Disclaimer for the Entire Story: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, as I'm sure you all well know. But I tip my hat to its creators, and hope they don't mind me playing in their sandbox.

Warning for the Entire Story: There is a lot of cursing in this fan-fiction, plus underage drinking and of course, violence. If you don't like it, push the back button. That is all.

Authors Note: Just in case it isn't clear - this is the squeal to The Captain and His Thief :)

One Year Later

It was as if even the heavens knew how miserable she was that day.

Heavy rain fell from the sky as Elizabeth stared out blankly at the ocean, dressed in a yellow dress that was clinging to her like a second skin. She was kneeling on the stone walkway, clutching a bouquet of flowers so tightly the stems threatened to break. This was suppose to be her wedding day. The happiest day of her life. But Will, the love her life, had never showed up. They had waited. And waited. But he never came. When it started to rain, everyone else had raced inside. But Elizabeth stayed. She had to wait for him. He would come, she knew it.

Footsteps are what finally made Elizabeth lift her head up and look behind her. With a startled gasp, she scrambled to her feet, dropping her flowers as she raced into the nearby passageway that was connected to the church. "Will!" she cried, racing to her fiance. He was in irons, and a number of guards surrounded them, along with many of the people that had invited to the wedding, but she didn't care. She was just glad to see that he was alright. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," said Will softly. "I was coming here when they arrested me. They didn't tell me the reason."

"Why -sniff - is this happening?" Elizabeth asked as she let her hands flutter over his chest, just glad to be near him.

"I don't know," said Will with a shake of his head. "...You look beautiful," he said with a small smile. Even though she was soaked to the bone, her hair was a limp mess, and her make-up was running, the love of his life was still as beautiful as ever.

Sniffling, Elizabeth returned with a weak smile. "I think its bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding," she said tearfully.

"I don't think we need to worry about bad luck right now," Will whispered.

"Make way! Let me through!" Governor Swann, Elizabeth's father and the future father-in-law of Will, pushed his way to the front of the crowd, only to be stopped by crossed spears. He sputtered in resignation. "How dare you!" He turned to the man nearby, who was looking out at what remained of the wedding. "Stand your men down at once! Do you hear me? Do you know who I am?"

Raising a hand, the man motioned for a solider to remove his cloak before turning to the Governor. "Of course I do," replied the man with a steely smile and ice cold blue eyes to match. "Its been far too long, Governor Weatherby Swann."

"Cutler Beckett?" said Swann in astonishment.

"Its actually Lord Beckett now," corrected Beckett as he motioned at the two guards holding Swann back to step away.

"Lord or not," said Swann angrily as he approached the old acquaintance, "you have no reason and no authority to arrest my future son-in-law," he said with a wave towards Will, his daughter standing in front of him almost protectively.

"That's where you're wrong - in fact, I have both," said Beckett with a cold smile. "Mr. Mercer?"

Another man, with a long scar down his face that oddly reminded some of Nettie's own scar, stepped forward, opening a leather binder and producing a small stack of letters. Beckett picked up the first one. "The warrant for the arrest of one William Turner," he said as he handed the same letter to the Governor.

Taking the letter, Swann opened it and glanced over it with a frown, which only deepened when he looked over it again. "This - This warrant is for Elizabeth Swann!" he said in shock.

"Oh, is it? That's quite annoying, apologizes for my mistake." Beckett nodded to Elizabeth. "Arrest her as well."

"On what charges?" Elizabeth cried out as the guards grabbed her.

"No!" roared Will at the same time, struggling against his own guards when the shackles were brought forward. "She's done nothing wrong!"

"Aha," said Beckett, ignoring them both. "Here's the one for William Turner." He held it out to Swann, who looked at it in disbelief, and then pulled up another. "And here I have another one for a Mr. James Norrington." He held it up like a flag and glanced around, as if thinking the Commodore would appear at the call of his name. "Is he present?"

"What are the charges against us?" asked Elizabeth again, and was again ignored by Beckett.

"Commodore James Norrington resigned from his position some months ago," Swann informed the man angrily.

"I don't believe that was the answer to the question I asked," said Beckett, cool as ever.

"Well it is the only one I can give," said Swann snappishly. "The Commodore left after resigning. He is no longer in Port Royal."

"Lord Beckett," started Will, "in the category of questions not answered -"

"We are under the jurisdiction of the King's governor of Port Royal and you will tell us what we are charged with," finished Elizabeth.

"The charge..." answered Swann slowly, almost hesitantly as he read off one of the warrants, "the charge is conspiring to set free a man convicted of crimes against the Crown and Empire and condemned to death, for which the..."

