You know, I'm still not done writing Tortuga, almost, but not yet. Lol. Sorry for the long wait, ugh, with the school quarter ending I had to do a lot of makeup work unfortunately. But hopefully it was worth it! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Remember why Chris came to Port Royal in the first? To talk to Norrington? That meeting is going to be brought up in this. Just giving you a heads up.

Chapter Fourteen: Grudges

"I've chased a man and woman across the seven seas." James continued with his head down. "The pursuit cost me my crew, my commission, and my life." He went to take a swig of rum from the tankard on the table. Gibbs looked at the man in disbelief and when he tilted his head to chug it he revealed himself to be the Commodore. His eyes widened and Jack's grip on Nicolette's hand tightened as he went to retrieve to leaves from the plant next to him. He handed one to her and she mouthed to him, 'Yours is bigger!'

Jack mouthed back to her, 'Does that even matter?' She glared and snatched it out of his hand to cover her face from unwanted eyes. Jack slowly crept away with a good grip on her hand to lead her away slowly behind him. Gibbs finally recognized him, "Commodore?"

"Not anymore weren't you listening?" He snapped at him slamming the tankard of rum onto the table loudly. James swallowed his dignity and pointed his finger at Gibbs warningly with his hand wrapped in a fist. "I nearly had you all in Tripoli. I would have," James' eyes suddenly seemed far off remembering that day perfectly, he continued, "If not for that hurricane... my crew said to sail around it. Should have listened."

Gibbs eyes grew wide remembering that exact hurricane. "Lord," he started shocked, "you didn't try to sail through it?" Norrington snapped out of his far off stare and looked back at Gibbs with a deepened frown set on his lips. Nicolette peeked through her thin leaves that barely covered her face while Jack was steadily dragging her out of the tavern. She felt bad for him.

Norrington leaned over the table and with his breath soaked in rum and his green eyes more than a little glassy, he asked with his voice in a form of hiss, "So do I make your crew or not?" Gibbs was too shocked that the Commodore... former Commodore was actually right in front of him in Tortuga. Before he could even get the roaster closer to James, James realized something and stated, "You haven't said where you're going." Gibbs looked at him unsure of what James was going to do with that look in his eyes. He scowled, "Someplace nice!" Norrington flipped the table and Gibbs moved out of the way faster than he had ever to move out of the way. The roaster along with the rum went flying off the table.

The music stopped playing, everyone with gaping expressions watched what was going on. Everyone froze where they stood and the cheering and drinking had paused. Nicolette cringed while moving away from him and Jack felt it. "Love, remain calm." He whispered to her and continued to drag her, for once this day, she didn't scowl at him for calling her that. She nodded, keeping an eye on James.

He threw his hands up in the air and with his voice slurred, he shouted to everyone, "So am I worthy to sail under Captain Jack Sparrow?" There was a slight mockery in his tone. Nicolette felt a tug on her hand to move quicker, she didn't realize that she was going slower than the speed he wanted to go. Why did he have to always take charge in their escape always? He scanned the crowd quickly and saw two leaves moving toward the exit, and they were the only moving things in the crowd.

He pulled out his pistol and pointed toward the leading man with the bigger leaf. He stated to him, "Or should I just kill you now?" Jack stopped in his place and looked from behind the leaf to see that Norrington had his pistol directed at him. He went to look from the other side to only see the pistol move again toward him. Jack smiled and threw the leaf away, he quickly pulled Nicolette in front of him. James took a threatening step toward her with a slight mocking smile. He wouldn't mind shooting her right now either, she also had ruined his life.

She muttered to Jack under her breath, "Coward." Then looked at James with her own smile of mockery tugging on her lips toward him. Nicolette stated to him with her voice seemingly calm (though under gunpoint that could be difficult), "You really don't have to make a scene right here. Maybe we could take this out in alleyway and talk it out instead of using pistols."

"Witnesses to view this sight is a must have, Miss. Brown." Nicolette tried not to glare at him for that, their acquaintanceship seemed to just have end, or it did a long time ago. She didn't really know, nor cared. Jack peered past Nicolette while holding her shoulders with a good grip so she wouldn't get away. Norrington's pistol moved toward Jack, if it was between him and her, he would die first for being the instigator. James added to Jack, "Don't you agree?"

