Disclaimer:  I wish.

AN: thank you all that responded, or rather reviewed, my last chapter.  I greatly appreciated the responses that I received for my new story, and if you have not found it yet, Ashes to Ashes is uploaded onto Fanfiction.net.  So please, read and review it.  Thanks!

"A true end is a privilege for those who haven't been born yet."

~Boogiepop Phantom ep. 3

Sui Generis

Chapter 6: Skinner

            Lor sat in one of the window seats in the Turner household, her eyes staring blankly out at the rolling ocean waves.  In her hand she held a small cup of rum.  Something to ease the pain, she had told them.  Despite Elizabeth's extreme dislike of the drink, they had always kept some in the house for when Jack came to visit.

            The doctor had already come and gone.  He had told her in no uncertain terms that she was to relax and to not overexert herself or else she would pull the stitches out again.  "Blah blah blah," she muttered, taking a drink of rum.  She had heard this all before.  After all, she was a pirate Captain, with her fair share of wounds and scars.

            A loud crash sounded behind her.  She turned around slowly, catching sight of two blurred forms running past the door to the guest room that she occupied, followed by a harried Elizabeth.  Lor smiled slightly, and then took another swig of her rum.  She turned her attention back to the swirling sea.  "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me," she sang softly.  "And really bad eggs."

            "Drink up me hearties," a male voice joined in.

            "Yo ho," she finished and then turned around to look at Jack Sparrow.  He was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his white shirt.  He had taken his blue vest off, and now wore only his white shirt, open to mid-chest, and breeches.  At the request of Alex Turner he had taken his boots off and given them to the boy to play with, so now he stood barefoot.

            Lor's eyebrow rose slightly as she looked at him.  He stood in the doorway, his eyes scanning her lithe form.  She had taken the black vest off and untucked her shirt so that the white fabric hung over her black breeches.  She, too, had taken off her boots when the doctor had left.  Her shirt hung off of her shoulder slightly, revealing a small tattoo on the top of her shoulder.  She had let down her red hair, so right then it hung in short tangles around her tanned face.

            Jack smiled slightly.  "Hello, love.  Feelin' any better?"

            Lor smiled back.  "A little.  Thank ye, Jack.  I think the doctor fixed me up just fine."

            Jack nodded and then started to enter the room but stopped himself.  He looked up at her, a question in his eyes.  Lor laughed softly.  "Aye, Jack, you may enter."

            He nodded again, and then walked into the room quickly, sitting down on the floor cross-legged.  Lor shifted on her seat, swinging her legs over the side of the chair.  She pushed herself off of the cushion, allowing her legs to fold underneath her so she could sit on the floor next to Jack.

            She looked up at him, a curious look in her eyes.  "What is it, love?" he asked, taking the cup of rum from her hands and drinking its contents.

            "You've changed, Jack.  You aren't the way you used ta be."

            Jack opened one of his eyes and looked at her over the cup.  He finished his drink and placed the cup on the floor in between them.  "Aye, lass.  Things 'appen to change a man.  After the whole Barbossa thing, I'm gonna change."
            Lor nodded slowly.  "Aye, Jack, from what I've 'eard of the tale.  Sounded fun."  She looked down at her hands as she grabbed the small cup in her hands.  She twisted her wrists slowly, stretching the small marks that she bore form the ropes that had bound her to the small island of rocks. 

            "You've changed as well, love.  You ain't like you used ta be."

            She nodded again.  "Being a captain changes someone.  Holding all of their lives in my hands, makes someone become responsible."

            "Aye, it does," he paused for a moment, and then spoke again.  "About Skinner.  Why did 'e . . ."

            Lor's finger in his lips stopped him.  "Not now, Jack.  I'm . . . I'm just too tired right now.  After everything that happened, and my side still hurts.  Can we please talk about this later?"

            She looked up, a look of pleading in her eyes.  Jack pulled her finger away from his mouth and held it between his callused hands.  He moved to kneel on his knees and leaned close to her, his mouth hovering near her ear.  Lor closed her eyes and smelled the air slightly, taking in the scent of him.  "We'll talk about this later, love.  And about that marking on yer back."
            Lor's eyes opened wide at his last words.  She stared blankly at the floor as Jack walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

            Lor's closed eyes twitched slightly.  Her mouth turned down in a frown.  She wiggled on her back and then rolled over on her side.  Her eyes opened to moonlight filtering in through the open window.  She rolled over on her back again, a hiss of pain issuing from between her lips.

            She sat up slowly, wrapping a thin blanket around her shoulders, and then stood up, placing her feet on the cold ground.  Lor walked the few paces to the door and opened it slowly, trying to keep as quiet as possible.  She walked down the hallway and knocked on a closed door.

            When she received no answer, Lor opened the door quickly and stepped inside the dark room.  She made her way blindly to the bed where Jack was sleeping peacefully, his arms outstretched at his sides.  The sheets were pushed down to his waist, revealing his tanned, bare chest.  "Jack," she whispered, shaking his shoulder lightly.  "Jack wake up."  A memory flashed through her mind at her words of the night when Notingham had woken her in the night.  The night when Skinner had mutinied.

