Chapter Six, The Assassin Vampires and A Choice Given

As Buffy turned and headed for the cabin she is currently sharing with Ana Maria, a sudden low growl captured both hers and Jack's attention. Their heads snapped towards where the sound came from, and found out that it came from a couple of people who's attires can be mistaken them for a buccaneer. Neither Buffy or Jack have seen the couple before. But according to Buffy's buzzing Slayer senses, they're are no ordinary people that they are seeing. The bumpiness on their forehead was enough to show her that fact.

"Slayer, we've come to kill you. You and your darling little friend know too much about the Box. Milady wouldn't be very pleased with this, oh no," a vampire said in a mocking tone, earning him a very annoyed scowl and a growl from a pissed off Slayer.

"Slayer? Now luv, I thought ye've ne'er been 'ere before," Jack confusedly asked her, when the vampire called her that. "And what's with all o' tha ..face? Birth defects, eh?" he teased them, evidently missing their glowing yellow eyes that darted towards him.

"You're next pirate! And hold your cursed tongue behind that foul mouth of yours!" another threatened Jack, who in return raised his hands in defeat with a bit of a pout; sarcasm evident through his actions. But his mood quickly changed when he realized that they were the ones who were trespassing in his ship.

"'Ey! Yer tha ones who's in me boat, ye scallywags! So I wouldn't think it'll be wise fer ye to insult tha captain o' this ship, savvy?" he threatened him, but the vampires just gave him the brush-off, infuriating him even more. Ignoring Jack for now, Buffy turned her attention at the soon-to-be-dust undead vamps.

"Jeez. You know how lame that gets? Have the thought and meaning of 'originality' ever crossed you guys' minds? I mean, hello? 'We've come to kill you'?," she said this last part by making an almost identical accent to the vamp who said those words. "A girl can get bored with those lame threats, you know," as she told them about originality, one of the vamps took out a wicked looking dagger, its blade reflecting the moon's light making it much more malicious than ever.

"Uh, Buffy? I don't think these nice gentlemen would like tah 'ave a chat wi' ye 'bout bein' unique," Jack whispered as he walked towards her. He kept his guard up, even if he had taken down much more and meaner looking men and have lived to tell the tale. Somehow these men gave out the vibes that gave his intuition a bit of a kick on the defensive side. Before the he could react on touching the hilt of his blade, the weird looking men decided to launch themselves at Buffy and Jack, starting their predictable fight.

Jack was forced to do a hand-to-hand combat with his opponent because of the fact that he hasn't been able to reach his weapon. He was doing really well under the circumstances, he thought. Knowing every single creak, rope, wood, and pole of the Black Pearl is giving him a great advantage on beating his foe.

Jack grabbed a rope, and dislodged his opponent's weapon by throwing the hard knot at the end at his hand. The vampire growled with fury, but kept attacking the pirate. Jack swung his fists hard and fast. There wasn't any formalities, or fancy techniques of movements on his arms but they still effectively landed on its target and protected him from blows meant for his chest. His movements were just fists and whatever he can get his hands on, and that is what is making this particular brawl thrilling that his other ones.

Jack suddenly felt a kick on his stomach, making him double over and having the perfect chance for the vampire to haul him up and throw him at one of the poles. Bending down and clutching his now sore stomach, he got a perfect view on how Buffy was fighting, but the vampire blocked his view. The vampire clutched his shirt and lifted him up, while he pressed Jack's back at the pole, leaving him trying to gasp some air as his opponent's fists were now against his neck.

"Are ye sure ye wouldn't want this cleared over a nice cuppa?" Sparrow gasped and cheekily smiled, while he looked down at him. His response from him was another growl, in which quickly turned into a grunt and then falling down; leaving Jack to drop off from the height he was pushed upon. He suddenly saw Buffy standing up, her hands on her waist and giving him a smirk along with a raised eyebrow. He saw the guy unconscious with a dark bruise appearing at the side of his face.

"You know in some countries, people consider that as 'being a weasel'," Buffy handed out her hand to him, helping him stand up.

"An' ye know, in some cases, tha' can be tha difference between dead an' alive," Jack made up his excuse as he grabbed her hand.

Something suddenly happened so quick that he just barely saw it coming. The person Buffy was fighting suddenly regain consciousness from the blow he received earlier, and came towards Buffy so fast that even she didn't see it coming. Domivan, the vampire she fought, still had the dagger he carried, and quickly stabbed the weapon in Buffy's back. The Slayer's shoulders arched back, her face was written with surprise and confusion rather than pain. She looked down with a small whimper, and just saw the tip of the blade retract from her flesh.

"That was my only top!" Buffy wailed with anger. She turned around with a surge of energy, and punched his face. The pain she was carrying was bearable but excruciating, and Buffy went down on her knees, and with the last of her efforts, grabbed the nearest wood and threw it with a deadly aim, turning Domivan into dust as his heart came in contact with the wood. But that was all she was able to do. The blade thankfully didn't hit any vital organs, but it was enough to knock her unconscious for the night.

Jack's eyes flared with anger as he saw the wound that appeared after the blade retracted. He was left astounded that Buffy could have still been able to fight with that kind of injury, but was more flabbergasted at what happened after Buffy jammed the wooden stick into the person's heart. His trance quickly finished as he saw Buffy fall down on her knees and saw the other person he fought a while ago, get up, but Jack noticed that he was still in a daze. Getting a hunch from Buffy's display awhile ago, Jack got the same wood Buffy used, and staked the other person accurately in the chest. After he retracted the stake, his opponent also turned into dust as the wind picked up and blew him away.