"You know what," Jack replied with his fake toothy grin that some saw past, feeling how nervous he was. He threw Nicolette aside and she squealed as she was caught by a random man. Nicolette swung around to see that it was Mr. Gibbs, thank God that it wasn't some random drunk. Jack continued, "You're hired!"

James chuckled hatefully and smirked as his finger wrapped around the trigger. "Sorry," Nicolette watch Norrington carefully to see if he would do what she thought he was about to do, "old habits and all that." Her hand went to pistol and Jack caught a glimpse, but when he was preparing for the bullet to penetrate in him, a gunshot went off. His eyes went to Nicolette who was gaping at the scene that was there. Two members of the soon-to-be-Davy-Jones'-crew took Norrington's arm with the hand gripping the pistol and forced it to point up at the ceiling .

It was the Irishman with the big eyes that Nicolette couldn't stop looking at and the drunken skinny man who was left by his wife and dog. "Easy sailor! That is our Captain you be threatening." They shouted and it was almost like that gunshot signaled a brawl to break out. Nicolette's eyes roamed and a glass bottle was suddenly thrown out from no where and she ducked down just in time.

She straightened up and looked around the Cantina, "Hey!" She shouted, with her hand on her sword, but a hand on top of hers made her stop advancing toward the man who had done it. Nicky looked over to see that it was Jack with a stern look on his face. His brown eyes convinced her otherwise and she moved her hand off her black hilt. "Time to go?" She suggested to both him and Gibbs, while a man with blonde hair braided under a hat rushed past them to defend Norrington. He looked strangely familiar. But obviously it wasn't anyone they would know. Who would rush to help that man?

Gibbs and Jack looked at each other then at Nicolette. With a nod they answered unanimously, "Aye!" Jack led the pack, dodging from the men and even women who were taking part in the brawl. Nicolette looked around cautiously as she swiveled and twisted around them. Jack was taking hats from random heads and putting them on top of his own. One was rather atrocious and he turned for their approval. "What do you think?"

Both of them shook their heads, thinking that only one hat really suited him nicely and better than that one. Nicolette took the honor of snatching the hat off of his head and threw it onto the brawl as she walked up the stairs dodging a man who was tumbling down. Jack and Gibbs now followed her lead, but as she walked forward Jack didn't like how the woman of the three was in front. He moved next to her and gripped her hand to drag her to the upper exit. Nicolette looked at him questionably, but she didn't ask.

They found themselves at a halt by two men carrying another man to be thrown over the railing. Jack actually stopped them in their place as the hornpipes of the struggling musicians in their bar came to their loudest of the night. The two looked at him confused along with the one who was being carried. Nicolette looked at him in disbelief when Jack took another hat off the nearest one. He turned to her for approval while his hand was still out for them to stay in their places. She actually liked it for herself and not for him.

She asked him, "Are you on a hunt for a new hat?"

"You can say that." He stated to her with a slight bit of truth. He asked her through the chaos of the tavern, "Attractive looking, don't you think?"

Nicky smirked infamously and stated with a slight shrug, "Not on you." Jack cocked his brow and before he could give back to the man, she took it for herself and planted it on her head. Jack chuckled as she added, "But on me, now I rather like it."

"Whatever you say, darling." He said with a smirk of his own. He turned toward the men waiting for his consent to carry on. "Go ahead." He stated to them and the men yelled out before throwing the drunken man in clothing that was rags over the railing. Nicky didn't seem surprised at all, Tortuga had been full of men like that. Jack turned back to them, "We should leave before we get caught up in the upcoming madness," he stated to them with a slight serious frown.

Gibbs asked his Captain, "What do ye call this then?"

"Er... normality."

Nicolette turned to Gibbs and added to him, "And we were the ones who had started said 'normality.'" John would probably kill her next time he would see her.

"You seem less than shocked to hear all of this all at once." He stated walking beside her on the docks of Tortuga. The Black Pearl was docked next to them as the crew were loading supplies onto it. Debbie remained quiet while listening to him, nodding time to time when he paused. Was she shocked? A little, but she wouldn't say shocked. More like... yes, she was shocked, but, she did a prime job hiding it from him. When he stated that, she still remained silent like she was deep in thought, but really, she had nothing to say. "Debbie?"

