A/N: I was pleased with the 3 reviews I got on chapter 6. Sorry if this chapter seems short but I kind of want to space things out a bit.

Chapter 7: A Father's Instinct

Lia's POV:

I woke up with a pounding headache and my body felt so achy that I was surprised that I could move. I groaned as I pressed my palm to my forehead to dull the pain. I felt no skin but some sort of cloth. I traced the cloth with my fingertips and felt that it wrapped around my forehead, covering my eyes.

I stuck my fingers under the cloth and pulled it off. Immediately revealing my surroundings. To my horror, I saw that it wasn't a room I recognized. I was in a ship's cabin! I was lying in a bed big enough for one person. A table with a few chairs sat in the middle of the room and a desk was against the wall opposite from me.

But why? I looked down to the cloth and saw a red stain covering one side. Blood; my blood!

I cringed. I felt the side of my head. My fingers grazed a patch of rough skin. I flinched as I touched it. At least it was healed now.

I threw the covers back and stood up. The sudden rise caused a wave of wooziness over me. I sat back down pressing my temples lightly with my hands.

Where was I? After resting for a second I tried to stand again. I stumbled but was able to hold myself up. I ran for the door and jiggled the handle. It was locked.

I jumped when the door suddenly opened.

"You!" I gasped.

The same bald pirate from the bar came in. He was carrying a tray with a small portion of bread with a glass of water and an apple.

"Ah I see ye 'ave awoke." He sets the tray on a small table in the middle of a room.

I felt myself glare at him, "Who are you?"

"My name is Richards, luv." He motions to the food, "You must be hungry."

"What!" Food was the last thing on my mind, "Where the hell am I? I'm getting out of here!"

I headed for the door. Richards grabbed me and pushed me back on the bed.

He laughed, "I don't think yer goin' anywhere, luv. We're a far way from land. Tomorrow mornin' we will be in Tortuga to meet someone."

Tortuga? I ran over to the window: nothing but the black sky and the ocean.

I felt my heart sink.

I turned around to Richards. I suddenly couldn't control my anger anymore.

"Turn this ship around and take me back!" I reached to pull out my sword but felt nothing. In a panic, I groped around my hips for my sword and quickly saw that my belt had been removed along with my sword!

Richards looked at me like I was pathetic and laughed, "Feisty. I like that. Captain Mateo will as well."

"Who?" I asked, my brows furrowed in confusion.

"Oh ye'll be meetin' him tomorrow."

He turned to walk out of the room. I charged at him. Anger took over me.

"Bastard!"

He turned around and grabbed me roughly by my wrists before I could do anything. I turned and twisted to get out of his grip but he was quite strong. He threw me on the floor. I pushed up to attack him again but stopped as he drew his hand back in a warning.

"I wouldn't be doin' that if I were ya, lass." He growled, "Try that again and ye won't last through the night."

He walked out and shut the door behind him. I ran to the door but he locked it before I could open it. I banged my fists against the door and jiggled the handle again. In frustration, I kicked at the door.

I sighed heavily with defeat. I wasn't going anywhere.

I squeezed my eyes closed hoping that this was just a dream and that I would be back in the blacksmith shop, completely safe. Ready for tomorrow when I would be sailing on the Pearl again. I opened my eyes only to see that this was no dream.

I felt my breathing pick up and my hands began to tremble. I ran my hands through my hair. Frustration and anger boiled inside me.

Why am I here? Why me? My heart was pounding.

I got up and without thinking I grabbed the bread and threw it. I swept my arm across the table, knocking over the water and apple. Shrieking in utter frustration and rage.

I rushed to the desk, pulling out the drawers and spilling its contents on the floor. I paused in my destructive actions as a small penknife fell out of the drawer. I bent down and picked it up.

I slid the blade across my palm to test the sharpness; a bit of pain but it didn't break the skin.

"Grr! Not good enough!" I threw the pen on the floor. It landed and slid under the bed. If I were eventually going to conjure an escape I knew that blasted little knife wouldn't do a thing.

I sat against the desk, my elbows rested on my knees and my head in my hands.

I knew Jack would come for me. He would.

