This is definitely my longest chapter. I hope this doesn't confuse you guys, because the scenes switch so often, but I did the best I could. Please pleaseplease review!

-Han

Upset didn't amount to much when she was grabbed the moment she stepped onto the Pearl, dirty hands wrapping around her wrists and dragging her away from Jack and the rest of the crew, pushed near to the front of the crowd and she felt Jack hide behind her. Upset didn't cover it.

Fury was pumping through her veins and she could feel the blotchy redness of an anger-riddled blush creeping up her face. Her eyes were narrowed on the pirates around her, her fists clenched at her sides. They approached her with chains, sick grins plastered on their faces. She raised a brow, her right hand drifting to her sword. She felt Jack's hand on hers, restraining her with light touches.

Sao Feng emerged from the crowd, his head held high and his dirty fingers twisting a red piece of cloth. His black eyes danced across the gathered crowd and landed for a brief moment on her, a sneer curving his lips as he stepped forward.

"Sao Feng, you showing up here, 'tis truly a remarkable coincidence," Barbossa said sarcastically, his fingers brushing over his sword gently. Sao Feng ignored him, his eyes fixed on a spot behind Anna. She turned slightly, looking at Jack almost sympathetically and tilting her head to push him on.

"Jack Sparrow," Sao Feng said loudly, causing Jack to sneak from behind her back and stand up. "You paid me great insult, once."

"That doesn't sound like me," Jack said quickly. Sao Feng lashed out, punching him swiftly in the nose with a resounding crack. Jack's head snapped back, his hands flying to his nose and resetting it with a crunch that caused Anna to wince. "Shall we call it square, then?" he asked lightly.

"Jack, you really ought to remember to be kind to people," Anna said, in what she hoped was light voice. Anger was still broiling beneath the surface. Thoughts buzzed in her head and she wasn't ready to admit that she had been betrayed. There was no other way for Sao Feng to have found them, but she didn't want to think about it. Another round of men approached her with chains.

"Release them," Will said, pushing his way through the pirates. He indicated Elizabeth and Anna and she couldn't help but smile, because this time he'd remembered her. "They're not part of our bargain."

"Will?" She asked breathless, air seeming to desert her lungs and her heart was beating too fast. "Please tell me you're joking," she begged.

"You heard Captain Turner, release them," Sao Feng said with a slight laugh.

"Captain Turner," Jack and Anna said together, incredulous sarcasm mixed with hurt and betrayal.

"Aye, the perfidious rotter led a mutiny against us," Gibbs spoke up with a frown. Anna shook her head, stepping towards him.

"Will, tell them they're wrong," she whispered, her eyes huge and wounded on his. "You promised, Will."

He turned his face away, avoiding her eyes and Elizabeth's almost cold stare. "I need the Pearl to free my father. That's the only reason I came on this voyage."

"The only reason?" Anna asked, remembering the way he held her when she broke, the way she almost ended it in a bayou by Tia's house. He looked at her evenly, his eyes growing deeper and she wished she could bring herself to hug him to her body like he was a little boy.

"Aside from that," he said, and he knew only she and Tia would understand. She nodded, sniffing slightly, her head shaking as if to brush off the emotions.

"Why didn't you tell me you were planning this?" Elizabeth asked, hurt coloring her tone and Anna sent her a glare. After what she had done, the lies she had told, she didn't deserve to be hurt.

"It was my burden to bear," Will replied and Anna thought he felt the same, as the phrase looked to carry a weight the rest of them couldn't fathom as it settled on Elizabeth's shoulders.

"He needs the Pearl! Captain Turner needs the Pearl! And you felt guilty." Jack said pointing at Elizabeth. "And you and your Brethren Court!" he said to Barbossa. "Did no one come to save me just because they missed me?" Jack asked, something like hurt behind his eyes.

"Jack, I missed you terribly," Anna said as if he was insane, her eyes soft on his like they were not on anyone else and he didn't know that. They were just friends. Just friends.

A small group raised their hands as she spoke and Jack's look told her he appreciated it. "I'm standin' over there with them," he said lightly, preparing to walk to his crew.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but there's an old friend who wants to see you first," Sao Feng said with a gleam in his eyes.

"I don't think I can survive any more visits from old friends," Jack said with a frown.

"Well, here's your chance to find out," Sao Feng said, pointing to the Endeavor as it approached. Anna swore to herself, somehow knowing who was on that ship.

"Can we just shoot the small man and get this all over with?" she asked the sky, drawing a shaky grin from Jack.

Xx

"It's curious," Beckett said, his back to Jack as he was pushed unceremoniously into the cabin. ": It's curious. Your friends appear to be quite desperate, Jack. Perhaps they no longer believe that a gathering of squabbling pirates is enough to take down the Flying Dutchman. And so despair leads to betrayal. But you and I are no strangers to betrayal, are we, Jack?"

