Leverage
As Aiden expected Jack did not
stop in the tavern that night. Silently
she hoped that meant he had already left port, though she somehow doubted that
was the case. She did her best that
evening to keep up her usual demeanor but was unable to hide the fact that her
mood was, in a word, gloomy. Guilt
tugged hard at her heart. Jack had
trusted her, and although on some level she thought that fact made him a bit of
an idiot since he barely knew her, it didn't do much to alleviate the sickly
feeling in her stomach. Piled on top of
all that, was her anger at herself. She was a business woman, a pirate, who'd
done thousands of less than pleasant things to people before and had never once
failed to follow the golden rule: never
get attached. Boy, what a mess she'd
made of things this time.
Now, she simply wished for Jack to get away before anything happened to him or his crew. She had always thought before that Nikolai was completely justified in his hatred for the man, but having reassessed the situation she now concluded that this was not the case. Barbossa deserved exactly what he got, and she did not feel sorry for him one bit. But what about her? Was she doomed to live this dreary and uneventful life to the end of her days, at the beck and call of one whom she no longer bore any affection for. She could not deny that Nikolai had been good to her, nor the fact that she had loved him at one point. But she was tired of the entrapment he seemed to have tricked her into, and certain things he had asked of her made it clear that she was just an asset to him.
She mulled all of this over as the minutes slowly and painfully ticked by, and allowed a huge sigh of relief escape when it was time to go. She had rushed the other women and the kitchen crew along, wanting to depart as soon as was humanly possible, with every intention of collapsing in bed the second she got home. Walking down the streets, she held one hand tightly to the hilt of her blade in case the need should arise to use it. Turning the corner onto her own block, she quickened her pace when her own front porch came into sight, and practically sprinted the last few feet. When she eventually did reach her front door, she thrust the key into the keyhole and threw it open, rushing inside. This, it seemed, proved to be her undoing.
In her haste to get inside and go to bed, she neglected to notice that the front door wasn't locked at all, and standing in the living room waiting for her were three men, all looking none to friendly.
"Miss Moran," one of them greeted her politely.
"Who wants to know?" she shot back, hand still gripping her blade firmly.
While she waited for an answer, she surveyed the three of them. The one in the middle who had spoken, was the shortest of the group, a bit round in the middle. It was clear however, that he was the leader as he was the only one who spoke.
"The name's Joshamee Gibbs, first mate o' the Black Pearl. I've been asked by Cap'n Sparrow to retrieve you and bring ye back to the ship."
She stared at him slightly confused, her natural inclination to jump down his throat in opposition squelched by his respectful demeanor. Eventually though, instinct got the better of her.
"And I wonder? Does Cap'n Sparrow expect that I'll willingly agree to his request."
At this, the two men on either side of Gibbs stepped forward and took her by each arm.
"Not so much a request as an order," Gibbs answered. "But, Cap'n Sparrow is not so uncivil. Yer to pack anything ye need or value that can be carried; we'll give you an hour. And don't be worryin over anyone stopping by in the meanwhile, we've got that under control as well," he finished, and Aiden had the uncomfortable feeling that he'd read her mind.
In response her only offer was a stern look of pure irritation, but she complied without another protest. Stomping audibly up the stairs, she wasted no time in grabbing as many things as possible and commenced in shoving them into emptied pillow cases. Amazingly, within forty minutes she had made her way through the entire house, as though she'd always known exactly what would go with her if the occasion of leaving should ever arise.
"All ready then?" Gibbs asked as she returned to the living room, dragging her belongings with her.
A nod, barely. Not that one could expect much more from someone who was about to be torn from their livelihood without having a say in it one way or the other.
"Good then, let's be off," he continued, making for the door. "Oh, and Miss Moran, I trust ye know to behave yerself on the way to the harbor, don't need to be makin' a scene."
Another nod and they were out the door. The men allowed her to lock the door behind them, though she doubted there was much point, and together the group made their way down to the docks under cover of night. To the surprise of all three of her captors, Aiden remained silent and cooperative throughout the entire ordeal. She was led to a small cabin containing two beds, which, by the looks of things, obviously housed another person as well. The men left her there alone, sitting on the bed with her possessions, unsure of exactly what to do with herself. They had not giving her any further instruction as to what to do next or insight as to why she was there. For the time being, she simply remained seated, attempting to fully wrap her mind around what was going on. The whole shock of the situation hadn't truly crept in yet, but that comfort was quickly revoked when she felt the ship begin to move beneath her. The Black Pearl had set sail from Port au Prince with Aiden Moran on it, and not a soul in the world knew it except for the pirates onboard.
