A/N – I am soooooooo sorry for the horrendous delay. Brain block, computer virus and too many weekends that involved other people! I only had one weekend out of the entire month to myself… and that weekend was stuck in a horrible place called Writers Block… But I did get rid of my computer virus! Yay me! Anyways – the long awaited thanks:
ShanniC… I'm glad that you found the last part intriguing. That's the way it was supposed to be!! I also find Jack's jealousy and anger amusing. It certainly is a struggle for him. But hopefully, it will be a struggle no longer since… well… read on. You'll find out. Hopefully, your subtle request will be met… perhaps not in the way you wanted, but… I'm evil that way… :) Enjoy!
Cal… Oh my lordy that was a long review!! But I loved every second of it, worry not! Thank you (belatedly) for the belated birthday wishes. I enjoyed the chocolates… no matter how imaginary they were! And with that whole flame/crap issue of before, I feel so much better having someone like you in my corner! And worry not, it hasn't affected my writing (that blame goes to computer viruses and brain block). I'm so glad that you enjoyed the chapter. As for the Flail – I believe your definition stands… but it also means (in verb form) to beat with or (in noun form) a manual thrashing device. So, I'm guessing the connotation they (whoever called him the Flail) were going for was that he was an instrument of terror for the Spanish. But that's just a guess. The source of the name is long past dead so we can't ask them, now can we?? I suppose a ouiji board may work, but I lost mine a while ago. Sorry… :P Anyways, I really hope you like this next part!
Kungfuchick… Thanks for the b-day wishes! I'm very glad that the chapter met your approval. Sorry for the wait & I hope you like the next part!!
Miss Anya… I agree with you that Jack and Ana are the most intriguing characters. Cross your fingers – let's hope with everything in us that she's in the sequel!!
J.L. Dexter… Sings Have I told you lately that I love you? Clears throat and eyes everyone warily And I mean that in the most platonic way possible!! ;) Anyways, thanks for the good word. I look forward to the web-site. I keep checking back every now and again to see what's new. But for now, the muse has been kind to lend me a few words. I hope this chapter is as flawless as the last!! ;)
Wyte-tygre… Yes, yes… normal… mmmmm…. What is normal, you say? And could we possibly consider Jack and/or Ana in that category on a good day?? Well, we'll just have to see where this takes us, aye?
Snarker… Thank you, thank you, and more thank you's… Your kind words mean so much. I, too, am a fanfiction fanatic and I, too, read and analyze every single word. I'm glad this has passed muster. I hope you enjoy the next part as well!
Lisa… A jem? Truly? Awwwww… waves hand shyly You're just saying that… :) And I'm glad you didn't think it 5 hours of wasted time. Thank you for your review and I really hope you like the next part!!
A/N (continued): Sorry these were so long. But that's what I get after such a delay!!
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Jack opened one of his eyes carefully. After looking around the small, dark area without recognition, he opened his other eye. He was lying on the floor and it was moving, swaying and bobbing slightly. Whether it was because of the hard hit he'd taken to the head or because he was currently occupying a cell in the brig of a ship he really couldn't tell. With a small groan, the pirate captain rolled onto his back… and immediate winced as he unwittingly found the place where he'd been abused.
"Bloody hell," he muttered as he reached a hand up to gingerly touch the growing lump. With the pain radiating around the crown of his head, Jack sat up. It was then that he saw Ana. With a quick curse he was on his knees next to the woman. She was lying face down against the hard wood, eyes closed, and an angry bruise forming across her cheek from where she'd been struck. Jack gingerly rolled her over and, supporting himself against the wall of the ship, drew her torso over his outstretched legs.
"Ana…" he said softly as he ran a hand over her uninjured cheek. "Come, Ana. You need to wake up…" The pirate looked around as he hugged Ana's inert form closer to him. "We need to find a way out of here, luv… and we both know you are the brains of this operation…" Half expecting a snort and a concurring retort from the woman, Jack was disappointed when she stayed still. He closed his eyes for a moment, both to focus his slightly blurry vision in the dim light and to calm the rising panic. Without a thought, Jack leaned over and placed a gentle kiss at Ana's temple.
