Chapter Three: Catching Up Part One:

As soon as they were aboard the Corinth, sailors began running across the decks, securing lines and making ready the sails for departure. Gwen was in the thick of the action leaving open no opportunities for Will to speak to her.

Elizabeth made herself useful down in the galley, helping the cook put away the food that had just been brought aboard from Tortuga. Will, on the other hand, did all he could to stay out of the crew's way.

Captain Davies and Gwen all but ignored him as they went about their business and it wasn't until the ship was well away from shore that Gwen quietly approached the man. "Uhm..Will? Chow down in the mess now, you'd best come eat something."

Smiling, Will followed the young woman who was now wearing a long-sleeve white blouse with a dark brown tunic over it. The outfit was completed by her brown trousers and shoes. The change from the dress was astonishing.

"You look so different dressed as a pirate, Gwen."

To his surprise, Gwen spun on him. "Don't you dare say anything about that dratted dress Will Turner. I hate them and I always will, I'm a pirate and that's all I am. I ain't never known how to be a lady, nor do I want to."

Will raised his hands up in surrender. "I didn't mean anything like that, just that you look completely different. Please, I don't want us to be enemies, Gwen."

Crossing her arms across her chest, Gwen eyed Will. "So why did you join the crew? I know neither of you are sailors, though I hear Ms. Elizabeth does have some rudimentary sailing knowledge."

Chewing his lip Will hesitated. "I never really knew my father."

There was that shadow again. The one that crossed Gwen's face whenever her father was mentioned. "I do not want to speak of him. I would prefer to forget it all, the whole deal." That said, she turned heel and stalked away, leaving a very confused Will in her wake.

"Bootstrap is a tender subject with that one." Captain Davies appeared at Will's elbow. "She hasn't quite gotten over his death and all. I know it's been ages and all, but when you witness your father's murder at her age it sticks with you."

"Witness?" Will asked, his eyes never leaving the passageway Gwen had gone down.

Captain Davies sighed. "You and Elizabeth best take your meals with me in my cabin, Will. There's much to tell you."

Elizabeth put down her fork and wiped her hands on the napkin beside her plate. "So Gwen was aboard the Black Pearl when Jack Sparrow was captain? But he seemed to be unaware she existed?"

"Oh no, not unaware," Davies answered, putting down his glass of wine. "Jack thought she was dead. Most everyone does. There was quite a battle between the Pearl and a merchant ship just before Bootstrap was murdered. Gwen was hurt real bad...apparently Barbossa told everyone she died."

Will turned a stunned look on Elizabeth. "But she couldn't have been a day over 10 when that happened? How was she hurt?"

"Well, no one but her, her father and Barbossa really know the details. Jack was busy dealing with the whole battle and it fell to his first mate to care for the girl. But Gwen says that Barbossa faked her death because he wanted her for his own use."

He caught the look of contempt in Will's face at that. "He didn't use her, did he?"

Davies chuckled. "No, Gwen pissed him off to no end and he finally got fed up with her and marooned her on an island. She'd barely healed enough to walk about yet. Lucky we found her or she woulda been dead."

Will let the Captain's words sink in as he sat and twirled the wine glass in his hand. Gwen sure had gone through a lot in her short life, how in the world was he going to get her to talk to him about his father?

As if reading his thoughts, Davies leaned forward and talked directly to Will. "Gwen is not mean, Will. Give her time, let her see that you are not ashamed of her birth and she will open up to you. She really is a swell girl."

A small smile crossed Will's face. "It took me a while to accept my father was a pirate. I always thought he was a good, upstanding merchant sailor. I can already accept Gwen's birth; I would never fault a child for their parent's actions or status."

Elizabeth frowned. Her father had initially faulted Will for his status, thinking the blacksmith unfit for his daughter's hand. But Will had persisted and shown that status is not everything. If anyone could accept Gwen, it was him.

"Should I seek her out or let her come to me, I wonder?"

Will didn't really expect an answer, he had been muttering to himself, but Davies ventured one nonetheless. "Gwen will seek you out in no time, Will. She might try to hide it, but having family is important to her and she will be dying to get to know you and make you like her."

The three sat in quiet, thoughtful silence for the rest of the dinner, each lost in their own thoughts.

Gwen perched on the highest point of the main mast, unsure of what she wanted to do about the two newcomers on board the Corinth. Half of her wanted to shun Will; he had been the son that her father never mentioned, the good respectable one of the family. But the other half of her was begging for family, she hated being alone and this man seemed interested in her.

Course he could just be interested in learnin' of father, not in me at the least. But what have I got to lose. Maybe he can tell me about father as well, I'm certain he knew him at some time.

Glancing out at the horizon, Gwen sighed. The sea was so peaceful, a far cry from her heart and mind at the moment. What if Will rejected her because of her whore mother? That is what scared the girl the most. True, she had only lived with her mother for a few months, didn't even remember the woman who had birthed her. Larna had been a bar girl and had died soon after the girl's birth from alcohol poisoning.

