Ross was the first to wake up on the Black Pearl that morning. Swinging his legs off the bed and rubbing his face sleepily, his thoughts quickly stumbled back to where they had been last night, curious and confused. Jack had apparently been too angry to let a word slip about the pick pocket and they had all gone to sleep restlessly, desperate to know what had gotten the pirate so irate. Ross went through the possibilities he had thought up last night while trying to sleep:

1. The pick pocket had very stupidly tried to nick something of Jack's in a dazed, barely conscious attempt to obey his own depraved nature.

2. Jack had realized he knew the boy as being the child of one of the whores that he had a less than favorable relationship with and did not savor the idea of returning the pick pocket to his mother, due to the premonitions of verbal and physical abuse that would probably be bestowed upon him when he did so.

3. Jack was simply insane and this was just one of the many occasions to come that the pirate would make that fact inescapably clear.

Or, 4. Jack was perfectly sane and there was something very, very wrong about the pickpocket that he had discovered and was none too fond of.

Stepping to his feet, Ross decided there was no better way to put his debating thoughts and ideas to rest than to do it himself. Hence his decision to march surely down the hall, coming to a stop outside one of the doors. Ruling it senseless to knock, he looked to his left then his right before turning the handle quietly and stepping into the cabin.

The form on the bed stirred, emitting a low moan as he closed the door behind him. Ross edged closer, rounding the side of the bed so that he could get a look at the boy's face. The pick pocket's eyes were scrunched closed, a frown creasing his forehead as he moaned again, clearly just waking up.

It is usual for one to have a 'just woken up instinct'. Whether it be to stretch, to yawn, to itch, to glare, to smile, to squint or to sigh. Whether it be to rub one's eyes, to cover one's face and try to recall what happened the night before, to roll over into the pillow and pretend to not have woken up in the first place or to look around blankly, as though not recognizing the room that one has woken up in every morning for the past fifteen years. Ross was surprised to find that the pick pocket's instinct was to make sure that his hat was firmly on his head, tugging it down so that only a few tuffs of blonde curly hair peeked out from underneath.

Suddenly, two large brown eyes snapped open to stare at him as closely as he was staring back. Caught off guard, he stumbled back, arms flailing for something to help him regain balance, finally finding the back of a chair. Righting himself, he continued staring in what he wished he could make a less blatant manner at the pick pocket, wordless and bewildered. The pick pocket stared back, eyes wide, obviously unsure of why he had woken up under such strange circumstances. After a few awkward moments had passed, Ross tilted his head in scrutiny, still staring back at the pick pocket. Blue eyes narrowed, he gazed at the boy's face. He guessed him to be about the same age as himself. Nothing stood out but at the same time...

"It couldn't be...," Ross whispered as the pick pocket once again pulled down his hat further onto his head.

XxXxX

"Chris!"

Christina muttered something unintelligible in a threatening tone as she was interrupted from her slumber by a rough shake of her shoulder. She had been up most of the night pestering Jack to tell her what was so interesting about the pick pocket to no avail. The pirate had only grumbled and glared indignantly at her, as though the secret was so much her fault that it was insane and insulting for her to not know what it was. She had tried to induce pain, seduce, blackmail, threaten and manipulate Jack but nothing had worked and she was none the wiser. Only more tired and less amused at being woken so abruptly by Elizabeth, who was currently pulling the warm sheets out of her grasp and leaving her cold and unprotected on the bed.

"Go away!" Christina muttered, turning her back to her cousin. Elizabeth, undeterred to say the very least, stalked to the other side of the bed, now glowering.

"Chris! It's a girl!"

Christina's brow creased in puzzlement. She had the bizarre thought while she had been fruitlessly interrogating Jack, Elizabeth had conceived, been through the nine months of pregnancy, given birth and discovered that her first child was a girl, all before Christina had had the time to wake up when she pleased. Smartly realizing that such could not be so, she opened her eyes to frown at Elizabeth who eyed her impatiently. Apparently Christina was supposed to know exactly what her friend was talking about when she made such an unexpected announcement.

"What's a girl?" she inquired testily.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "The pick pocket. It's a girl!"

