A/N Wow! I am so happy! Thank you guys so much… I was so surprised that I got like five reviews for the last chapter! I was so happy that I had to write another chapter really soon… J enjoy, here you go.
****~****
Jack did not look happy at all.
"In my cabin, now. Explain. What's the catch to this treasure?"
Anne let herself be pushed toward the cabin, and once inside, she plopped down on the bed, putting her hands behind her head.
"So, how did I do? What needs to be worked on?" Anne asked him, referring to their sword fight.
"Your blocks are good, but you can't get by on just blocks. You need to work on speed and agility, and improvisation; in a real fight, you will have to think quickly and adjust to your surroundings." Jack shrugged. "Just little stuff like that." Anne scowled.
"It's not fair; everybody trips over the coaming… I don't understand why it's even there!"
"In a real fight, excuses won't save you from dying. Now, quit changing the subject. What is it about this treasure that you haven't told me?"
Anne looked distressed. "You know, it's sort of not worth going after, I mean…"
"What, you're afraid that the ghost of Calico will come back and haunt you?" Jack teased her. She narrowed her eyes.
"Nope. Calico went to hell a long time ago." She said coldly.
"And took your heart with him." Jack commented softly. Anne parted her lips slightly, then took a deep breath and looked away.
"Tell me about the treasure, Anne." Jack prodded.
"There's more to life than treasure!" Anne snapped angrily.
"Aye, but your life depends on this treasure." Jack pointed out. Oh, it was so kind of him to point that out. The truth of his words hit Anne like a boot in the arse.
"Ouch, that's harsh." Anne commented softly.
"Yea, but that's life, darling. Now, come, tell bout this treasure, why exactly is this not going to be worth the trouble?"
Anne took a deep breath. "You're not going to believe this." She told him.
"Oh, I'll believe it." Jack said, just waiting for her to continue. She sat back against the bed and closed her eyes.
"So treasure is really your whole life, Jack?" Anne asked him, smiling a bit.
"That and the Pearl. And the freedom of the sea. And the occasional drink, or bit of company from time to time, and the thrill of a good raid, or the look on the old Norry's face when I escaped the second time…" A childish grin came over his face.
"Yea, I forgot about all those." Anne said sarcastically.
"Well, forget on your own time. Get talking, Anne."
"Fine, fine. Well… where should I start? Let's see…
"Now cutlass Liz was pretty smart; she protected her treasure well, but not enough so that the people she trusted couldn't find it. There are two things you must have to get into her secret treasure trove; well, three actually. One; the location of the trove. Two; a secret key that she made to unlock the opening to the trove. And three; the guardian's permission to enter." Anne sighed, like she really didn't want to continue.
"Well, Liz decided to send the key far, far away. She decided that the person to be the guardian would also be the first person to know the location of the trove, but the other catch is, they have to be living."
Jack's eyes grew wide.
"Jack, I'm the guardian."
"Well, what's the fuss then? We have the things we need to get in…"
"No, we don't. I don't have the key, Jack."
"You… don't?" Jack asked, the color draining from his face. He buried his face in his hands.
"Well… I know who does."
"Nassau port ahead!" The lookout called from the top of the main mast. Jack wasted no time getting to the wheel… he would be needed to guide the boat into port. He immediately started giving orders to the crewmen; you know, up in the rigging, tie down the sails, stuff like that.
He almost didn't notice when Anne came up on deck and stared at Nassau. Her face was expressionless, but it was easy to tell that she really didn't want to stop here.
"We can keep sailing if you want." Jack said softly to her. She seemed startled; she hadn't noticed he was right next to her.
"No… we need better supplies… it's not up to me whether we dock or not. I just don't like it here; there's like, a bad feeling in the air. Y'know?" Anne cocked her head at him, but she could tell he didn't understand what he was saying, so she just sighed. "Never mind."
The ramp was lowered as soon as the anchor was, and Jack called all his crew to attention.
"Men… go have some fun. Be back here by noon tomorrow, and I don't want any of you drunk! Now go on, get out of here." There was a frantic scatter as the men hurried in all directions to go have some fun. Jack waited, and then he turned to Anne, but she was gone. He looked around frantically, and finally found her talking to the dockmaster. He rushed to catch up to him, throwing in a little swagger on the way.
"Are… you sure you haven't seen it?"
"Yes, yes, that ship hasn't been here for… oh, maybe five years." The dockmaster squinted are her. "Are you sure you're not from around here? You look familiar…"
"Nope, never been here in my life." Anne said, smiling. She seemed to visibly relax when the harbormaster told her that a certain ship had not been around for five years.
"Are we going, Jack, or are we going?" She asked him impatiently.
"Right." He nodded. "We're going."
