Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 2 - Chapter 3

The Black Pearl rested crookedly in the shallows while crewmen splashed back and forth between the ship and beach carrying crates, rope, and whatever supplies seemed useful enough to unload before the tide shifted again. The last of the morning fog was already burning away beneath thick tropical heat that settled damp and heavy across the shoreline.

After days at sea, solid ground still felt strange beneath Lena's boots with water constantly crashing against the shore behind her. Dense walls of tangled green stretched beyond the beach while narrow strips of sand and dark rock broke unevenly along the shoreline, the jungle farther inland thick enough that light disappeared quickly beneath the trees.

Most of the men moved with the heavy relief of people convinced the worst had finally passed, unloading crates farther up the beach and tossing bedrolls onto drier patches of sand beyond the tide line. A few had already started arguing over food while someone near the waterline laughed loudly enough to earn a sharp curse from another crewman trying not to drop a crate into the surf. Near the edge of camp, Marty had started complaining about the heat while another pirate struggled to get a fire started with damp wood.

Lena's attention drifted automatically toward Jack as he stepped down from the Pearl into the shallows, boots splashing through the water before he paused near the shoreline and looked once toward the jungle, then back toward the open sea behind them.

He didn't look fearful exactly, just alert in a way that kept his attention catching on things around them before sliding away again almost immediately. He started toward the crew unloading supplies, only to stop halfway there when movement deeper in the jungle pulled his attention aside. Moments later his fingers drifted automatically toward the compass at his belt before he seemed to catch himself and let his hand fall.

A short distance away, Jack accepted a bottle from one of the crewmen only to forget it entirely after another glance toward the tree line. When the man finally laughed and took it back from him, Jack barely seemed to realize it had happened.

"Strange place for a rest stop," Gibbs muttered as he stepped up beside Lena, his boots sinking slightly into the wet sand.

Lena let out the faintest breath through her nose while watching Jack redirect another crewman halfway through a conversation, only to change his mind a second later. "You say that like this was planned."

"Rarely is with Jack."

The corner of Lena's mouth pulled briefly upward before fading because, despite everything, some part of her still recognized the familiar rhythm beneath the tension. Jack redirected half the crew, changed his mind twice, then acted as though everyone else had been following the same plan all along, yet even as he did it, his attention kept straying back toward the jungle.

"Have you seen him this unsettled before?" Lena asked beneath her breath.

That earned more consideration from Gibbs than she'd expected. He stayed quiet for a moment, watching Jack slow near the edge of the jungle and scan the trees before finally letting out a low breath through his nose. "Jack's always had a habit of noticing trouble before the rest of us."

"That isn't what I asked."

"Aye." Gibbs kept his eyes fixed on Jack in the distance. "Usually isn't this obvious about it."

A shout farther down the beach drew Lena's attention toward two crewmen dragging another crate through the sand, and by the time she looked back, Jack had already moved closer to the tree line without her noticing him leave the shoreline. He crouched beside something half-hidden beneath the undergrowth, brushed dirt from his fingers as he straightened, and tracked his gaze farther inland.