"Don't tell him anything about you." Jack said, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to look at him. "Don't let him intimidate you, but do what he says."
"Who is he Jack?" Nicolette whispered desperately, her voice barely audibly above the screams of men outside.
"An...old colleague." The sound of gunshots sounded outside the cabin and Jack looked away from her for only a second to try and hear what was going on. But he heard her gasp and looked back at her, one of his hands smoothing over her hair. "I won't let him hurt you love."
All of a sudden, the door was then kicked open and Jack pushed the girl away from him and across the cabin in time for the King's men to storm the cabin. Two men were quick to secure him and Jack didn't struggle, it wasn't as if there was anywhere he could go.
He couldn't see or turn given the hold he was in, but Jack assumed a couple more guards had taken upon themselves to secure Nicolette…a girl who could probably be held down by only one of them, given the way she squealed and huffed behind him.
She fell silent soon for a reason Jack hoped was not too harsh and it was just in time for them to be joined by the guards Captain, the man who Jack had been trying to flee from for the past hour after he spotted the ship on the horizon. He had followed Bootstraps advice at the last second as they were hunted down and cannon fire began, bringing Nicolette into the cabin to hide her. But the enemy had boarded too quick and he had not had a chance to prep her for capture and hide her.
"Captain Sparrow. It's been a long time." The little man still wore the same stiff wig and faultless uniform. Just seeing it made Jack wonder why he had ever sailed under him or how he had ever trusted him.
"Not long enough, Beckett." He replied with a false smile, showing his previous employer his gold crowns.
The stopped about a foot away from Jack and took in every inch of his 'new' image. When they met eyes again, Beckett narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, and tilted his head
"Arrest him. Take him aboard." He said straightly and the men holding Jack began to drag him forwards. "I think we need to have a little-" Beckett cut himself off as he went to follow them but he had allowed his eyes to meet something rather fascinating behind Jack. "Well, what do you have here?" The man quirked a brow at Jack's silence and then started walking slowly towards the jewel his men had found in the cabin.
"And what is your name?" Nicolette remained silent, just like Jack had told her to, and she reared back from Beckett as he raised his hand threatening to touch. "Only you Jack could find a whore this far out at sea." Beckett was grinning, but not for long as the blood in Nicolette's veins began to boil and she acted on impulse, spitting into the Captains face.
Jack couldn't help himself and laughed, at least until one of the men holding him held the end of his musket to Jack's throat.
"Feisty one." Beckett remarked and removed a handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing at his face. "I wouldn't expect anything less. Bring this young woman aboard as well, I reckon she could bring the crew some entertainment while myself and Captain Sparrow catch up." The guards carried out Beckett's request with immediate effect, and both Nic and Jack were escorted from the cabin and out onto the main deck.
"Ni…" Bootstraps voice was measly a whisper but he still stopped himself from calling her name as she was dragged past him and the rest of the crew who had been rounded up near the mast of the ship.
She still heard, even if the guards holding her had not, and she turned her head in time to send him a small, thin smile. Whether it was an attempt to calm his nerves or her own, she didn't know but he managed to return it before she was carried off the Pearl and aboard the larger, more formal vessel.
She had never been aboard a ship so large before, the Pearl was the largest she had ever even seen and this one overshadowed it easily. Even the ship which had brought her from England to Barbados had only been half of its size.
With Nicolette being pushed into the lead behind Beckett, they were both taken below deck and down a series of corridors until they came to a small, what looked to be, library.
"Take the girl to my office." Beckett spoke sternly and Nicolette was instantly dragged away on her own. Leaving Jack watching after her as the guard pulled and roughly tugged her down the narrow passage. "Sparrow, if you would be so kind to join me in here."
Jack moved without a complain, keeping up with the guard who led him into the library.
"So…" Beckett began, going first to his desk to pour himself a drink. "I must say I was surprised to find such a rare beauty on board your ship Jack." He peered at the man being shackled to one of the chairs, forcing him to sit.
The irons were fastened around eat of his wrists to each of the chairs arms and his ankles to the two front legs. It was uncomfortable but easy for him to settle into, but he hoped they hadn't tied Nic down in the same way.
"Is she one of yours?" Beckett questioned further when he failed to get a rise from Jack but the pirate simply started ahead of him, towards the door where Nicolette had been last stood. "Does she have a name?" Once again, Jack failed to utter a word and Beckett's patience, already thin, was threatening to wear out. He liked to consider himself a patient man at the best of times, but where Jack Sparrow was involved it was always the worst of times and he simply did not have time for games.
"Mr Mercer…" Beckett called before taking a small sip of his drink from a tiny brandy glass, his eyes never once leaving Jack even as the man he beckoned stepped forward. "Light the fire in my office and heat the irons." The rise in Jack was undeniable then. He shifted in his seat, immediately agitated and clenched his jaw.
Jack watched at Mercer nodded his head and turned to leave the room. The man made it all the way to the threshold before Jack lost his composure.
"Miss Barker…" He suddenly called out, shaking the chains which held his arms. His teeth gritted as Beckett smirked and he lowered his voice into a growl. "to you…her name is Miss Barker."
"Mr Mercer!" Beckett called and the man stopped in his tracks, though he didn't turn and the EITC Captain grinned wider. "Take Robson with you."
"What-" Jack spat and jumped again, the chair rattling against the floor boards. "What are you going to do to her?" But Beckett, ever the expert at avoiding questions, looked past it and went to the large window behind Jack.
"She is quite exotic, how did she come to be on the Black Pearl?" As he asked the question, Beckett looked out of the window and over at the Black Pearl which was still floating only metres away from his own ship. What he would give to sink another of Jack's prized possessions, but he couldn't be greedy. After all he already had what he suspected to be one locked in his office.