XxXxX

Marie Bentley woke to the sound of singing.

Terrible singing. Maniacal singing.

Her brown eyes searched the foreign room, dazed. Her abdomen and chest throbbed and she gasped at the shooting pain that greeted her as she tried in vain to sit up. Taking a deep breath as she recalled how she had received the injuries that she imagined were inhibiting her movement, she built up her courage again and bit her lip as she lifted herself up from the hard bed. Taking a quick glance down the collar of her shirt, she saw that her chest was bandaged tightly in what she recognized was an aftermath of broken ribs.

"Bastard," she muttered of the man that had put her in the position of discomfort she felt now. Tensing, she realized that whoever had tended to her would've had no problem in discerning that she was no boy after all. She searched the plain room further, trying to find something that would tell her where she was. She found it.

Across the small space, on the wall opposite her, there was a porthole. Standing unsteadily, Marie paced to it, squinting in the bright sunlight to see outside. Ocean. The sea. That was it. As far as the eye could see, there was water. Marie felt the first fingers of panic start to close around her tightly in an inescapable fist.

"...And really bad eggs!"

The singing continued, not getting any better, only more insanely angry. Marie debated venturing outside of the door that stood ominously a few feet away. For all she knew, she might have died and this was heaven. Considering the less than enjoyable singing and the fact that Marie hated the sea, she decided it highly unlikely. Her eyes widened at the thought that if she had died and if she wasn't in heaven, the only other option was hell. One step outside that door could take her into the fiery lake she had been told about by the strange woman that used to loiter around her mother's tavern. The woman had told her that if she did go to hell when she died, the fiery lake would be where she would be tormented slowly for the rest of eternity.

"Yo ho, Yo ho! A pirate's life for me!"

Tormented by singing? A pirate's life for me? Did whoever was sharing this terrible eternity with her not realize that they were dead? That they were in hell?

Fighting against the thousand screaming thoughts of what she had possibly done to deserve condemnation (apart from breaking several of the less important ten commandments that no one really cared about anyway), she edged slowly towards the door. She could have sworn sweat was breaking on her brow as she reached out a hand towards the handle. Was it glowing with heat? No, Marie, no. Marie took a breath to calm herself, noticing only now that she hadn't been breathing at all. Slowly, her fingers made contact with the cool metal of the door knob. It was just as she was summoning up enough courage to turn it that it moved in her hand.

Jumping back in horror, Marie waited for what terrible demon would enter. Talons. Fangs. Wings. Yellow eyes. Sulfurous breath. Sharp scales.

Copper hair?

The women who entered stared back at her as openly as she stared at them. Instinctively, she lifted a hand to make sure that the cap on her head covered her long hair. Quickly regaining her composure, she narrowed her eyes at them, "Who are you?"

The woman with copper hair blinked before offering, "Christina Lacimore."

"Elizabeth Turner," the other woman introduced herself without further prompting.

"Where am I?" Marie asked bluntly, wasting no time being friendly.

"On the Black Pearl," Christina replied, a frown creasing her brow as she turned to look at Elizabeth, shaking her head. Elizabeth nodded back at her, apparently trying to convince Christina without words. Marie rolled her eyes at their subtlety or lack of the said.

"The Black Pearl as in Jack Sparrow's ship?" she checked.

Elizabeth nodded while Christina still studied her openly.

Marie nodded slowly, taking another look around the room with new found wonder, "Nice..." As she absentmindedly searched her surroundings, no longer aware of Christina and Elizabeth, she reached into her pocket. Pausing a little, she rummage a little deeper. Stopping in her tracks now, Marie patted herself down urgently, slipping her hands into her pant and coat pockets, not seeming to find anything that she was looking for. Watching on nervously, Christina and Elizabeth cringed, knowing all too well what the girl could not find.

"Where are my things?" Marie snapped.

"Uh...," Christina started, "Someone took them..."

"Well, it was kind of the price for you be here right now," Elizabeth elaborated.

"Someone gave away my things?" Marie fumed. At the edgy glances she got in response, she glared, "Who gave away my things?"

