Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

A/N: Wow, my story must be getting crappy.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Bag

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Chapter 7: Tally Ho!

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The moment I was on deck, Gibbs rushed over to me,

"Where's Will and Miss Elizabeth?" he asked,

"Why?" he pointed out to the horizon where a deep fog came swiftly towards us,

"It's the Pearl," I whipped around and began lowering the sails with Mr. Cotton's help.

"Hands aloft to loose t'gallants! With this wind at her stern, she'll carry every sail we've got." Mr. Gibbs roared.

"What's happening?" I turned to see Elizabeth. I sent her a hard look before returning back to work.

"The Black Pearl, she's gaining on us." Anna-Maria shouted from the wheel. I ran up to stand with her.

"This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean." Elizabeth protested. I snorted,

"Fastest ship my ass," Anna-Maria nodded in agreement.

"You can tell them that after they've caught us." I could tell she didn't care much for the princess either.

"We're shallow on the draft, right?" She demanded. Anna-Maria looked at me questioningly.

"Aye." She finally answered.

"Well, then can't we lose them amongst those shoals?" Oh no. I wasn't letting this puff have all the fun.

"We don't have to outrun them long, just long enough." Gibbs agreed.

"Lighten the ship, stem to stern!" Anna-Maria bellowed, "I hope to God this works," she whispered to me. I shook my head,

"It won't."

"Anything that we can afford to lose, see that it's lost." Mr. Gibbs ordered the crew and they hurried to comply. I saw Will come up and I ran to him,

"Will,"

"Ashlyn!" He met me half way and I threw my arms around him, "What's happening?" I pulled away slightly, keeping my hands at his,

"It's the Black Pearl," he nodded, understanding. His eyes left mine to stare behind me. I turned to see Elizabeth huff, before spinning on her heel, "Sorry," I muttered and he didn't say anything. A sailor was trying to push a canon over board before Will stopped him.

"We're gonna need that." I darted back up to Anna-Maria. My eyes went wide at how close the Pearl was.

"It was a good plan…up 'till now." There was a mix of disdain and loss in her voice.

"Gibbs!" Will ran up to us, "We have to make a stand. We must fight! Load the guns!" I rolled my eyes. Ever the hero.

"With what?" Anna-Maria asked skeptically.

"Anything. Everything!" Will threw his arms up in the air. "Anything we have left." I saw Gibbs hesitate before yelling,

"Load the guns!" he turned to face the crew. Anna-Maria looked Heavenward, "Take shot and langrage. Nails and crushed glass! With a will!" Gibbs looked over the railing before bellowing at the crew. "The Pearl is going to luff up on our port quarter. She'll rake us without ever presenting a target."

"Lower the anchor on the starboard side!" I said quickly. Elizabeth shot a furious look in my direction.

"It certainly has the element of surprise." Will nodded in agreement.

"You're daft, Ashlyn! You both are!" Anna-Maria tried to reason with us. A smirk spread across my face.

"Daft like Jack!" Gibbs grinned, "Lower the starboard anchor! Do it, ye dogs, or it's you we'll load into the cannons!" The crew hastily obeyed.

"Let go." I whipped around to Anna-Maria. She let go and stepped a little away. There was a sudden jolt when the anchor caught something and I went flying into Will. He caught me and held on to a rope to steady the both of us,

"Are you alright?" he asked gasping. I nodded,

"Elizabeth needs you." I wheezed. He swallowed and let go of me, making his way over to her. Shit. I groaned and slid to the floor, clutching my stomach. My cramps were back.

"Ashlyn!" Anna-Maria was at my side, "Is it yer cramps?" I nodded numbly before we were both doused in the freezing sea water. I shrugged Poppins off,

"Midol, now." I panted. The bag complied without comment and I swallowed the pills with a hand full of sea water, not caring that I choked and sputtered.

"Keep us steady now." I heard Will say. I stood, grimacing, Anna-Maria at my elbow,

"I'll be fine I told her. I'm just an idiot that's all," she offered me a weak smile before going off to prepare. I swung Poppins back onto my back. "Give me my sai," and I reached back and pulled out the familiar twin blades.

"Now!" Will hollered. I heard a similar command come from the Pearl.

"Fire all!" Elizabeth and I shouted together. Gibbs threw me a rifle and I shot at the members of the Pearl, a voice in the back of my mind screaming that they couldn't die. The canon fire continued and I grabbed another rifle, aiming and hitting my mark.

"We could use a few more ideas, lass." Gibbs nodded from beside Will.

"Your turn." Elizabeth turned to me snidely,

"Listen you bitch," I snarled, "Now's not the time to act like you're the queen, you either shut up and follow orders or I'm gonna bust your head like a piece of fruit," Her mouth had dropped open in shock,

"Ashlyn!" Will threatened, grabbing my arm. I jerked away and glared.

"We need us a devil's dowry." Gibbs fired his rifle.

"We'll give them her." Anna-Maria snapped, bearing her teeth and pulling Elizabeth close with her pistol to the girl's temple. Elizabeth choked.

