Disclaimer: I don't own POTC…

Summary: In the next installment of my adventure, Jack and I must face obstacles on our own, never knowing if the other is still alive…

Rated: T for Teen

Contents: Profanity, alcoholism and more explicit sexuality then my last fanfiction.

A/N: This one is slightly more angsty and has more emotion then the last. I know what I'm doing.

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Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Squirrel's Best

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Chapter 1: It's Nothing

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It had taken us two or three months to reach the place Jack had set out for. It wasn't really in Turkey, more so a bit past the Strait of Gibraltar which is the body of water that separates Spain and North Africa. There, Jack snuck into a Godforsaken prison on a rock. We waited for three days before Jack came back on board. Gibbs offered his hand to help him up and was greeted with a skeletal leg.

"Not quite according to plan."

"Complications arose, ensued, were overcome." Cotton placed Jack's coat on his shoulders. I eyed him warily.

"Are you alright?"

"Mmm," Jack replied, not paying attention to me. I rolled my eyes. He had been like this since we left Anna-Maria at that port. She had been right; something was definitely eating at Jack.

"You got what you went in for, then?" Gibbs asked expectantly.

"Mm-hmm!" he pulled out a rolled up piece of cloth and waved it around. Gibbs and I stared at him before glancing at each other,

"Captain, I think the crew, meaning me as well, were expecting something a bit more… shiny," He moved his fingers around to convey scintillation. "What with the Isla de Muerta going all pear shaped, reclaimed by the sea, and the treasure with it." The crew had cornered Jack and I began to grow nervous.

"And the royal Navy chasing us all around the Atlantic," Leech, the Indian crewmember said. He glanced at his fellow pirates for support.

"And the hurricane!" Marty the dwarf shouted from his seat a little farther back.

"Aye," the crew echoed. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I could almost smell the fleeting desire for mutiny.

"All in all," Gibbs began, trying to placate the mood, "It seems some time since we did a speck of honest pirating." Jack leaned towards him slightly,

"Shiny." He repeated.

"Aye, shiny."

"Is that how you're all feeling, then?" He eyed every one of them, "Perhaps dear old Jack is not serving your best interests as captain?" I glanced at him sharply,

"Jack," I warned; he ignored me.

"Awwk! Walk the plank!" Cotton grabbed the parrot's beak as Jack whipped out his pistol.

"What did the bird say?" I bit my lip. Jack looked like he was bordering hysteria.

"Do not blame the bird," Leech said crossly. "Show us what is on that piece of cloth there." Jin dropped down from out of nowhere and screeching, grabbed the cloth and scampered off.

"Jin!" I jumped to my feet and ran after him. Jack's pistol misfired and before I could get to the cursed monkey, he snatched someone else's pistol and shot Jin square in the back. "Jack!" I whined, "He's an undead monkey! Stop shooting him!"

"Know that do no good," Gibbs agreed as he and Jack came toward me,

"It does me." Marty picked up the cloth and unrolled it.

"It's a key!"

"No! Much more better!" He took the cloth from him and showed it to us, "It's a drawing of a key." The crew crowded forward. "Gentlemen," Jack addressed us like we were children, "What do keys do?" There was a pause,

"Keys… unlock… things?" Leech sounded unsure of where Jack was going with this.

"And whatever this key unlocks, inside there's something valuable. So, we're setting out to find whatever this key unlocks!" he reasoned. Jack grinned,

"No!" I rolled my eyes. "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?" We stared at him for a moment,

"So… we're going to find this key!" Gibbs said.

"You're not making any sense at all," I snorted as Jin scampered up my arm. "Anymore questions?"

"So…" Marty began, "Do we have a heading?"

"Hah! A heading…" He whipped out his compass and stood there, "Set sail in a... mmm..." He circled his finger uncertainly, "A general… in that way direction," He pointed to the left and I raised my eyebrow,

"Jack, are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure love,"

"Cap'n?" Gibbs and I shared a doubtful look,

"Come on, snap to and make sail, you know how this works. Come on pet." He made his way through the crowd, "Oi… oi… oi!" he barked for them to move aside. I leaned against the rail with Gibbs and Marty.

"Have you noticed lately…" Marty began in his Jamaican accent, "The captain seems to be actin' a bit strange." Gibbs and I shot him a look, "Er," he shrugged. I stayed quiet.

"Settin' sail without knowing his own headin'? Somethin's got Jack vexed." He stared out at the sea. "Mark my words, what bodes ill for Jack Sparrow bodes ill for us all." Worry seeped into me, far more then normal and I hurried to the cabin. As I closed the door behind me, I heard the beginnings of a thunderstorm.

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The next night, I came into Jack's study to see him pouring over a map and tapping away at the compass. He looked up and glanced back down at the compass. Confusion etched itself in his face,

"Alright Jack, spill." I stood beside him. "What's on your mind?"

"Many things love," he eyed me and I flushed. The ship rocked and a strange look passed over Jack's face. He picked up a bottle and peeked inside before turning it upside down. A few drops fell out and I giggled, "Why is the rum always gone?" he asked me as he staggered to his feet. There was another swell as he grabbed his hat from a globe. "Oh. That's why." I smiled and took his hand. We walked down and Jack picked up a lantern as we past the crew sleeping in their hammocks. They were snoring and I bit my lip to stop from laughing. "As you were gents." He informed them.

