DISCLAIMER: The only thing I own in this story is Alexis, unfortunately ;)'

Chapter 11- Loss

"Why hasn't he killed us yet?" Will whispered in his Captains ear as they sauntered along a dirt pathway. Jack started at the unexpected interruption to his thoughts and returned a thoughtful frown to his youngest crew member. Will knew Jack had pulled them out of bad situations before, but, he conceded, this was by far the worst.

Exhaustion and dehydration was beginning to take its toll on Jack's crew. As Alexis scanned their grim expressions, she stumbled over a large pebble in her path. A fall to her knees was prevented by Mr. Gibbs who reached out and caught hold of her arm before she hit the ground. 'Ye alrigh', lass?" he asked, concern showing in his face.

As she gazed up into his kind eyes, Alexis replied, "No, no I'm not. Neither are you." Mr Gibbs seemed uncertain what she meant and began studying her bruised face trying to discern her meaning. Alexis appeared to have come to some sort of decision as she nodded slightly at him. "Mr Gibbs, tell Jack that I'm sorry," her voice faltered as she finished, "And tell Will not to lose hope, now that I've found it."

As he gave her a puzzled look, Alexis took a couple of steps away from him. Strands of her long brown hair blew gently in the breeze as she called out to Barbossa. "I'm not going any further," Alexis told him, "I'm tired, I haven't had anything to eat or drink in days. I need a rest."

All attention fell on Barbossa as the fragile looking girl made her request. Barbossa narrowed his eyes at Alexis in annoyance. "Ye think ye gonna get what ya want girl?" he growled at her, "I 'ave no use for ye now!"

"Then you can let us go?" Alexis asked him hopefully before seeing Jack's grimace.

The corners of Barbossa's lips turned up into a cruel smile. "I don't think so," he replied.

"But, you just said you have no use for me!" Alexis tried again desperately.

"That be right. No use fo' a girl who isn't gonna do as she's told," Barbossa answered her, "When I've already got what I be wanting out of 'er."

With that, a scarred hand reached into his belt, withdrawing his pistol. Alexis stiffened and hardly dared to breathe as he pointed it in her direction. "Are ye gonna be following orders, girl?" he growled at her, the smile that had been on his face moments before had all but disappeared.

Jack waved his bound arms at her, indicating to do as Barbossa wanted. Will took a couple of steps in Alexis' direction, unsure how she would answer. Her blue eyes fell on them, one at a time, as if speaking to them silently. Then Alexis returned her gaze to Barbossa. Defiantly, she spoke the word they were all dreading, "No."

Barbossa at first, appeared to be taken aback at her refusal, and then anger came over him. Cocking the gun back he yelled, "Ye last chance, girl!"

Alexis didn't move, and that was enough for him. Her defiance made Barbossa furious. He would never allow a girl to have power over him, and Alexis' silence seemed to confirm that her second answer would not be any different.

A loud shot rang out.

Time stood still. No-one moved. Then Will finally reacted. He moved to race towards Alexis who had been standing seconds before, and now had fallen to her knees, her bound hands over her stomach where the bullet had entered. Her bright eyes burned in pain, but she never cried out. Two of Barbossa's men grabbed hold of his arms, pulling him back. Then Alexis was face down in the dirt. Her hair spread around her shoulders.

She was too still.

Both crews stood in silence, looking down at the fallen figure of Alexis. Jack's eyes were wide in shock. He'd come back to the island for her. Now, she was gone. Succumb to a similar fate to her parents.

The unreal feelings of all those gathered around Alexis' body broke as Will yelled, "She didn't do anything, you bastard! Let me go!" His struggle against the two men on either side of him was useless. His eyes never strayed from the ground where Alexis now lay.

Barbossa tucked the gun away back into his belt. Turning to Will, he spat, "No-one defies me!" Then as if it was an afterthought, he said in a much calmer tone, "She was a stupid girl. Much like 'er parents."

Without so much as giving a second look back at the innocent girl whose life he had taken so callously, he marched to the head of the line. "We continue our walk, gentlemen," Barbossa commanded.

When the men finally reached the sandy shore of the beach, darkness had begun to descend over the sky. The camp set up by Jack's crew still remained untouched, and both ships remained anchored out in the now black sea. "Looks like we 'ave somewhere to sleep tonight men," Barbossa said indicating the tents, "Thankye, Jack."

Jack returned an impassive stare as he and his crew were tied with their backs to the trees at the edge of the bush, looking out at their camp. As he turned to speak with Will who was tied to the tree next to him, Jack saw the piece of white cloth in his mouth which had prevented him from shouting curses at Barbossa. Spotting Ragetti moving away from them, Jack said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, "Ye think ye can let me mate talk now?"

Ragetti let out a strange giggle, and said, "I'll 'ave to ask me Cap'n."

"Wait!" Jack called as Ragetti made to walk away, "What if I trade ye eye, for me crew's mouth?"

Eagerly, Ragetti removed the cloth from Will's mouth, and in turn, Jack kept his word. After Ragetti left with both eyes intact, Jack tuned to face his young companion, the beads in his hair jingling as they swirled around. The night sky made it difficult to make out the features on Will's face as he said to his Captain, "I thought you had a plan, Jack."

"I did, mate," Jack replied with a sigh, "But I needed Alexis' help."

"So, what now? We wait until he kills us too?" Will said with despondency.

"Remember what Gibbs told us Alexis said? 'Don't lose hope', mate," Jack answered, "We wait until the opportune moment."

Resting his head against the tree, Jack contemplated when that moment might be, knowing that it was now too late for the girl he had come back to save.

Author's Note- There you go! Chapter eleven! I tried to get it up as quickly as I could, and I hope you enjoyed it! If that's the right thing to say ;)'

Mystic Moon Maiden- Hehehe, I just can't seem to get Ragetti's name right can i:)' Thanks for letting me know I got it wrong, I fixed it up ;) And thankyou so much for the great review! It really helps me write :)
The Future Mrs. Jack Sparrow- Lol! Well, I think I updated soon..savvy? ;)' Hehe, thankyou for the review! Glad you could wait :)
Tiffany Sparrow- Well, Jack would have had something up his sleeve, until tragedy struck :( Thankyou for the review! Hope this chapter was 'interesting' as I said :)
SpectralLady- I'm glad you understand why it took me so long to update! That's why I tried very hard to get this one up as soon as I could! Thankyou for the review, and hope you liked this chapter!...If I can say that ;)