She snapped out of it, but corrected him, "It's Captain Sheppard to you." Christopher didn't seem taken back by it; he practically expected that from her. "Obviously, you're thick-headed for even going along with what that man at that... company," when she said company her voice was a soft whisper, then she went louder, "said, but how could you do that to someone like your sister? Does she even know that you're with them? If I was her, you'd be dead by now and buried in a damn grave."

"You know what," he started to her, taking her roughly by the shoulder to get her away from the Pearl and out of hearing distance by its men. Debbie tried to protest this, but she was completely incapable of getting out of his tight grip with ease. Christopher dropped her shoulder as they reached the most upbeat tavern to drown down their comments toward other people's ears. He continued, "at first, I was only doing this to get my ship back, it wasn't my fault that it was taken away from me over misunderstandings, but now, it's more than that. Now, I'm doing this to restore my name, my sister's, and—."

She finished for him, but it wasn't the way he wanted it phrased, "And to become something that you weren't before. Something greater. Though, for you that may seem important, but to others you're scum that people step on and scrape off their shoes. You may think that you are doing the right thing, but you're not. You're condemning innocent lives to a death that nobody wants or that nobody deserves. Because that is what Lord Beckett is going to do when he gets his hand on that heart."

Christopher looked at her shocked and considerably unnerved by her. He stated to her insulted, "Scum?" She didn't even know him that well to even say such a thing to him. He added, "You're not even in the right place to even say that."

"I slept with you." Debbie informed him like he didn't remember that at all. She added, "I think I'm in every place to say that to you, jackass." Christopher cocked his eyebrow. Oh, this was more than him lying to her at first and the fact that he was a part of something that she despised. Though, she didn't show it as much as she should have, she was angry about him leaving her that morning. Debbie looked at his confused face strongly and soon she had grown confused about how he was looking at her.

Christopher said to her spitefully, "That's what this is about. You were drunk, as was I. It didn't count, it didn't happen, which makes you incapable of being able to say such things to me. Understand?"

She scoffed at him, "I don't care about that." Debbie lied to him, of course she cared. Who did that? Really, that was the most messed up thing that a man could ever do to a woman. She usually wasn't one, well, she actually was one to hold grudges and it took every ounce of her strength to not kill him when she saw the glimpse of him in the Cantina. "And why should I? I have so many other things to worry about than not remembering what had happened the night before and waking up bare in me cabin. Did you think that I wasn't going to be puzzled?"

That did cross his mind. Christopher caught onto her slight lie and inquired to her, "If you don't care about it, then why are you acting like you do?"

She lied again, "Well, you should get your eyes checked, because I know I don't care about it and I know that you were actually the worst I ever had."

He caught on again, "You just said that you didn't remember that night." His voice now seemed a bit amused instead of angry and hateful. Christopher sat down on the barrel behind him while Debbie just looked at him with her eyebrow arched and a puzzled frown playing on her lips. "And you know what they say, drink has a way with lowering down someone's performance, in urinating, talking, and even... pleasuring." He chuckled with a slight amused smirk that matched his amused, brown eyes.

Debbie's eyes narrowed at him and she said to him, insulted, "I don't see where you have found something that is funny in this conversation."

Christopher stated to her with the same smirk, "You're a really bad liar. And you call yourself a pirate. I can lie better than you and my career had been based on a lie, plus I've been with one of the most lying and deceitful pirate that sailed the seven seas, so I'm always on my guard now."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest while looking to the tavern that was next to them. Christopher looked at her knowingly and she turned her head sharply to face him. Her tone was harsh and cold as she had spoken to him, "Even if it were a lie, which I'm not saying it was, then despite of everything the least you could have done was to stay until I had woken up and say goodbye instead of leaving me without an explanation of said leaving. Hadn't your mother taught you better than that?"

Christopher's smirk fell and took that blow with slight hate that was more than he had meant to take it as. He stated to her warningly, "Don't you dare play that card with me, you wench."

Debbie saw a look in his eyes that she slightly enjoyed looking into, hurt. The man who took his job more seriously than his family had a soft spot for his mummy. How sweet. She cooed, not knowing what she was getting into, "Awe, we have a mama's boy in our hands now." Christopher's teeth clenched and he tried with every part of his will to remain calm. She added, "How does she feel about this little betrayal you have planned for your sister?"

