Author's Note:  Uhhh I went and saw the new Johnny Depp Movie, "Secret Window"  it's based on the Stephen King novella…it's an interestin' movie.  Definitely its money's worth…$5.25.  But yea, it was a good one…as good as movies based on Stephen King novellas with Johnny Depp can get.  *smiles*

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Dinner was quiet that night.  Brenda was missing from the table and it had somehow circulated throughout the whole house how Brenda had acted earlier and all the noise Gwyneth and her had made but then how much noise that they didn't make.  Gwyneth had the eerie feeling that everyone didn't want her to be so nice to the pirate.

        Caitlin had a friend over.  Emma Andrews.  She was a cute girl with freckles and perfectly curled curls.  She seemed bubbly when Gwyneth was introduced to her but had quieted down once dinner had begun.  Mark was looking around, Gwyneth knew he was going to be the first to say something.

        "Uhm…" she looked up and smirked, "Where's Brenda?"

        "You should really ask your aunt that…" Edward answered.  She eyed her brother, the way he said her title, 'your aunt' sounded like something you would discard as easily as you do trash.

        Mark looked at her and Emma jumped at the chance to talk, "Oh!  You mean Jack Sparrow's daughter?"

        The room grew quiet; everyone stopped eating and tried to keep their gaze away from the little girl.  Except for Gwyneth.

        "What did you say?"

        She paused, "Jack Sparrow's daughter…Brenda Sparrow.  The pirate who was brought here a couple days ago…right?"

        Jonathan nodded slowly, "You're right…" he said looking from his parents to his aunt, "Where did you hear that?"

        Caitlin answered that one, "It's all over town…I thought you knew that…"  Emma nodded vigorously.  They were only eleven!  How could word spread so quickly?

        "Who told?" Faith asked, looking around.  But all the children were silent, and their faces clean of shame. 

        "Well…has anyone else heard anything?"

        That got a response from every child.  Trevor and Jonathan looked at each other and nodded, "They whisper about us when we were walking to work…we belong to the family who harbors a pirate." Trevor answered.

        "Well…yea…" Mark said looking down, "I've heard that one too…but we don't contribute to any of it!"

        "We just keep quiet!" Little Rebecca said. 

Gwyneth sighed and closed her mouth that had been open. "Has it gotten to the Captain?"

        "Jack?" Faith asked.

        "No, Captain Regan Briscoe…"

        They grew quiet again, everyone thinking about the consequences for Jack if this had really gone all around Port Royal.  As long as nothing is said directly about him or about the two of us…He would surely be arrested.  Just on the grounds of him being the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow…as long is said about him…he's safe.

        "Speaking of Jack…" Emma asked, "Are you two going to go on another…date?"

***

        "Sir…" Norrington looked up at his man servant who was holding a telegram, "For you sir."  She groaned silently and took it.  Looking at the faces around the table and then ending on his wife's face. 

        "You can open it, darling, it's your choice."

        "Who would send something at this time of day?"

        She shrugged.  She growled under his breath; greatly irritated.  She opened it and quickly read over the piece of paper.  He glanced at his wife and then back at the paper.  "What does it say?"

        He sighed and got up from the table.  "It's Regan…he found something."

        "What?" She said, motioning for the children to stay seated, but getting up to meet her husband as he made his way to the door.

        "He's found out about Jack."

***

        "Elizabeth, I don't understand what you're talking about!"

        "Will!?  Did you not just listen to everything I just said?"

        He paused, that was a trick question if ever he heard it.  "Of course I was listening…" And he really was, but he wasn't really making sense of everything she was saying.  Something about Rick and Jack.  But what was he supposed to do about it?  He had a good feeling, although he wasn't sure if he necessarily wanted to do it.

        "Will…Please…" they were both in their rooms.  Supper was over and done with and Rick had left, his usual rounds at the local taverns and Jack had taken up the porch swing again.  "Just can you go talk to him?"

        "I'm not sure what you're even talking about Elizabeth!  Why would I need to talk to him…you said you did yourself…so?"

        "You saw him at dinner!  His jaw…it's all bruised!  I can't imagine the pain he must be going through.  And I'm not just talking physically, I'm talking emotionally!  His daughter punched him, because he lied to her.  He must need someone to talk to you!"

        "Then why don't you?" Will asked.  Not like he didn't enjoy being with Jack, but when he looked at him, he knew that the Jack he knew and was good friends with just was hidden. 

        "Because the last time I talked to him, I got mad him for…I just want the old Jack back…" she said, pouting, looking at Will with her killer brown eyes.  He sighed, knowing that was his one weakness.  He nodded and left the room and made his way outside to the porch swing.

