Chapter 1
Norrington stepped out onto the deck of the Black Pearl. It was midday and the sea was calmer than usual, lulling him into sleep for much longer than he would have liked. It was the noises of the pirates that woke him, no rather, privateers.
The first thing he notices was that Anamaria was at the wheel, which aroused enough suspicions already. Suddenly, to his right, he heard the notable clanking of swords.
"You fight like the whore of Tortuga!"
"My dagger is longer than your manhood if you had one at all!"
"Complexion-wise you are more of a eunuch than a lady!"
The loud voices and the sounds of swordfight drew closer to Norrington. He paused in his steps waited. Sure enough, Carmen Lockhart and Jack Sparrow drew around the corner, swords interlocked.
Her hair was long, wavy and red, the strands were held back with a long, tattered ribbon. Jack followed closely and cursed.
Norrington himself did not try to intervene. This was a regular occurrence according to the crew. When Norrington first boarded on this trip to Jamaica with Sparrow, he had assumed that the other pirates were simply exaggerating how often the duo clashed swords. However, in just a week of the trip, Norrington had grown to expect to wake up each morning to see them at each other's throats. Now that he had spent nearly two weeks here, it felt odd without it.
Say what you will about being gentlemanly, Carmen had never seemed to win once against Sparrow.
Today seemed to be no different. A great gust of wind finally broke Carmen's ribbon, and the green cloth flew away into the vast water. Carmen didn't seem to notice until one strand fell directly across her right eye. She blew it out of her face in half a second, but it was all the time it took for Jack to slice her sword out of her hand.
"Looks like I've won again." Jack managed to huff out.
Carmen took a minute to consider this, glance upon her right to see her fallen sword, look back at Jack and leap at him. Caught by surprise, Jack's grip slipped on his sword and it clattered uselessly to the side. They both fell onto a heap on the deck. The crew simply side-stepped the wrestling matches and resumed their work.
Norrington waited by the fight and as the pirates ran out of breathe; he graciously lent a hand to Carmen.
"Was I close at least?" Carmen asked as she placed her palm in Norrington's.
"Very close," Norrington answered. Jack simply huffed and splayed his limbs out.
"How were you close? I had you beat fair and square until you jumped me." Jack protested, still on the ground.
"Tsk, tsk. You know there're no rules to our fights." Carmen said and Norrington could only offer a smirk. Jack groaned and sat up.
"Shame about your ribbon though. If it weren't for that we would have lasted a lot longer."
Carmen pursed her lips. "I'll be sure to secure it more tightly next time." She reached into the side of her dress where she had tied her pocket. Drawing her arm up empty-handed, she cursed. "That was my last ribbon." She complained.
Jack didn't hesitate to grab a scrap of cloth from within his trousers and offer it to her. The fabric was in the same red as her hair, and when she put it on, it blended in quite nicely.
The cloth, however, was not thick enough to hold all her hair the same single strand fell in front of her face, covering her right eye. She huffed, annoyed but simply tucked the loose strand behind her ear.
"Lovely." She said.
"Never let it be said that Jack Sparrow wasn't courteous." With that, he finally stood up and began to amber contently towards the steering wheel.
Norrington glanced at Carmen as she tried in vain to keep the lock of her out of her face. Feeling around in his pockets, he produced a wig pin.
Although he didn't wear his wig on the ship and had begun replacing his uniform with more breathable clothing, he was still finding pins on his person.
Ever since he had lost Sparrow and the Pearl to sea, the admiral simply declared the band of pirates to be privateers. Once the news had reached, Sparrow quickly sailed back to Port Royal, with a dozen or so new sailors in toll.
One of which would be Carmen Lockhart, who was a friend that Jack had picked up along the way. She was a pirate for a while until the navy caught her ship and she was forced to find refuge elsewhere. Norrington had personally participated in the takedown of her ship, though he was only a Captain then. When she first arrived, he worried that she would be difficult. However, she had been nothing but helpful throughout the entire ordeal, though he sometimes wondered if she was still out for revenge, judging by the little glances she always threw at him when she thought he wasn't looking.
He offered the pin to her, but she simply stared at it, and then back at him in confusion.
"What is this?" she asked, head tilted upwards in order to see his face.
"A pin. For your hair." His answer, while may seem curt, was soothed by the amusement on his face. Had she really never seen a wig pin before?
