Chapter Nine: Man—Woman Overboard!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the character Lissie and Beth owns her character. (Yeah, she helps me with ideas when my brain feels like a wrung out sponge.)

That night, Lissie and Beth were kept awake by music… no doubt Elizabeth was encountering the pirates in moonlight. Tomorrow morning they would meet the crew that Gibbs was going to find them, and Jack would get slapped by yet another woman. It would be a long day, and they needed sleep, but music wasn't the only thing keeping them awake. They were all in a room above the pub, the guys let Beth and Lissie have the only two beds; they slept on the floor, and Jack was snoring drunkenly.

Lissie rolled over, hoping to find a more comfortable position to sleep in, but she had no luck. She decided she would talk to Beth.

"Hey, Deppy!" she whispered.

"What, Bloomzy?" Beth asked sleepily.

"You can't sleep either?"

"Nope. Not without my picture of JD under my pillow."

"Yeah, I feel the same way about OB. I miss 2003… we won't see Return of the King!"

"I know! But how are we going to get back? Elizabeth has the medallion, and how are we supposed to get it without making it too obvious that we want it?"

"I don't know… I really don't. But part of me wants to stay here. I really like it—"

"You mean Will."

"Well, him too, but it's really cool to be in a movie."

"I miss Taffy!" (A/N: Beth's dog in real life)

"Yeah, I miss movies, candy bars, electricity, Harry Potter, Orlando Bloom…"

"You've got him right here!"

"Oh yeah…"

"I miss Cal," said Beth.

"How can you?! He dumped you!"
"I know, but I miss the way he plays basketball, his crazy hairstyle, the way he used to kiss me—"

"Oh my gosh Beth! Shut up about Cal!" Lissie whispered. "The love of your life is right here, not back in Illinois, 2003!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

They were silent for a moment. "Hey, the music stopped finally!"

"Great! Now we can get some sleep!" Lissie thought for a moment. "Hey Deppy?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you say bring some of 2003 to… uh… whatever year this is tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think we should teach them what real music is about. What do you say to… Shania Twain?"

"Just like I should…"

"I'll get you good!" they sang quietly together.

"Night Bloomzy."

"Sweet dreams, Depp!"

* * *

"Feast your eyes Captain! All of them faithful hands to the mast! Every man worth his salt!" said Gibbs the next morning.

Jack walked down, inspecting each 'sailor'.

"So this… is your able bodied crew?" asked Will.

"You sailor!"

"Cotton, sir."

"Mr. Cotton… do you have the courage and fortitude to stay true and follow orders in the face of danger and almost sudden death? MR. COTTON! Answer man!"

"Uh, he's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one should have figured how," said Gibbs as Jack stuck out his tongue and Will looked revolted.

"Mr. Cotton's… parrot. Same question."

The parrot squawked, "Ready the sails! Ready the sails!"

Will, Lissie, Beth and Jack all raised their eyebrows at Mr. Cotton.

"Mostly we figured that means yes." Said Gibbs.

"Of course it does. So, are you satisfied?" asked Jack to the other three.

"Well you've proved—"

"They're mad!" broke in Lissie.

"Insane!" said Beth. "And not insane like Lissie. OW!" Lissie had stomped on her foot.

"And what's the benefit for us?" asked a female voice.

Jack walked over, and took the hat off a woman, revealing her long, black hair. "Anamaria," said Jack. The next thing he knew, he was slapped.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?" asked Will.

"No that one I deserved," said Jack as Anamaria nodded. "You stole my BOAT!"

"Actually—" SLAP! "Borrowed, borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back to you."

"BUT YOU DIDN'T!"

"You'll get another one!" said Jack desperately.

"A better one!" broke in Will.

"A better one!"

"That one," said Lissie, pointing over Jack.

"What one?" Jack looked over and saw the Interceptor. "That one?" said Jack, and he got up in her face, making her draw back and plug her nose.

"Two words… TIC TAC!" said Lissie as she moved closer to Will without making it too obvious. He just smelled so good… She needed something fresh to get the smell of rum out of her nostrils.

"Aye, that one, what say you?" said Jack weakly.

"Aye!"

"AYE!"

"No no no, sir, it's frightful bad luck to bring a woman on board," said Gibbs.

"Excuse me!" said Lissie.

"What about us?" asked Beth.

"It would be far worse not to, however," said Jack. "Come on, girls, Will."

