"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this delicious food you have blessed us with-"

"I wouldn't call it delicious," Ana Maria muttered, attracting a pointed glare from Mr Gibbs who had prepared it.

"I pray you bless it unto our bodies. May it refresh us and be the start to another wonderful day that you have made-"

"This is Gibbs' cooking ya talkin' about, right?" Ana Maria checked.

"Hush, woman!" Mr Gibbs hissed.

"I pray we would try to the best of our ability to do your will today and that you would keep us and guide us. Amen," Ross finished.

A reluctant and mumbled 'amen' echoed from the crew before they tucked into the food hungrily. Christina smirked and followed suit, ignoring the fact that Ana Maria was defiantly on to something. She looked up at the alter boy across from her.

"How was last night, Ross?"

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jack tensed at her mention and paused mid bringing a spoonful of food to his mouth, awaiting the boy's answer. Ross opened his mouth and then closed it. He drew a breath as though to speak and then released it without saying a word. He started to form a sentence with his lips but then stopped. After a long break, he looked at her with solemn eyes.

"Really very good, miss."

Jack continued eating, a smile on his lips as Christina waited for Ross to take the answer back and say he had never been more scared or disgusted in his life but it never came. She narrowed her eyes at Jack but continued eating. He shrugged at her triumphantly, knowing she had not expected such an answer and enjoying her reaction immensely. Although Christina did not believe Ross for a second, she decided to leave the subject to itself, knowing pursuing it would only result in disappointment and anger.

"What is there to do here during the day?" Elizabeth asked Jack musingly.

Jack gave her a scornful look, "Lass, what is there not t'do here during the day?"

"There's nothing to do during the day," Ana Maria answered the question bluntly, "Sleep. That's it."

"That's not true," Jack retorted, "Ye can... well, there's... there's 'sposed t'be a lot of jelly fish washed up this time of year."

XxXxX

Christina sat with her chin resting in her hands next to Elizabeth who was in much the same position. Will looked expectantly at Jack who pretended not to notice while Ross studied his boots. They sat outside one of the many taverns with nothing to do.

"Well, I still think the jelly fish would be more compelling than this at least," Jack muttered, receiving no reply.

"Anyone hungry?" Will asked apathetically.

"Not really," Elizabeth and Christina answered in unison. The four of them drifted back into their vegetative state, staring at nothing and barely aware of each other's presence. Ross, on the other hand, was transfixed. His eyes followed the movements of someone across the street, narrowed and studying. Jack noticed and motioned at him to catch his attention.

"What's got ye so engrossed, lad?"

"Captain Sparrow, isn't that the boy from last night?" Ross mused, pointing in the direction of a scuffle directly across from them. Jack followed with his gaze, spying two people, one of them being the boy who had stole his money and the other being an older man, three times his size. The two seemed to be having some kind of argument that Jack could easily guess the subject of.

"Seems he got caught again," he replied, amused as the man tried to reach for the boy but missed by a hairbreadth. The rage filled shouting of the robbed man echoed throughout the street as the boy laughed and gracefully ducked out of his grasp with careless ease that infuriated the man further.

"How would he get caught? He's so cunning," Elizabeth commented, intrigued by the sight.

"'Tis not the measure of yer cunning but how careful ye are tha' matters," Jack replied knowingly, smirking as the boy dropped down, barely missing a heavy, swinging fist from the man. The man cursed at the boy, making Ross cringe at his vile choice of words. Christina smiled at this, remembering that alter boys would not be so accustomed to the harsh language. All of them tisked in disappointment when the boy was jerked back by the collar of his shirt, finally captured by the beefy man.

"He should've ran while he had the chance," Will sighed, like the others, having wanted to see the boy get away.

The women gasped as the boy caught a hard blow to the face that knocked him to the ground. Staggering, the boy got to his feet, carefully making sure his cap was still on his head, only to receive a kick to his stomach and tumble back down to whence he came.

"Jack..." Christina said, tugging his sleeve.

"He's a pick pocket. He was going to get what was comin' to him eventually," Jack told her, although his eyes did not move from the crumpled form on the ground. He tensed his jaw as the man started towards the boy again and kicked him in the side. As the kicks kept coming with no sign of ending any time soon, Jack let out a sigh of frustration as he hastened towards the two, "Oh, bloody hell." Will quickly followed after him.

Jack damned his cursed sympathy as he grew closer, noting that the boy seemed to not be moving save for showing the force of the blows he was receiving to his ribs. Taking a breath and rolling his eyes at the obligation that he felt gripping him tightly, he cupped his hands around his mouth.

"'Xcuse me, mate!"

The man looked up momentarily, puffing and scowling, "What d'ya want?"

Jack forced a tight smile and gestured to the boy who laid motionlessly on the ground, "I hardly think he's in any shape or form t'prevent ye from takin' ye money back now."

"As he should be, useless vermin," the man growled, landing another angry kick in the boy's side. A moan sounded and Jack quickly placed himself in between the thief and the robbed man.

"So, why don't we jus' get yer money back an' leave the lad be, aye?" he reasoned. As he spoke, Will ducked down behind him to tend to the boy, turning him onto his back and checking to see if he was still conscious.

