Little Sparrow

Summary: "Now up is down," was the last thing any of them heard before the rush of water drowned everything else out. Later, waking up on a random, deserted island, they almost immediately notice that something was not right with their Captain. Sparrington, Salazak, Willabeth, maybe others mentioned.

They sailed two entire days with good winds, strong currents and a swell mood, in utter peace, before it all finally caught up to them in the form of a ship with yellow sails and a pirate flag, speeding towards the Black Pearl with clear intent of a raid. Neither Barbossa nor Jack were happy about that and soon enough, their own colors were floating in the air.

Babrossa was even less happy when he realized it were the Caribbean's and not the Caspian's colors.

Still, with so little crew on board, Jack knew they couldn't take the other pirate ship in on a fight and it was directly on their course. To try to evade it now would put them days behind schedule and while food was no problem, the air was as dry as the desert so they could not replenish their water supplies with rain. And there were no safe islands to make a stop at anywhere nearby, either.

So they had no choice. Jack ordered for the 'parlay flag' to be hoisted next to his colors and watched the agreeing flag join the black jolly roger of the other ship. Not long after, the two ships were standing side by side and the Pearl's crew got a good look at the other ship and its own crew.

The captain was an Irishman in his early forties, neither notably ugly nor good looking. He was, in other words, plain. Not someone you'd remember the next day. However, he was dressed in some finery that seems to have come from a recent plunder, so it was little wonder that he had felt brave enough to attack a ship with black sails under the Caribbean Pirate Lord's flag. Then again, Jack had been dead for a year and everyone knew it. He must have thought him to be a pretender or something.

They've not spoken a word and Jack already didn't like him. He was arrogant and stuck up, thinking he had the right to accost other pirate ships and not answer to the Code for breaking it. He was obviously an opportunist if he was using the panic and chaos this Beckett was causing to prey on fellow pirates who were desperately trying to flee towards Shipwreck Cove, where he will no doubt later go himself to seek protection. Well, not on Jack's watch.

Especially not after he saw the man spit on his deck. Oh, Jack was going to make him clean that up with his very own beard.

He walked confidently, arrogantly, superiorly onto the legendary black ship, head lifted high, sneering down his nose at the ragtag crew that greeted him, his men following his example, although they leered at Elizabeth and Tia Dalma, both of whom had been given sufficient weaponry. His steel gray eyes slid over each face before settling on the two obvious captains and he arched an eyebrow.

''Who be the captain of this fine boat?''

Jack bristled underneath but he only smiled his most charming and disarming smile at the redhead, gaining his full attention. ''That's be me, good sir! And may I know who stands on my deck?''

''Captain Finch, is what you may call me.'' He said as h sauntered over to the younger Pirate Lord, peering down at him with obvious ... interest. Oh, Jack was going to have fun with this one. His pointer finger twitched, the ring there a burning presence in his mind. ''You're awfully young, pretty. How have you come to be Capitan of this boat?''

''I'd appreciate it if you'd stop addressing my ship as a boat, good sir.'' The teen said coyly, sashaying over to the Irish pirate in the very walk that would become his signature later in life. It made his hips sway enticingly and it drew Finch's attention elsewhere. Oh, Sparrow was the smarter bird, indeed. ''And how I came to be Captain matters not in your intentions aboard this fine vessel. Which are, what, exactly?''

''I be looking for a little bit of plunder, my pretty,'' he replied with what he must have thought was a seductive grin as he bowed and took Jack's hand to kiss it. Hector was glaring at Finch, as were most of the crew, since Finch could very well be Jack's father as he were now. ''Surely we can come to an ... agreement that would benefit us both?''

The leer in his voice was too obvious. Jack pretended not to notice.

