A/N: Many thanks to all who reviewed. We were rather surprised that no
one got super mad at the cliffie. And we never said that Albert was smart.
because he's far from it. But he is evil.as you'll find out more
later.ooh, foreshadowing.evil.moving on.sorry, this is Rhiannon, again
because WeasleyGirl is currently without a computer.but it was a really
long day, so excuse the ramblings. As I was saying, we know that Albert
isn't exactly the brightest of the bright or even the brightest of the
average, but that's live, eh? You win some, you loose some. It also
seemed surprising that no one had any reactions to Katie's 13 Step
program.that was ALL WeasleyGirl and her genius. So, if we write anything
you like, or don't, let us know. We'd like to know what areas are good or
bad.(so we can argue over who gets more credit.no not really, we don't
really argue, much) So ask us any questions and we'll tell you no lies,
but we'd like to hear from anybody with an opinion.
Disclaimer: We own Katie, Kate, Albert (though who would want him), Pip and any one else not in the movie. Still no closer to owning Jack and Will.but the movie comes out to own on December 2nd!!! Yippee!!!!
Chapter 10: Revelations
Jack shot.
The bullet did not hit Kate but Albert.
Albert looked up in shock and dropped his tight grasp on Kate's neck. He pulled out his own gun and shot in Will's direction.
Katie jumped in front of Will and caught the bullet herself.
Kate screamed as the heavy weight of Albert fell on her. She got out from it and ran over and untied Will and Jack.
"LET'S GO!" Kate screamed. "Come on!" Kate pulled frantically at Will who was bending over Katie.
"She took a bullet for me..." Will said in shock.
"Yeah, come on."
"I'm not leaving her!"
"Bring her, then," Jack called. He helped Will to carry Katie to the smaller boats and then he and Kate started rowing with all their might back to the ship. They climbed on board, hauling the injured Katie with them, once on the ship, Will laid Katie down.
"What do we do?" Will asked in shock.
"You and Jack get us out of here! I'll take care of Katie," Kate said sitting down across from Will.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I'm not one for grudges. Besides, you two love each other. Go!"
Will got up obediently and Kate began trying to find the bullet hole. Katie had been shot in the shoulder. Kate couldn't tell if it hit anything but it seemed like it was too high to have hit any important organs. Kate saw where the bullet had gone in but she didn't think that it had gone though. Kate lifted Katie slightly and saw that there was no wound on her back. Kate lowered Katie back to the deck and ran to find Jack.
"Do you have anything that I can use to get the bullet out?" Kate asked in a panicked voice.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, not understanding.
"I mean that the bullet didn't go clear through and it is still in Katie's shoulder and I don't know what to do if I can't get it out!" Kate said looking still more panicked.
"Please calm down," Jack said in a soothing voice. "You won't help her if you panic. Take my knife."
"Thanks!" Kate said taking the knife and hurrying back to Katie. Katie had mercifully lost consciousness, which Kate was all the happier for. She wasn't sure if she could do this right with Katie being still, let alone awake and in pain. Kate sat down beside Katie and rolled Katie over so Katie was lying on her stomach. Kate fingered the place where the bullet had entered and guessed where it would come out. First thing first, Kate ripped the clothe of Katie's dress so the her entire shoulder was exposed. Kate then took the knife and sawed of some of her own dress to use later. Then, not able to stall much longer, Kate took one long shuttering breath and steeled herself to do what she had to do.
Very slowly Kate lowered the knife to the place on Katie's shoulder where the bullet was most likely at. Tentatively she made a small cut and to her great relief saw the bullet not too far deeper. Carefully, Kate grabbed the bullet and pulled it out. Katie moaned softly but stayed still. Then, Kate grabbed the material that she had cut from her skirt and pressed it down hard against Katie's shoulder. She tied the material onto the wound and then rolled Katie back onto her back. Kate then took the rest of the material and pressed that onto the entry wound. She took the knife again and cut another strip of fabric, longer this time from the bottom of her skirt. This new strand Kate used to tie all the way around Katie's shoulder to secure the two wads of material that were stopping the bleeding. Kate made sure that it was on tightly enough that if Katie moved it wouldn't come off and then stood up. She cleaned the knife off on her skirt and walked over to Jack.
