Disclaimer: Still don't own the dashingly handsome Jack Sparrow. I just dream that I do.

AN: Reviewers rock! Seriously, they do! They inspire me to write more chapters, and to make them better and better. I love you all! And I'm sorry about the lateness of this chapter. One explanation: School sucks! Enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 5: Discoveries and Deals:

Angela's POV:

The day after escaping the Navy, Jack and his crew headed towards the galley for breakfast, stopping in their tracks when they spotted all of the glorious food decorating the galley's table. There were sausages, scrambled eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes, all piled high on large plates and enough to feed an army (or at least a group of hungry pirates)! In less time than it took to blink twice, the group was at the table, practically attacking their food, all of them talking, laughing, and yelling while they ate.

Meanwhile, Angela was in the kitchen, washing the dishes she had used to make breakfast for the crew. She was glad that she had already eaten, because there probably wouldn't be anything left after Jack and the crew were done! She was also glad that she had this time alone with her thoughts. The young witch knew that the crew was suspicious about her premonitions and abilities, and that if they knew that she was a witch, they would kill her faster than she could blink. As she worked her way through the enormous pile of dishes, she came to the conclusion that the only way to prevent her execution at the hands of the crew would be to stop using her gifts.

'Then that's what I'll do,' Angela decided, giving the final pan one last rinse as Mr. Gibbs and Annamaria started bringing in the dirty eating dishes. 'If I do that, then I can stay alive long enough to pay back the Captain and get off the ship! I might even find a way back to Port Cain!'

She suddenly froze. But what if she didn't want to go back? She had been on the Pearl for a while now, over a month in fact, and had never mentioned wanting to go back to the town she had been abducted from. Not that she had anything to go back to, anyway. All of her possessions had probably been picked over by beggars and other such lowlifes, and she hadn't left anything valuable there either, because she didn't own anything of value. The question was: would the Captain keep her onboard if she asked to stay? She actually felt like she belonged here on the Pearl, where she was free to practice her herbal skill and get room and board while doing it! Maybe, if she stayed long enough, she would start getting a bit of the goods the Pearl raided from other ships! However, until Captain Sparrow decided that she had paid off her debt to him, she would have to be content with washing dishes, making medicines, and occasionally cooking for the crew. And speaking of dishes...

Angela sighed as she reached for the new stack of dirty dishes before her hands were stopped by a pair of cocoa ones. Looking up, she met the friendly eyes of Annamaria sparkling back at her.

"No worries, Angie, I've got them," the pirate woman said, grinning. "Why don't ye go and take a rest? You've probably been up since before dawn, cookin' all that food. Go and take a nap, lass, Jack says that ye have the morning off." Annamaria emphasized her point by grabbing Angela by the shoulders and shoving her out the galley door.

Sighing again, this time in relief, Angela headed for her quarters, intent on getting a few more hours of sleep.

Three hours later, Angela was woken up by someone pounding on the door of her cabin. Rubbing her eyes, she got up and opened the door to find a widely grinning Jack Sparrow.

"Morning, luv," he said, leaning against the doorway of her cabin. "What do ye say to a couple hours of sword practice? I know ye don't know how to use one, so why don't we start the lessons right now?"

Angela tilted her head to the side in puzzlement. "Why would I need to use one? You keep me down below whenever you fight or raid someone, anyway," she said.

"Ye need to know how to fight because I can't protect ye forever, lass. What if someone got down below and attacked ye?" Jack asked, as though it should have been obvious. "Now let's get going."

Groaning tiredly, Angela obediently followed the pirate captain, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.

An hour later, the two were on deck, fighting for their lives. Well, Angela was fighting for her life; Jack just stood there swinging his sword with little effort, as though he tremendously bored with the situation (which he probably was, being the skilled pirate that he was). Meanwhile, Angela felt like her arms were going to fall off from swinging her new sword around so many times.

"Captain, can we please stop?" she whined, slouching forward a bit to emphasize her exhaustion.

"Not yet, luv," he said, smiling at her weariness as he raised his cutlass again. "I know ye can do it, so get to it!"

Groaning in exhaustion, that's what she did. For another twenty minutes, Angela attempted to fight off the aggressive attacks being rained on her by her tutor. However, being as tired as she was, her attention began to fade, and she didn't see that Jack was taking a swing at her head until it was too late to block it.

