Chapter 2

Blackbird wearily opened the door to her room. She had been out all night and half the morning, but she had managed to find some new men. She went over and closed the shutters to block out the morning light. Not that it did much good, considering that half the boards were missing or hanging at awkward angles. She set her disheveled hat on the table, threw herself onto the bed, and attempted to sleep. No sooner had she dozed off, though, than she was awakened by a loud knock on the door.

She turned over and tried to ignore it, but it only got louder and more persistent. Sighing, she slipped on her over-shirt. "Who is it?" she called out.

"Blackbird? It's Jack."

Blackbird opened the door slowly. "What do you want?" she muttered.

"Good morning to you, too," Jack said. "Did you find any new men?"

"Of course I did. The best two sailors that be found on such short notice. A little rough around the edges, maybe, but nothing to be concerned about."

"Good," he said. "I'm glad we got that problem solved."

"So what about Will?" she asked.

Jack shrugged. "He was pretty adamant last night about not going, but I predict that he'll change his mind."

"And why's that?"

"Because I know him. He's just like his father. Bill used to be pretty strong headed about that kind of thing too, but I always won eventually. You'll see. I'm betting that we'll have at least a maybe by now."

"We'll see," Blackbird said skeptically. "…Where is he now?"

"Waiting downstairs," Jack replied. "We already had a nice breakfast without you. What caused you to sleep this late? It's almost eleven o' clock."

"I didn't," she said shortly. "I got back from recruiting not five minutes before you knocked on my door."

"Sorry," Jack apologized. "…Uh, Blackbird…Are you doing anything important today?"

"Personally, I consider sleep rather important, but since nobody seems to agree, I thought I'd get some errands done. I realized last night that I'm almost out of powder and ammunition, so I need to run by the shop and pick up some more. Other than that, I can do whatever you need."

Jack played with one of the rings on his hand. "Well, see…I have some things that I need to get done today, and I'd really rather not have Will with me…"

"And you want me to make sure he doesn't get himself killed," she finished for him.

"Basically," he said gratefully. "I hope it's not too huge of an imposition for him to go with you. I just doubt he'd do well were I'm going."

"What makes you think he'll do well with me?" she said mischievously.

Jack pointed a finger at her. "I'm trusting you, that's why. I really need to get going, so I'll let you find Will. He shouldn't be too hard to spot."

---

Blackbird grabbed her hat out of her room and headed down the stairs. Easily locating Will, she went over and stood next to him. "Well," she said. "It seems I've been appointed the task of showing you around."

"It would seem that way," Will replied.

Blackbird started walking toward the bar. "I'm not going anywhere until I've had a drink."

"You have an interesting routine," Will commented. "Go to bed drunk, go to work drunk."

"You mean last night? That wasn't drunk. That's just the way I am, mate," she said, trying to catch the bartender's attention. "…One coffee and a pirate's special."

"What's that?" Will asked.

"Three parts coffee and one part rum," she explained. "It gives it that little boost and adds some flavor. You'll just have to deal with black, unless you want to try the special."

"I think I'll stick to the plain black. I definitely need it," he said with a yawn.

"Why are you tired?" she asked. "You weren't out all night trying to find to willing sailors who weren't too drunk to remember ever having the conversation."

"All the noise," he explained. "I don't know how you can sleep through gunshots and shouting at all hours of the night."

Blackbird shrugged. "You get used to it."

The bartender set two steaming mugs in front of them. Blackbird slid two coins across the bar to him and took her mug. As she slowly drank her own coffee, she noticed Will looking doubtfully at his own.

"It's alright," she assured him. "It's not poisoned or anything."

"I'm not worried about poison. I just don't want a surprise like last night's," he said.

She grinned. "Well there's no reason to fret about that. It's just plain coffee; you have my word." He cautiously took a drink. Once he was sure she was telling the truth, he took another. "See?" she asked. "I wouldn't lie to you." Will just raised a questioning eyebrow. "Well...Actually I probably would," she admitted. "…But I didn't this time!"

"I'll keep that in mind," he muttered. After a short pause, he asked, "So where exactly are we going?"

"I have some errands to run. Ammunition, supplies for the voyage, stuff like that. Bear in mind that you're only coming because Jack made me and that you aren't to get in my way," she said with a fierce look.

"Yes ma'am," Will said sarcastically.

"Well, are we going to leave or would you like to sit around chatting and sipping coffee all day?" she asked, equally as sarcastic.

"I vote for the latter," he said.

"Come on," Blackbird said, pulling him off the stool by his sleeve.

Picking himself up quickly, Will followed Blackbird as she strode out of the building.

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"So where exactly are we going?" he asked again.

"Well, I don't know how you do it in Port Royal, but here in Tortuga we have a little tradition called eating," she replied.

"We couldn't have bought food back at the tavern?" Will said.

