"How's that other escape plan going, eh, Pete?" Jessie asked enthusiastically. It was beginning to get dark, and Jack still wouldn't talk. In fact, he hadn't moved for hours. The last time she'd tried to talk to him, he'd grunted and muttered some sarcastic remark. So, instead, Jessie decided to bother Pete and Grimes.
From the cell next to the one Jessie shared with Jack, Pete scowled. "Oh, shut yer trap, lass."
Jessie clucked her tongue and shook her head sadly. "Not to good, I take it."
Between clenched teeth, the man muttered, "I wouldn't even need an escape plan if it weren't for-" He turned away from Jessie and fixed his gaze on the man next to him.
"Pete?" Grimes asked, creeping slowly away from the other man, who was slowly advancing on him, an evil gleam in his eye. "Pete, what do ye think yer doing? Why are lookin' at me like that –Pete?"
Jessie sighed and slumped back against the wall. As she did, movement on the stairs caught her eye. The dog.
"Hey, Pete, I think you should put off killing your buddy just yet."
Pete stopped mid-step. "And why's that, eh?"
"You're gonna need him." Jessie pointed to the dog, which had just came into full view. He trotted over –the keys still in his mouth- and plopped down with a thump under the desk a few feet away.
Pete turned towards her pointing finger. As he began to recognize what he was staring at, a smile began to form on his dirty and grimy lips.
"Grimes, get the bone."
-: -: -: -: -: -: -: -: -
A few minutes later found Jessie flopped down on her stomach, her face cupped in her hands, and a bored glaze over her eyes.
"Ja-ck," She whined. "Talk to me."
The pirate grunted and pulled his hat down lower.
Jessie narrowed her eyes. "I liked you better when you were just a stand up in my room...At least then I could pretend you talked."
Lighting fast, Jack sat up straight and pushed up his hat. "When I was a what?!"
"Er…" She had realized she'd said that aloud. How was she supposed to explain the fact that she had a stand-up of Jack in her room? She decided to avoid the question.
"Whot?" She asked in a British accent that sounded good when compared to Amber's, but was put to shame when Jack spoke.
"Don't avoid the question, lass," Jack snapped. He looked at her skeptically through the corner of his eye; but instead of demanding an answer, he started thinking aloud. "You are a strange one, no doubt." His hands spun in front of him, moving with his words. "What with the clothes, the speech, the accent…" He shook his head. "And overall strangeness."
"I resent that," Jessie said haughtily, sitting up and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Is that how people always behave in St. George?" Jack asked with a bit off a sly tone to his voice that hinted a trap. Jessie didn't pick up on it, and the poor girl fell right into his trap.
"As a matter of fact, yes it is." Jessie said, fall backwards on the ground and peering up at Jack. "What?" She demanded, in response to his smug look.
"Here's a bit of a lesson for ye, lass: Pirates may not appear as if they are paying attention to what ever needs attention paid to it, but one does not become a pirate without paying attention to what ever need be paid attention."
"Eh?" Jessie grunted, not catching on.
Jack's smirk on grew bigger as he leaned in whispered, "Either the name of you port changes by the hour," He paused, brows furrowed, "-unlikely- or you were lying to me when you clearly stated you were from St. John or some other non-existent place made up on the spur of the moment."
Jessie sat up, supported by her elbows. "I was not!"
Jack only laughed, head back, shoulders heaving. Jessie had never seen anyone laugh like that before. She was still contemplating over it when Jack stopped and looked her in the eye again. "You're a bloody awful liar, luv."
"Don't I know it," Jessie sighed.
"You and your little friend," Jack stopped again, thinking. "Oh, what's-her-face, might be good enough to fool the eunuchy blacksmith," Jack stopped once more, appearing deep in thought. "Oh, what's-his-face, but you can't fool a pirate, lass." He smirked again. "Especially Capt-"
"Captain Jack Sparrow, I know," Jessie said. She was beginning to get nervous. Jack had saw right through her lie, and if he discovered the truth, who knew what would happen.
"So, I suggest you tell me the truth." He looked down his nose at her. "Why are you here?"
