A/N: I'm back! I'm so so sorry it's taken this long to get another chapter. Just so every one knows I have no plans of abandoning this story. I have had writer's block and then it was finals time and then Christmas time and then my mother forced me to start cleaning my room and I couldn't get to my computer. Then the prophecy (later in this chapter) was driving me nuts because I couldn't think of how to continue it. Anyway, thank you SOOOO much to everyone who reviewed while I was in my little phase of writer's block. Every time I read one of your reviews I would get out this story again to try and work on it.
Just in reference to something mentioned later in this chapter, I know that back in Jack's time the Bermuda Triangle didn't really exist. Please for the sake of the story just pretend it did ok?
Oh, and I'm not sure if I'm doing a very good job portraying Will and Elizabeth. Jack's a little iffy too. If any of you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I own Pirates of the Caribbean! *Throws a glance at the pack of angry lawyers striding towards her* uh, well, maybe just the video. But Cat is mine!
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Norrington stepped in and Cat promptly forgot about the broken glass on the floor. Her social smile found its way to her lips and she hid the fear in her eyes behind her social mask.
"Commodore," she
said politely, "to what do I owe this visit?"
"Perhaps, Miss Cattilia," Norrington said dryly, "it would be due to the fact that Mr. Sparrow was here and you failed to inform me."
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Chapter Four: Bloody Pirates
Cat's mouth went dry. "Indeed?" she asked, trying with all her might to think of a way out of this one. "May I ask what gave you such an idea?"
"Perhaps because one of your customers decided to do what you had refused to do, he informed the proper authorities," Norrington said. His gray-blue eyes were piercing and for a moment she entertained the idea that he could read her mind. She dismissed it quickly for what it was, foolish. Commodore Norrington could simply read people well.
"Well, you see, Commodore," she said. "I was not aware at the moment of his identity, or I would have sent for you immediately."
Norrington stared at her for a long moment. Cat strained to keep her fear hidden. Any moment now he would see it in her eyes and then he would know she was lying. After what seemed like forever Norrington gestured to his soldiers. They began heading for the door and Cat breathed an internal sigh of relief.
"Now that you are aware of what he looks like, I will expect you to report him to me immediately." His eyes met hers again. "If you do not then the presence of this bar and its owner will no longer be tolerated in Port Royal. Have I made myself clear?"
Cat nodded wordlessly. It seemed to be the only thing that she could do. Norrington turned and walked stiffly from the bar.
Her bar, he had just threatened to destroy her bar if she did not cooperate with the law. And what was that about not tolerating me? Cat thought suddenly. Would he really...? He would, she realized. And it wasn't as though she were completely innocent. She'd broken a number of small rules continuously throughout the years. Her bar attracted the less lawful type of people. To Norrington her bar was an annoyance and an embarrassment.
Cat turned from the doorway and walked towards her room briskly. The door sat closed, and Cat threw it open. She found Sparrow standing at the window, watching the redcoats leave. He turned when the door slammed against the wall.
"I want you out." She said nothing more than that but she didn't need to. Sparrow knew what she meant; she was sure that he did. Beneath his 'drunken idiot' facade, there was intelligence.
Sparrow's eyes met hers. And then he did something completely out of place, something that completely didn't fit with the situation. He grinned at her.
"Happy to oblige love," Sparrow said, and he sauntered past her to the bar and then, he sat down and picked up the bottle of rum on the bar.
"Don't even think about it!" Cat snapped angrily as she stomped towards him and snatched the bottle out of his hand.
Sparrow frowned, looked at her, shook his head and said, "Now that wasn't very nice love."
"Do you really want me to slap you again, Mister Sparrow?" Cat asked through gritted teeth. "Because I'm very very tempted to right now."
"First off, it's Captain, love. And I'd prefer it if you didn't," Sparrow answered and he sort of cautiously pushed himself away from the bar as though expecting her to slap him now.
