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Chapter Quote: "You're never really going to get used to it. Piracy I mean."

Chapter Ten

Conflicts

I liked Dr. Martin...I mean Stephen...very much. He was kind, polite, considerate, and though we unfortunately held a link together from the past, I still enjoyed his company. This link, a negative thing in my opinion, was thus because he saw me as "Miss Scott", daughter of Captain Scott...and I wasn't. He knew very little about me...he only knew what everyone else knew...that I was strange, almost died, and disappeared for five years. Except in his case...he knew that I was back.

"Oh, excuse me. That's the door."

Someone had knocked? What was I doing? I needed to be better prepared then this...I was a pirate after all! I watched Stephen stride to the door and open it with a polite push of the wood paneling. It was a young woman, in a plain, white dress and a funny looking hat that I had never seen the likes of before. They talked for a moment, and though I don't like to eavesdrop on others, I found that I shouldn't be caught unawares for anything this time around.

"Dr. Martin, you're needed at the naval hospital...a ship just docked, the Lydia... a number of wounded...Dr. Taylor has requested your help..." I didn't hear the last bit, but I did see the nurse leave and Stephen gather up his medical supplies.

The fragments of what I heard not making much sense, so I waited politely for Stephen to conclude his conversation and return to me. The nurse nodded after a bit, and left. Stephen closed the door and walked back over, assembling his medical bag once more.

"What was that about?" I asked mildly, I wasn't the nosy type, but I still liked to be informed of things...must of got it from Jack.

He looked at me, a small frown now making an appearance onto his face. "There has been an attack on a ship that recently docked in the harbor. The hospital has called for my assistance. It is strange really..."

"What? An attack?" I asked in surprise. I mean, this was a military fort, they must get attacked on ships all the time.

"No, that's not...well...let's just say my services have not been required from that hospital in a long, long time."

I nodded, "I'm guessing that is a story for another day?"

Stephen smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes."

"What do you want me to do?"

"For now I should like it very much if you stayed here with the girl. I don't know anything at all about her and it would be better for you to be here when she wakes up."

I nodded again, "So...I'm stuck here." All this being civilized again was...to understate...depressing. I was so used to doing whatever I liked that it was very difficult to take orders once more.

"You could say that." He said, an amused expression on his face.

I sighed, "I should have expected it anyway."

"Look, you can leave if you want to when I get back. You can even come and help me at the hospital...all once the girl wakes up. All right?"

I nodded slowly and Stephen smiled. "Good. I'll be back later." He left quickly after that. I could see him through the window on the main wall of his office.

I sank down in a chair beside it, staring out to sea. Well, I guess I'd better just make the best of it.

Three Years Previous

Somewhere in the Atlantic

"You're never really going to get used to it. Piracy I mean." He said in such a differentiated tone that I turned to look back at him in surprise.

"Why Jack? Not used to your little girl calling you 'Daddy' yet?" I asked with a hint of humor in my voice.

The tanned, weather beaten face that I had grown to love so dearly smiled at me from his place on the main deck. "We weren't talkin' 'bout me luv, the topic was you."

I smiled, "I think I will." I said slowly, referring to his previous statement. "I mean, I'm starting to thus far, that's got to count for something."

The wind rippled gently through the ship and blew his dread-locks and various braids about his tanned face. My single braid remained stubbornly on my back. I could hear the sails snapping as the Black Pearl picked up speed. I wasn't sure if I had truly gotten used to it. I was a pirate...well...I was the daughter of a pirate anyway. And I plundered and fought with the rest of those bloody pirates. But...but what? I turned to look at Jack, noting with a smile that he was staring fondly out over the sea. I knew I loved him. And that, even though he was a god damned scoundrel, that he was my father. I hoped when he met his maker, that the all mighty might go easy on him. After all, he had done some good things in his life...creating me was one at least.

He saw my glance and turned to me, "What?" He asked in mock gruffness.

"Oh...I was just thinking..."

"About?"

"You mostly." I answered innocently. "About me on this ship. About what I'm doing here. Deep stuff like that."

"I thought after two years on this bloody boat you that we would've erased that junk from you. Pirates don't think deeply, we just do."

"Just do?"

"Aye."

"Well, I can see how well that has worked for you in the past." I thought of his being marooned...twice marooned. Twice almost hung. A thousand times imprisoned...nearly shot by Hammer...the list went on. He grinned sheepishly at me and I could feel my heart melt. Whatever Jack said or did, he was still my father. A lousy one at that, but he was still my father.

I slid over to him and hugged him tightly, he stiffened at first, which made me smile as I leaned on his shoulder, breathing in deeply the smell of salt air and of the faintest whiff of rum. He finally relaxed and hesitantly put his arms around my shoulders. I looked up at him, grinning from ear to ear.

"You're never really going to get used to it. Parenting I mean." I said, mimicking his previous tone of voice.