"Well, tha's interesting'," he looked down at Buffy, and saw a pool of blood that was already coming out of her. "An' yer gonna 'ave some explanin' tah do, luv." With that, he carried Buffy into his room and took out some gauze he kept for these reasons.

          "HEY! Watch it buster!" Jack nearly flew ten feet in the air when Buffy suddenly yelled at him. He had started to clean her wound about fifteen minutes ago, and all the while she was out cold even when he placed her on his bed. Just when he placed on some alcohol, naming-ly rum for he couldn't find anything that would be better, Buffy suddenly jumped back alive and startled him with her yell.

"Didn't take ye fer a screamer, luv," Jack said this slyly, after he took big gulps of air to calm his racing heart down. He pointed out his comment by pretending to clean out something in his ear with his pinky. He placed a torn cloth in his mouth, while his hands applied pressure to the wound, making Buffy flinch from discomfort.

"You're a pig, Sparrow," Buffy paused for a minute to take all what happened before in again. "How bad is it?"

"Depends on who ye askin'," Jack replied back. She flinched again, biting out the whimper that was threatening to come out as Jack applied some more alcohol. She raised herself up by using her elbows to support her weight, giving her more of a clear view of what Jack was doing. Buffy looked at the bottle at where the alcohol came from, and got angry as she read the brand. "You're placing in RUM?!"

"It's no' like I 'ave a choice, pet. There was some pressin' matters on tha line, naming one of 'em is yer life," Jack defended his motives and favorite beverage before going back to wrapping her wound with the torn cloth.

"Yes, I get that part. But why rum?" Buffy groaned as she remembered what the drink caused her to do only last night. Jack didn't answer that question because he was so tied up at the recent upturns of events. Like the fact that those men they fought quickly turned into dust after they killed them, and that Buffy isn't dead yet with her kind of wound. Buffy looked at him when she realized that he wasn't answering. She knew that with the question she asked was bound to have a smart-ass reply. Jack's face looked like he was concentrating intently at dressing up her wound, but Buffy knew that his mind was thinking about what happened awhile ago.

"Jack?" she asked, finally capturing his attention. "Wha' was tha' all 'bout, Buffy? Tha whole dustin' after we killed 'em bit?"

"You mean those evil dudes? Um…birth defects?" Buffy wanted and needed to play defensive. Even though she did tell who and what she is to Ana Maria, she knew that she could trust the Spanish pirate. But Jack is in another matter.

True that Jack hasn't said or acted anyway that would have make Buffy think twice about staying in the Black Pearl, but from what she had heard about Jack from Ana Maria, she did think about where she would be placed when she revealed the whole new world of vampires and apocalypse in every year to a person who's only goal is to get as much gold from the Caribbean as possible.

"Don't gimme tha bull, Slayer. An' wha' tha 'ell does tha' mean anyhow? Slayer of wha? People? Cows? There won't be any 'scapes fer ye this time, Buffy. Ye'll be comin' clean once an' fer all," Jack suddenly got pissed off at not having his answers answered. He was so used to being on top of things, knowing what his comrades or his opponents don't before they do. But the whole people turning into dust just screwed up everything he thought he knew about the world.

"And this is coming from a pirate who has never had come clean in any form of matter," Buffy raised her eyebrow keeping her voice even. As much as she was surprised on seeing Jack like this was a bit unnerving, she needed to keep it cool. She knew that if she doesn't, a fight might break out, and she was in no condition to put up a good fight with her kind of wound.

"Tha's not tha point, Buffy! I need some questions tha need answerin' an' yer not leavin' this boat or cabin 'til I get 'em!" Jack finally stood up and started to pace around the room. Buffy knew by now that she won't be able to leave the room without answering some edited truths. And God knows that if she resist, Jack may be forced to get his answers from her by force and she also knows that she won't be able to give out a good fight in her condition. Her wound is surprisingly taking a toll on her, and it still hurts like heck even with her Slayer healing ability.

"I know I won't. But there are some questions that can't and won't be answered by me. There's a lot in this world you don't know about, Sparrow. Are you sure you want most of your questions answered, even if it means that it'll change your life forever?" Buffy gave him neither she nor her friends a choice they never received. She was staring at him intently when he suddenly stopped pacing and looked at her. With a simple nod, Buffy braced her throat for the long explanation.

A/N: Sorry guys, gotta break it off here. Sorry about the great lateness of this chapter, and hope that you guys still review. *Hopin', hopin', hopin'*. Anyways, enough of that. I wanted to do something fun with these author notes by the way.

Starting of now, I wanna pose up a trivia game. Topics for the first couple of chapters are Buffy and/or Pirates of course, and I'd also be delighted if somebody sends in a question they wanna put up. Doesn't have to be those people who answered the trivia; you guys have a choice if you wanna answer.

Answer at least four questions right and the first eight lucky winners will have their name posted up in bold letters on the next chapter plus the answer to the last chapter's question. Please, MAIL IT TO ME! You guys might not want your answers copied by someone else by looking at the review section now would you?

Simply title your mail with 'Answers' and send it to hobbes288@aol.com. Also please continue on sending in a review on the review thingy in the site instead of in the mail, cause hehe, let's just say I need it that way, savvy? Well here goes:

1. Write the first three verses of Willow's 'Will-be-Done' spell.

2. In what episode did Dawn first appear?

3. How many arrows were shot through Spike during the Thanksgiving episode?

4. Who were the two girls in Tortuga who slapped Jack in the movie?

5. What did Jack describe his Black Pearl while he and Elizabeth were stranded on the uncharted island?

Remember everyone! Mail in your answers to me and send in your reviews by pressing the purple box down there! Special thanks to everyone who have been faithfully reviewing, and to everyone who has.