We reached the hold and an animal bleated. Jack removed a ring of keys from his pocket and handed me the lantern. I held it up as he unlocked the door to the rum room. I shivered as I followed Jack to a rack of bottles. Weird barnacle type things were festooning on some wood and when we leaned in to look, they shrunk back into their shells. I wrinkled my nose.

"You need someone to clean down here,"

"Aye." He muttered in reply. He grabbed a bottle and sand spilt forth from it.

"Time's run out Jack." Came a deep voice. Jack dropped the bottle and I jerked back as it shattered on the floor. Jack took the lantern from me and I followed him to a corner of the hold. There, sitting alone was a waterlogged man encrusted with barnacles.

"Bootstrap," he breathed, "Bill Turner." I felt my heart jump into my throat. He looked up from were he was sitting,

"You look good Jack," Water dribbled from his mouth as he spoke. Jack stood up straight and glanced at me,

"Is this a dream?" he asked. I shook my head,

"No." Bill said, sounding a little unsure.

"I though not. If it were, there'd be rum," Bill's arm swung up and he offered Jack an aged bottle of rum. Jack looked from the bottle to Bill and pried the bottle from his hand with a creaking noise.

"You got the Pearl back I see."

"I had some help retrieving the Pearl by the way," he tapped the lips of the bottle before blowing on it, "Your son,"

"William?" He almost looked hopeful, "He ended up a pirate after all,"

"He's a good man," I shot back. Bill regarded me for a moment as Jack took a swing from the bottle,

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your carbuncle?"

"He sent me." I froze.

"Who?" Jack asked.

"Davy Jones."

"Ah. So it's you then." His voice was rough and he sounded a little disappointed. He sat down on a barrel and beckoned to me. I approached him and he pulled me onto his lap. I felt my face flush. "He shanghaied you into his service, eh?"

"I chose it," Bill said suddenly. A small hermit crab scuttled out from his sleeve, "I'm sorry for the part I played in the mutiny against you, Jack. I stood up for you." His hand slammed down on the crab and he popped it into his mouth, crunching, "Everything went wrong after that." Jack's mouth opened and his tongue and jaw moved around in revulsion.

"They strapped me to a cannon. I ended up on the bottom of the ocean, weight of the water crushing down on me, unable to move, unable to die, Jack." My pirate lover looked on, albeit a little regretful. "And I thought that even the tiniest hope of escaping this fate, I would take it." Jack took another drink and offered the bottle to me. I shook my head. "I would trade anything for it." Jack handed it back to Bill.

"It's funny what a man will do to forestall his final judgment-" I slid off as he stood and we started to leave. Bill, quicker than what I would've imagined, stood in front of Jack, blocking him.

"You made a deal with him too, Jack." I gave him a curious look although it didn't surprise me, "He raised the Pearl from the depths for you." But that did. "Thirteen years you've been captain,"

"Technic-"

"Jack!" Bill almost seemed as if was about to plead with his old friend, "Won't be able to talk yourself out of this. The terms what applied to me apply to you as well. One soul, bound to a crew a hundred years upon a ship."

"Yes, but the Flying Dutchman already has a captain, so there's re-" Jack began before Bill interrupted once more,

"Well then it's the locker for you! Jones' terrible leviathan will find you, and drag the Pearl back to the depths and you along with it." And all the while as I stood in silence, Bill leaned forward and Jack leaned back as far as he could.

"Any idea when Jones might release said terrible beastie?" He asked.

"I already told you, Jack. The time is up." He clasped Jack's hand tightly. "He comes now, drawn with ravenous hunger, to the man what bears... the black spot." I moved towards Jack as Bill began to walk away and before our eyes, a black spot boiled onto Jack's palm. In alarm, we both looked up but Bill had disappeared.

"Oh my God." Jack suddenly took off, splashing through a shallow puddle of water,

"On deck all hands! Make fast the bunt gasket! On deck! Scurry! Scurry, I want movement!" I followed Jack around the crew's quarters as he shouted for them.

"Jack!" I called.

"I want movement!" He bellowed. Practically everyone fell from their hammocks and they scurried around for their clothes. "All on deck! Run! And keep running! Run as if the devil himself and itself is upon us!" The crew hurried about their stations.

I ran after him on deck as he hid behind the mast, wrapping a piece of cloth around his palm. Gibbs suddenly came around,

"Do we have a heading?"

"Ah!" Jack jumped and I thought I saw fear in his eyes, "Ooh, run! Land!" And grabbing me, he ducked down.

"Jack, what is-" but he cut me off with a yelp,

"Which port?" Gibbs asked.

"Didn't say port. I said land. Any land." Jin swept down, knocking Jack's hat off and throwing it into the sea.

"Shit!" I ran towards the rail, grabbed a piece of rope, and began tying it around my waist.

"Jack's hat! Bring 'er around!" Gibbs ordered. I tossed a few men the other end of the rope.

"No, no! Leave it! Run." We all froze and stared as the captain ran off.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I muttered, untying the rope.

"Back to your stations! The lot o' ya!" Gibbs and I slowly approached Jack. He was standing rather stiffly between two windows beneath the stairs.

"Jack?" I asked cautiously,

"Shhhh!" Gibbs leaned forward,

"For the love of mother and child Jack, what's coming after us?" There was a tense pause,

"Nothing." Jack replied. Gibbs looked at me and led me a little ways away,

"What's in Jack's head lass?" I stared at him. I'll leave it up to Jack to tell them. I thought,

"I have no idea."

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Whew!

There's chapter one for you! Don't worry, things are about to get very interesting…

Reviews are Love,

That Author.