Disclaimer: When you start unconsciously imitating motions and speech patterns/accents of characters, you should be able to claim at least a small amount of ownership . . .
AN: Please keep reviewing. I do try to listen to what people say, and it makes the day much happier when I check the e-mail and someone has written a happy, or a happy-but-this-should-be-fixed, or even a not-happy review, because it means something is going right in this bloody gods-cursed world (bg-cw has been my phrase for the past two years). Okay, now that I'm done shamelessly asking for reviews, thanks to those who are! It might be just my imagination, but I think that it's far easier to guess what's going to happen next in this story than in AToM. Opinions? Which do you guys like better so far?
Trust Me Still
Part 10
"Jack, you said you weren't going to do anything stupid!"
Jack swung around to face Ana-Maria. "This is not stupid. I have thought about this and this is intelligent. I'll not waste men's lives and I'll not risk another mutiny."
"They're your men! It's their job to do what you tell them to!"
"They. Are. Pirates. Remember? 'Ye shouldn't trust us' and all the rest? They have no stake in this."
"They've come back for ye twice, Jack."
"They weren't risking their lives then for no obvious reward, and this crew isn't the same one I had eight years ago or even five years ago. We've lost good men. You know that. I try to find good men, a commodity that are in decided low stock at Tortuga, but they're still all pirates. Besides, I'm not going to fight them. Just slip in, find Will and Ana, and slip out. No big problem."
"No big problem?! Jack Sparrow, you told me you'd be careful! Facing unkillable things alone is not my definition of being careful!"
"I'm not going to face them, I'm going to avoid them. And they can be killed, it's just not very easy to do it."
"Jack . . ."
The pirate captain ignored her, swinging back around to continue his walk across the deck, only to find himself face-to-face with another angry woman.
"Jack Sparrow, you are not leaving me on this ship while you go off to get yourself killed!"
"Damn it, Gibbs was right! Women on board are bad luck! Will you both just shut up! I am not going to get myself killed! I rather enjoy living, you know!"
"You could have fooled me!" Both women responded at the same time.
"All right." Jack turned around so he was facing Ana-Maria. "You, you're supposed to keep my ship safe for me!" He turned around again to face Elizabeth, dressed in a worn white shirt and brown trousers, the sword she had taken from Port Royal strapped at her side. "And you, you're supposed to keep that demon that Will named after me from destroying my ship! Both of these responsibilities require that you be on said ship!"
Before either woman could answer him, a small hand closed on his wrist and drew Jack's attention downwards.
"Uncle Jacky, my sister is over there." The boy's eyes were wide as he pointed towards the island, a shadowy blotch off the starboard side of the ship.
Jack stared between the boy and Elizabeth. Elizabeth stared right back at him, confusion written across her face. Jack knelt down so that he was eye-to-eye with the child.
"How do you know that?" The boy stared at him. "Son, how do you know that your sister is over there?"
The boy stepped back, confusion and misery evident on his face. His voice was a mere whisper when he spoke again.
"I don't know, Uncle Jacky. I can feel her, but she's scared. If you really are a good man, you need to help her."
"I'm planning on helping her. Do you know exactly where she is? What about your father? Can you . . .feel . . .him?"
The boy shook his head, his brown hair falling into his eyes.
Jack pushed the stray locks back behind the child's ears. "That's all right, Jack. Are you certain that you're really feeling your sister? That you're not just hoping that she's here?"
"I feel her, Uncle Jacky. She's there and she's scared. Help her." The boy shivered.
"I will. I promise." Jack stood again.
"Uncle Jacky." Jack looked down. "I'm not a demon." That said, the boy skittered away. Jack shook his head and prayed that the thrill of almost being reunited with his sister would keep the boy out of the rigging before turning back to Elizabeth.
"Has he ever . . .felt . . .Ana before?"
"I don't know. They've never really been separated for long periods of time. If he has, he hasn't spoken to me about it, and neither has Ana."
"Could it be whatever magic they use that the boy's sensing? After all, both his father and his mother were touched by the Aztec curse."
"I don't know, Jack."
"If he could tell us exactly where the girl is, Will shouldn't be very far away from her." Jack paused a moment and shook his head. "No, I won't risk the life of a child."
"I'm still coming with you, Jack." Elizabeth planted herself firmly in his path.
"As am I." Ana-Maria clapped her hand on his shoulder. "There're others on board that you trust with your ship, Jack."
"Captain, love, and I really regret letting you two on board."
"Regret it all you want, Jack, it won't make us go away. Now explain how this small group is going to slip onto the island, carefully avoid the raiders, find Turner and his child, and slip out again without anybody losing anything important, such as their life."
Jack grinned at Ana-Maria. "You already seem to understand it all."
Ana-Maria just stared at him in shock.
"Maybe we should take Jack . . ."
The pirate captain swung around to face Elizabeth. "I thought it was previously understood that I was going."
"Not you, my son."
"I thought that's what you meant, I was just trying to convince myself that I'd misunderstood. You'd risk your son?"
"You said it wouldn't be very risky. If he can help us find Ana quickly, then it would cut down on the risk. Besides, if we don't make it back, what is your crew going to do with a five-year-old that drives them insane at every opportunity he gets? I'd rather have him with me."
"And I'd rather have the both of you in relative safety on the Pearl, but no one seems to be listening to the captain at the moment!"
"If the captain would act more mature than my five-year-old, maybe we would."
Jack decided that silence was the best tactic to use now.
"So, the four of us row ashore. The Pearl stays back here, out of sight. We've already determined that they don't stay on their ship due to the fact that no one has been on or off it for the past seven hours. So we look for a base on land, and by God's grace may it be above ground. I really hate caves."
Elizabeth trailed off.
"Don't you want to continue? You're doing very well. In fact, I think you'd make a better taxicion . . .talmician . . ."
Elizabeth smiled. "Tactician, Jack?"
"Right, a better tactician than most members of the Royal Navy."
"I think that's a compliment. So we find their base, we somehow get into it, little Jack hopefully leads us to Ana, we rescue her, look around for Will, rescue him, and then sneak out again. That's your brilliant plan?"
Jack tilted his head to the side and considered. "Yes, I'd say that's just about everything, except for the fact that I still think it should be one person, not four."
Ana-Maria shook her head. "We're well aware of that, Jack. We're just ignoring the fact for the moment."
"Well, then, let's go ignore me over supper while we wait for it to get dark so that we can complete this rescue mission and be on our way. Of course, only if it's all right with you . . .ladies."
The two women laughed, easing the tension that had been steadily growing aboard the Pearl since she reached spotting-distance of the island lair about two hours after dawn. Jack took one on each arm and led them towards his cabin, barking orders over his shoulder to those crewmen within range.
Edward, a rather young man that Jack had added to the crew two years before, grinned and saluted, an action that Jack had never seen him perform before.
"Aye-aye . . .Uncle Jacky."
Jack scowled at him as the two women burst out laughing.
He was going to have to have a very, very serious discussion about proper nicknames for pirates with Will after he was done rescuing the lad.