I am proud to present .....
PineAppleLint's Author's Notes!!! WooWoo!
Jeepers, people! I feel so loved because I got approximately 30 reviews and counting all from last night until now. I have also gotten various death threats and they also make me feel warm and fuzzy inside because it shows me how much you all were entertained by the last chapter. It is sort of frightening that death threats could make me feel all warm and fuzzy. (shrugs with an idiotic smile plastered on my face) Well then mateys, I hope you are enjoying your swords and hats I gave you last time. And yes, the rum is still up for grabs. Jack Sparrow was kind of pissed off at me because I stole it from his own personal stash (winks) but he needs to cut down anyway before he rots his liver. (tsk tsk captain!) Anyways, you all are delightful and I love the exceptionally long reviews, and huzzah to all of you who understand how important it is for Gallagher to be strong and feminine all at the same time.
Now when we last left off Jack Sparrow had her pinned up against the wall and was suggesting that they do something very provocative. (oooh) How is Gallagher going to react to Sparrow's sudden show of lusty feelings towards her? Does he feel something other than lust or is this just a way to get some pleasurable company for the night? Well let us read on and find out, shall we?
Now without further ado .... Chapter 14!
Are you a eunich?
PineAppleLint
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Captain," I breathed, "Get off o' me."
"Gallagher, maybe I should teach ye a lesson for punchin' me lights out."
"Lay one finger on me and I'll break it."
"That's quite ironic, luv, seeing how I've got me whole body on yers and ye haven't said a word."
"Didn't ye get the message?" I whispered frantically, "That a punch in the face usually means NO? What, are ye goin' to be followin' me around like a puppy dog now?"
"I would never do such a thing, Gallagher. I just wanted to give ye one last chance to take me up on that offer," he paused, trailing one finger down my throat, "Because I 'appen to be very good at what I do."
"I have no doubt, Captain Jack Sparrow," I replied shakily, and he grinned, knowing he was catching me off balance, "But I must decline."
He slowly backed up off of me and said, "Yer loss, luv."
"So what now, Jack?"
"What, Gallagher?"
"Do I still get to captain the Black Pearl at yer side?"
"Of course. I'm not a damned fool," he said angrily, "Just because ye declined me other offer doesn't mean I'm goin' to snatch the other opportunity away."
"Good."
We were both silent for a moment, staring at each other from across the room. I had to break the silence, because a question was eating away at me.
"Why me, Jack? Why not head to Tortuga and pick up some bonnie lass all for yerself?"
He swaggered over and said, "We aren't at Tortuga, nor are we headin' there any time soon."
"So I would just be fillin' an empty space," I finished for him. He grinned and cocked his hat at me, and made his way out of the door. I gazed after him and rested my body weight against the wall. If that was Captain Jack Sparrow's case, I wasn't going to ever be his whore. Nor did I want to fill anyone's empty space just for one-night purposes. And I suddenly felt a raw pang of hurt welling up inside me, but forced it to go away. Why should I care of Sparrow's bad habits? Of his raunchy tendencies towards loose women?
"I shouldn't, dammit," I muttered, "It is his business and his alone, even though he tried to make it mine."
I walked back up to the deck and the crew was scattered about, working on their tasks, hard at work. I gazed up at the sky and it was dark. Now I wasn't just talking about a smoky gray, but almost a rough blackness edged into the heavens. The clouds rolled and thunder boomed, causing me to smile idiotically. We were in for one hell of a storm.
"Looks like hell out here," Will murmured and I glanced at him. He was also peering up at the angry sky.
"We are going to have a rough night," I commented. His eyes cut to mine and he nodded.
"Better go below deck just for safe keeping," Will warned, "The Sea of Blood wreaks havoc on ships."
"When did ye ever get the impression that I was a 'below deck' kinda girl?" I answered, grinning like mad.
"That's the problem, Terrence. I think you are a bloody madwoman."
"Then my job is done for the day," I teased. Will smiled and patted me on the shoulder, turning and was about to walk away when I asked, "Where is Elizabeth?"
"Down below. I think she is preparing dinner for all of us."
