Title: Send Her My Love

Pairings: JS/OC, WT/ES

Overview: The Infamous Captain Jack Sparrow has had interesting acquaintances and activities in the past. This story is of a chain of many events that have gone awry, and come back to haunt him.

Disclaimer: As I've said before, what I own isn't much. And it's definitely not this.

A/N: I got revieeeews! -grins- It makes me really happy.
To LittleDragon, I am very pleased that I managed to bully you into reading this. I'm also glad that you're enjoying the story so much. -grins-
To Odette, and to Jackie, as you can see, I'm trying to be a bit more frequent with my updates. I'll try not to let you guys down, there's so much that needs to be done with this story! I cannot just leave it.
To HeavenlyKitten, I'll just mention now that I love your reviews. You're definitely right when it comes to the whole relationship thing, I agree with you completely. I've known to have made a fool of myself by pursuing some guy who doesn't have a care for me. It happens, and the hardest part is talking to them, the adrenaline rush is insane. I'm glad you liked the chapter, trust me, it's only going to get better and better.
As a note, due to the firewall I have which will try to block things, I'm just going to write everything up on the site. It may mean that things will take longer, but it'd be easier in the long term for me. That, and it's easier now that my Word doesn't work anymore. -sighs- I hate Word. Oh, and I'm rather quite surprised that my last chapter was so long. It's nearly twice as long as some of my earlier chapters, so I guess that should make up for the delay in posting it.
Enough of my grousing! To the next installment!

Chapter Sixteen: Unusually Hard To Hang Onto
Where Jack is brought up to speed, and a new course is set in place. A toast to pursuits!

Payton was dreading returning to the ship. When she walked off the gangplank, there was so much tension, and so much awkwardness in the air, it was all but suffocating her. She really had no idea how to react around Jack, and what was worse, he seemed to feel the same way. He was all but avoiding her, which made her question his willingness to accost her at every turn. What was this game he was playing? And what did this mean with how he was all over her in the hold?
She growled as she paused against a random building. Why did he have to make things so difficult? Why? Was it really necessary that he only serve to confuse matters further, regardless of the progress (or lack of progress) being made? And how was she to know if he really cared at all about her? She sighed, righting herself and continuing walking to the Faithful Bride, continuing to think over everything that was on her mind. Ana seemed to think that Jack was interested in her, but the proof that she gave... it wasn't enough for Payton. She could see what Ana was getting at, it wasn't too hard once it had been pointed out. But what it was that Payton needed was for Jack to tell her, face to face, exactly what he was feeling. She was so scared that he didn't feel the way she did, or that maybe he'd laugh at her for her foolish fantasy. All she wanted was to be loved.
Is it really that much to ask for?

Jack watched Payton leaving the Pearl, a sinking feeling in his gut, which he ignored, pushing it out of his mind. He cursed himself for not having the guts to talk to her, not being able to admit to what he was feeling. Which he wasn't feeling. No, of course not. Because Captain Jack Sparrow goes from port to port, from woman to woman, as free as his namesake.
Except for now.
He was so afraid when Calico Jacques had boarded, and demanded Payton as payment for the girl who was "lost". Jack didn't even stop to think, reacting so quickly that he didn't know what he was saying. Instants like that will show you what you care for, and who you care about. He couldn't place what it was he was afraid of, but the idea of loosing her caused his gut to clench and a wave of nausea to roll over him. Jack growled, and clenched his hand against the rail. How he had become so dependant on some slip of a girl was beyond him, but she made his very blood boil. He was frightened to find that his thoughts were changing. He paced the ship, infuriated, and somewhat confused at how this all came to be. Somewhere along the lines, he stopped wanting an evening's entertainment. He'd rather settle for time with her. Everything blurred, and emotions were becoming more complex. Everything was getting more complex. Before it was a simple matter of getting gold, rum, and a willing woman, any woman. Now... he was tethered, held to a woman who was the most confusing he had ever encountered. Even Ana was straightforward by comparison, and that was a laugh. It had been much more simple before, before he had been hired to take her across the ocean. Why had they even been in England that day? It wasn't like him to sail that far north of the equator, but the compass... Ah yes, of course, the compass. It had pointed, and he had gone. He had been looking for treasure, and gold, and to forget. And he had found the gold. And a means to forget. He had gotten so tied up with Payton that it was as if the past three years hadn't even happened. Forgetting was bliss, but a bliss that he probably couldn't indulge in. Not when running away was his way of life.
Running from her didn't work. She followed him, even when she wasn't there. His mind mutinied, replaying the times before she left, the memories driving him mad. He remembered all the almost moments, where he almost did something, then would hold back, afraid to scare her off. She had been so very timid. Now he cursed himself for not doing anything. When they had been in the hold... he knew that it would've gone further. If only that blasted crew member hadn't interrupted them, looking for nails was he. Jack clenched his fist, lost in his revere, thinking thoughts of how he would punish the crew member for interrupting what he wanted to do to Payton. Then his thoughts turned to what he planned to do to Payton, which would make her blush, he was sure of that.

