Yay! Reviews! I love u guys! #virtual hugs# oh yes, Johnny is 13. On we go...
"Why doesn't Jimbo have a crew of his own?" Johnny said, hurrying to keep up with Jack, who was striding into every bar and pigsty, looking for Gibbs.
"He does," Jack said, sticking his head through a door of a pub, and muttering, "Nope, not in there."
"So why are we looking for Gibbs?" Johnny asked.
"So he can come o' course! An' just in case Jimbo does a runner and we need a crew." Jack replied. "An' also if he's drunk we can sell that boat to 'im." He grinned wickedly.
"But he's your friend!" Johnny said.
"Pirate." Jack replied. Johnny rolled his eyes.
"You use that as excuse for everything!" He snapped.
"He's a pirate, what do you expect?" Will said. "It's annoying, isn't it?"
"Ah, here we are!" Jack stopped suddenly, pointing to a table in the pub they had just entered. "Gibbs!" A man looked up from his drink.
"Jack!" He said. "And Will! Good ta see yeh mate. An' who's this?" He looked at Johnny.
"This is my son, Johnny." Will said, proudly.
"Where's Miss Elizabeth?" Gibbs asked, beaming at Johnny.
"Ah, she died in childbirth. Tragic." Jack said quickly, knowing Will was very touchy on the subject.
"Oh, poor lass." Mr Gibbs said. "Sorry to hear that, mate. She was a good'un."
"Hmmm," Will said.
"So, Jack, what goin' on?" Gibbs asked Jack.
"I'm going after Scarr and his crew. They stole me ship." Jack said, and a cold look came into his eyes, as though the memory of it made him mad. It probably did.
"Scarr?" Gibbs said. "Ain't 'e that guy with the cursed sword? The one that-" He broke off, glancing at Johnny. "Well, yeh heard the rumours."
"Aye, I heard the rumours and they're true." Jack said. Gibbs's eyes widened with shock.
"True?" He whispered. "Even the best swordsman can't defeat him! If the blade so much as brushes you, yeh're a dead man."
"Well, I ain't dead." Jack replied, grinning. He pulled up his sleeve and showed Gibbs the burn mark. "Nearly was though." He added as an afterthought.
"So what's in yeh head?" Gibbs asked. He had known Jack too long to know that he rarely didn't have a plan.
"Well, we have to get someone he trusts to kill 'im. And as he played dirty, I see no reason why we shouldn't." Jack's evil grin had jumped back onto his face. "However, there is a drawback. Most people he trusts are just as evil as him, and wouldn't kill him for all the gold in the world." Jack said this as though he knew perfectly well how to get past that little 'drawback'.
"And how are we gonna do that?" Will asked, just to humour him, knowing Jack probably wouldn't continue until someone asked.
"Well, what I was thinkin' was that we could get someone to get on the inside. One of us. A few of his men were killed in the battle with my ship…" His face clouded for a moment. "An' I don't think he would of replaced them all. Well, not yet anyway. Now, I was thinkin', It would be better for us if, well, if we put in someone who he wouldn't…. well, be allowed to… torture if we got found out." Jack said, looking at Will.
"Who did you have in mind?" Will asked.
"Well, most pirates, him included, won't hurt a kid." Jack said. "So he'll be safe, Will, it's just it's our best plan-" Jack tried to finish in a rush, but Will cut in.
"Johnny! You want Johnny to go!" Will said, horrified. "No! Jack, no! I'm not sending my boy into a death hole." Jack sighed.
"He'd be safe, Will-" Jack began.
"Safe? Safe?" Will repeated. "I'm sure he'd lay aside a little rule like that if he found the boy he trusted was gonna kill 'im!" Jack looked slightly annoyed at being cut off.
"Mmmm, true." Gibbs said, thinking. "He could say he was forced to."
"He's not saying anything, 'coz he's not doing it!" Will said.
"What d'you think, Johnny?" Jack asked, ignoring Will.
"Um… well, he does sound a bit scary. Does he torture people a lot?" Johnny said, turning red at suddenly being asked his opinion.
"No, Jack! I said no!" Will said. "Why don't you send Ruby? She'd love to go."
"Because Ruby ain't even coming with us." Jack said. He realised hat Will was trying to do; make him realise that he didn't want one of his loved ones going into a 'death hole' as Will described it.
"Jack, no." Will repeated. "You're gonna have to think of another way." Jack scowled but didn't press the matter.
"Gibbs, have yeh seen Anamaria recently?" Jack turned to Gibbs. "We'd do well to have her."
"Yeah, she's 'round 'ere somewhere." Gibbs said. "But Jack-"
"Yeah, yeah, we know it's bad luck." Jack said impatiently. "Where is she?"
"I don't know exactly. I saw her a few days ago, she's probably still in Tortuga." Gibbs answered.
Suddenly a piercing scream rang through the small pub.
