Author's Note: Hello mates. I acknowledge this is a very overdue chapter. Please take the time to review, I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Just Like Old Times

Several years later...

Tortuga

The bar was filthy with grime, pungent with rum, and loud with drunken songs ringing throughout the tavern. A young woman sat in the back, clearly on her fourth or fifth drink. Her features were hidden under a black cocked hat, wearing a cropped brown vest over a fairly loose shirt. An intricately decorated cutlass hang low off her belt. Her hair flew freely, the curls framing her hidden face.

She reached for her current drink, stirring her finger in the cup for a bit. Drunk though she was, she always had one eye on the tavern.

It was in the middle of this drink that a certain man walked in, almost as drunk as she was. It was easy to dismiss him as any other ordinary rogue, but this man had such a familiarity about him that he caught the woman's eye for a moment. She shoved off the thought with a sip of her rum.

He trotted about the room, making rounds with his crew, who had trailed in eagerly behind him. Ringlets streamed out from his hat, adorned with beads and a red bandana. One could only describe him as an organized mess that was made up of a brown coat strewn over billowing pants, covered with scarves, belts and trinkets of sorts.

His face, she drunkenly admitted, was handsome enough. Wild. His eyes were a deep brown and lined with kohl, always seeming to twinkle with mischief, even when the rum went to his head.

The woman pulled herself out of the trance, and quickly downed her drink. She needed more rum if she was willing to allow this sort of talk. She waved over a bartender, placed down a few coins and ordered another glass.

The rum was brought swiftly, much to the woman's delight. She gulped down nearly the entire glass, not noticing the wild man sauntering over to her table. She had just set down the glass when he began to speak.

"There's only two times I've seen a person drink like that, luv," he said, taking a seat across from her.

She snorted and licked her lips, savoring the flavor of leftover rum. "And when would that be?"

"When they are about to die," he said, pausing. "Or when they wish to."

The woman met his gaze. "I'll leave it up to your imagination to decide which," she said, raising the glass in his direction before drinking the rest.

The bartender was already waiting to take her order. The woman placed down another coin, propping her legs up on the table. The man across from her placed a coin down as well.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Not of your concern," she responded. "And yours?"

He grinned, showing an array of golden teeth. "Likewise."

Two glasses of rum were brought to their table.

The woman tilted her head with a curt smile and raised her glass once more. "To the nameless."

The pirate matched her grin and clinked his glass against hers. The woman downed her drink.

"My name is Becca Waters, by the way. Captain Becca Waters," she said, carefully watching him to see if he recognized her name.

The man propped his legs up on the table, leaning back with face remaining neutral. "Nice name."

"And yours?"

He grinned again, flashing that oddly familiar golden smile, and proceeded to finish the rest of his rum. Becca just placed another coin down on the table, crossing her arms.

"I don't think you'll be needing any more rum, luv."

"And why should I let you decide that?" Becca questioned, raising a dark eyebrow.

"You might just thank me," he said, matching her gaze with a smirk.

With nothing more than a wave, he got up and left. The barmaid was about to place her new drink down before he swept it up in his hands, drank it quickly and dropped the empty cup on the table. The poor maid looked confused and shocked as she made eye contact with Becca, but Becca waved her off and gave her another coin for her troubles.

It was all Becca could do to not look back at the man who had stolen her drink as she walked out the door.

Becca half-ran, half-walked under the blanket of the cold night, passing shabby houses and full taverns. Her black hat had blown off in the wind somewhere, but she didn't care enough to fetch it. She had snatched it off some poor bloke when she had arrived to Tortuga anyway. It didn't matter much to her.

She stopped at the edge of the beach, sitting in the cold sand and letting the sound of the waves crashing soothe her. She closed her eyes, taking in the salty breeze and the call of the ocean. Oh, it had been such a long time since she first heard that call. When she dropped everything she had to answer it.

And now she had nothing to show for it. No more ship, no more crew. And Becca was still trying to call herself a captain. Angrily, her drunken mind drifted back to the day she lost everything.

One Week Ago

Caribbean Sea

"Broadside port!" shouted Captain Becca Waters loudly over the sounds of cannons.

In response to her command, the portside cannons went off swiftly. Carter, her first mate, looked nervously over her shoulder. The battle was slowly turning in their favor, but he worried the East India Trading Co ship would blow them to pieces before the odds changed in their favor.