''Oh, but what if we wish not to make deals with you, Mr Finch? For surely such a rude approach deserves no courteous reception on our end and yet we have accepted you aboard without firing a single shot.'' He stepped closer when Finch's eyes narrowed, tempting him with his proximity and his warm breath on the taller, older captain's lips. ''It is wondrous how a few gentle spoken words could get you so much ... Captain.'' He darted away before Finch could snag his arms around him and drag him close, yet stayed enticingly, teasingly close. ''What do you think would ... satisfy me, captain? Do you think you can provide it?'' A leisurely fake once over had the older pirate practically flushing with lust. Hm, teasing this one was almost no fun at all, Jack thought with an internal pout. He reacted to easily. Jack quite literally could get him wrapped around his little finger with just a batting of his eyelashes. Armando was much more fun to tease.

Jack bet James would be, too, if Jack were so inclined to try it. Maybe at a later date?

''And,'' Jack continued, animatedly waving around with his left hand, the rings glinting in the sun. ''What would satisfy you?'' It was practically a purr and the Irishman was all but salivating by this point, looking at Jack with eyes as hungry as a starved beast who had just spotted easy, vulnerable prey. Jack darted away just out of reach when Finch tried to get a hold of him.

Said man growled. ''You staying still, fer a start.''

''Ah, but must I? Would it really please you if I were ... unmoving?'' He was stalking his prey now, circling the captain, staying teasingly out of sight. And while out of sight, he concentrated on the pretty amethyst golden ring on his pointer finger of his left hand, making the Irish crew, one by one, drop their weapons. Slow and steady wins the race. No need to make anyone suspicious. ''Bound, perhaps? Gagged? Or do you like it the other way around?''

''What is Jack doing?!'' Elizabeth hissed in Joshamee's ear as they all watched, half entranced and half scandalized by their young friend's and Captain's behavior. Oh, they've all seen Jack being seductive at one point or another, whether the man was consciously trying or not. But never this ... provocative, bold. Forward. Never using so much and so little innuendos at the same time. ''He can't just go around acting like that!''

''Quiet, lass. Don't break his concentration or else we're all screwed.'' Gibbs hissed right back, having recognized the glazed looks on the other pirate's faces and in their eyes. Jack was using the ring. He almost never used the ring, being all about freedom. But Gibbs could see the necessity in using it when there were so few of them. It would be a blood bath and the Pearl may just sink yet again.

''What do you mean?'' Will asked, having overheard the hushed conversation, leaning closer to the old sailor.

''Dere be powerful magic at work and Witty Jack must focus.'' They nearly jumped out of their skins when Tia Dalma answered, staring with interest at the men slowly losing their will. ''Da ring will do its job. Jus' stay quiet fer once.''

Elizabeth looked affronted but only replied with a huff before turning back to watch the show. It was like watching a shipwreck. You just can't look away, no matter how horrific the scene became. And the sight before them was most definitely far more appealing than a wrecked ship. Jack was like a mermaid, seducing his prey on to the waiting, deadly rocks to sink his ship and kill his men. And Finch was as captivated as any man under a mermaid's spell.

"What's it gonna be, luv?" Jack asked as he reached out with a bejeweled hand, tracing the Irishman's stubbled jawline. "Will you surrender?" Finch blinked in bemusement at the wording but his eyes went wide when he felt the cold sting of a metal barrel from a pistol pressed under his chin, having not noticed Jack moving his other hand at all. "Or do I have to make you?"

"What do you think ye're doing?" The older captain snapped, expecting to hear the sound of his men drawing and cocking their weapons, yet there came no sound like it behind him. He dared chance a glance over his shoulder and was dumbfounded to see them all just staring blankly into space, eyes glazed and all weaponry on the deck, being swiftly picked up by James, Theodor and Philip while Marty was pickpocketing them all after they were cleared of all weaponry. He looked back at the enticing young creature to snarl at him when he felt something ... something a lot like a velvety mist ... just ... wrap around his consciousness. All anger, fear, indignation, wounded pride, whatever other emotion he might have felt at that very moment kind of just ... It all disappeared. He was floating on air and he never wanted to land on his feet again. He was being bewitched, a small part of his mind was yelling but it was so, so far away that he could barely hear it. He didn't want to. The mist was so comforting ...

