The general attitude of the house had gone downhill in the past weeks. Jack had nearly been caught and arrested twice, but had managed to escape both times using Sparrow wit and wisdom, which Anamaria had once labeled 'Absolute Luck.'

Elizabeth was worn out from trying to put together the one hundredth issue of Fashion Update and had experienced more problems than anything. Her secretary had run off with her fiancée to get married, her assistant editor was clueless, and the layout room kept losing the project. The absence of her nightly massages from her doctor boyfriend didn't help either. Then again, she was pretty sure she didn't want the mutated flu Will had caught from the hospital either. Everyone was making sure to give him more than enough room, no one eager to catch it.

Anamaria had been bitten by a seven year old bad enough to require stitches and she had sworn off working with children again. The next day she went to work to find that next week had her assigned in the children's ward upstairs.

Gibbs had broken up more bar fights in the past week than he had his entire tavern career. One of the combatants even managed to give him a black eye.

On top of all of that, they had to deal with Cotton's relentless pouting about his chair's sudden lack of mobility. Barbossa had come to realize that living in the trophy wasn't so bad; except for the time Whelp had gotten a hold of him and started chewing on the head of the little trophy man.

Even the puppy seemed to be miserable, except when Jack or Will was around. He was the only occupant of the house that didn't fear the strange virus Will had and often kept the blacksmith company during the day while everyone was at work. Jack had sworn that by now the dog was well versed in every anime Will owned, to which Will protested that he had nothing else to do. Elizabeth immediately debunked that statement.

"I came home from work yesterday and you were sitting up at the desk studying, not even watching the TV. You study who knows how many hours a day!" Elizabeth protested.

"I study that many hours a day so that when I take a test, I can ace it..." Will grumbled back.

"Ah...wait, deja vu." Jack said suddenly. "Haven't we had this conversation before?"

"Something like it. Except I believe it was about how much I practiced with a sword."

"Right, right." Jack said and picked up the paper again as Elizabeth pointed to the seat at the table.

"If you sit down and actually relax, I'll make you some soup." Elizabeth said. "And a nice cup of hot chocol..." She didn't need to finish as Will quickly slid into his seat, smiling up at her. "You're too easy." She told him, leaning down to kiss his cheek but catching herself as she remembered that he was indeed sick.

"You want him to do anything, all you have to do is mention making cookies." Anamaria interjected ironically. She snatched the Life section of the newspaper from the pile in front of Jack and flipped it open.

"I'm not that bad and only for Elizabeth's cookies." He commented. Whelp came padding into the kitchen and Will reached down to pick him up. Instead the puppy dropped a small object by his foot. Will picked it up, one eyebrow rising.

"Jack, was that trophy cheap plastic?" He asked. Jack glanced at him over the edge of the paper.

"Aye, it was. Why?" Will held up the object, which happened to be the trophy man's head.

"I think Whelp might be teething." He replied. Jack set the paper down, leaning back in his chair. A moment passed before he burst out laughing.

"I've got to see this." He said, getting up from his seat and disappearing into the living room. A moment later he came back with the trophy, which as indeed headless. Ragged puppy teeth marks could be seen around the neck of the trophy.

"Let me die..." The trophy moaned as Jack set it on the table.

"Mate, you're already dead." Jack interjected helpfully. "Elizabeth, love, would you mind handing me the duct tape please?" Elizabeth complied, standing behind him as Jack glanced over at Will. "Dr. Turner, would you like the pleasure of stitching up the patient?" He asked.

"With pleasure. Just have strips of duct tape ready for me." He said and pulled the trophy towards him.

"I never should've committed mutiny. I realize now I was wrong to want revenge. This is torture." The trophy moaned. The disembodied voice seemed slightly creepier without the trophy having a head. "Why are you even putting it back on? It's not as if it helps anything!"

"For aesthetic purposes." Anamaria said. "It's quite scary to hear a headless trophy talk."

"You mock me."

