And I'm very sorry, Goldenkingcobra! Were you really late for school??? ^_^


The rating for this chapter is based on swearing, and the storm scene.

Chapter Two: Bad luck for the lady

PG-13

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Things were going remarkably well for Jessica. She was now much more a member of the crew; she could help load the cannons, set up parts of the rigging, and use the stars to navigate at night. She learned that the Black Pearl was unique, as far as ships can be, and that the water wasn't so bad when you were on a ship.

It's when you were off it, that things got bad.

.

It had been a calm, blue-skied day, with a light breeze coming from the north. Nothing at all unusual. Jessica had been sitting about twenty feet up in the rigging untangling some ropes, when the weather decided to change. One moment it was nice and peaceful, the sun on her backthen the wind started to howl. Suddenly, she was swung around on her perch, and forced to clutch the ropes she'd just been untangling. Needless to say, since they were a mess, they weren't going to hold her long. A good half of them weren't even tied off to anything!

"Everyone below deck!" Yelled Jack, with one arm around the mast.

Jessica moved quickly and carefully towards the ropes that would lower her down. A boom of thunder sounded overhead, and the boat gave a great shudder. It was now raining, and she let out a yelp as she lost her balance, and slipped off the end of the wooden beam she'd been holding onto. As she saw the water rushing towards her, she had the sense to yell, "HELP!" before she went under. She struggled towards the surface, trying to get a breath.

Reaching the surface, she took gulps of air, trying to see the ship through the pouring rain and rolling waves. As a large bolt of lightning seared overhead, she caught a glimpse of The Pearl, not thirty feet away. Someone also caught a glimpse of her, and saw her sink under the surface again, thrashing wildly.
That same someone called to Anna Maria to keep the ship steady, and tied a rope around himself. Taking a deep breath, he dove in the general direction of where

Jessica had disappeared.

It was Jack, actually, who threw himself over the side and swam down as far as he could go, looking for her. He saw nothing, even with the lightning flashes illuminating tens of feet down. He came to the surface for air and dove back under.

FLASH! BOOM!

There! She was floating a few yards away. She was trying desperately to get to the surface, but it was like she didn't know how. He swam to her and grabbed her shirt, hauling her up to the surface. She seemed to realize who he was, because she stopped struggling. He tried to swim with one arm, but kept getting pushed away from The Pearl. He tried yelling, but as he took a breath, a wave crashed over his head, and he swallowed salt.

Jessica started thrashing wildly again. He tried to hold her, but that just made her struggle harder. He couldn't let go, because she would be swept away.

Unfortunately, they'd been pushed far under. Jack was trying to get her to conserve her air, when she went completely still. Jack turned to look at her through the gloomy seawater, and noticed that not a bubbled had escaped her mouth. His eyes widened in alarm. No wonder she'd been struggling! She hadn't had any air to begin with! Jack cursed himself mentally, and started kicking towards the surface. Suddenly, the rope around his waist went taunt.

Jack held Jessica tightly, and they were soon pulled from the churning waters. As they were pulled on deck, Jack didn't even wait for the rope to be taken off him before he dropped beside Jessica's lifeless form.

He put his ear to her chest, and heard a faint pulse. The only problem was, she wasn't breathing. Jack picked her up, faced her away from him, thumping her on the back with one fist. Water dribbled out of her mouth. After a moment, he lay her down and breathed air into her lungs. When she still didn't respond, he thumped her on the back again. The crew stood in a loose circle around them, some with horrified expressions, some merely solemn. They'd seen this before.

Jack was calmly breathing air into her lungs. It seemed like everything was going so slowlyhe felt like he was still under the water, being battered by the waves.
Mr. Gibbs gently laid a hand on Jack's shoulder, as if in sympathy. He shrugged it off and continued his silent routine. As he was breathing air into her lungs for the fourth time, he felt her breathe in through her nose. He sat back on his heels as she started coughing. He leaned forward to roll her on her side, but several men were already there.

Jack went limp with relief, as Jessica coughed up water for a moment. The rain had mostly stopped, but the wind was still roaring, and the sky was still dark.

Another flash of lightning confirmed Jack's suspicions that this wasn't over.

"Everyone below deck. We'll have to wait this one out, right here." He ordered, rising to his feet. The crew looked up, startled, then some of them moved to anchor the ship, while others grabbed things and trailed below. Gibbs moved forward, presumably to get Jessica, but Jack set a hand on his arm.

"No thanks, Gibbs, I got her." He knelt down and lifted Jessica's semi-conscious form. Gibbs looked on until Jack had disappeared with her down the steps, then shook his head.