They walked away from the docks, down the crowded street. Everywhere, there were pirates and whores, and pickpockets and drunks… like Tortuga, and certain parts of Port Royal.
Anne recognized that the closer she stayed to Jack, the safer she'd be, so she practically clung to him. They went and talked to the few trustworthy merchants that Jack 'knew,' and finally managed to be hooked up with some healthy food and fresh water (thought the water was a bit scarce.) Jack was in a bad mood because he didn't want to have to pay for the stuff, but it was too hard to steal.
After they took the stuff to the ship, Jack turned to Anne.
"Alright, I'm going to get a drink; you can stay here, you can come with, or you can go off on your own… I recommend you come with."
Anne shuddered. "No way. I don't want to see you when you're drunk. No thank you. I'll go have my own fun."
So the both of them went in different directions.
Jack went into a tavern and ordered a drink; one mug of rum. He settled down to watch a card game that was happening right next to him; even joined in on one hand. But he figured that if he joined in any more, the other players might be mad, because he always wins/cheats. So he decided to just watch.
He drank his rum slowly. But he always finished rum quickly. He went to order another but stopped himself; Anne was right. One drink was good, but drinking yourself silly is just stupid.
After while, he got the strange feeling that he was needed somewhere else, so he stood up and paid for his drink.
****~****
Anne walked down the street trying to be confident. But she couldn't help but look around; she was nervous, anyone could tell. She wanted to avoid people as much as possible; maybe she wouldn't run into him if she kept to the back streets. So she went through an alley.
But even the alley was scaring her. She closed her eyes for a second to try and get his image out of her head.
But then she felt herself being slammed against the wall. She opened her eyes, wide and terrified, and saw the nightmare which had haunted all of her dreams, standing right in front of her.
"James?" She said weakly, hoping it wasn't him.
"Where's the money, Anne? You can't jus', jus' leave… there was supposed to be money! You said that if we got married, I would get a part of your inheritance… where's your inheritance, darling? I'm waiting…"
Anne closed her eyes and turned her head away from the reek of rum that surrounded her husband. She was uncomfortable in this position, shoved against a wall, him leaning against her. She brought up her leg and reached for her dagger, eyes still closed so that she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes.
When she felt her boot within reach, she grasped the handle of her dagger tightly and slid it out slowly and carefully. James was muttering to himself and had her pinned to the wall with one hand and with the other hand was going through the coins in her sack.
"Dammit Anne!" He shouted finally. "Six pounds! That's all! You would think being pirate's mistress would get you some dough, but no… worthless bitch, I was supposed to be RICH!"
Anne felt tears running down her cheeks. Her hands were shaking as she remembered how sweet he was, before they ran off, and all that he had done before she ran off with Calico…
"Stop, James!" She screamed at him, and he shut up, but was still fumbling with her money pouch. She felt her hands shaking and dropped the dagger, out of her reach.
He brought her face to his and kissed her roughly on the mouth. "We're still married, darlin. I have every right to take you right here, if I wanted to. I want my money, Anne!"
A pistol went off. James crumpled on the ground and Anne stood against the wall, staring at the pistol in her hands, shocked, blood splattered all over her. She slid down the wall and huddled against it, sobbing into her arm.
***~***
Jack looked around. He heard Anne's voice, screaming something, and he ran toward the sound. Into a dark alley, he could only see so far. But he kept looking for her, only knowing that something was happening that he should check out.
He saw a man pinning Anne to a wall, fumbling with something, and Anne was just standing there, scared out of her wits, probably. Jack moved to get out his weapon, but saw something flash in Anne's hand. Suddenly the man kissed her roughly and she seemed frozen in place. He was talking to her in a low voice.
She shot him. Blood splattered all over her clothes and the man fell to the ground, Jack watching form a few feet away. Anne did not notice him… she seemed shocked and upset, and curled up in a ball and cried.
Jack wasn't entirely sure what to do. He went and sat next to her, and she stopped crying immediately. Her hands were still shaking though, as she brushed a lock of red hair away from her face. Jack nudged the dead man with his foot and waited for Anne to say something.
She stood up and shuddered lightly, glancing at Jack, and then the dead man.
"My husband, James Bonny." She said lightly, as though she was alright. Her voice almost betrayed her, but she kept it calm and steady, and Jack realized how strong she was trying to be, locking up everything that was hurting her. He didn't want to make it harder for her, but one day, she wouldn't be able to keep it locked up, and everything would just be harder to face.
"You want a drink, Anne?" Jack offered. She paused.
"As a matter of fact, Jack, I think I do. I think I want a drink very badly." She looked down at James, lying cold and stiff on the ground. She smiled weakly at Jack.
"I need to take a break."