Michelle continued crying on the floor despite Elizabeth and Will's attempts to get her to stop. She wouldn't eat or talk or sleep; she'd just sit there by the door crying, wishing it would open so she could go see Jack. A little while before they reached Port Royal, she collapsed from exhaustion. Elizabeth and Will ran over to her and tried to get her to wake up, with no success. She was breathing, but the two were still worried about her.
In Port Royal, Robert paced on the fort nervously. He wished he could have gone to Tortuga to look for Michelle, but he had to stay behind. They were taking longer than he thought they would. Fortunately, he heard someone yell, "Sail ho!" He looked over the wall and saw the HMS Expeditious coming. He ran down to the docks and waited to see if they found Michelle. Relief passed over him when he saw Michelle walking between Will and Elizabeth, but that feeling soon left when he saw that Michelle was using her friends as supports. "Michelle!" he called and ran over to her. "I was so worried-" He stopped talking when he saw that her eyes were bloodshot and she barely seemed awake. "What happened?" he asked.
"Long night," Will said, brushing past him. He didn't feel like explaining Michelle's situation to Robert, and Michelle needed to be taken home as soon as possible. The trio made their way down the streets to Michelle's house. Elizabeth opened the door and got Michelle's bed ready while Will carried her over to it and set her down. "Go get William from my father's," Elizabeth told Will. "I'll watch over Michelle."
Will gave his wife a light kiss. "I'll come back here later," he said. Will left, leaving Elizabeth all by herself. She sighed, looked down at her now sleeping friend, and left to make Michelle something to eat.
****************
Robert watched Michelle leave in her poor state. He walked over to the captain and asked, "What happened to her?"
The captain shrugged his shoulders. "When we took her away from Sparrow, she started to cry hysterically. She didn't stop the entire trip back here. Don't know why."
"Thank you," Robert said and walked away. 'Sparrow started this,' he thought to himself. His blood started to boil. It was that damned pirate's fault. Robert turned around and marched over to the fort's jail where Jack had been moved. As he approached the door, two men, one with a bloodied lip and the other with a black eye, walked out. Jack hadn't been willing to cooperate with them. Robert stormed down the stairs and walked over to Jack's cell, where he was laying down with his hat covering his face. "Sparrow," Jack moved his hat and looked up at Robert. "What did you do to my fiancée?"
Jack put his hat back down. "If she slept with another man, it wasn't me."
"Don't get smart with me. What did you do to Michelle?"
Jack looked back up at the sound of Michelle's name. "So you're her fiancé," he said, studying him. "No wonder she's so miserable."
Robert, in a surge of anger, hit the bars of the cell. "Don't spread your vile lies you pirate. Now tell me, what did you do to her?"
Jack smiled at him suggestively. "A lot of things that she was more than happy to receive."
That pushed Robert over the edge. "If I hear that you violated her in any way, I will personally peel the skin off your bones and feed the remains to the sharks."
"I did no such thing," Jack replied, not scared by his empty threat. "I, unlike some people in here, am a gentleman."
"Ha, the day a pirate is a gentleman is the day Hell will freeze over," Robert said with a cruel laugh. "I'll find out what you did to her eventually. Mark my words, Sparrow." With that, he exited the room, leaving Jack worrying about what was wrong with Michelle.
****************
Michelle woke up to the smell of warm bread wafting through the house. Her stomach growled loudly. She hadn't realized how hungry she was before. She sat up, but the fast action made her head start to pound. When the pain subsided, she carefully stood up and slowly made her way down the hall to the kitchen. "You're awake," Elizabeth said when she saw Michelle in the doorway. "Need any help?"
"No, I'm fine," Michelle replied. She walked over to the table and sat down, where some freshly baked bread, cut apples, and water were waiting for her. She devoured the whole thing in less than a minute. "How long have I been asleep for?" she asked Elizabeth.
"A couple of hours." Elizabeth brought the rest of the loaf over to the table, which Michelle helped herself to.
"Thank you Elizabeth," Michelle said.
"I'm just happy you're alright," Elizabeth said. "Will and I were so worried about you. You weren't in a good state when we left the Expeditious."
Michelle's face dropped at the name of the ship. She had completely forgotten. "How's Jack?" Michelle asked.