Payton had gone to the Faithful Bride, nodding to the barkeep on her way in, ignoring the excessively loud drunken brawl happening in the main room. Instead, she went up to the bar, and asked to speak with the innkeeper. Moments later, a portly man, with thining gray hair appeared from a door behind the bar. A thin sheen of sweat rested on his face which he wiped at with a mottled cloth, which may have at one point resembled something which was white.
"Oi lass, ye called fer me?"
Payton's face lit up in a smile at his familiar tenor. "Iain! How has business been?"
"Well enough, well enough. Can't complain. Now, what be what ye be wantin'? Ye've never come afore simply for a chat."
She chuckled. "Aye, you'd be spot on with that'un. Did ye kept my room?"
"Nay lass, I couldn't have afforded to." At her pout, he held up a hand to stall any complaint she may have had. " 'Owever, I did get yer things afore I let the renter in." Iain turned his back to her, and ducked down to rummage below the bar, narrowly missing a chair leg which flew from the bar fight behind the two of them. "Bloody pirates..." He muttered as he stood back up straight, groaning and holding his back. " 'Ere ye go lass, all the things ye left in yer room." He held out a crude brown sack, but pulled it back as she reached for it. "Ye haven't payed me fer yer stay yet lass. I'll not be forgetting that detail so easily."
Payton sighed. "No, I figured not. You're as sharp as a tack when it comes to anything to do with money." Reaching into her shirt, she pulled out a leather drawstring pouch. Iain's eyes had bulged when he saw her reaching down her shirt, but quickly controlled his reaction as she pulled out a couple shining gold coins. "That should cover it, aye?"
He nodded mutely. Payton pressed the coins into his palm, and then pulled her bag out of his nerveless hand. That got his attention enough to hide away his coins before some pirate was attracted by the shiny objects. One thing you could trust about pirates was that they were just like magpies, easily distracted by the glint of something that sparkled or shone.

Jack was right to worry. The Helio, though badly damaged, did have an alternative source of movement aside from the sails. At Calico Jacques' furious command, oars were run out from the bowels of the ship to propel the ship toward Tortuga. It was not like Calico Jacques to give up easily, and this time would be no different than any other.
The worst part of all was that the Helio was making exceptionally good time, even if they were starting the race behind the Black Pearl. With the two sails that still remained intact where catching a stiff tailwind, and the ship was skimming lightly along the top of the water at seven knots, nearly two knots faster than what they could manage without the oars. The dull pound of the drums punctuated by crewmen shouting in unison was nearly all that could be heard. Days pass, and Calico Jacques insists to keep the insane pace up, barely allowing his crew any rest. He took none himself.
At the helm, Calico had a mad look in his eye, and was muttering of murder and other foul deeds. As the sun set overhead, Calico walked to his cabin, but only after spying Tortuga in his spy glass.

