Author's Note: Thanks to all of you for reading, favouriting, following and reviewing this story! It means a lot. I also apologise for the delay - University got a little in the way and I managed to get distracted with further chapter planning, instead of doing the final edit on this chapter. There is some movie dialogue ahead (which will likely be the case for most coming chapters) - I changed it a tiny bit, mostly adding lines that didn't make it into the movie, but according to the scripts I found online were meant to be in there.

Since I cannot reply to guest reviews directly, I will do so here shortly: Thank you for your kind comments! As for the timeline: I know that the cast of DMTNT have commented that Carina was born before the first movie, but AU or not, I believe that wouldn't make any sense as she would be 40 sth. by the time DMTNT kicks off. She is Henry's age who was certainly born shortly after the third movie which took place roughly 20 years before DMTNT. A more detailed discussion on the timeline issue can be found on my tumblr (storm173) if you're interested.

Hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews are appreciated! :)

Chapter 2

Welcome Aboard the Black Pearl

The fog and smoke began to clear, revealing the returning longboats. Mary frowned when she spotted a young woman sitting between Pintel and Ragetti. She looked worried, but not scared which was odd given that she was surrounded by pirates and heading for their ship where more pirates were awaiting her. Mary was curious why the two pirates would bring that woman to the Pearl, but she also knew that these two had a reputation for being idiots. Bo'sun, the first mate, wasn't too happy about seeing the woman come aboard either way. "I didn't know we was takin' on captives", he growled angrily.

"She's invoked the right of parlay with Captain Barbossa", Pintel explained, being pushed aside by the woman. "I am here to...", she began, but a brutal slap across her face silenced her. "You'll speak when spoken to", he bellowed, his arm being grabbed firmly only a moment later.

"And ye will not lay a hand on those under the protection of parlay!", Barbossa warned, having emerged from the gathered crew, the monkey on his shoulder.

"Aye, sir", Bo'sun said, lacking respect in his tone for Mary's liking, but she remained in the shadows, watching the scene before her play out further. Bo'sun freed his hand from the Captain's grab, stepping aside. Barbossa turned to the woman and smiled his arrogant smile. "My apologies, miss. As ye were saying, before ye were so rudely interrupted?"

The woman swallowed, finally showing some fear, yet stepping forward to face Barbossa. "Captain Barbossa ... I have come to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal."

Mary raised her eyebrows at that. It had been a while since she had heard such fancy talk from anyone but the Captain. The fire of the lamps was dancing in Barbossa's eyes, making it look like they twinkled with amusement. And Mary knew that he probably was amused in a way, but it wouldn't have been possible for his eyes to display such a simple feeling. "There's a lot of long words there. We're not but humble pirates. What is it you want?", he replied. The woman seemed irritated that he claimed to not have understood her, but she didn't know him like Mary did and wasn't able to tell that he was teasing her. Her eyes began to glare in bold anger. "I want you to leave. And never come back." Her demand drew laughter from the pirates and a smirk from Barbossa. "I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request", he replied and added helpfully: "Means 'No.'"

She stared back at him coldly, removed something from her clothes and walked to the rail, holding the piece of gold above the water where it shone in the light of the still firing cannons. "Very well. I'll drop it", she warned them. The crew went silent and Mary smiled to herself, impressed at the young woman's courage. "Me holds are burstin' with swag. That bit of shine matters to us...", Barbossa told her, hardly bothered. "Why?", he challenged, his tone more aggressive.

She was taken aback by his reaction, but didn't lose her confidence. "It's what you've been searching for. I recognize this ship. I saw it eight years ago on the crossing from England", she explained, making things a little more interesting. "Did you now?", he wondered, suspecting something.

She seemed to lose patience, for she arrogantly raised one eyebrow. "Fine. I suppose if it is worthless, there's no pint in me keeping it." She let the chain slide, only catching it when Barbossa made an alarmed step forward. "No!"

Mary rolled her eyes. Let her drop it. You won't have any issue getting it back, she thought, having had enough of this interaction as neither side was getting anywhere. Then she frowned, wondering if Barbossa was still teasing. He seemed tense, too tense. What was the matter with him? Elizabeth smiled contently at the Captain's reaction who was regaining control over himself. He closed the distance to her, sniggering roughly. "You have a name, missy?", he asked.

