A/N: Here's the next one! Back from NYC and full of ideas.

YAY for more chapters! And…by popular demand, I will be straying from the script a bit this chapter. A little bit at a time, as I get more comfortable with it…

My computer's being an ASS and keeps closing out Microsoft Word before I have a chance to save. I wrote the whole scene at the docks with the crew, THEN IT CLOSED!!!!! AND IT WAS GOOD THE FIRST TIME TOO!!!

Disclaimer: Once again, Disney owns just about it all. Maybe I'll try and buy a share when I go to Orlando next month.

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Jess and Will followed Jack and Gibbs into the tavern, weaving through drunks, people fighting, and the occasional whore or two. Gibbs sat at a table in the back, while Jack went to the bar to get drinks, supposedly. Will and Jess stood leaning against the wall, still trying to take everything in.

Jess looked up at Will. "You're seeming awful distant." she said quietly. "You alright?"

Will met her gaze. "I'm worried about her…" Jess knew exactly what he meant.

"Elizabeth, eh? Well…" she was cut off by Will.

"How to you know about Elizabeth? You've never met her, have you?"

Jess grinned. "I've…uh…been around here for awhile. As they say, been a lot of places, seen a lot of faces, stuff like that."

Will chuckled. "I get it."

Jess nodded, then started looking around again, a bit awestruck.

Will smiled knowingly. "Ever been in a tavern before?"

Jess laughed. "Many times. But not one this wild!"

Will looked around. "This is pretty moderate compared to some that I've heard about."

Out of the blue, a young, extremely drunken-looking woman sashayed up to Will. "Hey there- Wanna have some fun tonight?" Will looked a bit alarmed. Jess stood a bit closer to him and put a hand on his arm.

"Tough luck, hun. This one's taken." The whore looked crestfallenly at her, then walked off.

"Thanks…" Will muttered.

Jess backed off. "No problem. I've had to save some friends from the same fate before." She grinned knowingly.

Jack spoke a little louder from behind them. "Let's just say it's a matter of leaverage…" Jess and Will both turned around, then looked at each other strangely.

"Wonder what he means by that…" Will muttered. Jess shrugged her shoulders.

Quickly, Jack got up, followed by Mr. Gibbs. He walked past Will and Jess. "C'mon. Back to the ship." They all followed him out of the tavern and back down to the docks.

***

Jess had gotten her own quarters on the Interceptor for the night. Will and Jack each had their own quarters as well, and Mr. Gibbs had decided that he would be quite content with sleeping out on deck. She was awoken by a loud knocking at her door and yelling. It was Jack.

"C'MON!! EVERYBODY UP! GIBBS' GOT US A CREW!"

Jess yawned and rolled out of bed to discover that she was still in the same clothes that she had been wearing since she ended up here. Jeans and a t-shirt. She walked out of the cabin, only to run straight into Jack. She somehow ended up looking straight into those chocolate brown eyes, and standing inches from Jack. She stood there for a second, lost in his brown eyes. She suddenly snapped back to reality. She was a bit too close to Jack for her comfort at the moment. She stepped back, blushing slightly.

Jack cleared his throat slightly as he handed her a pair of breeches, a white shirt, and boots. "These should fit you, luv. Can't go around in clothes like that, can ye?" Jess rolled her eyes, and returned to her cabin to change.

***

Jack, Jess, Will, and Gibbs made their way down the weathered Tortuga docks, surveying the line of men in front of them.

"Feast your eyes captain. All of them faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt…and crazy to boot."

Will rolled his eyes. "So this is your 'able-bodied crew'?"

A rather old looking man with a large blue and yellow macaw on his shoulder caught Jess's eye. Jack noticed this and stopped in front of him. "You sailor!"

Gibbs leaned around Jack. "Cotton, sir."

Jack nodded. "Mr. Cotton. Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" Cotton kept staring straight ahead. "Mr. Cotton! ANSWER MAN!"

Gibbs spoke again, seeming to be holding back a chuckle. "He's a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tounge cut out." Cotton opened his mouth to show them, a maniac expression on his face. Jess, Will, and Jack all looked at each other, a look on disgust on their faces. Gibbs continued talking, brightly. "So he trained the parrot to talk for him! No one's yet figured how…"

Jess and Will looked at each other, each barely holding back their own laughing. Jack started to continue walking the line, but turned back to Cotton. "Mr. Cotton's…parrot. Same question."