"Jack, as you always like to point out, you are a pirate. You may not be entirely bad, but you are a little self-centered. If it came to saving you and someone else, you'd save yourself time and time again." Jessie took a deep breath and released it before continuing. "So, if all that's true, why do you even care about me and my reasons for being here?" She let out another breath so deep it went through her, and collapsed on her back on the floor. She had rambled for as long as she could; hoping it had been enough to distract Jack.
It wasn't. He leaned over so he could breath into her ear, "Curiosity."
Jessie stopped breathing. When he had –or would- say the same thing to Elizabeth later on, he would use the word seductively. This time, though, he was only trying to get her all riled up, nervous and jittery, so she would tell him what he was curious to know.
Jack leaned up back up again, and didn't say anything. Jessie was still teaching her body how to breathe. In the silence, they could hear Pete and Grimes still tempting the dog:
"Here, doggie. Come get the nice juicy bone." Whistling, and then more words, said with a touch of desperation, "C'mere boy, C'mere boy." Then the two men whistled again.
"You can keep doing that forever, that dog is never going to move." Jack informed them. He had pulled his hat over top of his eyes again, and was ignoring Jessie. For now. The girl had no doubts about whether or not Jack would try to get the truth from her again. He knew she was hiding something, and he would find out what it was.
"Well, excuse us if we don't want to resign ourselves to the gallows just yet." Pete snarled back, all the while hitting Grimes on the back, telling him to 'try harder.'
Jessie got up and walked past Jack, to stare out the window. Some fresh air would do her some good. She found the mansion with her eyes, and wondered vaguely what Amber was doing. She turned out to look over the ocean. The salty sea breeze could barely be felt from here, but Jessie could imagine it tickling her hair and whispering nonsense in her ear. Despite herself, she began to get sleepy and her eyes closed…
The sound of canon fire startled Jessie out of her state of tranquility and she jumped. She would have fell backwards, had not Jack been behind her to keep her from falling.
"I know those guns," He whispered, pushing her back in an upright position and staring over her head out at sea, trying to get a look through the fog.
"Because every ship makes a different sound when firing canon balls," Jessie muttered sarcastically. "If you ask me, Jack, I think you just have a one-track mind."
Jack didn't answer, he was to busy trying confirm with his head what his heart thought. In the silence –for even Pete and Grimes had stopped their 'escape' plan- Jessie imagined that she could hear Norrington's desperate shouts from here.
"It's not a very welcome visitor, is it?" Jessie asked, though she wasn't really expecting an answer. It was a good thing, too, because she didn't get one.
"It's the Pearl," Jack breathed.
"The Black Pearl?" Pete asked, coming over and grasping the bars that separated their cells. "I've heard stories," He told Grimes, who had come up behind him. "She's been preying on ships and settlements for near ten years…Never leaves any survivors."
"No survivors?" Jack questioned. "Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?"
Pete's face fell, and Jessie laughed. "He got ya there, mate." She said, in what she hoped sounded like a decent accent. She worked pretty hard on it back at home.
Pete and Grimes couldn't see out the window. Jessie had known it was coming, but she'd forgotten. Only Jack saw the cannonball headed their way. Without a word, he turned and jumped back from the window, taking Jessie with him.
"You are so lucky you didn't land on me," Jessie warned, as Jack got up and dusted himself off.
"My sympathies, friends. You've no manner of luck at all." Pete told them. He reached through the hole and gestured Jessie over.
Jessie shot a nervous look at Jack, who gave her shove in the direction. "He's not going to bite," He said. "…I hope…."
Jessie stood before Pete hesitantly, and he took her hand. "Here, lass." He closed her fingers around something hard and smooth. "Maybe it'll work for you." With a nod of good-bye he climbed out of the hole and Grimes followed, laughing.
Jack walked over and rested his head against the hole.
"She need to work on her aim, doesn't she?" Jessie asked, remembering a Pirates drabble she had read about before this whole thing happened, grasping whatever it was Pete had given her tighter.
"Whot?" Jack asked, half-turning, his slightly British accent making him appear even sexier.
"The Black Pearl. She need to work on her aim." Jessie nodded towards the hole. "She was a little off –missed our cell."
