The fiery girl's blood curdles as she walks along the docks with her visitor, scowling at him with her arms crossed tightly over her chest "you're early"

"That I am. Not a problem is it?" he says in an uncaring tone

Fighting the urge to shiv this man she turns to him "let's just get this over with!"

She walks off ahead and he smiles sinisterly, Red grips the letter in her hand like a lifeline. A short with later and the pair are sat in one of the secluded corners of Fig's, the girl's quickly guzzling half of her pint "not very lady like"

"Go to hell!" she bites in a bitter tone, sitting as far from him as possible

Taking a long sip of his ale he nods "informants tell us that the black pearl has been seen closer to land these days, not like Sparrow that. Land's a dangerous place for a man like him, who knows what could happen"

Without hesitation Red is across the table, her freshly sharpened blade scraping painfully against his Adams apple "you tell that bloody bastard that if harm comes to Jack Sparrow I will personally make it my mission to burn everything he holds dear to cinders, sever his throat and drown him in his own blood!"

His eyes are dark as a grim chuckle emerges from low in his throat "still holding a candle for dear old Jack then, shame that. Don't worry your pretty head over him, he's just dandy"

"Just give it to me!" she says while pushing the blade closer, nicking the skin as a tear of crimson seeps out

Thrusting his hand into his pocket the brute hands a package to the girl, who reaches for it wantonly only for the brown package to be pulled out of her reach "now, now lass, what do you have for us?"

Red swallows hard as her mouth opens to speak but as a customer comes into her line of sight she stands "wait here"

Without waiting for his answer the brazen girl strides over to the man and smacks him hard on the head "what the bleeding hells are you doing here?"

"I was concerned about you" he says earnestly, her hardened gaze appeases

Casting a glance over her shoulder then back to the honey jade of her friends eyes she smiles "Jimmy, please, go home…"

"No, Red what's going on? Why are you so… anxious?" his breath is clean of the usual stench of run and ale, his voice filled with worry

"Look love, I'll explain later but right now I need you to go, alright? so bugger off!" she snaps at him, shoving him out the door and turning on her heel back to the man waiting at the table

On arrival he cocks an eyebrow "who was that?"

"A punter" she says while giving him a pointed look

His eyes stray over to where James had stood not moments before, then sweeping over the form of the young woman before him "so, about that deal?

She bites her lip, gazing at the parcel longingly, her caramel orbs shifting from it to him as she sighs in contempt for her words "Captain Patrick Gillian and the Ripper are sailing out north; they're going to make port within the week at the eastern harbor"

"I see, well nasty piece of work is Gillian. I suppose it's only fair…" he hands the package over and her greedy hands can't help but snatch it from his grasp

As he stands a sickly smile comes over his face "I'll tell Lord Beckett you send your love shall I?"

"You can tell him, doesn't make it true Mercer" she quickly reply's while leaning back on her chair

He shakes his head with a smile "still as defiant as ever I see. Its Red these days isn't it? Not very imaginative"

Quickly downing the remains of her pint she stands, walking past him while holding up her middle finger to his face. Red walks briskly up the stairs of the tavern and slipping into her room. Its small and quaint, cleaner and better preserved than most of the other pubs rooms.

Taking a seat on her bed she looks to the two envelops and sighs, opening the one that first past her hands:

Red

I'm sending this letter ahead of time for you to know the Pearl and I will be making port in Tortuga within the month.

Break out the rum kitten, Jackie's on his way.

She can't fight her smile as her eyes scan over his messy scribbled words, but falls slightly at sight of the next package, just waiting for her to open it…

James has been pacing around outside the Tavern for well over an hour, not even a lick of alcohol in his system. He knows she asked his to go home, but he couldn't, his gut wouldn't let him, so instead he waited and when he saw the man Red had been glaring daggers and speaking with walk out he followed him to the docks.