"WIND IN THE SAILS! WIND IN THE SAILS!"

Gibbs grinned. "Mostly we figure, that means yes."

Jack nodded. "Course it does!" He turned to Jess and Will. "Satisfied?"

They spoke at the same time. "Well, you've proved them mad." Jess looked at Will, and he grinned. Jess chuckled softly.

Suddenly, a voice spoke from the other end of the line. "And what's the benefit for us?"

Jack cautiously made his way to the source of the voice, followed by Will, Jess, and Gibbs. He lifted up the wide brimmed black hat that had been covering the sailor's face, and took it off. It revealed a dark skinned woman, taller than Jack, with dark hair and big brown eyes.

"Anamaria." Jack smiled forcefully. She promptly slapped him.

Jess grinned. "I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?" Jack grimaced.

"No, that one I deserved." He turned back to Anamaria.

"You…stole…my…BOAT!", she sneered at him.

"Actually…" She slapped him again. Jess chuckled lightly.

Jack rolled his eyes and turned back to Ana. "Borrowed. Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back to you."

"BUT YOU DIDN'T!"

"You'll get another one!"

She pointed a finger at him. "I will…"

Will pushed himself forward. "A better one."

Jack looked at Will, then turned back to Ana, smiling. "A better one!"

Will pointed at the Interceptor, anchored out in the bay. "That one."

Jack turned around. "What one?" Will nodded toward the Interceptor. "THAT ONE?…Aye. That one. What say you?"

"AYE!!!" The crew scurried off to get into the rowboats.

Gibbs walked up to Jack, shaking his head. "No, no, no, no, no, it's FRIGHTFUL bad luck to have a woman aboard sir. And we have two!"

Jack looked skyward. "It'd be far worse not to have them…" He went to join his new crew.

Gibbs, Will, and Jess all looked at each other, then looked up in the same way Jack had been looking.

Jess caught up to Jack. "What was that about?"

"Old superstition.", Jack muttered. "If you have women aboard it's supposed to symbolize weakness." Jess nodded.

Jack looked up at her, catching her eyes. "There's a storm coming, luv. I want you to stay in your cabin, aye?"

Jess's mouth dropped open. "But…"

"Just promise me luv." Jack's expression was a bit unnerving. Jess dropped her gaze. "Fine."

Jack smiled. "Good!" He promptly pulled Jess into a rowboat, causing her to start laughing. "We got us an island to find."

***

Jack's promised storm was breaking on them at sea, and as promised, Jess was in her cabin, being thrown around by the storm.

"WHOAAA!!! NOT COOL!!!" She screamed as she was thrown from her bed into the wall. "Alright. I can't get anymore hurt out there than I could in here."

She walked out of her cabin, using walls, door handles, and railings for support as the Interceptor tossed and turned. When she finally made it out on deck, she was nearly washed off deck by a strong wave. "Now I now why he didn't want me out here!" she muttered, annoyed. Suddenly, she noticed Gibbs yelling to Will, who was pulling on a rope.

"AYE! THE COMPASS DOESN'T POINT NORTH, BUT WE'RE NOT TRYING TO FIND NORTH, ARE WE?" Jess grinned slightly at finally figuring out Jack's compass, still holding onto a railing with a death grip. She saw Gibbs slowly make his way up toward Jack at the wheel. In a flash of lightning, Jess saw him. "Wow…" she muttered. Jack was muscling the wheel back and forth, occasionally looking at his compass, and maniac grin on his face. Gibbs finally made his way up to him.

"WE SHOULD DROP CANVAS, SIR!"

"SHE CAN 'HOLD A BIT LONGER!" Jack looked at his compass, then spun the wheel again.

Gibbs shook the water from himself, then looked back up at Jack. "WHAT'S IN YOUR HEAD THAT'S PUT YOU IN SUCH A FINE MOOD, CAPTAIN?"

A lightning bolt flashed, lighting the sky, as Jack answered.

"WE'RE CATCHING UP."

Jess grinned to herself. "Finally…" She turned around and walked back to her cabin to dry off.

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Damn. That took me a WHILE to write. As always, more reviews are very much appreciated, because I'm needing some more guidance on where to go with this story.

YAY!! I UPDATED!!