A/N Ok! Thanks to all my reviewers; I'm glad that ya liked it mates! Thanks to Daroga's Rainy Daae… what's kinda funny is that when I get your reviews, you say it's like, midnight, and then I start freaking out until I look at the bottom of the screen and realize it's only 9 where I'm at. : D Thanks to maskedcritic… I finally get some advice! Ok, I realize the few mistake you pointed out… and I knew that Grace O'Malley was quite a few years before the POTC was set, but see, in Cutlass Liz's biography it said that her role model was Grace, so I figured that Grace would be who she told. And I know that my time scale is off, because Anne wasn't quite in the same time frame as Jack either, but hey, I just figured that in POTC it never actually said when the movie was set, so just somewhere in the 1700's. But still, just so you know, I realize my time frame is a bit sketchy. I didn't know about the Cormac thing… at the site's I looked at it was Anne Colmac, but if you're sure then I'll change it… but are you sure? As for the language… I'm pretty sure that I knew that too, but I couldn't find a way to word it… I mean, what would they say instead?
To everyone who has reviewed so far, I give a life sized figure of Captain Jack Sparrow (except, of course, to Paaje and Blacklabel, because that wouldn't even measure up to having Jack on an island for ten minutes for some rum soccer or even a match of scalawag tag! If you want him though, I suppose you can have him too.) And a tip of the hat from Anne!
Anne: I lost my hat!
Sarah: What? I thought you said that you'd give them…
Anne: Yeah, well, that was before my hat flew off in the last chapter. Don't you remember? I loved that hat…
Sarah: Oh… well…
Anne: I want a new hat!
Sarah: Uh… Jack will buy you one!
Anne: *thinks about this* I guess…
Jack: I didn't agree to this…
Sarah: Jack! You're supposed to be nice!
Jack: What are you talking about? I am nice!
Sarah: Anyways, on with the story! I'm probably boring you to death.
***~***
At first Jack had intended on ganging up on the Revenge and then going to get Anne and Mari, but as he thought about it… he wanted to get them first. But chances are, the sailors on the Revenge wouldn't allow the two ships to just sit around and make arrangements. He gave a sideways glance to Anamaria, but then realized that he would have to come up with a solution on his own. Anne wasn't here to help.
He watched the Revenge closely and then maneuvered a bit so that the Pearl was in between the two other ships, and then he realized he had to use the head.
"Not now." He muttered to himself. "This will wait. It's probably just nerves."
Anamaria was watching him with interest, a slight smile on her face.
The merchant ship was close enough to the Pearl now so that a board could be lowered between the two, and then the Revenge began to come forward and put itself in a position to shoot the Pearl.
Jack used what little time he had to climb over to the other ship, the merchant ship, and started to get Anne and Mari, but the captain still had a hold on her. A knife was pressed to her throat and Jack stopped, utterly confused.
"Mari." Anne mouthed to him softly, hoping he would get he message, and Jack went for Mari. But she too was being held.
"Let say we make ourselves a deal, Captain." The captain of the merchant ship said. Jack shifted uncomfortably and glanced back at the Pearl where the Revenge was coming closer and readying the cannons. "Half of your loot for the two women."
"That's not a good deal." Jack said uncomfortably. Anne bit her lip.
"It is for pirates." The merchant's captain said. "I could just arrest you all and take you to be hung. But instead…"
"You're no better than us, blackmailing us for money!" Anne burst out, biting her tongue after she finished. Jack grinned.
"She's right you know. Have you considered piracy? Lots of rum and money, I suggest it. You'd make a good pirate. Not enough wit's though." He winked. The merchant captain sputtered with anger.
"Tell ya what, mate." Jack began again. You give me the girl, I give you a quarter of the loot, and then you hand over Anne. Sound fair?"
The captain looked angry for a moment, but then sighed and agreed, handing Mari over to the man. Jack put the little girl behind him and sent her over the board onto the Pearl, watching carefully so she wouldn't fall. Then Jack turned back to the merchant captain.
For a moment, Anne was afraid that he would simply tip his hat and follow the little girl across. It would have been the smart thing to do. But Jack wasn't really that kind of person. Jack glanced back at the Pearl and watched as a white flag was raised up to the Revenge. He sighed and grinned at the captain of the merchant ship.
"You're quite an idiot, you know that?" Jack said, whipping out his pistol quickly and shooting Anne. Nobody noticed when the bullet veered slightly to the side. But the captain's men were shocked and they dropped her so she fell to her knees on the ground.
"You… shot her." The captain said with disbelief.
"That I did, mate." Jack raised his gun. "And now I'll be shooting you." Anne looked up from the deck and grinned at him slightly, so that only he noticed.
The captain and his crewmembers started to back away from Anne, and before they could do anything, Jack had stepped forward and Anne was leaning on his shoulder for support.
Jack slowly backed away from the merchants and then, he let Anne go across first, holding on the board so she could steady herself. The crew was still looking on with shock. Jack went next, walking backword with his gun still on the men.
Anne was waiting on the other side.
"Damn you Jack." She said to him, grinning slightly, but weakly. "That hurt. Next time, I'll be the one to shoot you."
"You're alive, aren't you?" He said, casting her a weary grin. "Gibbs, deal with everything, please. The Revenge… don't fight her, let's just go back to Port Royal. Those damn merchants deserve to be raided."
Anne looked troubled, but she said nothing, and Jack thought nothing of it. Anamaria did, however.
"What's up, Red? Is it that bullet that's bothering you, because if you want me to, I'll smack Jack for you." Anne gave her a weak smile.
"Well, it's just… The Revenge…"
Suddenly something clicked into place in Jack's very muddled brain. "The Revenge was your ship?" He said quietly, already knowing the answer.
"We can get back to that some other time, Jack. I'll deal with it on my own time. At the moment, Mari has to get back to Tawny, and you have to get smacked for shooting me."
"You're alive, aren't you?"
"Couldn't you have given me some warning?"
"No. You didn't give me any warning when you stole the Pearl."
"You were going to take my share of the treasure and run off with Cutlass Liz!"
"You've been nothing but trouble ever since you got here! Blackmailing and bribing me for your share of the treasure, not telling me about ANYTHING, especially that little stunt with the treasure, running off with Mari and leaving me to deal with Tawny, stealing the Pearl from me, making a fool out of me in front of my crew… oh, I don't know what to think anymore."
"What?" Anne said softly.
"You heard me." Jack said, turning around and starting to walk away down to the Captain's Cabin. Anne lept up after him.
"Screw you! I never asked you to follow me around! You have to admit it, Jack… you were a terrible captain! Until I came and gave you the kick in the ass that you deserved, but you can't blame me, because look now, Jack! You have everything, everything! Your crew loves you, you have your ship, hell, why don't you go back to Tawny and have some fun, huh?"
She groaned and turned around, walking slowly over to the helm, ignoring whatever pain was coming from the bullet. Everyone's eyes followed her, including Jack's.
She stopped at the helm and ran her hands over the worn wood, sighing.
"I guess some things have to change… I don't have anything left, but I want another chance." She leaned forward and set her gaze so that her eyes met Jack's.
"Downstairs, in my cabin. Now. We have to talk about this. And you need to be cleaned up." Jack said finally, breaking the silence. Anne shifted uncomfortably, but agreed.
A/N oooh… next chapter, the little chat… PLOT DEVELOPMENTS! READ ON! AND REVIEW PLEASE!!!