"Ah, what fun," I said and Will nodded, taking one last wistful look at the sky and then went up to the helm to talk to Jack. Jack was also grinning like a Cheshire cat who caught the canary, knowing he was going to have lots of fits and giggles trying to lead the Black Pearl out of this storm. He wanted a challenge and that's what the Sea of Blood was going to throw at him.
"Gallagher!" he shouted and I looked up. "Come on and take the helm for a bit! Will and I need to discuss a few things in me cabin."
"Aye aye!" I yelled back and nodded at the two gentlemen as they made their way towards Jack's quarters, already engrossed in a deep discussion.
I walked up to the helm and sighed with content as I wrapped my fingers around the wood, already warm from being constantly handled by Jack's hands. My own hands began to burn, remembering his soft, slow caresses from earlier. I smoothed them over my pants, as if to rid my nerve endings of the memory.
"Miss Gallagher!" one of the crew shouted, "The wind changed direction!" I stared at the sails and sure enough it had.
"Lower the sails!" I shouted, "Quickly now! There's a storm comin' and we don't want to be blown off course! The storm will do enough o' that all by itself!"
Skip walked up to me and commented, "A nice day to be sailing now, ain't it?"
"Beautiful. Skip? Did Jack happen to mention when we would be arriving at that blasted island?"
"The island with Snidely's treasure?" he said, blinking.
"O' course, ye mangy cad. What other island would I be talkin' about?"
"In a day. Day and a half, perhaps."
"Thank ye, Skip. Now go help with the sails."
"Aye, captain," he replied and saluted with enthusiasm, running off to help the crew. I smiled. Ah, I had missed this desperately. Havin' my own crew and my own ship. Well, there was a problem. This wasn't my ship or crew. It was a borrowed dream. I closed my eyes. 'Well there's no crime in pretendin', now is there?'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was pouring, the water pelting my skin and stinging like a hive of bees gone insane. My bandanna had been blown off in the wind and was now lost in Davy Jones' Locker. The crew had all gone down under to eat their supper for the night and I didn't want to leave the helm. The anchor was down and the Black Pearl was going no where, so there wasn't much point to standing me there like an idiot. After all, I was a madwoman, right? I didn't need a purpose.
Lightning flashed and I saw a silhouette make its way towards me. It was Jack. I could recognize his billowing coat and slick brown hat from anywhere. My hair was plastered to my head and I could hardly see, but I was still grinning.
"'Ey there, Jack! Delighted that ye could come and visit with me on such a lovely day!"
He staggered over and his eyes were wide, opening his mouth loud and yelling so I could hear over the howling wind, flashing me his gold teeth as he cried, "Are ye mad, woman? Get inside! There is nothin' for ye to do now that the anchor's down!"
"I like it out 'ere. It's peaceful."
Jack laughed and said, "Aye, I know what ye mean, Gallagher. But come eat dinner. Everyone is still at the table talkin'. We would like it if ye joined."
At that moment I felt as if I wouldn't belong anywhere else. I felt a part of this crew, so deeply joined, like a mother and her unborn babe, that I couldn't help but throw my arms around Jack like the oaf that I was.
"Uh, careful on the goods, darling," he said, muffled by my tight arms.
"I would be delighted to eat dinner."
"Gallagher, I think ye have lost yer marbles."
"That's the thing, Jack. I didn't have any marbles to begin with."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jack slammed the door open and the dining room grew quiet as they watched two half-drowned pirates make their way to the table. I sat next to Elizabeth and smiled as water pooled at my feet and tiny water droplets cascaded onto my plate from my soaked black hair.
"Terrence, you looked like a drowned rat," Elizabeth said with a grin.
I laughed and said, "Will someone pass the potatoes? If I don't eat quick I'm goin' to start eatin' me fingers."
Will passed me the potatoes and I took three heaping spoonfuls and plopped each down on my plate. I accidentally flicked the spoon and caused some of the mashed potatoes to go sailing onto Elizabeth's cheek. She wiped it off in disgust and everyone watched in amusement as I ate. I dug in like a ravenous dog and slurped my wine, digging into my chicken leg and chewing with loud smacking noises.