"Okay, first rule here in Tortuga: never buy what you can steal. So long as you don't get caught, it's much easier." She quickly spotted an elderly man selling fruit on the side of the road. Motioning for Will to stay back, she casually approached the stall. Pretending to examine the fruit, she quickly slipped one into her coat pocket while the man was occupied with another customer. As she started to grab another, she felt Will grab her wrist.

"This is wrong, Blackbird," he whispered. "You can't just take this man's only source of income."

"Watch me," she whispered back fiercely. Just then, the man looked up from the exchange. His eyes went from the fruit in Blackbird's hand to the trapped expression on her face.

"Tryin' to steal me fruit again, eh?" he said. "Well, I trust you remember what I do to thieves." He pulled a pistol from his pocket and cocked it. Blackbird looked from the loaded gun to the man and back to the gun again.

"Run!" she shouted, taking off down the street with Will close on her heels.

Dodging a few bullets, they darted around a corner and hid behind a stack of crates. As soon as they were sure he wasn't following them, Blackbird stepped out.

"Rule Two: when in the process of enforcing Rule One, never announce that you are doing so!" she said, breathing heavily.

"Sorry, but I wasn't about to let you steal from a defenseless old man," Will said stubbornly.

"You really have to get over this whole conscience thing. It's getting annoying. Anyway, in case you didn't notice, he wasn't exactly defenseless," she said, examining a hole in her coat pocket. She gave a low whistle. "That was close." Taking her hat off her head, she found two more holes. "And that was closer. I think we know who he was aiming for," she announced.

"The same one who he caught stealing," Will pointed out.

Blackbird rolled her eyes. This guy was really starting to get on her nerves. "Yeah, well, that's life as a pirate," she said, tossing him one of the fruits. She examined the spot where a bullet had grazed hers, shrugged, and proceeded to eat it anyway. "At least you got some exercise," she finally said.

"I can think of better ways to accomplish that."

"We all have our different methods," she replied mildly. "And it just so happens that this puts us fairly near my first stop. There's a little shop nearby that sells ammunition for a fairly low price, as long as you don't ask where he got it."

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After cutting through several alleys, they stopped in front of an abandoned-looking shop.

Blackbird paused before entering. "…Why don't you stay here this time?" she suggested, not bothering to check if he was following before she opened the door. The room was empty, but a crash coming from the back room let her know that help would be out soon. She picked up a new-looking gun off the shelf and examined it. A young man came out of the back room with his hair tousled and still buttoning his shirt.

"Hey Blackbird," he said sleepily. "What can I help you with?"

"Where's your father, Tom?" she asked. "I'd hate to wake you at this time of day."

"I'm running the shop while he's out of town for a few days," Tom replied. "Still using the same old gun?" he asked, unlocking a cabinet behind him. Blackbird nodded. Setting the ammunition on the counter, Tom said, "I can't believe that thing's lasted this long. It's been, what, 13 years? You'd think a slightly newer gun would catch your eye eventually. For example, that nice new one on the shelf over there that I saw you looking at…"

Blackbird shook her head. "My father gave me this gun shortly before he died. I'll use it until it breaks. As of right now, it's still in excellent condition, so don't be getting your hopes up. How much do I owe you for the supplies?" She looked out the dirty window while Tom added up the numbers. Swearing under her breath, she headed back out the door. "I'll pay for that in a second," she called over her shoulder.

Three large men wielding pistols had Will cornered. Will had drawn his sword, but he was no match for brute strength and guns. Blackbird calmly walked over to the largest man and casually put a hand on his shoulder. "What're you up to, Mutig?"

"Oh, nothin' much. Just doin' my job," he growled irritably.

"He have much on 'im?" she asked.

"Yeah..." he said cautiously. "What's it t'you?"

Blackbird shot him a half-smirk. "You know what's funny, Mutig?"

"What?" he asked, getting annoyed at the delay.

"Well, see, I could've sworn that the last time I saw you, I said that if I ever caught you and your thugs doing business in this part of town again, I'd gut you like a fish. However, here you stand. Now, surely you're not stupid enough to ignore my warning, right, mate?" she said, toying with the pistol that hung from her belt.

"O'course," Mutig said nervously. "In fact, we was just leavin'..."

Blackbird stepped in his way. "You never were very bright, Mutig. I'm in a good mood, so I'll give you until the count of five to give me all the money and get out of my sight. One..." she pulled out her gun and cocked it. "Two..." she set her finger on the trigger and flexed it. "Three..." Mutig threw the money at her feet and took off running, his companions close behind. "Four, Five! Come back here you bloody cowards!" she shouted, firing a few shots after them before turning back. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Will said.

"Don't mention it...ever," she said, heading back into the shop. "Tom? I think I've changed my mind about that gun. Add that and a little more ammunition to my sum."

"Consider it a gift," Tom said with a grin. "A thank-you for many years of business."

Blackbird handed him the coins and put her gun back in its holster. "Always a pleasure doing business, Tom," she said, tipping her hat. "Until next time."