Christopher told her through gritted teeth, "My mother's dead. I've been on my own since I was thirteen in London." Debbie's face dropped and she looked down at the Tortuga ground with a deep frown. He added, "I found out that she had died last year."

"And how old are you now?" She inquired looking back up at him with the same frown.

He stated, "Turning twenty-nine in two months."

"So you didn't know for..." she trailed off doing the math in her head, but Christopher saved the work for her. Knowing it exactly, since it was all he had thought about during the course of the year. Well, one of the things anyway.

"For eight years. She died of influenza crossing the Atlantic. My father being the friendly person he is, didn't tell me about it until I had confronted him last year and that was how I had found out. Not only that, but I found out my sister was off gallivanting with your bloody kind!" When 'your bloody kind' came out of his mouth, Deborah could sense all the hate in it. She sat down on the barrel that was next to his and he noticed the slight frown on her face; he sat down next to him, calming down his previous outburst. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."

"No need for apologies," she started, "I think if I was in your position I would feel the exact same way." She laid her head on his shoulder and Christopher looked down at her questionably, but didn't take his shoulder away from her. Deborah inquired to him, "Your sister never told you about her?"

Christopher remained quiet for a moment, and the silence made it almost uncomfortable to be around. She was patiently waiting, unsure of what else there was to do other than that. After the seemingly long wait, he stated to her, "No, my sister barely knew I existed up until last year. Jeremiah and mum, Jeremiah being my father's name, never mentioned my exit to her nor did she acknowledge my existence. I sent her multiple letters, but my father took them before she had gotten a chance to read them. He hated me. Despised me, actually. I was the regrettable mistake of the relationship." He chuckled sadly. "Hell, he even kicked her out because she wanted to go with me."

Debbie picked up her head and nodded, "At least you know who your dad is. For me, I don't know. My father is somewhere out on the seas, or in London, or in the Caribbean, damn, maybe in Singapore."

"You don't know who he is?" He asked her in shock.

She shook her head no, "My proposed father that was married to my mother, Lawrence Sheppard. Good man, good and religious. Hence my name. Black hair. My mother had dark brown. He had blue eyes, my mother had green. I didn't match them, I have my mother's looks, but people came up to me before and said that I don't look anything like my father. I mean, how could a blonde haired babe come out of that." She chuckled halfheartedly. "He was still my father though."

Christopher noted to her, "That's all in past tense."

She nodded, biting her lip and laying her head on his shoulder comfortably. Christopher placed his hand over hers that was lying on her lap and looked down at the woman's head that was there. Although, no matter the comfortable silence they were in, he felt more than uncomfortable, feeling a pair of dark eyes on him and her. He didn't want to look at who was looking at him, he tried to ignore it.

"Where are we going to continue our search, Captain?" Gibbs asked him with a slight frown on his face. Jack looked over at him tiredly, leaving the Cantina was harder than any of them had thought. The brawl was so rough that they had almost got caught up in it themselves. Nicolette still held onto Jack's hand tightly, trying to catch her breath after leaving that chaos, could she even call it that? Both her and Jack didn't realize that they were still holding onto each other, nor did they care. It seemed slightly normal and modern for them.

Jack sighed, "Thank God, for your brains and intellect Mr. Gibbs to suggest that other crew members like Marty and... that other man to be stationed at other taverns," Jack paused thinking of the man's name in his head. He looked over at Nicky and asked her, "who was that other man, love?"

She shrugged looking up at him, "I don't think there was another man. Unless it was supposed to be Chris, but he had come with us to the tavern, so I doubt it."

Jack looked at her puzzled for a moment, strange, he had remembered that he had sent someone else to a different tavern. He turned back to Gibbs with his lips pursed, "I think what we should do for now is check those roasters... or roaster, and see where to go from there."

Gibbs nodded and inquired, "And if we get a heading?" Nicolette looked at Jack and wondered the same thing. The heading would be pointed where though? She didn't need to ask that. She knew very well by now. The chest. Jack for a moment looked crossed and unsure if that was going to be a possibility. Nicolette bit her bottom lip and wasn't sure if she should answer for him as Jack started looking down at the ground. He didn't seem so sure if he would answer him.

