Another chapter, the last one this week. Sorry I've been slow to update, I was busy getting "The Rain Can't Hurt Me Now" up and running. No more fanfics for me until after exam week, so next Friday, maybe a little sooner. Sorry, but I really should be studying.
Thanks for all the reviews, replies are at the end of the chapter.
***
Jack leaned against the bars of his cell passively. He wondered vaguely why Liam's crew had only chosen to lock him and Meryl in the single-celled brig, when there was clearly room for more than just the two of them. The rest of his crew were being held prisoner on their own ship, whether in rooms or cells depending on what Liam called their 'social credibility.'
For a prison, he mused, this wasn't as bad as it could be. There was a bench slightly off the floor so that one could sleep without lying in bilge water. Unfortunately for him, this prime real-estate was currently occupied by a very sleepy Meryl. The two had been taking turns at the only dry area for sleeping every two hours. He had suggested that they simply sleep together, to which Meryl first responded by chiding him ("Mind out of the gutter, Jack, please, for my sake as well as your sanity.") and then bringing to bear upon his shoulders the weight of logistics ("We cant both lie there and expect to fit!").
He stared at the sleeping girl who lay passively before him, her chest rising and falling with each placid breath. When she slept, he noted, she looked almost innocent, unlike her waking self, who always seemed ready to put up a fight.
Quite literally.
The guard's pocket watch chimed the hour. Jack placed his hand on Meryl's cheek gently, thinking it a shame to wake her.
"Meryl, luv." He called roughly, but quietly, trying to appeal to her ever-changing personality. "Meryl, darling, you're using me precious hour abed, savvy?"
She groaned distantly, opening her cloudy eyes and hauling herself out of bed. "Bloody bilge water…" She mumbled.
He went to lie down, then thought the better of it and pulled her over to sit next to him, leaning his back restfully against the wall. She placed her head on his chest, feeling the warmth of his body on hers. He brought her head up to face him and kissed her tiredly.
Meryl was getting used to this. It was something he would just do sometimes, without any shard of reason whatsoever. She sighed and closed her eyes. Sleep washed over her in a wave of exhaustion. Suddenly Jack jumped up, concurrent with the sound of a gunshot shattering her sleepy silence.
Meryl opened her eyes…
Emmaleanna and Liam were standing over the crumpled form of one of Liam's men, apparently shot by the latter himself, seeing as he was the one with the blunderbuss.
"Jack," Emmaleanna said quietly, "We must be fast. That noise will have startled the crew." She motioned for him to follow.
She lead them up on deck, where Liam proceeded to turn on Jack. "Sparrow," He said dangerously, "That was one of my finest officers I killed down there that you could walk away from this free. I want you to repay me."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "How so, mate?"
"I want you to stop trying to come between Emm and I." He said, staring at his love with dewy eyes. Jack seized this moment of diverted attention to grasp Meryl's hand in his own and scuttle over to the gangplank.
"Or not."
He dashed across to his own ship, Meryl trailing awkwardly behind him. Liam saw this and his cheeks flushed with anger. He raised his pistol and fired a single shot at Jack. The latter stumbled as a searing pain shot through his right shoulder. Emmaleanna watched, horrified, thinking for one harrowing second that her brother- her only kin- had been killed by her only love.
"You idiot!" She yelled at Liam. "You stupid idiot you shot at him!"
Liam looked dumbstruck. "I-"
"Now you've done it! We're going with him!"
"What?" He yelled. "Why?"
She grabbed his hand angrily and pulled him across the gangplank. "Because my brother is injured on your account so you're going to help him, and so am I!"
The Imprintor shuddered to life, cannons eating away at the side of Liam's ship, much to his dismay. Anamaria commanded whilst Meryl dragged an injured Jack below decks to be mended. Liam shouted for them to stop blowing holes in his ship (Author's note: Sound familiar?) while Emmaleanna ducked behind a rain to avoid the hail of gunfire that rained furiously over the Imprintor.
As the distance between the two ships grew, the crew began to calm down. Liam rounded up the few officers of his who had been guarding the prisoners. Including both himself and Emmaleanna, there were seven of them.
Meryl and Jack emerged from below decks, Jacks shoulder wrapped in a blood-saturated piece of Meryl's skirts. He walked stiffly.
Liam scowled at him. "Smart move, Sparrow."
Jack rolled his eyes. "You fired the shot, mate."
Emmaleanna felt Liam stiffen with pent-up rage. She rubbed her hands up and down his back, trying to calm him.
He turned to face her. "Emm, there's something I've been meaning to ask you." He fumbled in his pocket. "I love you, Emmaleanna Sparrow." She felt something cool and smooth slide onto her left ring finger. "Will you be my wife?"
She could sense Jack's overprotective anger without even looking her brother's way, but her own heart leapt into her throat when Liam said these words. She smiled and kissed him, flinging her arms around him in utter abandon.
As the kiss broke, he whispered into her ear. "Is that a yes, then?"
She laughed. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!" They kissed again. "A thousand times yes!" They held each other tightly, smiling.
Jack's voice interrupted their brief moment of intoxicatingly romantic bliss. "On deck, ye scabberous dogs!"
Liam turned to him, his hand entwined with Emmaleanna's. "Wait just a minute, Jack. We never drew up the ground rules here. My men don't answer to you."
Jack smiled sardonically. "Right then." He turned to his crew. "See to it that our guests receive the finest hospitality below decks. Way below decks. Take 'em to the brig!"
***
Review Replies:
Erin Richards-
Yay! I'm a drug. (get it, hooked? *cricked chirps* Okay, don't mind my corny jokes! :P) Well, glad you like it, and sorry if I gave away a bit in my new story, but I'm trying to keep as much under wraps as possible. I wish there was a Jack channel… In my reams. *laughs* Quite literally. Got to save the toasters. Thanks a bunch for reviewing!
Siggy-
Sorry about Will- its been corrected! Major thanks for reviewing!
FencingBabe7-
Other male characters aren't quite here yet. Another few chapters- please be patient with my poor lazy ass, I'm hooked on reading Les Misérables right now. And exams too. Yeah, I wanted a little Jack-Emmaleanna contrast, so I made her very different. Thanks a billion for reviewing!
Lizard-
Actually, I don't have that much more in the binder. I'm taking out a lot about the assassin, I think. Oh, and also the whole Aletté/Will thing from before. But the rest is still there. Not too much, I you think about it… Thanks for the review!
