Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Title is a poem by e. e. cummings.

Chapter 16: nobody loses all the time

When she went to bed that night and couldn't stop dreaming about that stupid mark. She had several different dreams pertaining to it. In some it moved, and in some it just grew hotter and hotter until it practically burned all of the flesh off her arm.

She sat up, feeling panicky. She took a few moments to recover herself, and realized that her arm hurt. She rolled the sleeve up slowly, but there was nothing there. It was just her imagination. But something wasn't right.

She tiptoed out of her room, peering down the hallway. The dreams had been so vivid…and the more she thought about the Devil's Dowry, the more terrified she became.

She took a deep breath outside Jack's door before knocking. There was nothing unusual about his husky voice inviting her in, but when she opened the door and saw him something didn't fit. Jack was sitting there, looking quite comfortable, in an armchair. "Jack, is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine, darling. Shut the door," he requested.

She obeyed, and the moment she did she could feel the icy blade of a cutlass against her throat. She stiffened, feeling somebody's hot breath on the nape of her neck at the same time.

She could hear Jack behind her. "Are you satisfied, Gerudo? I've led you straight to the girl," he said tiredly. Oh, not this again, she thought.

She was not able to get a good look at her captor, but by moving her head slightly she could see that he did have a pistol on him. She sighed. "I can't believe you would do this to me again Sparrow, you rotten bastard!" she exclaimed, hoping that all she had to do was play along for now.

He rolled his eyes. "Love, you should know by now to have lowered your expectations for me. What did you think was going to happen? We are talking fortunes here."

"You have black heart, did you know that?"
Jack grinned. "Aye."

While Jack and Camille were arguing, Gerudo had relaxed his grip on her slightly. She took this opportunity to grab his pistol from him and break free from his grip. She turned around, pointing it at him. "I want you to remember this the next time you think about carving up some innocent-looking woman."

His eyes widened. "It's you!" he cried. "The Red Rogue!"

Camille blinked, trying to hide her faint blushing. "Are there stories about me?"

Gerudo nodded. "They say that you can overtake nations, and have all men bowing to you with a flick of your wrist. You are the most deadly, most gorgeous, most seductive pirate wench of the seas."

Camille grinned. "Well I supposed I do rule with an iron fist on occasion…"

Jack remained very quiet, and the two of the nearly forgot about his presence in the room. Camille was still very flattered by Gerudo's words to her, but she held the gun steady. "What else have you heard?"

"Only more terrifying stories, Miss Quartermaine."

"So you know my real name."

He nodded. "Aye." She could see him inching back a little, trying to prepare to strike her at some point. She did the footwork, letting him near the door a bit. When he tried to run for it, she shot him in the foot.

He howled, staggering about as she held him steady. "How do you know where this place is?" she demanded.

"We all do," he said. "The Mark, it calls to us."

"The Mark? What mark?"

He flung her off. "You know damn well what mark I'm talkin' about, the Devil's Dowry!"

"So how many more of you are there?"

"Hundreds," he hissed. "Maybe even thousands. They'll find you, there's no escapin' as long as you bear the mark. You'll carry it to hell and back."

She could hear footsteps coming. No doubt the shot had been heard. She held the gun and cocked it. "Jack?" she inquired.

"He's told us all he knows. Kill him."

She held her breath, looking away right after she shot Gerudo in the head. Jack rushed to help her prop his corpse against the wall so it would be hidden from anyone who happened to stand in the doorway.

She stood up, putting the pistol with the remaining shots in her garter. "Sometimes I really do question whose side you're on," she admitted to Jack.

He waved his hand. "Even a man daft as I am would know not to get on your bad side, Red Rogue."

She smiled at the name. "A real pirate name. It's very exciting," she gushed.

"You know this means that you're officially one of us now. It's very difficult to turn back to Miss Camille Quartermaine. Impressive interrogation, by the bye."

She straightened out her skirt. "You were testing me!" she realized angrily. "Jack, that wasn't a game! I could've been hurt!"

"Unlikely," the captain said, swaggering over and putting his hat on one of the bedposts. "D'you honestly think I would for a second let him harm you?"

A knock at the door, and Camille went to answer it. "He was an idiot, wasn't he?"

Jack nodded as Will came in. "What is going on in here? I heard two gunshots sound!"

"We were just getting a bit rough is all," Jack replied casually. Camille couldn't help but laugh out loud, and Will looked at them both reproachfully. Then, as luck would have it, Gerudo's body fell over, causing Camille to shriek. His head hit the floor with a sickening sound, and a little bit of blood spilled out over the carpet.

Will looked at the scene, knowing enough the shut the door and lock it. Camille bit her lip. They would have to tell him now. She sat down on the bed and glanced over at Jack, who was extremely hard to read. He held his composure, of course, as he took off his jacket and proceeded to hang it in the closet while Will found the right questions to ask.

"You know what I am going to ask you," he said darkly. Jack looked at him, hesitating for a moment.

"I don't think we are safe in this house any longer," Camille intervened.

"But why aren't we? Why is there a dead pirate on the floor? And why do the two of you look so extremely stricken with guilt? That's what I would like to know, if it's not too much trouble," Will continued in an annoyed but fairly calm tone.

Camille stayed silent. She would have told Will everything in a heartbeat if it weren't for Jack. She looked at the two of them, wanting something to be said in that room full of silence. The first rays of light were just starting to show up outside, and she looked away as some light hit Gerudo's oozing head.

"Look mate, I can't get you involved in this. You don't want to know about this, I can assure you," Jack tried to hint to him.

"If I didn't want to be involved, I wouldn't have opened the door in the first place. I'm not the only one in this house who heard the gun," Will stated.

But Jack stood his ground. "No. You don't need this, William."

"And how am I to explain this?" Will asked, gesturing towards Gerudo's body. "You're taking me and everyone here for a fool, Jack! And what's even worse you are risking our very lives! When I let you and Camille into this house I expected that you would change your ways, at least for the time being, and at least for the sake of the children!" he ended up bellowing in a very angry Jack-like tone. Camille wanted to melt underneath the bedsheets.

"Did you really think that a man like me could change?" Jack asked, not seeming upset by this at all.

"Perhaps I am a fool, because I thought that you could," Will said before slamming the door shut. It echoed harshly throughout the room. Camille didn't want to look at Jack. She wanted to follow Will and be out of the room. The change, in her mind, from lady to pirate had come on rather abruptly in the past hour. And there was still the issue of moving the body.