"For which the punishment, regrettably, is also death," said Beckett, not at all sounding sincere. He took a step forward so he was almost in Will's face. "I'm sure you know the reason. If not, perhaps you remember a certain pirate named Jack Sparrow and his first-mate Annette Sparks -"

"Captain," chorused the two, before Elizabeth cleared her voice and went on. "Captain Jack Sparrow. And his first mate likes to refer to herself as Nettie." It was at this moment that she was glad that the pirate couple had declined her invitation to her wedding while still wishing her luck - they were no where near Port Royal for this man to find.

"Captain Jack Sparrow and Nettie." A cruel smile crept across Beckett's face. "Ah, yes. I see you do remember them." He turned away, moving back to his previous spot. "You are both to be hanged for the crime of setting free the captain of the Black Pearl and his first mate. May God have mercy on your souls."

Sighing, a strangely loud sound in the middle of the night, Nettie rested her arms on the railing and stared out at the misty ocean, with only small waves pushing against the ships hull. She felt rather alone on the Black Pearl, even though there were plenty of crew mates around. Jack has been gone for days, sneaking into that awful prison that sat not far from here for something. He wouldn't tell her what it was, though he promised to tell her once he got back.

But that wasn't the problem. It was the longest Nettie could remember them be apart since they first got together. It made her feel... a little empty.

Lifting the bottle of rum that dangled in her hand, Nettie took a long sip before staring back out at the water. "Yo, ho, yo ho," she sang softly, her free hand momentarily going to the hat that was currently on her head. "A pirates life for me..."

"Never thought I would heard those words coming from your mouth." Anamaria came up to her with a smirk. "Not even in a song."

"Things change," said Nettie with a shrug. And they really had in the last year, ever since they stumbled upon Port Royal and saved a Governors daughter. She never expected to make friends with the two, or become a full fledged pirate, or to realize her feelings for a certain captain.

"I've heard that before," said Anamaria as she mirrored Nettie's posture. "But I think I need to know a little more then that. What in the world did Jack do to make you agree to this kind of life?"

"... I think I just saw that not all pirates are evil gits," Nettie said after a long moment of thought. "I mean, a lot of them are - including that bunch that mutinied against Jack," she said with a scowl before going on. "But some can be alright. Like Jack. And Gibbs. And Cotton and Marty. And of course you - though you're not officially a pirate."

"Nettie," started Anamaria with a sigh, "I know you have feelings for Jack, and small part of me respects him cause I know he loves ya back... But please remember that he isn't the man you're making him to be. He's not some great hero. He is, all an all, a pirate who'd save himself before anyone else. And that means before you."

"Jack would never leave me behind," said Nettie, astonished. "How could you even say that, Ana?"

"Because its true, love," said Anamaria gently. "Please don't get me wrong, I hope it never happens, but... Jack is still Jack. And you don't know how he was like before he meet you. I do. And people can slip back very easily into old habits."

"He won't," said Nettie with a shake of her head, glancing out at the ocean, looking for any sign from her captain again as she firmly said, "Jack wouldn't do that to me."

If she really believed that, why did her heart tighten so painfully?

The sound of a faint gunshot rang through the air, Anamaria and some other wandering on deck straining to hear it, but Nettie seemed to hear it clearly, sitting up straight and grinning. "Mr. Cotton," she called out to the man that was maintain the wheel, "Ring the bell please!"

Nodding, the mute man rang the bell, and it was less then a minute before the crew of the Black Pearl was filling the deck. "To your stations!" barked Nettie. "The captain's coming aboard!"

"Yes, ma'am!" said the crew in unison before scrambling to their places. Nettie wasn't surprised to see the newer half of the crew scowling her way before doing as they were told. Unlike the others, use to the idea of a woman as the first-mate, the men they had recently picked up were still angry at being ordered around by her. She ignored it though; as long as they did their part, she wouldn't push them by punishing them for their glares.

It was only a few minutes later when Nettie, standing next to the wheel, could see a figure in the water, rowing a make-shift boat made from what looked like a coffin. The pirate girl gave herself a quick look over as she waited for it to reach them. Her previously short hair was now just below her shoulders, and wasn't shaggy at all now thanks to Anamaria's careful hands. Her outfit hadn't changed much, though, save that they were less baggy and she had added a vest that made a little more obvious she was a woman.

Pleased that she didn't look too disgruntled, Nettie looking over the railing just as Gibbs held out a hand to help Jack up. But instead of a tan hand, he received a decaying leg.