"Oy! Thanks for the knife. I think she'll be fine. I hope so anyway," Kate said.
"No problem," Jack responded. He opened his mouth to say something but Kate cut him off.
"Wait a moment. I better go tell Will. I'll be right back," Kate said as she ran over to where Will was working.
Will saw her approaching, dropped what he was doing and came to meet her. "What? Is she---"
"She's fine. She'll be fine. She was starting to wake up when I walked away. You might want to go see her," Kate told him.
"Why did you help her?"
"Because. Because it was the right thing to do and no matter what I was feeling for Katie at the moment, I think that she is a good person and she deserved a chance to fix what she did to all of us. It doesn't matter why I did it right now. Just go talk to her, Will."
"Thanks Kate," Will said as he walked off.
Kate nodded and walked back over to Jack. "Sorry I had to leave. I just wanted to let Will know that she's okay. At least for now."
"What do you mean for now?" Jack asked.
"Do you want to hear answer number one or answer number two?"
"Both."
Kate smiled and said, "Well, first answer is that she'll be fine unless it gets infected. Second answer is that once she gets better, I'm going to hit her for what she did."
Jack laughed. "Then why'd you save her?"
"Because it was the right thing to do. I just told Will that. Honestly, do you two share a brain or something?"
"I hope not. I wouldn't want to share a brain with a eunuch!"
Kate smiled broadly and said, "Yeah, that would be funny!"
"Sure. Easy for you to say, love."
"Whatever. Thanks for getting us out of there, though. And thanks for shooting that slug! I wish that I had been strong enough to get that pig off of me, but, you did a fine job yourself there, Captain."
"My pleasure," Jack said. After a moment he added, "I never gave you this back," he said while pulling Kate's locket out of a pocket.
"My locket!" Kate said in a shocked voice. "After a while, I completely forgot about it! Thank you!" Kate said before hugging Jack tightly around the middle.
Jack looked down at Kate's head and said, "It's fine. But can you loosen up a bit, there, love. You're gonna kill me. Unless that's your intention, o' course."
Kate stepped back and said, "Sorry. Caught up in the moment. Can I have my locket back then?"
"Yeah. Can you put it on or do you want me to?"
"You can do it if you want," Kate said while turning around and pulling back her braid.
Jack raised his eyebrows but looped the necklace around Kate's neck and fastened it.
~*~
Meanwhile, Katie was starting to wake up. Will, still beside her, was clutching her hand and talking to her. He stopped abruptly when Katie opened her eyes.
"What happened?" Katie asked weakly.
"You got shot," Will said bluntly.
"Am I dead? Are we in heaven or something?"
"Not exactly. We're on Albert's ship, which now is Jack's ship, because Jack killed Albert, we think, and we stole his ship."
"Oh. How did I get here?"
"You took a bullet for me and then me and Jack brought you back here and then Kate fixed you up."
"Uh...." Katie said as she tried to sit up. She didn't quite make it and Will had to catch her as she fell back down to the deck. Will helped her lie back down.
"You don't want to be doing that. You probably shouldn't move too much."
"Great. So. What did you say about Kate fixing me up? Did you have to force her or something? I would think that she hates me by now."
"Well, pretty close. I daresay that if you were fine she'd be taking a swing at you or two. But no one had to force her. She volunteered. Didn't even let you bleed too much."
"WHY?"
"She said it was the right thing to do. She wagered that you had some good in you and that you deserved a chance to fix what you did to us. I dunno. I don't think that she really cared what had happened and she didn't want you to die. I mean she cared but she put it aside for a while and did what she had to do."
"Oh. Would you have done that for someone else?"
"I dunno. I have a tendency to hold grudges."
"You won't hold a grudge against me, will you?" Katie asked weekly.
"No. Not against you. Maybe partly because of what Kate said but mostly because I love you."
"I love you, too," Kate replied before falling asleep.
Will bent down and picked her up. He carried her down to the cabin the she shared with Kate and lied her gently onto the bed. He kissed her lightly on the lips and then left the room.
