Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or plotlines of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction; I'd be off making money. Which I am not doing with this work. I do, however, lay claim to the characters of Genesis Wolfe and Rosalyn O'Brien, and would be pleased as punch if you did not use them without my permission. Thank you, darlings.
Author's Note:I think it has been fairly unanimous amongst previous readers that the last line of this chapter is a Fan Favorite. I still giggle when I read it, and I wrote it. Gotta love the Roz.
Chapter Seven: In Which Jack and Gen Continue the Jailhouse Rock
Genesis and Jack, along with the other prisoners, were glued to the barred windows, trying to catch a glimpse of the action outside. There was suddenly a whistling sound, and Genesis found herself caught around the waist by a strong arm and wrenched away from the window. She landed hard on the ground, something heavy landing on top of her. It took her a moment to realize that it was Jack shielding her from the blast, his arms covering her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut, hands gripping his shirt in alarm.
When it seemed that all falling debris had made it to its final resting place, Jack tentatively released his protective hold on her head, both of them looking toward the window cautiously. To their displeasure, their wall was intact, while their neighbors were pouring out of their new bay window.
"My sympathies, friends," one of the men said to them. "You've no manner of luck at all."
"Ladies and gents, the understatement of the century," Gen mumbled. She glanced at Jack, who was climbing off of her and looked crushed. "Oh, come now, Jack, it'll be all right. You look like someone just kicked your puppy."
"It's Cap-"
He paused mid-correction, turning away from her and walking to the edge of the cell. "Puppy."
Gen sighed as he picked up the bone from the neighboring cell, banging it against the cell. The dog, who had amazingly not fled at the explosion, stared at him.
"Come on doggy," Jack said. "It's just us now, come along…"
Gen leaned against the bars Jack was reaching through. "You said yourself that would never work."
Jack glanced up at her and grinned. "You know, if you were wearing a skirt, I might be able to see your --"
He was cut off by a light kick in the side; not enough to hurt, just enough to silence. "Bloody woman," he wheezed, turning back to the dog. "That's it, that's it doggy," he said. He growled in frustration. "Come on, you filthy, slimy, mangy cur!"
A resounding crash sounded from the stairs, and the dog took off. Jack panicked.
"No! No, no, no! I didn't mean it!" His shoulders dropped in defeat. He cast a sly glance at Genesis. "Must be a female."
She opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by the unconscious body of a soldier being tossed down the stairs, followed by two menacing-looking pirates.
"This ain't the armory," said one, looking around. Jack stood up, standing stiffly at attention.
"Well, well, well," said the second, darker one. "Look what we have here, Twigg. Captain Jack Sparrow." He eyed Genesis up and down lecherously, and she shrank away from the bars, stepping behind Jack. "And a little treat."
Twigg stepped up, spitting on Jack's boots. Jack wrinkled his nose and wiped his boot on the bars of the cell.
"Last time I saw you," Twigg hissed, "you were all alone on a godforsaken island, shrinking into the distance." He laughed, turning to the other pirate. "His fortunes ain't improved much."
"Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen," Jack said in an icy tone Gen hadn't heard him use before. "The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers."
Gen made a rather embarrassing yelp as the darker pirate lashed his arm out, grabbing Jack by the throat. The moonlight shone onto the pirate's arm, and flesh and cloth melted away to reveal nothing but a skeletal frame. Gen gaped, while Jack simply contemplated it.
"So there is a curse," he said softly. "That's interesting."
"You know nothing of Hell," the pirate growled, releasing Jack rather roughly. He stumbled back into Gen, who put her arms on his shoulders to steady him. They watched the pirates leave.
"That's very interesting," Jack muttered, rubbing his neck where the ghostly hand had held him.
He remained silent while Gen stared at him. She finally tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"What the hell was that?"
"Oh," he said, looking in the direction in which the pirates had gone. "They're cursed pirates."
"I'm so glad we met Jack, I'd miss so many details without you," Gen said, rolling her eyes. He smirked at her. "Do you know how? Or what the curse is?"
"I've heard a lot of stories," Jack said. "Not sure which one is true, if any."
"How about you tell me all of them?" Gen said, settling back down on the floor. She patted the floor next to her. "Not like we have much else to do."
