Pirates of the Caribbean: Bloody Water

Disclaimer: I have no rights to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies or theme park rides or anything else that Disney profits off of. I'm just a poor college student who's bored over her winter break.

Rating: M

AN: Thanks for the review, Queen of the Red Skittle!

Chapter 6: Don't Look Now

To find oneself on the open sea, approached by two Navy and three pirate ships would be surprising to say the least and terrifying to say the most. If Cecily O'Connor's five-ship fleet were to stumble upon some nice, fat, well-stocked merchant vessel, the crew and captain would most likely fear a pirate attack from which there could be no escaping and no survival. However, looting and raiding were, for once, the last things on anyone's mind. Every man and woman aboard the five ships was focused on the journey south and the war they were preparing to fight. Captain O'Connor was especially concerned.

According to her paranormal map, the fleet would most likely intercept Nathaniel Easton's Heartless Maiden in about a week. After that, they would sail on past Trinidad in pursuit of Tanner Hartford's Savage Beauty. Hartford had made a quick stop on the small island, to pick up supplies presumably, and then had continued on south. If Cecily hoped to catch him before he ended up past French Guiana, she was going to have to pull off some serious hustle.

However, there was still a lot of concern about what she was going to do after she tracked down Easton and Hartford. She still needed one more ship if she hoped to be evenly matched with the convoy Beckett was currently traveling in. And she still had no idea where she was going to get one more ship.

She was sitting in her quarters, studying her map and contemplating that very problem when Keith interrupted her quiet reflection. "Cap'n," he announced breathlessly. "We're bein' followed."

Cecily snapped to attention. According to the map in front of her, Beckett was nowhere near her fleet. Who the hell could be following her?

"Colors?" she demanded.

Keith shook his head. "None."

"The Roger, then?"

"Aye, Cap'n. Looks to be a pirate vessel."

"Friendly?"

Keith shrugged. "Remains to be seen." He hesitated slightly. "Cap'n, she's flying black sails."

Cecily stood up immediately. "Black sails?" she queried, leading the way on deck.

"Aye, black. Do ye think…?"

"Impossible," Cecily replied. "Bottom o' Davy Jones' locker, if Tia Dalma's to be believed. And she ain't steered us wrong yet."

"Aye, but didn't she mention something about the remaining crew traveling to World's End?"

Cecily smirked over her shoulder at him. "And here I was thinkin' ye didn't believe in ol' wives tales."

Keith smirked back. "Well, the tales keep comin' true, Cap'n. Make a believer out of anyone."

On deck, she noted her crew uneasy, and Norrington's ship making its way closer to her own. The Commodore himself seemed to be trying to get her attention. Cecily ignored him.

Instead, she made her way to the stern, all the while frowning at the approaching vessel. She took out her spyglass and trained it on the far off ship.

It was indeed flying black sails. Though it was too far away to distinguish the faces of the people on board, it didn't take a genius to figure out that if Norrington was having a little shit fit he must recognize the vessel. And if he recognized the ship, well, it might just turn out to be the Black Pearl.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen.

"Cap'n," Keith said rather hesitantly. "Cap'n, they're runnin' up the white flag."

"Aye," Cecily agreed. "I see that."

She stood still a moment, contemplative. Keith fidgeted beside her, looking anxious. He seemed reluctant to press the matter, but spoke up despite this. "Shouldn't we… are we… what do ye think…?"

Cecily held up a hand to silence him. Keith obeyed the wordless command. She glanced over at the Dauntless, which was close enough to shout across to. She moved to the side facing the Navy ship, and Norrington followed suit. "Captain O'Connor!" he called over to her as loud as he could. "We have company!"

"Do we really?" she shouted back. "I hadn't noticed!"

"I'm positive that's Jack Sparrow's ship, the Black Pearl!"

"The Pearl, eh?" Cecily yelled. "And what do ye propose we do about it?"

"I propose we stop and listen to what they want!"

Cecily contemplated the matter for a few seconds. "And why would we do that?"

"We need an eighth ship, if I recall accurately!" Norrington shouted back. Cecily considered stopping as suggested simply so she could better discuss the situation with the Navy man. The whole shouting across to one another thing was getting ridiculous. "If we get Sparrow on board, that makes eight! You do wish to win this thing, correct?"

Well, he had her there. They did need another ship. And if anyone out of the five of them knew what they were doing when it came to Captain Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl, she supposed it would be James. She pretended to mull it over a few moments longer, and then shouted back across, "All right, James! We'll have it yer way this time! Don't get used to it!"