Somehow Payton had managed to get drunk. Which was completely unlike her, she knew the dangers of getting drunk in Tortuga of all places, surrounded by pirates. This was the first time she had been drunk too. Not to say that she hadn't drunk before, but never in this quantity. Before Payton would have questioned her sanity, but since she was so drunk right now (and she hadn't been even buying the alcohol), she didn't have a thought floating in her drink sodden mind.
Beside her was a man laughing. Payton couldn't even make out his face, let alone thinks of his name. He stunk of stale sweat, rum, and something which she really didn't want to think about. At this point, as the man reached out to feel up her chest, she began to come back to sanity. Deftly avoiding the hand, quite a feat for someone as inebriated as she, Payton stood, swaying dangerously. It was late night, or early morning, and she saw none of the crew that she knew. The only thought in her fuzzy mind was that she had to get out, get away. Stumbling, she removed herself from the repulsive pirates presence, unsure why she even was with him to begin with. He protested, and she ignored him. He was even more drunk than she, as he tried to stand, he passed out onto the table.
Without a backwards glance, Payton left the Faithful Bride, attempting to find a way to get back to the Black Pearl, alone in the dark.

Calico was nothing if not shrewd. He knew that in order to get his property back, he would have to have men rested in order to take on the skeleton crew that would be aboard the Black Pearl. And he would have to have crew rested in order to find the Black Pearl. It was not as if the foolish girl would just fall into their hands.
Or would she?
Calico was momentarily distracted as he saw a staggering girl making her way from the centre of Tortuga to the docks, turning about as if lost. The light from a nearby torch illuminated her face for a moment, and Calico recognized his prize. If he could not have the girl he had been promised from England, than he would simply subsitute Sparrow's woman, and call it even. A maniacal chuckle escaped his lips as he signalled to his crew to retrieve the defenseless Payton as she staggered closer and closer to the Black Pearl.

Payton was moving more and more slowly, inching toward the Black Pearl with her odd shuffling, staggering gait. "C'mon, don't pass out now, we're so close..." She was muttering to herself, oblivious to the danger she was in. Skulking behind her were six of Calico Jacques men, poised to strike as she finally came into view of the Black Pearl.
Gibbs was sitting out on a barrel, drinking from his flask which he always held with him. A few of the crew of the Black Pearl remained behind on the ship, but Jack and the vast majority were in Tortuga, boozing their troubles away, or buying company for the night. Gibbs looked up to see Payton staggering toward him.
"Payton?" He called to her, yet she didn't seem to notice. She paused, looking around for something. Gibbs moved closer to her. "Are ye alright there lass?" He started to notice dark shadows moving closer to her. "Payton, come here."
He heard her scream as the shadows descended, and rushed forward to help her. He was too late, they were dragging her away, and he didn't notice the shadow behind him which was not his own. A swift rap to the head, and Gibbs felt the floor rising to meet him.

The morning dawned, bright and clear. It would be another beautiful Carribean day. Captain Jack Sparrow was in an elated mood. After drinking the night away with rum, he had awoke to find himself in a room, without a hangover. Given that he couldn't remember anything from the night before, he took this as a good sign as he sauntered back to his ship, hoping that perhaps the woman who had snared his senses would be waiting for him.
Presently, he found himself staring at a man lying face down on the dock.
Gibbs groaned as he became aware of how hard the dock really was, and felt a shadow fall over him. Looking up, he saw the bemused face of his captain.
"Mister Gibbs. May I inquire as to why you seem to enjoy sleeping in the middle of the dock?"
Gibbs hastily stood up, and dusted himself off. "Capt'n! The lass, she was taken!"
Jack instantly sobered. "Taken? When, by who?" It took all his control not to shout.
"I couldn't see anyone clearly, but my guess would be Calico Jacques came for her. Rumor was that the Helio was spotted shortly after we were."
"With the amount of damage done to her? Impossible! They could never have ... unless..." Jack's expression grew even more dark.
Gibbs looked perplexed. "Capt'n?"
In a grave voice, Jack continued his thought. "Rumor was that Calico used to be a slaver, and his ship still has the oars from that godforsaken trade."
"That would explain how they got here so fast Capt'n, but why would they be after her? Unless they know...?"
Jack shook his head resolutely. "Nay, they couldn't have! Where did they head Mister Gibbs?"
"I couldn't see Capt'n. One 'em snuck up behind me, knocked me flat on me face." Gibbs massaged his aching head.
"No matter." He pulled out his compass, and it pointed clearly nearly the instant he pulled it out. "Then we set sail... to the north!"
"Aye Capt'n!"

There! All done yet another chapter! Please review for me, and I'll get seventeen up as soon as I can.