Her eyes widened in response and, dropping her sword in panic, her hands came up to try and stop the blow through natural instinct. What she didn't count on was the sword flying out of Jack's hand and landing, quivering, in the railing of the ship, five feet away from them!

The entire deck went deathly quiet as the crew turned to look at her. Not knowing what to do, and still stunned from her unexpected use of magic, Angela stood stock-still, staring at the sword.

"Well," Jack said, snapping out of his surprise and sashaying over to the sword before walking around it, inspecting it carefully. "That's interesting." Glancing first at the sword and then the wood, it looked like he was measuring how deep it had been imbedded. He reached out and pulled it out of the wood with some difficulty, taking a good look at the weapon. "That's very interesting." Turning around, his brown eyes held a bit of curiosity and interest as they met Angela's frightened purple ones. "Care to explain how ye did that, luv?"

She visibly paled under his gaze, as well as the gaze of over a dozen crewmembers. She opened her mouth to explain. Unfortunately, nothing came out.

Jack's POV:

When his sword had flown out of his hands, Jack was a bit surprised. He hadn't lost a fight yet, and his first thought was that he had been drinking too much today and had lost his grip. That thought was dismissed when Jack remembered that he hadn't had any rum since breakfast, and that had been hours ago, so his mind looked for another explanation. A quick glance at Angela told him that she hadn't knocked the cutlass out of his hands, primarily because hers had been dropped onto the deck before his sword had gone flying. Since no one else would have dared to interfere with their sparing practice, Jack was left in a puzzled surprise as his crew gathered around them, staring at the terrified woman. Mentally shrugging, Jack went over to inspect the sword.

"Well," Jack said, as he walked over to the sword, taking a moment to inspecting it carefully. "That's interesting." Mentally examining it, it looked like it must have been imbedded up to at least two inches of the blade. That in itself was impressive; it would have taken a talented swordsman to do such a thing. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of the handle and pulled it out of the wood with some difficulty, mentally noting that it would have taken a powerful thrust to have imbedded the sword in the wood. "That's very interesting." Turning around, his brown eyes met Angela's. "Care to explain how ye did that, luv?" He couldn't wait to hear her explanation. He watched as her mouth opened, and nothing came out. A second later, it wasn't from her that the answer came from.

"She's a witch!" Notch cried out, pointing at her. "I knew somethin' was wrong with her!"

"Shut yer mouth!" Jack snapped at him. "I want to hear what happened from her!"

Notch glared at him. "Cap'n, she's a witch!" he insisted. "She's probably been doin' all sorts of evil things in her cabin, like sacrificin' rats and makin' poisonous brews!"

"Notch, ye bloody idiot," Annamaria cried. "Her cabin can barely hold her and the furniture, never mind any other sort of things! And she'd never make poisonous medicines because if she did, we'd all be dead from using them! Use yer head, man!"

"I am!" Notch replied, glaring at Angela, who visibly shrank under his gaze. "I say we tie her up and dump her overboard, just to be safe!" The rest of the crew then began arguing about the idea and about what to do next.

It was Notch's suggestion that made Jack snap. He may be a pirate, but Jack would never cause harm to a woman, even one with such unusual, and possibly helpful, abilities. Plus, the idea of harm coming to Angela caused some sort of unknown protective/possessive feeling to emerge from within his heart. Not liking the new feeling emerging inside him, Jack quickly pushed it aside as his anger sprang forth.

"Quiet, all of ye!" Jack roared, immediately silencing the crew. After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, he spoke again. "We aren't going to do anything to her until I get some answers, savvy?" The rest of the crew nodded reluctantly. "Good; Gibbs, Annamaria, help me take Angela to her cabin. I want the rest of ye gathered in the galley fer a meeting in an hour." He waved his hands in dismissal and his orders were carried out.

Angela's POV:

As she was led below, Angela breathed a small sigh of relief. She had honestly thought that her heart would stop when Notch had wanted her bound and thrown overboard, and was thankful that Jack had stopped the whole thing from happening. However, being thrown overboard would be preferable to being questioned by the Captain of the Black Pearl. At least if she were thrown overboard, she could free herself from the ropes or chains holding her with her powers and then try and swim to the nearest island. She couldn't use magic to deal with Captain Jack Sparrow, who had fought, and won, against undead pirates and cursed treasures!

