LadyOfThieves – I'm sorry m'dear, but shirtless Jack belongs to me! At least, he does in my mind…and no I am not mental! How dare you suggest such a thing! Just kidding ;) Love you too! See you on Friday hopefully!

LordLanceahlot – Yay! I have brought back hope! I know what you mean, there's not that much good JackAnn stuff about. I don't see why – the movie's only been out for a few months! But maybe when the DVD comes out it'll pick up again. Thanks for reviewing!

Pontmercy – Ahh, thank you! It really meant a lot to get a review from someone whose writing I love so much. Can't wait to read the next chapter of Wordsmith, by the way!

PA – I'm so sorry I've been away for so long! Thank you for your review, it really made my day. I'm glad that the fluff is cute – that's my intention! But I think JackAnn fluff is just terminally cute…not that that's a bad thing or anything!

Deathwing8 – Thanks for reviewing! I love sweet JackAnn fluff, it's so much fun to write!

Ermine aka Tree – Yeah, I'm jealous of Ann too. That's why I totally want a shirtless Jack of my own. And I will soon, when I get the DVD…(insert witch's cackle here). And yes, there can never be too much fluff. Fluff is the life and soul of this fic! Thanks for reviewing!

Pontmercy (again) – Since you left two reviews, I figured I'd give you two responses! Yeah, I'm terrible at writing sex, so the edging around of it was really my way of getting around my old dilemma of 'why the hell can't I write a decent sex scene?'! Thank you so much for your (second!) review!

Rebecca Ahlquist – I'm pleased that you think that. Thanks for reviewing!

I'm sorry, I am a terrible person. I get such lovely reviews, but I still don't update for two weeks. I'm really sorry. I suck. But I'm here now, right?

On a lighter note, I've got a plan for this story now. I think it'll be able 15 chapters. I'm quite impressed with myself. I'm usually awful at making plans. That's not true, I'm good at making them, I'm just crap at sticking to them.

This chapter skips forward in time a bit, because if I don't it'll all become very boring. At least in my opinion. This should hopefully be interesting anyway.

29 days until the King Kong DVD is out in the UK. Can't wait…

Anyway, enjoy!


Chapter V: Just A Little More Time

It was amazing to think that only a few months ago, the snow had been thick on the ground, Ann reflected as she floated in a bath. She had left New York with Denham in the autumn, late September, and they had returned just as the city started to enter its winter stage. It started out with biting cold, cold that threatened to whip your fingers numb with icy strokes, and an early darkness that made the who city more illuminated as the neon lights of the city's attractions came on earlier. It was a proper New York winter, and when Ann had left, she had felt glad that she would be back for it. In the winter, there were more shows, and more opportunities to make money. She could remember years where her June rent was still being paid by the money from the winter shows. People were more open to vaudeville and comedy at Christmas. With the promise of a new year, and new hope, they opened their hearts and their wallets, and in return, they were entertained. For a while. But soon the old qualms about money and time returned, and suddenly the audiences, who laughed eagerly in the winter, disappeared with the sun.

By February though, the magic of the darkness and the soft, white snow had disappeared. Everything was business-like as usual, back to minimal audiences and leaner paycheques. The snow refused to melt, and instead lay heaped in great piles by the sides of the roads, turning grey and yellow from so many people trampling through it. On occasion, fragile wintry sun broke through the almost permanent clouds, as thick as wool, but still the stinging wind burst through, blowing snow into her face and reddening her hands and face until they were raw.

Still, at the moment, the world looked beautiful to Ann. She liked being able to sit here, to relax in the warm water until she felt clean and ethereal, and to look out of the window. From her perspective, she could just see the tops of the buildings and the pale sky, opening upwards. She liked that. It gave her a great sense of peace. She liked it here at Jack's apartment, period.