"Well, well, what have we here? Commodore James Norrington, well not so much commodore anymore, aye?" asks the stranger who turns to the scruffy sailor

"Who are you?" James questions wearily, recognizing this man's eyes, the eyes of many he'd met over the years, Murder!

A low, sour chuckle comes from Mercer as he leans forward slightly, almost as to whisper "I think the bigger question is 'who is she', don't you?"

Eyeing the smartly dressed man James hand never leaves the handle of his sword, always at the ready "what is your business with Miss Teague?"

"Why don't you ask her? Oh and word of advice mate, steer clear. Girls more trouble than she's worth if you ask me, appealing as she is mind" he says with a sickly sweet smile

Within less than a moment James's blade is out and he snarls "you'd do well to mind your tongue!"

Holding up his hands is mock surrender Mercer backs away "as you wish, don't say I never warned you"

With that the commodore turned inebriant watches the man leaves and can't help but wonder about his friend and turns on his heel, he needed to think.

As James opens the door to his room he sees a candle lit and shimmering scarlet ringlets facing him as the girl sits on the window sill with her legs dangling either side "they look so peaceful don't they?"

Confused he shuts the door, taking off his old uniform jacket, throwing it to the bed and gently striding over "what?"

"The stars Jimmy, their so beautiful, soothing" she says with a wisp of a smile

Leaning on the frame he looks up and nods "yes, I suppose they are"

He looks to her then, seeing the flask as she brings it to her lips and the far of look in her gold tinted caramel pools "Red, what happened tonight?"

She shrugs, her eyes fallen downcast as she says "just business…"

"Seemed more than that to me" he says while taking the flask from her nimble fingers and enjoying his first taste of the evening

Her gaze turns back up the lit sky, still not meeting his "my mother passed, sickness of the lungs…"

"My condolences" he bows his head respectfully

However at her drunken chuckle he raised it to watch her, there gaze meeting for the first time "she hated those words, always said it's what people who have nothing else to say, say!"

His lip twitches into a smile then and he hands her the flask back "so very true"

Her head lobs to the side as she looks over the man before her "she would have liked you Jimmy…"

"I would hope so" he laughs kindly as she takes a gulp of whisky

"Tell me about your Elizabeth" the tipsy girl asks in a wondrous tone, offering the flask

Taking the canteen he shakes his head "She's not mine, she never was. Her heart belongs to another, she even agreed to marry me so that we would save him from his own foolish decisions, however in the end I realized I couldn't marry someone who didn't love me"

Siting up and shrugging Red smiles "her loss if you ask me, I think you'd make a good husband, minus the drink mind"

They share a laugh and he asks "tell me something about you, because it's come to my attention that you know everything about my past yet I know so little of yours… how did you get here Red?"

She shrugs, licking her plump lips clean of the liquor "it's a long and complicated story"

"Tell me something, anything!" he almost pleads in curiosity

She just looks at him for a long moment and then answers "I once told you I have a brother yes? Well, he's my hero. When I was eight he took me out on my first voyage, we had to make port three times in the first week because I got sea sick"

They share a laugh and Red bites her lip at the memory "we sailed for six months, just he, I and the sea, well we had the crew and the ship to of course but… I was devastated when he left me with Teague"

"Teague, your father?" he asks coyly, testing the water

She seems to flinch but then smiles brightly "Daddy, yes. Stern man he is, but he's a good man"

"I never knew pirates could be good men" James says matter of fact like

Red leans forward and says "the world aint back and white Jimmy, you of all people should know that"

He nods in agreement and the two continue to share the flask in an easy, comfortable silence… while a beautiful snow white gold compact emerald shimmers around her finger and a letter is left in cinders back at her room above the tavern, 'she wanted you to have it', 'one day you'll understand' and'It's just good business…' the only readable words left…

Hey guys, so thank you for the amazing reviews so far. I'm so glad you liked it ssoo much! Please, please continue to review if you want more and to know what the hell is going on! Thanks agains

JJ X x