"I knew it was bad luck to bring a women on board. But so far, it's only been bad luck for the lady." He muttered sadly, and moved over to help secure the helm.

.

Jack got down to his cabin, kicked open the door, and kicked it shut behind him. After that, he was a bit lost. They were both completely soaked

Jack had a plan, of course, but it would have been incredibly obscene under different circumstances. He finally decided that he could be forgiven when she woke up.

He stripped Jessica of her outer layer of clothing, and left her underclothes on. He himself stripped all the cloth off his upper body, but leaving everything on below his waist. He lay Jessica on his bed, wrapped her up in the blankets, and moved to lay their clothing out to dry in a spot in the corner.

He had just set out her shirt, when he heard whimpering. He turned to look at the bed. Jessica was shaking, tears leaking from beneath tightly closed eyelids.

Jack felt a strong wave of sympathy. He'd also been afraid the first time he'd nearly drowned. But his experience had stemmed from his own blind stupidity. He didn't know what it felt like as an accident. And to think, he could have killed her

Jack closed his eyes, and sighed at the recent events. Jessica whimpered again.
He opened them and went to the bed. He sat down gently on the side, and rested a calloused had on the side of her neck.

"Shhhit's alright love. You're safe here, now." He murmured, trying to be soothing. She quieted a bit, but was still shaking, and she was still crying.

She curled up in a tight ball. Jack looked around for something to help her calm down a bit. He reached out and touched her hand, and flinched.

"You're freezing!" he remarked.

He looked closer, and saw that her teeth were chattering, and she was noticeably shivering.

Tired, angry with himself, and lost in his own thoughts, Jack slid under the blankets next to Jessica, and leaned against the headboard. He held her up against himself, and whispered into her hair.

"It's alright, love, you're alright, you're just fine" He repeated over and over. Gradually, her tears slowed and then stopped. She warmed up, stopped shivering, and fell into true sleep. Jack tried to keep his eyes open, but since there was no more danger, and no more excitement to keep him going, his body relaxed itself and slept, where he wanted it to or not.

.


The first thing Jessica felt, was soft padding beneath her. The second was cloth wrapped around her, and the third was the flesh under her head rising and falling. It seemed that she was leaning on someone, and they were still sleeping.

Jessica moved to get up, and felt strong arms holding her. She noticed that her lungs hurt when she took a deep breath, and ended up coughing until the pain subsided. She tried to remember what it was from, and turned absent-mindedly to whom she was lying against it appeared to someone's shirtless chest! She looked up, and saw to whom it belonged. Captain Sparrow slept peacefully, head leaning back a little to rest against the wall.

Jessica promptly turned a few shades lighter and glanced down. He was nude all the way down to his waist, which from there, was thankfully hidden by a sheet.

She struggled out of his arms and got her foot caught in a blanket,
fell over backwards, and landed on her rear next to the bed.

Jack sat bolt upright and glanced wildly around. Looking to his right, he saw Jessica sprawled on the floor between the bed and the porthole.

Jack frantically searched his mind for an explanation. After a moment, it came back to him.

"You all right?" He asked, rolling on his side to get up and help her.

"No! Don't move!" she yelled, throwing an arm up to shield her eyes.

He looked down his naked torso, and saw the sheet. He grinned and slowly got off the bed.

"Oh, no need to be modest for my sake. You wouldn't be the first woman to see me like this, and you probably won't be the last!" Jack teased her, putting his hands under her arms and pulling her to her feet.

Jessica tried to fend him off, but her knees weren't quite ready to hold her. She started to sink back to the floor, when Jack moved up and put his arms around her waist. She held onto his shoulders, eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"Oh, I've got cloth on, you can open your eyes!" Jack laughed. Jessica slowly did so as Jack lowered her to the bed. Sure enough, he was covered.

"My my, love, if when getting out of bed with someone, you automatically assume" he let his sentence go unfinished. Jessica felt blood rush to her head, making her dizzy and even more embarrassed. She sputtered the first thing that came into her head.

"I have been married before, I'll thank you to know!"

Jack's smile faltered.

"Oh, you poor thing! I can't imagine the hell" he stopped when he caught her glaring at him from beneath her arm.

"It wasn't hell. It was bliss." She stated defensively. He couldn't help but notice how she'd looked at the ground, when she'd said it.

"Oh aye bliss. How many times, now?" He asked with casually, looking to the side.

He heard her shift around on the bed.

"Um o-once, nearly three times."

He turned to stare. "One and thrice are quite different things, love." She sighed.

"Twice more I was engaged. The first one left me at the alter. The second one left for a party two weeks before the event, and never came back. " She said, looking squarely at the ground. He remained silent, and she continued.