It hadn't been a hard decision to move in here. Jack had offered, since he knew how much she hated her apartment. It was small, and she had to share it with several other girls from the vaudeville theatre, all of whom were gradually moving on, trying to go to other cities, where perhaps they had families, or where they thought they could get work, leaving her with a rent slip that was suddenly twice as large. It wasn't much of a place, only one bedroom and a vaguely comfortable sofa, and a bathroom with the grout around the stained and cracked tiles gradually growing mould, no matter how much it was cleaned. It was somewhere that reminded her of money, and the lack of it, which was part of the reason why she hated it, but the bigger reason was that it held too many memories of her naïve, hopeful life before she went aboard the SS Venture. It reminded her too much of the sheltered, innocent person she used to be, the girl who believed naively that the vaudeville shows would pick up, and that she had a cat in hell's chance of landing a part in one of Jack Driscoll's plays. She'd been glad to get out of there. It was time for a fresh start. A new life.

Moving into Jack's had been easy for the two of them. At first, Ann had thought that she should try to help out with money, offer to help with rent or something, just to prove to herself that she wasn't completely dependant. She'd spent so long being independent it was strange to suddenly feel like a kept woman. But that would only lead to an awkward conversation, she reasoned. She didn't have much money, and it used to be that every cent that came in or out depended entirely on whatever job she could get. Now though, she didn't have one. Half-heartedly, she'd looked around at the chorus lines, and what was left of the vaudeville theatres, but somehow that felt like going back to her old life. A part of her wanted to try out for some proper theatrical parts, actual acting, but though she didn't like to admit this to herself, she was scared. Scared of rejection, and scared that she would be discovered. She hadn't exactly been the most sociable person recently, preferring to stay with Jack, but of the few people she had seen, they had all done double-takes as understanding of who she was dawned on them. It seemed that the world wouldn't forget her as the girl who went to Skull Island, and tamed the beast. Who killed the beast, some of the papers would have her believe. It was easier to stay away from people, at least until she figured out how to lose this persona that had been thrust upon her.

But here, at Jack's, she was happy. She loved waking up every morning to another warm body next to hers, she loved listening to jazz music whilst sipping coffee in the mornings…and she loved knowing that she was loved. It was incredible, how amazing it felt.

She spent so much time lost in thought that she didn't notice the sky slowly darkening, and it wasn't until the pale lights began to illuminate the night face of the city that she realised how long she had been daydreaming for.

Muttering quietly a few good curses she'd picked up from some of the crew in the Lyric theatre, she got out of the now-cold bath, wrapping a towel around her damp frame. Thank goodness her hair was so short that it hadn't trailed down into the water. When she'd had her hair longer, a few years back, it had annoyed the hell out of her.

How much time had she got? Not enough. She and Jack were going out to dinner that night, and she wanted to look nice. Not just for Jack, though that was part of it. But also for herself. When she looked like someone else, it was easier to be someone else. Not the Ann Darrow who was alone and abandoned in empty theatres, and not the Ann Darrow who had fought her way through the wilderness on Skull Island. Just Ann. She could have the new, peaceful life she had always wanted.

Opening the door to the bathroom, she walked right into Jack, who, as per usual, was carrying papers and a book or three. It hadn't taken her long to realise that those were the essentials of his life, reading and writing, like hers was performing.

"I was starting to think you'd fallen asleep," he said. "We're going to have to go soon, so you'd better get ready."

"How could I not be ready?" she asked, with an edge of humour in her voice.

"Well, I think you look beautiful, as always," Jack replied, keeping up the banter, "but I think the restaurant might not be so appreciative."

She smiled. "I promise I'll be quick," she assured him before disappearing into their bedroom. She rifled through the wardrobe, looking for something suitable to wear, but as she scoured through the closet, she suddenly noticed something she'd forgotten about. The thin white dress, with tiny silver sequins like a starburst on the shoulders, was hanging there demurely, like it was innocent, virginal. But Ann knew otherwise. The more she looked at it, the more she could see black marks, like fingerprints, and black fur, where Kong had held her. The night he had died. Because of her.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to get rid of the image. When she opened them again, the dress was as deceptively pure as it ever was. It was a trick her eyes had played on her, she knew that. But knowing that didn't stop the increase in her breathing, and the sudden terror that gripped her heart in a vice.

She firmly shut the wardrobe door, and resolved not to think about it anymore. But though she promised to do that, she couldn't stop the tiny chills going up her spine, or the deep unrest, hanging like a weight within her chest.


Sorry for the lack of JackAnn stuff, but I think I'm having a dialogue brainblock. I'm having real trouble with dialogue today…ah well. I swear there will be more fluff soon though. Next chapter, I promise!

Please review!