~*~
Kate was feeling unbelievably confused. She hated to admit it but she had feelings for Jack. She had hoped for rescue while she was captive on Albert's ship, but that hope seemed a distant memory. Kate didn't even think that she would be rescued, she was just trying to make up stories in her mind about her rescue to keep her mind off of, what she thought would be, death. Now that she was safe, however, she couldn't help but feel a new rush of feelings toward Jack. It wasn't just the idolized rescuer that she felt for, it was Jack in general. She almost didn't care any more that it was Jack who had brought her here. Jack who had caused her to get taken captive. Jack who had been the one that she had been half afraid of and half mad at the entire time of her capture before being taken to Albert's ship.
Unable to decide what to do or what to think, Kate climbed the mast. It wasn't like the mast on the Pearl, it didn't seem to be as high but Kate really didn't care, she just needed a place to think. The sky was magnificent tonight. By now, the sun was nearly set and the sky was all red and orange. It seemed as though the sky was in flames. Stars were peeking out and the moon was nearly full. To Kate it didn't matter what she was thinking. It didn't matter any more that she might fancy Jack and that she knew that Jack fancied her, it just mattered that tonight was unbelievably beautiful. She sat up on top of the mast for a long time, until it was nearly too dark to see how to climb down.
Once she realized that her light was indeed vanishing quickly she climbed down to the deck. Not sure of what to do, she walked back to her and Katie's cabin. When she got there, she found Katie to be awake and trying to sit up.
"You don't want to sit up tonight. You should wait until morning," Kate told her as she went over to help her.
"I know. I know. Will said the same thing. But I'm really bored. Can I please sit up?" Katie whined impatiently.
"Not tonight. You'll just do more damage. I'll check it tomorrow and maybe you can sit up."
"You enjoy this, don't you?" Katie asked incredulously.
"I beg your pardon?!"
"You enjoy bossing me around."
"You're raving. I do not enjoy it. I would much rather have you been fine and healthy. But seeing as how you're not, I'll do what I can to help you."
"Yeah, about that. Why DID you help me?"
"Does this entire crew share a brain or something? I've answered that bloody question twice already today?" Kate sighed. "Honestly, are my motives that questionable that I get interrogated for saving someone's life?"
Katie looked affronted. "No. I just was wondering why you don't hate me for what happened."
"Oh, I don't hate you. I am not really liking you that much right now, but I don't hate you. Anyway, I saved your life because I figured that it wouldn't be that much fun to hit a corpse."
Katie laughed. "I see. But I am sorry about what happened. The whole planning on killing you and everyone else."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I figure that once you get better, then you can start paying us all back. You know, one scrub of the deck at a time or something."
"Sure. So, can I move yet?"
Kate laughed. "I told you. No. Lie still or you'll make it all worse. I want to get some sleep. For some reason that is entirely beyond me, I didn't get much sleep last night. I think the whole prospect of death on the horizon may have disrupted my sleeping for the past few days. But I don't know why that would be," Katie said sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah," Katie said. "Get some sleep. We can talk later."
Kate nodded and then lied down on the bed and fell instantly to sleep.
Hours later she woke up, not sure of what to do. She sat up in her bunk rubbing her eyes and glanced over at Katie. Kate noticed that Katie was looking at her.
"What?" Kate asked.
Katie smirked. "You were talking in your sleep."
"So."
"So, it was funny."
"What of it?!" Kate said defensively.
"Nothing. I just know now what you think about Jack."
"What?"
"You were talking about Jack in your sleep. You fancy him."
"You fancy Will!"
"So what?"
"Well, Jack has saved my life numerous times. Don't I have a right to have some feelings for my rescuer?"
"And your kidnapper?"
"Well. So! You told me ages ago that he fancied me. What of it?"
"Nothing. Didn't you wonder about what I told you on Albert's ship? Didn't you wonder if it was true?"
Kate looked down and said, "Yeah, I guess I did."
"Well, it was. Mostly."
"What do you mean mostly?"
"I just mean that I wouldn't have enjoyed watching you die. Or Jack or Will or anyone."
"You lie. You were all . . . evil. You weren't faking it."
