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.
Chapter 14: In Which Jack and Gen Have Some Déja Vu
Bo'sun easily dragged Jack and Genesis down to the lower deck of the ship, throwing them in cells across from one another before growling and grumbling something about women and Jacks before mounting the stairs.
"Apparently there's a leak," Jack yelled to him, only to be answered by the slammed door. He frowned, then moved to look out the window. Gen paced through the ankle-deep water for a moment, then unleashed her frustrations on the cell door, pushing and punching and scratching with a stream of curse words and feral screams. Jack turned to watch, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm sure Barbossa's mother isn't that bad," he quipped. She stopped her tantrum, cheeks flushed in her anger, and stumbled back from the cell door until her back hit the wall. She slumped, head hanging down, her wavy hair covering her face. Jack sighed, leaning forward against the cell door, arms looped through the bars. "So, that was Rosalyn, I take it?"
"Yeah," Gen said in a tired voice. "That's Roz."
"She looked attractive."
"I'll be sure to tell her you said that when Barbossa's making us walk the plank." Gen looked back up, then smiled a little. "Remember that soldier I held hostage back at Port Royal?"
"Aye."
"That was Roz."
Jack grinned. "Impersonating a naval officer?" he said, amused. "Sounds like my kind of girl."
"Save it," Gen said, pushing her hair back out of her face. "You're not her type. She's likes them tall, kinda dirty…huh."
"What?"
"I wonder why she doesn't like you."
"I'm not dirty."
"Yeah, neither is topsoil."
Jack's mouth opened to retort, but he threw his hands up in defeat, returning to the window. A thud sounded from somewhere, followed by a strange whistle Genesis had heard elsewhere before.
"Jack! Down!"
He followed orders and hit the water as a projectile flew threw the wall and his cell door. He got to his feet, arms waving madly. "Stop blowing holes in my ship!" He turned around, looking at the damage to the cell. Whatever was blown threw the ship (it wasn't quite round enough to be a cannon ball) had also blown the lock right off his cell, and he swung the door open tentatively. He grinned as he stepped through.
"Jack."
He looked into Gen's cell, and her face was blank as she stared at her lock, which was still intact. She looked up at him, aqua eyes wide. There was that innocent little girl look again. He growled in frustration, looking around helplessly. Barbossa held the keys, he was sure of it. He grabbed the door, shaking it harshly before finally giving up and looking back up at her. He scowled.
"Just come back, if you can," she said softly. "I know, the code and all. But if you can…"
His face was devoid of expression for a moment, sizing up the young woman before him. Locked in a cell, accepting her fate, simply requesting that, if he could, he would save her. She wasn't pleading, wasn't begging. Simply requesting. He glanced at her hands; she was holding the bars of the cell so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She was terrified, but she wasn't pleading. He frowned, laying a hand over hers. She nodded, knowing he'd never promise it, but knowing he may try.
"Go," she said. "You've got some swashbuckling to do."
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Rosalyn slammed her fists against the door of the room, yanking roughly at the doorknob between blows. It suddenly opened, and she stumbled back, tripping over her skirts and ending up on her read end, staring up at Barbossa. She scrambled to her feet as he shut the door behind him.
"Temper, temper, Miss O'Brien," he said in silky tones. He glanced at the door he had come from. "It seems that you are acquainted with our latest guest...Miss Morgan, was it?"
"No," Roz replied, glaring. "I just like screaming 'Gen!' at high tension moments."
"She seems to know you," Barbossa went on, ignoring her sarcasm. "She seems awfully determined to save your pale hide. Nigh desperate, I'd say."
"I'm not -" she paused, glancing at the skin on her arms which was, indeed, quite pale, in defeat. She looked up at him curiously. "How desperate?" Please, tell me she hasn't done anything stupid.
"She and her Jack Sparrow are locked in the brig," Barbossa explained. "After she helps me to lure in her brother, she and Jack will be rewarded with a lovely holiday complete with their own private island." He chuckled at his own wit, while Roz looked away, even as her mind questioned that 'brother' bit.
"You're going to maroon them."
"Nothing slips by you, Miss O'Brien." He smiled coldly and slipped back out of the room to the sounds of cannon fire. Roz tried to pull the door open again to find it locked. She moved away from it, finally slumping to the floor as the air began to fill with smoke and the sounds of battle.