But wait! Immediately the memory of our fight came rushing back to me. It hit like a punch in the stomach.

Immediately I was consumed by guilt and regret. All anger I had for him before immediately melted away. I just wanted him with me, his reassuring presence.

A million questions I knew wouldn't be answered ran through my head. I didn't do anything wrong. What tempted this man to take me away? What awaited me tomorrow? I was no different than anybody else.

I squeezed my eyes shut preventing the tears. No time for crying. I had to be strong.

I would get out of this. Somehow…

Jack's POV (right after Lia left the tavern):

I stood there for what seemed like forever. Her words were like daggers piercing my heart. I trudged down the stairs to the bar after she took off. I went for the booth seats in the corner, not wanting to deal with any of the blokes walking around completely smashed.

"Hey some rum over here!"

The bartender immediately reacted and a few seconds later a barmaid was at my table with my drink.

I looked over to the door and saw Will. He seemed to be thinking of whether or not he should come in.

I shrugged and downed my drink. Another glass was set in front of me.

Will finally moved and came to join me. He sat down across from me, waiting for me to speak.

"Well that didn't go as well as I hoped." I commented. The rum was already taking effect.

"Jack, don't you think you were a little too hard on her?" Will asked.

I took another drink, "Ye can never be too hard on her, Will." I didn't bother to get into the fact of what he was doing eavesdropping right outside the room. It seemed a pointless argument at the moment.

Be that as it may, I did think I was a bit rough but I refused to admit I was wrong to Will. Not to mention he had no business telling me what to do.

Will exhaled deeply, "Well I think you were."

"I don't think that is any of yer business to tell me how to raise my daughter! And why do you care anyway?"

Will tensed up a bit. I downed the last of my rum and stood up.

"Now if yeh excuse me. I've got some sleepin' to do."

I walked out of the tavern, emerging into the darkness of Port Royal.

As soon as I realized I was alone, my mind took a different turn. Lia's hateful words repeated over and over in my head.

I could recall many times she said that to me when she was but only a prisoner aboard the Black Pearl. This time really cut deep and I really didn't know why at the time. Oh sure we have come a long way in our relationship since three years ago but comparing it to the fifteen years I wasn't around to know her, I was just barely scratching the surface.

I turned a corner that would put me in front of the blacksmith shop, bracing myself for another one of Lia's tantrums. Heh at least this time she was not drunk. But I stopped short at the site. Before I could react, I felt a hand grab at my shoulder and turned around to see Will.

"Jack can we just…" his eyes followed my gaze and became speechless as he saw what I saw.

The door to the blacksmith shop was wide open. Didn't normally seem like a big deal but a funny feeling loomed over me. Something was wrong and I was sure Will felt it too.

"Now if I'm not mistaken." I said pointing at the door, "That door should be closed"

Will slowly nodded then it dawned on me.

"Lia."

I sprinted to the shop with Will following. He ran in calling her name but I stopped as something caught my eye. On the ground were footprints. The first set I recognized as Lia's. I kneeled down to get a better look at the second set. Lia's looked as if she was standing with her back to whoever left the other set. The second set trailed off to the left towards the alley with Lia's leaving a thin path that followed.

"She was dragged." I whispered.

"Jack she's not here!" Will said urgently. He wrinkled his eyebrows. I must have looked ridiculous. I was on all fours following the footprints into the alley.

"What are you doing?"

I put out my hand to silence him as I continued to figure out my little puzzle.

The footprints stopped a few inches into the alley. Lia's footprints were facing outward from the wall with the second set facing hers. Messes of footprints were right next to them. It looked like a struggle took place.

'That's my girl'. I thought with a half smile.

I knew she would be a fighter.

"Jack, look at this." Will was focused on the wall above. I stood up and felt my smile quickly disappear.

There was blood on the wall, a thin smear of blood. I felt a lump in my throat as I closely examined it. I shuddered as I looked down.

Will still examined the blood as I looked to the floor. The second set of footprints left the area and headed down to the docks. But Lia's completely disappeared.

"She was knocked out…" Will stated.

"…And carried." I finished.