        He sighed again; here we go… he thought to himself.  "Whatever happened to your hat?"

        Jack turned just as Will sat down, a smirk on his face.  Jack smiled and leaned back, "On the ship somewhere.  I left it in such a hurry…well truth be told- I didn't want the blasted thing."

        "You've had that for longer than I can remember…any memory of you is always with your hat…"

        Jack shrugged, "What's wrong, lad?"

        Will sighed and said, "I think you know."

        He grimaced, "I knew Lizzie didn't ice this beast long enough."

        "It is a beast Jack…"

        Jack paused, not sure what Will was saying or implying, "And?"

        "And…I'm not going to tell you how to raise your kids."

        "Thanks." He said, with no smile.

        Will took in a deep breath, "What's with the change Jack?  I really want to know, and it's been gnawing at me since you came here!"

        "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

        "Because I wasn't sure how you would react…we all weren't sure."

        Jack eyed him, "All being you, Lizzie and Gwen?"

        Will shrugged, "Maybe."

        He sighed and looked out into the ocean for a minute and then back at Will, seeing how much he had aged.  He remembered when he met the boy when he was barely a man, he was so naïve and inexperienced in the ways of the world.  And I corrupted him…  He sighed again, knowing he wouldn't tell Will everything, no matter how much he wanted to.  The whole and true story might find its way out somehow but not tonight.  He tried to think of a good way to say this without giving away too much and found the perfect analogy, "I just realized that I was a not being true to myself."

"What are you talking about?"  Will asked, totally confused.

"Will, a pessimist curses the wind, an optimist hopes it'll change, a realist adjusts the sails.  I'm a realist…who was pretending to be an optimist.  I adjusted my sails."

***

        "Emma, I don't want to talk about my relationship with Jack!  I want to talk about what you know!"  Gwyneth said.  She, Caitlin and Emma were in the drawing room and Gwyneth was trying to get some more useful information out of the girl before she had to leave, but it wasn't working that well.

        "But you two look so cute together!"

        "You haven't seen us together…"

        "So?"

        She sighed, "Emma…focus.  Did you tell your parents?"

        She nodded.

        "Have your parents told anyone?"

        She nodded again.

        "Who?"

        "They said a lethal and dangerous pirate shouldn't be out on the loose and that they were going to go straight to the Commodore."

        "Did they?"

        She shook her head, "No…they went to Captain Briscoe instead."

        Gwyneth felt like crying, this was horrible.  Lethal and Dangerous pirate?  He wears evening jackets!  "Who told you, darling?"

        "Hannah Powell's daughter…"

        Good Lord, I forgot all about Hannah Powell.  I think I'm going to be sick.  After Emma left, (all the while still trying to get information about the love life of Jack and Gwyneth) Gwyneth went straight to Faith and told her everything.  "What are we going to do?"

        "Look, Captain Briscoe still is a little shaky, he's about to become Commodore and he's not sure how to make level-headed decisions…he'll most likely talk to the Commodore first…nothing to worry about!"

        Gwyneth nodded.  James was a good man…he would protect Jack even though they've been through so much…right?

***

        Not eating supper was beginning to take a toll on Brenda.  She hadn't eaten lunch either.  She tried to cover her stomach's growling with a pillow, but she was sure it echoed off the walls.  She finally sighed and got up, hoping she would be able to find something to eat in the kitchen.

        She gasped when she saw someone sitting at the table.  "Jeez!  You almost made me drop this blasted lantern!"

        "Then of course the house would burn down and you would be hung…correct?"

        She paused, she knew that voice.  "Oh, it's only you,"

        "Or do you not want to tell me?"

        She sneered and started walking into the kitchen, "Your head is too big for any information to fit into it."

        Trevor got up, following her, "So you think I'm intelligent."

        "About as intelligent as a fly.  Too bad you don't have the life span of one."  She paused and looked around, where do they keep the bloody food?  She eyed Trevor who was still looking at her.  "You drunk or something?"

        He snapped his head back, a distressed look on his face, "What?  Uhm, no…"

        "Why are you down here?"

        "It's my house, why are you down here?"

        "If you didn't notice, I wasn't at dinner…and I didn't really eat lunch either…"

        "Oh I noticed…"

        She looked up at him, he sounded as if that's all he was going to say. 

        "The table was a whole lot quieter."

        She rolled her eyes, "Of course.  Make a smart mouth comment."

        "Oh, like you wouldn't do the same?"

        She paused, seeing his point, but grimaced when she noticed that he was right about her.  She went on her search for food again and tried to get the strange thoughts that were creeping into her head out.

        You know…he's not that bad looking.

          Bite your tongue.

        Okay…  Brenda yelped when she actually did bite her tongue.  She frowned, who knew your self-conscious could control your…reflexes. 

