Pirate's Luck

The Plan

Once they reached the ship, Jack told the rest of the girls about what she overheard.

"The governor is having a ball and all of us are going." Jack met Pearl's frightened gaze. "Though we need one lady to stay and man the ship."

"Aye!" Pearl said nodding.

"I'll stay with her." Raven said.

"Good." Jack nodded.

"For the rest of you, I need you to put on your best dresses and go to the ball." Jack smiled mischievously. All the women, even Pearl, had fancy ball gowns for just this occasion. One of the pirates, Bree, was a seamstress before taking up with pirates and Jack soon realized that having nice dresses could help whenever they needed to run scams, like the one they would be running the next day.

The women began to talk in loud excited tones, each one excited to go to the ball. Jo was the only girl who didn't seem excited about the prospect. When they were alone, the first mate finally confronted her Captain about what was bothering her.

"Do I have permission to leave your ship Captain? Or do you need me to babysit Pearl some more." Jo asked.

Jack bit her bottom lip and could see the hurt in her first mate's eyes. She reached out to console her by rubbing Jo's arm, but the other girl flinched away. Jack let her hand drop to her side. Jack never excluded her from a mission before and it felt wrong not having her trusty side kick by her side. "I have a special mission for you."

Jo perked up a little with those words. "I swear to God if you tell me I have to stay on this ship!"

"No." Jack said. "Victor Davenport is on the lookout for a locksmith."

"Really." Jo perked up with the news, a pretty smile formed on her heart shaped face. She often bragged that there wasn't a lock that she couldn't pick. There wasn't a purse she couldn't steal either.

"You have to be careful." Jack warned. "Davenport doesn't want anybody else to get a cut of the treasure. I think the one-eyed pirate he's with is going to try to kill the locksmith once the job is done."

"That good for nothin'..."

"I'm sending Quinn with you." Jack interrupted before Jo could say anything unladylike. Jo hated being unladylike. Quinn on the other hand spent so much time growing up around boys that she thought she was one. She belched and farted like a man, scratched like a man, and even hit like a man. Quinn was one of the hardest hitters, male or female alike on this side of the hemisphere.

"Those pirates won't know what hit them." Jo smiled.

"That's right." An easy smile formed on Jack's lips. "Once you get the chest open I want you to put on a dress and come over to the Governor's ball." Jack said filling Jo in on the exact details of the plan.

"Wait!" Jo protested. "While I'm busy doing all the theivin' what will you be doing?"

"Davenport's meeting his associate at the ball. I'm going to have the girls keep Davenport busy while I get the drop on his associate."

Jo swallowed hard. "What will Arista be doing?"

"Distracting Davenport of course."

"Let me get this straight, you're going to send me by myself..."

"You'll have Quinn." Jack interrupted.

"Into a dangerous situation with men who will want to see me dead, meanwhile you'll be cozying up with Arista."

"Come on Jo. You know it isn't like that!" Jack tried to reach out for her friend's hand, but Jo pulled away. Jack hated the Siren for the power that she exerted over Jo. Unlike Jack, Jo didn't hate anyone. Therefore, she didn't have anger to control her lust in the same way that Jack did. That pure lust blinded Jo to the truth and no matter how much Jack tried to reason with her, Jo would not be able to see the truth for herself until the siren left the ship.

Jack sighed. She hadn't even started implementing her plan yet and it was already falling apart.

"Jo, I don't want to cozy up to Arista and I would never purposely send you and Quinn into a situation where I thought you would be killed.

"Except now I'm your main competition for Arista and Quinn is your main obstacle to getting her. It is mighty convenient that you're sending us into the most dangerous situation."

"I'm sending you two because you're the best." Jack yelled at the first mate.

Jo crossed her arms over her chest. "How can I believe you!"

Jack sighed and walked away from Jo. How could she even question her loyalty after all these years. She walked a few paces wondering how she could make her friend see the truth.

"You never asked me what I think is in the chest."

"Countess Dobrev's bootie." Jo said.

"And..." Jack pressed.

Jo sighed. "You're after the book of truth."

Jack faced Jo and stepped closer. "If you can't believe that I love you and Quinn too much to hurt you, then can you at least believe that I want that book enough to make sure your mission is successful."

"I don't know." Jo's voice cracked.

"You know how much I want revenge against..." Jack couldn't even say the name of her evil ex.

"But do you want the siren more?" Jo asked in a small voice.

"I hate wanting the siren. I hate that you want the siren and I wish that I never decided to go through Siren's bay. We wouldn't be in this mess."

Jo bit her lip. "We wouldn't be here nearly as quickly either." A small smile flitted across her face and Jack took the opportunity to rub her friend's soft shoulder.

"What do I have to do, to convince you?"

"Let Arista come with me and Quinn should stay with you." Jo said firmly.

Jack shook her head. "No. Arista can't protect you, Quinn can."

Jo disagreed. "Arista can use her wiles on the men. They will be under her spell and we'll just walk out of there."

Jack bit her lip. Jo did have a point. "I'm more concerned about her using her wiles on you."

"Because you're jealous that Arista likes me more."

"No dammit!" Jack said. "I don't want her to take your focus off the mission and compromise your safety. Jack moved her hand from Jo's arm to her face and brushed a wisp of blond hair from the first-mate's forehead.

Jo swallowed hard. "I promise I'll be careful."

"I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you." Jack stroked Jo's soft cheek once more before turning on her heel and walking towards her quarters before she said or did anything that she would regret.