Jack tried to calm himself, but found his face still twisting in hatred as Beckett remained with his back to him. "Same as the rest of me crew mate. She signed up, I took a chance on her."
"And just what jobs does a young woman like Miss Barker get up to on a ship ridden with Pirates?" He was genuinely curious, he couldn't recall ever meeting a female who had turned to piracy. Of course there were rumours of them, some were just as old and famous as the men, at least that's what the stories told. But to actually meet one and have her be so young and pretty was fascinating, he could wait to just peel her open and let all of her secrets spill out.
"Same as any other cabin boy." Jack hissed, eyeing Beckett as he came back into view from behind him. He moved with such false grace with long strides which did not fit with his stature. He was an imposter, a control freak and a monster at most times.
"So Miss Barker should know some details on the Captains headings? Or perhaps some other interesting intelligence?" Beckett asked, his lips pouting in thought as he reached his desk and perch upon its corner. "Interesting." He pondered, and his eyes burned into Jack.
"She knows nothing. She's a cabin girl. She fetches me rum and swabs the deck." He bit out, his words sharp and as clear as day. "So unless you want pointers on how to clean your breeches, she's worthless of your time." Jack finished with a sly grin as his fists flexed and stretched in their fixed position.
"I think I will still go see Miss Barker for myself, if you don't mind." Beckett spoke, standing and straightening out his coat, brushing down the arms.
"Actually I does mind." Jack hissed, though still falsely smiling, and his back arched in the chair.
"Don't worry Jack, I'll ask my men to be very gentle with her." The man gave Jack one final smirk and then gestured for the guards to watch him closely, before leaving the room.
It wasn't a long walk to his other guest, the two Pirates had practically been placed next door to one another. After all, Beckett wanted them to be able to hear how the other was getting punished should things need to travel down that route.
"Don't touch me!" As Beckett walked into his office, he could hear the girl's words being clearly spat at his men, just like he had been able to further down the corridor.
She was fidgeting in the seat she had been given, thrashing widely as the guards were still trying to shackle her wrists. For just a small girl she was creating quite a lot of fuss.
"My my, you are feisty aren't you?" As soon as his presence was revealed to her, Nicolette stilled. "No need to struggle, we wouldn't want you getting marks on those pretty little wrists would we?" He tutted, gesturing to her shackled wrists which she had been pulling and writhing at. Her large eyes, doe like and weary, watched him as he crossed the floor in front of her. Her breathing was heavy, air being sucked through full parted lips, from the fighting she had been putting up and her chest rose and fell deeply as she tried to keep as silent as possible.
Beckett studied her for a long moment and could not help but liken her to a trapped wild animal. It was like seeing a lioness caged in a circus as the ring master attempted to break her in. She looked about ready to pounce and had her restraints not been there, he had no doubt she would bite.
A sinister smile stretched across his lips as he turned and started looking over some papers on his desk.
"Cutler Beckett." He started casually. "I am the East India Trading Company's Director for West Africa…or did Sparrow already mention that?" Beckett perked but the girl gave a low grow in reply. .
"He has not mentioned you at all." His brow perked. Now she was speaking more calmly he could here the smoothness of her voice and the song like tones it held.
"I hear an accent Miss Barker, where is it you are from?" There was a pause. Her face was straight and Beckett turned to face her, looking down to see she had sat back in her seat slightly, her chest still rising and falling quite rapidly. She was frightened. "You don't need to fear me Miss Barker. I fear Jack may have fabricated the stories of me." Another silence followed, longer this time, and Beckett was just about to realise a long sigh of frustration when she murdered as quiet as a bird.
"Barbados."
Beckett stared at her, right into her eyes until she was the first to look away, her gaze falling towards the floor. She was lying. She knew and he knew it. It was a lie. The olive tone in her skin was a dead give away and Beckett had been to the Island of Barbados, he had met their people and she was not like them.
He released a deep sigh then and took a step forward, continuing until he was only a foot or so from the girl.
"Do you know what happens to liars Mis Barker?" He bit out, quiet enough so that his words were in a whisper but it was hard for anyone else to hear outside the two of them. She rose her eyes, both widened in questioning, and Beckett smiled gently. "I cut out their tongue." She didn't fidget as he assumed she would, the girl barely even flinched, but he pursued. "Now tell me where you are from."
There was yet another silence and Beckett readied himself to order his men to fetch the tools needed, when she whispered. "Italy." And then she stared straight into his cold grey eyes. "Venice in Italy." Nicolette sighed, already feeling weak at going against Jack's advice so quickly. But she knew men, she had been around grown men for years, and she knew when they were bluffing. Cutler Beckett was not.
"The sunken city." He called out as if it were a revolution. "You are a long way from home."
"No I'm not." Nicolette was quicker to reply this time with a subtle shake of her head. She was closer to home now than she had been in a long time. The Pearl was more of a home to her than many other places had tried to be. So no, she was not lost or far from home. She was home.
Beckett seemed to be taken aback by this as he frowned at her. He then went to ask something but stopped himself at the last minute, sucking the words back into his mouth before humming to himself with a smile.
"It is strange company you have chosen to keep. Jack Sparrow. How is it you two came to be acquainted?" He moved back from her once more as he asked the question, going off towards the side of the room where a number of maps were stood up upon easels.
"Luck." She answered, a smirk of her own growing. She was growing confident? Cocky? Had he done something to make her think he was forgiving?