"She's not what they're after." Will said suddenly. Elizabeth looked down and searched for the Aztec gold. They had left it on the table.

"The medallion." She breathed. Will froze before dashing off to find it.

"No!" I shouted, "Will, don't!" I was grabbed from behind and Anna-Maria and I went tumbling down.

"Johansson!" Anna-Maria barked, "Get yer arse over here!" a burly pirate looked up and quickly came over,

"Aye, ma'am?" He was tall and well equipped in the muscle department.

"We need to lock Miss Woods in the Captain's quarters," Gibbs ordered. Johansson nodded and grabbed my arm.

"No!" I thrashed and Anna-Maria took a firmer grip on my other arm, "No! You don't know what's going to happen! You can't!"

"It's the Captain's order," Gibbs tried to explain gently,

"No!" I squirmed and struggled against Anna-Maria and Johansson, "I will not be locked in the captain's quarters!"

"Sorry Ashlyn," Anna-Maria whispered as the hefty pirate threw me in. She locked the doors before I could stand,

"No!" I screamed, banging on the doors, "Let me out!" I kicked the door, "Anna-Maria! Anna-Maria!" I growled and picked up a telescope, hurtling it at the door. I picked up other, expensive looking things, chucking them at the door in my anger.

"Ashlyn?" Poppins asked meekly,

"What?" I snarled.

"Maybe it's for the best." Wrong thing to say you piece of shit! I yowled and threw myself at the door. I slid down to the carpeted floor,

"I can't even help him," I whispered after a few minutes, willing myself to be calm.

"Who?" Poppins asked softly,

"Jack," I said. "I can't even-" I blanched. "Shit,"

"What?" I scrambled to my feet and ripped the bag off,

"Give me a lock pick,"

"Why?" Poppins sounded confused. Why was it dawdling?

"The fucking ship's gonna blow up, that's why!" I shrieked. If the black bag could've paled, it would have. I reached inside and out came a lock pick. Shouldering the bag, I knelt before the door, working furiously to unlock the brass handles. As I sat there for what was a few minutes in reality, but hours in my mind, I thought back, er, forward actually, to the year 2006. It had been about eight or nine days since I had been here in the Caribbean. So much had happened in this short amount of time. I didn't want to let it go. I began to wonder. How was my cat doing? Was he okay? He knew if I ever disappeared, he'd leave through the back door and eat the neighbor's cat food. How was the theatre? Were my boys down in the costume department alright? I snorted. I'm sure Hilda missed me loads. What would I tell them when I got back? I glanced at my hand. My normally, alabaster skin had gained a healthy glow from my days out under the sun and on deck. They would find that suspicious. What would I say? Oh, sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I decided to have a secret rendezvous to the Caribbean since, you know, I have so much money. NOT. I sighed. What the hell was I going to do?

I froze, a bit shocked. Was I really thinking about what I would have to say to everyone when I got back home? Did I dislike it here that much?

"Hey Poppins?"

"Yes?" there was no witty reply or crass remark,

"What happens if I die here?" I asked quietly, my hand limps in my lap. The bag remained silent.

"You go back to your world," it finally said. I swallowed. I wasn't afraid to die but the prospect of getting shot or something and then fading out of this existence and back into my own was a little worrying. I wouldn't be able to say goodbye if I died on impact. I bit my lip. If I did, in fact die, I'd be with Jack but did that really make a difference? Or would he make me stay in Port Royal with Will and Elizabeth? Would I even be around at the end of this adventure? What if, when it was all over, I popped back into my world?

"Poppins? What happens when all of this ends? DO I go back to my world or-"

The doors swung open, hitting me in the face. I went flying backwards and hit my back on the table. I groaned and sat up abruptly, clutching the back of my head in one hand. Two pirates stood in the door way.

"Well looky what we found…" One pirate sneered. The other laughed. They weren't Pintel and Ragetti, so I actually had to be concerned for my well being. They approached me and I moved back, only to hit the table again,

"We won't hurt ye," The one who laughed cooed.

"Yeah," the other leered at me, "I'salright." I hissed.

"Oooo, a wild cat we got here," and just to prove his point, I lashed out with my nails. The pirate yowled.

"You'll pay for that poppet," and they pulled me up by my hair,

"To the Pearl," snapped the other, "For some reason, tha' glare she's got reminds me of the same one Bootstrap had," And at those words, a plan began to form in my mind.

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EW! This was remarkably short. That disgusts me. Only three pages.

I HAVE JUST DISCORVED JACK'S THEME SONG.

Not the instrumental that the movie provides, no, no, no. It's called 'Hey oh Captain Jack' and I believe it's either by Captain Jack or the General. It's techno/dance and it CRACKS ME UP! I love this song, it's so amazing. Ha, ha.

And yeah, I know, I so totally stole Elizabeth's lines, but c'mon. Since when do governors' daughters in the sixteenth and seventeenth century learn how to fire a gun and shout commands aboard a ship?