Hey! I'm back. I've had a really bad day so you're reviews helped. Thanx.

Chapter eleven -Bloody Hell

It had been two days since the crews met together and now the Black Pearl led the Blue Sphere over the green/blue water, finally on their way to the Island of the Fated Partings. Jack stood at the railing, his eyes on the other ship. Gibbs stood behind him, securing some cargo to the main mast.
"What's on yer mind Cap'n?" He asked. "The treasure?"
"Yes Gibbs..." Jack said absently, more to himself then to the man behind him. "A treasure." Gibbs nodded, only hearing 'Yes, treasure' and walked away as Elizabeth took his place. She stood behind the captain for a long time before she made her presence known by clearing her throat. Jack didn't turn around but stood quite still, gazing at the Sphere.
"Why so preoccupied Jack?" She asked, coming to the rail beside him and leaning out enough so she could see his face properly. Jack shook his head.
"Not preoccupied, luv. Tired." He answered, finally looking at her. Elizabeth could see what he meant by tired. He was drawn looking and his tanned face had taken on a white color. "Maybe I should go to bed, eh?"
"Maybe." Elizabeth said quietly, her eyes travelling to the Blue Sphere to. "Or maybe you should make it up with Anamaria."
"How will that solve fatigue?" He asked. Elizabeth knew he was blocking and the best she could do was try to out wit him and back him into a corner.
"Maybe your conscience will be clear and you can sleep better." She pointed out. Jack smiled slightly and turned around so he was facing her. He took a great show of leaning on the railing in the right way as to be comfortable before he answered.
"Don't have a conscience." He said with an impressive sigh. "Pirate." Elizabeth sighed back.
"You have a heart though. It may be black in some places but it still beats well enough I'm sure." Jack shifted again and opened his mouth to speak before Elizabeth stopped him. "You don't like to hurt people Jack. I know this."
"I do what I need to so as to survive Elizabeth." He said. "If I have to hurt people along the way then I have to hurt people. I may not want to, not saying I don't like to hurt the occasional person, but I'm a pirate. Have a reputation to protect to."
"I heard a new story." Elizabeth said. Her eyes traveled to the sunset and a smile took her lips. "You met a mermaid. Mermaids are good luck Jack, but this mermaid, you fell in love with her." Jack raised an eyebrow.
"What idiot told you that?" He asked.
"It was a woman in the market. The thing is, Jack, the mermaid...she was as black as the Pearl." Jack looked around the ship, his eyes hitting the mast and the sails, the deck and the wheel, which Jamey stood at.
"I was polishin' the lady on the front the other day." He said, pointing to the very front of the ship where Elizabeth knew there was a sculptured woman. "Maybe they saw her." And suddenly, he'd walked away with out even a 'goodbye'. Elizabeth watched him. "Mr.Gibbs, wake me at midnight. I'll take wheel then."
"Aye, Aye Cap'n." Gibbs answered. Elizabeth turned back to the ocean, her eyes on the Sphere; she ignored the sunset. Where all men thick, or was it just pirates?