"Elizabeth… Turner", she replied and Mary's curiosity had returned. She watched Barbossa turn to the crew, a knowing, almost triumphant look on his face. Some members of the crew uttered Bootstraps name. "I'm a maid in the governor's household." Barbossa didn't care too much for the last bit of information, but grinned at her. "Miss Turner…" He crossed his arms, leaning his head to one side, eyeing her intrigued. "You've got sand, for a maid."

"Thank you?", she replied questioningly.

"And how does a maid come to own a trinket such as that? Family heirloom, perhaps?", he suggested.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean", she said, appearing offended.

Mary wasn't sure if she believed her or if Barbossa did for that matter, but he seemed to have come to a decision. "Very well. Ye hand that over, we'll put yer town to our rudder and never return", he said, leaving no room for further debate as he held his hand to her expectantly.

"Can I trust you?", she asked and made Mary roll her eyes again. What a stupid thing to ask a pirate. Yet she had asked herself the very same question once and been surprised by the answer.

"It's you who invoked the parlay! Believe me, Miss, you'd best hand it over, now ... or these be the last friendly words you'll hear!", he said, losing patience. She hesitated another moment and then finally gave up the golden medallion. Barbossa handed it over to his monkey immediately. "Our bargain?", she asked, watching the monkey climb away and disappearing in the rigging. While walking away, Barbossa gave Bo'sun a nod. "Still the guns, and stow 'em! Signal the men, set the flags, and make good to clear port!", he ordered, getting the crew to scatter on deck. Elizabeth was left behind at the rail, looking lost for a moment, before she hurried after Barbossa. "Wait! You must return me to shore! According to the rules of the Order of the Brethen…", she said, panic growing. Barbossa turned on his heel, almost causing her to walk right into him.

"First, yer return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement, and so I must do nothin'. Secondly, ye must be a pirate for the pirate's code to apply - and yer not. And thirdly ... the code is more what ye'd call guidelines than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner!" She was looking at him in terror as Pintel and Ragetti grabbed her, pulling her under deck, locking her into a small cabin where she would stay for the moment being.

Barbossa marched into his cabin while the ship turned on Port Royal, soon out of sight. "That was easy", Mary commented, leaning in the doorway and looking at Barbossa who was brooding over a map.

"Ye won't hear me complainin' about somethin' bein' easy for once", he said.

"Didn't ask you to. What are you brooding about? Can't be the map. You know the way", she wondered.

"What if her blood doesn't work?"

"I don't follow", she admitted.

"She's only half a Turner."

Mary hadn't considered that before. "Only one way to find out", she told him.

"Aye", he agreed, obviously annoyed about the situation.

"She's a lot like me, don't you think?", she asked, getting a frown from the Captain. "Stubborn, clever, pretty and a tongue that could get her into serious trouble", she elaborated.

"If ye see it that way, aye, yer alike", he agreed. "But yer part of me crew while she is a hostage. Makes ye two very different."

"I used to be scared of you, maybe even more so than she is, you know", she pointed out.

"Ye have no reason to be scared of me", he let her know and added with a smirk. "Not anymore."

"For most part, no", she agreed. "But there's a curse messing with you."

"What are ye tryin' to say?"

"You seemed…, well, you were tense earlier, when you saw the last piece in her hands."

He raised his eyebrows. "Aye, I'm not havin' anythin' go wrong now."

"If that's all…" The monkey jumped onto her shoulder, interrupting the conversation as he made his way to Barbossa. "Respect me, don't fear me", he told her, scratching the monkey's head.

"Aye", she agreed. "I'll be on deck." She could feel his gaze in her neck and turned once again. "Don't forget to feed our guest", she said, heading back outside. The air was cool and a refreshing breeze ruffled through her hair. Bo'sun was at the helm, acknowledging Mary's presence with an evil looking squint of his eyes. He had never been particularly fond of her. That she was a woman was surely part of the problem, but not all there was to it. As far as she knew his relationship to the Captain had suffered over the years. Bo'sun blamed Barbossa for the curse and his loyalty depended on successfully breaking the curse. When Barbossa began to trust Mary, Bo'sun had seen her as a threat to breaking the curse, having no faith in her helpfulness. While she proved him wrong, he had calmed, but he remained suspicious and was the one member of the crew she knew would kill her in an instant given the tiniest reason to do so.