"Congratulations, Terrence," Will said with distaste, "I think you beat Jack in the category on who has the worst table manners."
I looked up at once and grew startled, surprised to find everyone watching me. I grinned and wiped my mouth on my sleeve and replied, "I seem to be beating Captain Jack Sparrow in a lot of categories these days." My eyes flicked over to his face and our stare held.
He narrowed his eyes and said devilishly, "I can hold more alcohol than ye can, luv."
"I can whip yer sorry arse in swords," I retaliated, dropping my silverware, knowing a challenge when I saw one.
Everyone's gaze was darting back and forth, some people grinning like mad, finding it rather entertaining for the two captains to be having a verbal battle once again.
"But I ...."he said quietly, "Can captain a ship without losing it to the depths of Davy Jones's Locker."
That was the last straw. I grinned and said, "Ye've got me there, Jack, but I am quite a professional in the foodfight category."
Jack looked at me, a bit confused, but he broke out into an idiotic grin when I smashed my hand into my mashed potatoes and grabbed a handful.
"Oh no you don't!" Elizabeth cried in dismay, "That is a perfectly good supper!"
"Lighten up a bit, will ye?" I said and raised my eyebrows in Jack's direction.
"Ye wouldn't," he said slowly, holding up his hands, "That is mere childplay and we are but humble ....."
He was interrupted by potatoes being flung into his face.
"GALLAGHER!" Elizabeth said, "Stop it at once!"
Will was doubling over with laughter and the crew was finding this hilarious. Jack narrowed his eyes and wiped it off of his face. "Men," he said deep and low, "Please leave us for a moment. Will, Elizabeth, you too."
"Don't mess up the dining room!" Elizabeth ordered, "I cleaned it yesterday."
"I shall try to meet the standards of yer request, luv," he said and stood up, bowing in her direction, "But Miss Gallagher doesn't exactly play by the rules."
"She will if she knows what's good for her!" Elizabeth replied and studied me with a fierce glare before Will shepherded her out of the room and with a grin, closed the door behind him.
"Ye've got potatoes in yer hair, Jack," I said with a gleam to my gray eyes, "It suits ye."
"I should send ye to Davy Jones' Locker for this," he said, beginning to circle me like a large predator.
"For a little potato flingin'? Someone is a mite cranky today."
He suddenly stopped circling and said with wonder, "Where did ye ever get yer ship?"
"The Dancing Horizon?"
"Aye."
"I had it built for me. Me very own ship built the way I wanted it to be built."
"Where did ye get the money, Gallagher? I thought ye said ye grew up poor."
"I did," I replied, eyes twinkling, "I happened to run across a very heavy purse. Pickpocketing was my specialty as I lived on the streets."
"I don't have a doubt about that, luv."
"The Black Pearl is a beautiful ship, Sparrow. Ye are lucky," I responded, walking to a window and glancing out at the angry ocean, lightning still flashing and lighting up the room in an instant and then going back to the faint candle glow of darkness the room was before.
"Have ye ever thought of stealing it?"
"Sure. Dozens of times."
"And why didn't ye act upon it?" he asked with an amused smile.
"Yeh would sooner blow a hole through me brains. And I feel sorry for a poor pirate like yehself havin' to watch it sail away from ye too many times to count. Hell, when it comes to commandeering, ye are an awful pirate."
I hit a nerve, I could tell. Captain Jack Sparrow never liked to be reminded of his past with Barbossa and his misfortunes.
He growled, "But here I have the Black Pearl for me very own, Gallagher. And yours is at the bottom of the ocean. Yer beloved ship rotting away and being overrun with barnacles. There is no life on that blasted ship now and never will be for eternity."
My mouth gaped open and I shut it. He was right. Why should I fight back? He was bloody right, after all. The one thing I had loved with my entire life was dead and would never come back to me.
I slumped over in a chair and held my face in my hands, letting out a shaky breath.
"Luv! No, Gallagher, don't do that, please. Why aren't ye sayin' somethin' clever back at me? Come on, don't give up this easily," he pleaded, "Don't act like that."
"Yer right, Jack, and that is no crime that I need to lash ye for."
"Forget the past, Gallagher."
