Wonderfully beta'd by Rachael

Chapter 3

Ana was staring at the ship the Veritas that now was following the Pearl. She could see Joshamee Gibbs from her spot on the deck and for a moment she truly wished Jack had sent her to the Veritas instead of keeping her on his ship. Now it was too late to go.

Of course she could just simply do it, but she knew deep in her heart that Jack would never forgive her that action. Simply, because he already had such a hard time with the whole 'trust' thing. She knew that when they had sailed on the Dauntless to hunt after Barbossa, Jack had not really trusted her… he had trusted nobody that time. Now, slowly, the trust had come back, but she knew it would completely shatter if she would ask to be brought to the Veritas instead. So she stayed. And stared at Gibbs.

Josh Gibbs was for everyone on the ship a listening ear and a friend in need. If you had a problem you could always count on Gibbs. Always. And now she needed his presence and he wasn't here. That's what you call ironic.

Ana turned around and caught her eyes flying to Jack's cabin. She was dying to know what was happening behind that door. She really needed to know, since her imagination could only come up with the worse scenarios.

One of them being Jack and that girl deeply in love doing whatever you can do when in love and alone in a large cabin with an obvious comfortable bed. Not that Ana could speak from first hand experience on this issue.

Another one of her imaginations was Jack being commanded around by that girl, doing whatever you do when under a spell as a charismatic pirate captain in a large cabin with an obvious comfortable bed.

Neither of these options sounded very appealing in Ana's ears.

For a moment the urge of stepping forward and throwing open that door to see with her own eyes what was going on was almost too hard to resist. But she hardly doubted if Jack, or that girl when she really was a witch, would appreciate that action very much.

With a sigh she turned away and left for her own cabin just to lie there awake for hours only able to think about what was going on in her captain's cabin at the moment.

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Jack was rubbing his temples when he sat down on his bed. Life was starting to get rather complicated these days! He had started to notice how Ana spent more and more time along with the new crewmembers instead of the old. He also noticed how she had started to avoid looking him in the eyes or even speaking to him at all!

What on earth had he done wrong this time? And why didn't she just slap him and get over with it, like she always seems to solve problems between them?

Women!

Then he tiredly smiled at the girl in his bed. She hadn't left this place since she had come aboard, only to fall asleep in his arms every night. At least it seemed to stop her from having nightmares and Jack couldn't recall either the last time since he had slept so comfortable as with the girl in his arms, with her head tightly under his chin and one ear pressed to his chest.

"Good evenin', luv!" he whispered softly, not expecting a reply. She hadn't spoken a word since he had known her and he still didn't know her name. But he would find it out… soon. He opened his arms to let her settle against his chest and played a bit with her long brown hair.

"Ye know what, luv… I'm in all worries about me Ana. She never was like this b'fore." Jack didn't even know why he told the girl this, but he had been telling her about his worries and about his day in general since the second day she had crawled in his arms and made him feel loved.

"Should almost think she's under some sort of spell… seems te like the new crew more than the old as well…" Jack swallowed hard before allowing himself to speak out his worst thoughts. "'m afraid tha' she… tha' she wants te take over me ship… together with those new fellows." Then he added, as if he had to defend Ana, "I still own her a ship, ye know…"

The girl looked with big eyes and great interest at Jack, but he had no idea if she could actually understand him in the first place. Slowly she moved one hand up and stroked a bundle of hair out of his face, while he smiled at her.

"Yer not going to betray ol' Jack, are ye, luv?" he whispered in her hair.

"Jack?"

His name was spoken so softly that he at first wasn't even sure if the girl had spoken at all.

"Luv?"

The girl turned her attention back to him and then she said his name again, taken a deep breath as if it's something incredibly hard she was doing right now.

"'ello, luv!" Jack said happily. He finally seemed to be able to break down the last pieces from that wall she had built around her. "Can ye tell me yer name now, poppet?" he asked hopefully.

She seems to think a little before replying. "Cass," she said again so softly that Jack almost believed he was imagining things.

"Well… hello then Cass… Don' mind if I call ye Cassy then? Always seem te be doing tha'… Mind ye… Tried te call Ana 'Annie' once," he chuckled, "she didn't really like tha' name."

Cassy shook her head.