"We'll get out of this, luv. We always do, savvy? But you need to wake up so we can," he murmured against her skin. As if on cue, the woman gave a small moan. Jack loosened his grip and sat back, his eyes watching as the muscles of Ana's face scrunched in discomfort. Another moan escaped her mouth as she slowly sat up. Jack kept his arms around her, just in case she should feel as woozy as he did. Ana opened her eyes slowly and brought a hand up to her forehead. Memory came back to her and she sucked in a breath. With a sharp cry she stood quickly and whirled to look at a still-seated Jack. As soon as she was on her feet, the unconsciousness of moments before caught up with her. Immediately, she fell to her knees, the room spinning dangerously. Jack, sensing his first mate's unease, stood and carefully approached her. He reached out to steady her, but she slapped his hands away. Her eyes were still a bit unfocused as they finally reached him. It took a second or two for her to recognize him, but when she did she let out a relieved breath and relaxed.
"Jack…" she said. Jack smiled a tame smile as he kneeled next to her.
"Aye, luv. It's me," he told her.
"Where are we?" she asked, standing up and using Jack's shoulder for support. Jack looked around the brig for a second before he stood up as well.
"I'd like to say we're aboard the Zephyr… but seein' as our friend Deverill had company, I can't say for certain," he said.
"It's the Zephyr…" Ana said as she, too, looked around the room. She recognized every plank of wood, every rusted cell bar, and every dark corner.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked her. Ana gave him a humorless smirk as she looked up to the ceiling to see the large beam of wood she'd been shackled to.
"Oh yes, very sure," she said as she remembered every second of her torture. With a steadying breath Ana turned to look at Jack. "What are we going to do?" Jack shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not all that sure, luv," he said. "I haven't had time to think." Ana nodded once as she started to pace.
"What about Will… and Norrington? Do you think they'll come after us?" she asked.
"Aye, they'll be looking for us. Seeing as we did steal out of young Turner's without a by-your-leave. Hopefully, they haven't come charging after us without thinking… Will has a foolish tendency to do that at the most inopportune moment," Jack muttered, his eyes scouring their cell for a weakness in the construction. Ana nodded in understanding.
"And since Turner will come running into this fray, surely Elizabeth will come running after him… which will lead the honorable Norrington after both of them," Ana said as she shifted and sat down on the floor.
"Why is it no one follows the bloody code?" Jack grumbled. Ana frowned in thought at his question.
"The Commodore isn't a pirate, the whelp has some unfounded devotion to you, and Elizabeth – the most piratical of the bunch – has some slightly founded devotion to the whelp…" Ana answered simply. Jack leveled her a glare before he sat down as well.
"How the devil are we going to get out of this one, luv?" Jack asked. Ana smiled, but didn't look at him.
"You're solution would be to drink your way out," she said. Jack grinned at her lighthearted comment.
"Well… it is a talent of mine, savvy?" he asked. Ana rolled her eyes.
"Lest we not forget your talent for getting us into trouble. I daresay that and your other 'talents' won't do a bit of good in getting us out of here," she said. Jack pulled his hand down over his eyes as he leaned back against the ship.
"Aye… but it would help us forget our troubles, savvy?" he said with a gold grin as he settled back to wait for what was to happen next. Ana frowned at him, but she too settled back against the wood of the ship. As Jack hummed his pirate ditty quietly, Ana's mind began to work all the ways they could escape.
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"You bloody fool!" Damien yelled to Jonesy as he slammed his hands onto his desk. "You deserve a thousand lashings for this! You've ruined it!" Jonesy stood near the door, taking the verbal thrashing as best he could. His eyes darted around the room, focusing on everything but his captain.
"Ye were found out, Cap'n… she and that Sparrow bloke saw ye with…" he started. Again, Damien slammed his hand on the desk.
"I don't bloody well care who they saw me with, Mr. Jones! I could explain anyone I wished to away due to my business dealings. But you! I cannot explain why you would do what you've done. They are now below decks of my ship being held prisoner. You've altered the course of my plans, Mr. Jones. And for that you'll pay severely. For now, be gone from my sight before I have thought to deal with it presently," Damien told his crew member. His cruel blue gaze watched as the portly crewman scrambled out of the door. Damien held his breath for a second as he gained his composure. He let it out slowly as he crossed his cabin to the mirror hanging on the wall. A steady hand reached up and straightened the collar of his shirt and pressed over the lapel of his jacket. After careful inspection, he turned on his heel to face his silent second in command.
"Take care of Jones. See that he is punished for his mishandling of what seemed to be a thought in his head. Then, send him to the Falcon. It would be unwise to keep him aboard my ship when we have such prized guests…" he said. The crewman stood straight.