Jack almost sighed in relief when the last of the Irish captain's mind fell asleep, the man now fully under his control. It was hard, to make it subtle, to make a person's will subtly allow itself to be submissed. His Da had never bothered to make it subtle. At least his Da's ring was still on his finger and working just fine. Jack wasn't sure if the ring had limitless amounts of power or if it could be used to a certain extent. One of the reasons he never used it unless he just hat to. Like that one time when he had to sneak up onto that one English warship that had captured a mermaid- A story for another time. He had business to attend to. Like reminding these miscreants that the Code was the law and that Pirate Lords are enforcers of the Code in their domain unless the attention of the Keeper was required. Sea goddess help them if they get the Keeper's attention. Jack actually winced in sympathy.

"Right, then. Let's have you lot all going back to your ship now. You can give us all of your loot and half of your provisions. I do believe that that will be enough to make up for delaying us so and causing so much trouble to two Pirate Lords." Sparrow said to the brainwashed men, already going casually over the plank, climbing onto the other ship as though he owned it. Seeing as he had the rest of the crew under his hold within a minute, he practically did. He just sat on one of the crates of cannonballs and watched as box after box of goods and bag after bag of booty was transfered onto his ship. He then had their weapons also mostly brought onto the Pearl, not knowing whether they'll need additional powder but it never hurt to be safe rather than sorry. It was far too easy. Hut it was taking a lot of time for what he wanted to be brought aboard his Pearl with only one plank. The Singapore ship might have been catching up on them, taking advantage of the good wind to make good time. "James!"

Said man looked up from where he was organizing the new cargo, completely uncaring that this was a form of piracy while Philip looked half disgusted and half resigned with the situation, Theodor happy to see what pirate life was really like first hand to really think about the law for the moment. Norrington cocked an eyebrow when a dark hand beckoned him over but he went, leaving it to Barbossa to finish the procession of booty while he talked to the younger Pirate Lord. "You called?" He drawled, taking in how different Jack was now than he had been during his little seduction act for the greedy Irishman. It was a relief to see Jack back to his normal self. That act had been ... Well. James certainly didn't have the words to describe what it had been.

Sparrow, unaware of his companion's internal thoughts, just bobbed his head. "I need you to watch over these blokes, call me if they start to slip back. Tie them up as soon as the last crate is carried across." He jumped off of the crate he had been resting on and started walking away. "I have some business to attend to. I'll show him for calling my lass a boat."

"Where are you going?" James called after him even as he kept a sharp eye on the enemy pirates. It was obvious Sparrow was up to something and Norrington would rather like to know what so he can be prepared for the eventual chaos that usually follows in such situations. It will give him time to prepare, at least. And hopefully he won't be as surprised.

Jack turned around enough to wink at the Admiral before continuing his way bellow deck, not bothering to answer. James waited stoically where he was posted until the last of the goods were put on the Black Pearl before calling over a few of the crew to help him tie the opposing pirates up. They were still thankfully under whatever spell controlled them so it went without a hitch. By the time they were done, the ship gave a large lurch, almost sending them to the deck as she suddenly started moving. James looked up to see that Jack had returned from bellow deck and was scaling the rigging from one sail to the other, releasing them to catch wind and the anchor had been raised by two crewmen that must have stayed bellow since James hadn't seen them until just then. He quickly tied them up as well before ordering everyone back to the Pearl. He shouted for the Captain, but Jack did not sling back over to his ship until the other vessel hadn't almost completely cleared the Pearl.

A few moments later, the cursing of their would be raiders could be heard carried on the wind as the other ship sailed away and the Black Pearl's own sails caught wind to continue their journey, her Captain at the helm, whistling innocently when they, realizing a ship can't sail by itself, turned to stare at him.