"Ye don't like talking much, do ye?"

Again she shook her head.

"Well, Cassy, luv… don' worries then… ol' Jack can talk fer two," and with that he pulled her in a tight hug, feeling good for the first time in days.

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Jack still wasn't sure what to think of this new crew. He didn't think he liked them much and he was convinced he would change crews as soon as he could. The only person he thought would make a proper pirate was a large guy with thick black hair, who listened to the name of Jeff.

On this moment Jack eyed Ana uncomfortably, who was having a deep conversation with Michael, the guy he had first asked about Cassy's name. After one last glance at the two he turned to get back into his cabin, the only place he really felt comfortable these days. His eyes went over the Veritas who sailed gracefully next to the Pearl and for a moment he really wished Josh was back on his Pearl. The sky started to darken and it was soon going to be night. Suddenly Jack stopped and turned back to face various members of his crew.

"Ana!" he ordered. "Whose the night watch tonight?"

Ana looked up, to immediately look away again. "Edmund and Wilhelm."

"Aye. Edmund? Winning Will? Ye can go to sleep. You," he pointed at Michael, "and you," he pointed to another member of his new crew, "are going te be night watch instead."

"B-but…" Michael started to protest.

"I'm the captain, mate. Ye and yer friend are going to keep a sharp eye t'night." And with that he turned to his cabin, trying his best to ignore the muttering behind his back.

The bad feeling disappeared as soon as he had closed the door behind him. He could almost feel Ana's eyes burn holes in them, but he simply didn't care. If she wanted to ignore him she could get it!

"Hello, Cassy," he said grinning at the girl, but then he frowned. Cassy was shivering all over her body and looking around apprehensively.

"Was wrong, luv? Bad dream?" Jack cursed himself. He should have been wiser and just gone back to his cabin! Then he would probably had been able to stop her from dreaming.

Cassy didn't seem to recognize him at all. Jack quickly sat down and pulled her against him, slowly rocking her back and forth and singing 'a pirates life for me' in her hair.

"Truth," Cassy whispered.

"What did ye say, luv?" Jack wasn't even sure if she had said 'truth' at all. Cassy threw both her arms around his neck and cried with her face in his neck, while Jack was rubbing her back and whispering silly words in her ear.

Very slowly she calmed down.

"Well, luv. Don't scare ol' Jack like that again, mind ye?" again he grinned at her and this time she slowly smiled back.  "Tha's my Cassy."

The cabin was completely dark now and Jack betted it was in the middle of the night. He had forgotten to put a candle on for the light, but he didn't think that mattered much. He knew the Pearl like the back of his hand.

Then he frowned.

He heard something different. Something that was not the sea, or his beloved Pearl or one of his men that couldn't sleep. He heard… cannon fire.

"Bloody hell!" he whispered, while he quickly jumped on his feet. "Stay here, Cassy, luv!" he said as he quickly made his way to the main deck.

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Well, I'm fresh out of the plane from my holiday (I want to go back!) and I can offer you this for now. Still have no idea where this story is going to lead, although I know what's going to happen in the next 2/3 chapters and then I'll see what the Muse says (Damn. Seriously need a name for my muse!)

Pendragginink - First of all: you have no idea how much your review cheered me up. My dog was very ill at that time and I was terribly worried about his health. Luckily he's doing better now! About your sleeping issue. You have a good point there, but I do believe that Jack would sleep alone in a cabin and so does Ana. I have my reasons for that last one, but I still have to type that story down sheepish grin. Be patient, it should be my next project

Lavender Wonder - YAY! Thank you for reviewing! I'm afraid I'm starting to rather like the jealous Ana and Daft Jack thing. Beware! ;)

Woman of the Dunedain - Clio! This is so weird. Especially to not call you Clio LOL I'm going to read some of yours as soon as I have time… Would have done it sooner, but the holidays got in the way

Kungfuchick - Still the 'thing'. I'm still not sure, although this probably should get you comforted when I say that Jack/Ana is my favorite paring :)

Pigwidgeon - Thanks for the luck and inspiration ;) I should get some stuff written this weekend so there should be more to any of my stories somewhere next week

Loraine - I had a great holiday. I really didn't want to leave! I didn't even miss my computer gasp Hope you like this!