"Yes, you're right. I mock you." She glanced back down to the paper in front of her. Her smirk disappeared into a frown and she folded the newspaper in half, and then in half again. Finally she held it up so that she could see both the picture on the page and Will within her view. "Well, that's interesting..." She said, raising an eyebrow.

Elizabeth pulled herself away from the fridge and came behind Anamaria's shoulder. "What is it?" She glanced to the article. "Oh! Danny McCree is going to be going on tour! I love his voice, and he isn't too bad on the eyes either..." She glanced over to Will. "Sorry, I meant..."

He shrugged. "I'm not the jealous type, Elizabeth. Besides, I look too anyways, remember?" She chose not to answer that and went back to the paper.

"I wonder why you find him easy on the eyes. Take a look at the picture and then shift your eyes slightly to the right..."

Elizabeth stood up, slapping a hand over her mouth. "They're dead ringers of each other!" She exclaimed. "That's hilarious."

Jack glanced at Will as he handed him a strip of duct tape. Will took it and slowly wound it around the neck of the trophy. "Do I want to know?"

"I don't even want to know." Will said and smoothed down the tape. "There, good as new."

"Oh thank you so ever much." Barbossa muttered sarcastically and began his odd march across the table. This got a few snickers from both men. Jack picked up the paper again. He figured Barbossa had suffered enough abuse for the day that he didn't need to find new ways of torturing him with a salt shaker, though he filed away the idea for future reference.

Barbossa finally made his way over to the woman, figuring that they would be less abusive to him. Instead Anamaria got annoyed by his repetitive thumps as the trophy base hit the table while she and Elizabeth discussed the humor behind Will's look-a-like. She picked up the trophy and set it down on the floor. He only had a moment to panic before Whelp came charging at him and tackled him. The head popped off again and rolled under the fridge. "Now look what you've...EUGH!" The puppy's rough tongue lapped up against the trophy. "Mangy dog slobber! Heeeelp!"

His saving grace came from Gibbs, who bent over and picked him up, only to toss him in the sink again. "Watch where you leave your toys, Jack. Someone'll step on it and break..." He noticed the missing head. "...it worse."

But Jack didn't hear him, too engrossed in an ad on the page. His eyes scanned quickly over it, searching for the fine print before he spoke up. "I think I've got an idea." He said suddenly, glancing up from the paper.

"Be afraid." Anamaria said. Will was still staring at the two women in bewilderment, wondering what they were laughing over.

"What is it, Jack?" Gibbs asked, pulling a bagel out of the freezer and popping it in the microwave. Even Whelp poked his head from out underneath the table top, looking up at Jack with an expectant expression on his face.

"A vacation." He turned the paper so that they could all see. The ad was from a travel agency, promoting discounts on groups that were interested in going down to the Caribbean for a week long vacation. "To our old stomping grounds."

"But..." Gibbs raised his hand. "I know we can all afford it with the money we've made and saved over the years, but we can't just leave our jobs for a week..."

"You can now. You all caught what William had. Elizabeth can take off anytime she wants seeing as how she's basically self employed. No one is going to want Anamaria working if she's sick and the same goes for you. Will is already sick and once again, I'm self employed. And Cotton...is Cotton. Enough said there." He held out his hands. "Works for me."

Will smiled slightly. "I like it." He said with a shrug. "I haven't been to the Caribbean since we left it." Around the table, everyone began to slowly consent. Jack got up, slapping his palms on the table.

"It's settled then. Pack your bags because in two days, we're leaving for the Caribbean for a week of paradise." He disappeared into the living room.

From the kitchen sink, the trophy began squalling. "Take me with you!"

-------

To say Jack was eager to return to the Caribbean was an understatement. The morning they were heading to the apartment, he hearded the whole group out the door within an hour of giving them a wake up call. Grumbling, they gathered together their bags, made one last check around the house to make sure everything was locked up and turned off, and then headed outside with luggage in tow. Most of the luggage was loaded into Jack's car, but after doing so they found that it would only hold two people. Jack and Anamaria took the car while the rest piled into Will's jeep.