"Rebecca-" he started.

Becca quickly cut him off. "You know I don't like you calling me that."

Carter sighed, speaking just loudly enough to be heard over the roar of cannonfire. "Becca… are you sure this is a good idea? If we turn around now we'll have enough time to catch the south winds and get out of range."

Becca looked at him with a sharp eye. If they weren't as close as brother and sister, she would have thought him awfully good-looking. With a half-grin, she said, "Carter, you worry yourself too much. We'll be out of here in no time, and richer than any other pirate on these seas."

"And what do you suppose is so valuable on their ship?" he asked.

Cannons raged through the air. "Something more dangerous than death itself… but something far more worthy than the entire British Empire," she said.

Across the way, the East India Trading Company fired furiously at the pirate ship. Cannons stormed by the Captain's head, narrowly missing the main mast.

"Captain!" cried out a soldier. "There's no way we can win. What are we going to do?"

The man looked out at the losing battle and back to his awaiting crew. He closed his eyes, thinking for a hard moment. "Open the box."

After a hesitant moment, the first mate ran off and within an instant he returned with a large black chest. The captain walked over to the box, and with a grim look on his face, unlocked the latch and swung the top open.

Like wasps from a hive, hundreds of black shadows swarmed out of the box, taking a human-like form. They hovered over the ship and overlooked the battle, blocking out the sun from the sky.

"Rebecca!" Carter yelled.

Becca had no time to react. The shadows swooped over the ship, grabbing pirates with their long, dark hands. Those who tried to scream were quickly cut off, the shadow creatures seeming to pull the life out of them. She could do nothing as her crew dropped dead around her. She lay low on the deck, eyes wide with terror as she looked at Carter who hid with her.

Carter turned to Rebecca. "Rebecca. You need to jump."

"What?"

"NOW!" Carter cried. Right as a shadow reached to grab them, he grabbed Rebecca by the hand and threw her over the side.

As Rebecca fell, the world slowed around her. Carter gave her a look of no regret, giving a last half-smile before a shadow creature swallowed him, wrapping him in clouds of black. She plunged into the icy water, hands still reaching out, before darkness consumed her.

Jack Sparrow sauntered out of the tavern, one hand wrapped around a lucky raven-haired wench and the other around a half-empty bottle. Or was it half-full?

He swirled the liquid with a flick of his wrist. No, definitely half-empty.

The raven-haired girl giggled suggestively, pulling him down the street eagerly. Jack went happily, flashing his signature gold smile. The girl giggled again.

Jack almost tripped over something on the forgotten street, mumbling a curse under his breath. The raven-haired girl bent over to pick up what he tripped over. A black hat. She pulled it over her head, laughing loudly.

"Do ya like my hat, Captain?" She giggled.

"You know, darling," Jack said suggestively, "it would look much better if you were wearing nothing else."

The girl giggled loudly and pulled him farther down the street. A large gust of wind blew the hat off her head and the pair stopped for a moment, debating whether or not to run back and grab it. Jack paused, staring at the hat now sitting in a dirty puddle. He had seen that hat somewhere before.

Jack snatched the hat off the ground, shaking off the water and scanning the area. There, on the beach, a figure was wading in the water. He looked at the hat again, then back at the woman and released a big sigh.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?"

"Wha- Sparrow! Get back here!" she cried.

Jack didn't turn around as he said, "It's Captain, luv."

Captain Jack awkwardly ran across the beach to the woman who had begun to swim. He grumbled something to himself about how she better not have a pirate medallion when he noticed a dark figure floating across the ocean. The figure, barely noticeable in the moonlight, grazed silently over the water, making its way to the oblivious woman. Jack drew his sword, running much faster now.

"Becca!" he called out.

Becca swirled around, startled to see him and figuring he was just as drunk as she was.

"Behind you!" he said, but it was a moment too late.

The dark figure reached out to Becca, long dark arms pulling at the strings of her life. Jack saw the color begin to drain from her face as she fell unconscious and he wondered if he should run while he still could.

Before he could think any further, an older man yelling loudly and holding a torch in each hand ran out into the water. Jack's eyes widened for a moment before he quickly followed the strange man. As the man with the torches grew closer to the dark figure and Becca's motionless body, the creature began to shriek and squirm at the sight of him. The torch light appeared to burn at the edge of the darkness, causing the figure to reel up.