Will looked over my shoulder at the finishing footprints of the puzzle.

"Jack!" He bent down and picked up something. He put his hand in front of my face, showing it to me.

It was Lia's bandana, completely covered in dirt.

Will's POV:

Jack didn't move or speak. Completely emotionless, he took the bandana from my hand. I could see the rage growing in his eyes.

He began to shake with fury as he curled his fingers into a tight fist, balling up the bandana in process.

"Jack?" I asked but he didn't say anything. His teeth were clenched, as his grip on the bandana grew tighter. He suddenly let out a snarl of rage and pounded his fist against the wall.

He didn't even flinch from the hard impact as he took off running toward the docks.

I ran after him, "Jack! Slow down!"

He just kept on running. A feeling of worry ran over me for Lia. It was more then I had expected considering I only knew her for a few weeks. I couldn't even imagine what Jack was feeling.

The sound of waves crashing broke the silence of the sleeping town as we approached the harbor. Jack ran down one of the docks until he reached the end. He stopped suddenly and cursed loudly to himself. I slowed to a stop right next to him.

"You see that there?" Jack pointed to a huge rock down the coastline that stuck out of the water, "The Pearl is in the cove just around that rock."

I shook my head, "But Anamaria and Gibbs won't be here until morning."

"And who knows where Lia could be by then!" he said with a scowl, "It can't wait that bloody long."

"Or we could just take this and go." I suggested. Down in the water was a small rowboat. The oars were laying in it. A rope tied it securely to the dock.

Jack smiled with satisfaction as he swaggered over to the boat, "Ah just like old times, huh?"

"Well this isn't commandeering the Interceptor." I pulled out my sword and sliced through the rope.

"Close enough." Jack jumped into the boat and grabbed an oar. I followed. We made haste and rowed as quickly as we could. No words were exchanged as we approached the ship.

Jack reached out and grabbed a dangling rope that someone left out, "Good thing Gibbs is stupid." I knew Gibbs wasn't a man to trust with putting away equipment. Always with him, something was left out.

He pulled himself up and climbed up the rope. I waited until he was halfway up before climbing. The rope swayed back and forth as we climbed.

Jack attempted to swing his legs over the side but missed and fell forward landing face first onto the deck. I swung my legs over and landed feet first into the ship.

In an instant, the doors to the forecastle busted open and the crew ran out. They shouted and waved their weapons in threat as they prepared to fight. They stopped short at the site of their captain lying on the floor, stumbling to get up.

Anamaria ran to Jack's side and helped him up, "What's going on? I thought we were leavin' tomorrow." Her eyes scanned the space between Jack and I. Searching for the expected third person.

"Where's Lia?" she asked Jack.

"She's not here." Jack said. He was very careful not to show emotion to the crew. They knew him as Captain Jack Sparrow and he intended to keep it that way. He pulled out the bandana showing it to her.

"This was all I found."

Anamaria looked to the bandana with shock in her eyes, which quickly was replaced with anger.

"Weigh the anchor! Hoist the sails!" She stomped around as the crew did as they were told. Jack rolled his eyes and walked after Anamaria. He roughly grabbed her and made him face her.

"Stupid girl! How can we sail when we don't even know where she is?"

"Jack!" Mr. Gibbs came up behind him, "I don't know if this could help but I did see a ship leave the port not too long ago."

"Which way did it go?" Jack demanded urgently.

Mr. Gibbs pointed northwest. A direction both Jack and I were familiar with.

"Tortuga." I confirmed.

Jack let go of Anamaria and walked up the steps to the helm. If there was any chance she would be there, we were taking it.

A/N: Dude this chapter was HELL to write. Lol, nonetheless I am hoping you guys like it because I'm not favoring this one too much. I'm also going to take this time to announce my retirement on this story…HAH gotcha! I actually will be taking a break for a few days (maybe weeks). I start college this Monday so I don't know how much of my day I can salvage to write. Not to mention I am having terrible writer's block. I know where I'm going with this story but the space in between certain events is blank. The time off will do me good to fill in that space. I'm accepting ideas so please don't hesitate to send me any suggestions that I can work off of.