The Rose Chronicals: No Time for Pirates.

An ongoing romantic webnovel featuring Disney's Captain Jack Sparrow.

Chapter two: Captain Jack Sparrow

The winning smile Rose had on her face now had the feel of a death
mask, frozen in macabre glee. Not trusting her eyes nor her ears, she
quickly slammed the door shut again, turning to face Blackart, hoping
he had not seen inside.

"Dr. O'Brian!" he sputtered confusedly, "Who WAS that?" Ooops. He had
seen. Damn. Think fast, girl.

Rose tried to affect a nonchalent aire, shaking her head slightly,
smiling, placing her hand casually on her hip. "Who was....who?"

Blackart stared at this normally sane woman. "Are you telling me that
was a ghost I saw in there?"

Rose laughed nervously. Her hand fluttering in the direction of the cabin "Oh, the...uh...piratey
looking.....guy in there? Well...heh...you know....MAYBE he was!" She
nodded quickly hoping her face looked more confident in that lie than
she felt. "I mean....you know....otherwise...sirens and alarms and all
kinds of other craaazy things would have gone off if some stranger
broke into the ship!" she continued quickly, cutting Blackart off
before he could register his doubt.

"Tell you what I'm going to do," she looked back at the door and again at
Blackart, "I'm....going to go on in there....and I'll figure out what's
going on...so...if, uh, you'll just...um...you know...WAIT out
here...we'll get this all straightened out" Her hands flew through the
air, emphasizing her points.

She turned to open the door, feeling Blackart's hand on shoulder,
pulling her back. "If you think for one minute I am going to let you
go in there...why he could be dangerous! A lunatic!" Rose straighted
to her full height (at 5'6" she was hardly an Amazon, but she was still
a full 3 inches taller than Blackart), and turned to face him.

"Mr. Blackart, if there was someone in there, and he was dangerous, I
think I can rely on my Kenpo skills to back me up. You know I never
take foolish chances".

Blackart blinked and considered. Not a normally brave soul, he was
more than happy to let her face the danger."Oh, right. Of course. You
do hold that blackbelt, don't you?"

Rose smiled grimly, "2nd degree, actually. So, just wait out here...and
you know....it should all be really...." she turned to the door and
took a deep breath, "really...really..fine!"

With a speed that suprised even her, Rose quickly opened the door and
shut it behind her, locking it for good measure. Candles had now been
lit, casting an eerie glow about the cabin. Waves of warm light danced
over everything, and there before her, was Captain Jack Sparrow.

Her breaths came in short, shallow gasps. He said nothing, his
eyebrows arching slightly in question. She took two steps closer to
him, not daring to speak or blink, for fear the vision would fade.

With more than a little apprehension, she reached out to touch him,
fully expecting her hand to pass completely through his form. A quiet
shriek of suprise escaped her lips as her hands came into contact with
warm skin. She jerked back as though burned and her eyes widened with
shock.

The spectre chuckled, a low rumbling purr from deep within his chest,
"Now Rose, me love. If you be needin' to touch me, I know a place I'd
rather be touched.." he stepped forward suddenly, and Rose found her
self practically stumbling as she stepped quickly back.

"God! Jack! It is you, isn't it?!" she finally found her voice, "but
how...when...where...why!?" her mind swirled in a million directions and
her voice failed her. Jack took the opportunity to move closer to her.
Reaching out, he took her hand, and with his free arm, snaked it
around her waist, pulling her to his chest.

Snapping back to reality, she looked into his eyes and recognized the
lust that shone in them. Forcefully, she pushed him away, her hands
fluttered about, swiftly avoiding his attempts to recapture her as she
backed away, her words tumbling out all at once, "Nononono! No none of
that...God. Cuz...cuz, you're here, and....how!? and I'm HERE, and
right...and Blackart...god. Okay, okay okay okay" She looked at Jack,
who had stopped his pursuit to watch his beautiful lass as she
apparently had lost her mind.

"Okay." Rose took a deep breath, "Okay. Jack..listen to me. Are you
listening to me?" she demanded as she watched him stroke his beaded
beard thoughtfully. "Aye lass," he purred, taking a step toward her.

"No! Jack, look at me!" Her index fingers punctured the air for
emphasis, "Focus! Okay? Now listen..." she looked back at the door,
"I am going to be doing some....lying, here, and what I need you to do,"
she swung back to Jack, "is to go along with me...you
know...lie....and...stuff. Like you always do! Got it?" her hands
clenched into tight fists. "Aye, luv," he replied, amusement dancing
in his eyes as he watched his wild and crazy Irish Rose.

Rose smiled then, but wasn't all that confident Jack would behave as
she asked. Blackart had starting knocking, his muffled voice sounding
his concern through the cypress planks of the door.
With one movement, Rose threw open the door with a theatrical flourish.

Blackart all but tumbled in, quickly regaining his balance as he
stared in astonishment at the flamboyant figure before him.

"Arthur Blackart," Rose paused and took a deep breath, feeling all the
world like she was about to take a leap off of a rocky cliff. "May I
introuduce to you..." she turned, her hands sweeping grandly through
the air, "CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW! The most feared pirate of the seven
seas!"

TO BE CONTINUED....