Disclaimer: Same old, same old, though I do think that I need to include Daniel Norton on the list of "My" characters. He's been playing a much bigger role than I first imagined he would.

A/N Well, the ratings not going to change in this chapter but there will be quite a teaser. So feel free to use your imaginations a little bit. 'Meyari grins evilly' I'm sure Jack would want you to. I am thinking about putting a "missing scene" on my personal website - I have a feeling y'all will know the scene of which I speak. R& R'ing will, of course, determine whether or not I am motivated to do so.

And...is it just me, or have quite a few "Haunted House" stories popped up in the POTC world since I started writing this? My, I feel like such a trendsetter...yet they haven't R and R'd, the ingrates...'winks'

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Chapter Six: The Night of No Sleep

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Andrea waltzed up to the house feeling like she was on Cloud Nine. He had kissed her, Officer "Call me Daniel" Norton had really kissed her. In front of about a dozen witnesses. And not any run of the mill, "Kissing Granny Goodnight" smooch, either. He'd waited until they were awkwardly exchanging good nights by her car. The faint moon-light had bounced off Daniel's blonde hair as he'd shifted his feet, and a shy glint had shone from his pale blue eyes as he'd lifted a hand gently to Andrea's cheek.

"I had a really good time tonight." he'd said softly. "Me, too..." Andrea had breathed out, heart hammering in her chest. He'd leaned in, giving her every opportunity to pull away, before placing his lips on hers in a fiery connection. He'd tasted like cinnamon, his lips a soft, startling contrast to the close-cropped Vandyke that he wore. What had broken them up was a muffled "Mreow!" from the protesting cat being squashed between their bodies. If he hadn't been leaving to go back on duty Andrea would have been very tempted to invite him home. Her last relationship had ended two years prior and the hunger that the kiss stirred up in her was one that mere food could not satisfy

Rum now rode on Andrea's shoulder as she mounted the porch steps. She paused as she began to take out her keys, swearing that she had left the porch light on. "Ah well, maybe the bulb burned out." Andrea was in too good of a mood to be upset over a bulb but when she went to unlock the door it opened at her touch. Alarmed, Andrea began to retreat towards her car, pulling out her cell phone as she backed away. Rum gathered himself and leaped off her shoulder, stalking with lashing tail towards the open front door. "Rum!" Andrea hissed as she began dialing 911. "Get back here!"

Static crackled loud in Andrea's ear as she swore and tried not to drop her phone. Rum darted through the door, and Andrea frantically looked around for some kind of weapon. She should be driving for help, she should be doing anything but going through that dark doorway alone and unarmed, yet Andrea found herself timidly sliding through the door, praying that there wasn't a robber or a psycho-murderer inside.

The house was still. Not a breeze disturbed the air, and Andrea heard only mild echoes of static as she strained her ears. She slid along the wall, one shadow among many, thanking God that she had chosen to wear quiet shoes to dinner. Her hand reached
slowly, ever so slowly, towards the front room's light switch. She fumbled with it, her hand finding the switch plate, and she shrieked as another hand grabbed hers.

"By the Powers, woman, do you ever do anything but scream?" Andrea frantically tried to pull her hand out of the iron grip that held it. A body, cool but quite solid, pinned hers to the wall as the intruder dodged her knee and her foot which should have connected with his instep. "You're not going to hit me, young missy, so you might as well stop trying." Andrea trembled as she felt hair, loose and long, brush against her cheek. A puff of cool breath caressed the skin beneath her ear. "My, luv, don't tell me you forget your dreams so quickly?"

Light flared in the kitchen and filtered into the front room, illuminating her assailant. He was taller than her by only a few inches, with messy brown hair and an outfit straight out of a bad romance novel. Andrea's eyes widened as she recognized him. "That's it, luv,
time to remember." Jack said soothingly, encouragingly. "Yoooouuu...you're not real. You're a dream!" she said accusingly. Jack threw his head back and roared with laughter. "That I am, luv, but I'm as real as you are. Perhaps not the 'flesh and blood' sort of real most people hope for, but real enough." Andrea stared at the man? Ghost? that still pinned her to the wall, and her eyes narrowed.

