Disclaimer: PineAppleLint writes stories in her pineapple hut about PotC, and she would prefer to own Jack because if she did she would hug him so hard he would need a new ribcage, but she doesn't own him. So she has to stick to daydreaming, savvy?
Author's Note: You reviewers are so wonderful! I dub you (gets out sword and people run away screaming) the best internet pirates ever! Huzzah! Now let's see…where we left off…our gang was hanging out in Tortuga. I wonder what they're doing, hmm? Read on!
Here there be monsters!
PineAppleLint
* * *
William Turner watched Anastasia as she played with her silverware while staring at him. It was as if she was waiting for something. He had brought her to an old rundown building that actually served decent meals. The tables they ate on were stained and dirty, the chairs were wobbly, the candle was almost gone, but the food was plentiful. And they didn't have to worry about some idiot lodging a bullet in their brains and disrupting their meal. It was located in the quieter part of town, next to the beginnings of the dark forest that made up the rest of the mysterious island. Who knew what lurked in the shadows? As Will glanced out the window, he realized he did not wish to find out.
"William?" Ana said gently after taking a sip of her wine, "Why not tell me what's bothering you? Obviously something is on your mind."
Will poked his medium-rare steak with the knife and casually picked up a piece with his fork. "What do you mean, Ana? Nothing's bothering me." He brought the meat to his lips and brought it into his mouth. He chewed slowly, as if savoring the taste.
She lifted an eyebrow and made a motion with her hand that said 'out with it'.
He leaned back comfortably in his chair and swept a few wisps of brown hair out of his eyes. "Just wondering how much business I'm losing from suddenly leaving all of my duties back home. Blacksmiths work everyday, you know."
"Not blacksmiths," Ana replied with a shake of her head, "You. Just you, Will."
His eyes focused on her face and he grew defensive. "Is there a problem with…"
"No problem at all, darling. You love what you do. I'm not that blind. But aren't you glad that you finally left for a while? Isn't it refreshing to leave all of it behind for now?"
"Just because I leave, doesn't mean that all the problems will go away," he said with a sigh.
She laughed and patted his hand that was resting on the table. "That's life," she said with a wink. He smiled in return.
Grabbing his glass of wine, he said in a form of toast, "To freedom…for now."
"To freedom," she repeated and their glasses clinked. Before she took another sip, she watched Will down his whole glass without coming up for air, his Adam's apple bobbing. Anastasia thought worriedly, It's going to be a loooooooong night.
* * *
Oh Jesus Christ, Jack thought. There was only one thing worse than June Oleander: two June Oleanders.
The alcohol was affecting his vision and at the moment, two Junes were swimming around in his sight.
"How many was tha' for ye?" she asked, her words sloppily crashing together.
"Dammit, I dunno. Stop askin' me questions and drink up. It's your turn, remember?" he slurred back, leaning on the table for support. His hat was lopsided on his head, his kohl was smudged, and his fingers were wiggling more than usual. That seemed to interest June.
"Jack," she giggled, "Your fingers are like litt'l worms! The way they always move when ye talk!" She crinkled her nose and grabbed his hand, examining it closely. June daintily picked up a finger and wiggled it herself. She giggled again.
"Drink yer rum, woman!" he demanded with a grin, snatching his hand away from her. He leaned back and propped his boots up on the table successfully after trying three times before getting it right.
June nodded and exclaimed, "You're right. Ab'lutely right. It's me duty as a p'rate to drink until I'm dead, right? Right!" Her stare grew suspicious as she added, "You ain't tryin' to kill me, are ye Sparrow?"
He snapped his fingers and said, "Ah, ye caught me. No, you stupid wench. As ye can tell, I'm just as wasted as ye are at the moment." And he fell right out of his chair. June let out a bark of laughter and walked with difficulty over to him. Crouching down, she smiled down at his amused expression. "Do ye give up?" she questioned and poked him in the forehead, "Do ye?"
