Pirates of the Caribbean! Still not mine! Jack Sparrow! Still not mine! It's just not fair. . .
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ariana pulled into a spot in the parking lot near the museum and turned the car off, shoving the keys in her pocket. This time, though fumbling with the task, Jack managed to unbuckle himself and open his door. Ariana gave a small smile at this and as he was about to get out, she put a hand on his arm, silently telling him to stay put.
"Okay, before anyone gets out of the car, we have to make a plan. Now, we basically have two options: We can pretend that Jack is Johnny, and use him as a way to get the museum to give us the medallion, or we can try to steal it. What do you wanna do?" She was hoping that they did not choose the latter option – God knows Kelsey had experience in that area – because what if they were caught? Everything would be completely ruined – no medallion; police. Not good.
"Uh, how will Jack going in as Johnny help us get the medallion?" Julie questioned.
"Because we can make up something – you know, like he wanted to borrow it for – for a movie or something. Yeah, he needs it as a prop for a movie."
"What movie? And why would he use real, valuable gold like that when he could just get some fake gold-painted thing?" Kelsey said, suddenly the voice of reason. She did have a point.
"A movie in the making. He doesn't know the name of it yet, but the medallion is the center focus, and they want it to be real." As the thoughts came to her, the words just spilled from her mouth.
"Why can't we just steal it?" Jack asked, completely serious.
Ariana gave a dry laugh. "Things aren't as simple here as they are in your world, Jack," she told him. "Here they have police and detectives and all sorts of people who can track you down and get you, and it's not so easy to just take and escape. They can track your license plate, they can get your fingerprints; there's tons of things they can do.:
"License plate?" he echoed, confusion etched onto his face.
"It's just a thing they put on all cars. Don't worry about it. What I'm saying is that it's really risky to try to steal it. I don't think it's a good idea."
"The five finger discount can work," Kelsey put in. "I should know."
"Matt and you sure had a lot of fun, didn't ya?" Her tone reeked of sarcasm.
"Stupid loser," Kelsey said of her ex-boyfriend.
"I think it's a good idea," Jack said.
"Too bad." Ariana turned to her two friends. "Come on, you guys, think! We need ideas here!"
She was answered with annoyed looks. Kelsey just rolled her eyes and continued her thought process. Ariana sighed.
"I got it!" Julie exclaimed, her head snapping up, her eyes wide. Ariana jumped slightly in surprise, almost falling backwards into the door.
"What?"
"We can tell them that he wants the medallion to study!"
Ariana's eyes narrowed as she shook her head. "What exactly would he need to study it for?"
Julie's brow furrowed and she sat back, now aware of the part of her plan that she forgot.
"How about I try to make a bargain with them?" Jack suggested. "I'm good at that." He grinned.
"You may be, but again, that's in your world, not ours. Ours is a lot different."
"Yes, I can see that. But I still think I may be able to cut a deal with them."
"I don't think so. Trust me Jack, people who work in museums don't just hand over their merchandise. The things in there are worth millions of dollars."
Jack's eyes lit up. "Millions?"
She knew exactly where his train of thought was heading. "Don't even think about it. You're not taking anything."
His face fell. "But it would only be a few little things – "
"No."
He sighed. There was no use arguing with her; he knew that by now. She would not give up.
"Maybe we can tell them that he wants to borrow it to show someone or something," Kelsey proposed.
Ariana's face took on a look of contemplation. "Actually, that might work. . . We just have to think of exactly what to say, and make it something believable. Maybe we could say that he wanted to borrow it to show. . .his friend who's in a new movie with him. Maybe he asked to see it."
"I don't know. . ." Julie said doubtingly, her forehead creasing.
"What do you not know?"
"Well. . . It just seems weird, I mean, why couldn't his friend just come and look at it himself?"
"Maybe he can't."
"I agree with Julie," Kelsey said. "She has a point."
It was at that moment an idea struck Ariana, filling her with hope. "How 'bout we have Jack distract everyone so that we can steal it?"
"That could work," Kelsey replied, now interested. "What do we use to break the glass? It's sure to be in a glass box or counter or something." She paused. "What happened to you not wanting to steal it?"
"Only choice we have that could work. We have to be as quiet as we can. Maybe if it's in a glass counter, we can get the keys from the person at the counter while Jack distracts them, open the counter, and take it out. Who's the best at that kind of thing?"
"I think I can do it," Kelsey said. Ariana nodded; she knew that Julie would not be able to. She had never been good at things that involved doing anything wrong.
"Okay, we gotta go in through somewhere where no one'll see Jack. Oh, and I think that your clothing might attract a bit of attention." She looked down at his attire as he grinned. "Luckily, my dad has some old clothes in the trunk. He was going to take them to the Salvation Army, but he forgot."
