High Flier
Chapter 7 - Confusion
~Pirate Rhi
Hey guys. Thanks for all the lovely reviews you've been giving me. I really appreciate it. We're getting quite far through the bits that I've already written now, and I'm gonna have to start writing again. But before I do, I have a question to ask you guys. I was debating with myself about writing a lemony scene, and I wasn't sure whether I should or not, so I'll leave it up to you guys…do you want me to up the rating and write a lemon scene or shall I make a toned down one. Or I could write two versions and post two chapters, one with the lemon and one censored. I don't mind which way. Majority vote wins, so get back to me with your answers ASAP.
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Alex was awoken late that night by Jack gently shaking her. It was dead quiet in the cell, except for the soft snoring of the guard sitting in the far corner. The cell was dimly lit by the light of the full moon shining in through the small window.
"Now's the opportune moment." Jack whispered.
Alex nodded as she rubbed her eyes in an effort to wake herself up fully. She pulled the key from her pocket and handed it to Jack, who made his way over to the door of the cell and inserted the key in the lock. Alex watched as Jack was slowly trying to turn the lock as quietly as he could.
The thunk it made as it turned seemed deafening to them as it echoed dangerously around the small jail. Jack pulled the key out of the lock and sat back down in the cell, holding the door closed with his foot, in case the guard happened to wake up in the midst of their escape.
They had no such troubles, however, as the guard continued to snore rhythmically.
"Come on, luv." Jack said, motioning for Alex to follow him as he quietly pushed the door to the cell open, hoping it wouldn't squeak.
Luck seemed to be on their side for once, because not only did the door not squeak, they made it out of the jail without any problems or anyone seeing them.
Silently congratulating themselves, they stuck to the shadows as they made their way back down to the docks.
It was at the docks that Jack and Alex ran into Will and Elizabeth coming the other way, who looked very surprised to see their two supposedly imprisoned friends walking - well in Jack's case swaying - freely down the dock without a care in the world.
"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked.
"Seems like Alex here has quite the light-fingered touch." Jack explained. "She lifted the key off the guard."
Will gave Alex an approving look. "Well, you've put me out of a job now." He said. "Normally I'm the one who springs Jack from jail."
Alex smiled shyly at the attention. "It was nothing, really." She said. "Shall we go now?"
"My thoughts exactly." Jack agreed.
* * * * * *
They made it back to the Pearl quickly and set sail immediately. Before setting out on their rescue mission, Will and Elizabeth had gone around all the inns and taverns in the small port town, rounding up the crew of the Pearl in case there was a need for a quick escape, because in Jack's case, there usually was.
Fortunately there was no trouble and they sailed out of the harbour without a hitch, into the open ocean once again.
The only problem was, they were still short on supplies. They had arranged for a majority of the supplies to be brought in the morning, so quite a bit of money had been wasted on nothing.
Jack took this problem into account and calculated that they would have enough supplies to reach Tortuga, in a few days time. He set a course for his favourite port-of-call and turned the wheel over to Gibbs, and made his way to his cabin to retire for the night.
* * * * * *
Alex turned over for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. She couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried. Every time she closed her eyes, images of an evilly grinning Dickon would plague her vision, and since she was alone in the small, dark room, the shadows seemed to come alive and grow larger, intending to engulf her in blackness. She craved security and comfort and she was not getting either in the dark room she was stuck in.
She knew exactly where the security and comfort she craved was, though. She longed to leave her haunted visions and find it, but she was afraid of the consequences. If she let herself trust again, there was no telling what would happen.
Putting her thoughts and misgivings aside, Alex slipped awkwardly out of her hammock, running her hand through her hair in exasperation, before deciding to leave the room behind.
* * * * * *
Quietly padding barefoot on the wooden floors of the Pearl, Alex made her way up to Jack's cabin.
She put her hand up to the door and hesitated a second before knocking.
There was a pause before she heard some muffled grumbling and footsteps cross the room and the door opened to reveal a very sleepy looking, very shirtless Jack.
His face plainly showed his surprise when he saw Alex standing at his door.
"Luv. What d'ya want?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
"Uhh…Jack…do you mind if I sleep here tonight?" Alex asked. "I don't want to be alone." She added softly.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Jack said, standing to the side so Alex could enter his cabin. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah. Just memories plaguing me. I just need some company." Alex said. "I couldn't sleep."
Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the space next to him. "Come and rest here then."
Alex took up his offer and sat next to him on the bed.
"Now ye close yer eyes and lie down." Jack prompted.
Alex did as she was told, lying back on the bed, on her side, resting her head on the soft pillow.
"That's it." Jack said, putting an arm around Alex's waist and pulled her close, giving her the comfort and security she desired.
"Thank you Jack." She mumbled, before dropping off to sleep.
* * * * * *
Alex woke the next morning to Jack slipping out of the bed. No light shone through the grimy window, telling her it was still nighttime.
"What's going on?" Alex asked sleepily.
"Nothin'." Jack answered. "I woke early." He paused, getting an idea. "But since yer up, there's somethin' I wanna show you. Come."
Alex slipped out of the bed and followed Jack out of his cabin and to the bow of the ship, looking out towards the east.
She guessed it was almost morning, as the usually inky black sky had lightened to an almost navy blue, sparsely dotted with the lingering stars. The moon was sinking low into the western horizon.
Alex stood at the bow and tucked her arms around herself, in an effort to keep warm in the still chilly night air. "What are we looking for?" she asked.
Jack came and stood behind Alex, looking out at the horizon over her shoulder. "You'll see in a minute." He said.
Alex felt her body involuntarily shiver when Jack spoke, his breath tickling her ear. What the hell is happening to me, she wondered.