The trip went as planned, for once, until they pulled into the long term parking lot. Jack pulled into the parking spot and shut off the vehicle, getting out. Ana raised an eyebrow at the quickness of his movements, but got out as well.

"Now, if the rest would get here..." Jack muttered, tapping on the car trunk. Ana frowned.

"I thought they were right behind us when we pulled in." She said, glancing down the row of cars. There was no sight of the battered yellow jeep anywhere. Ana slid up on the trunk of the car, swinging her legs idly. "Watch. That hunk of junk probably broke down again." Jack gave her a dark look from behind his sunglasses.

"Don't say that. Then it'll happen." He groaned, pulling out his cell phone and searching through the memory until he found Elizabeth's number. He pressed the button to dial the number and held it to his ear, waiting. After a moment, the phone began to ring.

Ana glanced towards Jack. "Wait, I hear it too." She glanced out into the row of cars again to see Will's jeep at the end, with only Cotton inside. It was still moving somehow too. Jack let the phone keep ringing, watching the jeep move towards them.

"...you know, if you just got a decent vehicle, we wouldn't be havin' these problems!" Gibbs protested between breaths. Elizabeth grunted something that sounded much like an agreement.

"You know what? Let's just get this in its spot before we keel over and die..." Will groaned. Jack and Anamaria sat back, quietly watching as the vehicle slowly moved past them. "Cotton, turn the wheel!" The old pirate jerked the wheel to the left and the jeep crept into the spot. "See? We still got here." Five pairs of eyes settled on him as he said it. "Alright. So my vehicle is a piece of junk." He groaned. Cotton got out and shuffled lazily away, leaving Will to put the parking tag up in the window and lock the vehicle.

"Can we go now? We're goin' to miss the flight." Jack protested.

"The flight's not till five and it's only noon." Ana told him, sliding off the trunk as he unlocked it.

"This is the airport we're talkin' about." Jack told her, pulling out his luggage.

"Will? Could you help me carry this?" Elizabeth asked. Ever the boyfriend wanting to please, Will wandered over and glanced down at her luggage.

"Elizabeth, you do know we're going for a week, right? Not three years." She smiled and handed him a bag.

"I know. This is what I need for a week. You should know this by now." By the time they were done, Will resembled a pack mule. Jack waited impatiently for them to finish before sending them towards the terminal.

---------

"Mr. Sparrow, would you please empty your pockets into the trey and then step through again?" The security guard asked him. Jack gave him a look as he dumped everything in the pockets of his jeans into the box. Anamaria sprawled out in the chair, idly eating M&M's as she watched Jack trying to work his way through customs and failing miserably to make things go smoothly. Elizabeth was searching through her bag for something to read, Gibbs was exploring the shops, and Cotton was busy trying to get a feel by accidentally 'tripping' and falling into women.

"Look, I don't have anything dangerous." Jack protested, standing barefooted and without belt in front of the security guard. She ignored him and grabbed the handheld metal detector, scanning over his body. He rolled his eyes skyward and held out his arms in compliance. The scan found nothing, leaving the security guard confused.

"Must have been a glitch." She explained as he pulled his boots back on, but gave him no apology. Jack snatched up his belt and marched towards the chairs as Will put his carry on bag on the belt and stepped through the detector. No sound was made and he paused to watch his bag on the monitor. The guard paused at the sight of the headless bowling trophy and then glanced over his shoulder at the blacksmith.

"I have anger issues and I rolled a bad frame." Will said, completely deadpan. The guard raised an eyebrow and handed him his bag back.

Jack was still grumbling about being searched when Will arrived and set his bag down, unzipping it and pulling out the trophy. "Just why do I have to carry this?" He asked.

"Because you lost rock, paper, scissors." Jack replied. "Deal with it."

"It has no head! Do you know how weird that looks?"

"Oh quit your...wait, I've got another idea."

"Two in one week! It's a miracle!"

"Shut up, Ana."

"Aye, captain." She snickered and crumpled the bag in her hand. Jack disappeared towards the shop.

