A/N Ugh! I'm having a hard time finishing this story. I think it's too… well; this is one of the last chapters. Enjoy pls. I am on a very bad little rift of writers block.
Oh, and please don't kill me. You aren't going to like this chapter but I need to do something interesting. Even if it means I have to kill Jack.
I'm kidding! Just read.
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Anne sat in the cell, slumped against one wall, staring at Jack. He was grinning at her from the other side of the brig.
"Oh, so I suppose you planned on this, did you?" She asked him nastily. She was in a terrible mood… if anything they were worse off now than before, and Jack's crew was going to be having a terrible time.
Jack's grin faded for a moment, but he was still grinning cheekily and it was bugging Anne beyond words.
"Well, I didn't plan on this in particular. But… this will work." He said.
Anne frowned. "Dammit Jack, just tell me. What are you thinking of doing?" When he said nothing, Anne sighed and muttered, "Oh, I hate you."
Jack pulled the keys to the cell out from behind his back and held them up, pretending to look at them and contemplate. Anne stared, and he grinned at her. "I didn't plan on this, but I can wiggle out of it."
Anne continued to just stare, too tired to think about possible problems with his new plan. "How did you…?"
"Filched it while 'Toni' was talking to you."
Anne smiled as he unlocked the cell. "Let's just face it, mate, I love ya."
"Who doesn't?"
"So Jack, what exactly are we going to do now?" Anne whispered in his ear as the two of them watched the commotion on deck of sailors rushing around trying to follow the Captain's fickle orders, constantly changing his battle strategies. Jack was frowning and muttering about the chaotic state of the ship. He glanced back at Anne.
"We don't have any leverage, yet, so for now we're heading to the Captain's quarters to see if there's anything of use down there." Jack said, and abruptly turned away from the door and climbed down the ladder, looking at all the doors that were presented before him belowdeck.
"None of these are the right place." He said, pointing to all the doors. "There's the galley and the brig and then the crew's quarters, and another cabin over here…"
"My cabin." Anne said, her eyes not betraying what she felt. "The captain's cabin is above deck."
Jack nodded and they were both silent for a moment.
"I'm supposed to be doing this on my own." Anne said finally, her eyes flickering around the ship's hold.. "Thanks, Jack." She said, looking at him. He moved toward the door and peeked back onto the deck.
"Jack, wait." She said, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket. "I'm not sure if I want this ship back after all."
He looked at her with a question in his eyes. "Too many bad memories, y'know?" She said, giving him a weak smile.
"Red, you're a captain and you need a ship. Don't let the ghosts scare you away."
Jack peered out again. "Okay, Red, there's about four feet between us and the door of the cabin. We could make a dash but that will draw attention to ourselves." He looked back at her. "We're just going to have to go and see what happens."
She nodded her understanding and the two crept out of the door, trying not to go slow and at the same time trying to be silent.
It worked surprisingly well. Luck happened to be on their side because at that moment there was a huge gust of wind and everybody on board was kept occupied by trying to keep the ship steady.
Once inside of the captain's cabin, both Jack and Anne were able to breathe huge sighs of relief from the pressure that was over with. Anne lay down on the bed and closed her eyes, breathing out one deep long breath. When she sucked air back in again, she sprang up off the bed quickly as if disgusted.
"Horrible smell. Reminds me of your bed." She grinned at Jack but looked back at the bed disdainfully.
Jack did not seem amused. He went to the bureau and opened a few drawers, closing them quickly. The very bottom drawer was the one he kept open, and pulled out an assortment of colorful dresses of all different sizes. Walking over to Anne, he held one of them; a dark greenish up against her body. She pushed away the dress and looked at Jack like he had grown an extra head.
"I haven't worn one of those since I was fifteen. I'm not even sure if I know how to put it on. There's no way you'll get me in one of those, whatever plan you have in mind, it's a bad idea."
"Well you're in luck because I know how to put them on." Jack said, determined to get her in one of these dresses.
Anne gave a short, nervous laugh and said, "I bet you're even more familiar with how to take them off."
"Sure. I'll take it off you too." Jack said with a grin. Anne smacked him. "Well Red, it looks like Toni's even more familiar with females then I myself. Either that or he likes to play dress up."
