen with the two of you?"
Gibbs smirked and took a drink of his grog after telling the captain point blank: "Captain, there be nothing not un-normal with that lass. She's tragic luck." Jack gave him a look that showed no humor, and he quickly rethought his answer. "Truth be told, Captain, we found a craggly old gypsy's fortune tellin' nook. She knew mine and Miss Miles' names without us tellin'. The shop was a glittery... peasanty... concernin' bit of business, what with all the skulls and such."
Jack narrowed his eyes and mulled that over for a moment as he thought of the shops he was familiar with. He could not place anything like this, and didn't see anything like it that morning while he followed Jayme. He broke his silence suddenly and with his mug of grog in front of his mouth as he spoke in low tones. "It seems as though the followers Miss Miles acquired in Tortuga has made it to Esperanzas. Though I can't say if these are the same men or no."
Gibbs wisely decided not to repeat his opinions on luck.
With a decided nod, Jack leaned forward conspiratorially and continued, "Mr. Gibbs, I surmise that Miss Miles is worth a modestly modest amount of grief and treasure. It will be in our best interest to keep a close eye on the lass and to make sure at all costs that she is not unsafe."
"At, Captain, treasure is worth keepin' not unsafe!" Gibbs agreed and looked over to the bar lass across the room to howl with a large smile, "My lady, some rum for Captain Jack Sparrow and his First Mate!"
-
"I can help you with that," Jayme said from where she was staring at AnaMaria going through the ship's ledgers.
"No chance, Missy, you keep your eyes to yerself." Ana grumbled lowly and threw her forearm over the page she was working on like a child hiding her test answers.
"Ok, but I'm actually highly educated if-" Jayme stopped abruptly when Ana snapped her head up to glare at her. "Sorry," Jayme held her hands up in surrender.
Already feeling boredom seeping in, Jayme looked around the tavern and noticed how few people were around. There were only two old men at a far table playing dice, and a man sitting with his back to them a few tables over. The staff were milling around the bar area, mostly cleaning or fussing over preparations for the night crowd. A nap was sounding very nice, but she didn't have a room here as she had spent the last night on the ship.
Jayme opened her mouth to ask Ana if she could go back to the ship, but all she was met with was a view of the top of Ana's hat as her head was bent over the books. So instead, Jayme very quietly got up and walked intently towards the door and was out of the tavern without any objection.
When Ana looked up to see why Jayme was being so quiet, she was startled to see the spot across from her was empty. She looked around the inn and towards the door and saw no sign of the younger woman. Jack had warned Ana not to let Jayme out of her sight any time they were at port, but it was not safe to leave the privileged information in the tavern either.
Ana rolled her eyes and slouched back down to her books. Jayme was apparently 'highly educated', and these ledgers couldn't fall into anyone else's hands. Jayme would just have to fend for herself.
-
"'xcuse me Miss, Cap'n asked me 'company you to yer room on our ship."
Jayme heard the voice and her stomach flipped. It was a weird accent, someone that didn't speak primarily English and the politeness of his words did not match the forcefulness of his tone. And most importantly, he was definitely not a part of the Black Pearl crew.
Jayme didn't stop walking and just turned slightly to catch a glimpse of the man out of the corner of her eye. "No thank you, I just actually talked to him and he asked me to meet him somewhere else."
Feeling annoyed that she felt like she had to be polite, Jayme grimaced to herself privately when she was facing forward again. This man was either trying to get her alone, or trying to get to the Pearl when he wasn't supposed to be.
"No Miss, Cap'n said." Jayme could hear his feet hitting the ground slightly faster than hers. "I just seen him, he told us ship, now." His accent sounded like something middle eastern, and reminded Jayme of a Bond villain.
"I'll go alone then, you don't have to bother." She said in a higher tone than she wanted to, with a tight-lipped, shy smile over her shoulder and kicked her pace up substantially towards the dock. Even if he wasn't supposed to be at the Pearl, she would definitely feel safer around the crew that knew her. Even if the majority of them would take advantage of her if they could.
"Oy," he said, more like growled, and she heard a few fast, dragging steps.
Suddenly, and forcefully, she felt a hand on the back of her neck. Her shoulders came up in an involuntary shrug and her arms went out wide to keep her balance from falling forward from the force. "You come with me- now." He snarled into her right ear and she tried to squirm out of his grasp. His hand curled in tighter on her neck, and she felt like an overgrown kitten being scruffed. The force of his strong hand made her shoulders go down some, and she felt some of the hair he had in his hand rip of out the back of her neck.
"Ok, ok-" she said, breathing through the pain. "The ship- it's there." Jayme tried to walk towards the sails of the ships lining the docks, but his grip tightened again and yanked her to the right, causing her neck to painfully pop twice, and his other strong hand wrapped around the top of her right arm.
The few quick steps he had chased her had already taken them across the main dirt road, and they were quickly in an alley between two shops and out of sight of anyone that would find this scene out of place.
Pure fear sank into Jayme's being and she tried to lock her knees to stop their progress, so he shoved her forward hard but didn't loosen either grip. The force of the stationary shove moved his thumb around her neck far enough that he occluded the major vessels on one side and she could feel her pounding pulse in her ears.
"No, no- please," She said, breathily and quick, panic taking away her ability to function. Briefly, Jayme thought of survivor stories of women yelling and screaming and fighting back and she found herself unable to quite execute any of that.
"Shut it," the man barked, and let go of her arm to punch her quite hard in the middle of her back while he still held on to her neck. The force knocked all of Jayme's breath away, and she wheezed and choked on her inhalation.
"No please," she took a huge breath in, trying not to cough-
"Please- stop," she inhaled again, feeling herself become dizzy-
"No stop!" Another inhalation and her mind suddenly realized she was hyperventilating and would pass out soon. She stopped begging, embarrassed that she had, and focused on taking deep metered breaths, perfected from distance running for many years.
"You can't know where we go now," The man half growled and half shouted, and as Jayme could sense his free hand swinging back to hit her over the head- she finally inhaled again and let out a scream cut instantly short by a cough as he squeezed her neck again-
"YOU THERE!" She heard-
A gun shot-
The resulting blow to her head-
And she fell to her knees, stars dancing before her eyes as tunnel vision started to take her away from the alley.
Ok, thanks for anyone that read.