"Yeah, I was."
"Prove it."
Katie looked taken aback. "Didn't you notice that I didn't shoot Jack? I didn't let Albert shoot you. I didn't let Will die."
"How do I know that you didn't do that just to trick us? You know, you did have those thirteen ways to tell if someone is betraying you. Was there a fourteenth one, too? Or a fifteenth? Like double double cross everyone you've ever met. There's no guarantee that you aren't trying to kill us all. How can anyone be sure that you aren't what you seem to be?"
Katie heaved a deep sigh. "Kate, listen to me. You can't be sure. But I swear on my life that I love Will. I would swear on my life that I enjoyed your company. I would swear on my life that I think Jack is a great man. You have to believe that. I wouldn't lie about that. I did what I thought that I had to do. I didn't have much choice. The alternative was that our ship was going to be attacked by Albert's and we'd all die. No one died. I came the closest. And I daresay I deserved it."
Kate deflated. She looked Katie straight in the eyes as though trying to see deception behind Katie's green eyes, when she couldn't, she said, "Good one."
Katie raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What the devil do you mean?"
"Good one. Good cover . . . " Kate paused for a second and said, "Welcome back," before she got up and left.
~*~
Katie was left alone in the room once more. Kate's questions had caught her off guard but it seemed that she had passed the interrogation. Katie had meant what she said and she knew that it would be a long hard road to get everyone to trust her again. Will did already. At least it seemed like he did. Maybe the rest would follow suit. Katie knew that she couldn't blame them. In truth, she had expected more of a reaction from Kate. That was a very mild compared to what she had expected. Well, maybe the kid would finally calm down . . . or maybe she just didn't want to yell while Katie was still recovering. But Kate had saved Katie's life. That was one hard fact that Katie couldn't overlook.
Katie tried to readjust herself on the bunk. This not being able to move much was killing her. She was going insane. She wanted so badly to be on the deck, fighting or working or just out in the fresh air. But every time that she tried to move, that bullet hole started to throb painfully. If felt like there were little knives inside it. This always was enough persuasion for Katie to lie still again.
There was a knock on the door.
Katie looked up and said, "Come on in. But open the door yourself, I can't get up. I'm on restriction."
Jack walked in the room and sat down across from Katie.
"How ya doing?" Jack asked.
"Okay. What's up?" Katie said hesitantly.
"Well, Kate just came up on deck a few minutes ago so I figured you were up and wanted to ask you some things."
"Like what?"
"Like who you are."
"I'm Katie."
"That's what you've told me. But is it true? Do you only know that much? Or is there more that you didn't tell before?"
"Yes, I'm Katie. My parents didn't die before I was a year old. They died when I was about 9. But I was always a pirate. I always wanted to leave Albert's crew but he wouldn't let me. So once I was 14 or so, I decided that it might be good to figure a way out. So for a couple years, I waited. Until I found you. Coming onto your crew seemed like the best bet for me. I thought that even if you didn't believe my story that you'd at least let me be on your crew. And true enough, I don't think that you ever fully believed me. You always watched me closely. I noticed."
"No, I didn't trust you completely. I figured that if you were a baby, the pirates that attacked the ship that you were on wouldn't have let you live. I doubted that they would have raised you as a part of that crew. Not a baby who can't take care of herself. It wasn't possible that you would have made it as long as you did."
"Okay. You pegged me on that. You're good at reading me, I guess. Honestly."
"No, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man can always tell when someone else is being dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones that can't read people well."
"Like Kate, you mean."
"Sort of. But speaking of her, did you say anything to her?"
"Yeah. She just wanted to know if what I said was true. We had a nice little chat, actually."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, nothing really big, though."
"Details?"
"She just said that there wasn't much reason to trust me at first but we settled everything pretty well and she accepted my answer."
Jack looked skeptically and asked, "Was she mad?"
"Surprisingly, no. She hardly got mad at all. She was pretty subdued, actually," Katie responded.
"That's a first."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"So, anything else that you two talked about?" Jack asked.
"No. Not really. What do you wanna know?"
"Nothing," Jack replied. "Do you want some food?"
