AN: Just for you, Eledhwen.  J Not really, but anyway.  There's mild innuendo in this chapter, so I'll send out a soft-serve Beware for Virgin Eyes.  Otherwise, enjoy, and review please!

Disclaimer: Sofia is her own.  Jack belongs to Disney, no matter how much I wish he was mine.  Everything else is either mine, Disney's, or public domain.  I'm not making any money off this, so please don't hurt me!

Chapter Eight:

Heat

"Sofia!"

Sofia came to a halt, breathing heavily. She gripped the rail, her knuckles turning white at the tension in her hands. Her spine was straight as a ramrod, every line of her body denoting intense, unreasonable anger.

Jack stopped and hesitated, uncertain of what to say or do. He summoned up his typical foppish manner and grinned at the back of Sofia's head.

"What's ailin' ye, lass?"

Sofia clenched her jaw. "Naught that concerns you," she said sharply. Jack was taken aback slightly- her piratical drawl had disappeared, replaced with the clipped tones of an upper class American. It was rather disconcerting.

"Everything aboard this ship concerns me. Explain yourself," Jack replied, his tone a mix between irritation and drunken goofiness. Sofia spun on her heel and glared up at him. She refused to let herself be startled by his closeness, which was rather more than she was accustomed to.

"I've every right to silence," she hissed. "My mind is my own, Sparrow, I've no need to reveal it to anyone."

Jack's eyes narrowed. Persnickety behavior was one thing, but she was skirting dangerously close to insubordination. "Let's have us a bit of a chat in my cabin," he said with false magnanimity. "Clear the air a bit, what d'ye say?" But his tone and facial expression brooked no opposition- Sofia fancied she could have sawn a log in half with his sharp glare. She nodded tersely and allowed herself to be steered across the deck and into the captain's cabin.

Jack shoved her inside with rather more force than necessary and shut the door behind them. Sofia took a moment to soak up the room- it was far more opulent than she had anticipated, and larger as well. But it had the marks of disuse- the tables were dusty and the air was slightly stale.

"Well, miss, I'd dearly love an explanation."

Sofia wandered deeper into the cabin, ignoring Jack's words. Her back prickled, but she refused to answer. She knew she was skating on thin ice, but she didn't care. She ran a finger over the back of one of the high-backed chairs.

"Sofia."

Sofia looked up, the paradigm of innocence. "I'm certain I don't know what you're talking about," she said coolly. "Explanation of what?"

Jack sent her a thinly veiled glare. "Obstinate wench," he muttered to himself. "Your behavior these past weeks, o' course. Whatever has the Pearl's humble crew done to deserve your ire, dear lady?" he asked, with a sanctimonious little bow.

Sofia folded her eyes and returned his glare with one of her own. That same glare had made three grown men run away like frightened children, but Jack seemed utterly immune. "Who said it was the crew?"

Jack's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Darling, you wound me," he said, placing a hand over his heart. Then he dropped it and raised an eyebrow, his eyes smoldering beneath. "Do tell."

Sofia snorted. "You wouldn't understand anyway, so why bother."

Jack crossed the room and stood close enough that Sofia could smell the spirits on his breath. A chill ran up her spine despite herself. "Try me," Jack said, voice dangerously low. Sofia tilted her chin defiantly, but his smoldering gaze had turned her insides to ice. Yes, she admitted to herself, she was frightened of this man.

Sofia called up her anger and stood up straighter, meeting Jack's eyes fully. "I'm tired of your controlling me," she snapped. "Of you assuming I want or need your assistance. Despite what you seem to think, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Jack raised an eyebrow, his mouth quirking into an amused smirk. "Really now."

Something in Jack's cool response made Sofia's own neatly arranged thoughts derail. "I never wanted to be chased after!" she spat, shoving Jack away. "I was so close-"

"You'd be dead, lass," Jack retorted, his own anger rising to match Sofia's.

"That's what I bloody well wanted!" Sofia shrieked. Her brain and her mouth had parted ways, and she was vaguely surprised at what she was saying. "I'd rather be dead than live in the same world as that murderer!"

"You'd be surprised."

Yet another inhibition snapped. Sofia raised her fist and tried to slug Jack, but he snatched her wrists and held her still.

"Let me go!"

"'Fraid not, lass."

"Stop calling me that!" Sofia pulled her left arm free and punched Jack in the face. He snarled softly and pushed her against the nearest wall. Sofia's head knocked the bulkhead and she saw stars.

"What would you prefer, hmm?" Jack said quietly, his face still contorted with anger. "Would addlepated wench suffice?"

Sofia shrieked in outrage and tried to head-butt him. It didn't quite work, but Jack loosened his grip slightly. She shoved him away and bolted to the door. Jack made chase and tackled her to the floor. The impact knocked the air from both their lungs.

Sofia wriggled away, desperately sucking air. Jack grabbed her and pinned her down.