        "You alright?"

        She looked up, "I'm fine…Where's all the food?"

        He nodded and walked over to the cupboard and opened it.  He's nice too…

          You know, I'm not really up to my full emotional state…maybe you need to stay out of my head for awhile….

        But you know you li-

          Nope sorry….

        She shook her head, once again trying to rid her thoughts of the strange ideas.  She nodded at him and started to take some fruits and bread from the mounds of food in front of her.  She left quickly and sat at the table.  He followed her, which she was hoping he wouldn't, and sat down across from her.

        "So I heard you had a rough afternoon…"

        She looked up, taking a bite, "I hope talking with my mouth full doesn't bother you…"

        He merely smiled, "Not in the slightest."

        She sneered and kept eating, "Whether I did or not is none of your business."

        "I think it is."

        "Well I don't, and that's all that matters."  She paused, swallowed and looked at him, "Where do you come off saying that you think it's your business? You haven't even known me for a week and you think you have the right to know everything personal about me!"

        He shrugged smugly and leaned back, "I've seen you in one of your weakest moments…"

        "No you haven't…" she said, going back to eating.

        "I said one.  You don't like people to touch you yet you let me help you walk when you were stupidly drunk."

        "That's only because the blasted stuff makes me sleepy!  Is that such a horrible thing?"

        "You trusted me, that's something."

        She looked at him, wanting to smack him so badly, "I didn't trust you.  I trusted your heritage.  Men of your sort aren't brought up to take advantage of a girl, whether she's drunk or not."

        "Women in our society don't get drunk."

        "My eye!  You go down to one of those taverns and there's plenty of females drunk and getting drunk!  You just mean none of the women that you would consider possible…candidates?"

        "That's horrible."

        She shrugged, "I can't do any better, I'm a pirate, remember?"

        He paused and watched her eat a little before he said, "How could I forget?  Everywhere I walk in this house there's holes from your stupid daggers.  You should control your temper."

        "Yea, so I'm told."

        He crossed his arms, "You know, I can't figure you out.  You're hot tempered, wild, sarcastic and somewhat saucy…yet…"  He couldn't finish his sentence.  She had finished her midnight snack and looked up at him; her dark eyes seemed to penetrate his entire being. 

        "You know, that's the least biased thing I've heard from you since I've met you."

        "Excuse me?"

        "That's right, you are biased.  You judge me based on what I am."

        "And you don't?"

        She paused, seeing he was right. 

        "I'm surprised you even know what biased means…"

        Her mouth dropped and she got up, leaning on the table, "I have been to more places than you will be in your life, boy.  Don't talk to me about what I do and don't know."

        "Oh really?  Can you read?"

        She paused, "What did you just say?"

        "Can you read?  You've been so many places, and know word that most pirates wouldn't even know how to say…but can you read?"

        "What does that have to do with anything?"

        "I'm just helping you prove your point…"

        She sneered, "You pompous…you're just trying to boost your own ego.  To make me look weak and defenseless!  I should've known…you 'upper-class' are all alike."

        He paused, "I don't believe I've seen you smile…"

        That certainly caught her off guard; first he was insulting her and then analyzing her.  "What?"

        "Since you've been here…I don't think I've seen you smile…not even sarcastically…But surely you have…right?"

        She paused, not really sure she wanted to answer such a ridiculous question, "What does that have to do with anything?"

        "Nothing really…sorry.  Continue."

        She stared at him, he's a complete idiot.  Yet, as much as she wanted to yell at him, and continue with what she was talking about, he had gotten her so off-guard that the thought simply flew out of her head.  She sat back down, her anger completely gone.  "Well now I can't remember."

        He smiled, not smugly but just a pure, happy smile.  That's an improvement, Sparrow.  "Well then you should probably get to bed…"

        "Nobody tells me what to do…" she scoffed.  A few minutes later she said, "Well, I think I'm going to head to bed…I'll see you in the morning Devil Boy."

        He watched her leave, her lantern swaying to and fro.  He sighed contently and whispered, "See you then…my Beautiful Annoyance…"

***

        Gwyneth struggled between waking Brenda up and letting her sleep.  She decided on the latter, deciding that she needed her sleep.  Gwyneth herself got up early, intent on talking to Jack.  True, Brenda hadn't told her what was bothering her, but Jack most likely knew. 

        She hurried out of the house quickly and hoped the Turner's wouldn't mind the intrusion.  She got there when Will and the children were leaving.

        "Gwyneth!  Good to see you!"

        "You too, Will…Is Jack…home?"

        He nodded, "He woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…be careful."  She nodded and he was gone.  She sighed, looking through the open door.  His sour disposition is going to be wonderful to deal with…  She took in a deep breath and walked in.  Her heels seemed to echo through the empty house.

