LOL I have THE SHIT for you, as promised. Took a while though; sorry for it.
Enjoy, my lovelies. ;)

Chapter 23: Evening Star IV

Jack eyed her from the corner of his brown hues while she sat there rigidly. He had been gazing at her for some time now, and to say it unnerved her was a slight understatement.

A certain captured his visage, one of which Katherine had never seen on him before. An image of desolation and torment.

"Katherine, ye know I…" He began gradually, pacing out his words. He couldn't slip up here, not now. Not again.

Her eyes lethargically met his, and he lost his wording. The young woman before him was breathtaking- too beautiful for words, and he vowed to never let another man set his eyes on her in the way that he has.

"What is it, Jack..?" She finally spoke to him for what seemed like the longest time.

He was going to tell her exactly how he felt for her.

To tell her that he would go to the ends of the globe and back for her. To have the opportunity of having her aboard his ship again was something he cherished; knowing the brunette was out of her common surroundings, though still managing.

He would have to thank Elizabeth once they returned to Port Royal, whenever that may be. He owed her a great deal for introducing him to Katherine. Once the issue with Augustine and her crew was settled, Sparrow vowed to take the porcelain skinned woman wherever her heart wished to venture to. To take her to magnificent places of which she had never seen or imagined.

Though a necklace and ring bound them together, he was almost sure that she would still remain at his side, even if there weren't a divine force at work.

And the best way to test if his theory was correct would be by admitting that he loved her. If she loved him, she would have the utmost desire to be with him..

Grasping onto her soft delicate hands into his callused ones, he stared at her with heavily lidded eyes. She blinked in surprise at his sudden gesture of affection. It wasn't like Jack to act so forward..

"Katherine White," A slow, charming grin grew on his lips. The same grin that snared her heart when they first met, "I need to tell ye this now, 'else I feel I'll ne'r have the chance.."

He released a build of tense oxygen as her eyes fluttered over his face intently..

"..I love y-"

Gibbs frantically burst into the cabin as shouting and gunfire could be heard from the deck, "Jack! We got trouble! Ye autta come quick!" With that, the first mate left hastily- unaware that he had interrupted them.

Jack's head fell slightly, though rose again to meet his eyes with hers. He tightened his hold on her hands, "Stay 'ere. Ye understand?"

A bit shaken, Katherine nodded and felt his hands leave hers. A sudden chill swept over her as he left her cabin, closing the door firmly behind him and locking it safely. It seems they were running into more troubles as of late, and precautions had to be made.

Jolting up the wood stairs to the main deck, Jack was immediately greeted with a series of bayonets aimed directly at him. The men of the British Military had captured the crew successfully, as they each had rope securely tied around their ankles and wrists; few even had rags stuffed into their mouths.

"Jack Sparrow.." A sultry, masculine voice was heard from behind the soldiers whom had the barrels of their firearms facing him. A handful of military men stood down, revealing a rather tall dark blonde man in a royal blue formal coat lined in gold and black, a white waistcoat and black breeches; quite clearly man of stature and position.

Scowling, Jack bit out, "Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow. Get it right, mate.."

The suave man's lip curled in amusement, "Ah, pardon my impertinence Captain."

"Listen, why don't ye tell me who in the bloody hell ye are, and why you're aboard me ship-threatening me men and meself." Sparrow said, a little less than pleased with the interruption and how things were turning out for him.

Clearing his throat, "Very well. My name is Edward Crowley, General of the British Military." He said, raising a signaling hand to his men to lower their weapons, "And my fiancée is aboard this vessel."

"Wha-?" Jack questioned, dumbfounded. The only woman on his ship was Katherine, though she didn't have a fiancée. She would have told him if she did, as they've told one another nearly everything about themselves. The demure woman below decks wouldn't lie to him, would she..?

Laughing, he said, "Well, I'm sorry to inform you Crummy, but there is no women aboard me ship."

Edward sneered at the mockery that was made of him, "Do not take me for a fool, Sparrow. I know she is here, and if you cooperate on our terms, then I will reward you for your obedience. Let's be sensible men, shall we?"

"Just how would ye know if there were indeed such woman aboard me ship?" Smiling smugly, the pirate demanded, "What proof do ye have?"

A chuckle was heard from Crowley, "A little bird told me she was here, and I'm quite sure you're familiar with this 'little bird'."

"I don't know any little birds, mate."

Smiling, Edward rose a beckoning hand into the air, "Oh? Are you positive?"

