A Good Place to Land


Say the first thing that
Comes into your head when you see me
If it looks like it works and it feels like it works
Then it works

With the sun on your face
All these worries will soon disappear
Just follow me now.

-WOW by Snow Patrol-


The crew was rowdy and livened by the spotting of early land, the land that had been rumored all through the night to house the steepest treasure they'd seen yet. They were relaxed in the rigging and across the deck, awaiting Jack's wake so that they could be given commands for preparation ashore. The sprawling green hills and white stone beach of Clare Island was a sight to be seen, one many of the men knew simply from having been bred in these waters. It was home to more than just Eva it seemed.

And while the men lolled around disheveling the rum supply and telling dirty jokes, she was listening to it all with humor as she stood in front of a small mirror in the corner of Jack's cabin. She had dressed in more of his clothes and pillaged through his chests looking for what else she needed. She had scoured a ragged old green sash of his and tied it about her tiny waist, same as he always did with his. She found an old pair of boots, small enough for her feet, as well as a used shift of fabric that she tied around her head as a bandana to hold her long hair from her face.

She smiled at herself, peeking out from under the blue cloth. With dramatic emphasis as if she were performing on a stage, she pressed one hand to her heart and threw the other about in the air silently, whispering out at herself.

"Oh…Evangeline…you are the most turbulent pirate in all the world." She giggled a little and turned back to see Jack stretched across the bed and passed out, clueless. Her acting continued as she spoke his imagined words. "You put every scallywag from here to Iceland to shame! You are my one…true…love…"

Jack moaned a little with his face pressed into the sheets at the end of the bed. Dill was nuzzled close to his thigh, having obviously grown attached to him with her absence, and she shook her head at the pair of them. When they began to stir though, she took one last glance with a laugh in the mirror before grabbing Jack's sword off of the table and tiptoeing for the door. When she pulled it open a crack, she turned her face back and smiled at him lovingly but with ferocity, and then growled at him with a bite of her jaw.

"I'm going to make you wish you'd left me for dead, Captain Sparrow."

A wide grin covered her face as she stumbled out onto the bright deck. The slam of the door woke both Jack and Dill at the same time, without her knowing it.

Eva saw men everywhere, doing nothing but finding drunken activity and amusement in the morning sunlight. She could see the lucky Irish coat off to a short distance and smiled with a homely excitement. It had been far too long since she'd been back. But there was something else she was interested in, a test of sorts, something to prove herself to the lazy men wandering about in front of her.

A few of them smiled but she sneered and walk straight ahead, stomping her boots toward the mast. The men were a little more than curious about the heady sword in her hand, the one they recognized as Jack's. She carried it well, having been trained by the same pirate as him, Teague. But it was an odd sight to behold nevertheless and a few of them began laughing out at her.

She spun to the drunken chuckles and growled under her breath with a point of the sword at them.

"Something funny gents?"

They kept on humoring themselves with her until she pressed the end of the blade into one of their chests.

"I said…" her voice loud and beckoning, none too dissimilar from someone else. "…is something funny to ye?"

She had picked up and studied Jack's tone and vocabulary well enough to frighten the man beneath the sword.

"Nothin' lassie."

"Captain." She argued with a forceful pinch of the sword into his chest. "That's Captain Marley t' you."

The heavy, dirty man choked on his breath and nodded fast at her. To which she released him and began storming around in a circle at the rest of the still crew. Gibbs stood off at a distance, laughing under his breath at her, well entertained and impressed for that matter.

"Well then, are ye all just going t' stand round and drink yerself onto th' shore today?!"

She heard a few no's, saw a number of shaking heads and even some slow moving feet. Inside she was smiling, and with a step forward to a large huddle of men, she barked out at them.

"Then get t' work! Swing th' lead, ye scurvy dogs!"

Three dozen pairs of haggard legs scrambled to as she neared each of them with the sword and following them until they were all set into work again.

"I want movement, smartly! Th' motherload awaits you rancid bilge rats!"

They worked fast to prepare the boats for shore, grabbing at oars and lines like crazy, in fear for their livelihood. Eva scampered about proudly, tossing Jack's sword with perfect footing in the open air of the fresh Ireland morning. She cackled out with more practiced commands and thrust her tiny, piratical form at as many men as she could to put the fear in them she wanted.

But while this went on, she hadn't taken the time to notice anyone standing at an idle, probing distance. When the crew stilled with a united turn and attended stance, hands raised for salute, she giggled.

"My, my…have I made such a true impression on you men already?"

A loud, throat clearing, attention gaining cough bellowed over her head and her eyes grew wide.

Eva scowled at the men before her with a twist of her brow anxiously.

"Traitors."

She whispered under her breath at them as she felt the sword in her hand torn away. A firm arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her from the deck, the blade sharp at her neck.

