Chapter 19 - The Weather Started Getting Rough

"Well," Diesel's voice boomed in my ear, "whose bright idea was it to go out on a big wooden ship in the middle of the ocean?"

Elizabeth's eyes cut from Diesel, to the door, where the chair was still firmly wedged under the knob, and then back again. "How –"

"You mean somebody here doesn't know about the future or me being a superhero," Diesel asked, loudly, poking me. "Did you not try to stop this, sweet cheeks? You at least know about Ben Franklin and his kite."

"They wouldn't listen," I told him. "They decided we need to hide out at some Death Island place."

"They?"

"Sparrow and Norrington."

Diesel raised his hands in an 'it figures' gesture. "Death Island, huh. Sounds like a load of laughs."

"Isla de Muerta," Elizabeth put in, helpfully. "It's a hidden island where the Black Pearl makes its berth."

"A hidden island, huh?" Diesel cut his eyes to me, grin returning. "Is it deserted? And which of you was going to be MaryAnne? I always had a crush on her."

Another bolt of lightning flashed outside. Elizabeth and I both started at the sight.

"Relax," Diesel said, draping his arms around us. "That's just a regular ol' thunderstorm."

A second later, there was the reassuring boom of thunder. It was the first time I'd ever thought of thunder as reassuring and probably a thunderstorm at sea wasn't exactly a good thing, either.

"See? Nothing to worry about."

"If there's nothing to worry about, why are you here," I asked.

Diesel gave me a wide-eyed innocent look. "Are you saying I'm lying?"

"Let's see. Lightning. Thunder. Diesel," I ticked off. "It's about as coincidental as the smelly dog poop on Joyce Barnhardt's lawn and the couch that Bob ate."

"Remind me not to piss you off," Diesel said, letting go of us. "Okay, fine. So I'm not just in the neighborhood. Are you happy now?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey! Is that Noose's Navy jacket?" Diesel plucked it off of the chair, where I'd draped it. "Wow, this is heavy. You'd think they'd try and invent summer weight wool or a blend or something. Where is the Noose-man, anyway?"

"Stephanie left him in the brig," Elizabeth said. She was staring openly at Diesel, who was still wearing his 21st Century jeans and white T shirt.

"That's not nice, considering he almost got incinerated on account of you," Diesel scolded. "And he even loaned you his jacket!"

"I let him out of the cell," I protested. "And he didn't loan me his jacket."

"You swiped it?"

"No, he took it off."

Diesel grinned at me. "Took it off, eh? Now, I see. He kept the hat and the wig on and you two played hoist-the-yardarm, didn't you? Did you get to yell 'The British are coming'?"

My left eye started to twitch.

"Your eye is twitching again."

I slapped my hand over my eye. "Are you going to explain why you're here or are we going to play 20 questions?"

"I'm here to tell you your hamster is fine, the dog is fine. Your grandma is fine. Your parents are fine. You car isn't fine, but you knew that already." His eyes twinkled. "You wanna know about your boyfriend or is he history? No, wait. He can't be history because he hasn't happened yet."

I groaned and fought the urge to thump my head on the wall.

There was another flash of lightning. Elizabeth gasped and shot a worried look in my direction. When we turned back, Diesel was gone but there was a stack of my clothes on the table.

Elizabeth brushed past me and picked up a pair of my jeans. "How does he do that?"

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I strode across the deck of the Black Pearl, ignoring the stares of the crew and the shouts to reef sails and neatly avoiding the slippery puddles. It felt good to be in a pair of jeans and a tank top again, even if it was raining and my hair was getting ruined.

I made my way to Sparrow, who was clutching the big wooden wheel. He saw me, grabbed me and shoved me in front of him, placing my hands on the wheel.

"Are ye trying to get swept overboard," he demanded. "This is a squall. Look at those waves. And where did ye get those clothes?!"

"Diesel."

He made a disgusted noise. "He was just here, tryin' to reassure me that this is a normal storm. I could've told him that."

"Really?" I twisted around, trying to see him.

"Aye. I know these things." His hands squeezed mine gently as another wave crashed against the Pearl, drenching us both again. "You should get back inside, keep an eye on Norrington and Elizabeth."

I blinked. Didn't he know? "Norrington's in the brig."

"Gibbs." Sparrow grinned and winked at me. "Be a love and let ol' Norrie out, then, pet. The key's in the top drawer of my desk. After that, just make sure he stays out of the way. I'd tell ye to keep him out of trouble, but that'd be a waste of breath."

I rolled my eyes.

Hooking a finger in the strap of my tank top, Sparrow pulled me to him for a kiss. "Now get below before ye catch yer death."

"Speaking of death, how much longer till we get there?"

"Soon. Very, very soon."

As lightning flashed overhead, I wondered if it would be soon enough.