It seemed up until this point that everyone aboard expected her to remain where she was put until she was summoned, but Aiden quickly dismissed the notion as rage began to overcome her. Springing from the bed, she ripped open the door of the cabin, and made her way angrily out onto the deck. She had every intention of marching herself directly to the captain's cabin but her trip was cut short when she found herself standing face to face with Jack himself.
"Ello luv," he greeted her with a toothy grin that wreaked with arrogance.
Eyes narrowed, her hand unconsciously went for her side, until she remembered that the men from earlier had rid her of her weapons, promising to return them at an appropriate time. This, apparently, was not that time.
"Don't 'ello luv' me you sorry son-of-a bitch," she shot back, resisting the urge to reach out and sock him in the gut.
"Now, now," Jack cut her off in chastisement before she could go any further. "Is that any way to speak to your captain?"
At this her eyes went wide and it took a moment to regain her wits. "I must be hearing things, for a minute there I thought ye addressed yerself as MY captain."
"Aye, that's right. I'm cap'n of this 'ere ship, and yer on it. I'd say by all accounts then I am your captain."
"Wrong. To be my captain I'dave to be 'ere of my own free will. As that's not the case, the way I see it, you just happen to be captain of the ship I am currently being held prisoner on."
As she raged on, Jack was aware the his entire crew was now staring as this scene on the main deck played itself out. When she had finished her last remark, he took her roughly by the arm and leaned in close.
"How bout you and I take this conversation inside," he said as more an order than a suggestion.
"How bout you take your hands off of me and sod off," she answered, ripping herself from his grip and turning to make her way back to the cabin from whence she had come.
It appeared that that was the end of Jack's patience. Stepping after her, he again grabbed her by the arm and whirled her around to face him.
"I think we'll be doing things my way actually," he informed her, before proceeding to drag her across the deck and into his cabin, much to the amusement of those watching.
Slamming the door behind him, Jack pushed Aiden toward a chair that sat across his desk opposite his own seat.
"Now," Jack began calmly but Aiden cut him off before he could go any further.
"Just who do you think you are anyway? Ye can't just rip someone from their home on a whim like this."
"Actually luv, happens all the time," he informed her nonchalantly.
"That doesn't make it right!"
"And I suppose stabbing someone in the back and almost getting them killed is," he asked with raised eyebrows. "Besides, I'ma pirate, 'right' isn't exactly part o' the job description now is it?"
He had a point, two actually, and she knew she couldn't argue.
"Then why am I 'ere?" she asked, a little more subdued.
"I thought you'd never ask," Jack answered with a smile, holding up a bottle of rum which she refused. "It's quite simple really," he continued after taking a drink himself. "I just didn't 'ave it in me black heart to leave ye there in Port au Prince to continue being another wench of this Barbossa's."
"So what, instead I'm to be yer's," she asked unconvinced.
"Not at all luv, I'd never force a woman to do anything she didn't want. No need to really, after all. But, if that's what ye want, who I am to object. Either way, ye did mention that you'd like get back on a ship again, and it just so happens that I have a ship. Works out quite nicely if I do say so myself."
"This makes no sense!" Aiden exclaimed in exasperation. "I lied to you, betrayed you, nearly got ye killed for God's sake. You should be happy to be rid of me, not bringing me aboard yer ship. As a crewmen no less. Hell, if ye had wanted to torture me for what I did that I could at least understand. But this, this is just ridiculous."
"Well it's not that ridiculous. Devil though ye may be, I seem to have taken a liking to ye. And I had absolutely no intentions of leaving ye there to deal with some reckless blighter's vengeful rage."
She stared at him in disbelief for a moment before speaking again. "Allow me to correct myself. This is not just ridiculous, but completely stupid as well. I told you I'd be fine, I've endured far worse than what he'd have given me. You had a chance to get out of Port au Prince unscathed, and now you're almost certainly guaranteeing that Nikolai will come after you by taking me with you for no good reason. What on earth were you…" she stopped short, realization suddenly washing over her, her eyes growing wide as a look of horror spread across her face.
"You want him to come after you," she continued after taking a moment to piece together the situation. "That's why you did this. Ye don't care about me. You're just using me, as bait." She stopped, staring down at the desk too disgusted to continue.
Getting up from her chair, she began to make her way toward the door, then stopped and turned to face him. "I'ave rather been beaten by him than used as leverage by you. At least I expect him to stoop to such depths."