"Jack never gives up, luv," he said and struggled to get up. She grabbed his arm and helped him. Once he regained his composure and sat back down, a pretty young tavern wench sashayed up to him. "Capt'n Sparrow," she crooned, "I saw ye fall. Would ye want me to…kiss your injuries for ye?"
June opened her mouth and shut it. Her gaze grew cold as she looked at the blonde in the tight corset. She was beautiful, no doubt: ringlets piled atop of her head, big pouty lips, a plentiful bust…any perverted pirate's fantasy woman. And Jack did have a way with the ladies.
"Ah, me gel," Jack said, still slurring, "That's a mighty wonderful offer." He turned to June and asked, "How can I pass that up?"
"Go on ahead, Sparrow," June retorted with a roll of her eyes and a flick of her hand, "Just go."
The wench's kohl-lined eyes widened as if she couldn't believe the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow took her up on her offer. Jack grinned predatorily as the woman took him to another booth at the opposite end of the tavern and sat with him there. She pressed her body against his and Jack looked pretty enthralled.
June felt like she was going to be sick. Please don't tell me they're going to do their 'session' in the middle of the tavern, she thought, Please no. But it wasn't as if that was an uncommon occurrence in such a place. But she knew Jack wasn't the kind of guy for that kind of public activity. No…he was just softening the girl up first.
June stared as Jack ran a hand down the girl's thigh and pressed a few kisses to her nape as she mewled appreciatively. Realizing that was about all she could take, June whirled back around and scowled down at her abandoned table. June grabbed her full mug and finished it off before slamming it down onto the table. "Guess I won the drinkin' game," she muttered.
Glancing up again, she realized there was a table across the room full of fairly decent, young looking men. One brown haired fellow caught her eye and grinned, motioning for her to come over. Standing up, she sauntered over there slowly, trying to forget how inebriated she was as she said with a wink, "How ye boys be doin' tonight?"
* * *
"So a month went by," Will slurred, gazing at her, eyes full of sickening emotion, "And nothin' changed! I still felt that hole in the pit of my stomach every time I thought of her! And I still feel it now!"
Ana held her face in her hands, gritting her teeth. William's drunken wallowing had been going on for oh…about two hours straight, and she was trying her damndest to stay supportive and not throw her chair onto his head (which she was sorely tempted to do).
"There there," she said in a strangled tone, patting his back rigidly, "Everything will be all right. Like I've been saying…you can't change the past." (A/N: It's like bloody Oprah! PotC style!)
"You want to know the worst part?" he questioned. Ana knew that whether or not she gave an answer, he was going to tell her anyway. "I'll tell you," he went on, "Elizabeth was with child!" Ana's eyes widened a bit, half in surprise about the information he was telling her at the moment, half because she couldn't believe he was actually telling her these things. He could thank Mr. Wine for that.
"Yes, she was," Will continued, "Three months. I was going to be a father. But now it will never happen."
Ana thought it wasn't the right time to point out that yes, it could happen if he found some different girl and impregnated her. But that would have been a tad bit cruel. And you just don't go running around Tortuga trying to willingly impregnate women. It was creepy, and…yeah, just creepy.
"Want some more wine, miss?" an older man asked her kindly, trying not to stare at the inebriated man across from her mumbling to himself.
"I think we're done, thank you," she said tiredly, handing him a few shillings, "Keep the change." He nodded appreciatively and left them once more.
"Woe is me," Will said, "Woe! My life is full of woe, dammit!"
"All right," Ana replied quickly when she spotted a few people turning in their chairs and glaring at them, "It's time to go, Mr. Turner. You're scaring the customers." She helped in out of his chair and let out a little "oooof" when he rested most of his weight on her, slinging an arm over her shoulders. She breathed in the night air when they made it out onto the street.
"Did I ever tell you about that one time when I saved Elizabeth from the cursed pirates on the Isla de…"
"Shut UP!" she shouted, stopping in her tracks, "Would you just SHUT UP ALREADY! I don't want to hear another word from you on our way back to the Pearl, savvy? Not one word. And if I do, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp!"
Will clamped his mouth shut and cleared his throat as they began their journey back.