Jack gave her a half-smile and plopped down beside her. She leaned against him, clearly craving his body warmth. He sighed and put an arm around her. It was a tad chilly, and if the lass wanted to get close, well, who was he to say no?
"Well, one theory says…"
Rosalyn grunted as she was pulled aboard the Black Pearl, landing in a rather unglorious heap of bluish gray cotton and lacy petticoats.
"Bloody dress," she muttered as she was pulled to her feet by someone. Whether it was a pirate or Elizabeth, she couldn't be sure. She gaped at a huge, dark pirate who had suddenly appeared, his skin riddled with strange designs and bumps.
"I didn't know we was taking on captives," the pirate, Bo'sun, said, his voice reminding Rosalyn vaguely of Mufasa. She pictured him suddenly with a mane, and had to suppress a snicker, despite their dire situation.
"She's invoked the right of parley with Captain Barbossa," Pintel explained with a smile that wasn't entirely genuine.
Elizabeth strode forward. "I am here to negotiate --" She was cut off by a harsh, back-handed slap from the giant pirate.
"You will speak when spoken to," he roared. Roz rushed forward to help Elizabeth, and he appeared ready to strike her as well, when his hand was grabbed from behind. The two women flinched, taking a step back, as Captain Barbossa came into view. He was eyeing the two women with a strange look in his yellowed eyes, and Elizabeth hugged herself, apparently feeling naked in only her nightclothes. Barbossa looked to Bo'sun.
"And ye'll not lay a hand on those under the protection of parley," he said smoothly, his eyes traveling back to the women.
Bo'sun looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth. "Aye, sir." He tore his arm from his captain's grasp and stalked off. Barbossa gave Elizabeth a chilling smile.
"My apologies, ladies," he said.
"Captain Barbossa," Elizabeth said, her voice cracking slightly. She cleared her throat and continued. "I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal."
"There are a lot of long words in there, miss," Barbossa said with a chuckle. "We're naught but humble pirates. What is it that you want?"
"I want you to leave and never come back."
Elizabeth's request was met by raucous laughter from the crew, and an amused sneer from Barbossa.
"I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request," Barbossa said. Elizabeth looked stunned.
"Means 'no,'" Roz said with a sigh. Barbossa eyed her for a moment, but his attention was caught by Elizabeth as she pulled the medallion from her neck, crossing to the railing of the ship.
"Very well," she said, with that air of indignation only the aristocratic can muster. "I'll drop it." She held the medallion over the edge, dangling it above the smoke-covered water below. Barbossa laughed uneasily.
"Me holds are burstin' with swag," he said, looking to his men for support in his charade. They nodded. "That bit o' shine matters to us? Why?"
"It's what you've been searching for," Elizabeth said, her confidence in her plan slipping away. "I recognize this ship. I saw it eight years ago on the crossing from England."
"Did you, now?" Barbossa said, raising an eyebrow.
"Fine," Elizabeth said, that aristocratic air popping up again. "Well, I suppose if it is worthless, then there's no point in me keeping it." Keeping a grip on the chain, she let the medallion drop a few inches. Rosalyn was released as all of the pirates lunged forward as if to catch the medallion. Elizabeth smiled, raising an eyebrow at the pirates' reactions.
"Ah," Barbossa said, chuckling at Elizabeth. "You have a name, Missy?"
"Elizabeth Turner," Elizabeth replied, giving a little curtsy that Roz thought was very out of place. "I'm a maid in the governor's household." The pirates began murmuring excitedly.
Barbossa nodded a strange glint in his eye, then suddenly glanced at Rosalyn. "And your companion?"
"Rosalyn O'Brien," she said quickly, eyeing Elizabeth.
"And you're also a 'maid?'" he asked, crossing over to her. The way he said it made Roz positive that he hadn't believed Elizabeth's lie.
"Yes," Rosalyn said, back away as her approached. She glanced at Elizabeth's filmy dressing robe. "She's wearing the correct uniform, though. Mine was at the cleaner's, so they gave me a dress. The governor likes us lacy."
