Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in this story that is mentioned in 'Ghost Ship', and if I make reference to any other published work it's probably not intentional, but alert me to it anyhow. Kapish?

Anywho…

Chapter 4

Jack knew that Ashe didn't want to go anywhere with him. Of course, she didn't know half of why that was a wise decision. He half dragged her down to the third floor, heading for the 'Java Shack'. He had concluded that getting her drunk was probably not the wisest course of action in trying to get her to spill out her secrets to him, as it couldn't guarantee success and he would then risk losing her trust altogether. He was on a bit of a time budget though, and immediately seemed like a good time to start acquainting himself with her.

They reached the coffee shop to find that the initial crowd there had dispersed, probably heading down to the main dining hall for dinner. Only a few stragglers were left, and they kept to their corners. Jack scanned the dimly lit room and spotted a table for two in a far corner. He motioned Ashe over and they sat down, Ashe fidgeting uncomfortably. She was looking around as if trying to memorize her surroundings. In fact, she was looking everywhere but at him.

This was a new feeling for Jack; usually women couldn't stop looking at him. He found that for the first time, he could imagine that this tiny woman may just be capable of putting up such a magnificent wall around her thoughts. She seemed to believe herself completely invisible.

A preppy-looking blonde waitress spotted them from the bar and wove her skinny ass through the mess of tables to where he and Ashe sat, the latter still doing a great impression of a prairie dog peeking out of its hole, her head swiveling around constantly. Jack wouldn't have been surprised if her nose had started twitching.

Ashe finally snapped to attention when the waitress politely asked them what it was they'd like. Jack plastered a cocky grin on his face, the one that usually caused women to drop whatever they may be holding at the moment, and calmly ordered a latte. Ashe, meanwhile, was staring intensely at the waitress, as if trying to place her. Her former dreamy expression had dissolved, leaving in its place a mask of calculating iciness. When the waitress turned toward her, Ashe swiftly reverted back to her normal shy demeanor. Stuttering slightly, she ordered a cappuccino and stared fixedly at the table. As the waitress turned her back and walked back toward the bar, Ashe raised her head to stare after her, a look of pained dislike on her face.

Jack cleared his throat loudly. "You know her?" He asked.

Ashe's head whipped around and she jumped, as if startled to find he was still there.

"Oh, umm…yeah. We went to university together. I didn't actually know her too well, I just remember her face."

Jack frowned slightly. From the look Ashe had given the blonde woman, he would have thought they had been old enemies. But they hadn't even known each other well enough for the waitress to recognize Ashe. So what was it about the other woman that had contorted Ashe's features into that mask of hurt and dislike?

"I'm good at that."

"What?" Jack snapped back to reality as Ashe spoke again.

"I'm good at it. Remembering faces."

"Oh. I see. So what is it that you do, Ashe?" Still slightly flustered, Jack decided he might as well get on with the interrogation. Time was ticking away.

"You mean, for a living? I've been working as a marine biologist for a couple of years now, but I'm…between jobs at the moment."

Noticing her hesitation, Jack nodded. A marine biologist? She certainly didn't look like a brainy science kind of girl, but who knew? And she had said that she liked the ocean. And that she had gone to university. Jack filed this fact away in the "probably true" section of the mental tab he was starting on her. He smiled.

"A marine biologist, huh? Wow. A woman with brains. I like that." He flashed another one of his cocky smiles, but he might as well have grinned at the table for all the response it evoked. Was the girl really that dead to the world, or a nun, or what? Slightly irked, Jack resumed his interrogation.

"So you grew up on Vancouver Island? I've heard it's nice there. Whereabouts on the Island are you from?"

"Victoria. That's the capital of British Columbia. But I'm sure you know that." She blushed and looked down again.

A moment later, a waitress (thankfully not the university acquaintance) appeared and set their coffees down on the table between them, causing a few moments' distraction. When she had left, Jack waited until he had Ashe's attention again. When she looked up, he was surprised to hear her speak.

"So you've learned a little about me. But what about you? What's your story?"

Shit. He had forgotten she was probably very well adept at keeping her secrets hidden. She had taken advantage of the distraction to turn his questions back on him. 'She's good', Jack thought grimly, 'But I'm better'.

"Me? I'm not all that interesting, actually. I grew up in Oregon, graduated high school and came up to Canada to join the Forces. Went through training, and now I fly sea planes over ice sheets for a living. At the moment, I'm on vacation for the summer." Pleased with his cute little summary, which was of course completely false, Jack smirked. "Pretty dull, huh? So how'd you become interested in marine biology?"

"I don't think it's dull at all," she replied, completely ignoring his question, "I've always wanted to fly. Planes, I mean." For some reason, this comment caused her to blush furiously. Jack couldn't figure this out. Lots of people he had told his cock and bull story to had expressed their interest in what he did. It was part of what made people trust him, and therefore it was the key to his success. But why had she been so quick to specify? What other kind of flying could she possibly have meant? Mentally giving his head a shake, Jack continued, keeping her talking.