"What did you do with my cat?!"

An evil smile slowly shaped Jack's lips. "Oh, don't worry luv, he's safe enough. Live and breathing as I'm sure you'd prefer, but he's in no position to be interrupting us now, savvy?" Andrea's trembling began to escape her control and became a fine shiver. A look of concern bloomed on the pirate's face. He liked a good prank as much as anyone, but..." Here now, luv, you're not afraid of ol' Jack, are you?"

"Who, me? Afraid? Of a fuckin' ghost that's currently pinning me to a wall and won't tell me where he stashed my cat?" Andrea's fear was quickly turning into indignation. Jack slowly backed off, holding his hands in the air as he smiled. "Now, luv, just making sure you're not going to hurt yerself. Or let that cat out of his bag."

Andrea warily pushed away from the wall as Jack regally gestured towards the couch. He caught her eyes slipping towards the door, and he mentally made the door slam shut and its lock slide into place with a very audible click. "Now, now, luv, there's no reason to be runnin' from ol' Jack. I'm not going to hurt you. Now I do suggest that you take a seat, young missy, because we have much to discuss." Andrea heard the refrigerator door open and shut, and tried hard not to whimper as the bottle of Captain Morgan that had been in her freezer floated into the room and settled onto the coffee table. She sank onto the couch, and the ghost settled onto the opposite end. It was an eerie parody of the way she and Daniel had been sitting just that morning. "You look like you need a drink, luv. And to be quite honest, I'd prefer if you had one. We're linked now, you and I. While this does allow me to appear in front of you right now in a solid state, it's not exactly a one-way bridge." Andrea looked at him in confusion, and Jack sighed. "Meaning, I can feel some of what you feel now. If you get drunk, I'll get drunk. If someone makes you angry, I'm going to get angry. If someone scares you, I'm trembling in my boots same as you. And when someone catches your eye..." Jack paused as a blush started creeping into Andrea's cheeks. "I see I don't have to spell it out for you."

Andrea took a slow pull on the bottle as she mulled over what Jack had told her. Getting drunk sounded good. Getting drunk sounded very, very good. She was no longer as worried about Rum. From the hints Jack had dropped about him being live, safe and "in the bag" she figured that he was probably in the carrying case she'd transported him here in. "So why the talking walls and messages in the mirror? And what the hell were you doing spying on me in the shower? Oh my God..." Andrea groaned as a slow grin spread across the pirate's face. "You pulled my towel off the rack! You bastard! What else have you done?"

Jack settled back on the couch with every appearance of comfort. "Don't blame me for eyeing a beautiful woman when she's paraded in front of me. Your computer crashing was me, though I will admit I was trying to figure out how to use it to talk to you. Your cat getting locked in the broom closet yesterday was also me. In case your friend Norton didn't make it entirely clear to you, ghosts and cats don't mix. Cats were once worshipped as gods, you know, as Keepers of the Underworld, and the little bastards have never forgotten it. Your phone cutting out was also me. I'd been waiting all day to appear before you in the flesh, and I'll admit I was less than happy at having you run out on me moments before I could do so. I'll also admit that I'm the reason your cell phone wouldn't work a little while ago. I can't reach far outside this house, I'll admit, but you're going to have to go farther away than the porch to get away from me." He reached a
hand towards Andrea's neck, stopping millimeters away from her bare skin as she tried not to recoil. He traced the invisible pattern on her neck, and his voice became almost wistful. "As I said, we're linked, you and I."

Andrea reached for the rum as the pirate settled back on his side of the couch. He was getting closer, she noticed as she pulled one more swallow.

"So...you want me to do what? Burn the house down? 'Cause that's what it sounded like last night, and Daniel made it pretty clear that that's what you tried to get his sister to do." Fear stiffened Andrea's spine. "Oh my God...brown eyes. You were possessing her, weren't you?" Jack nodded, and had the grace to look sheepish. "I can't see what's in this plane of existence very well when I'm not solid. And the farther the moon is from full, the less up to par I'm feeling, savvy? So I'd send Suzanne off to a nice little dream world full of butterflies and kittens and what not, and I borrowed her eyes to have a look-see. But don't you dare think" and his voice grew stern "for one moment that I got that poor girl killed. I had nothing to do with it. What Norton didn't tell you was that Sue and their old man got into a row that day about some fellow she'd been kipping out at night to see. He conked her over the head and threw her into the study while making sure there was no way for her to get out to see her lad. The bastard didn't even look where he'd thrown her - there was a few candles burning on his desk, and I'll let you guess from there what happened. Old Norton didn't leave this house because of any memories I'd given him, luv. It was because of the memories he'd given himself."

