A/N: Hey everyone!!! Enjoy this chapter!!!

Chapter 16

The Crow's Nest

"Mommy! Get up!" Tommy yelled. "Mommy, get up! The house is on fire! C'mon get up!"

Tommy shook his mother to wake her, but she wouldn't move. Smoke was engulfing the room. Tommy left his mother and ran to his little brother's room.

"Joey, c'mon we've got to get out of here!" Tommy shook Joey, but he didn't awake either.

Tommy took one last look at tiny Joey and left the house.

Tommy stood outside the chilly night and watched his house being engulfed in flames. Tears poured down his face as heart-breaking thoughts raced through his mind. He was never going to see his mother and brother again. They had already been dead when he got to them. It wasn't fair. What was going to happen to him? Where was he going to go?

Tommy fell to his knees and let his head fall to his hands. The shadows danced across his face as he mourned.

"Mommy!"

The ear-piercing scream tore through the night like fingers on a chalk board.

Izzy jumped awake at the sound of Tommy's voice. She looked over and saw he was crying.

"Mommy, where are you?" Tommy asked desperately.

Izzy felt her heart tear in two. She went to him.

"Mommy?"

"No, Tommy," she said softly. "It's Izzy."

Tommy's eyes popped opened.

"I miss my mom."

"I know sweetie," she said. "I know, try to go back to sleep."

"Okay."

Tommy lay back down and covered himself back up with the blankets. Izzy brushed her fingertips against his cheek and sang to him.

"When it looks like the world is coming to an end,

Everyone stops to look for a friend.

But in this dangerous world of ours,

It's so very hard to find something of ours.

So we take to the sea and sing,

La de da, La de da da da de dum

La de da dum La da de da da da dum"

Tommy's eyes slowly drifted closed as Izzy sang the lullaby song her parents had sung to her.

Jack had heard the scream. He hadn't been asleep. He'd been working. Or he was trying to, but that scream tore at him. It shouldn't have. Tommy was just a boy. He didn't mean anything to him. But Jack knew better.

He slipped from his room and down the hallway to Izzy's room. He pinned his ear to the door and heard her talking to him. And then she started to sing…

"When the world looks like it's coming to an end,

Everyone stops to look for a friend.

But in this dangerous world of ours,

It's so very hard to find something of ours.

So we take to the sea and sing…

La de da, La de da dada de dum,

La de da dum, La da de da dada dum."

Jack let the melody flow through him. It was so familiar if only he could remember…

It didn't matter. Instead Jack listened to Izzy sing. Her voice was soft as silk when she wasn't spitting daggers at him. If only she would talk to him like that… Jack shook his head. What was he doing? Izzy was never going to talk to him like that. She hated him. He was just going to have to change that.

Jack moseyed back to him room to drink a nice bottle of rum and to plan on how to get what he wanted most.

Izzy awoke before dawn the next morning. The first thing that she remembered from the night was Tommy's screaming. She looked over at him from the bed. Maybe she should ask him what he had dreamed about. She already thought she knew, but she wanted to be sure. Maybe she should wait to question him until she talked to Jack about taking him under her wing. Yes, that was it, she'd wait.

So Izzy dressed and left the room, silently closing the door behind her. She took the stairs down two more stories to where the food and water was kept and grabbed herself a bite to eat. With break feast in hand, she climbed back up the steps and onto the deck. Izzy found a perch just above the railing of the boat and began to eat.

The sun began to rise in beautiful shades of pastel pink, orange and yellow. Seagulls flew around in the distance searching the ocean for their morning meal. Watching the sun rise was Izzy's favorite way to start the day.

Jack watched her for a few moments before he decided to approach. Her long chocolate hair looked almost black in the morning light. The sun was hitting it in such a way that it brought out auburn highlights in it. He looked at her mouth and saw a small twinge of a smile almost looking like she knew something the rest of the world didn't. Completing the picture was her eyes. Her large brown eyes twinkled in the sunrise. Jack suddenly wished he could paint. He wanted to preserve her on canvas so he could look at her beauty whenever he wanted. So he did the second best and took a mental picture and tucked away in his mind for a later view.

