Chapter Eight—Second Attempt
Something that never ceased to amaze Tetra was the number of little ways in which everyone, everywhere, was the same.
She smiled to herself as she watched the Pearl's crew disembark. Though they had landed in a small, quaint, coastal town on the island they had been approaching, it nevertheless took the pirates all of five minutes to find the most disreputable pub in the most disreputable part of town. This was just what she had been counting on, including from Jack, and so she slipped away and left them to their devices.
As for herself, she was looking for a private, unassuming, well-kept, moderately priced inn, in the more commercial area of town, but still with a homey feeling. That was the place Link would choose.
She knew he had landed here. They had promised they would find each other on this island, after all. And so here she was, knowing he would have reached it first, left his crew, and found somewhere to stay and wait for her.
The place that most closely fit the image Tetra sought was called the Cozy Cot Inn; the name made her smile, more because she knew it would make most people gag than because she actually found it endearing. She entered and approached the front desk with a pleasant, innocent, ladylike smile, trying to look as pleasant, innocent and ladylike as she could while dressed in pirate's clothes.
"Good evening, ma'am," said the friendly-looking old man behind the desk. "Checking in?"
"Oh, no," she said, making sure to add an apologetic note to her voice. "My brother is staying here, and I was just wondering what room he's in?"
"Ah… I'm sorry, ma'am," the man told her, already shaking his head. "We can't give out that information."
This was where the acting came in. Tetra made herself look stricken and heartbroken, face falling out of its pleasantness, and said anxiously, "But—But I have to talk to him! He's been at sea for so long, I haven't seen him in years, and he's leaving again tomorrow morning…"
The man looked alarmed to see tears rising in he eyes, and she knew she had won. Actually, she knew she had won the minute she had seen his kindly face. A man like this would do anything to stop a woman from crying.
"I—Well, I suppose—Since you're family, I could… What's the name?"
"Reyga," she told him, being sure to maintain the worried crease in her forehead and the tremulous note in her voice, and praying that Link had been stupid enough to use his real name.
Sure enough, the innkeeper didn't have to look far down the list before he said, "Here, yes! Reyga. Room 18."
Tetra gave him a shaky smile. "Thank you, sir," she said politely; she gave a delicate sniffle and wiped her eyes hastily while blinking away the last remnants of her tears. She then turned and left the lobby the way she had entered.
All the doors to the rooms were located outside, and a quick glance told Tetra that 18 would be on the second level. She therefore swung round a set of wooden stairs and climbed them at a jog. Her eyes were scanning the numbered doors even as she reached the walkway; they started at 29 and decreased.
Strolling past the uniform doors, Tetra's attention fell to a thought which had been insistently demanding her attention since she had opened her mouth to speak to the innkeeper: She was only good at deceit when it was based on truth. Given that, why had it been so easy for her to fake being desperate to see Link?
Well, she answered herself reasonably, she did want to see him. She had promised she would. And they had to sort things out.
Room 18. She stopped in front of the door and raised her hand to knock, then paused, holding her breath. If she wanted to have the advantage, maybe it would be better to assert herself by just walking in.
Deciding on this course of action, she opened the door. Or tried to. It was locked.
"Just a sec!" came Link's voice.
Standing there feeling stupid, Tetra mouthed several curses at her feet as she waited for Link to reach the door. She didn't look up until she heard it open.
Link stood before her, as she had expected, wearing an expression of open shock. It quickly melted, however, into a grin, and he stood aside to let her in. She passed him without speaking.
'Well, I didn't doubt your honour,' he commented, 'and it paid off.' Shaking his head, he added incredulously, 'You know, even considering how we left things last time, I knew you'd come here and I'd see you again.'
She turned to face him as he closed the door, which felt like a weight on her chest sealing her in. Barely aware of it, she was shaking her head, too. 'No, Link. I kept my promise, yes, but the only reason I'm really here is to clear things up.'
His smile slowly faded. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
Taking a deep breath, she began the speech she had practiced on the ship as she had watched the small shape of this land mass swell on the edge of the horizon. 'What happened between us last time was…wrong. We both know it was. We thought we were thinking things and feeling things that we just weren't, and so it led to stuff that we regretted right away.'
'I didn't regret it,' he told her seriously. 'I still don't. I told you that then, and it hasn't changed.'
This wasn't what he was supposed to say, although she would be lying if she said it was entirely unexpected. 'But Link—'
'You can act as distant as you want,' he interrupted, his tone suddenly less calm, 'but it won't change anything. We both know what happened and why.'