A woman bound by rope on her wrists boarded the Pearl from the wooden plank that was attached to the two ships. She was led by two of Crowley's men and was forced onto her knees before Jack. The soiled sack covering her head was thrown off and dark, curly locks fell around the woman's shoulders.

His eyes widened as he felt the universe come to a halt around him. A ragged breath fell from his lips, "Angelica…"

The Spanish woman raised her head lethargically, gazing at him with swollen and tear-stained eyes as she attempted to speak, however no words were produced.

Crowley's men took this time to push past the pirate lord and rush into the lower decks. A thundering crash and piercing scream awoke Jack from his reverie. His eyes widened as he moved to get to Katherine, but was stopped hastily.

"Don't move, Sparrow," Edward said, amusement in his voice as he pressed a pistol into the captain's side, "unless you would rather have a bullet or two embedded in your rum-soaked liver."

Chewing his bottom lip, Jack began to despise himself. He had sworn that he would protect Katherine at all costs, yet he had been taken by surprise at Angelica's sudden appearance and had allowed those soldiers to get to the young woman residing on his ship. A trickle of blood dripped down his chin from the strain of his teeth cutting sharply into the skin of his lip.

The navy coats hauled the brunette woman upstairs as she struggled against them before slapping one across the face, "Unhand me, you ruffian!"

As they released her, Katherine took this opportunity to glance at her surroundings. The crew were all tied and confined while Jack had a pistol aimed directly at his abdomen. And… A woman whom Katherine had never met was aboard the Black Pearl, and from what she could see, she was of Spanish decent. This female's eyes rested on Jack in a familiar way; it was the same way Katherine looked at him…

Was this woman Angelica..?

"Katherine…" Handing the pistol to one of his men, Crowley approached her with an debonair smile, "My beautiful Katherine."

She frowned upon seeing him, adopting a defensive stance by cradling one arm with the other, "Edward, you've followed me here from England…"

"I have." His warm fingers slowly caressed ivory skin of her neck, "Just to find you, and make you mine."

Sparrow's felt the ringing in his ears as he watched Edward touch her; to bare sight to it was revolting. Thankfully, the young woman recoiled from him, "You were merely a possible fiancée chosen for me by my father; nothing more, Edward. Lord, we've only met twice..!"

He corrected, "Thrice, my dear- and your father bestowed you to me the moment before his death."

"I refuse to believe a word of that."

"Are you denying your father's dying wish, Katherine?" Crowley spoke as he fingered her pirate-garb, "What on Earth are you wearing..? Has Sparrow forced you to donning the rags of a pirate?"

She tore herself from him, "Jack has not forced me into anything, and I am aware that was not my father's last wish, for he would aspire for a man with compassion and integrity to marry his daughter."

That seemed to irk the military man, as the corner of his lip twitched into a deep scowl, "Is that so..? And is Jack Sparrow this man?"

Katherine's hazel eyes widened. Was Jack a man her father would approve of..? No, in all likelihood not. He was a pirate; the captain of the Black Pearl- one of the most fearsome ships in the entire world.

Of course, her mother would insist that she chose someone who sent her heart fluttering and her thoughts swirling, a puzzle that was yet to be solved. Was Jack that man..? He indeed had a knack for confusing her internally and sending her heart racing.

She glimmered at Jack for a brief moment as he gazed back with equal intensity, "I.." Katherine's eyes trailed along the knelt woman near him, and suddenly… her heart wavered, "I'm not quite sure.."

"Ah, so I see.." Edward concluded with a smirk as he turned to the captain of the Pearl, "Jack, I would like to strike a bargain with you."

No response was heard from him, causing the General to smile, "You can keep the Spanish woman and restore your romantic past to its former state…" His hand curled around Katherine's upper arm, "so long as I have Katherine in my possession. It can be a trade, of sorts…"

Romantic past..? The brunette's heart ached; so this woman and Jack had history…

"Do we have an agreement, Sparrow?" Crowley spoke with a hint of impatience.

Jack studied the alabaster-skinned woman across from him, who had a visible air of hurt and anguish across her delicate features. God, the things he would do just to tell her what he had intended to earlier…

Anything to remove the image of her visible distress from his thoughts.

His sight flickered to Angelica, who gazed up at him with hopeful dark brown eyes. The tears that once fell from her eyes had stopped some time ago.

He was in a quandary of whom to decide upon.. The woman of his past, or the woman of his future?

AH. Craziness. amirite? LOL.
REVIEW and tell me what you think of all this CRAY-Z-NESS? I'll send Jack Sparrow to your house through express mail delivery. ;)