He grinned back at me, "I think I will luv. I've gotten this far," He hugged me closer. "And that's got to count for something."

I awoke rather jerkily without realizing that I had ever been asleep. It's a rather awkward state because one never knows what has been going on around them. I blinked, I was still sitting in that chair by the window, and glancing at the sun, I would guess that it was nearly time for dinner...the sun was beginning to set. I frowned as I sat up, Stephen wasn't back yet...that was strange.

Then I sat still for a moment more...if I had been sleeping...what had woken me up? Sobs. That was it. I had heard sobs. Someone was crying. I gazed around the office with narrowed eyes, searching the plain walls for signs of life. I hadn't noticed before...but Stephen's office was rather...well...plain fo a doctor. I had assumed that Port Royal's military medical officials were normally paid well. But it looked like something had happened along the way to Stephen. And I was eventually going to find out what. The sobs came again and my eyes swivelled and rested upon the cushioned table in the center of the room. The girl was stirring, and the sobs were coming from her.

I rose slowly to my feet, wincing as I stretched my back. Well, it was about time I got hurt. I suppose it was my lot in life. I walked stiffly over to the table and looked down at the girl. Her brow was damp with fever, and blood had seeped through the bandage on her shoulder. I took a damp cloth out of a basin nearby and bathed her forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat until she stopped whimpering and turned to me. I had forgotten how much I hated looking into her eyes. How could such a young kid have eyes that held so much pain?

She flinched away from me instantly, a natural reaction I supposed, and tried to get up from her position. "No." I said gently. "You're safe here."

She stared at me with those horrible, dark, despairing eyes before she opened her parched lips to speak. "Where am I?"

"The medical office of Dr. Stephen Martin, he's taking care of you."

She frowned, thinking on this. She was a rather mousy looking kind of girl, thin, tall. With light brown hair and dark brown eyes...nearly black. She could have been twenty or ten...her eyes made it pretty much impossible to tell her age.

She didn't answer, she was now gazing slowly around the room. "What's your name?" I asked gently, dabbing sweat and tears once more from her face. She didn't answer me at first, and then slowly whispered.

"Laura. My name is Laura."

"How old are you Laura?"

"Fourteen."

My face blanched, I was her age when my life had started down this road...to whatever this road had taken me to. Victory? Failure? Fulfillment? Fate? I didn't know...and just then...I really didn't want to think about it. She turned to look at me.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jacqueline. And since we're on a first name basis I suppose I don't have to tell you anything else regarding that subject."

Was that a flicker on a smile on her face? It couldn't be...the frown was too deeply set. Her eyes gazed dully around the room, blinking as she took in the white-washed walls and medical instruments. I hadn't noticed before...but it looked like Stephen had been going through some hard times. He certainly couldn't be doing as well as when he was the medical officer aboard the Dauntless. His house was too shabbily kept for that. But he was a good doctor, and thus far, the only person who seemed tolerant of my past. This thought brought Will to my mind, and I nearly scowled. I felt betrayed, I came home, I'm in a rut, and all he could think about was his god damn honor. Or was there something more? Something I couldn't guess at?

I shook my head, I couldn't decide. I would just get infuriated with the man I had once counted as a friend. And I preferred to think that somehow, he still counted me as one too. I looked back at Laura and I frowned, she seemed...familiar somehow...her eyes...her face...but the memory slipped my mind before I could think further on it. I sighed, this was all becoming rather complicated.

"I should go." She said suddenly, struggling to rise.

I pushed her firmly back down, "No, you are not well."

"I can't stay here...I...I...don't have any money."

"Don't worry about it." I erased the frown from my face. Her mind did not need to be troubled with my worries as well as her own. She would stay, I was sure Stephen would let her stay. "Just get some rest, you'll feel better in the morning."

She stared at me with wide eyes, "Why are you doing this?"

I could see her eyelids starting to droop, but I had to tell her, to ease her conscience. I smiled slowly, "That's the real question isn't it?" She didn't answer and I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe because I've needed help more times then I can count in my past, and I got it. Got it when I didn't deserve it. I'll have to think on that one. But right now, I think its time you slept."

In surprise, I watched as she complied with my order, and gently drifted off to sleep. I watched her with envy, because I knew, I would be up most of the night. I walked away from the cot and with another heavy sigh I looked out the window toward the harbor. I hated being defenseless, knowing that I no longer had control.

I looked toward the horizon and wished, for the first time, that I had never come back to Port Royal.

A/N: Yes, ok, so I didn't update soon. So, in the next chapter we will be finding out about Tom and Benjamin's past, as well as Jacqueline's new connection with Tom, Will, Edmond, Stephen, and Ben. So stay tuned:) Thanks to all who reviewed, it means the world. And this story, as well as it's prequel, The Spray of the Sea, have been added to a C2 archive and I am very pleased about that. :)

Till next time...

TO BE CONTINUED...