"I am not above certain methods of persuasion Miss Barker." He glanced back at her over his shoulder with a glare. "How old are you? You cannot be more than eighteen, nineteen?" But in reply, the girl pouted and rolled her eyes in thought before offering him a nonchalant shrug.
"Mr Mercer, if you please."
The was a sudden commotion, and behind Nicolette one of the men who had came in before Beckett and taunted her stepped forward and put a short sharp Dagger to her neck.
She gasped, pushing her back as hard as she could into the chair and trying to put as much distance between her skin and the knife. But the sharp edge of the steel was brought closer until it grazed the baby hairs on her throat. Her eyes squeezed shut, the man behind her laughed lowly and Beckett's presence grew closer until he was standing over her, sneering.
"Please." She whimpered as the cold edge of the blade pressed into her a little tighter. "Please don't."
Beckett chuckled and it was like no other sound she had ever heard before. It was chilling, sending a shiver down the centre of her back and causing bumps to rise up on her arms. She had heard the tales of rapists and thieves plaguing the streets of Tortuga and she had always been lucky enough to avoid them, or smart enough given she never ventured out alone in the dark. But when the women, those who had dealt with them first hand and played to their whim in order to live one more night, had told her the tales and mentioned their laughs…this is what she guessed they were trying to describe. But nothing could describe it. No words. It was a feeling one got when they heard it.
"I will not stand for childish cheek Miss Barker." Beckett's voice dropped into a low purr and he reached out to take her jaw between his thumb and finger. As she struggled and thrashed her head to the left, forgetting about the blade held to her throat, the sharp edge shallowly sliced her skin and as she hissed, Beckett's grip became tighter, a bruising force.
"Bit of a waste are you not?" He hissed. "What on earth must your parents think?"
Nicolette's breath quickened again and she tried to ignore the sensation of a drop of warm blood trailing down her chin. "I would not know." She whispered but not indulge him anymore.
The single scarlet droplet trailed down, running between her breast and staining the smokey grey shift she wore with a dark blot of black. Beckett's eyes followed the the trail, his eyes clouding over
"You should be more careful Miss Barker. We wouldn't want to spoil something so perfect." Nicolette didn't realise her hands were shaking until she tried to grip the arms of the chair she was trapped to and her fingertips rattled against the oak.
As Beckett took a step back, she released a shaky quivering breath and as he retreated to his desk, her eyes never left him. He was everything Jack had told her with an extra dose of evilness added.
Suddenly the knife was taken away from her neck, making her gasp sharply, glancing to the side for a moment before going straight back to Beckett. He was pacing around his desk, moving trinkets and spinning globes as he past them, and watching Nicolette for a second or so every third or forth step of the way.
"I am going to make you an offer Miss Barker, an offer which will save you from a life of ill mannered men, corruption and recklessness." He sounded bored, his drawl sounded as though he were talking of the weather. "You do not wish to meet your end with a short drop and a sudden stop, do you?"
She would mentally admit that he was right, that was no a fate she wished to meet so soon after having only been sailing with Jack and calling herself 'pirate' for a couple of months. She had seen them, the hangings. In London when she was only seven or eight years old. They were haunting. The way the bodies twitched helplessly, those unlucky enough to not have their necks snapped from the drop continuing to hang until the life slipped from them. She could still remember the look on the old woman's eyes as she shook and turned, suspended in the air, helpless.
"I would not forgive myself if I let you simply walk out of here and back to a life of piracy." Beckett's voice pulled Nicolette back to the present and she found herself frowning, head head almost hanging down in thought. "You are far too much of a delicate beauty. It's a wonder how you have not already been snatched up and ruined by one of those beasts."
Beasts. She wanted to scoff. The only beasts she had encounter today was the only stood in front of her now. Jack wasn't a beast. Bootstrap was no beast. When she lay under the stars at night and Hector taught her their meanings and the creatures they were names after, she wasn't frightened or worried. The men could be bullies perhaps with how they sometimes teased her to the point of tears, but they were not beasts, that had never dared to hurt her. Then again she probably had Jack to thank for that. But they were not monsters.
"How would you like to stay here? On the Sentinel?" Nicolette did not think she had heard right at first. She thought she had misheard or caught the back end of his sentence and misunderstood for she had not been listening as she rented against him in her mind. But then Beckett slowed to a stop in front of her and smiled more gently than he had all morning. "Would you like that Miss Barker? To make this your home?"
"I don't understand." She whispered, shaking her head and sitting back in her seat. Confusion was etched across her brow, deep wrinkles creasing the skin.
"Of course, let me put it more simply." He chuckled, demeaning her, and came closer to couch in front of her. An unwelcome hand rested upon her knee, covered in dirty sea water washed breeches, but she was too caught up in his words to do anything to warn him off. Nicolette could only stare at him, trying to understand his meaning. "I'm offering you a chance at a better life, away from petty nuisances and thieves. A chance to be able to bathe regularly." Beckett sneered, pulling his hand away and wiping it on his jacket. "You would not be expected to mop floors and serve on men hand and foot. As my wife, you would be respected, looked after. A upcoming high member of society."
Nicolette waited a moment, for a punchline or something similar, but when Beckett remained staring down at her as if he was already expecting an answer.
"Your wife?" She sounded the words out as if learning a new language and almost choked upon them. Wife. Was he being serious? His wife?
It was a curve ball she had to admit. Nothing, nothing at all, would have allowed her guess that would the question he would ask when she was first brought on to the ship. She assumed she was being brought across as a toy or a tool to get Jack to talk, not for this.
"I-" Nicolette started, but stuttered when she started to think of what the implication would be should she say no. Where was Jack in this moment? Set to hang? Set to walk the plank? Were the canons loaded and ready for Beckett to sink a second of Jack's ships should she refuse? Would she take being Beckett's wife over having to deal with knowing she was the cause of Jack's death and all those others aboard the Black Pearl?