"Sure. That would be great," Katie said.
"I'll have Will bring some down, then," Jack said as he got up to leave.
"Jack!" Katie called before Jack had closed the door behind him.
Jack turned and asked, "Yeah?"
"Have Kate come down in a little while and take a look at this, okay? I want to get moving. This is driving me crazy."
Jack smiled and said, "Sure. No problem." And with that, he was gone.
A/N: Review., review, review (please)
Disclaimer: We own Katie, Kate, Albert (though who would want him), Pip and any one else not in the movie. Still no closer to owning Jack and Will.but the movie comes out to own on December 2nd!!! Yippee!!!!
Chapter 10: Revelations
Jack shot.
The bullet did not hit Kate but Albert.
Albert looked up in shock and dropped his tight grasp on Kate's neck. He pulled out his own gun and shot in Will's direction.
Katie jumped in front of Will and caught the bullet herself.
Kate screamed as the heavy weight of Albert fell on her. She got out from it and ran over and untied Will and Jack.
"LET'S GO!" Kate screamed. "Come on!" Kate pulled frantically at Will who was bending over Katie.
"She took a bullet for me..." Will said in shock.
"Yeah, come on."
"I'm not leaving her!"
"Bring her, then," Jack called. He helped Will to carry Katie to the smaller boats and then he and Kate started rowing with all their might back to the ship. They climbed on board, hauling the injured Katie with them, once on the ship, Will laid Katie down.
"What do we do?" Will asked in shock.
"You and Jack get us out of here! I'll take care of Katie," Kate said sitting down across from Will.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I'm not one for grudges. Besides, you two love each other. Go!"
Will got up obediently and Kate began trying to find the bullet hole. Katie had been shot in the shoulder. Kate couldn't tell if it hit anything but it seemed like it was too high to have hit any important organs. Kate saw where the bullet had gone in but she didn't think that it had gone though. Kate lifted Katie slightly and saw that there was no wound on her back. Kate lowered Katie back to the deck and ran to find Jack.
"Do you have anything that I can use to get the bullet out?" Kate asked in a panicked voice.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, not understanding.
"I mean that the bullet didn't go clear through and it is still in Katie's shoulder and I don't know what to do if I can't get it out!" Kate said looking still more panicked.
"Please calm down," Jack said in a soothing voice. "You won't help her if you panic. Take my knife."
"Thanks!" Kate said taking the knife and hurrying back to Katie. Katie had mercifully lost consciousness, which Kate was all the happier for. She wasn't sure if she could do this right with Katie being still, let alone awake and in pain. Kate sat down beside Katie and rolled Katie over so Katie was lying on her stomach. Kate fingered the place where the bullet had entered and guessed where it would come out. First thing first, Kate ripped the clothe of Katie's dress so the her entire shoulder was exposed. Kate then took the knife and sawed of some of her own dress to use later. Then, not able to stall much longer, Kate took one long shuttering breath and steeled herself to do what she had to do.
Very slowly Kate lowered the knife to the place on Katie's shoulder where the bullet was most likely at. Tentatively she made a small cut and to her great relief saw the bullet not too far deeper. Carefully, Kate grabbed the bullet and pulled it out. Katie moaned softly but stayed still. Then, Kate grabbed the material that she had cut from her skirt and pressed it down hard against Katie's shoulder. She tied the material onto the wound and then rolled Katie back onto her back. Kate then took the rest of the material and pressed that onto the entry wound. She took the knife again and cut another strip of fabric, longer this time from the bottom of her skirt. This new strand Kate used to tie all the way around Katie's shoulder to secure the two wads of material that were stopping the bleeding. Kate made sure that it was on tightly enough that if Katie moved it wouldn't come off and then stood up. She cleaned the knife off on her skirt and walked over to Jack.
"Oy! Thanks for the knife. I think she'll be fine. I hope so anyway," Kate said.
"No problem," Jack responded. He opened his mouth to say something but Kate cut him off.
"Wait a moment. I better go tell Will. I'll be right back," Kate said as she ran over to where Will was working.