'No, Link.'
'No what?'
'Just…no. I can't accept that. I wanted to try to get back a piece of my old self, and I did that, and anything else was just…not what I needed or wanted. I don't know what you wanted, but—'
'I want you.'
'Stop it, Link!' she demanded, suddenly and inexplicably angry. 'Stop trying to hunt me down!'
'Stop trying to get away from me!' he shot back. 'What the hell are you running from? What are you scared of?!'
'I'm not scared!'
'I told you I love you, and you didn't like that!'
'Because—'
'Because you're scared, that's why!' he shouted. 'Like I just said! You're scared to be something other than a ruthless pirate! You wanted yourself back, isn't that what you just said?! Well, I want you back, too! You won't let yourself out!'
'Link…!'
'What?! What do you have to say?!'
The silence was ringing. She felt tears burn her eyes, but forced them back. The tears wanted to give in.
'Don't make me do this,' she said; her voice came out weak and trembling, and sounded even to her as though she was begging.
'I'm not making you do anything. You're the only one forcing yourself to do anything you don't want to.'
Once again, she was at a loss for words. How did he have this power over her, to make her change her mind about everything, to make her doubt anything and everything she had resolved to do and say and believe only moments ago?
'I'm sorry.'
There were several seconds before she realized she had just spoken. Apparently Link didn't register the fact right away, either.
'Sorry?' he repeated. 'For what?'
'I—I don't know,' she said weakly.
He gave a slight laugh. 'Well, in that case, I'm sorry, too. And I don't know why, either.'
'Don't be stupid, Link,' she chastised him.
'You started it.'
She couldn't help smiling, though she didn't want to. He could always make her smile. Even more, he could always make her happy.
'See, that's better,' he said, satisfied. 'I don't like yelling at you.'
'I don't like yelling at you, either,' she told him seriously.
'Could've fooled me. I thought our whole relationship was founded on you getting mad at me.'
'I didn't say I don't like getting mad at you,' she pointed out, laughter under her words this time. 'I just don't like yelling.'
'Ah, yes, how silly of me,' Link conceded. He, too, was chuckling.
They were both silent for a moment, but it wasn't the angry silence it had been previously. Still, Link broke it by saying, 'Okay, we're both being way too serious here, in my opinion. Come on, let's have some fun. Let's…get drunk and gamble, all right? Like old friends.'
Tetra laughed. 'Sounds like a plan. I could definitely use a drink, or two. Or twelve.'
'Me, too,' Link agreed enthusiastically, making his way to his luggage. From within one bag, he pulled out a bottle, which he tossed to Tetra, and a deck of cards. She uncorked the liquor and took a swig of it.
'Good stuff,' she said approvingly.
'Yeah, I know. Forest Haven's finest. Who knew some of those plants could make such a good rum? And there's some beer, too, if we polish that off,' he added.
'You mean when,' she corrected him, smirking.
They took their seats opposite each other on the bed, the only surface readily available in the room; as Link shuffled the cards, he asked, 'So, what are we playing here? Blackjack, poker, casino…?'
'Whatever you deal, I'll play.'
'How 'bout rummy? In honour of the alcohol.'
'Sounds good.'
Card games were a traditional pastime of sailors, but even more so of pirates, and all the types of people who felt at home in Tortuga. Tetra therefore anticipated that she would have an advantage over Link, thanks to her more street-wise upbringing. While it was true that she was winning, however, she had underestimated Link's skill, and he did beat her once or twice.
'You're not bad,' she told him, her voice more slurred than she would have admitted, when half of the rum and a few hands were behind them.
Link laughed, though nothing was particularly funny. 'Thanks.'
'And…?'
'And what?'
'And so am I, right?'
'You are?' he asked with a grin.
Tetra laughed, and shoved him in the chest, nearly knocking him over. As she sat back up, she grabbed the bottle and took another long draught. 'What other games do you know?' she asked momentarily.
'Oh…I don't know,' he muttered, blinking several times as he tried without success to focus his eyes; Tetra noticed that he was visibly drunk by now, but didn't realize that she was at least as unsteady herself. 'Why don't we play some good old poker? That's a classic.'
'Yeah, all right,' she agreed. 'But that's kinda boring, especially with two people. Let's make it interesting.'
'Yeah? How's that?'
She paused to consider. 'You know strip poker?' she eventually suggested with a laugh.