"What if I should refuse?" She asked breathlessly and, as if he had been expecting the answer, Beckett glanced towards another guard in the room who in turn reached into the fire place not long lit and removed a hot poker.
The way her eyes grew wide and the pain of the cut on her next suddenly felt like nothing more than a pin prick. The muscles in her throat contacted harshly as she swallowed, pupils stuck focused on how the iron glowed. It was funny, she started to feel warm, so much so that Nicolette would swear she was beginning to sweat.
"Well then I'm afraid I must make it permanently clear that this is the path you chose. So all others know what it is that you are." The 'P' was perfectly clear to her and although the mere sight of it brought fear, a moment of pain was more tempting than a lifetime of slavery. "So what will it be? And let me assure you, you will receive everything you have ever wanted or dreamed of."
"I already have all of that." She growled through heavy breathes and looked at Beckett, unblinking. "From Jack. So no, I do not accept." Her green eyes were flooded by black ink and her pupils dilated as the adrenaline began to run through her blood, prepping for pain.
"You would rather live out a short miserable life on a pirate ship?" He asked almost in disbelief. The girl had changed right before his eyes, it was remarkable. From a small girl to a raging tigress in the split of a second.
Ever so slowly Nicolette then began to shake her head and scoffed.
"I would rather die."
If Beckett had been a time bomb, this was the moment it would have went off. His face turned as sour asa lemon, his posture became stiff and the mood in the room shifted dangerously.
Whatever hormone had been fuelling Nic was suddenly gone and she quickly returned to being the quivering scared mess as he held his arm out and snapped his fingers loudly. The poker was brought to him after being reheated and once Beckett held the tool, he turned it in his hand maliciously calculating his next move.
"I will regret this Miss Barker. I hope you know that." He sang as he came closer and she tried to back away even when she already knew it was useless "At least you will share a tale with Jack afterwards."
"Please." She begged pathetically but it caused Beckett to stall as the poker was just inches from her skin, hovering so close she could already feel its warmth.
"Is this you changing your mind?"
Choose life. That had been Jack's strict advice from the very start, ever since they met. Choose life and worry about the implications later. But this time she couldn't. She wouldn't. There was something, an instinct, at the back of her mind telling her to just say no and she trusted that instinct.
"No."
The pain followed not even a second later as the brand was pushed with an unnecessary force down onto her exposed wrist. The smell of burning flesh filled her air, enough to knock her sick but the pain overruled it and it felt like she was going to combust. All of her senses were being driven into overload as the sound of her skin melting made even the guards around her look away. It was worse than anything she had ever felt, anything she had ever read about. It was as if the iron was burning all the way down to her bone, as if it was going to cut right through her wrist. If she had not had been biting down on her lip, the smell would have made her gag.
And then she only lasted another second before she screamed.
It was a stomach churning scream, not like those of fright or fear, but a one of pure excruciating pain. It was the type of low gravely sound, like nails on a chalk board, that made the hairs of anyone listening stand on end.
"Stop!" She screamed but it didn't even sound like her. "Please stop. Please." Nicolette's voice was horse, it was awful and she sounded like a banshee as tears she did not realise she had shed ran down into her mouth.
The brand was removed and Nicolette slumped forward. The pain didn't disappear as she hoped it would and if anything it just continued to get worse as the seconds passed. The moans kept escaping her and although her back was hunched it was clear to see she was having difficulty catching her breathe through the tears.
There was a call for him then from next door, Beckett's name was called out by Jack in a tone which suited a murderer.
"What is Jack to you?" Beckett asked her after a minute, placing the iron back into the fire and dusting off his hands. "Or more precisely, what are you to Sparrow?"
Nicolette squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could and winced as another random surge of pain came from her molten skin.
"Nothing." She uttered the truth she told herself everyday to keep herself grounded. "I'm just a part of the crew. I'm nothing."
A loud rumble from a room further in the ship sounded, neither Beckett or Nicolette had to investigate to know it was the sound of Jack fighting his restraints. "Oh I find that quite hard to believe." Beckett didn't try to hide his grin. "What do you think he would do if someone else owned you?"
"No one owns me." Nicolette spat at him, lifting her head just enough to be able to see his feet pointed towards her. "I am not one of your slaves."
One could have heard a pin drop during the silence which followed, but Nicolette was too busy trying to keep her consciousness to notice the sudden change in the atmosphere. Even as Beckett's footsteps carried his back over to the large marble fire place, she didn't look up. What finally got his attention was the scrapping of iron against iron.
"Do you think this will change things?" Nicolette's head shot up and she almost broke into a sob right there. Her gut twisted and her whole body began to shake as sweat ran down her brow. As a Beckett stood there holding another hot poker, Nic began to shake her head and sob. "If every time he looks at you, he is reminded of the past?"
The brand was different, bigger. It resembled a cross from what Nicolette could see through her tears and the angle Beckett held the poker at. She didn't have the energy to reply with anything until he started towards her, the symbol glowing.
"Don't." She called out, loudly, begging. "Please don't, I'll-" Her heart stopped her and made her think twice. But she didn't have time to think, she just had to get out. She had to choose life. "I'll do it, I'll marry you, just please…"
Beckett stopped in the same position he had been in when he administered the previous brand which still burned hot on her wrist and she trembled, a crying mess under his gaze. No longer did she try to hide her fear or pain as she had at first, she cried loudly and ugly, unsure on if she would ever not feel this pain again.