"I have tried for FIVE BLOODY YEARS!" I practically shouted and Jack jumped back, startled as I stared at him.
"My crew died, every last one," I said shakily, the memories coming back more vividly now, "I killed me own crew."
"It wasn't yer fault."
"Of course it was! They even said that the ship wouldn't last the night in the Sea of Blood, but being the oaf that I was, I made them carry on anyway. Now they died for my stupidity. Thirty men slaughtered at my fingertips." A tear slid down my cheek and I grew horrified. I was crying! "DAMMIT!" I raged, "They were like family to me!"
"Ye can get a bloody bigger ship," he suggested, fingers moving as he talked.
Wrong answer.
"Ye aren't makin' things any better!" I cried and threw a plate at him. He ducked and it smashed against the wall to smithereens.
I walked up to him and pointed a finger in his face and yelled, "Ye have absolutely no idea what I've been through!"
"Get another ship and move on already!" he growled with disgust, "I'm sick of hearin' ye moan on and on about yer lost ship."
I raised my hand and slapped him. The smack echoed throughout the room.
He glared at me and said, "I didn't bloody deserve that!"
"Oh yes ye did!" I snarled, "Ye ugly mangy cad!"
He took a step towards me and growled back, "If ye were a man I would have hit yeh right about now."
"When has it mattered if I were a man or woman, Jack? I'm a woman and have beatin' yeh in every pirate's skill known to man! Yeh might as well wear a dress and sing sonnets!"
His face was an inch from mine and he said, "Take that back." He was flushed from emotion and his hat had fallen off in the effort to dodge the flying plate. His brown eyes were full of intense fire and he was about to add something to his remark but he paused mid sentence.
Silence surrounded us like a blanket, and I was suddenly very aware of his body pressed against mine, his mouth an inch away.
" ....Jack?"
His lips touched mine.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
woowoo! Romance! Suspense! ACTION! What will happen in the next chapter? Well I'm sorry but you are going to have to wait to find out! Yet another cliffhanger ... so drink rum! Poke people with swords! Sail the ocean! Tis a pirate's life for us!
PineAppleLint's Author's Notes!!! WooWoo!
Jeepers, people! I feel so loved because I got approximately 30 reviews and counting all from last night until now. I have also gotten various death threats and they also make me feel warm and fuzzy inside because it shows me how much you all were entertained by the last chapter. It is sort of frightening that death threats could make me feel all warm and fuzzy. (shrugs with an idiotic smile plastered on my face) Well then mateys, I hope you are enjoying your swords and hats I gave you last time. And yes, the rum is still up for grabs. Jack Sparrow was kind of pissed off at me because I stole it from his own personal stash (winks) but he needs to cut down anyway before he rots his liver. (tsk tsk captain!) Anyways, you all are delightful and I love the exceptionally long reviews, and huzzah to all of you who understand how important it is for Gallagher to be strong and feminine all at the same time.
Now when we last left off Jack Sparrow had her pinned up against the wall and was suggesting that they do something very provocative. (oooh) How is Gallagher going to react to Sparrow's sudden show of lusty feelings towards her? Does he feel something other than lust or is this just a way to get some pleasurable company for the night? Well let us read on and find out, shall we?
Now without further ado .... Chapter 14!
Are you a eunich?
PineAppleLint
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Captain," I breathed, "Get off o' me."
"Gallagher, maybe I should teach ye a lesson for punchin' me lights out."
"Lay one finger on me and I'll break it."
"That's quite ironic, luv, seeing how I've got me whole body on yers and ye haven't said a word."
"Didn't ye get the message?" I whispered frantically, "That a punch in the face usually means NO? What, are ye goin' to be followin' me around like a puppy dog now?"
"I would never do such a thing, Gallagher. I just wanted to give ye one last chance to take me up on that offer," he paused, trailing one finger down my throat, "Because I 'appen to be very good at what I do."
"I have no doubt, Captain Jack Sparrow," I replied shakily, and he grinned, knowing he was catching me off balance, "But I must decline."
He slowly backed up off of me and said, "Yer loss, luv."
"So what now, Jack?"
"What, Gallagher?"