"Then don't try to drink anything else in here unless you are prepared to pay for it," Cat said, her voice snappish and bossy. "This is a bar Mister Sparrow and it did not become a bar by giving out beverages for free."
"Captain, it's Captain Sparrow!" Sparrow said, irritation now openly evident in his voice. Then he looked at her, a sort of mischief creeping into his eyes and said, "Or you could call me Jack but that would imply intimacy. Not that I'd mind love but somehow I think you would." He grinned cheekily at her.
She glared openly at him. His only response was to raise his eyebrows suggestively and his grin grew wider. Cat gave an irritated sigh under her breath and turned to the current mess of glass on the floor. Bending down she began to pick up shards off the floor, placing them carefully into her hand. The shattered glass reminded her of something, something she felt was important. She frowned at the glass shards in her hand, willing them to reveal the mystery that they seemed to hold for her. Slowly, as if in a trance, she reached forward with her other hand and touched one finger to the sharp edge of the glass shard. She pulled her hand back sharply as the shard cut into her finger, leaving a thin diagonal cut. Crimson blood welled up, so that the cut was no longer quite so thin looking. And quite suddenly, the importance of the glass shards she held in her hand reached her.
"Elizabeth!" Cat gasped, dropping the shards of glass to the floor. They fell against the other glass shards with a familiar tinkling sound. Cat stood slowly as Elizabeth hurried around the bar, followed by Will. Sparrow leaned over the bar to see.
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked, alarm and confusion mingling together in her voice. She peered down at Cat's hand, seeing nothing that would have made the girl cry out.
"It's from the nightmare." The words slid past her lips into the silence, echoing in her ears. She turned to Elizabeth, wide eyes on her bloodstained finger.
"This was in my nightmare," she whispered again. "Elizabeth, it's starting." She looked up at Elizabeth in time to see her face pale ever so slightly. Will's face looked drawn.
"Crimson blood of the virgin young," Cat said. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. It seemed like the right thing to say.
"Is the way to the treasure prized." Those words too, felt right and seemed to fit. She turned to look at Sparrow now, who had uttered the words. His eyes now glittered strangely, as though he wanted something and it was finally within his grasp.
"Why did you say that?" Elizabeth asked, but her question was directed to Sparrow and not to Cat.
Sparrow laughed, or sort of chuckled under his breath and then said, "It's part of a prophecy, Elizabeth, darling." Before anyone could say anything he continued, "The prophecy of El Tesoro Apreciado. It's about a treasure hidden on an island somewhere within the Bermuda Triangle."
"A prophecy," Cat whispered.
Sparrow looked at her, his eyes once again strange and unreadable. "Aye," he said, "A prophecy that seems to have something to do with you." Then, as though just thinking of something, he asked, "You are a virgin aren't you?"
"Jack!" Elizabeth said sharply. He glanced at her and looked at Cat again in a rather suggestive manner. He smirked suddenly as she felt her cheeks grow warm and Cat realized she was blushing. She glared at Sparrow.
"Never mind," he said. He still had that self-satisfied smirk on his face and Cat found herself just itching to kick him in a certain place and see just how long he could keep that damned smirk on his face after that. She restrained herself though, settling for the death glare that always made her customers behave. Sparrow's smile seemed to falter for a moment when he met her eyes but then it was back. Cat sighed inwardly and gave it up.
"What's the rest of the prophecy?" Cat asked in a resigned voice. It wasn't even midday yet she felt so tired that she could have fallen asleep where she stood. She was done playing Sparrow's games. She simply did not have the energy for them.
To her surprise Sparrow merely shrugged and said, "Those are the only two lines I remember. I was drunk when the old man started telling it to me and he only said it once."
Cat stared at him. "That's it?!" She asked incredulously. "That's all you know?"
Sparrow narrowed his eyes at the accusatory tone in her voice. "Well, I'm not the only one with information. What about these so called nightmares of yours? What did you mean when you said it was starting?"