"Oh, your poor thing." Beckett cooed as he stroked a hand over her sweat drenched hair. "But who would want you now?" Another sob sounded and she broke, falling forward before Mercer grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her back against the chair. The shoulder of her shirt was then ripped down, low enough to threaten to expose her breast and she screamed, thrashing to try and escape the mans hold.
"No, no, no, no! Please!" But it was useless and she was held still in a death like grip. "Why? Why must you be so cruel?"
"Cruelty is a matter of perspective." And with that the second brand was pressed into her skin, just below her collar bone and above the curve of her breast.
As the second scream rang out, Jack jumped in his seat and growled. He had been anxiously waiting for Beckett's return after the first, his feet tapping impatiently against the floor and rattling his shackles. When he hadn't and awful feeling had kept into his gut until her second cry of agony sounded from further into the ship's hold.
"What is he doing to her?" Jack asked one of the guards still watching him with his voice dangerously low. Of course he got no answer but that just angered him more. "I asked what is your Captain doing to Miss Barker?" Each word was spat out a second apart and Jack smirked when he saw the sailors eyes starting to twitch, flickering to watch him nervously. "Mate? Help a bloke out yeah?"
In the other room Nicolette was struggling to remain awake after the brand was pulled back. Her mistake had been looking down for when her eyes met the clear outline of the East Indian Trading Company's mark she choked. It was red raw and smoking, it looked as if her skin had melted into the muscle below. It was disgusting, ugly wasn't enough to cover it and after chancing a look down at her wrist she confirm that one was exactly the same.
"Why?" She whispered, coughing as her body fought to deal with each point of pain. "Why!" Beckett frowned, crouching down again to take her chin and lift it so their eyes met.
"Because Jack needs to learn." He spoke just as softly as she had and grinned. That grin was wiped off as a commotion broke out in the other room and seconds later Jack barged in through the door, free of shackles and unguarded.
Nicolette, taken out by exhaustion, didn't even realise and Jack barely recognised the girl Beckett had his hands on as she fell forward, held up only by her bonds. The sword he held rose and became aimed at Beckett as Jack took a step forward.
"I shouldn't have expected any less from the likes of you Jack." Beckett said, though his eyes never left Nicolette's as her eyes begun to glaze over. Maybe it was time to let her go, what good was branding her if she did not get passed back to Jack anyhow?
"Stow it." There were time for games anymore and Jack's patience was long gone. "Untie her, now." He came closer, making sure to keep eyes on each guard in the room and approached Beckett, tapping the top of his hand with the tip of his sword. "Now!"
Beckett gave a nod to Mercer who slowly but surely began to unlock Nicolette's restraints starting with her ankles. As he moved to her wrists Jack noticed the 'P' first, fresh and ugly and his eyes narrowed, brown turning into black.
"You branded her?" He scoffed out of disbelief, the sword in his hand beginning to shake as his arm extended subconsciously closer to Beckett. "What good did that do you eh? She's just a lass." He was not expecting Beckett to smirk at him in response like he did.
"Oh, that was just to warm her up."
Jack looked back at Nic, doing a double take as her second wrist was released and her body fell lifelessly against the back of the chair. A second burn stood out in stark contrast to her skin tone, already weeping and growing angrier by the minute.
"Tell me…that isn't what I believe it is…" Jack whispered into the silence of the room not all of the irons had been unlocked and dropped to the floor. Even Nic's breathing was weak and silent. In a heartbeat, Jack's free hand took hold of Beckett's shirt and the shorter man was thrown into the wall of his cabin, Jack's sword going to his throat. "You are a despicable piece of dog meat aren't you! Why?" Jack yelled and slammed Beckett against the wall harder. "Tell me why I shouldn't slice you from gut to groin."
Once again, Beckett didn't speak. His eyes did all the talking as they looked passed Jack to where Nicolette was sat. Only she wasn't sat anymore. When Jack turned to glance at the space from the corner of his eye, he saw Beckett's first mate Mercer holding her up with his dagger to her throat.
The forceful movement appeared to have awoken her and she stood pressed tightly against Mercer with wide eyes and panting breaths.
"Jack." The sound of her voice should have soothed him, but the way her voice came out from her lips was not how he ever wished to hear it again. It was full of pain as if she was pleading.
"Tell him to let her go." Jack demanded, eyes never leaving Nicolette's face. His anger had got the better of him and she was in more danger now because of it. So, he gathered his pride and in the most sincere tone he could muster, Jack begged. "Please. Let her go, you've done enough to her."
But Beckett disagreed and began to ponder. "Have I?" He pursed his lips in thought, struggling against Jack's grip to get more comfortable. "I think she still looks too pretty to belong on your ship, Captain Sparrow."
With a unspoken command the dagger was removed from Nicolette's throat, but before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, it was moved to her eye. She gasped and groaned allowed, writhing in the mans grip with threatened to make him cut her more.
Jack took a moment to try and assess the situation given both of their positions and the foreign place and the lack of help. For once there did not seem to be a way to save himself and her. He also feared that simply giving up would lead to the same fate as if he did not.
He took a moment to study Nic's face. Her faultless, perfect beauty. It was unlike any he had found anywhere else in the world. Of all the women, of all the whores and pretty girls to throw themselves at him, her features were the most pure and the most angelic. He memorised every flawless detail, already knowing where they were likely to end up.
"…please." He tried one last time, the hand holding Beckett loosening. "What do you want? She hasn't done anything." He saw her fading in and out of consciousness almost succumbing to the pain and then being brought back by the sensation of the knife being brought closer.
