Secrets of the Caribbean

Written By: Riley Barton

[Chapter Three]

Scarlett awoke the next morning to find herself alone in Jack's cabin, tucked underneath the covers of his bed.  She sat up sharply, glancing around.  Remembering the circumstances, she sighed in relief, placing a hand at the base of her throat as her heart slowed to a normal pace. 

After a long moment, Scarlett set the bed covers aside and slid from the bed.  Noticing that her boots had been placed at the foot of it, she quickly put them on and grabbed an overcoat from the wardrobe to her left.  She purposefully ignored its familiar scent and left the cabin, stepping out onto the main deck.  She halted in the shadows, watching as Gibbs and another man, who had a parrot on his shoulder, helped a younger man onto the deck of the ship.

"I'm thankful ye could make it, Will," Gibbs said, shaking hands with the man good-naturedly. 

"Why wouldn't I?" the man replied.  He and Mr. Gibbs started walking across the deck, leaving the man with the parrot to take care of the small boat the newcomer had arrived in.  They stopped in the center of the deck, the sun rising in the distance behind them. 

Scarlett's breath caught in her throat as the faint sunlight illuminated the young man's face.  "It can't be," she whispered.  "But he looks just like… Bootstrap?"

"We have a situation on our hands, Will," Gibbs said in a hushed tone, but still loud enough for Scarlett to hear from her hiding place.

"I know that Jack's been taken into custody," Will replied.  "Elizabeth heard word from Commodore Norrington two nights ago.  I haven't been to see him yet."

Gibbs nodded.  "There is that, but we have another situation.  A woman came on board late last night.  She seems to be a friend of Jack's.  She sure as Hell acts like him, but the rest o' the crew ain't too sure."

"Who is she?"

"She's says her name is Scarlett Bane.  Does the name ring a bell?" Gibbs asked hopefully.

Will shook his head slowly.  "Faintly, but I can't put a finger on why."

"Pity," Gibbs mumbled.  "She's a pretty lass, she is, but there's something about her… a ruthlessness, perhaps."

"Where is she now?  I'd like to meet her."

"She's in Jack's cabin as we speak, sleeping.  Mr. Cotton's parrot attacked her when it seemed she was going to do harm to his master."

"Harm Mr. Cotton? Mr. Gibbs, that should tell you enough right there.  And leaving her alone in Jack's cabin, unsupervised?"

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thanks," Scarlett said, stepping out from the shadows.  She rested a hand on her hip, jutting it out to the right in a seductive manner.  She tilted her head to the side and looked Will up and down.  She frowned.  "You certainly look like Bootstrap," she commented absently, walking closer to him.  She stopped when she was close enough to be intimidating.  "Young, though.  Much younger." 

"His son, actually," Will replied smoothly, keeping his gaze on her face.  "And you must be Scarlett Bane."

"None other."  She shrugged a shoulder.  "And what are you here for?  A meeting with the crew, perhaps?  To decide the fate of little ol' me?"  The displeasure on Will's face brought a smile to her lips.  "I'll take that as a yes, and I'll go even further as to think that you wish to help Captain Jack Sparrow escape?"

Purposefully ignoring her recent comments, Will said, "You look comfortable," commenting on the coat she wore.  "Seems you found your way around Jack's cabin with ease."

Scarlett straightened, her appearance and stance changing from the seductive temptress to the cocky pirate.  "I know my way around this ship well," she replied truthfully.  "After all, I did once live on it."  She smiled and added, "Though I believe I know my way around Jack's cabin much better than the rest of the Pearl."  This last statement seemed to have caught both Will and Gibbs off guard.  She shook her head, the smile disappearing from her face.  "Enough games," she said abruptly.  "What will it take to convince you of my sincerity?"  She looked between both men, searching their faces.

Will uncertainly looked to Gibbs, who gave Scarlett a calculative look.  "Help us," he finally said, glancing at Will from the corner of his eye.  "Help us free Jack from his prison cell in Port Royal and I'll believe ye whole-heartedly."

Will furrowed his brow and looked to Scarlett and then back to Gibbs.  "You can't honestly expect me to work with her?" he asked incredulously.  "She's…"

"If you were thinking the word prostitute, erase it from your mind," Scarlett said dryly.  "I'm no one's prostitute.  I don't give away any part of me for gold."

"Certainly," Gibbs said with a brisk nod.  "So, do we have an accord or not?"

Scarlett's lips tipped up in a smile while she racked her brain anxiously.  Helping Jack escape would only dig herself deeper into this situation than she wanted to be.  He'll never let me hear the end of it.  But if she didn't, no one on the Black Pearl would trust her.   How could such an easy plan become so complicated?  Biting back a sigh, she nodded.  "Certainly.  I hate to think of Jack locked in a prison cell."  I'd prefer to think of him as a resident in Hell.

"I can work alone," Will said, giving Gibbs a look that could melt ice. 

"I'm so certain you could," Scarlett spoke up.  "However," she held a finger in the air, "I am interested as to how you would go about it.  There will be, for sure, enough guards there to fill an entire tavern.  So please, enlighten me.  Are your fencing skills so great you can fight off all those men, rescue Jack, and get back to this ship safe and unseen?"

Will looked at her in exasperation.  "How would you go about it?" he asked tightly.

She smirked and turned around as if she was a runway model.  "I am a woman," she replied.  "Enough said."

