A/N: Enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Yup go ahead sue a kid whose still in middle school.
When Jack awoke once again in his cabin, with no recollection of how he got there, and without his shirt, he panicked internally. Jus' calm down Jack, jus' calm down. There is an explanation . . . there always is one . . . Wha's tha' smell? Sniffing the air, he realized it was emanating from what little clothing he was still wearing. Ugh! That's disgusting! What is that? Wait . . . I was watching Ashley, who never showed up, we were climbing the rigging . . . and then she poured out that little brown bag. . .
"Jack!" Oh no not her again . . . Jack immediately hid under his pillow.
"Bloody hell woman, go away!"
"Jack it's me, Will, please open the door!" He sounded panicky, even frightened . Wha's goin' on? With his shirt still off, Jack opened the door to see a frantic Will in front of him.
"What is it?" Jack asked. Will frantically pointed in the distance. Quickly grabbing a shirt, Jack ran up to the deck to see another ship on the horizon. Thinking he missed what Will was pointing at, Jack squinted and asked again, "What's wrong Will?"
"That ship! Don't you see it?" The man's behavior had become even more erratic.
"Will, we'll outrun them in a minute, there's no need to worry." Jack laughed and then clapped his hand on the other's shoulder.
"No, Jack, you don't understand, it's been getting closer for almost an hour now."
"Relax me boy, you're just paranoid is all." Still laughing, Jack began walking away when he heard another voice.
"Captain!" Annamaria shouted, "We've got a ship closing on us. I suggest we prepare the cannons." Instantly the smile faded from Jack's lips.
"What do you mean by, 'they're gaining on us'?" He asked in confusion. "This is the bloody Black Pearl, nothing can outrun her!" But turning around, Jack noticed the speck start to get closer. It's not possible. . .
"Prepare the cannons, but only as an emergency, we won't be seein' 'em soon enough." At these words, Annamaria began repeating orders to everyone as Jack surveyed his crew. Noticing that there was one missing, he eventually realized it was Ashley.
"Will, 'ave yeh seen Ashley?"
"No, I haven't seen her all morning Jack." Will turned back to his work, and Jack began to wonder where the woman was. He went to her cabin, asked Cotton if she was in the crow's nest, but she was no where to be found. Not too concerned, he went to the helm and pulled out his spy glass, searching the horizon for the little speck everyone was so worried about. After a minute of looking, and not finding it, Jack laughed and put the glass down, taking a large gulp of rum. When he put the bottle down, he saw that there was indeed, no speck, instead, a ship was steadily approaching The Black Pearl. So surprised to see it, Jack coughed up his rum, and spat it right into Ashley's face.
"Where 'ave you been all morning?" Jack demanded.
"I know that ship. Jack, listen to me . . . you can't fight them." It was the first time he could recall that she had called him Jack. And it was also the first time her eyes showed worry. No that's not worry, i's 'er condescending stare.
"Ah, an' why's that? You'd prefer if we just rolled over on our backs?"
"Sparrow! If yeh think I am playin' a game with yeh then go ahead and fight me." Jack noticed that when she got anger, and chose to ignore it. "We're not going to win. They have us outnumbered at least ten to one."
"An' why should I believe yeh, missy? How do I know that yer not jus' gonna leave me an' the crew here while you escape with yer allies?" He jabbed a finger in her chest as he said these words. She grabbed his hand and threw it down.
"Fine. You want to fight? Let's fight." Storming away from Jack she shook her head. They're all going to die. And their bloody captain won't listen to me . . .
~~**~~
"Will, you have to promise me something." She was standing next to her only friend on the Black Pearl. Both ships had been fired at with cannons, and the Pearl was suffering more. The attacking ship was named The Savage Fang, and they were side by side with the Black Pearl. Jack had ordered everyone to stay on the ship, and fight them off as they came across. Standing on the deck, Ashley was clutching her sword in one hand, a pistol in the other.
"What?" He asked, uncertainly.
"When you see a man with a gray beard and missing his two front teeth, run. Stay as far away from him as you can." Thinking she had just gone mad from the heat of battle, and not knowing that Ashley knew who they were fighting, Will simply nodded. And then the battle began.
Jack could not believe it, Ashley had been right. From the moment they battle began, The Black Pearl was outnumbered. He watched as his men fell, dying all around him. Trying to fight off three men at once, Jack knew it was over before it began. And then the voice rang out.
"WESSET! Stop attacking! I'm here!" Instantly Jack knew it was Ashley. Has she gone mad? 'Stop attacking'? Yeah, 'course they'll stop.
"Hold you're fire!" Growled a deep voice. Without delay, the attackers stopped, and so did the members of The Black Pearl, shocked and looking at Ashley, standing on the deck. There was blood coming ut of a cut lip, and more soaking through her pants, she musta cut her knee open. Jack watched as suddenly the enemy parted to let a man through.
He had a long grey beard, and green eyes. His hair was scraggly and unkempt, but was surprisingly short for a pirate, it ended at his shoulders. The boots he was wearing made a loud clanking noise as he slowly walked toward Ashley.
"I's not possible . . ." He stared at the girl standing in front of him. Grabbing her wrist, she saw her skull tattoo, and then roughly shoved her aside. "I watched you sink to the bottom, you were under for 3 minutes, at least." His shock was obvious, as he continued looking at the woman. But he recovered quickly, looking into her eyes, he pushed her down, and then delivered a kick to her rib cage. Without a sound, she got to her feet, and continued to stare defiantly at the other man. No one said a word, even Will Turner kept his mouth shut.
"Yer manners haven't improved much." She continued to remain expressionless, even when he grabbed her wrist and began turning it, trying to get it to crunch.
"Stop!" Will finally cried, but even with her wrist being turned in the horrible direction she gave Will a look that made him close his mouth abruptly.
CRUNCH
Her wrist hung at a very wrong angle as he let go. Then he smiled and grabbed a fistful of her hair.
"What is it you were hoping for, me to let yeh go?" He grinned, and Jack noticed his front teeth missing.
"It wouldn't matter now would it, as I recall, the last time we made a deal, you broke it. But I should have realized what the word of a coward was worth." The moment the words past through her lips, she knew she had made a mistake. Grabbing her hair more tightly he yanked her closer to him, so she could feel his hot breath upon her face. "You . . . will . . . pay . . . dearly . . . for . . . that." Letting go of her hair she spoke.
"I'll go quietly if you leave the crew and captain behind, on this ship, and leave them alone."
"Hm, how about no?" The man laughed at her. "Take them all aboard." Ashley tried to reach for her pistol, she managed to grab it, cock it, and sputter, "I'll see you in hell," before a sword was raised to Jack's neck.
"If you pull it on yourself, I'll have him killed." Ashley looked up at the now threatened captain. I'd die with the satisfaction of knowing Wesset didn't kill me, but is it worth knowing I was just as much a coward as him?
With a splash the pistol landed in the ocean, and Jack was released. Ashley was knocked out with the butt of a sword, and dragged along, with Jack gaping at her the entire way.