She looked down now, watching the men working down on deck. She liked her space atop the mast. Being as light as she was, Gwen was the only one who could safely perch up here without damaging anything. It was a place she could come that no one could follow her; no one could interrupt her solitude.

"Gwen!?"

A cry rose from somewhere on deck. "Damn it, Gwen!? You ain't up in that mast again, are ya?"

She smiled, recognizing Captain Davies' voice. "Sir, you know me too well!" she called back, making her way back down to the ship's main deck with ease. "I was just thinking things through."

"Thinking about what to do with our new friends, eh?" the captain asked, knowing full well what had been on Gwen's mind.

"Yeah, I was. Think I came to a conclusion too. I oughta give the man a chance." Gwen looked up at Davies, waiting to see if he agreed with her decision. She had looked up to the captain of the Corinth as a father figure since he had rescued her from that island.

"Sounds like a plan to me. You'll find them down in the cabins, likely resting after dinner with me."

The girl's eyes narrowed at the last statement. "Dinner with you? Just how much did you tell them, Sir?"

Davies frowned. "Nothing that I thought they shouldn't know. You always trust my judgment, do so now."

"Aye Captain. I'll just be going to find Will now." She turned on her heel and disappeared below decks now, fairly flying down the ladders in her haste to find the man before she lost her nerve.

"Whoa there!" Elizabeth took a quick step backwards after nearly being bowled over by the running female pirate.

Gwen skidded to a halt, catching herself on the ladderwell rungs before she actually made contact with the woman. "Sorry bout that. In a bit of a hurry to talk to y'all before I lose my nerve I guess," she answered honestly.

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Oh, yes. Well, Will is in there. I'll just be going up to get some fresh air. This is time you two should spend alone."

Nodding in understanding and smiling her gratitude, Gwen rushed past Elizabeth, who watched the girl with a look of amusement on her face. Boy did that girl have energy!

Rounding a corner, Gwen found Will with his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the table in front of him. He looked rather forlorn or perhaps seasick. Gwen flung herself down in a chair next to him and slammed her elbows down on the table, jarring him.

"Wake up, sleepy head. I'm in the mood for talkin' and if you be wantin' to learn anything you best take advantage of that!" she smiled impishly at the man in front of her, amused by the surprise in his face.

Jumping when the table was slammed, Will now sat back a little, wary of Gwen for some reason. The look in her eyes, a look of fierce determination, made him a bit nervous. Seeing the unease that she was causing, Gwen grinned.

"Sorry, I don't wanna seem vicious. I'm just rather excited. I never knew anyone but father and I always wanted a brother."

Will smiled now, relaxing. "I wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. After mother died, I came out to the Caribbean to find father, but I never did. Not until I had a run in with pirates did I realize that he had been one, or that he had been murdered."

Realizing a moment too late that he had mentioned the murder, Will's eyes snapped up in time to see a shadow flit across Gwen's eyes. But she beat it aside, determined to talk to her brother.

"Yes, well I knew nothing of a brother. I did know father had a wife somewhere and it wasn't my mother." She carefully averted the discussion of Bootstrap's murder for the time being, not entirely sure she was ready to talk about it.

"So," Will began. "What was father like? Was he a good sailor? Did he have a sense of humor?"

Gwen smiled, settling back in her chair. "He was a great sailor, but most pirates are. He wasn't fond of killin' people, nor was he fond of stealin' per se, but he did what he had to to live. Found it more appealin' to steal from the rich who could afford to lose a little."

She relaxed into storytelling mode, knowing it was now or never. "He was a funny guy, Will. Always had a joke ready to cheer a person up, no matter the occasion. And he was a great swordsman, could do things with a cutlass that would awe any man."

Will's eyes lit up. "Was he? I love swords. I'm a blacksmith, I make them and I practice with them every day for hours. Perhaps it runs in the family."

Gwen nodded. "Must, I caught a bit too as I guess you saw in the bar."

He nodded. "Yes and thank you for doing that for Elizabeth."

The girl smiled. "No problem. Don't like people takin' advantage of girls," she answered.

Will ventured a question. "What happened during that fight between the Pearl and that merchant ship that Captain Davies spoke of. He said he couldn't give details, he didn't know them."

For a moment it looked like Gwen was not going to answer. But instead, she took a deep breath and fingered a pendant around her neck. "The Pearl had been following the merchant ship for a week when Captain Sparrow decided to attack it."

FLASHBACK

"Gwen Turner, how many times do I have to tell you not to play around on the mast! One good strong wind will rip you right outta there!"

A small, dark-haired girl clambered down from the mast pole. "Sorry, father. I was just tryin' to get a better look at that ship we're gonna attack."