Jack shook his head, as if he was fed up with her, but Jessie could tell he liked the thought. She sat down next to him, and examined the item she held.
"Oh, disgusting!" She shouted, throwing it to the ground. "You can have it, Jack."
Jack examined the object with interest. It was the bone.
"And I thought the man was a worthless ninny," He commented, picking up the bone and crawling over to the entrance of the cell. "Perhaps he gave ya something of use, lass."
Jessie rolled her eyes and made a 'go on' gesture. She didn't want to touch that bone again –who knew what kind of animal it came from.
Ignoring his own advice on the dog never going to move, Jack whistled. "C'mere, doggie."
The dog's head appeared from under the desk. Taking the small movement as encouragement, Jack kept coaxing him, "It's just you and me now…You and ole Jack…"
"Hello," Jessie waved a hand in front of his face, but she spoke softly, not wanting to disturb the dog.
"And the lass, here, whom will be shutting up right now so that you, doggie, can come closer."
Jessie glared at the back of the pirate captain's head before flopping down cross-legged and folding her arms over her chest.
The dog crawled all the way out from under the desk. Jack got more excited. "C'mon…That's it boy, come on…That's a good boy…" He kept sweet-talking the dog, sounding surprisingly patient. "…Bit closer, bit closer…That's it…That's it, doggie."
When the dog stopped merely feet –if that- away from Jack lost his patience.
"Come 'ere you filthy, slimy, mangy, git!"
A crash was heard, and the dog whined and ran off, taking the keys with him.
"No-no I didn't mean it!" Jack waved his arms desperately out of the cell, after the dog.
"Aha," Jessie said. "You insulted it, and now the doggie goes bye-bye." She was still a bit sour over earlier.
Jack glared at her with –if he would have been that immature- suggested he would stick his tongue out at her.
Both pirate and girl turned at the sound of footsteps that could be heard moments before a redcoat –clearly dead- tumbled down the stairs.
"This ain't the armory!" A pirate, the one Jessie seemed to remember as Twigg, shouted with an obvious amount of frustration.
"That it's not. Care to guess again?" Jessie piped up, drawing the pirates' attention the them. When neither answered, just crept closer in a kind of creepy way, she added a but nervously, "No one knows? Let me tell you: The building you are currently touring is the Port Royal jailhouse. But, don't worry – You can try again next time!"
"I'd advise you shut up now, lass," Jack said, his eyes studying the pirates. "These two wouldn't think about twice about slicing your pretty little throat."
Jessie's hands instantly flew protectively up to her throat and she fell back a few steps, away from the opening.
"Well, well, well," The pirate called Koehler said mockingly. "Look what we got here, Twigg! C'ptain Jack Sparrow." He sneered and spat at Jack's feet. Jack pursed his lips and looked insulted, though he was silent.
"Last time I saw you, you were all alone, on a God-forsaken island, shrinking into the distance." Twigg snarled, and added to Koehler, "His fortunes ain't improved much."
"He's not alone this time, though!" Jessie said defensively, feeling a bit safer now that she knew she was out of reach of the pirates…and their swords.
Koehler and Twigg on gave her a single mocking glance, before turning back to Jack when he began speaking. "Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen." He said, his voice gaining strength with every word. "The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers…and mutineers."
Koehler's hand instantly shot forward between the bars going for Jack's throat. Both Jack and Jessie –even though she knew they couldn't reach her- leaned back. In the moonlight, the hand at Jack's throat became skeletal.
"So there is a curse," Jack breathed, sounding a lot calmer then, oh, anyone else would have been. "That's interesting."
"That's freaky. Or strange. Unusual, maybeEven abnormal." Jessie listed off random words. "But certainly not interesting."
Twigg shot her a glare and made a slicing motion across his throat, causing Jessie to shudder and flinch away.
Koehler ignored her as he snapped; "You know nothing of Hell." He released Jack's throat with a jerk, and the two turned to leave the prison.
Once they were out of view, Jessie, feeling a bit safer, appeared beside Jack. She calmed herself with the idea of knowing he was there, as he examined the bone and muttered to himself, "That's very interesting…"