Disclaimer: All Your Pirate Are Belong To Us.
"Captain?" Gibbs knocks softly on the door of Jack's cabin. It opens without protest. Jack looks up, surrounded by a crowd of empty rum bottles.
"Whayouwan'?" Jack snaps, another bottle in his hand. Gibbs takes a deep breath, trying not to let old temptations break his resolve.
"Drinkin' all that rum isn't good for you, Captain. You should go have something to eat."
Jack snorts, and concentrates drunkenly on the bottle in his hand. "Don't wan' ennythin' t' eat."
"Jack." Gibbs sighs. "I really think you should go to the galley."
Jack picks up an empty bottle and hurls it at Gibbs. "Geddout!"
Ana snags the bottle out of the air as she enters the room. Gibbs takes one look at her face and steps out of her way.
"Captain." She smiles, and her voice is silky. Anamaria only uses that voice when there's going to be trouble. "Get off your useless arse, put the bottles aside, and get into the galley." Her smile looks like a cat's when it's spotted a mouse. "Now."
Jack pouts. "Make me." He swigs from his bottle.
Ana's smile grows wider, and she pats the empty bottle in her palm like a club. "Is that an order, Captain?"
Jack looks up, blearily, and sees the grinning figure of Anamaria bearing down on him. He holds up shaky hands. "Awright, awright, going. Sheesh." The pirate staggers to his feet. "All this fuss over some food. You're all CRAZY!" Jack staggers out of the room, mumbling to himself. Ana lifts the half-full bottle of rum from Jack's hands as he passes her. He barely notices.
"Enjoy." Ana says, smile still fixed in place. As soon as Jack is gone, both Ana and Gibbs exchange smiles… the kind of smile that friends share in a private joke.
Jack leans on the doorway, trying to clear his vision. I got up too quickly, he thinks sourly. Bloody Anamaria and Gibbs. I don't need food. I need rum… The pirate captain clears his throat, fighting the lump that suddenly seems to have lodged itself there. And Squirrel…
Someone's in the galley, humming a familiar tune. The smell of roast meat makes Jack's mouth water. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he rounds the corner and enters the galley.
"I'll have whaddever…" Jack blinks and gives up trying to finish the sentence.
A pair of brown eyes stares back at him. "I wondered when you'd be coming down here. It wasn't easy to get these aboard without anyone noticing, and a lot of work to convince Ana to let me cook it by myself." White teeth show in an impish grin. "Gibbs was harder to convince, though. He had to be dragged out of here. Mister Cotton had to help."
Jack's jaw bounces up and down, uncertainly. Finally, he manages to form one word. "Squirrel?"
She smiles. "Of course. Who else would it be?"
"But you said… your note…"
Squirrel turns back to whatever she's cooking. "You didn't read it carefully enough, did you, Jack? I told you; I made my choice. I'm nothing without my family." She smiles over her shoulder. "And it's here. On the Pearl."
Jack sits down heavily on a bench. "So what was all that about freedom and…?" The rum slurs the rest of his words. Squirrel laughs.
"You don't listen do you?" She grins impishly. "I told you before. Freedom is having somewhere to return to. And there's no other place I'd rather come back to than the Black Pearl. And didn't you say that the Pearl is freedom?"
Jack blinks several times, then manages a grin. "You had me worried, that's for sure. I was certain you'd stayed behind."
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Jack," She laughs again, "But you're not getting rid of Squirrel Grey that easily. I'm a pirate, you know! I'm my mother's daughter. So, just like my mother, I'll leave the comfortable life behind to be with the man I love. Besides, I'd hate to miss my own wedding!"
She holds out a plate of hardtack chunks covered with slices of meat, vegetables and eggs with a smile. "Hors d'oeuvres?"
"Where are you, Jack?" Squirrel sighed, staring out at the constant riot that is Tortuga. "This isn't like you to break a promise."
A flash of feathers in the dark, and a parrot landed on the railing next to her. "Pieces of eight?"
Squirrel smiled, despite her worries. "No, sorry." She ruffled the parrot's feathers. "I left the bag below deck. No nuts for you t-tonight."
Mister Cotton came forward and shook his head. "Pieces of EIGHT!" The blue-and-yellow parrot squawked, insistent.
"What Mister Cotton means, lass," Gibbs came forward, "is that you should share your worries. It'll make for a lighter load."
Squirrel shook her head. "You already know what I'm w-worried about. Jack's still not back. I'm scared something m-might've happened to him." She rubbed the silver ring on her finger absently.
Gibbs shrugged. "I could go down there and ask around if you want."
Squirrel nodded, still staring out at the town. "Thanks, Gibbs."
"Get some sleep, lass." Gibbs patted Squirrel on the shoulder fondly. "Let us worry about the captain."
Squirrel nodded again, suddenly realising how tired she was. She stifled a yawn. "Thankyou, Mister Gibbs, Mister Cotton."
"Wind at yer back. Smooth sailing." The parrot squawked as it climbed onto Mister Cotton's shoulder again. Squirrel smiled, then headed below decks.
As she passed the door to Jack's cabin, she paused, thinking, then turned back and pushed open the door. The room was empty and dark. Squirrel closed the door behind her, then lay down on Jack's bed. She could smell Jack's slightly rank odour in the blankets and pillow. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine Jack was with her, that it was Jack in her arms, not just a pillow.
"Where are you, Jack?" She whispered, before drifting into an uneasy sleep.