"Aye, cap'n," he said before turning to leave. When he was left on his own, Damien clasped his hands behind his back and moved to look out his cabin window.
"Now… Captain Sparrow… and my dear Marie. What is it that I should do with you?" he asked to the empty room.
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Ana and Jack looked up at the ceiling as they heard a commotion above decks and then looked to each other.
"Do you suppose our good captain has given command to weigh anchor?" Jack asked. Ana's eyes went to the ceiling again.
"If he has, then our situation will have decidedly gotten worse," Ana commented.
"Aye, I'll agree to that. It's the middle of the night. We set sail, no one will know where we'll end up," he said, panic only tickling the edges of his mind. Silence fell over the two of them as they looked to each other. Ana smiled softly at her captain.
"There are smart people at the helm of the Intrepid and the Pearl. It may take longer than we like, but they'll search us out. In the meantime, we have to keep ourselves from being shoved overboard. Do you think you can handle that?" she asked with a smirk. Jack looked at her innocently.
"Whatever do you mean, luv?" he asked. Ana shook her head.
"Your tendency to be… you, seems to get you and whoever's with you into trouble," she said. Jack looked to think for a second, a finger to his chin.
"Well," he said after a moment. "I shall keep my marvelously witty tongue in check and my adventurous spirit curbed, savvy? I shall be a picture of restraint, luv." Ana let out a little snort.
"I'll believe it when I see it, Sparrow," she said. Jack smiled.
"Captain, if you please. Captain Sparrow," he said with a beseeching bow. Ana lifted an eyebrow at his correction as if to prove her point. Jack had the grace to look the smallest bit shamed as he straightened. He put his hands together and gave her a quick bow of his head. "Apologies… The restraint commences… at present…"
"I'd say that you should keep your mutinous mouth shut, but I don't think it would be possible for you," she said. Jack, to his credit, stayed silent, but gave her a healthy glare. Silence fell over the two pirates as they absorbed the situation. Finally, Jack asked a question that had been weighing on his mind.
"What about your Renegade, luv?" he asked, coming back to the subject at hand and wondering at her ship's allegiance.
"I'm not worried about me ship. Rog will know what to do. If he sees the Zephyr sail out, and the Pearl as well, he'll know to follow at a distance. He's loyal to me. I trust him," she said. Jack gave her a wry glance.
"You trust him?" he asked. Ana smiled again.
"Aye, I trust him. Because he doesn't trust you," she said. Jack gave her a smirk as silence fell yet again.
"Jack… what if…" Ana started, but was cut off as the door to the brig was opened and footsteps were heard descending the stairs. Jack let out a sigh of slight relief, silently thanking whoever had interrupted his first mate, knowing that she was about to say something morbid, something that he was sure to hate. At first sight of their captor, Jack went to the bars and gave the man a glare.
"Well, well, well… look what the seadogs dragged in. Naught but a pompous looking pirate. Keeping us for long, mate?" Jack asked sarcastically. Ana laid a hand on Jack's arm to keep him from saying any more that might anger the captain.
"I'd like to add more to Jack's condemnation, but I'd rather know what you're to do with us," Ana told him, a wary look in her eye. Damien didn't give Jack the time of day, but he smiled lightly to Ana.
"I'm here to release you, Marie. This has all been a terrible misunderstanding," Damien said. Ana's chin rose.
"What have we misunderstood?" she asked harshly. Damien smiled at her manner.
"Marie, my dear, you remember Jonesy, am I correct?" he asked. Ana narrowed her eyes as the captain thought through the tale he was going to spin.
"Aye. I remember Jonesy," she confirmed.
"Well," the man said, pacing slightly in front of the bars, hands clasped behind his back. "The man committed a mutinous act against his captain, his ship and the loyal crewmembers aboard it. He and a few of his low-belly allies decided to disobey my orders and take the infamous Captain Sparrow as a captive… for the price on his head, you see. And since you were unlucky enough to be in the man's company, there was a price on your lovely head as well. Thankfully, my associates and I came across this dastardly plan before they could carry the two of you off." Jack let out a disbelieving snort.
"Oh aye… and that's why we're tucked away here, locked in the hold of your bloody ship," the pirate said with derision.
"It was to keep the two of you safe until Jones and his scandalous bunch had been… dealt with," the captain told the two of them. Jack let out another snort.