"Oh I think you know that she has Jack." Beckett smirked, quirking his brow. "She gave you a weakness." Jack exhaled and shook his head as he allowed the words to sink in. Had she? Yes…yes he believed she possibly had.
With her face painted perfectly in his minds eye, Jack felt his heart beginning to race as he prepped for his next move.
"That's fine mate, I know yours." His knee reared into the directors groin with a force fuelled by anger and Jack tossed Beckett to the side, winded. The next events happened so fast they would be impossible to recall for Jack and especially for Nicolette.
He never even had the chance to reach her and before Beckett hit the ground Jack heard her outcry of pain. When he turned, Mercer had already fled to the deck like a coward leaving Nicolette in a ball on the floor screaming.
"Nikki." Jack breathed, rushing to her side. He couldn't see the damage properly given how both of her hands were held over her left eye but from the way she was screaming and with how the blood was already starting to seep through her fingers it was bad. They had to get back to the Pearl. "Nikki." He tried again, gently tugging on her arm but she was as stiff as a board, curled up on herself.
"Nicolette, listen to me love, we need to leave. Now." It was when she gasped and took her hands away from her face, both of them staring down at just how much blood she was loosing and Jack looking, with a grimace, as what damage Mercers knife had caused, that Jack realised how true his words were.
"Ja- what-" One of Nicolette's hands returned to her eye as she screamed again. "I can't see." She whispered, shaking her head as the sobs rolled out. "I can't-" She was interrupted by her own screams.
"Love, it's…" He trailed off, unable to lie to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We need to get you to the Pearl." Jack took her shaking hands and wrapped them around him, allowing her blood to coat his shirt and skin. Then as he stood, he brought her with him until her feet were off the floor and he held her like a tired child. "I've got you love." She was whimpering in his ear, sobbing with intermittent cries of pain as he began to carry her back from where they had came.
When they reached the deck Jack was both delighted and a little weary of the fact his crew had managed to break loose and were now on board the Sentinel, fighting against the navy. He was relieved that he would now no longer have to fight his way back to his ship while carrying the lass but there was also no time for a battle to commence, they needed to leave.
"Men! Back to the Pearl now." As he hurried past stray members of his crew, the eye of Hector Barbossa was caught as he noticed the limp figure hanging partially over Jack's shoulder.
"Captain!" He called after Jack but ended up running to follow him as Jack crossed the gangplank to the Pearl. "Captain! I ordered for the men to ready the guns." Jack stopped dead, ignoring all of his internal pleas to get the girl to safety.
"No." He hissed, turning to meet Barbossa as the other mans eyes stayed trained on Nic. The blood, the sheer amount of it… "Cast off and get as much sea between us and Beckett as we can." Jack said, and Hector broke off his worried stare to frown at Jack.
"No cannons?"
"No. No guns." It would be too simple. "The next time I see Beckett I want his head on a stick." Jack's eyes were as dark as a cursed ocean, his teeth were bared and from the main deck of the Pearl he looked over to the Sentinel looking for his prey. However the sudden scream in his ear brought him back to the present with a jolt and he put a hand on the back of her head, soothing her hair as she whimpered and cursed in pain. "No guns. Cast off, head to the nearest safe port. And send for the doctor now, if he's not in my cabin by the time the anchor is raised there will be consequences."
Leaving Barbossa with that, Jack turned and hurried towards his cabin, keeping tight a hold of Nic until the door was shut behind them. He moved to the bed with speed and set her down as gently as he possibly could, peeling her body and her arms from him before trying to hold her back at arms length. He knelt in front of her, crouching on the floor as she sat upon the bed looking as pale as a ghost.
"Here we go. Let me look at you love." He whispered as she continued to shake, writhing now as the pain from her multiple wounds threatened to take over her body. Her shirt was soaked through with blood, her face smothered with the stuff from her constantly holding the wound. He shoulder was marred, melted and sticky, already blistering, just like her wrist. "Shhh deep breaths love." He tried to soothe her and hold her head still for long enough to push her hair out of the way and get a proper look at her injury.
It wasn't good, wasn't like any other he had seen. Her eyelid was torn open and although it was only a fraction of a centimetre it was anything but pleasant to look at or feel. Her eye…it was blinded by the blood which had ran into it. Whether that was what was causing her to be unable to see or whether that was a whole other injury he did not know. But her once emerald pupil was stained with a sickly scarlet. The majority of the blood however, flowed freely from the rest of the cut, a long strike starting from just above her eyebrow and going down in a jagged line to the apple of her cheek. The wound was deep and Jack already knew it would scar, the whole left side of her face would always be a memory of that day. Though as he glanced down at the ugly rotting brand burnt into her shoulder he could confirm it would not be the worst reminder.
"It's just a little nick, you're going to be fine." Jack soothed as she screamed again, the tears burning her injury more and causing diluted droplets of blood to run down her chest. "Shh it's alright, Nikki, it's alright."
"It hurts Jack." She whimpered, looking up at the ceiling of the cabin and crying out as the whole left side of her face screamed at her. "I can't see. It hurts."
"I know. The doctors is on his way, he'll fix you up good as new."
"He can't." Nic began to erratically shake her head and Jack took her face as gently as he could in his hand, trying to wipe off some of the blood as he did which stained his hands red.
"Yes he can. Lo-" He stopped suddenly, realising the severity of what her injury may be and he sighed. "Listen to me…" He said more gently. "You're going to be fine."
There was a hurried hard knock on the door and then a mans voice called out.
"Captain Sparrow!"
"Aye!" The second he answered the door opened and the doctor entered, followed by several of his crew who each carried supplies. One of them was Bootstrap who appeared to become stuck to the spot when he eyes laid upon Nicolette.