Cat dropped her eyes to the floor and refused to speak, so Elizabeth jumped in.
"She had very distinctive nightmares about Barbossa and the whole adventure that led to the breaking of the curse," Elizabeth said, "just one week before the whole thing happened. Every single detail she could remember from them fit perfectly with what happened. After it was over, the dreams stopped." Elizabeth glanced at Cat, but she did not indicate she had heard anyone say anything.
"Well, it seems to me that you ought to divulge what you have learned from this dream," Sparrow said, staring at Cat. She merely shook her head and he made an irritated sound in the back of his throat. "You're going to have to share the information sometime, love. Especially if it continues on like I think it will. Why not reveal it now?"
"Because it would be of profit to you!" Cat snapped angrily, jerking her head up. She was sick and tired of Sparrow. He'd done nothing but turn her life upside down since he got here and now he refused to leave her alone.
Cat froze, terror running through her as she saw someone standing in the doorway to her bar. A someone who wore the characteristic blue coat of an officer of the Royal Navy.
"Well, well, well," Norrington said, causing Elizabeth, Will and Sparrow to whirl around. "It appears that I should never have asked you for help in the first place, Miss Cattilia. You were working against the law the entire time."
Cat opened her mouth to speak, to come up with some excuse but nothing would come out. Norrington stepped into the bar and it was only then that Cat realized he had soldiers behind him.
"I will deal with you later." Norrington's eyes moved from her to Sparrow. Upon feeling the Commodore's gaze upon him, Sparrow jumped over the bar, grabbed Cat by the hair and had a knife to her throat within seconds. Norrington's eyes flashed and he took a step towards the bar.
"Jack!" Elizabeth exclaimed. Will, like Norrington took a step towards her.
"Stay back," Sparrow warned. His voice had become sharp and abrupt and Cat felt real fear of Sparrow slide into her as he pressed the knife harder against her throat. Cat gasped and Norrington and Will halted abruptly but their eyes still glimmered dangerously.
"Try anything funny and you will have a dead body on your hands, Commodore," Sparrow said. "Now tell your soldiers to clear a path."
"I could simply give them the order to shoot you," Norrington said.
"Aye, you could, but who knows what might happen to the knife at her throat as I die." Sparrow pushed the blade harder still against her throat. Cat stood absolutely still, but she couldn't stop a gasp of pain from passing her lips as the blade pressed against her skin and cut it ever so slightly.
Norrington stared at Sparrow for a moment, not saying anything. His gaze flicked to Cat momentarily and then it moved back to Sparrow. He didn't move his gaze at all but he said, "Stand aside." Slowly, reluctantly, the soldiers moved over to one side of the room.
"Now, Will, Elizabeth, if you would please join them," Sparrow said. Cat's eyes flicked to them, to see what they would do. She had no doubts that Sparrow was completely willing to slit her throat if it helped him escape. Slowly, Will and Elizabeth moved out from behind the bar to join the redcoats on their side of the room.
Sparrow began to back out from behind the bar, pulling Cat with him. Cat moved with him, afraid that if she didn't the knife would slice open her throat. As she backed past Will and Elizabeth she managed to get out the words, "Help me." Neither of them moved and their angry eyes stayed on Sparrow.
"Hush now love," Sparrow said into her ear, a warning in his voice. "You behave and nothing will happen, savvy?"
"Aye," Cat whispered. She said nothing else but she fixed her pleading eyes on Norrington, desperately wishing for his help for the first time in her life. She felt something warm sliding down her face. She distantly realized that she was crying. She never cried in public, now she felt shame wash over her in addition to her fear and her eyes dropped from Norrington's to the floor.
The two of them were close to the door now and as they stepped out of it, Sparrow pulled the grating door shut. "Do you have a key to this?" Cat made the barest of nods, but he felt it because he said, "Then lock it love and we'll be on our way."