Cecily started shouting orders to her crew to drop anchor and fly their own white flag. Norrington followed suit. At a nod from Cecily, Keith began signaling the other three ships to do the same.

The Black Pearl came within boarding range and dropped its anchor. Cecily surveyed the prospective recruit. It was a dark colored ship and its appearance suggested the vessel had been through a lot in its years. Battle, fire, storms – name it, and Cecily would bet the ship had lived it. Judging on looks alone, Cecily would have wagered the ship could barely float – and yet, she knew the stories. Everyone did. And if legends were to be believed – a position that Cecily was beginning to take – this ship could do a hell of a lot more than float.

She looked away from the vessel itself and began an inspection of the visible crew. Preparing to board the Sunrise was a heavily suntanned man with long black dreadlocks, an elderly, sea-wizened man with a ridiculously large hat, a young, pretty blond woman, and a young, dark-haired man. Each one had an air of authority about them, and Cecily immediately sensed trouble. Either of the four could have passed for captain – and when the captainship appeared up for grabs, a ship was bound to have problems. Mutiny aboard one of her vessels was the last thing Cecily needed.

Her surveillance of the new ship ended once the bustle at her back caught her attention. From the commotion behind her, Cecily assumed the other four ships were preparing to board her own. The realization provoked a roll of her eyes. Determined not to be left out of anything, the other four captains were quickly boarding her ship to bear witness to the discussion she would have with the newest captain.

Cecily began to feel that this whole fleet business was turning into a situation of "too many cooks in the kitchen."

Ronan reached her first. "Cecily," his Creole accent sounded in her ear. "What are we doing? Who is this?"

Cecily shrugged. "According to Norrington, this is the Black Pearl. And we're going to extend them the ol' olive branch."

Ronan looked as though he wasn't sure this was such a great idea. Cecily couldn't really blame him. She had her own misgivings.

"Cecily," Skip said hurriedly, also coming up behind her. Cecily rolled her eyes again. "What the hell are ye doin' now?"

"Do ye have to second guess me on everything, Skip?" Cecily snapped. "I swear, it's always got to be a bloody fight with ye!"

"Aye, it does! That's why ye invited me along," Skip snapped right back. Cecily made a noise of aggravation. Skip barreled on. "What the hell is going on and who the hell is this new guy?"

"This new guy," Norrington cut in stiffly. "Is Captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl and we are stopping to offer him a place in the fleet."

Cecily spun around at the unexpected sound of Norrington's voice and saw that she now had all four men flanking her. This was getting to be too much. Skip turned to her again, still fussing. "What, so now he's calling the shots? What happened to you being in charge?"

"I'm still in charge!' Cecily snarled. "Back off all of ye! The new captain is comin' and I'll be damned if he sees us quarrelin' like a pack o' hungry dogs!"

The three men and one woman were boarding her ship now. As they approached, the other five captains remained where they stood. The four men stood so close behind Cecily that she began to feel a bit like a bookend, as though her presence was the only thing keeping Skip, Ronan, Norrington and Groves from toppling over on the new arrivals.

"Hello!" the dreadlocked one exclaimed rather theatrically. "Captain O'Connor, I presume?"

"Aye," Cecily drawled. "Who the hell are ye?"

"Hasn't Commodore Norrington filled ye in?" he asked with a grin. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, and that is my ship, the Black Pearl."

Before Cecily could reply, Captain Sparrow's sea-wizened companion interrupted. "No, no, no, no, no." he said. "The Black Pearl is my ship." He grinned at Cecily and extended his hand. "Captain Hector Barbossa, at yer service."

"No!" Sparrow shouted, shoving Barbossa out of the way. "It's mine!"

"It's mine!" Barbossa growled, shoving Sparrow back.

An argument broke out. The five captains stared at the other two with raised eyebrows. Finally, the attractive young woman traveling with the quarreling pirate captains had had enough. She rolled her eyes and approached Cecily. "Hello," she said, shaking her hand. "I'm Elizabeth Swann. We heard you were building a fleet to take on Lord Cutler Beckett."

"Did ye now?" Cecily asked with mistrust. "And who told ye that?"

"Tia Dalma," was Elizabeth's reply.

Cecily smiled slightly. "Ah," she said. "Well, I suppose out o' all the people who ye might have heard it from, I mind ye hearin' it from Tia the least."

"Surely you don't suspect Elizabeth of being untrustworthy," Norrington suddenly interrupted. "I assure you, her and Mr. Will Turner over there are perfectly trustworthy individuals. Sparrow and Barbossa on the other hand…."