"I believe you're impugning me honorable duty, darling."

She smiled against the choke of the sword and the squeeze of his arm as the men chuckled at her.

"What else can I say? I wanted to know what it felt like to crew grown men instead of children."

Jack shook his head with a low laugh and carried her away from the men, and all towards the readied boats.

"Gibbs! Marty! Cotton! We're going ashore!"

The three men scurried close on his heels, anxious to go wherever the treasure and Jack would be.

He looked back before watching Eva descend the ladder for the boats. "Wooden eye and…friend too."

Pintel and Ragetti ran ahead and climbed down after Eva and got into the boat with Marty and Gibbs. Jack gave strict orders of the remaining crew, leaving no one in particular in charge, and then descended himself. He slid into the second boat beside Eva, still shaking his head at her but smiling in the process. She grinned nervously with shaking knees as Cotton rowed them away from the Pearl and in the direction of land.

Jack, uncaring of what Cotton couldn't speak against what he saw anyway, brought his hand to lightly clutch onto Eva's trembling knee. She looked up at him innocently.

"Impressive show, Captain Marley."

She bit her lip. "Are you mad? I just wanted to finally show them I wasn't an incompetent island girl."

Jack sighed with a laugh and toyed with her stolen green sash.

"Believe me, anger does not rule me mind at the moment. Something quite th' opposite actually."

Eva turned her eyes up at him with a spirited glow. She saw his light up seductively.

"Aha." She nodded with a giggle as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I guess I'll have to remember that for later then?"

"Oh, please do." He nipped back towards her lips before she pulled away, tempting him only further when he saw that she had somehow managed to slip her hand into his coat and snatch the map inside.

Jack laughed and watched her unfold it across her lap.

"Nice lift. Pirate."

She smirked and traced the lines on the map she remembered from what seemed so long ago.

"I knew you stole this from the book." Eva looked at him quick. "Thief."

"Dare I ask wot' poor soul ye stole it from before me?"

"I bartered it." He tilted his brow with an even more impressed grin. "From a passing sailor in a tavern at the Cove."

"Hmm…" he twisted his dingles and stared at the coming shore. "…barter ye say?"

She could hear the wonderful curiosity in his voice and what path his mind had already headed down.

"Not that kind of barter, I assure you."

"Oh, well…" he chuckled and reached back to pinch her bottom when she yelped. "…I pity th' bloke then."

"Never mind my hobbies in Shipwreck…" she handed him the map, "…I think we should hunt out the fort. It will be in the center of the island, probably hidden well with age."

"Aye, the fort. Th' one her husband built for er'."

Eva caught his eyes in surprise. "You read the book? You didn't tell me that."

"Secret well kept s'all."

She brushed it off with a crooked eye back to the beach as the boats jetting into the wet, mossy rocks. The men jumped out and Jack helped lift Eva out to keep her from having to wade the sloshed shore. He was less than concerned with what any of his best men thought, and even shocked her by twisting his fingers through her hand.

Eva said nothing about it but felt her heart skip a beat at the public gesture. Well, the somewhat public gesture. The Clare Island coast was completely deserted save for the white stones and green sea grass. She could smell the clover growing at a distance as its scent swarmed in the air and she smiled wide with Jack pulling her along.

"We're after a fort mates. Should be stone built, somewhere in this mess o' green."

"Aye, sir." Gibbs nodded up at the high hills.

"Are we splittin' up?"

Jack thought about it with a scratch of his chin and agreed.

"Yeah. Eva an' I will take t' the North end. The lot o' ye follow South."

"And if we come across it?"

"Meet back at th' boats when th' sun hits three o'clock."

They all nodded at him and grabbed some of the supplies and canteens they'd brought. Eva was surprised at Jack's hand still holding her and even squeezing lightly a few times. She watched the other men turn off to the south and felt him tug at her hand, bringing her back to focus.

"Tagging along or sitting this one out, lass?"

She sneered at him with a tight grin.

"As if I would let you find my treasure without me."

"Oh…you're treasure o' course. Ow' could I forget that detail?"

"I haven't a clue." Eva twisted her lips at him. "But don't do it again."

He pinched her cheek with his free hand and pulled her down the beach, heading for a fading, aged path that started at the thick grasses. They walked together, pointing out other distant islands on the horizon, or ship roaming on the far hills, or simply laughing at one another's fight for control of the pace. Eva would rip at his arm with all the power in her bones, and then Jack would jeer ahead on the path and nearly tear hers off with twice the force. Eva would try to trip him when he wasn't paying attention, and he would dive feet from the ground, before he rose again and purposefully stamped her boot toe.