"I saw him the night before I got on that first ship." She murmured. Her face darkened. "I gave him hell, right there in the bar. He won't miss those few teeth, and I'm certain he'll learn to walk again."

At this, she looked up, and met the captain's eyes. Her rage was clear, and he felt rather nervous.

"At least," she gave him a cruel smile, and he felt his pulse quicken, "I think he will."

Jack Sparrow suddenly wanted her off of his ship. She continued to smile in that way that had him thinking she was insane.

"Now listen here, Miss Jessica." He said slowly, and calmly. "I will not tolerate any injuries inflicted upon my crew, by you. I want that said now, because I don't like your look right there. You've been warned."

Jessica looked shocked, and scared, but then she returned to angry.

"If they do anything to merit injuries, I shall certainly, not, hesitate." She responded with a growl.

"And what would they have to do to merit those injuries?" He asked, angrily.

"Well since they aren't the proposing type I assume it would be a willingness to kill me, if I have done nothing to deserve it." She answered, crossing her arms.
Less then a yard from each other, they glared.

The tension in the room was astounding. If a pin had dropped, they probably both would have jumped on it, and killed it before realizing what it was.

In the back of his mind, Jack was glad he did not have his gun; though, still he hoped that no one decided to come in right now, or even knock. He would probably hurt them before he knew who it was.

Jessica was shaking with fury and she didn't even know why.

She sighed and dropped her arms. Now she'd have to apologize for being angry. Damn it!

She was so mixed up, that she started to cry. Jack's pose relaxed and looked mightily confused.

"Wha"

"DAMN IT!" Jessica screamed. Jack jumped and stared at her in amazement.

"?" He asked.

"Damn it!" She repeated. "I HATE the ocean, and I HATE men, and now I'm trapped in a small space, with both of them, and I can't swim, and I'm scared, ALL OF THE TIME, and I can't do anything about it, and I HATE IT!" She screamed, covering her ears and rocking back and forth. She was sobbing loudly, and Jack hadn't a clue as to what to do.

He stared at her, dumbstruck, with his mouth open, and eyes wide.

Slowly, he recovered.

"Youyou, can't swim?" he asked timidly.

She looked up at him, eyes bleary, and shook her head.

.

"Well, you're getting better. Try kicking your feet a bit more." Jack called over to Jessica. She nodded, and tried again, this time kicking hard. Jack nodded his approval.

They were currently out in the shallows of a small island. The crew was spending the week or so they would be there, gathering what they could from the limited resources available. There was fresh water, fruit, and wood, and the last ship they'd ransacked had held a letter, telling of some weaponry and supplies the Brits had stowed away here for safekeeping.

They hadn't found it yet, but they'd only been here two days. The Brits had screwed up their directions, so the crew had to search the island by themselves.

Jack still remembered Jessica's explosion. He had gone to the galley to get food, and when he came back, his bed had been made. Every little dirty thing in his cabin had been picked up, many cleaned, and even a few polished. Jessica was currently sitting on the floor, frantically cleaning a spot out of the rug under his bed.

"What in the world are you doing?" Jack asked, frozen in his doorway.

"WellI guess this is my way of apologizing." Jessica said, looking up. "I really shouldn't have acted like that. I do apologize." She had said quietly, looking to the floor again.

"Ah, there's no need to be sorry!" Jack grinned. "It was my fault you probably felt a bit strange, waking up with me in bed after being through what you have."

Jessica had smiled. "You have quite a reputation on the coast, Captain. If anyone else had heard that" She pretended to shudder.

Jack had moved over and set the food on his desk.

"Oh, aye, I'm aware." He paused to grin at her. "You're still on my ship, of course. There is still plenty of time to, what is the term, 'change the nature of our relationship', right?"

Jessica raised an eyebrow as Jack walked towards her.

"Musta heard that a hundred times over the years. It's a good term." He reached down to help Jessica to her feet.

"By the way, what all did happen last night?" she asked with slightly squinted eyes. "It hurts to breathe."

"Oh, yes. You drowned." He said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh! Alright." Jessica nodded. "That explains it."

"Captain!" Someone yelled from behind them. Jack turned to see Gibbs stumbling towards them.

"Aye?" Jack called back.

"We found the weapons!" Gibbs called, standing at the edge of the trees.

"Wonderful!" Jack called back, with a golden flash of tooth in the afternoon sun.

"There's only one problem!"

Jack's smile promptly vanished. "Aye?"

"The Brits are still attached to them!" Gibbs raored, and turned to run back to the fighting.

Jack grunted, and furrowed his brows.

Jessica, who had been wading to shore, turned and ran for one of the shore boats.