She stated for him, despite her better judgment, "We will cross that bridge when we get over it, Mr. Gibbs." Jack snapped his head to look over at her in shock, but also relief. Gibbs looked at her confused for a moment, but nevertheless nodded to her. Nic added for him, "Carry on, then. Step to! If we be wanting to leave in a few hours then we might as well get this over with." Gibbs wasn't sure if he should leave or not, Nicolette never usually gave such orders like that. He looked up at Jack for consent, but he nodded in agreement. Stole the words out of his mind, damn enchantress. Gibbs didn't seem puzzled anymore, so he decided to proceed through Tortuga.

Jack was left alone with her. They stood still in what seemed to be time and they were staring off into where Gibbs had walked off. Nicolette felt, suddenly awkward with him, she was starting to regret ordering Gibbs to sort of leave. Both him and her started to feel how they felt the night before. Not angry at each other, but not themselves at all. Jack was the first to say something, it was something in the form of a question, "Who gave you authority to give orders?" It didn't sound cold like he would say to others. Nicolette wasn't phased by it and she wasn't surprised by that question.

They didn't look at each other as she spoke, "No one. I knew that you would seem flustered, so I thought like you and took charge."

Jack scoffed at her and dropped her hand. She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head at him curiously. There was no reason in having an argument with her. To be honest, he was tired of that. This last month, well maybe two, it wasn't an easy path to follow, there were so many bumps they had to go over along the way. He actually had always had something to say to her, but for once, he wasn't able to. Nicolette was waiting, he could tell. And as they were searching each others eyes, they figured that they were unpredictable at the moment of what they were going to do next.

She bit her bottom lip nervously and tried to breathe, air was at a low supply for her. Jack was the first to move. He looked down at her bandaged hand that was thick enough to cover her wrist. Jack pursed his lips and took a step forward, Nicolette leaned in, thinking that he was going to kiss her passionately like she wanted him to do (she was actually waiting for it), but instead he took her hand carefully. Her eyes that were shut a second ago opened and her lips felt like they were disappointed. Nicolette tried not to seethe as his fingers untied them to see the wound itself. He never really looked at it.

Her wrist was dried up with blood and Jack saw the flesh torn around the bone. It almost seemed broken, but when he flapped it around, she didn't hiss in pain, loudly anyway, like any normal person would when they had a broken wrist. If it was broken, it wouldn't make a difference, while it was heeling she'd be not relaxing anyway. She was just that type of person, always had to be working, her father brought her up like that. Nicky didn't bother taking it away as Jack just looked at it in deep shock. His eyes were stuck and he didn't bother to hide his gaping expression toward it.

He commented on it, "Seems broken. Jones held you tightly that night, didn't he? I should have tended to it right away."

She chuckled sadly with a slight smile, "It isn't broken. I'd been working all day today, so I could use it. And I tended it myself."

Jack laughed and smirked smugly, "I could tell, darling. I could have done a better job, to be sure." She rolled her eyes and matched the smirk he had, but didn't say anything. Jack's rough calloused fingers, gently stroke it as he stated, "If I would have done it, I don't think it would leave a scar like it would now, love..." he said love more cautiously than he had meant to, unsure how she would react to it, but she didn't respond. Good.

She replied to him, looking up into his eyes and gulping, "Well, some scars aren't meant to be healed, Jack."

Jack looked at her curiously, there was no Captain in that. The moonlight that shone over them in Tortuga brightened their slight sight of each other. He wanted to test the waters. Jack had brought her wrist to his mouth and kissed where her knuckles should be softly. Her breath caught in her throat and she tried swallowing it down, but it just wouldn't go. She was frozen where she stood and she developed a slight nervous smile as Jack dropped her hand and moved toward her slowly. When their lips were inches apart, Jack's hand went to her cheek and with the pad of his thumb he stroked it lightly.

"Jack?" Jack was starting to close in on his target. Her lips were calling him as he made his way. Jack didn't respond, his lips smashed passionately on hers, surprising her... almost. Nicolette couldn't do anything other than kiss him back with the same intensity that he had given her. As their lips moved, they both didn't realize that they had been backing up toward a wall. Her back hit roughly against it. Jack moved away from her lips and looked into her hazel eyes that drove him mad at times. Nicolette took this time to catch her breath as he snaked his arms around her waist so that she was brought closer to him.

