A/N: Thanks for the sweet b-day reviews :-) They made my day =)
Sail On Silver Girl
Chapter 9"Now that's not very nice."
The immense relief Silver felt was indescribable as she heard the familiar voice of Jack Sparrow behind her.
Pete spun around, but at the sight of the inebriated Jack Sparrow, he merely snorted and turned away.
"Find yer own strumpet!" his companion growled. "This one's taken fer the night." He added, grinning slyly at Silver who struggled under his grasp, having regained her hope. Please, don't do anything stupid, don't do anything stupid she thought over and over in her head, mentally urging Jack on. What the heck was he doing just standing there, grinning so stupidly?!!
"Mates, I believe ye didn't understand me. Now ye'll be veeery nice and let the gal go. Ye don't want trouble Captain Jack Sparrow now, do ye?"
"Ye? A captain?" Pete guffawed. "Well shut yer trap, ye sorry excuse fer a Cap'n. If ye haven't noticed, yer outnumbered and we found the strumpet first. What's the big deal anyways? There's plenty of others down tha road. Now git going before we make ye." Pete hadn't noticed his chap sputtering and staring in disbelief.
"Pete!" he warned quietly. "That's Captain Jack Sparrow!" Jack grinned smugly at the awe with which his name was uttered.
"So?" Pete retorted. "Never 'eard of the bloke. Ye –" That was enough. Jack's patience had crumpled and with a quick stride he was right beside Pete, towering over him.
"Well, it be time then, that ye do learn who 'that bloke' is…" he hissed menacingly and relished in the obvious discomfort Pete, who backed up slowly, his hand quivering over the rusty pistol at his belt, was in.
His friend though, had different plans. While Jack was busy with Pete, he dragged Silver slowly down the alley, trying to get out of this precarious situation. Silver tried to yell and scream to get Jack's attention but all sounds were muffled by the cloth in her mouth. Tears of frustration and pain began to well up in Silver's eyes as the grip on her arm tightened but she swallowed hard and decided that this was all going way to slow for her. If Jack Sparrow couldn't handle this, she would. She loosened the cloth around her mouth as much as she could by making the obscurest of grimaces prior to lowering her head in the split of a second and sinking her teeth into the grimy hand that was holding her captive. The man on the other end howled in pain and surprise and loosened his grip for a moment. Just enough for Silver to wiggle free and dart over to Jack, who had backed up Pete completely against a wall, grinning haughtily down on him.
As she clutched his arm and he looked beside him seeing Silver, his face briefly resembled surprise and then relief.
"Jack! Stop your games. We have to get going!" Silver looked over her shoulder just to see Pete's fellow chum almost catching up to them.
"Oh…s'pose yer right. Well, t'was nice making yer aquain – " he started a mock salute to Pete but this was definitely enough for Silver. She didn't feel like pushing her luck and pulled Jack along as she sprinted down the dark cobblestone road.
After a moment of shock in which Pete and his rather dim-witted friend exchanged looks of disbelief they realized that their prey had escaped them and broke simultaneously into a run, hoping to catch up.
Silver heard heavy steps echoing behind them and looked slightly worried – hopefully at least Jack had any idea where they were heading. Jack saw her expression and tried to reassure her.
"No fear, luv. I know this place like me Pearl. They won't catch us.", he managed to say between pants.
Silver wanted to ask so much; how he had found her, why he had found her – but this didn't seem like the best time. Suddenly she was jerked to the side and found herself pressed against the brick wall of a house in a dead-end alley. Her body was so close to Jack's that she could hear his heart beating, and somehow she felt oddly protected by the strong arm that was holding her tight. Still, she didn't dare whisper to Jack as the footsteps were slowly, but surely drawing nearer. Silver bit her lip in apprehension and pressed her eyes shut, only hearing Jacks shallow breathing next to her and the clunking of heavy boots on stone. Her whole body tensed as the footsteps were right beside them, so close and she opened her eyes briefly to see the two men racing past Jack and her. Only as the echoes slowly faded into the distance did she allow herself to breathe.
But instead of drawing a breath of relief, Silver let go of the tears that were longing to get out. She felt stupid since there now was no more reason to cry or be afraid, but she felt so incredibly alone and helpless and the previous events had not done anything to help that feeling. Aye, Jack was there with her now, but he'd be gone the minute he made sure she was all right. And then she really would be alone…again. Silver was unable to deny that she would miss her Captain terribly. And she didn't even know why. She had known him for what – two weeks and already his presence controlled so many of her thoughts. She felt she wasn't able to function properly once he left. But she had to. Because inevitably he would leave sooner than she wanted him too.
Angrily she wiped the tears off her cheeks, hoping that Jack wouldn't notice.
Too late.
