Author: immortal_jedi aka jedipati

Disclaimer: I own nothing of POTC- except a few action figures. And I'm making no profit off this tale.

Pairing and Characters: Ensemble cast, W/E

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: They're pirates, what do you expect?

Summary: Will offers to make a copy of the key to the Dead Man's Chest, instead of trying to steal the original. And everything changes…

Author's Notes: This story came about because someone at the Chicago turningpirate (a community on livejournal) meet up asked "why didn't Will just make a copy of the key to the Dead Man's Chest? He is a blacksmith, they have a tracing…" None of us really remember who said it, however. So, whoever you were, thanks for the idea.

Will Turner eyed the tracing of the key Jack was holding. No doubt Jack had some crazy scheme to find that key. "Jack, wouldn't it be easier if I just made a copy?"

Captain Jack Sparrow blinked at him. "Make a copy?" he parroted.

Will nodded. "I'm a blacksmith," he reminded Jack. "I can make keys."

Jack leaned back and looked down at the tracing. "Can you now?"

Will smiled. "Jack, if you sail for Port Royal, I will make this key for you."

Jack frowned thoughtfully. "Make it," he said. Then he smiled. "Mate, before we can use the key…"

"You can," Will corrected him. "I have no need of this key."

"Before I c'n use the key and in turn I can get what I need out of this deal, we need what it goes to."

Will scowled. "What does it go to?"

Jack smirked. "We need t' find out."

Will rolled his eyes. "I might have known."

"William, we need t' find that which the key goes to. Once we have that, then you c'n make the key, and then you can take th' compass back with you to Port Royal.

Will frowned. "You will give me the compass?"

"I will take you to Port Royal. And you can use the compass."

Will nodded slowly. "We find what this goes to, and then we go to Port Royal. And then I'll make the key for you."

Jack frowned but nodded. Will didn't smile, but he knew that he'd outthought Jack.

Jack sighed. "Aye. We have an accord?"

"We do," Will said. They shook hands decisively.

Now- I've a way t' find out what this key goes to," Jack said. "A woman I know c'n help us."

Will nodded. "Will she help us?"

"I'm sure she will," Jack replied. "She's always helped me before."

Will gave him a skeptical look.

Will frowned as they climbed back on to the Pearl.

"Something wrong, Mr. Turner?" Gibbs asked.

Will started and turned to him. "No, not really," he said.

"Is it what that Obay woman said?" Gibbs asked.

Will shrugged. He looked at Jack. "Is she always so…"

"Be careful with her, William," Jack said. "She's as bad as the woman that Jones loves."

"I've no reason to see her again," Will said. He cast around for something to change the subject. "Jack, why do you have the black spot?"

Jack glanced at Gibbs, then at the other crewmen. "Mr. Gibbs, set course for Tortuga. Keep to the shallows as much as possible. Mr. Turner and I will be in my cabin."

Will followed Jack into the captain's cabin and accepted the mug that Jack poured for him.

"You heard what Tia Dalma said of Jones," Jack said after he finished fussing around and avoiding the subject. "But seeing as you're not a sailor, you don't know the whole story. Jones is a powerful man. He Captains the Flying Dutchman, a supernatural ship that c'n sail underwater."

"Underwater?" Will asked skeptically.

"Aye, underwater. You helped break one curse. Are you surprised to learn of others?"

"No, not really," Will conceded.

"Good," Jack said. "In any case, Jones collects sailors, and forces them t' make a choice between serving him on the Dutchman and dying." Jack paused again and got up to fidget with a bottle.

Will got up and guided his friend back to the table. "What is it, Jack?"

Jack looked away. "Jones is also sometimes minded t' do favors for the desperate. For a price."

Will nodded slowly. "And he did something for you."

Jack sighed and nodded. "I was young and foolish. I'd just received my brand, and lost my own ship, the Wicked Wench. I had only escaped from the East India Trading Company less then a week before. I was ill, and I wanted my ship back. Jones agreed to raise my ship back from the depths. What with everything, the price I paid for her, how she came back, I changed her name…"

"To the Black Pearl," Will said.

"Aye," Jack replied. "Jones took advantage of me. I was ill- I didn't even really realize what I'd done until several days later, when the fever went down. I was desperate to get away from Beckett and his men."

"And now Jones wants to…"

"Collect his payment," Jack said. "But if I have the chest and key, I can negotiate with him, and get out of a deal I wouldn't have made if I'd been in my right mind."

Will nodded again. "And the kraken that Gibbs was talking about, it's going to destroy the ship if you can't?"

Jack nodded. "And drag me to Jones' Locker, which is a bad fate for anyone."

Will looked off to the side. "Why Tortuga first?" he asked, changing the subject.

Jack stood up and started to pace. "We need more crewmen," he said. "We've only eight men and a parrot t' crew the ship right now. An' all of us are tired an' in need of relief."

"I understand, Jack. I'm just worried about Elizabeth. If she's not escaped yet, then things could go bad for her."

"What about if she escapes?" Jack asked. He sounded honestly curious.

"Elizabeth can handle herself once she's free," Will said, not without pride. "But first she has to get free. I never did teach her how to get out of Fort Charles' jail cells. But I'm sure she will, eventually."

"So why are you worried?"

Will shrugged. "I love her."

Jack made a face. "Back t' the problem at hand. Once he was more crewmen, preferably at least 40, we'll follow the compass's directions."

"If it works," Will pointed out. "You pretty much screamed out that it wasn't."

Jack grinned. "You will be the one leading us. I'm sure that you want t' find that chest, and then get back to your bonny lass."

Will blinked. He processed that statement and decided to focus on the important part. "How does it work?"