"Not quite according to plan," Gibbs said dryly as he looked over the leg in hand, Jack stepping aboard and cloaked with his coat by Cotton. Nettie made her way down the stairs, a bright smile on her face at the sight of her captain.

"Complications arose, ensued, were overcome," said Jack offhandedly as he glanced around. "Now where's my lovely Nettie?"

Coming to the bottom of the stairs, Nettie blushed before composing herself and going to her captain side. "Welcome back, Jack." Even though it'd been a year since they'd admitted their feelings to each other a year ago, it was rare for her to be very affectionate in public. She saved that for when they were alone.

"There's my Nettie," chuckled Jack, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "Did you keep the ship intact while I was gone?"

"Course I did," said Nettie with a smirk at him. "What do you take me for, an idiot?" Not giving him a chance to answer that, she asked, "If you're back, that means you got what you went in for, then?"

"Aye," said Jack as he reached inside his shirt, bringing out a rolled up piece of old cloth and waved like a flag in front of her face, causing Nettie to smack it away even as she wondered what it was. He grinned and looked forward again, only to find his entire crew standing in his way. And they didn't look happy.

"Captain," spoke up Gibbs, "I think the crew - meaning me, as well - were expecting something a bit more...shiny." He shrugged. "What with the Isla de Muerta going all pear-shaped, reclaimed by the sea and the treasure with it."

"And the Royal Navy chasing us all around the Atlantic," said another pirate, who called himself Leech. He was a sort of the leader of the crew mates that were against Nettie being the first-mate. Against any women being on board, actually.

"And the hurricane!" said Marty, earning muttered agreements from the rest of the crew.

"The hurricane is what saved our bloody lives," said Nettie over them, giving the crew a glare. "If that hadn't come along, the Royal Navy would have caught us and we'd all be hanging from our necks back in Port Royal."

"We could have drowned," shoot back Leech.

"But we didn't!" Nettie finally snapped. "And besides, no one can control the weather, so I'm sorry if we can't prevent a damn hurricane!" For a long few moment, Nettie and Leech glared at each another, sparks flying between them.

"All in all," started up Gibbs again before they could fight again, "it seems some time since we did a speck of honest pirating."

If she wasn't so involved in a glaring contest with Leech, Nettie probably would have snorted.

"...Shiny?" Jack finally said to his former first-mate.

"Aye, shiny," Gibbs agreed with a nod.

Jack looked over his entire crew. "Is that how you're all feeling, then? Perhaps dear ol' Jack is not serving your best interests as Captain?" He said this in a way that made the crew glance at one another, and Nettie finally looked away from Leech to look up at her captain. Was he feeling that there might be another mutiny against him? She wished that she could say something that might help him, but nothing came to her in time.

"Awk, walk the plank!" cried Cotton's parrot before his owner could grab his beak to silence him.

Pulling out his pistol, Jack looked a little wild eyed as he pointed it towards the parrot. "What did the bird say?"

"Jack, calm down," said Nettie firmly as she placed a hand on his wrist and pulled the pistol down. "Its doesn't know what its saying."

"Yes, listen to your woman, Cap'n," sneered Leech. "For once, she seems more sense then you."

Ever since she started noticing the aggressive behavior from the newest half of the crew, something like a cord had appeared in Nettie's mind. And with each glare and sneer and nasty comment, the cord had pulled a little tighter. Day after day after day, letting every word and look wash over her.

But with that final comment, the cord had snapped.

Without even a single thought about the consequences, Nettie turned with a twist of a single foot while her other forward and landed right in Leech's stomach. She watched with satisfaction as he grasped his stomach and bent over double, groaning. "Consider yourself lucky," she sneered. "I could have kicked a lot lower."

Almost unison, the men on board winced, and Nettie could heard Anamaria laugh.

"Now enough of this. I've been dealing with all your crap for weeks," Nettie went on, glaring at the crew. "I don't care if you don't like the idea of me being a woman or not. I'm the first-mate. And if you have a problem with that - get off the ship now."

"But we're in the middle of the ocean!" one pirate cried out stupidly.

"Tough shit." Nettie turned back to her captain, who was cracking a smile. "Now, lets see what you risked your hide for, Jack," she said as she reached for the cloth.

But before she could even touch it, a tiny hand snatched it away with a screech, and Jack the monkey leapt to the ground with his prize. With a yell of frustration, Jack shot at the undead creature, missing by more then a foot. Still, the monkey gave a hissing sound at the pirate who he was named after.

"Little Jack, bring it back," said Nettie firmly. "Now."

The monkey paused, glanced back at her, and with a chatter, raced back to her, climbing up to her shoulder. "Thank you," said Nettie, petting its skeletal head without even a flinch and taking the cloth from his tiny hands. She had actually grown to like the animal that had been named mockingly after Jack - it was a bit of a trouble maker sometimes, but so was the real one.