A hard shove in the shoulder jolted her out of her thoughts, and the next thing she knew, she was in Jack's cabin and seated in a chair in the small meeting/eating area adjacent to the sleeping part of the cabin. She was seated facing the windows with the doors behind her, preventing easy escape. Annamaria was seated on her right, Mr. Gibbs on her left. Meanwhile, Jack was sitting right across from her, his back facing the large windows.

For a moment, Angela simply looked at the pirate captain. The Caribbean filtered through the salt-encrusted class, making him look like he was glowing. His hair looked darker than ever, and she had never in all her life had seen a man look so attractive!

Angela looked down at the table, mentally kicking herself. Now was not the time for this! If she lived through the day, then she think about the dashing captain in her own cabin. Until then, she would have to simply sit and do whatever she could to survive the day! The sound of Jack clearing his throat attracted her attention to him once again.

"Well, lass," Jack said, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet up on the table. "Would ye care to explain what happened up there? I'm sure that Gibbs and Annamaria would like to know, too."

Angela felt a huge lump rise in her throat and tried to swallow around it, panic rising in her chest. Annamaria must have seen her trouble, because she got up and fetched a small glass of scotch for her. Giving her friend and grateful smile, Angela took a mouthful of the stuff and swallowed, letting the alcohol burn down her throat and relax her a bit. After finishing the scotch, Angela took a look around the table and sighed.

"I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this," she said, taking the glass in her hand and fiddling with it as she talked. "I was hoping to never have anyone find out my...abilities."

"And what abilities do ye have exactly, lass?" Mr. Gibbs asked gently.

Angela shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she looked up at them. "I promise to explain, but don't interrupt until I've finished, alright?" The three nodded. "Alright; Notch is right...I am a witch," she said, looking at the hand that was still fiddling with the empty scotch glass. "The women in my family have been witches for over five hundred years. We've traveled all over Europe in an attempt to hide our powers, but still trying to subtly use them to try and help people. We also try to help by using our talents with herbs to provide aid wherever it's needed. We aren't bad witches, for we do no harm unless the situation requires it. The reason that I didn't tell is because of what happened up on deck. My family has had so many problems with angry and fearful villagers that we have to move all over the place. I have family scattered all over Europe, Asia, and even Africa, all hiding out from the witchhunts." Angela blinked as her thoughts wandered. "Well, maybe they aren't exactly hiding in Africa, since they can openly practice their magic and herbal talents in the African tribes. I hear that the African tribes are more understanding about that sort of thing, and are actually very respectful to herbalists and magicians." Angela shook her head. "Sorry, I'm babbling. I don't exactly have a high tolerance for alcohol."

"That's alright, Angie," Annamaria said. "I did give ye quite a good bit of scotch."

"So what exactly are yer talents, anyway?" Jack asked, pulling his feet off the table as he leaned closer.

"I can move small things with my mind. I can also find lost objects, and read signs for when something bad is going to happen," Angela said, shrugging. "I can sometimes see the future if it's something really dangerous, like the Royal Navy trying to find and hang us."

Jack chuckled slightly. "I think the whole crew should be damn thankful fer that last one, darling," he said, winking at her, causing her to blush. "Otherwise we might all be dancin' at the end of a noose!" Gibbs and Annamaria chuckled as well. "Well, lass, ye've managed to save the lives of my crewmates, as well as healed their wounds. I say that accounts for somethin'."

Annamaria frowned. "Well, that there's the problem, Cap'n," she said looking at him. "The crew's going to want a good reason for keeping her onboard, and her being an herbal woman might not be enough. They'll want to throw her off and get someone else to do that chore."

"Aye, she's right, Jack," Gibbs said. "I like havin' the lass onboard, the crew hasn't been ill or had health problems ever since ye brought her onboard, but everyone else will want a good reason for our keeping her here."

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment before he started smiling. "Ye say that ye can find things, right lass?"

Angela frowned a bit. "I usually find things unintentionally, Captain," she said, looking at him. "Why do you ask?"

