Jack slowly faded back into consciousness. He could feel something hitting against his back, though he couldn't feel his back; it was the impact he felt. He heard the crack of a whip on skin with each impact and it all came crashing back down on him; he'd been captured and brought to the prison in Fort Charles, along with Angelica.

He finally opened his eyes, nearly recoiling at the sight of the floor he laid upon. He was in a pool of his own blood. Literally. He swallowed, attempting to sit up, only for the whip to slap against his back and cause him to collapse again with a grunt as the pain began to return to his body.

"That's enough." The familiar voice of Lord Beckett the second sounded.

The impacts upon the pirate's back stopped. Still in a daze, he didn't move nor make a sound. The sounds of a whip hitting flesh rang out again, followed by someone else's cry; a female's, from the cell next to his. It took him only moments to realize what was happening. They were torturing Angelica.

"No!" Jack cried out in a hoarse voice, scrambling to the bars that separated the two cells and gripping them so that his bloodied knuckles went white. "No…"

It hadn't occurred to his scarred mind that she was immortal. It's completely skipped all train of his thoughts. He'd forgotten that she was immortal and he was desperate. What do they want from her? Her cries gradually grew louder and combined the sounds of her flesh being hit, his ears couldn't take it.

"Not her…" He begged, looking at Beckett, who stood outside of either cell, while one of his men were in with each of the two prisoners. The injured pirate couldn't believe what he was about to say. "Please…"

"We need information." Beckett told him. "If torturing you doesn't work, then torturing her will get something from one of you." He paused. "Now, let me ask you again. Where are the pirates?"

Jack frowned at him, remembering what he'd sworn earlier. "Didn't know the navy was so bloody cruel."

"If it's what we need to do to get rid of the rest of the pirates, it's what we'll do." The man was unphased by the remark. "Not unlike your kind."

"Not all of us are cruel." He snapped back.

Angelica cried out again and again. The pirate in the cell next to her was debating what to do. Should he attack the soldier behind him or tell some lie of where the others were? Both? He grew more and more desperate with each of the cracks of the whip; with each of her cries. He took only a moment longer to decide.

The captain used the iron bars of the cell to pull himself to his feet from his knees. His eyes gazed upon Angelica for only a moment longer, when he suddenly turned and leapt onto the soldier behind him, effectively knocking the man to the ground. He drew the man's sword and held it to his throat. As he got up, he turned to look back at Beckett.

"Stop this." He demanded. He pressed the metal harder against the soldier's neck. "Or I kill this man."

"We can afford to lose one man." Beckett told him, clearly not caring about the soldier's life. "And it's only one more bad deed on your record, Sparrow."

Jack bit his lip indecisively. He knew that the other man wasn't bluffing. He clearly wouldn't get anything out of killing the soldier lying at his mercy. He glanced down at the man beneath him, who was undoubtedly fearing for his life. The pirate stabbed the cutlass into the dirt next to the man's head with an annoyed, defeated sigh. He fell back to his knees at the bars that seperated him from Angelica. He could barely hear the soldier in his cell getting up through her cries of pain.

He was almost out of ideas. His only other one was to lie and give false information to the navy, which he was very close to doing. If that didn't work, he had no clue what he would do. Another cry rang out and he flinched violently, his ears ringing for a moment. This had to work. It was all he had left to offer. In this state, there was no idea he'd be able to come up with anything creative if this failed. Another ear-piercing cry rang out and he covered his ears, huddling in the corner of the cell. More cries came, all of which got through his poor barriers.

"You win." He croaked finally, as he released his ears. Beckett looked as if he hadn't heard him, and that made him angry. He screamed the words at him now. "YOU WIN!"

"Stop." Beckett told the commodore, the man in the other cell. He turned back to the prisoner. "Tell me where they are."

"They have a camp in the remains of Tortuga." Jack told him. "I don't know where in Tortuga, but I know they're there."

The man nodded thoughtfully, waving the soldier in the pirate's cell to exit. The soldier obeyed. The commodore, however, remained in Angelica's cell. "Commodore Jervis, remove the barrier between them and then you are relieved for today."

Jervis nodded. "Yes, Lord Beckett."

Beckett turned and promptly walked out of sight, clearly intent of leaving the filthy prison of the fort. The commodore did as the was told, releasing pins on the metal bars that the prisoners hadn't even noticed. The pirate scrambled out of the way as the soldier carried it out of the cell, which was closed after him by the second man, who left after it had been shut.

Almost immediately, the commodore came back into the cell and practically slapped the pirate. "Filthy pirate."

Jack grabbed the man's shin and tripped him, climbing on top of him and grabbing him in a chokehold, squeezing tightly. Jervis gasped for air, without getting any into his lungs. The attacker slammed his head into the dirt and tightened his grip. Moments later, the commodore became motionless. "Bloody commodore."

"Jack?"

The voice and hand on his left shoulder made him whirl around quickly, as if expecting more trouble. Injured and in mental agony, he'd not made out the voice until he saw Angelica's face himself. He gave a sigh of relief, finally releasing his hold on the neck of the commodore's corpse. He sat back, running a trembling hand through his hair. He'd been looking at the body lying before him, and now turned to look back at her.

She was fine. Confused, it took him a minute to remember that she was immortal. A grin broke out on his grimy, sweaty, bloody face and he let out a laugh. She's immortal, bloody idiot! What were you worrying about again?

"I can't believe I forgot." He muttered.

"Forgot what?" She asked.

"That ye're immortal." He answered, shaking his head. "I was so worried that they'd kill ye."

"Jack, I'm fine. They couldn't kill me even if they tried." She reassured him. "Are you alright?"

"No. It burns." Jack responded, referring to his probably mutilated back. "With time, I will be."

He looked back down at the blood pool that he was basically sitting in. He found it strangely fascinating that it was all his blood. He also found it terrifying. Exactly how much blood had he lost?

Angelica sat down next to him, taking one of his hands in her own. She gave it a light squeeze, as if to tell him that everything would be alright. He gave a small smile and sighed. He didn't know if it was of relief, exasperation, or even tiredness. It could have been of all three. For all he knew, it was.

He pulled his companion against his side and kissed the top of her head. "We need to get out of here."