"Let me go!" Sofia spat. "Is it all that hard?"

"You'll not leave until this is settled," Jack grated. He shook her slightly. "Stop fighting!"

"Let go!" Sofia repeated, a strangled sob rising in her throat. "Let me go! Do you men always have to control everything?!"

"Stop it, love," Jack grunted, trying to hold her still. Sofia growled incoherently and scrambled away. She staggered to her feet and tried to reach the door. Jack ran after her and caught her wrist just as she reached the door. He spun her around and, to both their surprises, pinned her against the hatch and kissed her fiercely.

Sofia shoved him away. "Don't ever do that," she snapped. And then she grabbed him by the collar and kissed him back.

Neither one really knew what they were doing. Not in the technical sense—that part was blatantly obvious—but why was a mystery.

Like Gibbs had said, Sofia hadn't been with a man—properly, at least—since Starling. And maybe it was wrong on about fifteen different levels, but she didn't really care. She just knew that Jack's touch burned like nothing else, and his kisses lent the promise of a great deal more to come.

For Jack's part, Sofia was an attractive woman who actually had a good deal of fire in her disposition. That and he figured he'd been arguing with himself far too long and might as well settle the dispute.

But whatever the reasons, it happened anyway.

Outside, Finn handed over a good bit of money while Tuck and Gibbs snickered.

* * *

Sofia opened her eyes, then squeezed them shut again.

Please tell me I didn't do what I think I did.

There was a warm body beside her and she had long hair that wasn't hers in her face, and she was in a bed instead of a hammock. She cautiously opened once eye.

Oh, I did.

She rolled over to see Jack looking at her with a great deal of amusement in his dark eyes. His faded red headband had been discarded at some point, and Sofia could tell how long he'd worn it by the fact that his forehead was, incongruously, a great deal paler than the rest of his face. He looked rather funny.

"Sleep well?" Jack asked, smiling benignly. "Didn't sleep much, really," Sofia replied, returning his smile despite herself. She buried her face in the feather pillow. "Wanna sleep," she said, her voice muffled.

Jack laughed and pulled the pillow away. "You'll have plenty o' time for that later. I still have some questions I need answered, love."

Sofia groaned theatrically and squinted at him. "Evil man," she muttered. She felt particularly generous at the moment, however, and the idea of being interrogated wasn't all that bad. "Ask away, then."

"Why were you so angry at me?"

Sofia frowned. "Ask something else." She tried to pull away, but Jack caught her by the arm and kept her there. His dark eyes glittered in the dim light. "Just tell me."

Sofia scowled. "I don't know, all right?" she said irritably. "I've had men controlling my life all my life, and you seemed just another example."

"You didn't seem to mind last night," Jack said, eyebrows raised. Sofia grunted and flung an arm over her eyes. Jack laughed softly and took the flung wrist, and in a move designed to keep Sofia off-guard, pressed a kiss into the heel of her hand. "All right, new question. Why didn't you want to be rescued?"

Sofia frowned and pulled her hand away. "I wanted to do it myself," she said guardedly. "I suppose I thought I could do that and kill Jordan too," she added, letting out a world-weary laugh.

"You said you wanted to die." Jack's eyes met her own in a questioning look. "Why?"

Sofia sighed. "I saw things, when I was hurt," she said hesitantly. "I saw my mother, and she disappeared. I miss her…"

"How long has she been dead?" Jack asked. He propped his cheek in one hand and watched her consideringly.

"Fifteen years."

"Mmm."

Sofia reclaimed the pillow, fluffed it a bit, and settled into it. "Why do ye ask?"

"She part of the reason you're after Jordan?" Jack asked. He blew a lock of hair off his forehead and Sofia smiled at the uncharacteristic gesture.

"Yes. He killed her." Sofia sighed again. "I think she welcomed it, after being his plaything for so long, but it still hurts."

Jack nodded sagely. "It'll always hurt. Most things do."

"Know about that sort of thing, would do?" Sofia asked, rather more caustically than she'd intended. Jack's eyes darkened slightly.

"Aye. My crew mutinied eleven years ago, an' I spent a decade tracking the traitorous dogs. I got my ship back-" he gestured vaguely at the cabin around them, "but it still gets me hot." He shrugged as best he could. "Probably always will."

"Mmm," Sofia murmured. She nestled deeper into the pillow. "You know about revenge, then," she said sleepily.

Jack absently brushed his hand across her cheek. "Aye."

"Then you know why I'm after it."

"That too."

"Having established that, can we go back to sleep?"

Jack laughed. "Sure that's all you want to do?"

"But the crew-"

"Unless the crew's gone inexplicably deaf," Jack interrupted, amused; "they know perfectly well what's been happening."

Sofia blushed despite herself. "Oh."

Jack nipped at her neck, and Sofia could feel him shaking with silent laughter. "Arrogant man," she muttered affectionately, and gave herself up to his playful seduction.