"I'll be on the ship with cannons loaded, in case they try something while you're gone!" She explained over her shoulder. She quickly waded out to the dinghy and untied it.

Jack waded to the boat and grabbed her arm.

"An' just what are you going to do, if they board?" He asked, looking her in the eye.

"I guess I'll get myself shot then." She replied with perfect honesty. She met his eyes and gave a brief smile. "Besides. I'm a woman, and if they realize that, they won't kill me. They'll just wait for you to come back. I'll send a signal somehow."

Jack grabbed her right hand in his left one. With his right hand, he pulled one of his guns from his waist and handed it to her.

"You pull this back, and then pull on this." He said, indicating the hammer and the trigger. "You'll get a bullet off every time to do that." He told her, absolutely serious. Her eyes were wide.

"All right. Um Good luck!" She said brightly. He kissed her hand. "Go!" She smiled, and pushed him away.

He turned, and ran off into the trees on the path Gibbs had used. Gibbs was a great man, but he was large, and unsubtle.

Jessica was up on the ship in a matter of minutes. She pulled the rope ladder up, and loaded the cannons. She waited, looking out of strategically placed eyeholes.

So far, nothing. It was much, much too peaceful for Jessica's liking; She kept expecting something to just jump out and try to kill her.

That's when she heard the thump of a boot, and the growl of a male voice. Or several of them. She pulled back on the protruding metal piece, as Jack had told her, and crept cautiously towards the door. The object in question was suddenly flung open, just as a voice rang out.

"DON'T SHOOT! Don't shoot love! Gibbs, BACK OFF!" Yelled the familiar voice of Jack.

Jessica could make out Gibbs' shocked face. If she wasn't mistaken, several of the men behind him were angrily trying to fight their way into the room with Jessica.

She let her fear and confusion show, and she backed up. Jack fought his way into the room, and walked towards her. His face was neither angry, nor shocked, but it was determined. He calmly walked up to her and pulled the loaded gun from her fingers. He set it off to the side, and grabbed her upper arms. She squirmed, but he wasn't hurting her.

"Now, love. Jessica. I need you to be honest with us. Will you answer the questions we're going to ask you, honestly?" She kept glancing over at the angry faces of the crew, and the questioning gaze of Gibbs.

Jack gently shook her. "Jessica."

She looked up at him with big eyes.

"Why are they so mad? What happened? Did I do something wrong?" She asked, and her voice trembled. It was the hardest thing in the world to concentrate solely on Jack. She wanted to run.

"Love, what is your full name?" He asked slowly.

"J-Jessica. Jessica Marie Baines." She replied, much the same way.

"Are you sure." He was staring directly at her.

"Positive. I've never lost my memory of anything. And that is my maiden name." She clarified.

Jack relaxed visibly.

"What happened?" She asked of Gibbs, turning out of Jack's grip to look.

"The Brits had heard about a Jessica Almond. They were looking for her." Gibbs smiled in relief.

Jack turned to Jessica again, and didn't even get a chance to ask his question, before she answered.

"And no, I was not married to, nor was I ever engaged to, a man named 'Almond'." She stated with finality.

Jack just had to be sure. "Dated?"

"Nope." She shook her head.

"Good." Replied Gibbs. Many of the men behind him gave similar responses.

"Well then. This has been great fun. What say we leave?" Jack said quickly, taking Jessica's elbow and guiding her up to the deck.

"Well, alright. How many weapons did you all find?" She asked, hoping she'd get one.

The men, as a whole, seemed to cringe. They all looked to Jack.

"Umerr, abou' that"

BANG!!! BOOM!!!! Jessica jumped and whirled in mid air. There, on the other side of them, blocking their way from the island, were two British ships. With cannons. All of them aimed towards The Pearl.

"Yes, welllet's get you below, love. We have some quick maneuvering to do"

"They're here?" Jessica asked weakly.

"Yeswe got the information, they got twice their men in re-enforcements. Not quite the fair trade, so we left." Jack emphasized with his free hand. He seemed excited.

"Ready Cap'n?" Yelled the man from the crows nest.

"Ayelove, would you mind going below, and firing off a few o' them cannons you have, loaded? Thanks." He left her to rush back below, and he went for the helm.

"Right thenlet's see how we get out of this mess." Jack muttered to himself, a crazed glint in his eye.

.

Second chapter! I rushed to get this one presentable, because school starts again on Tuesday. *Sob* So, I hope this chapter was more fun to read, and...I don't know...gave more of an idea as to where this is going. Gives it a plot, I'd say! ^_^ Please let me know if there is anything you'd like to see happen next chapter, because otherwise I'm just going to run with it... give that rating a bit of a try-out! ~_^ Thanks again for reading!

~Airyn