Elizabeth glared at Rosalyn, while Barbossa laughed heartily. "A man after me own heart," he said, grinning at Rosalyn, whose insides twisted over themselves as she backed away from him. He turned back to Elizabeth. "And how does a maid come to own a trinket such as that? Family heirloom, perhaps?"
Elizabeth looked indignant. "I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean."
"Very well," Barbossa said. "You hand it over, and we'll put your town to our rudder and ne'er return."
Rosalyn ripped her arm from the pirate's grasp, moving to Elizabeth's side. "You don't want to do that," she whispered harshly.
"My duty lies with Port Royal," Elizabeth said with a dignified air. "If I have the ability to keep it safe, I'll use that ability."
Before Roz could protest, Elizabeth handed Barbossa the medallion. He grinned, and Elizabeth's proud countenance fell a bit. "Our bargain?"
Barbossa's smile went with him as he turned to walk away. Bo'sun began shouting commands to the others, and they began to make good to leave.
"I hate heroines," Rosalyn muttered as Elizabeth moved to follow Barbossa.
"Wait!" she shouted. "You have to take me to shore! According to the Code of the Order of the Brethren -"
Rosalyn rolled her eyes at Elizabeth's rambling, grabbing the gabbing woman and pulling her back as Barbossa whipped around to face her.
"First," he said in a tone that was half-amused, half-exasperated. "Your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement, so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate's code to apply, and you're not."
"He's right, you know," Roz said with a shrug. "Reading a book doesn't make you the scum of the seas, filthy water riders, disgusting -"
"And thirdly," Barbossa said sharply, giving Rosalyn a glare. "The code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, ladies." He eyed Elizabeth. "I suggest you begin listening to your friend."
"Take them down below," he said to Bo'sun with a poisoned smile. "Make 'em comfortable."
"I'm awfully comfy up here," Rosalyn said, yelping as the huge pirate grabbed both her and Elizabeth by the arm and roughly led them down into the heart of the ship, finally pushing them into a room and locking the door behind him.
"I think he fancies me," Roz said, looking at the locked door. She turned to Elizabeth, who was going to every nook and cranny of the room, looking for an escape. Rosalyn sighed, moving toward the large bed on the opposite side of the room and flopping down onto it. "You might as well give up."
Elizabeth whipped around in anger. "And why is that, exactly?"
"Because," Rosalyn said, crossing her legs and propping her head up with her hands. "One, there isn't any way out, other than that door. Unless you have a handy way of breaking through a wall, in that case, break away. And two, we are on a ship at least two hundred yards from shore, and everybody already saw your stupendous swimming ability earlier today."
"I was unconscious," Elizabeth snapped. "And I…you saw me in the water? The only ones there were soldiers…"
Rosalyn raised an eyebrow as a look of recognition passed over Elizabeth's pretty face.
"You're the soldier," she said quietly, staring wide-eyed at Rosalyn. "The one that Morgan woman grabbed. I knew I recognized you. You're…"
Rosalyn scowled as Elizabeth's eyes swept over her body. "I'm female, yes, thanks."
"But you were a soldier," Elizabeth muttered.
"I was disguised as a soldier. Much like I'm disguised as a maid right now."
"Disguised as a maid?" Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow. "Then what are you really?"
Rosalyn stared blankly at her for a moment. She looked like she was giving a look of surprised indignation, but really, she was racking her brain for a brilliant plot.
Ah-hah.
"Isn't it obvious?" she said, sitting up. "I'm clearly your bodyguard."
"My what?"
"Your bodyguard," Rosalyn repeated. "I was hired to protect you with my life."
Elizabeth looked incredulous. "Hired by whom?"
"Commodore Norrington," Roz replied quickly. "And your father."
"They sent another woman to protect me?" she asked. "What can you do that I can't do myself?"
Roz paused. Well, she was awfully good at making homemade paper…
"I'm psychic."
All right, not sure where that came from…
"You're what?"
"I can predict the future."
Any time would be a good time to shut up.
"Prove it."
Shutting up was never Rosalyn's strong suit.
"Well, it comes in spurts," Rosalyn said. "I can't just say what's going to happen…I see flashes of things."
"Can you see a 'flash' now?"
"Let's just say 'beware of the apple.'"
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. "An apple?" she asked flatly.
"Don't question my otherwordly authority, woman."