XxXxX

"Yo ho, Yo ho..." Jack's angry singing slowly quieted as he looked up from where he sat to see the pick pocket storming towards him, followed by Christina and Elizabeth. Will looked up from showing Ross how to tie a clove hitch and both were quickly on the way behind the women.

"Are you Jack Sparrow?" the pick pocket demanded once she stood before him, scowling down at him in what Jack could only imagine the lass thought was a very intimidating manner.

"No," he replied simply, looking away with obvious disinterest and disdain.

"Yes, you are," the girl pressed, tending huffily to her cap.

"No, I'm not," Jack stated again, his slight amusement at the girl's stubbornness to maintain the facade that she was a boy quickly failing.

The girl stepped closer so that she was well and truly glaring down her nose at him, lifting herself ever so slightly on the balls of her feet to make her minuscule height that much more notable, "You are the Captain of this ship, are you not?"

Jack bared his teeth in a very small smile of recognition, "Ah, ye do have the right person then. What do you want?"

"Where are my things?"

"Your things? I have no recollection of your things being taken from your person."

The pick pocket huffed, "The valuables that were on my person. Where are they, pirate?"

Jack stared at the girl coldly. With a less than joyous smirk, he stood to his feet and in the same motion, towering over her (very rare for the man), "The valuables were used to stop your person being belted to a pulp, if I recall correctly and I do. They're gone. Disposed of. Not yours in the first place. So now we've got that sorted, was there anything else because as truly delightful it has been having you aboard, lass, I would be much obliged if y'got your person off me ship."

Unable to glower up at Jack any longer without feeling a complete fool, Marie looked away, pulling her hat down and hoping no one had noticed that the pirate had called her 'lass'. Jack smirked in satisfaction, turning the girl's shoulders so that she was facing the gangplank. She turned her head to glare at him once more before stomping defiantly off the Pearl, her chin high in the air as she disappeared into the dead with day Tortuga.

"Well, glad that little mess is taken care of," Jack flicked the air in the direction where the girl had gone before sitting back down, "Won't be seeing her again."

XxXxX

NinetalesLuver: 'Course I'm continuing, luv. Angry reviews are fine. I don't mind in the least. I find them amusing in fact. And the romance is coming... sometime soon... really soon... I promise...

Whims: Oh, good, so it is rather obvious that Chris and Jack are together in a sense... I just didn't want to go into detail and have to get all soppy. You all just have to accept it, alright? Ha. I liked the last part, where's that from?

Holly Rox: Thankye fer both times, luv.

crystalvoicedcamelotlady: Aye, Jack has a kind side and it has to surface sometimes. He tries his best to hide it but, ah well.

chaos spirit: Ah, but I can stop there, lass. (evil laugh) Sorry, I just love the cruel endings, they're so much fun. And yer brilliant at this, luv. Cheers fer the review.

The Flying Breadstick: Jetlag is the worst. I understand. I don't think the last chapter was too confusing... bah. Yes, updates are getting slower (quite the opposite of yours). I just have SO MUCH homework. I know, you think girls called Suzie Summer who have blonde hair and blue eyes and dropped out of highschool in year 10 are the only ones who go to beauty school and do perfectly fine with it. But, there are too many muscles, too many types of tissues, too many skin disorders and too many chemicals to remember... My God, it's like becoming a nurse. But, anyways, that's my excuse for not updating very often. And both of my parents are sick so I'm cooking for ten each night as well as working. This year has to end very very soon or I am going to keel over and die... I know, dramatic but, eh. Thanks for the review.

wayunlucky13: See, pick pocket gone. For now... And they couldn't of left him/her/whichever you fancy really.

Capt'n Raven Most feared pirate of the sea: Yes, you're supposed to feel sorry for the pick pocket... sort of... not really in this chapter. I'm not sure, it's up to you. I'd hate to break a rib. I haven't broken anything yet. I cringe just thinking about it... yuck. Well, I guess ouch is more appropriate. Trust me, anyone can write. Just take your time and you'll be fine. As soon as I've stopped doing assignments for this week, I'll give your story my full attention and review, ok? Thanks for the review!