Chapter 18: Never the Same

It had been weeks since the Angel docked at Tortuga and Cleo was beginning to go a bit crazy. She had been trapped in her small house with Barbossa for days. They had been at each other's throats the past few days. As a result, they stayed away from each other as much as possible. He often left in the evening and didn't return until early in the morning. One morning, he returned to the small house and Cleo was not there. It was impossible to determine where she had gone and she had left no note. Barbossa waited for her to return. He did not know that it would be such a long wait. Around midday, he began to worry. He knew well that Cleo could take care of herself, but it was odd for her to be gone so long.

Meanwhile, Cleo glared into the running water of the stream she had found. Last night after Barbossa had left Cleo left too. She had no intention of returning. She was tired of always fighting with him and knew that if she left the fighting would stop. It had been a hard decision, but she had made it with no second thoughts. Cleo had taken great care to make sure that she was not followed, but somehow Jack, Barbossa's pet, had followed her. He made curious chattering noises and gave her sad looks.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Jack. I have my reasons."

The little animal left her eventually, and ran back the way they had come. She knew that he was running back to his master, but it didn't matter much to her. He would never be able to lead Barbossa to her. At least, she thought he wouldn't. Sometimes Cleo wondered if the little creature understood what she told him, but knew that it was doubtful. Hours passed, but to Cleo it seemed like no time at all. A little chattering noise caught her attention. It sounded a lot like Jack. Sure enough, seconds later the little monkey leapt onto her shoulder. He bounced up and down and made loud chattering noises, like he was talking to someone. Heavy footsteps could be heard approaching the bank of the stream where Cleo stood. She stood and drew her pistol, ready for whatever was coming. A menacing shadow fell over her face that only the sparkle of her ice-blue eyes could pierce through.

As the unknown person came through the bushes, Cleo approached and put the barrel of the pistol to the person's throat.

"Angel…I mean ye no harm."

"What did you call me?" she asked, lowering her weapon and stowing it away.

"I called ye Angel."

"How did you find me?"

"Jack showed me the way. What are ye doin' out here?"

"I wanted to go where no one would find me. All I've done with you lately is fight, and I've finally gotten tired of it."

"Why didn't ye just say something to me?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry about putting my pistol to your throat."

"It's happened more times than ye think."

The two fell silent. Barbossa approached her and touched her face. He took her hand and walked with her back to the small house they shared. He lay with her on the bed, keeping her safely wrapped in his arms. Eventually, she fell asleep next to him. It was the first time in weeks that they had not fought. Barbossa removed his hat and laid back. He stroked Cleo's hair and watched her sleep. After a while, he fell asleep as well.

Hours passed and the two remained asleep in each other's arms. A loud banging at the door roused Cleo; she cursed Barbossa for being such a heavy sleeper. She picked up her pistol and cautiously answered the door. A bloody-faced man stood before her. What she could see through the blood was almost enough to stop her heart.

"Joshamee? What the hell happened to you?"

"We sailed to Port au Prince after we were attacked the first time. They found us there so we came back here. The Pearl is on the other side of the island. Jack's wounds are worse than mine. We need you, Cleo. Jack needs you."

"Of course he does… How many were killed?"

"Seven. Eight if we don't get back in time."

Cleo roused the sleeping Hector and told him what was going on. He agreed to stay behind and wait for her. She kissed him and disappeared into the forest with Gibbs as her guide. Once at the other side of the island, Cleo saw that the ship was floating closer to the shore than it should have been. She rowed back to the ship, allowing Gibbs to rest. It took a little while, but she accomplished the task. Cleo fastened the longboat to the ship and climbed aboard. Ragetti gave her a sad look and pointed towards the captain's cabin. She rubbed his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

The door closed softly behind her as she entered Jack's cabin. Cleo approached the bed and sat on the edge next to him. He didn't open his eyes to look upon his visitor; he just laid there breathing laboriously. She looked him over, removing his shirt to get at the injuries from which blood dripped. There were several minor cuts on his chest from sword blades, a pistol shot lodged in his thigh, a dislocated shoulder, and a terrible bruise on his side.

"Jack, I want you to listen to me. Don't try to move or go anywhere. I don't know what's bruised your side so badly, but I can guess. You were hit with something during one of the battles you were in and one of your lungs is bruised, which explains why you can't breathe so well. I'm going to do what I can about the shot in your thigh and your shoulder. I'll be back."

She left the room and commanded the crew to bring her the things from the surgeon's cabin. Cleo saw Crank, the old surgeon, dead near the starboard anchor. She took the tools brought to her; she ordered that they bring her a bottle of rum and a bucket of water. Pintel and Ragetti brought the items in to her and set them at her feet. After they were dismissed Cleo dipped a rag in the water and gently wiped the blood off of his chest. She felt him tense beneath her and smiled to herself.

"Jack, this will probably hurt. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that you won't feel anything." She said as she took hold of his shoulder.

He yelled curses at her as she jerked his shoulder back into place.

"Oh, hush you're going to be fine. What I'm going to do now is going to hurt a hell of a lot more. Here," she said, putting a dry rag in his mouth, "bite down on this. Just stop screaming at me."

Cleo laid out the surgeon's tools and soaked one rag with rum and another with water. She dabbed at the bullet wound with the alcohol-soaked one in an attempt to clean it. Then, she picked up the scalpel and made a tiny incision to make the wound open up a bit. The blood that poured from his open wound quickly soaked the rag she used to wipe it up with. Cleo picked up the tweezers and pried out the round shot. She picked up a needle and threaded it; she stitched the wound and cleaned up the remainder of the blood. Jack was reluctant to have the rag taken out of his mouth, but he let her have it eventually.

"Now, don't move until that bruise clears up."

"Thank you, Angel."

"You're the second person to call me that today, Jack."

"I wouldn't have lived without your help. You are a true angel."

"Aye, that's true. Get some rest, Jack. Oh, and don't let Hector hear you call me that. He wouldn't like it."

His response was a half-hearted nod and the closing of his chocolate colored eyes. Cleo smiled and left the cabin, telling Gibbs not to let him out of bed until the bruising was completely gone and his breathing was back to normal. The crew all thanked her, and then allowed her to leave. It was dark when she arrived back at her home. She found Barbossa asleep once more. Cleo sat by him and ran her fingers over the scar under his eye. The light touch made him flinch in his sleep. A shimmering object around his neck caught her eye; she pulled the chain from which the object hung off of him to inspect it. It was the ring she had given back to him so many months ago. Cleo wondered how long he had kept it around his neck. She noticed him stirring and placed the ring in his hand. His blue eyes opened and blinked at her a few times.

"When did ye get back?"

"Just a moment ago... Why?"

"I missed ye. I wanted to ask ye somethin'"

"First, I must tell you what kept me. Jack's injuries were worse than I had thought. He will live, as will the other injured crew members. Jack's a fighter and has quite a set of lungs on him…"

"What does that mean?"

"He yelled curses at me for a bit."

"Well, he got what he deserved."

"Hector, be kind. Now, what is it that you wanted to ask me?"

"I never thought that I would ask this question to anyone. Mostly because I didn't see meself as the type to ask it, but here I am." He said, sitting beside her and fingering the ring she had placed in his hand. "Cleo, will ye be my wife?"