Sorry for the late update…

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"Bugger."

Jack muttered, dropped his hand from Chris's shoulders and took out his spyglass to have a look. Sure enough, there was a ship on their tail. A ship flying the colors of the East India Trading Company.

No, not good.

Chris suddenly snatched the spyglass out of his hands to look for herself. But she didn't let go of her two bottles of rum, so she was balancing the spyglass in her hands in a funny way, trying not to let the bottles fall. If the ship wasn't gaining on them quite fast, which surprised but also quite terrified Jack, given the fact that the Pearl was supposed to be the fastest ship around, he would even laugh at the sight of Chris.

"Mr. Gibbs!"

"Aye, Cap'n."

"Do we have full canvas?"

"Aye, sir."

"Bugger."

The Company's ship was soon in range. Jack was busy at the helm, trying with all his skills and experience to avoid the cannonballs. Still, the Pearl was taking a hit every now and then, and Jack jerked every time his beloved Pearl took a hit. The crew was busy loading their own cannons and returning fire and the rest of them was just holding on the deck for the time being, preparing for the face-to-face fight. Gibbs was busy ordering everyone around and Chris just stood next to Jack.

"Ain't this supposed to be the fastest ship?" She asked sarcastically, half drunk.

Jack shot her a dangerous look, took the bottle from her hand and drained it. This was quite a desperate situation. Without the advantage of being faster, Jack knew the odds didn't look very good given that the Company's ship had about twice the crew he had and if they boarded them… But he definitely wasn't going to give up the Pearl without a hell of a fight. Chris drained the second rum bottle, gave Jack an encouraging look and went to join the rest of the crew preparing to fight.

The next thing Jack knew, the Pearl was being boarded. Swarms of Company's men were suddenly on board. He saw Chris fighting three at once but then had to shift his attention to the men that got to the helm to him. Jack managed to kill the first one very quickly but then suddenly there were four more. One of them succeeded in slashing Jack's arm deeply and he let go of his sword and clutched his arm in pain. The sailor looked satisfied. Suddenly there were five men cornering Jack. He shot them all a grin and asked innocently, "Parlay?" When the crew saw their captain was taken they surrendered at once. Not that there were too many of them left. On the other hand, there were also quite a few dead bodies of the enemy. Chris's nose was bleeding and her arms were covered in small bleeding scratches. Gibbs had a deep cut in his right thigh and Cotton's parrot was short of its tail feathers. All the remaining crew was brought on board the Company's ship. In the middle stood a smaller but very importantly looking man with a satisfied look on his face. Both Jack and Chris were roughly shoved before this man.

"Well, well. If it isn't our lovely couple again. I sail to Port Royal and look what I find."

Both Chris and Jack sobered up this very instant. Cutler Beckett. Jack twisted his lips in disgust.

"Well, well, if it isn't out beloved Cutler again." Replied Chris sarcastically with hatred in her voice.

"Oh yes, I share your feelings, my dearest former fiancée."

"What?" Jack's jaw fell open when he turned to Chris.

"Ah, I see you have a lot to talk about." Beckett had an evil smile on his face. "Chain them together, so they can share their mutual feelings and lock them in the brig. Oh and Christina, your father died two days ago."

The men did so and Jack found himself in the cell chained to Chris. The rest of the crew was in a separate cell.

"That's interesting." He said, trying to make Chris talk. Meanwhile he untied the bandana he had around his waist and tied it around his cut arm instead. Chris said nothing, but sat down. The chain joining them was short, which jerked Jack to the floor with her. He muttered something angrily, positioned himself comfortably and watched Chris.

"So?"

"So?"

"So I see yer still keep secrets from me, luv. Yer never told me yer loved ol' Cutler." He said mockingly.

"'Cause I didn't love 'im."

"Alright."

Chris sighed.

Why does the stupid 'istory 'as a 'abit of catchin' up with me?

"Alright. Back in Tortuga, when ya found me. I didn't tell ya the whole truth."

Surprise surprise.

"My real name is Christina Mackenzie. My grandfather is one of the founders of the bloody East India Company. One day a new man was 'ired by the Company. And me father liked 'im and thought it would be a smart match for me so 'e promised me to 'im. I ran away. I 'ated 'im. Them. Both. But me father still 'oped that if the Company fetches me back, he can change me "back to normal". That´s why I was never 'anged or branded a pirate even though I was caught. But now me father died…" Chris trailed off. She hated her history. She hated who she has once been. A lady in dresses. No freedom.

"That's interesting." Was all Jack managed to say when he picked up his jaw from the floor.