* * *
Jack wasn't a happy pirate. Hell, he should have been: he had a wench in his lap kissing his neck with adoration. Like he was a fucking god. But over her golden locks, he stared at the table across the room. June sat casually in some bloke's lap, laughing and ordering them rounds of rum, one right after the other. Where did she get the money for that? She was already up to her sixth round, and there was at least fifteen of them surrounding her, nursing their individual drinks, gazing at her with their glazed over eyes as she told them one cock n' bull story right after the other.
The brown haired man smiled as she threw her head back and laughed that throaty laugh of hers from time to time, whenever one cracked a joke or complimented her. For the past ten minutes, Jack had watched him advance…he ran a few fingers through her hair and gently massaged her shoulderblades…every once in a while his hands would skim her pelvis and travel down her thighs. She seemed to be enjoying every moment of it.
"What's wrong?" the girl in his own lap asked, staring up at him in worry, concerned she wasn't pleasuring him right.
"Nothin's wrong," he replied in a strained voice, casting a wavering smile down at her. She smiled giddily back and got back to work, running her lips along his earlobe. Jack focused his attention back at the table.
The male stranger had his head bent down and was slowly kissing the crook of her neck! All the while she was talking animatedly like it didn't faze her.
Jack's blood ran cold and before he could stop himself, he stood up, accidentally sending his girl tumbling down to the floor. "I'm sorry!" she gasped in horror, "I'm new here so if I displeased you…"
Jack muttered while going threw his pockets and pressed a couple shillings into the palm of her hand. That got a small grin out of her and he said, "For yer trouble."
Swaggering over to June's chair, he said, "Oleander, let's go."
The fellow sitting with her lifted his head and growled, "Get your own, pansy."
June met his gaze and lifted her eyebrows, shooting him a look that read: I'm not movin', so whatcha goin' to do about it, mate?
Suddenly, Jack grabbed her arm and yanked her off of the man, sending her flailing into his arms. Pushing off of him, she shouted, "What the fuck is yer problem?"
The stranger got up out of his chair and unsheathed his sword. Jack did likewise. "You'll pay for messin' with me gel," the stranger warned, and they began to circle.
"Sparrow," June yelled, "You're actin' stupid!"
The man stopped in his tracks. "You're Sparrow?" he asked.
Jack puffed out his chest and said cockily, "That who I be, mate. And this woman you had your dirty mitts on is a member o' me crew. And I be wantin' her back, savvy?"
"Apologies," the man said with a slight bow, "I did not know the circumstances…"
June let out a growl of frustration and smacked Sparrow upside the head. "What…just because you're getting some means no one else can?! I'm through with you!" she slurred. She yanked on her coat and hat, and was about to head through the door when the bartender stopped her in her tracks, holding a pistol to her head.
"You owe me a great deal o' money, missy," he seethed, "For all that rum I've been supplyin' ye with. It's about time ye pay your tab."
June frowned, but that frown soon vanished and was replaced with a charming grin. "Oh, didn't you know?" she asked, batting her eyelashes, "That man over there agreed to pay me tab." She pointed straight at Sparrow. The bartender followed her gaze and met Sparrow's astonished stare. When they both glanced back at where June stood, she was gone.
"Here's what ye are payin'," the bartender said gruffly and handed Jack a worn piece of paper with scribble all over it. Jack, who had a great deal of alcohol himself, winced as he tried to make out what it said.
And when he finally made sense of the chicken scratch, his eyes almost popped out of his head.
"You've got to be kiddin' me!" Jack said angrily, "That was June's tab! I'm not payin' this!"
"You better!" the ugly, huge bartender growled, cocking his pistol at him, "I'm in no mood to play games. She said ye would, so get out your coin purse! NOW."
Jack muttered every single vile curse he knew under his breath as he reached for his coin purse, handed the satisfied bartender his money, even still as he stomped out into the busy streets of Tortuga and made his way back to the Pearl, blinded by rage.
Yes, June was going to die.
* * *
Uh oh! That doesn't sound good! Review please! And I will be forever grateful!
