CHAPTER SIX: LOWEST OF THE LOWEST

Gazing out at the rapidly darkening horizon, Jack held a firm grip on the wheel, the sounds of his crew working on the deck below him passing by his deafened ears. The only thing filling his head were his thoughts, whirling around in his mind like a storm unleashed by the devil himself. And the focus of this attention was currently residing in the brig.

It probably wasn´t really necessary to lock them up down there, but he had to keep the crew, loyal as they were, in his good graces, which meant taking control of the situation. And though the two strangers hardly posed a threat, they´d lied to him right in his face. The bald man was obviously experienced with it and any other would´ve fallen for his words without a second thought, but not Jack. The Captain had altered the truth himself on so many occasions, he could not be fooled that easily.

And then there were the other elements that had roused his suspicions. He had sailed all round the world, from London to Singapore and back again, but never once had he come in contact with a culture that would deem the odd couple´s attire reasonable, especially that of the lass. What was she called again? Not a common name, but he found himself silently admiring it.

"Chloe," he said softly, letting the word roll of his tongue in his usual slurred fashion, a grin coming to play upon his tout lips. Sounded better than when that other lad said it.

"Okay, ye pigs," Anamaria´s voice suddenly cut through his daze. "For anyone tha´ favours a bite, to the galley with ye!"

Immediately, most of the crew disappeared below deck, except for the few that had a job to finish first before being allowed to feast themselves on whatever the cook had put together. Since it was considered undignified for a Captain to eat amongst his men, Jack was usually assigned to having his meals alone, although he would sometimes join the others in the galley anyway, just to have some drinking companions. Not this time, though. He wasn´t quite in the mood to be dealing with noisy seament, which was strange in itself, since he himself fit in that category perfectly most of the time.

Then, as if straight out of Davy Jones´ locker, an idea entered his mind, having him inwardly beaming with glee.

Anamaria, already having been prepared for this, came over as soon as she saw the Captain´s eyes land on her. Taking the wheel from him, she watched as he swayed down the helm, a lazy grin on his face.

For a moment, she actually pitied the two poor souls in the brig.

"Chloe, will you please stop that?"

The pleas that he had been voicing for what felt like forever now went ignored by her as she just continued with what she was doing. By now, Lex had already tossed aside his suit jacket, now totally ruined by the water, and had unbuttoned the top buttons of his purple shirt. Wherever they were, it was damn hot! Too bad mankind had yet to invent air-conditioning.

"It's not going to work! Do us both a pleasure and just give it up!"

This finally seemed to reach her and she turned from the cell door to face Lex. "Give up?" she repeated, disbelief etching on her features. "We're locked up here, and you want to just give up? What if they decide that they want to have some fun in their pathetic, meaningless, dirty, little lives? What if they have us walk the plank?"

"They're not going to have us walk the plank," Lex told her determinedly in a rather weak and futile attempt to put her mind at ease. Chloe just crossed her arms over her chest.

"I've seen Peter Pan enough freakin' times to know that pirates love feeding the fishies!"

The billionaire frowned at this. "Peter who?"

"You know, short guy, never gets wrinkly, spend his time flying around..." Trailing off at his blank look, she finally succumbed to what he'd been asking of her for hours now. She gave up. Letting out an explosive sigh, she threw down the hairpin with which she'd been trying to unsuccessfully pick the lock, watching it disappear under the thick layer of water. Besides, if they did manage to escape, where would they go? They were on a freakin´ ship! Still, she didn't like this feeling of helplessness. She wasn't used to surrendering herself to a bunch of stinkin´ retards.

Ungracefully, she slouched down on the cot next to Lex, staring out the small window opposite to them. Not much could be seen, though, since the sun had already set and painted the skies black, the dark color pierced every once in a while by the tiniest of lights. The stars must look beautiful out on the open sea.

Closing her eyes, she remembered the time had father had sent her to stay with her grandparents, not long after his wife had left them. as a small child, she had considered that week the most adventurous time of her life. Her granddad had just purchased a sailboat. It wasn't grand, or even that glamorous, but she'd fallen in love with it at first sight. The aged man letting his pleading granddaughter do small tasks aboard, unable to avoid getting infected by her childlike enthusiasm.

The wind whipping her untamed locks wildly around her face, eyes squinted to watch in awe as Charles maneuvered the vessel through the waves, his lifelong partner waving them off from the docks, fussing out their safety.

The memory brought a smile to her face, making her heart mourn once again for the loss of her grandparents, life having taken them from her too soon.

Swept up in remembrance, she wasn't aware of Lex´s eyes on her, his mind curious as to what it was that had the ever-present blonde retreating into thought. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but wonder if it involved a certain pirate Captain.

He wasn't blind. He'd noticed the way Sparrow's eyes had devoured Chloe, intrigue mingled with lust hiding behind his gaze. It enraged and unsettled him, especially since he didn't know just what the man was capable of. Pirates were famous for being scum. The lowest of the lowest. Thieves, murderers and...

Craning his head, he could hear footsteps approaching, coming to a halt right in front of the door. He could see that this hadn't been lost on Chloe as he threw a glance her way. She was watching the door with rapt attention, eyes narrowing as it swung open to reveal the man that had so kindly escorted her down there earlier that day.

Not allowing the blonde to make some scathing remark that would surely not land them in the man's good graces, Lex stood up, hands wrapping themselves around the bars of their confinement. "Are you getting us out?" he questioned, surprising both Chloe and the man slightly with his casual exterior, as if he was merely asking for the time.

Huygen nodded with a grin that showed off all his crooked, yellow teeth, reaching into his pocket for the keys. "Capt´n Sparrow asks for yer company. Wouldn't want to dis´point him now, would we?"

"Our company?" Chloe prodded further, stepping out as soon as the door opened, Lex following close behind. The fact that their hands remained unbound and only this man was sent to collect them proved that they were not seen as a threat or standard prisoners. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to see the inside of that dreary cell ever again.

"Over dinner. Now get movin´. I want to be gettin´ some food meself."

Without further ado, they were led towards the Captain´s cabin, Huygen´s knuckles sounding rough against the wooden door. An affirmative was voiced from within, and their escort opened the door to reveal a rather generous area compared to the ship's size.

And just like that morning, the first thing Chloe´s eyes were drawn to was the figure sitting at the end of a large table. Though, sitting wasn't quite the correct term. Sprawled would be more accurate. Feet propped up on the table, he was leaning against the back of the chair comfortably, one arm dangling of the side while the other rested in his lap, goblet clutched tightly in his hand.

For a fleeting moment, he actually looked more delicious than the food littered all over the table, but she shrugged this thought off just as quickly.

Attracted to a dirt-covered pirate that was long dead before she had even been born? How fucked up would that be?

TBC