As they walked onto the ship, they all looked up. A storm was coming.

* * *

Rain fell in icy sheets, thunder clashed, lightning was their only source of light, and it was lucky it seared the sky so often. Everyone on board was trying to fasten the sails down, and Jack was steering the ship madly, looking like he was giving no notice that there was a storm raging and that he was getting drenched because of it.

Lissie and Beth were helping Will and Gibbs fasten a rope down, when a wave crashed over the deck, sending them flying to the other side. Beth crashed right into Will, Gibbs landed flat on his back, and Lissie was thrown overboard.

"How can we sail to an island no one can find, with a compass that doesn't work?" yelled Will.

"Who cares about that stupid compass, WHERE'S LISSIE?" screamed Beth back at Will.

"HEY! HEY! OVER HERE! HEL—" a wave had just sent her underwater. Forcing herself to stay afloat, she screamed her head off at everyone on the deck, loosing energy fast. Just as she gave up all hope, a rope landed in front of her. She grabbed it, and was swung over, back on deck, the others looking like they had just climbed out of the ocean too.

"Thanks for that," she said weakly.

"All right, that's it, you're done for the night," said Will. "And you too, Beth, you look tired, and you both are shivering."

True, they were both cold, and they could see their breath through the rain, and Will could almost hear their teeth chattering. He led them down the stairs and below deck where he lit some candles and pulled out blankets for the two of them.

"Are you staying?" asked Lissie somewhat hopefully as Will started to make his way back above deck.

He smiled. "I'm just going to tell Jack where you two have gone. I don't doubt that he'd be worrying about you, Beth," he then walked up the stairs.

Staggering at the force of the wind and rain when he set foot on the deck, he struggled to go over to Jack.

"The storm's getting to strong!" he yelled at him. "We should drop the sails!"
"What's that? No, I didn't get any mail! A pirate hardly ever does!" Jack yelled back.

Will rolled his eyes, clearly the storm had made Jack deaf, or he was drunk. Will yelled back, "NOT MAIL! THE SAILS!"

"Oh, she can hold a bit longer!"

"What's in your head that got you into such a confident mood?"

"We're catching up!"

"Oh, but I just came to tell you that Lissie and Beth are downstairs; they're both soaked and freezing."

"Well get the rum out, Jack Sparrow's coming down!"

"But who's going to steer the ship?"

"Who's going to sweep the chip?"

"NO! WHO'S GOING TO STEER THE SHIP?!"

"Oh, steer the ship! Why didn't you say so? I reckon you were right about dropping sails and the anchor! I'll be down there in a minute!"

"All right!" said Will. Once again, he was blown over by a wave, and he figured the rest of the crew could get the anchor and the sails down without him. Soaking wet, he made his way down the stairs again and to Beth and Lissie's room. When he opened the door, he stopped, smiling. Both of them were asleep on the floor. He quietly shut the door behind him, and walked over to Lissie. He then lay down beside her, so that his chest was against her back. Silently, he pulled her wet hair back and kissed the side of her neck.

Lissie's eyes flew open. Were those lips that just touched my neck? She thought. She turned her head, and wasn't very surprised to see Will there.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he asked quietly.

"No, I was trying to get to sleep anyway." She looked over at Beth. "Where's Jack?" she whispered.

"He's coming. The rest of the crew is just trying to get the sails down. Should we wake her up?" he asked, indicating Beth.

"No, I have a feeling she's just pretending to be asleep."

"Ah, well I'm sure she wouldn't mind using something like Jack as a pillow."

Lissie was silent for a moment. "I wouldn't either."

Will looked at her, knowing she meant him. Then, he brushed his lips gently across hers. "I'm really glad you came with me," he whispered in her ear.

"I'm glad to be here."

He was going to kiss her again, but then the door banged open, and Jack stood in the doorway. He saw Lissie and Will, and winked at them, a goofy grin on his face.

Shutting the door again, he shook his head like a dog, drenching everything within ten feet of him. He then moved over to where Beth was laying, awake; the door banging open and announcing Jack's arrival made her open her eyes. She sat up.

"Sleep well, love?"

"I was never asleep."

"Oh, well allow me to be yer pillow."

He sat down behind her, and Beth put her head against his chest.

This is way better than having just a picture under my pillow, she thought as the beating of his heart became a lullaby and she drifted off to sleep.

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