"Cap'n! Cap'n!" We need you in the galley! It's urgent!"
"Shite," Jack snarled as he threw a loop of rope over the helm and followed Joshua, his second mate, don the steps toward the door.
Josh was smacked in the face as the door flew open, and Alinnya slammed it shut behind her, jamming it shut with her dagger. Jack stood to the side, not entirely sure what to do, as she grabbed Josh's pistol, ducking a pair of shots fired through the door, and stood in front of it, sword sheathed, a loaded pistol in each hand. She cocked one, and aimed it at the door, directly where a man's head would be, and shot. Sudden silence from behind the door, but she didn't waste a moment in reloading. As soon as they had started on the door again, she was already aiming.
"Please do not kill off the entire crew, love, as I need them to sail the ship." He leaned back against the railing, amused. He held the smile, even when she stared him down. Her eyes froze him more efficiently than a dip in Davy Jones' Locker. This was no imagined insult, escalated with too much rum. This was the cold- blooded assassination of his crew. She cocked the pistol and resettled her aim, holding that pose, and he held silence in respect of the woman he had armed.
They finally slammed the door open, and Cal raced straight into the gun barrel, challenging her, with dried blood covering one cheek. The other crewmen made a ring around them, enjoying the sport. She held the gun level with his mouth, her eyes cold and unwavering.
As much as he was enjoying the spectacle, enough was enough. Jack pushed through his crew, until he stood reasonably close to the two combatants.
"You don't want to be doing that, love," he took a step forward, stopping as he found himself facing the barrel of the other pistol, her eyes still locked with Cal's. Her aim was flawless.
"You're right," she smirked, turning her head to face him. "I don't."
She lowered the pistol, and he relaxed visibly, until he realized that she was aiming directly at his groin. Jack rolled his eyes, thinking as quickly as he knew how.
"Now that's just stupid, love. Shoot him in the balls. If you shoot me, that means you're going to have to go to the crew to get your pleasure. And I doubt you'll enjoy them as much as you enjoy me." The crews' jeering rang in her ears.
"For someone who doesn't do anything, you make a hellova lot of promises," she snarled. The crew turned to their captain, waiting for a response.
"What happened?" Jack was afraid to taunt her any more. Her aim was something he did not want to play games with.
"Cal's makin' jeers about her, Cap'n, and she heard him. Didn't take too kindly to it," one of the crewmen spoke up.
Jack sighed. He'd known the explosion was coming, but defusing it was going to be a shot in hell. He'd known Cal wanted the first mate's slot, and could not have convinced him of the usefulness of the girl had he tried. Josh had understood, seeing things well the way Jack did, and had not caused problems.
"What gives you the right to bring your whores on board, if we can't, Captain?" Cal almost spat the title.
"Because she knows the locations of all Jonathan Brady's loot. Or so she claims, and that's where she's leading us. If I had to marry the whore to get my hands on that, so I would. If she leads us there, and there is no treasure, then you can have your bloody way with her. I care not. But I'll tell ya, mate, and listen well, for anyone here will tell ya the same. If your mouth gets between me and my gold, I'll have to shut it for ya. Permanently." With that, he clasped one hand around Alinnya's wrist, gently pulling away the pistol aimed at his groin. "Back to work, you scallywags!" he roared to the crew, and they scattered to the seven winds. His eyes locked with Cal's. "Go below, and cool off. Come with me, lass."
Still holding her wrist, he pulled her into the captain's quarters, shutting the door behind him, trying to force himself to relax. It didn't work. "Do you mind," he turned, staring at her back, "telling me what the bloody hell has gotten into you?!" it ended as a roar. If she was affected at all by his display of temper, she didn't show it.
"I'm not lying to you. You needn't worry your pretty head over what happens to me." Her voice was quiet, her eyes focused on the wake of the ship through the glass.
"Can you keep control of your temper that well?" he sighed, sitting down.
"I needed to make a point. It won't happen again."
"No, it won't, love. I haven't the patience." He sat back, cursing his luck. "For what it's worth, I know how Brady runs that ship."
Wrong thing to say. He watched as her body tensed in the sunlight. "I bought you, love, that doesn't mean I own you. That's how I like it." He smiled at the thought, though hurrying to correct his error. "And I have no intentions of treating you anything the same. You have to come to terms with that though, love. I'm not going to throw you overboard unless I have to. Do me the same favor."
She turned to face him, her face a mask for all the emotions behind it. Looking in her eyes, he found himself flashing back to those moments in his cabin this morning.
Is that what it's supposed to be like?
"I can't face your demons for you, girl." His voice was soft. "You have to do that alone."
"That's the problem," she replied. "I don't know how."