        "Hello?" She called meekly.

        "'ello…"

        She turned, meeting Rick face-to-face.  She raised an eyebrow, she had never been so close to him, she noticed a lot of things that she hadn't before.  "Rick…could you tell me where Jack is?"

        "He's in there…" he said, nodding his head to another room.

        "Is he in good spirits?"

        "Sure.  Why not?"

        She paused, and then said, "Thanks."

        "No problem ma'am."  He nodded and went on his own way through the house.  She frowned and then went to the room he directed her to.  I wonder if Elizabeth cares if I'm here…  She walked into the room and saw Jack sitting down, reading.  She smiled. "Hey stranger…"

        He looked up and smiled, "Hey yourself."  He got up quickly and went to her, kissed her lightly on the lips and then said, "What a sweet surprise…"

        She nodded, "We need to talk…"

        "About?" he said, his hands moving to her hips.

        "Let's try the huge bruise on the side of your face."

        He groaned, "I thought you were here to help me forget about that…"  He started to kiss her again, but she pushed him slightly away, grabbing onto his hands and holding them.

        "We need to talk." She said earnestly.  He sighed and nodded.  She led him over to the couch and they both sat down.  "What happened?"

        "She hit me.  Somehow she got word that I was at Beverly's a couple days ago…she heard us talking about her and confronted me about it."  He shrugged, "I couldn't lie to her face."

        Gwyneth bit her lip, not saying a word, but wanting to so badly.

        "Liz gave me the whole thing, Gwen...you don't have to."

        She turned her head to him, "I do actually.  I've grown to care for the girl and…when she came home yesterday…well let's just say you affected her greater than you may have thought."

        Jack eyed her, "What'd she say?"

        "Does it matter?  I shouldn't even be here!  You two should be talking."

        "It's obvious she doesn't want to talk to me!"

        "It's obvious that she was mad…nothing else."

        Jack shook his head, "You don't understand!  She's mad at me."       

        "I do understand, you're afraid to talk to your own daughter!"

        "With good reason!"

        She growled slightly under her breath, "Jack, please be the adult in the relationship."

        "Brenda and I are both adults in our relationship."

        "A seventeen year old is no adult."

        "How so?"

        "She can't even keep her temper!  Let alone with her own father!  We have holes all around our house from her daggers…Jack…You need to talk to her."

        He sighed, looking at her.  She really does care about Brenda…I wonder if my daughter has realized this interesting and important fact.

        "Please?"

        "I suppose."

        "Really?" She said, her face brightening.  "Wonderful!  Then are you ready to go now?"

        "I suppose…"

        "Thank you Jack…"

        "Yea, yea…" he said holding on to her hand as she practically dragged him out of the room, "Just don't tell me that I'm going to thank you for this because for some strange reason…I don't think I will."

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Author Thanks:

          Albe-chan: Yes!  New reviewer!  Have you read the last story? I'm glad you like this story…yea, Rick hmmm he's not good.  And I hope you liked the Trevor-Brenda thing in this chapter. 

          Dragonflygirl: Ohhh I like the Brenda and Gwen thing too from the last chapter…*sighs*  and yea, Jack and Brenda, major issues.  Huge amounts of issues!  But you'll see that in the next chapter.

          Piper8188: No...Brenda can't spell, read or anything.  She's quite illiterate.  It's a little heart wrenching if you ask me.  Hannah is new, good job.  But she's not going to pop up a lot anymore.  And I wasn't really wanting anybody to like her…so good job.  I think I'm going to take you up on your suggestion…like Brenda telling Jack why she hates Rick so much…or Brenda telling someone why she hates Rick.  So thanks for the idea!  You'll see that in the next chapter.

          JackSparrowSavvy: Hey!  Haven't heard from you in a while!  Have you read the last story?  I don't remember…I'm glad you're reading this story tho!

          ThePinkPanther: Thanks!  Yes, the drama and unpredictability makes it better, huh?  Thanks for the review!

          Emma436:  Well, well, well!  Did you like being in this chapter?  Even though you didn't get a big part, you played a BIG part, you know?  To warn Gwen and everyone about the Captain.  So good job.  YES!  That's exactly what I'm going for with the Gwen and Brenda thing!  Good job on picking that up!  Ohh did you like the Trevor/Brenda thing in this chapter?  I'm hoping everyone will since they like those two so much.  Okay, yes, Jack is going to explain why he's been acting and dressing so weird…to Gwyneth and Brenda. But I'm only going to write it once, you know?  But then I'm going to add some stuff with Brenda, because she saw it happening before her eyes but he never told her anything…so yea.