"What am I to do with it? Stab it in my scalp?"
"No." James couldn't hold back the chuckle as he shook his head in mirth. "You take the stray strands and pin it along with the others. Here, allow me."
With that, he gently grasped the lock in his forefinger and thumb, while his other hand slipped the pin over, tying it with the rest of her hair. It stayed in place as Carmen blinked owlishly at him.
"Thank you."
James' hand stayed at the side of her cheek while he examined his work.
"There. You should take it out before you go to bed. If you can't figure it out, don't hesitate to ask me as I'm sure while Sparrow may act like he knows, he does not." James warned.
Carmen pulled away from his hand and chuckled. The rivalry between Sparrow and him had intrigued her as if she could not fathom how anyone could hate the man. No, she knew, but she didn't understand.
"Duly noted, sir." With that, Carmen retreated to the other side of the ship, near the front where she mended the sails and observed the map. James could hear the faint sounds of conversation between her and Sparrow. He allowed himself to watch a moment more and left to write his report back to Lord Beckett.
It was the admiral's idea for him, as Commodore, to spend a fortnight upon the Black Pearl in hopes that it would show if Jack Sparrow was on their side as a privateer or a traitor. Of course, they disguised it as a check-up, but James was told the real reason behind closed doors.
Nevertheless, the rowdy group had grown on him, similar to when he first started sailing as a young boy. The first few days were bad, but it becomes much worse. Nearing the end of it, you are so delirious that you may start having fun. Or at least, that's how Norrington chose to phrase it.
He was on his last few days upon the ship, and he was not going to let it go to waste.
Stepping out of his cabin, James paused and checked in with each pirate. Most of with answered his questions with the usual cheer. "How is the wind?" he might ask, or "Are the cannons ready?" The latter had a much more sense of foreboding around it.
Yes, because today, the pirates –privateers were to capture their first pirate ship since he boarded. If he squinted, he could just barely make out the smaller, but still black sails, of the opposing side.
"Load the cannons! Raise the sails! Grab your guns and swords! We're going fighting, lads!"
James found himself quickly following orders. Within his sprouts of drunken yells, he was a fine captain and a good leader. James made a mental note to write it alongside his other observations to hand over to Beckett.
There would be no time to dwell on it for too long, however. James could clearly see the outline of the black sails along the blue sea. He gripped his sword in his right and clenched his left.
"Ye ready, Commodore?" Gibbs came beside him and asked.
"As ready as I can be," James responded.
He nodded and left. There was no need for too many words spoken between them to understand what was going to happen.
Norrington stood with his back ridged. It would be his first fight alongside pirates, and while he had fought against pirates before, he had never stood beside one for long.
Carmen slithered her way through the crowd of excitable men, pausing to give bullets here, gunpowder there, or to simply share a joke or a chuckle. Her hair continued to flutter behind her, but the pin held the strand in place. She finally sees Norrington when the first cannon fires, and gives a cheerful grin that bared her slightly crooked teethes.
James noticed that all her smiles reached her eyes.
She was a simple lady; Carmen. When she fought, her eyes showed pure ecstasy and she never hesitated to speak her mind or show her emotions.
Gunpowder filled the air, and smoke clouded his vision. He relied on his sense of hearing in order to figure out how the battle was progressing. He could make out the unmistakably higher notes of Carmen's laughter as she slaughtered the men, but the rest mixed together into an accented, expletive rumble.
He turned barely in time to avoid being beheaded by a sword. He drew upon his own and clashed with the offending pirate.
"I'll strap a cannon to yer bootstraps an' send ye to Davy Jones, ye nasty, pox-faced monkey!"
James paused in his sword fight; slightly shocked, slightly amused at the insults the pirate threw in his cockney accent. This distracted him enough that he barely noticed that he was no longer fighting with only a sword. Instead, he turned to be faced to face with a pistol. The pirate scowled and sneered before loading the bullet.
The pain never came. Jack had stabbed the man from behind and threw him away. They locked eyes.
James suddenly found himself very, very embarrassed to have lost control so easily.
"Didn't know you wanted to leave so badly, Commodore." Jack Sparrow said with a wink. James felt his face heat up.
"My apologies. I allowed myself to be distracted. It won't happen again." James said sternly.