It went on for miles of beach and coastal hiking, with playful slaps and tricks, shoving and mocking. And while they were caught up in each other's childish skill, they never even noticed the tall stone tower approaching their walk over the massive hilltop. Eva was walking backwards with an eye watching him after he'd pinched her bottom for the last time, and laughing at the way he talked amorously about his ship, as if it had been born of his own impossible womb, when Jack spotted the fort at the bottom of the hill.

He grinned at her wickedly, trying to decide which view was better, Eva or the castle.

Of course he knew the truth.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He gave a corner smirk and nodded behind her. Eva spun back to see the view he'd hidden from her for who knew how long. She stopped dead in her tracks with her hands covering her mouth and eyes wide with excitement. She couldn't breathe or think, but she felt Jack step in behind her and wrapped his arms around her with his chin resting on her shoulder. The sprawling view matched with the warmth of him was enough to kill her.

"I love it when legends turn out t' be true."

She smiled at his voice on her ear and held onto his arms at her waist.

"I'm sure that's what most people say about you."

"Dangerous ground t' flatter a pirate, Eva. But…your legend is fast rushing th' oceans as we speak, m'sure."

She turned in his arms, pulling on his hands as they moved down the hill. Eva whispered back saucily.

"Guess I better do it justice then and find this O'Malley gold, huh?"

He nodded, watching the way her hips shifted in his breeches and her breasts under his shirt. He had to bite his lip just to stay focused long enough to accomplish something for the day. Most of all, Jack was just glad to see she'd gotten her spirit and rebel will back. It's what destroyed him, but it's what he needed of her.

They strolled down the hill as quickly as they could without falling into a tumble together. The fort was larger than any sketch her book had provided, but the detail of a the black water surrounding it was true, as well as the thick grass and half dark, half brightened skies above. The tall, cylindrical castle was magnificent, and even more so when they actually made it to the level of the windows and doors. Eva stared up at it in utter wonderment, drawn in like a child living out a fantasy and Jack adored the smiles it left on her face.

They investigated the entire outer property of it, testing its limits to the water and coast, until the air started to get wet and cold in the lower valley and Eva began shivering. Jack pulled inside the castle through one of the cracking old wooden doors and held her close to him in the equally cold, dark stone fortress. Her teeth began to chatter as she clung to him tight.

"How…did it…g-get…s-s-so cold…s-so fast?"

He laughed at her and tore his coat off to wrap it around her. He stepped back with his arms around her too, pressing her into the nearest wall and pressing his body into hers for the extra heat. Every muscle in her body shook and vibrated as she whispered with a stutter still in his ear.

"I b-bet I…know a b-b-better way…for y-you to warm m-me up…"

Jack sighed with his nose and lips lost in her hair as he rubbed her body through the clothes fiercely, trying to make as much heat as he could. He knew exactly what was in her head, because it had been in his all day.

"Wot' way is that?" He teased as she gripped him to her harder.

"Don't p-p-patronize me, J-Jack."

He brushed his lips with a warm blow on her neck and jaw, bringing them down to cover her trembling mouth.

"Fine then. I'll just have me wicked way with ye. Right here…right now…"

His breath against her lips when he claimed them was nearly enough to kill Eva. As cold as she was, she was on fire within seconds, as Jack rushed around with buttons and ties and anything other barriers to the moment he could feel in the dark fort. He forced her harder into the wall with every movement he made and she started to feel dizzy, as if the walls were moving under her.

"God, I've wanted t' touch ye so badly…" He grunted with a passionate kiss on the corner of her mouth as he pulled his hardened flesh from his pants and ground into her thigh roughly. His hands stroked through her long hair, with his hearty mouth tasting every bit of her freed skin.

But Eva still trembled at the sensation that the ground beneath her was shifting and the walls fading away. Had she said something or headed what she thought was her imagination, she might not have felt Jack falling into her hard a moment later, only to then find her feet and body tilting backwards as she screeched.

"Ah, Jack!"

He held her body in his arms and fell with her, grunting as they tumbled through the shifting stones of the wall and fell to harsh, dirty, and cold grounding a good ten feet below. Jack blocked the back of her head from hitting the ground and instead let his knuckles scrape it and bleed. Eva breathed heavily underneath him as the dust from the fallen stones cleared around the, and coughed as she heard Jack's voice soft above her.

"Eva, are ye okay?"

She nodded against his hands as she felt him patting her legs and arms.

"Nothing urt'?"

"No. No I'm fine." She reached under her head for his hand, concerned when she held it up in the grey light of the sectioned off tunnel. "You're bleeding."

"Eh, that's nothing." He crawled off of her so she could breathe and sit up.

When she had though, as she found his arm to cling to beside her again, she stopped to see what surrounded them. And while part of her wanted to fall into the deep room before her and investigate what she knew it must be, another part of her fought back and gulped in fear.

"Jack…is this…?"

She didn't get to finish the statement before she saw his head nodding fiercely in front of her.