Chapter 12

Jack was in a vile mood Will could tell as he came into breakfast the next morning. He was muttering under his breath and he reeked of rum. Grabbing a plate of food out of Annamaria's hands, which in turn caused her to snap at him and attempt to punch him, Jack made his way groggily to where Will sat and plopped down on the bench next to him.

"Rough night?' Will asked.

Jack grunted unhappily in response and began shoveling food down his throat.

"This wouldn't have to do with Portia would it?" Will queried.

Jack grunted again, this time with a hint of anger.

Will nodded his head in acknowledgment. "I accidently got made at that James guy again last night," Will added quietly.

Jack looked up at him, squinting his eyes, and then returned to his food with another grunt. As he continued to eat he grunted to himself.

Rolling his eyes at the man's behavior, Will shoved the plate of food away from Jack and turned to face him. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

Jack sighed. "You tell me first what you did to James."

"Fine," Will consented. "I was going down to find Elizabeth, and I came upon her talking to him. she was smiling at him, and I just got mad, and slugged him."

Jack began to laugh. "No wonder Portia was looking at him funny," he muttered.

"Portia?" Will casually pressed.

Jack grunted and then opened his mouth to actually speak. "We were up talking on the main deck when James came up calling for her, and of course she went and comforted him, like any good girl, and she just left me standing up there all alone."

"You were just talking then," Will said.

"Yes, talking, with, very few words," Jack replied pulling the plate of food towards him again.

"Only a pirate would be able to talk and stick his tongue down someone's throat at the same time," Will muttered, but loud enough for Jack to hear. Jack merely grinned.

"And I take it she never came back, did she?" Will asked.

Jack shook his head and began grunting again. Will sighed in exasperation, but before he could reply to the grunting, Mr. Gibbs came up to where they were sitting and addressed Jack.

"Captain," he said. "We be approaching the 'treaasure isle'. Do you be wishing to stop off there? Or shall we continue on the course?"

Jack looked up at Gibbs and grunted. Gibbs looked at Will for some explanation, but he could only shrug his shoulders. Will himself was hoping Jack would have them stop so they could have a few days on land, where he could get Elizabeth away fro everyone else and fix the riff between them, and from Jack's behavior it looked as if the captain needed a break from the confines of the ship too.

"We'll stop at the island, Mr. Gibbs," Will replied when Jack made no more signs of "communicating".

"Very good sir," he said and left.

Jack looked up at Will slyly. "Taking charge now are we?" he asked.

Will ignored Jack's attempt at provoking him and got up to leave. Jack grunted in protest at Will's sudden departure, but when he saw the man was not going to heed his whims, went back to eating.

James' bruise was not much better looking as Portia examined it in the light of the morning. It was no longer black, but it was still a very good shade of purple. Despite the length of the time he had slept, James looked tired and haggard, and coupled with the bruise Portia might have thought he'd been raped if she didn't know better.

"When we get to the island we can put some cold water on it," she said. Mr. Gibbs had just come by and told her of the plans to stop at the "treasure isle".

James nodded. "And while we're there I can get as far away from Elizabeth as possible," he added.

Portia smiled. She knew that James would not want to be alone once the got to the island, but she was going to need to speak to Jack, and James could not be there when she did that, so she essentially needed to find him a babysitter, and one presented itself, coming up the stairs from the galley.

"Annamaria!" Portia called to the woman as she emerged into the sunlight. The pirate turned at Portia's call and made her way to where she was standing with James.

"Yes?" Annamaria asked. Her eyes darted to the bruise on James' face, but did not linger out of courtesy.

"I was wondering if when we got to the island you could take James and find something to put on his bruise," Portia said. "It's hurting him pretty bad right now…"

Annamaria saw the pleading look in Portia's eyes and caved in. "Very well," she said. "I will take the little boy and care for him."

"Thank you," Portia said at the same time James demanded that he not be referred to as a "little boy". Annamaria gave James one look and he was silent. Then she returned to her duties. James, fascinated by a woman who could silence him with one look, decided to leave Portia to herself, since he had been hanging on her all morning, and went to see what exactly Annamaria's job on the ship was.

Once James was gone Portia made her way up to the back of the ship near the wheel. Looking down at the wake the ship made in its passing, she sighed heavily. She felt someone brush past her and turned to see Jack taking the wheel from the man who had been steering. Determined to see how he had taken her absence the night before, she turned and walked up to him.

Tapping him on the shoulder, Portia set her hands on her hips as he turned to face her. Seeing her face he grimaced slightly and then went back to steering.

"Jack," she said. "I'm sorry I left last night, but James needed me…"

Jack turned back to look at her and the hurt in his eyes cut off her words. "I'm sorry," she said again.

"I don't need an apology," he replied. "It was plain enough to see that you wanted to be with him, and I can't argue with that."

Portia shook her head in frustration. "Jack, he's my friend and he was hurt- he needed me there, that's all."

"He just needed you for the night," Jack said.

"No," Portia replied, anger growing inside her. "He did not need a whore to comfort him, like some men do." She knew she'd hit a nerve because he stiffened. "And he also didn't need a bottle, or three, of rum to drown his sorrows," she added smelling the alcohol on him. "Just a friend to lie with him."

"A woman who sleeps in other men's beds is still a whore in this world, no matter what your futuristic mind may think," Jack snapped.

Anger broke in Portia and she reached out to grab his shoulder, whirled him around to face her and then slapped him. Before he could recover she stalked away from him and flipped in the finger behind her back. (Which of course meant nothing to Jack).

Still angry himself, Jack made no attempt to go after her,