"Sparrow, what did you do?" Norrington demanded in his best authoritative voice as he glared at the smiling teen, watching him suspiciously. Groves and Gillete had moved to flank him by habit while Gibbs stood warily at his Captain's side, unsure of just in how much trouble the Caribbean Pirate Lord was. The rest of the crew were just watching the proceedings like it was a particularly interesting theater drama. James did not appreciate the thought and glared death at them, but no one moved. He gave up on them and turned an expectant - demanding - gaze at the Captain instead.

Jack cocked his head to the side and grinned mischievously. "Oh, nothing, nothing. Nothing at all. Just, you know, the standard. Jammed their helm's chain mill, is all. Poor bastards were set on a one way trip towards our friends from Singapore." He glared behind himself at the slowly disappearing ship. "Hmph! That's what he gets for calling my ship a boat. How rude of him."

"Jack, isn't that unnecessarily cruel?" Will called in a strange tone of voice, drawing a pair of suspicious green eyes to him. What was Turner up to?

"It was very necessary, dear William. And cruelty is only a matter of perspective." Jack waved him off, taking out his Compass and adjusting their course before putting it away. "They will provide a sufficient distraction for our not-friends and give us more time to get away. And we do need that time. We seem to be constantly delayed."

"I still think that wasn't quite so necessary." He insisted and the Pirate Lord snorted.

"Then you're more naive than I first thought. Did you seriously think I'd give your buddies time to catch up? I don't know how well you know me, but I usually tend to try avoiding having my ship placed in danger." Stunned silence met his words as everyone turned to stare at Will, jaws hitting the deck or eyes narrowed so impossibly that they could hardly see through the glare. William just stared at Jack, dumbfounded at having been caught. Sparrow gave him a sharp, humorless smile. "What? You thought I wouldn't catch on? Don't be so naive, Mr Turner. I've seen once a friend's betrayal and you don't have the benefit of my trust like he had. I saw through your act. Not too shabby, but not all that impressive either. Besides! You should learn not to share your plans with others, especially not gossiping pirates like those from Singapore. Too bad they didn't know I speak Mandarin. Too bad you don't speak it, either. They wouldn't have given you the ship, mate. They'd have just killed you after some guy Beckett came to pick me up."

James had his sword as quickly as Barbossa did, two bright pairs of eyes glaring at Turner from two different sides, swords pointing at him with deadly intent. No one came to the blacksmith's defense. Not even Tia Dalma, who had been so fond of him from the beginning. Not even Elizabeth, who loved him.

"Traitor!" James accused, the grip on the handle of his sword almost bruising, his rage almost palpable. He knew very little about Sao Feng but he knew the man could be a merciless pig. No one from the Black Pearl would have survived his taking over.

"Ya filthy bilge rat, I should have ya keelhauled fer treason!" Barbossa spat, itching to run the young man through. He had been getting on Barbossa's nerves all year long and he would gladly take the chance to do it now. "An' after all 'e did fer your ungrateful self. Ye should be ashamed, young Master Turner. Bootstrap must be spinning in his watery grave. Or his sea-fashioned clothes on the Dutchman."

Turner glared right back, eyes flashing at the mention of his twice cursed father, drawing his own sword, altering his point from the Navy man to the old pirate. "Like either of you has any right to throw these accusations around. You," he pointed at Hector, the word spat out like venom. "Mutinied against Jack and marooned him, twice and you," he rounded on Norrington, letting their swords crash together, steel on steel. "You took Devy Jones' heart from him and ran when you knew he desperately needed it. If anyone here is a traitor, it is the two of you."

"I at least haven't been playing his friend back then. My thoughts on the matter were always perfectly clear, Mr Turner." James' words were ice and the watching group shivered at the coldness of the atmosphere despite the warm rays of sunshine washing over them with the Caribbean's heat. "And I didn't try to use his vulnerable state to further my own goals or give him over to a man that would gladly see him dead. And that applies to either Beckett or Sao Feng."

"Not ta mention that ye're not exactly entirely innocent in this matter either, Mr Turner. Ye left him concussed on Isla del Muerta with the crew that mutinied and left 'im t' die. Not exactly somethin' a good, loyal friend would do, aye?" Will winced at the accurate accusation. Gibbs looked ready to throttle the boy, now that he realized why Jack 'fell behind'.