"Do I still get to captain the Black Pearl at yer side?"
"Of course. I'm not a damned fool," he said angrily, "Just because ye declined me other offer doesn't mean I'm goin' to snatch the other opportunity away."
"Good."
We were both silent for a moment, staring at each other from across the room. I had to break the silence, because a question was eating away at me.
"Why me, Jack? Why not head to Tortuga and pick up some bonnie lass all for yerself?"
He swaggered over and said, "We aren't at Tortuga, nor are we headin' there any time soon."
"So I would just be fillin' an empty space," I finished for him. He grinned and cocked his hat at me, and made his way out of the door. I gazed after him and rested my body weight against the wall. If that was Captain Jack Sparrow's case, I wasn't going to ever be his whore. Nor did I want to fill anyone's empty space just for one-night purposes. And I suddenly felt a raw pang of hurt welling up inside me, but forced it to go away. Why should I care of Sparrow's bad habits? Of his raunchy tendencies towards loose women?
"I shouldn't, dammit," I muttered, "It is his business and his alone, even though he tried to make it mine."
I walked back up to the deck and the crew was scattered about, working on their tasks, hard at work. I gazed up at the sky and it was dark. Now I wasn't just talking about a smoky gray, but almost a rough blackness edged into the heavens. The clouds rolled and thunder boomed, causing me to smile idiotically. We were in for one hell of a storm.
"Looks like hell out here," Will murmured and I glanced at him. He was also peering up at the angry sky.
"We are going to have a rough night," I commented. His eyes cut to mine and he nodded.
"Better go below deck just for safe keeping," Will warned, "The Sea of Blood wreaks havoc on ships."
"When did ye ever get the impression that I was a 'below deck' kinda girl?" I answered, grinning like mad.
"That's the problem, Terrence. I think you are a bloody madwoman."
"Then my job is done for the day," I teased. Will smiled and patted me on the shoulder, turning and was about to walk away when I asked, "Where is Elizabeth?"
"Down below. I think she is preparing dinner for all of us."
"Ah, what fun," I said and Will nodded, taking one last wistful look at the sky and then went up to the helm to talk to Jack. Jack was also grinning like a Cheshire cat who caught the canary, knowing he was going to have lots of fits and giggles trying to lead the Black Pearl out of this storm. He wanted a challenge and that's what the Sea of Blood was going to throw at him.
"Gallagher!" he shouted and I looked up. "Come on and take the helm for a bit! Will and I need to discuss a few things in me cabin."
"Aye aye!" I yelled back and nodded at the two gentlemen as they made their way towards Jack's quarters, already engrossed in a deep discussion.
I walked up to the helm and sighed with content as I wrapped my fingers around the wood, already warm from being constantly handled by Jack's hands. My own hands began to burn, remembering his soft, slow caresses from earlier. I smoothed them over my pants, as if to rid my nerve endings of the memory.
"Miss Gallagher!" one of the crew shouted, "The wind changed direction!" I stared at the sails and sure enough it had.
"Lower the sails!" I shouted, "Quickly now! There's a storm comin' and we don't want to be blown off course! The storm will do enough o' that all by itself!"
Skip walked up to me and commented, "A nice day to be sailing now, ain't it?"
"Beautiful. Skip? Did Jack happen to mention when we would be arriving at that blasted island?"
"The island with Snidely's treasure?" he said, blinking.
"O' course, ye mangy cad. What other island would I be talkin' about?"
"In a day. Day and a half, perhaps."
"Thank ye, Skip. Now go help with the sails."
"Aye, captain," he replied and saluted with enthusiasm, running off to help the crew. I smiled. Ah, I had missed this desperately. Havin' my own crew and my own ship. Well, there was a problem. This wasn't my ship or crew. It was a borrowed dream. I closed my eyes. 'Well there's no crime in pretendin', now is there?'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was pouring, the water pelting my skin and stinging like a hive of bees gone insane. My bandanna had been blown off in the wind and was now lost in Davy Jones' Locker. The crew had all gone down under to eat their supper for the night and I didn't want to leave the helm. The anchor was down and the Black Pearl was going no where, so there wasn't much point to standing me there like an idiot. After all, I was a madwoman, right? I didn't need a purpose.
