I would like to thank those of you that have R&R this story so far.
A/N: same as always
All eyes were upon the distant ship. No one knew just what was going to happen in the the next few hours, but they had full confidence in their captain and his decision. The young woman stayed close to Captain Sparrow's side once she had left his cabin. The position of the distant ship had not changed any, but kept to its coarse showing no sign of an on coming attack.
The young sailor was bellow decks checking all the cannons and making sure that each man knew just what they were to be aiming at. Walking over to the center cannon he awaited for the men Pintel and Ragetti to load the chain shot; it was their job to take out forward mast of the ship while the others aimed for the gun deck. When everything was ready Bill rechecked each of the cannons before making his report to the Captain.
"Everything is ready Captain," Bill informed Sparrow "each man knows his target and await for your word" he reported.
He smiled "Aye" he replied pulling out his telescope to get another good look at the British man-o-war. It wasn't that long after Sparrow had walked out of his cabin that he knew that his ship had been spotted and knew that there would be no way to get out of some kind of confrontation. The only question was would he be able to get an upper hand on the situation and use it just enough to his advantage where they could disable the larger ship and escape with the Pearl in one peace. Looking over at the young woman, he knew that as ready as she thought she was, she was not quite ready for a confrontation with the man who still her her life before it had even begun, "That ship is bigger than the Pearl and 'as more guns fer sure! Make each shot count lad and reload for a second volley...just in case we'll be needing it" he commanded as he excused the young sailor back to the gun deck.
The sun had set and the last traces of daylight were almost gone when the Pearl came within range. The men manning each of the cannons were awaiting for the Captains command to fire, while the remaining crew went about as if nothing was going on. The young woman stood near near Sparrow, All her life she awaited for the day that she would face the manor men responsible for her fathers death and forcing her grandparents to use their political power to free her mother from the threat of the hang mans. Not much is known about how Anne Bonnie disappeared and was never seen again in the Caribbean except for the few who knew who the young woman was except for Bill Turner. The swore a blood oath to keep the identity of the bastard child of Anne Bonnie and Calico Jack a secret and to keep her safely out of reach of those who would do her harm until the day she was old enough to avenge the death of her parents.
"Gibbs," Sparrow called out to his first mate who was down on the main deck.
"Aye Captain" the first mate called out looking up towards the helm.
"On my word" Sparrow called out, Gibbs rushed over to the hatch so that he could easily relay the captain command to Bill. Handing the helm over to Smith and walked down onto the main deck fallowed by the young woman, looking over at the Man-o-war who's crew were watching and awaiting to see what action the Black Pearl was going to take. He could see that captain staring at him with anger and malice just like he was upon his first in counter with the Pirate captain, "Fire" Sparrow bellowed out echoed by Gibbs and then Bill Turner bellow on the gun deck. The force of all of her cannons firing would have capsized any other ship of her size.
The young woman watched as several holes where blown into the hull of the British ship, and smiled as the forward mast was severed from the deck and collapsed onto the main deck right on top of most of the crew and soldiers. Looking over she saw the Captain talking with the short crew man named Marty and he rushed off to speak with a few others of the crew who then moved over tow the lamps But her attention was unexpectedly drawn back to the other ship as the sound of cannon fire was heard fallowed closely by the feel of someone pushing her down onto the deck and covered her with their own body.
"Quite blowing holes in me ship" Sparrow screamed out in a fit of rage " Turner...Sink that fuckin' piece of shit! Gibbs, Marty ye both have yer orders" he called out to his crew from where he had dove to take cover from the attacking ship's cannon fire. It was only when he felt something moving underneath him that made him realize just where he was, "Sorry about that Love, reflex" he grinned sheepishly at the young woman who was still pinned underneath him.
Rolling her eyes she knew what he meant by "reflex" and gave him a firm shove forcing him off of her. She watched the older man stand up and then help her to her feet "I'm sure it was Jack! God only knows how well you could..." she began to say when Cotton's parrot cam flying over and landed onto her shoulder, "Swab the deck" he squawked and then flew off. She was just about to shoot the blasted bird for embarrassing her like that until she saw the cocky grin spread across Sparrow face. Raising her hand up and slapped him hard across the cheek and stormed off towards the bow of the ship.