Jack smirked. "I would sure hope not, Commodore. Red is not a very becoming colour on you."
"Hey, what's wrong with red?" Carmen yelled from James' right. "It's a very becoming colour, and don't you let him tell you otherwise, James."
Indeed, red seemed to be the colour for Carmen, for she was covered head to toe in deep, red, blood. Her ribbon and hair seemed to be drenched and matted together but the pin that James gave her was still intact. She saw the look the two men gave her; one with silent respect and the other in morbid fascination. Sparrow always appreciated women who could wield a sword, whereas James found that while he didn't enjoy the thought of a woman plunging and bathing herself in her enemies' blood, he had come to terms that Carmen wasn't the same sort of woman he had been used to.
All the women that he grew up around with –few as they may be –were always polite, quiet, and agreeable. Carmen was certainly none of those traits. Blunt, aggressive, and thick-headed, James simply didn't know how to act while he was around her. But, he supposes, it is quite refreshing to not be expected to act like a gentleman and speak plainly without fearing the consequences. Because while she certainly had a mean spirit, it did not hold a candle to the backstabbing, fakery of the societal women.
It reminded him of Elizabeth in a way; rejecting society's ideals of women and becoming who they wanted to be, not caring about others.
Elizabeth.
James felt Jack grab him by the arm and shake him. He glared. "Just because you saved me from a sword's blow, doesn't mean that you can manhandle my person, Captain."
"Aye." Jack leaned in close, mouth bared in somewhat of a smile; though James was sure he didn't mean it that way. "But you have been staring at Carmi for quite a while now. What bother's ye, her hair or its colour?"
Oh, how he detested riddles like this. Yes, speaking with Carmen was far simpler. She would cut to the chase; ignore all pretences of being polite or virtuous. While her tongue was mean, it was never sly.
"Both perhaps." Norrington knew his way around these verbal fights just as well as he knew the ins and outs of a swordfight. "I was just thinking of how she reminded me of another woman. One who is just as boisterous and wild. You would know, captain."
"Ex-fiancée, was it?" snorted the pirate.
James bristled. "She's a fine woman. Anyone would be glad to be compared to her."
Jack rolled his eyes. "I know I said I was rooting for you, but really? I can't say much about being wild and boisterous but Carmen sure had never manipulated those who cared for her. Can't say the same for the other one."
"It's my fault," James argued. "If it weren't for me pushing unwanted attraction towards Miss Swann, she would have never had been put into the difficult situation. Besides," he added, "Miss Swann is the daughter to a respectable governor and Carmen is a pirate."
Jack glowered and Carmen had heard quite enough. She retreated to the wheel, ushering Anamaria to take a rest and care for her wounds.
"Wasn't always one, didn' ye know?" A new voice joined the two. Gibbs came along and Jack took the moment to escape, headed for the wheel. He took out his compass in one hand and steered the boat in the other. Carmen was by his side as always, cleaning blood and counting the treasures they had stolen.
"What do you mean? She was of noble blood as well?" From across the deck, Carmen winced a little, and Jack shot the pair a glare.
"Shh. Now, ye weren't doin' Captain much good, arguin' wit' 'im so loudly about her. She's a charmin' young lass, 'n ye do good t' remember that afore defilin' her honour." Gibbs warned, bringing his voice down several notches.
James followed suit. "I beg your pardon good sir, but I did not 'defile her honour'. I compared her to Elizabeth. I'd hardly call that 'defiling'."
The chatter quieted down quite a bit. It seemed like James had the whole ship's attention, especially since he had argued with the captain earlier as well. Loudly.
Gibbs frowned, scratching at his beard. "Well, Miss Swann be a great lass 'n all, she's got her faults like th' rest o' us. Seemed t' me like ye was tryin' t' say Carmen was more like th' flaws 'n less like th' good."
It was James' turn to frown. He felt a bit guilty, despite that it wasn't his actual intentions to be rude; it had come off that way, he imagined. "I apologize then if that was what it felt like. I was only trying to compliment her bravery."
Gibbs shook his head. "Nah me ye needs t' be apologizin' t'."
James nodded his head. He really wasn't in the mood to be spiteful. "I will, in a moment. But first, what did you mean about Carmen being from noble blood?"