Mary watched Mallott and Grapple arguing over what and how much food to prepare for the prisoner's dinner. She would have offered her help, but wasn't in the mood to discuss cooking. They would come to an agreement without her.

Later that night, Barbossa stepped out of his cabin, carrying a red dress Mary knew all too well. It had been hers and she had never liked it much. Not because it was an ugly dress, but because she was uncomfortable in these kind of clothes. She preferred pants and shirts. But of course she hadn't been allowed to wear such things before she had become a pirate. Her father had been a merchant, leaving her in England at a young age and when he had sent for her to join him in the colonies, the ship had crossed ways with the Black Pearl. One of the passengers had owned three pieces of the gold, calling the undead crew. They had overwhelmed the merchant's ship at night, changing from human to skeleton in the moonlight. Upon surrendering, Mary had suspected that they wouldn't leave anyone alive. "I want to join your crew!", she had shouted in a moment of madness. The pirates had laughed at her, including Barbossa. "I'll not be hirin' at the moment and certainly not a young girl like yerself", he had said.

"I don't see a cabin boy amongst you. I can clean and cook. I'll clean the whole ship on my own if I have to", she had babbled away.

"The whole ship?", Barbossa had repeated, pretending to be impressed.

"I can even fight!", she had assured him and it hadn't been a lie. She had bribed one of the guards back in Bristol to teach her. He had agreed only to get up her skirts as she had found out later, but by the time he tried to take advantage of her, Mary had already learned enough about swords to keep him away from her.

"You can fight?", Barbossa had asked, not convinced, but willing to test her. "Fine then. Ye can join us if ye manage to win a duel against one of us."

Mary had wanted to ask if she could trust his word, but that had mattered little at the time. She had taken off the dress in preparation, knowing she could move better in nothing but her underdress. The pirates had whistled approvingly and in a second moment of madness, she had thrown Barbossa her dress which he had caught with raised eyebrows. He had handed it over to Pintel and taken the pirate's sword in return, holding it to her. Mary had grabbed it, knowing her life depended on it. Barbossa had chosen Jacoby to fight her, the crew's mad man with too much love of explosives. And she had won her duel. Jacoby had beaten her up pretty badly, but her will to live had given her strength. With Jacoby on the floor, knocked out by a blow to his head, Mary had been standing before Barbossa, bleeding out of several scratches, expecting his judgement. "Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, pirate", he had said. He was a man of his word. That was the first thing Mary had learned about Captain Barbossa.

Now he was giving the dress to Pintel and Ragetti, ordering them to invite Elizabeth to dine with him. They hurried away and he turned around, looking up to meet Mary's gaze. The both of them had come a long way since that night over two years ago and he seemed to have just reflected on that like she had. He came up the stairs, joining her. "It's late. Get some rest", he said.

"Aye, Capt'n."

...

Mary was woken by screams. High pitched screams released in panic. She stormed on deck, finding herself surrounded by skeletons and spotted Elizabeth who tried to flee back into the Captain's cabin, but ran straight into Barbossa's arms who grabbed her and forced her to face the crew. "Look! The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the livin' and so we cannot die. But neither are we dead." He turned her to face him, a look of suffering on his face. "For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death and haven't died. I feel nothin'. Not the wind on my face, nor the spray of the sea...nor the warmth of a woman's flesh." He was reaching for her, his hand turning in the moonlight. "You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!" Mary didn't like seeing him all rotten and lowered her gaze. He pulled a bottle of wine, opening it with his mouth and tried to drink it. The liquid went everywhere, dripping through his bones and onto the deck, forming a puddle. Elizabeth ran past him in panic. Barbossa threw the bottle against the wooden door, the glass breaking. He closed it behind her, laughing as he turned to the crew who joined in. "What are ye lookin' at? Back to work!", he told them then and they dispatched, revealing Mary. She had crossed her arms in front of her chest and was judging him. "Oh come on, just havin' a bit of fun", he chuckled.

"She didn't deserve that."

"She didn't believe we were cursed and stabbed me", he argued.

"Stabbed you? Then maybe she did deserve it." She looked past him, wondering what Elizabeth was up to. "Want me to calm her nerves a bit? Or do you want her to rot in your cabin for the next few days?"

"Ye don't have to keep her company", he said kindly.