            A hand grabbed her wrist, breaking her out of her thoughts.  Jack pulled her down onto the bed, straddling her legs.  His had still clutched her wrist while his other hand pinned her down to the bed.  He stared down at her, his eyes slightly unfocused.

            "Jack," she whispered, her eyes wide.

            Jack shook his head and then stared down at her, his eyes finally becoming focused.  "Ah, Lor, lass.  Sorry 'bout that.  You should know better than to wake a sleepin' pirate.  Especially one that's been through what I've been through."

            "Um . . . sorry, but . . . um . . . could you please move yer . . ." she trailed off, her eyes flicking down to his other hand.

            Jack followed her eyes.  His other hand, the one that was pinning her down, was resting heavily on her breast.  A smile broke out on his face, his gold teeth flashing in the moonlight.  "Sorry, love," he whispered and removed his hand.  He let go of her wrist and sat back slowly, kneeling above her legs.

            Lor sat up, stopping just in front of him, their faces inches apart.  She looked up into his dark eyes and noticed the small grin still plastered to his face.  "I was wonderin' if you could help me," she shifted slightly, trying to relieve the pressure on her side.  "I think the bandage needs ta be changed, but I can't reach the wound well enough."

            Jack was silent for a moment, and then nodded his consent.  Lor lifted up her shirt to where the large white bandage ended.  He started to unwrap the bandage and once that was removed, he slowly peeled the smaller bandage away from the stitched up wound.  Lor hissed through her teeth as the cloth stuck to her skin.

            Jack looked up at her face and then back down at the now uncovered wound.  "It looks fine, love.  Just a little red.  That's ta be expected though.  You did rip the first stitches."

            Lor nodded silently as he started to wrap a new bandage around her waist.  She shivered slightly as his fingers brushed her skin.  "You okay?" he asked.

            "Aye.  Just cold."

            Before he could finish wrapping the bandage, Lor grabbed his hand with both of hers.  Her head was hung low, her hair hiding her face.  "Jack?  What would you do if I told you I had something?  Something important that Skinner wants."

            "Depends on what that something is."

            "I can't say right now.  I just need to know."

            "I don't know, love.  We'll have to deal with it when we get there."

            Lor gave a barely perceptible nod, then, without warning, she threw herself at him, letting go of his hand and wrapping her arms around his neck.  Jack fell back on the bed from the force of her hitting him.

            He lay there, stunned, until silent tears hit his chest and sobs wracked her body.  He put his arms tentatively around her, simply holding her as she cried.  He said nothing, knowing no kind words would ease the pain that she felt.

            Jack opened his eyes slowly to find himself looking at the foot of his bed.  He sat up, stretching his tired muscles.  Vague memories of a conversation the night before filtered through to his groggy mind.  He looked around the room, searching for the girl that he knew he had held throughout the night.

            When he found no trace of her, except for two bloody bandages on the floor, he stood up and put his shirt on as he exited his room.  Jack followed the long hallway down to the kitchen, where he could smell food as it was being cooked.  His stomach growled loudly, revealing to him that he had not eaten in two days.

            He stepped into the small room, his eyes immediately falling on Lor.  "Mornin' all," he said cheerfully.  The two twin children mumbled good morning to him around mouths full of their breakfast.  Elizabeth smiled politely and Will nodded up at him.  The only one to say nothing was Lor, who sat, her chin resting on her palm, her eyes staring out the window to her left.

            Jack sat next to her, graciously accepting the mug of rum that Will offered.  After several moments of silence that drove him crazy, Jack said.  "So, love, I believe you owe me an explanation."

            A few seconds passed before Lor turned to him, her eyes large golden orbs.  "I believe I do," she said softly.  As Will and Elizabeth started to leave, Lor stopped them.  "No.  You can stay.  Since you have been pulled into this, you need to hear my tale."

            Lor stood up from her chair, pushing it in slowly, and then walked over to the large window.  She stared out at the sea for a moment, and then turned back to the five people that sat before her.  Three of the people, the adults, watched her in curiosity, waiting for her to begin her story, while the two children merely pretended to understand what was going on.  "Skinner," she began.  "Killed my father.  Destroyed his ship, and then came after me."

            "Why?" Will asked.

            "He believed that me da had a map.  A map to a lost island that is said to hold the greatest treasure in the whole of the Caribbean.  It is a treasure that could make someone the richest and the most powerful person in all of the Spanish Main," she paused, gathering her thoughts before she continued.

            "Skinner mutinied against my father and tortured him to find out the location of the map.  When he found out that my father did not have the map, he killed him.  Then he destroyed the ship.

            "He came after me next.  He bore proof that my father was dead and I let 'im and 'is men on my ship.  Weeks later, he mutinied against me as well, beating my until he realized that I wasn't going to tell him where the map was.  He marooned me on the rocks and that's where you found me Jack.  You know the rest."

            Jack pursed his lips, his fingers stroking the braids on his goatee.  "And do you 'ave the map?"

            Lor stared at him.  "Aye."

            "Then why don't you just give it to this Skinner?" Elizabeth asked.

            "It's not that easy," Lor replied.

            Will was the next to speak.  "Why?"

            Lor looked him directly in his eyes.  "Because I am the map."

AN: So?  Did I leave you in suspense?  Gotta love it.  Next: Chapter 7: Of Maps and Lost Lives.

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