"Yeh know it don't do no good to shoot at the thing," said Gibbs with a sigh. "Besides, Nettie can control the thing better then ya can shoot at it."

"It does me a world of good," said Jack as he put away his pistol.

Opening the roll of cloth, Nettie looked down at it and blinked once. Then twice while turning the item in her hand upside down. And then turned her gaze this towards Jack. "This is what you risked your life for?" she hissed, throwing it at him, who didn't flinch as it hit his chest and fell to the ground. She was going to kill him!

"Now Nettie -" said Jack carefully, hands up in defense.

Marty had reached down and picked up the cloth, examining it for a moment. "Its a key," he finally said with confusion.

"No, its better," said Jack as he reached over and took the drawing back, looking a little relieved to have a reason not to answer Nettie right away. "Its a drawing of a key." He showed it to the crew, who could only stare at it. "Gentlemen, what do keys do?" he asked.

"Keys... unlock things?" said Leech slowly.

"And whatever this key unlocks, inside there's something valuable," said Gibbs slowly, gaining excitement. "So, we're setting out to find whatever this key unlocks!"

"No," said Jack before he started to explain - sort of. "We don't have the key, we can't open whatever it is we don't have that it unlocks. So, what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don't have, without first having found the key what unlocks it."

"So... we're going after this key!" Gibbs said after a moment of thought.

"Your not making any sense at all," Jack said, giving his crew member a look.

"I think its the other way around," muttered Nettie before clearing her throat. "Do we have a heading, Captain?" she asked.

"Ah!" Jack hastily searched through his clothes before pulling out his ever present compass. "A heading. Set sail in a... general..." he started pointing in random directions, not taking his eyes off it before pointing off to the side, "that a way direction!" he said with a nod.

"Captain?" said Gibbs with raised eyebrows, but was ignored as Jack closed his compass and moved towards his rooms, the crew parting for him while staring at him in confusion. Nettie blinked with her own surprise before getting back in control.

"Alright now, you heard him," said Nettie in a commanding voice. "Head, err... that away. Get moving! Gibbs," she said, catching the man before he starting moving. "I'm going to have a little... chat with Jack. Mind taking over for awhile?"

"Not at all, Miss Nettie."

Thanking him, Nettie pushed through the men as they raced to their post and went inside Jack's rooms, which was next to her own room that she rarely used save for when she was angry and wanted to be alone. "What the hell is going on, Jack?" she asked the moment the door was closed behind her. "A drawing of a stupid key? A nonsense heading? Are you out of your bloody mind?"

"My mind hasn't changed since we meet," said Jack as he took a sip from his bottle of rum.

"That's not comforting at all," said Nettie with a roll of her eyes, taking the bottle from him and getting her own sip.

"I don't think its comforting that your trying to gain respect from the crew by threatening to punching one of them below the belt, love," said Jack as he searched for another rum bottle. "Not exactly first-mate behavior."

"Hey, I know how to be a good first-mate!" Nettie protested stubbornly. "But sometimes people need a good punch in the jaw to see any sense. Or in this case, the stomach, or other places." She watched Jack search for a minute before sighing. "What's going on, Jack?" she asked as she sat down on the bed. "The crew might be worried for the wrong reasons, but they're still worried - as I am. You need to explain."

"Its complicated," Jack said, picking up another bottle and getting a few mouthfuls before sitting next to his Nettie, suddenly looking very... tired.

Nettie just stayed silent, and waited for him him to begin.

"About thirteen years ago," Jack started slowly, "I lost a ship that I loved dearly because I wouldn't do something I felt was wrong. I almost died trying to save her. When I knew there was nothing I could do, I summoned someone I knew could save her, and promised him that if he would raise her up, I would do anything he wanted. And he did what I asked. My ship was back. And I changed her name from the Wicked Wench to the Black Pearl."

"What did you promise in return?" asked Nettie after a long moment of silence.

Jack hesitated. "That after thirteen years of being captain of the Pearl, l would serve a hundred years before the mast on the Flying Dutchman - Davy Jones' ship."

"W-What?" sputtered out Nettie. "Jack, how could you - why would you - what were you... Have you lost your mind?"

"Love -" Jack tried to start.

"Oh no, you don't get to 'love' me," Nettie snapped, standing up and starting to pace back and forth. "You traded your soul for a bloody ship! There are thousands like them around, and none of them are worth risking your life for! I can't believe you! Ugh, my captain is a bloody idiot! I swear, if Davy Jones doesn't get you soon, I'll kill you myself."

