A/N: Okay, peoples…thanks for the reviews. Sorry it took so long to get the third chapter out, my compy was being stupid. So here's chapter 4. As I promised: the quote is from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. It might be from another movie, thank you Captain Uschi…but I stole it from good ol' Dolly and Burt, as I haven't seen Arsenic and Old Lace. Okay, read and review…

thomthom

New Beginnings: Chapter 4

Jack was mad. Dani spent all her free time with that bloody animal. It slept in Jack's hat whenever he forgot to pick it up. It would sleep on his pillow, next to his head. And it almost broke Jack's compass. She named it Hazel. Jack didn't want her to name it, he wanted to shoot it. Why were cats her favorite animal? The only good thing that came from this damn cat was that it helped with a certain pest problem down in the hold.

Jack stood alone at the wheel after another interaction with the blasted animal. He woke up that morning with the thing on his chest, claws digging in.

He stood imitating Dani in a high-pitched voice, "Oh, she just likes you!" He turned to face his cabin, "Oh, yes. That must be it. It attacked me because it likes me. Argh!"

But the cat made Dani happy, so he was going to have to let it stay. He dreamed of tossing it overboard, but…woke up to a smiling Dani every morning. He would do anything to make her happy. He held the wheel steady as he thought about her first time on the Black Pearl.

- -FLASHBACK- -

"Captain Sparrow?" the young woman asked.

"Love, call me Jack," he smiled with a devilish look.

"Okay, Jack…I don't think your crew looks too happy to have me boarding."

"Women cannot be bad luck on ships. They're just superstitious," he told her. He stopped leading her to the ship on the docks. "Especially a woman such as…yourself."

His comment made Danielle blush. Clearly the map wasn't the only reason she was brought on board. Jack spent every free second that first week trying to kiss her. He was smacked, on average, ten times a day. But Jack refused to give in. She was playing hard to get and, to Jack's dismay, she was succeeding.

But now, as Jack looked back, she was trying to not get involved with another man. She had, he learned, just rid herself from her very violent husband.

Another week of failed attempts and she finally gave in. It was probably all the rum she had. But the first time that Jack tasted her he almost passed out from sheer excitement. He was, after all, a younger man back then.

The next morning, the crew was happy to hoot and holler as Jack and Dani emerged from the captain's quarters. Apparently, they had heard everything. Jack left Dani at the bow of the ship and had a made a few hushed threats to his crew, then returned to her side. He was obviously embarrassed for their actions.

"Danielle, I must apologize for my crew."

"No worries, mate," she patted him on the shoulder and smiled. She wasn't embarrassed at all.

And for two years they were inseparable. She was made a permanent part of the crew and signed the articles. And she was Jack's lover. Jack was on top of the world.

- -END FLASHBACK- -

Jack surveyed his crew from up at the wheel. Some familiar faces and some new ones. They all did their work so well. He was even surprised at the new cabin boy who was swabbing the deck without being told to do so. He thought about the life he had once lived as a privateer and it made him shudder.

"A pirate's life for me," he half-sung, half-spoke to himself. "A pirate's life for me."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another note: I promise, I'll get back on topic in Chapter 5. It's already in the works. -thomthom