Will saw her approaching, dropped what he was doing and came to meet her. "What? Is she---"
"She's fine. She'll be fine. She was starting to wake up when I walked away. You might want to go see her," Kate told him.
"Why did you help her?"
"Because. Because it was the right thing to do and no matter what I was feeling for Katie at the moment, I think that she is a good person and she deserved a chance to fix what she did to all of us. It doesn't matter why I did it right now. Just go talk to her, Will."
"Thanks Kate," Will said as he walked off.
Kate nodded and walked back over to Jack. "Sorry I had to leave. I just wanted to let Will know that she's okay. At least for now."
"What do you mean for now?" Jack asked.
"Do you want to hear answer number one or answer number two?"
"Both."
Kate smiled and said, "Well, first answer is that she'll be fine unless it gets infected. Second answer is that once she gets better, I'm going to hit her for what she did."
Jack laughed. "Then why'd you save her?"
"Because it was the right thing to do. I just told Will that. Honestly, do you two share a brain or something?"
"I hope not. I wouldn't want to share a brain with a eunuch!"
Kate smiled broadly and said, "Yeah, that would be funny!"
"Sure. Easy for you to say, love."
"Whatever. Thanks for getting us out of there, though. And thanks for shooting that slug! I wish that I had been strong enough to get that pig off of me, but, you did a fine job yourself there, Captain."
"My pleasure," Jack said. After a moment he added, "I never gave you this back," he said while pulling Kate's locket out of a pocket.
"My locket!" Kate said in a shocked voice. "After a while, I completely forgot about it! Thank you!" Kate said before hugging Jack tightly around the middle.
Jack looked down at Kate's head and said, "It's fine. But can you loosen up a bit, there, love. You're gonna kill me. Unless that's your intention, o' course."
Kate stepped back and said, "Sorry. Caught up in the moment. Can I have my locket back then?"
"Yeah. Can you put it on or do you want me to?"
"You can do it if you want," Kate said while turning around and pulling back her braid.
Jack raised his eyebrows but looped the necklace around Kate's neck and fastened it.
~*~
Meanwhile, Katie was starting to wake up. Will, still beside her, was clutching her hand and talking to her. He stopped abruptly when Katie opened her eyes.
"What happened?" Katie asked weakly.
"You got shot," Will said bluntly.
"Am I dead? Are we in heaven or something?"
"Not exactly. We're on Albert's ship, which now is Jack's ship, because Jack killed Albert, we think, and we stole his ship."
"Oh. How did I get here?"
"You took a bullet for me and then me and Jack brought you back here and then Kate fixed you up."
"Uh...." Katie said as she tried to sit up. She didn't quite make it and Will had to catch her as she fell back down to the deck. Will helped her lie back down.
"You don't want to be doing that. You probably shouldn't move too much."
"Great. So. What did you say about Kate fixing me up? Did you have to force her or something? I would think that she hates me by now."
"Well, pretty close. I daresay that if you were fine she'd be taking a swing at you or two. But no one had to force her. She volunteered. Didn't even let you bleed too much."
"WHY?"
"She said it was the right thing to do. She wagered that you had some good in you and that you deserved a chance to fix what you did to us. I dunno. I don't think that she really cared what had happened and she didn't want you to die. I mean she cared but she put it aside for a while and did what she had to do."
"Oh. Would you have done that for someone else?"
"I dunno. I have a tendency to hold grudges."
"You won't hold a grudge against me, will you?" Katie asked weekly.
"No. Not against you. Maybe partly because of what Kate said but mostly because I love you."
"I love you, too," Kate replied before falling asleep.
Will bent down and picked her up. He carried her down to the cabin the she shared with Kate and lied her gently onto the bed. He kissed her lightly on the lips and then left the room.
~*~
Kate was feeling unbelievably confused. She hated to admit it but she had feelings for Jack. She had hoped for rescue while she was captive on Albert's ship, but that hope seemed a distant memory. Kate didn't even think that she would be rescued, she was just trying to make up stories in her mind about her rescue to keep her mind off of, what she thought would be, death. Now that she was safe, however, she couldn't help but feel a new rush of feelings toward Jack. It wasn't just the idolized rescuer that she felt for, it was Jack in general. She almost didn't care any more that it was Jack who had brought her here. Jack who had caused her to get taken captive. Jack who had been the one that she had been half afraid of and half mad at the entire time of her capture before being taken to Albert's ship.