"My Nettie, calm down," said Jack over her rant. "I never intended to fulfill that bargain."

That stopped Nettie in her tracks as she twisted her neck to look back at him, blinking. "What?" She shook her head. "Okay, you've got some more explaining to do."

"I plan on finding something very valuable to Davy Jones," Jack said, a grin slowly growing on his face. "And once I have it, I'll offer him a deal to cancel my debt for him to get it back."

"And what is this valuable item?" asked Nettie with a raised eyebrow.

"Can't tell ya, love," said Jack with a shake of her head. "At least not yet. Its a bit too dangerous."

Frowning, Nettie sat down on the bed again. "Seriously, Jack, you can't keep hiding things from me. I thought we agreed to stop doing that." It was one of the few rules they'd laid down before agreeing to be in an actual relationship.

"And I will, my Nettie," said Jack leaning over and kissing her cheek. "This will be the last time, I promise. But I still need your help, love." He set down his bottle and grinned at her, plucking her own bottle out of her hand. "I can't do it alone."

"..." Sighing, Nettie tried to relax a bit. "What is it you want me to do?"

"We need to get," Jack pulled out the drawing again, "this key. And after that, we need to find what it unlocks."

"The valuable item?" guessed Nettie, and was answered with a nod. "And you'll do it with or without me?"

Another nod.

"Fine," Nettie said with a huff. "I'll help you. But," she said before Jack could say anything, "you owe me. Big time."

"Course, love," Jack said with a smirk, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close to him. "Now how about we make up for the last few days I've been gone, mm?"

With a small smile and a faint blush, Nettie tilted her head back and let Jack kiss her soundly, her arms wrapping around his neck while his hand sneaking to her waist.

It was sometime later when Nettie woke up to find herself alone in bed.

Opening her eyes, Nettie wasn't surprised to see Jack sitting at his desk, pouring himself over maps and his compass, with only a few low burning candles to light his work. Smiling to herself, the now twenty year old pirate stretched out underneath the blankets before sitting up, rubbing her eyes with one hand and straightening her shirt with another. No matter what the rest of the crew thought, Nettie and Jack hadn't don't anything more then kiss and grope. They hadn't gone any father then that even after a year thanks to a promise Jack made to her when they first got together to go slow as she needed. And she was taking that to her full advantage.

"Planning out our course, captain?" said Nettie with a smirk.

"Mm? Oh, Nettie, your awake," said Jack absentmindedly, not looking up from his charts.

Standing up, Nettie placed herself behind her captain and gave him a kiss on his scruffy cheek while giving the maps a glance over. "It doesn't seem that you have a route planned out, Jack," she said with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have any idea where this key is?"

Shrugging, Jack seemed to tune her out as he took a sip of rum before going back to his work. Sighing, Nettie slipped her boots back on, strapped on her belt, and decided to go back on deck so she could check on the crew. She wasn't in the mood to watch Jack stare at maps for hours, even though his thinking face was rather adorable at times.

The moon was shining brightly in the sky, but it didn't give a clue as to how much time had passed while she slept. Running a hand through her hair and trying to make it manageable, she nodded to a few crew members before going up the stairs to the wheel. "Evening, Gibbs."

"More like early mornin', miss," Gibbs corrected her with a chuckle. "Ya and Cap'n Jack were in there for quite awhile."

Rolling her eyes, Nettie looked out to the dark ocean, the mist on the water still thick. "We're still on course?"

"Aye, though it ain't much of a course," said Gibbs. "Yeh any idea where we're headed?"

"Not a clue," said Nettie with a shake of her head. "You're guess is probably as good as mine right now."

As Gibbs chuckled again, a thought came to Nettie. "Gibbs... you've know Jack for a long time, right?"

With a curious look, Gibbs nodded. "Aye, I've known him since we were both lads. Rather good friends till I joined up with the Royal Navy and he became a pirate."

Leaning against the railing, Nettie took a moment before asking, "What was Jack like when he was younger?" Something Anamaria had said earlier had made her wonder how Jack was before she met him.

"Err... Well Jack certainly was..." started Gibbs hesitantly.

A loud ringing startled them both and stopped the conversation before Nettie could learn anything. "Ship ahoy!" called out Marty from the crows nest. "She's hoisting colours!"

Cursing under her breathe, Nettie grabbed the spyglass from its nearby spot and pointed it towards the ocean ahead of her. There, slowly coming out the mist, was a ship that was setting up their version of the pirate flag, a black sail with a red skull and bones slapped in the middle. It was a signal that they were about to be attack.