Jack rummaged through the array of small silver chests along the bureau. His brow furrowed, expression of interest dropping as he thought about his past. Betrayal? Is that what the EITC was calling it these days? To stand up for one's morals?

He sighed to himself, trying to eradicate his past. It was easier to believe his own stories, easier to believe the front he put up.

"It isn't here, Jack," Beckett said, that familiarity digging into Jack's mind.

"What? What isn't?" Jack asked, turning back around and glancing back to be sure his fingers didn't smudge the silver.

"The heart of Davy Jones. It's safely aboard the Dutchman, and so unavailable for use as leverage to satisfy your debt to the good Captain," Beckett said in that same calm, unaffected voice that made him want to shoot something. Where was the monkey when he needed it?

"By my reckoning, that account has been settled," Jack said with a slight grin, hollow around the edges and visions of the Leviathan's teeth behind his eyes.

"By your death?" Beckett asked as if it were something simple and easy and Jack could still feel the teeth ripping into his skin and the acid burning away his bones. "Yet here you are."

"Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream, s'how I get by," Jack said with a smile and Beckett would never know how true that was. Sometimes it was like a dream, and ocean spray never really touched him. When blank smiles were perceived as suave by all but his best friend and she was still just his friend. Just a friend.

"And if Davy Jones was to learn of your survival?" Beckett asked, the gleam of business in his eyes and Jack remembered there had always been a reason he lived by freedom.

Xx

Mercer walked assuredly across the deck of the Pearl, his steps echoing, even with the noise and his soldiers filed behind him. Sao Feng reached him, something like outrage carved into his scared face.

"My men will be crew enough," the pirate lord insisted, his fingers gripping Mercer's coat.

"Company ship, company crew," Mercer said with a grim smile that Anna thought was empty. Will burst forward, outrage and betrayal written across his face and Anna hated the fact that she took satisfaction in that.

"You agreed, the Black Pearl was to be mine," he said to Sao Feng.

"And so it was," the lord agreed with a smile. His men approached and swiftly punched Will in the stomach, causing him to bend at the hip and he was dragged away. Anna glared at the men before her, men who carried chains.

Xx

"Perhaps you would consider an alternate arrangement, one that requires absolutely nothing from you but information," Beckett said, pouring two shots of liquor, offering one to Jack. The room around them made Jack uncomfortable, as if his presence would make it smudged with dirt and become something impure. Maybe it needed to.

"Regarding the Brethren Court, no doubt? In exchange for fair compensation, square my debt with Jones, guarantee my freedom?" Jack asked, taking both glasses from Beckett's clean hands and downing them, the burn bringing back his brilliance.

"Of course, it's just good business," Beckett said and Jack remembered all the other times he'd heard the man say that and his brand felt new.

"Were I in a divulgatory mood, what then might I divulge?" Jack asked, a brow raising.

"Everything," Beckett breathed, and Jack could see the depth of the madness behind his eyes. "Where are they meeting? Who are the pirate lords? What is the purpose of the nine pieces of eight?" he asked in a breathy whisper, leaning in too close for Jack's liking.

Jack looked down, the row of small figurines and silver coins staring back at him on a mapped table and he made a plan.

Xx

"Beckett agreed the Black Pearl was to be mine," Sao Feng said with frustration. Anna felt a sick grin come to her lips.

"Lord Beckett's not going to give up the only ship that can outrun the Dutchman, now is he?" Mercer asked, walking away. Anna stepped forward, her eyes on Sao Feng.

"You black-hearted snake," she hissed, her eyes narrowed. "I hope you see now, that your treachery will only lead to further treachery." She paused a moment, her eyes scanning his scars and his angry eyes. "And one day, it will land you sinking to the bottom of the ocean, and I will laugh."

Barbossa sent her a look, stepping in front of her and looking back at the pirate lord. "It's a shame they're not bound to honor the Code of the Brethren, ain't it? Because honor's a hard thing to come by nowadays," he said, the unsubtle dig making Anna smile again.

"There's no honor in remaining with the losing side. Leaving it for the winning side, that's just good business," Sao Feng replied and Anna didn't miss Beckett's phrase dripping from this pirates tongue.

"The losing side, ye say?" Barbossa said with a grin and Anna stood beside Tia, her eyes on the two before her. She was waiting to catch up to their game.

"They have the Dutchman, now the Pearl. And what do the Brethren have?" Sao Feng demanded, fury lined in his eyes and Anna could feel it rising again in her chest and she wished she knew how to push it down but Jack wasn't there to hold her back anymore.

"We have Calypso," Barbossa whispered, his eyes sliding to the tight group of women and Sao Feng followed him and he liked things going to plan.

"Calypso! An old legend!" Sao Feng said with a shake of his head and Anna grinned when she caught on to the look in Barbossa's eyes.

"No, the goddess herself, bound in human form. I intend to release her, but for that I need the Court, all the Court," Barbossa said darkly.