"Miss Peregrine," he called.

Izzy whipped her head around. Jack noticed that the smile and the twinkle in her eyes disappeared when she looked at him. He felt a sharp ache pierce his heart.

"Yes, Captain?" she asked eyes now cold.

"I wanted to tell you that your occupation has now been altered. Your latest location will now be in the crow's nest seeing as we are in need of someone up there and you have demonstrated yourself well with the ropes."

He could see the conflict in her eyes.

Izzy knew that this was as much of an apology as she was going to get, so she'd better take it. But she didn't want to forgive him.

"That's fine," Izzy said. "I'll go relieve whoever's up there now. If Tommy wakes please have someone come get me."

She gave him a small smile before she started to climb the ropes.

Jack looked at the sea and grinned to himself. Maybe making her smile wasn't as hard as he'd thought.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Tommy called.

The door creaked open and Captain Sparrow walked in the room.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked after he'd closed the door.

"I've a horrible headache, just like Izzy said I'd have. But other than that I'm okay."

"What about your ankle?"

"At the moment? It's completely numb."

"Wonderful! Then you'll be able to go back to your position today."

Jack watched Tommy's face turn to a look of pure terror.

"You don't mean…" he started to ask.

Jack laughed. "Of course not, mate. I can't have a broken man on board my ship now can I?"

Tommy shook his head.

"Right then, let's take a look at your ankle, shall we?"

Jack gently picked up Tommy's leg and wrested his ankle in his lap was he sat on the cot. Jack started to unwrap his leg.

"Bloody hell, mate," Jack said stunned. "Look at your leg!"

Tommy looked at his leg and his face turned purple.

Tommy's leg looked like someone had taken paint in many different shades and colors and poured it all over his ankle and foot.

"Wow," he breathed. "I never thought it'd look like that!"

"Well, it makes a pretty picture doesn't it, mate? I'm gonna touch it now."

Jack tenderly rubbed his fingers over Tommy's ankle until he found the break. It wasn't that bad. He'd seen much worse. Tommy's ankle would heal in a few weeks. But he'd still have to be careful afterwards. The bigger problem was if he was going to be able to do his job after his ankle healed. Jack hoped the boy wouldn't be afraid of heights.

"Let's wrap this lovely painting back up again, shall we?"

Jack finished re-bandaging his ankle and said, "I'm gonna go get Izzy. She wanted to see how you were doin'. I'll have her get some clean bandages to rewrap your leg. I'll see ya later, mate."

Jack pulled off his hat and sank into a fake bow.

"Bon voyage!"

With that Jack went to go fetch Izzy.

Izzy sat in the crow's nest with a telescope beside her. She loved this job. It was so much better that scrubbing the damn deck. All she had to do was look over the rail and she could see everything on board and when looking at the sea, she could see for miles. It was amazing.

At the moment Izzy was settled with her back against the post staring out to sea.

"Ahem!"

Izzy jumped and turned.

"Oh!" she said composing herself. "Hello, Captain. Is Tommy awake?"

"Yes he is," Jack said watching her facial expressions. "I told him you'd bring him a new bandage. I suggest you bring him something to eat."

"I'll do that. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She stood on the railing and grabbed a rope. Izzy held on and jumped. Jack watched he nimbly land on her feet when she hit the deck and swung the rope back to him. He grabbed it and tied it securely so it wouldn't move.

"How does she manage to do things like that without rum?" he asked himself aloud. "She must be just as crazy as I am!"

Coming up…

Will we find out what Tommy and Jack's relationship is about?

Will Tommy be able to go back to the crow's nest when his ankle heals?

Will Jack ever find out what stunts Izzy will do after she's drunk on rum?

A/N: Thanks so much to all my reviewers who keep me writing!!! I love hearing your thoughts!!!