"I don't mind."

"Then be my guest", he announced, opening the door for her. Mary walked past him, trying to do normally, but tensing unwillingly at being so close to his skeleton form. He noticed, but chose not to mention it.

Elizabeth was hiding in a corner near the window. "Get out, filthy pirate!", she shouted, fear evident in her voice.

"Pirate, yes", Mary said and stepped into the moonlight. "Filthy, not so much."

"You're not cursed?", she asked dumbfounded and then added even more shocked: "You're a woman!"

"No, I only joined two years ago. They have been cursed for ten now. And yes, I am a woman." She sat down at the table, keeping a respectful distance. "You must forgive them. They are not quite right in the head anymore, even for pirates."

"You joined a cursed crew!", Elizabeth said in disbelief.

"You mean that makes me not quite right in the head?", Mary asked. "It saved my life."

"How? How did you do it?", Elizabeth asked, standing up, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Fought my way in. And they are not so bad once they accept you. Especially the Captain."

"They are pirates!"

"Cursed pirates. And if Captain Barbossa can be kind cursed, I believe he has a lot more potential as a proper human. Pirate or not", Mary explained.

"You care for him", Elizabeth realised.

"Aye, that be true. And I want to break the curse before it drives him mad."

"And what will happen to me? He wants my blood."

"You would be surprised how much blood one human can spare without dying. You should live", Mary assured her. "Just don't cause them any trouble."

Elizabeth bit her lower lip. "Already did that."

"Ah, yes, you stabbed the Captain. Fortunately, he is not unforgiving. Well, he is, usually, but he's making an exception for you." They sat in silence for a while and Mary grabbed the wine, sipping at it. "Did you steal your clothes?", Elizabeth asked then.

Mary swallowed a large gulp of wine, a little offended. "Would they fit so well if they were stolen?", she asked.

"You've got taste", Elizabeth complimented her.

"Thanks", she said, taking more wine. Elizabeth wasn't wrong. Mary was a bit like Barbossa when it came to dressing: Roguish, pretense-fancy, arrogant. Black boots and breeches, a white shirt, a dark blue waistcoat with silver buttons and decorations and a grey blue jacket that looked similar to the Captain's, but was shorter. A black leather belt held her pants and sword in place while a dark red silk cloth was winding itself around her waist, holding her pistol. The only piece of jewelry on her was a silver ring on the middle finger of her right hand that was broader at the front like a signet ring, showing a skull surrounded by waves. It had been a gift by no other than Barbossa. And therefore was Mary's most cherished possession.

"When will we be… there?", Elizabeth asked.

"Two days", she replied, taking one of the apples. Barbossa always had a bunch of green ones in his cabin. Most of the time they would eventually rot as Mary didn't like them too much and no one else could eat them. They were too sour, but just now she felt like having one. It made a delicious crunch when her teeth sank into the fruit. "Do you think you'll manage that long?"

"Thanks to the rather unexpected company you're offering, I think I will be fine."

Mary smirked. "That's the spirit."

"Why does he have that wretched monkey?", she asked.

Mary laughed. "Jack? He's clever. The Captain values cleverness."

"The monkey is called Jack?", Elizabeth said with raised eyebrows. "Named after someone?"

"Plenty of people that are called Jack. Don't know if any of them inspired the monkey's name." Mary had almost finished the apple when Elizabeth got up and wandered around the cabin. There was plenty of room to explore. She watched how the maid ran a finger over the dusty duvet on the bed. "Not been used in a while", she stated.

"You're not a maid here", Mary teased.

Elizabeth ignored her, having found a pile of documents lying on a small dresser. She took a piece of paper and eyed it for a moment. She turned to Mary and held it to her. It was a wanted poster of Barbossa. The drawing was incorrect to say the least, but they had gotten the hat right. They offered 10.000 guineas for his capture or death. "Famous pirates tend to get their personal wanted posters."

"His name is Hector Barbossa. Hector?", Elizabeth said, trying not to laugh.

Mary grinned. "I know, unusual name for a pirate. But never stopped him."

"How do you come to know his name? Did he introduce himself?"

Now Mary laughed. "Found the poster, same as you."

"What's your name by the way?", Elizabeth asked, putting the poster back to its place.

"Margaret Smyth", Mary introduced herself. "Call me Mary."