Lightning flashed and I saw a silhouette make its way towards me. It was Jack. I could recognize his billowing coat and slick brown hat from anywhere. My hair was plastered to my head and I could hardly see, but I was still grinning.
"'Ey there, Jack! Delighted that ye could come and visit with me on such a lovely day!"
He staggered over and his eyes were wide, opening his mouth loud and yelling so I could hear over the howling wind, flashing me his gold teeth as he cried, "Are ye mad, woman? Get inside! There is nothin' for ye to do now that the anchor's down!"
"I like it out 'ere. It's peaceful."
Jack laughed and said, "Aye, I know what ye mean, Gallagher. But come eat dinner. Everyone is still at the table talkin'. We would like it if ye joined."
At that moment I felt as if I wouldn't belong anywhere else. I felt a part of this crew, so deeply joined, like a mother and her unborn babe, that I couldn't help but throw my arms around Jack like the oaf that I was.
"Uh, careful on the goods, darling," he said, muffled by my tight arms.
"I would be delighted to eat dinner."
"Gallagher, I think ye have lost yer marbles."
"That's the thing, Jack. I didn't have any marbles to begin with."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jack slammed the door open and the dining room grew quiet as they watched two half-drowned pirates make their way to the table. I sat next to Elizabeth and smiled as water pooled at my feet and tiny water droplets cascaded onto my plate from my soaked black hair.
"Terrence, you looked like a drowned rat," Elizabeth said with a grin.
I laughed and said, "Will someone pass the potatoes? If I don't eat quick I'm goin' to start eatin' me fingers."
Will passed me the potatoes and I took three heaping spoonfuls and plopped each down on my plate. I accidentally flicked the spoon and caused some of the mashed potatoes to go sailing onto Elizabeth's cheek. She wiped it off in disgust and everyone watched in amusement as I ate. I dug in like a ravenous dog and slurped my wine, digging into my chicken leg and chewing with loud smacking noises.
"Congratulations, Terrence," Will said with distaste, "I think you beat Jack in the category on who has the worst table manners."
I looked up at once and grew startled, surprised to find everyone watching me. I grinned and wiped my mouth on my sleeve and replied, "I seem to be beating Captain Jack Sparrow in a lot of categories these days." My eyes flicked over to his face and our stare held.
He narrowed his eyes and said devilishly, "I can hold more alcohol than ye can, luv."
"I can whip yer sorry arse in swords," I retaliated, dropping my silverware, knowing a challenge when I saw one.
Everyone's gaze was darting back and forth, some people grinning like mad, finding it rather entertaining for the two captains to be having a verbal battle once again.
"But I ...."he said quietly, "Can captain a ship without losing it to the depths of Davy Jones's Locker."
That was the last straw. I grinned and said, "Ye've got me there, Jack, but I am quite a professional in the foodfight category."
Jack looked at me, a bit confused, but he broke out into an idiotic grin when I smashed my hand into my mashed potatoes and grabbed a handful.
"Oh no you don't!" Elizabeth cried in dismay, "That is a perfectly good supper!"
"Lighten up a bit, will ye?" I said and raised my eyebrows in Jack's direction.
"Ye wouldn't," he said slowly, holding up his hands, "That is mere childplay and we are but humble ....."
He was interrupted by potatoes being flung into his face.
"GALLAGHER!" Elizabeth said, "Stop it at once!"
Will was doubling over with laughter and the crew was finding this hilarious. Jack narrowed his eyes and wiped it off of his face. "Men," he said deep and low, "Please leave us for a moment. Will, Elizabeth, you too."
"Don't mess up the dining room!" Elizabeth ordered, "I cleaned it yesterday."
"I shall try to meet the standards of yer request, luv," he said and stood up, bowing in her direction, "But Miss Gallagher doesn't exactly play by the rules."
"She will if she knows what's good for her!" Elizabeth replied and studied me with a fierce glare before Will shepherded her out of the room and with a grin, closed the door behind him.
"Ye've got potatoes in yer hair, Jack," I said with a gleam to my gray eyes, "It suits ye."