"Salvation Army?" Jack repeated questioningly.
"Yeah, it's a place where you can take your old clothes you don't want anymore and give them away."
Without another word, she opened the door and got out, walking to the trunk and pushing it upwards to reveal several large, stuffed trash bags. She opened one and took out a pair of jeans and a white dressy shirt, then shut the trunk and carried them back to the car, getting in.
"Here, wear these." She handed them to him.
It was then that she remember about his hair and makeup.
She took a hair tie from her wrist and told Jack to turn around. When he did, she scooped up his messy braids, pulling them all into a tight ponytail. She then removed the red bandana and tied it again, making sure to cover everything she could. It hid most of his hair except for the ponytail. That did not matter much, however – no one in front of him would be able to see it, and doubted anyone would be watching Johnny Depp's backside when his front was right there. She snatched a tissue from the glove compartment and wheeled him back around, then carefully wiped the kohl from his eyes. She stuffed the tissue in her pocket, barely realizing she had done it. Maybe she could get something to cover the ponytail too. . .
She exited the car once more and headed to the trunk. After rummaging through much of the clothing, she finally produced a plain blue hat. Perfect, she thought, closing the trunk and clambering in to the car. She put it on his head backwards, so that it covered the ponytail. But then his entire face was out in the open, and whether he was wearing normal clothes or not, people would notice. She turned it around so that half his face was now covered in shadow. She delicately undid the bands holding his beard in two twists, combing it all out with her fingers as best she could. She placed the bands and beads in her pocket.
"One more thing," she said, reaching into the glove compartment a second time and producing a pair of dark sunglasses. She put them on him. "Okay, you get dressed, we'll wait outside the car."
As Kelsey and Julie got out, Ariana was about to follow them when Jack grabbed her arm.
"You know, I wouldn't mind if you stayed in the car with me, love." He grinned, and she melted.
"Um, I – I think I should – stay. . .outside with Kelsey and Julie." He released her, allowing her to step out into the sun.
A few minutes later he emerged from the inside of the car, fully clad in Ariana's dad's old apparel, bandana and hat on his head, hair tied back, goatee unbraided, and sunglasses on. The girls look him up and down. He looked normal.
"These are the strangest trousers I've eva' worn. Or seen, for that matta'," he stated, looking down at himself. "And what is this dark thing over my eyes?"
"Those are called sunglasses, Jack. They protect your eyes from the sun," Ariana told him. I feel so smart every time I have to explain something to him. It's great.
"But I spend all day in the sun, and I've neva' needed anything like this."
She eyed his nicely tanned skin. "Yeah, well, first of all, where you come from, sunglasses haven't been invented yet, and second of all, they're not killing you, so get used to them. They're to help you not be noticed – since they're so dark they hide your eyes."
"All right. . ."
"Okay, he looks fine, we just have to make sure that no one sees him from behind, in case they figure out who he is, or who they think he is, because then they'll see the black ponytail. Also, no one can see him with us, we split from him when we find it."
Her two friends nodded and so did she as all four turned to walk to the entrance.
The museum was gigantic, like one of those buildings you only see in movies about the rich people living in big cities. They couldn't help but gaze around at everything – there were artifacts, statues, jewelry. . . They slowly moved forward, now searching for the medallion. Jack made sure to keep his head down and walk slightly away from them, in case anyone saw them, having had experience with trying to sneak around unrecognized. Julie stayed behind him a few paces and kept his hair from being seen.
They scoured the entire first enormous room, the process taking several minutes considering its size. Jack searched nowhere near them since there was someone else in the room who eventually left. They found nothing.
They headed to the room on the right, finding it scarce of anything important as well. They doubled back into a different room, this one fairly small compared to the others. Ariana caught a glint of gold in her peripheral vision and snapped her head around to look.
The medallion. At least she hoped it was. She walked closer and saw that it was in a glass case, on a velvet black pillow. Damn. Well at least we found it.
She turned around. "We have to get someone who works here; they'll have the keys," she said in as quiet a voice as she could manage.
"You mean it's locked?" Kelsey said, then swore.
"Come on," Ariana took Jack's hand, leading him from the room. Soon they spotted someone who was wearing something one might call a uniform; dress pants with a white shirt and tie, and a golden nametag that she did not bother reading. He was not looking at either of them.
"Okay, you go over there and start talking to him about anything; just think of something, okay? And nothing that will give you away, got it? Maybe you could talk to him about some of the pieces he has in this room." She stressed the word, hinting not to let the guard get near the room with the medallion.