Anne laughed and took another look at the dress. "No way."
"I have a plan." Jack said. "Now listen…"
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"This was a bad idea." Anne grumbled. She was pulling on a satiny crimson dress, and she was proud of the fact that she was doing it without Jack's help. She had made him turn around and promise to stare at the wall while she put it on.
While she had managed to get all the important stuff covered with material, she could not reach the last few buttons at the bottom of the back of her dress. She felt like the only thing keeping her from falling apart was a few flimsy buttons.
But this was how the dress was supposed to fit.
She was certain she looked like a whore. Her eyes shifted nervously to where Jack was obediently staring at the wall and she contemplated whether to ask him for help. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, She kept telling herself. There is no way I want him to… but she would have to. She couldn't go around with the last few buttons undone and she couldn't do it herself.
"Jack… a little help?" She knew that there'd be a cocky grin on his face. After all she had said to make him think she didn't need help…
But before she knew it, he was right behind her, his hands drawing lightly against her spine. There was a long silence as he fastened the buttons.
"All done, Red." He said finally. She didn't turn around to look at him, but felt his eyes on her as she walked to the door of the cabin.
"Okay…" She said, turning around finally, and when she did she found him just staring at her. She felt uncomfortable and tried to laugh. "I look terrible, right?"
"No." He said, but that was all.
And it was true. The red dress went well with her hair and her tanned complexion looked the same, if not better.
She shook off the thought that he was still staring at her and tried to concentrate.
"This is not going to work, Jack."
"You say that every time."
"But last time I said it, it didn't work!"
"We're still alive, darling. We're here. It clearly worked, in a twisted way."
"Your plans are always twisted." She grumbled, and he nudged her toward the door.
"Just remember to keep them distracted, Red. Can you see how many there are?"
"At least fifteen. Less than twenty."
Jack contemplated this. "I think this will work. If I can get over to the Pearl and get help, then we can swing over here and fight without harming either ship."
"It had better…" Anne said, sighing. "Now we should do this before something happens to mess it up."
Anne opened the door and started to step out cautiously. Before she could even get one booted foot out (she had point blank refused to wear the heels that Jack had insisted upon) Jack grabbed her by the waist and gave her a quick kiss. "Good luck Red." He said, grinning.
She couldn't hide her smile. But the sight of the men on deck made it disappear. She stopped herself from turning around to get one last glance from Jack. She knew he wouldn't be there.
But there was something wrong. The men standing on the deck were all staring at her; with good reason; she was wearing a dress.
But the Captain wasn't with them. He wasn't at the helm, he wasn't giving orders, and he wasn't in the rigging. Antonio had disappeared.
And then she understood what was going on, before she even felt the metal of the pistol at her side, pushing into the fabric of the dress.
Jack and Anne had both fallen into a trap.
"Don't move, Sparrow." Said Toni from behind her. Anne noticed then that Jack was standing at the railing of the ship, holding a rope, contemplating whether to go over to the Pearl as planned, or do as Toni said. Either way, it was dangerous. Who knows, Toni might actually shoot.
Jack's eyes flicked back and forth from the pistol to Anne. Anne tensed as she felt one of Toni's hands on her shoulder, running his fingers over the red fabric. Suddenly she felt very vulnerable. "This is my personal favorite." Toni said, implying the dress. "And it does suit you."
She met Jack's gaze, already knowing what he was going to do and begging him not to do it.
He swung, landing smoothly onto the deck of the Pearl and instantly shouting orders. Anne did not hear any of this because as soon as Jack swung over, a gunshot was heard. Stumbling backward, Antonio shot her again, within two inches of the first shot.
Both bullets hit exactly where they were aimed and Anne fell against the wall and sank to the floor, bleeding.
Meanwhile, sailors from the Pearl were swinging onto the Revenge and it was a chaotic mess of shouting and fighting.
****~****
A/N what do you think? If you don't review, I might end up killing her. I was thinking about it, but I think the first rule in writing is don't kill your main character.
Ah, who cares? I might kill her anyway. What do you think? Push the little purple button!