"Maybe we could stay more than a few more hours, savvy?" Jack observed to her as his breath hit Nicolette's lips lightly. She cocked a brow and he persuaded her, "You know, rent a room for the night, stay in it, take part in roomy activities. You know, that sort of activity."

"You drive a hard bargain." She stated to him with a slight smirk. He smiled seeing it, but it soon dropped when she added, "But, we really, really shouldn't, we have other important obligations to tend to, Sparrow. Like getting," she started to name examples while moving her hands to rub his shoulders, "that debt of yours settled, being a Captain, not making stupid decisions. You know, those sort of things."

"They could wait." Jack urged as he swept a loose strand of hair that fell onto her face out from under that damned hat she had taken off his head. It was now behind her ear. "What about for an hour?"

Nicky chuckled, trying to get out of his hold, but she found that she couldn't. His arms were locked around her waist firmly. She commented, "Tempting."

Jack pondered with a smirk, "Tempting, enough?"

She smiled softly and shook her head no, The smirk was wiped off of Jack's face quickly and he groaned disappointed. But he complied simply and backed away from her with a slight frown. Nicolette kept her smile and suggested to him that made him slightly perk up, "How about this? We go to the ship and check up on the crew to be sure that the new members are accommodated and loading the ship like they are supposed to, and then get a room for an hour. Hmm?"

Jack smirk came back right away and he moved toward her wrapping an arm around her waist to claim his possession once more. He stated to her, "I like the way you think." She smiled knowingly and they carried on walking back to the docks to get started on that little idea.

Norrington was weakly walking on his legs as Elizabeth was keeping a weathered eye by the docks to see the ship with black sails. Elizabeth looked at him for a moment with disgust and asked, "What possessed you to do what you did back there, James?"

James scoffed, what did she think? He had lost his life to that pirate and seeing him in Tortuga and after having plenty to drink, he felt his blood boil when he saw Nicolette behind the bar. He knew Jack was also there with that, that first mate of his, and what do you know? He was right. He also saw another familiar face, but that man wouldn't step a foot in Tortuga unless the world had turned upside down. James stated to her sarcastically, "Gee, I don't know what had possessed me to do such a thing in there, Miss. Swann."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, hearing the sarcasm in it. She continued looking for the Black Pearl to see if it was moored somewhere, but, of course... wait. Her eyes caught two familiar figures walking side by side, arm around waist. Though the woman's hair could've been anyone, but the man's hair and posture, and even clothing, matched the man she was looking for. Her lips faltered into an excited smile and she looked at James with a slight more perkiness. James barely acknowledged it and she yet again rolled her eyes. She looked back forward at them with her lips settling in a frown. Where was Will? That was the golden question.

If he went looking for them, then wouldn't he be with them? This didn't seem right. She looked back at James, who seemed to be looking at something himself with slight interest. "I found them." She stated to him, but he didn't seem to care. His eyes were transfixed on two people. Well, rather, a person. Elizabeth looked over to where was he staring at, but to her she found that it was only nothing. But James, thought he had saw that one man that had came the night before Sparrow escaped.

"Mr. Grayson," Norrington looked at the man that had entered his office later than he had ordered his second command to bring him in. That was hours ago and now this man decided to stride in with his arrogant head up high and his uniform worn proudly. He gestured for the man to sit down, and he accepted with much ease. James sat down in front of him with his hands folded appropriately on top of his desk. Grayson just looked at the man with a slight smile that seemed a bit familiar, but James didn't say a word about it. He said to him, "You know that I have sent for you hours ago. Did your first mate just get that message to you now?"

He still kept a sheepish smile and stated to the Commodore, "I haven't been on my ship all day, sir. I didn't even know a message was sent to bid my arrival. I want to congratulate you on your recent capture of the Black Pearl and its crew. Finally, the seas can be sailed through without that venomous crew sailing our waters."

James tried to hide the fact that he was flattered by that. Yes, he was very proud of himself for accomplishing such as that. He muttered a thank you to him and then cleared his throat to not only clear that, but clear his head as well. But before he could continue the conversation to him, Grayson congratulated him again, "Oh, and congratulations for the engagement, Commodore. Caught dangerous pirates and have a lucky lass on your side are two very dear achievements to go along with your promotion. You must be pleased."