Gibbs lowered his voice and gestured for James to lean in. James had the distinct feeling of deja-vu. He's seen ladies at parties gossiping and always turned his nose at them.
"Her full name be Carmen de Aguilar." Pausing a bit, he looked around and shooed the crew to go back to work. " I guess ye know wha' that means, Commodore."
James' head was whirling. Carmen de Aguilar. De Aguilar. Aguilar. That name was basically symbolic with power. It was one of the largest families in Spain, holding more land than grain, more houses than they held servants.
"Gibbs, what –how? How did she become a pirate?"
Gibbs shrugged, eyes darting around the ship and landing on the heaps of ropes that needed mending.
"Bastard's born. Mother was a gypsy. Her dad cared about her but left this world too early. Her mother 'n her got kicked out 'n couldn't step a foot in any o' thar houses. Raised on th' streets n' took her mother's name. Becomin' a pirate was good fer her. " He looked to James' face. "People are shaped by thar environment. Ye can nah damn a man fer doin' wha' they 'ave t' in order t' get by."
They stared at each other for a minute or two before Gibbs politely nodded and left to tie scraps together to make ropes. James stood for a second to collect his thoughts and offered to help Gibbs. They didn't pass any remarks between them, and James found himself drawn to Sparrow and Carmen yet again. The lively chatter returned, making it difficult to make out what the two were saying.
"Bugger. I wish blood wasn't so thick." That was Carmen, as she tried to scrub off the blood from her hair. She had given up on her dress, not that it was much of a garment anyhow.
"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." Jack elegantly puts it. "Besides, nobody can tell since your hair is just as red. Leave it in for all I care."
She huffed. "Wouldn't it attract bugs? I don't need any head lice right now." She then murmurs something that has Jack's shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. He takes out his compass again, checks the map leaves the wheel. Carmen shakes her head from where she's seated, licks a finger and lifts it up to the air.
She says something about 'wind directions' and 'ocean currents' both of which goes ignored by Jack as he sits down beside her. He takes a brush by Carmen's feet, dips it in water and gently combs her hair.
"For a man, your touch is very soft. Kind of like a whore's."
Jack grips the brush so hard, the wood splinters. Carmen's laughter rings out, cutting through all the other voices. It sounded very melodic, somewhat manically, but (and here James surprises himself) very pretty.
If he closed his eyes, he could imagine Elizabeth laughing. Elizabeth tossing her wet hair over her shoulders, and it would be James who is now tossing the salt water over at her, not Jack. Everything would have been alright, thought James, except-
"You fucking bastard's child, I'll throw you overboard!" Jack's angry voice yelled.
James sighed. Illusion sufficiently broken.
"Jack, no, stop! I swear to the Lord Almighty if you dare throw-"Splash.
Carmen stood up, enraged and shrieking. "Jack! You scoundrel! You, you, you… Mongrel!"
James winced at the vulgarity, especially coming from a lady.
Seeing his face, Gibbs laughed along to the several emerging chuckles. Anamaria steps onto the deck, takes one look at the drenched Carmen, Jack tittering while he chased her with a bucket, and the overall state of the deck, turned around and went back to her quarters.
James shook his head wordlessly and got up at just the right time to avoid being run over by a squealing Carmen. However, he was not quick enough to dodge the bucket of water that Jack threw and ended up getting his navy jacket soaked through.
"Jack!" Carmen gasped. "Look at what you did to James!"
Jack's eyes twinkled. "It was high time to get out of that stuffy thing anyways. You must be scorching inside."
James narrowed his eyes. "Thank you, Captain Sparrow, for your brilliant reasoning."
Carmen winced from beside him, but Sparrow kicked the now empty bucket to the side and smirked. "Captain Jack is fine, James. Or would you rather me call you Norrington to remind you of your noble birth?"
Carmen gasped, audibly. James was livid and absolutely shaking with anger. Jack seemed pleased with himself.
Carmen ran towards Jack. "How could you say something like that? You know he can't help it. He's-"
"I apologize, Miss Lockhart. But it seems you must keep your Captain Jack on a tighter leash. That mouth can get a man hanged." James grounds out through his clenched teeth.
Carmen looked stricken. Jack's smile fell and the air around them seemed to turn cold. The seas rose and Pearl rocked harder.