"Get off me you filthy bastard! Or I'll crack yeh skull open! Yeh fat-" A string of curses and swear words followed from near the doorway. A fat man was holding a small, screaming girl, trying to push her to the ground.
"Jack," Johnny said, pulling out his sword. "Jack, that's Ruby!" Jack looked round sharply.
"What?" He said, pulling out a pistol. He jumped up and strode over to the fat man. "Get off her or I'll shoot you into the depths of hell." Jack said, his voice suddenly becoming cold and threatening. The fat man turned.
"Nah, I don't think I will." His voice was slurred and thick; he was clearly drunk. He turned back to Ruby and shoved his fist into her face. "Shut up!" Her head snapped backwards and smashed the wall behind, knocking her unconscious.
In one movement, Jack pinned the fat man to the wall and shoved the gun into his head.
"I said, leave her." He hissed. The fat man looked scared. Jack grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his head against a beam. He slumped to the floor, blood trickling from the back of his head.
Jack turned to Ruby, who was still unconscious. He picked her up and carried her outside. Will, Gibbs and Johnny, who still had his sword out, followed.
"Is she ok?" Johnny asked. "Did you kill that man?"
"She's fine, though she'll wake up tomorrow with a headache," Jack answered. "No, I didn't kill 'im, though I woulda done if you hadn't been there." Jack growled. "I don't like people who hit kids."
"Uncle Jack?" Ruby was beginning to wake up. She sat up and put a hand to her head. "Where's that slime-ball? I wanna kill 'im!" She said ferociously.
"'S'all right, Ruby, I dealt with him." Jack said. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said impatiently, trying to get up. "I was coming to find yeh, to see if yeh'd let me come with yeh. But that git comes up and asks me if I needed directions. I said no, but he said he thought I did. Then he grabbed me and tried… tried… well…" Ruby stopped, staring at Jack, tears forming in her blue eyes.
"'S'all right, Ruby." Jack said, giving her a quick hug. "C'mon, lets get yeh back. I'm sure yeh father will be please t' here of yeh new vocabulary." Jack grinned at her as he helped her up. Ruby blushed slightly.
"Don't tell 'im that!" She said. "He don't think it's proper for a lady to use such words." She spoke the word 'lady' with obvious contempt. Jack's grin widened.
"I think it's great! Everyone should know how t' curse! Maybe yeh could teach Johnny a few more words!" He said. Will frowned.
"And here was me trying to give him a proper up-brining, and you tear it down in a few days by teaching him the extent of your vocabulary." Will said, raising an eyebrow at Jack.
"Pretty much, yeah." Jack replied, the grin now becoming dangerously wide. Will rolled his eyes and shook his head. They came to the ship and boarded.
"Jimbo!" Jack called. Jimbo appeared from below deck. "Look what I found!" Jack pushed Ruby towards her father.
"Ta, Jack. D'you know Ruby, I was almost beginning to change me mind, but now I've decided not to." Jimbo said. Actually he hadn't, but it was a good way of making Ruby obey him.
"Oh shut up." Ruby replied. She pushed past him and went below deck.
"Um, Jim, some old fat guy found her and tried t' take advantage of 'er. That's when we found 'er…" Jack mumbled to Jimbo, so there was no chance Ruby could overhear.
"He did what?" Jimbo said, looking horrified. "Did yeh kill 'im?" He suddenly turned to Jack with a mad look in his eyes. "Tell me yeh killed 'im!"
"No, mate. I didn't kill 'im." Jack said. Jimbo stared at him for a moment. "Where is 'e? I'm gonna kill 'im!"
"Jimbo," Will piped up. "Don't yeh think your daughter needs you here, right now?" Jimbo turned to him.
"Yeah, yeh probably right. Nice t' see yeh, Gibbs." Then he turned around and followed his daughter below deck. Jack turned to Will.
"Well, I don't need t' persuade yeh t' get Johnny t' go, coz 'e's bringin' Ruby!" He said.
"Oh, Jack, do yeh honestly think he's gonna let her go onto a ship where, if she's caught, she's probably gonna have worse things done t' her?" Will snapped. Jack frowned.
"Yeh know, you are definitely startin' t' sound like a pirate…" Jack said.
"Don't change the subject." Will snapped back, and turned away. Jack impersonated him silently.
"Gibbs go find Anamaria for me." Jack said. Gibbs got off the ship and disappeared into the night.
"Now, all we gotta do is sleep…" Jack showed Will and Johnny to a small room with a bunk bed. "'Night." He shut the door.
"I'm on top!" Johnny said at once, and scrambled onto the top bunk. "Do we have any night clothes?"
"No," Will replied, kicking off his boots. "Yeh sleepin that." Johnny shrugged and threw his own boots into a corner.
"Night!" He said.
"Goodnight, son." Will replied.
Hmm...