He grinned. 'Sounds good to me.'
He dealt the cards as she took another sip of the rum and then handed it to him. He accepted it, said, 'Cheers,' with a nod, and finished it off in one good, long chug that nearly made him fall off the bed as he leaned back. Tetra giggled at the sight, even as she dug out the beer from his bag. They started on that, and only then did they actually begin the game.
Within ten minutes, Tetra had learned just how good Link was at poker.
'Dammit, man…'
But of course, she wasn't bad herself. And neither of them was terribly opposed to bending the rules. And both of them quickly stopped caring about who won. In fact, shortly they forgot about the cards, and just began talking, laughing and having a good time together.
'Link, you're way more fun than any of the men on the Pearl's crew. I mean, they're all just…' she gestured vaguely, 'y'know…'
'Yeah. And you're way more fun then any of… Well, there aren't any women on my crew…but you're more fun than them anyway. Or more fun than they would be if they were there, y'know?'
'Yeah. I am.' Overcome by a fit of giggles, she went on, 'Like I know any of them people you're talking about, right?'
'But I do. I know what you mean.'
'Damn straight.' Throwing her hands up in the air, she crowed, 'It's always a party with me!'
For some reason, it was hilarious. They both laughed much harder, louder and longer than they normally would have done; Tetra continued to laugh at the way Link's nose and eyes scrunched up when he began laughing really hard, and he nearly shot beer out of it laughing when she fell over sideways, hair tumbling wildly over her face. Soon neither one of them could sit up, and both were lying amongst the debris of cards and drinking, well beyond the point where they couldn't breathe.
When they gained some semblance of control over themselves, though Tetra was still giggling quietly and Link was giving a series of small snorts to try to get the beer out of his sinuses, she rolled over and kissed him.
'See, this is the kinda stuff I can't do with my crew,' he said, as he kissed her back.
'Neither can I. Well, you know…'
Her muttered words faded away, and she focused on what she was doing rather than what she was saying.
Princess Zelda. Unbelievable.
Jack stared into the pint he was nursing, a crease in his brow. Around him, the Black Pearl's other sailors were eagerly watching the dancing girls performing on the stage before them. Normally Jack would have been as much a part of the lechery as any of them, but at the moment he was distracted.
A princess…
"Jack… Hey, Jack," said Mr Gibbs, nudging him.
"What?" Jack asked shortly.
"Yer missin' a great show. What's wrong with yeh?"
Glancing up, Jack caught the eye of the dancer, who flashed him a wink and a smile, which he returned. He then looked at Mr Gibbs to answer, "Thinking."
"Thinkin'?" Mr Gibbs echoed disbelievingly. "What would yeh rather be thinkin' about, Jack?"
"Nothing, I assure you," Jack told him, looking back to the stage. "But sometimes you just get an idea stuck on your mind, you know. Or do such problems only plague those of us with superior mental capacities?"
Mr Gibbs grinned. "Well, as long as yer still actin' like yerself in some ways, it can' be anythin' too serious."
"No, it's not," Jack lied.
"What is it, then?" Mr Gibbs pressed. "Come on, Jack, you can tell yer old friend."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Jack, you're talkin' to a man who stood face to face with the undead."
"I faced them too, Gibbs, and I'm still having a hard time believing this one."
"Come on, Jack, yeh can't give me an answer like that and then not say anythin' else."
Jack sighed, contemplating his answer. "Just…Princess Zelda," he said; he knew this explanation would leave his fellow sailor sufficiently mystified.
Mr Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "Princess Zelda?" Jerking his head towards the stage, he said with a small laugh, "Sounds like one of the girls here."
A smile spread over Jack's face at the mental image of the real Princess Zelda as a dancer. It was hard enough to picture that woman in royal attire, let alone in that kind of costume. "Yeah…something like that," he chuckled, now imagining what she would do or say to him if she heard his words; nothing pleasant, he could bet.
"Well, then, give the serious face a rest," Mr Gibbs told him, clapping him on the back. "That's what we're here for, to rest, aren't we? To take our minds off our troubles?"
Jack took a deep breath, and tried to let out his heavy thoughts along with it. "Yes, we are, Gibbs," he agreed. "You're right. There's only one thing I should be thinking about right now."
Princess Zelda. Unbelievable.
Tetra awoke when she felt movement next to her, but it was a few more seconds before she opened her eyes. When she did, she saw Link sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in his uniform from the waist down. She was momentarily confused—but only momentarily.
