Disclaimer: POTC rawks my sawks.

"You're pretty good at this," The old slaver captain admitted after a few rounds. "What's your name?"

The woman said nothing, but cast the die across the table again. Another seven. The slaver narrowed his eyes, and reached into his pocket.

"Your name, Missy?" He scooped up the die in his free hand and rattled them around like two small bones.

"None of your concern." The woman said levelly, her brown eyes watching the man's hand intently. The slaver lowered his hand, and the woman's eyes flickered up towards his face.

"How do you know about the Isla de Muerta?" The slaver said, suspicious. The woman smiled a thin-lipped smile.

"Why do you care, sir? As long as you find the treasure, does it matter how you found it?"

The slaver grinned again. "And you'd willingly bet Jack Sparrah's life on winning?"

The woman's eyes flickered in Jack's direction briefly. "Of course."

"Then how about we up the odds?" The slaver grinned, pulling a dog-eared deck of cards up onto the table. "One game of War. One game. Winner gets Sparrah and the treasure... And you."

Jack struggled, trying to break free of the ropes. "Don't do it, lass! He'll che--"

The toady smacked Jack across the head. "Shaddap, Sparrah. You'll speak when you're spoken to!"

"One game, Missy." The slaver shuffled the cards in his scarred hands. "What do you say?"

The woman bit her lip thoughtfully, then looked down at Jack. She looked back at the slaver.

"Deal them." She said coldly.

Ella watches, her mouth in a lop-sided smile, as Squirrel throws her hood back. "So I was right." The female captain grins, "Ana's not the only lady on the Black Pearl." She chuckles. "Just as well. I was getting worried."

"Worried about what?" Anamaria says coldly.

Ella waves a vague hand in the air. "No reason. Come, sit down." She indicates to a few wooden chairs scattered about her cabin. "Let's talk terms, shall we?"

"Why is he here?" Squirrel says angrily, ignoring the question. "Is this about Isla de Muerta again?"

Ella, seated behind a map-covered desk, looks up, intrigued. "Again?" She smiles her lop-sided smile. "I must say, it sounds like an interesting story, Miss Grey, but now is not the time to tell it."

Squirrel stares. "How did you know my name?" She asks quietly.

Jack shrugs, looking uncomfortable. "I told her." He looks at his two crew-women. "Captain Ella's not interested in treasure. She just wants to keep t' the Code."

Ella nods, still smiling. "Yes. The Code may be more like guidelines, but…" The smile vanishes from her face, and Squirrel catches a glimpse of the dangerous woman that Anamaria had mentioned earlier. And suddenly, it is gone. Ella smiles and shrugs. "Got to keep things straight. Even the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow isn't blameless." She winks at Squirrel. "As I'm sure you're aware."

Squirrel sits down, feeling a hot flush on her face. She looks up at Jack, who is leaning on the doorpost, arms folded. He meets her eyes and shrugged, grinning sheepishly.

"Just what are you implying, Ella?" Ana says acidly. "That you've got the right to punish Jack for his crimes?" She snorts. "I thought that was the redcoats' job."

"But you misunderstand." Ella says, holding up a hand. "I have no right to interfere with Sparrow, his crew, or the Pearl at all. I have no right…" She pauses, then grins. "No right to punish him. Unless…" The smile fades. "Unless he, somehow, maybe, Sparrow interferes with my crew, and then agrees to whatever punishment I decide." She smiles again.

Slowly, Ana and Squirrel turn in their seats to look at their captain. Ana raises an eyebrow, and Squirrel simply stares, her brown eyes wide. Jack shrugs, still uncomfortable.

"I, er…" His head bobs back and forth, "I got into a fight back in Tortuga. Injured Ella's First Mate."

Ella nods. "James will never sail again."

"So I… I agreed to accept the punishment." Jack squirms under Ana's fierce gaze and Squirrel's wide-eyed stare. "It's just for a few more days. Then I'll meet you back in the Hole. I swear it." Squirrel shuts her eyes and turns away.

Ana narrows her eyes. "Turn around, Jack."

Jack blinks, the epitome of innocence. "What?"

Ella continues to smile. Squirrel opens her eyes again and focuses on Jack.

Anamaria's tone drops several degrees centigrade. "Turn. Around."

With a half-fearful and half-worried expression on his face, Jack turns around. Squirrel's gasp cuts the silence like a knife. Jack turns back to face them, and tries to smile.

"Only nineteen more to go." Ella says cheerfully, rustling the charts on her desk. "He took four just before you arrived this morning."

"By the Powers." Ana stares, then turns towards Ella, furious. "I thought you said you'd seen enough cat-marks to last you a lifetime, yet here you are, making your own!" There is murder in Anamaria's eyes.

"Ana!" Jack barks. "That's enough! Stand down!"

With an angry glare in Jack's direction, Ana sits back down to scowl at Ella. The female captain smiles pleasantly. Squirrel closes her eyes, feeling slightly sick.

"So, yeah." Jack shrugs. "Nineteen more lashes. That's it. No need to panic. Nothin' I can't handle."

There is a silence in Ella's cabin, thick and laced with tension. Finally Ana rises to her feet.

"Fine. Two days? See you in Tortuga, Jack." She slams the cabin door behind her. Squirrel stares, twisting a handful of cloak in her hands.

Ella raises an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to follow her?"

Squirrel looks up, then lowers her eyes again. "I want to t-talk to Jack."

"Of course." Ella says, standing. She leaves the cabin with a knowing smile. "Don't be too long."

But words do not come easily to either of them.

Finally, Jack manages to speak. "I'm sorry. I couldn't keep my promise."

Squirrel shakes her head, squeezing her eyes tight. "Not your f-fault." Another long silence. "What happened?"

Jack sighs. "Like I said, I got into a fight. Injured him - Ella's First Mate - pretty bad. So, he had to stay in Tortuga, and I said I'd make up for it. Y'know, eye for an eye, wound for a wound…"

Squirrel wrinkles her nose. "How many?"

Jack rolls his shoulders. "Nineteen left to go. Twenty-eight in total." He grins, but his eyes are tired and pained. "Nothin' I can't handle, luv. So don't--"

"Don't tell me not to worry." Squirrel gets to her feet, fighting back tears, "I love you, Jack. I don't want you to get hurt!"

"I agreed to this!" Jack says sharply, then sighs, and puts his arms around her. "It's not the end of the world, darlin'." He looks into her eyes and grins impishly. "It's just another scar for ole Captain Jack Sparrow."

Squirrel remembers the angry bleeding stripes that stain through Jack's shirt and shudders.

"Haven't you seen this sort of thing on Tortuga?" Jack asks, concerned.

Squirrel swallows and nods. "A-And I never wanted to see it again." She shudders, then buries her face in Jack's chest and sobs quietly.

"Sorry to interrupt." Ella's smiling face appears around the doorway. Squirrel quickly dries her tears. Ella grins, then looks at Jack, her grin fading. "One more round, Captain Sparrow?"

Jack sighs, face hardening. "I want to get this over and done with, Ella."

Ella grins, and holds open the door. "I thought you'd say that."