Andrea mulled over what Jack told her, and took another pull of rum. The world wasn't nice and wavy, yet, but given enough time and it would be. "So what happened to her cat?" Jack snorted. "Alright, that one was me. I was trying to talk to Sue in her sleep, and that damned cat butted in on the conversation much as your Rum did last night. Only I will tell you, love, a nine-year-old street-fighting cat will put up a hell of a fight compared to a nine-month old kitten. Don't ever die in a dream luv, chances are your real self won't survive it."

Andrea started to take another pull of rum, and then lowered the bottle as she looked suspicously at Jack. "What did you do with my cat, Mr. Sparrow?" Jack sighed "It's Captain, CAPTAIN, Sparrow luv, but I think it would be more appropriate to call me Jack now, don't you think?" Andrea took a quick pull before deliberately capping the bottle and setting it meaningfully on the coffee table. "That still doesn't answer my question, Captain Sparrow. What did you do with my cat?"

Jack grinned wickedly and began inching closer to Andrea. "What would you give to find out, luv?" Andrea stared at him in disbelief. "What are you...oh, no. NO, do you hear me?" "Just a kiss, luv. One little kiss, and I'll tell you all about where I stashed your precious Rum." He hovered over her, a spectral arm firmly planted on either side of her, waiting for her answer. She nodded slowly - one kiss couldn't be that bad, and it would be worth it if he told her where her cat was.

Jack slowly lowered his head to hers, their eyes locked. Andrea's heart began pounding in her chest as the tension mounted. A tongue, as cool to the touch as the rest of the ghost, slowly and deftly licked her lips. "Hmm..." Jack purred. "You taste like rum, luv."

As Jack's lips pressed on hers, Andrea closed her eyes and forgot what, exactly, she was kissing. If Daniel's kiss had been fire, Jack's was ice, ice so cold it burned the breath out of her lungs. She moaned, her lips parting slightly to allow his tongue to slide gently into her mouth. It had been too long, far too long, and she needed this, needed it so very badly. Daniel's kiss had been a treasure, but Jack's promised far more than silver and gold. It didn't help that she knew her feeling of need was being amplified
through Jack and by him, or that she knew that he was feeling the same need that she was.

Jack slowly pulled his mouth from hers, and Andrea couldn't stop a little sound of protest. Her eyes snapped open as she felt Jack's hand - Jack's very solid and warm hand - run its fingers through her hair. The cool breeze of the sea washed over her, and while she could still feel the couch beneath her she saw the deck of the Black Pearl outlined all around her. She looked around in wonder, and a low laugh rumbled from Jack. "Now you're seeing into my world, luv."

Jack began to pull back from her, and Andrea cut short another sound of protest. He continued to lean over her on his very warm and solid arms. "That almost sounded like an invitation, Andrea Talliver." He began nibbling his way down her neck, sending chills down her spine. When she arched her back involuntarily Jack wrapped an arm around her, supporting her and crushing her body into his own.

The resulting sensations almost caused Admiral Estrogen to order Sergeant Reason to salute and march right out of the room. As Jack pushed back her shirt enough to nibble her collarbone, Andrea cut short another moan. "Tell me where my cat is, Jack, and you'll get your invitation." The pirate glanced up with heated eyes and grinned the grin of the truly wicked. "He's out in the back room in that kitty-carrier of yours. Quite safe, I assure you. Now, my dear Andrea, do I have my invitation to bed you?"

Her smile grew to match his as she slowly nodded her head.

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A/N: That's it for now, folks. Remember that missing scene I said I needed many reviews to motivate me to write? Well, this is where it's supposed to be. So make me happy.

Review. I dares ye.