Jack drew his sword, despite knowing it would help nothing. The dark figure let out a final high-pitched screech that hurt Jack's ears before dropping Becca's body into the water with a splash. It glided quickly away and disappeared into the night.

Jack dropped everything onto the sand and dove into the ocean, swimming to Becca's frozen body. He hauled her out of the mid-deep water and said a thankful prayer that she wasn't wearing a heavy dress. Jack pulled her onto the sand, taking only a moment to catch his breath before checking Becca. She was breathing, but only barely.

It was only now that Jack decided to take in the torch-man who had fought off that… creature. Apparently that man had decided to do the same thing.

"Jack?"

"Gibbs?"

Mr. Gibbs, a short fellow with graying hair, widened his eyes at the sight of his captain. "There's no time to explain. We need to get her inside, and fast. Before that creature returns," Gibbs urged.

Jack and Gibbs gently picked up the young woman and Gibbs directed Jack through the back door of a shabby looking house. They gently placed the woman on a table placed in the middle of a dark room. Jack looked around confused, not realizing he was still holding on to the woman.

"Now, we must be quiet," Gibbs said, "or we might wake up-"

"Joshamee! What are you doing up at this hour?"

A stout older woman appeared in the door frame, her graying hair framing her stern face. She looked furiously between Jack and Gibbs before resting upon Becca, still unconscious upon the table.

Gibbs gave an apologetic look towards the woman. "Matilda, love, you've been so overworked lately. I didn't want to wake you up."

"Well, I'm awake now," said Matilda matter-of-factly, crossing over to the Becca's motionless figure. "Another one?"

Gibbs nodded and avoided the gaze of the bewildered Jack. "A reaper nearly took her out onto the ocean. There were no others with it."

Matilda murmured, "They're getting arrogant." She held up Becca's wrist and revealed two black scars on her hand, looking strikingly similar to the claws of the shadow creatures . "It appears this isn't her first encounter with the reapers."

"Could someone explain what the hell is going on?" Jack said, gesturing helplessly.

Matilda mumbled something to herself once more and took a torch off the wall. She waved it over Becca, pausing at over her head and inspected the shadow the torch formed.

"You stand there and be quiet," she said to Jack. "She's been hurt pretty bad, but she's going to live. Her shadow is a bit dull. The reaper took quite a bit out of her, but all she needs is some sun and some rest."

Gibbs looked at Becca's wrist. "And the black scars?"

Matilda responded, "Side-effect of running into the Reapers. They might clear up on their own, but for now they aren't harmful." Matilda faced Jack. "You'd best take her out of Tortuga by sunrise, or else that Reaper might come back to finish its job- and this time, it won't be alone. Understood?"

Jack nodded his head even though he really didn't understand. Gibbs stared for a moment at his old friend, confusion settling upon his face.

"How did you and, uh-" he said, motioning towards the unconcious girl on the table.

"Barely know her," Jack said. "Met her tonight."

Gibbs nodded and got up to put out the torch.

"And you and.. Matilda?" Jack asked.

Gibbs smiled a bit. "She saved my life from a Reaper. I've been helping her ever since."

Jack fiddled with his sword. It had been a while since he'd seen Gibbs, but the two always ended up finding each other. But now, Gibbs had this woman and…

"Would you like to come back to the Pearl with me?" Jack suddenly asked. "I still need a first mate."

Gibbs' eyes lit up, but he hesitantly glanced over his shoulder. "I'd be honored, but, well there's Matilda-"

The two men hadn't realized Matilda was standing in the doorway. "And you think I'm going to let you two leave me behind?"

Gibbs frowned. "Of course not."

"Right then," she said. "So when do we leave?"

Jack and Gibbs looked at each other, confused.

"Joshamee, you clearly want to get back to the sea. And, frankly, I don't want to stay much longer on this rotten island. So we'll leave by morning then?"

Gibbs turned to Jack, a pleading look in his eyes. Jack sighed, his eyes drifting to Becca. "By morning."

Gibbs smiled wide. "Thank ye Jack. You won't regret it. It'll be just like old times."

"Except with two women on board and these 'Reapers' chasing after us. Just like old times."