"I should send ye to Davy Jones' Locker for this," he said, beginning to circle me like a large predator.
"For a little potato flingin'? Someone is a mite cranky today."
He suddenly stopped circling and said with wonder, "Where did ye ever get yer ship?"
"The Dancing Horizon?"
"Aye."
"I had it built for me. Me very own ship built the way I wanted it to be built."
"Where did ye get the money, Gallagher? I thought ye said ye grew up poor."
"I did," I replied, eyes twinkling, "I happened to run across a very heavy purse. Pickpocketing was my specialty as I lived on the streets."
"I don't have a doubt about that, luv."
"The Black Pearl is a beautiful ship, Sparrow. Ye are lucky," I responded, walking to a window and glancing out at the angry ocean, lightning still flashing and lighting up the room in an instant and then going back to the faint candle glow of darkness the room was before.
"Have ye ever thought of stealing it?"
"Sure. Dozens of times."
"And why didn't ye act upon it?" he asked with an amused smile.
"Yeh would sooner blow a hole through me brains. And I feel sorry for a poor pirate like yehself havin' to watch it sail away from ye too many times to count. Hell, when it comes to commandeering, ye are an awful pirate."
I hit a nerve, I could tell. Captain Jack Sparrow never liked to be reminded of his past with Barbossa and his misfortunes.
He growled, "But here I have the Black Pearl for me very own, Gallagher. And yours is at the bottom of the ocean. Yer beloved ship rotting away and being overrun with barnacles. There is no life on that blasted ship now and never will be for eternity."
My mouth gaped open and I shut it. He was right. Why should I fight back? He was bloody right, after all. The one thing I had loved with my entire life was dead and would never come back to me.
I slumped over in a chair and held my face in my hands, letting out a shaky breath.
"Luv! No, Gallagher, don't do that, please. Why aren't ye sayin' somethin' clever back at me? Come on, don't give up this easily," he pleaded, "Don't act like that."
"Yer right, Jack, and that is no crime that I need to lash ye for."
"Forget the past, Gallagher."
"I have tried for FIVE BLOODY YEARS!" I practically shouted and Jack jumped back, startled as I stared at him.
"My crew died, every last one," I said shakily, the memories coming back more vividly now, "I killed me own crew."
"It wasn't yer fault."
"Of course it was! They even said that the ship wouldn't last the night in the Sea of Blood, but being the oaf that I was, I made them carry on anyway. Now they died for my stupidity. Thirty men slaughtered at my fingertips." A tear slid down my cheek and I grew horrified. I was crying! "DAMMIT!" I raged, "They were like family to me!"
"Ye can get a bloody bigger ship," he suggested, fingers moving as he talked.
Wrong answer.
"Ye aren't makin' things any better!" I cried and threw a plate at him. He ducked and it smashed against the wall to smithereens.
I walked up to him and pointed a finger in his face and yelled, "Ye have absolutely no idea what I've been through!"
"Get another ship and move on already!" he growled with disgust, "I'm sick of hearin' ye moan on and on about yer lost ship."
I raised my hand and slapped him. The smack echoed throughout the room.
He glared at me and said, "I didn't bloody deserve that!"
"Oh yes ye did!" I snarled, "Ye ugly mangy cad!"
He took a step towards me and growled back, "If ye were a man I would have hit yeh right about now."
"When has it mattered if I were a man or woman, Jack? I'm a woman and have beatin' yeh in every pirate's skill known to man! Yeh might as well wear a dress and sing sonnets!"
His face was an inch from mine and he said, "Take that back." He was flushed from emotion and his hat had fallen off in the effort to dodge the flying plate. His brown eyes were full of intense fire and he was about to add something to his remark but he paused mid sentence.
Silence surrounded us like a blanket, and I was suddenly very aware of his body pressed against mine, his mouth an inch away.
" ....Jack?"
His lips touched mine.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
woowoo! Romance! Suspense! ACTION! What will happen in the next chapter? Well I'm sorry but you are going to have to wait to find out! Yet another cliffhanger ... so drink rum! Poke people with swords! Sail the ocean! Tis a pirate's life for us!