"I don't know, I haven't been down the fort yet," Elizabeth responded. Michelle started to get up. "You're not thinking of going there, are you?" Elizabeth asked.
"I have to go make sure he's ok," Michelle replied. She walked over to the door, her footsteps more even now because of the food she'd eaten and the determination in her. "Michelle," Elizabeth yelled, but Michelle had already slammed the door closed to her house.
Michelle walked all the way over to the fort. Thankfully, when she got there, the guards were changing, so no one was in front of the door to the jail. Michelle opened the door and walked down the stairs. She looked down the row of cells and saw Jack sitting against the wall as he had before when Robert had come to see him. She quickly ran over to him. "Jack," she cried.
He looked up at her and jumped on to his feet when he saw her. "Michelle! Are you alright?" he asked, concern in his eyes.
"I won't be until you're safe," she said, holding his hands through the bars. "I am so sorry this happened." A tear ran down her cheek.
He gently wiped her tear away. "You did the best you could. This isn't your fault."
"Oh Jack, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Nothing will. I promise." He brought her face to his and placed a soft kiss on her lips. They broke apart abruptly, though, at the sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening. "You better tell me now, Sparrow, because-" Robert stopped mid sentence and stared at Michelle and Jack. "Michelle, what are you doing here?"
"She wanted to see me, so if you'd be so kind, we'd like some privacy," Jack told Robert. Robert got mad and stomped over to Jack. He pushed Michelle over and said, "Why would she ever want to see you?"
"Because I treat her right and don't push her to the floor like you," Jack replied coldly. Robert looked over and saw Michelle getting up from the ground.
"I'm so sorry Michelle. I didn't mean to," Robert said.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked, concern in his voice.
"Yes, I'm fine," Michelle said. "I'll just have a bruise later."
Jack turned his eyes on Robert. He stepped back a couple of steps, intimidated because Jack's eyes were full of anger. "You're lucky I'm behind here or else you'd be bruised as well."
Robert didn't doubt it. But, he wasn't going to let Jack know that. "I'd like to see you try. The whole Navy would be on you before your fist would land, and all of them would be more than happy to carry your sentence out."
"What sentence?" Michelle asked.
"Why, every pirate's sentence," Robert said. "He is to be hanged."
Michelle's hands flew to her throat at the thought of the noose. "You can't be serious," Michelle said, wishing it were a joke. But she knew that was the law, and neither of the men denied it. "No," Michelle said, stepping backwards. "Can't you do something?" she asked Robert.
"No, and even if I could, why would I?"
Michelle bumped in to a table behind her. She turned around and put her hands on the table to support her. Jack couldn't die. There had to be something she could do to get him out. She thought, but couldn't think of anything. Her eyes roamed around the table, just to see if anything would inspire her, when she saw Jack's gun. She slowly reached out and picked it up. "Michelle, what are you doing?" Robert called out from behind her. She turned around and pointed the gun at Robert. Jack had a shocked look on his face, and Robert was starting to walk towards her.
"Don't come near me," Michelle said, cocking the gun. He quickly froze where he was.
"Put the gun down," Robert instructed. Michelle, however, didn't listen.
"Robert, I want you to promise me you'll get Jack out of jail and on his ship, or else I will pull this trigger."
"But Michelle," Robert began, "I don't think I can do it."
"Well then, I guess I'll just have to kill you." Robert could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't joking.
"Fine, I'll try to do something," he said.
"Promise me you'll get him out of here," Michelle said.
"Yes, I promise I will. Now can you put the gun down?"
Michelle slowly dropped the gun to the floor. When it left her fingertips, Robert quickly walked over to her and grabbed her hand. "I think you've seen Mr. Sparrow for long enough and should go back home," he said, dragging her to the exit. Before they turned the corner, Michelle glanced back at Jack. "Bye," she whispered before she was pulled up the stairs.
Once they had gotten outside, Michelle started talking to Robert right away. "I expect to see Jack out of jail soon. If you don't find a way for him to leave unharmed, I will kill you. A life for a life."
Robert may have been shocked, but he was still capable of some clever thinking himself. "And if I do get him free, you have to marry me. This time, without any escape attempts."