Unable to decide what to do or what to think, Kate climbed the mast. It wasn't like the mast on the Pearl, it didn't seem to be as high but Kate really didn't care, she just needed a place to think. The sky was magnificent tonight. By now, the sun was nearly set and the sky was all red and orange. It seemed as though the sky was in flames. Stars were peeking out and the moon was nearly full. To Kate it didn't matter what she was thinking. It didn't matter any more that she might fancy Jack and that she knew that Jack fancied her, it just mattered that tonight was unbelievably beautiful. She sat up on top of the mast for a long time, until it was nearly too dark to see how to climb down.
Once she realized that her light was indeed vanishing quickly she climbed down to the deck. Not sure of what to do, she walked back to her and Katie's cabin. When she got there, she found Katie to be awake and trying to sit up.
"You don't want to sit up tonight. You should wait until morning," Kate told her as she went over to help her.
"I know. I know. Will said the same thing. But I'm really bored. Can I please sit up?" Katie whined impatiently.
"Not tonight. You'll just do more damage. I'll check it tomorrow and maybe you can sit up."
"You enjoy this, don't you?" Katie asked incredulously.
"I beg your pardon?!"
"You enjoy bossing me around."
"You're raving. I do not enjoy it. I would much rather have you been fine and healthy. But seeing as how you're not, I'll do what I can to help you."
"Yeah, about that. Why DID you help me?"
"Does this entire crew share a brain or something? I've answered that bloody question twice already today?" Kate sighed. "Honestly, are my motives that questionable that I get interrogated for saving someone's life?"
Katie looked affronted. "No. I just was wondering why you don't hate me for what happened."
"Oh, I don't hate you. I am not really liking you that much right now, but I don't hate you. Anyway, I saved your life because I figured that it wouldn't be that much fun to hit a corpse."
Katie laughed. "I see. But I am sorry about what happened. The whole planning on killing you and everyone else."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I figure that once you get better, then you can start paying us all back. You know, one scrub of the deck at a time or something."
"Sure. So, can I move yet?"
Kate laughed. "I told you. No. Lie still or you'll make it all worse. I want to get some sleep. For some reason that is entirely beyond me, I didn't get much sleep last night. I think the whole prospect of death on the horizon may have disrupted my sleeping for the past few days. But I don't know why that would be," Katie said sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah," Katie said. "Get some sleep. We can talk later."
Kate nodded and then lied down on the bed and fell instantly to sleep.
Hours later she woke up, not sure of what to do. She sat up in her bunk rubbing her eyes and glanced over at Katie. Kate noticed that Katie was looking at her.
"What?" Kate asked.
Katie smirked. "You were talking in your sleep."
"So."
"So, it was funny."
"What of it?!" Kate said defensively.
"Nothing. I just know now what you think about Jack."
"What?"
"You were talking about Jack in your sleep. You fancy him."
"You fancy Will!"
"So what?"
"Well, Jack has saved my life numerous times. Don't I have a right to have some feelings for my rescuer?"
"And your kidnapper?"
"Well. So! You told me ages ago that he fancied me. What of it?"
"Nothing. Didn't you wonder about what I told you on Albert's ship? Didn't you wonder if it was true?"
Kate looked down and said, "Yeah, I guess I did."
"Well, it was. Mostly."
"What do you mean mostly?"
"I just mean that I wouldn't have enjoyed watching you die. Or Jack or Will or anyone."
"You lie. You were all . . . evil. You weren't faking it."
"Yeah, I was."
"Prove it."
Katie looked taken aback. "Didn't you notice that I didn't shoot Jack? I didn't let Albert shoot you. I didn't let Will die."
"How do I know that you didn't do that just to trick us? You know, you did have those thirteen ways to tell if someone is betraying you. Was there a fourteenth one, too? Or a fifteenth? Like double double cross everyone you've ever met. There's no guarantee that you aren't trying to kill us all. How can anyone be sure that you aren't what you seem to be?"