Bill and the men readied their second volley as the darkness of the night had just about consumed both the ships. Marty and a few of the others stood by the lanterns, and Gibbs when about and ordered that they be brought to full sail so that they could make their escape as soon as the word is given. Picking up a rifle Sparrow aimed ran up the stairs "Now" he called out to his crew. The ship once again rocked with the force of the cannons right as all of the lanterns were put out and the ship lurched forward with the force of the winds. Aiming his gun he fired at the pile of gunpowder on the main deck of the man-o-war causing it to explode forcing everyone on it to abandon ship.
The young woman scowled at what had happened and rushed to the back of the ship and up to the helm where Sparrow was now standing, "But you said..." she started to say when his stern gaze at her silenced her. Infuriated over her inability to face the man who hung her father and imprisoned her mother, she stormed half way down the stairs leading up to the helm of the ship and the leaped over the railing so that she landed right in front of the door to the captains cabin " Sparrow ye Fucking asshole" She called.
"Pirate!" Sparrow called out sarcastically.
The young woman scowled as she looked up towards the helm, "My mother was better than you'll ever be!" she spat back to him. Opening up the door to his cabin the young woman stormed inside slamming the door behind her as hard as she could.
"Let 'er go Turner!" he spoke up when he saw Bill starting to walk after her " Trust me Lad, ye be safer if ye let 'er be! She's gotta a right ta be pissed" he explained calmly.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X
After sitting behind Jacks desk looking over some of the maps he had strung about for a while. The young woman removed her sword belt and sash, vest and boots. For a long time she looked forward to the day that she could avenge her fathers death along with all the others who never deserved the hangings they received at the hands of the Royal Navy. She was about to take off her britches and change into her shift when there was a soft knock on the cabin door. Looking over at the painted glass in the door she saw Sparrows standing there "What do you want Jack" she called out still angry at him for changing the ships direction.
Opening up the door slowly, "Mind if I come inta me own cabin ta get some sleep?" he asked stepping inside.
The young woman only shrugged her shoulders, "It's yer ship!" she griped walking over to the far side of the cabin. Picking up her shift, "I want me own cabin Jack!" she spoke up while still looking away from him.
"I can't let ye do that" he replied quickly.
She turned around quickly and stared strait at him, "Why the fuck not" she demanded "and don't tell me it's because your a bloody fucking pirate' she continued.
Surprisingly enough Sparrow kept his cool in spite of her obvious rage towards him at that moment, " How's yer nightmares love?" he asked simply. This one question was enough to make her realize what he was talking about, ever since the night she was savagely raped she would have horrific nightmares. Some of them would get so violent that she would physically lash out in her sleep and cause serious harm to either her self and any who dared to wake her; "My point exactly! I will not have anyone who is a danger to themselves or my crew be unsupervised" he began to explain to her " Fer as long as I've known ye, I remember how bad yer dreams can get and I can't allow for it ta happen again!" he said walking slowly over to her.
The young woman dropped her head in shame, "My apologies captain" she spoke so softly that she could hardly hear herself speak.
Sparrow placed a hand gently onto her shoulder and pulled her close to him in a warm embrace, "Once we reach port I'll see to it that a section of me cabin is curtained off fer ye and a bunk brought in for ye ta sleep in..." he began to say but something about the way her head snapped up so she could look into his face stopped him "What would ye like then? I be willin' to compromise with ye if ye like?" he replied softly.
She looked deeply into his dark brown eyes, "All I want is a place where I can be alone from time to time. Even if be a corner of the cabin only big enough for a chair and a small bit of window for me to look out" she half whispered her request. Placing her head onto his " Ye right ta be concerned with me nightmares. They have been much worse since ye last knew them ta be" she admitted painfully.
Sparrow took in a deep breath, over the last couple nights he had been awakened at least once by her thrashing and screaming "Aye...I'll see what I can do fer ye, till then get some sleep Love" he spoke softly kissing the top of her head before reluctantly releasing her from his arms. He watched her walk over to his bed, pull back the covers and climb in inside. Closing his eyes he fought back the urge to go over and climb inside the bed behind her and take her as his own. What he never told anyone was that he has had dreams about the day that he found her. The sight of her raping was more than anyone could bare and it haunts him to this very day. He had told himself that until the day that she feels ready to give herself to any man freely that he would protect her.