"So what…" The Doctor started, taking Jack's place as the Captain stood but only took a tiny step back. "Oh my…" Nic cried when the mans fingers brushed her skin and jolted back when his touch moved to her shoulder. The doctor looked at her face, and then her other injuries and then gently placed a hand over her unmarked eye. "Can you see me?" He asked in a small voice and both Jack and Bootstrap, who had joined the Captain, held their breath.
The girls breath hitched and she began to cry harder as she shook her head. "No." she whimpered through a deep breath. "Nothing."
The doctor stood, tutting, and turned to be met with the two men immediately staring at him hard. He took a step to the side and Jack followed as they walked a little bit away from the girl, while Bootstrap took his turn to try and soothe her. "Captain, I…I don't claim to be the most skilled Doctor, her injuries… have…" He looked back at Nicolette on the bed who was shaking her head at Bill as he ran a hand over her soaked hair and hushed her. "I think it may be best to remove her eye. That way I can fully avoid infection but leaving it, I can't-"
"No." Jack interrupted instantly, his eyes tearing away from Nicolette to stare at the doctor darkly. "It's a simple cut, you can stitch her up and that's that." Though he spoke in such a chipper tone, it was deceiving as everything else about the Captains stature was dangerous. But the man shook his head still, sighing.
"Captain Sparrow." He tried but Jack took a step closer to him and looked down at the shorter man with a snarl.
"Fix her." He growled as his nostrils flared and his eyebrow perked. "Savvy?"
For a moment, Jack was preparing himself to be met with a refusal from the doctor. He was half expecting for the man to find himself thrown overboard as he searched for the second best surgeon on the ship. But instead, the man sighed and began to roll up the sleeves of his shirt which had already been partially stained with Nicolette's blood.
"I'll try my best Captain but I cannot make any promises." He nodded and then fixed Jack with a stare. "I will have to ask you to try and hold her still. It will be a tricky job and an unpleasant one."
All Jack could reply with was a simply nod and then as the doctor walked off to prep his kit, Jack took slow steps over to where the girl was still being comforted by Bill.
"He's going to look after you is Sparrow." Jack heard the man whispered to her as he grew nearer to the pair. Nicolette's head was dropped forward causing droplets of blood to drip on to Bootstraps breeches, but the man didn't care and he simply continued to try and soothe the girl. "Stay awake you hear me lass." Bill uttered, ducking lower to try and meet the girl's stare. "You stay awake. I know it hurts but we will get you something for that."
Jack rounded the bed and took a seat, leaning back against the headboard. With the help of Bootstrap, he gently guided Nicolette back between his legs, manoeuvring her so her back laid against his chest, her head gently lying in the crook of his neck so his lips brushed the top of her ear.
"Shhh shh sh sh sh." He hushed as she began to whimper and writhe against him. "I'm here. I'm here."
Jack took the bottle of rum handed to him by Bootstrap and braced himself for what was to come next. The way his heart was pounding against his chest you would have thought it was he who was going to have to go through the pain, not her. But he wished it were him if it meant she was left to be unmarked.
"This is going to hurt okay love?" Jack whispered into her ear as softly as he could before biting down on the cork to remove it from the bottle, spitting it across the room. "But we need to clean it all out before we do anything else. Here." He spoke and sat up straighter so she did too, bringing the bottle to her lips. "Drink some, it'll help with the pain."
Nicolette took a sip but instantly spat it back out as it burned her throat.
"Please love." He spoke even softer, his hand moving to run over her abdomen. One of the only places he could reach which would not cause her more pain. Then he tried again, putting the bottle to her lips and humming as she started to take small sips. "Attagirl."
"Get her to bite down on this." The doctor said as he passed Jack a curved wooden block, already crushed and marked by previous bites.
Once she had taken down enough rum, Jack took the bottle away, now only half full and encouraged her to part her lips with a soft touch to her chin. "There we go, it's okay." As the wooden black was partially forced into Nicolette's mouth, Jack felt as though he were the one continuing the torture on her.
As she felt the splintered wood with her tongue she began to scream but the wood acted a gag and caused the noises to come out squeaky and ugly. The way the girl wriggled in his hold, jolting as she screamed and cried, begging for muffled help, Jack felt as though his stomach had gone hollow.
"Shh it's okay." But she continued to scream as the doctor finished prepping and came over to the side of the bed.
"We will start with her face, and work down." The man said, looking just as unsure as Jack felt inside. But the Captain was doing a good job of hiding it as Bootstrap stayed off to the side, watching out the corner of his eye. "Ready?"
"Aye." Jack brought his hand up to Nicolette's forehead. At first it was to sooth her as he brought her head back as far as it was go, holding it to his chest as he laid a soft kiss against her temple. But she still sniffed and blubbered, begging inaudible words. Although it made his chest ache, Jack tightened his hold on her and subtly moved his legs so that they pinned her arms down onto the bed. "It's just to keep you still darling." He hushed her when she cried and tried to release herself but Jack pressed down harder making it impossible.
He felt cruel. He felt like he was hurting her just as much as Beckett and his men but it was for her own good. One wrong move and she really would be loosing an eye.
"I'm sorry darling." He then uttered before holding her head to him and pouting a steady stream of rum onto the wound on her face. He tried to avoid her nose and mouth, the last thing they needed was her choking. Then she started to scream bloody murder, trying to fight Jack's grip and spit the biting block from her mouth. In the end Jack ended up dropping the bottle and clasping a hand over her mouth, keeping the block in like a child's dummy. "I know, I know…it's done. It's all done." Jack hummed, resting his chin on her head and holding her tighter as she sobbed.