"I say we keelhaul 'im!"

"Arrrgh! Deep-six! Arrrrgh! Deep-six! Deep-six!"

"Stab 'im an' make 'im walk th' plank!"

"No, gents. We should deal with him how all thieves and traitors among pirates are dealt with." Hector practically purred the words, stepping closer. "I'm sure a few cut fingers, tongue and ear will do jus' fine." His grin was grim and nasty. "Or we could give him a 'Bootstrap' burial at sea. We do have a spare cannon." Turner's eyes were as wide with fear as Elizabeth's were, neither of them having seen a pirate punishment in person but having heard it described in high detail, they were both reasonably terrified.

A shot rank out through the air, making them all flinch before looking up to where their Captain was still at the helm, a gun pointed heavenwards and a scary glint in his black eyes. The ship was silent.

"There will be no keelhauling, deep-sixing, cutting, disemboweling, dismembering, lashing or any other sort of punishment on my ship other than being locked up in the brig, savvy?" That single word had never been filled with so much malice before. Pintel and Ragetti both stepped back and Elizabeth looked unsure of her position on the Pearl all of a sudden.

The Caspian Pirate Lord glared at his Caribbean counterpart. "Then it be good that this be my ship, ain't it, Sparrow. I get t' do whatever I want on me own ship."

"Ah, except she's not yours. She's mine. Always has been." Jack countered, lovingly caressing the wheel as he pointedly reloaded his pistol and put it back in its place on his sash. Barbossa scoffed.

"Ye don't have any proof of yer claim, Sparrow. I commandeered 'er, so the Pearl be mine, fair and square."

"Except I do," Jack replied happily and a hand disappeared into his coat, pulling out an envelope made of fine leather and taking out some very official looking forms out of it. He handed them to a curious Theodor, who looked them over with an equally intrigued Philip. "And you really shouldn't be exclaiming that so loudly, mate. It is against the Code to fire upon or steal from fellow pirates out at sea. The prison cells in the Cove aren't exactly a place you want to spend your last moments in."

"Ye'd know all 'bout that, wouldn't ye, Jack?" The other mocked before demanding of the two officers to know what was written on the papers.

"It's ownership documents. For the Wicked Wench and the Black Pearl." Groves explained, still looking over the papers in astonishment because who would have thought pirates even cared about these things! "They're addressed to, chronologically, Captain Morgan, Captain Jack Sparrow, Cutler Beckett and then Captain Jack Sparrow again, although these last ones haven't been processed, the turning of ownership. Then the last one is for the Black Pearl, addressed to Captain Jack Sparrow." He looked up at said pirate with an amazed smile. "In the eyes of the law, the ship is his."

"In de eyes of de sea, as well. Him soul be bound ta 'er's." Tia Dalma added with a sharp grin of her own.

"And in the eyes of the Code. Don't forget the Code." Jack reminded cheerfully, taking the papers back from the Lieutenant. He stashed them back to their hiding place and walked back to the helm. "Now, since we've established who's the Captain of this ship, we might as well get back to the matter at hand. Normally, I would put dear William in the brig until we make port and then let him run free, but we don't have that option with so little of us aboard. So Will will be given a guard to watch him at all times and he will work jobs that won't interfere with our speed. Once we make port, I will decide whether he's allow back on board after we've seen if we could procure a few more men for the crew. Until then, he is still a part of this crew and I will not tolerate any roughhousing, manhandling or any other form of abuse. Anyone who breaks these simple rules will be scrubbing the deck, even at night, and will get only half of their food rations. Did I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Crystal," James grumbled but sheathed his sword, Barbossa grudgingly following with a grunt. The dangerous edge disappeared from Jack's eyes - since when had it even been there? - and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Back to your stations, men. We have two more days of sail ahead of us!" He grinned when all he hot in answer was "Aye, aye, Captain!"