The dank cell was really starting to grate on Jack Sparrow's nerves.  He had tried everything possible: picking the lock with whatever was at hand, trying to reach the keys Scarlett had tossed into the far corner through the grates in the door, and trying to pull away the bars that blocked the window.  Of course, nothing had worked, but had he honestly expected them to?  Sighing, he crossed his legs at the ankles and folded his arms across his chest, leaning back against the cold, stone wall.  He absently blew a strand of tangled brown hair away from his face, staring up at the ceiling.  His hope for freedom had so greatly diminished that even when he heard the door at the top of the stairs swing open he didn't bat an eyelash. 

The sound of slightly heavy footsteps sounded on the stone stairs, quickly making their way to the bottom.  Jack narrowed his eyes, frowning.  Those were not the footsteps of the typical guard that often came down to 'visit'.  They sounded more like the footsteps of….

"Jack, are you all right?"

Will Turner.  "Do I look bloody all right?" Jack grumbled, slowly rising from his position on the hard bench.  He smirked, cocking his head to the right.  "How long 'as it been?  Six, seven months now?"

"Later," Will replied absently, examining the new metal door.  "I need to find a way to get you out of here."

Jack raised an eyebrow, his eyes traveling to the keys resting in the corner.  He was about to point them out when they were suddenly lifted off the ground by an unseen person.  He frowned, furrowing his brow as he waited for the person to reveal himself. 

"Move aside," Scarlett grumbled, stepping into the faint moonlight streaming in through the barred windows.  "You obviously prefer to do things the hard way."

Will frowned, noticing the keys in her hand.  "Pardon me," he said sarcastically, stepping aside to give her access to the lock. 

Rolling her eyes, Scarlett stepped up to the door and inserted a key into the lock.  It didn't work.

"Couldn't resist me, eh love?" Jack said, smiling down at her.

 Scarlett's lips turned up into a scowl, but she refused to comment.  After inserting another three keys, she finally found the right one on the fourth try.  "About time," she grumbled, yanking the door open.

"Let's go," Will said, starting for the staircase, "before we draw any more unwanted attention to ourselves."

Scarlett stared after him with a raised eyebrow.  "What's the hurry?  I pretty much killed anyone in sight."

Will looked back at her.  He hesitated.  "Elizabeth is waiting in the smithery.  I don't want to keep her waiting."

Scarlett leaned against the open cell door, ignoring the fact that Jack was lingering in the cell doorway.  "You've got a girl?" she teased, smiling.  "That explains a lot."

Will glared at her.  "What does that mean?"

Feigning innocence, Scarlett straightened and shrugged her shoulders.  "Nothing.  Nothing whatsoever."  She glanced up at Jack, her teasing smile disappearing within a flash.  "You moving or are you going to stand there all day?"

Jack chuckled, shaking his head as he strode out of the cell with a long gait.

Scarlett swiftly closed the cell door behind him.  Jack made to follow Will up the stairs when Scarlett grabbed his arm, preventing him from doing so.  She gave him a hard look.  "If you so much as mention that I've seen you before today, I'll slit your throat while you sleep."

"Does that mean you'll be joining me tonight?"

"Bastard."  Scarlett scowled and brushed past him, not trusting herself to be around him for a moment longer. 

"Will, Jack!"

Scarlett quickly jumped to the side as a pretty girl with long brown hair ran straight at the small group.  Catching her foot on a metal rod, she started to fall backwards, letting out a small yelp that she couldn't have held back even if she had tried.  She landed on the solid ground hard, causing a bolt of pain to shoot up her backbone.  "Blast," she muttered, slowly climbing to her feet.  A hand reached out, grabbed her by the arm, and helped her up. 

"Watch out for metal objects, lass," Jack teased, smiling at her.  "This is a smithery, after all."

She jerked her arm out of his grip and folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the far wall.  "Shut up, you scalawag," she grumbled.

"Sticks and stones, love."

Scarlett fixed him with a look.  "I've heard that phrase more than enough, thank you."

"And who might this be?"

Scarlett looked in the direction of the voice. 

The girl, who she could only assume was Elizabeth, was smiling at her.  She reached out her hand.  "Elizabeth Swann," she said, introducing herself.

Scarlett hesitated before shaking the girl's hand.  Elizabeth's grip was surprisingly stronger than she had expected.  "Scarlett Bane."

"It's a pleasure."  They released each other's hands.  "Any friend of Jack's is a friend of mine."

Scarlett snorted, but quickly realized what she was doing and quickly changed it into a convincing display of coughing.  Elizabeth came closer and gently patted her back like a mother would a child.  Frowning, Scarlett abruptly slowed the coughs so the younger girl would stop with the patting; she felt like a pet dog.  "Sorry," Scarlett apologized, purposefully not looking in Jack's direction.  "Don't know what came over me."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Scarlett quickly replied, casually stepping closer to the door and away from Jack and Elizabeth.  "We should really be going.  Well, it was nice meeting you Elizabeth, and Will, it was great working with you."

Will and Elizabeth exchanged looks.  "We're going with you," Will said, "to the Black Pearl."

Scarlett just stared.  "Come again?"

"He mean's they'll be joinin' us on me ship," Jack said, catching her eye.  He raised his eyebrows daringly.  "Savvy?"

Scarlett stared Jack in the eye for a long minute before forcing a smile; she was really getting sick of this friendship charade.  "Will the two of you be setting sail with us, as well?" she asked, looking between Elizabeth and Will.

"That is yet to be decided," Will replied.

Scarlett cleared her throat, feeling as if she was suffocating.  "Alrighty then," she said a bit too cheerfully.  "Let's hit the road, shall we?"

A/N: Please leave a review, savvy?