Then, somewhere beneath her throbbing headache, she felt a wave of nausea that had nothing to do with the alcohol that was working its way through her system from the night before, and everything to do with the vague memories she had of the events that had taken place after she'd consumed all of it. They were all rushing back to her now…
'Good morning,' Link said, smiling at her.
The piercing quality of his normally tame voice, as well as that of the light, reminded her just how long it had been since her last night of binge drinking. She groaned and rubbed her face with her hands in answer to his comment, and he chuckled.
'I know what you mean. I'm sure feeling that rum this morning.'
'I say this every time I'm hungover, but I really mean it this time,' she mumbled through her fingers, eyes screwed shut. 'I'm never drinking again.'
'I agree,' Link sighed, leaning back onto his elbows. After a thoughtful pause, he shifted his weight and reached a hand out to her. 'We both pledge, here and now, to never let each other get that drunk again. Deal?'
'Deal,' she consented wholeheartedly, flinging a hand out and shaking on it. She was tempted to add a comment about the fact that the rum wasn't what she regretted most about the night before, but held herself back. That could wait until they were both thinking clearly. At the moment, she was too consumed with horror to react to what exactly horrified her.
'Good. Now—'
Link was cut off by a knock at the door.
"General! We think we've—"
The Felicitovente sailor flung the door open as he spoke, and stopped dead in the middle of his sentence when he took in the scene before him: the empty liquor bottles, playing cards and clothes strewn about the room…and the woman in Link's bed.
His eyes widened in shock. 'What—?!'
'Get out!' Link shouted, already on his feet and charging the sailor. 'Get out, get out, get the hell out!'
'But—Gen—'
'OUT!'
Link shoved the man out of the room and slammed the door shut, then dropped all his weight against it and looked at Tetra with eyes full of dread. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest that she wasn't clutching her blankets to her just to cover herself, but to hold it inside her body. She could find no words.
'We're in for it now,' Link said in a low voice. 'In about two minutes, my whole crew is going to know about this, and then…' He seemed unable to vocalize the terrors that would follow.
'Do you think he recognized me?' Tetra asked, searching for a rational thing to say. 'Or could you just…just tell them you picked me up in town, you know, I'm a working girl or something…'
Link was already shaking his head. 'No. No, he'll have recognized you.' Swallowing, he asked delicately, 'Do you know who that man is?'
Tetra shook her head, stomach knotting in concern at the idea that she should have.
'Didn't think so. He's called Commodore Faudry, and he's…not a fan of mine. He'd like my position, actually and he's not about to play by the rules to get it.'
'Oh, goddesses…' she muttered, making a face.
'Yeah. Some of it's harmless, 'cause what he's mainly doing is just trying to bring in more pirates than me, and more of the bigger ones. But there's also… Well, he's been—He denies it, but I know he's been commissioning other pirate ships to do his dirty work, conquer each other, and then he betrays the one he commissioned in the first place and brings them all in.'
Tetra felt a nagging tickle of familiarity in the back of her mind as she listened to the description of this scheme. 'Michael,' she said bluntly, understanding.
'What?'
'Michael. One of the sailors on our crew. We took him as a prisoner, actually, when our ship did battle with some other pirates. He told us during interrogation that his crew had been commissioned to catch other pirates. Especially female ones.'
Link's eyes had been growing wider as she spoke, and when she finished, he cursed shortly. 'Yeah, that's Faudry.'
Tetra nodded. 'I thought… Well, I had thought it was you, to be honest.'
With half a bitter smile, Link snorted and laughed. 'Figures.' At Tetra's glare, he quickly added, 'Sorry.'
She didn't bother to accept his apology, but merely rubbed her face again. It would have been much easier to come up with a plan if her mind hadn't been battling this hangover.
'Look,' she said bluntly, 'we don't have much time. I'll get out, you clean up, and with any luck we can deny that anything even happened.'
Link's shoulders drooped, and he frowned.
'What?' Tetra asked grumpily, sitting up and grabbing the clothes she had thrown to the foot of the bed the night before.
'Just…I wish we didn't have to deny it,' Link muttered.
Tetra froze, her shirt clutched to her chest and her stomach filling with cold dread. 'What do you mean?' she asked slowly.