Anamaria stood at the wheel of the Blue Sphere. She was tired; so tired so could feel every muscle in her face, especially in her eyes (Sorry DragonHunter200) as if they were on fire. She leaned on the wheel, trying her best to ignore the men watching her as if they were hungry dogs and she was their first meal. Captain Mulan was a kind man, like Jack, but he ran a tighter ship then Jack, and there was no rule breaking on his ship. On Jack's ship, if you disobeyed an order you would suffer his displeasure and feel bad for it...making you probably fulfill you're task. That was the kind of man Jack was, he commanded respect with out force. Mulan, on the other hand, used extreme force. A man Anamaria only knew by sight disobeyed an order the first night she had been on board, and been whipped the following morning.
Anamaria, therefore, had been working extra hard for the past two days and was far more exhausted then she had ever been in her life. As sunset was drawing to a close and night was pulling its curtain over the sea, Anamaria was approached by Mulan.
"How are you doing Lass?" He asked. Anamaria smiled and stood straighter, adjusting her course so she was again directly behind the Pearl. "You have a lot of experience with ships I see?"
"Yes, I've been on ships my whole life, the Pearl was the longest." Anamaria felt a twinge of longing for her beloved ship but she didn't let Mulan see it. "Feels good to be on another ship, sir."
Mulan leaned on the railing and crossed his arms over his chest, watching her. Finally, he spoke. "What made you leave a ship like the Pearl to come to the Sphere? Jack's an excellent captain."
"Only to those who don't know him." Anamaria replied. Mulan laughed.
"Well, you either like Sparrow or you don't I guess. Personally, I hate his guts but, I could ask for no better man to be on my side." Anamaria was taken aback.
"I thought you two were friends." She said. Mulan shrugged.
"No, we're not friends. I hate him, he doesn't hate me. That's just the thing. We get along as 'mutual' allies. See, I help him get what he wants, he helps me get what I want and we don't see each other for another ten years. It always happens. It's just, it was my sister May, she was the one who like Sparrow's brother...I thought Bill was okay."
"May?" Anamaria asked. Mulan smiled sadly.
"My sister. She was killed in a freak accident when we were younger. Sparrow was to blame though it was really my fault. I spooked the horse." Anamaria's throat constricted when as she listened. The reaction wasn't from his words, though, but from his tone of voice as he spoke. It was bitter but, underlying the bitterness was a strange calm and...pride. She knew the sound of pride and arrogance; it was how Jack always spoke but that never sent shivers up and down her spine. "How much do you hate Sparrow?" Now he sounded suspicious.
"A lot." Anamaria replied. "He calls me luv, there's no respect. I hate him! He drives me crazy, insane...I want to rip out his throat when he gives me those...those looks." Mulan smiled and nodded with a soft 'ah'. "Why?"
"I want to see where you're loyalties truly lye." Mulan answered. He left the railing and came closer to her, towering like a tree and blocking the moon light from her eyes. Now she could see him better...he was smiling. "I want to know you won't run back to Sparrow when he calls."
"I left the Black Pearl, her crew and her captain." Anamaria said with wholehearted conviction. "I have no loyalty to them." Now she was lying, if they needed help...if Jack needed help, she would do all she could to give her aid. "I am very good at switching my loyalty. You have my word, Captain." The words came from her mouth in barely a whisper for Mulan took that moment to reach out a hand and place it on her cheek.
"Hush." He whispered in her ear as he ran a hand down her face and let it come to rest on her neck. She felt it moving slowly, so slowly as to hardly be noticed, down farther and farther to the neck of her billowing white shirt. "No more talking."