Michelle thought about this for a minute. She wanted Jack to be safe, but she would rather be fed alive to a herd of hungry lions than marry Robert. However, she felt Jack's life was more important, so she said, "Agreed. I'll give you four days, no more. If Jack isn't out of here by then, you'll be sorry." With that, she turned around and walked back to her house.
On her way out, she caught sight of Elizabeth. "Elizabeth!" she yelled.
Elizabeth turned around and looked relieved to see Michelle standing there. "I was looking for you, but no one had seen you," she said after she had ran over to join her friend. "So, what happened?"
The two walked back to Michelle's house as Michelle told Elizabeth everything that had happened in the jail. When Michelle got to the part where Robert pushed her, Elizabeth interrupted. "That's terrible! Are you okay?" After reassuring Elizabeth many times that she was fine, she continued. By the time they reached her house, Michelle had finished her story. Elizabeth was stunned. "I can't believe you threatened him like that. Do you think he's going to let Jack go?"
"I hope so. I wasn't lying when I said I would kill him. But he said he couldn't, so I don't know."
Elizabeth shook her head. "I still can't believe you threatened to kill him."
Michelle gave her a small smile. "Must've been the pirate inside me."
****************
Two days after their argument, Robert showed up at Michelle's. "What do you want?" Michelle asked grumpily when she opened the door and saw who it was.
"I'm here to announce that Sparrow has been set free."
Michelle's eyes grew wider. "Are you serious?"
Robert gave her an all knowing smile. "We sent him on a ship to Tortuga last night. He is no longer a prisoner at the fort."
"I'd like to see for myself, if you don't mind," Michelle said, stepping outside and closing her front door.
Robert just shrugged. "If you want." The two of them walked down to the fort in silence. When they reached the door leading to the cells, a man guarding the entrance stopped them. "Sorry, but you're not allowed to go down there miss."
"It's alright," Robert said. "She's with me." The guard nodded and stepped back so they could pass. Michelle ran down and turned the corner only to find that Jack, just like Robert said, wasn't there. She searched the whole line of cells. She saw the usual petty criminals, but didn't see Jack. She walked back to Robert, who had a triumphant look on his face. "I told you he wasn't here. Now, I've kept up my end of the bargain, and now you have to."
"I'm well aware of that," Michelle snapped. "I'm a woman of my word." Robert offered her his arm, which she accepted reluctantly. Michelle walked away with him like a criminal being led to his execution.
****************
Jack wasn't in Tortuga drinking to his heart's content, nor was he sailing on a ship. In fact, he was far from it. At the time Robert had led Michelle down to the jail, Jack was locked in a room at the fort with no windows and only one door, which was guarded by an armed officer. Robert had told the Commodore that Jack had "messed with Michelle's mind" and "was harming her health." He convinced Norrington to lock Jack up somewhere secret so Michelle couldn't see him and start getting panicky. He also persuaded him to schedule a private hanging for Jack on the day of his and Michelle's wedding. "No one can know about this," Robert stressed over and over. He didn't want Michelle to hear one word about it.
[Gasp! Robert is very sneaky. Over the weekend I saw Edward Scissorhands, and it was really good! It was a lot different than I thought it was going to be though. And Johnny didn't talk a lot. But Edward was so sweet! I almost cried at the end. What that has to do with Robert being sneaky, I don't know, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. Now it's time for the review responses. I only got four reviews this time (five less than chapter 8). For those of you who did review, you all get cookies!
XPUNKROCKGODDESSX: If it was over, I would've definitely told you. There are actually a couple of more chapters left (now that I think about it, there will probably be two more left. I'm not ready for it to be over!)
Magicgirl810: Thank you. I try to update as soon as possible, which is usually every weekend. I'm a day late on this one.
TriGemini: Sorry, but for now it doesn't look like it's going to be good. But have faith in me. The ending will be good, and hopefully won't disappoint anyone.
Mer^2y: I have it up now! So don't bug me at lunch tomorrow about not posting. And don't hit me anymore either, now that I think about it (lol just kidding… not really, but it was a joke. Yeah.).
If you want a cookie, you better click that review button and tell me how you liked this chapter! And thank you to Chelles. Without her, this story would have quite a few careless errors. R/R!]