"Why?" the man roared, "I'll tell ya why! This is the third time this week that little runt has swindled me an' I plan t'make sure he's incapable of tryin' it again, that's why!" Jack stepped forward and pushed the man back before he could further injure the boy. When the man turned his scowl to him, he lifted his hands up and edged backwards, lower towards the lad.

"Here's what we'll do. We'll get yer own money, an' anythin' else the boy has on him that ye fancy as I doubt he'll have need fer it anytime soon. An' we'll leave it at that, savvy?" As Jack spoke, he emptied the boy's coat pockets of their stolen goods and held them out towards the man. The man started to refuse until he saw just how much valuables were being thrust at him. With a long sigh, he glanced over Jack's shoulder at the boy who he had caused considerable damage to and, satisfied, nodded.

"Aye."

Jack shoved his handfuls of treasures into the man's outstretched arms until the boy was left with nothing, "That's all of it." The man grunted in response and went on his way. Jack waited until he was out of sight before bending down beside Will to look at the boy, "How's it looking?"

"I think he may have a couple of broken ribs," Will replied distractedly. Elizabeth, Ross and Christina appeared, crowding worriedly around the unconscious boy.

"Is he alright?" Elizabeth asked. Will shook his head as Jack nodded and tried to lead them away. As Jack headed back to the Pearl, he realized that no one was following and turned back to find them all staring at him blankly.

"What?" he frowned.

"He needs help, Jack," Christina told him testily.

"An' I gave it, didn't I?" Jack countered.

"Yes but now he needs medical help," Elizabeth fired back.

"It's not like no one would notice an unconscious teenager in the street and take him to a doctor," Jack defended, swinging his arms.

Christina narrowed her eyes at him, "One, this is Tortuga. It's highly likely that he would blend in with the passed out drunkards that line the streets and go unnoticed. Two, if by some miracle he was noticed, the doctors themselves here are drunkards!"

"So what are ye suggestin' then?" Jack spat.

"We can take him back to the Pearl," Will replied as though it was obvious.

"An' for what objective an' use, hm? Mr Gibbs doesn't know how t'tend to a broken bone. There's no help fer him there," Jack pointed out victoriously.

"But you do!" Christina jabbed him in the shoulder with an accusing finger, "You told me you did."

Jack looked at her with wide innocent eyes, "I told ye that?" She nodded confidently. After staring at her for a moment and weighing up his chances of convincing her he had been lying on the matter, he gave in and nodded, "Alright, we'll take him t'the Pearl."

XxXxX

It was dark and cold and still no one emerged from the Captain's Cabin. Elizabeth, Will, Christina and Ross waited almost unconsciously in the hall, staring into space and trying to keep themselves awake with small petty games. 'I spy' had been a hit for the first two hours until one floorboard was chosen for five rounds in a row. Their curiosity over what had been the cause of Jack's very audible cursing within minutes within being left to tend to the boy had been forgotten. Currently, the four had another senseless game swinging apathetically around.

"It's your turn, Liz."

Elizabeth blinked at her cousin and then nodded, her brow creased in forced thought, "Right... When I went to my grandmother's house I packed an ape, a bible, a ... what was it? Oh! A corset, a desk, a ... hm, I really can't remember what we said for 'e'-"

"A eunic," Christina reminded happily. Ross and Will cleared their throats uncomfortably.

"Ha, of course," Elizabeth grinned, "A eunic, a feather, a gate post, a horse, a igloo, a jig, a kettle..." It was as she was saying 'pirate' for 'p' that the door swung open and a glowering Jack appeared. All eyes turned to meet the pirate's who returned the wondering gazes with a harsh stare.

"Well, I hope you are all, very happy with yerselves."

The wondering gazes turned to blank expressions as Jack swaggered away, mimicking mockingly, "Oh, but we have to take him on the Pearl, Jack. It'd be a crime to leave him in the streets of his home town. Hope yer all very bloody happy!"

Turning to look at each other, Christina, Ross, Will and Elizabeth paused for a very brief moment before scrambling to their feet and scuttling after Jack.

XxXxX

Katana: Thankye kindly! I'm sorry tha' yet again, m'story had robbed another soul of their sleep. Glad ye liked the first one as well an' I hope ye'll continue liking this one too. Cheers fer yer review!

wayunlucky13: Aww, pick pockets ain't tha' bad, lass. Ev'rybody's got t'make a livin', honorable or otherwise. Thanks fer the review.

MizuiroHiei: There ye go, prayer in the mornin'. Nice, eh? Still interested in teamin' up... I'm just so busy I can't breathe at the moment but email me (ye'll find it on me homepage somewhere...) with an idea of somethin' an' we'll see, aye?

Spilt Glass : Ye poor thing, with the migraine an' all. I always really feel it when someone I know is sick. It's like a pity illness. I usually pick up their symptoms jus' outta sympathy. Ha. Glad ye liked the las' chapter. Hope ye like this one too. (Come on, they're not ALL pitiful...)

Capt'n Raven Most feared pirate of the sea: Thankye, luv. I appreciate the compliments. Ye have a FANTASTIC day, savvy? Ha.