Though the compliments he was giving him were rolling out one after another, James was getting quite annoyed with it. James said to him with an annoyed tone in his voice, "Thank you, Mr.—."

"Sorry, sir, but it should be Captain." Christopher corrected him smugly. Great, another one of those, James thought to himself.

James tried holding in his agitation and impatience to be home and go to sleep after his long voyage to save Elizabeth. But it was clearly seen in his eyes. James tried again, "I beg your pardon, Captain Grayson. Thank you. But can we get to the task at hand, please? Now, if you didn't know that you were supposed to see me at this time then why are you here at the moment?"

"Ah, right!" His mood seemed to be perky, but his face had shown otherwise. He sat up and shown a serious frown to him. Christopher stated to him, "I've come to not only for the business of my company, but as a favor for my employer. Seems to me recently, you had a raid that was strangely one of the worst your port has ever seen. Lord Beckett had sent me to see if that it was still safe for our presence to be held here, and any other place in the Caribbean that requires our services. It worried his business, really." James couldn't tell if he was lying or not, but so far he didn't see any such activity so far.

He gestured for him to continue, which the man gladly did. "Though, from what I've seen during my stay that in a short time you'd been doing so many improvements. Catching the brigands that had done the deed, looks very good for you." James tried to hide his speculation of the man that he was developing after the third compliment, now, why would he want to know this or care about this? It was starting to get odd and awkward. James reminded himself that this was the man that Beckett trusted along with his assistant to do his work outside on the water.

"Once again, thank you for that." Why did it seem that the man was actually making him say thank you multiple times. It wasn't needed to be said as much, though. James added, before the Captain continued, "But why would the East India Trading Company be in charge of how I run things in here? They aren't supposed to be in the political power, nevertheless the military power in the Caribbean."

"Like I said, the Lord Beckett wanted to be sure that it would be safe enough to be working in this region and we wouldn't have to be worried about being looted or even have our ships sunk."

James scoffed, like he would believe that. He sat back in his chair and looked the man over. That didn't sound right at all. He had gotten up and sent the Captain out of his office, hoping that would be the last he would see of him or hear of that company. But a month or two later when his career as Commodore became a blur, he had received a warning from the King himself, proposing this meeting as fraud and that Grayson wasn't here on what he had said he was here for. The message from the King was something that would start tearing down his career, it stated that his fort was too disorganized and that Commodore Norrington wasn't in any condition to be in charge with a notorious pirate on the loose.

The message also requested that a new order from a representative of the King should be in charge of Port Royal. When James received it, he only stared at two words that had represented a name, Cutler Beckett.

"James?" He snapped out of his thoughts and gaze then glanced at Elizabeth before following pursuit of her, seeing that she was already a good distance toward the docks. When the Black Pearl was coming in their view, it was evident that Jack and Nicolette were walking side by side quickly to board the ship. Elizabeth tried not to smile, but no matter her joy she felt a slight disappointment seeing that Will was not with them at all. "Captain Sparrow?" She called, Nicolette knew the voice immediately and her face slightly dropped, damn. Really? Now of all times?

She quickly looked behind her shoulder to see that it was in fact Elizabeth Swann in men clothing, walking slightly ahead of James, who was still slightly staggering. Jack only did a slight glance, but didn't catch what Nicolette had caught. He stated to the proposed man, "Come to join me crew, lad. Welcome aboard." Nicolette tried not to chuckle out loud.

"I'm here to find the man I love." This time Nicolette did chuckle and she stopped in her place along with Jack who was just wide-eyed and gaping at whatever was in front of him. Jack's grip around Nicky had tightened and she was brought closer to him as a way to show to whoever that was that he already had someone. She smiled knowingly and looked up at Jack who seemed shocked that she found this amusing.

He thought fast, and as Gibbs was passing by checking on the new recruits as well, Jack stated with a slight head nod to leave as soon as possible to him, "I'm deeply flattered, son, but my first and only two loves are this woman and the sea."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes from behind and kept her hands at her side as she leaned slightly on her right leg. She informed Jack, "Meaning William Turner, Captain Sparrow."

Thank you all for reading! Hopefully the next time that I can write will be really soon because I'm on my Spring Break. Hope everyone has a lovely day :)

Review?