Chapter 1

"Bugger this plan, bugger this thing," Jewel growled, "Bugger you dad!!" She pounded on the lid that hid her from the world. It was too cramped for her to reach her knife in her boot. She just continued banging and yelling. There was a knock from the outside that caught her attention.

"Am I to assume you're in there love?" Jack asked

"Well I'm not the other... person in here." Jewel said, having to share her abode with a rotting skeletal corpse.

"Cover your face." he said. Jewel obeyed her father. There was slamming and the sound of crunching wood above her. She uncovered her face when it stopped, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight. She pushed herself up through the hole. She didn't leave her coffin though. It was surrounded by water.

"Wonderful plan dad." she said flatly, staring at the man who was her father.

"We made it out alive." he responded

"Barely." Jewel said, rolling her eyes. She noticed Jack was holding onto a skeleton leg. She looked down into her coffin and tugged at her "friend's" leg to row after her father. The Black Pearl loomed over them in a welcoming manner.

It was a comfort to see something familiar after what had happened in the Turkish prison they were nearly trapped in. And for what? Jewel didn't know, but it was important to her father. As many times she asked, he refused to reveal what he had stolen. Recently, he had been acting strangely too. He looked over his shoulder and was more cautious than usual.

"Need help?" Gibbs asked above Jewel, pulling her from her thoughts. She reached up with her skeleton leg. He reluctantly grabbed onto it and hoisted Jewel up.

"It's good to see you're both alive and well. Although, this," Gibbs motioned to the skeleton leg he held before throwing it overboard, "was not quite according to plan."

"Complications arose," Jack started

"Ensued," Jewel added

"Were overcome." Jack finished as he put on his coat.

"Although I'm going to be sore for a week because of your 'plan'." Jewel mumbled, moving her right shoulder around. Jack began to walk towards his cabin. Jewel and the crew followed in his steps.

"So you got what you went in for, then." Gibbs asked

"Mmm hmm." Jack smiled. He pulled the rolled up piece of cloth he had stolen out of his inner vest pocket and waved it around. His cheerful expression dropped when the crew stopped him in his tracks. Jewel put a hand on her sword expecting the worst to happen.

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

"And the Royal Navy chasing us all around the Atlantic." the man called Leech added

"And the hurricane." Marty finished. Everybody agreed with him, letting out ayes and such.

"But I managed to help us sail around the hurricane." Jewel recalled. Gibbs held out a hand to her and all of the crew before looking directly at Jack.

"All in all, it seems some time since we did a speck of honest pirating." Gibbs said. Jack paused.

"Shiny?" Jack asked

"Aye, shiny." Gibbs responded. Jack turned to the crew. There was a kind of glint to his eye. Jewel let her hand fall to her side. She knew what was coming.

"Is that how you're all feeling then? That perhaps dear old Jack is not serving your best interests as captain?" Jack asked, letting the guilt set into his crew.

"Walk the plank." Cotton's parrot squawked. Jewel held back her laughter even as her father pulled out and cocked his pistol aiming it at the parrot.

"What did the bird say?!" He demanded

"It's not worth it, dad." Jewel giggled

"Do not blame the bird. Show us what is on that piece of cloth there." Leech said. Jack, the undead currently skeleton monkey, dropped down and frightened the crew. Captai Jack tried to shoot him, but there was no powder for his pistol. The monkey quickly grabbed the cloth and began running. Jewel groaned and began to make chase.

"You little! I told you! No stealing from my dad or else!" Jewel yelled at him. Captain Jack, thinking quickly, took somebody's pistol and shot the monkey, making him drop the cloth. Jewel pulled her knife out of her boot and glared at the monkey.

"You know that don't do no good." Gibbs remarked

"Does me." Jack retorted

"Me too." Jewel added throwing her knife at the monkey. Marty went over to where the monkey had dropped the cloth and picked it up. It managed to get unravled, revealing the picture drawn on it.

"It's a key." he said

"A key?" Jewel asked

"No, much more better." Jack said, taking the cloth and showing the picture to the crew, "It is a drawing of a key." It was like no key anybody had ever seen. Two bars next to each other with teeth on opposite sides connected by a ring that held them together.

"Interesting." Jewel said, tilting her head to the side, looking at the key.

"Gentlemen, what do keys do?" Jack asked

"Keys... Unlock. Things?" Leech answered, although he wasn't sure. Gibbs stepped in, sure about what he was going to say.

"And whatever this key unlocks, inside there's something valuable... So we're setting out to find whatever it is this key unlocks." Gibbs asked a smile on his face.

"Yes." Jewel nodded her head

"No." Jack responded at the same time Jewel spoke. She looked up at him and looked at Jack oddly.

"No?" she asked

"Yes luv, no." Jack explained, "If 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 guessed

"You're not making any sense at all." Jack said very seriously

"You're not making sense." Jewel said walking to her father's side, "Dad I'm tired. Can we finish this?"

"Of course. But first, any more questions?" Jack asked the crew

"So, do we have a heading?" Marty asked

"Ah, a heading." Jack pulled out his compass and turned his back to the crew. None of them saw what was going on with the compass. Jewel noticed the needle spinning around though. It didn't settle on just one direction. It pointed to the North. The South. The West. The North again.

"Set sail in a general..." Jack's finger moved in the direction he saw the compass spinning. He started to point to the right before pointing to his left. "That way direction."

"Captain?" Gibbs asked. Jack snapped his compass shut and turned to the direction of his cabin.

"Come on, snap to and make sail, you know how this works." Jack said before pushing through the crew to his room. Jewel sighed and shook her head. She noticed Gibbs and Marty by the rail. She strode up to them and stood nearby.

"I be notice lately, the captain seems to be acting a bit strange... er." Marty said

"Setting sail without knowing his own heading. Something's got Jack vexed, and mark my words, what bodes ill for Jack Sparrow bodes ill for us all." Gibbs commented

"Oh please. He knows what he's doing. He almost always does." Jewel said

"Almost always?" Marty raised an eyebrow. Jewel was ready to retort, but held herself back.

"You just need to trust him." she said

"Just how much do you trust him?" Marty asked

"Well I..." Jewel paused. She does trust him right? Her own father. She wanted to answer yes. Something was stopping her though. She glared at the two beside her.

"Don't you have duties to attend to?" she asked coldly

"Aye Jewel." Gibbs smirked, walking away, Marty right behind him. Jewel looked out over the sea, pondering the question. It was so simple but why couldn't she say yes? Granted, he nearly had them or somebody they cared about killed on multiple occasions because of him, but he saved them. He helped. As harsh or as evil as people see him, as devilish he may be, he was still her father. But Marty's question. Why can't she trust her own father?