He kissed her, kissed her like no man had kissed her before. There was no hunger in his lips, just the very thing she would have welcomed at that moment because it would have made her pull away and remember she didn't love him. She let herself be pulled from the ship's wheel and into his arms where there was warmth. There was no hunger; nothing to stop her for all she felt was passion and a deep love. She knew it couldn't be there, he didn't love her but she felt it as though he did. He was a good actor and she was good at pretending.
Suddenly she found herself in his cabin, on the bed with him on top. She hadn't noticed that her shirt was now unfastened and all that stood between him and her bare chest was a tin under shirt she wore. She hadn't been aware of being lain down and hadn't been aware of him undoing the laces on her shirt.
Why hadn't she noticed that she had willingly gone to the cabin of a man who didn't love her and was only pretending? The thought came to her and she suddenly said some one's name, quietly to herself but still loud enough for Mulan to hear and stop what he was doing. "Jack."
"What?" He asked, his left and in her hair, the other undoing his pants. "What did you say?"
"Jack." Anamaria whispered with a small smile on her face. "You were telling me about Jack."
"Can't it wait?" Mulan asked, sitting up and playing with the laces on his pants. "You're ruining in the mood." Anamaria propped herself up on her elbows and watched Mulan struggle for a moment, wishing he'd get off of her as his weight was getting heavy.
"No. I won't be satisfied until you tell me. If you're against Sparrow I want in on it." Mulan stopped playing with the lace and sighed, rolling off of her and going to the corner of the room to grab some rum and two glasses. "Once you tell me the 'mood' will be restored."
"Maybe for you." Mulan muttered. Anamaria smiled and took the rum that was offered her, drinking deeply. "I scared the horse. I jumped out of the bushes from behind it. I was trying to hurt Sparrow, I didn't know May was there." Anamaria gulped hard and choked on some of her rum. When her coughing subsided, Mulan continued. "May's neck was broken and so was Jack's sister...it was her back but she died shortly afterward of fever and complications. Bill was devastated...I was to. Of course, it was Sparrow's fault. If he had controlled that damn beast, May would still be alive. We shot the horse."
"Why?" Anamaria asked. "It was yo..." She almost said 'you're fault' but stopped herself. "Sparrow's fault. Why not shoot him?"
"He got hurt. Horse flipped, crushed him. If you ask me, gave him brain damage." Mulan laughed. "Once I get the rest of this information on this treasure," Mulan leaned over and stroked Anamaria's neck. She tried hard not to grimace and pull away at his touch; "If it's to my advantage..."He stopped at the look on Anamaria's face. "Do you know of it?"
"No." Anamaria said quickly...a little to quickly. Mulan's eyebrows shot up. "Sparrow never told me stuff like that, being a woman and all." Mulan smiled and began kissing her neck. Anamaria could feel the fake passion again as if it were a mist around her and she had to think of Gibbs to stop herself from giving in. 'Pretend it's Gibbs, pretend it's Gibbs'. "Urgh." Anamaria said with a shudder. Mulan stopped.
"What? Is it the rum?" Anamaria shook her head.
"No, everything is fine." Jack needed that treasure to live. "When will you see him again? Soon, I hope, so we can get this treasure."
"Soon. Tomorrow, we're stopping just off another tiny island and we'll meet there." Mulan took Anamaria's tankard away from her and set it on the bedside cabinet. "Come with me as my queen?"
"Alright." Anamaria said absently. He was pulling her undershirt up now and running a hand over her stomach. "We'll learn of the treasure together...tomorrow."
"Tomorrow. That's in a long time." He was playing with his laces again on his pants. Anamaria held her breath and waited. When he had finally got the last lace undone there was a sudden knock on the door. Anamaria smiled and wriggled out from underneath him.
"I should get some sleep." She said. And, with that, she was gone.
"Bloody hell." Mulan muttered as Anamaria disappeared and a man took his place in the doorway.
"Cap'n, we need help with something."