He shrugged, and suddenly looked rather juvenile. He was speaking to the floor when he said, 'I dunno…just… We have a really close relationship, and I wish we could tell people…'
'Oh, what are you, a girl?' Tetra interrupted irritably; she pulled her shirt over her head and swept a haze of blonde hair out of her eyes with a sigh. 'Goddesses, I can't believe I'm having this conversation again,' she muttered. 'I thought we had settled this! Look, I know what you're thinking, and we are not in love, Link—'
'Then what just happened?' he demanded, staring at her coldly as she threw the blankets off of herself and pulled on her pants. 'If it was once, fine, I could accept that it was nothing, even if I didn't want to. But twice? You can't just call it a mistake twice.'
Tetra rose from the bed and raked her fingers through her hair to tame it. 'Okay. Once was a mistake,' she clarified patiently, 'and twice was idiocy. Drunken idiocy, I might add. I mean, come on, you saw us!' She gestured toward the empty bottles on the floor. 'I would have slept with Jack last night if he'd been around instead of you.'
She had meant to say more, but stopped when she saw that Link's face had gone stony, his eyes icy. He was truly offended and hurt.
Immediately regretting her words, however true they might have been, she said quickly, 'Link, I'm sorry—'
'No,' he interrupted quietly, 'you're not. And…that's what I just can't believe. That you could say something like that and mean it.' He glanced down and shook his head, with the air of a man who had just lost faith in something that had been at the core of his beliefs. 'You're not—'
At that instant, the door burst open, making both Link and Tetra jump where they stood. The same sailor stood there as before, Faudry, but this time he was accompanied by what looked like the whole of Link's crew. For a long second, no one moved or spoke as they all took in what was going on. Then everyone spoke at once.
"General—!"
"What's—?"
"Who's—?"
"I told you! It's her! Didn't I tell you—?"
"That's enough, Faudry—"
"How can you—?"
"Don't try to—"
"All right—"
"Hey!"
"Everyone SHUT UP!"
The room fell silent at Link's authoritative shout. Even Tetra looked at him in surprise, and he cast them all a warning glare to pre-empt any interruptions they might have been thinking of.
"All right," he said calmly, "here's what's going to happen. We're all going to get away from here. This woman and I have a few things left to discuss, so we'll go back to the Red Lion—"
"We'll do what?" Tetra blurted. "No!"
Eyes flashing, Link strode across the room to stand directly in front of her, close enough to speak so that the rest of his crew wouldn't hear. 'All we have to do is talk. I promise.'
She knew he would know by the way her jaw was set that she didn't believe him.
'Have I ever broken a promise to you?' he asked seriously.
He hadn't. She couldn't deny that. Still, it was against her better judgement to accept this justification.
Still…he was Link. Damn it. Why did that always make such a difference?
'All right,' she sighed, hating herself for sounding so weak.
'Thank you.' Speaking again to his crew, he began, "As I was saying, we'll go back to the Red Lion—"
"But—" Tetra spoke up.
All eyes shifted to her.
"But only after I tell my captain where I'm going," she concluded.
She saw Link's valiant struggle not to slam his own head into the nearest wall written all over his face, and had the distinct feeling that few men currently ranked lower in his esteem than Captain Jack Sparrow. He managed to restrain himself, however, to gritting his teeth and saying jerkily, "Fine. Fine. You can let him know, but you're going with an escort, and then you are to promptly report to my ship."
She watched him before she answered, for no reason other than to see if he would snap in response to her hesitation. When he didn't—though he was obviously angry, enough that it would be plain even to someone who'd never met him before—she gave a short nod.
"Right." He turned his back fully on her, apparently to prevent himself from doing something that he would regret, something that he would certainly do if he was looking at her. "Everyone, back to the ship, except you, you and you," he said, pointing out three of his men, none of them Faudry. "Follow…this lady to find her captain, and then back to the ship with you as well. Understood?"
There was a murmur of, "Yes, General," through the group, which dispersed under the glare of their commanding officer with the exception of the three charged with following Tetra.
Link bowed her towards the door, commenting bitingly, "Your escort awaits, Highness."
Tetra gave no answer, not wanting to inflame either his temper or her own by addressing his use of her title, but strode wordlessly past him and out the door. The three soldiers were on her heels, and Link slammed the door shut when they had barely left.