Jack smiled. "It points to what you want most in this world," he said. "Now, mind, if all you want to do at the moment is smack me, then it'll point to me. And more often then not, it'll point to your lass, since that's what you want most. But if you want to find the chest, focus on wanting the chest."

He handed the compass over to Will, who held it for a moment before flipping it open. The needle spun wildly for a moment before settling on a heading that was just off course. "Somewhere just past Tortuga, I expect," Jack said once he got a good look at it, though he made sure to keep the compass in Will's hand. "There's an island less then a day from Tortuga th' is said t' be cursed. The last settlers were killed to a man by some tropical disease. It's abandoned."

"And a good place to hide valuables," Will said.

"Aye," Jack said happily. "And most people avoid it, so why wouldn't Jones keep the chest there?"

Will contemplated the compass for a moment. "Tia Dalma said you got this from her?"

Jack smiled. "Aye, near 12 years ago," he said. "It was one of the reasons I went after the Aztec treasure, mistake though that may have been."

Will closed the compass. "Sounds like it could be dangerous."

"Oh, aye. But anything useful is dangerous.

Will nodded and tried to hand over the compass.

Jack shook his head. "You're the navigator," he said. "Keep it for now."

Tortuga. Jack smirked as he and Will wandered through the streets. They'd managed to sign on nearly thirty men before Jack decided that they might find a few more at the Faithful Bride, the same tavern they'd met with Gibbs in last year. Will hadn't been very enthusiastic, but he'd come along.

They'd left Gibbs behind to start provisioning the ship. Will had added a few things to the list, but Jack figured that the items made sense. Clearly, since they were possibly going to face Jones, extra gunpowder was a good idea. The other items made the same amount of sense.

They'd arrived with the noon hour, and it was now nightfall. That didn't matter much here. Gibbs would be able to find the needed supplies just as easily at night as during the day.

Will and Jack entered the Faithful Bride. Will was very wary, no doubt remembering his last visit to the inn. Jack glanced at him and smiled.

Will reached down and made sure the compass was securely attached to his belt. Jack nodded. It most certainly would not do to lose that.

After ordering meals and sitting down at an out of the way table, Will looked around. "It seems a little calmer then the last time I was here."

Jack glanced around. "Aye, it does," he shrugged. "You did mention that Beckett was trying t' catch pirates."

Will nodded. "Do you think that's the problem?"

"It's either that, or it's too early for some of the folk. We were here much later in the evening last time."

Will nodded and returned his attention to the food. Once they were finished eating- it didn't take long, they were both hungry- they watched the men and women around them. "I don't see anyone that looks like a good prospect," Will said.

Jack sighed dejectedly. "Aye."

The door opened and they both looked up as a few sailors walked in. "They might be worth approaching," Jack commented.

Will nodded, but he was studying the last of the sailors to com in. Jack craned his neck to get a good look. The sailor was smaller and slighter then most, and his blond hair was bound back into a neat queue under his hat.

Will started to smile. "I think I've found another crewmember," he said.

"You know that one?" Jack asked.

Will smirked and nodded.

"Is he a good sailor?"

"That, I don't know, but when it comes to sword fighting…"

"An' we need more fighters, just in case," Jack said. "Aye, go ahead and talk t' him, see if he's interested."

Will smirked again. Suddenly, Jack was certain that he was missing something important.

Will stood up and made his way through the crowd to the sailor. The young sailor wasn't looking in their direction, so the lad jumped when Will tapped him on the shoulder. They talked for a moment before Will led the lad back to Jack.

Will was grinning broadly, and the lad was also smiling. "So, you going t' introduce us?" Jack asked.

Will's grin turned very mischievous. "You've met before," he informed Jack.

Jack took a much closer look at the lad- who was not, in fact, a lad at all. "Elizabeth?" he exclaimed.

Elizabeth Swann grinned at him from under the brim of her hat. "Hello, Jack," she said.

He sat back and studied her. Finally, he looked at Will. "Those clothes do not flatter her at all," he said.

Will glanced at her. "I like seeing her in breeches," he said mildly.

Jack shook his head. "No, no," he said. "My dear, it should be a dress, or nothing. And I happen to have nothing in my cabin on the Pearl."

Will sighed and Elizabeth gave Jack a strange look. "Jack…" she said.

Jack offered a mea culpa before sobering. "No doubt William has explained what is going on."

"Not in detail, there hasn't been enough time," Will said.

"But enough for her t' get the gist of the matter," Jack said.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Good. Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?"

Will leaned back. Elizabeth glanced at him before nodded. "If that was an invitation to join the Pearl's crew, at least for a time, then yes."

Jack smiled.

They stayed at the Faithful Bride for several more hours, trying unsuccessfully to find more crewmen. They only left when they were forced to because Former Commodore James Norrington started a bar fight.

They headed back to the Pearl, where Gibbs was almost finished getting the new supplies on board.

Will went down to inspect the supply of gunpowder and other such items. Jack eyed him as he went. If things worked out, Jack might be able to pick up a Master of Arms out of this.

Elizabeth stayed on deck to keep an eye on a very drunk Norrington. Jack still wasn't happy abut taking Norrington along, but both Will and Elizabeth had insisted.

Finally, Will came back up and stopped next to Jack. "Are we ready?" he asked.

"We just need our heading," Jack replied.

Will smiled and pulled out the compass. He opened it with a slight flourish, one that Jack suspected the lad had picked up from Jack himself.

Jack dismissed the thought and peered down at the compass. Finally, he looked up. "Mr. Cotton, take your heading from Mr. Turner. All hands, prepare to cast off!"

And that's it for now. The second and final part will be out soon.

And, as always, thanks go to arquenniel for the beta