Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 3 - Chapter 9

A/N: Updated

Being walked through the HMS Endeavour was overwhelming as Lena was led across the ship, shackled and escorted by armed guards. Her pulse refused to settle as marines and officers alike turned to watch them pass, each curious glance leaving her feeling more exposed than the last. Granted, she was sure most of the precautions were because Jack walked right beside her, but even with him only inches away, the tightness in her chest refused to ease. She knew they couldn't have walked particularly far, yet every measured footstep seemed to stretch the journey longer until it felt like an endless parade past countless East India Trading Company crewmen.

They eventually left the open deck and were escorted into what Lena could only assume was an antechamber adjoining the captain's quarters. She had little time to take in more than polished wood and the unmistakable order of a naval ship before their journey halted at a set of double doors. Her mouth had gone so dry that she found herself swallowing as the doors were finally thrown open.

Their shackles were removed before they were ushered through, and the doors shut heavily behind them with a thud that seemed far louder than it should have. Lena resisted the urge to glance back as she looked instead toward the figure standing before the windows with his back to them. She had no idea who he was, which meant whatever connection had brought them here belonged to Jack.

Beside her, Jack absently rubbed at the wrist that had only just been freed from its shackles. The moment the stranger began to speak, however, his hand found hers without hesitation, fingers closing firmly around her own before drawing her flush against his side. The movement was so natural she wasn't even sure he realized he'd done it, yet the simple contact steadied her enough to draw one deeper breath.

"It's curious. Your friends appear to be quite desperate, Jack. Perhaps they no longer believe that a gathering of squabbling pirates is enough to take down the Flying Dutchman."

As the man spoke, Jack seemed to hardly pay attention, already moving through the cabin and opening every little thing that could possibly hide something inside it. If it weren't for the firm grip he kept on her hand, Lena might have believed he cared little for what was happening around them. Instead, every time he wandered another step away, he drew her with him without the slightest hesitation, never allowing more than a pace to separate them.

"And so despair leads to betrayal. But you and I are no strangers to betrayal, are we, Jack?"

Jack paused. His gaze dropped almost instinctively to the P branded into his wrist, and feeling the brief hesitation pass through him, Lena tightened her fingers around his hand before she'd thought better of it.

"Jack?" she whispered, concern slipping into her voice despite herself.

The quiet question was enough to draw the stranger's attention toward her. "Miss Palmer, I presume. Apologies for not introducing myself. I'm Lord Cutler Beckett, and I do believe the Rear-Admiral will be here soon for you. So don't worry. You will have plenty of time to catch up with your father while... Jack and I catch up as well."

The words seemed to knock the air from her lungs. For one disorienting moment she was certain the floor beneath her had shifted, and before she realized she was doing it, both hands had found Jack—one still locked tightly around his while the other gripped his arm hard enough to feel the muscles tense beneath her fingers.

"It's... a pleasure to meet you," she managed, though the words barely sounded like her own as her thoughts spiraled faster than she could follow them.

For everything she'd heard about Beckett, she knew she should have been frightened to stand before him. Compared to the thought of seeing her father again, however, Beckett barely registered. Jack slipped his hand free only to drape his arm casually around her shoulders, drawing her back against his side, and the steady weight of it grounded her enough that she finally managed another slow breath.