"There's some fascinating wildlife up here too," he commented, hoping to catch her interest, "We get some awesome whale runs up here in the summer – humpbacks and Orcas, mostly."

Ashe's eyes momentarily lit up. She smiled, and her whole face transformed from faintly pretty to radiant. Her soft lips curled upward in a perfect curve, throwing the sharp angles of her face into sharp relief, and her blue-gray eyes held a dreamy, guileless sparkle that suddenly made the shy, self-conscious girl of a moment ago seem like an entirely different person. Then it was gone and her face settled back into its cold mask, and Jack almost found himself mourning the loss of such a beautiful thing.

"That sounds wonderful," she said quietly. "You're so lucky, living up here, seeing this gorgeous landscape from the air all the time, and then being able to land and see it all from ground level. It must be amazing." She then lapsed into silence, studying her coffee intensely. Jack worked on the perfect response to this. It came surprisingly quickly.

"It's great," he sighed tragically, "but I find myself getting lonely a lot, you know? Being on my own all day, every day, it's depressing. Sometimes I wish I had somebody…but you probably don't know about that. You look like you have tons of friends. Why are you here all on your own, anyway?"

Jack looked up at her and instantly regretted what he had just said. Ashe stared straight through him, as if trying to see through the wall behind him. Her face was deathly pale, and her mouth was slack. Her eyes glowed with the most horrible look he had ever seen in all his years of soul collecting. It was like he was looking through them to the very birthplace of grief, misery, hurt and fear. She looked like she had just gone into shock. Jack couldn't imagine what was wrong with her.

"Ashe? Are you alright? What's wrong?" He leaned across the table and took her hand in his, chaffing it, thinking that if she keeled over and died right now, it would save him a lot of trouble. No such luck.

She yanked her hand out of his grip so quickly she fell out of her chair with a crash. A few people turned around to stare at them. 'Great,' he thought, 'just what I need. A scene.' He stood up and came around the table to see her kneeling on the ground. "Ashe, what's wrong?"

She staggered silently to her feet and turned to face him. "I-I'm fine. I think I need to go lie down for a little while. "Umm…see you around, I guess…"She started to walk away.

He caught up with her and swung around so he was between her and the exit. He didn't notice the rising panic in her eyes. "Let me walk you to your room," he offered, holding out a hand.

She shook her head. No thank you. I'm fine, really…" And without a word, she pushed past him and took off down the hallway. He stared after her. Damn it, what had spooked her like that?

Ashe restrained herself from running only because she didn't want to trip on her heels again. She walked as fast as she thought was safe toward her cabin, breathing rapidly. She reached the door and fumbled with the key card. She finally opened the door and flew inside. She flung herself on the bed and forced herself to take deep, steadying breaths. She shook slightly.

What was the matter with her? Why had she let herself get into this? She stared up at the ceiling, cursing herself. She was such a fool, thinking that after only a few months she could cope with all these people again, that she could miraculously be someone different, that she could escape her past.

That waitress in the coffee shop – Ashe had known her all right. They had been in the same year at the University of Victoria, and she had gone on with Ashe to mainland British Columbia while she finished her specialization course in marine biology. The blonde girl – Melinda Harper was her name – had always felt sorry for Ashe. She had pretended, as all the others had, to be nice to her, to talk to her. She had even tried to hook Ashe up with a guy, which Ashe had not allowed. Melinda had been so sweet, but Ashe was convinced that she did it because she wanted something from her – didn't they all? Ashe had never figured out what it was she had wanted, but still she had distanced herself from Melinda, never trusting her, never taking her at face value. Every time Melinda would talk to her, Ashe's stomach would clench and she found she was unable to talk. Melinda was so popular, so nice, everyone liked her…it wasn't fair…After a while, Melinda had stopped trying to talk to her. They all did after a while. Ashe had known her for six years – up until a few months ago.

And now she didn't even recognize Ashe. Of course, that was to be expected. Ashe was invisible, wasn't she? So why was this Jack Ferriman guy tailing her? He seemed interested in her, but that was probably just a ruse to get in her pants. That had happened enough over the years.

But somehow, she couldn't believe that. There was something about him…something different. She thought back to a few moments ago, in the café. She had been building up to a breakdown since he had started asking her about her past. She had tried to steer him away, but he kept coming back to it. When he had asked her why she was here all alone, she had finally cracked. She had to avoid answering that question. There was no way she could tell him that. And he had made that comment about friends. It had been like a knife between the ribs. It had just been an innocent comment; how could he have known? But it had hurt nonetheless.

She remembered with painful clarity when he had reached across the table and taken her hand. Instinct had told her to get away, but something else – something deeper – had hesitated. His touch had been so warm, so gentle…

No. That had settled it. He was definitely just trying to get in her pants.

Repeating this to herself, hoping she could make herself believe it, she stood and went to the bathroom, praying that tomorrow would be a better day.