Bootstrap Bill Turner, a thin, wiry fellow nodded and smirked. "You mean the ship the men are going to attack while you wait patiently in the cabin for it to be all over?"

Gwen groaned. "But father! I'm good with a cutlass, better'n some of the men leastways! Please let me help this time, I want to fight with you."

Before she even finished her sentence, the man began shaking his head. "NO. For the last time, no you are not going to fight, Gwen. This is not for little girls. I don't want you hurt."

Grumbling under her breath, Gwen stamped off into to the hatch and flung it open, dropping down to the first deck below the main one, not bothering to use the ladder. Bill Turner frowned. She was getting more and more unwieldy as she grew older.

"Don't try to grow up too fast, Gwen. You are young and a pirate's life is hard, I'll spare you from it as long as I can."

Gwen, meanwhile, was deftly swinging her cutlass in graceful arcs, slicing the air in her space in the crew corner. "I'm good enough for a silly little pirate attack!" she muttered under her breath, frowning when she felt the ship speed up. The attack would come soon. "I'll be a monkey's aunt before I miss this fight." She vowed to herself as she sheathed the sword and hung it at her side.

Then, the girl crept up to the main deck and hid herself behind some thick rigging rope. No one saw her sneak on deck and wouldn't notice her if she stayed still and quiet. When the chaos of battle began she would come out and help her father and fellow pirates.

"Grappling hooks!" Shouted Captain Sparrow and ten or so grappling hooks with ropes attached were tossed deftly over to the merchant ship, caught by surprise in the early morning hours.

Soon, pirates from the Black Pearl were wreaking havoc on the other ship, killing and maiming anyone in their way. Gwen, who had abandoned her hiding place, was watching in awe and barely restrained horror.

This wasn't fighting, this was massacring! She couldn't really believe what they were doing. Then, she saw him. Her father, battling a large blonde man, apparently of some status on the ship from the uniform he wore.

Her father was a formidable fighter, one of the best with a cutlass. But, he had been weakened by other fights and wasn't fairing well against this man. Gwen saw the man's blade cut into her fathers shoulder, slicing through to the other side.

Shouting out, she easily swung across to her father's aide, startling the man so much that it didn't take her but a second to kill him and hurry to her father's side. The man looked at his daughter with fearful eyes.

"Gwen...get back to the Pearl. This is no place for you!"

He was about to go on when a young man hurried to the fallen blonde man, anger written in his features. "Father!"

Gwen turned, her eyes dark with anger at first, but they lightened quickly. She had just killed that man's father. And she hated herself for it. Bill Turner was once again fighting, momentarily losing site of Gwen.

But in the time he was not watching her, the young man had seen her. "You? I saw you hit my father, I saw you KILL him!" he pulled a cutlass from a sheath at his side. "I'll get revenge for my father's death."

Coming close, he faltered. Gwen barely reached his chest. She was a small girl, even for her age. "You're a child."

Gwen's faced was impassive. "Your father tried to kill mine. I couldn't let him."

The man's eyes hardened again and he continued forward. "You might be young, but you're a pirate and I'll kill you now!"

Not about to go down without a fight, Gwen raised her own cutlass and parried the young man's attack. His eyes flashed. "You have some skill with a blade kid, I'll give you that."

Renewing his attack, Gwen was hard pressed to stop his onslaught. Yes, she was good with a blade, but had never fought a full-grown man in a battle for their lives before. She wished her father would see her now and come to her aid.

I shouldn't have come over here...father would have been all right. I'm not going to win this fight. Almost as she thought it, Gwen missed a lunge and felt pain rip through her stomach.

Gasping, she dropped her own weapon immediately and grabbed the man's arm to stop him from moving. Looking up slowly with pain-filled eyes, she met the man's gaze. His eyes were no longer hard.

"My father's death is avenged." That said, the man ripped the sword from Gwen's body and she cried out.

"GWEN!"

As the girl fell back, strong hands caught her. "Father? I'm sorry, I wasn't good enough. But I couldn't let that man kill you!" she spoke quickly, her breath coming harder each second as the pain grew.

Bill Turner was crying openly. "Stay with me, Gwen. I'll get you back to the Pearl." He wiped blood from the corner of Gwen's mouth. "Be strong."

She didn't answer, her head lolled back and her eyes rolled closed.

END FLASHBACK

A/N: Well, I'm not sure anyone is reading this story, but I promise it gets interesting. I give info on Jack's marooning and Bootstrap's death, then it's off to find treasure, have fights and get bloody! And for you Will-injured lovers out there, I'll tell you now it will come...same with Jack..I'll probably hurt him too! PLEASE give this a chance and r/r it! I'd be VERY happy if you did! :-)

-Gwenneth (and NO Gwen Turner is not one of those...whatchacallem's, Mary-Sues? I
just felt that Gwen was a good pirate name!!)