Anamaria made her way down to the under parts of the ship, so different yet so the same to the Black Pearl. She even had her own cabin here only it wasn't as fine. When she entered her room she blew out the candle, locked the door in the dark and lay down on the bed with her face in her pillow. She felt violated even though he had done nothing to her but kissed her and made advances. She hadn't wanted that though his touch had been intoxicating.
With out warning, the itch in her eyes that warned of break down, melted and was replaced by tears and sobs that racked her body. What had she done? She should never have left the Pearl! She should never have left Jack! She could almost see the deck of the Black Pearl as though she were on it right then. The moonlight was cascading down the sails and was bouncing off the wet deck causing it to shimmer. She was at the wheel, looking up at the stars, master of the ship until Jack came back at midnight. All the men feared her; there were no snide remarks or catcalls...no captain hitting on her.
She could feel Jack's skin beneath her hand, cold as ice yet colder. She could see his sleeping face when he had the cold fever, whispering about this or that...the horse, his father...his sister. Suddenly it hit her. If she hadn't been here, if she hadn't left she would never have known. This small bit of discomfort was for a greater good. "Bloody hell." She whispered.

It was midnight. There was a soft knock on Jack's cabin door but it didn't wake him. He was freezing and cold water, the waterfall on that small island, was falling down his head and shoulders. He was holding a woman in his arms but he could only see the top of her dark head. He held her close to him as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Suddenly there was a stabbing pain in his back and red warmth began to blossom in the water around them. His own life's blood was draining away.
The woman pulled away, taking her dagger with her. It was Anamaria. This time she stabbed him in the heart. Jack couldn't lift his arm, couldn't clasp his hand over the wound as blood spurted out again and again with every beat. Gibbs opened the door slowly, inch by inch until he could peak his head in to see his captain.
Jack was on his side, his face pressed in to the pillow, his eyes tight shut and a pained look on his face. "Jack?" He whispered. Jack moaned and rolled over, opening his eyes slowly. His heart still hurt as though the knife had been real.
"Gibbs? What time is it?"
"Midnight sir." Gibbs reported, stepping farther into the cabin. "Are you alright sir?" Jack nodded slowly and tried to sit up but the pain was still there, more intense then before. "Sir? Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, Bloody hell!" Jack laid back down, sweat pouring down his face and prickling all over his body. "Get Elizabeth please."
"What? Why?" Gibbs asked.
"Just get her for bloody sakes!" Jack yelled. This action made his cabin whirl and his head pound. There was pain not just in his chest now but all over his body. "Get her Gibbs, just go." Gibbs nodded and took off.

"Bloody hell." Will muttered as a furious pounding erupted on their cabin door. Elizabeth moaned and rolled over, climbing slowly out of bed. Will sat up to, knowing any moment he'd fall back into the cover and drift off into the comfortable abyss of his pillows but, as long as Elizabeth was up, he'd have to be to or he'd hear about it in the morning. It was Gibbs.
"Mr. Gibbs." Elizabeth said, squinting against the light of the candle in the man's hand. "What's wrong, you look awfully flushed."
"It's Jack Miss Elizabeth. He's taken an awful turn. I need you to come with me." Elizabeth turned to look at Will in the dark for he'd sprung up out of bed and was dashing around the room trying to find his pants. Gibbs handed Elizabeth a second candle and lit it with his own. "No time to get dressed Miss. The men won't care; there are hardly any on deck. Please hurry." As they made their way up the stairs to the deck, Gibbs filled them in. "It seems to be his chest, his heart maybe."
The three of them managed to make their way into Jack's Cabin with only one moment of utter confusion in which they all got stuck in the door. Jack was lying in his bed on his side, sweat pouring down his face which was clenched in a painful mask, and his hands clutching his chest as he gasped for breath.
Elizabeth rushed to his side and tried to get Jack to look at her but it was a loosing cause. All she was able to do was roll him onto his back. His eyes were still tight shut. "Will, get blankets, he's freezing. Mr. Gibbs, find hot water, anywhere." Will and Gibbs rushed out of the cabin, leaving Elizabeth and Jack alone. "Jack, can you speak? What's wrong?"
"What does it look like? She stabbed me in the heart!" Jack gasped. Elizabeth didn't understand. There was no blood coming from between his fingers.
"Who?"
"Ana! She got me!" Jack gasped, turning back onto his side and burying his face in the pillow.
"Jack it was a dream!" Elizabeth cried, trying to get him to roll back over. "That was all, it's a dream!"
"No! The pain is not a dream!" Jack yelled. "Elizabeth help me! I don't want to die like this! I want to die fighting for my life, not in bed with me own body killing me!" Elizabeth's heart was breaking, she couldn't stand to see him like this. "I can't! I can't!"
"You won't!" Elizabeth yelled over them, sure the whole ship would hear them yelling. "You'll be alright!"
Jack suddenly went slack and his head lolled sideways, eyes still closed. It seemed as if all his strength had left him and his heart fell from his chest. "I want the curse of Isla de Muerta." He muttered. "It can save me, it can cure me."
"No, it can't, it'll punish you for all eternity Jack. The cure is only a few short days away." Jack smiled slightly.
"Anamaria." He whispered.

Anamaria woke in the dark with a start at that exact moment. Sighing, she tried to relax, sure she had heard Jack whisper her name in the dark.

DRAGONHUNTER200: Hey! Ya, you forgot last time. Thanx. I'm glad you're back.

ALTENG: hi. Yes, they're okay. Thanx for reviewing.

To all: sorry I'm not answering very long but I had an aweful day so I have to go. By.