"Now, it's important to hold still Miss Barker." The Doctor started as he threaded the needle he was to use for her stitches and dropped his glasses down from his head to the bridge of his nose. "We will go very slow."
Nicolette took a sharp intake of breath and blinked rapidly as she tried to decide whether to keep them closed or try and keep them open as the needle caught the sunlight where it was suspended over ear eye. She could not recall any of the past…we'll ever since Beckett had offered up his marriage proposal everything had been a blur. She remembered hearing Jack's voice and feeling like she was safe until the pain made everything go back into darkness. It was all a messy blur of light and men yelling as she was restrained and tossed about like a doll.
Even now, she knew it was Jack's voice in her ear but she did not know whose hands were touching her of if she was on the Pearl, on the Sentinel or on land. All she knew was that she wanted the burning to stop, she wanted the searing pain in her face to stop, she just wanted it all to stop.
As the needle came down and pushed through one half of the cut at the apple of her cheek, Nic jerked and kicked her legs hard in the air causing the doctor to let go of the needle and jump back.
"Captain." He went to say but Jack was already on it.
"Bootstrap." He called for the man watching to come closer. "Hold her legs." Turner did as her said and knelt at the end of the bed, lightly holding the girl's legs down so she could not jerk her body around.
She then started to moan. An awful painful sound half way between a scream and a sob. Her hands clutched the loose bed sheets as Jack, keeping on hand over her mouth, brought the other to her head.
"It's alright." He whispered when the doctor returned to his work. Each time the needle pierced her skin, dragging through the rough stitching behind it, she cried more and gripped the sheets tighter. The closer the needle got to her eye the tighter Jack had to holder and the harder he had to force himself to not look away. "It's almost over. I'm so sorry darling." She mumbled something to him and Jack wished more than anything to just take out the block so he could soothe her properly and hear he wishes, but it was not worth the risk of having her bite her own tongue.
"You can choose where we go next, you hear?" Jack said in a new attempt to try and distract her. "Anywhere you wish to go, we'll go. You always used to tell me about Italy. We can go back there." She muttered a noise which sounded a little like she was agreeing and a sad smile broke out on Jack's face. "Yeah, we will go there. After you're all fixed up."
It took around an hour for the doctor to finish his work. They had went through two bottles of rum trying to get Nicolette through the pain and to also clean the other wounds she had collected. An awkwardness had passed over the men in the room as they laid eyes on the EITC mark now permanently branded onto the girl where it could not so easily be hidden, not even from herself. That was going to be the hardest for Jack to accept. He could take a scar or a faulty eye but that…Beckett knew what he was doing when he did that.
Her eye had been patched as it was impossible to stitch together the tear in her eyelid and the doctor ensured that it would heal on its own, in time as long as it was kept clean. She looked a right state did Nicolette, her shoulder patched up in bandages, her wrist wrapped in gaze and her eye covered with bandage before being wrapped over in white cotton to encourage her to keep it still. She looked very pirate. But that had never been Jack's wish.
He slid from under her gently as the Doctor finished tidying up, packed his bag and left the cabin, encouraging Nicolette to rest and get some sleep. A task she was not going to find hard after the full bottle of rum Jack had forced down her through in addition to the exhaustion from the pain.
She hummed, moaning as she popped her chapped lips a couple of times and ran her tongue of them. Nicolette's head swayed from side to side as Jack laid it down gently against his thin pillows.
"Jack." She muttered with her eyes barely open, however she still tried to peep at him through the narrow slits as she smiled. Given everything, the fact she was smiling was a blessing even if it were drug and alcohol fuelled. "Is this a dream?" He found himself chuckling softly and pushed the hair out of her eyes as she lifted her hand and gripped his wrist, keeping it in her hair.
"Aye love, it's all just a dream." His voice was soft and as she smiled at him again, he returned it and then hushed her. "You close your eyes now." Within seconds she was lost. Her grip loosened and her hand fell onto the pillow beside her head as her smile faded into an emotionless line.
He watched her for a long time, trying to ignore Bill moving behind him as he cleaned up the bloody regs and soaked sheets. It didn't look like her. He wished he had hidden her. He should have been with her.
"I'm scared mate…" Jack spoke and his voice cracked as he allowed his fingers to trace over lines of her fingers above the covers. "I wasn't even there. I promised I wouldn't let him hurt her and now…" Now he had to look at her and be reminded of what he let Beckett do to her every day. "Beckett. Beckett doesn't even matter anymore. I could still loose her and that's...terrifying."
Her wounds could still get infected, given what he body had gone through she could still catch a fever and succumb to it. They were days from port, days from help and she could only be hours from death.
"That's called love boy. What you're feeling that's normal." Bootstrap muttered as he came up behind him, speaking the words so casually it was as if he was telling Jack a joke. That's what it sounded like anyway, a joke. That's why he laughed.
"Now who is delusional?" Jack scoffed and forced himself to stand, walking over to his desk and taking a seat now the girl was seen to and asleep. "I care for her true. But I don't l-" He slurred as the word got stuck. "I don't."
"If you say so Jack." Bootstrap grunted, his eyes never leaving Nic as he smirked, knowing behind him Jack was pouting his lips and watching him with a glare for putting the thought in his head. "Let me know how she keeps, please." He left then to return to his chores on the deck which had been bustling since they fled Beckett. Leaving Jack with his thoughts.
Beckett did that because of Jack. Not because of anything Nicolette did or was going to do, it was simply because Beckett believed she was something to him. She would bare those marks until the day she died because of him. Which was why she could never be anything to him, he wouldn't allow her to be. It wasn't worth the risk of having her be taken away from him for good.