Cat dared not even move for fear that if she did the knife would slit her throat and she said, "I can't reach it. Could you... that is... can I please have some room to breathe?"
Sparrow let out a small huff of amusement and moved his knife. It was just enough so she could move without being afraid that it would cut her but the knife remained close enough that she could still feel it just the slightest bit. Reaching into her pocket, Cat pulled out the key to the grating. She moved to lock the grating but her hands shook and she couldn't push the key into the lock.
"Hurry it up now, Cat, love, we haven't got all day," Sparrow said, and even though his voice still contained that note of warning, it now had just a hint of mocking to it.
Angrily, Cat shoved the key into the lock and turned it as she said, "It's Miss Cattilia to you, Captain Sparrow."
Sparrow chuckled again and Cat felt her hate rising. Her hands ceased their trembling as she pulled the key out of the lock. Her fear diminished as the hatred took its place.
"Shut and lock the other door, love." Cat moved to do so and as she shut the wooden door she saw soldier running to the grating. She locked the door and carefully slipped the key back into her trouser pocket.
"Now, I don't have time to keep a knife to your throat all the time, Miss Cattilia," Sparrow informed her as they continued to back away from her bar. "So if I release you, you must promise to cooperate."
Cat weighed her options. If she promised he would move that damned knife away from her throat but essentially she would still be his prisoner. But if she didn't agree, she would have that knife to her throat the whole way and she knew for certain that she didn't want that. Cat sighed.
"I promise," Cat said, crossing her fingers as she thought, to run the first chance I get.
The knife moved away from her throat and Cat stumbled away from Sparrow, her hand going to her throat. When she pulled her fingers away there was blood on them. She glared at Sparrow.
"You cut my throat," she accused. Sparrow rolled his eyes.
"It's nothing life threatening, love. Now come on, we need to be leaving before Commodore Norrington figures out how to open those doors." He held out his hand to her. Cat hesitated to take it. She had felt how strong his grip was once before and she knew that if she let him take hold of her hand now that she would ruin nearly all her chances of escaping.
She must have hesitated too long for Sparrow's liking because he seized her wrist and began to run, dragging her along with him.
"Let go of me!" Cat demanded as she ran, to keep from being dragged. Hatred was racing through her and when Sparrow didn't respond or give any indication that he'd heard her she tried to pull her arm free. It was no good though, Sparrow had an iron grip and no matter how hard she pulled his grip didn't loosen one bit.
Sparrow did, however, turn his head so she could hear him and said, "You promised to cooperate. If you keep fighting me I have no qualms against hauling you aboard my ship across my back."
Cat stopped trying to free her arm, imagining the humiliation she would be forced to endure if Sparrow had to drag her aboard his ship kicking and screaming. The crew would no doubt find it incredibly amusing, and she would appear to be one the stuck up "proper ladies" she so despised. She ceased her struggling but she seethed with anger. Sparrow was ruining her life and there was naught she could do about it.
I'll make you sorry you ever disturbed my life Sparrow, Cat thought. I'm not yet sure how but you will be sorry. I swear it.
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Well, there you have it! I promise promise promise to get out the next chapter ASAP.
Please Review!
Reviewer Thanks:
Lenne Hime: I hope (If you haven't given up on me) that you enjoy this chapter. I'm sorry for leaving it at a cliffy.
Lady Akhana: Again I apologize for the cliffy, I know I hate it when authors do that to me. Anyway, thanks for understanding about school, it was really a nightmare. And I'm always happy to put people's names in my story.
Shanelover1: Thanks for popping in to read this story, and I'm glad you like Cat. I'm doing my best to keep her from being Mary Sue-ish.
Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to ask if anyone has seen a PotC ff set in modern times where Jack pirates movies that haven't been release on to video yet? And Will is a young, sorta low ranking assistant in the police force and Norrington is a detective? Anyone know what I'm talking about? If you do and you know the title could you please let me know? It was a really good ff...
Ta,
Kery J. Wales