"The three of you stop it." A voice commanded. Anamaria came out on deck. "There's a storm headed our way and we need to start tying things down. All the prisoners and the loot are in the cells. We're taking the sails down and making more rope. Captain, your orders."
Jack needed no further prompting. "James, go and," he waved a hand dismissively "write to your lord. Carmen, go and freshen up. I wouldn't recommend changing into dry clothes anyways. Come out here and help when the storm hits."
Carmen ran away as soon as he said it, but James stayed behind. It's not over yet. The pirate's eyes said. This is not over. James gave a curt nod and left as well.
Inside his cabin, he removed his jacket and wore a much looser one. He threw a waterproof sheet over his bed and clothing, trying to cover as much space as he could. He was still quietly fuming, muttering words he wished he could throw at Jack. Just then, he heard a knock at his door.
"Come in." He said. He was sure it was Carmen, angry and ready to beat him and yell to the high heavens about his rude behaviour.
Carmen came in, still dressed in soggy, bloodied clothing, but her hair was clean and tied back, with the pin intact. "Hello, Commodore." She paused, wringing her hands in front of her. Here it comes thought James. He braced himself but the slap didn't come at all.
"I'm sorry about Jack and the… incident. He didn't mean to be insulting, I'm sure. He can be a bit, much. But he's a good man."
Say something a voice in his head told him. Apologize for your behaviour. Offer to make amends. "Oh." James smartly replied. "Uh…" You fool.
Carmen laughed. "Although I must admit I never thought he would throw seawater on you. Are you alright?"
James didn't register anything Carmen said after her laugh. He felt relieved that he didn't know he needed nor wanted wash over him. He staggered and tripped before catching himself.
Carmen smiled sweetly. "Are you okay? Are you mad at me?"
"No, no. I should be the one apologizing." He finally seemed to get his wits back and managed to piece together a proper apology. "I made insinuations about your family and your choices but I could not have known. I'm sorry."
"That's alright." Carmen chirped. "Can you redo the pin? It's kind of itchy."
Just like that, he was forgiven. He didn't know what to expect, maybe some tears, or a backstory, or even just a strong right hook. She was easy-going, that was for sure. James shook his head, because if it were any other woman whom he had insulted, she would not have been so kind, or even given him the chance to explain himself.
"Sure. Let me redo it. Maybe it had become loose." With that, James brushed his hand over her hair, untangling the pin. It had become loose because, despite the pin, Carmen's hair was still very, very thick and wavy. He quickly grabbed another pin from the many that were scattered around in his room. Through careful manoeuvring, he managed to get her hair in place. Once dried, he realised, Carmen's hair was quite poofy. Purely on instinct, he grabbed a fistful of her gathered hair and squeezed.
Carmen giggled and James instantly pulled back, mortified. "Sorry," he apologized, almost hysterical. "I don't know what came over me. I was curious, it looked so soft, I just…"
"It's quite alright. But if you're finished copping a feel, let's go out and help with the storm." Carmen said wickedly.
James ignored his face further flushing and nodded. "Let's." She was out the door before he even lifted his foot off the ground.
Outside was pure mayhem. The wind was blowing in all directions, splashing a tremendous amount of water on deck. Everyone had at least one bucket, just tossing pails and pails of water back to the sea.
What good that did. One bucket was replaced by three bucket-worth, and soon, sailors began to be flung overboard.
Carmen caught onto what people she could. Some weren't tied to the ship in time, or their ropes had simply broken due to the strong winds. Her own rope was starting to look a little worse for wear. At least the blood had finally left her clothes and hair. Her dress returned to the brownish, green ting, and her hair stayed in its place. The rain hit the floor with such velocity that it seemed to bounce right back to the sky.
"The prison's flooding!"
She looked over her shoulder to where the cells were. Running against the wind and trying very hard not to fall due to the rocking of the boat, she staggered towards the hole.
She pulled open the trapdoor leading down, the Pearl letting out a tired groan. Patting the wood compassionately, she peered inside. There was a significant amount of flooding, but it wasn't life-threatening. She carelessly tossed a couple of buckets down, yelling out "Keep the water out of the cell!"
She closed the door with a bang, ignoring pleads that followed. Jack didn't make it custom to capture children, so they were thrown overboard, or were dead.
Carmen lifted her head just in time to see the Commodore be swept away under the current.