A few moments later he arrived with a box that looked suspiciously like a toy. It was in fact a toy, a knock off Ken doll. Jack sat down on one of the seats and started pulling open the box.

A little girl a few seats down perked up as she saw Jack trying to open the box. Clutching her doll, she scooted down towards him with a smile on her face. Jack noticed her and gave her a small smile.

"Hello." She didn't respond, just smiled happily back at him and raised the doll. Jack nodded and finally extracted the doll from the box. "William, bring that trophy over here."

Will caught sight of the doll and burst out laughing. Barbossa caught sight of the doll and started panicking.

"Yer not puttin' me in that! I'd rather be headless!" He bellowed. The little girl's eyes grew wide at the talking trophy, only being able to watch as Jack took the two and slammed them together. There was a moment of silence before the doll started moving its arms around, cursing.

"Oh, this is goin' to be amusing." Jack said as he stared at the blond doll in tennis whites. "We're goin' to have to give you a beard and some pirate clothes and then you'll be as good as new." He taunted.

"I'm a doll!" Barbossa shouted.

"But you can walk."

"It doesn't matter if...wait, I can walk?" Jack set him down on the floor. Barbossa took a few stiff legged steps before attempting a run.

"Someone go get dolly man before he gets stepped on." Will eagerly complied, shoving Barbossa back into his backpack. Jack tossed the old trophy into the garbage can. "There's that problem solved."

-------

"Elizabeth?"

"Yes?"

"I think I'm going to be sick." Elizabeth glanced over at Will, watching as his face slowly became pale with a slight greenish tint.

"Don't face this way." She said quickly, pulling out the air sickness bag and shoving it towards him. He quickly grabbed it and opened it, his head ducking down and the sound of vomiting breaking the quiet of the cabin.

Jack adjusted his headphones to block out the sounds of Will getting sick and resumed his sleeping position. Gibbs was attempting to play Old Maid with Anamaria, but it was occasionally interrupted as an attendant would protest as Cotton's hand strayed.

A few rows back, Ana noticed some girls staring at Will and whispering between themselves. She took a card from Gibbs' hands and glanced over at them. "I wonder what they're up to."

Gibbs glanced back as well, and then plucked a card from Ana's grip. "Probably never saw someone gettin' air sick before." He rolled his eyes.

"You're probably right."

--------

Elizabeth kept Will's arm over her shoulders as she headed out of the gate. He groaned, still clutching at his stomach. She was pretty sure that there was nothing left for him to throw up, but she kept the extra air sickness box at hand.

"Just sit here and wait a moment." Elizabeth told him, sitting him down on the edge of the baggage claim. He nodded and lay back in the seat, closing his eyes.

"The bags go round and round..." Ana sang quietly as she watched the bags appear. Gibbs reached past her to snatch up his suitcase. As he dragged it away, she kept watching. Suddenly she spotted her bag and reached for it, just as Jack did. Her hand brushed against his and he glanced over at her. A blush crept up her cheeks and she glanced away, quickly pulling her bag after her. Jack smirked and glanced over his shoulder at her, hefting his bag. He planned to follow after her, but Elizabeth stood in his way.

"Could you help me with my bags? Will's slightly out of commission at the moment." Jack glanced behind her to see all her bags.

"I guess I could..."

A shriek rang through the air. "It's Danny McCree!"

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. "On no..."

"ELIZABETH!" Will's shout rang through the airport as he saw the sudden mass of girls running towards him. He pulled himself out of the seat but stopped as his stomach threatened to make him heave again. Suddenly hands were reaching for him, pads of paper and pens thrust at him.

"Danny, could you sign an autograph for me?"

"I love your new CD!"

"Can I hear you sing? I want to tell my friends that I heard you sing live!"

Will fought the temptation to scream in terror as they continued to crowd him. "I'm not who you think I am! Really! My name is William Turner!" He told them, holding his hands up. Some of the girls looked dissuaded by this, but the others persisted, thinking that he was trying to throw them off his trail.

Jack crossed his arms, standing beside Elizabeth. "Should we let him suffer?"

"For a little while. This is just too funny."