~*~
Jack turned his head and was about to suggest that they leave the dark alley when he saw tears staining Silver's cheeks. What the…? Hadn't she acted all tough a minute ago? Oh those women - I just don't understand 'em…
He saw her wipe at her face irritably and felt a pang of sympathy at her look of helplessness. Before Jack knew what he was doing he had his arms around her and she buried her face at his chest. He slid down the wall, pulling her with him, until they were resting against the bricks and the cold stones of the paved road.
"Shh…it's alright now, luv. It's alright." He said in what he hoped to be a soothing tone and grimaced over her head into the darkness. However should he deal with this? What had he gotten himself into again? He sighed in defeat and decided that he couldn't just leave her now.
Well, he did have to admit that it wasn't just an act of charity …it wasn't like he hated holding her this.
No no, not at all.
…
Quite agreeable, actually.
For a while they just sat there like this, only occasional sobs from Silver breaking the silence. She didn't care now. She didn't care to hold anything back. She didn't care what Jack would think of her. She just clung to the man beside her like a lifeline, unwilling to let go. Slowly she felt herself regain composure as she listened to calming sound of Jack's heartbeat with her head resting on his chest. And somehow it didn't feel odd to be this close to the man she had felt so uncomfortable around the last few days, the man that, together with his crew, had abandoned her on the docks of Ambera and that she had thought to never see again.
She sighed shakily as his hand stroked over her hair a couple of times and she breathed in his comforting scent of sea, rum, and muck.
The silence was starting to bother Jack, as he wasn't used to being serious and quiet for that long a time. He started mumbling under his breath and Silver lifted her head to look at him.
"What was that…?"
"I said Jack Sparrow never before ran from a fight. This will most definitely ruin my reputation." Jack grumbled sulkily and Silver had to grin despite herself. Jack beamed as a smile lightened her glistening eyes and tear-stained cheeks and was glad that the tension had somewhat vanished. Silver too felt more at ease as Jack treated her with the humor and wit she was used to. "Well, there's always a time for firsts" she retorted playfully, giggled and jumped out of his reach into safety. Jack caught her by the wrists and held her close.
"Yer mighty on-top again. Didn't seem that bold back with those blokes, did ye? Don't ye think ye owe me a "thank you" at least…?" His pouting was adorable, but he was actually immensely grateful that the sad look about her eyes had vanished.
"Ah yes, how could I forget. Thank you Jack." She complied obediently, her eyes glinting with amusement.
" That's 'Thank you Captain Jack!!'" he corrected her. Silver waved him off.
"Why did you come?" she asked him, suddenly serious, but then she winked and added: "Was Captain Jack Sparrow worried about me?"
"Me? What are ye thinking. 'Course not. I jest happened t'pass by. I don't bloody care what kinda situations ye git yerself into. Jest don't count on me saving ye every time." He retorted and seemed somewhat uncomfortable.
Silver smiled knowingly and leaned closer. Before Jack Sparrow knew what was happening to him she had her lips sealed upon his in an innocent kiss.
"Thank you Captain Jack…" she whispered and gave him a genuine smile. Jack stared at her in bewilderment.
"What – ye…uh…" he sputtered and scrambled up from his sitting position. Silver narrowed her eyes and looked at him questioningly. Unsurely she placed a hand on his arm, but he pushed it away roughly.
"I…uh..I have to get going. Me…me crew's waiting." He muttered, but Silver held him back.
"I don't understand. Wasn't…wasn't this what you wanted?"
Jack didn't reply. How was he supposed to answer if he didn't even understand himself?
Aye, it was true, he had wanted that before. But now…everything was different. He didn't merely want her for the sake of his selfish reasons – and that was scaring him, because that was usually what it was. Aye, he was selfish, but not ashamed of it. That's the way the code worked, the way that he grew up, the way a pirate should behave if he wants to live to grow old. And suddenly he cared about not hurting her feelings.
Cockeyed world. Because in reality he had no idea just how much he was hurting her now and he'd do better to find out sooner than later…
"Jack?" Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.
Jack looked Silver straight in the eye and noticed that her eyes had regained that veil of sadness, now mixed with confusion and even a hint of anger.
Jack cleared his throat.
~*~
A/N: Hope you think jack's characterization is right. I didn't want to make him so overly serious/emotional and stuff like that, cuz I think that's not him, he's more kinda…quirky and impatient…*lol* , but if you don't agree, please tell me and make a suggestion – keeping Jack in character is quite a challenge sometimes ;-)
I'm quite discouraged on this story now, it doesn't …'flow' as I hoped it would. Also I'm too impatient with the chapters and update them too quickly – hope I can stop that bad habit. Please stick with me, I'll try to fix the chapters to get more…uh…satisfactory results. And I would just love your suggestions for improvement!
~Sereture