Xx

"You can keep Barbossa, the belligerent homunculus and his friend with the wooden eye both, and Turner...especially Turner. And Swann, keep her as well, bloody murderess. The rest go with me aboard the Pearl, and I will lead you to Shipwreck Cove, where I will hand you the pirates and you will NOT hand me to Jones. Bloody fair deal, don't you think?" Jack said, waving a woman's fan delicately.

"And what of Miss Windsor?" Beckett asked, an eyebrow raised. Jack stopped, his eyes widening slightly and his hand twitched.

"What about her?" he said, slightly off color, his voice higher than it should have been. Beckett smiled.

"Her father isn't…the most agreeable man at the best of times," he said with a hollow smile. "But I've been…promised a certain advantage over my superiors if I can assure she will become complacent," he admitted.

"Complacent?" Jack asked in confusion. "Anna? She was right, you are mad."

"Madness is a matter of perspective."

Xx

"What are you proposing, Captain?" Sao Feng questioned, the salty wind whispering across the deck of the Pearl.

"What be you accepting, Captain?" Barbossa asked.

"The girl," the other man quipped.

"What?" Elizabeth asked quickly, her eyes wide.

"Not…you…" Sao Feng said softly, his eyes on the woman next to her. Anna looked back up, her eyes huge.

"Beg pardon?"

Xx

Beckett turned, his eyes gleaming and bright. "Jack! I've just recalled, I have this wonderful compass which points to whatever I want. So for what do I need you?"

Jack smiled, his mind racing to find a solution and it was in his grasp within the moment and he knew he was a genius sometimes.

"It points to what you want most, and that's not the Brethren Court, is it?" Jack asked lightly.

"Then, what is?" Beckett asked.

"Me," he said with a smile. "Dead," he clarified, his smile dropping.

Xx

"Annie is not part of any bargain!" Will said quickly, his voice carrying over the shouts of other men and Anna glared at him.

"Out of the question," Barbossa agreed with a smile her way and she smiled back, anger making her reckless, recklessness making her ready for anything.

"It was not a question," Sao Feng said to Will.

"Done," she said quickly, stepping forward slightly.

"What? Not done!" Will said, coming closer to her with worry across his face and she wished she could eradicate it like she could when he was little.

"I can't sit by and let this happen, Will, if this is what it takes then; done," she said, looking from him to the Captains.

"Annie, don't do this," Will nearly begged. "They're pirates."

"I see no problem with pirates, Will, I've dealt with them long enough," she said, her voice hard but her eyes soft. "Let me do this, Will. I need to do this," she whispered. He stepped aside, his shoulders slumped inwards as Elizabeth ran her fingers over his arm to soothe him.

"So, we have an accord?" Barbossa asked with a grin.

Xx

"Although if I kill you, then I can use the compass to find...Shipwreck Cove, was it? Cut out the middleman, as it were," Beckett said, turning to face him with a small gun in his hand. Victory was in his eyes and Jack always hated that look.

"With me killed, you'd arrive at Shipwreck Cove, find its stronghold nigh impregnable, able to withstand blockade for years, and then you'd wish, 'Oh, if only there were someone I had not killed inside to assure that the pirates then come outside...'" Jack said with a suave smile. He was back in his element, he only wished Anna could be there to see her.

"And you can accomplish all this, can you?"

"You may kill me, but you may never insult me. Who am I?" Jack asked with a flourish of his hands. Beckett floundered and Jack wondered how smart the man really was. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow," he mumbled, offended. The ship shook around them, and Jack suddenly knew the Pearl would depart without him. He used the moment to rush to Beckett and shake his hand roughly. "Done!"

He rushed on deck, moving quickly towards a canon, overlapping ropes across the mast and attaching it the end, a figurine he'd previously snatched off the mapped table serving as his canon ball.

"You're mad," Beckett said in shock, watching his line up his shot. Jack smiled.

"Thank goodness for that, because if I wasn't, this would probably never work," he said lightly, lighting the wick and letting out his signature hoarse scream as the shot fired, rope yanking him into the air and vaulting him across the sea to the Pearl. He lay, unaffected on the statues on the Black Pearl. His crew rushed to him, looking everywhere but where he was until they finally saw him. He grinned down at them. "And that was without a single drop of rum," he said, dropping down onto the deck. "Where's Anna? I can't believe she missed that."

The crew was silent as he moved forward and his expression darkened.

"She went with Sao Feng to get us out," Will admitted. Jack stared at him, a long drawn out moment that frightened the crew. He moved to Will, less than a foot from his face, almost snarling at the man before him.

"Send this pestilent traitorous cowhearted yeasty codpiece to the brig," he spat, his eyes dark and furious and Will had never seen him like this. He wondered just how much of his fury had to do with his mutiny, and how much it had to do with Anna's leaving.