He nodded to show he understood, keeping his eye on the rather plump man.
"Okay, good. I'm going to have Kelsey come up behind him and take his keys while you're talking to him. Don't stop until you see us waving at you, okay?"
He nodded again and she left to the other room. She let Kelsey know that everything was ready, and explained to her what she had to do. She went out the opposite way, therefore ending up behind the man, who was conversing with jack about something or other.
She silently snuck up behind him, noticing that Jack did not show any hint of shifting his gaze to even quickly glance at her. Done this before, have we? When she reached the man, she reached out her hand slowly, unhooking the key ring little by little until it came loose, holding all the keys so that they made no noise as she worked. Even slower she lifted them slightly, pulling them back towards her until they were safely out of his range of vision. Then she turned and slinked away.
"Got 'em." She held them up before her friends as she entered the room, grinning.
"Nice. Okay, open up the case," Ariana said.
She tried each key, seeing which one worked. After failing with almost every one, she heard the satisfying click and swung the small glass door open. She hesitated.
"Alarms," Ariana stated, reading her mind. "I think they only go off if you actually break the glass or something, not if you open it with a key."
"Yeah, and I think those are only set at night anyway," Julie informed them. "When no one's here, and when most of the robberies usually happen."
Ariana nodded in agreement as Kelsey reached in and grabbed the medallion from the pillow. Relief shone on her face when nothing happened. She shut the door and handed the piece of gold to Ariana, who put it in her pocket.
"Hold on a second," Kelsey told them. She took the key ring, once more closing her hand over the dangling keys, and left.
Jack and the man were still talking when she entered the room, moving without sound. She knew it was too risky to try and attach them back onto his pants, so she quietly placed them on the ground near his foot. Maybe he would think he had dropped them somehow. Maybe he wouldn't even notice until much later. She headed back.
A few moments after, in back of the man, Jack could see waving arms in the distance and did not waste any time looking.
Ariana saw him say something to the man, who nodded, and then Jack casually walked away. He moved toward the entrance but away from the three girls, so as not to draw any attention to them, incase anyone was looking. They went silently back through the other room, leaving the building through the back since there were detectors at the front. The back entrance was locked from the inside, so they could get out, and did not have any detecting system except for cameras, which they made sure to walk by at a time when they moved to point away from them.
"Were there cameras in that room?" Ariana asked when they were outside. "I didn't even think to look."
"Yeah," Julie answered. "But we were in a sort of – hidden spot. The cameras never moved to us."
"Oh thank God. We'd be screwed." Just luck. . .
Jack was waiting by his door when they reached the car. Ariana pulled her keys from her pocket, unlocking the vehicle and getting inside. Once they were all in, it was all she could do not to peel away from the parking lot and down the street.
The large anchor hit the water with a splash, sinking rapidly to the bottom, and the Black Pearl came to a stop. Gibbs set about preparing a rowboat while Will spoke to the crew.
"Everyone stay here. We'll only be gone a short while; we have something important we must take care of. Watch the ship, just in case, and do not move any closer to shore." He was not sure if anyone would listen to him; after all, he was not even part of the crew.
They all turned to Gibbs to confirm Will's orders. The plump man nodded.
Will moved to Elizabeth, who was standing beside the railing. "You may come if you wish. It's your decision. It won't take long."
"I will come. I did not sail all the way out here for nothing." She gave a slight laugh.
The two climbed into the rowboat with Gibbs, and they were lowered down into the water. Will immediately began rowing toward shore.
They reached the soft sand of the beach less than five minutes later, pulling the small boat up so that it would not float away.
"It's a miracle you remembered how to get here," Will told Gibbs.
"'Ey, I only jus' sailed wif Jack here a short while ago. I'm jus' thankful we weren't attacked on the water."
"Oh God, that would have been dreadful," Elizabeth said. "At least most of Jack's crew is somewhat decent and would not just treat me like some strumpet." Damn anyone who does.
They soon spotted the cave not far off and, upon reaching it, cautiously walked inside. Will saw the enormous doors first and quickened his pace.
"Is that it?" he questioned Gibbs, not shifting his gaze.
"Aye. We gotta find somethin', anythin' that'll 'elp." There's gotta be somethin' 'ere." He looked around curiously.
The sound a gun being cocked echoed behind them, causing them to whip around in alarm.
Captain Shallows stood, his pistol directed at them and a smirk on his face.
"Ye thought ya could get rid o' me that easy, did ye?" he said, slightly tilting his head.
A/N: Haha! Cliffhanger! Aren't I evil? Bet you're all on the edge now! How did Captain Shallows come back, you wonder? Stay tuned and find out! This chapter was nice and long, don't you just love me?