"And I'm the well-to-do King of England," he said sarcastically, giving a slight bow. Damien kept a tight smile on his face, but his cold blue eyes were anything but amused.
"I do apologize for the slight mistreatment you've encountered," Damien said as he nodded to the crewman to unlock the cell. Jack stood, warily watching the impeccably mannered man.
"We accept your apology, Captain," Ana said, startling Jack with her sudden formality and change in demeanor. A veiled look of horror crossed the pirate's face when he realized that Ana had bought the elaborate story. Damien just smiled another pinched smile.
"Wonderful. Now, let's get the both of you into more comfortable quarters and see about getting you back to where each of you belong," he said. Jack's eyes narrowed as the man held out his hand to Ana. When she stepped forward to take the proffered hand, Jack stepped in between the two.
"What are you doing, Ana? You can't trust him. He's the one that's behind all of this!" he yelled. Damien let his hand drop, and stood idly by as the two pirates prepared to argue.
"I have more reason to trust him than I do of you Captain Sparrow. It would seem to me that Damien has been hospitable enough to make sure we're cared for in light of his crew mate's mutiny. He could very well have turned you, us, over to the Navy," Ana said, reaching out to take Damien's previously offered hand and cutting off all chance for the pirate to argue back. Jack frowned, trying to grasp what, exactly, had happened as his first mate stepped out of the cell and next to Deverill.
"Come, Marie. I will show you to the guest quarters. You will find it to be much better accommodations than your previous ones," Damien said as he escorted the woman to the stairs. Jack stepped out of the unlocked cell, a wary look crossing his face. As he watched Ana ascend the stairs, a quick, meaningful look thrown over her shoulder, Jack then realized that she'd called him Captain Sparrow quite pointedly. After a moment of thought, her reasoning hit him. Since she'd woken up, she'd continually called him Jack. She remembered enough, it seemed… and she was now playing Deverill for all she was worth. But what made her plan so dangerous was the fact that Jack suspected that the good Captain Deverill was playing them in return. Who had the upper hand, at this precise moment, remained to be seen. And that's what worried him as he followed the pair up the stairs at a slower pace.
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A clearing of the throat caused Norrington to look up from the charts that lay in front of him. A slight smile came over the Commodore's patrician features.
"Mr. Gibbs. It's been a long while since I've seen you face to face. I'd have to venture you've been avoiding me," the military man said. Gibbs' portly face broke into a grin.
"Oh, aye. One tends to do that, Commodore, when there be a price on his head," the quartermaster said. The Commodore stood straight, the smile widening.
"That tends to happen, Mr. Gibbs, when one deserts their post for a life of piracy…" Norrington said lightly back. Gibbs cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter.
"Well, yes… but not to slight your person, sir, there was more adventure along that avenue thereabouts," Gibbs said. Norrington didn't take offense. He knew that there was a different motivator for each person on the way they lived their lives.
"And I suppose the lure of treasure and more money you'd ever make serving His Majesty was a factor in turning to the criminal life," the Commodore commented. Gibbs just smiled.
"Well then," Norrington continued. "I suppose your presence means that you have information for me?"
"Aye, sir. Will and Elizabeth are aboard the Pearl for now, waiting to shove off. The Renegade is set to sail in our wake. The young miss told me to inform you that we are set to sail due east… to Tortuga," Gibbs informed. Norrington looked to think for a second before he stepped closer to the quartermaster.
"What makes you think Deverill will sail to Tortuga?" he asked. Gibbs cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Jack is infamous for getting his self into trouble. When he says to do things on his own, I try to give him his liberty, but I oft be his shadow… without his knowing, o'course," Gibbs said. "And this time, when he got himself and the lass into a spot of trouble with Cap'n Deverill's lot, I saw the very blighter conversin' with the likes o' a fair to detestable chap." Norrington's ears were perked at the entrance of another player in these revenge games.
"Who?" he asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know, but needing to ask all the same.
"Jean Nau… The Flail himself, by God's toes…" Gibbs said.
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A/N – Well… how was that? Shorter than I would have liked, and definitely shorter than the last post, but what can I do? shrugs If I try to force my brain to work any harder it might lose the will to write. And we don't want that, do we?? Hopefully I'll get another post up in the next week or so, but I'll deny I said that later should I not. 'Kay? Anywho… click the button on the bottom and let me know what you thought!!