However, Tetra wasn't ten feet away before she came to a halt, at the top of the stairs which led down to the first level of the inn. Looking out over the town, she had no idea where to begin searching for Jack, other than aboard the Pearl, and she wasn't about to lead Link's men there. She mentally traced the route she thought he had most likely taken the night before, scanning the scene before her… From the pub, he had probably gone to a seedy inn to sleep off the night's activity. Therefore, she would determine which establishment customers usually went to after an evening of drinking and debauchery, and the first step was to ask around in the neighbourhood of the pub in question. Without acknowledging her followers, whom she knew were staring at her and still focused on the mental image of her with their general, she started off confidently.
The Dragon's Wing Pub—Tetra smirked at the name, picturing Valoo—was open at this early hour, to Tetra's amazement. She hesitated to enter, out of confusion more than anything else, but then decided that there was nothing else for it.
Just as she raised her hand to the door, however, it swung open. She stepped swiftly out of the way.
Her jaw dropped when Jack staggered out, his arm around a woman wearing a bright yellow dress and a heavy coat of equally bright makeup. He was singing loudly and incoherently, a half empty bottle swinging from one hand, but his companion was hanging off him adoringly nevertheless.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life—"
"Jack!" Tetra shouted, grabbing his wrist as it swung by his face.
Utterly perplexed by the suddenly halt to which his arm came, he looked down at the hand which had seized him, and followed it up to Tetra's face. He then blinked several times and leaned back slightly to see her better. She rolled her eyes, hearing the men behind her stifling their laughter, and evidently this gesture triggered his memory.
"Oh!" he laughed, the alcohol on his breath overpowering. "Love! Good to see you! Have you met…er…er…" He snapped his fingers and screwed up his face with effort.
"Natasha," the woman reminded him with a vapid smile.
"Natasha!" Jack exclaimed triumphantly. "Knew I'd get it eventually. Natasha. This is Natasha. Have you met her? Lovely woman, really… Not that you're not lovely too, of course, but I couldn't find you last night, or at least not in here, and anyway I wasn't looking for you. Didn't think—"
"Jack," she interrupted impatiently.
"Aye?"
"Shut up. We have something important to talk about."
"Oh…" She saw his eyes fall for the first time upon the three Felicitovente sailors. "I know them," he said, narrowing his eyes in intense thought. "Didn't they try to kill me once? Or was it you? No, you know what is was, I was trying to kill you! Not really, of course, love, don't worry. It's nothing."
"Jack," Tetra growled, "would you please send Natasha on her way and then come with me? I need to talk to you, because I'm about to go deal with…Reyga." She would have liked to criticize his behaviour, but she was really in no position to do so. His voice was grating on her headache, and she was sorely tempted to finish off the bottle in his hand; after all, the best cure for a hangover was simply to keep drinking.
"Reyga?" Jack repeated blankly. "Reyga…Reyga… Oh, Reyga! Why didn't you say so? Reyga. You're looking a bit rough, though, I have to say," he added unexpectedly, looking her over; it was true that she still looked as if she had just woken up. "What's the matter, love, you tripped and his bed broke your fall again?" he chucked.
Tetra, annoyed with herself, felt the flush rising in her cheeks. Jack's laughter died away.
"Oh, please tell me you're joking," he moaned.
Shaking her head, Tetra had to clench her teeth quite firmly to resist the urge to punch Natasha in the face as payback for the expression of horror and offence she wore on her thickly painted face—as if that whore could judge her! She had to be content, however, to ball and unball her fists repeatedly.
"Jack," she said again, speaking slowly in order to contain herself, "I'm telling you that I need you to help me out right now, because you're my captain. I'm going to meet Reyga, and you don't have to come with me or anything, but I'll at least need you and some of the men to kind of keep watch, all right? I'm literally walking into the lion's den here."
With a sigh, Jack let his arm drop from around Natasha, and straightened himself up in an obvious attempt to pull himself together. "Right. Well, I'm coming with you."
Despite herself—and despite him—Tetra had been hoping he would say that. She couldn't hold back a small smile.
"So we're off, then. Sorry, Natasha, love," he said to the affronted woman. "Some other time, perhaps."
Natasha folded her arms, but made no protest. "Fine," she said huffily, turning on her heel to flounce back into the pub. Tetra couldn't help sneering in disgust, knowing that the woman would be on the arm of a different man within five minutes, and would immediately forget Jack's slight if he ever came back. Apparently Jack knew this as well, because he didn't seem concerned.
"Right," he said, waving a hand toward her. "Lead the way, love. Let's go."
"Just a second." She took hold of the bottle in his hand, and quickly knocked back all the liquor it contained before tossing it aside. "Okay," she said to a rather amazed Jack, "now let's go."