Jack grinned even broader, his gold teeth winking as he looked at her. "Because I want ye to find something specific," he replied. "It's something of value...a treasure that I've been looking for for quite a while and haven't been able to find."

Angela looked at him suspiciously, her left eyebrow quirked. "What kind of treasure?"

"The Treasure of the Blue Heron," Jack replied, smiling. He turned and nodded at Annamaria and Gibbs, who were also smiling. He leaned forward, clasping his hands on the table in front of him. "Ye see, lass, a hundred years ago, after that dolt Columbus 'found' the Americas, Spain sent out all sorts of ships to investigate the Caribbean, and the Blue Heron was one such ship. It was a very large ship, and was supposedly bound for Spain from the Caribbean, carrying gold, jewels, and Indian slaves in tribute to the monarchs. On its way east, it had dropped the slaves off at one of the islands on the outskirts of the Caribbean, but it never made it to Spain." Jack smirked. "Some say it was taken by pirates, but if it had been, I'd have heard about it. After all," he said, grinning at her. "I am Captain Jack Sparrow, and I know everything about pirates and their raids."

Angela giggled in spite of herself and saw that Jack looked pleased for some reason. "So what do you think happened to it?" she asked, leaning forward, wanting to hear more of the story.

"Well, that's the thing, luv," Jack replied, once again leaning back in his chair, his hands now dancing in the air as he spoke. "Lots of people say that the captain of the Heron had gotten greedy and had taken the treasures for himself, but couldn't use it until Spain had stopped looking for him. Instead, it's said that he took the treasure and hid it on one of the many small islands that call the Caribbean 'home.' Since Spain had stopped looking for it only twenty years ago, the traitorous captain never got to actually spend the treasure for fear of getting caught. Since all of its crewmembers have disappeared, and are likely dead of old age, there's no one left who knows where it is." Jack leaned forward again, his brown eyes staring into hers. "I want ye to help me find the Treasure of the Blue Heron, and in return, I'll cut ye a part of the treasure and consider yer debt paid off."

Angela blinked for a moment in surprise before frowning in thought. "Captain, the only way I could find the treasure is if I have a piece of it to focus on," she said, shaking her head. "Other than that, it won't work and you'll be back where you started."

Jack grinned broadly. "Then ye should be happy to know that some of the Heron's crewmembers were idiots and had spent a coin or two of the treasure before it went missing," he said. "It so happens that I know a man in Tortuga who has a coin or two of the Heron's treasure, and he and I are the only two people who know about it...well, until now, that is." He stood up. "Gibbs, Annamaria, tell the crew Angela's background, and that we'll be headed for Tortuga to meet an old friend of mine on business."

"Aye, Cap'n," nodded the two pirates as they headed out the door.

"Now, Angela," he said, turning towards her, looking her straight in the eye. "I'm afraid that with the crew all suspicious about ye staying alone in yer quarters, ye can't go back there."

Angela paled. "What do you mean to do then?" she asked. She hoped that didn't mean what she thought it meant.

"It means that yer going to have to bunk in here with me," he replied, smiling as he waved his arms around gracefully.

Angela's eyes widened as she went pale. "Why can't I stay with Annamaria?" Angela asked in panic.

"Because the crew will think that having two women together would be worse than having ye by yerself," Jack stated, looking her in the eye, still smiling, though a bit too eagerly for her liking. "Besides, it won't be so bad sharing with me. Ye'll have half of the bed, and the changing frame to dress behind. I'm mostly out on deck at the helm, so ye'll have the cabin to yerself fer most of the day, after yer chores. How does that sound?"

Angela frowned at the idea. "No funny business, right, Captain?" she asked, making sure.

Jack grinned, gold teeth glittering. "Of course not, luv," he said, holding his hand up, as though swearing an oath. "And since we'll be roommates, call me Jack. And I swear that nothing will happen between us...unless ye want it to?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Angela simply snorted in amusement. "In your dreams, Captain. I'll go get my things," she said, shaking her head as she closed the door behind her.

"Pity," Jack muttered to himself as he went over to the alcohol cabinet for a bottle of rum. "I was hoping she'd say 'yes.'" He popped open the bottle and took a long drink as he waited for his lovely roommate to return.

AN: Sorry about the long wait. College sucks because I've had boatloads of papers to write and not enough time to do much else. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review! Thanks!