"Well, they are yer friends, James," Cecily replied. "That doesn't exactly scream 'trust me'."

"Oh, don't worry," Turner spoke up. "We're not his friends."

"He's a traitor," Elizabeth spat.

"Oh, so they know about the heart," Cecily smirked. "Well, anyone who calls Norrington a traitor is a friend o' mine."

Norrington rolled his eyes. "You're such a kind woman," he murmured sarcastically. "Why ever did I stop seeing you again?"

"Don't be silly, James, I stopped seeing ye," Cecily quickly retorted. "Ye started to disgust me, remember?"

Norrington rolled his eyes a second time and fell silent. Cecily turned back to Elizabeth and Will. "We came to join your fleet," Elizabeth announced while Will nodded his agreement. "Beckett has to be stopped."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Jack interrupted. At some point, unnoticed by the other seven, he and Barbossa had ceased to fight and rejoined the conversation. "What the hell are ye doin', Elizabeth?"

"I was just trying to do business with this other pirate captain so you could be free to go off and bicker with Barbossa like a couple of spoiled children," Elizabeth replied sweetly.

Jack didn't miss a beat. "Well, thank ye," he said. "But we're done now. So… scoot!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stepped off to the side. Jack turned back to Cecily. "Anyway," he said. "We heard ye were building a fleet in order to stop Beckett. And seeing as everyone here can agree that Beckett is absolutely one hundred percent criminally loony, we would like to be included in your little army thing-a-ma-jing. Savvy?"

Cecily raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't know," she replied slowly. "I can't say either one of the possible captains that I've been faced with have exactly impressed me."

Both Will and Elizabeth rolled their eyes.

"But I've impressed ye more, right?" Jack asked with a wink.

"I sincerely doubt that, Jack," Barbossa said in his gravelly voice.

"You're too old to be impressive," Jack replied with a fixed grin. "And ye smell funny."

"And ye're an idiot," Barbossa returned, also with a fixed grin. "So which do ye think Captain O'Connor would rather have? An old man… or an idiot?"

"At least I can lift things with my young, strong, non-arthritis riddled bones," Jack smirked back.

"Maybe so," Barboussa grinned. "But my spyglass is bigger."

Jack frowned, obviously a little wounded. Cecily was officially confused. "Spyglass?" she asked.

Barbossa grinned and winked at her. "Aye. My spyglass. It's huge."

Cecily sighed and rolled her eyes. "All right, clearly ye are both either crazy or stupid." With a glance at Jack, she amended, "Or both. So I'm going to offer ye a deal. Figure out who the hell is captain o' that tub o'er there so I have someone to deal with, and I'll offer you a place in me fleet. Mostly just cause I need another ship."

"Well, that's easy!" Jack exclaimed. "Me! I'm the captain. Deal with me!"

"I hate to be negative," Barbossa put in. "But that's not exactly true. I'm captain, not him. Ye'll have to deal with me."

"Actually…." Jack growled, but he was interrupted.

"Argh! Would you two stop it?" Elizabeth shouted. "You are both captain, all right? Both of you are Captain! And if you can't share like good boys, neither one of you will be captain! All right? I will kick you both off the ship and I will be captain! Do you understand me?"

Both pirates stared at her. "I'll bet ye'd like that," Jack grumbled.

Cecily had had enough of all of them. "Fine, so ye're both captain," she snapped. "Ye can be in the fleet. And from now on, ye won't have to worry about whose the bloody captain, cause ye'll both be takin' orders from me! Now both o' ye shut the bloody hell up and get the bloody hell back on yer ship!"

Shocked silence followed this outburst. "All right, fine," Jack said. "If that's the way ye want it." He sounded mildly insulted.

"We'll just be getting' back on the ship now," Barboussa added. "If that's all right with ye."

Cecily nodded and the two men retreated to the Pearl. Will and Elizabeth stopped only to shake their new partner's hand and apologize for their companions' behavior before following suit.

"They're not usually that… immature," Norrington hastened to explain. "Well, yes, actually they are, but I assure you, their talents both as sailors and as soldiers more than make up for…."

"Quiet," Cecily snapped, putting up her hand. Her patience was gone. "They better not be quite the idiots they appear, Norrington, because if they screw things up for us, I will blame ye. And then…." She drew her finger across her throat threateningly before stalking off to her quarters.

The other captains stared at one another for a moment. Finally, Groves spoke.

"Excellent work, gentlemen," he said, addressing all of them. "Now she's angry."