Katie heaved a deep sigh. "Kate, listen to me. You can't be sure. But I swear on my life that I love Will. I would swear on my life that I enjoyed your company. I would swear on my life that I think Jack is a great man. You have to believe that. I wouldn't lie about that. I did what I thought that I had to do. I didn't have much choice. The alternative was that our ship was going to be attacked by Albert's and we'd all die. No one died. I came the closest. And I daresay I deserved it."
Kate deflated. She looked Katie straight in the eyes as though trying to see deception behind Katie's green eyes, when she couldn't, she said, "Good one."
Katie raised an eyebrow questioningly. "What the devil do you mean?"
"Good one. Good cover . . . " Kate paused for a second and said, "Welcome back," before she got up and left.
~*~
Katie was left alone in the room once more. Kate's questions had caught her off guard but it seemed that she had passed the interrogation. Katie had meant what she said and she knew that it would be a long hard road to get everyone to trust her again. Will did already. At least it seemed like he did. Maybe the rest would follow suit. Katie knew that she couldn't blame them. In truth, she had expected more of a reaction from Kate. That was a very mild compared to what she had expected. Well, maybe the kid would finally calm down . . . or maybe she just didn't want to yell while Katie was still recovering. But Kate had saved Katie's life. That was one hard fact that Katie couldn't overlook.
Katie tried to readjust herself on the bunk. This not being able to move much was killing her. She was going insane. She wanted so badly to be on the deck, fighting or working or just out in the fresh air. But every time that she tried to move, that bullet hole started to throb painfully. If felt like there were little knives inside it. This always was enough persuasion for Katie to lie still again.
There was a knock on the door.
Katie looked up and said, "Come on in. But open the door yourself, I can't get up. I'm on restriction."
Jack walked in the room and sat down across from Katie.
"How ya doing?" Jack asked.
"Okay. What's up?" Katie said hesitantly.
"Well, Kate just came up on deck a few minutes ago so I figured you were up and wanted to ask you some things."
"Like what?"
"Like who you are."
"I'm Katie."
"That's what you've told me. But is it true? Do you only know that much? Or is there more that you didn't tell before?"
"Yes, I'm Katie. My parents didn't die before I was a year old. They died when I was about 9. But I was always a pirate. I always wanted to leave Albert's crew but he wouldn't let me. So once I was 14 or so, I decided that it might be good to figure a way out. So for a couple years, I waited. Until I found you. Coming onto your crew seemed like the best bet for me. I thought that even if you didn't believe my story that you'd at least let me be on your crew. And true enough, I don't think that you ever fully believed me. You always watched me closely. I noticed."
"No, I didn't trust you completely. I figured that if you were a baby, the pirates that attacked the ship that you were on wouldn't have let you live. I doubted that they would have raised you as a part of that crew. Not a baby who can't take care of herself. It wasn't possible that you would have made it as long as you did."
"Okay. You pegged me on that. You're good at reading me, I guess. Honestly."
"No, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man can always tell when someone else is being dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones that can't read people well."
"Like Kate, you mean."
"Sort of. But speaking of her, did you say anything to her?"
"Yeah. She just wanted to know if what I said was true. We had a nice little chat, actually."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, nothing really big, though."
"Details?"
"She just said that there wasn't much reason to trust me at first but we settled everything pretty well and she accepted my answer."
Jack looked skeptically and asked, "Was she mad?"
"Surprisingly, no. She hardly got mad at all. She was pretty subdued, actually," Katie responded.
"That's a first."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"So, anything else that you two talked about?" Jack asked.
"No. Not really. What do you wanna know?"
"Nothing," Jack replied. "Do you want some food?"
"Sure. That would be great," Katie said.
"I'll have Will bring some down, then," Jack said as he got up to leave.
"Jack!" Katie called before Jack had closed the door behind him.
Jack turned and asked, "Yeah?"
"Have Kate come down in a little while and take a look at this, okay? I want to get moving. This is driving me crazy."
Jack smiled and said, "Sure. No problem." And with that, he was gone.
A/N: Review., review, review (please)