Jack felt Alex's shiver. "Cold?" he asked.
"Yeah." Alex said, a little too quickly. "A little."
Jack wrapped his arms around Alex, sharing his body heat with her as they stood there in silence. They watched as the eastern horizon burst into life, the bright light of the sun chasing away the dark night sky, sending the stars to bed. The yellows, reds and blues merging with the darkness of the night sky, changing every second. It was even better than an artist's painting. It continued, constantly changing until the sun peeked over the horizon as a sign of a new day, chasing away the darkness of the night, giving light to the world.
"It's beautiful." Alex breathed, not wanting to take her eyes off the sunrise, although she knew that she would have to soon. She turned in Jack's arms and looked into his dark chocolate brown eyes, something that she would describe just as meaningful and as beautiful as the sunrise. "Thank you Jack."
"No worries, luv." He replied.
Alex found Jack's eyes as difficult to look away from as she did the sunrise. She felt a pull stronger than she'd ever felt before. Stronger than the one she'd felt at Port Anderson after Jack had rescued her. Her doubts and reason went out the window for the moment, as she leaned in for the most passionate kiss she'd ever had. If she had to describe it, Alex would have called it magical, for there was no other word to describe how it felt. She felt as if she was floating on clouds, flying through the air, just being free.
They both had to eventually surface for air, and both took deep breaths. Jack was grinning in his usual fashion at Alex, and she felt herself smile back at him, although the rest of her body was still in shock.
Then, suddenly, as if realisation had dawned on Alex, she found herself slipping from Jack's arms and muttering a quick excuse, before hurrying off somewhere, leaving Jack standing at the bow, very confused.
* * * * * *
Jack didn't move from the bow for a while, wondering what the hell had happened. That girl was the most confusing person he knew, apart from Anamaria, but that was beside the point.
He found himself totally enthralled by the girl, and, of course, attracted to her, although he tried to curb that attraction by reminding himself of what she'd been through. He wasn't one for commitment, and if that's what she was looking for, she would be out of luck.
But, he reminded himself, she hasn't mentioned anything of the sort. In fact, she never mentions anything on her own accord.
Jack tried to run his hand through his hair, but it got snagged on a matted dreadlock and had to untangle it.
He couldn't deny that the girl enticed him, but she was not some whore that he could take any time he wished. That was one of the reasons why he had to get out of that bed early that morning. He found that he couldn't sleep with Alex in bed next to him.
Deciding that he'd better get to the helm and relieve Gibbs of the night duty, Jack left the bow, pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind. He needed to remain professional about this. At least until he had a better idea of what he was up against.
* * * * * *
Alex threw herself into the task of making the morning meal for the crew out of the meagre supplies they had left. They had to carefully ration the food so it would last until they docked at Tortuga, but the cook wasn't so sure it would stretch that far.
The normally talkative cook was grumbling about something or another over the other side of the galley, as he mixed things together, trying to make an edible meal, leaving Alex to her own thoughts, which she had learned to dread.
She couldn't get her mind off Jack, and especially that kiss earlier that morning. She didn't know how she felt. It was a mixture of happiness and dread. Happiness, because she might have found someone she could really trust and love. Dread, because of her past and what had already happened when she had associated those two words with a man.
She couldn't deny the attraction she had for the roguish pirate, but she was scared as to how far it went. Was it a simple sexual attraction, or was it something more. She knew she felt something for him, but couldn't put a name to it.
She was confused and hated herself for it.
* * * * * *
The Black Pearl sighted Tortuga 3 days later.
Alex had spent most of the time avoiding Jack. She hadn't returned to sleep in his cabin, and instead, braved her thoughts and fears in her own dark quarters.
As a result of all her time spent alone with her thoughts, Alex had now decided what she was going to do. Granted, she didn't much like her decision, but it had to be done. She didn't see what else she could do to avoid anyone getting hurt again.
She found herself watching Jack from afar, across the deck when she was doing small odd jobs. She could tell that he was confused by her behaviour, but she didn't know how to explain it to him, so she didn't. She didn't want to hurt him, but she had let this go too far and she wanted to get out. She had to get out.
The tension between Alex and Jack had not gone unnoticed by others, however. Elizabeth had noticed Alex and Jack's strange behaviour a couple of days before, and had made up her mind to confront Alex and ask her what the deal was. And now seemed the perfect time.
"Alex." Elizabeth called, walking up to Alex, who was coiling unused ropes on the deck.
"Yeah?" Alex said, twisting the end of the rope around the coil and stashing it in the storage bins.
"I need to talk with you for a second. Come."
Elizabeth brought Alex into her quarters and sat her down on a chair.
Alex looked around nervously, feeling like this was an interrogation, which it most probably was, knowing Elizabeth.
"What's been going on with you lately?" Elizabeth asked. "For the last couple of days you've been acting really weird. And Jack too, for that matter. What happened?"
Alex sighed, Elizabeth was way too perceptive for her own good, or anyone else's good for that matter. "It's complicated." She answered.
When Elizabeth didn't answer, Alex went on. "I don't know what's happening. I'm feeling all this stuff and I have no idea what to do." She paused. "Last time I supposedly fell in love with somebody, he was just using me." She paused again, then added in a whisper, "He killed my brother."
Alex could see the look of sympathy on Elizabeth's face, and spoke again before Elizabeth had a chance to. "It's all in the past now, and I can't do nothin' to change it, I know, but I can stop it from happening again." She looked down. "This is why I've decided to stay in Tortuga."
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Dum, dum, dum! Heh heh, I can tell that Alex's decision is going to frustrate the hell out of all you guys…but don't worry, I have everything planned out…you'll see.
See you in the next chapter…
~Rhi =)